MARIA, GIOVANNI, AND GARZIA.
_A Father's Vengeance_
"I will have no Cain in my family!" roared out Cosimo de' Medici--"_Il
Giovane_," Duke of Florence, in the forest of Rosignano.
"A Medico of the Medici," prompt in action and suave in repose, his hand
flew to his sword hilt, and the cruel, cold steel of a father's wrath
flashed in the face of Heaven! Duchess Eleanora made one swift step
forward, intent upon shielding her child, but she stood there transfixed
with horror--her arms and hands outstretched to the wide horizon in
silent supplication, her tongue paralysed!
The kneeling boy grasped his father's knees, weeping piteously, and
crying aloud in vain for mercy. Thrusting him from him, and spurning him
with his heavy hunting-boot, he plunged furiously his gleaming blade
into his son's breast, until the point came out between his
shoulderblades!
With one expiring yell of agony and terror, Garzia de' Medici yielded up
his fair young life, the victim of inexorable fate. It was high moon,
and the watchful stars, of course, could not behold the gruesome deed,
but over the autumn sun was drawn a grey purple mist, and gloom settled
upon the Maremma. And as the elements paled and were silent, a hush
overspread wild nature, not a beast in the thicket, not a bird on the
bough, stirred. Sighs siffled through the bracken and the heather, and
the roar of the distant sea died away in moaning at the bar.
With a suffocating sob, as though stabbed to death herself, the Duchess
swooned upon the ground, and, whilst the courtiers in the company
hastened to her assistance, the huntsmen reverently covered the still
quivering body of the young prince with their embroidered livery cloaks.
Not much more than a mile away another corpse was being gently borne by
tender loving hands--it was Giovanni's, Garzia's elder brother, the
young Cardinal.
Giovanni de' Medici was dead--Garzia was dead; and two virgin souls were
winging their flight to join their murdered sister Maria in the Paradise
of Peace.
* * * * *
Cosimo, Duke of Florence, was the son of Giovanni de' Medici--called
"_delle Bande Nere_" and Maria de' Salviati. Born in 1498, at Forli,
Giovanni--also known as "_Giovannino_" to distinguish him from his
father Giovanni, "_Il Popolano_"--was destined from his cradle to a
military career. With such a mother as Caterina, the natural daughter
of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, he was bound to acquire with
her milk the instincts of a pushful personality.
Pope Leo X., who was a Florentine of the Florentines, extended his
zealous patronage to the rearing and the training of his youthful
relative. If not a caster of horoscopes, he was a reader of character,
and, son as he was of Lorenzo "Il Magnifico," he foresaw a future for
"_Giovannino_" fraught with immense importance to his family and his
native city.
After receiving his early training as a soldier in Rome, attached to the
staff of one or other of the _Condottieri_, young Giovanni was appointed
to a military command with the Papal army in Lombardy, when he was
little more than out of his teens. His splendid physique and his prowess
in friendly encounter, revealed the lion that was in him. The leader in
all boyish pranks and rivalries, he displayed intrepid courage and
unfailing resourcefulness when called upon to prove his metal. To strike
quickly and to strike hard, he knew very well meant the battle half
won--hence there was added to his sobriquet two significant
appellations--"_L'Invincible_" and "_Il Gran Diabolo_!"
The troops under his command were, as was the rule in the Papal armies,
composed of motley companies of alien mercenaries and forced levies,
but, in addition, very many soldiers of fortune, attracted by his fame,
rallied to his banner. Very soon the "_Bande Nere_," as Giovanni's
force was called, gave evidence that they had no equals in equipment and
efficiency. Their leader took as his models the infantry of Spain and
the cavalry of Germany. Each man wore a black silk ribbon badge, and
each lance bore its black pennon--hence the "_Bande Nere_."
It has been said of Mars, the God of War, that he was susceptible to the
wiles of Venus, even when intent on deeds of daring, so, too, was it
true of Condottiere Giovanni de' Medici. Although born outside the "City
of the Lily," and the child of a non-Florentine mother, he and his were
always on terms of good relationship with the gentle Duke Lorenzo. His
associations with Florence were of the closest nature, and
"_Giovannino_" was quite content to look for his bride among the
marriageable maidens there.
With an ever open eye to a goodly marriage portion, Messer Giovanni "_Il
Popolano_" viewed the daughters of the Salviati with approval. That
house was famous for its financial prominence--rivalling that of his
own, and Messer Giacopo's three girls were noted for good looks and
clever brains. Whether love, or money, was the magnet, or whether the
two ran together in double harness, young "_Giovannino_" took tight hold
upon the reins, and he and Maria Salviati were betrothed in the autumn
of 1517.
To be sure there was a difficulty about the new marital habitation, for
a soldier upon active service has no settled home. Love, however, knows
obstacles only to overcome them, and so, somehow or another, the young
Madonna brought into the world, one wintry day in February--it was the
nineteenth--1519, her first-born, a son. Cosimo they christened him,
perhaps after his great ancestor Cosimo "_Padre della Patria_"--
"_Cosimonino_." When mother and child could be moved Giovanni sent them,
for safety, into Florence, where they were lovingly welcomed by her
parents, Messer Giacopo de' Salviati and his wife Lucrezia, daughter of
Lorenzo il Magnifico.
Pope Leo X., who had in his heart ambitious desires for the predominance
of his House, not alone in Tuscany but throughout Italy, regarded the
young soldier as one of his most trusty lieutenants. Designing, as he
did, to create Giuliano,--later Duke of Nemours,--King of Naples and
Southern Italy, and Lorenzo,--Duke of Urbino,--King of Lombardy and
Northern Italy, he made Giovanni "delle Bande Nere" Commandant of the
Papal armies.
Leo spent much time in Florence, having the Condottiere by his side, and
using him as an envoy,--first to the King of France, and, then to the
Emperor, in matrimonial negotiations which concerned Giuliano and
Lorenzo. The imbroglio about the Duchy of Milan found him at the head of
the Papal contingent of the Imperial army, but his success as commander
was checked by a disastrous peace concluded by the Pope. The early
years of young Cosimo's life were critical in the affairs of Tuscany; a
fierce struggle for the suzerainty of all Italy was being fought out
between Francis I. and Charles V. The Pope, Clement VII.--Cardinal
Giulio de' Medici--who had succeeded Adrian VI. in 1523, sided with
either party as suited his ambitions best. When favourable to the
French, he handed over one division of the Papal army to the king, who
confirmed Condottiere Giovanni de' Medici in his command.
At Borgoforte he was shot in the knee, and again at Pavia, where Francis
was routed and taken prisoner. The campaign continued and Giovanni was
always in the front rank of battle until, outside Mantua, he was
mortally wounded and died within the fortress, on 30th November, 1526,
at the early age of twenty-nine.
An interesting little story concerns the first anniversary of Cosimo's
birth. His father dreamed, on the eve of that day, that he saw his son
asleep in his cradle, and over his head he beheld a royal crown! In the
morning he did not tell Madonna Maria what he had seen in the
night-watches, but something prompted him to test the will of
Providence. Accordingly he told his wife to take the precious little
babe up to the balcony on the second floor of the Palazzo Salviati, in
the Via del Corso.
"Throw down the child," he cried from the street below. The Madonna
refused, and rated her husband for his madness, but he insisted, and
threatened so vehemently, that at last, in abject terror, she let go her
hold of her babe. The boy leaped from her arms into the air, and, whilst
the distracted mother uttered a wail of anguish, Giovanni deftly caught
his little son in his arms. The child chortled merrily, as if enjoying
his weird experience, and, inasmuch as he never so much as uttered the
slightest cry of fear, the intrepid Condottiere felt perfectly reassured
as to the auspicious presage of his dream.
