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Parallel Programming
for Modern
High Performance
Computing Systems
Parallel Programming
for Modern
High Performance
Computing Systems
Paweł Czarnul
Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2018 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Printed on acid-free paper

Version Date: 20171127
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-1383-0595-3 (Hardback)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot
assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and
publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication
and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any
copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any
future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced,
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Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
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and the CRC Press Web site at
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To my daughter Ala
Contents
List of figures xiii
List of tables xvii

List of listings xix
Preface xxiii
Chapter 1 Understanding the need for parallel computing 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.2 FROM PROBLEM TO PARALLEL SOLUTION –
DEVELOPMENT STEPS 2
1.3 APPROACHES TO PARALLELIZATION 4
1.4 SELECTED USE CASES WITH POPULAR APIS 6
1.5 OUTLINE OF THE BOOK 7
Chapter 2 Overview of selected parallel and distributed

systems for high performance computing 11
2.1 GENERIC TAXONOMY OF PARALLEL COMPUTING

SYSTEMS 11
2.2 MULTICORE CPUS 12
2.3 GPUS 14
2.4 MANYCORE CPUS/COPROCESSORS 17
2.5 CLUSTER SYSTEMS 19
2.6 GROWTH OF HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING
SYSTEMS AND RELEVANT METRICS 20
2.7 VOLUNTEER-BASED SYSTEMS 22
2.8 GRID SYSTEMS 25
vii
viii Contents
Chapter 3 Typical paradigms for parallel applications 29
3.1 ASPECTS OF PARALLELIZATION 30

3.1.1 Data partitioning and granularity 30
3.1.2 Communication 32
3.1.3 Data allocation 32
3.1.4 Load balancing 33
3.1.5 HPC related metrics 34
3.2 MASTER-SLAVE 35
3.3 GEOMETRIC SPMD 39
3.4 PIPELINING 55
3.5 DIVIDE-AND-CONQUER 56
Chapter 4 Selected APIs for parallel programming 69
4.1 MESSAGE PASSING INTERFACE (MPI) 74

4.1.1 Programming model and application structure 74
4.1.2 The world of MPI processes and threads 75
4.1.3 Initializing and finalizing usage of MPI 75
4.1.4 Communication modes 76
4.1.5 Basic point-to-point communication routines 76
4.1.6 Basic MPI collective communication routines 78
4.1.7 Packing buffers and creating custom data types 83
4.1.8 Receiving a message with wildcards 85
4.1.9 Receiving a message with unknown data size 86
4.1.10 Various send modes 87
4.1.11 Non-blocking communication 88
4.1.12 One-sided MPI API 90
4.1.13 A sample MPI application 95
4.1.14 Multithreading in MPI 97
4.1.15 Dynamic creation of processes in MPI 99
4.1.16 Parallel MPI I/O 101
4.2 OPENMP 102
4.2.2 Commonly used directives and functions 104
4.2.3 The number of threads in a parallel region 109
Contents ix
4.2.4 Synchronization of threads within a parallel

region and single thread execution 109
4.2.5 Important environment variables 111
4.2.6 A sample OpenMP application 112
4.2.7 Selected SIMD directives 115
4.2.8 Device offload instructions 115
4.2.9 Tasking in OpenMP 117
4.3 PTHREADS 118
4.3.2 Mutual exclusion 121
4.3.3 Using condition variables 123
4.3.4 Barrier 124
4.3.5 Synchronization 125
4.3.6 A sample Pthreads application 125
4.4 CUDA 127
4.4.2 Scheduling and synchronization 131
4.4.3 Constraints 134
4.4.4 A sample CUDA application 134
4.4.5 Streams and asynchronous operations 137
4.4.6 Dynamic parallelism 141
4.4.7 Unified Memory in CUDA 143
4.4.8 Management of GPU devices 145
4.5 OPENCL 147
4.5.2 Coordinates and indexing 155
4.5.3 Queuing data reads/writes and kernel execution 156
4.5.4 Synchronization functions 157
4.5.5 A sample OpenCL application 158
4.6 OPENACC 167
4.6.2 Common directives 168
4.6.3 Data management 169
4.6.4 A sample OpenACC application 171
4.6.5 Asynchronous processing and synchronization 171
4.6.6 Device management 172
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x Contents
4.7 SELECTED HYBRID APPROACHES 172

4.7.1 MPI+Pthreads 173
4.7.2 MPI+OpenMP 177
4.7.3 MPI+CUDA 180
Chapter 5 Programming parallel paradigms using selected

APIs 185
5.1 MASTER-SLAVE 185

5.1.1 MPI 186
5.1.2 OpenMP 190
5.1.4 MPI+Pthreads 199
5.1.5 CUDA 207
5.1.6 OpenMP+CUDA 213
5.2 GEOMETRIC SPMD 218
5.2.1 MPI 218
5.2.3 OpenMP 225
5.2.4 MPI+CUDA 225
5.3 DIVIDE-AND-CONQUER 229
5.3.1 OpenMP 229
5.3.2 CUDA 232
5.3.3 MPI 235
5.3.3.1 Balanced version 236
5.3.3.2 Version with dynamic process creation 240
Chapter 6 Optimization techniques and best practices for

parallel codes 251
6.1 DATA PREFETCHING, COMMUNICATION AND

COMPUTATIONS OVERLAPPING AND INCREASING
COMPUTATION EFFICIENCY 252
6.1.1 MPI 253
6.1.2 CUDA 256
6.2 DATA GRANULARITY 257
6.3 MINIMIZATION OF OVERHEADS 258
Contents xi
6.3.1 Initialization and synchronization overheads 258

6.3.2 Load balancing vs cost of synchronization 260
6.4 PROCESS/THREAD AFFINITY 260
6.5 DATA TYPES AND ACCURACY 261
6.6 DATA ORGANIZATION AND ARRANGEMENT 261
6.7 CHECKPOINTING 262
6.8 SIMULATION OF PARALLEL APPLICATION EXECUTION 264
6.9 BEST PRACTICES AND TYPICAL OPTIMIZATIONS 265
6.9.1 GPUs/CUDA 265
6.9.2 Intel Xeon Phi 266
6.9.3 Clusters 269
6.9.4 Hybrid systems 270
Appendix A Resources 273
A.1 SOFTWARE PACKAGES 273
Appendix B Further reading 275
B.1 CONTEXT OF THIS BOOK 275

B.2 OTHER RESOURCES ON PARALLEL PROGRAMMING 275
Index 297
List of figures
1.1 Top high performance computing systems according to the

TOP500 list, June 2017 3
1.2 Typical usage of APIs for parallel programs on specific
computing devices/architectures 8
2.1 Typical parallel systems described by an UML diagram 13

2.2 Architecture of Comcute 24
2.3 Grid computing 26
3.1 Basic master-slave structure with input data 36

3.2 Flow of the basic master-slave application over time, 1 of 2 37
3.3 Flow of the basic master-slave application over time, 2 of 2 38
3.4 Flow of the basic master-slave application with more data
packets over time, diameters denote execution times, 1 of 2 40
packets over time, diameters denote execution times, 2 of 2 41
3.6 Interaction diagram for master-slave processing with
overlapping communication and computations 42
packets over time and overlapping communication and
computations, diameters denote execution times, 1 of 2 43
packets over time and overlapping communication and
computations, diameters denote execution times, 2 of 2 44
3.9 Partitioning of a 2D space into subdomains 45
3.10 Subdomain within the whole input data domain in 3D 47
3.11 Partitioning of a 2D space with various cell weights into
subdomains 48
3.12 Activity diagram with basic steps of a typical parallel
geometric SPMD application 49
xiii
xiv List of figures

geometric SPMD application with overlapping communication
and computations 50
geometric SPMD application with overlapping communication
and computations and dynamic load balancing 52
3.15 Activity diagram for the dynamic load balancing step 53
3.16 Activity diagram for the dynamic load balancing step
improved with dynamic load balancing step adjustment 54
3.17 Basic structure for pipelined processing 55
3.18 Basic flow for pipelined processing 56
3.19 Imbalanced tree corresponding to the divide-and-conquer
processing paradigm 57
3.20 Sample partitioning of the divide-and-conquer tree 59
3.21 Flow in the divide-and-conquer application, 1 of 2 60
3.22 Flow in the divide-and-conquer application, 2 of 2 61
3.23 Imbalanced tree corresponding to the divide-and-conquer
processing paradigm with various node processing times 62
3.24 Basic activity diagram of a process/thread with computations
and load balancing for divide-and-conquer processing 63
3.25 Improved activity diagram with computations and load
balancing performed by two threads for divide-and-conquer
processing 64
3.26 Cutting off subtrees for divide-and-conquer processing 66
3.27 Cutting off subtrees for divide-and-conquer processing –
continued 67
4.1 Architecture of an MPI application 74

4.2 Execution time of the testbed MPI application 98
4.3 Execution time of the testbed OpenMP application 114
4.4 Execution time of the testbed Pthreads application 128
4.5 Architecture of a CUDA application, a 2D example 130
4.6 Memory types and sample usage by an application running on
a GPU 132
4.7 Architecture of an OpenCL application, a 2D example 149
4.8 Execution time of the testbed MPI+Pthreads application 176
4.9 Execution time of the testbed MPI+OpenMP application 179
5.1 Master-slave scheme with MPI 187

