Early Life of John Milton - Travels in Europe

Travels in Europe

In April 1637, Sara Milton died, and Milton used the opportunity to distance himself from his family. After money was provided for the care of his father, now retired, Milton left to tour Europe in May 1638. This early "Grand Tour" of France, Italy and Switzerland lasted until either July or August 1639. While they did not follow the later model of tutelage and instruction for a young man of good financial position straight from university, Milton's travels brought him directly to the urban centres of Europe from a life in semi-rural Horton; and Milton was exposed to various artistic and religious traditions, especially the Catholic world, and current political thought. He also met numerous celebrated theorists and intellectuals to whom he was able to display his poetic skills. As to specific details, only a general account is preserved, and there is just one major source: Milton's own Defensio Secunda. Although there are other records, some letters, some mentions in his other prose tracts and the rest, the bulk of the information therefore comes from a work that, according to Barbara Lewalski, "was not intended as autobiography but as rhetoric, designed to emphasize his sterling reputation with the learned of Europe." However, many of the major events can still be pieced together from various documents.

He travelled a standard route relied on by other Englishmen touring Europe at the time. He first went to Calais and then on to Paris, riding horseback. He had brought a letter from diplomat Henry Wotton which allowed him to be introduced at the British embassy. From ambassador John Scudamore, Milton received other letters of introduction, and they proved their value as he received assistance from other Englishmen along his travels and met important individuals. Scudamore introduced him directly to Hugo Grotius, of whom Milton called "a most learned man" and one who "I ardently desired to meet" Grotius was a Dutch jurist and major philosopher of law, playwright and poet; he was a defender of Arminianism and believer in religious toleration, and his views on theology and politics were in some ways similar to Milton's own. However, Milton quickly left France after this meeting, after visiting a few landmarks including the Louvre and Notre Dame de Paris; Cyriack Skinner, his assistant, explains that Milton did not appreciate the French regime, under the control of Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, who were anti-Huguenot.

In, which I have always admired above all others because of the elegance, not just of its tongue, but also of its wit, I lingered for about two months. There I at once became the friend of many gentlemen eminent in rank and learning, whose private academies I frequented — a Florentine institution which deserves great praise not only for promoting humane studies but also for encouraging friendly intercourse. Time will never destroy my recollection — ever welcome and delightful — of you, Jacopo Gaddi, Carol Dati, Frescobaldi, Coltellini, Buonmattei, Chimetelli, Francini, and many others.

– Milton's account of Florence in Defensio Secunda

Milton traveled south to Nice and then on to Genoa. He then journeyed to Livorno and Pisa, seeing the Leaning Tower. He reached Florence around July 1638 and stayed there until September. While there, Milton enjoyed many of the sites and structures of the city. He also met many intellectuals and attended social and artistic events. He enjoyed spending time in the Florentine academies that claimed to operate in a similar fashion to Plato's Symposium. In particular, Milton probably visited the Florentine Academy and the Academia della Crusca along with smaller academies in the area including the Apastisti, operated by Milton's friend Carlo Dati, and the Svogliati, operated by Jacopo Gaddi. While at the Svogliati, Milton read some of his neo-Latin poetry. His candor of manner and erudite neo-Latin poetry made him many friends in Florentine intellectual circles, and he met a number of famous and influential people through these connections including the astronomer Galileo at Arcetri, Benedetto Buonmattei, Antonio Malatesti, and others. Although Milton enjoyed himself in Florence, he left in September to continue onward to Rome.

Now with many connections from Florence, Milton had easy access to Rome's intellectual circles, including groups like the Fantastici. His poetic abilities impressed such as Giovanni Salzilli, who honoured Milton in an epigram; this praise was later mentioned in the preface to the Latin portion of Milton's Poems of 1645. In return for this poetic generosity, Milton returned the favour in his Latin Ad Salzillum, which discusses his own merits and laments that Salzilli was ill at the time. In late October, Milton, despite his dislike for the Society of Jesus, attended a dinner given by the English College, Rome, meeting English Catholics who were also guests, theologian Henry Holden and the poet Patrick Cary. There is little else known about this time beyond that he met David Codner, an English Benedictine with court connections, who also praised Milton's poetry, and that he attended various musical events, including oratorios, operas, and melodramas. Milton left for Naples near the end of November and he stayed only for a month, finding that Spanish control diminished the local intellectual and artistic community. He was introduced to Giovanni Battista Manso, patron to both Torquato Tasso and to Giovanni Battista Marino. Manso became Milton's guide through Naples and gifted Milton with books and a distich that teases Milton through Gregory the Great's pun on "Angle" and "angel" when describing the English. Milton responded in his Mansus that he was grateful for the gesture of good will and claims Manso as his patron.

Milton had wanted to travel to Sicily and then on to Greece; but he started to retrace his steps, and after lingering on the way home he returned to England during the summer of 1639. He claimed in Defensio Secunda that his plans were changed by "sad tidings of civil war in England."

As I was on the point of returning to Rome, I was warned by merchants that they had learned through letters of plots laid against me by the English Jesuits, should I return to Rome, because of the freedom with which I had spoken about religion.

– Milton on the plot against him in Defensio Secunda

It is possible, as he wrote later, that he was warned by a group of merchants that there was a plot to murder him if he was to re-enter Rome. This claim could be merely an exaggeration to reinforce himself as a defender of Protestantism. However, Milton's theological frankness did limit what Manso could do for him as patron. A lingering reputation is suggested by what Nicolaas Heinsius, a Dutch poet, later wrote: "That Englishman was hated by the Italians, among whom he lived a long time, on account of his over-strict morals, because he both disputed freely about religion, and on any occasion whatever prated very bitterly against the Roman Pontiff." Regardless, these were all points that Milton later took pride in. He actually spent two months in Rome on his return journey.

He arrived in time to experience Carnival and its festivities. Also, Milton met Lukas Holste, a Vatican librarian, and was given a personal tour through the library and its vast collection of books and manuscripts. Through Holste, Milton was also introduced to Cardinal Francesco Barberini, and was able to view the opera Chi soffre speri, hosted by the Cardinal. Milton later praised Barberini, steering away from theological subjects. He also experienced a concert of Leonora Baroni, writing a few Latin epigrams in tribute. Around March, Milton travelled once again to Florence and stayed there for two months. While there, he attended further meetings of the academies and spent time with the friends that he made on his previous visit. After leaving Florence, he travelled to Lucca and passed through Bologna and Ferrara along the way.

He stopped in Venice for a month and experienced various operates and other theatrical and musical events. Venice also showed him a Republican form of government that he later admired as promoting freedom. While in Italy, Milton's childhood friend, Diodati, had died. Milton composed an elegy in memory of Diodati, and included a headnote saying that they "had pursued the same studies" and that they were the "most intimate friends from childhood on". It took Milton seven months in all to return finally to England, with the trip extended from Venice as he visited Giovanni Diodati, his friend's uncle, in Geneva. There he encountered Calvinism in power and another model republic. He was introduced to the various scholars and theologians of the region. From Switzerland, Milton travelled to Paris and then to Calais before finally arriving in England in either July or August 1639.