DEDICATION

...how many different masters they have obeyed throughout various years, if one examines the matter more attentively. Nor are kingdoms alone subject to change, but even the languages of men; so much so that the people of our own century—whether Germans, Italians, or others—would by no means understand their own ancestors who lived several centuries ago, were they to return to life. Religions, too, are changed. Indeed, all the noble arts and sciences are transformed and migrate from one place to another. Once, the Egyptians were renowned for their knowledge original: "noticia" of various matters and their excellent learning. From them, the Muses Muses: the Greek goddesses of inspiration in the arts and sciences, here used to represent the seat of intellectual culture migrated into Greece. Then, leaving the Greeks behind, they flew away into Italy and the neighboring regions. In these past centuries, they flew across the Alps into Germany and even further into the northern regions; in our present age, no region is more refined in its customs and sciences than these. Conversely, those regions which were once polished original: "politae," meaning refined or civilized, now...