lry existed as in the other parts of Europe,
but as it did not exist elsewhere in Italy. Transplanted to this
southern soil, however, knighthood failed to develop, to any marked
degree, those deeper qualities of loyalty, courtesy, and liberality
which shed so much lustre upon its institution elsewhere. Here,
unfortunately, mere gallantry seemed its essential attribute, and the
gallantry of this period, at its best, would show but little regard for
the moral standards of to-day. No one who has read the history of this
time can fail to be struck with the fact that on every hand there are
references to acts of immorality which seem to pass without censure. As
Hallam has said, many of the ladies of this epoch, in their desire for
the spiritual treasures of Rome, seem to have been neglectful of another
treasure which was in their keeping. Whether the gay gallant was knight
or squire, page or courtier, the feminine heart seems to have been
unable to withstand his wiles, and from Boccaccio to Rabelais the
deceived and injured husband was ever a butt of ridicule. Of course,
there was reason for all this; the ideals of wedded life were much
further from realization than they are to-day, and the sanctity of the
marriage relation was but at the beginning of its slow evolution, in
this part of the Western world.

But within the walls of the huge castle Nuovo, which combined the
strength of a fortress with the elegance of a palace, it must not be
supposed that there was naught but gross sensuality. Court intrigue and
scandal there were in plenty, and there were many fair ladies in the
royal household who were somewhat free in the bestowal of their favors,
sumptuous banquets were spread, tournaments for trials of knightly skill
were held with open lists for all who might appear, but in the centre of
it all was the king, pleasure-loving, it is true, but still far more
than that. He it was who said: "For me, I swear that letters are dearer
to me than my crown; and were I obliged to renounce the one or the
other, I should quickly take the diadem from my brow." It was his
constant endeavor to show himself a generous and intelligent patron of
the arts. The interior of his palace had been decorated by the brush of
Giotto, one of the first great painters of Italy, and here in this home
of luxury and refinement he had gathered together the largest and most
valuable library then existing in Europe.

When Petrarch was at the age of thirty-six