Filippo Maria Visconti sent Poggio Bracciolini a letter on 28 July 1438, to which Poggio replied on 15 September.

See Ann Mullaney and Massimo Zaggia, “Florence 1438: The Encomium of the Florentina Libertas Sent by Poggio Bracciolini to Duke Filippo Maria Visconti” (2020)

https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/han ... /14329.pdf

One of the questions about the letter is why Visconti chose to write Poggio rather than the Florentine Signoria or the Chancellor, Leonardo Bruni. Mullaney and Zaggia cite 19th century Poggio biographer William Shepherd's opinion to suggest that Visconti "may have been hoping to make a separate pact with the Medici regime against Venice." (a peace between Florence and Milan had already been made on 30 March. On Shepherd, pages 328 to 333 are well worth reading for his insights https://books.google.fr/books?id=F40NAA ... &q&f=false )

This seems to be an adequate explanation of the ulterior motive for the letter. But I wonder about something else, which they do not address. In the opening paragraph of his letter, Visconti explains that the occasion of his letter is that through one of his confidants he heard that Poggio had said that there would be no one better than he, Visconti, to dispel a traditional anti-Florentine insult:

Ex quorundam nostrorum relatione fidelium intelleximus, eruditissime vir, amice noster dilectissime, saepenumero te quaestum extitisse, Florentinos cives a nonnullis impudenti quadam et satis proterva appellatione caecos dici, eamque probatissimis et optimis viris falso inscripti nominis infamiam a nullo melius quam a dignitate nostra posse deleri.

“From the report of certain of our confidants we have understood that, O most erudite man, our dearest friend, many times a complaint has been put to you, that Florentine citizens are named by some, with an impudent and rather brazen designation, blind; and you assert that the infamy of this label falsely attributed to the most esteemed and excellent men can be expunged by no one better than by our authority.” (Shepherd's astute observations on this paragraph (page 329): "It appears from the commencement of Filippo's letter, that some persons having stigamatized the Florentines as a short-sighted people, Poggio had remarked that the duke of Milan was well qualified to prove the contrary. The duke, affecting not to be sensible of the sarcasm couched in this observation, professed to be greatly flattered by the high opinion which Poggio appeared to entertain of his talents..." [Shepherd notes some examples of the proverbial slur about the Florentines' "blindness"; Mullaney and Zaggia note it as far back as Dante and Boccaccio, while Shepherd notes 15th and 16th century examples])

Would anyone care to speculate on who this confidant, who would have known Poggio well enough to understand the breach between him and Bruni regarding the Medici, might have been?

Every city-state had spies in every other city-state, picking up and transmitting rumors - not only from Florence, but also from other sources connected with Florence, e.g.. Pisanello, who had been in Florence not long before and might have been looking for commissions; he would not be the confidant, however. My guess is that Filippo's confidant would have been the same Decembrio who drafted the letter, not because he knew Pogio well (I have no idea, but it is possible) but because he would have been the spy-master and one of the few people that Filippo trusted. And of course Decembrio knew a lot about the "heroes" deck (but said nothing about the standard tarot, or even the Modrone or Brera-Brambilla). That reminds me - I have to get the translation of Decembrio's book (my interlibrary loan request is in as I write).

mikeh wrote: 21 Jun 2023, 02:02 My guess is that Filippo's confidant would have been the same Decembrio who drafted the letter, not because he knew Pogio well (I have no idea, but it is possible) but because he would have been the spy-master and one of the few people that Filippo trusted. And of course Decembrio knew a lot about the "heroes" deck (but said nothing about the standard tarot, or even the Modrone or Brera-Brambilla).

That's a plausible guess, judging by Decembrio's peregrinations in Visconti's service. If so, Decembrio must have known that Poggio would recognize the source of Filippo Maria's knowledge of the quip. A quick Googling survey doesn't bring up any hostility between Poggio and Decembrio. Ianziti notes (Tyrants, p. 291 note 127) that Decembrio wrote a letter to Poggio on 14 April 1438 (in the 1984-1987 edition of his letters). I find one of his to Decembrio in the Tonelli 1859 edition, vol. 2.1 pages 187-188, written on 17 September 1438, which is quite affectionate. The reason for his being in his home in Terranuova just south of Florence instead of at the council in Ferrara is because of the plague. He is happy to have read Candido on behalf of the duke, and apologizes for taking so long to write back. We learn that Cosimo himself transmitted the letter, which Decembrio must have sent to the curia in Ferrara, which then passed it on to Cosimo to send to Poggio.

