Brill's Encyclopaedia of the Neo-Latin World

Edited by Philip Ford (+), Jan Bloemendal and Charles Fantazzi

Offprint

Johann Ramminger

Neo-Latin: Character and Development

BRILL

LEIDEN • BOSTON 2014 Cover illustration: Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1448-1494: Appearance of the Angel to Zacharias (detail: Marsilio Ficino, Cristoforo Landino, Poliziano and Gentile de' Becchi). Tornabuoni Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence. Photo Scala, Florence/Fondo Edifici di Culto - Min. dell'Interno. © 2013.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brill's Encyclopaedia of the Neo-Latin World / edited by Philip Ford, Jan Bloemendal and Charles Fantazzi. pages cm. — (Renaissance Society of America Texts & Studies Series ; 3) Includes index. ISBN 978-90-04-26572-1 (hardback: alk. paper) 1. Latin poetry, Medieval and modern—History and criticism. I. Ford, Philip, 1949-2013, editor of compilation. II. Bloemendal, Jan, editor of compilation. III. Fantazzi, Charles, editor of compilation.

PA8015.B66 2014 870.9'oo3—dc23 2013049496 CHAPTER TWO

NEO-LATIN: CHARACTER AND DEVELOPMENT*

Johann Ramminger

INTRODUCTION other countries from the end of the fifteenth century onwards, arriving in the Scandina­ Definition of Neo-Latin vian countries together with the Reformation. Stylistically Neo-Latin is usually understood The word Neo-Latin is both a chronological and as the attempt to write Latin as it was written a stylistic term.1 Chronologically it designates by the 'best' authors of antiquity; as such it the phase of Latin which came after mediae­ started out in what we might call belles lettres, val Latin ('Mittellatein/NeulatenV in German). i.e., letters, treatises, and orations (not always It thus came into being as a concomitant of clearly distinct genres), historical works, and Renaissance humanism, which may be said to poetry. Attempts to apply the new stylistic begin in Italy with Petrarch. The reorientation ideals to Latin in other genres (theology, law, of Latin, which will be discussed in the follow­ public administration) initially met with lim­ ing, took some time to make itself felt—most ited success. Thus, early modern Latin (which of the phenomena mentioned here will belong in the following in its entirety will be called to the fifteenth and later centuries. Originally a Neo-Latin) is a language encompassing many cultural phenomenon of the Italian Peninsula, layers and strong contradictions. The following Neo-Latin spread together with humanism to shall sketch contemporary conceptualisations of the intended reorientation of Latin and its limits, and discuss the major developments of *I am grateful to Minna Skafte Jensen and Marianne Neo-Latin during the period under purview. Pade for reading this chapter and suggesting improve­ ments. The chapter will focus on the linguistic aspects 1 The following definition expands those by Jozef of language change; larger factors, such as the IJsewijn, Companion to Neo-Latin Studies. Part I: History and Diffusion of Neo-Latin Literature, 2nd ed. (Louvain: sociological and intellectual developments Peeters, 1990) Supplementa Humanistica Lovaniensia, 5, within early modern history which laid the p. v; Walther Ludwig, 'Die neuzeitliche lateinische Litera- basis for the changes described here, remain tur seit der Renaissance', in Einieitung in die lateinische Phi- 2 lologie, ed. by Fritz Graf (Stuttgart - Leipzig: Saur, 1997), outside the scope of this chapter. pp. 323-356 esp. pp. 324, 334; Hans Helander, 'Neo-latin Studies. Significance and Prospects. SO Debate', Symbolae Osloenses,76(200i),5-44(pp.5-39onlanguage),pp.44-i02 A Manifesto of Neo-Latin by Flavio Biondo comments by Julia Gaisser, Yasmin Haskell, Heinz Hof- mann (pp. 50-51 on orthography, pp. 55-56 about Latin/ Neo-Latin writings can be understood as the vernaculars), Gerlinde Huber-Rebenich, Craig Kallendorf result of complex negotiations between the (pp. 64-65 on social construction of Neo-Latin texts), author and the reader.3 Not only their contents, Walther Ludwig (pp. 69-71 on extent of knowledge of Neo-Latin), Ann Moss (p. 74 on Neo-Latin and the Euro­ but also their linguistic vesture was determined pean vernaculars), Minna Skafte Jensen, Karen Skovgaard- Petersen, Francesco Tateo (pp. 82-84 on chronological considerations), Helander's reply (p. 86 about Latin/ver­ naculars, pp. 89-90 on orthography), important bibliogra­ 2 See, e.g., Ann Moss, Renaissance Truth and the Latin phy, esp. pp. 5-7. It should be noted that the Italian term Language Turn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). neoiatino denotes the Romance languages. 3 Kallendorf in Helander, 'Neo-latin Studies', p. 64. 22 PART I LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION by what author and readers hoped to achieve 3. Hence the quandary of the Neo-Latin with and gain from a work. The Latin writers writer: it is largely inexpedient to preserve the of Italian humanism were highly self-reflective ways of expression of the old authors. If, how­ and very much aware that social parameters ever, one wants to write elegantly, theirs is the influenced their language. One of the most only way to write. A modern readership, hav­ comprehensive statements of what writing in ing again become accustomed to the eloquence Latin meant in a post-mediaeval society was and splendour of classical writing, rightly formulated by Flavio Biondo in his Histori- expects the same from a modern work. Either arum ab incllnatione Romanorum libri (History one writes in a classical idiom and appears from the Decline of the Romans), at the point ridiculously obscure, or one is a fanatic of the when his work had arrived at the description modern world and appears silly and ignorant of contemporary events.4 Biondo focused on of antiquity. the language of contemporary Latin historiog­ raphy; his considerations, however, generally According to Biondo the following factors con­ expressed the humanist perspective on the lan­ cerning the relationship between res and verba guage they write in. The passage can be para­ can be taken into account in writing (Neo-) phrased as follows: Latin: 1. For the writing of good Latin (Latinitas), 1. Some words are still used with the mean­ elegance (elegantla) in composition and an ing they had in ancient Latin. These are unprob- appropriate style (dignitas) are paramount. lematic. Words should be used in their correct (i.e., 2. In some cases the meaning has changed original) meaning (proprietas). The task of the (imperator, general to emperor; dux, leader to modern writer is to write elegant Latin, even duke); this can lead to equivocal phrases which when forced to use barbaric, uncustomary and annoy the reader because they leave him in outright inept expressions—counteracting a doubt. deterioration of Latin, in which hardly anybody 3. Sometimes the res is the same, but the had written elegantly or even properly in the designation has changed (modern balista for last thousand years. the weapon know in antiquity as scorpio); the 2. An unmediated recourse to the Latin of author will be obliged to give an explanation. antiquity is not possible, as social and politi­ If a misuse (abusus) of a thousand years has cal realities in Italy have changed since then. supplanted the proper use (usus), the author The use of classical descriptional models leads will be forced to continue what has become the to absurdities if they no longer correspond to norm, even if it is to be considered erroneous. actual circumstances (Biondo highlights the The well-established authority of the Roman differences in warfare). Church needs to be respected when dealing with traditional terminology. Modern naming customs and designations of political institu­ tions are two instances where later tradition may override correct Latinity. 4 Biondo, Hist. 3,1. The passage is discussed in depth by Martin L. McLaughlin, Literary Imitation in the Ital­ 4. If one is writing about hitherto unknown ian Renaissance. The Theory and Practice of Literary things, one can just use the modern designa­ Imitation In Italy from Dante to Bembo (Oxford: Oxford tions, even though new words can ruin the turn University Press, 1995), pp. 143f. Here and in the follow­ ing Neo-Latin authors are quoted with the sigla used in of phrase, provoking the disgust and annoyance Johann Ramminger, Neulateinische Wortliste. Ein Wörter- of the reader. Circumlocution is one way to buch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700(2003-) , www. avoid new words; however, it can easily become neulatein.de, ancient Latin authors with those used by the Thesaurus Linguae Latlnae. Unless noted otherwise, unintellegible (as Biondo demonstrates with a all translations are by the author. Neo-Latin words quoted fifty-plus words paraphrase of bombarda). The without examples can be found in Ramminger, Neulatein­ ­sche Wortliste. use of modern language in the description of CHAPTER 2 NEO-LATIN: CHARACTER AND DEVELOPMENT 23 modern objects can in itself be pleasing, where Neo-Latin from Cicero's Brutus (rediscovered the reader can favourably compare modern in 1421) via Biondo and Bruni;7 merenda, a word achievements with antiquity. The cannon, for belonging to mediaeval Latin and the volgare, instance, is such a marvellous invention that could be used by Valla in a colloquial letter, the reader will pardon the modern designation because he had read it in one of the new-found bombarda. comedies of Plautus.8 The excavation of rare The common preconditions for writing Neo- lexical features could lead to an eclecticism not Latin therefore are two: firstly, developments of all humanists found acceptable; the preference Latin since classical times—which are consid­ for an exotic word like ferruminare (to seal, ered corrupt and barbarous (this became more caulk) on the part of humanists like Ermolao irrelevant with time)—should be avoided. Barbaro or Poliziano led to the charge of admit­ Instead one should employ an idiom that imi­ ting 'monster-words' ('portenta verborum', tated classical diction (restoration). Secondly, Lucio Fosforo to Poliziano, Ep. 3,14) by those a new world needed new words (innovation). ferruminatores. Poliziano jumps at the accusa­ The joker in this seemingly straightforward tion to highlight his position on some general strategy was the assertion that 'usage' (usus) aspects of the reacquisition of the Latin of the would override all other concerns. Readers of ancients: Biondo were no doubt reminded of Horace's What they call monster-words, I really do not constantly quoted assertion that usus was the know; probably by monsters they mean those 'decisive rule and speaking norm' in the real­ words which they themselves now hear or ity of an ever-changing language ('quem penes understand for the first time. For I have neither arbitrium est et ius et norma loquendi', Ars 72).5 brought into the world words 'not heard by the Humanists formulated this reorientation of Romans in days of yore', nor do I use any but the most acclaimed authors. However, I do not the language mostly as a semantic and lexical belong to those who let the Latin language lie challenge, although the rupture regarding syn­ largely barren, because everybody is afraid of tax was if anything even more thorough. using words unknown to the others. In fact, things have gone so far that we can't even use the language of the great authors safely, since RESTORATION it might not be well known to everybody, and we prefer to use barbarian instead of Roman 9 Neo-Latin and Classical Latin expressions. The reorientation of Latin towards classical Thus, the 'restoration' of Latin followed clearly Latin was much influenced by the rediscovery defined lines. Obviously, the reading public of ancient texts: the reception of their contents was accompanied by the reception of distin­ guishing lexical features. The discovery of Cicero's letters to Atticus (by Petrarch in 1345), 7 Johann Ramminger, 'Humanists and the Vernacular. Plautus (twelve plays discovered by Nicholas Creating the Terminology for a Bilingual Universe', in Latin and the Vernaculars in Early Modern Europe. Contributions of Cusa in 1428), and Catullus (discovered in from the Conference 'Texts & Contexts TV, The Role of Latin 1300, but earliest manuscripts surviving only in Early Modern Europe', Hosted by the University ofAar- from the late Trecento) afforded the humanists hus; Sandbjerg, 17.-20.5.2007, ed. by Trine Arlund Hass and Johann Ramminger, Rencessanceforum, 6 (2010), 1-22. models for a variety of registers of literary and 8 Rizzo, 'I Latini del Umanesimo', pp. 62f. colloquial Latin.6 The word vernaculus entered 9 Poliziano, Ep. 3,15,2: 'Portenta igitur verborum quae vocent isti, fateor, ignoro, nisi si portenta credunt quae ipsi nova nunc primum vocabula vel audiunt vel intelle- gunt. Nam ego nec verba ulla peperi "cinctutis non exau- 5 See Silvia Rizzo, Ricerche sul latino umanistico, I, dita Cethegis", nec ullos habeo nisi receptissimos auc- (Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 2002) Storia e let- tores. Non tamen ex eorum sum numero qui cessare Lati- teratura. Raccolta di studi e testi, 213, pp. 65-68. nam linguam magna ex parte patiuntur, dum quisque illa 6 Silvia Rizzo, 'I Latini del'umanesimo', in Il latino reformidat quae vulgo hactenus ignorata sunt, siquidem nell'eta dell'umanesimo. Atti del Convegno Mantova, 26-27 eo res rediit ut ne magnorum quidem auctorum lingua ottobre 2001, ed. by Giorgio Bernardi Perini (Florence: tuto loquamur, quoniam vulgo minus innotuerit, itaque Olschki, 2004), pp. 51-95, esp. pp. 6if. barbaris uti malumus quam Romanis vocibus.' 