Ireland in Europe: Paolo Giovio's "Descriptio" (1548)

Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd

Ireland in Europe: Paolo Giovio's "Descriptio" (1548)Author(s): Jason HarrisSource: Irish Historical Studies, Vol. 35, No. 139 (May, 2007), pp. 265-288Published by: Irish Historical Studies Publications LtdStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20547452 .

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IRISH HISTORICAL STUDIES Vol. XXXV No.

139_ May 2007

Ireland in Europe: Paolo Giovio's Descriptio (1548)

Paolo

Giovio's Descriptio Britanniae, Scotiae, Hyberniae et Orchadum presents several problems for the historian of early modem Ireland. Published

in 1548, but composed for the most part during the early 1540s, it offered a

comparatively detailed portrait of Irish geography, culture and politics to an international audience whose appetite for Irish affairs had been whetted by the recent Henrician Reformation.1 Yet the text offers scant commentary on Irish

politics; its geographical information is often confused; its ethnography is evocative but rarely moralising; and its focus on Ulster and the lifestyle of Conn O'Neill is suggestive but tantalisingly so.2 The author's sources are as obscure as his intentions. Nevertheless, Giovio's text was still being read and cited by leading European and even Irish authors up to a hundred years later,3 It was a seminal treatment of Ireland and the Irish that found few parallels in international

print-houses until the gradual emergence of the writings of Giraldus Cambrensis towards the end of the sixteenth century.4 This article sets the Descriptio in the twin context of early modern geographical humanism and the international fall out of the Henrician Reformation.

1 Paolo Giovio, Descriptio Britanniae, Scotiae,Hyberniae et Orchadum (Venice, 1548), There is a modern edition in Pauli lovii, Opera, ed. Ernesto Travi and Mariagrazia Penco, ix: Dialogi et descriptiones (Rome, 1984), 2 For recent discussion of the text see Eric Cochrane,Historians and historiography in the Italian Renaissance (Chicago, 1981), pp 366-77; T, F. Mayer? 'Reginald Pole in Paolo

Giovio's Description strategy for reconversion* in Sixteenth-Century Journal, xvi (1985),

pp 431-50; Eric Haywood, *Is Ireland worth bothering about? Classical perceptions of Ireland revisited in Renaissance Italy' in International Journal of the Classical Tradition, ii (1996), pp 467-86; idem, 'Paolo Giovio's Descriptio Hyberniaei humanist chorography or political manifesto?' in Acta Convenus Neo~Latini Bariensis (Tempe, Ariz,, 1998), pp 315-22, .

3 On the reception of the Descriptio in general see Cochrane, Historians ?

historiography, pp 366-77, In his Theatrum orbis terrarum (Antwerp, 1570) Abraham Ortelius cited Giovio as a source/while Erie Haywood has demonstrated that Sebastian Munster simply plagiarised Giovio's description of Ireland (Haywood, 'Descriptio Hyberniae\ pp 321-2). As regards Giovio's influence on Irish authors, see, for example, Book I of Philip Q'Sullivan BQ&rt,Zoilomastix(cA626). 4 Giraldus' writings, though influential in manuscript, appeared in print gradually in successive stages: Abraham Ortelius, Theatrum orbis terrarum (Antwerp, 1573); John Hooker, 'Ireland* in Raphael Holinshed(ed,), Chronicles>n (2nd ed? London, 1587); and William Camden, Ang?ca (Frankfurt, 1602).

;" -265 ', .



266 Irish Historical Studies

I

Paolo Giovio (1483-1552) was born in Como, a northern Italian city within the

duchy of Milan. He was a university-trained physician, having studied medicine

and natural philosophy at Padua and Pavia, and enjoyed a career in medicine that

financially supported his interest in historical scholarship. During the pontificate of Leo X he moved to Rome, where he acted as an unofficial papal historian. He

quickly became highly connected within the papal court and curia, carefully manoeuvring between rival patronage networks. Later in his career he developed contacts across Europe, notably with the English cardinal Reginald Pole.5 The

fortunes of English Catholicism naturally garnered considerable attention in Rome during the 1530s and 1540s, and Pole was the principal conduit for papal diplomacy in relation to the English problem. Not only did Giovio grant Pole favourable attention in his Descriptio, but he also collaborated with George Lily, a long-time member of Pole's household, in the compilation of the work.6 One

might, therefore, reasonably expect the Descriptio to reflect the political outlook of the cardinal's circle as expressed in his De unitate (1536) and in the diplomatic manoeuvres he undertook during his legation in 1537.7 As regards Ireland, one

might expect an echo of the papal diplomacy revealed in Paul IIFs letters to Conn O'Neill and to 'the clergy and people of Ireland' exhorting them to constancy in faith despite the cruel innovations in English relgious policy.8 Yet the Descriptio is not a political tract, and any attempt to divine political significance in its

representation of Ireland must first have recourse to the mental and linguistic frameworks of early sixteenth-century humanist scholarship. Giovio's predilections as a historian were towards charting contemporary

history through eyewitness accounts? His life's work was the composition of Historianmi sui temporislibri, an immense (and ultimately unfinished) chronicle and analysis of the fortunes of Italy since the beginning of the Italian wars in 1494.10 Exploiting to the full his access to sources at the heart of the papal administration? Giovio reconstructed the recent history of papal policy and diplomacy. His goal was to explain the ignominious fate of foreign domination on Italian soil. Europe was, he felt, incapacitated by divisions within the heart of Christendom and hence unable to face the greater challenge of the advance of the Ottomans and the spread of heresy (the Reformation). Hence, while much of his

i For biographical details see T. C, Price Zimmermann, Paolo Giovio; the historian and the crisis of sixteenth-century Italy (Princeton, 1995); idem, 'Paolo Giovio' in Dizionario biogr?fico degli Italimi, Ivi (Rome, 2001), pp 430-40.

%-Mayer, 'ReginaldPole',pp 432-3. On Lily's contribution see Cochrane,Historians &

MMmographytp.Ml; and on Lily in general see E. F. Hirsh, 'The life and works of George Lily* (Ph.D. thesis, Yale University, 1935). Although the extent of the c<>ltoboration is in question here, Giovio does acknowledge Lily and mentions him .

toowrahly in the Description 7 ?ti tae political context of the Descriptio see Mayer, 'Reginald Pole'; refuted by Hay wood, 'Descriptio Byberniae\ On Pole's legation see T. F. Mayer, *A diet for Henry VIII: the failure of Reginald Pole's 1537 legation' in Jn. Brit Studies, xxvi (1987), pp 305-31. .

' '

'LanHmMlim^LmslS^ Zirftmerm^m, Paolo Gtoio,p*24.

. .. w Paolo Giovio, Himrkrum sui temporis tomus primus (Florence, 1550); tomus ' secmdtis (Hotwe, 1552)..

'



Harris ? Ireland in Europe: Paolo Giovio's Descriptio (1548) 267

scholarly energy was devoted to an analysis of Italian (and particularly papal) politics, he also produced a series of groundbreaking studies of the peripheral regions of Europe, making himself one of the leading Western experts on the Ottoman Empire and Russia.11 It is in this context that he turned his attention to Britain in the 1530s and 1540s ? the Henrician schism was, he felt, one of the great and avoidable tragedies of the century.

In the preface to his book Giovio presents his work as the first part of a systematic survey of the inhabited regions of the whole world, a cosmography. In a proleptic passage in his introduction he states that he is going to recount

the realms and regions of the whole known world, the wealth, character and deeds of

kings, the customs of peoples, men of warlike virtue or skilled in letters, and also indeed the gifts and marvels of each land.12

According to Ptolemaic precedent, Britain was the first land to be dealt with, divided up into England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Hebrides, the Orkneys and Shetlands, closing with a brief account of the obscure northern coasts of

Norway* In fact no other part of the projected cosmography was ever published or written. Giovio's primary interest in his book is clearly England, to which he devotes the vast majority of his text. At first sight, his treatment of this territory appears qualitatively different from that of the others, because the depth of

engagement with English history and culture suggests a substantially different

conception of the work. However, this appearance is somewhat deceptive. The model outlined in the proleptic passage quoted above is followed for each

territory, but Giovio clearly had much more material for his discussion of England. Giovio states at the outset that he will not attempt a detailed description of

English geography, because it had already been thoroughly treated by the ancients; nor was he about to discuss in detail the origins of the English people, because such matter was embroiled in myths and legends that had already adequately been dealt with by Poly dore Vergil. Rather, he says that

Our gift will be to treat of the most noble kings, and to set before readers* eyes an image of the current age, that is, the whole island as divided into the larger and more noble provinces.13

He adds that he will depict

the reputation of that king [Henry VIII] who, when he had been exalted to the utmost height of true renown for illustrious piety and virtuous soul, fell away from thence, driven by a truly uncommon mental disturbance.14

11 See V. J. Parry, 'Renaissance historical literature in relation to the Near and Middle East (with special reference to Paolo Giovio)' in Bernard Lewis and P. M. Holt (eds), Historians of the Middle East (Oxford, 1962), pp 277-89. My interpretation of Giovio's political outlook is largely indebted to the works of T. C. Price Zimmermann, in particular his recent intellectual biography, Paolo Giovio ... (1995).

12 *totius cogniti orbis imperia, et regiones, Regum opes, ingenia, res gestae, gentium item mores, viri bellica virtute, aut literis clari, terrarumque demum dotes, atque miracnla*

(Descriptio, f. 2r). 13 'Nostri autem muneris erit, attigisse clarissimos Reges, et praesentis seculi faciem

legentium oculis subiecisse, universa scilicet ?nsula in amphores, nobilioresque provincias divisa' (ibid., f. 2v).

14 'fama Regis, qm\ cum antea ab illustri pietate, virtuteque animi in summum verae

gloriae fastigium esset provectus, ab inusitata demum ment?s pertorbatione eommotus,

inde deciderit' (ibid,, f> 2r).




