The Duke's monkish seclusion--His Death and Character--His
Portraits and Letters--Notices of Princess Vittoria
and her Inheritance--Fate of the Ducal Libraries--The
Duchy Incorporated with the Papal States--Results of the
Devolution.
After his release from the cares of state, and from all anxiety as to
the fate of his subjects and of his granddaughter, Francesco Maria
was left to employ his unimpaired powers of mind on more congenial
topics. His few remaining years were passed in the society of those
monks of the order of Minims,[*117] whom he had brought to the new
convent, and who had been selected for their literary acquirements.
He made them the companions and aids of his studies, and discussed
with them such subjects as his reading suggested. Though ever
respectful of the doctrines and observances of religion, fanaticism
had no part in his character; and it is clear from his last will,
and other evidence, that, in circumstances peculiarly favourable to
an undue exercise of priestly influence, he kept himself free from
its thraldom. Yet was he exemplary in pious preparation for the
change which his sinking frame, as well as his philosophy, taught
him to regard as at hand. To blighted hopes, parental anguish, and
a desolate old age, were added great bodily sufferings. Gout, to
which he had been subject from his thirty-fourth year, had by degrees
so twisted his limbs that he was fed like a child, and a fresh
paralytic seizure at length completed his decrepitude. Still, amid
"The waste and injury of time and tide,"
his mind continued unclouded. To the end his letters maintained their
clear and graceful style; and the frequent correspondence he kept up
with his granddaughter, a child in years rather than in ideas, formed
the latest link that connected his thoughts and hopes with mundane
objects. Of this correspondence, so creditable to the hearts of the
writers, a few specimens will be found at p. 220.
[Footnote *117: An order not of monks but of friars, founded by
S. Francis of Paola in Calabria in 1436. The rule is based on the
Franciscan, and the religious are mendicants.]
The registers of the Roman convent of Minims of S. Lorenzo[*118]
enable us to trace the closing scenes of the old man's feeble
existence. During the autumn of 1630 a change took place, and he was
chiefly confined to bed during the subsequent winter. The rapid decay
of his digestive organs was accelerated by rigid fastings during
Lent, in which he persisted despite of his confessor's remonstrances.
From the debilitating effects of this discipline, exhausted nature
could not rally; but life ebbed so slowly, that four days elapsed
after extreme unction had been administered, ere his flickering pulse
was still. At length, on the 28th of April, 1631, he passed away,
bewailed by his subjects, regretted by all Italy. To the citizens of
Castel Durante his death was an especial bereavement. "They wept for
a beloved father, the chastener of the bad, the rewarder of the good,
the stay and advocate of the poor, the protector of the orphan, the
support of the weak and oppressed, the consoler of the afflicted, the
benefactor of all."[119] Thus deprived of the glorious and desired
shade and shelter of their goodly OAK, which, transplanted
from the Ligurian shores, had branched out so boldly in their
mountain soil, his people saw their independence extinguished, and
their position in provincial insignificance riveted for ever.
[Footnote *118: This I know not. Their present _Casa generalizia_ is
at S. Andrea delle Fratte. The basilica of S. Lorenzo is now in the
care of the Franciscans.]
[Footnote 119: CIMARELLI, _Istoria dello Stato d'Urbino_.]
He lay in state during two days, arrayed in the ducal mantle of
silver tissue lined with purple taffetas; on his head a coronet
of gold surmounted the velvet cap of maintenance; the collar of
the Fleece was on his neck, the ring on his finger, the sceptre in
his hand. In these trappings of sovereignty, a last tribute to the
station which he had quitted for ever, and which none remained to
fill, he was by his own desire interred. Seven years before, he had
prepared for himself an unornamented tomb under the holy-water vase
in the church of the Crucifixion, at Castel Durante. There he chose
his final resting-place, amid sites endeared as the scene of his
youthful sports, the relaxation of his busy manhood, the retreat
of his chastened age. Thither he was escorted by a procession of
five hundred gentlemen, besides a numerous attendance of priests
and monks. Each of the latter received a scudo and a pound of wax;
and by one of them, Padre Ludovico Munaxho, the funeral oration was
pronounced. At his own desire, this prayer, from the liturgy of his
church, was inscribed under the front, in lieu of epitaph:--"O Lord,
incline thine ear to our prayers, wherein we supplicate thy mercy,
and that thou wouldst establish in peace, and in the realms of the
elect, the soul of thy servant Francesco Maria II., Duke of Urbino,
which thou hast summoned from this life, and that thou wouldst ordain
it to be received into the company of thy saints, through Christ our
Saviour. Amen. He died in the year of God MDCXXXI., and of
his age LXXXIII."
