Count Federigo's home administration and court--Description
of his palace and library at Urbino--His other palaces--The
resources of his state.
The three years and a half which had now passed since the Count's
marriage had been spent by him almost entirely in active service.
During his long absences, the state was in a great measure
administered by Countess Battista, who, notwithstanding her youth, is
said to have held the reins of government with admirable firmness and
good sense, as well as with a leniency and gentleness which
conciliated universal popularity.[114] The remainder of his life had a
more peaceful destiny, for not only was his almost domestic foe
Malatesta now reduced to harmless insignificance, but Italy enjoyed
comparative respite from her normal condition of unceasing strife. We
are assured that Federigo turned to excellent account the
opportunities this afforded for attending to the internal affairs of
the duchy, and ameliorating the position of his people. But his
biographers, deeming these objects much less momentous than his
military exploits, have unfortunately left us almost in the dark
regarding occupations and measures so infinitely more important, as
distinguishing his views from those of his age and order. Of the laws
which he promulgated, the manner of enacting and administering them,
the organisation and exercise of justice, the operation and limits of
popular rights, the extent and value of municipal suffrages, the
system of taxation and finance, the tendency and usage of trade, the
statistics of the duchy, the internal condition and well-being of the
people, we scarcely obtain a hint from those who prolixly dwell upon
battle-fields, detail sieges, and trace countermarches, few of which
offer variety of tactics or interesting results. Neither are
manuscript authorities in this respect more useful than the published
memoirs, for most of those we have seen are adulatory compositions,
occupied only with matter calculated to enhance our appreciation of
their hero as a successful general or patron of letters, but utterly
neglecting the internal policy of his government. The peculiar quality
of his mind unquestionably was that strict observance of good faith, a
total absence of which is the fatal characteristic, the indelible
stain of his age. There is thus every reason to believe that the
conditions imposed upon him at his succession in 1443 would be rigidly
fulfilled, and we have discovered no complaint ever made against him
of their non-observance. They provide, according to the lights then
enjoyed, for a popular election and control of magistrates, reduction
of burdens, fiscal reforms, public education, and medical aid,
restrictions on the prerogative in so far as it sheltered abuses,--and
it is obvious that, if carried out in their true spirit, they must
have offered no mean guarantees against such tyranny as the recent
historian of the Ausonian Republics has sweepingly charged upon all
mediæval dynasties.
[Footnote 114: Urb. Vat. MSS. No. 1236, her funeral oration.]
[Illustration: _A. Nini, del. A. Marchetti, sculp._
URBINO
_From an original drawing by Agostino Nini of Bologna_]
The few notices of his government wherewith Baldi has favoured us
savour of those minute and paternal attentions which ensure to a
prince great personal popularity. He tells us that the Count
commissioned certain persons called revisors to perambulate the state,
and investigate the condition of the people. Among the matters
specially committed to them were these: To inquire into the
requirements of the religious houses; to ascertain where maidens of
good reputation were unable from poverty to obtain husbands; to inform
themselves secretly as to modest paupers; to learn what traders or
shopkeepers were distressed by large families, debts, or any
particular misadventure. In order to secure efficiency to this
charitable espionage, these officers were privileged to pass at all
times into the sovereign's presence, and it is said that a porter or
groom of the chambers, who had rudely denied one of them access, was
summarily punished by a public whipping. Following up this system, the
Count, in his daily walks or rides, used to call to him the citizens
individually, questioning as to their welfare and circumstances, or
encouraging them in any enterprise or building they had undertaken.
"But," continues the Abbot of Guastalla, "to such details we do not
descend, as do some writers, overscrupulous about trifles; nor shall
we tell how, on daily recurring occasions, he interfered to maintain
the poor, to arrest litigation, to secure a pure administration of
justice, to protect the honour of families, and to recompense his
diligent servants. Still less do we collect his witty jests and
pleasant sayings, as these are things far too petty and unbecoming the
gravity of history, besides which, they all or most of them live in
the memory and mouths of the people. But since splendour is a virtue
peculiar to great princes, we shall touch upon some circumstances
regarding the nobleness, the numerical grandeur, and the magnificence
of his court."[115]
[Footnote 115: BALDI, _Vita e fatti di Federigo_, III., p. 59.]
This passage fairly represents the pervading spirit of Italian
biographies and local histories, though probably containing a latent
sneer from Baldi at the earlier work of Muzio, whose "petty details,"
with those scantily supplied by Vespasiano, will be greedily gathered
in a future page of this volume. Little deemed the reverend pedant how
independent the historic muse would become of the stilts on which he,
and many of his contemporaries, so unfortunately elevated her, or how
infinitely posterity would have preferred his despised omissions to
his solemn prosings! Nor is this our only complaint. His
illustrations of the Urbino court, thus magniloquently ushered,
consist of a dull catalogue of twelve or fifteen noble names, ending
with an apology for such trespass on his reader's patience, and a
reference to some unpublished manuscript for details. This excuse is
offered after devoting six pages, out of eight hundred, to the home
interests and adminstrations of his hero. In supplement to these
unsatisfactory allusions, we have recourse to such MSS. as detail the
establishment which gained for Federigo's court the high reputation it
enjoyed as a model of princely taste and munificence. Its constitution
may be seen at a glance, from this minute return of its members, by
one of their number.[116]
[Footnote 116: Vat Urb. MSS. No. 829, f. 55. Other nearly similar
lists of his household are preserved in No. 1248 of that library, and
in Vat. Ottob. MSS. No. 3141, f. 144, and Oliveriana MSS. No. 384, f.
1. There is no date affixed to any of these, but they were probably
drawn up after he had attained the ducal dignity.]
Counts of the duchy, and from other states 45
Knights of the Golden Spur 5
Gentlemen 17
Judges and councillors 2
Ambassadors and secretaries [at Naples, Rome, Florence,
Milan, and Siena] 7
Secretaries of state 5
Clerks in chancery [or public offices] 14
Teachers of grammar, logic, and philosophy [including
Maestro Paolo, astrologer, and Gian Maria Filelfo] 4
Architects and engineers [Luziano, Francesco di Giorgio,
Pipo the Florentine, Fra Carnevale, and Sirro of
Casteldurante] 5
Readers during meals 5
Transcribers of MSS. for library [besides many abroad] 4
Chaplains 2
Choristers of the chapel 3
Singing boys 5
Organists 2
Workers in tapestry 5
Dancing-masters for the pages 2
Dancing-masters 2
Apothecary 1
Master of the palace keys 1
Chamberlain 1
Master of the household 1
Treasurer 1
Chamber attendants 5
Pages 22
Carvers and sewers 3
Stewards of the buttery 4
Storekeepers 2
Purveyors 3
Grooms of the chamber 19
Table waiters 19
Footmen 31
Cooks 5
Various menial servants 8
Masters of horse and purveyors of the stable 5
Servants under them 50
Keeper of the bloodhounds 1
Keeper of the camel-leopard 1
------
Total household of the Duke 317
Captains in constant pay 4
Colonels of infantry 3
Trumpeters 6
Drummers 2
Master-armourers 3
HOUSEHOLD OF COUNTESS BATTISTA AND HER CHILDREN.
