Vito, and
the small house in which his father Francesco was born, is still to be seen
on the shore of Codomada.
the small house in which his father Francesco was born, is still to be seen
on the shore of Codomada.
Sarpi - 1868 - Life of Fra Paolo Sarpi
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handle.
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hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
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? THE LIFE
OF
FRA PAOLO SARPI
-v-Wm AAIW
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? THE LIFE
OF
FRA PAOLO SARPI, .
TIIEOLOGIAN AND COUNSELLOR OF STATE TO THE MOST SEBENE REPUBLIC
OF vENICE, AND AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.
BY
ARABELLA GEORGINA CAMPBELL
FROM GRIGINAL MSS.
" A MAN WHOSE FAME MUST NEVER DIE, TILL VIRTUE AND LEARNING BECOME
so usznEss AS now TO BE 1u:c. mma:D. " Bishop Sanderson.
LONDON:
MOLINI Q' GREEN, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND.
M. DCCC. LXIX.
[The right Of lramlflion is reserved 1.
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? 96
6 71. 5/7
/Z/ff//E
/? 69
INTRODUCTION
. The following pages are the result of the investigation
and research of many years.
The autograph " Vita di Fra Paolo Sarpi, " the lifeof
Fra Paolo Sarpi by Fra Fulgenzio Micanzio, was only
discovered A. D. 1849 in the Archives of Venice, where I
myself examined it under special favor, and was at the
same time graciously permitted to peruse ' the WHOLE col-
lection of Fra Paolo's MSS. of which there are twenty
nine volumes folio.
Not more celebrated were the inhabitants of Brescia for
their fidelity to ancient Rome, than was Fra Fulgenzio of
Brescia for his fidelity to Fra Paolo of Venice, and his
name is associated for ever with Paolo, as his true and
devoted friend. The learned world owe a tribute of lasting
gratitude to Fulgenzio, as the " faithful and accurate
writer of the life of Paolo Sarpi, " 1 of whom the Cava-
liere Cicogna justly affirms, " that there is no man of
tolerable education who is ignorant. " Of the same Order,
for upwards of forty years occupant of the same convent,
Fulgenzio was no ordinary judge either of the religion,
genius, or attainments in learning and science of Fra
' B-ayle.
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? VI INTRODUCTION
Paolo. Fulgenzio was a man of high aim, and found in
Paolo a guide to truth, to heaven. He was Professor of
Philosophy at Bologna, and the correspondent of many of
the learned. There are letters extant from Galileo to Ful-
genzio, and one to him from Lord Bacon which accompa-
nied the treatise "De Augmentis Scientiarum. " While
these letters demonstrate the esteem in which Fulgenzio
was held by these illustrious men, his appointment as
Theologian and Counsellor to the Republic of Venice on
the death of Sarpi shows, that the Doge, Senate, and
Council of Ten deemed Fulgenzio worthy to be his
successor.
Griselini's work, "I1 Genio di Fra Paolo Sarpi, " in
which he occupies four hundred pages with an account of
the genius and learning of Fra Paolo, as well as the MSS.
and work of Foscarini, " Della Letteratura Veneziana, "
have furnished much valuable 'matter, and a few of the
names of the Authors consulted for this volume will be
found in the Appendix. '
As throughout his long life Paolo took a lively interest
in the politics of Europe his biography would be incom-
plete without some historical notice of the period in which _
he lived, and I have chiefly followed as to dates the Chro-
nicles of Sansovino, Martinioni, and that of the late Cava-
liere Cicogna, for whose assistance at Venice I shall always
consider myself indebted. Besides the Archives, the Mar-
ciana, and the private libraries of Venice, the Nazionale,
the Riccardi and the Laurentian libraries of Florence
were frequently visited. To the late Count Dandalo, Di-
rector General of the Archives of Venice, to the Signor
Luigi Pasini, to the Abbate Valentinelli, the Librarian of
the Marciana, to the Vice-Librarian, to the Coadjutor,
Signor G. B. Lorenzi, and to all the directors and ofiicials
of these renowned institutions, as well as to those of the
Bibliothe? que Imperiale of Paris, the libraries of s. G8ne? 1
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? INTRODUCTION VII
vieve, the Sorbonne, chc. d2c. , my warmest thanks are due;
and I must not omit to repeat the same to the Director of
the valuable Library of Boulogne sur Mer.
To Mr. Winter Jones, of the British Museum, my spe-
cial thanks are most gratefully offered.
Mr. Rawdon Brown, the well known author of the
" Calendar of State Papers relating to English affairs
existing in the Archives and collections of Venice, " most
kindly permitted me to copy the despatches " of the
Most Illustrious Ambassador Francesco Contarini, " the
valuable originals of which, as well as the translations, are
in his possession at Venice.
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? THE LIFE
OF
FRA PAOLO SARPI.
CHAPTER I.
A. >>. 1552 - an. 1565.
Doors or VENICE 1545. Francesco Donato. 15 3. M. A. Trevisano. J' .
1554. Francesco Veniero. '$6,. . 0! J 72? ;
Sovnnmoss or GERMANY AND SPAIN. 1519. Charles V. 1555. hilip II.
1558. Ferdinand. 1564. Maximilian II.
EuemnD. 1547. Edward VI. 1553. Mary 1558. Elizabeth.
Fnnncn. 1547. Henry III. 1559. Francis II. 1560. Charles IX.
TunxEv. 1520. Soliman'II. 1556. Selim II.
Porns. 1550. Julius III. 1555. Marcellus II. 1555. Paul IV.
