daughter of Fabrizio Colonna (grand-nephew of Pope Martin V) and Agnese
di Montefeltro, a sister of Duke Guidobaldo. At the age of four she was
betrothed to the Marquess of Pescara, whom she married in her nineteenth
year at Ischia (the fief and residence of his family), and who
afterwards became a famous soldier. During his long absences in the
field, she consoled herself with books, and after his death in 1525, her
widowhood was spent in retirement and finally in semi-monastic seclusion
at Rome. The time spared from pious exercises she devoted to study, the
composition of poetry, correspondence with illustrious men of letters,
and the society of learned persons. Although she never became a convert
to Protestantism, the liberality of some of her friends’ belief exposed
her to ecclesiastical censure in her old age. Her celebrated friendship
with Michelangelo began when he was past sixty and she had nearly
reached fifty years. They frequently exchanged verses, and he is said to
have visited her on her death-bed. Her poems are chiefly sonnets to the
memory of her husband or verses on sacred and moral subjects.
Note 7 page 7. The following passage is from a letter written by
Castiglione to the Marchioness: “I am the more deeply obliged to your
Ladyship, because the necessity you have put me under, of sending the
book at once to the printer, relieves me from the trouble of adding many
things that I had already prepared in my mind,—things (I need hardly
say) of little import, like the rest of the book; so that your Ladyship
has saved the reader from tedium, and the author from blame.”
Despite the many decrees of popes, emperors and other potentates,
literary piracy seems to have been quite as common in Castiglione’s time
as in ours. He was obviously none too prompt in his precautions, as an
apparently unauthorized edition of THE COURTIER was issued at Florence
by the heirs of Filippo di Giunta in the October following its first
publication at Venice in April 1528.
Note 8 page 8. ALFONSO ARIOSTO, (died 1526), was a cousin of the poet
Ludovico. Little more seems to be known of him than that his father’s
name was Bonifazio, that he was a gentle cavalier and brave soldier in
the service of the Este family, and that he was a friend of Castiglione
and of Bembo. His name appears at the head of each of the four dialogues
composing THE COURTIER, and they purport to have been written at his
suggestion. Señor A. M. Fabié, in his notes to the 1873 reprint of
Boscan’s translation, affirms that Alfonso Ariosto had nothing to do
with the poet Ludovico, belonged to a noble Bolognese family, and
enjoyed much favour at the court of Francis I of France.
Note 9 page 9. GIULIANO DE' MEDICI, (born 1478; died 1516), was the
third son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and Clarice Orsini. His education
seems to have been for a time entrusted to the famous scholar-poet
Poliziano (see note 105). During his family’s exile from Florence
(1494-1512), he resided much at the court of Urbino, where he was known
as “the Magnifico Giuliano,” and where one wing of the great palace was
reserved to his use and is still called by his name. He became the
father of a boy afterwards known as Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici,—the
original of Titian’s fine portrait in the Pitti Gallery. On the
restoration of the Medici, Giuliano was placed at the head of affairs in
his native city and succeeded in winning the good will of the
Florentines, but his gentle disposition and love of ease thwarted other
ambitious projects formed for his advancement by his brother Leo X, and
he was too grateful to the dukes of Urbino for their hospitality to
accept the pope’s intended appropriation of their duchy for his benefit.
In 1515 he married Filiberta of Savoy and was created Duke of Nemours by
her nephew Francis I of France. In the same year he was appointed
Captain General of the Church, but failing health prevented his actual
service, and he soon died of fever at Florence, not without suspicion of
poison at the hands of his nephew Lorenzo.
Several of his sonnets have survived, and are said to show no mean
poetic faculty. Apart, however, from his appearance as an interlocutor
in THE COURTIER and in Bembo’s _Prose_, his memory is best preserved by
Michelangelo’s famous tomb at Florence.
[Illustration:
VITTORIA COLONNA
MARCHIONESS OF PESCARA
1490-1547
]
Much enlarged from a cast, kindly furnished by M. Pierre Valton, of an
anonymous medal in his collection at Paris.
