His admirable work is a true monument of the Counter-reformation which
had meanwhile been accomplished, and of the spirit and tendency of that
movement.
Biography and in the in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance
Outside the sphere of poetry also, the Italians were the first of all
European nations who displayed any remarkable power and inclination
accurately to describe man as shown in history, according to his inward
and outward characteristics.
It is true that in the Middle Ages considerable attempts were made in
the same direction; and the legends of the Church, as a kind of
standing biographical task, must, to some extent, have kept alive the
interest and the gift for such descriptions. In the annals of the
monasteries and cathedrals, many of the churchmen, such as Meinwerk of
Paderborn, Godehard of Hildesheim, and others, are brought vividly
before our eyes; and descriptions exist of several of the German
emperors, modelled after old authors--particularly Suetonius--which
contain admirable features. Indeed these and other profane 'vitae' came
in time to form a continuous counterpart to the sacred legends. Yet
neither Einhard nor Wippo nor Radevicus can be named by the side of
Joinville's picture of St. Louis, which certainly stands almost alone
as the first complete spiritual portrait of a modern European nature.
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