IJN? IMN/N
Birth. - Parents. - Morelli. - Education - Capella. - Pietro resolves to be a friar,
takes the habit of a Servite, and the name of Paolo. - Disputation.
/ The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were remarkable eras in the
history of the world, both as to civil and ecclesiastical polity, and amid
the struggles of the nations of Europe to maintain their independence of
papal power, none offered a more determined resistance than the Republic
of Venice against Pope Paul V. This was chiefly attributable to the
counsel of Fra Paolo Sarpi, a Friar of the 'Order of the Servites, who was
summoned from his Convent by the Doge and Senate, and appointed their
Theologian. , He Was a remarkable man of his own or of any other age,
and his whole life is replete vith interest. Of true piety, of unsullied inte-
grity, of lofty aspiration, of sound judgment, and of rare genius, if ever
there lived a man whose heart glowed with pure and disinterested love to
his country, with great and noble purpose, with calm but strong resolve
to uphold her most sacred rights, that man was Paolo Sarpi. He was
known in his earliest youth by the name of Pietro, and Was born at Ve-
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? 2 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1552-1665.
nice on the fourteenth of August A. D. 1552, and was the son of Fran-
cesco Sarpi and Isabella Morelli. ' His ancestors were of S.
Vito, and
the small house in which his father Francesco was born, is still to be seen
on the shore of Codomada. His mother was of a family which enjoyed the
rights of the original citizens of Venice; and as the Venetians Were divi-
ded into three classes, nobles, citizens and people, the descendants of the
original citizens Were proud of their position.
Francesco was a merchant of Venice, but his ill success there and at
Soria must be ascribed to the turbulence of a spirit, which preferred war
and bloodshed to the calm routine of a life of commerce. His dark and
terrible visage, and short stature contrasted strongly with the fair com-
plexion, beautiful features, and stately form of his wife Isabella, who to the
charms of beauty added piety, wisdom, humility, and gentleness. Her
hours were given to devotion and fasting, while Francesco's were spent
in feats of arms.
Pietro resembled his mother, especially in the full dark eyes,/which
even to old age lighted up his finely formed features. Their expression
was penetrating, but not inquisitive, calm yet resolute. The Whole face
bespoke intellect' of no ordinary power, blended with an extreme modesty,
and taught of heaven, his mind was early impressed with those principles
of religion for which throughout life he was so distinguished. In infancy,
Pietro was so small that he was called Berino, or little Peter, and he con-
tinued to be short in stature.
In childhood, he was silent and grave, but early misfortune may have
contributed to cloud his brow, and for a time have robbed him of that
cheerfulness which he afterwards evinced, even in his deepest sorrows. The
death of his father left his mother and sister in reduced circumstances,
when he was of such tender age as to be unable to lend them aid, and this
could not fail to produce a deep impression on his mind.
But generous succour came, and in this exigency his maternal uncle,
Morelli, a priest of the Collegiate church of S. Ermacora, nobly rescued
Isabella and her children, Heriuo and his sister, from their forlorn condi-
tion, and not only provided for their maintenance, but devoted himself
with well directed energy to Herino's education; and both he and Isabel-
la " fostered those seeds of true religion, which by divine aid were in pro-
gress of time so fully developed, like the grain of mustard seed to which
our Saviour compares the kingdom of heaven. " '
Morelli was the Head of a school of high classical repute, to which the
nobles of Venice sent their sons, and thus Berino had the advantage of
1 Vita di F. P. Sarpi, MS.
3 Ibid.
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? am 1-13. ] FRA mono sanm. B
being educated with youths, who were destined in after years to fill the
most influential positions in the state; and they, attracted by his genial
and pleasing manners, formed friendships with him which were only
severed by death. .
The good Morelli soon discovered Berino's aptitude for learning,
taxed his abilities to the utmost, and, alive to the value of that rare
union which he found in Herino of a retentive memory combined with
profound judgment, resolved to cultivate both to their full extent. He
obliged him to recite much by heart, as Well as to repeat verbatim what
was once read to him, and in order to exercise his judgment, required him
to Write frequent compositions, but it is to be regretted that not one of
these earliest productions of his pen has escaped the destructive hand of
time. The Fathers of the Servi, who Were conversant with his great lear-
ning, related marvellous anecdotes of his memory, but Perino assured
them seriously, that his uncle had never asked him to repeat more than
thirty lines of Virgil, or any author, after having heard them only once.
Having soon acquired proficiency in the Latin language, as well as in
the other branches of a solid and classical education, Herino proceeded to
_ higher attainments. Mathematics, in youth and in age, may be said to have
been one of his favorite recreations. Philosophy, even in his boyhood, was
not left unexplored, and Logic, to a mind so capable of its perception, was
peculiarly attractive.
In this study he was assisted by Capella of Cremona, who was deeply
versed in the abstruse theology of Duns Scotus, and who having discer-
ned the great genius of Perino, read logic with him. Apparently this was
an act of condescension, or at least of kindness, to the youthful student,
but Capella soon avowed that his pupil, not only advanced opinions in
opposition to his own, but proved them by such force of reasoning that
he was constrained to adopt them, and confessed that he could teach him
nothing more. Capella, however, was the means of gaining the youthful
Sarpi to the Order of the Servi. He was one of the Servites, and being
then resident at their great convent in the neighborhood of the house of
Morelli, Perino had thus constantly associated with the Friars, and was
so satisfied with their manner of life as to long to be one of their
number.
