fflE«MOST'ILLV5TipiV5-LM)IES

Wiiiiiii

ffiE* WUSKmSWSBmm

BOSTON UNIVERSITY
LIBRARIES

From the Library

of

Richard Milton Martin

lr^

it*

A

THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES
OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

w

tfH

WKJT

s

■ JfH

fa

'

^ t .-.jdl

1 1

B^^^^^H

■

■

■tar

.•:•■' f ••

;; -f^fe

■v. -.; • &

I /T- ft**/

- ,'♦. ter -

; "\ %p

■ A

l^nl

J K5^

It. XZwjR |

■EH

Wfci»^-^

,v«- i

t • ■

/«

W «

pjy^H

^ * * \

[yfl

INtv^l

V^f^H

■ jLJ

IfSI Bstl

DS

■

ofe&n

Ji£?S^fyi*&l5

THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS
LADIES OF THE ITALIAN
RENAISSANCE j* m m

By CHRISTOPHER HARE author

OF « FELICITA : A ROMANCE OF OLD SIENA,"
"IN THE STRAITS OF TIME," ETC. M J£

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

1904

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
London &■= Edinburgh

PREFACE

The Period of the Renaissance has ever been so
attractive to the historian that many learned volumes
have been written on the subject, and it has been
illustrated by much brilliant eloquence. An army of
patient students have devoted long years to serious
research, in hunting out forgotten treasures buried in
foreign libraries, archives, chronicles, diaries, and
letters innumerable.

Yet I venture to hope that there may still be room
for a modest attempt to bring some of these vast stores
of knowledge — more especially as they touch upon
woman's life — within reach of those readers who have
no leisure for profound and special study.

To them I would dedicate these sketches of some
typical women of the Italian Renaissance, which may
be regarded as brief appreciations, rather than full and
complete biographies.

CONTENTS

rAGE

Preface v

List of Illustrations ix

Books and Documents consulted xi

Daughters of the Renaissance; their Life and Sur-
roundings i

NOBLE LADIES OF THE HOUSE OF
MEDICI

Lucrezia Tornabuoni, Wife of Piero dei Medici . 47
Clarice degli Orsini, Wife of Lorenzo dei Medici . 60

TWO QUEENS OF NAPLES. PRINCESSES OF
THE HOUSE OF ANJOU

GlOVANNA 1 75

GlOVANNA II. 94

A GROUP OF LOMBARD PRINCESSES

Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan .... 10.5

Bianca Maria Sforza, Wife of the Emperor

Maximilian 135

Isabella d'Este, Marchesa of Mantua .... 151

Renee of France, Duchess of Ferrara . . . 171

vii

CONTENTS

PAGE

DAUGHTERS OF VENICE

Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus .... 187
Bianca Capello, Grand Duchess of Florence . . 204

GREAT LADIES OF ROME AND ROMAGNA

Caterina Sforza, Countess of Forli . . . 229

Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara .... 257
vlttoria colonna, marchesa of pescara . . . 281

Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino. Also an
account of "il cortigiano" by count baldassare
Castiglione ; being Conversations at the Court
of Urbino 313

Vlll

ILLUSTRATIONS

CfUerina Comoro, Queen of Cyprus. Titian . Frontispiece

Lucrezia (Tomabuoni) dei Medici. Sandro

Botticelli Face page 48

Lorenzo dei Medici. Benozzo Gozzoli . ,,64
Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan. Leonardo

da Vinci ,, 112

Lucrezia Crivelli. Leonardo da Vinci . . „ 12S

Isabella d'Este, Marchesa of Mantua. Titian . „ 160
Bianca Capcllo, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Bronzino „ 20S

Caterina Sforza, Countess of Forli. Marco

Palmezzani „ 240

Count Baldassare Castiglione. Raphael . . „ 336

XI

BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS CONSULTED

Archivi Toscani. Pietro Berti.

Chronice Florentine. Villcmi.

La Vita Italiano nel Cinquecento. Milano. 3 vols.

Istoria d'ltalia. Guicciardini.

Rime Sacre della famiglia dei Medici. Pub. da Cionacci.

Lettere di una Gentildonna Fiorentina del secolo XV. Pub. da
Cesare Guasti.

Annali d' Italia. Muratori.

La Guerra di Ferrara. Samtto.

Relazione di Isabella d'Este con Ludovico Sforza . . . A. Luzio
R. Rcnier.

Opere Complete. Ariosio.

Le Rime di Francesco Petrarca.

Lucrezia Borgia. F. Grcgorovius. (With original letters and

documents.)
Bianca Maria Sforza, Regina dei Romani, Imperatrice di

Germania. F. Calvi.
Annali Veneti. Archivio Storico Italiano. D. Malipiero.
Vita di Caterina Sforza. DalP Abate Antonio Burriel.
Caterina Sforza. P. Pasolini.
" II Cortigiano " del Comte Baldassare Castiglione.
Lettere di Baldassare Castiglione.
Caterino Cornaro, e il suo Regno. A. Centilli.
Rime Spirituali di Vittoria Colonna. Venezia, 1548.
Asolani. Pietro Bembo.

xi

BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS CONSULTED

Ricerche intorno a Leonardo da Vinci. G. Uzielli.

La Renaissance en Italie et en France, a l'epoque de Charles VIII.

M. Eugene Muntz.
Histoire de la Republique de Venise. P. A. Daru.
Histoire Secrete de la maison de Medicis. Vaillas.
Memoires Historiques sur Naples. Count Orlaff.
Les Femmes de la Renaissance. De Manlde Claviere.
Vittorin de Feltre. Benoit.

Les Origines de la Renaissance en Italie. Emile Gebhart.
Louis XII. et Lodovico Sforza. Louis Pelissier.
Histoire des Republiques Italiennes. M. S. de Sismondi.
Life and Times of Macchiavelli. Villari.
History of the Papacy. Dr. Creighton.
The Renaissance in Italy. /. A. Symonds.
The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. /. Burckhardt.
Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino. James Dennistoun.
The Renaissance. W. H. Pater.
Life of Lorenzo dei Medici. William Roscoe.
Life of Leo X. (Dissertation on Lucrezia Borgia.) William Roscoe.
Life of Isabella d'Este. Julia Cartivright .
Life of Beatrice d'Este. Julia Cartwright.

etc. etc.

xu

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE
THEIR LIFE AND SURROUNDINGS.

A

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE:
THEIR LIFE AND SURROUNDINGS.

It has been well said that each country has made to
itself a Renaissance after its own image.

In that glorious dawn which succeeded the gloom of
the Middle Ages, Italy was the first to awaken. Her
clear vision, her intellectual energy, her enthusiasm for
art, gave to all Europe the key-note of the future. The
secret of her pre-eminence, so willingly accepted by the
world, will not be found only in her "favourable
situation, her language, her commercial prosperity, her
political freedom," when other nations were scarcely
emerging from barbarism. We shall rather attribute
it to the spirit of intuition, to a nobler conception
of man's place in the world, to higher aspirations ; in
a word, to all that constitutes the true Renaissance.

Italy created that " new spiritual atmosphere of
culture and intellectual freedom " which broadened
man's horizon, and made all things seem possible to
him, in his new-born keen enthusiasm.

In the Middle Ages, scarcely left behind, the ascetic
ideal of life taught that beauty and pleasure were deadly
perils to the soul, and that ignorance was safer than
knowledge. The Renaissance dared to rebel against
this mediaeval preaching, to set free the reason of man,

3

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

and to awaken in him a passionate appreciation of the
glories of art and nature, and of all the beauty of this
living world. The prison doors were thrown open,
and in the newly awakened joy of life, the men of the
Renaissance raised their eyes from contemplation of
the cloister and the grave, and cried aloud in exultation,
" It is good for us to be here ! "

Then a wonderful thing happened. At this moment
of new intellectual birth, of enfranchisement from old
prejudices, the beautiful dead past came back, newly
revealed, to a generation eager to see, to comprehend
all things. The world of classical antiquity, the beauty
and strength of ancient Greece and Rome, was a revela-
tion to the far-off sons and daughters of that heroic
breed, all unconscious of their glorious heritage. A
very fever of enthusiasm was aroused, not alone for
the priceless treasures of sculpture in marble and
bronze, found beneath the Italian soil, but also for the
classics of language and literature, the works of Homer
and Plato, of Aristotle and Virgil, of the philosophers
and the tragedians of ancient fame. Then came the
fall of Constantinople in 1453, and the ruin of the
Eastern Empire brought a fresh impulse to the West,
in rediscovered treasures and learned exiles.

The religious ideal of the Middle Ages had appealed
alike to all — to rich and poor, to the learned and the
ignorant ; but the cultured spirit of the Renaissance
was almost exclusively the possession of those classes
who enjoyed wealth and leisure. This mighty intel-
lectual impulse touched women even more deeply than
men, for it not only gave them a new independence,
but raised them to a high position in social life and the
encouragement of art. Sharing the same learned educa-

4

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

tion as the men, they had perhaps in a more marked
degree, the passionate love of the beautiful, and the keen
desire to collect antique sculptures, paintings, musical
instruments, and rare classics brought within their
reach by the new wonder of the printing-press.

Thus it comes to pass that in so many a brilliant
Court — of Mantua, of Urbino, of Milan, of Naples, of
Ferrara, of Asola, and others — we find that a cultured
woman is the central figure, who gives harmony to
the whole group. So, in making a special study of
women in the Italian Renaissance, we find the most
typical instances amongst the princesses and great
ladies of the day.

Before entering upon individual studies, it will be
interesting to consider the conditions of life during the
whole period, and to recreate the very atmosphere of
that long-past day, to us so strange and remote.

We will attempt to trace the surroundings of an
Italian woman of the Renaissance, through the varied
scenes of her life, beginning at the hour of her birth.
Here, on the threshold, we are met with the knowledge,
sharply accentuated in the case of a princess, that too
often she is not welcome. Thus we read in a chronicle
of Ferrara :

"A daughter was born this day to the Duke. . . .
And there were no rejoicings, because every one wished
for a boy."

And in the case of a little girl born to Isabella d'Este,
we find that the mother would not use the splendid
golden cradle with which she had been presented, but
put it aside for ten years, until at length the hoped-for
son arrived, and it was brought forth in state for his use.

Yet although so vastly inferior to her brothers, a

5

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

daughter was of some value as a counter in the [game
of politics. While she was still an infant, her father
would cast an anxious glance towards the neighbouring
Courts of Italy, or his ambition might even stretch out
as far as Paris, Madrid, or Innsbruck, to consider by
what alliance he could best strengthen his position.
Then would follow long and shrewd negotiations with
some prince who was fortunate enough to possess a
son, and in due time, often at a very early age, the little
maiden was betrothed — married by proxy — to an unseen
bridegroom. In this "marriage for the future" between
Vittoria Colonna and Ferrante of Pescara, neither of
the children was more than four years old, while in
that of Beatrice d'Este, she was five, and Lodovico
Sforza, Duke of Bari, was twenty-nine.

When a father's mind was thus set at rest as to the
future of his little girl, he had leisure to consider her
education. In some cases it was part of the bargain
that the child-bride should be brought up in the house-
hold of her future husband, that she might enter upon
her new life as soon as possible, before she had formed
ideas of her own, and could still be moulded to suit
the place she had to fill. This was often quite suc-
cessful, as in the case of Vittoria Colonna, who owed
so much of her future distinction to the cultured train-
ing of Ferrante's elder sister, Costanza d'Avalos, in
the fair isle of Ischia. The children were both sweet-
tempered and grew up happily together; indeed Vittoria' s
devotion to her young husband is a theme of romance.

But in other cases, the plan of bringing up together
a future husband and wife has had disastrous con-
sequences, and resulted in mutual dislike ; as with
Giovanna I. of Naples and Andreas of Hungary, whose

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

tragic story is told later on. There were other dangers,
too, with regard to sending a little girl to the Court of
her future husband. Sometimes a change of policy
or some other cause would break the contract, and
then the result was most unfortunate. For instance,
Margarita, the daughter of the Emperor Maximilian,
was sent to France to be educated as the wife of
Charles VIII., but this young king decided to marry,
for the sake of her goodly heritage, Anne de Bretagne,
who was already betrothed to Maximilian, and poor
Margarita was sent back to her father. The result of
this cruel insult was a long and devastating war.

An alliance having been arranged for the future,
the matter of first importance was the little maiden's
education. No longer, as in the Middle Ages, was
it governed by Gerson's rule : "All instruction for
women should be looked at askance." In the days of
the Renaissance this was changed indeed. "A little
girl," said Bembo, "ought to learn Latin; it puts the
finishing touch to her charms." We can only marvel
at the amount of their learning. Music and dancing
were taught from earliest childhood ; and we hear of
a baby-girl performing the most wonderful ballet to
entertain a distinguished guest. She would also learn
to play the lute and viol, and to sing a canzone to her
own accompaniment. It was not unusual for her to
talk " with grace and intelligence " at six years old,
and by that time she would already have begun her
more serious studies. Some distinguished classical
scholar would be selected as her tutor, and with him
she would certainly learn enough Latin to read Cicero
and Virgil, to recite Latin verses, or repeat an oration.
She would be taught Greek and Roman history, and

7

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

would be familiar with Dante, Petrarch, and other
Italian poetry, study modern languages to some extent,
and in many instances the young girl would learn to
read Plato in the original.

In the " Life of Vittorino da Feltre," tutor to the
Gonzaga family, we have a delightful account of a great
"humanist," who was marvellously successful as a
teacher, and carried out a high ideal of education, as
it was understood in the days of the Italian Renais-
sance. We find him in 1420 at Mantua, in the Casa
Zoisa, close to the Castello, on the border of the lake.
Here a group of high-born youths and maidens were
trained in body and mind ; taught to live a simple life,
to tell the truth, and remember that learning was
inseparable from virtue and religion. Their course
of study included Latin, Greek, philosophy, mathe-
matics, grammar, logic, music, singing and dancing,
varied by outdoor games.