24 PART I LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION is just as important for Poliziano as it was for Beyond the realm of school teaching, the case Biondo half a century earlier; but he refuses to for Ciceronianism is made, for example, in a let his style be dictated by the preferences of the letter by Giorgio Valagussa to a high function­ ignorant masses (i.e., humanists who had criti­ ary at the Milanese court, Giovanni Antonio cized his style) who would rather have Latin Girardi, from 1464: stand still and use 'barbarian' expressions, a Not rarely, my dear Giovannantonio, when common codeword for 'mediaeval' Latin (and we discussed literary studies, we found those an intentional misunderstanding of his critics' laughable who—although bypassing Cicero's position). He feels that his Latin is legitimised writings—nevertheless hoped to acquire a by the fact that the authors he draws upon are well rounded, elegant and ornate style. I always not arbitrarily chosen, but those 'of highest knew that you were far from this error and that, with your keen intellect, you believe him to be acclaim' within the republic of letters—a defi­ the sole prince of eloquence, who can easily nition which allowed for his own eclectic Latin inspire dignity of style, richness of expression as well as Bembo's Ciceronianism or the less and every distinction.11 distinctive style of others. In consequence of the attention bestowed on Already Bruni in his De interpretatione Cicero, a large number of words which occur recta (On Correct Translation, 1424/26) had only once in Cicero and are otherwise absent proposed a canon of Latin authors, amongst from written classical Latin, enjoyed a large cir­ which Cicero (for elegant prose), Plautus (for culation in early modern Latin and thus skew everyday speech) and Virgil took pride of place. Neo-Latin towards innovation even in the very From Petrarch onward, the writer Cicero had attempt at linguistic conservatism: animaduer- probably generated the most enthusiasm, and sor, appendicula, breuiloquens, breuiloquentia, the gradual recovery of his works influenced commotiuncula, condecentia, consuasor, dele- not only the content of humanist writing, it also trix, despicatio, hypodidascalus, labecula, etc. stimulated the development of Latin itself. Ciceronianism reached its zenith in the early Imitation of Cicero was the guiding princi­ sixteenth century with writers such as Pietro ple of the teaching of Latin, as attested by the Bembo and Mario Nizolio, whose Thesaurus recommendations in the influential humanist Ciceronianus (1535), a dictionary based exclu­ schoolbook, the Rudimenta grammatices (Latin sively on Cicero's works, served widely as a for Beginners) of Niccolo Perotti (first printed manual for writing Ciceronian Latin, and inci­ 1473, countless reprints and locally adapted dentally helped to perpetuate words as 'Cicero­ versions): nian' which in reality were later scribal errors Whom should young people strive to imitate (for example, incommodatio).12 first and foremost? Marcus Cicero. He excelled in every rhetorical genre, him alone should teachers read, his works alone should be stud­ ied and imitated by schoolboys, who should drink in his words and phrases and even—if interdum furentur et suis inserant. Ita enim net ut suco Ciceronis quasi lacte nutriti ueri illius imitatores euadant.' possible—steal whole passages from his let­ 11 Valagussa, Preface to the Elegantiae Ciceronianae ters and insert them in their own. Nourished [before 1464], ed. Gianvito Resta, Giorgio Valagussa on his spirit as on milk they will become true umanista del quattrocento (Padua: Editrice Antenore, imitators of Cicero.10 1964) Miscellanea erudita, 13, p. 39: 'Cum saepiuscule, Iohannantoni mi suavissime, de studiis humanitatis verba una fecerimus, ridiculi nobis nonnulli videbantur qui, posthabitis Ciceronis operibus, sperant se tamen 10 Transl. Marianne Pade, 'Intertextuality as a Stylistic omnem dicendi elegantiam scribendique ornatum vindi- Device in Niccolo Perotti's Dedicatory Letters. With an care posse. Ab errore quorum te longe alienum semper Edition of Perotti's Letter to Jacopo Schioppo', Renaes- esse coniectavi, cum hunc auctorem unicum eloquentiae sanceforum 7 (2011), 121-146, esp. p. 122. Perotti, Rud. 1119: principem tuo acutissimo ingenio eum esse ducis, unde 'Quis maxime proponendus est quern studeant adoles- omnis orationis dignitas, omnis dicendi copia, omnis centes imitari? Marcus Cicero. Hic in omni dicendi genere ornatus facile fluere possit' omnium optimus fuit, hunc solum praeceptores legant, 12 The early editions bear the title Observationes in hunc discipuli imitentur, nec modo uerba eius hauriant, M. T. Ciceronem. The better known title Thesaurus Cicero­ sed etiam clausulas, quin etiam partes ipsas epistolarum nianus is first used in the 1550s. CHAPTER 2 NEO-LATIN: CHARACTER AND DEVELOPMENT 25 At the height of Ciceronianism, Bembo, in great commentator of Apuleius's Golden Ass)15 his Rerum Venetarum historiae libriXII (History and followed by Tacitism. of Venice, published posthumously 1551), puri­ fied his Latin in a way which Biondo had found Rejection of Mediaeval Latin impossible; the (exaggerated) critique by Justus Mediaeval Latin was seen by humanists mostly Lipsius in a letter from 1609 notes especially the as a product of ignorance and incompetence. transfer of ancient social realities to the pres­ In his De politia literaria (On Elegant Writing, ent day, which leads to obscurity, such as call­ c. 1462), Angelo Decembrio put the following ing the Venetian senate patres conscripti and words into the mouth of the famous humanist counting the years not from the birth of Christ, teacher Guarino: but ab Vrbe condita (from the foundation of the Thus because of the wide spread of the bonds city; furthermore, the Vrbs being not Rome, but of blind ignorance sometimes the meaning of Venice). When Bembo replaced fides (faith) words is understood quite differently from with the classical persuasio (belief, opinion), for or as the opposite of its real meaning, some­ Lipsius stylistic consideration had transgressed times words are used which are quite unheard what was doctrinally permissible.13 of amongst our forbears [...] [there follows a series of abstract nouns ending in -Has, a hall­ The enthusiasm for Ciceronian style led to mark of mediaeval Scholastic terminology] as a rigid definition of 'good' Latin and was easily well as some embarrassing diminutives, effem­ ridiculed by adherents of a more flexible use of inate words like ingeniolum [modest ability], the norms of classical Latin, most famously by studiolum [modest effort], modulus [small 16 Erasmus in the satirical dialogue Ciceronianus measure]. (1528). Later, in the middle of the sixteenth This passage identifies what humanists saw as century, Vincenzo Borghini formulated the the core of mediaeval Latin: the development rejection of Ciceronianism in his De Imitatione of new meanings and the shift in meaning commentariolum (Short Treatise on Imitation) (Decembrio mentions the confusion between thus: crimen/culpa/peccatum—accusation/guilt/ I entirely disapprove of those writers who sin), the—entirely unclassical—vocabulary of are unrealistically scrupulous or—actually— Scholastic philosophy, and other neologisms. rather pedantic [putidiusculi] [...] who hold Implicitly this passage also gives a rough that whatever was not said by Cicero has to be timeframe: vocabulary from patristic authors avoided.14 usually (with some notable exceptions like The employment of the Ciceronian hapax puti- Ermolao Barbaro) remains unexplored and diusculus in a passage which decries the excesses is lumped together with later developments of Ciceronianism is of course the type of rari- (Ingeniolum is first attested in Jerome). The fied wordplay humanists were fond of. Still, other two 'embarassing' examples unwittingly even if Bembo's style is an outlier, the imitation illustrate the difficulties of the humanist lan­ of specific classical authors simply belonged guage-purification project: studiolum appeared to the core of Neo-Latin, and Ciceronianism to be mediaeval (it is found in the twelfth- was preceded by Apuleianism (a tendency to century dictionary of Hugutio), but is in reality excavate words and phrases from the second- century writer Apuleius, which was popular in the 1480s amongst humanists such as Ermolao 15 Julia Haig Gaisser, The Fortunes of Apuleius and the Barbaro, Poliziano, and the elder Beroaldo, the 'Golden Ass' (Princeton-Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2008), pp. i68f., 202f. 16 Decembrio, Pol. 3, 27, 97: 'Sic igitur passim effusis temeritatis et ignorantiae carceribus partim sermonum 13 The letter is Lipsius, Ep. chilias 2, 57 to Janus Dousa; significationes alienae longeque contrariae pro suis ipso- see Ulery in Bembo, History of Venice, I, pp. xviii-xx. rum accipi solent, partim et inaudita maioribus nostris 14 Borghini, Imlt., p. 1541: 'minime assentior quibusdam vocabula supponuntur, ut spiritualitas, maioritas, minori- plus aequo religiosis, immo—ut verius dicam—putidi- tas, identitas et superioritas cum inferioritate, naturalitas usculis, qui omnia quae a Cicerone dicta non sunt [...] cum ingeniositate; ac diminutiva quaedam turpia muli- fugienda esse [...] sibi certe persuaserunt' ebriaque vocabula ut ingeniolum, studiolum, modulus.' 26 PART I LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION already used in the second century AD by Mar­ render the beauty of the Greek philosophical cus Aurelius in Fronto's epistolary (which was writings in equivalent Latin. According to Eras­ unknown to humanists); modulus is a perfectly mus the traditional terminology could lead to a ordinary classical word, though with a notable sleep deeper than that from drunkenness (the mediaeval fortuna. somnus theologicus)18 and was inconducive to If mediaeval Latin thus was not always as a religious life.19 Despite these attacks, as late easily recognized as humanists would have as 1562 Sophianus in his new translations for wished, a major area of attack stood out: Scho­ the Juntine Aristotle retained the traditional lastic philosophy, which had as its core text vocabulary which was at the core of Aristote­ Peter Lombard's Sentences, intertwined with lian philosophy and which 'from the beginning' Aristotelian philosophy, which had been inte­ had been used in teaching, even though he con­ grated into mediaeval thought via Latin transla­ sidered it 'horrid and hardly Latin'.20 tions of Arabic renderings of the Greek writings Of course philosophy was not the only area of Aristotle. The result of this circuitous recep­ where Latin had developed further since antiq­ tion process were texts which—due to choice uity, and the intended rollback of the current of words as well as syntax—conveyed remark­ usus was not necessarily more effective in other ably little of what humanists praised as the ele­ areas. A case in point is benedicere which in gance of the originals. Since translation from the Quattrocento nearly exclusively meant 'to the Greek after 1400 rapidly developed into an hallow' and was a terminus technicus of eccle­ important area of humanist (i.e., Neo-Latin) siastical ritual. Perotti in the Cornu copiae (see writing, the mediaeval Aristotle was a perfect below) insisted on the classical 'to praise' as target throughout the Quattrocento, beginning the only meaning, even though this was hardly with Leonardo Bruni's preface to his transla­ more than historical. In this as in many other tion of the Nicomachean Ethics (1417) and his De cases the usus prevailed: when Perotti (who interpretatione recta. Even though from a purely was Bishop of Siponto, though without theolog­ aesthetic point of view humanist criticism was ical training) preached at religious functions, difficult to fault, the advocates of the contrary point of view were not prepared to cede the field, because—as Pico della Mirandola asserted in a famous controversy with Ermolao Barbaro litteris hoc scribendi genus aggrediantur' ('I wanted to about the relative importance of style versus call upon the philosophers with a litterary education to undertake this kind of writing in a richer and more splen­ content in philosophical writings (1485)—ade­ did style'). The title of the second edition mentioned quately expressed content was more important the 'Roman style' of the work: 'Pauli Cortesii Protonota- than elegant presentation. The coherent system rii Apostolici in quatuor Libros Sententiarum argutae Romanoque eloquio disputationes' (Paris, 1513). of 'mediaeval' philosophical terminology was 18 According to Erasmus, Ep. 64, this had happened to not easily replaced, to wit, the fact that even a philosopher who, while pondering the instantia, quid- ditates and formalitates, fell into a sleep lasting for forty- Ermolao Barbaro, a translator of Aristotelian seven years. writings of note, in his university teaching used 19 Erasmus, Nov. test. Paracl., pp. 146-147: 'Neque enim the mediaeval translations. A renewed attack ob id, opinor, quisquam sibi Christianus esse videatur, si spinosa molestaque verborum perplexitate de instanti- on the terminological apparatus of Scholastic bus, de relationibus, de quidditatibus ac formalitatibus philosophy was led in 1504 by the Roman car­ disputet' ('nobody will, I believe, appear to himself a dinal Paolo Cortesi who wrote a commentary Christian, if he can with thorny and cumbersome obscu­ rity discuss the instantia, relationes, quidditates and on the Sentences of Peter Lombard In a more formaiitates1). splendid style' ('illustrioribus litteris'),17 so as to 20 'Horrida parumque Latina', quoted from F. Edward Cranz, 'Editions of the Latin Aristotle Accompanied by the Commentaries of Averroes', in Philosophy and Humanism. Renaissance Essays in Honour to Paul Oskar Kristeller, ed. 17 Cortesi, In sent, fol. xlvv: Ammonere enim Philoso­ by Edward P. Mahoney (Leiden: Brill, 1976), pp. 116-128, phos et humaniores voluimus: vt vberius et illustrioribus esp. p. 127. CHAPTER 2 NEO-LATIN: CHARACTER AND DEVELOPMENT 27 he himself used benedicere in the usual sense methodological clarity became exemplary for everybody understood and expected. subsequent philological writing.

