Page:The Book of the Courtier.djvu/570

 NOTES TO THE FIRST BOOK OF THE COURTIER notably the Tre Libri d' Amove, with which Castiglione shows familiarity in the Fourth Book of THE Courtier. Note io8, page 52. Caius Silius Italicos, (died 100 A.D.), was Consul under Nero and a follower of Cicero in the art of oratory. After a prosperous public career, he retired to a life of literary ease. His most important work was a long epic poem on the Second Punic W^ar, and soon sank into oblivion. Cornelius Tacitus, (died probably after 117 A.D.), was Consul and orator as well as historian. Note 109, page 54. Marcus Terentius Varro, (born 116; died about 27 B.C.), was somewhat older than Caesar, Cicero and Sallust, but outlived them all. He was regarded as the most learned of the Romans, and was made director of the public library by Csesar, although he had been a partisan of Pompey. Of his seventy-four works, which embraced nearly all branches of know- ledge, only two survive. They were much esteemed by the Christian Fathers. Note no, page 55. Catullus was born about 87 B.C. His 39th ode begins: « Because Egnatius has white teeth, he smiles wherever he goes " {Egnatius, quod candidos habet denies, renidet usque quaque). Later in the same ode, he says: "Nothing is more pointless than a pointless laugh" (Nam risu inepto res ineptior nulla est). Note III, page 57. MONSEIGNEUR d'Angouleme, afterwards FRANCIS I, (born 1494; died 1547), was the son of Count Charles d'Angouleme and Louise of Savoy. His governor, Sieur de Boisy, strove to inspire him with a taste for arms and a love of letters and art, and it was from romances of chivalry that he derived much of his education and many of his ideas of government. He succeeded his cousin Louis XII in January 1515, and one of the earliest func- tions at his court was the marriage of his aunt Filiberta of Savoy to Giuliano de' Medici, who is here represented by Castiglione (-with what truth remains uncertain) as having visited the French court shortly before the date of the Courtier dialogues. W^riting in 1515, the Venetian ambassador describes the young king as being really handsome (the evidence of our nearly contempo- raneous medal illustration to the contrary), courageous, an excellent musi- cian, and very learned for one of his age and rank. Under his rule, relations between France and Italy became closer and more active, and there began to penetrate beyond the Alps that Italian influence which he later greatly in- creased by marrying his son to Giuliano de' Medici's great-niece Caterina. His education had included a study of Italian literature and customs, and besides Federico Fregoso and Ludovico da Canossa he received and honoured many other illustrious Italians, among whom were Leonardo da Vinci and Benvenuto Cellini. He caused search to be made in Italy for rare MSS., and had them copied for his library. His reign, although clouded by defeats and humiliations, began a true literary and artistic Renaissance in France. Note 112, page 57. The reference here is to the famous Sorbonne (founded 346