a papal secret known to petrarch

8/10/2019 A Papal Secret Known to Petrarch

1/23

Medieval cademy of merica

A Papal Secret Known to PetrarchAuthor(s): John E. WrigleySource: Speculum, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Oct., 1964), pp. 613-634Published by: Medieval Academy of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2854748.

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2/23

SPEC

u

L

UMlPl

A JOURNAL OF MEDIAEVAL STUDIES

Vol.

XXXIX

OCTOBER

1964 No. 4

A

PAPAL

SECRET KNOWN

TO PETRARCH

BY JOHN E. WRIGLEY

FOR

twohundred earsmostPetrarchan cholars ave acceptedDe Sade's identi-

fication f the dyingpope in Sine nomine

as BenedictXII (+1342).' Recently

theworld's hief iving

uthority n theworks fPetrarch, rnest

Hatch Wilkins,

suggested

hat

Pope

ClementVI might e the subject of "Quid

Agis," Sine nom.

1.2

The first edaction of the Sine nomine,

r Sine titulo, ollectionplaced the

letternow known

as Sine nom. 1 after hat now entitledSine

nom. 12. These

letters henhad second

and thirdplace in

the first ollectionwhichopened with

the etter ow known

s Sine nom. . SinceSine nom. and 12 clearly

elate o the

pontificate f Clement

VI, Wilkins easons

hat this ooks as if Sine nom.

1

were

associated nPetrarch'smindwith etterswrittenate in 1352or soon thereafter,

and

would therefore,

eem

to

suggest hat Sine nom.

1 was Clement

+1352)

rather hanBenedict + 1342).3Wilkins'

uspicion greeswith

he earlier pinion

ofTatham who wrote, I cannotpersuade

myself hatS. T.

1 was writtenn

1342

and

refers

o

Benedict."4

atham concluded

hat

the etter

was written

n 1352

and

applies

to

Clement.However,he gave

ittle

r

no proof

or

his

statement.

The datingof this

etter n

1342

and the dentificationf

Benedict originated

with

De

Sade,

for arlier

cholars

aw Clement

s

the subject

ofthis

composition.

Paul Piur, editor

of the critical dition

of the Sine nomine ollection

nd their

most

horough tudent,

dmitted hat

erious ifficultiesxist

n

the dentification

ofthe subjectofSine nom.1. He concludedhisanalysisbydating t in 1342 and

identifyingt withBenedict.5

The question

f

the date

is

another

matter.

iur

offers

solid

argument

or

he

1

J. P. F. A. de Sade,

M4moires our

a

vie de

Frangois

Petrarque,

vols. (Amsterdam:Arskee

t

MVercus,

764-1767),

I,

39-41; note xv,

pp. 13-16.

2

Ernest

Hatch Wilkins, tudies n the

Life and

Works

of Petrarch Cambridge,

Massachusetts:

Mediaeval Academy f America, 955), pp. 146-147,n. 72.

3

Wilkins,

tudies,pp. 146-147. Cf. pp. 179-180 for the

order of the

two redactions nd

their

import.

4

Edward H. R. Tatham,

Francesco etrarca, vols.

(London: Sheldon

Press,1925-1926), , 412,

n. 4.

5 Paul

Piur,

Petrarcas Buch ohne

Nahmen"

und die pdpstliche

urie (Halle:

Niemeyer,1925),

pp. 165-166; 315-325.

613

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3/23

614

A

Papal

Secret

Knownto

Petrarch

composition f the etter

ong

before

Clement'sdeath.6The

argument riginated

by De Sade,

and

followed

lmost

blindly y

most

uthors,

s that

since

Sine

nom.

1

concerns dying ope, and owing

o

certain imitations

f

time,

t

must

pply

to

Benedict.Few scholars ave tried ounravel his angle.Most have been satisfied

to

declare1342 the date and Benedict he pope.7

The greatest etrarchan cholar

of

the nineteenth enturywas morecautious.

Fracassettiwas obviouslypuzzled

by this

etter

or

n the

prologue

o

his

edition

of

the

Familiares

he dates

"Quid

Agis"

in

1342

but failsto mention

he name

of

the

pope.8

Fracassetti's

aution s

ustified. ontrary

o

the

almost

universal tatement

f

modern

cholars,

he

earliest

pinion

favors he

suggested ypothesis

f

Wilkins

and

the

suspicion

f Tatham

as

to

the

dentity

f

the

pope,

f

not

the

date 1352.

An

annotatedmanuscript

f

the Vatican

Library dentifieshe nauta

of

Sinenom.

1

withClement,

nd

adds that the

ploughboy

f

the etter s Pierre

Roger.9

An-

othermanuscriptftheStaatsbibliothek, unich,bears the note "alludit nomini

pape

qui

vocabatur

ClemensVI.""

More

than

fifty ears

ago

it was

discovered

hat

Pope

Clement

VI

had

been

seriously

ll

early

n his

pontificate,specially

during

343.1" t

is, therefore,

he

purpose

of this

paper

to

showthat Sinenom.

refers

o

Pope

ClementVI not

on

the occasion

of

his

fatal

llness

n

1352

but

at an earlier

date, probablyMarch-

December

1343.

"Quid Agis"

cannot

be understoodwithout

ecourse o its iterary enre, r to

Petrarch's

urpose

n

its

composition. he

problem

f

Sine nom.

1

is furtherom-

plicatedbyPetrarch's onstant

evision

f

material nd his

description f events

which

may

havetaken

place

sometime

before e was moved

to

write bout

them.

Any

historical

ocument

may containmaterial onsiderably lder

than the docu-

ment tself.

he date

of

composition,

herefore,

nd

the

date

of

events

described

in a document

re not

necessarily dentical.Sine nom.

1

must be

interpreted n

the basis of

ts

content nd

of

ts

stylenot,

s

heretofore,n thebasis of its sup-

posed

date

of

composition.

Petrarch

nnounces n the

preface

f

his

collection

f

Sine

nomine etters hat

he

intends

o

confuse nd to

deceive.This factmustbe borne n

mind. f Benedict

XII is the subjectof

Sine nom.

1

in

1342,

or

ClementVI thesubject n

1352,

then

the composition nd interpretationf Sine nom.1 are at odds with Petrarch's

announced

iterary

ntention. he critical

llness

of

either f

these

two popes

at

8

Ibid., p. 321, no.

2.

7

Cf.Fortunato

Rizzi,

Francesco

etrarca

il

decennio armense

Turin:Paravia,

1934), pp.

88-90.

Brizzolara

drew this

same

conclusion:G.

Brizzolara,"Le 'Sine

Titulo' del

Petrarca,"Studi

Storici,

iv

(1895), 14-32.

G.

Brizzolara,

II

Petrarca

Cola

di

Rienzo,"

Studi

Storici, III

(1899),243. Cesareo

closely

olloweduit: G.

A.

Cesareo,Su le

Poesievolgari' el

Petrarca:nuove

icercheRocca S.

Casci-

ano:

Cappelli,

1898), p.

90.

8 Francisci Petrarcae

epistolaede rebus

familiaribus

et variae,

ed. Joseph

Fracassetti,

3

vols.

(Florence,

1859-1863), , cxxxix.

Piur,pp. 284-285;Rom. Bibl. Vat. Ottobon. at. 1352:"rusticus uit rigine evera etrus ogerii."

10

Piur,

pp.

285-286;Munich,

Staatsbibliothek

in.

15772.

11

H.

Waquet, "Note

sur es medecins

de

ClementVI,"

Melanges

d'arcHIologiet

d'histoire,

xxii

(1919), 45-48.



4/23

A Papal

SecretKnownto

Petrarch

615

the end

of relatively ormal pan

ofpontifical

ule s inconsistent

ith he most

obscure

nd secretive

tyle ffectedn this

collection. he letter acks

force

nd

impact f uch s its

nterpretation.et the

factthatPetrarch

hooses o open

his

collectionwith his etterndicates hat t sof pecial ignificance.etrarch hows

deliberation nd artistic

urpose n the arrangementf all his works.He chooses

to open this collection

with

"Quid Agis" because it forcefully

nd

dramatically

fulfillshe ntention

whichhe announces

n his preface

o the Sine nomine ollec-

tion:

Truth,which lways

has beenhated, s now

deadly.As

the vices f men ncrease

he

hatred f

truthncreases,

ndGovernments given

ver o flatteriesnd

ies. remember

that

have

oftenaid that, nd that

have venwrittent several imes, ut t sneces-

sary

o say t and write

t without ease.The

groanings illnot stop

before hepain

ends.This thought

ademe decidenottoo ong

go to compose

omebucolic erse, n

thenature f mbiguousoetry,

hich nderstoody few

would lease, erhaps,

many.

