CONTENTS V. THE FRENCH CHIVALROUS POETRY IN NORTHERN 124 138 VI. RELIGIOUS AND MORAL POETRY IN NORTHERN ITALY II. RELIGIOUS LYRICAL POETRY IN UMBRIA II. PROSE LITERATURE IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. HISTORY OF EARLY ITALIAN LITERATURE I MEDIEVAL LATIN LITERATURE IN ITALY FROM THE FIFTH WHE TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY HEN the Germanic tribes put an end to the Roman Empire, it was merely a shadow that they destroyed. But the recollection of the mighty past imparted even to this shadow an imposing grandeur; the Roman name and the mere idea of the Roman state were so powerful that the barbarians bowed before them, even whilst demolishing the reality. That power lasted on, and unceasingly influenced the destinies of Europe in the Middle Ages-those of Italy, indeed, till the most recent times. Traces of the ancient civilisation still remained, however much that civilisation itself was declining. In the Middle Ages a meagre classical tradition never ceased to exist, supplying in later centuries the connecting link for that revival of studies from which modern literary life takes its start. When Odoacer in 476 had dethroned the last Roman Emperor of the West, he did not put himself in his place, but contented himself with the title of Patricius, making no essential change in the constitution. Similarly, when Italy was seized by the Ostrogoths, the Roman state continued to exist in name, and Theodoric regarded it as the true state, the Goths, indeed, forming the army and possessing the Empire: it was to be, however, not a Gothic, but the Roman Empire. In this very subordination of the real state of things to an idea that had become devoid of meaning lay the contradiction which involved the new state in speedy ruin. Theodoric was filled with the same reverence for the Roman civilisation as for the Roman state. Though he himself could not even write, he fully recognised literary merit, made Cassiodorus his minister, and loaded him with honours. During his reign literature again flourished for a short time. Cassiodorus gave the state documents an artistic form, and did his utmost, by means of his compendiums, to diffuse scientific knowledge and, above all, to make it the property of the monasteries-a step that was fraught with importance for later ages. Boethius summed up once again, in a high degree, the culture of antiquity: he wrote the last original work of classical philosophy, the "De Consolatione Philosophiæ," so popular in the Middle Ages, and transmitted to succeeding generations the knowledge of a portion of Hellenic thought by means of his translations and commentaries of the Greek philosophical writings, especially of the logical works of Aristotle. Together with these two authors, who, living at the close of the classical period, were to exercise a very considerable influence on the knowledge of the Middle Ages, others of less importance appear, such as Ennodius, who at least preserved fairly intact the purity of the classical forms. The short period of Greek domination which followed was, in 568, put an end to by the Lombards in the greater part of Italy. These acted differently to the other German tribes that had hitherto appeared. Coming as conquerors, they raged in the subjected lands with cruelty and covetousness, levelled towns to the ground, turned fruitful districts into deserts, sold Roman captives into slavery, and, as Arians, spared neither churches nor priests. And as the subjugation of the land was effected gradually and never completely, this wild and warlike state of affairs lasted for centuries. In the conquered districts the Roman nationality ceased to exist, the conquered being degraded to the condition of half-freedmen and of slaves. As these came to mingle more and more with the conquerors, a new Italian nationality arose. Once more Roman civilisation proved its power: even the Lombards came under its influence, especially after they had been converted to the Catholic faith. They adopted the habits of the Romans, their costumes and their manners; the conquerors learnt the language of the conquered, drew up in it their laws, made use of it for public documents and religious services, and, at a later period, even showed interest in and ability for the pursuit of learned studies. They, for their part, bestowed on those they had vanquished even more precious gifts-new blood, vigour, and a sense of liberty, and, with these, the possibility of a fresh national development. Frequently the conquered were restored to liberty, thus coming to possess the same rights as the Lombards; the many struggles at home gave them the opportunity of attaining, by dint of courage, to honours and riches, while their common religious faith and frequent intermarriages bound together more and more closely the elements that had at first been so hostile to each other. Hence the Lombards, when their empire came to an end, had nothing foreign about them save their name, as Villani (ii. 9) and, after him, Machiavelli have remarked. They have become Italians, and remained an integral element of the nation, and the descendants of the Lombard stock played in later ages an important part in the political and intellectual life of the country. The disparities that existed between those portions of Italy that had remained Roman and those that were occupied by the Germans, were more and more equalised. In this period of anarchy, when everything depended on the sword, the Romans that had degenerated in the time of the Emperors again began to carry arms. A national militia took the place of the mercenaries, and the military element, which contributed most largely to the preservation of the state, was awarded the foremost place. The Romans again became eager for and skilled in war; surrounded by barbarians, and constantly engaged in keeping them at bay, they became barbarians themselves. After the old constitutions and class distinctions had been suppressed, the upper and lower nobility were formed from the ranks of the soldiery and their leaders, as was done among the Germans. And with the disappearance of the national distinctions in manners and culture, the basis was formed for a political union of the country. But Rome was the seat of a power which would not let this [ come to pass, and which always took fresh steps to oppose the development of a strongly organised state-the power, that is, of the Papacy. The Bishop of Rome owed his privi |