"That's all right," he exclaimed, "my vision was no fantastic
picture--my bonnie boy will live to be a prince--Prince of Florence!"
Madonna Maria, left so young a widow--she was only
twenty-five--consecrated her life to the care of her young son--just
eight years old--and, under her parental roof in the Via del Corso, she
engaged some of the best teachers of the day to undertake his education.
Cosimonino's aptitude for military affairs and his taste for chemical
studies soon made themselves apparent.
But the doting mother had a secret enemy, her child's enemy indeed, an
enemy so powerful, and by all accounts so relentless, that her life
became a burden in her efforts to shield her boy from peril. That enemy
was no less a person than the Pope!
Clement, of course, knew very well of the existence of Giovanni delle
Bande Nere's son and heir, and whilst he hailed the death of the father
as a gain for his personal ambition, he feared the life of his child
would peril his hopes for Alessandro, his own illegitimate son. Cosimo,
Giovanni's boy, must be kept out of the way at all hazards, and Maria
the widow was very soon well aware of the Pope's aims.
By every means in his power, Clement strove to obtain possession of
little Cosimo, but his mother was as watchful as she was prudent, and,
till her boy reached his twelfth year, she never let him go out of her
sight and keeping. She took him away to remote parts of Italy with
trusty attendants, that the Pope might not discover their whereabouts.
Then she chose a faithful friend of her family, Maestro Pierfrancesco
Riccio da Prato, to superintend his further education. If not the wisest
of teachers, he was admirable for the exact discharge of his duties and
inculcated the best traditions of the Medici.
Together tutor and pupil visited many parts of Central Italy and spent
some time at Venice, the chief subject of their studies being the heroic
doings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. This was the usual curriculum
for growing boys, and doubtless its observance induced that admiration
of tyrannicide which marked the character of so many young Florentines.
In 1523, when Clement so artfully persuaded the Florentine ambassadors
to request the despatch of the two bastards, Ippolito and Alessandro,
to Florence, the only man who maintained his opposition was Messer
Giacopo de' Salviati, and he again protested in person both to Clement
in Rome and before the _Signoria_ in Florence, against the creation of
Alessandro as Head of the Republic. Once more this "loyal citizen"
withstood the bastard Duke, when he put his hand to the building of the
fortress of San Giovanni. Naturally, Messer Giacopo's opposition excited
the animosity of Alessandro, who, if he did not actually inspire his
assassination, was, at all events, privy to it.
But in spite of all, Cosimo grew and flourished, displaying his father's
courage and his mother's prudence. At fifteen, his character appeared to
be already formed. He was grave of aspect and severe in manner, very
backward in forming friendships, and intolerant of familiarities.
In 1536, the Emperor Charles and his court were in residence at Bologna,
and, hearing that young Cosimo de' Medici was also in the city, the
monarch sent for him and received him with marked cordiality. Observing
the young man's bearing and evident force of character, Charles took him
by the arm and, placing his hand upon the lad's shoulder, said to him:
"You are fortunate, young man, to have had for your father a soldier who
made both France and Spain tremble!"
Between fifteen and eighteen we have few records of Cosimo's life and no
hint as to where he was during the terrible years of tyranny and
debauchery in Florence. Anyhow, Duke Alessandro owed him no kindness,
nor did he enter into any relations with him. What dealings he had with
Lorenzino and Giuliano, his cousins, are unknown. They were nearer the
succession to the ducal throne than himself--indeed, the former was
regarded as next heir to Alessandro. In all probability the young man
lived with his mother at the villa at Castello which had belonged to his
father, and kept himself very much out of sight.
* * * * *
The news of Duke Alessandro's assassination very soon got about, and
groups of citizens gathered in the Via Larga and also in the Piazza del
Signoria. Although considerable excitement pervaded those assemblages,
the people remained quiet and self-controlled. "Everybody," as Benedetto
Varchi has recorded, "spoke out quite fully, as though no one doubted
but that the Greater Council of the city would at once be summoned. They
debated as to who would be chosen _Gonfaloniere_, and whether for life
or not. Meanwhile the Council of Forty-eight had assembled at the Medici
Palace at the call of the Cardinal (Cibo), and were in conference in the
long gallery upstairs."
Cardinal Cibo was the son of Maddalena de' Medici, Lorenzo il
Magnifico's eldest daughter. He with Francesco de' Guicciardini and
Francesco de' Vettori had constituted themselves, in a sort of way,
mentors and advisers to the murdered Duke, who was only too glad to free
himself of some of the distasteful duties of State, and confide them to
anyone who would relieve him of them.
As for a successor to Alessandro, the Cardinal at first suggested
Giulio, the Duke's bastard son, a child of eight years of age. The
Council scouted the idea of another regency, and intimated plainly their
intention to seek an adult Head of the Government. Full powers were
given to the triumvirate to carry on State business during the
interregnum--a decision which greatly displeased the populace. On
dispersing from the conference the councillors were greeted with
derisive cries--"If you cannot make up your minds, we must do it for
you!"
During the adjournment the Cardinal and his two successors took counsel
with the Strozzi and other influential men in and beyond Florence, and
called to their aid the four Florentine Cardinals, Salviati, Gaddi,
Pucci, and Ridolfi. Paul III.--naturally anxious to have a finger in the
pie--despatched Roberto negli Strozzi with fifteen hundred mounted men
to hold Montepulciano, and at the same time directed the Cardinals to
join him there. The Papal nominee was Giuliano, younger brother of
Lorenzino, the Duke's murderer--an entirely impossible choice.
Madonna Maria de' Medici was at her father's villa at Trebbio, but at
once she despatched couriers to hasten her son's return from Bologna,
whither he had gone for study and for pleasure. She invited Cibo and
Guicciardini to meet him, and to take counsel with her concerning his
claims on Florence. Instructed by his astute mother, the young man paid
great court to the two visitors, and charmed them exceedingly. The
Cardinal was at once converted to the Madonna's views. Both he and
Messer Guicciardini were struck by Cosimo's appearance--tall, well-made,
and good-looking, he had a manly carriage, and his assured yet courteous
manner left nothing to be desired.
On the three councillors' return to Florence, they were met by Señor
Ferrante de Silva, Conte de Cifuentes, the Spanish ambassador, who was
commanded by his master to support the candidature of Cosimo de' Medici.
The Emperor, Charles V., moreover, sent Bernardino da Rieti as special
envoy, to enforce his views upon the "Forty-eight," and with him went a
force of two thousand Spanish troops from Lerici--where they were in
garrison, partly with a view to overawe the Council, and partly for the
protection of the widowed Duchess Margaret. It was concurrently reported
that the Emperor had another project in view, namely to marry his
daughter to young Cosimo. At any rate, Margaret was directed to remain
in Florence and at the Medici Palace.
Conferences were held daily, both in the Medici Palace and in the
Palazzo Vecchio. To Francesco de' Guicciardini was committed the duty of
formally proposing Cosimo--commonly called "Cosimonino"--as Head of the
State. At once Palla de' Rucellai rose in opposition, but his party in
the Council was in the minority. The deliberations were disturbed by the
entrance of the French ambassador, who came to press upon their
lordships' attention the claims of little Duchess Caterina, Duke
Lorenzo's only legitimate child. The proposition met with unanimous
disapprobation, and fell to the ground.
