Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. lJ>y 



original form of many of the branches of modern poetry, espe- 

 cially of the amatory verse of Petrarch. At their most brilliant 

 period, the Troubadours frequented all the courts of Europe ;,and 

 the inhabitants of Italy, whose barbarous language was just pass- 

 ing into the vocal flexibility which now distinguishes it, subse- 

 quently imitated the poetic art taught them by the Troubadours, 

 and afterwards formed the Italian language, principally in their 

 poetical exercises, which soon extinguished the language which 

 had served them as a model ; for as the French, Spanish, and 

 Italian tongues, arose nearly at the same time, as far as concerns 

 their poetry, the Provencal tongue became thus neglected, and 

 the delirious glory of the Troubadours, which only lasted two 

 centuries, passed away. Nothing more effectually contributed 

 to this, than the establishment of the inquisition at the beginning 

 of the 13th century, which covered their country, especially, with 

 blood and carnage. 



Italian poetry first arose in Sicily, towards the end of the 12th 

 century. This island, which had been occupied by the Greeks, 

 the Saracens, and the Normans, and to which the Troubadours 

 had very much resorted, had, at an early period, produced some 

 attempts at poetry, and Frederic the II., born A.D. 1208, grand- 

 son of Frederic Barbarossa, to whom the sovereignty of Naplea 

 and Sicily belonged, was one of the first poets who wrote in the 

 Sicilian dialect. This monarch, remarkable for his attainments 

 and spirit, which brought him into constant struggles with the 

 Papal power, was the protector of all liberal pursuits, and his 

 court was much resorted to by men who had distinguished them- 

 selves in the arts of peace. Natural history was one of his fa- 

 vourite studies. He wrote a treatise on hunting with birds, ' De 

 arte venandi cum avibus,' in the which he not only describes land 

 and water birds, their food and habits, but also their structure, 

 the mechanism of their wings, and their modes of offence and 

 defence. There is an amatory ode of his, in which are many 

 words in a state of transition from the Latin to the Italian, such 

 as, eo, abbreviated from the pronoun ego, and now become io ; 

 meo, from mens, now become mio. From this and other contem- 

 poraneous productions, it is evident the Italian had assumed its 

 great outlines, and that it was in general use ; for poets, espe- 

 cially amatory ones, are not in the habit of expressing their feel- 

 ings, in a tongue which is not familiar to their cotemporarics. 