Vittorino had a lofty ideal of a schoolmaster's mis-
sion, and inspired his pupils with a passion for learn-
ing. He would begin by reading chosen selections
from the writings of Virgil, Cicero, Homer and Demos-
thenes, explaining as he went on ; then he would make
his class learn passages by heart to form their style.
One of his rules was, " First be sure that you have
something to say . . . say it simply." He paid special
attention to those who were slow to learn, and would
take poor scholars without pay, " for the love of God."

In the long summer days he would take his class to
the rising ground at Pietole,* the birthplace of Virgil,
about two miles south of Mantua ; and here, in the

* According to Donatus, Virgil was born at Andes, which a local
and very ancient tradition has identified with Pietole.

8

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

shady groves, he would tell them the story of Perseus,
of Hercules . . . while they rested after their games.
His most distinguished girl-pupil was Cecilia Gonzaga,
the youngest daughter of his patron, Gian Francesco
di Montefeltro, who recited Latin verse and could
read Chrysostom at eight years old, at twelve years
wrote Greek with "singular purity," and continued
her classical studies till she was the marvel of the age.
Margherita, her elder sister, married the cultured
Leonello d'Este, and he wrote to his wife with regard
to Vittorino, u that for virtue, learning, and a rare
and excellent way of teaching good manners, this
master surpassed all others."

Another princess distinguished for her learning was
Ippolyta Maria Sforza, daughter of Francesco, Duke
of Milan, and wife of Alfonso of Naples. When Pope
Pius II. paid a visit to her father, the little girl was
chosen before her elder brothers, to pronounce a Latin
oration in honour of his Holiness. It was for Ippolyta
that Constantine Lascaris composed the earliest Greek
grammar ; and in the convent library of Santa Croce,
at Rome, there is a transcript by her of Cicero de
Senectute, followed by a youthful collection of Latin
apophthegms.

It is very curious to notice, in passing, how our
feelings have changed of late years towards learning
in women. Dennistoun, in his " Dukes of Urbino,"
written only fifty years ago, remarks that " feminine
erudition in professorial chairs " was a " questionable
practice." Thus he dismissed the long roll of learned
ladies of the Renaissance.

The wonderful little girls of this period seem to
have borne all their weight of learning with so light a

9

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

grace that they had leisure to sit over the embroidery-
frame, and produce the most delicate triumphs of
needlework. We read of a design of tapestry repre-
senting "shepherds and shepherdesses feasting on
cherries and walnuts," or "a device of little children
on a river bank, with birds flying overhead," worked
in gold, silk, and wool ; or again of a counterpane with
"a cherry-tree and a dame and squire gathering
cherries in a basket," and another with a " group of
children, their heads meeting in the middle," the
whole embroidered with gold thread, on brocade, or
with coloured wools.

As the Este children bent over their needle, there
was read to them a romance of Spain or Provence,
sueh as " I reali di Francia," the last fairy tale of Matteo
Boiardo, or a new canzone of Niccolo di Correggio.
The Italian girls of the Renaissance were brought
up with a love of poetry ; Dante, Petrarch, and Ariosto
were familiar to them, but above all they had a passion
for the drama, and learnt at a very early age to take
parts in a classical play. Yet with all this study of
books, the training of the body was not neglected, for a
high-born maiden's education was not complete unless
she could ride boldly, go hunting, and fly a hawk.

Riding was, indeed, an indispensable accomplishment
in those days, when most of the long journeys were
made on horseback. If a young girl of high degree
did not travel much before her marriage, she would
certainly have to do so when her betrothal became an
actual marriage, and she left her father's home for that
of her husband.

At the present time, when with a light heart we set
forth on a journey, and accomplish several hundred

10

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

miles with ease and comfort in a day, it is almost
impossible for us to realise what travelling must have
been for the ladies of the Renaissance. A sea voyage
in a clumsy sailing-ship was a weary matter ; it took
nearly two months for Queen Caterina to sail from
Venice to Cyprus in her gorgeous Bucentaur ; but
a fjourney by land was infinitely worse. Mule-drawn
litters were occasionally used where the roads were
possible, but the usual way of travelling on state
occasions was on richly caparisoned horses, in splendid
dresses, day after day, in all weathers. It is a curious
fact that most of the great weddings, described in the
following pages, took place in the depth of winter ;
and the luckless brides had to face heavy snow-storms
and tempests, cross rivers in flood, or ride over the
Alpine passes in mid-December. We have a very
interesting contemporaneous account of the wedding
journey of Lucrezia Borgia, when she rode like a
queen across Italy from Rome to Ferrara. Her escort
numbered about a thousand persons, with a gay young
Cardinal, Ippolyto d'Este, at their head. Lucrezia
had left Rome in a red silk dress trimmed with ermine,
and a plumed hat, riding a white horse with crimson
trappings and a golden bridle.

The other costumes were splendid ; there were
dwarfs and jesters to beguile the way, a company of
trumpeters, and hautbois to make martial music, and
as the cavalcade noisily crossed the wintry plains, it
might well have been taken by a stranger for a travel-
ling circus.

As for the time taken in a journey, we may notice
that ambassadors who left England on February 22
reached Rome on May 12.

11

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

In the [time of the Renaissance we begin to find an
interest in travel and a new-born love of Nature, but
only in her most smiling aspect. A beautiful sunny
day, a soft horizon, scented flowers in a trim garden,
the glistening waters of a blue lake — all these things
appealed alike to men and women. But for Nature
wild and untamed, they had no sympathy ; a stormy
ocean, bleak mountain-tops were terrible to them,
unless, indeed, they were harmonised by some Platonic
or ethical thought. Thus when Petrarch had read
a passage in Livy, " King Philip ascends Mount
Haemus," it occurred to him that he would climb the
Mont Ventoux, near him at Avignon. His feelings on
the way were full of awe and anxious alarm. He met
an old man who implored him to turn back, but he
bravely persevered, and when he had reached the
summit he opened the " Confessions of St. Augustine "
at the ioth chapter, " And men go forth, and admire
lofty mountains and broad seas, and roaring torrents,
and the ocean, and course of the stars, and forget their
own selves while doing so." Then Petrarch closed
the book and read no more.

Here we have the ideal spirit of the Renaissancei
which looked upon Nature merely as a setting for the
intellectual life.

Returning to the question of travel, not as a luxury
but a necessity, as in the case of a young bride's
wedding journey, we notice that a train of baggage-
mules is usually sent on beforehand with the princess's
trousseau. This brings us to the subject of dress,
which in the Renaissance attained a sumptuous mag-
nificence, undreamt of before. Having alluded to
Lucrezia Borgia, we will describe a few dresses worn at

13

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

her wedding. The first day she wore a robe of cloth
of gold, with underbodice of crimson satin, and over
these a mantle slashed on one side with black satin,
and trimmed with marten's fur. On her .bare neck
she wore a string of large pearls with a garnet pendant
... on her head a gold cap.

Another day she wore a dress with wide sleeves in
the French mode, of gold tissue and black satin
slashed in stripes, and over that a mantle of woven
gold, brocaded in relief, which was open at the side
and lined with ermine, as were also the sleeves of her
robe. She was riding on a black mule, with furniture
of velvet covered with gold, and studded with nails of
beaten gold, "a most beautiful and rich sight." On
her throat was a collar of diamonds and rubies, and on
her head a jewelled cap.

Next day she appeared in a dress of gold thread in
the French mode, and a mantle of dark satin with
narrow stripes of beaten gold, studded with small
gems and trimmed with ermine, on her head a cap
bossed with garnets and pearls, and on her neck a
jewelled collar.

Her new sister-in-law, Isabella d'Este, wore a robe
of green velvet embroidered in gold, and a black velvet
mantle trimmed with lynx skin, and the next day a
gown of white silver tabi, and her head and neck were
decked with pearls. The Duchess of Urbino had a
dress of velvet striped with woven gold. Another
dress mentioned is of black velvet lined with crimson
satin, slashed and bound with lacets of massive gold,
and buttoned down the front with ruby studs, her cap
being formed of certain gold bars set with precious
stones. . . .

13

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

These are only a few of the gorgeous costumes
described with loving minuteness by the old chroniclers.
But it was not only on a special occasion like this, that
so much extravagance was displayed. At an earlier date
in Florence, a Rucellai bride* had in her trousseau:
(i) a white velvet gown richly trimmed with pearls,
silk and gold, with open sleeves lined with pure white
fur ; (2) a dress of zetani, a stuff of very rich thick silk,
trimmed with pearls and the sleeves lined with ermine;
(3) gown of white damask brocaded with gold flowers,
the sleeves trimmed with pearls ; (4) one of silk tabi
with crimson, gold and brocaded sleeves, and many
others ; a rich necklet of diamonds, rubies and pearls
worth 100,000 gold pieces ; a pin for the hair and neck-
lace of pearls with a large pointed diamond ; a hood
embroidered with pearls ; a net for the hair, also
worked with pearls ; a hood of crimson cloth wrought
with pearls ; also two caps with silver, pearls and
diamonds. . . .

The absence of " massive gold " must have made the
dresses of the Florentine bride much more comfort-
able to wear. It would be easy to fill many pages with
such details, but this is enough to give some idea of
the unlimited extravagance displayed in the dress of the
period. It is only fair to add that the men must have
spent quite as much on their own gorgeous Court array.

There was much art needed in wearing those splendid
clothes. The young girl had to be taught that the robe
must be slightly lifted in front to show the dainty feet,
and the mantle (the albernia) must from time to time
be held open with both hands wide in front, "as a
peacock spreads his tail."

" Nannini, sister of Lorenzo dei Medici.
14

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

A lady's complete costume would consist of a
long under garment of fine and costly linen, then a
" doublet," a linen bodice to which a white full skirt
was sewn. A long-waisted, stiff bodice of stout cloth
was worn above this, and by means of lacets or hooks
a pair of long, closely-fitting sleeves of rich material
could be fastened on, and changed to suit the outer
dress. This was a long robe sweeping the ground,
tight in the bodice, and sometimes without sleeves,
but usually with loose hanging sleeves lined with
ermine or some other costly fur. The girdle would be
studded with gems on great occasions. Outside this
a long mantle (albemia) of costly satin or velvet
lined with fur, would be worn out-of-doors. The
passion for extravagant dress spread to all ranks, and
in sober Florence, the grave and careful city fathers
sought to check it with the terrors of the law.
An account has been preserved in the archives of
one "forbidden gown" worn by a certain Donna
Francesca.

" A black mantle of raised cloth ; the ground is
yellow, and over it are woven birds, parrots, butterflies,
white and red roses, and many figures in vermilion
and green, with pavilions, and dragons, and yellow and
black letters, and trees, and many other figures of
various colours, the whole lined with cloth in hues of
black and vermilion."

It must have been a thankless and fearful task for
the censor of dress ! An accusation would be lodged
against some one for wearing a forbidden number of
buttons. " Buttons, say you ! " would cry the irate
lady. " But where be the button-holes ? Nay, these
be only harmless bosses. . . ." And so the sumptuary

15

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

laws would be in vain, as they have ever been against
the quick wit of women.

To return from these lower regions of society, to
the illustrious lady whose career we are following
through life. She was above law, and the chroniclers
of her day would exclaim that nothing was too costly
or too magnificent to be lavished on her surpassing
loveliness.

So far as the bride's dress is concerned, we have
certain facts to deal with, but when we come to her
personal beauty, it becomes a much more difficult
task, for the biographer always deals in superlatives in
describing his princess, while her portrait may seem
to us much open to criticism. From careful study
we can at least learn what was the ideal of beauty in
those days. The hair must be thick and long, and if
possible fair or golden, as this hue was admired above
all others. The forehead smooth and serene, broader
than it is high ; a good space between the eyes, which
should be large and full, the white of the eye faintly
blue. The eyebrows must be dark and silky, the skin
bright and clear, a delicate colour on the cheeks, the
chin round, with the glory of a dimple ; a small mouth,
the neck white, round and long ; the hand also white
and plump ; and the figure slender and willowy.

False hair was much used by older women, and it
was often made of white or yellow silk. Many ladies
would pass the whole day in the open air, with the
hair spread out in the sun, to bleach it. On her
wedding journey a bride would delay the cumbrous
procession for a whole day, that she might have her
wonderful golden locks washed and fitly cared for.
As for the modes of dressing the hair, it would take a

16

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

volume in itself to do justice to the subject, and would
then need the most elaborate illustrations.

Paint was almost universally used and as constantly
preached against, but in vain ; and in the craze for
golden hair, there is very little doubt that the radiant
hue was often obtained by artificial means.

When the high-born young bride had successfully
accomplished her wedding journey, and had made a
splendid entry into the city of her adoption, the next
step was to welcome her with magnificent entertain-
ments. In these the princes of the Renaissance
specially excelled, shedding on them such artistic
splendour and lustre as was unknown to classical or
mediaeval days. It is very difficult to make a selec-
tion, but possibly one of those prepared at Milan for
the coming of Beatrice d'Este, is amongst the most
interesting.

In this Giostra, or tournament, the knights wore
strange symbolical costumes. Thus a Mantuan troop
wore green velvet and gold lace, and carried lances of
gold and olive boughs. The Knights of Bologna
arrived on a car of triumph drawn by unicorns and
stags ; then came twelve gallant horsemen in black
and gold Moorish dress, with a Moor's head on their
helmets and white doves on their sable armour. They
were followed by a band of wild Scythians who
thundered into the piazza on their Barbary steeds, and
then suddenly threw off their disguise, while a Moorish
giant came to the front to recite in poetry the praise of
the bride. It is with special interest that we find
some of the designs on this occasion were by Leonardo
da Vinci.

Then tilting matches were carried on during four

17 b

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

days, and the pallium of gold brocade was the reward
of the winner. Never was there seen a finer show, and
these outdoor entertainments were extremely popular,
for all the citizens could enjoy the sight.

Here is the description of a festa at Venice, that
fair city which is so marvellously adapted for gay
doings. Amidst a number of decorated barks, galleys
and gondolas, a raft slowly arrives with figures of
Neptune and Minerva, armed with trident and spear,
seated on each side of a mimic hill. . . . Neptune
began to dance and gambol and throw balls into the
air to the sound of drums and tambourines, and then
Minerva did the same. Afterwards they both joined
hands and danced together. Next Minerva struck the
mountain with her spear, and an olive-tree appeared.
Neptune did the same with his trident, and a horse
jumped out. Then other personages made their appear-
ance on the mount with open books in their hands.

