THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT 



the results we have reached, but to afford a more 

 exact view of Scot's occupation in Sicily. Several 

 of his works are dedicated to Frederick, from which 

 it is natural to conclude that his employment 

 was one which brought him closely in contact 

 with the person of the King. When we examine 

 their contents we are struck by the tone which Scot 

 permits himself to use in addressing his royal 

 master. There is familiarity when we should expect 

 flattery, and the desire to impart instruction in- 

 stead of the wish to display obsequiousness. Scot 

 appears in fact as one careless to recommend him- 

 self for a position at Court, certain rather of one 

 which must have been already his own. What can 

 this position have been ? 



A tradition preserved by one of the commen- 

 taries on Dante 1 informs us that Michael Scot was 

 employed as the Emperor's tutor, and this explana- 

 tion is one which we need feel no hesitation in 

 adopting, as it clears up in a very convincing way 

 all the difficulties of the case. His talents, already 

 proved and crowned in Paris and Bologna, may well 

 have commended him for such a position. The 

 dedication of his books to Frederick, and the 

 familiar style in which he addresses the young prince, 

 are precisely what might be expected from the pen 

 of a court schoolmaster engaged in compiling 

 manuals in usum Delphini. 2 Nay the very title of 

 'Master' which Scot had won at Paris probably 

 owed its chief confirmation and continued employ- 

 ment to the nature of his new charge. Since the 

 fifth century there had prevailed in Spain the habit 



1 L'Anoniino Fiorentino, Comento alia Divina Commedia. Bologna, 

 Fanfani, 1866-74. 



2 See especially the preface to the Physionomia. 



