Peter Davidson
An Infernal Conclave
What was John Milton reading on the afternoon of 30 October 1638? I think I can offer an informed guess and, at the same time, point to a possible source for Paradise Lost that has so far escaped notice.
We know that Milton was in Rome on that day and that he dined in company at the Venerable English College in the Via di Monserrato. The college was dedicated to training Roman Catholic priests to serve in England, so it is something of a surprise to discover that the fiercely Protestant Milton visited it. In the earlier 17th century, however, the comparatively rare Protestant travellers to Rome from England tended to seek the company of their exiled Catholic countrymen, having few alternatives if they sought company or were in need of local introductions. Milton’s name and the names of his fellow visitors are recorded in the manuscript register known as the Pilgrim Book, which is still at the college. At a time when English Catholics were thoroughly on the wrong side of the laws of their homeland, their exiled brethren were harassed by spies and informers. It was therefore prudent to keep records of visitors.
The investigations of Gordon Campbell and Thomas Corns have shown that the poet is the only possible ‘Dominus Miltonus’ (the name that appears in the Pilgrim Book) to have been in Rome on that day. His companions were expatriate Catholic aristocrats (‘nobiles Angli’). All were ‘magnificently received’ in the college.
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
It is a triumph @arthistorynews and my review @Lit_Review is here!
In just thirteen years, George Villiers rose from plain squire to become the only duke in England and the most powerful politician in the land. Does a new biography finally unravel the secrets of his success?
John Adamson investigates.
John Adamson - Love Island with Ruffs
John Adamson: Love Island with Ruffs - The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
literaryreview.co.uk
During the 1930s, Winston Churchill retired to Chartwell, his Tudor-style country house in Kent, where he plotted a return to power.
Richard Vinen asks whether it’s time to rename the decade long regarded as Churchill’s ‘wilderness years’.
Richard Vinen - Croquet & Conspiracy
Richard Vinen: Croquet & Conspiracy - Churchill’s Citadel: Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm by Katherine Carter
literaryreview.co.uk