Development of Humanist Lexicography Orthography Despite their enthusiam for classical literature, The reversion to classical, etymologically or humanists (besides their own collections of prosodically correct spelling was the central excerpts, the so-called commonplace books) principle of humanist orthographical reform. for a long time depended on mediaeval lan­ The endeavour to establish the correct use of guage aids—with all the stylistic incertainties the diphthong ae (especially at the end of a this entailed—i.e., mediaeval schoolbooks and word, where it was syntactically important) the huge dictionary-encyclopedias (Hugutio, started with Salutati already in the 1370s, fol­ Balbi, Papias, Johannes de Janua). It was only lowed by Poggio. The first to write a tract about in the second half of the fifteenth century that the diphthong was Guarino (c. 1415). Still, the lexicographic works more adapted to the new correct use of the diphthong was slow to estab­ stylistic ideals were developed. The Elegantiae lish itself, and individual writers varied consid­ linguae Latinae (Elegant Latin) of Lorenzo Valla erably.21 The restitution of classical mihi and were the first to discuss classical usage and to nihil for mediaeval michi and nichil and other lay down rules for correct Latin in cases were forms was the subject of sometimes acrimo­ either confusion ruled or mediaeval Latin had nious discussions between Salutati and Pog­ developed away from the classical norm. Valla gio (1406).22 Later Bruni intervened,23 and the was shortly followed by Giovanni Tortelli's De matter was still undecided when Enea Silvio orthographia dictionum e Graecis tractarum Piccolomini wrote his long letter De educatione (The Orthography of Words Derived from the recta (Correct Child-Rearing) in 1450.24 As late Greek), which focused on a subset of Latin as 1528 the question needed to be mentioned (although his definition of Greek derivation was by one of the interlocutors in Erasmus's De considerably larger than that of modern linguis­ pronunciatione recta (Correct Pronunciation). tics). The advent of printing radically changed In practice forms both with c and ch coexisted the speed of diffusion and reach of humanist for a long time.25 ideals. Significantly enough, both Valla and It was not easy to ascertain which ortho­ Tortelli were printed soon and often, while graphical traits actually were pre-mediaeval the mediaeval encyclopedias found a much- (humanist notions of palaeography were rather reduced market (Hugutio was not printed at hazy), and Salutati based his introduction of the all). Among the next generation of humanists it e caudata for ae on the example of manuscripts is Niccolo Perotti whose adeptness in handling from the twelfth century. Ancient grammarians the new medium stands out. His Rudimenta were an alternative resource; thus Alamanno grammatices, the first major humanist school- Rinuccini admonished a correspondent that book, relied exclusively on print for its distribu­ littera was not to be spelled in the mediaeval tion—and for its spectacular success. The same way as lictera, but according to Priscian with holds true for his Cornu copiae linguae Latinae (Horn of Plenty of the Latin Language, first printed posthumously 1489), a vast documen­ 21 Marianne Pade, 'La forza del destinatario', Studi tation of Latin in a free-ranging form. Eclectic umanistici piceni, 26 (2006), pp. 11-21. 22 Salutati, Ep. 14,22. writings such as Beroaldo's Annotationes cen­ 23 Bruni, Ep. 8,2 p. 107. tum (A Hundred Notes, 1488) and Poliziano's 24 Piccolomini, Ep. 40II, p. i03ff. 25 Miscellanea (Mixed Observations, 1489) had Cf. Kazimierz Kumaniecki (ed.), Antibarbarorum Liber, in Erasmus, Opera omnia I, 1 (Amsterdam 1969), quantitatively less of an impact on the devel­ p. 25 (introduction); and D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kri- opment of Latin; the latter on account of its tische Gesamtausgabe (WA) 57 (Weimar: Bohlau, 1939), p. xxxix (app. crit.) 28 PART I LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION either t or tt, depending on the etymology.26 It ably enough—had chosen to ignore.30 The was Poliziano who in his Miscellanea showed supposed derivation of ceterum from Greek kai that in ancient monuments (inscriptions as heteros, which had been proposed by both Tor­ well as manuscripts from antiquity) the name telli and Perotti, led to a widely held preference

