The Book of the Courtier

Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any textual issue...

And since you had no knowledge in their lifetime either of my lady Duchess or of the others who are dead (except Duke Giuliano and the Cardinal of Santa Maria in Portico), in or...

6.—Now Pope Julius II, having by his presence and the aid of the French brought Bologna under subjection to the apostolic see in the year 1506, and being on his way back to Rome...

“But to return to our subject: I say that there is a middle state between perfect grace on the one hand and senseless folly on the other; and those who are not thus perfectly en...

24.—“If I remember rightly, Sir Count, I think you have repeated several times this evening that the Courtier must accompany his actions, gestures, habits, in short his every mo...

“And first I say that in my judgment this language of ours, which we call vulgar, is still tender and new, although it be already long in use. For since Italy was not only vexed...

“In Sallust, Cæsar, Varro[109] and the other good writers, some terms are found used differently from the way Cicero uses them; and yet both ways are proper, for the excellence...

“Therefore seek not to deprive our Courtier of music, which not only soothes men’s minds, but often tames wild beasts;[128] and he who enjoys it not, may be sure that his spirit...

Since therefore the senile mind is an unfit subject for many pleasures, it cannot enjoy them; and just as to men in fever, when the palate is spoiled by corrupt vapours, all win...

“There are certain other exercises that can be practised in public and in private, like dancing; and in this I think the Courtier ought to have a care, for when dancing in the p...

“To have the favour of princes, then, there is no better way than to deserve it. And when we see another man who is pleasing to a prince for any reason, we must not think to rea...

“I am well pleased that so close a tie as this should not join or bind more than two, for otherwise perhaps it would be dangerous; because, as you know, it is harder to attune t...

“I would not have our Courtier tell such follies. It seems to me, however, that when occasion offers for displaying himself in something of which he is quite ignorant, he ought...

“Imperfect, yes; but not unpleasantly so. And you must know that this imitation of which we are speaking, cannot be without cleverness; for besides the way of governing words an...

“Of this kind was that retort of messer Camillo Paleotto[232] to messer Antonio Porcaro,[233] who, in speaking of a companion who told the priest at confession that he fasted ze...

“Somewhat of the same fashion was the retort made by Scipio Nasica[278] to Ennius. Once when Scipio went to Ennius’s house to speak with him and called him down from the street,...

“His two friends made no reply, but went on as before; whereat the man began to wonder (now that he was more awake) and seeing that there was really no fire or glimmer of any ki...

“My Lady, methinks you do your enemy much honour, and your defender very little; for so far my lord Gaspar has certainly said nothing against women that messer Bernardo has not...

“Since I may fashion this Lady as I wish, not only am I unwilling to have her practise such vigourous and rugged manly exercises, but I would have her practise even those that a...

“You take such pleasure in speaking ill of friars, that you have entered upon this subject without rhyme or reason. But you are very wrong to murmur against ecclesiastics, and y...

“When these same women came to Leuconia with their husbands, fathers and brothers (who were going into exile), they performed a deed no less glorious than this: the Erythræans,[...

43.—“I say, then, that I once knew a beautiful and gentle girl, whose name I do not tell you lest you give food for slander to many fools, who conceive a bad opinion of a woman...

“Indeed, my Lady, methinks I have said enough, and for my part I am content with this Lady of mine; and if these gentlemen will not have her as she is, let them leave her to me.”

66.—“Therefore in my opinion the way that the Courtier ought to take to make his love known to the Lady, seems to me to be by showing it to her in manner rather than in words;—f...

Not long afterwards died messer Cesare Gonzaga, who to all those who had acquaintance with him left a bitter and painful memory of his death;[430] for since nature produces such...

13.—“Therefore as in the other arts, so too in virtue it is necessary to have a master, who by instruction and good reminders shall arouse and awake in us those moral virtues wh...