This was interpreted to mean that states are founded
on treaties of peace.

The following account of a Miracle-play is given in
a letter of Isabella d'Este : " A young angel spoke the
argument of the play, quoting the words of Prophets
who foretold the Advent of Christ, and the said
Prophets appeared speaking their prophecies, trans-
lated into Italian verse. Then Mary appeared under
a portico supported by eight pillars, and began to
repeat some verses from the prophets, and while she
spoke, the sky opened, revealing the figure of God the
Father surrounded by a choir of angels. No support
could be seen either for his feet or those of the
angels ; and six seraphs hovered in the air, suspended
by chains.

iS

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

" In the centre of the group was the Archangel
Gabriel, to whom God the Father addressed his word,
and after receiving his orders Gabriel descended with
admirable artifice and stood half-way in the air. Then
all of a sudden an infinite number of lights broke out
at the feet of the angel choir and hid them in a blaze
of glory, which really was a thing worth seeing, and
flooded all the sky with radiance. At that moment
the Angel Gabriel alighted on the ground, and the iron
chain which held him was not seen, so that he seemed
to float down on a cloud, till his feet rested on the
ground.

n After delivering his message, he returned with the
other angels to Heaven, to the sound of singing and
music and melody, and there were verses recited by
spirits holding lighted torches in their hands, and
waving them to and fro, as they stood supported in
the air, so that it frightened me to see them. When
they had ascended into Heaven, some scenes of the
Visitation of St. Elizabeth and St. Joseph were given,
in which the heavens opened again, and an angel
descended with the same admirable contrivance to
manifest the Incarnation." So the festa ended.

But the most interesting of all Renaissance enter-
tainments were the dramatic performances, which were
always a great feature in the reception of a bride.
Thus Lucrezia Borgia had, during a whole week, the
comedies of Plautus acted before her with marvellous
interludes ; the germ of our modern ballets. One of
the best accounts of these is given in a letter of
Castiglione. He is describing a play by Cardinal Ber-
nardo Bibbiena, first performed at Urbino, called the
Calandra, and afterwards a great favourite with Leo X,

!9

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

" The scene was laid by a city wall with two great
towers, on one of which were bagpipers, on the other
trumpeters. . . . Another scene represented a beautiful
city, with streets, palaces, churches, towers, all in relief
. . . statues, columns, and a brilliant light of torches
over all. . . . The interludes were as follows : First,
a moresca of Jason, who came dancing on the stage in
fine antique armour, with a splendid sword and shield,
whilst there suddenly appeared on the other side two
bulls vomiting fire, so natural as to deceive some of the
spectators. These the good Jason approached, and
yoking them to a plough made them draw it. He then
sowed the dragon's teeth, and forthwith there sprang
up from the stage, antique warriors inimitably managed,
who danced a fierce moresco, trying to slay him ; and
having come on, they each killed the other. After them,
Jason again appeared, with the Golden Fleece on his
shoulders, dancing admirably.

"In the second interlude there was a lovely car
wherein sat Venus with a lighted taper in her hand ; it
was drawn by two doves which seemed alive, and on
them rode a couple of Cupids with bows and quivers
. . . preceded and followed by more Cupids dancing
a moresco. They set fire to a door, out of which leaped
nine gallant men all in flames, who also danced to per-
fection. . . ." Then followed other interludes, Neptune
on his sea-horses, . . . and Juno in her car drawn by
peacocks, &c, " of which no description can afford an
idea," says the enthusiastic beholder.

Yet if this kind of amusement went on day after
day, for five hours or so at a time, preceded by
state balls all the afternoon, we can quite under-
stand that even the most cultured lady, such as

30

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

Isabella d'Este, was sometimes overcome with "in-
finite weariness."

When our " illustrious lady " has passed through the
ordeal of religious ceremonies and splendid entertain-
ments in connection with her wedding, the next point
of interest to consider, will be the home in which she is
henceforth to rule. This, of course, would vary greatly,
according to the city whither it has pleased Fate to
waft her.

In Florence, for instance, in the days of the early
Medici, we should see the fair city of to-day as a
gloomy mass of battlemented towers, in the midst
of densely foliaged trees and tangled undergrowth,
encompassed by massive bulwarks and high walls.
Where now stands the Piazza di Santa Croce the Arno
flowed, passing from the Ponte a Rubicante and the
Castle of Altafronte. The corn-market was held where
now stands the Loggia of Or San Michele ; the tower
begun by Giotto was but recently completed, the double
dome of Brunellesco was built in 1434 ; and the Palazza
dei Priori stood out in its grim strength, while from its
tower, the great bell, the Vacca, summoned the people
to elections or sounded the note of war. But the
merchant city was growing fast, and each year saw
new and splendid palaces rising in its sombre streets,
while monasteries and churches kept pace with them.

One of the earliest Medici palaces was in the Via
Larga (now Cavour), but both Cosimo and his grandson
Lorenzo the Magnificent built delightful villas in the
fair country outside Florence, where their families
dwelt during most of the year. The Renaissance
brought with it a taste for gardens and flowers, fruit-
trees and rare shrubs, on which we shall dwell

21

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

later in describing more fully those of the Este
princesses.

The simple severity of Florentine life, in the early
part of the fifteenth century, will scarcely give us an ideal
presentment of the magnificence found in an Italian
palace of the Renaissance. For this we shall have to
pass on to a somewhat later date, and seek out the huge
square Castello of red brick in the heart of Ferrara,
home of the Este princes ; the lake-encircled Palazza
of the Gonzaga at Mantua ; the hill city of classic
Urbino ; or the far-famed Castello of Pavia, the pride of
Milan's dukes. We cannot do better than suffer our
choice to fall upon this last.

In the ancient capital of the Lombard kings stands
this splendid monument of Renaissance architecture ;
a great quadrangle flanked by four massive towers.
The inner court was surrounded by a double cloister
with colonnades of low round arches, while the Gothic
windows of the upper loggia and the banqueting-hall
were relieved by delicate tracery and shafts of marble,
and beautiful mouldings in terra-cotta. The stately
palace stood in the midst of exquisite gardens, with
avenues of plane-trees, groves of cypress-, mulberry-,
orange-, and lemon-trees, myrtle and cystus ; broad
lawns with fountains of choice design, and dainty
pavilions for summer days. In the park beyond, there
were artificial lakes, the charm of running water, groups
of forest trees, and upland stretches of picturesque
wildness which harboured a number of stags and wild
deer for the chase.

But the landscape without, " divinely [beautiful," as
Commines calls it, was not to be compared with the
magnificence within the palace walls. Never has that

22

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

princely lavishness of space been carried to a greater
pitch. In the immense ball-room, the banqueting-
hall, the vast Sala in which the favourite game of
"la Palla" was played, and the whole suite of splendid
chambers — the groined ceilings were ablaze with gold
and ultramarine in quaint emblem and device — and the
frescoed walls were masterpieces of the great artists
of the day ; Leonardo da Vinci being chief amongst
them. The upper chambers were hung with priceless
tapestries, and the whole fittings of a room would often
be embroidered to match in silk and worsted, and gold
and silver thread. These would include hangings for
the walls, doors and windows, a baldaquin and counter-
pane for the bed, and curtains to draw all round it ; a
coverlet for the low couch, and cushions for the various
chairs and benches, which were delicately carved, or of
inlaid wood.

There is a most interesting list from an unpublished
MS.* of sixty sets of hangings which Valentine Visconti
took with her to France, part of the colossal dowry by
means of which the daughter of a soldier of fortune
found a royal alliance. Amongst these we find :

"Item: A 'chamber' (or set of hangings), the
baldaquin worked with a design of angels ; the long
curtain depending from the tester behind the pillows
represents shepherds and shepherdesses feasting on
cherries and walnuts ; the counterpane, a shepherd and
a shepherdess within a park ; the whole embroidered
with gold thread and coloured wools.

" Item : Wall hangings to match. . . .

" Item : Another chamber with hangings complete,
with all the Victories of Theseus.

* Madame Duclaux.
23

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

" Item : A great tapestry, with the history of the
destruction of Troy the Great ; green velvet cover for
a couch, and chair cushions of green velvet richly
emboidered to match.

" Item : A white ' chamber ' sown with gladiolus,
bed furniture, and all hangings.

"Item : A set of green tapestries with the Fountain
of Youth and several personages, with bed hangings,
counterpanes, couch-covers, and six wall hangings, all
worked very richly with gold, without guards (linen
coverings).

"Item : A set of hangings complete of cloth of gold,
also another ' chamber ' representing a lady playing
with a knight at the game of chess."

This would be about a tenth part of one collec-
tion. It was not only in palaces that the spirit of the
Renaissance had brought such order and beauty into
the domestic life of Italy, for when Sir Thomas Hoby,
the translator of the " Cortigiano," was entertained
as a private gentleman at Salerno, by the Marquis of
Capistrano, he says :

" Whithorn and I were had into a chamber hanged
with clothe of gold and vellute, wherin were two
beddes, thon of silver worke, and the other of vellute,
with pillowes, bolsters, and the shetes curiouslie
wrought with needle worke."

To appreciate how far England was behind in such
matters, it may be interesting to quote a few words
from the letter written by Thomas Sackville (Lord
Buckhurst) to the Lords of the Privy Council, when
he was ordered to entertain the Cardinal de Chatillon
at Shene, sixteen years later than Hoby's letter. He
had no proper plate or glass or " napery " :

24

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

" One onlie tester and bedsted not occupied I had,
and thos I delivered for the Cardinall him self, and
when we cold not by any menes in so shorte a time
procure another bedsted for the bushop, I assighned
them the bedsted on which my wiefes waiting wemen
did lie, and laid them on the ground. Mine own basen
and ewer I lent to the Cardinall, and wanted me
self

To return to Italy. We have a description of a
Renaissance bed, raised upon a dais above a floor of
wood mosaic, with a carved canopy of wonderful
design and workmanship, supported by four demons
of terrible aspect. The furnishing of the chamber
would be in keeping, with one or two great carved and
painted chests, containing the lady's wedding dowry of
rich garments and jewels, and a couch and carved
chairs covered with rich tapestry or velvet to match
the hangings. On the floor we should find Eastern
rugs, and skins of leopard or tiger, and in a secluded
corner a reliquary and the image of the Madonna or
a saint, before which a lamp would be always kept
burning. We read of the jug and ewer being of silver
or gold on special occasions, and Infessura tells us
how on a certain visit to Rome of the Duchess Leonora
of Mantua, every lady in her suite had a washing basin
of gold given her by the Cardinal of San Sisto. " Oh,
guarda ! " he adds, " in such things to spend the
treasure of the Church ! "

The household and chamber linen, or other material,
would be on the same scale of magnificence, for we
find such a list as this in the dowry of a noble lady : *

" Item : Seven pairs of sheets of spun silk striped with
* Vittoria Colonna.
25

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

gold ; twenty pairs of sheets embroidered in different
coloured silks ; fourteen pairs of Olana (Dutch linen)
fringed with gold ; . . . two pairs of thin sheets wrought
with gold and silk.

" Item : A silk coverlet with stripes of gold ; . . .
pillow-slips of crimson silk ; . . . eighteen counter-
panes of silk, one ' alia moresca ' ; . . . and great
stores of splendid bed and table napery, &c."

In the banqueting-hall we should specially notice
the immense buffets, or sideboards, ten feet high,
loaded with gold and silver plate for use at banquets,
with majolica of Urbino and vases from Faenza (called
fayence in France). On the floor there would be more
Eastern rugs ; in front of the seats, great mats of em-
broidered Hungarian leather, and skins of animals
killed in the chase or sent from distant lands. The
chairs are embossed with gilt, or if of wood, are
covered with stamped leather and adorned with clamps
of bright metal. Armchairs are sometimes protected
with a great carved head, or with a top and curtains, to
keep away the draught in those vast apartments, and
perhaps stand on either side of the great hearth with
its dogs of shining metal, where burn massive trunks
of wood, cut in special lengths. Above the fireplace
there will rise a magnificent carved overmantel, and in
one of the rooms we shall probably find some wonder-
ful clock of copper and brass, with not only a peal of
bells, but a complete solar system, showing the move-
ment of all the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, and
stars, as taught by Ptolemy.

As for the library, whether at the villa of Lorenzo
dei Medici, at the splendid home at Pavia of the Duke
of Milan, or at the cultured and courtly Palace of

36

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

Urbino, it would be full of priceless manuscripts,
adorned with exquisite miniatures and treasures of
classical learning until, as time advanced, the wonder
of the printing-press brought the whole learning of the
ancient world within the reach of a generous and
studious patron. But to do full justice to a splendid
library of the Renaissance would require a volume in
itself.

With regard to the famous artists and scholars and
learned men who were so eagerly welcomed by every
cultured princess at her Court, their story will be
found in all the chronicles of the period, where
women meet with so scant a mention. The kindred
subject of intellectual and artistic conversation and
of literary coteries is so fully treated later on in
the history of Elisabetta Gonzaga and the Court of
Urbino, that it will not be needful to touch upon it
here.

The ladies of the Renaissance in Italy were not only
distinguished in social life and conversation, but were
usually great letter-writers, and many quotations from
their correspondence are given in the following pages.
Fortunately for us, the written word was looked upon
with respect in those days, for we are told that of one
lady, Isabella d'Este, for instance, nearly two thousand
letters have been preserved. It is very interesting to
note the difference in handwriting, which betrays
many curious secrets. In the sixteenth century it is
usually large and free, often very characteristic of
the writers. The strokes are delicate and somewhat
angular, with many strange contractions and flourishes.
The handwriting of Vittoria Colonna, for example, is
plain, distinct, and somewhat masculine in style, but

27

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

slightly nervous and irregular, with various abbrevia-
tions and dashes.