Following this plan, Giovio recounts the geography and history of England down to the reign of Henry VIII, the peoples and the territorial divisions within Britain, including towns, ecclesiastical sites, universities and their famous people, and

finally the legal system. This is the familiar material of classical ethnography, relating geography and climate to ethnic character, customs, pastimes, religious character and martial exploits. Thus the structure of the text is exactly parallel to that of the later description of Ireland. At several points in the text Giovio returns to the character of Henry VIII,

whose pre-eminence as a young man in military and athletic activities he celebrates, before detailing the supposed downfall of Henry from his position of

glory as the 'Defender of the Faith' to being a petty heresiarch and deluded schismatic, with tragic consequences for the English realm. Horrified by the evolution and spread of the Henrician schism, Giovio sought to trace its origins in the recent political history of the realm in precisely the same way as he sought to trace the origins of Italy's current travails. Through his knowledge of Cardinal Pole, and through information received from Rodolfo Pio, the papal nuncio in Paris, Giovio drew the conclusion that the Wars of the Roses provided the matrix out of which Henry's policies had evolved.15 Thus, diverting from his plan to produce a cosmography, he devoted his text to a reconstruction of the contours of contemporary English politics, paralleling, albeit in attenuated form, his approach to the Italian wars. Despite his claim in the prefatory letter to the Descriptio that he had 'set aside "his histories [of Italy]',16 we shall see that they form the interpretative matrix against which to read his account of Britain and Ireland.

n

Giovio's description of Ireland, appended to this article, follows almost exactly fee same format as his account of England. He begins with geography, topography and political structures, turning more generally towards the people and their cultural, military and economic activit?s. Interlaced throughout the text are references to Conn O'Neill ? a curious parallel to the treatment of Henry VIII ? and Ulster generally receives more attention than any other region, There is no obvious classical precedent for the way in which Giovio weaves together the threads of his account, but the ingredients all correspond to the classical ethnographic tradition, relating populace and their culture to geography and history. In his description of England Giovio had sufficient material to create coherent sections following the overall plan he outlined at the start of the work. In his account of Ireland the material is fragmentary, and thus the sequence of thoughts seems disordered, suggesting free association. Yet, for all that, the major etammts that one would expect in a humanist topographical account are all incorporated by the end of die work.

It is also evident that he devoted due care to the style of his composition. A respected Latin stylist, he expresses himself with apposite flexibility, varying his sentences from highly accomplished periods to pithy observations and concise

; "mym,'ReginaldP?teVp, 435. ^DacripttejAv.




description.17 He takes various opportunities to display his eloquence, from the complex opening simile to Graecisms and echoes of Livy. The phrase he uses for oatcakes, placentas ex Olira, is somewhat recherch?: olira is a Graecism only used in Latin antiquity by Pliny the Elder, referring to a type of grain whose identification is now uncertain. That his choice of words is not strictly Ciceronian is not surprising

? ethnographers could not restrict themselves to such a limited

lexicon. Nevertheless, he grapples felicitously with many linguistic difficulties, mining the depths of early and late classical Latin for apposite phrasing: thus chainmail (or iron mesh) is macula f?rrea; for the small unwarlike horses of Ireland Seneca's epistles provide the description equi tollutarii (pacing-horses); for a bagpiper Suetonius provides utriculario, to which Giovio adds tibkine for clarity; while Irish funeral processions are said to be led by pmeficae (hired mourners). Displaying a characteristically humanist concern with vernacular nomenclature that conveys local colour, Giovio glosses terms such as

Galloglathas (galloglas) and hobinus (hobby, a type of Irish horse), His aim is threefold: to display his linguistic talent, to make the text entertaining to read, and

perhaps to present Ireland as exotic, unique and interesting. Achieving these

objectives was only incidentally a significant process of cultural mediation* but more importantly a means to secure patronage and book sales,

One consequence of such literary inventiveness is the requirement that

descriptive texts be embellished with anecdotes of cultural peculiarity. This is

perhaps evident in his focus on the Gaelic Irish ? more exotic to a foreign audience than the Old English. Yet his desire for lively portraiture is best revealed

by his indulgence in gossip about the dubious virtue of Irish women who take

advantage of the shared familial beds to extinguish chastity under cover of darkness. Although such anecdotes are included more for diversion than

descriptive fidelity, they are not therefore less typical of humanism. A similar case may be made for Giovio's decision to include reference to the 'miraculous'

properties of Ireland. Humanist travel literature and ethnography fed upon accounts of the miraculous and bizarre every bit as much as did their medieval

equivalents; all that changed was the extent to which such curiosities might be considered probable by theologians and natural philosophers. The voyages of

discovery disproved many myths, and religious reformers banished many others, but scholars continued to collate accounts of the marvellous under the ensign of

scholarship, regaling their appreciative readers in the process. Giovio's

description of Ireland exploits all the ambiguities of the method. He recounts die

principal theological and philosophical curiosities of Ireland (barnacle geese, St Patrick's Purgatory, and the ability of Lough Neagh to petrify wood), but reserves

judgement on their veracity,18 He then rather glibly comments that 'by some

17 The development of Giovio's Latin style, from the early influence of 'silver Latin' and Greek to later Ciceronianism, as well as his participation in various debates about Latinity, is discussed by Zimmermann,Paolo Giovio,pp 20-24, 96-8? 110-11,188-9.The Plinys seem to have been something of a recurring reference point in his career, even to the extent

of his settling and establishing a museum in a villa associated with them. 18 On barnacle geese and other Irish legends see J. M. Boivin, VIrlande au moyen ?ge

(Paris, 1993), pp 84-8,109-45; John Barry, *A wild goose chase: Giraldus Cambrensis and natural history

* in Gerhard Petersmann (ed.), Grazer Beitraege Supplementband IX, 2005.

The role of Latin in early modern Europe: texts and contexts (Horn/Vienna, 2005), pp 1-11.

lam grateful to John Barry for letting me see this article before publication,




miracle' Ireland lacks serpents, leading him to describe the rest of its fauna. Yet

he does not present Ireland as the cornucopia of marvels and oddities described

by Giraldus Cambrensis, nor does he make it half so fantastical as his own

account of the Orkneys, Shetlands and northern Noway. Even in these more

exotic examples, he closes his book with a note of caution that such stories

should be treated with scepticism and that reliance should be placed on recent

sources.1* Thus he manages to regale his readers with entertaining tales while

adding a sophisticated note of reserved judgement. The Ireland that emerges from Giovio's account reflects the author's own

humanist mindset and the tastes he attributes to his readers. A recurring feature

of the text is the attempt to render Ptolemaic nomenclature compatible with

modem Irish placenames. Such exercises in toponymy were standard practice in

the Renaissance. Chorography (and geography in general) was often regarded as a tool for the study of history.20 This was only natural since the textual legacy of

ancient culture was littered with references to places whose locations were

unidentified. A second purpose of topographical treatment was to provide a

framework of classical reference in which to interpret, and a mnemonic pattern in which to remember, modem history.21 This topographical approach to historical scholarship was well established in Italy by the time Giovio was

writing. Even in his Historiarum sui temporis libri (dealing with recent, local

history) he refers to "attaching the fringes of chorography' because it was 'a

necessary mirror for seeing and understanding the ubi, quomodo, quando of events" ,2J When he came to write chorographie accounts of distant regions in the

Descriptio, he littered his text witii references to classical toponymy, and he added as an appendix a lexicon of classical and modern placenames.

Ireland, of course, was not extensively described by classical geographers, though there were sufficient references, particularly in Ptolemy, to provide some ancient pedigree for modem towns and locations. Giovio did not include Ireland in his appendix of placenames (though some names are included under Scotland), but he did repeatedly identify ancient nomenclature in the course of his description of the island. Thus he states that the river Liffey was formerly called

'* *$ed haec monstrifera loca, inusitataque pericula narrantibus, nemo nisi inverecundus

Mem astruxerit, aut improbus elevarit. Nos autem in praeclaro testimonio recentis historian ut in certissima veritatis luce consistemus: nee in adulatione dulcissima aegris, ?ut ociosas animis fabulosa ad voluptatem scribere videamur' (But only a shameless person would put his trust in those who describe this monster-bearing place and these extraordinary perils, while only'an unwise person would deal lightly with them. Hence we will take a stand with the distinguished testimony of recent history as though in the most certain light of faith; then we will not seem to write sweet things fawningly to please the suffering mind or fabled things to please the idle) (Descriptio, f. 42r). ^ See Gerald Strauss, Topographical-historical method in sixteenth-century German schotehip9 in Studies in the Renaissance, v (1958)> pp 87-101. Cf. Haywood, Ts Ireland worth bothering about?', pp 484-5; idem, "Descriptio Hyberniae", pp 319-21. Haywood quotes Giovio's reference to "sepositis historiis', but this alludes to having set aside his Historks of Italy in order to focus on the Descriptio, not to having set aside the writing of histoary itself,

2? For discussion of topography and reading practices see Jason Harris, "Reading the first adases: Ortelius, Ek Jode and T.C JX volume M, aa. 9' in Long Room, xlix (2004), pp 28-53. -.