* * * * *
[Illustration: FRANCESCO MARIA II., DUKE OF URBINO
_From a picture once in the possession of James Dennistoun_]
The character of Francesco Maria presented many strange
contradictions. The manifold inconsistencies of his precepts and
practice have already been pointed out; and the opinions of his
contemporaries varied, not only from the estimate with a perusal of
such memorials as I have discovered of his reign would lead one to
form, but also from each other. It may be well to give the judgments
of those who had best opportunities of forming just conclusions,
leaving the reader to reconcile their discrepancies. Donato, his
chief counsellor in the Devolution of his state, whose experience was
chiefly of his latter years, writes of him as follows:--
"For sixty years did he enjoy his dukedom, ever loved but ever
feared by his subjects, and highly esteemed by foreigners. Having
had always about him the most famous literary characters of his
time, having himself mastered many sciences, and read a multitude
of books, it would be difficult in a few words to do justice to his
finished knowledge, to his acute genius, to his profound memory, to
his elegant and unaffected style in speaking and in writing, to his
intimate acquaintance with natural history and geography, as well
as with the political relations of states. Nor was he less skilled
in the more important acquirements of theology and sacred subjects,
upon which he was accustomed to dispute with those whose business
it was to teach these doctrines. He was a prince of great piety, of
exemplary manners, of austere address. He lived as a sovereign, but
spoke like a simple gentleman. His modesty veiled the pride of his
station; his strict justice obtained for him the respect due to a
king; his conduct was on all occasions exemplary. Fond of despatch,
he was impatient of dilatory measures and superfluous discussions. He
would have been a paragon for princes, and worthy of undying fame,
had not the irritability which unaccountably swayed his temper, and
his violent fits of passion in matters regarding himself, hurried him
unrestrained by his many virtues into numerous excesses and errors.
Among such may be accounted his throwing up the reins to his son,
his abandoning himself to the guidance of favourites, his credulous
adherence to first impressions, his abhorrence of those who had once
alienated his regard. Timid and suspicious from his solitary habits,
he was averse to generosity, cautious in his expenditure, but,
punctual to his promises, was fully to be relied upon for an exact
performance of his word. In person he was well-proportioned, neither
stout nor thin. He was a good knight, skilled in arms and equestrian
exercises; he was devoted to the chase and all manly exercises;
attached to persons of accomplishment and high birth."
Thus speaks his courtier Donato; and he is in the main confirmed by
a somewhat less favourably coloured testimony from Gozze, who seems
to have been a contemporary, and whose narrative is contained in No.
324 of the Oliveriana MSS. According to it, he was singularly active,
skilful in all manly exercises, and particularly fond of racket
and of hunting. He was hasty in temper and in speech; impatient of
contradiction, and obstinate; so cunning that one scarcely knew when
he was in favour. He had much practical good sense, but was wayward,
choleric, discontented, selfishly inconsiderate of those about him,
and, having taken offence, was apt to brood over and resent it. He
was most exact in business, and habitually regular in its duties;
punctual in payments, but most strict in accounting with those who
managed his affairs. He was fond of magnificence, and maintained a
numerous court, though less brilliant than his father's. He had but
one favourite at a time, keeping all others at a distance; indeed,
his stern manner overawed even when his words were gracious. He
was handsome, in person scrupulously nice, but neither effeminate
nor extravagant in his habits. His disposition was retired and
melancholy, and he indulged it much by reading, writing, or walking
in solitude. He was ostensibly devout, and was regular in the
observance of religious duties. He spoke and wrote very well and
solidly, studying a terse and simple style. His tastes were decidedly
literary, with a partiality for the graver sciences, and he ever
maintained about him persons distinguished in letters and art.
Writing at an interval of nearly a century and a half after his
death, but with the advantage of access to many original documents,
Passeri thus characterises Francesco Maria II. "In him military
skill, intercourse with courts, and scientific studies, combined to
form the rare instance of a sovereign philosopher. No prince of the
day was more wise, more courtly, or more attached to his people; and
his systematic government by means of excellent ministers might be
adopted as a model. To men of letters he paid the greatest honour,
and he willingly sought their converse; none such ever passed through
Pesaro whom he did not receive with distinction. It was his desire to
introduce all sorts of manufactures, that his subjects might have no
occasion to send their money abroad for the purchase of necessaries;
indeed, they exported silks, woollens, leather, and majolica, which
produced a large balance over their imports. The improvement of
agriculture shared his anxious care, and the means he adopted to
effect this merit high encomium. He wrought to advantage the iron
mines of Lamole, and those of copper at Gubbio. Thus did his state
become populous and wealthy, while lightly taxed, for the expenses of
his court were nearly limited to the income of his private estates,
and to the profits derived from the importation of grain out of the
dominions of the Church. He maintained a sort of standing militia of
thirteen thousand men in the pay of Spain, who, in peace, pursued
their occupations at home, but, in war, were placed under the command
of that power. From this arrangement great benefit resulted; for
thus had the military spirit, for which the country had always been
remarkable, an ample and safe outlet, whilst the talents so developed
often led to individual distinctions and promotion."
From a narrative of Urbino, compiled in 1648,[120] we gather one
or two anecdotes of this Duke. When irritated he used to apply
contemptuous epithets to his various cities, founded upon the
temperament he had discovered in their inhabitants. Thus he called
the people of Urbino proud and foul-mouthed; those of Pesaro,
cowards; of S. Leo, Mantuan sheep; of Cagli, bum-bailiffs; of
Fossombrone, tax-gathers; for the citizens of Mondavio alone he
reserved a compliment, saying that they were born courtiers. Though
fond of letters, he ever set his face against the establishment of
academies, alleging that they might degenerate into revolutionary
conventicles. To the just views which guided his political
arrangements the best testimony is supplied by the fact above
mentioned, that his people interceded for a prolongation of all
his government institutions during the ten years succeeding the
Devolution, and that, Urban having consented, these were found so
well adapted to the well-being of the province, that they remained
undisturbed after that period of probation had expired.
[Footnote 120: Maruccelli MSS. C. No. 308.]
