Lucretia Borgia Part 19

[132] The report of this agent, who signs himself El Prete, is preserved in the archives of Mantua.

[133] The Farrarese agent, Bartolomeo Bresciani, who had been sent to Rome on matters connected with the Church, is no less complimentary. He says, la Excell. V. remagnera molto ben satisfacto da questa Illma Madona per essere dotada de tanti costumi et buntade. (To the duke, October 30, 1501.) He informed him also that Lucretia often conversed with a saintly person who had been secluded in the Vatican for eight years.

[134] Despatch of Gianluca Pozzi to Ercole, Rome, December 25, 1501.

[135] Pozzi to Ercole, Rome, December 25, 1501.

[136] Fu necessario che la abrevia.s.se, Gianluca and Gerardo to Ercole, Rome, December 30, 1501.

[137] E ci nello scopo, che se manca.s.se essa d.u.c.h.essa verso lo Illmo Don Alfonso non fosse piu obbligato di quanto voleva esserlo circa dette gioje. Ercole to Cardinal Ippolito, December 21, 1501. There is a letter of the same date regarding the subject, written by Ercole to Gianluca Pozzi.

[138] Pozzi to Ercole, January 1, 1502. Archives of Modena.

[139] El Prete to Isabella, Rome, January 2, 1502.

[140] Pozzi to Ercole, Rome, December 28, 1501.

[141] Pozzi and Saraceni, Rome, December 28, 1501.

[142] Rome, January 9, 1502.

[143] La Illma Madama Lucrezia porta tutte le bolle piene et in optima forma. Pozzi and Gerardo to Ercole, Rome, January 6, 1502.

[144] In the archives of the munic.i.p.ality of Nepi, where I copied the brief from the records. There is a similar letter in the same form and of the same date, addressed to the commune of Trevi, in the city archives of that place. The latter is printed in Tullio Dandolo's Arte christiana--Pa.s.seggiate nell' Umbria, 1866, p. 358.

[145] Beltrando Costabili to Ercole, Rome, January 6, 1502.

BOOK THE SECOND

LUCRETIA IN FERRARA

CHAPTER I

LUCRETIA'S JOURNEY TO FERRARA

Although the escort which was taking the d.u.c.h.ess Lucretia to Ferrara traveled by easy stages, the journey was fatiguing; for the roads, especially in winter, were bad, and the weather, even in the vicinity of Rome, was frequently wet and cold.

Not until the seventh day did they reach Foligno. As the report which the Ferrarese amba.s.sadors sent their lord from that place contains a vivid description of the journey, we quote it at length:

ILl.u.s.tRIOUS AND HONORED MASTER: Although we wrote your Excellency from Narni that we would travel from Terni to Spoleto, and from Spoleto to this place without stopping, the ill.u.s.trious d.u.c.h.ess and her ladies were so fatigued that she decided to rest a day in Spoleto and another in Foligno. We, therefore, shall not leave here until to-morrow morning, and shall not arrive at Urbino before next Tuesday, that is the eighteenth of the current month, for to-morrow we shall reach Nocera, Sat.u.r.day Gualdo, Sunday Gubbio, Monday Cagli, and Tuesday Urbino, where we shall rest another day, that is Wednesday. On the twentieth we shall set out for Pesaro, and so on from city to city, as we have already written your Excellency.

We feel certain, however, that the d.u.c.h.ess will stop frequently to rest, consequently we shall not reach Ferrara before the last of the present or the first of next month, and perhaps not until the second or third. We therefore thought it well to write your Excellency from here, letting you know where we were and where we expected to be, so that you might arrange matters as you thought best. If you wish us not to arrive in Ferrara until the second or third, it would not be difficult so to arrange it; but if you think it would be better for us to reach the city the last of this month or the first of February, write us to that effect, and we will endeavor, as we have hitherto done, to shorten the periods of rest.

I mention this because the ill.u.s.trious Donna Lucretia is of a delicate const.i.tution and, like her ladies, is unaccustomed to the saddle, and because we notice that she does not wish to be worn out when she reaches Ferrara.

