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Renaissance
and
Reformation
VOLUME X 1974 NUMBER 2
Renaissance and Reformation is published twice a year (Winter and Summer)
© the Toronto Renaissance and Reformation Colloquium
the Victoria University Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies (CRRS), 1974
Editor
Julius A. Molinaro
Consulting Editor
André Berthiaume (Université Laval)
Associate and Book Review Editor
R.W. Van Fossen
TORONTO RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION COLLOQUIUM
Executive Committee 1974-75
Chairman: H.E. Secor
Vice-chairman: J.H. Parker
Treasurer: John Priestley (York University)
Ex-officio members
Ed'ilOT oi Renaissance and Reformation J. A. Molinaro
Additional Representative of
Renaissance and Reformation R.W. Van Fossen
For the CRRS Germaine Warkentin
For the University of Toronto Centre
for Renaissance Studies Sheldon Zitner
Past Chairman James McConica
Subscription price is $3.00 per year. Back volumes are $3.75 ($1.25 per no.). Manuscripts
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Renaissance and Reformation
Department of Italian Studies
University of Toronto
Toronto, Canada M5S lAl
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should be sent to:
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Renaissance and Reformation
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All communications concerning books should be sent to the Book Review Editor at
Erindale College, 3359 Mississauga Road, Clarkson, Ontario, Canada.
EDITORIAL NOTE
The executive of the Toronto Renaissance and Reformation Colloquium and the editorial
staff of Renaissance and Reformation are pleased to announce the appointment of Professor
André Berthiaume as Consulting Editor. Professor Berthiaume is Editor oi Etudes Littéraires.
J. A.M.
Contents
78
L'influence de Sebond en Espagne au XVIe Siècle
J.M. DE BUJANDA
85
Montaigne and History
JOHN PRIESTLEY
93
Francis Bacon: Ancient or Modem?
MARSHALL MCLUHAN
99
Who was Christopher Columbus?
JAMES W. CORTADA
103
Avarice and Sloth in the "Orlando Furioso"
JULIUS A. MOLINARO
116
The Erasmus Collection in the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies
Victoria University in the University of Toronto
D. SWIFT SEWELL
120
The Filmed Manuscripts and Printed Books of the Vatican Library
in the Pius XII Memorial Library of St. Louis University
ROBERT TOUPIN, S.J.
122
BOOK REVIEWS
S.P. ZITNER
Rosalie L. Colie. The Resources of Kind: Genre-Theory in the Renaissance, 122-23
EDWARD PETERS
Joseph H. MàTshhurn. Murder & Witchcraft in England. 1550-1640. 12 3-24
BERYL ROWLAND
Thomas P. Harrison and F. David Hoeniger, eds.
The Fowles of Heauen or History of Birdes, 124-25
E.J. DEVEREUX
Albert Hyma. The Life of Desiderius Erasmus, 125-26
D. F.S.THOMSON
Richard L. DeMolen, ed. Erasmus of Rotterdam: A Quincentennial Symposium, 126-27
JOHN McClelland
L. Clark Keating. Joac^iw du Bellay, 128
JOHN McClelland
A.E. Creore. .4 Word-Index to the Poetic Works of Ronsard, 128-30
JOHN A. WALKER
Florence M. Weinberg. The Wine and the Will: Rabelais's (sic) Bacchic Christianity, 130-31
KAREN F. WILEY
Arthur P. Stabler. The Legend of Marguerite de Roberval, 1 31-32
MARCELLA GRENDLER
Louis Green. Chronicle into History: An Essay on the Interpretation of History
in Florentine Fourteenth-century Chronicles, 1 32-33
T.H. LEVERE
William R. She^. Galileo's Intellectual Revolution. Middle Period. 1610-1632. 133-34
HARRY A. MISKIMIN
Anthony Molho, Florentine Public Finances in the Early Renaissance, 1400-1433, 134-35
BODO L.O. RICHTER
Julius A. Molinaro, ed. Petrarch to Pirandello, 1 35-39
ANTONIO SANTOSUOSSO
Dermot Fenlon. Heresy and Obedience in Tridentine Italy:
Cardinal Pole and the Counter Reformation, 1 39-40
141
NEWS
Renaissance and Reformation VOLUME X 1974 NUMBER 2
L'influence de Sebond en Espagne au XVIe siècle
J.M. De Bujanda
Nous savons peu de chose du grand philosophe du XVe siècle Raymond Sebond. Les
manuscrits et les éditions connus nous offrent, au moins, treize (13) variantes de son nom.
Les formes qui ont prévalu sont: Sabundus (latin), Sebond (français) et Sabunde (espagnol).
D'après le namuscrit existant dans la Bibliothèque Municipale de Toulouse, qui offre la
plus grande garantie d'authenticité, son vrai nom catalan est Sibiuda. D'origine catalane et
probablement de Gerona, Raimundo Sibiuda, maître es Arts, en Théologie et en Médecine,
enseigne à l'Université de Toulouse où il occupe le poste de Recteur en 1428 et 1435. En-
tre 1434 et 1436 Sibiuda écrit un traité dont le titre original, d'après le manuscrit de
Toulouse est: Scientia libri creaturarum seu naturae et de homine. Cet ouvrage était déjà
fini le 11 février 1436, quelques semaines avant la mort de l'auteur qui est survenue le 29
avril de la même année. Nous utilisons dans ce travail l'édition de la Theologia Naturalis
publiée par le professeur Stegmûller avec une édition critique du Prologue.
Des dix-sept manuscrits de cette oeuvre signalés par Stegmûller, quinze furent trans-
crits au XVe siècle. La première édition fut publiée probablement à Lyon en 1484. Dans
la deuxième édition celle de Daventer, 1485, qui apparaît avec le titre: Theologia naturalis
seu liber creaturarum, l'ouvrage est divisé en sept parties et en trois cent trente-trois cha-
pitres avec ses titres correspondants. Le titre de l'ouvrage et ses divisions, qui ne figurent
pas dans les manuscrits primitifs, sont retenus par les éditions postérieures.
Dans le prologue du livre, Sebond présente clairement le but de son oeuvre: "Enseigner
la racine, l'origine et le fondement de toutes les sciences et de toute vérité." Cette "science
montre à l'homme à se connaître soi-même, la fin pour laquelle il a été fait et qui l'a
fait, en quoi consiste son bien et en quoi consiste son mal, ce qu'il doit faire; quelles
sont ses obligations et envers qui il est obligé." C'est par cette science que l'homme
connaîtra aussi sa situation actuelle de faiblesse et de corruption. On apprendra aussi com-
ment l'homme peut sortir de sa misère et arriver à la perfection. Pour apprendre cette
science Sebond propose une méthode fondée sur des arguments infaillibles et irréfutables
tirés de l'expérience, des créatures et de la nature de l'homme.
Certaines affirmations du prologue peuvent nous inciter à croire, comme le signale
Carreras Artau, que le Liber creaturarum est une oeuvre de rationalisme extrême. Il faut
cependant tenir compte, comme le dit Mario Martins, de ce que des affirmations semblables
se trouvent chez Raymond Lulle, Raymond Marti, Saint-Anselme, Hugues de Saint-Victor.
Certaines expressions du prologue peuvent aussi s'expliquer par des raisons polémiques. A
l'intérieur du traité les affirmations sont beaucoup moins catégoriques. L'examen appro-
fondi de l'ouvrage nous montre un écrivain profondément éclectique qui utilise des éléments
provenant des différentes écoles médiévales. La conception qui préside à tout l'ouvrage
cherche l'accord entre les deux livres de la nature et de la grâce.
Le contenu de la Théologie Naturelle, qui a donné lieu à des interprétations divergentes
et parfois contradictoires, a exercé une influence considérable sur les différents courants
de pensée.
Au cours des dernières années du XVe siècle et des premières années du XVIe la Théo-
logie Naturelle connaît une diffusion rapide en Europe et principalement en France. Des
onze éditions latines réalisées aux XVe et XVIe siècles deux sont publiées à Strasbourg (1496,
78
Renaissance and Reformatio n VOLUME X 1974 NUMBER 2
1501) une à Paris (1509), cinq à Lyon (1484, 1507, 1526, 1540, 1541), une à Daventer
(1485), une à Nùrnberg (1502) et une à Venise (1581).^
L'ouvrage du philosophe catalan est très apprécié par le cercle réformateur de Lefèvre
d'Etaples. Nous savons que Beatus Rhenanus en possède un exemplaire et que Charles de
Rouelles le considère comme une "oeuvre très savoureuse et très riche". Comme le signale
Augustin Renaudet, Lefèvre lui-même ne pouvait que se sentir attiré par la doctrine expo-
sée dans la Théologie Naturelle, qui s'accorde très bien avec les écrits de Nicolas de Cuse
et de Raymond Lulle qu'il publia. Les enseignements de Sebond sont aussi à la portée du
public français qui dispose d'une traduction française publiée à Lyon en 1519 par Bernard
Lecuyer.
Les ressemblances entre la Théologie Naturelle et certains enseignements de St-lgnace
dans les Exercices Spirituels peuvent, peut-être, expliquer la faveur dont jouit Sebond
parmi les premiers membres de la Compagnie de Jésus. L'inclusion de la Théologie
Naturelle dans l'Index de livres interdits publié par Paul IV en 1559, provoque une cer-
taine inquiétude parmi quelques Jésuites influents dans la Curie Romaine. Le P. Lainez,
qui collabore à la version moins sévère de l'Index du Concile de Trente, n'est probable-
ment pas étranger au fait que le nouvel Index ne condamne plus l'ouvrage complet mais
seulement le Prologue.
Montaigne est celui qui a le plus contribué à la diffusion de l'oeuvre de Sebond. Sa tra-
duction française de la Théologie Naturelle, publiée en 1569 et revisée en 1581, connaîtra
cinq rééditions au cours de la première partie du dix-septième siècle. D'autre part, l'Apolo-
gie de Raymond Sebond, un des principaux essais du moraliste français, assurera au philo-
sophe catalan une place importante dans l'histoire de la pensée. Les études consacrées à
Montaigne sont loin d'être unanimes sur la place occupée par l'oeuvre de Sebond à l'in-
térieur de sa philosophie morale. Veut-il défendre les thèses de Sebond, comme Montaigne
l'affirme expressément, ou bien cherche-t-il un prétexte qui lui permette d'exposer ses
idées qui sont en réalité bien différentes de celles de Sebond? Indépendamment de la ré-
ponse que l'on donne à cette question on doit reconnaître que la Théologie Naturelle oc-
cupe une place centrale dans l'oeuvre de Montaigne. Nous attendons toujours les travaux
qui nous diront quelle est l'influence exercée par la Théologie Naturelle sur des écrivains
comme St-François de Sales, Pascal et Hugo Grotius.^'*'
En plus de l'influence exercée directement par la Théologie Naturelle, à travers ses
nombreuses éditions latines et françaises, les idées de Sebond ont connu une large diffu-
sion grâce à une adaptation qui est publiée sous le titre Viola animae. Dans ce résumé, le
chartreux Pierre Dorland condense la matière en quatre-vingt-six chapitres, évite les pro-
cédés d'école en supprimant les divisions, distinctions etc. . , améliore considérablement le
texte et donne au traité une certaine saveur de la Renaissance par l'introduction de cita-
tions classiques. La Viola animae comprend sept dialogues. Les six prem.iers sont des ré-
sumés de chacune des parties de la Théologie Naturelle. Le septième, sur le mystère de la
Passion de Jésus-Christ, est un travail original de Pierre Dorland.
Publiée à Cologne en 1499 la Viola animae connaît neuf éditions en latin au cours du
XVIe siècle. La traduction française de Jean Martin est publiée en 1551, 1555 et 1556.
Si l'influence de Sebond apparaît manifeste en France, elle est loin d'offrir pareille évi-
dence en Espagne. Des historiens de la pensée comme Carreras Artau et M. Batllori
croient que la Théologie Naturelle n'a pas apporté une contribution importante à la pen-
sée espagnole. Ce point de vue semble être confirmé par le fait que la seule édition en
79
espagnol de la Theologia Naturalis date de 1854 et qu'elle a été réalisée à partir d'une
18
adaptation italienne.
Dans une brève mais profonde étude publiée en 195 3, notre cher maître, le regretté
professeur Révah confirmait l'exactitude d'une intuition de Menéndez Pelayo qui consi-
dérait la Théologie Naturelle comme ayant un intérêt capital pour l'étude des origines de
la mystique espagnole. Nos études actuelles sur la censure inquisitoriale espagnole nous
ont apporté, d'une façon fortuite, de nouveaux arguments qui prolongent l'étude du pro-
fesseur Révah.
La Viola animae publiée à Tolède en 1500 par Petrus de Hagembach est le premier livre
de piété, si nous laissons de coté les livres liturgiques, qui est imprimé sous la protection du
Cardinal Ximénez de Cisneros, auquel on reconnaît un rôle de premier ordre dans le dé-
veloppement de l'humanisme espagnol. Cette édition décrite par Haebler, et dont on con-
serve deux exemplaires dans l'Hispanic Society of America de New York, reproduit dans
la deuxième feuille l'emblème du siège archiépiscopal de Tolède. Norton croit comme pro-
bable que cette marque était réservée aux livres imprimés par ordre de l'Archevêque.
Nous ne connaissons aucun exemplaire qui témoigne de l'existence d'une autre édition
latine de la Viola animae en Espagne. L'influence de ce livre s'exerce principalement par
l'intermédiaire des traductions et des adaptations qui en vulgarisent le contenu.
En 1549, l'imprimeur Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba publia à Tolède une traduction
du résumé de Dorland.^^ Nous avons utilisé l'exemplaire existant dans la Bibliothèque
Nationale de Lisbonne (Res. 8-19), le seul semble-t-il qui nous soit parvenu de cet écrit
qui fut condamné par l'Index de Valdés de 1559.^^^ La Violeta del anima, qui laisse de
côté le septième dialogue celui de Dorland, est une traduction fidèle des quatre-vingt-six
chapitres de la Viola animae.
Plus encore que par des traductions, la Viola animae exerce son influence en Espagne
par l'intermédiaire de deux adaptations.
Une heureuse coincidence nous a fait découvrir dans l'Hispanic Society of America de
New York une adaptation extrêmement curieuse de la Viola animae. Il s'agit du Desperta-
dor del alma, oeuvre anonyme publiée à Seville en 1544 et réimprimée à Saragosse en
1552. De l'édition de Seville on connaît deux exemplaires existant dans la Bibliothèque
Nationale de Lisbonne et dans la Bibliothèque Nationale de Madrid. De l'édition de
Saragosse de 1552 on connaît seulement un exemplaire existant dans l'Hispanic Society
of America.
Le prologue et les trois premiers chapitres,qui introduisent la matière, racontent com-
ment dans l'année 1544, fut trouvé à Rome un tableau dont l'image est reproduite dans
l'ouvrage avec une légende en latin. Prié par le chevalier Horosius, Paul.religieux grec de
l'ordre de St-Basile, explique les secrets et les trésors contenus dans ce tableau. L'explica-
tion comprend quatre colloques. Les chapitres IV à VII expliquent le titre du livre et du
tableau, en s'appuyant sur St-Paul qui dans VEpitre au Romains nous montre "comment
l'ensemble des créatures forme un livre dont chaque créature est un chapitre." Le cha-
pitre VIII expose l'ordre et le degré existant entre les créatures.
A partir du chapitre VIII le Despertador del alma est une simple adaptation de la Viola
animae. L'arrangement offre des formes très variées. Très souvent le texte de la Viola est
présenté en résumé et dans une forme beaucoup plus accessible aux lecteurs profanes. Par-
fois on intercale des explications, des exemples, des témoignages qui explicitent le para-
graphe transcrit. Dans la plus grande partie des cas, il s'agit d'une traduction fidèle de
chapitres entiers de la Viola.
80
Le Despertador del alma figure parmi les oeuvres interdites par Vlndex de Valdés de
1559.^^
La courroie de transmission la plus importante pour la diffusion des idées de Sebond
en Espagne au XVIème siècle est le Libro llamado Lumbre del alma de Fr. Juan de Cazalla
dont on fit probablement deux éditions. M. Bataillon affirme qu'en juin 1921 il eut en
mains, au Couvent des Dominicains de San Esteban de Salamanque, un exemplaire de la
Lumbre del alma, imprimé à Valladolid par Nicolas Tierry le 15 juin 1528. Aujourd'hui
cet exemplaire a disparu. Selon Bataillon, le P. Justo Cuervo supposait que le livre de Juan
Cazalla était précisément "l'Obra impresa en Valladolid por Maestro Nicolas Tierry, ano de
1528, en romance," interdite par l'Index de Valdés. ^^ Mais selon le P. Cuervo, il semblait
difficile d'expliquer l'étrange désignation de l'oeuvre dans l'Index, et de plus la défense
même ne se justifie que par une rigueur extrême à cause de la saveur illuministe du titre
et d'un appendice sur les douze degrés de la connaissance de Dieu.
La supposition du P. Cuervo, d'après qui la défense de l'Index de Valdés tombe sur le
livre de Jean de Cazalla, nous semble une hypothèse très digne d'être retenue. La raison, à
notre avis, pour laquelle Vlndex ne cite ni l'auteur ni le titre de l'oeuvre interdite est que
la personne chargée de rédiger l'Index ne les connaissait pas. Les livres de cette époque,
dont les premières pages étaient supprimées, ne sont pas rares. Il put bien arriver qu'on
donna au censeur un exemplaire sans première feuille, et que celui-ci, ignorant par consé-
quent de quelle oeuvre il s'agissait, se vit obligé de se servir du colophon du livre pour le
désigner. La totale coincidence entre le colophon du livre de Cazalla et la désignation du
livre défendu par Vlndex, ne permet pas de conclure avec certitude que la Lumbre del alma
soit l'oeuvre interdite, étant donné que des presses de Nicolas Tierry purent sortir cette
même année de 1528 bien d'autres livres. Mais il existe certains indices qui nous inclinent
à penser à une telle identification.
Le franciscain Juan de Cazalla, aumônier majeur et collaborateur du Cardinal Cisneros,
fut nommé évêque auxiliaire d'Avila en 1517. Nous savons qu'il sympathisa avec Erasme
et qu'il fut en contact avec l'évangélisme français de Lefèvre d'Etaples.^^ Fr. Juan, qui
avait eu des rapports avec des cercles d"'illuminés", fut probablement mis en procès par
l'Inquisition. Il est probable,par conséquent, que la Lumbre del alma ait continué à ex-
ercer une influence parmi ces groupes. Un exemplaire de ce livre, auquel on aurait enlevé
la première feuille, pouvait très bien appartenir à l'une des personnes emprisonnées par
l'Inquisition. N'oublions pas que parmi les personnes mises en accusation puis exécutées à
Valladolid en 1558, se trouvait le docteur Augustin Cazalla, neveu de Fr. Jean.
Nous connaissons aujourd'hui le texte de la Lumbre del alma par un exemplaire impri-
mé à Seville en 1542, qui est conservé à la Bibliothèque Nationale de Lisbonne. ^^
M. Révah a été le premier à apercevoir que "la presque totalité de la Lumbre del alma
est une adaptation fidèle d'une vingtaine de chapitres de la Viola animae". Exception
faite de certains paragraphes de l'introduction, du chapitre douze de la première partie et
de l'appendice sur "el modo para venir en alguna manera en conoscimiento de dios", toute
l'oeuvre est une adaptation, et presque toujours une simple traduction.
Cazalla s'est servi du verset 12 du Psaume 136: Quid retribuam Domino proomnibus quae
retribuit mihi, pour introduire et placer avec une certaine unité la matière du deuxième et
troisième livre de la Viola animae, qu'il propose en forme de dialogue.
La prefnière partie de la Lumbre del alma présente une description des bienfaits et ré-
compenses de Dieu, tout spécialement de l'amour avec lequel Dieu nous a aimés et nous
81
aime. L'homme doit répondre à Dieu avec l'amour, "libre don de la volonté". Tout au
long de la deuxième partie, l'auteur présente et développe la thèse concernant la façon
dont l'amour de Dieu est notre premier bien et notre propre "luz y lumbre". Par contre,
l'amour propre est notre premier mal et notre "ceguedad y tiniebla".
Les idées de Sebond se répandent en Espagne principalement à travers le texte de la
Viola Animae qui connaît une édition latine à Tolède en 1500, une traduction castillane
en 1549 et deux adaptations: Tesoro de Angeles et Lumbre del alma. Le terrible index de
Valdés de 1559 barrait la route à l'influence de Sebond par l'intermédiaire de la traduction
castillane et des deux adaptations de la Viola. Cette condamnation veut-elle dire que
l'Espagne de la deuxième partie du seizième siècle restera imperméable aux idées de son
plus grand philosophe du XVième siècle? Comme dans beaucoup d'autres cas, les con-
damnations inquisitoriales n'ont pas eu l'effet qu'on aurait pu supposer. Deux auteurs qui
connaîtront un grand succès editorial dans toute l'Europe prouvent la persistence de l'in-
fluence de Sebond en Espagne.
Le premier est Diego de Estella, dont les oeuvres, principalement la Vanidad del mundo
et les Méditaciones del amor de Dios, connaissent de nombreuses éditions dans les princi-
pales langues européennes. Les Méditaciones del amor de Dios, tenues en grande estime
par St-François de Sales, sont en grande partie une transcription des meilleures pages de la
Lumbre del aima. Les emprunts littéraux sont principalement importants dans les médi-
tations 42, 62, 63, 76, 82, 88, 89, 90, 91, 99.^^
Fr. Diego suit généralement avec fidélité le texte de la Lumbre del alma. On peut ob-
server, cependant, le changement de mots et de formes vieillis, et aussi certaines additions,
amplifications au omissions. L'adaptation de la forme de dialogue, employée dans la
Lumbre del aima, à la forme de monologue des Méditaciones exige certains changements
de style. Mais dans l'utilisation de la Lumbre del alma le P. Estella ne se limite pas à copier
les textes. Il n'emprunte pas en général des pages entières du livre de Cazalla; d'ordinaire il
transcrit quelques lignes, puis développe ces idées, les confirmant par des exemples et des
arguments d'autorité de la Sainte Ecriture, ou bien il tire des conclusions. Il utilise égale-
ment, en d'autres endroits, les idées des textes qu'il a déjà transcrits, leur donnant une ex-
pression littéraire un peu différente. Il y a également dans la Lumbre del alma certains
passages, que Fr. Diego n'a pas inclus, tout au moins littéralement, et qui offrent une cer-
taine parenté avec \es Méditaciones.
Nous ne nous attarderons pas sur le cas de Fr. Juan de los Angeles, considéré par
Menéndez Pelayo comme un des plus agréables prosateurs espagnols. Par les études de
Domi'nguez Berrueta et de Fidel de Ros, parmi d'autres, nous savons que Fr. Juan de los
Angeles transcrit de longs passages sans signaler qu'ils proviennent de Sebond. Le plagiat
du mystique franciscain se trouve dans La Lucha espiritual y amorosa, dans les Diàlogos
de la conquista del reino de Dios dans lesquels il utilise plus d'une vingtaine de titres de la
Théologie Naturelle. Fr. Juan de los Angeles, qui se limite souvent à traduire, adopte par-
fois avec liberté les idées du philosophe catalan comme il est habitué de le faire avec beau-
coup d'autres auteurs.
Dans l'état actuel des recherches il nous paraît prématuré de vouloir tirer des conclu-
sions définitives concernant le problème de l'influence de Sebond sur l'évolution intellec-
tuelle et mystique de l'Espagne. Mais même si nous sommes persuadés qu'une recherche
plus poussée nous apportera de nouvelles données pour mieux éclairer la question, nous
pouvons déjà prendre connaissance de l'existence d'une puissante veine sebondienne qui
82
traverse le XVIe siècle espagnol. Ce courant qui apparaît rarement à la lumière du jour, fé-
conde les racines mêmes de la mystique espagnole. Le cas de Raymond Sebond nous incite
à multiplier les enquêtes pour chercher d'autres courants souterrains.
A notre avis, il reste encore d'importants travaux à réaliser sur les différentes courroies
de transmission qui ont servi à la diffusion des idées au XVIe siècle. Les abrégés, les adap-
tations, les recueils, les florilèges ont été souvent des messagers anonymes mais effectifs.
Des recherches systématiques sur des ouvrages de ce genre nous apporteront sans doute
des données révélatrices.
Université de Sherbrooke
Notes
Raimundus Sabundus, Theologia Naturalis seu
Liber creaturarum. Faksimile-Neudruck der
Ausgabe Sulzbach, 1852. Mit literargeschichlicher
Einfùhrung and kritischer Edition des Prologs
un des Titulus I von Friedrich Stegmùller
(Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, 1966).
Raymundus Sebeyde, Liber creaturarum sive de
homine, [c. 1484, Lyon, Johannes Siber]. Ibid.,
p. 11*.
Ibid., p. 11 • -12*.
Ibid.. p. 31*: "Quia ista scientia docet hominen
cognoscere se ipsum, propter quid factus sit, et
a quo factus sit; quid est bonum suum, quid est
malum suum; quid debet facere; ad quid obliga-
tur, et cui obligatur".
Ibid., p. 33*.
T. et J. Carreras Artau, Historia de la Filosofia
Espanola. Filosofia cristiana de las siglos XIII al
XK (Madrid, 1943), t. II, pp. 109, 157.
Mario Martins, "Sibiuda "a Corte Imperial" e o
Rationalismo naturalista," dans Estudos de
Literatura Medieval (Braga, 1956), pp. 395-415.
Sabundus, Theologia Naturalis, Introduction de
F. Stegmùller, pp. 4 •- 11*.
Augustin Renaudet, Préréforme et Humanisme
à Paris pendant les premières guerres d'Italie
(1494-1517) (Paris, 1916), pp. 485, n. 5, 521,
n. 1.
Joseph Coppin, Montaigne traducteur de Ray-
mond Sebond (Lille, 1925), pp. 57 - 58.
M. Batllori, "De Raimundo Sabundo atque
Ignatio de Loyola", dans Archivum Historicum
Societatis lesu, XXXVIII (1969), pp. 454-463.
M. Scaduto, "Lainez e l'Indice del 1559. Lullo,
Sabunde, Savonarola, Erasmo", dans Archivum
Historicum Societatis lesu XXIV (1955), pp. 3 -
32, p. 27. Lorenzo Riber, "Erasmo en el Indice
Paulino con Lulio, Sabunde y Savonarola", dans
Boleiin de la Real Academia Espanola, XXXVIII
(1958), pp. 249-263.
Voir parmi d'autres: Pierre Villey, Les sources et
l'évolution des Essais de Montaigne, (Paris, 1933),
t. 2, pp. 171-187. M. Dreano, La Religion de
Montaigne (Paris, 1969), pp. 233-273. Hugo
Friedrich, Montaigne, Traduit de l'allemand par
Robert Rovini, (Paris, 1968), pp. 104-121.
Olivier Naudeau, La pensée de Montaigne et la
composition des "Essais" (Genève, 1972).
14 Cf. F. Strowski, Pascal et son temps, (Paris,
1909), vol. 3, pp. 236-239.
15 Louis Moereels, "Dorland", dans Dictionnaire
de Spiritualité, t. III, cols 1646-1651.
16 J. Coppin, op. cit., pp. 33 - 34.
17 Carreras Artau, op. cit., p. 171; Batllori, loc. cit.,
p. 454-455.
18 Raimundo Sabunde, Las criaturas. Grandioso
tratado del hombre, (Barcelona, 1854).
19 I.S. Révah, Une source de la Spiritualité Péninsu-
laire au XVIe siècle: La "Théologie Naturelle"
de Raymond Sebond. (Adademia das Ciencias
de Lisboa), (Lisboa, 1953); Marcelino Menéndez
y Pelayo, Historia de las ideas estéticas en Espana,
(Consejo Superior de Investigaciones cientificas),
(Madrid, 1942), vol. I, p. 428.
