But in my foe's
embraces
spent the night.
Petrarch
Of these churchmen he
speaks in the warmest terms, and he afterwards corresponded with them.
We find him returned to Milan, and writing to Simonides on the 20th of
September.
Some days after Petrarch's return from Germany, a courier arrived at
Milan with news of the battle of Poitiers, in which eighty thousand
French were defeated by thirty thousand Englishmen, and in which King
John of France was made prisoner. [M] Petrarch was requested by Galeazzo
Visconti on this occasion to write for him two condoling letters, one to
Charles the Dauphin, and another to the Cardinal of Boulogne. Petrarch
was thunderstruck at the calamity of King John, of whom he had an
exalted idea. "It is a thing," he says, "incredible, unheard-of, and
unexampled in history, that an invincible hero, the greatest king that
ever lived, should have been conquered and made captive by an enemy so
inferior. "
On this great event, our poet composed an allegorical eclogue, in which
the King of France, under the name of Pan, and the King of England,
under that of Articus, heartily abuse each other. The city of Avignon is
brought in with the designation of Faustula. England reproaches the Pope
with his partiality for the King of France, to whom he had granted the
tithes of his kingdom, by which means he was enabled to levy an army.
Articus thus apostrophizes Faustula:--
Ah meretrix oblique tuens, ait Articus illi--
Immemorem sponsae cupidus quam mungit adulter!
Haec tua tota fides, sic sic aliena ministras!
Erubuit nihil ausa palam, nisi mollia pacis
Verba, sed assuetis noctem complexibus egit--
Ah, harlot! squinting with lascivious brows
Upon a hapless wife's adulterous spouse,
Is this thy faith, to waste another's wealth.
The guilty fruit of perfidy and stealth!
She durst not be my foe in open light.
But in my foe's embraces spent the night.
Meanwhile, Marquard, Bishop of Augsburg, vicar of the Emperor in Italy,
having put himself at the head of the Lombard league against the
Viscontis, entered their territories with the German troops, and was
committing great devastations. But the brothers of Milan turned out,
beat the Bishop, and took him prisoner. It is evident, from these
hostilities of the Emperor's vicar against the Viscontis, that
Petrarch's embassy to Prague had not had the desired success. The
Emperor, it is true, plainly told him that he had no thoughts of
invading Italy in person. And this was true; but there is no doubt that
he abetted and secretly supported the enemies of the Milan chiefs.
Powerful as the Visconti were, their numerous enemies pressed them hard;
and, with war on all sides, Milan was in a critical situation. But
Petrarch, whilst war was at the very gates, continued retouching his
Italian poetry.
At the commencement of this year, 1356, he received a letter from
Avignon, which Socrates, Laelius, and Guido Settimo had jointly written
to him. They dwelt all three in the same house, and lived in the most
social union. Petrarch made them a short reply, in which he said,
"Little did I think that I should ever envy those who inhabit Babylon.
Nevertheless, I wish that I were with you in that house of yours,
inaccessible to the pestilent air of the infamous city. I regard it as
an elysium in the midst of Avernus. "
At this time, Petrarch received a diploma that was sent to him by John,
Bishop of Olmutz, Chancellor of the Empire, in which diploma the Emperor
created him a count palatine, and conferred upon him the rights and
privileges attached to this dignity. These, according to the French
abridger of the History of Germany, consisted in creating doctors and
notaries, in legitimatizing the bastards of citizens, in crowning poets,
in giving dispensations with respect to age, and in other things. To
this diploma sent to Petrarch was attached a bull, or capsule of gold.
speaks in the warmest terms, and he afterwards corresponded with them.
We find him returned to Milan, and writing to Simonides on the 20th of
September.
Some days after Petrarch's return from Germany, a courier arrived at
Milan with news of the battle of Poitiers, in which eighty thousand
French were defeated by thirty thousand Englishmen, and in which King
John of France was made prisoner. [M] Petrarch was requested by Galeazzo
Visconti on this occasion to write for him two condoling letters, one to
Charles the Dauphin, and another to the Cardinal of Boulogne. Petrarch
was thunderstruck at the calamity of King John, of whom he had an
exalted idea. "It is a thing," he says, "incredible, unheard-of, and
unexampled in history, that an invincible hero, the greatest king that
ever lived, should have been conquered and made captive by an enemy so
inferior. "
On this great event, our poet composed an allegorical eclogue, in which
the King of France, under the name of Pan, and the King of England,
under that of Articus, heartily abuse each other. The city of Avignon is
brought in with the designation of Faustula. England reproaches the Pope
with his partiality for the King of France, to whom he had granted the
tithes of his kingdom, by which means he was enabled to levy an army.
Articus thus apostrophizes Faustula:--
Ah meretrix oblique tuens, ait Articus illi--
Immemorem sponsae cupidus quam mungit adulter!
Haec tua tota fides, sic sic aliena ministras!
Erubuit nihil ausa palam, nisi mollia pacis
Verba, sed assuetis noctem complexibus egit--
Ah, harlot! squinting with lascivious brows
Upon a hapless wife's adulterous spouse,
Is this thy faith, to waste another's wealth.
The guilty fruit of perfidy and stealth!
She durst not be my foe in open light.
But in my foe's embraces spent the night.
Meanwhile, Marquard, Bishop of Augsburg, vicar of the Emperor in Italy,
having put himself at the head of the Lombard league against the
Viscontis, entered their territories with the German troops, and was
committing great devastations. But the brothers of Milan turned out,
beat the Bishop, and took him prisoner. It is evident, from these
hostilities of the Emperor's vicar against the Viscontis, that
Petrarch's embassy to Prague had not had the desired success. The
Emperor, it is true, plainly told him that he had no thoughts of
invading Italy in person. And this was true; but there is no doubt that
he abetted and secretly supported the enemies of the Milan chiefs.
Powerful as the Visconti were, their numerous enemies pressed them hard;
and, with war on all sides, Milan was in a critical situation. But
Petrarch, whilst war was at the very gates, continued retouching his
Italian poetry.
At the commencement of this year, 1356, he received a letter from
Avignon, which Socrates, Laelius, and Guido Settimo had jointly written
to him. They dwelt all three in the same house, and lived in the most
social union. Petrarch made them a short reply, in which he said,
"Little did I think that I should ever envy those who inhabit Babylon.
Nevertheless, I wish that I were with you in that house of yours,
inaccessible to the pestilent air of the infamous city. I regard it as
an elysium in the midst of Avernus. "
At this time, Petrarch received a diploma that was sent to him by John,
Bishop of Olmutz, Chancellor of the Empire, in which diploma the Emperor
created him a count palatine, and conferred upon him the rights and
privileges attached to this dignity. These, according to the French
abridger of the History of Germany, consisted in creating doctors and
notaries, in legitimatizing the bastards of citizens, in crowning poets,
in giving dispensations with respect to age, and in other things. To
this diploma sent to Petrarch was attached a bull, or capsule of gold.
