Lodovico's ambitious designs--Isabella of Aragon appeals to her
father--Breach between Naples and Milan--Alliance between the Pope,
Venice, and Milan proclaimed--Mission of Erasmo Brasca to the king of
the Romans--Journey of Lodovico and Beatrice to Ferrara--_Fêtes_ and
tournaments--Visit to Belriguardo, and return of Lodovico to
Milan--Arrival of Belgiojoso from France.
1493
The birth of Beatrice's son marks a new development in her husband's
policy. Up to that time the Moro seems to have been content to govern in
his nephew's name, and had rejected with horror King Ferrante's
suggestion that he should depose Gian Galeazzo as incapable, and reign
in his stead. But whether it was that Beatrice in her turn had become
ambitious to bear the title of Duchess of Milan and see her son
recognized as heir to the crown, or whether the birth of his son stirred
up new desires in her lord's breast, it is certain that the spring of
1493 was a turning-point in Lodovico's career. From this time he began
to aim at reigning in his nephew's stead, and applied himself in good
earnest to obtain legal recognition of his title. In the first place,
the birth of Ercole, and the extraordinary honours paid to the child and
his mother on this occasion, had the effect of exasperating Isabella of
Aragon, and exciting new and bitter rivalry between herself and
Beatrice. Gian Galeazzo, sunk in idle pleasures and debauchery, had long
ceased to take any interest in the government of Milan, or to show the
least wish to assert himself. He was recognized on all hands as
altogether unfit to rule--in the words of the historian Guicciardini,
"_incapacissimo_." But with his wife it was different. In public she
controlled her rage and appeared with her cousin at _fêtes_ and state
ceremonies, but in private she wept bitter tears. Already her father,
Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, had begged his sister Duchess Leonora and her
husband to try and induce Lodovico to restore the Duke and Duchess of
Milan to their rightful position, and the good duchess, who was on
friendly terms with Bona of Savoy and with her own niece, Isabella of
Aragon, did all in her power to soften the rivalry between the two young
princesses. But after her departure from Milan, Isabella's ill-concealed
anger broke out, and, according to Corio, she wrote the memorable Latin
letter to her father.
"It was then," writes the Milanese chronicler, "that the duchess, being
a princess of great spirit, refused to endure the humiliations to which
she and her husband were exposed, and wrote to Alfonso her father, after
this manner: 'Many years have passed, my father, since you first wedded
me to Gian Galeazzo, on the understanding that he would in due time
succeed to the sceptre of his father and ascend the throne of Galeazzo
and Francesco Sforza and of his Visconti ancestors. He is now of age and
is himself a father; but he is not yet in possession of his dominions,
and can only obtain the actual necessaries of life from the hands of
Lodovico and his ministers. It is Lodovico who administers the state,
treats of war and peace, confirms the laws, grants privileges, imposes
taxes, hears petitions, and raises money. Everything is in his power,
while we are left without friends or money, and are reduced to live as
private persons. Not Gian Galeazzo, but Lodovico, is recognized as lord
of the kingdom. He places prefects in the castles, raises military
forces, appoints magistrates, and discharges all the duties of a prince.
He is, in fact, the true duke. His wife has lately borne him a son, who
every one prophesies will soon be called Count of Pavia, and will
succeed to the dukedom, and royal honours were paid him at his birth,
while we and our children are treated with contempt, and it is not
without risk to our lives that we remain under the roof of the palace,
from which he would remove us in his envious hatred, leaving me widowed
and desolate, destitute of help and friends. But I have still spirit and
courage of my own; the people regard us with compassion, and look upon
him with hatred and curses, because he has robbed them of their gold to
satisfy his greed. I am not able to contend with men, and am forced to
suffer every kind of humiliation. There is no one here to whom I can
speak, for even our servants are given us by him. But if you have any
fatherly compassion, if a spark of royal or noble feeling still lives in
your heart, if love of me and the sight of my tears can move your soul,
I implore you to come to our help, and deliver your daughter and
son-in-law from the fear of slavery, and restore them once more to their
rightful kingdom. But if you will not help us, I would rather die by my
own hands than bear the yoke of strangers, which would be a still
greater evil than to allow a rival to reign in my place.'"