In person, Francesco Maria was handsome, and, from being puny and
stunted in childhood, grew up active and graceful, but with a
complexion of almost effeminate beauty. He was, therefore, fortunate
in having for his court painter one whose men and women, as Sir
Joshua Reynolds has happily remarked, seem nourished by roses.
Although it is improbable that Baroccio executed the swaddled effigy
of him in the Pitti Gallery, there can be little question that the
four portraits we shall now mention are by that artist. One of these,
in the Tribune of the Uffizi at Florence, with a repetition of equal
merit in Baron Camuccini's choice collection at Rome, represents to
perfection a strikingly elegant youth in the gorgeous uniform worn
on his naval expedition in 1571.[*121] There is in my possession a
half-length, with one of Ambrogio Baroccio's curious timepieces
upon the table, which came from the Durazzo Gallery at Genoa; and
the head introduced above, at p. 151, done in full manhood, when the
cares of sovereignty had begun to furrow his features with "lines
of anxious thought," was purchased by me at Pesaro, in 1843. In the
Antaldi Palace there, I saw a head of this Duke ascribed to Baroccio,
but evidently done some years after his death. It is a slight
sketch, thrown off at a sitting, and painfully preserving features
whereon age and sickness, sorrow and anxiety, have set their seal.
Portraiture can show no contrast more startling than that time-worn
figure, with glassy eye and ghastly visage, offers to the glowing
cheek and gallant bearing of the richly accoutred hero of Lepanto.
But still more melancholy the change that had come over the man,
then gladsome in youthful beauty, rising fame, and chivalrous hope,
burning to enjoy the advantages of high station, to maintain and
transmit the respect and popularity of a long-honoured name.
[Footnote *121: No longer in the Tribuna, but in the Sala di
Baroccio. It is the painter's masterpiece [Cat. No. 1119].]
We have referred to letters of the Duke written during his last
years, as interesting expressions of his state of mind. Besides
the collection of Babucci already quoted, a considerable number of
these are preserved in two other MSS. in the same library; also many
others, addressed by her relations to the Princess Vittoria, with
her answers, dated between 1627 and 1632.[122] The whole exceed
two hundred in number, and form a series of royal correspondence
equally remarkable for Christian sentiment and domestic affections.
In the following pages we give literal translations of a few of
them, which pleasingly illustrate these virtues in the Duke and
Duchess, in their daughter-in-law, now remarried to the Archduke
Leopold, and in the young Princess herself. By the first letter, the
Archduchess announces to her daughter the birth of a brother; by the
second, Francesco Maria intimates his confidence in the husband he
had chosen for his grandchild. In Nos. 3 and 6 the warmth of his
attachment to her is gracefully tinged with the pious resignation of
a dying Christian. Nos. 4 and 5 relate to his making over to her his
family jewels, a precaution, perhaps, against any difficulties that
might arise after his decease. No. 7 was his last letter, dictated
about a month before his release from sufferings. The remaining four
refer to that event, and to the affliction of his nearest relatives.
[Footnote 122: Magliabechiana MSS., class viii., Nos. 60, 61.]
1. _The Archduchess Claudia to the Princess Vittoria._
"My most serene and beloved daughter,
"Now that you have obtained from God your little brother,
after, as you tell me, having prayed for him (who, when he
is grown tall, will love you well), it remains for you to
thank the same God, who is the giver of all good. You say
that you wish to have this little brother for yourself; and
I agree to humour you under these conditions: First, that
your prayers obtain for me another next year; second, that
you come hither yourself to take him, so that you may have
the pleasure of seeing me, and I you; third, that, in the
meantime, you in everything obey Madam [the Dowager Grand
Duchess] and your other superiors, and that you often pray
for the health of the Lord Duke, to whom you owe so much.
And now I and my Lord your [step] father [the Archduke
Leopold] give you our blessing, beseeching for you a divine
one much more ample and perpetual. 3rd June, 1628.
"Your most affectionate mother,
"CLAUDIA."
2. _The Duke Francesco Maria to the Princess Vittoria._
"Your Highness having now attained the age of seven, his
serene Highness the Grand Duke, your betrothed husband, has
intimated to me that, the better to secure his intentions
in your behalf from the speculations and gossip of the
public, he will forthwith voluntarily contract with you
the sacred rite of marriage. But, as I have adopted my
measures, after taking every conjuncture into account, I
cannot allow myself to suppose any purpose of drawing back
in the mind of a prince of his station, endued with virtues
which must ever render him estimable to posterity, and a
worthy grandson of the great Ferdinand. I have, therefore,
declined his request, and have offered my consent that the
contracts already executed and concluded between us should
be carried into effect when most agreeable to himself. And,
though I should not be then a party to these arrangements,
as, surely, I am little likely to be, considering the years
and ails which, lame as I am, hurry me with long and great
strides towards the tomb, yet is it my hope to behold from
heaven the comfort of your Highness, which I pray God may
be perpetual, and uninterrupted by any misfortune. I have
informed you of this that you may be aware of what is going
on, and I salute you," &c.
3. _The Duke Francesco Maria to the Princess Vittoria._
"Most serene Lady, my grandchild,
"Your Highness has much reason to send me happiness, for,
as I am so closely united to you, and love you so much, it
will all return to you for your own benefit. But, feeling
myself reduced to such a state that I can no longer find
it in this world, I shall take it as a great favour that
your Highness pray God Almighty to grant me, instead of
such enjoyments as are prized in this life, patience
amid the great sufferings wherewith he visits me, and to
account these as meritorious for my glory in the next. Keep
yourself well and joyous; love me as always; and command my
paternal benediction: and I kiss your hands. From Castel
Durante, 7th January, 1630.
