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Title: Lucretia Borgia According to Original Documents and
Correspondence of Her Day

Author: Ferdinand Gregorovius

Translator: John Leslie Garner

Release date: March 13, 2007 [eBook #20804]

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20804

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCRETIA
BORGIA ACCORDING TO ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS AND
CORRESPONDENCE OF HER DAY ***

LUCRETIA BORGIA.
From a portrait attributed to Dosso Dossi, in the possession of Mr.
Henry Doetsch, London.

FERDINAND GREGOROVIUS

LUCRETIA BORGIA

ACCORDING TO ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS
AND CORRESPONDENCE OF HER DAY

TRANSLATED FROM THE THIRD GERMAN EDITION

BY JOHN LESLIE GARNER

TO

DON MICHELANGELO GAETANI
DUKE OF SERMONETA

First published New York 1904
Reissued 1968 by
Benjamin Blom, Inc. 10452

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 68-20226

Manufactured in the United States of America
BENJAMIN BLOM—New York/London

TO DON MICHELANGELO GAETANI DUKE
OF SERMONETA
My honored Duke: I am induced to dedicate this work to you by the
historical circumstances of which it treats and also by personal
considerations.
In it you will behold the founders of your ancient and illustrious
family. The Borgias were mortal enemies of the Gaetani, who narrowly
escaped the fate prepared for them by Alexander VI and his terrible
son. Beautiful Sermoneta and all the great fiefs in the Maremma fell
into the maw of the Borgias, and your ancestors either found death at
their hands or were driven into exile. Donna Lucretia became mistress
of Sermoneta, and eventually her son, Rodrigo of Aragon, inherited the
estates of the Gaetani.
Centuries have passed, and a beautiful and unfortunate woman may be
forgiven for this confiscation of the appanages of your house.
Moreover, it was not long before your family was reinstated in its
rights by a bull of Julius II, which is now preserved—a precious jewel
—in your family archives. To your house has descended the fame of its
founders, but to yourself is due the position which the Gaetani now
again enjoy.
The survival of historical tradition in things and men exercises an
indescribable charm on every student of civilization. To recognize in
the ancient and still nourishing families of modern Rome the
descendants of the great personalities of other times, and to enjoy daily
intercourse with them, made a profound impression on me. The
Colonna, the Orsini, and the Gaetani are my friends, and all afforded
me the greatest assistance. These families long ago vanished from the
stage of Roman history, but the day came, illustrious Duke, when you
were to make a place again for your ancient race in the history of the
Imperial City; the day when—the temporal power of the popes having
passed away, a power which had endured a thousand years—you

carried to King Victor Emmanuel in Florence the declaration of
allegiance of the Roman populace. This episode, marking the
beginning of a new era for the city, will live, together with your name,
in the annals of the Gaetani, and will preserve it forever in the memory
of the Romans.
Gregorovius.
Rome, March 9, 1874.

CONTENTS
BOOK THE FIRST—LUCRETIA BORGIA
IN ROME

CHAPTER I
Lucretia's Father 3
CHAPTER II
Lucretia's Mother 10
CHAPTER III
Lucretia's First Home 15
CHAPTER IV
Lucretia's Education 20
CHAPTER V
Nepotism—Giulia Farnese—Lucretia's
34
Betrothals
CHAPTER VI
Her Father Becomes Pope—Giovanni
44
Sforza
CHAPTER VII
Lucretia's First Marriage 53
CHAPTER VIII
Family Affairs 62
CHAPTER IX
Lucretia Leaves Rome 71
CHAPTER X
History and Description Of Pesaro 76
CHAPTER XI
The Invasion of Italy—The Profligate
87
World
CHAPTER XII
The Divorce and Second Marriage 102

CHAPTER XIII
A Regent and a Mother 113
CHAPTER XIV
Social Life of the Borgias 125
CHAPTER XV
Misfortunes of Catarina Sforza 137
CHAPTER XVI
Murder of Alfonso of Aragon 145
CHAPTER XVII
Lucretia at Nepi 152
CHAPTER XVIII
Cæsar at Pesaro 159
CHAPTER XIX
Another Marriage Planned for Lucretia 167
CHAPTER XX
Negotiations with the House of Este 182
CHAPTER XXI
The Eve of the Wedding 196
CHAPTER XXII
Arrival and Return of the Bridal Escort 207