Outside, in the Piazza, was a shouting, struggling crowd of citizens,
something unusual was going on, and the cries of the people penetrated
the windows of the Council Chamber--"_Evviva il figlio di Giovanni delle
Bande Nere!_" "_Evviva il Cosimonino!_" "_Evviva Cosimo il Duca di
Firenze!_"
The Council rose at once, without coming to a decision, but each member
of it understood the import of that cry, and each was quite ready to
accept the popular verdict. As they regained the street they saw a
youthful cavalier, with a small mounted retinue, surrounded by an
enthusiastic crowd of citizens. They had ridden fast from the Mugello
and were covered with dust.
"Signor Cosimo," wrote Benedetto Varchi, "arrived in Florence with but a
few followers. As the son of Signor Giovanni, of fair aspect and having
always displayed a kindly disposition and a good understanding, he was
liked greatly by the populace, and they hailed him as heir to Duke
Alessandro, with marked affection. Affecting neither grief nor joy, he
rode on with an air of serene importance, showing rather his merit for
the throne than his wish for it. Dismounting at the palace, he visited
Cardinal Cibo, and expressing his regret at the Duke's sanguinary death,
went on to say that like a good son of Florence he had come to place not
only his fortunes but his life at the service of his country."
Cosimo was named Head of the State, not Duke, on four conditions:--
1. To render justice indifferently to rich and poor.
2. Never to disagree with the policy of the Emperor.
3. To avenge the death of Duke Alessandro.
4. To treat his three illegitimate children with kindness.
Those who come to the front through their own genius or their destiny,
upon the first step of the throne accept the conditions of their
appointment, but, upon the last step, they commonly impose their own
upon their makers. Consequently, although but a youth of nineteen years
of age at the time of his opportune arrival in Florence, Cosimo at once
showed his intention of assuming personally and untrammelled the
government of the State. Cardinal Cibo and Francesco de' Guicciardini,
who had been the first to recognise not only his claim but his fitness
to rule, were very tactfully set aside, and others, who might be
expected to assert powers of direction and supervision, were quietly
assigned to positions where they could not interfere with his freedom of
action.
Within six months of his acclamation by the people as "Head of the
State," Cosimo obtained from the Emperor Charles V. the full recognition
of his title of Duke of Florence.
There were great doings at the Palazzo Medici in the May of 1539, when
Cosimo welcomed his bride, Donna Eleanora, second daughter of Don Pedro
de Toledo, Duca d'Alba, the King of Spain's Viceroy at Naples. She was
certainly no beauty, but a woman of estimable qualities, and profoundly
imbued with the spirit of devotion. Hardly, perhaps, the wife Cosimo
would have chosen, had not reasons of State as usual guided him.
Eleanora, nevertheless, proved herself a worthy spouse and an exemplary
mother.
Within the palace Eleanora was shocked to find a little child, "_La
Bia_"--short for "_Bambina_," "Baby"--she was called, some two years
old. No one seemed to know quite who was her mother. Some said she was a
village girl of Trebbio, and others, a young gentlewoman of Florence.
Only Cosimo's mother, Madonna Maria, knew, and she refused to reveal the
girl's identity, but she admitted that "La Bia" was Cosimo's child.
Eleanora would not tolerate her presence in the palace, so Cosimo sent
her off with several attendants to the Villa del Castello, where,
perhaps fortunately, she died on the last day of February the following
year.
The first years of Cosimo's government were years of unrest and peril
throughout Tuscany. The adherents of the dead bastard Duke were neither
few nor uninfluential. Encouraged by the Clementine coterie in Rome, the
members of which had from the first opposed Cosimo's succession to the
Headship of the Republic, they made the Florentine Court a hot-bed of
intrigue and strife.
The party, not inconsiderable, which supported the claims of Giuliano,
younger son of Pierfrancesco the Younger, and brother of Lorenzino,
Alessandro's murderer, gave much trouble. Giuliano, who had been an
associate of the Duke and an abettor of Lorenzino's "devilries," fled
precipitately from Florence, and sought the protection of the Duke of
Milan. Lorenzino's confession was written partly with a view of removing
suspicion from his brother, and to leave unprejudiced the claims of his
father's family. There were many other cliques and parties, great and
small, each bent upon the other's destruction in particular and upon the
undoing of the Republic in general.
By far the most formidable opposition to Cosimo's rule came from Venice,
whence the Florentine exiles, under the command of Filippo negli
Strozzi's two sons, Piero and Roberto, who had married Lorenzino's
sisters, Laudomia and Maddalena, raised, with the assistance of the King
of France, a strong force, and invaded Tuscany.
It needed not the persuasion of Madonna Maria to urge Cosimo to action,
although her active representations to the Emperor--which obtained the
Imperial sanction and promise of co-operation--were important factors in
his resolution. Cosimo gathered together what men he could rely upon in
Florence, and when once his battle-banner was unfurled with the black
pennon of his redoubtable father, numbers of old campaigners hastened to
his support.
On 31st July, 1537, the opposing forces met in the valley of Montemurlo.
Cosimo displayed much of the daring and ability of his father, and
victory was never in doubt. The Strozzi and Baccio Valori were taken
prisoners to Florence, bound upon broken-down farm-horses, and their
forces were dispersed. It was reported that in the heat of the battle
Otto da Montanto, an Imperial officer, riding past Cosimo, lowered the
point of his sword as he shouted, "Forward, Signore, to-day the fortunes
of the Emperor and of Cosimo de' Medici will prevail!"
Cosimo wore no velvet gloves in dealing with his enemies, secret and
pronounced. Arrest, confiscation, torture, banishment, and execution
thinned once more the ranks of the noblest families of Tuscany. Filippo
negli Strozzi, who was regarded as the leader of the anti-Cosimo party,
was taken prisoner and cast into the fortress of San Giovanni.
Apparently his aim was not a restoration of a Papal nominee to the
Headship of the State, but his own advancement to that position. He was
put on the rack, and eventually done to death by Cosimo's orders.
The years 1538, 1539 and 1540, are deeply dyed with the blood of
victims. Florentine vengeance again proved itself satisfied only with
wholesale annihilation. It has been computed that in the latter year
alone, nearly five hundred men and women, chiefly of good family and
high distinction, came by violent deaths. Of these, one hundred and
forty-six were decapitated by Cosimo's express orders!
Perhaps "The Terror" was inevitable, but it revealed in a lurid light
the revengeful and implacable temper of the young ruler. If he had
inherited, through many generations, the craft and pushfulness of the
Medicis, he had also become possessed of some of the brutality of the
Sforzas, through his grandmother Caterina, natural daughter, by the
lovely but dissolute Lucrezia Landriani, of Galeazzo Maria, Duke of
Milan. This prince possessed all the worst points of a Renaissance
tyrant, and was "a monster of vices and virtues": perhaps he was insane,
at all events, Caterina was accustomed to speak of him as "_Uno
Fantastico_!"
There was at least one ray of sunshine in that year of swift, dark
deeds, for, in less than a month after poor little "_La Bia_" had flown
back to Heaven, as lovely and as precious a gift as ever came to gladden
the hearts of young parents was vouchsafed to Cosimo and Eleanora, in
the birth of their first-born, a girl.
In the _Registri dei Battezzati dell' Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore_ is
the following record: "On April 13th, 1540, was baptised a female child
of the Duke of Cosimo, born on the third day of the same month, and she
was registered in the name of Maria Lucrezia." Alas, the joy of that
natal day was marred by the solicitude which the delicacy of the frail
infant caused her father and mother. No one thought she could live, but
Duchess Eleanora was a tender nurse, and her weaning caused the cradle
to rock with hope as well as love.