"Your Highness's servant, and grandfather, who loves you
from his heart,
"THE DUKE OF URBINO."
4. _The Duke Francesco Maria to the Princess Vittoria._
"I send to your Highness all the jewels remaining in this
house after its many calamities, and I consign them to
you during my life, since God knows what may happen after
my death. Your Highness will accept them in token of my
sincere affection towards you, and in good time will
ornament with them your person, forgetting not first to
adorn your mind with those virtues which become ladies
of your station, and which may render you more and more
dear to your most serene husband. And so I salute your
Highness." [9th April, 1630.]
5. _The Princess Vittoria to the Duke Francesco Maria._
"Most serene Lord, my most respected grandfather,
"I know that I ought always to pray God more for your
Highness's health and long life, seeing how, for affection
to me, you never cease to consider what may be for my
benefit. On Saturday morning I received your Highness's
letter of the 9th, by your master of the wardrobe, and
had the greatest joy in hearing that your Highness has
been pleased to send me the jewels. Yesterday too, after
breakfasting at the palace with Madam my most serene
grandmother, and the Lady Princess Anna, I had such delight
in seeing them all in presence of the most serene Grand
Duke my spouse. And as they are already brought to this
convent, your Highness may rest assured that they will
be kept in safe custody, and will serve to adorn me as
I may choose, as well as the others of the most serene
Archduchess my mother, which also I willingly believe she
will reserve for me. The thanks I shall render to your
Highness are my prayers for your behalf, which I shall
continue devoutly to offer several times a day, having no
other way of doing you a service; and I give you my most
humble duty with all my heart. From Florence, 15th April,
1630."
6. _The Duke Francesco Maria to the Princess Vittoria._
"Most serene Lady, my granddaughter,
"I am sorry to trouble your Highness with so many of my
letters, but the love I bear you, and the news I have from
your city so contrary to my wishes, compel me to this.
Your Highness must therefore bear with it, and believe
that in writing I fancy myself with you, and find in this
a satisfaction even beyond what I derive from knowing
that you are settled where no demonstration of courtesy
and affection will ever be wanting to you. I pray God
to send a change of weather, that so I may feel assured
your Highnesses are exempt both from danger and from
its consequent anxieties. I augur for your Highness a
continuance of health and every good; and I endearingly
kiss your hands. From Castel Durante, 29th November, 1630.
"Your Highness's servant, and grandfather, who loves you
from his heart,
"THE DUKE OF URBINO."
7. _The Duke Francesco Maria to the Princess Vittoria._
"Most serene Lady, my granddaughter,
"My usual ailments have for the last several days so
harassed me, that the prayers which your Highness addresses
to God for me have been most appropriate. For these I
heartily thank you, and since His great goodness gives
me a hope that the Almighty listens to them, I beg of
you to continue them for that divine assistance of which
we all have need, but I in particular, who in age bear
so many additional ills. I hear from the letters of your
most serene spouse, that he, your Highness, and all his
most serene house are in health, and that the prevailing
epidemic may be considered extinct. On this I heartily
congratulate your Highness, of whom I would daily learn
some new good fortune and happiness, and by such would
esteem myself fully recompensed for the sufferings to which
my few remaining days must be subject. And with all my
heart I kiss your Highness's hands. From Castel Durante,
2nd April, 1631.
"Your Highness's servant, and grandfather, who loves you
heartily,
"THE DUKE OF URBINO."
8. _The Duchess Livia to the Princess Vittoria._
"Most serene Lady, my beloved granddaughter,
"As, by connection of blood and of affection, our
consolations are in common, so also are our griefs and
afflictions. We have lost, by the death of the most serene
Lord Duke, more than I am able to express on paper, but
I know that your Highness's ready comprehension will be
sensible of this. It pains me to have to send you the
sad and mournful tidings of his death, which took place
last Monday, about half-past three o'clock; but since I
could not give you such news without sorrow, I pray you to
excuse me and console yourself, as I myself do in so far as
possible. And I affectionately kiss your hands, only adding
that to ensure your receiving it I have sent a duplicate of
this. Castel Durante, 2nd May, 1631.
"Your Highness's servant, and most affectionate mother, who
loves you more than herself,
"LIVIA DUCHESS OF URBINO."
9. _The Princess Vittoria to the Duchess Livia._
"My most serene Lady, and respected grandmother,
"I feel deeply the bad news of my grandfather, and though
they do not say he is dead, I much fear it, for they do not
speak plainly. Should it have pleased God to call him to
glory after such sufferings, I cannot but pray for his soul
in my devotions. And in the extreme grief which I shall
feel under so great a bereavement, and so heavy a loss, I
shall beseech your Highness to consent to come and stay in
this serene family, where I know you are much wished by all
their Highnesses, for this will be the utmost consolation
I could have. Meanwhile I await that of your Highness's
letters and commands, and I make you my reverence, praying
God to grant you every happiness. From Florence, 3rd May,
1631."
10. _The Princess Vittoria to the Archduchess Claudia._
"My most serene Lady, and respected mother,
"The most serene Lord Duke my grandfather is at length
dead, to my infinite sorrow, and I seem to stand abandoned
by all; for I never knew other father but him; and your
Highness, though my mother, is so far away, that I feel
not the warmth of your affection, as I in some measure
felt that of my Lord grandfather, by his proximity and the
frequent comfort I had from his loving letters and other
tokens. Your Highness will therefore sympathise with me,
whilst I condole with you on so great a loss and severe a
misfortune, and I beseech you to give me what consolation
you can. And I make you my reverence, praying God ever to
increase your happiness. From Florence, 10th May, 1631."