20 Viola animae per modum dyalogi, inter Raymun-
dum Sebundium, artium, medicine atque sacre
théologie professorem eximium et dominum
Dominicum Seminiverbium. De hominis natura
{propter quem onmia facta sunt) tractans, ad
cognoscendum se, Deum et hominem. Colophon:
Finit dyalogus de mysteriis sacre passionis Christi
et per consequens totus liber iste (qui Viola
animae inscribitur) in septem distinctus dyalogos.
In aima Toletana civitate Hispaniarum primate
impressus. Anno natalicii Salvatoris Nostris
Millesimo quingentesimo, die ultima mensis
Augusti. K. Haebler, Bibliografia Ibérica del
siglo XV, (La Haya, 1903-1917), vol. II, no 590.
CL. Penney, Printed Books (1468-1 700) in the
Hispanic Society of America, (New York, 1965),
p. 488.
21 F.J. Norton, Printing in Spain (1501-1520), (Cam-
bridge, 1966), pp. 49-50.
83
22 Violeta del /anima. Que es summa de la / Tbeo-
logia natural a manera de did/logo. Que tracta
del hombre por causa del qual las otras criaturas
/son bêchas. Por el conoscimiento de /las
quales se alumbra el hombre pa conos/cerse
assi y Dios y a las otras cri/aturas. Nuevamente
traduzido de la/tin en romance Castellano. Con
Privilegio Imperial. Colophon: Fue impresso en
la muy noble /villa Valladolid, cerca de las
Es/ciielas mayores. Por Francisco /Fernandez
de Cordoba impre/ssor. Acabose a xxiiii. dias
del / mes de Noviembre, del ano / de nuestra
salud de M. D. XLIX.
23 F.H. Reusch, Die Indices librorwn probibitorum
des Secbzebnten Jabrhunderts, (Tubingen,
1886, réimp. 1961), p. 240.
24 Despertador / del alma. En el qual se / tracta
por via de colloquio / vna doctrina muy util, y /
provecbosa para des/pertar el alma q esta /
adormida en vi/cios: Y se mue/s'tra como / deve
/ bivir qualquier christiano. / 1544.
25 Despertador del alma / adormida: dirigido ala
muy noble se/nora dona Blanca de Colona Cal-
villo y de Cardona. Zc. /Impresso en Caragoça
a costas de / Miguel de Capilla mercader de
libros/Ano de MCLII.
26 Despertador del alma adormida, (Zaragoza,
1552), f. 17v.
27 Comme exemple on peut comparer les passages
suivants: "Quarta conditio: quod ista conversio
amantis in rem amatam non est violenta, non
coacta, non laboriosa, sed spontanea, liberalis,
dulcis, delectabilis; et ideo voluntas qui iungit
rei amate non potest ab ea separari per aliquam
violentiam, sed sponte et mere libère. Quinta
conditio: quod amor licet mutet voluntatem in
rem amatam, tamem amor semper permanet
liberalis amor et suam retinet naturam. Voluntas
quoquunque licet permutetur in rem amatam,
cuius et naturam induit et formam, tamem sem-
per permanet voluntas, nee ideo destruitur quia
mutatur." Viola animae, "Dialogus tertius".
Chap. XXII, (Toledo, 1500), f. 3 5v. "La quarta
es que la conversion que se haze del que ama en
la cosa que ama, no es violenta, ni por fuerza, ni
trabajosa, sino muy voluntaria, libre, dulce, y
llena de plazer. Y por esto la voluntad, que se
ayunta convierte y transforma en la cosa que
ama, no se puede apartar délia por ninguna
violencia, o fuerza, sino voluntaria y libremente.
La quinta es, aunque el amor se convierta y
transforme en la cosa que ama, siempre queda
en su propia naturaleza, que es siempre ser
libre; y la voluntad aunque se mude o convierta
en la cosa que ama, y recibe délia naturaleza y
forma; pero aunque se mude no se pierde ni
destruye porque siempre queda voluntad".
Despertador del aima adormida, "Colloquio
tercero", Chap. I, (Zaragoza, 1552), f. 80r-v.
28 Reusch, op. cit., p. 233.
29 Ibid., p. 237, Nous utilisons amplement le cha-
pitre IV de notre étude; Diego de Estella (1524-
1578). Estudio de sus obras castellanas. (Publi-
caciones del Instituto Espaiiol de Historia Ecle-
diàstica, no. 15), (Rome, 1970), pp. 67 - 76.
30 M. Bataillon, dans l'Edition de Juan de Valdés,
Dialogo de doctrina cristiana, (Coimbra, 1925),
pp. 137-138.
31 M. Bataillon, Erasmo Y Espana, (México-Buenos
Aires, 1966), pp. 65-71. Bien que cet ouvrage
fut publié premièrement en français en 1937
nous utilisons la deuxième édition espagnole
enrichie avec de nombreuses additions.
32 Son procès est mentionné dans celui de Juan de
vergara, f. CCCXIX, Cfr. Bataillon, éd. du Dia-
logo ... de J. de Valdés, p. 141. Angela Selke,
El Santo Oficio de la Inquisiciôn. Proceso de Fr.
Francisco Ortiz (1529-1532), (Madrid, 1968),
pp. 51 -52.
33 LIBRO LLAMADO LUMBRE DEL ALMA /
Aqui comienza un /brève tractado que babla de
los be/neficios y mercedes que ba el bom/bre
rescebido de la muy libe/ral mano de Dios y de
la / paga que por ello le es o/bligado a fazer.
Co/legido de los doc /tores sanctos /por el muy
/ reverendo / Padre fray Juan de Caçalla, de la
orden /de los Menores, maestro en sancta
theo/logia y obispo de Vera. Va a manera de /
dialogo, que es mâs aplazible modo de / screvir
y al lector de leer. Son dos bermanos, / el uno
Antonio y el otro Luis, lla/mados assi por
nombres, discipulos del / maestro auctor del
présente tractado. Colophon: Esta o bra fue vis-
ta y / examinada por mandado de los S. Inqui/si-
dores y Ordinario de la villa de Va/lladolid y
aprobada. Fue impressa/en la muy noble y muy
leal Cib/dad de Sevilla en las casas de /Juan
Cromberger que sancta /gloria aya, a ocho- dias
/ del mes de Abril, / Ano del Senor de / mil y
quinien/tos y quaren/ta y dos / anos.
34 Révah, op. cit., p. 22.
35 Lumbre del aima, ff. 31r, 38r, 48r.
36 La dependence de Diego de Estella, à l'égard de
la Lujnbre del alma est étudiée dans notre ou-
vrage déjà cité Diego de Estella, pp. 71 - 76.
37 Juan Domînguez Berrueta, Filosofia mistica
espanola, (Madrid, 1947), pp. 57-58, 121-132.
P. Fidèle de Ros, "La vie et l'oeuvre de Jean des
Anges", âzns Mélanges. . F. Cavallera (Toulouse,
1948), p. 405.
84
Montaigne and History
John Priestley
One of the major achievements of humanism in Renaissance Italy was the development of
new historical methodologies which permitted, in Italy as well as in France, analytical
treatises far more sophisticated than the chronicles of the Middle Ages. It may therefore
seem strange that Montaigne did not embrace the new methodologies but rather stated
preference for the old ways of writing history. This is not to say that he was unaware of
the work of his contemporaries, or that he did not value history, or even, as Abraham
Keller has argued, that he did not understand history at all and is to be reproached for not
having developed a coherent philosophy based upon a sense of relativism with respect to
temporal considerations, as he had done with respect to geographical ones. Rather his
interests lay elsewhere, and history, like all other disciplines, is subsumed to a larger, over-
all purpose in the Essais.
A convenient starting point for a discussion of Montaigne's views of history and histor-
ians is a late statement (added in the posthumous 1595 edition) found in 1.21, "De la
force de l'imagination": "Il y en a des autheurs desquels la fin c'est dire les événements.
La mienne, si j'y sçavoye advenir, seroit dire sur ce qui peut advenir." What is important
in this passage is that Montaigne did not consider himself to be an historian at all (viz.
someone concerned with actual events), but something quite different— a moral philoso-
pher—and that as such, he took it as permissible to relate probable or possible "facts":
actions and events consistent with human nature which might have occurred or which
could occur. In so far as the Essais are concerned, then, history figures in the total fabric
as just one element among many, and its role is to provide certain kinds of proof as
Montaigne worked out the problems he confronted.
In what follows, three aspects of this question will be discussed: the qualities and ta-
lents of the historian as Montaigne saw them, the specific uses of historical writing, and
finally, Montaigne's concept or philosophy of history. Much of what I have to say has al-
ready been dealt with by Pierre Villey in his Les livres d'histoire moderne utilisés par
Montaigne. However, Villey deals only with the first two of these matters and to discuss
all three in the same context permits a fuller understanding of the Essais since the rela-
tionships among the three topics reflect a logic fundamental to the author's thought. The
conclusions reached ar based on scattered remarks found in many of the essays. Each quo-
tation however has been looked at in the light of when it was written (a task facilitated by
the designations (a), (b), (c) to represent the 1580, 1588 and 1595 editions respectively
and used in all standard modern editions), to the argument of the specific essay, and to
Montaigne's own intellectual development, something we must attempt to understand if
his views on anything are to have any meaning.
The essential development we can trace in his thought from 1571 (when he began
writing in his tower after retirement from political life) to his final marginal notes before
his death can be called one of "progressive interiorization" which reaches its most com-
plete statement in the personal humanism of the last essays. That is to say that as time
went on, and as current events seemed more and more confused and sinister, Montaigne
became convinced that in order to acquire sound knowledge of anything, he had in fact
to abandon the study of what was external to his being— all past and present events and
85
Renaissance and Reformation VOLUME X 1974 NUMBER 2
objects— and look within himself and his own experiences for substantive truths about
the human condition. This interest in himself and in his experiences is reflected in the
self-portrait which is the Essais. This highly personal investigation had a specific purpose
which is stated several times. For example, in "Des livres" we read: "(a) Pour moy, qui ne
demande qu'à devenir plus sage, non plus sçavant (c) ou eloquent ..." The same idea in-
forms the whole of the essay "De l'institution des enfans" (l. 26) in which Montaigne ad-
vises how Diane de Foix should train her as yet unborn son for the life he, as a nobleman
living in the second half of the sixteenth century, will lead: that of a diplomat soldier for
whom knowledge without wisdom could prove to be pernicious in the kind of pursuit his
nation will demand of him.
In studying himself, then, Montaigne's predominant interest is a moral one. Whatever
he can learn from history or from any other source is of value only in so far as it can be
applied to his own being, which represents the entire human condition, as we shall shortly
see. It is in the light of this preoccupation that we must analyse the three aspects of the
question of history in the Essais already mentioned.
Montaigne's concept of the historian's function is stated implicitly in the remarks from
"De la force de l'imagination" quoted at the beginning of this paper: he deals with events,
with what did happen. Elsewhere in the Essais he develops more completely his ideas with
respect to good and bad historians.
Essentially, the historians we can most trust are those who tell us what happened; they
are witnesses to events from which we are removed by time and space. Once Montaigne
had made up his mind that an historian was both competent and sincere, he felt he had no
choice but to take as true whatever he had to say. However, in order to make such a value
judgment, certain things had to be known. In "Un traict de quelques ambassadeurs" we
read: "Et, à ce propos, à la lecture des histoires, qui est le subjet de toutes gens, j'ay ac-
coustumé de considérer qui sont les escrivains: si ce sont personnes qui ne facent autre
profession que de lettres, j'en apren principalement le stile et le langage; si ce sont méde-
cins, je les croy plus volontiers en ce qu'ils nous disent de la temperature de l'air, de la
santé et complexion des Princes, des blessures et maladies ..." The same notion of the
necessity to establish a writer's credentials is repeated in a later essay, "Des livres" (both
quotations are from the 1580 edition): "Que peut-on espérer d'un médecin traictant de
la guerre, ou d'un escholier traictant les desseins des Princes?" The most complete state-
ment about historians is to be found in a long section in this essay. The preceding quota-
tion, which is in this passage, explains why, for Montaigne, the best histories are "celles
qui ont esté escrites par ceux mesmes qui commandoient aux affaires, ou qui estoient par-
ticipans à les conduire, (c) ou, au moins, qui ont eu la fortune d'en conduire d'autres de
mesme sorte." Hence, Caesar's accounts of the Gallic Wars have more credibility than
those of the professional historian writing after the fact. This is particularly true if the
historian in question is a non-Roman. "Et davantage," he writes (in "Defense de Seneque
et de Plutarque,") "il est bien plus raisonnable de croire en telles choses (he is attacking Dio
Cassius and other modems for their criticisms of Seneca) les historiens Romains que les
Grecs et estrangers."^
There remains the important question of the judgment an historian brings to bear in
his writings. In interpreting Montaigne's remarks (from "Des livres") I am somewhat more
conservative than Villey. The matter merits quoting the text at length:
86
(a) J'ayme les Historiens ou fort simples ou excellens. Les simples, qui n'ont point de-
quoy y mesler quelque chose du leur, et qui n'y apportent que le soin et la diligence de
r'amasser tout ce qui vient à leur notice, et d'enregistrer à la bonne foy toutes choses
sans chois et sans triage, nous laissent le jugement entier pour la cognoissance de la véri-
té. Tel est entre autres, pour example, le bon Froissard, qui a marché en son entreprise
d'une si franche naïfveté, qu'ayant faict une faute il ne creint aucunement de la recon-
noistre et corriger en l'endroit oii il en a esté adverty; et qui nous représente la diversi-
té mesme des bruits qui couroyent et les differens rapports qu'on luy faisoit. C'est la
matière de l'Histoire, nue et informe; chacun en peut faire son profit autant qu'il a
d'entendement. Les biens excellens ont la suffisance de choisir ce qui est digne d'estre
sçeu, peuvent trier de deux rapports celuy qui est plus vraysemblable; de la condition
des Princes et de leurs humeurs, ils en concluent les conseils et leur attribuent les pa-
roles convenables. Ils ont raison de prendre l'authorité de régler nostre créance à la leur;
mais certes cela n'appartient à guieres de gens. Ceux d'entre-deux (qui est la plus com-
mune façon), ceux là nous gastent tout; ils veulent nous mascher les morceaux; ils se
donnent loy déjuger, et par consequent d'incliner l'Histoire à leur fantaisie; car, dépuis
que le jugement prend d'un costé, on ne se peut garder de contourner et tordre la nar-
ration à ce biais. Ils entreprenent de choisir les choses dignes d'estre sçeuës, et nous
cachent souvent telle parole, telle action privée, qui nous instruiroit mieux; obmetant,
pour choses incroyables, celles qu'ils n'entendent pas, et peut estre encore telle chose,
pour ne la sçavoir dire en bon Latin ou François. Qu'ils estaient hardiment leur elo-
quence et leur discours, qu'ils jugent à leur poste; mais qu'ils nous laissent aussi dequoy
juger après eux, et qu'ils n'altèrent ny dispersent, par leurs racourcimens et par leurs
chois, rien sur le corps de la matière: ains, qu'ils nous la r'envoyent pure et entière en
toutes ses dimensions.
Villey emphasizes that according to Montaigne, the best historians "jugent pour nous;
ils démêlent dans l'histoire ce qui est digne d'être su, ils l'interprètent, ils nous mâchent le
besogne et nous rendent un grand service." Montaigne of course does say this, but it
seems to me to be quoting him out of context without adding: "mais certes cela n'appar-
tient à guieres de gens," and that the vast majority are "ceux d'entre-deux" who are
scarcely to be believed at all. It is significant that although Montaigne states a preference
for two kinds of historians, he gives no examples of those who are "bien excellens." Fur-
thermore, he uses the same language when dealing with the excellent ones and the vast
majority. There is only one difference: the majority of historians merely attempt what
the handful of excellent ones achieve. Stating it simply, the sceptical Montaigne tells us to
accept the word of historians who are "fort simples" but to reject the mass of historical
writing which is analytical or interpretive as totally untrustworthy. The historian in whom
we can have most confidence, then, is the man who honestly and frankly reports in chroni-
cle fashion what happened, even when what he records may appear absurd (as in the case
of some popular beliefs). Of Tacitus he says: "C'est trèsbien diet. Qu'ils nous rendent
l'histoire plus selon qu'ils reçoivent que selon qu'ils estiment." It is important to note
parenthetically that the long passage quoted is found in the 1580 edition, but the latter
one did not appear until the enlarged second edition of 1588. His distrust of those who
interpret, historical events never wavered. This is partly because of his scepticism, but part-
ly also because if historical lessons are to replace actual experiences, their effect is dimin-
87
ished if someone else includes his interpretation to stand between the reader and the re-
corded event. This is because of the particular benefits to be gleaned from the reading of
history.
Throughout the Essais, Montaigne never ascribes to the study of history a more impor-
tant purpose than that of furnishing moral lessons to be followed in his own life, in the
lives of his contemporaries, and by extension, in those of all men at all times. Villey states
it thus: "Done, si Montaigne nous recommande si fort l'histoire, c'est avant tout parce que
c'est une école de morale. En lisant les historiens, nous ne devons jamais perdre de vue la
pratique de la vie." Statements in several essays confirm this idea.
In the earlier essays, one of Montaigne's preoccupations is the problem— or fact— of
death and the best way to prepare for it. The lessons of history are not to be overlooked.
In the essay "Que philosopher c'est apprendre à mourir", (in a passage which appeared in
the first edition of the Essais) (l. 20) he says: "et n'est rien dequoy je m'informe si volon-
tiers, que de la mort des hommes: quelle parole, quel visage, quelle contenance ils y ont
eu; ny endroit des histoires, que je remarque si attentivement."
But historical models teach us not only how to die, or demonstrate how certain men
faced death, they also give us valuable lessons for life. In I. 26 ("De l'institution des en-
fans"), where the author's concern is how best to prepare a nobleman for his duties in the
turbulent political world of sixteenth century France, he advises, in a lengthy passage,
that the young man should read history books with this purpose in mind:
En cette practique des hommes, j'entends y comprendre, et principalement, ceux qui
ne vivent qu'en la mémoire des livres. Il practiquera, par le moyen des histoires, ces
grandes âmes des meilleurs siècles. C'est un vain estude, qui veut; mais qui veut aussi,
c'est un estude de fruit inestimable: (c) et le seul estude, comme dit Platon, que les
Lacedemoniens eussent réservé à leur part, (a) Quel profit ne fera-il en cette part-là,
à la lecture des Vies de nostre Plutarque? Mais que mon guide se souvienne oià vise sa
charge; et qu'il n'imprime pas tant à son disciple (c) la date de la ruine de Carthage que
les meurs de Hannibal et de Scipion, my tant (a) où mourut Marcellus, que pourquoy
il fut indigne de son devoir qu'il mourut là. Qu'il ne luy apprenne par tant les histoires,
qu'à en juger.
The same thoughts are expressed in the key essay, "Des livres" (II. 10), where those
texts which specifically tell us something about men are preferred by Montaigne. Thus,
speaking of Cicero, he states a strong predilection for the letters Ad Atticum, which he
enjoys for their historical facts certainly, but "beaucoup plus pour y descouvrir ses hu-
meurs privées. Car j'ay une singulière curiosité, somme j'ay dit ailleurs, de connoistre l'ame
et les naifs jugemens de mes autheurs." The same passage contains other remarks expres-
sing similar sentiments. In a marginal comment appearing in the 1595 edition he says,
when speaking of history, that "l'homme en general, de qui je cherche la cognoissance, y
paroist plus vif et plus entier qu'en nul autre lieu." The important words here are "en ge-
neral," for in his later life, Montaigne was of the opinion that to know oneself was the
best way to know all of mankind. The whole of the last essay, "De l'expérience" is based
upon this premise. There is an initial shift from the external world (which we cannot know
in any detail) to the internal world of the self (with the aid of external examples), and
then a surer and more solid grasp of others, both those living in books and our contempor-
aries. The examples provided by history are in a sense more reliable than those our own
88
daily acquaintances give us because in the passing moments of conversations and imme-
diate observations, we are likely to see only what is superficial. This is why writers of lives
such as Plutarch, are preferred: they are concerned more with what "(a) part du dedans
qu'à ce qui arrive au dehors." This realization that what is apparent is not always the
truth (the distinction between appearance and reality) is a seminal idea to be found from
the very first edition of the Essais. The advantage books have over daily experiences is that
we can meditate upon them, and re-read them. Caesar, for example, is to be studied not
just for his historiography, but "pour luy mesme, tant il a de perfection et d'excellence
par dessus tous les autres."
If the experiences of others are of value to us, our own, because of their immediacy,
are of even greater value. In fact, lessons are to be learned even from disasters. In the third
book of the Essais, in which there are very few specific references to the role of history, he
comments ("De la phisionomie") upon the ruination of his country which he sees taking
place all around him and which he is powerless to stop. Nevertheless, he can say that "suis
content d'estre destiné à y assister et m'en instruire." This statement reflects, along with
others, Montaigne's rather remarkable later optimism. Even when faced with the dual
threat of his own deteriorating health and the attendant suffering, and the political and
social chaos from which it did not seem France would emerge without ineradicable scars,
he still sought positive lessons which could help him in his particular pursuit: to glean from
all of life's experiences something of intimate and immediate value.
It is clear that the lessons of history are particular incidents chosen by Montaigne for
their intrinsic merits, with little regard for when or where the specific events took place.
This is explained by the philosophy of history in which Montaigne believed. There is no-
where in the Essais a complete statement of this philosophy: it is rather to be found in
passages from only a few assays. These remarks provide clues not just to how Montaigne
viewed the history of man, but also to his general philosophy of life. The first of these
passages, and in many ways the most difficult, is to be found at the very beginning of III. 2,
"Du repentir", a passage of the 1588 edition which contains a paradox: that of the incon-
stant constat element in human history, the nature of the human condition.
Les autres forment l'homme; je le recite et en représente un particulier bien mal formé,
et lequel, si j'avoy à façonner de nouveau, je ferois vrayement bien autre qu'il n'est.
Mes-huy c'est fait. Or les traits de ma peinture ne fourvoyent point, quoy qu'ils se
changent et diversifient. Le monde n'est qu'une branloire perenne. Toutes choses y
branlent sans cesse: la terre, les rochers du Caucase, les pyramides d'Aegypte, et du
branle public et du leur. La constance mesme n'est autre chose qu'un branle plus lan-
guissant. Je ne puis asseurer mon object. Il va trouble et chancelant, d'une yvresse na-
turelle. Je le prens en ce point, comme il est, en l'instant je m'amuse à luy.y^ ne peints
pas l'estre. Je peints le passage: non un passage d'aage en autre, ou, comme diet le peu-
ple, de sept en sept ans, mais de jour en jour, de minute en minute. Il faut accomoder
mon histoire à l'heure. Je pourray tantost changer, non de fortune seulement, mais
aussi d'intention. C'est un contrerolle de divers et muables accidens et d'imaginations
irrésolues et, quand il y eschet, contraires: soit que je sois autre moymesme, soit que je
saisisse les subjects par autres circonstances et considerations. Tant y a que je me con-
tredits bien à l'adventure, mais la vérité, comme disoit Demades, je ne la contredy
point. Si mon ame pouvoit prendre pied, je ne m'essaierois pas, je me resoudrois; elle
est tousjours en apprentissage et en espreuve.
89
Je propose une vie basse et sans lustre, c'est tout un. On attache aussi bien toute la
philosophie morale à une vie populaire et privée que à une vie de plus riche estoffe;
chaque homme porte la forme entière de l'humaine condition.
The passage is long, but because it contains so many vital ideas necessary to an under-
standing of Montaigne's thought, it merits close attention. The crucial points are those
italisized: that everything is in constant and unending change (even the ostensibly most
permanent objects); that the human condition is marked by no less change— in fact the
transitions are rapid and constantly occurring— and lastly, that each of us is representative
of the total human condition. In the midst of such bewildering diversity, then, (and as
every reader of Montaigne knows, nothing is so protean as man) there is a constant ele-
ment which is man, and it is therefore possible to find truth only in the study of the indi-
vidual: hence the "essai" which is Montaigne's study of himself.
In the light of this, what can we state specifically about Montaigne's notion of history
in this and subsequent passages? It is characterized by two fundamental qualities: dyna-
mism and diversity, two innate tendencies causing the degree of confusion which to Mon-
taigne has limited our knowledge of what has gone on and is going on around us and which
consequently prevents us from making any discernible progress. In the "Apologie pour
Raimond Sebond", there is an early reference of the 1580 edition to our scanty knowledge
of the world both past and present and the later observation (a marginal comment appear-
ing in 1595) that there have been "opinions populaires et monstrueuses et des moeurs et
créances sauvages" at all times. The new point here is the constancy of man's weakness
and the clear statement that whatever progress is, it does not consist of improvement in
man's conduct. In the same essay, another important idea is expressed. "Si (ainsi, in mo-
dern French) nous voyons tantost fleurir un art, une opinion, tantost une autre, par quel-
que influence celeste; tel siècle produire telles natures et incliner l'humain genre a tel ou
tel ply." Much of what happens in human affairs is the result of pure chance, just as
chance determines what past events will be recorded ("De la gloire": "Nous n'avons pas la
millième partie des escrits anciens; c'est la fortune qui leur donne vie, ou plus courte, ou
plus longue, selon sa faveur" ), or as Rome's greatness at a particular time was more the
result of a purely fortuitous coming together of events and conditions than because of any
agglomeration of human achievements ("De la vanité"). Therefore, historical writing is
often to be taken with a grain of salt: it is necessarily incomplete and so does not provide
us with truth; those who write it are men with all the weaknesses peculiar to the human
condition.
A major point is expressed in "Des coches":
Nous n'allons point, nous rodons plustost, et tournoions çà et là. Nous nous promenons
sur nos pas. Je crains que nostre cognoissance soit foible en tous sens, nous ne voyons
gueres loin, ny guère arrière; elle embrasse peu et vit peu, courte et en estandue de
temps et en estandue de matière.
This short passage (it is entirely of the 1588 edition) is the most important statement
of Montaigne's concept of history. In fact, the essential point is contained in the quite
emphatic first sentence. If Montaigne saw the history of man as basically a dynamic, con-
tinuing phenomenon, he did not see it as a progression from one point to another, with
each stage adding to man's betterment and his understanding of the world, as Bodin envi-
saged it: he was no willing precursor of the Enlightenment's theory of progress. Nor did he
90
have a view of history as a series of recurring events (the so-called cyclical view) which
some may see in remarks made in the last essay, "De l'expérience": "Les hommes mes-
cognoissent la maladie naturelle de leur esprit: il ne fait que fureter et quester, et va sans
cesse tournoiant, bastissant et s'empestrant en sa besogne, comme nos vers de soye, et s'y
éstouffe. 'Mus in pice. ' " The circular movement suggested is really the dizzying effect
the hurly-burly of existence has upon us all and is simply another way of saying that man-
kind, like the mouse in the pitch barrel, goes sniffing around in all directions at once,
something to which for Montaigne the whole panorama of history attests. There is no plan
or organization, no discernible logical progression from age to age: there is simply chaos,
compounded by the fortuitous nature of events. The root cause of all this— as the short
quotation above suggests— is the fact that our knowledge "soit foible en tous sens" because
of the "maladie naturelle de [leur] esprit."
AU these considerations inform the last essay, "De l'expérience", which is the summa
of Montaigne's thought, and which brings together in one long and complex definitive
statement all the ideas discussed. Because we can have only the most scanty and inade-
quate knowledge of the world around us, both past and present, because in the process of
time man has set up institutions which are far from perfect, because, finally, of the con-
fusion and ostensible incoherence in the universe and in society, the only recourse is to
study oneself for answers concerning the human condition, an intellectual viewpoint
which reflects Montaigne's ultimately optimistic outlook. For all his remarks about man's
inadequacies, weaknesses and follies, for the page after page of hyperbolical denunciation
of the faculty of reason in the "Apologie", he does not in the end downgrade man: he was
far too much a renaissance humanist for that. He had great respect for the human condi-
tion and this is why he devoted his energies to a long attempt to examine it, ending with
the self-portrait which attests not just to human frailties but also to human dignity. It is
optimistic too because implicit in what he says is the suggestion that if others were to fol-
low his lead and attempt to understand their own being and lot, mankind might achieve
higher levels of understanding and ultimately the human condition might perhaps improve.