Note 10 page 2. “MESSER BERNARDO” (DOVIZI), better known by the name of
his birthplace BIBBIENA, (born 1470; died 1520), was of humble
parentage. His elder brother Pietro was secretary to Lorenzo de' Medici,
and secured his admission to the Magnifico’s household, where he shared
the education of the young Giovanni and became a devoted friend of that
future pope. Following the Medici into exile, he travelled about Europe
with Giovanni and attended Giuliano to Urbino, where he received the
warm welcome always accorded there to such as combined learning with
courtly manners. By the Duke of Urbino he seems to have been so
commended to the favour of Julius II, that he was able to aid
Michelangelo in securing part payment for the Sistine Chapel frescoes,
of which payment, however, he accepted five per cent. as a gift from the
painter. At the death of Julius, he was secretary to his friend Cardinal
Giovanni de' Medici, and in that capacity had access to the conclave,
where his adroitness was largely helpful in effecting his patron’s
election as pope. Leo at once made him Cardinal of Santa Maria in
Portico and loaded him with lucrative offices. During the Medicean
usurpation of the Duchy of Urbino, he showed no gratitude for the
kindness enjoyed by him at that court. He became very rich, and was a
liberal patron of authors and artists. Raphael devised to him the house
of the architect Bramante, which the painter had bought for a sum
equivalent to about £6,000, and which was afterwards demolished in
extending the piazza in front of St. Peter’s.
Besides a large number of his letters, for the most part unpublished, we
have his play, _Calandra_, founded upon the _Menæchmi_ of Plautus and
once esteemed as the earliest Italian prose comedy.
Although he was bald, and although his friend Raphael’s portrait hardly
justifies the epithet, he was known as the “_Bel Bernardo_.” A
contemporary MS. in the Vatican describes him as “a facetious character,
with no mean powers of ridicule, and much tact in promoting jocular
conversation by his wit and well-timed jests. He was a great favourite
with certain cardinals, whose chief pursuit was pleasure and the chase,
for he thoroughly knew all their habits and fancies, and was even aware
of whatever vicious propensities they had. He likewise possessed a
singular pliancy for flattery, and for obsequiously accommodating
himself to their whims, stooping patiently to be the butt of insulting
and abusive jokes, and shrinking from nothing that could render him
acceptable to them. He also had much readiness in council, and was
perfectly able seasonably to qualify his wit with wisdom, or to
dissemble with singular cunning.” On the other hand, Bembo wrote of him
to their friend Federico Fregoso: “The days seem years until I see him,
and enjoy the pleasing society, the charming conversation, the wit, the
jests, the features and the affection of that man.”
Note 11 page 2. OTTAVIANO FREGOSO, (died 1524), belonged to a noble
Genoese family that had long distinguished itself in public service and
had furnished several doges to the Republic. His parents were Agostino
Fregoso and Gentile di Montefeltro, a half-sister of Duke Guidobaldo.
Driven from Genoa as early as 1497, he entered his uncle’s court at
Urbino and rendered important military services, especially during the
struggle with Cesare Borgia, in which he gallantly defended the fortress
of San Leo (see note 275), and was rewarded with the lordship of Santa
Agata in the Apennines. In 1506 he commanded the papal forces for the
recovery of Bologna, and later in the League of Cambray against Venice.
In 1513 he succeeded in putting an end to French domination in Genoa,
was elected doge, and ruled so beneficently for two years that when
Francis I regained the city, Fregoso was continued as governor. In 1522
Genoa was captured and sacked by Spanish and German troops, and Fregoso
given over to the Marquess of Pescara, treated harshly (despite
Castiglione’s intercession on his behalf), and carried to Ischia, where
he died.
Several stories of his absent-mindedness are narrated by Dennistoun, and
one illustrates the freedom of intercourse at the court of Urbino. His
uncle Guidobaldo appearing one day in a beautiful violet satin jerkin,
Ottaviano exclaimed: “My lord Duke, you really are _the_ handsome
Signor!” and then, on being reproved for flattery, he replied: “I did
not mean that you are a man of worth, though I pronounced you a fine man
and a handsome nobleman.”
Note 12 page 2. “MY LADY DUCHESS,” ELISABETTA GONZAGA, (born 1471; died
1526), was the second daughter of the Marquess Federico Gonzaga of
Mantua and Margarita of Bavaria. She married Duke Guidobaldo in 1489. In
1502 she reluctantly attended the festivities for the marriage, at
Ferrara, of Lucrezia Borgia to Alfonso d'Este, and some of her costumes
are thus described by an eye-witness: On entering Ferrara, she rode a
black mule caparisoned in black velvet embroidered with woven gold, and
wore a mantle of black velvet strewn with triangles of beaten gold, a
string of pearls about her neck, and a cap of gold; another day indoors
she wore a mantle of brown velvet slashed, and caught up with chains of
massive gold; another day a gown of black velvet striped with gold, with
a jewelled necklace and diadem; and still another day, a black velvet
robe embroidered with gold ciphers.