11. _The Archduchess Claudia to the Princess Vittoria._
"Princess, my beloved daughter,
"The regret has been universal for the departure of your
grandfather, the Lord Duke of Urbino, to a better life, and
for the loss of a prince who maintained the superiority
of his rank by that of his merits; no wonder, therefore,
that it has been so great in you, for this is just by the
laws of blood, and due as a debt of gratitude. I too have
found it bitter, partly on your account, partly from my
own obligations. But considering that the good Lord has
gone from us at an age when life began to be a burden,
and death desirable, I resign myself to the divine will,
conforming to that which He had from eternity ordained.
This surely you also have done, after the first bursts of
feeling, to which, rather than to your reason, I ascribe
your lamenting to me your bereavement of him as a loss of
all support, and your entire abandonment. And, my daughter,
I should be much distressed, did I not believe that by
this time you have changed that view, so injurious to the
affectionate solicitude your Lord grandfather took in so
well providing for your future. Though distant from you,
I bear you in my heart, and your little brothers grow
up with a thousand inducements to love and serve you,
prompted by nature and my suggestions. Their Highnesses,
too, are always most disposed to caress and honour you,
in particular Madam my Lady [Dowager Grand Duchess], who
will fill my place in administering with watchful affection
to all your sympathies and wants. You have likewise your
lady grandmother, whom you should ever most affectionately
respect, and from whom you may expect a lively interest in
your welfare and success. You have, lastly, what is still
more important, the protection of the Lord God, provided
you fail not to deserve it, by acquiring those virtues,
which, if displayed by you, will prove to the world that
the glory of our race is not entirely extinguished. Be
careful, then, to grow up cheerfully; and be it your aim
to fulfil the expectations generally entertained of your
good abilities, assured that the greater your attainments
the more will be my comfort in you. Humbly kiss in my name
the hem of your serene grandmother, and beseech the blessed
Lord our Saviour that he would listen to my prayers and
longings, the first of which are for your prosperity and
happiness. From Inspruck, the 24th May, 1631.
"Your most affectionate mother from the heart,
"CLAUDIA."
Princess Vittoria seems to have merited the affections of her
relations, so warmly expressed in these and many similar letters. On
arriving at her future capital, she had been placed for education
in a convent, where her progress was so rapid that before she was
eight years old, she composed as well as penned her letters, and
within two other years could write them in Spanish. From the period
of her betrothal, she was always addressed as Grand Duchess, and her
marriage was privately celebrated in 1633, when she was under twelve,
her husband being then double her age. Four years later, the public
celebration of this union took place with suitable demonstrations of
joy, and in due time it produced two sons, Cosimo, afterwards Grand
Duke, and Francesco Maria, Cardinal de' Medici. In her grandson, the
Grand Duke Giovanni Gaston, the male line of the Medici expired in
1737, when their state passed to the house of Lorraine. The portraits
of Vittoria preserved in the Pitti Gallery represent her as an
overgrown but comely matron, of good-humoured expression. Her matured
character did not realise its early promise. Proud, vain, suspicious,
and weak, she inherited her grandfather's predilection for the
society of priests; and her bigotry, increasing with her years, so
contrasted with the frank and lively temperament of her husband, that
a separation became advisable. These faults she transmitted to her
favourite son Cosimo, under whose reign they bred many public evils.
She died in 1694, after twenty-four years of widowhood, disliked by
her subjects as much as her husband had been esteemed. The Duchess
Livia retired a few weeks after her bereavement to her paternal
estate of Castel Leo, near Sassoferrato, where she lived in great
retirement, and in religious exercises, varied by visits to Assisi
and Loreto. She left her whole property to her granddaughter the
Grand Duchess Vittoria.
The Duke must have taken great pleasure in will-making, as his Diary
frequently mentions his being employed in that way. At his death it
would seem that more than one valid testament was found, the general
provisions of which, as stated in a contemporary abstract,[123] were
as follows:--He desired to be buried in the church of the Crucifixion
at Castel Durante, and that two thousand masses should be said for
his soul. He instituted his granddaughter Vittoria his universal
heir and executrix, burdened with these legacies: To his Duchess
Livia, 50,000 scudi, and an annuity of 4000 scudi; to his sister,
the Marchioness del Vasto, the palace and garden at Montebello, in
which she was living; to the Marquis of Pescara, a jewel, a gold
watch, and 2000 scudi; to the Duke of Modena, the Marquis del Vasto,
and the Cardinals Farnese and de' Medici, each a gold watch; to the
Zoccolantine monastery in the park of Castel Durante, 50,000 scudi;
among his servants 12,000 scudi; to the community of Urbino, the
library of MSS. and printed books in his palace there, with the
Campo dei Galli under the fortress for maintenance of a librarian;
to the convent of Minims, at Castel Durante, the library he had at
that residence. In case of the death of his granddaughter without
issue, he substituted the Dukes of Parma, Modena, and Aiello, to his
succession.
[Footnote 123: Magliabechiana MSS., class viii., No. 74.]
