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PUBLIC LIBW
KA8SAS tjfl, Ml.
anrii
JUDHIIW f NVCLOM 00., KANSAS *TY HO.
S 3
BEATRICE D'ESTE
DUCHESS OF MILAN
1475-1497
A STUDT OF THE
BY
JULIA CARTWRIGHT
(MRS HENRY ADY)
Author of " Madame," " Sacharusa," "J. F. Millet"
LONDON; j, M. DUN 1' \ C'O
NEW YORK : E. P. DUTTON & CO.
First Edition, November, 1899
Second Edition, June, 1903
Third Edition, November, 1903
Fourth Edition, February, 1905
Fifth Edition, July, 1908
All rights reserved
PREFACE
DURING the last twenty years the patient researches of successive
students in the archives of North Italian cities have been richly
rewarded. The State papers of Milan and Venice, of Ferrara
and Modena, have yielded up their treasures ; the correspondence
of Isabella d'Este, in the Gonzaga archives at Mantua, has proved
a source of inexhaustible wealth and knowledge. A flood of
light has been thrown on the history of Italy in the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries ; public events and personages have been
placed in a new aspect 5 the judgments of posterity have been
modified and, in some instances, reversed.
We see now, more clearly than ever before, what manner
3f men and women these Estes and Gonzagab, these Sforzas and
Viscontis, were. We gain fresh insight into their characters
ind aims, their secret motives and private wishes. We see
them in their daily occupations and amusements, at their
work and at their play. We follow them from the battlefield
and council chamber, from the chase and tournament, to the
privacy of domestic life and the intimate scenes of the family
circle. And we realize how, in spite of the tragic stories or
bloodshed and strife that darkened their lives, in spite, too, or
the low standard of morals and of the crimes and vices that we
are accustomed to associate with Renaissance princes, there was
a rare measure of beauty and goodness, of culture and refinement,
of love of justice and zeal for truth, among them. As the latest
historian of the Papacy, Dr. Pastor, has wisely remarked, we
must take care not to paint the state of morals during the Italian
Renaissance blacker than it really was. Virtue goes quietly on
vi Preface
her way, while vice is noisy and uproarious j the criminal
forces himself upon the public attention, while the honest man
does his duty in silence, and no one hears of him. This is
especially the case with the women of the Renaissance. They
had their faults and their weaknesses, but the great majority
among them led pure and irreproachable lives, and trained their
children in the paths of truth and duty. Even Lucrezia Borgia,
although she may not have been altogether immaculate, wa<
not the foul creature that we once believed. And the more
closely we study these newly discovered documents, the more
we become convinced that this age produced some of the most
admirable types of womanhood that the world has ever seen.
When Castiglione painted his ideal woman in the pages of the
Cortigiano," he had no need to draw on his imagination.
Elizabeth Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino, and Isabella d'Este,
Marchioness of Mantua, were both of them women of great
intellect and stainless virtue, whose genuine love of art and
letters attracted the choicest spirits to their court, and exerted
the most beneficial influence on the thought of the day.
Isabella, whose vast correspondence with the foremost painters
and scholars of the age has been preserved almost intact,
was probably the most remarkable lady of the Renaissance.
The story of her long and eventful life a theme of absorbing
interest yet remains to be written. The present work is
devoted to the history of her younger sister, Beatrice, Duches*-"
of Milan, who, as the wife of Lodovico Sforza, reigned during
six years over the most splendid court of Italy. The charm
of her personality, the important part which she played in
political life at a critical moment of Italian history > her love
of music and poetry, and the fine taste which she inherited,
in common with every princess of the house of Este, all help
to make Beatrice singularly attractive, while the interest* which
she inspires is deepened by the pathos of her sudden and earlv
death.
If in Isabella we have the supreme representative of Renais-
sance culture in its highest and most intellectual phase, (.Beatrice
is the type of that new-found joy in life, that intoxicating
rapture in the actual sense of existence, that was thu heritage
Preface
Vll
of her generation, and found expression in the words of a
contemporary novelist, Matteo Bandello himself of Lombard
birth when with his last breath he bade his companions live
joyously, " Vivete lieti ! " j We see this bride of sixteen summers
flinging herself with passionate delight into every amusement,
singing gay songs with her courtiers, dancing and hunting
through the livelong day, outstripping all her companions in
the chase, and laughing in the face of danger. We see her
holding her court in the famous Castello of Porta Giovia or
in the summer palaces of Vigevano and Cussago, in these
golden days when Milan was called the, new Athens, when
Leonardo and Bramante decorated palaces - or arranged masque-
rades at the duke's bidding, when Gaspare Visconti wrote
sonnets in illuminated books, and Lorenzo da Pavia constructed
organs or viols as perfect and beautiful to see as to hear, for the
pleasure of the youthful duchess. Scholars and poets, painters
and writers, gallant soldiers and accomplished cavaliers, we see
them all at Beatrice's feet, striving how best they may gratify
her fancies and win her smiles. Young and old, they were
alike devoted to her service, from Galeazzo di Sanseverino,
the valiant captain who became her willing slave and chosen
companion, to Niccolo da Correggio, that all-accomplished gentle-
man who laid down his pen and sword to design elaborate
devices for his mistress's new gowns. We read her merry
letters to her husband and sister, letters sparkling with wit and
gaiety and overflowing with simple and natural affection. We
see her rejoicing with all a young mother's proud delight over
her first-born son, repeating, as mothers will, marvellous tales
of his size and growth, and framing tender phrases for his
infant lips. And we catch glimpses of her, too, in sadder moods,
mourning her mother's loss or wounded by neglect and unkind-
ness. W e note how keenly her proud spirit resents wrong and
injustice, and how in her turn she is not always careful of the
rights and feelings of her rivals. But whatever her faults and
mistakes may have been, she is always kindly and generous,
human and lovable. A year or two passes, and we see her,
royally arrayed in brocade and jewels, standing up in the great
council hall of Venice, to plead her husband's cause before the
vm
Preface
Doge and Senate. Later on we find her sharing her lord's
counsels in court and camp, receiving king and emperor at
Pavia or Vigevano, fascinating the susceptible heart of Charles
VIII. by her charms, and amazing Kaiser Maximilian by
her wisdom and judgment in afiairs of state. And then
suddenly the music and dancing, the feasting and travelling,
cease, and the richly coloured and animated pageant is brought
to an abrupt close. Beatrice dies, without a moment's warning,
in the flower of youth and beauty, and the young duchess is
borne to her grave in S. Maria delle Grazie amid the tears and
lamentations of all Milan. And with her death, the whole
Milanese state, that fabric which Lodovico Sforza had built
up at such infinite cost and pains, crumbles into ruin. Fortune,
which till that hour had smiled so kindly on the Moro and
had raised him to giddy heights of prosperity, now turned her
back upon him. In three short years he had lost everything
crown, home, and liberty and was left to drag out a miserable
existence in the dungeons of Berry and Tourainc.
/"And when Duchess Beatrice died," wrote the poet,
Vincenzo Calmeta, "everything fell into ruin, and that court,
which had been a joyous paradise, was changed into a black
Inferno."?
Then Milan and her people become a prey to the rude
outrages of French soldiery. Leonardo's groat horse was broken
in pieces by Gascon archers, and the Castello, " which had once
held the finest flower of the whole world, became," in Castig-
Hone's words, "a place of drinking-booths and dung-hills."
The treasures of art and beauty stored up within its walls were
destroyed by barbarous hands, and all that brilliant company
was dispersed and scattered abroad. Artists and poets, knights
and scholars Leonardo and Bramante, Galcazzo and Niccolo-
were driven out, and went their way each in a different direction,
to seek new homes and other patrons. But the memory of the
young duchess the Donna beata of Pistoja and Visconti's song
lived for many a year in the hearts of her loyal servants.
Castiglione enshrined her name in his immortal pages, Ariosto
celebrated her virtues in the cantos of his " Orlando Furioso,"
and far on in the new century, grey-headed scholars spoke of
Preface ix
her as u la piu zentil Donna d* Italia " the sweetest lady in all
Italy.
And to-day, as we pace the dim aisles of the great Certosa,
we may look on the marble effigy of Duchess Beatrice and see
the lovely face with the curling locks and child-like features
which the Lombard sculptor carved, and which still bears
witness to the love of Lodovico Sforza for his young wife.
$##**#
In conclusion, I must acknowledge how deeply I am
indebted to Signer Luzio, keeper of the Gonzaga archives at
Mantua, and to his able colleague, Signer Renier, for the assist-
ance which they have lent to my researches, as well as for the
help afforded by their own publications, in which many of
Isabella and Beatrice d'Este's most interesting letters have already
been given to the world. The State archives of Milan and
Mantua are the principal sources from which the information
contained in the present volume is drawn, and a list of the other
authorities which have been consulted is given below.
ITALIAN.
Archivio di Stato di Mvlano, Beatrice d^Este, Potenze estere, etc.
Archivio Gonzaga Mantova, Copia lettera d" 'Isabella d^Este, etc.
A. Luzio and R. Renier, Delle Relaztoni di Isabella d*Este Gonzaga con
Ludovico and Beatrice Sforxa. Archivio Storico lombardo, xvii.
T. Chulcus, Residua. Milauo, 1644.
Archivio Storico Italiano, serie i, vol. iii. j Cronache Milanesi di G. A.
Prato, G. P. Cagnola, G. M. Burigozzo, etc. 5 Serie iii. vol. xii.,
Serie v. vol, vi., Serie vii. vol. i.
L. A. Muratori, Italicarum Rerum Scriptores, vol. xxiv,
Jb\ Muralti, Annalia.
Paolo Giovio, Storia di suoi Tempi,
Marino Samito, Diaru, De Bello Gattico, etc.
Bernardino Corio, Historic Milanese.
Rosmini, Storia di Mdano.
Fn Guiccardini, Storia cfltalia. Rendered into English by G. Fenton.
16x8.
F, Frizzi, Storia di Ftrrara, vols. iv. and v,
P. Verri, Storia di Milano.
x Preface
Baldassarre Castiglione, Letter*. Edizione SerosA,
R. Renier, Sonettt di Pistcia.
Giomale Storico 'di Letteratura Italiano, vols. v. and vL
Archivio Storico dell' Arte, vols. i. and ii.
Renier, Ganzomere di Ntccolo da Correggio.
A. Campo Ghisolfo, Storia delle Duckesse di Milano. 154*.
Rivista Storica Mantovana.
Carlo Magenta, I Pisconti e Sforza nel CasteUo di Pa<via.
F. Calvi, Bianca Maria Sforza Fisconti, Regina dei &wKam % imperatnce A
Gerinania*
Marchese d'Adda, Indagini sulla Liberia ftscoxtt Sforzesca del Castillo 4
Pwvia.
Malipiero, Annali Vemti.
Romanini, Storia di yenexta y vols. v. and vi.
Imhoff, Historza Genealogica Italia.
G. Uzielli, Ricerche intorno a Leonardo da Find.
G, UzielH, Leonardo da Find e 'Tre Gentil donne Milanesi.
G. d'Adda, Lodovico Maria Sforza.
L. Beltrami, J7 Castello di Milano, sotto il dominio degli Sforza. 14.50-15 35*
L. Beltrami, Bramante poeta.
Padre Pino, Storia genuina del Cenacolo. 1796.
B. BelHncioni, Le Rime annotate da P. Panjani. Bologna.
G. Tiraboschi, Storia della Letteratura Italiana> vols. vi. and vii,
P. Molmcnti, La Pita Privata di Venexia+
A. Rusconi, Lodovico il Moro a No*uara.
F. Gabotto, Girolamo Tuttavitta.
G. L. Calvi, Notice dei principal*. Professori di Belle Arti cfe fioriwanQ in
Milano.
G. Mongeri, VArte in Milano.
C* Amoretti, Memorie Storiche sulla <vtta gli studi e le opere di Leonardo da
Iftnci.
Brigola, Annali della Fabbrica del Dtiomo di Milano.
Carlo dell" 1 Acqua, Loreftsso Gus fiasco di Pavia.
P, Pasolini, Caterina Sforza.
FRENCH.
Mamiscrits Italiens, Affaires tCetat. Bibliothcque Nattonalc.
Pasquier le Motne, MS. La Conquete du Duchc de Milan. Btbliotheqtii
Nationale.
Jean d'Atiton, Chroniques de Louis XIL Edition publiee pour la Socictt
de THistoire de Prance, par R. de Manlde La Clavicrc, 4. volt.
Philippe dc Commines, Memires* Nouvelle edition publiee par la Socictc d<
THistoire de France.
Preface xi
Vicomtt Delaborde, L" Expedition de Charles Fill, en Italie.
M. Eugene Muntz, La Renaissance en Italie et en France a rtpoque de Charles
mi.
M. Eugene Miintz, Musee du Capitole.
M. Eugene Muntz, Leonardo da Find,
C. de Cherrier, Histoire de Charles 7111, Roi de France, fapres des document*
diplomatique* inedits
Louis Pelissier, Louis XIL et Lodwico Sforza. Recherches dans les Archivea
Italiennes.
Louis Pelissier, Notes Italiennes.
Louis Pelissier, Les amies de Lodowico Sforxa. (Revue historique.)
Edmond Gaultier, Etude historique sur Loches.
Paravicini, Architecture de la Renaissance en Italie.
Aldo Manuzio, Lettres et Documents. Aimand Baschet.
Gazette des Beaux Arts, vol. xvi.
GERMAN*
Dr. Ludwig Pastor, Geschichte der Papste 9 vols. v. and vi.
Jacob Burckhardt, Die Cultur der Renaissance in Italien.
Dr. W. Bode, Dr. Miiller-Walde, Jahrbuch der K. Preuss. Kunstsammluttgen*
Volt., ix., x., andxviii.
K. Kindt, Die Katastrophe Lodovico Moro in Novar^.
Dr. Muller-Walde, Leonardo da Find.
ENGLISH.
History of the Papacy 9 by Dr. Creighton, Bishop ot London Vols. iv, and v.
The End of the Middle Agvs, by Madame James Darme tester*
77a? Renaissance in Italy. J. A. Symonds.
Old Tuuraitie. T. Coo!
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
14.71-1480
PAGE
The Castello of Ferrara The House of Este Accession of Duke
Ercole I. His marriage to Leonora of Aragon Birth of Isabella
and Beatrice d'Este Plot of Niccolo d'Este Visit of Leonora to
Naples The court of King Ferrante Betrothal of Beatrice d'Este
to Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Bari And of Isabella d'Este to
Francesco Gonzaga i
CHAPTER II
14.51-1582
Lodovico Sforza Known as II Moro His birth and childhood Murder
of Duke Galeazzo Maria Regency of Duchess Bona Exile of the
Sforza brothers Lodovico at Pisa His invasion of Lombardy and
return to Milan Death of Cecco Simonetta Flight of Duchess
Bona Lodovico Regent of Ivlilan if
CHAPTER III
14821490
VWars of Venice and Ferrara Invasion of Ferrara Lodovico Sforza and
v Alfonso of Calabria come to the help of Ercole d'Este Peace of
Bagnolo Prosperity of Ferrara, and cultivation of art and leani-
ng at Eroole's court Gtiarino and Aldo Manuzio Strozzi
md Boiardo Architecture and painting The frescoes of the
SchtfoxLoia Music and the drama Education of Isabella and
Beatrice d'Este . , . 37
xiii
xiv Contents
CHAPTER IV
1485-1490-
PAGE
Isabella cTEste Lodovico Sforza delays his wedding Plot against his
life Submission of Genoa Duke Gian Galeazzo The Sanseverini
brothers Messer Galeazzo made Captain-General of the Milanese
armies His marriage to Bianca Sforza Marriage of Gian Galeazzo
to Isabella of Aragor* Wedding festivities at Milan Lodovico
draws up his marriage contract with Beatrice d'Este ft * fc 40
CHAPTER V
1490-1491
Marriage of Isabella d'Este Lodovico puts off his wedding Cecilia
CJallerani Her portrait by Leonardo da Vinci 'Mission of Galeazzo
Visconti to Ferrara Preparations for Beatrice's wedding Cristo-
foro Romanovs bust Duchess Leonora and her daughters travel to
Piacenza and Pavia Their reception at Pavia by Lodovico , $ c
CHAPTER VI
1491
City and University of Pavia Duomo and Castello The library of the
Castello Wedding of Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Ban, and Beatrice
d'Este, in the chapel of the Castello of Pavia Galeazzo di San
Severino and Orlando Reception of the bride in Milan Tourna-
ments and festivities at the Castello Visit of Duchess Leonora to
the Certosa of Pavia ... ...*<>.* 60
CHAPTER VII
1491
Beatrice Duchess of Ban Her popularity at the court of Milan
Giangaleazzo and Isabella 01 Aragon Lodovico's first impressions
His growing affection for his wife His letters to Isabella ci'Este
Hunting and fishing parties Cussago and Vigevano Contro-
versy on Orlando and Rinaldo Bellincioni's sonnetb * . * . 75
CHAPTER VIII
1491
Relations between Lodovico and Beatrice Cecilia Gallerani Birth of
her son Cesare Her marriage to Count Bergamini Beatrice at
Contents xv
PAGE
Villa Nova and Vigevano The Sforzescaand Pecorara Lodovico's
system of irrigation in the Lomellina Leonardo at Vigevano
Hunting-parties ind country life Letters to Isabella d'Este , 88
CHAPTER IX
2491-1^92
Isabella of Aragon and Beatrice cTEste Ambrogio Borgognone and
Giovanni Antonio Amadeo Cristoforo Romano and his works at
Pavia and Cremona The Certosa of Pavia Illness of Beatrice
Her journey to Genoa Correspondence between Isabella and
Lodovico Sforza Visit of the Marquis of Mantua to Milan . * 99
CHAPTER X
1491
Claims of Charles VIII. to Naples Of the Duke of Orleans to Milan
Intrigues of the Venetian Senate, of Pope Innocent VIII., and of
Ferrante and Alfonso of Naples Visit of the French ambassadors
to Milan Treasures of the Castello Jewels of Lodovico Sforza
Isabella of Aragon and her father An embassy to the French
court pioposed Secret instructions of the Count of Caiazzo fete
at Vigevano .Tournament of Pavia .. - 4 u -..,* uu&
CHAPTER XI
1492
Intellectual and artistic revival in Lombardy Lodovico and his secre-
taries Building of the new University of Pavia Reforms and
extension of the University The library of the Castello remodelled
Poliziano and Merula Lodovico founds new schools at Milan
Equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza Leonardo*^ paintings at
Milan Lodovico as a patron of art and learning .*, $35
CHAPTER XIJ
1492
Beatrice d'Este as a patron of learning and poetry Vincenzo Calmeta,
her secretary Serafino d' Aquila Rivalry of Lombard and Tuscan
poets Gaspare Visconti's works Poetic jousts with Bramante
Niccolo di Correggio and other poets Dramatic art and music at
the court of Milan Gafruri and Testagrossa Lorenzo Gusnasco
of Pavia *4-i
xvi Contents
CHAPTER XIII
149*
CAGX
Visit of Duke Ercole to Milan, and of Isabella d'Este Election of Pope
Alexander VI. Bribery of the Cardinals Influence of Ascanio
Sforza over the new Pope, and satisfaction of Lodovico ^Hunting-
parties at Pavia and Vigevano Fetes at Milan Visit of Isabella to
Genoa Lodovico's letters Piero de Medici King Ferrante's
jealousy of the alliance between Rome and Milan ...... 155
CHAPTER XIV
*493
Birth of Beatrice's first-born son The Duchess of Ferrara at Milan
Fetes and rejoicings at court and in the Castello The court moves
to Vigevano Beatrice's wardrobe Her son's portrait Letters to
her mother and sister Lodovico's plans for a visit to Ferrara and
Venice .................... 166
CHAPTER XV
H93
Lodovico's ambitious designs Isabella of Aragon appeals to her father
Breach between Naples and Milan Alliance between the Pope,
Venice, and Milan proclaimed Mission of Erasmo Brasca to the
king of the Romans Journey of Lodovico and Beatrice to Ferrara
Fetes and tournaments Visit to Belrignardo, and return of
Lodovico to Milan Arrival of Belgiojoso from France . . . 176
CHAPTER XVI
1493
Visit of Beatrice and her mother to Venice Letters of Lodovico to hi*
wife Reception of the duchesses by the doge at S. C lenient e
Their triumphal entry Procession and fetes in the Grand Canal
Letter of Beatrice to her husband The palace of the Dukes of
Ferrara in Venice ,*,.*** 185
CHAPTER XVII
fetes at Venice in honour of the Duchess of Ferrara and Duchess of
Bari Beatrice d'Este has an audience with the doge and Signory
Explains Lodovico's position and his treaties with France and
Contents xvii
PAGE
Germany Visit to St. Mark's and the Treasury Fete in the ducal
palace The Duchess visits the Great Council Takes leave of the
doge Return to Ferrara . * . 195
CHAPTER XVIII
1493
Return of Beatrice to Milan Visit of Duke Ercole and Alfonso to
Pavia Death of Duchess Leonora Beatrice's camora and Niccolo
da CorTeggio'sJaatasza dti vinci Marriage of Bianca Maria Sforza
to Maximilian, King of the Romans, celebrated at Milan Letter
of Beatrice to Isabella d'Este Wedding fetes and journey of the
bride to Innsbruck Maximilian's relations with his wife Bianca's
future life . **.<>. 205
CHAPTER XIX
1493-1494.
State of political affairs in Italy Vacillating policy of Lodovico Sforza
Death of King Ferrante of Naples Alliance between his suc-
cessor Alfonso and Pope Alexander VI. iodovico urges Charles
VIII. to invade Naples Sends Galeazzo di Sanseverino to Lyons
Cardinal della Rovere's flight from Rome Alfonso of Naples
declares war Beatrice of Vigevano The Gonzagas and the Moro
Duchess Isabella and her husband at Pavia 221
CHAPTER XX
14.94
Arrival of the Duke of Orleans at Asti The Neapolitan fleet sent
against Genoa The forces of Naples repulsed at Rapallo Charles
VIII. at Asti Beatrice d'Este entertains him at Annona The
king's illness His visit to Vigevano and Pavia His interview
with the Duke and Duchess of Milan Last illness and death of
Giangaleazzo Sforza Lodovico proclaimed Duke at Milan
Mission of Maffeo Pirovano to Maximilian 331
CHAPTER XXI
1494
Lodovico joins Charles VIII. at Sarzana Suspicious rumours as to ihe
late duke's death Piero de" Medici surrenders the six fortresses of
Tuscany to Charles VIII. Lodovico retires in disgust from the
camp Congratulations of all the Italian States on his accession
Contents
Grief of Duchess Isabella Her return to Milan Mission of Maffeo
Pirovano to Antwerp His interviews with Maximilian and Bianca
^-Letter to Lodovico to the Bishop of Brixen Charles VIII.
enters Rome His treaty with Alexander VI. and departure for
Naples . . . ,......... 2 * 6
CHAPTER XXII
14-95
Visit of Isabella d'Este to Milan Biith of Beatrice's son, Francesco
Sfon*F/tes and comedies at the Milanese Court Works of Leo-
nardo and of Lorenzo di Pavia Mission of Caradosso to Florence
and Rome in search of antiquesFall of Naples Entry of King
Charles VIII. and flight of Ferrante IL Consternation in Milan-
Departure of Isabella d'Este ,.<, a$8
CHAPTER XXIII
1495
Proclamation of the new league against France at Venice Charles
VIII. at Naples Demoialization of the victors Charles leaves
Naples and returns to Rome The Duke of Orleans refuses to give
U p Asti Arrival of the imperial ambassadors at Milan Lodovico
presented with the ducal insignia Fetes in the Castello The
Duke of Orleans seizes Novaia Terror of Lodovico Battle of
Fornovo Victory claimed by both parties The French reach
Asti Isabella's trophies restored by Beatrice .,,.. 66
CHAPTER XXIV
1495
Ferrante II. recovers Naples Siege of Novara by the army of the
League Review of the army by the Duke and Duchess of Milan
Charles VIII. visits Turin and comes to Vercelli Negotiations
for peace Lodovico and Beatrice at the camp Treaty of Vercelli
concluded between France and Milan Jealousy of the other
powers Commines at Vigevano Zenale's altar-piece in the
Brera . . . ^ <,.. 177
CHAPTER XXV
1496
The war of Pisa Venice defends the liberties of Pisa against Florence
Lodovico invites Maximilian to enter Italy and succour the
Pisans The Duke and Duchess of Milan go to meet the emperor
Contents xix
PAGE
at Bormio Maximilian crosses the Alps and comes to Vigevano
His interview with the Venetian envoys His expedition to
Pisa .......... 387
CHAPTER XXVI
1496
Isabella d'Este joins her husband in Naples Works of Bramante and
Leonardo in the Castello of Milan The Cenacolo Lodovico
sends for Perugmo His passion for Lucrezia Crivelli Grief
of Beatrice Death of Bianca Sforza The Emperor Maximilian
at Pisa The Duke and Duchess return to Milan Last days and
sudden death of Beatrice d'Este <,. 398
CHAPTER XXVII
1497
Grief ot the Duke of Milan His letters to Mantua and Pavia Inter-
view with Costabili Funeral of Duchess Beatrice Mourning of
her husband Letters of the Emperor Maximilian and Chiara
Gonzaga Tomb of Beatrice in Santa Maria delle Grazie Leo-
nardo's CenacolOj and portraits of the duke and duchess Lucrezia
Crivelli ..*.....,.....,... 307
CHAPTER XXVIII
1497-1498
The Marquis of Mantua dismissed by the Venetians He incurs Dukt
Lodovico's displeasure by his intrigues Isabella d'Este*s corre-
spondence with the Duke of Milan Leonardo in the Castello
Death of Charles VIII. Visit of Lodovico to Mantua Francesco
Gonzaga appointed captain of the imperial forces Isabella of
Aragon and Isabella d'Este Chiara Gonzaga and Caterina Sforza
Lodovico's will 3*2
CHAPTER XXIX
1499
Treaty of Blois Alliance between France, Venice, and the Borgias
Lodovico appeals to Maximilian His gift to Leonardo and letter
to the Certosa The French and the Venetians invade the
Milanese Desertion of Gonzaga and treachery of Milanese captains
xx Contents
PAGE
Loss of Alessandria Panic and flight of Duke Lodovico
Surrender of Pavia and Milan to the French Treachery of Ber-
nardino da Corte and surrender of the Castello Triumphal entry
of Louis XII ......... 337
CHAPTER XXX
1499-1500
Louis XII. in Milan Hatred of the French rule Return of Duke
Lodovico His march to Como and triumphal entry into Milan
Trivulzio and the French retire to Mortara Surrendei of the
Castello of Milan, of Pavia and Novara, to the Moro His want
of men and money Arrival of La Tremomlle's army Lodovico
besieged in Novara and betrayed to the French king by the Swiss
Rejoicings at Rome and Venice Triumph of the Borgias
Sufferings of the Milanese Leonardo's letter ..,... 351
CHAPTER XXXI
1500-1508
Lodovico Sforza enters Lyons as a captive His imprisonment at Pierre
Encise and Lys Saint-Georges Laments over II Moro in the
popular poetry of France and Italy Efforts of the Emperor
Maximilian to obtain his release Ascanio and Ermes Sforza
released Lodovico removed to Loches Paolo Giovio's account of
his captivity His attempt to escape Dungeon at Loches Death
of Lodovico Sforza His burial in S, Maria delle Grazie . 367
CHAPTER XXXII
1500-1564
The Milanese exiles at Innsbruck Galeazzo di Sanseverino becomes
Grand Ecuyer of France Is slain at Pavia- Maximilian Sforza
made Duke of Milan in 1512 Forced to abdicate by Francis I. in
1515 -Reign of Francesco Sforza Wars of France and Germany
Siege of Milan by the Imperialists Duke Francesco restored by
Charles V. -His marriage and death in 1535- Removal of
Lodovico and Beatrice's effigies to the Certosa * 75
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
BIANCA SFORZA, BY AMBROGIO DE PREDIS . Frontispiece
From a photograph by SIGNOR D, ANDERSON, of Rome,
SFORZA MS. ILLUMINATED ....... c Tofafep. 8$
From a prwat& photograph.
ALTAR-PIECE, ASCRIBED TO ZENALE, WITH PORTRAITS OF LODOVICO
SFOR'/A, BEATRICE D'ESTE AND THEIR SONS . . To face p. 284
From a photograph by SIGNOR D. ANDERSON, of Rome.
GALEAZZO DI SANSEVERINO, BY AMBROGIO DE PREDIS To face p. 304
From u ptotogtapk by SICNOP D. ANDERSON, of Rome.
TOMB OF LODOVJCO SFORZA AND BEATRICE D'ESTB IN THE
CERTOSA OF PAVIA Tofaep. 37$
From a photograph by FRATELLI AUNARJ, of Florence,
BEATRICE D'ESTE
CHAPTER I
The Castello of Ferrara The House of Este Accession of Duke Ercole
I. His marriage to Leonora of Aragon Birth of Isabella and Beatrice
cTEste Plot of Niccolo cTEste Visit of Leonora to Naples The court
of King Ferrante Betrothal of Beatrice cTEste to Lodovico Sforza, Duke
of Bari And of Isabella d'Este to Francesco Gonzaga.
1471-1480
IN the heart of old Ferrara stands the Castello of the Este
princes. All the great story of the past, all the romance of
medieval chivalry, seems to live again in that picturesque, irre-
gular pile with the crenellated towers and dusky red-brick walkj,
overhanging the sleepy waters of the ancient moat. The song
of Boiardo and Ariosto still lingers in the air about the ruddy
pinnacles ; the spacious courts and broad piazza recall the tour-
naments and pageants of olden time. Once more the sound
of clanging trumpets or merry hunting-horn awakes the echoes,
as the joyous train of lords and ladies sweep out through the
castle gates in the summer morning ; once more, under vaulted
loggias and high-arched balconies, we see the courtly scholar
bending earnestly over some classic page, or catch the voice of
high-born maiden singing Petrarch's sonnets to her lute.
St. George was the champion of Ferrara and the patron saint of
the house of Este. There year by year his festival was celebrated
with great rejoicings, and vast crowds thronged the piazza before
the Castello to see the famous races for the pallium. It is St.
George who rides full tilt at the dragon In the rude sculptures
I B
2 Beatrice d'Este
on the portal of the Romanesque Cathedral hard by ; it is the
same warrior-saint who, in his gleaming armour, looks down from
the painted fresco above the portcullis of the castle drawbridge.
And all the masters who worked for the Este dukes, whether they
were men of native or foreign birth Vittore Pisanello and Jacopo
Bellini, Cosimo Tura and Dosso Dossi took delight in the old
story, and painted the legend of St. George and Princess Sabra
in the frescoes or altar-pieces with which they adorned the
churches and castle halls.
The Estes, who took St. George for their patron, and fought
and died under his banner, were themselves a chivalrous and
splendour-loving race, ever ready to ride out in quest of fresh
adventure in the chase or battle-field. Men and women alike
were renowned, even among the princely houses of Italy in
Renaissance time, for their rare culture and genuine love of art
and letters. And they were justly proud of their ancient lineage
and of the love and loyalty which their subjects bore them. The
Sforzas of Milan, the Medici of Florence, the Riarios or the
Delia Roveres, were but low-born upstarts by the side of this
illustrious race which had reigned on the banks of the Po during
the last two hundred years. In spite of wars and bloodshed, in
spite of occasional conspiracies and tumults, chiefly stirred up
by members of the reigning family, the people of Ferrara loved
their rulers well, and never showed any wish to change the
house of Este for another. The citizens took a personal interest
in their own duke and duchess and in all that belonged to them,
and chronicled their doings with minute attention. They shared
their sorrows and rejoiced in their joys, they lamented their
departure and hailed their return with acclamation, they followed
the fortunes of their children with keen interest, and welcomed
the return of the youthful bride with acclamations, or wept bitter
tears over her untimely end.
Of all the Estes who held sway at Ferrara, the most illus-
trious and most beloved was Duke Ercole L, the father of
Beatrice, During the thirty-four years that he reigned in
Ferrara, the duchy enjoyed a degree of material prosperity
which it had never attained before, and rose to the foremost
rank among the states of North Italy. And in the troubled
Beatrice d'Este 3
times of the next century, his people looked back on the days
of Duke Ercole and his good duchess as the golden age of
Ferrara. After the death of his father, the able and learned
Niccolo III, who first established his throne on sure and safe
foundations, Ercole's two elder half-brothers, Leonello and Borso,
reigned in succession over Ferrara, and kept up the proud tradi-
tions of the house of Este, both in war and peace. Both were
bastards, but in the Este family this was never held to be a bar
to the succession. In Italy," as Commines wrote, "they make
little difference between legitimate and illegitimate children."
3ut when the last of the two, Duke Borso, died on the 2jth
f May, 1471, of malarial fever caught on his journey to Rome,
o receive the investiture of his duchy from the Pope, Niccolo's
Mest legitimate son Ercole successfully asserted his claim to the
irone, and entered peacefully upon his heritage. Two years
. iter, the next duke, who was already thirty-eight years of age,
* btained the hand of Leonora of Aragon, daughter of Ferrante,
1 ling of Naples, and sent his brother Sigismondoat the head of a
r blendid retinue to bring home his royal bride. After a visit to
Rome ? where Pope Sixtus IV. entertained her at a series of
magnificent banquets and theatrical representations, the young
duchess entered Ferrara in state. On a bright June morning she
rode through the streets in a robe glittering with jewels, with a
stately canopy over her head and a gold crown on her flowing
hair. Latin orations, orchestral music, and theatrical displays,
for which Ferrara was already famous, greeted the bridal procession
at every point. The houses were hung with tapestries and cloth
of gold, avenues of flowering shrubs were planted along the
broad white streets, and ringing shouts greeted the coming of
the fair princess who was to make her home in Ferrara. The
happy event was commemorated by a noble medal, designed by
the Mantuan Sperandio, the most illustrious of a school of
medallists employed at Ferrara in Duke Borso's time, while
Leonora's refined features and expressive face are preserved in a
well-known bas-relief, now in Paris. Ercole and his bride took
up their abode in the Este palace, a stately Renaissance structure
opposite the old Lombard Duomo, a few steps from the Castello,
with which it was connected by a covered passage.
4 Beatrice d'Este
The charm and goodness of the young duchess soon w
the heart of her subjects. From the first she entered cage
into Ercole's schemes for ordering his capital and encouragi
art, and brought a new and gentler influence to bear on
society of her husband's court. There, too, she found a conge,
spirit in the duke's accomplished sister, Bianca, that Virgir
Este, who was the subject of Tito Strozzi's impassioned eulo i
and whose Latin and Greek prose excited the admiration of 1*
her contemporaries. This cultivated princess had been orii -
ally betrothed to the eldest son of Federigo, Duke of Urb < *
but his early death put an end to these hopes, and in i #
she married Galeotto della Mirandola, a prince of the hous 01
Carpi, who lived at Ferrara some years, and afterwards ent '&
the service of Lodovico Sforza and served as captain in his i '"*
On the 1 8th of May, 1 474, the duchess gave birth to a daug It
who received the name of Isabella, always a favourite in ;e
house of Aragon, and was destined to become the most o ; e
brated lady of the Renaissance. A year later, on the agth of u & e
1475, a second daughter saw the light. Her appearance, how.. * ; p s
proved no cause of rejoicing, as we learn from the contemporary
:hronicle published by Muratori
" A daughter was born this day to Duke Ercole, and received
:he name of Beatrice, being the child of Madonna Leonora his
wife. And there were no rejoicings, because every one wished
'or a boy."
No one in Ferrara then dreamt that the babe who received
10 cold a welcome would one day reign over the Milanese, as the
firife of Lodovico Sforza, the most powerful of Italian princes,
md would herself be remembered by posterity as " la piu zentil
lonna in Italia " the sweetest lady in all Italy, At least the
name bestowed upon her was a good omen. She was called
Beatrice after two favourite relatives of her parents. One of
these was Leonora's only sister, Beatrice of Aragon, who in
that same year passed through Ferrara on her way to join her
husband, Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, and whose
presence, we are told by the diarist, gave great pleasure to both
duke and duchess. The other Beatrice was Ercole's half-
sister, the elder daughter of Niccoli III., who had long been
Beatrice d'Este 5
the ornament of her father's court, when she had been
known as the Queen of Feasts, and it had become a common
proverb that to see Madonna Beatrice dance was to find Paradise
upon earth. In 1448, at the age of twenty-one, this brilliant lady
had wedded Borso da Correggio, a brother of the reigning prince
of that city, and, after her first husband's early death, had become
the wife of Tristan Sforza, an illegitimate son of the great Con-
dottiere Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan. Although her home
was now in Lombardy, Beatrice d'Este remained on intimate
terms with her own family, and her son Niccolo da Correggio
was known as the handsomest and most accomplished cavalier at
the court of Ferrara. He had accompanied his uncle Duke
Borso on his journey to Rome, and had been one of the escort
sent to conduct Duchess Leonora from Naples.
In the summer of the year following Beatrice's birth, the
hopes of the loyal Ferrarese were at length fulfilled, and a son
was born to the duke and duchess on the aist of July, 1476.
This time the citizens abandoned themselves to demonstrations of
enthusiastic delight. The bells were rung and the shops closed
during three whole days, and the child was baptized with great
pomp in the Chapel of the Vescovado, close to the Duomo. The
infant received the name of Alfonso, after his grandfather, the
great King of Naples, and a "beautiful fihe," to quote one
chronicler's words, " was held in honour of the auspicious event
in the Sala Grande of the Schifanoia Villa." On this occasion a
concert was given by a hundred trumpeters, pipers, and tam-
bourine-players in the frescoed hall of this favourite summer
palace, and a sumptuous banquet was prepared after the fashion of
the times, with an immense number of confetti, representing lords
and ladies, animals, trees, and castles, all made of gilt and coloured
sugar, which our friend the diarist tells us were carried off or
eaten by the people as soon as the doors were opened.
But a few days afterwards, while Duke Ercole was away
from Ferrara, his wife was surprised by a sudden rising, the
result of a deep-laid conspiracy, secretly planned by his nephew,
Niccolo", a bastard son of Leonello d'Este. Niccolo's first
endeavour was to seize on the person of the duchess and her
young children, an attempt which almost proved successful,
6 Beatrice cTEste
but was fortunately defeated by Leonora's own courage and
presence of mind. The palace was already surrounded by armed
men, when the alarm reached the ears of the duchess, and, spring-
ing out of bed with her infant son in her arms, followed by her
two little daughters and a few faithful servants, she fled by the
covered way to the Castello. Hardly had she left her room, when
the conspirators rushed in and sacked the palace, killing all who
tried to offer resistance. The people of Ferrara, however, were
loyal to their beloved duke and duchess. After a few days of
anxious suspense, Ercole returned, and soon quelled the tumult
and restored order in the city. That evening he appeared on the
balcony of the Castello, and publicly embraced his wife and
children amid the shouts and applause of the whole city. The
next day the whole ducal family went in solemn procession to
the Cathedral, and there gave public thanks for their marvellous
deliverance. A terrible list of cruel reprisals followed upon this
rebellion, and Niccolo d'Este himself, with two hundred of his
partisans, were put to death after the bloody fashion of the times.
A year later, when the danger was over and tranquillity had
been completely restored, Leonora and her two little daughters
set out for Naples, under the escort of Niccolo da Correggio,
to be present at her father King Ferrante's second marriage
with the young Princess Joan of Aragon, a sister of Ferdinand
the Catholic. The duchess and her children travelled by
land to Pisa, where galleys were waiting to conduct them to
Naples, and reached her father's court on the 1st of June, 1477.
Here Leonora spent the next four months, and in September,
gave birth to a second son, who was named Ferrante, after his
royal grandfather. But soon news reached Naples that war had
broken out in Northern Italy, and that Duke Ercole had been
chosen Captain-general of the Florentine armies* In his absence
the presence of .the duchess was absolutely necessary at Ferrara,
and early in November Leonora left Naples and hastened home
to take up the reins of government and administer the state in
her lord's stead. She took her elder daughter Isabella with her,
but left her new-born son at Naples, together with his little sister
Beatrice, from whom the old King Ferrante refused to part This
bright-eyed child, who had won her grandfather's affections at this
Beatrice d'Este 7
early age, remained at Naples for the next eight years, and grew
up in the royal palace on the terraced steps of that enchanted
shore, where even then Sannazzaro was dreaming of Arcadia,
and where Lorenzo de' Medici loved to talk over books and
poetry with his learned friend the Duchess Ippolita. Beatrice
was too young to realize ' the rare degree of culture which had
made Alfonso's and Ferrante's court the favourite abode of the
Greek and Latin scholars of the age, too innocent to be aware of
the dark deeds which threw a shadow over these sunny regions,
where the strange medley of luxury and vice, of refinement and
cruelty, recalled the days of Imperial Rome. But the balmy
breath of these Southern climes, the soft luxuriant spell of blue
seas and groves of palm and cassia, sank deep into the child's being,
and something of the fire and passion, the mirth and gaiety, of
the dwellers in this delicious land passed into her soul, and
helped to mould her nature during these years that she spent far
from mother and sister at King Ferrante's court.
In these early days many personages with whom she was to
be closely associated in after-years were living at Naples. There
were scholars and poets whom she was to meet again in Milan
at her husband's court, and who would be glad to remind her
that they had known her as a child in her grandfather's palace.
There ^vas Pontano, the founder of the Academy of Naples*
who wa)s busy writing his Latin eclogues on the myrtle
bowers 6f Baiae and the orange groves of Sorrento. There
was her aunt, the accomplished Ippolita Sforza, Duchess of
Calabria, who had learnt Greek of the great teacher Lascaris
in her young days at Milan, and whose wedding had brought
the magnificent Lorenzo to the court of the Sforzas. And
for playmates the little Beatrice had Ippolita's children : the
boy Ferrante, whose chivalrous nature endeared him to his
Este cousins, even when their husbands joined with the French
invaders to drive him from his father's throne ; and the girl
Isabella, who was already affianced to the young Duke Gian-
galeazzo, who was in future years to become her companion
and rival at the court of Milan. Here, too, in the summer
of 1479, came a new visitor in the shape of Duchess Ippolita's
brother, Lodovico Sforza, surnamed // Moro y himself the
8 Beatrice d'Este
younger son of the great Duke Francesco. On his elder
brother Sforza's death, the King of Naples had invested him
with the duchy of Ban, and now he promised him men and
money with which to assert his claims against his sister-in-law,
the widowed Duchess Bona and the minions who had driven him
and his brothers out of their native land. In June, 1477, only a
few days after Leonora and her children left Ferrara, the exiled
prince had arrived there on his way to Pisa, and had been
courteously entertained by Duke Ercole in the Schifanoia Palace.
Since then he had spent two dreary years in exile at Pisa,
fretting out his heart in his enforced idleness, and pining for the
hour of release. That hour was now at hand. Before the end of
the year, Lodovico Sforza had, by a succession of bold manoeuvres,
driven out his rivals and was virtually supreme in Milan. The
first step which the new regent took was to ally himself wit 1
the Duke of Ferrara. The houses of Sforza and Este had alwa)
been on friendly terms, and Ercole's father Niccolo had* presenter
Francesco Sforza with a famous diamond in acknowledgment c
the services rendered him by the great Condottiere. Whe
Francesco's son and successor, Duke Galeazzo Maria, w^
murdered in 1476, his widow, Duchess Bona, had renewed the
old alliance with Ferrara, and a marriage had been arranged
between her infant daughter Anna Sforza and Duke :Ercole's
new-born son and heir Alfonso. In May, 1477, this Betrothal
was proclaimed in Milan, and a fortnight later the nuptial con-
tract was signed at Ferrara. The union of the two houses was
celebrated by solemn processions and thanksgivings throughout
the duchy, and the infant bridegroom was carried in the arms of
his chamberlain to meet the Milanese ambassador, who appeared
on behalf of the little three-year-old bride. Seven years after-
wards, Duchess Leonora sent a magnificent doll with a trousseau
of clothes designed by the best artists in Ferrara, as a gift to the
little daughter-in-law whom she had not yet seen.
In 1480, Lodovico Sforza formally asked Ercole to give him
the hand of his elder daughter Isabella, then a child of six.
Lodovico himself was twenty-nine, and besides being a man of
remarkable abilities and singularly handsome presence, had the
reputation of being the richest prince in Italy, Duke Ercole
Beatrice d'Este 9
further saw the great importance of strengthening the alliance
with Milan at a time when Ferrara was again threatened by her
hereditary enemies, the Pope and Venice. Unfortunately, hk
youthful daughter had already been sought in marriage by
Federico, Marquis of Mantua, on behalf of his elder son,
Giovanni Francesco ; and Ercole, unwilling to offend so near
a neighbour, and yet reluctant to lose the chance of a second
desirable alliance, offered Lodovico Sforza the hand of his
younger daughter, Beatrice. The Duke of Bari made no
objection to this arrangement, and on St. George's Day, Ercole
addressed the following letter to his old ally, Marquis Federico : _
** MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LORD AND DEAREST BROTHER,
"This is to inform you that the most illustrious
Madonna Duchess of Milan and His Illustrious Highness
Lodovico Sforza have sent their ambassador, M. Gabriele Tassino,
to ask for our daughter Madonna Isabella on behalf of Signer
Lodovico. We have replied that to our regret this marriage was
no longer possible, since we had already entered into negociations
on the subject with your Highness and your eldest son. But
since we have another daughter at Naples, who is only about a
yey younger, and who has been adopted by his Majesty the King
of Naples as his own child, we have written to acquaint His
Serene Majesty with the wish of these illustrious Persons, and
have asked him if he will consent to accept the said Signer
Lodovico as his kinsman, since without his leave we were unable
to dispose of our daughter Beatrice's hand. The said Persons
having expressed themselves as well content with the proceeding,
out of respect for the King's Majesty he has now declared his
approval of this marriage, to which we have accordingly signified
our consent. We are sure that you will rejoice with us, seeing
the close union and alliance that has long existed between us, and
beg your Illustrious Highness to keep the matter secret for the
present.
"HERCULES, Dux FERR., ETC.*
Ferrary %ird April, 1480."
t is curious to reflect on the possible changes in the course
* Luzio-Remer in Archivio Storico Lorabardo, xvii. 77.
io Beatrice d'Este
of events in Italian history during the next thirty years, if
Lodovico Sforza's proposals had reached Ferrara a few months
earlier, and Isabella d'Este, instead of her sister Beatrice, had
become his wife. Would the rare prudence and self-control of
the elder princess have led her to play a different part in the
difficult circumstances which surrounded her position at the court
of Milan as the Moro's wife? Would Isabella's calmer
temperament and wise and far-seeing intellect have been able
to restrain Lodovico's ambitious dreams and avert his ruin ?
The cordial relations that were afterwards to exist between
Lodovico and his gifted sister-in-law, the Moro's keen apprecia-
tion of Isabella's character, incline us to believe that she would
have acquired great influence over her lord ; and that so remark-
able a woman would have played a very important part on this
larger stage. But the Fates had willed otherwise, and Beatrice
d'Este became the bride of Lodovico Sforza. Her royal grand-
father, old King Ferrante, gave his sanction to the proposed
marriage, although he refused to part from his little grandchild
at present, and when, five years later, Beatrice returned to
Ferrara, she assumed the title and estate of Duchess of Bari, and*
was publicly recognized as Lodovico's promised wife. She had
by thistime reached the age of ten, and her espoused husband was
exactly thirty-four.
CHAPTER II
Lodovico Sfoiza Known as II Moro His birth and childhood Murder of
Duke Galeazzo Maria Regency of Duchess Bona Exile of the Sforza
brothers Lodovico at Pisa His invasion of Lombardy and return to
Milan Death of Cecco Simonetta Flight of Duchess Bona Lodovico
Regent of Milan.
1451-1582
LODOVICO SFORZA was certainly one of the most remarkable
figures of the Italian Renaissance. He has generally been
described as one of the blackest. " Born for the ruin of
Italy," was the verdict of his contemporary Paolo Giovio, a
verdict which every chronicler of the sixteenth century has
endorsed. These men who saw the disasters which over-
whelmed their country under the foreign rule, could not forget
that Charles VIIL, the first French king who invaded Italy, had
crossed the Alps as the friend and ally of Lodovico Moro._
They forgot how many others were at least equally guilty, and
did not realize the vast network of intrigues in which Pope!
Julius II., the Venetian Signory, and the King of Naples all]
had a share. Later historians with one consent have accepted^
Paolo Giovio's view, and have made Lodovico responsible for
all the miseries which arose from the French invasion. The
bitter hatred with which both French and Venetian writers
regarded the prince who had foiled their countrymen and,
profited by their mistakes, has helped to deepen this sinister
impression. The greatest crimes were imputed to him, the
vilest calumnies concerning his personal character found ready
acceptance. But the more impartial judgment of modern
historians, together with the light thrown upon the subject
TI
12 ' Beatrice cTEste
by recently discovered documents, has done much to modify our
opinion of Lodovico's character. fThe worst charges formerly
brought against him, above all, the alleged poisoning of his
nephew, the reigning Duke of Milan, have been dismissed as
groundless and wholly alien to his nature and character.} On
the other hand, his great merits and rare talents as ruler and
administrator have been fully recognized, while it is admitted
on all hands that his generous and enlightened encouragement
of art and letters entitles him to a place among the most
illustrious patrons of the Renaissance. /*To his keen intellect
and discerning eye, to his fine taste ancf quick sympathy with
all forms of beauty, we owe the production of some of the
noblest works of art that human hands have ever fashioned.
To his personal encouragement and magnificent liberality we
owe the grandest monuments of Lombard architecture, and the
finest development of Milanese painting, the faadeof the Certosa
and the cupola of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, the frescoes and altar-
pieces of the Brera and the Ambrosiana. Above all, it was at
the Milanese court, under the stimulating influence of the Moro,
that Leonardo da Vinci's finest work was done. \
As a man, Lodovico Sforza is profoundly interesting. ^Burck-
hardt has called him the most complete among the princely
figures of the Italian Renaissance, and there can be no doubt
that alike in his virtues and in his faults, he was curiously
typical of the age in which he lived. / (^icciardim, who was
certainly no friend to him, and regarded himTas uie^inveterate
foe of Florence, describes him as "a creature of very rare
perfection, most excellent for his eloquence and industry and
many gifts of nature and^spirit, and not unworthy of the name
of milde and mercifull ; 9 j and the Mij2^^2!2jii^ o? tlle
author of an unpublished chronicle m^e^Biblioteca Marciana
at Venice, says, c fHe had a sublime soul and universal
capacity. Whatever he did, he surpassed expectation, in the
fine arts and learning, in justice and benevolence. And he
had no equal among Italian princes for wisdom and sagacity
in public affairs/^ /Contemporary writers describe him as very
pleasant in manner and gracious in speech, always gentle and
courteous to others, ready to listen, and never losing his temper
Beatrice d'Este 13,
in argument. } He shared in the laxity of morals common to
his age ; but was a man of deep affections as well as strong
passions, fondly attached to his children and friends, while the
profound and lasting grief with which he lamented his dead
wife amazed his more fickle contemporaries.^ Singularly refined
and sensitive by nature, he shrank instinctively from blood-
shed, and had a horror of all violent actionk In this he differed
greatly from his elder brother Galeazzo' Maria, who was a
monster of lust and cruelty, intent only on gratifying his
savage instincts, and as callous to human suffering as he was
reckless of human life. |Lodovico, as his most hostile critics
agree, was emphatically not a cruel man, and rarely consented
to condemn even criminals to death.l But, like many other
politicians who have great ends in view, he was often un-
scrupulous as to the means which he employed, and, as Burck-
hardt very truly remarked, would probably have been surprised at
being held responsible for the means by which he attained his
object. Trained from early youth in the most tortuous paths
of Italian diplomacy, he acted on the principle laid down by
the Venetian Marino Sanuto, that the first duty of the really
wise statesman is to persuade Sis' enemies that he means to
do one thing and then do another. But in these tangled paths
he often over-reached himself, and only succeeded in inspiring
all parties with distrust 5 and, as too often happens, this
deceiver was deceived in his turn, and in the end betrayed by
men in whom his whole trust had been placed. Another
curious feature of Lodovico's character was the strain of , moral
cowardice which, in spite of great personal bravery, marked his
public actions at the most critical moments. This sudden
failure of courage, or loss of nerve, that to his contemporaries
seemed little short of madness, absolutely inexplicable in a man
who had faced death without a thought on many a battle-field,
ultimately wrought his own downfall as well as that of his
State.
And yet, in spite of all his faults and failings, in spite of the
strange tissue of complex aims and motives which swayed his
course, Lodovico Sforza was a man of great ideas and splendid
capacities, a prince who was in many respects distinctly in
14 Beatrice d'Este
advance of his age. His wise and beneficial schemes for the
encouragement of agriculture and the good of his poorer subjects,
his careful regulations for the administration of the University
and advancement of all branches of learning, his extraordinary
industry and minute attention to detail, cannot fail to inspire
; our interest and command our admiration. jln more peaceful
times and under happier circumstances he would have been an
excellent ruler, and his great dream of a united kingdom of
North Italy might have been well and nobly realizedA As it
was, the history of Lodovico Moro belongs to the saddest
tragedies of the Renaissance, and the splendour of his prosperity
and the greatness of his fall became the common theme of
poet and moralist.
The story of Lodovico's childhood is one of the pleasantest
parts of his strangely chequered career. He was the fourth
son of Francesco Sforza, the famous soldier of fortune who had
married Madonna Bianca, daughter of the last Visconti, and
reigned in right of his wife as Duke of Milan during twenty
years. On the igth of August, 1451, a year and a half after
the great captain had boldly entered Milan and been proclaimed
Duke, Duchess Bianca gave birth at her summer palace of
Vigevano to a fine boy. This ** bel puello" as he is called in the
despatch announcing the news to his proud father, received the
name of Lodovico Mauro, which was afterwards altered -to
Lodovico Maria, when, after his recovery from a dangerous
illness at five years old, his mother placed him under the special
protection of the Blessed Virgin. On this occasion Bianca
vowed rich offerings to the shrine of II Santo at Padua, and in
discharge of this vow, her faithful servant Giovanni Francesco
Stanga of Cremona was sent to Padua in February, 1461, to
present a life-size image of the boy richly worked in silver,
together with a complete set of vestments and of altar plate
bearing the ducal arms, to the ark of the blessed Anthony. In
documents still preserved in the Paduan archives the boy is
twice over mentioned as Lodovicus Maurus filius quartus masculus^
but the silver image itself bore the inscription, "Pro sanitate fi '/.
Lodovici Mariae, 1461."* There can, however, be little doubt
that Maurus was the second name first gitren to Lodovico, and
* Caffi in A. S. L., xiii,
Beatrice d'Este 15
that this was the true origin of the surname // Moro by which
Francesco Sforza's son became famous in after-years. The
most ingenious explanations of this name have been invented
by Italian chroniclers. Prato and Lomazzo both say that Lodovico
was called II Moro because of the darkness of his complexion
and long black hair. Guiccardini repeats the same, but Paolo
Giovio, who had seen Lodovico at Como, asserts that his com-
plexion was fair, and he owed this surname to the mulberry-
tree which he adopted as his device, because it waits till the
winter is well over to put forth its leaves, and is therefore
called the most prudent of all trees. As a matter of fact, there
is no doubt that the surname was given to Lodovico by his
parents. " He was first called Moro by his father Francesco
and his mother Bianca in his earliest years," writes Prato, and
we find the same expression in the verse of a Milanese court
poet : " Et Maurum l&to patris cognomine dictum" The name
naturally provoked puns. The dark-eyed boy with his long'
black hair and bushy eyebrows went by the nickname of Moro,'
and as he grew up, adopted both the Moor's head and the
mulberry-tree as his badge. These devices in their turn supplied
the poets and painters of his court with themes on which they
were never tired of exercising their wit and ingenuity. Moors
and Moorish costumes were introduced in every masquerade
and ballet, a Moorish page was represented brushing the robes
of Italy in a fresco of the Castello of Milan, while mulberry
colour became fashionable among the ladies of the Moro's court,
and was commonly worn by the servants and pages in the
palace. Lodovico early gave signs of the love of literature and
the great abilities which distinguished him in after-life. /His
quickness in learning by heart, his extraordinary memory; and
the fluency with which he wrote and spoke Latin amazed his
tutors. And he was fortunate in receiving an excellent educa-
tion from the first Greek scholars of the day. Madonna Bianca,
the only daughter of Filippo Maria, the last Visconti who had
betrothed her before she was eight years old to Francesco Sforza,
proved herself the best of wives and mothers.) By her courage
and wisdom she helped her husband to gain possession of her
dead father's duchv* and won the hearts of all her subjects bv
1 6 Beatrice d'Este
her goodness. While Francesco was engaged with affairs of
state, she directed the studies of her children, and gave her six sons
an admirable training in learning and knightly exercises. " Let
us remember/' she said to her son's tutor, the learned scholar
Filelfo, " that we have princes to educate, not only scholars."
We find her setting the boys a theme on the manner in which
princes should draw up treaties, and desiring them in her
absence to write to her once a week in Latin, Several of these
letters are still preserved in the archives of Milan. There is
one, for instance, in which Lodovico, then sixteen years old, tells
his mother that he is sending her seventy quails, two partridges,
and a pheasant, the result of a day's sport in the forest, but
takes care to assure her that the pleasures of the chase will
never make him neglect his books.
Many are the pleasant glimpses we catch of the family circle,
whether in the Corte vecchia or old ducal palace of the Viscontis
at Milan, in the beautiful park and gardens of the Castello at
Pavia, or in their country homes of Vigevano and Binasco. We
see Duke Francesco riding out with his young sons through the
streets of Milan, visiting the churches and convents that were
rising on all sides, the new hospital, which \vas the object of
Madonna Bianca's tender care, the oak avenues and gardens
with which she loved to surround her favourite shrines. We
find the boys at home, helping their mother to entertain her guests
with music and dancing, and accompanying her on visits to the
noble Milanese families. One day their grandmother, Agnese
di Maino, came to see the duke's sons with an old gentleman
from Navarre, who went home declaring that he had never seen
such wise and well-educated children 5 another time we hear of
a Madonna Giovanna coming to spend the day at the palace,
and dancing all the evening with Lodovico Maria ; and when
the duchess took her younger children to visit Don Tornmaseo
de' Rieti, general laughter was excited by the little four-year-old
Ascanio, the future cardinal, who walked straight up to a
portrait of the duke, exclaiming, " There is my lord father ! "
When the newly elected Pope Pius IL, who as Eneas Sylvius
Piccolomini had often been in Milan, came to visit the duke
in 1457, ^ e f un( i Galeazzo reading Cicero, and his little
Beatrice d'Este 17
brothers with their cherub faces sitting round their tutor,
intent on his discourse ; while on one occasion their sister
Ippolita, the pupil of the great Constant ine Lascar is, pronounced
a Latin oration in honour of His Holiness. On Christmas day,
a festival which was always celebrated with much pomp at
Milan, each of the duke's four elder sons came forward and re-
cited a Latin speech, and Lodovico delighted all who were
present by the ease and grace of his bearing, and the eloquent
periods in which he extolled his father's great deeds in peace
and war.
The duke himself always singled out Lodovico for especial
notice, and said the boy would do great things. It was, no
doubt, his sense of the youthful Moro's talents that made
Francesco choose him, at the age of thirteen, to be the
leader of the body of three thousand men which were to join
in the Crusade preached by Pope Pius II. On the 2nd of June,
1464, the ducal standard, bearing the golden lion of the house
of Sforza and the adder of the Visconti, was solemnly committed
to the charge of the young Crusader, before the eyes of the
whole court, on the piazza in front of the old palace, which
was gaily decorated for the occasion with garlands and tapestries.
But the Pope died, and the idea of the Crusade was abandoned.
Lodovico, however, was sent by his father to Cremona, the city
which had been Duchess Bianca's dowry, and whose inhabitants
were among the most loyal subjects of the Sforza princes. Here
he lived during the next two years, enjoying his foretaste of
power, and making himself very popular with the Cremonese.
In 1465, his accomplished sister was married to Alfonso, Duke
of Calabria, and Lorenzo de Medici came to Milan for the
nuptials. Then these two men, who in days to come were to
be so often named together as the most illustrious patrons of art
and letters in the Renaissance, met for the first lime, and dis-
covered the mutual tastes which in future years often brought
them into close relation.
The sudden death of Duke Francesco in 1466 brought a
change in Lodovico's position, and the ingratitude with which
the new duke, Galeazzo, treated his widowed mother, naturally
irritated his brothers. In October, 1468, Bianca retired to
ao Beatrice d'Este
were seen hovering about Galeazzo's head on that very morning,
when, in his splendid suit of crimson brocade, the tall and hand-
some duke entered the church doors, while the choir sang the
words, " Sic transit gloria mundi"
"The peace of Italy is dead !" exclaimed Pope Sixtus IV.
when the news of Galeazzo's murder reached him. And the
issue proved that he was not far wrong. In her distress, the
widowed duchess, who * seems to have been fondly attached
to her husband, in spite of his crimes and follies, addressed a
piteous letter to the Holy Father owning her dead lord's guilt,
and asking him if he could issue a bull absolving him from his
many and grievous sins. In her anxiety for Galeazzo's soul, she
promised to atone as far as possible for his crimes by making
reparation to those whom he had wronged, and offered to
build churches and monasteries, endow hospitals, and perform
other works of mercy. The Pope does not seem to have returned
a direct answer to this touching prayer, but he took advantage
of Bona's present mood to hurry on the marriage of Caterina
Sforza, the duke's natural daughter, with his own nephew,
Girolamo Riario, which had been arranged by Galeazzo, and
which took place in the following April. Lodovico was absent
at the time of Galeazzo's assassination, and with his brother
Sforza, Duke of Bari, was spending Christmas at the court of
Louis XL at Tours. They had not been banished, as Corio
asserts, but, tired of idleness and fired with a wish to see the
world, they had gone on a journey to France, and, after visit-
ing Paris and Angers, were on their way home when the
news of the duke's murder reached them. But if any hope
of obtaining a share in the government had been aroused
in Lodovico's heart, it was doomed to speedy disappointment.
Cecco Simonetta, the able secretary and minister who had ad-
ministered the state under Galeazzo, kept a firm hold on the
reins of government, ruled the Milanese in the name of Duchess
Bona and her young son Gian Galeazzo. The Sforea brothers
soon found their position intolerable, and the intervention of a
friendly neighbour, the Mai quis of Mantua, was necessary before
they could obtain any recognition of their right. At his request,
Bona agreed to give each of her brothers-in-law n suitable
Beatrice d'Este 21
residence in Milan, as well as a portion of 12,500 ducats from
the revenues of their mother's inheritance, the city of Cremona.
Filippo Sforza, the second of the brothers, who is described as
weak in intellect and a person of no account, was content to live
peaceably in Milan, where his very existence seems to have been
forgotten by his family, and where the only mention of him that
occurs again is that of his death in 1492. The other brothers
were sent to Genoa, where an insurrection had broken out, and
succeeded in subduing the rebels and restoring peace. But when
they returned to Milan at the head of a victorious army, with
their kinsman the valiant Condottiere Roberto di Sanseverino, a
movement was set on foot among the old Ghibelline followers of
Duke Francesco to obtain the regency for Sforza, Duke of Bari.
Cries of Moro ! Mart* I began to be heard in the streets of Milan.
Simonetta, becoming alarmed, threw Donato del Conte, one of the
Ghibelline leaders, into prison, upon which Sanseverino and the
Sforzas loudly demanded his release. Simonetta gave them fair
words in return, and induced the dissatisfied chiefs to meet in the
park of the Castello, where they agreed to lay down their arms.
But Sanseverino, suspecting treachery, set spurs to his horse, and,
riding with drawn sword in his hand out of the city through the
Porta Vecellina, crossed the Ticino, and did not pause until he
was in safety. His companions soon followed his example.
Ottaviano Sforza, the youngest of the family, a brave lad of
eighteen, was drowned in crossing the swollen Adda, and his three
remaining brothers were condemned to perpetual exile. Sforza
was banished to his duchy of Bari, in the kingdom of Naples,
Ascanio to Perugia, and Lodovico to the city of Pisa.
During the next eighteen months Lodovico lived at Pisa,
fretting his heart out in exile and wasting the best years of his
life, as he complained to Lorenzo de Medici. His friend could
only counsel patience, for, sympathize as he might with the
banished prince, Lorenzo was closely allied with the rulers of
Milan, and Lodovico soon saw that his only hope of seeing his
native land again was to be found in the support of Ferrante,
King of Naples, the sworn foe of the Medici. This monarch
looked on Simonetta as a traitorous villain who had taken
advantage of Bona's weakness to usurp the supreme power in
22 Beatrice d'Este
Milan, and wrote tc King Louis XI., begging him to come to
his kinswoman's help and assist in restoring the Duke of Bari
and his brother to their rights. But the French king had no
wish to be drawn into the quarrel, and when Ferrante endeavoured
to obtain the restoration of his exiled kinsmen by fair means and
had failed, Sforza and Lodovico resolved to try the fortunes of
war once more, Roberto di Sanseverino, whose mother had
been a niece of Duke Francesco, and who had large estates of his
own in Lombardy, placed his sword at their disposal, and they
knew they could reckon on the secret support of their Sforza
and Visconti kinsmen in Milan. Among these, Lodovico had
a devoted partisan in Beatrice d'Este, the sister of Duke Ercole
of Ferrara, who had lately been left a widow for the second
time by the death of her husband, the brave soldier Tristran
Sforza, and who kept up a secret correspondence with the exiled
princes. Early in February, 1479, *h e Sforza brothers and
Roberto di Sanseverino landed in Genoa and boldly raised the
standard of revolt. Simonetta retaliated by confiscating their
revenues and proclaiming them rebels, while he hired Ercole
D'Este and Federigo Gonzaga to join the Florentines in resisting
the advance of the Neapolitan forces. In the midst of these
warlike preparations, Sforza Duke of Bari died very suddenly at
Genoa. His death was attributed, after the fashion of the day,
to poison secretly sent him from Milan ; but, as Corio remarks,
many persons thought that his excessive stoutness was the true
cause of his decease. Lodovico, whom the King of Naples
immediately invested with the dukedom of Bari in his brother's
stead, now crossed the Genoese Alps and boldly invaded the
territory of Tortona. But the enterprise was a perilous one,
and the allied forces of Milan were preparing to crush his little
army, when an unexpected turn of fortune altered the whole
condition of affairs. Duchess Bona, a very beautiful woman,
but, as Commines remarks, " une dame de petit sens" had become
infatuated with a certain Antonio Tassino, a Ferrarese youth
of low extraction, whom Galeazzo had appointed carver at the
royal table, and who, after the duke's death, had made himself
indispensable to his mistress. The liaison had created a coolness
between the duchess and her prime minister, of which Beatrice
Beatrice d'Este 23
d'Este and some of the Sforza party cleverly availed themselves
to widen the breach. They deplored the growing arrogance of
Simonetta, and lamented the success of his intrigues against
Lodovico, who was his sister-in-law's nearest relative and rightful
protector. Acting on their suggestion, Bona took a sudden
resolve. She sent a messenger to invite Lodovico to return to
Milan in his nephew's name, and late in the evening of the jth
of October, 1479, the Moro, leaving the camp at Tortona,
arrived in Milan, and was secretly admitted into the Castello by
the garden door. The duchess and her son, Gian Galeazzo, a
boy of ten, received him with open arms, and great was the joy
among all the Ghibellines of Milan, when they heard to their
surprise that Duke Francesco's son was once more among them.
t Simonetta looked grave, as he well might, when he heard
the news. " Most illustrious duchess," he said to Bona the
next day, " do you know what will happen ? My head will be
cut off, and before long you will lose this state." But he pro-
ceeded to congratulate Lodovico on his return, and was received
by him in the most courteous manner. When the news of
these events reached the rival camps outside Milan, a truce was
proclaimed, and the leaders on either side disbanded their armies.
The object of the expedition was attained, and Lodovico restored
to his rightful place at Milan. But neither Roberto di Sanse-
verino nor the other Ghibelline leader could be content while their
hated rival Simonetta was still at large. They sent messengers
to Lodovico, imperiously demanding his summary punishment,
and declaring that they would never lay down their arms until
he and his confederates were imprisoned. After some delay,
Lodovico yielded to their demand ; Bona's faithful secretary was
arrested and sent to Pavia with his brother, while the fickle
populace sacked their houses. Congratulations poured in from
all the kinsfolk of the Sforza family. Cater ina Sforza, the
illegitimate daughter of Duke Galeazzo, who had been brought
up by Bona with her own children, wrote from Rome, where she
was living with her husband, Girolamo Riario, Count of Imola
and Forli at the papal court, to rejoice with her brother the
young duke over the fall of the hated minister ; " quelo
nefandissimo Cecho^ the murderer of our family and our flesh and
24 Beatrice d'Este
blood." Now at length, he adds, she will be able to visit Milan
and see her beloved mother once more in peace and safety.
And her husband's uncle, Pope Sixtus IV., himself wrote to
congratulate both duke and duchess on the arrest of Simonetta
and the restoration of peace and tranquillity. Lodovico was now
formally associated with Duchess Bona in the regency, and his
brother Ascanio was recalled and advanced to the dignity of
Archbishop of Pavia. Before many months were over peace
was concluded with Florence, and with the full approval of
King Ferrante, the Duke of Ferrara accepted Lodovico Sforza
as his future son-in-law.
Meanwhile party feeling still ran high in Milan, and the
Ghibellines, with Sanseverino and Pusterla at their head, never
ceased to clamour for Simonetta's head. People began to com-
plain that Lodovico, who had been brought back to power by
the Ghibellines, was after all a Guelph at heart, and a traitor
to his party. In vain the Moro advocated milder measures, and
wrote a letter to Simonetta, offering to release him on payment
of a ransom. The old secretary, who was upwards of seventy
years of age, refused, saying that he was ill and weary of life,
and had no fear of death. At length Lodovico, vexed by the
continual recriminations of his Ghibelline followers, reluctantly
gave way. Bona signed the death warrant of her old servant,
and on the 3<Dth of October, 1480, Simonetta was beheaded in
the Castello of Pavia. His brother Giovanni, an able and
learned scholar, was released, and lived to write the famous
Sforziada, or history of Duke Francesco's great deeds, which he
dedicated to his son Lodovico.
Already one-half of the unfortunate minister's prophecy had
come true ; the other half was soon to be fulfilled. For a few
months Bona rejoiced in her freedom from the cares of state,
and left all to Lodovico, " who could do her no greater pleasure
than not to speak of these things," says Commines. She herself
was treated with the utmost respect, and spent her time in feast-
ing and dancing, and loaded her favourite with honours.
Tassino lived in rooms next to her own, and rode out with the
duchess on pillion behind him. But her favourite, encouraged by
the folly of his mistress, became every day more indolent* until
Beatrice d'Este 25
one day he kept Lodovico Sforza and the chief officers of state
waiting at the door of his room while he finished his toilet.
Yet nothing could cure Bona's infatuation, and she went so far
as to beg Lodovico to appoint her minion's father to be governor
of the Rocca of Porta Zobia (Giovia), as the Castello of Milan
was called. Fortunately Eustachio, who had been appointed to
the post by Duke Galeazzo, and solemnly charged to hold it, in
case of his own death, until his son was of age, refused to give up
the keys ; and the young duke and his brother Ermes were con-
ducted into the Rocca, while at the same moment Tassino
received an order from the Council to leave Milan. This he
did without delay, taking with him a large sum of money and
many valualjje pearls and jewels which he had received from the
duchess. When Bona heard of her favourite's flight she flew
into a frantic rage, and, " forgetful alike of honour and maternal
duty," as Corio writes, she renounced her share of the regency,
saying that she placed her son in his uncle's care, and left Milan.
" Like some demented woman," continues Corio, she fled as far
as Abbiategrasso, where she was detained by Lodovico's orders,
and not allowed to proceed to France as she had intended. In
the end, however, she effected her purpose, and retired to her
brother-in-law's Louis XL's court, where she remained during
the next few years, vowing vengeance against Lodovico, and
bitterly repenting her weakness in having consented to his return.
So Lodovico Moro, " that hero of patience and cunning," as
Michelet calls him, at length attained his object, and found
himself sole Regent of Milan. Merita e tempore was the motto
which he had chosen for his own, and which he placed in
golden letters on his shield, and illuminated on the vellum pages
of his favourite books, in the firm belief that all things come
to the man who can learn to bide his time. Henceforth his
head appeared together with that of his younger nephew on all
coins and medals, and the words Lodovico patrue gubernante in-
scribed below.
Pandolfini, the Florentine ambassador, who had watched his
course with profound interest, sent a minute report of the latest
developments of public events to Lodovico's friend, the Magnifi-
cent Medici. A year before, when Lodovico had just returned
26 Beatrice d'Este
to Milan, the envoy remarked, " Signer Lodovico is very popular
here, both with the people and with Madonna." Again, a
little later, he wrote, " Madonna trusts much in Messer Lodo-
vico's good nature." Now he added, " The whole government
of the kingdom is placed in Lodovico's hands." He could not
refrain from an expression of admiration at the peaceable manner
in which this revolution had been accomplished. " With what
ability and skill he has effected this sudden change ! " And
he added, " I tell him, if he uses his opportunities well, he will
become the arbiter of the whole of Italy."
CHAPTER III
Wars of Venice and Ferrara Invasion of Ferrara Lodovico Sforza and
Alfonso of Calabria come to the help of Ercole cTEste Peace of
Bagnolo Prosperity of Ferrara, and cultivation of art and learning
at Ei-cole's court Guariuo and Aldo Manuzio Stiozzi and Boiaido
Architecture and painting The frescoes of the Schifanoia Music and
the drama Education of Isabella and Beatrice d'Este.
1482-1490
SUCH was the prince to whom Duke Ercole had betrothed his
younger daughter, and who had suddenly become one of the
chief personages in North Italy. But more than ten years were
to elapse before the child-bride even saw her affianced husband.
During that time both Milan and Ferrara passed through many
vicissitudes, and at one moment Beatrice's father and his state
were reduced to the utmost extremity.
The Venetians availed themselves of the troubled state of
Lombardy and the civil strife that divided the house of Sforza, to
attack their old enemy the . Duke of Ferrara. In 1482 Roherto
di Sanseverinc, the valiant captain who had been one of the
chief instruments in restoring his kinsman Lodovico Sforza to
his country, left Milan in a rage, because he did not consider his
salary sufficient, and offered his services to the Republic of Venice.
With his gallant sons to help him, he invaded the territory of
Ferrara at the head of an army of seventeen thousand men, and
carried all before him. The Pope as usual took up the quarrel
of the Venetians, in the hope of sharing the spoil, and while
Ercole's ally, King Ferrante of Naples, was engaged in resisting
the papal forces, the Genoese, who had revolted against Duchess
Bona in 1478, and elected a doge of their own, occupied Lodovico
Sforza's attention. The Ferrarese troops were completely
27
28 Beatrice d'Este
defeated in a battle under the citadel of Argenta, many of the
Ferrarese leaders were slain, and the duke's nephew, Niccolo da
Correggio, and three hundred men were taken prisoners to Venice.
Sanseverino made good use of his advantage, and his son Gaspare,
better known by his nickname of Fracassa, marched to the very
gates of Ferrara, and planted the Lion of St. Mark on the peacocks'
house in the ducal park. Meanwhile the plague had broken
out in Ferrara, and so great was the scarcity of wheat in the
beleaguered city, that Battista Guarino, the tutor of the young
Princess Isabella, applied to her betrothed husband Francesco
Gonzaga for a grant of corn to save him from starvation. Worse
than all, Duke Ercole Ivmself lay dangerously ill within the
Castello, and a report his death was circulated through the
city. At this critical moment Duchess Leonora once more
showed her courage and presence of mind. Seeing the greatness
of the danger, she sent her children with a safe escort to
Modena, and calling the magistrates together, she harangued them
from the garden loggia, and bade them be true to their old lords
of the house of Este. The citizens, moved to tears at the sight
of Leonora's majesty and courage, shouted with one voice,
"Diamante !" the watchword of the house of Este, and vowed
to die for their duke. In their enthusiasm, the people broke
open the palace doors, and rushing into the chamber where
Ercole lay on his sick-bed, covered his hands with kisses, and
would not be satisfied until they had heard his voice again
and knew him to be alive. After this outburst of loyalty, they
rallied bravely to the defence of the city. Every man who could
bear arms in Ferrara helped to man the walls, and the country-
folk, rising in thousands, harassed the invading army and cut off
their supplies. Fortunately, help was at hand. On the one hand,
Lodovico Sforza's tioops checked the advance of the Venetians
on the side of Modena ; on the other, Ercolc's brother-in-law,
Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, himself rode at the head of fifty
horsemen and a troop of infantry to the help of the beleaguered
city.
Throughout the long struggle that followed, Lodovico Sforaa
proved himself a wise and faithful friend of the house of Este,
and it was chiefly owing to him that Ferrara preserved her
Beatrice d'Este 29
independence. But the duke and his people had to make great
sacrifices on their part, and at the peace of Bagnolo, which was
finally concluded in 1484, seven towns were ceded to Venice,
and the fertile district of Rovigo in the Polesina, "un petit
pays," in the words of Commines, " tout environnl eau et
abondant a mervetlle en tous biens"
A period of renewed peace and prosperity followed upon
these disastrous wars. Ercole, although in his early youth he
had proved himself a valiant soldier, had in reality far greater
taste for the arts of peace than for those of war, and now devoted
himself to the more congenial task of adorning Ferrara and
cultivating letters. His father Nicco?^ III. had been the first
orince in Northern Italy to take part the revival of Greek
learning that had been set on foot in Naples and Florence. He
it was who, in 1402, revived the ancient University of Ferrara,
and invited the best scholars of thle day to give lectures to its
students. At his prayer, the Sicilian Hellenist Aurispa, who had
travelled to Greece and Constantinople in search of Greek
manuscripts, fixed his residence at Ferrara; while Battista
Guarino of Verona became the tutor of Niccolo's own son
Leonello, and inspired the young prince with that ardour for
learning which made him the most accomplished ruler of his
time. It was Niccolo, again, who invited the celebrated Paduan
doctor, Michele Savonarola, to fill the chair of medicine at the
University of Ferrara. Michele's son became court physician
to Ercole, and his grandson, the famous Dominican friar, Fra
Girolamo Savonarola, who had forsaken the study of medicine
to take the vows of a preaching brother, delivered his first
course of Lent sermons in Ferrara during that troubled year 1482.
The General Council held at Ferrara in 1438 brought some
of the first Greek Oriental scholars together in that city, and
Niccolo d'Este himself assisted at many of the discussions held
by these learned professors. His son Leonello, besides en-
couraging students by his own example, devoted great pains
and expense to the University library which he founded, while
his successor, Duke Borso, pensioned poor students, who were
clothed and fed at his cost, Ercole now followed in his father's
and brother's steps with so much success that under his reign
30 Beatrice d'Este
the University of Ferrara became the foremost in Italy, and
boasted no less than forty-five professors, while the number of
students reached four hundred and seventy-four. In those
days the most renowned scholars of the age flocked from all
parts of Italy to hear Guarino lecture ; and Aldo Manuzio, the
great printer, and his illustrious friend Pico della Mirandola, the
phoenix of the Renaissance, came to Ferrara to sit at the feet
of this revered teacher. Here Aldo acquired the passion for
Greek literature which made him inscribe the word Philhellene
after his name on his first printed books. Here, in his own
turn, he lectured on Greek and Latin authors to the cultured
youth of Ercole's court, and here he would have set up his
printing-press, under his friend Duchess Leonora's patronage,
if the Venetian war had not forced him to leave Ferrara. Both
from the court of Alberto Pio at Carpi, where he found refuge
with a kinsman of the Estes, and at Venice, where he founded
his famous printing-press, he kept up frequent communications
with the duke's family, and dedicated books to young Cardinal
Ercole, and bound and printed choice editions of Petrarch and
Virgil for his sister Isabella d'Este. But if Duke Ercole
emulated the zeal of his predecessors in the encouragement of
classical learning, he surpassed them all in his love of travel,
of building, and of theatrical representations. During the next
twenty years he indulged freely in all of these favourite pursuits.
His opportunities of travel, indeed, were limited by the duties
of his position ; but whenever he could find leisure, he gratified
his roving taste by paying frequent visits to Milan or Venice,
where the magnificent palace bestowed upon his ancestor
Nicolas II. in the last century, but confiscated during the
war with Ferrara, had been restored to him at the peace of
Bagnolo. In 1484, he took Duchess Leonora there with a suite
of seven hundred persons. On this occasion the palace originally
decorated by Duke Borso was sumptuously restored, and the Doge
and Senate entertained their guests with princely hospitality, A
more distant pilgrimage to the shrine of S. Jago of Compostella
in Spain, which Ercole had planned in 1487, had to be abandoned,
owing to the opposition of Pope Innocent VIIL ; but eight years
later the duke paid another visit to Florence, on the^ pretence
Beatrice d'Este 31
of discharging a vow which he had made to Our Lady of
the Annunziata. To the last the adventurous disposition of
the Estes, the love of seeing and hearing new things, marked
his character and governed his actions.
Meanwhile his imagination found plenty of food for activity
at home, and nothing interfered with his love of building or
with the delight which he took in the stage. Under him,
Ferrara became one of the finest cities in Italy. Her broad
streets and spacious squares, her noble statues and imposing
monuments, the stately symmetry of her well-kept ways, made
a deep impression on Lodovico Sforza when he visited his wife's
home. At the beginning of his reign Ercole had sent to Florence
to borrow Alberti's Treatise on Architecture from Lorenzo de'
Medici, and had carried out his improvements on the principles
advocated by the Renaissance architect. On every side new
churches and palaces rose into being, a lofty Campanile was
added to the ancient Lombard Cathedral, an equestrian statue
of Niccolo III. and a bronze effigy of Duke Borso adorned
the piazza in front of the Castello. Soon Ercole's subjects
caught their duke's passion for building, and vied with him in
erecting new and sumptuous houses. His brother, Cardinal
Sigismondo, raised the Palazzo Diamante, that magnificent
Renaissance structure in the Via degli Angeli. The Trotti
and the Costabili, the Strozzi and Boschetti, all followed suit
and built palatial residences in the neighbourhood.
These fine buildings were surrounded with spacious gardens.
One of Ercole's first improvements had been to -lay out the
noble park outside the town, and to people it with stags and
goats, with gazelles and antelopes and the spotted giraffes which
Niccolo da Correggio describes in his poems ; and on the gates
leading from the city were marble busts carved by the hand of
Sperandio, the famous medallist who had worked so long for the
ducal house, and who has left us portraits of all the chief per-
sonages at the Ferrarese court. The courtyard of the ancient
Este palace was adorned with wide marble staircases, the
villa of Belfiore was enlarged and beautified, while that of
Belriguardo, twelve miles from the city, on the banks of the Po,
became celebrated as the most sumptuous of all the stately
32 Beatrice d'Este
pleasure-houses in which Renaissance princes took delight. No
pains or expense were spared in the decoration of these luxurious
country houses. The terraced gardens and marble loggias were
adorned with fountains and statues, the halls were hung with
costly tapestries and gold and silver embroideries. Eastern
carpets and carved ivories, cameos and intaglios, precious gems
and rare majolica from Urbino and Casteldurante were brought
together in the Camerini of the Castello and the halls of the
Schifanoia palace, that favourite Sans-Souci of the Este princes
close to the court-church of S Maria in Vado and to the
convent of Leonora's friends, the nuns of S. Vito. In this
charming retreat, where Borso and Ercole alike loved to escape
from the cares of state, we may still see the remnants of these
splendid decorations which once adorned these halls : the painted
arabesques and stucco frieze of children playing musical instru-
ments, the barrel-vaulted ceilings, and marble doorways with
their rows of cherub heads and dolphins. There the unicorn
which Borso took for his device, figures side by side with the
imperial eagle granted him by Frederic III when he came to
visit Ferrara, and the fleur-de-lis of France, which the Estes were
privileged to bear on their coat-of-arms. There we still see frag-
ments of the frescoes on the months and seasons of the yea*
which Cossa and his scholars painted at the bidding of successive
dukes. Borso is there on his white horse as he rides out hunt-
ing, attended by falconers and pages leading his favourite grey-
hounds in the leash ; or looking on at the races of St. George's
Day, surrounded by scholars and courtiers, dwarfs and jesters,
and fair ladies clad in glittering robes of cloth of silver and gold.
All the pageant of court-life in old Ferrara, as it was in the days
when Duke Ercole reigned and Isabella and Beatrice d'Este
grew up under the good Duchess Leonora's care, passes again
before our eyes, as we linger in these low halls of the little red-
brick palace among the fruit trees of this deserted quarter.
Niccolo III. and his elder sons had all been liberal patrons of
art, and had invited the best artists they could find from other
parts of Italy. Vittore Pisanello and Jacopo Bellini had both of
them visited Ferrara and painted portraits of the Este princes
that of Leonello, with his long hooked nose and low forehead,
Beatrice d'Este 33
is still preserved at Bergamo, and Piero de' Franceschi, the
mighty Umbrian, is said to have supplied a design for Duke
Borso's tomb. But it was in later years, under Ercole's reign,
that this little group of native artists arose, and that Cosimo
Tura and his followers founded the school which gradually
spread to Bologna and Modena and boasted such masters as
Lorenzo Costa and Francia, or helped to mould the genius
of a Raphael and a Correggio. Tura himself remained at
Ferrara all his life, painting altar-pieces for Duchess Leonora's
favourite churches, as well as frescoes in the duke's villas and
portraits of the different members of the ducal family in turn.
In 1472, before the Duke's marriage, he painted the portrait of
Ercole strange to say together with his illegitimate daughter
Lucrezia d'Este, to be sent as a present to his bride, Leonora
of Aragon, at her father's court of Naples. Again, in the
summer of 1485, he was called upon in his capacity of court
painter to paint the likeness of the youthful Isabella for her
affianced husband, Francesco Gonzaga ; and before the year was
out he had to perform the same task for the other little bride,
who had just returned from Naples. The following paper in
the Ferrarese archives fixes the exact date of the portrait, which
was evidently sent as a. Christmas gift to Lodovico Sforza at
Milan. "On the 24th of December, 1485, Cosimo Tura
received four gold florins from the duke, for painting from life
the face and bust of the Illustrissima Madonna Beatrice, to be
sent to Messer Lodovico Maria Sforza, Duca di Ban", consort of
the said Beatrice Carlo Continga taking it to him." Unfor-
tunately, both of these portraits have perished, and the only
representation of Beatrice as a girl that we have is the sculptor
Cristoforo Romano's well-known bust in the Louvre.
While the native schools of painting became active and pros-
perous under Ercole's auspices, a flourishing school of arts and
crafts arose in Ferrara under the immediate patronage of the
duchess. From the day of her marriage, Leonora not only
showed that intelligent love of art and learning which might
have been expected in a princess of the house of Arragon, but a
warm interest in the well-being of her subjects, together with
excellent sense and a strong practical bent. At her invitation,
D
34 Beatrice d'Este
tapestry-workers from Milan and Florence came to settle at
Ferrara, and skilled embroiderers were bi ought over from Spain.
The duchess herself superintended these workers, selected the
colours and patterns, and became an authority in the choice of
hangings and decoration of rooms. While Ercole had an
insatiable passion for gems and cameos, antique marbles and
ivories, Leonora showed an especial taste for gold and silver
metal- work. Silver boxes and girdles curiously chased and
engraved were constantly sent to the duchess by Milanese gold-
smiths, and among the workers in this line whom she frequently
employed was Francesco Francia, the goldsmith painter of
Bologna. In 1488, this artist sent her an exquisite chain of gold
hearts linked together, which excited general admiration, and
may perhaps have been intended as a bridal gift for Elizabeth
Gonzaga, the sister of Isabella's betrothed husband, who visited
Ferrara that spring, on her way to Urbino. Leonora's own
jewels were said to be the finest and most artistic owned by any
princess of her day, and, as in the case of other Renaissance
ladies, formed no inconsiderable portion of her fortune $ and, in
consequence, they were frequently pawned to raise money for
her husband's wars. The duchess's famous necklace of pearls,
we learn, was repeatedly lent by the duke to bankers or gold-
smiths in Rome and Florence as pledges for the repayment of loans
advanced during the war with Venice.
Music was another of Ercole's favourite pastimes, and the
choir of his court chapel at one time rivalled that of Milan,
which was held to be the best in Italy. Violinists and lute-
players were brought from Naples to Ferrara, French and Spanish
tenors were included among the singers who accompanied the
duke on his journeys. A still more distinctive feature of his
court were the theatrical representations, which became, a promi-
nent part of all the palace festivities, and which undoubtedly
owed much to the duke's taste for dramatic art. Under his
directions, a spacious theatre was fitted up in the old Gothic
Palazzo della Ragione on the cathedral square. Here Latin
comedies were performed before an audience which included the
most learned classical scholars of the day, and Italian dramas
were seen for the first time upon the stage. In 1486, an Italian
Beatrice d'Este 35
version of the Mencechimi^ translated by Ercole himself, was acted
here, with interludes of masques and morris dances, violin music,
and recitations. This was followed, a year later, by a perform-
ance of Cefaloy one of the oldest of Italian dramas, a pastoral play
composed by Niccolo da Correggio, chiefly taken from Ovid's
"Metamorphoses," and which is said to have suggested the subjects
of Correggio's famous frescoes in the Abbess of San Paolo's parlour
at Parma. Each Christmas and carnival these theatrical repre-
sentations were repeated, and many were the distinguished visitors
who came to Ferrara to witness these celebrated performances.
The Amphitryon and Cassina of Plautus were frequently given.
On one occasion, a play adapted from a dialogue of Lucian's by
Matteo Boiardo was acted. Another time, at the wedding of a
Marchese Strozzi, a Latin comedy written by the bridegroom's
brother, Ercole Strozzi, was performed before the whole court.
Sometimes, by way of variety, sacred subjects were placed upon
the stages. Tableaux of the Annunciation and the history of
Joseph were introduced, accompanied with recitations and
music. While the duke was known to have a strong pre-
ference for classical plays, the duchess and her daughters took
pleasure in lighter forms of literature, and encouraged the songs
and romances which courtly poets wrote for their benefit in the
lingua vulgare. A new school of Italian poets sprang up at
Ferrara in the last years of the century. Antonio Tebaldeo, the
friend of Castiglione and Raphael "our Tebaldeo," whom
Pietro Bembo declared Raphael had painted in so life-like a
manner that he was not so exactly himself in actual life as in this
portrait had his home at Ferrara in these early days, and enjoyed
the favour of the Marchioness Isabella in his later years. While
the elder Strozzi, Tito, had the reputation of being the best Latin
poet of the day, his son Ercole belonged to the circle of younger
scholars, and, like his friends Bembo and Ariosto, wrote elegant
Italian verses as well as Latin epistles and orations. Then there
was the blind poet Francesco Bello, the author of the"Mambriano,"
that heroic poem on the favourite Carlo vingian legend ; Andrea
Cossa of Naples, who sang his own rime and strambotti to the music
of the lute ; Niccolo da Correggio, called by Isabella d'Este and
Sabba da Castiglione " the most accomplished gentleman of the age,
36 Beatrice d'Este
the foremost man in all Italy, in the art of poetry and in courtesy,"
who devoted his muse to the service of gentle ladies, and com-
posed canzont and capltoli or set Petrarch's sonnets to music for
Isabella and Beatrice's pleasure. And among Ercole's courtiers
at Ferrara there was one still greater, Matteo Boiardo, Count of
Scandiano, who was intimate with both duke and duchess, and
held many high posts at court. He was a member of the splendid
suite sent in 1473 to escort Leonora from Naples to Ferrara, and
afterwards held the important post of Governor of Modena
during many years. But in the midst of official labours and
court duties, Matteo was all the while engaged in writing his
great work of the " Orlando Innamorato," that wonderful
epic in which classic and romantic ideas are mingled together as
strangely as in Piero di Cosimo or Sando Botticelli's paintings.
The first cantos of his poem, begun in 1472, were published at
Venice in 1486, with a dedication to Duke Ercole, and the work
was continued at intervals throughout his life, and was only in-
terrupted by the death of the poet. This took place in 1494,
when the first French armies were first seen descending upon
Italy, and the sweet singer of high romance broke off abruptly
with a prophetic note of warning in his last accents " While I
am singing, I sec all Italy set on fire by these Gauls, coming to
ravage I know not how many fresh lands, alas ! "
In this city which was at once the home of Italian epic and
Italian drama, at this court where the boy Ariosto was to take up
the song that dropped from the lips of Boiardo, and to wear the
laurel in his turn, the young princesses of Estc grew up. There
were three of them, for Lucrezia, the duke's illegitimate daughter,
had found a kind mother in the duchess, and was brought up
with her young step-sisters Isabella and Beatrice, until in 1487,
she became the wife of Annibale Bentivogho, and went to live in
Bologna. Under Leonora's careful and vigilant eyes, these
maidens were trained in all the culture of the day. Their
classical studies were directed by Battista Guarino, the son of
the learned Verona humanist, the same who begged the Marquis
of Mantua for a grant of wheat that he might the better be able
to teach his betrothed bride Madonna Isabella during the famine
at Ferrara. With him they learnt sufficient Latin to read Cicero
Beatrice d'Este 37
and Virgil, as well as Greek and Roman history. Music and
dancing were taught them almost from infancy. They learnt
to play the viol and lute, and sang canzoni and sonnets to the
accompaniment of these instruments. Beatrice, we know, was> "
passionately fond of music. She employed the great Pavian
Lorenzo Gusnasco to make her clavichords and viols of the
finest order, and like her father, she never travelled without her
favourite singers. Isabella herself had a beautiful voice, and
sang with a sweetness and grace which charmed all hearers.
The most accomplished poets of the Renaissance, Pietro Bembo
and Niccolo di Correggio, Girolamo Casio and Antonio Tebaldeo,
were proud to hear her sing their verses, and the Viceriza scholar
Trissino, forestalling Waller in this, wrote a canzone addressed to
" My Lady Isabella playing the lute."
Messer Ambrogio da Urbino began to give Isabella dancing
lessons almost as soon as she could walk. Later on a certain
Messer Lorenzo Lavagnolo, who had taught Elizabeth and
Maddalena Gonzaga, the young sisters of the Marquis of Mantua,
and had afterwards been sent to the court of Milan to teach
Duchess Bona's daughters, came to Ferrara. This master, who
was commended to the Duchess of Milan by the Marchioness
Barbara of Mantua as superior to all other professors of the art
of dancing, gave lessons to Isabella and her sisters, as we learn
from a letter which she wrote to her affianced husband, thanking
him in her sister's name and her own for having sent so excellent
a teacher to undertake the task, and recommending this faithful
and devoted servant to His Excellency's notice. A bill for
making dresses and scenery that were employed in a "festa "
composed by Messer Lorenzo for the duke's daughters is pre-
served in the Gonzaga archives, and at Lucrezia's wedding, in
1487, this renowned master travelled to Bologna to direct the
fttes given in honour of her marriage.
