CINO DA PISTOIA (127o-1836)

This article appears in Volume V06, Page 377 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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CINO DA PISTOIA (127o-1836) , Italian poet and jurist,
whose full name was GUITTONCINO DE' SINIBALDI, was born in
Pistoia, of a noble family. He studied law at Bologna under Dinus Muggelanus (Dino de Rossonis: d. 1303) and Franciscus Accursius, and in 1307 is understood to have been assessor of civil causes in his native city. In that year, however, Pistoia was disturbed by the

Guelph

GUELPH

and Ghibelline

feud

FEUD

. The Ghibellines, who had for some time been the stronger party, being worsted by the Guelphs, Cino, a prominent member of the former

faction

FACTION (through the French, from Lat. factio, a company of persons combined for action, facere, to do; from the other French derivative facon comes " fashion ")

, had to quit his office and the city of his

birth

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

. Pitecchio, a stronghold on the frontiers of Lombardy, was yet in the hands of Filippo Vergiolesi,

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

of the Pistoian Ghibellines; Selvaggia, his daughter, was beloved by Cino (who was probably already the husband of Margherita degli Unghi); and to Pitecchio did the lawyer-poet betake himself. It is uncertain how long he remained at the fortress; it is certain, however, that he was not with the Vergiolesi at the time of Selvaggia's death, which happened three years afterwards (1310), at the Monte della Sambuca, in the Apennines, whither the Ghibellines had been compelled to shift their camp. He visited his mistress's grave on his way to Rome, after some time spent in travel in France and elsewhere, and to this visit is owing his finest sonnet. At Rome Cino held office under Louis of Savoy, sent thither by the Ghibelline leader

Henry

of Luxemburg, who was crowned emperor of the Romans in 1312. In 1313, however, the emperor died, and the Ghibellines lost their last hope. Cino appears to have thrown up his party, and to have returned to Pistoia. Thereafter he devoted himself to law and letters. After filling several high judicial offices, a

doctor

DOCTOR (Lat. for " teacher ")

of civil law of Bologna in his

forty

FORTY

-fourth year, he lectured and taught from the professor's chair at the universities of Treviso, Siena, Florence and Perugia in succession; his reputation and success were

great

GREAT

, his judicial experience enabling him to travel out of the routine of the schools. In literature he continued in some sort the tradition of Dante during the interval dividing that

great

GREAT

poet from his successor Petrarch. The latter, besides celebrating Cino in an obituary
sonnet, has coupled him and his Selvaggia with Dante and Beatrice in the fourth capitolo of his Trionfi d' Amore.
Cino, the master of Bartolus, and of Joannes Andreae the celebrated canonist, was long famed as a jurist. His commentary on the statutes of Pistoia, written within two years, is said to have great merit; while that on the code (Lectura Cino Pistoia super codice, Pavia, 1483; Lyons, 1526) is considered by Savigny to exhibit more

practical

PRACTICAL

intelligence and more originality of thought than are found in any commentary on Roman Iaw since the time of Accursius. As a poet he also distinguished himself greatly. He was the friend and correspondent of Dante's later years, and possibly of his earlier also, and was certainly, with Guido Cavalcanti and Durante da Maiano, one of those who replied to the famous sonnet A ciascun' alma presa e gentil core of the Vita Nuova. In the treatise De Vulgari Eloquio Dante refers to him as one of " those who have most sweetly and suatly written poems in modern Italian," but his works, printed at Rome in 1559, do not altogether justify the praise. Strained and rhetorical as many of his outcries are, however, Cino is .not without moments of true passion and fine natural eloquence. Of these qualities the sonnet in memory of Selvaggia, lo fui in sull' alto e in sul beato monte, and the canzone to Dante, Avegnache di omaggio piis per tempo, are interesting examples.
The text-book for English readers is D. G. Rossetti's Early Italian Poets, wherein will be found not only a memoir of Cino da Pistoia, but also some admirably translated specimens of his verseth, whole wrought into significant connexion with that friendship of Cino's which is perhaps the most interesting fact about him. See also Ciampi, Vita e poesie di messer Cino da Pistoia (Pisa, 1813).
CINQ-MARS, HENRI COIFFIER RUZE D'EFFIAT, MARQUIS DE (1620-1642), French courtier, was the second son of Antoine Coiffier Ruse, marquis d'Effiat, marshal of France (1581-1632), and was introduced to the court of Louis XIII. by Richelieu, who had been a friend of his father and who hoped he would counteract the influence of the queen's favourite Mlle. de Hautefort. Owing to his handsome appearance and agreeable manners he soon became a favourite of the king, and was made successively master of the wardrobe and master of the horse. After distinguishing himself at the siege of Arras in 164o, Cinq-Mars wished for a high military command, but Richelieu opposed his pretensions and the favourite talked rashly about over-throwing the minister. He was probably connected with the abortive rising of the count of Soissons in 1641; however that may be, in the following year he formed a conspiracy with the duke of Bouillon and others to overthrow Richelieu. This pint was under the nominal leadership of the king's brother Gaston of Orleans. The plans of the conspirators were aided by the illness of Richelieu and his absence from the king, and at the siege of Narbonne Cinq-Mars almost induced Lcuis to agree to banish ' his minister. Richelieu, however, recovered, became acquainted with the attempt of Cinq-Mars to obtain assistance from Spain, and laid the proofs of his treason before the king, who ordered his arrest. Cinq-Mars was brought to trial, admitted his guilt, and was condemned to death. He was executed at Lyons on the 12th of September 1642. It is possible that Cinq-Mars was urged to engage in this conspiracy by his affection for Louise Marie de Gonzaga (1612-1667), afterwards queen of Poland, who was a prominent figure at the court of Louis XIII.; and this tradition forms part of the plot of Alfred de Vigny's novel Cinq-Mars.
See Le P. Griffet, Histoire de Louis XIII; A. Bazin, Histoire de Louis XIII (1846); L. D'Astarac de Frontrailles, Relations des choses particulieres de la tour pendant la faveur de M. de Cinq-Mars.

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