Ornithology: The History of Birds

...the principal empires of the Christian world you have bound together by a long-desired treaty of peace, so that Philip II, King of the Spains, being indebted by such a great benefit, when he deliberated on binding his son—whom he left as the sole heir of his kingdoms, his royal magnanimity, and his invincible spirit—with the happier bonds of marriage, he earnestly petitioned the CLEMENCY A play on the Pope's name, Clement VIII. of your Apostolic Highness. He requested that the betrothal his son was to contract with the Most Serene Margaret of the Austrian line might be hallowed at Ferrara by the presence of your Apostolic blessing. For in this way it would come to pass that the most invincible Philip III, King of the Spains and the Indies, would begin the first stages of his great Empire under the happy omens of your blessing.

And as for his Most Serene wife, whom we already look upon and admire with the incredible joy of all—as she enters the borders of Italy from the regions of Germany with great preparation and wonderful pomp, hastening to kiss your most Blessed Feet—we view her as if she were a second Queen of Sheba coming from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. We see in her not only a pledge of future offspring, but a certain omen of that holy fruitfulness by which the ancestral piety of the Austrian house may be propagated.

I pass over for now your most noble legation to Sigismund, King of Sweden and Sarmatia original: "Sarmatiæ" — a historical term for the regions of Poland, Lithuania, and Russia., concerning matters so grave and pertaining to the entire Christian Republic. For although these things demonstrate what kind of man you are and for what arduous and great tasks you were born, yet if they be compared to your other most celebrated actions, they seem small. What shall I say now of the liberality with which you not only relieve the poor and the helpless, but likewise support well-deserving men with the very hand of a Maecenas? original: "Mecænatis" — Gaius Maecenas was a famous Roman patron of the arts; his name became a title for any generous protector of scholars and poets. These and your other ineffable virtues, by which you shine on every side like the Sun, will doubtless be proclaimed by others whose genius and eloquence are sufficient to celebrate your praises.

For me, who has now professed natural philosophy for forty-six continuous years in this most flourishing University of Bologna original: "Archigymnaſio Bononienſi" — the historic central seat of the University of Bologna, where Aldrovandi taught., I do not act the part of an orator or a historian. That modulation of speech and phrase which others call Ciceronian Referring to the elegant, rhythmic Latin style modeled after Marcus Tullius Cicero, which was the gold standard for Renaissance scholars. is not mine, such as would allow me to sing of things worthy of your Holiness and Majesty. For brave deeds, as that most grave man Cato the Censor used to say, stand in need of elegant speech, lest they be defrauded of their glory. Thus those ancient wise men noticed that the memory of nothing can endure for long unless it has been commended to the monuments of letters by eloquent and fertile speech.

Therefore, lest I, while striving to illustrate your praises in some way, cast shadows over them with the rust of my own speech, I willingly make an end of speaking. In the meantime, I dedicate these "watchings" original: "vigilias" — literally his late-night scholarly labors. of mine and my very self to you—to you, I say, CLEMENT VIII, as to the unique and most splendid Sun of the world. Just as the sun communicates its rays to all things capable of receiving them, without envy and to their greatest benefit, so may it likewise be the part of your kindness and piety not to take it poorly if, since all that I have is yours, some few sparks should pass from you to me and to others who implore your favor.

I, meanwhile, pray to God, the Best and Greatest, that he may always follow with the favorable breeze of his grace and favor the ship of the entire Christian Republic, and you, its most wise pilot and governor, together with the passengers committed and entrusted to your faith by Him. May He keep you safe and unharmed for as long as possible amidst so many and such great storms and tempests of this age, which is like a most turbulent sea. Farewell, Greatest and Best Pontiff, and do not disdain to accept these labors of mine with that benevolence with which you are accustomed to receive all else, and to embrace me, fallen most humbly at your Holiest Feet.