1ndeed,many ave uch corruptaste or hingsf he pirit hat knownavor, gree-

able

though

t

maybe,

displeaseshem, nd

only hatwhich

hey annot nderstand,

although

epulsive,harms

hem. t is an astonishing

hing, eak houlders

ften

ove

to

carry

eavy

urdens.

This same

onsideration

ademe determine

nly oday o reaffirm,

n these etters,

certain

ruths

speciallydious o

evildoersecause

hey retrue, utwhich,

f am not

mistaken,

ill e agreeableo the

good. have

broughtogethern onecollection

everal

letters ritteno my

friends,or

iversmotives nd at different

imes, rom ear hat

being catteredbout

heymight

ecome bloton the ntire

ody fmy ettersnd

so

renderhem

atefulothe nemies

f ruth. his

way, hosewhowish o

read hem an

find hem,

nd thosewhodo not

wish o read

themwillknowwhathappened,

nd if

anyone ishes otear hem ut ndthrow hem wayhe canmore asily estroypart

of

hework

without

eforminghewhole. have

wished,nthis, o be useful

oth o

the

reader nd

to myself.n this ittle

work,s well s inthepastoral

oem,

fwhich spoke,

I am

concealed n

one handby a certain bscurity,

nd onthe other

y

the

mysteries

and silence f

the

composition.alone m not

hidden, utalso those

o

whom

have

written.

have

deliberatelyoncealed

heir

ames or ear hat f, y

chance, heymight

become nown

hey

e

exposed

o njury,

f

hey e alive;

orhatred

f

hey

e

dead,

s

if

I had

addressedhese etters y

preferenceo thosewho

knewwould

more

willingly

read hem.

Thisbookhas happened o fall

ntothe

handsof menof considerable

mportance

while

was

present.

When hey

ead hatpartwhich pplied

irectly

o

them,

recall

that

hey

skedmewhat meant

ythis assage,

nd recall hat deliberately

hanged

theconversation.ince hesewere nly ightlyeiled, havetaken are hat hisbook

shallnot

fall nto hehands f uch

menwhile am iving.

f

do not

mistake

myhope,

I

shall

not

tand

n

fear fhatred

roused y the

oveof ruth,nd

shall ount mong

my itles

o glorynmity

cquired romervice

endered.f the ontrary

e true,

his ook

shall

emain idden ntirelyntil

uch ime s I shalldie.

Whatdifferenceill t make o

methen ow t rritateshem,

ow hey

hunder,

ow

they ightning,ow hey

se it as theywish?

Certainlyf,

s the Satirist

maintains,

living

manhas

nothing

o

ear n speaking

f he ead, ow

much

ess

does

dead

man

have

to

fear

n

speaking f the iving;

ecause n thefirst ase

an avenger

might ppear;

n

the

econd,

heobject fvengence

s no ongeriving. o

matter owdangerous,

ateful

and

odious ruth

may

e for im,t doesnot

matter,or

n

thewords

f he

omic,

e

has

sailed nto ort nd s safelyocked. aving assed hroughhemost erriblerdeals, e

thus

espisesmortal hreats.f,therefore,

hey hen lananything

gainstme,

et

them

have t

once or nswer

hat lever hrase f he

rator lancus gainst

sinius ollio,

No

one,

xcept

aggots,

akes ar n

he ead.

f

onthe ontrary,

hey

rm hemselves

gainst



5/23

616

A

Papal

SecretKnown to Petrarch

my

therworks,

n

whichmy ndignation,r

theirndignity,as thrown

hem

nder

my

pen, et them

now

hat t

is

not

with

me

that

hey uarrel

ut with

ruth,

s God s

my

Judge ndtheworlds mywitness.'2

"Quid Agis" describes shipwreck,lludingto thebark ofPeter in distress.

The blame for

his

errifyingatastrophe

s

firstaid at

thefeet

f

group

f

nex-

perienced

ardinalswho man the

ship

during

he

ncapacity

f

the captain.

The

phrase "remos gunt"

clearly pplies to the collegeof

cardinals.13etrarchuses

this

metaphor

n

Fam.

xi, 11,

to thank

Philippe de Cabassoles for

commending

himto

two cardinals: I have

read carefully, ather,what you

have said ofme

to

thosetwo

great

oarsmen

f

the

apostolic

vessel."'4The addition

f

"inexperti"

o

the

phrase

ndicates

hat the men

n

control

re recent

ecipients

f

the red hat,

and, perhaps,young.Clement's irst reation f

cardinalswas 20

September 342,

and if this

etterbe

correctly

ated 1343

the forcefulnessf Petrarch's

ament

s

madeclear.15 llthe newcardinalswereFrench xceptAndreGhinideMalpighi,

also

called Andrea

di

Firenze, whose promotionwas applauded

by

his

fellow

townsman

Giovanni

Villani

ven

though

e saw thehonor s a

favor

o

the

king

f

France.16

Much

less enthusiastic ver all cardinals

elevated

by Clement was

Matteo Villani,who

criticized

hem

for

theiryouth,

dishonesty, issolute ives,

relationship

o

the

pope

or

king

f

France, nd for

ausing

bominable vils n the

Church."7

The pope

in

Sine

nom.1 is

characterized s worldly,

erram mat, nd despises

the

precepts

f

nautical rt.18

lement's

eputation

o

completely its

his

descrip-

tionthatthe textbarelyneedsproof. ierrede Herenthals ecalls that Clement

replied

to

criticism f his

conduct

n

comparison

o

previouspopes by saying,

"My predecessors

id not

know how

to

be pope."'9 The same

author, eporting

both

what

he

saw

and

heard, says

that

Clement ived

in

"a

most sumptuous,

pompous

and

secular fashion."20

atteo Villani

also criticizes

lementfor ur-

rounding

imself

ith

courtiers fboth

sexes after he style f

royalty.2'

12

The Latin text

may

be

found

n

Piur, op. cit.,p.

163.

13

Piur, . 165,

1.9.

14

ErnestHatch

Wilkins,

etrarch t Vaucluse

Chicago:Universityf

Chicago

Press,1958),p. 85.

15

StephanusBaluzius,

Vitae

paparum avenionensium oc est

Ihistoria

ontificumomanorum

ui

in Galliasederuntb annoChristiMCCCV usque d annumMCCCVCIV, ed. G.

Mollat,

4

vols.

Paris:

Letouzey

et

Ane,1914-1927),

, 242; i, 343-368.The ten

clerics levated

to the

college of cardinals

on that date were Helias de

Nabilanis,

Gui de

Boulogne,

Aimericde

Chatelus, Andre Ghini

de

Malpighi,

tienne

Aubert,Hugh

Roger,

Adhemar

Robert,Geraud

de

la

Garde,Bernardde Turre

nd

Guillaume

de la

Jugie.

16

Giovanni

Villani,Cronica,

12

vols.

in

8

(Florence,1823)

xii,

ch.

vii, p. 19.

17

Matteo Villani,

storia

Vol. XIV

of

L.

A.

Muratori, d., Rerum

talicarum

criptores,Milan,

1729),

Bk. iII,

ch.

43,cols.

186-187:

"La

chiesa riforni

i

piiX ardinali uoi

congiunti, fecene

de

si

giovani,

de

si

dishonesta

dissoluta

vita,

che

n'uscirono

ose

di

grande

bbominazione, certi

ltri

fece a

richiesta

del

Re

de

Francia,

fra

quali anche

hebbe de'

troppo

giovani.A quella

tempo

non

s'havea

riguardo

lla

scienzia,

o

alle

virtiX."

18

Piur, p. 165,1. 10.

19

Baluze, ,

298.

20

Ibid.

21

Matteo

Villani,

Vol.

xii,

ch.

viii,p.

19.



