As a free association of very varied elements, the
academy lasted in its original form down to the sack of Rome, and
included among its hosts Angelus Coloccius, Johannes Corycius and
others. Its precise value as an element in the intellectual life of the
people is as hard to estimate as that of any other social union of the
same kind; yet a man like Sadoleto reckoned it among the most precious
memories of his youth. A large number of other academies appeared and
passed away in many Italian cities, according to the number and
significance of the humanists living in them, and to the patronage
bestowed by the great and wealthy. Of these we may mention the Academy
of Naples, of which Jovianus Pontanus was the centre, and which sent
out a colony to Lecce, and that of Pordenone, which formed the court of
the Condottiere Alviano. The circle of Lodovico il Moro, and its
peculiar importance for that prince, has been already spoken of.
About the middle of the sixteenth century, these associations seem to
have undergone a complete change. The humanists, driven in other
spheres from their commanding position, and viewed askance by the men
of the Counter-reformation, lost the control of the academies: and
here, as elsewhere, Latin poetry was replaced by Italian. Before long
every town of the least importance had its academy, with some strange,
fantastic name, and its own endowment and subscriptions.
Pages:
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329