His grave and silent disposition, added to his love of learning, tended to
foster in his mind a desire for the cloister. To devote his time to God, and
to be able to pursue his studies without molestation, appeared to him pre-
ferable to the life of a priest, which his mother and his uncle Morelli had
resolved that he should be. In fact, they provided him with a habit similar
to that of the priests of S. Ermacora, and endeavored by harsh treatment
to extort submission to their wishes; but Perino was not to be overcome.
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? 4 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1552-1565.
I;
4-Md
'07;-u7/
Ki unha
All their efforts were unavailing; one of the Servi, and one of the Servi
only, would Perino be.
. The tonsure could not be given without parental authority; ' the
time of this ceremony was yet distant, but even for permission to join the
Servi as a novice, he had to wait in patient hope. He knew that being a
native of Venice, according to the rules of the Servites, he could be receiv-
ed into their principal convent, and their eagerness to display his talents
immediately after his reception, affords strong proof that these Friars wish-
ed to number Perino amongst them.
The pomp and glitter of the great world seemed to have little place in
his mind. He was not insensible to the advantages of rank or position, but
even in his early youth his mind rose to the magnificence of eternity;
he weighed time and the things of time in the balance of true wisdom,
and on no occasion did he betray that love of splendour common to the
Venetians. This people, gifted by nature with a climate so favorable to
display, were accustomed in the time of Sarpi to expend their wealth upon
all that could minister either to luxury or to ease. ' The palaces of the
nobles were adorned within by the matchless efforts of the pencil of Ti-
tian , for twenty four years Sarpi's contemporary, as well as by the
works of Paul Veronese, Tintoretto, and other great masters, by classic
sculpture, both antique and modern, by costly and gorgeous furniture, by
rich and rare plate, all reflected in the brilliant mirrors of Venetia, while
without, the graceful piles which Palladio or Sansovino, or others of lit-
tle less renown had reared, drew admiration from every eye. The sun
poured down a golden flood by dayiand the moon by night cast her
silvery gleams over spacious hallfivhere the voice of revelry and the
splendour of the festivities given by the Doges Veniero and the Priuli,
the successors of the good Trevisano, might have evoked in many a
youthful breast a taste for amusement and a desire for wealth, but they
met no response in Perino. _
He had no other guides but those of the Church of Rome. They were the
interpreters of his Bible, with which every member of the Order of Saint
Augustine was, or might be, familiar. There exists no warrant for conven-
tual life within its pages, and in the present age its prolongation, * or
revival, can only be considered as a retrograde movement in religion, but
three hundred years since, it is no marvel that Perino coveted a cell in the
Convent of the Servi in the city of Venice.
After the death of his father, his mother had associated with the Ere-
mite d'Ermacora, and her life was one of great sanctity. From her and
1 Annal. Baronius.
9 Sarpi dates its rise in Italy AD. 300, and at---Rome AD. 350. -- Trattato
delle Materis Benefiziarie, p. 11. I 9 ti
",:,;2rr-_~.
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? arr. 1-13. ] ' FRA mono sanrr 6
from his uncle, Pietro learned abstinence and selfdenial, and by natural
inclination as well as by early habit, having no taste either for public
amusements or the luxuries of the palate, neither comparative seclusion nor
the simple food of a convent was repulsive to him. Throughout life he had
almost a contempt for riches, and although endowed with talents which
might have commanded position and fortune, he was never seduced by
the golden bait on many occasions held out to him. .
From the year of his birth until A. D. 1565 a great part of Europe
had been plunged in war, and the future prospects of the State, as well
as of the Church, were full of gloom. Contrasted with this apparently
coming struggle, _the quiet and repose of a cell within the " religious Col-
lege " ' of the Servi was to him like the desired haven to an expecting
mariner.
He knew the wide difference between the life of a monk and that of a
friar, -- the perpetual seclusion of many of the former order being totally
at variance with his feelings. Capable of strong friendship and eager for
knowledge, as a friar he could go from place to place, see his friends,
visit the various seats of learning, and responsible chiefly to the Prior of
the Convent, could enjoy more liberty within than without its walls: this
was a powerful reason to his independent mind, but he had yet another.
Although so young, Perino was gifted with acute observation, and Venice
was the resort of many who had withdrawn from the Council of Trent in
dissatisfaction.
Overawed by the Ambassadors or Nuncios, or deceived by the pro-
mises of the Papal Legates and their supporters, the Venetian Prelates
had given their approval of the Council and its decrees at its close (A. D.
1563): all were to be excommunicated who did not obey its dictates, and
Perino had early held the doctrines of Saint Augustine, which were cer-
tainly not those enforced, through the influence of the Jesuits chiefly, at
the Council of Trent, but which nevertheless have been held by many
members of the Church of Rome, both before and since that Council.
Although there were many names of note amongst the Order of the
Servi, and they had long been esteemed an honorable body of men, yet
friars were generally of lower birth than monks; this, however, did not in-
fluence Perino. He believed that as one of a mendicant body he would be a
servant of God, who has worlds and their treasures at his disposal, and
although he mistook the meaning of the demand of heaven, in laying
on its altar a sacrifice unasked, in the manner of surrender of him-
self as approved by the. Church of Rome, no doubt can exist oh the
mind of those who study the life of " the incomparable historian Of
1 Sarpi.
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? 6 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1552-1565.
the Council of Trent," 'that his piety was as sincere, as his ge-
nius was exalted. He never wavered in his resolution to enter the
Order of the Servi, though for a long and painful period he bent, as
the supple willow bends to the mountain. torrent, only to rise again to
its former height when the waters have passed by.
