VITTORIA COLONNA
VITTORIA COLONNA
BY
MAUD F. JERROLD
A'uecque Ic temps toutes choses se passent, fors Dleu aymer
-\
1906
J. M. DENT Gf CO.
29 BEDFORD STREET, W.C.
\
TO
MY HUSBAND
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
THIS is the Harvest-month, the blades are bent
With weight of golden corn fast ripening.
Soon will be heard the voice of them that bring
Their sheaves rejoicing. Sadly forth they went
Till labour found its due accomplishment ;
At evening they will come again and sing
According to the joy of harvesting,
Voices of sower and of reaper blent.
This is the Harvest-month, the golden tide
Of golden grain and ruddy golden leaf.
Then take as first-fruits my one garnered sheaf
(No golden gift, Beloved, worthy you) ;
Be Love the sower and the reaper too,
For is not Love, like Wisdom, justified ?
August 4, 1906
PREFACE
IT must always be with diffidence that anyone puts
forth a volume on such a well-worn epoch as that of
the Renaissance, and this must be doubly felt in the
case of a work like the present, which makes no claim
to any sort of original research, but is simply a selec-
tion of materials more or less generally accessible.
Whether the fascination of selecting be a sufficient
excuse for adding to the world of books must be a
matter of opinion, but it is not, perhaps, presumptuous
to hope that a small part of the pleasure experienced
in the writing may be felt in the reading.
I wish to thank my brother, the Reverend Lionel
Goodrich, most gratefully for all the help and interest
and advice he has given me in my work, and still more
for the help and guidance of years.
Also my warmest thanks are due to my friend, Mr.
Edmund Gardner, for most substantial assistance
throughout, especially in the laborious task of correct-
ing the translations ; for truly invaluable encourage-
ment and advice ; and for such unfailing kindness as
no words of gratitude can repay.
LONDON, August 4, 1906.
CONTENTS
CH-.PTEK PACE
I. FROM CHILD TO WOMAN . I
II. CHOICE AND CIRCUMSTANCE . 32
III. EARLY POEMS . . 63
IV. A CHRONICLE OF FRIENDSHIPS . 86
V. THE LOVE OF FRIENDSHIP . . .119
VI. A SISTER POET, VERONICA GAMBARA . -139
VII. GASPARA STAMPA . . .169
Vni. THE BEGINNING OF A TRAGEDY . . .198
IX. IN THE STORM . ... 225
X. VlTERBO . . ... 253
XI. LATER WRITINGS . ... 283
XII. OUT OF THE WORLD . ... 298
GENEALOGICAL TABLES . . . .318
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . ... 322
INDEX . . . ... 327
ILLUSTRATIONS
CARDINAL REGINALD POLE. By Sebastiano del Piombo (The
Hermitage, Petersburg) . . . Frontispiece
Facing page
GIOVANNA D'ARAGONA. By Raphael (The Louvre) . . 61
MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI (Portrait in the Gallery of the
Capitol, Rome) . . . 128
VITTORIA COLONNA. By Girolamo Muziano (Palazzo Colonna,
Rome) . . . . 198
PAUL III AND THE FARNESE. By Titian (Picture Gallery,
Naples) . . . . 235
VlTERBO FROM THE GlARDINO PuBBLICO . . . 280
VITTORIA COLONNA
CHAPTER I
Es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille,
Sich ein Charakter in dem Strom der Welt.
GOETHE.
THERE is an endless fascination to be found in that
flowering time of the world's history which we call
the Renaissance. It was a period of eagerness, activity,
and restlessness, of unprecedented sharpening of wits,
when the head dominated the heart. It brought forth
a profusion of rich and beautiful growths, and was as
remarkable for its women as for everything else ; but
they are jewels rather than flowers, and, if they are as
brilliant as the diamond, they have also something of
its hardness. They come before us adorned with that
wonderful fifteenth-century teaching of which we, in
these days when education is our most popular fetish,
have no adequate conception, because we do not choose
to cast our eyes back on the nobler past and see what
it has to teach us. It is pitiful to hear women exult in
the liberal training now provided for them, and yet to
know that the curriculum of the High School, chiefly
2 Vittoria Colonna
directed to the passing of examinations, would have
been absolute intellectual starvation to the women of
five centuries ago.
Certainly, in reading the lives of such illustrious
ladies as the Princesses of the House of Este, who
seem to have been dowered with all the arts and
sciences, we may wonder whether they were as accom-
plished in all ways as contemporary historians would
have us believe, and we can hardly help allowing some-
thing for the language of flatterers ; but, on the other
hand, how much was normal to them which would be
exceptional to us ! To begin with, they were all
classical scholars, which means starting in life with the
equipment of a trained mind ; and, furthermore, just
as one can hardly live in a library without imbibing
something from it, some acquaintance with its contents,
or at least some atmosphere of literature, so we can
hardly conceive the denizens of that fortunate period
being untouched by the wealth of culture around them.
They must have drunk in, almost unconsciously, an
apprehension of the relative value of things, an ap-
preciation of those high lights which surrounded them,
so that, if not artists and poets themselves, they were
at least artistic and poetic. There is that vast difference
between the education of their age and ours, that theirs
was humanistic, ours utilitarian; and, in that alone,
theirs would be the more excellent.
It is perhaps disappointing that, though the Renais-
sance is the time of all others when we might expect
to find literary women of the first order, they are not
forthcoming. Women were splendidly educated, highly
cultured, accomplished in many ways ; they must,
From Child to Woman 3
indeed, have been charming companions, gifted, in-
tellectual, and, besides that, their minds were well-
balanced, they had a fine judgment, a great courage ;
but the creative faculty in them is no more developed
than it has been at any other time in human history.
And, surely, it is profoundly unimportant ; so that high
ideals are conceived by the race, and great works
brought forth, it matters little who is the doer in the
last resort : men and women are never really indepen-
dent of each other, and whenever any worthy thing is
done, anyone with true insight knows that it is not
due to one or to two, but that the hidden forces of
many lives and loves have been required to perfect
the work.
Born in 1490, Vittoria Colonna, the central figure
of the present volume,
" Che tra bella e buona
Non so qual fosse piu,"
may fairly be called a child of the Renaissance, but she
is characteristic of it only in its very best develop-
ments. She was in no sense a type, because she had
that interesting peculiarity of combining contrary traits.
By birth, beauty, talent, and culture, she seemed destined
to take her rank among the typical stars ; but there
was another vein running through her nature a sense
of the value of retirement, a love rather of wisdom
than of mere knowledge, and a thread of mysticism.
Though the details of her childhood and girlhood are
disappointingly meagre, in later life she holds a promi-
nent place in the history, the art, and the literature of
her time.
4 Vittoria Colonna
Daughter of one of the great Roman Houses (she is
described in her marriage-contract as illustris domicella
Romana\ her father, Fabrizio Colonna, lives for us no
less in the pages of Machiavelli as one of the foremost
authorities in the art of war, than in the troubled
history of those conflicts in which he played so con-
spicuous a part ; while her mother, Agnese da Monte-
feltro, younger daughter of the Duke Federigo of
Urbino, and sister of the celebrated Guidobaldo whose
court was second to none as a centre of learning, must
certainly have been imbued with all the best traditions
of the intellectual life.
Marino, one of the ancient castles of the Colonna
family, stands upon the wooded slope of the Alban
Hills ; it was there that Vittoria was born, and, if early
surroundings can affect the character, we may well ;
think that the influence of that marvellous nature j
counted for much in her life. For Albano is not
merely lovely, it is the quintessence of loveliness ; it is
one of those places where Beauty unveils herself before j
us, and ever afterwards we say: Here I met with
Beauty ; I may meet her again, for she has m any
shrines, but here at least I saw her face to face ; 1 have
had my revelation and I am satisfied.
It is unfortunate that we know almost nothing of
the upbringing of Vittoria, of the way in which she
passed her days, her course of study, her proficiency in
accomplishments ; but we know that her early, no less
than her later, life was disturbed by the unhappy
^niggles from which Italy was never free, and it was
directly in consequence of these that her fate was
decided so soon. It is difficult to follow out, still
From Child to Woman 5
harder to account for, the political point of view of the
Roman nobles, and this is complicated in the case of
the Colonna in that they were also feudatories of the
King of Naples, and Vittoria's father was Constable of
Naples. In 1482, we find the family siding with the
Neapolitans against the Pope; a little later, their sym-
pathies seem to be with France ; but we see them
deserting the French cause and rallying to Ferdinand II
when he regained possession of Naples on the departure
of Charles VIII. Ferdinand, no doubt desiring to
bind the Colonna still closer to the furtherance of
Aragonese interests, induced Fabrizio to betroth his
little daughter to Ferrante Francesco d'Avalos, Marchese
di Pescara, the descendant and representative of the
noblest Spanish and Neapolitan families, though Paolo
Giovio, the historian, somewhat unkindly remarks that
his race was more ancient than illustrious ; the fiances
"were only five years of age.
It does not appear that the agreement was actually
signed before 1507, nor did the marriage take place
until 1509. Meanwhile, Ferdinand, dying suddenly,
was succeeded by his uncle, Federigo, who made a
gallant stand against the French invasion, but finding
himself betrayed and abandoned by Spain, his natural
ally, gave up the hopeless struggle and escaped to
Ischia, giving himself up to France, and dying an
exile, almost a prisoner, in Anjou. Fabrizio and his
cousin, Prospero, fought for him bravely, the one hold-
ing Capua and the other Naples ; but both places fell
before the superior numbers of the French, and
Fabrizio was taken prisoner, but was quickly set at
liberty. The two cousins then joined Federigo at
6 Vittoria Colonna
Ischia, but on his surrender they espoused the Spanish
cause, uniting themselves to Gonsalvo di Cordova, and
bearing their part in his brilliant campaign, which
resulted in the expulsion of the French from Southern
Italy. Meanwhile, the Colonna seem to have been in
bad odour in Rome, where the Pope, Alexander VI,
desiring their lands for the aggrandizement of his own
family, issued a decree banishing them from their
hereditary estates, and ordering their castle of Marino
to be razed to the ground. Before this edict was
carried out, however, Alexander died, and the mush-
room power of the Borgias crumbled away as suddenly
as it had sprung up.
Where was Vittoria during these troublous times ?
We have no record whatever of her movements ; we
do not know if she and her mother remained at Marino
(no very safe residence, as we have seen), or whether
they went south and were partakers in the tragedies
that were overwhelming the kingdom of Naples : the
veil is never lifted for us until we read of the marriage
contract being signed at Marino in 1507 before
many distinguished witnesses, among others Costanza
d'Avalos, Duchessa di Francavilla, aunt of the Mar-
chese di Pescara, who had educated and cared for him
all through his orphaned childhood, a woman of much
charm and strength of character, at whose castle in
Ischia the marriage subsequently took place with great
pomp on 29 December, 1509.
Both nineteen years of age, endowed with remark-
able gifts of mind and body, with intellectual tastes in
common, life must have seemed to open brilliantly be-
fore this pair ; and, in the beginning of their married
From Child to Woman 7
life, we may hope that Vittoria had some golden days
of happiness. Married at Ischia, they proceeded to
Naples, where great receptions and rejoicings were held
in their honour, and they then settled at the villa of
Pietralba on Monte Sant' Ermo. Congenial society
would not have been wanting to them there : Jacopo
Sannazzaro was then living at his villa at Mergellina,
and it seems to have been the habit of the young
Marchese di Pescara to pass a good deal of time with
him. A fascinating personality his must have been,
combining poetic gifts with an exquisite loyalty to
a fallen house and a lost cause. He had been attached
to the Aragonese party in Naples and had followed the
exiled King into France, continuing there with him
until his death, when he returned to Mergellina, re-
maining equally hostile to French and Spaniards, and
making no secret of his political opinions, even to the
much-feared Gonsalvo di Cordova, who is said to have
felt a profound respect for him. He made many
literary friendships, and was looked up to by all the
authorities of his time.
If these tranquil two years seem something like
a prolonged honeymoon, the rest of Vittoria's married
life was certainly akin to widowhood, as after this time,
until her husband's death in 1525, they were scarcely
together at all. One would give much to know what
was the real interior history of this marriage. One
visible sorrow it had : it was childless. For other
lights upon it we must turn chiefly to Vittoria's own
works, about half of which are devoted to celebrating
the memory of her husband " il mio bel sole," as she I
loves to call him. With some hundred sonnets before
8 Vittoria Colonna
us, it would seem that we ought to gain some real
knowledge of the relations that existed between them,
and yet the tone is so artificial, so conventional, that
they really convey little to us. The same metaphors
are repeated again and again, and they certainly strike
but coldly on our ears. There is no trace of union,
sympathy, interdependence. It is most noticeable that
Pescara's glory, his fame as a warrior, his loss to his
country, is the main theme ; that this should be dwelt
upon is all that is most natural when the subject was
one of the great generals of a warlike age, but verily
these are not love-sonnets, and we confess to growing
weary of the reiterated exploits of a warrior whom we
picture to ourselves as but an indifferent lover.
The very year after Vittoria's marriage, we find her
father leaving Naples as second in command of the
Spanish army in Italy, to assist the Pope, Julius II, and
the Spaniards against the French, who, since their con-
quest of the Duchy of Milan in 1500, disputed with
Spain and the Pope the hegemony of the Italian penin-
sula, and found their chief supporter and ally in Duke
Alfonso of Ferrara. The history of the succeeding
years is, as usual, one of leagues and counter-leagues,
jealousies and betrayals ; Italy was no less a curse to her
conquerors than to her natural rulers. Fired with the
desire of military glory, Pescara soon followed his
father-in-law, and to him was given the command of
the light-armed cavalry. Whatever may have been the
defects of Ferrante d'Avalos, there was no lack of
courage in his character, and he seems also to have
been endowed with the qualities of a leader, to judge
from the high posts to which he was preferred, and
From Child to Woman 9
from his popularity with the army. No woman worthy
of the name ever lived who wished to withhold her
husband from his country's service and the obligations
of honour, and we are sure that the Marchesa must
have incited and encouraged Pescara to set forth, and
would have bid him good-bye with a smile upon her
lips, keeping all her tears to shed them in the long
loneliness that was to follow on his departure.
She remained behind at Ischia, and it was at this
time that she undertook the charge of her husband's
young orphaned cousin, Alfonso d'Avalos, Marchese
del Vasto, who became to her like a child of her own>
though at first his education seems to have been no
easy task, and for a long time the boy was a source of
great anxiety to her. Wild, headstrong, and intract-
able, devoid of gentleness, with no bent but for war,
Vittoria yet seems after some years, and with infinite
care and patience, to have instilled into him a love of
learning, together with a real taste for letters, and to
have trained him in true chivalry, of which things he
was to give abundant proof during his eventful life.
His career, albeit it ended in misfortune, certainly
counted as one of the bright lights in Vittoria's life
one of those apparent failures where the real end has
yet been surely reached.
Costanza d'Avalos must have been a great comfort to
her young niece by marriage at this time, and the
Marchesa passed much time with her, no doubt in
those intellectual pursuits in which both took so much
pleasure. There is a story told that, in the stormy,
threatening springtime of 1512, Vittoria felt a fore-
boding of coming disaster, but that her aunt, with that
IO Vittoria Colonna
hopefulness so much more characteristic of age than of
youth, assured her that no ill-fortune could await such
an army under such leaders. Close on this followed
the news of their overwhelming defeat. Ravenna was
a fatal field for the combatants on both sides. It seems
possible that, but for jealousy between the leaders
of the Spanish and Italian troops, the victory might
have remained with their allied armies. The Viceroy,
Cardona, was in command of the Spaniards, Fabrizio
Colonna of the Italians ; the former was entirely under
the influence of Pedro Navarro, whose reputation as
an engineer had procured him a high command.
Navarro's advice was that the allies should remain
within their entrenchments and trust solely to their
artillery. Colonna was for attacking the French, who,
having to cross a small river, made a somewhat broken
advance ; but the advice of the Spaniards prevailed,
the French were suffered to take up their position un-
molested, and then the contending armies cannonaded
each other with immense loss on both sides. At length
the Duke of Ferrara, seeing that the French were
beginning to fall back, brought his artillery to their
assistance and cleverly attacked the enemy on the flank
with terrible slaughter of men and horses. Fabrizio
could no longer be withheld from making the sortie
he had always advocated, and, breaking through the
entrenchments, he threw himself on the enemy. His
indomitable courage and the valour of the Spanish
infantry bid fair to turn the fortune of the day, and
again and again the issue seemed doubtful. Pescara
made an impetuous attack with his light cavalry, but
was beaten back, and the allies were at length com-
From Child to Woman 1 1
pelled to give way, their artillery, baggage, and stan-
dards falling into the hands of the enemy. Besides
Colonna and Pescara, Navarro was made prisoner and
also the Cardinal de' Medici, the future Leo X. Ba-
yard's chronicler, from whom we get one of the most
spirited accounts of the battle, thus sums it up :
" There have been many battles since God created
heaven and earth, but never was one seen, for the
numbers engaged in it, so cruel, so furious, and so well
fought on both sides, as the battle of Ravenna." 1
Indeed the day was less fatal to the allies than to the
victorious French, for, besides other generals, they lost
their valiant young commander, Gaston de Foix, and
with no available leaders they retired in disorder, and
from that time their success in Italy was over. Fabrizio
Colonna had surrendered to Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara,
and received the most gracious treatment from his
adversary, who refused to give him up to France, and
shortly released him without ransom. Ariosto thus
mentions Alfonso's illustrious prisoner :
" The great Colonna of the Roman name,
Whom your own hand made prisoner, and whom
You wholly guarded, more shall swell your fame
Than if your arm had driven to their doom
Those fierce battalions, even as many of them
As fed Ravenna's field, or fled therefrom,
Their arms found vain, the banners overthrown
Of proud Navarre, Castile, and Aragon." 2
1 Le Loyal Serviteur, chap. LIV. p. 96.
2 " La gran Colonna del nome Romano,
Che voi prendeste, e che servaste intera,
Vi da pid onor, che se di vostra mano
Fosse caduta la milizia fiera,
12 Vittoria Colonna
The Duke quickly reaped the fruits of his generosity
when he set out for Rome with a safe-conduct, obtained
through the mediation of the King of Spain and the
Marchese of Mantua, in order to get absolution from
his excommunication. This was readily given, but
Julius II made it clear that the safe-conduct only
referred to the Duke's person and not to his States, of
which the Pope was determined to gain possession.
Every means of inducing Alfonso to surrender Ferrara
was tried in vain, and finally the Pope decided to arrest
him. At this juncture Colonna felt bound to interfere,
and, breaking through the papal guard at the Porta San
Giovanni, he escorted the Duke to Marino. Colonna,
of course, incurred the papal displeasure for this act,
but Ferdinand plainly informed the Pope that the
Colonnesi were his subjects and would be protected
by him.
Pescara also regained his liberty after a short cap-
tivity, but only on payment of a very large ransom.
During his imprisonment, he is said to have written
a Dialogo d'Amore to his wife, of which no trace now
remains, but Giovio assures us that it testified equally
to his conjugal affection and his literary talents.
Vittoria's Epistola a suo Consorte nella Rotta di Ravenna,
of which a little is quoted in another chapter, is cer-
tainly not one of her happiest efforts.
The Marchese may have returned to Ischia now for
Quanta n' ingrassa il campo Ravegnano,
E quanta se n' ando senza bandiera
D'Aragon, di Castiglia, e di Navarra,
Veduto non giovar spiedi n carra."
(Or I. Fur., xiv. 5.)
From Child to Woman 13
a short time, but we have no intimation of the fact.
In 1513 (the date of the accession of Leo X), we find
him again in Lombardy, where the war still continued
for the next two years, until the death of Ferdinand,
when hostilities ceased in Italy for a brief space, and
Pescara rejoined his wife at Ischia. Here our records
are as scanty as before ; we know that Vittoria's
brother Federigo, a youth of great promise who had
already distinguished himself as a soldier, died sud-
denly in 1 5 1 6. In the next year we have the account
of two great marriages, celebrated with all the pageantry
proper to the time ; first that of the sister of the
Marchese del Vasto with the Duke of Amalfi, and then
that of Bona, daughter of Isabella of Aragon, with
Sigismund, King of Poland. It is most tantalizing
that, though history has preserved for us an exact record
of the dress worn by Vittoria on this second occasion
(to wit, crimson and gold brocade), the trappings of
her horse, and the number and attire of her ladies-in-
waiting, we have not one line to give us any insight
into her habitual occupations and way of life ; and, still
more remarkable;, though she and her husband were
certainly in Rome somewhere about this time, and
must have shone even among all the stars that adorned
the papal court, we know nothing of their stay there,
the people they met, and the impressions they received
and produced.
It would be delightful if we could be sure that
Vittoria had met the great Ariosto in Rome, but it
does not seem likely that he was then at Leo's court.
Certainly he may have been there, and as it is difficult
to find any other probable time and place in which he
14 Vittoria Colonna
could have met the Marchesa, it is permissible to think
that the meeting may have taken place now. The
vivid and well-known praises of her in the Orlando
hardly allow us to think that their author was only
cognisant by hearsay of the rare gifts of which he sang
so eloquently, nor is he likely to have been content to
remain unacquainted with one of the most beautiful
and talented women of the time. 1
Ariosto's first visit to the court of Leo was very
brief; coming there with an assurance of patronage
and advancement, he received nothing but a gracious
welcome from the Pope, and left Rome speedily, dis-
appointed but not embittered. In the end, he seems to
have received some small benefits from Leo, but
nothing on the scale of his expectations. Leo X,
though not a commanding figure, is one who attracts
our attention, and in some sort our sympathy. With-
out greatness, he had the great quality of esteeming
talent for its own sake. He inspired the idea that
genius and worth would never be unrecognised by him,
and if he promised more than he was able to perform,
yet the expectations that he raised were not all illusory.
And that he was no mean judge was attested by the
fact of his choosing for secretaries two men without
interest or influence, who had risen solely by their
talents. With these two, Jacopo Sadoleto and Pietro
Bembo, Vittoria now formed lifelong friendships, and
this brief sojourn in Rome, the date of which we can-
not precisely fix, must have been a little St. Martin's
summer for the Marchesa; and in 1521 the war broke
out again.
1 Or/. Fur., xxxvu. 16-20, XLVI. 9.
From Child to Woman 15
The French again tried to make good their claims to
Milan, and Leo X allied himself with Charles V. To
Pescara was confided the command of the Imperial in-
fantry, and this time he was accompanied by his young
cousin, del Vasto. It would appear that Pescara was
desirous of leaving the youth at home, but Vittoria
strongly urged that the boy should devote himself to
his country's cause, rightly arguing that the dying out
of one line would be a small misfortune in comparison
to its continuing in the person of one who had not
known how to maintain its traditions.
Success waited upon the Spanish-papal troops, who
now took possession of Milan and Parma. Hostilities
were suspended for a short time by the death of Leo X ;
and the election of Clement VII, after Leo's immediate
successor, Adrian VI, had later some far-reaching effects
on the war. It is said that rarely had any Pope been
acclaimed with such general joy as Giulio de' Medici ;
the Florentines, however, who knew him best, uttered
sinister predictions, and a letter which Ariosto sent to
the Duke of Ferrara shows that the satisfaction was
not, at any rate, universal :
" A letter came to me from Lucca which advised me
that Medici had been made Pope ; and when the people
of Castelnovo had heard this news, it seemed to them
as if their heads had all been cut off, and such a great
fear fell upon them, that there were some of them
who wished to persuade me to set a guard on the town
that same evening ; and sOme think of selling, and
some of carrying off their possessions. I am en-
deavouring to reassure them, and I tell them I know
that a close friendship exists between your Excellence
1 6 Vittoria Colonna
and Medici, and that they have nothing but good
to expect." l
Vittoria and her husband seem to have had high
hopes of the new Pontiff, and we find the former
writing to her friend, Giovan Matteo Giberti, who
now became datary and head of the papal secre-
taries : -
" REVEREND AND RIGHT MAGNIFICENT LORD,
"This night I have heard the welcome news
that your most reverend Cardinal has been made Pope.
May Our Lord God be unceasingly thanked, and I pray
Him to give to this beginning such a continuation and
end that men shall see clearly that a more perfect work
has never been seen, nor one so wisely carried through,
and obtained by the Cardinal himself through his own
prudence. I shall not presume to attempt to express
the insuperable gladness that I feel at this, since it is
well known to you, both because of that other time
when I hoped for it, and because of the good reason
that I have to be glad. I confidently affirm that I am
certain it would be impossible for anyone but you to
understand the greatness of my joy, because you can
judge of it by your own ; and I do not reckon mine in
any way inferior to yours. You will kiss the feet of
his Holiness for me, and you will tell him that I can
do nothing but continually implore Our Lord and Our
Lady for his preservation, no less necessary to us than
to you and also to all the world. I beg your magnifi-
cent Lordship that this felicity may not take from you
1 Letter of November 23, 1523 (cxv., Ed. Cappelli, Milan, 1887).
From Child to Woman 17
what the other did not take, but on the contrary write
to me more than ever.
"From Naples, November 21, 1523,
" My Lord, your most obliged,
"THE MARCHESA DI PESCARA.' M
In the light of subsequent events this reads rather
sadly.
In 1522, the armies met again at Bicocca; Pescara
was in command and was as usual victorious, but his
glory is eclipsed by the cruelties he permitted in the
sack of Como and of Genoa. It was just after the
taking of the latter town that he returned to Ischia and
remained three days with his wife, and this was the last
time they ever met. Reumont makes this hurried visit
take place just after the death of Vittoria's mother,
which he believes to have occurred in the October of
1522. But the correct date of Agnese's death is
established by a letter from Ascanio Colonna, Vit-
toria's brother, to Federigo Gonzaga, the Marchese of
Mantua, of April 6, 1523, in which he announces that
his mother had died on the ist of the month. Ascanio's
letter runs thus : " It happened that on the return of
my most illustrious Lady-mother and Lady of blessed
memory from Our Lady of Loreto, where she had gone
for her devotion, she came to the Rocca half-way near
Aquila. When she arrived there, she was much indis-
posed after the journey, which she had made quite
against my will, and then, as it has pleased the Lord of
all, after having made such a holy and salutary journey,
1 Carfeggto, Letter u.
1 8 Vittoria Colonna
and confessed and communicated with the greatest
devotion as a good and faithful Christian should, she
departed this life on April I. And by this death I
remain overwhelmed with grief for the loss of such a
mother. And (since, when people are connected either
by relationship or friendship, one ought to communicate
both joyful and sorrowful tidings) it has seemed to me
that I ought to send word of this to your most
illustrious Lordship." 1
At this time Pescara was in Spain. Returning to
Northern Italy, he held Cremona and Milan against the
French, and the latter, being unable to make any im-
pression, withdrew in the spring towards Lago Mag-
giore. It was at this time that Chevalier Bayard, being
in command of the rear-guard, was killed in defending
the passage of the Sesia. He had been set an im-
possible task, dangereuse et doubteuse, as he himself told
Bonnivet, as neither his men nor his ammunition were
sufficient, and, in the event, nothing but retreat was
possible. The story of his death is best given in the
inimitable words of his chronicler, the Loyal Serviteur.
" In war there is fortune and ill-fortune more than in
all other things. . . . The good Knight put his
soldiers in motion, and retired slowly, as much at ease
as though he had been in his own house ; and with his
face always turned towards the enemy, and brandishing
his sword, he kept them more in fear than a hundred
others would have done. But, as God willed it, a shot
was fired from an arquebus which struck him through
the loins and broke his spine. When he felt the blow,
1 Luzio, Vittoria Cclonna (in the Rtvista Sterlca Mantovana, I),
p. 10 ?;.
From Child to Woman 19
he cried out, * Jesus ! ' and then c Alas ! my God, 1 am
slain.' Then he took his sword by the cross-handle
and said aloud, ' Miserere met, Deus, secundum magnam
misericordiam tuam, and immediately he became quite
pale as though he was swooning and almost fell ; but
he had still strength to grasp the saddle-bow, and
remained upright until a young gentleman, his steward,
helped him to dismount and placed him under a tree.
In a short time it was known among friends and foes
that the captain Bayart had been killed by a shot of
artillery, whereat all those who heard the news were
marvellously displeased.
" When the tidings were spread abroad among the
two armies that the good Knight had been killed, or
at least mortally wounded, even in the camp of the
Spaniards, although he was one of the men in the world
of whom they had most fear, gentlemen and soldiers
were marvellously displeased at it for many reasons.
For when during his lifetime he made assaults and took
any prisoners, he was always wont to treat them so
humanely as it was a marvel, and to ask so little ransom
that every one was content with him. They all agreed
that by his death knighthood was greatly weakened, for,
without derogating from others, he was a perfect knight
in this world. Their young nobles acquired skill in
warring with him, and one of their principal captains,
the Marquis of Pescara, who went to see him before he
rendered up his soul, said a high word in his praise,
which was this : * Would to God, gentle seigneur de
Bayart, that it had cost me a quart of my blood (short
of dying), and that by abstaining from flesh-meat for
two years I might have kept you whole and in good
20 Vittoria Colonna
health as my prisoner ; for, by the treatment that I
would have given you, you would have known how
much I have esteemed the prowess which was in you.
. . . Since I have borne arms, I have never seen nor
heard tell of a knight who approached you in all virtues.
And though I ought to rejoice to see you in this plight,
being assured that my master, the Emperor, had in
these wars no greater or more formidable enemy than
you, yet when I consider the great loss which all chivalry
sustains to-day, God aid me never if I would not have
given the half of all I am worth that it had befallen
otherwise.' Such pitiful and tearful laments did the
gentle Marquis of Pescara and several other captains
make over the body of the good Knight, sans paour et
sans reprouche. . . . His poor servitors were quite
frozen with horror, among whom was his poor steward
who never left his side, and the good Knight confessed
himself to him for want of a priest. The poor gentle-
man burst into tears, seeing his good master so mortally
hurt that there was no hope for his life. But the good
Knight comforted him gently, saying, * Jacques, my
friend, it is the will of God to take me from this world.
By His grace I have lived long in it, and have had
goods and honours more than I deserved. All the
regret that I have in dying is that I have not done my
devoir as well as I ought, and I well hoped, if I had
lived longer, to amend my past faults. But since it is
thus, I beg my Creator of His infinite mercy to have
pity on my poor soul, and I have hope that He will do
it and that of His great and incomprehensible goodness
He will not use the rigour of justice towards me.'
. . . He remained alive a few hours longer, and a
From Child to Woman 21
beautiful pavilion was placed over him by his enemies,
beneath which he lay, and a priest was brought to him
to whom he confessed himself devoutly, saying these
words : * My God, I know that Thou hast said that
whoever shall turn to Thee with all his heart, however
great a sinner he may have been, Thou art always ready
to receive him to mercy and to pardon him. Alas ! my
God, Creator, and Redeemer, I have offended Thee
grievously during my life, for which I repent with my
whole heart. 1 know well that if I were to remain in
the desert for a thousand years on bread and water, that
would not give me the right to enter Thy kingdom of
Paradise, except Thy great and infinite goodness were
pleased to receive me into it ; for no creature in this
world could merit so high a reward. My Father and
my Saviour, I implore Thee not to regard the faults
that I have committed, but let Thy great mercy be
meted out to me instead of the rigour of Thy justice.'
Having said thus, the good Knight rendered up his
soul to God, whereat all his enemies felt a grief not to
be believed. The chiefs of the Spanish army com-
missioned certain gentlemen to carry him to the
Church, where solemn services were held for him
during two days ; then he was taken into Dauphine by
his servitors. . . . The deceased was carried to the
Church of Notre Dame at Grenoble where he reposed
a day and a night, and a very solemn service was
held for him. The next day, with the same honour
with which he had been brought thither, he was taken
to a religious house of the Minorites about half a
league from the town (which had formerly been
founded by his good uncle, Laurent Almont, bishop
22 Vittoria Colonna
of the aforesaid Grenoble), where he was honourably
buried." 1
Chivalry, one of the world's saviours, might be in
danger of becoming a mere shadow to some of us, if
a few heroic figures here and there a Godefroi de
Bouillon, a Bayard, a Philip Sidney did not rise up to
witness to it and to show us, as Mr. Swinburne has
beautifully said, that their life was lovelier than aught
but their death.
All this time Vittoria seems to have been travelling
about incessantly. In May of 1523 we find her at
Arpino, and from there we have the following letter
from her to Federigo Gonzaga, Marchese di Man-
tova, petitioning him for the repayment of the four
thousand ducats due from him to the Marchese di
Pescara. She says :
" MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LORD,
" I wrote to Messer Mario Equicola concerning
the four thousand ducats which your most illustrious
Lordship owes to my lord the Marchese on account
of Messer Teodoro, and I have received no answer.
I do not know if this is because he is ashamed of the
long delay, but I believe it to be because he did not
care to remind your Lordship of it, and also that the
letter was wrongly transmitted. But even if there
were no fault in the cause, it produces the same result
and much harm, on which account I am obliged to
advise your most illustrious Lordship of it. And
although it grieves me to trouble you, still, being cer-
tain that, bearing the goodwill you do towards my
1 Le Loyal Serviteur, chap. LXV. p. 121.
From Child to Woman 23
Marchese, neither the letter nor the action will annoy
you, I write and beg you to send the payment, be-
cause it is only with the greatest difficulty that I have
stopped the sale of a castle for twenty days. And cer-
tainly if the necessity were less, although the condition
and resources of your most illustrious Lordship are
such that to use more courtesy towards you would be
an insult to you, I should not have undertaken to write
this, because I think it is more painful and disagree-
able for me to seek the money than for your most
illustrious Lordship to pay it. The other reasons
which Messer Mario wrote about this, apart from the
fact that I have answered them, are such as to make me
feel sure that your most illustrious Lordship will have
discounted them with your accustomed prudence, there-
fore I do not repeat them, but I conclude, after what
has passed, your Lordship will judge that you ought to
pay the money without further delay, even if you
thought you were losing it. May Our Lord rejoice
and favour the most illustrious person and State of
your Lordship as you desire.
"From Arpino, May 8, 1523.
" Of your most illustrious Lordship
the most devoted servant,
"THE MARCHESA DI PESCARA. MI
1 Carteggio, Letter i. Mario Equicola, whom we shall meet again
in these pages, was the secretary of Isabella d'Este Gonzaga (the
mother of Federigo), and a friend and correspondent of Ariosto.
Federigo had apparently made himself responsible for the ransom due to
Pescara from Teodoro Trivulzio, one of the Venetian captains, who
had been taken prisoner at the capture of Milan in November, 1521.
24 Vittoria Colonna
From Arpino Vittoria probably returned to Ischia,
but went in December to Aquino, and passed the
winter at Arpino, going to Marino for Holy-week,
where Giberti sent her a palm blessed by the Pope,
in acknowledgment of which she wrote the following
letter : " Your letters are always most welcome to me,
but that of to-day has given me more consolation than
I can possibly tell you, because those of the Prior had
made me terribly anxious, as he sent me with them
letters from the Marchese, who was lying ill in bed.
I thank Our Lord God that he is up again, and you
a thousand times for your diligence in sending me
word of it. ... I have received the palm with so much
pleasure, both on account of him who blessed it, and
because of its signification, and because of its being
sent by you." . . .*
The beginning of the year 1524 must have been
cheered for the Marchesa by hopes of peace, much
talked of, but not destined to be realised. Clement VII
did not throw himself heartily into the Spanish alliance,
and as he found the Emperor getting more and more
powerful, he leant rather to establishing a peace and
striking a balance between the two great rivals, than
allowing Spain to get the upper hand. The first re-
verse experienced by the Imperial troops, commanded
by Bourbon and Pescara, was at the siege of Mar-
seilles ; the town was bravely defended by its infuriated
inhabitants, whose anger against Bourbon, whom they
regarded as a traitor, combined with their hereditary
hatred of the Spaniards, made them too formidable to
be overcome, and Bourbon was obliged to return to
1 Letter dated Marino, March 30, 1524. Carteggio, Letter ix.
From Child to Woman 25
Italy. Francis I followed hard on his footsteps, and,
throwing a garrison into Milan, turned his attention to
besieging Pavia, then held by de Leyva, the most
distinguished of the Spanish generals. The French
troops suffered much during the winter, and, when the
Imperial army was increased by a large band of lands-
knechts, the advisers of the king urged him to with-
draw from the siege ; but this his youthful ambition
would not allow him to do, and on February 24, 1525,
was fought the far-famed battle of Pavia, in which
Francis was made prisoner. Pescara distinguished him-
self greatly ; the victory was considered to be chiefly
due to his valour and strategy, and, covered with wounds,
he retired to Milan. There is no doubt that he had
formed high and just expectations of the rewards he
would receive from the Emperor in acknowledgment of
his services, and we can well understand the bitterness
he felt when, far from conferring any honours or ter-
ritories upon him, Charles refused him even the small
prizes which he demanded namely, the duchy of Sora
and the county of Carpi.
And now we come to a very dark place in Pescara's
history, which is open to different interpretations ; but
whatever view we take of it, it is difficult to regard
him as innocent.
The victory of Pavia brought no peace to the
Imperial allies, all of whom quarrelled fiercely among
themselves ; the Emperor seems to have satisfied
nobody, and Pescara least of all. Disappointed and
broken in health, it is probable that the latter gave
voice to his discontent ; at any rate, it is clear from
contemporary records that he began to be regarded as
26 Vittoria Colonna
a man who could be got hold of. " Infermo dell '
animo," " Uomo d' incerta fede," are two epithets
bestowed on him ; and Morone said of him : " Non
essere uomo in Italia ne di maggior malignita ne di minor
fede." 1 This Morone was the chancellor of Francesco
Sforza, Duke of Milan. He had opened negotiations
with the Pope, and had formed the idea of a united
Italy; Milan, Venice, Florence, and Naples were to
enter into an alliance with the Holy See, and an
attempt was made to attach Pescara to the scheme by
offering him the crown of Naples. The diplomatic
arrangements were entrusted chiefly to Giberti, who
sent his friend, Mentebuona Romano, to treat with the
Marchese. It is interesting to note that Giberti never
believed that Pescara would be induced to join the
league, as it is probable that Vittoria herself inspired
him with this idea, for we know how averse she was
from the plan.
We may imagine her through these lonely years as a
woman of somewhat severe beauty, with a dignified
reserve, and a great genius for friendship. But,
primarily, she was the wife of the man she never failed,
in whom, we think, she must have ceased to believe, but
whose honour was no less her honour, his interests hers,
his affairs notably hers. We have already noticed her
letter to Gonzaga about his debt to Pescara, and her
anxiety at Marino about his health. After Pavia we
have a very flowery letter from the Emperor to Vittoria
in which he acknowledges the great services rendered
by her husband, and writes with a magnificent vague-
ness that, besides the honour and glory that have
1 Guicciardini, xvi. 4.
From Child to Woman 27
accrued to Pescara, there is no favour, however great,
that he may not expect from the Emperor's gratitude
and liberality. To this the Marchesa replied in the
same strain, as no doubt the exigencies of the case
required: but, with an evident desire to reap some
tangible benefit, she writes at the end of her letter:
" I hold the services, the faithfulness, and the sincerity
of my lord the Marchese and of my House to be
such that they are not unworthy of the acceptance of
your Caesarian Majesty, and I desire the promised ac-
knowledgment more in testimony of this than because
of any unwonted covetousness on my part; although
your Majesty's gratitude and liberality always anticipate
every just demand. I do not know which is most to
be prized, a guerdon from so great a Prince, or the
glory that he should say that he is in our debt." l
Vittoria must have felt her husband's disappointment
keenly, but this could not warp her judgment, and, on
the occasion of the Neapolitan scheme being divulged
to her, Giovfo has preserved for us the noble senti-
ments of this u donna d* incomparabile ingegno."
" Most earnestly," he writes, " she implored her
husband, who at that time was wont to communicate
all his plans to her, that he would be mindful of his
jyonted ^virtue, with the reputation and renown of
which he surpassed the fortune and the glory of many
kings. Because not with the greatness of kingdoms
and of states and of titles, but with illustrious faith
and pure virtue, is acquired that honour which with
ever-living praises comes down to one's descendants.
And there is not anywhere a royal name of such exalted
1 Carteggio, Letters xx. and xxi.
28 Vittoria Colonna
degree that would not be easily vanquished by a height
of perfect virtue. And on this account she did not
in any wise desire to be the wife of a king, wishing
much rather to be the wife of that captain, who, not
only in war with a valiant hand, but likewise in peace
with the high honour of a just and invincible soul, had
known how to conquer the greatest kings." l
This leaves us in no doubt of the view taken by the
Marchesa, and we feel that this must have been one of
those dividing pathways which are the hardest parts of
life's journey. However honourable and far-sighted
we may think Morone's policy as that of an Italian, it
takes a different light when entered into by a man like
Pescara, who was a Spaniard of the Spaniards ; by race,
speech, and tradition he belonged to Spain ; his appear-
ance was wholly Spanish, and Spanish was the only
language he would ever use ; he was in the service of
his hereditary sovereign, and we can see nothing but
treachery in his desertion of the Imperial cause, if that
was what he really meditated. The negotiations hung
on for many weeks ; Pescara raised difficulty after
difficulty, and finally invited Morone to come and meet
him at Novara to detail the plan. It seems remarkable
that Morone, having such a clear-cut impression of
Pescara' s character, should have acceded to this demand,
but he appears to have gone in complete confidence and
to have laid bare the whole scheme to the Marchese.
The latter had placed the Spanish general, de Leyva,
behind the arras where he could overhear all, and, the
interview being concluded, Morone was arrested and
conveyed to the Emperor at Pavia, whither Pescara
1 Le Vite di dicenove huomini illtutri y p. 256 v.
From Child to Woman 29
also repaired to make known the plot. It is fair to add
that, in giving up Morone, Pescara specially pleaded that
his life should be spared, adding that he was a man who
might be made use of later. Some have thought that
Pescara was prompted to his present course of action
by the increasing weakness of the Duke of Milan,
expecting that on Sforza's decease the duchy would be
conferred on him, and that it would be a more desirable
possession than the kingdom of Naples. The most
favourable construction that can be put upon his
conduct is that he was all along loyal to the Emperor,
and was only playing with the opposite party in order
to learn their secrets ; but, if we accept this interpreta-
tion (which hardly seems a likely one), it does not suffice
to wipe the stain from his memory, as in any case he
broke faith with Morone, and acted throughout with so
much fraud and duplicity as even to overstep -the limits
allowed by a politically unscrupulous age.
However it may have been, what he plotted for he
never obtained. The hardships of the last five years
had severely tried a constitution which never seems to
have been robust, and he never really recovered from
the serious wounds received at Pavia. Illness, dis-
appointment, and anxiety broke him down, and, recog-
nising that he was gravely ill, he sent for Vittoria and
for his cousin, del Vasto, whom he made his heir, and
to whom he confided the care of his wife. The
Marchesa set out in all haste, but had only reached
Viterbo when the news of her husband's death was
brought to her.
Ferrante d'Avalos, Marchese di Pescara, died on
November 25, 1525, at the age of thirty-six ; he was
30 Vittoria Colonna
buried with great pomp in Milan, but his remains
were subsequently removed to Naples and placed
before the high altar in the Church of S. Domenico.
Ariosto is said to have written a Latin epitaph for him,
but the authenticity of it is very doubtful. 1 It was
intended that a suitable monument should be erected,
but, for what reason we do not know, this was never
done, and the coffin is now to be seen in the sacristy of
the said Church, bearing simply the name of the
Marchese.
Pescara's best claim to remembrance is undoubtedly
as a great general and a brave soldier ; he was passion-
ately regretted by the army whom he had so often led
to victory : in this, at any rate, he certainly had " the
genius to be loved."
It is a common error to expect the incompatible.
Looking back on the early days of the Marchese, his
literary tastes, his poetic gifts, his romantic marriage,
we allowed ourselves to hope for a fitting sequel ; and
yet what could be more natural, almost inevitable, than
that things should develop as they did. Perhaps leisure
is one of the first requisites of any great and lasting
attachment, the time to occupy ourselves with our
heart's object: it is not sorrow or poverty that can
interfere or, necessarily, distance ; but it is hurry and
turmoil, and constant change and excitement which
alter our life's centre, which indeed prevent its having
a centre at all, and this dissipation both of the heart
and mind tell fatally on the character, and weaken our
capacity for any strong affection.
1 Carm. in. 8. The question is discussed by Carducci, Su Ludovico
Ariosto e Torquato Tasso (Bologna, 1905), pp. 231-233.
From Child to Woman 31
And so Pescara appears before us with the limita-
tions of the life that was thrust upon him, and yet
adorned with the virtues proper to his career. Vittoria,
wearing out the years of her married life in loneliness
and disappointment, is the more to be envied of the
two ; no doubt she knew what she had missed, but she
stood aside and watched the bearings of things and saw
what they entailed, and, in the light of her sane judg-
ment, she gauged the situation, honouring in her
husband the gifts that were really his, and making no
vain demands and no lamentations. The love of
country, the thirst for glory, the talent for leadership,
these are great objective facts, and, when we come to
study Vittoria's poems, it is these that will stand out
to the exclusion of hopes and regrets alike futile.
CHAPTER II
CHOICE AND CIRCUMSTANCE
A white rose thornless that grows in the garden of time.
A. C. SWINBURNE.
IT is a picture of dismay, that of Vittoria hastening
from Ischia on receiving the news of her husband's
alarming state, travelling no doubt as fast as the
circumstances of the time permitted, and haunted by
the agonising fear of being too late which indeed
proved to be the case, for the tidings of his death
reached her when she was near Viterbo, and she was so
overcome with grief that she fell from her horse and
remained for two hours in a half-dead condition.
When the Marchesa was brought to Viterbo, she begged
to be taken to a convent and to be given a nun's habit.
She would not lie anywhere but on the ground, and
could scarcely be persuaded to touch food. Her
brother Ascanio hastened to her side and returned
with her to Rome, and there she took up her abode in
the Convent of San Silvestro, with which her family
had been connected since the thirteenth century.
This convent was in the hands of nuns of the order
of Santa Chiara, to whom it had first been given by
Pope Honorius IV. An ancestress of Vittoria's, the
Blessed Margherita Colonna, born about the middle of
the thirteenth century, and left an orphan at an early
3*
Choice and Circumstance 33
age, was brought up by her brothers, who destined her
to make a brilliant marriage. But the girl had higher
views for herself, and was encouraged in them by one
brother, who subsequently became a priest and after-
wards a cardinal. Living at home she found herself in
the midst of dissipation and festivities, which were so
foreign to the mode of life she courted that one day
she secretly left the house and retired to Palestrina.
Dowered with no common degree of beauty, talent,
and riches, Margherita renounced everything, procured
the habit of Santa Chiara in which she dressed herself,
and cut off her beautiful hair with her own hands.
After this she gave herself up to the care of the poor
and sick, specially devoting herself to those whose
diseases were most repulsive. She kept the rule of
St. Francis in all its rigour, but, not being yet of age,
she did not attach herself to any convent. When,
however, she reached the age of one and twenty and
came into possession of her fortune, she distributed the
whole of it among the poor and went to the Convent
of Santa Chiara at Assisi, into which she begged to be
admitted. The Superior accepted her eagerly, but
Margherita was never able to realise her darling
project, being seized with a violent illness, which was
only the beginning of continuous bad health. In con-
sequence of this, she returned to Palestrina and collected
round her a number of holy companions, leading with
them a life of extreme mortification. Having given
away all her wealth, she had no longer the means of
relieving the poor, and so the Colonna princess, " ogni
vergogna deposta," was seen daily begging alms from
door to door.
34 Vittoria Colonna
For the last seven years of her life she suffered from
a dreadful ulcer, but displayed heroic patience through-
out. She died still young in 1284, and was beatified by
Pius IX. It was on her death that Pope Honorius IV
bestowed the Convent of San Silvestro in Capite on
the order of Santa Chiara, and the body of Blessed
Margherita was buried there. Hence the Colonna
family were closely connected with San Silvestro, which
seemed therefore a natural retreat for the Marchesa in
her great sorrow.
From this time forward we are face to face with the
real Vittoria, and the originality of the woman cannot
but strike us. In the eyes of the world, there must
have seemed to be three possible futures open to her.
First, she might have returned to her own estates and
lived there en grande dame ; secondly, she might have
contracted a second marriage (and suitors were never
wanting) ; thirdly, she might have taken the veil.
This last course she certainly contemplated, and it is
almost surprising that she did not persevere in it.
There is no doubt that, in the first desolation of her
widowhood, this was her one idea, and the Pope, in
giving leave for her to reside in the Convent of San
Silvestro, expressly forbade that she should be allowed
to take the veil without his consent.
It is abundantly evident, both from her writings and
her subsequent career, that Vittoria was not only deeply
religious, but that religion was to her the key-note of
existence, the meaning and explanation of all life. And
surely to have grasped this is the initial vocation to the
cloister ; only it is this and much more. Perhaps, the
true definition of a vocation would be that religion
Choice and Circumstance 35
looms large enough in the soul not only to over-
shadow, but literally to obliterate everything else. It
is an utter detachment and selflessness such as we do
not find in Vittoria, with her versatile mind, her varied
interests, her affections flowing in so many channels.
Keen, alert, many-sided, placed by her position in the
foreground, and hopelessly entangled in the troubles
of a most troublous time, leaving us in her letters and
poems a legacy of talent, though not of genius, Vittoria
might have looked down on us through the ages as a
noble, intellectual woman, true to the traditions of her
race and name ; but she elected to be all this, and
something very different as well. Henceforth we are
not to seek her for the most part in courts and palaces,
but moving from convent to convent, leading a life of
almost monastic simplicity, her food, her dress, her
expenditure, reduced to the very smallest and simplest;
so that, though by birth connected with all that was
highest, and by intellect with all that was noblest in her
country, she yet threw in her lot with the poor, became
their friend by living for them and like them, and, from
her choice of a retreat in the early days of her widow-
hood, down to her interment in the common burial-
ground of the nuns, without a stone to mark her
resting-place, she stands forth pre-eminently as one of
those who de mundo non sunt.
It is this which gives her that distinction which is
hers, which separates her so markedly from many of
her noted contemporaries, which gives her a hold over
our hearts as well as our minds.
It may truly be said of her that her " soul was like a
star and dwelt apart," yet she was never able all
36 Vittoria Colonna
through her life to isolate herself from the fierce dis-
cussions of the age. The wars in which Pescara had
won his wounds still continued, the bitter quarrels
which had hastened his end still raged, and the years
1526 and 1527 are some of the most terrifying in the
annals of Christian Rome ; doubly so to Vittoria, who
was intimately connected with their horrors.
Clement VII, frightened, as we have seen, at the
prospect of Spanish ascendancy in Lombardy, entered
into a League in May, 1526, with France, Venice, and
the Duke of Milan, for the promotion of the peace of
Christendom : the Emperor was invited to join, on
condition that he released the sons of Francis I, left
the Duke of Milan in possession, and restored to the
other Italian powers what had been theirs before the
last war. On the proclamation of the League, Ascanio
Colonna, the brother of Vittoria, and Vespasiano, her
cousin, the son of Prospero Colonna, withdrew from
Rome, as being subjects and supporters of the
Emperor, Ascanio removing his sister to Marino.
Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, a cousin of Vittoria's, had
already departed to the Abbey of Subiaco, where he
was organising his forces.
Ineffectual as the League proved to be, and possessed
of no power of carrying out its professions, it yet em-
barrassed Charles for the moment, and he sent first the
Duke of Sessa, and subsequently Don Ugo de Moncada
to try and detach the Pope from his new allies ; but
Clement, advised by his datary, Giberti, who is specially
interesting to us as the warm friend of the Marchesa,
for once stood firm, to his own detriment, and the
Choice and Circumstance 37
Spanish ambassador repaired to Genazzano, a strong-
hold of the Colonna.
Meanwhile the Pope, alarmed at the hostility of the
Colonna, came to an agreement with them in August
by which he pardoned them if they would consent to
restore the places they had seized, to withdraw their
troops into Neapolitan country, and to undertake not
to wage war from the lands they held from the Church ;
these conditions observed, they were free to help the
Emperor. There is an undated letter from Giberti to
Vittoria which appears to have been written before the
end of August, and from which it may be gathered
that the Marchesa had written to her friend on her
brother's behalf. The letter runs :
" In that affair of the most illustrious signor Ascanio
I have done what I could, but, as your Excellence
knows just cause for the anger of his Holiness, you
will not wonder that the result does not follow as
quickly as you would like. His Beatitude loves his
Excellence, and would take pleasure in every advantage
and satisfaction of his, if he sought them by such
means as are proper, and not by attempting to compel
his Holiness, and assuming too much security on
account of his easiness and patience. The desire I
have to serve this signor, as your Excellence knows,
makes me grieve all the more that the methods of his
Excellence preclude me from serving him : however,
where I can, I will not fail. And I commend myself
as much as possible to your Excellence's favour." l
It is difficult to see what Giberti could have done
for such a refractory vassal.
1 Carteggio, Letter xxx.
38 Vittoria Colonna
It is abundantly evident that Moncada saw his way
to striking a blow for the Emperor by trading on the
discontent of the Colonna, who, in the event of success,
were to be merely the cat's paw of the enterprise. In
September, Moncada, having with help from Naples
collected a force of some four thousand men, joined
the troops of the Colonna and marched on Rome.
Meeting with no opposition, they seized the Lateran
Gate and drew up at the SS. Apostoli ; in the morning
they pursued their way across to the Ponte Sisto and
pressed on to the Vatican. If it seems strange that no
resistance was made, we must remember that the
Colonna was a Roman house ; it had been thought that
Cardinal Colonna might have been Pope instead of
Clement, and he was still said to be aspiring to that
dignity: it was but one house against another, and
Roman citizens looked on unmoved while the lords
settled their private difficulties. Clement shut himself
up in the Castle of S. Angelo, and for three days the
Colonna party and the Spanish soldiers pillaged the
Vatican with the savage ferocity of pagans, sacking as
much of the Borgo as was out of range of artillery.
On September 21, the Pope listened to terms of
peace, which were thus dictated by Moncada: a truce
for four months was concluded, and Clement was tot
withdraw his troops and fleet from the service of the
League, and pardon the Colonna ; Moncada then with-
drew, having achieved his purpose. Cardinal Pompeo
is said to have been bitterly disappointed, having
dreamed of more far-reaching consequences, and prob-
ably foreseeing that Clement would lose no time in
wreaking vengeance on his House.
Choice and Circumstance 39
We do not know exactly when Vittoria saw fit to
abandon Marino for safer quarters, but she certainly
went south to Aquino, to Ischia, and finally to Naples
before the end of the year. It was in November that
the Papal troops entered the territories of the Colonna,
storming Marino, Zagarolo, Gallicano, and other castles
of theirs, while at the same time the Cardinal was
deprived of his dignity. On December 9, Giberti thus
writes to Vittoria : " Your Excellence may rest assured
that it was most bitter to me to see our Lord con-
strained, on account of the great injuries done to him,
to set himself to pull down that House which I have
always desired to see most great. But, since the hatred
of others, which has been the reward of my services,
has not taken from me the favour of your Excellence,
every other loss appears small to me. Nor can you do
me a more singular favour than to command me, for
you will find me always most ready to obey you, as I
would willingly do in interposing to arrange some kind
of peace, as you request, if I saw that any could be
arrived at consonant with the dignity and honour of
our Lord, to whom after God my service is principally
due. And it may be that the divine Goodness will
open a way for us, if that goodness and desire for peace
be found in the other party which his Holiness has
always shown ; and to your Excellence's good favour I
commend myself as much as possible." l
But the terrible events of 1526 were only a shadow
of those which were to follow. In May, 1527, the
Imperial army, mad and mutinous, rushed on Rome
and took it by assault. The mixed soldiery of Italy,
1 Letter dated Rome, December 9, 1526. Carteggio, Letter xxxu.
40 Vittoria Colonna
Spain, and Germany, clamouring for pay of which long
arrears were due, half starved, and rendered brutal by
every sort of suffering and hardship, found the spoils
of the wealthiest and most cultivated city in the world
at their mercy, and the scenes enacted present such a
story of unparalleled horror as no other page of history
can unfold.
The Pope remained shut up in the Castle of S. Angelo,
trembling for his life, and, according to his wont, treating
with each party in turn.
This must have been one of the bitterest moments
of Vittoria's life. Overwhelmed with grief and horror,
as only a Catholic and a Roman could be, for the
devastation of the Eternal City, the fiercest pang of all
must have been that her nearest relations were im-
plicated in it. To this agony came some mitigation in
the conduct of Cardinal Colonna, who, entering Rome
to exult over the downfall of his enemy, felt his heart
wrung for the destruction of so much greatness, and
who, possessed of more power than any other Cardinal,
opened his palace to the distressed, and was the means
of delivering many of his fellow-citizens. Through
him and through her cousin, del Vasto, Vittoria did
all she could to alleviate the lot of the sufferers, aiding
them with money and advice, and interceding in their
behalf. It is probable that with her name and wealth
she was able to effect much, and her good work brought
her a reward in the near future, as we shall have occasion
to see very shortly.
Among the hostages whom Clement was obliged to
deliver up to his enemies was his favourite, Giberti, and
it was while occupying this unenviable position that the
Choice and Circumstance 41
Datary wrote the following letter to Vittoria : " I could
wish not to have been already as certain as I was of
your Excellence's love and kindness towards me,
because these proofs of them that you have given me,
and give me every day more efficaciously, if they were
new to me and unexpected, would fill me with so much
pleasure that they would make every hardship that I
suffer delightful ; but, even as it is, I feel a wonderful
comfort from them ; and it seems to me that these
chains procure me honour in the sight of everybody
who sees the account your Excellence makes of my
liberation. I have seen what you wrote to the most
reverend and most illustrious Monsignor Colonna, and
his Lordship has up to now behaved in such wise
towards us all that we are under an obligation to him
for it, and he makes us also have a firm hope of bringing
our affairs to a prosperous issue, as it will indeed be
good, if in this tempest, we be put into a place where
we can remain in some quietness. But my desire goes
beyond this in seeking to be soon given into the hands
of the imperial lords, as I shall go in three months as a
hostage for the observance of those things which his
Holiness promises. Because, if I obtain this, the
liberty and the occupation that I have had in the past
will not be so grateful to me as will be the imprison-
ment with ease, and the delectation of soul which I
propose to myself to have there. I have besought the
most illustrious Lord Marquis on this account, and his
Excellence is desirous to comply with my request, as
is clearly shown by himself, and by the work that your
Excellence has done for us by letter ; but either the
difficulty there is in obtaining it, or some misfortune
42 Vittoria Colonna
that is going to take away from me the sweetness of this
tranquillity, is the cause that up till now I see no fruit
therefrom, and little hope of any. I should thank your
Excellence for the pledges you offer of your State for
me ; but how can I thank you, or what is there in me
that I can still promise you, having already given
myself to you entirely, and being more obliged to you
now than ever ? To your good favour I commend
myself with all my power." 1
These hostages, seven in number, were bound and
taken as prisoners to the Palazzo della Cancelleria, where
Cardinal Colonna was living ; they were brutally treated
by the soldiers, and even led to the foot of the gallows
many times, and threatened with death, so that Pompeo,
fearing for their lives, connived at their escape, which
was aided by the Spaniards who were encamped near
S. Maria del Popolo.
Giovio, in his interesting little life of the Cardinal,
here remarks that nothing better could have happened
to Rome than the coming of Pompeo : rather a merciful
sentence, considering the ravage he had himself wrought
there the preceding year. His is a career that would
hardly have been possible at any other period. The
age bred warlike ecclesiastics, and Pompeo was certainly
more warrior than priest; if he had been only the
former, we might have admired him more, though, even
so, he would not have been free from the accusations of
implacability and overwhelming ambition. But, along
with these faults, there was certainly an element of
greatness in the man's nature, which, no doubt, appealed
1 Letter dated Rome, November 26, 1527. Carteggio, xxxv.
Choice and Circumstance 43
to his illustrious cousin who both loved and was be-
loved by him.