This letter was probably composed by the historian, but there is no
doubt that it reproduces the wronged duchess's sentiments, and that
Corio does not exaggerate the effect which his daughter's indignant
appeal produced upon Alfonso. "Shall we suffer our own blood to be
despised?" he is said to have exclaimed, when he called upon his father
to avenge his daughter's wrong, and at the same time pointed out how
fraught with danger to the realm of Naples was the existence of so
powerful and independent a prince as Lodovico. But the old king
preferred to have recourse to his usual expedients of cunning and
intrigue, and while he employed every artifice to undermine Lodovico's
influence both at the other courts of Italy and in France, he sent
ambassadors to congratulate the Moro on his son's birth, and only
expostulated in a friendly manner with his kinsman. Lodovico himself,
however, was too astute not to see the dangers which threatened him, and
he became doubly anxious to form a close alliance with the Pope, and
with his old enemies the Signory of Venice. Early in 1493, Alexander
VI., now Lodovico Sforza's firm friend, proposed a new alliance between
himself, Milan, and Venice to the Doge and Senate, and Count Caiazzo was
sent by Lodovico to negotiate the terms of the treaty, which was to hold
good for twenty-five years, and had for its express object the
maintenance of the peace of Italy. Ferrara and Mantua both joined the
new league, which was solemnly proclaimed at Venice on St. Mark's day,
when, after high mass, the Doge conferred the honour of knighthood on
Taddeo Vimercati, the Milanese ambassador, and the banners of Milan and
of the Pope were borne in procession round the Piazza.
In order to confirm the alliance, Lodovico not only agreed to visit
Ferrara in May, but also decided to send his wife at the head of an
embassy to Venice, as a proof of his friendship for his new allies. Four
experienced councillors, Count Girolamo Tuttavilla, Galeazzo Visconti,
Angelo Talenti, and Pietro Landriano, were chosen to accompany her, and
an elaborate paper of secret directions was drawn up by Lodovico
himself, dated the 10th of May. On the same day a still more important
paper of instructions was delivered by the Moro to Erasmo Brasca, the
envoy whom he sent that week to Germany. This agent was instructed to
lay two proposals before Maximilian, King of the Romans. In the first
place, he was to offer him the hand of Bianca Maria Sforza, the Duke of
Milan's sister, with the enormous dowry of 400,000 ducats. In the
second, he was to ask Maximilian, on Lodovico's behalf, for a renewal of
the investiture of Milan, formerly granted to the Visconti dukes, but
never obtained by the three princes of the house of Sforza. As, on the
extinction of the Visconti race, the fief ought to have returned to the
empire, it was in the emperor's power to bestow the duchy upon Lodovico,
whose title would thus be rendered perfectly legal, while Gian Galeazzo
would become the usurper, he himself, his father, and grandfather having
only held the dukedom by right of a popular election, which had never
been confirmed by the emperor. This, then, was the proposal which the
Moro secretly made to Maximilian, whose father, the Emperor Frederic
III., was at the time still living, but was known to be in very failing
health. The King of the Romans was by no means insensible to the
advantages of an alliance with the powerful Regent of Milan, or to the
large dowry which Bianca Maria would bring with her to replenish his
empty coffers. Some objections were raised by the German princes, who
chose to consider this marriage with a Sforza princess beneath the
imperial dignity, but Maximilian himself readily consented to all
Lodovico's conditions, and promised to grant him the investiture of the
duchy of Milan as soon as he succeeded his father, only stipulating
that this part of the agreement should be kept secret for the present.
The royal bridegroom was to receive three hundred thousand ducats as
Bianca's dowry, while the remaining hundred thousand, which represented
the tribute dues on the investiture of the duchy, as an imperial fief,
were to be paid when this part of the transaction was accomplished.
Meanwhile Maximilian had already entered into negotiations with Charles
VIII., who, in his anxiety to undertake the expedition of Naples, was
ready to make any sacrifices in other directions; and on the 15th of May
the Treaty of Senlis was concluded between the two monarchs. Lodovico's
ambassador, Belgiojoso, accompanied the French king to Senlis, and kept
his master fully informed of all that happened at court. But while the
Moro had repeatedly assured Charles of his friendly intentions, he had
hitherto prudently abstained from offering any device as to the young
king's warlike designs against Naples, and had, it was well known,
opposed them. When in March, Charles VIII. had begged him, as a personal
favour, to send him his son-in-law, Galeazzo di Sanseverino, of whose
knightly prowess he had heard so much, in order that he might confer
with this distinguished captain on military questions, Lodovico
absolutely refused to consent, fearing the suspicions which Messer
Galeazzo's presence at the French court might excite.
