Guidantonio Count of Urbino--The Ubaldini--Oddantonio Count
of Urbino--Is made Duke--His dissolute habits and speedy
assassination.
Count Guidantonio found himself, on his succession, hampered by debts
incurred in purchasing another ample investiture in vicariate from
Boniface IX., which cost him 12,000 golden florins. But prudence
quickly retrieved these embarrassments, and not only enabled him to
add materially to his territories and influence, but to raise his
house to unprecedented distinction. In 1408, the mountain republic of
Assisi sought protection from his sway; and this was approved by
Gregory XII., to whom he adhered in opposition to the antipope
Benedict XIII.[*37] The disgraceful schisms which at this time
agitated Europe, and convulsed the Church, had their influence upon
the Count of Urbino, who refused to desert Gregory when he and his
rival Benedict were simultaneously deposed by the general council of
Pisa, as a means of restoring union and peace to Christendom.
Ladislaus of Naples, adopting the same policy, appointed the Count his
grand constable, and leader of the war he was carrying on against
John XXII., the _de facto_ pope, by whom he was consequently
excommunicated. Guidantonio, however, made his peace with the Church
in 1413, and was created its gonfaloniere, and vice-general of
Romagna; thereafter he was for some time occupied against Braccio di
Montone, who carried fire and sword into his territories, on his
failing to make good part of the ransom of Carlo Malatesta, for which
he had become security.[*38] This Braccio was a fair specimen of
Italian captains of adventure. His ancestors were among the magnates
of Perugia, which, under the guidance of an oligarchy, had stretched
its sway over much of Umbria, extending almost from sea to sea. "But
man's estate being ever unstable, when its citizens, indolent by
inclination, had thus greatly augmented their dominion and wealth,
their pride swelled with their means. They who had vanquished their
neighbours, waxing savage in their very vitals, set to conquer each
other; hence there arose fierce discords and cruel feuds. Verily the
city of Perugia was in those days most liable to changes, for it was
alternately governed by the nobles, or seized by the mob; in either
case supremacy having been obtained by arms and violence, rather than
by equity and moderation, the victors cruelly massacred or exiled
their opponents." This quaint description, borrowed from Campano, the
biographer of Braccio, was then applicable to almost every city and
township of the Peninsula. It was his hero's fate to be expatriated in
early life by some such convulsion, and nothing was left him but his
good sword, to cut his way therewith as a condottiere, until he
established a despotic authority in his birthplace, and won a high
place in the martial annals of Italy. Even after his death at the Lake
of Celano, his name was during half a century cherished by his
followers as the prestige of victory, and we shall often find the
Braccian bands, under Nicolò Piccinino, opposed to those of his
constant rivals the Sforza.
[Footnote *37: The Chronicle of Gubbio tells us that Cardinal
Maramaldo, legate of the Pope in Umbria, had been promised the
lordship of Assisi for his services, and that at this time he was in
secret treaty with the Perugians to deliver Assisi to them. "Di che
accortisi," says CRISTOFANI (_op. cit._, p. 213), "i cittadini di
Gubbio poco mancò, che non lapidassero il legato. Certo poi egli ebbe
in seguito Assisi e la resse con titolo di vicario della Chiesa.
Difatti in una sentenza registrata in forma pubblica a dì 18 di agosto
1413 in favor del monastero di S. Apollinare contro l'altro di S.
Paolo si legge: _nobilis ac potens comes Riccardus de ... gubernator
Assisii pro illustri ac potenti domino Guidantonio comite montis
feretri Assisii et Umbriæ pro S.R.E. Vicario_" (Archivio di S.
Apollinare in Assisi). The domination of Guidantonio in Assisi is much
better confirmed by a series of letters at various times directed by
him to the public officials of Assisi that are given in the
_Riformagioni_, lib. H, VII. One of these is given dated, 29 July,
1415, from Gubbio, by CRISTOFANI (_op. cit._, p. 214, note 1).]
[Footnote *38: About 1416 the power of Braccio was very great. The
Perugians had lost to him nearly all their fortified places; for this
cause they hired Carlo Malatesta of Rimini, who was at the head of
some 2000 horse and 800 infantry in Assisi; others, too, flocked to
him. Towards the middle of July Carlo and his nephew Galeotto,
half-brother to the famous Sigismondo, fell into the hands of Braccio,
as some say, after the battle of S. Egidio, near Bastia, between
Perugia and Assisi. The ransom was 120,000 ducats. See CRISTOFANI,
_op. cit._, p. 215, and EDWARD HUTTON, _op. cit._, pp. 17-18.]