Some knowledge of French seems to have formed part of an
Italian lady's education at this period, but even Isabella, with all
her quickness and talent, was never able to speak French fluently,
and Beatrice had recourse to interpreters when she received the
visit of King Charles VIII. at Asti, and was required to make
civil speeches in reply to his compliments. But they read
38 Beatrice d'Este
Provencal poetry and translations of Spanish romances from the
rare volumes, sumptuously bound in crimson velvet with enamelled
and jewelled clasps and corners, that were among the most
precious treasures of Duchess Leonora's cabinet. Above all,
they took delight in French romances, such as " / reali di
Franda " that book which was so popular with Italian ladies,
and became familiar with the exploits of Roland and the paladins
of Charlemagne's court. As they bent over their embroidery-
frames at their lady mother's side, in the painted camerini of
the Castello, or under the acacias and lemon-trees of the
Schifanoia villa, they listened to the wonderful fairy tales which
Matteo Boiardo recited, and heard him tell how Rinaldo of
Montalbano was pelted with roses and lilies and made captive
by Cupid's dames. Now and then, on summer evenings, they
were allowed to join in the water-parties at Belriguardo, and
float down the stream in the ducal bucentaur to the sound of
the court violins, or else take part in those hunting expeditions
for which Beatrice developed a passionate taste in after-years.
As the frescoes of Schifanoia show, hunting was always a
favourite pastime at the court of Ferrara. The duke kept many
hundred horses in his stables, and the greatest care was bestowed
upon his breed of dogs and falcons. When Borso went to
Rome in 1471, he took in his retinue eighty pages, each leading
four greyhounds in a leash ; and when he entertained the Emperor
Frederic III. at Ferrara, he presented him with fifty of his best
horses. Ercole often received gifts of Barbary horses from the
Sultan of Tunis or the famous Gonzaga stables that were
reckoned the best in Italy, and bought Spanish jennets and
steeds of Irish race to improve his own breed. And Duchess
Leonora owned a special breed of greyhounds which were
held in high esteem, and a pair of which she sent to Catcrina
Sforza, Madonna of Forli, at the humble request of this
adventurous lady.
But it was only on very rare occasions that the young
princesses of Este were allowed to leave their studies, which
occupied their whole days, and, as we learn from their different
preceptors' letters, absorbed their whole attention. Nor, we
may be quite sure, was their religious education neglected under
Beatrice d'Este 39
the eye of their mother, a sincerely devout and pious womsn>
who took pleasure in the converse of learned Dominicans and
Carmelites, and paid frequent visits to S. Vito, close tg the
Schifanoia villa, and to the Convent of Corpus Domini, in which
church she was buried. Her many charitable works, the liber-
ality with which she helped her poorer subjects, relieved their
wants, and gave dowries to virtuous maidens, as well as her
munificence in adorning altars and churches with rich orna-
ments, are recorded by every Ferrarese historian. Sabadino
degli Arienti places her high among the illustrious women of
the age, and says her deeds cannot fail to have opened the
adamant doors of Paradise, while Castiglione speaks of her ex-
cellent virtues as known to the whole world, and pronounces
her worthy to have reigned over a far larger state. With the
pattern of this admirable mother before their eyes, with all that
was choicest in art and fairest in nature around them, Leonora's
daughters grew up to womanhood, and insensibly acquired that
enthusiasm for beauty in all its varied forms, that fine taste and
perception which distinguished them above their contemporaries,
which made Isabella at the end of her long life still the most
attractive woman of her day, and which caused the bravest
soldiers and the wisest scholars to lament the untimely death of
the youthful Duchess Beatrice. /(In all the difficult and tangled
ways which they were separately called upon to tread, the breath
of scandal, the slander of idle tongues, never sullied their fair
namesl) Both princesses held fast to the ideal of their girlhood,
and, leading the same pure and spotless life, left the same gracious
memory behind them, alike in the old Mantuan city on the
banks of the classic Mincio, where Isabella's presence lingers
like some delicate perfume about the Camerinl of the ancient
Castello, and in that grander and more splendid court where
Beatrice reigned for a few brief years by the Moro's side at
Milan.
CHAPTER IV
Isabella (TEste Lodovico Sforza delays his wedding Plot against his life
Submission of Genoa Duke Gian Galeazzo The Sanseverini brothers
Messer Galeazzo made Captain-General of the Milanese armies His
marriage to Bianca Sforza Marriage of Gian Galeazzo to Isabella of
Aragon Wedding festivities at Milan Lodovico draws up his marriage
contract with Beatrice d'Este.
1485-1490
ISABELLA D*STE, the eldest of Ercole's and Leonora's two
daughters, early displayed the striking beauty and great qualities
that distinguished her in after-years. Her regular features and
delicate colouring, her ready wit and gracious manners, charmed
all the visitors to Ferrara. The letters of princes and ambas-
sadors were full of her praises. The Mantuan envoy who was
sent to Ferrara in 1480, to arrange the terms of the marriage
contract, was amazed at the little bride's precocity. The six-
year-old child not only danced charmingly before him, but con-
versed with a grace and intelligence which seemed to him little
short of miraculous. All her teachers told the same story.
Whatever Madonna Isabella did was well done. Her quickness
in learning, her marvellous memory, and application to her
studies were the theme of every one at court. She was the
apple of her father's eye, her mother's most sweet and cherished
companion u la mia carissima e dolcefiglluola sopra altre" When
she married and left home for Mantua, her poor old tutor shed
tears at the loss of his favourite pupil, and wandered through the
castle recalling her every word and movement ; while for weeks
the good duchess could not bear to enter the room or open the
windows of the room which her darling child had occupied, and
which was now left empty and desolate.
40
Beatrice d'Este 41
By the side of this brilliant creature, her younger sister, the
little Beatrice, passed comparatively unnoticed. Her name is
scarcely ever mentioned in the records of the period. Yet she
was only a year younger than Isabella, and if all had gone well,
the double wedding of the two sisters was to have been celebrated
at the same time in February, 1490. But Lodovico Sforza had
shown no inclination to press the matter. He professed the
most cordial friendship for the Duke of Ferrara, who had every
reason to be grateful for his help in the Venetian wars, and
entertained Ercole magnificently when, in 1487, he paid a
visit to Milan. But when the question of her marriage was
mooted, he made excuses and suggested further delay. The
extreme youth of the bride, the urgency of affairs of state, were
all brought forward as excellent reasons for putting off the
marriage until a more convenient season. During the ten years
after his return to Milan, Lodovico's time and thoughts had
been fully occupied. The internal as well as the external
affairs of his state, the attacks of public enemies and private foes,
alike demanded his whole energies. But so far Fortune had
favoured him in a wonderful way. An attempt was made by
Duchess Bona's confessor to assassinate him on the steps of
Saint Ambrogio at Christmas, 1485, but fortunately failed,
because that day Lodovico entered the church by a side door to
avoid the crowd. The sympathy excited by this cowardly
attempt on his life, and by his recovery from a dangerous illness
which brought him to the point of death, helped to strengthen
his position at home, while complete success attended his arms
and diplomacy. On the one hand, Venice was forced to accept
his terms of peace ; on the other, Genoa, sorely pressed by her
old rival Florence, appealed to the Regent of Milan for assistance,
and once more recognized the supremacy of Gian Galeazzo
Sforza. A cardinal's hat was obtained for Ascanio Sforza, in
whom Lodovico found an able and loyal supporter both in Rome
and Milan. And when, in 1488, Lodovico's niece, Caterina
Sforza, turned to him for help against the conspirators who had
murdered her husband and seized the Rocca of Forli, a Milanese
army under young Galezzo di Sanseverino was promptly sent
to her assistance. The citadel was besieged and captured, and
42 Beatrice d'Este
the rights of Cater ina and her son Ottaviano were triumphantly
vindicated. Thus on every side the house of Sforza was
restored to its former dignity, and the great Condottiere's name
was respected and honoured. The Milanese once more enjoyed
a period of peace and prosperity, and Lodovico was able to devote
himself to his favourite pursuits, the encouragement of learning
and of the fine arts. Even at the most anxious and busiest
times, in the midst of the war with Venice and the negotiations
for the league against her, Lodovico had found time to carry on
his brother's schemes for the decoration of the Castello of
Milan, and to help forward the works of the Duomo and the
Certosa of Pavia. He had begun to rebuild the palace of
Vigevano on a splendid scale, and had set on foot a vast system
of irrigation for the improvement of the ducal estates. Besides
encouraging the rising school of native artists, he had invited
the best foreign architects and painters, sculptors and poets, to
his court. Already Bramante of Urbino was the chief architect
at the ducal court, and now Lorenzo de' Medici sent a young
Florentine master to Milan who played the lute divinely, and
whose varied talents might prove serviceable to his friend
Lodovico. So Leonardo da Vinci came to the court of the Moro,
and found in him so genial and understanding a patron, so
generous and kindly a friend, that he settled at Milan, and
remained in the duke's service for the next sixteen years. Thus
Lodovico Sforza had shown himself a wise and excellent regent,
and had earned the gratitude of both prince and people, while the
young duke in whose name he governed was growing up to
man's estate. From his birth Gian Galeazzo had been a fraiL
and sickly child, subject to constant feverish attacks, and in the
year 1483 was so dangerously ill that at one moment his doctors
despaired of his recovery. As he grew older, it became plain
that his mind was as feeble as his body. He was utterly incap-
able of applying himself to serious business, far less of administer-
ing state affairs. His whole days were spent in idleness and
pleasure, in hunting and drinking. Horses and dogs were the
only objects in which he took any interest. Under these
circumstances, it became plain that Lodovico would remain the
actual ruler of Milan even though his nephew bore the title of
Beatrice d'Este 43
duke. All outward respect was paid to Gian Galeazzo ; he lived
in great state, with a household and officers of his own, and was
surrounded by regal pomp on public occasions. Clad in ducal
robes, he appeared seated on a throne erected in front of the
Duomo when the Genoese patricians arrived at Milan, and
received their homage as duke of the principality of Genoa.
His brother Ermes, his sisters Bianca and Anna, shared his
state, and when Bianca's betrothed husband the young prince of
Savoy died, she was formally affianced in the Duomo to the
eldest son of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary. But the
real sovereign of Milan was Lodovico Duke of Bari. Here
and there a jealous or discontented Milanese nobleman might
grumble, but the majority of the duke's subjects felt that in
these troublous days a strong hand was needed at the helm, and
knew that they had this strong man in the Moro.
By degrees Lodovico removed those governors of cities and
fortresses whose loyalty he had reason to suspect, and replaced
them by confidential servants. Filippo Eustachio, captain of the
Castello of Milan, a brave and honest man, Corio tells us, who
had refused to yield up the keys of the Rocca to Bona's minion,
but whose brothers had been implicated in the plot against
Lodovico's life, was one day arrested by the duke's orders, and
imprisoned at Abbiategrasso ; he was afterwards released, no
evidence of his guilt being produced, but his post was filled by
one of the Moro's servants. Chief among the trusted captains
in whom Lodovico placed his confidence were the Sanseverini
brothers, " i gran Sanseverini," as they were called in the court
poet's verses, as much on account of their great strength and
stature as of the exalted position which they held at the Milanese
court. Their father, that turbulent soldier Roberto, after
making three desperate attempts to unseat the prince whose
return to power he had effected, and being three times pro-
claimed a rebel and outlaw at Milan, had taken service under
Pope Innocent VIII. and led the campaign against Alfonso of
Calabria, as Captain-general of the Church. But before long he
quarrelled with the Pope and returned to the service of the
Venetian Republic, until in August, 1486, at the age of seventy,
he fell fighting with heroic valour against the Imperialists in the
44 Beatrice d'Este
battle of Trent. Of his twelve sons, four entered the service of
their kinsman, Lodovico Sforza, and rose to high honour and
dignity. All of them were mighty men of valour like their
father before them, while a fifth, Cardinal Federigo, was to prove
a staunch adherent of the Sforzas in days to come. He inherited
the giant stature as well as the martial tastes of his family, and at
the consecration of Pope Alexander VL is said to have lifted Borgia
in his arms and placed him on the high altar. The eldest of the
brothers, Giovanni Francesco, Count of Caiazzo, succeeded to his
father's estates in Calabria, but lived at Milan, and became one
of Lodovico's chief captains. Both Gaspare the gallant soldier
known by his sur ;.e of Captain Fracassa and Antonio
Maria, the husk * \ >f the fair and learned Margherita Pia of
Carpi, a bl>?ovea, ^tjad and cousin of the Estc princesses, were
prominent >ngure at the Milanese court. But the most famous
ar, popular of all '..he brothers was G Jeazzo. This brilliant
and accomplished cavalier, who was to play so great a part at the
Milanese court, early attracted the notice of Lodovico by his
personal charm and rare skill in knightly exercises. As a rider
and jouster, he was without a rival. Wherever he entered the
lists, at Milan or Venice, at Ferrara or Urbino, he invariably
carried off the prize, and was proclaimed victor in the games.
And to this rowess in courtly exercises he joined a love of art
and learniix & which especially commended him to the Moro.
Unlike his brother Captain Fracassa, who refused Caterina
Sforza's invitation to join in dance and song, saying that war
was his trade and he sought no other, Galeazzo was a model of
courtesy and grace. All fair ladies had a smile for him.
Isabella d'Este and Elizabetta Gonzaga honoured him with their
friendship, and Beatrice d'Este found in him the truest of friends
and best of servants. Three kings of France, Charles V1IL,
Louis XIL, and Francis L, singled him out for special distinction,
and after enjoying the highest honour at Lodovico Sforza's
court, he lived to become Grand Ecuyer of France in the next
century. French Italian chroniclers alike own the fascination of
his handsome presence and extol the gentilezza of this very
perfect knight. Leonardo da Vinci and Luca Pacioli the
mathematician had in him a noble, generous patron, and
Beatrice d'Este , 45
Baldassarre Castiglione, who knew him in his youth at Milan,
has enshrined his memory in the pages of his " Cortigiano." It
was this rare union of qualities which endeared the young
Sanseverino to the Moro, who chose him for his intimate friend
and companion. On his return from his successful campaign
against the Forli rebels, Lodovico appointed him Captain-general
of the Milanese armies, a step which naturally excited great
jealousy among his rivals, and mortally wounded the pride of
Messer Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, an older captain in the same
service. Short of stature and rude of speech, with the big nose
and rugged features that are familiar to us in Caradosso's medal,
this able soldier presented a curious cont *? * to the brilliant and
courtly Messer Galeazzo, whose rival he r-\ f d to the end of
his life. Yet he knew how to appreciate _ ^s, ai i. after his
triumphant return to Milan in 1499, employed JLeonardi to p^'nt
his portrait and design Lis tomb. Although a Guelph by bi> A,
Trivulzio, up to this time, had been one of Lodovico's most active
supporters. But when he saw a younger rival preferred to him,
he left Milan in disgust and retired to Naples, where he entered
King Ferrante's service, and became from that time a bitter
enemy of the Sforza's. Meanwhile the Moro loaded his
favourite Galeazzo with honours and rewards. He gave him
the fine estate of Castelnovo in the Tortone:e, wh ' ^h had once
belonged to his father, the great Condottiere Robert*^ as well as
a house in Pavia near the church of San Francesco and a palace
in Milan, near the Porta Vercellina, and allowed him to build a
villa and extensive stables in the park of the 'Castello. As a last
and crowning honour, he bestowed upon this fortunate youth the
hand of his illegitimate daughter Bianca, a beautiful and attractive
child to whom he was fondly attached. Of her mother we
have no certain knowledge, but she is generally supposed to
have been some mistress of low origin, and Bianca herself is
described by a contemporary writer as " figlia ex pellice nata"
The wedding was solemnized with great splendour in the chapel
of the Castello di Pavia, on the last day of the year 1489, but
the young princess was still a child, and Galeazzo had to wait
five years before he took home his bride. After his marriage he
adopted the name of Sforza Visconti, and was treated by Lodovico
is a member of his family.
46 Beatrice d'Este
Another wedding which took place about this time was
that of the young duke, Gian Galeazzo. He had already
entered his twentieth year, and the Princess Isabella of Aragon,
to whom he had been betrothed in his father's lifetime, was
turned eighteen, so that the marriage could no longer be delayed.
In November, 1488, his brother Ermes was sent to Naples with a
suite of four hundred persons, who entered King Ferrante's capital
sumptuously arrayed in silk brocade, and amazed even his
luxurious courtiers by the splendour of their gold chains and
jewelled plumes. At least Isabella's father, Alfonso, who had
little love for his brother-in-law, and had already found Lodovico
more than a match for his own cunning, could not complain
that his daughter had not been honourably treated. After a
rough passage in the depth of winter, which sorely tried the
patience of the court poet Bellincioni, who was a member of
the Milanese suite, the bride landed on the yth of February,
and travelled by land to Genoa and Tortona. There her
bridegroom, the young Duke of Milan, was awaiting her, with
his uncle Lodovico, and a banquet as memorable for ingenuity
as for splendour was given in her honour. Each course was
introduced by some mythological personage. Jason appeared
with the golden fleece, Phoebus 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 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 crowned with chaplets of ivy arrived from
the hills of Arcady, bearing jars of milk and honey to the
festive board. At Milan fresh wonders were awaiting the
bridal pair. The court of the Castello was hung with blue
drapery and wreaths of laurel and ivy, above which the ducal
arms, designed in antique style, were seen, supported by figures
of Centaurs. Under a seven-columned portico adorned with
crimson-and-gold hangings, the duke's sister, Bianca Maria
Sforza, received the bride, and led her to a richly decorated
chamber in the Camera della Torre On the following day
Beatrice d'Esie 47
the wedding was solemnized with great pomp in the Duomo.
The duke and duchess, clad in white, walked hand-in-hand
up the great aisles of the church, and finally, were escorted to
the rooms prepared for them in the Rocca, and after the
Milanese fashion, hung with pure white satin. But the most
memorable part of the v/edding festivities, and that to which
Lodovico himself devoted especial attention, was the performance
of an operetta composed by the court poet Bellincioni for the
occasion. " It was called // Paradiso" adds the chronicler to
whom we owe these details, " because Maestro Leonardo Vinci,
the Florentine, had with great art and ingenuity fabricated a
paradise -or celestial sphere, in which the seven planets were
represented by actors in costumes similar to those described by
those poets of old, who each in turn spoke the praise of Duchess
Isabella."
The festivities were interrupted by the illness of the young
duke, who was so much exhausted by the fatigues of these
successive entertainments, that he was unable to leave his bed
for some weeks. But in the following summer two splendid
tournaments were held at Pavia, at which Messer Galeazzo, as
Sanseverino is always styled in Milanese annals, appeared with
twenty followers in golden armour, mounted on chargers with
gold trappings and harness, and, having unhorsed no less than
nineteen of his opponents, bore off the first prize, a length of
costly silver brocade. The duke and duchess were present
with their whole court, but the Ferrarese ambassador remarked
that the crowd all shouted, " Moro ! Moro ! " and that Signor
Lodovico was by far the most popular personage with the
citizens of Pavia.
"He is a great man, and intends to be what he is in
fact already everything ! " he wrote in his despatches to
Ferrara. " And yet who knows ? In a short time he may
be nobody.'*
Gian Galeazzo, however, showed no signs of interfering
with his uncle in the management of public affairs. On the
contrary, he gave full rein to his pleasure-loving tastes, seldom
came to Milan, and spent his days at Pavia or Vigevano in the
company of his young wife and a few favourites. Duchess
48 Beatrice d'Este
Isabella, as time showed, was a woman of strong character and
deep feeling, but she never seemed to have acquired any in-
fluence over her feeble husband, and found herself powerless to
arouse him to any sense of his position. " La dicte fille" says
Commines, " etoit fort courageuse et eut volontier donni cridit a son
mary, si elle eut pu> mats il rfetoit guere saige et rivelait ce quelle lui.
disait" Lodovico treated both his nephew and niece with the
utmost respect, and discussed the situation freely with the
Florentine ambassador Pandolfini, saying that King Ferrante's
envoy had lately gone so far as to suggest that, since this young
man could never rule for himself, his uncle might as well
assume the title, as well as the cares, of the head of the state.
But this, Lodovico declared, was a crime of which he would
never be guilty. "If I were to attempt such a thing," he
exclaimed, "I should be infamous in the eyes of the whole
world!"
For the present the sense of power, the knowledge that he
was the actual ruler, sufficed him, and, as the King of Naples
himself recognized, no one could have governed Milan more
wisely or well than Lodovico did in his nephew's name. The
birth of Duchess Isabella's son, in December, 1490, may have
been a blow to his hopes. But the happy event was celebrated
with due rejoicings, the costly presents from the city of Milan
and court officials were displayed in the Castello, and the
infant heir of the house of Sforza received the name of his
renowned great-grandfather, Francesco, together with the title
of Count of Pavia,
Meanwhile Lodovico felt that it was time to think of his
own marriage, and to keep the troth which he had pledged tc
the child-princess of Este. His actions, as he well knew, were
narrowly watched at the court of Ferrara. Duchess Leonora
was beginning to feel anxious about her daughter's future, and
the marriage of Anna Sforza with young Alfonso d'Este had
also to be arranged. Accordingly in May, 1489, when the
Duke of Milan's wedding was safely over, the Ferrarese envoy
Giacomo Trotti was sent back to his master duly acquainted
with Signer Lodovico's wishes and intentions respecting these
important matters.
Beatrice d'Este 49
On the loth of May, the articles of the marriage contract
were finally drawn up and signed at the Castello of Ferrara.
They were on the same basis as the marriage treaties which
had lately been drawn up between the Marquis Mantua and
Isabella d'Este and the Duke and Duchess of Milan. Lodo-
vico was to receive 40,000 gold crowns and 2009 more in
jewels as Beatrice's portion. A sum equal to three-parts of
the bride's dower was to be chargeable on the goods and
lands of Signor Lodovico. If the most illustrious Madonna
were to die without children, this dowry was to be returned, as
was stipulated in the case of the Duchess of Milan. With
regard to the choice and arrangement of the bride's household,
and the number of her women, Lodovico was content to leave
all particulars to the Duke and Duchess of Ferrara, trusting to
their goodness and prudence to settle all these matters on a
scale suitable to the birth and rank of a princess of this illus-
trious house. But he especially begged Duke Ercole to see
that Madonna Beatrice was well supplied with clothes and other
necessary articles of toilet fitting the position which she would
occupy at Milan as wife of the Duke of Bari and Regent of
the State. Last of all, the date of the marriage was positively
fixed for the month of May, 1490, Lodovico promising to
defray all the expenses of the wedding festivities. At the
same time it was also decided that Madonna Anna's marriage
should take place in July, 1490, by which time Signor Alfonso
would have completed his fourteenth year, and the sum due to
Messer Lodovico for Beatrice's dowry was to be deducted from
that of his niece, who, as a princess of Milan, was to receive a/
portion of 100,000 crowns.
So Beatrice d'Este's wedding-day was at length fixed, and
Duchess Leonora rejoiced in the happy prospect of seeing both
her daughters married in the course of the following year*
CHAPTER V
Marriage of Isabella cTEste Lodovico puts off his wedding Cecilia
Gallerani Her portrait by Leonardo da Vinci Mission of Galeazzo
Visconti to Ferrara Preparations for Beatrice's wedding Cristoforo
Romano's bust Duchess Leonora and her daughters travel to Piacenza
and Pavia Their reception at Pavia by Lodovico.
1490-1491
THE young Marquis of Mantua, Gian Francesco Gonzaga, had
proved himself a more ardent lover than Lodovico Sforza. He
frequently exchanged letters and compliments with his youthful
bride, or sent Isabella presents and verses written in her honour by
Mantuan poets. After his father's death in 1484, he visited Man-
tua, and brought Duchess Leonora a Madonna painted by the hand
of the great Paduan master, Andrea Mantegna, the court painter of
the Gonzagas. In the autumn of the same year, Leonora took her
daughter to Mantua for a short visit, where she first met Gian
Francesco's sister, Elizabeth Duchess of Urbino, who was to
become her dearest friend and constant companion in the early
days of her married life. Four years afterwards, the same
Elizabeth, the peerless Duchess of Castiglione and Bembo's
adoration, stopped at Ferrara on her wedding journey to her new
home of Urbino, and received an affectionate welcome from
Leonora and her daughters. The duchess, she wrote, treated her
as a mother, while in the Marchesana she had already found a
loving sister and friend. On the nth of February, 1490, Isabella's
own wedding was celebrated at Ferrara, and the following
morning the bride rode through the streets of the city, with the
Duke of Urbino on her right and the Ambassador of Naples on
her left hand. On the I2th, the bride set out for Mantua,
50
Beatrice cTEste 51
travelling by water up the river Po in a stately bucentaur pre-
sented to Isabella by Duke Ercole, adorned with rich carving
and gilding. Her parents and three brothers, Alfonso, Ferrante,
and the boy Ippolito, afterwards well known as Ariosto's patron,
Cardinal d'Este, with a large suite, accompanied her to the gates
of Mantua, where a magnificent reception awaited her. The
young marquis had made great preparations to welcome his bride,
and, after the fashion of the days, had borrowed gold and silver
plate, carpets, and hangings from all his friends and relations,
including the famous tapestries of the Trojan war, which were
the chief ornaments of the palace of Urbino. The fetes passed
oft brilliantly, the crowds which assembled in the streets of
Mantua were enormous, and the utmost enthusiasm was excited
by the youth and loveliness of the bride. The only drawback
was the absence of Mantegna, whom Pope Innocent had detained
in Rome, in spite of his master's urgent request that the painter
might return in time to arrange the wedding festivities.
The void which Isabella left in her old home was keenly felt
alike by her mother and sister. The duchess could not console
herself for her daughter's absence, and after spending a delightful
week with her sister-in-law Elizabeth on the lake of Garda,
among the lemon-groves and gardens of those sunny shores,
Isabella and her husband returned to Ferrara in April Here she
found that Beatrice's marriage had been again put off by Signor
Lodo vice's wish until the summer, and Isabella agreed to return
to Ferrara early in July, and accompany her mother and sister
to Milan. But when July came and the young marchioness
reached Ferrara, she found to her surprise that all these plans had
been suddenly changed. Lodovico had once more found it im-
possible to keep his engagement, and pleaded urgent public affairs
and unavoidable pressure of business to excuse his apparent
apathy. This time the duke and duchess were seriously annoyed,
and began to doubt if Lodovico ever intended to wed their
daughter. The question was gravely discussed during Isabella's
visit, and a messenger from Milan suddenly reached Ferrara late
one evening. It was no other than Messer Galeazzo Visconti,
one of Lodovico's most trusted envoys, who had ridden from
Milan in great haste, with letters from his lord. The contents
52 Beatrice d'Este
of these letters remained unknown. One thing only was clear :
they gave the duke great dissatisfaction. And Messer Galeazzo
departed the next day, as quickly as he came. " I have tried in
vain," wrote Benedette Capilupi, the Marquis of Mantua's agent
at Ferrara, " to discover the reason of all these disturbances.
Every one is out of temper, and the duke seems to be very much
displeased. M. Galeazzo has left suddenly."
Isabella returned to join her husband at Mantua, leaving
affairs in this unsatisfactory state. Beatrice's wedding seemed
further off than ever, and doubts as to her union with Signer
Lodovico began to be openly expressed. It was well known at
Ferrara, where everything that happened at the court of Milan
was minutely reported to Duke Ercole by his faithful envoy,
Giacomo Trotti, that Lodovico Sforza had a mistress to whom
he was fondly attached, and whom he had for many years past
treated with the respect and honour due to a wife. This was
Cecilia Gallerani, afterwards the wife of Count Lodovico
Bergamini, a young Milanese lady of noble birth, as distinguished
for her learning as for her beauty. She spoke and wrote Latin
fluently, composed sonnets in Italian, and delivered Latin orations
to the theologians and philosophers who met at her house. Con-
temporary writings abound in allusions to the rare virtues and
learning of " la bella Gallerani," the Sappho of modern times.
Scaligero wrote epigrams in her honour, Ortensio Lando classes
her with Isabella d'Este and Vittoria Colonna among the most
cultured women of the age. The novelist Matteo Bandello,
himself a friar of the Dominican convent of S. Maria delle
Grazie at Milan, is never tired of singing Cecilia's praises, and of
describing the pleasant company who met at the countess's palace
in Milan or at her villa near Cremona. There, he tells us, all
the finest wits, all the most distinguished strangers in Milan
assemble, and you may hear valiant captains reasoning with
doctors and philosophers, or look at paintings and designs by
living artists and architects, and listen to the playing and singing
of the best musicians. As a young girl, Cecilia's charms captured
the heart of the Moro, who, as early as 1481, bestowed the estate
of Saronno, which he had inherited from his brother Sforza, upon
her by a deed of gift, in which- he extolled her learning and
Beatrice d'Este 53
excellence, and at the same time recalled the merits and services
of her ancestors. Soon after Leonardo da Vinci's arrival in
Milan, Lodovico employed him to paint the portrait of his fair
young mistress, and we have more than one proof of the
admiration which the Florentine master's work excited among
his contemporaries. In the Rime of the court-poet, Bellincioni,
we find the following sonnet evidently inspired by this picture
and bearing the inscription : " On the portrait of Madonna
Cecilia, painted by Maestro Leonardo." The poet seeks to
appease Dame Nature's wrath at the sight of this portrait, in
which the painter has represented the lovely maiden " listening,
not speaking," but so full of life and radiance, that the sun's
beams grow dim before the brightness of her eyes. And instead
of envying art, he bids her rejoice that this living image of so
beautiful a form will be handed down to future ages, and give
thanks to Lodovico's wisdom and Leonardo's genius for having
preserved this fair face to be the joy and wonder of posterity.
" Thine, O Nature/' he cries, " is the honour ! the more living
and beautiful Cecilia shall appear in the eyes of generations to
come, the greater will be thy glory ! For long as the world
endures, all who see her face will recognize in Leonardo's work
the close union of Art and Nature."
" Che lei vedra, cosi ben die sia tardo,
Vederla viva, dira : basti ad noi
Comprender or quel che e natura et arte. M
On the 26th of April, 1498, a year after Beatrice d'Este's
death, her sister the Marchioness Isabella herself wrote to the
Countess Bergamini from Mantua, begging her 'for the loan
of the portrait which Leonardo had painted of her and which
she had formerly seen in Milan. "Having to-day seen some
fine portraits by the hand of Giovanni Bellini, we began to
discuss the works of Leonardo, and wished we could compare
them with these paintings. And since we remember that he
painted your likeness 5 we beg you to be so good as to send
us your portrait by this messenger whom we have despatched
on horseback, so that we may not only be able to compare the
works of the two masters, but may also have the pleasure of
5/ Beatrice d'Este
seeing your face again. The picture shall be returned to you
aft '^vards, with our most grateful thanks for your kindness, and
assi mg you of our own readiness to oblige you to the utmost of
our power, etc.
"ISABELLA D'STE.
"From Mantua/'
( - -^a sent the precious picture by the courier to Mantua,
with Q following note in reply :
i nvi
ft * ' -r ILLUSTRIOUS AND EXCELLENT MADONNA AND VERY
. ,DER LADY,
y^" "I have read your Highnesses letter, and since you
wish to see my portrait I send it without delay, and would send
it with even greater pleasure if it were more like me. But your
Highness must not think this proceeds from any defect in the
Maestro himself, for indeed I do not believe there is another
painter equal to him in the world, but merely because the portrait
was painted when I was still at so young and imperfect an age.
Since then I have changed altogether, so much so that if you
saw the picture and myself together, you would never dream it
could be meant for me ! All the same, your Highness will, I hope,
accept this proof of my good-will, arid believe that I am ready
and anxious to gratify your wishes, not only in respect to the
portrait, but in any other way that I can, since I am ever Your
Highness's most devoted slave and commend myself to you a
thousand times.
a Your Highness's servant,
"CECILIA VISCONTA BERGAMINA. *
" riom Milan, the 29th of April, 1498,"
Since that day when the great Florentine first painted her,
Cecilia Gallerani had developed into a handsome matron, and as
Lodovico Sforza's recognized mistress she enjoyed a position of
great ^honour at court. For some years she occupied a suite of
rooms in the Castello of Milan, where her lover constantly visited
her and took the greatest delight in her company. His passion
* G. TJzielli, Leonardo da Find e 'Tre Gttitil donne Mllancii^ p. 23,
Beatrice d'JEste ^55
for this beautifol and intellectual woman only seemed to increase
with years. She had already borne him one son, the Leone,
whom he was known to love so well that his courtiers d* not
dare tell him the sad news when the child died suddenly in
1487. The Duke of Bari, it was even said, intended ere long
to make her his lawful wife, and thus to render her future issue
legitimate.
Under these circumstances, it can hardly be we . :' .d if
Lodovico Sforza showed some reluctance in keeping ^;i troth
which he had plighted to the young princess of Este,w i#' ~)uke
Ercole's vexation was the more pardonable. For nar* -e it
seemed as if a rupture between the two houses was -nj table,
and all thought of a union between them must be ab~ onei
But soon a change came over II Moro's dream. The di ;ulties
in the way of a closer union with Cecilia Gallerani were great,
and must invariably lead to jealousies and quarrels of a serious
order. His own position in Milan would be endangered, and
fresh hindrances placed in the way of his future designs. At
the same time, the alliances with Ferrara and Mantua were both
of great importance to the state, and could not be lightly thrown
away. So he determined to sacrifice his inclinations to political
exigencies, and make Beatrice d'Este his wife.
Accordingly, at the end of August he sent another ambassador,
Francesco da Casate, to Ferrara with a magnificent gift for his
bride, in the shape of a necklace of large pearls set in gold flowers,
with a very fine pear-shaped pendant of rubies, pearls, and
emeralds. This costly jewel was duly presented to Beatrice in
the name of her affianced husband, and Duchess Leonora wrote
forthwith to give her daughter Isabella the good news, informing
her that Signor Lodovico hoped she would accompa* v her
mother and sister to Milan that autumn for the weddingr * The
young marchioness was delighted to accept this invitation, and in
the course of a few days she paid another visit to Ferrara, to
assist in the preparations for her sister's marriage. Messer
Galeazzo Visconti was sent there again to learn the duke and
duchess's pleasure as to their daughter's journey, and, after r .aking
the final arrangements, left Ferrara on the 26th of November.
The bride's departure was fixed for the last day of the year, and
56 Beatrice d'Este
the wedding, it was decided, should take place in the chapel of
the Castello of Pavia on the i6th of January.
Isabella hurried to Mantua to buy horses and clothes, jewels
and plate for her journey, and announced her intention of taking
upwards of one hundred persons in her suite, with ninety horses
and trumpeters. Afterwards, however, she reduced the number
to fifty persons and thirty horses at the request of Lodovico,
who begged her to bring as few attendants as possible, owing to
the large number of guests who were expected at Milan. Her
husban S the Marquis Gianfrancesco, had naturally been included
in the i/j 'tation, but as a close ally of the Venetians he did not
think hr]jolitic to appear at the wedding of Lodovico Sforza.
The Signory of Venice were known to look coldly on this
alliance between Ferrara and Milan, and entertained the deepest
distrust of Lodovico's policy. So Isabella decided to join her
mother and sister on their journey up the river, and proceed with
them to Pavia and ultimately to Milan. Meanwhile another
emissary from Milan had arrived at Ferrara. This was the young
sculptor, Cristoforo Romano, who was sent to Signer Lodovico
to carve a bust-portrait of his bride before she left her father's
home. The son of a Pisan sculptor who had settled in Rome,
Cristoforo's genius had attracted attention when he was quite a
boy, and he had been sent to Milan by Cardinal Ascanio Sforza.
The young Roman master was one of those brilliant and
versatile artists who especially commended themselves to
Lodovico. He sang and played the lute admirably, while his
literary tastes made him the intimate friend of Bembo and
Castiglione, and a great favourite with the cultured princesses of
Mantua and Urbino. He takes a leading part in the dialogues
of the Cortigiano, and is frequently mentioned as worthy to rank
with Michael Angelo, whose fame he might have rivalled had he
not suffered from continual ill health. As it is, the few works
which he left behind him are marked with singular grace and
refinement. His bust of Beatrice, now in the Louvre, where for
many years it passed as the work of Leonardo, is at once remark-
able for its truth and charm. The somewhat irregular features
of the maiden of fifteen years are admirably given, the round-
ness of her cheeks, the pouting lips and slightly retrousst nose,
Beatrice cTEste 57
and the curling locks are faithfully represented ; yet we realize the
force of character that lies under this soft, child-like face, and the
frank joyousness which made her so attractive. Each stray lock
of hair is rendered with delicate accuracy, the brocaded bodice
of her gown and the scarf lightly thrown over her shoulders are
elaborately adorned with the triangular diamond and other
favourite devices of the house of Este. The quaint figure of the
two hands holding a veil, from which fertilizing dust falls on the
open flower, is supposed to be an emblem of marriage, and is said
to signify that Beatrice was already an affianced bride. But
since the words "Herculis filiae" are cut in the marble, it is
plain that Cristoforo carved the bust while the young duchess
was still in her father's home, and probably took it home with
him that autumn to Milan.
That year the winter set in with unusual severity. The
bitter frost and cold which man and beast endured that
January were long remembered, both in Mantua and Ferrara.
On Christmas night it began to snow, and so heavy and con-
tinuous was the fall, that by noon on the next day the snow lay
three feet deep in front of the Vescovado, or Bishop's house,
opposite the Este palace. The Po was frozen over, and the ice
on the river never thawed until the first week in February, while
the snow lasted till the I2th of March, and some patches might
still be seen in the streets of Ferrara on the 20th of that month.
In the midst of these unwonted rigours, the wedding-party
set out on their long journey. The royal brides of these days
seem to have been singularly unlucky in the matter of weather.
For one thing, they always travelled in the depths of winter.
Elizabeth Gonzaga almost died of exhaustion after the suffer-
ings of her journey from Mantua to Urbino in a violent tempest,
which kept her ship tossing on the waves of the Po for several
days and nights. The fleet which conveyed Isabella and her
escort from Naples to Leghorn, narrowly escaped shipwreck off
the coast of Tuscany. Bianca Sforza had to ride in December
over the roughest roads across the Alps of the Valtelline, to join
her Imperial lord at Innsbrtick. And now Leonora and her
daughters were called upon to brave the terrors of an Arctic
winter on their way to Milan.
58 Beatrice d'Este
"On the 29th of December, 1490," writes the diarist of
Ferrara, " Madonna Beatrice, daughter of Duke Ercole, went to
Milan to marry Signor Lodovico Sforza, accompanied by her
mother, Leonora Duchess of Ferrara ; and also by Messer Sigis-
mondo, her uncle " the duke's younger brother, Cardinal d'Este
" and her brother, Don Alfonso, who went to bring home his
bride. Madonna Anna, sister of the Duke of Milan and daughter
of Galeazzo, and he rode in a sledge because the Po was frozen." *
The ladies of the party travelled in rude country carts
" carrette " as far as Brescello, where the Po was navigable,
and they were able to continue their journey by water to Pavia.
Here Messer Galeazzo Visconti was awaiting them with a Heet
of boats and three bucentaurs, by which pompous name the rude
barges in which these high-born personages travelled were
glorified. The many discomforts and the actual cold and hunger
which the Este ladies endured during the five days which they
spent on board these vessels are graphically described in a letter
addressed to Isabella's husband by her Ferrarese lady-in-waiting,
Beatrice de' Conlrari, after the travellers had reached Pavia.
The boat which bore the provisions for the party was delayed
by stress of weather, so that the travellers were left with but
scanty breakfast and no dinner. When at length they anchored
near the shore of Toresella at three o'clock at night, the
Marchesana and her ladies were in a starving condition. a If it
had not been for the timely help of Madonna Camilla, who sent us
part of her supper from her barge, I for one, 1 * writes the lively
lady-in-waiting, " should have certainly been by this time a saint
in Paradise." As for going to bed, all wish for sleep was put
out of their heads by the rocking of the ship and the uncomfort-
able berths, and the poor^ Marchesana was so cold and wretched
without a fire that she wished herself dead, and her lady-in-
waiting could not keep back her tears. However, at length
these miseries were ended, Piacenza was safely reached, on the
1 2th of January, and the royal ladies and their companions
were hospitably entertained by Count Bartolommeo Scotti, and
enjoyed the luxury of warm fires and comfortable beds !
"And now that we have arrived," wrote Beatrice de' Contrari
to her lord, the marquis, " and are beginning to enjoy these
* Muratorife K. I. b., xxiv. 1X2.
Beatrice d'Este 59
weddings for the sake of which we have suffered so many dis-
comforts, I arn thinking seriously of making my last will and
testament." *
After a day's rest at Piacenza, the bridal party continued their
journey up the river, and reached Pavia at half-past four on
Sunday afternoon. Here Signer Lodovico was awaiting them
on the banks of the river Ticino, which joins the Po a few
hundred yards below the city, with a gallant company of Milanese
lords and gentlemen, and himself conducted first Beatrice and
then her mother and sister to the shore. Together they rode
on horseback over the covered bridge which spans the river, and
passed through the long streets until they reached the goal of
their journey, and entered the gates of the far-famed Castello
of Pavia.
* Luzio-Renier in A. S. L., xvii. 85.
CHAPTER VI
City and University of Pavia Duomo and Castello The library of the
Castello Wedding of Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Bari, and Beatrice
d'ste, in the chapel of the Castello of Pavia Galeazzo di San Severino
and Orlando Reception of the bride in Milan Tournaments and
festivities at the Castello Visit of Duchess Leonora to the Certosa of
Pavia.
1491
THE ancient city of Pavia, the capital of the Lombard kings
before the conquest of Charlemagne, still presents a picturesque
and imposing appearance to the traveller, who sees the red-brick
walls and gates of the old fortifications and the slender bell-
towers of its Romanesque churches rising out of the green
plains on the banks of the broad and swift Ticino. But it was
a far grander and more beautiful sight in the days when
Lodovico Sforza's bride landed near the chapel on the bridge,
and in the fading light of the short winter afternoon rode at his
side through the chief streets of the old Lombard capital, or, as
it was proudly called, the city of a hundred towers. On the
princely cavalcade wound, amid a dense crowd of people shout-
ing, " Moro I Moro I " up the long Strada Nova, with its marble
palaces, and newly painted loggias adorned with busts and fres-
coes, in front of the stately Ateneo with its halls and porticoes for
the different schools, which had the reputation of being the
finest university in all Italy, and past the rising walls of the new
Duomo which Lodovico was building on the site of the ruined
basilica of Charlemagne's time. A few months before, the
renowned Sienese architect, Francesco Martini, had arrived at
Pavia on horseback to give his advice as to the cupola of the
new cathedral, accompanied by His Excellency's servant,
60
Beatrice d'Este 61
Magistro Leonardo, the Florentine, and a vast train of servants,
and had been entertained at the public expense. Martini had
soon left again for Milan, after giving the architect of the Duomo,
Bramante's pupil Cristoforo Rocchi, the benefit of his advice, and
promising to send him a model of the cupola ; but Leonardo had
remained at Pavia all the summer and autumn, turning over old
manuscripts in the library of the Castello, and discussing ana-
tomical problems with the professors and surgeons of the
university, until a peremptory summons had reached him from
the governor of the Castello at Milan, desiring him to return
immediately and assist in decorating the ballroom for the
wedding f foes. Another visitor, a citizen of Beatrice's own city
of Ferrara, had also been at Pavia a few months before the
Dominican friar, Girolamo Savonarola, who had visited the
Certosa and Castello of Pavia on his way from Brescia to preach
at Genoa, before he was summoned at Pico della Mirandola's
request to begin his famous course of Lent sermons in St. Mark's
of Florence. But now the duke's painter and the humble
friar had both gone their separate ways, Fra Girolamo to startle
the scholars of the Medici circle with his thunders, and Leonardo
co paint cupids in the halls of the Castello at Milan, and to resume
his labours at the great equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza,
which Signor Lodovico was longing to see finished. All un-
conscious of their existence, the young bride of the powerful
regent rode at her lord's side and entered the wide courtyard
through the great gateway, under the lofty towers of the famous
Castello which for over a hundred and fifty years had been the
home of Viscontis and Sforzas.
After the cold and fatigue of the long journey in this snowy
winter season, the bridal party were thankful to reach the end
of their journey and to enjoy a day's rest before the wedding
ceremony, which, after consultation with Messer Ambrogio da
Rosate, the chief court physician and astrologer, had been fixed
for Tuesday, the iyth of January, this being the day of Mars,
and therefore especially propitious for the marriage of a lord,
who above all things desired the birth of a son. Throughout
his life II Moro, like many of his contemporaries, had a blind
belief in the stars, and placed the most implicit confidence in
62 Beatrice d'Este
Messer Ambrogio, who was said to have saved his life during his
dangerous illness at Vigevano three years before, and who had
been lately called upon to cast the horoscope of Pope Innocent
VIII, at the earnest entreaty of His Holiness. " Maestro
Ambrogio has been suddenly called to fly to Vigevano," wrote
Giacomo Trotti to Ferrara one day in 1489, <c because he is a
professor of astrology, by which this excellent Signor orders all
his actions." The date of Lodovico's journeys, the hour of all
important court ceremonies, and even the movements of his
armies in time of war, were regulated by the course of the stars.
Messer Ambrogio, consequently, became a most important
personage at the court of Milan. "Without him," wrote
Beatrice's maid of honour to the Marchioness Isabella, " nothing
can be done here."
The beautiful park and gardens at Pavia lay deep in snow,
their lakes and fountains were ail frozen over, but there was
plenty to interest and amuse the visitors within the walls of this
great Castello, of which they had heard so much, and which was
said to be the grandest of royal houses in the whole of Europe.
Three or four generations of masters had been employed by
successive Visconti dukes to rear this glorious fabric, which in
its palmy days must have been a noble monument of Lombard
architecture. The long colonnades of low round arches went
back to Romanesque days and the times of the first Visconti
lords of Pavia ; the Gothic windows of the banqueting-hall
and upper stories had been finished in the reign of the great
Giangaleazzo, and were enriched with slender marble shafts
and exquisite terra-cotta mouldings similar to those that we
admire to-day in the cloisters of the Certoza. The vaulted
halls were painted with the finest ultramarine and gold, and the
arms of Sforzas and Viscontis, the lilies of France and the red
cross of Savoy, appeared on the groined roof between planets and
stars of raised gold. The vast Sala della Palla, where the dukes
and their courtiers indulged in their favourite pastime of " pall-
maU," which Burckhardt calls the classic game of the Renaissance,
was decorated with frescoes by the best artists of Pavia or
Cremona, representing fishing and hunting scenes. Portraits of
the dukes and duchesses were introduced, together with lions and
Beatrice d'Este 63
tigers, wild boars and stags flying before the hounds, in the
forest shades or on the open moor- The ballroom was adorned
with historic subjects from the lives of the earlier Viscontis.
The poet Petrarch, who had once filled a chair in the university,
was seen delivering an oration before the duke ; and Giangaleazzo,
the founder of the Duomo of Milan and of the Certosa, was
represented seated at a festive board laden with gold and silver
plate, entertaining foreign ambassadors, with his armour-bearer
standing at his side, and his cupbearer pouring out the wine, while
huntsmen and falconers with horses and dogs awaited his pleasure.
Of later date were the frescoes in the duchess's rooms, repre-
senting the marriage of Galeazzo Sforza at the French court and
the reception of Bona of Savoy at Genoa, while the paintings
which adorned the chapel had only lately been completed by
Vincenzo Foppa and Bonifazio da Cremona.
Signer Lodovico was very proud, as he might well be, of this
his ancestral home, and of the famous library which he had done
so much to improve. He led his guests from room to room, and
showed them all the rare and curious objects the armoury with
its store of ancient coats of mail and hauberks, of swords and
helmets of ancient design, and its choice specimens of the
engraved and damascened work; the breastplates and greaves
that were a speciality of Milanese armourers at this period ; the
wonderful clock of copper and brass worked by wheels and
weights, upon which Giovanni Dondi had spent sixteen years
of ceaseless thought and toil, and which not only had a peal of
bells, but a complete solar system, showing the movement of sun,
moon, and planets as set forth by Ptolemy. After Dondi's
death, Duke Galeazzo had to send to Paris for a clockmaker
who could regulate the works of this elaborate machine,
which was so much admired by Charles V. when he visited
Pavia in 1530, that he commissioned a mechanician of Cremona
to make a similar one for him to take back to Spain. And
Messer Lodovico showed them also what he himself held to be
his greatest treasures the precious books adorned by exquisite
miniatures from the hand of Fra Antonio da Monza and other
living artists, the Sforziada and the Chant de Roland, and the
rare Greek and Latin manuscripts which he had been at such
64 Beatrice d'Este
infinite pains to collect; the codici brought from Bobbio by
Giorgio Merula, and the manuscripts which Erasmo Brasca
had discovered when // Moro sent him to search for missing
texts in the convents of the South of France. For Lodovico
himself spared no expense and grudged no time or trouble in
p/der to enrich what he felt to be a great national institution.
Two years before he had addressed a letter to the son of
Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary the prince who was to
have wedded Bianca Sforza begging him to have a rare
manuscript by Festus Pompeius copied for him, and deploring
the " decay of the knowledge of the Latin tongue in Italy, and
the loss of so many priceless classical works which the barbarians
have carried away/"
The sight of these precious and varied treasures were fully
appreciated by the cultivated Duchess Leonora, who had grown
up among the scholars of her royal father's academy at Naples,
and by her daughter, the accomplished Marchesana Isabella, ever
eager, as she says in one of her letters, 'to see and learn some new
thing, "deudarosa di com nova." And Signor Lodovico proved
himself the most courteous and pleasant of hosts, conversing
with graceful ease on a thousand subjects, and gratifying his new
sister-in-law by the marked attention and courtesy with which
he treated her.
"I find myself highly honoured and caressed by Signor
Lodovico," she wrote to her husband from Pavia ; and the
discerning eyes of the Ferrarese ambassador, Giacomo Trotti,
noticed how much pleasure His Excellency already took in the
company of Madonna Beatrice and the Marchesana. On that first
day which they spent together at the Castello, Trotti wrote to
Duke Ercole, "Signor Lodovico is always at his wife's side,
speaking to her and watching her most attentively. And he
tells me that it would be impossible for her to give him greater
pleasure or satisfaction than she does, and never ceases to
praise her."
The first impression which the youthful bride made on hex
husband was evidently favourable. By all accounts, Beatrice
was a singularly lovely and fascinating child. Without the
regular features and distinguished air of her sister Isabella, there
Beatrice d'Este 65
was a distinct charm in her sparkling dark eyes and jet-black
hair, her bright colouring and gay smile. The contemporary
chronicler Muralti describes her in hft Annals as " of youthful
age, beautiful in face, and dark in colouring, fond of inventing
new costumes, and of spending day and night in song and
dancing and all manner of delights." In these early days at
Pavia and Milan there was, indeed, Trotti tells us, a certain
shyness and reserve about her that was only natural and might
well be ascribed to maiden shyness and timidity, but in the
freedom and gaiety of her new life this soon gave way to
the irrepressible mirth and joyousness of youthful vivacity.
From the first she seems to have become sincerely attached to
Lodovico, who, although considerably older than herself, and
already thirty-nine years of age, was a very handsome and
splendid-looking man, of imposing stature and striking counte-
nance, with courteous manners and gentle ways. And however
often he may have excited her jealousy or wounded her feelings,
his young wife never wavered in her love for him, but proved, as
he himself confessed, the best and most devoted of companions.
On Tuesday, the ijth of January, the long-delayed wedding
finally took place, in the Castello of Pavia. A small but very
brilliant company was assembled that day in the ancient chapel
of the Visconti. The official festivities were to be celebrated
at Milan, where the duke and duchess and their court were
awaiting the bride's arrival, and the Ferrarese ambassador was
the only foreign envoy present at the wedding. But Lodovico's
personal friends and retainers mustered in force, as well as those
captains and courtiers who could claim kinship with the house
of Este. Niccolo da Correggio was there, as one nearly related
to both bride and bridegroom, and was universally pronounced
to be the handsomest and best dressed of all the cavaliers w'ho were
present that day. There, too, was Galeotto Prince of Mirandola,
the husband of the gifted Bianca d'Este, and Rodolfo Gonzaga,
the Marquis of Mantua's uncle, and, conspicuous by their lofty
stature and martial air, the four Sanseverino brothers.
The bride, arrayed in a white robe sown with pearls and
glittering with jewels, was led to the altar by the Duchess of
Ferrara and Marchioness of Mantua, supported by the young
66 Beatrice d'Este
Don Alfonso, his uncle Sigismondo, and a select retinue of
Ferrarese courtiers and ladies. It was rumoured that the Marquis
Gianfrancesco Gonzaga f had himself been seen in the crowd
assembled in the courtyard of the Castello, and, much to Isabella's
surprise, Lodovico asked the marchioness, at the banquet which
followed, if this report were true. But Isabella could only reply
that if her husband were at Pavia, she was unaware of the fact,
and it was not until the last day of the tournament at Milan
that the marquis appeared in public.
" The nuptial benediction was pronounced, and the act of
espousals confirmed by the ring which Signor Lodovico placed
on the bride's finger, and that night the marriage was consum-
mated," were the words of the official proclamation that was
made in Milan the next day, and duly notified to the magis-
trates of the different cities in the duchy as well as to the
duke's ambassadors at foreign courts.
On the following morning Lodovico left for Milan, to
complete the arrangements for the bride's reception early in the
following week. Nothing, he was determined, should be left
undone to do honour to his nuptials or to make the occasion
memorable both in the eyes of the people of Milan and through-
out Italy. During the summer and autumn preparations had
been actively going on, and a whole army of painters, goldsmiths,
and embroiderers were at work, decorating the suite of rooms in
the Rocca, or inner citadel of the Castello of the Porta Giovia,
adjoining the Corte Ducale, where the Moro and his bride were
to take up their abode. " Here all hands are busy," wrote the
Ferrarese envoy to his master, " and Lodovico takes care that
for the duchess nothing is done by halves." When the date
of the wedding had been finally determined, every nerve was
strained* to complete the works within the Castello, and an
imperative summons was issued by Messer Ambrogio Ferrari,
the chief ducal commissioner, to the governors of Cremona,
Piacenza, and Pavia, commanding the immediate return of the
painters who were absent in these cities. Among the masters
especially mentioned in these letters, we find the names of
Bernardino da Rossi, Zenale and Buttinone di Treviglio, Treso
di Monza, and Magistro Leonardo. This was none other than
Beatrice d'Este 67
the great Florentine, then absent at Pavia, who was required
to give his advice, if not to assist, in the actual decoration of
the Salla della palla on the first floor of the Castello. The
vaulted roof of this spacious hall, which was to serve as ball-
room on this occasion, was painted in azure and gold to imitate
the starry sky, while the walls were hung with canvases repre-
senting the heroic deeds of the great Condottiere, Francesco
Sforza, whose glorious memory his son Lodovico was always
eager to celebrate. At the entrance of the hall, an effigy of
the hero on horseback was placed under a triumphal arch, with
an inscription recalling his greatness, and saying that by virtue
of these mighty exploits his children now triumph and hold
festival in his honour.
At the same time, orders were sent in the duke's name
to the seneschals of the castles and towns between Pavia and
Milan to see that the roads and bridges were repaired and
widened, in order that the bridal party might be able to travel
without hindrance or inconvenience. On the 1 8th of January,
invitations were issued to the chief lords in the state, as well as
to those foreign princes who were connected by marriage with
the Sforza and Este families, the Marquis of Montferrat, the
Marquis of Mantua, Giovanni Bentivoglio of Bologna, and
others, requesting them to honour with their presence a three-days'
tournament to be held on the great piazza in front of the
Castello, during the last week in January.
While Lodovico was personally superintending the final
arrangements, seeing that the last touches were given to the
frescoes in the duchess's Camerlno^ or discussing to the masques
and comedies that were to be performed, with Bramante
and Leonardo, his bride remained at Pavia with her family and
friends. The princesses of Este were well content, for not only were
all the treasures of the Castello and library at their disposal, but
they had the best of company in the person of Messer Galeazzo
di Sanseverino, who had been charged by his father-in-law,
Signor Lodovico, to supply his place during the interval of his
enforced absence. And certainly no better squire of dames
could have been found than this courteous and brilliant
cavalier. He took Isabella and Beatrice out riding in the park,
68 Beatrice d'Este
and showed them some of the beauties of that wide domain,
which in the French chronicler's eyes seemed more like the
garden of Eden than any earthly spot. They could not, it is
true, admire those flowery lawns watered by crystal streams, and
groves of plane and cypress and myrtle, which charmed the
travellers from the north, and made Cornmines exclaim there was
no other region in the world as divinely beautiful as the Milanese
land. But they could visit the pleasure-houses and pavilions
in the gardens, and hunt the stags and red deer that ran wild in
the park. For their amusement Messer Galeazzo let fly some of
those good falcons of his, with their jewelled hoods and silver
bells, and chased the herons and water-fowl along the lake, while
the ducal huntsmen followed in their suits of green velvet
embroidered with gold, and blew their golden bugles. Indoors
they laughed and sang together, and turned over the leaves of
the illuminated missals or the rare folios of the library. And as
they talked of Messer Matteo Boiardo's famous new poem and
of the old French romances, a lively discussion over the respective
merits of the paladins, Roland and Rfnaldo di Montalbano arose
between the two princesses on the one hand, and Messer
Galeazzo on the other. Isabella and Beatrice were all in
favour of the knight of Montalbano as the type of Italian
chivalry, while Sanseverino, who had kinsmen at the court of
France and took delight in French costumes and French
literature, was as much at home in France as he was at Milan,
and defended the matchless glory of his hero, Orlando. The
quarrel waxed warm between them in those idle days, and in the
fulness of their youth and high spirits they amused themselves, cry-
ing out, " Rolando I Rolando ! " on the one side, and " Rinaldo ! "
on the other, until one afternoon Messer Galeazzo was acknow-
ledged victor, and even Isabella took up his cry of Roland, but
soon returned to her old allegiance, and declared boldly that she
would allow no rival to the wronged knight of Montalbano.
The controversy was to be prolonged for many a day, and was
to become the theme of more than one merry letter and gay
challenge between the Marchesana Isabella and the handsome
Sanseverino, who soon won over Duchess Beatrice to his side.
So the days flew by until the week was almost over, and the
Beatrice d'Este 69
time came to start for Milan. Every hour fresh news reached
Pavia of the new wonders and marvellous entertainments that were
awaiting them at the Milanese capital, and Isabella's spirits rose
high with eager expectation and delight.
" You ought to be here," this lively princess wrote to her
youngest brother-in-law, Giovanni Gonzaga, \vlio had stayed
behind at Mantua, and was absent from the wedding fitis. And
she told him of all the jousts and banquets and balls that were to
succeed each other at Milan, this wonderful city which she was
longing to see for herself. " And among other fetes" she added,
" there will be three of the finest theatrical representations that
have ever been seen. But one thing which will make you still
more envious is that from Milan we mean to go and visit that
glorious city of Genoa, where you have never been ! Only think
how many new places and lands we shall have seen by the time of
our return ! We wish you all good things, but fear our wishes
will profit you little, and are sure my letter will make your
mouth water,"
On Saturday the 2ist the bridal party set out from Pavia, and,
leaving the Certosa on the right, travelled across the Lombard plain
to Binasco, where they spent the night at the feudal castle of the
Visconti, the ruins of which may still be seen on the heights
above the little town. On Sunday morning the procession
entered Milan, and the bride was received by her cousin, Isabella
of Aragon, wife of the reigning duke, who had ridden out to
meet her at the suburban church of S. Eustorgio, where the bones
of the martyred friar, S. Pietro Martire, repose in their shrine of
sculptured marble. At the gates Duke Gian Galeazzo and his
uncle met them, followed by a brilliant company of Milanese
nobles, and Lodovico, clad in a gorgeous mantle of gold brocade,
rode through the streets at the side of his youthful bride. A
hundred trumpeters marched before them, filling the air "with
strains of martial music, and the crowds, who had assembled from
all parts of Lombardy, thronged around to gaze on the duchess
and her daughters, and more especially on the Moro's bride.
The street decorations that day were on the grandest scale.
Lodovico had given orders that no expense should be spared, and
the magnificence of the pageant amazed the foreign ambassadors
70 Beatrice d'Este
and visitors from Mantua and Ferrara. Not only were the walls
and balconies hung with red and blue satin or brocades, while
wreaths of ivy were twined round the columns and doorways, but
one whole street where the armourers had their shops was lined
with effigies of armed warriors on horseback, entirely clad with
chain-armour and plates of damascened steel. " Every one took
these mailed figures to be alive," says Tristan Calco, the admiring
chronicler to whom we owe these details. The procession halted
on the piazza in front of the Castello, and the heralds gave a loud
blast of music as the bride was lifted from her horse, and received
tinder the grand portal by the duchess-mother, Bona of Savoy,
and her two daughters, Bianca Maria and Anna Sforza. Bona
herself had returned to Milan at the French king's request soon
after her son's marriage, and had consented to an outward recon-
ciliation with her brother-in-law, Lodovico. Her daughter Anna's
marriage with the heir of the house of Este had always been one
of the objects of her fondest wishes, and now she gave Duchess
Leonora and her daughters a cordial welcome to her son's court.
On the following day the marriage of Alfonso d'Este and the
princess Anna was privately solemnized in the ducal chapel, but
the final nuptial benediction was deferred until their return to
Ferrara, a month later. Meanwhile the bride's sumptuous
trousseau and jewels, as well as the splendid presents received by
her, were displayed during the next week in the Castello, before
the courtiers who came to pay their homage to the newly wedded
Duke and Duchess of Bari, Of Anna Sforza herself we hear
little, but her beauty and gentleness are praised by more than one
contemporary chronicler, and endeared her especially to her uncle
Lodovico, who was sincerely grieved by her early death. She
and her husband paid frequent visits to Milan after her marriage,
and were very happy in the society of Beatrice, whom she only
survived a few months, dying at the birth of her first babe, to the
great sorrow of her father-in-law, Duke Ercole. " She was very
beautiful and very charming," writes the Ferrarese diarist, " and
there is little to tell about her, because she lived so short a time."
, * The most splendid fttes were yet to come. On the 24th
of January, the day after Alfonso and Anna's wedding, three
tribunals were erected on the piazza, the one occupied by a group
Beatrice d'Este 71
of heralds and trumpeters, the other loaded with precious bowls
and dishes of gold and silver plate, the gifts of the magistrates
of Milan and other cities to Signer Lodovico and his bride. The
new duchess, accompanied by the other princes and princesses,
arrayed in their richest robes and literally blazing with precious
jewels, writes an eye-witness, ascended the third tribunal erected
in the centre, and received the homage of the deputies of the city ;
after which two cavaliers, a Visconti and a Suardi, bending on one
knee before the bride, took from her hand two lengths of cloth of
gold, which were hung in the courtyard, as prizes to be given
to the victor in the tournament. That evening two hundred
Milanese ladies of high rank were invited to the great ball, or
festa per h donne, given in the Sala della palla. On this occasion
peasant girls from all parts of Italy, clad in the red, white, and blue
of the Sforza colours, danced before the court, and " the palm
of Terpsichore," we are told, was awarded to a Tuscan maiden,
On the 26th, the Giostra, which was to be the crowning
event of the week's festivities, began. At the tournament held
in Pavia in honour of Giangaleazzo's wedding, the knights had
for the most part appeared in their ordinary attire 5 but this time,
to add greater splendour to the occasion, they entered the lists
in companies, clad in fancy costumes and bearing symbolical
devices after the fashion of the day. First of all came the
Mantuan troop of twenty horsemen clad in green velvet and
gold lace, bearing golden lances and olive boughs in their hand,
with Isabella's kinsman, Alfonso Gonzaga, at their head. Then
came Annibale Bentovoglio, the young husband of Lucrezia
d'Este, with the Bologna knights, riding on a triumphal car
drawn by stags and unicorns, the badge of the House of Este.
These were followed by Gaspare di Sanseverinos, with a
band of twelve riders in black and gold Moorish dress, bearing
Lodovico's device of the Moor's head on their helmets and white
doves on their black armour. Last of all came a troop of wild
Scythians, mounted on Barbary steeds, who galloped across the
piazza^ and then, halting in front of the ducal party, suddenly
threw off their disguise and appeared in magnificent array, with
the captain of the Milanese armies, Galeazzo di Sanseverino,
at their head. He planted his golden lance in the ground, and
72 Beatrice d'Este
at this sign a giant Moor, advancing to the front, recited a
poem in honour of Duchess Beatrice.*
These pageants and masques formed an important feature of
Renaissance fites, and were evidently regarded as such by the
chroniclers of these wedding festivities, but to us the chief
interest of this tournament lies in the knowledge that the
Scythian disguise assumed by Galeazzo di Sanseverino and his
companions was designed by no less a personage than Leonardo
da Vinci. Some of the drawings of savages and masks which
we see to-day on the stray leaves of his sketch-books may relate
to these figures, but we know for certain that he was actually
employed by Messer Galeazzo to arrange this masquerade. In
a note in his own handwriting, on the margin of the " Codex
Atlanticus," we read, "Item, 26 of January, being in the house
of Messer Galeazzo di San Sev, ordering the festa of his Giostra,
certain men-at-arms took off their vests to try on some clothes
of savages, upon which Giacomo " (the apprentice whom he had
already caught thieving at Pavia) " took up a purse which lay on
the bed with their other clothes, and took the money that was
inside it." The actual share which the great Florentine took
in the preparation of the wedding festivities has often been
discussed, and we are never likely to know how much of the
duchess's cabinet he painted, or what part he took in the deco-
ration of the city, but at least this characteristic note on the
lad whose honesty he had reason ro suspect, proves that he was
present in Milan at the time, and was the authority to whom
Lodovico's son-in-law naturally turned for advice in planning
this masquerade. Incidents of this kind help us to realize how
many and varied were the offices Leonardo was called upon to
discharge in his master's service, and how frequent were the
interruptions which interfered with the painting of his pictures
or the modelling of his great horse.
After this pageant, the serious business of the Giostra began,
and the tilting-matches lasted during three whole days. Among
the foremost knights who distinguished themselves on this occa-
sion, the chronicler and court poet mention the Marquis of
Mantua, who entered the lists in disguise ; young Annibale
Bentivoglio, who wounded his hand badly, but refused to leave
the ground j the Marchesino Girolamo Stanga/ one of Isabella
Beatrice d'Este 73
d'Este's especial friends and of Beatrice's most devoted servants ;
and Niccolo da Correggio, who was universally admired in his
suit of gold brocade. All four Sanseverini brothers fought in
the lists with their wonted skill and valour, but once more
Messer Galeazzo, Gentis columen, came off the victor and proved
himself unrivalled in courtly exercises, both as jouster and
swordsman. On the last day of the tournament the prizes
were given away, and Messer Galeazzo was conducted trium-
phantly to the Rocca, and there received the pallium of gold
brocade from the bride's own hand.* As soon as Lodovico
recognized the Marquis of Mantua, he sent him a pressing
invitation to take his place with the ducal party ; and Gianfranceso,
unable to refuse so courteous a request, joined his wife and sat
down with the rest of his kinsfolk to the family banquet, which
was held that night in the Castello.
A curious letter, addressed by the Duke of Milan to his
uncle Cardinal Ascanio Sforza in Rome, gives a full and minute
account of this tournament, which Giangaleazzo describes as
one of the most important events of his reign, and which
he begs may be fully reported to His Holiness Pope Innocent.
He dwells on the extraordinary magnificence of the sight, on
the number and size of the lances used, which were more
numerous and larger than ever before seen on these occasions,
and ends with a splendid tribute to Messer Galeazzo, who both
in valour and fortune surpassed all others. On the other
hand, we recognize the cunning of Lodovico in the despatch
addressed on this occasion by the ducal secretary to the Milanese
envoy at Bologna. Here the incidents of the Giostra are briefly
recounted, and great stress is laid on the valour displayed by
Messer Annibale Bentivoglio, who, notwithstanding his wounded
hand, broke many lances, and, in spite of his great youth, proved
himself as skilled a jouster as any, and "won no less glory than
if he had borne off the prize, which he would certainly have
done if fortune had served him as well as he deserved.
The wedding festivities were now brought to a close, and
were unanimously pronounced to have passec^off with brilliant
success. Nothing now remained for the bride's mother but to
take leave of her daughter and return home. Accordingly, on
the ist of February, Duchess Leonora set out on her homeward
74 Beatrice d'Este
journey, with her son and his newly-made bride and the
Marchioness Isabella, accompanied by an escort of two hundred
Milanese gentlemen, with Anna's brother, Ermes Sforza, and the
Count of Caiazzo Gianfrancesco, the eldest of the Sanseverino
brothers at their head. Both Leonora and Isabella were anxious
to see the Certosa, of which they had heard so much, on their
way back to Pavia, and Lodovico, glad to do the honours of
this famous abbey, in which he took a just pride, sent a courier
with the following letter to inform the prior and brothers of the
Duchess of Ferrara's visit :
" Since, beside the other honours which we have paid to the
illustrious Duchess of Ferrara, we are above all anxious to show
her the most remarkable things in our domain, and since we
count this our church and monastery to be among the chief
of these, we write this to inform you that the said duchess will
visit the Certosa on Wednesday next, on her return home.
And we desire you to give her a fitting reception, and to prepare
an honourable banquet for the duchess and her company, which
will number about four hundred persons and horses. No excuse
on your part can be allowed, since this is our will and pleasure.
And above all you will see that an abundant supply of lampreys
is prepared. But we are quite sure that you will do your best to
pay honour to the duchess, since otherwise we should feel
obliged to do a thing that would be displeasing to you, and send
our chamberlain to provide for her honourable entertainment."*
The prior and brothers of the Certosa knew their own
interest too well not to comply with this somewhat imperious
missive, and left nothing undone which could gratify their
illustrious guests. Isabella's curiosity for the beautiful and
marvellous was amply gratified, and in Lodovico's future letters
to his sister-in-law we find more than one allusion to "our
church and convent of the Certosa, which you saw when you
were at Pavia." After spending the following night at the
Castello di Pavia, the duchess and her large party embarked on
the bucentaurs that were awaiting them at the junction of the
Ticino and the Po, and reached Ferrara on the I ith of February,
there to begin a new series of splendid entertainment? in honour
of Don Alfonso's marriage with this Sforza princess.
* C. Magenta, / Piseonti e Sforza nel Castello di Pavia, i.
CHAPTER VII
Beatrice Duchess of Bari Her popularity at the court of Milan Gianga-
ieazzo and Isabella of Aragon Lodovico's first impressions His
growing affection for his wife His letters to Isabella d'Este Hunting
and fishing parties Cuzzago and Vigevano Controversy on Orlando
and Rinaldo Bellincioni's sonnets.
1491
WE have seen how the childhood and early youth of Beatrice
d'Este had been spent, first at her grandfather the King Ferrante's
court at Naples, afterwards in her own home at Ferrara. Under
the watchful eye of a wise and careful mother, she had been
trained in all the learning and accomplishments of the day, but
had been allowed little liberty or opportunity of revealing her
strong individuality. Her charms and talents had been thrown
into the shade by the superior beauty and intellect of the
Marchioness Isabella, and until the day she landed at Pavia she
had been regarded in the comparatively insignificant light of
the younger and less gifted sister. Now all this suddenly changed.
At the age of fifteen, Beatrice d'Este found herself the wife of
the ablest and most powerful prince in Italy, released from all
the restraints hitherto imposed upon her and placed in a position
of absolute freedom and independence. From the quiet regu-
larity of the sheltered life which she had led at Ferrara by her
mother's side, she suddenly found herself transplanted to the
gayest and most splendid court in Italy, surrounded by every
luxury that wealth could give and every beautiful object that
taste could devise. The bravest captains and the most accom-
plished artists of the day were at her feet, ready to obey her
orders and gratify her smallest fancy. Leonardo and Bramante
75
76 Beatrice d'Este
were at hand to arrange pageants and masquerades, to paint
amonnl on her mantelpiece or mythological fables along the
frieze of her rooms, to build elegant pavilions, or lay out labyrinths
and lakes in her garden. Bellincioni and a dozen other poets
celebrated her name and recorded her words and actions in verse ,
learned scholars and commentators read Dante to her when she
cared to listen. Niccolo da Correggio not only wrote sonnets
and canzoni for her to sing but invented new patterns for her
gowns ; and Cristoforo Romano laid down the sculptor's chisel
to play the lyre or viol for her pleasure. For her the wise man
of Pavia, Lorenzo Gusnasco, fashioned cunningly wrought
instruments, lutes and viols inlaid with ebony and ivory, and
organs inscribed with Latin mottoes ; and the wonderful tenor,
Cordier, the priest of Louvain, sang his sweetest and most entranc-
ing strains in the ducal chapel. For her amusement the court
jesters laughed and chattered and played their foolish tricks
Diodato, who had followed her from Ferrara, and the witty clown
Barone, the petted favourite of Isabella d'Este and Veronica
Gambara and a dozen other great ladies. And Messer Galeazzo
was ready to risk hisUife and ruin his best clothes, all for the
sake of his duchess, f From the moment of Beatrice's arrival 'at
the Milanese court sne won all hearts, less by her beauty than
by her vivacity and high spirits, her bright eyes and .ringing
laugh, her frank gladness and keen enjoyment of life/p How
favourable was the first impression which the young duchess
made upon those around her, we learn from the letters which
the Ferrarese envoy and ladies-in-waiting addressed almost daily
to her anxious parents, during the first few weeks after her
marriage. Every little incident, each word or act that is likely
to please Duchess Leonora, is faithfully reported by these good
servants, in their eagerness to allay the natural fears of the
loving mother for the absent child in her brilliant but difficult
position. The demeanour of Signer Lodovico towards his wife,
all he said and thought of her, was narrowly watched by Giacomo
Trotti, and duly repeated in his letters to Ferrara. For the
present this was eminently satisfactory. " Signer Lodovico,"
writes the ambassador during the wedding festivities at Milan,
c< has nothing but the highest praise both for his wife and the;
Beatrice d'Este 77
Marchesana. He is never tired of saying how much pleasure
he takes in their company.
"Here jousting and tilting, feasting and dancing, are the
order of the day. Signor Lodovico is delighted with his wife's
appearance, and to-day, when she gave away the prizes, he kissed
her repeatedly in the eyes of all the people."
And again a few days later, when the festivities were ended
and the ducal family were enjoying a little rest before the party
broke up, he writes
" Whenever Lodovico Sforza is wanted, he is always to be
found in the company of his wife, of the Marchesana, of Don
Alfonso and Madonna Anna, with whom he is never tired of
talking and laughing, exactly as if he were a youth of their own
age."
On the 6th of February, after the departure of the duchess
and her children, Trotti wrote again, remarking, " Signor
Lodovico seems to think of nothing but how best to please and
amuse his wife, and every day he tells me how dear she is to
him/ 5 *
Among the Ferrarese ladies who had remained at Milan, in
attendance on the young duchess, was her cousin, Polissena
d'Este, who, being considerably older and more sedate, and no
longer ejther young or beautiful, had for these very reasons been
placed Wy Leonora in her daughter's household, and desired to keep
her informed of all that happened. Early in February this lady-
in-waiting wrote the following letter to Isabella d'Este, in terms
that were well calculated to reassure both the anxious sister
and mother as to Beatrice's happiness and her husband's
behaviour :
" MOST ILLUSTRIOUS MADONNA AND DEAR MARCHESANA,
a Since I have remained here after your Highness's
departure from Milan, continually in the company of your sister,
the illustrious Duchess of Ban", and of her husband, Signor
Lodovico, I will no longer delay to discharge my duty in sending
you some comforting words as to the well-being and happiness
of the said duchess. I cannot express how happy she is to see
herself every day more affectionately caressed and petted by her
* G- Uzielli, Leonardo da Vinci* etc.* p. 26
78 Beatrice d'Este
husband, who seems to find his sole delight in giving her every
possible pleasure and amusement. It is indeed a rare joy to see
them together and to realize what cordial love and good-will
he bears her. God grant it may last long ! And I felt that
I must write this good news to your Highness, knowing that
it would give you especial satisfaction. I will only add that
the air here seems to suit her particularly well, and that she is
certainly very much improved and stronger in appearance, and
seems every day to grow more beautiful. I beg of your High-
ness to commend me to Madonna Beatrice and Collona.
"Your Highnesses servant,
** POLISSENA D'ESTE.
"From Milan, 1 2th of February,
And Beatrice herself wrote to Isabella in answer to her
letter from her sister, describing the festivities at Ferrara, where
her presence had been sadly missed by her affectionate relatives.
" I leave you to imagine how much content and delight your
letter of the ijth has given me. For in it you give me so full
and vivid a description of the successful fttes in honour of the
wedding of Madonna Anna, our brother's wife and dearest
sister, that I seem to have been present there myself. And
since you know well how much I love and respect you, I am
sure you will understand how glad I was to hear from you.
Your letter, indeed, gave me greater pleasure than any which I
have received since you left here, and I am quite sure that all of
these pageants and spectacles were distinguished by the utmost
beauty and gallantry, as you say, since they were all planned and
arranged by our dear father, who orders these things with
consummate wisdom and perfection. I can well believe that
my absence has been a real grief to you, and that these fttes have
given you but little pleasure, since I was not there. For my
own part, I cannot deny that, now I am without your company,
I feel not only that I am deprived of a very dear sister, but that I
have lost half of myself. And if it were not for the new and
continual amusements which my illustrious husband provides
every day for my pleasure, I should have been inconsolable until
I could be once more with you. But since our hearts and
Beatrice d'Este 79
thoughts are still one, and we are able to exchange letters con-
stantly, I beg you to take comfort as I do, and rest content in
feeling that, now these ceremonies are all over, we can at least
speak to each other by means of letters, written with our own
hands, as you have promised me." *
This simple, warm-hearted letter, which breathes all the
frankness and affection of Beatrice's nature, is written, like most
of her early letters, in her own hand. The words are often
badly spelt, and her handwriting is larger and less formed than
that of Isabella, which it otherwise resembles. But owing to
the multiplicity of interests and occupations that claimed her
time after the first years of her married life, the young duchess
generally employed a secretary, and has left comparatively few
letters. Lodovico himself addressed several letters to his sister-
in-law, to whom he was sincerely attached, and in order to facili-
tate the intercourse between the two sisters, and as he said, to
leave Isabella no excuse for not answering his communications,
he sent a courier regularly every week to Mantua, with orders to
await the Marchesana's pleasure and bring back her letters.
a Loving you cordially as I do," he writes, a fortnight after
her departure, " and, knowing that I have in you a very dear
sister, nothing can give me greater pleasure than letters from
your hand. I thank your Highness most sincerely for all that
you tell me, and most of all for your warm expressions of affection
and for saying how sorry you were to leave us, and how not
even the splendid fetes in Ferrara could console you for being
deprived of our presence. All I beg of you is to write often, and
I will see that your letters are brought here."
Besides her sister and brother-in-law and Madonna Polisenna,
Isabella had another correspondent at the court of Milan, in the
person of Messer Galeazzo di Sanseverino, with whom she had
iformed a warm friendship at Pavia, and who had promised to
give her frequent news of her sister, while at the same time he
still carried on the battle over Roland and Rinaldo which had
been started in the park of the Castello at Pavia. He too,
writing on the nth of February, was able to assure the Marche-
sana that all was going well, and that the relations between her
sister and Signer Lodovico left nothing to be desired.
* Luzio-Renier, op. cit., p. 98.
8o Beatrice d'Este
"My Duchess/ 5 as he always calls the mistress to whose
service he had pledged his sword and life, " perseveres in showing
Signer Lodovico an affection which is truly beyond all praise,
and, to put it briefly, I arn satisfied that there is such real attach-
ment between them, that I do not believe two persons could love
each other better."
The presence of this young and joyous princess gave a touch
of romance to court life, and inspired men like Galeazzo and
Niccolo da Correggio with a chivalrous devotion to her person.
Every one was ready a obey her wishes, and eager to win her
smiles and to earn her thanks.
Even Giangaleazzo, the feeble duke who seldom took pleasure
in anything but horses and dogs, and often treated his own w<fa
in a brutal way, felt the charm of this bright young creature,
and was stirred out of his usual apathy by the coming of Beatrice
In a letter which he addressed to the Duke of Ferrara after the
wedding festivities, he went out of his way to express the afFectioi
with which this charming princess, his wife's cousin and hi'
uncle's wife, has inspired him.
" I cannot," he writes, " sufficiently express how much jo)
this marriage has given me, and how glad I am to see the
singulai virtues and talents of Madonna la sposa" And after
formally congratulating the duke on his daughter's marriage,
and on the renewed alliance between the two houses, he goes on
to say how much he rejoices in his uncle's happiness, which will,
he feels sure, only increase his own. " For by means of this
marriage, besides the two sisters which God had already given
us, we have now gained a third, whom by God's grace we shall
not love less than the two who are ours by nature.'*
Giangaleazzo's own wife, Duchess Isabella, a virtuous and
high-minded princess whose own merits were sadly hampered by
her husband's weakness and folly, was much beloved by her own
servants, but inherited the proud reserve of the Aragoaese race,
and led a secluded existence with her lord, who hated town life
and seldom showed his face in Milan. But this young wife of
Lodovico, it was easy to see, would soon throw her into the shade.
Beatrice's presence lent a charm to the most tedious court
functions. Her high spirits and overflowing mirth threw new
Beatrice d'Este 81
zest into every pursuit. Grave senators and wise statesmen
listened to her words with inter est, and grey-headed prelates
tolerated her merry jokes and smiled at her irrepressible laughter.
She sang and danced, and played at ball and rode races, and
took long hunting and fishing expeditions to the royal villas in
the neighbourhood of Milan. " My wife," wrote Lodovico to
his sister-in-law three months after his marriage, " has developed
a perfect passion for horsemanship, and is always either riding or
hunting."
The regent himself was too deeply -^ngaged in state afikirs,
and devoted too much time and attention to the details of
a4niinistration, to be able to accompany his wife as a rule. But
$he had a devoted comrade in her husband's son-in-law, whom
lie deputed to escort the duchess on her more distant expeditions.
Since his betrothal to Lodovico's daughter, Galeazzo had enjoyed
all the privileges of a son, and was already, what the Moro had
promised to make him, the first man in the state. He assisted at
all state audiences, and was the only person present when
Lodovico received foreign ambassadors. He shared the Moro's
private life, and always dined alone with the duke and duchess
.when there were no other guests at their table. His letters to
Isabella d'Este give lively accounts of the expeditions which he
took in Beatrice's company during the first few months of her
'married life.
<c This * morning, being Friday," he writes on the nth of
February, 1491, "I started at ten o'clock with the duchess and
all of her ladies on horseback to go to Cussago, and in order to
let your Highness enter fully into our pleasures, I must tell you
that first of all I had to ride in a chariot with the duchess and
Dioda, and as we drove we sang more than twenty-five songs,
arranged for three voices. That is to say, Dioda took the tenor
part, and the duchess the soprano, whilst I sang sometimes bass
and sometimes soprano, and played so many foolish tricks that I ,
really think I may claim to be more of a fool than Dioda ! And
now farewell for to-night, and I will try to improve still further,
fto as to afford your Highness the more pleasure when you come
here in the summer."
But Messer Galeazzo's story does not end here. A day or
G-
82 Beatrice cTEste
two later he takes up the thread of his discourse again, and describes
the pleasant day which the duchess spent at Cussago, one of
Lodovico Sforza's favourite villas on the sunny slopes of the
Brianza, six miles from Milan, on the way to Como.
" Having reached Cussago," he goes on, " we had a grand
fishing expedition in the river, and caught an immense quantity
of large pike, trout, lampreys, crabs, and several other good sorts
of smaller fish, and proceeded to dine off them until we could eat
no more. Then, to make our meal digest the better, directly
after dinner we began to play at ball with great vigour and
energy, and after we had played for some time we went over the
palace, which is really very beautiful, and, among other things,
contains a doorway of carved marble, as fine as the new works
at the Certosa. Next we examined the result of our sport, which
had been laid out in front of the place, and took back as many
of the lampreys and crabs as we could eat with us, and sent some
of the lampreys to his Highness the duke. When this was done,
we went to another palace and caught more than a thousand
large trout, and after choosing out the best for presents and for our
own holy throats, we had the rest thrown back into the water.
And then we mounted our horses again, and began to let fly
some of those good falcons of mine which you saw at Pavia,
along the river-side, and they killed several birds. By this time
it was already four o'clock. We rode out to hunt stags and fawns,
and after giving chase to twenty-two and killing two stags and
two fawns, we returned home and reached Milan an hour after
dark, and presented the result of our day's sport to my lord the
Duke of Bari. My illustrious lord took the greatest possible
pleasure in hearing all we had done, far more, indeed, than if he
had been there in person, and I believe that my duchess will in
the end reap the greatest benefit, and that Signor Lodovico will
give her Cussago, which is a place of rare beauty and worth. But
1 have cut my boots to pieces and torn my clothes, and played the
fool into the bargain, and these are the rewards one gains in the
service of ladies. However, I will have patience, since it is all
for, the sake of my duchess, whom I never mean to fail in life
or death."
Galeazzo was a true prophet, and in the British Museum we
Beatrice d'Este 83
may still admire the beautifully illuminated deed of gift, adorned
with friezes of exquisite cherubs and medallion-portraits of
Lodovico and Beatrice, by which the fair palace and lands of
Cussago became the property of the young duchess. This
favourite villa of the Visconti had been left by Francesco Sforza
to his son Lodovico, who had employed a host of architects and
painters to adorn its walls. Bramante is said to have reared the
noble bell-tower and portico that are still standing, while
Milanese or Pavian sculptors carved the medallions bearing
the Sforza arms, and the portrait of Lodovico that may
still be seen on the arcades of the loggia. To-day the once
beautiful country-house is a ruin j the marble doorway which
Galeazzo and Beatrice admired, carved it may be by that same
Cristoforo Romano to whom we owe the portal of the Stanga
palace, and that of Isabella d'Este's studio at Mantua, has dis-
appeared. Only the fragments of frescoes and the rich terra-
cotta mouldings and slender columns of the elegant cortile recall
the joyous day which Beatrice d'Este and her ladies spent
at the villa. But their memory sheds a glamour on the
scene, and in the story of those Renaissance days, among so
much that is dark and sinister, it is pleasant to recall this picture
of the young duchess and her gallant cavalier singing songs for
pure gladness of heart as they rode out together in the fair spring
morning.
" One thing only," wrote Messer Galeazzo, " was wanting to
our pleasure, and that was the sweet company of yourself, fair
Madonna Marchesana." And with a sigh he tells her how much
she is missed in the Castello of Milan, and how often he wishes
he could find her in Madonna the Duchess of Ferrara's rooms,
having her long hair combed and curled by her favourite
maidens Teodora and Beatrice and Violante, to all of whom
he sends courteous greeting. Then he returns to the old con-
troversy over Orlando, and replies to a gay challenge which
Isabella has sent him in a letter to Signor Lodovico, only wish-
ing she were here to defend Rinaldo in person, or rather to be
made to own the error of her ways, and to confess that the
knight of Montalbano is not to be compared to Roland ! But
he warns her that if she perseveres in this heresy, he will draw
84 Beatrice d'Este
up such an indictment of Rinaldo's faults as will fill her with
confusion, and make her recognize with shame his inferiority to
Roland, that baron of immortal fame, of whom nothing but
good can be said. Isabella, however, stuck to her colours, and,
a whole month later, Messer Galeazzo sent her a long letter
from Vigevano, in which he drew up an elaborate parallel
between the conduct of the two paladins, as recorded in Boiardo's
poem, and ended with a splendid eulogy of Roland.
" Roland the most Christian ! Roland the pure and strong,
prudent, just, and merciful servant of Christ, the true defender
of widows and orphans ! Of his valour I will say nothing, this
being known to all the world ; but this I say, that when I think
of my worship for Roland, however sad and ill disposed I may
be feeling, my heart rejoices, and I become glad of heart and
joyous again."
So he begs her, for the love that he bears her Highness,
to try and amend her ways and recant her errors, and do
penitence in this Lenten season for her fault, after the example
of the great apostle St. Paul, who was converted to the Christian
faith, and became an elect son and mighty preacher of the
gospel, bringing many to righteousness and enjoying the high
jfavour of our Lord God. For Roland, the Marchesa may
know for certain, has his place in Paradise with the saints, " and
in serving him you will be serving God ; but if, on the other
hand, you persevere in your false opinions, you will find that
you are serving the devil, who accompanied Rinaldo both in
his life here and afterwards in his death. And remember,"
he adds in conclusion, "when the blind lead the blind, both
fall into the ditch ! "
Nothing daunted by this long harangue, Isabella retorted in
an equally lengthy epistle, flatly denying the charges brought
against Rinaldo as false and unsupported by a tittle of evidence.
Galeazzo replied in another bantering letter, assuming the part
of a priest, and exhorting the fair sinner to confess her faults
in these holy days of Passiontide, lest she should incur greater
damnation, and drive her soul into the devil's jaws.
cc And since this is the hour of penitence and contrition,"
he concludes, u I would once more beg and pray your Highness
Beatrice d'Este 85
co return to the true faith and devotion of Roland, having before
your eyes the good example of our most illustrious duchess,
your sister, who has acknowledged her errors, and become a
sincere follower of Roland, as a good Christian, and is now
gone to Milan to obtain pardon.
u Your most humble and devoted servant,
"GALEAZ SFORTJA VICECOMES,
" Armorum Capitaneus. *
"Vigevano, soth of March, 1491."
Isabella, however, still remained obdurate, declaring that on
no account would she follow Beatrice's changeable conduct, and
was ready to defend her hero against a hundred thousand
opponents. Upon which Galeazzo reminded her that, for all
her boastings, she had been constrained to yield to his single-
handed efforts in the park at Pavia, and had ended by taking up
his cry of " Roland." The more pity that she should turn her
back upon the good cause now, and prove the inconstancy of
woman's nature ! But he consoled himself by reflecting that
the Marchesana would soon be back at Milan, when he would
easily be ^ble to make her give up Rinaldo, and once more cry
1 " Roland " as she had done before.
This letter was written by Galeazzo on the I3th of April,
after which the subject dropped for a while, until it was
revived by a visit which his brother, Gaspare Fracassa, paid to
Mantua in the summer with his wife, Margherita Pia, a great
friend of the Marchesana and Duchess of Urbino. Isabella
could not resist the opportunity of returning the charge, and sent
Messer Galeazzo, by his brother's hands, a challenge to battle,
couched in approved terms, and indicating her choice of arms and
of the scene of action. Galeazzo replied in the most courteous
language, declaring himself absolutely at the service of his fair
challenger, and assuring her that her coming is awaited with the
utmost impatience by Signer Lodovico, the Duchess of Bari, and
her humble servant.
Meanwhile Isabella prepared herself for the fray by collecting
all the information on the subject that she could possibly obtain.
In that same month of August, when Galeazzo sent her the
86 Beatrice d'Este
last-named letter from his villa at Castelnovo, near Tortona, the
Marchesana wrote to the Mantuan ambassador at Venice, de-
siring him to send her all the poems and romances concerning
French paladins at the court of Charlemagne which he could
discover. At the same time she addressed a letter to her old
friend, Messer Matteo Boiardo, at Ferrara, requesting him to send
her the concluding cantos of his poem, the " Orlando Inna-
morato," which had not as yet been given to the world. The
poet replied that, to his great regret, he was unable to comply
with her wish, since the cantos in question were not yet written ;
and Isabella could only beg him to let her have a copy of the
two earlier books, in order that she might refresh her memory by
reading them once more.
But the Marchesana's intended visit to Milan was, after all,
put off, and Messer Galeazzo was called away to more arduous
duties in camp and field. The debate, which had been prolonged
with so much wit and ingenuity on both sides, came to an abrupt
ending. It was left to the Florentine poet, Bellincioni, in whose
verses the smallest incidents that took place at court were
faithfully reflected, to celebrate this " praiseworthy and memorable
duel of intellect between these two august personages." At
Beatrice's command Bellincioni wrote three sonnets illustrating
the arguments brought forward on either side. In the first, he
adopts Isabella's standpoint, and is all in favour of Rinaldo.
In the second, he sees a vision of Roland with the saints in
Paradise, and declares almost in the same language as Galeazzo,
that whereas Rinaldo was only a brave soldier, Roland was able
and virtuous as well as valiant. Finally, in the third, he exhorts
the illustrious marchioness to recant her errors, since the
Scriptures tell us that it is human to err, and not to follow the
bad example of Pharaoh who hardened his heart, but to see how
immeasurably inferior Rinaldo was to his rival, and to become,
with Messer Galeazzo and others of his merit, a true Christian
and follower of Roland.
The whole controversy is a curious instance of the deep
interest which these great ladies of the Italian Renaissance and
their courtiers took in literary subjects, and especially in the
romances of the Carlovingian cycle. This interest was not
Beatrice d'Este 87
confined to the upper circles of society, but spread through all
classes, and was no doubt largely increased by the songs and the
improvisations of strolling minstrels and Provencal story-tellers.
First of all the Florentine Pulci, and after him Boiardo and Bello
of Ferrara, sought inspiration in the same source, and later on
their example was followed by Ariosto and Tasso. And Poggio,
writing in the fifteenth century, tells us how in his day a worthy
citizen of Milan, after hearing one of these, wander ing cantatores
chanting the story of Roland's death with dramatic action and
effect, went home weeping so bitterly that his wife and friends
could hardly console him or induce him to dry his tears. " And
yet," remarks the grave historian, " this Roland they tell of has
been dead well-nigh seven hundred years."
Unfortunately, Isabella's share in this singular and interesting
correspondence has perished, and only Messer Galeazzo's letters
survive* These may still be seen in the Gonzaga Archives, where
they were first discovered by Signor Alessandro Luzio and Signer
Rodolfo Renier. These learned writers are in some perplexity
as to the identity of the writer, since the letters are signed Galeaz
Sfortia FtcecomeS) and internal evidence will not allow them to
have been written by any Galeazzo Sforza or Visconti then
living. But there can hardly be a doubt as to who the writer
actually was. Galeazzo di Sanseverino had been adopted by
Lodovico Sforza when he married his daughter Bianca, and from
that time used the surname of the ducal house, Sfortia Vicecomes y
and very frequently added his tide of Armorum Capltaneus^
captain of the armies of Milan. His well-known patronage of
artists and love of letters, as well as his intimate connection with
the duke and duchess, all point in the same direction ; and if any
further proof were needed, the mention of his brother Gaspare,
and the allusion to Galeazzo by name in one of Bellincioni's
sonnets on the subject, and the fact that one of the letters
is dated from his own villa of Castelnuovo, near Tortona,
would be sufficient to settle the question. The champion of
Orlando and the faithful servant of Beatrice d'Este was, it is
evident, none other than the friend of Leonardo and Castiglione
that ideal knight, Galeazzo di Sanseverino.
CHAPTER VIII
Relations between Lodovico and Beatrice Cecilia Gallerant Birth of hei
son Cesare Her marriage to Count Bergamini Beatrice at Villa Nova
and Vigevano The Sforzesca and Pecorara Lodovico's system of
irrigation in the Lomellina Leonardo at Vigevano Hunting-parties
and country life Letters to Isabella d'Este.
' " 1491
\> f } <
ij,* ' ..'
ALL these caresses and adulation, all the expeditions and hunting-
parties and fetes in her honour, were naturally very delightful to
this young princess of fifteen summers, who had till now hardly
left home, and who flung herself with such boundless enjoyment
into every new form of amusement. Life for her was full of
mirth and rapture $ a long prospect of endless pleasures seemed to
open before her as the first breath of spring passed over the green
Lombard plains, and the delicious gardens of the Castello of
Milan and the long avenues on the sunny terraces of Vigevano
burst into leaf. The world seemed waking into new bliss, and
Duchess Beatrice was the gayest and gladdest of its creatures.
