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309
oftheHistory
ofIdeas,Inc.
Copyright
1995byJournal
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310
JamesHankins
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Hans Baron
311
ofthemoralvaluesnecessaryto thesurvivalofcivilized
nityand destructive
society.'
As is now clearfromthebrilliantstudyof RiccardoFubini,Baronwas
theologian
a liberalProtestant
earlyin his lifea discipleof ErnstTroeltsch,
who (influencedby Dilthey)wished to rejectthe dogmatismand soteriits
insteadinterpreting
ological individualismof traditionalChristianity,
messageas a theologyof social action.In the 1920s Baronwas also a firm
of theWeimarRepublic,eagerto wean Germanyaway fromits
supporter
past.6He feltthatthenew era of democratic
and monarchical
chauvinistic
socialismdemandeda newkindofeducationand culturethatwouldproduce
political
He believedGermany'sunhealthy
citizenry.
an activeand informed
stressing
culture
university
had been aggravatedby an entrenched
tradition
philologyand overspecializedhistoricalstudies;the effectwas to distract
fromlargerhistoricalissues and thusto detachscholarshipfrom
attention
thattried
chauvinism
Moreover,againsttheprevailing
commitment.
political
to
contributions
to make "the GermanSpirit"the originof all worthwhile
thatGermanywas in factincivilization,he was anxiousto demonstrate
debtedforvaluedpartsofhercultureto otherlands;this,he felt,wouldhelp
past
makeeducatedGermansreadierto look abroadand in thenon-German
formodelsof a healthypoliticalculture.Finally,perhapsabove all, Baron
culturewas compatiblewithpoliticalcomwantedto provethathumanistic
of
identification
An
the
latter
aim was Burckhardt's
mitment. obstacleto
of theindividual.This was a matterof more
withthecultivation
humanism
book had acquiredsomething
as Burckhardt's
thanpurelyacademicinterest,
butpoliticallypassiveGermans
amonghighly-educated
of a cult-following
forexampleadmiredthebook immoderduringthe1920s;theGeorge-Kreis
greatbook, however,
ately.The Germaneliteswho admiredBurckhardt's
individualtendedto ignorehis messageaboutthedangersof untrammelled
liberated
fromthe
ismandto focusinsteadon his seductivepictureofgenius
and social convention.
claimsof traditional
morality
I See Felix Gilbert,
on Rankeand Burckhardt
History:Politicsor Culture?Reflections
politicswas less nuanced:see
(Princeton,1990), ch. 4. Baron's own view of Burckhardt's
his essay "Burckhardt'sCivilizationof theRenaissance a Centuryafterits Publication,"
RenaissanceNews, 13 (1960), 207-22, repr.in Essays, 155-81.
6 Riccardo Fubini,"RenaissanceHistorian:The Career of Hans Baron,"Journalof
ModernHistory,64 (1992), 541-74, publishedin Italian as Una carriera di storicodel
Rinascimento:Hans Baron (Naples, 1992). Sketchesof Baron's careerand theinfluences
upon him had been given earlierin G. Cervani,"II Rinascimentoitalianonell'opera di
Hans Baron," Nuova rivistastorica, 39 (1955), 492-503; AugustBuck, "Hans Baron's
to theLiteraryHistoryof theRenaissance,"in AnthonyMolho and JohnA.
Contribution
Tedeschi(eds.), RenaissanceStudiesin Honor ofHans Baron (Florence,1971), xxxi-lviii;
e la loro influenzafra
Eugenio Garin,"Le primericerchedi Hans Baron sul Quattrocento
le due guerre,"in ibid., lix-lxx; and, for modernpolitical context,Renzo Pecchioli,
"'Umanesimo civile' e interpretazione'civile' dell'umanesimo," Studi storici, 13
(1972), 3-33.
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312
JamesHankins
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Hans Baron
313
Newberry
LibraryBulletin,4 [1956], 88-92),thiswas itselfa challengeto themonarchicalto uniteItaly
whichsaw GiangaleazzoVisconti'seffort
Fascisttraditionof historiography
centuryas a tragic failureto do what VittorioEmmanuele II had
in the fourteenth
succeeded in doing in the nineteenthcentury."One cannot doubt that Baron's keen
oppositionto the crude Machiavellism of an historicalschool inclined to recognize
political achievementonly insofaras it producespower-in isolationfromeveryother
motive,whetherideal or ethical-has sprung,like theoppositionof otherliberally-minded
students,froma reactionagainst Fascist and Nazi ideologies." Partlyfor this reason
GennaroSasso ("Florentinalibertase Rinascimentoitalianonell'opera di Hans Baron,"
Rivistastoricaitaliana,69 [1957], 250-76) arguedthatBaron's thesiswas internationalist
and ideologicalratherthannationalistand power-oriented.
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314
JamesHankins
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Hans Baron
315
12 QuestionsaboutBaron's datingswerefirst
raisedin a
reviewofBaron's Crisisby G.
Gelehrnte
Anzeigen,(1956), 35-63,republishedin idem,"Die
Seidlmayerin Gottingischer
Friih-Renaissance:
PolitischeAnlasseund geistigeElemente
Entwicklung
deritalienischen
des Humanismus,ed.
(Zu den Forschungenvon Hans Baron)," in Wegeund Wandlungen
H. Barion (G6ttingen,1965), 47-74. Baron's dismissivereactionis in From Petrarch,
criticizingBaron's datingsof Bruni's earlyworks,
108n. For a summaryof the literature
see myPlato in theItalian Renaissance(London, 1990), II, appendix1, and theforthcomBrunianum:A CriticalBibliographyofthe Writings
ing secondvolumeof myRepertorium
ofLeonardoBruni(Istitutostoricoitalianoper il Medio Evo, Nuovi studistorici;vol. 1 is
in press). As Nicolai Rubinsteinhas remarked("II Brunia Firenze:retoricae politica,"in
Paolo Viti [ed.], Leonardo Bruni cancellieredella Repubblica di Firenze, Convegnodi
to
Studi[Florence,1990], 15-28),Baron's redatingof Bruni'sworksare mostlyirrelevant
his largerconclusions.
13 Lucia Gualdo Rosa, "La struttura
dell'epistolariobrunianoe il significatopolitico," in Viti, Bruni cancelliere,372. She generallyfollowsBaron and Garin in her
betweenideologyand rhetoricin Bruni's work.
interpretation
of therelationship
14 See Sasso, "Florentinalibertas";Seidlmayer,
review of Crisis, cit., n. 12 above;
Aldo Scaglione, review of Crisis, in Romance Philology, 10 (1956), 129-37; Charles
Trinkaus,reviewof Baron,Crisis,in JHI, 17 (1956), 426-32; Wallace K. Ferguson,"The
of Hans Baron,"JHI, 19 (1958), 14of ItalianHumanism:The Contribution
Interpretation
An
25. Baron replied to Ferguson in "Moot Problemsof Renaissance Interpretation:
Answerto Wallace K. Ferguson,"JHI, 19 (1958), 26-34. David Quint,"Humanismand
of Bruni's Dialogues," Renaissance Quarterly,38 (1985),
Modernity:A Reconsideration
withBaron's readingoftheDialogi ad Petrum
423-45,pointsout someinternaldifficulties
Histrumand theirconnectionwiththe 1402 crisis.
