CHAPTER V.

LITERATURE OF THE VULGAR TONGUE. POPULAR AND SACRED POETRY OF THE PEOPLE.

The Italian Language and Literature at the Beginning of the Fifteenth Century—Fra Giovanni de’ Medici’s Book on Domestic Life—Leon Batista Alberti and the Vulgar Tongue—Poetical Competition in the Cathedral—Corruption of the Language in the Hands of the Learned—The Vulgar Tongue—Caterina of Siena Letters—Religious Sentiment among the People and in their Literature—Sacred Poetry of the People—The Fraternities and their Hymns—The Jesuits and their Poetry—Substance and Melody of the Hymns—Feo Belcari; his Poems and Prose Writings—Girolamo Benivieni—Lucrezia Tornabuoni de’ Medici as a Sacred Poetess—Historical Writings in the Vulgar Tongue—Gino Capponi—Buonaccorso Pitti—Jacopo Salviati—Neri Capponi—Domenico Buoninsegni—Goro Dati—Giovanni Cavalcanti 482

_FIRST BOOK_

FLORENCE AND THE MEDICI TO THE DEATH OF COSIMO THE ELDER