During the Borgian usurpation of their duchy in the same year, she
shared her husband’s exile at Venice, and on returning to Urbino earlier
than Guidobaldo, she amused herself with a scenic representation of the
chief events that had occurred during their absence. She cared for her
husband tenderly in his illnesses, administered his government wisely
when he was called away, and on his death acted as regent and guardian
for his nephew and successor, with whom she maintained affectionate
relations as long as she lived, and from appropriating whose dominions
she strove to the utmost to dissuade Leo X.
Next to her husband’s niece by marriage, Emilia Pia (see note 37), her
closest friend seems to have been her brother’s wife, the famous
Isabella d'Este (see note 397), with whom she often travelled and
continually corresponded by letter. Although still young and accounted
beautiful at her husband’s death, she remained faithful to his memory,
and the years of her widowhood were cheered by the companionship of her
niece, the young duchess Eleanora of Urbino (see note 432). If we may
trust universal contemporary opinion of her virtues and beauty, the
author of THE COURTIER flattered her as little as did the painter of her
portrait in the Uffizi Gallery.
[Illustration:
FEDERICO GONZAGA
MARQUESS OF MANTUA
FATHER OF “MY LADY DUCHESS”
1440-1484
]
Enlarged from a part of Alinari’s photograph (no. 18705) of the fresco,
“The Return of the Exile,” in the _Sala degli Sposi_ of the Gonzaga
Palace at Mantua, painted not later than 1474 by Andrea Mantegna
(1431-1506). See Heinrich Thode’s monograph on Mantegna, p. 56. For
a notice of the Marquess’s life see note 263.
Note 13 page 3. Vittoria Colonna seems to have had this passage in mind
when she wrote, 20 September 1524, to Castiglione in praise of his book:
“It would not be fitting for me to tell you what I think of it, for the
same reason which you say prevents you from speaking of the beauty of my
lady Duchess.”
Note 14 page 3. GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO, (born 1313; died 1375), was the
natural son of a Florentine tradesman and a Frenchwoman with whom his
father had made acquaintance during a business residence at Paris. In
early manhood he engaged in commerce at Naples, and had but little
learning in his youth, although he studied law for a time. Erudition and
authorship became the serious enthusiasm of his life, owing (it is said)
to a chance visit to the supposed tomb of Virgil at Naples. In middle
life he began the study of Greek at his friend Petrarch’s suggestion;
and although he never acquired more than what would now be deemed a
superficial knowledge of that language, as a Hellenist he had no
precursor in Italy. An ardent if somewhat unappreciative admirer of
Dante (whose _Divina Commedia_ he transcribed with his own hands), he
was the first Italian author to write for the common people, instead of
composing books suited only to the learned and patrician classes. His
style was formed by tireless study of classic models, and became a
standard for imitation by his successors.
Note 15 page 3. It is now known that the considerations that led
Boccaccio to underrate his poems and tales, were ethical rather than
literary.
Note 16 page 5. THEOPHRASTUS, (born 374; died 287 B.C.), was a native of
Lesbos, but resided at Athens. He was the chief disciple and successor
of Aristotle, and wrote also upon a great variety of subjects other than
philosophy. His best known work, the “Characters,” is a collection of
sprightly sketches of human types. La Bruyère’s famous book of the same
name was originally a mere translation from Theophrastus. The incident
mentioned in the text is thus described in Cicero’s _Brutus_: “When he
asked a certain old woman for how much she would sell something, and she
answered him and added, 'Stranger, it can’t be had for less,'—he was
vexed at being taken for a stranger although he had grown old at Athens
and spoke to perfection.”
Note 17 page 5. I. e., pages 39-54.
Note 18 page 5. The reference here is to Plato’s “Republic,” Xenophon’s
_Cyropædia_, and Cicero’s _De Oratore_.
Note 19 page 6. In the letter quoted in note 13, Vittoria Colonna wrote:
“I do not marvel at your portraying a perfect courtier well, for by
merely holding a mirrour before you and considering your inward and
outward parts, you could describe him as you have; but our greatest
difficulty being to know ourselves, I say that it was more difficult for
you to portray yourself than another man.”
[Illustration:
FEDERICO DI MONTEFELTRO
DUKE OF URBINO
1422-1482
]
Reduced from Alinari’s photograph (no. 2686) of a marble bas-relief, in
the National Museum at Florence, by some attributed to Mino da
Fiesole (1431-1484).
Note 20 page 6. More than 140 editions of THE COURTIER have been
published. Most of these are mentioned in the list printed before the
Index of this volume. A few of the editions there set down differ from
one another only in title-page; a few others, perhaps, exist only in
some bibliographer’s erroneous mention. Deductions to be made for such
reasons, however, are probably offset by other editions that the present
translator has failed to bring to light.
