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Sbaker Political Petrarchism POLITICAL PETRARCHISM: THE RHETORICAL FASHIONING OF COMMUNITY IN EARLY MODERN ITALY Steve Baker Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Steve Baker All rights reserved Abstract Political Petrarchism: The Rhetorical Fashioning of Community in Early Modern Italy Steve Baker Engaging with a variety of literary and historical sources, in both prose and verse, including letters, chronicles, treaties and the neo-Latin epic, this dissertation examines the centrality of the classically-informed, philosophical idea of friendship (amicitia) in the community-building discourse of Francesco Petrarca’s Italy. The first chapter examines Petrarch’s treatment of Scipio Africanus as humanistic leader and idealized friend in the Africa. The second chapter proposes a reading of Cola di Rienzo as the first “political Petrarchist” and contextualizes his epistolary campaign to unify mid-fourteenth century Italy. The third chapter explores Petrarch’s politics of familiaritas in the letters he addressed to leaders of prominent Italian city-states attempting to reconcile old friends. This study presents an analysis of the rhetorical strategies underlying Petrarch’s career as public intellectual, diplomat and poet. Table of Contents Chapter One Of Poets and Princes: The Poetics of Petrarch’s Politics A Cultural Revolution 1 Manifesto of European Humanism 5 The Coronation and its Aftermath 11 The Poetics of Petrarch’s Politics 17 Aim, Method, Scope 18 Paradoxical Petrarchism 23 Chapter Two Pronus amicitias amplectere: The Sentimental Education of the Statesman in Petrarch’s Africa Ad altra vita et a più belle imprese 28 The Poetics of Petrarch’s Pedagogical Project 31 An Overview of the Africa 32 In Defense of the Commonwealth 34 The True-Hearted Friend 43 Amicitia as Political Alliance 51 Scipio’s Cult of Friendship 57 Iunctis animis, corporibus separantur 59 Chapter Three The First Political Petrarchist: Cola di Rienzo’s Politics of Antiqua amicitia Cola di Rienzo’s Petrarchan Politics 65 Ad antiquam amicitiam renovandam 72 The Language of Coalition Building in 14th Century Italy 75 The First Political Petrarchist 80 The Reception of Cola di Rienzo’s Epistolary Politics 81 i Chapter Four Ad comunis epystole lectionem: Pan-Italian Familiaritas and Petrarch’s Community of Friends The Iugum of Friendship 92 Florentinum ac parthenopeum decus 96 A Rhetoric of Familiaritas 100 The “Birds of a Feather” Model 111 The Propinquitas Model 114 Amicitiae memoria 116 Chapter Five Mediator pacis: The Petrarchan Humanist from Psychological Self-Control to Political Self-Rule Petrarchan Politics and the Rhetoric of Humanitas 121 Calcar alienae industriae 125 The Mediator of Political and Psychological Peace 130 Affective Petrarchan Diplomacy 137 Epilogue From Parlar indarno to Inutilis orator 143 Appendix 1 Petrarch’s 1373 Venetian Oration Translation from the Cronica volgare carrarese 151 Appendix 2 Petrarch’s Familiares Analytical Chart Highlighting Political Themes 153 Works Cited 184 ii List of Abbreviations Works of Petrarch Rvf Rerum vulgarium fragmenta (Canzoniere) Fam Rerum familiarium libri (Le familiari) Sen Rerum senilium libri (Le senili) De Viris De viris illustribus Africa Africa Sine Nom. Liber sine nomine Other Abbreviations RIS Rerum italicarum scriptores iii Acknowledgments This study had its origin in my first encounter with Cola di Rienzo. I was particularly struck by one aspect of Cola’s meteoric career as Roman tribune, namely, his mid-fourteenth century attempt to unify Italy. As I dug deeper I was surprised by the extent to which the poet and humanist Francesco Petrarca was either implicated or directly involved in virtually every stage of Cola’s formation, rise and tragic fall. What drove the self-proclaimed solitary singer of Laura to intervene in the revolutionary politics of his time? As I immersed myself further in Petrarch’s writings in Latin, particularly his letters, the outlines of a dynamic diplomat, adviser and correspondent began to emerge. Many beloved mentors also emerged over the course of writing and researching this dissertation. I am particularly grateful to Kathy Eden for her friendship and support through all of our collaborations over the last several years. I treasure all the intellectual and personal joys she has brought into my life, but I am especially indebt to her insights into the rhetorical tradition and the rediscovery of intimacy in the Renaissance. I am also grateful to Jo Ann Cavallo for her patience and encouragement every step of the way; to Alan Stewart for his camaraderie and careful attention to detail as a reader of my work; to Paolo Valesio for enriching my life with poetry; and to Jim Mirollo for being such a joyous and enthusiastic interlocutor. I feel fortunate to have been graced with so many talented peers and graduate student mentors during my