Just twelve months later a baby brother came to keep little Maria
company, a strong and vigorous boy, dark-haired and sallow like his
Spanish mother. He was christened Francesco, after the patron saint of
his day of birth. Cosimo was not in Florence at the time, he had gone to
pay his respects to the Emperor Charles V. at Genoa.
The object of his visit to the Imperial Court was to thank Charles for
the German bodyguard of _Landesnechte_ which he had sent to Florence to
defend the Medici Palace and its inmates during the three years of
disorder and repression, and to ask for an extension of their services.
Florence was full of Spaniards who had occupied Tuscany in force under
the Commendattore Raimondo da Cardona, and who had helped in the
terrible sack of Prato. They were a menace to peace and order in the
city, and brawls between them and the citizens were of daily occurrence.
Duchess Eleanora perhaps naturally held with her fellow-countrymen,
certainly she made a poor attempt to conceal her dislike for Florence
and its people. At Santa Maria Novella she endowed a chapel for Mass,
which served as a rallying-point for the foreigners, and acquired
thereby its name, _Cappella degli Spagnuoli_.
The Duchess had, however, other than quasi-patriotic duties to perform,
for, in 1542, she again became the mother of a little daughter--Isabella
Romolá they called her, in compliment to beloved Spain. She was, like
Francesco, a healthy child, and she was fair, as "playful as a kitten,"
and thoroughly Medici in temperament.
Cosimo busied himself in peaceful pursuits. He greatly encouraged the
arts and crafts, and set on foot sagacious reformation of the conditions
and activities of the great Trade Guilds. The College of Science was due
to his patronage; and, in 1540, he extended his special protection to
the Florentine Academy--whence sprang the still more famous Accademia
della Crusca.
Still due regard was paid to the exigencies of political peace and the
maintenance of safeguards, Throughout Tuscany Cosimo raised forts and
works of defence. All the more important towns were fortified, and
entrenched camps and bastions were erected at San Martino in Mugello,
and at Terra del Sole. He kept his hand upon the pulse of Florence: no
slackening of restraint was possible. The men who had acclaimed him in
1537 were quite capable of crying out for his supersession at any time.
Fickle indeed were the Florentines ever, but in Cosimo they had a master
who would not let them go.
The Duke's family was growing fast, and each year as it passed gave him
a precious hostage to love and to fortune. The Duchess, in 1543, brought
forth her fourth child, another boy, called Giovanni, after his
grandfather, and in honour of good St John the Baptist, the patron saint
of Florence. Lucrezia followed in 1544, and then there came and went in
1545 and 1546 Antonio and Piero. Garzia was born in 1547. A year sped
by, and in 1549, Ernando or Ferdinando, made his appearance and then
came a barren season, and when, perhaps, it had been concluded that the
Duchess had ceased child-bearing, came a great surprise, one more little
son, in 1554, Piero was his name.
Meanwhile, Maria had been growing fast along with her many brothers and
sisters. At the age of eight or nine she was an attractive little
damsel. "Tall for her age, with a face not only pretty, but
intelligent, and as merry and as full of life as was possible. Her broad
forehead was indicative of more than ordinary mental power." Her thirst
for knowledge and her power of acquisition delighted her doting father
and mother.
Maria was reared with all the care that love and hope could inspire, and
at her mother's knee she learned her first lessons. The unhappy result
of poor young Caterina's education proved to Duke Cosimo that the
convent was no place for her, and, although he placed Alessandro's
illegitimate little daughters, Giulia and Porczia, with the good nuns,
he resolved that no such experience should be that of his own dear
children. The common saying, "The cow that is kept in the stall gives
the best milk" had for him a special significance!
Florentine children were noted for precocity and cruelty. Perhaps the
tragedy of Giacopo de' Pazzi, and the mauling of his mutilated body by
the street urchins, had left their marks on succeeding generations of
boys and girls. The most popular pastime was mimic warfare, wherein the
actualities of wounds and even deaths were common constituents. Every
dangerous sport was encouraged and, if by chance, or by intent, a boy
killed his rival, nobody cared and few lamented. The spirit of revenge
was openly cultivated, and cruelties of all kinds were not reprimanded.
Whether Cosimo's children shared in the general juvenile depravity, it
is impossible to say: they were, as they left the nursery, kept hard at
work with their lessons--Maria certainly, and probably Isabella, shared
the studies of their brothers. At first, Maestro Francesco Riccio, who
had been their father's tutor also, grounded them all in Greek, Latin,
grammar, music, and drawing; and then Maestro Antonio Angeli da Barga, a
scholar and writer of considerable merit, took them through the higher
subjects of composition, poetry, rhetoric, and geometry.
Foreign languages--at least French and Spanish--were not forgotten, for,
before Donna Maria was eight years old, she spoke the latter tongue with
fluency. The very learned Maestro Pietro Vettori, when he joined the
household of the Duke as teacher of Greek and philosophy to Don
Francesco, was greatly struck by the young girl's attainments, and so
charmed was he by her sprightly manner, that he obtained permission for
her to join her brother's lessons.
Donna Maria, before she was twelve, could read and quote Homer with
ease. She composed elegantly in Greek and Latin, and, possessed of a
remarkably sweet and sympathetic voice, she was able to recite from
memory, and even to expound her own juvenile opinions, both in Latin and
in Tuscan.
Cosimo and Eleanora inhabited the Medici Palace, in the Via Larga, just
five years, and then he transferred his official residence to the
Palazzo Vecchio. This he did to show that he was absolute ruler of
Tuscany as well as head of the Medici family. With the skilled
assistance of Tasso, the architect, and Vasari, the painter, he set
about structural and decorative alterations and adornments, which
rendered the old building more suitable as a residence for the
Sovereign.
In 1549 Duchess Eleanora purchased the Pitti Palace from Buonaccorso
Pitti, for 9000 gold florins, and laid out the adjacent gardens. There
the Duke and Duchess took up their residence with their family and their
suite.
* * * * *
Among young aspirants to fame and fortune, who enrolled themselves in
the "_Bande Nere_," were several scions of the proud and warlike Rimini
family of Malatesti. One branch of the family held the Marquisate of
Roncofreddo, and their stronghold was the castle of Montecodruzzo.
Marquis Leonida de' Malatesti was the happy father of many sons and
daughters. After the premature death of the Condottiere Giovanni de'
Medici, his sons maintained their allegiance and devotion to the cause
of his son Cosimonino.
Giacopo and Lamberto, elder sons, became esquires of the young Medico,
and were of the party which entered Florence on that memorable day in
1537. A younger boy, Malatesta, followed his brothers' example, for, in
1548, in the list of officers and men of the Ducal household in
Florence, appears his name as a page, but of the tender age of ten.
The lad was possessed of the vigour and spirit of his race, and it
required all the patience and tact of Frate Cammillo Selmi, the Master
of the Pages, to keep him in order. His pugnacious disposition attracted
the attention of the Duke, and his pretty looks and fair hair charmed
the Duchess. One other recommendation the young boy had--his father's
fidelity and worthy services, and he was looked upon as a pet of the
palace, and became rather a playmate than an attendant of the Duke's
family. Besides, his mother was a Florentine--she was Madonna Cassandra,
the daughter of Messer Nattio de' Cini, a devoted adherent of the
Medici.
