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Transcriber's note:
This work was originally published in 1851. As noted below,
footnotes marked by an asterisk were added by the editor
of the 1909 edition, from which this e-book was prepared.
Obvious printer errors have been corrected without note.
Other errors are indicated by a [Transcriber's Note].
Certain spelling inconsistencies have been made consistent;
for example, variants of Michelangelo's last name have been
changed to Buonarroti. Archaic spellings in English and
Italian have been retained as they appear in the original.
The original contains several letters with non-standard
tildes. These are represented in brackets, e.g., [~v].
Full-page illustrations have been moved so as not to break
up the flow of the text.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO
Illustrating the Arms, Arts & Literature of Italy, 1440-1630
by
JAMES DENNISTOUN OF DENNISTOUN
A New Edition with Notes by Edward Hutton
& Over a Hundred Illustrations
In Three Volumes. VOLUME TWO
[Illustration]
London John Lane The Bodley Head
New York John Lane Company MCMIX
William Brendon and Son, Ltd., Printers, Plymouth
[Illustration: _Alinari_
ELISABETTA DI MONTEFELTRO, DUCHESS OF URBINO
_After the picture by Andrea Mantegna in the Uffizi Gallery,
Florence_]
CONTENTS
PAGE
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS OF VOLUME II. ix
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. xi
BOOK THIRD
(_continued_)
OF GUIDOBALDO DI MONTEFELTRO, THIRD DUKE OF URBINO
CHAPTER XIX
The massacre of Sinigaglia--Death of Alexander VI.--Narrow
escape of Cesare Borgia 3
CHAPTER XX
Duke Guidobaldo restored--The Election of Julius II.--The
fall of Cesare Borgia--The Duke's fortunate position--Is
made Knight of the Garter--The Pope visits Urbino 23
CHAPTER XXI
The Court of Urbino, its manners and its stars 43
CHAPTER XXII
Emilia Pia--The _Cortegiano_--Death of Duke Guidobaldo,
succeeded by Francesco Maria della Rovere 72
BOOK FOURTH
OF LITERATURE AND ART UNDER THE DUKES DI MONTEFELTRO AT URBINO
CHAPTER XXIII
The revival of letters in Italy--Influence of the
princes--Classical tastes tending to pedantry and
paganism--Greek philosophy and its effects--Influence of
the Dukes of Urbino 93
CHAPTER XXIV
Count Guidantonio a patron of learned men--Duke
Federigo--The _Assorditi_ Academy--Dedications to
him--Prose writers of Urbino--Gentile Becci, Bishop of
Arezzo--Francesco Venturini--Berni of Gubbio--Polydoro di
Vergilio--Vespasiano Filippi--Castiglione--Bembo--Learned
ladies 109
CHAPTER XXV
Poetry under the Montefeltri--Sonnets--The Filelfi--Giovanni
Sanzi--Porcellio Pandonio--Angelo Galli--Federigo
Veterani--Urbani Urbinate--Antonio
Rustico--Naldio--Improvisatori--Bernardo Accolti--Serafino
d'Aquila--Agostino Staccoli--Early comedies--_La
Calandra_--Corruption of morals--Social position of women 130
CHAPTER XXVI
Mediæval art chiefly religious--Innovations of Naturalism,
Classicism, and Paganism--Character and tendencies of
Christian painting ill-understood in England--Influence of
St. Francis 157
CHAPTER XXVII
The Umbrian School of Painting, its scholars and
influence--Fra Angelico da Fiesole--Gentile da
Fabriano--Pietro Perugino--Artists at Urbino--Piero della
Francesca--Fra Carnevale--Francesco di Giorgio 184
CHAPTER XXVIII
Giovanni Sanzi of Urbino--His son, the immortal
Raffaele--Early influences on his mind--Paints at Perugia,
Città di Castello, Siena, and Florence--His visits to Urbino,
and works there 216
CHAPTER XXIX
Raffaele is called to Rome, and employed upon the
Stanze--His frescoes there--His other works--Change in his
manner--Compared with Michael Angelo--His death, character,
and style 235
CHAPTER XXX
Timoteo Viti--Bramante--Andrea Mantegna--Gian
Bellini--Justus of Ghent--Medals of Urbino 254
BOOK FIFTH
OF THE DELLA ROVERE FAMILY
CHAPTER XXXI
Birth and elevation of Sixtus IV.--Genealogy of the della
Rovere family--Nepotism of that pontiff--His improvements
in Rome--His patronage of letters and arts--His brother
Giovanni becomes Lord of Sinigaglia and Prefect of
Rome--His beneficent sway--He pillages a papal
envoy--Remarkable story of Zizim or Gem--Portrait of
Giovanni--The early character and difficulties of Julius
II.--Estimate of his pontificate 277
BOOK SIXTH
OF FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE, FOURTH DUKE OF URBINO
CHAPTER XXXII
Youth of Duke Francesco Maria I.--The League of
Cambray--His marriage--His first military service--The
Cardinal of Pavia's treachery--Julius II. takes the field 313
CHAPTER XXXIII
The Duke routed at Bologna from the Cardinal of Pavia's
treason, whom he assassinates--He is prosecuted, but
finally absolved and reconciled to the Pope--He reduces
Bologna--Is invested with Pesaro--Death of Julius II. 334
CHAPTER XXXIV
Election of Leo X.--His ambitious projects--Birth of
Prince Guidobaldo of Urbino--The Pontiff's designs upon
that state, which he gives to his nephew--The Duke retires
to Mantua 351
CHAPTER XXXV
The Duke returns to his state--His struggle with the
usurper--His victory at Montebartolo 372
CHAPTER XXXVI
Continuation of the ruinous contest--The Duke finally
abandons it--Death of Lorenzo de' Medici--Charles V.
elected Emperor 391
CHAPTER XXXVII
Death of Leo X.--Restoration of Francesco Maria--He
enters the Venetian service--Louis XII. invades the
Milanese--Death of Bayard--The Duke's honourable reception
at Venice--Battle of Pavia 411
CHAPTER XXXVIII
New league against Charles V.--The Duke's campaign in
Lombardy--His quarrels with Guicciardini--Rome pillaged
by the Colonna--The Constable Bourbon advances into
Central Italy--The Duke quells an insurrection at
Florence 433
APPENDICES
I. Portraits of Cesare Borgia 459
II. Duke Guidobaldo I. of Urbino, a Knight of the Garter 462
III. Giovanni Sanzi's MS. Chronicle of Federigo,
Duke of Urbino 471
IV. Epitaph of Giovanni della Rovere 480
V. Remission and rehabilitation of Duke Francesco Maria I.
in 1512-13 481
VI. Letter from Cardinal Wolsey to Lorenzo de' Medici 484
GENEALOGICAL TABLES _At end of book_
ILLUSTRATIONS
Elisabetta di Montefeltro, Duchess of Urbino.
After the picture by Andrea Mantegna in the Uffizi
Gallery, Florence. (Photo Alinari) _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
Il Castello di Sinigaglia. (Photo Alinari) 10
Pope Julius II. From the picture by Raphael in the
Pitti Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson) 40
Portrait of a lady, her hair dressed in the manner
of the fifteenth century. From the picture by ? Verrocchio
in Poldo-Pezzoli Collection, Milan. (Photo Alinari) 44
A lady of the fifteenth century with jewels of the
period. (Photo Alinari) 48
Count Baldassare Castiglione. From a picture in the
Torlonia Gallery, Rome 50
Hair dressing in the fifteenth century. Detail from the
fresco by Pisanello in S. Anastasia of Verona. (Photo Alinari) 54
Cardinal Bembo. From a drawing once in the possession of
Cavaliere Agricola in Rome 62
Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino. From a lead medal
by Adriano Fiorentino in the British Museum. By the
courtesy of G.F. Hill, Esq. 72
Emilia Pia. From a medal by Adriano Fiorentino in the
Vienna Museum. By the courtesy of G.F. Hill, Esq. 72
Hair dressing in the sixteenth century. After a picture
by Bissolo. (Photo Alinari) 76
Portrait of a lady in mourning. After the picture by
Pordenone in the Dresden Gallery. (Photo R. Tammé) 84
S. Martin and S. Thomas with Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino,
and Bishop Arrivabeni. After the picture by Timoteo Viti
in the Duomo of Urbino. (Photo Alinari) 88
Baldassare Castiglione. After the picture by Raphael in
the Louvre. 120
Madonna del Belvedere. After the fresco by Ottaviano
Nelli in S. Maria Nuova, Gubbio 190
Madonna del Soccorso. After the gonfalone by a pupil of
Fiorenzo di Lorenzo in S. Francesco, Montone 196
Raphael, aged six years. From a picture once in the
possession of James Dennistoun 216
Raphael. After the portrait by himself in the Uffizi
Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson) 220
Madonna and child. After the picture by Giovanni Santi,
in the Pinacoteca of Urbino. (Photo Alinari) 224
Ecce Homo. From the picture by Giovanni Santi in the
Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. (Photo Alinari) 226
S. Sebastian. After the picture by Timoteo Viti in the
Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. (Photo Alinari) 228
Margherita "La Fornarina." After the picture by Raphael
called La Donna Velata in the Pitti Gallery, Florence.
