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70-559: The Facetiae is an anthology of jokes by Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459), first published in 1470. It was the first printed joke book. The collection, "the most famous jokebook of the Renaissance", is notable for its inclusion of scatological jokes and tales, six of the tales involving flatulation humor and six involving defecation. Early editions of the Facetiae are rare, and they are not yet described in an organized fashion as

140-436: A Florentine working for the papacy. He actively kept his links to Florence and remained in constant communication with his learned and influential Florentine friends: Coluccio Salutati (1331–1406), Niccolò de' Niccoli (1364–1437), Lorenzo de' Medici the elder (1395–1440), Leonardo Bruni ( Chancellor , 1369–1444), Carlo Marsuppini ("Carlo Aretino", Chancellor, 1399–1453), and Cosimo de' Medici (1389–1464). After Martin V

210-552: A codex could not be obtained by fair means, he was not above using subterfuge, as when he bribed a monk to abstract a Livy and an Ammianus from the library of Hersfeld Abbey . Poggio's most famous find was the discovery of the only surviving manuscript of Lucretius 's De rerum natura ( "On the Nature of Things" ) known at the time, in a German monastery (never named by Poggio, but probably Fulda ), in January 1417. Poggio spotted

280-545: A collection of his letters, a most insightful witness of his remarkable age, in which he gave full play to his talent as chronicler of events, to his wide range or interests, and to his most acerbic critical sense. In the way of many humanists of his time, Poggio rejected the vernacular Italian and always wrote only in Latin, and translated works from Greek into that language. His letters are full of learning, charm, detail, and amusing personal attack on his enemies and colleagues. It

350-432: A considerable section of his extant works is occupied by a brilliant display of his sarcastic wit and his unlimited inventiveness in "invectives". One of these, published on the strength of Poggio's old friendship with the new pontiff, Nicolas V, the dialogue Against Hypocrites , was actuated by a vindictive hatred at the follies and vices of ecclesiastics. This was but another instance of his lifelong obstinate denouncing of

420-546: A letter by Poggio to Niccolò Niccoli stating that he began the study of Greek in 1424, in Rome at age 44 (Shepherd, p. 6). Poggio's preface to his dialogue On Avarice notes that his task was made the harder "because I can neither translate from the Greek language for our benefit, nor are my abilities such that I should wish to discuss in public anything drawn from these writings" Consequently, his knowledge of Greek never attained

490-614: A numerous school of Epicureans is established in Baden. I think this must be the place where the first man was created, which the Hebrews call the garden of pleasure . If pleasure can make a man happy, this place is certainly possessed of every requisite for the promotion of felicity." (p. 66) Poggio was marked by the passion of his teachers for books and writing, inspired by the first generation of Italian humanists centered around Francesco Petrarch (1304–1374), who had revived interest in

560-461: A rebirth of intellectual life for Italy by means of a vital reconnection with the texts of antiquity. Their worldview was eminently characteristic of Italian humanism in the earlier Italian Renaissance , which eventually spread all over Western Europe and led to the full Renaissance and the Reformation, announcing the modern age. Poggio, like Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (who became Pius II ),

630-498: A strong sense of realism, echoing his views on laws expressed in his second Historia disceptativa convivialis (1450) . Poggio's beautiful rhetorical prose turns his Historia Florentina into a vivid narrative, with a sweeping sense of movement, and a sharp portrayal of the main characters, but it also exemplifies the limitations of the newly emerging historical style, which, in the work of Leonardo Bruni, Carlo Marsuppini and Pietro Bembo , retained "romantic" aspects and did not reach yet

700-512: A total of seven popes: Boniface IX (1389–1404), Innocent VII (1404–1406), Gregory XII (1406–1415), Antipope John XXIII (1410–1415), Martin V (1417–1431), Eugenius IV (1431–1447), and Nicholas V (1447−1455). While he held his office in the Curia through that momentous period, which saw the Councils of Constance (1414–1418), in the train of Pope John XXIII, and of Basel (1431–1449), and