He suffered much from the continued opposition of his mother and
uncle, but at length they yielded, convinced that his purpose was ir-
revocable, and at the age of thirteen years, on the twenty fourth of
November 1565, Perino took the habit of the Servi, and assumed the
name of Paolo in lieu of Pietro. It was the custom of the times for
the learned to hold public disputations, and the day after Paolo became
a Servite he was required to argue on the proposed theses in the
Church of the Minor Order of the Francisans, commonly called the
Frari, which was built in the fourteenth century and consecrated in 1492.
Its architecture was after a design of Pisano, of the thirteenth century,
and both its interior and exterior bear witness to the zeal with which
the Franciscans were aided by the patricians and citizens of Venice.
It was ornamented by seven columns, the gifts of the nobles Giusti-
niani, Gradenigo and the citizen Aguie? , and was the mausoleum of
many of the heroes of Venetia. The Doge Dandolo, Conte della Torre,
Trevisano, Foscari, Foscarini and many more lie there.
The modern traveller or resident in Venice, as he gazes on the
tombs of Titian the Prince of Painters, and of Canova the sculptor, with
admiration, will not fail to trace the works of their predecessors Bellini
and Vivarni, or the chisel of Sansovino, who all lent their powerful aid to
beautify this venerable fane. The Palla dei Pesari was then in all its pri-
stine beauty, and was justly esteemed one of the greatest works of Titian.
The sculptures of the Fratelli Bregni, the statue of the Doge Tro-
no, that of Benedetto da Pesaro, and above all the beautiful alto re-
lievos of the crucifixion and entombment of the Holy Redeemer were
then as now objects of interest. Who has not looked on the Saint
John the Baptist, which surmounts the baptismal font, as a sculpture
which its artist Jacopo Sansovino rarely equalled and never surpassed?
There, amidst the monuments of the illustrious dead and a con-
course of the learned living, stood Fra Paolo Sarpi. And who was he
that, amid so much to attract the eye and charm the imagination,
arrested the attention of all? He was no high dignitary of the
Church in gorgeous and dazzling robes, -- he was no aged man, who
brought with him the influence of his position, and the maturity and
experience of years, -- he was no well known wrestler in the learned
J Gibbon.
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? ET. 1-13. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 7
encounters, -- he was no victor in these hard fought strifes, -- he
was but a beardless youth without station or influence, clad in the
simple black habit of a Servite friar. He was a stranger in the
lists of public controversy, he was as yet no aspirant for the palm.
Thirteen years only had passed over him, but he reasoned with an
ability which would have done honor to hoary hairs. The audience lis-
tened and wondered and admired, and the youth, unused to his con-
ventual habit, gave them cause to smile as, on bowing to the assem-
bly, instead of taking off his cap as he had been accustomed to do, he
was so engrossed with his subject that he took off his hood, and held
it in his hand all the time of the disputations.
In this Church, the arena of his first triumph in the world of let-
ters, the eye vainly seeks to rest on some monument to the fame of
Sarpi. A misconception exists as to the statue on the basement of the
tomb of Titian by Zandomenghi, that statue of an aged man is not a
representation of Fra Paolo, but an allegorical representation of the
sixteenth century; and the book which lies at the foot of the statue is
not the History of the Council of Trent, but the Canons and Decrees
of that Council, first published by Aldus Manutius A. D. 1564.
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? CHAPTER II.
A. D. 1233 -- A. D. 1565.
Fra Paolo's account of the origin and history of the Order of the Servites. -- The
seven founders leave Florence for Monte Sanario. --Ohurch and Convent. --
Monaldi, first General of the Order. --- S. Benizzi. --Servites sent to Venice.
--Church and Convent of the Servi there. --Government. --Bule.
Although it may perhaps be thought to be in some degree a digression
from our main subject, yet as every incident in the life of Fra Paolo, after
he took the vows, was so intimately connected with the Convent and Fra-
ternity of the Servi, some acquaintance with the history of that religious
Order cannot be altogether irrelevant, and almost appears to be required,
in this stage of his biography for the proper understanding of the sequel.
The reader will therefore pardon its introduction in this place, commen-
cing with an extract from his autograph letter, followed by a literal
translation.
" De ordine servorum quod quaeris explicabo. Origo est ex Flo-
rentiai; in ee? . civitate mercatores quidam se in (lollegium coe? gerunt
Anno Dom. 1230, quo tempore ea regio huiusmodi partuum ferax
fuit.
" Dicebant laudes * * primfim quod in laudibus B. Virginis can-
tillandis assidue occuparentur, mendioare coeperunt, ut tune et in ea
regione mos novorum Collegiorum fuit habito induti toto uigro, ut B. Vir-
gini mortuum filium lugenti collugerunt.
" Haec de causis. A vulgo tune servi B. Mariae vocati, unde ad nos suc-
cessores nomen et color vestium fuerit. " '
" Your inquiry, " says Fra Paolo to M. Gillot, " respecting the
Order of the Servi, I will explain. Their origin is from Florence.
In that city certain merchants united themselves into a College, A. D.
1230, at which period that country was fruitful in projects of this
nature. Their worship at first consisted of praises to * * and espe-
cially, they were assiduously occupied in chanting the praises of the
blessed Virgin, and they commenced begging as mendicants, as was
1 " Jesus Ohristus, " thus were the ** read to me by one of the Order.
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? FRA PAOLO SARPI 9
the custom of new Colleges in that period and in that country, habi-
ted entirely in black, to mark their sympathy with the Blessed Virgin
mourning for her dead Son.
