Zaggia mentions a couple of literary references. I'll get them and add to this post.Phaeded wrote: 30 Jun 2023, 14:32
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
Here they are, page 6:
Dante, Inferno 15:67-69, Allen Mandelbaum translation http://www.worldofdante.org/inferno1.html:Visconti's letter, quite astutely, does not speak of political actualities. Instead it begins by addressing a stereotype, a "blason populaire", which held that the Florentines were blind, or short-sighted. This was a well-known saying about the Florentines, one that Boccaccio and others traced to an anecdote in which the Florentines were duped by people from Pisa. Dante also referenced this in his Inferno, saying of Florentines that an age-old rumor called them blind (Inf. 15.67).
Brunetto Latino is speaking:
I haven't looked up what Boccaccio might have said.Vecchia fama nel mondo li chiama orbi;
gent' è avara, invidiosa e superba:
dai lor costumi fa che tu ti forbi.
The world has long since called them blind, a people
presumptuous, avaricious, envious;
be sure to cleanse yourself of their foul ways.
Added: found it in the commentaries at the Dartmouth Dante Project https://dante.dartmouth.edu/, Boccaccio's commentary on the Inferno, written 1373-1375:
ChatGPT translation, slightly amended:[Esposizione litterale] Poi segue: Vecchia fama nel mondo gli chiama orbi, cioè ciechi. Della qual fama si dice esser cagione questo: che, andando i Pisani al conquisto dell'isola di Maiolica, la quale tenevano i Saracini, e a ciò andando con grandissimo navilio e per questo lasciando la lor città quasi vòta d'abitanti, non parendo loro ben fatto, pensarono di lasciare la guardia di quella al Comun di Firenze, del quale essi erano a que' tempi amicissimi; e di ciò richestolo e ottenuto quello che disideravano, promisono, dove vittoriosi tornassero, di partire col detto Comune la preda che dell'acquisto recassono. E, avendo i Fiorentini con grandissima onestà servata la città e i Pisani tornando vincitori, ne recarono due colonne di porfido vermiglio bellissimo e porti, di tempio o della città che fossero, di legno, ma nobilissimamente lavorate: e di queste fecero due parti, ché posero dall'una parte le porti e dall'altra le due colonne coperte di scarlatto e diedero le prese a' Fiorentini, li quali, senza troppo avanti guardare, presono le colonne: le quali, venutene in Firenze e spogliate di quella vesta scarlatta, si trovarono essere rotte, come oggi le veggiamo davanti alla porta di san Giovanni. Or voglion dire alcuni che i Pisani, essendo certi che i Fiorentini prenderebbono le colonne, acciò che essi non avesser netto così fatto guiderdone, quelle abronzarono e in quello abronzare quelle esser così scoppiate; e, acciò che i Fiorentini di ciò non s'accorgessono, le vestirono di scarlatto: e perciò, per questo poco accorgimento de' Fiorentini, essere loro stato allora imposto questo sopranome, cioè ciechi, il quale mai poi non ci cadde. Ma, quanto è a me, non va all'animo questa essere stata la cagione, né quale altra si sia potuta essere non so. Seguono, appresso, troppo più disonesti cognomi: e volesse Idio che non si verificassero ne' nostri costumi, più che si verifichi il sopradetto!
"[Literal exposition] Then it follows: Old fame in the world calls them orbi (blind), that is, blind (ciechi). The cause of this is said to be as follows: when the Pisans went to conquer the island of Maiolica, which was held by the Saracens, and in doing so, they left their city almost empty of inhabitants, thinking it improper, they decided to leave the guard of the city to the Florentine Republic, with whom they were very friendly at that time. They requested and obtained what they desired, and promised that if they returned victorious, they would share the spoils of the conquest with the said Republic. The Florentines, with great honesty, guarded the city, and when the Pisans returned victorious, they brought back two beautiful columns of red porphyry, whether from a temple or from the city, made of wood but nobly crafted. They divided them into two parts, placing the gates on one side and the two columns covered in scarlet on the other, and they gave the gates to the Florentines, who, without looking too closely, accepted the columns. However, when they arrived in Florence and removed the scarlet coverings, they found the columns to be broken, as we see them today in front of the San Giovanni Gate. Now, some say that the Pisans, knowing that the Florentines would take the columns, so that they would not receive such a fine reward, charred them, and in charring them, they burst. And to prevent the Florentines from realizing this, they dressed them in scarlet. And because of this lack of awareness on the part of the Florentines, this nickname, that is, blind, was imposed on them, which has stuck with them ever since. But as for me, I do not believe this was the cause, nor do I know what other cause it could have been. Following this, there are much more dishonorable surnames, and may God prevent them from occurring in our customs, as much as the aforementioned one has!"
But Visconti says his source was one of his confidants, which may be Decembrio himself.