Ladies in waiting 7
[After the Duchess's death, Madonna Pantasilea
Baglione, sister of Brozo Baglione of Perugia, was
made governess to the Princesses.]
A great many female attendants.
Elderly and staid gentlemen 6
Servants of Prince Guidobaldo when a child 7
------
Total establishment, so far as enumerated 355
In this list may be detected obvious omissions, such as almoner,
librarians, heralds, &c., and it would be much increased by adding
servants of the noblemen entertained at his court. Music appears only
in the establishments of the chapel and of the guard, but in 1473, the
Count was visited by Martino and Giorgio, two German lute-players, to
whom he gave letters of recommendation on their departure for Siena.
The contemporary notice by Vespasiano affords us some standard of the
qualities of this court, which, not less than the martial prowess and
intellectual superiority of its Montefeltrian princes, constituted the
glory of Urbino. "His household was regulated much in the manner of a
religious establishment, and the five hundred mouths which it
contained lived with almost monastic regularity. There were no
mess-table manners there, no gambling nor blasphemous language, and
all expressed themselves with the utmost moderation. The Prince having
been entrusted by several personages of high station with their sons,
to be instructed in military service, he, with good regard also for
their good breeding, placed them in charge of a gentleman from
Lombardy of distinguished manners, long resident at his court
[probably Odasio], who exercised over these youths a paternal sway,
gaining their respectful deference, and correcting their little
errors, until an exemplary carriage became habitual to them." Thus,
too, Muzio: "Federigo maintained a suite so numerous and distinguished
as to rival any royal household. For not only did the most
distinguished chivalry resort to him as the first of Italian soldiers,
but thither were sent youths of the highest rank, to be reared under
his discipline, as to the most select of schools. And among the many
personages who thus frequented his court were Giovanni della Rovere,
Giulio and Francesco Orsini, Girolamo and Pier Antonio Colonna,
Ranuccio and Angelo Farnese, Andrea Doria, and Gian Giacomo Trivulzio,
with others of equal eminence. Attended by these, and by a concourse
of gentlemen and servants, as well as by a crowd of citizens, he
generally on festivals went to mass in procession, making a round
of the great churches in their turn. And, on his return home, he
would keep the burghers about him for a little in gracious
conversation, or calling for his dispatches, communicated portions
before kindly dismissing them."
[Illustration: _Alinari_
THE FLAGELLATION
_After the picture by Piero della Francesco, in the Sacristy of the
Duomo, Urbino._
_Supposed portraits of Duke Federigo and Caterino Zeno_]
One of the manuscripts just cited, which is entitled "Regulations and
Offices for the Court of the most serene Lord Duke of Urbino," after
insisting on a rigid observance of rules to be enforced by the master
of the household, imposes upon that functionary an obligation to
inform his lord privately of the arrival and quality of all strangers,
that he might regulate the degree of hospitality to be extended to
them. This was of three grades. Personages of the highest rank were
received and lodged in the palace; those of less distinction in a
separate building, attended on by the Prince's household; for a third
class an inn was provided, where they were lodged at his cost, and at
a fixed rate per head.[117] The liberal hospitalities of the court are
thus mentioned by its chronicler Sanzi:--
"Nor ought we to omit the greetings kind
And gracious, which with princely courtesy
He gave to coming strangers, ne'er before
Welcomed with gentler words, or phrase more cordial,
His aspect cheerful and his carriage plain.
Glorious was he in all things, but unmatched
In hospitality; for never guest
Arrived, such noble treatment hoping for,
Or went his way without a lingering look
Of friendly admiration."
[Footnote 117: Ordine ed Officii della Corte del Serenissimo Signore
il Duca de Urbino, Urb. Vat. MSS. No. 1248.]
His wide-spreading military renown, and the honourable reception thus
accorded them, attracted visitors from all quarters, until Urbino
attained that reputation as the resort of numerous celebrities which
in the next generation rendered its little court a model to Europe,
and which it never entirely lost while its independence lasted. But
this concourse of guests, and the additional importance conferred
upon the principality by considerable territorial aggrandisements,
rendered a new palace necessary. Baldi mentions it as commenced about
this time: Sanzi tells us it was undertaken to divert Federigo's grief
for the death of his Countess in 1472; whilst Lazzari and the
anonymous author of the Memoir regarding the devolution of the duchy
to the Church in 1631 note 1454 as the date of its foundation. In
truth, it was, like many great edifices in Italy, slowly progressive,
spreading over several generations, and finally left unfinished. The
same may be said of several other buildings promoted by the Count
during his intervals of leisure, such as the palaces of Gubbio and
Fossombrone, and the cathedral of Urbino; and it may be convenient in
this place to notice those creations which are prominently set forth
among the glories of his reign.
* * * * *
Of the three roads by which Urbino is approached, that on the
south-west, leading from Tuscany, gives the most favourable view of
the city, which is faithfully rendered on our frontispiece. The
central mass of building, beautifully relieved by a stately
spire-capped tower on either side of the grand entrance, and
stretching backwards to the domed cathedral, is the palace which we
are now to describe. The numerous accounts of it, repeated from one
copyist to another in somewhat over-strained panegyric, have spread
its fame throughout Italy, and the folio volume printed in 1724, at
the expense of Cardinal Annibale Albani, was got up with an
elaboration unusual in that age, but with the tasteless dulness which
then pervaded literary and artistic efforts in Italy. The Abbate
Pungileone has added little of importance by his tediously told
investigations, and other local antiquaries have scarcely been more
successful.[118]
[Footnote 118: _Memorie concernenti la Città d'Urbino._ It was edited
by Monsignor Bianchini, and was meant to extend to four folio volumes,
illustrating: (1) the city of Urbino; (2) the princes who ruled there;
(3) its most famous citizens; (4) their works. Of these only the first
volume saw the light, at the expense of Pope Clement XI., an Albani of
Urbino. It contains, 1st, Baldi's prolix and fulsome Encomio della
Patria; 2nd, his equally dull description of the ducal palace, with
seventy-four engravings of its architecture and sculpture; 3rd,
Bianchini's catalogue of the sculptured trophies, with seventy-two
engravings; 4th, his geometrical survey of the province of Urbino in
1723. It is a curious example of a volume compiled from promising
materials, but destitute of interest, and is dedicated to an English
exile whose name, once a watchword ominous to our island, frequently
meets us in Central Italy, and whose wanderings here found a brief
repose. See an account of the Chevalier de St. George's residence at
Urbino, in an article on the Stuarts in Italy, contributed by the
author of these pages to the _Quarterly Review_ for December, 1847,
vol. LXXX.]