" Such is their origin, and being called from that time ' Servi di Ma-
ria, ' or ' Servants of Mary, ' it is from thence that the name, and color
of the vestments have attached to us, their successors.
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? THE LIFE
OF
FRA PAOLO SARPI
-v-Wm AAIW
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? THE LIFE
OF
FRA PAOLO SARPI, .
TIIEOLOGIAN AND COUNSELLOR OF STATE TO THE MOST SEBENE REPUBLIC
OF vENICE, AND AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.
BY
ARABELLA GEORGINA CAMPBELL
FROM GRIGINAL MSS.
" A MAN WHOSE FAME MUST NEVER DIE, TILL VIRTUE AND LEARNING BECOME
so usznEss AS now TO BE 1u:c. mma:D. " Bishop Sanderson.
LONDON:
MOLINI Q' GREEN, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND.
M. DCCC. LXIX.
[The right Of lramlflion is reserved 1.
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/? 69
INTRODUCTION
. The following pages are the result of the investigation
and research of many years.
The autograph " Vita di Fra Paolo Sarpi, " the lifeof
Fra Paolo Sarpi by Fra Fulgenzio Micanzio, was only
discovered A. D. 1849 in the Archives of Venice, where I
myself examined it under special favor, and was at the
same time graciously permitted to peruse ' the WHOLE col-
lection of Fra Paolo's MSS. of which there are twenty
nine volumes folio.
Not more celebrated were the inhabitants of Brescia for
their fidelity to ancient Rome, than was Fra Fulgenzio of
Brescia for his fidelity to Fra Paolo of Venice, and his
name is associated for ever with Paolo, as his true and
devoted friend. The learned world owe a tribute of lasting
gratitude to Fulgenzio, as the " faithful and accurate
writer of the life of Paolo Sarpi, " 1 of whom the Cava-
liere Cicogna justly affirms, " that there is no man of
tolerable education who is ignorant. " Of the same Order,
for upwards of forty years occupant of the same convent,
Fulgenzio was no ordinary judge either of the religion,
genius, or attainments in learning and science of Fra
' B-ayle.
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? VI INTRODUCTION
Paolo. Fulgenzio was a man of high aim, and found in
Paolo a guide to truth, to heaven. He was Professor of
Philosophy at Bologna, and the correspondent of many of
the learned. There are letters extant from Galileo to Ful-
genzio, and one to him from Lord Bacon which accompa-
nied the treatise "De Augmentis Scientiarum. " While
these letters demonstrate the esteem in which Fulgenzio
was held by these illustrious men, his appointment as
Theologian and Counsellor to the Republic of Venice on
the death of Sarpi shows, that the Doge, Senate, and
Council of Ten deemed Fulgenzio worthy to be his
successor.
Griselini's work, "I1 Genio di Fra Paolo Sarpi, " in
which he occupies four hundred pages with an account of
the genius and learning of Fra Paolo, as well as the MSS.
and work of Foscarini, " Della Letteratura Veneziana, "
have furnished much valuable 'matter, and a few of the
names of the Authors consulted for this volume will be
found in the Appendix. '
As throughout his long life Paolo took a lively interest
in the politics of Europe his biography would be incom-
plete without some historical notice of the period in which _
he lived, and I have chiefly followed as to dates the Chro-
nicles of Sansovino, Martinioni, and that of the late Cava-
liere Cicogna, for whose assistance at Venice I shall always
consider myself indebted. Besides the Archives, the Mar-
ciana, and the private libraries of Venice, the Nazionale,
the Riccardi and the Laurentian libraries of Florence
were frequently visited. To the late Count Dandalo, Di-
rector General of the Archives of Venice, to the Signor
Luigi Pasini, to the Abbate Valentinelli, the Librarian of
the Marciana, to the Vice-Librarian, to the Coadjutor,
Signor G. B. Lorenzi, and to all the directors and ofiicials
of these renowned institutions, as well as to those of the
Bibliothe? que Imperiale of Paris, the libraries of s. G8ne? 1
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? INTRODUCTION VII
vieve, the Sorbonne, chc. d2c. , my warmest thanks are due;
and I must not omit to repeat the same to the Director of
the valuable Library of Boulogne sur Mer.
To Mr. Winter Jones, of the British Museum, my spe-
cial thanks are most gratefully offered.
Mr. Rawdon Brown, the well known author of the
" Calendar of State Papers relating to English affairs
existing in the Archives and collections of Venice, " most
kindly permitted me to copy the despatches " of the
Most Illustrious Ambassador Francesco Contarini, " the
valuable originals of which, as well as the translations, are
in his possession at Venice.
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? THE LIFE
OF
FRA PAOLO SARPI.
CHAPTER I.
A. >>. 1552 - an. 1565.
Doors or VENICE 1545. Francesco Donato. 15 3. M. A. Trevisano. J' .
1554. Francesco Veniero. '$6,. . 0! J 72? ;
Sovnnmoss or GERMANY AND SPAIN. 1519. Charles V. 1555. hilip II.
1558. Ferdinand. 1564. Maximilian II.
EuemnD. 1547. Edward VI. 1553. Mary 1558. Elizabeth.
Fnnncn. 1547. Henry III. 1559. Francis II. 1560. Charles IX.
TunxEv. 1520. Soliman'II. 1556. Selim II.
Porns. 1550. Julius III. 1555. Marcellus II. 1555. Paul IV.
IJN? IMN/N
Birth. - Parents. - Morelli. - Education - Capella. - Pietro resolves to be a friar,
takes the habit of a Servite, and the name of Paolo. - Disputation.
