Lucretia Borgia Part 30

[236] The doc.u.ments are in the archives of the Sancta Sanctorum.

[237] Act of December 4, 1503, in the same archives.

[238] Archives of the Sancta Sanctorum. The instrument is dated April 1, 1504.

[239] Archives of the Sancta Sanctorum.

[240] Ibid.

[241] This was reported to Cardinal Ippolito by Girolamo Sacrati from Rome, November 2, 1515. Archives of Modena.

[242] Vannozza's will, in the archives of the Capitol, Cred. xiv, T. 72, p. 305, among the instruments drawn by the notary Andrea Carosi.

[243] In the diary of Marino Sanuto, vol. xxvi, fol. 135.

CHAPTER XII

DEATH OF LUCRETIA BORGIA--CONCLUSION

The State of Ferrara again found itself in serious difficulties, for Leo X, following the example of Alexander VI, was trying to build up a kingdom for his nephew Lorenzo de' Medici. As early as 1516 Leo had made him Duke of Urbino, having expelled Guidobaldo's legitimate heirs from their city. Francesco Maria Rovere, his wife, and his adopted mother, Elisabetta, were in Mantua,--the asylum of all exiled princes. Leo was consuming with a desire also to drive the Este out of Ferrara, and it was only the protection of France that saved Alfonso from a war with the Pope. The duke, to whom the Pope refused to restore the cities of Modena and Reggio, therefore went to the court of Louis XII in November, 1518, for the purpose of interesting him in his affairs. In February, 1519, he returned to Ferrara, where he learned of the death of his brother-in-law, the Marchese Francesco Gonzaga, of Mantua, which occurred February 20th. The last of March Lucretia wrote to his widow, Isabella, as follows:

ILl.u.s.tRIOUS LADY, SISTER-IN-LAW, AND MOST HONORED SISTER: The great loss by death of your Excellency's husband, of blessed memory, has caused me such profound grief, that instead of being able to offer consolation I myself am in need of it. I sympathize with your Excellency in this loss, and I cannot tell you how grieved and depressed I am, but, as it has occurred and it has pleased our Lord so to do, we must acquiesce in his will. Therefore I beg and urge your Majesty to bear up under this misfortune as befits your position, and I know that you will do so. I will at present merely add that I commend myself and offer my services to you at all times.

YOUR SISTER-IN-LAW LUCRETIA, d.u.c.h.ess of Ferrara.

FERRARA, _the last of March, 1519_.

The Marchese was succeeded by his eldest son, Federico. In 1530 the Emperor Charles V created him first Duke of Mantua. The following year he married Margherita di Montferrat. This was the same Federico who had formerly been selected to be the husband of Caesar's daughter Luisa. His famous mother lived, a widow, until February 13, 1539.

Alfonso again found his wife in a precarious condition. She was near her confinement, and June 14, 1519, she bore a child which was still-born.

Eight days later, knowing that her end was near, she dictated an epistle to Pope Leo. It is the last letter we have of Lucretia, and as it was written while she was dying, it is of the deepest import, enabling us to look into her soul, which for the last time was tormented by the recollection of the terrors and errors of her past life of which she had long since purged herself.

MOST HOLY FATHER AND HONORED MASTER: With all respect I kiss your Holiness's feet and commend myself in all humility to your holy mercy. Having suffered for more than two months, early on the morning of the 14th of the present, as it pleased G.o.d, I gave birth to a daughter, and hoped then to find relief from my sufferings, but I did not, and shall be compelled to pay my debt to nature. So great is the favor which our merciful Creator has shown me, that I approach the end of my life with pleasure, knowing that in a few hours, after receiving for the last time all the holy sacraments of the Church, I shall be released. Having arrived at this moment, I desire as a Christian, although I am a sinner, to ask your Holiness, in your mercy, to give me all possible spiritual consolation and your Holiness's blessing for my soul. Therefore I offer myself to you in all humility and commend my husband and my children, all of whom are your servants, to your Holiness's mercy.

In Ferrara, June 22, 1519, at the fourteenth hour.

Your Holiness's humble servant,

LUCRETIA D'ESTE.