Character is shown by life's choices, and, perhaps,
no less by life's acceptances. In our intercourse with
people in general, we are free to form our own opinions
of their actions and line of conduct, free to be dis-
appointed in them, to be disillusioned concerning them,
to alter our mind a hundred times as to their moral
and intellectual worth ; but when once we have pledged
ourselves to a friendship, this freedom is no longer ours.
We cannot say: I am disappointed in such an one, I
thought he would have done better or otherwise ; for we
have altered our position, and taken upon ourselves a
new responsibility.
The consecration of a great friendship, while by no
means warping our judgment, requires from us some-
thing other than judgment. It takes away our sense of
aloofness and independence, and demands from us a
heart-whole loyalty, an immense self-sacrifice, an un-
limited belief; while, too humble alike for mercy or
generosity, it goes one step farther, and, basing that
belief on the unseen springs of character, will not let
itself be affected by any outward thing, by contradicting
word or action, rightly regarding these as mere human
accidents, and nowise concerned but with the aim and
the ideal.
But if this is the point to which noble friendships
bring us, it would seem to be the starting-point of noble
relationships.
These cannot begin with any freedom of choice ;
they are among the iron circumstances of life, and it
often happens that the natures with whom we have most
44 Vittoria Colonna
to do are those with whom we have least in common,
and whose aims (a difference which divides so much
more sharply than character) are widely severed from
ours. Yet, if we elect to bring to these the same fidelity
which friendship pre-supposes, we come to the accept-
ances of life which are hardly less excellent, though far
less responsible, than its choices.
Vittoria lived in her friendships, and it will be
interesting later to trace their growth, influence, and
variety ; for she was never a woman of one friend.
But if we consider her attitude towards all the members
of her numerous and divided family in the above light,
we shall find in it something admirable and at the same
time comprehensible, and it is evident that it enabled
her to keep alive the flower of family affection which
must else have perished in such stormy times.
The Cardinal, Pompeo Colonna, had, as we have seen,
a great admiration for his gifted cousin ; his book,
Apologia Mulierum, is dedicated to her in the following
letter :
" Most writers, magnanimous Vittoria, are wont to
dedicate their writings and compositions specially to
those divinities from whom they hope most grace and
protection. Some therefore invoked Jove, others the
Muses, many the Caesars, to guide and favour their
work. But I, who am taking up the cause of women
(a task not only beyond my powers, but arduous and
difficult to any genius), verily have need of a greater
deity and a greater defender. To whom then to fly,
whose protection to implore, which of the gods to
invoke, I know not. But since it is handed down by
tradition that when the giants waged war upon Jove,
Choice and Circumstance 45
and, having captured him, strove to break into heaven
itself by heaping up mountains, a certain maiden, the
daughter of Styx, not less adorned with beauty than
with virtues, brought succour to Jove, by whose work,
counsel, and authority, the war was soon finished, and
the Titans annihilated. Jupiter, not unmindful of this
so great benefit, decreed that none of the gods swearing
by the Stygian swamp should be forsworn, and willed
that this oath should be inviolable with them, and he
named the maiden, by whose valour he had preserved
his empire, Vittoria, for an eternal memory of her
name. Oh what a magnanimous maiden, oh what a
truly famous and divine name ! When I reflect within
myself, considering what is said and with what power-
ful opponents I have to deal, I think it in vain to
implore the aid of Jove in so glorious and arduous a
struggle, since he was unable to end a much lighter
contest without the activity, the authority, the im-
perturbable fortitude of Vittoria. We need therefore
a stronger leader, warrior, guide, and director of this
our work, and we see not, if one were to be chosen out
of all, whom we can compare to Vittoria herself. To
thee, therefore, I fly and invoke thy divinity, thy holy
and invincible name, especially since, induced by thy
counsel and authority, I have undertaken this great and
laborious task ; for, albeit I give and devote to it all my
studies, all my work, care, industry, yea all my mind,
nevertheless, unless thou stretch forth thy hand, all
these things will be in vain, and we shall be forced to
give the place to the calumniators of the feminine sex.
But, although all these things have been naturally con-
sidered by me, and I have seen the gravity of the
46 Vittoria Colonna
business, nevertheless, because thy love is of such
weight with me, thy authority is so great that all things
that please thee, and which thou dost order and wish,
seem to me right and beautiful. I have, therefore,
preferred to be oppressed by the weight of the labour
enjoined upon me, rather than give up, owing to the
infirmity and helplessness of my soul, that which was
once laid upon me by thee. It will be thine, therefore,
divine Vittoria, to receive the parts of this our work ;
and I doubt not that, especially with such a champion,
the assault of their most bitter accusers having been
broken and the darts of their detractors blunted, our
women, whose cause we have undertaken, will recover
their pristine dignity and glory.
"Farewell." 1
In the first book, Pompeo demonstrates, both by
philosophical and theological reasoning, that woman is
not an imperfect creature, and cites examples of women
great in eloquence, and learning, and poetry among the
ancients, such as Hortensia, Aspasia, and Corinna ;
and notable examples of constancy, as Portia and Laena,
adding : " I omit those most holy virgins of Christ,
Catherine, Lucy, Agatha, Cecilia, and innumerable
others, who on account of singular fortitude, piety,
and constancy, having despised the threats and tortures
of tyrants, possess the crown and palm in the heavenly
1 Pompeii Cardinalis Columnae, S.R.E. Vicecancellarii, ad illustrem ac
magnanimam Victoriam Columnam Marchionissam Piscariae, Apologise
Mulierum Liber Primus, ff. 320-321. This, and the following quota-
tions, are from the manuscript of this (unpublished) treatise in the
Biblioteca Vaticana, Cod. Lat. 3370.
Choice and Circumstance 47
kingdom, in the presence of their Spouse who is
Christ."
Then follow more classical examples of woman's piety,
charity, and other virtues, such as were found in the
Spartan women, in Rutilia, Servia, Lucretia,and Claudia,
whence he argues that women, being most capable of
acquiring all virtues, ought not to be kept out of public
offices and magistracies. 1
In the second book, De fortitudine, magnanimitate atque
constantia Mu/ierum, the author cites Vittoria herself as a
shining proof of womanly virtue, first describing the
great deeds of her husband his victory at Pavia, and
his refusal to be tempted from his fidelity to the
Emperor by the promise of the crown of Naples (this
being apparently Colonna's version of the Morone
affair). " Oh divine faith, oh singular wisdom and
prudence of a leader ! And when these things came
to thy ears, Vittoria, not the royal sceptre, not any
desire of ruling, not any lust for domination, nor the
common opinion that right may be violated for the
sake of a kingdom, ever turned thee aside from the
right and virtuous course. Nay, they declare that
thou thyself, considering the claims of thy noble
nature, didst say thou preferredst to die the wife of a
most brave marquis and a most upright general, than
to live the consort of a king dishonoured with any
stain of infamy." 2
Pompeo then goes through all the Aristotelian
virtues, defining them as he goes, and giving pagan
and Christian examples of each, and ends thus : " Re-
ceive then, magnanimous Vittoria, this little work,
1 MS. /., ff. 321 p-333. 2 MS. /., ff. 338 p-340.
48 Vittoria Colonna
begun and composed in these days recently passed by,
as the first-fruits of my vigils and studies for thee, who
art going to receive afterwards much richer fruits, if
perchance they ripen. Nevertheless, by the greatness
of thy lofty and invincible soul, and by our supreme
devotion towards thee, I pray thee again and again not
to let it see the light unless mingled with thy eloquence
and illustrated by thy divine songs. Farewell." 1
The Apologia Mulierum is pre-eminently the work of
a humanist, and exhibits stores of learning, especially
pagan ; it is the only one of Pompeo's writings that
remains to us, with the possible exception of one
poem, though he is known to have written many
which were highly esteemed by Minturno and others
of his contemporaries. The Cardinal is interesting as
an example of that many-sidedness which characterised
the men of the Renaissance. We would very willingly
divorce the priest from the soldier, but there still
remain the administrator, the student, the collector,
the lover of books and of gardens.
Made Viceroy of Naples in 1530, we have rather con-
flicting accounts of his career there. Some praise his
astuteness and his wonderful cleverness in restoring
order and holding that mixed population in check,
curbing the insolence of the nobles and showing such
favour and leniency to the army that he was worshipped
by the soldiers ; but others lay stress on his extreme
severity, on which account, they say, his life even was
in danger.
1 For the whole of this I am indebted to the kindness of Mr.
Edmund Gardner, who transcribed it for me from the manuscript in the
Biblioteca Vaticana.
Choice and Circumstance 49
At the same time that Pompeo was elevated to the
viceregal dignity, he was made Bishop of Monreale in
Sicily, and he built for himself a beautiful palace on the
shore at Chiaja. Here he planted his trees and "noble
shrubs and strange flowers," lecturing the while on the
science of gardening. Here he studied, wrote his
fugitive poems, and composed his book. Here his
friends visited him, rejoicing in his wonderful courtesy
and his unfailing readiness to grant favours ; and here in
June, 1532, he died, surrounded by learned and charm-
ing companions, regretting only that he was forced
prematurely to forego that intercourse from which he
had derived such incomparable pleasure. His end, as
related by Giovio, has a grace and dignity which seems
to touch the very summit of pagan perfection.
To return to the hostages on whose behalf the
Cardinal had interfered so successfully. In Giberti,
the one who interests us most as the friend and frequent
correspondent of Vittoria, we have an entirely different
type. He had suffered so much during his fifty-two
days of imprisonment, that he had no thought but to
retire from public life and settle at Verona, of which
he had been made bishop in 1524. Indeed, he had long
since desired to take this step, but Clement would not
part with an adviser in whom he trusted so much ;
though to us Giberti appears as but another instance of
a supremely wise priest whose political judgment was
beneath contempt. Giberti's real leaning was to that
reform within the Church to which all great souls were
yearning, which might be fitly described in the words
of St. James as "primum quidem pudica est, deinde
pacifica, modesta, suadibilis," and which was so different
50 Vittoria Colonna
from the noisy revolt going on outside. As early as
1519, there was established in Rome a small society
called the Oratory of Divine Love, whose members
numbered only fifty or sixty men, among whom we note
the names of Caraffa, Contarini, Sadoleto, Pole, Priuli,
and Giberti. They used to assemble first in the
rectory of Giuliano Dati, a Florentine, and afterwards
in the Church of San Silvestro and Santa Dorotea in
Trastevere, adjoining the rectory. The members of
the Oratory pledged themselves to visit the churches
more diligently, to celebrate Mass more regularly, and
to pray more frequently at sacred spots ; they had as
their aim a reform, not so much individual as collective,
which from these humble beginnings might permeate
through the whole hierarchy.
Giberti, once free, resigned his dataryship and gave
up all his offices, asking leave to be allowed to retire to
Verona ; further, he renounced the many benefices with
which he was invested, and only retained the bishopric
of Verona and the Abbey of Rosazzo.
From this time dates the interest of his life and per-
sonality. He is indeed a dignified and attractive figure,
this Bishop chiefly concerned with the reform of his
clergy (wherein many difficulties awaited him), living
in the strictest simplicity, so that his house resembled
a monastery in the keeping of the canonical hours and
the severe regulations regarding food and sleep. On
the other hand, magnificence was not wanting. He had
a noble love of books and collected a splendid library,
rich in rare codices ; he also set up a private printing-
press with a special view to the accurate printing of the
Greek character, and he issued many valuable works,
Choice and Circumstance 51
notably the commentaries of St. John Chrysostom on
St. Paul's Epistles. He welcomed the best minds of
the age, and thither thronged literary and scientific
men, artists and nobles. For all these he kept open
house, calling them " the dearest of his family," and
entertaining them with a kind of splendour which he
said befitted this mode of life. Liberality and courtesy
seem to have been the key-notes of his character. He
remained Vittoria's life-long friend, and his death was
one of the keenest griefs of her closing years.
The Marchesa, in repairing to Ischia, had not passed
out of reach of hostility, and the great naval battle of
Salerno must have been fought under her very eyes.
This fight, which took place on April 28, 1528, and
only lasted four hours, consisted chiefly in a desperate
hand-to-hand struggle in which the Imperial party,
trusting more to the valour of their leaders than to the
strength of their ships, were completely beaten by the
superior skill of the enemy. France was then strong
in her Genoese allies (though the situation was already
becoming strained) and her fleet was commanded by
Filippino Doria, cousin of the great Andrea. Filippino
with his galleys was occupying the Gulf of Salerno and
there the Viceroy, Don Ugo de Moncada, determined
to attack him, and having only six galleys, four light
boats, and six brigantines, he augmented the ap-
pearance, though certainly not the strength, of his
fleet by adding to it a large number of fishing boats to
present a formidable front to the enemy. Though Ugo
was nominal admiral, the command of the expedition
was really entrusted to Fabricio Giustiniani, who
pointed out the rashness of opposing the famous naval
52 Vittoria Colonna
power of Genoa with such an undisciplined and inex-
perienced force. Ugo, however, was not to be dis-
suaded from his purpose, and further wasted precious
time by taking his ships to Capri to be harangued by
a Spanish monk whose ardour, it was supposed, would
inspire them with the like feeling. Putting forth from
Capri, two galleys were ordered to approach the enemy
and then feign flight so as to draw their adversaries
into the open sea. In the meantime, Filippino Doria
had got wind of the enterprise, when the only possible
chance of success lay in its secrecy.
Having obtained reinforcements from Lautrec, Doria
prepared to meet the Imperial fleet whose numbers,
formidable in the distance, filled him with dismay; but
when they came near, and he saw the long line of fishing
boats, he felt more than equal to the encounter, and
detached three galleys, ordering them to gain the open
sea and to return at a given signal and join in the
combat. The fight was an obstinate one ; Doria,
surrounded by the hostile fleet and blinded by their
smoke, yet directed his cannon so well that he "killed
the commander of Ugo's vessel and several officers ;
at the same time the captain of his own ship fell.
Coming to close quarters, the Imperialists fared worse
than the Genoese, who were more used to this kind of
warfare and more accustomed to defend themselves.
But two of the Genoese galleys found themselves so
hard pressed by three of the Imperial ships that they
were on the point of surrendering, when, at the sign
agreed on, Doria's three reserve galleys came up and
turned the fortune of the day. The Spanish flagship
was riddled with bullets and her mainmast shot down.
Choice and Circumstance 53
Moncada, wounded in the arm, continued to exhort his
men until killed by an arquebus.
Perhaps the decisive stroke was given by Doria
liberating his slaves, and these threw themselves on the
Spaniards with the special ferocity of private hatred.
The number of prisoners taken was enormous and
included the Marchese del Vasto, Ascanio Colonna,
Fabricio Giustiniani, and the Prince of Salerno, who
were all immediately sent to Andrea Doria. This must
have been a cruel reverse for Vittoria, not only on
account of the defeat of the Imperial party, but because
of the capture of her brother and her adopted son.
It would seem that the Pope interceded in their
behalf, communicating with Andrea by means of
Giovan Battista Sanga, one of the papal secretaries,
and also a great friend of Giberti whose secretary he
had been ; and Sanga wrote the following comforting
letter to the Marchesa :
" My most illustrious and excellent Lady. The
ardent desire of my Monsignor of Verona to serve
your Excellence has obscured that of your more
humble, but not less affectionate servants. Therefore I
bewail my sad fate which has kept for me the occasion
I desired until such troublous times ; still, even in these
I should be well content if, in my good offices towards
the most illustrious Signer Marchese and Signer
Ascanio, I could make your Excellence understand that
there is imprinted on the minds of those that serve
him the same observance and service towards your
Excellence. Our Lord commissioned me some days
ago to write on his behalf to Signer Andrea Doria,
recommending the said signers to him. This I did,
54 Vittoria Colonna
and, because I knew how much M. Andrea loved my
Monsignor, I added thereto an account of the works
done last year by your Excellence and by the most
illustrious Signer Marchese for the benefit of his Lord-
ship. He replied to me that, though by reason of war
they are his prisoners, he does not regard them as such,
and that he endeavours to treat them with all possible
consideration and affection. This I believe your
Excellence has heard by letter from the Signor
Marchese himself. I have written of it to my Mon-
signor, and I know that his Lordship will also write
efficaciously. Nor, even without this, can one believe
that, in the hands of so valiant a man, these signers
should have to endure any treatment unbefitting their
station." l
What we have to notice is that the capture of two
such generals and strategists was to have a notable
effect on the fortunes of Spain. History shows us
that, before this engagement, the relations were much
strained between Francis I and his haughty ally, Andrea
Doria. The aim of this man, and how far he was
swayed by patriotism, and how far by vulgar self-
interest will always remain a problem : in a world
where motives are so mixed, it is probable that he was
never able to answer that question to his own satisfac-
tion. But at this crisis two facts are patent. Francis
owed him large arrears of salary, which he seems to
have had no intention of paying, and further offended
him after the battle by laying claim to Doria's two
illustrious prisoners. Colonna and del Vasto had made
it their first entreaty not to be given up to the French,
1 Letter dated Viterbo, June 3, 1528. Carteggio, xxxvi.
Choice and Circumstance 55
and Doria was determined to abide by his word, main-
taining at the same time that he had an absolute right
to the captives.
Del Vasto, who must have been fully aware of all
the friction that was going on, now boldly proposed to
Doria to go over to the Emperor, promising that
Charles would guarantee him an immense salary and
would reinstate Genoa in her rights over Savona. It
would appear that Doria gave in very rapidly to this
suggestion, signed an agreement with the Emperor,
revictualled Naples, took the command of the Imperial
fleet and went in pursuit of the French galleys, of which
he captured four to indemnify himself for the money
owed to him by Francis. We are hardly concerned
here with the ethical side of Doria's conduct: it is
manifest that his proceedings set Ascanio Colonna and
del Vasto at liberty, and Vittoria had no longer to
concern herself with intercessions on their account.
But we have one other instance of her activity on
behalf of a soldier, Fabricio Maramaldo (or Maramaus),
of Spanish origin, who had served both under the
Marchese di Pescara and del Vasto. This man had an
unenviable reputation for cruelty even in that age, but
perhaps this did not render him unacceptable to Pescara,
whose memory is blackened by the sack of Como and
Genoa. In the present juncture, Maramaldo seems to
have been the victim of mere party -jealousy. The
following is the letter Vittoria addressed to Filiberto,
Prince of Orange, on the subject :
" If by my writing about a thing of this kind it
may, perhaps, appear that the authority is less than the
subject and my audacity greater than it ought to be,
56 Vittoria Colonna
your Lordship must attribute the fault to the chance
that so many and such of my relations as would have
helped Fabricio Maramaldo, both by obligation and
goodwill, are either absent or dead. Therefore of
necessity I, with the sole light of their living memory,
am constrained to esteem my darkness clearer than it
sometimes is, but I would far rather be considered bold
than ungrateful. The sincerity of Fabricio and the
virtue of your Lordship make me feel certain that it
does not befit me either to implore for the one, or
to excuse the other for a fault. But because the sinister
information, which is made use of to-day, might make
your Excellence suspect that to be possible which is a
thing remote from all possibility, I have wished to
write to you and to assure you that in affairs of a
similar kind the Marchese, my lord of blessed memory,
made trial an infinite number of times of the virtue,
sincerity, and faith of Fabricio, and at a time when he
was in a lower position than he is to-day. On that
account, it would seem to me a strange thing that the
malice of a wretch could injure or stain the pure faith
of such a knight, made fine by such a hand. I there-
fore beg your most illustrious Lordship that, consider-
ing the prudence of the Marchese, my lord, which
approved Fabricio as trustworthy, that of the lord
Marchese del Vasto which confirmed this, your own
which confided to him in the past a part of your army,
you will remove every doubt from your mind ; and
that, with that clearness, and generous will, and ex-
cellent judgment which befit such a Prince, you will
decide conformably to justice and reason, and restore
him to the honourable position and authority which
Choice and Circumstance 57
his services demand. For the Spanish nation, as
specially jealous for the honour of knighthood, will
praise you for it, and the Italian nation will believe
that your Lordship holds her in more estimation than
has sometimes been thought, and we shall all of us
consider it a singular favour. And Our Lord God
preserve you always.
"THE MARCHESA DI
This letter is undated, but seems to have been
written in July, 1528. Vittoria's intercession obtained
for Fabricio what was only his due, namely, his re-
instatement in his command. An intrepid soldier, we
find him the following year at the siege of Volterra,
which the Florentines under their patriotic general,
Francesco Ferruccio, were defending.
There is a story that Ferruccio had live cats nailed to
the walls of Volterra that the horrible noise they made
might deride the name of his adversary, " Maramaus."
If this be so, it forms a small excuse for the latter's
savagery after the battle of Gavignana when, Ferruccio
being dangerously wounded and a prisoner, Maramaldo
is said to have killed him with his own hands : this
outburst of tiger-passion may be considered an over-
payment of revenge for the cats of Volterra. 2
Once again we come across Maramaldo in connexion
with the Marchesa, when in 1531 she appears to have
commissioned him, he being then in Mantua, to apply
1 Carttggio, Letter xxxvin.
2 The manner of Ferruccio's death is variously reported ; some say
that Maramaldo dispatched him with a dagger ; others that he ran him
through with a sword or a javelin, calling to his men to finish the work,
while Ferruccio exclaimed : " You are killing a dead man ! "
58 Vittoria Colonna
to Federigo (who had been made Duke by the Emperor
in the preceding year) for a picture of the Magdalen,
for whom she evidently had a special devotion. On
this subject several interesting letters were exchanged.
First the Duke wrote :
" Most illustrious Lady and honoured Sister,
"The fraternal love that there was between the
most illustrious Signer di Pescara of blessed memory
and myself, and the close friendship and intimacy
which I have with the most illustrious Signor Marchese
del Vasto, cause me to feel a singular love for your
Ladyship, joined by matrimony to the sweet memory
of the one, and by the closest relationship to the other ;
and this love of mine towards you is made greater by
your singular virtues. . . . And not knowing just now
in what else I can please you, excepting what I have
heard from Signor Fabricio Maramaldo, who has told
me that you desire to have a fine picture of St. Mary
Magdalen from the hand of an excellent painter, I have
sent immediately to Venice and have written to Titian,
who is certainly the most excellent artist of our time,
and who is entirely at my service, earnestly begging
him to paint a Magdalen, more beautiful and tearful
than can be imagined, and to let me have it quickly.
And because of the excellence of the artist, and the
importunity with which I have assailed him, I feel sure
that the work will be most perfect. I hope to have it
here perhaps by Easter, and when it comes I will send
it to your Ladyship, to whom I continually commend
myself.
"From Mantua, March n, 1531.'"
1 Cartfggio, Letter XLII.
Choice and Circumstance 59
It would appear that Titian executed this commission
very rapidly, and that the picture was sent to Mantua
on April 14. Its subsequent history is shrouded in
mystery. It was certainly sent to the Marchesa, for,
in May, Vittoria wrote to Federigo, thanking him for
the Magdalen " infinite volte," and sending him some
costly perfume of roses. On July 28, the Duke wrote :
" I have received two letters from your Ladyship just
lately, which were most acceptable to me ; one which
accompanied the most magnificent and precious gift
which you sent me of most sweet perfumes and cos-
metic of roses, in a beautifully-wrought casket ; the
other in which you informed me that you had been
pleased with the Magdalen that I had sent you. I
thank you most warmly for everything, and not less
for having been so pleased with my little gift than for
having made me such a beautiful present, which indeed
could not have been more acceptable to me, both for
being precious in itself, and on account of the place
from whence it came. That your Ladyship should
have been gratified by me as regards the Magdalen,
and that I should have forestalled all the others who
might have gratified you in this, pleases me, since, as
you have seen some little alacrity on my part to con-
tent you, I hope that you will have recourse to me all
the more confidently to do you a pleasure whenever
you see that you can make use of me in this part of the
world, as I beg you with all my heart to do, because
this is one of the greatest desires that I have. I have
had much pleasure in letting the artist who painted the
Magdalen know what your Ladyship wrote to me
about it, because I know how much encouragement it
60 Vittoria Colonna
will give him to hear your judgment on his work, to
which he will have to be grateful, if, under the stimula-
ting effects of your praises, he adds something to the
perfection of his art. Our Lord God grant your
Ladyship all that content which you desire, and I com-
mend myself always to you." 1
Nevertheless, for what reason we know not, the
picture found its way back to Mantua ; that it did not
remain long in the Marchesa's possession is attested
by the fact that only two years later, in 1533, del
Vasto was again trying to procure a Magdalen for
her, which occasioned Isabella Gonzaga, the Duke's
mother, to write the following gracious epistle to
Messer Giovanni Tommaso Tucca, del Vasto's secre-
tary :
"I saw a few days ago, in a letter which you wrote to
my Count Nicola di Maphei, a passage about the wish
of the Marchese del Vasto to have my picture of St.
Mary Magdalen to make a present of it to the Signora
di Pescara. And because I have nothing in the world
that I should not wish to belong equally to his Ex-
cellence, it gave me the greatest satisfaction to see
that he had this desire, and I should have sent him the
picture immediately, but, because 1 wished first to have
a replica made of it, it was necessary to keep it until
the artist had done copying it. Now that he has
finished it, I send the picture by the same bearer as
this letter of mine, and 1 address it to you, begging
you to present it in my name to the aforesaid Signer
Marchese, giving his Excellence to understand that I
1 Letter dated Mantua, July 28, 1531. Carteggio, Letter XLVI.
Choice and Circumstance 61
am sorry it is not much more beautiful, although, if it
pleases him, it cannot but be most beautiful." 1
This letter is rather an evidence of the great desire
of the house of Gonzaga to stand well with del Vasto,
who was a powerful imperial favourite, than of anything
else, but it is disappointing that we do not know by
what artist the picture was painted, nor have we any
account of its reaching Vittoria, who would have been
in Ischia at that date. But this is anticipating events
by some years. In 1528, the pestilence which had
devastated Naples spread to Ischia, and the Marchesa
was obliged to leave the island and go to Arpino, from
whence she proceeded to Rome, where she remained
during the greater part of 1530.
Ascanio Colonna, with his beautiful wife, Giovanna
d'Aragona, and del Vasto, who was married to
Giovanna's sister, Maria, were all in Rome at this time.
Vittoria was singularly blessed in the women with
whom she was most closely connected. Each name
that comes to our notice as that of one of her near
relations, whether it be that of her aunt, Costanza
d'Avalos, Principessa di Francavilla, or of the ladies of
the court of Urbino, or of the two just mentioned
above, gives forth a fragrance of its own, and is marked
with its own distinction. This is, perhaps, especially
the case with the Lady Giovanna, whom poets and
painters have delighted to honour. Raphael and Titian
painted her, Ariosto celebrated her, and in the curious
anthology, called // Tempo alia divina Signora Donna
Giovanna d 1 Aragona^ collected by that rather ineffectual
1 Letter of March, 1533, published by Luzio, Vittoria Colonna,
p. 19.
62 Vittoria Colonna
person Ruscelli, 1 if there be not much of marked
interest, it yet testifies to " the great merits and supreme
worth, and the infinite beauty of body and soul " of
this most illustrious lady ; and the charms of her sister,
the Marchesa del Vasto, are linked with hers in a
graceful manner. Luca Contile was one of Giovanna's
ardent admirers, and wrote about fifty sonnets in her
honour, while Maria was sung by the poet Tansillo.
Giulia Gonzaga, herself a far-famed beauty, used to
say that of these sisters Giovanna was undoubtedly the
most beautiful and Maria the proudest. Life in Rome
with these paragons must have had many agreeable
features; it is also pleasant to know that among the
children of Ascanio and Giovanna there was one
daughter, named after her aunt, Vittoria, who was a
special favourite of hers, and was said to resemble her
greatly in mind and person.
Vittoria Colonna is, perhaps, nowhere more charming
than viewed in regard to these family ties which nothing
could ever weaken, and she seems to have been adored
by her relations. She was indeed a woman to be proud
of : untouched by scandal, unspoiled by praise, incapable
of any ungenerous action, unconvicted of one un-
charitable word. Living in the midst of such religious
and political dissensions as divided and uprooted
families, she yet preserved in all relations of life that
jewel of perfect loyalty which does not ask to be
justified.
1 // Tempio alia divlna Signora Donna Giovanna d* dragpna, fabricate
da tutti i piu gentili Sj>iriti, et in tutte le lingne prindpali del mondo. In
Venetia, per Plinio Pietrasanta, MDLV.
CHAPTER III
EARLY POEMS
When God helps all the workers for His world,
The singers shall have help of Him, not last.
E. B. BROWNING.
WE have to ponder carefully the feelings with which
Vittoria probably regarded her husband before we can
quite understand either her conduct after his death, or
the long, and, to say the truth, somewhat dreary set of
sonnets which he inspired. Bold, high-spirited, fantastic,
eager for fame (who is after all but a vulgar mistress),
we cannot feel that Pescara's character would have been
the complement to that somewhat severe beauty of face
and mind that we associate with Vittoria. Her deep
tranquil affection may have been half a mystery to him,
for if, as chroniclers hint, he had vanoiiij Lives, the unly^
f whirh wt* ^Rq-pRn nn rrr^H rH n Prm him
being found the plaything of mere pmiing fnnrifR,
shows him tn have h?gn rapnblfi nf nuch n Imfing
passion as thp miplty nf whirh hff wni rprtninly ffiiHy.,
and the shadow of treachery which darkens his name,
would hardly have led us to expect.
The record is slight enough and dates are everywhere
wanting, but it is certain that Pescara's affections were
given to one of the ladies-in-waiting of Isabella d'Este,
Marchesa of Mantua, whose name was Delia, and who
63
64 Vittoria Colonna
seems to have been a relation of the Marchesa's
secretary, Mario Equicola, who was always a go-between
in the affair. Isabella's ladies were all noted for their
personal charms. We cannot precisely say when Pescara
first made Delia's acquaintance, but we know that,
after the defeat at Ravenna, he went to Mantua, and
was so cordially received by Isabella, that his aunt,
Beatrice d'Avalos, wrote to thank the Marchesa for her
extreme kindness to her nephew. This would have
been in 1512. Two years later Isabella went to Ischia,
certainly accompanied by the fair Delia, and had a
magnificent reception from Fabrizio Colonna, which
was not only in acknowledgment of the treatment he
had received from her father during his imprisonment
in Ferrara, but still more on account of the Duke's
courtesy in not letting him pass into the hands of the
French.
There are only four letters extant from Pescara to
Equicola, one of which mentions an enclosure to Delia ;
they obviously cover a long period of time, and contain
the history of a passion which had survived the chill
and torment of continuous absence. The letters have
few dates ; to the first, written from Naples, October i ,
the date 1519 has been assigned, but Professor Luzio
thinks it should rather be 1517: the time of Pescara's
return from his diplomatic mission to Brussels, and his
journey to and from Flanders, are here mentioned. The
second letter was from Rocca Secca on December 14;
the others were probably written in 1522. In the
second, he writes of " Delya da chi penso me nasce
omne bene, omne alto pensiero et omne gratia"; in the
last, he prays that he may see her once more before he
Early Poems 65
dies : one wonders if he did. 1 It is difficult to know
exactly what importance to attach to this episode,
though some expressions in the letters make it im-
possible to consider it otherwise than as a serious
affair ; and this would, in some sort, explain the total
lack of confidence and intimacy in the relations of
Pescara and his wife.
Equicola died four months before the Marchese, who
wrote to condole with Isabella on the loss of such a
faithful servant, while he promised to watch over the
interests of Mario's nephews and heirs, and wrote to
Vittoria begging her to do the same, a request which
she faithfully obeyed. We cannot tell whether she
knew that Equicola had been her husband's confidant
in his love-affair ; but, in any case, hers was not a mind
to harbour mean jealousies.
We shall never know how much Vittoria guessed of
the real situation, but the facts as they stand throw
some light on the scope and the tone of her poems. If
it is difficult to imagine that the extravagant grief she
displayed on receiving the news of her husband's death
was lavished on the man who was unfaithful to her, we
can well imagine her weeping over a lost ideal, and can
realise that it was not only her widowhood that she
bewailed, but that " marriage of true minds " which
had never been hers. The grief for what we never had
^ _ ^^^
is so much sorer than the grief for a lost possession;
nor is it only happiness that we mourn in this world ;
perhaps, as many tears are shed over the mere appre-
hension of the unreturning past. Our joys leave us so
much even when they are gone from us, but the
1 These letters are given by Luzio, I'ittoria Colonna, pp. 4-8.
F
66 Vittoria Colonna
mutability of mortal things the sense that we can
retain nothing this makes half the tragedy of life: so
was it with Vittoria, looking back over sixteen chequered
years of married life. We can see her outlook so
clearly; her life has been shaken to its depths, storm-
swept and broken, but from all these wrecks and strays
something must be gathered up, and, if she is to be
ennobled by the past, she realises that nothing remains
to her in the present but a great fidelity.
And so, with a fine pride that would not betray itself,
she closed up the door through which inspiration and
feeling might have come forth, and, disdaining to make
a show of the supreme sorrow of her life, she no doubt
sought relief in song, but elected to keep to the outside
of things, and only to present to the world the image of
the soldier's widow, exulting in her husband's honour,
and deploring, not her own, but her country's loss.
Two causes contribute to the monotony of the
hundred and odd elegiac sonnets ; one is, as we have
noted, the repression exercised in them ; the other, the
total lack of any personal touches. All that is said of
Pescara might have been said of any general ; there is
no trace of any individuality, and, though the measure-
less grief expressed deceives us a little at first, the
repetition of the same words and images becomes weari-
some beyond bearing, and we feel that one genuine
heart-cry would be preferable to all the glory with
which the singer would fain surround her " bel sole."
No doubt something must be allowed for the taste of
the age which tolerated, rather expected, the recurrence
of accepted symbols, and which demanded that poetry
should be Petrarchan or nothing.
Early Poems 67
Vittoria does not live by her poems, least of all by
those inspired by Pescara, but no presentment of her
would be complete that did not give some idea of the
work on which she was engaged for seven years, and to
which she must have owed in part that rich record of
literary friendships which will form the subject of the
next chapter.
We will turn then to the Rime which form the first
part of her literary output. Only one of these poems,
the Epistola a Ferrante Francesco d'Avalos, suo Consorts,
nella Rotta di Ravenna, was certainly written during her
husband's lifetime, and it is curious that this is not
contained in any of the early editions; it was first
published in 1536, by Fabricio da Luna, in his
Vocabulario di cinque mila Vocabuli Toschi, but P. E.
Visconti (1840) was the first to include it among her
poems. This long epistle, which seems to us a rather
heavy composition, with conventional^ classical imagery,
has this one great interest attaching to it, that it has a
far more personal note than any of the sonnets. The
few lines at the end are, perhaps, reproachful, and would
seem to imply that the soldier was more willing to be
gone than the wife to suffer his absence, but this may
be called the fortune of war and will be eternally the
case as long as wars last. There are really touching
lines of personal attachment to the man Pescara, not to
his wounds, or his exploits, or his glory, which is all
we shall get hereafter. She writes :
" But now in this most perilous assault,
In this so cruel and relentless battle
By which my heart and mind are turned to stone,
68 Vittoria Colonna
Your mighty valour has proclaimed you kin
To Hector and Achilles. But for me,
Forlorn and weeping, what can this avail ?
My mind was evermore a prey to dread ;
Whoever saw me melancholy, judged
That jealousy and absence wounded me.
But I, alas ! had ever in my thoughts
Your daring courage, your audacious soul,
With which injurious fortune ill accords.
Others cried out for war, but I for peace.
My speech was ever: it suffices me
If my dear lord rest ever at my side.
You are not hurt by hazardous emprises,
But rather we who, mournful and afflicted,
Wait on, sore wounded by our doubts and fears.
But you, spurred on by rage, and heeding naught
Save honour, 'tis your custom to go forth
Against all perils with fierce fury armed;
While we for youjiold fear within our Jiearts
And grjef^ within our eyes ; while sister_gearns
For brother, wife for spouse, for son the mother." 1
1 " Ma or in questo periglioso assalto,
In questa pugna orrenda e dispietata
Che m* ha fatto la mente e il cor di smalto,
La vostra gran virtft s' & dimostrata
D' un Ettor, d' un Achilla. Ma che fia
Questo per me, dolente, abbandonata !
Sempre dubbiosa fu la mente mia :
Chi me vedeva mesta, giudicava
Che m' offendesse assenza e gelosia.
Ma io, misera me! sempre pensava
L'ardito tuo valor, 1'anima audace,
Con che a' accorda mal fortuna prava.
Altri chiedeva guerra, io sempre pace,
Dicendo : assai mi fia se il mio marchese
Meco quieto nel suo stato giace.
Early Poems 69
This was, of course, written in the early years of
Vittoria's marriage, when her disillusion had not taken
place, and when probably she had no cause to be dis-
illusioned. We learn from Giovio that, in the Dialogo
d'Amore which Pescara sent to his wife from Ravenna,
he urged her to choose for her device a cupid embracing
a serpent, the symbol of prudence, with the legend :
Quern peperit virtus prudentia serve t amorem. We do not
know whether she ever adopted the suggestion, and
Giovio subsequently designed another one for her,
representing rocks lashed by the waves, with the motto :
Conantia frangere frangunt; but the device actually used
by her was a juniper, and she writes of it and its
signification in the following sonnet, which was perhaps
addressed to Costanza d'Avalos :
" By angry winds is this fair juniper
Encompassed, and with all her leaves unspread
And close-shut branches, she defends her head,
Kept thus within herself a prisoner.
Such shall my soul be, lady; tempests stir
Around, yet to no freedom she aspires
From honourable cares and high desires,
But beats back all who seek to conquer her.
She loves, adores her sun, so is she bound
Beneath great thoughts of him, and safe is she,
And victor in all combats proudly found.
Non nuoce a voi tentar le dubbie imprese ;
Ma a noi, dogliose afflitte, che aspettando
Semo da dubbio e da timore offese !
Voi, spinti dal furor, non ripensando
Ad altro che ad onor, contro al periglio
Solete con gran furia andar gridando ;
Noi timide nel cor, meste nel ciglio,
Semo per voi : e la sorclla il fratre,
La sposa il sposo vuol, la madre il figlio."
jo Vittoria Colonna
Nature has taught this tree of her fierce foe
Resistance meet; and reason wills in me
That in my grief my faithfulness should grow." 1
There is no doubt that Vittoria had written poetry
from her youth ; the works of Britonio testify to this ;
they are dedicated to her and pay her the most ex-
travagant compliments. The little life of her by
Filonico is also full of small quotations from her early
verses which have now been lost. 2 In fact, the Marchesa
would never formally consent to the publication of her
poems. In 1537, Varchi, writing to Molza, states that
he had been to see her and had begged her to have her
sonnets printed, but that she would by no means
consent. Nevertheless, five editions appeared during
her lifetime, the first in 1538, which is extremely rare.
We get the fullest details of these from P. E. Visconti,
1 " Quel bel ginepro, cui d' intorno cinge
Irato vento, che n le sue foglie
Sparge, ne i suoi rami apre, anzi raccoglie
La cima, e tutto in se stesso si stringe ;
Qual sia 1'animo mio, donna, dipinge,
Che fortuna combatte e non si scioglie
Dall' alte cure ed onorate voglie,
E chi vincerlo pensa addietro spinge ;
Perch sicuro, sotto i gran pensieri
Ristretto di quel sol ch' ama ed adora,
Vincitor d' ogni guerra altero riede.
A quell' arbor natura insegna i fieri
Nemici contrastar ; ed in me ancora
Ragion vuol che nel mal cresca la fede."
2 This practically contemporary life by Filonico Alicarnasseo (who
is probably to be identified with Costantino d'Atripalta, a member of
the household of the Marchese del Vasto) is reprinted as an Appendix
to the Carteggio by Ferrero and Miiller.
Early Poems 71
to whom we owe the standard edition of Vittoria's
poems brought out by him in 1840, corrected from
the original manuscripts which he discovered in the
Corsini and Casanatense libraries. These manuscripts
appear to have her very latest and most careful
emendations ; some are in her own handwriting, some
in that of Innocenza, the daughter of her agent, Carlo
Gualteruzzi, a beautiful and intelligent girl, whom the
Marchesa brought up and educated.
These early editions contain one hundred and forty-
three sonnets, as against the one hundred and seventeen
given by Visconti, but he includes several of these in
the second part, Rime sacre e morali, and it is probable
that the remaining ones are of uncertain authorship.
In the sixteenth century six more editions appeared,
two more in the next century, and in 1760 a corrected
edition was published by Lancellotti. That these
corrections did not show much critical insight is proved
by the fact that they contain some famous stanzas by
Veronica Gambara, and also still include the canzone,
" Spirto gentil che sei nel terzo giro,"
which, though given in all the early editions, is now
generally attributed to Ariosto. One sonnet is repeated
ten times, and seven are given which are the work of
other authors three of them by Molza.
It is not wonderful that the text should vary im-
mensely, owing to Vittoria's habit of sending stray
copies of sonnets to innumerable friends, some of
whom she invited to offer improvements. Giovanni
Guidiccioni was one of these, and two of his letters,
one to the Marchesa, the other to her secretary,
72 Vittoria Colonna
Giuseppe Jova, are full of interest: both are undated.
To Vittoria he writes : " Your Excellence would make
me think far more of myself than I do, and than I
ought to do, if I did not know the poverty of my
expression and your habit of exalting the humble :
seeing that you make excuses to me for having delayed
writing to me, and are prodigal of such praises to my
sonnets as would be due, though insufficient, to yours.
But I know for certain that I know nothing, and I do
not seek any other glory from my writings than to
know that they have been read by you. Because I
shall feel that I receive a great reward for any labour
of mine, whether small or great, in being certain of
this, and in being able to assure you that they come
from someone who is never tired of talking about
you, and of thinking of the high powers of your mind.
And I would it might please God that I might approach
so near to your learned and graceful style as to be able
to compose a poem, I do not say with the hope of
praise, but without fear of blame. But, since you
have such a good opinion of me, I will endeavour
with all diligence to act so that you shall not be
greatly ashamed of having hoped for fruit from so
sterile a plant. ... I thank you also for your last
most beautiful sonnets, which have so filled my mind
and my ears as those things do which delight one's taste
and please one immensely; and it seems to me that
there are some of them that Bembo would have been
glad to have written. But I have no doubt at all that
you will acquire more every day, and surpass yourself
by more admirable things; which, up till now, my mind
would not have been able to conceive, as it seemed to
Early Poems 73
me that you had arrived at the truest finish and perfec-
tion of style and of thought that one could imagine.
And I understand that the ancient glory of Tuscany
will be renewed, nay, it will pass entirely into
Latium." 1
The emendations were sent in the following letter to
the secretary: "I have examined the three wonderful
sonnets that her Excellence has sent me, which have
made me believe that the spirit, I will not say only of
Petrarca, but of Plato, has passed into that holy breast.
I have read them over several times, and always with
more commendation, and, in order not to depart from
her Excellence's commands, I will rashly tell you what
I should like altered. ... I should express the first
three lines of the sestet otherwise, if it could be done
conveniently, where it says:
' The instant it arrives, happy and eager,
There where I send it, such brief joy surpasses
By a great measure every mortal rapture.'
There I should add a verb the brief joy that it feels
surpasses every mortal rapture : or, perhaps, in this
sense : ' There where I send it, it becomes such that it
surpasses * See now, in order to be obedient, I
have ventured greatly. Now let it be your business
either not to reveal or to excuse my arrogance, and so
I beg you to do." 2
1 Letter xxx (undated), in Opere dl Monsignor G. Guidiccioni, ed.
C. Minutoli.
2 Letter xxxi (also undated). Loc. cit. In the letter these three
lines stand :
74 Vittoria Colonna
Two other sonnets are corrected in this letter, but
neither are to be found in the printed editions of
Vittoria's poems. In the one quoted, though the
Marchesa made two slight alterations, she did not
apparently avail herself of Guidiccioni's suggestions,
acting after the usual fashion of those who ask for
advice. She, however, altered and corrected most
extensively herself, and worked on her sonnets till the
very end of her life.
Besides fugitive gifts, Vittoria seems to have had
some special collections of her poems made, one of
which was sent to Giberti's relative and secretary,
Francesco della Torre, but this was only a loan, as we
see from the following letters. In January, 1540,
della Torre wrote thus to the Marchesa's agent, Carlo
Gualteruzzi :
" I have heard through letters of Messer Lattantio
of the production of many most beautiful sonnets, and
1 have a great desire to have them, if that may be
without importunity. I wanted you to know my wish ;
the rest will be for you to decide, but I know how
much reason I have to confide in this lady's kindness
and in your good offices."
That the sonnets were sent appears from another
letter from della Torre to Gualteruzzi :
" E 'n quel punto che giunge lieto e ardente
La Vio 1* invio, si breve gioia avanza
Qui di gran lunga ogni mortal diletto."
The sonnet is the sixth of those printed for the first time by Visconti,
beginning : f^ivo su questo scoglio orndo e solo. The only alterations that
she seems to have made are 've for 'v'io in the second line quoted, and
mondan for mortal in the third.
Early Poems 75
" The longer your letters are, the dearer they always
are to me; but this short one of yours of the nth is
full of so many favours that it is a long time since I have
had such an agreeable one. I have read the sonnets of
our most illustrious Lady many times, but since 1 shall
not be satisfied without reading them a great deal
oftener, you must please to obtain forgiveness for me
if I do not send them back this time. For I will send
them very soon, when 1 have first made a copy of
them, with the promise not to let them go out of my
hand ; which promise you may safely make for me,
since, as 1 make a profession of some talent in other
things, I confess that in this I am envious. For,
indeed, I should not like such rare compositions to be
in any other hands than mine in this neighbourhood.
For how much honour and favour and grace will they
not be the occasion of to me, if, in order to see such
beautiful gems, people come to my treasure-house ;
as you and whoever else has a taste for such beautiful
things will see ; for the more one reads them, the more
one discovers new beauties. 1 pray you kiss the hands
of her Excellence for me for the favour she has deigned
to grant me, which I esteem as much as I admire her
divine intellect and the grace of God therein." 1
Another copy was sent by Vittoria to that remarkable
woman, Marguerite d'Angoulme, Queen of Navarre,
1 Letters dated Verona, January 30, 1540, and February 16, 1541.
Pino, Nuova Scelta di Lettere. Lib. in. p. 132, and Lib. iv. p. 26.
The " Messer Lattantio " mentioned in the first letter was Lattantio
Tolomei, a cousin of Claudio Tolomei, and Sienese ambassador at the
court of Clement VII. He was a great lover of literature and art, and
a friend of Michelangelo.
j6 Vittoria Colonna
with whom she had so many things in common. The
meeting of these famous ladies, if it had ever taken
place, would have been a matter of historical interest.
Marguerite is one of history's picturesque figures la
Marguerite des Marguerites, as her brother loved to call
her. Her crest a daisy, her motto Non inferiora secutus,
her character so blended of sweetness and strength,
simplicity and courage, that she almost seems the em-
bodiment of Chaucer's ideal flower:
" She that is of alle floures flour,
Fulfilled of al vertu and honour,
And ever y-lyke fair, and fresh of hewe."
She had strong points of resemblance to Vittoria in
her love of letters, her great literary gifts, and the
^ -interest she manifested in reform. Indeed, the protec-
tion she extended to the reformers laid her open to
the accusation of heresy, but it is difficult to ascertain
her position accurately, as it was to the interest of her
political enemies to make her out disaffected to the
Church. It is certain that her brother, Francis I, never
entertained any suspicions of her, and it is equally
certain that she died a Catholic.
It was probably after Vittoria's long visit to Ferrara,
where she would have heard so much of Marguerite
from the latter's cousin, the Duchessa Renata, that the
two authoresses felt a great desire to arrange a meeting,
for which Milan appeared the most eligible place. But
many circumstances arose to prevent the carrying out
of this plan, and Marguerite therefore deputed the
French ambassador, Georges d'Armagnac, Bishop of
Rhodes, to beg for a copy of the Marchesa's sonnets,
Early Poems 77
which he did through Gualteruzzi. The precious
manuscript was sent through Alberto Sacrati, the
Ferrarese ambassador, but it fell into the hands of the
Constable, Montmorency, who informed the king that
he had retained it, judging many things in it to be
contrary to the Christian faith. The king, however,
to whom the name of the Marchesa di Pescara was
well-known, ordered the book to be delivered im-
mediately to his sister. This manuscript is nearly
certainly that which is now to be found in the Biblioteca
Mediceo-Laurenziana of Florence ; for, on the last page
of it, is written in another hand a sonnet in French
which is thought to be by Marguerite. The collection
comprises one hundred and two sonnets, but three of
them are variations of the same, which reduces the
number to ninety-nine, and of these only thirty-seven
are to be found in the printed editions of 1538 and
I 539- 1
Yet another copy was made for Michelangelo, " piu
che carissimo," as we learn from the following letter
from him to his nephew, Lionardo Buonarroti, in
March, 1551 : " Messer Gianfrancesco begged me
earnestly about a month ago for something of the
Marchesa di Pescara's, if I had anything. 1 have
a little book in parchment which she gave me about
ten years back, in which there are one hundred and
three sonnets, not counting those she sent me from
Viterbo on paper, of which there are forty, and which
I had bound in the same volume with the others, and
I lent them to a great many people, and now they are
1 See Domenico Tordi, // cod'ice delle rime di Vittorla Colonna
appartenuto a Marghenta f Angouleme^ Regina di Navarra.
78 Vittoria Colonna
all in print. I have also several letters that she wrote
me from Orvieto and Viterbo ; this is what I have of
the Marchesa's. So show this letter to the said priest
and let me hear what he says." 1
Fattucci was evidently desirous of having the book of
sonnets lent to him, but the artist, writing to his nephew
two months later, says : " As for the Marchesa's book
of sonnets, I do not send it, because I shall first have
it copied, and then I shall send it." 2 From this it
would seem that Michelangelo had become aware that,
though Vittoria's sonnets had all been published, they
yet differed very greatly from the manuscript copies,
which would enhance the value of those he possessed.
Among the hundred and forty-three sonnets given to
him, there must have been many of those subsequently
printed as Rime sacre e morali ; with these we shall not
concern ourselves at present ; they belong to a later,
calmer period, the greater part of them probably to the
time of Vittoria's sojourn at Viterbo, and it is nearly
certain that her vision, Del Trionfo di Cristo, which
seems to be the dividing line between her early and her
later style, was written then.
For full seven years Vittoria poured out her laments
for her husband. In Sonnet cxv she writes :
" I hoped that time would somewhat modify
My fervent longings, that this seventh year
From such long distance none should overhear
Sighs from a heart o'ercome by misery.
1 Letter CCXLIH in Milanesi, Lettere di Michelangelo. The Messer
Gianfrancesco mentioned is Gianfrancesco Fattucci, prete di Santa Maria
del Fiore.
2 Letter CCXLIV, he. cit.
Early Poems 79
But since the pain augments, and since on high
The sun still runs his course, these cannot make
My loss less heavy nor my heart more weak ;
My grief despises time, and sufferings I.
Burning yet weeping, still I do not grieve j
Faithful perhaps shall be my title meet,
Dearer than any deathless honours lend.
I will not change my faith, nor will I leave
This rock which pleased my sun, where I would end
These bitter hours as those which erst were sweet." 1
This was obviously written from Ischia, where the
Marchesa did pass a good deal of her time, but family
circumstances were perpetually causing her to move
from one place to another, and she always seems to
have preferred convent-residences.
It would be impossible, without being wearisome, to
give more than a few specimens of Vittoria's style.
There is a fine sonnet here and there, and many fine
lines throughout, but the poems on the whole are
artificial and monotonous beyond words. Sonnets v
and vi are among the happiest.
1 " Sperai che '1 tempo i caldi alti desiri
Temprasse alquanto, o da mortale affanno
Fosse il cor vinto si che '1 settim' anno
Non s' udisser si lunge i miei sospiri.
Ma perch& '1 mal s' avanzi o perch& giri
Senza intervallo il sole, an cor non fanno
Piii vile il core o men gravoso '1 danno ;
Che '1 mio duol spregia tempo, ed io martiri.
D'arder sempre piangendo non mi doglio ;
Forse avro di fedele il titol vero,
Caro a me sopra ogn' altro eterno onore.
Non cambiero la f, n questo scoglio
Ch' al mio sol piacque, ove fornire spero,
Come le dolci gia, quest' amare ore."
8o Vittoria Colonna
" My light eternal, in thy victories
Nor time nor season took a favouring part ;
Thy sword, thy strength, and thy undaunted heart,
Summer and winter were thy sole allies.
In so short time didst thou, prudent and wise,
Disperse the foe, the manner did no less
Than did the deed thine inward worth confess,
And lent more honour to the high emprise.
Never did haughty minds arrest thy course,
Nor streams nor mountains ; cities that were great
Were conquered by thy favour or thy force.
The world's great prizes unto thee were given ;
Other and true thy triumphs now in heaven,
With other leaves thy brows incoronate." 1
" O upon what smooth waves and tranquil seas
My bark erewhile sailed onward with her prize,
A load of rich and noble merchandise,
Through the pure air and with propitious breeze.
Heaven, that now hides her lovely brightnesses,
Lent me a light serene and free from shade.
Ah ! let who blithely travels feel afraid :
The first stage with the last not oft agrees.
1 " Alle vittorie tue, mio lume eterno,
Non diede il tempo o la stagion favore :
La spada, la virtii, 1* invitto core
Fur li ministri tuoi la state e '1 verno.
Col prudente occhio e col saggio governo
L' altrui forze spezzasti in si brev' ore,
Che '1 modo all' alte imprese accrebbe onore
Non men che 1' opre al tuo valore interno.
Non tardaro il tuo corso animi alteri
O fiumi o nionti, e le maggior cittadi,
Per cortesia od ardir, rimaser vinte.
Gianh Salisti al mondo i pid pregiati gradi ;
del Fiort. Or godi in ciel d' altri trionfi e veri,
2 Letter ^ D' altre frondi le tempie ornate e cinte."
Early Poems 81
Behold where fell and fickle fortune shows
Her angry, evil face, the hurricane
Bred of her fury doth around me close,
And savage beasts are ravening at my side ;
Against me fight the winds and storms and rain,
But still the faithful star my soul doth guide." 1
Sonnet LXXIII is, perhaps, the most truly auto-
biographical of the series :
" Even my serenest days were clouded all
With mists, and so it was that hopes and fears
Held me alternately 'twixt smiles and tears,
And now of sweet, now bitter thoughts the thrall.
Heaven was not then of gifts so prodigal
As sparing of them now, yet the soul would
Endure sheer ill for that imperfect good,
Which in the dear past years did her befall.
This is the law of that so cruel lord,
Prompt to our hurt and slow to profit us ;
Dark days and sunny hours he doth accord.
1 " Oh che tranquillo mar, oh che chiare onde
Solcava gia la mia spalmata barca,
Di ricca e nobil merce adorna e curca,
Con 1' aer puro e con 1' aure seconde !
II ciel ch' ora i bei vaghi lumi asconde,
Porgea serena luce e d' ombra scarca ;
Ahi quanto ha da temer chi lieto varca !
Ch non sempre al principio il fin risponde.
Ecco 1' empia e volubile fortuna
Scoperse poi 1' irata iniqua fronte,
Dal cui furor si gran procella insorge.
Venti, pioggia, saette insieme aduna,
E fiere intorno a divorarmi pronte ;
Ma 1' alma ancor la fida Stella scorge."
82 Vittoria Colonna
Devoid of faith and full of falsity,
Trust not the outward show to judge him by,
You who have reached the passage perilous." 1
We have noble expressions of faithfulness in
Sonnets XLVI and LXXX, and the series ends with a
madrigal, which seems to be the only one Vittoria
ever wrote.
" This honourable tie that binds my soul,
Since the high cause immortal hath become,
Drives from my heart that evil which in some
Changes to violence the lover's dole.
No longer love false pictures doth unroll
Before my mind, nor fear doth now assail ;
Nor gold nor leaden dart doth now prevail
By curb or spear my motion to control.
With steadfast faith, in this unshaken mood,
By one fair, faithful thought he is exprest :
Above the stars, beyond all change and fate,
1 " Erano in parte i miei giorni piti chiari
Di nebbia impressi, che in timore e spene
Mi tenner sempre fra diletti e pene
Or con dolci pensier or con aniari.
Non fur si larghi allor, ch' or tant' avari
Mi sieno i cieli : e pur 1' alma sostiene
Intiero mal per 1' imperfetto bene,
Che si godeva gia negli anni cari.
Questa la legge di quel rio signore,
All' altrui danno pronto, all' util parco,
Che i di ne fa infelici e liete 1' ore.
Egli voto di fe, d'inganni carco ;
Non vi fidate a quel ch' appar di fuore,
Voi che giungete al periglioso varco."
Early Poems 83
Whose noble scorn nor grows nor doth abate,
He stands for ever firm, for ever blest.
This love fast-founded is the true, the good." 1
" That flower of every virtue planted well
With breath of my glad hope, in a fair field,
In bygone days such perfume sweet did yield
As makes the bitter fruit desirable.
Shall fate be kind to us, we cannot tell,
Or adverse, none can know until the end ;
Loosed from one load, 'neath some new weig.hi_w_bend-;/\
SffCh is our wretc'KecTlot with change to dwell.
But neither change of time nor destiny
Can alter in my mind the high intent
To praise the subject and the loss lament.
From the old passion one fidelity
Springs in my bosom, that no less sincere
Than the first day shall be the latest year." 2
1 " Questo nodo gentil che 1' alma stringe,
Poichd T alta cagion fatta immortale,
Discaccia dal mio cor tutto quel male
Che gli amanti a furor spesso costringe.
Tanto 1* immagin false or non dipinge
Amor nella mia mente, n m" assale
Timor, n 1' aureo n '1 piombato strale
Tra freni e sproni or mi ritiene, or spinge.
Con salda fede in quell* immobil stato
Me 1' appresenta un fido e bel pensiero,
Sopra le stelle, la fortuna e '1 fato,
N men sdegnoso un giorno ne piti altero
L' altro ; ma sempre stabile e beato.
Questo amor, ch' ora e fermo, 6 il buono, e '1 vero."
2 " Quel fior d' ogni virtute in un bel prato
Con 1' aura della mia gioiosa speme
Tal odor mi di gia, che '1 dolce seme
Fa il frutto amaro ancor soave e grato.
84 Vittoria Colonna
MADRIGAL
" From sovereign desire are born the fears
Which to the soul bring mingled smiles and tears.
The wretched heart in its infirmity
Is hurt by that fierce heat
Whose supreme worth it faileth to descry.