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316
JamesHankins
had expressed
humanists
(a locution
surelypreferable
to "pre-humanists")
inclassicalgarb,Albertino
Mussato'sEccerinis
their
political
commitments
theonlyexample.15
thebestknownbuthardly
At thesame
beingperhaps
timeit has beenamplydemonstrated
by CharlesDavis,EmilioPanella,
folklore
of themedieval
QuentinSkinner,
and othersthattherepublican
before
overa century
Bruni,
commune
hadbeengivensometheoretical
heft,
writers
such as Remigiode'Girolami,
by scholasticand sub-scholastic
ofLucca.16Theexpression
ofthesevaluesis
Brunetto
Latini,andPtolemy
in Salutatiand
andmorehistorically-conscious
moresecular,
moremature,
contemBrunibuthardly
original
withthem.On theotherhand,Petrarch's
by Baronas typicalof
plativeandpolitically
quietist
attitudes,
presented
an
humanism
before1402,havecometo seemmoreandmoreexceptional,
thefallofthecommune
ofPaduain 1322
aberration
oftheperiodbetween
onthescene.17
and1400,whenthehumanists
ofBruni'sgeneration
appeared
had takenissuewithBaron'sattempt
to changethe
Otherhistorians
In contrast
to Burckhardt's
largerpicture
of Renaissance
politicalculture.
andpost-ideological
in its
as essentially
realistic
viewof theRenaissance
thelatefourteenth
andearlyfifteenth
Baronpresented
as a
century
politics,
l5RobertoWeiss,Ilprimosecolo dell'umanesimo(Rome, 1949); theworkofGiuseppe
Billanovich and his school on "preumanesimo"is summarizedby Guido Billanovich,
Rino Avesani,and Luciano Garganin Storia della culturaveneta,II (Vicenza, 1976), 19110, 111-41,and 172-70,respectively.See Rubinstein,"PoliticalTheoriesin the Renais(New York,
sance," in AndreChastel et al., The Renaissance: Essays in Interpretation
1982), 153-200, Skinner,"Ambrogio Lorenzetti:the artistas political philosopher,"
Proceedingsof theBritishAcademy,72 (1986), 1-56,and "Machiavelli'sDiscorsi and the
Pre-humanist
Originsof RepublicanIdeas" in Gisela Bock, QuentinSkinner,and Maurizio
Viroli (eds.), Machiavelli and Republicanism(Cambridge,1992), 121-41; Skinner'scrivol. 1: The
tiqueof Baronon thispointis in his FoundationsofModernPolitical Thought,
Renaissance (Cambridge,1978), chap. 4. See also Ronald G. Witt. "Medieval Italian
Cultureand the Originsof Humanismas a StylisticIdeal," in AlbertRabil, jr. (ed.),
RenaissanceHumanism:Foundations,Forms,Legacy (Philadelphia,1988), I, 29-70, and,
froma different
approach,AntonioSantosuosso,in "LeonardoBruniRevisited:A Reassessmentof Hans Baron's Thesis on the Influence of the Classics in the Laudatio
and Society:Essays Presented
FlorentineUrbis,"in AspectsofLate Medieval Government
to J. R. Lander, ed. J. G. Rowe (Toronto, 1986), 25-51, arguingthat Baron greatly
overstatesBruni's independenceof his classical source,Aelius Aristides,in theLaudatio
Florentinaeurbis.
16 CharlesTill Davis, Dante's Italyand OtherEssays. (Philadelphia,1984); Skinner,
Foundations,chap. 3; Emilio Panella, "Dal bene comune al bene del comune:I trattati
Memoriedomenicane,16
politicidi Remigiodei Girolaminella Firenzedei bianchi-neri,"
(1985), 1-198.
17 See Rubinstein,
"Political Theories." Salutati's shiftsbetweencivic and quietist
values are discussedin Witt,"The De tyrannoand Coluccio Salutati'sView of Politicsand
RomanHistory,"Nuova rivistastorica,53 (1969), 434-74, and (in a moreBaronianvein)
in Herculesat theCrossroads: TheLife,Workand Thoughtof Coluccio Salutati(Durham,
can be foundin Robert
N.C., 1983). A convincingexplanationforSalutati'sinconsistencies
Black, "The PoliticalThoughtof the FlorentineChancellors,"The HistoricalJournal,29
(1986), 991-1003.
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Hans Baron
317
betweenrepublicanism
and signory.The crisis
periodof ideologicalstruggle
emphasizing
secular
of 1402 forBarongenerateda new culturalmovement
to the community-a view which challenged
values and commitment
apartunderthepressure
societybreaking
Burckhardt's
pictureofa traditional
and illegitimate
power.Severalscholars,however,
of egoisticindividualism
PhilipJones,PeterHerde,and (implicrejectedthisattempt
at revisionism.
tookBaronto taskforhis naiveview of republican
itly)Nicolai Rubinstein
They arguedthatthese
politicsin medievaland Renaissancecity-states."8
societieswere in realitynot as devotedto libertyas theirtraditionsof
fullfreedom
was enjoyedonlyby
wouldsuggest;internally,
politicalfolklore
"property-owning
burgessesof local originand prolongedresidence,"while
ofsubjecttownswas limitedbytheimperialclaimsof
thefreedom
externally
the metropolis.Therehad always been "a strident
contradiction"
between
thisdid
therhetoric
of freedomand therealityof Renaissancegovernment;
In fact,Renaissancerepublicswere oligarnot changewiththehumanists.
chies and, froma democratic
pointof view,had notmuchbetterclaimsto
For Jonesand Herde,the "titanic
legitimacythanRenaissancetyrannies.
struggle"betweenmonarchicand republicanprinciplesBaron saw at the
in antiquedressof a
dawnof theRenaissancewas merelythecontinuation
similarformsof govcentury-long
propagandawarbetweentwoessentially
ernment.
Jones'sand Herde's view receivedfurther
supportin themid-1960sas
beganto be widely
theworkof P. 0. Kristelleron Renaissancehumanism
to turnKristeller'sinterpretation
of
Severalscholarsattempted
influential.
of
the
into
of
Kristeller's
view
humanism
saw
humanism a critique Baron.
to the
and drewattention
as a phase in thehistoryof rhetoric
phenomenon
forhimhumanism
couldnotbe
ofthehumanists;
professional
employments
context.It was notenough
understood
apartfromitssocial and institutional
livedin a republicor a court;one should
a humanist
simplyto say whether
look also at theprofessional
roleshe filled.One could onlymake sense of
ifone saw thatmostprofessional
humanists
(as opposed
literature
humanistic
professors
of literature,
to interested
amateurs)hadworkedas schoolmasters,
and chancellors,ambassadors,courtpoets,and highpoliticalsecretaries,
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318
JamesHankins
levelcivilservants.
Mostifnotall oftheseprofessions
an expert
required
of rhetoric.
couldin partbe exknowledge
Indeed,theriseof humanism
plainedby changesin the natureof theseprofessions
duringtheearly
Renaissance.19
viewofhumanism,
backedupbyhiscomprehensive
knowlKristeller's
raisednewquestions
aboutBaron's
edgeofmanuscript
sources,
inevitably
Weremensuchas Salutati
andBrunireallyas rootedin
"civichumanists."
oftheFlorentine
thevaluesandattitudes
classesas theyhadseemedto
ruling
wereas politically
committed
Baron?If thegreatFlorentine
chancellors
as
Baronrepresented
them,how had Salutatimanagedto survivein office
through
thepoliticalupheavalsof 1375-82?How had Brunisurvived
the
of theMedici?Whyhad Bruni,immediately
afterthe
exile and return
ofthewarwithLadislas,goneoffto
crisisof1402andinthemidst
supposed
servethesignoreofRomeandthePapalStates?Whydidhe admirepetty
tyrants
suchas CarloMalatestaand Braccioda Montone?
Whydid the
intothereggimento
Mediciparty
takethesupposed
firebrand
republican
after
of
1437?Whyhad Bruniremained
a lifelong
friend AntonioLoschi,the
defender
of Milanese"tyranny,"
twoworksto him?How to
dedicating
in his missive,
backandforth
between
the
explainSalutati'sfacileshifts,
"new"republican
ideologyandthe"old" Guelfideology?
Whywas there
thecoollyrealistic
ofpolicy
so littlecommon
between
discussions
ground
foundin the Consultee praticheduringthe 1390s,and theoverheated
rhetoric
of Salutati's
publicletters?
ofthe
Howto explainBruni'smissive
1430s,whichcontainletters
espousing
policiesBruniprivately
disagreed
bothpraising
and damning
theMedici,letters
the
with,letters
eulogizing
likethese,andbyextenEmperor
andtheDukeofMilan?Shouldwritings
sion Bruni'sLaudatioand Orationfor theFuneralofNanniStrozzi,notbe
seenas piecesofpolitical
theworkofprofessional
propaganda,
rhetoricians
forspecific
ofsincere
occasions
andnotunspotted
mirrors
writing
republican
conviction?