22 Quoted in Zimmermann:, Paolo Giovio,p.25.




Obocca (actually the nearby Avoca river), that the Suir was called Modanus, and that the furthest part of Ulster was called the Ismenium promontory.23 In several instances Giovio is mistaken in his attempt to reconstruct classical nomenclature. For example, he refers to the Isle of Man as the ancient island of Mana mentioned by Caesar, Pliny and Tacitus.24 This is a medieval corruption arising from Tacitus1 account of the conquest of Mona by Roman troops. While Giovio acknowledges that some authorities identify Mona with the island of Anglesey (correctly), he rejects this idea in favour of the Isle of Man, and proceeds to note that Dublin is visible from this island, whence the Roman general Agr?cola considered invading Ireland.25 In this he follows the authority of Polydore Vergil, who had attempted to account for the improbable idea that a Roman legion swam from Wales to the Isle of Man by claiming that the island had drifted further out to sea in the intervening centuries,26 Giovio was following solid humanist procedure in

attempting to resolve a debate through recourse to a better-informed authority. It also served his purpose to link Ireland to a famous episode from ancient history: though Ireland was never conquered by the Romans, it might still have relevance to reading the classics. A further instance of toponymie confusion is that Giovio appears to confuse the

rivers Bann and Boyne, blending both under the Latin name for the latter, Boandus, which he then correctly identifies with the Ptolemaic name Buvinda?1 The problem of identification is compounded by Giovio's poorly defined understanding of the location of Armagh and limited notion of the existence and extent of Lough Neagh. Similar errors were common in early modem accounts of Ulster. Its inland regions were scarcely documented, while its coastline was

erratically charted by even the best of maps in the first half of the sixteenth

century. Giovio, the armchair geographer, made no new contributions in this area, rather perpetuating and compounding confusions drawn from previous authors. It is, however, striking that Giovio's text was not corrected against the map issued at Rome by his collaborator George Lily in 1546. On Lily's map the position of the Boyne is clear, and Giovio's erroneous description of the river as flowing into the sea near to Armagh on the coast opposite Scotland suggests that Lily was not his primary source for the geography of Ireland ? though he states elsewhere in the book that he has 'studied' it ? and lends support to the notion that the date of composition of the text was in the early 1540s, before the publication of Lily's map. Nevertheless, these geographical incongruities also throw into doubt the assertion that Lily was responsible for editing Giovio's book?8 Although the two men were evidently acquainted, and although Lily's Chronicon of English history was published together with Giovio's Descriptio, the two works appear unrelated in conception and uninfluenced by each other.

23 More correctly Isamnium, since Ismenium was a place in Greece. 24 Caesar, Commentarii belli Gallici,v, 13; Pliny, Natural?s historia, ii, 187, iv, 103;

Tacitus, De vitaJulii Agricolae,ch. 18; idem, Annales, xiv, 30, 25

Tacitus, De vita Julii Agricolae, ch. 24. 26 Polydore Vergil, Anglica historia,!.

27 Thus Giovio attributes to the Boyne wonderful salmon fishing, which was more

commonly associated with the Barm. For example, see St Leger's gloss of the Bann as *the

place where all the salmon fishing is' (?; ? P. Hen. VIII, 1542, no. 340). 28 Gochrane, Historians ?Mstoriograpky^iS&J.




m

The question of Giovio's sources for his depiction of Ireland is crucial in

interp?ting the significance of the text. Readers would instantly have registered how little he cites the best-known classical and medieval accounts of Ireland.

They would have taken cognisance of each alteration, correction and addition and

weighed it against these authorities. Particularly noticeable is Giovio's almost total neglect of the diffuse medieval mythographic literature about Ireland, which amounts to a telling instance of humanist revisionism.29 As to early modern sources, in his discussion of England he mentions Polydore Vergil's Anglica historia, with which he was evidently familiar; however, Vergil's description of Ireland in no way accords with Giovio's, differing in detail, interpretation and overall perspective. Indeed, there is no evident literary source for Giovio's text; its originality is one of its most interesting features. Consideration of the nature of the material Giovio presents is perhaps the best means of assessing its origin. Most distinctive is his emphasis on Ulster: on the qualities of the river Bann, the lifestyle of Conn O'Neill, and the miraculous tales told of locations in the province. Ill-explored and poorly documented, Ulster was an unusual choice of focus and, as such, may provide a clue to the source of Giovio's information and the key to any political objective in composing his text. One possible explanation for Giovio's focus on Ulster is that three Jesuit

ambassadors (Paschal Broet, Alfonso Salmer?n and Franciscus Zapata) had been sent there in February 1542 to negotiate with the local lords Conn O'Neill and

Manus O'DonnelL They hoped to secure the lords' loyalty to the papacy (and opposition to the English reforms) and to catechise the populace.30 The project was the fruit of considerable papal interest in the affairs of Ireland over the course of the previous three years. In response to the diplomacy of the G?raldine League, the pope became concerned to secure the appointment of bishops resistant to the Henrician reforms.31 However, the decision to employ the newly founded Jesuit order to attempt to bolster papal representation in Ireland came too late. The priests arrived through the agency of the Scots and French in February 1542, by which time the Ulster lords were deeply involved in negotiations with the English,32 The involvement of the Scottish and French in the Jesuit diplomatic

M On the medieval tradition see Boivin, L'Irlande au moyen ?ge, passim; Barry, "Wild goose chase*. * L. & P. Hen. VIII, 1542, nos 102,554. On the Jesuit embassy to Ireland see William V. Bangert, Claude Jay and Alfonso Salmer?n (Chicago, 1.985), pp 167-71; Thomas M. MsCoog, The Society of Jesus in Ireland, Scotland and England, 1541-1588 (Leiden, 1996) pp 14-24; Benignus Mille?, 'The pastoral zeal of Robert Wauchope' in Seanchas Ardmhaca, u no. 1 (1956), pp 35-7; John Durkan, 'Robert Wauchope, archbishop of Armagh m//ws??., i (1950), pp 48-66; R. D. Edwards, Church and state in Tudor Ireland (Dublin, 1935), pp 117-18,

irlS^^S^^P? Msh constitutioml revolution of the sixteenth century

(Cambridge, 1979), pp 247-8.

o" ^?^T^f0011 of ** ne?otiati?>ns see Cal. SJ>. Ire., 1509-73, pp 35-65- L & P

?tZ15Vi\a%AV7t ibM-1542' 831"3; Cal- CawMSS. ?515-74,no. ?61; TZ:^}^FJde%^nve"t?oWs,

Uterae et ...actapublica inter regesAngliae r?lri T

' P)nd?n' ^ Vi' pt 3' PP Wl-2/For discussion see Bradshaw, Consmmonal revolutwn, pp 209-10; Ciaran Brady, 'The attainder of Shane O'Neill and




venture further aroused the suspicions of O'Neill and O'Donnell, coming in the wake of the recent (1541) breakdown in Spanish-French relations and the ensuing return of Henry VIII to European conflict via an alliance with Charles V against the French. Thus, caught in the middle, the Jesuits idled in Ulster waiting for a meeting with O'Neill and O'Donnell. On their eventual removal to Scotland, they were embittered by their treatment, convinced of the lords' loyalty to Henry VIII, and horrified by the state of religious observance in Ulster.*3

Giovio, by contrast, shows considerable admiration for Conn O'Neill and states plainly that the native Irish faithfully observe the Christian liturgy, even in rough, uncultivated locations. Given his close involvement in papal circles and his interest in the religious politics of Henrician England, it is striking that Giovio does not at all reflect the change of mood in Rome regarding the northern magnates following the failure of the Jesuit mission. Nor is there any reason to suppose a factional interest in O'Neill that might supersede focus on the young heir to the earldom of Kildare (whose status as icon of the G?raldine League should rather have been enhanced through his kinsman Cardinal Pole).34 Indeed, during the Kildare rebellion O'Neill seized the opportunity to plunder and

appropriate church possessions.35 While expediency required that the pope appeal to O'Neill on behalf of the Catholic faith, the magnate's actions can have left little doubt that he was similarly motivated by expediency. An unusual aspect of Giovio's depiction of the submission of Conn O'Neill is

the claim that he was 'drawn into friendship by gifts and by the hard work of Thomas Howard who is renowned for his Scottish victories'. In fact it was the successive chief governors of Ireland, Sir William Brereton and Sir Anthony St

Leger, who were responsible for the persistent negotiation that eventually persuaded O'Neill to co-operate. When O'Neill was treated magnanimously during his trip to court in September 1542, this was in line with the policy promulgated by St Leger, and the Irish council made specific recommendations as regards the gifts to be given.36 Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, was not even in attendance (being in York) when O'Neill was created earl of Tyrone at

the problems of Tudor state-building' in idem and Jane Ohlmeyer (eds), British interventions in early modern Ireland (Cambridge, 2003), pp 43-5; Harold O'Suliivan, 'Dynamics of regional development: processes of assimilation and division in the

marchland of south-east Ulster in late medieval and early modern Ireland*, ibid., pp 55-8, 33 Their accounts are preserved in Epistolae P. Alphonsi Salmeronis, ed. Raimundus

Vaudurre and Federico Cervos (2 vols, Madrid, 1906-7), i, 2-10; and Epistolae P. P. Broeti, Claudii Jayi, Joannis Codurii et Simonis Rodericii, ed. Federico Cervos (Madrid, 1903), pp 23-3L See also Edmund Hogan, Ibernia Ignatiana, i (Dublin, 1880), pp 1-8; Sancti Ignatianii de Loyola Societatis lesu fundatoris epistolae et instructiones, ed>

Mariano Lecina, V. August! and D. Restrepo (12 vols, Madrid, 1903-11), i, 174-81, 727-31. Salmer?n and Zapata were arrested by the English in France, where they were

interrogated (L. ? P. Hen. VIII, 1542, no. 554). 34

Pole seems to have regarded Ireland as a barren, dangerous place, and discouraged the

Jesuits from going there; likewise, Ignatius Loyola gave up hopes of pursuing the mission there (McCoog, Society of Jesus, pp 19,24).