In absence of further evidence, we may accept the doubtful testimony
already quoted, that the palace was begun in 1454,[*119] but we must
briefly refute the misstatement of Vasari, that its architect was
Francesco di Giorgio. In our twenty-seventh chapter, we shall have
occasion to notice much new matter regarding that artist, which recent
inquiries have detected, and to show the nature and extent of his
engineering labours in the service of the Montefeltrian princes. It
appears that the palace at Urbino, usually ascribed to his design, was
commenced by an architect whose name, almost overlooked by Italian
writers, is preserved by Giovanni Sanzi. The motive imputed by the
poet to his master in this great work is as follows:--
"Knowing how admirable and how grand
By every people, every age, are deemed
Time-honoured fabrics, and that active life
No higher aim can follow."
[Footnote *119: Cf. BUDINICH, _Il Palazzo Ducale di Urbino_ (Trieste,
1904). Rich in documents and designs.]
And he goes on to inform us that
"The architect, set over all the rest,
Was Lutian Lauranna, whose bright name
Survives in excellence the knell of death.
His apt and lofty genius ruled the work,
With the Count's sanction, for no prince possessed
A sounder judgment or a will more prompt."
The name of this artist was Luziano, son of Martini of Lovranna and
Jadia in Dalmatia, and we owe to Pungileone an interesting patent in
his favour, granted by Count Federigo at Pavia, on the 10th of June,
1468, in these terms:--
"Whereas, we, deeming those men to be worthy of distinction and
preference who are gifted with such genius and talent as have been in
all ages esteemed, especially for architecture founded upon arithmetic
and geometry, which, as foremost among the seven liberal arts, and as
depending upon exact science, require profound knowledge and great
ability, and are therefore highly appreciated by us; and whereas, we,
having sought everywhere, but particularly in Tuscany, the fountain of
architects, without finding any one really versant and skilful in that
profession, and having lately heard by report, and since ascertained
by full experience, the learning and attainments of the distinguished
Messer Lutiano, bearer hereof; and, further, we, having resolved to
erect in our city of Urbino a fair residence, in all respects
befitting the rank and reputation of our predecessors and
ourselves,--have, for these causes, selected the said Messer Lutiano
as engineer and chief of all those employed upon that fabric, in
building, hewing, woodwork," &c. &c. The deed goes on to enjoin upon
all the workmen implicit obedience to his orders, and to authorise his
entire control over them, and over the funds destined for the
palace.[120]
[Footnote 120: GAYE, _Carteggio d'Artisti_, I., p. 214, and
PUNGILEONE, _Elogio di Bramante_, 63. The original is in Latin.]
Although the date of this patent may appear inconsistent with that
already adopted for the foundation of the _Corte_, as this residence
was usually called, it is clear, from other documents printed along
with it, that operations were already considerably advanced under the
superintendence of Luziano. In the preceding year we find him designed
the Count's engineer, acting as a sort of clerk of the works, and
litigating with a builder from Como regarding measurements of masonry;
indeed, he seems to have continued these duties until his death at
Pesaro, soon after that of his patron, whose liberality enabled him to
leave considerable property to his children.
The edifice thus commenced was carried on by Baccio Pontelli, a
Florentine artist, who, though designing himself a carpenter, was much
employed by Sixtus IV. to erect important fabrics in Rome. It is
impossible now to decide whether he was at first assistant to
Lauranna, or what portion of the Corte we owe to him, the entire
credit of which seems claimed in a presumptuous epitaph, apparently of
his own composition, which is given by Gaye.[121] He was employed upon
it in 1481, when applied to by Lorenzo de' Medici to furnish a design
or plan of the already famous work, a request handsomely responded to
by Federigo, in that almost oriental exaggeration of compliment still
usual in Lower Italy, with the assurance that such a wish was a
command, and that he only regretted being unable to send him the
building itself, of which he might fully dispose. Baccio's letter
mentions it as then at the fifth story, and that his drawing had been
done from actual measurements, thus proving he had no access to the
original plan,--circumstances strongly presumptive that the design was
not his, but that of Luziano, who lived till the following year. The
praise bestowed by him on the carved ornaments and decorations render
it probable that they had been under his peculiar charge. There is no
evidence as to the length of Baccio's stay at Urbino, but he is said
to have obtained the privileges of citizenship, and to have built the
church of S. Bernardino and the castle of Sinigaglia.
[Footnote 121: _Carteggio_, I., pp. 274-6. The author has discussed
the point in No. 86 of the _Kunstblatt_ for 1836.]
Such are the architects whom recent investigations enable us to claim
as authors of the palace at Urbino, which Vasari and many others have
celebrated for the beauty and comfort of its internal arrangements,
the magnificence of its saloons, the convenience of its imposing
stairs; for its smiling chambers, its vast corridors, its airy
porticoes and pleasant baths, its gilded doors and windows, its rich
furniture, carpets, and brocades. The assertion of that writer, so
often inaccurate as to Umbrian matters, ascribing its merit to
Francesco di Giorgio, may now be considered as disposed of,
notwithstanding the zeal with which his countrymen of Siena have
reasserted his claims; but the lights lately thrown upon his
performances by Promis of Turin, enable us to restore to him the
credit of certain bellicose decorations, often imputed to Roberto
Valturio, and which have attracted attention rather from their
adaptation to the genius of Count Federigo than from their artistic
value. They consist of a frieze of military machines, which Vasari
mentions as painted in fresco, but which were carved in relief along
the exterior basement of the palace: designs for most of these remain
among the MSS. of Francesco, and they have been engraved and tediously
explained in Bianchini's ponderous work. Their original object was no
doubt to illustrate the pompous inscription which surrounds the great
court in immense capitals.[122] After being injured and scattered,
they were again collected about a century ago, and arranged by
Cardinal Stoppani along the corridor of the principal story. They are
each about three feet by two, rudely representing seventy-two engines
long since disused in war, and interesting only to the antiquary.
Among the sculptors employed upon them, and similar architectural
ornaments in the Corte, was Ambrogio Baroccio of Milan,
great-grandfather of a painter as to whom we shall have much to say in
our fifty-third chapter.