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Hans Baron
319
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320
JamesHankins
three
tells
leftFlorence
toservethePopeinRome;chapter
bonum
commune,
inthePlatonic
ofthe
dialogues
andhishero-worship
us whyBruni'sinterest
shouldnotbe seenas inconsistyrant
CarloMalatesta
condottiere
andpetty
to
andso on.Whileitwouldofcoursebeunfair
tentwithhiscivichumanism,
state,inthiscaseitseems
condemn
a bookthatwasleftina veryunfinished
talents
was notthatofthe
safeto saythatamongBaron'smanyscholarly
an idealizedprojection
of
Baron'sBruniis a woodenpuppet,
biographer.
nota portrait
of a man.24
Thissometimes
leadsto mildly
Baronhimself,
as theOratio
as whenBarontriestoexplainsuchjeuxd'esprit
comicresults,
the
to the
by
Emperor
Elagabalus
speechgiven
Heliogabali,an imaginary
by
fallfrom
graceoccasioned
ofa temporary
prostitutes
ofRome,interms
Baron'sstudydoeslittleto improve
thewickedcurialmilieu.Regrettably,
ourunderstanding
ofBruni'slifeandthought.
inrecent
A newunderstanding
ofBrunihas,however,
begunto emerge
wassetoffwiththepublication
ofBrunistudies
years.In 1980a renaissance
by Lucia Gualdo Rosa of F. P. Luiso's Studisu l'Epistolariodi Leonardo
hadbeenutilized
Thiswork,
thefoundation
ofmodemBrunistudies,
Bruni.25
beforein hisLeonardo
byBaronhalfa century
(withLuiso'spermission)
(1928); butas Baron
BruniAretino:Humanistisch-philosophische
Schriften
himself
its curioushalf-existence
(in proofsince1904butnot
observed,
theprogress
of Brunistudies.26
until1980)did muchto inhibit
published
an interofLuiso'sStudi,GualdoRosaorganized
Following
thepublication
of Bruni'sEpistulae
tradition
nationalequipeto surveythemanuscript
ofthetext.A collaboraa critical
edition
witha viewtoproducing
familiares
widediffusion
of
becauseof theextraordinarily
tiveeffort
was necessary
Bruni's
century,
authorof thefifteenth
Bruni'sworks:as thebest-selling
and nearly200 incunaworkssurvivein about3200 literary
manuscripts
thesametimePaoloVitiorganized
another
bula.27Around
equipetocalendar
ofFlorence.
In 1987hiscollaborators,
as chancellor
Bruni'spublicwritings
of
andsomemembers
witha distinguished
groupofolderscholars
together
on Bruni'scareeras a public
theGualdoRosa equipe,helda conference
ofFlorence.
servant
andchancellor
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Hans Baron
321
At this conference,
the proceedingsof whichwere publishedby the
ItalianNationalInstitute
forRenaissanceStudiesin Florencein 1990,28due
honorwas paid to thecontribution
of Hans Baron;butHans Baron's Bruni
(save in the contribution
of EugenioGarin)was nowherein evidence.Instead,a numberof questionsfirstraisedby Nicolai Rubinsteinand Peter
Herdewerequietlytakenup and developed.Rubinstein
himselfpresented
a
Bruniwhoseidealizedpresentation
of Florentine
politicalidealsandpractice
contrastedsharplywiththe actual functioning
of politicsunderthe preMedicean oligarchy.29
He suggestedthatBrunihad come to identify
his
politicaloutlookwiththatof theMedicipartyby thelate 1430s.He pointed
out,furthermore,
thatthe contextof Bruni'sfamousLaudatio Florentinae
urbiswas thedefenseof Florentine
imperialism
againstMilanesechargesof
hypocrisy.Milanese propagandaarguedthatFlorencehad put down the
liberties
ofhersubjecttownsin Tuscanywhileclaimingto be thedefender
of
Italian libertiesagainstthe Milanese "tyrant"(a charge,in Rubinstein's
view,notwithout
justice).Bruni'sreply,followingSalutati,reformulated
the
in a waythatwas to proveofgreatimportance:
idea ofliberty
he arguedthat
in thecase of subjecttownswas notto be definedas self-government
liberty
butas sharingin the libertyof themetropolis
by iure vivere-by livingin
accordancewithjust laws freefromarbitrary
power.Thusin 1404 Brunihad
alreadydiscoveredthe classic oligarchicalmove of redefining
positiveliban appealto law.30
ertyas negativeliberty
through
in two articlesby Riccardo
This line of thought
was takenstillfurther
Fubiniand AnnaMaria Cabrini.31Botharticlesshowedhow muchintellectual historyhas benefitedfromthe work of social historiansof the last
on therelationships
betweenpower,social class, patronagenetgeneration
and politicalinstitutions
such as the publicdebt
works,marriagepatterns,
fundsofFlorence.Baronhad seentheFlorentine
republicofthelateTrecento
as preserving
and extendingthe values of the popularregimesof the late
28
Viti,Brunicancelliere,citedabove, n. 12.
Rubinstein,"II Brunia Firenze,"extendingthecriticismfirstvoiced in "Florentine
Constitutionalism"
but anticipated,albeit in an extremelycursoryway, in Augustin
Renaudet's review of Baron's Crisis in Bibliothequed'Humanismeet Renaissance, 18
(1956), 322-25: "La belle definitionque, en 1428, Bruni,dans l'Oraison funebrepour
Nanni Strozzi,donnaitdes libertesflorentines
et notammentde la 'libertasreipublicae
adeundae,'restaitillusoire."Cf. Scaglione's reviewof theCrisis(citedabove, n. 14), 134.
30 For an interesting
parallelwithclassical Athens,see MartinOstwald,FromPopular
Athens
Sovereignty
to theSovereignty
of Law: Law, Societyand Politics in Fifth-Century
(Berkeley,1986), especiallyPartIII.
31 RiccardoFubini,"La rivendicazione
di Firenzedella sovranitastatalee il contrib1uto
delle Historiae di Leonardo Bruni,"and Anna Maria Cabrini,"Le Historiae del Bruni:
risultatie ipotesidi una ricercasulle fonti,"bothin Viti,Brunicancelliere,29-63 and 247319, respectively,
continuing
the line of Fubini,"OsservazionisugliHistoriarumFlorentinipopuli Libri XII di Leonardo Bruni,"in Studi di storia medievalee modernaper
ErnestoSestan (Florence,1978), I, 403-48.
29
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322
JamesHankins
ofcivichumancontext
onthesociological
Duecento.
In hisvariousarticles
ofoligarchic
tendencies
in Florence
theexistence
ismBaronacknowledged
thattheCiompihad
theCiompiuprising
of1378,buthedeniedheatedly
after
class.32
In hisview
ofa closedandconservative
ruling
ledto theformation
failuresof the 1340s
theFlorentine
politicalclass afterthecommercial
andcivic-minded
anditbecame
character,
a moreopen,integrated,
acquired
inproperty
"a broadmiddle-class
status
andin
uniformity
stratum
ofrelative
The socialhistory
ofthelasttwo
socialandeconomicoutlook."
political,
decadeshasmadethisrosyviewoftheFlorentine
rulingclassmuchmore
Recent
work
has
thatFlorentine
to sustain.
difficult
arguedpowerfully
andfifteenth
centuries
was "nota bourgeois
societyin thelaterfourteenth
one whosevalueswerecloser,moreakin,to thoseof a
world,butrather
theclosedcharacter
and
society."It has emphasized
feudal,aristocratic
the
aristocratic
ethosof Florence'stinyrulingclassand largelydiscarded
inwhichworkmen
viewofFlorence
as anegalitarian
society
older,romantic
withmerchant
bankers
as socialequals.33
shoulders
rubbed
toreconsider
hasforced
the
scholars
society
ThenewviewofFlorentine
discourse.
Nowadaysit is clearthatthe
of Florence'srepublican
meaning
betweenthepoliticallanguageand symbolsof thecommune
relationship
ofpoweris farmorecomplexthanit
around1400andtheactualallocation
of Salutati'sand
seemedforty
republicanism
yearsago. If theFlorentine
Bruni'sday had preservedmanyof the slogansof the popularcom"freespeech"-themeaningof those
mune-"liberty,"
"participation,"
from
as theregimehaddeveloped
fitfully
profoundly
sloganshadchanged
therelatively
popularregimeof the 1280sand '90s intothestablepreBaronwas simply
Withrespectto politicalhistory,
Mediceanoligarchy.
of theMilanesewars.Theyhad notmade
wrongaboutthesignificance
intotheHighRenaissance;
theyhad
ofpopular
regimes
possiblethesurvival
on thereggimento
ofFlorence
by
thegripoftheoligarchy
infactsolidified
of
Withrespect
tothehistory
forpatronage.
itsopportunities
vastly
enlarging
ofBruni's"civic
Baronwasblindtothetruesignificance
political
thought,
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Hans Baron
323
inoligarchic
terms
of
thatitwasinfacta subtlereinterpretation
humanism":
language.34
republican
Florence's
traditional
has been
of oligarchy
of Brunias a defender
Thisnewunderstanding
Theyshowindetailthe
byFubiniandCabrini.