35 H. A. Jefferies, Priests and prelates of Armagh in the age of the Reformation, 1518-1558 (Dublin, 1997),pp 58-60,123-4,143; Edwards, Church & state,pp 1U-16;

Millett, 'Pastoral zeal of Robert Wauchope*, p. 34; Durkan, 'Robert Wauchope*, p, 50. 36 L, ? P Hen. VIII, 1542, no. 721; the gifts are described in detail, ibid. no. 924.



m Irish Historical Studies

Greenwich." There is no obvious source for Giovio's confusion about this matter,

but some indication of it might be gleaned from his reference to Norfolk's

military success in Scotland. Giovio is almost certainly alluding to the battle of

Solway Moss on 24 November 1542, with which Norfolk was associated (being

the commander of the campaign to invade Scotland, even though he was not

present in person at Solway Moss). The English victory, which undermined the

'auld alliance' between France and Scotland, naturally attracted attention around

Europe. Norfolk had previously been the focus of international interest as the

main rival to Thomas Cromwell at the English court. After the latter's execution

in 1540 foreign diplomats assumed that Norfolk would take his place as leading adviser to the king. Still more significantly, he fits the profile of those at the

English court reluctant to pursue closely the assassination of Cardinal Pole in the

late 1530s.w Giovio's association with Pole and Lily has already been mentioned; if these men helped to shape his view of English politics, it is perhaps not

surprising that Norfolk cut an impressive figure in his account.39

The association of Norfolk with O'Neill's submission is also explicable. Norfolk (then earl of Surrey) had been sent to Ireland in 1520 at the head of a

large force, but had quickly become convinced that the only feasible approach to the northern magnates was diplomacy. Twenty years later the appointment of Sir

Anthony St Leger, one of Norfolk's closest associates in court politics, to the

position of lord deputy in Ireland signalled the return of the Norfolk faction's

ascendancy in Irish affairs. St Leger was the architect of the 'surrender and

?grant* project and the man who dealt most closely with O'Neill over the matter of submission to the English crown. As such, it is not implausible that someone

favourably disposed to Norfolk might have depicted him as ultimately responsible for O'Neill's co-operation, Giovio, with his predilection for nobility and martial prowess, would have seized on any opportunity to connect the

episode to a name of such international renown. He may well have been afforded the opportunity to do so by the presence of one of Norfolk's nephews in Venice, but it would not have been difficult to find numerous others in Rome with an interest in promoting Norfolk's reputation.40 A more mundane and yet characteristic set of sources for Giovio's account of

Ireland is revealed by his repeated reference to trade and Irish merchandise. He notes that Irish clothing, salmon, herring and pearls are well known in Italy, and he describes numerous other Irish goods and what they are bartered for.41

?T O'Neill, with the Irish council's backing? sought the earldom of Ulster, but the king

objected, and hence he received only that of Tyrone (ibid,, nos 249,885). w This is noted by Mayer? 'Diet for Henry V?T, p. 326. Norfolk's closeness to Gardiner, whose behaviour in pursuit of Pole was suspiciously slack, may be significant. Norfolk was also the person who initially passed on the news of Henry's displeasure to Pole, as is revealed by the latter *s letter to Somerset in 1549 (Cal SP. Ven? 1534-54, no. 575). n This was in spite of the fact that Norfolk had led the ruthless suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536? the smouldering embers of which were the target of Pole's legation in the following year. On Norfolk's reputation abroad see, for example, Cal. S.P.

tai.. 1527-53, ?o. 684.

*VM?1534-$4,.no*2to. 41 Giovio was fascinated by the fecundity of the northern seas, particularly with regard to taring; he discusses the subject at greater length towards the end of the book: 'Caeterum qmm in alto plscationi incumbunt, tanta Aringarum visitar multitudo, ut




Similarly, Irish horses are known through trade, while those called 'hobbies' were recently used in a papal procession, presumably in Rome. Giovio's knowledge of these matters suggests that he has turned to merchants for oral accounts of Ireland rather than relying on literary predecessors. In this he followed the precepts of Lucian, who advocated eyewitness historiography, an approach which formed the basis of Giovio's histories of Italy.42 The importance of merchants in transmitting images of Ireland abroad has never been sufficiently registered by cultural historians, who have tended to focus on representations in polemic literature. Giovio's desire to reconstruct detail from the mouths of eyewitnesses provides a

fragmentary sampling of merchant knowledge and attitudes and helped to transform Ireland's image in the learned literature of Europe. The problem is that such grassroots reportage could easily be assimilated into the well-established discourses of ethnography that had been canonised by the precedent of ancient authors.

IV

As already noted, Giovio's description of Ireland closely follows the structure of classical ethnographies,43 The classical genre of ethnography was reserved for accounts of barbaric peoples who were, by definition, outside the confines of Graeco-Roman civilisation; Blending topography with anthropology, classical authors sought to characterise and explain the barbarity of these peoples through implicit contrast with their own more advanced civility. This framework could serve to legitimise colonisation, but when faced with not infrequent defeat at the hands of such supposedly inferior enemies, authors were forced to confront their own assumptions, A vibrant strain of asceticism in classical thought animated

ethnographic accounts with a spirit of respect for the asperity, purity and naturalness of barbarian lifestyles. Ireland, as a remote, poorly documented land whose population lacked the recognisable traits of Graeco-Roman civilisation, was consistently described within the contours of this discourse.44 The tropes of

ethnography in relation to Ireland are best known through their employment in the twelfth century by Giraldus Cambrensis, an apologist for the Norman

invasion, and his writings exerted a subtle undercurrent of influence down to

earum densissima, infinitaque agmina perpetuo transcursu liquidissimi aequoris nitorem obscurent, indeque pigrescant fluctus? et opposita incidentium impetu retia saepissime

rapiantur' (For the rest, when they are engaged on deep-sea fishing, such a multitude of

herrings appears that their thick and countless droves, ceaselessly darting around, obscure the splendour of the purest sea; hence the waves become sluggish* and very often the opposed nets may be dragged asunder by the force of those caught) (Descriptio, I 41r). '. .

42 Zimmermann, Paolo Giovio, p. 24,

43 See Haywood, "Descriptio Hyberniae\ As regards classical ethnography and its

applications see John Barry, 'Richard Stamhurst's De rebus in Hiberma gestis* m Renaissance Studies, xviii (2004), p. 4; Robert Harriett, Gerald of Wales, 1146^1223 (Oxford, 1982)^ 158-210.

44 See J. XTierney, 'The Celtic ethnography of Posidonius* in RJA> Proc:,te (1960), sect, C, pp 189-275; Philip Freeman, Ireland and the classical world (Austin, Tex., 2000).




their sudden diffusion in print in the later sixteenth century.45 The question is

whether they are necessarily linked to a colonial perspective. The political dimension of Giovio's ethnography is best measured by his

account of Conn O'Neill Undoubtedly interest in the activities of the Gaelic

lords had been animated by the recent diplomacy of the G?raldine League and the

overtures of the papacy in response,46 Conn O'Neill, though a late adherent to the

league, was the most powerful magnate in the most remote area of the island,

and, as we have seen, he had just submitted to the English crown; as such, he was

the ideal focus for an ethnographic treatise on Irish barbarity and civility. Giovio first introduces O'Neill during discussion of the political structure of

Gaelic Ireland as being the local leader who far exceeds all the rest in authority,

ancestry and warlike deeds; indeed, he is represented as waging war incessantly both against other Gaelic lords and against the English. The next time O'Neill is

mentioned is in relation to England's attempt to exercise dominion over the

Island, which, Giovio notes, was beaten back by Hie Gaelic lords, who, he states, set aside local squabbles to unite against the foreign threat. There is perhaps here an echo of Giovio's own account of Italy after 1494

? Giovio, like Machiavelli and many other Italian authors, felt that Italy had been laid at the disposal of

foreign powers owing to weakness resulting from incessant internecine warfare

among Italian city-states. Seeking in Ireland the hero he longed for in Italy, who would unite the disparate locals to drive out the invaders, Giovio seized upon Conn O'Neill, who, he says, 'recently led into battle from his own territories a select force of four thousand cavalry and three times as many infantry'

47 Albeit that the figures are inflated, the reference is unmistakably to O'Neill's invasion of Leinster in 1539, which was reported as encompassing the largest army ever mustered by Gaelic magnates. Giovio explains that O'Neill now keeps the peace with Henry VIII (not that his armies were routed), enticed by the gifts and efforts of the duke of Norfolk. Although Giovio's account is not altogether accurate, it was absolutely unprecedented in its favourable depiction of the independence of an Irish magnate,

Seeking a bellicose nobleman to celebrate as a worthy opponent of Henry VIII, Giovio deleted from the record all other Gaelic magnates who participated in the G?raldine League, even O'Donnell, who had masterminded it, focusing instead on the solitary hero in parallel to the English king. What Giovio sees in O'Neill is continuity with the classical accounts of barbarian Celts. Accordingly, O'Neill is entirely warlike, spurning towns and the technology of modern warfare in favour of a ragged, manly life in the field alongside troops who share his life rather than benefiting from his pocket or patronage, O'Neill's austerity is a virtue that underpins his military prowess. Uncorrupted by cultural refinements, he is hardy, honourable and respected by his troops, He is depicted as a kind of noble

4? See John Giliingham, "Hie English invasion of Ireland' in Brendan Bradshaw, Andrew H&dfield and Willy Maley (eds), Representing Ireland: literature and the origins of conflict, 1534^1660 (Cambridge, 1993), pp 24-42; Hiram Morgan, 'Giraldus Cambrensis and the Tudor conquest of Ireland* in idem (ed.), Political ideology in Ireland, 1541-1641 {Dublin, 1999), pp 22-44. * Steven Elfe? 'The Kildare rebellion and the early Henrician Reformation' in Hist. Jn., xix(1976),p,825. 41 *ex proviacialibus suis exquisito e?am delectu quattuor millia equitum, et triplo maiorem peditum numerum in aciem eduxit' (below, pp 282,285).




savage, free from the degeneration associated with a lifestyle of luxury and inequality. But is the portrait that simple? A thorough exploration of the rest of the

Descriptio Britanniae brings more clarity through a comparative model. At the end of his book, in his treatment of the Orkneys, Shetlands and remoter northern regions, Giovio depicts a horrific climate in the northern coast of Norway, dark and icebound and rumoured to be populated by cannibals.48 Such places are at the very edges of the oikod^i?v?, the inhabitable world. By contrast, in his discussion of the outlines of early British history at the beginning of his book, Giovio describes the colonisation of Scotland, drawing on accounts from Caesar down to Bede and Gildas, He notes that part of the Scottish population is of Irish origin (the ancient Scots) and part is from the shores of Norway (the ancient Picts), a land that he later describes as genuinely wondrous and fearsome. Nevertheless, his description of the Picts is important because he is able to connect them to the classical accounts of Britain, since they were 'known to