[Footnote 122: "Federicus Urbini Dux, Montisferetri ac Durantis Comes,
sanctæ Ro. ecclesiæ Confalonerius, atque Italici Confederationis
Imperator, hanc domum a fundamentis erectam, gloriæ et posteritati suæ
exædificavit: Qui bello pluries depugnavit, sexies signa contulit,
octies hostem profligavit, omniumque preliorum victor ditionem auxit.
Ejusdem justitia, clementia, liberalitas, et religio pace victorias
equarunt, ornaruntque."]
We need not weary our readers by minute descriptions of the palace,
which, upon near approach, hardly realises the imposing effect of its
site. The rugged and broken ground on which it stands has, in a great
degree, marred that unity of plan which is essential to architectural
grandeur and harmony, augmenting at the same time the difficulties of
construction. Notwithstanding this drawback, and the rambling
character which a portion of the building has consequently taken,
there is much beauty in the façade of the great court, and in the
unfinished elevation towards the cathedral, although the brickwork is
but partially cased with stone. Barbaro, in his commentary upon
Vitruvius, cites the grand stair as a model of beauty and convenience,
and the corridors of the principal story (enriched, since 1756, with
the museum of antique sculpture and inscriptions collected by Raffaele
Fabretti) are truly magnificent. From these open many splendid rooms,
among which is the great hall, about one hundred and twenty feet in
length, of noble proportions, and severe in a simplicity contrasting
with the chromatic decorations usual in Italy. In its elevated niches
were formerly placed the insignia of its lords and of their allies,
but of these none remain save the winged lion of St. Mark, which still
looks proudly down upon the deserted audience-chamber, where its
envoys used to be deferentially received by those long-departed dukes
who often bore its banner to victory. The next story, which from its
ornaments and devices appears to have been finished by Duke Guidobaldo
II., is the summer residence of the cardinal-legate of Urbino and
Pesaro, and, consequently, is seldom shown.
Each of the towers seen in the engraving, and considered by Passavant
as antecedent to Duke Federigo, contains a spiral staircase of curious
construction, leading to balconies whence may be enjoyed a most
characteristic prospect of the surrounding country, wherein
"Hills are not seen, but for the vales betwixt
The deep indentings."
Fatigued by its uptossed and almost barren undulations, the eye turns
for repose to the magnificent sierra, which bounds the horizon. On the
extreme left is Monte Catria, crowned by the convent of S. Albertino,
5600 feet above the sea. Then comes Monte del Cavallo, described by
Cimarelli as the most beautiful of all the Apennine chain, and named
from the horses of famous race bred by the later princes of Urbino, on
the luxuriant pastures of its gentle slopes and verdant meadows. Monte
Nerone, so called from an
"Unwritten story fondly traced
From sire to son,"
which tells that the blood-stained tyrant of Rome once dwelt there, is
supposed to be a slumbering volcano. Its rich iron ore was once highly
productive, and the herbs and simples grown on it were esteemed above
all others in Italy. Far on the sky-line are discerned the Sassi di
Simeone, twin rocks of singularly abrupt form, separated by the Tuscan
frontier. Northward from these stands the massive Monte Carpegna,
cradle of the Montefeltrian race, domineering over their original
fief, and giving its local name to the wind which sweeps from its
heights upon the Adriatic. The mountain view terminates with the
triple peaks of San Marino, isolated, it would seem, by nature, as
well as by the forms of its constitution and the accidents of its
history.
The merit specially dwelt upon in the old descriptions of this palace
is the carved work in wood and stone, executed by sculptors brought
from various places, and facilitated by the excellent quality of a
close-grained grey limestone, imported from the Dalmatian coast. The
most striking of its decorations are accordingly the elaborate tracery
encircling the architraves, doorways, lintels, and chimneys, and
running along the cornices. This consists of fine arabesque designs,
mingled with dancing loves, and interlaced with military trophies and
heraldic fancies, among which frequently occur the Garter of England,
the Ermine of Naples, the Eagle of Montefeltro, with several monograms
and devices usually worn by Count Federigo, the origin whereof is
described in No. V. of the Appendices. A kindred art, here lavishly
expended, is that of _tarsia_, or wood inlaying, which, unlike the
more modern _marquetrie_, was enriched by pure arabesque designs, and
even by historical or religious compositions. In this style, though
now sadly defaced, were many of the doors, and especially the tiny
chapel, with its adjoining sacristy, the latter elaborately panelled
in varied scrolls, and bearing the titles of Federigo, with the date
1476. On the stone-work of this chapel occur the devices and initials
of Duke Guidobaldo II., marking probably the alterations made by
him.[123]
[Footnote 123: Pungileone has found a payment of 7 florins, in 1473,
to Maestro Giacomo, from Florence, on account of _intarsia_ for the
audience-hall, which seems, from other entries there cited, to have
been decorated during 1464 with paintings now lost. _Elogio_ di G.
Santi, p. 47.]
The following passage, often quoted from the commencement of
Castiglione's _Cortegiano_, has given rise to considerable
misapprehension:--"Among other laudable actions, Federigo erected, on
the rugged heights of Urbino, a residence, by many regarded as the
most beautiful in all Italy, and so amply provided with every
convenience, that it appeared rather a palatial city than a palace. He
furnished it not only with the usual plenishings of rich brocades in
silk and gold, silver plate, and such like, but ornamented it with a
vast quantity of ancient marble and bronze sculptures, of rare
pictures, and musical instruments in every variety, excluding all but
the choicest objects." Now, it so happens that, with every desire to
verify what ought to be a valuable authority for a fact in itself most
interesting, and especially probable of that prince, we have not been
able to trace a single piece of sculpture, and hardly an easel
picture, to his possession (a few portraits, of course, excepted),
nor does one contemporary distinctly mention anything of the sort at
Urbino. But whilst truth compels us to an admission calculated to
impair his traditional reputation as an amateur of the fine arts,
there was one branch of them which found in him a most zealous patron;
and among the adornments of his palace was a treasure rivalling in
beauty and excelling in importance all coeval museums of art.