/ The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were remarkable eras in the
history of the world, both as to civil and ecclesiastical polity, and amid
the struggles of the nations of Europe to maintain their independence of
papal power, none offered a more determined resistance than the Republic
of Venice against Pope Paul V. This was chiefly attributable to the
counsel of Fra Paolo Sarpi, a Friar of the 'Order of the Servites, who was
summoned from his Convent by the Doge and Senate, and appointed their
Theologian. , He Was a remarkable man of his own or of any other age,
and his whole life is replete vith interest. Of true piety, of unsullied inte-
grity, of lofty aspiration, of sound judgment, and of rare genius, if ever
there lived a man whose heart glowed with pure and disinterested love to
his country, with great and noble purpose, with calm but strong resolve
to uphold her most sacred rights, that man was Paolo Sarpi. He was
known in his earliest youth by the name of Pietro, and Was born at Ve-
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? 2 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1552-1665.
nice on the fourteenth of August A. D. 1552, and was the son of Fran-
cesco Sarpi and Isabella Morelli. ' His ancestors were of S.
Vito, and
the small house in which his father Francesco was born, is still to be seen
on the shore of Codomada. His mother was of a family which enjoyed the
rights of the original citizens of Venice; and as the Venetians Were divi-
ded into three classes, nobles, citizens and people, the descendants of the
original citizens Were proud of their position.
Francesco was a merchant of Venice, but his ill success there and at
Soria must be ascribed to the turbulence of a spirit, which preferred war
and bloodshed to the calm routine of a life of commerce. His dark and
terrible visage, and short stature contrasted strongly with the fair com-
plexion, beautiful features, and stately form of his wife Isabella, who to the
charms of beauty added piety, wisdom, humility, and gentleness. Her
hours were given to devotion and fasting, while Francesco's were spent
in feats of arms.
Pietro resembled his mother, especially in the full dark eyes,/which
even to old age lighted up his finely formed features. Their expression
was penetrating, but not inquisitive, calm yet resolute. The Whole face
bespoke intellect' of no ordinary power, blended with an extreme modesty,
and taught of heaven, his mind was early impressed with those principles
of religion for which throughout life he was so distinguished. In infancy,
Pietro was so small that he was called Berino, or little Peter, and he con-
tinued to be short in stature.
In childhood, he was silent and grave, but early misfortune may have
contributed to cloud his brow, and for a time have robbed him of that
cheerfulness which he afterwards evinced, even in his deepest sorrows. The
death of his father left his mother and sister in reduced circumstances,
when he was of such tender age as to be unable to lend them aid, and this
could not fail to produce a deep impression on his mind.
But generous succour came, and in this exigency his maternal uncle,
Morelli, a priest of the Collegiate church of S. Ermacora, nobly rescued
Isabella and her children, Heriuo and his sister, from their forlorn condi-
tion, and not only provided for their maintenance, but devoted himself
with well directed energy to Herino's education; and both he and Isabel-
la " fostered those seeds of true religion, which by divine aid were in pro-
gress of time so fully developed, like the grain of mustard seed to which
our Saviour compares the kingdom of heaven. " '
Morelli was the Head of a school of high classical repute, to which the
nobles of Venice sent their sons, and thus Berino had the advantage of
1 Vita di F. P. Sarpi, MS.
3 Ibid.
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? am 1-13. ] FRA mono sanm. B
being educated with youths, who were destined in after years to fill the
most influential positions in the state; and they, attracted by his genial
and pleasing manners, formed friendships with him which were only
severed by death. .
The good Morelli soon discovered Berino's aptitude for learning,
taxed his abilities to the utmost, and, alive to the value of that rare
union which he found in Herino of a retentive memory combined with
profound judgment, resolved to cultivate both to their full extent. He
obliged him to recite much by heart, as Well as to repeat verbatim what
was once read to him, and in order to exercise his judgment, required him
to Write frequent compositions, but it is to be regretted that not one of
these earliest productions of his pen has escaped the destructive hand of
time. The Fathers of the Servi, who Were conversant with his great lear-
ning, related marvellous anecdotes of his memory, but Perino assured
them seriously, that his uncle had never asked him to repeat more than
thirty lines of Virgil, or any author, after having heard them only once.
Having soon acquired proficiency in the Latin language, as well as in
the other branches of a solid and classical education, Herino proceeded to
_ higher attainments. Mathematics, in youth and in age, may be said to have
been one of his favorite recreations. Philosophy, even in his boyhood, was
not left unexplored, and Logic, to a mind so capable of its perception, was
peculiarly attractive.
In this study he was assisted by Capella of Cremona, who was deeply
versed in the abstruse theology of Duns Scotus, and who having discer-
ned the great genius of Perino, read logic with him. Apparently this was
an act of condescension, or at least of kindness, to the youthful student,
but Capella soon avowed that his pupil, not only advanced opinions in
opposition to his own, but proved them by such force of reasoning that
he was constrained to adopt them, and confessed that he could teach him
nothing more. Capella, however, was the means of gaining the youthful
Sarpi to the Order of the Servi. He was one of the Servites, and being
then resident at their great convent in the neighborhood of the house of
Morelli, Perino had thus constantly associated with the Friars, and was
so satisfied with their manner of life as to long to be one of their
number.