It is obvious that history as a subject of investigation can claim no more special place
in the Essais than any other subject: all are subsumed to the principle purpose which is an
"essai" at arriving at some kind of understanding of the human condition. Montaigne was
not a scholar as we understand the term, but a dilettante and a nobleman who was active
in the highest administrative and political circles at a particularly troubled time in history.
His writings are a highly personal collection of essays he claimed would have little appeal
beyond his own time. His search was a moral one and all his sources (almost entirely the
moral philosophy of antiquity and the lessons to be learned from the lives of the great)
served to construct a personal morality and mode of living. His interest is in factual truth,
not transcendental truth: religion was to be accepted without question and totally without
the use of reason. Man vis-à-vis his God was a personal question and concerned eternity.
Ther temporal problems with which Montaigne was concerned could only be solved by
using what is of this world. And as we have seen, much of what is to be found in this world
is of little use. No comfort can be taken from the fact that time progresses. Excellence
appears for strange reasons: the ancients achieved great heights in matters of moral philoso-
phy, but in other areas they were no better or worse than Montaigne's contemporaries.
There were in his view examples of superb human achievement in his own day, but there
was also the horror of civil and religious strife. Mankind, in effect, had made virtually no
91
moral progress since antiquity, and it seemed the world was being plunged into the worst
kind of depravity. Unlike many of the historians of his own day, Montaigne saw no linear
progression in the history of man, but rather consistent chaos and disorder.
York University
Notes
1 Abraham C. Keller, "Historical and Geographi-
cal Perspective in the Essais of Montaigne,"
Modern Philology, vol. LIV, no. 3 (1957), MS-
IS?.
2 Montaigne, Oeuvres complètes, éd. by Albert
Thibaudet and Maurice Rat (Paris, 1962), 1.21,
p. 104.
3 Pierre Villey, Les livres d'histoire moderne
utilisés par Montaigne , (Paris, 1908).
4 Montaigne, op. cit. II. 10, p. 393.
5 I. 17, p. 72.
6 II. 10, p. 398.
7 II. 10, pp. 396-400.
8 II. 32, p. 700.
9 II. 10, p. 397.
10 Villey, op. cit., p. 24.
11 Montaigne, op. cit., II. 10, p. 922.
12 Villey, op. cit., p. 21.
13 Montaigne, op. cit., I. 20, p. 88.
14 1.26, p. ISS.
15 II. 10, p. 394.
16 II. 10, p. 396.
17 III. 12, p. 1023.
18 III, 2, p. 782.
19 II. 12, p. SS6.
20 H. 12, p. SS9.
21 II. 16, pp. 611-612.
22 III. 9, p. 937.
23 m. 6, p. 88S.
24 III, 13, p. 1044.
92
Francis Bacon: Ancient or Modem?
Marshall McLuhan
Somewhat in the manner in which "hot" and "cool" have flipped in their uses since the
1920s, so with "ancient" and "modern". In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the
moderni were the logicians and the "schoolmen" who were seeking to submit canonical
and scriptural studies to the method of dialectics. By the sixteenth century the schoolmen
were being phased out by the grammatici with their insistence on an encyclopedic literary
and scientific background as an approach to the Fathers and to Scripture. Peter Ramus, in
his turn, made a popular reputation in the sixteenth century by submitting literature it-
self to the older methods of logic and dialectics. Ramus is a conventional example of that
"law of implementation" by which new activity must be submitted to the preceding me-
thod. It happens today with the computer, which in the procedures of systems analysis
and systems engineering is still being programmed by the old analytical methods. That is,
to encode any situation for a computer program, it is necessary to homogenize the situa-
tion statistically and quantitatively in order to accommodate the "two bit" or yes/no re-
quirements of the computer: "The 'Law of Implementation' is that the newest awareness
must be processed by the established procedures." {Take Today.- The Executive as Drop-
out—MurshaW McLuhan and Barrington Nevitt— Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich Inc., N.Y.
1972-Longmans, Canada. P. 236).
As we enter the ecological age of total field study, our misunderstanding of the uses of
the computer "compels" us to fragment the ecological into homogenized bits. Systems
analysis today is avant garde in much the same way that in the sixteenth century Peter
Ramus was regarded as contemporary in his application of the old scholastic methods to
the new humanist materials of history and poetry and oratory. Ramus states the matter
quite blatandy in announcing his utilitarian program:
After my regular three and a half years of scholastic philosophy, mostly the Organon
of Aristotle's logical works, terminating with the conferring of my master's degree, I
began to consider how I should put the logical arts to use.
(p. 41)
Ramus: Method, and the Decay of Dialogue
Walter J. Ong, S.J., Harvard Univ. Press, 1958
Walter Ong comments on the Ramus strategy:
More plainly. Ramus proposes here to apply to eruditio —that is, to the material of his-
tory, antiquity, rhetoric, oratory, and poetry— the rules of logic, and thus in effect to
cut short the reign of scholasticism. But he proposes to do it in a way which will extend
the purlieus of logic all the way from the higher reaches of the curriculum (philosophy)
to the lower (humanities). The maneuver is particularly interesting in that it is new in
his day and thus reveals at least one kind of excessive logicizing as a Renaissance rather
than as a medieval phenomenon.
(p. 41)
The logicizing of Ramus was really a reactionary flip back into the scholastic method
just at the time when Gutenberg had made available many of the pagan poets and histori-
93
Renaissance and Reformation VOLUME X 1974 NUMBER 2
ans, or "ancients". Ernst Robert Curtius observes in his European Literature and the Latin
Middle Ages (Harper Torchbooks, Bollingen Library, 1953):
In medieval pedagogy we can distinguish two theories on the subject of the artes: the
patristic and the secular-scholastic. (p. 39)
The ancients, as opposed to the moderni, had in the twelfth century represented not the
new logic but grammar and literature, or the patristic tradition of culture which had
flourished by way of Philo Judaeus, Clement, Origen and Augustine. Now that we have the
work of Henri de Lubac {Exégèse médiévale, les quatre sens de l'Ecriture, 4 vols., Paris,
1959-1964), it is easier to explain how the multi-levelled exegesis of Scripture blended
with the scientific work of the interpreters of "The Book of Nature" in an unbroken tradi-
tion from the Fathers to the Novum Organum of Francis Bacon. It is, however, in the
work of Ernst Curtius that the continuity of the trivium and the quadrivium, in the study
of Scripture and of nature alike, is detailed:
It is a favorite cliché of the popular view of history that the Renaissance shook off the
dust of yellowed parchments and began instead to read in the book of nature or the
world. But this metaphor itself derives from the Latin Middle Ages. We saw that Alan
speaks of the "book of experience". For him, every creature is a book (PL, CCX, 579A):
Omnis mundi creatura
Quasi liber et pictura
Nobis est et speculum.
In later authors, especially the homilists, "scientia creaturarum" and "liber naturae"
appear as synonyms. For the preacher of the book of nature must figure with the
Bible as a source of material. This idea still appears in so late a writer as Raymond of
Sabunde(d. 1436) ...
(pp. 319-20)
The medieval inseparability of the page of nature and the page of Scripture was to confuse
many writers of the nineteenth century and later. Thus, Bacon's editor, Spedding, says of
Bacon's "peculiar system of philosophy" that is "the peculiar method of investigation, the
'organum', the 'formula', the 'clavis', the 'ars ipsa interpretandi naturam', the 'filum
Labyrinthi', of all 'this philosophy' we can make nothing." Apparently, Spedding thought
these traditional grammarian concepts were original with Bacon. Likewise, Basil Willey
selects Bacon as the representative of modern science without understanding that Bacon
had approached the science in the spirit of the ancient grammarians and observers of the
page of nature {The Seventeenth Century Background-London, 1934, p. 12). In the same
way, A.N. Whitehead, while perceiving that Bacon "is outside the physical line of thought
which finally dominated the century" has no way of clarifying his observation: "I believe
Bacon's line of thought to have expressed a more fundamental truth than do the material-
istic concepts which were then being shaped as adequate for physics." {Science and the
Modern World, London, 1938, p. 56) Quite simply. Bacon's humanist and grammatical
approach to the page of nature and the book of creatures makes for "a conception of
organism as fundamental for nature". {Ibid., p. 130) Bacon's organic approach, I suggest,
is derived from the multi-levelled exegesis of the book of nature and Scripture alike. The
simultaneity of all levels in ancient grammatica coincides with twentieth century quantum
mechanics which is concerned with the physical and chemical bond of nature as the "reso-
94
nant inverval." The acoustic simultaneity of the new physics co-exists with "synchrony"
and structuralism in language and literature and anthropology as understood in Ferdinand
de Saussure and Levi-Strauss. For St. Bonaventure likewise "synchrony" or acoustic and
simultaneous structuralism presented no problems. A few words from Professor Gilson's
Study of The Philosophy of St. Bonaventure indicates Bonaventure's complete accord with
traditional grammatica:
Since the universe was offered to his eyes as a book to read and he saw in nature a sensi-
ble revelation analogous to that of the Scriptures, the traditional methods of interpre-
tation which had always been applied to the sacred books could equally be applied to
the book of creation. Just as there is an immediate and literal sense of the profane text,
but also an allegorical sense by which we discover the truths of faith that the letter
signifies, a tropological sense by which we discover a moral precept behind the passage
in the form of an historical narrative, and an anogogical sense by which our souls are
raised to the love and desire of God, so we must not attend to the literal and immediate
sense of the book of creation but look for its inner meaning in the theological, moral
and mystical lessons that it contains. The passage from one of these two spheres to the
other is the more easily effected in that they are in reality inseparable.
Bacon's program for the advancement of knowledge and science stays within the traditional
frame of patristic grammatica:
After the creation was finished, it is set down unto us that man was placed in the
garden to work therein; which work, so appointed to him, could be no other than the
work of Contemplation; ... Again, the first acts which man performed in Paradise con-
sisted of the two summary parts of knowledge; the view of creatures and the imposi-
tion of names.
The Advancement of Learning, WORKS VI,
138
from THE WORKS OF FRANCIS BACON,
ed. Spelling, Ellis, Heath, Cambridge, 1863,
15 volumes.
The view of creatures and the imposition of names corresponds precisely to the major
aims of Bacon's own program. The first was to be achieved by a universal natural history,
the second by reading materia signata by the exegetical techniques of interpretation based
on traditional grammar. The remaining objective of Bacon's program, involving techniques
for the implanting and transmission of knowledge, never presented itself to Adam since he
lost his knowledge before he had a posterity to whom he could transmit it. Bacon saw our
job as one of retrieval and he felt we had an excellent chance of achieving the goal. In com-
mon with some of his contemporaries. Bacon squared the signs of the time with the pro-
phecies of Daniel. What to many was merely a sombre concern about the remaining parti-
cle of futurity, was for the ebullient Bacon a happy augury of success for his particular
scientific methods:
... the bearing and fructifying of this plant, [of knowledge] by a providence of God,
nay not only by a general providence but by a special prophecy, was appointed to this
autumn of the world: for to my understanding it is not violent to the letter, and safe
95
now after the event, so to interpret that place in the prophecy of Daniel where speak-
ing of the latter times it is said, Many shall pass to and fro, and science shall be increas-
ed; as if the opening of the world by navigation and commerce and the further dis-
covery of knowledge should meet in one time or age.
WORKS, VI, 32.
Consistent with having Daniel underwrite his program is Bacon's label for his research
laboratory in the New Atlantis. Solomon's House is given the alternative title of College
of the Six Days' Works, and its significant relation to the Hebrew king made quite explicit.
Bacon wished to associate his endeavors with the widely held Christian tradition that
Solomon alone of the sons of men had recovered that natural wisdom and metaphysical
knowledge of essence of which Adam had been justly deprived.
The kind of importance attaching to traditional grammar in Bacon's scheme is evident
from the following passage:
Concerning Speech and Words, the consideration of them hath produced the science of
Grammar: for man still striveth to integrate himself in those benedictions, from which
by his fault he hath been deprived; and as he hath striven against the first general curse
by the invention of all other arts, so hath he sought to come forth of the second general
curse (which was the confusion of tongues) by the art of Grammar; .... The duty of it is
of two natures; the one popular, which is for the speedy and perfect attaining of lan-
guages ...; the other philosophical, examining the power and nature of words as they
are the footsteps and prints of reason is handled sparsim, brokenly, though not entirely;
and therefore I cannot report it deficient, though I think it very worthy to be reduced
into a science by itself.
WORKS, VI, 285-86.
In this latter philosophical sense, grammar had been a main mode of physics, cosmogony
and theology for centuries. Without pursuing this tradition all the way back to the pre-
Socratics, it may serve to indicate the qualified attitude to grammatica among Bacon's con-
temporaries. Evelyn Simpson explains apropos John Donne:
When he preached on the Psalms or on any other book of the Old Testament, Donne
generally used the threefold method— literal, moral, and "spiritual" or anagogical— which
had been used by preachers and commentators from the time of Origen and Clement of
Alexandria to the Renaissance. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries this method
was beginning to look a little old-fashioned, and many of Donne's contemporaries were
abandoning it in favor of a more historical approach. However, Donne himself announ-
ced in two sermons preached at Lincoln's Inn on the Thirty-eighth Psalm that this me-
thod was to be the basis of his series of six sermons .... Though Donne frequently makes
use of the moral and anagogical senses of Scripture, he is quite definite in asserting the
supremacy of the literal sense, and thus he avoided the absurdities into which some of
the earlier commentators fell. In his Christmas sermon of 1621 at St. Paul's he says:
Therefore though it be ever lawfull, and often times very usefuU, for the raising
and exaltation of our devotion ... to induce the diverse senses that the Scriptures
doe admit, yet this may not be admitted, if there may be danger thereby, to ne-
glect or weaken the literall sense it selfe. For there is no necessity of that spirituall
wantonnesse of finding more then necessary senses; for, the more lights there are,
96
the more shadows are also cast by those many lights. And, as it is true in religious
duties, so it is in interpretation of matters of Religion, Necessarium & Satis con-
ventuntur; when you have done that you ought to doe in your calling, you have
done enough ... so when you have the necessary sense, that is the meaning of the
holy Ghost in that place, you have senses enow, and not till then, though you
have never so many, and never so delightful.
(pp. 7-8)
Although John Donne and Jeremy Taylor and many others in the seventeenth century re-
tained the traditional but anti-scholastic and simultaneous view of creatures and of sacred
Scripture, this was a flexible and acoustic approach to phenomena which began to be un-
popular as a new stress on visual order and classification became widespread. Eighteenth
century rationalism shifted the stress from the acoustic to visual order in a notable degree,
so that, as Evelyn Simpson notes, the entire approach to multi-levelled exegesis was unac-
ceptable to the 19th century:
In the nineteenth century this method was denounced as absurd by Biblical critics of
various schools of thought, such as Matthew Arnold, Jowett, Dean Farrar, and Bishop
Charles Gore. Farrar summed up the work of the Alexandrian Fathers by saying: "They
do but systematize the art of misinterpretation. They have furnished volumes of base-
less application without shedding upon the significance of Scripture one ray of genuine
light."
However, with the new physics and the new biology:
The twentieth century has seen a revulsion from this wholesale condemnation. While
some commentators may still desire "a single plain sense of Scripture" there has been
a widespread return to the symbolical interpretation of Old Testament literature.
(p. 8)
John Donne's Sermons on the Psalms and
Gospels, Evelyn M. Simpson, Univ. of Cahf.
Press, 1963.
In fact, the entire development of symbolism and structural synchrony from Baudelaire
onward has tended to restore the understanding of the rationale of ancient exegesis.
In The Orphic Voice-. Poetry and Natural History (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London,
1960) Elizabeth Sewell studies the Orphic or metamorphic and "magical" tradition in
poetry and science from Ovid to Mallarmé. Francis Bacon has a very special place in her
study, precisely because of his concern with the language of the Book of Nature:
A Collection of all varieties of Natural Bodies ... where an Inquirer ... might per-
use, and turn over, and spell, and read the Book of Nature, and observe the Ortho-
graphy, Etymologia, Syntaxis, and Prosodia of Nature's Grammar, and by which
as with a Dictionary, he might readily turn to and find the true Figures, Compo-
sition, Derivation, and Use of the Characters, Words, Phrases and Sentences of
Nature written with indelible, and most exact, and most expressive Letters, with-
out which Books it will be very difficult to be thoroughly a Literatus in the
Language and Sense of Nature.
Incomplete as it is, Bacon's doctrine of forms has given rise to accusations of slovenli-
97
ness and imprecision. It is certainly not easy, but we must remember that Bacon is,
after all, trying to say something new.
(p. 134)
This "new" approach was, however, something that had a continuous history throughout
the patristic and medieval periods before Bacon. The bond which Elizabeth Sewell finds
between poetry and science in the Orphic tradition is the one which Martianus Capella had
tied between the trivium and the quadrivium in his marriage of Mercury and Philology:
The description of the liberal arts which remained authoritative throughout the Middle
Ages had been produced by Martianus Capella, who wrote between 410 and 439. Notker
Labeo (d. 1022) translated it into Old High German; the young Hugo Grotius won his
spurs with a new edition (1599); and Leibniz, even in his day, planned another. Traces
of Martianus are still to be found in the pageantry of the late sixteenth century.
(p. 38)
European Literature and the Latin Middle
Ages, Ernst R. Curtius
Martianus Capella had succeeded in bringing the language arts to bear on the sciences and
mathematics, creating that unified encyclopedism which characterizes the inclusive and
acoustic approach to knowledge, which is represented by ancient and medieval and Baconi-
an grawwaî/cfl alike. The work of Lain Entralgo {The Therapy of the Word in Classical
Antiquity— Yale University Press, 1972) is a study of the medical and magical properties of
language, Shamanistic in origin and efficacious in creating the familiar classical genres of
poetry in the ancient world. Today the submicroscopic world of electronics has once more
attuned our senses to the acoustic properties of natural phenomena and the arts, rendering
contemporary both the "science" of Bacon and the science of theological exegesis, long
familiar to the commentators on both the natural and the Sacred Page.
University of Toronto
98
Who Was Christopher Columbus?
James W. Cortada
Christopher Columbus boldly carved out a prominent place for himself in European and
American history by sailing westward to the New World in 1492. He became one of the
most important figures in western civilization by changing the very thrust of European
expansion for the next five hundred years. For this reason, he quickly became the subject
of great interest to scholars and reading publics all over the world who early realized the
significance of his voyages. In the past thirty years historians have conducted more reveal-
ing research on him than in all the previous years combined. We know today most of the
details surrounding his initial contacts with Isabel and Ferdinand. The facts regarding his
voyages to the New World are common knowledge. In short, our collection of data about
his life after he became famous is large and not subject to much controversy anymore.
What is still clouded is his early life until the late 1480s. Most of the recent research on
Columbus has been concentrated in this earlier period and some interesting discoveries
have resulted. Of the various lines of investigation in this regard which has produced the
greatest amount of controversy, the issue of his origin is the most important.
While always the subject of some heated debate, this issue did not attract any wide
attention until about thirty years ago when Samuel Eliot Morison, an American historian,
published a biography of Columbus in which he stated that the discoverer was Italian born
and raised in Genoa. In effect, Morison gave his stamp of approval for the most common-
ly accepted interpretation of the navigator's origin. And even today, hardly a European or
American textbook disputes these facts with the sole exception of the Spanish who, at the
time Morison published his book wanted to call Columbus one of theirs, never publicized
their views outside of Spain. Yet at about the same time that Morison published his bio-
graphy another highly respected scholar released other findings.
Salvador de Madariaga, a Spaniard living in England, published a massive biography
summarizing the various controversies regarding Columbus and added his views with saga-
city and prudence. Essentially, Madariaga argued that the discoverer had been raised in
Genoa by his Catalan family which was of Jewish extraction rather than Roman Catholic.
Arguing his case more forcefully than Morison, he marshalled evidence from Italian and
Spanish sources to prove his contention. With two leading historians at odds on the ques-
tion, it was only inevitable that other scholars would cross-check the facts and attempt to
resolve the issue. The historiographical argument resulting from these two books has con-
tinued unabated for thirty years in the United States, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and
shows no signs of decreasing. Yet in the process of taking sides, historians have unearthed
a great deal of new information on the early life of Columbus.
But why the argument about his origins? In part the answer is that historians invariab-
ly want to settle unanswered mysteries especially if there is an audience to read their find-
ings. But in the majority, national pride inspired a voracious hunt for the facts. Literally
thousands of articles and several important volumes have appeared on Columbus as a re-
sult of this controversy. Italians wanted to claim Columbus as one of their own in order
to take credit for his achievement. To a Castillan Spaniard, such a thought was revolting
since the reign of Ferdinand and Isabel represented the greatest and most exciting chap-
ter in Spain's history and to grace it with a foreigner became inconceivable. For such an
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Renaissance and Reformation VOLUME X 1974 NUMBER 2
individual, it seemed imperative that the discoverer of the New World be a Catholic
Spaniard not an Italian or a Jew.
Yet others have vied for Columbus as well. With less success, a few Portuguese histori-
ans explored the possibility that the navigator was a bastard son of the royal family. Call-
ing forth such facts as his long tenure in Portugal, speaking knowledge of their language,
and Lisbon's reputation as a maritime center, they argued that he was in fact a relative of
the Spanish king and queen. However, few historians outside of Portugal ever took this
reasoning seriously. In fact, the Portuguese have done the least amount of work on
Columbus in the past generation and probably because they have been so discouraged by
Spanish and Italian historians.
The other major group claiming Columbus have been the Catalans who inhabit the
northeast corner of Spain. Catalonia, long a maritime center and the home base for many
sailors, maritime lawyers, and merchants in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, early
made its bid for Columbus. To Catalans no better crown for their proud maritime heri-
tage could be found than to prove Columbus one of them. Their historians have done the
most thorough research on the discoverer, finding the greatest number of new facts re-
garding his early life. It is to their work that attention should be drawn since little of it
has ever appeared in English and because their findings shed light on Christopher
Columbus.
Local pride induced Catalans to call Columbus, or as they would argue by citing old
documents, Colom, one of their own. There is no denying that he had ties with this re-
gion. Some of his sailors on the first voyage were Catalans. When the Admiral returned to
Spain he presented himself to Ferdinand and Isabel with his Indians, corn, tobacco, and
other souvenirs at Barcelona, Catalonia's principal port. In fact, part of his first expedi-
tion was financed by Catalan bankers long experienced in dealing with maritime invest-
ments. It is fairly accepted that earlier in his life, Columbus fought near the Catalan coast
during a local civil war. Even today, visitors to Barcelona are reminded of him. In the har-
bor is a full sized reproduction of one of his ships. Near the docks stands a large statue of
the discoverer while less than two hundred yards away the landing where he unloaded his
vessels after the first trip remains preserved as a maritime museum. The throne room in
which he reported to Isabel and Ferdinand is open to tourists and the guides are quick to
point out that Columbus visited the chamber.
The city of Barcelona also houses a treasure of archives long used by Catalan scholars.
Because it is rich in information regarding Columbus and other local mariners, odd pieces
of information on the navigator continually appear. The municipal naval records and
those of the Crown of Aragon have shown that Columbus visited Barcelona on several
occasions for business requiring legal documentation. Major findings have yet to be made;
however, many local historians believe that Columbus's diary of his first trip, which he
publicly gave to Isabel in Barcelona and has subsequently been lost, is stored in the Ara-
gon files. The possibility of other papers of his being there is strongly believed since some
of his less important ones have been found there.
Mallorca, like Barcelona, has also yielded evidence of his early life. The Catalan island
of Mallorca, like Genoa in the fifteenth century, was a leading center for map makers.
Like her Italian competitor, Mallorca produced navigators and sailors who manned ships
all over the Mediterranean world. Some historians even feel that at the time of Columbus's
birth in mid-century, Mallorca was the most prominent map manufacturing area in the
100
Mediterranean. Armed with samples of Columbus's handwriting, scholars have probed
local records in search of proof that the explorer had indeed been a Catalan. A local regis-
ter of municipal documents in Mallorca listed a Cristobal Colom during the 1480s. A
long time Mallorquin family, the Socias, has claimed for several hundred years that
Columbus was a descendant of theirs; yet positive proof is lacking. The long search for a
letter by Columbus in Catalan on the island that was to prove his nationality never ma-
terialized but greater discoveries were made on the mainland.
The Archives of the Indies, housed in Seville, listed a letter by him dated 1493 which
described the first voyage in Catalan. Yet this document has not been found in these files.
Later such a letter was discovered in Catalonia. Addressed to a Valencian banker who
helped finance his first trip, Don Luis Santangel, it was written in Catalan and in the Ad-
miral's own hand. Other copies existed in printed form. For example in 1497, a German
translation of the letter was published in Strasbourg. Three other editions appeared in
Italian between 1493 and 1497. In all four cases, the translators noted that the original
had been in Catalan and their copies, from which they worked, were also in Catalan.
Other documents culled from Catalan government sources called him Colom as oppos-
ed to the Spanish Colon even before he made his trip to the New World. A letter in the
archives of the Duke of Alba refers to the Admiral as Colom and was written by a Casti-
llan. Other Spanish records, mainly indices of documents, listed Columbus either as Colon
or Colom. Part of the discrepancies in his name can be attributed to the poor handwriting
of Spanish clerks but also to the possibility that Columbus was known to some of his
aquaintances by his Catalan or Castilian names. From the scattered pieces of evidence in
Castile and in Catalonia, Spanish historians, during the 1950s, moved toward the conclu-
sion that Columbus was not an Italian. By the end of the next decade most believed
there was a strong possibility that he was of Catalan extraction. The extremists held that
he was Mallorquin.
Most European historians now believe that an Italian Columbus could not be. Consi-
dering the importance of the trip and the responsibility that Columbus had in governing
any land he discovered, it seemed highly doubtful that the King and Queen would have
sponsored a citizen of another country. Given the rivalry between Spain and other Euro-
pean powers at the time, historians argued that appointing an Italian would have been a
bad political move. The governorship of discovered lands probably would have gone to a
member of a distinguished Spanish family or even to a royal relative.
There are those who have tried to argue that Columbus was of royal blood in order to
support the contention that only a major individual would have received the blessings of
the monarchy for such an adventure. Arguing with little reliable evidence, some have tried
to show that Columbus was a member of the Portuguese royal family which was related
to Spain's. Neither Spanish or Portuguese researchers have uncovered any birth certifi-
cate or statement of illegitimate birth to substantiate such arguments. Yet the intense ef-
forts to show Columbus's Spanish background has not been matched in Portugal by ex-
tensive probings into royal archives.
The Catalans have also employed the Spanish argument that only a person with some
connection with Spain could have received the titles of Admiral and Viceroy from the
monarchy. Rejecting the Italian claim, they believed a Catalan, being a Spaniard, could be
given such power and prestige without violating customs, law, and good political sense.
Moreover, since Catalonia still provided Spain with her best map makers and sailors, it
101
was only natural that a Catalan would propose such a revolutionary idea as finding a west-
ward path to the east. Economics was also employed in the argument because at the time,
it appeared that a further development of trade with Asia would certainly benefit the
Catalans the most since they already had considerable experience in maritime trade while
the Castillans did not.