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF S. EGIDIO
_After the picture by Paolo Uccello in the National Gallery. Portraits
of Carlo Malatesta and his nephew Galeotto "il Beato"_]
Cardinal Ottone Colonna, formerly bishop of Urbino, having been raised
to the papacy in 1417, by the title of Martin V., Guidantonio lost no
time in rendering him homage by an envoy, whom he next year followed
in person, meeting the Pontiff at Mantua. His well-timed adhesion was
repaid by a life-grant of the dukedom of Spoleto, after which he
returned to defend his frontiers from his turbulent neighbour of
Montone. On his arrival in Italy in 1419, Martin found his states
greatly disorganised, and the temporal sway of the papacy deeply
infringed by many seigneurs and communities, who had made themselves
independent during the secession to Avignon, and in the prolonged
schisms which had succeeded the return of Urban VI. to Rome. None of
these had so much reason to dread the reckoning likely to follow the
re-establishment of Christ's vicars in their ancient capital as the
tyrant of Perugia, who was now at the height of his power. Unable to
frustrate the impediments which Braccio threw in the way of his
progress southward, the Pontiff paused at Florence, which he entered
on the 26th of February; but even there he found a populace in the
interest of his rebellious feudatory, and ever ready to outrage him
with such taunts as "Martin Pope, not worth a plack."[39] Aware of the
hazard of delay, and of the importance of gaining over a spirit so
powerful for good or evil, Martin invited Montone to an interview, and
found means to conciliate him by a compromise, recognising him as
vicar of Perugia, Assisi, Todi, and Jesi, on his surrendering Orvieto,
Terni, Narni, and Orte.[*40] He at the same time engaged his military
services to reduce Bologna, then standing out for the deposed Pope
John XXIII., who, on the fall of that his last stronghold, repaired to
Florence to make submission to the reigning Pontiff, and died there in
the end of that year.[*41] Martin's difficulties being thus overcome,
he was enabled during the autumn to proceed in peace to Rome, and
there to re-establish the metropolis of Christendom.
[Footnote 39:
"Papa Martino
Non val' un quatrino!"]
[Footnote *40: But see L. FUMI, _Guidantonio e la Città di Castello_,
in _Bollettino per l'Umbria_, vol. VI., pp. 377-401.]
[Footnote *41: Cf. L. BONAZZI, _St. di Perugia_ (Perugia, 1875), vol.
II., p. 641.]
The Pope had availed himself of Braccio's visit to Florence to call
thither the Count of Urbino, in order to effect a reconciliation
between these rivals. Guidantonio, on this occasion, had from the
magistracy of that city, as well as from his own over-lord, a highly
honourable welcome, and in March, 1420, received, at the hands of his
Holiness, the Golden Rose, a compliment usually conferred upon
royalty.[*42] Three years later, he found himself widowed by the death
of Rengarda, daughter of Galeotto Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, whom he
had married in 1397, and who left him childless. After an interval, he
strengthened his intimate relations with the Pontiff, by marrying
Caterina, daughter of his brother Lorenzo Colonna, an alliance which
secured him a series of further favours, in addition to a dowry of
5200 florins of gold. The nuptials were celebrated at Rome with great
rejoicings, in the spring of 1424.[*43]
[Footnote *42: The Golden Rose was conferred not infrequently on
others besides royalty. Sigismondo Malatesta had it later.]
[Footnote *43: It was in January.]
The house of Urbino had hereditary feuds of long standing with the
Brancaleoni, a race of Guelphic principles, whose fiefs lay along the
Apennines from Gubbio to Montefeltro, including all Massa Trabaria
and the upper valley of the Metauro. Their recurring contests ended in
a victory, or were compromised by a marriage, from which the former
were usually the gainers. Upon pretences which it is needless amid
conflicting statements to investigate, and assured of the Pontiff's
support, Guidantonio had seized upon Castle Durante and other
fortresses in 1424, and on the death of Bartolomeo Brancaleoni,
leaving only a daughter,[*44] he arranged her marriage with his
natural son Federico, whose fortunes we shall hereafter have to
follow. The large territory thus absolutely or virtually placed under
the Count continued with his posterity so long as the independence of
Urbino was preserved.
[Footnote *44: Her name was Elisabetta.]
