The Correspondence of Coluccio Salutati (Vol. 1)

...and the submissive love of reverence [impel me] to weary your Highness with this unpolished page, and to wish to lead you, occupied as you are with the greatest affairs of a new kingdom (1), to read these uncultivated and unadorned lines, which, upon seeing the unknown name of your humble servant, you ought to deride even before you have read them.

may he deign to grant kind pardon; for what he wishes to tell him

I beseech you, however, most mild of princes, that you do not disdain to look upon these things, such as they are. For, although by their roughness they may not soothe in the reading the most delicate ears of your Majesty, accustomed to lofty and exquisite discourses; although they can add nothing to your virtues, by which you shine with a wondrous light of splendor above the royal height,

it will not be useless to the new sovereign,

yet, when read with a calm mind, they will be able to do no harm. You will see, indeed, what I and many others feel concerning you and your glory;

This is a copy made at the end of the 18th century by Father T. Verani, of the Augustinian congregation of Lombardy, from a 15th-century manuscript, or rather probably one from 1469, which existed in the library of the convent of S. Maria del Popolo in Rome, where he was then residing. This is indeed what we learn from this note preceding the letter: "From a paper codex of the 15th century in-4° of the library of Santa Maria de Popolo of the City." Some codices once belonging to that library are today in the Angelica in Rome; among them, however, I have not happened to find the one mentioned here. In the Vatican codex, which is a miscellany by various hands of the 15th-16th centuries (paper, misc. 22 X 30, of 128 leaves), only the periods relating to the Guelphs and Ghibellines are reported from the letter. Finally, some lines on the same subject (cf. p. 31, ll. 2-6) with the indication "Co. Salutati to King Charles" are found transcribed by a fifteenth-century hand on the front flyleaf of cod. Laur. Pl. LXXXIX inf. 38; cf. BANDINI, Cat. codd. mss. lat. bibl. Med. Laur. III, 397.

(1) The news of Charles of Durazzo's entry into Naples and the entire conquest of the kingdom, reaching Florence with great delay on September 10, 1381, filled all minds with joy and was celebrated with public festivals; Diario d'anon. fiorent. p. 430. Then on the 14th, the Signoria replied to the letter of the fortunate victor with another very long congratulatory letter, which must certainly be numbered among the most eloquent to issue from the pen of S.; State Archives in Florence, Miss. reg. 19, c. 170 B. C. Certainly in the midst of such exultation, the reason for which would be poorly understood unless one reflected that from the victory of the Durazzese the end of the schism was hoped for, and "peace in Florence and throughout the world," S. must have conceived the desire to manifest to the young prince the particular interest he took in his successes. I estimate therefore that precisely in the same month of September Coluccio set his hand to this letter, notable both for the historical details it contains and for the ideas expressed therein concerning the duties of rulers, not drawn from stale theories, but derived from practice and history.

But if the letter was begun with lively momentum, it was not, however, pursued with equal enthusiasm; I even doubt...