The controversy over Columbus's origins remains unresolved. The Italian school under-
cut their own arguments by admitting that Genoa boasted several map makers at the time
bearing the name Columbus. A birth certificate from a Roman Catholic church or an
equivalent document from Jewish authorities bearing the name of the explorer has not
been found in Genoa, Lisbon, or in Mallorca. Such a discovery would undoubtedly help
settle much of the controversy assuming that an authentic certificate even exists since .
record keeping was not all that one might want in the fifteenth century. Yet fragments of
his writings have been found in Catalan as well as in Latin and in Spanish. We know he
spoke Portuguese, Spanish, and some Italian. Possibly he knew Catalan but preferred not
to use it around his Castilian friends. Where did Columbus come from, what was his reli-
gion, and did he speak Catalan like a native? The solutions to these riddles are still shroud-
ed in mystery. But with more historians than ever before studying his life, the answers
may not be long in coming. Until then, Columbus will remain the enigma he has always
been.
Florida State University
Notes
1 For a bibliography of these works see Enrique
Bayerri y Bertomeu, Colon tal cual fué (Barce-
lona, 1961), 25-323.
2 Ibid., 11-23.
3 Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean
Sea, A Life of Christopher Columbus (Boston,
1942), I, 7-8.
4 Salvador de Madariaga, Christopher Columbus
(New York, 1967, original éd., 1940), vii-viii.
5 Juan Manzano, Cristobal Colon. Siete anos
decisivos de su vida: 1485-1492 (Madrid, 1964)
and Ramon Ezquerra, "Cristobal Colon,"
Diccionario de historia de Espana (Madrid,
1968), I, 886-892.
6 Besides those already mentioned see Juan Perez
de Tudela, Las armadas de Indias y los ort'genes
de la polnica de colonizacion (Madrid, 1956)
and The Life of The Admiral Christopher
Columbus By His Son Ferdinand, translated
and annotated by Benjamin Keen (New Bruns-
wick, 1959).
7 Summarized in Madariaga, Christopher Colum-
bus, 69-118. See also Moses Bensabat Amzalak,
Uma Interpretaçào da assinatura de Cristovam
Colombo (Lisbon, 1927) and Patrocinio Ribeiro,
A Nacionalidade Portuguesa de Cristovam
Colombo (Lisbon, 1927).
Bayerri y Bertomeu, Colon tal cual fué, passim.
José Porter, i Fue escrita y publicada en
lengua Catalana la primera noticia del descu-
brimiento de America? , published paper pre-
sented to the Third International Bibliographic
Congress in October, 1963, in Barcelona (Barce-
lona, 1971 ), 8-1 1 ; Manuel Alvarez de Sotomayor,
"Colon Mallorquin? ," in Historia de Mallorca,
edited by J. Mascaro Pasarius (Palma de
Mallorca, 1971), IV, 193-281.
Joaquim Ventallo, "Ahondando en la historia
del descubrimi ento de America," La Vanguardia
Espanola, June 11, 1971.
Bayerri y Bertomeu, Colon tal cual fué, 777-786.
Madariaga, Christopher Columbus, 25-33.
See footnote No. 7.
Antonio Rumeu de Armas, Colon en Barcelona
(Seville, 1944), 1-43.
Italian views are collected in Studi Colombiani,
3 vols (Genoa, 1952).
102
Avarice and Sloth in the Orlando Furioso*
Julius A. Molinaro
Morton Bloomfield's systematic inquiry into the historical evolution of the concept of the
Seven Deadly Sins in English poetry from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, including
Spenser's The Faerie Qiieene, has opened up the prospect of profitable investigation of the
subject in other literatures.^ In this light the Orlando Furioso, which served as a model
for Spenser, has never been fully examined and thus invites consideration. The advantage
of looking at the Orlando Furioso from this point of view is that it permits an unprejudiced
reading, from a new perspective, which may result in a fresh insight into Ariosto's poem.
The question, which presents intriguing possibilities, may in one way be approached by
Siegfried Wenzel's assertion that the "simplest function" of the Seven Deadly Sins "be-
yond merely enriching the doctrinal content of a poem, would be to give it structure and
form". This observation should perhaps be qualified in the case of the Orlando Furioso
where the importance of the doctrinal element is clearly insignificant. The following pages
will not attempt to deal with the subject in its entirety but will focus on one aspect only,
in particular on avarice and sloth, sins which Ariosto has himself associated with the
clergy and the monastic orders in accordance with a tradition which has its origin in
Medieval religious handbooks and early Renaissance writings. This study, which will make
some use of analogues not sources, is predicated on the universally accepted premise that
the poem is not an allegory, or a classical epic, designed with a moral purpose, as was
maintained in 1549 in La Spositione di M. Simon Fornari da Reggio sopra I'Orlando
Furioso di M. Ludovico Ariosto (Firenze: Torrentino), but a work in which Ariosto's
benevolent attitude towards his fellow man manifests itself with good natured, often mis-
chievous humour, and generous infusions of irony.
Before proceeding further, however, it would be useful to bear in mind throughout the
ensuing discussion that for Ariosto poetry is superior to history and that in his opinion
only an ignorant person would hold the contrary to be true. Ariosto prefers to incorpor-
ate his theory in a concrete example rather than theorize, as Spenser does later in The
Faerie Queene in his celebrated letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, who is reminded that "the
Méthode of a Poet historical is not such as of an Historiographer" and that the poet "re-
coursing to the thinges forepaste, and divining of things to come, maketh a pleasing An-
alysis of all". Towards the end of the Orlando Furioso, long after it has become clear
that the poet's imagination is bound by no rule, Ariosto answers the charge that he has no
respect for facts. Ariosto at this point (Canto XLII, 20-22) has just told the story of a com-
bat between three of the stoutest Christian warriors, including Orlando, and three worthy
pagan opponents, including Agramante, the African king. Ariosto has also related that the
fight took place in an open space on an island in the Mediterranean but an objection was
raised that the site of the battle was so mountainous and rough that it was impossible to
find a level place large enough to serve as the scene of the battle described. This was main-
tained in Canto XLII by Federico Fulgoso, commander of the Genoese fleet, who, having
fought against the pirates infesting the Ligurian coast, knew these waters well, and object-
ed that the terrain of the island of Lipadusa (Lampedusa), which he had seen with his own
eyes, was an unlikely site for an equestrian battle. Cardinal Fulgoso, or Fregoso, who may
have heard Ariosto read his poem in Rome in 1510, and one of the interlocutors in Pietro
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Renaissance and Reformation VOLUME X 1974 NUMBER 2
Bemho's Prose of 1525, was therefore implying that Ariosto's story was not true or veri-
similar and that the poet was a liar. In reply to this accusation, allegedly based on fact,
Ariosto calmly explains that just after Cardinal Federico visited the island, an earthquake
dislodged a huge rock, which fell upon the mountain flattening it and creating a square
which then became a suitable arena for the famous battle scene, recorded by Fragonard in
a drawing called The Battle on the Island of Lipadusa. Ariosto thus prefers to counter
fact with poetic invention rather than with another fact, in this way avoiding a direct con-
frontation on the issue and outwitting his opponent on terms of his own choosing. In the
three octaves which succinctly sum up his poetic theory, Ariosto uses only three words
belonging to the technical language of literary criticism, istoria, vera and verisimile, if the
word liar, bugiardo, be excluded. Swiftly dismissing the cardinal's charge, Ariosto slyly re-
turns to his story, how nearing its conclusion. It is worthy of note that Ariosto raises the
ancient problem of history versus poetry only towards the end of his poem rather than at
the beginning, perhaps assuming his readers would accept the first forty-two of the forty-
six cantos of the poem as ample and convincing demonstration of his theory of poetics.
The way was in a certain manner prepared early in the poem, in Canto VII, 1-2, where
Ariosto notes that the ignorant vulgo believes only in what it can touch or feel, sceptical
of all else, and is unlikely to give credence to his tale, but rather call him a liar, bugiardo.
Ippolito, his patron, who is enlightened, will not consider it a lie, menzogna.
Thus, poetry and history, reality and illusion, Ippolito, Renaissance patron, and Rug-
giero, his mythical ancestor, co-exist side by side on equal terms in the world of the
Orlando Furioso. Ruggiero, the young hero of the poem, is destined to become the head
of a long line of illustrious men and women, culminating in the House of Este, but before
this is possible, he must prove himself by overcoming a series of obstacles. Canto VI pre-
sents one stage in the spiritual development of Ruggiero and justifies the allegorical frame-
work of its conception, Alcina representing lust; Logistilla, reason, assisted by the four
cardinal virtues later (X, 52). Ruggiero, a victim of lussuria and enslaved by sloth (VII, 5 3),
as a first step is obliged to overcome vice (VI, 60), then to defend himself against evil in-
stincts, all of them introduced in the shape of monstrous creatures, half man, half animal,
mounted on steeds, donkeys or oxen, repulsive and grotesque disfigurations. The vices
they represent are not specified, but since they appear as deformations of men with bestial
features, it may not have occurred to Ariosto that further definition was necessary and
that they would not be interpreted as a sufficiently clear allusion to deviation from virtue,
hence from beauty. Virtue and beauty are often synonymous in the Orlando Furioso. It
will be remembered that once Alcina's falseness is discovered, her beauty disappears and
she stands revealed in all her ugliness. Ruggiero fights against the vices alone, refusing to
use his enchanted shield which blinds when uncovered, preferring to rely upon his own
virtue, instead of fraud. Vice, then, cannot defeat Ruggiero, but beauty, in the persons of
two fair young ladies, Beltà, and Leggiadria, disarms him (VI, 69). The implication is clear
that Ruggiero has the force of character to conquer vice but cannot resist beauty, and
beauty leads him on the path to Alcina's garden, to lust and sloth. In the Roman de la
Rose, Oiseuse, Idleness, doorkeeper of the garden, a kind of earthly paradise, carries the
mirror and comb of lechery to suggest that sloth is the first step towards lust. In Piers
Plowman, sloth keeps company with lust and is both a physical and spiritual affliction.
The Ruggiero- Alcina episode inspired Fragonard, the eighteenth century French artist,
to record one of its most significant moments in the drawing, Ruggiero perceives the true
104
ugliness of Alcina, raising a problem which can be dealt with only in passing here but
which merits some attention. Lessing in the eighteenth century refused to concede that
Ariosto was a painter when he described the beauty of Alcina, charging that his stanzas
were full of excessive descriptive detail, from which no distinct image could possibly
emerge, and that therefore, he exceeded the bounds of the poet's art. In his book, Vt Pic-
tura Poesis, The Humanistic Theory of Painting, Rensselaer W. Lee has discussed this mat-
ter in connection with the Renaissance habit of equating the talents of the poet with those
of the painter pointing out that if Ariosto was guilty of an artistic transgression in Lessing's
eyes, this was not the case for Ludovico Dolce, who, in his Dialogo della pittura in the six-
teenth century enthusiastically characterized Ariosto as a painter of high merit. It might
be added that Dolce could speak not only as an art critic but as an experienced editor hav-
ing brought out, among others, an annotated edition of Ariosto's poem. The history of
the illustrated editions of the Orlando Furioso demonstrates that it was regarded as a rich
mine of subject matter by artists, among them the Bolognese painters Annibale Carraci
and Guido Reni, late sixteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries; G.B. Tiepolo, who painted
the frescoes on the Orlando theme in Vicenza in 1737; Rubens in the Low Countries
(1577 - 1640); and Poussin in France in the seventeenth century. The more than 137
drawings by Fragonard, considered by Philip Hofer in his article, "Illustrated Editions of
the Orlando Furioso, in the book just cited (pp. 27 - 40) to be the greatest in a long line
of interpreters of Ariosto, lend added proof to the poet's appeal for the artist.
Just before Ruggiero enters Alcina's garden of sensual delight, an earthly paradise,
inspired by Poliziano's Kingdom of Venus, the young knight has to confront Erifilla, the
symbol of avarice. Ariosto's description of Erifilla neglects no detail necessary for a lucid
picture of this figure, gigantic in stature, with long teeth and a poisonous bite, and with
sharp finger nails, giving her a bear-like claw (VI, 78). She is mounted on a wolf, not as
lean as Dante's in the Inferno (I, 49-54), but very heavy and taller than an ox. She wears
vestments of a sand colour, symbolic of avarice. Her helmet and shield bear the figure of a
swollen poisonous toad (VII, 4-5), often associated with avarice in the iconography of the
sin. Whether this carefully produced verbal picture was ever translated into an actual re-
presentation has not come to my notice, but there can be little doubt that Ariosto had a
clear portrait in mind. In the encounter between Ruggiero and Erifilla, the latter is un-
horsed but on the advice of his guides, Belta and Leggiadria, who together proceed to lead
him to Alcina's enchanted garden (VII, 7) the knight punishes her no further. It is evident
from this episode that the author's hero, Ruggiero, cannot in any way be moved by the
sin of avarice, which has not the slightest hold on him, although being vulnerable to beauty,
he is an easy victim of lust.
A paragon of virtue, uncorrupted by avarice (XXVl, 1 ), like the illustrious women of
ancient times she resembles, Bradamante, predestined to be Ruggiero's wife, like him co-
vets neither wealth nor empire. Having thus introduced the subject of avarice at the begin-
ning of Canto XXVI, Ariosto then presents a related vice, cupidity, sometimes considered
a cardinal sin, as Bloomfield points out (p. 54). Engraved on one of the four fountains built
by Merlin in France is the story of a beast, referred to as a corrupting monster (46), cupi-
dity. Portrayed as a beast with the body of a fox, the ears of an ass, the head and teeth of a
wolf, a lion's claws, lean and hungry, it spares no one, high or low, No respecter of rank,
cupidity inflicts injury on kings, princes and their peers but is especially destructive in the
Roman court among cardinals and popes (32), Ariosto is careful to note.
105
In The Faerie Queene, in Book 1, Canto IV, in the colourful pageant of the Seven Dead-
ly Sins, for which Samuel C. Chew has suggested a number of analogues from literature
and the arts of design, the figure of Avarice, fourth in the parade, appears wearing thred-
bare cote and cabled shoes, who in order to fill his coffers with money:
Ne scarse good morsell all his life did taste.
Avarice is presented as one who has led a wretched life:
Most wretched wight, whom nothing might suffise;
Whose greedy lust did lacke in greatest store;
Whose need had end, but no end covetise;
Whose welth was want, whose plenty made him pore;
Who had enough, yett wished ever more.
In Spenser's procession. Avarice is riding on a "Camell loaden all with gold" (stanza 27)
while Ariosto's figure is mounted on a beast that had issued from Hell, almost at the time
of the creation of the universe. Details differ but in the conception of the sin there is a
similarity of spirit.
Cupidity, as Ariosto predicts, will be the cause of havoc and no locality will be spared
its depredations (XXVI, 42). Especially active among the prelates of the church, it can be checked
and conquered by only magnamity, such as that of Francis I of France. In the fourteenth-
century The Ladder of Perfection, Walter Hilton defines covetousness as a "love of
worldly things" which can best be combatted by "poverty of spirit". He elaborates: "Co-
vetousness is destroyed in the soul by the working of Divine Love, for it stirs the soul to
such an ardent desire for good and heavenly riches that it holds all earthly riches as worth-
less" (p. 219). Aristotle had long ago affirmed that the mean between prodigality and
avarice was liberality, and following him, Ariosto names Francis I as the leading champion
of his time in combatting cupidity in political and social life. The French sovereign is not
alone, however, for he is supported by three young rulers, who are also cited for this dis-
tinction: Maximilian of Austria, the Emperor Charles V, and Henry VIII of England. Ariosto
then presents a long list of contemporary figures who were active in the fight against the
corroding vice of cupidity. For Ariosto, then, cupidity, while not numbered among. the
seven deadly sins, is an equally destructive vice.
According to Brunetto Latini cupidity derives from sloth. In // Tesoretto, Brunetto ex-
plains that when a man through indolence cannot provide for his own needs, he immediate-
ly sharpens his wits to make up for the lack with a covetous eye on the possessions of his
neighbour:
De neghienza m'avisa
che nasce covitisa.
(lines 2743-44)
On the other hand, wealth leads to avarice:
Ma colui c'ha divizia,
si cade in avarizia.
(lines 2753-54)
Cupidity and avarice for Dante's mentor are separate but closely related vices, opposite
106
sides of the same coin. The case of Dante is not much different. Adopting the Unes auri
sacra fames directly from V'\rg\Vs Aeneid (IH, 56-57), Dante defines avarice as "sacra fame
/ De I'oro," in Purgatorio XXII, 39-40, ^^where these words are spoken by Statius, for
whom they represented a turning point, a reformation of his way of life. Dante's defini-
tion of avarice includes cupidity, and avarice and its opposite, prodigality, are sins which
follow Aristotle's arrangement of vices in pairs of extremes, illustrated in Inferno VII, 58-
59:
mal dare e mal tener lo mondo pulcro
Ha toko I'oro ...
Ariosto's conception of avarice and cupidity is remarkably similar to Dante's.
Turning for purposes of comparison to Spanish literature, we find that for Juan Ruiz,
the Arcipreste de Hita, cupidity and avarice are two separate and distinct deadly sins.
In the Libro de Buen Amor, about the mid-fourteenth century, the Spanish prelate devotes
one section to cobdicia and another to avaricia (246-51). Juan Ruiz considers cupidity to
be the source of all other sins:
De todos los pecados es raiz la cobdicia
(218).
The author of La Celestina, late fifteenth century, links the two sins together in the per-
son of the scheming go-between Celestina, moved by both covetousness and avarice. It
is worth noting that the deadly sins are interrelated by the author of the tragicomedia, all
arising from the sin of pride. Other precedents in medieval Spanish literature regarding
covetousness and avarice are not lacking, as Dorothy Clotelle Clarke points out in her spe-
cialized study of Lfl Celestina. In the early fourtheenth century Vida de San Ildefonso, in
which the conventional list of the seven sins is accepted, all evil is seen as deriving from
luxuria and cobdicia (p. 38), while the anonymous Reuelaçion de un Hermitanno of 1382
separates avarice from covetousness (p. 47). Pero Lopez de Ayala's Rimado de palacio,
late fourteenth century, considers covetousness and avarice both as the root of all evil, and
pride as the principal sin (p. 50). In the late fifteenth century Proçesso entre la Sober via y
la Mesura, Ruy Pâez de Ribera views the sins of cobdicia and avaricia as separate and dis-
tinct (p. 53) while Juan de Mena in the mid-fifteenth century Copias contra los pecados
mortales makes companions of covetousness and avarice (p. 35).
Similarly, in the Roman de la Rose, the images oi avarice and covoitise sit side by side
at the entrance to the garden, the symbol of the courtly life. Guillaume de Lorris charac-
C'est cele qui fait I'autrui prendre
Rober, tolir e baréter,
E bescochier e mesconter.
Shabbily dressed in a tattered robe, the figure oï Avarice tightly clutches a purse in her
hand (II. 197-233). On the other hand, in the late fourteenth century Piers Plowman, avar-
ice and covetousness are synonymous and related to lying, guile, deception and theft.
Two frequently consulted Italian authors, Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo, in his Trattato
dell'arte della pittura, scoltura, et architettura of 1585, and Cesare Ripa, in his Delia
novissima iconologia of 1625, identify avarizia with cupidigia-, for Lomazzo, "L'avaritia,
107
ch'altro non è che una cupidigia d'hauer molto", and for Ripa, "Avaritia è immoderata
cupidigia, e sete di hauere, la quale genera nell'auaro crudeltà, inganno, discordia, ingrati-
tudine, tradimento, & lo toglie in tutto dalla Giustizia, Carità, Fede, Pietà; & da ogn'altra
virtù morale, & Christiana".
In the Orlando Furioso avarice is the root of all sin, according to Lidia, who accuses
her father, a king, of it before Astolfo on his visit to Hell where she has been confined to
suffer for her ingratitude towards an unselfish lover. Her father was unimpressed by the
young man's virtue, for Alceste was poor:
e '1 padre mio troppo al guadagno dato,
e aU'avarizia, d'ogni vizio scuola,
tanto apprezza costumi, o virtu ammira,
quanto I'asino fa il suon de la lira.
(XXXIV, 20)
As an author dependent upon a capricious patron, with little appreciation for creative
work, Ariosto could well agree with Lidia that avarice was the source of all vice. If he did
indeed, he would not be original but would simply be following a tradition for in the New
Testament, I Timothy VI, 10, gave avarice that honour, considering it to be the cause of
ruin and perdition. Among the theologians of the fifteenth century following the apostle,
Antoninus of Florence (died 1459), in his Summa Theologica, as Roger Bacon earlier, put
avarice at the head of the list of the sins. For Gregory the Great, pride was the most dead-
ly of all the sins while avarice occupied second place. Bloomfield argues that Gregory and
the early Middle Ages did not emphasize avarice as the first sin because "society possessed
little absolute wealth and what there was consisted largely of land". By the early six-
teenth century this situation had obviously changed in Italy where trade and commerce
had created a new society.
When he speaks out against avarice in Canto XXXV of the Orlando Furioso, St. John li-
terally assumes the function of Ariosto's spokesman as he guides Astolfo on his important
mission to the moon. Ariosto and St. John the Evangelist share a common interest which
binds them as no other can: they are both professional writers. The Evangelist proclaims
his allegiance to the trade declaring:
Gli scrittori amo, e fo il debito
ch'al vostro mondo fui scrittore anch'io.
(XXXV, 38)
The author of the Gospel of St. John justly takes pride in his reputation which can never
be taken away from him, since he has received his reward directly from Christ, the sub-
ject of his great opus:
E sopra tutti gli altri io feci acquisto
che non me puo levar tempo né morte:
e ben convenne al mio lodato Cristo
rendermi guidardon di si gran sorte.
(XXXV, 29)
Almost one third of Canto XXXV, from the beginning, is devoted to the serious themes of
ingegno, immortality, study, and the importance of the writer's role in life. St. John's
108
warning to princes, endorsed by Ariosto, and his attack against their avarice therefore car-
ry special force:
Oh bene accorti principi e discreti,
che seguite di Cesare I'esempio,
e gli scrittor vi fate amici, donde
non avete a temer di Lete l'onde!
(XXXV, 22)
According to St. John, the poet has the unique mission of rescuing a man's fame from ob-
livion, a fate to be feared more than death. Princes, signori avari (XXXV, 23), should thus
guard against forcing their authors to beg and should not, by exalting vice and punishing
virtue, banish the arts. The point of the lesson here is that the written word has the power
to make or unmake a man as Homer and Virgil once amply proved (XXXV, 35-36) and as
Alfieri in the eighteenth century re-affirmed. Ariosto's attitude toward avarice is also a
highly individual one, related directly to the avari principi (XXXIV, 77), whom he associ-
ates with the Estes. Through St. John it was possible for Ariosto to assail a vice which af-
fected him deeply and caused him personal hardship; he could more easily attack through
an intermediary and behind a shield rather than in his own vulnerable name. Interpreted
in this light the dedication of the Orlando Furioso (I, 3) may be read as mild criticism of
his patron Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, "generosa Erculea prole," the wealthy protector of a
poor servant, who can repay his patron only with words and ink, his sole possessions.
Ariosto returns to the subject of avarice three cantos from the end of the poem to deal
with the sin more fully. It is a matter of record that Ariosto often composed the exordium
after drafting the narrative matter of the canto and was thus enabled to devote what-
ever time and thought were necessary for the introduction to the canto, usually an elabor-
ate discussion of a topic of major concern to the author. Avarice thus becomes the sub-
ject of an extended discourse in Canto XLIII where Ariosto notes that the sin takes root in
base souls, not a surprising fact, he observes, but a cause for regret that it sometimes cor-
rupts great men and virtuous women. This preamble serves as the fitting background intro-
duction to a kind of exemplary novella, the story of a husband who tests his wife's fidelity
by offering her, in the guise of a former admirer, precious jewels, emeralds, rubies and
diamonds, in return for her love. The picture of the wife at the moment of yielding to
temptation, seized as she is by cupidity, is vivid:
... il veder fiammeggiar poi, come fuoco,
le belle gemme, il duro cor fe' molle:
(XLIII, 38)
The wife falls into her husband's trap and she, angered by this deception, leaves him for
her former lover. Rinaldo, who is listening to this story, expresses no surprise, for gold, he
remarks, understandably exercises an irresistible fascination:
Se d'avarizia la tua donna vinta
a voler fede romperti fu indutta,
non t'ammirar: né prima ella né quinta
fu de le donne prese in si gran lutta.
(XLIII, 48)
109
This tale is immediately followed by a similar one in which the power of avarice is illus-
trated with a twofold example, revolving around a wealthy judge, Anselmo, continually
haunted by the thought that his wife, Argia, would be unfaithful to him, as had once been
predicted by an astrologer. Adonio, the third figure in the triangle, a Manuan nobleman,
had fallen in love with Argia and had spent an entire fortune in wooing her to no avail;
the episode is reminiscent of Boccaccio's Federigo degli Alberighi in the Fifth Day, novella
9 of the Decameron. The story of Adonio is essentially original despite the various sources
Pio Rajna cites, Ovid and Boiardo among them, used for incidental details in the tale.
The tale becomes involved, but to tell it simply, Adonio returns seven years later with a
fortune at his command and when he lavishes wealth on her, Argia cannot resist and yields
less to his protestations of love than to his wealth. Avarice conquers her despite the fact
that her husband had showered his wife with riches so that she would be indifferent to
temptation. Adonio's prodigality and Argia's avarice conquer fidelity to her husband. But
this is only one side of the story. Anselmo, in court a judge, outside, a mortal man, demon-
strates that he is as guilty as his wife of the same fault when he finds irresistible the offer
of a fine palace by a homosexual Ethiopian hunchback in exchange for the surrender of
his body. Argia, witness to the proposal, suddenly emerges from her hiding place to sur-
prise her accuser. There is nothing but for husband and wife to forgive each other, both
equally guilty of avarice.
Sloth is the sixth in Ariosto's list of the Seven Deadly Sins, appearing as Inerzia, in
Canto XIV, and soon after as the allegorical personifications, Ozio and Pigrizia. Ariosto pre-
sents these figures as gross physical presences:
In questo albergo il grave Sonno giace;
VOzio da un canto corpulento e grasso,
da I'altro la Pigrizia in terra siede,
che non puô andare, e mal reggersi in piede.
(XIV, 93)
The angel Michael has after considerable effort found the figure of Silence in Arabia in a
cave, situated in a pleasant valley, shaded by two hills, covered with ancient pines and
huge beech trees, a natural setting existing only in Ariosto's fantasy. It will be recalled
that the help of Silence is needed to accompany the Christian reinforcements through pa-
gan territory in or near the besieged city of Paris. Ariosto's association of Sleep with Sloth
in a desert environment is in keeping with a traditional one which goes back to the early
Fathers of the Church, to the time of Evagrius (born in 346), considered to be the creator
of Christian mysticism, and of his disciple Cassian (born 355-365) of Bethlehem, whose de-
finition of Sloth, acedia, is well known. According to Evagrius, the celebrated preacher of
Constantinople, acedia is a temptation peculiar to desert monks and gives rise to other vices,
two of them being otiositas and somnolentia. As Wenzel points out, Cassian equates the
two terms, somno otii vel acediae (p. 38). In Ariosto's portrayal of the vice, corpulence is
the one outstanding characteristic of Ozio and similarly oi Pigrizia, who cannot walk or
support the weight of his body. Ariosto's mention of the feet is not without purpose, for
as Wenzel has noted, "The connection oi acedia with the feet is quite widespread in the
iconography of the vice".
Towards the end of the sixteenth century, Lomazzo in his famous treatise on painting,
maintained that painting and poetry were closely related, almost identical in nature even.
110
differing only in method and manner of expression; having studied the changes pro-
duced in the body by passion, he has pertinent remarks in this connection. Devoting a few
sentences to the effect on the body of what he terms tardith, the equivalent of sloth,
Lomazzo has this to say:
"La tardità fà I'huomo pigro, & lento in ogni attione, & sono gl'atti suoi, posarsi,
muover le braccia, & tutto il resto delle membra tardamente, non allargare, ne muouere
gran fatto le gambe, & postosi in uno stato fermaruisi buon pezzo, si come fanno gli
smemorati, facchini, & i villani."