Caligula' ,49 He is convinced that they are those in Scotland currently called sylvestres (wood-dwellers), and he thinks they may have Scythian origins: This race of men is fierce in war, harsh in diet and appearance, distinct in speech, but it does not seem entirely barbarous to the extent of not recognising the highest virtues of

piety, justice and probity; since rather these wood-dwellers concede nothing at all to their Scotic allies or to their English enemies in customs, equestrian feats and greatness of

spirit. Indeed, by way of reproach, they freely say that the Scots and English are deceitful, reprobate and plunderers, since they themselves are remarkable for Irish asperity and a

kind of Roman gravitas of excellent maturity, and on account of that they lead a faultless

life, spurning the charms of foreign luxury.50

48 * Ultra Scethlandias ad dextram aliae quoque parvae, et ob innumerabiles insulae,

immanium scopulorum effigie, toto eo Oc?ano se diffundunt, quo horrentia gelu, et

tenebris Norvegiae litora quatiuntur, non longe enim abest illud extremum Norvegorum

caput ... In extremis porro, et nivosis Noruegiae litoribus homines feros monstroso

aspectu, et praelongis undique setis, et crinibus coopertos, maximeque horribiles versari

tradunt, qui terribili garritu pro sermone utantur, minoresque plantas admiranda vi

manibus revellant. In Oc?ano quoque, et fluviis mirifice corripiendis piscibus urinentur, et per glaciem, et duratas nives firmo vestigio stantes, in corticlbus arborum, praeustisque innixi contis decurrant, ut feras consectentun Ab his electos in litus peregrinos homines

per noctem, quod perosi lucem in tenebris maxime grassentur, fustibus interimi, devorarique asseverant, immanium Canibalium more' (Beyond the Shetlands further to the right there are other small islands scattered throughout that whole Ocean which are innumerable and have the appearance of monstrous rocks. Bristling in the ice and darkness, they jostle against the shores of Norway, and indeed not distant is'the farthest headland of the Norwegians

... Moreover, they say that on the farthest snow-filled shores

of Norway live wild men with a monstrous appearance, covered with bristles all over their bodies and with long flowing hair; they are extremely unsightly, employ a frightful jabbering for speech, and tear out small shrubs by their hands with remarkable strength. Amazingly, they dive into the ocean and rivers to catch fish. To catch wild animals, they sail over the ice and hardened snows, standing firmly on the charred bark of trees and

balancing on poles. When by these they are cast forth onto the coastline, it is said that at

night-time (since they hate the light and normally travel in darkness) they kill foreign men with their clubs and eat them in the manner of inhuman Cannibals) (Descriptio, ff

41v-42r). 49

*Hos C. Caesari fuisse cognitos videmus' (ibid., f. 4r).



27B Irish Historical Studies

Giovio proceeds to claim that they wear clothes not dissimilar to the Roman toga,

that they have noble features, and that they keep themselves well groomed. This

is, indeed, a hybrid portrait. Descended from a race of ancient Scythians (the

epitome of barbarism), these people are nonetheless more virtuous even than the

neighb?urmg Englishmen, not merely because of their martial prowess, but also

because of nobility in their bearing and the striking similarity of their dress to that

most distinctive of Roman accoutrements, the toga. These are not simply noble

savages; they evince elements of civility at a stage before its degeneration into

luxury, The picture quickly becomes more puzzling, Although Giovio has distinguished

these people from the Scots who originated in Ireland, he nonetheless

characterises them as having Irish asperity' ? the kind of simple, rugged lifestyle

in accordance with nature that classical ethnographers, imbued with the precepts of Stoicism, valorised. He goes further. Having said that these people are 'fierce in war, harsh in diet and appearance, distinct in speech', he finds a parallel:

In speech, just as in the location of their lands, they are close to the peoples of Ireland, particularly those of Ulster, with whom they are intermingled through commerce as blood relations,51

It is clear that Giovio is no longer speaking of the ancient Picts as distinguished from the Scots; he is speaking of the early modern Gaelic Scots, the Highlanders. Having characterised them in detail, and having suggested their connexion with the Ulster Irish, he has prepared the way for reading the description of Ireland which occurs later in the book. Ulster contains a similarly martial populace, with characteristics reminiscent of those praised in the Scots and Picts. The Irish cultivate a more hirsute appearance in order to appear fearsome in battle. They wear cloaks that appear similar to those of the Scottish, but more colourful, and distinguished by rank - they are characteristically Irish, and no comparison with the Roman toga is offered. Botin the Irish and Scottish are pious, but the Scottish, being illiterate, lack the sacraments and make virtue their goal, whereas the Irish are educated by bishops and, even in uncultivated places, observe the Christian liturgy. However, the Irish are libidinous, not numbering sexual licence among the deadly sins, accounting a reputation for probity as the same thing as naivety. Thus ?^ Irish are by no means idealised. They are partly civilised, but in different ways from their Scottish relations.

What is most distinctive in the treatment of Ireland is the extended and positive manner in which Giovio treats of military affairs. The extent to which he admires the military accomplishments of the Irish in general, and O'Neill in particular, requires some explanation, especially by comparison with the negative assessment provided by his compatriot Polydore Vergil a few years previously.52

-*\? genus hominum bello ferox, victo, cultuque asperum, diversum lingua, non usque barbarum videtur, ut summ?s virtutes, pietatem, iustitiam, probitatem non agnoscat, qimndoqmdem Sylvestres nihil omnino vel Scotis sociis, vel Anglis hostibus conc?dant, si mores acuonesque omnes ad equitatem, atque animi magnitudinem revocentur, facile

mm nos, et dios contumeiiae nomine fallaces, improbos, et raptores vocant, quum ipsi Mybermea simplicitate, et quadam Romana gravitate mirabiies, spectatae frugis? et ob id inrioxiam ducant vitam, et peregrini luxus illecebras aspementur' (ibid.).

Troxinu sunt lingua skniti, et terrarum situ Hyberniae propulis, Holtaniisque praesertim, qmbus uti consanguineis, per commercia miscentur' (ibid.) ^

Vergil, AngUca historia, xiii.




Whereas for Vergil the Irish soldiery were primitive throwbacks to a past era, for Giovio they appear to be a combination of Spartan bellicosity and Parthian horsemanship. In the intervening period much had changed. During the third and fourth decades of the century the English became gradually more aware of the extraordinarily combative disposition of Irish soldiers; indeed, they began to

exploit it to their own ends. A key figure in this regard was Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk. During his sojourn in Ireland from 1520 to 1522 he became convinced that military conquest was beyond the present means of the English crown. The collapse of the Kildare ascendancy in 1534 represents the decisive turning-point. The crown took control of Kildare's kern and galloglas, but was nonetheless faced with an unprecedented degree of co-ordinated military opposition, culminating in the invasion of Leinster (and symbolic muster on Tara Hill) mentioned earlier, which evidently caught Giovio's attention and admiration. The appointment of Norfolk's close associate St Leger as lord deputy in 1540 inaugurated a period of conciliation. On submitting to the crown, O'Neill instantly offered to supply troops in the event of war (then much mooted) with Scotland or France,53 During the invasion of Scotland (nominally under the

leadership of Norfolk) Irish soldiers were used to great effect and were noted for their savagery, as they were again in 1544 in France under Norfolk's command,

where they earned the respect and fear of their French opponents, who considered them 'gens mervelous sauvaige' and 'gens exp?riment?s a la guerre*, as Norfolk

reported.54 At a time when Ireland was the focus of much international interestas a locus of resistance to the Henrician Reformation, such reports seem to have contributed to a wholesale revaluation of the military capacity of Gaelic society, one that nicely complemented and yet complicated ethnographic accounts of the Irish as warlike, stoical barbarians.

V

The scant attention that Ireland received from European historians and

geographers in the Renaissance is explained as much by its lack of integration in the accounts of classical historians as it is by its apparent remoteness.55

Uuconquered by the Romans, Ireland rarely featured in the classical histories or

poetry that formed the basis of the early modern school syllabus; nor had Irish

politics in the years preceding the Reformation often demanded the attention of

Europe. Giovio's text marks the beginnings of a change in European historiography of Ireland as it became newly important to understand the

relationship between the Irish and the realm of England in the wake of the Henrician Reformation,

Humanist ethnography of Ireland has normally been seen through the political writings of the English; hence it has proved difficult to abstract the component of classical ethnography from specifically English imperialism.56 Humanism always

53 L. ? P. Hen. VIII, 1542, no. 806. 54 Ibid., 1544, pt 1, nos 477,575,654; ibid., pt 2, no. 284; ibid., J546\ pt 1, no. 1279. 55 See Hay wood, Is Ireland worth bothering about?'* 56 Cf. Clare Carroll, 'Barbarous slaves and civil cannibals: translating civility in early

modem Ireland' in eadem and Patricia King (eds), Ireland and postcolonial theory (Cork, 2003), pp 63-78.



im Irish Historical Studies

reflected historical consciousness of civility as a debt to the classical world.

Giovio could not depict Ireland as entirely civilised, but he did not depict it either

as thoroughly barbarian or as a place on the outer edge of the oiko\)|X?VS. In his

account it is a fertile land rumoured to contain several miraculous features, but

these are played down, while the nomadic culture of the Gaelic inhabitants is

presented as a reflection of their noble esteem for asperity and martial prowess.

It is extremely significant that Giovio's ethnography of Ireland was elaborated in

the context of opposition to the religious agenda of the English administration.

His admiration for the Gaelic magnates who resisted the English forces parallels his analysis of contemporary Italy and demonstrates clearly that ethnography nm? not be linked to a colonial mindset. On the contrary, his account reflected

m? widely propagated a revised estimation of the significance, vitality and

military capacity of Gaelic Ireland. Giovio's focus on Conn O'Neill matched his interest in the spartan virtues of

the Picts as reflected in their Highland descendants and their relations in Ulster.