Poggius pl. sal. dicit Candido suo.

Cum ex Ferraria cum omni familia in patriam, hoc est. ad natale solum revertissem, misit ad me vir clarissimus Cosmus de Medicis praestantissimi ac optimi principis Ducis Mediolani litteras, allatas ex Curia Romana, quae multis ex causis maxima voluptate me affecerunt. A te autem summa cum elegantia, ita prudenter et graviter scribitur, ut a Candidi officina ipso dicendi ornatu et dignitate emanasse epistola videatur. Verum ut fit redeuntibus longo postliminio domum , ita multa mihi incubuerunt ; multa enim audienda: plura videnda nonnulla agenda erant; rusticationi insuper, et rei familiari constituendae in primis vacandum fuit ut nullus vacaret respondendi locus. Coepi etiam aedificatiunculam quamdam pro diversorio studiorum meorum, in qua libri mei absente me quiescant. Appellarem bibliothecam, si librorum paucitas mereretur. Cum tamen inter occupatiunculameas e vestigio respondissem ad litteras, rescribendi postmodum laborem fugiens, nam coepit propter aetatem ingravescere calamus distuli epistolam diutius quam aequum erat. Abest enim librarius meus, qui me ab hujusmodi molestiis liberare consuevit. Tandem exaravi epistolam, cum paulum a negotiis quievissem, et eam mitto ad Episcopum Cumanum, qui deferendam, ac tradendam curet. Ego pestem fugi ad Penates meos, ubi me oblecto cum meis libellis; querebantur enim paulum me tamdiu ab illis abfuisse. Itaque m eorum consuetudinem rediens, do eis paulisper operae vacuus curis. Vale, et mihi rescribe, quid tibi de epistola videatur, et an principi sit accepta, scripsi enim, quae suae dignitati et utilitati apta esse videbantur. In Terra Nova die XVII. Septembris.

ChatGPT translation (slightly corrected by me):

"Poggio sends many greetings to his Candido.

"When I had returned from Ferrara with my whole family to the homeland, that is, to my birthplace, the most distinguished man Cosimo de' Medici sent me a letter conveyed from the Roman Curia, from the most excellent and noble prince of the Duchy of Milan, which greatly delighted me for many reasons. However, your letter was written with the utmost elegance, wisdom, and seriousness, so much so that it seemed to have originated from the very workshop of Candidus himself, with its eloquence and dignity. But as it happens upon returning home after a long absence, many things burdened me; there were many things to be heard, more to be seen, and some to be attended to; moreover, I had to dedicate myself primarily to the task of arranging family affairs so that there would be no room left for idleness. I also began to construct a small building for my studies, where my books could rest in my absence. I would call it a library if the scarcity of books deserved it. However, amidst my various occupations, I promptly replied to your letter, but in order to avoid the burden of writing later, for my pen began to grow heavy due to my advancing age, I postponed the letter longer than was proper. For my librarian, who used to free me from such troubles, is absent. Finally, when I had a little respite from my tasks, I drafted the letter and I send it to the Bishop of Como, who will take care of delivering and handing it over. I fled the pestilence to my own household gods, where I find delight with my books; for they complained that I had been absent from them for too long. Thus, upon returning to their company, I spend a short time with them free from cares. Farewell, and write back to me about your thoughts on the letter and whether it has been well received by the prince. I wrote what seemed appropriate to his dignity and benefit. In Terra Nova, on the 17th of September."

That reminds me - I have to get the translation of Decembrio's book (my interlibrary loan request is in as I write).

Do you mean the Gary Ianziti and Massimo Zaggia Lives of the Milanese Tyrants? Absolutely, a standard reference now.

Ah, Decembrio's letter to Poggio of 14 April 1438 was published in the appendices to Tommaso Tonelli's translation into Italian of Shepherd's biography of Poggio, 1825.

Google this phrase "equidem monstrum quoddam" to get several Google Books examples, e.g.

https://books.google.fr/books?id=btlqjn ... 22&f=false

It's a long letter. I'll copy and ChatGPT it later.

Yes, please do post it, and the translation, if you think there is anything there of interest.

One sentence in Poggio's letter stood out for me:

I fled the pestilence to my own household gods, where I find delight with my books; for they complained that I had been absent from them for too long.

Perhaps a joking demi-deification of his heroes.