Many were the escapades in which Francesco, Giovanni, Garzia, and
Ernando, the Duke's sons, were joined by young Malatesta de' Malatesti
and other pages of the household. One such boyish prank, when the Court
was at Pisa, in the winter of 1550, had a tragic ending. In the pages'
common room the lads were playing with shot-guns, which were supposed to
be unloaded. Picking up one of these, by mere chance, Malatesta aimed it
jokingly at his companions, when to his and their alarm the weapon
exploded, and, sad to behold, poor young Francesco Brivio, a son of
Signore Dionisio Brivio of Milan, a fellow page, fell to the ground
mortally wounded.
Consternation reigned in the palace, the Duke's private physician,
Maestro Andrea Pasquali, was sent for in all haste from Florence, and
everything was done for the unfortunate lad, but, on the fourth day--it
was just before Christmas--the promising young life passed away.
Malatesta, with his heart breaking, was confined in the guard-room, and
there he remained pending the Duke's decision. Every one was grieved
beyond measure at the tragic occurrence, but all took Malatesta's part.
The young Medici were eager and united in their version of the affair,
moreover Donne Maria and Isabella were filled with pity for the unhappy
young prisoner. Indeed, the former regarded him with a sister's love:
she was just ten and the lad thirteen, and she pleaded with the Duchess,
her mother, to have the boy released.
The Duke sent for Signore Tommaso de' Medici, the Chamberlain of the
Court, and gave him instructions to set the boy at liberty, after
administering the useful punishment of twenty strokes with a birch rod,
and giving him a severe reprimand and caution!
Signor Brivio and his wife, of course, were dreadfully cast down by
their sad bereavement, and both wrote piteously to the Duke, and so did
Marchese Leonida de' Malatesti. Cosimo sent very sympathetic letters in
return: that to the Marchese was as follows: "... Consideration has been
given ... it has not been found that there was any malice between the
boys.... Do not trouble yourself any further about the matter, for your
boy remains in our service, in which we hope he will behave as he ought,
and we hold you in the same esteem as we have ever done. May God
preserve you."
Young Malatesta grew to be a fine, high-spirited soldier of the Duke's
bodyguard. Loyal to the core to his master, and ambitious for the honour
of his family, no enterprise was beyond his scope, no obstacle
insurmountable. Intercourse between the princes and princesses and
himself became naturally less familiar, but the affections of early boy
and girlhood are not easily dissipated; and so Malatesta de' Malatesti
and Maria de' Medici found, but, alas, for their woe and not for their
weal!
Whilst boys and young men in Florence were free to come and go as they
liked, and to mix with all sorts and conditions of men and women, the
case was precisely the opposite for girls. Very especially severe were
the restrictions imposed upon the growing daughters of the Duchess
Eleanora. Brought up amid all the austerity and fanaticism of the
Spanish Court, Eleanora de Toledo viewed woman's early life from the
conventual point of view.
Jealous of her children's honour, she fenced her three daughters around
with precautions which rendered their lives irksome to themselves and
troublesome to all who were about them. Maria and her younger sisters
were literally shut up within the narrow limits of the apartments they
occupied in the palace--happily for them it was not the Palazzo Vecchio
but the more roomy Pitti, with its lovely Boboli Gardens.
With carefully chosen attendants and teachers, their lives were entirely
absorbed by religious exercises, studies, and needlework. Rarely were
they seen at Court functions, and rarer still in the city. If they were
allowed a day's liberty in the country, they were jealously guarded, and
every attempt at recognition and salutation, of such as they chanced to
meet, was rigorously checked.
Beyond association with their brothers, and anxiously watched
intercourse with the members of the Ducal suite, their knowledge of the
sterner sex was absolutely wanting. It was in vain that Cosimo
expostulated with his consort; she was inexorable, and, indeed, she
stretched her system so far as to exclude the ladies of the Court.
Perhaps she was right in this, for the Duke himself was the daily object
of her watchfulness!
Cosimo was wont to meet her restrictions by some such remark as "Well,
you see, Eleanora, Maria and Isabella are of the same complexion as
myself; we have need of freedom at times to enjoy the pleasures of the
world."
Love, we all know, cares neither for locks nor bars, and lovely young
Maria de' Medici was surely made to love and to caress. She had many
adorers, whose ardour was all the more fierce by reason of their
inability to press her hand and kiss her lips. She was in 1556
betrothed to Prince Alfonso d'Este, eldest son of the Duke of Ferrara.
He was certainly not in the category of lovers, even at sight, for he
had never seen his bride to be. That was an entirely unimportant
incident in matrimonial arrangements. The union was projected entirely
for political reasons, and chiefly for the putting an end to the
protracted contest for precedence between the two families, which every
now and again threatened to plunge all Italy into war.
Alfonso d'Este was the heir of his father, Ercole II.--of his titles and
wealth, but not of his good looks and polished manners: besides, his
reputation for chastity and sobriety was not of the best. Directly Maria
was told of the arrangement she expressed her disgust and her
determination not to submit to parental dictation. Her reception of the
Prince was cold in the extreme, she declined to see him apart from her
sisters and attendants, and he returned to Ferrara in no amiable frame
of mind.
Meanwhile love, true love, had peeped through the jalousies of Princess
Maria's window, and his arrows had fled their dangerous course unseen by
any but herself, and him whose heart was hers. No one suspected that a
life so guarded could, by any means, be filched from its restraints; but
so it was, and the first gossip sprang out of the mouth of a venerable
Spanish retainer of the Duchess, the faithful _custode_, Mandriano, who
guarded his mistress's door almost night and day.
Traversing one day an unfrequented part of the gardens of the Palace on
the Hill, the old fellow thought he heard voices, and, approaching a
grove of laurels, he descried the young Princess in the arms of
Malatesta de' Malatesti!
The Duchess was furious when Mandriano told her, and immediately
conveyed the portentous news to her husband. Cosimo reflected long and
acted warily, for he made no move for many days. Stealthily he tracked
the unsuspecting lovers to their trysting-place. Mandriano's story was
quite correct.
He summoned the two young people to his private closet, he acquainted
them with the fact that the _liaison_ could not continue, and ordered
Malatesta to prepare for immediate imprisonment--with the loss of all
his honours and the confidence of his Sovereign. The boy pleaded in
vain, and testified to the innocence of the love-making without effect,
except to raise the Duke's anger to a dangerous pitch. Maria threw
herself at her father's feet and appealed for mercy for her lover,
asking that the parental vengeance should fall on her and not on
Malatesta.
"That you shall have, base child of mine," Cosimo cried in a fierce
tone; "see, you shall have the justice of a Roman father!" Then,
plucking out his poignard from its hidden sheath, he stabbed his child
to the heart! Drawing forth the gory weapon, he flung it at the head
of the despairing youth, and, throwing his cloak around his shoulders,
rushed out of the chamber slamming-to the door!
Malatesta must have fallen in a deadly swoon across the lovely form of
his _innamorata_, incapable of speech and action, for, there they were
found, both apparently dead, by brethren of the _Misericordia_, who had
been summoned by the Duke. Malatesta was thrown into prison, and there
he languished for seven long years, without anyone knowing of his
existence. His parents had asked Cosimo repeatedly about the boy, but no
answer was ever given--the Duke having forbidden the subject to be
named.
To the Duchess he prevaricated and hinted that the sudden death of the
child was due to the malignant spotted fever, and that he had given
personal instructions for the immediate removal and interment of her
body. The brethren of the _Misericordia_ might have enlightened the
grief-stricken mother, only they were sworn to secrecy; they knew how
the beauteous young girl had died. They laid her fair body to rest in a
grave unknown even to her father, and not among her people in San
Lorenzo.
