The life of Poggio Bracciolini

by William Shepherd

Poggio,[1] the son of Guccio Bracciolini, was born on the eleventh day of February, in the year 1380,[2] at Terranuova, a small town situated in the territory of the republic of Florence, not far from Arezzo. He derived his baptismal name from his grandfather,[3] concerning whose occupation and circumstances, the scanty memorials of the times in which he lived, do not furnish any satisfactory information.[4] From his father, Poggio inherited no advantages of rank or fortune. Guccio Bracciolini, who exercised the office of notary, was once indeed possessed of considerable property; but being either by his own imprudence, or by misfortune, involved in difficulties, he had recourse to the destructive assistance of an usurer, by whose rapacious artifices, his ruin was speedily completed, and he was compelled to fly from the pursuit of his creditors.[5]

But whatever might be the disadvantages under which Poggio laboured, in consequence of the embarrassed state of his father’s fortune, in a literary point of view the circumstances of his birth were singularly propitious. At the close of the fourteenth century, the writings of Petrarca and Bocaccio were read with avidity, and the labours of those eminent revivers of letters had excited throughout Italy the emulation of the learned. The day-star had now pierced through the gloom of mental night, and the dawn of literature was gradually increasing in brilliancy. The city of Florence was, at this early period, distinguished by the zeal with which its principal inhabitants cultivated and patronized the liberal arts. It was consequently the favourite resort of the ablest scholars of the time, some of whom were induced by the offer of considerable salaries, to undertake the task of public instruction. In this celebrated school, Poggio applied himself to the study of the Latin tongue, under the direction of Giovanni Malpaghino, more commonly known by the appellation of John of Ravenna. This eminent scholar had, for a period of nearly fifteen years, been honoured by the friendship, and benefited by the precepts of Petrarca, under whose auspices he made considerable progress in the study of morals, history, and poetry. After the death of his illustrious patron, he delivered public lectures on polite literature, first at Venice, and afterwards at Florence. At the latter place, besides Poggio, the following celebrated literary characters were formed by his instructions—Leonardo Aretino, Pallas Strozza, Roberto Rossi, Paulo Vergerio the elder, Omnebuono Vicentino, Guarino Veronese, Carlo Aretino, Ambrogio Traversari, and Francesco Barbaro.[6]

It has been asserted by most of the writers who have given an account of the early history of Poggio, that he acquired a knowledge of the Greek language at the Florentine University under the tuition of the celebrated Manuel Crysoloras—but it is evident from a letter addressed by him to Niccolo Niccoli, that he did not commence his Greek studies till the year 1424, when he entered upon them at Rome, trusting for success in this new pursuit to his own industry, guided by the occasional instructions of a friend of his of the name of Rinuccio, an accomplished scholar, who afterwards became secretary to Pope Nicholas V.[7]

When he had attained a competent knowledge of the Latin language, Poggio quitted Florence, and went to Rome in the year 1403. Soon after his arrival in that city, on the recommendation of his venerated tutor Coluccio Salutati, he obtained the appointment of secretary to the Cardinal Rudulfo Maramori, Bishop of Bari; and in the month of August or September in the ensuing year, he entered into the service of the reigning pontiff Boniface IX. in the capacity of writer of the apostolic letters.[8]

A. D. 1403.—At the time of Poggio’s admission into the pontifical chancery, Italy was convulsed by war and faction. The kingdom of Naples was exposed to the horrors of anarchy, consequent upon a disputed succession to the throne. Many of the cities of Lombardy, now the unresisting prey of petty tyrants, now struggling to throw off the yoke, were the miserable theatres of discord and of bloodshed. The ambition of the Lord of Milan carried fire and sword from the borders of Venice to the gates of Florence. The ecclesiastical state was exposed to the predatory incursions of banditti; and the cities over which, as portions of the patrimony of St. Peter, the pope claimed the exercise of authority, took advantage of the weakness of the Roman court to free themselves from its oppression. At the same time, the lustre of the pontificate was dimmed by the schism, which for the space of more than twenty years had divided the sentiments, and impaired the spiritual allegiance of the Christian community.