In the bibliographical notes appended by the brothers Volpi to their
(1733) edition, THE COURTIER is said to have been translated into
Flemish; while in his preface to the Sonzogno (1890) edition, Corio
speaks of the introduction of the book into Japan in the 17th century,
and also of a Russian translation by Archiuzow.
NOTES TO THE FIRST BOOK OF THE COURTIER
Note 21 page 7. “Courtiership” is a sadly awkward rendering of the
Italian _cortegiania_, which implies not only courtesy and courtliness,
but all the many other qualities and accomplishments essential to the
perfect Courtier or (what in Castiglione’s time was the same) the
perfect Gentleman.
Note 22 page 8. The extreme dimensions of the Duchy of Urbino were 64
miles from east to west, and 60 miles from north to south. Its
population did not much exceed 150,000.
Note 23 page 8. The first of the four dialogues is represented as having
been held on the evening of the day after the close of a certain visit
paid by Pope Julius II to Urbino on his return from a successful
campaign against Bologna. This visit is known to have lasted from 3
March to 7 March 1507. Castiglione returned from England as early as 5
March, on which date he wrote to his mother from Urbino: “We have had
his Holiness here for two days.” It seems probable that this fictitious
prolongation of his absence in England was simply a graceful excuse for
not himself appearing in the dialogues.
Note 24 page 8. There were a fief and Count of Montefeltro as early as
1154, and his son was made Count of Urbino in 1216, from which time
their male descendants ruled over a gradually increased territory until
1508, when the duchy passed to the female line. The name Montefeltro is
said to have originated in that of a temple to Jupiter Feretrius, which
in Roman times occupied the summit of the crag afterwards known as San
Leo, in the Duchy of Urbino.
Note 25 page 9. Such a rule as that of the usurping Cesare Borgia
(1502-3) can hardly have been welcome to a population accustomed to the
mild sway of the Montefeltro family.
Note 26 page 9. “DUKE FEDERICO” DI MONTEFELTRO, (born 1422; died 1482),
was a natural son of Count Guidantonio di Montefeltro, as appears from
the act of legitimation issued by Pope Martin V and also from his
father’s testament, by virtue whereof (as well as by the choice of the
people) he succeeded his half-brother Count Oddantonio in 1444. In his
boyhood he resided fifteen months as a hostage at Venice. Later he
studied the theory and practice of war at the Mantuan court, and was
trained in the humanities by the famous Vittorino da Feltre. In 1437 he
married Gentile Brancaleone, who died childless in 1457. Nearly the
whole of his life was spent in military service, as paid ally, now of
one prince, now of another. In this capacity he became not only the most
noted commander of his time, but always displayed perfect and
exceptional fidelity to the causes that he undertook. In 1450 he lost an
eye and suffered a fracture of the nose in a tournament; contemporary
portraits represent his features in profile. In 1454 he began the
construction of the great palace at Urbino. In 1460, at the suggestion
of Francesco Sforza (whom he had aided to become Duke of Milan), he
married the latter’s accomplished niece Battista Sforza, who bore him
seven daughters and one son, Guidobaldo. In 1474 he was made Duke of
Urbino and appointed Captain General of the Church by Pope Sixtus IV,
and was unanimously elected a Knight of the Garter. He died of fever
contracted during military operations in the malarial country near
Ferrara. The vast sums spent by him on public buildings, art objects and
books, and upon the maintenance of his splendid household, were not
extorted from his subjects, but were received from foreign states in
return for war service. Thus at the close of his life he drew a yearly
stipend equivalent to about £330,000.
It is not easy to draw a picture of his character that shall seem
unflattered. Vespasiano, who by years of labour collected his famous
library for him, says that his “establishment was conducted with the
regularity of a religious fraternity, rather than like a military
household. Gambling and profanity were unknown, and singular decorum of
language was observed, whilst many noble youths, sent there to learn
good manners and military discipline, were reared under the most
exemplary tuition. He regarded his subjects as his children, and was at
all times accessible to hear them personally state their petitions,
being careful to give answers without unnecessary delay. He walked
freely about the streets, entering their shops and workrooms, and
enquiring into their circumstances with paternal interest.... In summer
he was in the saddle at dawn, and rode three or four miles into the
country with half-a-dozen of his court ... reaching home again when
others were just up. After mass, he went into an open garden and gave
audience to all comers until breakfast-time. When at table, he listened
to the Latin historians, chiefly Livy, except in Lent, when some
religious book was read, anyone being free to enter the hall and speak
with him then. His fare was plain and substantial, denying himself sweet
dishes and wine, except drinks of pomegranates, cherries, apples, or
other fruits. After dinner and supper, an able judge of appeal stated in
Latin the causes brought before him, on which the duke gave judgment in
that language;... When his mid-day meal was finished, if no one appeared
to ask audience, he retired to his closet and transacted private
business, or listened to reading until evening approached, when he
generally walked out, giving patient ear to all who accosted him in the
streets. He then occasionally visited ... a meadow belonging to the
Franciscans, where thirty or forty of the youths brought up in his court
stripped their doublets, and played at throwing the bar, or at
wrestling, or ball. This was a fine sight, which the duke much enjoyed,
encouraging the lads, and listening freely to all until supper-time.