Cosimo moved the Court immediately to Livorno, and thence to Pisa, and
there they kept their Lenten fast in strict seclusion. There was
universal grief in Florence where the unhappy Princess, though rarely
seen in public, had become the favourite of the people, through her
fresh young beauty and by what was known of the sweetness of her
character and the brilliancy of her attainments.
Duchess Eleanora and her children mourned piteously for lovely Maria:
there seemed to be no solace for their grief. As for the Duke, he was a
changed man, the bitterness of remorse had turned his natural reserve
into moroseness. He was like one beside himself, his wonted firmness and
self-control, at times, failed to stay him, and he preferred to shut
himself up alone in one of the towers of the castle at Livorno, venting
his passionate despair in fits of weeping and in abject cries of
self-reproach.
No one dared to go near to him, for to all who presumed to intrude upon
his woes he was like a lion roused. That ever ready secret blade might
be whipped out to another's undoing! Still, in calmer moments he
reflected, as Muzio has suggestively written: "Maria was very beautiful,
as beautiful as any child of earth, most courteous and gentle, her
seriousness compelled everyone to respect her, her sprightliness, to
love her. She was pleasing to Heaven, whither she had gone sinless to
reinforce the angelic choir, and to wear the most fragrant coronal of
roses among the companies of holy virgins."
As for the unfortunate young Malatesta, he pined in his dungeon within
the keep of San Giovanni for a while, but "hope springeth ever in
youthful hearts," and his one and consuming thought was of escape. His
conduct seems to have been exemplary, and he gained the sympathy and
friendship of his gaolers. At length he ventured to unbosom himself to a
worthy sergeant of the guard, and this man assisted him, knowing well
what great risk they both incurred.
One evening Malatesta unseen, save by his friend, scaled the prison
wall, and made good his escape from Florence and Tuscany. He did not
venture to seek sanctuary within his father's castle, but, flying to the
coast, boarded a vessel bound for Candia, a fief of Venice, and outside
Duke Cosimo's jurisdiction. Various tales are told of his future
career--some affirm that assassins, in the pay of Duke Cosimo, tracked
him to his doom, and others, that he fell, fighting against the Turks at
Famagusta. Anyhow, the kindly sergeant was put to death by order of the
Duke!
* * * * *
Cosimo de' Medici was not the sort of man to brood very long over
troubles, however prostrating and desperate. He was essentially a man of
action, prompt, eager and able: probably no one ever had a more thorough
confidence in his own ability. There were several questions of supreme
importance, both public and private, which claimed his attention.
The everlasting disagreement between the aristocracy and the democracy
was only partially healed by the alliance of the two against an
autocracy. Cosimo was bent upon being absolute ruler of Tuscany, and
the development of his will raised against him and his Government
constant opposition. He meant to keep his hand tight hold of the bridle
of his charger "Tyranny," and to spur him on where he willed.
The Mediceo-Este dispute still called for firmness and determination.
Tuscany and Florence had certainly a better case than the Romagna and
Ferrara, but intrigue and bribes could achieve what the sword and pen
could not. Cosimo meant to keep on his steel gauntlets, although he
covered them with the fragrant silk gloves of plausibility. With this
idea ever present, he was bent upon retaining the advantage he had
gained over Duke Ercole in the matter of poor young Donna Maria's
betrothal, for he had other daughters to consider. Donna Isabella was
provided for, for better or for worse--alas, that the latter was to be
her sad fate--beautiful, fascinating Isabella de' Medici, but Donna
Lucrezia, nearly fifteen years of age, was the forfeit her father paid
in his gambit of Medicean aggrandisement.
In the July that followed Donna Maria's tragic death, with all the
circumstances and pomp of state ceremonial, Lucrezia de' Medici was
married to Alfonso II., Duke of Ferrara, the same prince who had been
affianced to her sister Maria.
It was not without misgivings that this step was taken: Duchess
Eleanora, in particular, expressed dissatisfaction with the match, and
feared, perhaps superstitiously, the portent of a second unlucky
alliance. Anyhow the preparations for the nuptial day, and the pageants
which accompanied it, drew off the thoughts of all from the terrible
event of Christmas.
Cosimo, however, had other and, from his own personal point of view,
more attractive objects upon which to expend thought and action. As soon
as the marriage festivities were over, he set out with a small suite of
expert surveyors and agriculturists to the Maremma. It was a peculiarly
unhealthy region, and had gone out of cultivation, and its former
inhabitants had deserted it.
The Duke determined to drain the land by cutting a canal right through
from the Arno to the sea. Next, he set to work to afforest the newly
recovered ground, to carve it out in allotments suitable for
agricultural pursuits, and to encourage the settlement of vigorous
working peasant-tenants. A certain portion of the estates he set apart
to his own use for the preservation of wild game. He rebuilt and
enlarged the ruined castle of Rosignano, ten miles from Livorno, for the
occupation of himself and his family and for his hunting associates.
At Pisa he had peculiar interests. The University, which Lorenzo "il
Magnifico" had refounded, had been abandoned by his successors and was
closed. Cosimo took the matter up: he re-established all that had been
done by his illustrious predecessor, and endowed a number of
professorial chairs--especially in chemistry, wherein he was himself an
ardent student and sapient expert--and kindred sciences, and founded
scholarships or apprenticeships for youths of every station.
The climate of Pisa suited Duchess Eleanora and young Don Giovanni--who
was a delicate lad--better far than that of Florence; it was sedative
and not so rigorous in winter as that of the higher Val d'Arno. Then,
too, they were there within easy reach of their favourite seaside
residence, Livorno, in whose harbour rode constantly galleons of war
from Spain flying the Duchess' own dear country's ensign.
Cosimo and his family of course had many other distractions from the
affairs of State. In addition to his attainments as a chemist, in which
science he especially interested his eldest son, Francesco, he excelled
in his knowledge of botany. With passionate devotion to an attractive
subject he taught his children the nature and the use of all growing
things. At the Pitti Palace he had his laboratories.
Printing and the printing-press found in Cosimo an ardent patron. Away
in the grounds of the Casino di Cosimo--"_Il Padre della Patria_"--within
the confines of the monastery of San Marco, he printed, bound, and
published, literary works of all kinds. Torrentino, Paolo Giovio,
Scipione Ammirato, Benedetto Vasari, Filippo de' Nerli, Vincenzio
Borghini, and many other writers, printers, and critics, collectors,
forgathered at the Ducal studios.
Architecture and the embellishment of the city had also Cosimo's active
sympathy: piazzas, bridges, fountains, statues, still bear the marks of
his supervision. Benvenuto Cellini, Michael Angelo Buonarroti, Baccio
Bandinelli, Giovanni da Bologna, Bernardo Buonlatenti, Francesco
Ferrucci, Tribolo, Giorgio Vasari, were among his protégés and personal
friends.
In all these enterprises he shared his pleasures with his sons, and so
the years passed on with rays of brilliant sunshine piercing the clouds
of darkling deeds. Alexandre Dumas has well summed up the character of
Cosimo de' Medici: "He had," he says, "all the vices which rendered his
private life sombre, and all the virtues which made his life in public
renowned for splendour; whilst his family experienced unexampled
misfortune, his people rejoiced in prosperity and gladness."
