Marston MS 188     Northern Italy, ca. 1454-65
Fanensis [?], Carmina

The following poems are not listed in L. Bertalot, Initia; the identity
of the poet, who refers to himself throughout as Fanensis, has yet to be
determined.  According to P. Kristeller (Iter Italicum, v. 5, p. 288)
the author may be Christophorus Fanensis.

1. f. 1r-v  [Title, in later hand:]  Carmina Fanensi [?].  [letter:]  Ad
reuerendissimum d. dominum Iohannem barocium benemeritum Bergomi sacerdotum
principem. Consideranti alias mihi damnatio tua quanta esset.  defecit
quippe animus...uel carminulis meis portiunculam gratitudinis et ostensurus
sum.  [4-line poem:]  Accipe fanensis modicum pater optime domum/...Atque
sue laxorios [?] mitia poma ferunt.

Dedicatory letter and short poem to Giovanni Barozzi, bp. of Bergamo
(1449-65), in which the poet expresses gratitude on behalf of "ordini
nostro" (Franciscan).

2.  ff. 2r-3v Consultissimo vtriusque iuris doctori. d. Ambrosio de aduocatis
amico Lectissimo.  Si vir patricie quicquam conduxeris olim/ Ex me de
rebus dum certabamus honestis/...Ipse tibi inueniar uel calle recedere sancto.

83-line poem in hexameters in which the poet expresses his gratitude to the
addressee for having praised his moral character, then begins a polemic against
such vices as vanity, avarice, pride, etc., and an invective against
worldliness.

3. ff. 3v-4r  Ad eundem soluta oratiuncula.  Scio circunspectionem tuam vir
illustris imperatorias leges maximorumque...quondam reminiscamur amoris.  Vale
vir optime et parem pari gratiam referto.

Prose laudatio of the addressee in art. 2.

4. f. 4r-v  Epitaphium. M. Ia. de mozanica generalis minorum.
Mozanicus iacet hic Iacobus princepsque minorum/ Vnicus eloquij
subrutilantis amor/...Infimus iste iacet qui modo maior erat.

Epitaph (26 hexameters) of Jacobus de Mozzanica (Jacobus Busolinus,
d. 1454, in Milan); Wadding, Supplementum, v. 2, p. 16.

5. f. 4v  Distichon.  Inuida nex hominum quo non prestantior alter/
Abstulit ex oculis.  occuluitque solo.

6. ff. 5r-6v  In quempiam asserentem nihil scire qui grecum nescierit
et Inutilem penitus rem metricam fore.  Officij quicquam linguae callere
latinae/ Greculus iste negat steterit qui nullus athenis/...Posteritas.
laudesque sue per saecula viuent.

74 hexameters of invective against a proponent of Greek studies at the
expense of Latin and against the preference of this "Graeculus" for prose over
poetry.

7. ff. 6v-7r  Ad locupletem Inhumanum.  Si me [?] tibi reris quia
gazophilatia gaudes/ Esse dies proprios...Spiritus indignans nigras rapietur 
ad umbras.

55 hexameters attacking the stock character of the cruel rich man.  Divine
retribution after death is stressed, as is the uselessness of wealth hereafter.

8. ff. 7r-9r  Ad Monachum caluum incompositum.  Acaluaster abi ne pollue
phana.  Quo usque/  Obliquum facinus troculo sub condere nigro/...Spernitur
attriti.  nunquam est conuersio sera.

88 hexameters condemning the loose morals among monks.

9. ff. 9r-10v  In militem emeritum didimum et seculi conformem.  Abs
te scire uelim centaure incredule qui non/ Credis ab imbricibus supra
cur solus aberras/...Ignibus eternis nec auerna vrentia terrent.

87 hexameters attempting to justify God's ways to men of the military class
by appealing to their Stoic and taciturn mentality.

10. ff. 10v-13r  Fanensis soliloquium Incipit.  Quid fanensis agis? num te
suprema dierum/ Excitat?  an falsa pellectus imagine mundi/...In quibus
eternam possis reperire salutem.  Explicit soliloquium.

A critical and repentant self-examination (119 hexameters) by the poet
who quotes verbatim (ll. 95-102) from a selection of classical authors:
Vergil (Aen. 1.1; Ecl. 1.1); Statius (Theb. 1.1;
Achill. 1.1),
Lucan 1.8; Ovid (Met. 1.1), Horace (Ars Poet. 1); Juvenal
(Sat. 1.1).
The poet advises the reader to pay less attention to the achievements of
the ancient Romans and more to those of Christ and the early Christians; he
concludes with the statement that salvation is to be found above all in books.

