ITALY
247
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cilians. But from the outset the Tuscans did not
restrict themselves to erotic poetry, but sang of re-
ligious, satirical, and political themes as well. Guit-
tone del Viva (12;50-9-l), known as Fra Guittone
d'Arezzo, shows himself an imitator of the Proven-
cals in his love lyrios, but writes with vigour and sin-
cerity in his religious and political poems, especially
in his canzone on the defeat of the Florentines at
Montaperti (1260). He is also the author of a col-
cosmography, "Delia Composizione del Mondo".
Most of the prose of this epoch is simply translated
from the Latin or French. To Bono Giamboni (d.
after 1296), a Florentine who italicized Brunetto
Latini's "Trfeor", are attributed tliree ethical trea-
tises (possibly of a later date), based upon medieval
Latin models, but not mere translations; the most
important of these, the " Introduzione alleVirtCi",
derived in part from Boethius and Prudentius, is a
lection of letters, one of the earliest achievements of striking religious allegory in which the Soul is led by
Italian prose. By the middle of the century, in ad- Philosophy to the palace of Faith to witness the tri-
dition to the canzone, or ode (which was taken over umph of the Church, and herself attain to spiritual
from the Proven(;als), we find in Central Italy two freedom.
forms of lyrical poetry purely Italian in their origin: The Fourteenth Century {II Trecento). — Through the
the ballata and the sonnet. The ox-erthrow of the triumph of the Guelphs, the chief place in Italian
Suabian monarchy in the South, by the victory of culture is now held by Florence instead of Sicily.
Charles of Anjou (1266), shifted the centre of culture Italian literature has become mainly republican in
to Bologna and Florence. A number of disciples of temper (even when _professedly imperialist) and
Guittone now appear, of whom Chiaro Davanzati Tuscan in language (date uncertain), of Florence,
and Bonaggiunta Urbicciani,
of Lucca (d. after 1296), are
the most noticeable. Of a far
higher order is the poet who in-
augurated the dulcc stil niiovo,
the "sweet new style", of
which Dante speaks — Guido
Guinizelli of Bologna (d . 1 276) .
Guido wrote of the noblest
love in a spirit that antici-
pates the "Vita Nuova", and
thereby founded a school to
which the poets of the last
decade of the century be-
longed, even as their prede-
cessors had adhered to that
of Guittone. The chief of
these is Guido Cavalcanti
(d. 1300), the chosen friend
of Dante. He composed
an elaborate canzone on the
philosophy of love, in which
poetry is smothered by met-
aphysics; but in his minor
lyrics, original in motive and
personal in sentiment, he
brought the ballata and the
sonnet to a degree of per-
fection previously unattained.
With him and Dante is associ-
ated another Florentine poet,
Lapo Gianni (d. 1323), whose
'mw.
Title Page of the "Dialogue" of t*r. Catherine
Printed at Venice, 1483, and now in the K.
Kupferstichkabinett at Berlin
work belongs to this epoch although he outlived it. with philosophical authority. With his " Convivio "
The philosophical glory of St.
Thomas causes even belles
lettres to be deeply tinged
with scholasticism; while
the growing antagonism to
the political actions of the
popes, part icularly tluring the
Babylonian Captivity of Avi-
gnon, gives an anti-clerical
tone to much of the poetry and
prose of the centurj-. At the
close of the epoch the revival of
classical studies begins to make
itself felt. In the hands of
three great Tuscan writers —
Dante AHghieri (1265-1321),
Francesco Petrarca (1304-
1374), and Giovanni Boccac-
cio (1313-1375) — the national
literature and the national
language appear in full
maturity and artistic perfec-
tion.
In his "Vita Nuova" (c. 1295), Dante still belongs to the preceding century, while uplifting the ideals of love set forth by Guido Guinizelli to the heights of Catholic mys- ticism. His "Rime, more particularly his canzoni, de- velop the IjTical forms of his predecessors, while investing them with fresh passion and
In another vein, we have the humorous and satirical
pieces of Rustico di Filippo (d. circa 1270) and the
"Tesoretto" of Brunetto Latini (d. 1294). an allegor-
ical didactic poem which influenced the external form
of the "Divina Commedia ". The religious poetry of
Umbria, developing under Franciscan influence, culmi-
nates in the mvstical laudi of Jacopone da Todi (d.
(circa 1306 — unfinished, l)uf the earliest monumental
work of Italian prose) he intended to bring down the
scholastic learning of his age to the understanding of
the general reader. The " Divina Commedia " (1314-
21), the noblest expression of the Italian spirit in
poetry and a landmark in the history of man, sums up
the intellectual gain and the spiritual progress of the
1306), one of the most truly inspired sacred poets that nine centuries since the fall of the Roman Empire,
the world has seen. while faithfully depicting the highest aspirations and
In comparison with the poetry, the Italian prose whole moral atmosphere of the poet's own epoch.
literature of this century is insignificant. The chief
chronicler of the epoch, Fra Salimbene of Parma (d.
12S8), wrote in Latin; Brunetto Latini composed his
encyclopedic work, the "Tresor", in French. Many
of the literary productions formerly assigned to this
In spiritual insight, dramatic intensity, sureness of
touch, and terseness of expression, it has never been
surpassed. In it modern Europe first produced a
masterpiece to rival those of the classical world.
Petrarca brings the canzone and the sonnet to their
are now known to belong to a later epoch, and it is ultimate technical perfection in his lyrical poems,
impossible to say with certainty whether those that the "Canzoniere" or "Rime", a series of miniature
are authentic should be placed at the end of the paintings of all the varying moods of the soul passing
thirteenth or at the beginning of the fourteenth cen
tury. .\mong these are the " Cento Novelle Antiche",
a collection of short stories drawn from various
sources, and the "Tavola Ritonda", an Italian ver-
sion of the romance of Tristram. Fra Ristoro of
through earthly love and patriotic enthusiasm to find
its rest in religion. His "Trionfi", a poem in terza
rima, in ten cantos, deal with the same matter in
allegorical fashion, giving a s>Tnbolical representation
of his own life. In his voluminous Latin writings —
Arezzo, in 12S2, completed an elaborate treatise on letters, treatises, and poems — he appears as the first of