(Photo Alinari) 230
Margherita "La Fornarina." After the spoiled picture by
Raphael in the Galleria Barberini in Rome. (Photo Anderson) 232
The Sposalizio. After the picture by Raphael, once in the
Ducal Collection at Urbino, now in the Brera, Milan.
(Photo Alinari) 240
Isabella of Aragon. After the picture by Raphael in the
Louvre 246
St. Sebastian. From the picture by Timoteo Viti in the
Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. (Photo Alinari) 254
Francesco Maria I. della Rovere. After the picture by
Titian in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (From the Ducal
Collection.) (Photo Alinari) 314
Venetian wedding-dress in the sixteenth century. After
the picture called "La Flora" by Titian in the Uffizi
Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson) 316
Detail of the Urbino Venus. Supposed portrait of
Duchess Leonora, from the picture by Titian in the
Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson) 320
The girl in the fur-cloak. Possibly a portrait of Duchess
Leonora of Urbino. After the picture by Titian in the
Imperial Gallery, Vienna. (Photo Franz Hanfstaengl) 324
Duchess of Urbino, either Eleonora or Giulia Varana.
After the picture by Titian in the Uffizi Gallery,
Florence. Painted _ca._ 1538. (Photo Brogi) 328
Leo X. After the picture by Raphael in the Pitti Gallery,
Florence. (Photo Anderson) 352
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, Duke of Urbino. After the
picture by Bronzino in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
(Photo Alinari) 366
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
CHAPTER XIX
A.D. PAGE
1502. Dec. Valentino marches against Sinigaglia 3
" " 28. Which surrenders 4
" " 31. Cesare massacres the confederate chiefs 4
1503. Jan. 2. His letter to the authorities at Perugia 6
" Feb. 22. Cardinal Orsini poisoned at Rome 8
" Jan. Machiavelli's indifference to the massacre 8
" " General extinction of moral feeling 10
" " 18. Further murders of the chiefs 11
" " Valentino in the Val di Chiana 11
" " Jealousy of Louis XII. 11
" " State of affairs at Urbino 12
" June. Siege of San Leo 13
" " Relieved by a dexterous stroke 13
" The Pontiff's wholesale poisonings 15
" Aug. 18. To which he fell himself a victim 16
" " The various accounts of this examined 17
" " His character 19
" " Valentino's narrow escape from the same fate 19
" " His policy 20
" " Results of the Pope's death at Rome 21
" Sep. 22. Election of Pius III. 22
CHAPTER XX
1503. Aug. 22. Urbino resumes its allegiance 23
" " Guidobaldo returns from Venice 23
" " 28. And is welcomed enthusiastically 24
" He joins the other princes in a defensive
confederacy 24
" The fortunes of Valentino rally 25
" His wavering conduct 25
" Election of Julius II. 27
" Fatal to Valentino's prospects 27
" Nov. Guidobaldo's difficult position 28
" " The Pope's negotiation with Borgia 29
1504. April. Who escapes to Naples 30
" But is sent prisoner to Spain 30
1507. Mar. 10. His death 31
1503. Guidobaldo's fortunate position 31
" Nov. 20. Summoned to Rome 32
" " His favour with the Pope 32
" " 15. The Duchess returns home from Venice 33
" " His interview with Valentino 33
" " Represented in a fresco 33
1504. He is named Gonfaloniere of the Church 34
" And invested with the Garter of England 34
" June 1. Returns home, accompanied by Count
Castiglione 34
" Feb. Strange pastimes there 34
" His brief campaign 35
" And happy residence at Urbino 35
" His installation as generalissimo of the
papal forces 36
" Sep. His nephew, the young Prefect, invested as
his heir-apparent 37
" Claims of Venice upon Romagna 38
1505. Guidobaldo summoned to visit the Pope 38
1506. July. Returns home 39
" Aug. 26. Julius sets out for Romagna 39
" Sep. 25. His magnificent reception at Urbino 39
" " Tariff of provisions there 40
" Reaches Bologna 41
" His statue there, and its fate 42
1507. Mar. 3. Revisits Urbino on his return to Rome 42
CHAPTER XXI
1507. The cultivated tastes of the princes
in Romagna 43
" The Court of Urbino described by Count
Castiglione, in his _Cortegiano_ 44
" The requisites of a lady of that court 45
" State of female refinement and morals 46
" Coarseness of language and wit 47
" Poetical and social pastimes 49
" Sketch of the prominent personages there 50
" Count Baldassare Castiglione 51
" He goes to England 52
" His marriage, and conjugal affection 53
" His portraits 53
" His death and character 55
" Giuliano de' Medici 56
" Cesare Gonzaga 58
" Ottaviano Fregoso 58
" Cardinal Federigo Fregoso 59
" Bembo's letter on his death 61
" Cardinal Bembo 62
" His attachment to Lucrezia Borgia 63
" His promotion under Leo X. 64
" His lax morals 64
" Bernardo Dovizii, Cardinal Bibbiena 65
" His ingratitude and ambition 67
" His beauty and worldly character 68
" Bernardo Accolti, l'Unico Aretino 69
" Count Ludovico Canossa 70
" Alessandro Trivulzio 71
CHAPTER XXII
1507. The Duke's declining health 72
" The court enlivened by female society 72
" Emilia Pio, surnamed Pia 75
" Her decorum and wit 76
" Her management of the social resources
of the palace 77
" The origin of Castiglione's _Cortegiano_ 78
" Guidobaldo a martyr to gout 79
1506-1508. Extraordinary derangement of the seasons 79
1508. April. He is carried to Fossombrone 80
" " 11. His great sufferings and resigned end 80
" " The paganism of his biographers 81
" " Precautions of the Duchess against
a revolution 82
" " And of the Pontiff 83
" " His body taken to Urbino 84
" " 13. The Prefect Francesco Maria proclaimed
Duke of Urbino 85
" " His visit to the Duchess 85
" " Funeral of Guidobaldo 85
" May 2. His obsequies and funeral oration 85
" His portraits 86
" His accomplishments and excellent character 86
" His patronage of Paolo Cortesio 87
" Enduring influence of his reign 88
" His widow 89
CHAPTER XXIII
1443-1508. The golden age of Italian letters and arts 93
" " Rich in scholars but poor in genius 94
" " Its prosaic tendency 94
" " The revival of learning 95
" " Promoted by the multiplicity of
independent communities 97
" " Especially by the petty sovereigns 98
" " Adulatory tendency of such literature 99
" " A narrow patriotism generated 100
" " Taste for classical erudition, philology
and grammar 101
" " The study of Latin induced pedantry and
languid conventionality 102
" " The prosaic scholarism of this period 103
" " Tending to pagan ideas 103
" " The rival philosophies of Aristotle
and Plato 105
" " Leading to fierce quarrels 106
" " Superseding Christian revelation 106
" " And eventually shaking Catholic unity 107
" " Influence of the Dukes of Urbino on letters 107
" " Mediocrity of many authors of local fame 108
CHAPTER XXIV
1412-1441. Letters of Count Guidantonio in favour
of various learned men 109
1444-1482. Duke Federigo's love for literary converse 111
" " The academies 112
" " Fulsome dedications 112
1473. Gentile de' Becci 113
1480. Ludovico Odasio 114
Francesco Venturini 114
Guarniero Berni of Gubbio 115
1470-1555. Polydoro di Vergilio 115
" " His preferments in England 115
" " His English history 117
Vespasiano Filippi 118
1478-1529. Count Baldassare Castiglione 119
" " His _Cortegiano_ 119
" " Compared with Machiavelli's _Principe_ 120
" " His letter to Henry VIII. regarding
Duke Guidobaldo 121
" " His poetry 121
1528. His letter to his children 122
1470-1547. Cardinal Bembo 123
" " His pedantry and affected imitation
of Cicero 123
" " His history of Venice 124
" " His Essay on Duke Guidobaldo 124
" " His other works 125
Learned ladies 128
CHAPTER XXV
1443-1508. Poetry under the Montefeltrian Dukes 130
" " Defects of the sonnet 131
Francesco Filelfo 131
1480. Gian Maria Filelfo, his son 132
His Martiados in praise of Duke Federigo 132
His minor poems 133
Specimen of the dedication 134
His sonnet to Gentile Bellini the painter 135
His life of Duke Federigo 136
Pandonio of Naples 136
His Feltria on Duke Federigo's campaigns 137
Specimen of it 137
Giovanni Sanzi of Urbino, father of
Raffaele Sanzio 138
His metrical chronicle of Duke Federigo 138
Various specimens of it translated 140
1428-1457. Angelo Galli from Urbino 143
Specimen of his poetry 143
Federigo Veterani, his beautiful
transcripts 144
His tribute in verse to Duke Federigo 145
Urbani of Urbino 146
Antonio Rustico of Florence 146
Naldio of Florence 146
Bernardo Accolti of Arezzo 146
His improvisation 146
Serafino di Aquila 147
Agostino Staccoli of Urbino 147
Early Italian comedies 147
La Calandra of Bibbiena 147
1513. Its performance at Urbino 148
Description of the scenery and
accompanying interludes 148
Origin of the ballet 152
Nature of the plot in La Calandra 152
Low standard of morals at that time 153
Obscene jest books 154
