GIANLUIGI FIESCHI.
Maria della Rovere and her children.--The natural gifts of
Gianluigi.--Andrea Doria prevents his marriage with the daughter
of Prince Centurione.--Gianluigi’s first quarrels with Gianettino
Doria.--Naval battle of Giralatte and capture of the corsair Torghud
Rais--Count Fieschi espouses Eleonora of the Princes of Cybo--The hill
of Carignano in the early part of the sixteenth century--Sumptousness
of the Fieschi palace--Gianluigi, Pansa and other distinguished
men--Female writers--Eleonora Fieschi and her rhymes.
MARIA Grasso della Rovere, the spirited niece of Julius II. after the
death of Sinibaldo removed from the city to her castles, first to
those in Pontremoli and Valditaro where she gave birth to Scipione,
and then to Montobbio where she established her residence. In those
days our matrons, when their husbands were fighting abroad or when they
became widows, took active charge of their estates and, laying aside
all elegant recreations, employed their zeal in promoting their family
fortunes. From this came the masculine counsels and splendid examples
which illustrated their history. Of such was Maria della Rovere,
daughter of the Duke of Urbino.
Emancipated from the luxury and pomp of her Genoese life, she applied
herself, like a good farmer’s wife, to restore the fortunes of her
house and to pay the large debts of Sinibaldo, especially the twelve
thousand ducats of gold due to Sforza for the feud of Pontremoli. Her
chief care, however, was the education of her children. The eldest
of them, Gianluigi, was ten years of age at the death of his father.
The others were Gerolamo, Ottobuono, Camilla (who became the wife of
Nicolò Doria, illegitimate son of Cardinal Gerolamo), Angela, Caterina,
and Scipione, born after his father’s death. There was in addition a
Cornelio, who though illegitimate (his mother was a certain Clementina
of Torriglia), was much beloved on account of his spirited character.
Some report that Sinibaldo had other illegitimate children, and number
among them a Giulio and a Claudia, the latter of whom married into the
family of the Ravaschieri.
The children were instructed by Paolo Panza, a man of many literary
acquirements, who trained them in liberal studies.
The ardent spirit of Gianluigi imbibed less from the gentle
instructions of Panza than from the masculine promptings of Maria della
Rovere, who, in the fashion of Spartan mothers, exhorted him not to
forget the paths by which his ancestors reached fame, contending as
Guelphs for the rights of the people. Influenced by such counsels, he
grew up into youth, and acquired strength both of body and mind in
rough exercises of arms and in the chase. He was so skilful in these
arts and in swimming, that the most robust of his rivals could not
excel him. His mother taught him to hate the rule of strangers; and
he must very early have become an enemy to the Dorias, whom he saw
grasping the destinies of the Republic.
When he was eighteen years of age he took charge of his patrimony,
which the prudence of his mother and the address of his guardian, Paolo
Pansa, had so much improved that it is said to have yielded two hundred
thousand crowns of rent. On the fourth of June, 1535, Charles V.
confirmed his title to the domains of his ancestors, and continued in
him the titles of Vicar-general in Italy, Prince of the empire, Count
of the sacred palace, and imperial councillor. Perhaps it was on that
occasion that he also received from Cæsar the two thousand gold crowns
mentioned by some writers.
On coming to the city from Montobbio, he was honoured with festive
receptions by all the nobility; his manners and his gentle courtesy
acquired him the love of the best among the people. Bonfadio[24]
describes him as beautiful of countenance, skilful in the use of arms
and the management of horses, remarkable for the beauty and strength of
his body, manly in speech, grateful, obliging and winning to others:
in fine his sweetness of character and vivacity of temper completes
the picture of an Alcibiades, formed for captivating all hearts. In
fact he was called an Alcibiades, and perhaps he was one, the vices
included; it is certain that in patriotism he deserved the name. It
is said that when, mounted upon a bay saddle-horse, caparisoned with
orange-coloured velvet trappings laced in vermillion, and poitrel
of silver, he rode through the narrow and crowded streets of Genoa
followed by his valets and equerries, the people gathered from every
side to do him honour, and he repaid them all with a salute full of
winning courtesy. He dressed with the luxury which had come down to
him from his illustrious ancestry. A picture, which many believe to be
that of Gianluigi, represents him in a black velvet morning gown having
the sleeves slashed, as was the fashion of the time; there is a collar
about his neck with cannon shaped points, and a chain from which hangs
a medallion bearing the motto _Gatto_. His head is covered with a cap,
also of black velvet, surmounted on the left side by a white plume. The
limbs are comely and chaste, the air brave and courteous, the hair of a
mulberry tint, the hands white with fingers long and clean as those of
a virgin, the eyes black and brilliant. Leandro Alberti describes him
as a prudent, brave and eloquent young man. Porzio[25] writes that he
served not without honour in the wars of Lombardy under the standards
of the marquis Vasto. But though fond of glory and successful in arms,
he scorned to seek fame in other enterprises while the times forbade
him to use his sword for national liberty.
