TWO days afterwards the Cardinal Cornaro went to beg a bishopric from
the Pope for a gentleman of his called Messer Andrea Centano. The Pope,
in truth, had promised him a bishopric; and this being now vacant, the
Cardinal reminded him of his word. The Pope acknowledged his obligation,
but said that he too wanted a favour from his most reverend lordship,
which was that he would give up Benvenuto to him. On this the Cardinal
replied: “Oh, if your Holiness has pardoned him and set him free at my
disposal, what will the world say of you and me?” The Pope answered: “I
want Benvenuto, you want the bishopric; let the world say what it
chooses.” The good Cardinal entreated his Holiness to give him the
bishopric, and for the rest to think the matter over, and then to act
according as his Holiness decided. The Pope, feeling a certain amount of
shame at so wickedly breaking his word, took what seemed a middle
course: “I will send for Benvenuto, and in order to gratify the whim I
have, will put him in those rooms which open on my private garden; there
he can attend to his recovery, and I will not prevent any of his friends
from coming to visit him. Moreover, I will defray his expenses until his
caprice of mine has left me.”
The Cardinal came home, and sent the candidate for this bishopric on the
spot to inform me that the Pope was resolved to have me back, but that
he meant to keep me in a ground-floor room in his private garden, where
I could receive the visits of my friends, as I had done in his own
house. I implored this Messer Andrea to ask the Cardinal not to give me
up to the Pope, but to let me act on my own account. I would have myself
wrapped up in a mattress, and carried to a safe place outside Rome; for
if he gave me up to the Pope, he would certainly be sending me to death.
It is believed that when the Cardinal heard my petition he was not
ill-disposed to grant it; but Messer Andrea, wanting to secure the
bishopric, denounced me to the Pope, who sent at once and had me lodged
in the ground-floor chamber of his private garden. The Cardinal sent me
word not to eat the food provided for me by the Pope; he would supply me
with provisions; meanwhile I was to keep my spirits up, for he would
work in my cause till I was set free. Matters being thus arranged, I
received daily visits and generous offers from many great lords and
gentlemen. Food came from the Pope, which I refused to touch, only
eating that which came from Cardinal Cornaro; and thus I remained awhile.
I had among my friends a young Greek of the age of twenty-five years. He
was extremely active in all physical exercises, and the best swordsman
in Rome; rather poor-spirited, however, but loyal to the backbone;
honest, and ready to believe what people told him. He had heard it said
that the Pope made known his intention of compensating me for all I had
gone through. It is true that the Pope began by saying so, but he ended
by saying quite the opposite. I then determined to confide in the young
Greek, and said to him: “Dearest brother, they are plotting my ruin; so
now the time has come to help me. Do they imagine, when they heap those
extraordinary favours on me, that I am not aware they are done to betray
me?” The worthy young man answered: “My Benvenuto, they say in Rome that
the Pope has bestowed on you an office with an income of five hundred
crowns; I beseech you therefore not to let those suspicions deprive you
of so great a windfall.” All the same I begged him with clasped hands to
aid me in escaping from that place, saying I knew well that a Pope of
that sort, though he could do me much good if he chose, was really
studying secretly, and to save appearances, how he might best destroy
me; therefore we must be quick and try to save me from his clutches. If
my friend would get me out of that place by the means I meant to tell
him, I should always regard him as the saviour of my life, and when
occasion came would lay it down for him with gladness. The poor young
man shed tears, and cried: “Oh, my dear brother, though you are bringing
destruction on your head, I cannot but fulfil your wishes; so explain
your plan, and I will do whatever you may order, albeit much against my
will.” Accordingly we came to an agreement, and I disclosed to him the
details of my scheme, which was certain to have succeeded without
difficulty. When I hoped that he was coming to execute it, he came and
told me that for my own good he meant to disobey me, being convinced of
the truth of what he had heard from men close to the Pope’s person, who
understood the real state of my affairs. Having nothing else to rely
upon, I remained in despair and misery. This passed on the day of Corpus
Domini 1539.