CHAPTER XXVI
Mediæval art almost exclusively religious 157
The introduction of types and
traditionary forms 157
A picture by Botticelli denounced as
heretical (note) 158
The choice and treatment of sacred themes 159
Modified by the personal character of
artists 160
Instances of this 161
Devotional feeling of early painters 161
Shown in the rules of their guilds at
Siena and Florence 162
Case of Giorgio Vasari 163
The gloomy character of Spanish art 163
The subject to be considered apart from
sectarian views 164
Christian art modified in the fifteenth
century 166
Gradual innovation of naturalism 167
Followed by paganism and classicism 168
Rise of the "new manner" 169
Religious prudery in Spain fatal to art 170
Von Rumohr's definition of Christian art 170
Opinions prevailing in England 171
Hogarth and Savonarola 172
Burnet and Barry 172
Reynolds and Raffaele 172
Obstacles to a due appreciation of this
subject among us 173
Mr. Ruskin and Lord Lindsay 174
Sir David Wilkie 175
It does not necessarily lead to popery 175
Nor is it a desirable "groundwork for a
new style of art" 176
St. Francis of Assisi, his legends
and shrine 177
Their influence renders Umbria the cradle
of sacred art 178
Opinions of Rio, Boni, and Herbert Seymour 179
CHAPTER XXVII
The Umbrian school hitherto overlooked 184
The cathedral of Orvieto and the sanctuary
of Assisi attract many artists 185
The dramatic or Dantesque character of
Florentine painting 186
Sentimental devotion of the Sienese school 187
Influence of these on Umbrian painters 187
-1299. Oderigi da Gubbio 188
Notice of him by Dante 188
Guido Palmerucci of Gubbio 189
Angioletto, a glass-painter of Gubbio 190
1375-1444. Ottaviano Nelli of Gubbio and his pupils 190
1434. June 30. His letter to Caterina, Countess of Urbino 192
Allegretto Nuzi of Fabriano 193
1370-14. Gentile da Fabriano; he studies under 193
1383-14. Fra Giovanni da Fiesole, the Beato Angelico 194
" " A friar of holy life and pencil 194
" " Gentile called "master of the masters" 196
1370-14. His works studied by Raffaele 196
" " Goes to Venice 197
" " His taste for gaudy trappings 197
Benedetto Bonfigli of Perugia 199
1446-1524. Pietro Perugino 199
Painters in Urbino 200
-1478. Piero della Francesca of Borgo
San Sepolcro 201
" " His history obscure 201
" " His two distinct manners 202
" " His knowledge of geometry 203
" " His claims to the introduction
of perspective 203
" " These examined, and those of Luca Pacioli 203
" " His unedited writings (note) 204
" " His frescoes at Arezzo and their influence
on Raffaele 206
" " His portrait of Sigismondo Pandolfo
Malatesta 208
" " His portraits of the Montefeltrian princes 209
-1484. Bartolomeo Coradino, the Fra Carnevale 210
Beautiful altar-picture near Pesaro 211
1423-1502. Francesco di Giorgio of Siena 211
His works in painting, architecture,
and engineering 212
Letter of Duke Federigo on his behalf 214
His writings 215
CHAPTER XXVIII
-1494. Giovanni Sanzi of Urbino 216
Till lately unjustly depreciated 216
His own account of himself 217
His style and works 218
His portrait of his son, the divine
Raffaele 218
1483. Apr. 6. Birth of Raffaele Sanzio of Urbino,
surnamed "the Divine" 220
Notice of his biographers 220
His appearance happily timed 221
First pictorial influences on his mind 222
1495. He goes to the school of Perugino 223
1500-1504. His earliest independent works at Città
di Castello 225
" " Returns to paint at Perugia 226
" " Visits Siena and Florence 226
" " Returns to paint at Urbino 227
" " His second visit to Florence 227
" " With a recommendation from Joanna
della Rovere 228
1504-1505. His works, patrons, and associates there 228
1505-1507. Again painting at Perugia 230
1505-1507. His intercourse with Francia 231
1503-1508. And with the polished court of Urbino 231
" " Works commissioned of him there 232
" " His recently discovered fresco at Florence 234
CHAPTER XXIX
1508. He is called to Rome by Julius II. 235
" And employed to paint in the Stanze 236
1508-1513. His plan for the frescoes there detailed
and examined 236
1513. Feb. 21. Death of Julius II. 239
1513-1520. Raffaele's powers overtaxed 240
" " He gradually falls into "the new manner" 241
" " The charge against him of a vicious life
unfounded 241
" " Question how far he imitated others 242
" " Especially Michael Angelo 243
" " No parallel between them 244
" " His diminished intercourse with Urbino 246
1520. Apr. 6. His sudden death and funeral 247
" His intended marriage and cardinal's hat 249
" His varied gifts 250
" Testimonies to his merits 250
" His sense of beauty 251
" Purity of his taste 252
CHAPTER XXX
1470-1523. Timoteo Viti 254
His picture of questioned orthodoxy 256
1444-1514. Donato Bramante 259
Confusion regarding him 259
His works at Urbino 261
Commences St. Peter's, at Rome 262
Builds at the Vatican 263
Fra Bernardo Catelani 264
Crocchia of Urbino 265
1450-1517. Francesco Francia 265
1430-1506. Andrea Mantegna 265
1424-1514. Giovanni Bellini 266
1446-1523. Pietro Perugino 266
1386-1445. Jean van Eyck 266
1474. Justus of Ghent 267
Italian portrait medallions 269
1468. Clemente of Urbino 270
Medals of Duke Federigo 270
Medal of Duchess Elisabetta 272
Medal of Emilia Pia 273
CHAPTER XXXI
1414. July 21. Birth of Sixtus IV. 277
" Origin of his family 277
1414. Omens attending his birth 278
1471. Aug. 9. His education and elevation to the papacy 278
Children of his father, and their
descendants 279
His partiality to his nephews 283
Extravagance of Cardinal Pietro Riario 284
Hospitalities of Sixtus 285
His improvements in Rome 286
Scandals regarding him 287
His patronage of art 287
And of the Vatican Library 289
Portrait there of himself and nephews 289
Painted by Melozzo da Forlì 290
His brother Giovanni della Rovere 291
1474. Oct. 12. Made vicar of Sinigaglia 291
" " 28. His marriage with Princess Giovanna
of Urbino 291
1475. Made Lord Prefect of Rome 291
His beneficial reign 292
His favour at the papal court 293
1474. The story of Zizim or Gem 293
" His ransom is seized by the Prefect 294
" Curious correspondence of the Sultan
with Alexander VI. 295
" Description of Gem by Mantegna the painter 297
1501. Nov. 6. Death of the Prefect 299
His portrait 299
His widow 300
Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere 301
His persecutions by the Borgias 301
1503. Nov. 1. His election to the Tiara 303
His character and policy 304
His patronage of art 306
His improvements in Rome 306
Parallel of him with Leo X. 307
CHAPTER XXXII
1490. Mar. 25. Birth of Duke Francesco Maria I. 313
1501. Nov. 6. He succeeds to his father's state
of Sinigaglia 313
" " He is carried to Urbino 313
1502. Apr. 24. Is made Prefect of Rome 313
" His early education and tastes 314
" His military propensities 314
" June 20. His escape from Cesare Borgia 315
1502. He is received at the court of France 315
1504. March. His return to Italy 315
" June 17. Restored at Sinigaglia 316
" Sep. 18. Invested as heir-apparent of Urbino 316
1505. Jan. Contracted in marriage to Leonora Gonzaga 316
1506. His first military service 316
1507. Oct. 6. Assassinates the paramour of his sister 317
1508. Apr. 14. He succeeds to the dukedom of Urbino 318
" " His constitutional concessions 319
" " 25. His summons to his new subjects to
swear allegiance 319
" His judicious and conciliatory measures 320
" Origin of the League of Cambray 321
" Dec. 10. It is signed 322
" " The objects of this unnatural combination 322
" Oct. 4. Francesco Maria made captain-general of
the ecclesiastical forces 323
1509. May. Elected a Knight of the Garter, but not
confirmed by Henry VIII. 324
" Dec. 24. His marriage celebrated 324
The Duchess Leonora's psalter 324
" April. He takes the field against Venice 325
" May 4. Takes Brisghella 325
" Remarkable incident in his camp 325
" The Pope's partiality for the Cardinal
of Pavia 326
" His character and intrigues against
Francesco Maria 327
" His treachery 327
" May 14. The Venetians beaten at Vaila 328
" June 11. Rimini capitulates, and the campaign
closes 329
" The Duke carries his bride to Rome 329
" He reconciles the Pope to Giuliano
de' Medici 329
" The Pope changes sides 330
" Further treachery of the Cardinal of Pavia 330
1510. July. The Duke marches against Ferrara 331
" Sep. Julius II. takes the field 331
" His suspicions of the Cardinal 332
" The council of Pisa threatened 332
" His indomitable resolution 333
CHAPTER XXXIII
1510. Dec. His ill-judged appearance at the siege
of Mirandola 334
1511. May 21. The Duke's miscarriage before Bologna
by the Cardinal's treachery 336
" " The Cardinal prepossesses the Pope
against his nephew 338
" " 24. And falls by his hand 339