But when the mind becomes irradiate,
Evil and woe are gone,
And joy remains alone ;
The height of my fair fancy makes me view
False things as false, and true things doubly true." 1
These, then, are specimens of the poems which won
their author such great fame in her generation, a time,
Se n' benigno o pur contrario il fato,
Non si discerne infin all' ore estreme :
Ch se 1* un mal s* allevia, 1' altro preme :
Sempre dubbioso il nostro miser stato.
Ma per cangiar di tempo o di fortuna
Non fia cangiato in me 1* alto pensiero
Di lodar la cagion, piangere il danno.
Dall' antica passion nacque sol' una
Fede al mio petto ; che non men sincero
Del primo giorno sara 1' ultim' anno."
1 " Dal soverchio desio nasce la tema
E fa che 1' alma in un gioisca e gema :
Sente 1' ardor che '1 miser core offende,
Quando dal suo imperfetto
II sublime valor non si comprende.
Ma poi che '1 lume irradia 1' intelletto,
II mal fugge e la noia,
E sol m' apporta gioia,
E fa 1' altezza del mio bel pensiero
II falso falso, e '1 ver piti che mai vero."
Early Poems 85
we must remember, when other poetesses were not
wanting, and women of culture and taste abounded.
Yet among all Vittoria reigned supreme, and, to realise
this, we cannot be content to devote ourselves solely or
chiefly to the works she has left behind : we feel that
the real worth must have been in the woman herself,
and we cannot hope better to arrive at a more intimate
knowledge of her than by studying her in her mani-
fold friendships.
CHAPTER IV
A CHRONICLE OF FRIENDSHIPS
Truly the losse should be much more than the gain if that high
degree of friendshippe should be taken from the fellowshippe of man,
which in mine opinion ministreth unto us all the goodness conteined in
our life. CASTIGLIONE, // Cortegiano (Hoby).
SOME people choose their friends on the rough and
ready principle that " it takes all sorts to make a
world," and thence results a possibly pleasing, but
bewildering, mixture, of which the chief disadvantage
is that it will not mix. But, with the greater number
of us, allowing always for those friendships of circum-
stance which are, as it were, thrust upon us, and for
which we are scarcely responsible, there is a certain
similarity of aims and tastes running through any
group of friends which explains them to each other.
This is notably the case with Vittoria Colonna :
from her early days two things distinguish her love
of family and friends, and love of literature ; and, in
her later life, Friendship and Poetry were her guiding-
stars. And, fixing our eyes on her large circle of
friends, it is their likeness to each other that will most
strike us : the same sense of proportion, of the relative
value of things, the same ideal, and the same notion of
how to attain it. For in this, at any rate, Vittoria
was essentially unlike many of her sparkling sisters of
86
A Chronicle of Friendships 87
the Renaissance : brilliancy was not her chief feature,
and she was not conspicuous, as so many of them
were, for a restless and insatiable curiosity. Rather do
we find in her the patience and reserve which mark
the mind of the scholar, and that quality of aloofness
which also characterises those who are not even
scholars, but only the humblest students. These are
not attracted by the world ; they feel a need of being
alone, a sense of finding themselves in solitude, and of
losing the best part of themselves in society, as though
light, and talk, and a crowd, far from giving them
anything, appeared, on the contrary, to rob them of
what they had that was most precious. And, as this is
a world of compensations, natures of this kind, if not
reclusive, seem to have a special gift for friendship and
to find their best expression in it.
If there is one thing that the present age has lost
completely, it is the solid love of letters, though
education was never more talked about. The times
may compare favourably with the last century, or
century and a half, in that intellectual pursuits are, at
worst, indulgently permitted, and, at best, regarded
as the legitimate development of a certain order of
mind ; but that does not falsify the statement that the
humanistic point of view has been wholly lost. It was
the noblest idea that the Renaissance had to give, and
very nobly did the men and women of that epoch rise
to realise it.
It is probable that the wave of scientific discovery
which rolled over the last century diverted men's
minds to the positive and the practical ; for the charm
of certainty, the possibility of proof, is attractive to
88 Vittoria Colonna
some characters ; but while we cannot but respect the
patience and devotion which science demands of her
votaries, there is no doubt that the general effect has
been to induce a preference for such knowledge as can
be measured, and to make men attach an undue im-
portance to tangible results.
On the other hand, it may be said that in education
we tend more to be individualists : we consider each
one's taste and capacity, and perceive that all cannot
have the same talent or reach the same level. And
this is good from one point of view : our error is not
in expectation, but in aim. Mensura hominis ; this is
what we have lost sight of : for the humanists, the man
did not exist apart from his highest capabilities, while
we can be bribed for the neglect of these by some lesser
gift. One little talent, which would have a definite
value as a graceful superstructure, built on when
the main edifice was strong enough to bear it, and im-
parting thereto the stamp of individuality, is regarded
at present as the only thing worth reckoning with.
All education is to be specialised with a view to utility,
and so we have lost the loftier standpoint of former
times, and men grow up half developed, one-sided, and
needlessly limited.
If we would have the clue which shall admit us into
Vittoria's charmed circle, it is this very " measure of a
man": they all measured with the same golden reed.
It will help us to visualise the Marchesa's manner of
life, if we understand clearly her different places of
residence. For the ten years succeeding her husband's
death, she may be said'to have resided at Ischia, though
her sojourn there was diversified by moving to Naples,
A Chronicle of Friendships 89
and Arpino, and Aquino, and by at least two visits of
some duration to Rome and Marino. In 1537, she
made a long stay at Ferrara, which is important for
her relations with Ochino and the Cappuccini, and
will require a separate chapter. In the summer of
1538, she went to the Bolognese, then to Florence and
to Lucca, after which she stayed in Rome until the
Salt War broke out in 1541, when she went for some
months to Orvieto, returning to Rome for a short time,
and then settling at Viterbo for three years in the
Convent of Santa Caterina, making, however, frequent
visits to Rome to see Michelangelo. From 1544 until
her death, in 1547, she lived in Rome at the Convent
of Sant' Anna de' Funari. In all these places Vittoria's
mode of life was the simplest and most retired, but in
all of them her friends sought her out, and if, for any
reason, intercourse was interrupted, it was made up
for by frequent correspondence, and the exchange of
verses and other literary productions.
We have already mentioned Sannazzaro as one of
the early friends as well of the Marchesa as of her
husband, and in this connection we must also consider
the poet, Girolamo Britonio, who, while following Pes-
cara's fortunes for many years, was also a devoted
admirer of Vittoria, for whom he had a chivalrous
affection, appreciating her intellect as much as her
beauty. A sonnet of his praising her style was pub-
lished in 1519, which shows that Vittoria must have
done a good deal of literary work before that date,
though none except the Epistola has come down to us.
Britonio's sonnet, somewhat high-flown and flattering,
is contained in the Gelosia del Sole, which has other
90 Vittoria Colonna
honourable mention of her, and is dedicated to her.
If the work is conventional and the compliments exag-
gerated, it was at least accompanied by a rather charm-
ing letter, which ends thus :
" I pray then that you will deign to accept it, because
1 send you with it the perpetual pledge of a mind
devoted to you. I do not deny that I should have
delayed sending it to you, but a great part of it having
appeared against my will, and a great many verses
being incorrectly given therein, I judged better to
send it you in the same guise, as under the shadow of
your so famous name I am persuaded that it will not
be so unjustly blamed by malevolent judgment. There-
fore, do not be contemptuous when you find it bare
of great thoughts ; read some part, if not for the
merit of this most unpolished work, at least in remem-
brance of the long-standing devotion which I have
borne to you, and which I will bear you as long as I
live." 1
Another poet lover rather than friend was Gale-
azzo di Tarsia. This man was evidently a recluse; he
was a native of Cosenza, who lived a retired life in his
Castle of Belmonte and cultivated poetry. He was a
devoted adherent of the House of Aragon, and his
castle afforded shelter to all the refugees of that party.
How intimately he was acquainted with the Marchesa
we have no means of knowing, but his poems in her
honour have the ring of true feeling and convey a
vivid impression of her beauty. We are indebted to
him for descriptions of her speaking eyes and her
1 Opera volgare dl Girolamo Britoxio di Slcignano intitolata Gelosia del
Sole. Dedication.
A Chronicle of Friendships 91
golden hair " bright shining tresses, nets of curling
gold," he writes and one sonnet begins thus :
" I bless the day when tender hands and white
Opened my heart, when one curled golden head
So swift and soon me into bondage led ;
And most those eyes which with a burning light
Fulfilled these eyes of mine." 1
A man of fastidious taste and secluded life, he was
content that both his love and his genius should
remain hidden. His contemporaries seem to have had
scarcely any knowledge of him, and his poems were
never published until 1617 more than half a century
after his death. Where all attain to a high level of
excellence, selection is difficult, but the subjoined son-
net is at any rate particularly appropriate.
" Fair marble, honour is thine ornament,
Showing the image high of Love divine,
Even as a gem's translucent colours shine
On the blest bosom of the Orient.
Who can one small bright ray make evident
Of the great splendour which encircles thee ?
Or can the power that other light to see
That fires thy heart to pen or mind be lent ?
Heaven should have granted such a style or thought
As subject so sublime aright portrays ;
Or should not in such wondrous wise have wrought.
1 " lo benedico il eft, che il cor m' apriste,
Man bianche e molli, e te, veloce e presta
A legarmelo poi, cresp' aurea testa,
Occhi, e pill voi, che di bel foco etnpiste
Quest' occhi miei."
92 Vittoria Colonna
But since the truth exceeds what either tells,
Angels must stoop to speak of thee, or else
The longing must suffice without the praise." 1
During the Marchesa's brief appearance at the court
of Leo X, she made at least three lifelong friendships,
namely with Giberti, Sadoleto, and Bembo. These
men, together with Cardinals Pole, Contarini, and
Morone, will be seen to have been most intimately
connected with her, and to have had the greatest influ-
ence over her life an influence which was, in all cases,
mutual. We have already sketched out the life of
Giberti, and given some of the letters that passed
between the friends. All their correspondence shows
a very real respect and affection.
There is a picturesque element in what we know of
Sadoleto. He, too, was a poet, and wrote both in Italian
and Latin ; his Curtius and Laocoon were much praised
by his contemporaries, and there is a charming incident
connected with the latter poem. Sadoleto first went
1 " Chiaro, e di vero onor marmor lucente,
Che 1' aha imago del divino Amore
Serbi, qual gemma lucido colore
Nel piil felice sen dell' Oriente ;
Chi pud segnare un picciol raggio ardente
Dell' immense splendor che t' orna fuore ?
O 1' altro in parte che ti alluma il core,
Ombreggiar con la penna e con la mente ?
Doveva stile il Ciel darne, o pensiero
Conforme a si sublime e raro oggetto,
O non fuor del mortale uso intagliarti.
Ma poich questo, o quel non giunge al vero,
Scenda a parlar di te puro Intelletto,
O almen basti il desio senza lodarti."
A Chronicle of Friendships 93
to Rome under the protection of Cardinal Oliviero
Caraffa ; it was just at the time when, by order of
Pope Julius II, excavations were being made and art-
treasures were being constantly recovered. Sadoleto
was keenly interested in the work, and frequently
assisted at it. One day, the workmen sent to him to
report that they had unearthed a colossal marble group,
which seemed to be a Grecian masterpiece. Sadoleto,
hastening to the spot, recognised the Laocoon as de-
scribed by Pliny. He immediately apprised Bembo of
the fact, and the Laocoon, crowned with flowers, was
borne in procession through the city and into the
Vatican. In a few hours Sadoleto improvised his
Latin ode, which he recited in the presence of the Pope
and an assemblage of courtiers, standing before the
laurel-wreathed statue. The Pope was so struck with
the poem that, the next day, he sent the author a beau-
tiful manuscript of Plato. This anecdote indicates that
the hero might be a fitting friend for Vittoria, which
fact further details of his life and character fully carry
out, for his charm does not reside solely in his poetry.
He became secretary to Leo X, and his life at the
papal court was exemplary ; in an age of bargaining
and self-seeking, he was distinguished by never asking
anything for himself and firmly refusing all presents.
He was made Bishop of Carpentras, and remained
there during the pontificate of Adrian VI. Clement
VII recalled him to Rome, and, not deeming it right
to refuse, he obeyed, sorely against his will, only stipu-
lating that he should be permitted to return in three
years. At the end of that time, like an ecclesiastical
Cincinnatus, he went back to his own see, and re-
94 Vittoria Colonna
sumed his quiet, studious life. He was adored by his
flock ; he was the arbiter in all quarrels, the settler of
all difficulties, and did justice under the trees in his
garden. Amongst his writings was a commentary on
St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, which was greatly
approved by Erasmus, but incurred ecclesiastical cen-
sure, which, however, was removed, the book being
warmly defended by Cardinal Contarini.
Paul III recalled Sadoleto to Rome and made him a
cardinal in 1536, and, five years later, he was sent on a
diplomatic mission to Francis I. His intercourse with
Vittoria must have ceased during his residence at
Carpentras, but was no doubt renewed when he re-
turned to Rome. Their friendship, however, never
languished, and he was one of her executors. It is
curious that no letters remain as a memorial, since it
is obvious that many must have been exchanged.
Intellectually, it is probable that Vittoria owed more
to Bembo than to anyone else. By age and standing,
he was eminently fitted to be her master and adviser,
while his infallible taste made him the universal censor
at that time. No story of this date would be complete
without some sketch, however slight, of the man who
seemed so curiously to dominate it ; but he was so
entirely the creation of his own age that it is difficult
to find a niche for him in ours not because our age is
better, but because it is different. We wonder what
kind of a personality was his, to achieve the position
which he did, for it was not his age or rank, and as-
suredly not his literary output, which seems to raise
him so prominently above his contemporaries. Men
of more real genius riper scholars, as Jacopo Sannaz-
A Chronicle of Friendships 95
zaro ; greater poets, as Ariosto deferred to his opinion,
and measured the worth of their work by his judg-
ment of it. His ideal of a national language was
indeed a high one; he besought his countrymen, when
leaving Latin, to use, not the common tongue of the
people, but only the very purest Italian. But he was
not original : a close copyist of Virgil and Cicero in
Latin, servilely Petrarchan in Italian, he made his mark
not so much by his matter as by his manner, inculcat-
ing the doctrine of doing little and perfectly, with an
immense expenditure of thought. Bembo was the
high-priest of form, that most vital requisite of all
good literature, and he was never tired of dwelling on
the distinction that should characterise true poetry :
and men who have recognised these things have won
their immortality.
A Venetian citizen, Pietro Bembo had yet lived
some time in Florence, and had thus acquired that
pure Tuscan which played so conspicuous a part in
his literary career, while his Greek he learned in Mes-
sina from the celebrated Costantino Lascaris. About
the year 1498, his father having been appointed vis-
domlno for Venice at the court of Ferrara, Pietro pro-
ceeded thither, and remained there for several years.
There was indeed every inducement to him to do so.
Always more occupied with literature than with any-
thing else, he found himself in a most congenial en-
vironment in Ferrara, which was then one of the effec-
tive literary centres of Italy, and had attracted to itself
a great circle of literati and notably of poets. He was
still residing there when, in 1502, the golden-haired
Lucrezia Borgia wedded Alfonso, son of Duke Ercole,
96 Vittoria Colonna
and it is certain that Bembo desired to add yet another
experience to the very varied ones of which that lady's
life was made up.
In 1505, he published the Asolani, which was dedi-
cated to Lucrezia. These celebrated discourses, inter-
spersed with poems, some extraordinarily graceful and
some singularly monotonous, were supposed to take
place at Asolo, a castle in the Trevigiano, where lived
Caterina Cornaro, the ex-Queen of Cyprus, and where,
amidst a brilliant court-circle, she was celebrating the
marriage of one of her ladies. On three successive
days, three noble youths and maidens meet together in
the court-garden to discuss the nature of Love, the
aspects of which are thus presented.
The speaker of the first day, Perottino, demonstrates
that love is synonymous with desire, and is wholly evil.
He is refuted on the second day by Gismondo, who
defines love as the ordered desire for the beautiful,
and, as such, bringing only blessing. The speaker of
the third day takes a yet loftier flight, and represents
love as the desire for the intrinsic, immutable beauty,
aspiring so high and so far as to find its only fulfilment
in the Eternal Beauty, which is God.
The outcome of his Ferrarese sojourn, but deeply
tinctured with Florentine Platonism, the Asolani quickly
became the model of all contemporary treatment of
love, just as the Prose della Volgar Lingua^ published in
1525, became the standard of language.
In 1506 Bembo proceeded to Urbino, and was for
six years an ornament of the famous court where
Guidobaldo had ruled, and the Duchessa Elisabetta and
Emilia Pia reigned. Made papal secretary in 1513,
A Chronicle of Friendships 97
Bembo immediately took rank as one of the most
notable men in Rome, on account of his varied attain-
ments, his magnificent library the best private one
in Rome and, probably, no less, for his captivating
manners. Possessed of these, it seems strange that his
diplomatic missions, both to Venice and Ravenna, were
failures. Bembo evidently was no politician, but in all
other relations of life he seems to have been largely
endowed with that quality which is at once a gift and a
grace, the indefinable attribute of tact, which is, as della
Casa says, " either a virtue, or the thing that comes
very near to virtue." All the accounts of him that are
preserved to us give an unfailing impression of
appreciative courtesy and sympathy, constantly given
forth by a man who was the leader and the admiration
of his contemporaries.
To us this ecclesiastic (though only in minor orders ;
he never became a priest till he was on the point of
being made a cardinal), who had buried one passion in
Ferrara and another in Venice, and was living in Rome
with his mistress, Morosina, is rather a repulsive
spectacle, though his own age seems to have seen
nothing startling in the situation. At any rate, he
tenderly loved Morosina and the children she bore
him, and she had no rival during her life, and after
her death no successor.
The most fascinating portion of Bembo's life was
certainly the twenty years that he spent, more or less
continuously, at his favourite villa, Noniano, near
Padua. Here we find in him the double charm of the
highly cultivated, many-sided connoisseur, and the
greater attraction of the mind of the student ; here
H
98 Vittoria Colonna
he seems to deepen and to expand. We can picture
to ourselves his beautiful garden, full of rare plants and
herbs, for he was a great botanist ; his collection of
medals, coins, and antiquities, for he was a noted judge
of such things ; and here we can see him in his
extensive library, leading studious days, holding ever
before him the ideal of the scholar, making patient re-
searches, polishing his every work laboriously. At the
same time he was no recluse, for he was consulted from
far and near; no literature of any kind was considered
safe that had not received his imprimatur, and he was
surrounded by a band of friends and worshippers, who
hung upon his every word and relied upon his lightest
judgment, so that his small villa became the centre of
the humanistic world, and he the idol of the whole
literary community. The man's nature must have
been rich and sweet to be unspoiled by all this adula-
tion, and to give out, unfailingly, wise advice, courteous
encouragement, and generous approbation.
We are at no loss to account for the friendship which
grew up between Bembo and Vittoria, for, besides the
tastes they had in common, there was a fund of sanity
and generosity in the character of each which could
not fail to render them attractive to each other. That
he greatly admired her writings we learn from one of
his letters to her, dated January 20, 1530, in which he
says, having just seen several of her sonnets written
upon the death of her husband, " how mujch L J.j5Xult
over our age an age which has both had him, who
among men was equal in arms to the valour of the
most praised and most illustrious of the ancients, and
also you, who among women have attained to more
A Chronicle of Friendships 99
excellencejn this art than seems possible for nature to
conced^to^our^sex.^" 1 All their letters show on what
pleasant terms they stood with each other ; they ex-
changed portraits and addressed sonnets to one another.
One of the Marchesa's commends the Asolani; the
following, which is, perhaps, the most interesting,
reminds us that she was instrumental in procuring
Bembo's elevation to the purple, and also indicates
that she would not have been averse to seeing him
invested with that further dignity of which he is said
to have stood a chance.
" O happy spirit, whose noble gaze and bright
Pierces the distance; and whate'er surrounds
The elements, or day within its bounds
Unveils, falls far below your thought's high flight :
If, live and pure, you raise to the true light,
Whose splendour decks you, the immortal eye,
In that abode your lofty destiny
Of sacred rule you will behold aright.
Wherefore do thou in us that sacred seed
With neither tired nor sparing hand renew,
Which to immortal fruit the soul doth lead.
Then, when the royal wills are unified,
The scattered flock they shall assign to you
To rule, O father, shepherd, master and guide." 2
1 Carfeggio, Letter XL.
2 " Spirto felice, il cui chiaro ed altero
Sguardo lunge discerne, e quanto intorno
Circonda gli elementi, e quanto il giorno
Discopre, e basso al vostro alto pensiero :
S' alzate puro e vivo al lume vero,
Che v' ha del suo splendor fatto s v i adorno,
L' occhio immortal, vedrete in quel soggiorno
L' alto destin del vostro sacro impero.
ioo Vittoria Colonna
From Bembo it is natural to turn to the man who
delighted to honour him, and from whom it is likely
that most of us derive our most vivid conception of
the literary Cardinal. Baldassare Castiglione was the
ornament in turn of nearly every famous court in Italy,
but was the special darling of the court of Urbino,
where he was cherished as a son or brother. He seems
to have been one of those times d'^lite who are endowed
with all the gifts in the world and out of it; the
accidents of noble birth and personal beauty are lost
sight of in the lustre of his mind and character.
Through all his eventful life, his faith, his loyalty, and
his devotion shine forth, and no less excellent is the
sense of values which placed the good soldier and the
most finished gentleman of the age in the forefront of
scholarship and literature. The name of Castiglione, of
course, suggests the Cortegiano the portrait of the ideal
courtier, whose character was so happily realised in that
of the author. The book was written to keep alive
the glory of the court of Urbino in the days of
Guidobaldo and his Duchessa Elisabetta, and no rulers
could wish for a more enduring monument. It would
be idle to give an account of a work so well-known
and so often described, yet it is tempting to linger over
anything so perfect. The charm, and wit, and wisdom
of all those men and women are made alive for us for
Onde poi non sarete o stance o scarso
Di rinnovar fra noi 1' antico seme,
Ch' a frutto eterno alfin 1* alma conduce.
Allor le regal voglie unite insieme
Daran^la verga in man del gregge sparse
A voi^padre, pastor, maestro e duce."
A Chronicle of Friendships 101
ever, and so enlightened are their sayings that we
wonder how succeeding generations should dream of
adding anything to the ethics of manners, of letters,
and of love. Jest and earnest alternate swiftly ; we are
sometimes kept on the surface and sometimes taken
down into the deeps of thought; until we are led up
to those farthest heights for which neither moon nor
stars would suffice, and so the author created the sun-
rise of a new day.
The Cortegiano seems to have been begun in 1514,
when Castiglione was residing in Rome as the am-
bassador of Francesco della Rovere, Guidobaldo's
nephew and adopted successor. He had there a noble
circle of associates poets, men of letters, and artists ;
among the former Bembo, Sadoleto, and Federigo
Fregoso ; among the latter, Raphael and Michelangelo,
the former of whom was his most intimate friend and
constantly asked his advice. The book was completed
about 1518, and submitted to Bembo, but countless
alterations were made in it during the next few years,
and, in 1524, it was sent to Vittoria Colonna, doubtless
for two reasons that her opinion in such matters was
continually sought for, and that the book in question
would be particularly interesting and acceptable to her
as extolling her famous aunt, the Duchessa of Urbino.
It is at this juncture that we have to relate the only
unpleasant episode that ever occurred between the
Marchesa and any of her literary friends. Castiglione,
being about to set out for Spain, wrote to request that
his manuscript might be returned to him, and the
following is a part of Vittoria's answer : " I had not
forgotten my promise to you ; on the contrary, I am
loa Vittoria Colonna
sorry that I have remembered it so well, because it has
continually taken from me the pleasure of such a beau-
tiful book, thinking that I should have to send it back
without reading it as often as I should have liked,
which, at least, would have helped me by keeping it
well impressed on my memory. Since you have been
disobliging enough to press me for it, and since I arn
already in the middle of my second reading of it, 1
pray your Lordship to allow me to finish it, and then
I promise to return it to you, as soon as I hear from
you by letter that you are going to leave Rome. You
will not need to send anyone for it, for I will return
it carefully and safely. It would not be fitting that I
should tell you what I think of it, for the same reason
that your Lordship says you cannot speak of the beauty
of the Signora Duchessa, 1 but for the promise I made
you ; and I shall not trouble to write you an elaborate
letter telling you what you know better than 1 do. I
will simply tell you the plain truth, affirming it with
an oath which will demonstrate its efficacy, when 1 say
por vida del Marches, my Senor y that 1 have never seen,
nor expect to see, another work in prose superior to
this, or to be compared to it ; nor, perhaps, one that
deserves to be ranked second to it. Because, besides
the new and beautiful subject, the excellence of the
style is such that, with a sweetness never felt before, it
leads you to a charming and fruitful hill, ascending
always, without ever letting you perceive that you are
1 " I confess not only that I have not expressed, but that I have not
even indicated, the excellence of the Signora Duchessa, because not only
is my style insufficient to express it, but also my mind to imagine it."
Dedication of // Cortegiano.
A Chronicle of Friendships 103
no longer on the plain where you entered ; and the
way is so well cultivated and adorned, that it is diffi-
cult to discern whether art or nature has most embel-
lished it. Let us pass over the wonderful wit, the
wise sayings, that shine upon us no less than gems set
in just enough gold to hold them together without
taking away the smallest part of their light ; nor do I
think that other such jewels can be found, nor any
artificer to improve on their setting." 1
Whether Vittoria's flattering remarks so softened
the heart of Castiglione that he permitted her to con-
tinue to be the custodian of the Corteglano^ we do not
know; but it is certain that she retained possession of
it, at the same time remaining a fast friend of the
author, as we have a cordial letter of his to her from
Madrid, congratulating her on the "glorious suc-
cesses " of her husband at the battle of Pavia. But in
September, 1527, he writes complaining that she has
not kept his manuscript safely ; that he hears that
many fragments of it are in Naples, in divers hands,
and that, on that account, he is having it printed. And
in the dedication of the Corteglano to Don Michele de
Silva, Bishop of Visco, there stands this passage, which
must surely have been a painful one for the Marchesa,
although the rights of authorship were very differently
regarded in those days to what they are now :
" Finding myself in Spain, and hearing news from
Italy that the Signora Vittoria della Colonna, Marchesa
di Pescara, to whom I had already lent the book, con-
trary to her promise had had a great part of it tran-
scribed, I could not but feel some annoyance about it,
1 Letter dated Marino, September 20, 1524. Carteggio, xvm.
104 Vittoria Colonna
fearing those many inconveniences which may happen
in such cases. Nevertheless, I trusted that the talent
and prudence of that lady (whose virtue I have always
held in veneration as something divine) would be suffi-
cient to prevent any prejudice coming to me from
having obeyed her commands. But at length I learned
that part of the book was in Naples in the hands of
many ; and, as men are always covetous of novelty, it
seemed likely that these persons might try to have it
printed. Wherefore, terrified at this danger, I deter-
mined to revise the book quickly, in the little time at
my disposal, with the intention of publishing it ; think-
ing it less bad to see it a little defaced by my hands,
than much lacerated by the hands of others." 1
So the Cortegiano saw the light in Venice, in 1528;
and there would not appear to have been any undue
hurry in this, as the book had been practically finished
ten years earlier.
It is fortunate that Castiglione's expostulatory letter
ends in a forgiving strain : " If your Ladyship should
think that this might have had the power to weaken in
any way the desire I have to serve you, you would err
in judgment, a thing which you have never done in all
your life. On the contrary, I am really indebted to
you, because the necessity of having the book printed
immediately has relieved me from the trouble of adding
many things to it, as I had already made up my mind
to do, and these would only have been of slight im-
portance, like the rest ; and thus fatigue will be less-
ened to the reader, and blame to the author ; so that
there is no occasion for your Ladyship, or for me, to
1 Dedication of // Cortegiano.
A Chronicle of Friendships 105
repent or amend. It now only remains for me to kiss
your hands and to commend myself to your favour." 1
We do not know whether any other letters passed
between them before death overtook Castiglione in
1529, when all Spain and Italy mourned the man who
had so adorned both.
Several literary men of note are associated with the
Marchesa's life at Ischia. Hither came Marcantonio
Flaminio, as early as 1514, to make the acquaintance
of Sannazzaro. This remarkable youth, who began his
literary career at the age of sixteen, when he went to
Rome to present his own poems and those of his father
to Leo X, seems in no wise to have disappointed his
early promise. Leo is said to have been so struck with
his extraordinary ability that he said to him : Macte
nova <virtute y puer: sic itur ad astra. Patronised and
admired by every man of note, he went for a time to
Urbino, at the invitation of Castiglione, who, charmed
with his intelligence, kept him at his side and gave
him all manner of advice and instruction, for which
Flaminio expressed his gratitude in an ode which is
said to have been a marvellous production for a lad of
seventeen. It is probable that he knew the Marchesa
from the time of his first visit to Naples ; at any rate,
he played a large part in her later life, particularly
during her sojourn at Viterbo, and we shall have to
speak of him later, when we come to deal with Ochino
and his followers.
We are not sure when Vittoria first came to know
the historian, Paolo Giovio, but he certainly visited her
1 Letter dated from Burgos, September 21, 1527. Carteggio,
xxxiv.
106 Vittoria Colonna
at Ischia in 1528 ; his life of Pescara is dedicated to
her, and is specially interesting from the fact that she
probably supplied many of the details ; and she was
greatly pleased with the historian's life of her cousin,
Pompeo Colonna, whose force of character and elements
of greatness are so happily set forth therein. It was
Giovio who presented to her notice the scholar,
Antonio Minturno, a man who seems to have been in
some sort a protege of the Colonna family, as he re-
sided sometimes in Rome, sometimes in the Colonna
castle of Genazzano, and among his works was a Latin
poem on the origin of that illustrious house, which he
desired to dedicate to Cardinal Pompeo, and so brought
it with him to Ischia and begged the Marchesa to
recommend it to his attention. The poem was pub-
lished under the title Geneazanos. Minturno also
brought out a well-known treatise on the Art of Poetry,
which was written both in Latin and Italian, and some
poems in both languages, among which was a canzone
on the death of the Marchese di Pescara. 1
Another friend and poet connected with the South
was Bernardo Tasso, and, though his name is over-
shadowed for us by that of his more celebrated son,
he was accounted great in his own time, and the fame
of his Rime made him known to Ferrante Sansovino,
Prince of Salerno, who invited him to his court. He
followed the prince on various expeditions, but, when
not so engaged, he was allowed to live at Sorrento and
devote himself to poetry. Tasso wrote the following
sonnet to Vittoria after her husband's death :
1 Rime et prose del Sig. Antonio Minturno, Venice, 1559, p. 158.
A Chronicle of Friendships 107
" Blest Lady, unto whom it may be said,
Thou in this stormy, evil world hast showed
That, with the soul's eyes ever fixed on God,
Thou liv'st a life joyous and honoured ;
And there, where all desire is perfected,
Borne upward on the wings of thy fair thought,
As though to thy dear native country brought,
Each day in happiness is finished ;
And gazing gladly on each angel-band,
And on the noble people, verily,
Thy heart contains a joy that nothing mars.
O perfect life, O true felicity !
To watch the wandering Sun and Moon, and stand
Above the elements, above the stars." 1
It is probably to this that the Marchesa refers in
a letter to Bembo, when she writes of " that most
beautiful and, perhaps, unique sonnet that he (Messer
Bernardo) has made, for which I think that he is more
indebted to me than I am to him. For it has been
with him as with those perfect painters who, seeing
a person who has been very badly finished by nature,
1 " Hor vi si puo ben dir, Donna beata,
Che in questo mondo tempestoso e rio,
Volta cogli occhi de la mente a Dio,
Lieta vita vivete ed honorata ;
E con le penne del pensiero alzata
La, dove si finisce ogni desio,
Si come in un terreno almo e natio,
Felice trapassate ogni giornata :
E 1' angeliche squadre ad una ad una
Mirando allegra, e le ben nate genti,
Sentite a mezo '1 cor gioia infinita.
O perfetto piacere, O vera vita :
Scorger gli error del Sole e de la Luna,
E star sovra le stelle e gli elementi."
io8 Vittoria Colonna
seek to copy that imperfect work, it being sufficient to
them that one should see the excellence of the art, not
the perfection of the thing ; wherefore, whosoever looks
upon it is compelled to the consideration of the skilful
hand, without thinking at all of the unworthiness of
the effigy." 1
Bernardo wrote a good many sonnets and canzoni
to the Marchesa, and they have a distinct charm as
conveying a real impression of the woman, not a mere
conventional image. His letters are elaborate pieces
of flattery, but his poems seem to be much nearer
his heart. The following lines occur in one of the
canzoni :
" Rest quiet and secure
Into this harbour cast.
Let reason with her twisted rope make fast
Unto this happy shore
Thy laden bark, which tires
Beneath the burden of thy high desires.
Of thy great virtue let me now behold
The sunshine luminous,
Pouring its thousand lovely rays on us ;
Dispelling fold by fold,
As dawn makes mists of morning fly,
Each dreadful cloud of cruel destiny." 2
1 Carteggio, Letter CLX.
2 "State secura e queta
In questo porto sorta ;
E con la fune da ragione attorta
A questa riva lieta
Legate pur la barca
De' vostri alti desii gravosa e carca :
Ch' io veggio il chiaro sole
De la gran virtto vostra,
A Chronicle of Friendships 109
And these lines come in the second of the Libri de
gli Amori :
" Then driving from her heart all other wills,
Inflamed with high desire celestial,
To sign more excellent she lifts her thought :
God doth the clear eyes of her mind enthral,
Nor do they ever close, for this fulfils
With joy, compared to which all else is naught.
Can surer pledge be sought
To be of that fair country citizen
Where life lives ever ? Mid the angel-band,
Dear to the supreme Father, aye to stand,
Not fearing any dawning morrow, when
Thought's piercing cry shall all thy grief awake,
Or mortal misery thy slumber break." 1
No doubt Vittoria responded liberally with praises, of
which the following letter is an acknowledgment :
Che con mille be' raggi a noi si mostra,
Disgombrar, come suole
L' alba 1' ombre al mattino,
Ogn' atra nebbia di fiero destino."
1 " Poi sgombrando dal cor tutt' altre voglie,
Accesa d' un celeste e bel desio,
Alza la mente a piti lodato segno :
E gli occhi del pensier fermando in Dio
Senza chiuderli mai, piacer ne coglie
Tanto ch' ogn' altro a lato a quello un sdegno.
O che secure pegno
D' esser di quella patria cittadina,
Ove sempre si vive ; e fra le squadre
De gli Angeli piti cari al sommo Padre
Di star ; senza temer ch' a la mattina
Acuta squilla di pensier molesti,
O mortal noia dal sonno ti desti."
no Vittoria Colonna
" Many have been found in past ages who have given
states, money, goods, and other benefits of fortune ;
but glory none that I know of except you, who, by
dispensing your own praises on my compositions, con-
trive to make me immortal with your glories. The
beauty, the variety, the loveliness, the sincerity that
you tell me you find in my Canzoni are fruits born of
the seed of your merits, sown by you in the arid field
of my intellect, notwithstanding which, they are not in
any way equal to the seed. I do not know what
reason moves you to despoil yourself of your own
praises in order to honour my productions, which of
themselves, and without the ornament of your name,
haply would not deserve either to be seen or read ;
unless that, in order to surpass everybody in liberality,
as you do in virtue and in judgment, you have wished
to employ this new method. I confess to having little
judgment about anything, but in this I have, at least, so
much as makes me acknowledge these praises as being
due to your goodness and not to my merits. Farewell,
and keep me in some part of your good favour." 1
It may also be interesting to give the dedication of
the Eclogues and Elegies, and there is certainly truth
in the assertion that their connection with Vittoria's
illustrious name has served to keep them in some sort
of remembrance.
" Most illustrious and virtuous Lady, it being a
common instinct of Nature that man should desire to
live eternally in this world, those especially who are of
a higher and nobler intellect, not being able, by the
ordinance of Him who governs us in this which we
1 CarteggtOy Letter CLXXIX.
A Chronicle of Friendships 1 1 1
call life, to overpass the prescribed limits of age, strive
to procure this immortality for themselves in one way
or another, as they best can. So that if death, who
spares none, takes them away from this light, their
name at least shall remain alive in men's memory. For
which reason I, having fallen a victim to this same
desire, and knowing that these my writings cannot of
themselves resist the injurious force of time, but that
a few years will take from me the second life, have
decided, by availing myself of your favour, to procure
for them that with the white wings of your name,
without which they would not dare to raise themselves
from the ground, they may mount so far that the
rapacious hand of the years may not hide them under
the ruins of the world. Hoping that, as you alone
are found to have attained to that highest degree of
perfection in every art and science, far surpassing
Sappho and all others who are most famous in good
literature, and, soaring above the stars on your own
wings, have illuminated this our age with the rays of
your virtue, you will even be content that these my
eclogues and elegies should live in the bosom of your
glory. With the light of your honour clearing away
the darkness of their imperfections, they will be read
all the more W'llingly by the world the more the adorn-
ment of your virtues shall render them beautiful.
Nor, on this account, shall 1 be bound to you by a
lesser obligation than for many other benefits of which
(thanks to your generous mind) you have made me
worthy ; nay, by a greater ; seeing that the former will
have helped to defend me from the troubles of this
life, but these will deliver me from eternal death and
112 Vittoria Colonna
the perpetual darkness of oblivion." 1 Tasso had a
troublous and melancholy life, and his unbroken
friendship with the Marchesa must have been one of
his happiest records.
One of Vittoria's most fascinating friends was
Giovanni Guidiccioni, of whom Caro said that, while
still a boy, he had arrived at that perfection of sense,
and judgment, and cultivation of mind to which few
attain in later life. He took major orders and entered
the service of Cardinal Farnese, with whom he went to
Rome in 1528, and subsequently to Lucca and Bologna.
But the life of courts and cities was completely dis-
tasteful to him, and he obtained leave at one time to
retire to Gradoli, a castle of the Farnese near Viterbo.
From there he sent to a friend some sonnets " nati tra
quei boschi," and said that he was devoting himself to
the study of Plato. He had such an ardent admiration
for Vittoria that he said (in a letter already quoted) that
by her means the ancient glory of Tuscany had entirely
passed into Latium, and the Marchesa was accustomed
to consult him. Their philosophy of life would have
been much the same, for Guidiccioni says of himself:
" I wish to live to God, to myself, to my friends, and
to enjoy an honourable leisure for the pursuit of
literature " an ambition hard to realise in any time,
and impossible then, when every able man was called to
fill some onerous post and undertake some difficult
mission : both fell to Guidiccioni's share, and he would
certainly have been made a cardinal but for his early
death at the age of forty-one. He was a writer as well
as a good judge of literature. Three of his sonnets
1 Letter inserted among the Rime of Bernardo Tasso, pp. 160-162.
A Chronicle of Friendships 1 1 3
are addressed to Vittoria, but his poetry is chiefly
interesting from its patriotic note, a note seldom struck
by the men of his age, and it is on that account that we
have selected the following sonnet for quotation.
" From that dead slumber which has been thy grave
These many years, now breathe and rise again,
And gaze upon thy wounds with deep disdain,
My Italy, no less a fool than slave.
The lovely liberty that others have
Deprived thee of, for thine insanity,
Now seek and sigh for ; let thy footsteps try
The straight road that to crooked pathways clave.
For if thou ponder ancient memories,
Then those who graced thy triumphs thou shalt see
Are those who chain and bind the yoke on thee.
Others have reaped, whilst thou abid'st undone ;
Thine impious wills, thine own worst enemies,
Have brought thee to this end, most wretched one!" 1
Francesco Maria Molza was probably a friend of
the Marchesa's later Roman days, though he has been
said by some to have been her master in the art of
1 "Dal pigro e grave sonno, ove sepolta
Sei gia tanti anni, omai sorgi e respira,
E Hisdegnosa le tue piaghe mira,
Italia mia, non men serva che stolta.
La Bella liberta, ch' altri t' ha tolta
Per tuo non sano oprar, cerca e sospira ;
E i passi erranti al cammin dritto gira
Da quel torto sentier, dove sei volta.
Che, se risguardi le memorie antiche,
Vedrai che quei, che i tuoi trionfi ornaro,
T' han posto il giogo e di catene avvinta.
L' empie tue voglie, a te stessa nemiche,
Con gloria d' altri e con tuo duolo amaro,
Misera ! t' hanno a si vil fine spinta."
114 Vittoria Colonna
poetry a very unlikely thing, as he was but one year
her senior, and also having regard to the character he
bore. Three sonnets of hers, however, are addressed to
him, two on the death of his parents, one, strangely
enough, on the death of his mistress. 1 Molza was
certainly in Rome during Vittoria's sojourn there in
1530, and accompanied her in her various visits to the
antiquities ; on one of these occasions, she exclaimed :
" O loro beati che furono a tempi si belli / " to which he
replied : " Essere eglino stati meno felici per non averla
vedutaf an incident which he has preserved in a
sonnet.
It is rather surprising to find how many letters the
Marchesa exchanged with the notorious Pietro Aretino ;
we can only suppose that he imposed upon her as he
did on so many learned men of the time. Certainly
he had the wit to try all lines, and plied the Marchesa
with his Lives of the Saints and paraphrases of the
Penitential Psalms.
Claudio Tolomei is another interesting figure con-
nected wholly with Rome. He founded the Accademia
della Virtu, to which Molza and Flaminio belonged, and,
when that came to an end, he was instrumental in start-
ing the Accademia Romana, which flourished in the
days of Julius II and Leo X ; Sadoleto belonged to
this, and has given an alluring description of it, telling
how the meetings were held in beautiful houses, or in
gardens on the banks of the Tiber, or in shady groves.
We have two letters from Tolomei to Vittoria, one in
which he says he is trying to recover for her a part of
a small work of his on the Tuscan language which he
1 Rime, Sonnets xxxvu, xxxvm, cxiv.
A Chronicle of Friendships 115
fears has perished in the sack of Rome ; another in
which he offers her a copy of his Orazione della Pace,
and gracefully says that it will be much better off re-
posing with her at Ischia than if it remained with him.
Luca Contile was another literary light who was at the
opening of the Accademia della Virtu ; he was later in
the service of the Marchese del Vasto, and was devoted
to Vittoria. There is a letter from him to a friend in
1541, saying how he had been to visit the Marchesa
and had stayed with her four hours as he was wholly
unable to tear himself away. 1 The Florentine poet
and patriot, Luigi Alamanni, wrote that he never ex-
pected to have left Rome with such regret as he felt
when leaving her.
No list of the friends of this gifted woman would
be complete that did not make mention of her two
secretaries, Carlo Gualteruzzi and Giuseppe Jova, who,
besides being devoted to her interests, were themselves
men of gifts and distinction, and were held in esteem
by the most eminent literary men, as is abundantly
shown in the letters they received and the mention
made of them in Vittoria's correspondence. Jova num-
bered Caro and Varchi among his special admirers.
A further interest attaches to Gualteruzzi in that he
had a daughter Innocenza, who was brought up and
educated by the Marchesa, who loved her as much for
her sweetness of disposition as for her talent ; the girl,
as we have noted, often acted as her amanuensis and
made copies of numbers of her sonnets. Innocenza
eventually took the veil in the Convent of San Sil-
vestro.
1 See below, pp. 237, 238.
n6 Vittoria Colonna
Vittoria seems to have found her women-friends
chiefly among her large circle of relations. First of
all we may place her illustrious aunt, the Duchessa
Elisabetta of the Cortegiano, and scarcely less remark-
able was her husband's aunt, Costanza d'Avalos,
Duchessa (afterwards Principessa) of Francavilla, who
brought up Ferrante d'Avalos and is thought by some
to have educated Vittoria with him : there is no clear
proof of this, but it is certain that Vittoria passed
a great part of her married life with her. There was
another Costanza, sister of the Marchese del Vasto,
also brought up by this aunt, who married Alfonso
Piccolomini, and became a firm adherent of Valdes ;
she greatly resembled the Marchesa in her love of
retirement and her intellectual gifts. The three lengthy
letters that Vittoria addressed to her are, in reality,
religious treatises. Costanza ultimately entered the
Convent of Santa Chiara in Naples. The same ties of
religious interest formed a bond between Vittoria and
two ladies of the House of Gonzaga, Giulia who
married the Marchesa's cousin, Vespasiano Colonna,
and Eleonora, the beautiful Duchessa of Urbino ; the
latter was the daughter of Isabella d'Este. We cannot
picture Vittoria and Isabella as friends, their outlook
on life must have been too different : the one lived
too much in her affections to sympathise with the cold
and brilliant nature of the other. Burne-Jones, in
summing up the qualities of gems, said : "Diamond is
strength, but it fidgets and sparkles and is all of this
world. Amethyst is devotion." So we might sum up
the characteristics of these notable women. With the
Duchessa Renata and Caterina Cibo we shall be con-
A Chronicle of Friendships 117
earned later, when Ochino and Carnesecchi come into
our story, and the poetess, Veronica Gambara, must
have a chapter to herself.
Of Vittoria's three special friends among the Cardi-
nals, we shall also hear more when dealing with the
Ochino episode, but we may here remark that they
were all men who had the inner reform of the Church
at heart, and never ceased to work for it with the
most intelligent zeal and charity. Cardinal Contarini
was probably the most learned of the three, and ad-
dressed his letter Del libero arbitrio to the Marchesa. 1
Morone, who was the son of the man Pescara had
betrayed, became, nevertheless, a close friend of his
widow, particularly after Contarini's death. But the
man who influenced her most was Cardinal Pole, with
whom her intercourse has a charm and poetry of its
own, speaking the language of maternal affection and
devotion. When he was made legate of Viterbo, " a
government of ease and leisure which he enjoyed for
many years," as Beccadelli tells us, Vittoria also took
up her abode there, and they were constantly together.
Sadoleto and Giberti were Pole's particular friends,
which must have made an additional tie with the
Marchesa.
We feel instinctively that Vittoria can have been no
less attractive in the dignity of her widowhood than in
her younger years. Hers was probably more the
beauty of woman than of girl ; her golden hair, of
which Galeazzo sang so much, may have faded a little,
1 It is dated Rome, November 13, 1536, and published in Quattro
Lettere dl ZMonsignor Gasparo Contarino Cardinale (edited by A. M.
Faroso), Florence, 1558.
ii8 Vittoria Colonna
but her starry eyes would have been no less luminous ;
and the years, that write so many things upon our
faces, must have left on hers the impress of a great
purity and an ever-soaring ideal. No friend ever
dropped away from her, but, on the contrary, their
number was always increasing. Nor was it only her
talent that drew her large circle around her, though no
doubt men came, full of admiration for her intellectual
powers, to get the benefit of her criticism. Bembo
said of her that she had better judgment in poetry
than he had found in the greatest and most learned
masters ; and Annibale Caro and countless others echoed
his opinion. But it is evident that that was only a
small part of her charm, for learning in itself does not
make anyone lastingly interesting. The people with
whom it is good to talk, whose possibilities we do not
exhaust, are not those who know most, but those who
\ have thought much and felt deeply ; for these are
/they who have got the keys. The impression that Vit-
' toria left upon all was not only, or chiefly, that of the
gifted poetess and the intellectual woman, it was the
I spell of her unworldliness, her religion, her spirituality,
and her humility : she had the supreme gift of making
goodness attractive. Nor were hers an ordinary set of
friends : each has some corner, and nearly all a well-
assured place, in literature, while with scarcely an excep-
tion they are distinguished by a high cast of character
and a true appreciation of the things worth striving
for. Yet all this wealth of friendship dwindles to noth-
ing before the unique friendship which was, indeed, the
crown and glory of Vittoria's life, and would itself have
sufficed to keep her name in undying remembrance.
CHAPTER V
THE LOVE OF FRIENDSHIP
Id quod amatur amore amicitix, simpliciter et per se amatur.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS.
IF there is one thing that is certainly known to every-
one about the subject of the present volume, it is her
friendship with Michelangelo, which is so full of pathos
and sentiment, so sublimated by the characters and
enriched by the high gifts of each, that there is
nothing quite like it in all the history of friendships.
Yet, as the world has invariably failed to grasp the
fact that real romance does not belong to the ephemeral
passions which grow up from vague connections and
last some few years and die, but attaches in reality
to that wedded love which has survived the severest
of all strains the commonplaces and the monotony
of daily life ; so neither is it capable of apprehending
the beauty of a friendship between a man and a woman,
but always drags in some other element, as though
something were wanting : not realising that divine
thing, the Love of Friendship, which has its own dis-
tinct individuality, which is unlike the love of brothers
and sisters, and of all relationships where natural ties
and interests supervene, and which setting apart the
love of husband and wife, the highest and most perfect
union of which human nature is capable (Sacramentum
I2O Vittoria Colonna
hoc magnum esf) rightly considered is the most
ethereal and the most spiritual of all loves. Truly it
may exist between man and man, woman and woman,
but the reason why a friendship between man and
woman is, perhaps, the more complete thing is that each
is more surely the complement of the other. A friend-
ship to be ideal must be equal ; each must give in like
measure, but need not give the same ; and, as the gifts
of men and women are essentially different, each is
able, in a more certain and definite manner, to contribute
what is wanted by the other.
Michelangelo is one of the many instances of the
penalties that wait on the artistic nature. Great
geniuses, whether artists, poets, or musicians, have
rarely been those to whom any great degree of earthly
happiness has seemed possible. The poet, Wordsworth,
is the most notable exception to this. But, for the
most part, our greatest have been heavily weighted by
temperament ; their lives have been in some sort over-
shadowed ; friendship has not come easily to them ;
toleration is no part of their character ; and it would
seem as if those who had so clear a vision of the
Divine could not brook the human. Of none is this
more true than of Michelangelo, the greatest artist the
world has ever seen ; enamoured of Beauty, he could not
be satisfied with the loveliness of any created woman ;
in love with Perfection, each individual fell short of
his demand. Even so in youth, it may have happened
to some of us that we have had vouchsafed to us such
transcendent visions of Beauty that nothing in nature,
whether " of sea or sky or woman," can fulfil our ex-
pectations ; but we are not strong enough to cling to
The Love of Friendship 121
our inward convictions, and, as the years go by, we
accept our surroundings, and open our eyes wide to
admit and enjoy all lovely things, feeling all the while
a wound in our hearts because we cannot but know
that our loss is greater than our gain. But Michel-
angelo, straining after the unfulfilled, went on into old
age a solitary man. The best of sons and brothers, a
generous master to the few pupils whom he could
endure to keep about him, there is yet something
terrible in his loneliness and aloofness. Fate, indeed,
made him the sport of circumstance ; after his first
happy working-time in Florence, he became the ser-
vant of capricious masters and was never able to take
his life into his own hands, while the "Tragedy of the
Tomb," as he aptly termed it, wasted his best years.
It was with this burden upon him that he entered
upon that friendship which was henceforth the glory of
two lives. Most writers agree in thinking that he
probably made Vittoria's acquaintance in 1538, when
she was forty-seven and he sixty-three. At the same
time, it is possible that they had met as far back as the
days of Leo X ; and, again, as it is certain that they
were both in Rome in 1533, it seems hardly likely
that they should have remained strangers to each other,
at a time when all great ladies interested themselves so
particularly in painters and their work. The Marchesa's
circle always included all that was best in art and
literature, and it seems inconceivable that some friend
should not have introduced the illustrious artist to her
notice. The argument against this is that there are
no records and no correspondence, but the latter may
very easily have existed and been destroyed, because,
122 Vittoria Colonna
though we know from Vasari and from Michelangelo
himself that they often exchanged letters, very few
have come down to us ; there are only two letters of
his and five of hers. Milanesi heads Michelangelo's
letters da Roma, 1545, but in the collection of
Vittoria's letters, published by Ferrero and M Ciller,
these, together with three of the Marchesa's, are
assigned to the years 1539-40; a later letter of
Vittoria's is obviously from Viterbo, and there is one
other to which no date can be given.
Gotti, in his life of the artist, inclines to place the
meeting between 1532 and 1533, but he gives for this
a very unconvincing reason, which is entirely rejected
by J. A. Symonds as unworthy and improbable. There
are five letters from Michelangelo to his great friend,
Tommaso Cavalieri, a young Roman nobleman, which
are dated 1533. These letters are so extravagant in
tone, both as regards affection and adulation, that it
has been suggested that the phrases really apply to the
Marchesa, and were sent to Tommaso, he being a
mutual friend, that he might pass them on to her. It
is certainly difficult to see in what sense Michel-
angelo could have addressed a very young man of no
particular attainments as Luce del secol nostro unica al
mondo, and profess to regard him as his superior in all
talent ; but love is nothing if not humble, and for
many minds youth has such a glamour and fascination
that it seems to outweigh all other gifts. That
Michelangelo should have desired to employ an inter-
mediary is apparently contradicted by one of his two
letters to be given below. In any case, it would have
been a strange expedient, and, considering the age and
The Love of Friendship 123
position of the two persons in question, it appears sin-
gularly unfitting.
We must, therefore, be content to leave the date of
their first meeting an uncertainty, and we can but
rejoice that we have a full record of their intercourse
from the Portuguese miniature-painter, Francisco
d'Ollanda, who was visiting Rome in 1538, and who,
through Lattantio Tolomei, was introduced to the
artist and to the Marchesa. 1 Yet, from his description,
it must surely strike us that the terms on which these
two stood with each other were those of a friendship
of long standing, and not the ways of people who have
just come across each other for the first time.
Vittoria's informal summons to " come and lose a little
of the day with us " seems to show how ordinary and
frequent the invitation must have been, while her
gentle familiarity with him, and her way of managing
him, argue an intimate acquaintance with his character.
It is from d'Ollanda that we derive one of our
clearest impressions of Vittoria, for though there is
abundant testimony to her attraction in the letters
from her friends, these are often formal and always
flattering, while her own letters are, for the most part,
too purely conventional to be anything of a self-reve-
lation ; but the conversations reported by d'Ollanda
give us a sensation of being brought face to face with
the real woman. We get first a glimpse of her way of
life ; she was then living, as in the first days of her
widowhood, at San Silvestro in Capite, leading that
1 Three Dialogues on Painting, composed by Francisco d'Ollanda, a
Portuguese miniature-painter who was in Rome in the year 1538 ; in
an Appendix to Sir Charles Holroyd's Michael Angela Buonarroti.
124 Vittoria Colonna
life of humbleness and charity which she had long
since chosen. She was attending a set of lectures
given by Fra Ambrogio of Siena, 1 on St. Paul's
Epistles, in the Church of San Silvestro di Monte
Cavallo, then in the hands of the Dominicans, and
there, or in the convent garden which adjoined that of
the Colonna palace, Vittoria would remain after the
lectures, to discourse on art and poetry with her friends,
till the evening closed in on them. D'Ollanda gives at
great length the discussions that took place between
himself, Tolomei, Michelangelo, and Vittoria on two
successive Sundays, but the Marchesa is the leading
figure of the group ; it is she who arranges and directs
the conversation with infinite tact, and there is a
sweetness and playfulness in this representation that
we find nowhere else : conventionality has fallen off,
and we see her dominating by her individuality, and
essentially winning and attractive.
These discourses are so well known, or at any rate so
accessible, that it would be waste of time to give a de-
tailed account of them, interesting as they are ; there
are, however, two points that we may note specially
connected with the Marchesa. She mentions to Michel-
angelo a project for building a nunnery at the foot
of Monte Cavallo, on the spot where Nero is said to
have stood to watch Rome burning, and he replies that
it would be a good thing to go and look at the site,
as he could give her some design for it : but the idea
1 Fra Ambrogio Politi, a famous Dominican preacher and contro-
versialist, called Catarino from his devotion to St. Catherine of Siena.
He was the author of an abridged version of Fra Raimondo's great
life of the Saint.
The Love of Friendship 125
was never carried out. On the same occasion, Vittoria
makes the rather surprising statement that Flemish
painting appears to her more devout than the Italian
style, and Michelangelo seems in a manner to assent
to her proposition, saying that it " will generally satisfy
any devout person more than the painting of Italy,
which will never cause him to drop a single tear, but
that of Flanders will cause him to shed many."
Though we may wonder what induced him to be of
this opinion (for, surely, succeeding ages have awarded
the palm of devotional painting to Italy), it is certain
that his was the prevalent view at the time. We have
evidence of the great respect with which Flemish
painters were regarded in the fact that Duke Federigo
of Urbino sent for a Fleming, Justus of Ghent, to
paint the portrait of his duchess, and to adorn his
library with figures of poets, doctors, and philosophers.
Leonello d'Este also invited Roger van der Weyden to
stay some months in Ferrara, where he painted for him
a picture representing the Descent from the Cross and
the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, which
was one of Leonello's most prized treasures ; and when
the artist proceeded to Rome, Florence, and all the
principal cities of Italy, his journey was somewhat in
the nature of a triumphal progress, with such honour
was he welcomed in all parts. In Naples and in Spain,
Flemish art was no less regarded ; the travelling altar-
piece of Charles V was by Memling, and represented
the Adoration of the Kings, the Nativity, and the
Presentation in the Temple ; and at Naples the poet,
Sannazzaro, had a painting of Christ enthroned, by
Petrus Christus, which must have been well-known to
126 Vittoria Colonna
Vittoria. The Flemings in their religious art would
seem to have been imbued with the spirit of earnest-
ness, gravity, and sorrow, while the Italian school set
itself to follow nature in a broader, more comprehen-
sive, and yet simpler manner. It is, in fact, a difference
of aim, as Michelangelo points out when he goes on
to state his own ideal of devout painting in these
words : " As for the good painting of this country,
there is nothing more noble or devout, for with wise
persons nothing causes devotion to be remembered, or
to arise, more than the difficulty of the perfection
which unites with and joins God ; because good paint-
ing is nothing else but a copy of the perfection of
God and a reminder of His painting." This satisfies
us as coming from the master-mind, and is thoroughly
in accordance with his character, and it also recalls
Dante's saying that
" Filosofia . . .
Nota non pure in una sola parte
Come natura lo suo corso prende
Dal divino intelletto e da sua arte ;
E se tu ben la tua Fisica note,
Tu troverai non dopo moke carte
Che 1' arte vostra quella, quanto puote,
Segue, come il maestro fa il discente,
Si che vostr' arte a Dio quasi e nipote." l
1 " Philosophy . . .
Noteth, not only in one place alone,
After what manner Nature takes her course
From Intellect Divine, and from its art ;
And if thy Physics carefully thou notest,
After not many pages shah thou find
That this your art as far as possible
Follows, as the disciple doth the master ;
So that your art is, as it were, God's grandchild."
Longfellow (Inferno, xi. 97).
The Love of Friendship 127
It is impossible to friendship not to consecrate its
gifts, so we find Michelangelo offering drawings and
poems to Vittoria, and she, on her side, addresses
sonnets to him and has all her verses transcribed for
him. Condivi mentions at length two designs made
for the Marchesa, one a Deposition from the Cross, in
which the dead body of Our Lord is supported by two
angels, while His most holy Mother, seated at the foot
of the Cross, stretches out her arms to heaven ; and
underneath the legend :
Non vi si pensa quanto sangue cos fa.
