life of john picus earl of mirandola - The Center for Thomas More ...

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THE LIFE OF JOHN PICUS,
Earl of Mirandula, 1 a great lord of Italy, an excellent cunning 2 man in
all sciences,° 3 ¦ ⌐ and virtuous of living; with divers° epistles and other
works of the said John Picus, full of great science, virtue, and wisdom:
whose life and works be worthy and digne° to be read and often to be
had in memory. ¬
⌐ Translated out of Latin into English by Master Thomas More. ¬
⌐ Unto his right entirely beloved sister in Christ, Joyeuce Leigh,
Thomas More greeting in our Lord. ¬
⌐ It is, and of long time hath been, my well beloved sister, a
custom in the beginning of the New Year, friends to send between°
presents or gifts, as the witnesses of their love and friendship, and also
signifying that they desire each to other that year a good continuance
and prosperous end of that lucky beginning. But comm only all those
presents, that are used customably all in this manner between friends
to be sent,° be such things as pertain only unto the body, either to be
fed or to be clad or some otherwise delighted: by which it seemeth that
their friendship is but fleshly and stretcheth° in manner to the body
3 sciences fields of knowledge / divers various, several / 5 digne fitting / 14 send between exchange
/ 18-19 that are used customably…to be sent that are typically sent / 21 stretcheth extends
¦ 3 From the Latin original, More naturally omits “issued by Gianfrancesco, the son of the
famous Galeotto Picus” as well as a paragraph in which Gianfrancesco defends his Life against
those who, noting that he was the nephew and pupil of John Picus, might claim that his account
is “prejudiced by favor or flattery” (unless otherwise noted, all English translations of the Latin
original are those of Clarence H. Miller, see CW 1:295).
1. Mirandula: Mirandola is located in north Italy, 58 km north of Bologna, capital of the region.
2. cunning: Throughout his Life of Picus, More speaks of Picus’ “cunning,” used either adjectivally
(as here) in the sense of “possessing knowledge or learning” (cf. OED s.v. cunning a. 1a) or
substantivally to mean “knowledge” or “learning.” Why More emphasizes the cunning of Picus
is not known.
3. an excellent…all sciences: The Latin text reads viri omni disciplinarum genere consumatissimi, “a man of
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The intent or meaning
of New Year’s gifts
Presents bodily