|
Year
|
Date
|
Chronology Entry
|
| 1819 |
December 24 |
Byron arrives in Ravenna. |
| December 25 |
Byron attends a reception given by Marchese Cavalli, Teresa
Guiccioli's uncle.
Teresa parades her "cavalier servente" proudly.
|
| December 31 |
Byron writes Lady Byron asking her to send him a portrait
of Ada; he also wishes for Annabella to read and comment on
the Memoirs he has sent to London with Thomas
Moore |
| 1820 |
January |
Byron stays in small accommodations at the Albergo
Imperile in Ravenna. |
| January |
Byron's inability to meet with Teresa privately leads to
increasing difficulties between them. |
| January |
Byron is unable to find large enough accommodations for his
entourage.
Count Guiccioli--for unknown reasons--offers to rent
Byron the unused upper floor of the spacious Pallazzo Osio;
Byron eventually agrees.
|
| February 19 |
Byron finishes Cantos 3 and 4 of Don Juan and
sends them to Murray |
| February 21 |
Byron writes to John Murray that he completed a
translation of the first canto of Pulci's Morgante
Maggiore |
| March 3 |
Byron writes to John Cam Hobhouse: "I have settled into
regular serventismo and find it the happiest state of
all."
Byron and Count Guiccoli quarrel violently. |
| March |
In March, Byron completes the Prophecy of Dante
and a translation of Dante's Francesca da Rimini
episode. |
| March 15 |
Byron begins his rebuttal--"Some observations upon an
Article in Blackwoods's Magazine"--to a public
attack published the previous year.
In it, he lauds Alexander Pope and John Dryden over the
Lake Poets.
He also refers to John Keats as "a tadpole of the
Lakes," a comment he regrets when he learns of Keats's
death.
|
| March 23 |
Byron sends his month's poetic output to Murray.
He completes a ballad on Hobhouse's imprisonment and
sends it to him via Murray.
Byron's ballad is published in the popular press before
Hobhouse even sees it, and it wounds Hobhouse who writes
Byron of his displeasure.
|
| April |
Byron becomes interested in the actions of the
insurrectionist Carbonari who wish for an Italian republic.
Aristocrats like Teresa's father, Count Ruggero Gamba,
increasingly oppose the Austrian oligarchy, while the
ecclesiastical party actively supports the
puppet-government.
|
| April 2 |
Count Guiccioli breaks into Teresa's writing-desk and
takes all her letters. Teresa believes that her husband's
ecclesiastical friends--who wished the increasingly political
Byron out of Ravenna--hastened the final break-up of her
marriage. |
| April |
Douglas Kinnaird and John Hanson disagree over Byron's
investments. |
| May, around the 15th |
The Count grows angry at Teresa's familiarity with Byron
and confronts Byron.
The Count's violent behavior frightens Teresa; the next
morning she calls her father and brothers to the Pallazzo
and asks to return to their protection
|
| May |
To protect Teresa's marriage, Byron offers to leave
Ravenna. |
| May 20 |
Byron acknowledges that a separation between the
Guicciolis is the only alternative. |
| May |
Count Gamba applies to the Pope for a separation for his
daughter. |
| June 7 |
Merryweather imprisoned. |
| June |
Byron gives up the Pallazzo Mocenigo and sells his
gondola. |
| June |
Byron completes Marino Faliero. |
| June 22 |
Murray's silence on publishing the new cantos of Don
Juan causes Byron to consider offering the cantos to
other publishers. |
| July 6 |
The Pope grants Teresa a separation. |
| July 12 |
Byron and Teresa learn of the Pope's decision, though the
official notice doesn't arrive till the 14th.
Teresa receives an allowance of 100 scudi a month from
her husband (the English equivalent of 1000 a year).
|
| July 13, 4 p.m. |
Teresa returns to her father's house at Filetto, 15 miles
southwest of Ravenna. |
| July |
Byron receives news--via Pietro Gamba--of revolution
against the Bourbons in Naples.