List of figures xv
5.2 Execution time of the testbed MPI master-slave application 190

5.3 Master-slave scheme with OpenMP – initial version 192
5.4 Master-slave scheme with OpenMP – version with all threads
executing same code 193
5.5 Master-slave scheme with OpenMP – version with tasks 195
5.6 Master-slave scheme with MPI and OpenMP 198
5.7 Master-slave scheme with MPI and Pthreads 201
5.8 Master-slave scheme with CUDA 208
5.9 Master-slave scheme with OpenMP and CUDA 214
5.10 Subdomain and order of communication operations for an MPI
SPMD application 220
5.11 Processes and communication operations for an MPI SPMD
application 221
5.12 Execution time of the testbed MPI SPMD application 222
5.13 Execution time of the testbed MPI+OpenMP SPMD
application 224
5.14 Architecture of the MPI+CUDA application 226
5.15 Source code structure for the MPI+CUDA application 227
5.16 Divide-and-conquer scheme with OpenMP 230
5.17 Divide-and-conquer scheme with CUDA and dynamic
parallelism 233
5.18 Balanced divide-and-conquer scheme with MPI 237
5.19 Execution time of the MPI implementation of the divide and
conquer scheme 240
5.20 Divide-and-conquer scheme with MPI and dynamic process
creation 242
5.21 Handling spawn decisions for divide-and-conquer scheme with
MPI and dynamic process creation 243
5.22 Source code structure for the divide-and-conquer MPI
application with dynamic process creation 244
6.1 Execution time of an MPI master-slave application vs number

of data packets for fixed input data size 258
List of tables
2.1 Performance of the first cluster on the TOP500 list over time 20
2.2 The number of cores of the first cluster on the TOP500 list
over time 20
2.3 CPU clock frequency of the first cluster on the TOP500 list
over time 21
2.4 Performance to power consumption ratio of the first cluster on
the TOP500 list over time 21
3.1 Typical data partitioning and allocation procedures in parallel

processing paradigms 33
4.1 Presented features of parallel programming APIs, 1 of 2 72

4.2 Presented features of parallel programming APIs, 2 of 2 73
4.3 Execution times for two CUDA code versions 137
4.4 Execution times for the MPI+CUDA code 184
5.1 Execution times for various versions of the master-slave

OpenMP code 197
5.2 Execution time for various configurations of the
MPI+OpenMP code 200
5.3 Execution time for various configurations of the
MPI+Pthreads code 206
5.4 Execution time for various configurations of the CUDA code 212
5.5 Execution time for various configurations of the hybrid
OpenMP+CUDA code 218
5.6 Execution time for various configurations of the hybrid
OpenMP+CUDA code 218
5.7 Execution times for the MPI+CUDA code 228
5.8 Execution times for parallel OpenMP divide-and-conquer code 232
xvii
xviii List of tables
6.1 Execution times for a geometric SPMD MPI+CUDA code,

without and with MPS 257
6.2 Execution times for two versions of MPI+OpenMP – SPMD
code 260
6.3 Execution time depending on data layout – SPMD code 262
List of listings
4.1 Sample parallel MPI program for computing ln(x) 96

4.2 Basic structure of an OpenMP application 102
4.3 Basic OpenMP structure with numbers of threads and function
calls 103
4.4 Basic OpenMP implementation of reduction with sum 106
4.5 Basic OpenMP implementation of reduction with maximum
value 106
4.6 Basic OpenMP implementation of computation of ln(x) 112
4.7 Improved version of an OpenMP implementation of
computation of ln(x) 113
4.8 Example using #pragma omp target in OpenMP 116
4.9 Example using #pragma omp task in OpenMP 117
4.10 Sample basic Pthreads structure with numbers of threads and
function calls 119
4.11 Parallel implementation of computing ln(x) using Pthreads 126
4.12 Sample CUDA implementation of a program for checking the
Collatz hypothesis 134
4.13 Improved CUDA implementation of a program for checking the
Collatz hypothesis 136
4.14 Sample OpenCL implementation of a program for verification of
the Collatz hypothesis 159
4.15 Improved OpenCL implementation of a program for verification
of the Collatz hypothesis 162
4.16 Basic OpenACC implementation of computation of ln(x) 171
4.17 Parallel implementation of computing ln(x) using combined
MPI and Pthreads 174
4.18 Parallel implementation of computing ln(x) using combined
MPI and OpenMP 177
4.19 MPI and CUDA implementation of verification of the Collatz
hypothesis – host code 180
xix
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xx List of listings
4.20 MPI and CUDA implementation of verification of the Collatz

hypothesis – kernel and kernel invocation 182
5.1 Basic master-slave application using MPI – master’s key code 188
5.2 Basic master-slave application using MPI – slave’s key code 189
5.3 Master-slave in OpenMP with each thread fetching input data
and storing output – main part 192
5.4 Master-slave in OpenMP using the #pragma omp task directive
– main part 195
5.5 Basic master-slave application using MPI and OpenMP –
function slavecpu(...) 198
5.6 Master-slave application using MPI and Pthreads and input
and output queues – key master code 202
and output queues – key main thread code of a slave 203
and output queues – key compute slave code 204
and output queues – key sending thread code of a slave 205
5.10 Basic master-slave application using multiple GPUs with
CUDA and one host thread – kernel code 207
CUDA and one host thread – host thread key code 209
CUDA and CPU with OpenMP and multiple host threads – key
host thread code 213
CUDA and CPU with OpenMP and multiple host threads –
slavecpu(...) function 216
5.14 Divide-and-conquer application for adaptive integration using
OpenMP – function integratedivideandconquer(...) 230
5.15 Divide-and-conquer application for adaptive integration using
CUDA with dynamic parallelism – kernel implementation 233
5.16 Basic divide-and-conquer application for balanced computations
using MPI – partitioning 237
5.17 Basic divide-and-conquer application for balanced computations
using MPI – merging 239
5.18 Divide-and-conquer application using dynamic process creation
in MPI – divideandconquer function 245
in MPI – key code lines of the root process 248
List of listings xxi

in MPI – key code lines of non-root processes 249
6.1 Receiving data using MPI and overlapping communication and
computations with non-blocking calls 253
6.2 Receiving data using MPI and overlapping communication and
computations with non-blocking calls and using two buffers 253
6.3 Receiving data and sending results using MPI and overlapping
communication and computations with non-blocking calls and
using two buffers 254
Preface
Parallel computing systems have recently become more and more accessible to
a wide range of users. Not only programmers in high performance computing
centers but also a typical consumer can now benefit from high performance
computing devices installed even in desktop computers. The vast majority of
new computers sold today feature multicore CPUs and GPUs which can be
used for running parallel programs. Such usage of GPUs is often referred to
as GPGPU (General Purpose Computations on Graphics Processing Units).
Among devices announced by manufacturers are, for instance, a 7th generation
Intelr Core™ i7-7920HQ CPU that features 4 cores with HyperThreading for
8 logical processors clocked at 3.1GHz (up to 4.1GHz in turbo mode) and
a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 45W. AMD Ryzen™ 7 1800X features 8
cores for 16 logical processors clocked at 3.6 GHz (4 GHz in turbo mode)
and a TDP of 95W. A high end desktop Intel Core i9-7900X CPU features
10 cores with HyperThreading for 20 logical processors clocked at 3.3GHz
(up to 4.3GHz in turbo mode) and a TDP of 140W. NVIDIAr Titan X,
based on the NVIDIAr Pascal™ architecture, features 3584 CUDAr cores
and 12GB of memory at the base clock of 1417MHz (1531MHz in boost)
with a power requirement of 250W. Workstations or servers can use CPUs
such as Intelr Xeonr Scalable processors such as Intel Xeon Platinum 8180
processor that features 28 cores and 56 logical processors clocked at 2.5 GHz
(up to 3.8GHz in turbo mode) and a power requirement of 205W or Intel
Xeon E5-4669v4 with 22 cores and 44 logical processors clocked at 2.2 GHz (3
GHz in turbo mode) and a TDP of 135W. AMD Opteron™ 6386 SE features
16 cores clocked at 2.8 GHz (3.5 GHz in turbo mode) with a TDP of 140 W.
High performance oriented GPUs include NVIDIAr Teslar P100, based on
the Pascal architecture, with 3584 CUDA cores at the base clock of 1480MHz
in boost and with a power requirement of 250W as well as NVIDIA Tesla
V100 with 16 GB HBM2 memory, 5120 CUDA cores clocked at 1455MHz
in boost and with a power requirement of 300W. AMD FirePro™ W9100
features 2816 Stream Processors, 32GB or 16GB GDDR5 GPU memory with
a power requirement of 275W. High performance oriented machines can use
coprocessors such as Intelr Xeon Phi™ x100 7120A with 61 cores clocked at
1.238GHz and a TDP of 300W or e.g. Intel Xeon Phi x200 7250 processors
with 68 cores clocked at 1.4GHz with a TDP of 215W. As it was the case
in the past and is still the case today, computer nodes can be interconnected
together within high performance computing clusters for even greater compute
xxiii
xxiv Preface
performance at the cost of larger power consumption. At the time of this