The letter is so calm and contained, so free from affectation, that one is inclined to ask whether a dying woman could have written it if her conscience had been burdened with the crimes with which Alexander's unfortunate daughter had been charged.

She died in the presence of Alfonso on the night of June 24th, and the duke immediately wrote his nephew Federico Gonzaga as follows:

ILl.u.s.tRIOUS SIR AND HONORED BROTHER AND NEPHEW: It has just pleased our Lord to summon unto Himself the soul of the ill.u.s.trious lady, the d.u.c.h.ess, my dearest wife. I hasten to inform you of the fact as our mutual love leads me to believe that the happiness or unhappiness of one is likewise the happiness or unhappiness of the other. I cannot write this without tears, knowing myself to be deprived of such a dear and sweet companion.

For such her exemplary conduct and the tender love which existed between us made her to me. On this sad occasion I would indeed seek consolation from your Excellency, but I know that you will partic.i.p.ate in my grief, and I prefer to have some one mingle his tears with mine rather than endeavor to console me. I commend myself to your Majesty. Ferrara, June 24, 1519, at the fifth hour of the night.

ALFONSUS, Duke of Ferrara.[244]

The Marchese Federico sent his uncle Giovanni Gonzaga to Ferrara, who wrote him from there as follows:

Your Excellency must not be surprised when I tell you that I shall leave here to-morrow, for no obsequies will be celebrated, only the offices said in the parish church. His Excellency the Duke accompanied his ill.u.s.trious consort's body to the grave. She is buried in the Convent of the Sisters of Corpus Christi in the same vault where repose the remains of his mother. Her death has caused the greatest grief throughout the entire city, and his ducal majesty displays the most profound sorrow. Great things are reported concerning her life, and it is said that she has worn the cilice for about ten years, and has gone to confession daily during the last two years, and has received the communion three or four times every month. Your Excellency's ever devoted servant,

JOHANNES DE GONZAGA, Marquis.[245]

FERRARA, _June 28, 1519_.

Among the numerous letters of condolence which the duke received was one in Spanish from the mysterious Infante Don Giovanni Borgia, who was then in Poissy, France. The duke himself had informed him of the death of his consort, and Don Giovanni lamented the loss of his "sister," who had also been his greatest patron.

The graves of Lucretia and Alfonso and numerous other members of the house of Este in Ferrara have disappeared. No picture of the famous woman exists either in that city or in Modena. Although many, doubtless, were painted, none has been preserved. In Ferrara there were numerous artists, Dossi, Garofalo, Cosma, and others. t.i.tian may have painted the beautiful d.u.c.h.ess's portrait. His likeness of Isabella d'Este Gonzaga, Lucretia's rival in beauty, is preserved in the Belvedere gallery in Vienna; it shows a charming feminine face of oval contour, with regular lines, brown eyes, and an expression of gentle womanliness. There is no portrait of Lucretia from this master's hand, for the one in the Doria Gallery in Rome, which some ascribe to him and others to Paul Veronese,--although this artist was not born until 1528,--is one of the many fictions we find in galleries. In the Doria Gallery there is a life-sized figure of an Amazon with a helmet in her hand, ascribed to Dosso Dossi, which is said to be a likeness of Vannozza.

Monsignor Antonelli, custodian of the numismatic collection of Ferrara, has a portrait in oil which may be that of Lucretia Borgia,--not because it has her name in somewhat archaic letters, but because the features are not unlike those of her medals. This portrait, however (the eyes are gray), is uncertain, as are also two portraits in majolica in the possession of Rawdon Brown, in Venice, which he regards as the work of Alfonso himself, who amused himself in making this ware. Even if there were any ground for this belief, the portraits, as they are merely in the decorative style of majolica, would resemble the original but slightly.