of the Roman poet Virgil had been spelt Verg-} of the spelling caet- over cet-. not Virg- (both spellings persist to this day in Some humanists did (try to) employ consis­ modern vernaculars).27 tent orthography in some cases: no diphthong By the second half of the fifteenth century ae in Valla, conjunction cum spelt as quum, the reform of orthography and pronunciation enclitic -que separated by Perotti. Still, human­ was no longer restricted to humanist circles. In ists were nothing if not pragmatic in their 1483, in his sermon before the pope and the car­ approach to orthography and—as has been dinals on Pentecost, Andreas Brentius, a mem­ shown with Perotti—adapted themselves to ber of the familia of Cardinal Balue, chose not their readership (e.g., by adopting a more tradi­ a theological, but a philological message con­ tional way when writing a letter to a conserva­ cerning the Holy Ghost; 'he taught' the audi­ tive recipient).31 Generally, attempts to reform ence 'that one ought not to say paraclitus, but or standardise orthography met with limited paracletus',28 thus reversing a change which success,32 dependent as they were not only can be traced in Latin to the shortening of the on the writer or copyist, but later also on the penultimate syllable in late antiquity and to typesetter, who (especially in the early period the parallel Greek phenomenon of Itazismus; of printing with a limited amount of types avail­ the form with cli had been pervasive in mediae­ able) might use the letters at hand rather than val Latin. The Latin orthography of Greek words what was spelt in his exemplar. Moreover, the was not seldom influenced by Byzantine pro­ use of abbreviations for prepositions such as nunciation brought to the West by Greek emi- com-/con- or pr(a)e- and m/n at the end of a grees (e.g., erotimata for Greek erotemata).29 syllable could make orthographical decisions The (perceived) etymology had been used as between allomorphs unnecessary. Latin was an important factor already by Salutati. Later, in any case vastly more standardised than the it pained Filelfo that Duke Federico da Mon- contemporary vernaculars.33 Thus humanists tefeltro habitually omitted the r in his name did not necessarily deem lack of consistency (i.e., Freder-), not only in his letters, but also in a grave problem. Bartolommeo della Scala inscriptions, which presumably reached a wider just could not see 'what the fuss was all about' public. The reason for Filelfo's objection was the regarding the oscillation between Verg- and German etymology of the name, Frieden + reich Virgilius,34 and a writer like Pierpaolo Verge- (rich in peace), which the duke—understand- rio felt that orthographia was not worth the trouble, since 'nobody nowadays praises or criticises Cicero or Virgil or any other writer