writing, the most powerful cluster on the TOP500 list is Sunway TaihuLight
with over 10 million cores and over 93 PFlop/s Linpack performance. The
cluster takes around 15.37 MW of power.
Hardware requires software, in particular compilers and libraries, to allow
development, building and subsequent execution of parallel programs. There
is a variety of existing parallel programming APIs which makes it difficult to
become acquainted with all programming options and how key elements of
these APIs can be used and combined.
In response to this the book features:
1. Description of state-of-the-art computing devices and systems available

today such as multicore and manycore CPUs, accelerators such as GPUs,
coprocessors such as Intel Xeon Phi, clusters.
2. Approaches to parallelization using important programming paradigms
such as master-slave, geometric Single Program Multiple Data (SPMD)
and divide-and-conquer.
3. Description of key, practical and useful elements of the most popular
and important APIs for programming parallel HPC systems today: MPI,
OpenMPr , CUDAr , OpenCL™, OpenACCr .
4. Demonstration, through selected code listings that can be compiled and
run, of how the aforementioned APIs can be used to implement impor-
tant programming paradigms such as: master-slave, geometric SPMD
and divide-and-conquer.
5. Demonstration of hybrid codes integrating selected APIs for poten-
tially multi-level parallelization, for example using: MPI+OpenMP,
OpenMP+CUDA, MPI+CUDA.
6. Demonstration of how to use modern elements of the APIs e.g. CUDAs
dynamic parallelism, unified memory, MPIs dynamic process creation,
parallel I/O, one-sided API, OpenMPs offloading, tasking etc.
7. Selected optimization techniques including, for instance: overlapping
communication and computations implemented using various APIs e.g.
MPI, CUDA, optimization of data layout, data granularity, synchroniza-
tion, process/thread affinity etc. Best practices are presented.
The target audience of this book are students, programmers, domain spe-
cialists who would like to become acquainted with:
1. popular and currently available computing devices and clusters systems,