To the right and left of the carriage entrance into the great
court-yard are two handsome saloons, each about forty-five feet by
twenty-two, and twenty-three in height. That on the left contained the
famous library of manuscripts collected by Count Federigo; the
corresponding one received the printed books, which, gradually
purchased by successive dukes, became, under the last sovereign, a
copious collection. Baldi, in his description of the palace, printed
in Bianchini's work, dwells on the judicious adaptation of the former,
its windows set high against the northern sky, admitting a subdued and
steady light which invited to study; its air cool in summer, temperate
in winter; its walls conveniently shelved; the character and objects
of the place fittingly set forth in a series of rude hexameters
inscribed on the cornices.[124] Adjoining was a closet fitted up with
inlaid and gilded panelling, beneath which Timoteo della Vite, a
painter whose excellence we shall attest in our thirtieth chapter,
depicted Minerva with her ægis, Apollo with his lyre, and the nine
muses with their appropriate symbols. A similar small study was fitted
up immediately over this one, set round with armchairs encircling a
table, all mosaicked with _tarsia_, and carved by Maestro Giacomo of
Florence, while on each compartment of the panelling was the portrait
of some famous author, and an appropriate distich. One other article
of furniture deserves special notice--a magnificent eagle of gilt
bronze, serving as a lectern in the centre of the manuscript room. It
was carried to Rome at the devolution of the duchy to the Holy See,
but was rescued by Pope Clement XI. from the Vatican library, and
restored to his native town, where it has long been used in the choir
of the cathedral.
[Footnote 124:
"Sint tibi divitiæ; sint aurea vasa, talenta
Plurima, servorum turbæ, gemmæque nitentes;
Sint vestes variæ, pretiosa monilia, torques;
Id totum hæc longe superat præclara supellex.
Sint licet aurati niveo de marmore postes,
Et variis placeant penetralia picta figuris;
Sint quoque Trojanis circumdata moenia pannis,
Et miro fragrent viridaria culta decore.
Extra intusque domus regali fulgida luxu,
Res equidem mutæ; sed BIBLIOTHECA parata est,
Jussa loqui, facunda nimis, vel jussa tacere,
Et prodesse potens, et delectare legentem.
Tempora lapsa docet, venturaque plurima pandit,
Explicat et cunctos coeli terræque labores."]
[Illustration: _Alinari_
FIFTEENTH CENTURY COURT OF THE PALAZZO DUCALE, URBINO]
Roscoe has well observed that "by no circumstance in the character of
an individual is the love of literature so strongly evinced, as by the
propensity for collecting together the writings of illustrious
scholars, and compressing 'the soul of ages past' within the narrow
limits of a library." But it is not easy now to appreciate the
obstacles attending such a pursuit in the age of Federigo. The science
of bibliography can scarcely be said to have existed before the
invention of printing, in consequence of the extreme difficulty of
becoming acquainted with works of which there were but few copies, and
these widely scattered, perhaps scarcely known. Great outlay was
required, either to search out or transcribe manuscripts, and even the
laborious habits which then accompanied learning shrank from a task so
beset by obstructions. Yet there was a bright exception in Thomas of
Sarzana, whose learning supplied the knowledge, and whose elevation to
the triple tiara as Nicholas V. procured him the opportunities,
necessary for amassing a library. Not only did he found that of the
Vatican, but he prepared for Cosimo _Pater patriæ_ a list of authors
for the infant collection of S. Marco, at Florence, which, being
recognised as a standard catalogue, was adopted by Count Federigo.
The longer life allowed to the latter enabled him to outstrip these
bibliomaniacs, and all contemporary accumulators, until the fame of
his library stood unrivalled. Accordingly Ruscelli, in his _Imprese
Illustri_, avers it to be "notorious that the earliest and most famous
collection formed out of the ruins of antiquity was that of Urbino,
from whence many excellent authors were edited, and copies supplied."
Marsilio Ficino and Leandro Alberti, with others of equal weight, have
borne similar testimony, the former from common report, the latter
from ocular demonstration; but we shall content ourselves with quoting
from two contemporaries, familiar with what they describe. To begin
with old Sanzi:--
"No fitting outlay on the work he spared
The eye to please; but more intent to feed
The mind, he ardently began to build
A library, so vast, and so select,
As to supply each intellect and taste.
With noble aim such books he there amassed,
That every genius might its flight direct
To kindred objects. Foremost in the band
The works of holy churchmen, all adorned
And bound with wond'rous beauty;
Next what survives of ancient wisdom's thoughts
In classic tongue contained; historians all;
The sacred choir of charming poesy;
In law and medicine many famous names,
Symmetrically ranged; there, too, I note
A wealth of books in divers languages,--
Arab and Greek, with Hebrew reverend;
And sundry others whose rich ornaments
Deserve detailed description, for I've seen
Men of the finest taste in wonder lost
Before them."
No poet's licence need be suspected in this description, for it is
thus fully borne out by Vespasiano, who was originally an agent in
amassing these treasures, and subsequently their custodier.[125] "We
have now to mention the high estimation in which he held all Greek and
Latin authors, sacred or profane; and to him alone was given the
enterprise to carry out what no one, for above a thousand years past,
had done, by establishing a library superior to any formed during all
that period. In no respect did he look to expense; and whenever he
learned the existence of any desirable book in Italy, or abroad, he
sent for it without heeding the cost. It is now above fourteen years
since he began to make this collection, and he has ever since
maintained at Urbino, Florence, and elsewhere, thirty-four
transcribers, and has resorted to every means requisite for amassing a
famous and excellent library,--which it now is. He has, in the first
place, all the Latin poets, with their best commentaries; also the
entire works of Cicero, with all the orators and grammarians in that
language. In history, he commissioned every known work of that or the
Greek tongue, as well as the orators of the latter. In moral and
natural philosophy, no author of these languages is wanting. In the
faculty of theology he has been most profuse, having, besides the four
doctors of the Church, St. Bernard, Tertullian, Hilary, Remigius, Hugh
of St. Victor, Isidore, Anselm, Rabanus, Dionysius the Areopagite, St.