When that and the audiences were over, he repaired to a private
apartment with his principal courtiers, whom, after some familiar talk,
he would dismiss to bed, taxing them with their sluggish indulgence of a
morning.”
[Illustration:
ALFONSO II OF NAPLES
1448-1495
]
Enlarged from a negative, specially made by Alinari through the courtesy
of Professor I. B. Supino, of a medal, in the National Museum at
Florence, by Andrea Guazzalotti (1435-1495). See Armand’s _Les
Médailleurs Italiens_, i, 48, no. 1.
Note 27 page 9. In a Greek epigram written in a book borrowed from Duke
Guidobaldo, Poliziano (see note 105) praises the lender as the worthy
son of a father who never suffered defeat, ἀνικήτοιο πατρὸς γονόν.
History shows that this phrase was a rhetorical exaggeration, but it
became almost proverbial.
Note 28 page 9. Although long since despoiled of its treasures, the
palace is still one of the architectural monuments of Italy. Many
writers have described its magnificence,—some of the fullest accounts
being those by Bernardino Baldi (1553-1617); Fr. Arnold (_Der
Herzogliche Palast von Urbino_; Leipsic: 1857); J. A. Symonds (“Italian
Byways;” London: 1883; pp. 129-155); Charles Blanc (_Histoire de la
Renaissance Artistique en Italie_; Paris: 1894; ii, 87-90); and Egidio
Calzini (_Urbino e i Suoi Monumenti_; Florence: 1899; pp. 9-46). Baldi’s
description will be found reprinted as an appendix to Rigutini’s (1889
and 1892) editions of THE COURTIER.
For more than fourteen years Duke Federico employed from thirty to forty
copyists in transcribing Greek and Latin MSS. Not only the classics, but
ecclesiastical and mediæval authors, as well as the Italian poets and
humanists were represented in his library, which contained 792 MSS.
Ultimately the collection was sent to Rome, where it forms part of the
Vatican Library.
Note 29 page 9. Born in 1422, Duke Federico was in fact sixty years old
when he died.
Note 30 page 9. In his Latin epistle to Henry VII of England,
Castiglione says that Duke Guidobaldo began to be afflicted with gout at
the age of twenty-one years.
Note 31 page 10. ALFONSO II of Naples, (born 1448; died 1495), was the
eldest son of Ferdinand I and Isabelle de Clermont. As Duke of Calabria,
commanding the papal forces, he defeated the Florentine league in 1479,
and in 1481 drove the Turks out of southern Italy. On his father’s death
in 1494, he succeeded to the crown of Naples; but having rendered
himself obnoxious to his subjects, he abdicated in favour of his son
Ferdinand just before the arrival of Charles VIII of France, and took
refuge in a Sicilian convent, where he soon died, tortured by remorse
for the hideous cruelties that he had perpetrated. His wife was Ippolita
Maria, daughter of the first Sforza duke of Milan; while his daughter
Isabella’s marriage to Giangaleazzo Sforza, the rightful duke, and the
usurpation of the latter’s uncle Ludovico “il Moro” (see note 302),
became the immediate cause of the first French invasion of Italy by
Charles VIII.
Note 32 page 10. FERDINAND II of Naples, (born 1469; died childless
1496), made a gallant but vain stand against the French, and retired to
Ischia with his youthful wife-aunt Joanna. When Charles VIII evacuated
Naples after a stay of only fifty days, Ferdinand was soon able, with
the help of his cousin Ferdinand the Catholic’s famous general Consalvo
de Cordova, to regain his dominions, but died a few weeks later. He
seems to have had no lack of courage; by his mere presence he once
overawed a mob at Naples, and he was beloved by the nation in spite of
the odious tyranny of his father and grandfather.