Endowed with such gifts, there was no illustrious family which did
not seek his hand for a daughter. Among the beautiful damsels who in
every part of Italy were ambitious of the title of Countess of Lavagna,
he fixed his eyes upon Ginetta, daughter of Prince Adamo Centurione.
In every maidenly grace she was unrivalled. The prince and his wife
Oriettina, who loved Gianluigi, were delighted to expouse Gianetta
to the most virtuous knight in Genoa. However, difficulties arose
which overthrew the project; and as the misfortunes of Fieschi begin
from this disappointment, we deem it of importance to touch upon some
circumstances which were unknown to, or have been ignored by historians.
The Prince Centurione was a firm supporter of the Austro-Spanish
rule, and was united to the Dorias. He had fought, as a volunteer and
at his own expense, in the wars of Charles in Germany; and his vast
wealth procured him favours from the principal monarchs. When the
emperor passed through Genoa, his minister asked Doria to lend the
royal visitor two hundred thousand crowns, for his enterprise against
Algiers. The Genoese responded that he would immediately supply his
sovereign with all the money he might need. He presented the money to
the emperor and with it a receipt for its payment. The emperor, not
wishing to be outdone in generosity, tore the receipt in pieces. Prince
Adorno also lent two hundred thousand crowns of gold at one time to
Duke Cosimo. He paid eight hundred thousand pieces for the marquisate
of Steppa and Pedrera, in Spain, and a large sum to marquis Antonio
Malaspina for the estates of Monte di Vai, Bibola and Laula. He bought
other castles in the Langhe; and the Venitian ambassadors reported that
his rents amounted to a million of ducats.
Memoirs worthy of credit relate that Centurione one day informed Andrea
that he had contracted Gianetta in marriage to the first gentleman in
Genoa, and named Fieschi; to which Doria answered that no gentleman
in Genoa could rank higher than Gianettino, his successor in the
admiralty and heir of all his possessions, adding that Centurione ought
to renounce Fieschi and give the hand of his daughter to the prince’s
nephew. Centurione did not at first consent to break his faith; but the
solicitations of Andrea, with whom he did not wish to be at enmity,
at length triumphed over his scruples and he espoused Gianetta to
Gianettino giving her a dower of seventy thousand gold crowns of the
sun.
This violation of plighted faith deeply wounded Gianetta who had set
her affections on Gianluigi; and the Princess Oriettina took it so
much to heart that she fell sick, and finding herself near death, as a
last proof of her devotion to the Fieschi family had that life of St.
Catherine written which is still preserved in manuscript in the library
of the Genoese studio. This broken contract of marriage was the first
spark of that great fire which blazed up between Fieschi and Doria.[26]
The count was gifted with great powers of dissimulation and he did
not permit Doria to perceive that he felt the insult. He carried an
open face and silently matured his vengeance. He contracted greater
familiarity with the new nobles, the old being devoted partisans of
Andrea.
The haughty arrogance of Gianettino added new fuel to the fire. This
youth forgetful of the humble place from which he had risen, adopted
an insolence of tone and a luxury of life which gave general offence.
The natural insolence of his character had been greatly increased by a
military life and the habit of command.
The control of twenty galleys, the succession as admiral and the proofs
of personal courage which he had given raised him above the mass of the
citizens;[27] but instead of knightly courtesy he had a scornful and
imperious look, and he never entered the city without being attended
by a cortège of officers and armed men. He affected in a free land the
sumptuous customs of princes.
