171 



TRIVET, NICOLAS. 



TROGUS POMPEIUS. 



172 



of the powers which hia frienda knew him to possess, but his contri- 

 butions to biographical literature in the Cyclopaedia and Dictionary 

 are of a sound and solid character, and his scholarship was not only 

 accurate but remarkably ready. The power which he possessed of 

 conversing with ease in more than one of the Teutonic, the Romanic, 

 and the Slavonic languages qualified him in an eminent degree for 

 the professorship to which he was chosen. 



TRIVET, NICOLAS, whoso surname is otherwise found Try vet, 

 Trcvet, Treveth, Trevech (a misprint or mistranscription), Triveth, 

 Thriveth, and is latinised Trivetus, Trivettus, Trevetus, and, by 

 Leland, Tripus (at least he has Tripodis in the genitive), was born in 

 Norfolk about the year 1258, and was son of Sir Thomas Trivet, who 

 is recorded to havo twice ridden as one of the Justices in Eyre in the 

 latter part of the reign of Henry III. Trivet mentions his father in 

 hia Annals, under the year 1272, by the name of Thomas Treveth. He 

 himself was sent, when a boy, to be brought up in the Dominican 

 convent at London, and in due time he became a monk of that order. 

 Having completed hia education at the universities of Oxford and 

 Paris (his residence for some time at which latter place of study he 

 notices in the beginning of his Annals), he was, on his return to 

 England with the highest reputation in all the branches of learning 

 then cultivated, elected head or prior of the religious house in which 

 ho had spent his earliest yeara. This office he appears to have held 

 till his death in 1328. 



Leland, Bale, and Pits give long lists of the writings of Trivet, 

 especially Pits, whose catalogue extends to between thirty and forty 

 articles. Among them are annotations or commentaries on various 

 parts of the Scriptures, on certain of the works of St. Augustin, on 

 the 'Problems' of Aristotle, the 'Metamorphoses' of Ovid, the 

 ' Tragedies ' of Seneca, on Boethius, Livy, and Juvenal, some astro- 

 nomical and other scientific treatises, and a number of tracts on 

 religious and moral subjects, all in Latin. Many of these manuscripts 

 still exist in the libraries at Oxford and Cambridge, and elsewhere. 

 A commentary on the treatise of St. Augustin entitled ' De Civitate 

 Dei,' by Trivet and Thomas Valois, or Walleis, was printed by Schoffer, 

 in the second volume of his edition of St. Augustin'a works, fol., 

 Mainz, 1473, and again at Toulouse in 1488, at Venice in 1489, and at 

 Friburg in 1494. But Trivet is now only remembered for his Chronicle 

 or History, principally of English affairs, though it embraces a sketch 

 of those of the other kingdoms of Europe, from A.D. 1136 to 1307, or 

 from the beginning of the reign of Stephen to the end of that of 

 Edward I. This work was first printed by Lucas Acherius (Father 

 Luc d'Achers), in the eighth volume of his ' Spicilegium Veterum 

 aliquot Scriptorum,' 4to, Paris, 1671 : and it is also contained in the 

 second edition of that collection, in 3 vols. fol., Paris, 1723. But the 

 edition commonly used is that published by Antony Hall, under the 

 title of ' Nicolai Triveti Dominican! Annales Sex Regum Anglies/ at 

 Oxford 'in 2 vols. Svo, in 1719, the second of which however (not 

 published till 1721) is occupied with the Chronicles of Adamus Muri- 

 muthensis and his Continuator. This edition is from a better manu- 

 script than that which D'Achery used ; but otherwise it has no great 

 reputation, any more than Hall's other publications. Trivet however 

 deserves to be well edited ; he is a clear, painstaking, and exact recorder 

 of events, and he is the original authority for many particulars re- 

 lating to his own times, his accounts of which have sometimes been 

 pillaged without acknowledgment by subsequent compilers. His 

 Annals have different titles in the various manuscripts ; and there is 

 also in the library of Magdalen College, Oxford, the manuscript of 

 another historical work of his in French, entitled ' Les Cronycles ke 

 Frere Nichole Tryvet escrit a Dame Marie la file moun seygnour le 

 roy Edward le fils Henry.' Of this the first part is an abridgment of 

 the history of the Old and New Testaments : the second part, entitled 

 ' Les Qestes des Apostoiles (that is, the popes), Emperours, et Roys,' 

 appears to be, in the latter portion of it, nearly a translation of his 

 Latin Annals. 



