Wednesday, March 5, 2008

At left is an image of the Laurentian Library in Florence, living testimony to the work of Renaissance manuscript-hounds such as Poggio Bracciolini and Nicolo Nicoli. Poggio's 1416 discovery of Quintilian's On the Instruction of Orators in the monastery at St. Gaul was an event in the history of Renaissance humanism: as we've read, he worked day and night copying the manuscript to bring back to Italy. It is hard to overstate the impact this discovery had at the time.

Speaking of copying, the 15th century was a period that saw revolutionary changes in the way literature was produced and transmitted on account of the invention of movable type. We'll be looking at that subject in more detail later; what I want you to notice now is the culture of manuscript production as reflected in the work of Vespasiano da Bisticci. Bartlett's introduction gives us a glimpse into a world where texts were valued for their beauty and elegance as much as for their content. Even so, substantial numbers were produced quickly by professional scribes operating out of workshops in the major cities of Europe.

The first Bartlett reading on today's list is Salutati's letter to Peregrino Zambeccari. It may seem strange subject matter for a humanist, and yet it addresses an issue of major importance to this group, that being the conflict between the active and the contemplative life. Petrarch, as we've seen, preferred to withdraw from a society that he found to be hopelessly corrupt. In his letter to Cicero, you may recall, he rebukes Cicero for having dirtied his hands with political strife. Saluatati, Bruni, and Poggio were of a different cut of cloth: all three served as chancellors in the Florentine government. In Poggio's case, city life became a burden, yet his authorship included a history of Florence.

Salutati's letter to Peregrino rehearses a number of arguments pro and contra Peregrino's intention to retreat to a monastery. Our group discussion will tackle this subject--be prepared to raise questions and make comments of your own after the formal presentation is finished.

The Valla passage is of utmost importance more for the scholarly process through which he denounces the Donation of Constantine as a forgery than for any particular outcome to the papacy, because for years the fact that it was a forgery was something of an open secret. King's discussion and illustration on p. 14 of the Donation gives you a good general background to the problem. Don't get bogged down trying to understand every detail of Valla's text.

Homework Questions:

1. First, outline, and describe for the audience, the situation in which Pergrino finds himself. What is his problem? How does he intend to solve it?
2. Next, what advice does he get from Salutati? Why?
3. Do you agree or disagree with Salutati's advice? Why?
4. Next, create your own version of this debate between the active and contemplative lives. Come up with a contemporary example that can help us understand what this treatise might have to say to us.
5. Finally, how do you evaluate the humanist movement as a secular phenomenon? Many historians qualify it as such, yet we would be mistaken in calling it entirely secular. Think about Petrarch, Salutati, and Valla: to what extent do they challenge, and to what extent reflect, Christian beliefs and institutions?

Laurel Carrington carringt@stolaf.edu
Most recent update: January 23, 2008

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