" Ill-timed badinage of Cardinal Bembo (note) 339
" The Duke retires to Urbino 340
" June. And the Pontiff returns to Rome 340
" His indignation against the Duke 340
" Who is arrested, and subjected to a
complicated prosecution 341
" Defended by Beroaldo the younger 341
" Dangerous illness of Julius 342
" He is reconciled to Francesco Maria 343
" Dec. 9. And absolves him 343
" " New league against the French 343
1512. Hesitation of Francesco Maria 344
" Consequent disgust of Julius 344
" Apr. 11. The field of Ravenna 344
" Francesco Maria is reconciled to the Pope 345
" June 22. He retakes Bologna 345
" Aug. And reduces Reggio 345
" The French abandoned by their
Italian allies 346
" The Duke's fruitless attempt on Ferrara 347
" Restoration of the Medici at Florence 347
" The Duke's feeling towards them examined 347
" New projects of the Pope 348
" Lapse of Pesaro to the Holy See 349
" Oct. 23. The town reduced by Francesco Maria 349
1513. Feb. 16. He is invested with that state 350
" " 21. Death of Julius II. 350
" Mar. 16. The Duke's reception at Pesaro 350
CHAPTER XXXIV
1513. Influence of Francesco Maria in the
conclave favourable to the Medici 351
" Mar. 11. Election of Leo. X. 351
" " His singular good fortune 352
" " His character contrasted with that of
Julius by Sismondi 352
" " 19. Francesco Maria attends his coronation 353
" " And is confirmed in all his dignities 354
" Sep. His favour for Baldassare Castiglione 355
" Notice of the fief of Novilara 357
1514. Ambitious projects and intrigues of
Leo X., involving Urbino 358
" Apr. 2. Birth of Prince Guidobaldo of Urbino 359
1515. Jan. 1. Bembo's visit to that court 359
" June The Duke superseded by Leo X. in
his command 360
" Friendship of Giuliano de' Medici for him 361
" Jan. 1. Death of Louis XII., succeeded by
Francis I. 362
" The Pontiff's undecided policy 362
" Sep. 13. Battle of Marignano 364
1516. Jan. Death of Ferdinand of Spain 364
" Mar. 17. And of Giuliano de' Medici 365
" " Character of Lorenzo de' Medici 365
" " Francesco Maria exposed to the fury of Leo 366
" Apr. 27. Sentence of deprivation against him 367
" Aug. 18. And his dignities conferred upon Lorenzo 367
" April Ingratitude of Bembo 367
Lashed by Porrino 368
" May. The duchy of Urbino invaded 368
" " 31. Francesco Maria withdraws to Lombardy
with his family 369
" " The duchy surrenders to Lorenzo 369
" Sep. S. Leo surprised 370
CHAPTER XXXV
1516. Aug. 13. The peace of Noyon 372
" Attempt on his state by the Duke 372
1517. Jan. 17. His manifesto 373
" " His address to the soldiery 376
" " Alarm of the Pontiff 377
" " Gradara is sacked 377
" Feb. Partial rising in his favour 377
" " 5. Remarkable adventure of Benedetto Giraldi 378
" " " Francesco Maria enters Urbino 380
" Measures adopted by Leo 380
" The Duke challenges Lorenzo to a personal
encounter, which is declined 382
" Mar. 25. Sack of Montebaroccio 383
" " Siege of Mondolfo, where Lorenzo is wounded 384
" Its sack, with many excesses 385
" Cardinal Bibbiena appointed to the command
as legate 387
" Disorganisation of his army 388
" May 6. It is routed on Montebartolo 388
" " " The Duke's letter to his consort detailing
the battle 389
CHAPTER XXXVI
1517. Conspiracy against Leo 391
" Fate of Cardinal Adrian of Corneto 392
" June 20. Leo applies to Henry VIII. 392
" His unscrupulous measures 392
" May. Francesco Maria's expedition against
Perugia 393
" " Treason in his camp 393
" " His energetic proceedings 394
" June. Makes a foray into La Marca 395
" " A conversation with the Pope 396
" " His apprehensions 397
" July. The Duke's advantage over the Swiss at
Rimini, and march upon Tuscany 398
" Aug. Progress of negotiations 398
" Conditions granted to Francesco Maria 402
" Vile conduct of his Spaniards 402
" Curious votive inscription 403
" The Duke again withdraws from his state 403
" Immense cost of the campaign 404
" Its remote consequences upon the
Reformation 404
" The fortunes of Lorenzo de' Medici 405
1519. Apr. 28. His death 405
" Partition of the duchy of Urbino 406
1520. Mar. Fate of Gian Paolo Baglioni 406
1519. The singular good fortune of Charles V. 407
" June 28. He is elected Emperor 408
1521. Combinations for new wars in Italy 408
" Francesco Maria in the French interest 409
" He retires to Lonno 409
" Milan restored to the Sforza family 410
CHAPTER XXXVII
1521. Dec. 1. Disgust and death of Leo 411
" " Opinions as to his being poisoned 411
" " Francesco Maria returns to his state 412
" " 22. And is readily welcomed 413
1522. Jan. 5. He restores the Varana and Baglioni 413
" " And invades Tuscany 414
" " 15. His letter to the Priors of Siena 414
" Urbino invaded by the Medici 415
" Their reconciliation with the Duke 415
" His condotta by them 416
" Election of Adrian VI 416
" May 18. The Duke is reinstated in his dignities 418
" Feb. 18. His bond to the Sacred College 418
" Pretensions of Ascanio Colonna upon Urbino 418
" June 22. Murder of Sigismondo Varana 419
" The Duke refuses service with the French 420
" Aug. But aids the Pope against Rimini 420
1523. The ladies of his court return home 421
" He establishes his residence at Pesaro 421
" Hospitality of the Duchesses 421
" He goes to Rome, to wait upon Adrian 422
" New league for the defence of Sforza 423
" Francesco Maria retained by Venice as
general-in-chief 423
" French invasion of the Milanese 423
" Sep. 24. Death of Adrian succeeded by Clement VII. 423
" Death of Prospero Colonna, and his
influence on the tactics of Francesco
Maria 423
" Venetian _proveditori_ and their evils 424
1524. Lanoy commander-in-chief of the allies 426
" The Duke of Urbino hampered by the
Proveditore 426
" His tactics 427
1523. The French admiral, Bonnivet, wounded 427
" Is succeeded by the Chevalier Bayard 427
1524. Apr. 30. His heroic death 427
" The French driven out of Italy 428
" June 25. His honourable reception at Venice 429
" " 27. Made captain-general by the Signory 429
" July 3. Received into the company della Calza 430
" " 5. Returns home 431
" Oct. New invasion of Italy by Francis I. 431
1525. Feb. 25. The battle of Pavia 431
CHAPTER XXXVIII
1525. Altered policy of Clement 433
" Treason and death of the Marquis of Pescara 434
1526. Feb. 14. Letter from the Duke of Urbino to Cardinal
Wolsey 434
" May. New League against Charles V. 435
" " The Duke marches to relieve Milan 435
" June. And obtains Lodi 435
" His embarrassment from the number of
leaders in the army 436
" Sketch of Francesco Guicciardini 436
" His differences with Francesco Maria 436
" Opinions divided as to the advance on Milan 437
" The Duke's policy explained 438
" July 6. Miscarriage and retreat of the army 439
" " The prejudices of Guicciardini 439
" " 24. Milan is surrendered by Sforza 441
" " The Duke's quarrels with Guicciardini 441
" Opinions of Sismondi 442
" The Duke's illness from vexation 443
" Sep. He carries Cremona 443
" The Colonna rebel against the Pope 443
" Sep. 20. They surprise Rome, and pillage the Borgo 444
" " Francesco Maria visits his Duchess 445
" Nov. Fründesberg brings the lansquenets
into Lombardy 445
" The Duke's plans of defence considered 446
" Nov. 30. Battle of Borgoforte, and death of
Giovanni de' Medici _delle bande nere_ 446
1527. Tortuous policy of Clement 447
" Mar. 15. His truce with Lanoy 448
" " Inertness of the allies 449
" " The Constable Bourbon 449
" " His policy in this war 449
" " Inactivity of the Duke 451
" " Bourbon's advance into Central Italy 452
" " He repudiates Lanoy's truce 452
" " His progress through Romagna 453
" " Vain attempt of Lanoy to interrupt him 453
" " Feeble and selfish views of all the allies 454
" " Secret motives of the Duke 454
" Apr. 22. Bourbon crosses into Tuscany 455
" The Duke quells an insurrection at
Florence 456
" May 1. His fortresses of S. Leo and Maiuola
restored 456
" Apr. 26. Bourbon hurries onward to Rome 456
APPENDICES
Cesare Borgia's personal appearance
and portraits 459
1504. Feb. 20. Letter of Henry VIII. to Duke Guidobaldo
with the insignia of the Garter 462
" Instructions for his investiture 463
" Polydoro di Vergilio's account of it 466
1506. July 24. The Duke sends Count Castiglione to
England as his proxy 469
" Oct. 20. His reception and installation 469
1507. He is knighted, and returns to Urbino 470
Giovanni Sanzi's metrical Chronicle of
Duke Federigo 471
Fac-simile of the autograph 472
Table of the contents 472
Epitaph upon Giovanni della Rovere 480
Remission and rehabilitation of Duke
Francesco Maria I. 481
Letter from Cardinal Wolsey to Lorenzo
de' Medici 484
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO--II
NOTE.--The Editor's notes are marked with an asterisk.
