Huck
Luigi Pulci wrote between 1460 and 1470 his "Morgante" on the sggestion of Lorenzo de Medici's mother, somehow related to the Orlando-theme, which then was known in Italy, but hadn't developed its strength. Somehow the news of this work must have come to Boiardo, who later worked on the same topic.
The opinion is expressed by Antonio Panizzi, that Boiardo started this work in 1472, after his journey to Rome, when he accompanied duke Borso, who became duke of Ferrara there (April 1471).
10 books of Antonio Panizetti to Orlando
http://books.google.com/books?q=editions:02CNBmhxREnxBB3CsI&id=Nn4XAAAAMAAJ
In this time Pulci was used by Lorenzo de Medici for diplomatic missions. It might well be, that Pulci was in Rome and that there was a communication between the two poets, which led to the later work of Boiardo (evidence for the contact between the poets is missing and searched by us).
In our own timeline ( http://trionfi.com/0/h/02/ ) we assume according other informations 1476 as the starting year ... well, the argument of Antonio Panizetti, who argues from the base of the Boiardo text is not bad. Perhaps 1472 has the better arguments.
Pulci invented two figures into the Orlando (at least I've read once an argumentation, that they were new): 2 giants, Morgante and Margutte, and about them you can read the following excerpt from
Stories from the Italian Poets: With Lives of the Writers
By Leigh Hunt (1846), p. 333 - 342
http://books.google.com/books?id=eFQJAAAAQAAJ&dq=boiardo
It's not Pulci, but a description of the Pulci-text with focus on the both giants. Before the given part there is a report how Orlando met Morgante, and made him his ally in the connected text, perhaps you find this also of interest also, but it's not as funny as the given excerpt.
Some passages I've set in bold texture for special reference, as these are just interesting parts in matters of Tarot, as well be argued below.
I hope, you're amused like me ... and perhaps you understand, that Pulci was a funny writer.
For matters of Tarot it's here of interest, that Morgante and Margutte are two giants:
a Charles VI. Tarocchi cards, given by estimation to "ca. 1470" ...
... and of special interest it is, that we see here some persons collecting stones and throwing stones.
Already the one-eyed giant in the Ulysses-story threw with stones and so it's not really a new topic, that Orlando and Morgante meet each other and become friends in a stone-throwing battle (not included in the excerpt).
But there are two giants, not only one:
... as the Charles VI hasn't a Magician, we have to look for the d'Este cards, there's the giant Magician.
The Charles VI. and the d'Este cards are given to Ferrara, so we see Ferrarese giants. In Ferrara is the poet Boiardo, not Pulci (Florence).
In the description of Margutte (as given above) we can gather following details: He's even bigger than Morgante (well, we know, that the Magician got the name "Le petit" - likely ironical, but he himself adds: ""I intended to be a giant myself, but altered my mind, you see, and stopped half-way ... ").
And also he tells: "People talk of the seven deadly sins; but I have seventy-seven that never quit me."
That's really an interesting detail ... as Pulci changed some of his texts in the later time, we cannot really say, when Pulci formed this statement for the first time, but in matters of Tarot, when one giant (= Fool) hears of another giant (= Magician), that he has 77 sins, then this might refer to the structure of the related deck.
As - I hope, you still know it - the discussion of Trionfi.com is more or less about the development of Tarot from a 5x14-deck to a deck with one Fool and 77 other cards, this is a rather interesting statement.
" ... [she] put Margutte into the kitchen, where he was in a state
of bliss. "
Margutte likes eating and he's good in cooking. Weve to remember, that Mercury representations in the d'Este/Sforza books, which looked similar to the Magician, also referenced "cooking". (which was here discussed earlier, I don't know where).
"A monkey had got the
boots, and sat pulling them on and off, making the
most ridiculous gestures."
The relation monkey-Magician was discussed here in broad details, especially considering the Cary-Sheet.
It's the moment, when Margutte died .. exploding cause of laughter.
Morgante died cause of the bite a crab ... The fans of the Cary-Sheet likely will recognize something in it.
Here the suspicion might be born, that Morgante, the Fool-giant was related to the Moon ... and suspiciously he asks Margutte: "Do you believe in Christ or in Apollo ?" (Apollo = Sun). Margutte explains: "I am the son, you must know, of a Greek nun and a Turkish bishop", which actually tells, that he comes from the east, and from east comes the sun.
