Philippe de Cabassoles
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The Bishop of Cavaillon, Philippe de Cabassoles, Seigneur of Vaucluse, was the great protector of Renaissance poet and orator Francesco Petrarch.
Philippe, in whose diocese was Vaucluse, had a villa not far from Avignon. He formed a lasting friendship with Petrarch.[1] Petrarch built a home here after visiting his friend Philippe, who had built his castle on the site of a 7th century BC Oppidem. From Philippe's castle the view was beautiful and is no wonder the bishop selected this lofty spot. Living just a short twenty minute walk from one another, they developed a very close relationship that lasted a lifetime. Petrarch dedicated a book to his friend, who "treated him as a brother", despite his later status as Cardinal. Among the intimates of Petrarch's old age there seems to be only one name missing in Petrarch's will, which is Philippe's. Their friendship had begun in 1337 when Petrarch moved to Vaucluse. They stayed close friends up until Philippe's death in 1372.[2] The fact that in spite of this undoubtedly very close relationship Petrarch did not include his friend Philippe in his Last Will and Testament is explained by the assumption that Petrarch could not think of any bequest suitable to a man of such high status as that of a prince.[3]
Petrarch made a collection of 350 letters he personally wrote called Epistolae familiares (a.k.a. Familiar Letters). In among these letters in 1346 Petrarch writes what is called De vita solitaria, a treatise composed of two books and dedicated to Philippe de Cabassoles.[4] In Book XXII of Familiar Letters is Petrarch's books of these letters to Philippe which he delivered 20 years after he wrote them.[5][6] Also in addition to these books of letters he wrote some very special letters that he held out of the set of Epistolae familiares, which was later put into a set of 19 letters called Liber sine nomine. Letters 1 and 12 are letters Petrarch wrote to his friend Phillippe that are in this reserved set of letters "without a name" of the recipient.
[edit] References
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, "Archdiocese of Avignon."
- ^ On Philippe de Cabassoles see Martellotti's introductory remarks in his edition and Italian translation of "De Vita Solitaria" in Petrarca, Prose, page 286.
- ^ Petrarch's Last Will: A Personal Document of his Old Age introduction pages 20 through 22 by Theodor E. Mommesen, Cornell University Press, 1957.
- ^ Familiar Letters - XI, XII, XV, XXII, and XXIV letters to Philippe.
- ^ Hermitary - resources and reflections on hermits and solitude.
- ^ Some short extracts from Petrarch’s Life of Solitude, written to Philippe
- This article incorporates text from the old Catholic Encyclopedia of 1914, a publication now in the public domain.
- This article incorporates text from the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, a publication now in the public domain.