time at Columbia: Stefan Pedatella, Zane Mackin, Patrizio Ceccagnoli, Gian Maria Annovi, Davide Bolognesi, Akash Kumar, Julie Van Peteghem, Juliette Nussbaum, Saskia Ziolkowski, Lynn Mackensie and Seth Fabian. It has been my distinct pleasure to grow in the iv unique light of each and every one of you. I would also like to thank Lani Muller and the rest of the faculty of the Department of Italian at Columbia University not only for their administrative support but also for the academic stimulation they have provided me over the years. Teodolinda Barolini, Luciano Rebay, Andrea Malaguti, Flora Ghezzo, Barbara Spinelli, Maria Luisa Gozzi and Paola Nastri, my thoughts turn to all of you and the wonderful memories we share. I extend a special thank you also to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University for the opportunity to pursue such a profoundly rewarding experience of inner-personal and intellectual growth. I remain forever changed. A huge debt of gratitude I owe to my loving mother for instilling a passion for books and reading in my life from an early age and to my dear father for engraining into the core of my very being the drive to always finish everything I start. None of this would have been possible, however, without the love and support of my wonderful partner in life and in art, Denise Filauro. For her dedication to our common cause, I dedicate this to her. v Alla mia poetessa, perché tutto è poetabile. vi Chapter One Of Poets and Princes: The Poetics of Petrarch’s Politics A Cultural Revolution Much has been made – and much will be made here – of Petrarch’s momentous discovery of Cicero’s collection of familiar letters to his friend Atticus, the so-called Ad Atticum.1 Uncovered in 1345 in Verona, it undoubtedly marked a turning point in the development of both Petrarch’s thought and the subsequent evolution of Renaissance humanism.2 Yet, at the same time, relatively little has been made of Petrarch’s analogous discovery in 1333 of the Roman orator’s famous oration in defense of the poet Archias, the Pro Archia.3 The importance of this early discovery cannot be overstated.4 Stumbling upon the neglected manuscript in a monastery library in Liège, the twenty-nine-year-old recent law school drop-out struck upon not only an impassioned validation of his decision to pursue a life in letters but also a platform from which to launch the cultural revolution of Renaissance humanism.5 1 On Petrarch’s discovery of Ad Atticum in 1345, see Kirkham, “A Life’s Work” in Petrarch: A Critical Guide to the Complete Works, p. 21 ff.: “As a ‘born-again’ ancient, Petrarch made his greatest manuscript discovery in the Verona cathedral library, the sixteen books of Cicero’s Ad Atticum along with two minor collections, to the Roman orator’s brother Quintus and to Brutus. From these, which the classics detective excitedly transcribed over several weeks in the spring of 1345 (a period when he also came to know Dante’s son Pietro Alighieri), Petrarch took the tremendous idea of collecting his own letters.” See also Billanovich, “Dall’Epystolarum mearum ad diversos liber ai Rerum familiarium libri XXIV,” pp. 1-55. 2 On the influence of the Ad Atticum on Petrarch and Renaissance letters, see Witt, “Medieval Ars Dictaminis and the Beginnings of Humanism: A New Construction of the Problem”; Eden, The Renaissance Rediscovery of Intimacy, pp. 49 ff.; and Fantazzi, “General Introduction” in Vives, De conscribendis epistolis. 3 On Petrarch’s discovery of the Pro Archia, see Seniles XVI, 1. During a grand northern European tour he took under the aegis of his Colonna patronage in 1333, Petrarch made a detour to visit a monastery in Liege (Belgium) reputed to be rich in manuscripts. It was there that he found and quickly copied two 2 In just the first few pages of Cicero’s defense of the poet Archias, Petrarch found what would become the blueprint for much of his long and illustrious career.6 With its themes of the “elevating influence of poetry” (III, 6), the role of friendship and patronage in Archias’ life (III, 6), the question of pan-Italian Roman citizenship under the Lex Iulia and the Lex Plauta Papiria (IV, 6-7), and its praise of the study of the classics (VI, 12-14), the Pro Archia resonates in far- ranging ways through Petrarch’s humanistic project, from his literary works to his epistolary politics, from the Africa to his support for Cola di Rienzo’s quixotic attempt to resurrect the Roman republic and unify Italy. hitherto unknown Ciceronian orations, the Pro Archia and the apocryphal Ad milites romanae, one of which he quickly copied and had a friend copy the other. Since Petrarch’s travel expenses were covered by the Colonna, Wilkins (Studies in the Life and Work of Petrarch, pp. 5-8) assumes that he probably also served in some kind of official way, either as messenger or cultural attaché or diplomat.
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