And Orlando tells after the death of Morgante: ""He made the East tremble," said Orlando; "and the bite of a crab has slain him!"
The East (the sun, the morning) trembles cause of the evening and the Moon.
Morgante, the Moon, and Margutte, the Sun.
Actually there are 3 giants at the begin of Orlando's friendship with Morgante, and all three throw with stones (described in the not presented part). Two are killed by Orlando, Morgante becomes his friend: 3 giants - Star, Moon, Sun. One returns as Margutte.
When Pulci started to write the Morgante 1460 in Florence, in the same time Benoto Gozzoli painted the frecoes of the Medici Chapel. As surely everybody knows, these paintings showed the triumphal march of the three holy kings. As it is not known, but likely, the three holy kings were associated to Star, Moon and Sun (one these kings was black and this was the moon).
A little before Pulci's poem (started 1460) in France Rene d'Anjou had founded the knight order of the Crescent (the half-moon) with a lot of knightly romantic, which he lived later in his illuminated books. Pulci, of French origin and generally interested in this French stories, with security knew about these details.
"The crab bites Morgante". - likely the moon.
And Margutte is a "a gambler, a cheat, a ruffian, a highwayman, a pick-pocket, a glutton" - in short, le petit, le bagatello - likely the sun
And Orlando, the hero ... likely the star.
... if the "77 sins" don't lie, the Tarot game had 78 cards then. So we should observe with interests, that ... before all these adventures of Orlando and Morgante can take place, the problem of the castle with no doors had to be solved ... a devil had to be released.
Early Tarot hadn't a devil.
Pulci released it. In 1474/75 he was accused in Florence by other literary men (for instance Ficino) cause of heresies. Later, 1482, when he died there, he wasn't buried in "holy earth" cause of his blasphemies.
Although the "Morgante" wasn't printed till 1482 (in his death year), Pulci reached these effects.
From Boiardo's incompleted version we've the informations, that a first printing date was 1483 ...
[quote From our page]January 1483 - Boiardo leaves Modena; by February the Orlando Innamorato has been printed by Pietro Giovanni da San Lorenzo, a citizen of Modena. Boiardo is sometimes at Reggio and Scandiano, sometimes with the Duke at the capital. The first and second books of Orlando are completed. He was noted for turning to writing certain phases and episodes of the war in Italian ecologues in terza rima .[/quote]
... although at this time Ferrara is involved in war (1482 - 1484). The suspicion is given, that Ercole used the Boiardo text as a military weapon (demonstrating the cultural worth of Ferrara) or that the publication of attacked Pulci text caused the hasty edition of the Boiardo version.
[quote From our page].. the first two books of the Orlando Innomorato were published in Venice in 1487 with a dedication to the Duke of Ferrara.[/quote]
... and the publication was repeated in the year of the Lucrezia wedding.
The time of Pulci showed an increased interest in magic and an inscreased interest to persecute such things.
1462: Pius against Malatesta
1468: Accademia Romana, persecution of literates
1473: Persecution of Jews, starting in Florence, but mirrored in other Italian cities
1475: the Pulci Case
1478: all Florence is excommunicated
1484: Malleus Maleficarum, most influential work, which became the base to persecute 100.000's in the course of time
1486: Pico de Mirandola is persecuted
It seems, that a great part of this development happened according to Pope Sixtus and his influence. Pius II and the following Pope Paul stayed relatively harmless in their actions, but Sixtus consequently used this tool. Naturally one might also conclude, that time had changed with printing, and the raised "reactions" appeared according the higher possibilities of publication.
The opinion is expressed by Antonio Panizzi, that Boiardo started this work in 1472, after his journey to Rome, when he accompanied duke Borso, who became duke of Ferrara there (April 1471).
10 books of Antonio Panizetti to Orlando
http://books.google.com/books?q=editions:02CNBmhxREnxBB3CsI&id=Nn4XAAAAMAAJ
In this time Pulci was used by Lorenzo de Medici for diplomatic missions. It might well be, that Pulci was in Rome and that there was a communication between the two poets, which led to the later work of Boiardo (evidence for the contact between the poets is missing and searched by us).