One sentence in Poggio's letter stood out for me:
I fled the pestilence to my own household gods, where I find delight with my books; for they complained that I had been absent from them for too long.
Perhaps a joking demi-deification of his heroes.

There was a plague in Ferrara, at least in late 1438, which was the reason, why the council was moved to Florence. The Ferrarese part of the counciil knew a lot of literary activities, which might have attracted Poggio to spend some time there.
.... compare http://trionfi.com/poggio-guarino-ferrara

At another occasion Poggio tried to reconcile the young Ludovico Gonzaga with his father (p. 291 - 296). Poggio earned some honour of the Mantuan signore during the council in Ferrara (1438), and finally - after some years - the trouble disappeared, although it became the source for a lifelong conflict between Ludovico and his brother Carlo.

... reference: The Life of Poggio Bracciolini
by William Shepherd
Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman, 1837 - 462 Seiten
https://books.google.de/books?id=tcUEAA ... edir_esc=y

mikeh wrote: 21 Jun 2023, 11:31 Yes, please do post it, and the translation, if you think there is anything there of interest.

It is just a long and detailed denunciation of Tommaso Morroni da Rieti (1408-1476). Not sure if there's anything of interest to us in it.

Nadia Covini's 2012 biography in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani is here:
https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/to ... rafico%29/

On the letter, she says something confusing to me, attributing the authorship of Decembrio's letter to Poggio?

Bracciolini, che si vantò addirittura di aver fatto incarcerare Morroni, era anche autore di una lettera altrettanto infamante, firmata dall’umanista milanese Pier Candido Decembrio.

"Bracciolini, who even boasted of having Morroni imprisoned, was also the author of an equally defamatory letter, signed by the Milanese humanist Pier Candido Decembrio."

Huck wrote: 21 Jun 2023, 14:18

At another occasion Poggio tried to reconcile the young Ludovico Gonzaga with his father (p. 291 - 296). Poggio earned some honour of the Mantuan signore during the council in Ferrara (1438), and finally - after some years - the trouble disappeared, although it became the source for a lifelong conflict between Ludovico and his brother Carlo.

... reference: The Life of Poggio Bracciolini
by William Shepherd
Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman, 1837 - 462 Seiten
https://books.google.de/books?id=tcUEAA ... edir_esc=y

Maybe this Ludovico is the young man Decembrio reports as having told him about Tommaso Morroni's fight with Poggio. The letter of 14 April opens:

Ludovicus noster juvenis profecto eruditissimus , et qui te non modo diligit , sed obnixius observat , e Bononia nuper rediens , cum ad me visendi causa venisset , multa ex se memoriter aliis de rebus , ut assolet , plura vero a me rogatus de te retulit , inter quae nonnulla bile digna recensuit . Thomam quemdam Reatinum contra te cepisse arma , ac nescio quid impudenti ore balbutire , quod tua opera exclusus sit a Secretariatus dignitate .

"Our Ludovico, indeed a most learned young man, who not only loves you, but observes you eagerly, recently returning from Bologna, came to me to visit and, as usual, he recounted many things from memory about various matters, but when asked by me, he mentioned even more about you, among which he recounted some noteworthy bile. He mentioned a certain Thomas Reatinus who took up arms against you and stammered something impudent with his audacious mouth, claiming that he was excluded from the dignity of the Secretariat by your efforts."

Lodovico Gonzaga ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_ ... _of_Mantua

Ludovico was the son of Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga and Paola Malatesta daughter of Malatesta IV Malatesta of Pesaro.
Ludovico followed the path of his father, Gianfrancesco, fighting as a condottiero from as early as 1432, when Gianfrancesco was vice-commander of Francesco Bussone's army.[3] In 1433, he married Barbara of Brandenburg,[2] niece of emperor Sigismund.[3]
Starting from 1436 (perhaps without the approval of his father)[3] he entered the service of the Visconti of the Duchy of Milan. The result was that Gianfrancesco exiled Ludovico from Mantua, together with his wife,[3] naming Carlo Gonzaga as heir. However, in 1438 Gianfrancesco himself was hired by the Visconti, and reconciled with Ludovico in 1441.[3] Ludovico succeeded to the marquisate of Mantua in 1444,[4] although part of the family fiefs went to his brothers Carlo, Gianlucido and Alessandro.[3] At the time, the Mantuan state was reduced in size and in poor conditions after years of war and large expenses.[3]
etc.