The revolt temporarily gains Naples a constitution
against the Austrian puppet-monarch, Ferdinand I.
|
| July |
Byron, in the summer, visits some of the meetings of the
Carbonari and becomes an honorary chief in the Turba (or Mob)
faction. |
| July 15 |
Count Guiccioli writes to his lawyer, asking for the
separation to be revoked or modified |
| July |
Allegra is ill. |
| July |
William Lisle Bowles' criticism on Pope appears in the
Quarterly Review and the Edinburgh Review. |
| August |
Byron finds acceptable lodgings for Allegra, six miles from
Ravenna and about nine miles from Villa Gamba.
Byron retains his place in the Palazzo Guiccioli
|
| Wed., August 16 |
Byron visits Teresa for the first time after her
separation from her husband |
| August 18 |
Rumors that Byron has returned to London circulate in the
Morning Chronicle and throughout the town. |
| August |
Byron sends Teresa books in French to occupy her time,
but his inclusion of Constant's Adolphe wounds her
feelings |
| September |
Byron views an eclipse of the sun with the Gambas
Frustrated with the poetic efforts of his
contemporaries, Byron asks Murray to type-set his 1811
Hints from Horace.
Frustrated with Claire Claremont's continued
correspondence, Byron writes Percy Shelley that he will no
longer communicate with Claire directly.
|
September/
October |
Though Byron is interested in local Italian politics and
the cause of Italian freedom, the trial of Queen Charlotte
in England draws his attention as well.
Hobhouse urges Byron to returnto England, but Byron
decides to stay in Italy and gather evidence against the
Italian witnesses brough by the English government to
testify against the Queen.
|
| October 4 |
Byron visits Filetto again. |
| October 18 |
Ferdinando, Count Guiccioli's eldest son, dies, and
Teresa's condolence note to Guiccioli containing wishes for
his safety angers Byron. |
| October |
News of the death of Joe Murray arrives from England
along with a print of Ada Byron (now almost five). |
| |
The Congress at Troppau "agree[s] on a secret protocol
affirming the right of collective 'Europe' to suppress
dangerous internal revolutions" (881).
Austria, then, in crushing the Neapolitan
revolutionaries is simply protecting her Italian
interests.
|
| |
Byron fears that acknowledging his authorship of Don
Juan might endanger his rights of guardianship over Ada
(883). |
| October 14 |
As a result of Goethe's praise of his poetry in
Manfred, Byron dedicates Marino Faliero to the
German poet. |
| October 16 |
Byron begins the 15th canto of Don Juan. He
finishes 149 stanzas by December 9th. |
| October 22 |
Richard Hoppner sends Byron confidential evidence on the
unreliability of those witnesses (877). |
| November 5 |
Byron records that he had completed "twelve more sheets"
of the continuation of his Memoirs |
| mid-November |
Teresa moves to her father's house in town.
Byron fears that officials will act against him, by
placing Teresa in a convent.
|
| November 23 |
Byron receives news of Queen Caroline's acquittal |
| December 9, 8 p.m. |
An unpopular commander of the troops, Luigi Dal Pinto, is
mortally injured outside Byron's lodgings.
Byron takes the wounded officer into his house, calls for a
physician, and allows the dead body to remain in his
house |
| December 9 |
Byron sends Thomas Moore 18 sheets of additional
Memoirs, giving him the copyrights.
Moore, living in Paris to avoid creditors, circulates
the Memoirs freely.
|
| December 28 |
Byron receives a rare private communication from Annabella,
in which she agrees to be kind to Augusta Leigh and her
children. It is her last letter to her husband.
Byron sends Douglas Kinnaird the fifth canto of Don
Juan.