In our own timeline ( http://trionfi.com/0/h/02/ ) we assume according other informations 1476 as the starting year ... well, the argument of Antonio Panizetti, who argues from the base of the Boiardo text is not bad. Perhaps 1472 has the better arguments.
Pulci invented two figures into the Orlando (at least I've read once an argumentation, that they were new): 2 giants, Morgante and Margutte, and about them you can read the following excerpt from
Stories from the Italian Poets: With Lives of the Writers
By Leigh Hunt (1846), p. 333 - 342
http://books.google.com/books?id=eFQJAAAAQAAJ&dq=boiardo
It's not Pulci, but a description of the Pulci-text with focus on the both giants. Before the given part there is a report how Orlando met Morgante, and made him his ally in the connected text, perhaps you find this also of interest also, but it's not as funny as the given excerpt.
Some passages I've set in bold texture for special reference, as these are just interesting parts in matters of Tarot, as well be argued below.
The Paladin and the giant quitted the abbey,
the one on horseback and the other on foot, and
journeyed through the desert till they came to a
magnificent castle, the door of which stood open.
They entered, and found rooms furnished in the
most splendid manner—beds covered with cloth
of gold, and floors rejoicing in variegated marbles.
There was even a feast prepared in the saloon, but
nobody to eat it, or to speak to them.
Orlando suspected some trap, and did not quite
like it; but Morgante thought nothing worth con
sidering but the feast. " Who cares for the host,"
said he, " when there's such a dinner ? Let us
eat as much as we can, and bear off the rest.
I always do that when I have the picking of
castles."
They accordingly sat down, and being very
hungry with their day's journey, devoured heaps
of the good things before them, eating with all
the vigour of health, and drinking to a pitch of
weakness. They sat late in this manner enjoying
themselves, and then retired for the night into
rich beds.
But what was their astonishment in the morning
at finding that they could not get out of the
place! There was no door. All the entrances had
vanished, even to any feasible window. "
We must be dreaming," said Orlando. "My dinner was no dream, I'll swear," said
the giant. "As for the rest, let it be a dream if
it pleases."
Continuing to search up and down, they at
length found a vault with a tomb in it; and out
of the tomb came a voice, saying, "You must
encounter with me, or stay here for ever. Lift,
therefore, the stone that covers me." "Do you hear that?" said Morgante; "I'll
have him out, if it's the devil himself. Perhaps
it's two devils, Filthy-dog and Foul-mouth, or
Itching and Evil-tail. [names of devils described by Dante]"
"Have him out," said Orlando, " whoever he
is, even were it as many devils as were rained out
of heaven into the centre."
Morgante lifted up the stone, and out leaped,
surely enough, a devil in the likeness of a dried-up
dead body, black as a coal. Orlando seized him,
and the devil grappled with Orlando. Morgante
was for joining him, but the Paladin bade him
keep back. It was a hard struggle, and the devil
grinned and laughed, till the giant, who was a
master of wrestling, could bear it no longer: so
he doubled him up, and, in spite of all his efforts,
thrust him back into the tomb.
"You'll never get out," said the devil, " if
you leave me shut up." "Why not ?" inquired the Paladin."
"Because your giant's baptism and my deliverance
must go together," answered the devil. "If
he is not baptised, you can have no deliverance;
and if I am not delivered, I can prevent it still,
take my word for it."
Orlando baptised the giant. The two compardons then issued forth, and hearing a mighty
noise in the house, looked back, and saw it all
vanished."
"I could find it in my heart," said Morgante, "to go down to those same regions below, and
make all the devils disappear in like manner.
Why shouldn't we do it ? We'd set free all the
poor souls there. Egad, I'd cut off Minos's tail—
I'd pull out Charon's beard by the roots—make
a sop of Phlegyas, and a sup of Phlegethon—
unseat Pluto,—kill Cerberus and the Furies with
a punch of the face a-piece — and set Beelzebub
scampering like a dromedary." "You might find more trouble than you wot
of," quoth Orlando, "and get worsted besides.
Better keep the straight path, than thrust your
head into out-of-the-way places."
Morgante took his lord's advice, and went
straightforward with him through many great adventures,
helping him with loving good-will as
often as he was permitted, sometimes as his
pioneer, and sometimes as his finisher of troublesome
work, such as a slaughter of some thousands
of infidels. Now he chucked a spy into a river —
now felled a rude ambassador to the earth (for
he didn't stand upon ceremony) — now cleared a
space round him in battle with the clapper of an old bell which he had found at the monastery —
now doubled up a king in his tent, and bore him
away, tent and all, and a Paladin with him, because
he would not let the Paladin go.
