Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/137

cxix ARAGON. SECTION ir. Provencal of the south of France reached its high- est perfection ; and, when the tempest of persecu- tion in the beginning of the thirteenth century fell on the lovely valleys of that unhappy country, its minstrels found a hospitable asylum in the court of the kings of Aragon ; many of whom not only pro- tected, but cultivated the gay science with consid- erable success. ^^ Their names have descended to us, as well as those of less illustrious troubadours, whom Petrarch and his contemporaries did not dis- dain to imitate ; ^^ but their compositions, for the most part, lie still buried in those cemeteries of the intellect so numerous in Spain, and call loudly for the diligence of some Sainte Palaye or Raynouard to disinter them. ^^ The languishing condition of the poetic art, at Poeticai the close of the fourteenth century, induced John "'^ academy Torlbsa 87 Velazquez, Orlgenes de la Po- esia Castellana, (Malaga, 1797,) pp. 20-22. — Andres, Letteratu- ra, part. 1, cap. 11. — Alfonso II., Peter II., Peter III., James I., Pe- ter IV., have all left compositions in the Limousin tongue behind them ; the three former in verse ; the two latter in prose, setting forth the history of their own time. For a particular account of their respec- tive productions, see Latassa, (Es- critores Aragoneses, torn. i. pp. 175- 179, 185 - 189, 222, 224, 242 - 248 ; torn. ii. p. 28,) also Lanuza. (His- torias Eclesiasticas y Seculares de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1622,) tom. i. f. 553.) The Chronicle of James . is particularly esteemed for its fidelity. 88 Whether Jordi stole from Pe- trarch, or Petrarch from Jordi, has been matter of hot debate between the Spanish and French littira- teurs. Sanchez, after a careful ex- amination of the evidence, candidly decides against his countryman. (Poesias Castellanas, tom. i. pp.81- 84.) A competent critic in the Ret- rospective Review, (No. 7, art. 2,) who enjoyed the advantage over Sanchez of perusing a MS. copy of Jordi's original poem, makes out a very plausible argument in favor of the originality of the Valencian poet. After all, as the amount stolen, or, to speak more reverent- ly, borrowed, does not exceed half a dozen lines, it is not of vital im- portance to the reputation of either poet. 89 The abate Andres lamented fifty years ago, that the worms and moths should be allowed to revel among the precious relics of an- cient Castilian literature. (Lette- ratura, tom. ii. p. 306.) Have their revels been disturbed yet ?