BOOK THIRD
(_continued_)
OF GUIDOBALDO DI MONTEFELTRO, THIRD DUKE OF URBINO
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO
CHAPTER XIX
The massacre of Sinigaglia--Death of Alexander VI.--Narrow
escape of Cesare Borgia.
The principal object of the new combination having been attained
by the submission of Urbino, followed by that of Camerino, Borgia
hastened to anticipate the suspicions of his allies by sending
the French succours back to Milan. He however retained a body of
troops, and proposed that the chiefs should co-operate with him in
reducing Sinigaglia, which was held by the late Prefect's widow.
Accordingly, Paolo Orsini, his relation the Duke of Gravina,
Vitellozzo, and Liverotto advanced upon that town, the garrison of
which was commanded by the celebrated Andrea Doria. This remarkable
man, finding himself excluded by the state of parties at Genoa
from all prospect of preferment, had in youth adopted the career
of a condottiere. He took service with Giovanni della Rovere,
distinguishing himself greatly in the campaign of Charles VIII. at
Naples; after which he continued attached to the Prefect and his
widow, with a hundred light horse. Seeing the case of Sinigaglia
desperate, and dreading Liverotto's bitter hatred of the Rovere
race, he retired, having first sent off the Prefectess on horseback
to Florence, disguised as a friar. On the 28th of December, the
assailants took undisputed possession of the city, and sacked it.
His prey now in his toils, Valentino, who had lulled their suspicion
by keeping aloof with his troops in Romagna, flew to the spot on the
pretext of reducing the citadel, and on the 31st arrived at the town
with a handful of cavalry.
He was met three miles outside of the gate by the chiefs, and
immediately requested their attendance in the house of one Bernardino
di Parma, to receive his congratulations and thanks on their success.
At the same time he desired quarters to be provided for their
respective followings outside of the city, in order to admit his own
army, amounting to two thousand cavalry and ten thousand infantry.
Startled at the appearance of a force so disproportioned to the
service in hand, they would gladly have demurred to this distribution
of the troops, but Cesare had contrived that there should be no
opportunity for remonstrance, and resistance would have obviously
been too late. Affecting a confidence they were far from feeling, the
leaders accepted the invitation, and were received with cordiality
and distinction. After an interchange of compliments, Borgia withdrew
upon some pretext, when there immediately entered his chosen agent
of iniquity, Don Michelotto, with several armed followers, who,
after some resistance, arrested the Duke of Gravina, Paolo Orsini,
Vitellozzo, and Liverotto, with some ten others. Before morning the
two last were strangled with a Pisan cord, or violin-string, and a
wrench-pin, by the hands of that monster, in his master's presence.
Their death, according to Machiavelli, was cowardly, especially that
of the blood-stained Liverotto; and their bodies, after being dragged
round the piazza, were exposed for three days before burial.
That night Valentino, at the head of his Gascons, attacked six
thousand of these captains' troops, which had not dispersed on
hearing the capture of their leaders, slaughtering and plundering
them with the same barbarity they had themselves used towards the
citizens. The greater portion were cut to pieces, and those who
escaped reached their homes naked, having only straw tied round their
legs. Fabio Orsini was saved by his accidental absence from Borgia's
levee; Petrucci and Baglioni, suspicious of treachery, had avoided
their fate by previously retiring home. Against the last of these,
Borgia marched in a few days, carrying with him the remaining chiefs,
of whom he reserved the Orsini until he should hear his father's
intentions; but each night after supper he is said to have had one
of the others brought out, and put to a cruel death before him. Thus
did he, by a dexterous stroke of the most refined duplicity, turn the
tools of his ambition into victims of his vengeance, and at the same
time ridded himself of faithless adherents, whom any change in his
fortune would have again converted into overt and implacable foes.[1]
[Footnote 1: Our chief authorities for this tragic scene are
Machiavelli's despatches and separate narrative, with the Diaries of
Burchard, Buonaccorsi, and Sanuto. Some details are taken from the
Ricordi of Padre Gratio, guardian of the Monastery delle Grazie at
Sinigaglia, a contemporary, and probably an eye-witness to many of
them. Vat. Urb. MSS. 1023, art. 17.[*A]]
[Footnote *A: Cf. MADIAI, _Diario delle Cose di Urbino_,
in _Arch. St. per le Marche e per l'Umbria_, tom. III., p. 437.
Machiavelli, who was with Cesare at the time, describes the massacre
of Sinigaglia as "il bellissimo inganno di Sinigaglia." Cesare wrote
an account of it to Isabella d'Este. Cf. her letter to her husband
(D'ARCO, _Notizie di Isabella Estense_, in _Arch. St. Ital._, ser. i.,
App., vol. I., No. II. (1845), p. 262).]
Vermiglioli, in his life of Malatesta Baglioni, has printed, from
the archives of Perugia, a letter from Borgia to the magistrates of
that city, which, in consideration of the comparative obscurity of
that interesting volume, we shall here translate. It is, perhaps, the
only known document fully stating the case of the writer, and so may
be regarded as his defence from the charges we have brought against
him: the style and orthography are remarkably rude; and the matter
abounds in that common expedient, whereby bold and bad men seek to
evade merited accusations, by throwing them upon those they have
outraged.[2]
[Footnote 2: Our version is from the original letter. Nearly similar
in purport, but much shorter, is a despatch written by him to the
Doge of Venice on the very night of the raid, so anxious was he to
conciliate the Signory.]
"Magnificent and potent Lords, my special Friends and
Brothers;
"Superfluous were it to narrate from their outset the
perfidious rebellion and atrocious treason, so known to
yourselves and to all the world, and so detestable, which
your [lords, the Baglioni,] and their accomplices have
committed against his Holiness the Pope and ourselves.
And although all were our vassals, and most of them in
our pay, received and caressed by us as sons or brothers,
and favoured with high promotion, they nevertheless,
regardless of the kindness of his Holiness and our own,
as of their individual honour, banded in schemes of
overweening ambition, and blinded by greed of tyranny,
have failed us at the moment of our utmost need, turning
his Holiness' arms and ours against him and ourselves,
for the overthrow of our sovereignty and person. They
commenced their aggressions upon us by raising our
states of Urbino, Camerino, and Montefeltro, throwing
all Romagna into confusion by force and by seditious
plots, and proceeding under the mask of reconciliation to
fresh offences, until our new levies were brought up in
irresistible force. And so atrocious was their baseness,
that neither the beneficent clemency of his [Holiness]
aforesaid, nor our renewed indulgence to them, weaned them
from the slough of their first vile designs, in which
they still persisted. And as soon as they learned the
departure of the French troops on their return towards
Lombardy, whereby they deemed us weakened and left with no
effective force, they, feigning an urgent desire to aid
in our attack upon Sinigaglia, mustered a third only of
their infantry, and concealed the remainder in the houses
about, with instructions to draw together at nightfall,
and unite with the men-at-arms, whom they had posted in
the neighbourhood, meaning, at a given moment, to throw
the infantry, through the garrison (with whom they had an
understanding), upon the new town, in the narrow space
whereof they calculated upon our being lodged with few
attendants, and so to complete their long-nourished plans
by crushing us at unawares. But we, distinctly forewarned
of all, so effectively and quickly anticipated them, that
we at once made prisoners of the Duke of Gravina, Paolo
Orsini, Vitellozzo of Castello, and Liverotto of Fermo,
and discovered, sacked, and overthrew their foot and
horse, whether concealed or not; whereupon the castellan,
seeing the plot defeated, quickly surrendered the fortress
at discretion. And this we have done, under pressure
of necessity imposed by the measures of these persons
aforesaid, and in order to make an end of the unmeasured
perfidy and villanies of them and their coadjutors,
thereby restraining their boundless ambition and insensate
cupidity, which were truly a public nuisance to the nations
of Italy. Thus your highnesses have good cause for great
rejoicing at your deliverance from these dangers. And on
your highnesses' account, I am now, by his Holiness's
commands, to march with my army, for the purpose of
rescuing you from the rapacious and sanguinary oppression
whereby you have been vexed, and to restore you to free
and salutary obedience to his Holiness and the Apostolic
See, with the maintenance of your wonted privileges. For
the which causes, We, as Gonfaloniere and Captain of his
Holiness and the aforesaid See, exhort, recommend, and
command you, on receipt hereof, to free yourselves from
all other yoke, and to send ambassadors to lay before his
Holiness your dutiful and unreserved obedience: which
failing, we are commanded to reduce you by force to that
duty,--an event that would distress us on account of the
serious injuries which must thereby result to your people,
for whom we have, from our boyhood, borne and still bear
singular favour. From Corinaldo, the 2d of January, 1503.