TRIVU'LZIO, a Milanese patrician family, several members of 

 which figured in the history of their country in civil and military 

 capacities under the Dukes Visconti and Sforza. After the death of 

 Filippo Maria Visconti, in 1447, the Milanese having proclaimed a 

 republic, Erasmo Trivulzio and several of his brothers were among 

 the most strenuous supporters of the popular cause against Francesco 

 Sforza, who aspired to the ducal throne. Sforza having succeeded in 

 taking possession of Milan, not only forgave Erasmo, but appointed 

 both him and his nephew Antonio Trivulzio to the rank of ducal 

 councillors. Two sons of Antonio distinguished themselves in the 

 next generation ; one of them, Renato, commanded the troops of 

 Ludovico Sforza against the Venetians and the Orisons, and defeated 

 the latter in Valtellina, for which he was surnamed Helveticus. 

 During the French invasion, he remained faithful to his prince: he 

 died at Pavia, 1498. 



GIAN GIACCOMO TRIVULZIO, his brother, who has been styled by 

 some writers 'il Magno,' or 'the Great/ was born in 1441. After 

 serving in his youth under Francesco Sforza and his son Galeazzo Maria, 

 he was appointed on the death of the latter member of the regency 

 during the minority of the young Duke Giovanni Galeazzo. But 

 Ludovico Sforza, the duke's uncle, having assumed the supremo 

 power in 1479, Trivulzio was employed by him in the army, and was 

 sent to assist King Ferdinand of Naples against his revolted barons. 



Ferdinand out of gratitude made him count of Belcastro. Trivulzio 

 was also employed by Pope Innocent VIII. to reduce the town of 

 Ositno, in the March of Ancona. On his return to Milan he found 

 himself slighted by Ludovico Sforza and his courtiers, who mistrusted 

 him on account of his firmness and pride; and from that time he 

 vowed revenge against Ludovico. He returned to Naples and entered 

 the service of Ferdinand. When Charles VIII. of France invaded 

 Naples and drove away the Aragonese dynasty, Trivulzio took service 

 with the French at the time when Ludovico Sforza, in concert with 

 the other Italian states, was fighting against them. He fought bravely 

 for Charles VIII. at the battle of the Taro against the Italian allies. 

 He then followed Charles in his retreat to Franco. During the nego- 

 ciations which were entered into about that time to settle amicably 

 the affairs of Italy, Trivulzio supported at first the claims of the 

 youthful Duke Giovanni Maria Sforza to the crown of Milan, but the 

 French insisting upon the rival claims of the Duke of Orleans, after- 

 wards Louis XII., Trivulzio gave way, and from that time he seemed 

 to have renounced his country and to have become altogether French. 

 He was made by Charles VIII. Count of Pezdnas in Languedoc, and 

 decorated with the order of St. Michel. In 1499 Louis XII. gave him 

 the command of his army in Italy. Trivulzio defeated the troops of 

 Ludovico Sforza, and entered Milan at the head of the French invading 

 army, in September of the same year. Louis XII. then made him 

 marshal of France, marquis of Vigevano and Melza in Lombardy, and 

 captain-general of the duchy of Milan. When Ludovico Sforza again 

 advanced towards Milan, at the head of hia Swiss auxiliaries, Trivulzio 

 being badly supported by the French officers, who were jealous of 

 him for being a foreigner, was obliged to leave the city, but he soon 

 after defeated Ludovico at the battle of Novara, in April, 1500. 

 Ludovico was seized in disguise and taken prisoner before Trivulzio, 

 who treated him ungenerously, and upbraided him with reproaches. 