So at least she appeared to those who saw her in the full enjoy-
ment of chase or dance. But there was a darker side to the
picture. Lodovico looked on his young wife as a joyous and
fascinating child, as he told Giacomo Trotti, " lleta dl natura et
molto piacevolma" and thought that as long as he treated her
with consideration and respect, and at the same time allowed
her every possible indulgence, he might continue to go on his
own way and take his pleasure in whatever form he chose.
But he soon found out his mistake. This young wife of his,
full of mirth find high spirits as she was, had a deeper nature
and a stronger will than he suspected. If a constant round of
amusements could have satisfied her, she might have accepted
88
Beatrice d'Este 89
the playful caresses of her indulgent husband, and been content
with the share of affection which he bestowed upon her. But
Beatrice asked for more than this. She was bent on having
sole possession of her lord's heart of reigning there at least with-
out a rival. And when she discovered that Lodovico had a
mistress actually living in the Castello, whom he visited con-
stantly and loved passionately, her whole being rose up in arms.
Her proud spirit would not brook a rival, and she vowed the
duke must choose between his mistress and his wife. When the
Ferrarese envoy saw the newly wedded duke on his way to
Cecilia Gallerani's rooms within a month after his marriage, he
was full of gloomy forebodings. But Lodovico was perfectly
frank with him, and did not attempt to conceal h^ actions or
the motives of his conduct. For a while Beatriv t her
time riding or hunting about the country with Mess < eazzo
and her ladies, and remained in happy ignorance of thi " state
of affairs. But this could not last long. Soon a i ^ir of
Cecilia's presence in the Rocca reached her ears ; she h * how
often the duke was seen in her company, and was told th* jefore
many weeks were over his mistress was likely to bear him a child.
The first intimation which we have of this rude awakening
which had come to the young duchess is in a letter addressed by
Trotti to Duke Ercole, which he sends in the strictest confidence,
begging his master to allow no one but our illustrious Madonna to
read it, and then to burn it without delay.* In this letter he says
that Beatrice has absolutely refused to wear a certairTvest of woven ~
goUr which her husband had given her, if Madonna Cecilia ever
appeared in a similar one, which it seems was also Lodovico's
present. The duke himself, he adds, had been to see him that day,
and had promised faithfully that he would put an end to his liaison
with Cecilia, and would either marry her to one of his courtiers or
desire her to become a nun. Lodovico, it is plain, had realized
that the situation had become impossible, and that he could not
keep up his relations with his old mistress without causing open
scandal. He was true to his promise, and that carnival he broke
off the connection which gave Beatrice so much pain, and wrote
to Giacomo Trotti from Vigevano on the 27th of March, in-
forming him that he had decided not to see Madonna Cecilia again,
* G. Uzielli, op. ctt. 9 p. 27.
90 Beatrice d'Este
and that after her child's birth she had agreed to become the wife
of Count Lodovico Bergamini. This strange compact was
duly carried out.
On the 3rd of May, the duke's discarded mistress gave birth
to a son, who received the name of Cesare ; and in the following
July, Cecilia Gallerani was married to Count Lodovico Berga-
mini of Cremona, one of the Moro's most loyal servants and
subjects. Her_trousseau on this occasion was of the most
sumptuous description, and it was noticed that the corbeille which
held her gowns bore -the ducal arms. At the same time the
Duke of Bari presented her with the stately Palazzo del Verme,
originally built by his ancestor, Filippo Maria Visconti, for the
great Captain Carmagnola, on the piazza of the Duomo, as
a token of his regard and a heritage for her infant son. Court
painters and sculptors were employed to decorate the halls
and porticoes with frescoes and medallions of the finest marble,
and atethe time of the French invasion, eight years later, Countess
Bergamini's palace was described as the finest private house in
Milan. Cecilia devoted herself to the classical studies in which
she had taken delight from her earliest youth, and entertained
her learned friends in her town house or at her villa near Cremona
until she died in advanced old age, some years after the last of
Lodovico's sons had ceased to reign over Milan. Lodovico
seems to have kept his promise loyally, but always treated
Cecilia and her husband with marked favour, and acknowledged
the boy Cesare as his own son.
A curious letter addressed to him by the poet Bellincioni, in
February, 1492, when the duke was absent from Milan for a few
days, begins by informing Lodovico that he has given Duchess
Beatrice a pastoral which she wishes to send her husband, and
goes on to say that he was dining yesterday with Madonna
Cecilia. He tells Lodovico how he had seen her son Cesare,
who had grown into a very fine child " quale I grasso, dico
grasso ! " and how he had made the little fellow laugh. In the
same letter he complains of all that he has to suffer at the hands
of envious detractors, and by way of ingratiating himself with
the duke, reminds his Highness that he had always prophesied
Madonna Cecilia's child would prove to be a boy. Bellincioni
Beatrice d'Este 91
himself composed several sonnets in honour of Cesare's birth and
of his accomplished mother. And among the exquisite miniatures
of the little Maximilian Sforza's Libro del Jesii in the Trivulzian
library, we find a picture of Lodovico and Beatrice's child sitting
at dinner with his mother and a lady bearing the name of
Cecilia, in whom tradition sees the duke's old mistress, Countess
Bergamini.
But although Cecilia remained at court, and even main-
tained friendly relations with her famous lover, she never seems
to have given Beatrice cause for jealousy again, and her name
is never again mentioned in Giacomo Trotti's confidential
despatches to his master. Only the singular fact that Beatrice
d'Este's portrait was never, so far as we know, painted by
Leonardo, the supreme master at her husband's court, may well
be "owing to the remembrance that he had formerly pai'nted
Cecilia Gallerani. The proud young duchess who would not
wear a robe similar to that bestowed upon his mistress by her
husband, may naturally enough have declined to have her por-
trait painjted by the same artist, however excellent a master he
might be. !' But whether or no this was the true reason of this
strange omission, there was certainly no portrait of Beatrice
d'Este by Leonardo's hand in Milan a year after her death, or
her own sister Isabella would not have applied to Cecilia
Gallerani for the loan of her picture as an example of Leonardo's
art. From this time, however, the young duchess succeeded in
winning her husband's heart, and for many years to come re-
tained undivided possession of his roving affections. On the
26th of April, Trotti wrote to Ferrara that Signer Lodovico had
been to see him on the second or third day in Easter week, and had
spoken with the greatest warmth and affection of his wife, with
whom he spent his whole time, and whose charming ways
and manners gave him the greatest pleasure. Madonna Beatrice
is, as he says, not only of a joyous nature, but of noble and
elevated mind, and at the same time very pleasing and no less
modest." And in May, when Cecilia's son was born, the duke
himself told his wife the news, repeating his determination never
again to renew the old connection. His letters to Isabella
d'Este abound in the same expressions of genuine love and
92 Beatrice d'Este
admiration for his young wife. He is never tired of dwelling
on her perfections, on her courage and fine horsemanship, and
looks on with an indulgent smile at her wildest freaks and
escapades.
Early in March he and Beatrice went to Vigevano, accom-
panied as usual by Messer Galeazzo and a few courtiers and
ladies. All his life Lodovico retained especial affection for this
old Lombard town, where he had been born, and which he "had
greatly improved and beautified during the last few years. By
his care the streets were paved, and new houses erected ; the
buildings of the ancient Forum, which dated back to Roman
times, were restored ; and the church repaired and adorned with
pictures, and decorated by the hand of the sculptor Cristoforo
Romano.
u At Vigevano," writes the contemporary Milanese chronicler
Cagnola, " a place very dear to the house of Sforza, Lodovico
made a fair and large pia%%a y and adorned it with many noble
buildings and a fine park, which he filled with beasts of prey
for the pleasure of the ducal family. He also laid out some
most beautiful gardens, and since all this country was very dry
and arid, he constructed aqueducts with great artifice and in-
genuity, and brought water into the place in such abundance
that these lands, which had hitherto been sterile and barren,
bore fruit in great quantities. And so entirely did he improve
and alter the whole place that, instead of Vigevano, it might
well be called Citta nova"
At the same time Lodovico rebuilt on a magnificent scale
the old castle which crowns the heights above the valley of the
Ticino, and employed Bramante to design the lofty tower and
the arcaded courts with delicate traceries and terra-cotta mould-
ings in the finest Lombard style. This favourite palace of the
Moro's has been turned into a barrack, and little remains of its
former splendour ; but Bramante's tower is still standing, and
on the north gate of the keep we may read a significant in-
scription placed there by the citizens of Vigevano, recording the
many benefactions of this most illustrious duke, who loved his
native city so well, and was never tired of heaping benefactions
on her people. a By his care not only was this splendid house
Beatrice d'Este 93
raised from the ground, and the square of the old Forum restored
to its pristine shape, but the course of rivers was turned, and
flowing streams of water were brought into this dry and barren
land. The desert waste became a green and fertile meadow,
" the wilderness rejoiced and blossomed as the rose."
The same sentiments inspired the verses in which Galeotto
del Carretto, one of the most accomplished poets of Beatrice's
court, celebrated Lodovico's improvements in this his favourite
country house :
* Vigevano, che gia fu gleba vile,
Ha fatto adorno 5 e gli agri a quel contigm
Ha coltivati con saper utile,
E i steril campi, e al far fructo ambigui
Fertili ha facto et abondanti prati,
E d'acqua ticineae tutti irigui."
Both Cagnola and Galeotto refer, no doubt, to the vast system
of irrigation which Lodovico constructed at immense pains and
expense to fertilize this district of Lomellina, and which may
well have earned the gratitude of its inhabitants. The great
Naviglio Sforzesca, which has resisted the ravages of time,
formed part of this admirable system, and was probably con-
structed under the supervision of Leonardo, who was often at
Vigevano with Lodovico, and who in later years became his
chief engineer. It was here, in the immediate neighbourhood
of Vigevano, that Lodovico established his model farm for the
encouragement of agriculture. Like all the Moro's other under-
takings, this was planned on a splendid scale. The villa itself
was an imposing quadrangular building, with four lofty towers,
and a noble gateway adorned with a Latin inscription cut in
gold letters on a tablet of massive marble, and bearing the date
1486. These lines, composed at the duke's request by Ermolao
Barbaro, the learned Venetian scholar, who was a personal friend
of his, and represented the republic at his court, record
how Lodovico, the son of one Sforza Duke of Milan, and uncle
and guardian of another, brought water to fertilize this barren
province, and was the builder of this fair house, "villaque
amenissima a fundamentis erecta" In order to carry out his
94 Beatrice cTEste
schemes, the duke acquired a large extent of land in the neigh-
bourhood, partly by purchase, and partly by the confiscation of
territory, which, as Corio remarks, naturally provoked much
discontent among individuals, and did not help to increase
Lodovico's popularity, although in the end it largely benefited
both the state and posterity. He proceeded to dig canals,
and bring water on the one side by the Naviglio Sforzesca from
the Ticino, and on the other by the Mora Canal from the
Val Seria. Then, with the help of exports from Vicenza and
Verona, he introduced the culture of the mulberry with excellent
results, and planted large vineyards. Here he tried various
experiments in the culture of the vine, such, for instance, as
that of burying vines in winter, which Leonardo noted down when
he visited Vigevano in March, 1492. At the same time Lodovico
brought vast flocks of sheep from Languedoc, and built the
large farm known as La Pecorara, close to the new villa. La
Grange, as they called this farm, aroused the admiration of the
French chroniclers who followed Louis XII. in his invasion
of Lombardy, more than any other of the beautiful and
marvellous houses and enchanted gardens which they saw in
this wonderful land of Milan. Robert Gaguin cannot find
words in which to express his amazement at the marvellous
number of beasts that he saw there horses, mares, oxen, cows,
bulls, rams, ewes, goats, and other beasts with their young, such
as fawns, calves, foals, lambs, and kids or the massive pillars and
lofty vaulting of the stables, which are described as being larger
than the whole of the Carthusian convent in Paris.
"The farm itself," he writes, "is finely situated in a wide
meadow about four leagues in circumference, with no less than
thirty-three streams of fair running water flowing through the
pastures, and well adapted for the practical uses of agriculture,
since they serve for the bathing and cleansing of the animals as
well as for the watering of the grass. The plan of the farm-
buildings is a large square, like some noble cloister, and in the
park outside are barns and ricks of hay and other produce. In
the central courtyard are the houses of the governors and
captains who direct all the work on the farm. In the outhouses,
which are built in the shape of a great cross, the labourers have
Beatrice d'Este 95
their homes, together with their wives and families. Some of
these clean and tend the cattle or groom the horses. Others
milk the herds of cows at the proper time. Others, again,
receive the milk and bear it into the dairies, where it is made
into the great cheeses which they call here Milan cheeses, under
the superintendence of the master cheese-maker. The exact^
weight of everything, that is to say, of the hay, milk, butter, and
cheese, is carefully recorded, and there is an extraordinary wealth
and abundance of all these things."
These Milan cheeses were so highly esteemed by the French
invaders in 1499, that Louis XII. took back a large quantity
with him to Blois, and kept them for several years in a room
especially devoted to that purpose. They were preserved in oil,
and are mentioned in one of his wife Anne of Brittany's inven-
tories of the year 1504.
Such were the manifold industries which this far-seeing
prince established on his royal domain, less, as he said, for actual
profit than for the encouragement of better methods in agriculture
And the promotion of his poorer subjects' prosperity. And over
all he kept the same keen and vigilant eye, paying attention to
every detail and providing for every contingency. The manage-
ment of this model farm and the progress of the extensive works
that were being executed in the new palace of Vigevano filled
every moment that he could spare from affairs of state at Milan.
But on this occasion his especial object in visiting his native city
was, as he tells Isabella d'Este, to stock the park with game of
all kinds deer, chamois, hare, and pheasants as well as the wild
boars and wolves for the more serious sport known as la grande
caccia.
" I am hoping to go to Vigevano on Monday, 9 ' he writes
from Milan on the 26th of February, "with my wife, and
intend to make extensive preparations for fresh hunting-parties,
so that when you are here we may be able to give you the more
pleasure. As for my wife, I really believe that since your departure
she has not let a single day pass without mounting her horse ! "
And later in the summer he says, " My wife has become so clever
at hawking that she quite outdoes me at this her favourite sport."
Beatrice herself gives a lively account of her country life
96 Beatrice d'Este
during the spring of 1491, in a charming letter which she
addressed to her sister from Villa Nova, another of Lodovico's
delightful pleasure-houses in the valley of the Ticino between
Milan and Pavia.
"I am now here at Villa Nova, where the loveliness of the
country and the balmy sweetness of the air make me think we
are already in the month of May, so warm and splendid is the
weather we are enjoying ! Every day we go out riding with
the dogs and falcons, and my husband and I never come home
without having enjoyed ourselves exceedingly in hunting herons
and other water-fowl. I cannot say much of the perils of the
chase, since game is so plentiful here that hares are to be seen
jumping out at every corner so much so, that often we hardly
know which way to turn to find the best sport. Indeed, the eye
cannot take in all one desires to see, and it is scarcely possible to
count up the number of animals that are to be found in this
neighbourhood. Nor must I forget to tell you how every day
Messer Galeazzo and I, with one or two other courtiers, amuse
ourselves playing at ball after dinner, and we often talk of your
Highness, and wish that you were here. I say all this, not to
diminish the pleasure that I hope you will have when you do
come by telling you what you may expect to find here, but in
order that you may know how well and happy I am, and how
kind and affectionate my husband is, since I cannot thoroughly
enjoy any pleasure or happiness unless I share it with you. And
I must tell you that I have had a whole field of garlic planted for
your benefit, so that when you come, we may be able to have
plenty of your favourite dishes ! *
Ex Villa Nova, 18 Martiji,
It is plain from this letter that harmony had been restored
between the wedded pair, and that the rock on which Beatrice's
happiness had seemed likely to founder had been fortunately
avoided.
The passing cloud that cast a shadow on her bright young
life had rolled away, and this letter breathes the serene happiness
of the spring airs about her. But her affection for her sister
was warmer and stronger than ever, and hardly a day passed
* Luzio-Renier, op at., p. 112.
Beatrice d'Este
97
without some fresh expression of her impatience for Isabella's
return an impatience which both Lodovico and Galeazzo seem
to have shared.
On the 2 ist of April, after describing a successful wolf-hunt
from Vigevano, in which the Duke and Duchess of Milan and
their courtiers had all taken part, Lodovico writes
" The whole distance must have been at least thirty miles,
yet on the way home both the duchesses stayed behind the rest
of us, to make their horses race one against the other ; and if
your Highness had been here, I think you would have entered
the lists and tried your luck against them. And since you must
come soon, and are expected by us impatiently, I will remind
your Highness to bring some of those fine Barbary steeds which
your illustrious lord the marquis keeps in his stables, and then
you will easily be able to beat all the others."
Again, on the i6th of May, Lodovico writes in the same
strain
u I am as sorry as you are that you could not be here for these
wolf-hunts, because, as you said in the letter written with your
own hand on the 5th instant, I am quite sure you would have
given us proofs of your spirit and courage. I must, however,
tell you that your sister's boldness is such that I think even you
would hardly come off victor in this contest, especially as, since
you were here, she has made great progress both in the arts of
horsemanship and of hunting. All the same, I am so impatient
to see you together and to match your courage one against the
other, that it seems to me a thousand years until your arrival ! "
Beatrice, it appears, was absolutely fearless in the presence of
danger, and faced an angry boar or wounded stag with the same
lightness of heart. The greater the risks she ran, the higher
her spirits rose. This feature of his young wife's character
aroused the Moro's highest admiration. In a letter of the 8th
of July, after recounting the various incidents of a long day's
hunting, he tells the Marchesa what a narrow escape Beatrice
has had from an infuriated stag which gored her horse.
u All at once we heard that the wounded stag had been seen,
and had attacked the horse which my wife was riding, and the
next moment we saw her lifted up in the air a good lance's
H
g 8 Beatrice d'Este
height from the ground ; but she kept her seat, and sat erect all
the while. The duke and duchess and I all rushed to her help,
and asked if she were hurt ; but she only laughed, and was not in
the least frightened." *
Isabella herself was burning with eager desire to join
Lodovico and Beatrice in these hunting-parties, and have a share
in the thrilling adventures which they narrated in their letters.
But her husband the marquis was away all the spring and early
summer; first at Bologna, where he attended his brother Giovanni
Gonzaga's wedding, and afterwards with his sister the Duchess
Elizabeth at Urbino. After his return to Mantua he fell ill,
and when he recovered it was already late in August, and
Isabella was compelled very reluctantly to decline Lodovico
Sforza's pressing invitations. Money was scarce at the court
of Mantua, and the expenses of a journey to Milan were
heavy. So she contented herself with going to see her mother
that autumn at Ferrara, and put off her visit to Milan until the
following spring, much to the disappointment of Beatrice and
her husband. Lodovico wrote her word that he had been
arranging a tournament at Pavia in honour of the christening
of Gian Galeazzo's son, the little Count of Pavia, but that since
she would not come, he had made up his mind to put it off and
have no jousting*
* Lxizio-Renier, of. at., p. 11$.
CHAPTER IX
Isabella of Arragon and Beatrice d'Este Ambrogio Borgognone and
Giovanni Antonio Amadeo Cristoforo Romano and his works at Pavia
and Cremona The Certosa of Pavia Illness of Beatrice Her journey
to Genoa Correspondence between Isabella and Lodovico Sforza Visit
of the Marquis of Mantua to Milan.
1491-1492
IN the frequent letters which Lodovico and Beatrice both of
them addressed to the Marchioness of Mantua, as well as in those
of Giacomo Trotti to the Duke of Ferrara, we find many
allusions to the Duke of Milan's wife, Isabella of Aragon. This
princess, who was Beatrice's first cousin and only five years
older than Lodovico's wife, is mentioned not only as present
with her husband at all court festivities and hunting-parties, but
as her constant companion in all her occupations and amusements,
both at Vigevano and Pavia. In after-days, when Lodovico had
a son of his own and was suspected of designs on the ducal
crown, Duchess Isabella bitterly resented his conduct and that
of his wife. But there is absolutely no foundation for Corio's
statement that this rivalry between the two duchesses began at
the time of Beatrice's wedding, and that from the moment of her
arrival at Milan, Lodovico's wife objected to yield precedence
to the Duchess of Milan. The Milanese chronicler wrote
after Lodovico's fall, and always assumed the truth of the worst
charges brought against the Moro and his wife. Unfortunately,
his hasty and inaccurate statements have been repeated by
Guicciardini and other contemporaries, and accepted as literally
true by later writers. In this case Corio probably looked back
on the past through the medium of the present, and judged the
actors in the drama by the light of their later conduct. In any
99
ioo Beatrice d'Este
case, there is absolutely no trace of any jealousy or rivalry
between the two young duchesses in the private letters and
court records of the period. On the contrary, Isabella seems to
have welcomed her cousin's presence joyfiilly, and to have
found that the dull life which she led by the side of her
feeble husband was sensibly brightened by Beatrice's company,
Bellincioni, whose verses certainly mirror the court life of
the day, if they also breathe the incense of flattery, wrote several
sonnets in which he descants on the close friendship and com-
panionship of the two duchesses, and the love that bound them
together in the tender bonds of sisterly affection. He is never
tired of praising the concord that reigned in the ducal family,
and the pleasure that Beatrice took in Isabella's little son, who
was constantly seen in her arms.
" And when the ladies ask if she does not wish for a son of
her own, she replies in sweet accents, c This one child is enough
for me ; ' and straightway all her courtiers repeat and extol her
answer."
,/""]8ut more trustworthy than the rhymes of court poets is the
'evidence to be found in the letters describing the daily round of
life at Milan or Pavia and Vigevano. Here Isabella and Beatrice
are mentioned as joining in the same games and sports, whether
tolaying at ball, sometimes even trying their strength in wrest-
ling matches.
" The two duchesses," writes the Ferrarese ambassador, on
the 28th of April, " have been having a sparring match, and the
J)uke of Bari's wife has knocked down her of Milan."
' Sometimes their escapades were of a decidedly undignified
order. But practical jokes were much in vogue among these
exalted lords and ladies of the Renaissance. For instance, we
find Beatrice's brother Alfonso and Messer Galeazzo, disguised
as robbers, breaking into the house of Girolamo Tuttavilla, one
of Lodovico's favourite ministers, at midnight, and leading him
blindfold on a donkey through the streets of Milan and into the
Castello, where he was released amid peals of laughter. And
the two young duchesses seem to have celebrated this Easter-
tide, which they spent -at Milan, by the wildest freaks.
" There is literally no end to the pleasures and amusements
Beatrice d'Este 101
which we have here," writes Lodovico, on the I2th of April,
to his sister-in-law at Mantua. "I could riot tell you one-
thousandth part of the tricks and games in which the Duchess
of Milan and my wife indulge. In the country they spent
their time in riding races and galloping up behind their ladies
at full speed, so as to make them fall off their horses. And
now that we are back here in Milan, they are always inventing
some new forms of amusement. They started yesterday in the
rain on foot, with five or six of their ladies, wearing cloths or
towels over their heads, and walked through the streets of the
city to buy provisions. But since it is not the custom for
women to wear cloths on their heads here, some of the women
in the street began to laugh at them and make rude remarks,
upon which my wife fired up and replied in the same manner,
so much so that they almost came to blows. In the end they
came home all muddy and bedraggled, and were a fine sight !
I believe, when your Highness is here, they will go out with all
the more courage, since they will have in you so bold and
spirited a comrade, and if any one dares to be rude to you, they
will get back as good as they give ! From your affectionate
brother,
" LODOVICO." *
Isabella, for all her wisdom and prudence, does not seem
to have been in the least scandalized by her sister's behaviour,
and replied that she would have done worse if any one had
ventured to insult her ; upon which Lodovico remarked
" Your letter in answer to my description of my wife and
the duchess walking about Milan with cloths on their heads,
delighted me. I am sure you have far too much spirit to allow
rude things to be said to you, and when I read your letter,
I could see the angry flash in your eye, and hear the indignant
answer that you would have had in readiness for any one who
dared insult you."
The next letter we give was written on the I2th of June,
from the Castello di Pavia, where the ducal family spent that
summer, and is of special interest on account of the allusions
which it contains to the famous sanctuary of the Certosa.
102 Beatrice d'Este
"I have spent several days lately at the Certosa, which
your Highness, I know, visited when you were last here. And
since I did not think the choir-stalls in the church were in any
way suitable or equal in beauty to the rest of the building, I
went back there the day before yesterday and had them taken
down, and have ordered new stalls to be designed in their place.
And as I was returning, the duke and duchess and my wife
came to meet me, and attacked me suddenly, and in order to
defend myself, I divided my retainers, who were most of them
riding mules, into three squadrons, and charged the enemy in
due order, so there was a fine scufHe ! Then we came home to
see some youths run races, with lances in their hands, and after
that we went to supper. And since those illustrious duchesses
took it into their heads to return again to the Certosa, they went
back there yesterday morning, and when it was time for them
to return, I went out to meet them, and found that both
duchesses and all their ladies were dressed in Turkish costumes.
These disguises were invented by my wife, who had all the
dresses made in one night ! It seems that when they began to
set to work about noon yesterday, the Duchess of Milan could
not contain her amazement at seeing my wife sewing with as
much vigour and energy as any old woman. And my wife told
her that, whatever she did, whether it were jest or earnest, she
liked to throw her whole heart into it and try and do it as well
as possible. Certainly in this case she succeeded perfectly, and
the skill and grace with which she carried out her idea gave me
Ipdescribable pleasure and satisfaction." *
The passage is eminently characteristic both of the Moro
and his wife. We see on the one hand the spirit and resolution
which made Beatrice, in the words of the Emperor Maximilian,
not merely a sweet and loving wife to her lord, but a partner who
shared actively in all his schemes and lightened every burden ; and
on the other, we understand the admiration which this force of
character and tenacity of purpose excited in Lodovico's weaker
and more easily swayed nature. Beatrice's masquerade recalls
another curious feature of the day that taste for Turkish
costumes and interest in Oriental habits which had sprung up in
Italy during the forty years which had elapsed since the fall of
* Luzio-Renier, op. at r) p. 114.
Beatrice d'Este
103
Constantinople. In Venice, Gentile Bellini and Carpaccio
were already showing signs of this familiarity with Eastern habits
by the Turkish costumes and personages who figure in their
pictures ; and a troop of Turks were introduced into a masque
written by the Milanese poet, Gaspare Visconti, and acted
before the Court. These strangers from the far East, attracted
by the fame of the great city of Milan, were supposed
to arrive in a boat on the Lombard shores, singing the
following chorus :
* e Bel paese e Lombardia
Degno assai, ricca e galante.
Ma di gioie la Soria
E di fructi e phi abbondante
Tanta fama e per il mondo
Del gran vostro alto Milano,
Che solcando il mar profondo,
Siam venuti da lontano,
Gran paese soriano.
Per veder se cosi sia,
Bel paese di Lombardia/*
Still greater interest attaches to Lodovico's description of
his own visit to the Certosa and of the alterations which he
effected in the choir. This famous church and monastery had
been the pride of successive Dukes of Milan, since the day
when Galeazzo Visconti laid the first stone in his park of Pavia
a hundred years before. Viscontis and Sforzas had alike helped
to enrich their ancestor's mighty foundation, and to carry on
the work. But the Certosa owes more to Lodovico Sforza than
to any other member of the dynasty. From the day when he
returned r fo* "Milafi" and took iip-the reins of government in his
nephew's name, to the last sad moments when his state was
crumbling to pieces, this great shrine was the special object of
his solicitude. In his eyes, as he said in the letter informing
the Prior and brothers of Duchess Leonora's visit, the Certosa was
the jewel of the crown, the noblest monument in the whole
realm. The completion of the facade and the internal decoration
of the great church and chapels was one of the objects that lay
nearest to his heart. A whole army of architects and sculptors,
painters and builders were employed under his orders ; and so
104 Beatrice d'Este
great was the store of precious marbles, brought there from
Carrara and other parts of Italy, that the place was said to
resemble a vast stone quarry. During the twenty years that
the Moro reigned as Regent and Duke in Milan, the new apse
built in Bramante's classical style, the central cupola, and the
beautiful cloisters with their slender marble shafts and dark red
terra-cotta friezes of angel-heads, all rose into being. Then
Ambrogio Borgognone decorated the roof of nave and apse, and
designed the elaborate intarsiatura of these very choir-stalls to
which Lodovico alludes in his letter to Isabella d'Este. And
then the same Lombard master painted these frescoes and altar-
pieces of grave saints and gentle Madonnas, which still adorn
the side chapels with their solemn forms and rich golden
harmonies. Many of these are ruined, others we know are
gone. The fragments of the noble banners with portraits of
kneeling figures, which the artist painted for processional use
on solemn occasions are now in our National Gallery. There,
too, is that loveliest of all Perugino's Madonnas, with the
warrior Archangels at her side, and the perfect landscape
beyond, which the Umbrian master painted in the last years of
the century, by the Moro's express command, for his favourite
sanctuary.
But the crowning work of Lodovico's days was the fagade of
the great church which, after many different attempts, was finally
begun in 1491, and mostly executed during the next seven years.
This magnificent creation, the triumph of Lombard genius, was
designed by a native architect, Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, or
Di Madeo, as he signs himself, a peasant lad who had grown up
in his father's farm close by, and whose earliest independent work
is said to have been a group of angels on the marble doorway
leading from the church into the cloisters. He had afterwards
been employed at Bergamo, where the Colleoni Chapel and the
effigy of the great Condottiere's young daughter, the sleeping virgin
Medea, still bear witness to his poetic invention and rare decora-
tive skill. One of Lodovico's first acts after his return to Milan
had been to recall Amadeo to Pavia, and in 1490, this gifted artist
was appointed Capo maestro of the Certosa works. To his
delicate fancy and exquisite refinement we owe much of die
Beatrice d'Este 105
lovely detail in the church and cloisters, the singing angels of the
portals, the reliefs on Gian Galeazzo's monument, and in the
monks' lavatory, and the medallions of the Sforzas over the
doorways of the choir. There we may see the strongly marked
features and refined expression of the great Moro, between his
brother and his nephew, while above the opposite portal are
the four Duchesses of Milan, Bianca Maria Visconti, Bona
of Savoy, Isabella of Aragon, and Beatrice d'Este with the
same soft, beautiful face, the same long coil of hair and jewelled
net that we see in her portrait in the Brera or in Cristoforo
Romano's bust in the Louvre.
But the wonderful marble faade, with its great central portal
and round-headed windows, its historical reliefs and marvellous
wealth of decorative sculpture, is Amadeo's grandest creation.
We know not how far it was completed before 1499, when his
labours as chief architect of the cathedrals of Milan and Pavia
compelled him to give up his post at the Certosa 5 but in much
of the ornamental detail in the angels that adorn its branches of
the candelabra between the windows, in the profusion of carved
trophies, armorial bearings, burning censers, cherub-heads, leaf-
mouldings, flowers and fruit that has been lavished on every
portion of the west front we recognize his handiwork. And
this fa$ade of the Certosa, more than any other architectural
work of the age, bears the stamp of Lodovico Sforza's peculiar
genius. Alike in the abundance of classical motives and in the
amazing wealth of invention and infinite grace that inspired the
whole conception, we recognize Lodovico's passionate love of
the antique and minute attention to detail. We know that he
was constantly on the spot, as the letter to his sister-in-law
proves, and that when absent from Pavia the works of the
Certosa were constantly in his mind. He* was always writing
orders to Amadeo to buy marbles and hurry on the work, always
urging the prior to hasten the completion of the church, or
inquiring in Florence and Rome for new masters to paint altar-
pieces for the Certosa. And to-day, when so many of his noblest
creations have perished, when the glorious pile of the Castello of
Milan, with its stately towers and frescoed halls, rich decorations
and vast gardens, has been defaced and battered by the hands of
106 Beatrice cTEste
barbarian invaders, when Leonardo's fresco is a wreck and the
tomb of Beatrice broken to pieces, when Vigevano and Cussago
are in ruins, and the matchless library of Pavia has been scattered
to the winds, we rejoice to think that the Certosa remains to
show us how splendid were the dreams and how rare the skill ot
artists in the days when Lodovico Sforza reigned over Milan.
One of the finest artists who was working at the Certosa
under Lodovico's eye in the summer of 1491, was the accom-
plished Roman sculptor, Giovanni Cristoforo Romano. We
remember how he had been sent to Ferrara in the autumn of
the previous year to execute a bust of Beatrice for his master.
Since then he had gone back to his work at the CertoSa, where
he was employed upon the monument which Lodovico was
raising to his ancestor Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the founder of
the great Carthusian Abbey. His exact share in this noble work,
which was begun in 1490, remains uncertain, but both the effigy
of this duke and the figure of the Madonna and Child in the
upper part of the monument are generally ascribed to his hand.
At the same time Cristoforo had promised to design the chief
portal of the ancient Stanga palace in Cremona, which was being
restored by Lodovico's Superintendent of Finances, the Marchese
Stanga, known in court circles as the Marchesino, to distinguish
him from his father, Duchess Bianca Maria's faithful servant.
That June the Marchesino was married at Milan to a daughter
of Count Giovanni Borromeo, and on this occasion, doubtless,
he employed the gifted Roman sculptor to design the magnificent
doorway which now adorns the Louvre and is a masterpiece of
classic elegance. But now a fresh invitation reached Cristoforo
from another quarter.
The Marchioness of Mantua had seen the Roman master's
bust of her sister Beatrice when she came to Milan in the
winter for the wedding festivities,' and was seized with an ardent
wish to have her features carved in marble by the same unrivalled
artist. On the 22nd of June she wrote to Beatrice from her
favourite villa at Porto, near Mantua, begging her to ask Lodovico
if he would kindly allow " that excellent master, Johan Cristoforo,
who carved your Highness's portrait in marble," to come to
Mantua for a few days, that he might render her the same
Beatrice d'Este
107
service. Beatrice, who was always ready and anxious to gratify
Isabella's wishes, replied that she had shown the letter at once
to her husband, and that Lodovico would gladly comply with her
sister's request, and had written to beg the Marchesino for whom
Johan Cristoforo was working at that moment to send this
master to Mantua. " No doubt by this time," he adds, writing
from Pavia on the I5th of July, "Messer Cristoforo is already
on his way to Mantua."
But the sculptor, like most great artists, took his time about
his work, and would not be interrupted or hurried, even to
please so charming and illustrious a lady as Isabella d'Este. He
wrote a courteous note to the Marchesa from Pavia, saying
how gladly he would have obeyed her summons on the spot, and
how deeply he regretted that this was impossible, since he could
not leave the work upon which he was engaged for the Marchesino
unfinished. But he hoped to have the pleasure of seeing her some
day. Meanwhile he suggested that she should order two pieces of
fine marble from Venice, and see that they were very white and
without stain or vein of colour. Isabella, however, was not easily
discouraged, especially where excellent masters and works of art
were in question, and, as she wrote on another occasion to Niccolo
da Correggio, liked to have her wishes gratified on the spot.
This time she wrote to the Marchesino himself, begging him to
send Messer Johan Cristoforo to Mantua as soon as possible.
Now Giovanni Stanga, besides being a finished courtier, was on
intimate terms with the fair Marchesana herself and with all her
family. Only a few weeks before, Isabella had written him a
charming letter of congratulation on his marriage, and he often
sent presents of silver boxes and ornaments both to her and Duchess
Leonora. So, when his own doorway was finished, he did his
best to induce the sculptor to oblige the marchioness. But
Cristoforo had evidently no intention of leaving Pavia at present.
The summer months slipped away, and still Isabella waited in
vain. At length, in October, she heard from the Marchesino that
Messer Cristoforo feared it was impossible for him to come to
Mantua at all this year, since his whole time was spent in working
at the Certosa, besides which he was one of the Duchess of Bari's
singers, and must obey her wishes and travel with her, now in
io8 Beatrice d'Este
one direction, now in another. "At present," adds the writer,
" he is with her in Genoa."
It was not, in fact, until after Beatrice's death that Isabella
obtained Lodovico's leave for his favourite sculptor to visit
Mantua. By that time the duke's affairs were in dire confusion,
and seeing there was little hope of further employment and none
of certain pay, Messer Cristoforo left the Milanese court sorrow-
fully and went to Mantua, where he carved the lovely doorway
still to be seen in Isabella's studio of // Paradiso at the top of
the grim old Castello, and designed the beautiful rnedal of the
marchioness herself, which was praised as a divine thing at the
Court of Naples, and which the old scholar Jacopo d'Atri kissed
a thousand times over, for the sake of its beauty and of the like-
ness which it bore to the beloved mistress whom he had not seen
for so many years. Afterwards we know Cristoforo moved on
to Urbino, where Bembo and Emilia Pia and the good duchess
all gave him a glad welcome, and Castiglone enshrined his
memory in the pages of the Cortigiano. Then, again, we find
him in his native city, Rome, searching for antiques in the ruins
of the Eternal City, and examining the newly discovered Laocoon
with Michelo Angelo, until at last the incurable malady which
had long undermined his strength put an end to his life, and he
died in the prime of manhood at the Santa Casa of Loreto. But
his best work was done, and his happiest years were spent, in the
service of Duchess Beatrice, at the court of Milan.
If Lodovico did not always care to part from his best artists at
Isabella's request, he rarely failed to oblige his charming sister-in-
law in other matters. Presents of game and venison, choice
vegetables and fruit, artichokes and truffles, apples and pears or
peaches, were constantly borne to Mantua by his couriers ; and in
return Isabella would send him the famous salmon-trout of the
Lak^ of Garda, that were accounted such rare delicacies, and
which Lodovico was fond of seeing at table, especially, as he often
remarked, in Lent. The correspondence between the two courts
was briskly kept up that year, although Isabella was unable to
visit Milan. Lodovico himself rarely missed a post, and com-
plained repeatedly that Isabella was not so regular a correspondent
as himself.
Beatrice d'Este 109
" Certainly, my affection for your Highness is greater than
yours for me," he says, writing in September, 1491. "It is plain
that I think of you much oftener than you think of me, and I
know for certain that I write far more letters to you than you
ever write to me."
But Isabella was unwearied in the applications which she
made constantly to her brother-in-law on behalf of persons who,
rightly or wrongly,'had been accused of offences against the laws
of Milan. Often, it must be owned, these suppliants whom she
recommended to mercy proved to be criminals of the worst type ;
and quite as often the protegh whom she sent to Milan turned
out to be utterly worthless characters. This made her a little
ashamed of the perpetual recommendations with which she
troubled Lodovico, and explains the apologetic tone of a note
which she addressed to him in June, 1491, on behalf of some
suppliant for money.
u The letters of recommendation which I have received in
this case are so urgent that I feel it would be brutal to refuse
the petition I send you, especially since they are addressed to me
by private friends. But if your Highness complains, as you
may justly do, of the frequency of my appeals, I must ask you to
impute their persistency less to me than to my innate compassion,
which induces me to intercede for all who ask in good faith.
But the truth is, your Highness has given me so many tokens
of affection that many persons who seek your favour apply to
me, trusting to my powers of intercession. And since I should
be well content to let the whole world know the love and kind-
ness which your Highness shows me, I grant these requests the
more easily, because I remember what good fruit my recommenda-
tions have hitherto borne."
Sometimes, when the Marquis Gianfrancesco was away from
Mantua, we find his wife consulting Lodovico on affairs of state,
asking him to prevent her neighbour Galeotto della Mirandola
from constructing a canal which may injure her subjects, or
appealing to the Sanseverino brothers in the case of a faithless
servant of hers who had sought shelter under the Count of
Caiazzo's banners.* Beatrice, in her turn, occasionally sent her
servants and subjects with recommendations to Mantua. For
1 1 o Beatrice d'Este
instance, that July a Milanese soldier named Messer Giacomello
arrived at the court of the Gonzagas, with letters from the
Duchess of Bari and Messer Galeazzo di Sanseverino, asking
for leave to fight a duel with a man of Ascoli who had insulted
him ; and the marchioness, ignorant of the customary method
of treating these challenges, referred the case to her husband in
a long and elaborate statement.
Towards the end of September Beatrice fell ill, and for some
days her husband was seriously uneasy about her. The anxiety
which he showed, and the attentions with which he surrounded
her, were duly reported by Giacomo Trotti in a letter to
Ferrara.
"Signer Lodovico," he wrote on the i8th of September,
"does not leave his wife's bedside by day or night. He is
always with her, and thinks of nothing but how he can best
please and amuse her. The only cause of regret he has is that
as yet there are not any signs of the birth of a son and heir."
Lodovico's concern for his young wife was genuine. He
wrote daily reports of her health to Isabella and her mother, and
on the 4th of October rejoiced to be able to tell the Marchesana
that her sister had once more been able to assist at a boar-hunt,
which had taken place six miles from Pavia.
"Yesterday your sister came to look on at a boar-hunt, six
or seven miles from here. She drove to the spot in a chariot
with a raised seat at the back, very much like the pulpits from
which friars preach ! Here she stood up, to be out of danger,
and enjoyed herself immensely, as being placed at such a height,
she could see the whole hunt better than any one else."
A few days later he wrote again to say he had decided to send
his wife to Genoa, since the air of Pavia was not healthy, he felt
convinced, at this season of the. year, and in the hope that change
would help to complete her cure.
" To-morrow my wife starts for Genoa incognita. I am send-
ing her, first of all, to give her pleasure and do her health good,
and, secondly, to prepare the way for your Highness when you
come here next."
Unfortunately, we have no further particulars of this visit to
Genova la Superba, that city which both the sisters were so
Beatrice d'Este 1 1 1
anxious to see, and the letters in which Beatrice described this
journey to her husband have either perished or still lie buried in
some private archives. All we know is that Cristoforo Romano
was among the singers who accompanied the duchess on this
occasion, although she travelled incognita and took only a few
persons in her suite.
By December Lodovico and his wife were again settled in
Milan, where they received an unexpected visit from the Marquis
of Mantua in- the first week of that month. Gianfrancesco's
own wife was absent with her mother at Ferrara, and without
even informing Isabella of his intention, he suddenly arrived at
Milan, and spent a week at the Castello with the Duke and
Duchess of Bari. As a rule, the company of the marquis, a
brave soldier, but not apparently a very attractive person, with his
short ungainly figure and rugged features, his dark complexion
and rough manners, was not particularly agreeable to his polished
brother-in-law ; but he received a kindly welcome from both
his hosts on this occasion, and was highly gratified with the
honours and attention that were paid him. Isabella, on her part,
was overjoyed to hear of the kindness with which her husband
had been treated at the court of Milan, and declared that his
letters gave her as much pleasure as if she had been with him
herself. Lodovico did his guest the honours of his palace and
city, showed him the treasures and jewels of the Castello, and
sent him home loaded with gifts. Among other presents which
Gianfrancesco received from his brother-in-law were a pair of
lions which the Moro, who was constantly sending to Africa for
wild beasts, showed him in his menagerie, and promised to send
him as soon as they were sufficiently tame. Some weeks, how-
ever, passed before they were pronounced fit to travel safely, and
it was not till February of the following year that they were sent
to Mantua, with a note from Lodovico, explaining that the
keeper who accompanied them was accustomed to wild beasts,
and would teach Gianfrancesco's servants how to treat them.
CHAPTER X
Claims of Charles VIII. to Naples Of the Duke of Orleans to Milan
Intrigues of the Venetian Senate, of Pope Innocent VIII., and of
Ferrante and Alfonso of Naples Visit of the French ambassadors to
Milan Treasures of the Castello Jewels of Lodovico Sforza Isabella
of Aragon and her father An embassy to the French court proposed
Secret instructions of the Count of Caiazzo Fett at Vigevano
Tournament of Pavia.
1491
THE most important event at the court of Milan that winter
was the visit of the French ambassadors. The young King
of France, Charles VIII., now that he had emancipated himself
from his sister's tutelage and felt himself his own master, was
beginning to cherish secret dreams of conquest, and already
turned envious eyes towards the kingdom of Naples, that ancient
heritage of the House of Anjou. His own ardour for military
glory was fanned by the presence at the French court of several
exiled noblemen, who had fled from Naples to escape the harsh
rule of King Ferrante and his hated son Alfonso, and were
burning to avenge their wrongs. Chief among these were
Antonio, Prince of Salerno, the head of the great Sanseverino
family, and his cousin, the Prince of Bisignano, both of whom
were in constant communication with their kinsmen at the
Milanese court. At the same time, Charles VIII.'s brother-in-
law and cousin, Louis, Duke of Orleans, a valiant and ambitious
prince just thirty years of age, who had inherited the Lombard
town of Asti from his grandmother, Valentina Visconti, and
claimed the Duchy of Milan in right of his descent from the
Visconti dukes, rejoiced at the prospect of advancing his pre-
tensions against the rival House of Sforza.
112
Beatrice d'Este 113
Already more than one invitation to cross the Alps had
reached the young French king from Italy. In January, 1484,
when Venice was waging a desperate war against Milan and
Naples, Antonio Loredano was sent to the French court with
secret instructions to remind Charles VIII., who had just suc-
ceeded his father, Louis XI., that the kingdom of Naples had
formerly belonged to his family, and that, besides occupying
a throne to which he had no right, Ferrante of Aragon had
instigated Lodovico Sforza to usurp the crown of Milan. The
Venetian envoy was further desired to inform the Duke of
Orleans that Lodovico evidently intended to make himself
Duke of Milan in his nephew's stead, and to point out that
Louis could not find a better moment than this, to assert his
own claim to the duchy of his Visconti ancestors.
" Say all you can to instigate the Duke of Orleans to under-
take this enterprise," were the secret instructions of the Ten, u and
tell the French that if they wish to dethrone the tyrant Ferrante
and seize Naples, they will never have a better opportunity." *
A month later the Venetian Government sent another
message to Louis of Orleans, urging him to invade Milan, and
offering him the help of their forces. The duke was by no
means averse to the suggestion, but Anne de Beaujeu, who
governed France during her brother's minority, wisely declined
to meddle in the quarrels of Italian States, and by August peace
had been concluded between Venice and Milan.
Five years afterwards Pope Innocent VIII., having quarrelled
with King Ferrante, invited Charles VIII. to invade Naples,
and offered him the investiture of this important fief of the
Church. But at that time the French monarch had no leisure
to think of a foreign expedition. He was already engaged in
war with Maximilian, King of the Romans, and in a fierce
quarrel with the States of Brittany over the regency of that
province during the minority of young Duchess Anne, the
betrothed bride of the future Emperor, whose first wife, Mary
of Burgundy, had died m 1482. Fnding that there was no
prospect of help from this quarter, the Pope had been forced to
*. Secret Archives of the Venetian Senate, Reg. 31, fol. 123, 131, etc.,
and Reg. 32, fol. 87.
X
114 Beatrice d'Este
come to terms with Ferrante, whose armies threatened Rome,
and made peace with Naples in January, 1492.
Meanwhile Charles VIII. had mortally offended the King
of the Romans by sending back his daughter Margaret, to whom
while yet Dauphin he had been formally betrothed by his father,
Louis XL, and who had been educated in Touraine for the last
six years, and taking Maximilian's affianced bride, Anne of
Brittany, for his wife. The marriage was solemnized in the
Castle of Langeais in December, 1491, and two months after-
wards the new queen was crowned at Saint Denis. Maximilian
now sought to form a coalition against Charles, to avenge his
injured honour ; and his ally, Henry VII. of England, sent
a letter to Lodovico Sforza, asking him to join the league and
invade France from the south.
Under these circumstances Charles VIIL was naturally
anxious to strengthen the old alliance which had existed between
his father and the House of Sforza. Even before his own
marriage, in the summer of 1490, Lodovico had sent Erasmo
Brasca on a private mission to the French king, to ask for a
renewal of the investiture of the Duchy of Genoa, originally
granted to Francesco Sforza by Louis XL Since those days,
Genoa had been lost during the regency of Duchess Bona, and
only recovered in 1888, by Lodovico's successful negotiations.
Now Charles VIIL gladly granted the regent's request, and pro-
posed to send an embassy to Milan in the course of the next year.
Lodovico, on his part, prepared to give the French ambassadors
a splendid reception, and in March, 1491, wrote to his chief
secretary, Bartolommeo Calco, from Vigevano, giving minute
instructions for the preparation of a suite of rooms in the Castello,
where the Most Christian King's envoys were to be lodged. Since,
at that time, extensive improvements were being made in other
parts of the palace, Lodovico gave up his own rooms on the
ground floor for the use of these distinguished strangers. The
chief ambassador, the Scottish noble, Bernard Stuart d'Aubigny,
Chamberlain to King Charles, he wrote word, would occupy the
Duchess of Bari's apartment, known as the Sala della Asse, from
the raised platform at one end of the room, and would use the
duchess's boudoir, with the painted Amor in i over the mantel-
Beatrice d'Este 115
piece, and the adjoining chambers tor his dining and robing room.
The second ambassador, Jean Roux de Visque, was to occupy
Lodovico's apartments ; and the third, King Charles's doctor, the
Italian Teodoro Guainiero of Pavia, would be lodged in the
rooms of Madonna Beatrice, Niccolo da Correggio's mother, and
of the duke's secretary, Jacopo Antiquario. All of these rooms
had been decorated and hung with rich tapestries and curtains of
velvet and brocade for Lodovico's wedding a year before, but on
this occasion he desired that canopies adorned with the fleur-de-lys
should be placed over the beds, and that other changes should be
made in the hangings and furniture. And since there was not
room in the Castello, where the court officials and servants who
were daily lodged and fed within its precincts already numbered
some two hundred, for the whole of the suite, the remainder were
to be entertained at the duke's expense at the different inns of
the city, at the sign of the Stella, the Fontana and Campana.
A few weeks later the ambassadors arrived at Milan, and
were magificently received by Lodovico and his nephew, both of
whom wore sumptuous vests of white Lyons brocade, presented
to them in the French king's name, at the ceremony of investi-
ture which followed. Giangaleazzo was formally invested with
the Duchy of Genoa, and did homage to the representative of his
suzerain, the French king, in the presence of the whole court.
Among the members of the ducal family present on this occasion
was the duke's elder sister, Bianca Maria, who still remained
unmarried since her affianced husband, the son of Matthias
Corvinus, had been driven from the throne of Hungary, after his
father's death in 1490. The splendour of the ceremony, and the
dazzling white velvet suits worn by her brother and uncle, were
long remembered by this princess of seventeen, who spent most
of her time with her mother, Bona, at Abbiategrasso. More than
seven years afterwards, when poor Giangaleazzo was dead, and
the Sforzas' throne was already tottering to its fall, Bianca Maria,
then the wife of the Emperor Maximilian, wrote from Fribourg,
begging her uncle to try and procure her a robe of the white
velvet woven at Lyons, " like the vests worn by yourself and my
brother, of blessed memory, on the day when he was invested
with the Duchy of Genoa." * The young empress, whose mind,
* F. Calvi, Bianca Maria Sforsza.
ii6 Beatrice d'Este
as her husband complained, never rose above childish things, and
who, in the lonely splendour of her grim castles in the Tyrol,
pined for the brightness of her fair Milanese home, had set her
heart on a gown of this material, and begged her kind uncle to
excuse her if she asked too much, assuring him that nothing else
could give her so much pleasure.
The beauty of Milan, with its stately Castello and white
marble Duomo, its spacious streets and long rows of armourers' and
goldsmiths' shops, its beautiful gardens and frescoed palaces, made
a deep impression upon these strangers from the North. Never
had they seen so fair a city or so rich a land. Marvellous were
the tales they had to tell their countrymen of the splendid court
where they h lived like princes, and of this wealthy and
magnificent . or Lodovico, who had entertained them in so
royal a mann ..
But although the investiture of Genoa had been provisionally
granted, and a treaty of alliance agreed upon, several articles of
the league still remained to be discussed. Negotiations dragged
on all through the year, chiefly with regard to certain castles
belonging to Charles's ally, the Marquis of Montferrat, which
had been seized by the Milanese. Niccolo da Correggio was
sent to France in the summer to endeavour to bring matters to
a satisfactory conclusion, but nothing was finally settled until
the winter, when Charles decided to send a second embassy to
Milan, This time one of the former envoys, Jean Roux de
Visque, was selected for the office, and, together with Le Sieur
Pierre de Courthardi, left Paris early in December, and arrived
at Milan in January, 1492.
Lodovico himself received the ambassadors in the Castello,
and entertained them with his wonted magnificence. A treaty
was drawn up, by which Charles agreed to recognize all the
claims advanced by the Duke of Milan, and admitted the Duke
of Bari by name as governor of his nephew into the defensive
and offensive league concluded on the I3th of January, and
on the i gth the French ambassadors left Milan. Before their
departure, however, Lodovico, anxious to do his guests honour
and at the sortie time impress them with his wealth and the
vast resources at his command, himself conducted them over
Beatrice d'Este 117
the Treasury of the Castello, which was deservedly regarded as
one of the principal sights of Milan.
There, in the heart of the Rocchetta, close to his own
apartments, was the vaulted room, decorated with frescoes by
Leonardo and Bramante, and known as the Sala del Tesoro.
Here, piled up in enormous chests, were the vast store of gold
ducats which he kept as a reserve fund for the State, and the
priceless jewels that were his own private property. Here, too,
in oak presses, secured by ingenious contrivances devised ex-
pressly for the purpose by Leonardo, were the treasures of gold
and silver plate, the salvers and goblets, the dishes and vases of
antique shape, in which the Moro took es '?jal pride, and
which were only exhibited on festive occasj Milan was
at this time one of the richest states in Italy. VJ he revenue of
the duchy, under Lodovico's wise and careful rule, exceeded the
sum of 600,000 ducats that is to say, double the revenue of
Naples, and i^iore than six times as much as that of Mantua,
and was only surpassed by that of Venice, which amounted to
800,000 ducats ; while, according to the same table, the
revenue of England in the fifteenth century was calculated
at 700,000 ducats, and that of France at 1,000,000 ducats.
And here, too, in the Sala del Tesoro, were the jewels belonging
to Lodovico, a collection which at this time included some of
the most famous gems in the world. A few of these which
he pawned to a Venetian merchant in 1495, were valued at
150,000 ducats, and a list, which is still preserved in the
Trivulzio library, gives a description of the different jewels
which in the troubled times at the close of his reign were
pledged to bankers in Rome and Milan.* There was the balass
ruby, called El Spigo or " the ear of corn," which was valued at
the enormous sum of 250,000 ducats ; and the jewel of // Lupo,
" the wolf," consisting of one large diamond and three choice
pearls, which the goldsmiths priced at 120,000 ducats. There
was the famous Puncta^ or diamond arrow, given by Duchess
Beatrice's grandfather, Niccolo d'Este, to Francesco Sforza ; and
the Caduceus, a favourite device of the Moro's, wr., ught in large
pearls, each of which was said to be worth 25,000 ducats ; while
the balass ruby, known as the Marone, often worn as a brooch
n8 Beatrice d'Este
by Beatrice, was valued at 10,000 ducats. Another balass bore
the effigy of Lodovico, and the insignia of the Moraglia, or
Mulberry, was composed of emeralds, diamonds, and pearls.
This jewel was frequently worn by the Moro himself, at state
banquets, as well as the famous Sancy diamond, which had
been found on the body of Charles the Bold after the battle of
Nancy, and afterwards acquired by Lodovico, whose agents
were always in search of precious stones of fine water and rare
workmanship.
Such were a few of the treasures which the regent displayed
before the dazzled eyes of the French ambassadors. Unfortu-
nately the presents which he gave them on their departure
seemed to them poor and insignificant, after the marvels which
they had seen in the Castello, and their cupidity was 'but ill-
satisfied. t
" The French envoys," wrote the Florentine am-
bassador, Pandolfini, to his master, Lorenzo de Medici, " are
gone away disappointed with Signor Lodovico's gifts, expecting
to receive a handsomer present after seeing all the splendours of
the Treasury." *
Lodovico now determined to send an embassy to the French
court to return the king's civilities and congratulate him on his
marriage. He was the more anxious to strengthen his alliance
with France on account of the growing estrangement between
himself and the royal family of Naples. Hitherto, indeed, King
Ferrante had maintained cordial relations with the Regent of
Milan, whose claims to this position he had been the first to
support, and whose marriage with his granddaughter Beatrice
formed a new link between the Houses of Aragon and Sforza,
But his son Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, who had frequently
visited Milan during the long war with Venice, had never
forgiven Lodovico for treating with the Venetians independently,
and made no secret of his hatred for his brother-in-law. The
quarrel between the two princes was naturally embittered by
the complaints which Alfonso received from his daughter
Isabella, Duchess of Milan. Her miserable husband, Gianga-
leazzo, showed less inclination than ever to take his proper
place at the head of affairs, and abandoned himself to low
* V. Delaborde, I? Expedition de Charles Fill, eu Italic, p. 228,
Beatrice d'Este 119
debauchery. In his drunken fits it was even said that he forgot
himself so far as to strike his wife.
" There is no news here," wrote the widowed Marchioness
of Montferrat from Milan to her envoy at Mantua, on the 2nd
of May, 1492, "saving that the Duke of Milan has beaten
his wife."*
But the proud and high-spirited duchess began to resent the
subordinate position in which she and her husband were placed
at their own court, and she tried to instil her keen sense of this
injustice into Giangaleazzo's feeble mind. When Lodovico
came to Pavia that spring, his nephew began by refusing to see
him, but before long he forgot his wrongs, and after behaving
for a few days like a sulky child, was on the most affectionate
terms with his uncle when they met again. Isabella soon found
that no dependence could be placed upon this foolish youth,
who cared for nothing but his dogs and horses, and repeated
everything that she said to Lodovico. So she devoured her
griefs in silence, and only gave utterance to her sorrows in her
letters to Naples.
Meanwhile, Alfonso did his utmost to stir up enemies
against Lodovico, while, with habitual duplicity, he sent
flattering messages to his brother-in-law, and begged for
the continuance of his friendship. That February envoys
were sent from Naples to France, under pretence of buying
horses and dogs for hunting, but with secret instructions
to persuade Charles VIII., if possible, to break with Lodovico
Sforza, and refuse to acknowledge him as Regent of Milan.
Charles, however, was too much intent on his own plans for
the conquest of Naples to pay any heed to these proposals,
and the only result of Alfonso's intrigues was to strengthen
the alliance between France and Milan.
Gianfrancesco, Count of Caiazzo, the eldest of the San-
severino brothers, was chosen by Lodovico as chief ambassador
to the French king, and received secret instructions to show
Charles VIII. the proposals which had been made to the Regent
of Milan by the King of England and Maximilian, King of
the Romans.
a Let him know by this means," runs the letter, still
* G. Uzielli, op. at., p. 6.
I2O Beatrice cTEste
preserved in the Milanese archives, " how unwilling we are to
act in any way against his interests, and let him see that we
have preferred his alliance to that of the mightiest monarchs
in Europe. Take care also to insist on the importance of the
Duchy of Milan and on the exalted position that we occupy in
the eyes of other Italian States. And assure him that we are
his firm and loyal friends, whose constancy neither threats nor
promises can ever shake." *
Count Carlo Belgiojoso, Galeazzo Visconti and Girolamo
Tuttavilla, Count of Sarno, who was himself one of King
Ferrante's exiled subjects, were selected to accompany Caiazzo
on his mission. On the 23rd of February they left Milan, and
reached Paris towards the end of March.
Not only had Lodovico given his envoys minute instructions
as to the language they were to hold in treating with the French
king, but the clothes they were to wear, the presents which they
bore to Charles VIII. and his queen, the very day and hour
of their entry into Paris, were all regulated by his orders. His
astrologer, Ambrogio di Rosate, had fixed upon the a8th of March
as the most propitious moment for Caiazzo to enter Paris, and
on that day, accordingly, the Milanese ambassadors, splendidly
arrayed in rich brocades and cloth of gold, rode through the
streets of the capital, and under the walls of the old Louvre,
where the king and queen had their abode. On the following
day, Charles himself received the envoys, and Galeazzo Visconti
delivered a long Latin discourse prepared by Lodovico. On the
3Oth they were presented to the queen, and a few days after-
wards they accompanied the royal party on a hunting expedition
in the forest of Saint-Germain, but found the sport of a rude
and fatiguing description, and complained that both men and
animals were very savage in their habits. Every detail of the
proceedings was faithfully reported to Lodovico by Antonio
Calco, the secretary of the mission. For his benefit and that
of Beatrice, he not only describes the costumes of the royal
pair the king's gorgeous mantle of Lyons velvet, lined with
yellow satin, and the queen's gold brocade robe and cape of
lion skin lined with crimson but gives a minute account of
* Archivio di Milano, Potenxe esterne Franda
Beatrice d'Este 121
Anne of Brittany's coiffure, a black velvet cap with a gold fringe
hanging about a finger's length over her forehead, and a hood
studded with big diamonds drawn over her head and ears.
So curious were Beatrice and her ladies on these matters, that
Lodovico wrote on the 8th of April from Vigevano, desiring
Calco to send him a drawing of the French queen's costume,
" in order that the same fashion may be adopted here in Milan."
At the same time Lodovico desired Caiazzo to show especial
civility to the Duke of Orleans, assuring him that the Dukes
of Bari and Milan both regarded him as their own kinsman,
and hoped that the love and friendship between them would
be that of brothers. The ambassador was further empowered
to offer the hand of Bianca Sforza, the duke's unmarried sister,
to James IV., the young King of Scotland, through Stuart
d'Aubigny, the Scottish nobleman whom Charles VIII. had
sent as his envoy to Milan. Meanwhile, King Ferrante's
emissaries were doing their best to stir up the Duke of Orleans
against his Sforza rivals, and had secretly offered his grand-
daughter Charlotte in marriage to the youthful Scottish
monarch.
But for the moment Lodovico's star was in the ascendant,
and his influence reigned supreme at the French court. Charles
VIIL formally ratified all the conditions of the treaty which
had been signed at Milan in January, and wrote to inform Pope
Innocent that he had entered into close alliance with the house
of Sforza, and would regard any injury done to the Dukes of
Milan and Bari as a personal wrong.
The object of the embassy being accomplished, Count
Caiazzo, Galeazzo Visconti and Tuttavilla took leave of the
French king and returned to Milan on the 5th of May, leaving
Count Belgiojoso as permanent envoy at Paris. The triumph
of Lodovico's diplomacy was complete, and without shedding
a drop of blood, or making any warlike demonstration, he had
outwitted all his foes and secured the alliance of his most
powerful neighbour.
The good news gave fresh zest to the pleasures of Beatrice's
court that summer, and to all the memorable enterprises upon
which Lodovico was engaged at home.
122 Beatrice d'Este
Early in March the Duke and Duchess of Bari left Milan
to take up their abode at Vigevano, and held a series of brilliant
fetes and hunting parties in this newly-finished palace. The
works upon which Bramante and his companions had been
employed for years past were finished, the great hall with its
richly-wrought marble capitals, the noble tower and imposing
porticoes, were all complete. The last stone was in its place,
and on the great archway that formed the entrance to the stately
pile, Lodovico placed this proud Latin inscription, bearing the
date, 1492.
i>
"LUDOVICUS MARIA SFORTIA VICECOMES PRINC-
-IPATU JOANNI GALEACIO NEPOTI AB EXTERIS
ET INTESTINIS MOTIBUS STABILITO POSTEAQUAM
SQUALLENTES AGROS VIGEVANENSES IMMISSIS
FLUMINIBUS FERTILES FECIT AD VOLUPTARIOS
SECESSUS IN HAC ARCE VETERES PRINCIPUM
EDES REFORMAVIT ET NOVIS CIRCUMEDIFICA-
TIS SPECIOSA, ETIAM TURRI MUNIVIT POPU-
-LI QUOQUE HABITATIONS SITU ET SQUALORE
OCCUPATAS STRATIS UT EXPEDITIS PER URBEM
VIIS AD CIVILEM LAUTICIAM REDEGIT DIRRU-
' -TIS ETIAM CIRCA FORUM VETERIBUS EDIFICI-
-IS ARCAM AMPLIANT AC PORTICIBUS CIRCUM-
-DUCTIS IN HANC SPECIEM EXORNAVIT.
ANNO A SALUTE CHRISTIANA NONAGES1MO-
-SECUNDO SUPRA MILLESIMUM ET QUADRIGENTESIMUM."
He had given back peace to his nephew's realm and had
vanquished external foes and quelled internal dissensions, he had
brought rivers of water to make the barren fields of Vigevano
fertile, and had rebuilt the ancient Forum and raised fair porticoes
and fine houses round the wide square. And now, as a crown-
ing gift to this his native city, he had restored and beautified the
ancestral castle of the illustrious house of Sforza and had reared
stately halls and a fair tower to make Vigevano a home of per-
petual delight.
During the continual round of amusements in which these
Beatrice d'Este 123
festive weeks were spent, Beatrice had little time for writing,
and the only letter we have from her hand during this visit to
Vigevano is one addressed to her sister Isabella, in which she
begs for information respecting Father Bernardino da Feltre, a
famous revivalist preacher of the Franciscan order, who had
travelled through the cities of Central Italy, preaching repent-
ance and founding the charitable institutions known as Monte
di Pieta for the relief of the poor.
" A report has reached us here," wrote the young duchess,
" that the venerable Father Bernardino da Feltre, who has been
preaching in Verona this Lent, was heard to declare from the
pulpit that he had received a message from heaven, warning him
that he would die in Holy Week, after miraculously opening the
eyes of a blind man. Now I am very anxious to know if this
report is true, and since at Mantua you are sufficiently near
Verona to learn the truth of these tales, I beg you to make
inquiries and let me know the result.'*
A fortnight later, Isabella, who had been absent from Mantua,
was able to satisfy her sister's curiosity and at the same time
answer a previous note in which Beatrice had given her a bad
character of one of the Marchesana's proteges^ an archer in
Fracassa's service. She writes :
" MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND HONOURED SlSTER,
" Only yesterday I received two letters which
you wrote to me on the i6th and iyth of April : the one
in answer to my recommendation of Malacarno, Signer
Fracassa's archer, the other regarding a report which had
reached you as to certain words which Fra Bernardino da Feltre
is said to have spoken at Verona. In reply to your first letter, I
assure your Highness that if I had ever dreamt Malacarno could
be guilty of such detestable crimes, I would never have pleaded
his cause, since naturally I hate such conduct. But as I had
been told his faults were trifling, I consented to intercede with
you on his behalf ; and now I hear the bad character he bears, am
well satisfied to hear the punishment which he has received, and
praise your illustr'ous consort's prudence, while at the same time
I thank you for the very kind expressions in your letter. As to
124 Beatrice d'Este
Fra Bernardino's supposed prophecy that he would die this Holy
Week after miraculously opening the eyes of a blind man, I find
that there is absolutely no truth in the report you mention.
Neither at Verona, nor yet at Padua, where he has also been
preaching, did he ever use such language, which indeed his
humility would forbid, and as I have learnt from a monk who
attended his sermons. All the same, in order to satisfy you and
make sure of the truth, I have made further inquiries, the result
of which I now lay before you, begging you to commend me
warmly to your illustrious lord.*
"Mantua, May and, 14.921."
From Vigevano, Lodovico and his wife moved to Pavia,
where the summer months were spent in entertaining a succes-
sion of guests, and, as before, Beatrice and Isabella joined together
in hunting parties and amusements of every description. Gian-
galeazzo had totally forgotten his passing vexation, the clouds
which darkened Isabella's sad life seemed to lift for the moment,
and once more harmony reigned in the ducal family. The fites
in honour of her son's christening, which had been postponed in
the previous summer, were now celebrated with increased
splendour. Bramante was summoned to arrange a succession of
dramatic performances, and a grand tournament was held in the
park of the Castello, in which Messer Galeazzo and his brother
and all the most skilled jousters at court took part. And the
Moro's accomplished friend, Ermolao Barbaro, the young
Venetian patriarch, who had been once more sent as envoy to
Milan, composed a wonderful Latin epigram in honour of the
occasion, praying Pallas not to avert her face in sorrow at the
sound and tumult of war, which is after all but a mimic display,
and calling upon her, the goddess whose wisdom Lodovico
honours above all the thunders of Jove, to bless the great house
of Sforza, illustrious alike in the arts of war and peace*
* Luzio Keuier, op. n*., p. 34^
CHAPTER XI
Intellectual and artistic revival in Lombardy Lodovico and his secretaries
Building of the new University of Pavia Reforms and extension of
the University The library of the Castello remodelled Poliziano and
Merula Lodovico founds new schools at Milan Equestrian statue of
Francesco Sforza Leonardo's paintings at Milan Lodovico as a patron
of art and learning.
1492
THE year 1492 was one of great enterprises. The intellectual
and artistic movement which Lodovico Sforza had inaugurated
was now in full vigour, and the fruits of his wise and enlightened
rule began to appear in every direction.
" Now that the wars were ended," writes Corio, " an era of
peace and prosperity began, and everything seemed on a firmer
and more stable foundation than it had ever been in times past.
The court of our princes was most splendid, full of new fashions,
rich clothes, and endless delights. Here Minerva and Venus
vied with each other, while beautiful youths and maidens came to
learn in the school of Cupid, Minerva held her gentle academy in
Milan, and that illustrious prince, Lodovico Sforza, brought men
of rare excellence from the furthest ends of Europe at his expense.
Here the learning of Greece shone, together with the prose and
verse of the Latin race. Here the muses of poetry, and the
masters of sculpture reigned supreme ; here came the most dis-
tinguished painters from distant regions ; here night and day were
heard sounds of such sweet singing, and such delicious harmonies
of music, that they seemed to descend from heaven itself."
Foremost among the "men of singular merit" whom
Lodovico attracted to his court and retained in his service, were
his two secretaries, Bartolommeo Calco and Jacopo Antiquario of
125
126 Beatrice d'Este
Perugia. Both were men of great learning and discernment,
fired with "the same passion for arts and letters as their master,
and as liberal as he was in assisting poorer scholars. Calco was
Lodovico's right hand and chief adviser in his great schemes for
beautifying cities and palaces. He delivered his orders to the
countless artists in his employment, arranged court festivities and
generally conducted the duke's correspondence. Jacopo Anti-
quario was more purely a scholar, who protected other men of
letters, and helped them generously in time of need. His honest
nature and kindly actions made him singularly beloved, and a
contemporary describes him as the most learned of good men,
and the best of learned men ; while his intimate friend, the great
printer, Aldo Manuzio, has immortalized his memory in the
beautiful epistle in which he dedicates the Moralia of Plutarch
to this man, whose name, he prays, may go down to future ages
linked with his own. Both of these secretaries proved able
assistants in the great revival of art and learning which is Lodo-
vico's lasting title to fame. Chief among these was the reform
and extension of the University of Pavia. During the troubled
times that followed Galeazzo Sforza's death, this ancient Uni-
versity had sunk to a very low ebb. The professors remained
unpaid, and in many cases ceased to lecture, the buildings were
small and inconvenient and the students lawless and riotous.
Lodovico set himself with a stern hand to repress abuses on
the one side, while on the other he grudged neither time nor
money in promoting the cause of learning. A letter which he
addressed to the students from Vigevano in August, 1488, only
a few weeks before the dangerous illness which almost ended his
life, deserves to be quoted, if only as an example of the attention
which he gave to every detail of administration.
" Not a day passes," he writes, " but I hear of some fresh
misconduct on your part, some crime committed or some uproar
excited in the city, by you who are scholars of the University.
Even last Holy Week your behaviour towards certain gentlemen
and citizens of Pavia was justly the cause of scandal and complaint.
Such things are not to be borne, nor do I intend to bear them
any longer. Schools are intended for learning, and the object
of all study and learning is that we may know how to live well,
Beatrice cTEsle
127
and, by our good conduct and fair lives, gain honour and praise
both in the eyes of God and man. We do not see that the
human and divine laws, in which you are daily instructed, produce
any good effect if you can behave as you have done in this case
towards peaceable citizens, especially in these holy days when the
fear of God should, above all, control your ways and actions. If
you thus neglect the laws of good living, nothing but confusion
can be the result. And know that, unless you speedily return to
better ways, and show more respect for our holy religion, and more
honourable treatment of our honest citizens, no love of learning
will induce me to countenance such misconduct. For to repress
crime, keep Italy in peace, and maintain the honour of our
illustrious lord duke, is the first and chief object of our
endeavours."
Meanwhile, Lodovico neglected no means of improving the
condition of both professors and scholars of the University. In
1489, the magnificent new Ateneo which he had planned was
completed, and the different schools of medicine, jurisprudence,
fine arts and letters, were brought together under the same roof.
The most distinguished foreign scholars were invited to occupy
the different professional chairs, their salaries were raised and
their numbers increased. Giasone del Maino, who was professor
of law at Pavia for fifty-two years, and whose reputation as jurist
attracted students from all parts of the world, received the large
salary of 2250 florins at this time, while Giorgio Merula of
Alessandria, the historian, who for many years was professor of
rhetoric at the University, and received only 375 florins in
1486, had his salary raised in 1492 to 1000 florins. Next to
the law schools, that of medicine was the most noted for its
excellence at Pavia, and among its distinguished professors were
Alvise Marliani, who was said to rival Aristotle in philosophy,
Hippocrates in medicine, and Ptolemy in astronomy, and who
was court-physician in turn to Lodovico Sforza, to his son Maxi-
milian, and to the Emperor Charles V. ; and Ambrogio of Varese,
who occupied the chair of astrology, and taught the science of
Almansor, as it was termed. This favourite servant of the Moro
received the title of Count and the castle and lands of Rosate from
Gian Galeazzo in 1493, " ^ or *" s services," so ran the patent, " in
128 Beatrice d'Este
saving my illustrious uncle the Duke of Bari's life." Oriental study
was another branch of learning that Lodovico especially encour-
aged. Count Teseo de' Albonesi of Pavia became noted as the
first Chaldaic scholar of his age, and in 1490, the Moro established
a chair of Hebrew, and appointed the Jew Benedetto Ispano to
be the first professor, with express injunctions to study the text
of the Bible. This experiment, however, proved a failure, and
so few scholars attended his lectures that at the end of a year the
chair was abolished. At the same time, new colleges were
opened, and scholarships founded for poor students ; and in
1496, Lodovico being then reigning Duke of Milan-, granted
the professors of law, medicine, philosophy and fine arts, a
exemption from all taxation. Under his fostering care tl
University flourished as it had never flourished before. Schola 1
from all parts of Europe came to attend Giasone di Maino'
lectures, the number of professors reached ninety : that c
students was said to be three thousand. As the Milanes
poet Lancinus Curtius sang in his Latin rhymes, " The fail
skinned Germans with their long hair flowing on their necb
the English and the knights from Gaul, the Iberian from tJ
golden sands of Tagus, all hasten thither from the far Nort
The rude Pannonian lays aside his military cloak to join th
cage/ chrong who crowd into the virgin temple and seek tl
Helicon of Phoebus under the carved dome of wisdom, whic
bears Lodovico's name above the stars."
But the Moro patronage of learning was by no mears
limited to Pavia. He did his utmost to revive the ancient
University of Milan, which had long fallen into decay, ard
founded new and flourishing schools in this city. The best
Pavian professors Merula and the Greek Demetrius Calcondiia
amongst others, were invited to lecture to the Milanese studen; s.
Fra Luca Paciolo of Borgo San Sepolcro, the famous mathe-
matician, came to teach them geometry and arithmetic, and
Ferrari occupied the first chair of history ever founded in Italy,
while the priest Gaffuri became the first public instructor
in the new school of music. In short, as a contemporary
writes, there was not a science of any description th t
could not be learnt at Milan in the days of Lodovico Sforz
Beatrice d'Este 129
The endowment of research was^ Another point in which
Lodovico showed himself to be in advance of his age. He granted
liberal pensions to Bernardino Corio and Tristano Calco, "the
Milanese Livy," who continued the history of the Visconti begun
by the Alessandria professor and addressed letters in his own hand
to the private owners of valuable manuscripts, requesting the loan
of works that would assist these writers of Lombard history, " in
order that a perpetual memory of the great deeds done by our
ancestors may be preserved for future generations." From his
earliest years history had been one of Lodovico's favourite studies,
and an illuminated volume of extracts from Greek and Roman
"iistory which he compiled under his tutor Filelfo's direction at
*he age of fifteen may still be seen in the library of Turin. And
jn riper years, amid all the pressure of State affairs and political
; tnxieties, he never let a day pass without having some passages
rom ancient and modern history read aloud to him by his
"Secretaries. So wise and enlightened a prince well deserved
Ihe high praise bestowed upon him by the Bolognese scholar,
Filippo Beroaldo, and the great Florentine, Angelo Poliziano,
With whom Lodovico frequently exchanged letters, and who in
bne of his effusions thus addresses his princely friend : " All the
world knows you to be a prince of brilliant genius and singular
"wisdom, while above all others you cherish the noble arts and
show your love for these intellectual studies which we profess."
The jealousy of his own subjects was often roused by the favour
with which Lodovico regarded scholars of other nationalities, and
on one occasion a fierce quarrel arose between Merula and
'Poliziano, in which the Lombard historian stooped to the vilest
personalities. Another Pavian professor with whom he had a
controversy over certain commentaries of Martial, had, it appears,
ventured to hint that Merula did not really know Greek, an
insinuation which provoked the most violent display of anger on
his part, and when Poliziano endeavoured to appease both parties,
the affronted Lombard flew at him like a small terrier attacking
some big mastiff. All Lodovico's tact and courtesy were needed
to allay the storm, and when at length Merula died in 1494, the
% duke ordered the immediate destruction of all the papers relating
to this deplorable controversy, of which all parties, he felt, had
130 Beatrice d'Este
good reason to be ashamed. The remodelling of the library of
the Castello di Pavia was another important work which was
carried out in the year 14.92, by Tristano Calco the historian and
kinsman of the chief secretary, under the eye of Lodovico him-
self, while he and Beatrice spent the summer at Pavia. All
the rare and precious manuscripts which he had been at such
pains to collect in France and Italy and Germany, and the
ancient books contained in the library were catalogued and
arranged for the use of students. For Lodovico was not only
bent on enriching the ducal library, but was determined to
makie its treasures accessible to scholars of all nationalities. He
allowed contemporary historians, Corio, Merula, anct Tristan
Calco himself, to borrow manuscripts freely, and, what was even
more admirable in those days of persecution, gave permission
under his own hand and seal to a Jewish scholar, named Salomone
Ebreo, to live in the Castello with his family, in order that he
might translate Hebrew manuscripts into Latin for the promotion
of theological studies, and also be enabled to study the text of the
Hebrew Bible belonging to the library.
It is melancholy to reflect on the sad fate of this priceless
collection, upon which Lodovico and his ancestors had expended
so much care and thought. In 1499, the bulk of the library of
the Castello was carried off to Blois by Louis XII. and its
precious contents were dispersed. Some were taken to Fontaine-
bleau by Francis I. and afterwards by Henry Quatre to Paris,
where they are still the glory of the Bibliotheque Nationale.
Others again found their way into different public and private
collections, and may be seen at Madrid and St. Petersburg, in
London and Vienna, still bearing the inscription " De Pavye au
roi Louis XIL," which tells us that they once formed part of the
Sforza Library. An illuminated manuscript of Aulus Gellius, and
another of the " Triumphs" of Petrarch, encircled with miniatures
and bearing Lodovico's name, which originally belonged to the
same collection, are among the treasures of the Bibliotheque
Nationale. Many more no doubt have disappeared, lost in the
general anarchy and confusion which prevailed in the Milanese
during the century after the Moro's fall.
The newly discovered art of printing was also liberally
Beatrice (TEste 131
encouraged by Lodovico, one of whose prrtkgh^ Alessandro
Minuziano, set up a printing press in Milan before Aldo
Manuzio had settled in Venice, and in the course of the year
1494, published twenty-two books, including a Latin dictionary
by Dionigi Este and complete editions of Cicero and Tacitus,
Pliny and Suetonius, as well as the works of Filelfo and the
Sonnets and Triumphs of Petrarch. In 1496, a treatise on
music by Franchino Gaffuri was published, with a dedication to
the duke, and was followed by the appearance of several works
on harmony.
The munificence of Lodovico stirred up others to follow his
example. His secretary Bartolommeo Calco founded free schools,
where Greek and Latin professors lectured free of charge to poor
Milanese students ; and two other noblemen, Tommaso Grassi
and Tommaso Piatti, endowed similar institutions. The new
passion for learning spread from Milan and Pavia to other cities,
and even Lombard villages had their public schools and lecturers.
Everywhere the same thirst for knowledge was felt and the same
respect for scholars was shown. For as Signor Lodovico wrote
to his friend Poliziano, at Florence, " Both natural inclination
and the example of our ancestors have inspired us with ardent
love for learned men and an eager desire to honour and reward
them to the best of our power."
If the intellectual movement which took place during the
twenty years of Lodovico Moro's rule in Milan commanded
general admiration ; if learning flourished there as it had never
done before, the widespread revival of art in Lombardy was a
still more remarkable feature of the period. This indeed was
the province in which Lodovico's true genius was most
apparent, and in which his own fine taste, vast power of
organization and minute attention to detail, all made them-
selves felt and bore rich fruit. " This," wrote Isabella d'Este
herself no mean judge -of these matters from Lodovico's court,
" is the school of the Master and of those who know, the home
of art and understanding."
Throughout the Milanese, architects and engineers, painters
and sculptors, with a host of minor craftsmen, were carrying out
the vast projects that emanated from this one man. The
132 Beatrice cTEste
decoration of the capital was naturally among the chief objects
of his ambition.
"In the year 1492," writes the chronicler Cagnola, "this
glorious and magnanimous prince adorned the Castello di Porta
Zobia with many fair and marvellous buildings, enlarged the
Piazza in front of the Castello, and removed obstructions in the
streets of the city, and caused them to be painted and beautified
with frescoes. And he did the same in the city of Pavia, so that
both these towns, that were formerly ugly and dirty, are now
most beautiful, which things are very laudable and excellent,
especially in the eyes of those who remember these cities as they
were of old, and who see them as they are to-day."
Chief among Lodovico's most honoured and trusted servants
was Bramante of Urbino, whose genius excited so marked an
influence on the development of Lombard architecture, and who
was to the builders what Leonardo became to the painters oi
Milan. u Signer Lodovico loved Bramante greatly, and rewarded
him richly," writes Fra Gaspare Bugati, a Dominican friar of S.
Maria delle Grazie, the Moro's favourite church, which this great
architect did so much to beautify. During this year, Bramante,
having finished the palace of Vigevano and completed the new
buildings at the royal villas of Abbiategrasso, Cuzzago and other
places, upon which he had been long engaged, began several
important works in Milan itself. The new cloister or Canonica
attached to the ancient basilica of S. Ambrogio, with its graceful
columns and dark-green marble capitals, and the apse of S.
Maria delle Grazie, soon to be crowned with that matchless
cupola that remains among Bramante's most perfect works, were
both begun in 1492. A few years before, between 1485 and
1490, he had built the Baptistery of San Satiro, which another of
Lodovico's chosen artists, the great Como sculptor, Caradosso, was
now engaged in modelling the lovely terra-cotta frieze of children
and the medallions bearing, it is said, his own portrait and that of
Bramante. The noble church of S. Maria presso San Celso,
which in Burckhardt's opinion combines magnificence and sim-
plicity better than any building of the Renaissance, was the work
of Bramante's assistant, Dolcebuono, and owed its erection to the
munificence of Lodovico, who laid the first stone in 1491. No*
Beatrice d'Este 133
were churches and palaces the only buildings upon which
Lodovico lavished his gold and employed his most distinguished
masters. In those days, the hospitals of Rome, Florence, Venice
and Siena were the finest in Europe, and when Luther visited
Rome, he is said to have been more impressed by the size and
splendour of the hospitals, than by anything else in Italy. The
great Moro, determined not to allow Milan to remain behind his a^e
in this respect, employed Bramante to adorn the Gothic buildings
of the Ospedale Maggiore with the arched windows and stately
porticoes that we still admire, while he encircled the cloisters with
marble shafts and terra-cotta mouldings after his own heart. And
in 1488, after his own recovery from illness, and that terrible visita-
tion of the plague which had carried off fifty thousand inhabitants
of Milan in six months, Lodovico founded the vast Lazzaretto,
which still deserves its proud title, and may well be called a
" glorious refuge for Christ's poor."
Meanwhile the works of the Duomo of Milan, that other
great foundation of the Visconti dukes, were being vigorously
carried on. In 1481, Lodovico had nominated his favourite
Pavian master, Amadeo, the architect of the Certosa, as Capo-
maestro in succession to Guiniforte Solan ; but the Councillors
of the Fabric declined to accept his suggestion, and sent to
Strasburg for a German architect, John Nexemperger of Gratz,
who held the office for some years, but effected little, and was
finally dismissed in 1486. After his departure, the ruinous state
of the central cupola requiring immediate attention, Lodovico
invited Luca Fancelli, the chief architect of the Gonzagas at
Mantua, to visit Milan, and by his advice Leonardo, Bramante,
and other leading masters were invited in 1487 to design models
for a new cupola. On this occasion Leonardo executed a model,
which, however, does not seem to have satisfied the Fabbriccieri,
and after applying in vain to his ambassador in Rome and
Florence for a master able and willing to undertake the task,
Lodovico returned to his first choice, and appointed Amadeo
and Dolcebuono, architects of the Duomo, with powers
to alter and perfect the models of the cupola submitted to
them for inspection. In order to strengthen their hands and
satisfy himself Lodovico invited Luca Fancelli of Mantua and
134 Beatrice d'Este
Francesco Martini of Siena to decide on the respective merits
of the models already prepared. Caradosso was sent to con-
duct Martini from Siena, while Gafiuri, Professor of Music,
escorted Fancelli from Mantua by the duke's orders, and both
masters were richly rewarded for the pains and presented with
silken vests and clothes for their servants over and above the pay
to which they were entitled.
On the ayth of June, 1490, a meeting was held in the
Castello, at which Lodovico presided, and after much delibera-
tion the final execution of the cupola was entrusted to Amadeo
and Dolcebuono. Bramante himself was not present on this
occasion, but he approved highly of the model selected, and praised
its lightness and elegance.
As for Leonardo, he was absorbed in other studies, and had
apparently ceased to take any interest in the subject. After
allowing his first model to be spoilt, and receiving payment for
a second which he never began, he had, as already mentioned,
accompanied the Sienese architect, Martini, to Pavia, to give his
opinion on the new Duomo in course of erection. There
he lingered, studying anatomy or discussing scientific and
philosophical questions with the University professors, until
he was recalled to Milan, to assist in the preparations for
Beatrice's wedding fhes. Many and varied were the tasks on
which Leonardo had been employed since the day, some eight
years before, when the Magnificent Medici first sent him to his
friend at Milan. In the letter which the young master, proudly
conscious of his powers, himself addressed to Lodovico Sforza,
offering him his services, he had, first of all, retailed at length
his different inventions "for the construction of bridges, cannons,
engines, and catapults of fair and useful shape hitherto unknown,
but of admirable efficiency in time of war," after which he pro-
ceeded to give the following account of his artistic capacities :
" In time of peace I believe I can equal any man in con-
structing public buildings and conducting water from one place
to another. I can execute sculpture, whether in marble, bronze,
or terra-cotta, and in painting I am the equal of any master, be
he who he may. Again, I will undertake to execute the bronze
horse to the immortal glory and eternal honour of the duke, your
Beatrice d'Este 135
father, of blessed memory, and of the illustrious House of Sforza.
And if any of the things I have mentioned above should seem to
you impossible and impracticable, I will gladly make trial of
them in your park, or any other place that may please your
Excellency, to whom I commend myself in all humility."
The master had kept his word, and justified the confidence
which from the first Lodovico Sforza placed in him. According
to Vasari and the biographer of the Magliabecchiana, who wrote
about 1540, Leonardo originally attracted the Moro's notide by
the surpassing charm with which he played on a silver lyre of his
own invention, and afterwards fascinated him by his conversation.
But from the moment of his arrival at Milan the Florentine
artist was employed by his new master to paint portraits and
frescoes, to construct canals, arrange masques and pageants, or^
invent mechanical contrivances for use on the stage or in the
house, A thousand different studies in his sketch-books and
manuscripts bear witness to the strange variety of subjects upon
which his versatile genius was brought to bear. But the most
important work upon which Leonardo was engaged, and that
which lay nearest to Lodovico Sforza's heart, was the equestrian
statue of Duke Francesco Sforza. This, we learn from the
master's own words, was the true reason that brought him to
Milan. In a letter to the Fabbricieri of the Duomo of Piacenza,
he describes himself as Leonardo the Florentine whom Signer
Lodovico brought to Milan to make the bronze horse, and says
that he can undertake no other task, for this will fill his whole
life, if indeed it is ever finished ! Countless were the designs, end-
less the different forms which the great master made for this model,
which was, after all, never to be cast in bronze, and was destined
to perish by the hands of French archers. At one time it seemed
as if he could neither satisfy himself nor yet his master. In
July, 1489, Pietro Alamanni, one of Lorenzo de' Medici's agents,
wrote to ask his master if he could send another artist capable of
executing the work to the Milanese court.
"Signor Lodovico," he says, "wishes to raise a noble
memorial to his father, and has already charged Leonardo da
Vinci to prepare a model for a great bronze horse, with a figure
of Duke Francesco in armour. But since His Excellency is
136 Beatrice d'Este
anxious to have something superlatively fine, he desires me to
write and beg you to send him another master, for although he
has given the work to Leonardo, he does not feel satisfied that he
is equal to the task."
Probably Lodovico's confidence had been shaken by Leon-
ardo's endless delays and hesitation, but a few months later the
master was at work again, this time it appears on a completely
new model of the great statue. On April, 1490, we find the
following memorandum in Leonardo's writing :
" To-day I commenced this book, and began the horse
again.'*
But soon another interruption came to interfere with the
progress of the great work. There was the visit to Pavia, and
f the decoration of the ball-room in the Castello, and the wedding
fttes y and the tournaments in which Messer Galeazzo sought his
help. And in this year 1492 we find Leonardo at Vigevano
with the Moro in March, making designs for a new staircase for
the Sforzesca, and studying vine-culture, and later in the summer
drawing plans of a bath-room for Duchess Beatrice, and of a
pavilion with a round cupola for the duke's labyrinth in the
gardens of the Castello. It was in this same year, according to
Amoretti, that he finished the beautiful painting of the Holy
Family, upon which he had long been engaged. This may have
been the picture ordered by Lodovico as a gift for the art-loving
King of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus, when his niece Bianca
Maria was betrothed to that monarch's son.
" Since we hear that His Majesty delights in pictures," wrote
Lodovico to Maffeo di Treviglio, the ambassador whom he was
sending to Hungary in 1485, "and we have here a most ex-
cellent painter, with whose genius we are well acquainted, and
who, we are sure, has no equal, we have ordered this master to
paint a figure of Our Lady, as beautiful and perfect and holy
as he can imagine, without sparing pains or expense. He has
already set to work, and will undertake nothing else until this
picture is finished, and we are able to send it as a gift to his said
Majesty,"
The painter who had no equal could be none other than
Leonardo 5 but it would be interesting to know if this picture,
Beatrice d'Este 137
originally destined for Matthias Corvinus, was the Nativity
eventually given by Lodovico in 1493 to Bianca Maria's future
husband, the Emperor Maximilian. All traces of this altar-piece,
however, as well as of the Bacchus and other subjects which
Leonardo painted for the Moro, have vanished ; and the
only works that remain to us of his Milanese period are the
cartoon of the Virgin and St. Anne now in the Royal Academy,
and the"Vierge auxRochers" in the Louvre, which was origin-
ally painted between 1490 and 1494 for a chapel in San Fran-
cesco of Milan, the church where the great Condottiere Roberto
di Sanseverino was piously buried by his sons, after his death in
the battle of Trent. The fame which Leonardo had attained,
and the high esteem in which he was held by the Moro, is proved
by the verses of contemporary poets, and especially by those
of his fellow-countryman, Bellincioni, the court-poet who died in
1492,
" To-day," he sings, " Milan is the new Athens ! Here
Lodovico holds his Parnassus ; here rare and excellent artists flock
as bees to seek honey from the flowers ; here, chief among them
all, is the new Apelles whom he has brought from Florence."
In the volume of Bellincioni's Sonnets, published soon after
his death by the priest Francesco Tanzio, the name Magistro
Leonardo da Vinci appears in a marginal npte, and in another
sonnet inscribed to "Four illustrious men who have grown
up under the shadow of the Moro," the editor gives the re-
spective names of these famous individuals as " the painter
Maestro Leonardo Florentine, the goldsmith Caradosso, the learned
Greek scholar Giorgio Merula, called the sun of Alessandria, and
Maestro Giannino, the Ferrarese gun-founder."
" Rejoice, O Milano," sings the poet in these verses
" rejoice above all, that within your walls you hold one who
is foremost among excellent artists, Da Vinci, whose draw-
ing and colouring are alike unrivalled by ancient or modern
masters/'
The fact that Lodovico was able to keep this great master at
his court during so long a period is the best proof we have of
his knowledge of men and love of art. These sixteen years were
the most brilliant and productive of Leonardo's life. Never
138 Beatrice d'Este
again was he to enjoy a freedom and independence so complete,
never again was he to find a master as generous, as stimulating
to his powers of brain and hand as the great Moro. It was
not only that Signor Lodovico gave him the large salary of
2000 ducats about 4000 of our money " besides many other
gifts and rewards," as Leonardo himself told Cardinal de Gurk,
but that he was himself so fine a connoisseur and understanding
a patron. More than this, he knew how to deal with men of
genius, and could make allowance for their wayward fancies, and
humour their caprices with infinite tact and kindliness. And
from the little that we glean of his intercourse with Leonardo,
he seems to have treated him rather as an equal than as a
subject, and more like a friend than a servant.
The glimpses that we catch of Leonardo's private life from
the writings of contemporaries, whether in Bandello's novelle^
or in Bellincionis's rime, all give the same pleasant impression,
and show the ease and liberty which he enjoyed at the court of
Milan. And in his own " Trattato " (Cap. 36) the painter describes
himself as living in a fine house, full of beautiful paintings and
choice objects, surrounded by musicians and poets. Here he
sits at his work, handling a brush full of lovely colour, never so
happy as when he can paint listening to the sound of sweet
melodies. The spacious atelier is full of scholars and apprentices
employed in carrying out their master's ideas or making chemical
experiments, but careless of the noise of tools and hammers, the
fair-haired boy Angelo sings his golden song, and Serafmo the
wondrous improvisators chants his own verses to the sound
of the lyre. Visitors come and go freely Messer Jacopo of
Ferrara, the architect who was " dear to Leonardo as a brother,"
the courtly poet Gaspare Visconti, and Vincenzo Calmeta,
Duchess Beatrice's secretary, or, it may be, the great Messer
Galeaz himself, whose big jennet and Sicilian horse the master
has been drawing as models for the great equestrian statue
standing outside in the Corte Vecchia. There, among them
all, the painter bends over his canvas seeking to perfect the
glazes and scumbles of his pearly tints, or trying to realize some
dream of a face that haunts his fancy with its exquisite smile.
He hao, it is true, many labours " a tanta faccenda I " as he
Beatrice d'Este 139
wrote to the councillors of Piacenza and at times he hardly
knows which way to turn, but he is his own master, free to
work as he will, now at one, now at another. He has no cares
or anxiety. He can dress as he pleases, wear rich apparel if he
is so minded, or don the plain clothes and sober hues that he
prefers. He has gold enough and to spare ; he can help 3
poorer friend and educate a needy apprentice, or save his money
for a rainy day ; and, above all, he has plenty of books and
leisure to meditate on philosophical treatises, or ponder over the
scientific problems in which his soul delights. He can find
time to jot down his thoughts on many things, to write his
great treatise on painting, and to draw the wonderful interlaced
patterns inscribed with the strange words which have puzzled
so many generations of commentators. And he has friends, too,
dear to his heart Messer Jacopo, and the wise Lorenzo da
Pavia, that master of organs whose hands were as deft in
fashioning lyres and viols as in drawing out sweet sounds, with
whom he loved to commune of musical instruments and eternal
harmonies, and the boy Andrea Salai, with the beautiful curling
hair, whom he loved to dress up in green velvet mantles, and
shoes with rose-coloured ribbons and silver buckles.