brought
outwithgreatclarity
judgments:
andpolitical
Bruni'shistorical
informing
oligarchic
prejudices
forthecentral
oftheSignoria
(thechiefinstitutional
authority
hispreference
guilds
tothatofthepopularCouncils,
powerinFlorence)
toolofoligarchic
thesovereignty
ofthecommune
toassert
andufficialiforestieri;
histendency
ofthe
rivals,internal
andexternal,
thePapacy,andother
against
theEmpire,
(Balie) ofthe
commissions
hispraisefortheemergency
Florentine
oligarchy;
the
inordertopermit
popular
procedures
traditional
1390s,whichbypassed
for
his preference
oligarchsto act withspeedand secrecyin wartime;
knowledge
overthejudgment
men"andforexpert
"prudent
andexperienced
thattheir
to exilingnobleson thegrounds
of thevulgar;his opposition
his fulsome
to thecommonwealth;
experience
of affairswas necessary
hispreferoftheParteGuelfa,thatbastionoftheoligarchy;
championship
of meritoverthatof sortition
in choosingpublic
ence fortheprinciple
to assertthesoverfortheAlbizziregime'sattempts
officials;
his support
eigntyof Florenceagainstthe Empire;and his horrorof the populist
"Ciompi"revoltof 1378.
an aspectof Bruni'sHistoryignoredby
Fubinihas also emphasized
liberty,
butalsoof
notonlyofFlorentine
as a celebration,
Baron:itscharacter
imperialism.
This,it shouldbe said,was one of Baron'smajor
Florentine
is a
theimperial
anditscontradictions
democracy
blindspots.Ifnowadays
it was less so in Baron'sday;andBaron'sopen
familiar
objectof study,
thehomeofthebraveandthefree,against
of"littleFlorence,"
partisanship
reading
today.InfactFlorence
"thetyrant
ofMilan"makesforembarrassing
anditwasFlorence's
andMilanwere,as opponents,
pretty
evenlymatched;
of Arezzoin
theacquisition
in Tuscany,particularly
imperial
expansion
ofthe
1384,whichhadsetofftheSecondMilaneseWar;shetookadvantage
togobbleupPisa.Itwas
thedeathofGiangaleazzo
chaosinLombardy
after
in 1402,thatfirst
ofPisain 1406,notthedeathofGiangaleazzo
theconquest
a FlorentineHistory.35
gaveBrunitheideaofwriting
werepublished,
ofthe1987conference
theproceedings
Twoyearsafter
witha
onBrunitogether
ofhisownarticles
a collection
PaoloVitipublished
LeonardoBrunie Firenze:Studisulle letfewnewpieces.Thiscollection,
I Bruniis also treatedas an oligarchicthinker
in a perceptivearticleby RussellDees,
"Bruni, Aristotle,and the Mixed Regime in On the Constitutionof the Florentines,"
Medievalia et humanistica,n.s. 15 (1987), 1-23, and implicitlyby JohnNajemy, "The
Dialogue of Powerin FlorentinePolitics,"in CityStates (cited above, n. 33), 269-87.
35 Lorenzo Mehus (ed.), Leonardi Bruni ArretiniEpistolarumlibri VIII (Florence,
1741), I, 35-36 = Ep. II, 4 (Luiso II, 3). The Italianversionof Bruni'shistoryby Donato
Acciaiuoli frequentlycirculateswith Gino Capponi's Conquest of Pisa. For Baron's
rivalryin the contextof modem debates about the
readingof the Florentine-Milanese
politicsof theKleinstaatand the Grossstaat,see Pecchioli(citedabove, n. 6), 18f.
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324
JamesHankins
ofBruni'spublic
e private,36
thefirst
seriousstudy
constitutes
terepubbliche
on behalfof
he wroteas chancellor
the1800orso missive
correspondence,
ofwhichhadpreviously
been
theFlorentine
onlya smallnumber
Signoria,
context
immediate
historical
andtriesto
TheseVitiplacesintheir
published.
relatetotheworksBruniwroteunderhisownname.Viti'sstudyis particufromthemostinteresting
of
extensive
portions
larlyusefulas ittranscribes
tomaketheirownjudgment
aboutthem.
readers
themissive,
enabling
richnewarchivalmaterial
as well as many
contains
Viti'scollection
andpaleographical
repeats
data,butitalso,inevitably,
technical
philological
A moreserious
andcreatessomenewones(see appendix).
someolderrors
general
toadvanceanyconvincing
problem
withViti'svolumeis hisfailure
He has
and politicalthinker.
of Brunias a publicservant
interpretation
relativeto theforeign
and
new data aboutBruni'sactivities
unearthed
byhis ownriches;he
domestic
politicsof his daybutseemsembarrassed
theoldpicture
ofBruni,
tocriticize
research
effectively
failstousehisfresh
essay
earlyoninthelargesynthetic
stilllesstocreatea newone.He declares
thatheacceptswithsome
di Firenze")
whichbeginsthevolume("II primato
thatall the
viewofBruni:"Itthusappearsevident
reservations
theBaronian
is a
of Bruni,notjust his workon theHistories,
Florentine
experience
tothecity-subject,
tobe sure,tocertain
moments
constant
actofadhesion
from1405to 1415"
tohisdetachment
as papalsecretary
ofcrisisinaddition
thatBrunihas a strong
to
loyalty
ideological
(12). He assumesthroughout
is a highdegreeofcontinuitd
andthatthere
signory
republicanism
as against
beliefsandthebeliefshe wascalleduponto
idealebetween
Bruni'sprivate
the
Thisofcoursecreates
the
for
Florentine
as
Signoria.
express
spokesman
sincemanyletters
those
appearto contradict
of interpretation,
problems
theoverlordship
ofthepopeand
forexample,
letters
acknowledging
beliefs,
theDukeofMilan.Viti'ssolution
seemsto be
or letters
praising
emperor,
in(supposedly)
themes
whenever
Bruni'smissive
agreewithrepublican
that,
workssuchas theLaudatioortheOrationforNanniStrozzi,they
"private"
whenever
Bruni'spersonal
canbe construed
as expressing
they
convictions;
withtheopinions
areatvariance
theycanbe
expressed
byBruni,
"privately"
This solu"rhetorical,"
or "stereotyped."
"formulaic,"
takenas "empty,"
in Bruni'swritings
between
the
as itdoesa cleardistinction
tion,assuming
is lessthansatisfactherhetorical
andthepersonal,
publicandtheprivate,
tory.
muchlessnaivethanBaronabout
Ontheother
handVitiis,tohiscredit,
tolookat
andmuchmorewilling
therealities
ofpolitical
powerinFlorence
evidencewhichtellsagainstBaron'sroseateviewofBruni'scharacter
and
intothe
beliefs.He findsnewevidencenotonlythatBruniwas tempted
of thesignoreof thePapal States(thePope) between1405and
chancery
36 Paolo Viti, Leonardo Bruni e Firenze: Studi sulle letterepubbliche e private
(Florence,1992).
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Hans Baron
325
1415,butalsothathe triedtoprepare
theground
so as tobe takenintothe
serviceof thecondottieri
princesCarlo Malatestaand Giovanfrancesco
Vitinotes,
withMartin
V even
totakeservice
Gonzaga;hewasalsotempted,
Viti regardstheseacts as
afterhe had receivedFlorentine
citizenship.
trasgressioni
(369),blemishes
on Bruni'srecordas a republican.
He recognizesthatBrunicouldbe critical
ofcertain
aspectsofpopulargovernment,
suchas itsinstability
(28), itscumbersome
decision-making
processes
(39),
anditsanti-meritocratic
in
bias(73). He admits
thatBruniwasdisingenuous
foritsunprovoked
theextreme
aboutFlorence's
motives
attack
onitsfellowrepublic
Luccain 1429;ifitis in factthecase,as itwouldseemin lightof
Viti'snewevidence,
thattheDukeofMilansecretly
intheattack
acquiesced
onLucca(103),thenmuchofBruni's
forthewarturns
outtobe
justification
mendacious.
thejingoistic
positively
eleFollowing
Fubini,Vitirecognizes
mentin Bruni'swriting
aboutFlorence'sempireandquotessomestartling
ofFlorentines
to
passagesinwhichBrunitalksaboutthenatural
superiority
other
peoples(5-7).He pointsouttheuglysideofBruni'sbehavior
after
the
Medicicoupin 1434:themissivehecomposed
callingfortheextradition
and
ofhisformer
hiswillingness
toactas a republican
punishment
front
friends,
manfortheMediceanregime,
hissilenceabouttheundermining
ofrepublican institutions,
of
andhis lies to theCouncilof Basel aboutthenumber
ofthethreat
Florentine
exilesandtheseriousness
theypresented
to public
he recognizesthatBruni's
order(172-73).FollowingGordonGriffiths,
ofFlorentine
On thePolityof the
description
politicsin hisGreektreatise
Florentines(1439) is markedly
morewillingto disclosethe oligarchic
in Florentine
element
on the
thanhis threeprevious
government
writings
LikeGriffiths
beforehim),Vitiregards
thisshift
subject.37
(andRubinstein
as a signof Bruni'schanging
of
and his acceptance
politicalalignment
Mediceanrule.