To the impression which Guidantonio had made on his visit to Florence
some ten years before he probably owed the baton of captain-general,
sent him in the autumn of 1430 by that republic in their campaign
against Lucca. But there he reaped no laurels. In an engagement fought
in the face of his protestations, he suffered from Nicolò Piccinino a
total discomfiture, and, throwing up the command in disgust, he
returned home early next year. About the same time his prosperity
received a further check in the demise of his steady friend the
Pontiff, who lived to see the schism that had perplexed the Church
during half a century finally healed by the death of all his
competitors for the chair of St. Peter. The triple tiara passed to the
brows of Eugene IV., who visited Martin's undue partiality for his own
family the Colonna, by escheats which they flew to arms to avenge. The
Lord of Urbino, naturally leaning to the party of his wife's
relations, lost the Pontiff's favour; but he gained a well-wisher in
the Emperor Sigismund, who, while returning to Germany from his
coronation at Rome, was magnificently entertained at that court, and
conferred the honour of knighthood upon his host and the young Count
Oddantonio.
The death of Countess Caterina, on the 9th of October, 1438, seems to
have in a great degree broken the fine spirit of her husband, who
immediately retired to pass ten days in devotional exercises at
Loretto, and thenceforward devolved all his military cares upon his
natural son Federigo. His few remaining years were given to pious
works, to which the cathedral of Urbino and the church of San Donato,
both founded in 1439, bear witness; and he is said to have then
habitually worn, under his ordinary dress, the habit of St. Francis,
in which he was interred. His death took place on the 20th of
February, 1442,[*45] and he was buried in San Donato, where his cowled
effigy is still seen on the pavement, his spurs of knighthood hanging
from his sheathed sword-hilt, with a barbarous inscription, which will
be found in the Appendix to our third volume.
[Footnote *45: Guidantonio died on February 21, 1443, according to the
inscription on his tomb; but the Chronicle of Gubbio (BERNI, in
MURATORI, _R.I.S._, tom. XXI., p. 981) gives the date as in the text.
The library at Urbino was begun by him.]
On the demise of this prince, who has been sometimes confused with
Count Guido the elder, "the city of Urbino was," in the simple words
of an old chronicle, "left widowed and desolate." Of his character and
merits, whatever has reached us is favourable. The doggerel verses of
his epitaph celebrate his clemency and justice; his religion was
manifested by the tenor of his latter years, the general respect of
his contemporaries honoured him through life, and he left behind him
an extended frontier and a condensed state. His surviving children
were--
1. ODDANTONIO, his successor, born in 1426.
2. BIANCA, married to Guidantonio or Guidaccio Manfredi,
Lord of Faenza and Imola, who had been brought up at her
father's court.
3. VIOLANTE, who was born in 1430, and at twelve years of
age, married Domenico Malatesta Novello, Lord of Cesena. She
was remarkable alike for talent and beauty; and her husband,
who died childless in 1465, left a fine monument of his
literary tastes, in the public library which remains in that
city.
4. AGNESINA, born in 1431, who in 1445 married Alessandro
Gonzaga, Lord of Castiglione, a younger son of the first
Marquis of Mantua.
5. BRIGIDA SUEVA.[46]
[Footnote 46: Regarding this daughter, who was born in 1428, we have
some curious particulars to offer. After her father's death, she was
carried to Rome, to be educated by her uncles the Colonna. There she
married Alessandro Sforza, Lord of Pesaro, in 1448, an alliance rather
of policy than of affection, and was received in his capital with all
demonstrations of joy by her new subjects. Her husband, fully occupied
with war and business, soon after set off for Lombardy: and in sooth
her charms are described, even by her enthusiastic eulogists, as very
homely, and little adapted to fix the roving tastes of her lord, whose
dissolute and brutal conduct exceeded even the licence of that age.
After patient endurance of his outrages during twelve years, she fled
to the convent of Corpus Domini, of the Franciscan order of Sta.