"CESARE BORGIA OF FRANCE, DUKE OF ROMAGNA AND
VALENTINO, PRINCE OF ADRIA AND VENAFRA, LORD OF
PIOMBINO, Gonfaloniere and Captain-General of the Holy
Roman Church."
News of the Sinigaglia tragedy reached the Pope late in the evening,
and he instantly communicated to Cardinal Orsini that Cesare had
taken that city, assured that an early visit of congratulation from
his Eminence would follow. The Cardinal was perhaps the richest and
most influential of his house. He chiefly had organised the league
of La Magione, but having always contrived to keep on good terms
with Alexander, he believed in the professions of regard with which
his Holiness subsequently seduced him from that policy, and thence
reposed in him a fatal confidence. Next morning he rode in state to
pay his respects at the Vatican, where his own person and those of
his principal relations were instantly seized, whilst his magnificent
palace at Monte Giordano was pillaged by orders and for the benefit
of the Pontiff. After an imprisonment of some weeks, he was cut off
by slow poison, prescribed from the same quarter, and died on the 22d
of February. Thus did the Pope set his seal of approval on his son's
atrocities, which he justified by a poor and pointless jest, avowing
that as the confederates of La Magione, after stipulating that they
should not be required to re-enter the service of Valentino unless
singly, had thought fit to place themselves within his power _en
masse_, they merited their fate as forsworn.
[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF SIGNATURES
[1. 1480]
[2. 1494]
[3. 1501]
[4. 1504]
[5. 1501]
[6. 1510]
[7. 1522]
[8. 1540]
[9. 1517]]
The massacre of Sinigaglia has been condemned by every writer except
Machiavelli, and posterity has in severe retribution suspected him
of abetting it. This charge possesses a twofold interest, as
inculpating the character of the historian, and as affecting the
morality of the age.[*3] In the latter view alone does it fall under
our consideration: yet however horrible these wholesale murders, they
are more remarkable in Italian history as the crowning crime of an
ambitious career, and as widely influencing the political aspect of
Romagna and La Marca, than from their relative enormity. The fates
of the young Astorre Manfredi of Faenza, of Fogliano of Fermo, of
the Lord of Camerino and his three sons, have all been mentioned in
these pages as occurring within a year or two of this event. It would
be easy to swell the catalogue of slaughter; and we find Baglioni
and Vitellozzo both classed with Cesare himself in the category
of murder, by a chronicler of Alexander VI., who also quotes from
the mouth of Giovanni Bentivoglio, at the diet of La Magione, this
bravado, "I shall assassinate Duke Valentino should I be so lucky as
to have opportunity."[4] The spirit of the age is further illustrated
by its unnumbered poisonings: and the fact that Machiavelli should
neither have used his influence with Valentino to avert the massacre
of the confederates, nor his pen to brand the treachery of that foul
deed, is but another link in the evidence from which we may deduce
the total extinction of moral feeling, which, anticipating the worst
doctrines of Loyola, carried them out with a selfishness, falsehood,
and cruelty unparalleled in the annals of human civilisation.[*5]
[Footnote *3: It is unlikely that Machiavelli abetted the massacre,
though he certainly approved it dispassionately enough. By it the
Papacy was rid at last of the houses of Colonna and Orsini. Cesare
met Machiavelli after the affair "with the best cheer in the world,"
reminding him that he had given him a hint of his intentions, but
adding, "I did not tell you all." He urged on Machiavelli his
desire for a firm alliance with Florence. Cf. MACHIAVELLI,
_Legazione al Valentino_, Lett. 86, and the _Modo tenuto dal Duca
Valentino nel ammazzare Vitellozzo_. See also CREIGHTON,
_op. cit._, vol V., p. 40.]
[Footnote 4: VERMIGLIOLI: _Vita di Malatesta Baglioni_.]
[Footnote *5: The schemes of Cesare were in his age no more
unscrupulously carried out than Bismarck's in his. "It is well," said
Cesare, "to beguile those who have shown themselves to be masters of
treachery."]
[Illustration: _Alinari_
IL CASTELLO DI SINIGAGLIA]
Gianpaolo Baglioni having fled to Siena, Valentino followed him in
that direction, after taking possession of Perugia, and learning
that Città di Castello, abandoned by the adherents of the Vitelli,
had been plundered by his own partizans. On the 18th of January,
hearing at Città della Pieve of the blow struck by his father against
the Orsini, and that Fabio, who escaped the snare at Sinigaglia,
was ravaging the Campagna, he handed over Paolo and the Duke of
Gravina to the tender mercies of Michelotto, whose noose quickly
encircled their necks. Invading the Sienese, he carried fire and
sword by Chiusi as far as Pienza and San Quirico, massacring even
the aged and infirm with horrible tortures. His real object, besides
revenging himself upon Petrucci and Baglioni, was to add Siena to his
territory, but his position being then a delicate one with France, he
accepted the proposal of that republic to purchase safety, by exiling
Petrucci their seigneur, and dismissing Baglioni their guest.[*6]
[Footnote *6: Cf. LISINI, _Cesare Borgia e la repubblica di
Siena_, in the _Boll. Senese di Stor. Pat._, ann. VII. (fasc. I.),
pp. 114, 115, and 144 _et seq._ for all the documents. And for a
short but excellent account in English of the whole Sienese affair,
LANGTON DOUGLAS, _A History of Siena_ (Murray, 1902), p. 206
_et seq._]
This series of rapid successes is ascribed by Machiavelli to the
policy of Valentino in ridding himself of his French auxiliaries and
his mercenary confederates, and so being enabled, during the brief
remainder of his career, to give his talents and energy full scope in
the conduct of an army entirely devoted to his views. His conquests
had now extended along the eastern fall of the Apennines, from
Imola to Camerino, and included the upper vale of the Tiber and the
principality of Piombino. He had but to add to them Siena, and the
best part of Central Italy from sea to sea would be his own. The eyes
of Louis, at length opened to a danger which he had so long fostered,
were not blinded by Cesare's affected moderation in claiming his
recent acquisitions rather for the Church than for himself, and that
monarch hastened to caution him from further hostilities against
Tuscany. The successes of Fabio Orsini around Rome at the same time
called for his presence, so he changed his route to make a foray
upon the holdings of that family about the Lake of Bracciano, with
whom the Colonna and Savelli had united against their common enemies
the Borgia. This opportunity was greedily seized by the Pontiff to
carry out his long cherished policy of breaking the power of the
great barons, and the castles of the Orsini having one after another
been reduced, their influence ceased for the future to be formidable
either to their sovereign or their neighbours.
* * * * *
But it is time we should return to Urbino, where we left the
citizens bewailing the departure of their Duke. As soon as he was
gone, Antonio di S. Savino took possession of the place in name of
Valentino, and issued a proclamation enjoining the townsfolk to
disarm, the peasantry to return home, and all to surrender whatever
they had stolen the day before from the palace. In the afternoon,
after a conciliatory harangue to the people, he took his lodging
in the palace. Next morning, after mass, the Bishop published a
general amnesty, and oaths of allegiance to the new sovereign were
administered. Towards evening the bells were rung, and a bonfire was
lit in the piazza; but these were heartless and forced rejoicings,
and no bribes could induce even the children to raise the cry of
"Valenza." Nor was this sadness without cause, for the soldiery of
Orsini and Vitellozzo, who still quartered in the town, treated all
with such outrage, that many of the inhabitants prayed for death
to close their sufferings, envying those who were summoned from
such scenes of misery. But when the troops were withdrawn, the mild
character and popular manners of Antonio the governor, skilfully
seconding the conciliatory policy which Borgia had resolved upon,
gave matters another aspect, and occasioned surprise to those who
knew the cruel perfidy of their new master. Various notorious abuses
were put down under severe penalties, especially the acceptance
of presents by judges, and the following up of private vengeance.