11. ff. 13r-17r  Quod sola Iesuchristi cognitio sit scientia vera.
Desertorem olim contemptoremque superne/ Legis penituit condoluitque
diu/...Triuit in angusta relligione diem.

185 1/2 lines in elegiac couplets giving a detailed description of the
kind of education the poet received under the tutelage of an unidentified
master.

12. ff. 17r-20v  Ad cilonem quendam sirum.  Non erit ostentum si quid
tibi scripsero quamuis/ Nulla mihi tecum sit consuetudo nec ullam/...A vicio
refert uirtus celeberrima tantum.

188 hexameters in which the poet calls upon a friend to renounce his
worldly ways.

13. ff. 20v-22v  Ad Lafranchum militarium secretarium brixiensem.
Quem mihi das Lanfranche mili seu nobilis ille/ Egregij obscuriue laris
cui siccet aristas/...Altitonans humiles et limpida tollit ad astra.

100 hexameters addressed to one Lanfranc of Brescia
in which the poet laments the arrogance, deceitfulness and
venality of this world, but concludes with the optimistic note that it is
in the power of good people to make this world a better place.

14. ff. 23r-25r  Ad. d. Ioannem de salis iure peritum nubilem.  Non
satis admiror stupet os et cetera membra/  Vnde sit
alipidem si quis uel comparat edum/...Officiumque tuum et rectum
seruabis amorem.

108 hexameters outlining the poet's advice to an eligible bachelor on
what to look for in a wife, what her duties should be, etc.

15. ff. 25r-26r  Ad semet ipsum auctor.  Qui solus quaecunque potest facit
omnia quae uult/ Per moysen mandauit aron sibi notatus [?]/...Visceris et
tabidi fluuidum succinge tumorem.

61 hexameters in which the poet cites Levit. 21.16-20 and interprets
it allegorically as referring to those who are deformed in mind or spirit.

16. ff. 26r-28v  Apologia ad quempiam socium modiciensem querentem quod
apud se aditum non habuerit.  Accepi nuper tibi limina nostra petenti/
Pulsantique diu non reserauit homo/...Vt facias iterum teque iterumque
rogo.

104 lines addressed to an unidentified friend from Monza [province
of Milan] in which the poet calls down on his own head a series of
curses, if it were proved that he knowingly refused to answer the door when
the friend came to call.

17. f. 28v  Ad eundem.  Philosophari tecum in presentia non intendo
neque ex peregrino aucupio uerba moliri. uerum comice admodum atque
paucis meam dicere sententiam...Bene te ualere opto et constantem mihi
beniuolum.

Prose paragraph addressed to the friend in art. 16 on the nature of
friendship.

Parchment, ff. i (contemporary paper) + 28, 182 x 137 (127 x 83) mm.
Written in 25 long lines or lines of verse.  Single vertical bounding lines,
ruled in lead; rulings for text in pale brown ink (Derolez 13.11).
Single prickings in outer margin, 73 mm. below top line.
I 4, II-IV 8.  Catchwords perpendicular to text along inner bounding line,
verso (Derolez 12.6).
Written in humanistic bookhand by a single scribe, above top line.
One illuminated initial, f. 1r, gold on blue, green, and deep red ground
with loosely curling white vine-stem ornament (cf. Paecht and Alexander,
v. 2, no. 531), extending into the margins to form partial border.  Initial 
inhabited by a kneeling putto blowing a gold trumpet.  In inner margin a 
life-size fly, grey with red eyes.  In lower margin, arms of the 
Barozzi family of Venice (argent, a fess azure; surmounted by
a mitre) flanked by two putti drawn in pen, standing on a patch of
green ground.  Plain initials in green, red and blue.  Headings in red;
paragraph marks in red and blue.
Binding:  Italy, uncertain date.  Limp vellum wrapper.  Traces of two 
fastenings.  Title, in ink, on spine ("Fanensis Poemata") visible under 
ultra-violet light.

Written in Northern Italy, perhaps in the Veneto according to A. C. de la
Mare; the manuscript, presumably the dedication copy from the poet to
Giovanni Barozzi whose arms appear on f. 1r, was produced between 1454, the
date of the death of Jacobus de Mozzanica (art. 4), and 1465, when Barozzi
ceased serving as bishop of Bergamo (dedication in art. 1).  The inscription
on upper cover, s. xvi#1:  "Domini Palladij [followed by illegible word
or abbreviation]," which also occurs on the cover of Marston MS 161, suggests
that the manuscript formerly belonged to Alexandrus Palladius of Udine
(see also catalogue entry for Marston MS 161).  Purchased from L. C. Witten 
in 1958 by Thomas E. Marston (bookplate).

secundo folio:  Consultissimo

Bibliography:  Faye and Bond, p. 85, no. 188.

Barbara A. Shailor