"With mine own hand" is a very needful addition,
as it was much the custom for a great lady to dictate
letters to her secretary, who was often given to embroider
on his own account. The following simple little note
of Isabella d'Este is an interesting specimen of a
dictated letter :

11 My Lord, — I pray you mock not at my letter, and
say not that all women are poor things, and ever fearful,
for the malignity of others is far greater than my fear
and your lordship's mettle. I would have written this
letter with my own hand, but the heat is so great that,
if it last, we are like to die. The little lad is very well,
and sends your lordship a kiss, and for my own part, I
do ever commend myself to you.

" With sore desire to see your lordship,

" Isabella, with mine own hand.

" Mantua, July 23^."

Here we plainly see that the signature alone was
hers ; but " it was so hot ! "

Every married woman was expected to rule her
household well and wisely, according to her rank in
life ; with magnificence on state occasions, yet with
due regard to economy. The young bride of a prince
would often find that the expenses of her splendid
wedding and reception had been so enormous, as to
require careful retrenchment in the Court expenditure
for years. Banquets given in honour of distinguished
guests would be amongst the most costly items. In
the records of Florence we find a detailed account of
a series of banquets given on the occasion of a Medici

38

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

wedding, that of Lorenzo's sister, Giovanna, which
lasted from Sunday morning to Tuesday evening. To
these all the relations, friends, and the chief citizens
were invited, and they sat down five hundred at a time,
under great awnings in the Piazza opposite the palace.
The cooking was done in the street, by fifty cooks
and their helpers. Hither came " quartered bullocks,
casks of Greek wine, and as many capons as could
hang on a staff borne on the shoulders of two stout
peasants ; bars of buffalo cheese, turkeys in pairs,
barrels of ordinary wine and choice sweet wine,
baskets full of pomegranates, hampers of large sea fish,
crates of little silver-scaled fish from the Arno, birds,
hares, cream cheese packed in fresh green rushes,
baskets full of sweetmeats, tarts, and other confec-
tionery prepared in the convents."

With the refreshments there came twenty confec-
tioners, who distributed a profusion of caramels made
of pine-seeds. These banquets cost more than 150,000
francs ; including u 70 bushels of bread, 2800 white
loaves, 4000 wafers, 50 barrels of sweet white wine,
1500 pair of poultry, 1500 eggs, 4 calves, 20 large basins
of galantine. . . ."

These were public entertainments ; but where the
company was more select, the extravagance was no
less, for the table was idealised with the most fanciful
decorations that could be devised. Thus, at a banquet
given to welcome the Princess Isabella of Naples, we
read of each course being introduced " by some mytho-
logical personage. Jason appeared with the golden
fleece ; Phcebus Apollo brought in a calf stolen from
the herds of Admetus ; Diana led Actaeon in the form
of a stag ; Atalanta followed with the wild boar of

39

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

Calydon ; Iris came with a peacock from the car of
Juno ; and Orpheus carried in the birds whom he had
charmed with his lute. Hebe poured out the wines ;
Vertumnus and Pomona handed round apples and
grapes ; Thetis and her sea-nymphs brought every
variety of fish ; and shepherds, crownedjwith chaplets
of ivy, arrived from the hills of Arcady, bearing jars of
milk and honey to the festive board."

At a banquet given at Venice in honour of the
Duchess of Milan, we hear thati the different dishes
and confetti were carried in to the sound of trumpets,
accompanied by an infinite number of torches. " First
of all came figures of the Pope, the Doge, and the
Duke of Milan, with their armorial bearings ; then
St. Mark, the adder and the diamond, and many other
objects — all in coloured and gilded sugar, making as
many as three hundred in all, together with every
variety of cakes and confectionery, and gold and silver
drinking-cups, all of which were spread out along the
hall, and made a splendid show."

On the marriage of Sigismond, King of Poland, with
Bona Sforza, at the Court of Naples, Vittoria Colonna
was a guest, and Passari gives a very curious account
of the supper which followed. "On quitting the
church they sat down to table at six in the evening
and began to eat, and left off at five in the morning."
There was a stupendous menu, and twenty-seven
courses are enumerated. We notice amongst them,
Hungary soup ("putaggio Ungarese"), stuffed peacocks,
quince pies, thrushes stuffed with bergamott (scented
citrons), and u bianco mangiare con mostardo ". . . .

This banquet may have had somewhat of a barbaric
touch in honour of the Hungarian guests, who possibly

30

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

spent the night in appreciating the wines of the sunny
South after the ladies had retired. It was the usual
custom to play at " scartino," or " 1'imperiale," and
other card games, or at chess or backgammon, after
dinner ; and there appears to have been much gambling.
Beatrice d'Este once won three thousand ducats, and
we are toldfshe spent it at once.

An interesting book was published in 1543, which
throws much light on household expenditure in the
days of the Renaissance. It bears the title, "Con-
cerning the Management of a Roman Nobleman's
Court." It thus enumerates the members of the
house:

Two chief chamberlains.

One general controller of estates, receiving 10 scudi

a month.
One chief steward, receiving 10 scudi a month.
Four chaplains, each receiving two scudi a month.
One master of the horse.
One private secretary and assistant secretary.
One auditor and 1 lawyer.

Four Litterati, who among them must know the
four principal languages of the world, viz.,
Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Italian. Each
receiving 100 scudi yearly.
Six gentlemen of the chambers.
One private master of the table.
One chief carver, ten waiting men.
One butler of the pantry, and assistant. One butler

of the wines.
Six head grooms. One marketer, with assistant.
A storekeeper, a cellarer, a carver for the serving
gentlemen.

31

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

A chief cook, under cook, assistant, and a chief

scullery man.
A water-carrier and a sweep.
Last in the list comes a physician, " not because a
doctor is not worthy of honour, but in order not to
seem to expect any infirmity for his lordship or his
household." The physician was required to be not
only " learned, faithful, diligent and affectionate," but
also, and above all, " fortunate in his profession."

The food in this Roman household cost 4000 scudi
(or dollars) ; 1400 being spent on wine alone. The
allowance was a jug holding rather more than a
quart of pure wine daily to gentlemen, and the same
quantity, diluted by one-third of water, to all the
rest.

u Sixteen ounces of beef, mutton or veal allowed

for each person.
"Twenty ounces of bread to each person, of more

or less fine quality.
" One lb. of cheese to each, monthly ; other

eatables are all enumerated.
" Four or five large wax candles daily for his lord-
ship. Also an allowance of wax for torches
to accompany dishes to table, and to accom-
pany his lordship and gentlemen out-of-doors.
" Wax candles for the altar in the chapel. Tallow
candles for use in the house."
It may be well to note here that the ducat of Italy
varied in nominal value from about four francs to four
shillings of our money ; but the coin would buy nearly
twelve times the value, in necessaries or luxuries,
which that amount represents at the present day in
England.

33

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

There were other inmates of a great house, not
mentioned in the inventory above. The trade with
the East had one curious result, in a traffic of slaves,
who were much used as domestic servants in Italy,
during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In the
markets of Venice, of Genoa, or of Naples an able-
bodied young woman might be bought at a price
varying from six to eighty-seven ducats. We find
interesting testimony to this fact in the letters of
Alessandra Macinghi to her son Filippo Strozzi, at
Naples. She writes :

" Al Nome di Dio. A dV 13 di SetUmbre 1465.
"FlGLIUOL MIO DOLCE,

" I would remind you that we have need of a
slave ... if you give orders to have one bought, let it
be a Tartar, as they are the best for hard work, and
are simple in their ways. The Russians are more
delicate and prettier, but it seems to me that a Tartar
would be best. . . . lddio di male vi guardi.

" Per la tua Alessandra, in Firenze."

De Maulde reminds us that " the mother of Carlo
dei Medici was a lovely Circassian girl, bought by the
grave and aesthetic Cosimo il Vecchio." A poem of
the period tells us that "The loving slaves shook out
the dust from their masters' dress every morning,
looking fresher and happier than the rose." But when
we see, from Madonna Alessandra's letters, how much
trouble they often gave, we must look upon this as a
poetical licence.

No great household could be without its dwarfs and
jesters, and we hear a great deal about them in the

33 c

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

life of Isabella d'Este, whose palace at Mantua had
a suite of apartments specially built for them. She
occasionally gave away a baby dwarf to a friend, as we
should a kitten. When Alfonso d'Este was incon-
solable for the loss of his wife, a certain Martello, pet
dwarf and jester, was lent to him for his comfort.
" He could not express the delight which the buffoon
had caused him, and esteemed his presence better than
the gift of a castle."

But Martello fell ill and died ; the poor fool making
jokes even on his death-bed. On hearing of the sad
event, Francesco, Duke of Mantua, writes :

"Most people can be easily replaced, but Nature will
never produce another Martello." This was his elegy
written by the bard Pistoia :

" If Martello is in Paradise, he is making all the
saints and angels laugh ; if he is in hell, Cerberus will
forget to bark."

In time of sickness, the first thing which occurred
to a friend was to lend the patient a jester or pet dwarf,
to keep up his spirits at any cost.

The ladies of the Renaissance had no lack of other
pets — their horses, their greyhounds, their falcons ;
for hunting was a passion with many of them. We
read that Isabella d'Este's presence was heralded by
the barking of her little dogs, and that she sought far
and wide in the convents of Venice for rare Persian and
Syrian cats. When a pet animal died it was buried
with great solemnity in the gardens of the Castello,
and a cypress was planted, or a tombstone inscribed
with the name was placed on the grave. All the ladies
and gentlemen of the household, and the favourite dogs
and cats, joined in the funeral procession, we are told.

34

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

Visitors to Lord Pembroke's park at Wilton House
will remember the pathetic little cemetery, over-
shadowed by sombre trees, where the pet dogs have
been buried since the days of Queen Elizabeth. The
idea may have come from Italy.

While on the subject of pet animals, we must include
a wonderful giraffe, which was sent to Florence in

1488, a present from the Soldan of Babylonia to
Lorenzo dei Medici. He was seven braccias high, and
was led about the streets by two Turks, to the intense
delight of the citizens. So great was the curiosity felt
about him, even by the nuns, that he had to be taken
round to the convents to be inspected. Such a plea-
sant beast ! " It eats everything, poking its head into
every peasant's basket, and would take an apple from
a child's hand, so gentle is it." It had a stable in the
Via Scala, where fires were kept up, for it was much
afraid of cold. But, alas ! notwithstanding all this
affectionate care, the poor giraffe died on January 2,

1489, and " everybody lamented it, for it was such a
beautiful animal !"

Beyond the due ordering of her Court and house-
hold, many and various were the talents needed by a
princess of the Renaissance days. In the absence of
her husband she would be called upon suddenly to
pilot the ship of state, and form a decision upon
important political matters. As a reigning sovereign,
Giovanna of Naples showed great presence of mind
on various critical occasions, and her defence of her
conduct at the Court of Avignon, was a masterly stroke
of talent.

Ludovico Sforza could find no more astute and
capable ambassador to send to the Signoria of Venice

35

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

than his Duchess Beatrice, who succeeded admirably
in her diplomacy. Again, at a critical moment, when
Louis of Orleans was at his gates, and the Duke was
seized with sudden and unaccountable panic, it was
his wife who came to the rescue with marvellous
presence of mind, and took prompt measures for
defending the city.

When Francesco, Marchese of Mantua, was a pri-
soner at Venice, it was his wife Isabella who ruled the
state, and by her untiring efforts at length obtained
his release. But all these, and many other peaceful
incidents, fade into insignificance before the stirring
adventures of Caterina Sforza, told in the story of her
life. Few women have mounted the ramparts with
such mettle as the gallant Madonna of Forli, when
she held the Fort of St. Angelo for her husband, or
defended her own citadel of Ravaldino.

Italy was very proud of her warrior women ; the
"virago" is always spoken of with loving admiration.
We have an anecdote from Venice, when on a certain
Sunday, June 14, 1310, the eve of San Vito's Day, there
was an insurrection against the Doge. During the
fighting a woman aimed a stone mortar from a window
at the standard-bearer of the rebels ; it struck his
head; bearer and banner fell to the ground. There-
upon panic seized the conspirators ; they fled and
surrendered.

The heroine, Lucia Rosso, was requested to name
her own reward. She only asked that " she might
have the right to fly the standard of San Marco from
her window on every festa-day ; and that the pro-
curators of San Marco would not raise her rent of
fifteen ducats, either to her or her successors."

36

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

The ladies of Siena were noted for their pluck. In
that last heroic siege of 1554 the Gascon general,
Blaise de Monluc, pays them this testimony :

" It shall never be, you ladies of Siena, that I will
not immortalise your names so long as the Book of
Monluc shall live ; for in truth you are worthy of im-
mortal praise if ever women were. At the beginning
of the noble resolution these people took to defend their
liberty, all the ladies of Siena divided themselves into
three squadrons ; the first led by Signora Forteguerra,
who was herself clad in violet, as also those of her
train, her attire being cut in the fashion of a nymph,
short, and discovering her buskins ; the second was
the Signora Piccolomini, attired in carnation satin, and
her troop in the same livery ; the third was the Signora
Livia Fausta, apparelled all in white, as also her train,
with her white ensign. In their ensigns they had very
fine devices. . . . These three squadrons consisted of
three thousand ladies, gentlewomen and 'citoyennes' ;
their arms were picks, shovels, baskets and bavins ;
and in this equipage they made the muster, and
went to begin the fortifications. . . . Never was there
so fine a sight. . . ."

We can well believe it, for when did warriors ever
go forth in so gay and gallant a spirit, save in dauntless,
ardent Siena ?

There would be death to face, wounds to bind up,
and much patient nursing would fall to the share of
these fantastic " nymphs." This leads us to the subject
of sickness and medicine in the olden days. We have
already seen that the first great requisite for a physician
was that he should be "fortunate in his profession."
It was also desirable that he should practise astrology,

37

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

more especially in princely houses, or he would lead
but a sorry life. He points to his phials in vain ;
"against death he has no medicine."