His grave and silent disposition, added to his love of learning, tended to
foster in his mind a desire for the cloister. To devote his time to God, and
to be able to pursue his studies without molestation, appeared to him pre-
ferable to the life of a priest, which his mother and his uncle Morelli had
resolved that he should be. In fact, they provided him with a habit similar
to that of the priests of S. Ermacora, and endeavored by harsh treatment
to extort submission to their wishes; but Perino was not to be overcome.
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? 4 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1552-1565.
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All their efforts were unavailing; one of the Servi, and one of the Servi
only, would Perino be.
. The tonsure could not be given without parental authority; ' the
time of this ceremony was yet distant, but even for permission to join the
Servi as a novice, he had to wait in patient hope. He knew that being a
native of Venice, according to the rules of the Servites, he could be receiv-
ed into their principal convent, and their eagerness to display his talents
immediately after his reception, affords strong proof that these Friars wish-
ed to number Perino amongst them.
The pomp and glitter of the great world seemed to have little place in
his mind. He was not insensible to the advantages of rank or position, but
even in his early youth his mind rose to the magnificence of eternity;
he weighed time and the things of time in the balance of true wisdom,
and on no occasion did he betray that love of splendour common to the
Venetians. This people, gifted by nature with a climate so favorable to
display, were accustomed in the time of Sarpi to expend their wealth upon
all that could minister either to luxury or to ease. ' The palaces of the
nobles were adorned within by the matchless efforts of the pencil of Ti-
tian , for twenty four years Sarpi's contemporary, as well as by the
works of Paul Veronese, Tintoretto, and other great masters, by classic
sculpture, both antique and modern, by costly and gorgeous furniture, by
rich and rare plate, all reflected in the brilliant mirrors of Venetia, while
without, the graceful piles which Palladio or Sansovino, or others of lit-
tle less renown had reared, drew admiration from every eye. The sun
poured down a golden flood by dayiand the moon by night cast her
silvery gleams over spacious hallfivhere the voice of revelry and the
splendour of the festivities given by the Doges Veniero and the Priuli,
the successors of the good Trevisano, might have evoked in many a
youthful breast a taste for amusement and a desire for wealth, but they
met no response in Perino. _
He had no other guides but those of the Church of Rome. They were the
interpreters of his Bible, with which every member of the Order of Saint
Augustine was, or might be, familiar. There exists no warrant for conven-
tual life within its pages, and in the present age its prolongation, * or
revival, can only be considered as a retrograde movement in religion, but
three hundred years since, it is no marvel that Perino coveted a cell in the
Convent of the Servi in the city of Venice.
After the death of his father, his mother had associated with the Ere-
mite d'Ermacora, and her life was one of great sanctity. From her and
1 Annal. Baronius.
9 Sarpi dates its rise in Italy AD. 300, and at---Rome AD. 350. -- Trattato
delle Materis Benefiziarie, p. 11. I 9 ti
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? arr. 1-13. ] ' FRA mono sanrr 6
from his uncle, Pietro learned abstinence and selfdenial, and by natural
inclination as well as by early habit, having no taste either for public
amusements or the luxuries of the palate, neither comparative seclusion nor
the simple food of a convent was repulsive to him. Throughout life he had
almost a contempt for riches, and although endowed with talents which
might have commanded position and fortune, he was never seduced by
the golden bait on many occasions held out to him. .
From the year of his birth until A. D. 1565 a great part of Europe
had been plunged in war, and the future prospects of the State, as well
as of the Church, were full of gloom. Contrasted with this apparently
coming struggle, _the quiet and repose of a cell within the " religious Col-
lege " ' of the Servi was to him like the desired haven to an expecting
mariner.
He knew the wide difference between the life of a monk and that of a
friar, -- the perpetual seclusion of many of the former order being totally
at variance with his feelings. Capable of strong friendship and eager for
knowledge, as a friar he could go from place to place, see his friends,
visit the various seats of learning, and responsible chiefly to the Prior of
the Convent, could enjoy more liberty within than without its walls: this
was a powerful reason to his independent mind, but he had yet another.
Although so young, Perino was gifted with acute observation, and Venice
was the resort of many who had withdrawn from the Council of Trent in
dissatisfaction.
Overawed by the Ambassadors or Nuncios, or deceived by the pro-
mises of the Papal Legates and their supporters, the Venetian Prelates
had given their approval of the Council and its decrees at its close (A. D.
1563): all were to be excommunicated who did not obey its dictates, and
Perino had early held the doctrines of Saint Augustine, which were cer-
tainly not those enforced, through the influence of the Jesuits chiefly, at
the Council of Trent, but which nevertheless have been held by many
members of the Church of Rome, both before and since that Council.
Although there were many names of note amongst the Order of the
Servi, and they had long been esteemed an honorable body of men, yet
friars were generally of lower birth than monks; this, however, did not in-
fluence Perino. He believed that as one of a mendicant body he would be a
servant of God, who has worlds and their treasures at his disposal, and
although he mistook the meaning of the demand of heaven, in laying
on its altar a sacrifice unasked, in the manner of surrender of him-
self as approved by the. Church of Rome, no doubt can exist oh the
mind of those who study the life of " the incomparable historian Of
1 Sarpi.
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? 6 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1552-1565.
the Council of Trent," 'that his piety was as sincere, as his ge-
nius was exalted. He never wavered in his resolution to enter the
Order of the Servi, though for a long and painful period he bent, as
the supple willow bends to the mountain. torrent, only to rise again to
its former height when the waters have passed by.