770-487: A wide display of historical and contemporary references. Poggio was always inclined to make objective observations and clinical comparisons between various cultural mores, for instance ancient Roman practices versus modern ones, or Italians versus the English. He compared the eloquence of Jerome of Prague and his fortitude before death with ancient philosophers. The abstruse points of theology presented no interest to him, only

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840-491: A wide range of subjects concerning the interests and values of his time: These compositions, all written in Latin − and reviving the classical form of dialogues, between himself and learned friends − belonged to a genre of socratic reflections which, since Petrarch set the fashion, was highly praised by Italian men of letters and made Poggio famous throughout Italy. They exemplify his conception of studia humanitatis as an epitome of human knowledge and wisdom reserved only to

910-523: Is a history of the city from 1350 to 1455, written in avowed imitation of Livy and Sallust , and possibly Thucydides (available in Greek, but translated into Latin by Valla only in 1450–52) in its use of speeches to explain decisions. Poggio continued Leonardo Bruni's History of the Florentine People , which closed in 1402, and is considered the first modern history book. Poggio limited his focus to external events, mostly wars, in which Florence

980-529: Is also noticeable as illustrating the Latinizing tendency of an age which gave classic form to the lightest essays of the fancy. Poggio was a fluent and copious writer in Latin, admired for his classical style inspired from Cicero, if not fully reaching the elegance of his model, but outstanding by the standards of his age. Italy was barely emerging from what Petrarch had termed the Dark Ages , while Poggio

1050-400: Is common for incunabula . It was, evidently, very popular: an 1894 bibliography lists twenty editions from the fifteenth century, and states that the oldest is printed by Georgius Lauer in Rome and is known as Hain 13179 (a quarto with 110 leaves). The second oldest is called Reichling 1919 (100 leaves). The 100-leaf edition, despite having been described elsewhere as the first printing,

1120-578: Is now generally held to be later than the 110-leaf edition, which is traditionally thought to be the editio princeps ; both were printed in Rome in 1470/1471. An edition from 1473–1476, Hain 13182, was printed somewhere in Poland. Christophorus Valdarfer in Venice likewise printed an edition (with 76 leaves) in 1470/1471, and Andreas Belfortis in Ferrara printed one dated 1471. According to Lotte Hellinga ,

1190-595: Is quickly forgotten). These sportive polemics among the early Italian humanists were famous, and spawned a literary fashion in Europe which reverberated later, for instance, in Scaliger 's contentions with Scioppius and Milton 's with Salmasius . Erasmus , in 1505, discovered Lorenzo Valla's Adnotationes in Novum Testamentum ( New Testament Notes ), which encouraged him to pursue the textual criticism of

1260-406: Is remarkable that eventually the belligerents acknowledged their talents, gained their mutual respect, and prompted by Filelfo , reconciled, and became good friends. William Shepherd , author of Poggio's most extensive biography, finely comments on Valla's advantage in the literary dispute: the power of irony and satire (making a sharp imprint on memory) versus the ploddingly heavy dissertation (that

1330-627: The Council of Florence , from 1439 to 1442. In his quarrel against Lorenzo Valla —an expert at philological analysis of ancient texts with a hot temperament fitted to protracted disputation—Poggio found his match. Poggio started in February 1452 with a full-dress critique of the Elegantiae , Valla's major work on Latin language and style, where he supported a critical use of Latin eruditio going beyond pure admiration and respectful imitatio of

1400-455: The fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans . Poggio's declining days were spent in the discharge of his prestigious Florentine office—glamorous at first, but soon turned irksome—conducting his intense quarrel with Lorenzo Valla , editing his correspondence for publication, and in the composition of his history of Florence. He died in 1459 before he could put the final polish to his work, and

1470-505: The italic script ), Leonardo Bruni ("Leonardo Aretino"), Lorenzo and Cosimo de' Medici, Carlo Marsuppini ("Carlo Aretino"), Guarino Veronese , Ambrogio Traversari , Francesco Barbaro , Francesco Accolti , Feltrino Boiardo, Lionello d'Este (who became Marquis of Ferrara , 1441–1450), and many others, who all shared his passion for retrieving the manuscripts and art of the ancient Greco-Roman world. His early friendship with Tommaso da Sarzana stood Poggio in good stead when his learned friend