Chiara, at Pesaro, which she enriched with 7500 ducats out of her
dower. That she did not leave behind all mundane tastes may be
concluded from a curious inventory of paraphernalia which she took
into the cloister, printed by the Abbé Olivieri from the original in
her own hand, and contained in II. of our Appendix.[*B]
But even the sacred precincts of her cloister afforded to the unhappy
Sueva no adequate sanctuary from her cruel husband, who, abandoning
himself to a profligate connection with Pacifica, a fair damsel of
Pesaro, sought by renewed persecutions to extort from his wife an
entire release from his matrimonial tie. Her just complaints procured
the interposition of the Colonna; but these were answered by false
charges against her connubial fidelity, which, overawed by the menaces
of Alessandro, that he would consign the monastery and its inmates to
the flames, she tacitly admitted. Thus cut off from human succour, the
afflicted lady had recourse to the support of religion, and whilst
prostrated before a crucifix, her faith was reassured by the
conviction that the figure upon it had turned towards her with
compassionate words. For such woes the world had no asylum. The
outraged wife became the spouse of Christ, by taking the final vows as
Sister Serafina, and sent back to her oppressor the ring that had been
the token of their ill-starred union. His restored liberty was
immediately used to marry Pacifica, whom his cruelties within two
years consigned to a premature tomb. Finally, repenting of his long
criminal career, he sought forgiveness of Serafina, and richly endowed
the convent, of which she had become abbess. After an age of peace,
such as youth, and the world with its gauds, had failed to afford her,
her body was deposited in the cathedral of Pesaro, where it is revered
as a sacred relic, its spirit having, in 1754, received the honours of
beatification, and been associated with Sta. Michelina and S.
Terenzio, as a protectress of that city. I had the good fortune, in
1843, to discover in the Oliveriana Library there, and to rescue from
neglect, a curious piece of furniture that had belonged to the Corpus
Domini, on which were portraits of the Beata Felice who founded that
monastery, and of the Abbess Serafina. They were executed in
distemper, with much of the feeling of Pinturicchio, and the latter of
them has been rudely but faithfully engraved for Olivieri's _Life of
Alessandro Sforza_.]
[Footnote *B: Cf. FELICIANGELI, _Sulla monacazione di Sueva
Montefeltro-Sforza_ (Pistoia, 1903).]
Count Guidantonio also left two natural children:
1. FEDERIGO, afterwards Duke of Urbino;
2. ANNA, AURA, or LAURA, married in 1420 to Bernardino
Ubaldino della Carda, although by some authorities his wife
is incorrectly called _sister_ of Count Guidantonio.[47]
[Footnote 47: The remote origin of the Ubaldini is curiously
illustrated by an inscription, which is among the earliest known
records of armorial bearings. It was inscribed in Gothic characters
upon a stone, originally placed on one of their Apennine castles, but
brought to Florence by a branch of their race, where it was long
regarded as an heirloom. It has been published in Borghini's _Discorsi
Toscani_, II., p. 25, and the following literal translation from its
barbarous Latino-Italian rhymes may be acceptable to our readers. It
was intended to commemorate the erection of the castle, and exhibits,
in rude carving, the Ubaldini arms, a stag's head antlered.
"For this boon
Thanks I render to Christ,
Completed on the fête of the gentle
St. Mary Magdalene;
Ah! do Thou specially pray
To God for me a sinner.
In this my chant,
From the most veritable narration
I in nothing deviate.
In the year one thousand
Of Christ's salvation, and a hundred
Eighty-four,
Chased by hounds
Furiously, I, hard by the
Coppices in Mugello, a stag
By the horns stopped,--
Of old the genius of the Ubaldini,
Subjects of the holy Empire;
Where, rushing on at speed,
I grappled with my hands
At his horns all the while.
The mighty Sir Frederick,
Who observed him thus cumbered,
Having come up, slew him outright.
Thereupon he gifted me with
The forehead, beautifully horned,
And honourably branched;
And desired that it should be
Of my race
The accepted cognisance.
My father was Ugicio,
And my grand-sire Guarento,
Son of Ugicio, son of Azo,
Son of Ubaldino,
Son of Gotichino,
Son of Luconazo.
Q.D.A.A.D.V."
[_Thus read_]
"Who shall sway the Apennines? The favoured house of Ubaldini."
After many a conflict with their neighbours of Florence, the Ubaldini
of Val di Mugello paid the penalty of their Ghibelline principles, by
expulsion from their native fiefs, and were scattered throughout
Central Italy. A branch of them retired to the more distant fortresses
of Umbria, and after lording it for a time over Città di Castello,
found an eventual home on the mountains north of Gubbio, which they
are supposed to have had in dowry with a daughter of the Brancaleoni,
about 1280. Her descendant,
BERNARDINO UBALDINI DELLA CARDA, a gallant condottiere in
the wars of Count Guidantonio, died in 1437, having married
that Count's natural daughter Aura. Their son,
OTTAVIANO UBALDINI DELLA CARDA, will figure in these pages,
as the companion and counsellor of his uncle Count Federigo.