Perhaps in the delights of music and dancing and in the invigorating
exercises of the chase, Cosimo found his best-loved relaxation. No
Florentine valued more thoroughly, and shared more frequently than he,
in the layman's privilege of assisting in the choir of the Duomo at the
singing of the "Hours." Musical reunions in the gardens of the Pitti
Palace were of constant recurrence, where he and his children danced and
sang to their hearts' content, amid the plaudits of the company.
The Duke easily excelled all his courtiers and the many distinguished
visitors who made Florence their rendezvous, in exploits in the
hunting-field. No one rode faster than he, always in at the death,
whether buck or boar, he was second to none as a falconer. He knew every
piscatorial trick to take a basketful of fish, and in the game of
water-polo, in the Arno, no swimmer gained more goals!
In the middle of October, 1562, the Duke and Duchess, with their four
sons, Giovanni, Garzia, Ernando, and little Piero--only eight years
old--accompanied by a limited suite, left the Palazzo Pitti for a
progress through South Tuscany and the Maremma. At Fuicchio and Grosseto
they made sojourns, that the Duke might inspect the new fortifications,
which were nearing completion, and view the partly formed roads.
The cavalcade passed on to Castiglione della Pescaia, Massa Maritima,
and thence to the Castello di Rosignano, where they went into residence
for the hunting season. The members of the Ducal family were not in very
robust health, and Maestro Stefano had "indicated" the healthy pastime
of the chase as a cure for enfeebled constitutions. Don Giovanni, born
28th September, was just nineteen. He was of a gentle disposition,
serious beyond his years, amenable to the dictates of conscience, and
attracted by the offices of religion. In many ways he resembled his
mother, and was physically more of a Spaniard than a Florentine. From
his earliest years he evinced a remarkably docile submission to all who
were placed over him as teachers or governors. He was gifted with great
ability, for, sharing as he did, the studies and duties of his brothers,
he very soon surpassed them all in polite accomplishments. Francesco
Riccio, now the Duke's Major-domo, noted the young prince's
cheerfulness, conscientiousness and diligence. The reports which Maestro
Antonio da Barga made to his father of his son's progress were full of
praise of his young pupil's aptitude and perseverance. Giovanni de'
Medici was, in many respects, a brilliant exponent of Count Baltazzare
Castiglione's _Cortegiano_ or "Perfect Gentleman."
Cosimo expected great things of his amiable and accomplished son, and,
noting especially his sobriety and integrity, destined him for the
service of the Church. Pius IV. succeeded to the Papal throne in 1559,
and his election was in a great measure due to the advocacy of the Duke
of Florence. In January of the following year, he invited young Giovanni
to visit Rome, and immediately conceived an immense fancy for his
charming visitor. Giovanni was preconised Cardinal-Deacon, with the
title of Santa Maria in Domenica, and the Pope presented him his own
private residence, with its appointments and household. The young
Cardinal spent some weeks in the Eternal City, and gathered around him,
by his courtesy and liberality, most of the Florentine exiles in Rome
and its environs. They were generally in a woeful condition, and the
young prince undertook to bring their misfortunes and their fervent
wishes before his father.
The Cardinal of Lorraine and the Cardinal Camerlengo Ascarno Sforza had
previously visited the Tuscan Court, and had received Cosimo's consent
to his son's acceptance of the biretta.
Giovanni Battista Adriani in his _Istorie di Suoi Tempe_, has placed on
record that this youthful Prince of the Church was "of mature judgment
and wise beyond his years, and of such a bearing that it would have been
difficult to have found anyone more attractive, more seemly in his
morals, and very sensible." In Rome Giovanni gave himself up especially
to the study of antiquities, and he became a great favourite with the
many pious, learned, and distinguished men who were gathered round the
mild and religiously-minded Pontiff.
Cardinal de' Medici's secretary was the erudite and upright Abbot Felice
Gualterio, who subsequently gathered together his letters and literary
compositions, "wherein are noble and benevolent expressions of his
affection for his father and mother and his brothers and sisters."
Garzia, two years his junior, is often named with sincerest love and
pleasure.
Pius, constant in his devotion to the young Cardinal, added to his
honours and prerogatives by creating him, early in 1561, Archbishop of
Pisa, but, inasmuch as he had not reached the age prescribed for holding
ecclesiastical preferments, Canon Antonio da Catignano was appointed
Administrator of the spiritualities of the See. However, in March, the
young Archbishop made his ceremonial entry into Pisa, accompanied by the
Duke and Duchess, with their family and court.
The Pope greatly desired that Cardinal Giovanni should enter Holy Order,
and to this the young prince cordially and reverently acceded, but, for
reasons of his own, Cosimo declined his consent, remarking that "a
prince of his house was more distinguished than a consecrated prelate."
As a set-off to this discourteous reply to Pius, the Duke, whilst at
Pisa, founded the military order of San Stefano, as a thank-offering for
the subjugation of Siena, much after the pattern of the Knights of
Malta--constituting himself Grand Master and the Cardinal, Chancellor.
Giovanni actually undertook his duties as Archbishop by granting letters
of appointment to benefices within his diocese. One is dated 24th
October, 1562, and was addressed to the Bishop of Arezzo, about the
presentation to a certain abbey which had become vacant upon the death
of Cardinal della Cueva.
It was at this period that Pius wrote to Duke Cosimo, suggesting a
matrimonial alliance between the Duke's eldest son, Don Francesco,--who
was undertaking a princely tour of the chief European Courts for the
double purpose of making himself known personally to the various
Sovereigns, and of looking out for a suitable consort,--and the Princess
Maria Garzia of Portugal. The proposition was backed up by an offer of
the kingly title to the Duke. Both propositions fell to the ground, but
Pius, in his eagerness to render the Duke of Florence homage, and to
prove his gratitude, asked his acceptance, for his young son Garzia, of
the command of a Papal ship of war.
Garzia, the third of Duke Cosimo's surviving sons, was born on 1st July,
1547. His baptism, for some unknown reason, was delayed three years, and
not until 29th June, 1550, was he held at the ancient font in the
Battisterio di San Giovanni, having for his sponsor Pope Julius III.,
who was represented by Jacopo Cortese da Prato, Bishop of Vaison, the
writer of a curious letter descriptive of the ceremony.
The little fellow was a thorough Medico, full of spirit, frank, and
daring. Blessed with the good looks of his father's family, he was the
merriest among his brothers and sisters. Mischievous, and passionate
too, at times, he endeared himself especially to his mother by his
fascinating manners and his whole-hearted devotion.
Whilst regarding his brilliant son Giovanni, perhaps, with the keenest
affection, Cosimo saw in his younger boy traits not unlike his own, and
an instinctive love of arms. Garzia then was from the first years of
boyhood destined for a military career, having placed before him the
splendid example of his redoubtable grandfather, "Giovanni
_L'Invincible_."
Upon his thirteenth birthday, the Duke appointed his gay young son
Admiral of the Florentine fleet at Pisa, naming as his Vice Admiral,
Baccio Martelli, the most valiant and best experienced naval commander
in his forces, and the head of one of the most ancient Florentine
families.
In spite of Cardinal Giovanni's expression of affection for his younger
brother, there is no doubt that he was not a little jealous of his
mother's partiality for Garzia. One would have thought that Duchess
Eleanora would have regarded with special delight and love the son who
most resembled herself in appearance and disposition; but perhaps the
reason for her preference may be gathered by looking into the happy,
radiant, laughing face of her bonnie little son, as painted by Angelo
Bronzino at the Uffizi in Florence!