" Such," he tells us, " was I, Leonardo the Florentine, at
the court of the most Illustrious Prince Signer Lodovic." And
what the Moro was to Leonardo that he showed himself to other
artists and men of letters. In the poet's words, he was
the magnet who drew men of genius (virtuosi] from all parts of
the world to Milan. He might be an exacting and critical
master, he was certainly never satisfied with any work short of
the best even Leonardo, we have seen, did not always find
him easy to please but once he discovered a man who was
excellent in any branch of knowledge, he thought no cost
too great to retain him at his court. And so the foremost
scholars and the finest artists, Giorgio Merula and Lancinus
Curtius, Caradosso and Cristoforo Romano, Bramante and
Leonardo, were all drawn to Milan in turn, and, having once
entered the Moro's service, remained there until the end.
" We know, O most illustrious Prince ! " wrote Tanzio in
his preface to Bellincioni's Sonnets " we know that you, the
140 Beatrice d'Este
Chief of the Insubrians, are no less a lover of your country than
of your glorious father, in whose honour you have reared that
mighty and immortal work, the great Colossus, which, like
himself, remains without a rival. We see you equally anxious
to glorify both his memory and your own great city. We see
Milan, by your care, not only adorned with peace and wealth,
with noble churches and edifices, but with rare and admirable
intellects, who all turn to you in their hour of need, as the rivers
flow into the vast ocean."
Nor was it only in Milan and Pavia that this revival made
itself felt. The new impulse spread from city to city. The
lovely Renaissance facade of S. Maria dei Miracoli at Brescia
was completed in 1487, and the great Church of the Incoronata
at Lodi, begun in 1488, was continued during the next twenty
years under the superintendence of Dolcebuono and Amadeo.
Bramante supplied designs for the new fagade and portals that
were added to the cathedral of Como in 1491, and for the
majestic church of Abbiategrasso, close to this favourite country
house of the Sforzas. A number of other churches, both in
Milan and the neighbourhood, were designed by him or his
scholars, and bear witness to the revolution which he had effected
in Lombard architecture. At Piacenza and Cremona, at Saronno
and Lugano, new churches and palaces arose, and the famous
Sanctuary of Varallo in the Val Sesia was founded in 1491 by
that devout personage, Messer Bernardino Caimo, on his return
from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The same passion for
building and decoration prevailed everywhere. On all sides
poets and scholars celebrated Lodovico's name as the Pericles
of this new Athens, and joined in the chorus of praise which
inspired Pistoia's famous line
-'* E un Dio in cielo e il Moro in terra/*
"Theie is one God in heaven and the Moro upon eaith.
CHAPTER XII
Beatrice cTEste as a patron of learning and poetry Vincenzo Calmeta, hei
secietar) Serafino d'Aquila Rivalry of Lombard and Tuscan poets
Gaspare Viscontfs works Poetic jousts with Bramante Niccolo di
Correggio and other poets Dramatic art and music at the court of
Milan Gaffuri and Testagrossa Lorenzo Gusnasco of Pavia.
1492
LODOVICO Mono, as we have seen, was justly extolled by his
contemporaries as the most illustrious Mecaenas of his age. As
Abb6 Tiraboschi, the learned historian of Italian literature,
wrote ninety years ago, " If we consider the immense number of
learned men who flocked to his court from all parts of Italy in
the certainty of receiving great honours and rich rewards ; if,
again, we remember how many famous architects and painters
he invited to Milan, and how many noble buildings he raised,
how he built and endowed the magnificent University of Pavia,
and opened schools of every kind of science in Milan ; if besides
all this we read the splendid eulogies and dedicatory epistles
addressed to him by scholars of every nationality, we feel inclined
to pronounce him the best prince that ever lived." And in
Beatrice d'Este, Lodovico possessed a wife admirably adapted to
share his aims and preside over his court. Both her birth and
education fitted her for the position which she now occupied.
Her youth and beauty lent a new lustre to the court, her quick
intelligence and cultured tastes led her to appreciate the society
of poets and scholars. The natural love of splendour, which she
shared with the Moro, went hand-in-hand with artistic inven-
tion. Her rich clothes and jewels were distinguished by their
refinement and rare workmanship. The fashions which she
141
142 Beatrice d'Este
introduced were marked by their elegance and beauty. She
took especial delight in music and poetry, and gave signs of a fine
and discriminating literary judgment. And like Lodovico, she
knew not only how to attract men of genius, but how to retain
them in her service. Where, again, asks Castiglione, who had
known her in her brightest days at Milan, shall we find a woman
of intellect as remarkable as Duchess Beatrice ? And her own
secretary, the writer known as " F elegantissimo Calmeta " in the
cultured circles of Mantua and Urbino, has told us how much
uen of letters owed to her sympathy and help. In the life of
iis friend, Serafino Aquilano, -written seven years after Beatrice's
death, when the Milanese was a French province and the Mor'
a captive at Loches, Calmeta recalls the brilliant days of his ol<*'
life at Lodovico's court, and speaks thus of his lost mistress :
"This duke had for his most dear wife Beatrice d'Este
daughter of Ercole, Duke of Ferrara, who, coming to Milan ir.
the flower of her opening youth, was endowed with so rare ar;
intellect, so much grace and affability, and was so remarkable foi
her generosity and goodness that she ipay justly be compared witH
the noblest women of antiquity, /f This duchess devoted her
time to the highest objects. /&er court was composed of men of
talent and distinction, most of whom were poets and musicians, 1
who were expected to compose new eclogues, comedies, or
tragedies, and arrange new spectacles and representations every
month.) In her leisure hours she generally employed a certaii
Antonio Grifo" & well-known student and commentator o
Dante " or some equally gifted man, to read the Divina Corn-
media, or the works of other Italian poets, aloud to her. And it
was no small relaxation of mind for Lodovico Sforza, when he
was able to escape from the cares and business of state, to come
and listen to these readings in his wife's rooms. And among the
illustrious men whose presence adorned the court of the duchess
there were three high-born cavaliers, renowned for many talents,
But above all for their poetic gifts Niccolo da Correggio,
Gaspare Visconti, and Antonio di Campo Fregoso, together with
many others, one of whom was myself, Vincenzo Calmeta, who
for some years held the post of secretary to that glorious and
excellent lady. And besides those I have named there was
Beatrice d'Este 143
Benedetto da Cingoli, called Piceno, and manjr other youths of
no small promise, who daily offered her the firstfruits of their
genius. Nor was Duchess Beatrice content with rewarding and
honouring the poets of her own court. On the contrary, she
sent to all parts of Italy to inquire for the compositions of
elegant poets, and placed their books as sacred and divine things
on the shelves of her cabinet of study, and praised and rewarded
each writer according to his merit. In this manner, poetry and
literature in the vulgar tongue, which had degenerated and sunk
into forgetfulness after the days of Petrarch and Boccaccio, ha*
been restored to its former dignity, first by the protection c
Lorenzo de* Medici, and then by the influence of this rare lady,
nd others like her, who are still living at the present time. But
vhen Duchess Beatrice died everything fell into ruin. That
;ourt, which had been a< joyous Paradise, became a dark and
jloomy Inferno, and poets and artists were forced to seek another
-oad."
Calmeta himself was a prolific writer both of verse and prose,
vhose translation of Ovid's Ars amandi^ dedicated to Lodovico
Moro, was highly esteemed by his contemporaries, and whom
Castiglione introduces among the speakers of his Cortigiano.
i>ike his friends Niccolo da Correggio and Gaspare Visconti,
Beatrice's secretary was a fervent admirer of Petrarch, and wrote
in elaborate commentary on the Canzone, "Mai non vf piu
antar como w solea," which he dedicated to Isabella d'Este
jid sent her with a letter expressing his conviction that no one
pefore him had ever fully understood this profound and subtle
3oem. Another of Beatrice's protigh was Serafino, the famous
mprovisatore of Aquila in the Abbruzzi, a short and ugly little
nan, whom Cardinal Bibbiena once laughingly compared to a
:arpet-bag (valigia) \ But in spite of his dwarfed stature and
Jfish appearance, Serafino sang his own strambotti and eclogues
;o well, and had so fascinating a way of accompanying himself on
:he lute, that the Este and Gonzaga ladies all entreated him for
lew verses, and literally wrangled over the man himself ! Like
Calmeta and many others, however, after spending some time at
he courts of Mantua and Urbino, he came to Milan, and devoted
lis talents to the service of Duchess Beatrice until her death,
144 Beatrice d'Este
after which he went his way sadly, and sought shelter in his old
haunts. Most of his time after this was spent with the good
Duchess Elizabeth at Urbino, where the Milanese refugees found
a warm welcome, and where Serafino was caressed and fhed by
all the great ladies in turn, until a premature death closed his
career, and he died in Rome in 1500, lamented in prose and
verse by the most cultured spirits of the age.
While Beatrice encouraged these foreign poets to settle at
Milan, Lodovico invited the Tuscans Bellincioni and Antonio
Cammelli, surnamed Pistoia, to his court, in the hope of refining
and polishing the rude Lombard diction. The priest Tanzio,
writing after Bellincioni's death in 1492, remarks that this in-
fluence had already borne fruit, and that the sonnet, which was
practically'-unknown in Milan before Bellincioni's coming, was now
diligently cultivated there. Bat, not unnaturally, a bitter rivalry
sprung up between the Lombard and the Tuscan poets, and a
fierce poetic warfare was exchanged between them. Bellincioni's
suspicious and quarrelsome nature is revealed in his letters to his
patron, in which he is always complaining of the envious de-
tractors whose wicked tongues are employed in backbiting him
day and night. His own character was by no means free from
the same imputations j and the Ferrarese poet,Tebaldeo, the friend
of Raphael and Castiglione, composed a witty epitaph, in which
he warns passers-by to avoid the last resting-place of this singer,
who had made so many enemies in life, lest he turn in his grave
and bite them. Bellincioni's bitterest foe was a certain Berga-
masque poet, Guidotto Prestinari, who wrote many odes and
songs in honour of Beatrice, and represented the old Lombard
school. On one occasion this misguided person even dared to
attack Leonardo, and wrote a sonnet in which he jeers at the
great painter for spending his time in hunting for curious worms
and insects on the hills of Bergamo, when he visited his friends of
the Melzi family. Leonardo scorned to take any notice of these
petty insults, but in his letter to the councillors of Piacenza we
see the contempt which he had for Lombard artists " those rude
and ignorant workmen/' as he calls them, " who boast they will
get letters of recommendation from Signora Lodovico or his Com-
missioner of Works, Messer Ambrogio Ferrari, when not one
Beatrice d'Este 145
of them is fit to undertake the task." And certain epigrams in
the Windsor Sketchbook are plainly directed against the false
and venal science of the astrologer Ambrogio da Rosate, whose
name is given in the margin, and show how cordial was
Leonardo's hatred of the duke's all-powerful favourite.
Fortunately, both Leonardo himself, as well as Calmeta ana
Pistoia, were on friendly terms with Gaspare Visconti, who,
originally a scholar of Prestinari, became the chief representative
of the Lombard school of poetry at Milan, and whom Beatrice's
secretary places next to Niccolo da Correggio among the best
poets of her court. This popular poet and polished cavalier was
a great favourite, not only with Beatrice and her husband, but
with Galeazzo di Sanseverino, the Marchesino Stanga, and all
the chief personages at court. Born in 1461 of noble Milanese
parents, he married Cecilia, daughter of Cecco Simonetta, Duchess
Bona's ill-fated minister, and was advanced to the dignity of
Eques Auraius and ducal councillor. After the death of Bellin-
cioni he succeeded to the post of court poet, and was often
employed by Lodovico to address complimentary verses to other
princes or to write sonnets on passing events, whether his theme
were a royal wedding or the death of a favourite falcon. His
most important work was a romance entitled " Paolo e Daria,'*
founded on Bramante's discovery of a tomb containing the ashes
of these lovers, when the foundations of his new cloisters at S.
Ambrogio were being laid in the year 1492. The incident
excited great interest at court, and Gasparo dedicated his poem to
Lodovico " mio Duca " and introduced an eloquent eulogy
in honour of his friend Bramante in the first canto. In the
following year he published a volume of rhymes, dedicated to
Niccolo da Correggio, who sent the book to the insatiable
Isabella d'Este, saying this would please her better than any verses
that he could write. Finally, in 1496, he formally presented the
duchess with a copy of his poems, written in silver letters and
gold on ivory vellum, and enriched with miniatures of rare beauty.
This sumptuous volume, bound in silver-gilt boards enamelled
with flowers, and containing 143 sonnets as well as epistles on
love and other philosophical and theological subjects, was
dedicated to Beatrice in the following words :
L
146 Beatrice cTEste
"To the Most Illustrious Duchess of Milan, Gaspare
Visconti. Having been told by many honourable persons, chief
among whom is Messer Galeazzo Sanseverino, that the said
duchess graciously pleads my cause with His Excellency the
Duke, I beg of her to accept this book, dedicated to her by her
humble servant." The same grateful sentiments inspired the
lyric which followed, in which the poet implored the duchess to
use her well-known influence with her lord, and incline his
will to look favourably upon her servant's prayer
" Donna beata ! e Spirito pudico !
Deh ! fa benigna a questa mia richiests
La voglia del tuo Sposo Lodovico.
lo so ben quel che dico !
Tanta e la tua virtu che do che vuoi
Dello invitto cuor disponer puoi." *
An ardent lover of Petrarch, to whose poems these of the
Milanese poet were often compared by his admirers, Gaspare
Visconti took the lead in a lively poetic contest with Bramante
on the respective merits of Dante and Petrarch. The discussion
was carried* on during many weeks, in the presence of the duchess
and her courtiers in the beautiful gardens of Vigevano, or in those
fair pleasure-houses by the running streams in the park at Pavia,
where Beatrice and her ladies spent the long summer days.
Gaspare found animated supporters in his friends Calmeta and
Niccolo da Correggio, who was himself an enthusiastic admirer of
Petrarch, and on one occasion journeyed twenty-five miles from
Correggio over the worst roads in the world to see the remote
village of Rosena, where the Tuscan poet had composed some of his
finest canzoni. On the other hand, Bramante had the duke
and duchess on his side. We know how, at the end of a long
day's work, Lodovico loved to listen to the reading of the " Divina
Commedia " in his wife's boudoir, and ponder the meaning of
that great vision of heaven and hell. And when the catastrophe
of Novara had crushed his last hopes, and he was borne a captive
into the strange land, the only favour he asked of his victors was
the loan of a volume of Dante, "per studiare" in order that he
might study the divine poet's words. One of Gaspare's sonnets
* Uzielli. Rjcwr/rf. i. ; Renirr, Gaat\are
Beatrice cTEste 147
on the subject, which was afterwards printed, bears this inscription :
u These verses were not written with any pretence of deciding
between the merits of these two great men, but solely to answer
Bramante, who is a violent partisan of Dante."
Another poetic tourney, in which both the great architect
and his friend Visconti were the chief combatants, turned on
Bramante's supposed poverty and the complaints with which he
filled the air, calling on all the gods in heaven to help him
in his misery. This was in the summer of 1492, and not only
Gaspare, but Bellincioni, who was then living, and Mascagni of
Turin took up the parable, and charged Bramante with begging
for a pair of shoes, when all the while he was receiving five ducats
a week from the duke, and was secretly hoarding up a store of
gold. To this Bramante replied in a sonnet full of allusions to
Calliope, Erato, and all the Muses, begging his friends for pity's
sake to give him a crown, if they would not see him left barefoot
and naked to battle with rude Boreas. A whole series of curious
sonnets from Bramante's pen has been lately discovered by M.
Miintz among the Italian manuscripts in the Bibliothque
Nationale, and reveal the burlesque side of the great architect's
character, and the biting wit which made his opponents give
him the name of Cerberus.*
These poetic jousts or encounters of wits were a favourite
amusement of the cultured princesses of the Renaissance and
their courtiers. Thus it was that Poliziano and Ficino discussed
philosophical questions before Lorenzo in the gardens of Careggi
or on the terraces of Fiesole ; so Castiglione and Bibbiena reasoned
of art and love with Duchess Elizabeth and Emilia Pia, in the
palace of Urbino, till the short summer night was well-nigh over,
and the dawn broke over the peaks of Monte Catria. And at
Milan, where in Beatrice's days there was less pedantry and more
freedom and gaiety than in any court of the day, these lively
debates found especial favour. The most brilliant courtiers and
bravest knights, the gravest scholars and officers of state alike took
part in them. Messer Galeazzo, as we have seen, was an adept
at the game, and could wield his pen and challenge fair ladies in
defence of Roland as gallantly as he couched his lance to ride in
the lists or wielded his sword in the thick of the battle. So, too f
* Gazette des B. Artf, 1879, p. 514.
148 Beatrice d'Este
were the Marchesino Stanga and his friend Girolamo Tuttavilla*
Both these noblemen were great sonnet-writers, and are classed
by Pistoia among those illustrious lords, who, like Messer Galeazzo
and Signor Lodovico himself, were poets and writers as well as
statesmen and generals.
Bramante addressed several of his sonnets to Count Tuttavilla,
who in his turn had a lively controversy in rhyme with the
Marchesino. And when, in the spring of 1492, Tuttavilla
accompanied the Count of Caiazzo on his embassy to France,
Gaspare Visconti sent him a sonnet asking for the latest news
from Paris, which Duchess Beatrice and all her ladies were dying
to hear.
" Tell me if the Queen of France is fair, and how the king
appears in your eyes whether he is cruel or clement, inclined to
walk in the paths of virtue or of vice. And tell us, too, if the people
of Paris seem to fear the English and the Spaniard, and if they are
true followers of Mars ? Tell us how the crowds who walk the
streets are clad, and what customs and manners they have, and how
they speak, and what they think. Tell me how many students their
University numbers, and in what branches of learning they excel.
Tell me the names of their lawgivers and historians, and if any
classical antiquities are to be found in Paris. Tell me how the
Abbey of S. Denis is built, and what style of architecture prevails
in the far North ? And tell me, too, if I dare ask, have you per-
chance in Paris found some fair lady to bend a gracious smile
upon you, and console you for all that you have left behind ? "
Girolamo Tuttavilla replied in verses of the same light and
airy strain, alluding to the fierce contest over Dante that waged
between Dottore Bramante and his foes, and laughing at friend
Bellincioni's furious rages, but saying that he at least is wiser,
and will take the <ui& media^ and steer warily between the two
contending parties.
But the best poet at Lodovico's court, a sweeter singer and
a finer scholar than the much-praised Bellincioni or the gay
Visconti, was Niccolo, the " gran Correggio " of Gaspare's song.
The son of that accomplished princess of Este, Beatrice the Queen
of Festivals, reared by her in all the culture of Ferrara, this
singularly polished and handsome personage was in the eyes of
Beatrice cTEste 149
his contemporaries the model of a perfect courtier. To ha\e
known him was in itself a liberal education. Sabba da Castiglione,
that fastidious scholar and refined writer of the sixteenth century,
counted himself fortunate because as a boy he had seen and
known " this most famous, most courteous and gifted cavalier in
all Italy." Ariosto saw him in his vision upholding the Fountain
of Song, and chanting in his own lofty and noble style
4< Un Signer di Correggio
Con alto stil par che cantando scriva,"
Niccolo had come to Milan in Beatrice's bridal train, and re-
mained there ever since, highly valued and beloved by Lodovico
and all the ducal family, riding in jousts and tournaments, going
on foreign missions, and composing songs and eclogues for that
young duchess whose death was one day to inspire some of his
most touching verses. But the Marchesa Isabella was the true
goddess of his adoration, the mistress to whom his heart and
lyre alike were pledged, who was for him, not only "la mla
patrona e signora" but " la prima donna del mondo" " the first
lady in all the world." For her he translated Breton legends and
Provencal romances ; for her he set Virgil and Petrarch to music ;
for her fair sake, old and stiff as advancing years have made him,
he is ready to break a lance or join once more in the dance.
At Christmas-time, in the last days of 1491, the impatient
Marchesana had written to remind him that she had never yet
received the eclogue which he had promised to send her at her
brother Alfonso's wedding, and refused to be put off with any
other verses, saying that his poems pleased her more than those
of any living bard. When in later years she found that Niccolo
was inclined to transfer his allegiance to her sister-in-law,
Lucrezia Borgia, she was sorely affronted, and after his death
entered into a long contention for the possession of the book of
poems which he had left behind.
There were many other poets of Beatrice's court whose
names were famous in their day, but have long ago been for-
gotten, and whose works have passed into oblivion with all that
vanished world. There was Lancino di Corte, or, as he preferred
to style himself, Lancinus Curtius, the writer of Latin epigrams j
Beatrice d'Este
and Antonio di Fregoso, the noble Genoese youth who, like
Niccolo, won Calmeta and Ariosto's praises, and whose poetic
disputes with Lancinus were a feature of Cecilia Gallerani's
entertainments ; and Baldassarre Taccone of Alessandria ; and
Pietro Lazzarone of the Valtelline. There was Gdeotto del
Carretto, the Montferrat poet and historian, who left his home
at Casale to compose plays and sonnets for Beatrice, and who,
like Niccolo da Correggio, was one of Isabella's favourite corre-
spondents, and sent her eclogues and strambotti to sing to the
lute. When Beatrice died he had just finished a comedy
dedicated to this princess, which he afterwards sent to Isabella,
begging her to accept it both for his sake and that of the lamented
Madonna Duchessa sorella, who had taken pleasure in reading
his effusions. And there was another Tuscan poet, Antonio
Cammelli of Pistoia, who composed a whole volume of sonnets
dedicated to "that most invincible Prince, the light and splendour
of the world, Lodovico Moro."* These sonnets are of great
interest, less on account of their poetic merit than because of
the fidelity with which they commemorate political events.
The invasion of the French, the conquest of Naples, the battle
of Fornovo, the peace of Vercelli, the proclamation of Lodovico
as Duke of Milan, his coronation fttes at Milan and Pavia, are
all carefully recorded. Nor does the series end here ; in another
sonnet the poet takes up the note of warning, and bids Lodovico
beware of the new King of France, and, ceasing to dally with
Fortune, prepare to defend his fair duchy. The next time
Pistoia took up his pen, it was to wail over the duke's fall and
the ruin of Italy, and to hurl curses on the head of the false
servants who had betrayed their trust and yielded up the Castello
to their master's foes. This, at least, may be said to Pistoia's
credit he did not forget his generous patron in the days of
adversity ; and when Pamfilo Sasso, the Modena bard who had
basked in the sunshine of the Moro's favour, assailed the fallen
duke in his verses, Pistoia rose up in defence of his old master,
and fiercely rebuked the cowardly poet.
" I send you," wrote Calmeta to the Marchioness of Mantua
in 1502, in a letter enclosing Pistoia's verses, "an invective
against Sasso for certain sonnets and epigrams which he printed
Beatrice d'Este 151
at Bologna against our Duke Lodovico Sforza, and which some
people say that I wrote. It was never my habit to attack
others, but if I had wasted a little ink in defending so illustrious
a prince, I hardly think I should deserve much blame. "*
Before the coming of Beatrice there had been no theatre
in Milan, but Lodovico had done his best to encourage dramatic
art. As early as 1484, he had written to the Duke of Ferrara,
asking him to lend him a Bolognese actor, Albergati by name,
who was also a skilled mechanic, to give sacred representations
during Holy Week in Milan. The presence of Duke Ercole's
daughter naturally gave a fresh impulse to the growth of dramatic
art, and after Lodovico's visit to Ferrara in 1493, a theatre was
erected in Milan. Courtiers and poets vied with each other
in the production of plays and masques at each successive
Christmas or Carnival. In 1493, Niccolo da Correggio wrote
a pastoral entitled Mopsa e Daphne^ which was performed
at court that Carnival, and which he afterwards sent to Isabella,
promising to explain its allegorical meaning at their next meeting.
Another time, Gaspare Visconti composed the masque with the
chorus of Turks, to which we have already alluded, for represen-
tation before the duke and duchess. On one occasion a piece
called La Fatica was acted at the house of Antonio Maria
Sanseverino, whose wife, Margherita of Carpi, was the sister
of Elizabeth Gonzaga's beloved companion, Emilia Pia, and
herself a learned and cultivated princess. On another a repre-
sentation described as La Pazienza was given before the court,
in honour of a visit which Cardinal Federigo Sanseverino paid
to Milan.
Music, as Calmeta tells us, was another art that flourished
in an especial manner at the Milanese court. Both Lodovico
and his wife were passionately fond of music, and the delicious
melodies that daily resounded through their palace halls were
the theme alike of chronicler and poet. When first Lorenzo
de* Medici had sent Leonardo to his friend's court to charm
the Moro's ears with the surpassing sweetness of his playing,
he had brought with him a well-known musician and maker
of instruments, Atalante Migliorotti, who stood high in
Lodovico's tavour, and spent much of his time at Milan. We
* Renier, Sonetti <. Pistoia p. 3 5.
152 Beatrice d'Este
find Isabella d'Este writing to her friend, Niccolo da Correggio,
in 1493, begging him to procure her the loan of a silver lyre,
given him by Atalante, that she may learn to play this instru-
ment ; and in the following year the marchioness herself stood
godmother to the Florentine musician's infant daughter, who
was called Isabella after her illustrious sponsor. And in 1492
we find Lodovico writing to thank Francesco Gonzaga for
allowing a certain Narcisso, who was in the Marquis of
Mantua's service, to visit Milan, and saying what exquisite
pleasure this singer's voice has afforded him. The following
summer, Isabella, in her turn, begged her sister to allow her
favourite violinist, Jacopo di San Secondo, to spend a few weeks
at Mantua ; and on the yth of July Beatrice wrote to desire his
return. " Since you are back at Mantua, I think you will not
want Jacopo di San Secondo much longer, and beg you to send
him back to Pavia as soon as possible, since his music will be a
pleasure to my husband, who is suffering from a slight attack of
fever." This Jacopo was a famous violin-player of his day, who
had settled at the Moro's court, and who after Lodovico's fall
left Milan for Rome, where he became the friend of Raphael
and Castiglione, and is said to have served as model for the laurel-
crowned Apollo of the Parnassus, in the Vatican Stanze.
Another of Beatrice's favourite singers was Angelo Testagrossa,
a beautiful youth who sang, we are told, like a seraph, and who,
after the death of this princess, accepted Isabella's pressing
invitation to Mantua, where he composed songs and gave her
lessons on the lute. Testagrossa is said to have sung in the
Spanish style, which was much in vogue at Milan, where a
Spaniard named Pedro Maria was director of the palace concerts,
and is frequently mentioned in Bellincioni's poems. The priest
Franchino Gaffiiri, as already stated, occupied the first chair of
music ever founded in Italy. Besides this master's works on
music, another treatise on harmony, composed by a priest named
Florentio, and dedicated to Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, is preserved
in the Trivulzian Library, with a fine miniature of Leonardo
playing the lyre as frontispiece.
Both the Flemish priest Cordier, with the wonderful tenor
voice, and the accomplished master Cristoforo Romano were, as
Beatrice cTEste 153
we know, among the chosen singers who accompanied Beatrice
on her travels. And there was one more gifted artist, who, like
Atalante Migliorotti, was both a skilled musician and a mechanic,
and whose whole life was devoted to the construction of musical
instruments of the choicest quality, Lorenzo Gusnasco of Pavia.
It was Lodovico Moro who first discovered the rare talents of
this " master of organs," as he was styled by his contemporaries,
and it was for Beatrice's use that he began to make those won-
derful clavichords and lutes and viols that made his name famous
throughout Italy. In his hands the manufacture of musical
instruments was carried to the highest pitch of excellence. He
grudged no labour and spared no pains to make his work perfect.
The choicest ebony and ivory, the most precious woods and
delicate strings were sought out by him ; the best scholars
supplied him with Greek and Latin epigrams to be inscribed
upon his organs and clavichords. In his opinion both material
and shape were of the utmost importance, because, as he wrote to
Isabella d'Este, "beauty of form is everything," "perche ne la
forma sta II tuto" The work of this gifted maker naturally
acquired a rare value in the eyes of his contemporaries. Sabba
da Castiglione and Teseo Albonese praise him as the man who,
above all others, has learnt the secret of combining lovely melodies
with beauteous form, just as a divine soul is enshrined in a fair
body. Painters and scholars alike took delight in Lorenzo's
company. He was the intimate friend of Giovanni Bellini and
Andrea Mantegna, of Pietro Bembo and Aldo Manuzio, of
Leonardo and Isabella d'Este. It was in these festive days, in the
Castello of Pavia, that Lorenzo da Pavia first met both the great
Florentine and the accomplished princess who set so high a store
on his friendship. For more than twenty years Isabella corre-
sponded regularly with this gifted artist, and employed him not
only to make organs and lutes for her, but to buy antiques and
cameos, Murano .glass and tapestry, choice pictures and rare
books. Whether she wished for a fan tasia^ or Holy Family from
the hand of Gian Bellini, or a choice edition of Dante or Petrarch
from the press of Aldo Manuzio, it was to Messer Lorenzo that
the request was addressed. In 1494, the Pavian master moved to
Venice > where he found it easier to procure materials for his trade,
154 Beatrice d'Este
and was able to carry on his work on a larger scale. By this
time his fame had spread far and wide through Italy. He made
an organ for Matthias Corvinus, the King of Hungary, and
another which he himself took to Rome for Pope Leo X. But
his relations with Duchess Beatrice were not interrupted by this
change of abode. In that same year he made her that clavichord
which Isabella describes as the best and most beautiful which she
had ever seen, and which she never ceased to covet until, after
her sister's death and Lodovico's fall, she obtained possession of
the precious instrument.
It was at Venice, in the early spring of 1500, that Leonardo
da Vinci once more met this master, whom he had formerly
known so well at Pavia and Milan. There the two artists who
had lived together for many years in the Moro's service con-
versed sadly of the terrible catastrophe which had overwhelmed
their old master in sudden and inevitable ruin, and mourned over
the disastrous fate which had plunged the fair Milanese into
confusion and misery. Then, as they looked back on the happy
days of their former life, and talked of their old companions,
the painter brought out a drawing which Lorenzo immediately
recognized as the portrait of Isabella d'Este, the illustrious
princess, who was proud to call herself their friend.
" Leonardo," he wrote the next day to the Marchesana, " is
here in Venice, and has shown me a portrait of your Highness,
which is as natural and lifelike as possible." * This drawing,
which the princess describes in a letter to the painter as being
ni carbone and not in colours, is now one of the treasures of the
Louvre, and has an inestimable value, both as the work of
Leonardo and as a genuine portrait of the most brilliant lady of
the Renaissance.
* A, Baschet, Aldo Manuxio, pp. 70-75.
CHAPTER XIII
Visit of Duke Ercole to Milan, and of Isabella cTEste Election of Pope
Alexander VI. Bribery of the Cardinals Influence of Ascanio Sforza
over the new Pope, and satisfaction of Lodovico Hunting-parties at
Pavia and Vigevano Fetes at Milan Visit of Isabella to Genoa
Lodovico's letters Piero de Medici King Ferrante*s jealousy of the
alliance between Rome and Milan.
1492
THAT summer Isabella d'Este at length accomplished her long-
intended visit to her sister, whom she had not seen since the
wedding fetes. Early in July she received a pressing invita-
tion from Lodovico himself, urging her to accompany her father,
Duke Ercole, who was expected at Milan towards the end of the
month. But, as she wrote to her husband, who was then in
Venice, it was quite impossible for her to start on her journey at
this early date. In the first place, half of her household was in
bed, ladies and servants alike were suffering from a feverish
epidemic which had attacked the whole court ; and in the second
place, many preparations were necessary if she were to appear at
Milan in state worthy of the Marquis of Mantua's wife. " Of
course, if you wish it," she adds proudly, " I will set off alone,
in my chemise, but this I think you will hardly desire."
Signer Lodovico's invitation, however, was gladly accepted,
and Isabella made every preparation to start by the middle of
August. She sent to Ferrara, urging her favourite goldsmith, as
he loved her, to finish a necklace of a hundred links by next
week, and begging him to lend her some more jewelled chains
for the use of her courtiers and maids-of-honour. And the same
day she wrote to the Venetian merchant Taddeo Contarini,
excusing herself for her delay in paying for some jewels which
she had lately bought, since her visit to Milan necessarily entailed
155
156 Beatrice d'Este
heavy expenses. By the loth of August she was able to start
on her journey, and spent a night on the way at Canneto with
her kinswoman, Antonia del Balzo, wife of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga
of Bozzolo, who came to meet her with two beautiful daughters.
" Messer Andrea Mantegna himself," exclaimed the marchioness,
"could not paint fairer maidens!" On the I2th, she reached
Cremona, where Lodovico's cousin, Francesco Sforza, was await-
ing her, and a crowd of people hailed her arrival with enthusiasm.
After spending a night in the Episcopal palace, she went on to
Pizzighettone, where she discovered that her best hat had been
forgotten, and sent a messenger back to Mantua with the key of
her black chest, desiring one of her servants to look out her hat
with the jewelled feather and send it after her by a flying courier.
On the 1 5th, the Marchesana reached Pavia, where both the
Duchesses of Milan and Bari rode out to meet her, and placing
her between them, after many embraces, conducted her through
the city. Here the two dukes and all the ambassadors were
awaiting her, and a troop of trumpeters and outriders escorted the
party up to the castle gates. That evening she supped alone with
Beatrice, and the hours flew by in delightful intercourse. Both
sisters were in the highest spirits, and Isabella anticipated the
greatest pleasure from her visit, only regretting that her husband
had not been able to accompany her.
" The only news here," she wrote next day to the marquis,
" is the election of this new Pope, which fills every one with
great joy, and is said to be entirely due to Monsignore Ascanio,
who will, they say, be the new Vice-Chancellor."
On the 25th of July, Innocent VIII. had breathed his last,
and on the 6th of August, the conclave met to elect a new Pope.
Among the twenty-three Cardinals of which the Sacred College
then consisted, three were prominent candidates for the papal
tiara. First of all there was Cardinal Roderigo Borgia, the oldest
and wealthiest of the group, who held the three most important
archbishoprics in Spain, as well as innumerable benefices in the rest
of Christendom, and whose scandalous vices amid the general
corruption of morals in Rome offered no bar to his advancement
to the chair of St. Peter. Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, the rich and
powerful brother of Lodovico Moro, was the second candidate
Beatrice d'Este
'57
for the tiara ; while the third was Giuliano della Rovere, Cardinal
of S. Pietro in Vincula, whose well-known French sympathies,
as well as the influential position which he had occupied in Rome
under his uncle, Sixtus IV., made him unpopular with most of his
colleagues. When Ascanio Sforza saw that he could not ensure
his own election, he threw his whole influence on the side of
Borgia, who lavished his gold and promises freely among the
other members of the Sacred College, with the result that he was
elected on the nth of August, and proclaimed Pope under the
title of Alexander VL The secret Archives of the Vatican * give
fall particulars of this election, which was obtained by the most
flagrant simony, and proved a prelude to the days of confusion
and misery which Fra Girolamo Savonarola, the Dominican
of Florence, daily prophesied were in store for the Church.
Ascanio Sforza was the first to reap the reward of his base com-
pliance. The new Pope loaded him with favours, and openly
acknowledged his indebtedness both to him and Lodovico, while
at Milan the event was hailed with public rejoicings, and joy-bells
and solemn processions celebrated the accession of this pontiff, who
was destined to prove the most bitter enemy of the House of Sforza.
"Signor Lodovico," wrote the Ferrarese envoy, our old
friend Giacomo Trotti, to his master, " is in the highest spirits
at the success of his brother's efforts. Cardinal Ascanio is
likely, people say, to administer all the papal estates, and will be
every bit as much pope as if he sat in Alexander's chair."
Isabella's letters to her husband give the same impression.
On the igth of August she wrote from Pavia
" To-day I dined with Signor Lodovico and my sister in
their rooms, according to our usual habit of taking our meals
together, sometimes in my rooms, sometimes in theirs. After
dinner he dismissed all the company, excepting the Duke and
Duchess of Milan, myself, and my companions, whom Signor
Lodovico invited to remain, and with his own lips he read
aloud a letter from his ambassador in Rome, saying that His
Highness had sent for him, and addressed him in the following
terms : * Take note of my words. I acknowledge that I have
been made pope by the action of Monsignore Ascanio, contrary
* Pastor's "History of the Popes/" vol. v. p. 383, etc.
158 Beatrice d'Este
to all expectations, and in a truly miraculous manner. I mean
to show myself the most grateful of popes. It is my pleasure
that he should sit in my chair, and dispose of my spiritual and
temporal estate as if I were myself/ with many other affectionate
words. Cardinal Ascanio has already received the first proofs
of his gratitude, since, besides the vice-chancellorship, the Pope
has given him his own furnished house in Rome, as well as the
city of Nepi, and many other things. And His Highness
has already dined with him in private.
" Besides this. Signer Lodovico read us a letter which the
Pope had written with his own hand to Monsignore Ascanio,
complaining that he had not seer Jhim for half a day, a perit
which seemed to him more like r. .ousand years, and beggin
him to come to him at once, sir 2 he had many things of tht
utmost importance to settle with him. After describing this
interview, the said Monsignore went on to tell how warmly His
Holiness spoke of Signor Lodovico, saying that he was determined
to maintain the most cordial relations with His Highness, and profit
in all cases by his advice, and only wished that he were seated
in his chair. All of this, my dear lord, affords the court here
reason for the greatest rejoicings, and I have expressed both ir,
word and gesture the pleasure which your Highness and I take
in these things, because of our close union with Signor Lodovico/*
The marchioness goes on to describe a hunting-party, in
which the whole court had taken part.
" Yesterday, about four o'clock, all of these lords and ladies
rode out with me to a place called S. Pirono, some four miles
from Pavia, and had fine sport. White tents were erected in
the meadows on the edge of the forest, and in the midst a pergola
of green boughs, under which the duchess and I took our places,
the duke and others, whether on horseback or on foot, occupying
other tents. One stag of the eight which were found there, ran
out of the wood, followed by eight of the Duke of Barfs dogs.
Messer Galeazzo galloped after it with a long spear, and killed
it before our eyes. To-monow we dine at Belriguardo, and
go on to supper at Vigevano, where we expect my father, who
is to arrive on Thursday."
Duke Ercole had reached Pavia on the 4th of August, and
Beatrice d'Este 159
had paid a visit to the Certosa with his son-in-law, after which
he returned to Ferrara, where his presence was required, owing
to urgent affairs of State connected with the Pope's death. Now
he once more joined his daughters, accompanied by his son
Alfonso and a troop of actors and pages skilled in singing and
reciting poetry. Among them was young Ariosto, the bard of
the Orlando Furioso, who was to celebrate the praises of all the
princely personages present at Pavia and Vigevano, in his great
poem, and who on this occasion probably met Leonardo for
the first time. Fites and hunting-parties now succeeded each
other every day. Even the King of Naple's ambassadors
.sent out hunting, and one >f them succeeded in wounding a
Aid boar. Isabella sent hv. usband wonderful accounts of the
hrilling adventures and -splt nxiia sport which afforded the two
sisters such unfeigned delight.
" To-day," she wrote on the ajth of August, " we went
out hunting in a beautiful valley which seemed as if it were ex-
pressly created for the spectacle. All the stags were driven into
the wooded valley of the Ticino, and closed in on every side by
the hunters, so that they were forced to swim the river and
iscend the mountains, where the ladies watched them from
under the pergola and green tents set up on the hillside. We
could see every movement of the animals along the valley and
up the mountain-side, where the dogs chased them across the
river ; but only two climbed the hillside and ran far out of
sight, so that we did not see them killed, but Don Alfonso and
Messer Galeazzo both gave them chase, and succeeded in wound-
ing them. Afterwards came a doe with its young one, which
the dogs were not allowed to follow. Many wild boars and
goats were found, but only one boar was killed before our eyes,
and one wild goat, which fell to my share. Last of all came a
wolf, which made fine somersaults in the air as it ran past us,
and amused the whole company ; but none of its arts availed
the poor beast, which soon followed its comrades to the slaughter.
And so, with much laughter and merriment, we returned home,
to end the day at supper, and give the body a share in the
recreations of the mind." *
Four venison pasties* were despatched to Mantua the next
* Luzio-Renier, op. of., p. 350, etc.
160 Beatrice d'Este
day as a present to the marquis, whose absence from these expedi-
tions his wife never ceased to regret, and for whom, at least in
these early years of her married life, she had a genuine affection.
"All of these days," she writes on the 22nd, "I have been
trying to write to Your Highness, but have never been able to
find time, as I am always in my sister's and Signor Lodovico's
company. Now I have at length snatched a moment, and hasten
to pay you a visit in inind, since I cannot do so in person. For
greater even than all the pleasures which I am enjoying here, is
the satisfaction I receive when I hear that you are well and happy.*
A week later she wrote again : " It really seems an age since I
saw Your Highness, and, pleasant and delightful as it is here, I
begin to get a little tired of these scenes, but rejoice at the
prospect of paying a visit to Genoa before long." And in an
affectionate letter to her mother, she says that sometimes in the
middle of the finest hunt she remembers with a pang how long
it is since she has seen her, and how far away she is from Ferrara,
and the thought throws a shadow over the brightest sunshine
and the gayest pastimes.
After a succession of boar hunts at Novara and Mortara,
Lodovico and Beatrice took their guests to Milan on the 1 5th of
September, and Isabella entered the capital on horseback between
the two young duchesses, while " the old Duchess Bona," she
tells her husband, "and her daughter Madonna Bianca, with
many other ladies, were awaiting me in my rooms in the Castello,
the same suite which Signor Lodovico occupied at the time of
his wedding."
The duke's mother still remained at court, and occupied
rooms in the Castello, although she made no secret of her aversion
for her powerful brother-in-law, and was secretly intriguing
against him with her nephew, Charles VIII. At her request
the French king wrote a letter to Lodovico, desiring him to give
the duchess's mother leave to come to France for his wife Anne
of Brittany's confinement. But the Moro, fearing the effect of
Bona's presence at the French court, courteously declined Charles's
invitation, alleging as an excuse the fact that both Bona's
daughter-in-law, the Duchess Isabella, and her young sister-in-
law, his own wife Beatrice, were expecting similar events early
Beatrice d'Este 161
in the next year, while her daughter Bianca was of marriageable
age and needed her mother's protection. At Milan new pleasures
awaited Isabella. Theatrical representations in honour of Duke
Ercole, were given by the Delle Torre family and other noble
houses, and Isabella spent long days with her sister in the park
and beautiful gardens of the Castello, among the roses and
fountains which Lodovico loved. He was never tired of beauti-
fying and enlarging the grounds, which now extended three
miles round the Castello, and sent to Mantua for a pair of swans
to adorn the lake, saying how much he liked to watch the
movements of these white-plumed birds upon the water. To
his sister-in-law, as Isabella always repeated in her letters, the
Moro showed himself the kindest and most generous of hosts,
and was unwearied in providing for her amusements and
gratification.
"To-day," she writes on the evening after her arrival at
Milan, " Signer Lodovico showed me the treasure, which Your
Highness saw when you were last here, but which has lately
received the addition of two large chests full of ducats, and
another full of gold quartz about two and a half feet square.
Would to God that we, who are so fond of spending money,
possessed as much ! "
After which characteristic expression, the Marchesana pro-
ceeds to tell her lord that the date of her departure for Genoa
has been fixed for the last day of September, and to describe her
brother-in-law's preparations for the visit. Before her departure,
he made a splendid present, which she describes in a letter
written on the 2Oth of September. " Yesterday Signer Lodovico
sent me, with the Duchess of Milan and Bari, to look at some
sumptuous brocades which he had seen in the house of one of
the richest merchants here. When we came home, he asked
me which I considered the finest. I replied that what I had
most admired was a certain gold and silver tissue embroidered
with the twin towers of the lighthouse in the port of Genoa,
bearing the Spanish motto, Tal trabalio mes plases par tal
thesaurus non perder?
The Moro praised her good taste, saying that he had already
had a camera^ or robe, made for his wife of this material, and
* Luzio-Renier, op. dt., p. 356.
it>2 Beatrice d'Este
begged her to accept fifteen yards of the same stuffy and wear it
for his sake.
" This brocade," wrote Isabella joyfully to her husband, " is
worth at least forty ducats a yard ! " And without delay she
sent for a tailor to cut out the gown, in order that she might
wear it once before she left Milan.
The Marchesino Stanga and Count Girolamo Tuttavilla
were chosen to escort Isabella to Genoa, where she was received
in state by the governor Adorno, and splendidly entertained at
the Casa Spinola by the chief citizens. Beatrice's delicate state
of health had prevented her from accompanying her sister on this
journey, but she still persisted in taking long hunting expeditions,
and one day when she and the Moro were staying at Cuzzago,
encountered a savage boar which had already wounded several
greyhounds.
"My wife," wrote the Moro to his sister-in-law, "came
suddenly face to face with this furious beast, and herself gave it
the first wound, after which Messer Galeazzo and I followed
suit, so that the boar must have had great pleasure in feeling how
much trouble it had given us and to what dangers its hunters
had been exposed.**
The result of this long and fatiguing hunting expedition
was that Beatrice fell seriously ill. Lodovico was much
alarmed, and sent daily bulletins both to his sister-in-law and
to her mother at Ferrara. " There is no fresh news to give
you here," he wrote on the 6th of October, " My whole days
are spent at the bedside of my dear wife, endeavouring to
distract her thoughts and amuse her mind as best I can during
her illness."
Isabella, who had intended to return home from Genoa, hurried
back to Milan at the news of her sister's illness, and did not leave
her until she was convalescent. During these weeks Lodovico
showed himself the most devoted and attentive of husbands, and
his letters to Isabella are full of the practical jokes and witty
dialogues and repartees with which he and Messer Galeazzo
amused the duchess. The following letter affords a character-
istic specimen of the kind of fooling which^hese great Renaissance
lords and ladies carried on at the expense of the half-witted
Beatrice d'Este 163
jesters and buffoons who were attached to their different house-
holds :
" DEAR SISTER AND MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND EXCELLENT LADY,
" You know what good sport we had in the wild
boar-hunts at which you were present this last summer. Poor
Mariolo, you remember, could not be there, first because he was
ill at Milan, and afterwards because he was required to keep my
wife company during her illness, and was much distressed to
have been absent from these expeditions, when he heard that
even the king's ambassadors had wounded a wild boar. And he
told us all what great things he would have done, had he only
been present. Now that my dearest wife is better, and begins
to be able to go out-of-doors again, I thought we would have
a little fun at his expense. Some wolves and wild goats having
been driven into a wood near La Pecorata, which, as you know,
is about a mile from here, on the way to La Sforzesca, Cardinal
Sanseverino had a common farm pig shut up in the same
enclosure, and the next day we went out hunting, and took
Mariolo with us. While we hunted the wolves and wild goats,
we left the pig to him, and he, taking it for a wild boar,
chased it with a great hue and cry along the woods. If
your Highness could only have seen him running after this pig,
you would have died of laughter, the more so that he gallantly
tried to spear it three times over, and only succeeded in touching
its side once. And seeing how proud he was of his prowess, we
said to him, * Don't you know, Mariolo, that you have been
hunting a tame pig ? ' He stood dumb with astonishment, and
stared as if he did not know what we could mean, and so we all
came home infinitely amused, and every one asked Mariolo if he
did not know the difference between a wild boar and a tame
" Your brother,
"LoDovico MARIA SFORTIA. '
Vigevano, December 6,
The most remarkable thing about these letters is that a prince
who was engaged in so much and varied business, who himself
* Luzio-Remer, op. ctt^ p. 361.
164 Beatrice d'Este
conducted a vast correspondence in which the most intricate
diplomatic questions of the day were involved with his envoys at
the different European courts, and personally superintended every
detail of administration, while at the same time he gave minute
instructions to the hundreds of architects, sculptors, and painters
in his service, should have found time to write these bantering
epistles to his sister-in-law. One of these letters, for instance, is
devoted to a long account of the jokes that passed between
Messer Galeazzo and the duchess at table, how Messer Galeazzo
begged to be allowed a taste of the duchess's soup, and complained
that he was forgotten now that the Marchesana was no longer
there, and how Beatrice told him she would write and tell her
sister, to which he replied, " Tell her whatever you like, as long
as I get my soup ! "
Yet at this very moment, when he penned these joking
letters to Isabella, Lodovico was engaged in some of the most
difficult and anxious negotiations with other States.
During Ercole d'Este's visit, the question of sending the
customary "congratulations to the new Pope had been discussed,
and Lodovico had suggested that the ambassadors of the four
allied powers Milan, Naples, Florence, and Ferrara should
send a joint deputation, both as a mark of special honour to His
Holiness, and as a public manifesto to foreign powers of the
strength of these united States. The step, he was confident,
would produce a good effect both on the King of the Romans
and Charles VIII. of France, whose designs on Italy were already
exciting alarm. Both the Duke of Ferrara and King Ferrante,
who had been consulted through his ambassadors, when they
came to hunt at Vigevano, agreed readily to Lodovico's proposal,
and the only person to raise objections was Piero de' Medici, who
had lately succeeded his father as chief magistrate of Florence,
and pretended to the same power. The death of his friend
Lorenzo had been sincerely deplored by Lodovico, who, before
many months had passed, began to discover how weak and
contemptible a character his son possessed, and had already
consulted his astrologer as to the influence which this young man
would have upon his own fortunes. Now the vain and foolish
youth refused to join in the proposed embassy to the Vatican,
Beatrice d'Este 165
because he wished to appear alone before Alexander VI. and
impress that new Pope by the magnificence of his apparel and
retinue. Not content with frustrating the Moro's plan, Piero
induced King Ferrante to withdraw his consent to the joint
deputation, a step which did not tend to improve the strained
relations that had existed for some time past between Naples and
Milan. Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere had retired to Ostia in
disgust at the election of the Borgia Pope, leaving Ascanio Sforza
all powerful at the Vatican, and the Pope availed himself of every
occasion to show his friendship for Lodovico. Already a marriage
had been proposed between Alexander's daughter Lucrezia Borgia
and Giovanni Sforza, Prince of Pesaro, and the King of Naples
looked with alarm on the friendly relations that existed between
the Holy See and Milan. "Alexander VL," said Ferrante,
bitterly, "has no respect for the Holy Church, and cares for
nothing but the aggrandisement of his own family, Rome will
soon become a Milanese camp."
But while Lodovico Sforza looked with suspicion on the
intrigues of Ferrante's son Alfonso, and was anxious to strengthen
his alliance with other powers, he had as yet no thought of in-
viting the French to invade Italy. On the contrary, the whole
tenor of his private letters and public despatches was marked by
the same anxiety to maintain cordial relations with the different
Italian states, in order that they might present a united front to
foreign enemies. However friendly were his advances to the
King of France, he had never by word or hint given him the
slightest encouragement to invade Italy or assert his claim to
the crown of Naples. It was only when he saw peace restored
between Charles and Maximilian, on the one hand, and on the
other a treaty of alliance concluded between the Pope and the
King of Naples, that he began to tremble for his own safety, and
suddenly changed his policy. But for the moment counsels of
peace prevailed, and the ambitious Moro could look forward with
hope and confidence to the coming year, that promised to bring
him new joys, and perchance the fulfilment of his long-cherished
desire, in the birth of a son and heir.
CHAPTER XIV
Birth of Beatrice's first-born son The Duchess of Ferrara at Milan Fetes
and rejoicings at court and in the Castello The court moves to
Vigevano Beatrice's wardrobe Her son's portrait Letters to her
mother and sister Lodovico's plans for a visit to Ferrara and Venice.
1493
* i
ON the 25th of January, at four o'clock on a winter's afternoon,
Beatrice gave birth to a son in the Rocchetta of the castle of
Milan.
u Signer Lodo vice's joy at the birth of his first-born son is
beyond all description," wrote Giacomo Trotti to his master,
Duke Ercole. Duchess Leonora was present on the occasion,
and herself announced the happy event in a letter to her daughter
Isabella, who promptly sent a special envoy with her congratu-
lations to the Duke of Bari and her sister, A fortnight before,
Leonora had set out for Pavia, where Trotti had been sent to
meet her, and crowds shouting Moro I Mora ! had everywhere
hailed her arrival. Three days later, she reached Milan in time
to make the last preparations before the birth of her grandson.
The child, a fine healthy boy, received the name of Ercole, in
compliment to his grandfather, the Duke of Ferrara, but was
afterwards called Maximilian, when the emperor became his
godfather after his marriage to Bianca Sfbrza. The auspicious
event was hailed with public rejoicings. The bells rang for six
days, and solemn processions were held, and thanksgivings offered
up in all the churches and abbeys of the Milanese. n Prisoners
for debt were released, and the advent of the new-born prince
was celebrated with as great honour as if his father had been the
166
Beatrice d'Este 167
reigning duke. Already some of the courtiers attached to Gian-
galeazzo's household began to whisper that the birth of Francesco,
the little Count of Pavia, two years before, had been celebrated
with far less pomp. But in the same week Duchess Isabella, who
was residing in the Corte ducah of the Castello, gave birth to a
daughter, who received the name of Bona, so that, as Lodovico
informed the foreign ambassadors, there was double cause for
rejoicings.
Full and elaborate details of the ceremonies observed on this
occasion, and of the splendid fetes that attended the recovery of
the two duchesses, were sent to Isabella d'Este at Mantua by her
mother's maid of honour, Teodora degli Angeli. Every parti-
cular of the decorations in the rooms of the Castello, the colour
of the hangings and the draperies of the cradle, the gowns worn
by the different princesses at their successive appearances in public,
was faithfully reported for Isabella's benefit. On the eve of the
young prince's birth, the sumptuous cradle and layette prepared
for his reception were shown to the Ambassadors, chief magis-
trates, and nobles of Milan, and displayed on tables covered
with gold and crimson brocade, lined with Spanish cat, in
the Sala del Tesoro, adjoining Beatrice's rooms. All through
the next fortnight costly gifts for the young duchess and her
new-born babe were received from the magistrates of Milan and
the chief towns of the duchy, and principal courtiers. On
Sunday, the 4th of February, the ambassadors, councillors, magis-
trates and court officials, together with many noble Miknese
ladies, were invited to present their congratulations to Beatrice,
and that evening the gifts presented to her were publicly displayed
in the Sala del Tesoro. The doors of the shelves along the walk
were thrown open, and the splendid gold and silver plate, the
massive jars, bowls, vases, and dishes, which they contained, were
ranged in tiers on a stand, protected by iron bars and guarded by
two men-at-arms wearing ducal liveries. The seneschal of
Lodovico's household, Ambrogio da Corte, received the guests at
the doors of the Rocchetta, paying each of them the honours du~*
to his rank, and conducted them to the Sala del Tesoro. There
they were received by stewards clad in silver brocade, who led
them through a suite of rooms adorned with gilded columns and
1 68 Beatrice d'Este
hong with white damask curtains richly embroidered with
equestrian figures and other Sforzesque devices, into the presence
of the duchess. This chamber was still more richly decorated
than the others. " Indeed, it is calculated," writes the admiring
maid of honour, "that the tapestries and hangings here are
worth 70,000 ducats." Two pages guarded the doors, and
within, near the fireplace, Duchess Leonora sat at her daughter's
bedside, accompanied by two or three ladies. Beatrice's own
couch was gorgeously adorned with draperies of mulberry colour
and gold, and a crimson canopy bearing the names of Lodovico
and Beatrice in massive gold, with red and white rosettes and a
fringe of golden balls which alone was valued at 8000 ducats.
" All," exclaimed Teodora " hello e galante^ beyond
words!"*
After paying their respects to the illustrious mother, the
guests passed on into the room of the new-born child la camera
delPuttino. Here the walls were hung with brocades of the Sforza
colours, red, white, and blue, and tapestries, embroidered with
all manner of beasts and birds and fantastic designs. But
the golden cradle itself, which had been made in Milan, was the
most beautiful thing of all, with its four slender columns and
pale blue silk canopy enriched with gold cords and fringes.
"Truly rich and elegant beyond anything that I have ever
seen ! " writes the ecstatic maid of honour, whose eyes were
fairly dazzled by the sight of all these splendours, and who, as she
told Isabella, was lost in wonder and admiration at the magni-
ficence of the Milanese court. After a glimpse of the royal
infant, sleeping under his coverlid of cloth of gold, watched over
by Beatrice's ladies, the visitors were conducted into Signer
Lodovico's hall of audience, where he received the ambassadors
and chief councillors, and through the adjoining room, occupied
by his favourite astrologer, Messer Ambrogio da Rosate " with-
out whom nothing can be done here," remarks Teodora back
to the entrance hall, where the seneschal was in waiting to escort
them to the gates.
Messer Ambrogio, as Teodora opined, had to be consulted
before the duchess was allowed to leave her bed. This was on
Wednesday, the 24th of February, on which day both the royal
* L. Porro in A. S. L., ix. 327.
Beatrice cTEste 169
ladies issued from their rooms at the same hour. "Now at
length," wrote the lively maid of honour to Isabella, "I am
able to inform your Highness that the illustrious Madonna your
sister has left her room, and those poor tormented souls whose
task it has been for so many nights to bring in shawls to spread
over the presents, are at last freed from their labours."
That same day, both the young duchesses went in state to
S. Maria delle Grazie, to return thanks and praise to God for
the birth of their children. The royal ladies rode in the Duchess
of Ferrara's chariot, a sumptuous carriage hung with purple, and
were accompanied by Leonora herself and five other Sforza
princesses Alfonso d'Este's wife, Anna ; Duke Giangaleazzo's
sister, Bianca Sforza ; Signor Lodovico's daughter, Bianca, the
youthful bride of Galeazzo Sanseverino; Madonna Beatrice
Niccolo da Correggio's mother and Madonna Camilla Sforza of
Pesaro. The toilettes worn on this occasion were exceptionally
rich, as Teodora relates. " Our Madonna, Duchess Leonora, wore
black, as usual, but was very gallantly adorned with her finest jewels.
The Duchess of Bari had a lovely vest of gold brocade worked in
red and blue silk, and a blue silk mantle trimmed with long-haired
fur, and her hair coiled as usual in a silken net. Duchess Isabella
wore gold brocade and green velvet enriched with crimson cords
and silver thread, and a mantle of crimson velvet lined with grey
silk. Both ladies were covered with jewels. Madonna Anna's
camora was of cloth-of-gold with crimson sleeves, lined with fur
and edged with gold fringe. One fine invention which I noticed
was a new trimming made of grey lamb's wool, but there was
no end to the variety of colours and fringes or to the beauty of
the jewels."
After hearing a solemn Te Deum and other canticles very
beautifully sung by the choir of the ducal chapel, the whole party
drove to the house of Count Delia Torre, who entertained the
dukes and duchesses, ambassadors and councillors, and all the chief
gentlemen and ladies of the court at a splendid banquet. On the
following day the duchesses and princesses were entertained at a
feast given by Niccolo's mother, Madonna Beatrice, in her rooms
in the Castello, and appeared in fresh costumes and still more
splendid jewels. On Friday no fete was given, but most of the
170 Beatrice d'Este
youthful princes and princesses went out hunting in the park,
and three stags were killed in the course of the day. Beatrice
appeared in a riding-habit of rose-tinted cloth, and a large jewel
instead of a feather in her silk hat, and rode on a black horse.
Madonna Anna wore black and gold, with a pearl-embroidered
crimson hat, and her sister Bianca also appeared on horseback,
while Duchess Leonora spent the day with old Duchess Bona in
her rooms.
On Saturday a fete was given at the house of Gaspare di
Pusterla. Beatrice looked particularly charming with a feather
of rubies in her hair, and a crimson satin robe embroidered with a
pattern of knots and compasses and many ribbons, u after her
favourite fashion/' adds Teodora. It is these very ribbons that
we still see to-day, both in the few portraits that we have of the
short-lived duchess, and in the marble effigy upon her tomb.
Isabella of Arragon appeared on this occasion, in a gown- em-
broidered with books and letters, a favourite device of Renaissance
ladies ; while Anna Sforza was all in white, " because it was
Saturday," explained Teodora, and she had vowed to wear no
colours on that day for a certain number of weeks. This was a
common practice with many Italian princesses who had lately
recovered from illness or given birth to a child, and one to which
we find frequent allusion in the correspondence of Isabella
d'Este. On Saturday all the court attended high mass at S. Maria
delle Grazie, and a last entertainment was given, this time
by Duchess Beatrice herself, in the Rocchetta.
The next day, Lodovico took his wife and mother-in-law, with
the Duchess of Milan and their other guests, to Vigevano, to enjoy
a little rest and country air. But here fresh amusements awaited
them, and the splendour of Beatrice's wardrobe and the treasures
of her camerini filled the Ferrarese visitors with wonder and envy-
On the 6th of March, Bernardo Prosperi wrote to tell Isabelk
that our Madonna had been conducted by the jester Mariolo ovei
Beatrice's " guardaroba? and had seen all the splendid gowns,
pelisses, and mantles which had been made for her during the
last two years, about eighty-four in all, besides many more,"
adds the writer, " which your sister the duchess has in Milan."
The costliness of the materials, and the rich and intricate
Beatrice d'Este 171
embroidery which covered satins and brocades, made Leonora
exclaim that she felt as if she were in a sacristy looking at
priests* vestments and altar frontals. After examining all of these
fine clothes, the duchess was taken into two other camermi^
where Beatrice, after the fashion of great ladies in those days, had
collected her favourite books and object fart. One cabinet was
full of Murano glass of delicate shape and colour, of porcelain
dishes* and majolica from Faenza or Gubbio. Another held
ivories, crystals, and enamels engraved in the same style as Lodo~
vice's vases in the treasury at Milan. Perfumes and washes filled
another case, ^hile a separate cabinet was devoted to hunting im-
plements, dog-collars, pouches, flasks, horns, knives, and hoods for
falcons. "There was, indeed," added Duchess Leonora's attend-
ant, " enough to fill many shops."
The evenings at Vigevano were enlivened with music and
singing, and, by Lodovico's orders, a band of Spanish musicians
who had been sent from Rome to Milan by his brother, Cardinal
Ascanio, came to play before Beatrice and her mother, who both
admired the sweet strains of their large viols, and examined the
shape and size of their instruments with curiosity. On Sunday
theatrical representations were given, and Beatrice appeared in a
wonderful new gown made of gold-striped cloth, with a crimson
vest laced with fine silver thread " arranged," wrote an admiring
lady-in-waiting, " in the most graceful fashion. This your sister
wore," she adds, " because it was Carnival Sunday ; but even now,
although Lent has begun for most of us, Carnival is not yet over
for these highnesses, since Signer Lodovico and his duchess, Messer
Galeazzo, the Duke and Duchess of Milan, and many of their
courtiers, have received dispensations from Rome to eat meat all
the same."'" ^
Meanwhile Beatrice's little son was growing into a strong
healthy child, and her letters are full of the beauty and perfections
of her precious babe. Again and again, in her notes to Isabella,
she talks of " my son Ercole," with all a young mother's proud
delight.
"I cannot tell you," she writes to her sister, "how well
Ercole is looking, and how big and plump he has grown lately.
Each time I see him after a few days' absence, I am amazed and
* Porro, Qf>. cit., p. 330.
172 Beatrice d'Este
delighted to see how much he has grown and improved, and I
often wish that you could be here to see him, as I am quite sure
you would never be able to stop petting and kissing him."
Isabella, on her part, wrote warmly to her sister in return,
saying how much she longed to see her beautiful boy " il su?
hello puttino" and " not only to see him, but to hold him in my
arms and enjoy his company after my own fashion."
Duchess Leonora returned to Ferrara at the end of another
week, and one of Beatrice's first anxieties was to have a portrait
of her child painted for her mother. On the i6th of April,
she wrote from her favourite country house Villa* Nova, where
she had brought the babe to enjoy the sweet spring air
MOST ILLUSTRIOUS MADAMA MINE, AND DEAREST MOTHER,
" Your Highness must forgive my delay in writing
to you. The reason was that every day I have been hoping
the painter would bring me the portrait of Ercole, which my
husband and I now send you by this post. And, I can assure
you, he is much bigger than this picture makes him appear, for
it is already more than a week since it was painted. But I do
not send the measure of his height, because people here tell me
if I measure him he will never grow ! Or else I certainly
would let you have it. And my lord and I, both of us, commend
ourselves to your Highness, and I kiss your hand, my dearest
mother.
u Your obedient servant and child,
" BEATRICE SFORTIA DA ESTE,
" with my own hand/
** To the most illustrious Lady my dearest Mother,
Signora Duchessa di Ferrara."^
The baby's portrait was forwarded to Mantua for Isabella's
inspection, together with a letter from her mother, saying
" I enclose a drawing which has been sent to us from Milan,
to show how well our grandson thrives, and certainly, if we have
been already told how flourishing he is, this gives us a living
witness to his beauty and well-being. And if you ask me
whether the portrait is a good one, I need only tell you who
Beatrice cTEste 173
has sent it and who is the master who has done this drawing,
and then I am sure you will be satisfied."
Leonora's words excite our wonder as to who the artist could
be whose name of itself would be enough to satisfy Isabella of the
excellence of the work. As Signor Luzio has already remarked,*
it is impossible to read these words without thinking that Leonardo
must have been the artist employed by Lodovico on this occasion
to take a sketch of his infant son. But the drawing of Ercole
has vanished, and the painter's name remains unknown.
Another name which recurs frequently in Beatrice's letters
to both her mother and sister at this time, is that of a Spanish
embroiderer, named Maestro Jorba, noted for his rare skill, who
was in the service of the Duchess of Ferrara, and was left by her
at Vigevano in April, to design hangings and gowns for Lodovico's
wife. On the I4th of March, Jorba was sent back to Ferrara
.with a letter from Beatrice to her mother, expressing her satisfac-
tion with his work 5 and in April, Leonora sent her a new design
for a camora which the clever Spaniard had invented.
" I have to-night," wrote Beatrice in reply, " received the
design of the camora made by Jorba, which I admire very much,
and have just shown it to my embroiderer, as your Highness
advised. He remarks that the flowers of the pattern are all
the same size, and since the camora will naturally be cut narrower
above than below, the flowers ought to be altered in the same
proportion. I have not yet decided what will be the best thing
to do, but thought I would tell you what Schavezi says, and
wait to hear what you advise, and then do whatever you
think best."
Later in the same year, we find Maestro Jorba once more at
Milan, working for Duchess Beatrice, much to the annoyance of
her sister Isabella, who was anxious to secure the services of the
skilful embroiderer, and offered him a salary of two hundred
ducats a year if he would settle at Mantua. Jorba, however, seems
to have preferred to remain at Ferrara, and only paid occasional
visits to the princesses of Este at Milan and Mantua.
Throughout April, all the tailors and embroiderers, gold-
smiths and jewellers, in Beatrice's service were busy making
* Archivio Storico Lombardo, xvii. 368.
174 Beatrice d'Este
preparations for a visit which their mistress was shortly to
pay to her old home. Before Leonora left Vigevano the More
had promised to bring his. wife and child to Ferrara in May
and had decided to send Beatrice to Venice, with her mothe
Duchess Leonora, who was going to spend a few days with he
son Alfonso and his wife, at the palace of the Estes on the Canal
Grande. He had further intimated his intention of paying a
visit to his sister-in-law at Mantua on the way. Isabella, who
had just accepted an invitation from the Doge, Agostino Barbarigo,
to visit Venice fc tl ? .^east of the Ascension, was somewhat
dismayed when the news reached her, and looked forward with
no little alarm to the prospect of entertaining her splend
brother-in-law. She wrote off without delay to consult fr
husband on the subject
" Madama sends me word that Signer Lodovico has decide
to visit Ferrara in May, and gives me the list of the compar
who are to attend him which I enclose for you to see. F
my part I can hardly believe it, but shall be sorry if I am *
Venice when such fetes are being held at Ferrara. Your Hig
ness must decide what you think is best for the honour of o
house, since when I was at Milan Signor Lodovico told me th
if he came to Ferrara he would visit Mantua on the way.
doubt you will do what seems to be most prudent, and will
me know your wishes. But perhaps I may be mistaken." 1
** Mantua, 9th of April, 1493."
Isabella was still more disturbed when she heard that Lodovio
intended to send his wife to Venice. Her pride shrank fron
the bare notion of appearing before the Doge and Senate at th'
same time as her sister, whose sumptuous apparel and numerous
suite she felt herself unable to rival. " Nothing in the world,*
she wrote to Gianfrancesco, who was then at Venice as captain-
general of the Republic's forces, "will induce me to go to
Venice at the same time as my sister the duchess."
And she insisted on her desire to appear before the Doge
not as a guest and foreign visitor, but as a daughter an t
servant, begging that she might be treated without any pomp o
ceremony.
* Luzio-Renier, op. dt., p. 365.
Beatrice d'Este 175
Fortunately, whether from political motives, or from his usual
ittention to his astrologer's advice, Lodovico deferred his visit
o Ferrara until the middle of May, and himself wrote a courteous
.etter to Isabella, expressing his regret that he would after all be
anable to accept her invitation to Mantua, since he found him-
r self obliged to visit Parma. The marchioness, thus happily
relieved from her fears, set off for Ferrara on the 4th of May,
and proceeded to Venice a week later, having doubled the
number of her retinue, and strained every nerve to present an
Appearance which should not offer tOQ ir-arlr^d a contrast with
Beatrice's regal splendours*
CHAPTER XV
Lodovico "s ambitious designs Isabella of Aragon appeals to her father-
Breach between Naples and Milan Alliance between the Pope, Venice,
and Milan proclaimed Mission of Erasmo Brasca to the king of the
Romans Journey of Lodovico and Beatrice to Ferrara Fetes and
tournaments Visit to Belriguardo, and return of Lodovico to Milan
Arrival of Belgiojoso from France.
1493
THE birth of Beatrice's son marks a new development in her
husband's policy. Up to that time the Moro seems to have
been content to govern in his nephew's name, and had rejected
with horror King Ferrante's suggestion that he should depooe
Gian Galeazzo as incapable, and reign in his stead. But whether
it was that Beatrice in her turn had become ambitious to bear
the title of Duchess of Milan and see her son recognized as heir
to the crown, or whether the birth of his son stirred up new
desires in her lord's breast, it is certain that the spring of 1493
was a turning-point in Lodovico's career. From this time he
began to aim at reigning in his nephew's stead, and applied
himself in good earnest to obtain legal recognition of his title.
In the first place, the birth of Ercole, and the extraordinary honours
paid to the child and his mother on this occasion, had the effect
of exasperating Isabella of Aragon, and exciting new and bitter
rivalry between herself and Beatrice. Gian Galeazzo, sunk in
idle pleasures and debauchery, had long ceased to take any
interest in the government of Milan, or to show the least wish
to assert himself, He was recognized on all hands as altogether
unfit to rule in the words of the historian Guicciardini, " incapa-
cissimo" But with his wife it was different. In public she
controlled her rage and appeared with her cousin at fites and
176
Beatrice d'Este 177
state ceremonies, but in private she wept bitter tears. Already
her father, Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, had begged his sister
Duchess Leonora and her husband to try and induce Lodovico to
restore the Duke and Duchess of Milan to their rightful position,
and the good duchess, who was on friendly terms with Bona of
Savoy and with her own niece, Isabella of Aragon, did all in her
power to soften the rivalry between the two young princesses.
But after her departure from Milan, Isabella's ill-concealed anger
broke out, and, according to Corio, she wrote the memorable
Latin letter to her father.
"It was then," writes the Milanese chronicler, "that the
duchess, being a princess of great spirit, refused to endure the
humiliations to which she and her husband were exposed^ and
wrote to Alfonso her father, after this manner : c Many years
have passed, my father, since you first wedded me to Gian
Galeazzo, on the understanding that he would in due time
succeed to the sceptre of his father and ascend the throne of
Galeazzo and Francesco Sforza and of his Visconti ancestors*
He is now of age and is himself a father ; but he is not yet in
possession of his dominions, and can only obtain the actual
necessaries of life from the hands of Lodovico and his ministers.
It is Lodovico who administers the state, treats of war and
peace, confirms the laws, grants privileges, imposes taxes, hears
petitions, and raises money. Everything is in his power, while
we are left without friends or money, and are reduced to live as
private persons. Not Gian Galeazzo, but Lodovico, is recog-
nized as lord of the kingdom. He places prefects in the castles,
raises military forces, appoints magistrates, and discharges all the
duties of a prince. He is, in fact, the true duke. His wife has
lately borne him a son, who every one prophesies will soon be
called Count of Pavia, and will succeed to the dukedom, and
royal honours were paid him at his birth, while we and our
children are treated with contempt, and it is not without risk to
our lives that we remain under the roof of the palace, from which
he would remove us in his envious hatred, leaving me widowed and
desolate, destitute of help and friends. But I have still spirit and
courage of my own ; the people regard us with compassion, and
look upon him with hatred and curses, because he has robbed
178 Beatrice d'Este
them of their gold to satisfy his greed. I am not able to contend
with men, and am forced to suffer every kind of humiliation.
There is no one here to whom I can speak, for even our servants
are given us by him. But if you have any fatherly compassion,
if a spark of royal or noble feeling still lives in your heart, if love
of me and the sight of my tears can move your soul, I implore
you to come to our help, and deliver your daughter and son-in-
law from the fear of slavery, and restore them once more to their
rightful kingdom. But if you will not help us, I would rather
die by my own hands than bear the yoke of strangers, which
would be a still greater evil than to allow a rival to reign in my
place.'"
This letter was probably composed by the historian, but
there is no doubt that it reproduces the wronged duchess's senti-
ments, and that Corio does not exaggerate the effect which his
daughter's indignant appeal produced upon Alfonso. " Shall
we suffer our own blood to be despised ? " he is said to have
exclaimed, when he called upon his father to avenge his daughter's
wrong, and at the same time pointed out how fraught with
danger to the realm of Naples was the existence of so powerful
and independent a prince as Lodovico. But the old king pre-
ferred to have recourse to his usual expedients of cunning and
intrigue, and while he employed every artifice to undermine
Lodovico's influence both at the other courts of Italy and in
France, he sent ambassadors to congratulate the Moro on his
son's birth, and only expostulated in a friendly manner with
his kinsman. Lodovico himself, however, was too astute not
to see the dangers which threatened him, and he became doubly
anxious to form a close alliance with the Pope, and with his old
enemies the Signory of Venice. Early in 1493, Alexander VI.,
now Lodovico Sforza's firm friend, proposed a nevv alliance
between himself, Milan, and Venice to the Doge and Senate,
and Count Caiazzo was sent by Lodovico to negotiate the terms
of the treaty, which was to hold good for twenty-five years, and
had for its express object the maintenance of the peace of Italy.
Ferrara and Mantua both joined the new league, which was
solemnly proclaimed at Venice on St. Mark's day, when, after
high mass, the Doge conferred the honour of knighthood on
Beatrice d'Este 179
Taddeo Vimercati, the Milanese ambassador, and the banners
of Milan and of the Pope were borne in procession round the
Piazza.
In order to confirm the alliance, Lodovico not only agreed
to visit Ferrara in May, but also decided to send his wife at
the head of an embassy to Venice, as a proof of his friendship
for his new allies. Four experienced councillors. Count Giro-
lamo Tuttavilla, Galeazzo Visconti, Angelo Talenti, and Pietro
Landriano, were chosen to accompany her, and an elaborate
paper of secret directions was drawn up by Lodovico himself, dated
the loth of May. On the same day a still more important
paper of instructions was delivered by the Moro to Erasmo
Brasca, the envoy whom he sent that week to Germany. This
agent was instructed to lay two proposals before Maximilian,
King of the Romans. In the first place, he was to offer him the
hand of Bianca Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan's sister, with
the enormous dowry of 400,000 ducats. In the second, he was
to ask Maximilian, on Lodovico's behalf, for a renewal of the
investiture of Milan, formerly granted to the Visconti dukes,
but never obtained by the three princes of the house of Sforza.
As, on the extinction of the Visconti race, the fief ought to have
returned to the empire, it was in the emperor's power to bestow
the duchy upon Lodovico, whose title would thus be rendered
perfectly legal, while Gian Galeazzo would become the usurper,
he himself, his father, and grandfather having only held the
dukedom by right of a popular election, which had never been
confirmed by the emperor. This, then, was the proposal which
the Moro secretly made to Maximilian, whose father, the
Emperor Frederick III., was at the time still living, but was
known to be in very failing health. The King of the Romans
was by no means insensible to the advantages of an alliance
with the powerful Regent of Milan, or to the large dowry which
Bianca Maria would bring with her to replenish his empty
coffers. Some objections were raised by the German princes,
who chose to consider this marriage with a Sforza princess
beneath the imperial dignity, but Maximilian himself readily
consented to all Lodovico's conditions, and promised to grant
him the investiture of the duchy of Milan as soon as he
180 Beatrice d'Este
succeeded his father, only stipulating that this part of the agree-
ment should be kept secret for the present. The royal bride-
groom was to receive three hundred thousand ducats as Bianca's
dowry, while the remaining hundred thousand, which represented
the tribute dues on the investiture of the duchy, as an imperial
fief, were to be paid when this part of the transaction was
accomplished.
Meanwhile Maximilian had already entered into negotiations
with Charles VIII., who, in his anxiety to undertake the ex-
pedition of Naples, was ready to make any sacrifices in other
directions; and on the i$th of May the Treaty of Senlis was
concluded between the two monarchs. Lodovico's ambassador,
Belgiojoso, accompanied the French king to Senlis, and kept
his master fully informed of all that happened at court. But
while the Moro had repeatedly assured Charles of his friendly
intentions, he had hitherto prudently abstained from offering
any device as to the young king's warlike designs against
Naples, and had, it was well known, opposed them. When
in March, Charles VIIL had begged him, as a personal favour,
to send him his son-in-law, Galeazzo di Sanseverino, of whose
knightly prowess he had heard so much, in order that he might
confer with this distinguished captain on military questions, Lo-
dovico absolutely refused to consent, fearing the suspicions which
Messer Galeazzo's presence at the French court might excite.
Such was the state of political affairs when, on the i8th
of May, 1493, Lodovico and Beatrice, with their infant
son, arrived at Ferrara. They spent the night before their
arrival at the palazzo Trotti, in the suburbs, and on the
following morning entered the town by the bridge of Castel
Tealde. After riding in state up the Via Grande and the Via
degli Sablioni to the Castello they visited the Duomo, attended
mass, and made an offering at the altar. The Piazza was
decorated with green boughs and bright draperies, and crowds
thronged the streets, shouting " Moro ! Moro ! " as the young
duchess rode by in all her bravery, escorted by her brother
Alfonso and Madonna Anna, who had ridden out to meet,
her, with a gay company of Ferrarese lords and ladies. That
day Beatrice wore the camora of wonderful crimson brocade.
Beatrice d'JEste 181
embroidered with the lighthouse towers of the port of Genoa, and
a velvet cap studded with big pearls, a as large as are Madama's
very largest gems," wrote the faithful Prosperi to Isabella d'Este,
" as well as five splendid rubies."
On this occasion Lodovico was determined to dazzle the
eyes of the world by his splendour, and the robes and jewels of
Beatrice were the wonder of Ferrara and Venice. Ten chariots
and fifty mules laden with baggage followed in their train, and
Prosperi describes one marvellous new camora^ which Beatrice
brought with her, embroidered with Lodovico's favourite device
of the caduceus worked in large pearls, rubies, and diamonds,
with one big diamond at the top. Not to be outdone by her
sister-in-law. Madonna Anna appeared in a crimson and grey
satin robe, adorned with letters of massive gold, and borrowed
her mother-in-law's finest pearls for the occasion, so that, as
Prosperi reports, her jewels made almost as fine a show as those
of the duchess. Nor was this rivalry in clothes and jewels
limited to the royal ladies themselves. Our lively friend,
Duchess Leonora's maid of honour, Teodora, gives Isabella" an
amusing account of the keen emulation that existed between the
Milanese and Ferrarese ladies who were to accompany the two
duchesses to Venice.* Beatrice's ladies each wore long gold
chains, valued at two hundred ducats apiece, and her chief maids
of honour had been provided with some of their mistress's brocade
robes for the occasion. Hearing of this, the Ferrarese ladies
begged duchess Leonora to give them similar necklaces, and did
not rest until they were supplied with chains valued at two
.hundred and twenty ducats apiece. And since it transpired that
Beatrice had given some of her ladies strings of pearls for their
paternosters, Madama presented each of her attendants with pearl
rosaries of a still handsomer and costlier description. When
Signor Lodovico saw this, he went up to Beatrice, saying,
Wife, I wish all of your ladies to wear pearl rosaries ; " and
straightway ordered some much larger and finer ones to be made
for the Duchess of Bari's attendants. " But .Madama," adds
Isabella's correspondent, gleefully, "has given some of her
smaller pendants to our ladies, a thing which I do not think the
duchess can supply ; and there is one other point in which the
* Luzio-Renier, op. cit. y p. 374-
i8a Beat /ice d'Este
duchess's suite will come off the worst. Madama has had
pelisses of green satin with broad stripes of black velvet made for
all her ladies, which they are to wear at Venice, and is taking a
fresh supply of jewels to lend them when they arrive. This
I think the duchess can hardly manage."
However, the next day Prosperi reports that the famous gold-
smith Caradosso has just arrived with a quantity of rubies and
diamonds, which Messer Lodovico has bought for two thousand
ducats, and is having strung into necklaces for his wife's
ladies.
A week of brilliant festivities had been arranged by Duke
Ercole in honour of his son-in-law. A splendid tournament was
held one day on the Piazza in front of the Castello. " Messer
Galeazzo rode in the lists," writes the old chronicler of Ferrara,
" with all his usual gentilezza, and carried off the prize against
his brothers Caiazzo and Fracassa, Niccolo da Correggio, Ermes
Sforza, and all other rivals. Afterwards, taking a massive lance in
his hand, he charged a gentleman of Mirandola, broke his lance,
and unseated him, so that both horse and man rolled over together.
And Lodovico sent one hundred ducats to the soldier of Miran-
dola, because he fought so well. Another day a single-handed
contest between a Milanese and a Mantuan man-at-arms was
held in the courtyard of the castle, and won by the Mantuan,
and Lodovico gave him a satin vest with a gold fringe and skirt
of silver cloth, and the Marquis of Mantua and others made him
fine presents."* Then came the horse-races for the pallium^
which Don Alfonso won, and at which Gianfrancesco Gonzaga's
famous Barbary horses made a splendid show. A beautiful festa
was also held one afternoon in the gardens, at which all the court
assisted, and in the evenings, theatrical representations of the
Menachmt and other Latin plays were given, which pleased
Lodovico so well that he declared he must build a theatre at
Milan on his return. Amongst the pieces given on this occasion
was a comedy, of which the plot, Prosperi remarks, appeared to
be aimed against Signor Lodovico, but it seems to have given
him no offence.
The Moro was apparently in the highest good-humour,
courteous and affable, after his wont, to all, and full of proud
* Muratori, R. L. S., xxiv. 2 4-.
Beatrice d'Este 183
delight in his wife and child. He admired the palaces and
gardens of Ferrara, and surveyed Duke Ercole's latest improve-
ments with keen interest. The width and cleanliness of the
streets, struck him especially, and he determined to follow the
duke's example and remove the forges and shops which blocked
up the road and interfered with the traffic and the pleasantness
of the prospect at Milan. But of all the sights which he saw in
Ferrara, what pleased him best was Ercole's beautiful villa of
Belriguardo. On Saturday, the 25th of May, after Beatrice and
her mother had started for Venice, Ercole took his son-in-law
and the Milanese nobles to spend the day at this his favourite
country house, and entertained the party at a banquet in the
famous terraced gardens on the banks of the Po. The same
evening Lodovico found time to write to his wife, in which he
tells her how much he is enjoying the loveliness of the summer
evening at Belriguardo.
" I would not for all the world have missed seeing this place.
Really, I do not think that I have ever seen so large and fine a
house, or one which is so well laid out and adorned with such
excellent pictures. I do not believe there is another to rival it
in the whole world, and did not think it possible to find a villa
at once so spacious and so thoroughly comfortable and well
arranged. To say the truth, if I were asked whether Vigevano,
or the Castello of Pavia, or this place was the finest palace in
the world the Castello must forgive me, for I would certainly
choose Belriguardo ! " """
From Belriguardo, Ercole and his son-in-law proceeded to
visit Mirandola, the castle and principality of Bianca d'Este's
husband, Count Galeotto, and the court of the scholar princes
of Carpi, who were intimately connected with the Sanseverini
and other noble Milanese houses. After visiting Modena, the
ducal party returned to receive the Venetian ambassadors at
Ferrara, and accompanied them to Belriguardo, which Lodovico
was not sorry to visit a second time. Here the Moro took
farewell of his hosts, and, leaving his infant son at Ferrara to
await his mother's return, he set out for Parma, on his way
back to Milan.
Here at Torgiara, in the Parmcsana, he was joined by his
* E. Motta m Giorn. st. d. Lett. Ital., vii. ^7.
184 Beatrice d'Este
envoy, Count Belgiojoso, who, in his anxiety to bring his master
the latest news, had ridden the whole 600 miles from Senlis
in six days. This faithful servant had already written to give
Lodovico details of the treaty concluded between Charles VIIL
and Maximilian, and had informed him of the French king's
resolve to invade Italy without delay. Now, at his master's
summons, he rode to Parma as fast as relays of the fleetest horses
could take him, and fell seriously ill on the day after his arrival
The news which he brought determined Lodovico in the policy
which he was about to adopt, and decided him to withdraw all
opposition to the French king's expedition against Naples.
Charles VIIL now appeared as the friend and ally of Maximilian,
and even consented to support Lodovico's suit with the King
of the Romans. "It seems strange," wrote the Florentine
ambassador at the French court to Piero de' Medici, " that the
king should support Signor Lodovico in a thing so harmful to
the interests of his cousin the Duke of Orleans' claims, but so
it is, and this will show you the influence that now predominates
in the royal counsels."
Belgiojoso reached Torgiara, in the district of Parma, on the
4th of June, and on the 24th, Maximilian sent the despatch from
the castle of Gmtinden, by which he accepted the hand of
Bianca Sforza in marriage, and promised Lodovico Sforza the
investiture of the duchy of Milan as soon as he himself should
receive the imperial dignity. In the same month of June, the
marriage of the Pope's daughter, Lucrezia Borgia, to Giovanni
Sforza of Pesaro was celebrated with great pomp in the Vatican,
and the Pope and cardinals joined in the orgies which followed.
But old King Ferrante gnashed his teeth with rage, and his son
Alfonso vowed vengeance against the hated Moro and all his
crew. And in the Duomo of Florence, the fiery Dominican
friar, Fra Girolamo of San Marco, preaching with passionate
fervour to the crowds who hung on his lips, boldly denounced
the shameless profligacy that reigned in high places, and warned
the Church and the world of the avenging sword of the Lord.
CHAPTER XVI
Visit of Beatrice and her mother to Venice Letters of Lodovico to his wife
Reception of the duchesses by the Doge at S. Clemente Their
triumphal entry Procession mA fetes in the Grand Canal Letter of
Beatrice to her husband The palace of the Dukes of Ferrara in
Venice.
U93
THE spring of 1493, as we have already said, proved a turning-
point in Lodovico Sforza's policy. And it also marked a new
period in the life of Beatrice d'Este. Up to this time the young
duchess was a bright and joyous Child, intellectual and cultivated
like the other ladies of her family, but eager, above all, to enjoy
the splendour and gaiety of her new life, to taste of every pleasure,
and fling herself into every passing amusement. But now she
appears in a new light. For the first time, on this visit to Venice,
she takes a leading part in political affairs, and comes before the
Doge and Senate as her husband's ambassador and spokeswoman. *
Here we see this princess, who was not yet eighteen years of age,
assuming the character of orator and diplomatist, and revealing
these talents which excited the admiration of the Emperor
Maximilian and made him pronounce her unlike all other
women.
In selecting his young wife for this important mission,
Lodovico had acted with his usual prudence and forethought.
He saw her remarkable powers of mind, and trusted implicitly in
her womanly tact and charm. When the Venetian Senate first
heard that Lodovico was to visit Ferrara, they announced their
intention of sending ambassadors to request him to accompany
the two duchesses to Venice. But the Moro felt that, at this
critical moment of his negotiations with both Charles VIII. and
185
1 86 Beatrice d'Este
Maximilian, his presence at Venice might lead to awkward
questions and excite the suspicion of these princes. So he pre-
ferred to send his wife, whose journey with her mother and
brother would appear rather in the light of a party of pleasure,
and whose youth and charms would disarm suspicion, and at the
same time exert a beneficial influence on the counsels of the
Republic. In the v/ritten instructions which he gave Tuttavilla
and the other envoys who accompanied Beatrice, they were
desired to lay especial stress on the honour which the rulers of
Milan were doing the Signory of Venice by the choice of so
exalted a lady to be their messenger.
" The presence of the most illustrious Duchess of Bari is the
best proof their Excellencies can have of the singular satisfaction
with which the Dukes of Milan and Eari regard the conclusion
of this league. In sending, the one his aunt, the other his wife,
who is the dearest thing that he possesses, to congratulate the
Signory on this auspicious occasion, they show you how great
and exceptional is the pleasure which they feel at this alliance
between our two states."
On Saturday, the 25th of May, the Duchess of Ferrara, with
her two daughters, Beatrice Duchess of Bari and Madonna Anna
Sforza, and her son Alfonso, accompanied by a large retinue
numbering in all 1200 persons, sailed down the Po into the
Adriatic, on their way to Venice. Beatrice was accompanied
by Antonio Trivulzio, Bishop of Como, Francesco Sforza and his
wife, and several other Milanese gentlemen of rank, besides the
four ambassadors already named, and in her train were the famous
Flemish tenor Cordier and the other court singers of the ducal
chapel. On the 26th the party reached Chioggia, where they
were entertained in the houses of noble Venetian families, and
on the following day sailed up between the islands, under the
long sandy shore of the Lido, into the port of Venice. At
Malamocco, the fort on the southern point of Lido guarding the
entrance of the harbour, they were received by a deputation of
patricians, while at S. Clemente the old Doge, Agostino Barbarigo,
himself came out to meet them in the bucentaur, followed by an
immense company of boats and gondolas in festive array.
" Of all cities that I have ever known, Venice is the one
Beatrice cTEste 187
where the greatest honour is paid to strangers," wrote Phillippe
de Commines, when, a year and a half later, he came to Venice
as ambassador from his most Christian Majesty. And on this
occasion the welcome offered to the wife of tlie powerful Moro
was grander, and the fetes given In her honour were more splendid,
than had been seen for many ye<irs.
"Never," \vrote Taddeo de' Vimercati, the Milanese am-
bassador, u was lord or lady received with greater joy, or more
magnificently entertained than the duchess has been on this
occasion." And in his letters to his wife Isabella, the Marquis
of Mantua, who had arrived at Venice three days earlier, and
was among the spectators of his mother and sister-in-law's
triumphal entry, dilates on the extraordinary honours that were
paid them, on the vast concourse of people assembled to greet
their arrival, and the exultation with which they were received.
He describes the procession of barks and gondolas, filled with
ladies in gay toilettes, that were seen rowing across the lagoon
many hours before the arrival of the illustrious visitors, and tells
how the old Doge the same whose venerable figure is familiar to
us in Giovanni Bellini's altar-piece, at Murano made his way to
S. Clemente early in the afternoon, and retired to rest for an hour
or two, in a chamber prepared for his Serene Highness, until the
Ferrarese bucentaurs were seen in the distance. Gianfrancesco
dwells on the number and beauty of the gaily decorated barges
and triremes, and describes the magnificent loggia hung with tapes-
tries and wreaths of flowers which had been erected in front of the
palazzo occupied by the Milanese ambassador, at the entrance of
the Canal Grande. But what impressed him most of all were
the thundering salvoes of artillery which burst from the fleet of
galleys, from the arsenal and the Milanese embassy, at one and
the same moment, as about five o'clock the Ferrarese bucentaurs
reached Malamocco and entered the Venetian waters. "The
whole air," he writes, "was filled with confusion, when these
demonstrations of great rejoicing burst simultaneously upon our
ears."
Isabella d'Este, who had herself lately returned from Venice
and was now with her beloved sister-in-law, Elizabeth Duchess
of Urbino, at the villa of Porto, devoured her husband's letters
1 88 Beatrice d'Este
greedily, although she professed indifference, and wrote to her
mother, " To me all these ceremonies seem very much of the
same nature, and are all alike very tedious and monotonous."
There was one point, however, upon which Gianfrancesco
confessed himself unable to gratify his wife and sister's curiosity.
"I will not attempt," he says, "to describe the gowns and
ornaments worn by these duchesses and Madonna Anna, this
being quite out of my line, and will only tell you that all three
of them appeared resplendent with the most precious jewels." *
Fortunately, this omission was supplied by one of Beatrice's
secretaries, Niccolo de' Negri, who, in a letter to Lodovico, in-
formed him, on the day of her arrival at Venice, that the duchess
wore her gold brocade, embroidered with crimson doves, with a
jewelled feather in her cap, and a rope of pearls and diamonds
round her neck, to which the priceless ruby known as El Spigo
was attached as pendant. But the best account we have of
Beatrice's visit to Venice is contained in four of her own letters
addressed to her husband, which have been preserved in the
archives of Milan. They were originally published twenty
years ago by Molmenti, who, however, omitted some portions
which are given here, and transcribed some of the dates in-
correctly* Unfortunately, several of the letters in which Beatrice
daily recorded the events of this memorable week for her lord's
benefit are missing. But although the narrative is incomplete,
it is none the less of rare value and interest. The first two
letters after her departure from Ferrara are missing, but in their
stead we have two notes from Lodovico, which show how
tenderly he thought of his absent wife, and how carefully he
followed her movements. On the evening of the 25th, he
wrote the letter that has been already quoted, from Belriguardo ;
on the 26th, he sent her a second note in reply to the letters
which he had just received. In one of these Beatrice had appar-
ently given a lively account of her triumphs at cards in the games
which she had played with her companions on board the
bucentaur. Like Isabella d'Este and most of her contemporaries,
the duchess was very fond of scartino and other fashionable card-
games, and had the reputation of being exceptionally lucky. In
* " Storia di Venezia nella Vita privata/* p. 60.
Beatrice d'Este 189
the course of the year 1494, Lodovico informed Girolamo
Tuttavilla, who was at one time treasurer to the duchess, that
his wife had won no less than three thousand ducats, all of which
she declared had been spent in alms. " When I remarked that
this seemed a very large sum, the duchess confessed she had
paid some of it to embroiderers and other craftsmen. Even
then I fail to see how she could have disposed of more than a
few hundred ducats. At this rate I fear she will be unable to
buy lands or build new houses, but when you return from
Naples, we must try and carry out some plans better worthy of
your name."
On this occasion Beatrice seems to have won a considerable
sum of money at the game of brltlno during her journey to
Chioggia, and had apparently informed her husband of her good
luck, for he writes in reply
" MY DEAREST WIFE,
" It has given me the greatest pleasure to hear from
your last letters that you have been winning your companions'
money, and since I conclude you have been playing at buttmo,
I hope you will remember to keep account of your winnings, so
that you may keep the money for yourself. But I only say this
in case you win, as if you lose, I do not care to hear about it.
Commend me to the illustrious Madonna Duchessa, our common
mother, as well as to Don Alfonso and Madonna Anna, and
salute all the councillors for me.