6/23

A

Papal


617

The cardinals re referred o

as "misguiding tars."22 herefore

he pope in

question s neglecting he counsel

of a previouslymportant ardinal

who is hid-

den underthe name of Arctos, he

nfallible uideof ships, he North

Star. The

use of this ymbol s a deliberate ttempt o confuse. he firstmeaning f Arctos

is the constellation rsa, which,

however, s not a fixedguide for

mariners. e-

spitethis, here

s a strong emptation o see here

CardinalNapoleone

Orsini, he

"Tu pre

omnibus,Urse" of Dante's

letter o the Italian cardinals

who were re-

sponsible or he election f Clement

V in 1305.23 owever,Cardinal

Orsinidied

23

March 1342. The then

Cardinal

Pierre

Roger

preached he eulogy

t

his

Re-

quiem

Mass

on

Monday

of

Holy Week.24 enedict

died 25 April

he same year.25

Therefore,

rctos annotmean

Orsini.Arctoshas a secondarymeaning

f north.

In Sine

nom.

1

"Arctos"

is

modified y

"stabilis"

and

cannot refer

o Cardinal

Napoleone,

whose nfluencewas

so small that

he had been

out of ecclesiastical

orbitfor even years beforehis death.26 ardinalGiovanni Colonna was the ac-

knowledged

eader of the Italian factionduring

Benedict's pontificate. rctos

must mean Cardinal

Colonna. In 1343 Petrarch

was on intimate erms with

Giovanni

Colonna and he, more han any other ardinal,

would merit etrarch's

highregard.27

he content f "Quid Agis" supports

he view that

Clement s the

pope

in

question.

n

Sine

nom.1

Petrarchwrites:

What re youdoing, oodman?

What re youdoing,most xcellentather?

hat re

you doing?

ask

you.

What re

you thinking?

hat

outcome

o

you

expect f these

events?

What

hall

e

the

nd

of the

present hipwreck?

hallwe reach

ort,

r

shallwe

sink

n themidst

f

the storms? he bark

s

powerlessgainst

he

angry

waves

of

the

ocean, violent ind asblown way he ails, hekeelplunges eepunderts oad.Un-

skilled

andsman heoars.He

who teers,

s

you ee,

despisinghe

rules fnautical ci-

ence,

oves he

arth,

hich

s

always great anger

or

avigators.

e follows

isguiding

stars.

He disdains he

unchangeable

orth

tar,

he nfallibleuide

f

hips.Meanwhile,

drunk,

vercome ith

ge,

drowned

n

soporific

rink,

e

falters,

e

nods,

nd

dozing

heavy

with

leep,

e s

falling.

Would

o

God that

he

alone

might

all.

Already

e have

seen

he

pallor

fhis

downfall,lready

we haveheard he

amentableries

f

the

ship-

wrecked,lready

he

yawning

essel

as broken

n

two, lready

he

rigging

loats

n the

sea.

Ah, may

our

heavenly

ather

eeing

his

bark

floating

ithout

pilot, eign

o

directt

himselfver

he

waves

during

he

night

nd

not

et that

ink

which

e has so

dearly

natched

rom he

enemy.

therwise

here s

great anger

hatwe

mayperish

n

themidst f thepiratesnd the rocks ecause fthe violencef thestorm. ee wherethe gnorancefourpilothas edus;the erms toomild,etusratherayhisblindness.

Even

this

s excusable.

t

is

necessary

o

speakproperly

nd

to

give hings

heir wn

names.

hat

which as caused

his

s

insanity,

adness, isgracefulnertia,

nd ardent

loveof

arth,

herule

f

reason

bandoned

o

chance,

nd an

infamous

oad

assumed n

the

dvice

fbase

ambition.

Oh, howmuch etter

t would ave

been

o

till he andwith

he

paternal

low

han

to

board hedeck

f

hefisherman's

ark.What

hall

say?

well

know

hat

particular

chastisement

oes

not

uffice

or

universal

ffense;

ut

what

more an be done?He

is

22

Piur,p.

165,

footnote

oncerning

extof

ine

12.

23

Wilkins,

tudies,

pp.

49-51.

24

Baluze, ii, 70-71.

25

Baluze,

i,

232.

26

Wilkins,

tudies,

pp.

49-51.

27

Wilkins,op.

cit.,

pp.

5-6,



7/23

618

A

Papal Secret

Known to Petrarch

going

to

receive the rewardthat

he

deserves

by becoming

food for

dog-fish.

e

shall

forever

e a

legendto all those

who

sail this

sea, pointed

at

by all, object

of

everyone's

jeers, aughing-stocknd

joke

of

everybanquet

table.

But what about

us?

Certainly,

f a similar

pilot gain

the

helm,

Salvation itself

would

scarcelybe able to save us

if

he wished." Our only hope

of

salvation

n

the

midst

of

so

many terrorss that never was there n equal beginning. ook about you then to see if

there

s

any savingplank, whichwe might eize and whichmight

onduct

us

to

shore. f

you ask my advice, we best remain, f possible, n your

countryretreat.

There is

my

earnestly esiredhermitage nd my most tranquilport. Turn your

attention way

from

thisthing nd keep well.28

The dying pope of

"Quid Agis" is described as drunk with wine.29This weighs

heavily with De Sade and with

Piur because Benedict enjoyed the reputation,

unfairly,

f

being addicted

to

wine.30Clement's

reputation

in this

respect

is

better

established than

Benedict's.31

It would

seem impossible

to

distinguish any

two

Frenchmen solely on the basis of their taste, or capacity, forgood wine. However,

the

evidence used

to

identifyBenedict is collected

from

sources

other than

Pe-

trarch.

Nowhere does Petrarch attack Benedict for this

vice.32The contrary is

true

of

Clement. Petrarch

in

his Sixth Eclogue, written

in

1347, reports

an

alle-

gorical dialogue between Pamphilus, representingSt Peter,

and Mitio, represent-

ing Clement.33Peter accuses Clement of failure to fulfill

his pontifical duties be-

cause

of

wine.

Peter commands:

"Lumina

tolle immodico

depressa mero."34

To

this day Clement's name is

enshrined

on the label of a

rich,

red burgundy known

as

Chateauneuf

u

Pape Cle'ment

I.

The

question

in

Sine

nom.

1

is, whom does

Petrarch calumniate.

Petrarch repeats his calumnies in the Sonnets.35 n Sonnet

136 Petrarch attacks Clement's Avignon with these words:

Nest of

betrayals

where

onspires

nd broods

Whatever vil through he world s blown,

The slave of wine,of beds of various

foods,

Where

echerousnessomes nto

ts

own.36

Sonnet

137 continues the

refrain:

The

greedyBabylon has filled

er

bag

With

the

angerof God and

her

foulvices,

So

that t

bursts,

nd

in

gods' place

entices

Not Pallas, Jove,but Venus', Bacchus' tag.37

28

The

Latin textmay be found n

Piur, pp.

165-166.

29

Piur,p. 165,1. 13.

30

De Sade,

I, notexv, pp.

13-16. Piur,pp. 317-319. n defense

fBenedict ee Benoit

XII, Lettres

closes, atentes

t

curiales, d. Georges

Daumet

(Paris: Thorin,

1899-1920),p. vi.

31

Piur, p.

320.

32

Piur,pp.

317-321.

33

Wilkins,

tudies,p. 48.

34

Domenico

Rossetti, Delle poesie atinedel

Petrarca, vols. (Milan:

Societh

Tipografica,

829-

1834)

,

104,

ine

23. Cf.

Piur, p. 320.

35

Piur, p. 320.

3 Petrarch, onnets ndSongs, rans.AnnaMaria Armi NewYork:Pantheon, 946), pp. 226-227.

The

Italian

text

may

also be found

here.

37 Ibid. Cf. Piur,p. 320. On the

relationof these sonnets

o

the

Sine nomine etters ee Ruth S.

Phelps, The Earlier and Later

Forms f Petrarch's

anzoniereChicago:

University

f

ChicagoPress,

1925),

pp.

133-140.



8/23

A

Papal SecretKnown to Petrarch 619

The sick pope of Sine nom.

1

is

described

s

overcomewith ge.38

or

the pur-

poses ofthis rgumentt s not

necessary

o

prove

hat the

phrase burdenedwith

age" applies exclusively o

Clement. t is only necessary

o

prove that

it can

apply to Clement. Piur rules

out the possibility

f

identifyinghe "senex ille

piscatus" of Sine nom.19,Clement,with he old fishermanf Sine nom.

.39

He is

in error. e argues hat enex lle

piscatus s

a

generic ppellation pplicableto any

pope.