The last pointrevealstheanachronism
in Viti's-and Baron's-apBruniinsomedegreeas a republican
proachtoBruni.Sincetheybothregard
inhisthought
ideologue,
theycanonlyexplaininconsistencies
andbehavior
in termsof thechronological
of his thought
or in termsof
development
ButifweadmitthatBruni'simpostazione
trasgressioni.
is primarily
thatofa
theproblem
rhetorician,
disappears.
TheLaudatioFlorentinaeurbisandthe
FuneralOrationfor NanniStrozziarebothexamples
ofepideictic
rhetoric.
In epideictic
as Brunihimself
to the
rhetoric,said withspecificreference
is nottruth
Laudatio,whatcounts
buttelling
whattheywantto
youraudience
A fewrhetorical
hear.38
insincerities
aboutFlorentines
notbeingsubjectto
37Griffiths,
Hankins,and Thompson,The Humanism,115.
38
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326
JamesHankins
to
record,
orbeingdelighted
military
a brilliant
thepowerofa few,orhaving
are excusable-justas
of a popularwar-effort,
paytheirtaxesin support
andvirtue,
justice,wisdom,
topraisekingsfortheir
itexcusable
Brunifound
Thetreatise
On thePolityof
andpubliccorrespondence.
bothinhisprivate
on
modelled
treatise
hand,wasa philosophical
ontheother
theFlorentines,
to an audiencethatwouldmostly
Politics(anddirected
partsofAristotle's
of
ofpopular
By Bruni'sowntheory
havebeencontemptuous
government).
treatise
and
thatitis thephilosophical
we mustconclude
genres,
rhetorical
viewof
whichrepresent
Bruni'sconsidered
orations
notthetwoepideictic
government.
ofFlorence's
thenature
thatmenlikeBruniand Salutati
If we do awaywiththeanachronism
to one
wereideologues
(in thesenseof havingan exclusivecommitment
we canmakebetter
senseofViti's
suchas republicanism),
ideology
political
standsin sharp
by Viti,muchof his newresearch
material.
As presented
If
beliefthatBruniwasa committed
republican.
tohisBaronian
contradiction
as presented
by SalutatiandBruni
we admitthatFlorentine
republicanism
witheither
in keeping
theirprivate
notnecessarily
artifact
was a rhetorical
ofthetime,we canat leastsavethemfrom
realities
beliefsorthepolitical
In factthe
someofthemoreseriouschargesagainsttheirmoralcharacter.
under-secretaries,
andBruniwas thatofpermanent
ofbothSalutati
attitude
outtothebestoftheir
thantotheregime
andcarrying
rather
loyaltoFlorence
Theywere
abilitiesthechanging
policiesof successivepoliticalmasters.
in themostbasicsenseofbeing
rhetoricians
professional
also,undeniably,
forthestate.Theyweremadebytheir
propaganda
paidsalariestoproduce
inconsisandspeechesthatweresometimes
towriteletters
masters
political
the
butno onethought
convictions,
tentwithorhostileto theirownprivate
worseofthemforthat.Salutatiand Bruniwerealso humanbeingswith
with
andestateswhomadeeachhis ownaccommodation
wives,children,
hidwhatever
andprudently
privateviewsthey
politicalrealities
changing
thanheroic;andiftheir
As mentheywereusefulrather
politics.
hadonparty
wouldlike,they
as somemodemhistorians
werenotas tender
consciences
amongtheir
hadmanyotherqualitieswe can admire.The inconsistencies
ofcircumstances,
do notmean
madeunderthepressure
variousutterances,
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Hans Baron
327
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328
JamesHankins
wereaboutthevalueofvirtueandeloquence,andaboutthevalueofclassical
modelsofvirtueandeloquence.Thesewereuniversalantiquity
as providing
in anysortofregimeor constituistvalues,valuesthatcouldbe instantiated
tion;theyare thevaluesof a rulingcaste,nota local politicalideology.For
Brunias forAristotle,
signoricouldbe good rulers,rulingin theinterests
of
butpopulicouldalso be goodorbad.41
ortheycouldbe tyrants;
thegoverned,
frombad was nottheirconstitutions
Whatdistinguished
good governments
butthevirtuesof theirrulers.Bruni'sbeliefin thevalue of theactivelife,
wealth,military
valor,and thefamily-all beliefsBaronassociatedwithhis
"civic humanists"-can be documentedeverywherein Italian humanist
notjust in republicanwriters.
The change
of thefifteenth
writings
century,
Baron observedin the characterof humanismbetweenthe generations
of
Petrarch
and of Bruni-the move (or ratherthereturn)of humanism
to the
publicsphere-maybe foundnotonlyin Florenceand Venice,butthroughoutItaly,in signorialregimesas well as in republics.
theDe re publica of UbertoDecemConsider,by way of comparison,
brio.42
Decembriowas bornand educatedin Lombardy,servedas humanist
secretaryto GiangaleazzoVisconti'sson, GiovanniMaria, from1404 to
1410,andwas thefather
ofPierCandidoDecembrio,secretary
from1419to
1447 to Filippo Maria Visconti,Duke of Milan. The elder Decembrio's
treatisewas dedicatedin 1422 to Filippo Maria Visconti,the "tyrant"of
muchof the 1420sand '30s.
MilanwithwhomFlorencewas at warthrough
The workbeginswitha call to revivetheliberalartsof ancientLombardy,
those artsthathad nourishedthe noble intellectsof Virgiland Catullus,
Ambroseand Augustine.For Uberto,as fortheso-called"civichumanists,"
is a productof nature,arisingfrommutualneed,
theurbancommonwealth
and based uponjustice.Everyoneshouldbe treatedequallyunderthelaw.
arenotable bythemselves
Sinceciviccommunities
to supplyall theirneeds,
therenaturally
arisesa needformerchants
andformoney.Buyingandselling
are naturalto society;evenpawnshopsare necessaryto supplythewantsof
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Hans Baron
329
thepoor.Mercenaries,
too,are something
everydevelopedsocietyneeds;
warlike
virtue
a civicperspective.
hasa positive
function
from
Thesecretof
a happyrepublicconsistsin its prince,its leadingmen,and its citizens
theclassicalvirtues.
A humanist
possessingand exercising
education
is
necessary
toinculcate
thesevirtues.
Truenobility
liesinvirtue,
notdescent.
Eloquence
isproper
tomanandhasthefunction
ofspreading
thevirtue
ofthe
tohishearers.
speaker
LikeBruni,
Decembrio
ofAristotle,
is a follower
and
arguesthatmarriage
and thefamily
arenatural
institutions
whichare the
blocksofthecommonwealth
building
andnecessary
to itssurvival.
Egoism
is condemned;
quoting
Plato,Ubertosaysthatwe arenotbornforourselves
alone,butforourfamilies,
ourfriends,
andourpatria.
[In additionto ourdutyto worshipGod and honorreligion]
we
shouldalsodevoteourselves
withspeciallovetoourcountry
where
ourparents,
children,
wives,relatives,
andfriends
dwell;no good
maneverfeared
todieforhiscountry.
Forthesafety
ofone'scountry
embraces
thesafety
ofall itsinhabitants.
thencitesthe
[Decembrio
exampleofQuintus
theDecii,etc.]Fromthisitfollows
Curtius,
that
we shouldhonorwiththewarmest
lovethegovernor
andprinceof
our country,
whomwe call itspaterpatriae,underwhoserule
subjectpeoples are governedwithcalm and quietpeace. ... More-
over,everycitizenshouldtakecareto livewithhisfellowcitizens
witha senseofright
thatis fairandequal;he shouldneither
behave
ina servile
himself
andabjectmanner,
so thatheis heldincontempt,
norshouldhegetabovehimself
so thatheappearstooppress
others.
Also,he shoulddesireforhiscommonwealth
thosethings
thatare
andhonorable.
peaceful
heshouldso conduct
Finally,
himself
thathe
be reputed
a goodmananda fair-minded
[aequus]citizen
byeveryone. Let himbe a cultivator
of thevirtues,
especially
justiceand
moderation,
bothofwhichmostcausea goodmantofindapproval.