In the course of these services, the giant was
left to take care of a lady, and lost his master for
a time ; but the office being at an end, he set out
to rejoin him, and, arriving at a cross-road, met
with a very extraordinary personage.
This was a giant huger than himself, swarthy-
faced, horrible, brutish. He came out of a wood,
and appeared to be journeying somewhere. Morgante, who had the great bell-clapper in his hand
above-mentioned, struck it on the ground with
astonishment, as much as to say, "Who the devil
is this ?" and then set himself on a stone by the
way-side to observe the creature."
"What's your name, traveller ?" said Morgante, as it came up.
"My name's Margutte," said the phenomenon. "I intended to be a giant myself, but altered my
mind, you see, and stopped half-way; so that I
am only twenty feet or so." "I'm glad to see you," quoth his brother-
giant. " But tell me, are you Christian or Saracen ?
Do you believe in Christ or in Apollo ?"
"To tell you the truth," said the other, "I believe neither in black nor blue, but in a good
capon, whether it be roast or boiled. I believe
sometimes also in butter, and, when I can get it, in
new wine, particularly the rough sort; but, above
all, I believe in wine that's good and old. Mahomet's
prohibition of it is all moonshine. I am
the son, you must know, of a Greek nun and a
Turkish bishop; and the first thing I learned was
to play the fiddle. I used to sing Homer to it.
I was then concerned in a brawl in a mosque, in
which the old bishop somehow happened to be
killed; so I tied a sword to my side, and went to
seek my fortune, accompanied by all the possible
sins of Turk and Greek. People talk of the
seven deadly sins; but I have seventy-seven that
never quit me, summer or winter; by which you
may judge of the amount of my venial ones. I
am a gambler, a cheat, a ruffian, a highwayman, a
pick-pocket, a glutton (at beef or blows); have no
shame whatever; love to let everybody know what
I can do; lie, besides, about what I can't do;
have a particular attachment to sacrilege; swallow
perjuries like figs; never give a farthing to any
body, but beg of every body, and abuse them into
the bargain ; look upon not spilling a drop of
liquor as the chief of all the cardinal virtues; but
must own I am not much given to assassination,
murder being inconvenient; and one thing I am
bound to acknowledge, which is, that I never
betrayed a messmate."
"That's as well," observed Morgante; "because
you see, as you don't believe in any thing
else, I'd have you believe in this bell-clapper of
mine. So now, as you have been candid with me,
and I am well instructed in your ways, we'll pursue
our journey together."
The best of giants, in those days, were not
scrupulous in their modes of living; so that one of
the best and one of the worst got on pretty well
together, emptying the larders on the road, and
paying nothing but douses on the chops. When
they could find no inn, they hunted elephants and
crocodiles. Morgante, who was the braver of the
two, delighted to banter, and sometimes to cheat,
Margutte; and he ate up all the fare; which
made the other, notwithstanding the credit he gave
himself for readiness of wit and tongue, cut a very
sorry figure, and seriously remonstrate: " I reverence
you," said Margutte, " in other matters;
but in eating, you really don't behave well. He
who deprives me of my share at meals is no friend;
at every mouthful of which he robs me, I seem
to lose an eye. I'm for sharing every thing to a
nicety, even if it be no better than a fig."
"You are a fine fellow," said Morgante; "you
gain upon me very much. You are 'the master
of those who know.'"
So saying, he made him put some wood on the
fire, and perform a hundred other offices to render
every thing snug; and then he slept: and next
day he cheated his great scoundrelly companion at
drink, as he had done the day before at meat; and
the poor shabby devil complained; and Morgante
laughed till he was ready to burst, and again and
again always cheated him.
There was a levity, nevertheless, in Margutte,
which restored his spirits on the slightest glimpse
of good fortune; and if he realised a hearty meal,
he became the happiest, beastliest, and most confident
of giants. The companions, in the course
of their journey, delivered a damsel from the
clutches of three other giants. She was the daughter
of a great lord; and when she got home, she
did honour to Morgante as to an equal, and put
Margutte into the kitchen, where he was in a state
of bliss. He did nothing but swill, stuff, surfeit,
be sick, play at dice, cheat, filch, go to sleep,
guzzle again, laugh, chatter, and tell a thousand
lies.