26 Rinuccini, Ep. 14, p. 35: 'Litterarum quoque nomen cum c posthac nunquam scripseris; nam, ut Priscianus inquit, per simplex t siue per duplex t scribi debet, prout 30 Letter to Federico from 1474 (in Filelfo, Vita Freder­ uarie illius nominis ethimologia sumi potest' ('Henceforth ick p. 406): 'Quae igitur ratio te adducit, ut, quasi te ipsum do not write the word littera with a c [i.e., ilctera]; accord­ ignorans, qui nihil usque malueris quam discere, ex prima ing to Priscian [Inst. 1, 2, 3] it is to be written with t or tt, syllaba r litteram subtrahas, Federicum semper non modo depending on what one believes the etymology to be'). scribens in epistolis tuis omnibus, sed in lapidibus quoque 27 Poliziano, Misc. 77. incidens?' 28 Gherardi, Dear., p. 118: 'Sequenti die, sacra consueta 31 Pade, 'La forza del destinatario'. in eadem basilica sunt celebrata, operante Balue Ande- 32 Helander, 'Neo-latin Studies'. gavensi, Andreas Brentius, Neapolitani cardinalis contu- 33 Ramminger, Neulatelnische Wortliste has no ortho­ bernalis oravit; docuit non "Paraclitum" sed "Paracletum" graphical variant for 88 percent of the lemmata. dici debere.' 34 Letter to Poliziano from 1493 (Scala, Script. Var., 29 Letter of Niccolo Volpe to Tortelli from 1448, in Gua- p. 171): 'Quid tandem flagitij est si hoc uel illo potius modo rino, Ep. III, p. 535. Cf. also the lemma erotima in Tortelli, pronuncies?' ('Really, what is the problem if we pronounce orth. it this way or that?') CHAPTER 2 NEO-LATIN: CHARACTER AND DEVELOPMENT 29

from antiquity for their orthography'; therefore subordinate clauses).37 Still, humanists hardly he was content to express himself clearly and regarded such rules as obligatory, but also used left all those achievments 'which perish like syntactical features, such as the subjunctive, the paper they are written on' to others.35 for stylistic and semantic nuances in ways for which there was little classical precedent.38 Syntax Neo-Latin syntax has so far received little INNOVATION detailed study; anecdotal evidence would sug­ gest that it underwent a change hardly less Neologisms radical than semantics. The change may even In the following I shall distinguish between have been more pervasive, insofar as it mani­ neologisms of form and of sense.39 Neologisms fests itself also in genres (like doctrinal writ­ of sense usually happen by semantic expan­ ing) which resisted lexical change. Renaissance sion, where a word aggregates old and new grammatical theory was characterised by the meanings. The mechanics of semantic expan­ break with its (highly developed) mediaeval sion in Neo-Latin have recently been analysed predecessor; the logical consequence, a return for humanitas.40 The word is extensively used to ancient grammarians, proved, however, not by Cicero as well as other writers of the classical to be viable. Unfortunately, as ancient gram­ period,41 and many uses continue into or reap­ matical writings became accessible again, they pear in Neo-Latin (the mediaeval fortuna of showed themselves to be contradictory and at humanitas has not been investigated compre­ times obviously erroneous; if writers of Neo- hensively). From Petrarch onwards humanitas Latin wanted to improve their syntax, they had becomes the expression for a norm of societal to deduce rules from the texts directly. The conduct (benevolence, goodwill, generosity, first to achieve this was Lorenzo Valla who in sometimes as translation of Greek philanthro- his Eiegantiae linguae Latlnae illustrated cor­ pia); from Salutati onwards it periphrastically rect Latin usage with examples from Roman indicates the person who conforms (or is authors.36 Theory of syntax in humanist gram­ expected to conform) to this norm, the educa­ matical manuals (the most influential was Per- tion or knowledge such a person is expected otti's Rudimenta grammatices) was in the main to possess, and the field of study needed to concerned with verbal syntax. But also in areas acquire it (the studia humanitatis), first gen­ where humanists (or ancient grammarians) erally, then specifically the relevant subjects did not formulate general rules, Neo-Latin in school or university. Lexicographically, writers were capable of deducing correctly most of these usages had absolutely no classi­ the rules governing sophisticated syntactical cal precedent; still (and contrary to Biondo's phenomena (such as the sequence of tenses in expectation that innovations ruined the style

37 Camilla P. Horster, 'Computational Linguistics and Neo-Latin Syntax. Researching the Sequence of Tenses in 35 Vergerio mai., Ep. 29, p. 43: 'Officium vero aut pul- Humanist Latin'. Paper at the 15th conference of IANLS, chre scribendi aut recte facile aliis linquo. Nam quid in 5-11 August 2012, Minister. eo genere laudis contendam, quae sit cum cartis peritura? 38 Camilla P. Horster, 'Perotti's Use of the Subjunctive. Nemo enim nunc aut Ciceronem aut Virgilium aut ullum Semantic Ornamentation in the Latin Genus Sublime', prorsus antiquorum de ortografia vel laudat vel reprehen- Renasssanceforum, 7 (2011), 147-162. dit'; cf. McLaughlin, Literary Imitation, p. 101. 39 Hans Helander, Neo-Latin Literature In Sweden In 36 W. Keith Percival, 'Grammar and Rhetoric in the the Period 1620-1720 (Uppsala: Uppsala UP, 2004) Studia Renaissance', in Renaissance Eloquence. Studies in the Latina Upsaliensia, 29, p. 175. Theory and Practice of Renaissance Rhetoric, ed. byjamesj. 40 Marianne Pade, 'humanitas' in Johann Ramminger, Murphy (Berkeley: U of California Press, 1983), repr. in Neulateinische Wortliste. Ein Worterbuch des Lateinischen Percival, Studies, no. II; and Percival, 'Renaissance Gram­ von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de/words/2/016422 mar', in Renaissance Humanism. Foundations, Forms, and .htm. legacy, vol. 3, Humanism and the Disciplines, ed. by Albert 41 Wilhelm Ehlers, 'humanitas' in Thesaurus Linguae Rabil, Jr. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, Latinae (Leipzig: Teubner, 1900-), vol. VI, 3, cc. 3075, 1988), repr. in Percival, Studies, no. III. 5-3083, 56. 30 PART I LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION and annoyed the reader) the extent of their use Neo-Latin. A case in point is suaviloquus. The shows that semantic innovations could become word occurred once in Martianus Capella, but part of the normal Neo-Latin lexicon of elegant so far not a single instance has come to light in communication. either mediaeval or Neo-Latin before the mid­ Just as it is for us not always obvious why dle of the fifteenth century. Valla, in a discus­ some words, but not others, had their classi­ sion of the relative merits of suaviloquus and cal meaning restored, i.e., were 'delivered' of suaviloquens, concluded that the former most the meanings they had aggregated in postclas- probably was not a classical word. The situa­ sical Latin, semantic innovations can appear tion only changed when some thirty years later haphazard. Though as a rule semantic duplica­ Niccolo Perotti insisted that the word without tion was avoided, one of the most spectacular doubt had a classical pedigree and claimed to neologisms of sense in Italian Neo-Latin, tra- know several examples (without giving one). ducere, traductlo, etc. (literally, 'to lead across', Although Perotti in all likelihood was fibbing in translate, translation) is a nearly exact seman­ a veiled attempt to criticise and surpass Valla, tic replica of transferre, interpretari and oth­ the word immediately became an enormous ers. Traducere had been used for 'to translate' success. Already a year after Perotti's Cornu in an isolated instance already in the eleventh copiae was published (1489), the most eminent century but had failed to establish itself; in poets of the time picked it up, first Battista humanist Latin we encounter it suddenly and Mantovano, then Giangiovio Pontano, and fully developed in Leonardo Brum's discussion another, Michele Marullo, used it in his supple­ of translation where he uses both the verb and ment to Lucretius, thus transporting it back the noun traductio, in Ep. 1,1 (probably dating into antiquity. Even though it remained in use from 1403/04). Bruni continues to use the newly preponderantly in poetry, it was also received coined expression; Guarino Veronese seems to by prose writers, amongst them Erasmus. The be the first to adopt it in 1414 in the preface to his insufficiency of the evidence from antiquity translation of one of Plutarch's Lives. It is only remained unnoticed or was disregarded. after the appearance of Brum's controversial Neologisms of form are usually connected translation of Aristotle's Nlcomackean Ethics in with change in general: in his De linguae latinae 1416/17 that the expression is picked up widely usu et praestantla libri tres (About Latin Usage by other humanists in Florence and elsewhere. and Its Excellence, Rome, 1574) Uberto Fogli- It remains current throughout the century etta (1518-1581) gives the following rule: and beyond, and was one of a limited number There are, I believe, two kinds of things which of neologisms of sense catalogued (with cau­ 42 need new designations: those which were tion) in Perotti's Cornu copiae. The fact that entirely unknown to the ancients, and those (some) humanists, such as Perotti, were aware which they used and which were essentially of its semantic novelty had no impact on the the same, although they had—not in their core widespread acceptance of the word, which also characteristics, but in some external aspects— entered Romance languages where it remains an appearance at variance with or different from the one they have nowadays.43 widely used to this day. Printing had a considerable impact on the Expansion of knowledge, technological possibilities of dissemination of innovations in advance, contact with foreign cultures, and