BOOK THE SECOND—LUCRETIA IN
FERRARA

CHAPTER I
Lucretia's Journey to Ferrara 229
CHAPTER II
Formal Entry into Ferrara 239
CHAPTER III
Fêtes Given in Lucretia's Honor 250
CHAPTER IV
The Este Dynasty—Description of
266
Ferrara
CHAPTER V

Death of Alexander VI 279
CHAPTER VI
Events Following the Pope's Death 293
CHAPTER VII
Court Poets—Giulia Bella and Julius II
303
—The Este Dynasty Endangered
CHAPTER VIII
Escape and Death of Cæsar 317
CHAPTER IX
Murder of Ercole Strozzi—Death of
Giovanni Sforza and of Lucretia's Eldest 326
Son
CHAPTER X
Effects of the War—The Roman Infante 338
CHAPTER XI
Last Years and Death of Vannozza 345
CHAPTER XII
Death of Lucretia Borgia—Conclusion 355

INDEX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Lucretia Borgia, from a portrait attributed to Dosso Dossi Frontispiece
Trajan's Forum, Rome 16
Church of S. Maria del Popolo, Rome 20
Vittoria Colonna 30
The Farnese Palace, Rome 36
Alexander VI 44
Church of Ara Cœli, Rome 58
Tasso 82
Charles VIII 88
Savonarola 94
Macchiavelli 100
Cæsar Borgia 148
Guicciardini 176
Ercole d'Este, Duke of Ferrara 206
Castle of S. Angelo, Rome 210
Ariosto 248
Castle Vecchio, Ferrara 270
Benvenuto Garofalo 278
Facsimile of a letter from Alexander VI to Lucretia 281
Cardinal Bembo 290
Julius II 298
Facsimile of a letter from Lucretia to Marquis Gonzaga 301
Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara 304
Aldo Manuzio 328
Leo X 338
Lucretia Borgia, after a painting in the Musée de Nîmes 360

INTRODUCTION
Lucretia Borgia is the most unfortunate woman in modern history. Is this
because she was guilty of the most hideous crimes, or is it simply because
she has been unjustly condemned by the world to bear its curse? The
question has never been answered. Mankind is ever ready to discover the
personification of human virtues and human vices in certain typical
characters found in history and fable.
The Borgias will never cease to fascinate the historian and the psychologist.
An intelligent friend of mine once asked me why it was that everything
about Alexander VI, Cæsar, and Lucretia Borgia, every little fact regarding
their lives, every newly discovered letter of any of them, aroused our
interest much more than did anything similar concerning other and vastly
more important historic characters. I know of no better explanation than the
following: the Borgias had for background the Christian Church; they made
their first appearance issuing from it; they used it for their advancement;
and the sharp contrast of their conduct with the holy state makes them
appear altogether fiendish. The Borgias are a satire on a great form or phase
of religion, debasing and destroying it. They stand on high pedestals, and
from their presence radiates the light of the Christian ideal. In this form we
behold and recognize them. We view their acts through a medium which is
permeated with religious ideas. Without this, and placed on a purely secular
stage, the Borgias would have fallen into a position much less conspicuous
than that of many other men, and would soon have ceased to be anything
more than representatives of a large species.
We possess the history of Alexander VI and Cæsar, but of Lucretia Borgia
we have little more than a legend, according to which she is a fury, the
poison in one hand, the poignard in the other; and yet this baneful
personality possessed all the charms and graces.
Victor Hugo painted her as a moral monster, in which form she still treads
the operatic stage, and this is the conception which mankind in general have
of her. The lover of real poetry regards this romanticist's terrible drama of