Every woman could brew simples, bind a broken
limb, nurse a fever, and dabble a little in medicine.
These were some of the most popular drugs : Bark of
Indian wood, turpentine, poppy, mustard, myrrh,
wormwood, lichen, peppermint and aniseed water,
Quassia amara, essence of cinnamon, camphor, hops,
rue, privet, crocus, marjoram, figs, honey, and much
sulphur. Coughs were cured by milk of almonds
mixed with sugar and starch, barley sugar, tea of roses
and camomile, and infusions of mallow, violet, &c. ;
in short, most of the favourite French "tisanes" of
to-day. Another remedy for a cough was to "take the
lungs of a fox and wash it with wine, and dry it in a
furnace to a cinder ; then powder it and mix well with
yolk of egg."

The Sun was supposed to govern the heart and
nerves, Jupiter the liver, and Venus the rest of the
body.

Complete discord reigned in the scientific world
with regard to the treatment of disease ; the physicians
opposed the surgeons and apothecaries, and such
terms as " fool " and " mountebank " were freely
bestowed. Paris remained faithful to the traditional
and philosophic spirit, while Paracelsus burnt the
works of Galen and Avicenna.

" A certain pious author advised that the doors of the
medical school should be thrown open freely to women,
that they should be taught all that men were taught,
indeed, a little more — Greek and Arabic — and that
they should then be sent off to the Holy Land to aid

38

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

in the conversion of the infidels." Did he see from afar
the mission of medical women to the Zenanas ?

But the ruling principle in illness, with both men
and women, was to keep up the patient's spirits. We
can quite understand this, when we think of the un-
healthy conditions of life, and of that terrible scourge,
the Plague, which recurred six times between 1348 to
the end of the fifteenth century. Fear or melancholy
would be a certain precursor of death.

People were strongly impressed with the necessity of
keeping in good health ; and to this end they were to
eat well, to avoid damp, to spend generously without
stint or economy, to refrain from melancholy or gloom,
not to think of dull, sorrowful things, but to play, ride,
and amuse themselves ; in short, to be happy. As we
have noticed before, on receiving news of a friend's
illness, the greatest charity was at once to send a pet
dwarf or jester to the sick-room, and do anything to
amuse the patient.

The Cardinal d'Este, hearing that his sister Isabella
was ill at Mantua, in 1507, sent Ariosto to read his
" Orlando Furioso " to the sick lady as he sat by her
bedside. Happily she recovered.

We cannot leave the subject of sickness without
touching upon that of poison, which was supposed to
account for so many deaths, being so difficult of proof
in former days. Doubtless, in many cases the suspicion
was justified ; but in any sudden illness it was always
the first cry of ignorance. Our worthy old Fuller, in .
writing of his special incarnation of evil, Caesar Borgia,
remarks : " He exactly knew the operations of all hot
and cold poysons, which would surprise nature on a
sudden, and which would weary it out with a long

39

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

siege ; for in truth Italians have poysoning at their
fingers end. This Caesar could contract a ioo toads
into one drop, and cunningly infuse the same into any
pleasant liquour." There was a notorious poison used
in Italy in the seventeenth century, called "aqua
tofana," made by a woman of Palermo. Four to six
drops was a fatal dose, and it has since been discovered
to have been a solution of arsenic.

Closely akin to poisons were the various potions
obtained from witches and Egyptians, for securing good
luck, or as love philtres, or antidotes to love. These
were often used for evil purposes, and bore the name
of "selling the devil in bottles." Opium was used to
produce delightful dreams ; nightshade gave pleasant
illusions. Witches were reputed to indulge in midnight
orgies, and were constantly consulted by people who
wanted to have their fortunes told ; they were also
believed to bring hail and rain, and to cure diseases by
means of amulets and charms.

The boundless ambition of Julius II. was said to
spring from the prediction of a sorceress, who had told
him to be of good cheer, for he would be elected Pope,
and rule the world. Astrology was in high favour, and
Savonarola fought in vain against it. The Roman pre-
lates, the great soldiers and sovereign princes, such as
Lodovico Sforza and Francesco of Mantua, never
moved a step without consulting the stars. The Court
astrologer was a man of considerable influence and
position, usually a foreigner, and often a Moor or gipsy.
His occupation was most lucrative, and a great opening
for ambition, as no public ceremony or journey was
ever undertaken without his permission. He puts on
airs and keeps his clients waiting. If some one sends

4 o

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

him a birth date to have his horoscope cast, he sends
no reply ; " his eyes are weary with gazing into the
boundless heavens."

But there are certain risks. As, for instance, when
Messer Ambrogia da Rosate, the Duke of Milan's
favourite astrologer and physician, after careful study
fixed a day for the wedding journey of Bianca Sforza,
the bride of the Emperor Maximilian, a terrible storm
nearly wrecked the whole party. " Infelice ! " was the
mildest term applied to the unlucky astrologer ; but we
may remark, as some slight excuse for him, that the
wedding journey, across the Lake of Como and over
the passes of the Alps, had to be undertaken in the
midst of a severe winter.

We cannot close the story of a woman's life in the
days of the Renaissance, without touching on the subject
of her religion.

In the earlier days of the period, little girls still went
to church every day, and worked chasubles and altar-
cloths. At Florence we find Lucrezia dei Medici, a
devout woman, given to good works ; taking her little
son Lorenzo to vespers with her every evening, in the
Dominican church of San Paolino. Her "rime sacre,"
written for her children, are preserved to us, charming
in their simplicity, delicate little Christian carols. In
the next generation, the great complaint of the learned
tutor Poliziano against Lorenzo's wife Clarice, was
that she wanted the boy Piero to sing hymns when
he should have been learning Greek, and that she
interfered with the lessons of the four-year-old Gio-
vanni (afterwards Pope Leo X.) by keeping him to
read the Psalter. No great event can take place with-
out the sanction and benediction of the Church. A

41

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

baptism, a marriage, a funeral — they are each the
occasion of a stately and splendid pageant.

The progress of the Renaissance brought a changed
outlook in thought and feeling, although in Italy it was
not greatly complicated by the religious reform which
shook the rest of Europe. Thus an Italian chronicler
can write : " At that time, in the furthest part of
Germany, the abominable and infamous name of
Martin Luther began to be heard."

A new feeling pervaded the whole of intellectual life
and "widened the sundering of the Church's claims
and the joy of life. St. Augustine's dream of a city of
God waxed pale and faint, like a student's midnight
taper." The Renaissance, with all its mysticism,
was not partial to the dim religious light or shadowed
mysteries : it loved clearness, daylight, illumination.
For a brief space all Italy was moved by the tremendous
question of Savonarola : " Was not the soul the one
thing more precious than the sin-stained body ? Was
it not greater than the living world ? Was not the
true path to heaven that of sacrifice, and consecration
of every thought and every passion to the inner mystic
life?" "

Like Felix, they heard and trembled, but no mediaeval
teaching could reach those men and women of the
Renaissance, and bring them back to the faith of their
forefathers. Yet, if fewer splendid cathedrals were
built and not so many convents were endowed as in
the earlier days, there was no lack of deep and strong
religious feeling. Amongst the writings of Vittoria
Colonna we read such words as these :

" With a cable of love and fidelity welded together
I fasten my barque to a never-yielding rock, to Christ,

42

DAUGHTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE

the living stone, whereby I may at any time return to
port." She was not alone, for Vergerio, the Pope's
nuncio in France, writes : " Praise be to God who in
our troublous times hath raised up such intelligences
— here the Queen of Navarre, of whom I speak ; at
Ferrara, the lady Renee of France ; at Urbino the lady
Leonora Gonzaga, with whom I conversed for some
hours, and who seemed to me endowed with eminently
lofty minds, filled with charity, all on fire with Christ ;
at Rome the lady Vittoria Colonna — to speak of none
but your own sex."

We cannot do better than end with the words
of Gebhardt : " The astonishing intellectual freedom
with which Italy treated dogma and discipline ; the
serenity she was able to preserve in face of the great
mystery of life and death ; the art she devoted to the
reconciliation of faith with rationalism ; her dallyings
with formal heresy, and the audacities of her mystic
imagination ; the enthusiasm of love, which often
carried her up to the loftiest Christian ideal — such was
the religion of Italy in the Renaissance."

IN TUSCANY.

NOBLE LADIES OF THE HOUSE
OF MEDICI.

LUCREZIA (TORNABUONI) DEI MEDICI, WIFE OF
PIERO DEI MEDICI, MOTHER OF LORENZO THE
MAGNIFICENT.

CLARICE DEGLI (ORSINI) DEI MEDICI, WIFE OF
LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENT.

HISTORICAL SUMMARY.

1430. Birth of Lucrezia Tornabuoni.

1447. Marriage of Piero dei Medici, son of Cosimo, to

Lucrezia Tornabuoni.

1448. Birth of Lorenzo dei Medici, January 1.

1451. Alfonso of Naples and the Republic of Venice joined

against Milan and Florence.
1454. Capture of Constantinople by the Turks, who threatened

Italy. Under guarantee of the Pope, a league formed

between the sovereigns of Naples and Milan, and

the Republics of Florence and Venice, to preserve

Italy.
1464. Death of Cosimo dei Medici, after a glorious rule of

thirty years. Succeeded by his son Piero.
1469. Marriage of Lorenzo, son of Piero, to Clarice Orsini.
1469. State visit of Lorenzo dei Medici to Milan, to the

christening of the Duke"s son, Gian Galeazzo.
,, Death of Piero. His son, Lorenzo the Magnificent,

succeeds him.
1472. The Turks first appeared in Italy, at Friuli.

1478. Conspiracy of the Pazzi, who murdered Giuliano dei

Medici, brother of Lorenzo, in the Duomo of
Florence.

1479. Madonna Clarice dismisses the tutor Poliziano.

1485. Lorenzo dei Medici and Lodovico Sforza of Milan
make alliance with Ferdinand, King of Naples,
against the Pope. Battle of Lamentana, gained by
the Duke of Calabria, son of Ferdinand.

1487. Death of Clarice dei Medici.

1490. Public faith and credit of Florence violated to save
Lorenzo dei Medici from bankruptcy.

1492. Death of Lorenzo the Magnificent. He is succeeded
by his son Piero, who in 1487 married Alfonsina
Orsini.

LUCREZIA (TORNABUONI) DEI MEDICI.

Lucrezia (Tornabuoni) dei Medici, was the wife of
Piero dei Medici. As we look upon the portrait, by
Sandro Botticelli, of this gracious lady, we see her
once more as she lived in those bygone days of the
Renaissance ; we seem to read her character and
pierce the very secret of her soul. The thoughtful
brow, the calm steadfast eyes, the firm delicate chin,
the sweet placid mouth, even the erect stately bearing,
all speak of that noble woman, the mother of Lorenzo
the Magnificent, to whom he owed so much.

Lucrezia was one of the Tornabuoni family, those
merchant princes of Florence from whose proud
energetic stock she seemed to have inherited the more
homely virtues, which do not always flourish in a
palace. She was a clear-eyed, high-minded woman of
business, and ever her son's wisest and most trusted
counsellor. Her political insight was keen and just ;
indeed, there were not wanting those who said that her
princely alms, her endowments of poor convents, her
dowries to orphan girls, were all so many bids for
popularity.

Yet surely in this they wronged her, for her cha-
racter was deeply religious, and she devoted herself
with special care to the pious bringing up of her
children, She even wrote hymns for them which

47

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

are high in the rank of spiritual poems ; and one of
Lorenzo's earliest memories, was his daily attendance
with her at vespers, in the Dominican church of San
Paolina, of which his friend, the learned Poliziano, was
afterwards curate.

At the same time, Lucrezia had broad views, and a
love for literature and art, which we should expect
from the sister of that Giovanni Tornabuoni, who com-
missioned Ghirlandajo to paint the marvellous frescoes
in the choir of Santa Maria Novella. Here we find a
vivid illustration of the Florentine life, in which Lucrezia
herself bore so dignified a part.

In this great series of the Life of the Virgin and of
St. John the Baptist, the artist makes the charming ana-
chronism of representing the public and official life of
the Tornabuoni, their processions and stately ban-
quets. We recognise them crowding to the temple
court, or seated as guests at Herod's feast, with their
kinsmen, the partners in the Medici bank, and their
learned friends, amongst whom Angelo Poliziano is
conspicuous.

But still more picturesque and striking is it to see
the young Tornabuoni bride, Giovanna, in her rare
jewels and stiff brocaded dress, accompanied by her
ladies in rich attire, entering the chamber where the
mother of the Virgin lies on her couch, and her friends
wish her joy.

Lucrezia dei Medici was herself a patroness of
literature also ; and to her encouragement we owe the
poem " Morgante," rich in description and even pathos,
leading the way for Tasso and Ariosto, while in its
humour we see a foreshadowing of Cervantes' greater
work. The work had grown from verses sung or

48

LUCREZIA (TORNABUONI) DEI MEDICI
Sandeo Botticelli

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

recited at the table of the Medici, but Luigi Pulci was
overbold for his day, and his great romance was con-
demned by the Pope, and burnt by Savonarola in the
Pyramid of Vanities.

For those troublous times of feud and faction, the
story of Madonna Lucrezia was peaceful and unevent-
ful. During most of her married life her father-in-
law, Cosimo il Vecchio, was the head of the house of
Medici, and with him, the scarlet gown of a Florentine
citizen was but a vain symbol of humility for the
despotic ruler of the Commune.

Yet on a certain morning of August, in the year
1458, the young wife must have needed all her courage.
She was spending the summer with her children in the
priucely villa of Cataggiuolo, far beyond Fiesole, amid
the slopes of the Apennines, when Piero was sum-
moned to join his father in Florence for a great coup
d'etat, of which the result was more than doubtful.
As she watched him ride away beneath the plane-
trees, followed by his armed retainers and a motley
throng of peasants from the Mugello, devoted to the
Medici, her heart must have been heavy with dark
misgivings.

In Florence the great bell of the palace tolled, and
the piazza was thronged with the excited populace,
while on each side was posted an army of horse and
foot soldiers. It must have been an anxious moment
for Cosimo and Piero within the walls, when the
Signoria appeared on their platform outside the palace,
the Chancellor read the proposal for the Balla, and
the list of the 350 members proposed by the ruling
faction. But, to the amazement of the Milanese
Podesta, there was no disturbance; the people shouted

49 d

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

assent, and the danger of a popular revolution was at
an end. Henceforth the power of the Medici was
assured.