As this celebrated ecclesiastic feud, which is commonly distinguished by the name of the Schism of the West, commenced only two years before the birth of Poggio; as no fewer than five of his patrons were implicated in its progress and consequences, and as it was terminated by the council of Constance, which assembly he attended in quality of secretary to John XXII. it will be necessary to enter a little at large into its history.

The joy experienced by the inhabitants of Rome, on the translation of the papal court from Avignon to its ancient residence, by Gregory XI. was suddenly damped by the death of that pontiff, which event took place on the 28th of March, 1378. The Romans were apprehensive, that if the choice of the conclave should fall upon a native of France, he would again remove the holy see beyond the Alps.[9] They sighed for the restoration of that splendor, with which the pomp of the successors of St. Peter had formerly graced their city. Their breasts glowed with indignation, when they saw the states of the church, in consequence of the absence of its chief, successively falling under the dominion of usurpers. During the residence of the popes at Avignon, the devout pilgrimages, once so copious a source of gain to the inhabitants of the capital of Christendom, had been suspended; the tombs of the martyrs had been neglected, and the churches were fast hastening to decay. Dreading the renewal and the aggravation of these evils, the Roman clergy and populace assembled in a tumultuous manner, and signified to the cardinals, who happened to be at Rome at the time of the death of Gregory XI. their earnest wishes, that they would appoint some illustrious Italian to fill the pontifical chair. Amidst the clamours of the people, the conclave was held in the Vatican, under the protection of a guard of soldiers. This assembly was composed of thirteen French and four Italian cardinals. Notwithstanding this preponderance of ultramontane suffrages, in consequence, as Platina says, of a disagreement among the French,[10] or more probably, as was afterwards alleged by the Gallic ecclesiastics, in consequence of the overawing influence of the Roman populace, the election was concluded in favor of a Neapolitan, Bartolomeo, Archbishop of Bari, on whom the conclave conferred the name of Urban VI.[11] The French cardinals, after protesting against his nomination to the papal chair, as an act in which they had been obliged to concur through a dread of rousing the popular indignation, fled from the city. In the course of a little time, however, they returned to Rome, and made their peace with Urban by confirming his election, and paying him the customary homage. But this reconciliation was not lasting. The manners of Urban were haughty and stern, and his disposition was severe and revengeful. Disgusted by his pride, and dreading the effects of his resentment, the foreign cardinals again withdrew, first to Anagni, and afterwards to Fondi, a town situated in the territories of Naples. Here, being emboldened by the protection of Joanna, queen of that country, they renewed their protest against the election of Urban, and proceeding to form a new conclave, they proclaimed the cardinal of Ginevra, under the name of Clement VII. the true successor of St. Peter. This was the beginning of that schism, which for so long a space of time perplexed the true believers, by the inexplicable phenomenon of the co-existence of two supreme and infallible heads of the church, each proscribing his competitor, and fulminating the terrors of damnation against the adherents of his rival.

In this contest the Gallic cardinals did not restrict themselves to the use of spiritual weapons. They assembled a body of mercenary soldiers, whom they employed in making an incursion into the Roman territory. These troops were at first successful in their operations; but engaging the pontifical army near Marina, they were defeated with considerable loss.[12]

The resentful spirit of Urban, stimulated by the hostile conduct of the rebellious cardinals, prompted him to meditate a severe revenge. He instantly dispatched an ambassador to Lodovico, king of Hungary, with instructions to proffer to that monarch his assistance in punishing the queen of Naples, for the imputed murder of her husband Andrew, brother to the Hungarian sovereign, who it was alleged had, with her concurrence, been put to death by Luigi, prince of Taranto.[13] Lodovico, who had long thirsted for vengeance, eagerly accepted the offers of Urban, and gave orders to Carlo, son of Luigi di Durazzo, the descendant of Charles II. and heir apparent to the throne of Naples, to march with the Hungarian troops, which were then engaged in hostilities against the Venetians, and to co-operate with the pope in an attack upon the kingdom of Naples.[14] Carlo, after taking Arezzo, and making peace with the Florentines on the condition of their lending him forty thousand crowns of gold, repaired to Rome, where he held a conference with Urban. Thence he directed his march to Naples, of which city he easily made himself master. Joanna, after sustaining a short siege in the Castello Nuovo, was taken prisoner, and, according to the directions of the inexorable king of Hungary, smothered between two mattresses.[15]