Sperone Speroni's Della Pace and the Problematic Definition of Concord

176 ABSTRACT This paper contributes to the study Sperone of a mostly neglected work of the fifteenth-century Italian literature: Speroni’s Della Sperone Speroni’s collection of short treatises (“trattatelli”) published in the fifth volume of his Opera in 1740. Pace and the In particular, I focus on Della Pace (On Peace), probably a draft Problematic of a never-written longer treatise. I provide a transcription and English translation of the text as well as an Definition analysis of its content and linguistic aspects. The focus of Speroni’s text is the discussion of the meaning of Concord of ‘concord’, which goes beyond the classical definition and brings TEODORO KATINIS to an unconventional analysis of Ghent University, also its opposite terms: discord and Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, conflict. By reading Speroni’s writing, Department of Literary Studies, we discover his original thought Blandijnberg 2, Ghent, nourished by Machiavelli’s and pre- Belgium Socratic influences. This paper looks [email protected] at Speroni not only as an author involved in literary debates, but also as a philosopher with an original perspective to be discovered. INTERNATIONAL ISSUE NO. 8/2020 TEODORO KATINIS 177 SpERONE SpERoni’S DELLA PACE AND THE PROBLEMATIC DEFINITION OF CONCOrd That which scholars consider dis- Venetian area. He is mostly known for ruptive in the history of ideas depends his contribution to the so-called ‘quarrel not on only on the level of accessibil- of language’ in which he argued for the ity of primary sources but also on what use of the Italian vernacular as a lan- we decide to draw our attention to. We guage that deserves to achieve the level naturally resist the idea that an author of complexity of Latin and Greek, and whom the scholarly tradition and text- which should replace them in discuss- books have placed in a specific category ing and writing about high culture and could, in fact, surprise us with unex- sciences. Speroni argues for this in his plored writing containing revolutionary Dialogo delle lingue and contributes to the ideas that shed new light on his cultural development of the vernacular by writing profile and context. This is, I believe, the all his work in Italian and requiring the case of Sperone Speroni (1500–1588) use of the vernacular for the discussions with his short piece Della pace, which is within the ‘Accademia degli Infiammati’ one of several unexplored texts written in which he played a central role and by the Renaissance author which is still which he also led as its princeps for sev- under-investigated. eral months between 1541 and 1542. His Speroni is usually considered a mem- interest and expertise in rhetoric as well ber of the larger group of Aristotelian au- as his practice of an exquisite eloquence thors operating in the sixteenth century plaid a central role in allowing him to INTERNATIONAL ISSUE NO. 8/2020 178 participate in the ‘Accademia delle Notti ideas to go beyond Aristotle and even Vaticane’ in Rome between 1560 and against him. He supports not only rhet- 1564, where he gave speeches under the oric but also the most extreme of the name of Nestor, the Homerian character sophistic tradition against both the Pla- which represents excellence in oratory. tonic and Aristotelian condemnation of Speroni is also mostly studied for his lit- it, while his political theories seems to erary production of dialogues, collected have much more place than we assumed and published for the first time in 1542, in his literary production with a clear and for the theory of dialogue in his Ap- critical approach towards any idealistic ologia dei dialoghi written between 1574 approach to the subject. and 1575 to defend his dialogues before This is an exciting moment in the the Catholic Inquisition which consid- investigation of the most original as- ered some of them, especially the Dialogo pects of Speroni’s style and philosophy della Discordia and Dialogo della Usura, and in order to elaborate further in a possible threat to Christian doctrine this direction I will provide a study of and public morality.1 This is, in short, his Della pace as an attempt to measure Speroni’s cultural identity according to Speroni’s originality using a political the scholarly tradition: an Aristotelian subject: the role and definition of con- author who follows the sixteenth cen- cord in the life of a republic. Against tury preference for the dialogical genre the humanist background and beyond and fights the humanistic tradition to the Aristotelian legacy and even Machi- impose the vernacular as a means of avelli’s influence, Speroni’s text reveals cultural communication. Only in recent aspects that deserve specific attention years have scholars reached a better