But Valla raised against him many
enemies by the severity of his satire on almost all the learned men of his
time. He spared no one, and least of all the clerics, who sought his
destruction. A friend advised him that, unless he was weary of life, he
ought to avoid heaping his satirical abuse on the Roman priests and
bishops. He published a work on the pretended Donation of Constantine to
the Papal See, and for this and other writings pronounced heretical by the
Inquisition he was cast into prison, and would have suffered death by fire
had not his powerful friend Alphonso V., King of Aragon, rescued him from
the merciless Holy Office. Valla was compelled publicly to renounce his
heretical opinions, and then, within the walls of a monastery, his hands
having been bound, he was beaten with rods. It is unnecessary to follow
the fortunes of Valla further. He was engaged in a long controversy with
the learned men of his time, especially with the facetious Poggio, whose
wit was keener though his language was not so forcible. Erasmus in his
Second Epistle defends Valla in his attacks upon the clergy, and asks,
"Did he speak falsely, because he spoke the truth too severely?" Valla
died at Naples in 1465. The following epigram testifies to the correctness
of his Latinity and the severity of his criticisms:--
_Nunc postquam manes defunctus Valla petivit,
Non audet Pluto verba latina loqui.
Pages:
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148