Note 57 — Chapter I

The date commonly assigned to Folgore is 1260, and the Niccolò he addresses in his series on the Months has been identified with that

Nicolò, che la costuma ricca Del garofano prima discoperse,

so ungently handled by Dante in the Inferno, Canto xxix. I am aware that grave doubts, based upon historical allusions in Folgore's miscellaneous sonnets, have been raised as to whether we can assign so early a date to Folgore, and whether his Brigata was really the brigata godereccia, spendereccia, of Siena alluded to by Dante. See Bartoli, Storia della Letteratura Italiana, vol. ii. cap. II, for a discussion of these points. See also Giulio Navone's edition of Folgore's and Cene's Rime, Bologna, Romagnoli, 1880. This editor argues forcibly for a later date—not earlier at all events than from 1300 to 1320. But, whether we choose the earlier date 1260 or the later 1315, Folgore may legitimately be used for my present purpose of illustration.