Lucretia Borgia as a grotesque manifestation of the art, while the historian
laughs at it; the poet, however, may excuse himself on the ground of his
ignorance, and of his belief in a myth which had been current since the
publication of Guicciardini's history.
Roscoe, doubting the truth of this legend, endeavored to disprove it, and his
apology for Lucretia was highly gratifying to the patriotic Italians. To it is
due the reaction which has recently set in against this conception of her. The
Lucretia legend may be analyzed most satisfactorily and scientifically
where documents and mementos of her are most numerous; namely, in
Rome, Ferrara, and Modena, where the archives of the Este family are kept,
and in Mantua, where those of the Gonzaga are preserved. Occasional
publications show that the interesting question still lives and remains
unanswered.
The history of the Borgias was taken up again by Domenico Cerri in his
work, Borgia ossia Alessandro VI, Papa e suoi contemporanei, Turin, 1858.
The following year Bernardo Gatti, of Milan, published Lucretia's letters to
Bembo. In 1866 Marquis G. Campori, of Modena, printed an essay entitled
Una vittima della storia Lucrezia Borgia, in the Nuova Antologia of August
31st of that year. A year later Monsignor Antonelli, of Ferrara, published
Lucrezia Borgia in Ferrara, Sposa a Don Alfonso d'Este, Memorie storiche,
Ferrara, 1867. Giovanni Zucchetti, of Mantua, immediately followed with a
similar opuscule: Lucrezia Borgia Duchessa di Ferrara, Milano, 1869. All
these writers endeavored, with the aid of history, to clear up the Lucretia
legend, and to rehabilitate the honor of the unfortunate woman.
Other writers, not Italians, among them certain French and English authors,
also took part in this effort. M. Armand Baschet, to whom we are indebted
for several valuable publications in the field of diplomacy, announced in his
work, Aldo Manuzio, Lettres et Documents, 1494-1515, Venice, 1867, that
he had been engaged for years on a biography of Madonna Lucretia Borgia,
and had collected for the purpose a large mass of original documents.
In the meantime, in 1869, there was published in London the first
exhaustive work on the subject: Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara, a
Biography, illustrated by rare and unpublished documents, by William
Gilbert. The absence of scientific method, unfortunately, detracts from the

value of this otherwise excellent production, which, as a sequel to Roscoe's
works, attracted no little attention.
The swarm of apologies for the Borgias called forth in France one of the
most wonderful books to which history has ever given birth. Ollivier, a
Dominican, published, in 1870, the first part of a work entitled Le Pape
Alexandre VI et les Borgia. This production is the fantastic antithesis of
Victor Hugo's drama. For, while the latter distorted history for the purpose
of producing a moral monster for stage effect, the former did exactly the
same thing, intending to create the very opposite. Monks, however, now are
no longer able to compel the world to accept their fables as history, and
Ollivier's absurd romance was renounced even by the strongest organs of
the Church; first by Matagne, in the Revue des questions historiques, Paris,
April, 1871, and January, 1872, and subsequently by the Civiltà Cattolica,
the organ of the Jesuits, in an article dated March 15, 1873, whose author
made no effort to defend Alexander's character, simply because, in the light
of absolutely authentic historical documents, it was no longer possible to
save it.
This article was based upon the Saggio di Albero Genealogico e di Memorie
su la familia Borgia specialmente in relazione a Ferrara, by L. N.
Cittadella, director of the public library of that city, published in Turin in
1872. The work, although not free from errors, is a conscientious effort to
clear up the family history of the Borgias.
At the close of 1872 I likewise entered into the discussion by publishing a
note on the history of the Borgias. This followed the appearance of the
volume of the Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter, which embraced
the epoch of Alexander VI. My researches in the archives of Italy had
placed me in possession of a large amount of original information
concerning the Borgias, and as it was impossible for me to avail myself of
this mass of valuable details in that work, I decided to use it for a
monograph to be devoted either to Cæsar Borgia or to his sister, as
protagonist.
I decided on Madonna Lucretia for various reasons, among which was the
following: in the spring of 1872 I found in the archives of the notary of the
Capitol in Rome the protocol-book of Camillo Beneimbene, who for years

