Literary sources – Page 9 – Written Camposanto

Joseph Furttenbach (1591-1667), Newes Itinerarium Italiae (1627)

On May 2, 2020

Joseph Furttenbach’s Newes Itinerarium Italiae differs from other travel guides or diaries about Italy written by his English counterparts. Whereas most English travel logs written in the seventeenth century were based on notes taken by aristocratic Englishmen or their traveling companions during their Grand Tour of continental Europe, Furttenbach migrated to Italy and stayed there for 12 years. Following in the footsteps of his relatives, he did an apprenticeship as merchant, and during his stays in Milan, Genoa and Florence, he travelled to various places.[1] He also studied engineering and architecture while abroad and later built a successful career as an architect after returning to his home country, Germany. Although his time in Italy would have been occupied with work and family business rather than leisure activities, his book is written to be read as travel literature as the title suggests. He specifically uses the word “Reiß” (which means travel in German) to describe his experiences. Historian Roberto Zaugg has pointed out that Furttenbach consciously promotes himself as a cultural mediator between Italy and Germany by filling his book with the details of the architecture of churches, palaces and theaters.[2] Engravings of the buildings and ground plans show how Furttenbach aims to instruct and inform his readers about the architecture of Italy, thereby establishing himself as an expert in the field.[3] His description of the Camposanto reflects his attention to architectural details such as sepulchres and sarcophagi occupying the gallery, and notes that the holy earth is supposedly from Jerusalem. / DJ

[1] Roberto Zaugg, “Joseph Furttenbach als kultureller Vermittler,” in Lebenslauff 1652–1664, ed. Roberto Zaugg, Kim Siebenhüner and Kaspar von Greyerz (Cologne:Böhlau Verlag, 2013), 27-28.

[2] Ibid., 32.

[3] Ibid., 34.

Furttenbach_S.70_marked

Source: Joseph Furttenbach, Newes Itinerarium Italiae (Ulm: Saur, 1627), 70.

Transcription

“Gleich darbey ist der Campo Santo, ein Creutzgang so gantz ubermahlet, von gar alten Historien und Grabschriften gezieret. In der mitten hats ein offnen Gottsacker und an seinen Seiten stehen viel alte steinerne sepulchri und Särch der Boden oder die Erden ist also beschaffen, dass die todne Cörper so man darein begräbt in 24. Stunden consumiren und verwesen also dass hernach allein die Gebein gefunden werden wie man mich berichtet so solle solche Erden terra santa, und von Jerusalem dahin geführt worden sein.”

Translation

Right next to it [close to the Baptistery] is the Campo Santo, a cloister completely
covered, adorned with very old histories and epitaphs. In the middle, there is an
open cemetery, and there are many old stone graves and coffins on the sides.
The ground, or the earth, consumes and decomposes the dead bodies buried in it in 24 hours, so that afterwards only the bones are found, as I have been told. Thus such earth is said to be terra santa,
and is said to have been brought there from Jerusalem.

John Evelyn (1620-1706), Diary (1644)

By camposanto

On May 2, 2020

In 17th century, Art and artists, English, Travel account

John Evelyn’s diary is a classic of its kind. His diary is closer to a memoir than a diary, as he starts the book with a description of his family and his childhood home. The first volume is devoted to Evelyn’s Grand Tour. Evelyn spent about three years, from 1644 to 1647, in continental Europe, partly to escape the turbulence in his own country at the time and partly to further educate himself, driven by his curiosity about other cultures and languages. His journey started in France where he sailed from Cannes to Genoa[1] and reached Pisa in October 1644. He thinks highly of Pisa, writing that the city is “as much worth seeing as any in Italy.”[2] Similar to other travel logs of the time, he writes about the square that would later be known as Piazza dei Miracoli. When describing the Campo Santo, he briefly mentions the associated legend of the holy earth. Unlike others though, he writes that the earth consumes bodies in forty hours, not twenty-four hours as in the writings by Dallington and Futternbach. Considering that Evelyn borrowed from and referred to other travel diaries as he was writing his own,[3] it is possible that he may have mistakenly taken this number from a description of the Campo Santo in Rome.

[1] John Evelyn, The Diary of John Evelyn, ed. William Bray (New York/London: Walter Dunne, 1901), 126-127.