Cosimo lived six years after this, but broken in
health, and his spirit clouded by the loss of his favourite
son Giovanni, he appeared but little in public. He
was succeeded by his only surviving son Piero, who
was inferior to him in every way, and did not inherit
his popularity. He was surnamed "II Gottoso," from
his bad health, and showed little talent as a politician.
Indeed, he would have been more suited to the quiet
life of a merchant, than that of a great ruler and patron
of the arts ; and the five years of his nominal rule
were chiefly spent in retirement, in the Villa Careggi,
built by Michelozzi in the most lovely situation, a few
miles to the north of Florence. The gardens are still
exquisitely beautiful, and we can imagine Mona
Lucrezia's leisure spent amidst her books and her
flowers, while her more serious thoughts were given
to the education of her children, still continued under
the guidance of the famous humanist Gentile de'
Becchi, and especially to the constant watchful counsel
of her sons, Lorenzo and Giuliano, now the practical
representatives of the dynasty.

This must have been a gay time for Florence, with
these two brilliant youths as masters of the revels ;
and even in these early days, Macchiavelli attributes
to the lad of fifteen, the deliberate design of corrupting
the State by pandering to its senses. But Lorenzo,
with his keen zest for animal enjoyment, tempered by
artistic beauty, was only a type of his city and his
age. Constant festivals were the order of the day,
from the triumphs and masquerades in the streets to

50

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

carnival songs, and country dances, and sacred repre-
sentations.

We read of a great tournament given in the play-
ground of Florence, the vast oblong piazza of Santa
Croce, in the year 1467, where Lorenzo was first
attracted by Lucrezia Donati, a brilliant, highly
cultured girl, of the same family as the wife of Dante.
We can still see her beautiful face with its delicate
refined features and rippling hair, in a portrait of
Andrea Verocchio, and we hear of her later as the bride
of Niccolo Ardinghelli. On this occasion the lady
gave Lorenzo a wreath of violets, and he promised her
in return, a still more splendid tournament.

In the meantime, his mother Lucrezia thought that
the time had arrived for a marriage to be arranged for
him. There must have been long and anxious con-
sideration on the subject, for Piero does not seem to
have been content to wed his son with the daughter of
a citizen of Florence ; he would choose a lady from
some princely house of another State. His choice fell
upon the great Orsini family, whose possessions spread
from Rome, far and wide, joining those of the Colonna
to the east, and extending from the sea to the Apen-
nines.

It was characteristic of her loving caution that Mona
Lucrezia herself took the important journey to Rome,
that she might make all inquiries on the spot with
regard to the young girl's qualifications, other than
those of wealth and position. She seems to have been
well satisfied with all she heard, and to have convinced
herself that Clarice Orsini would be, in behaviour and
beauty, a suitable bride for her young hero.

The story of Clarice will be told hereafter. On

51

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

Lucrezia's return to Florence she must have been pre-
sent at the promised tournament, which was publicly
announced as being held in honour of the coming
marriage. But it is a significant fact that, as an old
chronicler tells us, "It was the name of the lady Lucrezia
Donati which was on the lips of all the lookers-on and
in the heart of Lorenzo, and not that of the Roman
bride, Clarice Orsini." It was a gorgeous spectacle.
We hear of the ten young men on horseback and the
sixty-four on foot, all clad in complete suits of armour,
who followed in the procession, with an array of drums
and fifes and trumpeters. Young Medici himself wore
a surcoat of velvet fringed with gold and adorned by
the golden lilies of France upon an azure ground, and
a helmet with three blue feathers. His horse was
decked out in red and white velvet, embroidered with
pearls. The prize was assigned to him, and this is
how he modestly mentions the fact in his own
memoir :

" That I might do as others, and follow the custom,
on the Piazza Santa Croce I gave a tournament at
great cost and with much magnificence ; about ten
thousand ducats were spent upon it. I was not a very
mighty warrior nor a strong striker, yet to me was
assigned the first prize, a helmet inlaid with silver,
having a figure of Mars on the crest."

His marriage took place the following year, when he
was only nineteen ; but he seems to have remained as
devoted as ever to his mother. His three sisters were
already provided with husbands, the first obligation
of a parent in the Italy of those days. Maria was mar-
ried to Lionetta de' Rossi ; Bianca, his favourite, was
the wife of Guglielmo Pazzi ; and in 1466 the youngest,

52

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

Nannina, was married to Bernardo Rucellai. She
seems to have been a lively girl with strong religious
feelings, and we are told of her strenuous efforts to
convert the mercurial Pulci, a constant guest at her
father's table, to more devout thought and a stricter
life. In his merry jests and in his sonnets, he laughed
at sacred things, and although he would recant in his
"Confessions," yet it does not appear that Nannina's
exhortations had any permanent effect upon his
conduct.

Bernardo seems to have been a most desirable
husband, if we are to judge from his high character,
intellect, refinement, and passionate love for his
beautiful gardens. An interesting story is told of
him that, under the influence of Lorenzo, who was
a champion of the Italian tongue, he refused to write
to Erasmus in Latin, much to the embarrassment of
his correspondent, who never would learn Italian lest
his Latin style should be spoilt.

We next hear of Mona Lucrezia, when her son had
gone to Milan, in July 1469, to be godfather to the baby
Giovanni Galeazzo. He writes from thence : " I have
given to the Duchess a gold necklace with a large
diamond, worth about three thousand ducats. In con-
sequence the Duke wishes me to stand for all his future
sons."

Lorenzo, indeed, was so much feted and flattered
during his visit, that he was disposed to go beyond
his credentials. Piero was willing that his son should
take the first place at home, but he kept a strict hold on
his foreign relations. He entrusted his wife with the
delicate task of warning her son not to act on his own
account, as though he were head of the State. "Tell

53

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

him that while I live, I will not permit that the goslings
should lead the geese to drink."

The lesson may have been needed, but the young
Lorenzo was learning his part, and preparing for the
high position which was so soon to be his. Piero
died in December 1469, aged and infirm beyond his
years, for he was but fifty-three. He wished for a
quiet funeral, and his desire was carried out by his
widow and sons. His monument may still be seen in
the old sacristy of San Lorenzo, of simple grandeur,
the work of Verocchio — an urn of red porphyry with a
dark inlaid plaque of green marble and great acanthus
leaves round the sides. The urn is fastened by ropes
of bronze, and the cords pass behind the tomb to the
ceiling of the niche.

After her husband's death, Mona Lucrezia seems to
have lived in retirement in her beautiful villa near
Florence, with its delightful gardens, full of the choicest
flowers and fruit. In the year 1476 we find her little
grandson, Piero, then barely five years old, writing to
her from the Villa of Cafaggiolo : " Send us some
more ripe figs, I mean those very ripe ones, and send
us some peaches with their kernels, and other of those
things which you know we like, sweetmeats and tarts
and some such little things."

From the somewhat masterful tone of this letter we
seem to gather that the small boy had great confidence
in the indulgence of his grandmother, who had never
spoilt her own children. Although there cannot have
been much sympathy between this cultivated woman
and her daughter-in-law, Clarice Orsini dei Medici, yet
she appears to have been on the most friendly terms
with her. Mona Lucrezia kept up an interesting corre-

54

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

spondence with the learned Agnolo Poliziano, who
writes thus to her on one occasion when tutor to
Lorenzo's children, and imprisoned by bad weather in
the cold Mugello :

"The only news I can send you is, that we have
here such continual rains that it is impossible to quit
the house, and the exercises of the country are changed
for childish sports within doors. Here I stand by the
fireside, in my great coat and slippers, that you might
take me for the very figure of Melancholy. Indeed I
am the same at all times ; for I neither see, nor hear,
nor do anything that gives me pleasure, so much am I
affected by the thought of our calamities ; sleeping
and waking they still continue to haunt me. Two days
since we were all rejoicing upon hearing that the
plague had ceased ; now we are depressed on being
informed that some symptoms of it yet remain. Were
we at Florence we should have some consolation,
were it only that of seeing Lorenzo when he returned
to his house ; but here we are in continual anxiety, and
I, for my part, am half dead with solitude and weariness.
The plague and the war are incessantly in my mind.
I lament past misfortunes and anticipate future evilsj
and I have no longer at my side my dear Madonna
Lucrezia, to whom I might unbosom my cares."

In the allusion to the H calamities " and " troubles "
and also in Poliziano's anxiety about Lorenzo, we
must understand a reference to the terrible, heart-
breaking calamity which overshadowed with gloom
the closing years of Mona Lucrezia's life — the murder
of her passionately loved son Giuliano. Of this dark

55

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

stain on the page of history, a brief account will be
sufficient in these pages.

In the conspiracy of the Pazzi against the Medici,
a shameful plot hatched at Rome, the young and
gallant Giuliano, the idol of the populace, fell a victim
within the sacred precincts of the Duomo. During
the Mass, while the solemn strains of the Agnus Dei
echoed through the choir, the dagger of the assassin
pierced his heart as he stood by the Chapel of
the Holy Cross. No circumstance was wanting to
aggravate the sacrilege. As the wounded man stag-
gered forwards and fell, he was pierced again and
again. Nineteen wounds were found upon his body.

Assailed by a priest, who struck too high and missed,
Lorenzo escaped. He had time to draw his sword,
his friends rallied round him, and there was a deadly
fight in the choir itself, while the terror-stricken
Cardinal crouched by the high altar. The fugitives
reached the northern sacristy, and, in face of the
pursuers, closed the heavy bronze gates of Luca della
Robbia.

The plot had failed, for henceforth the power of the
Medici was assured, and a fearful vengeance awaited
the conspirators in torture and hanging. The whole
house of the Pazzi was disqualified from office — their
very name was accursed. No citizen might marry a
daughter or sister of the condemned, their palaces were
looted, their scutcheons were hacked from the walls.

The beloved Giuliano was borne to his grave in San
Lorenzo, on Ascension Day, with the pathetic honour
of a people's grief. He had been beloved of all, a
picturesque and striking personality. Skilled in all
athletic pursuits, for which he was so well suited by

56

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

his tall, magnificent figure, he was also a courteous,
refined gentleman, who delighted in music and pictures,
and all beautiful things. He wrote poetry, as was the
fashion of his day ; he could hold his own in the gay
witty company at his brother's table ; he was a faithful
friend and a devoted son and brother.*

With this brief elegy to her youngest son, we will
leave the story of the noble Mona Lucrezia dei Medici,
well assured that her later years were sweetened and
comforted by the unchanging love and respect of
Lorenzo the Magnificent, by the duties and wide
charities of her high position, and by that keen
devotion to learning and literature which outlives
all other tastes.

I cannot resist the temptation of inserting two of
those "spiritual poems" of Madonna Lucrezia which
she wrote for her children. In their charming sim-
plicity and naive devotional feeling they bear a strong
resemblance to some of our old English carols.

LAUDA II

Venite Pastori
A veder Gesu, ch' e nato
Nel Presepio ignudo nato,
Piu che '1 Sole risplendente.

Venite prestamente

A vedere il bel Messia
Col Giuseppe con Maria
La sua Madre gloriosa.

* Giuliano died unmarried, but a posthumous son was born to
him, who was adopted by Lorenzo, and subsequently became
Pope Clement VII.

57

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

Ma non fu si preziosa
Creatura, ne mai fia ;
Evvi ancora in compagnia
Solo il bue e l'asinello,

Pezze, fasce, ne mantello

Non ha' 1 Signor de' Signori ;
E dal Ciel discendon cori
Per veder la Deitate.

Quivi vien le Potestate

Quivi viene e Cherubini
Le Virtu, e Serafini,
Con tutta la Gerarchia

E con dolce melodia

Ringraziandol con disio :
Gloria in Cielo all' alto Dio
E in terra pace sia.

O Pastor venite via

El Signore a visitare
Vo' sentirate cantare,
E vedrate il Re di Gloria.

Oggi e il di della vittoria,

Che' 1 nimico fia dolente,
E li Padri allegramente
Sentiranno tal novella.

Apparita e una Stella

Tutto' 1 Mondo alluminare ;
Venite a ringraziare
Gesu Christo omnipotente.

Tutte le devote mente

Contemplando con dolcezza
Come la divina altezza
Patir vuol pe' nostri errori.*

* To be sung to the tune of " Quando sono in questa Cittade.'

58

LUCREZIA DEI MEDICI

LAUDA IV*

Ecco il Re forte

Ecco il Re forte ;

Aprite quelle porte ;
O Principe infernale ;

Non fate resistenza

Gli e il Re celestiale

Che vien con gran potenza ;

Fategli riverenza

Levate via le porte.

Ecco il Re forte ! ecco il Re forte !

Chi e questo potente

Che vien con tal vittoria ?
Egli e Signor possente
Egli e Signor di Gloria
Avuto ha la vittoria
Egli ha vinto la morte.

Ecco il Re forte ! ecco il Re forte I

Egli ha vinto la guerra

Durati gia molt 'anni ;
E fa tremar la terra,
Per cavarci d' affanni,
Riempier vuol gli scanni,
Per ristorar sua Corte.

Ecco il Re forte ! ecco il Re forte !

* To be sung to the tune of " Ben Venga Maggio."

59

CLARICE (ORSINI) DEI MEDICI.

The wife of Lorenzo dei Medici should have had a
position unique amidst the ladies of the Renaissance,
yet Clarice appears to have been somewhat over-
weighted by it. She was the daughter of Giacopo
Orsini, of the noble and powerful Roman family,
whose great possessions spread over half a province,
and her mother was of the still more distinguished line
of the Bracciano, a sister of the splendid Napoleone.
Her uncles were amongst the most influential cardinals
in the Curia, and her soldier family was rich in great
military captains.

This was the first of the foreign alliances of the
Medici, and had many advantages, besides the more
obvious one of giving them influence at the Papal
Court. The Orsini were traditional enemies of the rival
republic of Siena ; they could bring a large force into
the field, and were in possession of a chain of strong-
holds which crossed the high road to the south, and
would be invaluable in case of home or foreign attacks.

