The human evolution of travel: Montaigne and Goethe

The evolution of title is referenced to two travels in Italy of two different persons, this is Michel de Montaigne(1533-1592) and Johan Wolfgang Goethe(1749-1832), that during different centuries visited the Italy, at last to the principal cities, and they registered their description, very boring; the evolution means the capacity of these two writers of to pick the imagines and episodes in every city, and it attests also the evolution of man during centuries and the evolution of sensibility; certainly we must consider that the difference between the writers, but we must also consider that both were wise humanistic, but we must also consider that the cities visited were changed during centuries. Montaigne anyway is the first that we consider, the first stopping place is in Meaux near Paris, on the river Marl, and the description of city is sufficiently long: “The Meaux that is small city on the Marl is formed from three parts, the city and suburb are on the left of river, toward Paris, and beyond the bridges is other suburb called merchant …where is great quantity of residents and houses.”; but the morality of Catholic French emerges from the following words: “Once upon this city was fortified with very strong walls and towers; but during our complots of Huguenot , since that the major part of residents was adherent to this party, the fortifications were destroyed…”; this second plot occurred in year 1567, when during the visit of Charles 9^th , king of French, the Huguenots tried to kidnap the king. Continuing the description, Montaigne says: “This part of the city bore the assault of English, when the city was already failed…”, this assault occurred in 1421 during the war of hundred years, and the siege there was between October 1421 and May 1422. These information are certainly gone to Montaigne from some pride citizen of Meaux, and I can say it and I can infer it from my personal experience, during 17 years of job of guide; every citizen of a small city is always pride of some heroic episode inherent to his city, it is the parochialism and stop, anyway Montaigne continued: “…and for award every resident is free from taxes”, and the my opinion s above mentioned, is supported from the followings words: “In middle of Marl they indicate a long island, that they say it was a knight thrown in the river from the English for destroyed the suburb of Merchant”, this knight was a machine for siege necessary to destroyed the walls of defense; but the popular fantasy, after centuries, has mythicized this episode and transformed it through a mythical version. And this wit continues for two tombs, certainly Medieval, because the Montaigne’s description suggests it: “Among the things there is a ancient tomb and venerable  with image of two knights laid…they think that they are the corps of Danish Ogiery and other knight…”; after this description Montaigne visited a religious Justin Terrelle, and he has believed to everything that this religious has said, because in conformity of narration of Montaigne, he was a very wise in French, and he has been in Egypt and Jerusalem and he has lived for seventh years in Constantinople, and Montaigne indicated also the age of this religious, 60 years old; Montaigne written his travel to Italy during 1580-1581, it is means that this religious lived in Constantinople and he was sent there for to buy Greek books. From Meaux to Charly and after Dormans, and from Espreney the narration is boring because nothing of interesting is. For Goethe that has travelled to Italy for two years, 1786-1788, other impressions and other places, it is normal, but the evolution of title is in the notations that Goethe in other time, in confront of Montaigne, he specified, and it is document of other writer but also of other time, other sensibility, it is the evolution, in Rovereto, Italian city in North Italy, where the first impression of Goethe is for the language: “There I am in Rovereto where the language is changed suddenly, toward North is again between the Dutch and Italian…and the hotelier he doesn’t speak Dutch: and myself must try the my knowledge of language. But I am very happy that this language , that I love, is hereupon the live language used from everybody”; sincerely I didn’t understand because Goethe was so happy, but we must consider that Goethe has been so happy, may for the sincerely and informal character of Italian, may was the human warm that made him happy, very different from the formal context of high classes, and it is confirmed from the words: “…used from everybody…”, because this pronoun, everybody, means that he could have the human contact to other citizens, hence the human contacts could be grown; I think it because the formal context I have known and during time of Goethe it was the rule. Other town is Torbole, a small town but evidently has arouse enthusiasm Goethe, because he says: “I would that my friends were here for a moment with me, for joy of sight that I have in front now! This night I could to be to Verona, but among scant steps there was this majesty lake of Garda, and I wanted not renounce to it”. Evidently this landscape has very liked to Goethe, because he has even drown it, or he has tried it; but we can infer that the education of highest classes ordered that the children learned also the drawing. Other note that today is very strange is that: “…the first is that the doors haven’t locks,…the hotelier assured me that, if I have diamonds”, and regard the Italian nature, Goethe self has stressed it: “The hotelier has announced me through Italian emphasis that he would be happy to server to me a trout…”, certainly low episodes that haven’t nothing that can interest, but we can infer that the Italian character has arouse enthusiasm Goethe. The evolution is both human and cultural; through these episodes we can understand that the reactions of stranger face to some ruins of landscape, and we can find both some behavior very near to us and also customs that are very distant, and that are determined from the different times, form episodes very irrelevant in Montaigne and some episode more amusing in Goethe, the human gender is changed but very short.

Alessandro Lusana