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1540-529: The tiara to end the schism. Migliorati was unanimously chosen – by eight cardinals – on 17 October 1404 and took the name of Innocent VII. There was a general riot by the Ghibelline party in Rome when news of his election got out, but peace was maintained by the aid of King Ladislaus of Naples , who hastened to Rome with a band of soldiers to assist the Pope in suppressing the insurrection. For his services

1610-754: The Council of Constance and the Roman Pope Gregory XII had abdicated—the papal office remained vacant for two years, which gave Poggio some leisure time in 1416/17 for his pursuit of manuscript hunting. In the spring of 1416 (sometime between March and May), Poggio visited the baths at the German spa of Baden . In a long letter to Niccoli (p. 59−68) he reported his discovery of an "Epicurean" lifestyle—one year before finding Lucretius—where men and women bathe together, barely separated, in minimum clothing: "I have related enough to give you an idea what

1680-702: The Holy Scriptures, free of all academic entanglements that might cramp or hinder his scholarly independence—contributing to Erasmus's stature of leading Dutch Renaissance humanist. In his introduction, Erasmus declared his support of Valla's thesis against the invidia of envious scholars such as Poggio, whom he unfairly described as "a petty clerk so uneducated that even if he were not indecent he would still not be worth reading, and so indecent that he would deserve to be rejected by good men however learned he was." (Quoted in Salvatore I. Camporeale in his essay on

1750-496: The Italian Renaissance, tirades of exaggerated obloquy aimed at insulting and degrading an opponent beyond the bounds of any common decency . Poggio's most famous "Invectives" were those he composed in his literary quarrels, such as with George of Trebizond , Bartolomeo Facio , and Antonio Beccadelli , the author of a scandalous Hermaphroditus , inspired by the unfettered eroticism of Catullus and Martial . All

1820-564: The Papal party were pursued by furious Romans, losing thirty members, whose bodies were abandoned in the flight, including the Abbot of Perugia, struck down under the eyes of the Pope. Innocent's protector Ladislaus sent a squad of troops to quell the riots, and by January 1406 the Romans again acknowledged Papal temporal authority, and Innocent VII felt able to return. But Ladislaus, not content with

1890-701: The Poggio–Lorenzo dispute). After the death in April 1453 of his intimate friend Carlo Aretino, who had been the Chancellor of the Florentine Republic , the choice of his replacement, mostly dictated by Cosimo de' Medici, fell upon Poggio. He resolved to retire from his service of 50 years in the Chancery of Rome, and returned to Florence to assume this new function. This coincided with the news of

1960-477: The Roman Curia to the privileged role of apostolic secretary. He became devoted to the revival of classical studies amid conflicts of popes and antipopes, cardinals and councils, in all of which he played an official part as first-row witness, chronicler and (often unsolicited) critic and adviser. Thus, when his duties called him to the Council of Constance in 1414, he employed his forced leisure in exploring

2030-449: The Venice edition by Valdarfer is probably older than Lauer's edition printed in Rome, and most likely served as its exemplar. There are surviving manuscript copies from the fifteenth century. The last tale on farting involves a wife and her husband. The wife, observing a ram copulating with a sheep, asks how the ram chooses his mate, to which the husband answers that the ram chooses the sheep that farts. He confirms to her that humans work

2100-492: The World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt is a narrative of the discovery of the old Lucretius manuscript by Poggio. Greenblatt analyzes the poem's subsequent impact on the development of the Renaissance, the Reformation, and modern science. Poggio cultivated and maintained throughout his life close friendships with some of the most important learned men of the age: Niccolò de' Niccoli (the inventor of

2170-530: The ancient authors was wide, his taste encompassed all genres, and his erudition was as good as the limited libraries of the time allowed, when books were extremely rare and extraordinarily expensive. Good instruction in Greek was uncommon and hard to obtain in Italy. Proficient teachers, such as Ambrogio Traversari, were few and highly valued. Manuel Chrysoloras used to be occasionally credited as having instructed Poggio in Greek during his youth, but Shepherd cites