[2] Ibid., 135.

[3] Maczak, Antoni, Travel in Early Modern Europe (Cornwall: Polity Press, 1995), 185.

Evelyn_Diary_1644_Pisa_marked

Edition: John Evelyn, The Diary of John Evelyn, ed. William Bray (New York/London: Walter Dunne, 1901), 136.

“The cemetery called Campo Santo is made of divers galley ladings of earth formerly brought from Jerusalem, said to be of such a nature, as to consume bodies in forty hours. ‘Tis cloistered with marble arches; and here lies buried the learned Philip Decius who taught in this University.”

Fynes Moryson (1566-1630), An Itinerary (1617)

By camposanto

On May 2, 2020

In 17th century, English, Travel account

Fynes Moryson spent his time travelling the European continent and the eastern Mediterranean lands in the 1590s. He was Cambridge-educated and was curious about the cultures and social conditions of different countries. An Itinerary is the result of his diligent notetaking during his trip. He recorded not only his daily excursions and observations but also his expenses in great detail. The cost of horses, food, and the rates of the coaches were included in the account. Another feature of his book is that he included maps of major cities and marked their monuments on the map. It therefore serves as a reliable source for anyone who is interested in the travel routes, sights, and cost of living in the sixteenth century. His journey in Italy started in Padua; he then went to Venice, and after traveling along the Adriatic Sea, he came to the Tyrrhenian side. His visit to Pisa starts with a description of the topography of the city. He used part of the three-page long description of Pisa for a description of the Camposanto (along with the Cathedral and the Tower of Pisa). Unlike Dallington, Moryson not only mentions the legend of the holy earth but also the architecture of the Camposanto. / DJ

Moryson_An Itinerary_Pisa_marked

Edition: Fynes Moryson, An Itinerary Containing His Ten Yeeres Travell through the Twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohmerland, Sweitzerland, Netherland, Denmarke, Poland, Italy, Turky, France, England, Scotland & Ireland, 4 vols. (Glasgow: MacLehose, 1907-1908), 1:312.

“Not farre thence is a yard used for common buriall, called the holy field, vulgarly Campo Santo. In which the Emperour Fredericke Barbarossa, returning from Hierusalem, did lay great store of earth, which he had used for ballast of his ships;and they say, that dead bodies laid there, doe consume in a most short time. This yard is compassed with a building all of Marble, which lies open like a Cloyster, (we call it a terras) and the same is covered with lead very sumptuously, having in bredth 59 pillars, and in length 189. each distant from the other thirteene walking paces. So as (in my opinion) this yard for burial is much more stately, then that most faire yard, which I formerly described at Leipzig in Germany, called in Dutch Gotsacker.”

Robert Dallington (1561-1637), A Survey of the Great Dukes State of Tuscany (1605)

By camposanto

On April 25, 2020

In 17th century, English, Travel account

Born in Northamptonshire, Robert Dallington (1561-1637) was a writer, traveler and courtier who lived in 16th-century England. Of his five publications, two guidebooks, The View of France (1604) and A Survey of the Great Dukes State of Tuscany (1605) are well- known. He made the Grand Tour through Europe with Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland, acting as his tutor and secretary. This book is based on Dallington’s stay in Tuscany in 1596. At first it was intended only for private circulation but was later commercially printed, enabling a wider readership. The book contains a detailed history of Florence and accounts of different cities in Tuscany. The fascination with Florentine culture and the Medici found in this book had a broad impact on contemporary English society: the book served to promote an attractive image of Italy and Florence in particular became a destination for English travelers who appreciated art. Dallington also writes briefly about Pisa and the Camposanto as one of the major monuments of the city. That the legend about the holy earth is included in the description of the Camposanto suggests that it was considered essential information. / DJ

Dallington_A Survey of_1605

Source: Robert Dallington, A Survey of the Great Dukes State of Tuscany. In the Yeare of Our Lord 1596 (London: Edward Blount, 1605), 23.

“On the North of this Church [the Cathedral] is the Campo Santo, as they call it, their Golgetha or place of burial, the earth whereof was brought in ships from the Terra santa, as their Histories record: & as they affirme, the dead consume there in foure and twenty houres. Not farre from this place is an old ruinous Tower, called by them (Torre di fame) […].”