Such was the state of political affairs when, on the 18th of May, 1493,
Lodovico and Beatrice, with their infant son, arrived at Ferrara. They
spent the night before their arrival at the palazzo Trotti, in the
suburbs, and on the following morning entered the town by the bridge of
Castel Tealde. After riding in state up the Via Grande and the Via degli
Sablioni to the Castello they visited the Duomo, attended mass, and made
an offering at the altar. The Piazza was decorated with green boughs and
bright draperies, and crowds thronged the streets, shouting "_Moro!
Moro!_" as the young duchess rode by in all her bravery, escorted by her
brother Alfonso and Madonna Anna, who had ridden out to meet her, with a
gay company of Ferrarese lords and ladies. That day Beatrice wore the
_camora_ of wonderful crimson brocade, embroidered with the lighthouse
towers of the port of Genoa, and a velvet cap studded with big pearls,
"as large as are Madama's very largest gems," wrote the faithful
Prosperi to Isabella d'Este, "as well as five splendid rubies."
On this occasion Lodovico was determined to dazzle the eyes of the world
by his splendour, and the robes and jewels of Beatrice were the wonder
of Ferrara and Venice. Ten chariots and fifty mules laden with baggage
followed in their train, and Prosperi describes one marvellous new
_camora_, which Beatrice brought with her, embroidered with Lodovico's
favourite device of the caduceus worked in large pearls, rubies, and
diamonds, with one big diamond at the top. Not to be outdone by her
sister-in-law, Madonna Anna appeared in a crimson and grey satin robe,
adorned with letters of massive gold, and borrowed her mother-in-law's
finest pearls for the occasion, so that, as Prosperi reports, her jewels
made almost as fine a show as those of the duchess. Nor was this rivalry
in clothes and jewels limited to the royal ladies themselves. Our lively
friend, Duchess Leonora's maid of honour, Teodora, gives Isabella an
amusing account of the keen emulation that existed between the Milanese
and Ferrarese ladies who were to accompany the two duchesses to
Venice.[37] Beatrice's ladies each wore long gold chains, valued at two
hundred ducats apiece, and her chief maids of honour had been provided
with some of their mistress's brocade robes for the occasion. Hearing of
this, the Ferrarese ladies begged duchess Leonora to give them similar
necklaces, and did not rest until they were supplied with chains valued
at two hundred and twenty ducats apiece. And since it transpired that
Beatrice had given some of her ladies strings of pearls for their
paternosters, Madama presented each of her attendants with pearl
rosaries of a still handsomer and costlier description. When Signor
Lodovico saw this, he went up to Beatrice, saying, "Wife, I wish all of
your ladies to wear pearl rosaries;" and straightway ordered some much
larger and finer ones to be made for the Duchess of Bari's attendants.
"But Madama," adds Isabella's correspondent, gleefully, "has given some
of her smaller pendants to our ladies, a thing which I do not think the
duchess can supply; and there is one other point in which the duchess's
suite will come off the worst. Madama has had pelisses of green satin
with broad stripes of black velvet made for all her ladies, which they
are to wear at Venice, and is taking a fresh supply of jewels to lend
them when they arrive. This I think the duchess can hardly manage."
However, the next day Prosperi reports that the famous goldsmith
Caradosso has just arrived with a quantity of rubies and diamonds, which
Messer Lodovico has bought for two thousand ducats, and is having strung
into necklaces for his wife's ladies.
A week of brilliant festivities had been arranged by Duke Ercole in
honour of his son-in-law. A splendid tournament was held one day on the
Piazza in front of the Castello. "Messer Galeazzo rode in the lists,"
writes the old chronicler of Ferrara, "with all his usual _gentilezza_,
and carried off the prize against his brothers Caiazzo and Fracassa,
Niccolo da Correggio, Ermes Sforza, and all other rivals. Afterwards,
taking a massive lance in his hand, he charged a gentleman of Mirandola,
broke his lance, and unseated him, so that both horse and man rolled
over together. And Lodovico sent one hundred ducats to the soldier of
Mirandola, because he fought so well. Another day a single-handed
contest between a Milanese and a Mantuan man-at-arms was held in the
courtyard of the castle, and won by the Mantuan, and Lodovico gave him a
satin vest with a gold fringe and skirt of silver cloth, and the Marquis
of Mantua and others made him fine presents."[38] Then came the
horse-races for the _pallium_, which Don Alfonso won, and at which
Gianfrancesco Gonzaga's famous Barbary horses made a splendid show. A
beautiful _festa_ was also held one afternoon in the gardens, at which
all the court assisted, and in the evenings, theatrical representations
of the _Menæchmi_ and other Latin plays were given, which pleased
Lodovico so well that he declared he must build a theatre at Milan on
his return. Amongst the pieces given on this occasion was a comedy, of
which the plot, Prosperi remarks, appeared to be aimed against Signor
Lodovico, but it seems to have given him no offence.