was the trusted legal adviser of Alexander VI. This great manuscript proved
to be an unexpected treasure; it furnished me with a long series of authentic
and hitherto unknown documents. It contained all the marriage contracts of
Donna Lucretia as well as numerous other legal records relating to the most
intimate affairs of the Borgias. In November, 1872, I delivered a lecture on
the subject before the class in history at the Royal Bavarian Academy of
Sciences in Munich, which was published in the account of the proceedings.
These records cast new light on the history of the Borgias, whose genealogy
had only just been published by Cittadella.
There were other reasons which induced me to write a book on Donna
Lucretia. I had treated the political history of Alexander VI and Cæsar at
length, and had elucidated some of its obscure phases, but to Lucretia
Borgia I had devoted no special attention. Her personality appeared to me to
be something full of mystery, made up of contradictions which remained to
be deciphered, and I was fascinated by it.
I began my task without any preconceived intention. I purposed to write,
not an apology, but a history of Lucretia, broadly sketched, the materials for
which, in so far as the most important period of her life, her residence in
Rome, was concerned, were already in my possession. I desired to ascertain
what manner of personality would be discovered by treating Lucretia
Borgia in a way entirely different from that in which she had hitherto been
examined, but at the same time scientifically, and in accordance with the
original records.
I completed my data; I visited the places where she had lived. I repeatedly
went to Modena and Mantua, whose archives are inexhaustible sources of
information regarding the Renaissance, and from them I obtained most of
my material. My friends there, as usual, were of great help to me, especially
Signor Zucchetti, of Mantua, late keeper of the Gonzaga archives, and
Signor Stefano Davari, the secretary.
The state archives of the Este family of Modena, however, yielded me the
greatest store of information. The custodian was Signor Cesare Foucard. As
might have been expected of Muratori's successor, this distinguished
gentleman displayed the greatest willingness to assist me in my task. In
every way he lightened my labors; he had one of his young assistants,

Signor Ognibene, arrange a great mass of letters and despatches which
promised to be of use to me, lent me the index, and supplied me with
copies. Therefore, if this work has any merit, no small part of it is due to
Signor Foucard's obligingness.
I also met with unfailing courtesy and assistance in other places—Nepi,
Pesaro, and Ferrara. To Signor Cesare Guasti, of the state archives of
Florence, I am indebted for careful copies of important letters of Lorenzo
Pucci, which he had made for me.
The material of which I finally found myself in possession is not complete,
but it is abundant and new.
The original records will serve as defense against those who endeavor to
discover a malicious motive in this work. No such interpretation is worthy
of further notice, because the book itself will make my intention perfectly
clear, which was simply that of the conscientious writer of history. I have
substituted history for romance.
In the work I have attached more importance to the period during which
Lucretia lived in Rome than to the time she spent in Ferrara, because the
latter has already been described, though not in detail, while the former has
remained purely legendary. As I had to base my work entirely on original
information, I endeavored to treat the subject in such a way as to present a
picture truly characteristic of the age, and animated by concrete descriptions
of its striking personalities.

BOOK THE FIRST

LUCRETIA BORGIA IN ROME

CHAPTER I
LUCRETIA'S FATHER

The Spanish house of Borja (or Borgia as the name is generally written)
was rich in extraordinary men. Nature endowed them generously; they were
distinguished by sensuous beauty, physical strength, intellect, and that force
of will which compels success, and which was the source of the greatness
of Cortez and Pizarro, and of the other Spanish adventurers.
Like the Aragonese, the Borgias also played the part of conquerors in Italy,
winning for themselves honors and power, and deeply affecting the destiny
of the whole peninsula, where they extended the influence of Spain and
established numerous branches of their family. From the old kings of
Aragon they claimed descent, but so little is known of their origin that their
history begins with the real founder of the house, Alfonso Borgia, whose
father's name is stated by some to have been Juan, and by others Domenico;
while the family name of his mother, Francesca, is not even known.
Alfonso Borgia was born in the year 1378 at Xativa, near Valencia. He
served King Alfonso of Aragon as privy secretary, and was made Bishop of
Valencia. He came to Naples with this genial prince when he ascended its
throne, and in the year 1444 he was made a cardinal.
Spain, owing to her religious wars, was advancing toward national unity,
and was fast assuming a position of European importance. She now, by
taking a hand in the affairs of Italy, endeavored to grasp what she had
hitherto let slip by,—namely, the opportunity of becoming the head of the
Latin world and, above all, the center of gravity of European politics and
civilization. She soon forced herself into the Papacy and into the Empire.
From Spain the Borgias first came to the Holy See, and from there later
came Charles V to ascend the imperial throne. From Spain came also
Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the most powerful politico-religious order
history has ever known.