un- and stand as a case study to cast a light to derstanding of some original aspects a hitherto unexplored part of the Italian related to his rhetoric and philosophy Renaissance. which have encouraged the addressing of Speroni’s unexplored texts – in fact SPERONI’s DELLA PACE AS the majority of his literary production.2 A “TRATTATELLO” The more we explore, the more we dis- TheDella pace belongs to the collection cover that Speroni’s intellectual profile of so-called “trattatelli”, short treatises is much more complex than what the gathered in the fifth and last volume scholarly tradition had offered to us up of the edition of Speroni’s writings until few years ago. He uses, for example, published in Venice in 1740 by Marco Platonic figures of speech to express his Forcellini and Natale Dalle Laste. anti-Platonic positions and Aristotelian The “trattatelli” are the part of Sper- oni’s production which have received 1 For a general presentation of the author the least degree of attention by schol- and his work, see Pozzi 1996 and Piantoni arship thus far, but which neverthe- 2018. 2 The most recent studies are the mono- less contain surprising and innovative graphs Katinis 2018 and Cotugno 2018. positions, for example a unique attack INTERNATIONAL ISSUE NO. 8/2020 TEODORO KATINIS 179 SPERONE SPERoni’S DELLA PACE AND THE PROBLEMATIC DEFINITION OF CONCORD against Socrates (Contra Socrate) and (IIIr-v) of Speroni’s manuscripts. The a surprising defense of the sophists (In same hand wrote a note above the index difesa dei sofisti).3 These short writings stating that those contents are copied were in all probability drafts for what in the 1740 edition. Speroni did not, maybe Speroni intended to develop as however, provide any title for his text more extensive treatises, or speeches and the structure and disposition of his to be delivered, or letters, or even dia- sentences suggest that this was mostly logues to add to his collection published a list of private notes. The sequence of the in 1542. A deeper understanding of the first four sentences follows, for example, genesis and their final destination in a symmetric order in the manuscript and Speroni’s literary and intellectual tra- they are ordered as a list of sequential jectory would need an exploration and thoughts (“La pace è … / comunemente philological study of the 17 volumes of …/ la guerra e’ … / comunemente ….”). Speroni’s manuscripts in the Biblioteca Even the collection title “trattatelli” Capitolare of Padua, which goes beyond is not in the manuscript but was instead the purpose of this contribution.4 provided by the editors of the 1740 edi- The transcription that I offer in tion (neither by Speroni nor by the later the Appendix is from the 1740 edition hand mentioned above). Although it is which is much more readable than Sper- unclear how Speroni viewed this collec- oni’s autograph in manuscript E.13/XI tion of short writings of his, it is worth (287r-288v) kept in the Biblioteca Cap- noticing that for the text entitled (by itolare of Padua, especially if one does someone else) Della pace the category not have access to a direct examination “trattatello” fits quite well with what of the source. As a matter of fact, the should have been the final result ac- library has been under restoration for cording to an indication in the very text a long time and it is currently not possi- (p. 438) in which Speroni refers to his ble to consult its archive in person. Nev- work (or to the final version that would ertheless, the reproduction is enough have emerged) as “questo trattato”. I do to verify that there is no relevant differ- not want to speculate about what the ence between Speroni’s autograph and final version of this writing would have the 1740 edition, and it is also useful been, but I do have to admit that I regret to reveal other aspects of the original. that we do not have it. I believe that the First of all, the title Della pace is writ- implications and the further elaboration ten in a different hand and pen on the of what it is here in nuce would have been upper left-hand corner of the first page, of the most interest for the history of the same hand that wrote the index of Renaissance literature. This would in all contents at the beginning of volume XI probability also be true for several other “trattatelli” by Speroni which propose 3 See the textual Appendix in Katinis 2018, very original perspectives. p. 149–160. 4 On Speroni’s manuscripts, see Bellinati As a draft of some possible nev- 1989 and Grata 2013. er-completed final work, Speroni’s Della INTERNATIONAL ISSUE NO. 8/2020 180 pace presents some ambiguities in the a universal law that rules the natural writing and also in the logic of certain and human world, a necessary and ben- passages.

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