Basil, Cyril, Gregory Nazarene, John of Damascus, Eusebius, Origen,
St. Thomas Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, Alexander de Alexandro, Duns
Scotus, Bonaventura, Richard Mediavilla, Archbishop Antonio, with all
the modern doctors. There are further all the best civilians, with the
lectures of Bartolomeo Capretti. He had the Bible, that best of books,
written in two volumes, with the richest and most beautiful
illustrations, bound in brocade of gold, and lavishly ornamented with
silver; and he made it be thus gorgeously adorned as the chief of all
literature, and it has no equal in our time.[126] There are also all
the Commentaries on the Bible in Greek and Latin, including Nicolò de
Lira. He further has all the treatises on astrology, geometry,
arithmetic, architecture, and military tactics, and a very curious
volume with every ancient and modern military engine: also all books
on painting, sculpture, and music; the standard writers on civil law;
the _Speculum Innocentiæ_; in medicine, the works of Hippocrates,
Galen, and Avicenna; the writings of Averröe on logic, ethics, and
physics; a volume of early councils; the writings of Boethius on
logic, philosophy, and music; and those of modern authors, with Pius
II. at their head. There are all the works of Petrarch, Dante,[*127]
Boccaccio, Colluccio, Leonardo d'Arezzo, Fra Ambrogio, Gianozzo
Manetti, Guarino, Panhormita, Francesco Filelfo, Perotto, Campano,
Mafeo Vegeo, Nicolò Secondino, Pontano, Bartolomeo Fazii, Gasparino,
Paolo Vergaio, Giovanni Argiropolo, Francesco Barbaro, Leonardo
Giustiniani, Donato Acciaiuolo, Alamanno Remicini, Christofero da
Prato the elder, Poggio, Giovanni Tartellio, Francesco d'Arezzo, and
Lorenzo Valla. It was his object to obtain every book in all branches
of learning, ancient and modern, original or translated. He had also
of Greek classics, with their commentaries, Aristotle, Plato, Homer,
Sophocles, Pindar, Menander, Plutarch, Ptolemy, Herodotus, Pausanias,
Thucydides, Polybius, Demosthenes, Æschines, Plotinus, Theophrastus,
Hippocrates, Galen, and Xenophon; the New Testament, St. Basil and
other fathers in Greek, with the Book of Paradise, lives of the
Egyptian saints, lives of Balaam and Jehosaphat; and all works on
geometry, arithmetic, and astrology, as well as every other attainable
writer in that language. It was the same as to Hebrew books, beginning
with the Bible, and including philosophy, medicine, and other
faculties, with every known commentary; and there was a remarkable
polyglot Psalter in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
[Footnote 125: Commentary on Duke Federigo, Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 941, f.
43. See his _Life of Nicholas V._; MURATORI, _Script._, XXV., 268,
274; also below, ch. XXIV.]
[Footnote 126: The Urbino Bible, noticed again in this extract, will
be more particularly described in VI. of the Appendices.]
[Footnote *127: On the "veltro" Dante, see Dennistoun's note in the
Appendix to this vol., p. 448, and L. FRATI, _Federico Duca d'Urbino e
il "Veltro" Dante_, in _Arch. St. per le Marche e per l'Umbria_, vol.
II., pp. 360-67. Cf. also VESPASIANO, _Vite_ (Barbera, Firenze), p.
86.]
"On all this the Duke spent upwards of 30,000 ducats; and he made a
rule that every book should be bound in crimson, ornamented with
silver, from the Bible already described down to the modern authors.
It is thus a truly rich display to see all these books so adorned, all
being manuscripts on vellum, with illuminations, and each a complete
copy,--perfections not found in any other library. Indeed, shortly
before he went to the siege of Ferrara, I compared the catalogue with
lists of other libraries which he had procured, such as those of the
Vatican, Florence, St. Mark, Pavia, down to that of the University of
Oxford in England, and found that all but his own had deficiencies and
duplicates."
The book of regulations for the court and household of Guidobaldo I.
contains these rules for the administration of the library[128]:--"The
librarian should be learned, of good presence, temper, and manners;
correct and ready of speech. He must get from the gardrobe an
inventory of the books, and keep them arranged and easily accessible,
whether Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or others, maintaining also the rooms in
good condition. He must preserve the books from damp and vermin, as
well as from the hands of trifling, ignorant, dirty, and tasteless
persons. To those of authority and learning, he ought himself to
exhibit them with all facility, courteously explaining their beauty
and remarkable characteristics, the handwriting and miniatures, but
observant that such abstract no leaves. When ignorant or merely
curious persons wish to see them, a glance is sufficient, if it be not
some one of considerable influence. When any lock or other requisite
is needed, he must take care that it be promptly provided. He must let
no book be taken away but by the Duke's orders, and if lent must get a
written receipt, and see to its being returned. When a number of
visitors come in, he must be specially watchful that none be stolen.
All which is duly seen to by the present courteous and attentive
librarian, Messer Agabito."
[Footnote 128: Vat. Urb. MSS. No. 1248, f. 58.]
Without attempting any enumeration of those who filled the office thus
regulated, we may refer to Vespasiano, already mentioned in that
capacity, and to Lorenzo Abstemio of Macerata, an eminent professor of
literature about 1500. But the most useful of them was probably
Veterano, who was spared to serve three Dukes of the two Urbino
dynasties, and the fruits of whose laborious caligraphy may still be
recognised in many a fair MS. at the Vatican. Among these is a
Commentary on the Triumphs of Petrarch, a note on the colophon of
which informs us that it was one of about sixty volumes copied by him
on parchment for this collection. A gluttonous patriotism has led some
encomiasts of the duchy into the glaring absurdity of imputing the
authorship of these manifold works to their transcriber, whose
original compositions, to be noticed in our twenty-fifth chapter,
suggest few regrets that his long life should have been chiefly
devoted to more mechanical occupations. We are fortunately able to
test the reputation enjoyed by Count Federigo's library; for, although
some of its treasures were lost in the revolutions of 1503 and 1517,
and although the MSS. transported to the Vatican in 1658 included many
additions subsequent to his death, still the volumes most important to
literature, and most embellished by art, may, with few exceptions, be
attributed to his liberality. The estimate of 30,000 ducats, already
stated from Vespasiano as the cost of the collection in his time, is
carried to 40,000 by Gallo Galli, who lived under Duke Guidobaldo
II., thus affording a probable inference as to the augmentation it had
received between 1482 and 1566. This increase, which went on until the
devolution of the duchy in 1631, was chiefly by a mass of unpublished
writings of local interest or authorship, without any pretence to
artistic beauty. The numbers now catalogued are thus no evidence of
its original extent; but we may mention that an inventory by Stefano
Gradio, though by no means complete, includes 1361 entries; that
Platner, in the _Beschreibung der Stadt Rom_, estimates the ducal MSS.
at 1711; but that the catalogue compiled by Mauro Costa, in 1797, and
now actually in use, exceeds four thousand articles. As some of the
illuminated MSS. executed for Count Federigo are of the highest
interest, we shall notice a few of them in VI. of the Appendices, and
in our forty-eighth chapter shall mention the fate of this library,
after the extinction of the ducal line.
"Within this curious palace dwelt a soul
Gave lustre to each part, and to the whole:
This drest his face in courteous smiles, and so
From comely gestures sweeter manners flow.
This courage joyned to strength; so the hand, bent,
Was valour's; opened, bounty's instrument;
Which did the scale and sword of justice hold,
Knew how to brandish steel and scatter gold."
THOMAS CAREW.