2. typical paradigms used in parallel programs,
3. popular APIs for programming parallel applications,
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library and to abandon poetry altogether: meanwhile he
communicated the visit he had received, and the effect that it had
on him, to his dear friend and monitor, Petrarch.
Petrarch had subjected himself, during all his life, to moral discipline;
he was a self-seeker and a self-reprover. He was not so easily
shaken from the calm tenor of his piety and faith by prognostics and
denunciations; he replied to his friend in a letter full of good sense
and kind feeling. In those days a letter was a treatise; ancient
history was ransacked, and the whole learning of the writer poured
out in a torrent. But there are passages which deserve to be quoted.
"Falsehood and imposture," he wrote, "often disguise themselves in
the habit of religion; but I will not pronounce any decided opinion till
I have seen the messenger. The age of the man, his countenance,
eyes, manners, gestures, his voice and words, and, above all, the
sum and purport of what he says, will serve to enlighten me. It is
announced to you that you have but a short time to live, and that
you must renounce poetry and profane literature. These words at
first filled me with consternation and grief. How could I anticipate
your death without tears? But, on further reflection, I am led to
consider that you look with terror and regret on what ought really to
be a matter of rejoicing, for thus you are detached from the world,
and brought, as we all ought, to meditate upon death, and to aspire
to that height where no worldly temptation intrudes to contaminate
the soul. You will learn from these admonitions to control your
passions, and to reform your habits of life. But I exhort you not to
abandon hooks and learning, which nauseate and injure the weak
only, but which invigorate and comfort the strong-minded."
After placing these considerations in various and strong lights,
Petrarch concludes by saying, "If you continue to adhere to your
purpose, and determine not only to relinquish study, but to cast
aside the instruments of learning, I shall be delighted to possess
your books; and I would rather buy them, than that the library of so
great a man should be scattered abroad in the world.[74] I cannot
name a price, not knowing their value nor number. Think of these
things, and reflect whether you cannot, as I have long wished, pass
the remainder of your days with me. As to your debt to me, I do not
know of it, nor understand this foolish scruple of conscience. You
owe me nothing except love; nor that, since each day you pay me:
except, indeed, that, receiving continually from me, you still continue
to owe. You complain of poverty. I will not bring forward the usual
consolations, nor allege the examples of illustrious men, for you
know them already. I applaud you for having preferred poverty,
combined with independence, to the riches and slavery that were
offered you; but I do not praise you for refusing the solicitations of a
friend. I am not able to enrich you; if I were I should use neither
words nor pen, but speak to you in deeds. But what is sufficient for
one is enough for two; one house may surely suffice for those who
have but one heart. Your disinclination to come injures me, and it is
more injurious if you doubt my sincerity."
Boccaccio was convinced by his friend, and the excess of his
penitence and zeal died away; but the reform of his moral character
was permanent. He adopted the clerical dress, and endeavoured to
suppress those writings which scandalised the pious.
He was very poor: his patrimony was slender, and shared with his
brother Jacopo, and diminished also by various expenses incurred in
his zeal to procure books and advance learning. He had passed a life
of freedom, however, and shrunk from servitude. The passage in
Petrarch's letter which refers to this, concerns his having refused the
honourable and lucrative, but onerous post, of apostolic secretary;
nor was he tempted by Petrarch's invitation, being unwilling to
burthen one whose means were very limited. He, however, fell into a
most painful mistake when he accepted the offer of a wealthy
patron, which originated pride, and not affection.
The seneschal Acciajuolo was a Florentine, settled at Naples; he had
long been the counsellor and friend of Louis, prince of Tarento,
second husband of queen Jane. He had accompanied him in his
flight to France, and stood by him during his adversity. When the
affairs of Naples were settled, and Jane and Louis restored to the
throne, Acciajuolo became the first man in the kingdom: he was
made seneschal; but his power and influence were limited by no
136 mere place. He had pretensions to learning, and was the
3.
Æta
friend and correspondent of Petrarch: he was proud and
t. arrogant, and wished to be esteemed a munificent man. He
50. invited Boccaccio to come and take up his abode in his palace
at Naples, and to employ himself in writing a history of the
seneschal's life. Boccaccio was seduced, by a belief in the reality of
his friendship and the nobleness of his generosity, to accept his offer.
He was received by the great man with apparent pleasure, and with
many promises of future benefit; but he was undeceived as to the
kindness of his welcome, when he was led to the chamber destined
for his accommodation. The seneschal lived in a magnificent palace,
adorned with all the luxuries known in those days: the room
assigned to Boccaccio was mean and squalid; it contained one dirty,
ill-furnished bed, for himself and his brother Jacopo, and he was
placed at the same table with the stable boys and the lower servants
of the house, together with a whole host of needy hangers-on.
Boccaccio's necessities were not so great as to force him to endure
this unworthy treatment, and his spirit revolted against it. He
removed at once to the house of his friend, Mainardo de' Cavalcanti,
by whom he was cordially and honourably received; and finding, on
a second trial, to which he was urged by the servile advice of some
friends, that Acciajuolo was wholly ignorant of the duties of
hospitality, and totally deficient in generosity and delicacy, he left
Naples and proceeded to Venice.
He here passed three happy months with Petrarch. The Greek,
Leonzio Pilato, joined them. Their society consisted of either learned
men, or the Venetian nobility; and the friends reaped great
enjoyment from the intimacy and unreserve of their intercourse.
After the lapse of three months Boccaccio returned to Florence,
though the plague was raging there, and Petrarch entertained a
thousand fears on his account.
An abode in Florence was nevertheless ill suited to the new course
of life which he proposed to himself. The city was perpetually
disturbed by domestic strife, or the treachery of the foreign princes,
whom they called in to their assistance in time of war. Boccaccio
retreated from this scene of discord, and took up his abode at the
castle of Certaldo, where he gave himself entirely up to study: his
house there is still to be seen. Certaldo is situated on a hill, and
looks down on the fertile valley watered by the river Elsa.[75] The
country around is picturesque, adorned by various castles and rustic
villages. The culture of corn, vines, and olives, adorns the depth of
the valley and the uplands; and three successive harvests are
brought in by the husbandman. Here Boccaccio composed most of
his later works, and the influence of Petrarch is perceptible in his
choice of subjects and language. This is to be greatly lamented,
since his desertion of Italian was founded upon a mistake, which has
given us, instead of works of imagination and genius, heavy treatises
and inaccurate histories. Boccaccio's Latin is bald and tame; he knew
nothing of the structure, and was unable to clothe his thoughts with
the eloquence natural to him: he rattled the dry bones of the
skeleton of a dead language, instead of making use of the young
and vigorous tongue to which he had given birth.
His first work, under this new direction, was one of great labour and
erudition for those times, and was entered upon at the suggestion of
Ugo IV., king of Cyprus and Jerusalem. It treats of the genealogy of
the gods, and relates the connection between the various deities of
the beautiful Greek mythology. For many years it continued to be a
standard book, whence the Italians drew all their knowledge of the
subject; and it was doubtless a useful production. In pursuance of
his plan of being the schoolmaster of his age, and introducing his
countrymen to the knowledge of forgotten lore, he afterwards
composed a dictionary of ancient rivers, mountains, and forests. His
active mind was always finding new subjects for his pen. He
discovered that the female sex possessed no historian, and he
dedicated himself to their service by writing the lives of illustrious
women. In this he describes the ideal of a virtuous matron, and goes
to the extreme usual to a reformed libertine. Her conduct must not
only be strictly correct, but she must not even look about her; she
must speak little, eat little, and avoid singing and dancing. Given up
to domestic cares, she must be simple in her dress, and even love
her husband moderately. He wrote after this a work entitled, "De
Casibus Virorum et Fæminarum Illustrium," in which he records the
disasters and adversity which history relates to have befallen royal or
noble personages. Thus his time was entirely spent among his
books, and he acquired a reputation for learning and purity of life,
which raised him high in the opinion of his fellow citizens.
He was, in consequence, appointed, on two occasions, ambassador
to pope Urban V. In fulfilment of the first mission, he went to 136
Avignon, where he was honourably received, especially by 5. Æta
Philip de Cabassoles, the intimate and beloved friend of t.
Petrarch. On his return, he was very desirous of passing from 52.
Genoa to Pavia, to see the laureate; but the duties of his embassy
forbade. To indemnify himself, he projected a visit to him at Venice.
There is a Latin letter of his extant, which gives an interesting
account of this latter journey: it is addressed to Petrarch, whom he
missed, as he was again gone to Pavia. Boccaccio did not hear of
this circumstance till he reached Bologna; and it almost made him
give up his journey. "On my road," he writes, "I encountered
Francesco (the son-in-law of Petrarch), to my great delight. After a
glad and friendly meeting, I began to observe the person of this
man. His placid countenance, measured language, and mild manners
pleased me: I praised your choice, as I praise all you do." On his
arrival at Venice, "I received," he says, "many invitations, and
accepted that of Francesco Allegri. I would not avail myself of your
kind offer, and take up my abode under your daughter's roof, during
the absence of her husband. I should have preferred going to an inn
to being the cause of the scandal that might have arisen, despite my
grey hairs and fat unwieldy figure."
"I went, however, to see Francesca; who, when she heard of my
arrival, came to meet me with gladness, as if you yourself had
returned: yet, when she saw me, she was abashed, blushed, and
cast down her eyes; and then, after a timid welcome, she embraced
me with filial and modest affection. After conversing together some
little time, we went into your garden, and found several of your
friends assembled. Here, in explicit and kind terms, she offered me
your house, your books, and every thing belonging to you, in a
matronly and becoming manner. While we were conversing, your
beloved little granddaughter came up: she looked smilingly at me,
and I took her with delight in my arms. At first, methought I saw my
own child[76]: her face resembles hers—the same smile, the same
laughing eyes; the gestures, gait, and carriage of her person, though
a little taller—for mine was only five years and a half old when I last
saw her—were all similar: if their dialect had been the same, their
expressions would have resembled in their simplicity. I saw no
difference, except that yours has golden hair, and that of mine was
black. Alas! while caressing and charmed by her talk, the recollection
of my loss drew tears from my eyes; so that I turned my face away,
to conceal my emotion."
"I cannot tell you all that Francesco said and did upon his return; his
frequent visits when he found that I would not remove to his house;
and how hospitably he entertained me. One incident will suffice:
knowing that I was poor, which I never denied, on my departure
from Venice, at a late hour, he withdrew with me into another part of
his house; and, after taking leave, he stretched out his long arms,
and, putting a purse into my hands, made his escape, before I could
expostulate with or thank him."
After having been gratified by these tokens of real friendship,
Boccaccio suffered one of those mortifying disappointments which
too often occur to those who are ready to trust to the good-will and
offers of assistance of men who call themselves their friends. Niccolo
di Montefalcone, abbot of the celebrated Carthusian monastery of
San Stefano in Calabria, invited him to take up his abode with him,
describing the agreeable situation of his house, its select library, and
the leisure to be enjoyed there. Boccaccio accepted the 137
invitation, and made the journey. He arrived late at night 0. Æta
before the gates of the secluded monastery; but, instead of t.
the welcome he expected, he found that the abbot had left 57.
the convent hastily, in the middle of the night, on purpose to avoid
him. Boccaccio, justly indignant, wrote an angry letter, and, leaving
the inhospitable retreat, repaired to Naples, where he was again
cordially received by his friend Mainardo de' Cavalcanti.
During his visit to Naples, Boccaccio received many offers of
hospitality and patronage: among others, queen Jane of Naples, and
Giacomo king of Majorca, endeavoured to persuade him to enter into
their service; but Boccaccio was naturally proud and independent:
he had been duped by an appearance of friendship, but recoiled
from a state of servitude: he preferred his quiet home at Certaldo to
the favours of the great; nor could the renewed solicitations of
Petrarch induce him to change his mind; and he returned to Tuscany.
When he visited Naples again, it was merely for the sake of 137
seeing his friends, without any ulterior view, and he quickly 2.Æta
returned to the quiet of Certaldo, where he busied himself in t.
the publication of his work of the "Genealogy of the Gods." 59.
Age and infirmity advanced on him before their time: he was 137
attacked by a painful and disagreeable disease, which 3. Æta
rendered life a burthen to him. He lost his strength, and the t.
powers of his understanding; his limbs became heavy, and the 60.
light of heaven intolerable; his memory was impaired, and his books
no longer afforded him any pleasure. His thoughts were fixed upon
the tomb, towards which he believed himself to be rapidly
approaching. After having continued in this state for several months,
he was one day seized with a violent fever, which increased towards
night. His disturbed thoughts turned towards the past: his life
appeared to him to have been wasted, and fruitful only of remorse.
No friend was near him: his sole attendant was an old nurse, who,
unable to penetrate the cause of his disquietude, annoyed him by
her meaningless and vulgar consolations. His fever increased; he
believed himself to be dying, and he feared to die. His courage,
which had until now sustained, all at once deserted him. Hitherto he
had avoided physicians, having no faith in the art: he was now
driven to send for one, whose remedies afforded him relief, and
restored him to some portion of health.[77]
The energy of his mind returned with his bodily strength. He had
laboured long to induce the Florentine government to bestow some
honourable testimonial on the memory of the illustrious Dante. At
length, a decree was promulgated, instituting a professorship for the
public explanation of the "Divina Commedia," so to promote, as it
was expressed, the advancement of learning and virtue among the
living and their posterity. The professorship was bestowed upon
Boccaccio: he received a salary of one hundred florins a year, and
delivered his lectures in the church of San Stefano. The result was
his commentary on the first seventeen cantos of the "Inferno,"
written in a clear, simple, and elegant style, full of excellent criticism
and valuable illustrations.
Thus the remnants of his failing strength were spent upon doing
honour to the memory of the celebrated poet, whose genius he so
warmly and generously admired, and a depreciation of whom is the
sole blot on the otherwise faultless character of Petrarch: but, while
he roused his intellects to understand and comment upon the
delicate and sublime beauties of Dante, his physical strength
decayed, and his sensibility received a severe shock from the death
of his beloved friend Petrarch. He heard it first by public 137
report; and it was afterwards confirmed to him in a letter from 4.
Æta
Francesco Brossano, the laureate's son-in-law, who t.
transmitted to him the legacy of fifty florins, for the purchase 61.
of a fur dress for his winter studies. Boccaccio wrote, in return, a
letter full of grief and admiration. "He did not mourn," he said, "for
the dead, who was receiving the reward of his virtues, but for those
who survived him, and were abandoned to the tempestuous sea of
life without a pilot." He would have visited his tomb had his health
permitted; and he besought Brossano to take care of his
posthumous reputation, and to publish his poem of "Africa," which
was only known to the world in fragments. In compliance with his
request, Brossano had the poem copied, and sent it to him; but he
did not live to receive it.
He felt his end approaching, and Petrarch's death loosened his last
tie to earth. He made his will, and named the sons of his brother
Jacopo his heirs. He left legacies to those to whom he owed return
for friendship and services; and he concluded, by leaving his library,
in the first instance, to his spiritual director, Martino da Signa, to go,
after his death, to the convent of the Spirito Santo, at Florence, for
the benefit of the studious.
He survived Petrarch one year only, and died at Certaldo, on the 21st
December, 1375, in the 63d year of his age. His death was
occasioned by a malady of small moment in itself, but fatal in his
debilitated state, and aggravated by his continual application. He
was buried at Certaldo, in the church of SS. Jacopo and Filippo. His
son presided at his funeral, and erected a tomb, on which was
inscribed a Latin epitaph, composed by Boccaccio himself, in which
he mentions that honourable love of literature which characterised
him through life:—"Patria Certaldum; studium fuit alma poesis." He
was lamented throughout Italy; but his loss was chiefly deplored in
his native city, as, during his residence there, he had redeemed his
early follies by a course of life devoted to the cultivation of literature
and religion, and the duties of a citizen. While all read with delight
the purer productions of his imaginative genius, the learned of every
age must feel grateful to his unwearied labours in the preservation
of the ancient manuscripts, many of which, but for him, had been
lost for ever to the world.
[58]Genealogia Deorum.
[59]Baldelli.
[60]Filippo Villani.
[61]Geneal. Deor.
[62]Geneal. Deor.
[63]Ibid.
[64]Tiraboschi.
[65]Filocopo.
[66]This lady Mary cannot be the princess Mary, an acknowledged natural
daughter of king Robert. The latter was beheaded during the troubles at Naples, a
year after Boccaccio's death. The poems of Boccaccio declare that he outlived his
lady Mary, Fiammetta, as he called her, many years; and his writings give proof
that her royal and illegitimate origin was always preserved a secret.
[67]La Fiammetta.
[68]Rime.
[69]Ameto.
[70]Baldelli.
[71]Petrarch's Letters.
[72]This singular circumstance is not noticed by Petrarch in any of his letters. Did
the Florentines act thus to punish him for his journey to Avignon, at the time they
had invited him to take up his abode among them? Yet, on another occasion, the
citizens petitioned the pope to give the poet a benefice within their walls, and so
induce him to inhabit their city. Perhaps the expression used in Boccaccio's letter is
ironical.
[73]Guignenè.
[74]It is not creditable to the learning of those times to learn, that the libraries of
these two great revivers of knowledge were lost to the world soon after their
deaths. Boccaccio's, it is true, was destroyed by an accident, being burnt when the
convent to which he had left it was consumed by fire. But Petrarch's mouldered
away in the palace given by the republic of Venice for its reception and
preservation, so that dusty fragments were afterwards found to be all that
remained of the venerable parchments which the laureate had expended so much
time and labour in collecting.
[75]Baldelli.
[76]It is unknown who was the mother of this child, or grandchild, who died so
young. Boccaccio had, besides, one son established at Florence, whom he does
not mention in his will, but who presided at his funeral, and erected a tomb over
his remains.
[77]Baldelli, Cod. San. Epist. I.
LORENZO DE' MEDICI
(considered as a poet);
FICINO, PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA, POLITIAN,