" Your most affectionate husband,
" LODOVICUS MARIA SFORTIA. *
" Belriguardo, 26th of May, 1493,"
The first of Beatrice's letters that we have was written on
the evening of her arrival at her father's house in Venice and is
dated May 27.
"MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE AND EXCELLENT LORD, MY
DEAREST HUSBAND,
" I wrote to you yesterday of our arrival at Chioggia.
This morning I heard mass in a chapel of the house where I
* Luzio-Renter, op. /., p. 376.
190 Beatrice cTEste
lodged. The singers assisted, and I felt the greatest spiritual
delight in hearing them, Messer Cordier as usual doing his part
very well, as he did also yesterday morning. Certainly his
singing is the greatest consolation possible. Then we break-
fasted, and at ten we entered the bucentaur, dividing our com-
pany between the middle-sized and small bucentaur and a few
gondolas, which were prepared for us, as being safer, since the
weather was still rather stormy. My most illustrious mother,
Don Alfonso and Madonna Anna, with a very few servants,
entered the small bucentaur, and the other ladies and gentlemen
travelled on the larger bucentaur, or in small gondolas, while I
entered another gondola with Signer Girolamo, Messer Visconti,
and a few others, so at > F^hlen the small bucentaur and travel
more comfortably, as , e 'vere assured. So we set out and
reached the port of Chioggia, where the ships began to dance.
I took the greatest delight in tossing up and down, and, by the
grace of God, did not feel the least ill effects. But I can tell
you that some of our party were very much alarmed, amongst
others Signor Ursino, Niccolo de' Negri, and Madonna Elisabetta.
Even Signor Girolamo, although he had been very frugal, felt
rather uncomfortable ; but no one in my gondola was really ill,
excepting Madonna Elisabetta and Cavaliere Ursino, at the port
of Chioggia. Most of the others, especially the women, were
very ill. The weather now improved so much, that we arrived
at Malamocco in qu 2 good time. Here we found about twenty-
foui gentlemen, with- ^-hree well-fitted and decorated barges, one
of which we enter " ith as many of our suite as it could hold,
and were honourabif "seated in the prow. Several Venetian
gentlemen now entered our barge, and a certain Messer Francesco
Capello, clad in a long mantle of white brocade, embroidered
with large gold patterns, like your own, delivered an oration to
the effect that this illustrious Signory, having heard of your
presence at Ferrara, had sent two ambassadors to show the love
they bear you, ana that now, having heard of my Lady Mother's
and my own visit to Venice, they had sent the other gentlemen
who received us at Chioggia, and now, as a further token of their
affection, sent these to Malamocco, to express the great pleasure
the Signory felt at our coming, and to inform us that the Doge
Beatrice d'Este
191
himself, with the Signory and a number of noble matrons, were
about to give us welcome and do us honour to the best of their
power. My mother, with her usual modesty, begged me to reply,
but I insisted on her saying a few words, and afterwards began
to speak myself. But hardly had she finished speaking, and
before I had begun, than all the gentlemen ran up to kiss our
hands, as they had done the day before, so that I could only
express my feelings by courteous gestures.
** Then we set off towards Venice, and before we reached
S. Clemen te, where the Prince was expecting us, two rafts came
towards us, and saluted us with the sound of trumpets and firing
of guns, followed by two galleys ready for battle, and other barks
decked out like gardens, which we ~~i 21* beautiful to see. An
infinite number of boats, full of ladje* L A gentlemen, now sur-
rounded us, and escorted us all the way to S. Clemente. Here
we landed, and were conducted to a spacious pavilion hung with
drapery, \vhere the Prince, accompanied by the members of the
Signory, met us and bade us welcome, assuring us how eagerly
our presence had been desired, and saying that my lord father
the duke and your Excellency could do him no greater pleasure
than to send us, whom he looked upon as his dear .daughters.
All this and much more concerning the fatherly love which he
bore us, he hoped to be able to express at a future occasion.
Then he placed my lady mother on his righ<- and myself on his
left, with Madonna Anna next to me, anc next to my mother
the Marquis of Mantua and Don Alfonso- the Marchese having
Arrived with the Prince and so he con 1 us on board the
bucentaur. On the way we shook hai * with all the ladies,
who stood up in two rows behind the PrLi-e, and then sat down
in the same order. All of our ladies shook hands with the
Prince, and we set out again on our journey, meeting an infinite
number of decorated galleys, boats, and barks. Among others,
there was a raft with figures of Neptune and Minerva, armed
with trident and spear, seated on either side of a hill crowned
with the arms of the Pope and our own illustrious lord, to-
gether with yoxir own and those of the Signory of Venice. First
Neptune began to dance and gambol and throw balls into the air
to the sound of drums and tambourines, and then Minerva did
192 Beatrice d'Este
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 appeared
on the mountain with open books in their hands, signifying that
they had come to decide on the name that was to be given to
the city on the mountain, and they gave judgment in favour of
Minerva. This representation was said to signify that the
existence of states is founded on treaties of peace, and that those
who lay the foundations will give their name to future kingdoms,
as Minerva did to Athens.
" As we sailed on, we saw many other barks and galleys, al-*
richly decorated. Among them was one galley of armed
Milanese, with a Moor in the centre, armed with a spear, and
bearing shields with the ducal arms and your own fastened to
the stern and prow. Round this Moor were figures of Fortitude,
Temperance, Justice, and Wisdom with a sceptre in his hand, all
of which made a fine pageant, and the firing of guns and cannons
at the same time sounded quite splendid.
"Besides these there were many barks representing the different
arts and crafts of Venice, very beautiful to see. And so we
entered the Canal Grande, where the Prince, who talked to us
all the way with the utmost familiarity and kindness, took great
pleasure in showing us the chief palaces of this noble city, and
pointing out the ladies, who appeared glittering with jewels at
all the Balconies and windows, besides the great company
about a hundred and thirty in number who were already with
us in the bucentaur. All the palaces were richly adorned, and
certainly it was a magnificent sight. The Prince showed us all
the chief objects along the canal, until we reached my father's
palace, where we are lodged, and where the Prince insisted on
landing and conducting us to our rooms, although my mother and
I begged him not to take this trouble. We found all the palace
hung with tapestries, and the beds covered with satin draperies
adorned with the ducal arms and those of your Excellency.
And the rooms and hall are hung with Sforzesca colours, so you
see that in point of good entertainment, good company, and good
living we could desire nothing better. This evening three
Beatrice cTEste 193
gentlemen came to visit me in the name of the Signory, and
made the most splendid offers, beyond all that could have been
expected, for my pleasure and convenience. To-morrow, if the
audience has taken place, you shall hear more. I commend
myself to your Highness.*
"Venice, May 27, 1493."
" Era stupendissima cesa a vedere ! It was a magnificent
sight ! " exclaimed Beatrice. And indeed the scene was one
which would have stirred a less impressionable nature than that
of this young princess, who was so keenly alive to joy and beauty,
and who now for the first time saw " this most triumphant city
of the world," in all the loveliness of the summer evening.
Both the Milanese ambassador and the Marquis of Mantua said
they had never seen the like. The blue waters of the kgoon
swarmed with boats and gondolas decked with flowers and
streamers of the gayest hues, the Venetian Gothic palaces along
the canal were hung with Indian and Persian carpets. The
rich colours of Oriental stufis relieved the dazzling whiteness
of Istrian stone, and festoons of fresh leaves and flowers were
twisted round their columns of porphyry and serpentine. From
each carved balcony and painted window fair Venetian ladies
looked down in their sumptuous robes, glittering with gold
and gems, and the air rang with the Vivas of the crowds who
filled the gondolas or flocked along the Riva to see the gay
pageant. It was a spectacle such as Venice alone could offer in
these days of her glory, when the Canal Grande was, as Com-
minnes justly said, the finest street in the whole world.
And the Palazzo to which the old Doge conducted Beatrice
and her mother was the oldest and one of the grandest in that
long avenue of palaces. Originally built for the Pesaro family,
it had been presented to Niccolo II. of Este in gratitude for his
services when, a hundred years before, he had supplied the Re-
public with corn during the long war against Genoa. Since
then the house had been repeatedly sequestered during the
wars between Venice and Ferrara, and had only been restored to
Duke Ercole after the conclusion of the peace of Bagnolo. Now
its ancient walls, dating as far back as the year 900, had been
* Moimenti, op. at., p. 693. Q
194 Beatrice cTEste
freshly decorated with frescoes, and the long arcades and loggias
with their massive pillars and Byzantine capitals of grey marble
were enriched with shields carved with the unicorns and lilies
of the house of Este. Within, the spacious halls were lavishly
adorned with gilding and variegated marble, \vith fine pictures
and the painted cassoni and chairs which we still admire on old
Venetian palaces, while the tapestries and hangings bearing
Sforza devices and the Moro's favourite mottoes met Beatrice's
eyes at every turn. As she wrote in her joyous letters to her
husband, there was nothing lacking that could charm the eyes
or please the mind, and the courtesy and hospitality of the
venerable old Doge and of the Venetian Signory left nothing
to be desired.
CHAPTER XVII
Fetus at Venice in honour of the Duchess of Ferrara and Duchess of Ran
Beatrice d'E&te has an audience with the Doge and Signory Explains
Lodovico's position and his treaties with France and Germany Visit
to St. Mark's and the Treasury Fete in the ducal palace The
Duchess visits the Great Council Takes leave of the Doge Return to
Ferrara.
H93
A SERIES of fetes had been arranged by the Doge and Signory
of Venice in honour of their illustrious guests, and the order in
which they took place is given by the Marquis of Mantua in
a letter to his wife. On Tuesday races were held in the piazza
for a pallinum of twenty yards of crimson velvet ; on Wed-
nesday afternoon a regatta took place on the Riva. Amongst
other amusing contests, Pietro Bembo tells us there was a race
between boats rowed by four women, a thing never before seen
in Venice, and which, on account of its novelty, excited the
greatest amusement. "In which marvellous contention," says
Bembo, " a thing happened which added greatly to the pleasure
of the spectacle and to the general mirth. A bark won the race
that was rowed by a mother and her two daughters and one
daughter-in-law, this being arranged out of compliment to
Duchess Leonora, who has herself two daughters and one
daughter-in-law. ' '
On the morning after her arrival, Beatrice received a visit
from three gentlemen sent by the Doge to confer with her on
the object of her mission. Much to their surprise and admira-
tion, says Romanin, the Venetian historian, the young duchess,
who was not yet twenty years of age, requested to be allowed
the honour of an audience with the Signory. Before leaving
195
196 Beatrice d'Este
the Este palace these gentlemen assisted at mass, which was
privately celebrated in the duchess's rooms, and heard Cordier
sing, as we learn from a short note addressed to Lodovico on
the morning of the 28th.
" This morning," she writes, " as soon as I was dressed, I
heard mass sung in my own rooms. Messer Cordier sang, and,
as usual, did his part admirably, which pleased me greatly, both
on account of the rare delight which his talent gives me, and
because on this occasion the gentlemen who had been sent to
see me by the Doge were also present, and expressed the greatest
admiration for his singing."
Beatrice and the four Milanese ambassadors were then
escorted to the ducal palace, where the young duchess was
admitted to the Sala del Collegio, and laid her husband's
memorial before the Signory. But, as M. Delaborde remarks,
the language which Beatrice employed on this occasion differed
considerably from the written instructions which had been given
to the Milanese envoys by Lodovico. During the interval, Belgio-
joso's despatches relating to the Treaty of Senlis, and announcing
the French king's fixed intention of undertaking an expedition
against Naples, had produced a sensible alteration in Lodovico's
policy. In the letter of the loth of May, the ambassadors were
desired to congratulate the Venetian Signory in the most cordial
terms on the conclusion of the league between Milan, the Pope,
and the Republic, and to dwell especially on the importance of
being in readiness to resist foreign invasions at this critical time
when the French monarch and the King of the Romans were
about to settle their differences. But when Beatrice herself
addressed the Signory, she insisted on the excellent relations of
Lodovico as Regent of Milan with both France and Germany,
and, after setting forth the pains which her lord had taken to
oppose the French expedition, laid Belgiojoso's latest despatch
before the Signory. In this missive the Milanese envoy informed
Lodovico of Charles the Eighth's intention to send an envoy
to Milan, Venice, and Rome, and seek the help of these
powers in carrying out his designs for the conquest of Naples.
Beatrice, addressing the Venetian Signory in her lord's name,
asked their advice as to the answer which he should give to
Beatrice d'Este 197
the French king, and ended by Informing them of his negotia-
tions with Maximilian for the investiture of the duchy of
Milan, which, she added, were already far advanced. After
some deliberation, the Signory returned a courteous but evasive
answer, begging the duchess to assure her husband of their most
friendly sentiments, but saying that the French king's proposals
required grave consideration, and that they must, first of all,
communicate with the Pope as head of the League.
At a second conference which the Doge had with the young
duchess on the ist of June, Beatrice, acting under Lodovico's
directions, laid stress on the fact that her husband as regent was
all-powerful in Milan, and could dispose of the treasure and
castles of Lombardy at his pleasure. The Doge understood by
this, as we learn from the secret records of the Venetian Govern-
ment, that the real aim of the duchess was to discover how far
the Republic was disposed to uphold Lodovico's claim to the
ducal title, but he merely returned a civil answer and repeated
his professions of friendship. (If Beatrice's mission, however,
secured no very tangible result from the wise and crafty Venetian,
her charms made a deep impression upon the old councillors,
who one and all marvelled at her wisdom and eloquence, and
grudged no pains or expense to give her pleasure.^ "No
honours," writes Cardinal Bembo, " were held too great for
these royal ladies, who in those joyous times had come to see
the city, nor was any kind of pleasure or generous liberality
lacking in the splendid fetes with which they were entertained
on this memorable occasion." As for Beatrice herself, she was
enchanted with the beauties of Venice and the courtesy of her
hosts, and longed to see and hear all the wonders of the famous
city. The greater part of these days was spent in visiting
the chief sights of the place the great Dominican and
Franciscan churches, S. Zanipolo with the tombs of the doges
and the Gothic shrine of S. Maria Gloriosa with Giovanni
Bellini's newly painted Madonnas in all their radiant loveliness,
the graceful Renaissance buildings of S. Maria dei Miracoli and
the Scuola di S. Marco, which the Lombardi had lately finished.
Like all royal visitors, the duchesses were conducted over the
arsenal, which Commines justly calls the finest thing of the
198 Beatrice d'Este
kind in the whole world, and were shown not only the fleet
of a hundred ships in port, but the galleys in course of construc-
tion, the men making the oars, the women and children at work
on the sails and ropes, the sulphur and saltpetre mills, and the
splendid armoury, #11 enclosed within lofty walls, and guarded
by twin towers crowned with the winged lion. And they saw
what was indeed one of the wonders of the world the glorious
front of St. Mark's just as we see it in Gentile Bellini's great
picture, with the many domes and myriads of pillars, the
glittering mosaics and famous bronze horses, and the crimson
standards floating from the three tall Venetian masts on the
Piazza. We are not told whether Beatrice, like her sister Isabella
d'Este, ascended the Campanile to enjoy the wonderful prospect
over the lagoons, but we know that she went to hear the singing
of the Augustinian nuns, a community of noble Venetian maidens
as famous for the many scandals attached to their society as
for the perfection of their musical services. Above all things
in Venice, the duchesses admired the magnificent pile of the
ducal palace and the noble mural paintings on which the
Bellini and their fellow-artists were at work in the Great Hall,
a sight of which the great fire of the sixteenth century has
deprived future generations.
But the most splendid ffae given in Beatrice's honour was the
banquet, ball, and torchlight procession that were held on Thurs-
day in the ducal palace. That same morning the duchesses
attended mass in state at St. Mark's, and by the Doge's request
the Milanese choir took part in the service. Beatrice's letters
to her husband give a full account of the day's festivities
"MOST EXCELLENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS LoRD,MY DEAREST HUSBAND,
" To continue my relation of what is happening
here day by day, I must now inform you that this morning
my illustrious mother, Don Alfonso, Madonna Anna, and I,
with all our company, set out for St. Mark's, where the Prince
invited both us and our singers to assist at mass and see the
Treasury. But before reaching St. Mark's, we landed at the
Rialto, and went on foot up those streets which are called
the Merceria, where we saw the shops of spices and silks and
Beatrice d'Este 199
other merchandise, all in fair order and excellent both in quality
and in the great quantity and variety of goods for sale. And
of other crafts there was also a goodly display, so much so that
we stopped constantly to look at now one thing, now at another,
and were quite sorry when \ve reached St. Mark's. Here our
trumpets sounded from a loggia in front of the church, and we
found the prince, who advanced to meet us at the doors of St.
Mark's, and placing himself as before, between my illustrious
mother and myself, led us to the high altar, where we found
the priest already vested. There we knelt down with the
prince and said the confession, and then took the seats prepared
for us and heard mass, which the priest and his assistants sang
with great solemnity, and our singers did their part, and their
singing greatly pleased both the Prince and all who were present,
especially that of Cordier, who always takes great pains to do
honour to your Highness. After mass, we accompanied the
Prince to see the Treasury, but had the greatest difficulty in
the world to get in, because of the crowds of people who were
assembled there, as well as in the streets, although every one
tried to make room for us, even the Prince crying out to try
and clear the way. But at last the Prince himself was forced
to retire on account of the great pressure of the crowd, and left
us to enter with only a few others, and even then we had the
greatest difficulty to get in. Once safely inside the Treasury
we saw everything, which was a great pleasure, for there was
an infinite quantity of most beautiful jewels and some magnificent
cups and chalices. When we came out of the Treasury, we
went on the Piazza of St. Mark, among the shops of the
Ascensiontide fair which is still going on, and found such a
magnificent show of beautiful Venetian glass, that we were
fairly bewildered, and were obliged to remain there for a long
time. And as we walked along from shop to shop, every one
turned to look at the jewels which I wore in the velvet cap on
my head, and on the vest embroidered with the towers of the
Port of Genoa, and especially at the krge diamond which I wore
at my breast. And I heard people saying one to the other
'That is the wife of Signor Lodovico. Look what fine
jewels she wears ! What splendid rubies and diamonds she has 1 *
2OO Beatrice d'Este
" At last, since the hour was already late, we went- home to
dine, and by this time it was nearly two o'clock.*
"Venice, May 30, I493-"
The day's labours, however, were hardly begun, and in her
next letter Beatrice resumes her story
" After dinner and a little rest, a large company of gentle-
men came to conduct us to the^ta at the palace. We travelled
in barges, and, when we reached the palace, were conducted into
the Great Hall. There a grand tribunal was erected at one end
of the hall, in two divisions running the whole length of the
walls, and in the centre of the hall a square stage was placed for
dancing and theatrical representations. We ascended the
tribunal, where we found a number of noble Venetian ladies,
one hundred and thirty-two in all, richly adorned with jewels.
On the wing to our right as we entered sat the Lord of the
Company of * the Potenti ' * a group of the famous company of
La Calza, which included the wealthiest and most illustrious
youths of Venice ' seated on a throne under a canopy of gold
brocade, with Don Alfonso as a member of the company on his
right hand. We took our seat on the left wing, and sent
Madonna Anna to take her place by the Lord of the Company.
The Prince was not present on this occasion, being too old and
infirm to take part in such fatiguing entertainments ; but a
certain Messer Constantino Privolo occupied his place, as the
oldest member of the Signory. The chiefs of the festa led out
several ladies to dance, two or three at a time, and then came to
ask if some of our ladies and gentlemen would not also take part
in the dance. So, to show our friendly intentions, we agreed,
and Conte Girolamo da Figino and a few others danced. Of
the women, the ,wife of Count Francesco Sforza, the daughters
Messer Sigismondo and of Messer Raynaldo, and a few others,
also danced. During the dancing, by reason of the excessive
heat of the room, my head began to ache, and as my throat also
felt a little sore, I left the hall and retired to rest in another
room for an hour. When I returned, it was already dark. A
hundred lighted torches hung from the ceiling, and a represen-
tation was given on the stage, in which two big animals with
* E, Motta, op. cit.y p. 390, etc.
Beatrice d'Este 201
large horns appeared, ridden by two figures, bearing golden balls
and cups wreathed with verdure. These two were followed by
a triumphal chariot, in which Justice sat enthroned, holding a
drawn sword in her hand inscribed with the motto Concordia,
and wreathed with palms and olive. In the same car was an
ox with his feet resting on a figure of St. Mark and the adder.
This, as your Highness will readily understand, was meant to
signify the League, and as in all their discourses to me the
Prince and these gentlemen speak of your Highness as the
author of peace and tranquillity of Italy, so in this representation
they placed your head on the triumphal arch above the others.
Behind the chariot came two serpents, ridden by two other
youths, dressed like the first riders. All these figures mounted
the tribunal in the centre of the hall, and danced round Justice,
and after dancing for a while, their balls exploded, and out of
the flames, an ox, a lion, an adder, and a Moor's head suddenly
appeared, and all of these danced together round the figure of
Justice. Then the banquet followed, and the different dishes
and confetti were carried in to the sound of trumpets, accom-
panied 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 and those of your Highness ; then St.
Mark, the adder, and the diamond, and many other objects, 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. Among other things,
I saw a figure of the Pope surrounded by ten cardinals, which
was said to be a prophecy of the ten cardinals whom the Pope
is going to make to-morrow ! The banquet was spread out
upon the stage, and the dishes were handed round with many
of these triumphs, and the Pope and the Duke and Duchess of
Milan fell to my share. When the banquet was finished, we
had another representation, in which the two youths on serpents
played the chief part. A messenger arrived, riding on a
triumphal car in a boat, bearing a letter in a packet, which he
presented to the Lord of the Company, who opened it, and, after
reading the letter, handed it back to him 5 then he entered the
202 Beatrice d'Este
boat again and left the hall, followed by the others on their
serpents. This last figure was said to be a herald who had
been sent- to announce the proclamation of the League, and a
little while afterwards the triumphal car of the League, as
described above, appeared again, followed by four giants. The
first one carried a horn of foliage and fruit, the two next bore
two clubs with gold and silver balls, or catapults, while the last
carried a cornucopia, similar to that borne by the first giant in
his hand. Then came four animals in the shape of Chimeras
ridden by four naked Moors, sounding tambourines and cymbals
or clapping their hands. They were followed by four triumphal
cars, bearing figures of Diana, Death, the mother of Meleager,
and several armed men four or five persons in each chariot, the
whole intended to represent the story of Meleager, which was
fully set forth, from his birth to his death, with interludes of
dances. The whole fable would take too long to repeat, but
Gian Giacomo Gillino will be able to recite it from beginning
to end, if you care to hear it. This was the conclusion of the
whole festa. After this we entered our boats, and the clock struck
one before we got home. The bishop of Como was sitting by
me all the evening, and his infinite weariness at the length of
the performance, and his dislike of the great heat in that crowded
hall, made me laugh as I never laughed before. And in order
to tease him and have more fun, I kept on telling him that there
was still more to come, and that the acting would go on till to-
morrow morning ; and it was most amusing to see him stretch
himself first on one leg, then on the other, and to hear him
complain, < My legs are worn out. When will this festa ever
come to an end ? Never again will I come to another/ I
really think that his sighs and groans gave me as much pleasure
as the festa itself. When at length we reached home, I supped
frugally and then went to bed, as it was already three o'clock.
The gown that I wore after dinner was of crimson and gold
watered silk, with my jewelled cap on my head, and the rope of
pearls with the Marone as a pendant. I commend myself to
your Highness. Your Excellency's most affectionate wife,
" BEATRICE SFORTIA VISCOMTIS. *'
** Venetinu, May 31, 1493."
* Motta e Molmenti, oft. at.
Beatrice d'Este 203
On the back of this letter are the words
" To the most illustrious Prince and excellent Lord, my
dearest husband, the Lord Lodovico Maria Sfortia, etc, UbL
sit. cito. cito"
On Saturday, tke ist of June, Beatrice wrote another letter,
in which she describes her visit to the Great Council and final
interview with the Doge, but makes no mention of political
affairs, which were no doubt reserved for a separate despatch.
" To-day after dinner," she begins, " we went to the palace,
honourably attended by many Venetian gentlemen, to visit the
Great Council, and were conducted into the Great Hall. Here in
the centre of the hall we found the Prince, who had descended
from his rooms to meet us, and who accompanied us to the
Tribunal, where we sat in our usual order, and the Council began
to vote by ballot for elections to two different offices. When
this was over, my lady mother thanked the Prince for all the
honours which had been paid us, and took her leave. When
she had finished speaking, I did the same ; then, following the
instructions which you had given me in your letter, I offered
myself as a daughter to obey all the Doge's commands. The
Prince replied that he needed no thanks, for he had only done
what might be expected from a father for a beloved daughter,
excusing himself if anything had been left undone, and begging
I would not impute what was lacking to him, but to the failure
of his servants to discharge their duties, and assuring me once
more that his will could not be better disposed towards me.
Then he once more expressed the paternal love which he
cherished towards our most illustrious duke, towards your High-
ness and myself, and again placed himself and his Government at
the disposal of your Excellency, with many very generous expres-
sions, begging me to salute your Highness and beg you to be of
good courage, and tell you that the Signory accepted all my offers,
and would, if need be, avail themselves gratefully of your help.
After this, I replied again in similar terms, and he again desired
me to greet you warmly from him, and beg you to take good
care of your own health and person. Our councillors were then
presented to him, and Monsignore da Como returned thanks very
courteously and repeated our expressions of gratitude, as was
204 Beatrice d'Este
convenient, and then took leave. He also replied in suitable
terms to all that the Prince had said to me, which speech I will
not repeat here, for fear of wearying your Excellency.
" The Prince then rose and accompanied us to the foot of the
great staircase, and here shook hands and left us. After that we
went to visit the Queen of Cyprus at Murano, where she received
us with great honour and gave us a beautiful entertainment.
We also visited the shrine of St. Lucia, and so ends my tale for
to-day. To-morrow morning, by the grace of God, we hope t
set out on our journey at eight o'clock. I commend myself tc
your Excellency.
" Your most illustrious lordship's wife,
"BEATRICE SFORTIA.
" Venice, ist of June,
And so, with a pleasant trip across the sunny waters of th
lagoon and a festa in the beautiful gardens of Caterina Cornarc
that royal lady who never neglected an opportunity of showir
her friendship for the house of Este, Beatrice's week at Venic
came to an end. The success of her visit had been complete,
and both the Milanese ambassador and Niccolo de' Negri wer-
eloquent on the splendour of the ffoes held in her honour an
the favourable impression which she had made on these grav^
and reverend signers.
The secretary especially, in his letters to Lodovico, dwells with
complacency on the admiration which the young duchess's gowns
and jewels, and still more her own charms, had excited amon^
the Venetians. " On every occasion the duchess appeared clad
in new and beautiful robes and glittering jewels. Her jewels,
indeed, were the wonder of the whole town. But I shall not be
wrong if I say that the finest jewel of all is herself my dear and
most excellent Madonna, whose gracious ways and charming
manners filled all the people of Venice with the utmost delight
and enthusiasm, so that your Highness may well count himself
what he is the happiest and most fortunate prince in the whole
world."
CHAPTER XVIII
Return of Beatrice to Milan Visit of Duke Ercole and Alfonso to Pavia
Death of Duchess Leonora Beatrice's camora and Niccolo da Cor-
reggio's fantasia dei wind Marriage of Bianca Maria Sforza to
Maximilian, King of the Romans, celebrated at Milan Letter of
Beatrice to Isabella d'Este Wedding fetes ind journey of the bride to
Innsbruck Maximilian's relations with his" wife Bianca's future life.
'
'^N the 2nd of June, Beatrice and her mother left Venice and
^turned to Ferrara, where she once more embraced her infant
im and enjoyed a few days' rest after all her fetes and journey-
mgs. The yth of June was spent at Belriguardo, and from this
t0 ivourite villa the young duchess wrote to her sister, expressing
; er regret that she would be unable to visit Mantua on her
feturn to Milan.
" I would most willingly come to see you at Mantua, as I had
hoped to do, and as you know I still desire, and should very much
enjoy a few days with you in the country, but my husband is
exceedingly anxious for my return. So I must beg your High-
ness to let me enjoy a sight of you in the bucentaur, and not to
insist upon my landing this time."
Isabella complied with her sister's request, and went to meet
the duchess at Revere, where Beatrice stopped for a few hours
on her way up the Po, to join her husband at Pavia. Lodovico
was naturally impatient, not only to see his wife again, but to
hear from her own lips all that had happened at Venice. And
he on his part had much to tell her of the news which Belgiojoso
had brought from France, and of the despatches which he received
from Erasmo Brasca in Germany.
The summer months were spent in the Castello of Pavia,
205
206 Beatrice d'Este
where Beatrice nursed her husband in a slight attack of fever,
and afterwards received a visit from her father and brother. They
arrived on the 25th of August, bringing with them a troop of
actors to perform the Menachmi and some of the other comedies
which had pleased Lodovico so much at Ferrara. Duke Ercole
himself, as usual, took keen interest in these theatricals, and before
he left home sent to borrow two complete Turkish costumes
and turbans from the Marquis of Mantua, in order to supply-
deficiencies in his actors' wardrobe. Three days after his arrival,
Borso da Correggio, a young nephew of Niccolo, who had travelled
to Pavia with the duke, sent the following note to give his cousin
Isabella the latest news of her family :
" MOST 4LLUSTRIOUS SlSTER AND HONOURED LADY,
" We arrived on the 25th at Pavia, and were received
by these excellent lords and ladies with the usual formalities.
We find both of the duchesses well and happy, one of them,
indeed her of Milan expects the birth of another child shortly,
but our own duchess is as gay and joyous as ever. On the 2yth
the comedy of The Captives was acted, and the performance
went off very well. To-day The Merchant is to be given, and
will, I hope, prove equally successful. To-morrow we are to
have a third. Our way of living is as follows. Early in the
morning we go out riding. After dinner we play at scartino, or
else at c raising dead men' and 'FimperialeJ and other card
games, till it is bed-time. The players are, as a rule, the Duke
and Duchess of Bari together, Ambrosio da Corte, and some third
man, whoever may happen to be present. To-day your father
the duke, Don Alfonso, and Messer Galeaz Visconti are playing
at pall-mall against Messer Galeaz Sanseverino, Signor Girolamo
Tuttavilla, and myself. The Duchess of Milan does not join us
in these games, and only appears at the theatricals. The Duke
of Bari is more devoted to the duchess than ever, and is constantly
caressing and embracing her. My lord your father is altogether
intent on the comedies. When they are ended, hunting-parties
will begin, and we shall all be ready for the quails."
These amusements were unexpectedly interrupted by the
news of Duchess Leonora's serious illness, a gastric affection
Beatrice d'Este 207
which ended fatally on the nth of October. The death of this
virtuous and admirable lady was deeply lamented both by the
members of her immediate family circle and by the subjects to
whom she had endeared herself by her goodness of heart. Funeral
orations in her honour were delivered both at Mantua and Milan,
and Ariosto pronounced a panegyric in verse over her grave.
The young Duchess Beatrice, who had been with her mother at
Venice so lately, wept bitter tears, and for several weeks could
scarcely be persuaded to leave her room. Some anxiety was felt
respecting her sister Isabella, who, after being married for three
years, was now expecting the birth of her first child, and during
ten days the news was concealed from her. But by the end of
that time the Marchesa began to be uneasy, and to inquire why
she received no letter from Ferrara. Soon the sad news reached
her from Milan, " whether out of mere imprudence or by some
malicious design, we cannot discover," wrote one of her ladies to
the absent marquis. Isabella, however, showed her usual
prudence and self-control. After the first burst of grief, she
bore her loss with fortitude, and found distraction in putting
herself, her rooms, and her household into mourning. In her
anxiety to appear elegant, even in her grief, we find her asking
Beatrice to send her some of the white lawn veils that were
made in Milan, since she could find none to her taste in Mantua.
And at the same time, she begged one of her friends at the
Milanese court to give her minute details as to the colour and
material of the mourning worn by the duchess. On the 25th of
October, her correspondent replied
<c Although I have not yet been able to see the Duchess of
Bari, since she still remains entirely in her room, yet, in order to
satisfy your Highness, I have made inquiries as to the kind of
mourning that she wears. Her Excellency is clad in a robe of
black cloth, with sleeves of the same, and a very long mantle, also
of black cloth, and wears on her head a black silk cap with
muslin folds, which are neither grey nor yellow, but pure white.
She hardly ever leaves her room, and Signor Lodovico spends
most of his time with her, and they two and Messer Galeaz have
their meals alone in their rooms." *
A fortnight later, Beatrice roused herself from her grief to help
* Luzio-Reiiiei. 0A cit. 3 pp. 380-382.
208 Beatrice d'Este
her husband in the preparations for his niece Bianca Sforza's
wedding to the Emperor Maximilian. The death of the old
Emperor Frederic III., who breathed his last at Linz on the igth
of August, and the elevation of his son to the imperial throne,
had hastened the development of Lodovico's plans. The King
of the Romans, as he was still called, until he could be solemnly
invested with the imperial insignia, now proposed to send am-
bassadors to Milan, before the end of the year, to solemnize his
espousals with the Princess Bianca and bring his bride across the
Alps to Innsbriick. The date of the wedding was fixed for
the last week in November, and Lodovico prepared to celebrate
the event with fitting splendour. The widowed Duchess Bona
was transported with joy at the prospect of this exalted alliance,
and forgave the Moro all his sins in her delight at seeing her
daughter become an empress. On her part, Beatrice prepared
to lay aside her mourning for the occasion, and appear in a new
and wonderful robe at her niece's wedding.
Accordingly she wrote to Isabella on the I2th of November,
asking her sister's leave to make use of a design for a new camora y
which had been suggested by Niccolo da Correggio.
" I cannot remember if your Highness has yet carried out
the idea of that pattern of linked tracery which Messer Niccolo
da Correggio suggested to you when we were last together. If
you have not yet ordered the execution of this design, I am
thinking of having his invention carried out in massive gold, on
a camora of purple velvet, to wear on the day of Madonna
Bianca's wedding, since my husband desires the whole court to
lay aside mourning for that one day and to appear in colours.
This being the case, I cannot refrain from wearing colours on
this occasion, although the heavy loss we have had in our dear
mother's death has left me with little care for new inventions.
But since this is necessary, I have decided to make a trial of this
pattern, if your Highness has not yet made use of it, and send
the present courier, begging you not to detain him, but to let me
know at once if you have yet tried this new design or not." *
The courier to Mantua brought back word that the
marchioness had not yet made use of Niccolo's invention, and
begged that her sister would feel herself at liberty to adopt the idea
* Lvmo-Remei, oj>. *., p. s^ 1 ?.
Beatrice d'Este 209
and " satisfy her appetite." Beatrice ordered the camora to be
put in hand without delay, and Messer Niccolo had the satisfac-
tion of seeing the duchess appear in this robe at the imperial
wedding. The subject is of special interest, because this same
pattern is repeated in the sleeves of Ambrogie de Predis' portrait
of Lodovico's fair young daughter Bianca, which must have been
painted about this time, and was probably adopted at the wish of
Beatrice, who was fondly attached to her youthful step-daughter.
Again, this same linked tracery or "fantasia dei vind" as it is
called in Beatrice and her sister's letters, is to be seen both in the
decorations that adorn the ceiling of a hall in the Castello
of Milan, and on the vaulting of the sacristy in St. Maria delle
Grazie. And as Mr. Muntz * has lately pointed out, this same
interlaced ornament, or vinci, in which the Belgian professor, M.
Errera, sees a play upon the great painter's name, forms the
motive of the famous circular engravings bearing the words
" Academia Leonardi Vind" which have given rise to so many con-
jectures as to the existence of that mysterious institution. All
these repetitions of the pattern invented by Niccolo da Correggio,
and adopted by Beatrice d'Este for her wedding robe, show
how fashionable the fantasia del vinci became at the Milanese
court, and lead us to imagine that Leonardo himself may have
had some part in the original design.
On the 5th of November, Lodovico v/rote a note to Vige-
vano, where he and Beatrice had retired after Duchess Leonora's
death, informing his father-in-law that he was on the point of
returning to Milan to receive the imperial ambassadors, Caspar
Melchior, Bishop of Brixen, and Jean Bontemps. These
important personages arrived on the 7th, and were met by
Lodovico and his nephew, the Duke of Milan, at the Porta
Orientale, opposite the newly erected Lazzaretto, and conducted
in state to their rooms in the Castello, Here the German
envoys were loaded with gifts, and magnificently entertained
during the next three weeks. The nuptial ceremony was put
off a week, to allow time for the arrival of the special
envoys whom at the last moment Charles VIII. had decided
to send, to do homage to his allies, and finally took place on
* " Leonardo da Vinci," by Eugene Muntz, vol. i. p. 226.
P
2i o Beatrice d'Este
St. Andrew's festival, the 30th of November, in the Duomo of
Milan.
The street decorations on this occasion surpassed anything
which had been seen before ; the doors and windows were
wreathed with ivy, laurel, and myrtle boughs, and the walls hung
with tapestries and brocades embroidered with the armorial
bearings of the different royal houses connected with the Sforza
family. The adder of the Visconti, the cross of Savoy, and the
imperial eagle were seen side by side with the mulberry-tree
and other favourite devices of the Moro and his race, while all
manner of strange and fantastic emblems were introduced by
private owners, and one house exhibited the effigy of a crocodile,
" a creature never before seen," remarks the historian, Tristan
Calco, " in our city/* But the most striking feature of the whole
was the triumphal arch erected on the piazza in front of the
Castello, and, by Lodovico's orders, crowned with Leonardo's
model for the colossal equestrian statue of the great captain,
Francesco Sforza. This clay horse, to which the Florentine
master had devoted so many years of arduous labour, and which
had cost him such infinite thought and care, was now at length
completed, and the Milanese poets with one voice celebrated the
praise of Lodovico, who had ordered the work,
" Per memoria del padre un gran colosso $ "
and the fame of Leonardo, whose rare genius had produced this
unrivalled statue
*' Guarde pur come e bello quel cavallo
Leonardo Vinci a farli sol s*e mosso
Statura bon pictore, e bon geometra
Un tanto ingegno rar dal ciel s'impetra."
So Baldassarre Taccone sang in his poem on Bianca's wedding,
while a greater scholar, Lancinus Curtius, recorded the comple-
tion of the long-expected work in the following epigram :
" Expectant animi, molemque futuram
Suspiciunt ,- fluat aes 5 vox erit : Ecce deus I "
The court poet Taccone waxes eloquent over the splendour
of the procession, led by Messer Galeazzo, captain-general of the
Beatrice cTEste 211
armies, and the beauty of the bride, whose tall and slender figure
showed to advantage in her gorgeous apparel, with her long
fair hair flowing over her shoulders, as she rode through the
streets bowing in response to the enthusiastic cheers of the
crowd. He paints the marvellous scene inside the Duomo,
where the venerable Archbishop of Milan sang mass in the
presence of the most brilliant assembly ever seen within its
walls, and the firing of guns and ringing of bells marked the
moment when the Bishop of Brixen placed the imperial crown
on the bride's head. Taccone describes the glittering array of
chandeliers and vases, designed after Signer Lodovico's favourite
antique fashion, which adorned the high altar, the blaze of a
thousand wax lights which illumined the majestic choir, the
sweet perfumes of incense and celestial harmonies of the music
that filled the air. And, like a true courtier, he contrives to
make everything, decorations, music, and processions, redound
to the praise of the great Moro, the author of all the glories
of Milan.
But we have an equally minute and perhaps more interesting
description of the scene from Beatrice's own pen, in a letter
which she sent to her sister Isabella from Vigevano on the 2gth
of December. The marchioness, whose state of health prevented
her from being present on the important occasion, had begged
her sister to send her full accounts of the ceremony, but, owing
to the fites which followed the wedding and the journey of the
court as far as Como with the imperial bride, a whole month
elapsed before Beatrice was able to fulfil her promise.
"MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LADY AND DEAREST SlSTER,
U I told you some time ago that I would let you
have a full account of the triumphant display held in Milan,
at the marriage of her Most Serene Highness the Queen of the
Romans, and I certainly desired the chancellor to send you this
account. But since you write that it has never reached you,
the fault must rest with the said chancellor, and you must
excuse me for this apparent neglect.
" On the last day of the past month the nuptials took place,
and in preparation for this solemnity, a portico was erected in
212 Beatrice d'Este
front of the Chiesa Maggiore of the city of Milan, with pillars
on either side, supporting a purple canopy, embroidered with
doves. Within the church, the aisles were hung with brocade
as far as the choir, in front of which a triumphal arch had been
erected on massive pillars. This was entirely painted, and bore
in the centre an effigy of Duke Francesco on horseback, in his
ducal robes, with the ducal arms and those of the King of the
Romans above. This triumphal arch was square in shape, and
ornamented with pictures of antique feasts, and the imperial
insignia and the arms of my husband were placed on the side
towards the high altar. Beyond this arch were steps that led
up to a great tribunal erected in front of the high altar. On
the left was a small tribunal from which the Gospel was sung,
hung with gold brocade ; on the right was another, adorned with
silver brocade ; and behind these tribunals were seats ranged in
order and covered with draperies, for the councillors and other
feudatories and gentlemen. In the extreme corners of the choir
were two raised stages, one for the singers, the other for the
trumpeters, and in the space between were seated the doctors
of law and medicine, with their birettas and capes lined with
fur, each according to his rank. The altar itself was sumptuously
adorned with all the silver vases and images of saints which you
saw in the Rochetta when you were at Milan.
"The street leading to the Duomo was beautifully decorated.
There were columns wreathed with ivy all the way from the
bastions of the Castello to the end of the piazza, and between the
columns were festoons of boughs bearing antique devices, and
round shields with the imperial arms and those of our house,
and Sforzesca draperies were hung above the street all the way
from the Castello to the Duomo. Many of the doors had their
pillars wreathed with ivy and green boughs, so that the season
seemed to be May-time rather than November. On both sides
of the street, the walls were hung with satin, excepting those
houses which have lately been adorned with frescoes, and which
are no less beautiful than tapestries.
"On the morning of the day, at about nine o'clock, the
reverend and magnificent ambassadors of the King of the
Romans rode to the church, honourably attended by the Marchese
Beatrice d'Este 213
Ermes, the Count of Caiazzo, Count Francesco Sforza, the
Count of Melzo, and Messer Lodovico da Fojano, and took their
seats on the grand tribunal, close to the small tribunal covered
with cloth of gold, on the left as you go in, this being counted
the most honourable place, as it is the Gospel side. At ten
o'clock, her serene Highness the Queen ascended the triumphal
car which our dearest mother of blessed memory gave me when
I was at Ferrara, and which was drawn on this occasion by four
snow-white horses. The queen wore a vest of crimson satin,
embroidered in gold thread and covered with jewels. Her train
was immensely long, and the sleeves were made to look like two
wings, which had a very fine appearance. On her head she
wore an ornament of magnificent diamonds and pearls. And to
add to the solemnity of the occasion, Messer Galeazzo Pallavicino
carried the train, and Count Conrado de' Lando and Count
Manfredo Torniello each of them supported one of the sleeves.
Before the bride walked all the chamberlains, courtiers, officials,
gentlemen, feudatories, and last of all the councillors. The
queen seated herself in the centre of the car, the Duchess
Isabella being on her right, and myself on her left. The said
duchess wore a camora of crimson satin, with gold cords looped
over it, as in my grey cloth camora^ which you must remember ;
and I wore my purple velvet camora, with the pattern of the links
worked in massive gold and green and white enamel, about six
inches deep on the front and back of my bodice, and on both sleeves.
The camora was lined with cloth of gold, and with it I wore a
girdle of St. Francis made of large pearls, with a beautiful clear-
cut ruby for clasp. On the other side of the chariot were
Madonna Fiordelisa " an illegitimate daughter of Duke Fran-
cesco Sforza, who occupied rooms in the Castello, " Madonna
Bianca, the wife of Messer Galeazzo ; and the wife of Count
Francesco Sforza. The chariot was followed by the ambassadors
who have been sent by his Most Christian Majesty of France
to honour these nuptials, and after them came the envoys of the
different Italian powers, according to their rank, then the lord
duke and my husband on horseback. These were followed by
about twelve chariots containing the noblest maidens of Milan,
who had been especially chosen and invited to attend the solemnity,
214 Beatrice d'Este
and the ladies of the queen, all wearing the same livery, with
tan-coloured cameras and mantles of bright green satin. Both
the Duchess Isabella's ladies and mine were riding in these
chariots. And as we drove to the Duomo in this procession, all
the shops and windows on the road were hung with satin
draperies and filled with men and women, and it was impossible
to count the crowds of people who thronged every part of the
streets.
" When we reached the gates of the Duomo, we alighted from
the chariots and found Madonna Beatrice waiting to receive the
bride, with a number of noble ladies, and we proceeded as far as
the steps of the tribunal, where the ambassadors of the King of
the Romans advanced to meet the queen, whom they con-
ducted to her place on the great tribunal in front of the high
altar. Then we all took our proper places that is to say, the
ambassadors mounted the tribunal covered with cloth of gold,
the queen was led to the tribunal of silver brocade, between the
French ambassadors, while behind them were seated the envoys
of the other powers, the duke and my husband, Duchess Isabella
and myself. The other honourable relatives of the bride
occupied a lower range of seats, and the central part of the
tribunal was filled with a large number of ladies. On the queen's
side, the councillors, feudatories, and other courtiers, officials, and
chamberlains occupied the remainder of the seats. As for the
rest of the people, the church, which is a very large one, could
not contain them all
" When we were all in our places, the Most Reverend Arch-
bishop of Milan entered in full vestments, with the priests in
ordinary, % and began to celebrate mass with the greatest pomp
and solemnity, to the sound of trumpets, flutes, and organ-music,
together with the voices of the chapel choir, who adapted their
singing to Monsignore's time. At the singing of the Gospel,
two of the priests in ordinary of the cathedral bore the incense,
the one to the ambassadors of the King Maximilian,* and the
other to the queen, the duke and duchess, and my husband and
myself, who were opposite. The Pax was given, when the
right time came, by the Bishop of Piacenza to the king's repre-
sentatives, and to us others who sat on the other tribunal by the
Beatrice d'Este 215
Bishop of Como* After mass had been celebrated with the
greatest solemnity, the queen rose from her place between the
ambassadors of his Most Christian Majesty, and, accompanied
by the duke and my husband, Duchess Isabella and myself, and
followed by all the princes of the blood, advanced to the altar.
The ambassadors of King Maximilian advanced on their side,
and we all stood before the altar, where Monsignore the Arch-
bishop pronounced the marriage service, and the Bishop of Brixen
first gave the ring to the queen, and then, assisted by the arch-
bishop, placed on her head the crown, which act was accom-
panied with great blowing of trumpets, ringing of bells, and
firing of guns and shells. And the said crown was of gold, en-
riched with rubies, pearls, and diamonds, set in the form of
arches meeting in the shape of a cross, and on the top of all was
a figure of the globe, crowned with a small imperial cross, after
the pattern given by the ambassadors, in obedience to the king's
directions.
u After this, every one walked in procession to the gates of
the Duomo, the above-named feudatories bearing the train and
sleeves. Then the women, as well as the men, mounted horses,
and a baldacchino of white damask lined with ermine was pre-
pared, under which the queen rode, preceded by the ambassadors
and the whole court, with the duke and my husband at their
head. Next to the queen rode the ambassadors of her husband
the king, the Bishop of Brixen being on the left hand, outside
the baldacchlnoy and so the long procession moved towards the
Castello. All the clergy of the city of Milan, richly apparelled
and very devout in appearance, were drawn up between the
Castello and Duomo, both on the way thither and on the return
journey. Messer Zoan Francesco Pallavicino and Messer
Francesco Bernardo Visconti acted as the queen's staff-bearers,
from the Duomo to the Castello. The baldacchino was carried
all the way by doctors robed in the manner described above,
and behind the queen rode the duchess and myself, followed
by the relatives, courtiers, and invited guests, all on horseback.
Then came the ladies of the queen, those of the duchess, and
my own, all sumptuously clad and making a splendid show, and
finest of* all was the queen, with the imperial crown on her
2i 6 Beatrice d'Este
head. Nothing but gold and silver brocade was to be seen, and
the least well-dressed persons wore crimson velvet, so that the
costumes were a marvellous sight, besides the infinite number of
gold chains worn by knights and others. All those who were
present agreed that they had never seen so glorious a spectacle.
And the ambassador of Russia, who was among the spectators,
declared that he had never seen such extraordinary pomp. The
nuncio of His Holiness the Pope said the same, as well as the
French ambassador, who declared that, although he had been
present at the Pope's coronation and at that of his own king
and queen, he had never seen as splendid a sight. Your High-
ness may judge from this how full of pleasure and glory these
nuptials have been. All the people shouted for joy, and so at
length we reached the Castello of Milan, where the procession
broke up and the crowd dispersed. I wished for your presence
many times during the whole ceremony, but since this desire of
mine could not be satisfied, I thought I would give you this account
with my own hand. Commending myself to your Highness
as ever,
" \ our sister >
"BEATRIX StoRTiA VICECOMES ESTENSIS DUCHJSA BRI.*
Vigevano, December 39, 1493.
"To my illustrious lady and most dear sister the lady Isabella dj
Gonzaga Estensis, Marchionissae Mantua?."
The splendours which Beatrice describes with so much
enthusiasm did not end with the bride's return to the Castello.
Here Bianca's magnificent trousseau was exhibited before the
admiring eyes of the ladies of Milan. It was valued at 100,000
ducats, and included not only rich clothes and costly jewels, but
gold and silver plate for use in the royal chapel and on the dinner-
table, altar fittings and bed-hangings, mirrors and perfumes, and
a vast store of fine linen, carpets, saddles and horse-trappings of
the most sumptuous description. The court poet goes on to tell
how Duchess Bona welcomed her daughter with tears of joy,
and how during the next two days high festival was held in
the Castello. There was a tournament, in which the "gran
Sanseverini " once more proved their valour, and Mcsser Galeaz
* Luzio-Renier, op. cit. t p. 388.
Beatrice d'Este 217
as usual bore off the prize, followed by much feasting and
dancing, and a grand display of fireworks. " So many torches and
lights illumined the darkness of night, that all Milan blazed as
if the city were on fire."
On the third day after the marriage ceremony, the queen
started on her journey across the Alps, attended by Maximilian's
ambassadors and a numerous suite, which included her brother,
Ermes Sforza ; her cousin, Francesco Sforza ; the Archbishop of
Milan ; the poet Gaspare Visconti ; and the great jurist Giasone
del Maino, as well as Erasmo Brasca, who was to resume his
post of envoy to the King of the Romans. The Duke and
Duchess of Milan, Lodovico and Beatrice, and Bona of Savoy all
accompanied Bianca as far as Como, where the bishop and clergy
came out to meet her, and conducted her in state to the cathedral.
After a solemn thanksgiving service, at which all the court assisted,
the queen and the German ambassadors spent the night in the
episcopal palace, while the other princes and princesses were
entertained in the houses of distinguished courtiers in the town,
On the following morning the bride took leave of her family,
and embarked on a richly decorated barge fitted out by the royal
citizens of Torno and rowed by forty sailors, while her suite
followed in thirty smaller boats, painted and decked out with
laurel boughs and tapestries. Niccolo da Correggio, whose
daughter Leonora was one of the ladies chosen to accompany
Bianca on her journey, has described the beauty of the scene
that morning, the blue waters of the lake covered with glittering
sails, the shores crowded with people in holiday attire, and the .
joyous sounds of music that filled the air as the gay cortege left
Como. The bridal party reached Bellagio in safety, and after
spending the night at the Marchesino Stanga's castle, started on
their journey towards the upper end of the lake. But hardly
had they left the shore, than the weather changed and a violent
storm scattered the fleet in all directions. The poor young
queen and her ladies wept and cried aloud to God for mercy,
and their companions were scarcely less terrified. Only Giasone
del Maino preserved his composure and smiled at the terror
of the courtiers, who gave themselves up for lost, while he ex-
horted the frightened boatmen to keep their heads. Fortunately,
2i8 Beatrice d'Este
towards nightfall the tempest subsided, and after tossing on the
waves for several hours, the queen's barge with part of the fleet
managed to put back into Bellagio. The next day a more
prosperous start was made, and on the 8th of December the
party set off on horseback to cross the mountain passes. But
the hardships of the journey were not yet over. A rough mule-
track was the only road that led in those days over the Alps
that divided the Valtelline from the Tyrol, "that fearful and
cruel mountain of Nombray," as the Venetian chronicler calls
the pass now crossed by the Stelvio road. No wonder the sight
of those precipitous cliffs filled the Milanese ladies with terror,
and they shrank from exploring such barbarous regions in the
depth of winter. One maid of honour had to be left behind at
Gravedona, unable to bear the fatigues of the journey, and
Bianca herself complained bitterly to Erasmo Brasca of the hard-
ships which she had to endure. "The queen," wrote the
ambassador to Lodovico, " conducts herself well on the whole,
but often complains that I deceive her, by telling her, each morn-
ing when she mounts her horse, that she will not find the road so
rough to-day, and then, as ill luck will have it, it turns out to be
worse than ever." At length, however, on the 23rd of December,
the travellers reached Innsbrtick, and Bianca was kindly received
by Maximilian's uncle, the Archduke Sigismund of Austria, and
his wife, with whom she spent Christmas and beguiled the winter
days with dancing and games, while Erasmo Brasca went on
to meet the King of the Romans at Vienna. Even then some
weeks passed before this laggard bridegroom joined his newly
wedded wife, and Erasmo Brasca's mind was sorely perturbed
at his prolonged delays and excuses. Bianca, however, whose
childish mind was easily distracted, found plenty of amusement
in her new surroundings and wrote long and affectionate letters
to her uncle Lodovico, telling him how she and the Archduchess
Barbara had been dressing up their ladies a la Tedesca and (J la
Lombard^ and how the court painter, Ambrogio de Predis, who
had accompanied her from Milan to paint Maximilian's portrait^
had just made a picture of the archduchess, which greatly pleased
hen And she informs her uncle that the German princess had
sent to ask her for a portrait of Signer Lodovico, which she had
Beatrice d'Este 219
been very anxious to see and had studied with the greatest
interest.
Finally, on the gth of March, Maximilian arrived at the
castle of Hall, where his bride met him, and the marriage was
at length consummated, u to the confusion of all our enemies,"
as Brasca wrote triumphantly to his master on the following
morning. This union, in which Lodovico's friends and foes
alike acknowledged a master-stroke of successful diplomacy, was
not destined to prove a very happy one. From the first Maxi-
milian looked with critical eyes on this bride of twenty-one,
who was thirteen years younger than himself, and told Erasmo
Brasca that Bianca was quite as fair as his first wife, Mary of
Burgundy, but inferior in wisdom and good sense to that princess,
adding that perhaps she might improve in time. He treated
her kindly to begin with, and gratified her by the handsome
robes which he gave her in order that she might appear attired
in German fashion at her coronation. Before long, however,
he began to find fault with her extravagant habits, and complained
that she had spent 2000 florins, presented to her by the city of
Cologne, in one single day. Brasca himself felt obliged to re-
monstrate with her on her foolish tricks, especially for eating her
meals on the floor instead of at table, and other bad habits which
annoyed the emperor, while the violent friendship which she
made with one of her ladies, Violante by name, led to continual
intrigues and quarrels. Maximilian soon began to find her
presence wearisome, and to leave her mostly to herself, and
when he found that his hopes of an heir did not seem likely to be
realized, he allowed the poor empress to lead a very dull and
solitary life. Left alone, as she often was for weeks, in the vast,
gloomy castle of Innsbruck, Bianca pined for the bright and
sunny villas and palaces of Milan, and looked back sadly on the
ay years of her old life. She was constantly writing affectionate
letters to her uncle, asking him to give places and pensions
to her old friends and servants in Milan, and begging him for
portraits of himself and Beatrice, as well as for the silks and
feathers, the jewels and perfumes, with which her thoughts were
always busy. >
But, to do her justice, she proved a loyal friend to Lodovico
* F. Ca:vi, Bianca Maria Sforxa.
220 Beatrice d'Este
in his darkest days, and when his children lived in exile at Inns-
briick, they found a kind and loving protector in the empress
during the few remaining years of her life. From the year after
her marriage her health began to droop, and she became gradually
weaker, until in 1510 she died of this lingering illness, and was
buried in the Franciscan church of Innsbrtick, vhere the bronze
effigy of Maximilian's Lombard bride, robed in the rich brocades
which she loved so well, still adorns his sumptuous mausoleum.
CHAPTER XIX
otaie or political affairs in Italy Vacillating policy of Lodovico Sforza
Death of King Ferrante of Napks-^Alliance between his successor
Alfonso and Pope Alexander VI. Lodovico urges Charles VIII. to
invade Naples Sends Galeazzo di Sanseverino to Lyons Cardinal
della Rovere's flight from Rome Alfonso of Naples declares war
Beatrice at Vigevano The Gonzagas and the Moro Duchess Isabella
and her husband at Pavia.
1493-1494
VHILE Lodovico's newly-formed alliance with Maximilian
trengthened his hands on the one hand, on the other it helped
o aggravate the strained relations already existing between him-
elf and the royal family of Naples. The promise of the in-
estiture of Milan, which he had received from the emperor,
oon became known ; it was freely discussed that autumn both
in Rome and Venice, and gave Alfonso of Calabria good reason
to take up arms in defence of his son-in-law Gian Galeazzo's
rights. But King Ferrante still hesitated to declare war against
Milan, and, while he raised forces and made preparations for
the defence of his dominions, was far more concerned to detach
Lodovico from the French alliance than to interfere in the
domestic affairs of Milan on behalf of his granddaughter and her
husband. In August he succeeded in making peace with Pope
Alexander, and even consented to a marriage contract between his
granddaughter Sancia, and Godfrey Borgia, the Pope's young son.
This new departure alarmed Lodovico seriously, and produced a
marked alteration in his foreign policy. When Charles the Eighth's
envoy, Perron de' Baschi, visited Milan in June, he met with
polite but vague answers from the Moro, and received no dis-
tinct promise of support in the conquest of Naples. But early
22S ^
222 Beatrice d'Este
in September, Count Belgiojoso returned to France, and lost
no time in seeking an interview with the king. " Is your Majesty
going to undertake the expedition or not ? " were his first words.
" Signor Lodovico is anxious to learn your intention."
" I have already told Signor Lodovico my intentions a tRou-
sand times over, by envoys and letters," replied the king,
petulantly, and proceeded to intimate that if the Moro played
him false, he would support the Duke of Orleans in reviving
his old claims on the Milanese. Belgiojoso hastened to assure
Charles of his master's friendly sentiments, upon which the
king's ill temper mollified, and he said, " Then I will regard him
as a father, and seek his advice in everything."
All the same, when Charles repeated his request that Lodovico
should send him Messer Galeazzo, and expressed his great wish
to see the hero of so many tournaments in person, the Moro
once more gave an evasive answer, and told Belgiojoso that he
could not spare his son-in-law at present. The Pope showed
his friendliness to the house of Este by including Beatrice's
brother Ippolito, a lad of fifteen, among the twelve cardinals
whom he created that September, his own son, Cesar Borgia,
being another of the number. In November he sent Lodovico
his cordial congratulations on his niece's marriage with the
emperor, and presented Maximilian with a consecrated sword.
" This is the state of affairs in Italy at present," wrote the
chronicler Malipiero on the 25th of September, 1493. "The
Pope is in league with Lodovico of Milan. Maximilian,
King of the Romans, has been elected emperor, and has
taken Bianca Sforza to wife with 400,000 ducats, and Lodovico
is to be invested with the duchy of Milan by him as emperor.
At Rome Cardinal Ascanio's affairs prosper, and Lodovico of
Milan is on intimate terms with the Pope and all of his allies*
And Duke Ercole has sent his son Alfonso to France to tell King
Charles that his troops will have free passage to Naples through
his dominions, because he is the father-in-law of Lodovico."
Under these circumstances, old King Ferrante, becoming
desperate, made a last effort to win over Lodovico to his side,
and implored- him to use his influence to stop the French monarch,
warning him that the tide of events might in the end prove too
Beatrice d'Este 223
strong foi him. " The time will come," replied Lodovico proudly,
" when all Italy will turn to me and pray to be delivered from
the coming evils." In his anxiety to recover the Moro's friend-
ship, the old king even thought of coming to Genoa himself to
meet his granddaughter's husband, and arrive at some agreement.
But early in the new year he fell ill, and died of fever on the
25th of January, at the age of seventy.
The death of Ferrante and accession of his son Alfonso, the
father of Duchess Isabella, and a personal enemy of the Moro,
brought matters to a crisis. The old king could never conquer
his dislike of the Pope, and had only given a reluctant consent
to the proposed marriage of his granddaughter with a Borgia.
Alfonso, on the contrary, was ready to agree to any terms which
might conciliate Alexander VL, and employed every artifice to
obtain the Pope's support, and that of Piero de' Medici against
France and Milan. In spite of the compliments that were
exchanged on both sides upon his accession, Alfonso's enmity
to Lodovico Sforza was well known at Naples, and the Milanese
ambassador, Antonio Stanga, warned Lodovico to beware of
assassins and prisoners, since, to his certain knowledge, the " new
king has paid large sums of money to several Neapolitans of bad
repute, who have been sent to Milan on some evil errand." After
much vacillation 011 the Pope's part, and prolonged negotiations
with both France and Naples, he was induced by the Orsini,
who were staunch allies of the house of Aragon, to grant Alfonso
the investiture of Naples, and to send his son, Cardinal Juan
Borgia, to officiate at his coronation. A papal bull was addressed
to Charles VIIL, warning him not to invade Italy at the peril
of his soul, and Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, whose influence had
been hitherto all-powerful with the Pope, left the Vatican and
retired to his own palace. The Pope's change of front finally
determined Lodovico's policy. From this moment he threw
himself heart and soul into the alliance with France, and left
no stone unturned to bring Charles VIIL into Italy. In an
important letter which, on the loth of March, he addressed to
his brother, Cardinal Ascanio, who shared all his secrets, he
reminds him that he had originally been no friend to the French
invasion.
224 Beatrice d'Este
" It is not true/* he writes, " that the whole movement
proceeds from me. It was the Most Christian King who took
the initiative, which is proved by the appeal for the investiture of
Naples, which he addressed to the late Pope Innocent, and also
by many letters written on the subject by our own hand. When
the Treaty of Senlis was signed, he sent his envoy to tell me
that he meant to invade Italy. At that moment, seeing how
badly the King of Naples had behaved against the Holy Father,
I was not sorry to come to the help of His Holiness. I ceased
to dissuade the Most Christian King from the enterprise. I
approved his resolution, and now he is at Lyons."
As late as the 6th of February, Lodovico had again declined
to send Messer Galeazzo to France, saying that every one would
think he had come to hasten the king's movements, and that in
this way Charles would lose the honour of the campaign. But
when the news of the alliance between Alfonso and the Pope
reached him, he made no further difficulties, and on the ist of
April, Galeazzo started for Lyons. On the 5th, he entered the
town secretly, disguised as a German, and, accompanied only by
four riders, made his way to the royal lodgings, and saw the
king privately, this being the day which had been selected by
Lodovico's astrologer, Ambrogio da Rosate, for his arrival at
court. On the following morning he made his public entry,
attended by a suite of a hundred horsemen clad in the French
fashion, which Messer Galeazzo himself commonly affected. The
king received him with the utmost cordiality, and conducted him
immediately to see the queen, .whom he presented with a
magnificent Spanish robe in Lodovico's name, together with
choice specimens of Milanese armour, jennets from his own
famous breed, and several handsome silver flagons filled with
fragrant perfumes, in which Charles took especial delight. The
French king fell an easy victim to this brilliant cavalier's personal
charm. He insisted on seeing him ride in a tilting match before
the court, and could talk of nothing but Messer Galeazzo's feats
of horsemanship, whether in council or at table, and even when
he went to bed. He bestowed the order of St. Michel upon his
guest, and, among other marks of favour, he invited Galeazzo to
his private rooms, where he sat with a few of his favourites, and.
Beatrice d'Este 225
taking one of the fairest maidens by the hand, presented her to
his visitor. Then the king himself sat down by another, and so
they remained for some hours in pleasant conversation."
In his reply to Belgiojoso, who duly reported these events to
his master, Lodovico dwells with infinite satisfaction on the great
honours which have been paid to his dear son, and rejoices to
hear that his Majesty has introduced him into his private apart-
ments, and even shared his domestic pleasures with him. The
presence of Galeazzo di Sanseverino at Lyons had, no doubt, the
effect of counteracting the intrigues of the Duke of Orleans and
the Aragonese party at the French court, and the confidence with
which he inspired Charles dissipated any doubts which the king may
have entertained of Lodovico's honesty. " The mission of Signer
Galeazzo," wrote Belgiojoso, "has been crowned with success.
Without his coming, the enterprise would have been utterly ruined."
Another and still more powerful advocate of the expedition
now appeared at Lyons in the person of Cardinal Giuliano della
Rovere, who, in Guicciardini's opinion, "was the fatall instrument
of all the miseries of Italy." This bitter enemy of the Borgias
had been repeatedly threatened with assassination by the Pope's
creatures, and, feeling that Ostia was no safe place for him, he
embarked one night in a fisherman's bark and fled first to Savona
and thence to Genoa. Here, with Lodovico's assistance, he
managed to proceed on his journey to France, and on the 1st of
June reached Lyons, where his vehement invectives against the
Pope and urgent entreaties helped to hasten the king's prepara-
tions. At the same time Erasmo Brasca, acting under Lodovico's
orders, succeeded in disarming Maximilian's opposition to the
French king's invasion of Italy, and wrote to his master on the
1 4th of June, informing him that the French ambassador had just
left Worms with an assurance from the emperor that he would
not impede that monarch's designs upon Naples. When, ten
days later, Galeazzo di Sanseverino returned to Milan, the die
was cast, and the French invasion of Italy was at length finally
determined. Meanwhile the long-expected rupture between
Milan and Naples had taken place. On the 8th of May, Alfonso
was crowned by the papal nuncio, Juan Borgia, after the marriage
of the Princess Sancia to Godfrey Borgia had been solemnized on
Q
22O >eairice u
the previous day. A fortnight later, as the king rode in state,
accompanied by all the foreign ambassadors, to church on the
Feast of Corpus Christi, he took occasion to ask the Milanese
envoy, Antonio Stanga, if the news which reached him from Lyons
were true, and the French king's enterprise, after being almost
given up, had now been decided upon, owing to Messer Galeazzo's
visit. The ambassador listened deferentially, cap in hand, but
courteously disclaimed ail knowledge of such information.
"Tell Signor Lodovico," returned the king, " that he will
be the first to rue the day when the French set foot in Italy."
"Before I had time to reply," writes Stanga, "the other
ambassadors had arrived to salute his Majesty, and I did not see
him again alone."
A few days later the Milanese envoy was abruptly dismissed,
and war declared against Milan. Alfonso committed the first
open act of hostilities by seizing Lodovico's principality of Bari.
At the same time a fleet was equipped to attack Genoa, and the
land forces prepared to join the papal army and march through
Romagna against the Milanese.
The winter of 1494, "that most unhappie year for Italy,"
writes Guiccardini, " for that in it was made open the way to
infinite and horrible calamities," was spent by Lodovico and
his wife at their favourite palace of Vigevano. After Bianca's
wedding they had retired there, to spend the remaining period
of Beatrice's mourning at this country retreat, and did not leave
until the spring was well advanced. From here Beatrice wrote
on the 3rd of January to rejoice with her sister Isabella on the
birth of her first child, a daughter, who received the name of
Leonora, after their beloved mother. The duchess congratu-
lated her sister in affectionate terms, and signed herself, " Quella
che destdera vedere la Signoria Fostra" She who desires to see
your Highness,
"BEATRICE SFORZA D'STE."*
Below she added messages from her baby-boy : " Ercole begs
me to commend him to your Highness, and to his new cousin."
Perhaps Beatrice was the more cordial and warm in express-
ing her affection for her sister because of the difference that had
lately arisen between her husband and the marquis t who had
* Luzio-Renier, op. cit. 9 p. 389.
Beatrice cTEste 227
lately been invited to take the command of the King of Naples'
troops in the war against Milan. This offer he eventually
declined, as well as an invitation from the French king to enter
his service ; but on this and other occasions his attitude excited
Lodovico's displeasure, while the Moro's somewhat imperious
request annoyed both Gianfrancesco and his wife. For one thing,
Isabella could not forgive the way in which her brother-in-law
desired that fish from the lake of Garda should to sent to Milan at
his pleasure, and wrote to her husband on the ist of February in
the following terms :
" I am quite willing to see that fish should be sent to Milan
occasionally, but not every week, as he requests in his imperious
fashion, as if we were his feudatories, lest it should appear as
if we were compelled to send it, and it were a kind of tribute."
But although Beatrice's exalted position and the splendour of
the Milanese court sometimes excited Isabella's envy, and
Lodovico's pretensions ruffled her equanimity, nothing ever
disturbed the happy relations between the sisters. Beatrice was
always frank and generous in her behaviour to Isabella, and the
marchioness remained sincerely attached to her, and in her letters
to her beloved sister-in-law, the Duchess of Urbino, constantly
assures her that she holds the next place in her heart to that occu-
pied by her only sister, " la sorella mla unica y la Duchessa di Bari"
It was at Vigevano that winter, on the 28th of January, that
Lodovico drew up the deed of gift by which he endowed his wife
with his palace lands of Cussago, as well as the Sforzesca and
other lands in the district of Novara and Pavia. The deed, signed
with his own hand, and richly illuminated by some excellent
miniature painter of the Milanese school, is preserved in the
British Museum, and is an admirable example of contemporary
Lombard art. Medallion portraits of Lodovico and Beatrice are
painted on the vellum, together with a frieze of lovely putti^
supporting their armorial bearings, and a variety of Sforza devices
and mottoes, interspersed with festoons of foliage and fruit,
torches and cornucopias, Lodovico's strongly marked features and
long dark hair are relieved by the richness of his dark blue
mantle sown with gold stars, while Beatrice wears a gold
ferroniere on her brow. Her dark brown hair is coiled in a
228 Beatrice d'Este
jewelled net, a lock strays over her cheek, as in Zenale's portrait
in the Brera altar-piece. Her mauve bodice is enriched with
gold arabesques, and a cross of pearls hangs from a long chain she
wears round her throat.
There were no fetes that spring at Milan or Pavia. The
treasury was exhausted by the great expenses of the Empress
Bianca's wedding, and the court was still in mourning, while
Lodovico's time and thoughts were absorbed in diplomatic
correspondence and preparations for war. But there were gay
hunting-parties at Vigevano, in which Beatrice joined with
all her wonted spirit and love of sport.
" I must thank you for your pleasant account of my brother's
hunting-expeditions," wrote Lodovico on the i8th of March to
his old favourite, Count Tuttavilla, who was staying in Rome
with Cardinal Ascanio ; " but I really think, if my brother were
here and could join in our hunting-parties, he would find them
even more delightful." In the same letter he gives Girolamo a
hint of the deed of investiture which he was hoping to receive
from Maximilian.
"I have nothing else to say, saving that, by reason of the
warm friendship we entertain with his serene Majesty the King
of the Romans, as well as with the Most Christian King, to which
we may add the love which his Holiness bears us, I hope soon to
give you some good news which will greatly please you." *
Girolamo Tuttavilla, the old and tried servant to whom this
letter was addressed, had left Milan in February, owing to a
quarrel with Galeazzo di Sanseverino and his brothers, whose
haughty manners gave frequent offence to other Milanese
courtiers. Both Lodovico and Beatrice, to whom Tuttavilla
was sincerely attached, did their best to allay his displeasure, and
Cardinal Ascanio tried to induce his guest to use greater modera-
tion in speaking of Messer Galeazzo and his brothers ; but,
although Girolamo kept up friendly relations with the duke and
duchess, the wound was never healed, and he refused to return to
Milan. He afterwards entered the service of the young King
Ferrante of Naples, and when a league was formed to oppose
the French invaders, was appointed to command the cavalry, but
found himself once more brought into contact with his old rivals
Galeazzo and Fracassa, who were at the head of the Milanese
Beatrice d'Este 229
contingent, and soon parted company with them, complaining that
Messer Galeazzo would obey no one. But he never renounced
his allegiance to Lodovico, and sent him and Beatrice his most
hearty congratulations when the Moro became Duke of Milan.
The Sanseverini brothers seem frequently to have given
offence to Lodovico's other ministers by their proud bearing.
Even the mild and patient Erasino Brasca incurred Messer
Galeazzo's displeasure by repeating some reports about his French
leanings which had reached the German court, and had to send
an apology before he could obtain pardon for his mistake. But
nothing could dimmish the favour with which Lodovico regarded
his son-in Jaw, and during his absence at Lyons we find him busy
in preparing a new and splendid palace at Vigevano to receive
Messer Galeazzo and his youthful bride. In a letter which the
Moro addressed on the I ith of May to his superintendent of works,
the Marchesino Stanga, we find a mention of this building, as well
as of the decoration of several rooms in the Castello of Milan.
" MARCHESINO, We have given orders that the rooms which
are being added on the garden side should be furnished according
to the enclosed list, and desire that you should provide Messer
Gualtero with the necessary money, 127-5- ducats, which you
will charge on the extraordinary fund. You will provide in the
same way for the moneys which I have assigned for the building
of Messer Galeazzo's palace, and for the conduits for watering the
Giardinato and the adjoining lavatories, also for the painting of
the hall and dining-room occupied by the chamberlain of my
illustrious consort, so that they may be fit for use, as arranged, by
the end of the month." *
Neither the pressure of political affairs nor the anxieties of
approaching conflict could destroy Lodovico's interest in artistic
matters in the decorations of the Castello or the furnishing of
his new rooms. The object which at this time lay nearest to his
heart was the completion of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the
Dominican church which he had taken under his especial pro-
tection, and which he intended to be the burial-place of his
family. Even now Bramante was engaged in constructing the
new cupola, and before long his favourite painter Leonardo was
to set to work on his great Cenacolo in the refectory.
While Lodovico and Beatrice were pursuing these difierent
230 Beatrice d'Este
objects of their ambition, the unfortunate Duchess Isabella was
eating out her heart in the Castello of Pavia. After the imperial
wedding, at which she had made so brave a show, she and Gian
Galeazzo retired to Pavia, and were rarely seen in public again.
The duke's health and mental condition became every day more
enfeebled, and his wife devoted herself wholly to him and her
children. That winter she gave birth to a second daughter,
who was named Ippolita after her grandmother, but died at
the age of seven. And now, as if to increase the sadness of
her forlorn condition, came the prospect of war with Naples,
and the invasion of her father's dominions by a foreign monarch,
who entered Italy as the ally of Lodovico, the usurper of her
husband's throne. But melancholy as her surroundings were,
and keenly as she felt the sight of her rival Beatrice's prosperity,
the privations which she and her husband were forced to endure
have been greatly exaggerated. According to Corio, they were
often destitute of food and necessaries, and reduced to the verge
of starvation. This chronicler, however, was not only frequently
inaccurate in his statements, but had a spite against Duchess
Beatrice, whose character and actions he totally misrepresented,
while, after Lodovico's fall, his ingratitude towards his former
master drew down upon him the bitter reproaches and invective
of Lancinius Curtius. In this instance his statements are refuted
by the bills for the expenses of the ducal household, which are
still preserved in the Milanese archives. From these records we
learn that Isabella's ladies were as numerous and as richly dressed
as those of any reigning sovereign, and that her camoras and
jewels were as sumptuous as Beatrice's own. Gian Galeazzo's
stables were always well filled with horses and hounds, for
Lodovico was too wise to grudge his nephew anything that
tended to occupy his thoughts and distract them from public
affairs. And during his last illness the unfortunate duke
announced his intention of giving dowries to a hundred poor
maidens on his recovery, which affords another proof that his
poverty was not so great as Corio has declared. But none the
less it was a bitter mortification for a king's daughter of the proud
house of Aragon to see herself and her husband left with the
mere semblance of power, while her cousin reigned in her place.
CHAPTER XX
Arrival of the Duke of Orleans at Asti The Neapolitan fleet sent against
Genoa The forces of Naples repulsed at Rapallo Charles VIII. at
Asti Beatrice cTEste entertains him at Annona The king's illness
His visit to Vigevano and Pavia His interview with the Duke and
Duchess of Milan Last illness and death of Giangaleazzo Sforza
Lodovico proclaimed Duke at Milan Mission of Maffeo Pirovano to
Maximilian.
1494
ON the 10th of July, the Duke of Orleans crossed the Alps with
the advanced guard of the French army, and arrived at his own
city of Asti, the fief which had formed part of the dowry of his
grandmother, V'alentina Visconti. Lodovico Sforza went to
meet him at Alexandria on the I3th of July, and held a council
of war there. The naval preparations that were being made at
Genoa were the chief subject of discussion, and Orleans asked
for a loan of sixty thousand ducats, which the Moro undertook to
arrange. This was the first meeting between these two princes,
who were destined to become such bitter enemies in days to
come. Even now it was well known that the Duke of Orleans
assumed the title of Dux Medlolanl^ and his deeply rooted aversion
to the Moro was no secret at Milan. But both princes had the
same courtly and polished manners, and Lodovico on his part
took care that nothing should be wanting in the entertainment
of his rival. The other ambassadors watched the scene with
curious eyes, but the first impression which Louis of Orleans made
upon them was distinctly unfavourable. " He has a small head with
not much room for brains," wrote Pietro Alamanni to Piero de*
Medici ; " Lodovico will soon get the better of him."
Much interest was excited among the Milanese ladies by the
arrival of the French duke, and Benedetto Capilupi, who had been
sent from Mantua to invite Beatrice to the christening of her infant
niece, Leonora Gonzagn, wrote to Isabella on the 23rd of July
231
232 Beatrice d'Este
"The duchess says that when the Duke of Orleans comes
here, she will have to leave off her mourning and dance, and be
kissed by the duke, who will kiss all the maids of honour and all
the court ladies after the French fashion. Barone, the jester,
says that when he has kissed Madonna Polissena d'Este, he will
be tired of it and will go no further. When the Count
Dauphin and other princes of the blood royal arrive, the duchess
sends your Highness word that you will have to come too and
receive some of these kisses."
The Duke of Orleans, however, had no time to waste in
paying his respects to the ladies of Beatrice's court. Directly
after his interview with Lodovico, he went on to Genoa to fit out
the French fleet to oppose that in which Alfonso's brother, Don
Federigo, had already sailed to attack Geneva. Twice over
during the next few weeks the Neapolitan forces landed at Porto
Venere and Rapallo, but each time they were repulsed by the
Genoese and French troops, supported by a strong Milanese
contingent under the gallant Fracassa and Antonio di San-
severino, after which Don Federigo retired to the harbour of
Leghorn, and was soon recalled to defend Naples itself against
the French. On the 2jth of July, the Count of Caiazzo
received the b&ton of command from Lodovico's hands on the
piazza in front of the Castello of Milan, and started at the head
of fifteen hundred foot soldiers and light cavalry to join the
French army that was marching into Romagna to meet the forces
led by Ferrante Duke of Calabria. On the 23rd of August,
Isabella d'Este came to Parma at her brother-in-law's invitation
to meet him and the French ambassador, and see the first French
troops under La Tremouille and Stuart d'Aubigny the Marchese
d'Obegnino, as the Italians called him march through* the
town. The spectacle, however, was less imposing than she
expected, only about four hundred light cavalry riding past, as
she describes it, in some confusion and disorder.
Meanwhile Charles VIIL had at length crossed the Alps and
after pawning the jewels of his allies, the Marchioness of Mont-
ferrat and Duchess of Savoy, to pay his troops, arrived at Asti on
the gth of September. Here he was received with great honour
by Lodovico and his father-in-law, Duke Ercolc, who rode out to
Beatrice d'Este 233
meet him on his entry into the town. The magistrates and
citizens welcomed him as their liege lord, and the illiterate French
barons were amazed to hear a child of eleven, Margareta Solari,
declaim a Latin oration with perfect ease and fluency. Two
days afterwards Beatrice herself arrived at the castle of Annona,
in the neighbourhood of Asti, bringing her choir of singers and
musicians, and accompanied by eighty ladies especially chosen for
their beauty and rich attire, and gave the king a magnificent
reception. Charles advanced, cap in hand, to greet the duchess,
and, beginning with Beatrice and Bianca, the young wife of
Messer Galeazzo, kissed all the ladies present. The beauty and
vivacity of the young duchess made a deep impression upon the
susceptible French monarch, who could not take his eyes off her,
and after spending some time with her in lively conversation,
begged her to allow him to see her dance. Beatrice readily
complied with his request, as she tells Isabella in the following
letter, written from Annona on the I2th of September :
" About noonday the king came here to pay me a friendly
visit with the chief lords of his court, and remained for about
three hours with me and my ladies, conversing with the greatest
familiarity and affection. I assure you that no prince in the world
could have made himself more agreeable. He desired to see
my ladies dance, and then begged me to dance before him, which
seemed to give him great pleasure." *
The young king himself, short and ill proportioned as he was,
with round shoulders and a large head, a very wide mouth and
big nose, cut but a very sorry figure by the side of the stately
Moro and the handsome Sanseverini brothers ; but his good
nature and genial manners atoned for his want of presence, and
surprised Beatrice and her ladies, who had expected a far more
formidable personage. " He was little in stature and of small
sense, very timid in speech owing to the way in which he had
been treated as a child, and as feeble in mind as he was in body,
but the kindest and gentlest creature alive," says Commines, who
accompanied Charles to Asti, and was sent on as ambassador to
Venice. Guicciardini's judgment is more severe
" And for the increasing of the infelicities of Italy, he whose
coming brought all these calamities, was void of almost all
* Luzio-Rcnier, op. at. 9 p. 394.
234 Beatrice d'Este
the gifts of nature and the mind. For it is most certaine that
King Charles from his infancie was of complexion very delicate
and of body unsound and diseased, of small stature, and of face, if
the aspect and dignitie of his eyes had been taken away, foule
and deformed, his other members bearing such equal proportion
that he seemed more a monster than a man. He was not
only without all knowledge of good sciences, but scarcely he
knew the distinct characters of letters ; his mind desirous to
command, but more proper to any other thing, for that being
environed alwayes with his familiars and favourites, he retained
with them no majestic or authoritie ; he rejected all affaires and
businesse, and yet if he did debate and consider in any he showed
a weak discretion and judgement. And if he had anything in
him that carried appearance of merite of praise, yet being
thoroughly weighed and sounded, it was found farther off from
vertue than vice. He had an inclination to glory, but it was
tempered more with rashness and fury than with moderation and
counsell : his liberalities were without discretion, measure, or
distinction, immoveable oftentimes in his purposes, but that was
rather an ill-grounded obstinacy than constancie, and that which
many call bountie deserved more reasonably in his the name or
coldnesse and slacknesse of spirit/' *
The splendours of the court of Milan, and more especially the
toilettes of the Duchess Beatrice and her ladies, amazed the French
chroniclers, who have left us a graphic description of the scene at
the castle of Annona. The poet Andr de la Vigne, in his
rhyming chronicle " Le Vergier d'honneur," describes Beatrice's
sumptuous apparel in the following lines ;
* e Avecques luy fist veiur sa pa i tie
Qui de Ferrate fille du due cstait j
De fin diap d'or en tout ou en par-tie
De jour en jour volontiers se vest ait
Chaines, colliers, affiquctz, pierrerie,
Ainsi qtfon dit en img commun provcihc,
Tant en avait qxie c'ctait diablerie.
Brief mieuJx valait le lyen que le gerbe,
Autour du col bagues, joyaulx CUCAUO,
Et poui sou chief de richesso estofier,
jBorduies d\>r, devises et brocans."
* Guicnardinfs " Italy," Fenton's English translation, vol. i. p. 34.
Beatrice d'Este 235
And in his " Histoire de Charles VIIL"(i684.) Godefroy quotes
the following letter, written by an eye-witness from the French
camp to the king's sister, Anne Duchess of Bourbon, for whose
benefit Charles had Beatrice's portrait painted by Jean Perreal
and sent to Moulins :
" People crowd to meet and welcome the king from all parts,
princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses. Only this morning
a new one has arrived, the description of whose dress will, I am
sure, please you. First of all, when she arrived she was on a
horse with trappings of gold and crimson velvet, and she her-
self wore a robe of gold and green brocade, and a fine linen
vorgerette turned back over it, and her head was richly adorned
with pearls, and her hair hung down behind in one long coil with
a silk ribbon twisted round it. She wore a crimson silk hat, made
very much like our own, with five or six red and grey feathers,
and with all that on her head, sat up on horseback as straight
as if she had been a man. And with her came the wife of
Seigneur Galeaz' and many other ladies, as many as twenty-
two, all riding handsome and richly apparelled horses, and six
chariots hung with cloth of gold and green velvet, all full of ladies.
They had intended to visit the king in his lodgings, but this he
would not allow, and, in order to appear gracious, said that he
would visit them, but he did not go to their lodgings that day,
feeling unwell. The next day, after dinner, he 'went to see this
lady, whom he found magnificently arrayed, after the fashion of
the country, in a green satin robe. The bodice of her gown
was loaded with diamonds, pearls, and rubies, both in front and
behind, and the sleeves were made very tight and slashed so as
to show the white chemise underneath, and tied up with a wide
grey silk ribbon, which hung almost down to the ground. Her
throat was bare and adorned with a necklace of very large pearls,
with a ruby as big as your < Grand Valloy,* and her head was
dressed just the same as yesterday, only that instead of a hat she
wore a velvet cap with an aigrette of feathers fastened with a
clasp made of two rubies, a diamond, and a pear-shaped pearl, like
your own, only larger. After that the king had paid her a visit,
he returned to his house, but first he had some conversation, with
her, and made her dance in the French fashion, with some of her
236 Beatrice d'Este
ladies. And I can assure you, madame, that she danced
wonderfully well in the French fashion, although she said she
had never danced in this manner before. If the king were not
going to send you her picture, to show you the fashion of her
dress, I would have endeavoured to obtain one to send you myself."
A grand fete was arranged for the following day, but the king
fell suddenly ill of small-pox, and had to call in Messer Ambrogio
da Rosate to attend him. All his plans were altered, and more
than a fortnight elapsed before he was able to leave his room.
This delay discouraged the French, who suffered from the great
heat, and complained, as Commines tells us, of the soxirness of the
country wine, the last vintage having been a bad one. All
Lodovico's smooth words and tact were needed to keep the leaders
in good humour in these trying circumstance^. On the other
hand, Alfonso of Naples, taking courage, boldly announced that
the approach of winter and want of pay would force the French
to retreat, and Piero de' Medici sent a troop of Florentine soldiers
to join the Duke of Calabria in Romagna. But their triumph
was of short duration. On the 6th of October the king had
recovered sufficiently to leave Asti, and while most of his army
marched direct to Piacenza, he himself travelled by Casale and
through the dominions of his ally, the young Marquis of Mont-
ferrat, to Vigevano. Here Lodovico and Beatrice once more
gave their royal guest a splendid reception, and held a banquet and
boar-hunt in his honour during the next two days. The beauty
of the palace, and the wealth and magnificence displayed on all
sides, filled the French with wonder ; but although Charles took
Lodovico's advice on all points, and was apparently on the most
cordial terms with his host, he asked for the keys of the castle at
night, and desired his guards to keep strict watch at the gates.
"The fashion of their friendship was such," says Commines,
"that it could not last long. But for the present the king could
not do without Lodovico."
On the 1 3th, Charles slept at the Sforaesca and visited
Lodovico's famous farm of La Pecoraja, or Les Granges, as the
French chroniclers termed this vast farm, where agricultural
industries were cultivated on such a splendid scale. They saw
the spacious buildings, the stables with their noble columns and
Beatrice d'Este 237
separate accommodation for mares and stallions, and the superb
breed of horses which were reared under Messer Galeazzo's
care ; the pastures with their 14,000 buffaloes, oxen, and cows,
and as many sheep and goats ; and the large dairies, where
butter and cheese were made on the most approved system, and
marvelled afresh at the industry of the Milanese farmers and the
wealth and fertility of this wonderful land. The next day the
king went on to Pavia, where triumphal arches had been
prepared for his reception, and the clergy and professors of the
university hailed his presence in long harangues and complimen-
tary speeches. At first lodgings had been prepared for him
in the city, but, according to Commines, some of the king's
followers had inspired him with fears of foul play, and he
preferred to take up his abode in the Castello itself. Lodovico
himself showed him the library and other treasures of his
ancestral palace, and took him out hunting in the park. On
the 1 5th, he visited the Duomo and Area di S. Agostino, and on
the 1 6th, rode out to the Certosa, where the monks enter-
tained both princes at a grand banquet in a house outside the
cloister precincts. In the evenings, comedies were acted or
musical entertainments given in the Castello for the king's
amusement.
At the time of Charles's visit to Pavia, the Duke and
Duchess of Milan and their children were occupying their
rooms in the Castello, but during the last few weeks Gian-
galeazzo had become seriously ill and was unable to leave his
bed. Both his wife and his mother Bona were assiduous in
their attentions to the sick prince, and Isabella hardly ever left
his bedside. The chronicler Godefroi, who has left us so faithful
and accurate an account of Charles VIII.'s expedition, de-
scribes the splendid fetes given to the king at Pavia, and says
that the Duchess Isabella, with her young son Francesco, herself
received him at the portico of the Castello, but does not mention
his visit to the sick duke. Another trustworthy authority,
Corio, tells us that Charles with great thoughtfulness paid a
visit to his cousin, who was suffering from an incurable
disease, and growing visibly worse, and that the unfortunate
duke recommended his wife and children to the king's care.
238 Beatrice d'Este
Coalmines, who was at Pavia three days before Charles, on his
way to Venice, says that he saw the little four-year-old prince
Francesco, but not the duke, since he was very ill and his wife
very sorrowful, watching by his bedside. ** However," he adds,
a the king spoke with him, and told me their words, which only
related to general subjects, for he feared to displease Lodovico ;
all the same, he told me afterwards that he would have willingly
given him a warning. And the duchess threw herself on her
knees before Lodovico, begging him to have pity upon her father
and brother. To which he replied that he could do nothing, and
told her to pray rather for her husband and for herself, who was
still so young and fair a lady*"
The Venetian chronicler, Marino Sanuto, gives a more
sensational account of the interview. According to him, Isabella
absolutely refused to see the king, and, seizing a dagger, declared
she would stab herself rather than meet her father's mortal
enemy* Lodovico, however, in the end induced her to receive
the king, upon which she threw herself in tears at the feet of
Charles VIIL, and implored him to spare her father and brother
and the house of Aragon, The king's kindly heart was touched
with compassion at the grief of the unhappy princess, but he
only spoke a few consoling words, and promised that her son
should be as dear to him as if he were his own son. When
Isabella renewed her earnest entreaties on her father's behalf,
he replied that it was too late for him to give up the expedition,
which had already cost him so much trouble and money, and
which was now so far advanced that he could not retire with
honour. On the ijth of October, Charles, after assisting at
mass in the chapel of the Castollo, left Pavia for Placenta, where
he joined the French army and prepared to enter Tuscan
territory. Here he learnt that the Duke of Calabria had been
worsted in two engagements by the forces of the Count of
Caiazzo and the French under d'Aubigny, and was in full
retreat. And here on the 2Oth, a courier from Pavia arrived,
bringing Lodovico word that his nephew was dying. He set
out at once for Pavia, and met another messenger on the way
who told him that the duke was already dead. Two days after
Charles VIIL's departure from Pavia, Giangaleasfco became
Beatrice d'Este 239
puddenly worse. A fresh attack of fever was brought on by
his own folly in drinking large quantities of wine and eating
pears and apples contrary to his doctor's express orders, in spite
of the continual sickness from which he suffered. The next
day he was rather better, and in the evening of the 2Oth, the
four doctors who were attending him sent Lodovico an improved
account, saying that the duke had slept for some hours, and had
afterwards been able to take some chicken-broth, raw eggs, and
wine. Now he had fallen asleep again. He was certainly no
worse, they added, although still very weak and by no means out
of danger. That same evening he spoke cheerfully to his trusted
servant, Dionigi Confanerio, and asked to see two horses which
Lodovico had sent him, and which were brought into the hall
adjoining his rooms for his inspection. Afterwards he spoke affec-
tionately of his uncle, and said he was sure that Lodovico would
have come to see him if he had not been obliged to .wait upon
the French king. And he asked Dionigi in a confidential tone
if he thought that Lodovico loved him and was sorry to see him
so ill, and seemed quite satisfied with his attendant's assurances
on the subject. A former prior of Vigevano, who had known
the dying prince from his childhood, and had been summoned
to Pavia by the duchess, now paid the duke a visit and heard
his confession, after which Giangaleazzo asked to see his grey-
hounds, which were brought to his bedside, and spoke cheerfully
of his speedy recovery before he fell asleep. Early the next
morning he died in the presence of his wife and mother and the
doctors who had attended him during the last few weeks.
A few hours later Lodovico reached Pavia, and without a
moment's delay hastened on to Milan, giving orders that the duke's
body should be removed as soon as possible to the Duomo of Milan.
There during the next three days the dead prince lay before
the high altar, clad in the ducal cap and robes, with his sword
and sceptre at his side, and his white face exposed to view.
Meanwhile Lodovico had lost no time. His first act, on his
arrival in the Castello, was to summon the councillors, magistrates,
and chief citizens of Milan to a meeting on the following day,
but even before these dignitaries could be assembled, he called
together a few of his immediate friends and courtiers in the great
240 Beatrice d'Este
hall of the Rocchetta, and after informing them of his nephew's
premature and lamentable end, proposed that his son Francesco
should be proclaimed duke in his father's place. Upon this,
Antonio da Landriano, prefect of the Treasury, responded in an
eloquent speech, dwelling on the danger in these troublous times
of placing the helm of the state in the hands of a four-year-old
child, and calling on Lodovico, for the sake of the people whom
he had hitherto ruled so well and wisely in his nephew's name,
to undertake the burden of sovereignty and ascend the ducal
throne. "Since the death of Giangaleazzo's father," he said,
" we have had no duke but you ; you alone among our princes
can grasp the ducal sceptre with a firm hand." These last
words were hailed with loud applause by the Moro's friends,
and when Landriano had ended his speech, Galeazzo Visconti
Baldasarre Pusterla, the able lawyer Andrea Cagnola, and several
other councillors, well known for their devotion to the Moro,
all spoke in the same strain.
" It was propounded," writes Guicciardini, " by the principals
vi die Counsell, that, in regard of the greatness of that estate
and the dangerous times prepared now for Italy, it would be a
thing prejudicial that the sonne of John Galeaz, having not five
yeares in age, should succeed his father, and therefore, as well as
to keepe the liberties of the State in protection, as to be able to
meete with the inconveniences which the time threatened, they
thought it just and necessary derogating somewhat for the public
benefite, and for the necessite present from the disposition of the
laws as the laws themselves do suffer to constraine Lodovic, for
the better stay of the commonweale, to suffer that unto him
might be transported the title and dignitie of Duke, a burden
very weightic, in so dangerous a season ; with the which colour,
honestie giving place to ambition, the morning following, making
some show of resistance, he tooke upon him the name and armes
of the Duke of Milan."