Morgante took leave of the young lady, who
made him rich presents. Margutte, seeing this,
and being always drunk and impudent, daubed his
face like a Christmas clown, and making up to her
with a frying-pan in his hand, demanded "something
for the cook." The fair hostess gave him a
jewel; and the vagabond shewed such a brutal
eagerness in seizing it with his filthy hands, and
making not the least acknowledgment, that when
they got out of the house, Morgante was ready to
fell him to the earth. He called him scoundrel
and poltroon, and said he had disgraced him for
ever.
"Softly!" said the brute-beast. "Didn't you
take me with you, knowing what sort of fellow I
was ? Didn't I tell you I had every sin and shame
under heaven; and have I deceived you by the
exhibition of a single virtue ?"
Morgante could not help laughing at a candour
of this excessive nature. So they went on their
way till they came to a wood, where they rested
themselves by a fountain, and Margutte fell fast
asleep. He had a pair of boots on, which Morgante
felt tempted to draw off, that he might see
what he would do on waking. He accordingly
did so, and threw them to a little distance among
the bushes. The sleeper awoke in good time, and
looking and searching round about, suddenly burst
into roars of laughter. A monkey had got the
boots, and sat pulling them on and off, making the
most ridiculous gestures. The monkey busied
himself, and the light-minded drunkard laughed;
and at every fresh gesticulation of the new boot-
wearer, the laugh grew louder and more tremendous,
till at length it was found impossible to be
restrained. The glutton had a laughing-fit. In
vain he tried to stop himself; in vain his fingers
would have loosened the buttons of his doublet, to
give his lungs room to play. They couldn't do it;
so he laughed and roared till he burst. The snap
was like the splitting of a cannon. Morgante ran
up to him, but it was of no use. He was dead.
Alas! it was not the only death; it was not
even the most trivial cause of a death. Giants are
big fellows, but Death's a bigger, though he may
come in a little shape. Morgante had succeeded
in joining his master. He helped him to take
Babylon; he killed a whale for him at sea that
obstructed his passage; he played the part of a
main-sail during a storm, holding out his arms and
a great hide; but on coming to shore, a crab bit
him in the heel; and behold the lot of the great
giant—he died! He laughed, and thought it a
very little thing, but it proved a mighty one.
"He made the East tremble," said Orlando; "and
the bite of a crab has slain him!"
I hope, you're amused like me ... and perhaps you understand, that Pulci was a funny writer.
For matters of Tarot it's here of interest, that Morgante and Margutte are two giants:
a Charles VI. Tarocchi cards, given by estimation to "ca. 1470" ...
... and of special interest it is, that we see here some persons collecting stones and throwing stones.
Already the one-eyed giant in the Ulysses-story threw with stones and so it's not really a new topic, that Orlando and Morgante meet each other and become friends in a stone-throwing battle (not included in the excerpt).
But there are two giants, not only one:
... as the Charles VI hasn't a Magician, we have to look for the d'Este cards, there's the giant Magician.
The Charles VI. and the d'Este cards are given to Ferrara, so we see Ferrarese giants. In Ferrara is the poet Boiardo, not Pulci (Florence).
In the description of Margutte (as given above) we can gather following details: He's even bigger than Morgante (well, we know, that the Magician got the name "Le petit" - likely ironical, but he himself adds: ""I intended to be a giant myself, but altered my mind, you see, and stopped half-way ... ").
And also he tells: "People talk of the seven deadly sins; but I have seventy-seven that never quit me."
That's really an interesting detail ... as Pulci changed some of his texts in the later time, we cannot really say, when Pulci formed this statement for the first time, but in matters of Tarot, when one giant (= Fool) hears of another giant (= Magician), that he has 77 sins, then this might refer to the structure of the related deck.
As - I hope, you still know it - the discussion of Trionfi.com is more or less about the development of Tarot from a 5x14-deck to a deck with one Fool and 77 other cards, this is a rather interesting statement.
" ... [she] put Margutte into the kitchen, where he was in a state
of bliss. "
Margutte likes eating and he's good in cooking. Weve to remember, that Mercury representations in the d'Este/Sforza books, which looked similar to the Magician, also referenced "cooking". (which was here discussed earlier, I don't know where).