The inheritance thus conveyed was immense. The lowest estimate I
have seen states its amount at 2,000,000 of golden scudi, though
probably somewhat impaired by a litigation which arose with the
Camera Apostolica, in consequence of involved questions, as to what
were public and what allodial rights of the late Duke. It included
lands in Naples worth 50,000 scudi, and estates in the duchy, which,
in 1648, were computed to yield 15,000 scudi a year, besides the
residences and their dependencies, worth 4000 more.[124] The personal
property was valued at 340,000 ducats, exclusive of family jewels
previously sent to the Princess, and of the libraries otherwise
bequeathed.[125]
[Footnote 124: Maruccelli MSS. C. No. 308. Mercurius Gallicus, 1624.]
[Footnote 125: Such particulars of the wardrobe inventory as relate
to objects of art are included in the last No. of the Appendix.]
The fate of the two famous Urbino libraries deserves more special
inquiry, and it is very disappointing to offer but a meagre result.
Those who have glanced over our eighth chapter will be aware that
the collection of MSS. made by Duke Federigo was the wonder of his
age, and the admiration of all who have celebrated the glories of
his lettered dynasty. The circumstances under which it was amassed,
the accommodation provided for it in the palace of Urbino, and the
most beautiful of its contents, have already been introduced to the
reader. The losses it had sustained during the Borgian usurpation
by plunder and accident were, we are assured by Paulo Maria, bishop
of that metropolitan see, nearly supplied by the anxious care of
succeeding Dukes; and, though none of these appear to have been
bibliomanes, literary as they were in taste, and ever surrounded
by men of high acquirement, it may be supposed that their library
was from time to time recruited with works issuing from the press.
But this casual supply was inadequate to the wants of the studious
Francesco Maria II. Instead of disturbing the old library at Urbino,
he drew from all quarters to his residence at Pesaro a numerous and
choice store of printed books which he eventually transported to
Castel Durante, for the amusement of his leisure hours.
Such were the two libraries separately bequeathed by the Duke's will,
to which we have just referred. He left "to the community of Urbino
his library of MSS. in that city, as well as all MSS. and drawings in
that of Castel Durante, as soon as they can be transported thither;
and, in order that the said community may maintain a person to take
charge thereof, he conveyed to them certain lands for his support;
expressly enjoining that the said library shall never be removed
from the place where it then was, nor be diminished by a single
volume, under forfeiture of their right thereto, in favour of the
company Confraternita della Grotta of Urbino." The library remained
under charge of Vittorio Venturelli, a man of some literary note; but
ere many years had elapsed, the destination by Francesco Maria was
defeated. In 1657, the community had formal notice from Alexander
VII. of his wish to transport the collection to the Vatican, "for the
increase of its splendour, and the benefit of Christendom." After
some delay and hesitation, this proposal was reluctantly acceded to
by the magistracy, who took the opportunity of stipulating certain
favours and immunities for the public. The chief of these were a
diminution of the contingent of interest payable by Urbino on the
state debt; exemption from certain imposts; the establishment there
of educational institutions under charge of the Jesuits; the removal
thither from Urbania of the Minims, with the other library left to
them by the late Duke; an annual sum for repairs of the ducal palace;
the preservation of their library in the Vatican under its proper
name, and the perpetual appointment of a native of their city among
the librarians there; lastly, a surrender to the community of the
property bequeathed for the support of their librarian. The Pope's
interference seems to have been suggested, or perhaps only excused,
by a rumoured intention of the community to sell the collection to
some foreign prince. The MSS., numbering 1793 volumes, were finally
sent to Rome in sixty-three cases; and a tradition is still current
in Urbino that they were removed secretly, and during night, to the
bitter mortification of the inhabitants, who regarded this as the
last relic of sovereignty and independence remaining to them, and who
probably esteemed it more as a monument of better days than from a
just appreciation of its real value. The MSS. were assuredly worth
a far higher ransom than was obtained by the citizens, but there
can be little doubt that their safety and utility were enhanced by
the transfer. They were deposited in a section of the vast corridor
at the Vatican, where an obscure lapidary inscription informs us
that "in 1658, Alexander VII. added to the Vatican collection the
ancient MSS., of all sorts and in all languages, which formed the
library of Urbino, thereby insuring their preservation and proper
treatment, after compensating those who assigned over the boon."[126]
The printed books of this library, in number 233, were retained in
Urbino.[127]
[Footnote 126:
Alexander VII. Pont. Max.
Antiqua omnis generis omniumque linguarum
Urbinatis bibliothecæ manuscripta volumina
Repenso cedentibus beneficio
D. tutiorem custodiam atque proprietatem
Vaticanæ adjunxit an. sal. MDCLVIII.]
[Footnote 127: Most of these particulars have been gleaned from the
communal archives at Urbino, R. No. 30.]
It remains to trace the library at Castel Durante. In the archives of
the Convent of Minims at S. Lorenzo in Lucina, at Rome, I discovered
a copy of a settlement by Francesco Maria, dated 1628, in which
he leaves the Minims of the Crucifixion, at Castel Durante, "all
the library of printed books which may be in Castel Durante," with
the room in which they are, and the shelving, etc.; but under an
obligation "that before taking possession thereof, they shall without
delay send to the library of Urbino, at the expense of the heir, all
such MSS. and books of designs as may be among them." There is also
a special condition that, if these monks permit any part, however
small, of the collection to be removed from thence or transported
elsewhere, the bequest shall lapse to the Confraternita della Grotta,
at Urbino; and a small provision is made for maintaining a librarian.