Before concluding our account of the Corte, we may mention some
appurtenances intended for the more material requirements of its
inmates. Of the garden we can say nothing, horticulture being then a
latent science; neither need we linger upon the court-yard provided
for tennis or ball. But the stable-range, built by Francesco di
Giorgio in 1475, is thus curiously described by himself: "From the
stable, constructed by me, for my most illustrious Duke of Urbino, may
be seen how much a complete and perfect set ought to include. It is
capable of containing three hundred horses, half on either side,
being twenty-eight feet wide, thirty-six high, and three hundred and
sixty long,[129] and over it there is a beautiful loft for hay and
straw, with square holes for throwing down the forage, and above all a
roof. There are several contiguous rooms, the first being a yard or
shed, wherein to mount and dismount, or to shoe the horses; in it is a
fountain with two troughs, and a pipe passing thence under the
mangers, with various stop-cocks for the supply of water, by means
whereof the stable can be cleansed, and to facilitate this operation
the floor falls towards the centre, enabling such horses as wish it to
stand higher before. Next the fountain is a corn-store, with the
head-groom's rooms above it, overlooking the stable, and beyond these
a servant's room, and one for medicines, saddlery, repairs, &c.
Lastly, there is a great tower, with a winding-stair, accessible only
to the owner, whence he can see the entire establishment; and this,
being known to the overseer and servants, is a check upon their good
conduct."
[Footnote 129: There must be some mistake as to the length, which
would scarcely half suffice for a hundred and fifty horses. See the
original in Promis' Turin edition of Francesco di Giorgio's Works, I.,
p. 171.]
In a letter by Gallo Galli to Duke Guidobaldo II. in 1566, he mentions
having seen memoranda stating the cost of the Urbino palace at 200,000
ducats, the silver plate at 40,000, a set of tapestries representing
the siege of Troy at 10,000, and the MSS. library at 40,000. Before
leaving the subject we shall transcribe from the _Cortegiano_ an
anecdote, not on account of its value, but as a specimen of the dull
wit which Castiglione thought worth commemorating as the gossip of his
model court. "Recollect also the silly trait, just related by our Lord
Duke, of an abbé who, standing by while Duke Federigo was discussing
what to do with the vast quantity of earth excavated from the
foundations of this palace, exclaimed, 'My Lord, I have thought of a
capital contrivance. Desire an immense ditch to be made, into which
it may be put without more ado.' The Duke answered with a smile, 'And
where shall we place the earth of the ditch itself?' To which the abbé
replied, 'Make it big enough for both.' And though the Duke repeated
that the larger it was the more earth would there be to remove, he
never could see it, but went on saying, make it so much the greater!"
Sanzi informs us that Federigo had intended to erect, in connection
with this residence, a fane unequalled in regularity, beauty, and
ornament, in order at once to manifest his piety and to provide a last
home for his remains. The cathedral adjoining it, though founded by
his father in 1439, was scarcely well begun until 1471, and when
completed, in no way realised his project.[130] The church of S.
Bernardino, also left unfinished at his death, was in some degree a
substitute, being not only a special memorial of his piety, but
supplying a mausoleum for himself and the few after members of his
dynasty.
[Footnote 130: Much confusion of dates has arisen regarding this
church, owing to its slow advance,--unusually protracted even for
Italy. Lazzarini tells that it was founded by Federigo in 1447, and
consecrated to S. Crescentino in 1534, but that the façade was not
completed till 1781. The cupola, planned by Muzio Oddi, was erected in
1604, but fell in 1789. The pulpit and organ were designed by Girolamo
della Genga, and the latter was painted by Baroccio. The stuccoes were
executed by Federigo Brandani, who died in 1575.]
Of the other residences that shared the cares of Count Federigo,
Gubbio was the most important. Sanzi describes it as facing the
south-east, and flanked by mountains on the north, overlooking fertile
valleys and smiling champaigns, and excelling the attractions of
Urbino in charming prospects and pleasant pathways. Notwithstanding
the general truth of this eulogy, nothing could be more consistent
with beauty or convenience than its site, planted on a slope, with the
cathedral right in front, crowded round with poor buildings, and
accessible only by precipitous alleys. Its architecture is disputed
between Francesco di Giorgio and Baccio Pontelli,[*131] nor would it
add much credit to either, its sole merit being minute decorations in
hewn work and inlaid panelling, both after the style we have described
at Urbino. Although the initials of the two Montefeltrian dukes appear
in these, it is believed to have been chiefly built by Guidobaldo, and
the oak-tree cognisance of the Della Rovere indicates in some parts a
still later date. The constant recurrence of the Garter among its
ornamental devices is gratifying to the very rare English visitors of
this Apennine town, but no traveller of taste and intelligence can be
otherwise than shocked to find this once chosen sanctuary of Italian
refinement and high breeding, the residence in which Castiglione
recounted his reception at the Tudor court, and where Fregoso and
Bembo were successively bishops, degraded to vile uses and menaced by
speedy ruin. It is now in the hands of a person who there manufactures
wax candles and silk, but on my second visit in 1843 was closed up
entirely and inaccessible. I owe to the obliging attention of Signor
Luigi Bonfatti, a local antiquary of taste and intelligence, who is
preparing a work on the early painters of Gubbio, this notice of the
building and its remaining decorations: "Differing much from the
architecture at Urbino, its court-yard is very fine, of the mixed or
composite style usual in that age. The windows, doors, and chimneys
have stone lintels, exquisitely chiselled in low relief with masterly
arabesque designs, those in the interior being touched with gold. The
ceilings, now partially decayed, are all of wood, in half-relief
compartments, with heavy cornices, and roses coloured and gilded. The
palace was completed by Duke Guidobaldo, who commissioned the cabinet
or closet of superb _intarsia_, thirteen by six and a half feet. This
tiny room is nineteen feet high, but the inlaid work goes only
half-way up. It is of the finest patterns and workmanship, including
several emblematic representations of music, literature, physical
science, geography, and war. On the cornice is an inscription now in
part illegible.... It was, in my opinion, the work of Antonio Mastei
of Gubbio, a famous artist in wood, who executed the beautiful choir
of S. Fortunato at Todi, and who is known to have been much in favour
with Dukes Guidobaldo and Francesco Maria I., the latter of whom gave
him an exemption from imposts."[132]
[Footnote *131: It is the work of Lorenzo Laurana.]