42 Johann Ramminger, 'Half of (which?) Latin. The 43 Folieta, Lat., p. 103: 'Rerum igitur quibus nova sint Lemmata of Perotti's Cornu copiae', in Niccolò Perotti The imponenda nomina duo esse genera dico, alterum earum Languages of Humanism and Politics. Contributions from quae re et usu omninoque veteribus erant ignota; alterum the conference Vn umanista romano del secondo Quattro­ earum quarum usum habebant veteres quidem qua- cento. Niccolb Perotti', held at the Istituto Storico Italiano rumque essentia apud illos erat, quamvis eaedem forma per il Medio Evo and the Danish Academy in Rome, 4-5 June quadam non ilia quidem quae rebus ut sint, dat, sed 2009, ed. by Marianne Pade and Camilla Plesner Horster, extrinsecus adveniente variarent diversaeque a nostris Renasssanceforum, 7 (2011), 163-180, esp. p. i73f. essent', with extensive examples. CHAPTER 2 NEO-LATTN: CHARACTER AND DEVELOPMENT 31 doctrinal change (Reformation and Counter- formation apparent in words like sophista and Reformation) all contributed. In modern lexi­ psalmista, loan words from Greek -istes. cographic research, neologisms of form in connection with innovations have received Greek more attention; neologisms of sense in these The Calabrian Leontius Pilatus held the first areas are less visible, but by no means absent chair of Greek at the Florentine Studio in (torcular, wine press to printing press). The the 1360s, but the Neo-Latin history of Greek controversies connected with the religious effectively began with Manuel Chrysoloras's conflicts of the sixteenth century, as well as teaching there at the very end of the century. polemics in general, were especially fertile Humanists used their newly learned compe­ grounds for lexical innovation. The polemical tence first for translation. The question arose, potential of neologisms appears compressed how much Greek could be tolerated in Latin into one sentence written by Erasmus in 1528 translations. This became also an important to Pirckheimer: Wherever Lutheranism reigns, part of the humanists' view of the worth of the letters perish!'44 The accusation was unjus­ mediaeval translations of Aristotle where the tified, as we know, but formulated cunningly: readers had been used to Greek words, whether Luteranismus is a neologism reducing the new they understood them or not. A case in point is religion to a heresy by followers of one man the word eutrapelia (lively wit). The word had (from Loyolismus to Zwinglianismus this was been used by Aristotle, and been retained in a productive model of pejorative word forma­ the mediaeval Latin translations; consequently tion in confessional strife), and the wordplay it occurs frequently in the writings of Thomas Luter-/Liter- expressed the perceived opposition Aquinas. Leonardo Bruni prefaced his transla­ between the Letters and Protestantism clev­ tion of the Nicomachean Ethics (1416/17) with erly. Generally, innovation follows a guideline what has been termed 'a manifesto of human­ which was formulated by Edmund Campion ism against medieval translation in general';48 in the chapter 'On imitating Cicero in one's there he says: T have recently decided to ren­ choice of words' in his Tractatus de imitatione der the Ethics of Aristotle in Latin, not because Rhetorica (Rhetorical Imitation) of 1577 in the they had not been translated before, but following way: T do not accept any word he because they had been translated as if ren­ [i.e., Cicero] would not have found acceptable; dered in a barbarian language rather than in as such I admit many he has not used, but surely Latin.'49 A controversy ensued in which Bruni would have used if needed.'45 The question of defended his choices of translation with verve which neologism to admit thus was not only and with—from a philological point of view— a lexicographical, but also a stylistic one: new unassailable logic: words had to conform to established lexical patterns.46 An example are the large number The Greeks say eutrapelia for what we call wit. Aristotle defines this as a virtue regarding pleas­ of new formations in -ista (supporter or advo­ ant conversation. That is why I translated this cate of), not seldom with a pejorative mean­ word as comitas. He [Brum's adversary Alonso ing (amongst which humanista takes pride of of Cartagena] does not approve, but maintains place),47 which follow a classical model of word that as in Greek, also in Latin eutrapelia should