It is clear that Lomazzo was well aware of the debilitating effect of sloth on the arms, as
well as on the legs. For Cesare Ripa, in his book, cited earlier, on iconology,
"Accidia, secondo S. Giouanni Damasceno 1.2 è una tristitia, che aggrava la mente,
che non permette, che si facci opera buona."
(p. 6)
Accidia, which deprives men of their capacity to act and makes them otiosi, e pigri (7), is
sometimes depicted as a woman reclining on the ground near an ass to demonstrate how
far removed her thoughts are from sacred and religious matters.
Ariosto stresses the physical elements rather than the spiritual which are merely implied
in Canto XIV, 93. In Wenzel's study of sloth it is pointed out that the drowsiness of the
subject suggests a loss of taste for spiritual things. But Ariosto's conception of sloth in
this instance is more an affliction of the body than of the soul, unlike Petrarch's interpre-
tation oi acedia, a spiritual malady, harmful to the spirit. Ariosto's term ozio is more simi-
lar to Petrarch's accidia and must not in any manner be interpreted as equivalent to otio,
which for the author of D^ otio religioso, written in 1347, concerns positive creative acti-
vity.^1
In The Faerie Queene, in the pageant of the Seven Deadly Sins, sluggish Idlenesse, moun-
ted on a slouthfull Asse, rides first in the parade. Knowing that this was a sin to which
monks were particularly vulnerable, Spenser has Idlenesse:
Arayd in habit blacke, and amis thin.
Like to an holy Monck, the service to begin
adding that it was:
and
Still drownd in Sleepe
Scarse could he once uphold his heavie hedd.
The figure is portrayed with its traditional characteristics, including, as in Ariosto's con-
ception, lustlesse limbs.
In Petrarch's canzone Spirto gentil (Canzoniere LIII), the poet depicts the abject politi-
cal state of Italy, insensitive to internal suffering and strife, Vecchia, oziosa e lenta (line
12), overcome by her pigro sonno, deaf to her people's cries of woe. Her only salvation is
in the gentle spirit, Italy's only hope against vice. In the second book of the Secretum, St.
Augustine succeeds in isolating the source of Petrarch's afflication, accidia, called aegritudo
by the ancients (i.e. Cicero), equivalent to animi tristitia. Petrarch's concept of the sin is
111
close to the medieval view, as Wenzel has noted: "In the complex history of the vice, Pe-
trarch's concept of acedia as tristitia, therefore, follows a component that is at once
ancient and dominant." (p. 159) For Dante the tristi, the sullen, bearing in their hearts a
sluggish smoke, accid'ioso fummo {Inf. VII, 121-23) are condemned to the black mire of
Hell. For Petrarch acedia is understood as "grief rather than as indolence or neglect of
spiritual duties," as Wenzel explains (p. 159). Petrarch used the term accidia because it
was used in "fourteenth century Scholastic and popular teaching and meant grief," Wenzel
continues (p. 161). Petrarch's interpretation of a traditional concept is intensely subjec-
tive, designed to define a deep personal feeling. Ariosto's treatment of the vice is like Pe-
trarch's, highly individual.
Returning to Canto XXXV of the Orlando Furioso, cited earlier in connection with
avarice, Astolfo learns from St. John that men guilty of sloth are forgotten by posterity,
their names obliterated by oblivion, oblio. These include courtiers, inerti e vili (21), a
phrase Ariosto uses again later for emphasis in reverse order vili et inerti (27). Immortality
is reserved for the few enlightened poets who have triumphed over time, a kind of Petrar-
chan Trionfo della fama, as Leo has pointed out: oblivion, for the majority of men who
exalted vice above virtue (23). Immortality is the true life, oblivion a second death for
Ariosto:
cosigli uomini degni da' poeti
son toiti da I'oblio, piij che morte empio.
(XXXV, 22)
Sublime honours await the poets worthy of the name as well as the few scholars,^// stud-
iosi pochi (30). The association of inertia with oblivion is not a fortuitous allusion but ap-
pears designed to remind the reader that glory cannot be achieved without effort as is
openly implied in the exordium of Canto XXXVII. While the first octave of that canto re-
fers particularly to women, Ariosto's principle that success cannot be achieved senza in-
dustria and without labouring day and night is applicable to the entire poem. \i lunga cura
(XXXVII) is indispensable to glory, Ruggiero's lunga inerzia, which immobilized him under
Alcina's influence, and the ozio lungo d'uomini ignoranti (XXXIV, 75), which Ariosto dis-
covered on the moon diminish a man's worth. The references to the sin of sloth are made
with pointed and specific purpose by Ariosto. In Purgatorio (XVIII, 13 3-38), Ariosto had
before him two vivid illustrations of the corrosive nature of accidia, which in one case was
responsible for destroying the faith of the Hebrews, who thus failed to reach the river
Jordan, and in another the desire of the Trojans, who preferred to stay behind in Sicily
rather than follow Aeneas in his long journey to mainland Italy, giving themselves up in-
stead to a life without glory, sanza gloria. For Dante glory is never the reward of the luke-
warm, the unconcerned, the negligent but is reserved only for the zealous; for Mary, the
mother of her Lord, representing the Church; and for Caesar, the founder of Rome, repre-
senting the Empire.
Precedents in Spanish literature offer interesting points of reference. A fourteenth-
century moral work, and one of the oldest and most popular Spanish catechisms, Pedro de
Varague's Tractado de la doctrina, warns of the dangers oi açidia. His conception of the
sin is much akin to Ayala's in the Rimado de palacio, where sloth, defined as octioso estar,
produces lassitude, which destroys all desire to do good, faser buenas obras or bien faser.
In La Celestina, sloth appears to have been almost as obnoxious to the author as covetous-
112
ness and avarice. As Dorothy Clarke explains, "Sloth appears most dramatically in the
tragicomedy in the form of Calisto's (the hero's) prodigality, offspring of sloth and a mea-
sure of Calisto's lust." In Ariosto's view Ruggiero's lust and sloth take a firm hold of the
hero in a similarly traditional fashion.
From beginning to end, save for the necessary intoduction to each canto, the Orlando
Furioso tells the story of man's accomplishments and exploits on earth, without interrup-
tion. The Orlando Furioso pays tribute to man's energy and celebrates his innate capacity
to create his own destiny. Its heroes, Astolfo and Orlando, on the Christian side, their ad-
versaries, Rodomonte and Ruggiero (later converted) on the other, are constantly in action,
almost never resting in one place but in tireless pursuit of their goals. A good match for
their male counterparts, the heroines of the poem possess boundless energy of mind and
body: Angelica and Bradamante, Isabella and Olimpia, vigorous, full of initiative, inven-
tive, never passive. Ariosto's personifications of Sloth as figures sated with sleep, lacking
the energy to stand on their feet, depict the vice humorously and with great visual force.
Ariosto's use of the terms inerzia, pigrizia, and ozio shows a justifiable preference for Ita-
lian rather than Latin terminology, which the poet eschews— understandably for an author
who prided himself on his knowledge of the vernacular, in his eyes equal to its more illus-
trious ancestor. If one considers the value to the framework of the Orlando Furioso of all
episodes involving ethical behaviour and references to good and evil, the fundamental im-
portance of Ariosto's concept of ethics to the poem's structure is readily appreciated.
Ariosto's treatment of avarice and sloth, part of the larger theme of the Seven Deadly
Sins, is not only an essential feature of the poem, enriching it substantially, but as a sub-
ject it provides the Orlando Furioso with deep roots into the very centre of man's frailties,
a constant reality, nor ignored by a poet who understood as few did that the imagination
is capable of encompassing heaven and earth in one embrace.
University of Toronto
Notes
* A shorter version of this paper was presented
before the annual meeting of the Canadian
Society for Italian Studies, May 30, 1974.
1 Morton W. Bloomfield. The Sever? Deadly Sins.
An Introduction to the History of a Religious
Concept, with Special Reference to Medieval
English Literature. ([East Lansing]: Michigan
State College Press, 1956), pp. 75, 90.
2 Siegfried Wenzel. "The Seven Deadly Sins,"
Speculum, 43 (1968): 15.
3 Works. A Variorum Edition, edited by Edwin
Greenlaw et al. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
Press, 1932- ), I, 168-69.
4 Fragonard Drawings from Ariasto, with Essays
by Elizabeth Morgan, Philip Hofer, Jean Seznec.
(New York: Pantheon Books, 1945), p. 21.
5 For a discussion of the "philosophical" uses of
monsters in literature, see D.W. Robertson.
A Preface to Chaucer. Studies in Medieval Per-
spectives. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton
University Press, 1962), pp. 155-56. Emanuele
Rapisarda in his edition of Prudentius' Psycho-
machia, last half of the fourth century, which
naturally comes to mind at this point in the
Orlando Furioso, finds a few parallels between
Ariosto and the Spanish poet. See Prudenzio.
Psychomachia. Testo con introduzione. (Catania:
Centro di studi sull antico cristianesimo, 1962),
pp. 15, 18. It is worthy of note that Rapisarda
translated the Latin avaritia into either avarizia
or cupidigia (line 508), apparently unaware
that a distinction is often insisted upon between
the two.
Guillaume de Lorris et Jeun de Meun. Le Roman
de la Rose. éd. Ernest Langlois. (Paris: Librairie
de Firmin-Didot, 1920), line 619.
William Langland. Piers the Ploughman. Tr. into
modem English. With an introd. by J.F. Good-
ridge. (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England:
Penguin Books, 1959), pp. 111-13.
113
8 Fragonard, p. 21.
9 (New York: W.W. Norton, 1967), pp. 3-4. Cf.
also Roberto Longhi. Officina Ferrarese, 1934.
(Firenze: Sansoni, 1956), pp. 217, 267 for titles
of works based on the Orlando Furioso: in
Agnew House, London, Lotta di Orlando e
Rodomonte by the followers of Dorso di Battis-
ta, and Ruggero, Angelica e I'orca in the Kress
Collection, New York, by Gerolamo da Carpi (?).
10 Fragonard, pp. 27-40; see also Gabriel Rouchès,
"L'interprétation du Roland Furieux par la gra-
vure,'" L'Atnateur d'Estampes, 4(1925): 107-12
and 145-53; "L'interprétation du Roland Furieux
dans les arts plastiques," Etudes Italiennes 2
(1920): 129-40; Ugo Bellocchi and Bruno Fava,
L 'interpretazione grafica dell' Orlando Furioso,
(Reggio Emilia: Tipografia Emiliana, 1961).
1 1 Angelo Poliziano. Stanze cominciate per la
giostra di Giuliano de'Medtci. In Rime, a cura
di Natalino Sapegno. (Roma: Edizioni dell'
Ateneo, 1965), I, 70-125.
12 Samuel C. Chew. The Pilgrimage of Life. (New
Haven and London: Yale University Press,
1962), p. 106, points out that Avarice is des-
cribed or depicted in a variety of ways "since
there was no generally accepted animal conven-
tion." Among those often associated with the
Sin is the toad. See also Adolf Katzenellenbogen,
Allegories of the Virtues and Vices in Medieval
Art: From Early Christian Times to the Thir-
teenth Century. (London: The Warburg Insti-
tute, 1939), p. 58. "Snakes and toads (Is. LXVI,
24: Eccl, X, 13) also served in a general way to
torment sinners, the avaricious man for instance,
as shown in an illustration of hell in the Beatus
Apocalypse from San Domingo de Silos, com-
pleted 1 109." In his edition of the Orlando
Furioso, Giuliano Innamorati (Ariosto, Opere,
Bologna, Zanichelli, 1967), commenting on
XXVI, 31, writes: "è I'immagine della cupidigia
descritta con chiara ispirazione dantesca, sul
modello della lupa (cfr. Inf. I, 49 sgg.) e di
Gerione (cfr. Inf. XVII, 1 sgg.), ma costruita in
modo da rappresentare anche i vizi principali
che vanno uniti o che derivano dalla cupidigia;
cosi ha orecchie d'asino (v. 3) per indicare
I'ignoranza, testa di lupo ... asciutta (w. 3-4)
per la voracità insaziabile, branche ... leon (v. 5)
per la violenza e crudeltà, I'altro ... volpe (vv. 5-
6) per I'astuzia malvagia." See also Andrea
Alciato, Diverse imprese accommodate a diverse
moralità, con versi che i loro significati dichiarano
insieme con molte altre nella lingua Italiana non
piu tradotte. (In Lioni, appresso Gulielmo
Rovilio, 1576), pp. 83, 88, which contains five
woodcuts of Avaritia, representing five different
aspects of the sin.
13 Ed. stanzas 27-29.
14 The Pilgrimage of Life, pp. 106-09.
15 Waltej Hilton. The Ladder of Perfection. A new
translation with an introd. by Leo Sherley-Price.
(Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin
Books, 1957), Book I, Chap. 71, p. 86.
16 Poemetti del Duecento. II Tesoretto. II Fiore.
L 'Intelligenza, a cura di Giuseppe Petronio.
(Torino: UTET, 1967), lines 2683-84. The
Jesuit Ignazio Maria Vittorelli (1677-1756),
inspired by the fight between the vices and the
virtues, placed avarice second to pride in his list
of the Seven Deadly Sins in / vizj capitali combat-
tuti, e vinti dalle virtii loro contrarie, published
in Ferrara by Giuseppe Barbieri in 1728. For the
orator Vittorelli who discoursed in the cathedral
of Ferrara on the subject during the Lenten
period of that year avarice would embrace
cupidity and could be vanquished by liberality.
Accidia, on the other hand, is the last on his
list of sins.
17 La commedia secondo I'antica vulgata. A cura di
Giorgio Petrocchi. 4 vols. (Milano: Mondadori,
1966-67). Cf. also the following citation from
one of Michelangelo's poems, perhaps inspired
by Dante: O avarizia cieca, o bassi ingegni, / che
disusate '1 ben della natura. / Cercando I'or, le
terre e' ricchi regni, / vostre imprese superbia ha
forte e dura. / L'accidia, la lussuria par v'insegni.
/ Enzo Noè Girardi. Michelangelo. Rime. (Bari:
Laterza, 1960), n. 67.
18 Juan Ruiz. Libro de buen amor. Ediciôn cn'tica
de Joan Corominas. (Madrid: Editorial Romanica
Hispanica, 1967), p. 122, note 217ss, "Juan
Ruiz sépara la codicia de la avaricia (copias 246ss)
como dos pecados capitales distintos." In St.
Thomas' discussion of the distinction between
cupiditas and avaritia, Robert Ricard finds jus-
tification for the special consideration the
Arcipreste reserves for codicia, in "Les péchés
capitaux dans le Libro de Buen Amor, " pub-
lished in Les Lettres Romanes, 20 (1966): 14-
15. He explains: "il semble que cupiditas soit un
terme plus général qu'avarice. Vavaritia n'est
qu'un aspect de la cupiditas. " See also W.H.V.
Reade, The Moral System of Dante's Inferno
(Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1909), which
examines the similarities and the differences be-
tween cupiditas and avaritia according to St.
Thomas, pp. 241-42.
19 Allegory, Decalogue and Deadly Sins in "La
Celestina. " (Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univer-
sity of California Press), 1968, p. 20.
114
20 Le Roman de la Rose, Unes 180-82.
21 Langland, pp. 105-08.
22 (Milano: Per Paolo Gottardo Pontio), Bk. II,
Chap. 9, p. 129.
23 (In Padova: Per Pietro Paolo Tozzi), pp. 58-60,
but especially p. 59, column 2.
24 Bloomfield,p. 75.
25 Santorre Debenedetti in his I framnienti auto-
graft dell 'Orlando Furioso (Torino: Chiantore,
1937) has proved (XXIII, XXXI) that the
exordia were not composed at the same time as
the cantos to which they belong. He cites the
example of the Marganorre episode: "Nel fasc V
(p. 73) abbiamo tutto il Canto Marganorre, salvo
che manca il proemio, ed il fascicolo non è
affatto lacunoso; manca semplicemente perché
non era stato scritto." Ariosto produced it
later. Dates cannot therefore be assigned to
episodes or cantos. See also Gianfranco Contini,
"Come lavorava I'Ariosto," in Esercizi di lettura
(Firenze: Felice Le Monnier, 1947), pp. 308-21;
and Enrico Carrara, "Marganorre," Annali della
R. Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Série II, IX
(1940): 1-20; 155-82.
26 Pio Rajna, Le fond dell'Orlando Furioso, (Firenze:
Sansoni 1900), pp. 580-89.
27 Rajna, p. 245 cites Statius Thebaid X, 84-94 as
the source of the scene between Ozio, Pigrizia,
Oblio and Silenzio but admits that it is a "ricrea-
zione dei modelli; non già una copia, o un
accozzamento." Rajna does not mention the
Seven Deadly Sins. It is interesting that Ariosto
could not help substituting Arabia for Ethiopia
as the location of his grove, an unlikely place.
Fragonard chooses as the subject of one of his
drawings (Plate 108), the scene of "St. Michael
discovering Silence at the Gates of the House of
Sleep" (Fragonard, Drawings from Ariosto). Cf.
also Giuseppe Fumagalli's article, "Paesaggi
ariostei," in L'Ottava D'Oro: La vita e I'opera di
Ludovico Ariosto (Milano: Mondadori, 1933),
p. 514.
28 Siegfried Wenzel. The Sin of Sloth: Acedia in
Medieval Thought and Literature. (Chapel Hill:
The University of North Carolina Press, 1967),
p. 21; and E.H. Wilkins, "On PetrzTch's Accidia
and His Adamantine Chains," Speculum, 37
(1962): 589-94.
29 Ibid, p. 75. In his article on "Petrarch's Accidia,"
Studies in the Renaissance, 8 (1961): 36-48,
Wenzel considers the Sin as a secularized version
of the medieval capital sin. Petrarch's interpre-
tation is evidence of his individuality and desire
for self-expression. Petrarch's concept of the sin
gives rise to the modern view of melancholy,
Weltschmerz or ennui.
30 Lomazzo (Bk. II, chap. 9, p. 129) is an ardent
admirer of Ariosto, to whom he refers often in
his observations on poetry and painting.
31 De otio religioso. A cura di Giuseppe Rotondi.
(Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca apostolica
vaticana, 1958. Studi e testi, 195). Posthumous-
ly completed for Rotondi by Guido Martellotti.
See also Charles Trinkhaus. In Our Image and
Likeness: Humanity and Divinity in Italian
Humanist Thought (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1970), II, 661. In his essay, en-
titled, "An Apology for Idlers," Robert Louis
Stevenson, writes: "Idleness so called, which
does not consist in doing nothing, but in doing
a great deal not recognized in the dogmatic for-
mularies of the ruling class, has as good a right
to state its position as industry itself." (W.E.
Williams, éd., A Book of English Essays, Penguin
Books, 1954, pp. 193-203, but especially p.
193). For Walter Hilton, "sloth must be defeat-
ed by fervent devotion and a glad readiness for
all good works." The Ladder of Perfection, p.
105.
32 Ed. Hales, Bk. I, Canto IV, 1820.
33 Ulrich Leo. "Petrarca, Ariosto und die Unster-
blichkeit: Ein Beitrag zur Motiv-Geschichte,"
Romanistische Aufsatze aus drei Jahrzehnten,
herausgegeben von Fritz Schalk. (Marburg:
Bohlau Verlag Koln Graz, 1966), pp. 212-17.
34 Clarke, p. 45.
35. Ibid, pp. 50-51.
36 Ibid, p. 19.
37 This study is a continuation of: "Ariosto and The
Seven Deadly Sins," Forum Italicum 3 (1969):
252-69 and of "Sin and Punishment in the
Orlando Furioso, " in Modem Language Notes,
88 (1974): 35-46.
115
The Erasmus Collection in the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies
Victoria University in the University of Toronto
D. Swift Sewell
A Supplementary List of Holdings received since the Publication of the Catalogue in
Renaissance and Reformation Volumne VII 1971 Number 2.
The 1971 Catalogue, compiled by W.T. McCready and Myfanwy Griffiths, with an intro-
duction by F.D. Hoeniger, listed the most important items in what is Canada's largest
Erasmus collection and one of the few significant collections of this author's works in
North America. The continuing emphasis on Erasmus at the Centre is intended to reflect
and further the growing scholarly interest in the Dutch humanist-critic who was the last
great literary artist to write in the Latin tongue. It also aims to provide working materials
for scholars engaged in the long-term publishing project of the University of Toronto
Press, The Collected Works of Erasmus, the first volume of which appeared in June of this
year, under the editorship of Roger Mynors and D.F.S. Thomson.
In the following brief supplement, which is designed to complement the larger, first
one, we give the notable Erasmus acquisitions catalogued between the compilation of the
1971 list and the end of 1973. As in the 1971 Catalogue, works selected for inclusion
here are only the following: works written or edited by Erasmus in the original Latin or
Greek and published before 1700 (this includes facsimile reprints of pre-1700 works pub-
lished after that date); and works of Erasmus in vernacular translation catalogued in our
collection up to the end of 1973. No original Latin or Greek works published after 1700
are included; no dupUcates of works listed in the 1971 Catalogue are included. Neither do
we give secondary works on Erasmus. This, however, is not to suggest that the Centre col-
lection is not being expanded by a steady influx of modern studies on Erasmus in the
form of books, monographs, and collected essays, covering topics as diffuse and varied as
the writings of Erasmus himself.
Here, then, is the supplementary Catalogue. As in the 1971 version, VH and BE refer-
ences are, respectively, to items listed in F. Vander Haeghen, Bibliotheca Erasmiana
(Nieuwkoop 1961); and the Bibliotheca Erasmiana (Gand 1903 - Brussels 1950).
a) Works by Erasmus
SELECTIONS - Translations
Erasmus von Rotterdam: Werk und Wirkung. Selected works in German translation.
Excerpts from most of Erasmus' important works. Vol. I: Der humanistische Theologe.
Vol. II: Humanismus und Reformation. Cologne, Wienand, 1967.
Erasme: La philosophie chrétienne. Ovres choisies: L'Eloge de la folie; L'Essai sur le
libre arbitre; Le Cicéronien; La Réfutation de Clichtove. Introduction, traduction et
notes par Pierre Mesnard. Paris, Vrin, 1970.
Erasme: Liberté et unité dans l'église. Obvres choisies: Sur l'interdiction de manger de la
viande; Contre de soi-disant évangéliques; Sur la concorde de l'église. Introduction,
traductions et notes par J.M. Bujanda et al. Québec, Centre d'Etudes de la Renaissance,
1971.
116
Renaissance and Re formation VOLUME X 1974 NUMBER 2
ADAGIA
Adagiorum chiliades quatuor cum sesquicenturia. ... Quibus adiectae sunt Henrici Stephani
animadversiones. Paris, Michael Sonnius, 1579. Folio. VH 6-8. BE IV, 194.
Adagiorum chiliades quatuor cum sesquicenturia ... emendatae et expurgatae. Cum
animadversionibus H. Stephani. His accesserunt Adagia Hadriani lunii et aliorum.
Geneva, Petrus Aubertus, 1612. Folio. VH 6 - 22. BE IV, 212.
ADAGIA — Translations
The Adages of Erasmus: A Study with Translations. By Margaret Mann Phillips. Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press, 1964.
APOLOGIA DE "IN PRINCIPIO ERAT SERMO"
Apologia de In principio erat sermo. Published with Responsio ad annotationes Eduardi
Lei, Eduardi Lei annotationes in Novum Testamentum. In Epistolae aliquot illustrium
virorum Lei ... loquacitatem tractantium. ... Basel, Froben, 1520. 4°. On microfilm.
VH 12- 13.
APOLOGIA CONTRA LOPIDEM STUNICAM
Apologia ad Stunicae conclusiones. Printed with Exomologesis. Basel, Froben, 1524.
Bound with De libero arbitrio diatribe [Petreius?, 1524]. 8°. VH 12 -4.
APOPHTHEGMATA
Apopthegmatum ex optimis utriusque linguae scriptoribus. Paulii Manutii studio atque
industria ... ab omnibus mendis vindicati quae pium et veritatis catholicae studiosum
lectorem poterant offendere. Brescia, Polycretus Turlinus, 1601.
ARBITRIO, DE LIBERO
See Apologia contra L. Stunicam, above.
COLLOQUIA - Translations
The Colloquies of Desiderius Erasmus, Concerning Men, Manners and Things. Translated
into English by N. Bailey, with notes by the Rev. E. Johnson. London, Gibbings, 1900.
COLLOQUIA SELECTA - Translations
Funus. (The Funeral). London, R. Copeland for J. Byddell, 1534. Xerox of STC 10453.5.
CoUoquia familiaria, oder Gemeinsame Gesprache vormals in lateinischer Sprach beschrie-
ben, nunmehr aber zum Nutz der studierenden Jugend ins Hochteutsche ubersetzet
durch Friedrich Romberg. Second edition. Berlin, Johann Michael Riidiger, 1705. 8".
VH42 -2. BE VI, 146.
Erasmus: Gesprache. Ausgewahlt, ubersetzt und eingeleitet von Hans Trog. Basel, Benno
Schwabe, 1936.
CONCIO DE PUERO JESU — Translations
A Sermon on the Child Jesus. In an old English version (ca. 1525-40). Edited by J.H.
Lupton. London, Bell, 1901.
117
COPIA, DE DUPLICI ...
See below, Paraphrasis in L. Vallae elegantiarum libros.
DIALOGUS CICERONIANUS
Desiderio Erasmo da Rotterdam: Il Ciceroniano o dello stile migliore. Testo latino critico,
traduzione italiana, prefazione, introduzione e note a cura di Angiolo Gambaro.
Brescia, La Scuole Editrice, 1965.
ENCHIRIDION MILITIS CHRISTIANI — Translations
Erasmus of Roterdame. Enchiridion. London, 1533. No. 156, The English Experience.
Amsterdam, New York, Da Capo Press, 1969. STC 10479. Cf. VH 81-10. BE VIII, 256.
Enchiridion militis christiani. Introduction, traduction et notes, par A. -J. Festugière. Paris,
Vrin, 1971.
EXOMOLOGESIS
See above, Apologia contra L. Stunicam.
EPISTOLAE
Thomae Mori epistolae, quibus adjectae sunt Erasmi Roterodami ad Thomam Morum
epistolae, et Erasmi epistola, qua vitam Thomae Mori describit. ... In Mori Thomae
Opera Omnia. Frankfurt, Leipzig, 1689. Folio.
EPISTOLAE — Translations
Erasmus and Cambridge: The Cambridge Letters of Erasmus. Translated by D.F.S. Thom-
son, with an introduction, commentary and notes by H.C. Porter. University of Toronto
Press, 1963.
Erasmus and Fisher: Their Correspondence, 1511-1524. Latin and English. Translated by
Jean Rouschausse. Paris, Vrin, 1968.
Erasmus and His Age: Selected Letters of Desiderius Erasmus. Edited by J. Hillerbrand.
Translated by Marcus A. Haworth, S.J., New York, Harper Torchbooks, 1970.
La Correspondance d'Erasme. Traduite et annotée d'après le texte latin de P. S. Allen et al.
Volume IV, 1519-1521, par Marcel A. Nauwelaerts. Brussels, Presses Académiques
Européennes, 1970.
La Correspondance d'Erasme et de Guillaume Budé. Traduction intégrale, annotations et
index biographique par Marie-Madeleine de la Garanderie. Paris, Vrin, 1967.
Erasmus von Rotterdam: Briefe. Translated and edited by Walther Kôhler. Leipzig,
Dieterich'sche Buchhandlung, 1938.
JULIUS EXCLUSUS
The Julius Exclusus of Erasmus. Translated by Paul Pascal. Bloomington/London, Univer-
sity of Indiana Press, 1968.
MEDICAE ARTIS ENCOMIUM
Encomium artis medicae. With a Dutch translation. In Opuscula selecta Neerlandicorum
118
de arte medica, Volume I. Published by editors of Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor
Geneeskunde. Amsterdam, F. van Rossen, 1907.
