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the emperor's niece Gerberga. It was in the epic that
Bhe achieved her first poetic successes: these were her
well-known " Legends , which were followed by two
long epic poems in praise of the imperial house (see
Hroswitha).
The chroniclers and historians of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries but seldom use verse in their narratives, their works being intended above all else for strictly historical purposes. Histories in verse, however, were not wanting. Thus Flodoard records in legendary fashion almost the whole ecclesiastical history of the first ten centuries. Walter of Speyer wrote during the same period the first " Legend of St. Christopher", and an unknown poet composed "The Epic of the Saxon War" (of Henry IV). Other poets wrote on the Crusades, Walter of Ch&tillon even ven- tured on an " Alexandreis", while Hildebert produced a " Historia Mahumetis" in verse.
The Humanists of the twelfth and thirteenth cen- turies are characterized by a closer approach to an- cient classical form . Mar bod (d . II 23) was a scholarly poet, and left behind a considerable number of legencis and didactic aphorisms. His younger contemporary Hildebert of Tours also wrote a fair number of re- ligious poems: more important are the two "Roman Elegies", in which he treats of the remains of ancient Rome and the sufferings of the papal capital under Paschal II. Most artistic in its conception and execu- tion, is his fragment " Liber mathematicus", in which the tragical complications caused by the superstitious fear arising from an unfavourable horoscope are de- picted. That the medieval Scholastics could combine theological knowledge with humanistic culture may be seen from the works of the two scholars John of Salisbury and Alanus de Insulis. That the influence of this humanistic culture was unfortunately not always for good, the notorious prurient narratives of Matthew of Vend6me prove. In the days of the goliards there were also poets who depicted in verse contemporary events. Thus the achievements of Barbarossa were sung by no less than three poets.
Humanism attained its full bloom in the era of the Renaissance, which began in Italy. Dante gives strong evidence of this movement, as does even more strongly Francesco Petrarch, whose epic "Africa" en- joyed wide renown. Giovanni Boccaccio, a contem- porary of the preceding, belongs ratlier to Italian literature, although he also cultivated Latin poetry. The himoanistic movement found favourable reception and encouragement everywhere. In Florence there sprang up about the Augustinian monk. Luigi Marsigli (d. 1394), a kind of literary academy lor the cultiva- tion of ancient literature while in the following cen- tury the city of the Medici developed into the literary centre of all Italy. Most representatives of the new movement preserved their close connexion with the Church, altnough a few isolated forerunners of the great revolt of the sixteenth century already made their appearance. The seeds of this religious revolu- tion were sown by the lampoons and libidinous poems of such men as Poggio Bracciolini, Antonio Beccadelli, and Lorenzo Valla. MafTeo Vegio on the other hand followed the purely humanistic direction of the true Renaissance; he added a thirteenth book to Virgil's " iEneid", making the poem conclude with tiie death of iGneas. He also composed poetic versions of the " Death of Astyanax" and "The Golden Fleece", and still later composed a " Life of St. Anthony". An epic eulogizing the elder Hunyadi was begun by the Hungarian Janus Pannonius, but unfortunately left unfinished. A legendary poem of an entirely original character is the " Josephma", written in twelve cantos by John Gerson, the learned chancellor of the Univer- sity of Paris. It reminds us of a similar poem by Hroswitha, though the apocryphal narratives taken from the so-called Gospel of St. James are marked by
greater deoth. Humanism was planted in Germany
by Petrarcn during his residence there as ambassador
to Charles IV, with whom he corresponded after his
departure. 'The interest in humanistic studies was
abo spread by Mne&s Silvius at the Council of
Basle.
As in Italy, the movement rapidly developed every- where, evincing at first a religious tenaency but afterwards becoming hostile to the Church. In the century preceding the "Reformation", indeed, the foremost representatives of Humanism remained true to the ancient Faith. Conrad Celtes, although his four books of "'Amores are a reflection of his dissolute life, sang later of Catholic truths and the lives of the saints. Similarly Willibald Pirkheimer (d. 1528) among many others, notwithstanding his satire *'Ec- cius desolatus", remained faithful to the Church. On the other hand Eoban Hessus, Crotus Rubeanus, and above all Ulrich von Hutten espoused the cause of the new doctrine in their highly satirical writings. A somewhat protean character was displayed by Desid- erius Erasmus of Rotterdam, whose early works in- clude hymns to Christ and the Virgin Mary. " Laus stultitise", a satire on all the estates after the fashion of Brant's "NarrenschifT", was written in seven days to cheer his sick friend, Thomas More. In England es- pecially at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the humanistic movement developed along the same lines as in Germany. The first direction was given to the movement mainly by Thonuis More, whose "Utopia" (1515) is world renowned. In Italy the Renaissance movement continued into the sixteenth century. Sadolet's poem on "The Laocoon Group" is known throughout the literary world, while his epic on the heroic death of Caius Curtius is equally fin- ished. Not less famous is Vida's " Christiad " : he also wrote didactic poems on "Silk-worms" and "Chess". Among the more important works of this period must also be included Jacopo Sannazaro with his classically finished epic "De partu Virginis", at which he la- boured for twenty years. His " Naenia" on the death of Christ also merits every praise. The example of Vida and Sannazaro spurred numerous other poets to undertake extensive epical works, of which none at- tained the excellence of their models.
In other countries also the new literary movement continued, although it produced richer fruit in the field of dramatic and lyric poetry than in epic poetry. The singular attempt of Laurenz Rhodomannus to compose a "Legend of Luther" in opposition to the Catholic legend deserves mention on account of its peculiarity. Among the works of the dramatists we also meet with more or less ambitious attempts at epic verse. This is especially true of the dramatists of the Society of Jesus. J. Masen's " Sarcotis ", for example, enjoys a certain fame as the proto-type of Milton's "Paradise Lost" and Vondel's "Lucifer". Bieder- mann and Avancini also composed small epic narra- tives. Balde produced many epical works; his "Ba- trachomyomachia" is an allegorical treatment of the Thirty Years' War, and his " Obseauies" of Tilly bring to light many interesting particulars concerning the mat general. He also celebrated in verse the heroic death of Dampierre and Bouo^uois. Not least among his works is his " Urania Victnx ". But, instead of ac- cumulating further names, let us bring forward just a few of the more important poems: the " Puer Jesus" of Tommaso Ceva must be placed in the front rank of idyllic compositions; the "Life of Mary" (2086 dis- tichs) of the Brazilian missionary, Venerable Joseph de Anchicta, is a model for similar works. During the nineteenth century the Latin epic more or less cen- tred around the endowment of the rich native of Amsterdam, Jacob Henry Hoeufft, who founded a competitive prize for Latin poetry. Peter Esseiva, a Swiss, is the best-known prize winner: he celebrated in beautiful classical verse and brilliant Latin such mod-