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2240-840: The classics. At stake was the new approach of the humanae litterae (profane classical Greek and Latin literature) in relation to the divinae litterae (biblical exegesis of the Judeo-Christian "sacred scriptures"). Valla argued that biblical texts could be subjected to the same philological criticism as the great classics of antiquity. Poggio held that humanism and theology were separate fields of inquiry, and labeled Valla's mordacitas (radical criticism) as dementia . Poggio's series of five Orationes in Laurentium Vallam (re-labeled Invectivae by Valla) were countered, line by line, by Valla's Antidota in Pogium (1452−53). It

2310-453: The commentaries of Asconius Pedianus at St. Gallen . He also recovered Silius Italicus 's Punica , Marcus Manilius 's Astronomica , and Vitruvius 's De architectura . The manuscripts were then copied, and communicated to the learned. He carried on the same untiring research in many Western European countries. In 1415 at Cluny he found Cicero's complete great forensic orations, previously only partially available. At Langres in

2380-516: The corruption of clerical life in the 15th century. Nicholas V then asked Poggio to deliver a philippic against Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy , who claimed to be the Antipope Felix V — a ferocious attack with no compunction in pouring on the Duke fantastic accusations, unrestrained abuse and the most extreme anathemas. Invectivae (" Invectives ") were a specialized literary genre used during

2450-549: The final restoration of the papacy under Nicholas V (1447), he was never attracted to the ecclesiastical life (and the lure of its potential riches). In spite of his meager salary in the Curia, he remained a layman to the end of his life. The greater part of Poggio's long life was spent in attendance to his duties in the Roman Curia at Rome and the other cities the pope was constrained to move his court. Although he spent most of his adult life in his papal service, he considered himself

2520-422: The folly of popes and princes, who spent their time in wars and ecclesiastical disputes instead of reviving the lost learning of antiquity. The literary passions of the learned Italians in the new Humanist Movement , which were to influence the future course of both Renaissance and Reformation , were epitomized in the activities and pursuits of this self-made man , who rose from the lowly position of scribe in

2590-427: The forgotten masterpieces of Livy and Cicero, Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) and Coluccio Salutati (1331–1406). Poggio joined the second generation of civic humanists forming around Salutati. Resolute in glorifying studia humanitatis (the study of "humanities", a phrase popularized by Leonardo Bruni), learning ( studium ), literacy ( eloquentia ), and erudition ( eruditio ) as the chief concern of man, Poggio ridiculed

2660-726: The former concessions, desired to extend his authority in Rome and the Papal States. To attain his end he aided the Ghibelline faction in Rome in their revolutionary attempts in 1405. A squad of troops which King Ladislaus had sent to the aid of the Colonna faction was still occupying the Castle of Sant' Angelo , ostensibly protecting the Vatican , but making frequent sorties upon Rome and the neighbouring territory. Only after Ladislaus

2730-589: The fourteen children he had had with her, scoured Florence for a wife, and married a girl of a noble Florentine family, not yet 18, Selvaggia dei Buondelmonti. In spite of the remonstrances and dire predictions of all his friends about the age discrepancy, the marriage was a happy one, producing five sons and a daughter. Poggio wrote a spate of long letters to justify his move, and composed one of his famous dialogues, An seni sit uxor ducenda ( Whether an old man should marry , 1436). Poggio also lived in Florence during

2800-473: The great mistake of elevating his highly unsuitable nephew Ludovico Migliorati – a colorful condottiero formerly in the pay of Giangaleazzo Visconti of Milan – to be Captain of the Papal Militia, an act of nepotism that cost him dearly. Innocent further named him the rector of Todi in April 1405. In August 1405, Ludovico Migliorati, using his power as head of the militia, seized eleven members of