MORIAE ENCOMIUM- Translations
Witt against Wisdom, or a Panegyrick upon Folly. Penn'd in Latin by Desiderius Erasmus.
Render'd into English by White Kennet. Oxford, L. Lichfield for Anthony Stephens,
1683.8°. VH 125-4.
Der Lof der Zotheid. Facsimile of first Dutch translation, Emden, 1560 (Vol. I) and a
modern Dutch translation by J.B. Kan, with notes by A.H. Kan (Vol. II). Facsimile
Uitgaven, Nederland N.V., 1969.
PANEGYRICUS AD PHILIPPUM AUSTRIAE DUCEM
Panegyricus ad Philippum Principem, bound with loannes Frobenius, Panegyricus. Basel,
Froben, 1520.4°. VH 137-5.
PARAPHRASIS IN ELEGANTIAS LAURENTII VALLAE
D. Erasmi Roterodami in Laurentii Vallae elegantiarum libros epitome multo quam antea
castigatior. Eiusdem copiae aliquot selectiores formulae, ad puerorum adcommodatae.
Printed with Farrago item sordidorum verborum, per Cornelium Crocum denuo multis
in locis aucta. Cologne, Martinus Gymnicus, 1546. 8°.
PSALMI
In Psalmum LXXXV expositio concionalis per Des. Erasmum Roterodamum. First edition.
Basel, Hervagius and Froben, 1528. 8°. VH 162-6 (?).
QUERELA PACIS
La Querela pads d'Erasme (1517). Traduction, introduction et notes par Elise Constantin-
escu Bagdat. Etudes d'histoire pacifiste. Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 1924.
Erasmus von Rotterdams Klage des Friedens. Ubersetzt von D. Rudolf Liechtenhahn.
Bern-Leipzig, Gotthelf-Verlag, 1934.
RESPONSIO AD ANNOTATIONES E. LEI
Responsio ad annotationes Eduardi Lei. In Erasmus et ai, De poenitentia evangelica et
confessione secundum veteris theologiae doctores. Basel, 1521. 12°.
b) Works Edited by Erasmus
AUGUSTINUS, AURELIUS, DIVUS
D. Aurelii Augustini Hipponensis Episcopi omnium operum primus tomus. With Epistola
Erasmi ad Archiepiscopum Toletanum. Paris, Carola Guillard, 1541. Folio. VH 11-16.
Secundus tomus Divi Aurelii Augustini Episcopi Hipponensis, complectens illius epistolas,
non mediocri cura emendatus per D. Erasmum Rotterodamum. Basel, loannes Froben,
1528. Folio. VH 11-13.
119
Note
The Filmed Manuscripts and Printed Books of the Vatican Library
in the Pius XII Memorial Library of St. Louis University.
Robert Toupin, S.J.
For more than twenty years, the University of St. Louis, thanks to the contribution of
the Knights of Columbus and the initiative of Prof. L.J. Daly, S.J., has been filming a
large collection of printed books and manuscripts of the Vatican Library. During these
years, the film library has accumulated about three-fourths of the Greek, Latin and Wes-
tern European vernacular manuscripts. Much other material of the Vatican Library has
also been acquired, where it could be of interest to scholars, either in Arabic and Hebrew,
or in Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Persian, Syriac and Turkish.
It is fitting to indicate, however, that the state papers of the Holy See, preserved in the
Vatican Archives, that is, civil and ecclesiastical government papers, are not included in
the film library.
The filmed manuscripts range from the fifth to the nineteenth century and represent
virtually all Western cultural development. The collection includes rare copies of Greek
and Classical works. Especially well documented are the patristic age and medieval litera-
ture, including the vernacular, such as documents in Italian, French, Provençal. A strong
point of the collection is the Italian Renaissance literature. The Northern Renaissance is
much less well represented. There is considerable political and ecclesiastical material scat-
tered throughout the literary documents. The languages that dominate are Latin and
Italian, then Greek, and finally the other Western European vernaculars.
The St. Louis Library has also collected many research guides, most useful to resear-
chers, and it should be noted that there are three types of guides to the contents of the
codices gathered in the various collections of the Vatican Library:
1. A Vatican card catalog of about 250,000 cards has been duplicated in the film library
and covers about 7,000 codices. It has entries by author, title, subject and "incipit."
2. For a very considerable part of the Vatican Library, several catalogs and indexes have
been published, but some collections, such as the Borghese, Urbino and Ferrajoli, are only
partially covered.
3. For the codices not covered by these published guides, there is a third type of guide,
a large set of handwritten inventories and indexes, of which the St. Louis Library has a
complete microfilm copy. These inventories supplement very conveniently the unpublish-
ed catalogs. That is the case for a large number of codices of the Chi^i and Barberini col-
lections.
Other research material and tools are part of the film library, such as some older
national, local, and regional bio-bibliographies, especially those that relate to medieval
and Renaissance cultural history. In this respect should be mentioned the particular field
of scholastic philosophy and theology.
Another category of research tools is the catalogs and histories of the various European
manuscript libraries. They serve as guides to manuscript holdings other than those of the
Vatican and may often supplement the historian's findings in many ways.
120
Renaissance and Reformation VOLUME X 1974 NUMBER 2
Since 1957, St. Louis University has issued a special periodical entitles Manuscripts,
dealing with manuscript research based on Vatican Library resources. Several articles have
appeared concerning Greek and Latin literature, the Italian Renaissance, medieval philoso-
phy and theology, the history of religion, of medicine, etc.
Photostatic copies of individual Vatican Library manuscripts may be ordered through
the film library at the following address:
The Pius XII Memorial Library, 3655 West Pine Boulevard, Saint-Louis, Missouri 63108.
Laurentian University
121
BOOK REVIEWS
Rosalie L. Colie. The Resources of Kind: Genre-Theory in the Renaissance. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1973. Pp. ix, 128. $6.00.
Since her recent tragic death enough of Professor Colie's writing on Renaissance topics
has been published to make up anyone else's distinguished life-work: a magisterial study
of Shakespeare's transformation of literary traditions; a collection of essays on Lear,
which she co-edited and contributed to-, and this seminal book on Renaissance genres
which comprises the 1972 "Una's Lectures in the Humanities" at Berkeley. The book ex-
hibits what we have come to expect of its author: cormorant reading, novelty of formula-
tion, cumulative restatements that spiral toward precision but never preclude further pos-
sibility, a firm hold on particular texts, and a style that even in essays less lecturely than
these conveys a witty and humane presence.
"I would like," Professor Colie wrote, "to present genre-theory as a means of account-
ing for connections between topic and treatment within the literary system, but also to
see the connection of the literary kinds with kinds of knowledge and experience; to pre-
sent the kinds as a major part of x.\\2lX. genus universum which is part of all literary stu-
dents' heritage." (p. 29) This aim she speaks of in the first lecture as "reactionary" in view
of current "anti-establishmentarianism." But Professor Colie has so sure a command of
the evidence for genre as the organizer of our views of experience and its literary cognates,
that I cannot believe The Resources of Kind belongs to that recent unfortunate genre of
scholarship which tries to temper the winds of literary doctrine to the unshorn lambs.
The book is made up of four chapters: the first relates genre to the functions of litera-
ture; the second deals with small forms— adage, epigram— as promptings to self-knowledge
and as colourations of larger forms; the third deals with inclusionism, that is with anato-
my and synthesis— of experience and of literary kinds— in larger genres; and the last brings
together insights into the services genre rendered the Renaissance imagination. Through-
out the essays there is not only the expected concern with chains of historical develop-
ment (all European literature is the book's home province), but running comment on the
great works of the age, on Lear, on Paradise Lost, on Don Quixote, to name only a few.
Readers will cherish such passages at least as much as the grand retrospect and the acute
insight into mixed genres that the book provides.
Yet the work, as well as its readers, suffers the untimely loss of its author. "I am say-
ing," she writes in the last chapter, "that in this long period, the Renaissance, the literary
theory that underlies all other is not really expressed in its rich and varied criticism. ..."
Much that had to be and might have been teased out in expansion and annotation was
never written. One has the sense, for example, that the unnoted final iconographie irony
in the Herbert poem quoted on p. 5 3 would not have resisted revision. But this is perhaps
not to see the forest for a splinter.
I suppose that one should lament the absence of index and notes. They would have
constituted a handlist of names, books, and topoi invaluable for the student beginning
to think seriously about Renaissance poetics, and for the scholar wondering just what he
has left out of account. Yet it would have been perhaps too much to impose this task on
Professor Lewalski, whose gracious brief introduction suggests little of how much she has
122
done for all of us. Moreover, I am content with the book as it is— with the omissions that
evoke Rosalie Colic's method as teacher: never uttering the self-aggrandizing, the chilling
too much. It is as though the omissions say, with the half-cajoling, half-challenging concern
that launched, well, perhaps not quite a thousand monographs by others: "Why don't you
just look that one up? No one has quite done all that could be done with it. You can
never tell where it might lead."
S.P. ZITNER, University of Toronto
Joseph H. Ma.rshhurn. Murder & Witchcraft in England, 1550- 1640. Norman, Oklahoma:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1971. Pp. xxvii, 287. $7.95.
This handsomely printed and grotesquely covered book consists of brief summaries of
thirty-five cases of murder and witchcraft between 1550 and 1635, each of which inspired
pamphlet, ballad, or dramatic literature. Each entry consists of a description of the crime
and its denouement, often in an English that all too faithfully reflects the confusing syn-
tax of the original literature, followed by complete references to the pamphlets, ballads,
and plays that the case inspired. A second section, entitled "Auxiliary Entries: Incidents
and Titles," includes much shorter summaries of other cases between 1553 and 1640. There
is also an index of extant and non-extant plays referred to in the text. There are twenty-
five illustrations, all taken from sixteenth and seventeenth century literary sources illus-
trating many of the cases discussed. The illustrations are very good. Neither Marshburn's
Preface nor the treatment of his materials, however, inspires much scholarly confidence.
Scholars familiar with the remarkable studies of Alan MacFarlane, Keith Thomas, and G.R.
Elton will find little here to interest them. Nor does this study contribute anything to the
recent revival of scholarly interest in crime and criminals that has characterized some re-
cent Victorian studies. The Preface is hopelessly too compressed to offer any but the most
conventional comments on the material and so badly organized that it is difficult to follow.
Marshburn obviously knows the literature well, but it is doubtful that he has thought
about it much. The first paragraph of the Preface purports to describe the condition of
England in 1476 when Caxton set up his first printing press without the author's evidently
having read any literature about late fifteenth century England published in the last forty
years. Nor does Marshburn appear familiar or at all concerned with the large literature upon
the subject of printing, literacy, and social history that has recently so enlivened sixteenth
century studies. Many of the cases of murder and witchcraft described here describe epi-
sodes that have vexed some of the best scholars in sixteenth century history: the murder
of close relatives; the social groups from which witches emerged; the peculiar concatena-
tions of social, legal, and religious attitudes that tantalizingly lie under the surface of these
jaunty, moralizing, often pompous documents. This book resembles nothing quite so
much as a good graduate student's collection of notes and references at the early stages of
some future seminar paper.
The book jacket, however, reminds the reader of that mysterious world of publishers'
categories in which the University of Oklahoma Press imagines that this book belongs. The
jacket refers to "Other Books Off the Beaten Path" that it has published, including popu-
lar accounts of American murder cases, John Greenleaf Whittier on supernaturalism, and a
123
study of phrenology. Such editorial judgement and advertising language probably deserve
the reviews they get. It is unfortunate that editors and readers did not suggest to Marsh-
burn that the materials he has gathered together are important and genuinely interesting
and deserve to have something intelligent said about them. For this, however we must
await another book, hopefully not "Off the Beaten Path," or a bright graduate student's
seminar paper.
EDWARD PETERS, University of Pennsylvania
The Fowles ofHeauen or History of Birdes, ed. Thomas P. Harrison and F. David
Hoeniger. Austin: The University of Texas, 1972. Pp. xxxvi, 3 32. 61 colored illustrations,
3 facsimiles. $15.00.
The sixteenth and early seventeenth century writings on natural history were an outgrowth
of the medieval encyclopedias which had, with few exceptions, relied on earlier works and
popular lore. The approach of Longolius and Turner who identified species and noted
behavior and habitat was the exception. Respect for tradition demanded that the custo-
mary ancient and medieval authorities be cited, whether valid or not, even at a time when
a humanistic spirit evinced in the critical appraisal of Aristotle and Pliny and in the obser-
vation of natural phenomena, encouraged a speculative attitude, anticipating the begin-
nings of modern zoology. To the literary historian, Edward Topsell's translation of Gesner's
Historia Antmalium is less important for the kind of factual descriptions which prompt
marginal notes such as "A story of a Linxe by D[r]. [John] Cay, taken in London by the
sight of this beast in the Tower," than for its complication of conventional ideas which
occur so extensively in writings of the same period to illustrate aspects of human nature.
Given in detail in The Historié of Foure-Footed Beastes are the traditional materials which
form the basis of the animal imagery used so profusely not only in renaissance drama and
poetry but in many kinds of prose, including educational treatises and political pamphlets.
Implicit in this figurative treatment is the view of the world as a speculum moralis, the
kind of approach to natural history illustrated in such works as Archibald Simson's Hiero-
glyphic a Animalium (1612) and Richard Brathwaite's The Schollers Medley (1614). The
Fowles ofHeauen is the third and last part of Topsell's writings on the animal world. For
his first two volumes on quadrupeds and serpents printed by Jaggard in 1607 and 1608 he
depended almost entirely on Gesner; by 1614 he completed one fifth of a work on "the
third part of livinge creatures," translating it not from the third book of Gesner's Historia
Animalium, "qui est de avium natura," but the Ornithologiae of Ulysse Aldrovandi which
appeared between 1599 and 1603. Topsell's incomplete work was never published and it
exists in one manuscript at the Huntington (El. 1 142).
In this work he reverted to the traditional method of treating birds alphabetically
rather than follow Belon and Aldrovandi and "raunge them vnder their proper kindes
wherein men many tymes are deceaved and the readers troubled." He never got beyond
the third letter and by that time he had been forced to make some abridgement because
Aldrovandi had allotted an entire book to the cock. Topsell reduced de Pulveratricibus
Domesticis to twelve chapters, and the present editors wisely abridged the abridgement,
omitting all reference to the domesticated bird. Thirty-seven wild birds are presented.
124
from the Alcatraz to the Cuckoo. Aldrovandi intended that his treatise should be utile et
dulce and he endeavoured to treat each bird from all aspects giving "Aequiuora, Synonyma,
Genus, Differentiae, Locus, Cognominata, Denomenata ... Moralia, Vsus, Mysteria, Hiero-
glyphica, Historica, Symbola, Numismata, Icônes, Emblemata, Fabulae, & Apologi." As
the editors remark in their useful introduction, "nothing ancient, medieval, or modern
wherein the bird is named does he consider extraneous to his purpose. As the English par-
son confronted the task of abridging this huge tome, it is little wonder that he concluded
only three letters of the alphabet." Topsell's work is a repository of ancient, medieval and
renaissance ornithological lore, faithful to the authority which he is anglicizing. For this
reason the publication is an important event even though the editors observe that had it
been published at the time "it would have popularized the subject through the pious eyes
of the translator but affected the serious study of birds very little."
This volume took some years to prepare. According to the preface, Professor Hoeniger
was concerned chiefly with the text, glosses and variant readings; Professor Harrison with
the other editorial matters. The simple statement minimizes the monumental task which
the editors undertook. Besides establishing the sources of innumerable quotations in clas-
sical and medieval authors, the editors give locations for each bird in the first editions of
Topsell's three main authorities— Aldrovandi (his chief source), Belon, and Gesner. They
note where Topsell deviates from such authorities, making use of other writers such as
Turner, for example, or adding— comparatively rarely— a personal observation. They give
useful negative evidence when a quotation attributed to a certain author cannot be traced.
They include their own valuable identifications and observations on birds. They also pro-
vide variant readings, and appendices consisting of further identifications of birds in Top-
sell's projected list (from dabchicke to yelamber), a glossary of heraldic terms, and a cata-
logue of proper names.
In addition, The Fowles of Heauen or History of Birdes is outstanding in terms of book
production. While placing proper emphasis on the work's scholarly nature, the design is
exceptionally artistic. The elegant typography, the arrangement of the illustrations on the
page, the muted colorings are splendidly appropriate, and are in themselves a tribute to the
importance of this first edition and to the fine achievement of the editors.
BERYL ROWLAND, York University
Albert Hyma. The Life of Desiderius Erasmus. Assen: Van Gorcum, 1972. Pp. 140.
The reader looking for the mature deliberations of the author of The Youth of Erasmus in
this book will be disappointed, as will the reader looking for a biography of Erasmus. Far
from expanding on his original work. Professor Hyma is usually content to restate it, with
some modifications and some pungent remarks on those he feels gave it insufficient respect.
Not a great deal of close study is given to the late Erasmus, though we are assured that its
author in his teaching "always emphasized the enormous change in the character of Eras-
mus between 1525 and 1536." The change in question is seen in terms of a Pauline con-
version, in fact a turning away from humanism and back to the devotio moderna— very
interesting indeed if one accepts the argument that he had ever really left it.
Though we can but envy the equanimity with which he footnotes his own earlier work.
125
almost as proof texts, it would have been valuable to see a fuller and wider survey of more
recent material on Erasmus's life and thoughts, and a great deal less sniping at "the admirers
of A. Renaudet," Charles Bene, "the admirers of Johan Huizinga," and R.R. Post. What
are we to make of the claim that Professor Post, after disagreeing with Professor Hyma on
a point of attribution, "retracted his error, no doubt as the result of admonitions by cer-
tain officials in the Roman Catholic hierarchy"? Can the differing views on how long
Erasmus stayed at Oxford be all that important, in view of his lifelong attachment to
Colet and More, both of that University? Can De Contemptu Mundi really be so vital a
book, when Erasmus himself called it "the other part" of the Encomium Matrimonii'? Can
it be such a devastating blow to hear that Frederic Seebohm withdrew the first edition of
The Oxford Reformers and uttered a new one, "having corrected some of his errors"?
Other scholars and their work aside, there is much more that can only be called eccen-
tric in the book. That the Enchiridion was written to dissuade a good man from entering a
monastery, rather than a bad man from beating his wife, came as news to me. That Colet
studied Aquinas is no doubt true, but Erasmus tells us that Colet studied a lot and parti-
cularly disliked Aquinas, on rather questionable grounds. Professor Hyma still holds to his
original view of a worldly and irreligious Erasmus, admiring Lucian, and like him "sarcas-
tic, cynical, eager to expose abuses, and devoted to elegant literature as an end in itself"—
in which he is joined by an equally worldly More "from 1503 to 1506." In Moriae Enco-
mium, he thinks, Erasmus "imitated Lucian, rather than some author recommended by
John Colet." Indeed? What of St. Paul, as an author very prominent in Moriae Encomium}
Or Colet's own scorn for the Summa Theologica and all "blotterature," or More's rejection
of Latin in Utopia as a language in which little good philosophy had been written? Seebohm
may well have exaggerated the "fellow work" of these men, whether Oxford or (as Profes-
sor Hyma would have it) London reformers, but their friendship is fact, and a work like
The Praise of Folly shows that they enjoyed an ironic vision of life and salvation through
a subtlety of wit that seems lacking in this book.
More examples could be drawn, but a short review should not lapse into rhetorical
questions. Although it is of considerable interest in many ways, and although one must
admire Professor Hyma's learning and his rather appealing irascibility, the book is erratic
in its interpretation, selective in its choice of information, and marred by its contrast be-
tween the worldly young Erasmus and the saintly old Erasmus; with due deference to an
older man who has read more, I still can see no significant change in religious sincerity be-
tween the Enchiridion at the beginning of his career and the De Praeparatione ad Mortem
near its end.
E.J. DEVEREUX, University of Western Ontario
Richard L. DeMolen (éd.). Erasmus of Rotterdam: A Quincentennial Symposium. New
York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1971. Pp. 152.
The raison d'etre of this little book lies in an "Erasmus Symposium" held at Ithaca College in
1969. Four of the papers there delivered are included; one published elsewhere (in Scri-
nium Erasmianum vol. 2, 1969, pp. 106 - 131) is omitted, and in its place is printed a pa-
per delivered by R.J. Schoeck in December 1969. To these is added a "diplomatic reprint"
126
of Margaret Roper's translation of Erasmus's Precatio Dominica, or "A deuout treatise
upon the Pater noster ... by a yong ... gentylwoman of .xix. yere of age" (London: Thomas
Berthelet, ca. 1525). The editor, DeMolen, is also the author of the first paper in the
Symposium ("Erasmus of Rotterdam in Profile"), which re-tells the story of Erasmus's
life with due emphasis on intellectual and moral aspirations. The second paper ("Erasmus
the Humanist"), by James D. Tracy, discusses the definition of "humanism" and its rela-
tion to the rhetorical tradition of Cicero and Quintilian and to philology; it also discusses
the views of Erasmus on the religious practice of his day, and his "humanist optimism"
about reform by way of Biblical scholarship. Then follows an essay by Lewis W. Spitz
entitled "Erasmus as Reformer"; after an outline of the philosophia Christi, Spitz looks at
Erasmus in the rôles of critic, scholar and constructive theologian, and ends his survey
with an attempt briefly to define Renaissance humanism and to judge how far and in
what manner it was absorbed by the Reformers. The final paper in the Symposium, by
John C. Olin, bears the perhaps slightly misleading title "Erasmus and His Place in History";
its principal concern is to evaluate the interpretations of Erasmus's religious position offer-
ed by a few well-known scholars of the last two generations.
R.J. Schoeck's essay, on "The Place of Erasmus Today," summarizes Olin's argument
but protests against its "departmentalization" and urges a wider view, advocated by him-
self shortly before in a Folger Library symposium. Erasmus is represented by Schoeck as
one who struggled for freedom, the freedom of dialogue, not only against institutional
narrowness but against the inclination towards an oppressive dogmatism which gradually
gained the upper hand (for reasons which Schoeck endeavours to sketch) in More. In con-
clusion, Erasmus is praised as one "who kept viable a sense of tradition," and a plea is
made for a continuing re-evaluation of the humanist legacy.
There is a list of errata, on a detachable slip. Since it is there stated that "all of the
errors will be corrected in a second edition," perhaps to the four which are recorded in it
—excluding those on the pages of the Deuout Treatise— mzy be added the following, noted
in passing by the reviewer: p. 13 and elsewhere, s'Hertogenbosch; p. 52, duplica; p. 59,
"letters of reborn culture" (culture of reborn letters, surely); p. 65, Luthern; p. 72 and p.
73, Phillip's; p. 77, Patterns and; p. 81, dilletantish; p. 82, Nederlandsche (nowadays, -dse);
p. 84, informus (infirmus); p. 88, Inquisition (-tio); p. 126, Colloquim Erasmusnum (Col-
loquium Erasmianum); p. 128, Ouevres; p. 129, Pbillipum; p. 129, Rextgescbicbte; p. 131,
Cortinithios; p. 131, Ichthuophagia (better, Ichthyo-); p. 131, Epuscula Erasmi (Erasmi
Opuscula); p. 131, Herculeis Labores; p. 134, Phillipp; p. 134, lonnis; p. 135, ministorum-,
p. 140, As; p. 144, D.S.F.; p. 151, Bishop of Cambria.
It may be asked whether "Jean le Voirier" (p. 39) is not the same person as Jehan
Vitrier (p. 53 and Index). R.J. Schoeck was not appointed as "general editor" (p. 77) of
the Collected Works of Erasmus; and for "Canadian Council" read "Canada Council"
{ibid.).
D.F.S. THOMSON, University of Toronto
111
L. Clark Keating. Joachim du Bellay. Twayne's World Authors Series, 162. New York:
Twayne Publishers, 1971. Pp. [6+] 149. $6. 15.
Keating's "panoramic view" of Du Bellay's life and works is only the second such study
to appear since Chamard's monumental Joac^îw du Bellay (1900), and is the first to be
published in English. More than twenty years have passed since Saulnier's Du Bellay
(1951)— though Keating persists in calling it "new" and "recent"— and it was undoubtedly
time for a reassessment and a rethinking of the poet's work and of recent scholarship de-
voted to him.
Knowing that there is not the remotest chance that Du Bellay's biography will ever
have to be significantly altered, Keating eschews original research and follows the accounts
of Chamard and Saulnier. The life is accompanied by illustrations taken from the works—
"passages choisis" which are also translated into literal and accurate English— and by sum-
maries of the prose and of the longer poems. Keating's description of Du Bellay's career is
reliable and, in spite of some awkward sentences, readable. He has put the poet's plagiarism
of Speroni in La Deffence into proper perspective (p. 16) and has deflated his self-justify-
ing claims of having been ill-educated through his youth and adolescence (p. 4).
Inevitably there are some points to quibble at. Why does Keating constantly misspell
Poëmata as "Poematia''? Why does he so often neglect to footnote his factual assertions?
Is he unaware of Spenser's translation of Les Antiquitez"? Does he believe that the Seymour
sisters are really just "three English girls" (p. 36)? Does he not know that "Contre les
pétrarquistes" (1559) is only a reprint of "A une dame" (1553)?
The "Selected Bibliography" is totally inadequate. It draws over half its ninety-seven
items from before 1932, i.e., from before the completion of Chamard's authoritative edi-
tion of Du Bellay's French poetry. Much worse, it overlooks twenty articles and eight
books which appeared in 1961-70 and which Keating could have found had he looked in
the PMLA bibliographies.
The foregoing implies that Keating's book is susceptible of improvement. This is not
the case. At almost every step he reveals so unsure a grasp of the intellectual and literary
tradition of the Pléiade as to be unsuited for treating his subject at more than the superfi-
cial level (see e.g., pp. 30-32, 66, 104). He has little sense of how poets create (see his re-
marks on Les Antiquitez, p. 93, and on the "Discours au roy," p. 1 14) and deprecates the
use of the rose as a symbol of short-lived beauty because "rose lovers know that ... the
bloom of the cultivated rose is fairly long lasting" (p. 109)! He seems to believe that La
Deffence is holy writ, from whose precepts Du Bellay should never have departed. His cri-
tical judgments are trivial (see e.g., pp. 23, 49, 94) and he much prefers inventing anec-
dotes, presumably to liven things up (see e.g., pp. 10-11, 30, 61, 65).
In short we have a story book of no use to the scholar or the student.
JOHN McClelland, university of Toronto
A.E. Creore. A Word-Index to the Poetic Works of Ronsard. Vol. 5 (in 2 parts) of
Compendia: Computer-Generated Aids to Literary and Linguistic Research. Ed. R.A.
Wisbey. Leeds: W.S. Maney, 1972. Pp. xii + 1652.
128
There is scarcely a need to justify Ronsard's poetic works as the almost perfect corpus for
a study of French vocabulary in the latter half of the XVIth century. Laumonier's incom-
parable eighteen volume edition-begun in 1914 and completed only in 1967— had reveal-
ed to us in its extensive apparatus the constant revisions Ronsard had made in all his
poetry throughout the six successive oeuvres complètes (1560- 1587). As well as being
structural and syntactic these revisions can also indicate changing tastes in matters of vo-
cabulary, perhaps also semantic shifts, but until the publication of Creore's computerized
index there was no means of systematically linking up isolated phenomena.
Using the Laumonier edition as his text, Creore has listed, with a few exceptions,
every instance of every word in Ronsard's poetry, giving the volume, page, and line num-
ber, as well as the date; e.g., ABANDONNER [vol.] 12 [p.] 30 [v.] 47 [15] 63. In all,
this produced, according to Creore (p. viii), some 375,000 entries. In a list of this magni-
tude some error was inevitable, and this is acknowledged, and corrections made, in the
brief "errata" which precede each volume. In my own checking of 300 entries (150 from
Creore to Ronsard, 150 from Ronsard to Creore), I noted the following: some minor
errors in dating (notably in the references to vol. 12), one mistaken line number, and some
inconsistencies in numbering interpolations, in spite of the principle established on page xi,
note 4.
