Europe (c.1400-1458)

Dedication Letter

DEDICATION LETTER T o Antonio, called Lérida, presbyter cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and his most reverend father, Aeneas, cardinal of Siena, a man of equal rank but unequal merit, sends warmest greetings.1 When I had an attack of the gout recently and was suffering from my customary joint pains,2 a German bookseller3 came to me with a small book containing not so much the deeds as the names—and a little about the characters—of the Roman emperors up to Wenceslas , son of Charles IV.4 Since four emperors seemed to be missing from the work5 (for its author, Benvenuto da Imola,6 had died under 49 1. Aeneas’s other writings shed little light on his relationship with Spanish cardinal Antonio de la Cerda or Cerdá y Lloscos (1390–1459). In the Commentaries, for instance, de la Cerda appears a decent but somewhat self-interested figure who helps elect Aeneas pope in the conclave of 1458. We can glean some sense, however, of Aeneas’s interest in de la Cerda from his biographical details. Trained in theology at Lérida, he became a high-ranking official in the papal curia and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1448, making him the first and only cardinal created by Nicholas V on that date. He also had the strong support of Alfonso V of Aragon, who pushed for his election as bishop and cardinal. Like Aeneas, de la Cerda traveled extensively, visiting monasteries in England, Scotland, and Ireland. Finally, he was viewed as a friend and supporter of humanists and helped Aeneas with many theological questions; see Dizionario biografico degli italiani (Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia, 1979), vol. 23; hereafter, DBI. Thanks to Ron Patkus for help on this question. 2. Aeneas’s problems with arthritis or gout began in 1435 on a diplomatic voyage to Scotland; see the introduction for further discussion of his illness. 3. The term librarius can also mean copyist or librarian. 4. Emperor Wenceslas (r. 1378–1400); Emperor Charles IV (r. 1346–78). 5. Emperors Rupert (r. 1400–10); Jobst (1410–11); Sigismund (1411–37); Albert II (1438–39). 6. Benvenuto da Imola (c. 1330–87/88), author of the Augustalis libellus, a list of Ro- 50 Dedication Letter Wenceslas), the bookseller asked me to add to the book what was lacking. I was unwilling to disappoint the man and completed the succession of emperors up to our own era, imitating the brevity of my predecessor. But when I considered the many great achievements within the Christian world from the time when Frederick7 received power to this day, I decided to compose a separate work, in which I would commit to posterity a concise account of some notable events belonging to this era. I have therefore published a short history and dedicated it to you. Since you suffer from the same disease as I do, you will easily have time to read and appraise my writings during an attack of gout. It would have been worthwhile, I confess, to compose a history of events from the beginning of our era up until the present, as I have often intended. But that project would have required more than a single attack of gout—especially one occurring during the fast of Lent. The gout loves my residence and no sooner departs than it happily returns. Perhaps, then, it will one day serve this purpose . Farewell, and if you stumble upon a criticism of someone that is overly harsh, ascribe it not so much to my nature as to the torments of gout. And if anything strikes you as ignorant, foolish, or ridiculous , take up your pen and delete it.               Rome, March 29, 14588 man emperors accompanied by brief notices of the years of their reigns, battles, and genealogies. 7. Frederick III (1415–93), Holy Roman Emperor from 1440–93. 8. Despite the date of this letter, Aeneas continued to write or add to the work through the summer, possibly as late as August 1458; see the introduction for more on this. ...