THE PULCI, etc.
After the deaths of Petrarch and Boccaccio, the cause of learning

was, to a certain degree, lost. The study of Greek and the search for
manuscripts was discontinued. The first person who brought that
language again into notice, was Emanuel Chrysoloras, a noble
Greek, who was frequently sent into Italy on embassies by the
emperor of Constantinople, and employed his leisure in teaching his
native tongue in Florence. His disciples were numerous: among
these. Poggio Bracciolini was the most distinguished. He discovered
and collected a vast number of the most valuable manuscripts.
Besides the philosophic and beautiful poem of Lucretius, we owe to
him the complete copies of Quintilian, Plautus, Statius, Silius Italicus,
Columella, and many others. Several of these exist only from the
copy found by him, and were thus rescued from certain destruction.
"I did not find them in libraries," he says, "which their dignity
demanded, but in a dark and obscure dungeon at the bottom of a
tower, in which they were leading the life of the damned." Filelfo
was also an ardent collector. The discussions between the Roman
and Greek churches brought several Greek scholars and philosophers
into Italy, and through them the Platonic doctrines were known to
the Italians. Gemisthus Pletho, who had been master of 143
Chrysoloras, but who survived him many years, was their chief 8.
promulgator. They were in opposition to the Aristotelian philosophy,
which had so long been the only one taught in the schools of Italy;
but their glowing beauty and imagination were adapted to enchant
all who heard them. Cosmo de' Medici became their convert, and
resolved to establish an academy at Florence for their study and
propagation. He caused Marsiglio Ficino, the son of his favourite
physician, to be educated for this purpose by the teachers of
145 Platonic philosophy. Cosmo was also the founder of the
3.
Medicean library. The taking of Constantinople by the Turks
aided the advancement of learning; and while Cosmo protected
many learned Greeks who took refuge at Florence, they spread
refinement and knowledge throughout the peninsula.
146 Cosmo died soon after; and as his son Piero did not long
4.
survive him, Lorenzo succeeded to his wealth and political
influence. Lorenzo had been brought up with solicitous attention. He
was fortunate in his mother. Madonna Lucretia, a lady of
considerable talents and accomplishments, a lover of learning, and
patroness of learned men. He was first the pupil of Gentile d' Urbino,
bishop of Arezzo; and afterwards of Christofero Landino; and a
warm attachment subsisted between master and pupil. He soon
gave manifestations of the magnificence of his disposition; and his
love of poetry developed itself at an early age. After the death of
Cosmo, and his father Piero, however, his life was no longer one of
studious leisure or youthful enjoyment; but visited by many
disastrous occurrences. The conspiracy of the Pazzi was directed
147 against his life and that of his brother. Giuliano was its victim;
8.
while he with difficulty escaped from the poniard of the
assassin. He was scarcely free from these domestic dangers, when
he encountered greater foreign ones, from the implacable enmity of
Sixtus VI. This pope leagued almost all Italy against Florence,
declaring at the same time that Lorenzo was the object of their
attack; and that if he were sacrificed, Florence should obtain peace.
Lorenzo maintained the weight of this coalition with firmness and
147 dignity. With heroic gallantry he took the whole responsibility
9.
on his own person, and threw himself into the hands of the
king of Naples. His firmness and talents enabled him to induce 148
this monarch to conclude a treaty beneficial and honourable to 0.
Florence, and his authority in the republic was thus confirmed
greater than ever. From this time he occupied himself by establishing
an enduring peace in Italy; not pursuing his object by pusillanimous
concessions, but by an unremitted attention to the course of events,
and sound policy in preserving the balance of power among the
Italian states.
From the anxieties and cares attendant on his public life, he was
glad to find relaxation in the cultivation of poetry and the pursuits of
philosophy. He loved literature and the fine arts, and devoted much
of his time and fortune to their cultivation. He encouraged Greek
learning, and was an enthusiastic Platonist. His chief friends were
literary men—Politian, Marsiglio Ficino, and the three brothers of the
name of Pulci. He busied himself in raising and giving reputation to
the university of Pisa. He instituted a yearly celebration of the
anniversary of Plato's birth and death, and was the cause that his
refined philosophy became the fashion in Italy. All the learned wrote
and spoke Plato; and in Florence in particular, classic learning was an
indispensable qualification in a well-educated man.
One of the chief merits of Lorenzo is derived from the revival of his
native language. A century had elapsed since the golden age of
Petrarch and Boccaccio, but the Italian language, instead of
redeeming the promise of its birth, had remained mute and
inglorious. The neglect which so speedily darkened the native
literature, may be attributed to these very men, and especially to
Petrarch, who cast disgrace over what he called the vulgar tongue,
and taught that Latin was the only worthy medium by which learned
men should communicate their ideas—and such Latin! However, the
spirit of improvement, which is the most valuable attribute of human
nature, led the students who succeeded him to cultivate and
understand the implement he placed in their hands. They applied
themselves to a critical examination of Latin; and after all, it is
perhaps, to the bald, unformed Latinity of Petrarch, that we owe the
knowledge which the scholar of the present day possesses of the
construction and delicacies of that language. If he had not taught
the world, that the object chiefly worthy of their ambition was to
imitate the works of Virgil and Cicero, no one had spent the labour
necessary to the entire understanding of the language of the
Romans.
Yet, while this advantage was derived from his mistake, imagination
and genius were silenced; little prose and no poetry, either in Latin
or the vulgar tongue, appeared in Italy. The writers educated by
Cosmo, Politian, and Ficino, still adhered to the hereditary error, and
wrote in Latin. Lorenzo first broke through these rules, and
expressed in his native language the fragile and delicate ideas
inspired by a poetic imagination. He ranks high as a poet: he does
not possess the sublimity and grace of Dante, nor the elegance,
tenderness, and incomparable sweetness of Petrarch; but his merits
are original and conspicuous: simplicity and vivacity adorn his
verses. His love poems are full of fire, and come from the heart; his
descriptions are delightful, from their truth, elegance, and flow of
fancy throughout; his diction is that of a genuine poet.
It is singular, that although Lorenzo possessed the germ of real
poetry in his mind, he began to work himself up to writing verses in
a manner that appears cold to our northern imaginations: he
resolved to love, and resolved to write verses on her he loved; yet,
being a poet, and a man whose heart easily opened itself to the
warmer affections, no doubt a great deal of real feeling accompanied
his aspirations. He himself gives the account of all these
circumstances in a commentary written on his first sonnets.
His brother Guiliano had been deeply attached to a lovely girl named
Simonetta, who died in the bloom of beauty: it is supposed, that he
alludes to her when he describes the excitement caused by the
public funeral of a beautiful young lady, whose admirers crowded
round her open bier, and gazed, for the last time, on the pallid face
of the object of their adoration, which was exposed uncovered to
their view, accompanying the funeral with their tears. All the
eloquence and talent of Florence were exerted to pay honour to her
memory in prose and verse. Lorenzo himself composed a few
sonnets, and to give them greater effect, he tried to imagine that he
also was a lover, mourning over the untimely end of one beloved,
and then again he reflected that he might write still more feelingly, if
he could discover a living object, to whom to address his homage.
He looked round among the beauties of Florence, to discover one
whose perfections should satisfy his judgment, as worthy of inspiring
a sincere and constant attachment. At last, at a public festival, he
beheld a girl so lovely and attractive in her appearance, that, as he
gazed on her, he said to himself, "If this person were possessed of
the delicacy, the understanding, and accomplishments of her who is
lately dead, most certainly she excels her in personal charms." On
becoming acquainted with her, he found his fondest dreams realised:
she was perfectly beautiful, clever, vivacious, yet full of dignity and
sweetness. It is a pity that this account rather chills us as we read
his sonnets, and we feel them rather as coming from the head than
heart: yet they are tender and graceful; and it is not difficult for a
youth of an ardent disposition, and an Italian, to love a beautiful girl,
even at the word of command.
One of these sonnets possesses the simplicity and grace which
distinguish Lorenzo's poetry: we give Mr. Roscoe's translation of it,
and yet are not satisfied. Mr. Roscoe wrote at a time when the
common-places of versification, brought in by the imitators of Pope,
were still in vogue; but this observation applies chiefly to the
beginning of the sonnet; the conclusion is better, yet the whole
wants the brightness and spring of the original. Happy are those
who can refer to that.[78]
"Seek he who will in grandeur to be blest,