In a lengthened sketch of his character, Giovanni Sanzi, the metrical
chronicler of Federigo's reign, tells us that his native excellences
were amply developed at the court of Filippo Visconti, where he was
brought up under that Duke's immediate eye. During many years he was
chief minister and treasurer of his uncle, to whose interests he
devoted himself with unwearied zeal, discharging his duties with
singular dignity and discretion. Nor did he, amid the cares of state,
forget the improvement of his intellectual gifts. Francesco Filelfo
dedicates a work to him, as a man of great weight and learning.
Porcellio, who had probably shared his bounty, calls him an
indefatigable reader of the poets; and Sanzi thus extends the
catalogue of his acquirements:--
"Well versed he was in classic literature,
And mastered readily theology,
Whilst music's gentle art his pastimes shared:
The secrets of astrology to him
Seemed nature's lesson. Never man than he
A heart more trusty or more leal could boast;
A shrine of truth his bosom. Friend of peace
And justice, merit's steady patron still,
Painters and sculptors solace found in him,
Their almost father."
Berni, the chronicler of Gubbio, applies to Ottaviano and to his
father the epithet Magnificent, a not unfrequent euphuism in Italy,
although with us applied exclusively to Lorenzo de' Medici. In 1473 he
had from Sixtus IV. in special guerdon the privilege of using at his
devotions a portable altar, and authority to legitimise bastards. When
Federigo set forth with sad forebodings on his last fatal campaign of
Ferrara, he confided to Ottaviano the guardianship of his boyish heir
Guidobaldo, and the government of his state, trusts which appear to
have been faithfully and judiciously fulfilled. Yet Bembo has
perpetuated what was probably a vile slander, or at best the
suggestion of ignorant drivelling, that the alleged impotence of Duke
Guidobaldo was occasioned by magical arts resorted to by his guardian,
who had been named next heir of his state. Ottaviano breathed his last
at Cagli in 1498, leaving by his wife Angela Orsini, an only son
Bernardino, on whose early death the estates and townships of La
Carda, Mercatello, Sassocorbaro, S. Marco, Rampugnano, Sta. Croce, La
Merola, Lamola, Cargine, and Pecchio devolved upon Duke Guidobaldo.
Two contemporaries of his name are mentioned, but I have not traced
their relationship; Guidantonio Ubaldini, who in 1464 married
Altadonna, daughter of Bartolomeo Contarini; and Pietro, whom Duke
Federigo sent to England in 1475, as proxy at his installation as
Knight of the Garter, and who was killed at La Stellata in 1482. In
1648 there remained to this ancient house but a wreck of their great
estates, including Massa Vaccareccia, but in compliment to their
descent and connection with the Montefeltri, they retained precedence
over the nobles of Urbino. The Counts of Pecorari and Montefiori were
branches of the same stock.]
COUNT ODDANTONIO from infancy gave promise of a character combining
the virtues of his immediate predecessors with talents rare in any
rank. But prematurely
"Lord of himself, that heritage of woe,"
the good seed was choked by tares springing from the too fertile soil;
and a prince on whom nature and fortune, imperial and papal favour,
concentrated their bounties, perished miserably and disgracefully ere
he had attained to manhood. His birth occurred in 1424 or 1426,[*48]
his youth being distinguished by remarkable progress in liberal
studies, and by rapidly mastering those accomplishments befitting the
spurs of knighthood, with which he had been decorated in childhood by
the Emperor Sigismund. Soon after his father's death, he repaired to
Siena, to obtain from Eugene IV. a confirmation of his hereditary
states, and to supplicate a renewed investiture of the dukedom of
Spoleto. But the pontifical jurisdiction over the long-abandoned
Italian provinces was as yet imperfectly consolidated, and Braccio di
Montone had but recently shown to what peril it might be exposed by
the restlessness of an overgrown feudatory. Profiting by this
experience, his Holiness evaded compliance with Oddantonio's second
request, but softened the refusal by conferring upon him the title of
Duke, along with his patrimonial territories.
[Footnote *48: See page 47. The latter is correct.]