Alfonso Borgia, one of the most active opponents of the Council of Basle
and of the Reformation in Germany, was elected pope in 1455, assuming
the name Calixtus III. Innumerable were his kinsmen, many of whom he
had found settled in Rome when he, as cardinal, had taken up his residence
there. His nearest kin were members of the three connected Valencian
families of Borgia, Mila (or Mella), and Lanzol. One of the sisters of
Calixtus, Catarina Borgia, was married to Juan Mila, Baron of Mazalanes,
and was the mother of the youthful Juan Luis. Isabella, the wife of Jofrè
Lanzol, a wealthy nobleman of Xativa, was the mother of Pedro Luis and
Rodrigo, and of several daughters. The uncle adopted these two nephews
and gave them his family name,—thus the Lanzols became Borgias.
In 1456 Calixtus III bestowed the purple upon two members of the Mila
family: the Bishop Juan of Zamora, who died in 1467, in Rome, where his
tomb may still be seen in S. Maria di Monserrato, and on the youthful Juan
Luis. Rodrigo Borgia also received the purple in the same year. Among
other members of the house of Mila settled in Rome was Don Pedro, whose
daughter, Adriana Mila, we shall later find in most intimate relations with
the family of her uncle Rodrigo.
Of the sisters of this same Rodrigo, Beatrice was married to Don Ximenez
Perez de Arenos, Tecla to Don Vidal de Villanova, and Juana to Don Pedro
Guillen Lanzol.[1] All these remained in Spain. There is a letter extant,
written by Beatrice from Valencia to her brother shortly after he became
pope.
Rodrigo Borgia was twenty-six when the dignity of cardinal was conferred
upon him, and to this honor, a year later, was added the great office of vice-
chancellor of the Church of Rome. His brother, Don Pedro Luis, was only
one year older; and Calixtus bestowed upon this young Valencian the
highest honors which can fall to the lot of a prince's favorite. Later we
behold in him a papal nepot-prince in whom the Pope endeavored to
embody all mundane power and honor; he made him his condottiere, his
warder, his body-guard, and, finally, his worldly heir. Calixtus allowed him
to usurp every position of authority in the Church domain and, like a
destroying angel, to overrun and devastate the republics and the tyrannies,
for the purpose of founding a family dynasty, the Papacy being of only
momentary tenure, and not transmittable to an heir.

Calixtus made Pedro Luis generalissimo of the Church, prefect of the city,
Duke of Spoleto, and finally, vicar of Terracina and Benevento. Thus in this
first Spanish nepot was foreshadowed the career which Cæsar Borgia later
followed.
During the life of Calixtus the Spaniards were all-powerful in Rome. In
great numbers they poured into Italy from the kingdom of Valencia to make
their fortune at the papal court as monsignori and clerks, as captains and
castellans, and in any other way that suggested itself. Calixtus III died on
the sixth of August, 1458, and a few days later Don Pedro Luis was driven
from Rome by the oppressed nobility of the country, the Colonna and the
Orsini, who rose against the hated foreigner. Soon afterwards, in December
the same year, death suddenly terminated the career of this young and
brilliant upstart, then in Civitavecchia. It is not known whether Don Pedro
Luis Borgia was married or whether he left any descendants.[2]
Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia lamented the loss of his beloved and, probably,
only brother, and inherited his property, while his own high position in the
Curia was not affected by the change in the papacy. As vice-chancellor, he
occupied a house in the Ponte quarter, which had formerly been the Mint,
and which he converted into one of the most showy of the palaces of Rome.
The building encloses two courts, where may still be seen the original open
colonnades of the lower story; it was constructed as a stronghold, like the
Palazzo di Venizia, which was almost contemporaneous with it. The Borgia
palace, however, does not compare in architectural beauty or size with that
built by Paul II. In the course of the years it has undergone many changes,
and for a long time has belonged to the Sforza-Cesarini.
Nothing is known of Rodrigo's private life during the pontificate of the four
popes who followed Calixtus—Pius II, Paul II, Sixtus IV, and Innocent VIII
—for the records of that period are very incomplete.
Insatiable sensuality ruled this Borgia, a man of unusual beauty and
strength, until his last years. Never was he able to cast out this demon. He
angered Pius II by his excesses, and the first ray of light thrown upon
Rodrigo's private life is an admonitory letter written by that pope, the
eleventh of June, 1460, from the baths of Petriolo. Borgia was then twenty-
nine years old. He was in beautiful and captivating Siena, where