The Florentine historian's account of the transaction is
accurate in all but the last particular. Lodovico was indeed
proclaimed duke in his nephew's stead, and, clad in a mantle of
cloth of gold, rode that afternoon through the streets of the city^
and visited the church of S. Ambrogio, to give thanks for his
Beatrice d'Este 241
accession to the throne. The ducal sword and sceptre were
borne before him by Galeazzo Visconti, the bells were rung, and
the trumpets sounded, while the people hailed him with shouts of
Duca ! Duca ! Moro ! Moro ! But he was careful to style him-
self Lodovicus Dux, and would not assume the title of Duke of
Milan until he had received the imperial privileges, confirming
his election and granting him the investiture of the duchy.
These he lost no time in securing. Already a few weeks before
this, Maximilian, mindful of his engagements at the time of his
wedding, had sent his wife's uncle the diploma granting him the
desired investiture for himself and his sons, both legitimate and
illegitimate, in succession. The original deed has never been
discovered, but, according to Corio, the diploma was granted on
the 5th of September at Antwerp, with the express stipulation
that it was not to be published until after the Feast of St. Martin.
This diploma must have reached Lodovico a week or two before
his nephew's death, and had been kept secret, in obedience to
Maximilian's desires. That memorable day when he rode
through the streets of Milan, accompanied by the ambassadors of
Florence and Ferrara, he said in reply to the congratulations of
the latter, our old friend Giacomo Trotti, " In another month
you will hear greater news." " I verily believe you," said the
Florentine, Pietro Alamanni, who recorded these words, to Piero
de' Medici, " that he means to make himself greater still, and
dreams of a kingdom of Insubria and Liguria." And Donato de*
Preti evidently thought the same. " Signor Lodovico," he wrote
to Isabella d'Este, "is not yet called Duke of Milan, but merely
duke, and all documents sent out by the Cancelleria are worded
in this manner. Some persons who knew his Excellency well,
say that it is his intention to call himself Rex Insubrium. On the
return of the ambassador who has been sent to the emperor,
perhaps this will be announced."
Now that Giangaleazzo was actually dead, the Moro felt that
there was no time to be lost in obtaining the publication of the
imperial diploma. Accordingly he ordered one of his most
trusted agents, Maffeo Pirovano, to start the next day for Antwerp,
with letters informing Maximilian and his wife of Gianga-
leazzo's death, and asking for the prompt despatch of ambassadors
242 Beatrice d'Este
with the coveted privileges. And that same evening he wrote
long and minute instructions to Maffeo himself and to Erasmo
Brasca at Antwerp, urging them to lose no time in laying the
case before the emperor. The letter to Maffeo, discovered in
the Taverna archives at Milan, and first published by Signor
Calvi in his life of Bianca Sforza, is of especial interest.
" MAPHEO, We have written this evening to Germany to
inform the Most Serene King of the Romans of the death of
the illustrious Duke, our nephew, and must now send you to
state our case viv& voce to his Majesty, desiring him to give
effect in our person to the ducal privileges, which he never
consented to give our nephew, in consequence of the wrong
which the emperor supposed to have been done him by our
father and brother, in holding the duchy without any concession
from the imperial authorities. And therefore the said king
has conceded these privileges to us, as being innocent of this
fault, and as having claims to the title by reason of our maternal
descent, but has desired that these privileges should not be made
public before the next feast of St. Martin, and before this date
will not fix the time and place for the expedition of the said privi-
leges. The approach of this time, the fact that this death has
compelled us to take up the succession, have impelled us to send
an envoy to the said king, and for this purpose we have made
choice of yourself, being persuaded that your faithfulness and
prudence will be equal to the gravity of this emergency. And
so I desire you to start with the utmost speed, and not to rest
till you have found his Majesty, and our councillor and
ambassador Messer Erasmo Brasca, to whom you will explain
the reason of your coming, and having through his means obtained
an audience of his Majesty, you will pay him our dutiful respects,
and, after delivering your credentials, by virtue of them will
proceed to tell him how immediately after this death the chiefs
of the State and of the people of this city approached me to offer
their condolences in the customary manner, and signified their
fears and anxieties as to the succession. One and all, speaking
in the name of the State, declared that they would have no lord
but ourselves, and entreated us with earnest words to accept this
dignity, saying that if we refused they would not be content
Beatrice d'Este 243
and would have to consider some other mode of action. After
this has been explained to the king, you will tell him that, seeing
on the one hand the conditions imposed by his Majesty respect-
ing the privileges, which we do not intend to infringe, and on
the other the dangers that might arise if the State were left
without a lord untiFthe time fixed for the promulgation of the
privileges, and being further aware that the people of Milan set
the example and draw after them all the rest of the State, we
have chosen to accept the burden they offer us, and have ridden
through the town in order to satisfy the wishes of the people.
And this we have done, in order not to leave the State and city
in doubt as to the last duke's successor, without taking either
title or armorial bearings, lest we should incur the same blame as
that illustrious lord our father. Thus, solely to prove that the
State is not left without a lord, and at the same time not to
infringe the conditions attached to the privileges, we have taken
this name of duke, and will inscribe our name as Ludovicus Dux
in letters and other documents, without specifying of what place
we are duke, so as to observe the commands laid upon us by his
Majesty not to publish the privileges before the feast of St.
Martin. The full form which we intend to adopt at the said
feast will be signified to him after this feast, when we shall
adopt the style of Dux Mediolam in accordance with this
command. But we will abstain from publishing the privileges
until we have the approval of the said Majesty, which we hope
to obtain as soon as the term which he fixed shall expire.
" And you will also tell his Majesty that the publication of
these privileges carries with it the investiture and enjoyment of
the temporal possessions of the duchy, and therefore, as our
procurator, you will ask for this investiture with all respect and
submission. And you will beg his Majesty to send us an am-
bassador to declare that he places us in possession of the duchy,
in order that he may give the world an outward demonstration
of the act that he has already done in private. This, we beg to
assure his Majesty, shall ensure a perpetual obligation on our part
and that of our posterity towards his Majesty, who may count on
the fidelity of this State in all contingencies, most of all in the affairs
of Italy, where no State can be greater or of more importance
244 Beatrice d'Este
than this one, which has the same influence in Italy as he
has in Germany. And since the form of investiture has been
given this summer to the Treasurer of Burgundy, you can obtain
it from him by means of Messer Erasmo, and we will afterwards
send you the imperial mandate that you may arrange this. As to
the form of delivery of the temporalities, we desire to follow that
which was employed in the cases of former dukes, which we will
seek out and let you have. To this effect you will negotiate
with the Most Serene King of the Romans, making use of the
advise of Messer Erasmo, in order to obtain this concession in
the manner that we devise.
" You will also visit our niece, the Most Serene Queen, and
condole in our name on the duke's death, which is a common
cause of grief to both of us, and will recommend our affairs to her,
begging her Majesty to assist you, and to employ great warmth
and fervour in addressing the Most Serene Lord her husband.
"Milan, zand October, 1494-"
These instructions were followed by a short letter from
Lodovico, enclosing the petition to be presented to Maximilian,
and urging him to lose no time in reaching his destination.
" MAPHEO, We enclose the petition for the investiture, and
have to-day sent you money and horses. There is nothing more
to say, excepting to urge you once more to use all diligence to
seek out His Serene Majesty, and with the help of Erasmo leave
nothing undone that may induce him to grant the investiture
without delay, and at the same time send back with you persons
empowered to put me in possession of the temporal possessions of
the duchy. Without these two things, all that has been done
till now will be of no avail."
On the 2ist, Lodovico sent an official intimation of his
nephew's death, and of the "incredible grief" which this sad
event had given him, to his relatives and allies. On the 22nd,
he issued another circular, informing them in well-turned phrases
of his election by the people of Milan, and of his consent to take
up the burden imposed upon him by the will of his subjects.
And oa the same day the Mantuan envoy, Donato de* Preti,
writing to Isabella d'Este, gave her the following version of
Beatrice d'Este 245
affairs : cc This morning a meeting was held in the Castello, at
which Signer Lodovicus was proclaimed King^of Milan in the
presence of the gentlemen and councillors assembled in the
Rocchetta, no one else being nominated. Few spoke, and very-
little was said, but Signor Lodovico was chosen by universal
acclamation, or at least with no dissent. This afternoon he
came out of the Rocca clad in gold brocade, and rode all round
the town for the space of two hours, and the shops are closed,
and all the bells of the city are to be rung for three days," At
Pavia, where the Moro had made himself greatly beloved both
by the citizens and the members of the university, there was
great rejoicing when the people heard him publicly proclaimed
duke to the sound of fifes and trumpets. " All the people of
Pavia," wrote Count Borella, on the 23rd of October, "are
filled with the utmost joy and delight, like the loyal and affection-
ate servants of your Highness that they are, and pray that you
may live long to enjoy your exalted dignity."
On the evening of the 27th, the body of the late duke, after
lying in state during several days before the high altar in the Duomo
of Milan, "was buried in the vault of his ancestors with the
greatest pomp and honour," as the Mantuan envoy told Isabella
d'Este. " The Marchese Ernies, the Ferrarese ambassador, with
the whole house of Visconti, and all the councillors, ministers,
and court officials attending, robed in black. An immense
concourse of people were present, together with priests and friars
innumerable, and the blaze of lighted wax candles was so great
in the church that I could see nothing. An eloquent and
highly ornate sermon was preached by a Mantuan friar, named
Giovanni Pietro Suardo."
And the next day his successor joined the French king in his
camp under the walls of Sarzana. He had at length attained
the object of his ambition, and was reigning on his father's
throne.
" To sum up the whole matter," writes Commines, " Lodo-
vico had himself proclaimed Lord of Milan, and that, as many
people say, was the reason why be brought us over the moun-
tains."
CHAPTER XXI
Lodovico joins Charles VIII. at Sarzana Suspicious rumours as to the late
duke's death Piero de' Medici sunenders the six fortresses of Tuscan}
to Charles VIII. Lodovico retires in disgust from the camp Congratu-
lations of all the Italian States on his accession Grief of Duchess
Isabella Her return to Milan Mission of Mafieo Piravano to Antwerp
His interviews with Maximilian and Bianca Letter of Lodovico to
the Bishop of Brixen Charles VIII. enters Rome His treaty with
Alexander VI. and departure for Naples.
1494
THE short week which had elapsed between the king's departure
from Pavia and the return of Lodovico to the French camp had
effected a complete change in the situation. Suddenly the Moro
found himself at the height of his ambition, elected duke by
popular acclamation, and in actual possession of the throne, while
he held in his hands the imperial diploma that was to give him
a surer and safer title to the duchy than any of his race had
possessed.
a All that this man does prospers, and all that he dreams of by
night comes true by day," wrote the Venetian chronicler. " And,
in truth, he is esteemed and revered throughout the world and is
held to be the wisest and most successful man in Italy. And all
men fear him, because fortune favours him in everything that he
indertake's."
But already ugly rumours began to be whispered abroad.
The unhappy duke, it was openly said at Florence and Venice,
had, it was plain, died of poison, administered by his uncle. The
moment of his death was so opportune, and fitted in so exactly
with Lodovico's plans j the promptness with which the Moro had
acted in* seizing the crown which ought to have belonged to
246
Beatrice d'Este 247
Giangaleazzo's son, helped to confirm the suspicions that were
aroused in the minds of men whom the new duke's policy had
inspired with distrust, and who looked with jealous eyes on the
success of his diplomacy. The French king's doctor, Theodore
Guainiero of Pavia, was quite sure he had detected signs of
poisoning in the sick duke's face when he had been present at the
interview between his royal master and poor Giangaleazzo at
Pavia. Contemporary chroniclers, improving upon this remark,
with one voice asserted that the doctor had found evident traces
of poison on the body at a post-mortem examination held after the
duke's death, ignoring the fact that at that moment Theodore
Guainiero was with King Charles at Piacenza. So the legend
grew, and found ready acceptance among both French and
Italians, who alike hated the Moro with deadly hatred*
"And if the duke were dispatched by poison, there was
none," wrote the Florentine historian, " that held tkat his uncle
was innocent, and either directly or indirectly, as he, who
not content with an absolute power, but aspiring, according to
the common desires of great men, to make themselves glorious
with titles and honours, and especially he judged that both for
his proper heritage and the succession of his children, the death
of the lawful duke was necessary, wherein ambition and covetous-
ness prevailed above conscience and law of nature, and the
jealous desire of dominion enforced his disposition, otherwise
abhorring blood, to that vile action."
The careful examination of the various documents connected
with Giangaleazzo's death has led recent historians to a
different conclusion, " Nothing is further from the truth," writes
Magenta, in his history of the " Castello di Pavia," " than that
Giangaleazzo died of poison." And Delaborde, Porr6, Cantu, as
well as those able and learned scholars, Signor Luzio and Signor
Renier, all endorse these statements, and ascribe the duke's death
to natural causes. Even Paolo Giovio, who hated the Moro as
the man who had betrayed his country to the French, owns that
there is much reason for doubting the truth of the accusation
brought against him in this instance. Charles VIII., it is plain,
did not himself believe ia Lodovico's guilt. When the news of
Giangaleazzo's death reached him, he caused a solemn requiem
248 Beatrice (TEste
mass to be held in the Duomo of Piacenza, and distributed liberal
alms to the poor of the town in memory of his dead cousin.
And Galeazzo di Sanseverino, who had remained in attendance
upon the king, informed Lodovico, in one of his letters, that the
only remark which His Most Christian Majesty had made on the
subject was to express his sorrow for the duke's orphan children,
and to say that he hoped Signor Lodovico would treat them as
his own, to which Galeazzo replied that he might rest assured
they would want for nothing. But the suspicion that the duke's
end had been hastened by his uncle's act found general acceptance
in the French army, and deepened the distrust with which
Lodovico was already regarded. At this critical moment, the
unexpected action of Piero de* Medici helped to bring about a
.breach between the Moro and his allies.
When, on the 3ist of October, the new duke reached the
French camp before the Tuscan castle of Sarzana, he found to
his surprise that Piero de' Medici, who up to this time had been
the staunchest ally of Naples, had arrived there the day before,
to make his submission to King Charles. Sanuto relates how
this craven son of the magnificent Lorenzo threw himself at the
feet of the French monarch, and promised to accept whatever
conditions he chose to impose. Not only did he agree to give the
army of Charles free passage through Tuscany, and to dismiss the
Florentine troops which he had levied, but he actually promised
to surrender the six strongholds of Sarzana, Sarzanello, Pietra
Santa, Librafratta, Leghorn, and Pisa. Thus, without a single
blow, the city and state of Florence was placed at the mercy of
the invaders. Even the French councillors who negotiated the
terms of the treaty, were amazed at the readiness with which
their demands were accepted, and told Commincs afterwards that
they marvelled to see Piero dc' Medici settle so weighty a matter
with so much lightness of heart, " mocking and jeering at his
cowardice as they spoke." Lodovico, on his part, received the
news of Piero's disgraceful concessions with ill-concealed disgust.
Now that he had attained his own objects, and had nothing to
fear from Alfonso, whose armies were in full retreat, he would
willingly have seen the progress of the French delayed, and the
king forced to winter in Tuscany, and was bitterly annoyed to
Beatrice d'Este 249
find that the passes of the Apennines were in the hands of Charles,
as well as the castles and ports which he had hoped to obtain foi
Milan as the price of his alliance. Guicciardini relates how he
met Piero de' Medici that day in the camp, and how his old friend's
son, anxious to ingratiate himself with the powerful duke, made
excuses for not having given him an official welcome into
Florentine territory, saying that he had ridden out to meet him,
but had missed his way. " One of us certainly missed the way,"
replied the duke, with a bitter meaning under his courteous
phrases ; " perhaps it is you who have taken the wrong road."
But he hid his vexation as best he could, when he entered
the French king's presence, and boldly asked Charles to give
him the castles of Sarzana and Pietra Santa, which had formerly
belonged to Genoa. When the king replied that he preferred
to keep these forts in his own hands until his return from Naples,
Lodovico once more disguised his feelings, and contented himself
with asking for a renewal of the investiture of Genoa, formerly
granted to his nephew, which he obtained on payment of 30,000
ducats. After this he saw no reason for remaining in the French
camp any longer, and, pleading urgent State affairs, he left again
for Milan on the 3rd of November.
a Et merveilleuscment malcontent" says Commines, " se partit
du Roy pour le reffu%"
Only the Count of Caiazzo, with a troop of fifty horse,
remained in the French camp, while Galeazzo di Sanseverino
and Duchess Beatrice's brother, Ferrante d'Este, were the sole
Italians to be seen riding in the royal procession when Charles
made his triumphal entry into Florence. " Many thought then,"
adds the Sieur d'Argenton, "that he wished the king out of
Italy." A week later he recalled the Milanese troops from
Romagna, saying that their presence was no longer needed.
For the present, however, the new Duke of Milan took a strictly
neutral line, and while he outwardly maintained friendly rela-
tions with France, at the same time received congratulatory
messages on his accession from the Pope, the Doge and Signory
of Venice, and his old enemy, Alfonso of Naples, who forgot all
the grievances of the past in his dismay at the approach of the
French invaders.
250 Beatrice d'Este
On the 6th of November Lodovico returned to Milan, and
joined his wife at Vigevano, where Beatrice had remained during
her husband's absence with her infant son. We have no letters
to tell us what her feelings were at this eventful period, and do
not learn if she joined her husband during the few days of his
hurried visit to Milan in October. But we are glad to find
that she expressed sympathy with the unhappy widow of Gian-
galeazzo, and showed real concern for her cousin's melancholy
condition. After her husband's death, Isabella's courage and
fortitude broke down under the long strain, and for some days
she shut herself up in a dark room, and refused to take food, or
accept any comfort. Four Milanese councillors waited upon her
at Pavia to offer their condolences, and invited her to come to
Milan in the name of the new duke and the people, assuring
her that she and her children should be treated with due honour,
and retain possession of the ducal residence in the Castello.
This attention gratified her, and Paolo Bilia, an old and faithful
servant, who had been long in her service, wrote by her desire
to Lodovico on the 28th of October
" My Lady is much pleased to hear that you have accepted
the gift which she sent you, and is grateful for the kind messages
which she has received from Your Illustrious Consort, as well as
the offers which you have made her, and the addresses of the coun-
cillors. Under Niccolo da Cusano's treatment her health has
cettainly improved ; and the children are very well, only the boy
objects to the black clothes and hangings of the rooms."
A week later the Councillor Pusterla wrote that he visited
the Duchess every day, and found her much rested, and already
considerably calmer, and was charged to convey her warmest
thanks to the duke for his kindness, and express her wish to show
herself in all things his obedient daughter. But she still refused
to leave Pavia, and shrank from seeing any one but her children
and servants.
"The duchess," wrote Donato de Preti from Milan to his
mistress Isabella d'Estc, " has not yet arrived here, but is expected
on Friday. All the rooms and furniture in the Castello are
hung with black* To-day a man who came from Puvia is said
to have brought word that Count Borella had been sent to ask
Beatrice d'Este 251
the duchess for her son Francesco, but that she had refused to
send him. This, however, may not be true, for the person who
told me is not to be trusted."
On the 2gth of ^November, the same informant wrote again
"The widowed duchess has not yet come to Milan. It
appears that she has asked leave to remain at Pavia until after
her confinement, and this she will certainly do. I hear that she
still mourns her dead lord."
Her mother-in-law, Duchess Bona, remained with her at
Pavia, and here, on the first of December, she received a visit
from Chiara Gonzaga, a sister of the Marquis of Mantua, and
wife of Gilbert, Duke of Montpensier, who was captain-general
of the French army. This princess, who was now on her way
to Mantua, was sincerely attached to both Isabella and Beatrice
d'Este, and proved a loyal friend to Lodovico at the French
court, while after her husband's death he, in his turn, gave her
the benefit of his powerful help in her efforts to obtain the
recovery of her fortune from the French king. There seems,
however, to have been no truth in the report that the widowed
duchess was again with child, and on the 6th of December she
finally summoned up courage to return to Milan. On her arrival
she was received by Beatrice, and Barone, the jester, who was on
the same familiar terms with the Marchioness of Mantua as he
was with her sister, sent her the following pathetic account of
their meeting
" Last night the Duchess Isabella arrived in Milan, and our
duchess went to meet her, two miles outside the town, and
directly they met, our duchess got out of her chariot and entered
that of Duchess Isabella, both of them weeping bitterly, and
so they rode together towards the Castello, where the Duke of
Milan met them on horseback at the gate of the garden. He
took off his cap, and accompanied them to the Castello, where
they all three alighted, and placing Duchess Isabella between
them, our duke and duchess accompanied -her to her old rooms.
When they reached these rooms they sat down together, and
the Duchess Isabella could do nothing but weep, until at last the
duke spoke to her, and begged her to calm herself, and be com-
forted, with many other similar words. Dear friend, the hardest
252 Beatrice d'Este
heart would have been melted with compassbn at the sight c
her, with her three children, looking so thin i nd altered by he
grief, wearing a long black robe like a fria 's habit, made c
rough cloth, worth fourpence the yard, and her eyes hidden by
thick black veil. Certainly I, for one, could not help crying, an
if I had not restrained myself, I should have wept still more." *
Until the death of Beatrice, Isabella of Aragon and he
children occupied the rooms in the Castello where she and he
husband had formerly resided, and spent the spring and summer
in the Castello of Pavia, but the widowed duchess lived in com-
plete retirement during the next two year? ?nd her name seldom
ap Dears in contemporary records. jHbr" mother-in-law Bona>
retained her rooms until the following January, when the ck ,.e
desired her to move to the old palace near the Duomo, kno\ n
as the Corte Vecchia, partly because the use of her apartments
was required by the court officials, and partly owing to tf ic
intrigues which she secretly practised. Only lately Lodovicc *
envoys at Antwerp had informed him of the bitter words whi
Bona wrote against him to her daughter Bianca, words whic
the empress's secretary thought it wiser to pass over when h
read her mother's letters aloud, taking care, he adds, to srs*
that they were burnt before they could do further mischief. ^
year afterwards, Bona left Milan for good and returned t'
France, where she lived at Amboisc until the end of 1499,
when she came back to her native land of Savoy, and died
at Fossano on the 8th of January, 1 504.
Meanwhile Maffeo Pirovano, sifter being delayed on his
journey by violent storms and floods, and narrowly escaping
with his life from the brigands and highwaymen who infested the
streets of Cologne, had at length reached Antwerp and dis-
charged his errand. In his letters to the duke, he gives an in-
teresting account of his interview with the emperor, whose
imposing presence and gracious kindness made a deep impression
upon him.
" The Most Serene King has the noblest bodily presence as
well as the greatest qualities of mind and soul, and as far as you
can judge from outward signs, I should say that his Majesty's
wisdom and loyalty arc beyond dispute, and that there is Ac
* JLuzio-Rmicr. oi>. at.* p. 300.
Beatrice d'Este 253
rince in the wcrid whom he esteems more highly than your
( excellency. An.^i if I asked why all the king's dealings appear
low and tardy, '*J should say that this was caused by two
obstacles, which neither of them proceed from his Majesty's
,wn fault. The first is want of money, and the second the little
xmfidence that he can place in his ministers."
Maffeo was able to give Lodovico satisfactory assurances as
;o Maximilian's readiness to confirm him in the investiture of
Milan. He promised to send the letters forthwith, but desired
the duke to allow no one but his brother Cardinal Ascanio to
see a copy, and not to rv publish them before March. " He fears,"
wrote fche Milanese $n vroy, " in the first place the electors of the
L:et, and in the second tiie wrath of King Alfonso of Naples.
I it his Majesty promises to speak to the electors as soon as
possible, and after that will have the privileges drawn up by the
c lancellor, and will send a solemn embassy to put the duke in
3 >ssession of his dignities and the realm.
The young empress, who, Maffeo remarked, "is not very
/ise," was overjoyed to see an old friend, and had much to hear
.bout her beloved Milanese home. She wrote an affectionate
>i:tle note to her uncle, lamenting her poor brother's death
uid congratulating him on his accession, which she called " a due
reward of all the benefits which we have received from your
Excellency." *
And when Maffeo left Antwerp early in December to return
to Milan, he received a whole string of commissions from her
Majesty. He was, in the first place, to visit and condole with
her mother, her widowed sister-in-law, and her brother Ernies,
and to commend the Duchess Isabella and her children especially
to the duke. Then he was to beg the duke and duchess to send
her their latest portraits, as well as those of her mother, brother,
'sister-in-law, and her sister Madonna Anna, wife of Alfonso
.d'Este. There was a special message to Beatrice, begging her
for some perfumes and powders, a ball of musk, and a bunch of
heron's plumes. And there was another for Lodovico, asking
him to try and procure a certain set of pearls from Bianca's half-
;sister, Catcrina Sforza, the famous Madonna of Forli. Last of
a 1 !, there was an earnest request that the duke would entreat her
254 Beatrice d'Este
lord the Most Serene King to come to Italy, and write urgently
to him on the subject, without, however, letting it appear that the
suggestion had proceeded from Bianca herself.
In these communications between the empress and her family*
there is no trace whatever of any ill-will to Lodovico and Beatrice,
far less any suspicion that her uncle had hastened her brother's
death, although some chroniclers allude to a report that Maxi-
milian's wife held Lodovico to be guilty of this crime. The fact
that some rumour of this kind had reached the imperial court seems
probable from the Latin letter which Lodovico himself addressed
in December, 1494, to the Bishop of Brixen, one of the dele-
gates who were afterwards sent to Milan with the imperial
privilege. In this letter the Moro refutes the calumny which he
hears had been brought against him in certain quarters, and points
out that his nephew's death had been due to natural causes, that
the late duke had been ill for many months, and that he had
been assiduously attended by his devoted wife and the most
skilful doctors, three of whom had known him from his cradle.
He alludes to the visit paid to Giangaleazzo a few days before
his death by His Most Christian Majesty, and explains that he
himself was only prevented from being present at his nephew's
death-bed by the necessity of attending on the French king.
" Nothing," he adds, " could be more contrary to our nature than
so great a crime." In conclusion, he dwells on the fatherly love
which he had always shown his nephew, and renews his protes-
tations of devotion to His Most Serene Majesty the King of the
Romans. In point of fact, as both Maffeo and Brasca informed
their master the subject which disquieted Maximilian at this
moment far more than poor Giangaleazzo's death, was the rapid
advance of the French king. A rumour had reached the German
court that Charles aspired to the imperial title, and intended to
make the Pope crown him in Rome. This report filled the
emperor-elect with dismay, and he turned to the Milanese
envoys with the words, " I know that the Duke of Milan has
great power in Italy, and has proved his faith and good intentions
towards myself, but I hope, since he is so wise in everything,
that he will make some difference between me and the King
of France."
Beatrice d'Este 255
Lodovico, however, needed no warning on this subject, and
was as much alarmed as any of his neighbours at the extra-
ordinary success which had attended Charles VIII. 9 s expedition.
Florence and Siena both received him within their gates, and
helped him with loans of money and supplies of corn. On the
4th of December he left Siena ; by the 10th he was at Viterbo,
within sixty miles of Rome, and sent the Pope word that he
would spend Christmas in the Vatican and treat with him there,
For a moment Alexander VL, encouraged by the arrival of the
Duke of Calabria's army under the walls of the eternal city, put
on a bold face and defied Charles to do his worst. The same
day he arrested the cardinals Ascanio Sforza and Sanseverino
at a consistory in the Vatican, upon which Galeazzo di San-
severino, who was at Viterbo with the French king, rode all the
way to Vigevano in three days, to take Lodovico the news of
this insult to his family. The duke was furious, and vowed
vengeance upon the Pope. But Alexander's courage soon failed
him. In a few days his defiant mood gave place to one of abject
terror, the two cardinals were released and sent to plead the
Pope's cause with Charles VIII., and on the 30th of December
Ferrante retired with his troops towards Naples. That same day
the French king entered Rome by the Flaminian Gate, and rode
in triumphal procession along the Corso with Cardinals Guiliano
delle Rovere and Ascanio Sforza at his side, both of them,
remarks Commines, great enemies of the Pope, and still greater
enemies of one another. Alexander fled for shelter to the
Castello Sant-Angelo, and Charles took up his abode in the
palace of San Marco, from which he dictated terms of peace to
the terrified pontiff. Already a rumour had reached Milan
that the Pope was to be deposed, and that the French king
intended to attempt a general reformation of the scandals that
disgraced the Church.
" His Most Christian Majesty," remarked Lodovico, drily,
"had better begin by reforming himself." And when the
Venetian ambassador Sebastian Badoer and Benedetto Trevisano
arrived at Vigevano to take counsel with the duke in this perilous
state of affairs, he spoke very contemptuously of the king's
person and character.
256 Beatrice d'Este
"The Most Christian King/' he said, "is young and foolish,
with little presence and still less mental power. When I was
with him at Asti, treating of important matters, his councillors
spent their time eating and playing cards in his presence.
Sometimes he would dictate a letter by one man's advice, and
then withdraw it at the suggestion of another. He is haughty
and ill-mannered, and when we were together, he has more than
once left me alone in the room like a beast, to go and dine with
his friends."
And he proceeded to remind the Venetian envoys how he
had sent his wife, Duchess Beatrice, to warn the Signoria of the
critical state of affairs, and how his advice had been neglected,
and nothing had been done.
u It is true," the duke added, " that I lent the king money,
but at the same time I gave him good advice. c Sire,* I said to
him, c drive out the tyrant Piero de' Medici, and give Florence
her old liberties ; ' and when I refused to accompany him further,
I desired Messer Galeaz to defend the freedom and rights of both
Florence and Siena. You see how little the king has followed
my advice and how cruel and insolent he has shown himself.
These French are bad people, and we must not allow them to
become our neighbours."
In reality, what disturbed the Duke of Milan far more than
the success of Charles in the south, was the presence of Louis of
Orleans with a body of troops at Asti. When Charles left Asti
in October, his cousin was ill with an attack of fever, and had
been compelled to remain behind. The close vicinity of this
dangerous neighbour, and the boldness with which Orleans
asserted his claim on Milan, led the Moro to use all his influence
with Maximilian to induce him to join his old enemies, the
Venetians, in a common league against the French. While
these negotiations were being secretly carried on, the victorious
French king had, on the i$th of January, signed a treaty with
the Pope, by which the crown of Naples was bestowed upon
him, and the chief fortresses of the Papal States were surrendered
into his hands until his return. The next day Charles attended
mass at St. Peter's, and met the Pope in the Vatican " a very
fine house," he wrote to his brother-in-law, the Duke of Bourbon,
Beatrice d'Este 257
"as well furnished and adorned as any palace or castle I have
ever seen."
On the I gth of January, he did homage to His Holiness
before the College of Cardinals, as Vicar of Christ and successor
of the Apostles, and was embraced and welcomed by the Pope
in return as the eldest son of the Church. A week later he
left Rome and set out at the head of his army on the march to
Naples. And the same day he received the news that Alfonso
of Aragon, seized with a fatal panic, had abdicated his crown in
favour of his son Ferrante, and was on his way to Sicily.
CHAPTER XXII
Visit of Isabella cTEste to Milan JSirlh of Beatrice's son, Francesco Sforza
Fetes and comedies at the Milanese court Works of Leonardo and of
Lorenzo di Pavia Mission of Caradosso to Florence and Rome in
search of antiques Fall of Naples Entry of King Charles VIII. and
flight of Ferrante II. Consternation in Milan Departure of Isabella
d'Este.
1495
WHILE Charles VIII. was leading his victorious army against
Naples, and striking terror into all hearts throughout the length
and breadth of Italy, Duchess Beatrice Sforza, as the wife of
Lodovico now styled herself, was joyfully expecting the birth of a
second child. Once more great preparations were made in the
Rocchetta for the happy event. On the loth of December her
sister Isabella sent her the size and pattern of a cradle which her
father had given her before the birth of her little daughter,
Leonora, the year before, excusing herself for not writing a
longer letter because she was engaged with her sister-in-law, the
Duchess of Montpensicr. Duke Lodovico himself, immediately
on his return to Vigevano in November, had written begging the
Marchesa to come to Milan in January, and on the 1 5th she left
Mantua. On the day after her arrival she paid a visit of con-
dolence to the widowed duchess, whose sorrowful condition filled
her with compassion.
"I found her in the large room," writes Isabella to her
husband, on the 2Oth of January, <c all hung with blark, with
only just light and air enough to save one from suffocation. Her
Highness wore a cloth cloak, and a black veil on her head, and
her deep mourning filled me with so much compassion that I
could not keep back my tears. I condoled with her in your name
258
Beatrice d'Este 259
and my own, and she gratefully accepted my sympathy, and sent
for her children, the sight of whom increased my emotion."
On the 4th of February, Beatrice gave birth to a second son,
a fine boy, who received no less than fifteen names, including
those of Francesco Sforza, after his illustrious grandfather. As
a child he was called Sforza, but became afterwards known as
Francesco, under which name he reigned during the last years of
his short life over the duchy of Milan. Isabella d'Este held the
infant prince at the baptismal font, and remained at Milan till
the end of the Carnival, at the urgent entreaty of her brother-in-
law, who himself wrote to beg the marquis for permission to keep
his wife a few weeks longer.
Alfonso d'Este and his wife, Anna Sforza, always a favourite
at the court of Milan, now joined the ducal party, and took part
in the brilliant series of festivities which celebrated Beatrice's
recovery and the christening of the infant prince.
" Every third day," wrote Isabella to an absent Milanese
friend of hers, Anton Maria de' Collis, " we have triumphal and
magnificent festivities, one of which lasted till two in the morn-
ing, another was not over till four o'clock. We spend the inter-
vening days in riding and driving in the park or else through the
streets of Milan, which has been made so beautiful that if you were
to come back here to-day, you would no longer know the place."
In another letter Isabella describes a splendid festa at the
house of Messer Niccolo da Correggio, at which a representation
of the fable of Hippolyte and Theseus, as told in the " Innamora-
mento di Orlando " was beautifully given. And in answer to a letter
from her brother-in-law, Giovanni Gonzaga, telling her of an
allegorical representation in which the famous Serafino of Aquila
had taken part, she writes
" Here too we are enjoying feasts and pleasures of every
description, which afford us the greatest possible delight, and
I hope to tell you many things that will excite your Highness's
envy. For this is the school of the master of those who know. 7 ' *
Such phrases as these were no small praise on the lips of
so accomplished and critical a woman as Isabella d'Este.
Another contemporary, the Florentine Guiccardini, who visited
the capital of Lombardy, was filled with amazement at the sight,
* Luzio-Remer, op. cit., p. $ a a.
260 Beatrice d'Este
and describes Milan during Lodovico's reign as famous for the
wealth of its citizens 5 the infinite number of its shops ; the abun-
dance and delicacy of all things pertaining to human life ; the
superb pomp and sumptuous ornaments of its inhabitants, both
men and women ; the skill and talent of its artists, mechanics,
embroiderers, goldsmiths, and armourers ; and the innumerable
quantity of new and stately buildings which adorn its streets.
u Not only," he adds, <c is the city full of joy and pleasure, of
feasting and delight, but so wonderfully is it increased in riches,
magnificence, and glory, that it may certainly be called
the most flourishing and happiest of all the cities in Italy."
The stranger from Florence and Venice might well admire
the duke's knowledge and taste, and wonder at the splendid
results which his enlightened patronage of art and learning had
produced. For they saw his great city of Milan as it has never
been seen again, before the savage invader had spoiled its charm
and defaced its loveliness ; when Bramante's churches and
porticoes rose in perfect symmetry against the sky, and the
glowing tints of Leonardo's frescoes were yet fresh upon the
walls. They saw the Ruga bella, or Beautiful Way, with its long
line of palaces on either side, its painted walls and richly carved
portals. They saw the lovely cupola of S. Maria delle Grazie,
and the marble cloisters of S. Ambrogio, and the graceful Baptistery
of S. Satiro, which Caradosso had lately adorned with his elegant
frieze of cherubs and medallions. They saw the stately arcades
of the Spedale Grande, and the deep-red brick and terra-cotta
pile of the vast Lazaretto, and the wide streets and piazzas which
the duke had laid out " to give the people more light and air."
Above all, they saw the great Castello which was the pride or
Lodovico's court. These vaulted ceilings and painted halls, these
beautiful gardens with their temples and labyrinths, their fountains
and statues, these splendid vStables with columned aisles and walls
adorned with frescoes of horses, which the French invaders
admired more than anything else in Milan, were well-nigh com-
plete. But still Lodovico was always planning some new im-
provements to add to the charm and pleasantness of the ducal
residence* Isabella's friend Leonardo, we know from one of the
duke's letters, was engaged at this moment in painting the vaults
Beatrice d'Este 261
of the newly built Camerini, while he was still putting the last
touches to the famous equestrian statue which the Marchesa now
saw for the first time, and which the duke promised should be
soon cast in bronze. But the great master's thoughts were taking
a new direction, and he was already preparing designs for the mural
painting of the Cenacolo, with which Lodovico had ordered him
to decorate the refectory of the Dominicans in his favourite
convent of S. Maria della Grazie. It was a work after
Leonardo's own heart, and he determined to frame an altogether
new and original composition, a Last Supper which should be
unlike all others in Italy. This time at least the duke's fastidious
taste should be satisfied, and the Lombards should be made to
own that Leonardo the Florentine was an artist who had no equal.
Another of Isabella's favourite artists, Maestro Lorenzo, the
gifted organ-maker, was absent from court, and had left his old
home at Pavia to take up his abode at Venice near his friend
Aldo Manuzio, the printer. But during this visit the Marchesa
saw " the beautiful and perfect clavichord " which he had made
for Beatrice, and vowed to leave no stone unturned until she
had obtained a similar one. Unfortunately, when she wrote to
inform Messer Lorenzo of her wishes, he was engaged in making
a viol for the Duchess of Milan, and had also promised Messer
Antonio Visconti a clavichord, so that he was unable to satisfy
the impatient Marchesa as quickly as she would have liked.
Nothing daunted, however, Isabella returned to the charge, and
addressed a letter in her sweetest and most persuasive strain to
Count Antonio Visconti, begging him, since her desires were so
ardent and she had already waited so long, of his courtesy to
allow Messer Lorenzo to begin her clavichord as soon as
Duchess Beatrice's viol should be finished. The count naturally
enough was unable to refuse the request of so charming a princess,
and as usual Isabella got her own way. On Christmas Day,
1496, she wrote joyously to tell her Venetian agent, Brognolo,
that Messer Lorenzo had just arrived at Mantua, bringing the
precious clavichord, which was as beautiful and perfect as it
could possibly be. But the saddest part of the story has yet to
be told. After the death of Beatrice, and Lodovico's final ruin,
Isabella d'Este remembered the matchless organ which Lorenzo
262 Beatrice d'Este
de Pavia had made for her sister, and wrote immediately to the
Pailavicini brothers who had joined in the betrayal of the Castello,
begging them, if possible, to let her have the instrument. A
considerable time elapsed before her wish was gratified, but in
the end her perseverance triumphed over all difficulties, and on
the last day of July, 1501, she wrote to tell Messer Lorenzo
that the beautiful clavichord which he had made for the Duchess
of Milan had been given her by Galeazzo Pallavicino, the
husband of Niccolo da Correggio's half-sister, Elizabeth Sforza,
and would be doubly precious to her as his work and because of
its rare excellence.* By a strange fate, the fragments of this
precious clavichord, which was so highly esteemed in its day,
have of late years found their way to the ancient palace of the
dukes of Ferrara in Venice. The instrument which the gifted
Pavian made for Beatrice, inscribed with the Greek and Latin
mottoes chosen by Lorenzo, may still be seen under the roof of
her father's old house, in those halls where the young duchess
once spent that joyous May-time long ago.
Another incident which took place at Milan during Isabella's
visit, and could not fail to inspire her with the keenest interest,
was the arrival of a marble Leda and a number of other antiques
that were sent to the duke from Rome, by the goldsmith Caradosso.
After the flight of Piero de' Medici and the revolution which had
taken place in Florence, Lodovico sent this well-known connoisseur
to try and acquire some of the priceless marbles or gems from the
Magnificent Lorenzo's collection. But the Florentine magistrates
wisely declined to part from these objects of art, which were
now the property of the nation, and after Christmas Caradosso
went on to Rome, He arrived there to find the French
army in possession of the city and everything in the greatest
confusion, but in the end succeeded in securing several valuable
antiques. The cardinals, to whom Caradosso obtained introduc-
tions through Ascanio Sforza, were glad to ingratiate themselves
with the powerful Duke of Milan at this critical moment, and
the artist wits able to inform his master that Cardinal di Monreale
had given him a marble Leda a really good antique, though
some limbs of it were missing and Unit other prelates had
made him liberal offers.
* C. dell* Aotjua, Lotrnsw Guttmsfo^ pj. 19, ao.
Beatrice d'Este 263
" The Cardinal of Parma asked me yesterday what brought
me to Rome. I told him I had come, by your Excellency's
desire, to see if I could find any beautiful works in bronze or
marble that were to be had for gold. Monsignore asked me if
you really cared for these things. I replied, * Yes, undoubtedly.*
Upon which the Most Reverend informed me that he had an
antique statue, and begged me to come and see if I thought that
you would like it, as if so, he should be glad to send it as a
present to your Excellency. I have seen it, and it is decidedly
good. . . . Monsignore di Sanseverino has promised to show
me some fine things, and I hear that Monsignore Colonna and
the Cardinal of Siena have also some good things, but, unluckily,
they are both of them away from Rome. Since I am here I
must do my best to play the rogue. I hope to have enough to
load a bark shortly, and send statues to Genoa and to Milan.
Meanwhile I should be glad if you would write and thank the
Cardinal of Parma for his statue, because it may induce him to
send you some more fine works of art, and your gratitude may
lead others, who are anxious to gain your Excellency's favour, to
follow his example and send you some more beautiful objects, so
that the world may become aware how far you surpass all other
princes both in magnanimity and in the delight which you take
in this most laudable pursuit. On my return to Florence, I
will make another effort to obtain some of the precious objects
which I saw there, and perhaps this time affairs may be in better
order, and I may be more successful in obeying the orders of
your Excellency, to whom I commend myself.
" Your servant,
" CARADOSSO DE MUNDO.
"Roma, February, 1495."
No one sympathized more truly with Lodovico's passion for
collecting antiques, or appreciated the treasures of art which he had
brought together in the Castcllo, more fully than Isabella d'Este.
As before, this brilliant princess charmed all hearts at Milan.
When she asked a favour, whether it was of Count Pallavicino or
Madonna Cecilia, of Mcsser Lorenzo or Gian Bellini, no one could
refuse her prayer. When she received the Venetian ambassadors,
the grace and gallantry of her bearing were irresistible. Whatever
264 Beatrice d'Este
she did was done well. Her high spirits never failed, her strength
never seemed to tire. She could ride all day and dance all night.
She could answer Gaspare Visconti's verses in impromptu rhymes,
and keep up animated literary controversies with Niccolo da
Corrcggio and Messer Galeaz, or discuss grave political questions
with the duke in the wisest and most sagacious manner. " As
usual," wrote her secretary Capilupi, " Madonna's gracious ways
and lively conversation have charmed every one here, most of all
the Signer Duca, who calls her his dear daughter, and always
makes her dine with him."
If Lodovico took pleasure in Isabella's company, Beatrice's
warm heart glowed with tender affection for the sister whose
presence recalled her dead mother and the home of her youth,
while Isabella's love for children could not resist the advances of
her little nephew Ercole, who followed his aunt about the rooms
of the Castello and made her laugh till the tears ran down her
cheeks. But the happy peace of these days was destined to be
rudely disturbed. Suddenly, on the last day of the month, news
reached Milan that the King of France had entered Naples and
been crowned King of the Sicilies in the cathedral on the 22nd
of February. The young king Ferrante had fled to Ischia with
the rest of the royal family, and throughout his dominions the
people flocked out along the roads to hail the victor's coming,
and welcomed him with shouts of joy. Great was the conster-
nation at the Milanese court that evening, and Isabella wrote to
her husband
" So complete and sudden a downfall appears almost impossible
both to this illustrious lord, the duke, and to us all It would
indeed have been impossible were it not a Divine judgment.
This sad case must be an example to all the kings and powers of
the world, and will, I hope, teach them to value the love of their
subjects more than all their fortresses, treasures, and men-at-arms,
for, as we see now, the discontent of the people is more dangerous
to a monarch than all the might of his enemies on the battle-field."
The bad news threw a gloom over the gay party in the
Castello. All the pleasure and feasting of the Carnival, all the
mirth of the dancing and feasting, died away. Isabella and
Beatrice thought sadly of their cousin Ferrante, the chivalrous
Beatrice d'Este 265
young prince who was a favourite with all his kinsfolk, and his
sister, the widowed Duchess Isabella, shed bitter tears over this
fresh sorrow. Even comedies antt pageants lost their old gaiety
and became dull and tedious. " To me this Carnival seems a
thousand years long," sighed Isabella d'Este, in a letter to her
husband, deploring her prolonged absence and complaining that
the duke would not allow her to leave before a certain day, fixed
by his astrologer. By the middle of March, however, she re-
turned to Mantua, followed by the most sincere regrets and
liveliest expressions of affection on the part of both her sister and
brother-in-law.
"In all her actions," wrote Lodovico to the Marquis of
Mantua, " this worthy Madonna has shown so much charm and
excellence, that, although we rejoice to think you will soon
enjoy her presence, we cannot but feel great regret at the loss of
her sweet company, and when she leaves us to-morrow, I must
confess we shall seem to be deprived of a part of ourselves."
And a week later Beatrice wrote to her sister, "I cannot
tell you often enough how strange and sad tKe departure of your
Highness has seemed to me this time. Wherever I turn, in the
house or out-of-doors, I seem to see your face before my eyes,
and when I find myself deceived, and realize that you are really
gone, you will understand how sore my distress has been nay,
how great it still is. And you, I think, will have felt the same
grief, because of the love between us. Even little Ercole misses
you, and keeps on asking continually in his childish fashion for
his aunt, and crying * Cia, cia ! ' and he seems quite lost when
he cannot find you anywhere." *
Beatrice's strange and sad forebodings were destined to prove
all too true. That was Isabella's last visit to her brother-in-
law's court, and the sisters never met again. When, thirteen
years afterwards, the Marchesa returned once more to Milan and
danced in" the halls of the Castello, she came as the guest of
Louis XII., the king who had conquered Lodovico's fair duchy
and brought about the ruin of the house of Sforza* Beatrice had
long been dead, her children were in exile, and the Moro was
wearing his heart out in lonely captivity within the gloomy
prison walls of Loches.
* Lir/io-Reniei, o/>. a/., pp. 622, 623.
CHAPTER XXIII
Pioclamation of the new league against France at Venice- Charles VTTI. at
Naples Demoralization of the victors Charles leaves Naples and
returns to Rome The Duke of Orleans refuses to give up Asti
Arrival of the imperial ambassadors at Milan Lodovico presented
with the ducal insignia Fttes in the Castello The Duke of Orleans
seizes Novara Terror of Lodovico Battle of Foinovo Victory claimed
by both parties The French reach Asti Isabella's trophies restored
by Beatrice.
1495
ON the evening of the ayth of February, while the joy bells
were ringing in the Milanese churches in honour of the French
king's triumph, the duke sent for the Venetian ambassadors.
" I have had bad news," he said. " Naples is lost, and the
French king has been joyfully welcomed by the people. I am
ready to do whatever the Republic desires. But there is no time
to waste ; we must act at once."
All eyes now turned to Lodovico as the only man who could
save Italy from the French invaders. The emperor and the
Venetians had been urging him to declare war against France for
the last eight weeks, and now Ferrantc of Arragon, in his despair,
appealed to him by the Sforza blood that flowed in both their veins
to deliver him and his kingdom from the dominion of the foreigner.
The duke himself could not feel safe as long as Louis of Orleans
remained at Asti, and declared that he was ready to place him-
self at the head of a league for the defence of Italy. He wrote
to congratulate Commines, the French ambassador at Venice, on
his master's success, but the same day he sent the Bishop of Como
and Francesco Bernardino Visconti to Venice, there to negotiate
a new league between himself, the Signonu, the Pope, the King
266
Beatrice cfEste 267
of the Romans, and the King and Queen or Spain. The
presence of the German and Spanish ambassadors, as well as the
arrival of the two new Milanese envoys, excited Commines*
suspicions, while the long faces and terror-struck air of the
Venetian senators, when the news from Naples arrived, reminded
him of the Romans after the defeat of Cannae. But so well
was the secret kept that he knew nothing of the league until
after it had been signed, late on the night of the 3ist of March,
in the bedchamber of the old Doge. Early the next morning
he was summoned to the palace, and, in the presence of a
hundred senators, solemnly informed of the new treaty.
" Magnificent ambassador," said the prince, " our friendship
for your master makes it our duty to inform you of all that
concerns the state. Know, then, that yesterday, in the name of
the Holy Spirit, of the glorious Virgin Mary, and the blessed
Evangelist Monsignore S. Marco, our patron, a league has been
concluded for the protection of the Church and the defence of
the Holy Roman Empire and your own states, between his
Holiness the Pope, his Majesty the King of the Romans, the
King and Queen of Spain, our Signoria, and the Duke of Milan.
Tell this, we pray you, to your Most Christian Majesty."
Before the prince had done speaking, Commines heard the bells
of St. Mark's ringing to celebrate the new league, and, still
dazed by the unexpected news, he stammered out, "What
will happen to my king ? Will he be able to return to France ? ?1
" Certainly," replied the prince, " if he comes as a friend to
the league."
Without another word, Commines left the palace, but as he
went down the grand staircase, he asked the secretary who
accompanied him to repeat the Doge's words, since he could
hardly take them in. Then he told his gondoliers to row him
back to his house, near S. Giorgio Maggiore, and on the way he
met the ambassador of Naples, in a fine new robe, with a smiling
face, as he well might have, " for this," adds Commines, " was
great news for him." Marino Sanuto, who narrates the incident,
was much struck by Commiifes' rage and dismay, and, like a true
Venetian, remarks contemptuously, " He did not know how to
dissimulate his feelings, as one should do in such a <iase," And, in
268 Beatrice d'Este
the same spirit, he goes on to admire the pres ice of mind dis
played by the Milanese ambassadors, who :> all Commines
remonstrances replied courteously, that of coui e their duke hac
nothing to do with all this. " They acted/' he adds, " as the,
wise act in the government of states. The / persuade theii
enemies that they mean to do one thing, a, d then they dc
another.'*
At night all Venice was illuminated, and from his coverec
gondola the French ambassador saw the fireworks and the
banquetings that were held at the palaces of the other envoys
He understood what it all meant, and trembled for his king's
safety. But he lost no time, and sent warnings both to Orleans
at Asti and to Charles at Naples, of the coming storm. A
week or two later he left Venice, and went to meet Charles a*
Florence. On Palm Sunday, the loth of April, the League wa-
solemnly proclaimed on the Piazza of St. Mark, and all tht
ambassadors marched in procession round the square, while images
of united Italy, and of all the kings and princes of the League,
were carried about in triumph, and the golden rose was given
by the Pope to the Venetian ambassador in Rome. " To-day,
said the Duke of Milan, " will see the dawn of the peace an
prosperity of Italy."
King Charles, meanwhile, unconscious of the dangers tha',
threatened to impede nis return home, was revelling in tht
uelights of Naples, and holding jousts and banquets in the sunny
gardens and fair palaces of that enchanted bay. " My brother,"
he wrote to the Duke of Bourbon, " this is the divinest land and
the fairest city that I have ever seen. You would never believe
what beautiful gardens I have here. So delicious arc they, and
so full of rare and lovely flowers and fruits, that nothing, by my
faith, is wanting, except Adam and Eve, to make this place
another Eden."
While the king and his nobles were eating off gold and
silver plate and drinking out of jewelled goblets in King
Alfonso's tapestried halls, the French soldiers were to be seen
lying about in the streets, intoxicated with the strong and luscious
wines of Southern Italy. The whole army was given over to
luxury and vict, and the outrages which the troops committed
Beatrice d'Este 269
"bon made them ' Ited by the fickle populace, who a few weeks
pefore had welco' led them as deliverers from the tyrant's yoke.
< From the mon *nt of the king's arrival until his departure,"
- Writes Commine s, " he thought of nothing but pleasure, and
those about him -"nly cared to seek their own profit. His youth
! nay excuse him/but for his servants there could be no excuse."
^he news of the league between the powers came to startle
Charles out of this fool's paradise. On the 8th of April, the
Count of Caiazzo was suddenly recalled to Milan, and when
Charles asked Lodovico to send him Messer Galeazzo instead,
k he duke replied curtly that he had need of him at home. By
Degrees the king began to realize the formidable combination
which had arisen against him, and prepared to march northward
"Hrith the bulk of his army, leaving the Duke of Montpensier
frith a few hundred French troops and some thousand Swiss
nercenaries to defend his newly conquered kingdom. On the
zoth of May, he finally left Naples, and on the ist of June
entered Rome by the Latin gate, two days after the Pope had
5ed to Orvieto. Almost at the same moment, King Ferrante
' turned to Calabria, and his subjects flocked to join the old
anner of the house of Arragon.
Lodovico's first step was to send Galeazzo di Sanseverino
vith a body of newly raised troops against Asti, on the igth of
iVpril, and to summon the Duke of Orleans to surrender the
.own and to drop the title of Duke of Milan. In this he was
upported by the Emperor Maximilian, who sent an imperious
Drder to Louis forbidding him to assume the title, on pain of
brfeiting ihis fief of Asti. Orleans replied proudly that Asti
brmed part of his heritage, and that he was ready to defend it
o the last drop of his blood against Signor Lodovico or any other
be. At the same time he sent an urgent appeal to the Duke of
8ourbon for reinforcements, and prepared to act on the offensive.
On the 1 4th of the same month, the Duke of Milan wrote
i gay letter to Isabella d'Este, informing her of his intention to
ittack Asti, and regretting that she was not present to join the
expedition on her fleet charger. But Asti was too strongly
fortified, and the forces under Galeazzo were too taw and ill paid,
"or him to attempt an assault ; so he remained in his camp at
270 Beatrice d'Este
Annona, and contented himself with cutting off the supplies oi
the beleaguered city.
Towards the end of April, the imperial envoys were at
length despatched with the long-promised privileges, and in the
middle of May they reached Milan, where they were magnifi-
cently entertained by the duke and duchess in the Casteilo,
On the 26th of May, the festival of S. Felicissimo, the great
ceremony took place. An imposing tribunal, hung with crimson
satin embroidered with gold mulberry leaves and berries, wu<
erected for the occasion on the piazza at the doors of the Duomo.
and here, after attending high mass, Lodovico Sforza was solemnly
proclaimed Duke of Milan, Count of Pavia and Angera, by the
grace of God and the will of his Cesarean Majesty, Maxi-
milian, Emperor-elect and chief of the Holy Roman Empire
The imperial delegates, Melchior, Bishop of Brixen, ant
Conrad Stttrzl, Chancellor of the King of the Romans, first reat
aloud the privileges in their master's name, and then investec
Lodovico with the ducal cap and mantle, arid placed the sceptn
and sword of state in his hands. Giasone del Maino, th<
celebrated Pavian jurist, recited a Latin oration, after which th<
duke, accompanied by the imperial ambassadors, and followec
by the duchess and a brilliant suite of courtiers and ladies, rod<
in procession to the ancient basilica of S. Amhrogio to rctun
thanks for his accession. Then the whole company returned
" with'immense rejoicing and triumph," to the Castello, when
a series of splendid fetes were given in honour of the occasion
and rich presents were made to the imperial ambassadors am
court officials. Two days afterwards another imposing ccremonj
was held in the Castello, when the heads of houses from th<
different quarters of the city were assembled, and each citizer
in turn swore fealty, first to Duke Lodovico and afterwards tc
Duchess Beatrice, whom, in the event of his own death, he hac
appointed to be regent of the State and guardian of his sons. The
Marquis of Mantua was among the guests present, and Beatrice
felt the keenest regret that the marchioness was unable to accom-
pany him and witness the wonderful scene before the Duomo,
which, she exclaims in her youthful enthusiasm, " wus the grander
spectacle and noblest solemnity that our eyes have ever beheld.'
Beatrice
It was the proudest day of Lodovico's life, and his adored
wife, who shared the cares of State as well as the festivities of his
court, might well join in his exultation. But his confidence in
the favours of Fortune and in the security of his position was
destined to receive a rude shock. Before the week was ended,
on the very day when Beatrice wrote her triumphant letter to
her sister, Louis of Orleans, strengthened by the arrival of fresh
troops, made a successful sally from Asti at nightfall and appeared
before the walls of Novara. The citizens, who were already
disaffected by reason of the oppressive exactions of the Duke of
Milan, opened their gates, and after a short siege the citadel
surrendered. Suddenly the Duke of Milan, who was resting
after the fatigues of the recent festivities at Vigevano, heard that
his rival, at the head of a strongly armed force, was within twenty
miles of his palace gates. An irresistible panic seized him, and
he retired, first to Abbiategrasso, beyond the Ticino, and then
to Milan, where he took refuge in the Castello with his wife
and children. The Venetian annalist Malipiero records how, on
the 20th of June, two Lombard friars arrived at the convent
of San Salvador in Venice, bringing word that the duke had
fled in terror of his life to the Rocca, and would hardly see or speak
to a single soul. " He is in bad health, with one hand paralyzed,
they say, and is hated by all the people, and fears they will rise
against him." In this critical moment, Beatrice showed a
courage and presence of mind which contrasted curiously with
her husband's weakness. She sent for the chief Milanese noble-
men, spoke brave words to them, and took prompt measures for
defending the Castello and city. Fortunately, the Venetian
general, Bernardo Contarini, arrived on the 22nd of June at the
head of several thousand Greek Stradiots to the duke's assistance,
while the French were held in check by Galeazzo's force and
compelled to remain within the walls of Novara. This momentary
panic over, Lodovico recovered his health and nerve, but his
treasury was exhausted by the large subsidies granted to his allies
and the extravagant expenditure of the last two years, and the
forced loans which he exacted from his subjects created a general
feeling of discontent. Galeazzo's force was weakened by continual
dcbcition, and the duke had great difficulty in raising sufficient
Beatrice d'Este
money to maintain two separate armies. Rumours of the dis-
affection of the Milanese and of the perils which threatened his
ally had reached Maximilian's ears at Worms, and on the i8th
of June he sent Lodovico a grave warning by his envoy, Angelo
Talenti, begging the duke to place German troops in the fortress
of Lombardy, and to provide guards for the castles of Milan and
Como, " in order that he may be able to sleep in peace." Two
days later he spoke again to the envoy, and begged him to urge
the duke to remove his womankind from the Castello to Cremona,
where he heard that he had a fine palace, saying that the presence
of women had often caused the loss of citadels. Perhaps, if
Maximilian had known Duchess Beatrice as well as he did a
year later, he would have thought this warning superfluous.
Lodovico, however, thanked his Majesty for his thoughtfulness,
and applied himself, with the help of Leonardo, to fortify the
Castello of Milan and make it an impregnable citadel. That
winter he had appointed Bernardino del Corte, one of his
favourite and most devoted servants, to be governor of the
Rocca, which held his treasure and jewels together with all
his most precious possessions, and on the lath of January, a
fortnight before the birth of Beatrice's child, the new castellan
had taken a solemn oath of fealty to the duke and duchess,
swearing, with his hand on the crucifix, that he would hold
the Castello for his liege lord and lady till his latest breath,
Messer Galeazzo and his brother, Antonio Maria di Sanseverino,
Giascone del Maino, Ambrogio di Rosate, the astrologer, Galeotto
Prince of Mirandola, and Giovanni Adorno, a powerful Genoese
nobleman, who had married a sister of the Sanseverini brothers,
were all present in Beatrice's room in the Rocchetta on this
occasion, and signed the document as witnesses of Bernardino's
oath.
Maximilian now sent his long-promised contingent of Swiss
and German troops to join the Count of Caiazzo's horse, and
the Venetian army, under the generalship of Gian Francesco
Gonzaga, and the allied forces, amounting in all to some twenty-
five thousand men, prepared to cut off the retreat of the French
king and prevent his return to Asti. a Here I am," wrote the
Marquis of Mantua to his wife, "at the head of the finest army
Beatrice d'Este 273
which Italy has ever seen, not only to resist, but to exterminate
the French." And Isabella wrote back in high spirits at the
"great enterprise" that was before him, sending him a cross
with an Agnus Dei to wear round his neck in battle, and
telling him that her prayers and those of all the priests of Mantua
were with him.
On Sunday, the 5th of July, the French army, reduced by
sickness and desertion to less than ten thousand in number, and
fatigued by long forced marches across the Apennines, descended
into the valley of the Taro, and encamped at the village of
Fornovo, on the right bank of the mountain torrent. Further
along the same bank, down in the plains, lay the army of the
league, and, in order to reach Lombardy,the French had to cross the
river in full view of the enemy's camp. Early on Monday morn-
ing, the 6th of July, Charles, mounted on his favourite charger,
"Savoy," and wearing white and purple plumes in his cap, led
the van of his army across the Taro, swollen as it was by the
late heavy rains. At the same moment, the Marquis of Mantua
and the Count of Caiazzo, at the head of their light cavalry,
attacked the French rear-guard, and the battle began. Paolo
Giovo describes the engagement that followed as the fiercest
battle of the age, in which more blood was spilt than in any
other during the last two hundred years, although Commines,
who was present with his monarch, says that the actual fighting
only lasted a quarter of an hour. On both sides the leaders
fought with heroic courage. Charles VIIL himself repeatedly
led the charge against the Milanese horse, and, calling on the
chivalry of France to live or die with him, dashed into the
thickest of the fray. Once mounted on his war-horse, and face
to face with the foe, the ugly little deformed man became a true
king, and risked his life and liberty at the head of his subjects.
Francesco Gonzaga, on his part, performed prodigies of valour,
and had three horses killed under him, while his uncle, Rodolfo
Gonzaga, and many other gallant knights were left dead on the field.
But personal exploits could not atone for his want of generalship,
and while the marquis and his immediate followers were engaged
in a desperate hand-to-hand fight with the foe, a large body of
his reserve remained inactive on the banks of the Taro, and his
274 Beatrice d'Este
Stradiots were engaged in plundering the French camp. The
result was that, in spite of their superior numbers, the Italian
ranks were broken and many of the Venetians fled in confusion
towards Parma, while the French succeeded in crossing the river,
and, early on Tuesday morning, continued their march across the
Lombard plain. But, as the camp and baggage remained in the
hands of the allies, the Italians claimed the victory. The
Venetians celebrated their triumph with public rejoicings and
illuminations on the Piazza of S. Marco, and lauded their brave
captain to the skies. Both at Milan and Mantua there was
great exultation when the news became known ; poets and
painters alike did honour to the victors : Sperandio designed his
noble medal, and Mantegna painted the Madonna della Vittoria
to immortalize Francesco Gonzaga's triumph. But the marquis
himself, writing to his wife from the camp the day after the
battle, remarks that if only others had fought as he and his
followers did, the victory would have been complete, and laments
the disobedience and cowardice of the Stradiots, who first
plundered the enemy's camp and then fled, although no one
pursued them. " These things," he adds, " have caused me the
greatest grief that I have ever known."
Lodovico's congratulations on the victory were coldly worded,
and evoked a reply from his brother-in-law, saying that if he
had failed in courage, he would have been a dead man. But
the duke could not forgive Gonzaga for allowing the French
to pursue their way unmolested. Oiily the Count of Caiazzo
and his brothers had attempted to follow them with their light
cavalry, who were too few in number to do the enemy serious
damage, and by the 8th of July, Charles and his tired army
reached Asti in safety.
" God Himself was our guide," devoutly ejaculates Commines,
"and led us home with honour, is that good man Fra Girolamo
of Florence had foretold. But, as he said truly, we were made to
suffer for our sins, for we were in sore need of food, and so great
was our want of water that men drank of the ditches along the
road ; but no one was heard to complain, although it was the
hardest journey I ever took in my life, and I have had many bad
77
ones.
Beatrice d'Este 275
Among the booty which fell into the hands of the marquis
after the battle was the French king's tent with all its contents.
These included a sword and helmet, said to have belonged to
Charlemagne, a silver casket containing the royal seals, besides a
set of rich hangings and altar-plate, and a jewelled cross and
reliquary on which Charles set great value, because it held a
sacred thorn and piece of wood from the holy cross, a vest of
our Lady, and a limb of St. Denis, which were objects of his
especial devotion. Many of these relics were eventually restored
to the king, who, not to be outdone in courtesy, sent the marquis
a favourite white horse of his, which had been captured by the
French, gorgeously apparelled in gold trappings. Among the
spoils sent to Mantua were a magnificent set of embroidered
hangings from the royal tent, and a curious book of paintings,
containing portraits of the chief Italian beauties who had fasci-
nated King Charles. These, together with the hilt of the broken
sword with which the marquis himself had fought in the meUe^
were joyfully received by Isabella, who counted these trophies
among her proudest possessions. She was, accordingly, a good
deal annoyed when, a week later, her husband desired her to
send back the French king's hangings, as he wished to give them
to her sister Beatrice. Her protest on this occasion is very
characteristic.
** MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LORD,
" Your Excellency has desired me to send the four
pieces of drapery that belonged to the French king, in order
that you may present them to the Duchess of Milan. I of
course obey you, but in this instance I must say I do it with
great reluctance, as I think these royal spoils ought to remain in
our family, in perpetual memory of your glorious deeds, of
which we have no other record here. By giving them to
others, you appear to surrender the honour of the enterprise
with these trophies of the victory. I do not send them to-day,
because they require a mule, and I also hope that you will be
able to make some excuse to the duchess and tell her, for
instance, that you have already given me these hangings. If I
had not seen them already, I should not have cared so much 5
276 Beatrice d'Este
but since you gave them to me in the first place, and they were
won at the peril of your own life, I shall only give them up
with tears in my eyes. All the same, as I said before, I will
obey your Excellency, but shall hope to receive some explana-
tion in reply. If these draperies were a thousand times more
valuable than they are, and had been acquired in any other way,
I should gladly give them up to my sister the duchess, whom, a&
you know, I love and honour with all my heart. But, under the
circumstances, I must own it is very hard for me to part with
them.
<c Mantua, July 24, 1495."
In this case Beatrice showed herself, as she habitually was, the
more generous of the two. The marquis had his way, and sent
the four hangings to Milan, followed by a fifth belonging to
the suite, which he had in the mean time recovered.
On the 25th of August, Beatrice, having duly received and
admired her brother-in-law's gift, sent them all back to Mantua,
with the following note, thanking him for his kindness, but
declining to accept a present that she felt belonged of right to
her sister :
" I have to-day received, by your Highness's courier, one of
the pieces of drapery belonging to the King of France. Andrea
Cossa had already brought me the other four, for which I thank
you exceedingly ; but I feel that, under the circumstances, I
ought not to keep them. As it is, I have great pleasure in
seeing them all together, and now your Highness can give them
back to the Marchesana." *
* Luzio-RenitT, <?/, <r//., pp, 632, 633.
CHAPTER XXIV
Ferrante II. recovers Naples Siege of Novara by the army of the league
Review of the army by the Duke and Duchess of Milan Charles VIII.
visits Turin and comes to Vercelli Negotiations for peace Lodovico
and Beatrice at the camp Treaty of Vercelli concluded between
France aad Milan Jealousy of the other Powers Commines at
Vigevano Zenale's altar-piece in the Brera,
H95
IF the failure of the league to cut off the French king's return
to Fornovo had disappointed Lodovico, he found compensa-
tion in the news that reached Milan from Naples. Hardly had
Charles VIII. started on his march northwards, than Ferrante
once more set foot in his own realm and received a joyful welcome
from his subjects. On the yth of July, the day after the battle
of the Taro, he entered Naples, where the people took up arms
in his favour, and the nobles who had been the first to join
the French king hastened to assure him of their loyalty. One
by one the castles in the neighbourhood surrendered to their
rightful king, and Montpensier with the remnant of his forces
retired into the Calabrian fastnesses, to carry on a petty war of
depredation and skirmishes during the winter months. Lodovico
hastened to impart the good news to his sister-in-law Isabella,
who replied in the following letter :
"MOST ILLUSTRIOUS DuKLE OF MlLAN AND DEAR LORD,
"The news of King Ferrante's entry into Naples,
which your Highness was so good as to send- me, has given me
the greatest pleasure, both for his Majesty's own sake and for
that of your Highness, since it seems to me that all this must help
to deliver us the more speedily from the hands of the French.
277
278 Beatrice d'Este
So I congratulate myself with your JExcellency, and thank you
with all my heart for your kindness in allowing me to share the
good news, which has indeed given me the greatest happiness. I
only hope that you may soon receive tidings of the recovery of
Novara, and begging you to keep me informed of your successes,
and to commend me cordially to my sister the duchess,
" I remain, your daughter and servant,
"ISABELLA DA ESTE. '
"Written with ray own hand in Mantua on the i6th of July, 1495."
The siege of Novara, where the Duke of Orleans had been
beleagured since the middle of June, was now the centre of
interest in Lombardy. Immediately after Fornovo, the Count of
Caiazzo's cavalry had joined his brother Galeazzo's force before
Novara, and on the i<)th of July the Marquis of Mantua
encamped under the walls with the Venetian army. The garrison
of the besieged city was six or seven thousand strong, and well
provided with arms and ammunition, but already supplies of food
were scarce, and men and horses were dying of sickness and
hunger* Some dissensions having arisen between Fiances^o
Gonzaga and the other leaders as to the conduct of the siege, the
Duke of Milan himself visited the camp of the league on the
3rd of August, bringing with him, says Guicciardini, his beloved
wife 4C la ma cansstma consorte" who was his companion a no
lebS in matters of importance than in actions familiar, and who on
this occasion, it is said, chiefly by her advice and counsel brought
the captains to an agreement." A council of war was held, and
Lodovico's recommendation to blockade the town instead of
carrying it by assault was finally adopted. On the 5th of
August the duke and duchess were present at a grand review
of the whole army, which, with Galea///,o's troops and the German
and Swiss reinforcements, now amounted to upwards of forty
thousand men. Never in the memory of man, say the chroniclers,
had so great and splendid an auny been seen in Italy as that
which, with flying colours and beating churns, to the sound of
trumpets and martial music, maivhetl past the chariot of Duchess
Beatrice. First came the hero of Fornovo, Francesco Gonwiga,
at the head of his troop of horse, mounted on magnificent chargers,
* JLuzio-Renici, op. at., p. (u;.
Beatrice d'Este 279
" a sight admirable to behold ; " then the infantry, all in excellent
order, led by their different Condottieri, in glittering armour;
afterwards the artillery, firing big guns, which seemed to rend
the air 5 then the Stradiots armed with lances, targets, and scimitars 3
and the Venetian cross-bowmen and light cavalry. These were
followed by Galeazzo di Sanseverino, who looked his best that
day, clad in French attire as a knight of the Order of St. Michel
for which, we are told, he was sharply reprimanded by the
duke followed by the flower of Milanese chivalry, bearing in
their midst the ducal banner with the figure of a Moor, holding
an eagle in one hand and strangling a dragon with the other.
After Messer Galeaz came his brothers, Antonio Maria and
Fracassa, "ce tres-beau et tres-gracieux gendarme" as Commines
calls him, each leading his own squadron ; and finally the German
infantry, consisting of some five or six thousand men.
"It was indeed," writes the Neapolitan scholar, Jacopo d'Atri,
who was in attendance on his master, the Marquis of Mantua,
" a stupendous sight, and all who were present say that since the
days of the Romans, so vast and well-disciplined an army has
never been seen." And the Marquis of Mantua, in his letters,
never ceased to regret his wife's absence, telling her that she had
missed the grandest sight in the world, a thing the like of which
she would never see again.
The only drawback to the day's success was an accident
which befell the duke's horse, who stumbled and fell as Lodovico
passed along the lines, throwing his rider to the ground, and
soiling his rich clothes in the mud. "This," remarks the
chronicler who tells the story, " was held to be an evil omen, and
was remembered afterwards by many who were present that
day." After this review, the duke and duchess returned to
Vigevano, and the siege of Novara was prosecuted with fresh
vigour. In vain Louis of Orleans and his famished soldiers looked
out for the French army that was to bring them relief. King
Charles had gone to visit his ally the Duchess of Savoy at Turin,
and was consoling himself for the toil and disappointments of the
campaign by making love to fair Anna Solieri in the neighbour-
ing town of Chieri, Since his reduced forces were unequal to
the task of facing the army of the league and relieving Novara*
28 o Beatrice d'Este
he sent the bailiff of Dijon to raise a body of twelve thousand
Swiss in the Cantons friendly to France, and decided to await
their arrival before he took active measures.
Meanwhile he and most of his followers were thoroughly tired
of warfare, and the queen never ceased imploring him to return
home. The French supplies of men and money were exhausted,
and when Charles sent home for reinforcements, Anne of
Brittany replied that there were no Frenchmen left to send, only
widows weeping for their husbands, whose bones were whitening
on the Italian plains. The Venetian ambassador, Cornmines,
who was strongly in favour of peace, had already opened
negotiations with some of his friends in Venice, and Charles lent
a willing ear both to his proposals and to those of the Duchess
of Savoy, who on her part offered to mediate between him and
the Duke of Milan. But Briconnet, the Cardinal of S. Malo,
Lodovico's old enemy and a staunch partisan of Orleans, defeated
these plans by his intrigues, and the French army, leaving Asti,
advanced to Vercelli, in the duchy of Savoy, and prepared to take
the field. Both parties, however, were growing weary of this
prolonged warfare, and Commines declares that in the French
camp no one wanted to fight, unless the king led them to battle,
and that Charles himself had not the slightest wish to take the
field.
At length, early in September, the first detachment of Swiss
levies reached Vercelli, and on the I2th the king himself arrived
in the camp. His first act was to hold a council of war, which
decided in favour of peace, and Commines was sent to treat with
the Marquis of Mantua. The allies insisted on the uncon-
ditional surrender of Novara, while Charles VIIL asked for the
restitution of Genoa as an ancient fief of the French crown.
Nothing was concluded, but a truce of eight days was agreed
upon, and prolonged conferences were held at a castle between
Vercelli and Cameriano.
On the 2ist of September, Lodovico returned to the camp of
the league, bringing Beatrice with him, and rode out to meet the
French commissioners. Commines gives a minute account of
the conferences, which took place in the duke's lodgings at
Cameriano during the next fortnight, **
Beatrice d'Este 281
" Every day the duke and duchess came to meet us at the end
of a long gallery and conducted us to their rooms, where we
found two long "rows of chairs prepared, and we sat down on
one side, and the representatives of the league on the other. First
came the ambassadors of the King of the Romans and the King
of Spain ; then the Marquis of Mantua and the Venetian
Provveditori and envoy ; then the Duke of Milan and his wife
the duchess, seated between him and the ambassador of Ferrara.
On their side, the duke was the only spokesman, and on our
side one only. But our habit is not to speak as quietly as they do ;
two or three of us often began to speak at the same time, which
made the duke say, * Ho ! ho ! if you please, one at a time.*
And two secretaries, one of ours and one of theirs, wrote down the
articles agreed upon, and before we took leave, read them aloud,
the or/e in Italian, the other in French, to see if there was any-
thing that could be altered or shortened."
Beatrice was present at all the deliberations, and surprised the
other commissioners by her cleverness and quickness, and the
ready tact she invariably showed. The duke was now sincerely
anxious for peace, and only cared to recover Novara, and to see
the French safely out of his dominions, where the presence of
Louis of Orleans could not fail to prove a disturbing element.
Both he and Commines directed all their efforts to bring matters
to a favourable conclusion, but the other commissioners made
difficulties, and the Venetian, Spanish, and German ambassadors
would decide nothing without consulting their separate govern-
ments. The evacuation of Novara, however, was unanimously
agreed upon, and on the 26th of September, Orleans and his
garrison marched out with the honours of war, and were escorted
by Messer Galeaz and the Marquis of Mantua to the French
outposts. More than two thousand men had already died of
sickness and starvation. Almost all their horses had been eaten,
and the survivors were in a miserable plight. Many perished by
the roadside, and Commines found fifty troopers in a fainting con-
dition in a garden at Cameriano, and saved their lives by feeding
them with soup. Even then one man died on the spot, and four
others never reached the camp. Three hundred more died at
Vercelli, some of sickness, others from over-eating themselves after
282 Beatrice d'Este
the prolonged starvation which they had endured, and the dung-
hills of the town were strewn with dead corpses. Yet still Orleans,
who, as Commines remarks, had caused all this mischief, was eager
for war, and entreated the king to make no terms with Signor
Lodovico. He had a strong supporter in the Milanese captain,
Jean Jacques Trivulzio, who had entered the French king's
service stfter Alfonso's flight from Naples, and had never forgotten
his old griefs against Lodovico and his son-in-law. And on the
selfsame day that Novara was evacuated, the bailiff of Dijon
arrived at Vercelli with ten or twelve thousand more Swiss
mercenaries, bringing up the whole number to upwards of twenty
thousand. So large a body had never been assembled before, and
the presence oP these rude mountaineers, greedy for spoil and
ready to quarrel with friends or foes, created general alarm. The
Duke of Milan was now more eager than ever to conclude peace,
and when Louis of Orleans and Trivulzio urged the king to
break off negotiations and march at the head of the Swiss on
Milan, Charles replied curtly that it was too late, for the pre-
liminaries of peace were already signed. He himself had no wish
but to return home and send help to his distressed troops in
Naples.
Accordingly, on the gth of October a separate convention
was concluded between the King of France and the Duke of
Milan, leaving the other Powers to settle their differences among
themselves. Novara was restored to Lodovico, and his title to
Genoa and Savona recognized, while Charles renounced the
support of his cousin Louis of Orleans' claims upon Milan. In
return the duke promised not to assist Ferrante with troops or
ships, to give free passage to French armies, and assist the king
with Milanese troops if he returned to Naples in person. He
further renounced his claim on Asti, and agreed to pay the
Duke of Orleans 50,000 ducats as a war indemnity, and lend
the king two ships as transports for his soldiers from Genoa to
Naples. A debt of 80,000 ducats, that was still owing to
Lodovico, was cancelled, and the Castclletto of the port of
Genoa was placed in the Duke of Ferrara's hands, as a security
that these engagements would be kept on both sides. The
king, we learn from Commines, still retained a friendly feeling
Beatrice d'Este 283
for the Duke of Milan, and invited him to a meeting before he
left Italy ; but Lodovico had taken umbrage at certain offensive
remarks made by the Count of Ligny and Cardinal Briconnet,
and excused himself on plea of illness, while he declared In
private that he would not trust himself in the French king's
company unless a river ran between them. It is true," says
Commines, " that foolish words had been spoken, but the king
meant well, and wished to remain his friend."
The Marquis of Mantua was better disposed towards his
Most Christian Majesty, and gladly accepted an invitation to
visit the king at Vercelli before his departure. He wrote to his
wife in great haste, begging her to send him his finest linen
shirts and best gold brocade vest and mantle, together with
different sorts of choice perfumes, and the next day duly made
his obeisance to the king. He was highly gratified at the
courtesy with which he was received, and at the familiar way in
which his Majesty conversed, not only with himself, but with
his servants, " treating them exactly as if they were his equals,
and condescending to lift his hand to his cap each time they
saluted him." What impressed this rough soldier most of all
was the sight of three cardinals standing among the crowd at the
door, "just as the chaplains may be seen in any other house,"
and among them the cardinal of S. Pietro in Vincula (afterwards
Julius II.), " who dares contend with the Pope, and who yet
stood here in the humblest and most respectful fashion." Before
the marquis left, the king made him a present of two valuable
bay horses, remarkable for their fine shape and speed. One of
the two was an excellent jumper, and delighted Francesco by
the way in which he could clear wide trenches and lofty fences
at a single bound, " jumping with all four feet in the air at once."
At the same time Gonzaga's secretary, Jacopo d'Atri,
informed the Marchesa that the priest Bernardino d'Urbino and
a troop of Mantuan singers had been sent that evening to
amuse the king. Charles questioned the chaplain closely about
his master's wife, asking for an exact description of her person,
height, 'and features, and being especially anxious to learn if
Isabella at all resembled the Duchess Beatrice, and if, like that
illustrious lady, she was as charming and gracious as she was
284 Beatrice d'Este
beautiful. Don Bernardino replied discreetly that the Marchesa
was, to say the truth, even more beautiful than her sister, and
surpassed all other ladies by her charm and brilliancy. This
roused the king's curiosity to the highest pitch, and he insisted
on having a full and particular account of Isabella's talents
and accomplishments, as well as of the gowns she usually wore
and the fashion of her clothes, and rejoiced to hear she was
not very tall, since he himself was short of stature and admired
small women. "In short," adds the secretary, "his Majesty
appeared quite in love with my description of your Excellency,
and if he meets you, will, I am sure, seek to kiss your cheek, not
once, but many times. And this being the case, I am glad to
be able to tell you that the King of France is less deformed
than people say." *
The desired meeting, however, was never effected. Im-
mediately peace was signed, Charles VIII. left Vercelli, crossed
the Alps with the remnants of his army, and reached Lyons on
the yth of November. Commines, meanwhile, was sent on a
further errand to Venice, where he vainly endeavoured to
negotiate a treaty, but found the Signoria determined to main-
tain the cause of Ferrante of Naples. The Venetians were not
sorry to disband their army and see the French cross the Alps ;
but none the less their indignation was great at the Duke of
Milan's breach of faith in concluding a separate peace, and
sharp words passed between the ambassadors of Spain and Naples
and the Milanese envoy at Venice.
" The best thing, in my opinion," remarks the annalist Mali-
picro, "would have been for Contarini to give the Stradiots?
orders to cut to pieces both Duke Lodovico and Ercolc of
Fcrrara, who are the Signory's worst enemies. And the truth
is, you should never take part in another's quarrel, or enter the
country of a foreign ally, for in these matters no one is to
be trusted."
Maximilian, on his part, was satisfied with Lodovico's ex-
cuses, and owned that the duke was right to make peace without
delay. As for Lodovico, it was with a deep sense of relief
that he saw the departure of the last French troops. He inviteu
* Lvmo-Reuier, op. V,, p. 630.
Beatrice d'Este 285
the Duke of Ferrara, the Marquis of Mantua, and the Venetian
Provveditori to Vigevano, and entertained them all magnificently.
When, on his return from Venice, Commines in his turn visited
Vigevano, the duke rode out to meet him with charming courtesy,
and bade the French ambassador welcome to his beautiful country
home. But when they came to business, it was another matter.
Commines heard from Genoa that the two ships, which the Duke
of Milan was to send to Naples with the French fleet, had re-
ceived orders not to sail, and when he asked for an explanation,
Lodovico told him that he could put no trust or confidence in his
master the king. At the end of three days the ambassador took
his leave, and just as he was starting on his journey, to his surprise
the dake came up to him very civilly, and said that, after all,
he wished to keep on friendly terms with his Most Christian
Majesty, and had determined to send Messer Galeaz with the
ships to Naples, and that before Comminec reached Lyons he
should receive a letter to this effect. So Commines crossed the
Alps with a light heart, and all the way to Lyons he kept look-
ing back, he tells us, in constant expectation of hearing the sound
of horse's hoofs behind him. But the duke's messenger did not
overtake him, and the ships never sailed from Genoa.
That year the festival of Christmas was celebrated with
great joy and splendour at the court of Milan. After the
troubled times of the last twelve months, after the dangers
which had threatened the very existence of the State, and
brought the noise of war to the gates of Vigevano, peace and
"tranquillity were once more restored, and another era of un-
clouded prosperity seemed about to dawn. Now that poor Gian-
galeazzo was dead, and Louis of Orleans had once more crossed
the Alps, there was no one to dispute Lodovico's title or to
prevent his son from eventually succeeding him on the throne.
Once more he and Beatrice were free to devote themselves to
the encouragement of learning and poetry, of painting and
architecture ; to watch Bramante and Leonardo at work, or read
Dante and Petrarch together.
That winter the altar-piece of the Brera, containing the
portraits of the duke and his family, was painted by Zenale or
some other Lombard master, for the church of S. Ambrogio in
286 Beatrice d'Este
Nemo. Here the Madonna and Child are enthroned in the
centre of the picture ; the four Fathers of the Church, Ambrose,
Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory, stand on either side ; and in
the foreground, kneeling at the foot of the throne, are the Duke
and Duchess of Milan, with their two children. The Christ-
child turns towards Lodovico, and St. Ambrose, the protector
and patron saint of Milan, lays his hand on the shoulder of the 4
duke, as, clad in rich brocades and wearing a massive gold chain
round his neck, he clasps his hands in prayer. And the gentle
Madonna stretches out her hand lovingly towards Beatrice,
who kneels at her feet, with the long coil of twisted hair, and
the pearls on her head and neck, and her favourite knots
of ribbons fluttering from her shoulders or falling over the velvet
stripes of her yellow satin robe. Close at her side is the infant
prince, Francesco Sforza, with his baby face and swaddled
clothes ; while opposite, kneeling at his father's side, is the hand-
some little Count of Pavia. Here, at least, there is no doubt
that we have authentic portraits of both Lodovico Sforza and
Beatrice d'Este, the reigning Duke and Duchess of Milan,
towards the close of the year 1495. There is no mistaking
the long black hair, the refined features, and long nose of the
Moro, while in Beatrice's features we recognize the same
youthful and childlike charm that mark her countenance in
Cristoforo Romano's bust or Solan's effigy in the Ccrtosa
of Pavia.
CHAPTER XXV
The war of Pisa Venice defends the liberties of Pisa against Florence
Lodovico invites Maximilian to enter Italy and succour the Pisans The
Duke and Duchess of Milan go to meet the emperor at Mais Maxi-
milian crosses the Alps and comes to Vigevano His interview with
the Venetian envoys His expedition to Pisa.
1496
" AFTER Fornovo," wrote the Venetian Malipiero, Lodovico
Duke of Milan governed all things in Italy." The departure of
the French had left him practically the arbiter between the other
Powers, and afforded him fresh opportunities of satisfying his
ambitious schemes. He had long cherished hopes of recovering
the city of Pisa, upon which the Dukes of Milan had ancient
claims, and in September, 1495, while Orleans still held Novara,
he sent Fracassa, at the head of a band of Genoese archers, to
help the Pisans defend their newly recovered liberties against the
Florentines. Three months later Fracassa was recalled, in tardy
compliance with the condition of the Treaty of Vercelli ; but
early in the following year, the Pisans, finding themselves deserted
by the French, turned once more to Lodovico and implored his
help. At the same time they sought assistance from the Signory or
Venice, who, in March, 1496, publicly took the city of Pisa under
the protection of St. Mark, and helped their new allies with liberal
supplies of men and money. The Duke of Milan sent a small
brigade to join these forces, and strongly encouraged the Venetians
to bear the burden of a war from which in the end he hoped to
reap solid advantage. But his secret jealousy of Venice, as well
as rumours that Charles VIIL was meditating a second French
expedition to relieve the distressed garrison of Naples, induced
287
288 Beatrice d'Este
him to seek the help of a new ally in the person of the Emperor
Maximilian,
Early in the spring he sent the Marchesino Stanga across the
Alps to invite Maximilian to come to the help of Pisa, which as
an imperial city had already appealed to him for protection,
assuring him that his presence in Italy would maintain the
balance of power between Venice and Florence, and curb the
French king's ambition. The prospect of descending upon
Italy and assuming the imperial crown flattered Maximilian's
vanity, but, as usual, his movements were hampered by lack of
money. At length he agreed to meet the Duke of Milan on
the frontier* of Tyrol and the Valtellina, and discuss their future
plan of operations together.
On the 5th of July the emperor left InnsbrClck for Nauders, and
on the same day the duke and duchess, accompanied by GalcaKZO
di Sanseverino and the Count of Melzi, set out on their journey
up the lake of Como to Bormio, in the Valtellina, On the tyth
they reached the Abbey of Mais, " an ancient monastery," says
Cagnola, " at the foot of those terrible mountains on the way to
Germany , " and two days afterwards, received a message from
Maximilian, informing the duke and duchess that he was about to
pay them a visit, but begging them not to leave their lodgings, as
he wished the meeting to be informal and without ceremony.
Early on the morning of the 2Oth, the gay music of hunting-horns
woke the mountain echoes, and a hunting-party suddenly appeared
at the gates of the old Benedictine abbey. First came a hundred
soldiers on foot, bearing long lances, then fifty German lords in
hunting-garb, with falcons on their wrists. These were followed
by his Imperial Majesty, a princely figure in his simple grey
cloth tunic and black velvet cap, with a lion's skin hanging over
his thighs, and the badge of the Golden Fleece on his breast, A
troop of servants and pages, in the imperial liveries of red, white,
and yellow, brought up the rear of the procession, that wound
along the steep mountain-side and halted before the convent,
where the Duke of Milan had his lodgings*
The Venetian ambassador, Francesco Foscari, hearing of
Maximilian's proposed visit, had, on Lodovico's invitation, fol-
lowed him across the Alps, accompanied by the Cardinal of Santa
Beatrice d'Este 289
Croce, the papal nuncio. Both these envoys waited on the emperor
at Mais, and that evening Foscari's secretary, Conrade Vimerca,
wrote the following account of the meeting between Maximilian
and the duke and duchess in his despatches to Venice :
"His Majesty alighted with an eagerness which seemed to me
only too great, and went upstairs, where he found the duke alone
with the duchess, and spent half an hour in close and affectionate
intercourse with them both. Afterwards they all three attended
mass in the neighbouring church, and his Majesty appeared, leading
the duchess with his right hand and the duke with his left, with such
demonstrations of love and familiarity as can hardly be described.
All three then rode on horseback to the emperor's lodgings at
Colorno (Glurns), some eight miles distant, where his Majesty
entertained the duke and duchess and all their suite at dinner
under a pavilion, which had been erected under the trees. His
Majesty insisted on both the duke and duchess washing their
hands with him in the same bowl, and, sitting down between them
at table, himself helped first one, then the other, from the endless
variety of dishes spread out before them. All this he did with
an ease and kindness beyond anything that I have ever seen in
royal personages. Each time the duke spoke he took off his cap,
and his Majesty did the same. After dinner they remained for
some while in pleasant conversation, and then rode all three
together to another place called Mais, one mile further off, his
Majesty bearing all the expenses of the entertainment. To-
morrow night they will remain together here, and there will be
some time for discussion. I am quite sure/' adds the Venetian
secretary, "after this that we shall see his Majesty in Italy next
August, and this you may hold to be absolutely certain. As for
the King of France, they do not even mention his name or think
of him any more than if he did not exist."
Although the Signoria of Venice had joined the Duke of
Milan in inviting Maximilian to come to Italy, and had promised
him their assistance, they were secretly not a little alarmed at the
prospect of another foreign invasion, fearing, as one of their
chroniclers observes, that the Germans might prove to be even
greater barbarians than the French. In the interview which
Foscari had with the emperor at Mais, he endeavoured politely
u
290 Beatrice d'Este
to dissuade him from entering Italy with a German army ; but, as
his secretary remarked, it was too late, for the Duke of Milan
willed that he should come. Nor were the jealous Venetians
altogether pleased to see the marks of friendship and confidence
with which the German emperor honoured Lodovico and his
wife. The familiarity with which Maximilian treated both the
duke and duchess, and the evident pleasure which he took in their
company, seemed little short of marvellous in the eyes of both
Foscari and his secretary.
'~"The singular charm and intelligence of Beatrice made a deep
impression upon Maximilian, who could not but contrast her
brightness and cleverness with the dulness and ignorance of his
own Milanese wife. And the duke's polished manners and
cultured tastes could not fail to exert a powerful fascination upon
a monarch whose genuine love of art and romance made him
in his way as remarkable a type of the Renaissance as the Moro
himself. Even apart from political considerations, this meeting
between the two princes, that summer-time in the mountains of
Tyrol, was an event of deep interest, and we can only regret
that no record of Beatrice's impressions on this occasion has been
left us.
A conference between the emperor, the Duke of Milan, and
the ambassadors was held on the evening of that eventful day,
and the details of the convention between the allied powers was
finally agreed upon, A new league, which Henry the Seventh
of England was afterwards invited to join, "was formed between
the Emperor Maximilian, the Duke of Milan, the Pope, the
King of Spain, and the Venetian Republic ; and Venice and
Milan promised Maximilian a subsidy of 16,000 iluaits if he
would cross the Alps with an army, and compel the Florentines
to give up Pisa and Leghorn.
On the following day, the Venetian ambassador and the
papal legate took their leave, ami Maximilian accompanied (he
duke and duchess over the Alps to Kormio, where he joined in
a chamois-lnmt, and then rode hack with his retinue across the
mountains to meet the empress at Tinuio. Lodovico and Beatrice
travelled back to Milan, whore they kept the feast of the a glorious
martyr 8u Lawrence," on the zoth of August, with unwonted
Beatrice cTEste 291
splendour, and then retired to Vigevano to prepare for the
emperor's speedy return.
Before the end of the month, Maximilian had once more crossed
that " crudelissima montagna " of Braulio (Piz Umbrail), and was at
Bellagio on the Lake of Como, where Fracassa received him, and
with five other Milanese knights held a baldacchlno over his head
as he rode i*p to the Marchesino Stanga's Castle on the hills.
u But he only brought six secretaries and two hundred horsemen
with him, and as before was simply clad in a suit of grey cloth,"
remarks a Venetian writer : " the pettiest German baron
would have come with more pomp ! " A few days afterwards,
the emperor went on to the ducal villa at Meda, near Como,
where Lodovico met him with the Cardinal di Santa Croce and
Foscari, and conducted him, on the 2nd of September, to see
Duchess Beatrice at Vigevano. Here he remained for the next
three weeks, enjoying the beauties of the Moro's favourite
summer palace, and admiring the perfection of Lodovico's latest
improvements the clock recently constructed by Bramante, the
marble capitals of the great hall, and the model farm and stables
of the Sforzesca. Maximilian had originally intended to visit
Milan, and the erection of a triumphal arch in the Roman style
had been ordered by the duke, together with other decorations on
a vast scale ; but at the last moment this idea was abandoned.
The w'enetian, Marino Sanuto, unkindly suggests that the Moro
would not allow the emperor to come to Milan, lest he should
sec Duchess Isabella's son, who was the rightful heir to the
crown. In all probability the true reason lay in Maximilian's
dislike of state-pageants, and his preference for the freedom and
country pleasures of Vigevano. As he told the Venetian
ambassador, he preferred to travel about in different places and
enjoy himself in his own way. And His Majesty added, with a
frankness by no means agreeable to Foscari and his government,
that he had no need of his company, and he preferred to be alone,
since Duke Lodovico, with whom he was very intimate, could
tell him all that he wished to know. With which distinctly
unpalatable piece of information the ambassador had to be con-
tent. Maximilian, he was compelled to acknowledge, had come
to Italy as the sworn friend and ally of the Duke of Milan, and
Beatrice cf Este
the Republic must stoop to take the second place in the councils
of the League.
If Beatrice's charms had captivated the wise emperor at their
first meeting in the mountains of the Valtellina, he found her a
thousand times more fascinating at her beautiful country home,
with her children in her arms. He took great interest in both
her little boys, and begged that the elder of the two, Ercolc, should
bear the name of Maximilian, by which he became known in
future days. In memory of this visit the emperor's portrait was
introduced in the beautiful miniatures which illustrate Maxi-
milian Sforza's Book of Prayers, or Libro di Gcsi, still preserved
in the Trivulzian Library. Here the young count is represented
on horseback, receiving his illustrious cousin, while the words 01
the Latin oration, which he is in the act of reciting, are illuminated
on the front page.