The other was a Crucifixion, the original of which is
said to be in the Taylorian Museum at Oxford. The
Piet was engiaved by Giulio Bonasoni and Tudius
Bononiensis about 1546. Vasari makes mention of a
third drawing, Christ talking to the woman of Samaria,
and Vittoria refers to it in one of her letters, but all
trace of it is lost.
The first of these letters of Michelangelo's refers
to the drawing of the Crucifixion. Having no know-
ledge of the circumstances under which it was written,
we are at a loss to account for the tone of vexation
which it certainly betrays.
" SIGNORA MARCHESA,
"As I am in Rome, there seemed no need to
leave the Crucifix to Messer Tommaso, and to make
him an intermediary between your Ladyship and me
your servant, for me to serve you, and especially as I
have desired to do more for you than for anyone I
have ever known in all the world. But the great
1 28 Vittoria Colonna
work, about which I have been and am occupied, has
prevented your Ladyship from knowing this. And
because I know that you know that love needs no
master, and that he who loves sleeps not, still less were
any intermediaries needed. And if it seems as if I
had forgotten, I was doing what I had not mentioned
because I had planned a surprise. But my purpose has
been frustrated :
" Mai fa chi tanta ft s\ tosto oblia.
" Your Ladyship's obedient servant,
"MlCHELAGNIOLO BUONARROTI in Rome." *
The answer was a note of a few lines which ends
charmingly : " If you are not at work to-day, you
might come at your leisure and talk with me " ; this
is a side-light worth many letters. Referring to the
design for the Crucifixion, Vittoria writes thus, and
her meaning is difficult to seize :
" UNIQUE MESSER MICHELANGELO
AND MY MOST SINGULAR FRIEND,
" I have received your letter and examined the
Crucifixion which has certainly crucified in my mind all
other pictures that I have ever seen, nor could one find
another figure more beautifully designed, more living,
and more perfectly finished. Truly, I cannot express
how subtly and how marvellously it is done. For this
reason, I have made up my mind that it is from no
hand but yours, therefore enlighten me ; if it belongs
to another, I must have patience. If it is yours, I
1 Letter CDLV, Milanesi, Lettere di Michelangelo.
The Love of Friendship 129
must have it at all costs ; but in case it is not yours and
you wish to have it copied by your assistant, we will
talk it over first. Because, knowing how difficult it
would be to imitate it, I could more easily resolve to
have some new thing rather than have this copied.
But if this is really yours, be patient, for I shall never
send it back to you. I have examined it carefully in
the light, and with a lens and a mirror, and I never saw
a more perfect thing.
" Yours to command,
MARCHESA DI PESCARA."*
The next letter relates to the Pieta.
" Your works forcibly awaken the judgment of
whoever looks at them, and I spoke of adding good-
ness to things already perfect because I have seen
actual instances of this in your works. And I have
seen that omnia possibilia sunt credenti. 1 had the
greatest faith in God that He would grant you a super-
natural grace to make this Christ, and, when I saw it,
it was so wonderful that it surpassed all my expecta-
tions in every way. Then, emboldened by your
miracles, I desired that which I now see marvellously
fulfilled, which is that the design should reach the
highest perfection in every part, and one could not
desire more, nor attain to desiring so much. And
I tell you that it rejoices me greatly that the angel on
the right hand should be so much the most beautiful,
because Michael will place you, Michelangelo, at the
right hand of the Lord in the last day. And, mean-
1 Carteggio, Letter cxxiu.
130 Vittoria Colonna
while, I do not know how else to serve you than by
praying for you to this sweet Christ, Whom you have
drawn so well and perfectly, and I beg you to command
me as altogether yours in all things.
" Yours to command,
"THE MARCHESA DI PESCARA."*
The following is the only other letter we possess from
Michelangelo to Vittoria, and it is specially interest-
ing because to it was appended a sonnet which em-
bodies the same idea as is here expressed.
" Before I took possession of the things your
Ladyship has many times wished to give me, in order
to receive them as little unworthily as I could, I desired,
Lady, to make something for you with my own hand.
Now, however, seeing and recognising that the grace of
God cannot be bought and that to keep it waiting is
a grievous sin, I acknowledge my fault, and willingly
accept your said gifts. And when 1 possess them, not
because I shall have them in my house, but because
I shall be in their house, I shall seem to be in Paradise.
On which account I shall remain more obliged, if I can
be more so than I already am, to your Ladyship. The
bearer of this will be Urbino who is with me ; your
Ladyship can inform him when you would like me to
come and see the head you promised to show me.
" And to you I commend myself,
" MlCHELAGNIOLO BUONARROTI." 8
1 Carteggio, Letter cniv.
2 Letter CDLIV, Milanesi, Letttre di iMic helangelo.
The Love of Friendship 131
" Seeking at least to be not all unfit
For thy sublime and boundless courtesy,
My lowly thoughts at first were fain to try
What they could yield for grace so infinite.
But now I know my unassisted wit
Is all too weak to make me soar so high,
For pardon, lady, for this fault I cry,
And wiser still I grow remembering it.
Yea, well I see what folly 'twere to think
That largess, dropped from thee like dews from heaven,
Could e'er be paid by work so frail as mine.
To nothingness my art and talent sink ;
He fails who from his mortal stores hath given
A thousand fold to match one gift divine." 1
What the gifts referred to in the letter were we have
no certain means of knowing, but it seems likely, from
the way in which they are mentioned, that they were
pictures, and the idea is borne out by two sonnets
which the Marchesa addressed to Michelangelo, which
1 Translation by J. A. Symonds. The original runs :
" Per esser manco almen, signiora, indegnio
Dell' immensa vostr' alta cortesia,
Prima, all' incontro a quella, usar la mia
Con tutto il cor volse '1 mio basso ingegnio.
Ma visto poi c' ascendere a quel segnio
Propio valor non e c' apra la via,
Perdon domanda la mie colpa ria,
E del fallir pi ft saggio ognior divegnio.
E veggio ben com' erra, s' alcun crede
La grazia, che da voi divina piove,
Pareggi 1' opra mia caduca e frale.
L' ingegnio e 1' arte e la memoria cede :
C' un don celeste mai con mille pruove
Pagar pud sol del suo chi e mortale "
132 Vittoria Colonna
must have been sent with pictures, though the usual
interpretation is that they refer to the master's own
designs.
" Because your mind, girt and adorned well
With the eternal light, preserves of God
The likeness in that innermost abode
Where never may unfaithful image dwell,
Haply, since ardent longing doth impel,
Which never knows fulfilment but increase,
As is true lovers' wont, even this may please,
And prove in painted form acceptable.
And thinking thus, my lord, your humble, new
Mother and handmaid sends the work to you
A better Master fashioned in your heart.
Nor be it troublesome to tell, she prays,
If this resemble that in any part
On which your high desires for ever gaze." l
" As much as human mind can apprehend
By long-time study with the guidance dear
Of heaven, whose lovely light the truth makes clear,
So much I think your noble soul has gleaned.
1 " Perche" la mente vostra, ornata e cinta
D' eterno lume, serbi la sembianza
Del gran motor nella pif) interna stanza,
Ove albergar non puote immagin finta ;
Forse da quella ardente voglia spinta
Che mai non s'empie, anzi ad ognor s' avanza,
Com' esser suol dc' veri amanti usanza,
Aggradir la potrebbe anco dipinta.
Cio pensando, signer, la vostra umile
Nova madre ed ancella ora v* invia
L' opra, ch' in voi miglior mastro scolpio ;
Pregandovi ch' a dir grave non sia,
Se questa in parte a quell' altra simile
Cui sempre mira il vostro alto desio."
The Love of Friendship 133
Wherefore, in no wise, light or strength to lend
Unto the ray of your rare steadfast faith,
That by its works to the world witnesseth
And of the other is sure pledge, I send
To you His image Who unto the spear
Upon the cross His breast did offer, so
That upon you the sacred blood may pour ;
But only, lord, because to you below
A book more learned never opened here
To make you live above for evermore." 1
The next letter from Vittoria has an allusion to the
third and last design made for her ; it is also intrinsi-
cally interesting.
" MAGNIFICENT MESSER MICHELANGELO,
" I have not answered your letter sooner be-
cause it was, so to speak, an answer to mine ; for I
thought that if you and I were to go on continuously,
according to my obligation and your courtesy, I should
have to neglect the Chapel of St. Catherine here and be
1 " Quanto intender qui puote umano ingegno
Per lungo studio con la scorta cara
Del ciel, da cui bel lume il ver a' impara,
Credo ch' intenda il vostro spirto degno.
Sicch' io non gia per dar luce e sostegno
Al raggio della vostra e salda e rara
Fede, per 1* opre al mondo mai si chiara
Ch' a noi dell' altro e ben securo pegno,
L' immagin di Colui v' invio ch' offerse
Al ferro in croce il petto, onde in voi piove
Dell' acqua sacra sua si largo rivo ;
Ma sol perche, signer, qua giuso altrove
Piti dotto libro mai non vi s' aperse,
Per la su farvi in sempiterno vivo."
134 Vittoria Colonna
absent from the company of these sisters at the ap-
pointed hours, while you would have to leave the
Chapel of St. Paul, and no longer find yourself passing
the whole day from before sunrise in sweet intercourse
with your paintings, which with their natural accents
speak to you no less clearly than to me the living
people with whom I am surrounded. So that I should
fail the brides, and you the Vicar of Christ. Where-
fore, knowing our steadfast friendship and most sure
affection bound in a Christian knot, I do not think it
necessary to procure by my letters the testimony of
yours ; but I would rather wait with a well-prepared
mind for some substantial occasion of serving you,
praying that Lord of Whom you spoke to me with
such a fervent and humble heart, on my departure
from Rome, that I may find you on my return with
His image so renewed and alive by true faith in your
soul as you have so well painted it in my woman of
Samaria. And I commend myself always to you and
also to your Urbino.
" Yours to command,
"THE MARCHESA DI PESCARA.
"To my more than magnificent and more than
dearest M. Michelangelo Buonarroti." 1
Michelangelo wrote eight sonnets and three madri-
gals to Vittoria ; the former are so well known in the
admirable translations of J. A. Symonds that they will
not be given here. The following is a rendering of
one of the madrigals :
1 Carteggio. Letter CLVII.
The Love of Friendship 135
" A man within a woman, rather say
A god, speaks through her mouth ;
And having heard, in sooth,
I am no longer mine in any way.
Outside myself, my place
I take, and verily
Have pity on myself, since saved by her.
Above vain longings, I,
Urged on by her fair face,
See naught but death in beauty otherwhere.
Lady, who doth bear
The soul through flood and fire to a bright shore,
Unto myself let me return no more." 1
We should like to apprehend, if it were possible,
the spiritual colour of this unique friendship, which
found so much on both sides to foster it.
There was everything in the great artist to appeal to
a noble woman ; his integrity, his high sense of
honour, his many-sided genius, and, above all, his firm
religious faith would have pre-eminently attracted her
whose religion was her life, and her beauty and talent
1 " Un uomo in una donna, anzi uno dio,
Per la sua bocca parla :
Ond' io per ascoltarla
Son fatto tal, che ma' piti saro mio.
I' credo ben, po' ch' io
A me da lei fui tolto,
Fuor di me stesso aver di me pietate :
Si sopra '1 van desio
Mi sprona il suo bel volto,
Ch' io veggio morte in ogn' altra beltate.
O donna, che passate
Per acqua e foco 1' alme a' lieti giorni,
Deh fate ch' a me stesso piti non torni ! "
136 Vittoria Colonna
mere accessories ; while there must have been some-
thing peculiarly attractive to Michelangelo in the
quietness, the austerity, and charity of Vittoria's self-
chosen life, and there is always a great repose in the
society of those who give themselves time to think.
There was never anything small about Vittoria ; her
life was full of broad spaces, of silences, of worthy
occupations and interests ; and sorrow, that brings sweet
and bitter things, had but laid a consecrating hand on
her, and enriched her with a wide sympathy. In such
wise was she fitted to be the friend of Michelangelo ;
lier proficiency in poetry, her knowledge of art and
literature, her cultivated mind, must have made her
companionship delightful, but we must look far deeper
and higher than this if we wish to arrive at any right
understanding of what this friendship really was. To
both these minds, religion was of the first importance ;
they had devoted to it the best of their thoughts ; it
was supremely interesting. Vittoria may have had the
ineffable happiness of making it more paramount in
the life of Michelangelo than it had been : at any rate,
it is manifest from his writings that that is what he
attributes to her influence. But, comparing their
religious poems, the spirit is essentially the same a
spirit of contrition, humility, and unwavering faith;
tending ever more and more in each to the realisation
that there is only one thing that really matters.
Mr. Swinburne has written finely on this subject:
" As light that blesses, hallowing with a look,
He saw the godhead in Vittoria's face
Shine soft on Buonarroti's, till he took,
Albeit himself God, a more godlike grace,
The Love of Friendship 137
A strength more heavenly to confront and brook
All ill things coiled about his earthly race,
From the bright scripture of that present book
Wherein his tired grand eyes got power to trace
Comfort more sweet than youth,
And hope whose child was truth,
And love that brought forth sorrow for a space,
Only that she might bear
Joy: these things written there,
Made even his soul's high heaven a heavenlier place." 1
The history of a great friendship is, before all things,
complex; it has as many notes as the birds' songs, as
many colours as the sky can show from dawn to sunset.
Nothing is alien to it; it could not be so great if it
were not so comprehensive ; for the touchstone of
ideal companionship is this, that it is not only the great
things of life that are affected by it, but the least and
lowest are invested with a new meaning and are trans-
figured thereby.
It is sacrilegious to attempt to inquire which of these
two friends gave the most : rather for all time do they
stand
" As happy equals in the flowering land
Of love that knows not a dividing sea.''
This chapter cannot close more fitly than with the
words of Condivi, taken, as they were, out of the
master's mouth : "In particular he greatly loved the
Marchesa di Pescara, of whose divine spirit he was
enamoured, being in turn tenderly loved by her, and
he had received from her several letters full of pure
1 A. C. Swinburne, Studies in Song.
138 Vittoria Colonna
and most sweet love, such as would have issued from
such a heart. J5he^ returned to Rome from Viterbo
and other places, whither she had gone for pleasure or
to spend the summer, for no other reason than to see
Michelangelo, and he on his part bore her so much
love that I remember to have heard him say that
nothing grieved him so much as that, when he went to
see her when she was passing from this life, he did not
kiss her on the brow or face, but only kissed her hand.
On account of her death, he remained for a long time
overcome with grief and as one bereft of his senses."
CHAPTER VI
A SISTER POET, VERONICA GAMBARA
The world is too much with us : late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.
WORDSWORTH.
VITTORIA COLONNA was not the only poetical light of
her time ; at least two other ladies take rank with her
as writers of some distinction, Veronica Gambara and
Gasrjara Stampa ; and of these the former was possibly
personally acquainted with the Marchesa. At any rate,
they were known to each other through the medium of
literature, for they exchanged sonnets testifying to their
mutual regard and admiration.
In turning from the contemplation of Vittoria to
review the life of Veronica, the first thing of which we
are conscious is difference of atmosphere ; yet their
'positions have many points of resemblance. Veronica
was the daughter of Count Gianfrancesco Gambara of
Brescia, and of Alda Pia, sister of Emilia Pia of
Cortegiano-fame. She was born on November 30,
1485, at Pratalboino, a fief of her family, whence she
seems to have imbibed her most interesting character-
istic an abiding love of the country. Her education
was evidently the widest and best that could be had,
and she must have responded to it very remarkably, for
she won fame for herself from her early youth by her
139
140 Vittoria Colonna
letters and poems, her knowledge of Greek and Latin,
and the deep study she had made of philosophy.
It is probable that she was instructed in Greek by
Britannico Giovanni who was teaching in Brescia until
1518, while her poems give evidence of the very close
acquaintance she had with Virgil and Petrarca ; indeed,
there was a literary coterie in Brescia which met every
week to study Petrarca and, in due time, the Asolani.
Veronica is said to have had a quick mind and a
wonderful memory ; in later years she was certainly an
excellent letter-writer and a brilliant conversationalist ;
the one gift nature withheld was that of beauty ; her
features were frankly ugly ; coarse, and masculine ; but
her face must have been redeemed by her eyes and by
her vivacious expression. Nearly all her poems and
letters belong to her married or widowed life, and we
have to construct the story of her girlhood as best we
can, out of very scanty materials. A great love of
study seems to have characterised her then and always,
and her range was wide, including theology and the
works of the Fathers, to which several of her sonnets
bear witness.
Many eminent literary men must certainly have
visited Brescia; Trissino was there in 1505 and also
Bembo, but different opinions are held as to the date
of Veronica's intercourse with the latter. To Bembo
has been assigned the part of literary godfather to
every budding genius of his time, and there is no
doubt that his opinion was anxiously sought by writers
of every degree. Hence we find Veronica's earliest
biographer, Rinaldo Corso, referring to him as her
master, and saying that her first poetical efforts were
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 141
made under his auspices, but facts contradict this
statement. The earliest record that we have of any
intercourse between them is in a letter of Bembo's
dated September n, 1504, from which it would appear
that Veronica had first written to him two years
before, she bring then seventeen, and no doubt
desirous of numbering such a famous man among her
friends. 1 The correspondence, however, seems to have
languished, and in 1504 the lady sent Bembo a sonnet,
which he acknowledged in the letter just referred to,
and of which the first line (given thus in a later letter
of his, S" a voi da me non pur veduto mat) shows that
they had never met. Bembo's reply-sonnet states
the same thing, ancor mat non veduta, and in a second
one, sent either with this letter or almost immediately
afterwards, he asks : Vedrb mai raggio, udiro mat par-
ola? z
In the following year, however, he was certainly at
Brescia, and from that time there began a steady
friendship between them, he evincing a warm admira-
tion for her talents, and she constantly seeking his
judgment and deferring to his opinion. In 1530 we
find them still exchanging sonnets, and in 1531 she
writes : " I have just made two sonnets on the death
of Sannazzaro, and send them to you as to my light
and guide " ; to which Bembo replies : " As for the
sonnets, both seem to me most beautiful. They are
simple, they are lovely, and infinitely affectionate and
graceful : I congratulate you upon them. ... I cannot
say for certain which is the most charming, but the
1 Bembo, Of ere, Vol. VIII, pp. 55-58.
2 Bembo, Sonnets 5z and 53 (ed. fit., Vol. II).
142 Vittoria Colonna
one which begins Se a quella takes my fancy most." *
Both these sonnets are unfortunately lost. In 1532
Bembo, wishing to reprint his poems and to include
with them the first sonnet sent to him by Veronica, to
which one of his was an answer, wrote to her in the
following terms :
" I am going to have my poems reprinted, and I
have collected two sonnets which I once wrote to you,
and I want to put them with the others. One of mine,
already printed, was an answer, rhyme for rhyme, to
that sonnet which you wrote to me when you were a
child, which begins thus: S' a voi da me non pur veduto
mai. But it happens that I have lost that sonnet
of yours, and have nothing of it except the first line
which I quote, nor can I find it anywhere. So I beg
you to be kind enough to look for it among your
papers and to send it me, so that I may put it together
with my own in this volume which will be reprinted,
and I hope to make amends for the fault committed in
the first edition, and that you will no more have cause to
complain of me as you have had in the past. I confess
this, that you may punish me the less. I will not say
anything more, except that I live with the memory of
your worth always in my soul. Farewell.
"From Padua, May 27, I532." 2
We have not got Veronica's answer to this, but the
sonnet was not included in Bembo's new edition ;
whether she could not find it, or objected to anything
so immature being reprinted, we cannot tell. For a
1 Of ere, Vol. VIII, p. 61.
* Ibid., pp. 6 1, 62.
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 143
long time it was believed that the sonnet was lost, but
in 1845 it was reprinted from a manuscript of the
Seminario of Padua, though the first line differs
slightly from that which Bembo quoted, evidently from
memory. It certainly appears to be a very bad piece
of work, even for a girl of nineteen, and it is likely
that the author elected to suppress it.
We have in all twenty-one letters from Bembo to
Veronica, and ten of hers to him ; an enormous
number must be missing, as also many of the sonnets
mentioned therein, but it is abundantly evident that
Bembo still continued to be her "lume e scorta."
Two sonnets of hers on Our Lady are still extant, the
second of which is particularly interesting, as we have
both their letters concerning it.
" Virgin most pure, to-day by means of thee
On earth is shown so wonderful a thing
That nature fails, and gazes wondering
Upon the work, and all amazed is she.
God is made man, 'neath human tendance, He
With weary mortal flesh is clothed upon,
Remaining what He was, He putteth on
An infant form, veiling divinity.
Confused He was not, nor divided e'er,
But very God and very man alway,
'As powerful on earth as even in heaven.
Turn then thy rays of grace, O Virgin fair,
On me, that so the comprehension may
Of this deep mystery to me be given." 1
1 " Ogg* P 61 " mezzo tuo, Vergine pura,
Si mostra in terra si mirabil cosa,
Che piena di stupor resta pensosa,
Mirando 1' opra, e cede la natura.
144 Vittoria Colonna
Of this sonnet Veronica says :
"As I am writing, I have resolved to send you a
sonnet of mine which has not been seen by anybody,
and which originated 1 know not how, as it is already
a long time since I left off writing poetry. You will
see what I have meant but have not known how to
express, and, when you have seen it, you will treat
it as its simplicity deserves. It is enough for me
that, as I dedicated my first-fruits to your most
reverend Lordship, I also send to you that which I
think will be my last." l
Replying to this, about five weeks later, Bembo
writes :
" I have not replied sooner to your Ladyship's most
sweet letter, which I received through Signor Girolamo,
your son, together with the sonnet to Our Lady, be-
cause I wanted first to give the sonnet to his Holiness,
and then to write to you about it. But now that that
has been delayed longer than I wished, on account of
his innumerable occupations, I will at least answer you
and tell you that the most sweet memory of your
Fatto uomo & Dio, e sotto urn an a cur a,
Vestito di mortal carnc noiosa,
Resto qual era, e la divina ascosa
Sua cssenzia tenne in pueril figura.
Misto non fu, ne fu diviso mai ;
Ma sempre Dio e sempre uomo verace,
Quanto possente in ciel, tanto nel mondo.
Volgi dunque ver me, Vergine, i rai
De la tua grazia, e '1 senso mio capace
Fa* di questo misterio alto e profondo."
1 Letter xui, Correggio, October 29, I 540.
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 145
Ladyship lives very much in my mind. And it also
pleases me that you do not forget the affection I have
always had for you, and that you keep me so sweetly in
your good favour. May Our Lord God grant that I may
see you again this year, as it seems there may be an
opportunity. As for the sonnet, it seemed to me very
beautiful, and graceful, and thoughtful, as I told the
reverend Monsignor your brother. And, therefore,
I would not have you abandon this art as you say, but
rather not refrain from making others of them. I will
give the sonnet to his Holiness by all means, at
a time when he can read it more than once. If I could
be with your Ladyship as often as I am with your
reverend Monsignor, my residence in Rome would be
much more dear to me than it is. Nevertheless, it is
made dear to me on account of the proximity of his
Holiness, more than for any other reason. Farewell,
my lady, my most admirable and dearest and sweetest
sister.
"From Rome, December 7, I54O." 1
The last of Bembo's letters to her that remains is
written when he had fallen into very bad health ; he
thanks her for another lost sonnet, one to Cardinal
Farnese, and says : " O how far I am from poetry ! " 2
This was in December, 1544, and he died two years
later.
We have wandered a long way from Veronica's first
poetical essays, and must return to the events of her
girlhood. It is probable that she had very intimate
1 Opere, loc. df. t p. 73.
2 l&U., p. 82.
146 Victoria Colonna
relations with the House of Este and especially with
that remarkable woman, Isabella d'Este, who was eleven
years older than herself. Of her early letters only one
very formal one to Isabella remains, and two to her
brother, the Cardinal Ippolito; but we find that the
latter baptised Veronica's eldest boy and Isabella was
godmother ; the tastes and talents of the two ladies
certainly lay in the same direction, and public affairs
also tended to bring them together, so that, in later life,
a real friendship subsisted between them. Veronica's
letter, written when she was about seventeen, is a very
stiff and frightened performance, but Isabella could
hardly have been otherwise than a formidable corre-
spondent ; it runs thus :
<c If it might be granted to me, most illustrious and
most excellent Lady, and my most singular patron, to
be able to thank your Excellence with a thousandth
part of that gratitude which would befit the exceeding
kindness of your most friendly letter, I should consider
myself happy above every other servant. But know-
ing myself insufficient for such a high attempt, having
regard to the infinite kindness of your Excellence,
I know not to what else to apply myself except to the
bewailing of my sad fate which has created me of such
lowness that I find myself unworthy to accomplish this
end. Still, if I deserve to be in the number of the
lowest servants of your Excellence (as I hope), by the
divinity infused into you, if ever I complained of
fortune in the past, I shall strive henceforth with all
zeal to thank you for so great kindness by praising you.
And thus at the feet of your Excellence I humbly
commend myself, as also do the Count my father and
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 147
my Lady-mother and Isotta, who is not less the servant
of your Excellence than I am.
"Brescia, February I, 1503.
" From your Excellence's unworthy servant
for all time,
"VERONICA DI GAMBARA with my own hand." 1
There is one other early letter of Veronica's of July
20, 1504, which is thought to have been addressed to
some nobleman of the court of the Estensi, as it was
found in the ducal archives of Modena.
" I am sorry, Messer Barone, that the lot should
have fallen to your Lordship to be the first to write the
desire you have to know me, because, as my desire is
by far the greater, I should like to have been the first
to express it. But patience ! And you can gather
that it is true that mine was the greater, since I have
heard from an infinite number of persons what you
have heard from one. So that I shall not say any-
thing more, except to commend myself numberless
times to your favour.
"VERONICA DI GAMBARA." 8
There is a spice of unconventionality in this note
which is refreshing, and we should like to know if the
incident had any suite. Veronica's marriage at the age
1 Letter published from the Archivio Gonzaga by Rodolfo Renier
in the Giornak Storico delta Letteratura Italiana^ Vol. XIV, pp. 442, 443.
I regret not to have seen Luigi Amaduzzi's work, Undid letter e inedite
di Veronica Gambara (Guastalla, 1889).
2 Letter published by Emilio Costa, Sonetti amoroti di Vtronica
p. 9 .
148 Vittoria Colonna
of twenty-four to Giberto X, lord of Correggio, a
widower with growing-up daughters, can hardly have
been other than a manage de convenance, and thence-
forward her writings and her way of life are slavishly
conventional. It is, therefore, tempting to linger over
her girlhood, to gather up the few letters that are left,
and to study the fugitive sonnets. The tone of these
is not that of her later poems ; here she would seem
to have known something of passion, something of
regret, and the most pathetic piece, usually included
among her later writings, is supposed to have been
written before her marriage. This is the Ballata, Or
passata la speratiza, of which the following is a transla-
tion, and we subjoin an early sonnet and a madrigal.
BALLATA
" Now has hope passed away
That kept me once aglow ;
Less mourn I since I know
That nothing here can stay.
Now has hope passed away.
This false one formerly
My heart on fire did keep ;
Mocking my misery,
She leaves me now to weep
O'er love and longings deep.
Ever she leads to death
Whom passion governeth
With strong persistent sway.
Now has hope passed away.
I hoped and hope made burn
In me a gracious fire ;
I hope no more but mourn
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 149
That longing sweet desire.
I call in sorrow dire
On death to soothe my smart,
For hopeless is the heart
Where hope made once sweet stay.
Now has hope passed away.
While I had her to lead,
All ills seemed light to me ;
Without her, lost and dead,
Least things most grievous be.
Brief joy, long agony,
The sole reward I have
Since I became her slave :
This feel I since that day.
Now has hope passed away.
My gentle hope and fair,
Alas ! from me has fled ;
Why took she not with her
Tired life and heart nigh dead ?
Me such dark fears dismay
As of all hope deprive,
Not living, yet alive
Without hope's faintest ray.
Now has hope passed away." l
1 " Or passata e la speranza,
Che mi tenne un tempo ardendo ;
Men mi duol, poich io comprendo
Nulla cosa aver costanza.
Or passata e la speranza.
Questa falsa un tempo in foco
M' ha tenuta pur sperando ;
Or prendendo il mal mio a gioco
M' ha lassata lagrimando,
Ed amando e desiando
Mi conduce ogn' ora a morte
150 Vittoria Colonna
SONNET
*' Free am I not, nor ever hope to be,
From that hard bond with which I erst was bound,
Because the wound was all too mortal found
Which pierced the pure and truthful heart of me.
Con passion tenace e forte
E con pid perseveranza.
Or passata la speranza.
lo sperai, e quel sperare
Mi nutriva in dolce liamnia ;
N pill or spero, e lagrimare
Sol quest' alma desia e brama,
E la morte ognora chiama
Per soccorso al suo dolore,
Poich senza speme e '1 core
Che gia fu sua dolce stanza.
Or passata e la speranza.
Mentre ch' ebbi lui per scorta,
Ogni mal mi parea leve ;
Senza lui smarrita e morta,
Ogni poco mi par greve ;
Lungo affanno e piacer breve
Da indi 'n qua sempre ho sentito
Per aver con s servito ;
Questo premio sol m' avanza.
Or passata e la speranza.
Mia soave e dolce speme,
Da me dunque ahim ! e fuggita ;
E al partir ne porto insieme
L' arso cor, mia stanca vita ;
Tal ch' essendo sbigottita,
E di speme al tutto priva,
Non vivendo, resto viva
Senz' alfin nulla speranza.
Or passata la speranza."
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 151
Nor from one single thought shall I be free
Which day and night my mind doth occupy
The fear lest my surrendered liberty,
Proud heart and ruthless, be despised by thee ;
Nor free from fear, nor free for evermore
From torment, cruel one, from bitter pains,
Which constantly through thee must work me woe.
In fine, I shall not ever from thy chains
Be free, since divers passions hour by hour,
Pleasant and sweet through thee, within me grow." 1
MADRIGAL
" The grief is so extreme,
It well-nigh matches so extreme a pain,
And in this fashion I alive remain.
I had been dead ere this,
But that the grief, so heavy on my heart,
With death can have no part ;
My woes can neither grow nor yet decrease.
Ah, cruel injury !
And what defence have I,
1 " Libra non son, ne mai libra esser spero
Dal crudel laccio, ove gia fui legata,
Perche troppo mortal la piaga e stata,
Che gia feri mio cor puro e sincere.
Ne libra mai sard da un sol pensero,
Nel qua! di e notte isto sempre occupata,
Che la mia liberta, qual t' ho donata,
Non sprezzi ohime, tuo cor superbo e fiero.
N libra da timor, ne libra ancora
Mai saro da martir, de acerbe pene
Che me affligon per te, crudele, ogn' ora.
Alfin ne libra mai da tue catene
Staro, cresciendo in me pill d' ora in ora
Varie passion per te suave e amene."
152 Vittoria Colonna
Whose burdened heart is in such woful plight
That the enkindled soul can nowise die,
And lives in my despite ?
But of all pangs this is the crown and chief
Not to be able to bewail my grief." 1
After her marriage, in 1508, Veronica looks forth
upon us as the great lady of Correggio, and we some-
how feel that, whereas in the case of Vittoria the
woman is always paramount, where Veronica is con-
cerned the position overshadows the woman. She
adored her husband, who was a brave soldier and re-
nowned for his justice and generosity, and she wrote
poems to his " occhi lucenti" of which the following
madrigal is the prettiest :
" Lovely and shining eyes,
How can it be that there are born in you
At one same time so many forms and new ?
You are both glad and sad in the same breath,
1 " Cosi estrema e la doglia,
Ch' a cosi estremo mal mal non arriva ;
E a questo modo i' me ne resto viva.
Sarei ben morta homai,
Ma il duol che ho in cuor si grave e forte
Non da luoco a la morte,
N accrescer pud, n sminuir mei guai.
Ahi dispietat' ofFesa !
Come faro diffesa
Che m' hai si pien d' angoscia 1' alma e '1 petto
Che fuor non pud spirar 1' anima accesa,
E vivo al mio dispetto ?
Ma fra tutti i martir quest' e *1 maggiore
Non puotermi doler de '1 mio dolore."
This madrigal and the preceding sonnet are quoted from Sonetti
amorosi dl Veronica Gambara, edited by Emilio Costa. The others are
all included in the Rime e Lettere edited by P. M. Chiappetti.
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 153
Humble and haughty ; hence it doth befall
That fear and hope fulfil
This heart that burns for you and harboureth
Fierce feelings, bitter, sweet, continual,
Which crowd here at your will.
Now since you are my very life and death,
Oh happy eyes, eyes beautiful and dear,
Be ever joyful, ever bright and clear." l
Veronica's literary reputation drew many celebrated
men to Correggio, and no less did the magnificence of
her far-famed pleasure-place, the Casino, of which two
rooms were subsequently decorated by Antonio Allegri.
The description of the garden, the views, the number
and size of the rooms, and the treasures they con-
tained, seem hardly consonant with aught but a fairy
palace. Ariosto visited it, when he came to Correggio
to see del Vasto, and has immortalised its mistress in
his Orlando :
" Veronica da Gambara e con loro,
Si grata a Phebo e al santo aonio coro " ; 2
1 " Occhi lucenti e belli,
Com' esser puo che in un medesmo istante
Nascan da voi si nove forme e tante ?
Lieti, mesti, superbi, umili, alteri
Vi mostrate in un pun to ; onde di speme
E di timor m* empiete,
E tanti effetti dolci, acerbi e fieri
Nel core arso per voi vengono insieme
Ad ognor che volete.
Or poi che voi mia vita e morte sete,
Occhi felici, occhi beati e cari,
Siate sempre sereni, allegri e chiari."
2 Orlando Furioso, ILVI. 3.
154 Vittoria Colonna
and here also congregated Bembo, Mauro, Molza,
Cappello, and many others ; and hither came Isabella
d'Este, ever on the search for rare and artistic
things.
It is curious to think that, at the date of which we
are writing, the name Correggio would have stood for
the Count Giberto of the ruling family, or, perhaps,
still more for his wife, whose name was widely known
throughout Italy as a lady of great literary attain-
ments : in our time Correggio means one man, the
painter, Allegri.
Antonio Allegri was born in 1494, and was there-
fore only fourteen when Veronica married, but she
seems to have been from the first a real friend to him,
and he is believed to have accompanied her to Bologna
at various times. Her patronage probably had a great
effect on his life, as Veronica is known to have brought
him to the notice of the Emperor on the occasion of
one of his sojourns at Correggio, and, indeed, it was in
honour of Charles' second visit that Allegri painted
two of the rooms of the Casino. It is also fairly cer-
tain that Veronica introduced him to Isabella d'Este,
for we notice that, in writing to the Marchesa in 1528,
to describe a picture Allegri had just finished for her
of the kneeling Magdalen (of which no trace has been
found for years), she refers to the painter as "our
Antonio." Isabella employed him to execute the
Allegories of Vice and Virtue for her Grotto ; they
were done in tempera and are now to be seen in the
Louvre ; and in the last years of his life he worked
almost exclusively for Isabella's son, Federigo, the first
Duke of Mantua, by whom he was commissioned to
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 155
paint the Leda and the Danae to be sent as a present
to the Emperor.
Vasari's graphic description of the painter's extreme
poverty and miserliness does not bear the light of
more recent researches ; on the contrary, his family
appears to have been one of some standing and im-
portance, holding property which Allegri looked after
and increased ; that he had some position is shown by
his having been chosen as one of the witnesses to the
marriage settlement of Veronica's son, Ippolito. Alle-
gri seems to have been singularly modest and un-
ambitious, and no doubt preferred a retired life. That
he stood before great masterpieces murmuring ancK io
son pittore is, says one of his biographers, a story now
completely discredited : might we not rather say that
it is a truism ? Has not every artist, in whatever line,
felt the same ? Nor is it necessary to be an artist ;
one gleam of inspiration, or even of insight, prompts
the possessor, at however great a distance, to say
1 also.
We wonder if it would be doing an injustice to the
keen-sighted lady of Correggio to hint that she, no
doubt, knew the value of a court-painter, and would
not have liked to be behind the age in lacking one :
however that may be, she always showed herself Alle-
gri's friend as well as his patron.
Veronica had two sons, Ippolito and Girolamo, and
it was immediately after the birth of the second boy
that she lost her father, which caused her to proceed to
Brescia to console her mother, and thus it happened
that she was there in 1512, at the time when the town
was taken and sacked by the French under Gaston de
156 Vittoria Colonna
Foix ; no quarter was given either to women or
children, but Veronica, after remaining in hiding for
some days, was able to escape to Correggio. A more
agreeable incident in her married life occurred in 1515,
when she went with her husband to Bologna to render
homage to Leo X and Francis I ; on this occasion the
French monarch declared that he had never met any
woman endowed with so many gifts. But Veronica
was destined to have but a brief time of happiness,
for her husband died in 1518, and her grief for his
loss brought on such a severe illness that her life was
endangered. This violent affliction, however, had a
somewhat theatrical element in it, for we find her
registering vows never to go out of mourning, to have
her rooms always draped with black, and to drive only
coal-black horses, and over the doorway of her apartment
she had these two lines from the jEneid carved :
" Ille meos, primus qui me sibi junxit, amores
Abstulit ; ille habeat secum servetque sepulchre."
At the same time, she does not seem to have lost in-
terest in mundane things, for, as early as 1520, we find
her writing for some plush, which is to be so beautiful
that there shall be nothing more beautiful in the world,
and again, a little later, for some Flemish cloth " fra
tutti i belli bellissimo " ; also for washes for the com-
plexion and to keep the hair golden : this is not like
the abandonment of a very profound sorrow. Yet
she had certainly been attached to Giberto, and had
given him probably as much love as was possible to a
nature of her kind ; for Veronica was not a woman to
live in her affections, things did not go deep enough
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 157
with her for that ; it was rather the kaleidoscope of life
that attracted her events not emotions.
She had been left sole guardian of her two sons and
administratrix of the estate, and she fulfilled these
onerous duties excellently, but it is, perhaps, in this
connection that the least agreeable side of her character
becomes prominent. She felt the necessity of keeping
in touch with and conciliating all great people, and the
way was by flattery and adulation ; her gift for verse is
used almost entirely to this end, and many of her
letters have the same aim in view. The career of her
sons becomes her ruling passion, and all is done with a
keen eye to their advancement ; the world dazzles her,
though it may be only for their sake, and all its prizes
are to be striven after. Dowered with a liberal educa-
tion, the eldest son, Ippolito, adopted arms as his pro-
fession, while Girolamo, the youngest and favourite,
was destined for the Church and eventually became a
cardinal but that was ten years after his mother's
death. In 1528, when Veronica's brother, Uberto,
was appointed governor of Bologna, she seized eagerly
on this as a means of advancement for her family, and
obtained from him an excellent military command for
Ippolito, while sending the younger son to his uncle
to study diplomacy and become acquainted with court
life. At the same time, she went herself to live at
Bologna in the Palazzo Massilia, which became the
most brilliant and learned centre in the city. A
letter of Veronica's on the occasion of her brother's
appointment is worth quoting in full, as it is so very
characteristic. It is written to Lodovico Rosso, one
of her principal correspondents, a noble Bolognese,
158 Vittoria Colonna
who was a senator of the city and several times Gon-
faloniere di Giustizia ; he has left no printed works,
but was a great scholar and student.
" I understand from your letter, my dear Messer
Lodovico, all the gladness that your mind feels at the
coming of Monsignore my brother to the government
of Bologna. I see that your joy is very great, and
almost like to mine; only, with mine there is mixed a
little discontent. Nor does that surprise me at all,
knowing that fortune is wont never to give me any-
thing that completely satisfies me. And the discontent
is this, that the said Signer, my brother, warns me that
he shall only remain in this post as long as will suffice
to allay the suspicions of the Germans, which are very
great; and I am certain that the second miracle will
perhaps be greater than the first, which God forbid.
The fear, then, that the time will be short, does not let
me enjoy my satisfaction in giving effect to the desire
that I have had for many years of staying some months
in that delightful city with an occasion of this kind;
nor do I quite believe that the heavens, as they have
seemed to favour this my desire by finding the means
most desired by me, will similarly find the other to end
it as 1 should like. Yet I will not entirely despair
considering the instability of fortune. You, my
Messer Lodovico, will offer devout prayers to God
that He will inspire the mind of the Pope to keep
him at least a year, so that I may enjoy him like a
brother whom I love, I will not say more than any
sister ever loved, but like my own life. Signor
Girolamo, my son, is coming, as happy as it is possible
to say, and will reside with Monsignore ; I commend
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 159
him to you, not only as my son but as a part of myself;
and why do I say a part, since he is the whole ? I
commend him then to you as myself, for he is Veronica
herself. My Ippolito will go in a week to Milan, with
a good and honourable salary. I wanted to give you
this news, knowing that you would care to hear it. I
thank you for your kindness, though it is nothing new.
Commend me to Monsignore my brother, and kiss his
hand for me. I am expecting all those things without
which I could not appear with my wonted magnificence ;
understand me sensibly, and do not take magnificence
for ostentation, which was always far from me and
from anything that I do. Always remember me, and
farewell." 1
There were great rejoicings in Bologna in 1530 for
the coronation of the Emperor, which took place on
February 24, St. Matthias* day and his own birthday,
and all that Italy had to offer of splendid, beautiful,
and learned congregated there. Isabella d'Este, some-
what embarrassed with her court ladies, was a central
figure of the group, but Veronica seems to have been
the presiding genius. Her lively letters prepare us to
believe that she shone in conversation, and she possessed
the additional charm of a very musical voice, so that it
was said that, when she began to speak, her audience
hoped she might never leave off. All the most famous
literati of the age were to be found in her palace, and
all of them sang her praises. The Emperor himself
was at her feet, and his admiration for her decided him
to visit her at Correggio. This flattering determina-
tion obliged Veronica to leave Bologna and return
1 Letter XL. (undated).
160 Vittoria Colonna
home to prepare for Charles' reception. He was to
stay at the Casino, and a new street was made by way
of approach. According to the fashion of the time, a
magnificent pageant was arranged on this occasion, and
the Emperor's progress through the town must have
been a gorgeous spectacle. Nor was this the only visit
with which Veronica was favoured, for the Emperor
returned two years later, and made another sojourn,
which fact probably testifies to her talent as a hostess
and her brilliant conversational powers. It was for
this second visit that the Casino was further embellished
by Allegri's paintings.
The Marchesa di Pescara was not among the splendid
circle that assembled for the coronation : we feel that it
was not her milieu, though she would well have known
how to shine in it. It is more likely than not that she
and her sister-poet never met, and that their intercourse
was confined to the sonnets they exchanged. As those
of Veronica are rather above her average, we will give
both ; the first is distinctly pathetic, the second noble,
though conventional.
" What time on youthful wayward thoughts I fed,
Now fearing and now hoping, sorrowing
With bitter tears, and now with heart to sing,
By longings false or true still harassed,
I told in accents pitiful and dread
The fancies of my heart, which rather would
Seek its own hurt, than follow after good ;
And all my days thus sorrowfully sped.
On other thoughts and wishes now I feed
My mind, and hence the once dear rhymes and style
In everlasting silence have I sealed.
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 161
If in my fantasy I leant awhile
To those first follies, penitence indeed
Removes the grief, leaving the fault revealed." l
11 O thou sole glory of our century,
Lady most admirable, wise, divine,
To whom to-day do reverently incline
All who deserve a place in history.
Immortal here shall be your memory ;
Time, that dooms all to ruinous decay,
Shall make of your fair name no impious prey,
But unto you shall be the victory.
To Pallas and to Phoebus shrines of old
Were reared, and such to you our sex should raise
Of richest marble and of finest gold.
And, since in you is found all excellence,
In equal measure I would give you praise,
Lady, with worship, love, and reverence." 2
1 " Mentre da vaghi e giovenil pensieri
Fui nodrita, or temendo, ora sperando,
Piangendo or trista, ed or lieta cantando,
Da desir combattuta or falsi, or veri,
Con accent! sfogai pietosi e feri
I concetti del cor, che spesso amando
II suo male assai piti che '1 ben cercando,
Consumava dogliosa i giorni interi.
Or che d' altri pensieri e d' altre voglie
Pasco la mente, a le gia care rime
Ho posto ed a lo stil silenzio eterno.
E, se allor, vaneggiando, a quelle prime
Sciocchezze intesi, ora il pentirmi toglie,
Palesando la colpa, il duolo interno."
2 " O de la nostra etade unica gloria,
Donna saggia, leggiadra, anzi divina,
A la qual riverente oggi s' inchina
Chiunque e degno di famosa istoria,
M
1 62 Vittoria Colonna
It is not from her poems that we get the clearest
view of Veronica ; to become really acquainted with
her, we must read her clever, worldly letters, which re-
veal the woman of many tastes and whims. There we
can note her ambition, and gauge the things that
appeared to her worth striving after ; at the same time,
there is a lightness of touch and a playing upon the
surface which give a sense of rest and attractiveness.
After her letters to Bembo, which bear the palm for
interest, those to Rosso and Ercolani, both Bolognese
worthies, are far the pleasantest, while those to Aretino
are fulsomely flattering ; Veronica, no less than finer
spirits of her time, was completely taken in by him,
and her adulation of him is almost past belief. No
doubt he played up to it sufficiently. One remark of
hers is amusing : " You honour me too much in saying
that my letters are better than those of the Signora the
Marchesa di Pescara, to whom I give place in every-
thing in the world ; nevertheless, I cannot help being
glad at hearing this said by the divine Aretino."
The following long letter (without date) is to Lodo-
vico Rosso :
" I will not say how many days or months it is since
Ben fia eterna di voi qua gift memoria,
N potra '1 tempo con la sua ruina
Far del bel nome vostro empia rapina,
Ma di lui porterete ampia vittoria.
II sesso nostro un sacro e nobil tenipio
Dovria, come gia a Palla e a Febo, alzarvi
Di ricchi marmi e di finissim' oro.
E, poich di virtii siete 1* esempio,
Vorrei, Donna, poter tanto lodarvi,
Quanto io vi riverisco, amo ed adoro."
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 163
I wrote to you, my Signer Lodovico, and certainly it
is not from failure of memory or from want of love,
but on account of the numberless cares that have
occupied and still occupy me. I am engrossed with
everything that is most contrary to my natural inclina-
tion, so that I have come to the conclusion that there
is not a happier or quieter way of life than that of
a little country-girl, who, taking care of her sheep,
remains under the shade of a chestnut-tree, letting the
world go as it pleases, content with her solitary life,
eating poor food which yet is sweeter and more agree-
able to her than ambrosia or Jove's nectar would be.
most happy life ! O most happy lot ! How often
have I desired to be one of these ! However, here we
are and here we must remain, and, returning to my
first subject, I say again that the only cause of my not
having written to you is the reason which you have
heard, and which I would explain willingly, only it
would take too much time. I hope, however, to see you
one day before 1 die, so I will reserve the explanation
till then. I live desiring to serve you, and let that be
enough. The time of the election to the ruota is
drawing near. I very much want a place in it for
Messer Giberto Gatti, and so I should like you to
leave no stone unturned for him to obtain it. You
know how much I have the affairs of my friends and
patrons at heart, so, without ceremony, do all that is in
your power, and more if it be possible, so that he and
1 may be gratified. Then let me know what your
hopes are. Henceforth I will be more regular about
writing to you, and please be the same, remembering
164 Vittoria Colonna
that I am always yours. I pray God to bless and pre-
serve you, and you to keep me in your memory." 1
These two letters to Agostino Ercolani are amusing
as showing the light-hearted way in which Veronica
regarded public affairs :
" I saw by your letter that, after so many trials and
labours, Pope Clement has had to die, destroying so
many plans and hopes. Now we must have patience.
As for me, I will laugh at this ill-fortune and enjoy life.
God preserve all our friends, and then let the world go
as it pleases. As soon as a pope has been made, and
the affairs of Bologna have been settled, I shall expect
you at once ; it seems five years until I see you." 5
A little later she writes : " Now that we know for
certain of the creation of Pope Paul, I think that arms
will be laid down at Bologna, and that everything will
be quiet, so I expect nothing else than to see you. Do
please come, for everyone of us is longing for you more
than the Jews long for their Messiah. This pontiff
pleases me from every point of view, and particularly
because he is, as you write me word, a friend of the
Cardinal. I wish him all good ; but I fear he will
have a short life, because I should like him to have
a very long one." 3
The following letter to Rosso, of a much later date,
is curiously modern in its requirements :
" My Messer Lodovico, I am obliged to go to
Mantua, summoned by the Signora Duchessa, and to
take my daughter-in-law there. I have not been able
to avoid making this journey, as much out of obedi-
1 Letter LIV. 2 Letter LXIII. 3 Letter LXV.
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 165
ence to the honoured princess, who has such great
claims upon me, as in order to give a little amusement
to my said daughter-in-law. You know well that I
should not take this trouble for myself, as I belong to
the world no longer. But I was born to please others
and to help in every situation. My daughter-in-law
is very well provided with jewels and gold ornaments,
but, because at this wedding there will be great doings
and the ornaments will be wonderful, I, being rather
proud about such things, should like the jewellery of
this girl of mine to surpass that of all the others.
Wherefore I beg you with your usual fidelity and
trustworthiness to ask Count Girolamo Pepoli and the
Signora his wife if they would do me the favour of
lending me a pearl necklace, which I hear is very beau-
tiful, promising them that it shall be kept with such
care as is due to beautiful things, and that I will
return it in a fortnight. And if, besides, they had a
garland of pearls or of jewels, or even another neck-
lace, it would be most acceptable to me, in order to be
able to change frequently. I do not use ceremony,
knowing that with you it is enough for me to express
my desire ; I will only say that I shall remain greatly
obliged to these lords and others if they will comply
with my request, as I hope. Let me know, then, when
I may send to fetch the ornaments ; and, if they
require a receipt or anything else, whatever is wanted
shall be done. Remember that I am always yours, and
on my return, if the time permits, pray come and see
me, and I commend myself to you." 1
Our short survey of Veronica's life had brought us
1 Letter LV.
1 66 Vittoria Colonna
down to 1532, the time of the Emperor's second visit
to Correggio ; the last letter, given above, was written
in 1549, and, between those two dates, the writer had to
pass through many troublous events, before she could
settle down in the calm of age and write of herself as
" non essendo omai piu del mondo." In the autumn
of 1532, Veronica made an excursion into the pro-
vince of Brescia, and this seems to have revived her
old love of the country, and was the occasion of her
composing some very pretty stanzas in the manner
of Virgil ; her famous lines to Cosimo I, afterwards
Grand-duke of Tuscany, are in the same form.
In 1538, great danger threatened Correggio in the
person of Galeotto Pico della Mirandola, who invaded
the territory. Veronica, acting with great courage and
presence of mind, called her people together, made a
gallant defence and saved the city ; but plague and
famine followed hard on the averted disaster, and
Veronica faithfully ministered to the wants of her
subjects. Thanks to her efforts, prosperity returned,
and in 1541 we find brighter days had dawned, and
the town was keeping festival for the marriage of
Ippolito, Veronica's eldest son, with his cousin, Chiara
da Correggio.
Two years later, in 1543, that prodigy of genius,
Rinaldo Corso, brought out his commentary on the
second part of the Rime of Vittoria Colonna, he being
then only seventeen, and inscribed it " alia molto illus-
trissima Madonna Veronica Gambara da Correggio et
alle Donne gentili." 1 This Rinaldo was born in 1525
at Correggio ; at fifteen he distinguished himself by
1 See below, Chapter xi, p. 284.
A Sister Poet, Veronica Gambara 167
publicly arguing theses of philosophy, and thus
brought himself into Veronica's notice, for she never
failed to recognise native-born talent. He then went to
Bologna and applied himself to the study of jurispru-
dence, remaining still devoted to poetry, history, and
abstract science. On his return to Correggio, he
always stood high in the favour of Veronica, being
one of the greatest ornaments of her learned circle ;
in 1546 he became her auditor, and subsequently wrote
her life and that of her husband.
The closing years of Veronica's life seem to have
been given over to study and to religious observances ;
she lived in her beloved Casino, and does not appear
to have left Correggio except in 1549, when she went
with her daughter-in-law to Mantua for the wedding
festivities of the Duke Francesco III, who married
Caterina, daughter of Ferdinand of Austria. It was on
this occasion that she wrote the letter, quoted above, to
Lodovico Rosso. Returning to Correggio, Veronica
died in the following June at the age of sixty-four,
immensely regretted by the people she had served so
faithfully. She was buried with great pomp and honour
in the Church of San Domenico, beside her husband, a
branch of laurel and of olive being placed on her coffin,
to signify the benevolence of her rule and the fame
that was rightly hers. Nothing, however, remains of
her tomb or of her favourite dwelling, for both were
destroyed in 1556 by the Spaniards, when they were
holding the town against the attacks of the Pope and
his allies. There is something more than the irony of
fate in the fact that it was Spain that wrought this
destruction, when we recall how assiduously Veronica
1 68 Victoria Colonna
had courted the Emperor, and how he, in his turn,
had praised and flattered her, and, in acknowledgment
of his royal reception at Correggio, had granted the
town a safeguard which should ensure its protection
against the Spanish soldiery.
Veronica's memory is enshrined in her letters and
poems, the former, as it seems to us, giving a far more
favourable impression of the woman. Her poetical
genius was prostituted to private ambition, which nar-
rows and dulls its expression, and introduces a per-
petual element of vulgarity. Neither is there in her
verses any of the spontaneity which makes her cor-
respondence agreeable. When we think of the brilliant
circle she attracted, and the magic of her voice and
conversation, we wonder that a greater impression of
charm is not left upon us. The fact remains that, with
all her wit, readiness, talent, and solid devotion to
study, there was yet in her character a deep vein of
that unlovely quality of worldliness, which, oddly
enough, seems to damn the possessor of it as effectu-
ally for this world as for the next. There is something
about her that is too obvious ; her best qualities are
those that make for popularity, and what we miss in
her is that sense of the unknown and the unfathomable
which is, in fact, the soul's attraction.
CHAPTER VII
GASPARA STAMPA
Ah Love ! could thou and I with fate conspire
To grasp this sorry scheme of things entire,
Would we not shatter it to bits and then
Re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire !
FITZGERALD'S Omar Khayyam.
IN passing from the study of the life of Vittoria
Colonna to that of Veronica Gambara, despite the
similarity of position, of tastes, and of circumstances,
it seemed as though we had descended to a distinctly
lower plane : but to study Gaspara Stampa, we must go
into a lower sphere. There we shall look in vain for
the dignity and order which characterised the mind of
Veronica, and we shall be still further removed from
the loftiness and mysticism which flowered in the soul
of Vittoria : we shall find nothing noble, nothing ideal,
only an intensely passionate human heart ; and yet, had
the lot fallen to her in another ground, she might have
had a different life-record.
Very little seems to be known certainly of Gaspara's
family. She was born in Padua in 1523, but is said
to have belonged to a noble Milanese family a fact
which is borne out by the existence of a letter written
to her by Paola Antonia de' Negri, the daughter of
Lazzaro Negri, public professor of letters at Milan, who
169
170 Vittoria Colonna
was a religious in the newly founded order of the
Angeliche of San Paolo in that city. Gaspara had one
sister, Cassandra, and one brother, Baldassare, both of
whom were tenderly devoted to her, and the latter was
also a poet.
The possessor of any great gift can hardly fail to be
interesting, but endowments like Gaspara's must be so
in the highest degree. From a child, her intellect was
the wonder and admiration of all her teachers ; all
testify to her ardour for study, the breadth and grasp
of her mind, and her unerring taste ; while to personal
beauty of no common order that beauty which com-
bines perfection of feature with variety of expression-
she added the accomplishments of poetry, music, and
singing. Her education was as complete as the high
standard of the age exacted, so that none can ever
have stood forth more splendidly equipped for life in
its widest and most intellectual meaning, and, if she
had remained in the cultivated, sober, and critical
society of Padua, it is probable that her story would
not have been so unsatisfying in the living and so sad
in the writing. But, on the death of her father, which
took place when Gaspara was only a child, the family
moved to Venice, and it would be hard to conceive of
surroundings which demanded a steadier head and a
more balanced judgment.
It has been thought by some that a parallel might be
drawn between the Venice of the sixteenth century and
the England of to-day, each being a mercantile nation.
The aristocracy of Venice was chiefly an aristocracy
of wealth ; money was a necessity to that gay and
expensive community, and consequently counted for
Gaspara Stampa 171
much. The spirit of commerce reigned supreme there,
as with us to-day, and, perhaps, this can never be the
case without a certain lowering of standard and coarsen-
ing of taste ; but, apart from this, it would be difficult
to push the comparison further. For Venice had at
least a great tradition, " whose merchants are princes,
whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth " ; if
she was more rich and more corrupt than any other
state in Italy, she was also more cultivated, more
elegant, and more artistic. Nor was this mere dilet-
tanteism ; it was a serious devotion to art and letters,
recognising in them the business, as well as the pleasure,
of life.
It is honourable alike to Gaspara and to the society
which opened its arms to welcome her that, if she
quickly became its idol, she owed her reception not
only or chiefly to her beauty and wealth, but infinitely
more to the gifts of her mind. The great world found
its recreation then in every sort of intellectual reunion.
Poet and musician, Gaspara's success is easy to under-
stand, and her singing captivated all hearts and drew
tears from many eyes, as no doubt it would have done
in London to-day. But the side of Venetian society to
which we find no parallel consists in those more serious
seances which, while meeting in gorgeous palaces and
enchanting gardens, yet concerned themselves with
questions of scholarship, grammar, language, and style,
and produced translations, glossaries, and commentaries
without end. The house of Domenico Veniero, poet
and senator, was the most famous place for these
gatherings, being the rendezvous for all that was wise,
noble, and learned ; it was, indeed, the cradle of the
172 Vittoria Colonna
celebrated Accademia del Pellegrini of which Doni was
the secretary, and his account of it, which we have in
a letter to the organist of San Marco, is interesting
enough to be given in full.
"Your Lordship will forgive me if I do not tell
you, or write you, the names of the Signori Accademid
Pellegrini, but only their cognomens, for so I am in-
structed to do, and, if I were to fail, I promise you I
should not be safe on the top of Mount Sinai. I
will, therefore, explain to you the manner, order, and
customs, the foundations, and all the remaining things
concerning the Academy, only excepting the proper
names. It happened that six honourable, virtuous,
and influential gentlemen, meeting at a famous house
here in Venice, began to wonder that so many Acade-
mies had been created in Italy and had so quickly
come to nothing. And a memorable argument took
place about this, and ultimately the members of these
were excused for true and efficacious reasons. Now,
having a desire to form a new one, many names were
proposed ; one wished that it should be called the
Academy of Apollo, another of the Nobles, but they
could not find the crests, mottoes, works, names, and
places that would go well together. At last one
gentleman said: * It seems that we six ought to in-
clude in our congregation the most illustrious and
learned spirits that there are in Italy and abroad, but
with this compact and condition, that those who accept
our company and whose we embrace must never be
made known to anyone, and that this should be the
promise.' And so this beginning found favour, and
immediately they elected the most learned men in
Gaspara Stampa 173
France, in Germany, and in Italy, but all Italians,
dispersed in divers countries. From this arose the
name Pilgrim, because it is the essence of a Pilgrim to
go over the world, to be found in all places, to talk
with all sorts of men, to know how to discourse about
the nature of all things, and to discuss every subject.