Piccolomini had passed his unholy youth. There he had arranged a
bacchanalian orgy of which the Pope's letter gives a picture.

Dear Son: We have learned that your Worthiness, forgetful of the high
office with which you are invested, was present from the seventeenth to the
twenty-second hour, four days ago, in the gardens of John de Bichis, where
there were several women of Siena, women wholly given over to worldly
vanities. Your companion was one of your colleagues whom his years, if not
the dignity of his office, ought to have reminded of his duty. We have heard
that the dance was indulged in in all wantonness; none of the allurements of
love were lacking, and you conducted yourself in a wholly worldly manner.
Shame forbids mention of all that took place, for not only the things
themselves but their very names are unworthy of your rank. In order that
your lust might be all the more unrestrained, the husbands, fathers, brothers,
and kinsmen of the young women and girls were not invited to be present.
You and a few servants were the leaders and inspirers of this orgy. It is said
that nothing is now talked of in Siena but your vanity, which is the subject
of universal ridicule. Certain it is that here at the baths, where Churchmen
and the laity are very numerous, your name is on every one's tongue. Our
displeasure is beyond words, for your conduct has brought the holy state
and office into disgrace; the people will say that they make us rich and
great, not that we may live a blameless life, but that we may have means to
gratify our passions. This is the reason the princes and the powers despise
us and the laity mock us; this is why our own mode of living is thrown in
our face when we reprove others. Contempt is the lot of Christ's vicar
because he seems to tolerate these actions. You, dear son, have charge of the
bishopric of Valencia, the most important in Spain; you are a chancellor of
the Church, and what renders your conduct all the more reprehensible is the
fact that you have a seat among the cardinals, with the Pope, as advisors of
the Holy See. We leave it to you whether it is becoming to your dignity to
court young women, and to send those whom you love fruits and wine, and
during the whole day to give no thought to anything but sensual pleasures.
People blame us on your account, and the memory of your blessed uncle,
Calixtus, likewise suffers, and many say he did wrong in heaping honors
upon you. If you try to excuse yourself on the ground of your youth, I say to
you: you are no longer so young as not to see what duties your offices

impose upon you. A cardinal should be above reproach and an example of
right living before the eyes of all men, and then we should have just
grounds for anger when temporal princes bestow uncomplimentary epithets
upon us; when they dispute with us the possession of our property and force
us to submit ourselves to their will. Of a truth we inflict these wounds upon
ourselves, and we ourselves are the cause of these troubles, since we by our
conduct are daily diminishing the authority of the Church. Our punishment
for it in this world is dishonor, and in the world to come well deserved
torment. May, therefore, your good sense place a restraint on these
frivolities, and may you never lose sight of your dignity; then people will
not call you a vain gallant among men. If this occurs again we shall be
compelled to show that it was contrary to our exhortation, and that it caused
us great pain; and our censure will not pass over you without causing you to
blush. We have always loved you and thought you worthy of our protection
as a man of an earnest and modest character. Therefore, conduct yourself
henceforth so that we may retain this our opinion of you, and may behold in
you only the example of a well ordered life. Your years, which are not such
as to preclude improvement, permit us to admonish you paternally.