“Perhaps you think I imagine myself to be that excellent Courtier who ought to know so many things and apply them to that good end which I have set forth; but remember that thes...

Reduced from a part of Braun’s photograph (no. 42.079) of the portrait, in the Pitti Gallery at Florence, by Raphael (1483-1520). Of two similar portraits, one is in the Uffizi...

“Nor do I think that Aristotle and Plato would have scorned the name of perfect Courtier, for we clearly see that they performed the works of Courtiership and wrought to this en...

“Think now of the shape of man, which may be called a little world; wherein we see every part of the body precisely composed with skill, and not by chance; and then the whole fo...

“Therefore this love is as much greater and happier than the others, as the cause that moves it is more excellent; and hence, just as material fire refines gold, so does this mo...

Note 2 page 1. GUIDOBALDO DI MONTEFELTRO, Duke of Urbino, (born 1472; died 1508), was the only son of Duke Federico di Montefeltro and Battista Sforza, an accomplished niece of...

Note 23 page 8. The first of the four dialogues is represented as having been held on the evening of the day after the close of a certain visit paid by Pope Julius II to Urbino...

Note 46 page 12. LUDOVICO PIO belonged to the famous family of the lords of Carpi (a few miles north of Modena), and was a brave captain in the service of the Aragonese princes,...

Enlarged from a part of Alinari’s photograph (no. 18657) of the bronze relief, surmounting Mantegna’s tomb in the Church of Sant'Andrea at Mantua, variously attributed to Bartol...

Note 119 page 60. Among Plutarch’s works is a tract entitled “How to Tell Friend from Flatterer.” In 1532 Erasmus published a Latin version of it dedicated to Henry VIII of Engl...

Note 175 page 113. GIACOPO SANNAZARO, (born 1458; died 1530), was a native of Naples, and the son of Giacopo Niccolò and Masella di San Magno. His boyhood was spent with his mot...

From a photograph, specially made by Agostini, of the anonymous tomb relief removed from the Church of San Giovanni di Verdara to a cloister in the Monastery of Sant'Antonio at...

Note 264 page 145. NICCOLÒ LEONICO TOMEO, (born 1456; died 1531), was a native of Venice, and belonged to an Albanian family. He studied Greek under Chalcondylas at Florence, an...

Note 314 page 159. MONSIGNOR OF ARAGON was the title of Cardinal Ludovico of Aragon, (born 1474), a natural son of Ferdinand I of Naples, and a half-brother of Alfonso II (see n...

Note 384 page 202. COUNTESS MATILDA, (1046-1115), one of the most famous heroines of the Middle Ages, was the daughter of Duke Boniface of Tuscany and Beatrice of Lorraine. She...

Note 404 page 205. TOMYRIS was in fact queen of the Massagetæ, who were a nomadic people allied to the Scythians and dwelt north-east of the Caspian Sea. Herodotus relates that...

Note 450 page 274. Pozzuoli (the ancient Puteoli), situated seven miles west of Naples, was originally a Greek city, but became one of the chief commercial ports of the Roman Em...

Affectation: to be avoided, 35, 83; instances of: in oratory, 35; in dancing, 36; in attire, 36; in riding, 37; in boasting, 37; in music, 37; in painting, 37; in speech, 38; in...

Castiglione, Anna, 314 A. P., 421 Count Baldesar, 6, 7, 75, 171, 243, 276, 313-5, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 322, 323, 325, 327, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 337, 338, 340, 342, 343,...

Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere), 10, 12-3, 137, 138, 151, 153, 274, 313, 314, 318, 319, 321, 325, 328-9, 330, 332, 334, 335, 336, 342, 343, 361, 365, 366, 371, 372, 375, 377,...

Sforza, Anna, first wife of Alfonso d’Este, 399 Battista, Duchess of Urbino, 317, 326, 394 Bianca, 337 Bianca Maria, 396 Caterina, 336-7 Francesco, Duke of Milan, 326, 341, 355,...