The active interest taken by Urban VIII. in Castel Durante (now
Urbania) did not overlook the benefit which such a public library
was likely to afford to that town, and he provided for its perpetual
security by proclaiming ecclesiastical censures against such as
should dilapidate or carry it away.
About twenty-seven years after the Duke's death, Alexander VII.,
being at a loss how to furnish with books the library of his
newly-erected university, the Sapienza, at Rome, bethought himself
of the collection at Castel Durante; and on the assumption of its
very limited utility there, and of the excellent purpose to which it
might be made subservient at the Sapienza, transported it thither.
He had previously obtained a sort of forced consent on the part of
the monks of the Crucifixion to this arrangement, by promising to
the convent of their order at Rome the custody of the new library,
and other favours: the opposition of the Confraternita della Grotta
he had also neutralised, by purchasing their reversionary interest
in the bequest. The transaction was enveloped in great secrecy, in
anticipation of opposition from the grand-ducal family, or from the
citizens of Castel Durante; indeed, when the removal of the books
was begun, the latter manifested such indignation and discontent,
that about five hundred volumes were allowed to remain for their use.
Notwithstanding this concession, and their unwillingness to agree to
the arrangement, the monks were for a long time greatly persecuted by
the people; their Provost fled in terror of his life, and nothing but
dread of papal censures would have induced their compliance. Upon the
pretext that persons bound to reside in a cloister, at some distance,
could not be efficient guardians of the new library at Rome, even
the promised boon was withheld from their brethren of S. Lorenzo,
who received in compensation the lectureship of moral philosophy at
the Sapienza, along with certain exemptions affecting the internal
discipline of their order.
The consulting catalogue of the Vatican Urbino MSS., now used by
the librarians, was compiled in 1797 by Mauro Coster, and being
alphabetical, does not show the number of MSS.; but the numeration
of articles exceeds 4000. In it, at No. 1388, will be found another
catalogue by Stefano Gradio, wherein the numeration of volumes, many
of them containing several articles, amounts to 1361; but in the
general catalogue for reference, the volumes are only 1026. Under
the regulations prohibiting indiscriminate access to the Vatican
catalogues, I have not been able satisfactorily to reconcile these
discrepancies, nor to pronounce upon the accuracy of any of these
calculations; they, however, afford sufficient data to estimate
the extent of the Urbino MSS. Their value is probably greater in
reference to their number than that of any other component portion of
the Vatican collection; indeed, than any existing library except the
Laurentian; but this point, too, must remain unresolved, so long as
the present restrictions are maintained.[*128]
[Footnote *128: I am not able to state more accurately than
Dennistoun the number of volumes from the Urbino collection now in
the Vatican. Unhappily there is not a library in all Italy that
possesses a catalogue fit to use. For the MSS. to-day existing in the
library of the University at Urbino, see _Le Marche_, An. iv., p.
212.]
* * * * *
As soon as the Duke's demise seemed to be certainly approaching,
Urban had directed his nephew, Prince Taddeo Barberini,
general-in-chief of the ecclesiastical troops, to occupy the
frontier, who, on that event, marched through the state to receive
its allegiance, and thus secured its unopposed Devolution to the
Holy See, to the infinite satisfaction of the Pontiff. Another
nephew, Cardinal Antonio Barberini, was soon after named Legate,
under whom the ancient Dukedom passed at once into its new position
as a province of the papal state. But after a few months he resigned
the appointment, and it was bestowed upon his brother, Cardinal
Francesco, who, preferring Rome as a residence, governed the province
for many years by a vice-legate. The Pontiff, in proof of his
paternal affection for his new subjects, conferred a Cardinal's hat
on the Bishop of Gubbio, and established in that town a branch of the
Inquisition!
The revenue drawn by the Camera from the state of Urbino, in the
years immediately subsequent to the Devolution, fell considerably
short of the expenses; but after the imposts had been augmented, the
income, in 1648, exceeded 40,000 scudi, leaving a balance at the
credit of the government. The population was then above two hundred
thousand. The change from independent to provincial rank had already
become painfully manifest. The vaunted fidelity of the natives was
degenerated into servility of demeanour. Everywhere their eyes rested
on some symptom of departed grandeur. The palaces of their dukes were
falling into neglect, crumbling and grass-grown; the gardens, overrun
by rank weeds, sadly recalled days of past festivity; the degraded
castles testified to an impoverished and absentee nobility. The
glories of Urbino were gone.[129]
[Footnote 129: Maruccelli MSS. C. No. 308. See App. No. VIII. for
statistical notices of this period.]
But the cup was charged with a bitterness beyond these humiliations.
Surrounded by ecclesiastical provinces, the inhabitants of the duchy
had long a foretaste of their coming fate, which amply accounted for
the exultation with which they had hailed the promised continuance
of the ducal line, and their sullen despair on witnessing its
inevitable extinction. The Venetian Relazioni, quoted by Ranke,
supply us with the opinion of disinterested contemporaries as to
the condition of the papal state during the seventeenth century.