[Footnote 132: The kindness of Mr. F.C. Brooke, of Ufford Place,
Suffolk, enables me to supplement from his note-book this imperfect
mention of the most interesting feature of the palace. "The small
cabinet has shared a better fate than that of the remainder of the
apartments, and requires little else than cleaning up to restore it to
its original state. The ceiling is divided into several scanty
compartments, of octangular form and relieved with gold, while the
wainscoted walls are inlaid with _tarsia_, representing bookcases, or
rather cupboards, with their contents, amongst which are a ship, a
tambourine, military weapons, a cage with a parrot in it, and, as if
for the sake of variety only, a few volumes of books, over one of
which, containing music, with the word 'ROSABELLA' inscribed on its
pages, is suspended a crucifix. On the central case opposite to the
window, and occupying as it were the post of honour, is the Garter,
with its motto, 'HONI SOIT Q MAL I PENSE'; a device which has been
sculptured on the exterior of the stone architrave of the door of this
apartment. It appears again in _tarsia_ in the recess of the window,
where may also be seen, within circles, 'G. UBALDO DX.' and 'FE DUX.'
On the frieze, and in a single line interrupted only by the spaces
occupied by the door and window, is the following inscription in
_tarsia_:--
"'Aspicis æternos venerandæ matris alumnos,
Doctrina excelsos ingenioque viros.
Vi nuda cervice cadant ante...
... genu.
Justiciam pietas vincit reverenda, nec ullum
Poenitet ultrici succubuisse suæ.'
"I might also have mentioned as amongst the devices, the crane
standing on one leg, and holding, with the foot of the other which is
raised, the stone he is to drop as a signal of alarm for his
companions. Among other feigned contents of a bookcase are an
hour-glass, guitar, and pair of compasses; in another are seen a
dagger, dried fruits in a small basket made of thin wood, and a
tankard; while in a third is represented an open book surmounted with
the name of Guidobaldo, who probably made the description inscribed on
the two pages of the volume, comprising verses 457 to 491 of the tenth
_Æneid_."
It is unnecessary here to introduce this long quotation; for the last
combat and death of Pallas by the spear of Turnus, however happily
described by Virgil, bear no traceable analogy to incidents in the
Montefeltrian family. Mr. Brooke conjectures that it was recommended
by the passage,--
"Stat sua cuique dies; breve et irreparabile tempus
Omnibus est vitæ; sed famam extendere factis,
Hoc Virtutis opus:"
a sentiment equally beautiful in itself, and appropriate to the
fortunes of Guidobaldo; yet why not have given point to the epigram by
isolating it from the inappropriate context?]
Muzio and Baldi impute to Federigo's munificence many other palaces in
his state, such as Fossombrone, Cagli, Casteldurante, La Carda,
Mercatello, &c.; but most of these were probably forts, of which
Francesco di Giorgio speaks as having one hundred and thirty-six under
his charge at once, for this prince. At the two first-named places,
there still remain residences dating from this reign, and the parks or
game-preserves which formerly surrounded them, embracing circuits of
seven and five miles respectively, were walled in by the Count, and
stocked with fallow-deer.[133] These have long ago run to waste, and
the palaces, with their ample halls,
"Shadowy with remembrances
Of the majestic past,"
are now desolate and rapidly falling to ruin.[*134]
[Footnote 133: We have very few notices of his sporting tastes; but
the Vatican collection of his letters includes one of the King of
France, on sending, at his request, a brace of dogs.]
[Footnote *134: The palace of Urbino was indeed the wonder of the age.
Dennistoun, however, tells us little or nothing about Federigo's
villas. The gardens of Lorenzo de' Medici at Poggio a Caiano were
provided with every vegetable, both for ornament and use, which the
most diligent search could supply. Indeed, his was one of the first
collections of plants made in Europe. Alessandro Braccio, in a Latin
poem addressed to Bernardo Bembo, gives a graphic account of it.
Laurentian Library, Plut. LXXXVI., sup. cod. 41. Band. Cat., III.,
787. The poem is given by Roscoe, _Lorenzo de' Medici_, App. XXV.]
* * * * *
It has been aptly observed that "of works which appeal to the eye, any
description must be tedious and inconclusive," but less could not have
been said of creations which constituted the chief praise of Count
Federigo among his contemporaries, and his most enduring glory with
posterity. Nor can it but excite our interest to inquire whence means
were obtained for so lavish an outlay, and for his munificent
patronage of letters and arts. When the eye wanders over the map of
Urbino, as possessed by its dukes of the Della Rovere dynasty, it is
difficult to restrict our conceptions to its true limits at this
date. It would probably now be impossible to define these with perfect
accuracy, much of its frontier being then debatable land.[135] Into
this category had fallen part of the original fief of Montefeltro,
lying north of the Foglia. The proper territory of Urbino occupied the
central portion of the far-receding stripe situated between that river
and the Metauro, its upper section being the Brancaleone country, its
sea-board divided between Pesaro and Fano. Out-lying were the holdings
of Gubbio and Cagli, the latter perhaps reaching to the recently
acquired townships of Fossombrone. The state composed of these
straggling parts may have included about one-fourth of the subsequent
duchy; but cut off from the coast, and from the fertile districts
which skirt the Adriatic, its rugged uplands and rude climate derived
from nature few elements of wealth. The various wars which had swept
it, and especially the forays and reprisals it had long endured from
the tyrant of Rimini, might well have exhausted its resources, and
utterly impoverished both sovereign and people. The fact was, however,
quite otherwise, war being a source of wealth to both. Military
service was their only trade, and so well did they ply it, that during
thirty-four years, short intervals excepted, the Count drew continuous
pay from some foreign power or adventurer. The value of these
engagements may be estimated from some examples. In 1453 his war pay
from Alfonso of Naples exceeded 8000 ducats a month, and for many
years he had from him and his son an annual peace-pension of 6000 in
name of past services. At the close of his life, when captain-general
of the Italian league, he drew in war 165,000 ducats of annual
stipend, 45,000 being his own share; in peace 65,000 in all. Of these
vast sums a considerable portion went among his hardy mountaineers,
besides their contingent of plunder and perquisites picked up in the
field. Thus was war rendered so acceptable to their interests, as well
as to their tastes and habits, that Sanzi compares them, when their
arms are cast aside, to "unpinioned eagles." Nor did the ravages of
invasion prove so destructive as might be supposed. The entire
population were located in villages or townlets, each a fastness
capable of resistance, which, even when unsuccessful, gave time to
conceal their valuables: thus when the sack began, they had only to
save their persons, and these generally were allowed to go
unharmed.[136]
[Footnote 135:
"Nunc ager Umbreni sub nomine, nuper Ofelli
Dictus; erat nulli proprius, sed cedit in usum
Nunc mihi, nunc aliis."
HORACE, _Sat._, ii. 2.]
[Footnote 136: See, as to later statistics of the duchy, the Appendix
to Vol. III.]