It also suited Italian interest in the activities of the G?raldine League. Although O'Neill was not the leading member of the league, he was subsequently the key prize for St Leger's policy of surrender and regrant. O'Neill's penury and reduced military means were presumably not known to Giovio at the time of

writing; nor does he seem aware of or interested in other rebellious magnates of similar significance and prowess (such as Desmond, O'Connor or O'Donnell); likewise, the military means of the earl of Ormond (who could summon

considerably more galloglas and kern than O'Neill, and who supplied the

majority of those who served abroad) receives no mention.57 Giovio is interested in creating and preserving for posterity the image of a great man, a role of the historian in which he was particularly interested; yet he was by no means na?ve as to the political import of such a project.58 Indeed, he shows O'Neill precisely the degree of respect that St Leger advocated for his reception by the king. Foreign diplomats reported that the image did not entirely fit the reality, that O'Neill was poorly attended for a great nobleman. Giovio turned this into a virtue. In doing so, he may have reflected the politique exigencies of his sources as much as the prevalence of a humanist ethnographic mindset.

It has become commonplace, following T. F. Mayer, to claim that Giovio's Descriptio Britanniae was 'a part of Catholic Europe's propaganda war with Protestant groups inside England in Henry VIITs last years and in the wake of his death'.5* Such a claim may overstate the importance of the depiction of Reginald Pole in the description of Britain and simplify the characterisation of Henry VHI.*0 As regards Ireland, Pole cannot have been the main source, since his impression of the place was thoroughly negative, to the extent that he

5t On O'Neill1? reduced means and difficulties with galloglas families see L. ? P. Hen. VIII, 1542, nos 340, 367, 422,460, 664, 668; ibid., 75?, pt 2, no. 284. On Ormondes contribution of troops see ibid., nos 562,819,1046. 58

Zimmermann, Paolo Giovio, pp 206-7. Note in particular Paolo Giovio, Illustrium vmrum vim (Florence, 1549) and idem, Elogia virorum bellica virtute iUustrium (Florence, 1551). ,.*..Peter Barber, 'England II: monarcas, ministers, and maps, 1550-1625' in David

BuimreMed.), Monarchs, ministers, and maps (Chicago, 1992), p. 62. See also Mayer, Kegmatd Pole ; Zimmermann, Paolo Giovio, pp 149-50. * Caution has been urged by Haywood, 'Descriptio Hybemiae\




discouraged the Jesuit missionaries from travelling there.61 Giovio was, certainly, profoundly disturbed by the Henrician Reformation, yet his depiction of Ireland does not seem concerned to present it as a potential site of opposition to Henry. He makes no mention of the G?raldine League and its purported religious agenda, instead focusing on the honourable peace secured in a warlike nation. The success of St Leger in securing concord with militant magnates may have filled Giovio with hope for Italy and the Empire. Yet, while Giovio's text reveals the dynamics of a particular historical moment, in a sense his work was a dead end. Old and New English writers would maintain for many decades the negative ethnography of the Irish propounded by Giraldus Cambrensis, prompting a counter-tradition in the seventeenth century that thoroughly rejected the classical

ethnology of Irish barbarism.62

Jason Harris Department of History, University College Cork

61 McCoog, Society of Jesus, p. 19* 62 The Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences has made possible

the research for this article by providing financial support for the Centre for Neo-Latin Studies in university College Cork. I should like to thank Hiram Morgan, John Barry and Eric Haywood for reading drafts.



2K2 Irish Historical Studies

APPENDIX

[Paulo Giovio, Descriptio Britanniae, Scotiae, Hyberniae et Orchadum (Venice,

?548),ff34r-38R]

TEXT

ff.34rl HYBERNIA

Hyberniae figuram, quamquam enormi, et lunato undique litore, quatuor ventorum

cudines totidem promontoriis aspiciat: quemo folio si eius cuspidem, et a pediculo sirailiter imam partem modice abscindas, persimilem videri volunt, qui earn in tabulis

cffigiant. Longissima autem, di?metro per obliquum protenditur a Notio Momoniae, quod

in Cantabriam vcrgit, ad extremum Holtoniae caput, Ismenium antiquis dictum, quo terrae

ultimae immenso ad arctum Oc?ano temiinantur, Asperis obsita montibus, et inculta

campas: nee dimidiam quidem Britanniae partem aequare existimatur; quum ei par sit, vel

?bert?te agri, vel pecoris foecunditate; et, quod Angli facile concedunt, tepore soli, coeli

dementia'atque aeris serentiate nobilior: Verum inculta gens, ignara luxus, et peregrinis

ilkcebris incorrupta, aratram magnopere fastidit: ligonem r?cus?t, sudoremque omnem

praeter bellicum refugit, quo uno nihil fere, praeter decus, quaerendum existimat. Contenu

siquidem pecore, Iacte, caseo, et favis, pisce item, aucupio, venationeque, dona Cereris, et

Bacchi Principum suorum illata mensis non invident: quum vulgo placentas ex Olira, et

Birram in pocuHs praeferant, et multo legumuie [f. 34v] largiter epulentur. Quin, et eodem

contumacia animi decreto metalli feris montibus parcunt, nee aurum, argentumve secturis, et fodinis Anglorum studio, et multo labore inde erutum asportari patiuntur, uti rem vitae, ac moribus maxime pestilentem. Hyberni divisi in multas regiones, inter quas Holtonia,

Laginia? Connatia, atque Momonia maxime sunt insignes, ex aequo suis Regulis parent, ?eque unquam passi sunt, ut summa imperil ad unius arbitrium, veluti sublata lib?rtate, recideret, Usqueadeo in feris hominibus ingenium viget, ut iustitiae nomine plurimum

gaudeant; idque unum maxime curent, ne quis multo maximis viribus abundet, indeque, uti pterumque fit, intolerandus, et impotens, caeteris subactis, Insulae regnum arripiat. Veram ingenti authoritate, bellicis operibus, et antiqua pariter nobilitate caeteros antecellit CONNATIUS Honel Holtoniae Princeps, Is continenter bella gerit, modo cum finitimis Anglis, modo cum Regulis, qui undique Holtanicos fines amplectuntur. Duae siquidem mariiimae regiones in Laginia, Midiam et Finagalliam eas vocant, Angliae regum imperio, ct'praesidiis tenentur, Ab his brevissimus est in Angliam traiectus, intercedente Mona ?nsula, in quam, authore T?cito, reperds humilibus vadis, captatoque aestu reciprocantis

Occam, miraculo quodam Romanae legiones transnatarunt. Ea vetustum adhuc, immutata litlera nomen retinet, ita, ut a Mona Hyberniam invadere in spem triumphi ambiti?se

eogimrmt, putaritque Iutius Agr?cola [f, 35r] legione una, et modi?is auxiliis subigi, ac in pace contineri facile posse. In Jvlidia Anglicae ditionis, Dublinium e Mona conspicitur, amplisaima omnium civitas Upheo amne, Obocca olim dicto, qui portum efficit, atque item frequenti emporio pernobiiis: Anglorum enim commerciis maxime crevit, et fuit ?Jupiando tempus, quo Angli magnis exercitibus Insulam pervagati, ad totius Hyberniae prmeipatum aspirarent, Sed hyberni, qui diu intestino occup?t! bello graves insaniae -poenas dederant, quum periculo admoniti ad publicae salutis consilium rediissent, coniunctis viribus ita Anglorum opes, atque ?nimos contuderunt, ut ne Ulis exigua pars Insulae, et ea quidem liberali quadam pactione relinqueretur; Armavit enim Hybernia Anglfco tumulto supra quadraginta millia peditum, et equitum. Ipse nuper Conatius Honel ex provincialibus sais exquisito etiam delecta quattuor miUia equitum, et triplo maiorem

return aumemm in aciem eduxit. Sed demum Thomae Havardi Scotica victoria clamsimi industria, et donis in amicitiam traductus, cum Henrico rege pacemcolit. Regia




Honelis Armacana dicitur, quae praecipua sacrorum authoritate totius Hyberniae primatum obtinet: sed nuliis cingitur moenibus, sicuti, et caetera Holtoniae castella nudata muris patent: Quum ditionem adversus hostes expedita manu, campestrique acie

defender?, quam munitione, atque praesidiis tueri nobilius ducat. Vieatim habitant, et in

deligendis sedibus opportunitates paiudum, et [f. 35v] montium sequuntur. Connatius, uti

bellicosum, ac intentum decet, pagos devitans, in stativis castris, ac Hybernis vitam

traducit; umbraculis fronde protectis, tentoriisque ex pellibus, et Iinteis militari more imbres arcet: ventos, solesque contemnit, nullum ei antiquo gentis more capiti tegumentum praeter galeam: horrido enim, et circumtonso ad aures capillo, recisaque saepe barba, et labro superiore intortis setis ad terrorem hirsuto populariter incedunt, ut

bello ferociores appareant. Unum autem cunctis fere vest?s genus, lanea chlamys, quae ab

humero, ubi est laeuae manus exertus, circumducitur, limbo ad elegantiam variegato, iubatoque. In ea Princeps puniceum ?olorem praefert, militi cianeurn, et ruffulum

relinquit: iccirco nostri Hybernicam appellant, uti inde ' traductam: quam trierarchis, et

navalibus sociis famili?rem videmus, tunicis etiam croceis usque ad genua conteguntur: quarum margines inductis serici coloribus acu scitissime depingunt. Pueliis mos est crines nodulis collectos ostentare, velare autem rnatronis, quae croceis fasciis per multas spiras convolutis in orbem, capita Turcarum more exomant. Appellantibus festive arrident, et non nunquam choreas ad Arpen ducunt, quam utroque genu contentam per aereas impares chordas argutis digitis puisant, et m?dulos alludente voce comitantur. Apud eas in