It shouldbe noted that

Sine

nom.1

immediately receded ine

nom.

12 in

thefirst edaction.40

iur

has failed

o

see

the

relation

f

the entire iterarydea of

Sine

nom. 1 to the

description

f the

"senex lle

piscatus"

in

Sine nom. 12.

The

complete hrase

n

Sine

nom.12 is:

"Speravimus

nim n te

quod

motum

luctuum

nostrimaris,

n

quo feliciter enex

lle

piscatus tandem periit,

radita

successori

naviculamitigares....

"41

Sine nom. 12

records he ill

fate

prophesied

or

the

pope in Sine nom.

1.

The metaphorical

dea

contained

n

the

phrase,which

n-

cludesthewords senex llepiscatus," s identicalwith he theme fSine nom.1.

It proves hat

the

pope described n

both

etters

s

the

same.

The

objection might

be raised that in late 1343

Clement

was

no

more

than

fifty-threeears

of

age.42

n the fourteenth

entury,

nlike biblical or

modern

times, ifty-three

as advanced

age.

At all

stages

of

history

he abels

appliedto

age have

been

relative.When

Petrarch eached he

age

of

fifty-six,

nd had

been

ill

for year,he complained hat his agingdays werefilledwithdoctors, iscom-

forts, ains,

and

fomentations.43

uring

this ame

year

he

felthimself

o

heavily

burdened

with

age

that he

feared he

might

never

again

see

Philippe

de

Cabas-

soles.44

he

dyingpope

described n Sine

nom.

1

did not

have

youth

on his

side in

his strugglewith death. Petrarchwas thirty-nine earsold whenhe wroteSine

nom.

1.

To him

fifty-three

as advanced

age.45

In

"Quid Agis"

Petrarch alternatesbetween

cutting

criticism nd

hesitant

sympathy

or the

dyingpope.

He

describes

him

as

insane, vacillating,dozing,

falling, ale

as

death,

enseless

nd

blind.46 etrarch

ollows his ad

picture

with

the double meaning tatement Even

this s excusable." This seems

o

mean

that

his

anguage

s

excusable

despite

ts

harshness,

nd that theactions

f

the

pope

are

excusablebecause

ofthe

nature

fhis

llness.

etrarch

ays

that these vilsare

the

result

f

uror, abies, urpis

nertia,

nd

the ruleofreason bandonedto

chance.47

The compound ffectfthisportraits thepicture f a pope incapableofrational

action

due to

illness.

Petrarch's

fear that this

pontiff

will

become

a

joke,

a

laughing-stock,

he

object

of

eers,

the

talk

of

every banquet table,

an

eternal

legend

corroborates

his

nterpretation.48

38

Piur, p.

165,11.

13

and 14.

31

Piur, p. 321,

no. 5.

40

Wilkins,Studies,pp. 146-147,

n. 72.

41

Piur, p. 207,1.22.

42

Cf. G. Mollat,

Les Papes d'AvignonParis: Letouzey

et

Ane, 1949), p.

84. Cf. Baluze,

II,

341.

43

Wilkins, ife

of Petrarch Chicago:University f Chicago

Press, 1961),

p. 1; pp. 169-170.

44

Ibid.

45

Cf. Phelps,p.

65, p. 101. SonnetsCXXIV, LIV,

CXXXVII, CCCII.

41

iur,pp. 165-166,11. 4 to 16.

47

Piur, p. 166, 11.

2

and 13.

48

Piur, p. 166,11.17-21.



9/23

620

A

Papal

SecretKnown

to Petrarch

In

sadness

Petrarch

xclaims, Oh,

how muchbetter t would have

been had he

tilled the land with the paternal plough

than to

have boarded the deck

of

the

fisherman's ark."49

iur is

in

error

whenhe associates these ines

withBenedict

rather han withClement, he atterbeing,he states,of an illustrious amily.50t

was PierreRoger's

success

whichmade the

family

ortune. ustre

and

titles ame

to

the family

name

of

Roger

only

after

Pierre's

elevation

o

the

papacy. Before

his election he familywere

mall

andowners f

the

minor

nobility." t is true

thatJacques

Fournier

was of humble

rigin,

ut his

fatherwas

either baker or a

miller.52he plough

fits

Pierre's

hands

better

han it

fits

he

hands of

a

baker's

son.

The dyingpontifffSine nom.

1

is newly lected, ince the disasters

befalling

the Church re described s unique

in

the beginning

f a

pontificate.3

lement

was elected

7

May

1342 and enthroned welve

days

ater.4Benedictcannotfulfill

thedefinitionf new popein1342,forhe was elected16December1334.55f this

letter

s

dated 1342

or aterthe

pope

must

be

Clement.

Students

of the Sine nomine ollection

dmit a

vague

chronological

rder n

Petrarch's rrangement f the nineteen

etters.6

f

Sine

nom.

1

does not concern

events

whichtook

place

before

347,

then ts

relationship

o the

other

etters

f

the collection s

unique.

t alone

of the

nineteen etters

s

seriously isarranged.7

Following

XYilkins'

easoning,

rom

he first

edaction,

hat

Sine

nom.

1

was

con-

nected

n Petrarch's

mind with

Clement

VI,

the letter's

ocation n the

second

redaction uggests

ts

composition

efore

347.58

Sine nom.1 is written gainstthebackground fa violent torm nwhich he

bark of Peter

is

seriously ndangered y

the

incapacity

of

her

captain.

On

26

November1343

Petrarch

wrote o Cardinal

Giovanni

Colonna

a

graphicdescrip-

tion of the

hardships

he had

undergone

n

his

journey

to

Naples.

About

mid-

September

etrarch

went

by

land to

Nice where

he

took

ship.

That

evening

he

vesselput

nto

the

harbor fMonaco for

he

night.

he next

day

the

storm

was

so

violent

hat the

ship

did

not

venture

o

leave

the harbor.

Although

he weather

the

following ay

was

still

bad,

they

ailed

on

as far

s Porto

Maurizio. Petrarch

was

disgusted

nd

decided

to

travel

by

land.

However,

he

was

forced

o

take

to

the

sea

again

for

he

short

tretch rom

erici

to a

port

near Pisa.59This

experi-

encesodisturbed etrarch hathenever gainmadea voyagebysea.60

49Piur,p. 166,1. 14.

50

Piur,

pp.

321-322.

61Baluze, ii,

335-341.

During

the summer

f 1960

I

visited

Pierre

Roger's

ancestralhome.

t

is a

rural area with the

local tradition

hat

Clement's

progenitors

ere warrior armers f

modest

rank.

52

Piur,

p.

3922,n.

3.

53

Piur, p.

166:

"

. .

. tale

nusquam

esse

portentum."

Cf.

Piur,p.

316:

"Zwar

spricht

.

.

bereits

von dem

neuen

Steuermann,

.

h. dem neuen

Papst.

54

Baluze, iI, 341.

5

Baluze,

i,

195.

56

Cf.

Ernest latch

Wilkins,

The

Prose Letters

f

Petrarch:

A Manual

(New

York:

Vanni, 1951),

pp. 90-93.

57

Cf. Piur, pp. 316, 326, 327, 328, 335, 340, 344, 348, 351, 363, 368, 371, 376, 380, 385, 389, 397,

401, 404.

68 Cf. Wilkins,

tudies,pp. 146-147, n. 72.

59Fam. V, 3. Cf. Wilkins,Life of

Petrarch, p.

39-40.

60

Arnaldo

Foresti,Aneddoti

ella

vita

di Francesco

etrarco

Brescia:

Vanni, 1928), p. 6,

n. 1.



10/23

A

Papal Secret

Known to Petrarch

621

DuringPetrarch's

tay n Naples hehad plenty ftime o

write. he experience

at sea duringhis

ourney o Naples was certainly rightening

nd may well have

been the genesis f Sine nom.1.61 Quid

Agis" has usuallybeen dated in Aprilor

May 1342becauseBenedict died 25

April

that

year.

The letterhas always been

assignedto the secondperiod of Petrarch's

residence

t Vaucluse for the same

reason.Also Petrarch

nds the etterwith hesuggestion o

Philippede Cabassoles

that in

the face

of such dread happenings

. .

. we best remain n your rustic

retreat." The implicationhas been

understood o mean

that Petrarch was in

Vaucluse

at

the

time he wrote ine nom. 1. This

is not necessarily he meaning.