And this arrangement was confirmed, all the more
that in this world we are like pilgrims ; and at once
the general crest suggested itself to put over the shield
of the Academy a Peregrine Falcon with a Diamond
in its claw. And I said: * Gentlemen, the motto that
will go perfectly with it is wanting, and this is a very
important thing.' And there came into my mind this
saying, which was accepted: Nature et Artis Opus;
because the Peregrine Falcon is excellent when art
has trained him, while the Diamond, which is natural,
as soon as art polishes and cuts it, becomes perfect.
To which one of the members added that there could
not be a motto more appropriate to the Pilgrim-
Academy, because the natural powers of speech and
understanding must be tempered with the art of
letters and the exercise of the virtues. The arms
were designed thus: a shield, in the middle of which
was depicted a staff, a hat, shells, a winding-sheet, and
other things with which one goes on pilgrimage ; and
a short inscription round it with these words, Finiunt
Pariter, Renovantque Labores, because every evening the
pilgrim lies down and his labours come to an end,
and every morning he begins his journey anew. And,
because in this miserable world we are now bewildered
by fears, now lost in happiness or in sorrow, now ill-
content to live, thirsty, hungry, drowsy, slothful, swift,
174 Vittoria Colonna
devout, and other things as occasion offers, it seemed
that such cognomens as Devout, Vexed, Wandered, Lost,
Weary, Foot-sore, and such-like, were very suitable to
the Pilgrim-Academicians, who are now twenty-five in
number. The gentleman who was the originator of
the idea is called the Staff, and he has appointed three
Councillors, that is, the Palmer, the Pilgrim, and the
Traveller. All these offices are in being, as also the
Chancellor, which am I, and I shall now and always
keep silence about my cognomen given me by the
Academicians. The special seal of all the members is
a pilgrim with the motto as 1 have written it in the dis-
course of Niccold) Martelli at page 37.* Each Acade-
mician produces his works by himself and sends them
to these gentlemen, and, according to their judgment,
the titles are given, and they are sent to be printed ;
and we have some in print already as I have written
(in the letter I addressed to the Staff nt the request of
the Academicians). . . . You will see what a fine
thing it will be to see the styles clearly differentiated
in the lives of poets that we know ; at Naples a
Pilgrim-Academician is doing the life of Sannazzaro,
another at Ferrara that of Ariosto, here that of
Bembo, that of Aretino, that of the Signora Vittoria
Colonna, and others as you will see. Such and so
much information I can give you and no more." 2
In spite of Doni's discretion, we do know the names
of many members of this attractive assembly. Veniero
1 " II suggello, che portono particularmente gl* Accademici nostri
Pellegrini, ha un viandante pellegrino che camina, con questo motto
atorno: Tentanda via est" (La Libreria del Dom y p. 37).
2 Ibid., pp. 63, 64.
Gaspara Stampa 175
(who was probably the Staff} is specially interesting in
that, in the chronic ill-health into which he fell, which
obliged him to give up all public offices, his love of
study never abated, and in his acute suffering his chief
solace was to cultivate poetry, and to surround himself
with learned men, with whom he would discuss ques-
tions of scholarship.
Another member was Girolamo Parabosco, poet and
musician, who in his book of Lettere amorose includes
one to Gaspara, of which the end runs thus : " O Lady
loved above measure and favoured by the stars, this is
that fire which shall never burn in me less fiercely,
owing to your great virtues. Who ever saw elsewhere
such beauty ? Or such graces, or such sweet ways ?
And who ever heard such sweet and gentle words, or
listened to such high ideas ? And what shall I say of
that angelic voice, which, whenever it penetrates the air
with its divine accents, makes such sweet harmony that
it does not merely, like the Siren, make everyone who
is worthy of hearing it thrall to the brother of death,
but infuses spirit and life into the coldest stones,
making them weep for sovran sweetness. You may
then rest assured, most beautiful and most gracious
Lady Gasparina, that every man who sees you is bound
to remain your servant for ever. Of which number,
albeit I may be the most unworthy in virtues, yet I
shall not be so in love, and from henceforth, in every-
thing that I know will please you, I shall show it you
by most evident tokens." 1
The other poet-members were Benzone and Molino ;
the latter resembles Galeazzo di Tarsia in that his
1 Lettere amorose, Lib. i. p. 32.
176 Vittoria Colonna
extreme modesty prevented the publication of his
poems until after his death ; in his lifetime, he was
chiefly known for his excellent taste in literature, and
his liberality towards literary men. Other well-known
names are those of Lodovico Dolce and Francesco
Sansovino, the last-named being also a member of the
celebrated Accademia degV Infiammati at Padua. He
was only two years older than Gaspara, and was a
prolific, but not very discerning, author and compiler ;
with him we find Gaspara disputing on the merits of
the styles of Boccaccio and Castiglione, and he dedicated
to her his reprint of Boccaccio's Ameto, his Ragionamento
a" Amore, and the Lettura di Messer Benedetto Varchi sopra
un Sonetto delta Gelosia di Monsignor Delia Casa. In the
RagionamentOy which is extremely rare, the prefatory
letter to Gaspara, containing many allusions to her
brother, Baldassare, to whom it is evident that the
author was much attached, runs thus :
" Many times, gracious damosel, while Messer
Baldassare was alive, whom I cannot remember without
grief (your brother and a part of my very soul), I
heard him, in telling over to me the blessings given
him by the supreme grace of God, mention you as the
chief, and the one which he esteemed most highly.
Many times did he describe to me the excellence of
your intellect and the steadfastness of your mind. . . .
And because, being somewhat the elder, I remember
that, as though he had made me his father, I rebuked,
admonished, counselled that most gentle nature of his
which begged me for advice, instruction, and restraint ;
proceeding with you in the same manner, because I am
bound to do so, you being his very self, I send you
Gaspara Stampa 177
this little sketch which I have made as a relaxation from
graver studies, to remind you that by its means you
may learn to shun the deceptions which perverse men
practise on pure and innocent maidens, such as you are.
And herewith I instruct and advise you to proceed
with your glorious studies, shunning every occasion
which might distract you from your undertaking. I
know that I am too bold, but the memory of your
virtues, and the extreme affection that I bear to you and
to Madonna Cassandra, your honoured sister, and the
duty to which I am bound, constrain me to this, and so
1 hope for your forgiveness. . . .' n
The dedication of the Ameto shows great respect for
Gaspara's judgment and scholarship, as does that of
the Lettura, which Sansovino says he desires to bring
out under her most sweet and dear name ; and he further
assures her that both Varchi and della Casa will con-
sider themselves highly honoured " when they know
that their works have been read and prized by you, who
are most worthy of all commendation, because your
worth and your most admirable judgment so far exceed
common praise."
Other honourable friendships were with Trifone
Gabrielli, a very learned old man, called the " Socrates
of his time," and with Monsignor Giovanni della Casa,
to whom Cassandra Stampa dedicated her sister's col-
lected works after her death. Delia Casa was Arch-
bishop of Benevento and Nuncio at Venice in 1 544.
He takes rank as one of the most original poets of his
1 Lettera di prefazione at Ragionamento di M. Francesco Samot>ino t nel
quale hrevemente i insegna a' giovani uomirti la betf Arte <f Amore.
Venice, January 3, i 545 (i.e. i 546).
N
178 Vittoria Colonna
time, but is probably better known to us as the author
of the Galatea, a little book on manners and good
breeding, full of wise and charming things. The
writer says it was designed to show " what manner of
countenance and grace behoveth a man to use, that he
may be able in communication and familiar acquaint-
ance with men to show himself pleasant, courteous,
and gentle : which, nevertheless, is either a virtue or
the thing that comes very near virtue."
The rather illusive Mirtilla must have been a very
great friend of the poetess, to judge from the sixth
Capitolo which is addressed to her. It is generally
thought that Mirtilla was the academical name which
hid the personality of Ippolita Roma, a Paduan poetess,
with whose family Gaspara is known to have been in-
timate, for Sansovino, in the dedication of the Ameto^
begs her to show it to Messer Giovanni Roma, and refers
to a day on which they all disputed together a ques-
tion of style. The wonderfully interesting series of
thirty-five letters, published by Luigi Carrer, purports
to have been written to Mirtilla by Gaspara, but the
general opinion seems to be that the letters are not
genuine, but that in them Carrer has woven a true
romance, and, utilising every known detail of the life of
Gaspara, and following the lines of her own sonnets,
has presented a very faithful delineation of her char-
acter.
In Sansovino's letter, given above, we have evidence
of the anxiety felt for so beautiful and talented a girl in
the milieu in which she was placed, and this finds still
clearer expression in the noble letter written to her by
the Angelica Paola Antonia de' Negri. Paola Antonia
Gaspara Stampa 179
was a wonderful woman ; she would have been remark-
able in any position of life, for her insight and force
of character would always have made her a power ;
but, far above these, she was distinguished by her great
sanctity, which drew men and women to consult her,
many of whom owed their conversion to her, while no
small number, attracted by her example, left the world
for a life of penitence and prayer. To her high
spirituality, her letters bear eloquent testimony. It
was on August 20, 1544, that she wrote as follows to
Gaspara from her convent of San Paolo in Milan.
" Why should you wonder, O soul most sweet to
me, and most dear in the most pure Blood of Jesus
Christ, that I should love you in Him who has loved
you so much that, through excess of love, He gave
Himself to so bitter and painful a death ? If the
Creator loves you so much, why should not I, a miser-
able creature, love you ? If He took such pleasure in
you as to adorn you with His abundant graces in order
that He might better be able to take delight in you,
why should not I also take delight in the wonderful
works that He has wrought in you ? Ah ! if it might
please His goodness to make me worthy to see the
beautiful work which He has begun in you brought
to perfection ; and this I am sure He will do, you
being willing, as I trust you will be. For, if you are
possessed of that noble spirit that is announced to me
by many, I cannot believe that you would wish to
imitate the folly of those who, arrogating to them-
selves the gifts and graces bestowed on them, are so
charmed with themselves and become so proud that,
making an idol of such graces, they desire for them-
180 Vittoria Colonna
selves the praises that belong to God. They want to
be worshipped and praised, and they make it their
whole study to please the world and men, and to
gratify themselves, their own senses and sensual im-
pulses, and other abominable desires. They only use
the favours which God has bestowed on them to
offend and revile Him, and, if they could, they would
choose that there should be neither God nor soul, so
that they might serve their unbridled desires, ambi-
tions, and vices more unrestrainedly. I pray earnestly
that this may never happen in your sweet soul, but
I know that you are grateful for the graces that you
have received, so that you may become worthy of
greater ones. Remember, most sweet sister, that the
graces you have were given to you in order that you
might make yourself all spirit, and an angel in the
flesh. Now what an evil it would be if, with so many
gifts and graces, you were to turn away from God who
created you and re-created you in the most precious
Blood of His Son, to give yourself to the world, to
its frivolities, ambitions, vanity, and luxury ? Recog-
nise, recognise, the beauty, and the dignity, and ex-
cellence of your spirit, and strive to increase its worth
by making it all divine with holy virtues. Remember
that all these good gifts pass away with the wind, and,
after death, nothing remains of them but sorrow and
torment, if we have not made good use of them.
Those virtues which the world honours give nothing
to the soul but that small and momentary content
which springs from the praises of flatterers ; and,
when these eyes are closed in their last sleep, those
also will be dead ; but true virtues, holy virtues,
Gaspara Stampa 181
Christian virtues, divine virtues, adorn the soul, illu-
minate it, enrich it, ornament it, glorify it both in the
present life and in that which is to come. What is
the worth of that virtue which, when we die, dies with
us ? How much more useful and more desirable is
that virtue which always accompanies the soul, and
never leaves it, but brings it always new crowns, new
palms, new triumphs ? O God, shall I believe that
my sweet Madonna Gasparina will have so little
insight that she will not know how to choose ? Will
she refuse heavenly good for earthly ? O but, some-
one will say to me, I wish to have both. And I
answer (nay, not I, but the Lord) : One can only serve
two masters badly. Paul answers : * The unmarried
woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the
Lord that she may be holy both in body and in spirit.
But she that is married thinketh on the things of the
world how she may please her husband.' Ah! dear
soul, make it your study to be truly pure, humble,
patient, and full of all other holy virtues, so that you
may indeed be pleasing to your celestial Spouse, whose
chaste embraces give more joy to the soul than all the
pleasures that can be had apart from Him. And you,
to whom He has given such favours, can you not,
with the help of His grace, prepare yourself to enjoy
Him for ever ? Would you then refuse such a great
good ? Ah ! no, for the love of God, no, no, blessed
soul, redeemed at so great a price ; nay, leaving all
others, embrace Him alone. Do not be sorry to dis-
appoint the world in what it expects of you, and do
not believe in flatterers, those who love you according
to the flesh. Do not deceive yourself, I pray you, but
1 82 Vittoria Colonna
cut off all those intimacies and conversations which
separate you from Christ and put you in peril, or
which might bring a breath of suspicion upon that
beautiful chastity which shines forth in you, besides
all your other virtues, on account of which I said that
you must not wonder if I love you. I love you and
will love you always, if you will love Him who loves
you so much ; and not only with letters, but with my
blood, my life, my soul. I shall be content and I
will not go back from my word I shall be content if
I am able to help you in the virtuous course which He
who has begun it in you gives you to make perfect.
I pray you to familiarise yourself by constant thought
with the pains and torments that have been suffered
for you. Take some time from your other occupations
to spend it at the feet of your Saviour. Pray do this,
so that you may be made worthy to receive true light
and real knowledge of the will of God in you, so that
you may be able to perform it, and pray for me.
Salute your mother and sister whom I consider mine ;
our Lady Abbess salutes you. Farewell, spirit created
in Paradise in order that there might be your con-
versation and hereafter your eternal habitation.
" From the holy place of St. Paul the Apostle in
Milan, August 20, 1544.
" Yours wholly in Jesus Christ,
"A. P. A." 1
Yet, in spite of the band of lovers and flatterers by
whom Gaspara was always surrounded, it was not until
she was six-and- twenty that fate, in the person of
1 Lettere spiritual} della devota religiosa Angelica Paola Antonio,
t) pp. 619-623.
Gaspara Stampa 183
Collaltino, Count of Collalto and a nobleman of Tre-
viso, overtook her. He was one of the Pilgrims, his
academical name being Virgiliano Coridone ; Gaspara
calls him by it only once, but constantly uses her own
of Anassilla, which she had adopted as signifying the
nymph-goddess of Anasso, a river which ran through
part of the Count's territory. Outwardly, Collaltino
promised everything to attract the fancy : young, hand-
some, gallant, cultivated ; a poet at a time when every-
one poetised, and a soldier in an age when war was the
noblest art. He was, no doubt, conquered by the
striking beauty and the manifold talents of Gaspara,
but whether her transports and her jealousy wore him
out, or whether he had never meant to do anything
but pass away the time with her, it is difficult to say.
It is most likely that he never really loved her ; his
seems to have been a cold and selfish nature ; hers,
though absolutely self-centred, was passionately loving.
It would be difficult to picture to ourselves anything
more out of keeping with the tastes of the present
day than the world in which these two moved. Now,
when conversation is a series of snap-shots and an
opinion of any kind is to seek ; when no one wants to
think, and only a very limited number of people want
their thinking done for them, the formal and learned
coteries which made up the fashionable society of
Venice would be things impossible and incomprehen-
sible. And yet Gaspara Stampa, the centre and the
idol of these, stands before us essentially as the modern
woman, the sister of Marie BashkirtsefF, the woman
who has done with conventions, and who has the
courage of her own egotism. Hers is the first literary
184 Vittoria Colonna
autobiography ; we do not need to go beyond her
verses to know her whole history ; she is alike without
conventional modesty and without reticence, but she
has the grace of being natural. Subjective to the last
degree, she has no outlook ; she only writes true
history, but it is written with a fire and fervour which
compels attention and defies oblivion. Her literary
output is the story of a three years' passion, and
strikes the varying notes of joy, transport, jealousy,
and reproach, returning to the height of ecstasy only to
sink down in desolation and despair ; it is a love-record,
in fact, of everything except nobleness, for the love of
passion is never an unselfish love, being fulfilled with
the desire of getting ; whereas love in its purest aspect
means giving, not receiving.
According to Sonnet u, it was at Christmas-time that
Gaspara first met the Count ; he began the acquaintance
by writing her a sonnet, after which their intimacy pro-
gressed rapidly. Her first poems are occupied with the
personal charms and attractions of her lover, whom all
the stars of heaven dowered with their gifts,
" That he might be the only perfect one."
We get the same well-worn comparisons between his
face and the sun, his eyes and the stars, yet her praises
are no.t as wholly conventional as those of her sister-
poets.
" Ladies, let who desires to know my lord
Picture a lord of fair and sweet aspect,
Though young in years mature in intellect." 1
1 " Chi vuol conoscer, donne, il mio signore,
Miri un signer di vago e dolce aspetto,
Giovane d' anni e vecchio d' intelletto."
Gaspara Stampa 185
And again,
" In that angelic beauty I behold
Ever new miracles and new effects." l
But it is not long before these notes of doubt make
themselves heard, as in Sonnets xvm and xxiv.
" Whene'er I see my beauteous ray appear,
It is as though I saw the sun arise,
And when he makes sweet stay he, to my eyes,
Is like the sun that on his course doth fare.
Pleasure and strength then cause my heart to wear
An aspect gracious as green fields display
At high noon in the loveliest time of May,
When by the sunshine they are coloured clear.
But when my sun departs from me at last,
I seem to see the other's swift descent
Into the west, leaving the earth o'ercast.
But he will come with life and light once more,
While of my dear and shining orient
Return is doubtful and departure sure." 2
1 " E veggo in quel angelica beltate
Sempre nuovi miracoli ed effetti."
2 " Quando io veggo apparire il mio bel raggio,
Parmi vedere il sol quando esce fuora ;
Quando fa meco poi dolce dimora,
Assembra il sol che faccia suo viaggio.
E tanta nel cor gioia e vigore aggio,
Tanta ne mostro nel sembiante allora,
Quanta 1' erba, che il sol pinge e colora
A mezzo giorno nel piti vago maggio.
Quando poi parte il mio sol finalmente,
Parmi 1' altro veder, che scolorita
Lasci la terra andando in occidente.
Ma 1* altro torna, e rende luce e vita ;
E del mio chiaro e lucido oriente
E il tornar dubbio e certa .'' partita."
1 86 Vittoria Colonna
" Let all speech come, and all intelligence,
As many as e'er wrote in prose and verse,
As many as in times and lands diverse
Were spirits worthy of our reverence ;
Yet there were none of all could make pretence
To tell Love's trouble, anger, loss, and scorn ;
Since in true Love so many things are borne,
Love's fancy at its side is impotence.
Nor shall there ever yet be one to prove
The legion of delights, untold, unguessed,
Love, of his courtesy, doth make me know.
You, who by favour are elect to love,
Do not bewail the griefs you undergo,
Because the sufferings of Love are blest." l
Also, from the very first, she complains of his cold-
ness :
" Since I am made of fire and you of ice,
You are in liberty and I in chains." 2
1 " Vengan quante fur mai lingue ed ingegni,
Quanti fur stili in prosa e quanti in versi,
E quanti in tempi e paesi diversi
Spirti di riverenza e d' onor degni ;
Non fia mai che descrivan 1' ire e i sdegni,
Le noie e i danni, che in amor sofFersi ;
Perch nel vero tanti e tali fersi,
Che passan tutti gli amorosi segni.
E non fia anche alcun che possa dire,
Anzi adombrar la schiera de' diletti
Che Amor, la sua merce, mi fa sentire.
Voi, che ad amar per grazia siete eletti,
Non vi delete dunque di patire,
Perch i martir d' amor son benedetti."
3 " Ma, perch' io son di foco e voi di ghiaccio,
Voi siete in libertate ed io in catena."
Gaspara Stampa 187
And, in Sonnet XLIII :
" My star is cruel, but more cruelty
I suffer from my Count ; from me he flies,
I follow ; some on me cast longing eyes ;
No loveliness but his can I descry.
I hate who loves, love who despitefully
Regards me ; 'gainst the humble cries my heart ;
To him who scorns I play a humble part ;
Such the strange food my soul is nourished by.
Fresh cause for anger doth he ever bring,
While others seek to give me peace and rest ;
But, leaving them, I am by him possest.
Thus in thy school, O Love, is ever done
The contrary of each deserved thing ;
Not humbleness but pride the day hath won." 1
But these vague sorrows suddenly assume an objec-
tive form when she is confronted with her lover's pro-
posed departure to take service under the French king,
Henry II ; she implores him to delay his going :
1 " Dura la Stella mia, maggior durezza
E quella del mio Conte ; egli mi fugge,
lo seguo lui ; altri per me si strugge,
lo non posso mirare altra bellezza.
Odio chi m' ama, ed amo chi mi sprezza ;
Verso chi m' e umile il mio cor rugge ;
lo sono umil con chi mia speme adugge ;
A cosi strano cibo ho 1' alma avvezza.
Egli ognor da cagione a nuovo sdegno,
Essi mi cercan dar conforto e pace ;
lo lascio questi, ed a quell' un m' attegno.
Cosi nella tua scola, Amor, si face
Sempre il contrario di qut.' ch' egli & degno ;
L J umil si sprezza, e 1' empio si compiace."
1 88 Vittoria Colonna
" Alas ! for some few hours at least defer
Your obstinate departure, till such time
As I am used such heavy grief to bear." 1
And, when he is gone, she thus invokes the breezes of
France :
" Tell him in accents sad, in woful wise,
That, if he will not bring my heart relief
By coming or by writing, few and brief
The hours ere light be quenched within my eyes." 2
She reproaches him with having changed his thought
and will as soon as he reached France ; she complains
that he no longer cares for her and for her love, and
that he has not deigned to write one word to his
" misera Anassilla." At least forty sonnets form one
long lament over her lover's absence and the surpassing
greatness of her own grief.
" Dear Ladies, you who haply like to me
Have trod the pathway steep and amorous,
And who have sometime seen and proved thus
How sore that cruel archer's wounds can be.
Tell me the truth then, of your courtesy,
If there are any griefs, or ever were,
That with my bitter sorrows can compare,
Or equal one of mine in agony." 3
1 " Deh prolungate almen per alcune ore
Questa vostra ostinata dipartita,
Fin che m' usi a portar tanto dolore."
2 " E ditegli con tristi e mesti accenti
Che s' ei non move a dar soccorso al core,
O tornando o scrivendo, fra poche ore
Resteran gli occhi miei di luce spenti."
* " Voi, che per 1* amoroso, aspro sentiero,
Donne care, come io, forse passate,
Ed avete talor viste e provate
Gaspara Stampa 189
It was during this first absence, when she could get
no word from the Count, that she wrote him a touching
letter sending therewith all her collected poems, and
wrote at the same time to his brother, Vinciguerra, to
beg him to gain some response for her. To Col-
laltino she wrote thus :
"To MY ILLUSTRIOUS LORD.
" Since the pains which I suffer for love of your
Lordship, written in divers letters and verses, have not
been able singly to make your Lordship pitiful towards
me, nor even to make you courteous enough to write
me one word, I have resolved to write them all in this
book, in order to see whether all together they will be
able to effect this. Here, then, your Lordship will see,
not the depths of my passions, my tears, and my
torments, for that is a bottomless ocean, but only a
little rivulet therefrom. Nor must you think I have
done this in order to convict you of cruelty, because
one cannot talk of cruelty where is no obligation ; nor
yet to make you sad ; but rather to make you con-
scious of your own greatness and to make you rejoice
over it. Because, seeing these fruits are the outcome
of your harshness towards me, you will be able to
guess what would result from your compassion, if it
should ever happen that heaven should make you com-
passionate towards me, O noble, illustrious, and divine
one, since by torturing me you bring aid and fruitful-
Quante pene puo dar quel crudo arciero ;
Dite per cortesia, ma dite il vero,
Se quante ne son or, quante son state,
All' aspre pene mie paragona.."
Agguaglian un de' miei martin intero."
190 Vittoria Colonna
ness. When you have a truce from your greater and
dearer cares, let your Lordship read these records of
the grave and tender ones of your most loving and
unhappy Anassilla, and infer from this shadow how she
must experience and feel them in her mind. For, cer-
tainly, if it should ever happen that my poor mournful
house should be found worthy to receive its great
guest, who is your Lordship, I am sure that the beds,
the rooms, the halls, and everything would recount the
laments, the sobs, the sighs, and the tears which I have
shed day and night calling on your name. Neverthe-
less, in my worst torments, I have ever blest heaven
and my good fortune for the cause of them, because it
is far better, Count, to die for you than to rejoice for
any other whomsoever. But what am 1 doing ? Why
am I troubling your Lordship needlessly and at too
great length, and injuring even my verses thereby, as
though these did not know how to tell their own
reasons, and wanted help from others ? Referring my-
self then to these, I will make an end, praying your
Lordship, as the greatest reward of my most faithful
service, that, on receiving this poor little book, you will
grant me only a sigh, which from afar will revive the
memory of your forgotten and abandoned Anassilla.
And you, my little book, depositary of my tears, pre-
sent yourself before our Lord, in the humblest fashion
that you can, in company with my pure faith. And if,
when he receives you, you shall see that those my fatal
and eternal lights grow gentle, even a little, then
blessed be all our labours, and most happy all our
hopes. And so remain with him in peace for ever." l
1 Dedicatory letter prefixed to various editions of Gaspara's Rime.
Gaspara Stampa 191
But even this obtained no recognition. Then came
to her the news of his approaching return, and all was
transport for a brief while :
" What words and welcomes can be worthy found
With which to greet my longed-for lover, he
Who comes with so great glories back to me." J
And in her present joy she will make light of past
sufferings :
" I bless thee, Love, for all the griefs and fears,
For all the injuries and weariness ;
All new and old vexations now I bless
Which thou hast made me bear so many years.
I bless the frauds with which thy followers
Thou dost deceive, the errors manifold,
Since, now that I my two dear stars behold,
All trace of sorrow straightway disappears." 2
But she is too soon troubled by jealousy :
" Love, speak with me a little, tell me this,
With thy two sisters what have I to do,
With fear and jealousy ? I would I knew
Why ever in my heart their dwelling is." 3
1 " Con quai degne accoglienze o quai parole
Raccorro io il mio gradito amante,
Che torna a me con tante glorie e tante."
2 " Io benedico, Amor, tutti gli afFanni,
Tutte le ingiurie e tutte le fatiche,
Tutte le noie novelle ed antiche,
Che m' hai fatto provar tante e tanti anni.
Benedico le frodi e i tanti inganni,
Con che convien che i tuoi seguaci intriche ;
Poi che tornando le due stelle amiche
M' hanno in un tratto ristorati i danni."
3 " Vorrei che mi dicessi un poco, Amore,
Che ho a far io con queste tue soi -'le,
Temenza e gelosia ? ed ond' e ch' elle
Non sanno star se non dentro il mio core ? "
192 Vittoria Colonna
And, if her lover really read the long tirade of fear,
torment, and recrimination which she poured forth,
one can hardly wonder that he wearied of her ; but, at
the same time, there is never wanting a touching accent
of humility in all she writes. Her sorrow breaks forth
still more bitterly when the Count will return to the
French army :
" Since life departs from me, lo ! I shall die,
For, lacking life, can I remain alive ?
That were a new and strange alternative,
Love, and this thou knowest certainly.
And since by death the weary history
Will close for ever of my bitter cries,
My sorrows, and my sufferings, and sighs,
1 feel it will not greatly trouble me.
Only for Love's sake will I grieve, that thou
Henceforth shalt never find so firm a heart
Or one so constant to receive thy dart.
And all thy glories and thy victories,
So many and so great, shall lose their prize
When this so faithful lover is laid low." 1
1 " Ecco, Amore, io morro, perch la vita
Si partira da me, e senza lei
Tu sei certo ch' io viver non potrei,
Ch saria cosa nuova ed inaudita.
Quanto a me, ne sard poco pentita,
Perch la lunga istoria degli omei,
De' sospir, de' martir, de' dolor miei
Sara per questo mezzo almen fmita.
Mi dorra sol per conto tuo, che poi
Non avrai cor si saldo e s v i costante,
Dove possi avventar gli strali tuoi ;
E le vittorie tue, le tante e tante
Tue glorie perderanno i pregi suoi
Al cader di s v i fida e salda amante."
Gaspara Stampa 193
This separation was final, and the remainder of her
writings, the Rime di vario argomento, has a different
tone. There have been few traces of religious feeling
in Gaspara's work hitherto ; human love had claimed
too large a part of her life ; but, as that goes from her,
she turns with humility and penitence to God. Her
religious sonnets, if not strong, have in them at least a
note of sincerity, and witness to the struggle through
which she had passed.
" Repentant now, over my sins I grieve,
Over my wild and foolish fantasies,
That in vain loves I should have wasted this
Brief time of mortal life so fugitive.
To Thee, O Lord, who tenderness dost give
To human hearts, and melt'st the frozen snow,
And makest heavy burdens easy grow
To those in whom Thy holy fervours live ;
To Thee I turn, and pray that Thou afford
Thine aid to draw me forth from the deep place,
Whence I to free myself should vainly try.
It was Thy will, O Lord, for us to die,
And so to ransom all the human race j
Then do not let me perish, dearest Lord." 1
1 " Mesta e pentita de' miei gravi errori
E del mio vaneggiar tanto e si lieve,
E d' aver speso questo tempo breve
Delia vita fugace in vani amori,
A te, Signer, che intenerisci i cori,
E rendi calda la gelata neve,
E fai soave ogni aspro peso e greve
A chiunque accendi de' tuoi santi ardori,
Ricorro, e prego che mi porghi niano
A trarmi fuor del pelago, onde u cire,
S' io tentassi da me, sarebbe vano.
194 Vittoria Colonna
There are also a few sonnets addressed to a new
lover ; they are infinitely paler in colour than any that
have gone before, but they show that a new hope was
springing up in her heart. Whether any happiness could
ultimately have come of this is an unsolved question,
for Gaspara had felt and suffered too much ; she had
literally worn herself out, and died in April, 1554,
when only thirty-one. Two stories were at one time
current concerning her death : first, that she was
poisoned by Collaltino ; secondly, that she died of
grief on hearing of his marriage. Both tales have
long since been discredited, and the date of Collaltino's
marriage has been fixed at 1557, three years after
Gaspara's death.
Her sister, Cassandra, who evidently regarded her
with overpowering love and admiration, caused her
poems to be published immediately after her death,
and dedicated them in the following letter to della
Casa, the learned and famous Archbishop of Benevento,
who had been the friend of both sisters.
" Since it has pleased our Lord God to call to Him-
self, as one may say in the flower of her age, my very
dear and much-loved sister, and she, departing, has
taken with her all my hopes and consolations and life
itself, I have tried to put all her things away out of
sight, so that seeing them and dealing with them
should not renew the bitter memory of her in my
mind, or reopen the grievous wound made by the loss
of so excellent a sister. And while I was wishing and
Tu volesti per noi, Signer, morire,
Tu ricomprasti tutto il seme umano ;
Dolce Signer, non mi lasciar perire."
Gaspara Stampa 195
intending to act in the same manner with these poems
of hers, composed by her, partly to exercise her talent,
great as ever woman had, if my sisterly affection does
not deceive me ; partly to express some of her amorous
ideas ; many talented gentlemen who loved her while
she was alive, have dissuaded me, against my will, from
this resolve, and have constrained me to collect all
those that could be found, showing me that, for the
sake of my own peace, I neither could nor ought to
hinder the glory of my sister by concealing her honour-
able labours. This then is why I have had them pub-
lished, and the reason why I have preferred to dedicate
them to your most reverend Lordship rather than to
anyone else is this. ... I am sure that in this I
shall also please the blessed soul of my beloved sister,
if yonder she has any sense or memory of the things
of this world, for, while she was alive, she always looked
up to your most reverend Lordship as to one of the
most shining lights of Italy, and had destined her
labours for you, always reverencing your name, and
bowing to your critical insight, whenever she discoursed
about it, which was very often, and praising to the
skies your most learned, graceful, and weighty writings,
to the level of all the ancients and moderns that are
read. Let not your most reverend Lordship then
disdain to receive, with that great kindness of heart
which God has given you, these few fruits of the
talent of my most lamented sister, by whom, while she
lived, you were so much honoured and revered ; being
glad that under the shadow of your most celebrated
name should repose also the pen, the study, the art,
and the amorous and fervent desires of a woman, with
196 Vittoria Colonna
so many other most divine works of the highest and
most exquisite spirits of our age ; and with this, kiss-
ing your learned and holy hands, I make an end."
Reviewing the work of Gaspara Stampa as a whole,
though it cannot be said that her sonnets are free from
convention (the same similes and illustrations being
brought perpetually into play), there is a directness of
treatment and often a very great simplicity which, at
that time, were an originality in themselves. The
Capitoli are, perhaps, her best work, giving her more
scope than the sonnet form, and one or two of the
madrigals are charming : the following has always been
considered the most perfect :
" My heart with you would be,
My lord, as forth you fare,
Had it remained with me
Since with your eyes Love made me prisoner.
Therefore with you shall go my sighs
Which only tarry here,
Faithful companions dear,
These and my words and cries;
And should you ever find your escort fled,
Then think that I am dead." 2
1 Letter prefaced to most editions of Gaspara's poems.
2 " II cor verrebbe teco,
Nel tuo partir, signore,
S' egli fosse piti meco,
Poi che con gli occhi tuoi mi prese Amore.
Dunque verranno teco i sospir miei,
Che sol mi son restati,
Fidi compagni e grati,
E le voci e gli omei ;
E, se vedi mancarti la lor scorta,
Pensa ch' io sard morta."
Gaspara Stampa 197
It is, of course, evident that Gaspara was not a great
artist ; yet, with her brilliant classical education and her
ripe judgment, it is astonishing that she has not given
us more thoughtful work ; but her unhappy passion for
Collaltino wasted the powers of her heart and mind,
and it is with immense sorrow and pity that we close
the record of so much genius and beauty.
CHAPTER VIII
THE BEGINNING OF A TRAGEDY
Let knowledge grow from more to more,
But more of reverence in us dwell ;
That mind and soul, according well,
May make one music as before,
But vaster. TENNYSON.
IT is refreshing to pass from the weary, passion-tossed
life of Gaspara Stampa to breathe again the loftier
atmosphere which belongs to Vittoria Colonna. As
a poet, one would hardly hesitate to give Gaspara the
higher place : as a woman, no comparison would be
possible.
For seven years Vittoria elected to sing her sorrow
and her loss, and it is probable that the greater part of
this time was passed by her at Ischia, where the circle
in which she then found herself had very far-reaching
effects on her later life and writings, and so it is to the
realisation of this circle that the present chapter will be
devoted.
The central figure of the Neapolitan group was cer-
tainly the Spaniard, Juan de Valdes. The names of the
twin-brothers, Alfonso and Juan, have become strangely
confused, so much so that some authors have con-
tended that they were one and the same ; this con-
troversy, however, has been finally laid to rest by the
198
JZe&ofaats ( >jy -(0?t/nt
fru i'S<'tr;esr>rif>< vfaJuaflo:
The Beginning of a Tragedy 199
discovery of a letter from Juan to Erasmus, dated
January 12, 1533, in which he deplores Alfonso's
death ; yet, from a literary standpoint, the latter
remains a shadow, for the work which passed muster
as his is now thought to have been chiefly his brother's.
The two de Valdes, like most of the young Spanish
nobles of the time, were educated by Pietro Martire
d'Anghiera, an Italian who had come to Spain in the
train of Mendoza, and was by him presented to Ferdi-
nand and Isabella, with whom his influence became
paramount. At d'Anghiera's suggestion, Alfonso was
subsequently made Latin Secretary to the Emperor
Charles V, and it was he who, being present at the
burning of Luther's books at Worms, said that it was
" not the end but the beginning of a tragedy." Both
brothers were the warm friends of Erasmus, with
whom their turn of mind had much similarity, and who
had a boundless admiration for their scholarship.
There is some doubt whether Alfonso was an ecclesi-
astic, but Juan was certainly a layman, and occupied
various posts at court. When Adrian of Utrecht, the
former tutor of Charles V, became Pope as Adrian VI
in 1522, Juan was made one of his chamberlains.
The appointment was of short duration, owing to the
death of the Pope, but this residence at the papal court
may have supplied copy for the Dialogues of Mercury
and Charon and the Sack of Rome, which were published
after the latter event and raised a storm of contro-
versy. The Dialogue on the Sack of Rome was written
to prove that the whole blame attached to the Pope,
and was a direct visitation of Providence for the crimes
of the Papacy ; it was answered by Castiglione, who
2oo Vittoria Colonna
was then the papal envoy in Spain, with some dignity,
but both documents are as violent and unrepaying as
religio-political controversy never fails to be. Alfonso
alone acknowledged the authorship of this work, pro-
bably feeling that his position as state-secretary was
a sufficient protection for him, and if Juan had a hand
in it, it is strangely unlike any of his subsequent writ-
ings.
The Mercury and Charon was always attributed to
Juan, who states in the preface that the chief reason
which had induced him to write it was his great desire
to manifest to the world the justice of Charles V, and
the iniquity of those who had provoked and betrayed
him into war. This statement might lead us to expect
a wholly political document, but, while a very remark-
able knowledge of contemporary politics is shown and
very clear-sighted judgments pronounced, the conver-
sation, which purports to take place between the boat-
man of the Styx and Mercury, the messenger of the
gods, and many passing souls, deals with domestic life,
religion, and education from an original point of view.
The author did not feel himself safe in Spain after its
publication, but went to Naples, where there was no
Inquisition, in 1530; the two following years he was
in Rome and Bologna, but in the autumn of 1533 he
returned to Naples and did not leave it again, becom-
ing secretary to the Viceroy, Don Pedro de Toledo,
and it is from this point that for us the interest of his
life dates.
There will always be those who thrive on contro-
versy, of whom it will be said that they are " subtle
at tierce and quart of mind with mind," and who
The Beginning of a Tragedy 201
thoroughly enjoy the process, but such are not the
most lovable, nor, perhaps, the most influential
characters : anything of the kind was quite foreign to
the gentle, contemplative nature of Juan. Like the
men of his time and surely of every time he could
not but bewail the shortcomings of the rulers of the
Church, but he had no desire for reformation from
without: the saving qualities of loyalty and humility
preserved him from this. Certainly he never incited
anyone to leave the Church, or thought of doing so
himself, nor did he imagine himself to be a leader of
men ; his teaching was always of a private character,
he never expected, or probably desired, to influence
the masses, but simply applied himself to helping
those immediately around him, striving rather to build
up than to destroy, and, by simplifying religion, to
make it at once attractive and attainable. A scholar,
though not a theologian, he felt, along with Erasmus,
that we cannot afford to turn our back upon the
wisdom of the ages ; modesty and humility breathe
through all that he wrote, and it would have seemed
to him the merest foolishness that men should engage
without a guide in the most complicated, the most
intricate study to which the human mind can ever
apply itself.
Whatever else there was in wha: is known as the
Reformation, there was in it this crude folly, that the
fabric built up laboriously by wisdom and patience,
the truth which many errors had chiselled out, was
placed at the mercy of the immature and the un-
trained: in particular, it was left to the caprice and
the idiosyncrasy of individual opinion, and so the
202 Vittoria Colonna
history of Protestantism inevitably tends to become a
mere history of sects.
But though the mind of Valdes exhibited points of
resemblance with that of Erasmus, in the main the
two men were conspicuously different. To the latter,
classical learning was the chief attraction, but the
Greek speculative spirit found no response in him ;
he was neither a philosopher nor a mystic. None has
ever seen more clearly than he the value of scholar-
ship, none pursued it with more devotion, or was
more instrumental in throwing open the doors of
knowledge to his own and succeeding generations.
His object was the union of the classical and the
Christian, and, by grafting the one upon the other, to set
mankind on the way to a sounder, saner progress : it
was a new aim and a high one, but perhaps a trifle
superficial, containing only such elements as made it
rather a noble idea than a noble ideal. Juan de Valdes,
taking rank far below Erasmus as a scholar, yet saw
other and higher things than he. He lived among
the realities that cannot be uttered, and realised, as all
mystics do, the futility of words, which, far from being
the embodiment of our thoughts, are scarcely the
similitudes of them, and barely even the symbols.
It is this which sharply divides the mystic from the
theologian and the scholar, that, soaring so far into
the suprasensible, all outward things lose their actuality,
and forms, from their very inadequacy, hardly seem
worth preserving. In this, as in all things, there is a
golden mean, but, while materialism has its votaries,
how would it be with us if the mystics ceased to
exist ?
The Beginning of a Tragedy 203
Grouped around Valdes, the names of Carnesecchi
and Pietro Martire Vermigli, and of Ochino (with
whom Vittoria Colonna and Caterina Cibo were
specially connected), make a confused picture in our
mind ; while the great ladies, Isabella Manriquez,
the Duchessa Costanza d'Avalos of Amalfi, and Giulia
Gonzaga, float no less vaguely before our eyes, and we
need to arrange and focus them before they can really
mean anything to us. Of these, Giulia Gonzaga and
Pietro Carnesecchi were particularly the disciples of
Valdes.
Born in 1499, Giulia Gonzaga was the daughter of
Lodovico di Gian Francesco Gonzaga, Signer of Sab-
bioneta, and when only thirteen was married to
Vespasiano Colonna, a widower of forty with one
daughter, Isabella. Vespasiano, dying in 1528, left all
his estates to his wife, but two claimants arose for
them, one being Ascanio Colonna, Vittoria's brother ;
it is greatly to the credit of both ladies that this cir-
cumstance never interrupted the friendly relations that
existed between them. Clement VII substantiated
Giulia's rights, and, when put into possession of her
domains, she took up her residence at Fondi. In
the meantime her stepdaughter, by marrying Luigi
" Rodomonte " Gonzaga, had become her sister-in-law,
and many family complications ensued and much weary
litigation took place. Isabella questioned her step-
mother's right to the income of her father's estates,
and also refused to give up many valuable heirlooms.
Giulia seems to have acted throughout with great
judgment and forbearance, and a compromise was at
last effected.
204 Vittoria Colonna
Sung by Ariosto as the fairest woman of her time, 1
and celebrated in contemporary letters and poems as
a beauty and a poetess, the fame of Giulia Gonzaga
caused her a very terrifying experience in 1534 when
the African corsair, Khair-ed-din Barbarossa, attempted
to carry her off. Coming to Fondi, he disembarked at
midnight ; the inhabitants of the little town, alarmed
and surprised, could make small resistance, but for-
tunately the uproar aroused the castle, and Giulia
escaped by a secret passage and rode to Vallecorsa, while
the corsair, disappointed of his object, only plundered the
town and retired. Among the many who flocked to
Giulia's assistance was Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, a
former suitor for her hand ; the enemy having departed,
there was nothing for him to do, but he took the
opportunity of begging the lady to allow him to send
the painter, Sebastiano del Piombo, to paint her por-
trait for himself. We gather from Vasari that he was
a month doing it and that, owing to the celestial beauty
of the subject, it was one of the painter's most success-
ful pictures. It is strange to find it said that this is
the portrait now in the National Gallery.
It is not surprising that, after this episode, Giulia
elected to leave Fondi and live in Naples, where she
established herself in the Convent of S. Chiara, using
her own beautiful house for business and for the re-
ception of her friends. Knowing what we do of her
family troubles, we can imagine that, in spite of her
charms, her cultivation, and her resources, she can
have had but a weary life, and this gives us special
light to understand her intercourse with Valdes and
1 Or/. Fur., XLVI. 8.
The Beginning of a Tragedy 205
the position he held on her horizon. She was his
devoted disciple : Isabella Manriquez, the wife of Don
Garzia Manriquez, the governor of Piacenza ; Vittoria's
aunt and cousin, the Principessa of Francavilla and the
Duchessa of Amalfi ; Vittoria herself ; all were notable
figures in the circle of Valdes, but with none was his
influence so supreme as with Giulia Gonzaga. And it
was to her that he owed his most noted follower of the
other sex, Pietro Carnesecchi ; it is true they had met
in Rome, at the court of Clement VII, but Carnesecchi
says he had never known him as a theologian until the
time of their intercourse in Naples, and that it was to
Giulia that he was indebted for this intimate know-
ledge.
Belonging to a Florentine family of high rank that
had always followed the fortunes of the Medici, Pietro
Carnesecchi was appointed secretary by Clement VII
when he became Pope, and was not only loaded with
honours, being presented with two abbeys, one in the
kingdom of Naples and one in France, but was so
much consulted and deferred to that it became a
popular saying that the Church was controlled more by
Carnesecchi than by Clement. Poet, orator, and scholar,
Carnesecchi numbered among his friends Cardinals
Pole, Sadoleto, and Bembo, and also Flaminio and
Vittoria Colonna. He made the acquaintance of the
latter in Rome in 1534, when she and Caterina Cibo
hastened thither simultaneously to intercede with the
Pope for the newly founded order of the Cappuccini,
which Clement, incited thereto by the jealousy of the
parent-order, the Osservanti, had just banished from the
city. Ochino is sometimes erroneously said to have
206 Vittoria Colonna
founded the Cappuccini, but the real founder was Fra
Matteo da Bassi who, together with Lodovico da
Fossombrone, left the Osservanti in 1526, desiring to
keep a stricter rule. Their earliest patron was Caterina
Cibo, Duchessa of Camerino, who allowed them to
settle near Camerino, and offered to build them a
convent, but they contented themselves with a little
church and a house near it, with which Caterina pre-
sented them, and she was instrumental in obtaining
from the Pope the confirmation of their order, which at
first constantly suffered persecution. To her and to
Vittoria Colonna this revival of the soul of St. Francis
seemed a cause worth championing, and Vittoria wrote
long letters on its behalf to Cardinals Contarini and
Ercole Gonzaga, and in 1534 helped to obtain from
Clement the revocation of the edict of their banish-
ment from Rome.
But to us the chief interest of the new-born order
centres in one remarkable man, whose career is full of
interest and excitement and, whether regarded as a
triumph or a failure, is at all events a tragedy. Ber-
nardino Ochino was born in Siena in 1487, and his
name is probably derived from the contrada of the city
which he inhabited, which had for its ensign a white
goose (oca) ; to this district St. Catherine had belonged,
and while he lived in sight of her house, walked the
same streets, saw the same sights, how much did he
know of the desires of her heart ? How much, too,
had he in common with his own namesake and spiritual
father, San Bernardino ? For a while, at any rate, their
feet were set on the same path ; where and how did
the road divide ?
The Beginning of a Tragedy 207
Little is known of his early life ; he is thought to
have been a page of Pandolfo Petrucci, then a great
power in Siena, and this idea is favoured by the fact of
his joining the Osservanza, a convent specially endowed
and protected by Petrucci. There he was both General
and Provincial, but he left it in 1534 to join the stricter
order of the Cappuccini, six years after it had been
confirmed by the Pope. Going to Rome with the
other members of the order, one and fifty in all, he
passed through the crisis of their banishment and
recall, and there, no doubt for the first time, came into
contact with Caterina Cibo and Vittoria Colonna.
The Marchesa was then residing with the Sisters of
San Silvestro, and Agostino Gonzaga writes of her to
the Marchesa Isabella, that she does not wish to be
visited by anyone, and likes to go about Rome un-
recognised and in the poorest clothes. He also says
that she is attending the sermons in San Lorenzo in
Damaso where the preacher is Fra Bernardino of Siena,
a very learned man of most holy life, who has wonder-
ful fervour and a most perfect voice. 1 There was then
a rumour, which Agostino mentions, that Vittoria and
Caterina Cibo were thinking of entering a convent of
the rule of Santa Chiara, recently founded in Naples
by a Spanish lady, Maria Longa, but the project, if it
had existed, was never carried out. Vittoria, however,
continued to wear her " abito abietissimo," and seems
to have imposed the same on the ladies who ac-
companied her to Ferrara.
In 1535, Ochino was again preaching in Rome, and
appealed to Vittoria on behalf of the order, when Fra
1 Luzio, Vittoria Colonna, p. 26.
208 Vittoria Colonna
Lodovico refused to convene the General Chapter.
The Marchesa, keenly interested in the fortunes of the
Cappuccini, made an appeal to Paul III, and obtained a
direct command from him, which resulted in Bernardino
of Asti being made Vicar-General and Ochino one of
the four generals. From this period Ochino's fame as
a preacher grew rapidly, and he was so much sought
after that the Pope reserved to himself the right of
sending him where he would. Every city in Italy
clamoured for him, while Siena pressed a special claim.
And so he climbed to the most perilous of all positions,
that of being a great popular preacher; for there is no
influence so personal as that of an orator ; from a ruler,
a statesman, or a soldier, we demand something more
than mere words, but the spell of the orator lies in his
voice and in his speech ; with these he has to captivate,
to mould, and to master : it is a most insidious power,
making the largest demands on the truthfulness of a
man's nature and the balance of his mind.
In the Lent of 1536, Ochino was preaching at Naples,
in San Giovanni Maggiore, and Charles V went to hear
him several times, and is reported to have said that such
a spirit and devotion would make the stones weep.
The Emperor left Naples in the spring for Rome, and
accepted the hospitality of Ascanio Colonna at Marino
for a night, making from thence a triumphal entry into
the city, and being received with great ceremony and
festivities. He remained twelve days and found time
to make formal visits to the wife of Ascanio, and to
her sister-in-law, Vittoria Colonna. His interview with
the latter is interesting as being the occasion on which
she implored him to make peace at home and turn his
The Beginning of a Tragedy 209
arms against the infidel, pressing on him the glory of
undertaking a Crusade : it seems to link her to the best
period of history to know that she lived at a time when
such a hope was even possible, although alas ! never
realised. Even her cherished idea of going on pil-
grimage to the Holy Land, for which the Pope gave
her facilities, never came to pass, although it was with
great reluctance that she finally abandoned it, owing to
her delicate health and to the apprehension felt on her
account by her brother and del Vasto.
The plan was still in her mind when she journeyed
to Ferrara in the following year ; she meant to pro-
ceed to Venice and to embark from thence, but the
difficulties in the way were too great for her, and the
result was that she remained at Ferrara for ten months,
living a most austere life in the Convent of Santa
Caterina, and worshipped by the whole city for her
charity and good works. We say " the whole city "
advisedly, for it was not to one kind or one class that
Vittoria was acceptable. At the invitation of Duke
Ercole II, the most learned men in Venetia and Lom-
bardy hastened to Ferrara to do her honour, while
Cardinal Gonzaga tried to induce her to come to
Mantua, and her old friend, Giberti, despatched his
secretary, Francesco della Torre, to bring her to Verona,
on which account the latter was in danger of rough
handling from the Ferrarese, who said he wished to
rob them of their greatest treasure.
A special interest attaches to this Ferrarese Convent
of Santa Caterina. It was built in 1499 by Ercole I
for the Beata Lucia of Narni when, after many fruit-
less attempts and prolonged struggles, he at length
2io Vittoria Colonna
succeeded in procuring her presence in his capital. In
her honour the convent was planned, and it was on
account of the visions she had during its erection that
it was dedicated to St. Catherine of Siena. Nothing
of it now stands, though the site is still known,
and happily some details remain to us of the decora-
tion of the building. There were two frescoes of St.
Catherine outside the convent, and several scenes
from her life were depicted in the cortile ; also the
Duke ordered many pictures to be executed for
the interior, two of which had St. Catherine for their
subject. It is strange, indeed, that all should have
vanished, but stranger far is the history of her for
whom it was raised.
Born at Narni in 1476, Lucia was forced into mar-
riage by her uncles at an early age, but left her
husband when she was only eighteen, and became a
Dominican nun. In 1496, she was sent by the General
of the Order to Viterbo, to direct a house of Domini-
can tertiaries, and there she received the Stigmata, had
wonderful visions, and was a living miracle. All the
details of these marvels were sent to Duke Ercole by
his nephew, who was then Governor of Viterbo, and
the Duke used every effort to persuade the holy nun
to come and live at Ferrara. Lucia herself made no
opposition, but the people of Viterbo were so deter-
mined not to part with her that it was some time
before Ercole could accomplish his purpose. How-
ever, the transfer was effected at last, and Lucia be-
came the trusted friend and adviser of the Duke,
besides being placed at the head of the convent, and
having special rules and privileges granted to her. It
The Beginning of a Tragedy 211
is not astonishing to find that this did i;ot produce
harmony ; Lucia was too young to enforce her
authority, and jealousies ensued. During the Duke's
lifetime, his favour and support were sufficient to main-
tain his favourite in her position, though not to ensure
peace, but the sequel to the story is the saddest and
strangest part of all.
Lucia was only twenty-nine at the time of Ercole's
death ; as soon as she was deprived of his counte-
nance, the members of the convent took from her all
authority and every privilege that had been hers,
and for nearly forty years until her death in 1544
they kept her a prisoner. It is terrible to think what
she must have suffered during those years, but she is
said to have borne everything with the utmost humility
and patience, still comforted by visions of St. Catherine.
The dictum of St. Philip Neri about the wonder-
working nun, who refused to pull off his boots, is well
known : " here is no miracle, for here is no humility."
In the case of Lucia, we might well think that the
greatness of the second miracle is sufficient to vouch
for the truth of the first, for verily the second is the
greater, since humility is the steepest, furthest height
that human nature ever attains. But the story does
not end here : with that extraordinary revulsion of
feeling of which history furnishes so many examples,
no sooner was the despised nun dead than all the
members of the community hailed her as a saint, and
made fruitless reparation by preserving her body as a
sacred relic. 1
1 See Mr. Edmund Gardner's Duties and Poets In Ferrara, from
which this account is taken.
212 Vittoria Colonna
Now it is evident that Lucia must have been alive
and shut up in the convent during Vittoria's residence
there, and it seems unlikely that the Marchesa should
not have been aware of this, for Lucia's advent in
Ferrara was an event which had made some stir, and
was not very ancient history ; moreover, it was his-
tory of a nature that was particularly interesting to
Vittoria ; still, there is no record of any intercourse
having taken place between them, though it is certain
that the Ferrarese convent possessed a very great
attraction for the illustrious visitor, who recurs to it
again and again.
The ostensible reason for the Marchesa's visit to
Ferraia seems to have been Ochino's request that she
would obtain leave for him to found a convent there ;
this the Duke readily granted, making over to him a
piece of land and a house, so that he and some of his
companions established themselves there in August,
and, in Advent, Fra Bernardino preached before the
court. It is also said that Ercole had warmly welcomed
Vittoria in hopes of relieving the strained relations
which existed between him and his wife, the Duchessa
Renata, who was thought to favour the reformed
opinions, and had been entertaining Calvin under an
assumed name. If this were so, Renata could hardly
have fallen into better hands than Vittoria's, whose
tact, sympathy, and supreme and intelligent interest
in religion were strong enough to draw together two
women so completely different, and from this time
dated the better conditions of court-life at Ferrara ; the
Marchesa was godmother to Renata's daughter, Leonora,
whose name Torquato Tasso was to make famous.
The Beginning of a Tragedy 213
Vittoria was evidently well-content from one point
of view with her life at Ferrara, for she thus writes of
it to Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga : "It has pleased God
that I should find much quiet and consolation in
Ferrara. Thanks be to God, his Excellence the Duke
and all of them leave me the liberty that I desire to
attend only to true acts of charity, and not to such
mixed ones as are produced by conversation. May it
please the Divine Goodness that all my time here may
be so spent that none of it may be mine but all
Christ's." Unfortunately, the place was not good for
her health, as we see from her letters to Trissino and
Aretino. Her charities must have been considerable,
as she tells the latter that she cannot afford to go " to a
little place in the Bolognese I go to for change of air."
On the other hand, the Marchesa was no stranger to
the life of the court, and was present at several of the
great entertainments. In particular, the evening before
her departure, we hear of her assisting at a farewell
festival, organised by the Marchesa Isabella d'Este,
who had arrived the week before, and whose incom-
parable ladies contributed the dancing and the music,
while Vittoria recited five of her own sonnets, to the
admiration of the company. She always retained a
pleasant memory of Ferrara, and always hoped to
return there. Once, when writing from the Con-
vent of Santa Caterina in Viterbo, she says : " Not
that most beautiful one in Ferrara"; and, in a letter to
the Duke, she writes that she will be sure to pray to
God to let her return to his most sweet Ferrara. 1
Taking her departure in February, 1538, the Mar-
1 Letters LXXXV, LXXXVIII, CLXII, cvm.
214 Vittoria Colonna
chesa went to the above-mentioned Castello in the
Bolognese, and stayed there a month. After this, her
movements seem to have been guided by those of
Ochino, who certainly had acquired a great influence
over her. She proceeds first to Florence and then to
Lucca, in both which places he is preaching, and here
he has also Cardinal Pole and Pietro Carnesecchi for
his attentive listeners. The latter, who had known
him previously in Rome, went to visit him two or
three times, and also became more intimate with
Vittoria. Guidiccioni, writing at this date to Annibale
Caro, says : " A few days ago, I heard in Lucca Fra
Bernardino of Siena a truly wonderful man, and he
pleased me so much that I addressed two sonnets to
him." 1
Ochino's sermons, as usual, were much in request ;
early in the year, Bembo had written from Venice to beg
the Marchesa to use her influence to get him to preach
there during the following Lent, which he did, and it
was then that Fra Bonaventura, a former Minorite,
presented him with a church and house, thus enabling
him to found his first convent in Venice. Meanwhile,
Ochino had been appointed apostolic missionary by the
Pope, and had also been elected Vicar-General of his
Order, and under him the Cappuccini spread and
flourished. He sent Fra Marino to Corsica, and
others to found new convents in many Italian towns,
while he devoted his own energies to preaching.
Vittoria, recalled to Rome by Pope Paul III, settled
there towards the end of 1538, and it is in the follow-
1 Letter XXVH (undated) in Opere di Monsignor G. Guidiccioni y ed.
Minutoli. The sonnets are those numbered 72 and 73 in this edition.
The Beginning of a Tragedy 215
ing year that we have the fullest account of her inter-
course with Michelangelo, as reported in the conversa-
tions of Francisco d'Ollanda, already quoted. It is
strange that the course of sermons of which he tells us,
that the Marchesa was attending in San Silvestro,
should have been preached by the man who was after-
wards the bitter enemy of Ochino. This was the
Dominican friar, Ambrogio Politi, whom we have
already met, also a native of Siena, who was deputed
to write an answer to the letter Ochino addressed to the
magistracy of that city in 1542, and who subsequently
wrote a long epistle against his " pestilential doctrine."
That Ochino had no less success in Venice than else-
where we learn from Bembo's letters to Vittoria.