Had Piero chosen a bride for his son in Florence,
it would have caused endless jealousy and offence.
Lorenzo himself seems to have had very little choice
in the matter, but he had seen the lady more than
once, and had acquiesced in the choice. She had also
met with his mother's approval.

60

CLARICE DEI MEDICI

Clarice is described as having a tall shapely figure
and a delicate white neck, but her carriage was some-
what ungraceful, from a shy habit of bending her head
forward. Her face was too round for classical beauty,
but she had a pink-and-white colour, and her abundant
hair shone with a ruddy glow. We are specially told
that her hands were pretty, with long well-shaped
fingers. No doubt they were skilled in all the elaborate
embroidery and fine needlework of the times, for
Clarice does not appear to have been highly edu-
cated, according to the Medici standard, in classical
learning and philosophy. Yet her stately home at
Monte Rotondo, outside the Porta Pia, had been a
local centre of Renaissance culture in the previous
century, and it was unfortunate for her future happi-
ness tbat the young girl was dependent on chance
visits to her uncle, Cardinal Latino, for any training
in art and literature.

One of her earliest letters to Lorenzo has been
preserved :

" I have received your letter which has given me
great pleasure, and in which you tell me of the tourna-
ment where you won the prize. I am glad that you
are successful in what gives you pleasure, and that my
prayer is heard, for I have no other wish than to see
you happy. Give my regards to my father Piero and
my mother Lucrezia, and all who are near to you.
At the same time I send my regards to you. I have
nothing else to say.

" Yours,

"Clarice de Ursinis."

61

CLARICE DEI MEDICI

Simple words, doubtless written with much thought
and anxiety.

The betrothal took place in December 1468, and in
the following May Clarice was brought to Florence.
The marriage was celebrated on Sunday, June 4, and
the festivities lasted for several days. There is a curious
little note in the Ricordi of Lorenzo on that date :

" I, Lorenzo, took for wife Clarice, daughter of the
Lord Giacopo, or rather she was given to me."

It was doubtless a marriage of state, but there is
every reason to believe that a real affection grew up
between husband and wife, for there is much simple,
tender feeling in the numerous letters preserved, and
Lorenzo always treated her with courtesy and kindness.

We have a very full account of the great festivities in
Florence at the wedding, which was celebrated with
true princely prodigality. The dress of the bride was
of the richest white-and-gold brocade, and the splendid
horse she rode in the procession, was a gift from the
royal stables of Naples. She had other rich presents
and great wedding-chests ; but it may be mentioned
here as a significant fact, that she received no dowry.
No doubt the proud house of the Orsini was of opinion
that the lady herself was sufficient to bestow on the
son of the great banking-house of Florence. The
relative position had changed some years later, when
her own son Piero married another Orsini, for then a
very large dowry was part of the contract.

But, all the same, Clarice was royally welcomed.
Pipers and trumpeters, and a gallant train of noble
youths and fair maidens bore her company. In the
palace of the Via Larga an immense ball-room was
made ready to receive the bride, hung with tapestry,

62

CLARICE DEI MEDICI

adorned with the arms and devices of the Orsini and
Medici families, and covered with priceless Eastern
carpets. On this occasion the ladies and knights, the
old and young, seemed to have dined apart. Clarice
and fifty of the younger ladies had the broad balcony
above the garden, while the older matrons dined with
Madonna Lucrezia in the inner chamber. Round the
courtyard were places for seventy of the more grave
and reverend citizens, while the hall was given up to
all the young gallants. On the ring of tables, costly
wine stood in immense vessels of brass.

More than a thousand guests were entertained each
day at the Via Larga, and in the house of- Carlo dei
Medici.

Lorenzo's ingenuity devised the most gorgeous
spectacles to amuse the people. There were mimic
battles, in which troops of horsemen in armour charged
each other, and a fort was built up, to be picturesquely
attacked and stoutly defended. There was music and
dancing, and probably some of the songs to which the
dancers kept time as they sang, were composed by the
young poet himself.

We will not dwell further on the details of the
banquets, as the full description of a great wedding
feast is given in a previous chapter.

Soon after his marriage, the bridegroom went on a
journey to Milan, from whence he writes as follows :

" I have arrived here safely and am quite well.
This, I believe, will please you better than any other
news, if I may judge by my own longings for you and
home. Be good company to Piero, Mona Contessina,
and Mona Lucrezia, and I will soon come back to you,

63

CLARICE DEI MEDICI

for it seems a thousand years till I can see you once
more. Pray to God for me, and if there is anything
you want, let me know before I leave.

" Your own

" Lorenzo dei Medici.

" Milan, July 22, 1469."

The death of Piero dei Medici in December of the
same year, must have made a difference in the position
of his young daughter-in-law. It was a critical time
for Lorenzo ; but when, on the morrow, he and his
brother received the unanimous petition of the citizens
" that they would assume the place vacated by their
father," the Medici took their stand as "signori
naturali," born-lords of Italy. Then, indeed, Clarice
became the first lady, I will not say the uncrowned
queen, of Florence, for the fact was simply accepted
without assertion or ostentation.

A very difficult task was before the young ruler, but
he seems to have behaved on the whole with great
wisdom and tact. Naturally impatient and hasty, yet
his sister Bianca spoke of him in after years, as recon-
ciling the malcontents of his father's rule with infinite
patience. The drudgery of that complicated political
government must have been sometimes an intolerable
burden. He had all the literary and artistic tastes
which he might have enjoyed in leisured wealth ; he
loved the country, and keenly enjoyed the company of
men of letters and artists. But most of these pleasures
he had to sacrifice to his ruling passion of ambition.

The young bride, fresh from seclusion in the home
of her girlhood, must have found it difficult to play
her part in this new literary society of Florence*

64

LORENZO DEI MEDICI
Benozzo Gozzoli

CLARICE DEI MEDICI

It may have been a welcome change when she had to
receive, in March 147 1, the Duke of Milan, Galeazzo
Sforza, and the Duchess Bona, who came with such a
display of wealth and luxury that they brought 2000
persons in their suite. They consisted of 100 men-at-
arms and 500 infantry as a guard, fifty running foot-
men richly dressed in silk and silver, and many
noblemen and courtiers and their different retinues.
Five hundred couple of dogs, with an immense number
of hawks and falcons, completed this astounding show.
It is said that this arrogant and pretentious excursion
cost Galeazzo 200,000 golden ducats.

It was well for his hosts that this army of retainers
was entertained at the public expense. This visit of
state was probably made in return for that paid by
Lorenzo, two years before, when he stood godfather
for the ill-fated baby, Gian Galeazzo, and gave the
mother a splendid gold necklace with a great diamond
pendant. If she wore it on this occasion, Clarice must
have looked at it with a touch of envy.

Grandeur like misery brings strange company, and
we cannot but wonder what sympathy there was
between these two great ladies. Bona of Savoy, whose
youth had been spent with her sister, the Queen of
Louis XI., at the French Court, and who for some years
had been the wife of such a profligate and cruel man as
Galeazzo, must have had far other experiences than the
simple Roman girl-wife, whose first baby was barely a
month old.

Those men of the Renaissance were often a strange
combination. This Duke of Milan, whom chronicles
of the day describe as another Nero in his crimes, was
a great patron of art and learning, founded a library

65 *

CLARICE DEI MEDICI

and collected singers from all Europe to form the
choir of his chapel. He is said once to have insisted
that his artists, under pain of death, should paint a hall
in the Castello of Pavia with portraits of the whole
ducal family in a single night.

Such was the visitor of Lorenzo, and we are not
surprised to learn that he professed great admiration
for the splendid art treasures of the Medici. He was
shown the famous statues, vases, intaglios, and gems,
the priceless collection of manuscripts and drawings,
the paintings of the greatest masters the world has
ever seen, and he seems to have had the good taste or
the tact to exclaim that, " in comparison with what he
had seen, gold and silver lost their value."

Machiavelli speaks with horror of the riot and dis-
sipation of the Milanese guests, but the remark comes
somewhat strangely from him that " this was the first
time Florence openly disregarded the command not to
eat flesh in Lent."

For the entertainment of the visitors, there were three
extraordinary public spectacles. First, the Annuncia-
tion of the Virgin, then the Ascension of Christ, and
lastly the Descent of the Holy Spirit. This was acted
in the Church of St. Spirito, and in the unskilled use of
many flaring lights, the sacred building caught fire and
was entirely destroyed.

The accident was of course ascribed by the people
to the wrath of heaven.

During the years which followed, Clarice must have
been almost entirely engaged with her family of young
children, to whom she was a devoted, if somewhat
injudicious mother. Some of these died in infancy,
but three sons and four daughters lived to grow up.

66

CLARICE DEI MEDICI

These boys were destined to have so great a future
that everything connected with their early history is
intensely interesting, and fortunately the records of the
time give us a very full account of them. The picture
of life in the Medici household is very simple and
pleasant. Lorenzo was devoted to his children, he
was never so happy as in their company, in the villas of
Caiano or Careggi ; he played with them, rode with them,
joined in their music, and even wrote a little play for
them to act. But above all he took the keenest interest
in their education, a matter on which the unlearned
Clarice had quite different ideas, and which seems to
have been almost the only cause of discord between
them. The renowned and learned Agnolo Poliziano
was persuaded by Lorenzo, to whom he owed every-
thing, to undertake the uncongenial task of teaching
the Medici children. He accompanied the family away
from his beloved Florence, when after the conspiracy
of the Pazzi Lorenzo thought it desirable to send them
to Pistoia, and afterwards to Cafaggiolo, in the winter.
From thence little Piero, the eldest, wrote the most
delightful letters to his father in an unsteady childish
hand, and chiefly in Latin, which his master left un-
corrected.

In 1478, when he was seven years old, he tells his
father that he has already learned many verses of
Virgil ; " and the master makes me decline and
examines me every day." Then he adds with pardon-
able pride : " Also I know the first book of Teodoro
by heart, and I think I understand it." He must mean
Teodoro Gaza's Greek Grammar.

The child evidently makes good progress, for the
following year he writes more easily :

67

CLARICE DEI MEDICI

" I wish you would send me some of the best setters
that there are. I do not desire anything else. All the
company here, everybody, specially asks to be
remembered to you, and I also. I pray you to be
careful of the pestilence and to bear us in mind,
because we are little and have need of you."

In his next letter, on the strength of his Latin, he
feels justified in begging for greater favours.

" Nondum venit equulus, magnifice pater" (That
little horse has not yet made his appearance). He
gives an amusing account of his brothers and sisters :
" Giuliano thinks of nothing but laughter ; Lucrezia
sews, sings and reads ; Maddelena knocks her head
against the wall, but does not hurt herself ; Luisa can
already say a few things ; Contessina makes a great
noise all over the house."

He does not receive the pony, and writes again :
" To give a tone to my letters I have always written
them in Latin, and yet I have not had the little horse
you promised me, so that everybody laughs at me."

Then again later : " I am afraid something must
have happened to the horse, because if it had been all
right you would have sent it to me as you promised.
In case that one cannot come, please send me
another."

But at last the pony arrives, and little Piero writes a
pretty letter of thanks, promising to be very good.

One of Poliziano's letters about the children is worth
quoting in part : " Piero attends to his studies with
tolerable diligence. We daily make excursions
through the neighbourhood, we visit the gardens with
which this city abounds, and sometimes look into the
library of Maestro Zambino, where I have found some

68

CLARICE DEI MEDICI

good pieces both in Greek and Latin. Giovanni rides
out on horseback, and the people follow him in
crowds.

" Raccomandomi a V.M. Pistoii, 31 Augusti, 1478."

This Giovanni, who was only three years old, was
the future Pope Leo X. These letters give the sunny
outward aspect of life, but beneath, there was a
rumbling of thunder, and two lives were very far from
happy. Poor Mona Clarice, whose instinct was to
spoil her children, and who cared for nothing but their
religious education, was at constant feud with this very
learned tutor, who was so strict about Latin, and
altogether so terribly conscientious about the lessons.
To make matters worse, she was clear-eyed enough to
see that he despised her for her ignorance. Indeed in
his letters to Lorenzo, he complains in no measured
language of her interference, " being unlettered and a
woman."

"As for Giovanni," he continues, "his mother
employs him in reading the Psalter, which I by no
means commend. Whilst she abstained from inter-
fering with him, it is astonishing how rapidly he
improved : insomuch that he read without assistance."

Then again with regard to Piero when, according to
the time-table, he should have been reading his Greek,
she called him away to sing hymns.

This divided control had long been a standing
grievance between the lady and the tutor, but it came
to a climax in that long dull winter of 1478 which, by
the desire of Lorenzo, they most unwillingly spent
together at the villa of Cafaggiolo, in the cold
Mugello. Imprisoned by incessant rain, longing for
the various delights of far-distant Florence, and the

69

CLARICE DEI MEDICI

delightful company of Lorenzo himself, they both
became irritable and intolerant. At length Clarice,
unable to endure the provocation which she received,
compelled the tutor to leave the house, and wrote the
following characteristic letter to her husband :

" Magnifice Conjux ec. . . . I shall be glad to
escape being made the subject of ridicule in a tale of
Franco's as Luigi Pulci was ; nor do I like that Messer
Agnolo should threaten that he would remain in the
house in spite of me. You will remember I told you
that, if it was your will he should stay, I was perfectly
contented ; and although I have suffered infinite abuse
from him, yet, if it be with your assent, I am patient.
But I do not believe it to be so. . . . And the children
are all well and have much desire to see you, and still
greater have I, who have no other longing than this,
having to remain here at this time.

" Sempre a voi mi raccomando. In Cafaggiolo,
28 Maii, 1479."

Lorenzo seems to have quietly acquiesced in the
change ; but he gave Poliziano the use of a villa at
Fiesole, and their friendship remained unbroken. The
banished scholar, no longer worried by opposition or
weary teaching, devoted his leisure to a much-admired
poem, " Rusticus," in which he sings the praise of his
beloved patron.

Of Clarice's three daughters the eldest, Lucrezia,
married Jacopo Salviati. We hear of her courage
some years later when, cross-questioned by the magis-
trates of the Republic as to the share she had taken in
a conspiracy to restore Piero dei Medici, she boldly
replied that he was her brother, and she wished for
his success.