Lethimdiligently
observethemoresandcustoms
ofthecommonwealthandneverdepart
from
them....
Sucha manwastheYounger
Cato, [etc.]. (ff.93v-94r)
Thereis hardly
a sentence
ofDecembrio's
De republicawhichLeonardo
Bruniwouldhavequarrelled
with(on otherthanstylistic
grounds).
Indeed,
muchof thescholarship
on humanism
during
the1980s,focussing
on regionalhumanisms,
has pointedouttheuniversality
of thethemesBaron
connected
withthepolitical
experience
ofFlorence.43
Ifwe continue
to use
theterm
"civichumanist,"
itshouldbe clearly
recognized
thattheattempt
to
43 See JohnF. D'Amico, Renaissance Humanismin Papal Rome: Humanistsand
Churchmen
on theEve of theReformation
(Baltimore,1983); MargaretL. King, Venetian
Humanismin an Age of Patrician Dominance (Princeton,1986); and JerryH. Bentley,
Politicsand Culturein RenaissanceNaples (Princeton,1987), esp. 196-222.
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330
JamesHankins
in accordancewithancient
reformand revalorizethe life of the city-state
models-the great"civic humanist"
projectthatbeginswiththegeneration
of Bruni,Poggio Bracciolini,GuarinoVeronese,GasparinoBarzizza, Pier
Paolo Vergerio,and Niccolo Niccoli-was nevera projectconfinedto RenbutRoman.It is a
aissancerepublics."Civic humanism"is notFlorentine,
fromancientRome throughSallust,Livy,Virgil,
inherited
styleof thought
ofpoliticalcommunities
andaboveall Cicero.It aimsat thereform
generally
by improvingthe moral behaviorof theirrulingelites. It does this by
to theartsworthy
of a freeman,theliberal
exposingthemto "good letters,"
arts,theartswhichmakemennoble,wise and good.
Taken in thismoregeneralsense,it can be said thatBaron's idea of
"civic humanism"retainsa core of validity,and can standas an important
of theRenaissance.It is not
to theBurckhardtian
supplement
understanding
afterall, to say thatan age of egoism,illegitimate
reallya contradiction,
indifgovernment,
religiouscrisis,shallow-rooted
ideologies,and increasing
have
been an age wheneducators,
ferenceto communalvalues shouldalso
scholars,civil servants,and men of letterseverywhere
urgedupon their
and serviceto thecommongood.
audiencetheneedforsacrifice,
patriotism,
It is notsurprising
thatthemenof theRenaissanceshouldhave lookedfor
admiredtheindividualism
curesfortheirown diseasesof spirit.Burckhardt
it could
oftheRenaissance,buthe also recognizedthat,takento an extreme,
be destructiveof civilized society.If Burckhardtdrew attentionto the
diseases of the times,Baron was among the firstto show how the age
its own cure,througha formof Bildungthataimednot onlyat
attempted
butalso at inculcating
a senseofpublicdutyand social
personaldistinction,
Humanistic
like
formof
conscience.
educationis,
chivalry,an aristocratic
socializationthatlinksgood behaviorwithhonor.Thatis whatithas always
societiesofthelate
been;thatis whyitis in crisisin theradicallyegalitarian
Renaissancehumanists
twentieth
century.
taughtthattruehumanexcellence
consistedin wisdomand goodness;thatpowerunrestrained
by goodnesswas
in theciviclifehad to includea
theworstof evils.Truepersonaldistinction
If Baronwas wrongto readhishumanists
senseofdutyto one's community.
he was correctin seeingthathumanas fervent
partisansof republicanism,
ism,as a culturalprogram,
soughtmorethanthecultivation
oftheindividual.
It aimedalso tobringscholarship
andlearningto bearon thetaskofbuilding
thevirtuesnecessaryto thepreservation
of civilsociety.
HarvardUniversity.
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331
Hans Baron
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Appendix
Paolo Viti's recentcollectionof studies,Leonardo Bruni e Firenze
to Brunistudies,but
(Rome: Bulzoni,1992), is a considerablecontribution
errorsand adds somenew ones whichit
he also repeatssomelong-standing
maybe usefulto correcthere.
published
(58-59) was previously
The textVitipublishesas an ineditum
in the Deutsche Reichtags-aktenunterAlbrechtII (ed. G. Beckmann
1925], 141-42,no. 92) as well as in E. Marteneand U. Durand's
[Stuttgart
historicorum,dogmaticorum,
Veterumscriptorumet monumentorum
moralium
amplissimacollectio([Paris,1724-33],I, 1578). The orationto the
fromSantiniwas previously
Emperor"Si laudes tuas" (55-56) transcribed
publishedby S. Baluze (Miscellaneanovo ordinedigesta,ed. J. D. Mansi
[Lucca, 1762], 150). The Oratio qua se defenditab accusationibus
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332
JamesHankins
orationof
imperatoris
(96, 109) is in facta missiva,not an independent
Bruni.IThe two lettersto theDoge of Venice and to theAnzianiof Lucca
of Latin missive;in
(110-11) are in fact anonymousItalian translations
MSS moreof
additionto thefourMSS listedby Viti,thereare twenty-four
The missivepublishedon pages
theformer
textand seventeenof thelatter.2
publishedin myPlato in theItalianRenaissance,II,
133-34was previously
to Bruniof the
405. Much of whatViti says aboutthedateand attribution
by EmestoBerti,
VaticanMSS Urbinasgraecus33 and 34 was anticipated
The
who is elsewherecriticizedforacceptingtoo rashlythe attribution.3
of Xenophon'sHellenicaand the
betweenBruni'scompendium
connection
intellectualexchanges at the Council of Florence was firstmade by
SebastianoGentilein Marsilio Ficino Lettere([Florence,1990], xix). In
ofBruni'shand(including
thepresentwriter)
all previousstudents
criticizing
in Section11.3("Preliminari
peruno studiosulla grafiadi LeonardoBruni"),
to entertain
thepossibilitythatBruni,like Poggio,
Viti seemsunwillingly
had one handfornotarialand chancery
Niccoli,and manyotherhumanists,
forhumanistic
andanother
documents
MSS; so convincedis he ofthisthathe
1 The textis foundin Florence,Archiviodi Stato,Signori,Missive,Ia Cancelleriavol.
inc Licet gravissimumsit mentibusnostris.The missivewas copied in a
33, ff.94r-97r,
e.g. Florence,BibliotecaLaurenzianaMS Plut.90, sup 34,
numberof literary
manuscripts,
ff.183v-189v;
VaticanLibrary,MS Barb. lat. 1927, ff.22v-25rand Chis JIV 119, ff.165v169v;Rome, BibliotecaAngelica MS 141, ff.91r-94r.The titleused by Viti (takenfrom
Schriften[Leipzig,
fromBaron, Leonardo Bruni Aretino,Humanitisch-philosophische
The texthas been published
1928], 174) comesfromtherubricoftheAngelicamanuscript.
severaltimes,by A. Fabroni,Magni CosmiMedicei Vita,II (Pisa, 1788), 51-55; C. Guasti,
Commissionidi Rinaldo degli Albizzi per il Comune di Firenze dal MCCCXCIX al
MCCCCXXXIII,Documentidi storiaitaliana,III (Florence,1873), 536-38; and H. Herre,
unterKaiser Sigmund,X, Teil 1 (Gotha, 1900), 495-98, n. 302.
DeutscheReichtagsakten
2 The letter
to theDoge of Venice (inc. Poiche per lo effectodelle opere) is foundin
Florence,BibliotecaNazionale Centrale,MS Panciatichi148, f. 73r; thatto theAnzianiof
This manuscript,
as is known,is a copy
Genoa (inc. Se si ricerchano)is in ibid.,ff.77V-78r.
of a volume missingfromthe archivalseries of Signori,Missive Ia Cancelleriain the
of theformerletterknown
Archiviodi Statoof Florence.To thefourliterary
manuscripts
seventeen:Florence,
to Viti (Ricc. 1193 shouldbe Ricc. 1133) may be added a further
BibliotecaLaurenzianaMS Redi 113, 143; FlorenceBibliotecaNazionale CentraleNaz.