Writing first on February 23, 1539, he says : "I send
your most illustrious Ladyship the particulars of our
very reverend Frate Bernardino, whom I have heard
all the few days of this present Lent with such great
pleasure as I cannot adequately describe. I confess
that I never heard anyone preach more usefully or
devoutly than he. Neither do I wonder that your
Ladyship loves him as much as you do. He is very
different from all the others who have occupied the
pulpit in my time ; he speaks in a more Christian
manner, and with a more lively charity, and of better
and more profitable things. He pleases everybody
beyond measure, and I believe, when he goes, he will
carry away with him the heart of all this city. For all
this we owe undying thanks to your Ladyship, who
sent him to us, and I, more than others, feel eternally
obliged to you." Two other letters, dealing chiefly
with Bembo's elevation to the purple, follow this, and
216 Vittoria Colonna
in both the Frate is mentioned. " I am speaking to
your Ladyship as I spoke this morning to the reverend
father, Frate Bernardino, to whom I opened all my
heart and mind as I would have opened them to Jesus
Christ, to Whom I believe him to be most dear and
acceptable, nor do I think I ever spoke with a holier
man than he." And again : " Our Frate Bernardino
whom henceforth I will call mine in speaking to you
is now adored in this city ; there is neither man nor
woman here who does not praise him to the skies. O
how great his influence is, how he pleases, how much
he helps ! But I will wait to speak of him to your
Ladyship face to face. And yet I have thought of
begging the Pope to order his life in such a manner
that it may last longer for the honour of God and the
profit of man than it can do, living as austerely as he
does." 1
In view of Ochino's enormous popularity as a
preacher, one would like to form some idea of the
reason of his attractiveness. There was first of all
his reputation for holiness and mortification, which
was borne out by his remarkable appearance his
spiritual cast of countenance and long venerable
beard ; his voice, too, was distinguished for sweetness
and penetration, and he had the gift of sympathy,
while for his matter he had certainly struck 'out a new
line, treating the Scriptures in an original way, not
contradicting, but disregarding, accepted interpreta-
tions. Even on the burning question of justification
by faith he had not, up till now, excited any suspicions
of unorthodoxy, for this, though (like all best things)
1 Bembo, Opere, Vol. VIII, pp. 109-113.
The Beginning of a Tragedy 217
peculiarly capable of being "confused to ill," is a
completely Catholic doctrine when it is understood to
mean operative faith, and in this sense Ochino ap-
peared to preach it at this time, and was so understood
by his constant disciples and admirers, Vittoria Colonna
and Caterina Cibo, neither of whom ever followed him
to his later conclusions.
After his Lent sermons in Venice, Ochino must
have returned to Florence, as it is to the year 1539
that the Seven Dialogues are attributed. These were
conversations which took place chiefly between himself
and the Duchessa of Camerino on a variety of re-
ligious subjects. They are strictly orthodox, but, for
the most part, dry ; there is nothing spontaneous about
them, as in the dialogue between Valdes and Giulia
Gonzaga which we shall presently consider. There is,
indeed, one singularly naive remark of Caterina's, who,
when the Frate is urging upon her the duty of striv-
ing after perfection, replies : " I should like to be
perfect, only it must not give me too much trouble " ; *
but this is curiously out of character with the didactic
tone of the rest, which appears to consist of set-pieces
designed to show off the erudition of the lady and the
skill of Ochino as a dialectician.
Passing through Rome, where he most probably
visited the Marchesa, Ochino went to preach in Naples
during Advent. He must have felt singularly at home
in the Valdessian circle, where life lived on a high
plane offered such facilities for the attainment of the
true ends of existence. We think of the group as a
1 K. Benrath, Bernardino OcAitto, English translation, pp. 71-84.
These Dialogues are not in the British Museum.
218 Vittoria Colonna
learned, leisured, little community, not narrow or self-
centred, but looking out with interested eyes for the
best that was to be had in religion, in literature, and in
language, and eagerly welcoming every new mind, and
everything that promised an idea. Their number had
been augmented by Pietro Martire Vermigli, a Floren-
tine of very remarkable talents, who had entered the
Augustinian convent at Fiesole in 1516, but had left
it to complete his studies at Padua, and was a proficient
Greek and Hebrew scholar. He was made Abbot of
Spoleto and visitor-general of the Order, and later
was Prior of San Pietro ad Aram in Naples, where
he preached on St. Paul's Epistles, and his sermons
attracted great attention. Carnesecchi and Marcan-
tonio Flaminio also came south together about this
time, on account of the latter's health. These were
eminently fitted to form a part of such a society ;
Flaminio probably had most in common with Valdes,
combining, as he did, profound scholarship with great
refinement of taste ; while Carnesecchi, as we have
noticed, was the special friend of Giulia Gonzaga, and
was by her presented to Valdes, an introduction which
must have availed him much. Ochino consulted
'Valdes about the matter of his sermons, and was some-
times indebted to him for a subject, but the two men
were of different mould ; holding, as it might seem on
the surface, the same opinions, each carried them to
a very different conclusion. The genius of Valdes'
mind would rather have inclined him never to come to
a crisis, nor to put into words that which is beyond
words ; while to Ochino's more direct intelligence it
was a necessity to crystallise ; neither was his intellect
The Beginning of a Tragedy 219
sufficiently strong, nor his vision sufficiently wide, to
show him exactly where he was tending, so that he was
rather the victim of a surprise than of a decision.
Meantime he preached, and out of one of his sermons
grew the most charming of Valdes' writings.
This was the Alfabeto Cristiano, a conversation which
took place between Valdes and Giulia Gonzaga, after
listening to a discourse of Fra Bernardino's on heaven
and hell. 1 The principal charm of the dialogue lies in
its absolute naturalness ; we can quite understand that
two friends did talk together like this, and, as it is
entirely natural, so it is in no wise out of date ; a
woman of the present day might, and no doubt does,
say and feel the same, and might, if fate were kind to
her, receive the same gentle reproof : " You want me
to show you some royal and august road by which
you may get to God without forsaking the world."
She begs Valdes not to press too many mortifications
on her " lest everything should become indifferent to
me" surely a natural protest, for that is the real test of
what we are willing to forego : few are so poor-spirited
as not to be able to make some great renunciation and
bear the pain of it ; but to renounce little by little, and
come to feel not pain but indifference, and so despoil
life of outward loveliness, this is heroism ; but Valdes
did not lead his pupil so far.
Other works he wrote for her a translation of and
commentary on the Psalms and St. Paul's Epistles, and
a translation of St. Matthew's Gospel.
1 Alphabeto Christiana, che insegna la vera via ef acquistare il lume
dello Sfirito Santo, printed without indication of place or publisher, in
1546.
220 Vittoria Colonna
At his country-house near Chiaja, Valdes was accus-
tomed to assemble a select circle of his friends, Sunday
after Sunday ; here they breakfasted with him, walked
in the garden, and read portions of Scripture on which
he commented. In the afternoon, the tables were
turned, and the master, having employed his disciples
according to his own pleasure all the morning, now
gave himself up to obey theirs, and placed his vast
culture at their disposal, and in this manner the Dialogo
de la Lengua, a disquisition on the Spanish language,
something on the plan of Bembo's Prose della Volgar
Lingua^ is said to have originated. Questioned on the
difference between genius and judgment, Valdes
replied : " Genius discovers what may be said, and
Judgment selects from what Genius discovers. Had
I to choose, I should prefer a man with but moderate
genius and good judgment, because men of great
genius lose themselves through want of judgment.
Man has no jewel to compare with a sound judg-
ment." 1 Probably, this was where Ochino fell short.
Such of the Commentaries as remain to us do not
seem much more illuminating than that kind of litera-
ture usually is. The Hundred and Ten Considerations
are far more original, and have an additional interest
for us from the fact that they were translated into
English by Nicholas Ferrar, and submitted by him to
his friend, George Herbert, who returned them with a
few comments and the following letter :
" My deare and deserving Brother, your Valdesso
I now returne with many thanks, and some notes, in
1 Cf. Wiffen, Life and Writings of Juan de Valdes, p. 99.
The Beginning of a Tragedy 221
which perhaps you will discover some care, which
I forbare not in the midst of my griefes ; First, for
your sake because I would doe nothing negligently that
you commit unto mee ; Secondly, for the Author's
sake, whom I conceive to have been a true servant of
God ; and to such, and all that is theirs, I owe dili-
gence ; Thirdly, for the Churches sake, to whom, by
printing it, I would have you consecrate it. You owe
the Church a debt and God hath put this into your
hands (as he sent the fish with money to St. Peter) to
discharge it : happily also with this (as his thoughts
are fruitfull) intending the honour of his servant the
Author, who being obscured in his own country he
would have to flourish in this land of light, and region
of the Gospell, among his chosen. It is true, there are
some things which I like not in him, as my fragments
will expresse, when you read them ; neverthelesse 1
wish you by all meanes to publish it, for these three
eminent things observable therein : First, that God in
the midst of Popery should open the eyes of one to
understand and expresse so clearely and excellently the
intent of the Gospell in the acceptation of Christ's
righteousnesse (as he showeth through all his con-
siderations), a thing strangely buried and darkened
by the Adversaries, and their great stumbling-block.
Secondly, the great honour and reverence which he
everywhere beares towards our deare Master and Lord,
concluding every Consideration almost with his holy
Name, and setting his merit forth so piously, for which
I doe so love him, that were there nothing else I would
print it, that with it the honour of my Lord might be
published. Thirdly, the many pious rules of ordering
222 Vittoria Colonna
our life, about mortification, and observation of God's
Kingdome within us, and the working thereof, of
which he was a very diligent observer. These three
things are very eminent in the Author, and overweigh
the defects (as I conceive) towards the publishing
thereof, etc.
"Benmorton, Sept. 29."
Of Considerations in and xxxn, which regard the
use of the Scriptures, Herbert says in his notes :
" I like none of it " ; and in another place : " His opinion
of the Scriptures is unsufferable." The Publisher also
seems to have had qualms, for he thus addresses the
Reader : " It is certain that the book containeth many
very worthy discourses of experimental and practical
Divinity, well expressed and elegantly illustrated ;
especially concerning the doctrine of justification and
mortification, and yet, notwithstanding, there be some
few expressions and similitudes in it, at which not only
the weak reader may stumble, and the curious quarrell,
but also the wise and charitable reader may justly
blame. ... It hath been thought fit to print the book,
according to the Author's own copy, but withal to give
particular notice of some suspicious places and of some
manifest errors." 1
These Hundred and Ten Considerations are thought to
have been the substance of Valdes' Sunday-morning
conversations for about two years, and they were also
1 The Hundred and Ten Considerations of Signtor John Valdesso :
treating of those things which are most profitable, most necessary, and most
perfect in our Christian Profession. Oxford, 1638.
The Beginning of a Tragedy 223
circulated as meditations. Another book, Del beneficio
di Cristo, much read and talked of, was at one time
attributed to Valdes, but it is now generally believed to
have been the work of a Benedictine monk, Don
Benedetto of Mantua, who wrote it in a monastery of
his Order near Mount Etna, and asked his friend,
Flaminio, to polish and improve it, an embellishment to
which it probably owed its immense success. It dealt,
of course, with the question of justification by faith, on
which, we must always remember, no pronouncement
had yet been made. The sAlfabeto establishes Valdes'
orthodoxy on this point, for he expressly states in it
that a lively faith cannot fail to work deeds of charity,
any more than a fire can fail to warm.
These tranquil years at Naples, however, were draw-
ing to a close, for the storm was soon to break, and
death was indeed kind to the master-mover. We
have no particulars of the death of Valdes, except that
the Archbishop of Otranto was one of those who were
with him ; we only know that he died very peacefully
in 1541 ; he could not have been more than fifty.
Few men could have left a larger circle of intimate
friends to mourn them. The historian Bonfadio,
writing to Carnesecchi, says : " Where shall we go
now Signor Valdes is dead ? This has been a great loss
for us and for the world, because Signor Valdes was
one of the exceptional men of Europe, and those writ-
ings which he has left on the Epistles of St. Paul and
the Psalms of David are the fullest testimony to it.
He was without doubt in his deeds, his words, and all
his counsels, a perfect man. He governed his frail,
feeble body with a particle of his mind ; with the
224 Vittoria Colonna
greater part, and by sheer intellect, as though out of
the body, he raised himself to the contemplation of
truth and of divine things." 1
Happily, the mantle of Valdes had fallen on Flaminio,
and the same way of life was to be reproduced at
Viterbo.
1 Lettere famigl'iari di Jacopo Bonfadio (Brescia, 1746), p. 22.
CHAPTER IX
IN THE STORM
For hers, in peace or strife,
Was a Queen's life.
D. G. ROSSETTI.
VITTORIA must often have wished herself one of that
peaceful Valdessian circle during the political storms
of 1540 and 1541. Pope Paul III, dominated by the
ignoble desire of enriching his family, and not averse
to humbling the power of the great houses, had im-
posed many taxes from time to time, and in particular
in 1540 had increased the duty on salt, at the same
time compelling all the cities and provinces to receive
it from Rome. Perugia resisted this arbitrary decree,
but only to her own destruction. Ascanio Colonna
should have been warned by her example, more especi-
ally as his sister was then living in Rome and, being
in contact with the papal court, was able to know
something of the mind of the Pope. The Marchesa
had already endeavoured to strengthen the Colonnese
position by trying to arrange a marriage between Vit-
toria Farnese, the Pope's granddaughter, and Fabrizio
Colonna, Ascanio's eldest son ; but the project fell
through because the Farnese really desired a more
powerful alliance, and Ascanio's well-known avarice
prevented his making a suitable settlement.
Q 225
226 Vittoria Colonna
In the present instance of the salt-tax, Ascanio de-
termined to contest the point, all the more that some
of his subjects, being in Rome and refusing to comply
with the decree, had been thrown into prison. Ascanio,
roused to fury by this insult, made sundry raids from
his two castles of Paliano and Rocca di Papa, coming
right up to the walls of Rome, carrying off cattle, and
doing damage, in consequence of which the Pope com-
manded him to appear before him, to which the refrac-
tory noble made no answer except that he was a loyal
vassal of the Church. It is probable that Ascanio, with
all his Spanish and Neapolitan connections, counted too
surely on the support of the Emperor and of the Vice-
roy of Naples ; but they only urgently advised him to
come to terms with the Pope. Charles V had recently
united himself with the Farnese by giving the hand of
his widowed daughter, Margaret of Austria, to Ottavio,
the son of Pier Luigi Farnese, and was in no mind to
involve himself in a papal quarrel : Vittoria, at any
rate, expected no active help from him.
The real greatness of the Marchesa is nowhere more
clearly shown than now, when she held aloof from all
petty intrigues and jealousies, trusted and respected by
all. Several letters were exchanged between the brother
and sister in the early days of March, 1541, and they
are interesting as showing the place Vittoria occupied
in the eyes of all concerned. She was corresponding
with the Emperor at Ratisbon, and constantly inter-
viewing the imperial ambassador, the Marques de Agui-
lar, and his secretary, Conciano. Leading, as she no
doubt did at the Convent of San Silvestro, that life
"troppo dismessamente", on account of which it is said
In the Storm 227
that the Pope had recalled her to Rome, she did not
forget that she was a Roman Princess : "Casa Colonna
sempre e la prima." At the same time, her anxious
desire is for a peaceful settlement; she tells her brother
that " there was no need for so much war about thirty
cows," and presses on him the Emperor's advice to
arrive at a compromise, now urging him to one sur-
render, now to another, though probably too well
acquainted with his wilful, impracticable temper to
entertain any hopes of peace. 1
The whole burden of the negotiations fell upon the
Marchesa, who was the only one who acted in entire
good faith ; for the Pope, under the pretext of reducing
an unruly vassal to submission, was really seeking to
despoil the House of Colonna ; the Emperor, on ac-
count of his newly-made alliance with the Farnese,
was but half-hearted in his support of those who had
been uniformly faithful to him, while the rashness and
procrastinations of Ascanio made it impossible to act
with or for him.
Vittoria elected to remain in Rome as long as there
seemed to be the slenderest chance of peace, and then
chose to retire to Orvieto, the papal city par excellence
(Pope Paul had been its Arch-priest and had always
shown it special favour), that she might be at hand to
watch events, and, while she allowed her vassals to
bear arms in her brother's cause, she managed, at the
same time, to keep up friendly relations with the
Farnese. Before leaving Rome, she sustained the
loss of her devoted companion, and secretary, Innocenza
Gualteruzzi, whom she had brought up and educated,
1 Carteggio, Letters cxxvnr to cxxxv.
228 Vittoria Colonna
and who now took the veil at San Silvestro. Parting
from her must have been an additional trial to the
Marchesa, when she left Rome at such a gloomy
moment for the fortunes of her House.
It was on March 17 that she proceeded to Orvieto,
and it is characteristic of her that she again selected
a Dominican convent for her residence. The Convent
of San Paolo, originally an offshoot of the Benedictine
San Paolo in Rome, was given over to the rule of
St. Dominic by Benedict XI in 1303, and was always
noted for the holy lives of its inmates. One of these
had been Suora Daniella, the friend of St. Catherine, who
addressed several letters to her. Also this convent
was one of the first to be imbued with the spirit of
reform inculcated by Savonarola, and from it reformers
were sent forth to found other houses.
We like to think, as we see her moving from one
Dominican convent to another, that some spark of the
spirit of St. Catherine was alight in her that spirit
which ennobled the sordid and the tortuous, and was
never brought low by what it dealt with, thereby
witnessing to the truth that it is not the events or the
possessions of our lives which can elevate or lower,
but that their meaning for us depends wholly on the
height to which we can raise them. In these months
of petty, inglorious warfare, the one beautiful thing is
the life of Vittoria, which commanded the admiration
of friends and enemies alike ; for, indeed, she was sur-
rounded, if not with enemies, at least with spies, all
her doings were noted and reported, her visitors
chronicled, her letters read, and under this search-light
there was nothing but what was blameless to be revealed.
In the Storm 229
All her biographers say that the breath of scandal never
touched her, and assuredly this does not mean that she
lived only among the charitable and the uncensorious,but
rather that, hedged in by dignity and reserve, she chose
for herself a way of watchfulness and perpetual renuncia-
tion.
It would seem that the Marchesa's arrival at Orvieto
was an unexpected thing, as the people were not at first
aware of her presence, so that no special reception was
accorded to her ; but two days afterwards, the governor,
Brunamonte de' Rossi, called a council at which it was
agreed that, owing to the rank and importance of the
illustrious guest, and considering the honour in which
she was held by the Pope and Cardinal Farnese, it
would be fitting that the Signori Conservator! and the
principal citizens should wait upon her and present her
with a gift, which was to consist of four couples of
fowls, thirty pounds of fish, and fourteen pounds and
a half of marchpane; to Vittoria, with her limited
retinue, one wonders if this was not a rather over-
powering present !
This same governor, a servile tool of the Farnese,
constituted himself the spy of all her actions through-
out her residence in Orvieto, and we are not sorry to
find that, in spite of his cringing servility, he fell into
disgrace in the ensuing year and was superseded, and
that the same ill-fortune attended him in his next
appointment. The following letters of his to Cardinal
Farnese 1 show both the nature of the man, and the
1 Published by Domenico Tordi, Vittoria Colonna in Orvieto durante la
Guerra del Sale, pp. 522 et seq.
[230 Vittoria Colonna
dangers which beset Vittoria's path, and which would
surely have entrapped a less wary traveller.
" I have not failed, nor will I fail, to visit the Signora
Marchesa di Pescara continually, with the greatest
assiduity possible, in the name of your most reverend
Lordship, and both in word and deed she shows her-
self as devoted and attached as words can say to his
Holiness and to your most reverend and most
illustrious Lordship. Her Excellence has shut herself
up in the Monastery of San Paolo, alone with two
servants, and keeps two serving-men outside, who
provide her with what she needs ; she lives as devoutly
as persons of holy and pure life are wont to do, and she
shows that it is very acceptable to her that I should
visit her on behalf of your most reverend and most
illustrious Lordship, which I do with that assiduity
which is fitting."
" Seeing how much your most reverend and most
illustrious Lordship has written to me concerning the
Signora Marchesa di Pescara in your letter of the 8th
instant, I have not failed to carry out and satisfy your
desire ; in short, I have cautiously found out and heard
from the Bishop of Orvieto that, about a week ago, a
retainer, secretary or servant of the most reverend
Cardinal Fregoso, came here and spoke with the said
Marchesa, and stopped and lodged one evening with
her servants, and only brought one other horse with
him ; and the Bishop tells me that he came solely to
inform her Excellence about the war. Having obtained
this information, as I was going to the citadel, passing
in front of the Monastery of San Paolo, where the said
Signora is living, I found a gentleman with sword and
In the Storm 231
spurs on, who had just arrived and was speaking with
the said above-mentioned Signora at the grating. I
asked him cleverly, and under pretence of being anxious
to pick up any news, who he was and whence he came,
and he replied that he was Messer Berardino de Lassis
of Loreto, and that he came from Naples and from
Rome, sent by the Signora Duchessa of Tagliacozzo
and the Signora Principessa of Ischia to her Excellence.
And I saw when he gave her a packet which he put
through the grating, about as high as two little boxes
one on the top of the other, and sewn up in some sort
of linen. What was inside I know not, because one
could not see, and he put it through the grating as
soon as I arrived there. There was someone else
with this gentleman, I think his servant. The gentle-
man is tall, with a big beard, and growing very grey.
I cannot hear of anyone else who has been there to
speak to her ; any person, I mean, of note ; however,
I shall not fail to investigate. This I have immedi-
ately done on the receipt of your most reverend and
most illustrious Lordship's letter, and for the future
I shall not fail to use all diligence, and to have myself
informed as much as possible so that I may be able to
keep an eye on all those who come to speak with
her Excellence, I mean important persons, and I will
immediately advise you of everything."
" In another letter of mine, in answer to your most
reverend and most illustrious Lordship's, I advised
you of the two persons who had spoken with the
Signora Marchesa di Pescara and had come on pur-
pose ; and, in order that I may not fail in my service
and duty of satisfying fully the mind of his Holiness
232 Vittoria Colonna
and of your most reverend and most illustrious Lord-
ship in everything that I can, I write to inform you
that, when I was in conversation with the Bishop of
Orvieto a few days ago, I wormed out of him that
the aforesaid Signora Marchesa, who seems to repose
great confidence in his most reverend Lordship, has
shown him two letters ; one was from his Caesarian
Majesty the Emperor, and the other from the Mar-
chese del Vasto. This was the substance of the
Emperor's letter ; he exhorted her Excellence to keep
up her courage, because, having written to Signer
Ascanio to do all that his Beatitude wished, and to his
Holiness begging his favour for Signer Ascanio, his
Majesty hoped that things would come to a good end
and that arms would be suspended ; for her Excellence
must consider that it would be impossible for his
Majesty to fail her House. The Marchese del Vasto's
letter also contained in substance that her Excellence
should be of good heart, because he hoped that the
war between the Pope and Signor Ascanio would
soon terminate, seeing that his Majesty had written to
Signor Ascanlo that he should do everything that our
Lord might reasonably require of him. And this his
Majesty had done in order to take away from his
Holiness every occasion for remaining under arms,
because it did not please him and he was not willing
that his Beatitude should thus make war and keep an
army in Italy. This is the substance of the two letters.
I have not seen them, but so much was told me by
the aforesaid Monsignor of Orvieto, who has seen
them. It seemed to me that I ought not to fail to
advise you of it, in order that if, in any way, it came
In the Storm 233
to the point, the opportunity might not be lost, sin
autem transeat"
" This will be to inform your most reverend and
most illustrious Lordship that yesterday, which was
April 28, a groom of the most reverend Cardinal
Fregoso came here, sent to the Signora Marchesa di
Pescara by the aforesaid Cardinal, with letters from
his most reverend Lordship and from the most
reverend Cardinal of England according to what I
have heard from the most reverend Fregoso I am
certain. I have not yet been able to find out the
contents of the letters, but I shall not fail to use
diligence, and, if I can find out about it, I shall not fail
in that service which I owe, and, if I think it is of
some little moment, I shall advise you immediately.
Since the departure of Messer Berardo, of whom I
wrote to you in my other letter, I have not heard
of any other person of account coming to speak with
her Excellence."
"To-day, which is the i4th instant, a Spanish gen-
tleman, named Don Diego Mandrigal, sent by the
Signer Marchese del Vasto, has taken leave of the
Signora Marchesa di Pescara. So far as I can hear, he
is governor of certain towns of his Excellence, and
stayed in Orvieto one evening, coming to speak with
the aforesaid Marchesa. Great satisfaction is universally
felt at the taking of Paliano, which I immediately made
known and published everywhere, and may it please
God that the same may follow of the Rocca. Nor
did I fail to report the news to the Signora Marchesa,
who replied : ' Possessions may come and go, so long
as persons are safe.' "*
1 Letters of April I, 9, 20, 29, May 14, respectively, 1541.
234 Vittoria Colonna
War must always be accompanied by its own
horrors, for which a righteous cause is the only justi-
fication, and there are no woes so unrepaying as those
of an unwarrantable contest. Vittoria's friend, Gio-
vanni Guidiccioni, was Commissary-General for the
Pope during the Salt War, and has left a complete
account of it in his official letters, which are immensely
interesting. He never fails to impress upon his master
the miseries entailed upon the numbers of innocent
people by the unquiet state of the country, and by the
oppression of the soldiery, and he repeatedly implores
that more officers may be sent to restrain the violence
and put a stop to the depredations of which these are
guilty. He would fain have had the Pope agree to
some compromise and urged him to bring the war to
an end, but his appeals were in vain ; in vain, too, did
Vittoria address him in prose and in verse, and Gio-
vanna d'Aragona, the wife of Ascanio, write to him with
touching humility, on behalf of his poor people and
vassals, to desist from so much ruin. 1 The Colonna
castles, commanding as they did all the heights round
Rome, appeared to Pope Paul to be a danger con-
stantly threatening the city, and nothing would satisfy
him but the possession of all of them. Genazzano, Cave,
Ciciliano, and many others fell, but Paliano and Rocca
di Papa still held out, and it was these two strongholds
of which the Pope was most avaricious ; so the affair
went on to the bitter end till, with the final surrender
of Rocca, the whole Colonna states had passed to the
Pope, till no shred of power remained to that mighty
House, and its lord was an exile in Naples.
1 See Guidiccioni, Of ere, ed. cit., Vol. II, p. 395 .
In the Storm 235
Cardinal Farnese, writing to the Bishop of Aquila at
the end of May, said sententiously : " Here in Rome
there is no news since the total capture of the States of
Signor Ascanio, including Paliano and la Rocca, which
last, seeing itself at length hemmed in and the citadel
taken by force, surrendered at discretion, for the fulfil-
ment of justice, and for an example to anyone who
should wish to do an injury to this holy See and to his
Holiness." 1
In a letter from Cardinal Pole to Cardinal Contarini,
written in April, we find : " As to the most illustrious
Marchesa di Pescara . . . she is now in Orvieto,
where she has retired to a convent of nuns with whose
mode of life and conversation, she has since written to
me, she is so delighted that she imagines she is con-
versing with so many angels. O happy souls whose
business it is to know these things!" And Vittoria,
writing to the Duke of Ferrara, says : " Your Excel-
lence must know that I am immensely consoled in
these misfortunes, and I thank God that by the loss of
the goods of fortune He should give me the occasion
of acquiring those of the soul, and I am in a holy
place." 3 We cannot but admire the detachment and re-
collection of her mind : surrounded by dangers, over-
whelmed by misfortunes public and private, she yet
led a life of holy calm, capable of thought, of study,
and even of enjoyment. She carried on, as usual, a vast
correspondence, and wrote a great many poems ; the
1 Guidiccioni, Opere, II, p. 437 .
2 Pole, EpistoL-e, Pars III, p. 1 8.
3 CarteggiOy Letter CXXXVIH.
236 Vittoria Colonna
capitolo, Del Trionfo di Cristo, is believed to have been
written here.
The questions of Free Will and Justification by Faith
were still being earnestly debated, and, in May, Cardinal
Contarini published his Epistola de Justification* at Ratis-
bon, and Bembo immediately sent it to the Marchesa.
In the same month, a great affliction fell upon Cardinal
Pole, for his aged mother, the Countess of Salisbury,
was put to death on the scaffold, after two years' im-
prisonment ; Vittoria wrote him a letter of condolence
which has unfortunately been lost, but we have his
answer, which begins thus : " As there are so few
things in these days which I read or hear from the
speech of others that can give me pleasure or comfort,
the letter of your Excellence was all the more accept-
able to me, for it gave me great comfort and pleasure
also. Though it was not the letter (for, to speak sooth,
I do not ascribe so much to it, however elegantly
written and well-calculated to console) that lifted me
destitute of all human consolation and well-nigh pros-
trate in soul to a better hope, but He who did this
was that Spirit Who spoke in it, Who, since He is
the fountain of all true and solid consolation, exercis-
ing this power then especially when we seem most
destitute, hath the name of Comforter and is called
Paraclete, Whom I see that your Excellence has as
guide of your actions and master of your writings " ; x
and he goes on to tell her that he has chosen her for
his mother, a statement which he repeats subsequently
in a letter to Cardinal Cervini, and they lived hence-
forth in the spirit of this relationship.
1 Carteggio, Letter cxxxix.
In the Storm 237
In July, Vittoria's friend and cousin, Cardinal
Fregoso, paid her a visit, and received the homage of
the city ; he was already in very bad health and died
at the end of the month, greatly regretted by Vittoria,
who wrote thus about him to Eleonora Gonzaga : " I
know the very great love and reverence that our
Cardinal of blessed memory bore to your Ladyship,
and, therefore, that your grief will not differ from mine,
which is immense. Only we ought to rejoice at his
glory, and the true peace anticipated by him, which
Our dear Lord had assured to him by a thousand
experiences and visions, by faith and graces." 1
Leaving Orvieto in August, the Marchesa pro-
ceeded to Rome, by way of Bagnaja, where Cardinal
Pole and Gualteruzzi came to visit her, and from
whence she courteously wrote to Cardinal Farnese,
thanking him for all the civility she had received at
Orvieto, though one thinks she must have felt as if
she had just escaped from a dangerous prison ; how-
ever, she always thought of the convent with special
affection and remembered it in her will. Proceeding
to Rome, she returned to San Silvestro, and remained
there until her departure for Viterbo in October.
Rome must have been a melancholy residence for her
the glory of her House departed, and all her own
people in exile. A letter to Conte Ettore di Carpegna,
from Luca Contile, who visited Vittoria at this time,
gives an interesting picture of her.
1 Letter LIU, dated August i . The Editors of the Cartegglo and
Reumont are clearly in error in assigning this to the year 1532 and
taking Pompeo Colonna as the Cardinal in question. Cf. Domenico Tordi,
op. df., p. 510.
238 Vittoria Colonna
" I have been visiting the Signora Marchesa di
Pescara, and I could not leave her under four hours.
She showed with such charming graciousness that my
staying was pleasant to her, and I, being tolerably
presumptuous, did not mind if I never went away.
She questioned me closely about the Marchese and
the Marchesa and the little Pescara. Having seen
and visited the Marchese del Vasto, I was able to tell
her that I had left him well and cheerful, but meaning
to go to Piedmont, and that the Marchesa was on the
point of going to Naples, and would take the Marchese
di Pescara with her, of whom they have small hope
that his foot will get well. She sighed, and asked after
Fra Bernardino of Siena. I answered that he was
gone, and that he had left such a good name, and such
universal contrition in the city of Milan, that everyone
considered him a man verily Christian. May it please
God, she replied, that he persevere. She then asked
me after your Lordship ; I told her what I could, and
then she entered upon the excellencies of Conte
Ettore, and how, as an exemplary gentleman, she
knew few like him. And, because her Excellence had
known me formerly (I do not exactly know how many
times I visited her with the Abbot Giulio), she began
to ask me if I had completed the spiritual banquets,
and I replied that I had not been able to finish those
banquets of which I had not deserved to taste the
viands. Nevertheless, in order not merely to chatter,
I said that God would soon help me to finish them.
She wished me to talk with her about the first, which
treats of the existence of God, and how He is Three
in One. So, although it was my part to answer, in
In the Storm 239
saying what I knew, I learned from her what I needed.
In short, I hold it for a most certain thing that the
spirit quickeneth and the letter killeth, and 1 see how
a Christian mind, that has a good judgment to work
with, is able to make others walk on the road to salva-
tion. If your Lordship should wish to write to her, as
she appears greatly to desire, do me the favour to
direct your letter to me, in order that by this means I
may give pleasure to this so honoured lady, whom I
call the Queen of Sheba, full of courtesy and learning,
rather infused than acquired by art, according to my
belief. Remember, then, not to avail yourself of any
other than me, directing your letter to the house of
Cardinal Trivulzio, and I commend myself to you.
"From Rome, August 9, I54I." 1
The "banquets" referred to in this letter were a series
of conversations which, under the name of Dialoghi
Spiritually were only printed in February, 1542, though
they were evidently begun a good while before. The
book is extremely rare ; it takes the form, as was the
fashion of those days, of conversations between eight
people, three gentlemen and five ladies, all friends of
the author. They are supposed to be assembled in
the house of Lodovica Trivulzio, Marchesa Pallavicino,
at the beginning of Lent, and the Marchesa suggests
that, the Carnival being over, they shall enter " nel
ballo della divinita," and discuss the most difficult
points of the Christian Faith. The conversations took
place on five consecutive evenings, and the subjects
1 Luca Contile, Lettere, pp. 23 ^-24 v.
240 Vittoria Colonna
were as follows : Of the existence of God, and how
He is Three and One ; if the Christian Faith can
show itself to be, among all others, the only true one ;
why the Jews remain in their obstinacy ; the nature
of the lives of the lost and of the blessed ; the way
to ascend to Heaven. 1
After the publication of the book, Claudio Tolomei
wrote the following appreciative letter to his friend,
informing him, however, that the grammar of the
Dia/oghi was not at all to his taste :
" I have read your Spiritual Banquets and have
found them full of learning, full of tenderness, full of
unction, full of holiness, and, in reading them, I felt
myself inflamed and kindled with the true love of
Christ. ... In this little book you have collected so
many and such profound and difficult articles of
Christian theology, and you have discussed and re-
solved them so learnedly, that, indeed, he must be of
a perverse and stubborn mind who, in reading them,
does not feel himself moved, rapt, and, as it were,
transformed into Christ. . . . Would to God, Messer
Luca, that such discourses as you fashion and invent
were always, or often, or sometimes, held by gentlemen
of our time. For, certainly, the world would become
more virtuous and more well-regulated thereby, and
would also be more happy and more fortunate. Be-
cause, from such frequent discussions, they would little
by little fashion their souls to the likeness of those
things of which they spoke, whence the mind, being
full of those holy ideas and divine instructions, would
bring forth flowers perpetually, and would produce
1 See A. Salza, Luca Contile^ uomo di lettere e di negozii del secolo xv't.
In the Storm 241
fruits proper to a plant of such virtue. And then we
should be able to say with Plato that that city is truly
happy where either the princes philosophise or the
philosophers are princes. For, if that appeared to him
to be true of mundane and worldly philosophy, what
ought we to think of that which is Christian and
divine P" 1
It is evident that these discourses owed something
to Vittoria, and from Contile's letter we should say
that he had laid her under deliberate contribution.
Another friend of hers, Fortunate Martinengo, who
used often to visit her in Rome, wrote of her in
exactly the same strain. "She is a wonderful and
unique woman, and, from what I have been able to
understand, on fire with the love of Christ, of which
she always speaks not less with the heart than with the
mouth. What humility is hers, and what unexampled
goodness ! And the manner of a princess, as indeed she
is ! I visited her often, and, if I had not been afraid
of being troublesome to her, I should never have taken
leave of her." 2
The Marchesa's affectionate inquiries after del
Vasto, who was something between a son and a brother
to her, afford a fitting opportunity for giving a sketch
of his life, since he can never be dissociated from her.
As we have already seen, he owed his earliest training
and education to her, and she was wont to say that,
remembering him, she could not call herself childless.
In later years, her relations with him became more
sisterly than maternal, and she addresses him in all her
1 Claudio Tolomei, Lettere, Lib. I, p. 41.
2 Reumont, p. 261.
242 Vittoria Colonna
letters as "fratello amantissimo." Del Vasto was as
devoted to Spanish interests as Pescara had been, and
was in high favour with the Emperor, by whom he was
sent on many difficult expeditions. After the cam-
paign in Hungary, Charles made him a Knight of the
Golden Fleece, and, after taking part in the brilliant
affair of Tunis, he was made Captain-General of the
imperial troops in Italy. Accompanying the Emperor
to Naples in 1535, he was attracted by the preaching
of Ochino (whom he was destined to meet later in
Milan), and, proceeding to Rome, he would have been
in communication with Vittoria, to whom the Emperor
made special visits at that time, and it was owing to
del Vasto's entreaties that the Marchesa abandoned her
favourite project of going to the Holy Land.
In that age, del Vasto's great courage and warlike
exploits would have been sufficient to win him
popularity, but, besides this, he was famed for his cul-
ture, wit, and readiness in conversation, and was no less
remarkable for his personal beauty, and the splendour
of his dress and appointments. That he wrote verses
goes without saying at the epoch in which he lived, but
he seems also to have had great literary taste and a
wonderful memory for poetry, and also a faculty for
making impromptu sonnets. We get a spirited de-
scription of his turn for this kind of pastime in a letter
from Girolamo Muzio, who was taking a journey of
some days with him : " Since our departure from Vige-
vano, the Signor Marchese has always kept the Muses
in his company, and has made as many as twelve
sonnets, and one letter of a hundred lines in blank verse,
in answer to one of mine, and he obliged me to make
In the Storm 243
something every day. We competed with each other
as we rode along, for he and I held aloof from our
companions. As soon as I had made a sonnet, I went
to recite it to him, and he did the same to me, having
me summoned. Then, in the evening, when we had
arrived at our quarters, I wrote down what I had com-
posed in the day and took it to him, and he, with his
own hand, wrote down his things, and either sent them,
or gave them to me when I went to him." 1
Two other letters about the Marchese, written by
Luca Contile, serve to show how his contemporaries
regarded him. The first is to the Bishop of Tolone,
who had apparently asked whether " the magnificence,
courtesy, and prudence " of the Marchese were as great
as they were reported to be. Contile replied : " Believe
me, the virtues of this Prince are greater than his fame ;
nay, verily, both by reason of his singular beauty of
form, and of the charm which makes him seem divine,
and by reason of his natural eloquence, on account of
which no one departs from him ill-satisfied, the mind
of everyone who associates with him is overpowered
by as many ideas as there are wonders issuing from all
his actions in every time and place." 2
And writing to another friend on the varied habits
and tastes of Princes, how he who has a taste for
letters surrounds himself with those who are literary,
artistic, musical, and so forth, Contile says : " In
particular, the Signer Marchese del Vasto takes comfort
1 Letter to Francesco Calvo, dated Monreale (Mondovi), October 3 1,
1543. Letter e del Mutio Justinopo/itano, Venice, 1551, pp. 48 r, 49.
2 Letter, dated Milan, April 22, 1542. Luca Contile, Lettere.
244 Vittoria Colonna
daily in inquiring now from one and now from another;
occupying himself now with history, now with cosmo-
graphy, now with Sacred Scripture, and, for the most
part, with poetry, in which he has shown the finest
talent as certain of his things bear witness." 1
In 1538, the Marchese was made Governor of Milan,
and he seems to have become a great light of the
cultivated society there ; it is probable that he was a
member of the Pilgrim-Academy, as we learn that he
often bore for a device the motto Finiunt pariter,
renovantque labores, which was that of the Pilgrims, as
we know from Doni. Del Vasto had climbed to the
pinnacle of court-favour, and this governorship was his
latest reward an honourable and important position,
but one full of difficulties and temptations. And so
he seems to have found it, for it appears from a passage
in the life of the Angelica, Paola Antonia de' Negri
(whose letter to Gaspara Stampa we have already
quoted), that, up till now, the Marchese, being en-
grossed with his military profession and with worldly
cares, and constant change of place and occupation, had
thought little of spiritual things; but that during his
sojourn at Milan, owing to the burden of his office,
and the hatred of the people over whom he was set,
and finding himself more and more out of favour
with the Emperor, he became a prey to melancholy.
It was just at this time that he was brought into contact
with the Angelica, and she " with that grace which was
given her by Our Lord to convert souls . . . did so
draw him to the knowledge of virtue and the contempt
of the world, that all those who had known him before
1 Letter to Federigo Orlandini, dated Milan, June 9, 1543. Ibid.
In the Storm 245
were amazed to see him so changed, so calm, and
so glad." 1
Thus light is thrown on a deeper and more attractive
side of his character by two letters addressed to him,*
the one by Ochino, the other by the nun. Del Vasto,
who had heard Ochino in Naples, must have fallen
under his influence again in Milan in 1541, when the
Frate was preaching there ; the following letter is dated
from Venice :
" MOST ILLUSTRIOUS SIGNOR,
" There never was nor will be a more valiant
captain than Christ, because, while other warriors
conquer with powerful hosts, by force of arms and
artillery, and many by deceit, cunning, or favour of
fortune, Christ, coming into this world, began His battle
all alone. Despoiled of all earthly power and favour,
naked upon the Cross, clothed only with truth, humility,
patience, charity, and all His other divine virtues, by
the impetus of love in one sole combat He has over-
come for ever, not human beings, but infernal spirits,
death, vice, and all the enemies of God, and won the
most goodly and rich booty that ever was or could be
won the souls that for many centuries had been in so
miserable a servitude. It is true, indeed, that He died,
but this makes His triumph and His glory the more
wonderful. Being, then, such a divine captain, your
Excellence will have no cause to be ashamed, but will
rather feel honoured in being of the number of His
valorous knights, especially as the palms, crowns,
1 Vita delf Angelica Paola Antonia de* Negri prefixed to the Letter e
Spiritual'^ pp. 28-29
246 Vittoria Colonna
victories, trophies, and triumphs of His soldiers are,
without comparison, greater than those of the world.
And remember that you were enrolled in the militia of
Christ or ever you were in that of Caesar (that is, in
holy Baptism), and to fail in loyalty to Christ is so
much the more vile as Christ is more rich, generous,
powerful, compassionate, holy, and just, and more full
of love than all other lords. And just as the words of
the crowd, We have no King but C<esar, were impious,
equally divine were those of Christ: Render to C<esar
the things that are C<esar's and to God the things that are
God's. And now all the more as one does not serve
but injure Caesar every time an offence is done against
God, on whose favour depend the emperors and empires
of the world. This I have written, not because I do
not think that your Excellence has the honour of God
always before you, for that I am constrained to believe,
both on account of your virtues, and because of the
love I bear you. But I behold you in the high places
of the world, where the violent winds of human respect
are most powerful, to conquer which one needs to be
most perfect. Nevertheless, the attempt is proper to
the greatness and nobility of your mind. Your other
friends will extol and rejoice over your victories in
the world ; but my joy will be when you conquer
yourself, and do not make an idol of human respect,
but show yourself superior to it by greatness of soul ;
and when you do not serve the world, but rather use it
for the honour of God. I have been more than long,
and I have not satisfied my desire, but I have exercised
it. Therefore I make an end, in order not to weary
you, and to increase my wish. Perhaps someday I shall
In the Storm 247
come to see you again. Meanwhile and always I will
pray the Lord to prosper you with your wife and
children in all that is according to His will.
" From Venice, February 10, 1542.
" FRATE BERNARDINO DA SiENA." 1
The nun's letter is even more interesting.
" O most excellent Signer, O soul beloved in the
most pure Blood of Jesus Christ, and observed with
reverence, what are you doing ? Are you sleeping
that I hear nothing from you ? Whence does this
proceed ? Are you perhaps offended by my presump-
tion, and therefore keep silence ? Or are those living
desires grown cold in you, which were inspired by that
Spirit, Who, like a sharp cutting knife, penetrates and
divides ; or are you shrinking back in order not to
feel the stroke of such a division ? If this has hap-
pened because I have given you offence by my pre-
sumption, at any rate tell me, so that I may draw back ;
and tell me what you wish me to do, for 1 will do
everything, except cease to desire and procure the
good of your soul, and that I will never leave off
doing as long as I live. . . . Ah, most excellent Signor,
pray let us not allow our affections to be so inebriated
with the things of this world, that we forsake that
which is so necessary to us. Alas, do not let us be-
come so hard, so rebellious to our own good, so con-
temptuous of holy calls, that our heart may grow
impenitent, and wrath may be laid up for us in the
1 Lettere volgari di diver si nobil'iaimi huomini ct eccel/entiuimi ingegni,
Venice, 1551, II, p. 96 v.
248 Vittoria Colonna
tremendous Day. Let us open our eyes, Signor, let
us open them for the love of God, for it is not time
to sleep. Time is flying, the years of our age fly
from us in numbers, and every hour we are nearer
death. . . . Lift your eyes ; raise up your mind, do
not let it remain behind in the earth. Remember the
gift you have received, the graces given you. Do not
throw them away, do not trample on them, do not
despise them. . . . You have my most affectionate
and most excellent Signora Marchesa, who is of so
Christian a heart that she will be a great help to you in
the way of God, and will bear you company, which
is a most happy thing. Of how many men set in
authority do we read who led a holy life ! I cannot
persuade myself that it is so difficult a thing for such
as you to be good and faithful Christians ; nay, you
are appointed over subjects to govern them, to rule
them, to make them keep the laws and commandments
rather of God than of men. What is there, then, to
hinder you more than others ? Are you perhaps less
skilful, less adapted for this office ? O God, think
a little of the fair graces, of the many gifts and endow-
ments of your souls ; will you not employ them in
honour of Him who gave them to you ? If the
earthly Emperor, whom you serve so faithfully, were
to give you more cities and castles than those you have,
would you by chance use them to his dishonour, to
make war or rebel against him ? Would you not
rather seek, as faithful vassals, to honour him more, the
more generosity he showed you ? O why not thus
with God ? Does He deserve less gratitude than a
man ? And does man give you anything that is not
In the Storm 249
from God, or without the will of God ? What can
there be in the world more exemplary, more pleasing
and dear to everybody, than to see two such princes of
one mind and inflamed with the love of God ? Would
this, perhaps, be derogatory to your reputation, and
make you less acceptable to the great ones of the
world ? Even if this were so, you should not desist
from it on that account, for we ought to esteem God
and the true good above men and transitory and vain
goods. If we had not got to die, if we were not all
obliged to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ,
if there were not to be such a strict examination, if
we had not to do with Him who scrutinises our hearts
and reins ; if grandeur, emperies, soldiers, horses,
arms, nobleness of blood, great friendships and favour
of men, could defend us from death and from judg-
ment, then we might indeed close our eyes and per-
severe in our ingratitude towards God. But alas !
nothing avails ; alas ! all these things will only con-
demn us more, if we have not used them as we ought.
I say too much and shall only weary you ; forgive my
presumption, but wake, I pray you. You are so
loving ; love that Christ a little Who loves you so
much ; consider what an excess of love He has shown
for you. Make a firm and steadfast resolution to be
faithful to Him. You, most excellent Signor, are
about to depart ; do not depart without Him ; go to
confession and communion, and then bear Him good
company, and, as you go, do not let your heart be
ensnared by these ways of the world. Do what you
have to do in a Christian manner, and with elevation of
mind. Do not let yourself be captured by men and
250 Vittoria Colonna
favours, or enslaved by hatred, contradictions, and
hardships, and God be with you always and accompany
you. I shall be with you always in heart ; meanwhile,
we shall enjoy your most excellent Signora, and we
shall see that she outstrips you on the spiritual road so
that, when you return, you will find her so advanced
that you will have a holy envy of her. Madonna
Giulia and I and all the others greet you both, and
commend ourselves to you. From your holy place of
San Paolo,
"June 10, 1545.
"Your Excellence's most faithful servant
in Jesus Christ." l
In the life of this nun, it is stated that del Vasto
wrote her many letters, full of divine fervour and
recognising the gifts which he received through her.
In 1541, the shadow of an inexplicable crime hung
over him : two French ambassadors, who had been
despatched, one to Venice the other to Constantinople,
were assassinated near Pavia, and their bodies flung
into the river. Suspicion attached to the Governor of
Milan, and, though he constantly denied the charge, it
was never disproved ; yet no motive could be alleged
for it, and it must have seriously displeased the Em-
peror as supplying Francis I with a legitimate pretext
for renewing the war, the chief event of which was
the disastrous day of Ceresole. It is said that del
Vasto made so sure of victory that he was provided
with four thousand pairs of fetters with which to secure
1 Lettere Spiritual!, pp. 593-599.
In the Storm 251
his prisoners, but the tide of fortune turned against
him, and, being severely wounded, he fled to Asti,
having lost eight thousand men.
Little can be argued from the fact that the Milanese
accused him of extorting money from the State and
spending it with lavish extravagance, because these
accusations were made against every governor in turn,
and, in del Vasto's case, they followed hard on his
defeat, after which he had fallen out of favour with the
Emperor. Summoned to an interview with Charles,
he was ordered to return to Milan and appear before
the Corte there, but he was already in a desperate
condition of health, and died of fever at Vigevano on
his way back. After his death, nothing was remem-
bered but his wonderful career of brilliant exploits,
while the letters of his friends testify to his high-
mindedness and nobility of character.
Luca Contile, writing to Claudio Tolomei, who was
tutor to the young Marchese di Pescara, says : " I wrote
to you of the illness of the Signer Marchese, and now
I tell you with the greatest grief of his death, which
took place yesterday at four o'clock, on the last day of
last month. He is dead, having left the example of a
good Christian, and having been the most excellent of
Princes and Knights while alive." l
Del Vasto died on March 31, 1546, so we are anti-
cipating by some few years this last great sorrow of
Vittoria's life.
The Marchesa remained in Rome till the October of
1541, when she proceeded to Viterbo, and three quiet
years now followed the turbulent one through which
1 Letter dated Milan, March z, 1546. Luca Contile, Lettere.
252 Vittoria Colonna
she had just passed. But neither peace nor strife,
fortune nor humiliation, could alter the abiding im-
pression that Vittoria always created : it was like the
breath of the softest wind of summer, or like a friend
who comes to meet us with his hands full of roses.
CHAPTER X
VITERBO
Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint, and heard great Argument
About it and about : but evermore
Came out by the same Door as in I went.
FITZGERALD'S Omar Khayyam.
WE have already heard a note of doubt struck in the
mind of Vittoria as to the man she had trusted so
implicitly, and who had been her guide for several
years. "May it please God that he persevere!" she
had said to Luca Contile, and, with this doubt before
her, she must have passed an anxious year at Viterbo,
until the news of Ochino's flight reached her in the
August of 1542. The year before that, he had been
preaching with his usual success in Milan, where
the Governor, del Vasto, was one of his friends and
most eager listeners ; at Pentecost he was at Naples,
where he was again elected to the dignity of Vicar-
General of his Order, and, proceeding to Florence, he
fell ill and remained at the convent about three miles
out of the city, until the following February, when he
went to Venice for Lent. Siena had begged hard for
him, but the Pope had granted him to Venice, where-
upon the Sienese implored him to come to them in
Advent ; but he was then too ill. It is said that when
253
254 Vittoria Colonna
he began his Lenten preaching in Venice, the Nuncio,
Fabio Mignatelli, had instructions to observe him
narrowly. These may have emanated from Cardinal
Caraffa, who had already had him watched by the
Theatines at Naples, though nothing had come of it.
Now it chanced that Giulio Terenziano, a friend of
Ochino's, had just been condemned for preaching heresy,
and the Frate took the opportunity of making a strong
protest : " What will it lead to, O men of Venice, if
such things may happen ? O Queen of the Sea, if
thou castest the heralds of truth into dungeons and
chains, and condemnest them to the galleys, what rest-
ing-place shall remain for the truth ? " 1 On this the
Nuncio immediately forbade Ochino to preach, but he
had to give way before the unanimous outcry of the
city, and Fra Bernardino finished his Lenten course,
after which he withdrew to the Capuchin Convent in
Verona, and remained there in cordial relations with
the Bishop, Giberti, whose complete confidence he still
possessed.
In the life of Paola Antonia de' Negri, to which
reference has already been made, we read that she,
having been invited to Verona by the Bishop, who was
a great friend of hers, was present at a sermon of Fra
Bernardino's, after which she foretold his fall into
heresy, which Giberti could in no wise believe or
accept ; but he remembered it later. 2
It was in the early summer that Ochino received
a summons to Rome ; it came from Cardinal Farnese
and was couched in most friendly terms, asking him to
1 Benrath, Bernardino Ochino, Eng. ed., pp. 94, 95.
2 Vita deW Angelica, pp. 88, 89.
Viterbo 255
come and discuss " matters of some importance " ; but,
notwithstanding the tone, the Frate was filled with
apprehension, and was doubtful whether to respond.
Giberti, however, exhorted him to absolute obedience,
though at the same time he endeavoured to obtain
a delay, making the great heat an excuse. At the
Bishop's request, Ochino repaired to Bologna to con-
sult with Cardinal Contarini, who had recently been
appointed legate there, and who had been almost
immediately seized with a mortal illness, on which
account poison (as was usual in such cases) was
suspected, Contarini having given offence to many by
dealing, as was thought, too leniently with the Lutherans
at Ratisbon. The Cardinal was in a dying condition
when Ochino arrived, and accounts differ as to the pre-
cise nature of the interview, for, while Ochino would
have us believe that Contarini warned him against
going to Rome, Muzio and Beccadelli state that the
Cardinal was too ill to see him for more than a minute,
and that his only words were : " Father, you see my
condition ; have pity on me, and pray to God for me,
and I wish you a good journey." 1
However this may have been, Ochino proceeded to
Florence where he found his old friend, Pietro Martire
Vermigli, and we have no doubt of the advice given
by the latter, as he was himself resolved on flight.
From Florence, Ochino wrote to Vittoria :
I " I find myself here on the outskirts of Florence in
no small trouble of mind, having come here with the
1 Vita del Cardinale Gasparo Contarini da Lodovico TSeccatello,
Brescia, 1 746, p. 40.
256 Vittoria Colonna
intention of going to Rome, although many people
dissuaded me from doing so before I arrived. But,
understanding better every day the way things are
going on, I am most particularly persuaded by Don
Pietro Martire and others not to go ; because I could
not but deny Christ or be crucified. The first I will
not do ; the second, yes, but with His grace, and when
it shall be His will. I have not now the spirit to go
voluntarily to death. When God requires me, He will
know how to find me anywhere. Christ several times
taught us to fly, by His flight into Egypt, and to
Samaria, and so Paul tells me when I am not received
in one city to go to another. After this, what could
I do more in Italy ? Preach doubts and preach Christ
disguised in jargon ? It is often necessary to blaspheme
Him in order to satisfy the superstition of the world,
and that is not enough, for every seeker of favour
would be ready to write to Rome and harass me : and
so we should return at once to the same confusion. And
still less in writing could I throw light on anything.
For these and other reasons I choose to depart, and
especially because I see things going in such a manner
as makes me think that, in the end, they would want to
examine me, and make me deny Christ or kill me.
I think, if Paul were in my place, he would not act
otherwise. I may truly say that I passed through
Bologna as by miracle, and was not detained there both
on account of the willingness I showed to go to Rome,
and also by the kindness and prudence of Cardinal
Contarini, of which I had evident tokens. Since then,
I have heard that Farnese says I am summoned be-
cause I have preached heresy and scandalous things.
Viterbo 257
From the information that I have received it seems
that the Theatine, Puccio, and others whom I do not
wish to name, speak of me in such a manner that, if
1 had crucified Christ, I do not know if they could have
made so much noise. I am such as your Ladyship
knows, and anyone who has heard me can give an
account of my doctrine. Never have I preached with
more reserve or more moderation than this year, and
yet, without hearing me, they have declared me to be
a heretic. I am glad that they begin to reform the
Church with me. . . . On the other hand, think if it
is not hard for me in all respects ! I know you will
think so. The flesh recoils from leaving everything
behind and thinking what will be said. Christ has
permitted and willed that I should be compelled to this
for some good reason. It would be more than wel-
come to me to speak with you, and to have your opinion
and that of the reverend Monsignor Pole, or to have
a letter from you ; but it is more than a month since
I heard from you. Pray to Our Lord for me ; I desire
more than ever to serve Him with His grace. Salute
everybody.
" From Florence, August 22, I542." 1
On the day following, Ochino set out, being supplied
with a horse and a servant by Ascanio Colonna. The
account of his flight is full of discrepancies ; some say
that he went to Ferrara, where the Duchessa Renata
helped him with clothes and money. From a letter of
Giberti's to del Vasto, it would seem that he went to
Milan and there saw the Marchese, who endeavoured to
1 Carteggio, Letter CXLVI.
258 Vittoria Colonna
dissuade him from his purpose, but there is no other
mention of this digression, and it does not appear
likely. It is more probable that he struck across the
plain of Lombardy, directing his way to Geneva through
Chiavenna and Zurich. He took with him a lay-
brother of his Order, Fra Mariano, a man who had
been a soldier, and who had a practical knowledge of
French and German. The annalist, Boverius, states
that three Brothers went with him, and he gives a
graphic account of Ochino's farewell to Italy, almost
too circumstantial to be true, except that it accords well
with what we know of the man's character.
Boverius writes thus : " He had reached the summit
of the Alps which shuts out the last view of beautiful
Italy, when, turning his face towards her, softened by a
certain natural love which aroused in his heart tender
affections towards the country which he had no hopes
of seeing again, reviewing in his mind the honours
and the applause which he had received ... he began
to be grievously afflicted in his mind and to shed many
tears ; and broke into these words : ' O Italy, most
happy land in all the world, my most sweet country,
land of my birth, and, in time now passed, of my
delights. With what tears and sighs must I take leave
of thee, since such a sad and perpetual exile separates
me from thee as deprives me of all hope of ever see-
ing thee again. Henceforth shall I no more enjoy
thine honours, nor see the crowds of the people, nor
the vast assemblage of the nobles who applauded me ?
Will they never more hear me speak from the pulpits,
or receive me with acclamations of joy when I return
from preaching ? My departure deprives me of all
Viterbo 259
this happiness. Alas ! Order of the Cappuccini, so
dear erewhile, my sweet hostess, my sweet daughter !
With how many kind offices and with what courtesy
didst thou receive me ! With what benefits didst thou
load me, and with how many honours didst thou dis-
tinguish me ! Ought I not, on every account, to have
given back to thee benefits like to those I received, or,
at any rate, I ought to have rendered thee due thanks.
In what calamity and disaster I see thee plunged by my
flight. Thou didst nourish and bring up a son that
he might be to thee a Benjamin, the son of thy right
hand, but he is changed into Benoni, the son of thy
sorrow.'" 1
Vermigli followed Ochino two days later. With the
subsequent career of these men we are hardly con-
cerned here, except in so far as it may interest English
readers to know that they both came to England, and
were entertained by Cranmer at Lambeth, that Vermigli
became Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and that
Ochino held a prebend in Canterbury Cathedral : both
were regarded as factors in the spread of the reformed
doctrines in England. Some have said that different
treatment would have preserved Ochino to the Church,
that if he had been made much of at Rome, and been
created a cardinal, he would have remained faithful ; to
which the only answer seems to be that, if this were
so, his faith must have been of so poor an order as not
to have been worth preserving. But there are some clear
indications that Ochino was on the wrong road. If he
had been alive to the peril of his really great position,
1 Annaki ZMinorum Capucinorum, Tom. I (Lyons, 1632), pp.
316, 317.
260 Vittoria Colonna
he must have been before all things a man of prayer
and retirement ; whereas, on the contrary, we find it
asserted, as freely by his friends as by his enemies,
that he had almost left off saying Mass, that he rarely
appeared in choir, and had asked to be dispensed from
saying his office, on the plea that more important things
were occupying his time : one does not need to be a
prophet to foretell the fall of such a man, in one way or
another. In Italy his defection could not but be pro-
ductive of grave results ; his voice had been heard
through the length and breadth of the land, and he
had an immense following both inside and outside his
Order. Two letters from his contemporaries give us
some idea of the consternation induced.