We have from the pen of Pius II. a narrative of this ceremonial, which
took place on the 26th of April, 1443. "He who was to be created duke
by the Pope repaired to his residence, suitably dressed, and arrayed
in a mantle of gold, open on the right side from the shoulder to the
ground. Thence he followed the Pontiff, holding the lower extremity of
his cope, as he descended to the [cathedral] church to hear mass, and
when his Holiness took his seat, he placed himself on the first step
at his feet. Next he was made a knight of St. Peter, by girding him
with a sword (which after three lunges in the air he resheathed) and
by receiving three strokes with it on the shoulders, whilst his spurs
were buckled on. The Duke-elect then kneeling, swore and promised
reverence and obedience in time to come to the holy Church and to the
Pope, serving him in all its behests, and defending his jurisdiction,
rights, and territories, and bound himself to pay yearly on St.
Peter's day, for his new dignity, a white hackney suitably accoutred.
The Pontiff then placed the ducal cap on his head, and the sceptre in
his hand, and the new Duke, having therewith kissed his Holiness's
foot, was led by the two youngest cardinal-deacons to his place
between them. Finally, having taken off his cap, he returned to the
Pope's feet, and presented him with an offering of gold coin at his
discretion, and, on conclusion of the mass, departed between the two
cardinals, decorated with the ducal dignity: this was the ceremony
performed by Eugene IV. for Oddantonio."
This Duke's brief life is shrouded in mystery; for contemporary
authorities do not enable us to pronounce with certainty on the
enormous vices wherewith tradition and innuendo have vaguely blackened
his memory, whilst the narratives of Galli and Baldi, composed for his
successors in a spirit of adulation rather than of truth, clearly
overplead his defence. The testimony of Pius II. is so direct as to
one atrocity, barbarous almost beyond belief, that it would be
equally difficult to reject it, or crediting the tale, to limit the
probable enormities of a wretch so inhuman. The accusations against
him are that, intoxicated by good fortune, he cast off his early
discipline, forgot the lessons of philosophy, and placing himself
unreservedly in the guidance of dissolute favourites, dismayed his
subjects by outrages the most licentious, and by cruelties the most
revolting. The instance mentioned by Pius II. is that he had one of
his pages, who had neglected to provide lights at the proper hour,
enveloped in sear-cloth coated with combustibles, and then setting
fire to his head, left him to the horrors of a lingering agony.
The account transmitted to us by his apologists mingles pity with our
blame. They say that, desirous of suitably regulating his government,
he listened to the silver-toned suggestions of his crafty and covetous
neighbour, the Lord of Rimini, by whose advice he employed, as
confidential ministers, Manfredi Pio da Carpi, and Tomaso Agnello da
Rimini, men selected by Sigismondo as fitting instruments for his
ruin. That, acting upon the instructions of their principal, these
agents by precept and example debased the mind and corrupted the
morals of the young prince, with the view of rendering his person and
rule odious, and of accelerating a popular revolution, which might
peril his life, or, at least, place his territories within the grasp
of Malatesta. That in prosecution of this diabolical plot, they
promoted loathsome orgies and shameless debaucheries, until the
leading citizens, indignant at the dishonour which daily violated
their domestic circles, rose at the instigation of Serafius, a
physician whose handsome wife had been seduced by Manfredi. In the
riot which followed, the two favourites and their master met a
tragical end, and their bodies were exposed to nameless atrocities;
but whether the popular vengeance was equally merited by, and
inflicted upon the three, or whether the Duke was accidentally slain
without being involved in these disgraceful malpractices, is a point
likely to remain at issue. It would seem probable, however, from this
passage of an old chronicle transcribed in the Oliveriana Library,
that political discontent had a part in the rising: "On the 22nd of
July, 1444, at lauds [three o'clock a.m.], Oddantonio was slain in his
own hall, and along with him his familiar servants Manfredo de' Pii
and Tomaso da Rimini; and forthwith the people of Urbino in one voice
called for Signor Federigo, who at once took possession of the state.
On the 1st of August, public proclamation was made of the abolition of
imposts and of the assize of salt, and all penalties were
remitted."[*49] The same writer speaks vaguely of previous intestine
broils, slaughters, and alarms, with other symptoms of feeble
government, all indicating considerable disorganisation in the duchy,
of which the Malatesta and Bartolomeo Colleone availed themselves to
harass its frontiers.[50]
[Footnote *49: The chronicle of Gubbio (MURATORI, _R.I.S._, XXI., 982)
speaks of Oddantonio's death happening on 22 July, "ob violatum
pudicitiam feminarum," as the author of the _Annali di Forlì_,
_R.I.S._, XXII., 222, writes. It is recorded that he left debts of
many thousands of ducats to the Count, his brother, "per soperchierie
e trascurate spese, fatte in quel poco di tempo che egli aveva
governato." GRAZIANI, however, the supposed author of the Perugian
chronicle published under his name, who, as Prof. OSCAR SCALVANTI has
demonstrated (_Boll. per l'Umbria_, vol. IV., p. 57 _et seq._), is not
the author, but rather Antonio dei Guarneglie, followed by Pietro
Angelo di Giovanni, says in his _Cronaca della Città di Perugia_ that
Oddantonio was murdered on 21 July, on Tuesday evening, at the sixth
hour of the night, which I take to be about two o'clock on the morning
of 22 July. He gives a long and circumstantial account of his murder.