The people, whom he thrust aside, hated him; the nobles caressed
him as a means of getting privileges and honours, but they secretly
despised him because he, not content to be their equal, regarded them
as subjects. The plebeians murmured; “why such arrogant assumption in
a land whose laws forbid despotism! He who refuses to treat you as an
equal wishes to make you his slave.[28] See how bravely he drives it
towards princely powers?”
Thus the people abhorred Gianettino as its future tyrant, and longed
for a favourable moment to strike down the Spanish power and restore
the rule of the citizens. The old prince either encouraged or
regarded without displeasure, the insolent habits of his heir which
were bringing odium upon his house. Gianettino became unboundedly
arrogant after his victory over the Corsair Dragut, or Torghud Rais,
once governor of Montesche. The annals of Liguria give us but few
particulars of this fight, and some modern writers believe that no such
battle was ever fought. We have found in old chronicles the materials
for correcting the errors and supplying the defects of those who have
written upon the subject. This will not lead us beyond the range of our
subject; since the honours showered upon Gianettino for this victory
stimulated Gianluigi to illustrate his own name by deeds not less
worthy of fame, while the pride of the young Admiral grew so high that
he insolently treated the count as his inferior.
In the spring of 1539, Prince Doria was with the army in Sicily, and
Torghud took advantage of his absence to make a piratical cruise in the
Ligurian sea. Andrea, as soon as he received notice of the movement,
sent his nephew to oppose the Corsair. The latter had already began
his depredations along the coast, and had desolated Capraia, carrying
off seven hundred prisoners and a large Genoese galleon. Gianettino,
having a fleet of twenty galleys and a frigate commanded by a certain
Fra Marco, acted upon his knowledge of the Corsair’s habit of beating
up against the wind, and pursued him by the use of his oars. At the
same time he sent his lieutenant, Giorgio Doria, with six galleys and
the frigate to the bay of Giralatte where he believed the pirate to
have run for shelter. His calculations proved to be accurate. Torghud,
believing these galleys to be the principal fleet of the Genoese, left
two vessels to guard his booty, and sailed to attack Giorgio Doria with
nine ships, two of which he had captured from the Venitians at Prevesa.
Hearing the sound of the engagement, Gianettino, who was not far
distant, sailed into the waters of Giralatte and joined his lieutenant.
The Corsair seeing himself outnumbered, retired from the contest and
endeavoured to escape; but Gianettino pursued him so closely that he
soon saw flight to be impossible and resolved to sell his life as
dearly as possible.
He raised his oars to the sound of trumpet and tymbal, according to
Barbary customs and accepted the battle. The numbers and weight of
vessels were equal, and both parties had equal enthusiasm, courage and
obstinacy. But a cannon ball from a Genoese galley opened the side of
the corsair’s flag-ship, and a tempest of fire battered the rest into
shapeless wrecks. Some of the pirates flung themselves desperately
into the waves, and others turned the prows of their shattered vessels
and attempted a new retreat. Among the latter was the terrible pirate
Mami Rais de’ Monasteri, in Africa who had once before been a prisoner
of Antonio Doria and had been liberated on payment of a ransom.
Giorgio pursued him now without success; but with this exception the
whole fleet was captured including the two vessels left by Torghud to
guard his booty. These last were captured by Count Anguillara who was
fighting under Doria’s flag.
The losses of Doria were small, but that of the enemy was terrible,
since every one of them who swam to shore was mercilessly put to the
sword by the Sicilians. Torghud was made prisoner and the chronicles
say that “after having been well flogged he was put in chains.” He
offered without avail fifteen thousand ducats for his ransom.
On the 22nd of June 1539, at vespers, Gianettino entered the port of
Genoa with the galleys captured from the corsair. The citizens flocked
in crowds to welcome the victors and two thousand christians who had
been delivered from captivity, and to see the humbled lord of the main.
Torghud managed with such tact that he obtained admission to the
presence of the Princess Peretta, and addressed her in proud and
threatening terms of reproach for the harsh treatment which he had
suffered; but he soon adopted a humbler tone and begged to be sent to
Messina, where Andrea Doria still remained with his army. This favour
he obtained, and he renewed to Andrea his offer of a heavy ransom,
but still without success. A few years after, his countrymen, who
valued him highly as a commander, offered new terms, and this time
Andrea yielded to the temptation. The commission had not a sufficient
sum to pay the ransom, and borrowed it in Genoa from the noble family
Sopranis, giving as security the island of Tabarca. Thus Torghud,
conquered by Genoese arms and ransomed by Genoese gold, recovered his
liberty and renewed his piracies on the seas to the detriment of all
Christendom.