11.1.71,Naz. 11.11.81,and Magl. VI.197; Florence,Biblioteca Riccardiana 1074, 2272,
2278, 2322, 2544; Lucca, BibliotecaGovemativaMS 1436; Paris,BibliothequeNationale
MS ital.593; Toledo,BibliotecaCapitular9,35; VaticanLibrary,Borg.lat.402, Ross. 784,
and Vat. lat. 3125 and 8088. The letterto the Anziani of Genoa is foundin twenty-four
in additionto the fourlistedby Viti: Florence,BibliotecaLaurenziana
othermanuscripts
Plut.43, 17 and 90 sup. 65, Redi 113, 143; Florence,BibliotecaNationaleCentraleMagl.
VI,189 and VIII, 1373, Naz . 11.1.71,11.11.81,II.IX.15, Nuovi acquisti 354; Florence,
BibliotecaRiccardiana1074, 2272, 2278, 2322, 2544; Lucca, BibliotecaGovemativaMS
1436; Naples, BibliotecaNazionale XIII G 35; Paris,BibliothequeNationaleital. 593, lat.
17888; Toledo, BibliotecaCapitular9,35; VaticanLibrary,Borg. lat. 402, Ross. 784, Vat.
lat. 3215; Venice,BibliotecaMarciana,Marc. lat. XIV 221 (4632).
3Ernesto Berti,"La traduzionedi LeonardoBrunidel Fedone di Platoneed un codice
della BibliotecaBodmeriana,"MuseumHelveticum,35 (1978), 125-48. Viti also ignores
of
thetextualevidenceamassedby a BertiassociatingBodmer136 withBruni'stranslation
thePhaedo.
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Appendix
333
4G. Griffiths,
J.Hankins,and D. Thompson(eds.), TheHumanismofLeonardoBruni
N.Y., 1987), 370-71.
(Binghamton,
sThe Latin version,which is not by Bruni,is foundonly in BibliotecaApostolica
and in a seventeenthVaticana,Vat. lat. 1043 (inc. Omniumhumanorumexercitiorum)
seems
century
copyoftheVaticanMS in ParisBN Par. lat. 17888,97-102. Viti's reference
175.
to be based on theerrorin Baron,BruniSchriften,
6 C. C. Bayley, War and Society in Renaissance Florence: The "De Militia" of
Leonardo Bruni(Toronto,1961); on the defectsof thisstudysee Paul Oskar Kristeller's
view,popularized
reviewin Canadian HistoricalReview,44 (1963), 66-70. The traditional
and an advocateofcivicmilitias,
by Baronand Bayley,thatBruniwas hostileto condottieri
is questionedin R. Dees, "Bruni,Aristotle,and theMixed Regimein On theConstitution
of theFlorentines,"Medievalia et humanistica,n.s., 15 (1987), 1-23, and in my articles,
"The Latin Poetryof Leonardo Bruni,"HumanisticaLovaniensia,39 (1990), 1-39, and
citedin the textabove. The traditional
"The Humanist,the Bankerand the Condottiere,"
view is maintainedin Lucia Gualdo Rosa, "L'elogio delle letteree delle arminell'operadi
LeonardoBruni,"in L. Avellini(ed.), Sapere e/epotere. Il caso bolognesea confronto,
Bologna 13-15 aprile 1989, I: Forme e oggettidella disputadelle arti (Bologna, 1990),
103-13.
7 R. M. Zaccaria, "II Bruni cancellieree le istituzionidella Republica,"in P. Viti
(ed.), Leonardo Bruni cancellieredella Repubblicadi Firenze,Convegnodi Studi (Florence,1990), 97-116.
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334
JamesHankins
thecartbefore
thehorse:
is clearly
supported
them),
thisexplanation
putting
after1437(evenVespasiano
da
Bruniwas infacttakenintothereggimento
Bisticcisaid "gli dettano
lo stato";cf. his Vite.ed. A. Greco[Florence,
1970],I, 473).Thedivision
ofthechancery
wassurely
intended
torelieve
the
in
ofsomeofhisdutiesso as tofreehimtoparticipate
elderly
chancellor
fully
In his effort
to present
thesemostpowerful
of civicdignities.
Brunias a
Vitidescribes
thefollowing,
rather
from
covert
anti-Medicean
cool,sentence
ofthe"progressive
suffoBruni'sHistory
ofFlorenceas a "denunciation"
"In
cationofliberty"
aboutbytheMediceans:
(24-25)in Florence
brought
wasa drastic
Florence
alsoaboutthistimethere
changeinthecommonwealth
werebrought
andCosimode' Mediciandhisrelatives
back,havingbeen
rather
was
expelledtheprevious
year,whilea different
faction,
numerous,
sitsill withViti'saccurate
sentintoexile."Thisjudgment
statement
elsesensitive
where(336) thatBruniavoidedpolitically
topicsin hispublished
epistolary.
Similarly,
despite"studirecenti"
(64, 129),thereis no evidence
to keepBruniin officeas chancellor,
thatEugeneIV usedhis influence
ofCosimode'Medici.Themostplausible
of
overcoming
thehostility
reading
theevidence
wouldshowthatBruni,
likemostother
peopleinFlorence,
kept
hisheaddownduring
theparty
strife
of 1426-34.
in arguing(395-401)thattheOrationfor the
Viti is also mistaken
Bruniin thepiazza
FuneralofNanniStrozziwas delivered
by Chancellor
of
the
on
theendofthe
celebrations
16
as part
Signoria
May1428,marking
hisfuneral
oration
as
MilaneseWar.Inthefirst
place,Bruniclearly
presents
thispanegyric
itwere
"Weshallwrite
a literary
as though
fiction,
declaring:
rites"("itascribetur
a
an oratiobeingspokenat theveryendofhisfuneral
nobisquasiinipsofuneris
extremo
Brunispeaks
dicatur
oratio").Secondly,
of thewarwithMilanas stillin progress
("ita [NanniStrozzi]hoc bello
adversusMediolanensium
DucemcivitasnostraVenetiquenuncgerunt
In anycasethereis no evidence
thatLatinwaseverused
bellandointeriit").
on suchpublicoccasionsin Florence;thedozensof
by thechancellor
known
tothepresent
theQuattrocento
writer
areall in
diceriefrom
surviving
thevolgare.
The following
to Viti,suggests
unpublished
text,apparently
unknown
forStrozzi
thatBruni'soration
wasintended
atleastinpart,
forforeign
rather
The textseemsto be a letter
oftransmission
thandomestic
consumption.8
meantto accompany
a presentation
copyofBruni'sOratioforNiccoloIII
ofFerrara.
Therearetwocopiesofthetext,
bothinthe
d'Este,theMarquess
Bothcopiesareundated,
handofMatteoStrozzi.
buttheyappearina bound
twoother
volumeorganized
documents
datedrespectively
7
bydatebetween
tohavebeenwritten
Marchand9 June1428.Theletter
purports
byMatteodi
ofNanni.Butitwas almostcertainly
brother
SimoneStrozzi,
by
composed
Brunihimself.
thestyle,qui sapitAretini,
andthetwoclassical
Apartfrom
8
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Appendix
335
of Bruni,thereare no otherexamplesamongthe
quotations,
bothfavorites
extensivesurvivingwritingsof Matteo Strozziin the Carte Strozzianeof
of anykind.Bruniwas close to Matteoas well as Palla
Latincompositions
Strozziand would have been the obvious personto compose a letteron
Matteo'sbehalf.(Less thana yearlaterhe would composea similarletter,
thistimeto CarloMalatesta,on behalfof Cosimoand Lorenzode'Medici.)9
thattheMarquessshouldsuccourNanni'sorphaned
The themeof theletter,
withtheOratio,forattheendoftheprefacetothatspeech
sons,is continuous
educatione
Bruniwrites,"Sed de funeris
quidempublicihonorenatorumque
The letterand speech
et curaii qui possuntet debent,ut spero,providebunt."
areplainlylinkedcompositions,
by
probablypartof a campaignorchestrated
in a publicfuneral
theStrozzitohaveNanni'sservicescelebrated
andtohave
his sonslookedafterby Niccolo d'Este.
9 See my article,"The Humanist,the Bankerand the Condottiere,"
citedabove.
(copy
Florence,Archiviodi Stato,CarteStrozziane,Ser.III, 132,f.280r-v
of Matteodi Simone
A) and f. 283r-V
(copy B). Bothcopies are autographs
Strozzi.A titlehas beenaddedby SenatoreCarloStrozzi(s. XVII): Letteraal
Marchesedi Ferrarascrittasullamortedi NanniStrozzi.