There was a longer conflict between Ludovico and his brother Carlo, which lasted at least till 1454 and the peace of Lodi. .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Gonzaga_of_Milan
Lionello d'Este had married a sister of the Gonzaga brothers in 1435, Margherita. She got a son in 1438 and died 1439. The son became a big problem for Ercole d'Este later.
Ludovico married in 1433 Barbara von Brandenburg (11 years old then, 1422-1481). Her father was Johann the alchemist (1406-1464), and her grand-father was Friedrich I. von Brandenburg (1371-1440), who was involved in the Syttich-society, which recently was topic in the pope and donkey-thread.
viewtopic.php?p=25748#p25748

Ross Caldwell wrote: 21 Jun 2023, 09:49 Filippo Maria Visconti sent Poggio Bracciolini a letter on 28 July 1438, to which Poggio replied on 15 September.
...
One of the questions about the letter is why Visconti chose to write Poggio rather than the Florentine Signoria or the Chancellor, Leonardo Bruni. Mullaney and Zaggia cite 19th century Poggio biographer William Shepherd's opinion to suggest that Visconti "may have been hoping to make a separate pact with the Medici regime against Venice." (a peace between Florence and Milan had already been made on 30 March.

mikeh wrote: 21 Jun 2023, 02:02 My guess is that Filippo's confidant would have been the same Decembrio who drafted the letter, not because he knew Pogio well (I have no idea, but it is possible) but because he would have been the spy-master and one of the few people that Filippo trusted. And of course Decembrio knew a lot about the "heroes" deck (but said nothing about the standard tarot, or even the Modrone or Brera-Brambilla).

That's a plausible guess, judging by Decembrio's peregrinations in Visconti's service. If so, Decembrio must have known that Poggio would recognize the source of Filippo Maria's knowledge of the quip. A quick Googling survey doesn't bring up any hostility between Poggio and Decembrio.

If personal hostility is part of the calculus here, Filelfo should of course be considered. Exiled from Florence in Siena for five years (where the Medici try to have him assassinated, again), he ends up in the Milanese court the very next year in 1439. Visconti's court, I would hazard, must have already been in contact with Filelfo in 1438 and were offering to shut him up (a bribing commission with a caveat to shut up about the Medici?); when that ruse failed, Visconti brought him to Milan and Filelfo immediately poured out some of his most heated invectives on the Medici, before and after Anghiari (the Satires and On Exile being the most notable).

Shepherd is right in that Visconti's goal in writing to Poggio, a Medici partisan whom Filelfo had already engaged in a very public war of words (an ally of hated Niccolo de Niccoli), was to keep the Medici/Florence out of Duke Visconti's eastern campaigns. That heats up by June 1438 with Piccinino invading the Bresciano (see M. King, 245); Visconti's letter is in July, clearly in the context of Venice trying to renew a "holy league" with Florence and the Pope, and with Poggio working off and on again in the Curia, now living ion Florence, was the understood as the perfect conduit for the Duke's peace overtures.

Ultimately that three year long campaign involves Sforza who cannot help Florence at the critical hour (he's in Brescia) and his relative Attendolo is sent instead and is present at Anghiari in 1440 (Malatesta is also sidelined via pressure from the Duke). The Duke's loss of allied Ravenna to Venice is also central in this time period (Marcello was sent there to shore things up for Venice). The now famous first mentioning of trionfi is all in the context of these eastern/Romagna campaigns, where Florentine/Papal help is finally sent to Malatesta in his own Forli-area counter-campaigns.

As for the key line: "that Florentine citizens are named by some, with an impudent and rather brazen designation, blind", consider that condition as a very barbed humanist one, since one of the highest virtues was conceived of as three-eyed/faced: Prudence. To be blind was stulticia. Cupid is also blind, and cupidity is a common taunt, which ultimately leads to foolishness.

As for Filelfo and the Medici, don't have time at the moment to go through his voluminous writings for "blindness" jabs, but see D. Robin's Filelfo in Milan , pp 40-41 where he complains already in 1433 to Traversari in a letter as to why does Lorenzo (Cosimo's brother) "avert his face whenever he passes me" and then in 1437 "I have no wish for Cosimo de Medici's friendship, the false goodwill of a hostile heart; moreover, I have stoutly fortified myself with the arms of prudence that I fear no treachery." Definitely smoke around the blind/prudence motif.

But for it to have made it to Milan and be mentioned in a letter from there, there must be some reference to blind/ness in a published work, pre-1438.

Phaeded