2870-668: The inventor of the type writing known as Humanist minuscule , which gave rise at the end of the fourteenth century to Roman type , which remains popular today. Recent research by Teresa De Robertis and others has shown that other scribes had used Humanist minuscule before Poggio. So Poggio did not invent the new script, but he was one of the most prolific and distinguished scribes to use it so soon after its development, and his influence no doubt helped it spread through Italy. Attribution: Innocent VII Pope Innocent VII ( Latin : Innocentius VII ; Italian : Innocenzo VII ; 1339 – 6 November 1406), born Cosimo de' Migliorati ,

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2940-527: The king extorted various concessions from Innocent VII, among them the promise that Ladislaus' claim to Naples would not be compromised, which claim had been challenged until very recently by Louis II of Anjou . That suited Innocent VII, who had no intention of reaching an agreement with Avignon that would compromise his claims to the Papal States . Thus Innocent VII was laid under embarrassing obligations, from which he freed himself. Innocent VII had made

3010-572: The libraries of Swiss and Swabian abbeys. His great manuscript finds date to this period, 1415−1417. The treasures he brought to light at Reichenau , Weingarten , and above all St. Gall , retrieved from the dust and abandon many lost masterpieces of Latin literature, and supplied scholars and students with the texts of authors whose works had hitherto been accessible only in fragmented or mutilated copies. In his epistles he described how he recovered Cicero 's Pro Sexto Roscio , Quintilian , Statius ' Silvae , part of Gaius Valerius Flaccus , and

3080-432: The monastic orders and the secular clergy. "The worst men in the world live in Rome, and worse than the others are the priests, and the worst of the priests they make cardinals, and the worst of all the cardinals is made pope." Poggio's book became an internationally popular work in all countries of Western Europe, and has gone through multiple editions until modern times. In addition Poggio's works included his Epistolae ,

3150-435: The most learned, and the key to what the ancient philosophers called "virtue" and "the good". And thus, they are invaluable windows into the knowledge and Weltanschauung of his age − geography, history, politics, morals, social aspects — and the emergence of the new values of the "Humanist Movement". They are loaded with rich nuggets of fact embedded in subtle disquisitions, with insightful comments, brilliant illustrations, and

3220-409: The name, which he remembered as quoted by Cicero. This was a Latin poem of 7,400 lines, divided into six books, giving a full description of the world as viewed by the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (see Epicureanism ). The manuscript found by Poggio is not extant, but fortunately, he sent the copy to his friend Niccolò de' Niccoli , who made a transcription in his renowned book hand (as Niccoli

3290-462: The obstreperous Roman partisans on their return from a conference with the Pope, had them murdered in his own house, and had their bodies thrown from the windows of the hospital of Santo Spirito into the street. There was an uproar. Pope, court and cardinals, with the Migliorati faction, fled towards Viterbo . Ludovico took the occasion of driving off cattle that were grazing outside the walls, and

3360-507: The proceeds of a sale of a manuscript of Livy in 1434, he built himself a villa in the Valdarno , which he adorned with a collection of antique sculpture (notably a series of busts meant to represent thinkers and writers of antiquity), coins and inscriptions, works that were familiar to his friend Donatello . In December 1435, at age 56, tired of the unstable character of his single life, Poggio left his long-term mistress and delegitimized

3430-457: The quality of his Latin. His best-efforts translation of Xenophon 's Cyropaedia into Latin cannot be praised for accuracy by modern standards. But he was the first critic to label it a "political romance", instead of history. He also translated Lucian 's Ass , considered an influence of Apuleius 's Latin masterpiece, The Golden Ass . Among contemporaries he passed for one of the most formidable polemical or gladiatorial rhetoricians; and

3500-464: The resources of Poggio's rich vocabulary of the most scurrilous Latin were employed to stain the character of his target; every imaginable crime was imputed to him, and the most outrageous accusations proffered, without any regard to plausibility. Poggio's quarrels against Francesco Filelfo and also Niccolo Perotti pitted him against well-known scholars. Poggio was famous for his beautiful and legible book hand. Berthold Louis Ullman identified him as