The Moro was apparently in the highest good-humour, courteous and
affable, after his wont, to all, and full of proud delight in his wife
and child. He admired the palaces and gardens of Ferrara, and surveyed
Duke Ercole's latest improvements with keen interest. The width and
cleanliness of the streets, struck him especially, and he determined to
follow the duke's example and remove the forges and shops which blocked
up the road and interfered with the traffic and the pleasantness of the
prospect at Milan. But of all the sights which he saw in Ferrara, what
pleased him best was Ercole's beautiful villa of Belriguardo. On
Saturday, the 25th of May, after Beatrice and her mother had started for
Venice, Ercole took his son-in-law and the Milanese nobles to spend the
day at this his favourite country house, and entertained the party at a
banquet in the famous terraced gardens on the banks of the Po. The same
evening Lodovico found time to write to his wife, in which he tells her
how much he is enjoying the loveliness of the summer evening at
Belriguardo.
"I would not for all the world have missed seeing this place. Really, I
do not think that I have ever seen so large and fine a house, or one
which is so well laid out and adorned with such excellent pictures. I do
not believe there is another to rival it in the whole world, and did not
think it possible to find a villa at once so spacious and so thoroughly
comfortable and well arranged. To say the truth, if I were asked whether
Vigevano, or the Castello of Pavia, or this place was the finest palace
in the world--the Castello must forgive me, for I would certainly choose
Belriguardo!"[39]
From Belriguardo, Ercole and his son-in-law proceeded to visit
Mirandola, the castle and principality of Bianca d'Este's husband, Count
Galeotto, and the court of the scholar princes of Carpi, who were
intimately connected with the Sanseverini and other noble Milanese
houses. After visiting Modena, the ducal party returned to receive the
Venetian ambassadors at Ferrara, and accompanied them to Belriguardo,
which Lodovico was not sorry to visit a second time. Here the Moro took
farewell of his hosts, and, leaving his infant son at Ferrara to await
his mother's return, he set out for Parma, on his way back to Milan.
Here at Torgiara, in the Parmesana, he was joined by his envoy, Count
Belgiojoso, who, in his anxiety to bring his master the latest news, had
ridden the whole 600 miles from Senlis in six days. This faithful
servant had already written to give Lodovico details of the treaty
concluded between Charles VIII. and Maximilian, and had informed him of
the French king's resolve to invade Italy without delay. Now, at his
master's summons, he rode to Parma as fast as relays of the fleetest
horses could take him, and fell seriously ill on the day after his
arrival. The news which he brought determined Lodovico in the policy
which he was about to adopt, and decided him to withdraw all opposition
to the French king's expedition against Naples. Charles VIII. now
appeared as the friend and ally of Maximilian, and even consented to
support Lodovico's suit with the King of the Romans. "It seems strange,"
wrote the Florentine ambassador at the French court to Piero de' Medici,
"that the king should support Signor Lodovico in a thing so harmful to
the interests of his cousin the Duke of Orleans' claims, but so it is,
and this will show you the influence that now predominates in the royal
counsels."
Belgiojoso reached Torgiara, in the district of Parma, on the 4th of
June, and on the 24th, Maximilian sent the despatch from the castle of
Gmünden, by which he accepted the hand of Bianca Sforza in marriage, and
promised Lodovico Sforza the investiture of the duchy of Milan as soon
as he himself should receive the imperial dignity. In the same month of
June, the marriage of the Pope's daughter, Lucrezia Borgia, to Giovanni
Sforza of Pesaro was celebrated with great pomp in the Vatican, and the
Pope and cardinals joined in the orgies which followed. But old King
Ferrante gnashed his teeth with rage, and his son Alfonso vowed
vengeance against the hated Moro and all his crew. And in the Duomo of
Florence, the fiery Dominican friar, Fra Girolamo of San Marco,
preaching with passionate fervour to the crowds who hung on his lips,
boldly denounced the shameless profligacy that reigned in high places,
and warned the Church and the world of the avenging sword of the Lord.
FOOTNOTES:
[37] Luzio-Renier, _op. cit._, p. 374.
[38] Muratori, R. L. S., xxiv. 284.
[39] E. Motta in _Giorn. st. d. lett. Ital._, vii. 387.