In the following

hrasePetrarch ays, "There s my earnestly

esiredhermitage

and mosttranquil

port." These wordsprovethat "Quid

Agis" was not written t

Vaucluse,but that the poet was most

nxious o return

nd to remain here.This

state of

mind

pecificallyccordswith

Petrarch's ttitude

n

Naples late

in

1343.

Piur has rightly bservedthat Sine nom.1 had to be writtenwell before1352.

Were

it first omposed

n

that year it should

contain

a

reference

o Petrarch's

plan for eaving

Vaucluse never o return.

n the contrary e refers o the quiet

solutudeof Vaucluse wherehe suggests

hat he

and

Philippe

best remain.62

The illness fClementVI was a topic

ofgreat nterest oPetrarch.Clementwas

frequentlyll during

is pontificate.he earlier llnesses

f

the pope should, here-

fore, e reflectedn Petrarch's etters

s well

as

the

ater

llnesses.

Clement

was

seriously

ll

during

he

whole

month of December

1351. Ademar

Barrani,

the

papal apothecary,

noted

in

his accounts

the

expenditure

f

fifty-five

lorins

n

medicine orClement during he entiremonth fDecember."63

n

a

letter

writ-

ten to Louis

of Taranto on 17 December

1351 Clement

ays,

"A

tumor

esulting

from gathering

f humors,which

caused a febril ondition,

as

seriously

is-

torted ur face and has afflicteds

for everaldays past."64

n a

letter

f

13

Janu-

ary 1352 Petrarch

reported o Nelli

that the

sovereign ontiff

as

gravely

ll.65

The poet also observed

hat the pope's sickness mpeded

he

solution

f

personal

affairs

nd

the negotiations

f

kings

nd

emperors.66

few

days ater,

18

January

1352, he remarked hat step by step

the pope

was

slowly returning

rom

he

threshold

f

death.67

By 1 February etrarch

was able

to

report

o

his

friend,hilippe

de

Cabassoles,

that thepopewas outofdanger.68hese letters re dated 1359.They have,how-

ever,

nfluenced

he

dating

of otherPetrarchan

ompositions

whichrefer

o

the

61

Cf. Sonnet

CXX, "Quelle

PietoseRime"

written

n

1343 at

Naples

concerning dangerous

llness

the subject of which s uncertain.

ee Phelps, pp.

98-100.

This sonnet

n

my opinion

refers

to

Clement's illness.

62

Piur, p. 321, no.

2.

3

K.

H. Schafer,

ie Ausgaben erApostolischen

ammerunter enediktXII., KlemensVI., und

InnocenzVI. (Paderborn,

914), p.

473.

15

mile

G.

Leonard,La Jeunesse

e Jeanne

Premiere,

vols.

(Paris: Picard,

1932-1937),

i,

328.

Cf. Wilkins, tudies,p. 108.

65

Fam. xii, 4. o Ibid.

67

Fam. xii, 5.

Cf. Wilkins,TheMaking of

the Canzoniere" nd

other etrarchan

tudies

Roma:

Storia

e

Letteratura, 951), pp.

331-333,

for

he dating

of

Fam.

xii,

4

and

5,

68

Fam.

xii,

6.



11/23

622

A

Papal

Secret

Known

to Petrarch

illness f

Clement

t

earlier ates. The

subsequent

eath

of

Pope

Clement n

1352

and the

known act

of

his llness

n

1351

have

influenced

he

dating

f

Fam.

v,

19,

as well as

Sine nom.1.

Several

scholars

ave observed

hat

Fam.

v,

19,

s

anachro-

nisticallyocatedas the astletter f BookFive.69 racassetti tatedthatFam. v,

19, should

be

put

properly

n

Fam.

xii

or

XIII

because it is so

easily

referredo

1352.70

he

only exception

o

the

chronology

f

all

letters

rom

am.

v,

13,

to

Fam.

vi,

4, is

this

one letter o

the

ll

pope.7"

hese

letters,

he one

excepted,

all

between 30

November1341

and

September

1343.72Billanovich

remarks

hat

every

cholarwho

has considered

he Petrarchan

ollection

with

microscopic

are

has

beenaware

of

this

nomaly,

lthough one has

discovered he

reason.73

If ClementVI is

the

pope

described n

Sine nom.

1,

then

Fam.

v, 19,

s

related o

it, as both

etters oncern

he

same sick

man.

"Febris

tue

nuntius"

an,

probably,

be

dated

13

March

1343.

t is certain

hat Clement

was

seriously

ll n

that

month

and in thatyear.DuringMay 1343 thepapal apothecary xpended wenty-six

florinsfor everal

medicinal

hings eceived

y

the

pope

at

divers

imes."74

hese

accountsare itemized

xpenses

or

he

previous

ight

weeks,

nd

establish

Clem-

ent

as ill

during

March

1348,

the occasionof

Fam.

v,

19.

A

modern

ouch to

this

expense

account s the

bookkeeper's

emark hat

these

expenses

were "all

esti-

mated

by

the

physicians

f

the

pope."75This

perhaps

mplies

hat

the crisis

was

sufficientlyrave

to

ignore,

momentarily,

rdinary

rocedures or

disbursement

of

funds.

"Febris tue

nuntius"

requires

wo

things or

verificationf

ts date

of

composi-

tion.ClementVI mustbe illwith fever ndhisbedmustbe besiegedbyphysi-

cians. Both

these

conditions

re fulfilledn

1343.

After

May

1349

Giovannidi

Parma

is the

only

physician

whose

name

appears

n the

papal

accounts

during he

remainder f

Clement's

pontificate.76

aquet,

independent

f any

reference o

Petrarchan

roblems,

olely n

the

basis of

records n

the

Vatican

Archives,

ame

to

the conclusion

hat

Clement

was

seriously

ll

mostof

1343.77

herewere

never

fewer

han

six

physicians,

ncluding

wo

surgeons, aring

or

Clement

during

hat

time.78

Despite

thefact

hat

Clement

voided

speaking

irectly

bouthis

llness

uring

1343 there s

evidence

that

he

suffered

prolonged

ever.

On

2

November

1343

Clementwrote oJohn, uke ofNormandy, ongratulatingimuponhisrecovery

from

a

febril

ffliction."

lement

remarked

hat

he had

special

sympathy or

John,

oth n

his

llness nd

convalescence, ince

he

himself ad

been

similarly

ll

69

Wilkins,The

Making

of the

Canzoniere,"

. 374.

70

G.

Fracassetti, n

Epistolas

Francisci

Petrarcae

e

rebus

amiliaribus t

variis

adnotationes,

d.

C.

Antona-Traversi

nd

S. Raffaelli

Fermo:

Backer,

1890),

pp.

104-106.

71

Arnoldo

Foresti,

Aneddoti

ella

vita

di

Francesco

etrarca

Brescia:

Vanni,

1928),

pp.

139-140.

72

Cf.

Wilkins,

The

Making

of

the

Canzoniere,"

p.

352-353.

73

Giuseppe

Billanovich, o

scrittoio

el

Petrarca

Roma:

Storiae

Letteratura,

947),

p. 18.

74

Schafer, . 248.

75

Ibid.

78

Waquet,

pp. 45-48. Cf.

Schaifer,p.

914, 202,

234.

77

Waquet,pp. 45-48.

78

Ibid.

Cf.

Schafer, p.

202-506.



12/23

A

Papal Secret

Knownto

Petrarch

623

and was likewise

ejoicing ver

a recovery

f health.79 few

days laterClement

had occasion to

thankPhilip, son

of Odo,

duke of Burgundy,

or gift f some

excellent

wine,

burgundywithout

oubt.The gift

was accompanied

y a pointed

inquiry bout

the sovereign

ontiff's ealth,

whichwas parried

leverly.

he pope

unequivocally

tated

that he was enjoying

perfecthealth

and requested

more

frequent

otesfrom

hilip on thestate of

his own

health nd thatof

his parents.80

Apparentlyumors

were

flying oncerning

hepope'sphysical

ondition.

lement

received

letterfrom

sabelle, abbess

of Fontevrault,

irectly equesting

o be

informedbout

his condition.

While admitting,

7 November1348,

that the

burdens f the pontifical

ffice eighed

heavilyuponhim,

Clement

replied hat

his

health would be equal

to the load

if he were

assisted by the prayers

fher

religious."8

Clement

was

in fact ll.