In all the cities through which her Majesty pa.s.ses she is received with every show of affection and with great honors, and presented with numerous gifts by the women. Everything is done for her comfort. She was welcomed everywhere and, as she was formerly ruler of Spoleto, she was well known to the people. Her reception here in Foligno was more cordial and accompanied by greater manifestations of joy than anywhere else outside of Rome, for not only did the signors of the city, as the officials of the commune are called, clad in red silk, come on foot to meet her and accompany her to her inn on the Piazza, but at the gate she was confronted by a float upon which was a person representing the Roman Lucretia with a dagger in her hand, who recited some verses to the effect that her Majesty excelled herself in graciousness, modesty, intelligence, and understanding, and that therefore she would yield her own place to her.

There was also a float upon which was a cupid, and on the summit, with the golden apple in his hand, stood Paris, who repeated some stanzas, the gist of which was as follows: he had promised the apple to Venus, the only one who excelled both Juno and Pallas in beauty; but he now reversed his decision, and presented it to her Majesty as she, of all women, was the only one who surpa.s.sed all the G.o.ddesses, possessing greater beauty, wisdom, riches, and power than all three united.

Finally, on the Piazza we discovered an armed Turkish galley coming toward us, and one of the Turks, who was standing on the bulwarks, repeated some stanzas of the following import: the sultan well knew how powerful was Lucretia in Italy, and he had sent him to greet her, and to say that his master would surrender everything he had taken from the Christians. We made no special effort to remember these verses, for they were not exactly Petrarchian, and, moreover, the ship did not appear to us to be a very happy idea; it was rather out of place.

We must not forget to tell you that all the reigning Baglione came from Perugia and their castles, and were waiting for Lucretia about four miles from Foligno, and that they invited her to go to Perugia.

Her Majesty, as we wrote your Excellency from Narni, persists in her wish to journey from Bologna to Ferrara by water to escape the discomfort of riding and traveling by land.

His Holiness, our Lord, is so concerned for her Majesty that he demands daily and even hourly reports of her journey, and she is required to write him with her own hand from every city regarding her health. This confirms the statement which has frequently been made to your Excellency--that his Holiness loves her more than any other person of his blood.

We shall not neglect to make a report to your Excellency regarding the journey whenever an opportunity offers.

Between Terni and Spoleto, in the valley of the Strettura, one of the hostlers of the ill.u.s.trious Don Sigismondo engaged in a violent altercation about some turtle doves with one of his fellows in the service of the Roman Stefano dei Fabii, who is a member of the d.u.c.h.ess's escort. Both grasped their arms, whereupon one Pizaguerra, also in the service of the ill.u.s.trious Don Sigismondo, happening to ride by on his horse, wounded Stefano's hostler on the head. Thereupon Stefano, who is naturally quarrelsome and vindictive, became so angry that he declared he would accompany the cavalcade no farther. About this time we reached the castle of Spoleto, and he pa.s.sed the ill.u.s.trious Don Sigismondo and Don Ferrante without speaking to them or even looking at them. The whole affair was due to a misunderstanding which we all regretted very much, and as Pizaguerra and Don Sigismondo's hostler had fled, there was nothing more to be done; the Cardinal of Cosenza, the ill.u.s.trious Madonna, and all the others agreed that Stefano was in the wrong. He, therefore, was mollified, and continued on the journey. We commend ourselves to your Excellency's mercy. From Foligno, January 13, 1502.

Your Majesty's servants, JOHANNES LUCAS and GIRARDUS SARACENUS.

POSTSCRIPT: The worthy Cardinal of Cosenza, we understand, is unwilling to pa.s.s through the territory of the ill.u.s.trious Duke of Urbino.

From Foligno the journey was continued by way of Nocera and Gualdo to Gubbio, one of the most important cities in the duchy of Urbino. About two miles from that place the d.u.c.h.ess Elisabetta met Lucretia and accompanied her to the city palace. After this the two remained constantly in each other's company, for Elisabetta kept her promise and accompanied Lucretia to Ferrara.

Cardinal Borgia returned to Rome from Gubbio, and the two ladies occupied the comfortable sedan-chair which Alexander had presented his daughter. January 18th, when the cavalcade was near Urbino, Lucretia was greeted by Duke Guidobaldo, who had come with his entire court to meet her. He accompanied Lucretia to the residence set apart for her--Federico's beautiful palace--where she and the princes of Este were lodged, the duke and d.u.c.h.ess having vacated it for them. The artful Guidobaldo had set up the Borgia arms and those of the King of France in conspicuous places in Urbino and throughout the various cities of his domain.