"A monkey had got the
boots, and sat pulling them on and off, making the
most ridiculous gestures."
The relation monkey-Magician was discussed here in broad details, especially considering the Cary-Sheet.
It's the moment, when Margutte died .. exploding cause of laughter.
Morgante died cause of the bite a crab ... The fans of the Cary-Sheet likely will recognize something in it.
Here the suspicion might be born, that Morgante, the Fool-giant was related to the Moon ... and suspiciously he asks Margutte: "Do you believe in Christ or in Apollo ?" (Apollo = Sun). Margutte explains: "I am the son, you must know, of a Greek nun and a Turkish bishop", which actually tells, that he comes from the east, and from east comes the sun.
And Orlando tells after the death of Morgante: ""He made the East tremble," said Orlando; "and the bite of a crab has slain him!"
The East (the sun, the morning) trembles cause of the evening and the Moon.
Morgante, the Moon, and Margutte, the Sun.
Actually there are 3 giants at the begin of Orlando's friendship with Morgante, and all three throw with stones (described in the not presented part). Two are killed by Orlando, Morgante becomes his friend: 3 giants - Star, Moon, Sun. One returns as Margutte.
When Pulci started to write the Morgante 1460 in Florence, in the same time Benoto Gozzoli painted the frecoes of the Medici Chapel. As surely everybody knows, these paintings showed the triumphal march of the three holy kings. As it is not known, but likely, the three holy kings were associated to Star, Moon and Sun (one these kings was black and this was the moon).
A little before Pulci's poem (started 1460) in France Rene d'Anjou had founded the knight order of the Crescent (the half-moon) with a lot of knightly romantic, which he lived later in his illuminated books. Pulci, of French origin and generally interested in this French stories, with security knew about these details.
"The crab bites Morgante". - likely the moon.
And Margutte is a "a gambler, a cheat, a ruffian, a highwayman, a pick-pocket, a glutton" - in short, le petit, le bagatello - likely the sun
And Orlando, the hero ... likely the star.
... if the "77 sins" don't lie, the Tarot game had 78 cards then. So we should observe with interests, that ... before all these adventures of Orlando and Morgante can take place, the problem of the castle with no doors had to be solved ... a devil had to be released.
Early Tarot hadn't a devil.
Pulci released it. In 1474/75 he was accused in Florence by other literary men (for instance Ficino) cause of heresies. Later, 1482, when he died there, he wasn't buried in "holy earth" cause of his blasphemies.
Although the "Morgante" wasn't printed till 1482 (in his death year), Pulci reached these effects.
From Boiardo's incompleted version we've the informations, that a first printing date was 1483 ...
[quote From our page]January 1483 - Boiardo leaves Modena; by February the Orlando Innamorato has been printed by Pietro Giovanni da San Lorenzo, a citizen of Modena. Boiardo is sometimes at Reggio and Scandiano, sometimes with the Duke at the capital. The first and second books of Orlando are completed. He was noted for turning to writing certain phases and episodes of the war in Italian ecologues in terza rima .[/quote]
... although at this time Ferrara is involved in war (1482 - 1484). The suspicion is given, that Ercole used the Boiardo text as a military weapon (demonstrating the cultural worth of Ferrara) or that the publication of attacked Pulci text caused the hasty edition of the Boiardo version.
[quote From our page].. the first two books of the Orlando Innomorato were published in Venice in 1487 with a dedication to the Duke of Ferrara.[/quote]
... and the publication was repeated in the year of the Lucrezia wedding.
The time of Pulci showed an increased interest in magic and an inscreased interest to persecute such things.
1462: Pius against Malatesta
1468: Accademia Romana, persecution of literates
1473: Persecution of Jews, starting in Florence, but mirrored in other Italian cities
1475: the Pulci Case
1478: all Florence is excommunicated
1484: Malleus Maleficarum, most influential work, which became the base to persecute 100.000's in the course of time
1486: Pico de Mirandola is persecuted
It seems, that a great part of this development happened according to Pope Sixtus and his influence. Pius II and the following Pope Paul stayed relatively harmless in their actions, but Sixtus consequently used this tool. Naturally one might also conclude, that time had changed with printing, and the raised "reactions" appeared according the higher possibilities of publication.