Although Creore wanted the Word-Index to be as complete as possible, he was obliged
to make various concessions, notably involving the omission of a number of shorter, very
common words. His mistake is not to tell us exactly which ones (see p. viii, where a tanta-
lizing "etc." leaves us wondering). Anomalies result: VOTRE figures in the index but it
actually represents le votre {le and votre were both proscribed); moi-même does not appear
either— not even under MEME— in spite of its importance; was it really necessary to list all
8,657 principal uses of être and all 5,200 uses of tout"? On the other hand he has wisely
distinguished between ainsi and ainsi que, la mort and le mort, etc.
Creore neglects to inform us that he indexes the words in their simplest form: all nouns
are given in the singular, all adjectives in the masculine singular, all verb forms in the infini-
tive. Well, not quite all. Some past participles used adjectivally have separate listings {agité,
mort, ravi); others, equally adjectival, do not {armé, emprisonné, marqué). Much the same
thing is true for the present participle. It would also have been wise to differentiate be-
tween reflexive and non-reflexive uses of the verb.
To facilitate consultation Creore has worked out a system of cross-reference "in many
cases" (p. x). But again he has neglected certain possibilities, e.g., we are grateful that;> ne
sais quoi is indexed separately, but wish there was a reference to it under SAVOIR. Two
further aids to consultation, both welcome and indispensable, follow the main index. The
first is an alphabetical list of the words in the main list, with the number of their uses; the
second a list of the same words according to frequency. Finally Creore lists the words in
reverse alphabetical order, but to no apparent purpose, since the words appear not as they
do in the text, but in the standardized spellings and forms of the original list. We can thus
deduce nothing about morphology or rhyme, and the purpose of reverse alphabetical order
is defeated.
Two further criticisms. Creore has failed to correct his basic text using the errata pro-
vided by the editors. He has thus missed some variants (e.g., in vol. 12) and has wrongly
indexed some words (e.g. in vol. 15). He has also omitted Ronsard's prose works from his
index, hoping they will be the subject of a "supplementary volume" (p. viii). Since in rela-
129
tive dimensions the prose works are trifling— 166 pages in all— and since they are complete
in Laumonier's edition, it seems needless economy to have left them out.
Criticisms, however, pale into insignificance in the face of the sheer weight of effort and
years Professor Creore has devoted to his task. Whatever the shortcomings— and, taken all
in all, they are minor— we now have an instrument de travail which is eminently usable and
which will make our own work both easier and more accurate.
JOHN McClelland, university of Toronto
Florence M. Weinberg. The Wine and the Will. Rabelais's [sic] Bacchic Christianity.
Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1972. Pp. 188. $10.95.
Henri Weber in a recent article {Europe, Jan. - Feb. 1972, p. 3) suggests that, among the
ultra-up-to-date French intellectuals, the word is: don't read Montaigne, read Rabelais. So
nowadays Montaigne stands modestly aside, probably feeling grateful that there is at least
Butor to keep his name alive in avant-garde circles; and the younger French seiziémistes al-
most all concentrate on Rabelais, using an approach based on structural linguistics, and
work either from or towards Michel Beaujour's admirably challenging slogan: "Rabelais ne
veut rien dire'' {Le Jeu de Rabelais, 1969, p. 26; italics his.)
Still, some people continue to be convinced that Rabelais really did mean to say some-
thing. Weinberg certainly is convinced; and the main objection I have to her valuable study
is the same one that I have for other literary historians like Saulnier and Screech: it is that
they all give the impression that Rabelais mainly meant to say one thing. They don't agree
about exactly what the message is, but they are out to convince us that there is a single, co-
herent, though concealed, message. Doesn't Rabelais tell us so, in the Prologue to Gargantua?
The retort from Beaujour, Jean Paris, François Rigolot, and other contemporary critics is,
of course, that Rabelais doesn't tell us anything anywhere; his narrator and his various per-
sonages say all sorts of ambiguous and contradictory things— notably in that same Prologue.
But Weinberg believes we should take the first part of the Prologue literally, and so she
searches for the substantific marrow.
What she discovers is summed up in the two nouns of her title. For the second noun, I
find her argument more ingenious than convincing, and it would be unfair therefore if I
tried to summarize it. It has to do with an unexpected reading of the celebrated rule of
the Abbey of Thélème— a reading which nevertheless makes sense in terms of the message
Weinberg reads in the Five Books.
My preference is for her longer and more fully developed first section, devoted to the
wine-theme. She shows how Renaissance syncretism assimilated into the Christian mytho-
logy many elements of the Bacchic myth in hermetic tradition, and how Rabelais exploits
this fusion of traditions and develops out of the wine-theme an intricate system of images.
These can easily be read in either of the contradictory ways suggested in the Gargantua
Prologue, but to Weinberg the system seems justified only if one accepts the hypothesis
that the marrow is a single message, saying essentially that evangelical Christianity is best.
What intrigues me is not so much this reading of the message, a reading which is now
widely accepted; it is rather the way Weinberg connects elements of the Bacchic myth
with the topoi of voyage and search that dominate the last three books of Rabelais. Not
130
seeing these elements so clearly in the first two books, 1 had not been able to give myself
a satisfying explanation about why all five books hold together so admirably. Weinberg's
analysis of the system of images associated with the Bacchic myth makes clear the unify-
ing factor which had not been successfully identified before. She demonstrates that the
great drinking scenes in the first two books represent the same thing as the dialogues of
the Third Book and the voyage of the last two— that is, the search for truth, to be achieved
by divine inspiration as manifested in the reeling dionysian furor, in accordance with the
traditions of both pagan and Christian symbolism. Score yet another point for the literary
historians' study of sources.
JOHN A. WALKER, University of Toronto
Arthur P. Stabler. The Legend of Marguerite de Roberval. Washington State University
Press, 1972. Pp. i, 78. $3.00.
A young woman and her lover exiled on a bleak island off the eastern coast of Canada,
their struggle to survive against physical and psychological obstacles, and the woman's ul-
timate rescue after her lover's death— this is the stuff of which adventure movies are made.
It is also the stuff of which many a good tale has been composed since Marguerite de
Navarre's first account of the adventure in 1558. Arthur Stabler's task of uncovering the
first Renaissance versions of the story, establishing what relationships exist among them
and tracing their various descendants throughout four centuries has been well done and
clearly reported in this intriguing account of the "story of the story." This amply docu-
mented, well-organized study is unpretentious, readable, and clearly "a labor of love," as
Professor Stabler informs us in his preface.
A chronological treatment automatically assists the reader. In Chapter One ("Sixteenth-
Century Versions and the 'Authentic' Story"), Professor Stabler analyzes in detail the three
sixteenth-century versions and with the help of textual comparisons establishes inter-rela-
tionships among all three. The chapter concludes with the author's convincing reconstruc-
tion of what the authentic story might have been. Chapter Two ("Marguerite de Roberval
in Literature after 1600") contains plot summaries of all later versions of the story. What is
particularly interesting about this chapter is the insight it offers into what influences the
evolution of a story. Successive recountings of the tale engender numerous embellishments
and perpetuate misreadings which in turn become part of the story. And the literary tem-
perament of the time in which a particular version is published will often mark the plot as
well. Thus, the stark struggle to survive becomes in the nineteenth century a Rousseau-like
idyll complete with a detailed explanation of the moral formation of the daughter born to
the marooned couple. Predictably, the latest version of the story written in our century
adds to the tale a few contemporary touches such as "the first full-Hollywood happy end-
ing" and "liberal (for 1953) dashes of explicit sex." Chapter Three ("Marguerite de Roberval
in History"), the last and the shortest, rapidly traces the historical accounts of Marguerite's
adventures.
Although Professor Stabler discusses the development of Marguerite's story chronologi-
cally, the derivation of particular accounts is at times difficult to keep in mind. Despite
repeated references in the text to the original source from which the story under consider-
131
ation is descended, confusion is inevitable. A "family tree" showing relationships, com-
mon plot details, and shared derivations would be of great assistance, adding considerably
to the value of the study. This sort of chart or perhaps a series of charts could also reduce
the amount of space given in the text to plot summaries, summaries which are necessary,
but somewhat too repetitious. Also, the book would profit from more detailed considera-
tions of the historical and/or aesthetic influence of each century upon the framework of
the story. Finally, the lack of a bibliography is disappointing.
The Legend of Marguerite de Roberval is not an important book, nor an indispensable
one. But it is an interesting study and will be of special appeal to those who marvel at the
human capacity for perpetuating a good story. Although Marguerite's tale belongs to a
corpus of written rather than oral tradition, folklorists should be interested in the mecha-
nics of this story's transmission and transformation. Students of Canadian history, folklore,
and literature should find it of particular concern since this tale of new-world adventure is
one of the earliest on record and has lasted longer than most. The author has noted in his
preface that there is an "enduring fascination about the adventures of Marguerite." His
study testifies to an equally enduring fascination with discovering how and why such a
story lives so long.
KAREN F. WILEY, University of Vermont
Louis Green. Chronicle into History: An Essay on the Interpretation of History in Floren-
tine Fourteenth-century Chronicles. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 1972. Pp.
178. $12.50.
The transition from the intellectual values of the early Trecento to humanist attitudes al-
most a hundred years later, as seen in the Florentine chroniclers, is the subject of this
study. The author traces the "mechanism of change" by which the basic elements of his-
torical interpretation evolved in the works of Giovanni and Matteo Villani, Marchionne di
Coppo Stefani, pseudo-Minerbetti, and Goro Dati. The work fills a gap in Florentine
studies. To date, these chronicles have been examined for their factual content, their ideo-
logy on specific subjects (the foundation of Florence, the papacy, etc.), or for psychologi-
cal portraits of the author. Mr. Green is the first to subject them to analysis as history, de-
monstrating how successive chroniclers, in response to changing conditions, adjusted or
rejected the world view of their predecessors. The result is a study that, while complete in
itself, also complements and enriches the work of other leading interpreters of Florentine
thought; most notably, it provides background for the development of Florentine civic
humanism in the late Trecento and early Quattrocento.
The most striking evolution in the chronicles, Green argues, was the gradual weakening
of the connection between the spiritual and the natural world. For Giovanni Villani, the
two functioned together perfectly. History was the working out of divine justice on the
Florentine scene. Divine providence decreed a correspondence between physical reality and
spiritual forces. Thus political events were accompanied or preceded by omens; astrology
was "yet another mirror of the ways of providence ... " (35) Human behavior, inherently
cyclic, formed part of a "rhythmically operating cosmic design" (151) in which good for-
tune led to vice, which brought on disaster and punishment. But what if events refused to
132
fit into the morally structured interpretation, as happened during Giovanni's last unhappy
years of economic reverses and political upheavals? Green points out that two solutions
were available to him. In dealing with the material of history, either he could overempha-
size the role of the supernatural, interpreting omens and signs in an apocalyptic way (the
solution chosen by Villani), or he could blame human folly for the failure of events to
work out as they should. Giovanni's brother Matteo and his successors chose the latter al-
ternative.
The Black Death, Florentine factional strife, and a politically alienated papacy domina-
ted the pages of Giovanni's brother Matteo Villani. In those bad times, "history could ...
only be a series of disasters interspersed with periods when heedless human folly had free
play." (45) Giovanni Villani's grand design was shattered; Matteo had to come to terms
with a world in which no human resources were truly dependable. Retaining a moral inter-
pretation, he emphasized the weakness of man's nature as responsible for contemporary
evil. History, the record of man's folly, could show him the error of his ways and thereby
induce reform. Thus, Green argues, Matteo Villani felt that history no longer so much re-
vealed the workings of divine providence as taught ethics. And, since man must learn from
the past, his sphere of action was broadened.
Signs and wonders still influenced history in Matteo Villani's chronicle, but occurred
only in relation to specific events, not the overall pattern of reality; thus their importance
was diminished. In his successors both divine providence and preternatural signs disappear-
ed almost completely from the scene. In the works of Stefani and pseudo-Minerbetti, the
separation of the supernatural and natural world was complete, the chronicler's inspira-
tion secular, and facts interpreted only in terms of the natural world. With Dati, history
took a new turn, part of the re-evaluation of the Florentine past and present now called
civic humanism. Here Green's work should be read in conjunction with Hans Baron's ana-
lysis of Dati in his Crisis of the Italian Renaissance. Most interesting is Green's comparison
of Dati with Giovanni Villani in his re-imposition of a set of moral imperatives, now secu-
lar, on the interpretation of history, a new twist on the old way of making events fit the
historian's world view and inexorably fulfill the destiny of Florence.
This is a rich analysis, sound in its conception. Not every student of Florence will agree
with every element of Green's interpretation, but this is an intellectually honest study that
accomplishes what it set out to do. The author's style is unfortunately difficult, given his
tendency to use six words where three would do; but Florentinists will rise above this
minor defect to appreciate the merits of the work.
MARCELLA GRENDLER, Ithaca, N.Y.
William R. Shea. Galileo's Intellectual Revolution. Middle Period, 1610-1632. New York:
Neale Watson Academic Publications, Inc., 1972. Pp. xii, 204.
This is a well written and philosophically literate account of Galileo's work in the years
when he "worked out the methodology of his intellectual revolution," concentrating upon
his researches in hydrostatics and astronomy and on his support for the heliocentric theory.
Shea's purpose enables him almost to ignore Galileo's conflict with the church as merely
incidental, and to place his investigations of motion in the background. The result is a
133
book of novel but persuasive balance, that conveys a coherent and broadly convincing pic-
ture of the development of Galileo's scientific thought. There are seven chapters, on his
debt to Archimedes, work on hydrostatics, sunspots, the comets of 1618, and a detailed
analysis of the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (The End of the Aristo-
telian Cosmos; The World in Motion; and The Physical Proof from the Tides). The empha-
sis throughout is on Galileo's methodology, and Shea's demonstration of the significance
of geometry therein is particularly cogent. Thus, for example, Galileo is represented as de-
claring himself in favour of the Copernican system only after he had succeeded in using
mathematics in dismantling the latest published argument against the motion of the earth,
and his proof of the earth's motion from the behaviour of the tides is presented in terms
of a derivation from geometrised physical postulates.
Shea is convincing whenever he is dealing with particular texts or particular sequences
of argument and experiment, and, for example in his careful use of manuscript revisions,
exhibits a fine historical sense. His generalisations and attempts to portray Galileo in the
world picture of his age are, on the whole, less happy, perhaps because less fully docu-
mented. The appeal of Copernicanism to young intellectual radicals is postulated but in-
adequately substantiated, and Galileo's relations with Renaissance humanism and Platon-
ism are alluded to but not made apparent. Shea enters with zest into the debate on Gali-
leo's Platonism, claiming that "Galilean science was not so much an experimental game as
a Platonic gamble," but this claim is weakened by his use of Platonism to indicate merely
the use of mathematics in science, and the application of reason to experience to educe
knowledge. In view of the clear recognition of Galileo's skill in rhetoric, the uncritical ac-
ceptance of Galileo's use of Plato's name as evidence of subscription to Platonism is dis-
appointing. Shea's research supports Koyre's position that "Galileo conducted most of his
experiments in his head and on paper," but recent scholarship indicates that this is far
from being a settled issue. Also in relation to the Platonic controversy, the presentation
of circular inertia and perfect circular motion as cornerstones of the heliocentric theory is
weakened by Galileo's own counter-statements {e.g. p. 90) and Shea's arguments that
Galileo regarded astronomy as a science of description and representation. Yet these con-
troversial points are clearly and forcefully argued, and Shea's book is an original and valu-
able addition to the literature. It is supplemented by a brief but well-chosen bibliography
and helpful index.
T.H. LEVERE, University of Toronto
Anthony Molho, Florentine Public Finances in the Early Renaissance, 1400- 1433,
Harvard Historical Monographs 65, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1971. Pp.
xiv, 234. $10.50.
Professor Molho has given us the fiscal history of a brief, but turbulent, period in the poli-
tical life of Florence which encompassed both a decade of relative peace and stability and
a decade of war and defeat. As a result, the study benefits from the opportunity to con-
trast the commune's fiscal policy under varying conditions and to observe her capacity to
respond to intense crisis. A highly condensed chapter on communal expenditures, mainly
for military purposes and debt service, is followed by a short chapter on the regular sour-
134
ces of income, taxes on the contado and the gabelles. Since income, even in the best of
times, was inadequate to cover expenses, the next two chapters are devoted to forced
loans as a device for meeting the deficit and to the economic and political consequences
of attempts to cut costs and to increase revenues. Failure to balance income against ex-
penses led inevitably to the liquidity crisis of 1431-33; the book concludes with a highly
suggestive, though cautious and responsible probe into the possible connections between
fiscal difficulties and subsequent political and constitutional mutations.
Despite the fact, which Molho himself clearly acknowledges, that the uninventoried re-
cords of the Monte would have provided substantial additional documentary material, the
book presents much that is original. Further, the statistical matter is normally set forth in
clear and lucid form in a number of tables and several valuable appendices— an accomplish-
ment that no one who has worked with late medieval fiscal and monetary records will
lightly dismiss. The book, therefore, would seem an indispensable point of departure for
future political or economic studies of Florence and indeed a useful reference for urban
fiscal history on a more general level.
Some areas remain cloudy, however. The attempt to compare the relative burdens of
taxation on Datini, Palmieri, and the Medici (pp. 94-102) suffers from the non-comparable
nature of the records. Varying accounting practices and the relative disparity in political
power among the three make the comparison more impressionistic than statistical. The
Datini figures, for example, seem to suggest a rough order correlation between the rate of
interest and the amount loaned. Such a result might occur either because the interest rate
rose when fiscal demands were heaviest or because Datini was capable of protecting him-
self from forced impositions unless the return was sufficient to entice him to risk his funds.
Some consideration of these alternatives would have been welcome. Again, Appendix D
which gives the silver value of the florin from 1389 to 1432 would seem to require adjust-
ment for the changing gold content of the florin as it is discussed on p. 131. In the same
vein, the mechanism by which a heavier florin might be expected to enhance Florence's
position in international trade requires development; the size of a gold coin is normally
less significant than its integrity and stability, while the impact of a strengthened coinage
on imports might well, under certain circumstances, differ from that on exports.
In essence, however, such criticism is of minor importance. Professor Molho has given
us an extremely useful and original study of Florentine finance, and in his final chapter,
an agenda for future work that makes one anticipate further studies of the same high
quality.
HARRY A. MISKIMIN, Yale University
Julius A. Molinaro, ed. Petrarch to Pirandello.- Studies in Italian Literature in Honour of
Beatrice Corrigan. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1973. Pp. xvi, 259. $15.00.
In "A Bibliography of the Published Works of Beatrice Corrigan," which is the concluding
tribute (J.H. Parker's) in the volume that honours "one of Canada's truly outstanding
scholars in the humanities"— the geographical limitation seems unjust to me— those who
have followed the "dolce guida e cara" through so many areas of Italian and foreign letters
can find the summation of her interests. It is hardly necessary to stress her many compara-
135
tist interests and achievements, especially in the domain of Italo-English relations. Nor
was Miss Corrigan ever limited to one particular genre although her particular penchant
for the theatre, in particular that of the Renaissance, has always been in evidence. Her
Catalogue of Italian Plays, 1500-1700, in the Library of the University of Toronto (1961)
has become an important reference tool while many of her articles give new insight into
the work of several important dramatists, especially Tasso, Trissino, and Pirandello.
The Introduction by Julius A. Molinaro brings into focus the new perspectives which
these contributions open up for all those interested in literature and criticism. It is diffi-
cult for the reviewer not to dip into these summaries since the editor of the volume has
brought out what is essential.
The first article is Thomas G. Bergin's translation and brief explanation of Petrarch's
first Bucolicum carmen, the "Parthenias." These twelve compositions in dialogue form-
called eclogues by the poet himself— on whose merits opinions have differed so widely deal
with a great variety of subjects. The first one "depicts the life-long conflict of the poet,
both as a man and as an artist torn between his conviction of the values of Christian other-
worldliness and his enthusiasm for the classical tradition" (p. 4). While the allegory in
some of the other eclogues is quite obscure, it is not so here. Aldo S. Bernardo spots the
"Parthenias" as one of the important timbers in the vast woodlands of his important ex-
ploration, "Petrarch and the Art of Literature"; that is, Bernardo calls the Epistolae Fami-
liares X. 4 "perhaps the clearest explanation of Petrarch's poetics" (p. 21) while Bergin
had engaged the same letter as the most useful elucidation of "Parthenias." The main
point made by Petrarch here is, as Bernardo remarks, that "the difference between poetry
and theology is very slight indeed." The theologian and the poet can enjoy a fruitful co-
existence. To continue for a moment with Molinaro: "Petrarch's theory of literature was
also developed in l\\e Africa and in the Trionfi where the poet's 'religiosity' is viewed no
longer as 'religion' but rather as a product of artistic taste" (p. x). Towards the end of his
study Bernardo calls to our attention that "perhaps the most original and modern quality
that marks Petrarch's poetics is his profound awareness of his predicament" (p. 42). It is
this self-awareness, especially in the Canzoniere, which has in fact given a new stimulus to
the Petrarch criticism of our time.
Louise George Clubb, whose interest in Italian Renaissance plays has run parallel with
Beatrice Corrigan's for many years, takes us into the hidden wings of the sylvan scenario.
In "The Making of the Pastoral Play: Some Italian Experiments between 1573 and 1590"
she sets out to prove that Tasso's/4 mmf^ and Guarini's Pastor Fido have held the centre
of the stage for too long. Between 1573 and 1590 lesser writers of the academies and
courts, like Borghini, Castelletti, Pasquaglio, and Pino (the last-named not mentioned by
Carrara) wrote about twenty pastoral plays that show a curious blend of adherence to
Tasso and sorties away from him. Prof. Clubb groups these plays according to various
traits, thus revealing new strands in the texture of courtly and popular elements in Italian
drama. For instance, "some pastoralists tried to draw nearer to the plausibility expected
of urban commedia erudita by banishing magic. The result is city comedy in the country"
(p. 54). These liberalizing trends gain in importance through the echo they had in England.
Here is the surprising conclusion, amply substantiated by the examples that precede it: "It
is the effect of multiplicity achieved by juxtaposition of contrasting elements and levels
of style that makes the many Elizabethan plays in which pastoral elements are used with-
136
out declaration of form seem alien to the Italian genre as represented by Amiuta and Pas-
tor Fido" {p. 72).
The article by Danilo Aguzzi-Barbagli dealing with "Ingegno, acutezza, and meraviglia
in the Sixteenth Century Great Commentaries to Aristotle's Poetics" combines the virtues
of sound classical scholarship with fine aesthetic sensibilities. As one reads the title of
Aguzzi-Barbagli's study, one anticipates that the various Greco-Roman and Renaissance
tributaries will eventually merge into the turbulent waters of the Baroque. This expecta-
tion is admirably fulfilled. Aristotle's fundamental types of metaphors were propagated
by Quintilian and Cicero. Robortello reinforced Aristotle by a passage from De oratore,
"which was bound henceforth to be remembered in practically all the analyses of meta-
phorical style during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries" (p. 75). Emanuele
Tesauro still used the same classical resources in his Canocchiale aristotelico of 1674, well
over a century after Robortello, but Tesauro cleverly drew the new sap of ingegno, mera-
viglia, and acutezza from the old trunks. Other commentators added fresh nuances to the
ancient heritage. We can quite agree with Piccolomini, who felt that the principal merit of
the metaphor is its novelty. As we read towards the end of this important article, "The
rise of Marinistic poetry proved that the direction taken by [Piccolomini's] investigation
was not lost among his immediate successors." It bears repeating here that Tesauro con-
ceived ingegno as the faculty in man that enables him to approach God's creative power.
C.P. Brand, in "Tasso, Spenser, and the Orlando Furioso," adds new data to the existing
literature on the influence of Ariosto and shows along which avenues each writer "went
back to Ariosto as his starting point and ... refashioned the romance to meet his own arti-
stic purposes and cultural situation" (p. 110).
Hannibal S. Noce has given attention to "Early Italian Translations of Addison's Cato,"
showing the appeal of this "Roman" subject to Italian translators, ranging from those,
like Anton Maria Salvini, who produced a literal "metaphrase" (the expression is Dryden's)
to the more liberally conceived paraphrase. We learn here, far beyond the chronological de-
limitations, how translations can be successfully delivered and how they can be miscarried.
Among other post-Renaissance papers we find the late Ulrich Leo's close-knit investiga-
tion "II passero solitario: Study of a Motif," which originally appeared in German ten
years ago in a Festschrift dedicated to another distinguished humanist and 'Petrarchist,'
Fritz Schalk. Leo remains rather shut-in by his vast cultural and philological knowledge
and I found, then as now, his voyage from the Old Testament to Leopardi, via Paulinus
Nolanus, Albertus Magnus, and Petrarch, heavy going, leading to a serious drain of poetic
feeling by the time one reaches the conclusion that the Italian Romantic did not have a
lonely sparrow in mind, but that the "title of the Leopardi poem means precisely what the
psalm denotes in the original Hebrew, namely: the lonely bird, and, more specifically, the
bird, lonely on the old tower" (p. 149). The chairman of the Department of Italian at the
University of Toronto, S.B. Chandler, has written on "The Moment in Manzoni," where
the fountainhead is St. Augustine's Confessions. What is meant by "the moment"? On the
one hand, "like Massillon and Bossuet, Manzoni recalls the Church's warning to sinners of
the uncertainty of the moment and manner of death" (p. 157), and, in a broader sense,
"time and human lives are composed of moments, at each of which man is his complete
self and accountable as such" (p. 167). Chandler's study is replete with meaningful refer-
ences to authors outside Italy, especially French and German ones. However, when one
137
finds a mention of Sartre's "facticity" in this context, one has to regret the absence of
Bergson's "cinematography."
For the sake of condensation, one could combine Giovanni Cecchetti's "Verga and
verismo: The Search for Style and Language" and "The Italian Novel and the avant-garde"
by Dante della Terza, where Verga also plays a prominent part. Cecchetti brings out that
Verga, rejecting all linguistic patterns that he considered shopworn, was striving to create
a language which was born of the inner life of his characters, a quest he launched when he
was writing the short stories gathered under the title Vita dei campi. Of course the term
verismo remains applicable in the purely stylistic area. Verga and Capuana keep their pride
of place where the evolution of the modern Italian novel is concerned. Delia Terza coura-
geously follows "the useful path of history" (p. 238). Traditional cultural values were,
first seriously questioned in the 1880s. We readily see Pirandello and Svevo among the
questioners, Marinetti as a radical destroyer, and D'Annunzio outside the avant-garde.
Those who were preoccupied with "the tension towards the future" (p. 240) were Moravia,
Gadda, Vittorini, and, to a lesser extent, Pavese. There is perhaps an excessive play here
with the terms "avant-garde" and "neo-avant-garde," and in the discussion of Vittorini
one might add a reference to the opening passages of his Diario in pubblico (1957),
where D'Annunzio is bluntly called inferior while the message and meaning of Verga for
the young writers of his day (the entry is dated 1929) are put very much in doubt.
Two more papers deal with the theatre, Maddalena Kuitunen's "Ibsen in the Theatre of
Roberto Bracco" and "Pirandello's La Patente: Play and Story" by Olga Ragusa. In
Kuitenen's discussion we learn to what extent Bracco was dependent upon and indepen-
dent from Ibsen, faring rather well in the final balance sheet. As a champion of women's
rights this Italian dramatist has achieved a new relevance. Every full study of Pirandello
has to deal with the dramatization of his novelle. Among these. La Patente now gets the
attention it deserves— although the author is generous with her acknowledgement of the
perceptive remarks made by Morpurgo, Rauhut, and D. Vittorini. Prof. Ragusa has fully
accomplished her plan to let "play light up story, and story play" (p. 228)— the short story
was first published in 1911, the play in 1918— but, more than that, she makes clear that
this one-acter rightfully belongs among those plays showing "the emergence of the char-
acter without an author" {ibid.). Both the novella and its dramatic rifacimento are deeply
imbedded in Sicilian superstition (the iettatura of the play, or malocchio), to which is
given an additional ominous dimension by the "coda" that Pirandello added to the play,
the death of the canary, not caused by a gust of wind, according to the by now power-
drunk Chiarchiaro, but by the occult powers that he claims to possess even before the con-
ferral of the license (or diploma). This warped identity must be recognized by "Tutti!" a
point which O. Ragusa strengthens by quoting from an article by B. Corrigan ("Pirandello
and the Theatre of the Absurd"): "Pirandello holds that the individual cannot feel secure
in his illusion unless he can persuade others to share it."