The _Chronicle of Rimini_, _R.I.S._, XV., 948, names the protonotary
and one of the three other friends whom "Graziani" says fell with him.
They were Manfredo da Carpi and Tomasso di Ser Guidicino da Arimino.
"Graziani," who doubtless wrote from hearsay, says he was killed
because "non aveva rispetto a persona e che quando glie piaceva una
giovane, o zitola o maritata che fusse, se ne voleva cavare la voglia.
Et el conte Guido suo padre fo tutto el contrario." The usual cries
rang through the city: "Morto è il signore! Viva la Chiesa e viva el
populo!" See _Arch. St. Ital._, ser. I., tom. XVI., parte I., p. 552
_et seq._ While fully admitting Sigismondo Malatesta to be capable of
any cunning, I do not think we have any evidence against him here. The
Malatesti were the enemies of the Montefeltri, and the latter, with
their subjects, were afraid of Sigismondo, already a very brilliant
soldier. Cf. MARCOLINI, _St. d. Prov. di Pesaro e Urbino_ (Pesaro,
1885).]
[Footnote 50: In another chronicle, the immediate provocation to this
fell outrage is thus tersely stated: "The Duke was slain by the
citizens because he had little respect for their wives by night or by
day." Sanzi has deleted a portion of his poem, and the substituted
passage gives the version we have adopted, passing lightly over the
manner in which the victims met their death.]
[Illustration: _Alinari_
LEONELLO D'ESTE
_After the picture by Pisanello in the Morelli Gallery, Bergamo_]
There were tinges of peculiar sadness in the gloomy fate which thus
overtook this unhappy youth. In the preceding summer he had been
betrothed to Isotta, daughter of Nicolò Marquis of Ferrara, and but
three months before his death, had attended the nuptials of her
brother Leonello. On that occasion he spent fifteen days in joyous
excitement, preluding, as he hoped, similar festivities in his own
honour. After the piazza of Ferrara had glittered with a gallant show
of chivalrous exercises, and had witnessed the semi-religious pageant
of St. George's triumph over the dragon, it was, as if by magic,
converted into a forest-scene, studded with goodly oaks amid a thick
jungle of underwood, the haunt of numerous wild animals. Upon these
the sportsmen wrought their pleasure, until the place was strewed with
bodies of bullocks, steers, wild boars, and goats. As a test of the
attendant good cheer, we have a return of provender consumed,
amounting to 2000 oxen, 40,000 pairs of fowls, pheasants and pigeons
without number, 20,000 measures of wine, and 2000 _moggie_ of grain,
besides 15,000 pounds of sweetmeats, and 12,000 of wax candles.[51] On
the conclusion of festivities congenial to his tastes, but ill-suited
to his impending fate, the young Duke lingered in dalliance with his
bride, returning home only the eve of the fatal night which summoned
him
"From that unrest which men miscal delight."
[Footnote 51: _Diario Ferrarese_, in _R.I.S._, XXIV., 194.]
It remains doubtful whether his own marriage was ever completed, as
supposed by Litta, but Isotta's cup was fully charged with bitters.
During the festive celebration of her after nuptials with one of the
Frangipani, the partner and lover of her maid of honour fell dead in
the dance, an evil omen too fully realised in domestic dissensions
which soon sent her back to her brother's court.
The Duke was buried in the church of S. Francesco, but his remains are
said to have been subsequently removed to the chapter-house of that
convent. In a neglected cloister leading from the church, there may
still be seen two monuments bearing the Montefeltro arms, one of
which, canopied by light columns of spiral Gothic, has a stork,
holding in its mouth a scroll.[*52] Here probably was the ill-fated
Oddantonio's tomb; the nameless dead to whom the other was dedicated
may have been his grandfather, Count Antonio, or the Countess
Rengarda, both of whom were interred in these precincts, where their
graves were opened and identified in 1634.
