NOTES TO THE SECOND BOOK OF THE COURTIER Note i8i, page ii6. "Vhen Frederick Barbarossa attempted to govern the rebellious Lombard cities in the common interest of the Empire, he established in their midst a foreign judge, called ' Podest^,' quasi habens potestatem Impera- toris in hac parte. . . . The title of ' Podestk' was subsequently conferred upon the official summoned to maintain an equal balance between the burghers and the nobles." Symonds's " Renaissance in Italy," ed. 1883, i, 61. Note 182, page 117. This was the battle of Fornovo (6 July 1495), in which the Italian forces under the Marquess Gianfrancesco Gonzaga of Mantua failed to prevent the retreat of Charles VIII towards France. Both sides claimed a victory, and the marquess even went so far as to have it commemorated by Mantegna in a picture, "The Madonna of Victory" (Louvre), which contains his portrait. Castiglione's father died from the effect of wounds received in this battle. Note 183, page 117. The reference here is plainly to Leonardo da Vinci (see note 96). His contemporaries would naturally regard as chimerical such de- vices as steam cannon, paddle wheels for boats, and flying machines, or such hints as that contained in his Codex Atlanticus, where he suggests the possi- bility of steam navigation. " He was the first to explain correctly the dim illumination seen over the rest of the surface of the moon when the bright part is only a thin crescent. He pointed out that when the moon was nearly new, the half of the earth which was then illuminated by the sun was turned nearly directly towards the moon, and that the moon was in consequence illuminated slightly by this 'earthshine,' just as we are by moonshine. This explanation . . . tended to break do-wn the supposed barrier between terres- trial and celestial bodies." Arthur Berry's "Short History of Astronomy' (London, 1898), p. 91. Note 184, page 118. Suetonius mentions this characteristic of Caesar. Note 185, page 119. This is one of the few passages in The Courtier that are plainly reminiscent of Dante, who says: "To that truth which hath the face of falsehood, man must ever close his lips " {Sempre a quel Tier che ha faccia di mensogna, De' I'uom chiuder la labbra). Inferno, xvi, 124-5. Note 186, page 121. The translator admits being at a loss to find an ade- quate equivalent for the Italian argusie. Our unfamiliar English adjective ' argute ' suggests that kind of pungent and witty conceits which Castiglione is describing. Note 187, page 121. Bibbiena's reputation as a wit was well established, while Canossa seems also to have deserved the same epithet, if we may judge from a story that has been preserved of him. The count had at Rome a fine collection of silver plate, including a flagon with a lid in the form of a tiger. A friend having borrowed this flagon and kept it for two months, returned it 360