He suffered much from the continued opposition of his mother and
uncle, but at length they yielded, convinced that his purpose was ir-
revocable, and at the age of thirteen years, on the twenty fourth of
November 1565, Perino took the habit of the Servi, and assumed the
name of Paolo in lieu of Pietro. It was the custom of the times for
the learned to hold public disputations, and the day after Paolo became
a Servite he was required to argue on the proposed theses in the
Church of the Minor Order of the Francisans, commonly called the
Frari, which was built in the fourteenth century and consecrated in 1492.
Its architecture was after a design of Pisano, of the thirteenth century,
and both its interior and exterior bear witness to the zeal with which
the Franciscans were aided by the patricians and citizens of Venice.
It was ornamented by seven columns, the gifts of the nobles Giusti-
niani, Gradenigo and the citizen Aguie? , and was the mausoleum of
many of the heroes of Venetia. The Doge Dandolo, Conte della Torre,
Trevisano, Foscari, Foscarini and many more lie there.
The modern traveller or resident in Venice, as he gazes on the
tombs of Titian the Prince of Painters, and of Canova the sculptor, with
admiration, will not fail to trace the works of their predecessors Bellini
and Vivarni, or the chisel of Sansovino, who all lent their powerful aid to
beautify this venerable fane. The Palla dei Pesari was then in all its pri-
stine beauty, and was justly esteemed one of the greatest works of Titian.
The sculptures of the Fratelli Bregni, the statue of the Doge Tro-
no, that of Benedetto da Pesaro, and above all the beautiful alto re-
lievos of the crucifixion and entombment of the Holy Redeemer were
then as now objects of interest. Who has not looked on the Saint
John the Baptist, which surmounts the baptismal font, as a sculpture
which its artist Jacopo Sansovino rarely equalled and never surpassed?
There, amidst the monuments of the illustrious dead and a con-
course of the learned living, stood Fra Paolo Sarpi. And who was he
that, amid so much to attract the eye and charm the imagination,
arrested the attention of all? He was no high dignitary of the
Church in gorgeous and dazzling robes, -- he was no aged man, who
brought with him the influence of his position, and the maturity and
experience of years, -- he was no well known wrestler in the learned
J Gibbon.
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? ET. 1-13. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 7
encounters, -- he was no victor in these hard fought strifes, -- he
was but a beardless youth without station or influence, clad in the
simple black habit of a Servite friar. He was a stranger in the
lists of public controversy, he was as yet no aspirant for the palm.
Thirteen years only had passed over him, but he reasoned with an
ability which would have done honor to hoary hairs. The audience lis-
tened and wondered and admired, and the youth, unused to his con-
ventual habit, gave them cause to smile as, on bowing to the assem-
bly, instead of taking off his cap as he had been accustomed to do, he
was so engrossed with his subject that he took off his hood, and held
it in his hand all the time of the disputations.
In this Church, the arena of his first triumph in the world of let-
ters, the eye vainly seeks to rest on some monument to the fame of
Sarpi. A misconception exists as to the statue on the basement of the
tomb of Titian by Zandomenghi, that statue of an aged man is not a
representation of Fra Paolo, but an allegorical representation of the
sixteenth century; and the book which lies at the foot of the statue is
not the History of the Council of Trent, but the Canons and Decrees
of that Council, first published by Aldus Manutius A. D. 1564.
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? CHAPTER II.
A. D. 1233 -- A. D. 1565.
Fra Paolo's account of the origin and history of the Order of the Servites. -- The
seven founders leave Florence for Monte Sanario. --Ohurch and Convent. --
Monaldi, first General of the Order. --- S. Benizzi. --Servites sent to Venice.
--Church and Convent of the Servi there. --Government. --Bule.
Although it may perhaps be thought to be in some degree a digression
from our main subject, yet as every incident in the life of Fra Paolo, after
he took the vows, was so intimately connected with the Convent and Fra-
ternity of the Servi, some acquaintance with the history of that religious
Order cannot be altogether irrelevant, and almost appears to be required,
in this stage of his biography for the proper understanding of the sequel.
The reader will therefore pardon its introduction in this place, commen-
cing with an extract from his autograph letter, followed by a literal
translation.
" De ordine servorum quod quaeris explicabo. Origo est ex Flo-
rentiai; in ee? . civitate mercatores quidam se in (lollegium coe? gerunt
Anno Dom. 1230, quo tempore ea regio huiusmodi partuum ferax
fuit.
" Dicebant laudes * * primfim quod in laudibus B. Virginis can-
tillandis assidue occuparentur, mendioare coeperunt, ut tune et in ea
regione mos novorum Collegiorum fuit habito induti toto uigro, ut B. Vir-
gini mortuum filium lugenti collugerunt.
" Haec de causis. A vulgo tune servi B. Mariae vocati, unde ad nos suc-
cessores nomen et color vestium fuerit. " '
" Your inquiry, " says Fra Paolo to M. Gillot, " respecting the
Order of the Servi, I will explain. Their origin is from Florence.
In that city certain merchants united themselves into a College, A. D.
1230, at which period that country was fruitful in projects of this
nature. Their worship at first consisted of praises to * * and espe-
cially, they were assiduously occupied in chanting the praises of the
blessed Virgin, and they commenced begging as mendicants, as was
1 " Jesus Ohristus, " thus were the ** read to me by one of the Order.
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? FRA PAOLO SARPI 9
the custom of new Colleges in that period and in that country, habi-
ted entirely in black, to mark their sympathy with the Blessed Virgin
mourning for her dead Son.
" Such is their origin, and being called from that time ' Servi di Ma-
ria, ' or ' Servants of Mary, ' it is from thence that the name, and color
of the vestments have attached to us, their successors.