 Ludovico was sent prisoner to France. Trivulzio again took posses- 

 sion of Milan, but he did not retain the command of the duchy, which 

 was given to Cardinal Rohan. In 1509, war having broken out again 

 in Italy, Trivulzio was again employed in the French armies, and 

 commanded the advanced guard at the battle of Agnadello, in which 

 the Venetians were defeated. In 1511 the French Marshal Chaumont 

 having died, Trivulzio succeeded him pro tempore as commander-in- 

 chief of the French, and drove Pope Julius II. from Bologna. Soon 

 after Gaston de Foix, duke of Ne"mours, came to take the command of 

 the French in Italy, and Trivulzio served under him in the campaign 

 of 1512 against the pope, the Venetians, and the Spaniards. After the 

 battle of Ravenna and the death of Gaston de Foix, Trivulzio was 

 obliged to evacute Milan, which was entered by Maximilian Sforza; 

 and in the following year the loss of the battle of Novara again drove 

 the French and Trivulzio with them out of Italy. In 1515 Francis I., 

 who had succeeded Louis XII., put Marshal Trivulzio at the head of a 

 French army for the conquest of Italy. Trivulzio made a brilliant 

 campaign. He crossed the Alps by a new pass, entered the marquisate 

 of Saluzzo, defeated and took prisoner Prospero Colonna, won the 

 battle of Marignano, called " the battle of the giants," against the 

 Swiss, and in a short time conquered the whole duchy of Milan. The 

 Constable de Bour.bon was appointed governor, but being recalled in 

 the following year he was succeeded by Marshal Lautrec, whilst the 

 veteran Trivulzio was living in splendid repose in his own patrimonial 

 house at Milan, and enjoyed great consideration. Lautrec was harsh 

 and suspicious : he oppressed the people of Milan ; and Trivulzio 

 having shown some sympathy for his townsmen, Lautrec accused him 

 of secret practices against King Francis. Trivulzio, being informed of 

 this, set out for France in the depth of winter, although he was then 

 nearly seventy-eight years old, and repaired to the Court of Francis 1. 

 who refused him an audience. He then placed himself in the king's 

 passage, and as the king drew near he begged him to listen to a man 

 who had fought eighteen battles in his service and in the service of 

 his predecessors. Francis stared at him, and passed on without saying 

 a word. This was too much for the old man ; he fell ill, and died at 

 Chartres, in December 1518. His tomb and those of his two wives are 

 seen in the church of St. Nazario at Milan, with this epitaph : " J. J. 

 Trivultius, Antonii films, qui nunquam quievit hie quiescit. Tace." 

 His name is not in favour among the Italians for having served 

 foreigners against his own countrymen, of which however he is no 

 singular instance in the history of Italy. (Litta, Famiglie celebri 

 Ita/iane ; Rosmini, Vita di Gian Giacomo Trivulzio dctto il Magno.) 



A branch of the Trivulzio family, enjoying considerable property 

 and the title of marquis, has continued to exist at Milan to the present 

 day. The marquis, Gian Jacopo Trivulzio, who died at Milan in 1827, 

 was a great patron of learning. From the manuscripts of his rich 

 library at Milan he edited or caused to be edited several important 

 works, such as the ' Johannidos, seu de Bellis Libycis,' a poem of Cres- 

 conius Corippus ; the ' Lettere ed altre Prose del Tasso,' the ' Lettere 

 inedite di A. Caro,' the 'Convito' of Dante, and the 'Life of Gian 

 Giacomo Trivulzio/ already mentioned. The 'baton/ or French 

 marshal's staff, of old Trivuizio is still preserved among the heir-looms 

 of the family. 



(Tipaldo, llioyrajiadegliltalianilllustri; Valcry, Voyages en Italic.) 



TROGUS POMPEIUS, a Roman historian who lived about the time 



of Augustus. He was descended from a Gallic family of the Vocoutii ; 



and his grandfather, who likewise bore tho name of Trogus Pornpeius, 