It is needless to say that the success of Gianettino aroused a spirit
of emulation in Count Lavagna. But he saw that the Dorias, accusing
him to Cæsar of revolutionary opinions, had shut him out from honours
and official position; and, not wishing to employ his talents in
strengthening the Spanish power in Italy, he sought repose for his
active spirit in domestic enjoyments.
He married Eleonora, of the family of Prince Cybo, though his mother
at first strongly opposed the alliance, preferring for her son a
more wealthy and illustrious bride. By this marriage Fieschi came
into a certain relationship to Catherine de’ Medici, wife of Henry
II.,--Catherine Cybo, duchess of Camerino and aunt of Eleonora, being
of the blood of the Medici, and therefore of the queen of France.
The marriage contract was prepared on the 15th of September, 1542 in
Milan by Galeazzo Visconti and Gerolamo Bertobio, notaries, in the
presence of Francesco Guiducci and Giuseppe Girlandoni, representative
of Cardinal Innocent Cybo (the same to whom Philip Strozzi bequeathed
his blood to be made into a pudding) and of Lorenzo and Ricciarda Cybo,
on the one side, and Paolo Pansa the attorney of Count Fieschi on the
other. The dower amounted to hardly nine thousand gold crowns of the
sun and two thousand more for the wedding outfit. The Strozzi papers
contain an act under date of January 18th 1543 written by Bernardo
Usodimare-Granello, scribe of the archepiscopal court of Genoa, by
which Count Gianluigi acknowledges that Rev. Ambrogio Calvi, attorney
and agent of Cybo, had paid four thousand gold crowns of the sun and
deposited five thousand more with the brothers Giuliano and Agostino
Salvaghi who had become securities for the dowry. The act further
acknowledged the payment of one thousand crowns for jewellery and
ornaments and provides that the other should be furnished by Cybo
in silver, gold and gems. In the same act, Count Fieschi pledged as
security for the dowry the castle of Cariseto and its appurtenances,
which he had obtained by purchase, and he promised to obtain the
consent of Cæsar to the transfer of the estate within one year from the
date of the instrument.
The preparations for the wedding and the festivities connected with the
espousals were on a splendid scale. The flower of the Genoese nobility
came to congratulate the spouses at their residence in Vialata.
Two powerful families possessed the magnificent hill of Carignano, the
Fieschi, and the Sauli. Each family had there a splendid palace. During
the minority of Gianluigi, silence had reigned in his, while that of
the Sauli had been greatly enlarged and embellished.
The Sauli were new nobles belonging to the popular party, like the
Fieschi, Farnari, Promontori and Giustiniani; yet few of the nobility,
old or new, equalled them in wealth and gentility of blood. Marcantonio
Sauli, a grave priest, whose life Soprani wrote, had splendidly
adorned his palace, and there the Genoese ladies were wont to meet for
pleasure, and the elders of the city to debate on the affairs of the
Republic.
At the marriage of Gianluigi, his palace resumed its ancient gaiety,
and the Sauli, surpassed by the Fieschi in magnificence, were filled
with envy; and this was the first cause of those differences and
rivalries which separated these distinguished families.
Louis XII., who had been the guest of the count’s grandfather, speaking
of the sumptuousness of the palace in Vialata, said that it surpassed
that of his own. And the palace of Fieschi was in fact a kingly
residence. The annalists tell us that the hill of Carignano,[29] on
which it stood, was adorned with fifty villas, houses and gardens. The
principal of these were the palace of Madonna Marisla, the mother of
Cardinal Sauli, those of Nicolò, Giovanni Battista and Giuliano Sauli,
and the houses of Pietro Negrone and Rolando Ferrari.
From the summit of this hill you have a commanding view of the city,
and of the port crowded with a forest of masts; the villas of Albaro
are spread out before you; gardens and palaces cover the slopes of
gentle declivities, or are scattered along the sides of the mountains
which, swelling skyward, make at once a rampart and a diadem for Genoa.