In October, Claudio Tolomei writes : " Returning
to Rome yesterday from the country, a piece of news
was suddenly communicated to me, but wild, incredible,
dreadful news. I was told that you, I know not by
what strange counsel, have passed out of the camp of
the Catholics into the quarters of the Lutherans, con-
secrating yourself to that wicked and heretical sect. I
was absolutely horror-stricken, as one says, and I made
the sign of the Cross. Since then, as the tidings were
confirmed first by four, and then by six people, and
finally by everyone, I was constrained to believe it against
my will. It seemed to me that I had heard stranger
news than if I had been told that doves had turned
into serpents, or that kids had become panthers. . . Truly
I am reduced to this, that whereas formerly (as you
know) I asked you many times to pray to God for me,
at the present moment, knowing the contrary need, I
can do nothing but pray to God for you : and now
Viterbo 261
again I humbly beg Him that He may please to en-
lighten and help you." l
The second letter is from Girolamo Muzio, of
whom mention has already been made in connection
with del Vasto, in whose service he was. Vittoria
appears to have handed over to him Ochino's letter of
August 22. Muzio was an unwearied writer on all
subjects, and published many books against heretics,
but he was wanting in point and judgment ; not being
much of a theologian, his arguments here are long-
winded and commonplace, but what he says is not
wanting in sense.
" If I have more than once listened to your sermons
and arguments, I am now all the more grieved, having
seen a letter of yours, written a few days ago, to the
no less worthy than illustrious Marchesa di Pescara.
Truly the cause of my grief is that you have aban-
doned your religion, that Italy will be for ever de-
prived of your voice . . . and this is not so much
mine as a universal grief, as is also the scandal that
you have given by your departure." Ochino's corre-
spondent then goes on to tell him that he has stated
his reasons in such a confused and obscure fashion
that they sound more like excuses. He asks him
whether he should not have gone to Rome to justify
himself, seeing that his doctrine had been valued there.
If he had changed his views, he ought to have gone to
explain the cause. Or, if he would not go to Rome,
why on that account should he have left Italy ? Was
Geneva the only place open to him ? And then
Muzio pertinently asks : " Is this the humility and
1 Lettere di M. Claudia Tolomei y Vol. II, p. 209.
262 Vittoria Colonna
patience you have preached so often, and that we have
praised so much ? Your life henceforward can only be
one of extreme unhappiness. . . . You have made
shipwreck of the doctrine of Christ." He ends by
exhorting him to repent like Peter, that so, like him,
he may be forgiven, and then he will arrive at that
" buon fine " which he mentions in his letter. 1
To Tolomei, Ochino replied in a long rambling
epistle, which was indeed but a tissue of excuses. A
more reasoned document was sent to the Council of
his native city, Siena, and answered by Fra Ambrogio
Politi, first by a short letter, and subsequently by a
treatise entitled Remedy against the Pestilential Doctrine
of Fra Bernardino Ochino. Ochino then busied himself
with drawing up his Prediche, which were published at
intervals, in three parts ; they are not sermons, but
theological discussions, and were composed with the
view of justifying his resolution before the world. The
first set were sent by him to Muzio, as an answer to
his letter, and it is probably a copy of these that was de-
spatched with a second letter to Vittoria from Geneva,
and which she immediately sent on to Cardinal Cervini,
with the accompanying letter :
" MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND MOST REVEREND,
MOST WORSHIPFUL MoNSIGNOR,
" The more opportunity I have had of observ-
ing the actions of the most reverend Monsignor of
England, the more he seems to me a true and most
sincere servant of God. So, when in his charity he
1 Letter from Muzio to Ochino. Le Mentite Ochiniane del Mutio
Justinopolitano, Venice, 1551.
Viterbo 263
condescends to answer any question of mine, I think I
am secure from error in following his advice. And
since he told me that, in his opinion, if a letter or any-
thing else should come to me from Fra Bernardino, I
had better send it to your most reverend Lordship
without answering it, having to-day received the en-
closed with the little book which you will see, I send
them to you. The whole was in one packet, without
any other writing inside, and was sent by an express-
courier who came from Bologna, and I have chosen to
send it on to you by one of my servants. I beg your
Lordship will pardon my giving you this trouble,
although, as you see, it is in print. And Our Lord
God preserve your most reverend Lordship's person
in that happy life which all your servants desire for
you.
" From Santa Caterina di Viterbo, December 4.
" Your most reverend and most
illustrious Lordship's servant,
" THE MARCHESA DI PESCARA.
" It grieves me exceedingly that, the more he thinks
to excuse himself, the more he accuses himself, and, the
more he thinks to save others from shipwreck, the more
he exposes them to the deluge, being himself outside
that Ark which secures and saves." 1
It was no doubt owing to Cardinal Pole's advice
that Vittoria had vouchsafed no answer to Ochino's
first letter, but an additional reason may have been
that she must have received it at the very moment of
Cardinal Contarini's death, which would have been a
1 Carteggio, Letter CXLIX.
264 Vittoria Colonna
grievous loss and sorrow to her. The Cardinal died on
August 24, and towards the end of September the
Marchesa wrote the following letter to his sister, Suora
Serafina, who was a nun at Santa Chiara at Murano.
" REVEREND SISTER AND MOST HONOURED
MOTHER IN CHRIST,
" If I did not know that your Reverence is
armed with all those divine shields which do not suffer
the points of human arrows to pierce too deeply, I
should not have ventured to write to you on such a
sorrowful and bitter occasion. But, remembering your
pious and sweet letters, when you invited that most
beloved brother to desire to be with you in the true
celestial country, and the request that you made to him
to explain certain psalms which showed that you had
the death, passion, and resurrection of Christ always
impressed upon your heart, I have dared to rejoice in
spirit over that which, in the sense, supremely grieves
me, and to beg you to consider, with that supernatural
light which God bestows on you, that we have no
cause to sorrow nor to desire that this so worthy and
Christian life should have been prolonged. And
speaking of lesser things, such as are justly little prized
by you, I will say that he was already so loaded with
worldly honours, which came to seek him out as their
proper resting-place, that it is rather he who laid them
down as a painful weight, than that they would have
at any time abandoned him. And these honours he
carried so devoutly and uprightly, having for his first
object and his last end God, Who gave them to him,
and so satisfied both spiritual and temporal expecta-
Viterbo 265
tions that, rejoicing his true friends, he never gave
others any just cause of complaint. His doctrine,
prudence, and wisdom had come to be held in such
admiration by the good and in such envy by the world,
that either he must strip himself of them, or all others
would seem to be despoiled and stripped by him. As
for the excellent and divine example which he gave to
everyone, and as for his most important usefulness to
the Church and to our peace and quiet living, we must
be assured by lively faith that the infallible disposition
of the King, Lord, and Head of us all, knows the best
and most auspicious time in which to draw His mem-
bers to Himself. There remains, then, only the loss of
his most sweet conversation, and the profit of his
most holy instructions, for which your Reverence and
myself would be greatly to be pitied if it had not
been that his journeyings and your seclusion did not
allow us to enjoy them. So that I do not see much
reason for us to be sorrowful, but rather to be com-
forted, and to rejoice greatly in seeing, with the eyes of
the mind, his peaceful spirit united with that true
eternal peace, and his most humble soul made great
and glorious by Him, Who, with such loftiness of in-
tellect, made him such a model of humility that he
clearly showed how he surpassed all human reason
with the divine spirit. Now your Reverence can
speak to him without absence hindering you from
being heard. Now you will not have the sorrow of
going far from your true brother according to the
flesh, but, thanking God, you will rejoice in Him at
your brother's weal at once, with one sole imagination
and one same light, as I am sure you will experience
266 Vittoria Colonna
in your soul ; since I am only trying to draw it with
my pen for one who by long experience knows all the
colours, the lights, and the shades of that holy pic-
ture. But I have done it in order to beg you
affectionately to fix your inward eyes firmly on this
alone, as I hope surely that God will help you to do ;
and to pray you to command me, as the most true and
obliged servant of that most perfect brother of yours
and lord of mine, now that no other spiritual service
remains to me than that of the most illustrious and most
reverend Monsignor of England, his singular, inti-
mate, and most true friend, and more than son and
brother, who feels this loss so much that his strong
pious mind, unvanquished by so many varied troubles,
seems to have given itself over to grief more than it has
ever done on any other occasion. It is as though the
Spirit of consolation, who dwells ever in his Lordship,
has willed to allow him to be thus grieved as a proof
that this loss only effects the good. So you alone
must supply my need, as a soul already freed from
earthly things, since in you that may be attributed to
natural sorrow which in that Signer is imputed to
spiritual charity. So may you be confirmed for very
many years in the embraces of your celestial Spouse,
and may He grant us to find ourselves all together in
eternal felicity.
" From Santa Caterina at Viterbo.
" Your Reverence's sister and
obedient daughter in Christ,
"THE MARCHESA DI PESCARA. MI
1 Carteggio, Letter CXLVII.
Viterbo 267
Cardinal Contarini was indeed a grievous loss to
the Church at large, and especially to that small band
of reformers within the fold, whose elusive hopes were
fading rapidly away.
We have already glanced at the Oratory of Divine
Love, established with the avowed object of spiritual-
ising the hierarchy. Almost a direct offshoot of the
Oratory was the Valdessian community at Naples, with
this difference, that it was chiefly composed of laity,
and that it confined itself to the reform of the in-
dividual : yet another development was the circle at
Viterbo which was just now taking shape. But in the
ecclesiastical world the Oratory had also borne fruit.
Paul III on his accession had his thoughts whole-
somely turned in the direction of reform. Having
created Contarini a cardinal, he ordered him to reside
in Rome, and asked him to name the men he thought
most fitting to report on existing abuses and to devise
remedies. Among those chosen were Fregoso, Giberti,
Sadoleto, and Pole, all great friends of the Marchesa's,
and also Cardinal CarafFa, a man of stern and harsh
nature, who worked in a spirit very alien from that
which influenced his colleagues. His cry was always:
Let us stamp out these heretics ; while Giberti's was :
Let our lives be such that they will have nothing
wherewith to reproach us. All these men were im-
bued with the necessity for reform ; they met daily
in Contarini's house, and their discussions extended
over a period of two years, after which a report was
drawn up by Caraffa and presented to the Pope. But,
after this long delay, Paul's interest had evaporated ;
the report was laid by, and the scheme suffered to
268 Vittoria Colonna
come to nothing. Yet the men who had been engaged
upon it did not desist from their purpose ; each in
his own place carried out what amendments and im-
provements he could, and who can say how many
souls were thus saved to the Church ?
But, as years went on and the spread of heresy
became alarming, the Pope turned, not to his first
band of counsellors, but to one among them, Cardinal
Caraffa, and asked how the evil was to be combated.
Caraffa, who had always been in favour of extreme
measures, suggested establishing a universal office of
the Inquisition in Rome, and so the Holy Office was
created with the bull Licet ab initio y July 21, 1542.
The situation was certainly sufficiently grave, but
from this time forth a sort of stage-fright seems to
have seized on the rulers of the Church. They
scented heresy everywhere, the most saintly men were
accused, and in a few years suspicions attached to all
the leading Catholics. Giulia Gonzaga, Caterina Cibo,
and Vittoria herself were suspected and watched ; the
harass and distress caused to the first-mentioned lady
are said to have shortened her life. Little was ever
proved against Caterina, though she is thought to have
aided Ochino in his flight, and she corresponded with
him afterwards.
Against the Marchesa, though she was watched for
a short time, no single charge was ever substantiated.
Although her name appears in the Compendium Pro-
cessuum Sancti Officii, and many questions were asked
concerning her in the processes instituted against
Carnesecchi and Morone long after her death, it would
be absurd to cast any doubt on her orthodoxy on
Viterbo 269
account of transactions which took place when she was
no longer living, and because of her friendship with
men who, in her lifetime, were held to be above sus-
picion. In the trial of Carnesecchi, the only thing that
could be mentioned to her discredit was that she had
received a copy of Valdes' Commentary on St. Paul's
Epistle to the Romans, and that she had read Luther's
exposition of one of the Psalms, being ignorant that
he was the author of it. 1 Of Valdes' book we have
the following mention, in the only letter of Vittoria's
to Giulia Gonzaga which has come down to us. It
was written from Viterbo in December, 1541.
" Jt would assuredly be fitting that your Ladyship
should revisit your country in Lombardy for a little,
now that you are so well instructed about the celestial
country, for it would be very beneficial to you, and,
as you pass by here, you could stay a couple of
months. ... 1 understand that your Ladyship has
sent the Commentary on St. Paul, which was very
much wanted, and especially by me who have most
need of it, wherefore I thank you the most, and will
thank you more when I see you, God willing." 2
On the other hand, the Marchesa's position in Rome
in 1 546 is attested by a letter of Cardinal Gonzaga's in
which he relates that Paul III had been to visit her
and had conversed with her about his possible suc-
cessor, informing her that he greatly wished that
Sfondrato should be chosen, and charging her to
repeat this to all the cardinals who came to her
house. 3 This fact alone goes far to disprove the
1 Estratto del processo di Pletro Carnesecchi, pp. 498, 550.
2 Carteggio, Letter CXLII. 3 Luzio, op. a'/., p. 49.
270 Vittoria Colonna
assertion that Vittoria was suspected of Protestant
tendencies. Certainly, she was happy in not living on
into the darker days which were coming, when was
seen that spectacle which has been seen many times
since, and will no doubt be repeated to the end of
time, of faith strong enough, humility deep enough,
to engender that loyalty to authority which can cry
out:
" I am no courtier of thee sober-suited,
Who loves a little for a little pay.
Me not thy winds nor storms nor thrones disrooted
Nor molten crowns nor thine own sins dismay." 1
It has been asked in a fine novel recently published :
" What sort of sons are you who talk of forsaking your
mother because her dress is not to your taste ? Is her
maternal bosom, forsooth, altered by a dress ? When
leaning upon it, weeping, you tell Christ of your sins
and Christ heals you, do you think of the authenticity
of a passage in St. John, of the real author of the
fourth Gospel, or of the two Isaiahs ? When sheltered
upon it you unite yourself to Christ in the Blessed
Sacrament, are you disturbed by the decrees of the
Index or the Holy Office ? When abandoned upon it
you enter into the shadow of death, is the peace which
is breathed upon you less sweet because a Pope is
adverse to Christian democracy ?" 2
And this is a twofold testimony : we cannot be
loyal to nothing ; the questionings, the differences, the
bitternesses may all be there, but underneath there is
1 A. C. Swinburne, Songs before Sunrise.
2 Antonio Fogazzaro, // Santo.
Viterbo 271
something that admits of no question, that is eternally
the same, the " great rock in a weary land," under
whose shadow we sit down " with great delight."
Learned leisure is undoubtedly speculative, and the
most favourite theme for discussion in the sixteenth
century was Justification by Faith. It is difficult to
understand why this took hold of men's minds as if it
had been a new proposition. Whether it was a re-
action from formalism, from a bondage to rules and
observances ; or whether mysticism, as is its wont, so
emphasised the essential inwardness of religion as first
to minimise, and then almost to obliterate, the value of
outward forms, it is hard to decide. But certain it is
that this was a fruitful subject for dispute, opening up
many and unexpected problems, and there is little
doubt that, in its inception, few of those who adopted
the formula realised what could be deduced from it,
and very many entirely rejected these deductions.
Valdes, as we have seen, only recognised " operative
faith " ; Ochino seems to have held the same view for
some time, though his later utterances are more
doubtful ; Flaminio allowed himself greater latitude ;
Carnesecchi's mind was so unsystematic that one
can hardly fasten him down to anything ; while
Cardinal Pole, whose acute intellect was thoroughly
alive to the interest of a dialectical point, very evidently
kept himself and Vittoria in the right road, and had
the honour of bringing Flaminio back to it.
Of Pole's dealings with Flaminio, Cardinal Querini
has given us the following account : " When Messer
Marcantonio Flaminio returned from Naples, his old
and dear friend (Cardinal Pole) finding him tinctured
272 Vittoria Colonna
with some not very safe opinions which he had derived
from the conversation of Valdes in Naples, in order to
help his friend, whom he knew to be of good life and
excellent understanding, without saying anything of
this, invited him to stay with him in that ease of
Viterbo where he then was. And living together,
talking sometimes of humanistic studies, in which
Messer Marcantonio was proficient, and sometimes
of sacred things, the Cardinal proceeded with so
much cleverness that in process of time, without
any dispute arising, he convinced him of Catholic
truth, so that his doctrine remained sound and
pure ; and continuing therein, and writing sacred
poems, he died as a good Christian in the house of his
most reverend Lordship, who was wont to say that,
besides the benefit to his friend, he had rendered no
small service to Catholics in having retained Flaminio
and not suffered him to rush headlong with the
heretics, as he might easily have done, amongst whom
he would have been very dangerous, because of the
easy and accurate way he had of writing Latin and the
vernacular." 1 In fact, Flaminio died in Cardinal Pole's
house in February, 1550, aged fifty-two. The Car-
dinal had him buried in the English Church, and all
Italy mourned for him. Still it can hardly be denied
that Flaminio was, as might be said, " temerarissimus "
in his study of heretical books, and some of his own
works were prohibited by Paul IV in 1559, though the
prohibition was subsequently removed.
From all details that have come down to us, the life
at Viterbo seems to have been no less attractive than
1 Vita del Cardinale Reginaldo Polo da Lodovico Beccatello.
Viterbo 273
that at Naples ; it was on a smaller scale, but, perhaps,
for that reason it was all the more intimate and perfect.
The Pope had appointed Cardinal Pole Legate at
Viterbo, "governo piacevole e d' ozio," as Beccadelli
calls it, and it was on this account that the Marchesa
went to live there, residing as was her custom in a
convent, in the Dominican house of Santa Caterina.
The church and convent stand in a quiet and secluded
piazza of Viterbo, out of the stream of the life of the
town. There is a fine old mediaeval fountain in front
of the convent, which is dedicated to St. Catherine of
Alexandria. The church is decorated with pictures in
honour of the two Saints Catherine, and there is a
frescoed apotheosis of St. Catherine of Siena on the
ceiling, but these are all of a later epoch. The only
painting that could have been there in Vittoria's time is
an old picture of St. Dominic. The Marchesa refers
to this convent in the letter already cited to the Duke
of Ferrara, dating " from Santa Caterina, but not now
that most beautiful one at Ferrara, but this indifferent
one at Viterbo." No doubt the society was sufficient
compensation for other things that were wanting.
Pole may be regarded as the embodiment of that
spirit of piety which was the most effectual protest
against the laxity of the times ; and, in addition to his
piety, he had great natural gifts wit, readiness in con-
versation, and unfailing tact ; also a wide knowledge of
the worlds of society and of books : he could not fail
to be an attractive companion, and from henceforth he
became Vittoria's guide and mainstay. Carnesecchi
says in the Processo that these two often had long
discourses on spiritual things, " because both of them
274 Vittoria Colonna
took more pleasure in this than in any other subject."
From the same source we learn that Flaminio and
Priuli frequently visited the Marchesa and also in-
dulged in religious arguments, but that, in their case,
the discourse was intermixed with profane and ordinary
topics. 1
Reunions for study, preaching, and discussion were
held every day at the Cardinal's house, and we get an
idea of them in certain letters written to Contarini.
Having explained how he passes the morning in study
and in the transaction of a few hours' business, Pole
continues : " The rest of the day I spend in the holy
and profitable society of Signer Carnesecchi and our
Monsignor Marcantonio Flaminio. I call it profitable
because, in the evenings, Monsignor Flaminio feeds me
and the greater part of our household with that meat
which does not perish, and in such a manner that I do
not know when I have felt greater consolation or greater
edification."
In another letter he writes : "As to the passage in
St. Bernard noticed by your most reverend Lordship,
where he speaks so explicitly of the Justice of Christ,
we have found and read it with our friends here, with
the greatest satisfaction to all of us. And considering
afterwards on what the doctrine of this holy man was
founded, together with his life, it does not seem
wonderful to me if he speaks more clearly than others.
For all his doctrine was formed and founded upon the
Holy Scriptures (which in their inward meaning
proclaim naught else but this Justice), and he had there-
with such a goodly commentary to explain what he read
1 Estratto del proceao di Pie fro Carnesecchi, p. 269.
Viterbo 275
I mean, the conformity of his life thereto, which
gave him continual experience of the truth learned ;
and on this account he must needs have been most
steadfast. And if the other adversaries of this truth
would set themselves to examine how it is established
in this way, to wit, by the two rules of Scripture and
experience, without doubt all controversy would cease.
They, therefore, do err, not knowing the Scripture and
the power of God, which is hid in Christ, to whom be
glory for ever, Who has begun to reveal this holy truth,
and one so salutary and necessary to be known, using
for instrument your most reverend Lordship. There-
fore, we are all continually constrained to pray His
Divine Majesty that He will strengthen what is
wrought to His glory and the benefit of the whole
Church ; as indeed we do, and especially the Signora
Marchesa, who unceasingly commends herself to
you." l
While Flaminio was the mouthpiece and might seem
to be the leader of the little circle, Pole was its most
virile member and its real head ; he was probably also
the only one who saw clearly to what length doctrines
might be drawn out. Flaminio was too purely a mystic
to carry out premises to their logical conclusions, and
so, like many people, he often found himself adhering
to wholly incompatible beliefs. That he held the Catholic
doctrine of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist, we
know from a letter of his to Carnesecchi, and this one
to Carlo Gualteruzzi is interesting as giving us his
view of a devotional book as popular in our days as in
his. He writes : " I could not recommend you any
1 Epittolaru:n Reginaldi Toli t Pars III, Letters xxm, xxx.
276 Vittoria Colonna
more useful book (not speaking of the Holy Scriptures)
than that little work De Imitatione Christi^ if you will
read it not from curiosity, nor in order to know how
to argue and dispute about points of Christian doctrine,
but in order to edify your soul and to attend to the
practice of a Christian life, in which lies the whole
matter, as soon as man has accepted the grace of the
Gospel, that is Justification by Faith. ... If you were
to read the aforesaid book carefully and with attention,
and with the desire to put what it teaches you into
practice, I am sure that you would find it most useful,
as all those do who read it thus . . . and the further
the book is from worldly eloquence and learning, the
more worthy it is of being read as something more
Christian and more spiritual ; and it is more like Holy
Scripture, and consequently more perfect." l
We have already spoken of the great influence which
Cardinal Pole had over the Marchesa, and we get the
following particulars from Carnesecchi : " jfe&Ee- the
Signora Marchesa contracted her friendship with the
Cardinal, she used to afflict herself so much with fasts,
sackcloth, and other mortifications of the flesh that
she had reduced herself to skin and bone, and this she
did, perhaps, because she placed too much confidence in
such works, imagining that true piety and religion, and
consequently the salvation of one's soul, consisted in
these things. But after being advised by the Cardinal
that she rather offended God than otherwise by treating
her body with such austerity and rigour . . . the
aforesaid Signora began to desist from that very austere
mode of life, reducing her mortifications little by little
1 Lettere volgari, p. 1 24.
Viterbo 277
to a just and reasonable mean." /Speaking of Justifica-
tion by Faith, Carnesecchi says :i " I could not exactly
say in what special way she held it, but it is enough
that she attributed a great deal to grace and to faith in
her discourses, and, on the other hand, by her life and
actions she showed that she set great store by works,
giving large alms and showing universal charity to
everyone ; thereby observing and following the advice
which she said the Cardinal (whom she trusted as an
oracle) had given her, to wit, that she ought to set her-
self to believe as though she must be saved by faith
alone, and to act as though she must be saved by works
alone. She referred to this one day when talking to
me, saying that she had implored the Cardinal to tell
her his opinion about that article of Justification, and
had not been able to get any other pronouncement out
of him but this. Nor had she dared to ask him any-
thing further about it, or about any other dogma
relating to faith, being afraid of offending him by too
great curiosity." l
Cardinal Morone, who became the Marchesa's special
friend after Contarini's death, says that she once told
him that she owed her salvation to Cardinal Pole,
because he had strengthened her, and detached her
from many vain fancies ; " her mind was entirely his."
And Vittoria writes in one of her letters to Morone :
" I confess to your Lordship that I was never under
such obligations to anyone as to Pole." 2
It seems likely that, during the earlier part of her
1 Estratto del processo di Pietro Carnesecchi, pp. 499, 269, 270. Cf.
Corvisieri, Compendia de' processi del S. Ojpcio y pp. 279, 280.
2 Corvisieri, op. cit. y p. 280.
278 Vittoria Colonna
sojourn at Viterbo, the Marchesa threw herself heart
and soul into the interminable discussions on Justifica-
tion by Faith, from which no thoughtful mind at that
moment seemed to be able to free itself, and which
was a perfectly legitimate subject for debate, no pro-
nouncement having as yet been made upon it. But it
is evident that, before her visit came to an end, she
had wearied of an atmosphere of polemics, which
never could have been congenial to one at the same
time so simple and so devout. Guided by Pole, she
had broken off all communication with Ochino, and,
further influenced by him, she desisted from contro-
versy, while remaining ever more keenly alive to the
interest of spiritual things, and her later poems, which
we shall shortly consider, bear ample witness to the
fact that her faith had deepened and strengthened.
In the spring of 1543, the Marchesa had a long and
dangerous illness, which caused much anxiety to her
friends. When the news reached Rome, Claudio
Tolomei wrote thus to Giuseppe Cincio, a celebrated
doctor then at Viterbo : " I am exceedingly distressed
about the illness of the Marchesa di Pescara of which
you write to me, as she is one_of the_women_whp_-
ought to be reverenced by the whole world, because
there is in her so much virtue, and goodness, and
worth, and, above all, because in these corrupt times
she has done so many good works in the service of
Christ. But I do not wish to enter into her merits
now7 because, perhaps, in another place I shall leave a
testimony to those who shall come after us, although
her life is such that it will shine forth at all times like
a sun newly arisen, and will renew itself like the
Viterbo 279
phoenix. You have, indeed, done towards me the
contrary to what doctors are wont to do, for they
temper the bitterness of their medicines with some-
thing sweet, while you have spoilt all the sweetness
that was in your letter by the bitterness of this news. I
beg you, Messer Giuseppe, do everything in your
power for the health of so noble a lady, who gives more
profit to the world by the teaching of her example
than others do by their sermons and erudition. Ex-
pend your utmost care, use all your knowledge, for if
she were to die, to our great disaster, Italy might say :
' Spento il primo valor, qual fia il secondo ? ' l
But I think that the most high God, pitiful rather to
us than to her, has sent you now to Viterbo that you
may be His instrument to restore that virtuous and
unique lady to perfect health. . . .
"Rome, June 28, I543." 2
Cincio must have answered this, and provoked a
further effusion from Tolomei : " What you have
written to me about the Marchesa di Pescara has both
pleased and displeased me at the same time. I am glad
that she is pleased to accept the reverence I bear her ;
but that she should be astonished at my reverencing
her, that I cannot hear without much displeasure.
Because to say that is nothing else than to accuse me
of extreme ignorance, as though I were reduced to the
last stage of stupidity, if I did not understand or
recognise her most shining and singular virtues, which
1 Petrarca, Sonnet cccxxxvm.
2 Lettere di M. Claudia To/omei, Vol. I, p. 167.
280 Vittoria Colonna
are so illustrious and so evident to the world, that one
may well say with the poet :
* In tutto e orbo chi non vede il sole.' 1
Let us take it for granted that she well knows for how
many years I have honoured her as my lady, not
allured by other loveliness, nor bound by any other tie
than that of her most noble virtue. But I know very
well that these words were born of her incredible
modesty, on which account she would always far rather
do things worthy of praise and admiration than hear
the praises and wonder to which her works give rise.
Also, she is always more eager to help others than to
receive any fruits of gratitude and honour, which, how-
ever, follow her all the more, the more one knows that
she is far from desiring them. I am delighted to find
from your letters that she is gradually recovering from
her illness, for let me remind you, Messer Giuseppe,
that in her life is bound up that of many others, who
are continually sustained by her both in body and soul.
"Rome, August 7, I543/' 2
Yet another most interesting letter was the outcome
of the Marchesa's illness ; this was from Giberti's
friend, the Veronese physician and humanist, Girolamo
Fracastoro, to Carlo Gualteruzzi, Vittoria's faithful
friend and secretary, and runs thus : " Concerning the
state of the most illustrious Marchesa di Pescara . . .
this, as you know, is my opinion, that as the body when
it tyrannises over the mind ruins and destroys all its
1 Petrarca, Trionfo c? Amore, Cap. u.
2 Letters di M. Claudia To/omei, Vol. I, p. 1 79.
\I
N
Viterbo 281
soundness, so in the same way when the mind becomes
the tyrant, and not merely the true lord, it wastes and
destroys the soundness of the body first, and then
their common bond of union . . . and sins against
prudence and charity. For God wills that, while we
are on this pilgrimage and wayfarers, this companion
and minister should be necessary to us. So we ought
to take care of it and behave to it like a true master,
who does not deprive his servant of that which is due
to him. God alone knows the end of things, and
when and how it will be good for us to be delivered
from this. It does not belong to us to bring it about,
or to be the cause of it by our want of care, contrary
to the example that God, our true Lord and Master,
showed us in Himself. I have put forward this little
discourse, my Lord, because I fancy that all the
Marchesa's sufferings had their origin in this. Not
that I do not think that so much intellect will not
know and recognise this better than I do, but that the
error does not arise in general things, which can be
clearly seen and known, but in particular things, and
there lies all the difficulty : not in things in which one
sees a great departure from the right, but in those
where the departure is small and insensible, and,
because one does not see it, one does not heed it.
Which little, repeated over and over again, becomes
great and perceptible, yet, as we do not perceive it
ourselves, we go on little by little to our hurt, so
difficult is it to find that just mean and balance which
is fitting between the master and the servant. On
which account, Signer Messer Carlo, I should wish for
a physician of the mind to be found, who should
282 Vittoria Colonna
minutely calculate and justly balance all the Marchesa's
actions, giving to the master what is his and to the
servant what belongs to him. And this physician must
be wise, and of so much authority that her Ladyship
would believe and obey him, like the most illustrious
and most reverend Cardinal of England. And this
beginning once put right, I do not doubt that all the
rest will follow. Otherwise, I see that the most
beautiful light of this world in some strange way will
be extinguished and removed from our eyes, which
God avert of His goodness. . . .
"Verona, August 12, I544-" 1
Under the direction of Cardinal Pole, Vittoria no
doubt achieved that "giusta misura e bilancia," and,
before the end of 1544, she returned to Rome.
1 Letter dated Verona, August 12, 1544. Pino, Nuova Scelta di
Lettere, Lib. I, p. 263.
CHAPTER XI
LATER WRITINGS
The true and principal! ornament of the minde in everye manne (I
beleeve) are letters . . . which undoubtedlye have beene granted of God
unto men for a soveraigne gift. CASTIGLIONE, // Cortegiano (Hoby).
WHEN we pass from Vittoria Colonna's early sonnets
to her later ones, now collected under the title of Rime
sacre e morali, to which is appended the capitolo, Del
Trionfo di Cristo, we are conscious of a great advance
in art, and an immense difference of atmosphere. The
vein of artificiality and convention has wellnigh
vanished, and with it the tedium that it induced. We
are now in contact, not with what a woman wished to
feel, or felt she ought to feel, but with what she did
feel ; these are the records of experience, and such can
hardly be dull ; moreover, they are the experiences
won from contemplation, and from retirement into
that cell of self-knowledge of which St. Catherine
wrote : "Voi dovete sempre rinascere nella stalla del
cognoscimento di voi."
We have already said that Vittoria had the power of
making goodness attractive : she had the yet rarer
faculty of making religion interesting. It would not
be unprofitable to study how this comes about, for,
undoubtedly, there is much genuine religion which
repels, either by reason of its narrowness or its
283
284 Vittoria Colonna
triviality, together with a certain aloofness from life.
Christina Rossetti is an example of the contrary of
this ; there is no stiffness or aloofness in her religion ;
it is the thing that principally concerns and engrosses
her ; we may take it or leave it as we like, but we
cannot take her without it. This attitude is, perhaps,
more characteristic of the Latin races than of the
Northern ones ; less imaginative, less self-conscious,
they are more alert, quicker to receive impressions,
and they are at the same time dowered with that naive
assurance which makes the chief charm of children
the certainty that whatever is important to them
cannot be indifferent to others. Such minds, when
they have assimilated religion, cannot help imparting
it ; they live in the sunshine and the shadow and the
mystery of it, and, if we approach them, we cannot
escape from it, not because they are eager to teach,
but because they are learning all the time.
In 1543, Rinaldo Corso published the Trionfo di
Cristo with thirty-six of the Rime sacre y but not in
the order in which they now stand. This little book
contained a very long-winded commentary ; it was
dedicated to the " very illustrious Madonna Veronica
Gambara da Correggio : and to gentle Ladies," and be-
gan with the following introduction, "Alle amorose
Donne " :
" Since by your favour, most fair Ladies, I have come
into an excellent harbour out of the first deep, I should
willingly have avoided entering the second, as much
because I do not find myself very well instructed in
divine things, as because my intellect is not as capable of
these conceptions as (thanks to you) it was of the others.
Later Writings 285
I should also have done so because it seems that sub-
jects of this kind can only be described in a simple
and clear manner. Nevertheless, because, on the other
hand, our Vittoria is subtle and lofty in all her poems,
I have not been able (however inadequate I feel myself)
to refuse you my labour in any respect in which I
think that it should prove of some utility or consola-
tion to you. Therefore, howsoever it be, take this
second part from me light-heartedly ; and, if my toil
be at all dear to you, only permit me as a reward to love
you, as I always did and shall do as long as I live."
The Rime sacre e mora/t, as they now stand, contain
two hundred and eight sonnets, all of which are in-
teresting as marking the author's development, the
building up of her faith, and the strengthening of her
mind. Some serve specially to confirm the fact that
her doctrine was essentially Catholic a fact that some
Protestant writers have denied, one of whom goes so far
as to state that " one thing is certain : none of her poems
were addressed to saints or angels." What becomes
then of the two beautiful sonnets to St. Francis (cxix,
cxx), in one of which these lines occur :
" Francis, in whom like wax our Lord imprest
His bitter wounds and sole elected thee,
Sealed with the seal of love thus vividly,
His image true to us to manifest.
Spirit in Paradise, I pray thee plead
That I may follow thy fair, humble way,
In thought, in wish, in every holy deed " : l
1 " Francesco, in cui, siccome in umil cera,
Con sigillo d' amor si vive impresse
286 Vittoria Colonna
to say nothing of innumerable poems to the Blessed
Virgin ? Of the rest, Sonnet xvn is perhaps the finest.
" From joy to joy, from one to other band
Of sweet and gentle thoughts, supernal Love
From the hard winter and the cold thereof
Guides me to spring LIUC s warm and verdant land.
Haply the Lord since He beholds me stand
With breast like wax whereon the eternal seal
Hath deeply cut a faith profound and real,
Moulding my inmost heart beneath His hand
Wills not with bitter cross and steep ascent,
But with the easy yoke and burden light,
To lead me into port by some smooth road.
Or it may be this little peace is lent
By the wise goodness of my Father and God
To arm and fit me for a weary fight." 1
Gesii 1' aspre sue piaghe, e sol t' elesse
A mostrarne di s 1' immagin vera.
... or prega in ciel, beato
Spirto, ch' io segua la bell' orma umile,
I pensieri, i desiri, e 1' opre sante."
1 " Di gioia in gioia, d' una in altra schiera
Di dolci e bei pensier, 1' amor superno
Mi guida fuor del freddo arido verno
Alia sua verde e calda primavera.
Forse il Signer, fin che di molle cera
Mi vegga il petto, onde '1 sigillo eterno
M' imprima dentro nel piti vivo interne
Del cor la fede sua fondata e vera,
Non vuol con 1' aspra croce al sentier erto,
Ma col giogo soave e peso lieve
Condurmi al porto per la via men dura :
O forse ancor, come benigno esperto
Padre e maestro, in questa pace breve
A lunga guerra m' arma e m' assecura."
Later Writings
And there is a long sequence of sonnets on the Passioi.
of which the following is one of the best.
" Stretched naked on the Cross the Lord I see,
With pierced side and nailed hands and feet,
Upon Whose head the thorny crown is set,
By vilest men assailed with injury.
The heavy weight of the world's sin doth lie
Upon His shoulders, and in such a plight
The heart that only is with love alight
O'ercometh death and every enemy.
Patience, obedience true, and humbleness,
These were the stars, with other virtues high,
That did adorn His sun of charity.
Therefore in that sharp fight did these appear
After His lovely death to make more clear
The glory of His everlasting grace." 1
In the Trionfo di Cristo, written in terza rima, Vittoria
reaches her highest level. The idea is evidently bor-
rowed from Savonarola's Trionfo della Croce, with which
we know the Marchesa to have been acquainted ; and
i " Veggio in croce il Signer nudo e disteso,
Coi piedi e man chiodate e '1 destro lato
Aperto, e '1 capo sol di spine ornato,
E da vil gente d' ogni parte ofFeso ;
Avendo sulle spalle il grave peso
Delle colpe del mondo ; e 'n tale stato
La morte e 1' avversario stuolo irato
Vincer solo col cor d' amore acceso.
Pazienza, umilta, vero ubbidire,
Con 1' altre alme virtti furon le stelle
Ch' ornaro il sol della sua caritade :
Onde nell' aspra pugna e queste e quelle
Fecer piti chiara dopo '1 bel morire
La gloria dell' eterna sua bontade."
Vittoria Colonna
->ch, no doubt, have taken something, not only from
the much-imitated Trionfi of Petrarca, but also from
the most glorious pageant ever imagined Dante's
veritable Trionfo, which is made sweet for all time
with the "handfulls of lilies" that were showered upon
Beatrice.
Savonarola, who set himself in this work to prove
the truth of religion by reason, began by presenting a
picture of the visible Church. "First then," he writes,
" let us place before our eyes a four-wheeled chariot,
and upon it Christ as a conqueror, all wounded and
crowned with thorns, by which is shown forth all His
Passion and Death, with which He overcame the whole
world. And above His head there shall be a light like
a sun with three faces, as a figure of the Blessed Trinity,
from which a marvellous splendour shall proceed which
shall illumine His Humanity together with the whole
Church. In the left hand of Christ shall be the Cross
with all the other instruments of His Passion, and in
His right hand the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments. Near His feet shall be placed the Chalice
with the Host, and other vases of oils and balsams, with
the other tokens of the Sacraments of the Church.
Beneath this first step, on which is Christ, shall be the
most holy Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, and, below
her, vases of gold and of silver and of precious stones,
full of ashes and of the bones of the dead, shall be
arranged all round. In front of the chariot shall be
Apostles and Preachers, so that it shall appear as though
they drew the chariot, and these shall be preceded by
Patriarchs and Prophets, with an innumerable number
of men and women of the Old Testament. Round
Later Writings 289
about the chariot, like a crown, there shall be an im-
mense number of martyrs, among whom there shall be
the Doctors of the Church with books open in their
hands, and among them an innumerable multitude of
virgins adorned with lilies. Then, behind the chariot,
an infinite number of men and women of every condi-
tion . . . who are all with one heart praising Christ.
. . . This chariot then, described and set in order
before our eyes, will be like a new world from which
we shall deduce a new philosophy. . . . And just as
the philosophers say that, after the invisible substances,
the Heavens are the principal cause of the things gene-
rated under them, so we say that, after the invisible
divine Majesty, the principal cause of grace and of our
salvation is the Cross and the Passion of Christ. . . .
As then the philosophers, having before their eyes the
order of the universe, and, by reason of their desire to
learn, considering the marvellous effects of nature,
seeking their causes, rising little by little from lower
things to higher, attain to the knowledge of the in-
visible things and of the divine Majesty ; so we, if we
diligently search into the things Christ has done and
does continually in His Church, symbolised in this
Triumph, shall begin to wonder at and earnestly to seek
the causes of these things, and then we shall attain, little
by little, to the knowledge of the invisible things and of
the divine Majesty of Christ."
Part of Vittoria's vision, which begins with an allu-
sion to the seven years during which she had bewailed
her husband, runs thus :
290 Vittoria Colonna
" Then I beheld a chariot of such fashion
It seemed to circle heaven and earth and sea
With its clear splendour and fair graciousness.
Upon it was the Emperor of Heaven,
He who descended here for our salvation
To save from bondage and from cruel death.
For many satiate their avarice
With goods of others, proudly triumphing,
Vile seekers after greedy, impious sway ;
But this One conquered and His kingdom gave
When as a sacrifice He gave Himself,
Washing away our fault with His pure Blood.
His was the victory and ours the prize ;
He wrought that life should follow from His death
To us who were the prey of the great foe.
I saw the honoured and most sacred Head,
Which used to wear an ample crown of stars,
Wearing a crown inwoven of sharp thorns,
And wounded was the hand which metes out light,
Unto the heavens their course, to mortals life,
Here virtue, yonder lasting glory and good.
Upon the sacred shoulders, so that man
Of Heaven may be approved, I saw the wood
Which ever makes me weep for the first fault ;
That Cross which is our certain pledge of joy,
And which we ought to worship with clasped hands,
Since it supported Him, our true support.
Nor was the weight found grievous unto him,
By so much more the thought of our affliction,
Alas ! outweighed and made it seem but light.
Later Writings 291
Upon the right hand of the car was seated
In royal state the Virgin, of all virtues
Mirror, by whom we flee from endless doom.
She was, before all other temples, temple
Sacred to God, and I beheld how she
Through humbleness put down the proud and wicked.
And at the holy feet I also saw
Her whom the same name honours, radiant
With joyful love and crowned with golden hair.
A true compassion moved her to weep here ;
Heaven therefore willeth that in equal measure
Glory in place of grief she now should reap.
Seeking her dead Lord at the sepulchre,
He showed Himself alive, and gave her sea
Of bitter tears their high and happy port.
Blessed is she who, scorning fruit and root
Of the world's good, now from her Lord receives
Other and everlasting blessedness.
I, who beheld a more delightful dawn
By other sun illumed, with other heat
Than that which brings our flowers to bud and bloom,
Here fixed my eyes and made my thought stand firm." 1
1 " lo vidi allor un carro tal ch' a tondo
II ciel, la terra, il mar cinger parea
Col suo chiaro splendor vago e giocondo ;
Sovra, 1' imperador del cielo avea,
Quel che scese fra noi per noi scampare
Del servir grave e della morte rea.
E come molti empir 1' invidie avare
De' beni altrui, superbi trionfando,
Vil voglie d' un ingordo empio regnare ;
292
Vittoria Colonna
Very little of Vittoria's prose has come down to us ;
it can only be a very small proportion of her letters
that have survived, and we do not know what besides
may have been lost. All that remains is one prayer in
Latin, a paraphrase of the Ave Maria, and the Pianto
sopra la Passione di Cristo a very beautiful meditation,
which deals rather with the Compassion of Our Lady,
and from which we give the following extracts :
" It seems to me that the grief which all day long
had been gathered up in the heart of the Virgin ....
Costui vinse e dono '1 suo regno, quando
In sacrificio s& medesmo diede,
Col puro sangue il nostro error lavando.
Sua la vittoria e nostra la mercede :
Fece che vita abbiam del suo morire,
Noi ch' eravam del gran nemico prede.
lo vedea 1' onorata e sacra testa
Che suole aver di stelle ampia corona,
Di spine averla acute ora contesta,
E piagata la man che toglie e dona
Al ciel corso, al sol luce, ai mortal vita,
Qui virtd, la su gloria eterna e buona.
Su gli omer santi, accio ch' al ciel gradita
Sia 1' umil nostra spoglia, io vidi '1 legno
Che a pianger sempre il primo error m' invita ;
Quel del nostro gioir securo pegno,
Ch' adorar con le man giunte si deve,
Perch' ei sostenne il nostro ver sostegno.
Non fu alle sante spalle il peso greve,
Quanto dovrebbe, oime", del nostro affanno
Tal rimembranza fame il peso lieve !
Later Writings 293
now, in touching the sacred body of Christ, became
infinitely greater, and issued from her eyes in more
bitter tears, and from her lips in more ardent sighs . . .
The Magdalen verily is here, serving Christ weeping ;
she accompanies the Blessed Mother with such devo-
tion and with such ardent love that she will be com-
forted before any other. . . . Now who could imagine
with what tenderness the afflicted Mother thanked the
celestial Father that He had put an end to that
torment, and that he had made her the Mother of so
Sul carro, alia man destra, in real scanno
La vergin era d' ogni virtti esempio,
Per cui possiam fuggir 1' eterno danno.
Costei fu innanzi a tutti i tempi tempio
A Dio sacrato : e vidi e sapea come
Con umilta calco '1 superbo e 1' empio.
Ai santi pi colei, che simil nome
Onora, vidi ardendo d' amor lieta
Risplender cinta dell' aurate chiome.
La mosse a pianger qui ben degna pieta ;
Onde '1 ciel vuol che con ugual misura,
In vece del dolor, la gloria or mieta.
Al sepolcro cercando il Signer morto,
L' apparve vivo e diede alto e felice
Al gran mar delle sue lagrime porto.
Beata lei ch '1 frutto e la radice
Sprezzo del mondo, e del suo Signor ora
Altra dolcezza e sempiterna elice!
lo che da un altro sol piti vaga aurora
Illustrata vedea, con altro caldo
Da quel che i nostri fiori apre e 'ncolora,
Tenni qui gli occhi fisi e '1 pensier saldo."
294 Vittoria Colonna
obedient a Son ; and with ardent charity she thanked
the Holy Spirit that, through excess of love, He had
made her rejoice in this pain ; and with what marvel-
lous delight she thanked the Incarnate Wisdom and
her most beloved Christ, that with so much humble
obedience, He had consummated the sacrifice of Him-
self! And with what great love she thanked the
angels that they were present to atone for the defec-
tion of man ! And I believe that, out of her profound
humility, stooping even to insensate things, she
thanked the sun that it became dark, the earth that it
trembled, the rocks that they were rent, the sky that it
was overcast ... so that divers causes and many loves
tormented her, and it was only because of the immensity
of her love . . . that her spirit departed with the soul
of Christ, and her soul remained to honour the
Divinity and to weep over the dead body. . . . The
more she loved, the more she grieved . . . faith alone
kept her alive, and she kept faith alive to clothe there-
with the whole world that was then despoiled of it.
So, since all the treasure that the Christian has springs
from the true faith, and he has received it from the
Virgin Mary (for, without her, it would have been dead),
we ought to consider under what an obligation we lie
to her, and certainly we shall find it so great that this
mortal life would not be sufficient to satisfy for the
thousandth part."
The following is a translation of the Marchesa's
Latin prayer :
" Grant, I beseech Thee, O Lord, that I may always
adore Thee with that abasement of soul which befits my
Later Writings 295
humbleness, and with that exaltation of mind which
Thy Majesty demands, and let me ever live in the fear
which Thy justice inspires and in the hope which Thy
mercy allows, and submit to Thee as Almighty, yield
myself to Thee as All-wise, and turn to Thee as to
supreme Perfection and Goodness. I beseech Thee,
most tender Father, that Thy most living fire may
purify me, that Thy most clear light may illumine me,
and that Thy most pure love may so avail me that, with-
out let or hindrance of mortal things, I may return to
Thee in happiness and security." l
In spite of contemporary judgments, it would hardly
be true to claim for Vittoria that she was a great poet,
but it may fairly be said that, as a religious poet, she
was both great and original, for the consecration of a
talent to contemplative and mystical religion was a new
thing at that time. Among our own poets, the one who
most resembles her is Christina Rossetti, but she has a
much freer flight ; yet they have to some extent
the same limitations : they are both deep rather than
wide, and they fall into the error of wearing their
similes thin. To Vittoria the sun and the stars, to
Christina the Lamb and the Dove, seem to exhaust all
possible metaphor, and we grow weary of the reitera-
tion. But these are trifles. The real significance of both
writers is that they have sat at leisure in quiet places
and have heard secret things ; they have learned some
of the meaning of the Eternal Mystery, and they have
something to unfold to us, if we too will sit at spiritual
1 The text, from a MS. in the Biblioteca Casanatense, is given by
Viscontt, p. CXLV.
296 Vittoria Colonna
leisure ; and for this reason it is worth while not only
to read them, but to return to them again and again.
A temple might be raised to Vittoria far exceeding
in size and richness that which was erected to her
beautiful sister-in-law, Giovanna d'Aragona, but, in an
age when all wrote adulatory letters and complimentary
sonnets, it is difficult to glean much from contemporary
opinions. We like to know that those who were
themselves possessors of the " soveraigne gift " gave
her a foremost place in the world of letters, and that
the arch-censor, Bembo, prized her taste in poetry
above that of the most learned masters.
Ariosto, who praised so many, bestowed perhaps his
noblest commendations on her :
" One shall I choose, who such an one shall be
As above envy shall have soared so high
That none could feel offence, if only she
Of me were praised and all the rest passed by.
She not alone wins immortality
With that sweet style, the best that I descry,
But makes whoe'er her speech or pen shall praise
Rise from the grave and live eternal days.
Vittoria is her name." l
1 " Sceglieronne una, e sceglierolla tale
Che superato avra 1' invidia in modo,
Che nessun' altra potra avere a male,
Se 1' altre taccio, e se lei sola lodo.
Quest' una ha non pur s fatta immortale
Col dolce stil, di che il miglior non odo;
Ma puo qualunque, di cui parli, o scriva,
Trar del sepolcro, e far ch' eterno viva.
Vittoria '1 nome." Or/. Fur., xxxvn. 16-18.
Later Writings 297
And very noble, too, is Annibale Caro's line,
"Victorious o'er the world and o'er herself," 1
but the noblest of all tributes paid to her was from the
pen of him whose friendship was the crown and glory
of her life, of whom it was said that she directed
" His course of life by loveliest ways to heaven." 2
1 " Vinto avea '1 mondo e vinta avea s stessa."
2 " Per voi si scrive, voi che '1 river mio
Volgeste al ciel per le piti belle strade."
These two lines were added by the younger Michelangelo to his
great-uncle's madrigal, " Ora su '1 destro, or su '1 sinistro piede." Cf.
Guaiti's edition of the Rime of Michelangelo, p. 30.
CHAPTER XII
OUT OF THE WORLD
We are not babes, but know the minute's worth,
And feel that life is large and the world small,
So wait till life have passed from out the world.
ROBERT BROWNING.
IT was towards the end of the year 1544 that the
Marchesa returned to Rome, much broken in health,
and took up her residence in the Benedictine Convent
of Sant' Anna de' Funari. 1 We cannot doubt from
what we know of her manner of life that, under any
circumstances, it would have been her choice to make
her home in a convent, but it must have been sad to
her to look round on the city in which nothing now
remained to her : her nearest relations were in exile,
their lands confiscated, their palaces in the hands of
strangers. The nearest relative left to her in Rome
1 Sant' Anna de' Funari was in the quarter of Sant' Eustachio on
the site of the ruins of the Circus Flaminius, and was a district of rope-
makers, hence the cognomen of the convent. It was founded, under
the name of Santa Maria in Julia, as a Benedictine convent in 1 297
by the Beata Santuccia Terrabotti di Gubbio; but in 1793, the number
of nuns having become greatly reduced, they were obliged to vacate
their convent and give it over to the Sisters of the Visitation, who
remained there until 1809. In 1815, the convent became an asylum
for poor orphans, and in 1887 the whole was demolished to make
room for modern improvements.
298
Out of the World 299
was her cousin, Giulia Colonna, who was married to
Giuliano Cesarini, and it was to the Cesarini palace
that, scarcely more than two years later, Vittoria was
carried to die.
Friends as well as kinsfolk were missing : the old
circle had been completely broken up, and death had
claimed many of them. In 1543, Vittoria had lost her
very oldest friend, Giovan Matteo Giberti ; his loss,
following so closely on that of Contarini, must have
been a great sorrow for her. Giberti was, perhaps,
the most interesting of all those for whom she cared,
combining as he did that mixture of sweetness, sanity,
and strength which is as rare as it is delightful. We
have already noticed his way of life and his attitude
towards literature, but it is as a great reforming bishop
that he chiefly claims our admiration. Contarini re-
ported of him as far back as 1530 : "The bishop of
Verona surpasses all the others in cordial friendship
for his Holiness, but he has deliberately left the court
and attends to his bishoprick. . . . He seems to me
above all things supremely religious, and a true
bishop " ; and, subsequently, San Carlo Borromeo
pointed to him as a perfect model. Giberti's dealings
with Ochino were marked by good sense, charity, and
loyalty to the Church, Ochino himself testifying that
the bishop would counsel him to nothing but the most
absolute obedience. He had no easy part to play, and,
while his strictness made him disliked by lax Catholics,
his gentleness laid him open to the suspicion of favour-
ing heretics. Yet he seems one of the strong men of
those troublous times, and we feel that the Marchesa
was honoured by his friendship.
300 Vittoria Colonna
Giberti died at Verona on December 30, 1543, and
on the first day of the new year his secretary, Fran-
cesco della Torre, wrote thus to Carlo Gualteruzzi :
"I have taken up my pen to tell you some part of that
which concerns you no less than me, but think in what
state of mind I am, with the clanging of the bells,
which are ringing for the funeral of his Lordship ; for
although he left in his will that they should not spend
more than ten scudi upon his burial, ordering that he
should be carried without pomp from the bishop's
palace to the church, the city nevertheless would not
suffer this, but shows by every sign that she knows
she has lost her father. I could not describe to you,
nor would you believe (for I, who see and hear it, can
hardly believe it myself) the public grief and lamenta-
tions, not only of the nobles, but of all the people.
They flock from all parts of the city and of the con-
tado to see the body, as a holy body of a true servant
of God. Sunday and yesterday we kept him in the
house, when it might have been the Jubilee. To-day,
to be free from the noise, we have taken him to the
church. I do not think there can be a single person in
the city who has not come to see him. Some lament
him, some praise him, some kiss his hands or his feet,
some kneel down before him ; the sick come to touch
him. I swear to you by our brotherly love that one
could never find words to express the opinion which is
here universal of his holiness, founded not only upon
the innocence of his past life, but upon his most exem-
plary death, at which several beautiful incidents oc-
curred, about some of which I will not keep silence.
When he was near his end, he was asked if he would
Out of the World 301
like to remain here if it were possible, and he answered
quickly : * No, no ; to die, to die, if it be the will of
my Lord God.' The Crucifix having been placed in
his hands, it was impossible to remove it, for he held
it in such a close embrace, in which act he showed a
marvellous pleasure and sweetness. At the end, hav-
ing had the Blessed Sacrament brought to his room,
with the greatest humility and devotion, with his eyes
fixed upon It, immovable, without a quiver, he passed
away with such quietness that it appeared exactly as if
he were transformed into It." 1
A few weeks later, della Torre writes again to the
same friend : " To hear and see the things that we
have heard and seen, and remain firm, is not possible
without great help from divine grace, particularly for
one who, like me, for eighteen years has continuously
tasted the fruits of such sweet and holy company,
treated more like a son or brother by that most noble
soul. Even if his nature had not always all that gentle-
ness which mine would have desired, his imperfection
in that regard was tempered with so many other per-
fections that that austerity could not offend. I assure
you, my most honoured brother, that now I wish to
do nothing else but write and speak of him. . . . And
to the most excellent Signora Marchesa I commend
myself most devoutly, imploring her Excellence to
deign to grant me a little portion of her favour ; which
gift, although it be great, cannot be denied me by her,
begging it, as I do, by virtue of the merits of this
most holy memory." 2
1 Pino, Nuova Scelta di Letter?, Lib. Ill, pp. 146-148.
2 IbiJ. t pp. 149, 150. Letter of January 22, 1544.
302 Vittoria Colonna
From yet another letter of della Torre's to a fellow-
secretary, Francesco Mazo, we should judge that the
latter entered the Marchesa's service. " After the dis-
solution," writes della Torre, " of that tie, which held
many of us bound together for a time in one same
dwelling, each of us being obliged to take one one way
and one another, you know that I was pleased above
everything at the decision of those who, having the
means to do so, elected not to seek the support of a
new patron. . . . And what patron was ever worthy
of so much love, honour, and respect as ours ! But
you must also remember that when, by letters from
Rome, the course was proposed to you of entering the
service of the most illustrious Signora Marchesa di
Pescara, I was with all my mind of the opinion that
you ought not to draw back from it ; for it seemed to
me that it would not be departing from our first re-
solve to enter that house, where, as long as that most
excellent Lady lives, the virtues of our patron, whom
she loved so much, will remain always alive ; nay,
that it would be rather a continuing as far as possible
in the ancient service, and doing honour, and a thing
most acceptable, to that most saintly soul, who, I am
sure, will not hold himself less served by you after
death because you will be faithful and diligent to that
truly excellent Lady, whose genuine goodness and in-
finite worthiness he loved and esteemed so much." 1
This letter is interesting as testifying to the high
regard in which Giberti is known to have held Vittoria.
The year 1 546 brought the Marchesa an intense grief
1 Pino, Nuova Scelta di Letter e, Lib. I, pp. 289-291. Letter of
June 25, 1544.
Out of the World 303
in the death of del Vasto. We get the following graphic
account of his end from the Life of Paola Antonia de'
Negri. " At length, finding himself sick unto death at
Vigevano, he wished that the Angelica should come to
visit him, and Count Francesco Landriano was among
those who made her come, and, when she had arrived,
she comforted him in such a manner that he made a
holy death, with so much readiness to suffer that he
offered to Our Lord to remain voluntarily in that
death-agony until the day of judgment, if that should
be His divine will ; and he showed a spirit of such great
joyousness that he seemed to rejoice in those pains,
always with such fervent prayers to Our Lord, that he
made everyone weep for tenderness. The Angelica
was always beside him, and he would not let her go
away, and talked with her to his last breath of the
manner in which Our Lord was dealing with his soul.
A great number of religious assembled to visit him
and to console him, and, not knowing his state of
mind, some said to him : Be of good cheer, most
illustrious son, for you will get back your health, and
you will be again famous and glorious in this world.
And he, albeit that he was almost at the point of death,
turned his eyes and face to the Mother Mistress,
smiling as though he ridiculed such words, and wished
to hear from her another fashion of speech, which was
to encourage him, as she did, to ask pardon for his sins,
to trust in the most precious Blood of Christ, to the
contempt of this life, and to resign himself wholly into
the hands of God, and to desire to be with Christ,
without prejudice, however, to that fervent desire to
suffer voluntarily every pain for love of Him. And
304 Vittoria Colonna
so he passed away most happily to a better life, dying
in the arms of the Mother, to the great marvel of all
the bystanders of every sort and condition, among
whom many noble and illustrious persons understood
that the desire of the Marchese had been to become a
Capuchin, so great was his devotion." 1
We know well that Vittoria would appreciate to the
utmost all that was beautiful and consoling in this
end ; and yet another friend was to pass away before
her, though only by a few weeks ; Cardinal Bembo died
in Rome in the January of 1547, while Cardinal
Sadoleto survived her only by a few months.