3570-404: The rival pope at Avignon, Benedict XIII. The Roman cardinals asked these delegates whether their master would abdicate if the cardinals refrained from holding an election. When they were bluntly told that Benedict XIII would never abdicate (indeed he never did), the cardinals proceeded to an election. First, however, they each undertook a solemn oath to leave nothing undone, and, if need be, lay down

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3640-539: The same way, after which she farts, and they have sex; she farts again, with the same result. When she farts a third time, the husband says, "I'm not making love to you again, even if you shit out your soul." Poggio Bracciolini Poggio di Guccio (the surname Bracciolini added during his career) was born near Arezzo , in Tuscany , in the village of Terranuova, which in 1862 was renamed Terranuova Bracciolini in his honor. Taken by his father to Florence to pursue

3710-816: The social impact of the Church did, mostly as an object of critique and ridicule. On the Vicissitudes of Fortune became famous for including in book IV an account of the 25-year voyage of the Venetian adventurer Niccolo de' Conti in Persia and India, which was translated into Portuguese on express command of the Portuguese King Emmanuel I. An Italian translation was made from the Portuguese. Poggio's Historia Florentina ( History of Florence ),

3780-407: The stake. In literature he embraced the whole sphere of contemporary studies, and distinguished himself as an orator, a writer of rhetorical treatises, a panegyrist of the dead, a passionate impugner of the living, a sarcastic polemist, a translator from the Greek, an epistolographer and grave historian and a facetious compiler of fabliaux in Latin. His cultural/social/moral essays covered

3850-421: The studies for which he appeared so apt, he studied Latin under the amanuensis Giovanni Malpaghino of Ravenna , the friend and protégé of Petrarch . His distinguished abilities and his dexterity as a copyist of manuscripts brought him into early notice of the chief scholars of Florence; both Coluccio Salutati and Niccolò de' Niccoli befriended him. He studied notarial law, and, at the age of twenty-one he

3920-432: The summer of 1417 he discovered Cicero's Oration for Caecina and nine other hitherto unknown orations of Cicero's. At Monte Cassino , in 1429, a manuscript of Frontinus ' late first century De aquaeductu on the ancient aqueducts of Rome . He was also credited with having recovered Ammianus Marcellinus ' Res Gestae ( Rerum gestarum Libri XXXI ), Nonius Marcellus , Probus , Flavius Caper and Eutyches . If

3990-503: The top rank of his office, as Apostolicus Secretarius , papal secretary. As such he functioned as a personal attendant ( amanuensis ) of the Pope, writing letters at his behest and taking dictation, with no formal registration of the briefs, but merely preserving copies. He was esteemed for his excellent Latin, his extraordinarily beautiful book hand , and as occasional liaison with Florence, which involved him in legal and diplomatic work. Throughout his long career of 50 years, Poggio served

4060-458: The troubles of 1405 furnished him with a pretext for postponing the meeting, claiming that he could not guarantee safe passage to his rival Benedict XIII if he came to the council in Rome. Benedict, however, made it appear that the only obstacle to the end of the Schism was the unwillingness of Innocent VII. Innocent VII was unreceptive to the proposal that he as well as Benedict XIII should resign in

4130-452: The weight of objectivity later expected by the school of modern historians (especially since 1950). His Liber Facetiarum (1438−1452), or Facetiae , a collection of humorous and indecent tales expressed in the purest Latin Poggio could command, are the works most enjoyed today: they are available in several English translations. This book is chiefly remarkable for its unsparing satires on

4200-534: Was excommunicated did he yield to the demands of the Pope and withdraw his troops. Shortly after his accession in 1404 Innocent VII had taken steps to keep his oath by proclaiming a council to resolve the Western Schism. King Charles VI of France , theologians at the University of Paris , such as Pierre d'Ailly and Jean Gerson , and King Rupert of Germany , were all urging such a meeting. However,

4270-406: Was a great traveller, and wherever he went he brought enlightened powers of observation trained in liberal studies to bear upon the manners of the countries he visited. We owe to his pen curious remarks on English and Swiss customs, valuable notes on the remains of ancient monuments in Rome , and a singularly striking portrait of Jerome of Prague as he appeared before the judges who condemned him to