The Venetian Signory had decided to send two special
ambassadors to congratulate the emperor on his arrival in Italy,
and on the 1 4th these envoys, Antonio Grimani and Marco
Morosini, reached Milan, where they were received by Galea'///,a
Sforza, Count of Melzi, and lodged in the Palaw/o del Vcrmc,
then inhabited by Madonna Cecilia Gallcrani and her husband
Count Lodovico Bcrgamini, and lately decorated with frescoes
and marbles at the duke's expense. Early the next day
they travelled by boat to Abbiategrasso, past the fair villas
and smiling gardens that charmed the eyes of Jean d'Auton when
he travelled along the banks of the Ticino, Here Kosoari,
who was already in attendance on the emperor, came to meet
them, and they rode into Vigevano, where they were received
by the Count of Caiazzo and Galcotto clclla Mirandola, ami
listened in torrents of rain to a Latin oration that was
delivered in Maximilian's name* It was already dark when the
ambassadors reached the Castello, but the duke himself rode out
to welcome them, and conducted them to their lodgings in the
palace of his son-in-law, Galea'///x> di Sansevcrino. Hero the
duke's own daughter, Madonna Bianca, the youthful hriile whom
Messer Galcaz had brought home a few weeks before, entertained
her father's guests, and bade them welcome in the name of her
gallant husband, who was laid up with an attack of ievcx, ami
Beatrice d'Este 293
unable to leave his room or attend to business. The next day
the ambassadors were granted an audience, at which Marino
Sanuto, as a member of Foscari's suite, was himself present. His
Majesty, whom the Venetian described as a magnificent-looking
man of thirty-seven, with long hair already turning white, and
perfect manners, received them at the top of the grand staircase,
on the first floor of the Castello. As usual, he was clad in black
and wore a long velvet mantle, and a black woollen cap trimmed
with cords in the French style, having taken a vow to wear no
colours until he had defeated the Turks, while his sole ornament
was a gold chain, with the badge of the Golden Fleece, which
hung round his neck. He was seated on a dai's, draped with
cloth of gold, with the Duke of Milan on his right hand, and
the Cardinal di Santa Croce on his left. The ambassadors of
Naples and Spain were also present, as well as the Count of
Caiazzo, the Marchesino Stanga, Don Angelo de* Talenti, the
Bishops of Como and Piacenza, the secretary de* Negris, and other
well-known Milanese courtiers, Marco Morosini then pro-
nounced an elegant harangue, which was praised by all present,
and graciously accepted by the emperor, who conversed affably
with the envoys on general subjects. Afterwards Marino Sanuto
was presented to the Duchess Beatrice, who, he remarks, " never
leaves her lord's side, although she is once more with child,"
and her two fine little boys, "Ercolc, whose name has been
changed by His Majesty's desire to Maximilian, and who is
called Count of Pavia, and a second named Sforza." A succes-
sion of fetes and hunting-parties was given by the duke for the
entertainment of his imperial guest during the next week, and
ending with a " Caccia bettisshna " to which the cardinal-legate, all
the princes, ambassadors, and courtiers were invited. Two
hundred riders took part in the hunt that day, and " I myself,"
adds the grave historian, " was there and saw a hare caught by a
leopard."
On the 23rd of September the emperor took leave of the
Duchess Beatrice, who presented him, as a parting gift, with a
superb litter, made of woven gold, richly adorned with fine
needlework " the most beautiful thing which I have ever seen,"
writes Sanuto, u and valued at a thoxisaud ducats." The duke
294 Beatrice cTEste
accompanied his guest as far as Tortona, where he left Maximilian
to go on to Genoa, and thence by sea to Pisa.
" There are, people say, three reasons," remarked Marino
Sanuto, " why His Imperial Majesty is such fast friends with the
Duke of Milan. In the first place, he sees that Lodovico has
great power and authority throughout Italy. In the second, he
hopes to get some money out of him. And in the third
place, he looks on him as a useful ally against the King of
France."
Happily for both the emperor and the Duke of Milan's
peace of mind, the French king's military ardour had soon died
away, and although Trivulzio was sent to Asti, and Orleans
would gladly have followed him, Charles the Eighth spent his
time in jousts and hunting-parties, and forgot his unhappy subjects
in Southern Italy. Ferrante, assisted by a Venetian force under
Francesco Gonzaga, recovered one fortress after another. On
the 29th of July, Montpensier, after holding the fortified city of
Atella during many months, was forced to capitulate with his
five thousand men, and himself died of fever a few weeks later
at Pozzuoli. Most of his troops shared the same fate, and few
of that galknt army lived to return to France. Suddenly, in the
midst of his victorious career, the young king Ferrante, who had
a few months before obtained a papal dispensation to marry his
father's youthful half-sister, Princess Joan, died of fever, brought
on by the fatigues and hardships to which he had exposed himself
in the previous campaign. His death was deeply lamented alike
by his subjects and his relatives at Milan and Mantua, who
retained a sincere affection for this brave and popular prince.
Fortunately, his uncle and successor Frederic, the fifth king who
had reigned over Naples during, the last three years, proved a
wise and capable monarch. By degrees he succeeded in captur-
ing the few remaining castles still held by the French, and once
more restored peace to his distracted kingdom. Such was the
state of affairs that autumn, when the German emperor landed
at Pisa on the 2ist of October. The citizens received him with
acclamations, and, pulling down the French king's statue, as
they had broken the lion of Florence in pieces two years before,
placed the imperial eagle on the top of the column in the public
Beatrice d'Este 295
But they were once more doomed to disappointment.
Maximilian, finding himself, as usual, ill supplied with both men
and money, and being inadequately supported by his allies of
Venice and Milan, was unable to prosecute the war against
Florence with any vigour. He attempted to besiege Leghorn ;
but his fleet was scattered and many of his ships were wrecked
by a violent storm, after which he gave up the undertaking,
saying that he could not fight against both God and man. One
day towards the end of November, he suddenly took his departure,
and, leaving Pisa, returned by Sarzana to Pavia. The Venetians
saw the failure of this expedition and the fruitless result* of their
large expenditure of men and money, with great dissatisfaction,
and attributed most of the blame to Duke Lodovico.
" Things go badly for the Signory at Pisa/' wrote Malipiero,
who was himself on board the Venetian fleet that sailed with
Maximilian against Leghorn, cc and the cause of this is Lodovico
Duke of Milan. . . . His pride and arrogance are beyond
description. He boasts that Pope Alexander is his chaplain, the
Emperor Maximilian his condottiere, the Signory of Venice his
chamberlain, since they spend their money largely to attain his
ends, and the King of France his courier, who comes and goes
at his pleasure. Truly a fearful state of things ! "
And Marino Sanuto remarked, " The Duke of Milan is one
of the wisest men in the world, but his success has rendered him
very ungrateful to Venice, whose secret enemy he will always
remain. He made a great mistake in allowing the Duke of
Orleans to escape from Novara, and some day he will be
punished for his bad faith. For he never keeps his promises,
and when he says one thing, always does another. All men
fear him, because fortune is propitious to him in everything. But
none the less, I believe that he will not continue long in pros-
perity, for God is just, and will punish him because he is a traitor
and never keeps faith with any one."
f he Florentine Guicciardini moralized in much the same
strain, saying that Lodovico publicly vaunted himself to be the
son of Fortune, u little remembering the inconstancy of human
fame," and flattered himself that he would always be able to
govern the affairs of Italy, " with his Industrie to turn and wmde
296 Beatrice cTEste
the minds of every one. This fond persuasion he could not
dissemble, neither in himself, nor in his peoples, in so much that
Milan day and night was replenished with voices vaine and
glorious, celebrating with verses Latine and vulgar and with
publicke orations fall of flatterie, the wonderfull wisedom of
Lodowike Sforce, on the which they made to depend the peace
and warre of Italy, exalting his name even to the third heaven."
In those days the bard of Pistoja proclaimed that there was
one God in heaven and one Moro upon earth, and sang the
praises of this great and divine Duca, who alone could open
and close the doors of the Temple of Janus and make peace or
war in Italy, while Gaspare Visconti extolled the talents and
virtues of Duchess Beatrice as surpassing those of all the most
illustrious women of antiquity. Then Leonardo designed that
famous series of allegories in his sketch-book, in which Duke
Lodovico is represented alternately as Fortune, driving the
squalid figure of Poverty away with a golden wand, and throw-
ing his ducal mantle over a helpless youth who flies before the
ugly hag ; or as supreme Wisdom, wearing the spectacles which
can pierce through all disguises, and pronouncing sentence
between Envy on the one hand and Justice on the other.
Then Bramante painted those frescoes on the walls of the
Castello of Milan, in which the Moro was seen crowned and
seated on his throne, under a stately portico, administering
justice, with four councillors and two pages at his side, while
the criminal trembled before him, and officers of state held the
scales and prepared to carry out the sentence. And then, too,
somewhere else in the palace, an unknown Lombard master
painted that fresco of Italy as a fair queen, with the names of
the chief cities embroidered on her robes, and the Moro standing
at her side, brushing the dust off her skirts with the scopetta or
little broom, that favourite emblem which appears in so many
illuminated books of the day. On thr wall below the painting,
the following motto was inscribed :---
"Per Italia nettar
"Take care, my lord duke," the Florentine ambassadoi
is reported to have said, when Lodovico graciously explained
Beatrice cTEste 297
the meaning of the allegory " take care the negro who is so
busy brushing Italy's skirts does not cover himself with dust
in his turn ! " The courteous duke only smiled at the jest,
and shrugged his shoulders ; but others overheard the remark
and repeated it, much to the satisfaction of his foes in Florence
and Venice.
The fame of the great and powerful Duke of Milan had
reached the distant cliffs of Albion and the palace of West-
minster, and that November Lodovico received a letter from
Henry VII. of England, rejoicing with his new ally on the
conclusion of the League against France, and the visit of the
emperor to Italy. The king further informed him that " the
treaty had been solemnly proclaimed by the Cardinal-Arch-
bishop of Conturberi, on the Feast of All Saints, in the cathedral
church of the Blessed Apostle St. Paul, in our city of London."
And our friend, Marino Sanuto, proceeds to improve the occasion
by informing us that "this King Enrico has for wife Madonna
Ysabeta, daughter of the late King Edward, because he defended
the cause of Richard, brother of the said Edward. And he has
two sons, Artur, prince of Squales, which is a neighbouring island*
and the Duke of Yorche,"
CHAPTER XXVI
Isabella d'Este joins her husband in Naples Works of Bramante and
Leonardo in the Castello of Milan-* -The Cenacolo Lodovico sends foi
Perugino His passion for Lucrezia Crivelli Grief of Beatrice Death
of Bianca Sforei The Emperor Maximilian at Pavia The Duke an* '
Duchess leturn ..o JVfilan JLast days and sudden death of Beatrice d'Est^
\ H9 6
.'" i--"> ^ ;
THE records we have of Beatrice's private life during this busy
year are very meagre and disappointing. Scarcely one of her
letters, belonging to this period, has been preserved, while those
which her sister Isabella addressed to Milan are almost as rare
The marches^ '$ time and thoughts had been much engaged ir
public affairs during the absence of her husband with the Vene-
tian forces at Naples, and she had little leisure for correspondence.
On the 1 3th of July she gave birth to a second child, which, to
her great disappointment, proved to be another girl, who received
the name of Margherita, but only lived a few weeks. Of thi:
event the duchess was duly informed, and, in sending her con-
gratulations, was able to tell her sister that she was hoping to
become the mother of a third child early in the following year.
In September the marquis fell dangerously ill of fever, and his
wife hurried to join him in Calabria, and, as soon as he was able
to move, brought him back by slow stages to Mantua. During
that summer, the only letter of interest which Isabella wrote to
the Milanese court was a note to her friend, the jester Barone,
begging him to find out for her how Messer Galeazzo and others
who like him are the glass of fashion, manage to dye their hair
black on certain occasions, and afterwards resume the natural
colour of their locks, adding that she remembers distinctly to
298
Beatrice d'Este 299
have seen Count Francesco Sforza with black locks one day, and
the next with brown.
On the gth of November, Lodovico wrote an imperative
note from Vigevano to the Castellan of the Rocchetta, Bernardino
del Corte, desiring him to see that the walls of the new rooms
are dry and ready for habitation by the end of the month, since
the duchess must have the use of the apartments adjoining the
ball-room during her approaching confinement, and telling him
to ask Bergonzio, the treasurer, for money, if more should be
required. Bernardino replied that the rooms were finished, and
that good fires had been lighted to dry the walls, and that the
whole suite would be furnished by the following week and
:eady to receive the duchess. He also informed the duke that
che new rooms on the side of the garder w6uld be completed
by Christmas, and told him that Bram after finishing the
arcades of the new gallery between the r u, ;*n and Rocchetta,
Jiad begun the design of tLe new ":ower. Both Leonardo and
Bramante were employed on extensive works in the Castello
during the duke's absence that summer, although the Florentine
"master, we know, was chiefly engaged in finishing his great
'fresco in the refectory of the Dominican convent outside the
'Porta Vercelliana. Often during the summer heats, Matteo
Bandello, then a young novice of the Order, saw the Florentine
master at noonday, " when the sun was in the sign of the Lion,**
leave the Corte Vecchia, where he was finishing his great horse,
and, hurrying 'through the streets to the Grazie, mount the scaf-
fold, brush in hand, and put a few touches to some of the figures
in the Cenacolo, after which he would hurry away as quickly as
he came. Often too the young friar watched him at his work;
" for this excellent painter," Matteo tells us, " always liked to
hear other people give their opinions freely on his pictures."
Many a time the young Dominican saw Messer Leonardo ascend
the scaffold in the early morning, and remain there from sunrise
till the hour of twilight, forgetting to eat and drink, and painting
all the while without a moment's pause. Sometimes again he
would not paint a single stroke for several days, but just stand
before the picture during one or two hours, contemplating his
work, and considering and examining the different figures. And
joo Beatrice d'Este
the friars were very much annoyed because of the master's delays,
and complained to the duke, who paid him so large a sum for
the work, that he had not yet begun the head of the traitor
Judas. When the duke asked Leonardo why he left this head
undone, he replied that during the last year he had been vainly
seeking in all the worst streets of Milan to find a type of criminal
who would suit the character of Judas, but that if desired he
would introduce the prior's own likeness, which he thought
would answer the purpose excellently ! This answer is said to
have amused the duke highly, and Lodovico and his painter had
a good laugh together at the expense of the prior.
But since Leonardo was otherwise engaged, and another
painter who had been employed in the Castello suddenly dis-
appeared, owing, we are told, to some scandal in which he was
concerned, the duke determined to send to Florence for another
artist to complete ,the decorations of his new rooms. There was
evidently no Lombard master whom he considered equal to the
task, and since Lorenzo de' Medici had sent him Leonardo, there
might be some other artists of rare excellence among his fellow-
citizens. So Lodovico wrote to his envoy at Florence, and
desired him to let him have a full description of the best painters
then living there. In reply, he received the following list, which
is still preserved in the archives of Milan, and which is of great
interest, both as a monument of the Moro's untiring perseverance
in seeking out the best masters, and as a record of the different
degrees of estimation in which living artists were held by their
contemporaries :
"Sandro de Botticello a most excellent master, both in
panel and wall-painting. His figures have a manly air, and are
admirable in conception and proportion.
"Filippino di Frati Filippo an excellent disciple of the
above-named, and a son of the rarest master of our times. His
heads have a gentler and more suave air ; but, we arc inclined to
think, less art.
"II Perugino a rare and singular artist, most excellent in
wall-painting. His faces have an air of the most angelic sweet-
ness.
** Doxncuico cie Gvillandaio u good master iu panels and A
Beatrice d'Este 301
better one in wall-painting. His figures are good, and he is an
industrious and active master., who produces much work.
"All of these masters have given proof of their excellence in
the Chapel of Pope Sixtus, excepting Filippino, and also in the
Spedaletto of the Magnifico Laurentio, and their merit is almost
equal."*
This intimation seems to have decided Lodovico to apply to
Perugino, whom Leonardo had known as his fellow-pupil in
Verocchio's atelier at Florence, and who was supposed to be in
Venice at the time. So his secretary wrote to desire Guido
Arcimboldo, the Archbishop of Milan, who was then in Venice,
to inquire for the Umbrian master, and see if he could be induced
to visit Milan. The archbishop, writing on the I4th of June,
replied that Maestro Pietro of Perugia had left Venice six months
ago and was back at Florence. Lodovico, however, did not lose
sight of the master, and in the following October, by his desire,
the monks of the Certosa of Pavia engaged this popular artist to
paint an altar-piece for one of their chapels. In the following
year the duke returned to the charge, and hearing that Perugino
had returned to his native city, wrote two pressing letters to one
of the Baglioni, who was the chief magistrate of Perugia, begging
him, as a personal favour, to induce Messer Pietro to come to
Milan, and offering to pay the artist whatever price he may ask,
and to retain him permanently in his service or keep him only
for a fixed time, as he may think best. Perugino, however, was
then engaged in decorating the Sala del Cambio in his native
town, and had already more commissions than he could execute.
He declined the Duke of Milan's repeated invitations, and the
Moro was obliged to fall back upon Eramante and Leonardo to
finish the works in the Castello.
JJut although the duke's passion for building new churches
and palaces or beautifying those which he had already built, was
as ardent as ever, it became more and more difficult to find the
money to meet the vast expenditure which his splendid schemes
involved. The flics in honour of Maximilian and the subsidies
which had been granted for his expedition had already entailed
heavy expenses, and on every side the same complaint was
heard. There was no money to pay the salaries of the numerous
* Dr. Mu Her- Waldo in Jakrbuck d. pr. Kunst, 1897.
302 Beatrice d'Este
professors at Pavia and Milan, whose chairs had been founded by
Lodovico himself 5 none to pay the bills for building and furnish-
ing the new rooms in the Castello, or to cast Leonardo's great
horse in bronze. Everywhere people were groaning at the
heavy burdens imposed upon them, and at Lodi, Cremona, and
other places there had been not only murmuring against the
duke, but actual rioting and tumults, while in some parts of the
duchy the inhabitants were leaving their homes to escape these
harsh exactions. Lodovico's most faithful servants began to
look grave, and the duke himself could not but be aware of
his growing unpopularity among his subjects.
Whether these rumours reached the ears of Beatrice and
disturbed her happiness, we cannot tell; but we know that her
life was saddened and the gladness of her heart cloucJeJ"by"a new
sorrow that autumn. The duke, who for many years past had
proved himself a devoted and affectionate husband, and realized
better than any one what an admirable companion and partner
he had in his youug wife, suddenly found a new object for his
affections in Lucrezia .Qnvelli, a beautiful and accomplished
maiden of a noble Milanese family, who was one of the duchess's
ladies-in-waiting. Soon Lodovico's passion for this new mistress
became publicly known, Leonardo was employed to paint her
picture ; and, under the dute of November, 1496, the annalist of
Ferrara writes, " The latest news from Milan is that the duke
spends his whole time and finds all his pleasure in the company
of a girl who is one of his wife's maidens. And his conduct is
ill regarded here." The chronicler Muralto, in his brief and
touching account of the young duchess, after recalling Beatrice's
charms and joyous nature, tells us that, although Lodovico loved
his wife intensely, he took Lucre/ja Crivelli for his mistress, a
thing which caused Beatrice the most bitter anguish of mind,
but could not alter her love for him. And remorse for the pain
which he had caused Beatrice gave the sharpest sting to Lodovico's
own despair, on that sad day when he wept for his young wife's
early death.
That autumn a fresh and unexpected blow fell upon the
ducal family, in the dcnth of Lodovico's beloved daughter Bianca,
the young wife of Galeazsso di Srmscverino, who died very*
Beatrice cTBsce
33
suddenly at Vigevano, on the 22d of November. Both the
duke and duchess had been fondly attached to this fair young girl
who only four or five months before had become the wife of
Galeazzo, and was one of Beatrice's favourite companions. Her
sudden and premature death threw a gloom over the whole court,
*and in elegant verse Niccolo da Correggio deplored the loss of
the gentle maiden who had gone in the flower of her youth to
join the blessed spirits, and grieved for the gallant husband whom
a cruel fate had so early robbed of his bride. There can be little
doubt that we have a portrait of this lamented princess in the
beautiful picture of the Ambrosiana, which, long supposed to be
the work of Leonardo, is now recognized by the best critics as
that of Ambrogio 'de Predis. At one time this portrait was said
to represent Beatrice herself, but neither the long slender throat
nor the delicate features bear the least resemblance to those of
the duchess, while the style of head-dress is equally unlike that
which Beatrice wears in authentic representations. Again, some
critics have supposed the Ambrosian picture to represent Kaiser
Maximilian's wife, Bianca Maria Sforza ; but the discovery of
Ambrogio de Predis's actual portrait of the empress, and of his
sketch of her head in the Venetian Academy, have shown this
theory to be impossible. The Venetian Marc Antonio Michieli,
who saw this picture in Taddeo Contarini's house at Venice in
1525, describes it as a a profile portrait of the head and bust of
Madonna, daughter of Signor Lodovico of Milan," after which
he adds, " married to the Emperor Maximilian ... by the hand
of ... Milanese." The connoisseur had evidently confused
the two Bianca Sforzas, but now that this mistake has been
explained by a comparison of the Ambrosian portrait with genuine
pictures and medals of the empress, there is no difficulty in
accepting the remainder of his statement. For we have here,
there can be little doubt, the portrait of Lodovico's daughter, by
the hand of a Milanese painter, in all probability, as Morelli
divined, the court-painter of the ducal house, Ambrogio de Predis.
And the German critic, Dr. MtUler-Walde, is probably right in
his conjecture that the companion picture in the Ambrosiana is
the portrait of Bianca's husband, Galeazzo di Sanseverino. This
jjiccure has been called by many names, and ascribed to many
304 Beatrice cTEste
different hands. It has been described in turn as a portrait of
Maximilian, of the short-lived Duke Giangaleazzo, and of
Lodovico Moro himself. But Ambrogio's portrait certainly
represents none of the three, and it is far more likely that we
have here a likeness of the duke's son-in-law, painted about the
time of his marriage to Bianca Sforza. This handsome man of
thirty, in the fur-trimmed vest and red cap, with the dark eyes,
long locks, and refined thoughtful face, touched with an air of
melancholy, may well be the brilliant cavalier who played so
great a part at the Moro's court, the patron of Leonardo and
Luca Pacioli, and the loyal servant of Duchess Beatrice.
Both the duke and his wife were overwhelmed with grief at
Madonna Bianca's death. Lodovico himself wrote to Isabella
d'Este that the wound had pierced his inmost heart, and the
duchess and Messer Galeaz both expressed their grief in touching
words. On the 23rd of November, Beatrice wrote these few
sad lines to her sister
" Although you will have already heard from my husband
the duke of the premature death of Madonna Bianca, his
daughter and the wife of Messer Galeaz, none the less I must
write these few lines with my own hand, to tell you how great is
the trouble and distress which her death has caused me. The
loss indeed is greater than I can express, because of our close
relationship and of the place which she held in my heart. May
God have her soul in His keeping ! "
All the fetes which had been prepared in honour of the
emperor's return to Lombardy were stopped, and the duke and
duchess, with their little son, attended by a small suite of cour-
tiers and ladies, in deep mourning, travelled by water to Pavia,
to receive their illustrious kinsman when he arrived from
Saraana on the 2nd of December. On this occasion Maximilian
behaved with great consideration, and showed deep sympathy
with his distressed relatives. Instead of making a public entry
through the city, he rode up through the park to the private
gate of the Castello, where the duke and duchess met him and
conducted hixn to his rooms. Here he spent the evening alone
in their company, and refused to see any one but the little Count
of Pavia, for whom he is said to have cherished great uilcetion.
Beatrice d'Este 305
The Venetian envoy, Francesco Foscari, hearing of the emperor's
arrival, hastened to Pavia ? and with difficulty obtained an audience
from His Majesty, who told him that it was impossible for him
to visit Milan or remain any longer in Italy, since the German
Diet was about to meet, and he had promised to join his son,
the Archduke Philip, at Augsburg. A council was held in the
Castello to discuss political affairs, but it was plain that the Pisans
had nothing more to expect from their imperial ally, and Maxi-
milian was only anxious to be back in Germany. On the 4th
he attended a solemn- requiem mass for the lamented princess
Bianca in the Duomo, and in the afternoon rode out to the
Certosa with Lodovico, who showed him all the wonders of that
famous church and abbey. On the 6th, the duke took his wife,
whose delicate state of health needed rest, back to Milan, and a
few days later returned with Foscari to meet the emperor at the
ducal villa of Cussago. On the nth, Maximilian went to
Groppello, where he knighted the Venetian ambassador and dis-
missed him, after which he took leave of the duke, says the
chronicler, with many expressions of affection on both sides, and
once more set out on his journey across the terrible mountains. His
expedition, remarked the Venetian writer, " has effected nothing,
and he leaves Italy in still greater confusion than he found her."
Lodovico now joined his wife ut Milan in time to receive
another guest in the person of Chiara Gonzaga, the widowed
Duchess of Montpensier, who was on her way back from France.
Since her husband's death at Pozzuoli, this unfortunate lady had
been vainly trying to recover her fortune from the French king,
and was full of g-ratitude to the duke for his friendly exertions on
her behalf. Both her sons, Louis de Bourbon and Charles the
famous Conntitable, were fighting with the remnants of the
French army against her brother in Naples, and both were to
lose their lives in the wars of Italy, while she herself spent the
rest of IKT existence in poverty and seclusion at Mantua. But to
the last she remained a loyal friend to Lodovico, with whom she
corresponded frequently. On the 22nd, Chiara left Milan,
and the celebration of the Christmas festival began. But the
courtiers and ladies-in-waiting noticed the strange and mournful
forebodings which seemed to oppress their young duchess. They
306 Beatrice d'Este
often saw tears in her eyes, and wondered whether they were
caused by her husband's neglect or grief for the loss of Bianca.
Day after day she paid long visits to the Church of S. Maria
delle Grazie, where the duke's daughter had been laid to rest in this
his favourite shrine. There in those last days of the year Beatrice
might constantly be seen, spending hours in prayer at the tomb
of the young princess, and musing sadly on the vanity of human
joys. But no one dreamt how soon her own end was at hand.
On Monday, the 2nd of January, the Duchess Beatrice drove
in her chariot through the park of the Castello and along the
streets of the city to the Porta Vercellina and the Church of S.
Maria delle Grazie, where even then Leonardo was at work upon
his great fresco. In the eyes of the people who saw her pass,
she seemed in excellent health, and returned their loyal greetings
with the same gracious charm. But when she reached the
Dominican church, and had paid her devotions at Our Lady's
altar, and prayed for the repose of her daughter's soul, she
lingered by the new-made tomb, rapt in sorrowful thought, and
it was long before her ladies could persuade her to come away.
After her return to the Castello that afternoon, there was
dancing in her rooms in the Rocchetta until eight o'clock in the
evening, when she was suddenly taken ill. Three hours later
she gave birth to a still-born son, and half an hour after midnight
her spirit passed away.
That night, contemporary writers tell us, " the sky above the
Castello of Milan was all a-blaze with fiery flames, and the walls
of the duchess's own garden fell with a sudden crash to the
ground, although there was neither wind nor earthquake. And
these things were held to be evil omens." " And from that time,"
adds Marino Sanuto, " the duke began to be sore troubled, and to
suffer great woes, having up to that time lived very happily."
Beatrice was gone, and with her all the joy and delight of
the duke's life had passed away. The court was turned from
an earthly paradise into the blackest hell, and ruin overtook the
Moro and the whole realm of Milan, as the poet of the house of
Este sang in his Orlando Fur mo
" Come elln poi laser ra il mondo,
Cosl degli infelici andra nel fondo.**
CHAPTER XXVII
Grief of the Duke of Milan His letters to Mantua and Pavia- Interview
with Costabili Funeral of Duchess Beatrice Mourning of her husband
Letters of the Emperor Maximilian and Chiara Gonzaga Tomb
of Beatrice in Santa Maria delle Grazie Leonaido's Cenacolo, and
portraits of the duke and duchess Lucrezia Crivelli.
*497
THE horror and confusion that reigned in the Castello of Milan
that night was long remembered. There was sorrow and con-
sternation among Beatrice's servants, and dismay upon the faces
of secretaries and courtiers who stood waiting for news in the
halls and porticoes of Bramante's building. The duke's grief
was said to be terrible. For some time he refused to see any one,
and many days passed before even his children were admitted
into their father's presence. But, with characteristic strength of
mind, he sent for his secretaries that morning, and himself dictated
the letters which bore the sad news to Beatrice's family at Mantua
and Ferrara. In that dark hour the passion of his love and
sorrow breaks through conventional formalities, and gives a touch
of pathos to the brief message which he sent to Francesco
Gonzaga
"MOST ILLUSTRIOUS RELATIVE AND DEAREST BROTHER,
My wife was taken with sudden pains at eight o'clock
last night. At eleven she gave birth to a dead son, and at half-
past twelve she gave back her spirit to God. This cruel and
premature end has filled me with bitter and indescribable anguish,
so much so that I would rather have died myself than lose the
37
308 Beatrice d'Este
dearest and most precious thing that I had in this world. But
great and excessive as is my grief, beyond all measure, and
grievous as your own will be, I know, I feel that I must tell
you this myself, because of the brotherly love between us.
And I beg you not to send any one to condole with me, as
that would only renew my sorrow. I would not write to the
Madonna Marchesana, and leave you to break the news to her
as you think best, knowing well how inexpressible her sorrow
will be.
"LoDovicus M. SFORTTA,
" /hiatus 7Xv Mfdio/aniS
tc Milan, January 3, 1497, 6 o'clock,"
The same day the duke sent the following intimation to the
loyal citizens of Pavia : " Last night at half-past twelve our
beloved wife, after giving birth to a son who died at eleven,
changed this life for death, which most .cruel event snatches from
us one who, by reason of her rare and singular virtues, was dearer
to us than our own life. You will understand what our grief is
and how difficult it is to bear this irreparable loss with patience
and reason. We beg of you to pray God for the soul of our
dearest consort, and to hold solemn funeral services in the Duomo
and in all other churches of the city.'* t
About four o'clock that afternoon, the Ferrarese ambassador,
Antonio Costabili, received an unexpected summons to the
Castello, and he was admitted into the duke's presence. We give
the details of his interview with the grief-stricken prinrc, in his
own words from a letter which he addressed the same evening to
Beatrice's father, Duke Ercole
u MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND EXCELLENT
"Although I had received a message to the effect
that I neeid not leave the house before night, as none oi
your august family could be present at the funeral of our
most illustrious Madonna, the late duchess, nevertheless at
four o'clock the duke sent two councillors to fetch me, and
accompanied by these gentlemen, I went to the Camera tlclla
Torre in the Castello, where I found all the ambassadors, duoil
* Lurio-Remcr, />. r;V., p. ^39. f C. Ma^cntn, 0/>. xV.
Beatrice d'Este 309
councillors, and a very large company of gentlemen assembled.
Directly I arrived, his Excellency sent for me, and I found him
in his room, lying on the bed, quite prostrate, and more over-
whelmed with grief than any one whom I have ever seen. After
the customary salutations, I endeavoured, in obedience to the
request of some of his councillors, to exhort his Highness to take
a little comfort and have patience, trying to make use of what-
ever words came into my mind at the moment, and entreating
him to bear this cruel blow with constancy and fortitude, because
in this manner he would give comfort and courage to your
Excellency in helping you to bear your grief, and at the same
time relieve the anxieties of his own servants, and restore hope
and peace to their hearts.
u His Highness thanked me for my kindness, and said that
he could not bear this most cruel and grievous sorrow without
speaking out the thoughts of his heart freely, and had sent for
me, in order to tell me that if, as he was conscious, he had not
always behaved as well as he should have done to your daughter,
who deserved all good things, and who had never done him any
wrong whatsoever, he begged both your Excellency's pardon,
and hers for whose sake his heart was now sorely troubled. He
went on to tell rne that in every one of his prayers he had asked
our Lord God to allow her to survive him, since he placed all
his trust and peace of mind in her. And, since this had not been
the will of God, he prayed, and would never cease praying, that
if it were ever possible for a living man to see the dead, God would
give him grace to see her and speak to her once more, since he
had loved her better than himself. After many sobs and lamen-
tations, he ended by begging me to assure your Highness that the
love and affection which he bore you would never be diminished
in the smallest degree, and that he would retain the same warm
sentiments for you and for all your sons, as long as he lived,
and would prove by his actions the depth and sincerity of his
feelings. Then I' took my leave, and he told me to go and
follow the corpse, with a fresh outburst of sorrow, lamenting her
in language so true and natural that it would have moved the
very stones to tears. Thus, still weeping, I returned to join
the other ambassadors, who all approached and expressed their
310 Beatrice d'Este
grief and sympathy with your Excellency in very loving and
compassionate words.
"The obsequies which followed were celebrated with all
possible magnificence and pomp. All the ambassadors at present
in Milan, among whom were one from the King of the
Romans, two from the King of Spain, and others from all the
powers of Italy, lifted the corpse and bore it to the first gate of
the Castello, Here the privy councillors took the body in their
turn, and at the corners of the streets groups of magistrates
stood waiting to receive it. All the relatives of the ducal family
wore long mourning cloaks that trailed on the ground, and hoods
over their heads. I walked first with the Marchese Ermes, and
the others followed, each in his right order. We bore her to
Santa Maria delle Grazie, attended by an innumerable company of
monks and nuns and priests, bearing crosses of gold, of silver
and wood, infinite numbers of gentlemen and citizens, and
crowds of people of every rank and class, all weeping and making
the greatest lamentation that was ever seen, for the great loss
which this city has suffered in the death of its duchess. There
were so many wax torches it was marvellous to see ! At the
gates of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the ambassadors were waiting
to receive the body, and, taking it from the hands of the chief
magistrates, they bore it to the steps of the high altar, where
the most reverend cardinal-legate was seated, in his purple robes,
between two bishops, and himself said the whole Office. And
there the duchess was laid on a bier draped with cloth of gold,
bearing the arms of the house of Sforza, and clad in one of her
richest cameras of gold brocade.
" My dear lord, besides the extraordinary demonstrations of
grief which have been shown by the whole people of this city,
and by the women quite as much as by the men, which may
well be a great consolation to your Excellency, I must tell you
how above all others, Signore Mcsser GalcaftKO cli Sanscvcrino
has both by his \vorcls and deeds, as well as by his demonstrations
of sorrow, given admirable expression to the affection which he
had for the duchess, and Ras taken care to make known to every
one the virtues and goodness of that most illustrious Madonna.
All of which I have felt it my duty to tell your Excellency, in
Beatrice d'Este 311
the hope that it may help to alleviate your sorrow, praying you
to maintain the same fortitude that you have always shown
hitherto.
" To whose favour I ever commend myself,
" Your Excellency's servant,
" ANTONIUS COSTABILIS.*
" Milan, January 3, 1497."
So, by the light of a thousand torches, at the close of the
short winter's day, the long procession of mourners bore Duchess
Beatrice to her last resting-place under Bramante's cupola, in the
church of Our Lady. It was the duke's pleasure that his dearly
loved wife should rest there, before the altar where she had often
worshipped, by the side of the young daughter whom they had
both loved so well. Only a year or two before, the people of
Milan had seen her enter those doors in the bloom of her youthful
beauty and the joy of her proud young motherhood to give
thanks for the birth of her first-born son. But yesterday they
had watched her moving among them, full of life and charm ;
now they saw her lying there in her gorgeous brocades and
jewelled necklace, with her eyes closed in death and the dark
locks curling over her marble brow.
It was a tragedy which might well melt the heart of the
bravest man and move the sternest to tears. No wonder that
men like Galeazzo and the Marchesino, who had shared Beatrice's
pleasures, and had seen her so lately foremost in the chase and
gayest in dance and song, wept when they saw her lying there
cold and lifeless. As the chroniclers one and all tell us, u Such
grief had never been known before in Milan."
In Ferrara, the home of Beatrice's childhood, where she was
loved both for her own and for her mother's sake, the sorrow was
scarcely less.
"On Wednesday, the 4th of January," writes the diarist,
"came the news of the death of Beatrice, Duchess of Milan.
And the duke was very sad, and so were all the people. And
* This valuable and inteiesting letter is preserved in the State archives o1
the House of Este at Modena, and was first published by Signer Gustavc
Uzielli, iu his Leonardo da rincl e <Tre donne Milanese p, 43.
312 Beatrice tTEste
on the 1 2th, Duke Ercole attended an Office said for the repose
of the late duchess in the church of the Dominicans, which was
all hung with black, and all the clergy, magistrates, and courtiers
were there, carrying lighted torches ; all the people wore black,
and the shops were closed as if it were Christmas, and more than
400 Masses were said for the repose of her soul, and 660 candles
were burnt that day. It was a fine day, but a great quantity
of wax tapers were used for this funeral service. As for the
Duke of Milan, I will say nothing, because the things he doe
sound incredible to those who have not seen them. Certainly
the extraordinary honours which he pays his dead wife show
how dearly he loved her. She has left him two little sons. AnH
all Fernra sorrows for her death, and I saw many weeping
And so goes this ribald world." *
That year no races were held on St. George's Day, at
Ferrara, and the pallium usually given to the winner was presenter
by Duke Ercole to the Franciscan Church.
At Mantua there was the same general lamentation, and the
same funeral Masses were offered up for the young duchess, who
had not yet completed her twenty-second year. Isabella's owr.
sorrow was great.
"When I think," she wrote to her father, on the 5th <A
January, " what a loving, honoured, and only sister I have lost,
I am so much oppressed with the burden of this sudden loss,
that I know not how I can ever find comfort."
And the marquis, writing to Duke Lodovico, says that he had
never seen his wife so completely overwhelmed with grief, and
that she who has always shown herself lull of strong and manly
courage in adversity, is now utterly broken down. On hearing
this, Lodovico roused himself from the torpor of his grief to try
and comfort his sister-in-law, and sent her an affectionate letter
by one of his secretaries, begging her to seek the consolation
which he himself could not find, and telling her how much he
thought of her, even though his own grief and bitterness of soul
made it impossible for him to write with his own hand. From
all sides letters of condolence flowed in. Elegies and Latin verses
recalled the charms and talents of Beatrice and lamented the
hard fate which had snatched her away in the flower of life.
* Musatoii, xxiv. 34*.
Beatrice cTBste 313
Among these poetical tributes, Niccolo da Correggio's sonnet on
seeing a portrait of the late duchess is perhaps the best.
tt Se a li occhi mostri quel che fosti viva
Morti Ioi 3 come te, nulla vedranno
Ma le parte invisibil tue staranno.
Po che del secol questa eta sia priva.
Laude al pictor, ma piu laude in che scriva
Quello a futuri che i present! sanno ?
Origin e stato e che al triseptimo anno
Morte spense ogni ben che in te fioriva.
Ma come excedo tua forma il pennello
Excedera le tue virtu le penne
E restera imperfetto, e questo e quello."
The poet's complaint that the painter's art can never repro-
duce one-half of the dead lady's charms is literally true in this
{instance, and those of Beatrice's portraits which we possess do
but scant justice to the brightness and beauty which fascinated
young and old among her contemporaries. Two of the letters
^addressed to Lodovico on this melancholy occasion are especially
worthy of mention. One was a Latin epistle from the Emperor
Maximilian, in which the writer expresses his cordial regard for
:he duke and his frank admiration for the lamented duchess
whose delightful company he had so lately enjoyed.
The letter bears the date of January n, 1497, and was
written from Innsbruck.
** MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE AND DEAREST OF KlNSMEN AND
FRIENDS,
a Having just heard of the sad calamity which has
befallen you in the death of your illustrious wife, Beatrice, our
most dear kinswoman, we arc filled with grief both on account
of our great affection for you and of all the gifts of person and
mind which adorned that renowned princess, and which now
only adds to the heaviness of our mutual loss. Nothing could
grieve us more at this present moment than to find ourselves thus
suddenly deprived of a relative who was dear to us above all
other princesses, and whose surpassing charms and virtues we
ha-d lately learnt to value as they deserved. But we are still
314 Beatrice cTEste
more distressed to think that you whom we love so well should
lose in her, not only a sweet wife, but a companion who in so
remarkable a degree shared the burdens of your crown and
lightened your cares and cheered your labours by her society.
As for her, although she was one of the few women worthy of
perpetual regret and eternal remembrance, this premature death
is no true cause of sorrow, and we take comfort in the thought
that, since we must all die, they are most blessed who die young
and who, having lived happily in their youth, escape the innu-
merable calamities of this miserable world and the evils of a
weary old age. Your most fortunate wife enjoyed all that makes
life good ; no gift of body and mind, no advantage of beauty or
birth, was denied her. She was in every respect worthy to be
your wife and to reign over the most flourishing realm in Italy.
She has left you the sweetest children to recall the face of their
lost mother, and to be alike the consolation of your present sorrow
and the staff of your declining years. And when the time comes
for you to go hence, you will be able to leave them a peaceful
throne and the immortal memory of your name. May the re-
collection of all the good that you owe her help you to share
in these consolations, so that, having already mourned your dear
one's death more than enough, your tears may at length be dried
and she may rest more safely, while we on our part are once
more able to avail ourselves of your help in these difficult and
perilous times." '
The other letter was written to the duke on the 5th of
January, from Mantua, by Chiara Gonzagu, the widowed
Duchess of Montpensier, who had so lately enjoyed the pleasure
of Beatrice's company at Milan, and who now poured out the
fulness of her grief and sympathy with the bereaved husband.
"The piteous and lamentable news of your wife's sudden
death, which, my dear lord, I have just received, has so bitterly
revived my own sorrows, that I am unable to write to your
Excellency as I ought, or speak a single word of comfort, * Chit
medico morbtso mal sana It malatti * for a sick doctor cures sick
folks badly. All I can do is to join my tears with your own
in lamenting this cruel and grievous misfortune and our mutual
sorrow, which I only wish I could bear in your stead. Had
* M. Sanuto, Diarii, i. 489.
Beatrice (TEste 315
fortune only better understood your need and mine, she would
have left that blessed soul to enjoy all the prosperity in store for
her, and would have allowed death to relieve me from the burden
of my tearful and wretched existence. May that Divine Pro-
vidence, Who orders all things for some good end, give your
Excellency comfort and lead this toilsome life to a safe haven." k
Maximilian's allusion to the duke's prolonged mourning for
his wife agrees with the remarks of the Ferrarese and Venetian
chroniclers. To these men of the Renaissance, accustomed as
they were to pass quickly from one phase of life to another and
to witness swift and sudden changes of fortune, this inconsolable
grief seemed beyond understanding. For a whole fortnight
Lodovico remained in a darkened room, refusing to see his
children, and taking no pleasure even in their company. No
ambassadors were admitted into his presence ; even Borso da
Correggio, who came from Ferrara, was referred to the Mar-
chesino Stanga and the Conte di Caiazzo, as deputies appointed
by the duke to receive condolences. And when Lodovico saw
his ministers, they were strictly charged only to speak of busi-
ness matters, and never to mention the name of the duchess or
allude to the duke's recent bereavement. So complete was his
seclusion and so profound his melancholy, that those about him
began to tremble for his reason. a The duke," wrote Sanuto,
" has ceased to care for his children or his state or anything on
earth, and can hardly bear to live." But fears of his old enemy
Louis of Orleans before long roused him from the apathy and
despair, and showed his foes that they had still to reckon with
him. Rumours of a French invasion were once more heard ;
Trivulzio was at Asti with a strong force, and the Duke of
Orleans was shortly expected to lead an expedition into Lombardy
and assert his claim to Milan.
On the i yth of January, Lodovico shaved his head, came out
of his room, and publicly gave the standard and bftton of command
to Galeazzo di Sanseverino, who was sent to defend Alessandria
at the head of a considerable Milanese and German army. But
the French king's health was failing, and the Duke of Orleans,
who, since the death of the little dauphin twelve months before,
had become the next heir to the crown, suddenly refused to
* L. Polissiei, Us Amies de L* Sjurxa.
316 Beatrice d'Este
leave France. Trivulzio was repulsed in an attack on Novi $
while an attempt to seize Genoa, which was set on foot by the
Cardinal della Rovere and Battista Fregoso, was frustrated by
the prompt measures of defence taken by the Duke of Milan
and the Venetians.
Meanwhile every possible honour was paid to the memory of
Duchess Beatrice. All through the duchy, during the month of
January, solemn funeral services were held, and one hundred
requiem masses were said daily in S. Maria delle Grazie for
the repose of her soul, while a hundred tapers were Ivcpt burning
day and night round the stone* sarcophagus supported by lions
in which her remains were interred. The duke himself, clad in
a suit of black fustian and wrapt in a long black cloak, which all
his courtiers wore as a badge of mourning, attended two or three
masses daily, as well as many offices to Our Lady, and sent a
hundred gold ducats to the Santa Casa at JLoreto, in discharge
of a vow which poor Beatrice had made to take a pilgrimage to
that famous shrine after die birth oi her child.
Marino Sanuto, writing in August, seven months after
Beatrice's death, remaiks that since his wife's death the duke has
become an altered man. a He is very religious, recites offices
daily, observes fasts, and lives chastely and devoutly. His rooms
are still hung with black, and he takes all his meals standing, and
wears a long black cloak. He goes every day to visit the church
where his wife is buried, and never leaves this undone, and much
of his time is spent with the friars of the convent." And a
Dominican historian, Padre Rovegnatino, then living, records how
during the whole of the next year Lodovico visited the convent
regularly twice a week on Tuesday, which, being the day of the
week on which Beatrice died, he always kept as a fast, and on
Saturday, and on these occasions dined with the prior Giovanni da
Tortona and hi*s successor Vinren/A) Baldelli.
The decoration and improvement of this church and convent
now became the chief object of Lodovico's thoughts. The
beautiful shrine which he had already adorned with Bramante's
cupola and portico, was now doubly dear to him for the sake of
Beatrice and his dead children. The annals of the convent
record the multitude of his benefactions to both church and
Beatrice d'Este 317
convent, and the cordial relations which he maintained with the*
Dominican friars to the end of his reign. First of all, he applied
himself to raise a monument to the memory of Beatrice im-
mediately in front of the high altar, where her remains were
buried. The sculptor whom he chose for this work was
Cristoforo Solari, called // Gobbo, or the hunchback, a surname
which he had inherited from his father, who seems to have been
deformed. The Solari were a race of sculptors, many of whom
had been employed at the Certosa, while Cristoforo, who had
settled in Venice about 1490, was recalled to Milan about this
time and appointed ducal sculptor, on the recommendation of
the Marchesino Stanga. It was the duke's pleasure that a
recumbent effigy of Beatrice, wearing the rich brocades and
jewels in which she had been borne to her rest, should be placed
on her tomb, so that future ages should have a perpetual memorial
of the young duchess as she had last appeared in the eyes of the
servants and people who had loved her so well. And as it was
Lodovico's own wish to be buried in the same tomb, the sculptor
was to carve an effigy of himself in ducal crown and mantle,
lying at his wife's side in the last slumber. So, at the duke's
bidding, the Milanese ambassador, Battista Sfondrati, bought the
finest blocks of Carrara marble that he could find in Venice, and
the brothers of the Certosa sent seven loads more from their vast
stores to Solari's house in Milan. Out of these marbles the
sculptor carved a noble bas-relief of the Dead Christ and the two
admirable effigies of the duke and duchess, which now adorn the
Certosa of Pavia. His task was probably finished before the
close of the following year, and the tomb was set up in the
Gappclla maggiore of S. Maria delle Grazie, at a cost of up-
wards of 15,000 ducats. At the same time Lodovico placed a
slab of black marble on the walls of the same chapel, in memory
of the dead child whose birth had cost his mother her life, with
the following proud inscription :
1 lufchx pa'tus : umisi ante 1 viinni qmm u
Luoem ediTerj mfclic'ior <jiw<l matri
tVforu'iis vitum adcm! ct paientem ron
fioHe &ua orbavi in turn a<ivm;o futo,
318 Beatrice d'Este
Hoc solum mihi potest jocundmm esse
Quod divi parentes me, Ludovicus et
Beatrix Mediolanenses duces genuere,
M.C.C.C.C.LXXXXVII. Tertio Nonas Januarii. 1 "
The ill-fated child had died before he had ever seen the light
of day, and, still more unfortunate in this, he had deprived his
mother of life, and left his father widdwed and alone ; but this at
least he could proudly say, " Lodovico and Beatrice, Duke and
Duchess of Milan, were my parents.'*
The walls of the chapel were decorated with rich marbles
and gilding, and new altars were set up in honour of Saint Louis
and Santa Beatrice, the patron saints of the duke and duchess,
Cristoforo was employed to carve reliefs for the high altar, and
the duke gave the friars a jewelled crucifix and marvellously
wrought set of chalices, patens, candelabra, paci of niello^ engraved
with Beatrice's name and arms. Among other costly gifts, he
also presented them with a magnificent pallium and richlj
embroidered hangings for the alar, and a set of illuminated choir-
books with enamelled and jewelled bindings, while the Marchesino
Stanga gave an organ to the church. Bramante was ordered to
complete the cupola as soon as possible, and was employed later
to add a new sacristy to the church.
But there was one thing more which lay still nearer to
Lodovico's heart. Leonardo's great wall-painting for the con-
vent refectory was well-nigh completed. Cardinal Perault de
Gurk, when he visited his friend the Dominican prior towards
the end of January, 1497, saw anc * a ^ m ^"ed the work of Leonardo,
and conversed with the painter, who laughed, Bandello tells us,
at his Eminence's ignorance for thinking his salary of 2000
ducats a large one and expressing surprise at the duke's liberality.
Lodovico was now anxious to see the life-sized portraits of him-
self and Beatrice with their children painted by the great master's
hand on the opposite wall. The Dominican historian, Padre
Pino, writing in the last century, says that the convent retained a
life-sized portrait of that most excellent and famous lady, Duchess
Beatrice, in which the sweet gentleness of her nature and majesty
of her bearing v/cre faithfully reproduced ; and Padre Gattico, a
very accurate and careful writer of the sixteenth century who
Beatrice d'Este 319
wrote the history of the convent from its foundation, describes
how Leonardo da Vinci was employed by Lodovico to paint
portraits of himself and Beatrice, with their children kneeling at
their feet, on the wall opposite the Cenacolo, but adds that these
portraits, being painted in oil, were already in a ruinous condition.
The Dominican father's words were all too true, and only the
merest fragments of these portraits, which Vasari described as
works of sublime beauty, now remain on the wall, where the
Lombard artist Montorfano had already painted his fresco of the
Crucifixion. That of Beatrice is a mere ghost, but enough remains
of Lodovico's figure to show how nobly Leonardo treated his
subject, and is of the deepest interest as an example of the great
Florentine's art and a faithful likeness of his illustrious patron.
A distinct reference to Lodovico's wishes on the subject may be
found in the paper of directions which he drew up on the 3Oth
of June, 1497, ^ or his minister the Marchesino Stanga.
"Memorandum of the things which M ester Marchesino is to do.
" In the first place, he is to place the ducal arms in gold letters
on a marble slab on Porta Ludovica, together with ten bronze
medals bearing the duke's head.
" Item : to see that similar tablets are placed on all the public
buildings, excepting those in the Castello, which are in charge of
Messer Bernardino di Corte, and that medals are placed between
them.
" Item : to see that El Gobbo carves the reliefs for the altar this
year, and that he has sufficient marble, and if more is needed,
send to Venice or Carrara.
** Item : to see that the sepulchre is finished without delay, and
to desire Gobbo to work at the covering and all the other portions
belonging to the tomb, so that it may be ready as soon as the
rest of the sepulchre.
" Item : to ask Leonardo the Florentine to finish his work on
the wall of the Refectory, and to begin the painting on the
other wall of the Refectory. If he will do this, some arrange-
ment may be made with him regarding the agreements signed
by his own hand, by which he stipulated to finish the work
within a certain time.
320 Beatrice d'Este
" Item : to see that the portico of S. Ambrogio is finished, for
which two thousand ducats have been assigned.
" Item : to call together all the most skilled architects to hold
a consultation, and design a model for the faade of Santa Maria
delie Grazie, which shall he of the same height and proportions
as the Capetla Grande.
" Item : to finish the Strada da Corte, which the duke wishes
to see completed.
" Item : to make a head of our Madonna the late duchess, rind
place it on a medallion with that of the duke on the doors of the
chapel in Santa Maria delle Grazie.
"Item: to open a new gate in the walls corresponding to the
Porta S. Marco, and call it the Porf:i Beatrice, and place* the
ducal arms and letters of the said duchess upon the said gate, as
has been done at Porta Ludovica.
** Item : to desire that the decorations of the Broietto Nuovo
should be finished by August,
" Item : to place an inscription in gold letters on black marble
above the portraits of the chapel."
This Memorial was signed by the ducal secretary, Bar-
tolommeo Calco, and the following lines were added by Lodo-
vico himself :
We have charged you with the execution
of the works here mentioned, and, although you have already
received our orders by word of mouth, we have for our further
satisfaction set them down in writing, to show you how extra-
ordinary is the interest that we take in their completion.
u LUDOVICO MARIA SFORTIA." *
The bronze medals here mentioned, which by Lodovico's
orders were to be placed on all the chief public buildings, were
probably those designed by Caradosso after Beatrice's death, in
which the head of the duke and duchess appear side by side.
The name and arms of Beatrice were to be seen everywhere ;
her portrait was to be placed in the church of the Gni'/ic, and
her medallion above the gate. And to-day, in spite of the
common ruin which has overwhelms! the palaces and churches'
of Lodovico's fair duchy, the armorial bearings* of his consort may
* C.mtu in A, *S. L., 1874, j. JJJj.
Beatrice cTEste 321
still be seen painted in the lunette above the Cenacolo, as if the
duke wished Leonardo's great painting to be especially associated
with her beloved memory ; while not only in the Castello of
Milan, but on the site of ducal castles and villas throughout the
Milanese, blocks of stone and marble carved with the initials of
Lodovico and Beatrice are constantly brought to light.
In the midst of these tokens of grief and love for his lost
wife, we come upon a strange incident. That May, Lucrezia
Crivelli, the mistress whose liaison with the duke had caused
Beatrice the sorrow which he now remembered with so much
remorse, bore Lodovico a son, who was named Gianpaolo, and
who became a valiant soldier and loyal subject of his half-brother
Duke Francesco Sforza in after days, ' The Moro, as far as we
know, never renewed his connection with Lucrezia after his
wife's death. The universal testimony of his contemporaries
** he lived chastely and devoutly, and was a changed man "
seems to bear witness to the contrary ; but m the following
August he settled Cussago and Saronno, the lands which three
years before he had given to Beatrice, upon his mistress as a
provision for the son she had borne him, and in the act of dona-
tion speaks expressly of the delight which he had found in her
gentle and excellent company.
Even more strange it sounds in our ears to find Isabella
d'Este, only a year after Beatrice's death, writing to the duke's
former mistress, Cecilia Gallerani, to ask for the loan of her
portrait by Leonardo's hand, as if it were the most natural thing
in the world. The fact that a princess of the proud house of
Este, and one who, in the eyes of her generation, was the model
of all virtues, should seek a favour from one who had wronged
her sister so deeply, affords fresh proof how lightly such liaisons
were regarded in those days, and may incline us to be more
lenient in our judgments of the men and women of the Renais-
sance.
CHAPTER XXVIII
Xhe Marquis of Mantua dismissed by the Venetians-- He mcnis Duke
Lodovico's ilispleuMiie by his intiigucs- -Tbahello. d'Este's correspondence
with the Duke of Milan Leou.ii do in the Castcllo Death of Charleb
VIII. Visit of Lodovico to Mantua Francesco Gonzaga appointed
captain of the impciial foices Iwibella of Arrigon and Isabella cTEsie
Chiaia Gonzaga and Cateiina iifor/a, Lodovico's will.
1497-1498
WHILE Lodovico was building sanctuaries and raising memorials
to his dead wife, his brother-in-law of Mantua had excited the
suspicions of the Venetians by his French sympathies, and in
Aprilj I497> was suddenly dismissed from his post of captain-
general of the Signoria's armies, Isabella d'Estc was deeply dis-
tressed, and Francesco Gonzaga declared loudly that this disgrace
was the result of Galeazzo di Sanseverino's jealousy and of
the Moro's intrigues. In September the marquis and Mcsser
Galeazzo met at a tournament held at Brescia in honour of the
Queen of Cyprus, Fracassa was also present with Ins wife,
Margherita Pia, in a chariot driven by twelve fine horses, and
both he and the marquis entered the lists with their followers,
but the hero of the day was Galcaazo, who appeared suddenly
at the head of forty horsemen, all in deep mourning, with hair
dyed black, and black and gold armour, and a herald bearing a
black pennon with gold griffins. When the joust was over, the
queen entertained Fracassa's wife, and all the cavaliers, at supper,
and the next day Galeavwo escorted hei home over the hills to
Asolo. But this meeting did not improve the strained relations
between the princes of Milan and Mantua, and the secret intrigues
which Francesco Goir/aga carried on both with France and
322
Beatrice d'Este 323
Florence soon came to Lodovico's ears. In November the duke
wrote a strong remonstrance to Isabella, complai'ning bitterly of
her husband's ingratitude, and declaring that he would have ex-
posed his fraudulent conduct in the eyes of the Venetians, and
of all Italy, had it not been for the love and regard which
he had for her. Isabella was seriously alarmed at the tone of
her brother-in-law's letter, and did her best to effect a reconcilia-
tion between him and her husband. Her efforts were seconded
by her father, Duke Ercole, and his sons, who were often at
Milan, and kept up friendly relations with Lodovico after their
sister's death. Alfonso and his wife, Anna Sforza, were at the
Castello in June, and Galeazzo di Sanseverino himself accom-
panied the heir of Ferrara to the shop of the famous Missaglia
to order a suit of armour which should be ."of a gallantry and
perfection worthy of Don Alfonso." We hear of a splendid suit
of gilded armour, also the work of the Missaglias, being pre-
sented to Ferrante d'Este by the Duke of Milan, while Beatrice's
youngest brother, the boy-cardinal, Ippolito, succeeded Guido
Arcimboldo as Archbishop of Milan, and took up his abode in
that city. But a new calamity befell the house of Este that
November in the death of Anna Sforza, who, like her sister-in-law,
gave birth to a still-born child on the 30th of November, and
herself expired a few hours later, to the grief of her whole family,
and more especially of Duke Ercole, who, in his advancing years,
saw himself bereaved of all of those he loved best. The sweetness
and goodness of this princess, the Ferrarese diarist tells us, had
endeared her to all the people of Ferrara, and in the shock of
her sudden death Lodovico felt a renewal of his own sorrow.
In the same week, another Este princess, who had been closely
associated with the Milanese court, also passed away. This
was the widowed mother of Niccolo da Correggio, that once
beautiful and charming Beatrice, who had been known in her
youth as the Queen of Festivals, and who for many years had
been a staunch friend of the Moro, and had long occupied
rooms in the Castello. After her death, Niccolo, feeling that the
last link which bound him to Loclovico's court was severed, left
Milan, and returned to his old home at Ferrara. That autumn,
Cristoforo Romano also left the court, which Duchess Beatrice's
324 Beatrice d'Este
death had shorn of its old brightness and splendour, and entered
the service of her sister Isabella d'Este at Mantua, while the
court-poet, Gaspare Visconti, died early in the following year.
One by one artists and singers were dropping out of sight, and
the brilliant company which Lodovico's wife had gathered round
her was fast melting away. The gay days of VigevanO and
Cussago were over, the deer and wild boars grazed unharmed in
these woodland valleys, and when Kaiser Maximilian asked the
duke for one of his famous breed of falcons, Lodovico sent him
one belonging to Messer Galeazzo's breed, saying that he no
longer kept any of his own, and had quite given up hunting since
the death of the duchess of blessed memory.
But his love of art and learning was as great as ever, and
Fra Luca Pacioli, the able mathematician, who came to Milan
in 1496, and dedicated his treatise of La Divina Proforzione to
Lodovico, describes the laudable and scientific duel of famous
and learned men, that was held on the gth of February, 1498,
in the Castello of Milan " that invincible fortress of the glorious
city which is a residence worthy of His Excellency." The duke
himself presided at this meeting, which some writers have supposed
to be a sitting of an academy of arts and sciences founded by
Lodovico, with Leonardo for its president, and left Milan the
next day, on a pilgrimage to the Holy Mount of the Madonna
at Varese. Among the many illustrious personages, religious and
secular, who were present on this occasion, Fra Luca mentions
u Messer Galeazzo Sforza di San Severino, my own special
patron," to whom he presented the beautiful illuminated copy
of his treatise, now in the Ambrosiana, the Prior of the convent
of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the doctors and astrologers, Ambrogio
da Rosate, Pirovano, Cusani and Marliani, and many well-known
jurists, councillors, architects, and engineers, including Leonardo
da Vinci, " our fellow-citizen of Florence, who, in sculpture and
painting alike, justifies his name and surpasses "i.e. vince ss
conquers " all other masters/' *
Leonardo's Ccnacolo, we learn from his friend Pacioli, was
at length finished, and preparations were being made for casting
his great horse in bronze, but the master himself was chiefly en-
gaged in the study of hydraulics, and was writing a treatise on
* G. Uziclli, JRi&nfa wfra /,. Mi /'/', i.
Beatrice d'Este
3 2 5
motion and water-power. In April, however, he was again
painting in the Castello, and Messer Gualtero, one of Lodovico's
most trusted servants, informed the duke, who was absent for a
few days, that both his sons were very well, and that Magistro
Leonardo was at work in the Saletta Negra. He would shortly
proceed to the Camera Grande in the tower, and promised to
complete the decorations by September, in order that the duke
might be able to enjoy them next autumn. A note in one of
Leonardo's manuscripts speaks of twenty-four Roman subjects,
probably small decorative groups in camaieu y painted on the vault-
ing of these rooms, and gives the exact cost of the blue, gold,
and enamel employed, but all trace of these decorations has
vanished. At the same time Lodovico appointed his favourite
master to the post of ducal engineer, and employed him to survey
those vast and elaborate fortifications in the Castello, which excited
the wonder of the French invaders.
Two of Amadeo's great architectural works, the cupola of the
Duomo of Milan, and the fagade of the Certosa, were brought
to a successful conclusion in these last years of Lodovico's rule,
while the foundation stone of the noble Cistercian monastery
attached to S. Ambrogio, now a military hospital, was laid by
the duke, and built at his expense from Bramante's designs.
The charitable society known as the Confraternity of the Santa
Corona, or Holy Crown of Thorns, a name familiar to all who
have visited its ancient halls, and seen Luini's fresco, was another
excellent institution intended for the relief of the sick poor in
their own homes, which was founded under the duke's auspices,
and largely supported by his liberality. But once more wars
and rumours of war came to disturb the Milanese, and to call
Lodovico away from these public works and improvements in
which he took delight.
The renewed intrigues of Charles VIII. with the Florentines,
and revived fears of a French invasion, induced Lodovico to send
Bulchssarrc Pustcrla to Venice in February, 1498, to solicit the
help of the Signoria, but while these negotiations were going on,
a courier arrived from Ferrara with the news of the French
king's sudden death. Charles, who was not twenty-eight, had
died of apoplexy as he was watching a game of bowls at Amboise,
326 Beatrice d'Este
and his cousin, the Duke of Orleans, had been proclaimed king
under the title of Louis XII, Sanuto reports that the courier
who brought the news from Amboise to Florence had ridden the
whole way in seven days, and had killed no less than thirteen
horses !
c< Magnificent ambassador ! *' said the Doge to the Milanese
-envoy, "you told us that His Most Christian Majesty was on his
way to Italy. We hear that he is dead ! "
The news was a great relief to most of the Italian powers,
to none more so than Lodovico, who saw his immediate fears
removed, and did not realize how much reason he had to dread
tiie ambitious designs of his old rival king Louis, But in his
eagerness to secure the alliance of Florence, he committed the
fatal mistake of affronting the Venetians. He refused to allow
a fresh detachment of troops, which they were sending to Pisa,
to pass through his dominions, and the Signory in revenge sent
an embassy to the King of France with secret orders to take
counsel with Trivulzio and negotiate a league with Louis XII.
against the Duke of Milan. All Lodovico's hopes were now
fixed on the formation of a nqw league between Maximilian,
the Pope, Naples, and Milan. When this was concluded, he
offered the generalship of the allied forces, with the title of
Captain of the King of the Romans, to the M'uquis of Mantua.
Still Francesco Gonzaga was not satisfied, and complained that
he ought also to be entitled Captain-general to the Duke of
Milan, a title which Lodovico refused to take from his son-in-law
Galeazzo. However, Isabella, who had already paved the way
for this reconciliation, implored her husband to be content for
the present with the duke's offer, remarking that the salary was
the important thing, and in May the marquis went to Milan,
where he received a cordial welcome, and the terms of the agree-
ment were satisfactorily arranged.
Lodovico now announced his intention of romin; to Mimtua
in person, and on the 27th of June arrived there on n visit to the
marquis and marchioness, accompanied by the yoimp; Cardinal
Ippolito and the German, Spanish, Florentine, ;md Neapolitan
Ambassadors, with a suite of a thousand persons. Great was
Isabella's anxiety that nothing should be lacking on this occasion,
Beatrice d'Este
3 2 7
and endless were the pains which she took to do honour to
her splendid brother-in-law. She borrowed plate and tapestries
from Niccolo da Correggio, and desired her own envoy at
Milan, Benedetto Capilupi, to ask Galeazzo Visconti and Antonio
Costabili what wines the duke preferred and what clothes he
would expect her to wear. Lodovico himself had not yet laid
aside his mourning, and Isabella wondered if the rooms of his
apartments at Mantua must be hung with black velvet, or if she
might venture to relieve them with violet tints, as would, she
felt, be more fitting to this festive occasion. The duke, Capilupi
replied, would be satisfied with any arrangements the marchesa
liked to make, and as for the wines, he found that those usually
preferred by his Excellency at supper were clear white wines,
rather sweet and new, while at dinner he generally drank light
red wine, such as Cesolo, all very clear and new.
The visit passed off successfully, and after three days of fetes
and entertainments Lodovico returned to Milan. Francesco
Gonzaga, however, still wavered between the duke and the
Venetians, and it was not till Lodovico sent Marchesino Stanga
and Fracassa to Mantua in November, that the agreement was
finally concluded, and Erasmo Brasca delivered the b&ton to the
marquis in the emperor's name. Isabella herself interviewed the
ceremony from a tribunal erected on the piazza in front of the
Castello di Corte at Mantua, and the duke wrote a graceful note
to his sister-in-law, thanking her for her good offices in the
matter. He still constantly sent her presents of choice fruits or
wines and venison, while Isabella, in return, sent him salmon-trout
from Garda, and Evangelista, the marquis's famous trainer, tamed
the duke's horses. In July Lodovico sent her a basket of peaches,
wishing they had been even finer than they were, to be more
worthy of her acceptance, and Isabella wrote in reply : u The
peaches sent by your Excellency are most welcome, not only
because they are the first ripe ones f have tasted this summer,
but far more because they are a proof of your gracious remem-
brance, for which I can never thank your Excellency enough."
On New Year's Day, 1499, Lodovico sent the marchioness two
barrels of wine "vino tnnabile" and two chests of lemons, and
in February wrote to thank her for the fish, which were very fine
328 Beatrice d'Este
and good and had reached him opportunely, as it was Friday in
Lent.
Gifts of artichokes, which were then esteemed a great delicacy,
were often sent to the duke by Genoese nobles, and in March,
1499, we find Giovanni Adorn o, the brother-in-law of the San
Severini, who evidently knew Lodovico's taste for flowers, sending
a basket of forty artichokes together with a bouquet of the
finest roses. Another characteristic note was the following,
written by the Moro to Francesco Gonzaga, in January :
" I always take great delight in seeing the swans which you
sent us some years ago, sailing on the castle moat under these
windows. So if you have any others to spare, I beg you to send
me some, for which I shall be very grateful." *
Two of the last letters, which Isabella addressed to her
brother-in-law, are of especial interest, as relating to Gian-
galeazzo's widow, the Duchess Isabella of Aragon. A few
weeks after Beatrice's death, this unfortunate lady had been
desired by the duke to leave her rooms in the Castello, and take
up her abode in the old palace near the Duomo. Some conten-
tion arose respecting the boy Francesco Sforza, whom Lodovico
wished to keep with his own sons in the Rocchetta, and who
remained there for a time, only visiting his mother once a week.
"You have taken my son's crown away," said the duchess, in-
dignantly, " and now you would take his mother too ! "
Lodovico is said to have replied, "Madam, you are a woman,
so I will not quarrel with you." But in spite of her hatred for
Lodovico, Isabella of Aragon still kept up friendly relations with
her Este cousins. In 1498, she asked the marchioness for an
antique bust, which Andrea Mantegna had brought back from
Rome, and which she heard bore a striking likeness to herself.
The painter, however, valued the marble so highly that for long
he refused to part with it, and offered to send the duchess a cast
of the bust in bronze. Isabella d'Este, however, finally prevailed
upon him to let her buy the head, and send it as a present to her
cousin, whom she declared it resembled in a marvellous manner.
At the same time she promised the duchess a replica of a portrait
of her brother, King Ferrante of Naples, which she valued too
much to part with, but would have copied as soon as possible by
* I,. Pclissier, op. at.
Beatrice d'Este 329
Francesco Mantegna. Before satisfying her cousin's wishes,
however, the prudent Isabella applied to the duke and ascertained
that he had no objection to her action. Again, when in March,
1499, the duchess begged Isabella to let her have her own portrait,
the marchioness sent the picture to Lodovico, and asked him for
leave to send the picture to Giangaleazzo's widow.
u MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE AND EXCELLENT DUKE 1\ND
DEAR FATHER,
" I am afraid I shall weary not only your Highness,
but all Italy with the sight of my portraits ; but reluctantly as
I do this, I could not refuse the Duchess Isabella's urgent
entreaties to let her have my portrait in colours. I send this
one, which is not very like me, and makes me look fatter than
I really am, and have desired Negro, my master of the horse,
to show it to your Highness, and, if you approve, give it to the
duchess from me." '
Lodovico replied pleasantly that he admired the portrait, and
thought it very like Isabella, although it maae her look stouter
than when he had last seen her, but suggested that perhaps she
had grown fatter during the interval. And the picture was
duly presented to Duchess Isabella that same day.
The marquis's widowed sister Chiara Gonzaga, Duchess of
Montpcnsier, also kept up an active correspondence with the
Moro at this time, and warned him repeatedly of the intrigues
against him that were going on at the French court, and of the
dangers he had to fear from Trivulzio and the Venetians.
So warm was the friendship between this lady and Lodovico,
that a Mantuan doctor wrote from Milan to Francesco Gonzaga,
on pretence of having received a commission from the duke to
ask for his widowed sister's hand in marriage, and as well as for
that of his youthful daughter Leonora on behalf of the young
Count of Pavia. The duke wrote back that he had never seen
the doctor, and that the whole was a fabrication. As he in-
formed Chiara, he had not the smallest intention of marrying a
second time, although he had already received proposals to this
effect, both from Naples and Germany. And, by way of peace-
offering, he sent her a beautiful little nulh pax, as a specimen of
* Luxio-Rcnier, op. c;V., p. 650,
330 Beatrice d'Este
the work of his Milanese goldsmiths, and as a proof that he placed
himself altogether at her service. In return, Chiara sent him her
cordial thanks, and informed him that her brother had given
orders for the instant arrest of the mischievous doctor, and would
see that he was delivered into the duke's hands.
Another princess, who was in constant correspondence with
the Moro during these last years, was his niece Caterina Sforza,
the famous Madonna of Forli. Long ago, he had helped her
against the conspirators who had killed her first husband and
besieged her in the Rocca, and ten years before, Galeazzo di
Sanseverino had won his first laurels at Forli. Since those
days, Lodovico had been a good friend to this warlike lady in
all her perpetual quarrels with her subjects and neighbours.
u I should be ready to drown myself, were it not for the trust
that I place in your Excellency,"" Caterina wrote to her uncle
in 1496. Now that she had aroused the wrath of Venice
by her alliance with Florence, and that Romagna was actually
invaded by a Venetian force, the duke sent first Fracassa and
then the Count of Caiazzo to her help. In her gratitude she called
the infant son born of her third marriage with Giovanni de'
Medici, Lodovico, a name which he afterwards changed, to
become famous in history as Giovanni delle handc nere. But this
virago^ as Machiavelli named the gallant lady of Forli, was by
no means easy to deal with, and she was constantly appealing
to Lodovico to settle her dispute**. One day she welcomed
Fracassa as a delivering angel, the next she quarrelled with him
violently, and turned a deaf car to the Moro's advice to overcome
the Condottiere's rudeness by fair words and gentle courtesy.
After summarily rejecting his suggestion of a Gonv&ga bride for
her son, and informing him that she was about to accept the
Count of Caiasuso's proposals for her daughter Biaacn, she changed
her mind, declaring the count to be too old, and suddenly be-
thought herself of Galea///;o di Sanseveriiio, as a suitable husband*
This proposal, however, the More promptly declined in a curt
note, telling the countess that Mcsser Galca*///x> hail no intention
of marrying again.*
l?ut the days of the once powerful Moro's reij'n were already
numbered, find the time \vn- coinm;*, u hen he would be in sore
* I*. I'asolini, (hitrniw AY"'Wt *
Beatrice d'Este
33 1
need of help himself. His subjects were already grievously dis-
contented. At Milan, Cremona, and Lodi, even in faithful
Pavia, there had been tumults and riotings. It became increas-
ingly difficult to exact the loans required to meet the heavy ex-
penses for the national defence, while the ill-paid troops murmured,
and in many cases deserted the standard.
"In the whole Milanese there is trouble and discontent.
No one loves the duke. And yet he still reigns .... But he
is a traitor to Venice, and will be punished for his bad faith."
So wrote Marino Sanuto that autumn ; while another Venetian
chronicler, Malipiero, gave vent to his bitter hatred in these
words :
" Lodovico hoped to give the Signory trouble by his alliance
with Charles VIIL, but God our protector has taken away that
monarch's life, and has made King Alvise his successor, who is
Lodovico's enemy."
So the year closed gloomily. The political horizon was
black and lowering, and Lodovico had lost the wife upon whose
courage and presence of mind he had learnt to lean. He was
suffering from gout himself, and was often unable to mount a
horse. But he still found pleasure in his artistic dreams and in
the vast schemes that filled his brain. Already he had seen
many of his plans carried out. Bramante's cupola and sacristy
were finished and Beatrice's tomb, with the sleeping form and
face, had been exquisitely wrought in marble by the sculptor's
hand. Leonardo had completed the Cenacolo to be the wonder
of the world in coming ages, and the great equestrian statue
was only waiting for better times to be cast in bronze and
become a permanent memorial of the proud Sforza race. Now
a new and grander vision filled his thoughts. He would re-
build the convent of the Dominican Friars on a vast and splendid
scale, and make it the most glorious sanctuary in the world,
surpassing even his beloved Certosn, for the sake of Beatrice,
and as a living memorial of the love which he had borne to his
dead wife.
He bewail by rebuilding the friars' dormitories, enlarging their
gardens, ami giving them a good water-supply. Then, on the 3rd
of December of this year, 1498, he drew up a deed by which lie
332 Beatrice d'Este
granted his beautiful villa of the Sforzesca, with the spacious farms
and fertile lands which had been his pride and pleasure in past
days, to the prior and convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in
perpetuity. In the preamble to the deed of gift, the duke
expresses his great love for this church, " where our dead children
repose, and our most dear wife Beatrice d'Este sleeps, where, God
willing, we ourselves hope to rest until the day of resurrection,"
and ends with a devout prayer " that God and the Blessed Virgin,
the Dominican saints, Peter Martyr, Thomas Aquinas, and
Dominic, St. Vincent, St. Katharine of Siena, and all the saints,
will hear the prayers offered at these altars by the brothers of the
order, and forgive our failings, increase our merit, preserve our
sons, give peace and tranquillity to our subjects, receive the soul
of our dearly loved Beatrice into rest eternal, and finally place
us, when this life is over, among the holy monarchs and princes
of His kingdom." This deed, signed and sealed by Lodovico's
own hand, and beautifully illuminated by Antonio da Monza, or
some miniaturist of his school, is preserved, together with the
former privileges granted to the community during the lifetime of
Duke Giangaleazzo, in the collection of the Marchese d'Adda.
Each leaf is elaborately decorated with Lodovico's favourite
mottoes and devices and other ornaments, while on the first page
is a miniature of the duke in black cap and mantle, in the act of
presenting the act of donation to the Dominican prior. After
the French conquest of Milan, Louis XII. annulled this deed of
gift, although the friars escaped further spoliation owing to the
protection of the powerful Borromeo family, and, after a long
dispute, their possession of the Sforzesca was eventually confirmed
by Emperor Charles V. An inscription was placed over the
gates of the Sforzcsca in honour of Lodovico Sforaa and his wife,
and the domain remained the property of the convent until the
general confiscation of Church lands by Napoleon in 1798.
Now Lodovico's foundation has become national property, the
remnants of his spacious buildings are used as government
schools.
On the same day, December 3, 1498, Lodovico made his
will, a curious and interesting document, which is still preserved
in the Milanese archives, and opens with these sentences ;
Beatrice d'Este 333
" The holy Fathers teach us that according to the laws of the
Eternal kingdom, ordered by God Almighty, the elect may
attain to this immortal heritage by purifying their souls from every
earthly stain. By mourning for our sins, by giving alms and
making reparation for wrong done to others, by fasting, prayers,
and good works, we can win everlasting life, as has been decreed
by God in all eternity. Believing this truth with our whole
heart, in full agreement with the Catholic faith, and desiring to
provide for the salvation of our soul as precious above all earthly
treasures, so that by the help of God we may rise purified from
the stains of this life to enjoy life and peace in the company of
the blessed, we order these things." * After recommending his
soul once more to all the saints, mentioned in the former deed,
he desires that his body, the ducal robes and insignia, may be
buried on the right of his wife, in the tomb erected by him, in
the Cappella Maggiore of Santa Maria delle Grazie, and further
endows the convent with a rent of 1500 ducats, in order that
they may never cease to pray for his own soul and that of his
lady, Beatrice. Seven masses, he decrees, are to be said daily for
the duke, seven for the duchess, five requiems are to be chanted
every Wednesday, and the whole office for the dead is to be used
on the 3rd of every month, being the day on which Beatrice
died 5 while in the church of the Sforzesca, masses are to be said
in January and June these being the months of Beatrice's
birth and death for both the duke and his wife. For a whole
year after his death, the alms which he has given since the
duchess's death are to be continued, a certain number of poor
families are- to be relieved, and poor maidens and nuns dowered,
who are to pray for the souls of Beatrice and of his children
Leone and Bianca. He leaves 4000 ducats to be distributed
yearly in alms, and 3000 more to pension his old servants, while
5000 ducats are to be paid to each of his illegitimate sons,
Ccsare and Gianpaolo. All his debts and those of his mother
arc to be discharged, and a sum of money equal to that which he,
his father, and brother Galeazzo had exacted from the Jews is to
be spent in good works. All his gifts to the Duomo of Milan
are confirmed, including the rich plate and vestments presented
by Afcfco Visconti to the chapel of S, Gottardo in the old palace,
* Cantu in A. S. L., vi, 335.
334 Beatrice d'Este
and removed by Duke Galeazzo to the Castello, but restored by
Lodovico.
To this same date, another even more interesting document
must be assigned : the political will of Lodovico, which was
among the manuscripts brought from Milan by Louis XII., in
1499, and is still preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale.*
This document consists of thirty-four parchment leaves, enriched
with delicately painted initials and the monogram of Lodovico
and Beatrice, bound in black velvet and fastened with gold clasps.
By the duke's orders, it was placed in an iron casket, richly
ornamented with silver work, bearing his arms and those of
his wife, as well as the Sforza devices of the lion with the
buckets and his own favourite emblem of the caduceus. This
casket was sealed with the cornelian engraved with Beatrice's
portrait, which Lodovico always used after her death, and
deposited in the treasury of the Rocchetta, in the charge of the
governor of the Castello, to be opened by him and the chief
secretary and chamberlain, immediately after the duke's death.
The writer begins by explaining that since the premature death
of his wife, in whose wisdom and knowledge he placed absolute
trust, has deprived his sons of their natural guardian, he has drawn
up the following instructions for their education and guidance and
for the proper administration of the State, until the elder of the
two, Maximilian Count of Pavia, shall attain the age of twenty.
' First of all, he desires the governors and regents set over
his son, to impress upon the new duke the love and duty which
he owes to hib Father in heaven, who is the Disposer of all, and
the King of earthly kings, and under Him to his vicar, the holy
pontiff, and his Imperial Majesty, Maximilian King of the
Romans. And immediately on the present duke's death, his son
is to apply to the Cesarean Majesty for a confirmation of the
privileges granted to Duke Lodovieo as a singular mark of favour,
after they had been refused to his father, brother, and nephew.
Lodovico then proceeds to give minute directions for the consti-
tution of u Council of Regency, the administration of the finances,
the punishment of criminals, appointment of magistrates, and
organisation of the national defences, A standing army of 1200
*Ttaltan State papers, M, 8ax.
Beatrice d'Este
men-at-arms and 600 light cavalry is to be kept up, as well as
garrisons in the fortresses, and great stress is laid on the selection
of tried and trusted castellans. A special paragraph is devoted to
Genoa, and Lodovico begs his successor to pay especial attention
to the noble families of Adorno, Fieschi, and Spinola, warning him
that the Genoese are easily led but will never be driven, and
must be treated courteously, and with due regard. All important
questions of peace and war and of making new laws are to be
referred to representatives of the people, and the voice of the
nation is as far as possible to be consulted in these matters. The
young duke is to make the Castello his residence, and be as seldom
absent from Milan as possible, never going further than his country
houses of Abbiategrasso, Cussago, Monza, Dece, and Melegnano,
until he has reached the age of fourteen. After that, he may, if
he pleases, cross the Ticino, and visit Vigevano and Pavia, but is
recommended to be seldom absent from Milan, if he wishes to
keep the affection of his subjects. His education is to be
entrusted to none but the best governors and teachers, who are
to train him carefully in all branches of religious and secular
learning, in good conduct and habits, and in the knowledge of
letters, which last is not merely an ornament but an absolute
necessity for a prince. From his earliest years he is to take his
place in the council, and is to be gradually initiated into the
management of affairs, taught to deliver speeches and receive
ambassadors, and instructed in all that is necessary to make him
a wise and good prince, who cares for the welfare of his
subjects and is capable of ruling them in days of peace, and
defending them in time of war. One particular on which
Lodovico insists is the restraint which he places on his son's
expenditure. The young prince is to observe great caution
in his gifts to his favourites. Up to the age of fourteen, he is
never to give away more than 500 ducats at a time, without
the leave of his councillors, and may never give presents ex-
ceeding that value to strangers on his own authority, before he
is twenty. Similar directions arc given for the education of
Lodovico's younger son, Sfor/a, Duke of Ban, and the revenues
of his principality are to be carefully invested in Genoese banks
until he is of age. The wise management of the ducal stables
336 Beatrice d'Este
and of the chapel choir is especially recommended to the regents,
and good horses and good singers are always to be kept, for the
duke's pleasure and the honour of his name. Minute instructions
for the safe custody of the treasure in the Rocchetta are given,
and the very forms to be observed in the payment of public money
and in the use of the different seals affixed to public documents
are all carefully determined. Great discrimination is to be
observed in the appointment of certain ministers, in the choice
of thePodestaof Milan, in the selection of Commissioners of Corn
and Salt, as well as of the officer of Public Health, since all three
of these departments are of the foremost importance in a well-
regulated State.
In conclusion, directions are given as to the ceremonial to be
observed at Lodovico's own funeral, which is to take place before
the proclamation of his successor, who is warned, on pain of in-
curring the paternal malediction, not to assume the ducal crown
until his father has been laid in the grave.
This political testament, which is so characteristic a monu-
ment of Lodovico's forethought and attention to detail, and of
his enlightened theories of government, bears no seal or signature,
but ends with the following lines in the Moro's own hand-
writing
" We Lodovico Maria, lord of Milan, affirm these orders to
be those which we desire to be followed after our dc'ath, in the
government of the State, under our son and successor in the Duchy,
And in token of this, we have subscribed them with our OWJN
hand, and have appended our ducal seal/*
CHAPTER XXIX
Treaty of Blois Alliance between France, Venice, and the Borgias Lodovico
appeals to Maximilian His gift to Leonardo and letter to the Certosini
The French and the Venetians invade the Milanese Desertion of
Gonzaga and treachery of Milanese captains Loss of Alessandria Panic
and flight of Duke Lodovico Surrender of Pavia and Milan to' the
French Treachery of Bernardino da Corte and surrender of the Castello
Triumphal entry of Louis XII.
1499
FROM the moment of Louis XIL's accession, he announced his
intention of making good his claim to the duchy of Milan.
He refused to give Lodovico the title of duke, addressing him
us Messer Lodovico, while he styled himself King of France
and Duke of Milan, and told the Bishop of Aries that he would
rather reign over the Milanese for one year than be King of
France during his whole lifetime. At the same time he spoke
freely of his plans for the conquest of Italy, and told his courtiers
that he meant one of his sons to be King of Naples, and the
other Duke of Milan.
These sayings were duly reported to Lodovico by his own
friends at the French court, and chief among them M. de Trano,
ii Provensal gentleman who was in constant correspondence
with Milan, as well as by the Duke of Ferrara's envoy. Ercole
himself is described by French agents as ** trh attaM h son
gendrf" and Marino Sanuto speaks of him as a exceedingly
partial to his son-in-law and devoted to him in his secret heart,"
but he was far too wise rind prudent a ruler to oppose Louis XII.
openly.
The Pope, long the Moro's firm ally, had turned against
337 7 >
338 Beatrice cTEste
him since the dissolution of his daughter Lucrezia's marriage to
Giovanni Sforza in 1497, and the presence of Cardinal della
Rovere, who returned to Rome towards the end of 1498, in-
creased his hatred of the Sforzas. He was still more drawn to
France by the offers of Louis XII. to forward the ambitious
designs of his son Caesar Borgia, who had renounced his cardinal's
hat and was seeking the hand of the King of Navarre's daughter.
The discovery of these intrigues led to a sharp passage-at-arms
between the Pope and Ascanio Sforza in a consistory held on the
3rd of December. The cardinal openly accused his Holiness
of bringing ruin upon Italy, upon which Alexander retorted that
he was only following the Duke of Milan's example. In vain
Lodovico endeavoured to avert the gathering storm by entering
into negotiations with the French king, and even approached
Trivulzio with that purpose, but all attempts at a peaceable
arrangement were frustrated by Galeazzo di Sanseverino and
Antonio Landriano's hatred of their old rival and the fixed
determination of Louis XII. to reign in the Moro's stead.
Meanwhile the Venetian envoys were secretly plotting the
Duke of Milan's ruin, and on the I5th of April the Treaty of
Blois was signed and the partition of the Milanese between
France and Venice finally determined. The Signory agreed to
invade the duke's territory with an army of 6000 men, and
were to receive the district of Cremona in return for their
assistance. This was followed by Cresar Borgia's marriage to
Charlotte d'AIbret, which took place at Blois on the loth of
May. The Pope's son was created Duke of Valentinois by the
French king, and Alexander VI. joined France and Venice and
publicly declared that the house of Sforza must be swept off the
face of the earth. At the same time, Francesco Goir/aga made
secret advances to Louis XII., who accepted his offers of service
and advised the Venetians to make peace with him.
In his extremity Lodovico turned to his sSole remaining ally,
the Emperor Maximilian, and sent Erasmo Brasca and Muivhesino
Stanga to Fribourg, to beg that a German force might be speedily
sent to his assistance, while he earnestly entreated his niece the
empress to plead his cause with her husband. Unfortunately,
Bianca had little or no influence at the imperial court, and
Beatrice d'Este
339
Maximilian, who would gladly have helped the duke, was
hampered by want of money and already engaged in war with
his turbulent Swiss neighbours. But Bianca did her best for
her uncle, and in these last days her letters were his chief consola-
tion. She sent him the latest and most confidential news, and
wrote repeatedly from Fribourg and Innsbrttck, encouraging
him with hopes of speedy help, and reminding him how trium-
phantly he had overcome greater dangers in the past.
Even now, when his enemies were closing round him and
the last struggle was at hand, Lodovico still clung to his old
ideals. The love of art was still the ruling passion of his life,
and Leonardo still for him the prince of painters. On the 26th
of April, he made the Florentine master a present of a vineyard
which he had bought from the monastery of S. Victor outside
the Porta Vercellina, probably adjoining a house and piece of
land which the painter had already received from him, near
S. Maria delle Grazie. During the last few years the duke,
we know, had found it increasingly difficult to provide money
for his vast enterprises, and from a rough draft of a letter that has
been found among Leonardo's manuscripts, we gather that the
painter's salary was in arrears, and that his equestrian statue had
not yet been cast in bronze :
" Signore," he writes in these fragmentary sentences, " know-
ing the mind of your Excellency to be fully occupied, I
must ask pardon for reminding you of my small affairs. . . . My
life is at your service ; I am always ready to obey your commands.
I will say nothing of the horse, because I know the times ;
but, as your Highness is aware, two years* salary is owing to me,
and I have two masters working at my expense, so that I have
had to advance fifteen lire out of my own purse to pay them.
Gladly as I would undertake immortal works and show posterity
that I have lived, I am obliged to earn my living. . . . May
I remind your Highness of the commission to paint the Camerini,
only asking ..."
The painter, we know, had never complained of Lodovico's
want of liberality, and before he left Milan that December, he
was able to send 600 gold florins to Florence, but he probably
received the vineyard outside, the gate in answer to this appeal*
340 Beatrice d'Este
In the deed of gift, the duke expressly states that Leonardo, in
his judgment and in that of the best judges, is the most famous of
living painters, and that, having been employed by him in mani-
fold works, in all of which he has shown admirable genius, the
time has come to put the promises which have been made him into
execution. Accordingly, the duke presents him with this vine-
yard, small indeed compared with the painter's merits, but which
Leonardo may take as a sign that, as in the past, he will always
find the ducal house sensible of his services, and that Lodovico
himself will in the future more fully reward the master's excellent
acts and singular talents.
A week later Lodovico remembered "he. altar-piece which
Perugino had pro.nised to paint for the Certba, and 1 , in the st
of May wrote to the Carthusian friars, desiring them to urge the
Umbrian painter to complete and deliver the work without delay.
" You know," he wrote, " how much labour and expense
we have bestowed on the decoration of the Certosa of Pavia,
and how much we rejoice to see that the building is nearly
finished. And we have always exhorted yourselves, venerable
Prior and brothers, to choose the most excellent artists to paint
pictures that may be at once helps to devotion and ornaments o*
the church. Since, with this intention, we proposed a certain
Perugino and a Maestro Filippo, both of them admirable and
honoured masters, to paint two altar-pieces, and disbursed large
sums in order to obtain these pictures, we arc seriously displeased
to find that three years have passed without the work being done.
This is unjust both to ourselves and the friars, since it deprives
the Certosa of the perfection that we desire to see there, and we
must beg you to insist on these excellent musters completing th,e
said altar-piece^ within a reasonable term, or else returning the
money which they have received. For, as you know, nothing
is clearer to our hearts than the things that concern this church
and monastery."
Lodovico's exertions were not in vain, :it least in the case ot
Perugino. Before the entl of the year, the grout altar-piece
containing the lovely Madonna and saints, which now adorns
the National (Jnllcry, was finished, ntul while the duke himself
wandered in exile beyond the Alps, the Umbrian painter's
Beatrice d'Este 341
masterpiece was safely placed in the glorious church which he
had loved so well.
This letter relating to the Certosa altar-piece and the gift
to Leonardo were the last public acts in which the great Moro
showed his love of art and generosity to artists. His fate was
sealed, and already his foes were at the door. Before the end
of May, King Louis and Caesar Borgia came to Lyons, and
Trivulzio descended upon Asti with fifteen thousand men. A
few weeks later the Milanese envoy to Venice was dismissed, and
the Venetian army prepared to enter the district of Cremona.
Cater ina Sforza, almost the only Italian ally who was still faithful
to Milan, sent a troop o f men from Forli to her uncle's help, but
the inva;'" n of Rjinagna by papal troops hindered her from
attacking the Venetians as she had intended. In vain Lodovico
sent despairing letters to Maximilian, begging for the promised
re-inforcements. Week after week went by, and still the German
troops did not arrive. On the 1 3th of August, Trivulzio invaded
the Milanese with a powerful force of well-trained soldiers, and
took the castle of Annona. The same day the Venetians crossed
the eastern frontier and advanced towards the river Adda. On
u he 1 4th Lodovico wrote the following letter to his niece, the
Empress Bianca :
" In our present great anxieties, while the French are attacking
us on the one side, and on the other a large Venetian army is
advancing, your Majesty's loving letter has been a great comfort,
expressing not only the sympathy which you feel in our troubles,
but the efforts you have made to induce your husband, the king,
to help us in these bad times. What you say of his good-will is
not more than we expected, but your kind words have given us
unspeakable joy, and we are exceedingly grateful, and beg you
with all our heart to continue your offices on our behalf with the
king, entreating him to send us help immediately (presto, presto}.
Indeed, his troops ought to be here now, for we are already reduced
to extremity, as you will learn from Messer Galeazzo Visconti and
others, whom we have sent to your Majesty, praying that help
may be speedy and effectual." '
Three days after, Bianca herself wrote to say that she had
spoken to the emperor, and begged her maitre d'hfoel to support
* L. Pclissier, op. cit.
34*
Beatrice d'Este
her request, and that he had solemnly promised to send hei
uncle help. Maximilian kept his word, and before the month
was over despatched a strong German force to the duke's relief.
But the sorely needed succour came too late. When the Germans
reached the Italian frontier, Milan had already surrendered, and
they met Lodovico flying for his life. There were traitors in the
Moro's camp and court. Not only had the Marquis of Mantua
broken faith and refused to defend the Milanese against the
Venetians, but two of the Sanseverino brothers, Fracassa and
Antonio Maria, had for some time past threatened to enter the
Venetian service; while Francesco Bernardino Visconti, the
Borromeos, and Pallavicini were secretly corresponding with
Trivulzio, and the Count of Caiazzo was out of temper and
jealous of his younger brother Galeazzo, if he was not, as Cono
and other contemporaries affirm, already in league with the French.
Galeazzo himself, who had the supreme command of the Milanese
forces and held Alessandria with 5000 men, was a brilliant
carpet-knight and gallant soldier, but had little experience as a
general, and had no confidence in his ill-paid and half-starved
troops. When the duke, in a moment of irritation, reproached
his son-in-law with thinking too much of fine clothes and fair
ladies, Galeazzo boldly told him that his subjects were disaffected
and tired of his rule, and that if he did not take vigorous measures,
he would lose his state. His words proved all too true. One by
one the fortresses of the Lomellina opened their gates to Trivulzio's
victorious army, Antonio Maria Pallavicini surrendered Tortona
without a blow, and when Galeazzo prepared to relieve Pavia,
his troops refused to follow him. At the head of a handful of
cavalry, he made a gallant attempt to reach Pavia, but the citizens,
alarmed at the approach of the French, closed their gates and
refused to admit any armed men.
Alessandria was now the only fortified town in the district
which could arrest Trivulzio's onward march, and Lodovieo,
trusting to Galeazzo's valour, was confident he would be able to
hold the town until the arrival of Maximilian's reinforcements.