Despite

the

repeatedprotestations

f

good

health

he

was inthe handsofphysicianswho ordered he papal watercarrier 9November

1343

to make

the first f three rips

o the

sea with three

horses o procure

alt

water

n

which

o

bathe the pope's

feet.82 his

salt water reatment

as led to

the

conclusion

hat Clement

lso suffered

rom

out.83

is

head

and

face,

however,

werebadly

inflamedwithfever

n

1345

and 1351.84 nother ever revented

im

from

elebrating

he Feast

of

the

Epiphany

6

January

349.85Clement's

ickness

must have

been

known o Petrarchbefore

he left

Avignon

n

September

343.86

Petrarch

emained

t Naples

till 4

December

that year.87

t is not strange hat

Clement

ried

o hide his

disability,

nd

perhaps,

he fearedPetrarch's ongue

r

pen.

Early

in

January

1344 Clement

exhorted

Joanna, queen

of Naples, not

to

believeanyonewhosuggested hatthepopehad some secrethewished o hide.88

He

did

in fact hide

his illness.

More

than

a

year

ater

Clement

uffered

mild attack

of

tertian

fever.

The

papal

apothecary

ecorded

4

June 1345

the

modest

expenditure

f fifteen

hil-

lings or

medicines elivered

o the

pope.89

lement's

xplanations

oncerning

is

illness,

owever,

ndicate

hat some time

arlier e

had had

a more erious

ttack.

His

letter

o

Jeanne, ueen

of

France,

ndicates hat she

wrote o

him

sking

o be

informed

bout the state

of his health.

Clement's

reply

1

May

1345

specifically

states

that he

does not wish

to hide the

fact that he had been

for some

time

79Clement

VI, Lettres loses, atentes

t

curiales,

d.

Eugene Deprez (Paris:

Boccard, 1901-1925),

No. 500,

col.

234,

2 November

343,

hereafter

ited as

Deprez.

80

Deprez,

No. 518, col. 243, 12

November1343.

81

Deprez,

No. 532, col. 250, 17

November

1343.

82

Schifer,p.

258,

19 November

1343,

2 December

1343,

17

December

1343:

"

...

de consilio

t

mandatomedicorum uorum."

83

Baluze,

II,

423, n.

4.

84

Deprez,No. 1671,cols. 514,

515; 1672,

col.

515,

1

May

1345.

Leonard,

La

Jeunesse,i,

328,

n.

2.

Cf. Wilkins, tudies,p. 108.

8

Baluze,

iI,

423, n. 4.

86

Cf. SonnetCXX.

87

Leonard,

La Jeunesse,

,

311-313.

88

Deprez,

No. 592, col. 288,

4

January

344.

89

Schiifer, .

306.



13/23

624

A

Papal

Secret

Known

to Petrarch

gravely ill fromtertian

fever

with

a

rheum

descending from

his head to his

jaws.90

The

same

letter

was

sent

to

King Philip,

with

a

supplementary paragraph, saying

that

soon he

would

send Pierre

de

Verberia,

the

king's cleric,

to

explain

his

illness

and to discuss the informationwhich Philip sent him during and after his sick-

ness.9' Both

letters closed with

the declaration that he was

well.

Two weeks later

14

May

1345 Clement wrote

a

long

letter to

Queen

Joanna

of

Naples

on the same

subject, again

in

reply

to a

query

about his condition. The

tenor of Clement's

letter indicates

that he

had

received

a

witty letter, jocosely

written,possibly

with Sine nom.

1 in

mind.

The

pope says,

in his

reply,

that

she

delightfullydescribes

herselfas

"perfusam

rore leticie" at the news of his conva-

lescence.92

This

phrase

is a forceful

art

of

Sine nom.

1 in

which the

dying pope

is

described as "soporifero roreperfusus."93While

this

striking

coincidence

is

alone

insufficient o

connect Sine nom.

1

with

Joanna's

letter,

the other

circumstances

must be recalled. Sine nom. 1 was probably addressed to Philippe de Cabassoles,

vice-chancellor

of the

kingdom

of

Naples.

It

is

strange

that

Clement should

single

out

this

phrase

from

Joanna's

letter for

quotation

unless

it has

some

special sig-

nificance,

s he

apparently

indicates.

Clement

closes

his

letter,

which

also

contains

a

discussion of

an

edict issued

by Joanna, by assuring

her

that, although

he had

been

gravely ill,

he is

now enjoying good

health.

If

the

content of "Febris

tue

nuntius"

does not

apply

to

1348,

then it must

apply

to

1345.

In

Fam.

v, 19,

"Febris

tue

nuntius,"

Petrarch

says:

The

news

of

your

fever, oly Father,

made

my egs

hake withhorror

nd fear. amnot

pretending,

s did that flatterer f whom the Satirist

aid,

He

weeps f

he

sees a friend's

tears.He breaks nto sweat fafriend ays I amwarm.'Rather am like himwho,Cicero

says,

trembled or

he afety f

the Roman

peoplebecause

he

knewhis own

afetywas part

of theirs.

My condition,

ndeedthe

spiritual

nd

physical

healthof

manymen,

s

basically

identified ith yours.My fright, herefore,s

unfeigned.

fear for

no one, but myself.

All

who

depend

on

you, nd

who

put

their

rust

n

you,appear

to be in

good healthduring

your

llness.We are

not.

Since I know

that speech which

flows

rom

mortalmouth o

divineears should

always be brief, specially n yourpresent

ondition, shall

say,

pros-

trate n

spirit

nd bowed down with

reverence, nly

a

fewmore

words.

knowthat your

bed

is

beseigedby

physicians.My

first eason for

worry

s

this:

they

never

gree among

themselves or

hey

re

ashamed

to

repeat

what has

already

been

said,

or

to

follow trail

blazed

by

another.

There is no

doubt,

as

Plinyelegantly ays,

all these

fellowswish to

make a name for hemselves y introducingomething ew, by experimenting ith our

lives.

A

unique situation

xists

n

this

profession.

Whoever

hangs

out

his

shingle

s

accepted

immediately

s a

qualified

hysician, lthough

here

may

be no more

dangerous ie. We do

not

appreciate

t

either,

or each

expects special treatment

or

himself. here is not a

single

aw which

punishesdeath-dealing gnorance.

here is

not one

example of punish-

ment.

They

learn

their rade at theexpenseof our

lives,

and death

is the resultof their

experiments. nly

a

physicianmay

kill

with

mpunity.

oly Father,

ook on

this mob as

an

enemy olumn.Remember

he famous

ipgram

f

the

man who

ordered

o be inscribed

on

his tomb

onlythis: died amidst mob

fphysicians.

hat

prophecy f venerableCato

is

fulfilled

ompletely

n

our time: whenever he Greeks ransmit heirknowledge o us,

the

physicians

specially

will ruin

verything.

ince we

do not

dare to live

without hysi-

90Deprez, No. 1671,cols.514, 515,1May 1345.

91Deprez, No.

1672, ol.

515,

1

May 1345.

92

Deprez,

No.

1724, cols. 544-545, 14

May 1345.

93

iur, p. 165,1. 14.



14/23

A Papal SecretKnown to Petrarch

625

cians although nnumerable ations ive

better nd morehealthilywithout hem, nd the

Roman

Republicat its peak lived,by the testimony fPliny,more

han ix hundred ears

without hem)choose foryourself,rom

he crowd,one who is

conspicuousnot

forelo-

quence,butforhis

faith nd knowledge.Unmindful,ndeed,of their

wn profession nd

daring o leave their wn bramblepatch,hey eek to invade the sacredgrove fpoets and

the

green

fields

f rhetoricians. ot for he

sake

of

curing, ut for he

sake of argument,

they

debate

with loud

shouting lustered round

the

beds of the

suffering.

hile

the

patient

s

dyingthey make

a

hotch-potch

f the ideas

of

Cicero and the

aphorisms f

Hippocrates.Their pridemounts n

proportion o the progress f the

disease. They glory

not

n

theeffectf their reatment, ut n

the nane elegance ftheir emarks. n nearly ll

partsof this etter have had

Pliny

for

my guide est yourphysicians

ay

I have

distorted

thetruth.He had a lot to

say aboutmedicine nd more bout

physicians.

et them

hear

him

therefore. e says, Obviously,hose

mong hemwhohave waywithwords ecome he

ultimate

udge

of

our

ifeor death.