Preclaraadmodum,magnifice
princeps,et rectegloriosanobisetiam
atque etiam cogitantibusmors fidelissimiserui tui Johannis,fratris
uiderosolet-pro patriaetenimetproDominatione
nostri,nonimmerito
Tua non dubitauitobcumbere-quo generemortisnullumcertealiud
angor 5
prestantius
cogitaripotest.Quocircaprimumequidemuehementer
eo fratre
orbatusqui mihiuitamea cariorerat,rursusuero,cumcogitoei
ei ullo
tandemaliquandomoriendum
fuissenec ullamclariorem
mortem
pacto potuisse contingere,paucorum annorumaccessionem parui
admodumfaciendamratusangorille, quo priusuehementer
angebar,
tumdemumob preclarum
genusmortisin dies pene 10
paulisperprimum,
euanescit.Hoc itaque modo me ipsumconsolansrursusiterumatque
iterumde flliisquos paruulosreliquitcogitatioquedampaulatimrepens
animumsubit.Ea cogitatioesthuiusmodi:filiossuos egregiaac nimirum
singulariindole preditosingensglorielumenet uelut iubarquoddam
diutiusin uitapermanere
elaturosfuisse,si ipsumparentem
contigisset.15
Nam preteregregiamindolemcum doctrinaet moribus,tumpaterna
fructus
adiutimirabiliesprofectout arbitror
peperisquoque imitatione
sent.Acceditquod DominatioTua ex omnibusunumJohannem
utpote
fidissimum
seruumsuumunice diligebat,pre ceterisunumJohannem
obseruabat,in uno deniqueJohannetanquamin iocundissimoquodam 20
portufluctibusprincipatusquandoque iactata acquiescereuidebatur.
tibi
Quamobremipsiusuiuentisaspectus,qui uel ex eo iocundissimus
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JamesHankins
336
35
40
45
50
55
illos quorumuirtutibus
obstat
haudfacileemergunt
res angustadomi.
angor commodorumad gloriam
Quare non parum inpresentiarum
amissionequa nepotesquondam,nuncuero filiimei una cum parente
amiserunt.
Proinde cogitantimihi quemadmodumhuiuscemodiad gloriam
commodarecuperaripossent,non ab re uisum est DominationiTue
orationemde servitui laudibusa Leonardo
quandamelegantissimam
Aretinouiroomniumetatisnostreeloquentissimo
nupereditammittere.
fidissimi
serui tui in mente
Quod ideo feci, non quia memoriam
DominationisTue insiderepenitusignorarem,neque eo quod illam
sed profecto
existimarem,
priusuita tua desituram
ip<s>am memoriam
cum ut Johannistui, Johannisinquam famulitui, assidua recordatio
ut fit,sopitaac hac
Tue magnitudinem
interdum,
propterDominationis
elegantissimaorationequandoque exsu<s>citatarecentiusreuiuescat,
munimentum
fidelissime
tumetiamutposteristuisquoddamperpetuum
Tuam seruitutis
semperappareat.Id proptereafeci
erga Dominationem
tibi
libentiusquia laudes semuitui non ingratasuel potiusgratissimas
cumnona laudatosolum,a quo Hectorille
presertim
futuras
arbitrabar,
uiroseruusille tuus
Neuianuslaudaricupiebat,sed certea laudatissimo
meritolaudetur.
ductoretprinceps,
te oroatqueobtestor
uthoc
magnifice
Quapropter,
sed sententiarum
uerborumque
pondere
opusculum,mole paruissimum
in bibliotheca
tuaclarissimaatqueceleberrima
certemaximum,
collocare
atqueapponeredigneris.Quod si feceris,non solummihi,sed uniuerse
monumentum
eritet posteristuisperpetuum
familienostregratissimum
nostris
et
te
seruitutis
gratum
extabit,quod posteris
tante tamfideerga
esse certissime
sentio.
admodumfuturum
A nimirums.s. B
22 tibi iocundissimusB
24 tanteMSS
13 egregriam
32 inpresentiarum
in marg.A 33 parente]patreB
30 emergereMSS
41 sua A
42 ut] tu B
39 memoriaB
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Appendix
337
especially55-62.
11See my article,"BruniManuscriptsin NorthAmerica,"in L. Gualdo Rosa and P.
Viti (eds.), Per il Censimento
dei codici dell'Epistolariodi LeonardoBruni,Istitutostorico
per il Medio Evo, Nuovi studistorici,10 (Rome, 1991), 55-90, at p. 63.
C-Biblioteca Apostolica
Vaticana,MS Chis.J.IV.119,ff.289r-v(Arezzo,a.
1449)
Y-New Haven,Connecticut,
Yale University
Library,
MS Marston60, ff.
(s. XV 3/4)
129v-130r
LeonardiAretiniad imperatorem
oratiopropartecomunisFlorentie.
'Vidimusstellameius in orientee venimusadorareeum'. Verbasunt
MattheiEvangelistein capitulo<secundo>. Serenissimeatque gloriossime princeps:Non sine probabilirationesimilitudofacta est ab
Primumenim 5
antiquisinterfastigium
imperialeet astrain celo fulgentia.
ut in stellisest altitudoatquesublimitas
sic etiamimperialis
admiranda,
et altitudosupermortalesattollitur.
Ut stellafulgorem
fastigiisublimitas
habetet claritatem,
sic etiamimperialisdignitasserenitatem
et illustrain civitionemcontinet
et fulgorem
admirandum
lucemqueclarissimam
tatespopulosqueeffundit.
Utqueexortusstellarum
seu siderumaliquidin 10
futurum
significatet ostendit,sic etiam exortusmaximiprincipiset
hominibusfuturam
seculi felicitatem.
optimi,qualis tu es, repromittit
Que quidemomnia,ne nuncnovitera me repertaputes,audi quid dicat
Virgiliuspoetarumdoctissimus:
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JamesHankins
338
15
20
25
30
35
40
ecce DyoneiprocessitCesarisastrum
astrumquo segetesgauderent
frugibus
quoque
duceretapricisin collibusuva colorem.
voluitex Cesaris stella seu
Tranquillitatem
et pacem poeta significare
sidereproventuram,
idque significavit
per segeteset opera rusticorum
a bellis.Hanc igiturtranquillitatem
et pacemet
que maximedissipantur
tuussperat
devotissimus
quietamseculi felicitatem
populusFlorentinus
ex tuoexortutamquamex salutaristellaseu sidereperYtaliamac ceteras
mundi partes esse futuram.Itaque gaudens et exultanshac seculi
beatitudinenos oratores misit ad orandum et venerandumtuum
sanctissimum
ac fulgentissimum
iubar.Noli enimputare,prestantissime
Cesar, iam multisseculistantamletitiamfuissesusceptamex alicuius
principisasumptionequanta per universummundumsusceptaest ex
feliciista adsumptione
tua. Quid enimoptabiliusesse potestaut debet
quam ab optimoprincipegubemariet regi,qui fidemafferat,
iustitiam
bella Cristianorum
confirmet,
tollat,paci studeatet quieti,populorum
infideliumconatuset opera maligna repellat.Tue enim admirabiles
prestantissimeque
virtutes,tua fides et moderatio,tua fortitudoet
clementia,tua incorrupta
iustitia,tua admirabilissapientiaet altitudo
et populispollicetur.In
merito
hanc
consilii
spemoptimamcivitatibus
et in asumptione
hac populusFlorentinus
devotissimus
tuusconfidit
tua
mirabiligaudioexultavit
atqueexultat.Quod licetperliterasiampridem
tamenvivisquoque affatibus
/f.130r/
significavit,
pernos oratoressuos
demonstrariplenius voluit ac presentestuo culmini sublimissimo
se ipsumdevoteet
gratulari
prohac feliciadsumptione
tua,recomendans
humilitertue sacratissimeac invictissimemaiestati.Ceterum,serenissime princeps,non nulla seorsumexponerehabemus,que, cum
dabiturlocus et tempus,tuemaiestatiseriosiusexprimemus.
1 Leonardo Aretiniom. Y 2 eam Y 3 spatiumduodecimlitterarum
post
capituloCY 7 Ut] Et Y 12 alterumfuturam
post seculi canc. Y 15 processit
edd.] precessitC: preces sic Y 16 quoque CY] et quo edd. 17 apricis]apricibus
18 ex C ex corr.] e Y 19 sidere] sydera
C: a precibus Y 17 uva] una CY
Y 20 a om. Y et alterumom. Y 26-30, 31-32 sex litteraeex initio harum
linearumabscissae sunt in Y 30 paci] pati Y 36 licet om. Y 37 significarit
C
38 sublimissimiCY 41 exprimereY
2 Matt.2:2
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