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4340-785: Was born to a simple family of Sulmona in the Abruzzi . He distinguished himself by his learning in both civil and Canon Law , which he taught for a time at Perugia and Padua . His teacher Giovanni da Legnano sponsored him at Rome, where Pope Urban VI (1378–89) took him into the Curia , sent him for ten years as papal collector to England , made him Bishop of Bologna in 1386 at a time of strife in that city, and Archbishop of Ravenna in 1387. Pope Boniface IX made him cardinal -priest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme (1389) and sent him as legate to Lombardy and Tuscany in 1390. When Boniface IX died, there were present in Rome delegates from

4410-636: Was buried in the church of Santa Croce . A statue by Donatello and a portrait by Antonio del Pollaiuolo remain to commemorate a citizen who chiefly for his services to humanistic literature deserved the notice of posterity. During his life, Poggio kept acquiring properties around Florence and invested in the city enterprises with the Medici bank . At his death, his gross assets amounted to 8,500 florins, with only 137 families in Florence owning more capital. His wife, five sons and daughter all survived him. After July 1415— Antipope John XXIII had been deposed by

4480-554: Was elected as the new pope in November 1417, Poggio, although not holding any office, accompanied his court to Mantua in late 1418, but, once there, decided to accept the invitation of Henry, Cardinal Beaufort , bishop of Winchester , to go to England. His five years spent in England, until returning to Rome in 1423, were the least productive and satisfactory of his life. Poggio resided in Florence during 1434−36 with Eugene IV. On

4550-442: Was elected pope, under the name of Nicolas V (1447−1455), a proven protector of scholars and an active sponsor of learning, who founded the Vatican library in 1448 with 350 codices. These learned men were adept at maintaining an extended network of personal relations among a circle of talented and energetic scholars in which constant communication was secured by an immense traffic of epistolary exchanges. They were bent on creating

4620-427: Was facing the unique challenge of making "those frequent allusions to the customs and transactions of his own times, which render his writings so interesting... at a period when the Latin language was just rescued from the grossest barbarism... the writings of Poggio are truly astonishing. Rising to a degree of elegance, to be sought for in vain in the rugged Latinity of Petrarca and Coluccio Salutati..." His knowledge of

4690-659: Was head of the Catholic Church from 17 October 1404 to his death, in November 1406. He was pope during the period of the Western Schism (1378–1417), and was opposed by the Avignon claimant Benedict XIII . Despite good intentions, he did little to end the schism, owing to the troubled state of affairs in Rome , and his distrust of the sincerity of Benedict XIII, and King Ladislaus of Naples . Cosimo de' Migliorati

4760-843: Was received into the Florentine notaries' guild , the Arte dei giudici e notai . In October 1403, on high recommendations from Salutati and Leonardo Bruni ("Leonardo Aretino"), he entered the service of Cardinal Landolfo Maramaldo, Bishop of Bari , as his secretary, and a few months later he was invited to join the Chancery of Apostolic Briefs in the Roman Curia of Pope Boniface IX , thus embarking on 11 turbulent years during which he served under four successive popes (1404–1415), first as scriptor (writer of official documents), soon moving up to abbreviator , then scriptor penitentiarius , and scriptor apostolicus . Under Martin V he reached

4830-497: Was the defensor Tusciae and of Italian liberty. But Poggio also pragmatically defended Florence's expansionist policies to insure the "safety of the Florentine Republic", which became the key motive of its history, as a premonition of Machiavelli's doctrine. Conceding to superior forces becomes an expression of reason and advising it a mark of wisdom. His intimate and vast experience of Italian affairs inculcated in him

4900-592: Was the creator of italic script ), which became the model for the more than fifty other copies circulating at the time. Poggio would later complain that Niccoli had not returned his original copy for 14 years. Later, two 9th-century manuscripts were discovered, the O (the Codex Oblongus, copied c. 825) and Q (the Codex Quadratus), now kept at Leiden University . The book was first printed in 1473. The Pulitzer Prize -winning 2011 book The Swerve: How

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