Place in proud halls, and splendid courts, his joy;
For pleasure or for gold his arts employ,
Whilst all his hours unnumber'd cares molest.
A little field in native flowrets drest,
A rivulet in soft numbers gliding by,
A bird, whose love-sick note salutes the sky,
With sweeter magic lull my cares to rest.
And shadowy woods, and rocks, and towering hills,
And caves obscure, and nature's freeborn train,
And some lone nymph that timorous speeds along,
Each in my mind some gentle thought instils
Of those bright eyes that absence shrouds in vain;
Ah, gentle thoughts! soon lost the city cares among."
Many sonnets and canzoni were written to celebrate this lady's

perfections and his passion, but he never mentions her name. From
contemporary poets, Politian and Verini, who addressed her, and
Valori, who wrote a life of Lorenzo, we learn, that her name was
Lucretia, of the noble family of Donati; an ancestor of whom, Cuzio
Donato, had been celebrated for his military enterprises. But it is
mutual love that excites our sympathy, and there is no token that
Lucretia regarded her lover with more fervour than he deserved; for,
however Verini may undertake to prove that he was worthy of a
return for his attachment, a different opinion must be formed, when
we find that he married a short time after, not the sighed for
Lucretia, but Clarice degli Orsini; and although the usual excuse is
given, that this marriage was consented to by him to please his
relatives, and as he expresses it, "I took for a wife, or rather was
given me;" yet as Lucretia must have been the victim of his
obedience, it is agreeable to find that she gave slight ear to his
empty or deceptive protestations.
His other poems were composed as recreation during a busy life,
and many of them are animated by glowing sensibility or light-
hearted hilarity. Among them the most celebrated is "La Nencia da
Barbarino," where he makes a swain praise his mistress in rustic
phrase; this is a dangerous experiment, but Lorenzo perfectly
succeeded. His poem is totally devoid of affectation, and is so
charming for its earnestness and simplicity, that it was repeated and
sung by every one in Florence. Many tried to imitate the style, but
vainly; and they complained that, though many peasant girls were
celebrated, La Nencia da Barbarino was the only rustic beauty who
could gain the popular favour.
His Canzoni Carnaleschi are animated and original; he was the
inventor of this style of song. He exerted himself, on all occasions, to
vary and refine the public amusements of Florence, and during the
carnival, the period of gaiety and pleasure in Catholic countries,
introduced processions and dances of a novel and delightful
description. It was the custom of the women to form themselves
into bands of twelve, and, linked hand with hand, to sing as they
danced in a circle. Lorenzo composed several canzoni a ballo, which
became favourites for these occasions. One of these,—
"Ven venga Maggio

E 'l Gonfalon selvaggio," &c.
"Welcome, May,
And the rustic banner," &c.—
is the prettiest and most spirited song for May ever written. His
processions and masquerades afforded also subjects for verse.
Bands of people paraded the city in character, personating triumphs,
or exhibitions of the arts; and Lorenzo wrote songs, which they
chanted as they passed along. It is singular, that, free and energetic
as the Florentines were, yet the songs composed for them never
spoke of liberty, but turned upon love only: love was all their theme
—love that was often licentiousness, and yet described with such
truth and beauty, as must have tended greatly to enervate, and even
to vitiate, the various persons that formed these gay companies.
Lorenzo's canzoni are tainted with this defect.
Lorenzo was a faithful and kind, though not a fond husband. His
feelings were always held in discipline by him; and if he were too
sensitive to the influence of beauty, yet his actions were all regulated
by that excellent sense of justice and duty which is his admirable
characteristic. There are some elegiac stanzas preserved of his,
which prove that he suffered at one time the struggles and errors of
passion, and was subdued by it to other thoughts than those which
his reason approved. How different is this poem to those addressed
to Lucretia Donati. There is no Platonic refinement, no subtlety, no
conceit, no imitation of Petrarch; its diction is clear and sweet; truth
and strength of feeling animate each expression; it bears the stamp
of heartfelt sincerity, and is adorned by all the delicacy which real
passion inspires. "Ah!" he exclaims, "had we been joined in
marriage! Had you been earlier born, or had I come later into the
world!" These stanzas are even left unfinished, and probably were
concealed, as revealing a secret which it would have been fatal to
have discovered to the world.
Besides the animated and gay songs, and choruses, in which
Lorenzo is unrivalled, he wrote several descriptive poems: one long
one relates the history of how his favourite country house, named
Ambra, was carried away by the overflowing of the Ombrone. He
figures the villa to be a nymph, of whom the river god is enamoured,
and, like one of Ovid's heroines, she falls a victim to his pursuit. The
descriptions in this poem are lively, true, and graceful. The "Caccia di
Falcone" gives a spirited detail of the disasters that befall falconers:
he bring in several of his friends by name. "Where is Luigi Pulci," he
cries, "that we do not hear him? He is gone before in that grove, for
some whim has seized him, and he has retreated to meditate a
sonnet."
Lorenzo died at the early age of forty-four, of a painful and April
8.
inexplicable disorder, which, attacking his stomach, gave rise
to the idea that he was poisoned. He was considerate and 149
2
affectionate to the last; endeavouring to impress his system of
policy on his son's mind, and exerting himself to lighten the grief of
those around him. Potents and wonders followed his death, which
even Machiavelli, then a very young man, deemed miraculous. He
was universally lamented; and the downfall of his family, which
occurred soon after, through the misconduct of his eldest son, Piero,
renewed the grief of the friends who survived him.
MARSIGLIO FICINO
The literary tastes of Cosmo, the talents and admirable qualities of

Lucretia, the mother of Lorenzo, and the example and protection of
Lorenzo himself, rendered his a golden era for poets and
philosophers. It has been already mentioned, that for the sake of
spreading abroad a knowledge of the Platonic doctrines, Cosmo had
caused the son of his favourite physician to be educated in the study
and cultivation of them. Marsiglio Ficino was born at Florence, on the
18th of October, 1433. His first studies were directed by Luca
Quarqualio, with whom he read Cicero, and other Latin authors;
applying his attention principally to the mention made of Plato, and
already admiring and loving his philosophy. His father, being poor,
sent him to study at Bologna, to the discontent of Marsiglio; but
fortunately, one day, during a casual visit to Florence, his father led
him to Cosmo de' Medici, who, struck with the intelligence exhibited
in his countenance, chose him at once, young as he was, to be the
future support of his Platonic academy; and, turning to the father,
said, "You were sent us by heaven to cure the body, but your son is
certainly destined to cure the mind."[79] He adopted him in his
house; and Marsiglio never ceased to testify his gratitude, and to
declare that he had been to him a second father. He was given up
henceforth to Platonism. At the age of twenty-three he wrote his
"Platonic Institutions." Plato was his idol; he talked Plato, thought
Plato, and became almost mad for Plato, and his deepest and most
wonderful mysteries. The celebrated Pico della Mirandola shared his
studies and enthusiasm. It was not, however, till after having written
his "Institutions," that, at the advice of Cosmo, he learnt Greek, the
better to understand his favourite author. He translated, as the first
fruits of this study, the "Hymns of Orpheus" into Latin; he translated,
also, the "Treatise on the Origin of the World," attributed to Hermes
Trismegistus; and, presenting it to Cosimo, he was rewarded by him
by the gift of a podere, or small farm, appertaining to his own villa
of Caneggi near Florence, and a house in the city, besides some
146 magnificent manuscripts of Plato and Plotinus. After this Ficino
8.
Æta
occupied himself by translating the whole of Plato's works into
t. Latin, which he completed in five years. He afterwards
35. assumed the clerical profession, and Lorenzo bestowed on him
the cure of two churches, and made him canon of the cathedral of
147 Florence, on which he gave up his patrimony to his brothers.
5.
He was a disinterested and blameless man: gentle and
Æta
t. agreeable in his manners, no violent passions nor desires
42. disturbed the calm of his mind. He loved solitude, and
delighted to pass his time in the country, in the society of his
philosophic friends. His health was feeble, and he was subject to
severe indispositions, which could not induce him to diminish the
ardour with which he pursued his studies. Sixtus IV., and Mathew
Corvino, king of Hungary, tried to induce him, by magnificent offers,
to take up his abode at their several courts, but he would not quit
Florence. Many foreigners, particularly from Germany, visited Italy
for the express purpose of seeing him, and studying under him. He
died on the first of October, 1499, at the age of sixty-six. In the year
1521, a marble statue was erected in Florence to his memory.
GIOVANNI PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA

As the name of Pico della Mirandola has been mentioned, it is
impossible not to bestow some attention on a man who was the
glory and admiration of Italy. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Conte
della Concordia, was born in the year 1463; his father, Gian
Francesco Pico, was lord of Mirandola and Concordia; his mother's
name was Julia Boiarda. From his earliest years he manifested an
extraordinary understanding and memory: he was naturally disposed
to literary and poetic pursuits; but at the age of fourteen, being
destined, as a younger son, for the church, he was sent to Bologna
to study canon law. After two years spent in this way, he resolved to
give himself up to philosophy, and visited the most celebrated
schools of France and Italy, in which, studying under and disputing
with the professors of highest reputation, he acquired an erudition
that made him the wonder and delight of his contemporaries. To
Greek and Latin he added a knowledge of Hebrew, Chaldaic, and
Arabic. He relates how he was enticed by an impostor to purchase,
at a high price, seventy Hebrew manuscripts, which he was told
were genuine, and composed by order of Esdras, and contained the
most recondite mysteries of religion. These were the books of the
Cabala, or of the Traditions, which the Jews believe to have been
collected at the command of Esdras. At the age of twenty-three Pico
visited Rome, during the reign of Innocent VIII.; and here he
published 900 propositions—dialectic, moral, physical, mathematical,
theological, &c. &c.—offering to dispute with any one concerning
them. These propositions still exist among his works, a sorrowful
monument of the pedantry of the age, which could turn aside so
admirable an understanding, from loftier and more useful studies, to
the subtilties and frivolities of scholastic arguments. But, in those
days, they caused Pico to be considered something wonderful, and
almost divine. Yet they led him into annoyance, as envy caused
other learned men to denounce thirteen among the propositions to
be heretical, and he wrote a long apology to clear himself. This
rather increased his difficulties; twice he was cited before the papal
tribunal, but was each time pronounced innocent. This persecution
caused him to reform his life. Handsome, young, rich, and of
attractive manners, he had hitherto enjoyed the pleasures usual to
his period of life; but henceforth he gave himself up to piety, burning
his love verses, and devoting himself to theology and philosophy. He
spent the last years of his life at Florence, in the society of Lorenzo
and his friends. He was beside Lorenzo at his last moments; and, in
a cheerful conversation with him, that amiable man spent his last
hours, saying, that he should meet death with more satisfaction
after this interview. Pico has been praised by every writer for his
beneficence and generosity; he died in the year 1494, in his thirty-
second year only.
ANGELO POLIZIANO
Politian formed a third, and was the dearest of Lorenzo's friends. He

was born at Monte Pulciano, a small town not far from Florence; he
was named Angelo, and his father was called Benedetto di Cini. The
son adopted the place of his birth for a surname, changing Pulciano
into the more euphonic appellation of Poliziano. He was born on the
24th of July, 1454: his father was poor, which occasioned him in his
youth to call himself Angelo Basso. Brought to Florence during his
childhood, he studied under the most celebrated scholars of the day,
Cristofero Landino, and Giovanni Agyropylo. It is uncertain whether
he derived this advantage from his father's care, or from the
kindness of Lorenzo de' Medici, as it is not known at what age he
first became known to that munificent patron. His own words are,
"From boyhood almost I was brought up in that asylum of virtue, the
palace of the great Lorenzo de' Medici, prince of his flourishing
republic of Florence."[80] These words coincide with the general
idea, that at a very early age he attracted the notice of Lorenzo by
his poem entitled, "Giostra di Giuliano de' Medici," written to
celebrate the first tournament of Giuliano, as Luca Pulci had
composed another in honour of that of Lorenzo. This poem consists
of 1400 lines, and yet is left unfinished; breaking off at the moment
that the tournament is about to begin. It commences by an address
to Lorenzo, and then goes on to describe the youthful occupations of
Giuliano, his carelessness of female beauty, and the subduing of his
heart by the lovely Simonetta. A description of Venus and the island
of Cyprus is introduced: it concludes abruptly, as is often the case
with youthful attempts. Yet the beauty and variety of the ideas, and
smoothness and elegance of the versification, render it doubtful to
critics whether it was written at so early an age as fourteen. At least
it must cause regret that he afterwards applied himself to
compositions in Latin: for though his poetry in that language has a
life and vigour which distinguishes it from any other of his age, yet it
must always fall short of the genuine flow of thought, in which a
poet so easily indulges when he adopts his native tongue.
From the period that he took up his abode in Lorenzo's palace, he
received the instructions of the most celebrated men of the age, and
his progress showed his aptitude to learn. He enjoyed here also the
society of Lorenzo's accomplished mother, Lucretia Tornabuoni, a
lover of poetry, and herself a poetess. Lorenzo afterwards appointed
him tutor to his children; but he did not agree so well with Mona
Clarice. When Lorenzo was engaged in the hazardous war that
disturbed the beginning of his political life, he sent his wife and
children to Pistoia, with Politian as tutor, who wrote frequent letters
to Lorenzo, with accounts of the well-being and occupations of his
family. "Piero," he writes, "never leaves my side, nor I his. I should
like to be useful to you in greater things; but since this is entrusted
to me, I willingly undertake it."—"All your family are well. Piero
studies moderately; and we wander through the town to amuse
ourselves. We visit the gardens, of which this city is full, and
sometimes the library of Maestro Zambino, where I found several
good Greek and Latin books. Giovanni[81] rides on his pony have all
day long, followed by numbers of people. Mona Clarice is well in
health; but takes pleasure in nothing but the good news she
receives from you, and seldom quits the house." In another letter he
asks, that more power may be given to him over the studies of the
boys:—"As for Giovanni, his mother employs him in reading the
Psalter, which I by no means commend. Whilst she declined
interfering with him, it is wonderful how he got on." Monna Clarice
was not better pleased with the tutor than he with her. She writes to
her husband—"I wish you would not make me the fable of Francho,
as I was of Luigi Pulci; and that Messer Angelo should not say that
he remains in my house in spite of me. I told you, that if you wished
it, I was satisfied that he should stay, though I have suffered a
thousand impertinences from him. If it is your will, I am patient; but
I cannot believe that it should be so." Thus situated, Politian
lamented the absence of Madonna Lucretia from Pistoia, and
complained to her of the solitude he endured there. "I call it
solitude," he says, in a letter written at this time to Lucretia, "for
Monsignore shuts himself up in his room, with thought for his only
companion; and I always find him so sorrowful and anxious, that it
increases my melancholy to be with him: and when I remain alone,
weary of study, I am agitated by the thoughts of pestilence and war,
regret for the past and fear for the future; nor have I any one with
whom to share my reveries. I do not find my dear Mona Lucretia in
her room, to whom I could pour forth my complaints, and I die of
ennui."[82]
At the age of twenty-nine, he was appointed to the professorship of
Greek and Latin eloquence in the university of Florence. Happy in
the friendship of his patron, his life was disturbed only by literary
squabbles, in which he usually conducted himself with forbearance
and dignity. He was held in high repute throughout Italy, and
received preferment in the church, and on one occasion was sent
ambassador to the papal court.
His life for many years was one of singular good fortune and
happiness: adversity ensued on the death of Lorenzo. There is 149
2.
a long letter of his to Jacopo Antiquario[83], which describes Æta
the last days of his beloved patron in affecting and lively t.
terms. He speaks of the counsels he gave his son, and his 38.
interview with his confessor, during which he prepared himself for
death with astonishing calmness and fortitude. On one occasion he
made some enquiry of the servants, which Politian answered,
—"Recognising my voice," he writes, "and looking kindly on me, as
he ever did, 'O Angelo,' said he, 'are you there? and stretching out
his languid arms, clasped tightly both my hands. I could not repress
my sobs and tears, yet, trying to conceal them, I turned my face
away; while he, without being at all agitated, still held my hands:
but when he found that I could not speak for weeping, by degrees
and naturally he set me free, and I hurried into the near cabinet,
and gave vent to my grief and tears."
The disasters that befel the Medici family after the death of Lorenzo,
are supposed to have broken Politian's heart. The presumption and
incapacity of Piero caused him and all who bore his name to be
exiled. The French troops at that time invaded Italy under Charles
VIII.: they entered Florence, and, in conjunction with the ungrateful
citizens, plundered and destroyed the palace of the Medici; and the
famous Laurentian library was dispersed and carried off in the
tumult. Politian had composed a pathetic Latin monody on Lorenzo.
[84]
"Who from perennial streams shall bring,

