Handbook of Universal Literature, From the Best and Latest Authorities

by Anne C. Lynch Botta

Numberless historians, of more or less merit, stimulated by the renown of Machiavelli and Guicciardini, composed annals of the states to which they belonged, while others undertook to write the histories of foreign nations. Nardi (1496-1556), one of the most ardent and pure patriots of his age, takes the first place. He wrote the history of the Florentine Revolution of 1527, a work which, though defective in style, is distinguished for its truthfulness. The histories of Florence by Adriani, Varchi, and Segni (1499-1559), are considered the best works of their kind, for elegance of style and for interest of the narrative. Almost all the other cities of Italy had their historians, but the palm must be awarded to the Florentine writers, not only on account of their number, but for the elegance and purity of their style, for their impartiality and the sagacity of their research into matters of fact. Among the writers of the second class may be mentioned Davanzati (1519), the translator of Tacitus, who wrote, in the Florentine dialect, a history of the schism of England; Giambullari (1495-1564), who wrote a history of Europe; D'Anghiera (fl. 1536), who, after having examined the papers of Christopher Columbus, and the official reports transmitted from America to Spain, compiled an interesting work on "Ocean Navigation and the New World." His style is incorrect; but this is compensated for by the fidelity of his narration. Several of the German States, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, and the East Indies, found Italian authors in this age to digest and arrange their chronicles, and give them historical form.

To this period belong also the "Lives of the Most Celebrated Artists," written by Vasari (1512-1574), himself a distinguished artist, a work highly interesting for its subject and style, and the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini (b. 1500), one of the most curious works which was ever written in any language.

10. GRAMMAR AND RHETORIC.—The Italian language was used both in writing and conversation for three centuries before its rules and principles were reduced to a scientific form. Bembo was the first scholar who established the grammar. Grammatical writings and researches were soon multiplied and extended. Salviati was one of the most prominent grammarians of the sixteenth century, and Buonmattei and Cinonio of the seventeenth. But the progress in this study was due less to the grammarians than to the Dictionary della Crusca. Among the scholars who took part in the exercises of the Florentine Academy, founded by Cosmo de' Medici, there were some who, dissatisfied with the philosophical disputations which were the object of this institution, organized another association for the purpose of giving a new impulse to the study of the language. This academy, inaugurated in 1587, was called della Crusca, literally, of the bran. The object of this new association being to sift all impurities from the language, a sieve, the emblem of the academy, was placed In the hall; the members at their meetings sat on flour-barrels, and the chair of the presiding officer stood on three mill-stones. The first work of the academy was to compile a universal dictionary of the Italian language, which was published in 1612. Though the Dictionary della Crusca was conceived in an exclusive spirit, and admitted, as linguistic authorities, only writers of the fourteenth century, belonging to Tuscany, it contributed greatly to the progress of the Italian tongue.

Every university of Italy boasted in the sixteenth century of some celebrated rhetoricians, all of whom, however, were overshadowed by Vettori (1499-1585), distinguished for the editions of the Greek and Latin classics published under his superintendence, and for his commentaries on the rhetorical books of Aristotle. B. Cavalcanti (1503-1562) was also celebrated in this department, and his "Rhetoric" is the best work of the age on that subject.

The oratory of this period is very imperfect. Orations were written in the style of Boccaccio, which, however suitable for the narration of merry tales, is entirely unfit for oratorical compositions. Among those who most distinguished themselves in this department are Della Casa (1503-1556), whose harangues against the Emperor Charles V. are full of eloquence; Speroni (1500-1588), whose style is more perfect than that of any other writer of the sixteenth century; and Lollio (d. 1568), whose orations are the most polished. At that time, in the forum of Venice, eloquent orators pleaded the causes of the citizens, and at the close of the preceding century, Savonarola (1452-1498), a preacher of Florence, thundered against the abuses of the Roman church, and suffered death in consequence. Among the models of letter-writing, Caro takes the first place. His familiar letters are written with that graceful elegance which becomes this kind of composition. The letters of Tasso are full of eloquence and philosophy, and are written in the most select Italian.

11. SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND POLITICS.—The sciences, during this period, went hand in hand with poetry and history. Libraries and other aids to learning were multiplied, and academies were organized with other objects than those of enjoyment of mere poetical triumphs or dramatic amusements. The Academy del Cimento was founded at Florence in 1657 by Leopold de' Medici, for promoting the study of the natural sciences, and similar institutions were established in Rome, Bologna, and Naples, and other cities of Italy, besides the Royal Academy of London (1660), and the Academy of Sciences in Paris (1666). From the period of the first institution of universities, that of Bologna had maintained its preëminence. Padua, Ferrara, Pavia, Turin, Florence, Siena, Pisa, and Rome were also seats of learning. The men who directed the scientific studies of their country and of Europe were almost universally attached as professors to these institutions. Indeed, at this period, through the genius of Galileo and his school, European science first dawned in Italy. Galileo (1564-1641) was a native of Pisa, and professor of mathematics in the university of that city. Being obliged to leave it on account of scientific opinions, at that time at variance with universally received principles, he removed to the university of Padua, where for eighteen years he enjoyed the high consideration of his countrymen. He returned to Pisa, and at the age of seventy was summoned to Rome by the Inquisition, and required to renounce his doctrines relative to the Copernican system, of which he was a zealous defender, and his life was spared only on condition of his abjuring his opinions. It is said that on rising from his knees, after making the abjuration of his belief that the earth moved round the sun, he stamped his foot on the floor and said, "It does move, though." To Galileo science is indebted for the discovery of the laws of weight, the scientific construction of the system of Copernicus, the pendulum, the improvement of many scientific instruments, the invention of the hydrostatic balance, the thermometer, proportional compasses, and, above all, the telescope. He discovered the satellites of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, the mountains of the moon, the spots and the rotation of the sun. Science, which had consisted for centuries only of scholastic subtleties and barren dialectics, he established on an experimental basis. In his works he unites delicacy and purity with vivacity of style.

Among the scholars of Galileo, who most efficaciously contributed to the progress of science, may be mentioned Torricelli (1608-1647), the inventor of the barometer, an elegant and profound writer; Borelli (1608-1679), the founder of animal mechanics, or the science of the movements of animals, distinguished for his works on astronomy, mathematics, anatomy, and natural philosophy; Cassini (1625-1712), a celebrated astronomer, to whom France is indebted for its meridian; Cavalieri (1598-1648), distinguished for his works on geometry, which paved the way to the discovery of the infinitesimal calculus.

In the scientific department of the earlier part of this period may also be mentioned Tartaglia (d. 1657) and Cardano (1501-1576), celebrated for their researches on algebra and geometry; Vignola (1507-1573) and Palladio (1518-1580), whose works on architecture are still held in high estimation, as well as the work of Marchi (fl. 1550) on military construction. Later, Redi (1626-1697) distinguished himself as a natural philosopher, a physician and elegant writer, both in prose and verse, and Malpighi (1628-1694) and Bellini (1643-1704) were anatomists of high repute. Scamozzi (1550-1616) emulated the glory formerly won by Palladio in architecture, and Montecuccoli (1608-1681), a great general of the age, ably illustrated the art of strategy.

The sixteenth century abounds in philosophers who, abandoning the doctrines of Plato, which had been in great favor in the fifteenth, adopted those of Aristotle. Some, however, dared to throw off the yoke of philosophical authority, and to walk in new paths of speculation. Patrizi (1529-1597) was one of the first who undertook to examine for himself the phenomena of nature, and to attack the authority of Aristotle. Telesio (1509-1588), a friend of Patrizi, joined him in the work of overthrowing the Peripatetic idols; but neither of them dared to renounce entirely the authority of antiquity. The glory of having claimed absolute freedom in philosophical speculation belongs to Cardano, already mentioned, to Campanella (1568-1639), who for the boldness of his opinions was put to the torture and spent thirty years in prison, and to Giordano Bruno (1550- 1600), a sublime thinker and a bold champion of freedom, who was burned at the stake.

Among the moral philosophers of this age may be mentioned Speroni, whose writings are distinguished by harmony, freedom, and eloquence of style; Tasso, whose dialogues unite loftiness of thought with elegance of style; Castiglione (1468-1529), whose "Cortigiano" is in equal estimation as a manual of elegance of manners and as a model of pure Italian; and Della Casa, whose "Galateo" is a complete system of politeness, couched in elegant language, and a work to which Lord Chesterfield was much indebted.