Vittoria's great friendship with Michelangelo had
suffered no diminution from separation. He himself
records that she often sent him letters and poems from
Orvieto and Viterbo, and that from the latter place she
came frequently to see him ; but we may well imagine
that her renewed intercourse with him was one of the
chief interests of her last years, and that their relations
with each other took on new lights and beauties. For
love is at once most changing and most unchangeable.
No great friendship ever stood still, but its differences
are so subtle, its development so gradual, that we feel
only a sense of growth, and never one of alteration :
the Love of Friendship has its own Gospel ; its name-
stone is an amethyst, its colour violet : its flowers are
lilies of the valley.
Cardinal Pole returned to Rome in 1546, and, among
these few who greatly loved her, we need not think of
Vittoria as unhappy.
There are two attitudes which make life bearable.
1 Vita dell* Angelica Paola Antonia di Negri, pp. 29, 30.
Out of the World 305
One is the feeling we have in youth that life is before
us not necessarily happiness, but possibility, oppor-
tunity, above all, mystery. There is not anything that
might not happen to us, and, where everything is out
of sight, nothing is out of reach. Then, as the years
pass by, another sense comes to us, no less satisfying,
and far more restful : the feeling that life is behind us.
And, as in youth we are lured on by life's poten-
tialities and made eager, active, alert, in later life the
point of view changes, and we let go anxiety and ex-
pectation ; even as with Christian, the burden is loosed
from our shoulders and falls from off our back, and
we are the happier and the freer. This is the loveli-
ness of age : it is a large freedom, a great deliverance.
Middle-age, that uncertain period which is never really
the middle of any man's life, but is an attitude which
takes hold of people at quite different times, and
which some seem to escape altogether, draws its grey
gloom from the loss of the sense of mystery. When
once we have recognised our limitations, have accepted
the fact that there are some things we shall never
attain, and that nothing very wonderful will ever hap-
pen to us, we may have said a true word, but we have
not said a wise one ; because there are certain senses
in which no one need acknowledge limitations, certain
hopes without which no one is called upon to live.
Youth is personal, individual, egotistic, and that is the
real limitation ; it is the impersonal outlook which
engages us to wide issues and prevents life narrowing
and closing in around us.
To Vittoria that middle period never came ; from
the day of her husband's death, in her own estimation,
306 Vittoria Colonna
life was behind her ; all her personal hopes and dreams
were over, and so she entered into her larger inheri-
tance.
We are fortunate in having letters of this time which
show where the Marchesa's interests and occupations
lay. That her choice of a residence was happy, we
learn from her own words to Morone : " I am much
pleased with the solitude of Rome, and with the society
of these pure and gentle spouses of Our Lord, who
keep with Him, inwardly and outwardly, that faith
which He has given them. And at the same time, my
Lord, Christ has always shown me that I am not
adapted to the affairs of the world, so that so much
the more it seems to me that I am doing the best." l
Also in a letter to her brother, Ascanio, written
probably in the early days of her return to Rome, she
says : " Of myself I can only say that I feel better
every day ; the place is dry and convenient, and the
Sisters have lived here for a long while past in a most
edifying manner." 2 This letter contains much advice
about his affairs, and in a still longer one written to her
nephew, Fabrizio, Ascanio's son, she takes special
trouble to explain to him the full history of the Colonna
states, thereby showing that she still took the keenest
interest in the fortunes of her family.
Three long letters to the Duchessa d'Amalfi probably
date from these days ; this lady was her cousin, and
had many points of resemblance with her, having been
a friend and a follower of Valdes, while remaining loyal
to the Church ; she also shared the Marchesa's literary
1 Letter dated May 27, 1545. Carteggio, CLXXII.
2 Carteggio, Letter CLXXVI.
Out of the World 307
tastes, especially in the cultivation of poetry, and, like
her, elected to pass her last years in a convent. These
are rather religious meditations than letters, and, at any
rate, serve to establish the fact that the writer's theology
was distinctly Catholic. The first concludes with this
passage : " Above all, I pray you, strive to see how
Mary, our most singular Patroness and Queen, has
incarnated in herself the wonderful Mystery of the
most high Word, and how she melts with divine
fervour to see her own flesh made a living eternal Sun,
and how she lives blessed in the repose and sure peace
of heaven, and how she rejoices to see that from her
living Light are born the rays which make Paradise
lovely, and which pass through His graciousness into
the blessed, in order to unite them in the high eternal
light of God, into which by His goodness may He
lead us." 1
In the second letter we have : " This morning my
sweetest thought beheld with the mind's eye Heaven's
Lady and ours, embracing her Son with intensest love
and superabundant joy ; and, with purest light, I seemed
to discern a thousand ties which bound them to each
other with bonds of most ardent charity. In the first
place, her clear and lucid intellect was united to
Him, as much as the creature can be with the
Creator, and her wise and most true soul was humbly
joined to its sole divine object. The pure and resplen-
dent Humanity not only reposed in her as in a dwell-
ing, but my thought saw them so alike that one same
flesh veiled this soul and that from us mortals. . . .
And because He gave her the power of a mother, the
1 Carteggio, Letter CLXVIII.
308 Vittoria Colonna
love of a spouse, the confidence of a daughter, He
made her able to soar far above all the heavenly choirs
on the wings of her great merit. . . . Now consider
devoutly this most high light, above all the angels,
united with her Beloved in the most profound peace,
and raise your mind a little to that One and Triune
Light, how It gazes on Its elect Lady, in whom appears
to be seen what was never seen before in any place.
The supreme, invisible Light sees Itself in this clear
and most pure crystal. It seems that here the great
Father is satisfied in having shown His invincible
power in this valiant daughter, and the Son rejoices to
have ordained for Himself with His wisdom so wise a
mother, and the Holy Spirit is gladdened by seeing His
supreme goodness glowing back in this most perfect
spouse. And, in order that you may not be confused
by descending from such a height, return by the same
stair to meditate on her on earth. And think how she,
nourishing the Author of all life, was inwardly
nourished by Him, how sustaining Him she was sus-
tained, and how, gently raising Him from the earth,
she was raised high in heaven, and how, for giving
Him brief repose in sleep, eternal peace was granted
her for a recompence." l
The third letter is a long, and very complicated,
comparison of the Magdalen and St. Catherine of
Alexandria, from which we only quote a few para-
graphs : " Of two glorious women, most beloved
sister, I should like to discourse with you ; of our
advocate and most faithful guide, Mary Magdalen,
and of her of whom we celebrate to-day the death, or
1 CarteggtOy Letter CLXIX.
Out of the World 309
rather the happy life, Catherine. ... I see the most
fervent Magdalen hearing at the feet of Our Lord :
Di/exif multum ; and Catherine in the prison : Agnosce y
Fi/ia, Creatorem tuum. The one appears to have soared
to the high degree of the seraphim by love, and the
other to be placed among the cherubim by intelligence.
. . . Let us pay then that true worship which befits
Him to Our Lord, at Whose feet I believe the one
eternally reposes with immense joy, in true and pro-
found peace, and the other dwells on the right hand of
the Lady of Paradise, as spouse of her most blessed
Son. And therefore the former, as elect above every
other woman, and the latter as the first virgin render
thanks for God's grace to this glorious Queen, with
praise unceasing." 1
In 1545, Cardinal Pole was sent to the Council of
Trent as legate, together with del Monte and Cervini.
Priuli and Flaminio also accompanied him. The
Marchesa felt great uneasiness on his account, as he
was known to have many enemies abroad, and it was
thought that attempts might be made to poison him.
It was because of these anxieties that she addressed the
following letter to Morone : "Knowing the confidence
that Monsignore has in your Lordship, and the
reverence that Monsignor Luisi and Monsignor
Marcantonio bear you, I implore you to remind
them constantly to attend to his safety with all possible
diligence, leaving to his Lordship in this the most
strict custody of his intrepid faith, thinking that
God has elected you out of so many others of His
servants to guard this member of His. I implore
1 Carteggio, Letter CLXX.
310 Vittoria Colonna
your Lordship for the sake of Christ, our only refuge,
to deign to write to me sometimes, when you can
conveniently do so." 1
The other legates proceeded to Trent in March, but
Pole deferred his departure owing to his suspicions of
some plot having been made against him, and so did
not arrive until May 4. In the June of the following
year, he fell ill and retired to Padua. Some have said
that Pole's illness was feigned in order that he might
be absent during the discussions on the doctrine of
Justification by Faith, as he differed widely from his
colleagues ; but this is nowise borne out by the fact
that, before giving any definitive sentence, the other
legates sent to Pole to obtain his opinion, and in-
corporated his amendments into their resolution, so
that the pronouncement then made has always been
identified with the name of Pole. The Council, however,
was broken up a few months later and adjourned to
Bologna, but soon after prorogued, so that Pole, on
the recovery of his health, obtained the Pope's leave to
return to Rome. The Cardinal's illness had been a
severe one, and during it he was attended by the famous
Veronese doctor, Fracastoro, whom we have already met
in connection with Vittoria. From Bembo's house at
Padua he despatched this long letter to the Marchesa.
" Most illustrious Lady and honoured Mother,
"As soon as our Lilio had arrived here, he tired
himself out in his first talk with me in vehemently
trying to make me understand how heartily your
Excellence wishes me well ; and, as if this were some-
1 Carteggio, Letter CLXXI.
Out of the World 3 1 1
thing new and not known to me before, I let him go
on as long as he liked (which was a long time), awaiting
the conclusion he might draw from this. If this
had been, as it justly might, that, comparing my be-
haviour with such great and more than maternal love,
he convicted me of ingratitude, in that neither in deeds
nor words had I tried to respond to the least part of
such love, but had rather given signs to the contrary,
as would be easy to show, I certainly should have had
great pleasure in such a just reproof, given with that
simplicity which I have always loved in him. But, as he
did not conclude thus, I will myself draw this conclu-
sion, and so much the more to my shame as I feel
myself to err greatly in this. And I never set myself
to correct this fault, although I cannot say that I have
not tried to do what I know I ought to do in this
matter, but, finding by experience that I cannot succeed
as I should wish, I let it stand, as though God deprived
me of this grace of being able to satisfy my mind in
this thing, which 1 so greatly desire to do. And this
really sometimes troubles me very much, and, when I
seek to comfort myself, I find no other sort of consola-
tion save by persuading myself, as I have said and
written before to your Excellence, that the Divine
Will is so bent upon giving you the full reward
which it promises to such as are benefactors to those
from whom they look for no recompence (as Our Lord
declares in the parable of those who invite the poor to
their feasts), that it does not allow me to find a way to
render you courtesy in the way you use with me. And
with this hope I console myself, praying God that He
will make you ample restitution, with so much the
312 Vittoria Colonna
more affection of the soul, the more I feel that, on my
part, I am infinitely wanting in it. And, at the same
time, I enjoy in your great charity the image of the
Divine Love, which does not tire of continuing its
kindnesses, albeit the creature fails to correspond with
them, but rather multiplies them the more, as does
your Excellence with me. And for this I give infinite
thanks to Our Lord, who gives me this experience,
asking pardon for my shortcomings, first of His infinite
goodness, and then of you. I need not tell you further
of my condition, since our Lilio will be the bearer of
this, and he will inform your Excellence of everything,
and of the great comfort I have here in the house of
the most reverend Bembo, where I am staying, first,
with as much content and peace of mind as if 1 were
in the house of my own father, and, secondly, with such
ease that 1 could not desire anything better at this time :
and with special enjoyment of two things in which I
have always taken great delight, that is, a study and a
garden, both of which I find so beautiful here, that I
know not where I could find any more to my taste.
And, in addition to this, the kind and delicate attention
of his servants, who are so glad to see me here that
that surpasses all other pleasures. And this 1 write to
your Excellence as to my mother. . . . Do me the favour
to recommend me to the prayers of that holy company
with whom you are living at present. Since writing
this, I heard, with much greater sorrow than I have ever
felt at any of mine, of your Excellence's indisposition,
beginning in the month of August and continuing to
the present time. Nor have I anything to say of this,
except that I will cry to the Physician of Heaven that
Out of the World 313
He will deign to be your physician, because I have no
confidence that you will get any other remedy from
this earthly one, except advice about diet and air, in
which things I beg you to let yourself be governed.
And I commend myself much to your devout prayers." 1
In the next month Cardinal Pole returned to Rome,
and probably never left it till after the Marchesa's
death. He was with Bembo just before he died, and
writes thus to Cardinal Cervini (the first words of the
letter refer also to Pucci) : " May it please Our Lord
God that both may have passed to the better life,
which we may hope from His divine goodness, and
from the excellent signs that we have seen of it. I
speak specially of the most reverend Bembo, with
whom, on account of our old friendship, at the invita-
tion of his people, I was the day before his death, and I
parted from him not without great consolation, seeing
that, with a soul truly pious and Christian, he was ready
and prepared for this passage." 2
Vittoria was most likely too failing herself to have
felt the loss of her old friend acutely. Becoming
gravely ill, she was moved from the convent to the
Cesarini palace in the Torre Argentina, where she oc-
cupied a room looking on to the garden, and here, on
February 1 5, she made her will. She named her brother,
Ascanio, her heir ; she remembered all her servants,
and left much money for pious works, and she also left
legacies of a thousand scudi each to four of the con-
vents in which she had lived San Paolo at Orvieto,
1 Letter of October 4, i 546. Carteggio, Letter CLXXIV.
8 Letter of February 5, 1547. Epistolarum % Pars IV, p. 206.
314 Vittoria Colonna
Santa Caterina in Viterbo, San Silvestro and Sant'
Anna in Rome. To Cardinal Pole she left nine thou-
sand scudi, which, however, he would not keep, but
made the sum over to the Marchesa's favourite niece,
Vittoria, one of Ascanio's daughters, when she married
Don Garzia de Toledo an instance of high-minded
generosity which, as Beccadelli naively suggests, most
of us would rather read about than imitate. As re-
gards her burial, Vittoria recorded this wish : " She
wished and ordered that, when the soul should come to
leave the body, her body should be buried in a church
tomb to be selected by the venerable Abbess of the
Monastery in which the separation of soul and body
should take place, according to the style and custom of
that Monastery." Bartolommeo Stella and Lorenzo
Bonorio were named executors, and Cardinals Pole,
Sadoleto, and Morone trustees. The will is signed :
Ita testavi ego Victoria Columna. 1
On February 25, 1547, Vittoria Colonna passed away,
giving in death, as in life, a lovely example of humility,
fortitude, and religion. Michelangelo was with her
when she was dying. On the same evening, by order
of Cardinal Pole, her body was removed to the Church
of Sant' Anna de' Funari.
Flaminio, writing to Caterina Cibo, says : " This
very day the Signora Marchesa has gone from the
world, with so much gladness of spirit and with so
much faith that we ought not to honour her death
with any other tears than those born of tenderness, and
pure and holy joy " ; while Beccadelli, lamenting her loss,
1 Visconti, p. cxxxix . The will is printed in full by Bruto
Amante, La Tomba dl Vittoria Colonna^ pp. 48-64.
Out of the World 315
says of her that she was in poetry another Sappho, and
in holy works and charity a St. Elizabeth. 1
The ultimate resting-place of Vittoria has been, and
still is, the subject of much controversy. Visconti and
Reumont confidently affirm that she was buried in the
common grave of the nuns, and with the same simple
funeral ceremonial : this would be absolutely in accord-
ance with the Marchesa's character and customs, and
would furthermore account for the fact that no stone
marks her tomb. But, while there is no manner of
doubt that her body was deposited in the Church of
Sant' Anna, there are letters extant which seem to
show that this was only regarded as a temporary pro-
vision. These letters are from Lorenzo Bonorio, one
of the Marchesa's executors, to Ascanio Colonna, and
run thus :
(February 25, 1547.) "This morning the Signora
Marchesa passed away into the other life. To-night,
after consultation with three most reverend Cardinals
named in the will, and with all the relations of her
Ladyship, male and female, the body was deposited in
Sant' Anna, so that whatever your Excellence wishes
may be done with it, and, if you do not wish anything
different, it will remain here." (February 27.) " The
body is still here in a pitched coffin ; it would be well
if your Excellence would give your orders whether
you wish it to remain here, and if you wish to have a
velvet cover made for it, as is usual." (February 28.)
"By the advice of the most reverend Cardinal of Eng-
land, the case has been put in hand, and will be covered
with velvet, as is usual, and it will be placed where
1 Quoted by the editors of the Carteggio, pp. 367, 368.
316 Vittoria Colonna
they shall think fit in the Church of Sant' Anna, so
that it can be removed whenever it is desired to do
so." (March 15.) "Your orders about the body
have been carried out ; it is in a pitched coffin ; in three
days' time, it will be placed in the velvet case and
deposited above ground, and, if your Excellence de
cides that it will be better to leave the body where it
is, it will be left here." 1
From these extracts it is evident that the Marchesa's
body was deposited in the Church of Sant' Anna, but
not buried there, and it might seem likely that her
brother should have desired to place the coffin either
in one of the family vaults at the SS. Apostoli in
Rome, or at Sant' Andrea in Paliano, or beside that of
her husband in the Church of San Domenico at Naples.
There is, however, no record of such a removal. On
the other hand, in the annals of the Order, it is re-
corded that in 1651, owing to the papal decree, the
body of the Beata Santuccia, reformer of the Order
and foundress of the Convent of Sant' Anna, which had
up till then reposed under the high altar, was interred
in the convent burial-ground, and in this document it
is incidentally mentioned that the body of Vittoria
Colonna was interred at the same time. If this were
so, it is certainly strange that no monument of any
kind should have been set up to mark the resting-place
of one so illustrious, and, in the strict search which was
instituted at the time of the excavations in 1887, no
trace whatever could be found of her coffin.
In spite of the lack of support, there are not want-
1 See Bruto Amante, op. '/., pp. 28, 29. Cf. Domenico Tordi,
iO) Appendix HI.
Out of the World 317
ing those who believe that the Marchesa reposes in the
sacristy of San Domenico Maggiore at Naples. Two
coffins there bear the name of Ferdinandus Davalos,
and one of them contains the skeleton of a woman
with fair hair. This problem, therefore, appears to be
one that will never be solved unless more documentary
evidence should come to light. It would seem as
though Vittoria had Providence on her side, and was
to rest for ever in that humbleness and obscurity which
she had always sought.
The records of the life of Vittoria Colonna are so
slight, that year after year passes of which we have
nothing to relate ; but, though her movements and her
actions are often hidden from us, we surely know much
of her character ; there is no change of intention, no
divergence of ideal, only the purpose becomes more
settled and the aim more true. Here was a woman \
perfectly equipped for the journey of life, fully de-
veloped on all sides, whose religion, being allied with
intelligence, was at once more powerful and more
interesting; whose faith was as stimulating intellectually
as it was spiritually satisfying ; whom a wide culture
and a great charity delivered from all narrowness of
mind and heart.
318
Vittoria Colonna
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Tiraboschi, G. Storia delta Letteratura Italiana. Milan, 1824, etc.
Tolomei, Claudio. Letter e. Naples, 1829.
Tordi, D. // codice delle rime di Vittoria Colonna appartenuto a Mar-
gherita d' Angouleme, regina di Navarra, scoperto ed illustrato. 1900.
Tordi, D. Vittoria Colonna in Orvieto durante la guerra del sale (1541).
Bollettino della Societa Umbra di Storia Patria, Vol. I. Perugia,
1895.
See also under Ferrero e Miiller.
V aides, Juan de. Due Dialoghi. 1545.
Valdes, Juan de. Alphabeto Christiana. 1 546.
Valdes, Juan de. Dialogo de la Lengua. Madrid, 1860.
Valdes, Juan de. The Hundred and Ten Considerations of Signior J.
Valdesso. Written in Spanish, and now translated out of the Italian
copy into English with notes (by G. Herbert). Oxford, 1638.
Wiffen, B. Life and Writings of Juan de Valdes. London, 1865.
Woodward, W. H. Desiderius Erasmus, concerning the aim and method
of education. Cambridge, 1904.
INDEX
Adrian VI (Adrian of Utrecht) suc-
ceeds Leo X, 15, 93 ; Juan de
Valdes one of his chamberlains, 199
Alamanni, Luigi, 115
Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia), 6
Alicarnassea, Filonico, his life of
Vittoria, 70 n.
Allegri, Antonio (Correggio), decorates
Veronica's Casino, 153; her friend-
ship for him, 154 ; his relations with
the house of Gonzaga, 154, 155 ;
Vasari's account of him incorrect,
I5S
Angelica, the. See Negri, Paola
Antonia de'
Anghiera, Pietro Martire, tutor of
Alfonso and Juan de Valdes, 199
Aretino Pietro, his relations with Vit-
toria, 114; with Veronica, 162
Ariosto, Lodovico, the Orlando
quoted, II ; his possible meeting
with Vittoria, 13 ; his reception by
Leo X, 14 ; his letter to Duke of
Ferrara, 15 ; Latin epitaph on
Pescara ascribed to him, 30 ; praises
Giovanna d'Aragona,6i ; canzone at-
tributed to him, 71 ; visits Veronica,
153; celebrates Giulia Gonzaga,
204 ; his noble commendation of
Vittoria, 296
Avalos, Alfonso d',Marchese delVasto,
brought up by Vittoria, 9 ; his
sister's marriage, 13 ; accompanies
Pescara to the war, 1 5 ; made
Pescara's heir, 29 ; taken prisoner
at Salerno, 53 ; persuades Doria to
join the Emperor, 55 ; procures a
picture for Vittoria, 60 ; in Rome
with his wife, Maria d'Aragona, 61 ;
dissuades Vittoria from going to the
Holy Land, 209, 233 ; writes to
her at Orvieto, 232 ; sketch of his
life, 241-5 ; Ochino's letter to him,
245 ; the Angelica's letter to him,
247 ; assassination of French am-
bassadors, 250 ; defeat at Ceresole,
250 ; summoned before the Em-
peror, 251 ; dies at Vigevano, 251 ;
Luca Contile's letter about his death,
251 ; account of his death from the
life of the Angelica, 303, 304
Avalos, Beatrice d', aunt of Pescara, 64
Avalos, Costanza d', Duchessa, after-
wards Principessa, of Francavilla,
aunt of Pescara, 6, 9, 61, 116 ; one
of Valdes' disciples, 205
Avalos, Costanza d', Duchessa of
Amain, sister of the Marchese del
Vasto, her marriage, 13 ; one of
Valdes' disciples, 116, 203, 205;
Vittoria's letters to her, 116, 306-
309
Avalos, Ferrante Francesco d', March-
ese di Pescara, betrothed to Vittoria,
5 ; their marriage, 6 ; early married
life, 7 ; commands cavalry, 8 ; made
prisoner at Ravenna, 1 1 ; set at
liberty, 12; his Dialogo d'Amore,
12 ; goes to Ischia and Rome, 13 ;
commands imperial infantry, 15 ;
victory at Bicocca, 17; returns to
Ischia, 17; goes to Spain, returns
to Northern Italy, 18 ; death of
Bayard, 19, 20 ; siege of Marseilles,
24 ; battle of Pavia, 25 ; his dis-
appointment of reward, 25 ; in-
trigue with Morone, 25 ; betrays
Morone, 28, 29 ; dies, 29 ; is buried
at Milan and subsequently removed
to Naples, 30; his character, 31;
his commendation of Maramaldo,
56 ; love-affair with Delia, 63-5 ;
his letters on Equicola's death, 65 ;
Vittoria's Epistola, 67, 68
Avalos, Maria d' Aragona d', wife of
the Marchese del Vasto, 61 ; sung
by the poet, Tansillo, 62
3*7
328
Vittoria Colonna
B
Barbarossa, Khair-ed-din, African
corsair, attempts to carry off Giulia
Gonzaga, 204
Bayard, the Chevalier, on the battle
of Ravenna, n ; account of his
death quoted, 18-22
Beccadelli, Lodovico, describes Cardi-
nal Pole's office at Viterbo, 117,273;
records instance of the Cardinal's
generosity, 314; eulogizes Vittoria,
315
Bembo, Pietro, Cardinal, his friendship
with Vittoria, 14, 98, 99 ; present
at the finding of the Laocoon, 93 ;
his position as a critic, 94, 95 ; his
life at Ferrara, 95 ; the Asolani, 96 ;
the Prose delta Volgar Lingua, 96,
22O; atUrbino, 96; papal secretary,
97 ; life at Noniano, 97, 98 ; Vittoria's
sonnet to him, 99 ; his respect for
her taste in poetry, 118, 296; his
correspondence with Veronica, 141-
5 ; friend of Carnesecchi, 205 ; letters
to Vittoria, 214, 215 ; sends Cardinal
Contarini's Epistola to Vittoria, 236 ;
Cardinal Pole stays with him, 310-
12 ; his death, 304, 313
Benedetto, Don, Benedictine monk of
Mantua, supposed author of the
book Del Beneficio di Cristo, 223
Bernardino, Fra, of Asti, made Vicar-
General of the Cappuccini, 208
Boccaccio, Giovanni, 176
Bonaventura, Fra, presents Ochino
with house and church in Venice, 214
Bonfadio, Jacopo, his letter lamenting
Valdes' death, 223, 224
Bonorio, Lorenzo, one of Vittoria's
executors, 3 14 ; his letters to Ascanio,
315.316
Boverius, his account of Ochino's
flight, 258, 259
Britonio, Girolamo, poet, dedication
of his works to Vittoria, 70, 89, 90
C
Calvin, 212
Caraffa, Cardinal (afterwards Paul IV),
member of the Oratory of Divine
Love, 50; causes Ochino to be
watched, 254 ; draws up a report
on necessary reforms, 267 ; is in-
strumental in establishing the In-
quisition in Rome, 268 ; prohibits
some of Flaminio's works, 272
Cardona, Spanish Viceroy, commands
Spaniards at Ravenna, IO
Carnesecchi, Pietro, disciple of Valdes,
203 ; introduced to him by Giulia
Gonzaga, 205, 218 ; becomes inti-
mate with Vittoria, 214; goes to
Naples, 218 ; Bonfadio's letter to
him, 223 ; Vittoria mentioned in
the process against him, 268, 269,
273, 274, 276, 277 ; his uncertain
attitude, 271 ; spends much time
with Cardinal Pole, 274; Flaminio's
letter to him, 275
Caro, Annibale, 1 15, 1 18 ; Guidiccioni's
letter to him about Ochino, 214;
line quoted from his sonnet in praise
of Vittoria, 297
Carrer, Luigi, his romance of Gaspara
Stampa, 178
Casa, Giovanni della, Archbishop of
Benevento, friend of Gaspara and
her sister, 177 ; author of the
Galateo, 178 (quoted, 97); Cassan-
dra's dedication of Gaspara's poems
to him, 194-6
Castiglione, Baldassare, his character,
100 ; the Cortegiano, loo, 101 ; epi-
sode of Vittoria and the Cortegiano,
101-5 5 his death, 105 ; patron of
Flaminio, 105 ; replies to Valdes'
Dialogue on the Sack of Rome, 199
Catherine of Siena, St., belonged to
the contrada of the oca, 206 ; Ferrar-
ese Convent dedicated to her, 209,
210 ; Beata Lucia's visions of her,
210, 211 ; friend of Suora Daniella,
228 ; quoted, 283
Cavalieri, Tommaso, 122, 127
Cervini, Cardinal, Vittoria's letter to
him, 262, 263 ; goes to the Council
of Trent, 309 ; Cardinal Pole's letter
to him, 313
Charles V, Roman Emperor, alliance
with Leo X, 15 ; disappoints Pes-
cara, 25 ; corresponds with Vittoria,
27 ; Pescara's conduct towards him,
29 ; Clement VII invites him to join
the League, 36 ; Doria goes over to
him, 55 ; his visits to Correggio,
154, 159, 1 60, 1 68 ; his coronation,
159 ; Alfonso de Valdes his Latin
secretary, 199 ; hears Ochino preach,
208; visits Giovanna d'Aragona and
Index
3 2 9
Vittoria in Rome, 208, 209 ; his
alliance with the Farnese, 226, 227;
his letter to Vittoria, 232 ; honours
conferred by him on del Vasto, 242 ;
del Vasto falls into disgrace with
him, 250, 251
Charles VIII, King of France, $
Cibo, Caterina, Duchessa of Camerino,
her relations with Ochino and the
Cappuccini, 203, 205, 206, 207 ; the
Seven Dialogues, 217; suspected of
heresy, 268 ; Flaminio writes to her
of Vittoria's death, 314
Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici) made
Pope, 15; letters about his accession
from Ariosto and Vittoria, 15, 17;
forbids Vittoria to take the veil, 34;
his troubles with Spain and the
Colonna, 36-9 ; sack of Rome, 40 ;
delivers up seven hostages of whom
Giberti is one, 40, 42 ; his esteem
for Giberti, 49 ; intercedes with
Doria on behalf of Ascanio and del
Vasto, 53, 54 ; recalls Sadoleto to
Rome, 93 ; his death mentioned by
Veronica, 164 ; restores Giulia Gon-
zaga's domains to her, 203 ; makes
Carnesecchi his secretary and loads
him with honours, 205 ; his dealings
with the Cappuccini, 205, 206
Collalto, Count of, 183 ; first meets
Gaspara, 184; his coldness, 186 ;
ti service with Henry II, King
of France, 187 ; Gaspara's letter to
him, 189, 190; he comes back, 191;
returns to the French army, 193 ;
marries, 194.
Colonna, Agnese (da Montefeltro),
mother of Vittoria, 4 ; Ascanio's
account of her death, 17
Colonna, Ascanio, brother of Vittoria,
his letter, 17 ; goes to Vittoria, 32 ;
withdraws from Rome, 36; Giberti's
letter about him, 37 ; taken prisoner
at Salerno, 53 ; the Pope intercedes
on his behalf, 53, 54 ; set at liberty,
55 ; in Rome, 61, 62 ; disputes with
Giulia Gonzaga, 203 ; entertains the
Emperor at Marino, 208 ; marriage
of his eldest son projected, 225 ;
contests the salt-tax, 226 ; salt-war,
234, 235 ; helps Ochino, 257 ; letter
from Vittoria to him, 306 ; is made
Vittoria's heir, 313; Bonorio's letters
to him, 315, 316
Colonna, Fabrizio, father of Vittoria,
4 ; Constable of Naples, 5 ; be-
trothes his daughter to Pescara, 5 ;
fights for Federigo of Aragon and
is taken prisoner, 5 ; joins Gonsalvo
di Cordova, 6 ; is second in com-
mand of Spanish army in Italy, 8 ;
commands the Italians at Ravenna,
10 ; taken prisoner by Duke of
Ferrara and released, 1 1 ; Ariosto's
mention of him, 1 1 ; interferes on
behalf of the Duke, 12 ; receives
Isabella d' Este at Ischia, 64
Colonna, Fabrizio, eldest son of As-
canio, 225, 306
Colonna, Federigo, brother of Vittoria,
13
Colonna, Giovanna d' Aragona, wife
of Ascanio, 61 ; celebrated in Rus-
celli's Tempio, 62 ; appeals to Paul
III. during the Salt War, 234
Colonna, Giulia, married to Giuliano
Cesarini, 299
Colonna, Isabella, 203
Colonna, Margherita, Beata, ancestress
of Vittoria, 32 ; her history, 33 ;
beatified by Pius IX, 34
Colonna, Pompeo, Cardinal, 36; sacks
the Borgo, 38 ; his conduct during
the sack of Rome, 40-2 ; Giovio's
life of him, 42, 106 ; his book Apo-
logia Mulierum, 44-8 ; Viceroy of
Naples, 48 ; Bishop of Monreale, 49 ;
his death, 49 ; Minturno wished to
dedicate his poem to him, 106
Colonna, Prospero, 6
Colonna, Vespasiano, 36, 203
COLONNA, VITTORIA, MARCHESA DI
PESCARA, her birth, 3 ; parentage, 4 ;
betrothal, 5 ; marriage, 6 ; early
married life, 7-9 ; adopts del Vasto,
9; battle of Ravenna, 10-12; at
Ischia, 13 ; in Rome, 14 ; urges her
husband to take del Vasto to the
war, 15 ; her letter to Giberti, 16,
17; her mother's death, 17, 18;
her letter to Federigo Gonzaga, 22,
23 ; at Marino, 24 ; correspondence
with Charles V after Pavia, 26, 27 ;
protest against accepting kingdom
of Naples, 27, 28 ; her husband's
death, 29 ; receives the news at
Viterbo, 32 ; goes to San Silvestro
in Rome, 32 ; goes South, 39 ; her
work after the sack of Rome, 40 ;
33
Vittoria Colonna
her friendship with Cardinal Pompeo
Colonna, 44-8 ; Ascanio and del
Vasto taken prisoners at Salerno,
53; Sanga's letter to her, 53, 54;
her letter on behalf of Maramaldo,
SS~7 5 pictures executed for her,
58-60; returns to Rome, 61 ; her
attitude towards her husband, 63,
66; the Epistola, 67,68; her motto,
69 ; early editions of her poems, 70,
71 ; invites Guidiccioni to correct
them, 71-4 ; lends a copy to della
Torre, 74 ; sends one to Marguerite
d'Angouleme, 75-7 ; and one to
Michelangelo, 77 ; laments her
husband seven years, 78-85 ; her
friends, 86 ; her changes of resi-
dence, 88, 89 ; Britonio's dedica-
tion, 90 ; Tarsia's praises of her,
91 ; friendship with Sadoleto, 92,
94 ; her debt to Bembo, 94 ; her
sonnet to him, 99 ; her connexion
with the Cortegiano, 101-5 ; her
acquaintance with Flaminio, 105 ;
with Giovio, Minturno, and Tasso,
105-12 ; Guidiccioni's sonnet to
her, H2; in Rome with Molza,
114; letters exchanged with Aretino,
114; her friendship with Claudio
Tolomei, Contile, and Alamanni,
114, 115; her secretaries, 115; her
women-friends, 116; her friends
among the cardinals, 117 ; im-
pression produced by her, 118,
252 ; her unique friendship with
Michelangelo, 121 ; d'Ollanda's
Conversations, 123-6 ; Michelan-
gelo's drawings for her, 127 ; letters
and poems exchanged, 127-35;
character of their friendship, 136,
J 37 3O4 5 Condivi's account of it
quoted, 137, 138; Veronica's sonnets
to her, 1 60, 161 ; letters compared,
162 ; life at Ischia, 198 ; relations
with Giulia Gonzaga, 203 ; makes
the acquaintance of Carnesecchi,
205 ; intercedes with the Pope for
the Cappuccini, 205, 206 ; attends
Ochino s sermons, 207 ; appeals
again to the Pope for the Cappuccini,
208 ; receives visits from the Em-
peror, 208, 209 ; wishes to go to
the Holy Land, 209 ; stays at
Ferrara, 209-13 ; goes to the
Bolognese, 214 ; to Florence and
Lucca, 214 ; Bembo's letters to her,
214-16; projects marriage for As-
canio's eldest son, 225 ; her negotia-
tions during the salt-war, 226, 227 ;
loses her secretary, Innocenza, 227 ;
retires to Orvieto, 228 ; her re-
ception, 229 ; closely watched by
the governor, 229-34 ; her letters
to the Duke of Ferrara, 235 ; writes
the Trionfo, 236 ; Cardinal Pole's
letter to her, 236 ; her letter to
Eleonora Gonzaga, 237 ; Contile
visits her, 238 ; Martinengo's letter
about her, 241 ; her affection for
del Vasto, 241, 242 ; proceeds to
Viterbo, 251 ; Ochino's letter to her,
2 55~7 J sne gives it to Muzio, 261 ;
letter to Cardinal Cervini, 262, 263 ;
letter on Cardinal Contarini's death,
264-6 ; suspected by the Holy Office,
268, 270 ; letter to Giulia Gonzaga,
269 ; residence in Dominican con-
vent, 273 ; visited by Flaminio and
Priuli, 274 ; Cardinal Pole's in-
fluence over her, 276, 278 ; her ill-
ness, 278-82 ; her later poems, 283 ;
edition brought out by Rinaldo
Corso, 284 ; the Rime sacre e morali t
285-7 ; the Trionfo, 287-91 ; her
prose, 292-5 ; her praises by Bembo,
Ariosto, Caro, and Michelangelo,
296, 297 ; goes to Convent of Sant'
Anna in Rome, 298 ; her friend,
Giberti, dies, 299 ; his estimate of
her, 302 ; her letter to Cardinal
Morone, 306 ; three letters to the
Duchessa d'Amalfi, 306-9 ; her
letter to Cardinal Morone about
Cardinal Pole, 309 ; Cardinal Pole's
letter to her, 310-13; she is taken
to the Cesarini palace, 313; her
will, 313, 314; her death, 314;
letters about her burial, 3I5> 316;
place uncertain, 316, 317
Colonna, Vittoria, daughterof Ascanio,
62, 314
Condivi, A., quoted, 137, 138
Contarini, Cardinal, member of the
Oratory of Divine Love, 50 ; defends
Sadoleto's book, 94 ; addresses a
treatise to Vittoria, 117; Vittoria
writes to him, 206 ; Cardinal Pole's
letter to him, 235 ; publishes Ephtola
de Justificatione, 236; on his death-
bed is visited by Ochino, 255 ; his
Index
33 1
death, 263 ; was created Cardinal
by Paul III, 267 ; his efforts for
reform, 267 ; Pole's letters to him,
274, 275
Contile, Luca, admirer of Giovanna
d'Aragona, 62 ; his devotion to
Vittoria, 115, 237-9; his Dialoghi
Spirituali, 239-41 ; Vittoria's in-
fluence on his book, 241 ; his letters
about del Vasto, 243 ; letter about
del Vasto's death, 251
Correggio. See Allegri
Correggio, Giberto X, lord of, marries
Veronica Gambara, 148
Correggio, Chiara da, 166
Correggio, Girolamo da, 157, 158
Correggio, Ippolito da, 157, 158, 1 66
Corso, Rinaldo, 140 ; dedicates his
commentary on Vittoria's Rime to
Veronica, 166, 284, 285 ; details of
his life, 1 66, 167
D
Daniella, Suora, Dominican nun, friend
of St. Catherine, 228
Dante, quoted, 126 ; his pageant, 288
Delia, lady-in-waiting to Isabella
d'Este, 63 ; accompanies her to
Ischia ^4; love-affair with Pescara,
63-5
Delia Torre. See Torre
Dolci, Lodovico, member of the Ac-
cademia dei Pellegrini, 176
Doni, A. F., Secretary of the Ac-
cademia dei Pellegrini, 172; his
account of it, 172-4
Doria, Andrea, prisoners taken at
Salerno sent to him, 53 > the Pope
intercedes on behalf of Ascanio and
del Vasto, 53, 54 ; his relations with
France and Spain, 54, 55
Doria, Filippino, cousin of Andrew, in
command at the battle of Salerno,
51-3
E
Equicola, Mario, Secretary of Isabella
d'Este, 22, 23 n. ; the go-between
in Pescara's love-affair, 64 ; his
death, 65
Erasmus, friend of Alfonso and Juan
de Valdes, 199 ; Juan compared
with him, 201, 202
Ercolani, Agostino, correspondent of
Veronica, 162 ; two letters to him,
164
Este (da) Alfonso I, third Duke of
Ferrara and Modena, supports the
French in Italy, 8 ; takes Fabrizio
Colonna prisoner at Ravenna, and
releases him without ransom, 1 1 ;
Fabrizio aids him to leave Rome,
12; Ariosto's letter to him about
the election of Clement VII, 15, 16 ;
Lucrezia Borgia his wife, 95
Este (da) Ercole I, second Duke of
Ferrara and Modena, builds convent
for the Beata Lucia, 209-11
Este (da) Ercole II, fourth Duke of
Ferrara and Modena, invites learned
men to meet Vittoria, 209 ; gives
Ochino land and a house, 212 ;
Vittoria's mention of him, 213; her
letters to him, 213, 235, 273
Este (da) Leonello, thirteenth Marquis
of Ferrara, pictures painted for him
by Roger van der Weyden, 1 25
Este (da) Leonora, daughter of
Alfonso and Renata, 212
Este (da) Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess
of Ferrara, the Asolani dedicated
to her, 96
Renata, Duchess of Ferrara. See
Renata
Ettore, Conte di Carpegna, letter to
him from Luca Contile, 237-39.
Farnese, Cardinal, Guidiccioni enters
his service, 112; his esteem for
Vittoria, 229 ; Governor of Orvieto's
letter to him, 230-3 ; his letter
about the capture of Ascanio's states,
235 ; Vittoria writes to him, 237 ;
summons Ochino to Rome, 254 ;
Ochino's accusations against him,
256
Farnese, Ottavio, marries Margaret of
Austria, 226
Farnese, Vittoria, marriage projected
for her with Ascanio's eldest son,
225
Ferdinand II, King of Naples, per-
suades Fabrizio to betroth his daugh-
ter to Pescara, 5
Federigo, King of Naples, gives him-
self up to France, 5
Ferrar, Nicholas, his translation of
33 2
Vittoria Colonna
the Hundred and Ten Considera-
tions of Ochino, 220 ; George Her-
bert's letter to him about them,
220-2
Ferruccio, Francesco, story of the cats
of Volterra, 57 ; dies at Gavignano,
57 n.
Filiberto, Prince of Orange, Vittoria s
letter to him on behalf of Mara-
maldo, 55-7
Flaminio, Marcantonio, interview with
Leo X, 105 ; Castiglioni invites him
to Urbino, 105 ; goes to Naples,
105 ; friend of Carnesecchi, 205 ;
his resemblance to Valdes, 218, 224 ;
his relations with Pole, 271, 272;
his life at Viterbo, 274, 275 ; his
letter about the Imitation*, 276 ;
accompanies Cardinal Pole to the
Council of Trent, 309 ; his letter to
CaterinaCibo about Vittoria's death,
3M
Fogazzaro, A., quoted, 270
Foix, Gaston de, killed at Ravenna,
II ; sacks Brescia, 156
Fossombrone, Fra Lodovico da, one
of the founders of the Cappuccini,
206 ; refuses to convene the General
Chapter, 208
Fracastoro, Girolamo, Veronese phy-
sician, friend of Giberti, his letter
about Vittoria's illness, 280-2 ; at-
tends Cardinal Pole, 310
Francis I, King of France, made
prisoner at Pavia, 25 ; his relations
with Andria Doria, 54) 55 orders
Vittoria's poems to be given to his
sister, 77 ; Sadoleto sent on a mission
to him, 94
Fregoso, Federigo, Cardinal, friend of
Castiglione, 101 ; corresponds with
Vittoria at Orvieto, 230, 233 ; visits
her there, 237 ; Vittoria's letter on
his death, 237 ; chosen by Paul III
to report on abuses, 267
G
Gabrielli, Trifone, 177
Gambara, Uberto, papal governor of
Bologna, 157
Gambara, Veronica, birth and parent-
age, 139; education, 139, 140;
correspondence with Bembo, 141-5 ;
her letter to Isabella d'Este, 146;
to some nobleman, 147 ; her
marriage, 148 ; her early poems,
148-52; madrigal, 152; her Casino,
153; Ariosto visits her, 153; her
court painter, Allegri, 154, 155 ;
her sons, 155 ; her escape from
Brescia, 156 ; visit to Bologna, 156 ;
grief for her husband's death, 156;
left guardian of her sons, 157 ;
goes to Bologna, 157 ; letter to
Lodovico Rosso, 158; the Emperor's
coronation, 1 59 ; Emperor goes to
Correggio, 160 ; her two sonnets
to Vittoria, 160, 161 ; her letters
praised by Aretino, 162 ; her letters
about public affairs, 162-5 ; Em-
peror's second visit to Correggio,
1 66 ; her defence of the town, 166 ;
Corso dedicates his commentary on
Vittoria's Rime to her, 166 ; her
last years and death, 167 ; her
character, 168
Gardner, Edmund G., 48 n., 211 n.
Giberti, Giovan Matteo, Datary and
Bishop of Verona, Vittoria's letter
to him, 16 ; sends her a blessed
palm, 24 ; negotiates with Morone,
26 ; counsels Clement VII, 36 ;
his letters to Vittoria, 37, 39;
given as hostage, 40-2 ; his char-
acter, 49, 299 ; member of the
Oratory of Divine Love, 50 ; re-
tires to Verona, 50, 51 ; friend of
Sanga, 53 ; and of Cardinal Pole,
117; dispatches della Torre to
bring Vittoria to Verona, 209 ; his
relations with Ochino, 254, 255>
299 ; chosen by Paul III to report
on abuses and suggest reforms, 267 ;
accounts of his death, 300, 301 ;
his regard for Vittoria, 302
Giovanni, Britannico, 140
Giovio, Paolo, historian, 5 ; mentions
Pescara's Dialogo, 12, 69; relates
Vittoria's rejection of the Neapolitan
scheme, 27, 28 ; his life of Cardinal
Pompeo Colonna, 42, 49 ; his life of
Pescara, 106
Giustiniani, Fabricio, 51, 53
Gonsalvo di Cordova, 7
Gonzaga, Agostino, 207
Gonzaga, Eleonora. See Rovere
Gonzaga, Ercole, Cardinal, Vittoria
writes to him on behalf of the Cap-
puccini, 206 ; he wishes her to
Index
333
come to Mantua, 209 ; she writes to
him about her life at Ferrara, 213 ;
his letter about Vittoria and Paul III,
269
Gonzaga, Federigo, fifth Marquis and
first Duke of Mantua, letter to him
from Ascanio, 17, 18; letter from
Vittoria, 22, 23 ; his letters to Vit-
toria, 58, 59 ; Allegri works for him,
IS4
Gonzaga, Francesco III, sixth Mar-
quis and second Duke of Mantua,
167
Gonzaga, Giulia, marries Vespasiano
Colonna, 1 16,203 ; disci pie of Valdes,
203, 205 ; Barbarossa's attempt to
carry her off, 204 ; introduces Carne-
ecchi to Valdes, 218 ; Valdes writes
the Alfabeto Cristiano and other
works for her, 219; suspected of
heresy, 268 ; sends Valdes' Commen-
tary on S. Paul to Vittoria, 269
Gonzaga, Isabella d'Este, her letter
to del Vasto's secretary about the
Magdalen, 60 ; Pescara in love with
her lady-in-waiting, 63 ; her recep-
tion at Ischia by Fabrizio Colonna,
64 ; her daughter a friend of Vittoria,
116 ; Verop ; ' 's letter to her, 146 ;
Allegri wof n.a for her, 1 54 ; goes to
Bologna for the Emperor's corona-
tion, 159; Agostino Gonzaga writes
to her about Vittoria, 207 ; organizes
a farewell festival for Vittoria at
Ferrara, 213
Gonzaga, Luigi ' ' Rodomonte ", marries
Isabella Colonna, 203
Gualteruzzi, Carlo, della Torre asks
him for Vittoria's sonnets, 74 ; one
of Vittoria's secretaries, 115; visits
Vittoria at Bagnaja, 237 ; letter to
him from Fracastoro about Vittoria's
illness, 280-2 ; two letters to him
from della Torre about Giberti's
death, 300, 301
Gualteruzzi, Innocenza, daughter of
Carlo, Vittoria's secretary, takes the
veil at San Silvestro, 115, 227
Guidiccioni, Giovanni, friend of Vit-
toria's, invited to amend her sonnets,
71-4 ; account of his life, 112 ; his
patriotic sonnet, 113; writes to
Caro about Ochino, 214; Com-
missary-General for the Pope during
the Salt War, 234
II
Herbert, George, Nicholas Ferrar
sends him his translation of the
Hundred and Ten Considerations of
Valdes, 220 ; his letter about the
book, 220-2
J
Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere),
unites with the Spaniards against
the French, 8 ; his treatment of the
Duke of Ferrara, 12 ; orders ex-
cavation to be made in Rome, dis-
covery of the Laocoon, 93
Jova, Giuseppe, one of Vittoria's
secretaries, Guidiccioni's letter to
him, 72 ; Caro and Varchi his ad-
mirers, 115
Justus of Ghent, 125
Lascaris, Costantino, Bembo learns
Greek from him, 95
Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici) taken
prisoner at Ravenna, n ; becomes
Pope, 13 ; his reception of Ariosto,
14 ; his two secretaries, Sadoleto
and Bembo, 14, 93 ; allies himself
with the Emperor, 15 ; meets Francis
I at Bologna, 156
Leyva, Antonio de, Spanish general
in Italy, 25 ; Pescara arranges that
he shall overhear Morone's plot, 28
Loclovico da Fossombrone, Fra, leaves
the Osservanti, 206 ; refuses to con-
vene the General Chapter of the
Cappuccini, 208
Longa, Maria, founds a convent in
Naples, 207
Lucia da Narni, Beata, 209-12
M
Manriquez, Isabella, disciple of Val-
des, 203, 205
Maramaldo, Fabricio, serves under
Pescara and del Vasto, 55 ; Vit-
toria's letter about him, SS~S7 > ne
kills Ferruccio, 57 n. ; is com-
missioned to apply to the Duke of
Mantua for a picture, 58
Margaret of Austria, 226
Margherite d'Angonleme, Queen of
Navarre, Vittoria sends her a copy
334
Vittoria Colonna
of her sonnets, 75 ; her character-
istics, 76 ; sonnets detained by
Montmorency, 77
Marino, Fra, 214
Martinengo, Fortunate, his letter quo-
ted, 241
Matteo da Bassi, Fra, founder of the
Cappuccini, 206
Medici, Ippolito de 1 , Cardinal, 204
Memling, 125
Mignatelli, Fabio, Papal Nuncio in
Venice, 254
Minturno, Antonio, 48 ; his writings,
1 06
Mirtilla (Ippolita Roma), friend of
Gaspara, 178
Molino, poet, 175
Molza, Francesco Maria, poet, 70 ;
three of his sonnets erroneously in-
cluded among Vittoria's, 7 1 ; friend
of Vittoria in her later Roman days,
"3, "4
Montefeltro, Elisabetta Gonzaga da,
wife of Guidobaldo I, second Duke
of Urbino, celebrated in the Corteg-
t'ano, 100, 102 n. ; aunt of Vittoria,
116
Montefeltro, Federigo da, Count, after-
wards Duke of Urbino, 4 ; sends
for a Flemish painter, 125
Montefeltro, Guidobaldo da, second
Duke of Urbino, 4 ; celebrated in
the Cortegiano, 100
Moncada, Don Ugo de, Spanish
Viceroy in Naples, 36, 38, 51
Monte del, Cardinal, 309
Morone, Chancellor of Francesco
Sforza, Duke of Milan, 26 ; betrayed
by Pescara, 28, 29
Morone, Giovanni, Cardinal, Bishop
of Modena, 117; process against
him, 268 ; Vittoria tells him of her
obligations to Cardinal Pole, 277 ;
writes to him of the Convent of
Sant' Anna, 306 ; commends Car-
dinal Pole to him, 309 ; he is one
of her trustees, 314
Muzio, Girolamo, journeys with del
Varto, 242, 243 ; his letter to
Ochino, 261, 262
N
Navarro, Pedro, at the battle of
Ravenna, 10, n
Negri, Paola Antonia de' (the Angel-
ica), religious of San Paolo in Milan,
169, 170; her character, 178, 179;
her letter to Gaspara, 179-82 ; her
relations with del Vasto, 244 ; her
letter to him, 247-50 ; her prophecy
of Ochino's fall, 254 ; she is with
del Vasto when he dies, 303-4
O
Ochino, Fra Bernardino, one of Valdes'
circle, 203 ; erroneously said to have
been the founder of the Cappuccini,
205 ; his early life, 206, 207 ; joins
the Cappuccini, 207 ; appeals to
Vittoria on behalf of the Order, 208 ;
his fame as a preacher, 208, 214-16 ;
his Seven Dialogues, 217; goes to
Naples, 218 ; Vittoria speaks of him
with Luca Contile, 238 ; his letters
to Del Vasto, 245-7 ; his preaching,
2 4S> 2 53 5 he is forbidden to preach
in Venice, 254 ; summoned to Rome,
254 ; goes to Bologna to consult
Cardinal Contarini, 255 ; Vermigli
counsels flight, 255 ; his letter to
Vittoria, 255-7 ; Ascanio assists
him, 257 5 account of his flight given
by Boverius, 258, 259 ; holds a
prebend in Canterbury Cathedral,
259 ; indications that he was on the
wrong road, 259 ; Tolomei's letter
to him, 260, 261 ; Muzio's letter of
remonstrance, 261, 262 ; Ochino's
answers, 262 ; Vittoria's letter about
him to Cardinal Cervini, 262, 263 ;
Caterina Cibo keeps up her connec-
tion with him, 268 ; Vittoria breaks
off all communicaion with him, 278;
his testimony as to Giberti's advice
to him, 299
Ollanda, Francisco d', Portuguese
miniature painter, his Three Dia-
logues on Painting, 123-6, 215
Parabosco, Girolamo, his Lettere
amorose, 175
Paul III (Alessandro Farnese), makes
Sadoleto a cardinal and sends him
on a diplomatic mission, 94 ; Ver-
onica's satisfaction at his election,
164 ; recalls Vittoria to Rome, 214 ;
increases the duty on salt, 225 ; is
Index
335
determined to possess the Colonna
States, 234 ; his desire for reform,
267 ; establishes the Inquisition,
268 ; converses with Vittoria about
his successor, 269 ; permits Pole to
return to Rome, 310
Paul IV. See Caraffa, Cardinal
Petrucci, Pandolfo, a great power in
Siena, 207.
Pico della Mirandola, Galeotto, in-
vades Correggio, 166
Piombo, Sebastiano del, his portrait
of Giulia Gonzaga, 204
Pole, Cardinal, member of the Oratory
of Divine Love, 50 ; special friend
of Vittoria, 117; friend of Car-
nesecchi, 205 ; attends Ochino's
sermons, 214; his letters to Cardinal
Contarini about Vittoria, 235 ;
answer to her letter about his
mother's death, 236 ; visits her at
Bagnaja, 237 ; his advice to her
about Ochino, 263 ; is chosen to
report on existing abuses and to
devise reforms, 267 ; his dealings
with Flaminio, 271, 272 ; legate at
Viterbo, 273 ; life at Viterbo, 274,
275 ; his influex ... with Vittoria,
276-8, 282 ; sent to the Council of
Trent, 309; his illness, 310; his
letters from Cardinal Bembo's house,
310-13 ; on Bembo's death, 313 ;
Vittoria's legacy to him, 314; his
orders about Vittoria's coffin, 315
Politi, Fra Ambrogio, 124 n. ; his letter
to, and treatise on, Ochino, 215, 262
Priuli, Luigi, member of the Oratory
of Divine Love, 50 ; frequent visitor
of Vittoria, 274; accompanies Cardi-
nal Pole to Council of Trent, 309
Querini, Cardinal, on Pole's relations
with Flaminio, 271, 272
R
Renata, Duchess of Ferrara, Vittoria's
visit to her, 212; she is said to have
aided Ochino, 257
Reumont, A, 171, 237 n., 241 n., 315
Roma, Giovanni, 178
Roma, Ippolita, Paduan poetess. See
Mirtilla
Romano, Mentebuona, 26
Rossi, Brunamonte de', Governor of
Orvieto, his letters to Cardinal
Farnese, 229-33
Rosso, Lodovico, friend of Veronica,
157; her letters to him, 158, 159,
162-5
Rovere (della), Eleonora Gonraga,
wife of Francesco Maria, 116 ; Vit-
toria's letter to her, 237
Rovere (della), Francesco Maria,
Duke of Urbino, 101
Ruscelli, Girolamo, his Tenipio alia
divina Signora Giovanna d'Aragona,
61, 62
Sadoleto, Jacopo, papal secretary and
Cardinal, friend of Vittoria, 14, 92,
117; member of the Oratory of
Divine Love, 50 ; his Latin ode on
the Laocoon, 93 ; member of the
Accademia Romana, 1 14 ; friend of
Carnesecchi, 205 ; appointed to in-
quire into abuses and devise reforms,
267 ; one of Vittoria's trustees, 314
Sanga, Giovan Battista, papal secre-
tary, his letters to Vittoria, 53
Sansovino, Ferranti, Prince of Salerno,
1 06
Sansovino, Francesco, friend of Gas-
para, his letter and dedications to
her, 176, 177
Savonarola, Fra Girolamo, his Trionfo
della Croce quoted, 287-9
Sforza, Bona, her marriage, 1 1
Sforza, Francesco Maria, ninth Duke
of Milan, 26, 29
Stampa, Baldassare, brother of Gas-
para, 170, 176
Stampa, Cassandra, sister of Gaspara,
170; her letter to della Casa, 194-6
Stampa, Gaspara, birth, 169 ; her
family, 1 70 ; her gifts and education,
170; life in Venice, 171 ; Parabos-
co's letter to her, 175 ; relations with
Sansovino, 176, 177 ; friendship
with della Casa, 177 ; her supposed
letters to Mirtilla, 178; The An-
gelica's letter to her, 179-82; meets
Collaltino, 183; her passion set forth
in her poems, 184-8 ; her letter to
him, 189, 190; further poems, 191,
192 ; separation from Collaltino,
193 ; religious sonnet, 193 ; her
death, 194 ; dedication of her poems
33 6
Vittoria Colonna
to della Casa, 194-7 5 character of
her work, 196, 197
Tansillo, L., poet, sings in praise of
Maria d'Aragona, 62
Tarsia, Galeazzo di, lover of Vittoria,
91 ; his sonnet to her, 92
Tasso, Bernardo, in the service of the
Prince of Salerno, 106 ; his poems
and letters to Vittoria, 107-12
Tasso, Torquato, 212
Terenziano, Giulio, 254
Terrabotti, Beata Santuccia, 298 n.
Titian (Tiziano Vecelli), commissioned
to paint a Magdalen for Vittoria, 58,
59
Toledo, Don Pedro de, Juan de
Valdes his secretary, 200
Tolomei, Claudio, founded the Acca-
demia della Virtu, 114; his letters
to Vittoria, 114. 115; on Contile's
Dialoghi Spiritual*, 240, 241 ;
remonstrates with Ochino, 260-2 ;
letters to Cincio on Vittoria's illness,
278-80
Tolomei, Lattantio, 74, 75 n., intro-
duces d'Ollanda to Vittoria, 123 ;
discussion between them, 124
Torre, Francesco della, Giberti's
secretary, 74 ; sent to bring Vittoria
to Verona, 209 ; his letters about
Giberti's death, 300-2
Trissino, G., 140, 213.
Trivulzio, Teodoro, Venetian captain,
22, 23 n.
Trivulzio, Cardinal, 239
Trivulzio, Lodovica, Marchesa Palla-
vicino, 239
U
Urbino, servant and friend of Michel-
angelo, 130, 134
Valdes, Alfonso de, 198, 199
Valdes, Juan de, Spanish mystic, 198 ;
the Dialogues, 199, 200 ; his charac-
teristics, 20 1, 202 ; his disciples,
203-6; \\izAlfabeto Cristiano,2\<)\
his other works, 220 ; the Hundred
and Ten Considerations translated
by Nicholas Ferrar, 220-23 ; his
death, 223
Varchi, Benedetto, 70, 115
Vasari, Giorgio, 155, 204
Veniero, Domenico, 171
Vermigli, Pietro Martire, disciple of
Valdes, 203, 218; counsels Ochino
to fly, 255 ; becomes Dean of Christ
Church, Oxford, 259
Visconti, P. E., his edition of Vit-
toria's poems, 67, 71
W
Wiffen, B., Life and Writings of Juan
de ValdZs, quoted, 220
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