The deputy governor, Giovanni da Forlì, was however a man of quite
opposite temperament, whose harshness soon counteracted these gentler
influences, and occasioned general disgust. But the people heard
with satisfaction the tragedy of Sinigaglia; for to the perfidy
of the chiefs and the brutality of their army, the loss of their
independence and the whole of their late misfortunes were unanimously
ascribed; and a permission to ravage the territory of the Vitelli,
now publicly proclaimed throughout the duchy, was by many greedily
seized.
Borgia, having secured fourteen distinguished inhabitants of Urbino
as hostages, ordered that the fortresses left by agreement in
the hands of Guidobaldo should be attempted: that of Maiuolo was
accordingly surprised about the beginning of May, and easily reduced.
S. Leo being better provided, as well as considered impregnable,
its siege was more methodically undertaken, and levies were ordered
to reinforce the assailants. The amount of public sympathy with the
cause may be estimated from Baldi's assertion that, in the city of
Urbino, the utmost difficulty was experienced in raising eight foot
soldiers with one month's pay. Eight hundred Gascons in the French
service were obtained from De la Tremouille; but these, having
turned the siege into a sort of blockade, were dispersed among the
neighbouring villages, where, on the 5th of June, their revels
were suddenly interrupted by unknown assailants, who disappeared
as mysteriously as they had issued from the mountain defiles,
leaving many of the besiegers slain or wounded. The surrounding
peasantry, catching the enthusiasm, rushed to arms, and, but for
extraordinary exertions, the whole duchy would have once more
been out for their legitimate lord. News of this movement having
reached the Duke early in July, he obtained from Florence free
passage through her territory, and from the Venetians a promise of
passive support, and thereupon put himself into communication with
his principal adherents, by means of letters carried by persons of
low condition, many of which were unfortunately intercepted by the
lieutenant-governor of Urbino. His people were thus kept in a fever
of expectation; but, finally, this plan of an invasion was abandoned,
whereupon he repaired to Mantua, to his brother-in-law the Marquis,
who had been taken into the French service under De la Tremouille,
and engaged him to represent to Louis the hardships of his case, and
the danger of Borgia's excessive ambition.
Disgusted with their ignominious overthrow at S. Leo, the Gascons
assumed the habitual licence of such mercenaries, by soon taking
their departure from
"The tentless rest beneath the humid sky,
The stubborn wall that mocks the leaguer's art,
And palls the patience of his baffled heart."
The siege was nevertheless maintained by the commandant of Romagna;
but the place was ably and spiritedly defended by Ottaviano Fregoso,
who will soon attract our notice in other scenes. Marini has recorded
another act of romantic daring by the same Brizio who, in the
preceding year, had surprised the place. Fregoso's tiny garrison
being greatly exhausted by the long blockade, he, with one Marzio,
made his way, during a violent storm of rain, over the rocks, and
through the beleaguering force, and reached a castle near Mantua
where Guidobaldo then was. In vain these emissaries besought him for
a reinforcement of two hundred men; for, thinking it would only waste
their gallantry by prolonging a hopeless struggle, he thankfully
declined their proposal. At length their urgency obtained twenty-five
men who happened to be at hand, and with these they returned to
the leaguer. Marzio, boldly presenting himself to the commandant,
volunteered to join the besiegers with his little party, which being
accepted, he advanced them under the walls, whence, having been
recognised by the garrison, they made a rush to the upper gate,
and were received into the fortress ere the trick was discovered.
By this timely succour, S. Leo was enabled to hold out until the
restoration of its rightful sovereign; and its brave defenders did
not even falter at the threat of summary vengeance upon their wives
and families, who had been brought to the palace of Urbino to answer
for their obstinacy.
* * * * *
Christendom was now to be appalled by a fearful catastrophe, which
fitly closed the career of the Borgias, diverting their wonted
weapons to their own destruction, for--
"'Tis sure a law of retribution just
That turns the plotters' arts against themselves."[7]
[Footnote 7:
"Neque enim lex æquior ulla
Quam necis artifices arte perire sua." OVID. _Ar. Amat._ i. 655.]
Alexander and his son perceiving that they could no longer turn to
good account the co-operation of Louis for their grasping schemes,
began to look round for new combinations: having squeezed the orange
they were ready to throw aside the rind. But to such projects their
exhausted treasury offered serious obstacles. To supply it they
had recourse, on an extended scale, to an expedient which they had
invented, and already occasionally employed,--that of poisoning the
richest cardinals, seizing on their treasures, and selling their
vacant hats to the highest bidders. Among the most recent and wealthy
of the sacred college was Adrian of Corneto, and he was therefore
selected as next victim. On the 12th of August, the Pope and Cesare
invited him to sup in the Belvidere casino of the Vatican, and the
latter sent forward a supply of poisoned wine, in charge of his
butler, with strict injunctions not to serve it until specially
desired by himself. Several other cardinals were to partake of the
banquet, and, probably, were intended to share the drugged potion.
Alexander had been assured by an astrologer that, so long as he had
about him the sacramental wafer, he should not die; and, accordingly,
he constantly carried it in a little golden box; but, having on that
evening forgotten it upon his toilet, he sent Monsignor Caraffa,
afterwards Paul IV., to fetch it. Meanwhile, overcome by the dog-day
heat, he called for wine. The butler was gone to fetch a salver of
peaches, which had been presented to his Holiness, and his deputy,
having received no instructions as to the medicated bottles, offered
a draught from them to the Pope. He greedily swallowed it, and his
example was more moderately followed by Cesare; thus,
"Even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of the poisoned chalice
To their own lips."
Scarcely had they taken their seats at the table, when the two
victims successively fell down insensible, from the virulence of the
poison, and were carried to bed. The Pontiff rallied so far as to
recover consciousness, and to linger for about a week, but at length
sank under the shock and the fever which supervened, his age being
seventy-one, and his constitution enervated by long debauchery. The
last sacraments were duly administered, and it was remarked that,
during his illness, he never alluded to his children Cesare and
Lucrezia, through life the objects of an overweening, if not criminal
fondness, in whose behalf most of his outrages upon the peace and the
rights of mankind had been committed. His death occurred on the 18th
of August.[*8]
[Footnote *8: There is no authentic basis for this story. Rome was
in a pestilential condition in August, and the Pope, Cesare, and
the Cardinal Hadrian were all stricken with fever, which a supper
in the open air was surely not unlikely to produce. Alexander was
so detested that the strangeness of his death suggested poison at
once to his enemies. Cf. CREIGHTON, _op. cit._, vol. V., p.
49. An excellent essay on _The Poisonings attributed to the Borgia_
will be found in CREIGHTON, _op. cit._, vol. V., p. 301 _et
seq._]
Such is the account of this awful retribution given by Tommasi,
from which most other narratives but slightly deviate as to dates
or immaterial details. Another version, however, occurs in Sanuto's
Diaries, which, being contemporary, and probably supplied from the
diplomatic correspondence of the Signory, merits notice, and has
not been hitherto published. The Cardinal of Corneto, who figures
prominently in this narrative, was made collector for Peter's pence
in England, and Bishop of Hereford, from whence he was translated
to Bath and Wells. We shall find him compromised in Petrucci's
conspiracy against Leo X., but the following charge of pope-poisoning
is new.
"The Lord Adrian Castillense of Corneto, Cardinal Datary, having
been desired by the Pope to receive him and Duke Valentino at supper
in his vineyard, his Holiness supplying the eatables, this Cardinal
presumed the invitation to be planned for his death by poison, so
that the Duke might obtain his money and benefices, which were
considerable. In order to save himself there seemed but one course,
so, watching his opportunity, he summoned the Pontiff's steward,
whom he knew intimately, and on his arrival received him alone in
a private chamber, where 10,000 ducats were laid out: these he
desired him to accept for love of him, offering him also more of his
property, which he declared he could continue to enjoy only through
his assistance, and adding, 'You certainly are aware of the Pope's
disposition, and I know that he and the Duke have designed my death
by poison through you; wherefore I pray you have pity on me and spare
my life.' The steward, moved with compassion on hearing this, at
length avowed the plan concerted for administering the poison; that,
after the supper, he was to serve three boxes of confections, one
for the Pope, another for the Duke, and a third for the Cardinal,
the last being poisoned; so they arranged that the service of the
table should be contrived in such a way that the Pontiff might eat
of the Cardinal's poisoned box, and die. On the appointed day, the
Pope having arrived at the vineyard with the Duke, the Cardinal
threw himself at his Holiness' feet and kissed them, saying he had
a boon to request, and would not rise until it were granted. The
Pope assuring him of his consent, he continued, 'Holy Father! on the
lord's coming to his servant's house, it is not meet that the servant
should sit with his lord; and the just and proper favour I ask is
permission for the servant to wait at the table of your Holiness.'