Universum dubius est pudor, et rara admodum pudicitiae laus, quum in perampiis cubilibus

integrae familiae cubent, et facile tenebris verecundiam extinguant. [f, 36r] Reguli, nobilesque uxorem pariter, et pellices alunt, neque probro ducitur uxorem r?pudiasse,

redditoque ei mundo muliebri eundem nuptialem annulum concubinae digitis induisse. Porro alii veneri licentius indulgent, neque libidinem inter gravia crimina christianis vetita

legibus adnumerant, quum probitatis famam una praesertim innocentia metiantur. Hybemi omnes vel in asperis, et sylvestribus locis christianos observant ritus, docentur ab

Episcopis per id?neos literarum latinarum? et musicae artis magistros, qua institution?,

eruditioneque opima sacerdotia promerentur. Sunt enim sacrae quattuor m?tropoles, Armacana Holtoniae, Dublinensis in Laginia, Cassilensis in Momonia, et in Connatia

Tuomensis, quibus Episcopales quatemae ditiones contribu?e suffragantur. Holtoniam secat omnium maximus amnis Boandus, antiquis Buuinda dictus, qui contra Scotiae litora

non longe ab Armacana urbe, navigabili alveo in oceanum defertur, abundat Salmone

pisce, Aringisque plurimum, quibus sale, et fumo inveteratis mercimonii nomine ?taiiam

repleri conspicimus; piscantur, et in eo margaritas pondere, levoreque, si candor accederet, Indicis pares. Holtoniae tergo haeret Connatia in Occidentem solem, ac Hibericum

Oceanum devexa. Hanc ab Momonia dividit Sineus amnis, qui hodie dimidium nomen servat, alluitque Limericum urbem xxiiii. millibus ab ostio distantem. At in Momonia insignis Suirus, cui olim Modani nomen fuit, in mare contra Cantabriam. [f. 36v] defertur, auctusque duobus in unum confluentibus fluviis, Vaterfordiae urbis portum tut?ssimae stationis, Anglomm, et Belgarum classibus praebet, Per Laginiam autem Obocus, qui hodie Lipheus dicitur, sinuato cursu multis torrentibus praeceps datus Dublinium interfluit, atque inde ad decem millia passuum magnarum navium capax contra Monam

Oc?ano miscetur. Verum, uti diximus, Holtoniae Boandus, et aquarum mole, et longitudine cursus, et fertilitate piscium caeteros antecellit, In eo supra Armacanam stagnum haud

peramplum admirabilis naturae celebratur, In quo si pertica ex Acrifolii planta in vado

defigatur, et post aliquot menses revellatur, extremam partem* quam limo inhaeserit, in

ferfum conversam, secundam vero, quam profluentis unda continue abluerit, in cotem

duratam spectantibus ostendet, rniraculo quoque proximum videtur, ex putri ligno,

naufragiorumque reliquiis, quae illisae litoribus, perpetuis Oceani fluctibus agit?ntur concipi, enascique, et demum evolare inde aves, quae in usu mensarum sint, et nostris

anatibus assimilentur. De or?culo autem ad Divi Patritii puteum, quo novenis haustibus

expiari ?nimos a gravibus delictis femnt, atque inde concepto vaticinio ad divinationem

praeparari, nihil hactenus a nobis compertum est, nisi cuniculum ilium in abdita rupe ad




extiemam Iiwulae oram. qua Cori flatibus exponitur, antiquorum opens excavatum, ubi

mm lauds vena scaturiat. inter miracula reponamus. Nos haec uti fabulosa cunosae

?uperstitioni et [f. 37r] peregrinantium votis relinquemus. Hyberma certe miraculo

auodam serpentibus caret, neque ullum noxium animal ea terra patitur praeter lupum,

cm&'? uti apud nos cernuntur, praeter asinos, quos vel importatos haud dubie non aht,

haut autem tota Hybemia tollutarii incorrupta sob?le progignuntur, quos a mollissimo

mm? Hobinos Angii vocant, ob idque deiicatis expetuntur, et in Galha, Italiaque nobiliorite focminis dono dantur, ex hoc genere duodecim candons exmui purpura, et

anenteu pbakris exornatos in pompa summorum Pontif?cum sessore vacuos duci

vkJenw?, iusta proccritas Ulis deest, sed forma, decore, spiritu maxime praecellunt:

Holtonia autem peracris, robustos, et vigore animi prorsus intr?pidos, tanquam ad bella

mm pcoducit, quibus post ordei, pabulique mensuram Acrifolii frondes in flamma

pe?istas, et crepitantes in praesepibus opponunt; quo alimento sanari convulsos, et vitalia

foven, experimento didieerunt; hos Hispaniae, Galliaeque mercatoribus permutatione, aut

pecunia divendunt; praebent, et Hyberni Martamm, et sylvestrium fellium pelles, quibus

nob?ium Meiiur vestis: Taurorum item tergora, etlanatas ovium exuvias: et, qui a volatus

pemkitate maxime probantur, falcones Regum aucupiis dicatos, pro his ab Hispania,

Galiiaque lor?cas, galeas, spicula, gladios referont, atque item vinum, oleum, et Crocum:

sed mercamrae quaestibus militare decus anteponunt: lites non diu alere mos est, quum

advocati* non sit locus, et [f. 37v] controversiae, aut expedito iudicio, aut armis finiantur,

Soli sacerdotes Antistitum tribunalia fr?quentant, utpote, qui Pontifica iuris decretis

pareant, in summo igitur honore sunt milites, equitesque in primis, et secundum hos gravis aonarurae pedites, quos uti veteranos, et bella ex bellis seren?es, in castrisque educatos

?psorum lingua Gailoglathas vocant. ?nter omnes Connatius Honel equitatu pollet, et

gravis amiaturae pedites unus alit, cum iis enim agros, et fortunas omnes partitur, quum

pecuniae cgens ipsis vitae alimentis, ac item veste, armis, et equis stipendia persolvat,

Bques. ?orica, et gatea munitur, laeva lanceam Hispanicam, habenasque simul

eomprehendit, dextra validissime amentata iacula contorquet, plura enim aut contenta

gladii baltheo,aut compressa foemore gestare consuevit, aha pedites famuli subministrant, ita eminus iaeuiis rem gerit, cominus autem traducta celeriter e leva in dextram lancea,

atque ea ad medium alte sublata iteratis ictibus pugnat, binos singuli trahunt equos, alterum, quo extra aciem vehuntur, alterum autem egregium bellatorem sessore vacuum, in quern opportune transcendit, quum classicum ad arma vocat, non clangore tubae, sed

ingentis ligneae buccinae mugitu praelium accendunt: tanta vero equiti ad regendum, atque incitandum equum agilitas, ut nutabundus, et eludens miro corporis flexu hostilia tela devitet, atque ea solo sparsa poplite ab Ephippio suspensus exporrecta laeva corripiat, Veterano autem pediti praeter galeam, et iori?am lata [f. 3 8r] ex maculis ferr?is fascia

guttur munit, is turn Germ?nica secure utitur, cum initio praelii iaculum emiserit, ex his stataria acie in medio constitu?a praecinente utriculario tibicine levis armatura e cornibus

pfocurrit? iaculis, sagittisque res geritur, quas brevibus, et ligu?is arcubus emittunt:

Oalloglatha autem tanta conatantia depugnat, ut nullo mortis metu fortiter vincendum, aut in vestigio honeste cadendum putet: Interemptorum fu?era non planctu, et lachrymis, sed decantatis laudibus celebrantur, praeficas enim propinqui precio conducunt, quae exequias nmms exornent? pertinere siquidem ad familiae decus arbitrantur, egregie fato functos no? diu luxisse; quod non lachiymis, sed diutuma memoria dilectos prosequi praestantius duetnt, tanquam eis honestum vitae exitum, illudque incomparabile bonum supremae pacis invidisse dispudeat.

Finis Hyberniae,




TRANSLATION

[f. 34r] IRELAND

Although it faces the four directions of the winds from as many headlands on a shapeless and on all sides indented shore, those who depict the form of Ireland in maps want it to seem similar to an oak leaf that has been trimmed a little at the top and at the lowest part near the stem. Its greatest diameter is stretched across at a slant from Brow Head in

Munster, which faces towards Cantabria, to the furthest cape of Ulster, which was called Ismenium by the ancients ? there the extremes of the land are cut off by the immense ocean to the north ? and it is covered by harsh mountains and uncultivated plains, It is not thought to equal even half the size of Britain, although it may be on a par with it as regards abundance of farmland and fecundity of livestock; also, as the English freely concede, it is superior in the gentle warmth of its soil, the clemency of its weather, and the favourableness of its air. The people, who are in truth uncultivated, unfamiliar with luxury, and uncorrupted by foreign allurements, absolutely spurn the plough; they reject the mattock, and refuse to sweat for anything but war, in which they think almost nothing is worth pursuing except honour. Since they are content with livestock, milk, cheese and

honeycombs, as well as fish, bird-catching and hunting, they do not envy the gifts of Ceres and Bacchus brought to the tables of their princes, since commonly they prefer oatcakes

and beer in cups, and they feast greatly on beans, [f. 34v] But indeed, with the same resolve of a settled mind they avoid mountains rich in metals; nor will they allow the wearing of gold or silver taken from English excavations and mines with zeal and much effort, as though this were a thing most harmful to life and manners. The Irish, who are

divided into many regions, such as Ulster, Leinster, Comment and Munster, are an

extremely distinguished people. With equanimity, they obey their local kings, nor have they ever let overall sovereignty be given over to the rule of one of them, as though that

would be loss of liberty. Intellect flourishes, as much as it can among wild men, so that

they rejoice especially in the name of justice. The one thing above all that they take care over is lest someone far stronger than anyone else (and hence, as generally is the case,

intolerable) might violently seize the kingship of the island having conquered all others. Yet in truth the prince of Ulster, Conn O'Neill, exceeds all the rest in great authority, in warlike deeds, and also in ancient lineage. He is continually at war, at one moment with

the neighbouring English, next with the local kings who on all sides encircle Ulster's boundaries. Two maritime regions in Leinster, called Meath and Fingall, are held within the defences and realm of the kings of England. From these there is a very narrow crossing to England, and in between lies the Isle of Man [Mona]^ across to which, according to Tacitus, the Roman legions swam, by some miracle, having found the shallows and caught the swell of the vacillating ocean. The place retains its ancient name with the speEing unchanged, thus it was from Mona that Julius Agricola ambitiously contemplated invading Ireland in expectation of triumph, and he thought [f. 35r] that he would easily be able to hold it peacefully with but one legion and a modest supply of auxiliaries. From Man, Dublin can be seen, which is in Meath, an area within the English jurisdiction? This is the largest of all the cities, by the banks of the Liffey (formerly called Obocca), where it forms a port and also an outstanding busy market. In large part, it was English trade that made it grow; and there was a certain time when the English, having crossed over to the island with great armies, aspired to the rule of all Ireland. But, when warned of the danger, the Irish, who had for a long time been trading great blows of madness while occupied with internal wars, combined their forces and, since they had returned to pursuit of the common

good, beat back the resources and spirits of the English so that only the least part of the island was left to them, and that by a generous treaty, for in the English tumult Ireland called to arms more than forty thousand infantry and cavalry. Conn O 'Neil! alone recently led into battle from his own territories a select force of four thousand cavalry and three times as many infantry. But now he keeps peace with King Henry, drawn into friendship




by n?% and by the hard work of Thomas Howard who is renowned for his Scottish victory.