The portrait in the Dresden gallery which is catalogued as a likeness of Lucretia Borgia is not authentic. There are no undoubted portraits of her except those on the medals which were struck during her life in Ferrara. One of these is reproduced as the frontispiece[246] of the present volume; it is the finest of all and is one of the most noteworthy medals of the Renaissance. It probably was engraved by Filippino Lippi in 1502, on the occasion of Lucretia's marriage. On the reverse is a design characteristic not only of the age but especially of Lucretia. It is a Cupid with out-stretched wings bound to a laurel, suspended from which are a violin and a roll of music. The quiver of the G.o.d of love hangs broken on a branch of the laurel, and his bow, with the cord snapped, lies on the ground. The inscription on the reverse is as follows: "Virtuti Ac Formae Pudicitia Praeciosissimum." Perhaps the artist by this symbolism wished to convey the idea that the time for love's free play had pa.s.sed and by the laurel tree intended to suggest the famous house of Este. Although this interpretation might apply to every bride, it is especially appropriate for Lucretia Borgia.

Whoever examines this girlish head with its long flowing tresses will be surprised, for no contrast could be greater than that between this portrait and the common conception of Lucretia Borgia. The likeness shows a maidenly, almost childish face, of a peculiar expression, without any cla.s.sic lines. It could scarcely be described as beautiful.

The Marchesana of Cotrone spoke the truth when in writing to Francesco she said that Lucretia was not especially beautiful, but that she had what might be called a "dolce ciera,"--a sweet face. The face resembles that of her father--as shown by the best medals which we have of him--but slightly; the only likeness is in the strongly outlined nose.

Lucretia's forehead was arched, while Alexander's was flat; her chin was somewhat retreating while his was in line with the lips.

Another medal shows Lucretia with the hair confined and the head covered with a net, and has the so-called _lenza_, a sort of fillet set with precious stones or pearls. The hair covers the ear and descends to the neck, according to the fashion of the day, which we also see in a beautiful medal of Elizabetta Gonzaga of Urbino.

The original sources from which the material for this book has been derived would place the reader in a position to form his own opinion regarding Lucretia Borgia, and his view would approximate a correct one, or at least would be nearer correct than the common conception of this woman. Men of past ages are merely problems which we endeavor to solve. If we err in our conception of our contemporaries how much more likely are we to be wrong when we endeavor to a.n.a.lyze men whose very forms are shadowy. All the circ.u.mstances of their personal life, of their nature, the times, and their environment,--of which they were the product,--all the secrets of their being exist only as disconnected fragments from which we are forced to frame our conception of their characters. History is merely a world-judgment based upon the law of causality. Many of the characters of history would regard their portraits in books as wholly distorted and would smile at the opinion formed of them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LUCRETIA BORGIA.

From a painting in the Musee de Nimes.]

Lucretia Borgia might correspond with the one derived from the doc.u.ments of her time, which show her as an amiable, gentle, thoughtless, and unfortunate woman. Her misfortunes, in life, were due in part to a fate for which she was in no way responsible, and, after her death, in the opinion which was formed regarding her character. The brand which had been set upon her forehead was removed by herself when she became d.u.c.h.ess of Ferrara, but on her death it reappeared. How soon this happened is shown by what the Rovere in Urbino said of her. In the year 1532 it was arranged that Guidobaldo II, son of Francesco Maria and Eleonora Gonzaga, should marry Giulia Varano, although he himself wished to marry a certain Orsini. His father directed his attention to the unequal alliances into which princes were p.r.o.ne to enter, and among others to that of Alfonso of Ferrara, who, he said, had married Lucretia Borgia, a woman "of the sort which everybody knows," and who had given his son a monster (Renee) for wife. Guidobaldo acquiesced in this view and replied that he knew he had a father who would never compel him to take a wife like Lucretia Borgia, "one as bad as she and of so many disreputable connections."[247] Thus the impression grew and Lucretia Borgia became the type of all feminine depravity until finally Victor Hugo in his drama, and Donizetti in his opera, placed her upon the stage in that character.

In conclusion a few words regarding the descendants of Lucretia and Alfonso,--the Duke of Ferrara survived his wife fifteen stormy years.

He, however, succeeded in defending himself against the popes of the Medici family, and he revenged himself on Clement VII by sacking Rome with the aid of the emperor's troops. Charles V gave him Modena and Reggio, and he was therefore able to leave his heir the estates of the house of Este in their integrity. He never married again, but a beautiful bourgeoise, Laura Eustochia Dianti, became his mistress. She bore him two sons, Alfonso and Alfonsino. The duke died October 31, 1534, at the age of fifty-eight; his brothers, Cardinal Ippolito and Don Sigismondo, having pa.s.sed away before him, the former in 1520 and the latter in 1524.

