TO ODET

DE COLIGNY

CARDINAL OF CHÂTIL-

LON, PIERRE MARTINI

of Morentin in Navarre,

A decorative floriated woodcut drop cap 'S' featuring scrolling vines and floral motifs within a square frame.
I CERTAINLY hope (most distinguished Cardinal) that there will be no one who is rightly angry with me if I publish the works original: "monumenta," referring here to literary remains or written works of the Emperor Julian Julian the Apostate (reigned 361–363 CE), the last pagan Roman emperor, who attempted to suppress Christianity in favor of Neoplatonic Hellenism. for the general public. For although I grant that the crimes of impiety and tyranny, in which that man miserably entangled himself, are wicked and worthy of hatred: the brightest lights of eloquence and learning certainly deserve nothing, I think, that would justify them being extinguished along with his vices. Otherwise, let Demosthenes, Cicero, Homer, Virgil, Plato, Aristotle, and in a word all authors of elegant and refined literature—poets, orators, philosophers—indeed, let all the arts of culture original: "humanitatis," the "studia humanitatis" or liberal arts and wisdom be removed from our midst, simply because they were handed down almost entirely by superstitious or impious men. If that were to happen, what kind of society, I ask, would we maintain today—