Of gushing floods a ceaseless spring?
That through the day in hopeless woe,
That through the night my tears may flow.
As the reft turtle mourns his mate,
As sings the swan his coming fate,
As the sad nightingale complains,
I pour my anguish and my strains.
Oh! wretched, wretched past relief;
O grief! beyond all other grief!"
While singing these verses, after Lorenzo's death, afflicted at the sad
loss they commemorated, and by the adverse events which followed,
a spasm of grief seized him, his heart suddenly broke from excess of
feeling, and he died on the spot. He died on the 24th of September,
1494, having just completed his 40th year, and having survived his
illustrious friend little more than two years.
BERNARDO PULCI
More celebrated as an Italian poet than Politian, is Luigi Pulci, author

of "Morgante Maggiore." Very little is known of his private history.
There were three brothers of this family, which is one of the most
ancient in Florence, since it carried back its origin to one of the
French families who settled in that city in the time of Charlemagne:
their fortunes, however, were decayed. Bernardo, the elder, wrote an
elegy on Cosimo de' Medici; and another very sweet and graceful
sonnet on the death of Simonetta, whom Giuliano de' Medici loved.
He translated the Eclogues of Virgil into Italian, and wrote other
pastoral poetry.
LUCA PULCI
Luca Pulci wrote the "Giostra di Lorenzo," before mentioned; various

poetic epistles, and two longer poems; one called the "Driadeo d'
Amore," a pastoral founded on mythological fables; and the other,
the "Ciriffo Calvaneo," a romantic narrative poem, deficient in that
interest and poetic excellence necessary to attract readers in the
present day.
LUIGI PULCI
Luigi Pulci is the most celebrated of the brothers. It was at the

instigation of Lucrezia Tornabuoni, mother of Lorenzo de' Medici,
who has been before mentioned for her talents and love of
literature, that he wrote the "Morgante Maggiore;" and Bernardo
Tasso, father of the great poet, relates that he read the cantos, as
they were written, at the table of Lorenzo.[85] Nothing is known of
the latter part of Luigi Pulci's life. Alessandro Zilioli, in his inedited
"Memoirs of Italian Poets," cited by Apostolo Zeno, narrates that
Pulci died in a state of penury at Padua, and that, from the impiety
of his writings, he was denied the rites of Christian burial; but he is
the only writer who mentions this, and no great faith can be reposed
in him.
The poem of "Morgante Maggiore" has excited much discussion, as
to whether it is intended to be considered a burlesque or serious
poem. There is little of what is absolutely tragic; but much that is
romantic and interesting, mingled, as in the tragedies of Shakspeare,
with comedy. It is true that Pulci, while he relates wonders, does so
in a language so colloquial, as to detract from the dignity of his
heroes and the majesty of the adventures recounted; but in this he
rather imitates than travesties real life, and especially the life of the
chivalrous ages, during which there was so strange a mixture of the
grand and the ridiculous. While reading the poem, it seems difficult
to understand the foundation of the dispute, of whether it be
impious, and whether it be burlesque: it is at once evident that the
serious parts are intended to be elevated and tragic. Dr. Panizzi's
essay is clear and decisive on this point; and with him we may quote
Ugo Foscolo, who says, that "the comic humour of the Italian
narrative poems arises from the contrast between the constant
endeavours of the writers to adhere to the forms and subjects of the
popular story-tellers, and the efforts made, at the same time, by the
genius of those writers, to render these materials interesting and
sublime." Yet, doubtless. Pulci, as well as other writers of romantic
narrative poems, introduces comedy, or, rather, farce, designedly.
Tasso alone, in his "Gerusalemme," adhered to classic forms, and
preserved the elevation of epic majesty, unmingled with wit and
ridicule.
The origin of the romantic tales of Charlemagne and his Paladins,
made so popular by Ariosto, and celebrated by Pulci, Boiardo, and
other poets, has been much treated of. Earlier than these were "The
Adventures of the Knights of the Round Table of King Arthur." French
authors have asserted that these also are founded on stories of
Charlemagne; but Dr. Panizzi asserts them to be of Welsh origin: he
quotes Marie de France, who declares that she translated several
fabliaux from British originals; and Chaucer, who, in the "Franklin's
Tale," says—
"These olde gentil Bretons in hir dayes

Of diverse adventures maden layes,
Rimeyed in hir firste Breton tongue;
Which layes with hir instruments they songe,
Or elles redden him for hir pleasure."
The long narrative romances of Amadis of Gaul and Palmerin of

England (which the curate saved out of the general burning of Don
Quixote's library) are supposed to be founded on various old lays
and tales put together in regular narration. In the same way, the
adventures of the French knights may be supposed to be founded on
songs and romances composed to celebrate favourite heroes. The
authority perpetually quoted by them all is archbishop Turpin. This
romance is supposed to have been written during the time of the
first crusade: pope Calistus II. quotes it in a bull dated 1122, and
pronounces it to be genuine. From this, as from one source, the
Italians drew, or pretended to draw, the various adventures of their
heroes. In all their poems these are the same, and their peculiar
characters are preserved; yet many of these personages are not
even mentioned by Turpin: the events of his book are the wars of
Charlemagne in Spain against the Saracens, and the defeat of the
Paladins at Roncesvalles, through the treachery of Gano.
Milone, a distant relative of Charlemagne, and Bertha, the emperor's
sister, were the parents of Orlando. His childhood was spent in
obscurity and hardships, owing to the banishment of Milone and his
wife when their marriage was discovered. He was clothed by the
charity of four young friends, who brought cloth to cover him: two
bought white, and two red; whence Orlando adopted his coat of
arms, del quartiere. Charlemagne saw him on his road to Rome,
Orlando introducing himself to his imperial uncle's notice by stealing
a plate of meat for his mother. On this he was recognised; castles
and lands were bestowed on him, he became the prop of the throne,
and married Alda, or Aldabella, who was also connected with the
royal family.
The personage who ranks next to him in celebrity is his cousin
Rinaldo of Montalbano. Montalbano, or Montauban, is a city on the
banks of the Tarn, near its junction with the Garonne. It is said to
have been built in 1144, after the date of archbishop Turpin's book,
who makes no mention of it or its lord. It is a stronghold; and, even
now, an old fortress, in the most ancient part of it, is called le
Chateau de Renaud. Aymon, duke of Dordona, had four sons; the
eldest was Rinaldo, who, having, in a transport of rage, killed
Charlemagne's nephew Berthelot with a blow of a chess-board, was,
with all his family, except his father, banished and outlawed. They
betook themselves to the forests and the lives of banditti; and,
proceeding to Gasgony, Yon, king of Bordeaux, gave his sister Clarice
in marriage to Rinaldo, and permitted him to build the castle of
Montauban. After several disasters, he went to the Holy Land, and,
on his return, made peace with the emperor. The machinery of these
poems is chiefly conducted, in the first place, by the treachery of
Gano of Mayence, who is perpetually trusted by Charlemagne, and
perpetually betrays him, turning his malice principally against the
celebrated warriors of his court, while they are protected by
Rinaldo's cousin Malagigi, or Maugis, son of Beuves, or Buovo, of
Aygremont. Malagigi was brought up by the fairy Orianda, and
became a great enchanter. To vary the serious characters of the
drama, Astolfo, the English cousin of Orlando, being equally

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Parallel and High Performance Computing MEAP V09 Robert

Tools for High Performance Computing 2015 Proceedings of

High Performance Computing for Geospatial Applications

Monitoring Multimode Continuous Processes: A Data-Driven

Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives: Eleventh Edition

Development of Implantable Electronics as Novel Approaches

Diversity Intelligence: Integrating Diversity Intelligence

Songs of Ukraina with Ruthenian poems Florence Randal

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Printed on acid-free paper

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-1383-0595-3 (Hardback)

List of figures xiii

List of tables xvii

Chapter 1 Understanding the need for parallel computing 1

Chapter 2 Overview of selected parallel and distributed

2.1 GENERIC TAXONOMY OF PARALLEL COMPUTING

Chapter 3 Typical paradigms for parallel applications 29

3.1 ASPECTS OF PARALLELIZATION 30

Chapter 4 Selected APIs for parallel programming 69

4.1 MESSAGE PASSING INTERFACE (MPI) 74

4.2.4 Synchronization of threads within a parallel

4.7 SELECTED HYBRID APPROACHES 172

Chapter 5 Programming parallel paradigms using selected

5.1 MASTER-SLAVE 185

Chapter 6 Optimization techniques and best practices for

6.1 DATA PREFETCHING, COMMUNICATION AND

6.3.1 Initialization and synchronization overheads 258

Appendix A Resources 273

A.1 SOFTWARE PACKAGES 273

Appendix B Further reading 275

B.1 CONTEXT OF THIS BOOK 275

1.1 Top high performance computing systems according to the

2.1 Typical parallel systems described by an UML diagram 13

3.1 Basic master-slave structure with input data 36

3.13 Activity diagram with basic steps of a typical parallel

4.1 Architecture of an MPI application 74

5.1 Master-slave scheme with MPI 187

5.2 Execution time of the testbed MPI master-slave application 190

6.1 Execution time of an MPI master-slave application vs number

3.1 Typical data partitioning and allocation procedures in parallel

4.1 Presented features of parallel programming APIs, 1 of 2 72

5.1 Execution times for various versions of the master-slave

6.1 Execution times for a geometric SPMD MPI+CUDA code,

4.1 Sample parallel MPI program for computing ln(x) 96

4.20 MPI and CUDA implementation of veriﬁcation of the Collatz

5.20 Divide-and-conquer application using dynamic process creation

performance at the cost of larger power consumption. At the time of this

1. Description of state-of-the-art computing devices and systems available

1. popular and currently available computing devices and clusters systems,

LORENZO DE' MEDICI

FICINO, PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA, POLITIAN,

After the deaths of Petrarch and Boccaccio, the cause of learning

"Seek he who will in grandeur to be blest,

Many sonnets and canzoni were written to celebrate this lady's

"Ven venga Maggio