From Pirandello it may seem a long way to the present scholarly preoccupations of
Beatrice Corrigan, the Collected Works of Erasmus in English, a vast enterprise of which
she is Co-ordinating Editor. But the erstwhile professor and perennial scholar has covered
such diverse areas of thought for many years, and From Petrarch to Pirandello is close to
being a true reflection of the exceptional range of her knowledge and apperceptions.
BODO L.O. RICHTER, State University of New York at Buffalo
138
Note
Wort und Text: Festschrift fur Fritz Schalk. The first word of the title has been printed erroneously as
Worte (Introd., p. v). In the middle of the same page, "point" should be "points." Other oversights
should be corrected as follows: Originalita: Originalità (p. 24, n. 2); CLUB: CLUBB (top of p. 68);
égale: égal (p. 165); expéritnentelle: expérimentale (p. 175, n. 10);veriste: vériste (p. 176, n. 12); ex-
ceptionelles: exceptionnels (p. 190); Mundtartdramatiker: Mundartdramatiker (p. 206, n. 17); déjà-vue:
déjà-vu (p. 248). On the same page, the comma after "several people at once" should be changed to a
period.
Fenlon, Dermot. Heresy and Obedience in Tridentine Italy: Cardinal Pole and the Counter
Reformation. Cambridge University Press, 1972. $18.95.
The Italian Evangelists or spirituali, as Dermot Fenlon calls them, using the sixteenth cen-
tury term, were men who, believing in the doctrine of justification by faith alone, hoped to
reach an agreement with Luther while preserving the religious order of the Roman Church.
Since many of them were members of the highest reaches in the ecclesiastical hierarchy,
this group enjoyed a certain power until the 1540's. But in 1541, Juan de Valdés' death,
the collapse of the meeting of reunion at Regensburg, and finally. Cardinal Gasparo Con-
tarini's death, spelled trouble for the spirituali. Most of them, however, failed to recognize
the signs of crisis, and soon regrouped at Viterbo around Cardinal Reginald Pole.
Fenlon's book deals mainly with Pole's involvement with the spirituali, a subject which
he feels shows the influence of the Reformation on the Catholic Church. Until the appro-
val of the Tridentine decree on justification by faith in January 1547, the spirituali con-
tinued to believe that their dream of reunion would be realized. The dream ended at Trent;
Cardinal Pole became their final spokesman when, during the council, he very reluctantly
expressed his views on justification by faith. Following this, the Viterbo circle disbanded,
with most of its members accepting the stand taken by the Catholic Church. Thus, for the
moment at least, it seemed that the spirituali's ambiguous support of Luther's view on
faith had been forgotten. Unfortunately, this was not so-, some of the spirituali were later
tried by the Inquisition, while others, like Pole, were persecuted by the accusation that
they had held Protestant beliefs. When Paul IV Carafa was elected to the pontificate in
1555, Pole's orthodoxy was openly challenged, and by the time of his death in 1558, the
English cardinal was regarded "in Rome as a Lutheran and in Germany as a Papist" (p.
280).
Fenlon's book is an intelligent account of the role of the spirituali in the history of the
Catholic Church and a worthwhile contribution to the scholarship on the religious battles
of the crucial decades of mid-sixteenth century Italy. The author handles his sources with
ease, carefully blending accuracy and imagination. His portrayal of Pole's ambiguous and
enigmatic character is vivid and coherent, especially during the years of the first phase of
Trent. Also, there is real sophistication in Fenlon's handling of the complex problem of
the nature and beliefs of the Italian spirituali.
Yet there are a few things which I find unconvincing. Fenlon's introduction is at times
unnecessarily obscure. For instance, to be sure of the identity of "the work which, more
than any other, has been regarded as the most typical expression of Italian Evangelism,"
(p. 15), one must read nearly fifty pages. The same holds true for "the man who, more
139
than anyone, induced in Pole a sympathy with the psychological disposition animating
Luther." (p. 20). Also, I find Fenlon's portrayal of Carafa rather harsh. Paul IV was not a
likeable figure, but perhaps if put in the proper historical context, his pontificate and his
handling of the heretical question have more merits than Fenlon seems willing to give them.
Finally, I have some doubts about Fenlon's reconstruction of Pole's years after the Tri-
dentine decree on justification by faith. Fenlon admits that "Pole's public standing was at
no time in jeopardy before the reign of Paul IV." (p. 280) At the same time he suggests
that Pole's position was becoming increasingly less secure. This statement does not seem
justified by the evidence. It is true that the charge of unorthodoxy against the cardinal
would come up during the period from 1549 onwards. On the other hand, the fact that
Pole was a strong candidate for the papacy in 1549-50, in the 1555 conclave which elec-
ted Marcellus II, and in the conclave of the same year which chose Paul IV, seems to indi-
cate that, in spite of these accusation, Pole's standing on the eve of Carafa's election in
1555 was as strong as it had ever been.
ANTONIO SANTOSUOSSO, University of Western Ontario
140
NEWS
Ninth Annual Report (1972-1973)
Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies
Victoria University - October 1973
As the Centre begins its tenth year, it is appropriate to pay tribute to those who have con-
tributed so much of their talents, time and energy to the founding and effective operation
of the Centre. From the very beginning it has been a collective venture involving the coop-
eration of persons both within and outside Victoria University. It behooves us, however,
to single out for special mention Professor F. David Hoeniger who, as founding Director,
really created the Centre and through his vision and dynamic leadership made it into a
flourishing institution which would be able to continue on its own. Mention should be
made here also of the many years of loyal service given by Mrs. Shirley Vincent, who re-
signed last winter as Centre Secretary. Her thorough understanding of the practical side of
the Centre's work, her courteousness toward staff and students, and her interest in the
Centre's activities all helped to ensure its success. The new secretary. Miss Bev Jahnke, has
performed outstanding service since taking over her assignment.
In the last year or so the Centre has tried to provide an increased amount of supervision
in the Centre library. This has been possible only because of the very loyal and generous
service given by the Fellows and other members of the Centre staff. Our thanks go to Mrs.
D. Sewell who has been cataloguing the Erasmus items. Miss Christine Forsyth, Miss Maud
M. Hutcheson, and Miss Carla Salvador, all of whom contributed to the Bio-bibliographi-
cal project on Renaissance best sellers, under the directorship of Professor Ruth Harvey.
Mr. Kenneth Bartlett, a new Bibliographical Fellow, has been researching an aspect of the
Cambridge Platonists while working on his dissertation. Mrs. Diane Hughes will be carrying
out her own research project as Research Fellow under the auspices of the Centre. Mr.
Paul Agius, an undergraduate, is doing some part-time work as supervisor in the Centre
library. Mrs. Elizabeth Bourne, a Victoria alumna, has recently been appointed as Research
Assistant for revision of the Centre brochure and preparation of submissions for donations
from various foundations.
The Centre's readers have also been greatly aided through the services of the Librarian
and staff of the E.J. Pratt Library. Much of the smoothness of operation of the Centre is
due to the cooperation given in readers services, as well as in cataloguing, book acquisi-
tions, preparations and binding. The Centre's collection, processed mainly by the Victoria
University Library staff, now stands at approximately 14,000 volumes.
With reductions in our book budget limiting the number of purchases, we have estab-
lished certain criteria for narrowing down and specializing our new acquisitions, priority
being given to purchases of Erasmus materials needed by CWE, to books needed by pro-
fessors and students in graduate courses and to materials needed by local scholars in par-
ticular research projects. Some attention is also being given to the areas of British drama
1450-1650, Renaissance translations, humanist texts, Zwingli and the Strasbourg and
Rhine Valley reformers. Voluntary coordination of purchases with local libraries has help-
ed to reduce costs.
Last year we purchased a number of reprints of scholarly works, some in fac-simile edi-
tions, and also many critical editions of Renaissance literary works. Group VIII in the
141
English Experience has now arrived. The Parker Society holdings are now complete. We
have continued to buy Renaissance translations of the classics, concentrating on those in
Italian. A few more volumes of the new critical edition of Erasmus' works have arrived
from Amsterdam. A very useful acquisition has been the Index Aureliensis which attempts
to list all sixteenth century imprints. Other additions include sixteenth century humanist
commentaries on Aristotle and Plato, the Opera of Adrian Turnebus (Strasbourg, 1600) and
several editions of the Adagia not already in the Erasmus collection.
We wish to express appreciation to those institutions and individuals who generously
contributed book gifts to the Centre library. Victoria Library gave us Erasmus' De ratione
studii ac legendi interpretandique auctores liber (Strasbourg: Schurer, 1512). Any gifts of
editions of works by or edited by Erasmus, especially those published before 1545, will
be gratefully appreciated. It is gratifying to note how the Collection, originally given to
Victorian University by Professor A. Bell, has grown.
It is encouraging to note the increasing circulation of the Bulletin, published jointly by
the Toronto Renaissance and Reformation Colloquium and CRRS. The editor. Professor
Julius A. Moinaro, reports that a number of interesting manuscripts for possible publica-
tion have been submitted by scholars from English Canadian universities. He has also let it
be known that articles in French from scholars in Quebec would be most welcome.
The Colloquium was organized to facilitate meetings of Renaissance and Reformation
scholars and students in the general Toronto area, but has some regular members from
farther afield. This year's chairman. Professor James K. McConica, CSB, of the Pontifical
Institute for Mediaeval Studies, sent out a letter with information on the dinner meetings
and announced lectures.
Last year Professors Ruth Harvey and H.R. Secor offered INV 201, a course on Renais-
sance Culture for undergraduates. They again wish to express their thanks to other mem-
bers of the University of Toronto community who very generously gave guest lectures.
This teaching experience proved to be a most interesting and demanding challenge to
those involved. Many of the students were keenly interested in using research materials in
the CRRS library, and some indicated their wish to pursue more advanced studies in a
specialized area of the Renaissance in one or more departments.
The establishment of a Centre for Renaissance Studies within the School of Graduate
Studies, modelled after the Centre for Medieval Studies, has been sought during the last
five or six years. Owing to budget cuts, only tentative plans have been projected and for
the moment the Renaissance Centre will have to operate on a modest budget, serving es-
sentially as an agency whereby students interested in pursuing studies in Renaissance sub-
jects may have their programme coordinated with respect to departmental offerings. (See
School of Graduate Studies Calendar 1973-74, pp. 280-81. Inquiries concerning the Cen-
tre for Renaissance Studies should be addressed to Prof. Sheldon Zitner, Academic Secre-
tary, or to Professor Stillman Drake, Acting Director.)
In the last year the Centre has had a number of distinguished visitors and speakers. Fre-
quently we were able to co-sponsor lectures by well-known scholars.
Professor Jacques Courvoisier, Professor of Church History at the University of Geneva,
lectured on "Zwingli and his Doctrine of the Sacraments" and "Calvin and the Roman
Church" at the joint invitation of CRRS and the Toronto School of Theology. Professor
V.E. Graham, Professor of French at University College, lectured on "Poetry as Propagan-
142
da in Sixteenth Century France," as the "Erasmus" lecturer in the Victoria College lecture
series sponsored by CRRS.
In the new year, CRRS and the Graduate Department of History each sponsored one
of two lectures by Professor Robert M. Kingdon, Professor of History at the University of
Wisconsin: "The Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572): 1. Protestant Reaction, 2.
Catholic Reaction." CRRS invited Professor Jean Delumeau, a prominent French historian
from the Sorbonne who was teaching for a few months at l'Université de Sherbrooke, to
lecture on "Les Chrétiens à l'époque de la Réforme." Professor Earl Miner, Department of
English at Princeton University, accepted our invitation to be the "Erasmus" lecturer in
February on the topic "Assaying the Golden World of Renaissance Poetics."
Mention should be made of the excellent and friendly relationship we have with the
Renaissance Centre at Sherbrooke. Professors F.D. Hoeniger and H.R. Secor, when asked
last year to carry out an evaluation study of the Sherbrooke Centre, gave their full support
to the programme and activities proposed for the Centre by the Director, Professor J.M. de
Bujanda. We feel that this spirit of cordial cooperation with Sherbrooke has important
possibilities for the future in terms of student exchanges, cooperative projects, etc.
Lest anyone think that not enough concern has been given to Reformation interests, we
hasten to add that the latter has not been neglected. Frequently there has been consulta-
tion with members of the theological colleges and joint sponsoring of lecturers. Even so,
the present director has thought that CRRS would greatly benefit from having several theo-
logian-historians appointed as Reformation Consultants. As listed last year. Pastor Walther
Dedi, now in Milan, is our official European Representative, concerned chiefly with the
Swiss-German Reformers, especially in Zurich, Berne and Basel. Last spring the Managing
Committee unanimously approved the appointment of R. Gerald Hobbs, Professor at
Huntington College in Laurentian University, as Reformation Consultant. He is a graduate
of Victoria and Emmanuel Colleges and the Faculté de théologie at Strasbourg. He will
concentrate on the Protestant Reformation in Strasbourg and the Rhine Valley, and, thanks
to his knowledge of Hebrew, will be able to develop our library holdings with materials on
the revival of Hebrew studies as a humanistic discipline at the time of the Reformation.
It is perhaps premature to give much information on what we shall label the Zwingli
Project. In brief, it would involve the publishing of five volumes or so of selected works of
Zwingli in English translation. Presumably, CRRS would not necessarily be the publisher,
but serve rather as the agency to set in motion the entire project. At a meeting of the
Managing Committee held on May 16, 1973, a sub-committee whose members are Profes-
sors D. Demson, J.W. Grant and A. Farris, was authorized to investigate the possibility of
CRRS sponsoring the publication named above. During the summer Professor Demson was
able to consult with Dr. Ulrich Gaebler in Switzerland on this matter and has also been
corresponding with several scholars in the United States, among them Professor Ford
Lewis Battles, on the subject of publication. Further information will be available in the
next frew months.
Among those who have contributed to the Centre during the last year, we wish espe-
cially to thank the Harold J. Fox Educational Foundation, which once again made a con-
tribution of $1,000. Our thanks go also to Professor Hoeniger who through his spring
stamp and book sales raised approximately $1,000.
In recent years, as the financial situation has grown more critical in the universities, the
143
budget reductions have seriously hindered the development of new programmes of study
and research projects. Yet if the Centre is to be run on a truly professional basis, it must
attempt to secure adequate funds to provide grants and salaries that are realistic in present-
day terms. The director would like to see the establishment of six or eight research fellow-
ships of about $8,000 each for highly qualified Ph.D.'s, for whom there are no teaching
jobs available in universities at present. The Centre would also like to have the funds to in-
vite a senior Renaissance scholar to the University campus to give a series of lectures and
seminars in fields not usually covered in the regular curriculum. The Centre is also facing
a dwindling purchasing power in the book budget, as prices of antiquarian books have risen
three-fold over the course of the last few years and the prices of new scholarly books limit
the amount of our acquisitions, even though within the decade they will be difficult to fiad.
Because of these serious requirements for more funds, the Centre is now preparing se-
veral appeals for funds and submissions it can present to various foundations and depart-
ments of the Provincial Government. We believe a good case can be made for CRRS pro-
jects; however, we will need the continued support and interest of friends of the Centre in
this venture.
H.R. SECOR, Director
AUTORENLEXIKON ZUR DEUTSCHEN LITERATUR ZWISCHEN CA. 1450 UND CA. 1620
A major new project of considerable interest to Renaissance scholars has been initiated
at the Institute for German Philology and General and Comparative Literature at the Tech-
nical University of Berlin: a biographical dictionary for German literature between ca.
1450 and ca. 1620. The enterprise is being supported by the German Research Council
(Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and is to be published by the house of de Gruyter in
Berlin.
The concept of "German Literature" is being kept to its broadest to include technical
and neo-Latin texts of all kinds.
A team of scholars in Berlin is in the process of gathering the research materials. Pri-
mary and secondary bibliography and, as far as necessar\- and possible, texts themselves
will be provided by this team to all contributors.
Contributors are being sought in all fields: theolog>', history, German language and
literature, comparative literature, literary, bibliographical, and cultural history, history of
pedagogy, history of science, etc. This includes colleagues and qualified graduate students
in all such fields.
Some background information can be found in: Eupborion, LVI (1962), 125ff. and
Jahrbuch fur internationale Germanistik, IV, 1 (1972), 183-186.
For further information, prospective contributors should contact:
Professor Hans-Gert Roloff
Institut fur deutsche Philologie
Technische Universitat Berlin
1 Berlin 12
Strasse des 17. Juni 135
West Berlin — Germany
144
INDEX TO VOLUME X (1974)
AUTHORS
AVALLE-ARCE, Juan Bautista. (Review)
Arthur Efron, Don Quixote and the Dulcineated
World, 53-54
BRETT-EVANS, David. (Review) Frank L.
Borchardt, German Antiquity in Renaissance
Myth, 73-75
BROWN, Russell M. (Review) Aldo Scaglione,
The Classical Theory of Composition: From Its
Origins to the Present, 69-70
CORTADA, James W. "Who was Christopher
Columbus?" 99-102
DALY, J.W. (Review) G.R. Elton, Policy and
Police: The Enforcement of the Reformation in
the Age of Thomas Cromwell, 47-48
DE BUJANDA, J.M. "L'influence de Sebond en
Espagne au XVIe Siècle." 78-84
DEVEREUX, E.J. (Review) Albert Hyma, The
Life of Desiderius Erasmus, 125-26
DOOB, P.B.R. and SHAND, G.B. "Jonson's
Tortoise and Avian," 43
DRAKE, Stillman. (Review) W.P.D. Wightman,
Science in a Renaissance Society, and A. G.R.
Smith, Science and Society in the Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Centuries, 52-53
DÙNNHAUPT, Gerhard. '"Historia Vom
Rasenden Roland'-The First German Ariosto
Translation," 37-44
FOURNIER, Hannah. (Review) Joseph L.
Allaire, ed. Marguerite d'Angouleme Reine de
Navarre "Le Miroir de l'Ame Pécheresse," 73
FRANK, Roberta. (Review) Lynn White, Jr. ed.
Viator: Medieval and Renaissance Studies,
Volume 2, 47
GIANTURCO, Elio (Review) Frederick Hartt.
History of Italian Renaissance Art, 66-69
GRENDLER, Marcella. (Review) Louis Green.
Chronicle into History: An Essay on the Inter-
pretation of History in Florentine Fourteenth-
century Chronicles, 132-33
HEGVI, Otmar. (Review) Augusta Espantosa
Foley. Occult Arts and Doctrine in the Theatre
of Juan Ruiz de Alarcôn, 58-60
KEMP, Walter H. (Review) Jerome Roche.
Palestrina, 70-72
LACEY, Stephen. (Review) Gerald Fades Bent-
ley. The Profession of Dramatists in Shakes-
peare's Time, 1590-1642, 64-66
LEVERE, T.H. (Review) William R. Shea.
Galileo's Intellectual Revolution. Middle Period,
1610-1632, 133-34
LYTLE, Guy Fitch, (Review) J.M. Bujanda ed.
Erasme de Rotterdam, Liberté et Unité dans
l'Eglise, 45-46
MacCURDY, Raymond R. (Review) Jack H.
Parker and Arthur M. Fox, general editors.
Calderon de la Barca Studies, 1951-69. A Criti-
cal Survey and Annotated Bibliography, 60-61
McCONICA James K. (Review) Derek Wilson.
A Tudor Tapestry: Men, Women and Society in
Reformation England, 48-49
McCLELLAND, John. (Review) L. Clark
Keating, Joachim du Bellay, 128
McCLELLAND, Joha( Review) A Word-Index
to the Poetic Works of Ronsard, 128-30
McLUHAN, Marshall, "Francis Bacon: Ancient
or Modern?" 93-98
McSORLEY, Harry. (Review) Gordon Rupp.
Patterns of Reformation, 49-50
MISKIMIN, Harry A. (Review) Anthony Molho,
Florentine Public Finances in the Early Renais-
sance, 1400-1433, 134-35
MOLINARO, Julius A. "Avarice and Sloth in
the "Orlando Furioso", 103-15
NORTON, Glyn, P. "Translation Theory in
Renaissance France: Etienne Dolet and the
Rhetorical Tradition," 1-13
PARKER, Douglas H. (Review) Dickie A.
Spurgeon, ed. Tudor Translations of the Collo-
quies of Erasmus (153&1584), 46-47.
PARKER, J.H., Thomas E. Case, Ed. A Critical
and Annotated Edition of Lope de Vega's "Las
almenas de Toro ", and Fred M. Clark, Objec-
tive Methods for Testing Authenticity and the
Study of Ten Doubtful "Comedias" attributed
to Lope de Vega, 56-58
PATTERSON, Annabel. (Review) Forrest G.
Robinson. The Shape of Things Known: Sidney's
Apology in its Philosophical Tradition, 62-64
145
PETERS, Edward. (Review) Joseph H. Marsh-
burn, Murder & Witchcraft in England, 1550-
1640, 123-24
PREDMORE, Richard L. (Review) Margaret
Church. Don Quixote- The Knight of La
Mancha, 54-55
PRIESTLEY, John. "Montaigne and History,"
85-92
REID, Stanford, W. "John Knox and His Inter-
preters," 14-24
RICHTER, Bodo L. O. (Review) Julius A.
MoHnaro, ed. Petrarch to Pirandello, 135-39
ROWLAND, Beryl. (Review) Thomas P. Harri-
son and F. David Hoeniger, eds. The Fowles of
Heauen or History of Birdes, 124-25
SANDERS, Leslie. "The Revenger's Tragedy. A
Play on the Revenge Play," 25-36
SANTOSUOSSO, Antonio. (Review) Dermot
Fenlon, Heresy and Obedience in Tridentine
Italy: Cardinal Pole and the Counter Reforma-
tion, 139-40
SECOR, H.R. The Ninth Annual Report, CRRS,
141-44
SEWELL, D. Swift. "The Erasmus Collection in
the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance
Studies," 116-19
SHAND, G.B. See DOOB
TAYLOR, Robert R. (Review) Albert Douglas
Menut, ed. Maistre Nicole Oresme: Le Livre de
Politiques d'Aristotle, 62
THOMSON, D.F.S. (Review) Richard L. De
Molen, ed. Erasmus of Rotterdam: A Quincen-
tennial Symposium, 126-27
TOUPIN, Robert, S.J. "The Filmed Manuscripts
and Printed Books of the Vatican Library,"
120-21
WALKER, John A. (Review) Florence M.
Weinberg, The Wine and the Will: Rabelais's
Bacchic Christianity, 130-31
WEBBER, Edwin J. (Review) Ruth Pike.
Aristocrats and Traders. Sevillian Society in the
Sixteenth Century, 55-56
WILEY, Karen F. (Review) Arthur P. Stabler,
The Legend of Marguerite de Roberval, 131-32
WOOD, Chauncey. (Review) Wayne Shumaker.
The Occult Sciences in the Renaissance: A
Study in Intellectual Patterns, 51-52
ZITNER, S.P. (Review) Rosalie L. Colie, The
Resources of Kind: Genre-Theory in the Renais-
sance, 122-23
146
BOOKS REVIEWED
ALLAIRE, Joseph L. ed. Marguerite d'Angou-
leme Reine de Navarre. Le Miroir de l'Ame
Pécheresse, Ti
BENTLEY, Gerald Eades. The Profession of
Dramatist in Shakespeare's Time, 1590-1642,
64-66
BORCHARDT, Frank L. German Antiquity in
Renaissance Myth, 73-75
BUJANDA, J.M. ed. Érasme de Rotterdam,
Liberté et Unité dans l'Eglise, 45-46
BUSH, M.L. Renaissance, Reformation and the
Outer World, 1450-1660, 50
CASE, Thomas E. ed. A Critical and annotated
Edition of Lope de Vega 's "Las almenas de
Toro, " 56-57
CHURCH, Margaret. Don Quixote.- The Knight
of La Mancha, 54-55
CLARK, Fred M. Objective Methods for Testing
Authenticity and the Study of Ten Doubtful
"Comedias" Attributed to Lope de Vega, 57-58
COLIE, Rosalie L. The Resources of Kind:
Genre-Theory in the Renaissance, 122-23
CREORE, A.E. A Word-Index to the Poetic
Works of Ronsard, 1 28-30
De MOLEN, Richard L. Erasmus of Rotterdam:
A Quincentennial Symposium, 126-27
EFRON, Arthur. Don Quixote and the Dul-
cineated World, 53-54
ELTON, G.R. Policy and Police: The Enforce-
ment of the Reformation in the Age of Thomas
Cromwell, 47-48
FENLON, Dermot, Heresy and Obedience in
Tridentine Italy: Cardinal Pole and The Counter
Reformation, 139-40
FOLEY, Augusta Espantosa. Occult Arts and
Doctrine in the Theatre of Juan Ruiz de Alarcôn,
58-60
FOX, M. Arthur. See PARKER, Jack H.
GREEN, Louis, Chronicle into History: An
Essay on the Interpretation of History in
Florentine Fourteenth-Century Chronicles,
132-33
HARRISON, Thomas P. and F. David HOENI-
GER, eds. The Fowles of Heauen or History of
Birdes, 124-25
HARTT, Frederick. History of Italian Renais-
sance Art, 66-69
HYMA, Albert. The Life of Desiderius Erasmus,
125-26
KEATING, L. C\2ixk. Joachim du Bellay, 128
MARSHBURN, Joseph H. Murder & Witchcraft
in England, 1550-1640, 123-24
MENUT, Albert Douglas, ed. Maistre Nicole
Oresme: Le Livre de Politiques d' Aristotle, 62
MOIHO, Anthony. Florentine Public Finances
in the Early Renaissance, 1400-1433, 134-35
MOLINARO, Julius A. ed. Petrarch to Piran-
dello, 135-39
PARKER, Jack H. and Arthur M. FOX, general
editors. Calderôn de la Barca Studies, 1951-69.
A Critical Survey and Annotated Bibliography,
60-61
PIKE, Ruth. Aristocrats and Traders. Sevillian
Society in the Sixteenth Century, 55-56
ROBINSON, Forrest G. The Shape of Things
Known: Sidney's Apology in the Philosophical
Tradition, 62-64
ROCHE, Jerome. Palestrina, 70-72
RUPP, Gordon. Patterns of Reformation, 49-50
SCAGLIONE, Aldo. The Classical Theory of
Composition: From Its Origins to the Present,
69-70
SHEA, William, R. Galileo's Intellectual Revo-
lution. Middle Period, 1610-1632, 133-34
SHUMAKER, Wayne. The Occult Sciences m the
Renaissance: A Study in Intellectual Patterns,
51-52
SMITH, A.G.R., Science and Society in the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, 52-53
SPURGEON, Dickie A. ed. Tudor Translations
of the Colloquies of Erasmus (1536-1584),
46-47
STABLER, Arthur P. The Legend of Marguerite
de Roberval, 131-32
WEINBERG, Florence M. The Wine and the
Will: Rabelais's Bacchic Christianity, 130-31
147
WHITE, Lynn Jr. ed. Viator: Medieval and
Renaissance Studies, Volume 2, 47
WIGHTMAN, W.P.D. Science in a Renaissance
Society, 52-53
WILSON, Derek. A Tudor Tapestry: Men,
Women and Society in Reformation England,
48-49
148
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