It would seem that when the Court reached Rosignano the Duchess,
Giovanni, and Garzia complained of fever, and they were for a few days
confined to the house. The good air and the charm of country life were
specific, and the invalids regained their vigour and their good spirits,
and all were eager for the sport. Each day had its particular
rendezvous, and what form the pastime should take was agreed overnight
by the chief huntsmen and falconers.
The Duchess Eleanora did not always accompany her husband, and
Ernando--who was not quite thirteen--generally remained with his tutors
at the Castle until afternoon, when they both sallied forth, with little
Piero, to meet the returning-hunting party. Upon the ever-memorable
twenty-sixth of November the Duchess had been persuaded by Don Giovanni
to go with them, for there was to be a deer-drive in the forest between
the castle and Livorno, and he expected to have a chance of exhibiting
his skill as a marksman at a notable full-grown roebuck.
Giovanni and Garzia were equally fearless riders, and very soon after
the game had been rounded up, the special quarry they were after went
off at a tremendous rate, out-distancing his pursuers until he was lost
in the forest. The brothers separated and met again in an open glade,
where both descried the buck, quietly browsing upon the fresh green
grass. Garzia seems to have sighted the animal first, but whilst he was
somewhat slow in bringing his weapon to his shoulder, the Cardinal
aimed, fired, and dropped the game. He at once dismounted and ran to
claim the prize. High words followed, and, when Giovanni made some
insulting remark about his less mature station as a marksman, Garzia,
over-heated by the chase, and aggravated by his brother's raillery,
hastily drew his heavy hunting-knife and brandished it before Giovanni's
face, threatening to do for him if he did not desist, and withdraw his
claim to first shot.
Giovanni pushed the boy from him, perhaps somewhat roughly, and then
Garzia, having entirely lost command of himself, struck a blow at his
brother which wounded him severely in the groin. Giovanni fell to the
ground, exclaiming, "And this from you, Garzia. May God in Heaven
forgive you. Call help at once."
The blast of the horn soon gathered round the unhappy brothers courtiers
and huntsmen. Giovanni was bleeding freely, his hose and buskins were
saturated, and Garzia was weeping piteously, and crying out
despondently, "Oh God, I have killed Giovanni! Oh God, I have killed
Giovanni!" A huntsman snatched up the gory lethal weapon, lest the boy,
in his despair, should turn it upon himself.
All that they could do to staunch Giovanni's wound they did, and having
made a temporary stretcher with guns and hunting-cloaks, the little
cavalcade was preparing to move on to seek further assistance. They had
not proceeded very far when the Duke and his attendants rode upon the
scene. Halting the bearers of his son he enquired who it was they
carried. Before any one could make a reply, Don Garzia ran shrieking up
to his father.
"It is me, your Garzia, I have killed Giovanni," he cried out in abject
terror.
Cosimo motioned the sorrowful bearers to proceed, and they and their
burden were no sooner out of sight than Duchess Eleanora came up in her
sedan-chair, terribly agitated by the cries she had heard in the forest.
She approached her husband and found him standing lost in thought, with
that terrible expression upon his face which he exhibited once before
when she had enquired for her first-born, Maria!
There, too, on the sward, was her favourite son, her Garzia, apparently
in a swoon, and she advanced to aid him. Garzia heard his mother coming
towards him and, rousing himself, he ran and threw himself into her
arms, weeping bitterly.
Then once more he turned to his father pleadingly, and kneeling to him,
grasped his legs, imploring pardon for his crime--for neither father nor
son doubted but that Giovanni was dead. Baring his head, and holding his
arms wide apart to Heaven, the Duke appealed to God to direct his
actions. Then, turning to his son, grovelling at his feet. "Behold, thy
brother's blood," he cried with bitterness, "asks vengeance of God and
of me, thy miserable father; and now I shall deal with thee alone.
Certainly it is a heinous crime for a father to kill his son, but it
would be a still more grievous sin to spare the life of a parricide,
lest he went on to exterminate his family, and lay their name in the
dirt, to be execrated of all men. I have now resolved what to do, for I
would far rather live in history as a pitiless father than as an unjust
Sovereign."
The Duchess, judging that Cosimo actually intended to slay his son, and
knowing how fruitless any efforts of hers would be to avert such a
terrible calamity, fell upon her knees and prayed aloud to Heaven to
save the poor, young boy, and spare her own broken heart. Shutting her
eyes, and covering her ears, she awaited, more dead than alive, the fall
of that hand, within which was convulsively grasped a flashing poignard!
Cosimo once more prayed most earnestly to God to approve the justice of
his deed, to pardon him for so executing the Divine wrath, and for peace
for the souls of his young sons. Then, bending towards the unconscious
Garzia, he exclaimed, "I will have no Cain in my family," and, at the
same moment, he plunged his weapon into the heart of his boy.
With a last despairing shriek Garzia fell away, crying, as he expired,
the one word "Mother!"
The Duchess also lay upon the grass, still as death; indeed, her heart
had stopped its beat when Cosimo raised her, and bid her sternly to act
the woman. She was speechless and demented, and at the sight of her dear
son's crimson blood colouring the fresh verdure where he had fallen,
she lost her reason, and her cries and shrieks resounded through the
forest.
From all sides courtiers and huntsmen appeared upon the scene. The Duke
silently waved them away, and, beckoning four of the most trusty of his
retainers, he bade them pick up the dead body of the young prince and
bear it after him, whilst he commanded the lacqueys to carry back the
Duchess in her sedan-chair to the Castle.
Asking which way the bearers of the murdered Giovanni had taken, he
ordered his own cortege to follow on to Livorno. Arrived at the palace,
the corpses of the two unfortunate young princes were arranged for
burial. Upon baring Don Garzia's body, a fresh wound was discovered _in
his back_, but whether by the hand of Don Giovanni no one ever knew.
This fact, however, was reported to the Duke and furnished him with a
satisfactory reason for the double tragedy--for he deemed it wiser just
then that the truth should not be published!
Solemn obsequies were celebrated in the Duomo of Pisa. Don Giovanni was
honoured with all the gorgeous ceremonies due to a Cardinal Archbishop,
and some say his body was left there, whilst the burial of poor Don
Garzia was completed by a simple service in San Lorenzo in Florence. The
cause of the twofold lamentable occurrence was officially ascribed to
malarial fever--the two young victims having contracted, as it was
said, the fatal malady during the progress of the Court through Tuscany.
The Duchess Eleanora did not long survive her sons. She never left her
bed in the Castle of Rosignano until she was carried for expert advice
and treatment into Pisa. Prince Francesco returned in haste, from his
tour of the Courts, and did much, by his loving sympathy, to revive his
stricken mother. Still of no real avail were all the remedies, for she
breathed her last one month after that terrible day in the forest, and
her body was borne sorrowfully into Florence, and, within the octave of
Christmas laid beside her dearly-loved Garzia.
As for Duke Cosimo, Don Francesco found him a changed man, aged by a
good ten years, silent, morose, and indifferent to all that transpired
around him.
News of the tragedy was current in the city of Trent, where the
Aecumenical Council was in session, and it made a great impression upon
the assembled prelates and assistants. Masses were offered for ten days
for the repose of the souls of Giovanni and Garzia, and devotions were
addressed to Heaven on behalf of the father who had--no one there for a
moment doubted--been the avenger of one son's blood and the spiller of
the other's.
Within two years Cosimo de' Medici--ever pursued by an accusing
conscience and diverted only from suicide by indulging in every
sensuality within his power, executed an instrument of abdication of
his sovereignty, naming Don Francesco Regent of the Duchy, and retaining
for himself no more than the title of Duke of Florence.