The Sonnets, Triumphs, and Other Poems of Petrarch | Page 8

Avignon; but still I should like to hear her own
explanation before I condemned her. And, after all, she was only
anxious for the continuance of attentions, respecting which she had
made a fixed understanding that they should not exceed the bounds of
innocence.
We have no distinct account how her husband regarded the homage of
Petrarch to his wife--whether it flattered his vanity, or moved his wrath.
As tradition gives him no very good character for temper, the latter
supposition is the more probable. Every morning that he went out he
might hear from some kind friend the praises of a new sonnet which
Petrarch had written on his wife; and, when he came back to dinner, of
course his good humour was not improved by the intelligence. He was
in the habit of scolding her till she wept; he married seven months after
her death, and, from all that is known of him, appears to have been a
bad husband. I suspect that Laura paid dearly for her poet's idolatry.
No incidents of Petrarch's life have been transmitted to us for the first
year or two after his attachment to Laura commenced. He seems to
have continued at Avignon, prosecuting his studies and feeding his
passion.
James Colonna, his friend and patron, was promoted in 1328 to the

bishopric of Lombes in Gascony; and in the year 1330 he went from
Avignon to take possession of his diocese, and invited Petrarch to
accompany him to his residence. No invitation could be more
acceptable to our poet: they set out at the end of March, 1330. In order
to reach Lombes, it was necessary to cross the whole of Languedoc,
and to pass through Montpelier, Narbonne, and Toulouse. Petrarch
already knew Montpelier, where he had, or ought to have, studied the
law for four years.
Full of enthusiasm for Rome, Petrarch was rejoiced to find at Narbonne
the city which had been the first Roman colony planted among the
Gauls. This colony had been formed entirely of Roman citizens, and, in
order to reconcile them to their exile, the city was built like a little
image of Rome. It had its capital, its baths, arches, and fountains; all
which works were worthy of the Roman name. In passing through
Narbonne, Petrarch discovered a number of ancient monuments and
inscriptions.
Our travellers thence proceeded to Toulouse, where they passed several
days. This city, which was known even before the foundation of Rome,
is called, in some ancient Roman acts, "Roma Garumnæ." It was
famous in the classical ages for cultivating literature. After the fall of
the Roman empire, the successive incursions of the Visigoths, the
Saracens, and the Normans, for a long time silenced the Muses at
Toulouse; but they returned to their favourite haunt after ages of
barbarism had passed away. De Sade says, that what is termed
Provençal poetry was much more cultivated by the Languedocians than
by the Provençals, properly so called. The city of Toulouse was
considered as the principal seat of this earliest modern poetry, which
was carried to perfection in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, under
the patronage of the Counts of Toulouse, particularly Raimond V., and
his son, Raimond VI. Petrarch speaks with high praise of those poets in
his Triumphs of Love. It has been alleged that he owed them this mark
of his regard for their having been so useful to him in his Italian poetry;
and Nostradamus even accuses him of having stolen much from them.
But Tassoni, who understood the Provençal poets better than
Nostradamus, defends him successfully from this absurd accusation.

Although Provençal poetry was a little on its decline since the days of
the Dukes of Aquitaine and the Counts of Toulouse, it was still held in
honour; and, when Petrarch arrived, the Floral games had been
established at Toulouse during six years.[C]
Ere long, however, our travellers found less agreeable objects of
curiosity, that formed a sad contrast with the chivalric manners, the
floral games, and the gay poetry of southern France. Bishop Colonna
and Petrarch had intended to remain for some time at Toulouse; but
their sojourn was abridged by their horror at a tragic event[D] in the
principal monastery of the place. There lived in that monastery a young
monk, named Augustin, who was expert in music, and accompanied the
psalmody of the religious brothers with beautiful touches on the organ.
The superior of the convent, relaxing its discipline, permitted Augustin
frequently to mix with the world, in order to teach music, and to
improve himself in the art. The young monk was in the habit of
familiarly visiting the house of a respectable citizen: he was frequently
in the society of his daughter, and, by the express encouragement of her
father, undertook to exercise her