Petriolo, June 11, 1460.[3]

A few years later, when Paul II occupied the papal throne, the historian
Gasparino of Verona described Cardinal Borgia as follows: "He is
handsome; of a most glad countenance and joyous aspect, gifted with
honeyed and choice eloquence. The beautiful women on whom his eyes are
cast he lures to love him, and moves them in a wondrous way, more
powerfully than the magnet influences iron."
There are such organizations as Gasparino describes; they are men of the
physical and moral nature of Casanova and the Regent of Orleans.
Rodrigo's beauty was noted by many of his contemporaries even when he
was pope. In 1493 Hieronymus Portius described him as follows:
"Alexander is tall and neither light nor dark; his eyes are black and his lips
somewhat full. His health is robust, and he is able to bear any pain or
fatigue; he is wonderfully eloquent and a thorough man of the world."[4]

The force of this happy organization lay, apparently, in the perfect balance
of all its powers. From it radiated the serene brightness of his being, for
nothing is more incorrect than the picture usually drawn of this Borgia,
showing him as a sinister monster. The celebrated Jason Mainus, of Milan,
calls attention to his "elegance of figure, his serene brow, his kingly
forehead, his countenance with its expression of generosity and majesty, his
genius, and the heroic beauty of his whole presence."

CHAPTER II
LUCRETIA'S MOTHER

About 1466 or 1467 Cardinal Rodrigo's magnetism attracted a woman of
Rome, Vannozza Catanei. We know that she was born in July, 1442, but of
her family we are wholly ignorant. Writers of that day also call her Rosa
and Catarina, although she named herself, in well authenticated documents,
Vannozza Catanei. Paolo Giovio states that Vanotti was her patronymic, and
although there was a clan of that name in Rome, he is wrong. Vannozza was
probably the nickname for Giovanna—thus we find in the early records of
that age: Vannozza di Nardis, Vannozza di Zanobeis, di Pontianis, and
others.
There was a Catanei family in Rome, as there was in Ferrara, Genoa, and
elsewhere. The name was derived from the title, capitaneus. In a notarial
document of 1502 the name of Alexander's mistress is given in its ancient
form, Vanotia de Captaneis.
Litta, to whom Italy is indebted for the great work on her illustrious
families—a wonderful work in spite of its errors and omissions—ventures
the opinion that Vannozza was a member of the Farnese family and a
daughter of Ranuccio. There is, however, no ground for this theory. In
written instruments of that time she is explicitly called Madonna Vannozza
de casa Catanei.
None of Vannozza's contemporaries have stated what were the
characteristics which enabled her to hold the pleasure-loving cardinal so
surely and to secure her recognition as the mother of several of his
acknowledged children. We may imagine her to have been a strong and
voluptuous woman like those still seen about the streets of Rome. They
possess none of the grace of the ideal woman of the Umbrian school, but
they have something of the magnificence of the Imperial City—Juno and
Venus are united in them. They would resemble the ideals of Titian and Paul

Veronese but for their black hair and dark complexion,—blond and red hair
have always been rare among the Romans.
Vannozza doubtless was of great beauty and ardent passions; for if not, how
could she have inflamed a Rodrigo Borgia? Her intellect too, although
uncultivated, must have been vigorous; for if not, how could she have
maintained her relations with the cardinal?
The date given above was the beginning of this liaison, if we may believe
the Spanish historian Mariana, who says that Vannozza was the mother of
Don Pedro Luis, Rodrigo's eldest son. In a notarial instrument of 1482 this
son of the cardinal is called a youth (adolescens), which signified a person
fourteen or fifteen years of age. In what circumstances Vannozza was living
when Cardinal Borgia made her acquaintance we do not know. It is not
likely that she was one of the innumerable courtesans who, thanks to the
liberality of their retainers, led most brilliant lives in Rome at that period;
for had she been, the novelists and epigrammatists of the day would have
made her famous.
The chronicler Infessura, who must have been acquainted with Vannozza,
relates that Alexander VI, wishing to make his natural son Cæsar a cardinal,
caused it to appear, by false testimony, that he was the legitimate son of a
certain Domenico of Arignano, and he adds that he had even married
Vannozza to this man. The testimony of a contemporary and a Roman
should have weight; but no other writer, except Mariana—who evidently
bases his statement on Infessura—mentions this Domenico, and we shall
soon see that there could have been no legal, acknowledged marriage of
Vannozza and this unknown man. She was the cardinal's mistress for a
much longer time before he himself, for the purpose of cloaking his
relations with her and for lightening his burden, gave her a husband. His
relations with her continued for a long time after she had a recognized
consort.
The first acknowledged husband of Vannozza was Giorgio di Croce, a
Milanese, for whom Cardinal Rodrigo had obtained from Sixtus IV a
position as apostolic secretary. It is uncertain at just what time she allied
herself with this man, but she was living with him as his wife in 1480 in a