In 1600, its "nobles and people would gladly cast themselves upon
any sovereign whatever, to escape from the hands into which they
had fallen." Ten years later, the very blood of the inhabitants
was wrung from them by excessive taxation, and their enterprise
was crushed by commercial restrictions. "The foreign traders had
quitted Ancona, the native merchants were bankrupt, the gentry
impoverished, the artizans ruined, the populace dispersing." A
year or two after the last Duke's death, his people are described
as grumbling much at the change, calling the new government a
tyranny, and sneering at the priests as interested solely in
accumulating wealth, and aggrandising themselves. In 1666, we have
this calamitous but probably overcoloured picture:--"It is palpably
evident that the ecclesiastical realm is quite overburdened, so that
many landholders, unable to extract enough from their possessions
to meet the extraordinary public imposts, resort of necessity to
the abandonment of their estates, in order to seek fortune and
sustenance in less rapacious communities. I speak not of duties and
customs, from which nothing eatable is excepted; because the taxes,
donatives, subsidies, and other extraordinary extortions would excite
pity and astonishment, even if the terrible commissioners sent
from Rome into these cities, with absolute authority to inquire,
sell, carry off, and confiscate, did not exceed all belief; no
month ever passing without a flight of griffins and harpies, in the
guise of commissioners, either of the fabric of St. Peter's, or of
pious bequests, or of movable goods, or of archives, or of some
five-and-twenty other Roman courts, by all which the already drained
purses of the helpless subjects are tortured to the last degree. And
thus,--setting aside Ferrara and Bologna, to which some consideration
is extended, and which are favoured by nature and art with excellent
soil, and with manufacturing industry,--all other cities of Romagna,
La Marca, Umbria, the Patrimony, Sabina, and the Campagna are utterly
wretched; and, to the disgrace of the Roman government, in none of
them do woollen or silk factories exist, nor even of gold stuffs,
except in a few such little towns as Fossombrone, Pergola, Matelica,
Camerino, and Norcia, although the abundance of wool and silk might
afford a most advantageous trade. The ecclesiastical territory is
merely an estate leased out to tenants, who give no thought to its
improvement, but only to extract the greatest possible amount of
its produce from the unhappy land, whose scourged and arid soil
will be unable to yield more than very barren crops to succeeding
occupants.... The more hateful and abhorred they find themselves,
the more merciless do they become; and dragging their hats over
their brows, they look no one in the face. They glean all sorts of
corn into their sheaves, intent wholly upon their own interests,
without the smallest regard to the public." By the end of the
century, matters had become worse, the country being "depopulated
and uncultivated, ruined by extortions, and destitute of industry."
The duchy of Urbino, which, according to the preceding extract, was
the last refuge of the silk trade, had then fallen into deep decay,
and the corn commerce of La Marca was clogged by export dues and
injudicious restrictions.[130]
[Footnote 130: The state of feeling in the duchy, even under the
comparatively beneficent sway of its native pope, Clement XI., may be
inferred from an incident of trifling moment. Having obtained trace
of a petition or remonstrance addressed to that Pontiff among the
MSS. of the Bibliotheca Borbonica at Naples, I was refused a sight
of it by the Archbishop then at the head of that library, on the
ground of its injurious allegations against the authorities. Verily
such overcaution may defeat its own end, by leaving an exaggerated
impression of the mischief it would veil. So Gergorovius was turned
out of the Vatican Library.]
[Illustration: _Anderson_
VITTORIA DELLA ROVERE, GRAND DUCHESS OF TUSCANY
_From the picture by Sustermans in the Pitti Gallery, Florence_]
These plaintive notes might still [1859] find not a few echoes
along the papal coasts of the Adriatic--the focus of Italian
discontent,--over-taxation to maintain a distant government being
ever the burden of their song. But the question is not, in truth,
one of financial administration. However open to stricture the
fiscal details may be, when tested by sound principles, the amount
of revenue raised is moderate in consideration of the wealth there
lavished by beneficent nature, in a degree denied to other not less
burdened districts of the Peninsula. Nor can the papal sway, however
objectionable, be in fairness regarded as otherwise than mild. But
centralisation is necessarily alien to the spirit of a people long
broken up into miniature communities, as it was formerly uncongenial
to their ancestors, whose personal pride, political influence,
and hopes of promotion, equally turned upon the continuance of a
sectional independence. Hence the popular dissatisfaction rests
as much upon traditional evils as upon existing and obvious
misgovernment. Four centuries ago there were above a dozen capitals,
flourishing in the balmy atmosphere of as many gay courts, and
basking in patronage and prosperity, all within the circuit of that
province where now a few priestly legates perform the functions of
sovereignty without either the taste or the means for indulging its
trappings, and dwell in princely palaces without the habits or the
popularity of their ancient lords.
But these are not matters for casual discussion. From the accession
of Count Guidantonio in 1404, till the Devolution by Duke Francesco
Maria in 1624, this little state had enjoyed two hundred and twenty
years of a prosperity unknown to the neighbouring communities. Her
sovereigns were distinguished in arts and arms, respected abroad,
esteemed at home; her frontiers were comparatively exempt from
invasion, her tranquillity unruffled by domestic broils: within her
narrow limits were reared or sheltered many of the brightest names in
literature, science, and art; her court was the mirror of refinement,
her capital the Athens of Italy. Since the Devolution, she has passed
an equal number of lustres in provincial obscurity and neglect.
It has been the object of this work to portray somewhat of the
splendours of that former period, though the subject would require
colours more brilliant, and a hand more skilled. Here our task must
close, for to follow her destinies to their decline and fall were one
of few attractions.
"Kingdoms are shrunk to provinces, and chains
Clank over sceptred cities, nations melt
From power's high pinnacle, when they have felt
The sunshine for a while, and downward go!"
BOOK NINTH
OF LITERATURE AND ART UNDER THE DUKES DELLA ROVERE AT URBINO