70

CLARICE DEI MEDICI

Contessina married Piero Ridolfo, and Luisa was
engaged to Giovanni dei Medici, but died before the
appointed wedding-day. Maddelena seems to have been
her mother's favourite, and when a marriage was sug-
gested for her with Franceschetto Cybo, the son of
Pope Innocent VIII., there are pathetic letters from
Lorenzo, begging that she might be allowed to stay a
little longer with her mother, who was in ill-health,
and the girl was the very " eye of her head."

This was in 1487, and in March of that year Piero,
who was only sixteen, was married by proxy to Alfon-
sina Orsini, who received a dowry of 12,000 Neapolitan
ducats from the head of her noble house. Probably
this was the last important event in the life of Clarice,
for she died in the following July, not yet forty years
of age. She had been dangerously ill, but the end
must have come suddenly, for Lorenzo was away from
home that week, taking sulphur baths for his gout. It
is pleasant to think that the poor mother had her will,
and that the dear Maddelena was with her to the end.

Clarice was neither beautiful nor talented, but she
was a kind, warm-hearted woman, always ready to
befriend those in trouble, and to bring their petitions
before her husband, sure of a favourable hearing.
Lorenzo mourned for her deeply, and after her death
the shadows seemed to gather round his path, and he
only survived her a few years.

TWO QUEENS OF NAPLES
PRINCESSES OF THE HOUSE OF ANJOU

GIOVANNA I GIOVANNA II

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

1328. Birth of Giovanna of Anjou.
1341. Petrarch crowned at Rome.
x 343» Giovanna I. succeeds her grandfather, King Robert, on

the throne of Naples. Already married to Andreas,

son of the King of Hungary.
1345. Murder of Andreas, the queen's husband.

1347. Giovanna I. marries Louis of Taranto.

1348. Great plague in Europe. Giovanna I. sells Avignon to

Pope Clement VI. She visits Avignon, and pleads

her own cause.
1356. Giovanna I. crowned Queen of Sicily.
1362. Death of her husband, Louis of Taranto.
1376. Giovanna marries Otho of Brunswick.
1382. Murder of Giovanna I., Queen of Naples, by her

nephew, Charles of Durazzo, after her defeat by the

King of Hungary.

1 37 1. Birth of Giovanna II. of Naples.

1382. Charles of Durazzo succeeds to the throne of Naples.

1386. Charles, King of Naples, is murdered.

1399. His son Ladislaus firmly established on the throne of

Naples.
1403. Marriage of Giovanna of Naples with Gugliemo, son of

the Duke of Austria, Leopold III.
1406. Death of Gugliemo.

1412. Sicily is united to the Kingdom of Aragon.

1413. Ladislaus, King of Naples, takes possession of Rome.

Flight of Pope John XXIII.

1414. Giovanna II. succeeds to the throne of Naples on the

death of her brother, Ladislaus.
1416. Marriage of Queen Giovanna II. with Jaques de

Bourbon, Comte de la Marche.
1421. Giovanna II. summons Alfonso of Aragon to her

assistance.
1423. Giovanna II. adopts Louis III. of Anjou as her

successor.

1434. Death of Louis of Anjou.

1435. Death of Giovanna II., 2nd February.

GIOVANNA I

..." By my troth
I would not be a queen ! "

Such is our instinctive cry as we read the story of this
unfortunate lady. Nowhere do we find in history so
close a parallel to the hapless Mary Queen of Scots —
in her beauty, her disposition, her many marriages, the
sea of troubles which overwhelmed her, and her tragical
end. Indeed the resemblance does not end here, for
the same bitter controversy has raged ever since as to
her character and deserts, the share she had in more
than one murder, and the part she played in the drama
of her life.

In this slight sketch it will be possible to take a
dispassionate view, inclining rather with the poet
Boccaccio to the side of mercy and kindly appreciation,
for none can deny that, in any case, she was more
sinned against than sinning.

All the circumstances of her position were against
the poor little princess from the beginning, and it was
her fate during life, to suffer from the sins and follies
of her nearest relations, while even her own good
qualities were fatal to her ; for she was trusting where
she ought to have been suspicious, and forgiving when
sternness was her only chance.

Giovanna was born at Naples in the month of

75

GIOVANNA I

February 1328. She was the granddaughter of Robert
of Taranto, King of Naples, known to fame as " II
buon Re Roberto," the patron of Boccaccio, the friend
of Petrarch, himself a distinguished man of science
and letters, a wise monarch, a munificent protector of
artists and learned men — one of the most interesting
personalities of his day. His father, King Charles II.
of Naples, a prince of the house of Anjou, had married
Maria, who was heiress to the throne of Hungary, and
he succeeded to that kingdom in right of his wife. He
must have felt that the union of these two great
countries was unwieldy and unnatural, for on his
death-bed, he called his sons to his side and divided
his dominions, bequeathing to Charles Martel, the
elder, the throne of Hungary, and leaving to his
younger son Robert, the fair provinces of Naples and
Provence. It was in the year 1309 that King Robert
entered into possession of his patrimony, just at the
earliest dawn of the Renaissance, for Dante and
Giotto, Petrarch and Boccaccio, those great fore-
runners, were all his contemporaries and friends.

He had one son, Charles Duke of Calabria, who
married Marie de Valois, sister of Philip of France,
and he seems to have been a most accomplished
prince, a great favourite with the people of Naples,
who gave him the title of " The Illustrious." During
two years he held the post of " Captain of the People "
at Florence. But he did not long enjoy the honours
of his position, for he died young, leaving two infant
daughters, Giovanna, the subject of this notice, and a
younger sister, Maria.

King Robert, heartbroken at the loss of his only and
dearly loved son, raised a splendid monument to his

76

GIOVANNA I

memory in the vast church of Santa Chiara. This
beautiful Gothic design was the work of Masuccio II.,
and has been engraved by Cicognara, as a fine example
of the sculpture of the fourteenth century. On a bas-
relief — in front of the tomb on which the young prince
rests, in his royal robes covered with fleurs-de-lis — he is
represented sitting in the imidst of the great officers
and barons of the kingdom, his feet resting on a wolf,
and a lamb drinking at the same fountain, to typify the
peace which his reign would have brought.

The bereaved father turned from these ruined hopes
to devote himself to the tender care of his orphaned
grandchildren, who were still almost babes when they
lost their mother. In 1331, when Giovanna was not
quite four years old, he proclaimed her heiress to his
throne, and all his nobles were assembled with great
ceremony, to take the oaths of allegiance to her as
Duchess of Calabria. With the title she also inherited
all the rights of her father in Naples and Provence.

Poor little motherless duchess, weighted at that
early age with functions of state and grandeur, when
she should have been playing with her dolls ! Still
her grandfather may have been justified in this as an
act of policy, for in those stormy times sovereignty was
nought without pomp and show, and it was needful to
secure the loyalty of powerful vassals to the heir of the
throne. But the next step taken by " Robert the Wise"
was fated to prepare the way for much misfortune and
calumny.

Some one was required to take charge of the royal
children, and he unfortunately made choice of Philippa
the Catenese, a name of dark and tragic repute in the
annals of Italy. She was born at Catania in Sicily,

77

GIOVANNA I

the daughter of a poor fisherman, and had entered the
service of Violante, the first wife of King Robert, to
nurse her infant son Charles. The Queen became so
fond of her that she remained at the palace, and
gradually rose to a position of great trust and influence,
as first maid-of-honour.

Philippa seems to have been a clever, handsome
girl, and must have had most attractive qualities, for
after the death of her first mistress, she was in still
higher favour with the second wife of Robert, Queen
Sancha, a lady of high reputation and capacity. The
Duke of Calabria, her foster-child, was devoted to her.
She married the seneschal of his palace, and became
lady of the bedchamber to his wife, and was the first
to welcome the baby Giovanna into the world. It was
only natural that the favour and affection of the royal
family for this woman of the people should give rise
to much jealousy and even scandal. Indeed it ap-
peared so incomprehensible in those days that she was
accused of being a witch. Orloff speaks of her as
" femme intrigante et sans moeurs," but he does not
give any sufficient ground for that statement.

Still it was no doubt unwise and impolitic to advance
a woman of peasant birth, to a post which must have
been eagerly desired by many high-born ladies of the
court, and the influence which she gained over the
child-duchess caused much ill feeling and evil gossip,
and in the end led to her own ruin and destruction.

King Robert the Wise made a yet more fatal mistake,
with the most kindly and generous intentions. His
fertile realms of Naples and Provence were so much
more desirable than the arid wastes of Hungary that
the princes of the elder branch had never been satisfied

78

GIOVANNA I

with this division, although it had been ratified by a
formal decree of the Pope. So it occurred to the
chivalrous gentleman that, if he could make a match
between his little heiress and her second cousin, a son
of the King of Hungary, it would put an end to all
jealous feuds and be a perfect settlement of the family
dispute. Negotiations were entered into with impul-
sive haste, and King Carobert was only too willing to
accept such a splendid offer, of a bride with a future
kingdom as her dowry, for his second son Andreas.

The boy was only seven years old and Giovanna was
five, when this ill-fated marriage took place at Naples
with the utmost magnificence. Princely feasts were
given to the people, and the rejoicings continued for
several days. In distinguished families of that epoch
such solemn betrothals, or " marriages for the future/'
were by no means unusual for political considerations.
At that early age, the children of course had no voice
in the matter, and the parents had it all their own
way.

But in this case, the grievous error was made of
bringing up the children together under the same
roof, with the knowledge that they were destined for
each other. Can we conceive any plan more likely to
be fatal to their ultimate happiness ? Affection is not
usually secured to order, and the very fact that it was
expected of them would probably end in mutual dis-
like. As it happened, the two children were absolutely
different in character and tastes.

Full of enthusiasm himself for learning, King Robert
devoted great care to the education of his grandchild,
who had the best teachers in Italy. All historians agree
as to Giovanna's brilliant talent and passion for litera-

79

GIOVANNA I

ture ; and an old chronicle says that before she was
twelve years old " she was already excelling in under-
standing, not only every child of her age, but most
women of mature years." She must have grown up
amid the paintings of Giotto, in Santa Chiara and in
the Castel Nuovo, which contained the finest library of
the age, and she must have been on intimate terms
with Petrarch and Boccaccio when they were at the
Court of Naples.

There is a story told of Giotto that when he was at
work one summer day, King Robert, who enjoyed his
genial company, said to him :

" If I were you I would leave off painting when the
weather is so hot."

" So would I if I were King Robert," was the artist's
ready reply.

Meantime all this cultured society seems to have
been wasted on Andreas. He grew up in the midst of
his boorish Hungarian attendants, lazy and ignorant,
full of dislike for the Neapolitans he was some day to
govern. The King of Hungary, his father, had chosen
for his tutor a monk, Fra Roberto, who had a most
evil influence over his pupil, and kept him in absolute
subjection. Too late the good King became aware of
the unfortunate choice which he had made ; he fore-
saw the trouble in store for his darling Giovanna, and
he sought to obviate it, by excluding her husband from
any share in the government. But this only prepared
the way for new dangers, by awaking the rage and
jealousy of the Hungarians.

Giovanna's happy childhood soon drew to an end,
for at the age of fifteen, she and Andreas began their
married life. They were known as the Duke and

80

GIOVANNA I

Duchess of Calabria, and lived with King Robert and
Queen Sancha in the Castel Nuovo, at once a citadel
and a magnificent palace, overlooking the lovely Bay
of Naples. It must have been a curious household
under that princely roof : with the younger sister of
Giovanna, the Princess Maria, future Empress of Con-
stantinople, and another Maria, the reputed daughter
of Count Aquino, whose wife had been attached to the
Court of King Robert — who was, in fact, supposed to
be the girl's real father. She was the frail and beautiful
lady immortalised by Boccaccio as his " Fiammetta,"
and the portrait he has left of her, brings her image
vividly before us. We are told that he first saw Maria,
as he stood leaning against one of the columns of the
Church of San Lorenzo.

" Her tresses of a blonde hue, for which it is scarcely
possible to find any comparison, shadowed a snow-
white forehead, admirable for its well-proportioned
width, in the lower portion of which two jet black and
infinitely slender brows rise in circling arches, divided
from each other by a candid space ; and beneath them
two lovely eyes, such rogues in their movement that
the light flashing from their beauty renders it scarcely
possible to be sure what they really are. The slender
nose is exactly proportioned to what the perfect beauty
of the face requires ; the cheeks have no other colour
than that of milk which the living blood has just newly
tinged, and the vermilion mouth is in appearance that
of roses among the whitest lilies ; the chin, not pro-
truding but rounded and dimpled in the centre, is
poised above the milk-white and straight throat and
soft neck " (" Ameta," p. 59).

Boccaccio is said to have written his " Decamerone "

81 F

GIOVANNA I

to please this fair Maria, who was afterwards the wife
of Robert Count d'Artois.

On the death of her grandfather, the good King
Robert, Giovanna became, in 1343, Queen of Naples,
Provence, and Piedmont, a goodly heritage. The
regency having been refused by the gentle and pious
Queen Sancha, a council was appointed to govern
during the minority. But Fra Roberto, by his influ-
ence over Andreas, set at nought the late king's wishes,
and became the ruler and tyrant of Naples. Petrarch,
sent on a special mission by Pope Clement, gives a
deplorable account of Naples at this time, in a letter to
Cardinal Colonna. He speaks of the Court as corrupt,
vicious and barbarous, and thus alludes to the ferocious
and ignorant ruler, Fra Roberto.

" May heaven rid the soil of Italy of such a pest ! — a
horrible animal, with bald head and bare feet, short in
stature, swollen in person, with worn-out rags, pur-
posely torn to show his naked skin. He not only sets
at nought the pitiful supplications of the citizens, but
on the ground of his feigned sanctity, treats with scorn
the embassy of the Pope."

Giovanna would have kept the poet at her Court, but
she was a sovereign only in name, and could but give
him the nominal title of her chaplain and almoner. It
is important to mention that Petrarch seems to have
had a great admiration for her character and talent.
He was full of pity for her position, and describes her
as " a lamb in the m