|
|
Year
|
Date
|
Chronology Entry
|
| 1821 |
January 4 |
Byron begins his first journal since his 1816 "Alpine
Journal." |
| January 13 |
Byron outlines the plot and characters for
Sardanapalus. |
| January 20 |
Byron objects strongly to a London staging of Marino
Faliero; he writes the Lord Chamberlain for an injuction
against the performance. |
| February 7-11 |
Byron writes his defense of Pope. |
| February 9. |
New arrives that the Austrians have crossed the Po
earlier than expected, thus overthrowing the plots of the
Carbonari. |
| March 1 |
Worried about the political situation in Italy, Byron
places Allegra in the Capuchin convent of Bagnacavallo. |
| March 20 |
Murray agrees to publish Marino Faliero and
Prophecy of Dante. |
| March 24 |
Claire writes Byron a letter of protest, wishing for
Allegra to be placed in an English boarding-school. |
| April 24 |
Shelley assures Byron of his "irreproachable" conduct on
behalf of Allegra. Shelley includes news of Keats's
death. |
| May 8 |
Byron sends Murray more notes for his second letter
against Bowles. |
| May 14 |
In a Milanese paper, Byron reads the false report that
the London performance of Marino Faliero had been
"hissed off the stage" (908). |
| May |
Byron receives news that the Greek war for independence
had broken out in March. |
| June 22 |
Tita, Byron's servant, is arrested for quarrelling with an
officer.
Secretary Alborghetti of the Cardinal's office acts as
Byron's intermediary: he negotiates that Tita should not be
transported
|
| June 23 |
Byron receives the pamphlet, "Letter to the Right Hon. Lord
Byron" by John Bull (John Gibson Lockhart).
In it, Lockhart advises Byron to
"Stick to Don Juan: it is the only sincere thing
you have ever written. . . . Don Juan. . [is] out
of all sight the best of your works; it is by far the
most spirited, the most straight-forward, the most
interesting, and the most poetical; and every body thinks
as I do of it, although they have not the heart to say
so." (911)
|
| June 24 |
Prince Mavrocordatos, the Greek patriot, sails for Greece
to join in the battles there. |
| July 9 |
Byron finishes Sardanapalus. |
| July 10 |
Pietro Gamba, one of the leaders of the Carbonari, is
arrested and sent into exile with his father, Count
Ruggero.
Teresa stays in Ravenna to be near Byron, thus violating
the requirements of her separation. The Gambas ultimately
resettle in Florence.
|
| July 15 |
On Teresa's behalf, Byron asks the Duchess of Devonshire
(living in Rome) to intervene with her friend, Cardinal
Consalvi, Papal Secretary of State. |
| July 16 |
Byron begins the poetical drama, Cain. |
| July 23 |
Since Teresa is no longer living under her father's
protection, Count Guiccioli moves to force Teresa to return
to him or to place her in a convent. |
| July 27 |
Teresa leaves for Florence, but stops for several days in
Bologna.
Byron urges her to continue on her journey in order to
avoid the intervention of the papal authorities.
|
| August 2 |
Teresa finally continues her journey to Florence. |
| August 3 |
Shelley travels to Ravenna to check on Allegra's
situation. He spends the night in Leghorn where Claire is
staying. |
| August 4 |
Shelley spends his birthday rowing with Claire on the
lake, but doesn't tell her where he is heading. |
August 6,
10 p.m. |
Shelley arrives at Ravenna. Shelley and Byron talk till 5
in the morning.
Byron reveals the rumors Hoppner has been spreading
about Shelley's relationship with Claire.
|
| |
Over the next several days, Shelley and Byron discuss
poetry and Byron's travel plans (whether to go to
Switzerland or not).
Shelley encourages Byron to move to Pisa.
|
| |
Byron receives the news that Murray had offered Moore
2000 guineas for the Memoirs. |
| August 7 |
Byron sends Murray his new satire "The Blues." |
| August 14 |
Shelley visits Allegra for three hours at
Bagnacavallo. |
| August 18 or 19 |
Shelley leaves Ravenna for Pisa.
Within a day or two, Shelley finds Byron a residence at
the Casa Lanfranchi--a sixteenth century palace on the
Lungarno--at a price of 400 crowns a year.
Shelley also invites Leigh Hunt to come to Italy and
co-edit a literary periodical.
|
| September 1 |
The Gambas arrive in Pisa, staying at the Casa
Finocchietti. |
| September 4? |
Murray offers to pay 1000 guineas for Don Juan 3, 4,
and 5 as well as 1000 guineas for the two dramas,
Sardanapalus and The Two Foscari.