The supper being thus served, and the moment arrived for giving the
confections, the box having been poisoned by the steward as directed
by the Pope, the Cardinal placed it before his Holiness, who, relying
on his steward, and convinced of the Cardinal's sincerity by his
service, ate joyfully of this box, as did the Cardinal of the other,
which the Pontiff believed the poisoned one. Thereafter, at the hour
when from its nature the poison took effect, his Holiness began to
feel it, and thus he died: the Cardinal being still alarmed, took
medicine and an emetic, and was easily cured."
The death of Alexander by poison is generally credited, although
Raynaldus and Muratori, willing to mitigate so heinous a scandal,
incline to the few and obscure authorities who attribute it to
tertian fever. It was natural that the truth should be glossed over,
especially in despatches addressed to the court of his daughter
Lucrezia, to which the latter annalist probably had access. But
though the earliest intelligence of the event forwarded by the
Venetian envoy alludes to the Pope's seizure as fever, his subsequent
letters, quoted by Sanuto, thus loathsomely confirm the current
suspicion of poison having been administered. "On this day [19th] I
saw the Pontiff's corpse, whose apparel was not worth two ducats.
He was swollen beyond the size of one of our large wine-skins. Never
since the Christian era was a more horrible and terrible sight
witnessed. The blood flowed from ears, mouth, and nose faster than
it could be wiped away; his lips were larger than a man's fist, and
in his open mouth the blood boiled as in a caldron on the fire, and
kept incessantly flowing as from a spout; all which I report from
observation."[9]
[Footnote 9: This passage appears conclusive as to the fact of poison
having been taken by the Pontiff; and it will be observed that
Sanuto's story of the confection-boxes in no way accounts for the
illness of Valentino, which is equally passed over in another totally
different statement of this affair, given in the Appendix to Ranke's
_History of the Popes_, section i. No. 4,--omissions to be kept
in view in testing the probability of these conflicting accounts.
Roscoe seems to have subsequently abandoned the doubts thrown upon
the poisoning in his first edition, although ever prone to extenuate
vices of the Borgia: witness his elaborate defence of Lucrezia, or
his views as to the Duke of Gandia's murder and the massacre of
Sinigaglia. Voltaire treats the question like a habitual doubter,
with the ingenuity of a critic rather than the matured judgment of a
historian. He is answered, with perhaps unnecessary detail, by Masse,
to whom Sanuto was unknown.]
The character of Alexander VI. as a man and as a sovereign admits of
no question, and is thus forcibly summed up by Sismondi. "He was the
most notoriously immoral man in Christendom; one whose debauchery
no shame restrained, whose treaties no good faith sanctioned, whose
policy was never guarded by justice, to whose vengeance pity was
unknown."[*10] As a pontiff he must be tried by a different test,
and those ecclesiastical writers, who attempt not to defend his
morals or example, assert the orthodoxy of his faith and doctrine,
and commend the wisdom of his provisions for maintenance of that
religion which regarded him as its head. He was the first to
establish the censorship of books,[*11] an important bulwark of the
Roman Church; and among the orders which he instituted or protected
was that of S. Francesco di Paolo. Nor can it be doubted that his
ambitious nepotism eventually aggrandised the temporal possessions
of the papacy, by quelling the mutinous barons of the Campagna, and
by so crushing the more distant seigneurs as to render their states
a speedy and easy prey to Julius II. On the other hand, the openly
simoniacal practices which prevailed during his reign, the strong
measures adopted to raise money for his private ends by a lavish
scale of indulgences, and, generally, the unscrupulous employment of
the power of the keys and the treasures of the Church for unworthy
purposes, all tended to alienate men's minds, and to stir those
doubts which the different, but not less injudicious, policy of his
immediate successors ripened into schism.
[Footnote *10: This is probably an exaggeration. Alexander VI. was
without reticence in his sins, and so has not escaped whipping. I
append a brief list of authorities for the Borgia:--
CERRI, _Borgia ossia Alessandro VI._ (1858).
ANTONETTI, _Lucrezia Borgia in Ferrara_ (1867).
SCHUBERT-SOLDERN, _Die Borgias und ihre Zeit_ (Dresden, 1902).
CITADELLA, _Saggio di Albero Genealogico della Famiglia Borgia_ (1872).
GREGOROVIUS, _Lucrezia Borgia_ (1874).
---- _Geschichte der Stadt Rom._, tom. VII. (1880).
ALVISI, _Cesare Borgia_ (Imola, 1878).
NEMEC, _Papst Alexander VI. eine Rechtfertigung_ (1879).
LEONETTI, _Papa Alessandro VI._ (1880).
D'EPINOIS, in _Revue des Questions Historiques_ (April, 1881).
VEHON, _Les Borgia_ (1882).
MARICOURT, _Le Procès des Borgia_ (1883).
YRIARTE, _César Borgia_ (1887).
---- _Autour des Borgias_ (1891).]
[Footnote *11: I am not quite clear what this means. The Inquisition
was introduced into Italy in 1542, and the _Index Librorum
Prohibitorum_ was established. But the congregation of the Index
was not established till the Council of Trent. Magical books were
prohibited as early as the Council of Nice, 325.]
Favoured by youth, constitution, and energy of mind, Cesare Borgia
wrestled successfully with the deadly ingredients which he had
inadvertently swallowed. He is said to have been saved by being
frequently placed in the carcass of a newly-killed bullock or mule,
and, whether in consequence of this treatment, or of the inflammatory
nature of the potion, to have lost the whole skin of his body. He had
flattered himself that, foreseeing every possible contingency which
his father's death could develop, he had so planned his measures
as to secure, in any event, his own safety, and the maintenance of
his authority. But, never having anticipated being disabled from
action at that very juncture, his well-laid schemes fell to the
ground, a signal illustration of the proverb, "Man proposes, God
disposes." By means of Don Michelotto, he was, however, able to draw
round the Vatican a body of twelve thousand devoted troops, and that
unscrupulous agent executed his instructions by seizing about 500,000
ducats in money, jewels, and valuables, from the Pope's apartment,
before his death was published.
The Diaries of Sanuto give a lively description of the immediate
effects of Alexander's death on Lower Italy,--the exultations of the
people, the prompt movements of the Campagna barons, the hesitation
of Valentino, the intrigues of the cardinals. As soon as the good
news transpired, Rome rose in arms against the Spaniards; and the
Colonna and the Orsini, entering at the head of their troops,
willingly aided in spoiling and slaughtering these countrymen of
the Borgia, who "could nowhere find holes to hide in." Even their
cardinals narrowly escaped a general massacre; and on the 8th of
September, a proclamation by the College cleared the city of these
foreigners on pain of the gibbet. Duke Valentino, although prostrated
in strength, and "seeming as if burnt from the middle downwards,"
was not without formidable resources. His hope was, that in the
distracted state of Rome, the cardinals would provide for their
personal safety by holding the conclave in St. Angelo, where the
election would be in his own hands. This calculation was, however,
defeated by their assembling at the Minerva convent, guarded by the
barons of Bracciano and Palestrina, with the bravest of the citizens,
and protected by barricades which withstood an assault by the
redoubted Michelotto. Still his troops were staunch, the Vatican and
St. Angelo were his, and he had secured the treasure of the Holy See.
But his nerve gave way, and after turning the castle guns against the
Orsini palace on Monte Giordano, he fled in a litter to the French
camp without the gates, on the 1st of September, and thence made his
way to the stronghold of Nepi. This vacillation brought its fitting
recompense, and lost him the advantages of his position. Hesitating
betwixt the Colonna and Orsini factions, wavering between Spanish and
French interests, his friends dropped off, his forces melted away,
and he lost the favourable moment for swaying the papal election.
The rival parties in the conclave, having had no time to mature their
plans, in consequence of the late Pontiff's sudden decease, trusted
to strengthen their respective interests by delay, and so were
unanimous in choosing, on the 22nd of September, the most feeble of
their body, the respected Piccolomini, who survived his exaltation
as Pius III. but twenty-six days. The state of matters at Naples
added to the general embarrassment. The ceaseless struggles for that
crown had of late taken a new turn, the contest being now between
Louis of France and Ferdinand of Spain. The Borgia, long adherents
of the former, had recently inclined to the Spanish side; but their
influence was now irretrievably gone.
*NOTE.--The following is a list of the chief
conquests of Cesare:--
City. Family. Date. Campaign.
Imola Riarii Nov. 27, 1499 First.
Forlì Riarii Jan. 12, 1500 First.
Rimini Malatesta Oct. 10, 1500 Second.
Pesaro Sforza Oct. 21, 1500 Second.
Faenza Manfredi April 25, 1501 Second.
Piombino Appiani Sept. 3, 1501 Second.
Urbino Montefeltri June 21, 1502 Third.
Camerino Varani July 29, 1502 Third.
Sinigaglia Roveri Dec. 28, 1502 Third.
Città di Castello Vitelli Jan. 2, 1503 Third.
Perugia Baglioni Jan. 6, 1503 Third.
Siena Petrucci Jan. (end), 1503 Third.
Cf. BURD, ed. _Il Principe_ (Oxford, 1891), p.
218, note 15.