But, to the amazement of friend and foe alike, on the night of the
28th of August, Galeazzo, attended by only three horsemen, left
Alessandria at nightfall, crossed the Po, and, after cutting the bridge
Beatrice cTEste 343
behind him, rode as fast as he could go to Milan, There had
been dissensions in the garrison, and the soldiers clamoured for
pay and refused to fight, but whispers of darker treachery were
abroad. The Count of Caiazzo, it was said, had forged a letter
purporting to be from the duke, recalling his son-in-law to Milan
on the spot, and Galeazzo himself afterwards showed the false
orders which had deceived him to the French and Milanese
chroniclers who repeat the story. There seems little doubt that
Caiazzo's defection was one of the principal causes of Lodovico's
ruin, but, whatever the circumstances of the case may have been,
it is certain that on the next day the French entered Alessandria
without meeting with any resistance, and Trivulzio sent word to
his kinsman Erasmo that before the week was over he would
dine with him in Milan.
When Lodovico heard that Alessandria was lost, his courage
failed him. He determined to seek safety in flight, and prepared
to send his sons to Germany under the charge of his brother
Cardinal Ascanio Sforza and Cardinal Sanseverino, both of whom
had left Rome secretly on the I4th of July, and travelled by
Genoa, to Milan. Once more the duke called the chief citizens
together, and appealed to them, by the love which they bore to
the house of Sforza and the memory of the peace and prosperity
which they had enjoyed under his rule, to defend Milan against
the foreign invaders. But already sedition was spreading among
the people. That evening the ducal treasurer, Antonio Lan-
driano, one of Lodovico's ablest and most loyal servants, was
attacked by the mob on the Piazza of the Duomo and mortally
wounded.
On the same day Saturday, the 3*st of August the duke^
took leave of his sons, and sent them to Como in the charge of
the two cardinals and their kinswoman, Camilla Sforza. "A
truly piteous and heart-breaking sight it was," writes Corio, " to
see these poor children embrace their beloved father, whose face
was wet with their tears."
Twenty mules laden with baggage, and a large chariot bear-
ing Lodovico's most precious jewels and 240,000 gold ducats,
covered with black canvas and drawn by eight strong horses,
followed in the young princes* train. All the rest of the Moro's,
344 Beatrice d'Este
treasures, including a sum of 30,000 ducats, his vast stores
of gold and silver plate, and all Duchess Beatrice's rich clothes
and possessions, were left in the Castello, which was provided
with ample supplies of food and ammunition, and defended
by 1800 guns and a garrison of 2800 men, who had received
six months' pay in advance. These the duke entrusted solemnly
to the charge of the governor, Bernardino da Corte, leaving him
full instructions as to his future course of action, and a system of
signals by which he could communicate with friends in the town,
and telling him that he would return with 30,000 Germans
before a month was over. Both Ascanio Sforza and Galeazzo
di Sanseverino, it is said, entertained doubts of Bernardino da
Corte's fidelity, and warned the duke not to leave him without a
colleague in this responsible office ; but Lodovico did not share
their fears, and trusted implicitly in the loyalty of this servant,
whom he had advanced from a humble position to fill this re-
sponsible post and loaded with favours.
After his children were gone, Lodovico drew up a last deed, by
which he left certain of his lands and houses to his friends in Milan,
and made reparation to others whom he had wronged. Chief
among these was the widowed Duchess Isabella, to whom he gave
his own duchy of Ban, in the kingdom of Naples, with a yearly
revenue of 6000 ducats in place of her dowry. He restored the
lands of Angleria and the fortress of Arona to the Borromeos, g;ive
poor Beatrice's favourite country house of Villa Nuova to Battista
Visconti, and divided his different domains among the chief repre-
sentatives of noble Milanese families, in the hope of securing their
allegiance. While he was engaged in this final disposal of his
property, a deputation arrived to inform him that a meeting had
been held that day in the Dominican hall of La Rosa, at which
the Bishop of Como, Landriano, general of the Umiliati, Csusti-
glione, Archbishop of Ban", and Francesco Bernardino Visconti
were chosen to form a provisional committee of public safely, and
that these councillors had decided to make terms with Trivufosio
and admit the French. The duke said that he still put his trust
in the people ; upon which Visconti asked him why, if this were
the case, he had sent his sons and his treasure away f " If you
surrender the city to the French," replied the duke, "I will
Beatrice d'Este 345
hold the Castello for the emperor/' It was his last word. In
vain Galeazzo urged him to put himself at the head of his loyal
servants, and call upon the citizens of Milan to man the walls
against the French and fight or die with their duke. It was
already too late. While they were still speaking, news reached
the Castello that the people had risen in tumultuous uproar, and
that Galeazzo di Sanseverino's stable 1 ; and the seneschal Ambrogio
Ferrari's house had been sacked by the mob. The shops were
closed, and the houses in the principal streets were barricaded.
Terror and confusion prevailed everywhere, and Milan seemed in
a state of siege. Lodovico now took leave of his faithful servants,
and solemnly charged Bernardino da Corte to hold the Castello
as a sacred trust. " As long as the Rocca holds out, I know that
I shall return ; but when that surrenders, the house of Sforza is
doomed." With these words he kissed the Castellan on the
cheek, and, mounted on a black horse, in the long black mantle
which he always wore since his wife's death, he rode out, accom-
panied by his chief senators to the Porta Vercellina. There he
turned to his companions, and, with a noble and dignified air,
thanked them once more for their faithful services, and bade them
all farewell. " State con Dio may God be with you," he said,
and, with a last wave of his hand, put spurs to his black charger
and rode off.
The sun was setting in the western sky, and the sorrowing
courtiers thought that their master had gone to Como. But he
alighted before the gates of S. Maria delle Grazie, and, throw-
ing the reins to a page, entered the church where Beatrice was
buried. There he knelt in prayer by the tomb of the wife whom
he had loved so well and mourned so long la sus amantissima
duchessa while the moments slipped away and his servants
waited anxiously outside. At length he rose from his knees,
took a last look at the fair face and form lying there in the deep
repose of death, and left the church, accompanied by the weeping
friars, who followed him with their tears and blessings to the door.
Three times he turned round, while the tears streamed down his
pale face, and looked at the stately pile, which held all that had
been dearest to him in the world where Leonardo had painted
his Last Supper, and where Bianca and Beatrice slept together.
346 Beatrice d'Este
Then, in the dusk of the summer evening, he rode slowly back
through the park and gardens of the Caslello.
At break of day on the following morning, Monday, the 2nd
of September, Duke Lodovico, accompanied by his son-in-law,
Galeazzo di Sanseverino, his nephews, Ernies and the Count of
Mclzi, and his brother-in-law, Ippolito d'Este, and attended by a
few armed horsemen, left Milan and rode to Como. Here the
fugitives spent the night, and the duke issued a last decree, by
which he confirmed the privileges and grants of land which he
had granted to the friars of S. Maria delle Grazie. Then he
told the loyal citizens of Como that he would soon return at the
head of a German army, and rode along the banks of the lake to
the mountains of the Valtellina. Often on the road he looked
back at the blue waters and lovely shores of that native land
which he had been so proud to call his own, and, at last,
addressing his companions in the words *>f the Roman poet,
said sorrowfully, " Nes patriam fiignnm et dultia linyuimus
arua?
" Only think, reader," moralizes Marino Sanuto, " what grief
and shame so great and glorious a lord, who had been held to be
the wisest of monarchs and ablest of rulers, must have felt at
losing so splendid a state in these few days, without a single
stroke of the sword. . . , Let those who arc in high places
take warning, considering the miserable fall of this lord, who was
held by many to be the greatest prince in the world, and let
them remember that when Fortune sets you on the top of her
wheel, she may at any moment bring you to the ground, and
then the closer you have been to heaven, the greater and the
more sudden will be your fall."
Already Ligny's horsemen were scouring the country round
Como in pursuit of the fugitive, and reports reached Venice that
the duke had been captured and Galeazzo slain. By this time, how-
ever, Lodovico had crossed the frontier and was safe on Tyrolcsc
soil. At Bormio he met 2000 German troops, who were march-
ing to his relief; and when he reached Innsbruck, he found that
the JKmprchs Uianca had prepared rooms for his reception, ami
received kindly messages from Maximilian, promising him more
efficient support as soon as he had settled his quarrel with the Swiss,
Beatrice d'Este 347
Meanwhile Pavia had opened her gates to the French, upon
hearing news of the duke's flight, Trivulzio had taken possession
of the Castello, and Ligny was occupying the Certosa, while
Jean d'Auton knew not whether to wonder most at the rich
marbles and sumptuous chapels of the great church, or ,the vast
herds of red deer which roamed in the park.
" Truly," the good Benedictine exclaimed, as he wandered
through these flowery meadows with their banks of roses and
myrtles, and clear springs of running water "truly, this is
Paradise upon earth ! "
On the 6th of September, after a feeble effort on the part of
the Milanese nobles to preserve the rights and liberties of the
city, the keys were given up to Trivulzio, who entered by the
Porta Ticinese with Ligny and two hundred horse, and, after
visiting the Duomo, breakfasted in the house of his kinsman, the
Bishop of Como.
The Count of Caiazzo had gone out to meet Trivulzio the
day before, and had been received with great honour, while his
brothers Fracassa and Antonio Maria took refuge with Giovanni
Adorno at Genoa, and waited to see how the tide would turn.
Still the Castello held out, and Trivulzio was debating how
best to reduce this almost impregnable citadel, when Bernardino
da Corte sent a herald to parley with Francesco Bernardino
Visconti. At the end of a few days the faithless governor
agreed to surrender the Castello, in exchange for a large sum of
money and the concession of various privileges for his family and
friends. On the 22nd, letters from the duke arrived, telling the
castellan to be of good cheer, for the German troops were on
their way. But when they reached Milan, the Castello was
already in the hands of the French. The treasures of gold and
silver plate which the Rocca contained, the money and the
precious stuffs, the pictures and statues $.nd furniture which
adorned its Garnering were divided between the treacherous
governor, Francesco Visconti, and Antonio Pallavicini, while
Trivulzio reserved Lodovico's magnificent tapestries, that alone
were valued at 150,000 ducats, for his share of the spoil. Then
the wonders of antique and modern art which the Moro had
collected from all parts of Italy, the paintings of Leonardo and
348 Beatrice cTBste
(he gems of Caradosso, the Greek marbles and Roma*! cameos,
Lorenzo da Pavia's rare instruments and Antonio da Monza's
miniatures, were scattered to the winds. Certain things the
gorgeous altar-plate and vestments of the chapel, w'th the priceless
manuscripts of the Castello of Pavia, and most of the Sforza portraits
were taken to Blois, others found their way to Venice or Mantua,
and many fell into unworthy hands and vanished altogether.
Lodovico was lying ill of asthma in the castle at InnsbrCick,
discussing the best means of relieving the Castello with Galeazzo,
when the news of Bernardino da Corte's treachery reached him.
For some minutes he remained silent, as if unable to realize the
full meaning of the words. Then he said to the friends at his
bedside, " Since the day of Judas there has never been so black a
traitor as Bernardino da Corte." And all the rest of that day he
never spoke again.
Even the French were filled with horror at Bernardino's
treachery, and shunned him like a criminal when he appeared
among them. As for his old friends' and comrades, the poets and
scholars of Lodovico's court, their indignation knew no bounds*
Lancinus Curtius hurled bitter epigrams at his head, and Pistoia
held him up to the scorn of the whole world in some of his
finest sonnets. He did not live long to enjoy the reward of his
treachery and it was popularly believed in Italy that he had poisoned
himself in his despair, or put an end to his wretched life by fall-
ing upon his own sword. Even Charon, sang the poet, shuddered
when he heard the traitor's name, and refused to let him enter
the gates of Hades.
When the news of the conquest of Milan reached Lyons,
Louis XIL crossed the Alps without delay. On the 2 1st of
September he was at Vercelli ; on the 26th, at Lodovieo's favourite
Vigevano j on the 2nd of October he reached Pavia, where the
Marquis of Mantua and the Duke of Fernirn, who feared the
Pope's vengeance awl Civsar Borgia's army even more than the
French, came to meet him.
" Duke Krcole and his two sons," wrote the Ferrarese anna-
list, "are gone to meet the King of France. As for the Duke
of Milan, his name is never mentioned, and you might think
that he had never lived/'
Beatrice d'Este 349
On Sunday, the 6th of October, he made his triumphal
entry into Milan, with the Dukes of Ferrara and Savoy riding at
his side; the Cardinals della Rovere and d'Amboise were in
front of him ; and ambassadors from all the chief cities of Italy,
and a goodly array of princes and nobles, in his train. Francesco
Gonzaga, who had so lately been Duke Lodovico's guest, was
there. And there, too, were men like Caiazzo and Fracassa, who
had eaten and drunk at the Moro's table, and were fighting
under his banner only a few weeks before, and with them one,
who was still more closely associated with Lodovico and his
wife by the ties of blood and friendship Niccolo da Correggio,
the favourite courtier and poet of the Moro, and the cousin of
Beatrice.
Conspicuous among them all by his height and majestic
bearing was the Pope's son, Caesar Borgia, while the king him-
self made a gallant show in his long white mantle embroidered
with golden lilies over a suit of royal purple, bearing the ducal
cap and sword. Eight Milanese nobles carried an ermine-lined
canopy over his head, and the doctors of the University of Pavia
were there in their scarlet robes, as they appeared a few short
years before at Lodovico's coronation. Fair ladies in gay attire
welcomed the victor with their smiles. Everywhere tall white
lilies were seen blossoming in the streets that led to the Duomo
Notre Dame du D6me, as the monkish chronicler calls the
glorious pile of dazzling marbles that rose into the summer air.
Here the procession paused, and the king walked up the vaulted
aisles to pay his devotions at ^the Madonna's shrine. Then he
rode on again, to the sound of trumpets and horns, and the royal
guard of Gascon archers led the way up the well-known street,
with the frescoed palaces and goldsmiths and armourers* shops,
to the gates of the famous Castello, where the victor entered and
took up his abode in this proud citadel of the Sforzas, the core
and centre of the Milanese.
In the eyes of the French strangers it was all very marvellous
the beautiful city with its stately palaces and hospitals, and the
fair churches with their Gothic spires and pinnacles, their slender
creamy shafts and deep red terra-cotta mouldings ; the Milanese
ladies with their jewelled robes and mantles embroidered with
350 Beatrice d'Este
cunningly wrought devices, the flowering lilies and the garlands
of laurel and myrtle all seen under the radiant sunshine and the
deep blue of the Italian skies. But what excited their admiration
and wonder more than all was the Castello,
" A thing," writes one of them, " truly marvellous and
inestimable, with so many large and beautiful rooms that I lost
all reckoning. Without are broad lakes, fair running streams,
and bridges. There is a fine large square on the side of the
town, and on the other are beautiful meadows and woods and
the ch&teau, where the Moro had his stables, painted with frescoes
of different-coloured horses."
King Louis wondered most of all at the strength and com-
pleteness of the bastions and excellence of the artillery, exclaim-
ing that never before had he seen so strong and splendid a
citadel ! And he and all the Frenchmen greatly blamed that
second Judas, who had betrayed his master and delivered it up
without a blow.
The next morning, his Majesty attended mass at S. Ambrogio,
accompanied by the Dukes of Ferrara and Savoy, the Marquis of
Mantua, Caesar Borgia, and all the cardinals and ambassadors,
and afterwards visited the church and convent of S. Maria
delle Grazie. Here he gazed with admiration on the Ccnacolo
of Leonardo, that master of whose genius he had heard so much,
and expressed his ardent wish to transfer the famous wall-painting
to France, a sentiment which can hardly have gratified the
Dominican friars or the Italian princes in his train. The painter
was not present on this occasion. His master had fled, the
works upon which he was engaged were all interrupted, and on
the approach of the French he hud left Milan for one of his
favourite country retreats in the hills of Hergamo or the mountains
of Como, where he could study Nature and pursue his scientific
researches in peace. And the French king and Ca k sar Borgia,
whose genuine appreciation of fine art was well known, did not
rail to admire Bnimante's fair chapel and that latest master-
piece of Lombard sculpture, the noble tomb which the Moro
had raised to be an eternal memorial of his love and sorrow.
There were others in his train that day who ^ould hardly look
unmoved on the sleeping form of the young duchess with the
Beatrice d'Este 351
child-like face and the brocade robes which // Gobbo had fashioned
with such exquisite skill. There was her brother-in-law, Fran-
cesco Gonzaga, and Niccolo da Correggio, in whose heart that
fair face and bright eyes, he tells us, were for ever enshrined j
there were her brothers, Alfonso and Ferrante ; above all, there was
her father, the aged Duke Ercole. The sight of that marble
figure, with the soft curling hair and the long fringe of eyelashes
and quietly folded hands, must have vividly recalled the memory
of his dead child, and of all the joy and brightness that had vanished
in the grave with Beatrice. For him at least that must have
been a bitter moment.
And there was yet another, young Baldassarre Castiglione,
that courtly and handsome boy who had been sent to Milan
a few years before to finish his education, and had now
followed his master, the Marquis of Mantua, to wait upon the
French king. He had been present many a time at those
brilliant fetes in the Castello, and had seen Duchess Beatrice in
her most radiant and triumphant hour, had talked with Leonardo
and Bramante, and looked on Messer Galeaz as the mirror of
chivalry. Now he came back to find the scene changed and
that gay company all dead or gone. And the next day he sat
down to write home to Mantua and tell his mother of all the
pomp and splendour of the scenes which he had witnessed* He
described the king's triumphal entry, and the great procession in
which he had taken part, with all a boy's enthusiasm ; but he
could not refrain from a sigh over the melancholy change in the
Castello, when he told her how these halls and courts, that had
once been the home and meeting-place of rare intellects and
accomplished artists, " the fine flower of the human race," were
now full of drinking-booths and dung-hills of rude soldiery,
who defiled the place with their frnil habits and polluted the air
with their savage oaths. So passes the glory of the world.
CHAPTER XXX
XTT. in Milan Hatred of the French rule Return of Oukr Lodovioo
His march to Como and triumphal entry into IVIikin- -Tiivulzio and
the French retire to Mortara Surrender of the Castcllo of Milan, of
Pnvia and Novara, to the Moro His want of men and money Artivul
of La Trumouillc'g army Lodovico besieged in Novara and betrayed to
the French king by the Swiss Rejoicings at Rome and Venice
Triumph of the Jiorgias Sufferings of the Milanese Leonardo's letter.
1499-1500
DURING the next month f xniis XII. remained in the Castcllo of
Milan, joining in hunting-parties with his guests, the Duke of
Forrara and the Marquis of Mantua, and being royally enter-
tained at banquets by the Viscontis and Borromcos and Gian-
giacorno Trivulzio. Isabella d*Jste, eager to ingratiate herself
with the French, invited Ligny to visit her, and sent dogs and
falcons, as well as trout from Garda, to the king, who told La
Tr&nouillc that he had never tasted better fish. And when
Cardinal d'Amboisc expressed his admiration for Andrea
Mantegna's art and told the marquis that in his opinion lie was
the first master in the world, Isabella hastened to promise him a
picture by the great Paduan's hand.
It was a sad lime for the followers of Lodovico. The
faithful servants who had followed him into exile, siw their lands
and houses confiscated and divided among this victors. The
Count of Ligny's mother occupied the Marchesino Stanga's
house, and Trivul'/Jo%> triumph over his rivals was complete
when he received the Moro's palace of Vigevano and M<*sser
fair donvun of Castci Novo ;u his share of the
35*
Beatrice d'Este
353
spoils. But no one suffered more keenly or shed more bitter
tears than Giangaleazzo's widow, Duchess Isabella. She had
unwisely declined Lodovico's advice to leave Milan when the
war broke out, and take refuge on her uncle Frederic's galleys
at Genoa. Instead of this, she remained in Milan and sent her
son, a child of eight, whom contemporaries describe as beautiful
as a cherub, but weak in mind, like his father, to meet Louis
XII. on his arrival at the Castello. But, to her dismay, the king
refused to allow the young prince to return to his mother, and
when he left Milan on the yth of November, he took the boy
with him to France, and made him Abbot of Noirmoutiers,
where he lived in retirement until, twelve years later, he broke
.his neck out hunting. After her son's departure, the unhappy
mother, who signed herself " Tsabella de Aragonia Sforcta unica in
disgra%ia " in letters of this period, finally left Milan. Early in
1500 she paid a visit to Isabella d'Este at Mantua, and then
travelled by sea from Genoa to Naples, and spent the rest of her
life in her principality of Bari. One of her daughters died as
a child ; the other, Bona, was betrothed to her cousin, Maxi-
milian Sforza, -when, in 1512, he was restored to his father's
throne. It was Isabella's cherished dream that her last remain-
ing child should reign over the duchy of Milan, where, after all,
her own brightest days had been spent ; but before the marriage
could take place, the young duke had been compelled to abdicate
his throne and taken captive to France. His betrothed bride,
Princess Bona, married Sigismund, King of Poland, in 1518,
and six years later her mother died at Naples.
After Louis XII. left Milan, the severity of Trivulzio's rule,
and the violence and rapacity of the French soldiery, led to
increasing discontent among the people, who sighed for the
good old days of Duke Lodovico, when at least their life and
property, and the honour of their wives and daughters, were safe.
Even on the day of the French king's entry, Marino Sanuto
remarks that Louis was displeased to find how few of the people
cried " France ! " while the Venetians were greeted with shouts
of " Dogs ! " and hardly dared show themselves in the streets.
" We have given the king his dinner," said a Milanese citizen ;
"you will be served up for his supper ! " Already, on the 2ist
354 Beatrice d'Este
of September, the annalist of Ferrara wroic : " The French
are hated in Milan for their rudeness and arrogance." And a
private letter, written by a Venetian from Milan, in Octobci,
confirms Castiglione's account of the confusion and disorder that
reigned in the Castcllo.
" The French are dirty people. The king goes to hear
mass without a single candle, and cats alone, in the eyes of all
the people. In the Castello there is nothing but foulness and
dirt, such as Signor Lodovico would not have allowed for the
whole world ! The French captains spit upon the floor of the
rooms, and the soldiers outrage women in the streets. The
Ducheto has been taken from his mother, who weeps all day
long. Galeazso is with Lodovico, Cuiazzo with King Louis,
Fracassa and Antonio Maria are at Ferrara, and keep up an
active correspondence with Lodovico and Galeaazo." *
Meanwhile, at InnsbrUck, the exiled duke was anxiously
watching the course of events, and awaiting a favourable moment
to return and claim his own. ** I will beat the drum in winter
and dance all the summer," was the motto which he adopted,
together with the device of a tambourine, in reference to his
future hopes. A letter which the well-known preacher, Cclso
Maflfei of Verona, addressed to him, moralizing over the causes
of his fall, and exhorting him to observe the laws of public and
private justice, gave Lodovico an opportunity of issuing u mani-
festo to his adherents. In this curious document he defends his
conduct, and declares that he has no reason to reproach himselt
for anything in his past life. He has always led a Christian
life, given abundant alms, listened to frequent musses, and
said many prayers, especially since the death of his dear wife
Beatrice. He has ever had a strict regard for justice, no com-
plaint of his subjects has ever been left unheard, and since his
fall, no one has ever reproached him with injustice excepting
the Horromeos, whose alleged wrongs he explains, in a manner
to justify his own action. His whole desire hits been to love
his subjects us his own chiUlion', ami seek peace and prosperity
for his realm. If he raised heavy taxes, it was only in order
to defend Ins people from their enemies, and he never waited
war excepting to resist the invasion of hostile armies. Whatever
* M. tamutu, Diarii, iiu
Beatrice d'Este 355
mistakes he may have made, the Milanese have never had
reason to complain of him, "and have proved this by their
fidelity, only a few captains having sold the fortresses in their
charge and joined the French. And in conclusion he appeals
to his old subjects to restore him once more to the throne of
his ancestors.
His appeal was not in vain. Niccolo della Bussola and the
architect Jacopo da Ferrara, Leonardo's friend, arrived at Inns-
brttck in December, bringing the duke word of the disaffection
that reigned in Milan, and of the prayers that were daily offered
up for his return. Cheered by these tidings, Lodovico determined
to leave nothing undone on his part. He pawned his jewels
and began to raise forces both in the Tyrol and Switzerland.
In his eagerness to find allies, he applied to Henry VII. of
England, and even invited the Turks to attack the Venetians
in Friuli. Maximilian helped him with men and money, as
for as his slender resources would allow, and summoned the
German Diet to meet at Augsburg in February, in the hope of
obtaining support from the electors. But the Moro's impatience
could brook no delay. At Christmas he came to Brixen, and
there succeeded in collecting a force of eight or ten thousand
Swiss and Gorman Lanchkncchtcn^ supported by a body of Stracliots
and his own Milanese horse. At the head of this little army,
Lodovico left Uri'/en on the 24th of January, and set out on his
gallant but ill-fated attempt to recover his dominions.
Meanwhile Girolauio Landriano, the General of the
Omiliati, who had been the first to yield Milan to the French,
was actively engaged in plotting the restoration of Lodovico, with
the help of the leading ecclesiastics in the city. "To say the
truth," writes Jean d'Auton, "the whole duchy of Milan was
secretly in favour of Lodovico, and all the Lombards were swollen
with poison, and ready like vipers to shoot out the deadly venom
uf their treason." A general rising was fixed for Candlemas
Day, but so well was the secret kept, that not a whisper reached
the vigilant ears of Trivulfcio, and all remained quiet until the
lust lew days of January, On the 24th, a band of children at
plav, engaged in a mimic light between the supposed French and
Milanese armies, ending with the rout of the I'Yrnch and a
356 Beatrice d'Este
procession in which the effigy of King Louis was dragged
through the streets tied to a donkey's tail. Some French
soldiers, who witnessed the scene, fired on the children, killing
one and wounding others, upon which the citizens rose in
arms, and drove the foreigners back into the Castello. This
was followed by a more serious riot on the 3ist of January, and
Trivulzio gave orders for a general disarming of the people,
which, however, he was unable to enforce. Already news had
reached Como that the Moro had crossed the Alps, and was on
his way to Milan.
The course of Lodovico's victorious march is best described
in a letter which he addressed to his sister-in-law, Isabella d'Este,
on the day after his triumphal entry into his old capital.
"ILLUSTRIOUS LADY AND M.AKEST SISTKR,
"On the 24th of last month we left Brixen by the
grace of God, and crossed Monte Braulio into the Valtcllina
with a body of L<*mhknechtn m Monsigziorc the Vice-chancellor,
Messer Galwufi, and Messer Vibcomi, went on before with die
Swiss and Orison infantry, by way of Coirc and Chmvenna,
and reached the lake of Como on the goth. Here M. Galeay,
fitted out eleven ships, with which he attacked and put to flight:
the enemy's fleet, and took a fortress occupied by the French.
Both the Castle of Bella&io and the town of Torno surrendered
to His Reverence, who pushed on with his troops to Como,
where he met Monsignorc Sanseverino arriving from the Val-
tcllina, and the two cardinals together did the rest. Monsieur
de Ligny and the Count of Musoeho" TrivulwVs son u who
held the town with 1500 horse, fled at the approach of the
two Monsignori, knowing the feeling of the people, and his
Kminencc entered Como amidst the greatest rejoicing in the
world. M. Galcatt and his li&ht horse pursued the enemy, and
Monhignore pushed on towards Milan, hearing from our friends
there that his arrival was impatiently desired. On Friday, the
last of January, some of the people rose in arms, ami M,, Gitui
Giacomo fortified the Corte Veeehia awl the Duomo, ami, with
2000 infantry, marched through the streets of the armourers,
the builders, and the hatters, to make a public demonstration.
Beatrice d'Este 357
But our friends waited, knowing that the right moment had not
yet come. On Sunday, the 2nd, the French captains, hearing
of the cardinals' approach, and knowing the strong feeling in the
city, assembled their troops early on the Piazza of the Castello.
Our friends were well prepared, and at the same moment all
the bells rang, and the v/hole city rose in arms. More than
60,000 people attacked the French, and drove them back into
the Castello, where they spent the night, without forage for
their horses, and on Monday morning, the day before yesterday,
they fled from Milan in terror. The bridges had been broken
down to hinder their passage, but, luckily for them, the Ticino
was low, and they crossed the bed of the river, and retired to
Gaiata in safety. And on Motiday the Vice-chancellor entered
Milan, amidst universal rejoicing, and endeavoured to give chase
to the French army, but had not a sufficient number of horse to
effect his object.
" On Monday morning we reached Como, after taking pos-
session of the castle on the rock of Musso, and were joyfully
received all along the lake, by the chief citizens and gentlemen
of the district, who came out in boats to meet us. At the gates
of the city, the whole population received us with incredible
rejoicing and loud acclamations. Yesterday we slept at Mira-
bello, a house of the Landriani, about a mile out of Milan. All
the way from Como crowds of gentlemen and citizens streamed
out to meet us on foot or on horseback, in continually increasing
numbers, and cries of Moro I Moro I and shouts of joy greeted
our steps, whichever way we turned. This morning at sunrise
we left Mirabello, and entered the suburb of the Porta Nova,
at the hour indicated by our astrologer, but alighted at Gian
Francesco da Vimercato's gardezi, and waited there a little while,
to give the gentlemen time to meet us, and enter the city.
" The two cardinals rode out to meet us, and Messer Galeuz
and many gentlemen, with a great number of men-at-arms on
foot and horseback, and we marched all through the city and up
to the Duomo. AH the streets and windows and roofs were
thronged with people shouting our name, with such rapture that
it would be a tiling almost incredible if we had not seen it our-
selves. And so with universal rejoicing we have returned here,
358
Beatrice cTEste
by the grace of God, and already we hear that Txxli, Piacenza,
Pavia, Tortona, and Alessandria have driven out the French, and
returned of their own free will to our allegiance. The castle of
Trezzo has surrendered, and that of Cassano has been fortified in
our name by the Marches! no, and all the towns on the Venetian
frontier have declared for us, and before long we hope to have
recovered the whole state. The Castello here i* still held by
300 French soldiers, but it is badly provided willi victuals,
and fuel, and although they have saltpetre, there is no char-
coal to make gunpowder, so we ate in good hope of recovering
the place, but do not mean to let this delay us for a moment in
pursuing our victorious course. The enemy is in full retreat,
and we mean to drive them back to the mountain passes, and
have already sent IVL Galeaz early this morning with the infintry,
and all the horse that we have, in their pursuit. Monsignorc
Sanseverino is gone to-day, and we follow to-morrow with all
the horse we can collect and a, good number of infantry, the
better to carry out our plans. We hear that the soldiers, which
were in Romagna, to the number of 250 lances, besides infantry,
have been recalled, and have readied Parma, and feel sure that
your lord, the Marquis of Mantua, and our other allies will
pursue them, and with their help, and the general rising of the
people, we trust to obtain complete victory. We tell your
Highness these things the more gladly because we fed sure that
you have been gneved for our trouble, and will rejoice with us
at these fortunate successes. You will foijtve me for not writing
in my own hand, because of piessinj eMjvwuients.
a LODOVICUS MARIA SFOKTIA,
" //;//// v /)//,v AJt'rliti/titii) ftc* 9 IL (IhtiJius*
Milan, Kcbiuary 5, 1500." '
At the same time Lodoviro wrote to Francesco (ioir/;i!\a
"This mouiini? we entered Milan, and it would lw impossible
to describe the immense jubilation of the whole city and all
classes of people, or the extraordinary demonstrations of aifiviion
and good- will that we have received on all sules. Our intention
is to follow up our victory with the utmost speed, to effect the
complete destturtion of our enemies, and ?.eviue the pavers
* Lu/io KrTlin' #p {//,, \\. 6vjt,
Beatrice d'Este 359
neglecting no precaution. To-day we have sent Monsignore
Sanseverino on with ten thousand Germans, and intend to follow
with the remaining forces ourselves to-morrow. I hope your
Highness will attack and destroy the troops on their way from
Romagna, and if they are already gone, join with the forces of
our allies and the men of the country in their pursuit, according
to the orders that we have already issued."
This sudden revolution took all Italy by surprise. When
couriers arrived in Mantua and Ferrara, saying that Duke
Lodovico had that day entered Milan in triumph, people refused
to believe the news. But it was true. " The Moro has returned,"
wrote Jean d'Auton, "and has entered Milan, where he has been
received as if he were a God from heaven, great and small shout-
ing Moro ! with one accord. Verily these Lombards seem to
adore him. One and all implore him to drive out the French
and become their prince again." When the people saw the
well-known form of their old duke riding through the streets,
clad in rich crimson damask, their enthusiasm knew no bounds.
The two cardinals were at his side, and Messcr Galeazzo rode
behind him, in a suit of glittering brocade, with tall white plumes
in his cap and white shoes, " better fitted," remarks the chronicler,
"for the service of Venus than for that of Mars." They took
up their abode in the old palace of the Corte Vecchia, near the
Duomo, since the Castello was in the hands of the enemy, and the
duke issued a proclamation, calling on all loyal subjects to restore
the pictures, hangings, and other rare and precious objects, which
had been taken from the Castello. The wealthy citizens parted
freely with their gold and jewels, the Prior and friars of S.
Maria delle Grazie melted down their sumptuous altar-plate, and
the canons of the Duomo brought the duke those costly gifts
which he had made them in his days of prosperity. Having thus
succeeded in raising 100,000 ducats, Lodovico assembled the
councillors, and harangued them in eloquent language, reminding
them of all they had suffered from the French ty ninny, and calling
on them to join him in delivering their land from this intolerable
yoke. a l, too, have been guilty of mistakes and faults in the
past," he added, " but I will repair them. All I ask is to be
your captain, not your lord. Help me to drive out the stranger."
360 Beatrice cTEste
Before the week was over, Jacopo Andrea and his friends
had succeeded in obtaining the capitulation of the French garri-
son, and the Castello was occupied by Cardinal Ascanio, whom
Lodovico left with a small force at Milan, while he himself
went on to Pavia. It was on one of the few days which he
spent in Milan that his meeting with the Chevalier Bayard took
place, as recorded in the joyous chronicle of the loyal servant.
After a skirmish with some of Messer Galeazzo'g horse at Binasco,
the young French knight who had been too eager in the pursuit
of his foes was taken prisoner, and brought before the duke at
Milan. Lodovico, wondering at his youth, asked him what
brought him in such hurried guise to Milan, and ended by
restoring his sword and horse, and sending him back to his friends
under the escort of a herald, to tell Ligny of the courteous
treatment which he had received from the Moro, and to say
what a gallant gentleman Duke Lodovico was u qui pour pen de
chose rfest pas aist h itonner"
At Pavia the Moro was received with the same enthusiastic
joy, and during the fortnight that he remained there the Castello
was bombarded and taken by his artillery. The next week his
native town of Vigevano welcomed him with open arms, and
the French garrison was forced to quit the citadel. But the
Venetians held Lodi and Piacenza, and the Duke of Ferrara and
Marquis of Mantua, however much they wished their kinsman
well, and secretly disliked the French, did not dnrc to incur
their vengeance by any rash action. In vain the Moro wrote
passionate appeals to Francesco Gony,aj#i from Pavia and
Vigevano, urging him to come to his help before it wns too
late, and pointing out how the safety and well-being of Mantua
depended upon that of Milan, AH the marquis ventured to do
was to send his brother Giovanni, with a troop of horse, to help
Lodovico in the siege of Novara, which he now attacked with
the aid of fifty pieces of artillery sent from Innshrtlck.
Meanwhile his foes were every day Alining strength. King
Louis had hastily collected a large army of French la i ires and
Swiss mercenaries under La Trejwwille at Asti, who cntcml
Lorn hardy, and marched to relieve Trtvul/io and Li|,ny at
Mortara. On the other hand, the French troops who luul fone
Beatrice d'Este 361
with Yves d'Allgre to assist Caesar Borgia in the siege of Forli
and conquest of Romagna, speedily retraced their steps to relieve
the garrison of Novani. But they could not hold out against
the furious assaults of the Germans and Burgundians, and on the
2 ist of March the castle surrendered, and the garrison marched
out with the honours of war. Two days afterwards La
Trimouille reached Vercelli at the head of his powerful army,
and succeeded in effecting a junction with Trivulzio's forces.
This put an end to the Moro's brilliant successes, and it became
evident to all that the unequal contest could not be maintained
much longer. Seeing himself outnumbered and surrounded on
all sides, Lodovico threw himself into Novara, and early in April
was besieged there in his turn. But the Swiss, who formed the
bulk of his force, murmured because they were not allowed to
pillage the towns, and began to communicate secretly with their
comrades in the hostile camp* The Moro had sent Galeaz/.o
Visconti to Berne, and at his request the Helvetian Diet issued
orders to the Swiss in both armies, forbidding them to fight
against their comrades. But the French envoy, Antoine de
Bussy, bribed the herald who bore the message to Novara, and
only the Swiss in the Moro's service received orders to lay down
their arms. The result was that when Lodovico's captains led
them out to meet the enemy, they refused to light, and withdrew
in confusion into the city. In vain the duke offered them his
silver plate and jewels, till he could obtain money from Milan,
and begged them to return to the battle. In vain Galea'/,7,o, at
the head of his Lombards, charged the foe gallantly, killing
many of them with his artillery and putting the others to flight.
Ho and his brothers fought desperately, till the sword was broken
in Galea7//o*s hands and Fracassa was badly wounded. But all
their heroism was of no avail. TrivuV/io was already in secret
treaty with the Swiss, who sent a deputy to the French camp,
asking for leave to lay down their arms and return to their own
country.
Antonio Grumelio, who was in Novara at the tiine, describes
how late one evening, when the duke sat playing chess with
Fruoassa in the bishop's palace, where lie lodged, a spy was led
in, who told him that Trivuly*io had boasted that the Moro
362 Beatrice d'Este
would be his captive in less than a fortnight. " What do you
say ? " asked Lodovico of Almodoro, the astrologer, who had
followed him into exile. But Almodoro shook his head. It
was impossible ; no planet foretold such a disaster ; on the contrary,
all the signs were propitious, and he spoke confidently of coming
victory. "On Wednesday in Holy Week," continued the
chronicler, "the betrayal of Judas began." That day, as
Galeazzo was preparing for another sally, the Swiss came to
him in a body and laid down their arms, saying they would not
fight against their comrades in the other camp. Already one of
the gates had been treacherously opened, and the French were in
the city. In this extremity an Albanian captain offered the duke
a fleet Arab horse and begged him to escape. But Lodovico
refused to desert his friends, and would only accept the proposal
of the Swiss captains that he and his companions should assume
the garb of common soldiers and mingle in the ranks. He
covered his crimson silk vest and scarlet hose, hid his long hair
under a tight cap, and took a halberd in his hand. In this
disguise he was preparing to file out of the camp in the ranks
of the Grison troops, when a Swiss captain named Turman, and
called Soprasasso by the Italians, betrayed him to the French.
The Swiss, it is said, received 30,000 ducats as the price of blood
from TrivuLzio, but were discontented with the sum, and
quarrelled violently over the gold among themselves 5 while the
traitor had his head cut off on his return home, and such were
the execrations heaped upon him by his comrades, that his wife
and children were forced to change their name. " E k quello "
"There he is" were the words in which Turman pointed
Lodovico out to a French captain, who immediately laid his
hand on the duke's arm and arrested him in the name of King
Louis. " Son contento" replied Lodovico, calmly ; and made
no further resistance. "I surrender," he said afterwards, "to
my kinsman, Monsignore de Ligny." Accordingly he was de-
livered to Ligny, who treated him with all respect, and provided
him with a horse and apparel suited to his rank.
It is said that at first he declined to meet Trivulzio, but the
chronicler Pralo describes an interview which took place between
the duke and his former captain soon afterwards. Trivubiio, in
Beatrice d'Este 363
whose heart the old wrong still rankled, greeted his captive with
the words, " It is you, Lodovico Sforza, who drove me out for
the sake of a stranger, and, not content with this, have stirred
the Milanese to rebellion." Lodovico merely shrugged his
shoulders, and replied quietly, " Who among us can tell the
reason why we love one man and hate another ? "
" And so," adds Grumello, " poor Lodovico was taken
captive, and with him Galeazzo and Fracassa ; but Galeazzo
became the prisoner of the Swiss, and was led away by these
Helvetians on a black horse without a saddle, riding on a sack.
And I saw this with my own eyes."
All three of the Sanseverini brothers were claimed by the
Bailiff of Dijon as his prisoners, but Antonio Maria managed to
escape from their hands, and both Fracassa and Galeazzo were
ransomed by their relatives for one thousand ducats a-piece at
the end of a few weeks. Fracassa sought his wife at Ferrara,
and Galeazzo took refuge with the other Milanese exiles at
InnsbrUck. The Marchesino Stanga, who was also taken captive
at Novara, was imprisoned in the Castello of Milan, and died
there before the end of the year.
On the evening of his capture, Wednesday, the loth of
April, Lodovico was taken to the citadel of Novara, where he
remained for a week. His faithful friends, the good friars of
S. Maria delle Grazie, supplied their illustrious patron with
a set of silk and gold and silver brocade vests, hats and
shoes to match, scarlet hose, and fine Reims linen shirts.
All Lodovico himself asked for was a copy of Dante's a Divina
Commedia," that he might study it during his captivity.
On the I yth he was conducted by La Tr^mouille, accompanied
by four servants and two pages, to Susa, where he became so
ill that he was unable to continue the journey. After a few
days* rest he recovered, and was taken over the mountains to
Lyons, in charge of M. de Crussol and the king's band of
ajrchers.
Great were the rejoicings among the Moro's enemies when
the news of his capture was made known. King Louis ordered
solemn Te Deums to be chanted in Notre Dame of Paris, and
himself went in state to give thanks in the church of Our Lady
364 Beatrice d'Este
of Comfort at Lyons, while he extolled La Tr&nouille as another
Clovis or Charles Martel in his despatches. The Pope gave the
messenger who brought the news a gift of a hundred ducats, for
joy, he said, that the traitor-brood was annihilated. The Orsini
lighted bonfires, and the jubilee rejoicings waxed louder and
longer through the night. Cardinal Ascanio's palace, with all his
treasures of art, was seized by Alexander VL, and his benefices
were divided among the pontiffs creatures. In Venice the
Piazza was illuminated and all the bells rung, while the children
and boatmen sang
" Ora il Moro fa la danza,
Viva Marco e '1 re di Fianza ! **
and dancing and pageants celebrated the downfall of the Re-
public's most dreaded foe. Even in Florence the citizens rejoiced
over the fall of another tyrant, and raised a crucifix at the doors
of the Palazzo Pubblico to commemorate the victory of freedom.
Had they known it, they were in reality celebrating the loss of
national independence, the beginning of a long reign of slavery
and foreign rule. Seldom has the cause of freedom and civiliza-
tion suffered a worse blow than this betrayal of the Moro at
Novara, which left the Milanese a prey to French invaders, and
planted the yoke of the stranger firmly on the neck of Northern
Italy.
At the news of his brother's capture, Ascanio Sforza left
Milan to seek refuge across the Alps, but was himself taken
prisoner, with his nephew Ermes, at the Castle of Rivolta, near
Piacenza, by the Venetians, who delivered them up to the French
king. Both were taken to France, and the cardinal was detained
in honourable captivity in the citadel of Bourges, until, in January,
1502, he was released to take part in the conclave that elected
Pius III. With Trivulzio's return to Milan a reign of terror
began. The city was heavily fined, the partisans of the Sforza
were exiled or imprisoned, Niccolo da Bussola and Leonardo's
beloved friend, Jacopo Andrea, were hung, and their limbs drawn
and quartered and exposed to view on the battlements of the
Castello, in spite of Duke Ercole's intercession on behalf of the
distinguished architect. Pavia was sacked by the French, and
Beatrice d'Este 365
Lombardy paid with tears and blood for its loyalty to the race of
Sforza. The period of anarchy and confusion which followed is
described in mournful language by the Milanese chroniclers.
During the next forty years, the city was continually taken and
sacked by contending armies, her fair parks and gardens were
trampled underfoot by foreign soldiery, and her beautiful churches
and palaces destroyed by shells and cannon-balls. French and
German ruffians tore the clothes off the backs of the poor, and
snatched the bread from the lips of starving children. People
were everywhere seen dying of hunger and the grass growing
in the squares. There were no voices in the streets, often no
services in the churches. Silence and desolation reigned through-
out the unhappy city. " Blessed indeed," sighs the writer, " were
those who were able to seek shelter in flight." Beyond the borders
of Lombardy, there were others who grieved over the Moro's
fall. In Mantua and Ferrara his friends shed secret tears over
his fate. " Duke Ercole is very sad," writes our friend the
annalist, " for his son-in-law's sake, and so are all the people."
And Caterina Sforza, in her lonely captivity within the walls of
the Castell' Sant' Angelo, wept over her uncle's ruin and the
downfall of her race. Far away in Florence, one artist, who
had lived in close intimacy with the Moro for many a long year,
who had discussed a hundred problems and planned all manner
of mighty works with him, heard the news with a pang of
regret. Leonardo had been in Venice with Lorenzo da Pavia,
the great organ-master, when the wonderful tidings of the duke's
return had come. He and Lorenzo must have smiled when
they saw the long faces and sinister air of the grave Venetian
senators at this unexpected turn of affairs. Eagerly they watched
and waited and wondered if these things could be really true, and
if the Moro were to reign once more on his fathers* throne,
and carry out all^the great dreams of his soul. And now it was
all over, and the French were supreme in Milan, and the great
horse on which the master had spent the best years of his life
was used as a target for the arrows of Gascon archers. The
duke and Messer Galeaz were captives, Sforzas and Viscontis
were in prison or exile, and Jacopo Andrea had died a cruel
death. On Leonardo the blow fell with crushing force ; but he
366 Beatrice d'Este
3
held his peace, and only the few broken sentences in his note-
book remain to tell of his shattered hopes and of his inconsolable
regrets.
"The Saletta above . . , (left unfinished).
" Bramante's buildings . . . (left undone).
" The Castellano a prisoner . . .
" Visconti in prison his son dead.
" Gian della Rosa's revenues seized.
" Bergonzio " the duke's treasurer " deprived of his
fortune.
"The duke has lost state, fortune, .and liberty, and not one of
his works has been completed."
In these last melancholy words we read Lodovico Sforza's
epitaph, pronounced over him by Leonardo the Florentine.
CHAPTER. XXXI
Lodovico Sforza enteis Lyons as a captive His imprisonment at Piene
Encise and Lys Saint-Georges Laments over II Moro in the popular
poetiy of Fiance and Italy Efforts of the Empeior Maximilian lo
obtain his release Ascanio and Eimes Sforza released Lodovico removed
to Loches Paolo Giovio's account of his captivity His attempt to
escape Dungeon at Loches Death of Lodovico Sforza His burial in
S. Maria delle Grazie.
1500-1508
ON the 2nd of May, 1500, barely a month after Lodovico
Sforza's triumphant return to Milan, the ancient city of Lyons
witnessed a strange and mournful procession, in which he was
again the central figure. That day the King of France's captive
was led along the banks of the swift Rhone and through the
Grande Rue up to the fortress of Pierre-Encise, on the top oi
the steep hill that crowns the old Roman city. The scene has
been described in a well-known letter by an eye-witness, the
Venetian ambassador Benedetto Trevisano, one of the envoys
who had been sent, three years before, to meet the emperor on
his descent into Italy, and whom the Duke of Milan had enter-
tained royally at Vigevano. The fierce and vindictive tone of
the writer, the exultant spirit in which he triumphs over the
fallen foe, is another proof of the terror and hatred which the
Moro inspired in. Venice. Trevisano's letter was written on
the evening of the 2nd of May, and addressed to the Doge.
" To-day, before two o'clock, Signor Lodovico was brought
into the city. The following was the order of the procession : first
came twelve officers of the city guard, to restrain the people who
thronged the streets from shouting. Then came the Governor
307
368 Beatrice d'Este
of Lyons and Provost of Justice on horseback, and then the said
Signor Lodovico, clad in a black camlet vest with black hose and
riding-boots, and a black cloth berretta y which he held most of the
time in his hand. He looked about him as if determined to hide
his feelings in this great change of fortune, but his face was very
pale and he looked very ill, although he had been shaved this
morning, and his arms trembled and he shook all over. Close
beside him rode the captain of the king's archers, followed by a
hundred of his men. In this order they led him all through the
town, up to the castle on the hill, where he will be well guarded
for the next week, until the iron cage is ready, which will be his
room both by night and day. The cage, I hear, is very strong,
and made of iron framed in wood, in such a manner that the iron
bars, instead of breaking under a file or any other instrument,
would throw out sparks of fire. One thing I must not forget to
tell you. The ambassador of Spain and I were together at a
window when Signor Lodovico passed, and when the Spaniard
was pointed out to him, he took off his hat and bowed. And
being told that I was the ambassador of your Serene Highness,
he stopped, and seemed about to speak. But I did not move, and
the captain of the archers, who rode by him, said, * Go on
go on ! ' Afterwards the captain mentioned this to the king,
who said, *Do you mean that he refused to pay you any
reverence ? ' adding that such men as this who do not keep faith
are bad, and so on. And I replied that I should have felt shame
rather than honour if I had received any sign of courtesy from a
person of this kind. The king was in his palace, and had seen
Signor Lodovico pass, and with him were many other lords and
gentlemen, who spoke much of the Moro. His Christian Majesty
said that he had decided not to send him to Loches as he had
intended, because at certain seasons of the year he himself goes
there with his court for his amusement, and would rather not be
there with him, as he does not wish to see him. So he has
decided to send him to Lys in Berry, two leagues from the city
of Bourges, where the king has a very strong castle with trenches
wider than those of the Castello of Milan, full of water. This
place is in the centre of France, and is kept by a gentleman,
who was captain of the archers when his Majesty was Duke of
Beatrice d'Este 369
Orleans, and had a body of tried guards who were trained by the
king himself. When the Moro alighted from the mule which he
rode, he was carried into the castle, and is, I am told, so weak
that he cannot walk a step without help. From this I judge that
his days will be few. I commend myself humbly to your
Serene Highness.
"BENEDICTUS TREVISANUS.*
"Eques. Orator"
Fortunately, the iron cage seems to have been a fable invented
by the Venetian ambassador, and from all accounts the prisoner
was well and honourably treated, although the king absolutely
refused his request to see him during the fortnight that he
remained in the fortress at Lyons. He received visits, however,
from several of the king's ministers, who all remarked that if he
had been guilty of some foolish actions his words were remarkably
w i se "toutefois moult sagement parloit" Anger gave place to
pity at the sight of this victim who had suffered so terrible a
reverse of fortune, and the Benedictine chronicler, Jean d'Auton,
deplores the sad fate of this unfortunate prince, who, after many
golden days of wealth and prosperity, was doomed to end his life
in weary and lonely captivity far from house and friends :
" Somme, si le pauvre Seigneur captif, de deuil inconsolable avoit le
caur serri a nul devoit sembler merwilles" The sorrowful destiny
of the " infelice Duca" who had once boasted himself to be the
favourite of fortune " // Figlio della Fortuna " became the
burden of popular poetry, alike in France and Italy. Jean
d'Auton himself gives vent to his feelings in an elegy on the
vanity of earthly glories
" Si Ludovic, qui jadys pleine cacque
Heut de ducatz et pouvoir magnifique,
Est en exil, sans targe, escu ne placque,
Captif, afflict, plus mausain que cung heticque.,
Et que, de main hostile et inimique,
Malhcur le fiere rudement et estocque
Gloire mondaine est fragile et caducque."
Tiie grief of the Milanese bards for their duke's cruel fate
found ittei mce in the following lament :
* M. Samite,, Dtaru* ui. $20,
370 Beatrice d'Este
bon quel duca in Milano
Che compianto sto in dolore .
lo diceva che un sel Dio
Era in cielo e un Moro in terra*
E secondo il mio disio
lo faveva pace e guerra
Son quel duca di Milano/' etc,
Fausto Andrelino wrote a Latin poem beginning with the
lines
6< Ille ego sum Maurus, franco qui captus ab hoste
Exemplum instabilis non leve sortis eo ; "
and Jean Marot found inspiration in a Venetian song " Ogni
fumo viene al basso " which he rendered in the following lines,
alluding to the legend of the Moro's fresco in the Castello of
Milan :
" Jadiz fist paindre une dame, embellie
Par sur sa robe, des villes d'Ytalie
Et luy au pres tenant des epoussetes,
Voullant dire, par superbe follie,
Que TYtalie estoit toute sonillie
Et qu'il voulloit faire les villes nettes.
Le roi Loys, voulant raroir ses mettes,
Par bonne guerre luy a fait tel ennuy
Que FYtalie est nettoye de lui i
Chose usurpee legier est consommee,
Comme argent vif qui retourne en fumee.**
From Lyons the captive duke was removed to Lys Saint-
Georges in Berry, where he remained during the next four years
in the charge of Gilbert Bertrand, the king's old captain of the
guard. He was allowed to take exercise in the precincts of the
castle and to fish in the moat. According to Sanuto, he was not
wholly cut off from his friends. " Since he likes to know what*
is happening in the world outside, the king allows him to receive
letters and to hear the news." But his health suffered from the
confinement, and in the summer of 1501, he became so ill
that Louis XII., who was hunting in the neighbourhood, sent
his doctor, Maitre Salomon, to see him. The physician was
shocked at the prisoner's altered appearance ; his long hair, as we
Beatrice d'Este
learn from a contemporary miniature, had turned entirely white,
and there were black circles round his eyes. He sighed con-
stantly, complained of the faithless subjects who had caused his
ruin, and asked eagerly for the latest news of the treaty with
the King of the Romans. Maitre Salomon told the king that he
believed Signer Lodovico was losing his reason, and his account
moved Louis so much that he sent to Milan for one of the duke's
favourite dwarfs, in order to beguile the weary hours of captivity.
Meanwhile, in justice to Maximilian, it must be said that he
was untiring in his efforts to obtain the release of his friend and
kinsman. For many years he steadily refused to grant Louis
XII. the investiture of Milan, unless Lodovico was set at liberty,
and repeated his solicitations to this effect with the most un-
wearied pertinacity. On this point, however, the French king
was inexorable. He knew the hold which the Moro had re-
tained on the hearts of his subjects, and would not run the risk
of another rebellion by allowing Lodovico to join his children
at Innsbrtick. At the prayer of the Empress Bianca, he released
her brother, Ermes Sforza, in 1502, and a year later allowed
Ascanio Sforza to return to Rome, at the request of Cardinal
d'Amboise, and give his vote in the papal conclave. After the
accession of his old enemy, Giuliano della Rovere, to the papa!
throne, Cardinal Sforza once more attained a high degree of
honour and prosperity, and when he died, in 1505, Julius II.
raised the magnificent monument in the church of S. Maria
del Popolo to his memory. In February, 1504, the German
ambassador made another strong appeal to the king on his
master's behalf for Lodovico's release, but the only concession
that he could obtain was some relaxation in the rigour of his
treatment. The duke was removed to the cMteau of Leches
in Touraine, a healthy and beautiful spot, on "the ""summit of a
lofty hill, and was allowed greater liberty and more society.
All contemporary writers agree that he bore his long and
edious captivity with remarkable patience and fortitude. "I
have heard," writes the Como historian, Paolo Giovio, " from
Pier Francesco da Pontremoli, who was the duke's faithful com-
panion and servant during his captivity, that he bore his miser-
able condition with pious resignation and sweetness, often saying
37*
Beatrice d'Este
that God had sent him these tribulations -as a punishment for the
sins of his youth, since nothing but the sudden might of destiny
could have subverted the counsels of human wisdom."
Early in the spring of 1508, the Moro seems to have made
a desperate attempt to escape. According to the Milanese
chronicler Prato, he bribed one of his guardians, with gold sup-
plied, as we learn, from Padre Gattico, by the friars of S. Maria
delle Grazie, and succeeded in making his way out of the castle
gates hidden in a waggon load of straw. But he lost his way in
the woods that surround Loches, and after wandering all night in
search of the road to Germany, he was discovered on the follow-
ing day by blood-hounds, who were put upon his track. After
this, his captivity became more severe. He was deprived of booFs
and writing materials and cut off from intercourse with the outer
world. It was then, too, in all likelihood, that he was confined
in the subterranean dungeon, still shown as the Moro's prison.
The cell, as visitors to Loches remember, is cut out of the solid
rock, and light and air can only penetrate by one narrow loophole.
There, tradition says, Leonardo's patron, the great duke who had
once reigned over Milan, beguiled the weary hours of his captivity
by painting red and blue devices and mottoes on his prison walls,
'Among these rude attempts at decoration we may still discover
traces of a portrait of himself in casque and armour, and a sun-
dial roughly scratched on the stone opposite the slit in the
rock. And there, too, half effaced by the damp, are fragments
of inscriptions, which tell the same piteous tale of regret for
vanished days and weary longings for the end that would not
come.
/ " Quand Mort me assault et que je ne puis mourir
Et se courir on ne me veult, mais me faire rudesse
Et de Hesse me voir bannir. Que dois je plus guerir ? w
Or this
rt Je porte en prison pour ma device que je m'arme de patience par fore
de peine que Ton me fait pouster " (porter) . .
Again, in large letters among the fragment of red and blue paint,
we read
" Celui qui ne craint fortune n'est pas bien saige. f '
Beatrice d'Este
373
Even more pathetic, when we recall the joyous days at Milan
and Vigevano, where Lodovico listened to readings from Dante
in Beatrice's rooms, is the following version of Francesca da
Rimini's famous lines :
" II n'y au monde plus grande destresse,
Du bon tempts sol souvenir en la tristessc."
At length death brought the desired release. Marino Sanuto
briefly records the fact in the following words: "On the xyth
day of May, 1508, at Loches, Signor Lodovico Sforza, formerly
Duke of Milan, who was there in prison, died as a good Chris-
tian with the rites of the Catholic Church." All we know
besides is that his faithful servant, Pier Francesco, was with him
to the end, and closed his eyes in the last sleep. To this day the
place of his burial remains unknown. A local tradition says
that he was interred in the church of Loches at the entrance of
the choir, but a manuscript account of the Sieur Dubuisson's
travels in 1642, preserved in the Mazarin Library, states that
Ludovic Sforza sleeps in the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre on
the eastern side of the church. On his death-bed, it is said, he
desired to be buried in the church of the Dominican friars at
Tarascon, but we never hear if his wishes were carried out, and"
no trace of his burial is to be found in this place. On the whole
we are inclined to think the most trustworthy authority on the
subject is the Dominican historian of S. Maria delle Grazie,
Padre Gattico, In the history of the convent which he wrote
a hundred and fifty years after the Moro's death, he tells us
that the friars of his convent supplied the duke with means for
his unfortunate attempt to escape, and that this having failed,
after his death they removed his body to Milan, and buried him
by the side of his wife, Duchess Beatrice. This may very well
have been effected during the reign of Lodovico's son Maximilian,
who was restored to his father's throne in 1512, and would ex-
plain the uncertainty which has always existed at Loches as to
the Moro's grave, and the absence of any inscription to mark his
burial-place.
For Lodovico's sake, let us hope, the good Dominican's
story is true. It is good to think that, after all the distress of
374 Beatrice d'Este
those long years of exile and captivity, the unfortunate prince
should have been brought back to rest in his own sunny Milanese,
under Bramante's cupola, in the tomb where he had wished to
lie, at Beatrice's side. There, during the next three centuries,
masses were duly said for the repose of Duke Lodovico's soul
and that of his wife, on the four anniversaries sacred to their
memory, " in gratitude," writes Padre Pino, " for all the bene-
factions that we have received from this duke and duchess." And
to this day, on the Feast of All Souls, the stone floor immediately
in front of the high altar, where Beatrice's monument once stood,
is solemnly censed, year by year, in memory of the illustrious dead
who sleep there, in Lodovico's own words, a until the day ^
resurrection/'
CHAPTER XXXII
The Milanese exiles at Innsbruck Galeazzo di Sanseverino becomes Grand
Ecuyer of France Is slain at Pavia Maximilian Sforza made Duke of
Milan in 1512 Forced to abdicate by Francis I. in 1515 Reign of
Francesco Sforza Wars of France and Germany Siege of Milan by the
Imperialists Duke Francesco restored by Charles V. His marriage and
death in 1535 Removal of Lodovico and Beatrice's effigies to the
Certosa.
1500-1564
AFTER the catastrophe of Novara and the final ruin of the Moro's
cause, his loyal kinsfolk and followers were reduced to melancholy
straits. A document among the Italian papers in the Biblio-
thque Nationale gives a long list of the Milanese exiles who,
in the year 1503, were living in exile, and whose knds and
fortunes had been granted to French nobles or Italians who had
embraced Louis XII's party. Among them we recognize many
familiar names, Crivellis, Bergaminis, Marlianis, and Viscontis,
who had served Duke Lodovico loyally and now shared in
his disgrace. Many of these took refuge at Ferrara and Mantua ;
others went to Rome or lived in retirement on Venetian terri-
tory, while as many as two hundred and fifty were living at one
time at Innsbrtick. A few of these were pardoned in course of
years, and obtained leave to return to their Lombard homes, but
by far the greater number died in exile.
Chief among those courtiers and captains of the Moro who
found refuge at Maximilian's court were the Sanseverino brothers.
Two of these, Fracassa and Antonio Maria, were soon reconciled
with King Louis by the powerful influence of their brothers, the
Count of Caiazzo and Cardinal Sanseverino. For Galeazzo,
the son-in-law and prime favourite of the Moro, a strange future
375
376 Beatrice d'Este
was in store. After his brilliant years at the court of Milan, he,
too, tasted how salt the bread of exile is, and how bitter it is to
depend on the charity of others. In 1 503, he was still living at
Innsbriick, where Sanuto describes him as always dressed in
black and looking very sorrowful, and held of little account
by the German courtiers, although Maximilian always treated
him kindly. He accompanied the Emperor to the Diet at
Augsburg, and took an active part in his various efforts to
obtain Lodovico's deliverance. But a year later, when all hope
of obtaining Lodovico's release was at an end, a fresh attempt
seems to have been made by the Sanseverino family to reconcile
Galeazzo with King Louis. He came to Milan and saw the
Cardinal d'Amboise, who embraced his cause warmly, and
a petition for the restoration of Galeazzo's houses and estates,
as well as the fortune of 240,000 ducats which he had inherited
from his wife Bianca, was addressed to the King. The result
was that he soon received a summons to the French court,
where he quickly won the royal favour, and on the death of
Pierre d' UrfS a year later, was appointed Grand Ecuyer de
France. From that time Galeazzo became one of Louis XIL's
chief favourites, and seldom left the king's side. In 1507 he
attended Louis XII. when he entered Milan for the second time,
and was a conspicuous figure in the grand tournament that was
held on the Piazza of the Castello. Once more he came back to
the scene of his old triumphs, under these changed circumstances,
and played a leading part in the wars that distracted the Milanese.
Under Francis I., Galeazzo rose still higher in the royal
favour, and won a signal victory over his old rival Trivulzio.
The Grand Ecuyer boldly asserted his right to Castel Novo,
which Louis XII. had granted to Trivulzio after the conquest
of Milan, and, at the age of seventy, the old soldier came to Paris
to plead his cause against Messer Galeazzo. But the suit was
given against him, and he was thrown into prison for contempt
of the king's majesty, and died at Chartres in 1518, bitterly
rueing the day when he had entered the service of a foreign
prince and led the French against Milan. Galeazzo triumphed
once more, and kept up his reputation as a gallant soldier and
brilliant courtier, until, in 1525, he was slain in the battle of
Beatrice d'Este 377
Pavia, under the walls of the Castello, where, thirty-five years
before, he had been wedded to Bianca Sforza.
Meanwhile Beatrice's sons grew up at Innsbrttck, under tne
care of their cousin, the Empress Bianca. It was a melancholy
life for these young princes, born in the purple and reared in all
the luxury and culture of Milan. And when their cousin
Bianca died in 1510, they lost their best friend. But a sudden
and unexpected turn of the tide brought them once more to the
front. That warlike pontiff, Julius IL, who, as Cardinal della
Rovere, had been one of the chief instruments in bringing the
French into Italy, entered into a league with Maximilian to
expel them and reinstate the son of the hated Moro on the
throne of Milan. They succeeded so well that, in 1512, four
years after Lodovico's death at Loches, young Maximilian Sforza
entered Milan in triumph, amidst the enthusiastic applause of
the people. Once more he rode up to the gates of the Castello
where he was born, and took up his abode there as reigning duke.
But his rule over Lombardy was short. A handsome, gentle
youth, without either his father's talents or his mother's high
spirit, Maximilian was destined to become a passive tool in the
hands of stronger and more powerful men. His weakness and
incapacity soon became apparent, and when, three years later, the
new French king, Francis I., invaded the Milanese, and defeated
the Italian army at Marignano, the young duke signed an act
of abdication, and consented to spend the rest of his life in France.
There he lived in honourable captivity, content with a pension
allowed him by King Francis and with the promise of a cardinal's
hat held out to him by the Pope, until he died, in May, 1530,
and was buried in the Duomo of Milan. His brother Francesco
was a far more spirited and courageous prince, who might have
proved an admirable ruler in less troublous times, but was doomed
to experience the strangest vicissitudes of fortune. After the
second conquest of Milan by the French, he retired to Tyrol,
until, in 1521, Pope Leo X. combined with Charles V. to oppose
Francis L, and restore the Sforzas. Their aims were crowned
with success, and by the end of the year Francesco Sforza was
proclaimed Duke of Milan, only to be driven from his throne
again three years later. After the defeat of Pavia, the young
378 Beatrice d'Este
duke, who had won the love of all his subjects, was again restored j
but having entered into a league with the Pope and Venice to
expel the Imperialists, incurred the displeasure of Charles V.,
and was besieged in the Castello by the Conntable de Bourbon,
who at length forced him to surrender. A prolonged struggle
followed, in which Francesco Sforza was often worsted, and at
one time forced to retire to Como. In the end, however, he was
restored to the throne by Charles V., whose favour he succeeded
in recovering, when, in 1530, that monarch visited Italy to
receive the imperial crown. At length this long-distracted realm
enjoyed an interval of peace, and a brighter day seemed about to
dawn for the unhappy Milanese.
The young duke was very popular with the people, who
rejoiced in having a prince of their own once more, and who, in
Guicciardini's words, looked to see a return of that felicity which
they had enjoyed during his father's reign. When, in 1534, he
married Charles V.'s niece, Christina of Denmark, the splendour
of the wedding fetes, the balls and tournaments that took
place in the Castello, recalled the glories of Lodovico's reign
and the marriage of the Empress Bianca. The charms of the
youthful bride revived the memory of the duke's mother, Beatrice
d'Este, and a richly illuminated book of prayers, prepared in honour
of this occasion, and adorned with miniatures and Sforza devices,
bore witness to Francesco's artistic tastes, and showed his desire
to tread in his father's steps. But these bright prospects were
soon clouded. The young duke became seriously ill, owing to
a dangerous wound which he had received from an assassin,
Bonifazio Visconti, twelve years before, and, after lingering
through the summer months, he died on All Souls' Day, 1535,
to the consternation of the whole Milanese. On the igth of
November the last of the Sforzas was buried with royal pomp
in the Duomo of Milan, and his childless widow, the youthful
Duchess Christina, retired to the city of Tortona, which had been
given her as her marriage portion. Her portrait, painted by the
hand of Holbein, is familiar to us all as well as a the few words
she wisely spoke," when, in reply to Henry VIII.'s offer of
marriage, she said " that unfortunately she had only one head,
but that if she had two, one should be at his Majesty's service,"
Beatrice d'Este 379
A week or two later, Lodovico Sforza's only remaining son,
Gianpaolo, the child of Lucrezia Crivelli, who had fought gallantly
against French and Imperialists in defence of his brother's
rights, died on his way to Naples. With him the last claimant
to the throne of the Sforzas passed away. The duchy of Milan
reverted to the Imperial crown, and this fair and prosperous realm
sank into a mere province of Charles V/s vast empire,
######
Thirty years after the last Sforza duke had been laid in
his grave, the noble monument which the Moro had raised to
his wife's memory in S. Maria delle Grazie was broken up.
The friars who had known Lodovico and revered his memory
were dead and gone, and the Prior then in office, seized with
iconoclastic zeal, ordered the monument to be removed from the
choir, in accordance with a canon of the Council of Trent.
The tomb was taken to pieces, and Cristoforo Soiari's beautiful
effigies of the duke and duchess were offered for sale. Fortu-
nately, the news of this act of vandalism reached the ears of the
Carthusians at Pavia, and remembering how much they owed
to the Moro's generosity, they sent word to a Milanese citizen^
Oldrado Lampugnano, to purchase the two marble statues for the
Certosa, Oldrado, whose father had been exiled after the Moro's
fall, and who was himself a loyal partisan of the house of Sforza,
bought Soiari's effigies for the small sum of thirty-eight ducats,
and removed them to the Certosa, ** that shrine which had been so
often visited by the said duke and duchess in their lifetime, and for
which they had ever shown the greatest love and honour."
There we see them to-day Lodovico with the hooked nose
and bushy eyebrows, in all the pride of his ducal robes, and
Beatrice at his side, in the charm and purity of her youthful
slumber, surrounded by other memorials of Sforzas and Viscontis,
wrought with the same exquisite art and enriched with the same
wealth of ornament. After all, these marble forms could hardly
find a better home than the great Lombard sanctuary which was
so closely linked with the brightest days of Beatrice's wedded life,
and which to the last remained the object of Lodovico Sforza's
care and love,
INDEX
Agnese di Maino, 16
Albergati, 151
Aldo Manuzio, 30, 126, 131, 153, 261
Alessandro Manuzio, 131
Alexander VI. (Pope), 156 f., 165,
178, 221, 223, 249, 255 f., 295, 337
f., 364
Alfonso of Calabria, 17, 28, 43, 46,
112, 118 f., 177 f., 184, 221, 223,
198, 200,206, 222, 253, 259, 323, 351
Alfonso Gonzaga, 71
Alvise Marliani, 127, 324
Almodoro, 362
d'Amboise (Cardinal), 349, 371
Ambrogio Borgognone, 104
Ambrogio da Corte, 167, 206
Ambrogio Ferrari, 66, 144, 345
Ambrogio de Predis, 209, 218, 303
Ambrogio da Rosate, 61, 120, 127,
145, 168, 224, 236, 272, 324
Andre de la Vigne, 234
Andrea Cagnola, 240
Andrea Cossa, 35, 276
Andrea Mantegna, 50 f., 153, 328
Andrea Salai, 139
Angelo Poliziano, 129, 131, 147
Angelo Talenti, 179, 272, 293
Angelo Testagrossa, 152
Anna Sforza, 8, 43, 48, 70, 78, 169 f.,
1 80 f., 1 86, 190 f., 198, 200, 253,
259, 323
Anna Solien, 279
Anne de Beaujeu, 113
Anne of Bourbon, 235
Anne of Brittany, 113!, 160, 290
Annibale Bentivoglio, 36, 71 ff,
AnLoine de Bussy, 361
Anton Maria de Collis, 29
Antonio Calco, 120
Antonio "Cammelli (Pistoia), 140*
144 f, 148, 150, 296
Antonio Costabili, 308, 327
Antonio da Landriano, 240, 338, 343
Antonio da Monza, 63, 332, 348
Antonio del Balzo, 156
Antonio di Campo Fregoso, 142, 150-
Antonio Grifo, 142
Antonio Grimani, 292
Antonio Grumello, 361, 363
Antonio Loredano, 113
Antonio Maria Pallavicini, 342, 347
Antonio Maria Sanseverino, 151, 232,
272, 279, 342-347, 354, 375
Antonio of Salerno, 1 12
Antonio Stanga, 223, 226
Antonio Tassino, 22, 24 f.
Antonio Tebaldeo, 35, 144
Antonio Trivulzio (Bishop of Como),
186, 202 f., 293, 344, 347
Antonio Visconti, 261
Ariosto, 36, 87, 149, 159, 207
Art and learning at Ferrara, 31-39 ;
at Milan, 128 ff. ; at Pavia, 126 ff.
Ascanio Sforza, 16, 24, 41, 56, 73,
152, 156, 163, 165, 171, 222,1, 228,
253, 255, 262, 338, 343 f., 360, 364,
Atalante Migliorotti, 151 ff.
Azzo Visconti, 333
B
Baldassare Castiglione, 351
Baldassare Pusterla, 240, 250
Baldassare Taccone, 150, 210
Barone, 76, 232, 251, 298
Bartolommeo Calco, 114, 125 f., 131
Bartolommeo Scotti (Count), 58
Battista Fregoso, 316
3 8a
Index
Sattista Guarino, 28 f., 36
JBattista Sfondrati, 317
Battista Visconti, 344
Beatrice of Aragon, 4
Beatrice de' Contran, 58
Beatrice di Correggio, 169, 323
Beatrice d'Este (the elder), 4, 22
Beatrice d'Este : birth, 4 ; early life, at
Naples, 6 f . ; betrothal to Lodovico
Sforza, 8 ; portraits, 33 ; education,
36 ff. ; wedding journey, 57 ff. ;
marriage, 65 f. ; at Pavia, 67 ff. ;
early wedded life, 76 ff. ; friendship
with Galeazzo Sanseverino, 81 ff. ;
jealousy of Cecilia Gallerani, 89 ; at
Vigevano, 92; at Villa Nova, 96;
horsemanship, 97 ; relations with
Isabella of Aragon, 99 ; escapades
at Milan, 100 ff. ; illness, no ; at
Genoa, III j at Vigevano, 122 ;
patron of learning and poetry, 141
ff. ; of drama and music, 15 1 ff. ;
first son born, 166 ff. ; wardrobe,
170 f. ; visit to Ferrara, 180 ff. ;
diplomatic visit to Venice, chap,
xvi. f. ; return to Milan, 205 ; birth
of second son, 258 f. ; courage in
danger, 271 ; meets Maximilian at
Bormio, 288 ff. ; at Vigevano, 291
f. ; sadness of her last days, 302-
306 ; death, 306 ; funeral, 310 f. ;
Maximilian's eulogy, 313 f. ; tomb,
316 ; cenacolo, 317 f., 350
Belgiojoso, 180, 184, 196, 205, 222,
225
Bellincioni, 46 f., 53, 76, 86 f., 90, 100,
137, 139, 144 * *47 *
Bello of Ferrara, 87
Belriguardo, 183, 188, 205
Benedetto Capilupi, 231, 264, 327
Benedetto da Cingoli, 143
Benedetto Ispano, 128
Benedetto Trevisano, 255, 367
Bergonzio, 299, 366
Bernardino Caimo, 140
Bernardino Corio, 19, 22, 25, 94, 99,
125, 129 f., 177 f., 230, 241, 342 f.
Bernardino da Feltre, 123
Bernardino da Rossi, 66
Bernardino del Corte, 272, 299, 319,
344 f., 347 f.
Beinardino d'Urbino, 283
Bernardo Contarim, 271
Bernardo Prosperi, 170
Bianca d'Este, 4, 65, 183
Bianca, d, of Cateiina Sfoiza, 330
Bianca, d. of Lodovico, 45, 57, 169,
2^9, 333, 235 292, 302 f., 376
Bianca Maria Sforza, 43, 46, 70, 106,
115, 121, 136, i6of., 169 f., 179,
184, 208-23O, 222, 242, 252 f., 303,
339, 346, 371, 377
Bianca of Milan, m. of Lodovico.
14 ff.
Bibbiena, 147
Blois (Treaty of), 338
Boccaccio, 143
Bona of Savoy, Duchess of Milan, 8,
18-25, 7 *6o, 170, 208, 216, 232,
237, 251 f.
Bona, d. of Giangaleazzo Sforza,
167, 353
Bonifazio da Cremona, 63
Bonifazio Visconti, 378
Borella, 245, 250
Borromeo, 342, 344, 354
Borso di Correggio (the elder), 5
Borso di Correggio (the younger), 206,
Borso d'Este, 3, 29, 38
Bramante of Urbino, 42, 76, 83, 92,
104, 122, 124, 132 ff., 139 f., 145-
148, 229, 260, 291, 296, 299, 300,
316, 331, 350 f.
Brera Altarpiece, 285 f. %
Briconnet, 280, 283
Brognolo, 261
Buttinone di Treviglio, 66
Cagnola, 92, 132, 288
Caiazzo. S& Gianfrancesco San-
severino
Calvi, 242
Camilla Sforza, 169, 343
Caradosso, 132, 134, 137, 139, 182,
262, 320, 348
Carpaccio, 103
Castello of Ferrara, I
Caterina Cornaro, 204
Caterina Sforza, 20, 23, 41, 253, 330,
341, 365
Cecco Simonetta, 20-24
Cecilia Gallerani, 52 ff., 89 ff., 150,
263, 292, 321
Cecilia Simonetta, 145
Celso Maffei, 354
Certosa, 74, 102-106, 237
Cs&ar Borgia, 222, 338, 341, 348 ff.,
361
Charles V. (Emperor), 332, 377 f.
Charles VIII. of France, m ff,, 160,
164 f. 180, 184 f,, 196 f,, 209, 22i v
223, 232-238, 248, 254 ff,, 258,
Index
383
2641 *68, 273 #> 277, 279 s.
287, 294, 325
Charlotte d 1 Albert, 33&
Chevalier Bayard, 360
Chiara Gonzaga, 251, 305, 314, 329 f.
Christina of Denmark, 378
Cosrad Sturzl, 270
Courade Vimerca, 289
Constantino Privolo, 200
Cordier, 76, 152, 186, 190, 196
Cosimo Tura, 2, 33
Cri&toforo Rocchi, 61
Cristofoio Romano, 56, 76, 1 06 if.,
*ii, 139, 152, 323
Cristoforo Solari (II Gobbo), 317 ff.,
35*, 379
Ctisani, 324
Dante, 146
Delaborde, 196, 247
Delia Torre (Count), 169
Demetrius Calcondila, 128
De Trano, 337
Dioda (01 Diodato), 76, 81
Dionigi Confanerio, 239
DO<TC Agostino Barbarigo, 174, 1 86 ff. 3
195 ff- 267
Dolcebuono, 132 ff., 140
Domcnioo de Grillandaio, 300
Donato de' Preti, 241, 244, 250
Dorotea Gonzaga, 18
Elizabeth Gonzaga (Duchess of
Urbino), 50, 57, 144, H7> *5* ^7,
227
Elizabeth Sforza, 262
Emilia Pia, 108, 147, 151
Erasmo Brasca, 64, 114, 179, 205,
217 ff., 225, 229, 242, 254, 327,
338, 343
Ei cole d'Este, 2 f., 5 f., 9 f., 22, 28 ff.,
38, 89, 155, 158, 164, 182 f., 206,
222, 232, 282, 284 f., 308, 312, 323,
337, 34835 1 ?6o, 364 f-
Ercole (Maximilian) Sforza, 166,
17!, 226, 264 f., 292 f., 335, 353,
373
Ermes Sforza, 43, 74> 182, 217 f.,
245 253, 310, 346, 3^4, 37i, 377
Exmolao Barbaro, 93, 124
Este (House of), 2
Eustachio, 25, 43
F
Faustp Andrelino, 370
Federico, Marquis of Mantua. 9
Federigo of Naples, 232
Federigo Sanseverino (Cardinal), 44,
^ 151, 255, 343, 375
Fedengo of Urbino, 4
Ferrante d'Este, 6, 51, 249, 323, 351
Ferrante of Naples, 3, 6, 9 f., 21, 24,
27, 45, 112 ff., 118, J2i, 165, 176',
184, 221 f.
Ferrante of Naples II. , 228, 255, 257,
264, 266, 269, 277, 282, 294, 328
Ferrante Sforza, 9
Ferrara, 31 f.
Ferrari, 128
Ficmo, 147
Fieschi, 335
Filelfo, 16, 129 ff.
Filippino di Frati Filippo, 300, 340
Filippo Beroaldo, 129
Filippo Sforza, 21
Florentio, 152
Fracassa. See Sanseverino (Gaspare)
Francesco Bello, 35
Francesco Bernardo Visconti, 215,
266 f., 342, 344, 347
Francesco Capello, 190
Francesco da Casate, 55
Fiancesco Foscari, 288, 291 f., 305
Francesco Francia, 34
Fxancesco Mantegna, 329
Francesco Martini, 60, 134
Francesco Pallavacino, 215, 262, 342
Francesco Sforza, 5, 8, 14, 114, 156,
186, 217
Francesco Sforza (soa of Giangaleazzo),
48, 237 f., 240, 251, 299, 328, 353
Francesco Sforza (son of Lodovico),
259, 293, 321, 335, 377 f-
Francessa da Rimini, 373
Franchino Gaffuri, 128, 131, 134, 152
Francis I., 376 f.
Frederick III. (Emperor), 179, 208
Frederic of Naples, 294, 353
Gagum, 94
Galeazzo Pallavicino, 213, 262, 342
Galeazzo di Sanseverino, 44 f. s 51, 55*
5**> 67, 71, 73, 76, 79 tt 85 ti., 92,
ioo, no, 124, 136, 138, H5-H8,
158 f., 162, 164, 171, 180, 182,
206 f., 210, 2l6, 222, 224 f., 228,
237, 248 f., 255 f., 264, 269, 271 f.,
278 f., 28l, 285-288, 292, 298, 303 f.,
Index
j*o 3i5> 322 ff., 326. 330, 338, 342,
344 ft*., 348, 351, 354, 356-363' 365,
370, 376
Galeotto del Carretto, 93, 150
Galeotto deila Mirandola, 4, 65, 183,
327, 341
Galleotto del Carretto, 93, 150
Galleotto della Mirandola, 4, 65, 163,
272, 292
Gaspare Bugati, 132
Gaspare Melcbior, Bishop of Brixen 9
209, 211, 215, 254, 270
Gaspare di Pusterla, 170
Gaspare Sanseverino (Fracassa), 28,
44, 71, 85, 123, 182, 228, 232, 279,
287, 291* 296, 322, 327, 330, 342,
347, 349, 354, 3$i, 3$3, 375
Gaspare Visconti, 103, 138, 142 f.,
145-148, 151, 190, 217, 264, 324
Gattico, 318, 322 f.
Gentile Bellini, 103, 198
Ghibellines, 21, 23
Giacomo Trotti,52, 62,64 f- 7^, 88 f.,
91, 1 10, i57 9 166, 241
Gian Francesco da Vimercato, 357
Gian Francesco Gonza of Bozzolo, 156
Gianfrancesco Sanseverino (Count of
Caiazzo), 74, ug 9 148, 178, 182,
232, 238, 249, 269, 272 ff., 278,
292 f., 315, 330, 342 f., 347, 349.
354, 375
Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan,
7, 20, 23, 41 , 4$ f., 69, 71, 73,
80, 115, nS f., 124, 167, 176 f.,
209, 221, 230, 237 ff., 246 f., 285
Gian Giacomo Gillino, 202, 356
Gian Giocomo Trivulzio, 45
Giannino, 137
Gianpaolo Sforza, 321, 379
Giasone del Maine, 127 f., 217, 270,
272
Gilbert Bertrand, 37
Gilbert of Montpensier, 251, 264, 277,
294
Giorgio Merula,64, 127-130, 137, 139
Giovanni Adomo, 162, 272, 328, 335,
347
Giovanni Antonio Araadeo, 104, 133 f.,
140, 325
Giovanni Bellini, 53, 153, 187, 263
Giovanni Bentivoglio, 67
Giovanni Dondi, 63
Giovanni Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis
of Mantua, 9, 33, 50, 56, 66 f., 72,
109, in, 152, 174, 182, 187 f., 191,
195, 206, 226 f , 265, 270, 272 fF.,
281, 283, 285, 298, 307, 322 f., 326 f.,
329* 33 342, 348-35 i> 358 fl-
Giovanni Gonzaga, 69, 98, 259, 360
Giovanni de Medici, 330
Giovanni Pietro Suardo, 245
Giovanni Sfoiza of Pesaro, 165, 184^
338 . ,
Giovanni Simonetta., 24
Giovanni Stanga (Marquis), 106 f.,
145, 148, 162, 217, 288, 291, 293,
3*5> 317 , 327, 338, 363
Giovanni da Tortona, 316
Girolamo da Figino, 200
Girolamo Landnano, 355
Girolamo Riario, 20, 23
Girolamo Savonarola, 29, 61, 157, 184,
274
Girolamo Stanga, 72
Girolamo Tuttavilla, 100, 120, 148,
162, 179, 186, 189 f., 206, 228
Giuliano della Rovere (Cardinal), 157,
165, 225, 255, 316, 349, 371
Godefroi, 237
Godfrey Borgia, 221, 225
Gualtero, 325
Guicciardini, 12, 99, 176, 225 f., 240,
249, 259 f., 278, 295, 378
Guido Arcimboldo, 301, 323
Guidotto Prestinari, 144 f.
Guiniforte Solari, 133
H
Henry VII. of England, 114, 390,
297, 355
II Perugino, 104, 300, 340
Innocent VII. (Pope), 30, 43, 62, 73,
II3> IS^
Ippolita Sforza, 7, 17
Ippolita Sforza (the younger), 230
Ippolito d'Este (Cardinal), 51, 222
Isabella of Aragon, 46, 69, 80, 99 ff.,
n8 f., 124, 100, l>7, 169 f., 176 f.,
230, 237 f., 250 ff., 265, 209, 328,
Isabella d'Esle, 4, 3P 33> 3$ if., 40,
50, 52, 53f- 64, 68f.,74f.,78f.,
51, 84 ff., 96 ff., 101, io6fi., 109,
123, 131, I4S 149 ff> X 52, 155 ff.,
102, 107, -171 f-, ^74 f- 187 f., 19$,
205, 200 ff., 211, 226, 232, 244,
25t> fc f 258 ff., 263 f., 272 f., 275 f.,
27S, 283 f., 298, 304, 308, 312,
321 ff., 326 ff., 344, 353 3$&
Isabella Sforza, 7, 17
Index
385
acopo Andrea, 360, 364
acopo Antiquario, 115, 125 f.
acopo d'Atri, 7, 108, 279, 283
acopo Bellini, 2, 32
acopo da Ferraia 138 f. ? 355
acopo di San Secondo, 152
ames IV. (of Scotland), 121
can d'Auton, 355, 359, 369, 371, 377
fean Bontemps, 209
fean Jacques Trivulzio, 282, 294, 315 f.,
326, 329, 338, 341-349, 353, 355
360-364, 367
can Marot, 370
'oan of Aragon, 6
orba, 173
fuan Borgia, 223, 225
ulius II. (Pope), 283
Lancinus Curtius, 128, 139, 149, 210,
230, 348
Lascario, 7, 17, 19
La Tremouille, 232, 260 f., 363 f.
Leo X. (Pope), 377
Leonardo da Vinci, 42, 47, 53, 61, 66,
72, 76, 91, 107, 133-14, 144, 153 f-
210, 229, 260 f., 296, 299, 302, 306,
318 f., 324 f., 331, 339 f., 347,
350 f-> 353, 365 f -
Leonello d'Este, 3, 29, 32
Leonora of Aragon (Duchess d'Este),
3, 6, 2S, 30, 34, 38, su, 64, 73, 107,
166, 168 f., 172, 177, 181, 186,
190 f., 195, 198, 206 f.
Leonora da Correggio, 217
Leonora Gonzaga, 226, 230, 329
Lodovico Bergamini, 52, 90, 292
Lodovico de Medici, 330
Lodovico Sforza (II Moio), 4, 8; his
character, 10 ft. ; birth, 14 ; expla-
nation of surname, 15 ; early years,
15 f. ; leads crusade, 17 ; at Cre-
mona, 17 ; in France, 20 ; exile at
Pisa, 21 ; becomes Duke of Bari, 22 ;
invasion of Lombardy, 22 ; returns
to Milan as co-regent, 23 ; betrothal,
24 ; sole regent, 25 ; war with "Gen-
oese and Venetians, 27 f. ; delays
his marriage, 41 ; development "of
Milan, 42 ; marriage contract, 49 ;
again delays his montage, 5 1 ; rela-
tions with Cecilia Gallerani, 52; mar-
riage, 65 f. ; renounces Cecilia Galle-
rani, 89 ; public works in Vigevaiio
and the Lomellina, 92 ff. ; interest
in the Certosa, 102-106 ; niendship
and correspondence with Isabella
D'Este, 108 ff., 163 f. ; enteitaius
French ambassadors, 115 ff. ; con-
cludes treaty with Charles VIII.,
116; embassy to France, 119; re-
forms and extends Universities of
Pavia and Milan, 126 ff. ; endows
research, 129 ff. ; his library, 130;
encourages art, 131 fF. ; attitude to-
wards Renaissance, I39f. ; ambition,
176 f . ; alliance with Venice and
Papacy, 178 ; visits Ferrara, 180 ff. ;
vacillating policy, 221 f. ; joins
Charles VII. against Naples, 224 f. ;
relations with the Gonzagas of Man-
tua, 227 ; proclaimed duke at Milan,
240 f. ; seeks investiture from Maxi-
milian, 241 ff. ; refutes calumnies,
2 54> proclamation of New League
against France, 267 ; invested Duke
of Milan, 270 ; retires before Louis
of Orleans, 271 ; war with France,
272 ff. ; peace, 281 ; assists Pisa,
287 ; league with Maximilian and
others, 290 ; his arrogance, 295 j
grief at death of Beatrice, 307 ff ,
315 ; visit to Mantua, 326 f. ; his
wills, 332-33 6 ; flight before the
French, and loss of Milan, 343-351 ;
return to Milan, 356 ff. ; besieged
in Novara, 361 ; betrayed by Swiss,
362; captivity at Encise and Lys
St, Georges, 367-370 ; at Loches,
371 ff. ; death, 373 ; place of burial,
373 f-
Lorenzo Gusnascp, 37, 76, 152
Lorenzo de' Medici, 7, 17, 19, 21, 42,
118, 143, 147, 151, 164
Lorenzo da Pavia, 129, 153, 261 ff.,
348, 365
Louis XL, 20
Louis XII., 265, 326, 332, 337 f, 341,
348, 360, 363, 371, 376. See afo
Orleans, Duke of.
Luca Fancelli, 133 f.
Luca Paciolo, 128, 304, 324
Lucia Marliani, 18
Lncrezia Borgia, 149, 165, 184, 338
Lucrezia Crivelli, 302, 321, 379
Lucrezia d'Este, 33, 36
Luzio, 173
M
Machiavelli, 19, 330
Maffeo Pirovano, 241, 252 ff.
Mafteo di Treviglio, 136
2 c
3 86
Index
Magenta, 247
Malipiero, 271, 284, 287, 295, 331
Mantegna, 274
Marc Antonio Michieli, 303
Marco Morosini, 292
Margareta Solari, 233
Margherita Gonzaga, 298
Margherita Pia, 85, 151, 322
Marino Sanuto, 238, 248, 267, 291,
293 ff-, *97> 3iS f -> 326, 331, 337
346, 3?o, 376
Mariolo, 163, 170
Mary of Buigundy, 113
Mascagni, 147
Matteo Boiardo, 36, 38, 52, 68, 86 f.
Mattep BrandellOj 138, 299, 318
Matthias Corvinus, 43, 64, 115, 136,
154
Maximilian, 113, 137, 164 f., 179 f.,
184 fT., 197, 208, 2lS f., 222, 225,
241, 252 ft, 256, 269, 272, 284, 288,
295, 3or, 3<>4 , 313 ff, 334, 33$ f-f
34 if., 346, 355,371,377
Melzi (Count of), 346
Michele Savonarola, 29
Michelo Angelo, 108
Milan, 260
Milan, Univeisity of, 128
Molmenti, 188
Montferrat, Marquis of, 67, 116, 236
Montorfano, 319
Muralto, 65, 302
N
Narcisso, 152
Nexempeiger, 133
Niccolo delto. Bussola. 355, 364
NiccolodaCorreggio, 5 f., 28, 35, 65,
73, 76, So, 107, "6, 142 f., 145 *"
149-152, 182, 208 f., 217, 259, 264,
303. 306, 313, 323> 327> 349, 35 1 *
Niccolo d'Este II., 30, 193
Niccolo d'Este III., 3, 29
Niccolo d'Este (s. of LeonelLo d'Este},
5*-
Niccolo de Negri, iS8, 190, 293
Oldrade Lampugnano, 379
Orleans, Duke of, H2, 225, 231 f., 2
266, 268 f., 271, 279, 281 f., 2
29 4 f., 326. See also Louis XII.
Orsini, 223
Ortensio Lando, 52
Ottaviuno SForza, 42
Pamfilo Sasso, 150
Pandolfini, 25, 48, 118
Paolo Bilia, 250
Paolo GioTio, n, 247, 273, 371
Pavia, 66 ff.
Pavia, University of, 126 ff.
Pedro Maria, 152
Perrault de Gurlc, 318
Perron de Baschi, 221
Perugino. See II P.
Petrarch, 143, 146
Philippe de Corn-mines, 48, 187, 233,
236 f., 245, 248 f., 261 f., 269, 274,
279, 285
Pier Francesco, 373
Piero de Medici, 164, 184, 223, 231,
236, 241, 248, 256, 262
Pieue d 3 Uife, 376
Pietro Alamanni, 135, 231, 241
Pietro Bembo, 108, 113, 195, 197
Pietro Landriano, 179
Pietro Lazzarone, 150
Pietro of Perugio. See II Perugino
Pico della Mirandola, 30, 61
Pino, 318
Pirovano, 324
Pistoia. See Antonio Cam. P.
Pius II., 16
Poggio, 87
Polissena d'Este, 77, 79, 232
Pontano, 7
Prato, 362
Prosperi, 181 f.
Pnlci, 87
R
Raphael, 144, 152
Roberto di Sanbcvcuno, 21 fT., 27 f.
43. 137
Roderigo Borgia. See Alexander VL
Rodolfo Gonzaga, 65, 273
Romanin, 195
Rovegnatino, 316
S
Sabba da Castiglione, 35, 45, 108,
142 ff., I47,M9 ? I52 f-, 354
Sdlomon (physician), 370 i.
Salomonc Ebieo, 130
Sancia of Naples, 221, 225
Sandro Boiticello, 300
Sannazzaro, 7
Sansevcrino, House of, 43 f. See also
Antonio Maria S., Federigo S.,
Index
Galeazzo S., Gaspare S., Gian-
francesco S., Roberto S.
Scaligero, 52
Schifanoia frescoes, 32, 38
Sebastian Badoer, 255
Senlis (Treaty of), 180, 196, 224
Serafmo Aquilano, 142 ff.
Sforza, Duke of Bari, 20 ff.
Sigismund of Austria, 218
Sigismund d'Este (Cardinal), 58
Sigismund of Poland, 353
Sixtus TV., 3, 20, 24, 27, 157
Sperandio, 3, 31, 274
Spinola family, 335
Stuart d'Aubigny, 114, 121, 23 2 *3
Taddeo Contarini, 155, 303
Taddeo Vimercati, 179, 187
Tanzio, 139, 144
Tasso, 87
Teodora, 168 ft., 181
Teseo d'Albonesi, 128, 153
Theodore Guainiero, 247
Tiraboschi, 141
Tito Strozzi, 35
Tommaso Giassi, 1311
Tommaso Piatti, 131
Treso di Monza, 66
Tnssino, 37
Tristan Calco, 70, 129 f., 2W
Tristan Sforza, 5, 22
Turman, 362
Ursino, 190
Valentina Visconti, 231
Vasari, 135, 319
Venetian/to, 193 ff.
Venetians attack Fenara. 26 f.
Vercelli (Peace of), 281
Verocchio, 301
Vincenzo Baldelli, 316
Vincenzo Calmeta, 138, 142 f., 145 i,
Viucenzo Foppa, 63
Vittore Pisanello, 2, 32
Vittoria Colonna, 52, 263
Zenaledi Treviglio, 66, 285
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