9. How did he differ from the Provençal and Sicilian poets? 10. St. Francis of Assisi,--what was his connection with literature? 11. Describe the religious movements in Italy in the thirteenth century. 12. Who was Jacopone da Todi? 13. What was the influence of the French national epic in Italy? BIBLIOGRAPHY It is very important in the study of any literature to have some knowledge of the history of the country in question. Those who wish to study more in detail the subject treated in this book, should read some book on the history of Italy. For the early period of the literature, the best authority is Gaspary, who wrote in German,--but the first volume of whose book has just been translated into English, and published in the Bohn Library. An indispensable book is Rossetti's "Dante and his Circle," which contains many excellent translations from the early poets of Italy. FOOTNOTES: [1] In Southern Italy, especially in Sicily, there is a large infusion of Greek and Saracen blood. [2] His last words were, "Welcome, sister death." CHAPTER II DANTE: LIFE AND MINOR WORKS In the preceding chapter we have outlined the development of early Italian poetry, endeavoring to show how from the Sicilian school it was carried over to Tuscany; how Guido Guinicelli, in Bologna, had transformed it from a slavish imitation of the troubadours into a new school of symbolical philosophical poetry, and finally, how from Bologna the new doctrines spread to Florence. There were a number of early poets of Florence and other Tuscan cities who wrote in the manner of Guido Guinicelli, among the best known being Cino da Pistoia, Lapo Gianni, Dante da Majano, and especially worthy of note, Guido Cavalcanti. The latter, who was the intimate friend of Dante, was a member of a noble family, and was prominent in all the intellectual and political life of Florence. He was among those who were exiled from the city in 1300, and died soon after his return in the same year. Dante refers to him in the New Life as the "first of his friends," and records in the Inferno a pathetic interview with his father in the city of Dis. To him and a mutual friend, Lapo, he addressed the following beautiful sonnet, so well translated by Shelley: