Page:The Book of the Courtier.djvu/587

NOTES TO THE SECOND BOOK OF THE COURTIER Note 148, page 75. This passage reflects the medico-philosophical theories which the Renaissance inherited from antiquity, and which regarded "the vital spirits " as something far more tangible and material than what we call the principle of life or vital spark. Compare the early conception of elec- tricity as a fluid substance. "Complexion" is of course here used to mean temperament or constitution, and not the mere colour and texture of the skin. Note 149, page 77. Duke Filippo Maria Visconti, (born 1391; died 1447), was the son of Giangaleotto and Caterina Visconti, and brother of Giovanni Maria Visconti, whom he succeeded as Duke of Milan in 1412. He married Bea- trice di Tenda (widow of Facino Cane), who brought him nearly a half million of florins dowry, besides her husband's soldiers and cities, and thus enabled him gradually to win back the Lombard part of his father's duchy, which his bro- ther had lost. He was very ugly in person, and so sensitive that he rarely appeared in public. Wily but unstable, he was continually plotting schemes that seemed to have no object, and he mistrusted his own generals, even Francesco Sforza, who turned against him, forced him to a ruinous peace, and after his death was soon able to seize his duchy. In him the cruel selfishness of the Renaissance tyrant did not degenerate into mad thirst for blood, as in the case of his terrible brother. He read Dante, Petrarch and French romances of chivalry, and even dallied with the Latin classics, but genuine learning was neglected and despised at his court. Duke BORSO D'ESTE, (born 1413; died 1471), like his brother and predecessor, was a natural son of Duke Niccold III. Kindly and just, he was idolized by the Ferrarese and especially by the women. He patronized letters and art and was fond of splendid living, yet in spite of the luxury of his court, he left a treasure of about a million pounds sterling. The art of printing was estab- lished at Ferrara shortly before his death. He appears to have been himself ignorant of Latin, and encouraged the literary use of Italian and the study of French romance. Histories of Ferrara, as well as the writings of contempo- rary humanists, are full of his generous deeds. His mild sway passed into a proverb, and the time of "the good Duke Borso" was long remembered as a kind of golden age. Note 150, page 77. NICCOl5 Piccinino, (born 1380; died 1444), was so hum- bly born as to possess no other surname than that conferred on him in ridicule of his small stature. Having served under the famous Braccio da Montone, he married the latter's niece, and achieved such distinction as a soldier as to share with Francesco Sforza the fame of being the first condottiere of his day. 355