Byron writes Kinnaird, designating the following
dedications: The Two Foscari to Sir Walter Scott,
Sardanapalus to Goethe, and Marino Faliero to
Kinnaird.
|
| |
Byron dedicates Cain--instead of the Two
Foscari--to Scott. |
| September 9 |
Byron finishes Cain. |
| September 13 |
In his "Encyclical against the Carbonari," the Pope
threatens excommuncation if the members of the secret society
persist in their revolutionary activities (935). |
| September 16 |
Byron writes a satire on George IV--"To the Irish
Avatar." |
| September 17 |
Byron encloses his new satire in a letter to Moore, asking
for it to be copied and distributed among friends.
The moving wagons Byron had hired arrive from Pisa.
|
| September 23 |
The Gambas move into the Parra house. Their house becomes
a gathering place for other exiles. |
| September 24 |
Byron asks Murray to limit the English publications he
sends to a select list of authors and titles. |
| September |
News arrives of the death of Napoleon. |
| October 1 |
In a letter to Moore, Byron announces his newest
composition, Vision of Judgment. |
| October 4 |
Byron completes Vision of Judgment. |
| October 15 |
Byron begins his notebook, "Detached Thoughts" |
| October 29 |
Byron leaves Ravenna.
On the road, he meets Lord Clare, who he had not seen for
several years; then, in Bologna, he meets Samuel Rogers at
the Pellegrino Inn. |
| October 30 |
In the company of Rogers, Byron arrives in Florence. |
| October 31 |
With Rogers, Byron visits Santa Croce to see the tombs of
Galileo, Machiavelli, Michelangelo. |
| November 1 |
Byron travels on to Pisa. At Empoli, Byron passes the
public coach in which Claire Clairmont is riding on her way
to Florence. |
| ? |
Byron requests Hobhouse send the MS of Werner from
England. |
| ? |
Octavius Graham Gilchrist sends Byron 3 pamphlets
attacking Bowles. |
| November |
The Shelleys returned from San Giuliano to Pisa; they
take lodgings in a flat in the Tre Palazzi di Chiesa. |
| November |
Byron moves into the Casa Lanfranchi in Pisa; across the
bank of the Arno are the Shelleys' lodgings. |
| November |
Teresa and her family receive visas good for four months,
and they move into the Casa Parra, only 1/4 of a mile from
Byron's own lodgings. Byron visits every day. |
| November 5 |
Shelley brings his friend Edward Williams to meet
Byron.
Finding it cheaper to live on the continent, Edward and Jane
Williams had been in Italy since January. |
| November 6 |
Byron, Teresa and Pietro Gamba visit the Shelleys. |
| November |
Teresa, Mary Shelley and Williams visit one another and
ride frequently.
Byron's circle eventually extends to include John
Taaffe, Jr., whose "Commentary on Dante" Byron recommends
to Murray for publication.
|
| November |
Having been denied a permit to establish a shooting range
on his grounds, Byron frequently rides to the Villa la
Podera for target practice. Teresa and Mary Shelley often
ride out to the shooting range.
Byron also finds Maria, a local peasant, attractive, and
his attentions toward her attract Teresa's jealousy.
Byron has weekly dinners for the men in the group.
|
| November 14 |
Thomas Medwin, Shelley's cousin, arrives in Pisa, and he
soon begins to record Byron's conversations and witticisms.
At the invitation of Shelley, Prince Argiropoli, cousin
to Mavrocordatos, meets with Byron and renews his
enthusiasm for the cause of Greek Independence.
Byron remains under constant police surveillance.
|
| November 16 |
Byron writes Murray that the owners of Casa Lanfranchi
were "the same mentioned by Ugolino in his dream, as his
persecutor with Sismondi" and that the staircase was reputed
to have been built by Michelangelo. |
| November 23 |
Hobhouse's cautious letter on Cain offends
Byron. |
| December 7 |
The Hunts write that they are travelling to Italy.
Byron offers them the ground floor of the Casa
Lanfranchi and even purchases furniture for their use. Hunt
will later complain about the plainness of the
furniture.
|
| December 19 |
Having paid 2,500 guineas for the lot, Murray publishes
the three cantos of Don Juan, Sardanapalus,
Two Foscari and Cain. |