44 Erasmus, Ep. 1977 (1528): 'Vbicunque regnat Luteran­ ismus, ibi litterarum est interitus.' Karsten Friis-Jensen on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday, 45 Campion, Imit, p. 364 ('Quomodo in verbis sit imi- ed. by Marianne Pade a.o., Renaesssanceforum, 3 (2007). tandus Cicero'): 'Verbum recipio nullum quod non ille 48 Alexander Birkenmajer, 'Der Streit des Alonso von recepisset: multa autem admitto quae ille non protulerit, Cartagena mit Leonardo Bruni Aretino', Beiträge zur prolaturus sine dubio, si tulisset occasio.' Geschichte der Philosophic des Mittelalters, 20.5 (1922), 46 Helander, 'Neo-latin Studies', p. 33. 129-246, esp. p. 130. 47 Johann Ramminger, 'Nur ein Humanist Einige 49 Bruni, Praef Aristoteles eth. Nicom., p. 157 (1417): neue Beispiele fur humanista im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert', 'Aristotelis Ethicorum libros Latinos facere nuper institui, in ALBVM AMICORVM. Festskrift til Karsten Friis-Jensen i non quia prius traducti non essent, sed quia sic traducti anledning af hans 60 ars fodselsdag / Studies in Honour of erant, ut barbari magis quam Latini effecti uiderentur.' 32 PART I LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION be retained. I ask him whether he knows Guarino's was the position which prevailed Greek? I don't, says he, but I am convinced that amongst writers of Latin in general. It was a eutrapelia means something different from widely held belief that Latin was in some way comitas.50 derived from Greek, and the cultural hegemony The unstated reason for Alonso's opposition of Greece in the Latin culture of the late Repub­ was probably philosophical rather than stylis­ lic and the Augustan Age had been emphasised tic: the Greek word was a well-defined term of by contemporaries: 'because the Greeks taught Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy, creden­ the Latins their letters; hence it was the custom tials which the Latin replacement lacked. His to give those arts the Greek name which they counterstatement conceded the stylistic supe­ had drawn from a Greek source.'54 Hence Greek riority of the new Latin without being prepared retained its status as a prestige language, and, to abandon earlier texts: with the knowledge of Greek rapidly expand­ ing, it became customary to intersperse Latin One should not so forge something new as to utterly overturn the old. We can more than writing with Greek, because, as Guarino stated, rejoice if we add something to earlier efforts; Greek expressions contributed 'a welcome but it seems contrary to reason to add with the variation'55 (and made use of a stylistic device intent to destroy completely what was written often found, for example, in Cicero's letters). 51 correctly. Greek as a source for Neo-Latin word forma­ Alonso's reply sounds rather hapless and whin­ tion has only received sporadic attention so ing, but is in reality a sharp and extremely far; the following observations are preliminary. well-placed jab at Brum's position; it contains Generally, what has been said above about a reference to the most famous translator of Latin neologisms is also valid here: words new Christian antiquity, Jerome, who—as Alonso in Latin have to conform to known patterns of claims implicitly—was on his side in the con­ (in this case Greek) word formation. Initially, troversy: Jerome had defended his translation the widely read translations (especially of Plu­ of the Bible with the same words: 'I do not forge tarch's Lives) contributed significantly to the something newjust to repudiate the old.'52 Even enlargement of the Latin vocabulary. For exam­ amongst humanists, Brum's was not an uncon- ple, in the sixteenth century it became en vogue troversial position. Guarino was prepared to to call the town scribe or chancellor, especially 56 retain Greek words in his translations if Latin in the German areas, archigrammateus. This equivalents were not available (monorchia, can traced back to the Bolognese humanist democratia), citing Quintilian who had admit­ Filippo Beroaldo, who had explained the term ted this procedure amongst the ancients.53 in his widely read commentary on Apuleius's Golden Ass (1500); Beroaldo, in his turn, had found it in Guarino's translation of Plutarch's 50 Bruni, Ep. 8, 2 (10, 24, II, p. 207 M.) (1438): 'Eutrape- Life of Eumenes, where Guarino had retained lian graeci dicunt, quam nos appellamus comitatem. the Greek word and added an explanation: Hanc Aristoteles virtutem esse vult circa conversationem jocundam. Ego igitur id verbum transferens comitatem dixi. Ille non probat, sed ut est in graeco, sic etiam in latino dicendum eutrapelian contendit. Quaero, nura graece sciat ? Non scio, inquit, sed opinor aliud significare "patrium ditare sermonem" et aliunde aliqua simul ferre si eutrapelian quam comitatem.' possim "invidear?", praesertim cum id ex ipso Quintiliano 51 Alonso de Cartagena, Eth., p. 165: 'nec enim sic noua in oratoriae artis institutione licere compererim, qui "et cudere decet, ut uetera funditus euertamus. Abunde enim concessis quoque graecis", inquit, "utimur verbis, ubi gratulandum est, si antiquis laboribus aliquid adiciamus: nostra desint"' See McLaughlin, Literary Imitation, p. 117. sed sic addere uelle, ut ex toto dirimantur recte conscripta, 54 Polenton, Catinia, p.43 (1419): 'quod latinos grecilit- alienum a ratione uidetur.' teras primum docuerunt, quo illud observatum est, quod 52 Prefatlo Hieronymi In Llbrum josue Ben Nun, PL 28 artes istas, sicuti greco de fonte haurirent, ita nomine c. 463A: 'me non in reprehensionem veterum nova greco vocarent' cudere.' 55 Guarino, Ep. 2* (1407): 'gratioris aliquid varietatis 53 Guarino, Ep. 2, 5 (from Constantinople, c. 1405) aspergunt' with references to Quint, Inst. 12, 1, 1, Hor., Ars 56-57, 56 Documentation in Ramminger, Neulateinische and Quint, Inst. 1, 5, 8: Traeterea cur, si "pro parte virili" Wortliste, s.v. CHAPTER 2 NEO-LATIN: CHARACTER AND DEVELOPMENT 33 'Archigrammateus, idest princeps scribarum' this in Greek, which can only awkwardly be (a., i.e. first secretary). Such Greek words could combined with a Latin noun; therefore some be spelt either in Latin or in Greek, depending, critizise monoculus [one-eyed], prefering unoculus. By the way, why did you use the let­ in the case of printed texts, on the willingness ter 'f',whe n the word is to be written with 'p': of the typesetter just as much as upon the philocaptus?57 writer's actual knowledge of Greek. Already in the sixteenth century the recep­ The combination of Latin and Greek elements tion of Greek words into Latin became uncou­ into one word does occur, if rarely; examples pled from the process of translation, and are monolittera (consisting of one letter), countless Greek words entered the Neo-Latin monoprincipans (ruling alone), morbilogus lexicon, spelt in Latin or Greek indifferently, (book about an illness), philotenebra (lover of such as astorgla (e.g., Latin in Calvin, Greek darkness, formed by the Greek cardinal Bessar- in Luther), ataxia, cacodoxia, cardiognostes ion), terrelogia (geology). These, though, do not (from the Greek text of the Acts of the Apostles), occur in the most recherche forms of Neo-Latin cretlzo, despoticus, deuterologia, didactrum, writing. diglossus, docimasia, epitomice, ethelothrescia, Finally, here belongs the phenomenon of grammatophorus, hypopheta, lecanomantia. loanformation, i.e., the formation of Latin Furthermore we have a number of neolo­ words by translating the parts of a Greek com­ gisms which are written in Latin as well as in pound, such as obscurilunium (from skotomêne), Greek exclusively in Latin texts and, as far as or argentangina (from arguranchê). Doubtlessly we know, do not occur in Greek texts read by further research will bring more examples to humanists at all. Such words are archityran- light. nus (Latin in Hutten and others, Greek in Eras­ mus's letters), many compounds with -mantia Latin and the Vernacular (astragalo-, botano-, capnio-, catoptro-, cero-, There is one particular source which contrib­ clero-, coscino-, crystallo-, dactylo-, libano-, utes a significant number of what we (though with the Greek forms ending in -tela or -tia), not necessarily the humanists themselves) -latria (daemono-, hagio-, icono-, lipsano-), consider neologisms: the vernacular. Human­ -doulia (hagio-, icono-, idolo-), botanologia (in ists inherited from the Middle Ages the notion Greek in a book title, probably to give a taste that, just as the present day society accommo­ of the splendour of the content), cacographia dated two languages, so also the Roman soci­ (an invention of Erasmus, spelt by him both in ety of antiquity had been diglossic, although Latin and in Greek), Capniomastix ('an assail­ then as now not everyone was bilingual and ant of Reuchlin', who had translated his name the two languages had very different status.58 into the Greek Capnion), diabologus (a calque For Petrarch, the volgare of his Canzoniere was on theologus, a short-lived invention of Reuch­ one and the same language as the one used for lin picked up by friends and foes alike), disu- his Latin writings, albeit in a different genre, siasta, epicurizo, euthymetria, hagiomastix, and and he took it for granted that the same unity many more. Occasionally Latin neologisms had existed in antiquity.59 The question of can be spelt in Greek, such as Ciceronianus (by Melanchthon) and Gallizo (by a correspondent of Aldus Manutius). 57 Valla In Raud., p. 257: 'Non est nomen hoc a doctis, The combination of Latin and Greek ele­ sed ab indoctissimis fictum: philos enim non "amorem", sed "amicum" significat sive "amatorem", et hoc Grece, ments was frowned upon. Thus Lorenzo Valla cum quo nomine dure Latinum coniungitur: unde qui- has a field day with the word filocaptus (cap­ dam reprehendunt monoculum, volentes dici unoculum. Sed cur in littera f posuisti, cum per p scribendum esset, tured by love) used by Antonio da Rho: sic: philocaptus?' 58 Rizzo, Rlcerche I. This is not a noun formed by the learned, but 59 Michele Feo, 'Petrarca', in Enclclopedia Vlrglllana by people entirely devoid of education: philos (Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1984-1991), IV, does not mean 'love', but 'friend' or lover', and pp. 53-78, esp. p. 58; Rizzo, Rlcerche I, p. 59. 34 PART I LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION the existence of a vernacular in classical anti­ Latin dictionaries.61 Italian and other vernacu­ quity—and in consequence of the status of lars appeared in Latin garb in macaronic poetry the present day voigare as opposed to Latin— and prose, which—according to its main rep­ gained in importance with the ever increasing resentative, Teofilo Folengo—was named after Rome-centric nationalism of Italian human­ macaroni, a kind of food which is 'rough, crude, ists. Since dialectal variation was rarely ever and rustic; therefore macaronics should con­ discussed in classical literature,60 human­ tain nothing but greasiness, crudity and big, ists had little material to go upon. This situa­ ugly words';62 this was a type of language game tion improved with the discovery in 1421 of a which took delight in the comic effect achieved manuscript of Cicero's Brutus in the chapter by fitting vernacular words with Latin inflec­ library of Lodi near Milan. Now one could read tions; it was, however, not intended as a more the episode concerning the excellence of the durable enrichment of either language. dialect of the inhabitants of Rome within a Leaving aside the elegant Latin of literary spectrum of dialectal variations of Latin in the texts, humanist theories about the language empire (170-172). This passage not only intro­ continuum between the Italian vernaculars duced the word vernaculus as an alternative and Latin were in accordance with the reality designation of the volgare (which survives in of the Latin of many nonliterary texts such as some modern languages, such as English), it inventories, testaments, contracts, diaries, and also fueled a long discussion about the possibil­ administrative letters not meant for the public. ity of bilingualism in ancient Rome and about Here, where function trumped form and the the volgare as descended either from Latin reaction of the cultured public was not a consid­ or from a hypothetical ancient volgare. This eration, words from the voigare like materacium discussion had—irrespective of the position (matress, ital. materazzo), pauonatius (violet, taken by the individual humanists—impor­ ital. pavonazzo), abozatus (designed, from ital. tant consequences for the development of all abbozzo) were by no means unusual. But the registers of Neo-Latin, because it legitimised volgare did not remain unaffected by Latin the Italian voigare as a source for Latin words. either; in some texts the language is switched Within the highest registers of Neo-Latin it can between paragraphs or Latin phrases are be observed that words remodelled from the inserted into a vernacular context, at other voigare were especially frequent in fields with times the vernacular exhibits a noticeably Lati­ a high degree of innovation, such as military nized syntax and lexicon.63 Humanists changed technology (obviously useful for historiogra­ phy). A certain amount of words were sanc­ 61 tioned by reception into lexicographical works Perotti, Cornucopiae 12,84: 'nouum quidem, sed non inelegans uocabulum.' The example is taken from Jean- such as Niccolo Perotti's Cornu coplae. Words Louis Charlet, 'Le voigare chez Valla et la signification du from the voigare differed in one significant Cornu Copiae', in Lorenzo Valla e la rlforma della lingua respect from the neologisms described so far: e della log lea: le radlcl dell'Europa. Attl del convegno del Comltato Nazlonale VI centenarlo della nasclta dl Lorenzo they did not necessarily follow the rules of Latin Valla. Prato, 4-7 glugno 2008, ed. by Mariangela Regoliosi word formation. Thus the aspergulum (holy- (Florence: Edizione Polistampa, 2010), I, pp. 299-319, esp. pp. 3i2f. water sprinkler)—described by Perotti as 'new, 62 Folengo, Praef. Tusc. III, p.284: 'qui macarones sunt but quite elegant'—is a retroformation of the quoddam pulmentum farina, caseo, botaro compagina- vernacular aspergolo, in competition with the tum, grossum, rude et rusticanum; ideo macaronices nil nisi grassedinem, ruditatem et vocabulazzos debet in se older asperglllum preferred by subsequent continere.' Translation by Ann E. Mullaney, http://www .folengo.com/1521%20Apologetica%20Oct%2022%20 2012.pdf (visited on 20/08/2013), with modifications. 63 An example of a text using both Latin and Italian is 60 The evidence is discussed by Rolandi Ferri and Phi- the testament of Franceschino da Cesena (1489), where lomen Probert, 'Roman Authors on Colloquial Language', the inventory of his books is in Latin, the rest in Italian, in Colloquial and Literary Latin, ed. by Eleanor Dickey and with interspersed Latin phrases. See Antonio Domeni- Anna Chahoud (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, coni, 'Un inventario relativo a un custode della Biblioteca 2010), pp. 12-41. Malatestiana. Frate Franceschino da Cesena (1489)', Studl CHAPTER 2 NEO-LATIN: CHARACTER AND DEVELOPMENT 35 with virtuosity between different registers of describes the fruits at the market as 'frisoles, Latin as required, and the vast reservoir of aguacates, guaiavae, mamei, zapotes, camotes, volgare-Latin hardly ever permeated the gicamae, cacomitae', and the other answers: spheres of a more refined style. Poetry seems to 'words unheard of, and fruits never seen' be even more impervious to words of vernacu­ ('Inaudita nomina, ut nunquam visi fructus!'); lar origin than prose; this may be due to more when a further list of wares elicits a bewildered rigid stylistic conventions, though words from 'strange words!' ('peregrina vocabula!'), the first the volgare could be employed for special sty­ interlocutor rejoins: 'As are ours to them' ('Ut listic effects.64 nostra ipsis').66 Here Latin has reached the lim­ Other European vernaculars also supplied its of its descriptive capacity. A Mesoamerican Latin with necessary words; the Acts of the audience will probably be able to connect the English Parlament (which are mostly written in words with native vegetables, but the inter­ Latin until the middle of the sixteenth century) locutors within the dialogue express the point brim over with words like adjornare (adjourn) of view of the Latinate reader elsewhere: when and billa (bill); the German burggravius and neither the res nor the verba can be integrated the Frisian grietmannus are two randomly into a known semantic universe, the strategies chosen examples from other vernaculars; Biondo had suggested for coping with innova­ for ease of use semantic duplication was not tion have reached their limits. Early in the six­ avoided (landsmannus, fellow countryman = teenth century Peter Martyr had in his De orbe compatriota). novo (The New World) explained the potato The spreading of new words often was a mul­ (batata) as an 'edible root similar to radish, tilateral phenomenon in which Neo-Latin was carrot, parsnip, turnip, and rape',67 thus offer­ just one of the European languages interacting ing a descriptive circumlocution which the with one another. This can be easily seen in the reader to whom the vegetable was unknown linguistic stimuli provided by new or increas­ might conceivably have found useful. But con­ ing contact with the New World or Islamic fronted with the sheer number of new things, and Eastern culture. Words which are now even circumlocution, the failsafe fallback strat­ commonplace in many European languages, egy, could not produce meaningful results any like porcellana, nicotiana, caphe, iughurta longer. The clash of cultures which could only (yoghurt), etc., have a Latinfortuna in conjunc­ affirm their mutual incomprehension was not tion with their spread through the European to be resolved by monolingual verbal strategies vernaculars. alone; even Neo-Latin—long used to integrate On the fringe of Neo-Latin we find words vernacular semantic units into a global con­ from the indigenous languages of the New text—could not always cope with the semantic World.65 The challenge of a world which Latin divide opened up by the contact with the for­ could hardly describe is excellently expressed eign worlds in the East and West. in the school dialogues written by Francisco Cervantes de Salazar in Mexico in 1554: the FURTHER READING more knowledgeable interlocutor of a dialogue Helander, Hans, 'Neo-latin Studies. Significance and Pros­ pects. SO Debate', Symbolae Osloenses 76 (2001), 5-44 romagnoli, 16 (1965), 171-189. In general see Giuseppe (pp. 5-39 on language), pp. 44-102 comments by Julia Patota, 'Latino e volgare, latino nel volgare', in // latino Gaisser, Yasmin Haskell, Heinz Hofmann (pp. 50-51 nell'eta dell'Umanesimo. Atti del Convegno di Mantova, on orthography, pp. 55-56 about Latin/vernaculars), 26-2/ ottobre 2001, ed. by Giorgio Bernardi Perini (Flor­ ence: Olschki, 2004), pp. 109-166. 64 Johann Ramminger, 'Marulus as a Neo-Latin Writer', Colloquia Maruliana, 20 (2011), 123-138, esp. pp. i37f. 65 See Andrew Laird, 'Latin in Cuauhtemoc's Shadow. 66 The example is taken from Cervantes Salazarus, Humanism and the Politics of Language in Mexico after Dial., pp. 140-142. the Conquest', in Latinity andAlterlty in the Early Modern 67 Petrus Martyr, Orb. Nov. 7,2,29: 'Sunt batatae radices Period, ed. by Yasmin Haskell andjoanita Ruys (Turnhout: comestibiles, uti apud nos raphani, caryotae, pastinacae, Brepols, 2010), pp. 169-200. napi et rapae.' 36 PART I LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION

Gerlinde Huber-Rebenich, Craig Kallendorf (pp. 64-65 in Literature and Language. Historicism and Anach­ on social construction of Neo-Latin texts), Walther ronism: Essays in Reception and Influence 46.1 (2004), Ludwig (pp. 69-71 on extent of knowledge of Neo- 107-148. Latin), Ann Moss (p. 74 on Neo-Latin and the European McLaughlin, Martin L., Literary Imitation in the Italian vernaculars), Minna Skafte Jensen, Karen Skovgaard- Renaissance. The Theory and Practice of Literary Imita­ Petersen, Francesco Tateo (pp. 82-84 on chronological tion in Italy from Dante to Bembo (Oxford: Oxford Uni­ considerations), Helander's reply (p. 86 about Latin/ versity Press, 1995). vernaculars, pp. 89-90 on orthography), important Rizzo, Silvia, 'I Latini dell'umanesimo', in Il Latino nell'eta bibliography. The entire dossier ranges pp. 5-102. dell'umanesimo. Atti del Convegno Mantova, 26-2/ Leeds, John, Against the Vernacular. Ciceronian Formal­ ottobre 2001, ed. by Giorgio Bernardi Perini (Florence: ism and the Problem of the Individual', Texas Studies Olschki, 2004), pp. 51-95.