]
He appoints Francesco da Brossano, citizen of Milan, his heir, and
desires him, not only as his heir, but as his dear son, to divide into
two parts the money he should find--the one for himself, the other for
the person to whom it was assigned.
He appoints Francesco da Brossano, citizen of Milan, his heir, and
desires him, not only as his heir, but as his dear son, to divide into
two parts the money he should find--the one for himself, the other for
the person to whom it was assigned.
Petrarch
"As for my
burial," he says, "let it be made as my friends think fit. What
signifies it to me where my body is laid? " He then makes some bequests
in favour of the religious orders; and he founds an anniversary in his
own church of Padua, which is still celebrated every year on the 9th of
July.
Then come his legacies to his friends. He bequeathes to the Lord of
Padua his picture of the Virgin, painted by Giotto; "the beauty of
which," he says, "is little known to the ignorant, though the masters of
art will never look upon it without admiration. "
To Donato di Prato Vecchio, master of grammar at Venice, he leaves all
the money that he had lent him. He bequeathes the horses he may have at
his death to Bonzanello di Vigoncia and Lombardo da Serigo, two friends
of his, citizens of Padua, wishing them to draw lots for the choice of
the horses. He avows being indebted to Lombardo da Serigo 134 golden
ducats, advanced for the expenses of his house. He also bequeathes to
the same person a goblet of silver gilt (undoubtedly the same which the
Emperor Charles had sent him in 1362). He leaves to John Abucheta,
warden of his church, his great breviary, which he bought at Venice for
100 francs, on condition that, after his death, this breviary shall
remain in the sacristy for the use of the future priests of the church.
To John Boccaccio he bequeathes 50 gold florins of Florence, to buy him
a winter-habit for his studies at night. "I am ashamed," he adds, "to
leave so small a sum to so great a man;" but he entreats his friends in
general to impute the smallness of their legacies to that of his
fortune. To Tomaso Bambasi, of Ferrara, he makes a present of his good
lute, that he may make use of it in singing the praises of God. To
Giovanni Dandi, physician of Padua, he leaves 50 ducats of gold, to buy
a gold ring, which he may wear in remembrance of him.
[Illustration: FERRARA.
]
He appoints Francesco da Brossano, citizen of Milan, his heir, and
desires him, not only as his heir, but as his dear son, to divide into
two parts the money he should find--the one for himself, the other for
the person to whom it was assigned. "It would seem by this," says De
Sade, "that Petrarch would not mention his daughter by name in a public
will, because she was not born in marriage. " Yet his shyness to name her
makes it singular that he should style Brossano his son. In case
Brossano should die before him, he appoints Lombardo da Serigo his
eventual heir. De Sade considers the appointment as a deed of trust.
With respect to his little property at Vaucluse, he leaves it to the
hospital in that diocese. His last bequest is to his brother Gherardo, a
Carthusian of Montrieux. He desires his heir to write to him immediately
after his decease, and to give him the option of a hundred florins of
gold, payable at once, or by five or ten florins every year.
A few days after he had made this will, he set out for Rome. The
pleasure with which he undertook the journey made him suppose that he
could support it. But when he reached Ferrara he fell down in a fit, in
which he continued thirty hours, without sense or motion; and it was
supposed that he was dead. The most violent remedies were used to
restore him to consciousness, but he says that he felt them no more than
a statue.
Nicholas d'Este II. , the son of Obizzo, was at that time Lord of
Ferrara, a friend and admirer of Petrarch. The physicians thought him
dead, and the whole city was in grief. The news spread to Padua, Venice,
Milan, and Pavia.
burial," he says, "let it be made as my friends think fit. What
signifies it to me where my body is laid? " He then makes some bequests
in favour of the religious orders; and he founds an anniversary in his
own church of Padua, which is still celebrated every year on the 9th of
July.
Then come his legacies to his friends. He bequeathes to the Lord of
Padua his picture of the Virgin, painted by Giotto; "the beauty of
which," he says, "is little known to the ignorant, though the masters of
art will never look upon it without admiration. "
To Donato di Prato Vecchio, master of grammar at Venice, he leaves all
the money that he had lent him. He bequeathes the horses he may have at
his death to Bonzanello di Vigoncia and Lombardo da Serigo, two friends
of his, citizens of Padua, wishing them to draw lots for the choice of
the horses. He avows being indebted to Lombardo da Serigo 134 golden
ducats, advanced for the expenses of his house. He also bequeathes to
the same person a goblet of silver gilt (undoubtedly the same which the
Emperor Charles had sent him in 1362). He leaves to John Abucheta,
warden of his church, his great breviary, which he bought at Venice for
100 francs, on condition that, after his death, this breviary shall
remain in the sacristy for the use of the future priests of the church.
To John Boccaccio he bequeathes 50 gold florins of Florence, to buy him
a winter-habit for his studies at night. "I am ashamed," he adds, "to
leave so small a sum to so great a man;" but he entreats his friends in
general to impute the smallness of their legacies to that of his
fortune. To Tomaso Bambasi, of Ferrara, he makes a present of his good
lute, that he may make use of it in singing the praises of God. To
Giovanni Dandi, physician of Padua, he leaves 50 ducats of gold, to buy
a gold ring, which he may wear in remembrance of him.
[Illustration: FERRARA.
]
He appoints Francesco da Brossano, citizen of Milan, his heir, and
desires him, not only as his heir, but as his dear son, to divide into
two parts the money he should find--the one for himself, the other for
the person to whom it was assigned. "It would seem by this," says De
Sade, "that Petrarch would not mention his daughter by name in a public
will, because she was not born in marriage. " Yet his shyness to name her
makes it singular that he should style Brossano his son. In case
Brossano should die before him, he appoints Lombardo da Serigo his
eventual heir. De Sade considers the appointment as a deed of trust.
With respect to his little property at Vaucluse, he leaves it to the
hospital in that diocese. His last bequest is to his brother Gherardo, a
Carthusian of Montrieux. He desires his heir to write to him immediately
after his decease, and to give him the option of a hundred florins of
gold, payable at once, or by five or ten florins every year.
A few days after he had made this will, he set out for Rome. The
pleasure with which he undertook the journey made him suppose that he
could support it. But when he reached Ferrara he fell down in a fit, in
which he continued thirty hours, without sense or motion; and it was
supposed that he was dead. The most violent remedies were used to
restore him to consciousness, but he says that he felt them no more than
a statue.
Nicholas d'Este II. , the son of Obizzo, was at that time Lord of
Ferrara, a friend and admirer of Petrarch. The physicians thought him
dead, and the whole city was in grief. The news spread to Padua, Venice,
Milan, and Pavia.