[Footnote *52: The other in the sacristy is the _Flagellation_ with
the Duke's portrait on the right; it is the work of Piero della
Francesca.]
There is little inducement to dwell on the few notices remaining of
one whose character and fate merit no sympathy. Yet among a rich store
of letters from the Montefeltrian princes to the government of Siena,
we have selected two written by Oddantonio in Italian; one is
characteristic, the other calculated to throw a more favourable light
upon his disposition.
"To our very noble and well beloved, the Podestà, Priors,
and Vice-counts of Siena.
"Mighty and potent Lords, dearest Fathers; After
commendations: Having heard that, in your magnificent city,
stakes will shortly be run for, I should have much pleasure
in sending to it one of my racers;[*53] but understanding
that there are reprisals between your magnificent community
and the illustrious lord, my lord father, I beg you, for my
protection and security, to let me have by the bearer, whom
I send on purpose, a safe conduct in such ample form as your
magnificences may think fit, on whose singular favour I
rely, ever recommending myself to your lordships. From
Urbino, the 10th of November, 1439. Your magnificences' son,
"ODDANTONIO, COUNT OF MONTEFELTRO, URBINO, AND
CASTELDURANTE."
[Footnote *53: For all that concerns the races in Siena see WILLIAM
HEYWOOD, _Palio and Ponte_ (Methuen, 1904), esp. p. 85 _et seq._]
"Our noble and beloved;
"Though we should wish to write you things pleasant and
consolatory, we must lay before you what our Lord God has
ordered; and although you ought to participate in all our
circumstances, whether prosperous or adverse, yet it is with
grief and much bitterness of heart that we inform you how it
has been the will of our Lord God to call to himself the
soul of our lord and father, who passed from this miserable
life on the 20th instant, between nine and ten at night
[_i.e._ about half-past three a.m. of the 21st], before
Thursday morning. And his death occurred in the course of
nature, from the violence of fever, the proper sacraments of
the Church having first been received as became a faithful
Christian, with the utmost humility, contrition, and
devotion, and having disposed in due form of his own
affairs, and those of his children and state, and all his
other concerns. I feel assured that you will be as much
vexed and grieved at this event in mind and heart as myself;
and this with reason, for the misfortune and severe loss is
yours as much as mine, and keeping in view his worth,
excellence, and good conduct, and the affection he bore you,
I may say it specially touches you. In whose steps we shall
do our best to tread, by a conduct at once satisfactory to
you, and beneficial to our state, as to this city and
people, and the others that we have to govern, that so you
may be satisfied with our future conduct, and constrain
yourselves to conform to the will of our Lord God, and be
comforted. And we pray you to do thus, and to regard the
welfare of this city and of our state as recommended to you,
to which effect we firmly rely upon you. And by help of
God's grace and the good advices of our said lord and
father, with the counsel and aid of worthy friends, and our
own right intentions, matters will go on well and to your
satisfaction. If we have been [tardy] in advising you of
these things, do not be astonished, as this was done
advisedly and for good purpose.
"ODDANTONIO, COUNT OF MONTEFELTRO, URBINO, AND DURANTE.
"Urbino, the 24th February, 1443."
It does not distinctly appear whether the dignity of Duke was merely
personal, or limited to the heirs male of Oddantonio's body. At all
events it must have lapsed on his death, as it was not only dropped by
his successor in the state, but Count Federigo, even after his new
creation, called himself "first" Duke; in this he was followed by his
descendants down to Francesco Maria II., the last of the race, who
alone designated himself sixth Duke, counting from Oddantonio.[*54]
[Footnote *54: Oddantonio seems to have strongly disliked Federigo,
his father's natural son. He would not suffer him to live at Urbino.
The Duke was to have married Cecilia Gonzaga, but preferred at the
last moment Isotta d'Este, thinking she would be more likely to give
him an heir and so exclude Federigo. See TARDUCCI, _Cecilia Gonzaga ed
Oddantonio di Montefeltro_ (Mantova, 1897). Violante, Federigo's
half-sister, renounced her part of the heritage of her father in
documents preserved in Arch. Centrale di Firenze (Carte d'Urbino,
Cartapecore Laiche, Nos. 180 and 209), printed by MADIAI in _Le
Marche_, vol. III., pp. 125-32.]
BOOK SECOND
OF FEDERIGO DI MONTEFELTRO, COUNT AND SECOND DUKE OF URBINO