Dolcibene de’Tori (1332/1334-after 1371, esp. 1349)

by Zhao Luyang 赵鲁阳 (See Chinese translation)

Italian jester, poet and musician Dolcibene de’Tori (see alternative names) was born in Florence between 1332 and 1334. He spent most of his professional life at the court of the Malatesta (in Rimini), the court of the Ordelaffi (in Forli), the court of the Carrera (in Padua), the court of the Este (in Ferrara) and the court of the Visconti (in Milan, all in Italy). He was a supreme entertainer who was highly praised by the lords who patronized him.

Dolcibene travelled constantly and cultivated an art that was deeply rooted in oral practice. Therefore, only a handful of poems survive. His poem Avemaria was written about his voyage to the Holy Land, which he undertook in 1349. He also exchanged two pairs of epistolary sonnets with Franco Sacchetti, who was an Italian poet and novelist in 14th century Italy.

Dolcibene was regarded as the king of jesters. In 1355, he earned the title regem omnium hystorium (king of all players), conferred by Emperor Charles IV of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles IV was King of Bohemia and King of Italy.

Dolcibene’s life as a jester was richly documented in contemporary sources. He appears in nine stories in Franco Sacchetti’s novel Il Trecentonovelle which is a compilation of 258 entertaining short novels. He is also mentioned by Filippo Villani, a chronicler of Florence who lived in the 14th century, in a chapter in his book De origine civitatis Florentie. Filippo Villani described how Dolcibene was crowned as the "king of all players" by Emperor Charles IV. Dolcibene is also mentioned by Giovanni da Prato, a 14th century Italian scholar in his book Paradiso degli Alberti.

Biagio Sernelli, Giovanni da Prato’s interlocutor, narrates in a novel how Dolcibene and another jester began an altercation of verbal insults that led to a duel between them. On the day of the duel, Dolcibene showed up well armed and presented an ingenious, hilarious and harmless figure ready for fighting.

Although Dolcibene travelled constantly, he periodically returned home to Florence where he sold the gift his talents had earned him. He invested this money in a farm outside the city at Leccio in Valdimario, which he managed profitably with the assistance of his wife.

When Dolcibene made his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1349, it was as an escort and entertainer for two Florentine noblemen, Malatesta Unghero and Galeotto I Malatesta of Rimini. Both noblemen were Italian condottiero, who had the right to command mercenary companies or multinational armies in the Middle Ages. Dolcibene wrote the poem Avemaria during this trip.

Two stories in Franco Sacchetti’s Trecentonovelle are about Dolcibene’s pilgrimage: one records his visit to the Valley of Josaphat, in today’s Israel, though its exact location is unclear (Novella X). The other mentions a dispute he had with some Jews in Jerusalem and his attempt later to relieve himself in a synagogue (Novella XXIV).

Sacchetti’s story about the visit to the Valley of Josaphat is translated by Ora Limor:

When the three Italians arrived at the Valley, Sacchetti recounts, Messer Galeotto said, ‘In this valley all will have to stand in judgement’. ‘But how will all humankind stand in such a small valley?’ asked Dolcibene. ‘By God’s power’, said Messer Galeotto. Then Dolcibene dismounted, took off his pants and relieved himself, saying: ‘I must leave a sign so I can find the place and won’t be suffocated in the crowd. A wise man must be prepared for the future.’ Messer Galeotto replied: ‘Perhaps you should leave your entire corpse so the sign will be bigger?’ and Dolcibene answered that this not good advice because the falcon would take him away and the place would remain with no sign, and also in this case, the two gentlemen would be bereaved of his company. (Limor, "Placing an Idea: The Valley of Jehoshaphat in Religious Imagination", p. 292.)

His vulgar behaviour was typical for Italian humour at that time and can be seen as an expression of his frustration upon seeing the small dimensions of the Valley of Josaphat.

Despite this story, Dolcibene was a devout believer. This can be seen from his poem Avemaria. It is unclear when he died but it would have been after 1371.

Only two of his poems survive: Avemaria and two pairs of epistolary sonnets exchanged between him and Sacchetti (sonnets CXXII a/b and CXXIII a/b in Franco Sacchetti’s Il libro delle rime). Avemaria is about his voyage to the Holy Land. The poem is rhymed in pairs and was published for the first time by F. Zambrini in 1859. It is noteworthy that he did not write the poems in Latin but in the Italian vernacular.

In the first sonnet (CXXII a/b), Dolcibene addresses Sacchetti as mio dolce (my dear), and writes that he will sing to Sacchetti: pianger mi convene, poi che io aggio la tua tema Intesa (crying suits me, that I nay express your intended theme).

In the second sonnet (CXXIII a/b), he complains that his life is threatened: esser tra mille barbieri, che ciascun m’abbia a la gola un rasoio (being among a thousand barbarians, everyone seems to have a razor at my throat).