Valleys and slopes of marvellous beauty attract the eye towards the
shore line, fringed with orange gardens, of Nervi and Recco, until
Portofino, with its wave-washed rocks, closes on that side the charming
basin of the gulf; while westward lie the bewitching shores of Voltri,
Albissola and Savona, closed in the long prospective by Cape Noli
standing boldly in the face of the sea; and throughout the wide horizon
the waving surface is white with cities, castles and villages, which
are garlanded round with orchards and olive groves, reflecting their
verdure in the crystal mirror of the Mediterranean.
In the centre of this smiling scene, roofed with a sky yet more
bewitching than the landscape, rose the palace of Count Fieschi, faced
with alternate slabs of white and black marble, crowned with two grand
towers, and decorated with emblems and statues on its front and sides.
In the _Fogliazzi Notarili_, which are preserved in the city library,
there is an instrument dated March 30th, 1468 executed by Luca and
Matteo Fieschi, sons of Daniel and Ginevrina Fieschi, from which we
learn that in front of the palace there lay an open lawn extending
towards the sea, that the villas and orchards of the estate covered
the whole space as far as San Giacomo. On the east, west and south
the grounds were bounded by public streets, and on the north lay the
farms of Francesco del Monte and of the heir of Oberto Della Rovere.
Subsequently to the date of this instrument, Bartolomeo Fieschi added
villas and fields to this estate; but on the southern side it suffered
some detriment from the opening of stone quarries by the government for
which the Doge Battista Fregoso paid damages in 1479.
We also learn, from the records of _Bailia della Moneta_ in the bank
of St. George, that sixty citizens having, on the 21st of March, 1484
engaged, to extend the mole of the harbour twenty-five or thirty goe
(a goe was ten palms or nine feet) the Doge and the elders authorized
the rectors of the commune to quarry stone on private property, and for
this purpose some lands were ceded by the same Bartolomeo Fieschi, thus
decreasing the extent of his estate southward, though it did not reach
the sea before this cession.
Behind the palace, lay a botanical garden which Sinibaldo had enriched
with rare species of plants and beautified with little lakes and
fountains making it, according to Spotorno, among the first of its kind
in Italy.
Sinibaldo employed excellent architects and builders, whose names have
not come down to us, to decorate and enrich his home, some time before
Paul III., on his return from Nice, lodged here as Fieschi’s guest. The
wrath of man, rather than the hand of time, has so completely destroyed
these monuments that not even the ruins remain for our admiration. The
reader will therefore receive with favour the results of our researches
into the true position and boundaries of the Fieschi palace and
gardens, which in their time were famed for their outward magnificence
and for the sculptures, carved work and pictures within the palace. Of
these works of art all but one have perished from the memory of man.
This was a painting in the vestibule which treated the fable of the
giants hurling thunderbolts at Jupiter and some enterprises of the
Fieschi family. We think it just to inform our readers of its origin
and character.
The wealthy citizens of Genoa were accustomed, like those of every
part of Italy, to adorn their mansions with paintings allusive to the
exploits of themselves or their families. For example, history has
preserved the memory of an allegory given to Gerolamo Adorno by Paolo
Giovio, which was sketched in colours by Titian, and wrought into a
rich embroidery by Agnolo di Madonna, a Venitian embroiderer. Giovio,
in his brief dialogue, speaks of three emblems which were painted in
many places in the Fieschi palace. The bishop of Nocera writes that
Sinibaldo and Ottobuono, with whom he was on familiar terms, asked him
to execute an allegorical picture, representing the vengeance they had
taken for the death of their brother, Count Gerolamo, whom the Fregosi
had cruelly murdered. This revenge had removed from among the living
the instruments of the deed, Zaccaria Fregoso, Signors Fregosino,
Lodovico and Guido Fregosi. With this bloody reprisal the Fieschi
satisfied their anger, saying that no Fregoso lived to boast that he
had spilled the blood of a Fieschi.
Giovio represented this tragic vengeance by an elephant attacked by
a dragon. The latter attempts to wind himself about the legs of his
antagonist, so as to pierce his bowels and insert his deadly poison.