By Lucretia Borgia he had five children. Ercole succeeded him; Ippolito became a cardinal, and died December 2, 1572, in Tivoli, where the Villa d'Este remains as his monument; Elenora died, a nun, in the Convent of Corpus Domini, July 15, 1575; Francesco finally became Marchese of Ma.s.salombarda, and died February 22, 1578.

Lucretia's son Ercole reigned until October, 1559. In 1528 his father had married him to Renee, the plain but intellectual daughter of Louis XII. Lucretia had never seen her daughter-in-law nor had she ever had any intimation that it was to be Renee. The life of this famous d.u.c.h.ess forms a noteworthy part of the history of Ferrara. She was an active supporter of the Reformation, which was inaugurated to free the world from a church which was governed by the Borgia, the Rovere, and the Medici. Renee was therefore described as a monster by the Rovere. She kept Calvin and Clement Marot in concealment at her court a long time.

By a curious coincidence, in the year 1550 a man appeared at the court of Lucretia's son, who vividly recalled to the Borgias who were still living their family history, which was already becoming legendary. This man was Don Frances...o...b..rgia, Duke of Gandia, now a Jesuit. His sudden appearance in Ferrara gives us an opportunity briefly to describe the fortunes of the house of Gandia.

Of all the progeny of Alexander VI the most fortunate were those who were the descendants of the murdered Don Giovanni. His widow, Donna Maria, lived for a long time highly respected at the court of Queen Isabella of Castile, and subsequently she became an ascetic bigot and entered a convent. Her daughter Isabella did the same, dying in 1537.

Her only son, Don Giovanni, while a child, had succeeded his unfortunate father as Duke of Gandia and had managed to retain his Neapolitan estates, which included an extensive domain in Terra di Lavoro, with the cities of Suessa, Teano, Carinola, Montefuscolo, Fiume, and others. In 1506 the youthful Gandia relinquished these towns to the King of Spain on payment of a sum of money. To the great Captain Gonsalvo was given the Princ.i.p.ality of Suessa.

Don Giovanni remained in Spain a highly respected grandee. He married Giovanna d'Aragona, a princess of the deposed royal house of Naples; his second wife was a daughter of the Viscount of Eval, Donna Francesca de Castro y Pinos, whom he married in 1520. The marriages of the Borgias were as a rule exceedingly fruitful. When this grandson of Alexander VI died in 1543 he left no fewer than fifteen children. His daughters married among the grandees of Spain and his sons were numbered among the great n.o.bles of the country, where they enjoyed the highest honors. The eldest, Don Frances...o...b..rgia, born in 1510, became Duke of Gandia and a great lord in Spain and highly honored at the court of Charles V, who made him Vice-Regent of Catalonia and Commander of San Iago. He accompanied the emperor on his expedition against France and even to Africa. In 1529 he married one of the ladies in waiting to the empress, Eleonora de Castro, who bore him five sons and three daughters. When she died, in 1546, the Duke of Gandia yielded to his long-standing desire to enter the Society of Jesus and to relinquish his brilliant position forever. It seemed as if a mysterious force was impelling him thus to expiate the crimes of his house. It is not strange, however, to find a descendant of Alexander VI in the garb of a Jesuit, for the diabolic force of will which had characterized that Borgia lived again in the person of his countryman, Loyola, in another form and directed to another end. The maxims of Macchiavelli's "Prince" thus became part of the political programme of the Jesuits.

In 1550 the Duke of Gandia went to Rome to cast himself at the feet of the Pope and to become a member of the Order. Paul III, brother of Giulia Farnese, had just died, and del Monte as Julius III had ascended the papal throne. Ercole II, cousin of Don Francesco, still occupied the ducal throne of Ferrara. He remembered the relationship and invited the traveler to stop at his city on his way to Rome. Francesco spent three days at the court of Lucretia's son, where he was received by Renee.