Although Lucretia's wedding was regarded by the Montrefeltre with great displeasure, they now, on account of Ferrara and because of their fear of the Pope, hastened to show her every honor. They had been acquainted with Lucretia in Rome when Guidobaldo, Alexander's condottiere, conducted the unsuccessful war against the Orsini, and they had also known her in Pesaro. Perhaps they now hoped that Urbino's safety would be a.s.sured by Lucretia's influence and friendship. However, only a few months were to pa.s.s before Guidobaldo and his consort were to be undone by the fiendishness of their guest's brother and driven from their domain.

After resting a day, Lucretia and the d.u.c.h.ess, accompanied for a short distance by Guidobaldo, set out from Urbino, January 20th, for Pesaro, which they reached late in the evening. The road connecting these cities is now a comfortable highway, traversing a beautiful, undulating country, but at that time it was little more than a bridlepath; consequently the travelers were thoroughly fatigued when they reached their destination.

When Lucretia entered the latter city she must have been overcome by painful emotions, for she could not fail to have been reminded of Sforza, her discarded husband, who was now an exile in Mantua, brooding on revenge, and who might appear at any moment in Ferrara to mar the wedding festivities. Pesaro now belonged to her brother Caesar, and he had given orders that his sister should be royally received in all the cities she visited in his domain. A hundred children clad in his colors--yellow and red--with olive branches in their hands, greeted her at the gates of Pesaro with the cry, "Duca! Duca! Lucretia! Lucretia!"

and the city officials accompanied her to her former residence.[146]

Lucretia was received with every evidence of joy by her former subjects, and the most prominent of the n.o.ble women of the city, among whom was the matron Lucretia Lopez, once her lady-in-waiting, and now wife of Gianfrancesco Ardizi.[147]

Lucretia remained a day in Pesaro without allowing herself to be seen.

In the evening she permitted the ladies of her suite to dance with those of the city, but she herself took no part in the festivities. Pozzi wrote the duke that she spent the entire time in her chamber "for the purpose of washing her head, and because she was naturally inclined to solitude." Her seclusion while in Pesaro may be explained as more likely due to the gloomy thoughts which filled her mind.[148]

In every town belonging to the Duke of Romagna there was a similar reception; everywhere the magistrates presented Lucretia with the keys of the city. She was now accompanied by her brother's lieutenant in Cesena, Don Ramiro d'Orco,--a monster who was quartered by Caesar's orders a few months later.

Pa.s.sing Rimini and Cesena she reached Forli, January 25th. The salon of the palace was hung with costly tapestries, and even the ceiling was covered with many-colored cloth; a tribune was erected for the ladies.

Presents of food, sweetmeats, and wax tapers were offered the d.u.c.h.ess.

In spite of the stringent laws which Caesar's rectors, especially Ramiro, had pa.s.sed, bands of robbers made the roads unsafe. Fearing that the bold bandit Giambattista Carraro might overtake the bridal train after it had left the boundaries of Cervia, a guard of a thousand men on foot and a hundred and fifty troopers was furnished by the people, apparently as an escort of honor.[149]

In Faenza Lucretia announced that she would be obliged to spend Friday in Imola to wash her head, as she would not have an opportunity to do this again until the end of the carnival. This washing of the head, which we have already had occasion to notice as an important part of the toilet in those days, must, therefore, have been in some manner connected with dressing the hair.[150] The Ferrarese amba.s.sador spoke of this practice of Lucretia's as a repeated obstacle which might delay the entrance of her Majesty into Ferrara until February 2d. Don Ferrante likewise wrote from Imola that she would rest there a day to put her clothes in order and wash her head, which, said she, had not been done for eight days, and she, therefore, was suffering with headache.[151]

On the way from Faenza to Imola the cavalcade stopped at Castle Bolognese, which had been abandoned by Giovanni Bentivoglio when he was threatened by Caesar. They found the walls of the town razed, the moat filled up, and even its name changed to Cesarina.