But the elephant, knowing by instinct the danger to which he is
exposed, turns himself round and round until he places a rock or a tree
between himself and his enemy. Then he beats the dragon to death. This
allegory was interesting, from the fine contrast of the two animals,
and the Spanish motto, _No vos allabareis_--by which Fieschi would say
to the Fregosi, “You cannot boast of your crime against our blood.”
Sinibaldo had another allegory executed in the palace of Vialata. He
and Ottobuono were forming an alliance with the Adorni and many of
their partisans urged them to protract the negotiations, since the army
of the king of France was near at hand and Ottaviano Fregoso, supported
by his party, had a very firm hold on the government and would be able
to make a spirited defence if assailed at that moment.
To this the Fieschi replied that they well knew the time for action,
and on this incident they asked Giovio to execute an allegory. The
artist remembering what Pliny says of the halcyons who await the
spring solstice to make their nests and lay their eggs when the
waves are tranquil, painted a calm sea and a serene sky with a nest
extending from the prow to the poop of a vessel with the heads of the
halcyons raised over the prow and a motto in French--_nous savons
bien le temps_--meaning to say we well know when to make war on our
adversaries; and the chronicler adds, they thus foreshadowed their
triumph over their rivals.
The Fieschi palace had other allegorical paintings treating various
subjects. Some of them described tender love passages in the lives
of the Fieschi. In one was told the story of a gentlewoman loved by
Sinibaldo. It would seem that she grew jealous and reproached him
with want of fidelity, because he mingled much in the company of
other dames. Sinibaldo, in order to excuse and justify himself with
his mistress, demanded of Giovio an appropriate representation in
allegory. The artist represented a mariner’s compass lying on a chart
with the needle fixed; overhead a blue sky spangled with golden stars,
and underneath the motto, _aspicit unam_. The sense of this allegory
being that, though the heaven is full of beautiful stars, the needle
points to one alone, that is, the North star. The offended dame was
cured of her jealousy. The allegory was much praised, says Giovio,
by many persons, including Fieschi’s secretary, Paolo Panza. We have
already said that the elect of the city came to congratulate Gianluigi
on his return to Carignano, and that the luxury displayed by him on
the occasion of his marriage surpassed all bounds. Some conception of
this luxury may be formed when we remember that Genoa was at that time
the richest city in Italy, and that its wealth found expression in a
prodigality of money so excessive, that Partenopeo in an assembly, at
the time Giovanni Battista Sauli entered upon the magistracy, prayed
the government to impose restrictions on the waste of the national
wealth. In fact, on the 16th of December, 1500, the elders issued
a proclamation forbidding wives to spend on their personal attire
more than a third part of their dowers, and ordained other sumptuary
prohibitions.
The flower of the Genoese youth frequented the Fieschi palace, not
merely for amusement and pastime, but they cultivated there letters and
polite studies. Liguria had at that period some erudite scholars, who
employed themselves in teaching youth the sciences and eloquence. The
Fieschi did not rank last in these pursuits; and it had become a family
tradition for the sons to cultivate letters, and acquire the doctorate
in law. Gianluigi was versed in every branch of learning, and, though
it has been written that he never had other books in his hands than
the life of Nero and the conspiracy of Catiline, it is certain that
he studied the Latin and Italian masters, especially Tacitus and
Machiavelli.
Paolo Panza, who wrote the lives of the pontiffs of the Fieschi
family, and graceful Latin and Italian verses of such merit that
Ariosto compared them to those of Trissino and Molza, lived in the
house of Gianluigi, and aided him in his literary pursuits. Through
his instructions the young count acquired a love for learning, and
was led to open his doors to the most cultivated men of his time. And
these were more numerous than might be expected in a city immersed in
commerce and maritime enterprises. Braccelli and Antonio Gallo had
acquired repute as historians: Giacobo de’ Fornari, as a Greek scholar:
Geronimo Palmaro, Bartolomeo Guistiniano, Nicolò da Brignali and
Bartolomeo were men of great learning, and Grimaldi Rosso, who reached
the dogate in 1535, was equally master of medicine, mathematics, and
philosophy.