However,

have raced on more han intendedwhen

started ut because

my pen was goadedby fear. mustmake one more

point: avoid,

s a

conspiratorgainstyour ife, s you would an

assassin,

r a

poisoner,

very hysician

who

has moreblarney han skill.Withperfectustice he may be told whatold Plautinus ays

to the

oquacious cook

n

Aulularia: Go away you

were

rought

ere

o

work,

ot to make

speech.

Add to this

good

care of

yourself

nd

(the following

re

great

ids to

bodilyhealth)

a

pleasant outlook nd a

cheerful isposition,

f

you wish to cure

yourself, ather,

f

you

wish

o

cure ll ofus, the wholeChurch,who

withyou, re ill. Farewell.94

In

Fam.

xii, 5, Petrarch speaks

of

Nelli's desire

to obtain a

copy of Met. III,

22,

on

the

theme

of

Avignon as the Fifth Labyrinth. Petrarch

hesitated

to

send Nelli

that

poem before he

again consulted

Pliny,

his

copy

of

which was

in

Italy. He

said

that

he knew

of no

copy available other

than that

belonging

to

Clement,

who

was

at

the

moment,

18

January 1352, step by step returning

rom

he

very

vestibule of

death. Petrarch informedNelli that as soon as

the pope recovered he would

bor-

row

Pliny

and

immediately

(confestim)

send

Nelli

a

copy

of

the

requested

and

promised poem.

Several

quotations

from

Pliny

are

contained

in

Fam.

v,

19.

If,

as

commonly

alleged, this

letter were

first

written

n

1352,

it

would

indicate

that

Petrarch

had

been able

to

borrow

Clement's copy

of

Pliny

after

18

January

and

before 13

March. However, Petrarch

did

not

send

Met. iII,

22,

to

Nelli

until

1355,

which

suggests

that

Pliny

was

not

available

during

1352

for

the

composition

of

Fam.

v,

19, at that

time.

Wilkins, citing Nolhac, says that there s no evidence that Petrarch knew Pliny

before 1350.95Petrarch noted

in

his

personal

copy

of

the Natural

History

that

he

purchased

it

6

July

1350.96 This notation has been used

to

prove

that

before

Petrarch

acquired

his

own copy

of

the Natural History

he

had no

knowledge

of

Pliny.

However, ownership

of a book

neither proves

nor

disproves knowledge

of

its contents.

Contrariwise,

the

absence

of a book from

Petrarch's library

before

1350 is

negative proof of

his

ignorance. Pliny was

on the shelves

of

the

papal

library

from

the time

of

John

XXII

who ordered it

copied

in

1317.97

If

a

copy

of

94The

Latin text

may be

found n

V. Rossi,

Edizione nazionaledelleoperedi FrancescoPetrarca

(Florence: Sansoni, 1933-1942), xi.

95Wilkins,The Makingof the Canzoniere,"p.

41, n.

1.

96

Pierre de Nolhac,

Petrarque t 'humanisme, vols. (Paris: Champion,

1907),

i,

68-82.

97

Franciscus Ehrle,

Eistoria

bibliothecae

omanorum

ontificum

Rome:

Vatican Press, 1890),

i, 147,no. 2.



15/23

6926

A

Papal


Pliny was available

to

Petrarch

from

Clement's

ibrary

n

1352,

it

was

equally

available

in

1343. It is difficult

o

imagine

hat he would

not

have known

nd

examined

t on an

early

visit o the

ibrary

t

Avignon.

etrarch

lso

quotesPliny

inFam. v, 11. Unfortunatelyhis etterhas neverbeen dated with ny degree f

probability.98

he

date

13 March

1343, therefore,

annot

be

lightly

ismissed n

the

basis ofour

mperfect

nowledge

f

Petrarch's

tudy

nd

use

of

Pliny.

An air of

secrecy

lows

hrough

he

nvectiveontra

medicum

s

it

does

through

Sine

nom.

1

to which t is relatedvia

Fam.

v,

19.

The

composition

f

the

nvective

contra

medicum

alls nto wo distinct

eriods.

Book I is

separated

n time rom

he

later composition

f Books

II, III,

IV which

were

composed

within

the first

quarter

of the

year

1353.19 ook

I was written

while

Clement

was

alive,

and

in

connection

ith vents elated n

Fam.

v,

19. The

complete

ecovery

fthe

pope

s

demandedby

the

sense

of Book

I,

in

whichPetrarch

efers

o

the surgeon's rag

thatallwere naccordconcerninghetreatmentfthesovereign ontiff.etrarch

says, "You were

n

perfect

greement

fter e

got well,

who wouldhave

returned

to

health

much

more

uickly

f

you

had

been

an

inhabitant

uring

he entire

ime

ofhis llness

f ndia's

fartherest

hore,

which

none,

not even

he,

doubts."'100

Since Fam.

v, 19,

usually

has

been

dated March

1352

t

follows hat

Book I

has

been considered o

have

had

its

origin hortly

hereafter. owever, Petrarch

accuses the anonymous

urgeon

of

requiring year's time

to

answer Book

1.101

Some

commentators

n this

work onclude

hat

Petrarch

erhaps xaggeratedhe

length

f

time

equired

or

he

physician

o

prepare

his

counterblast.102

The internal

hronology

f

the Invectiveontramedicum uggests, herefore,

longerperiodof time

for ts

composition han that now

usually accepted. f the

content fFam. v, 19, be dated

13 March

1343, t allows

ample timefor he de-

velopment

f

the

quarrel

which ook

place

over an

extended

eriod

of

timeocca-

sionedby two widely

eparated vents.

Book

I of

the

nvective

s

related o Febris

tue

nuntius

f 1343 and

Books

I, III,

IV with

hedeath

of

Clement

n

1352.

Shortly efore he

composition

f

"Febris tue

nuntius"Petrarch

ent an

oral

message

to

thepope

urging

imto

beware

he

mob

of

physicians y whomhe was

besieged,

nd

to

choose

from

mong

them

one doctor

distinguished y learning

rather

han

eloquence.'03

his

message,however,

was

carried

by

a

servantwho

was unableto deliver tclearly, nd Clement enthimback toPetrarchwith he

request

hat

the

message

be

put

in

writing.

f the

theory

f this

paper be correct,

it

is likely hat the

Pope

was

too

ill

to

receive

any

such

message, nd that the

servant received

his

directions

rom he

clerics

guarding

he

pope. Petrarch,

accordingly,ddressed

o

Clement

n

13 March

the etter n which

he attacksthe

generality

f

physicians.'04

98

Wilkins,The

Making of

the

Canzoniere," .

358.

99Wilkins, tudies,p. 44. Cf.

Umberto

Bosco,

"Particolari

petrarcheschi,"

tudi

petrarcheschi,

(1948), 97-109, the

definitive reatment

f

the nvectivehronology.

100

FrancescoPetrarca, nvective

ontra

medicum,

d.

Pier

GiorgioRicci (Roma: Storia

e Lettera-

tura,1950), p. 27, lines92-98.

101

Invective, . 94,

"

.

. . si non post annum,

ed

ad

justi temporis patiurmn aciem

redis."

102

Wilkins, tudies, . 151.

103

Sen., xvi, 3.

104

Cf. Wilkins,

tudies, p. 108-109.



16/23

A

Papal SecretKnown to Petrarch 6927

One of the physicians oncerned eplied

n a letterwhich s not extant. Pe-

trarch'sfirst mpulsewas to ignore his attack

by a doctor who is "procax et

insanus."'l5He says, however, hat a cardinal,

prince f the churchwithwhom

he was most ntimate, rgedhimto reply esthis silence e takenfor dmission f

defeat.106 e answered n a very ong letter,

ventually evisedand made into

Book I of the Invectiveontra

medicum.

etrarch

makes clear the connection e-

tweenFam.

v,

19,

and

the nvective hichhe says

had

its origin

. .

.

in

epystola

illa ad Clementempapam unde tota ista

lis

oritur."'107

etrarch's anger was

aroused by thekind ofmedical treatment lementreceived.Never is the case

completely iscussed, ut severalreferencesre made to

it.

Petrarchwarns the

physician,who s a surgeon, hat he mustremember

t is easierto inflict wound

than to cure t,and to cause a riotthan

to

settle t.108 etrarch s referringo the

fact that

a

secret perationwas performed

n Clement t the timeof eventsde-

scribed n "Febris tue nuntius."Of this surgeon etrarch aid, "And ifanyone

were

ble

to

break

open your

head I

would

never gain say you were

sinine nd

obtuse....