O'Neiirs roval residence is called Armagh, which holds the primacy of all Ireland with

the highest authority among the religious; yet it is not encircled by walls just as also the

remainder of Ulster's castles lack walls, since it is held more noble to defend the territory

tarnst enemies in a field battle with a lightly armed force than to protect it with munitions

and bulwarks. The people live here and there, and in choosing locations m which to settle

(hey 'look for the advantages afforded by marshes [f. 35v] and mountains. Conn, as befits

a warlike and energetic man, shunning villages, leads his life in settled encampments

among the Irish; the rain he avoids in the military manner, protected by the shelter of

foliage or in tents covered with hide and cloth. He pays no heed to the winds or the sun's

rays^wearing no cover for his head but a helmet, as is the ancient custom of his people. It

?"their custom to march with their hair shaggy, cut around at the ears, beard often

trimmed, and upper lip covered with twisted bristles, so that they may appear more

ferocious in war. Meanwhile, almost all their clothes are of the one kind: a soldier's

woollen cloak, with a fringed and variegated edge for elegance, which is hung around the

shoulder with the left hand protruding through. A prince prefers his to be purple, leaving the dark blue or red cloak to the soldier, which we therefore call 'Irish', since it comes

from there, We often see it on ship's captains and their sailors, and they are covered down

to the knees with saffron-coloured tunics, the silken edges of which they decorate most

skilfully with colours embroidered by needle. The custom among girls is to wear their hair

gathered in braids; mothers, however, veil theirs, adorning their heads in the Turkish

manner with saffron-coloured bands wound around through many twists into a ball. They

laugh festively at suitors, and sometimes lead dances to the harp, which, held tightly against both knees, they strike with adroit fingers along copper cords of various lengths, and they adora their settings with playful voice. Among all of them chastity is doubtful, and rare indeed is praise of female virtue, since the whole family group sleeps in spacious beds, and in the darkness they easily put out the light of modesty, [f. 36r] Chieftains and noblemen maintain a wife and mistresses equally, nor is it considered dishonourable to

divorce a wife and, once her feminine adornments have been returned, to place the very same wedding ring on the fingers of a concubine. Moreover, some indulge freely in

loveimking, nor do they number lust among the deadly sins forbidden by Christian law, since they value a reputation for goodness as at best equivalent to innocence. All the Irish, even in harsh and wooded places, observe the Christian liturgy and are educated by

bishops through qualified teachers of Latin literature and the art of music, with which imtniction and rich learning they attain the priesthood. There are four holy metropolises: Amiagh in Ulster, Dublin in Leinster, Cashel in Munster, and Tuam in Connacht, to which four bishoprics each are attached. The largest of all the rivers, the Boyne (called Buuinda by the ancients), cuts off Ulster. It is carried down through a navigable channel into the ocean-on the shore opposite Scotland not far from the city of Armagh; and it abounds in fish, mainly salmon and herring

? we see Italy is filled with them, preserved by salt and smoke for sale. They also fish the Boyne for pearls which are in weight and charm, if I may be truthful, equal to those from the Indies. Connacht clings to the back of Ulster, inclined towards the setting sun and the Spanish Ocean. The river Shannon (which today keeps its name in two parts) divides Connacht from Munster, and flows around the city of Limerick twenty-four miles from the mouth of the rivet In Munster the noble river Suir, which was once called Modanus, flows into the sea opposite northern Spain, [f. 36v] and, being increased by two rivers converging into one, it offers a port of safest haven at the city of Waterford for the fleets of the English and the Belgians. The Obocus, which is now called the Liffey, flows through Leinster, thrown headlong in a curving route with many torrents, into Dublin, and then after ten miles it mingles, full of great ships, with the ocean opposite the Isle of Man. But indeed, as we have said, the Boyne in Ulster excels all the

mt m the extent of its waters, the length of its course, and in abundance of fish. In it, just above Armagh, is a not very large swamp that is celebrated for its wondrous character. If a long stick of holly is stuck into me bottom and then pulled out after several months, th&




bottom part that had been stuck in the mud will have been turned to iron; the middle bit, which had been washed continuously by the current of the water, appears under inspection to have been hardened to flint. Also, as if by miracle, it seems that from rotten wood and the remains of shipwrecks battered against the shores by the ceaseless flow of the ocean, birds, which can be used for cooking and which are similar to our ducks, are conceived, bom, and eventually fly away. However, as regards the oracle at St Patrick's Well, nine

draughts from which they say gains expiation for souls from mortal sins, and thence

prepares them, having received a vision, for divination, so far we have discovered nothing, unless we count as a miracle that pit hollowed out by the labours of the ancients in a

remote rock on the far shore of the island which is exposed to the blasts of the north-west wind where a vein of pure spring water gushes out. We shall leave these fables to the curious superstition and [f. 37r] prayers of pilgrims. Certainly Ireland by some miracle lacks serpents, nor does that land endure any harmful animal except the wolf. The

remaining animals appear as they do here, except for asses, which, even imported, it does not support. Pacing-horses, however, throughout Ireland are produced in a pure stock; they are called 'hobbies* by the English on account of their extremely gentle gait for which they are much sought after by fops, and they are given as a gift for noblewomen in France and

Italy. We saw twelve of this species, without riders, adorned with purple of outstanding sheen and with silver head- and breast-plates, led in a solemn procession of high priests. They are lacking in height, but in appearance, dignity, and especially spirit, they excel. Ulster, moreover, produces very sharp, robust [horses] that are almost fearless with

vigorous spirit as though they were bom for war. After a quantity of barley and fodder, the

Irish place in the mangers crispy branches of holly that have been burnt up in flames. They have learned from experience that with this nutrition they can cure cramps and invigorate

digestion. They trade these horses with merchants of Spain and France either for money or barter. The Irish also bring forth pelts of martens and wildcats with which the clothes of noblemen are strengthened, also the hides of bulls and sheep's fleece, and falcons, which are greatly esteemed for their nimbleness in flight and are reserved for royal hunts.

In return for these, they bring back armour, helmets, spears and swords from France and

Spain, as well as wine, olive oil and saffron. But they set a higher value on military

pursuits than on profits from trade. The custom is not to sustain disputes for long, since

there is no place for advocates, and [f. 37v] quarrels are settled either by arms or by a

speedy judgement. Only priests frequent the courts of bishops, being those who obey the decrees of pontifical law. Thus soldiers are held in the highest honour ?-knights above

all, then heavily armed foot-soldiers, called galloglas in their own language, who are like veterans brought up in the camps and bringing forth wars from wars. Conn O'Neill is the mightiest of them all as regards cavalry, and he sustains them together with heavily armed

foot-soldiers, for with them he divides all his lands and fortunes, since, lacking riches, he pays their wage with these basics of life, and also with clothes, arms and horses. A

horseman is protected by armour and a helmet; he carries a Spanish lance and the reins

together in his left hand, and with his right he hurls with great strength a javelin fitted with a leather strap, and he is accustomed to carry more either contained in his sword-belt or

held in place by his leg; others are supplied by attendants on foot. Thus, at long distance he battles with javelins, while at close quarters he quickly switches his lance from his left hand to his right and uses it to fight at mid-distance with repeated blows from on high. Each knight has two horses, one to ride outside the battle, the other an outstanding warhorse that has no rider and which he can easily mount when the battle-signal calls to

arms. They spark battle not with the sound of a trumpet, but with the bellowing of a great twisted wooden horn. Indeed, the knight has such agility for controlling and spurring on a horse that, dodging with marvellous twists of his body while swaying from side to side, he may evade enemy weapons and seize scattered ones by reaching out with his left hand

while hanging from the saddle held on by only one bent knee. But the veteran foot-soldier, besides helmet and armour, [f. 38r] guards his throatwith a band of iron mesh. He uses a German axe after he has thrown his javelin at the beginning of the battle. Out from among




these while the battle stands disposed in the middle of the field and the bagpiper plays, the light infantry rushes from the wings and battles with arrows and darts which they fire from short wooden bows. But the galloglas fights with such tenacity that, without fear of death, he minks to be defeated bravely or to be killed honourably in the moment. The deaths of

toe who have been killed are celebrated not with lamentation and tears but with sung praise?, for they hire paid mourners for their kinsman, and these adorn the funeral with dirges, since they deem it a matter of family honour not to have mourned for a long time

toe who have died outstanding deaths, because they account it more noble to honour tt?r loved ones with enduring fame than with tears, as it would be greatly to their shame lo mvy mem m honest end of life and that incomparable good of supreme peace.

The end of the description of Ireland.



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Ireland in Europe: Paolo Giovio's "Descriptio" (1548)

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