These noble examples were followed by Nicolò Senarega Gentile, a
renowned lawyer, Marcantonio Sauli, and P. Ilarione, who wrote
learnedly on the subject of exchanges. We omit Ansaldo Ceba, who was
both a warrior and a poet, because he lived somewhat later; but we must
mention Emanuele Grimaldi, whose pleasing rhymes were published in
1549; Captain Alessandro Spinola, whose literary merits were eclipsed
by his fame in the field, and particularly that obtained at Golletta,
where he was the first to mount the hostile ramparts. Among our warrior
poets we should not pass by the brave Cesare Fregoso, though he had
been killed a few years earlier by the Spaniards. He wrote Latin songs
which were highly praised, but have unfortunately been lost. He was a
man truly great in everything. Matteo Bandello, who took shelter in
his palace, and received from him both protection and honour, bears
testimony which is alike honourable to both protector and protected.
But it would be beyond our province to enumerate all the learned men of
that period.
Perhaps the reader will be pleased to know something of the famous
women who surrounded the countess Eleonora. She was herself, instructed
in letters, as well as in all those accomplishments which became a lady
of her time.
Among her friends were Arcangela di Negra, and also the venerable
Battista Vernazza, daughter of the great Ettore, from whose pen we have
treatises, songs and epistles.
Among the latter her answer to Doctor Tomaso dal Moro, who had
endeavoured to win her to the doctrines of Luther, then being
secretly diffused through Liguria, is singularly charming. Bandello
mentions with praise an Antonia Scarampi,[30] and we may add Peretta
Scarpa-Negrone, whom her contemporaries commend for her skill in
poetry, calling her a new Corinna. Livia Spinola has left us good
rhymes; Maddalena Pallavicini, wife of the marquis of Ceva, wrote
verses which are not without merit, and Placida Pallavicini won the
encomiums of Paolo Foglietta. The first rank in the Pallavicini
sisterhood is due to Argentina, who became the wife of Guido Rangone,
and whose literary accomplishments were the theme of the wisest men of
that period.
Gerolamo Ruscelli da Viterbo, a literary man of high repute among
his contemporaries, tells us that the greater part of the Genoese
gentlewomen cultivated belles-lettres; and in an epistle which he
published in 1552, he enumerates among the most rare women of Italy
twenty-three of Genoa and six of Savona. He mentions among the first
of Genoese ladies, Pellegrina, Lercari, “a virgin not less virtuous
than beautiful,” and Nicoletta Centurione-Grimaldi, on whom he lavishes
every sort of praise. Among those of Savona he speaks of Leonora
Falletti, countess of Melazzo, as one whose happy compositions had
stimulated the ambition of many learned men. Among the poetesses of
Liguria, are also to be numbered Benedetta Spinola, daughter of Alfonso
marquis of Garessio, and wife of Giovanni Battista, prince of the blood
of Savoy and lord of Racconigi; Claudia della Rovere, countess of
Vinovo in Piedmont; and Caterina Gastodenghi, who enjoyed the praises
of Dolce, Parabasco, and many others.
The gentle consort of Count Fieschi held the central place in this
circle of cultivated gentlewomen; but unfortunately the rhymes of
Eleonora, which gave her so much credit with her contemporaries, are
no longer in existence. The few specimens of her talent which remain
to us give ample proof of her genius. They were published in Turin
in 1573, with the verses of Faustino Tasso, a Venitian, and of three
other poetesses, of whom one belonged to her husband’s house, that
is, Ortensia Lomellina de’ Fieschi. The others were Nicoletta Celsa
and Laura Gabrielli degli Alciati, Eleonora was not inferior to her
aunt Caterina, duchess of Camerino, who knew Hebrew, Greek, and Latin,
and who found comfort when Paul III. deprived her husband of his
possessions, in the friendship of wise men and in philosophical studies.
But the genial studies, the love and charms of his wife, did not
enervate the manly spirit of the count. At every step his mother’s
voice reproached him for attempting no daring enterprises. From the
towers of his palace he saw Genoa lying at his feet and seeming to call
him to deliver her. He looked out upon the sea and saw it whitened
with the sails of Gianettino, his rival and the expected despot of his
native land. A sense of magnanimous indignation warmed his bosom. The
son of Sinibaldo, the heir of such an illustrious house, could not
endure the sight of his country sitting under the shadow of a foreign
power, if not enslaved, certainly not free.