[45] Another possible epoch of meeting with Petrarch may have been in the year 1368, when at the junketings attending the wedding of Prince Lionel (in Milan), Petrarch was present; also—perhaps—Chaucer in the suite of the Prince. Froissart makes note of the Feste, but without mention of either poet, or of his own presence. Chap. ccxlvii., Liv. I.
Walter Besant (Br. Ency., Art. Froissart), I observe, avers the presence of all three—though without giving authorities. Muratori (Annali) mentions Petrarch as seated among the princely guests—tanta era la di lui riputazione—but there is, naturally enough, no naming of Chaucer or Froissart.
[46] “Nous lui lairrons toute seule faire les honneurs; nous ne irons ni viendrons en nulle place ou elle soit,” etc.—Chroniques de Sire Jean Froissart (J. A. Buchon), tome iii., p. 236. Paris, 1835.
[47] “In the spandrils are the arms of Chaucer on the dexter side, and on the sinister, Chaucer impaling those of (Roet) his wife.”—Appendix III. to Furnival, Temporary Preface, etc.
[48] Some MSS. have this poem with title of Supplication to King Richard.
[49] This—in the engraving; the autotype published by the Chaucer Society gives, unfortunately, a very blurred effect to the upper part of the face: but who can doubt the real quality of Chaucer’s eye?
[50] The name, indeed, by some strange metonymy not easily explicable, had become “Talbot.” There is a later “Tabard,” dreadfully new, on the corner of “Talbot Inn Yard,” 85 High Street, Borough.
[51] Dean Stanley, without doubt in error, in measuring the pilgrimage by twenty-four hours. See Temp. Pref. to Six Text Edit. Furnival.
[52] Nov. VI. Giorn. IX. It may be open to question if Chaucer took scent from this trail, or from some as malodorous Fr. Fabliau—as Tyrwhitt and Wright suggest. The quest is not a savory one.
[53] His dethronement preceded his death, by a twelvemonth or more.