"109

Petrarch's antagonism gainst

Clement's unknown urgeon s

summedup

in his

accusation that this

physicianby

his

imprudent

reatment

caused the church

o

change

ts

head,"0

and

the pope

to

arrive

t the

end

of

his

life."' This sentence s intended s

a

sharpdig at the surgeonwhom Petrarch

knows

has

performedurgery

n

Clement's kull. Petrarch ontinues,

But cer-

tainlynot alone know yourgame: why get angry nly

with

me?"1"2Clement's

corporal emains

onfirmhis

nterpretation.

The monastery

f

Chaise Dieu is intimately

ssociatedwith he ife nd death

of

Pope ClementVI."3 PierreRoger

died

at

Avignon

December

1352. His

body,

however,was not carried o Chaise Dieu

forentombment ntil8 April 1353."1

The magnificent onumental arcophagus

had

beenwaiting

o receive

him for

morethan

a

year. Unhappily,

he devout

ejaculation "Requiescat

in

pace" pro-

tected

neither

is

memory

or his

corpse.

Clement's

emainswere

first

xamined

19

March 1709

by the surgeon

BarthemiPissavin.1"5

he

floor f the

monastic

choirwas beingrepaired nd during he work

his skeletonwas found

long

with

some

pieces

of deerskin

n

which

t

had

been

wrapped.16

When

Pissavin,

an able

105

Fam.,

xv,

6.

106

Sen.,

xvi,

5.

107

Invective, .

50, 11. 00-401.

108

Invective,. 37,1.

427.

109

nvective,. 29, 11.

65-167.

110

caput

mutavit

cclesia.

111

nvective,. 88,

1. 245: "vite sue

finem

epperit,

e

juvante."

112 Ibid.,

11. 40-241.

118

Georges aul,

L'AbbayeBenedictine

e

a

ChaiseDieu

(Paris:

Champion,

924).

Paul

Deschamps

et J.

Leclerq,La Chaise

Dieu,

Les

Monasteres

e France

ii

(Paris:

Cerf,1946).

Cf. Maurice

Faucon,

Notice ur a construction

e

l'eglise

de

la Chaise

Dieu

(Haute-Loire),

on

fondateur,

on

architecte,

es

decorateurs

1344-1352)

d'apres

es

documents

onserves

ux

Archives u Vatican

Paris:

Picard

1904).

114

Eugene Deprez, "Les Funeraillesde ClementVI et d'InnocentVI d'apres les Comptes de la

Cour

Pontificale,"

Melanges

d'arch6ologie

t

d'histoire,

x

(1900),

238-239.

Baluze, i,

261; ii,

423.

115

Guy

de

Chauliac,

La

grande

Chirurgie,

d. E. Nicaise

(Paris:

Alcan,

1890),

p.

lxxxiii.

116

Ibid.,

n.

15.



17/23

628

A

Papal SecretKnown

to Petrarch

surgeon

nd excellent

natomist,

aw the skullhe said

that t had

been

trepanned

and

exfoliated.117

e also

stated

that the

bones were found

n

their

"normal

place."118 hus Pissavin effectively efuted he accusation made against the

Huguenotsthat theyhad profaned he body in their ttack,

1

August 1562, on

Chaise

Dieu under

Blangons,

ieutenant f Baron des

Adrets, uring

he Wars of

Religion.'"9

Petrarchhimself aw the arge caronthepope's head resultingromheopera-

tion

to

whichhe refers

n

the nvective.he poet,with ongue

n

cheek, xplained

that t was the result

f a

blow, by which hepope obtainedhis miraculousmem-

ory, nd which,Petrarch dded,was so greatthatwhatever ierreRoger read,

only once,he

could not

forget ven

f

he wished.'20 he text

of

Rerummemoran-

darum

ibri s the

keyproof

hat

urgery

as

performed

n

Clement

n 1343

before

Petrarch eft Avignon

for

Naples. Before eaving Provence Petrarchhad com-

pleted only the first ook and a small part ofthe second. While at Naples he

completed he

second

book,

whichcontains

reatments

f

memory nd ingenu-

ity.12'Petrarch'sreference

o

Clement's car was made

in

connectionwith the

pope's

marvelous

memory.

his text

proves

hat

"Febris tue nuntius,"

ine nom.

1,

and

Book

I

of

the

Invective ontramedicum

oncern ventswhichtook place

before ecember

1343.

Another urious xplanationhas been givenforPierreRoger's unusual mem-

ory.

t is a

spurious ttempt

o

explain

the

ugly

scar.

Henri de Kalkar, a Car-

thusian,

s the author

of

a

delightful,lthough alse story oncerning ean Buri-

dan and

PierreRoger.Henri givesthe details

n

a letter o his fellowCarthusian

Jean Dotz.

...

Likewise

ou

sk

aboutMaster uridan, hose uestionsn ogic nd all philosophy

are

disputed

t

Prague

nd other

niversities,

hether

knew im. answer s follows,

that

learned

hilosophy, etaphysics,

nd

goodmany

ther

hings,rom ld Buridan,

the

philosopher,

ho

aught

r

tudied t Parisfor

bout iftyears, nd s the Fontof

learning

f

Prague."

knew

girl

rom

aris, henmarriedo a Germanailor, verwhom

117

Jacques

Boyer, "Remarques

historiques t critiques ur le proprede diocese de Saint

Flour,"

Continuation

esmtmoires

e iteraturet

histoire,III (1729),Part

1, p.

188. The

author,

om

Jacques

Boyer,

O.S.B., of the Congregation fSt-Maur,reports he same

fact n anothernote,

Bibliotheque

Nationale,

MS. lat. no.

12664,

folios

102, 103, erroneously

ound

between folios 119-120. The

complete ocument

s

reprinted

n

Faucon, op. cit.,p. 67.

118

J.Lespinasse nd L. Grand,La

Chaise Dieu (Le Puy: Jeanned'Arc, 1959), p. 10.

119

Ibid.

120

rancesco

Petrarca,

Rerummemorandarum

ibri,

d.

Giuseppe Billanovich,

Edizione nationale

delle

opere

di

Francesco Petrarca

(Florence; G. C. Sansoni, 1943), Liber Secundus, 14,

page 49.

"Clemens

VI, egregiusnunc romuleigregispastor, tam

potentiset invicte memorie

raditur, t

quicquid vel

semel egerit

blivisci tiam

si

cupiat

non

possit.

Hoc sibi et

studiorum utrix

lma

Pariseoset orbisuniversus

ribuit. go enim, tsisepeantepedes

ejus fuerim, amende hac re nichil

preter amamhabeo; cuifacilius ccedo

recolens

on d

sibi noviter ributum, ed ante diu

quam

hoc

fortune ulmen

ascenderet: n quod

evecti, circumstrepentibusdulantium turbis,vere laudis

judiciumamiserunt.

llud tamen additur

miraculo:hanc

tantam

sibi

memoriammagno quondam

capitis ctu cujus adhuc testisextatingens upremovertice icatrix rovenisse.Memorabilis asus

simodo

verus; hoc

enim habet inter multa

clarorumvirorum

dmiratio: Viam

fabulls

aperire

solet ..."

On

Roger'smemory

f.

Baluze, , 262; "memoriaemirabilioris," aluze,

ii,

423:

"Contin-

uator

Nangii

eum vocat virum iimmaememoriae."

121

Cf.

Wilkins, ife of Petrarch, p.

43-44.



18/23

A

Papal Secret

Known

to Petrarch

629

Buridanquarreled

with a certain

noble monkof the

Order

of St Benedict,

who laterbe-

came Clement

VI. Buridan

so

badly

woundedhim n

the head that

a

flux

fblood

purged

his

cerebrum,nd so

it was, from

hat time

on, thathe acquired

his great

memory

or

preaching

ermons

nd delivering

isputations.Vhen

he became

pope, Buridan

placed

himself ast on the roll of the Masters ofParis. The Pope therefore,sked,"Where is

my

friend uridan?"

They replied,

Father,

he

put

himself ast out

of humility efore

you."

He

said,

"Let him

come

to us at Avignon."

When he arrived he Pope

said to

him

a papal secret known to petrarch

Documents