house on the Piazzo Pizzo di Merlo, which is now called Sforza-Cesarini,
near which was Cardinal Borgia's palace.
Even as early as this, Vannozza was the mother of several children
acknowledged by the cardinal: Giovanni, Cæsar, and Lucretia. There is no
doubt whatever about these, although the descent of the eldest of the
children, Pedro Luis, from the same mother, is only highly probable. Thus
far the date of the birth of this Borgia bastard has not been established, and
authorities differ. In absolutely authentic records I discovered the dates of
birth of Cæsar and Lucretia, which clear up forever many errors regarding
the genealogy and even the history of the house. Cæsar was born in the
month of April, 1476—the day is not given—and Lucretia on the eighteenth
of April, 1480. Their father, when he was pope, gave their ages in
accordance with these dates. In October, 1501, he mentioned the subject to
the ambassador of Ferrara, and the latter, writing to the Duke Ercole, said,
"The Pope gave me to understand that the Duchess (Lucretia) was in her
twenty-second year, which she will complete next April, in which month
also the most illustrious Duke of Romagna (Cæsar) will be twenty-six."
If the correctness of the father's statement of the age of his own children is
questioned, it may be confirmed by other reports and records. In despatches
which a Ferrarese ambassador sent to the same duke from Rome much
earlier, namely, in February and March, 1483, the age of Cæsar at that time
is given as sixteen to seventeen years, which agrees with the subsequent
statement of his father.[5] The son of Alexander VI was, therefore, a few
years younger than has hitherto been supposed, and this fact has an
important bearing upon his short and terrible life. Mariana, therefore, and
other authors who follow him, err in stating that Cæsar, Rodrigo's second
son, was older than his brother Giovanni. In reality, Giovanni must have
been two years older than Cæsar. Venetian letters from Rome, written in
October, 1496, describe him as a young man of twenty-two; he accordingly
must have been born in 1474.[6]
Lucretia herself came into the world April 18, 1480. This exact date is given
in a Valencian document. Her father was then forty-nine and her mother
thirty-eight years of age. The Roman or Spanish astrologers cast the
horoscope of the child according to the constellation which was in the

ascendancy, and congratulated Cardinal Rodrigo on the brilliant career
foretold for his daughter by the stars.
Easter had just passed; magnificent festivities had been held in honor of the
Elector Ernst of Saxony, who, together with the Duke of Brunswick and
Wilhelm von Henneberg had arrived in Rome March 22d. These gentlemen
were accompanied by a retinue of two hundred knights, and a house in the
Parione quarter had been placed at their disposal. Pope Sixtus IV loaded
them with honors, and great astonishment was caused by a magnificent hunt
which Girolamo Riario, the all-powerful nepot, gave for them, at Magliana
on the Tiber. These princes departed from Rome on the fourteenth of April.
The papacy was at that time changing to a political despotism, and nepotism
was assuming the character which later was to give Cæsar Borgia all his
ferocity. Sixtus IV, a mighty being and a character of a much more powerful
cast than even Alexander VI, was at war with Florence, where he had
countenanced the Pazzi conspiracy for the murder of the Medici. He had
made Girolamo Riario a great prince in Romagna, and later Alexander VI
planned a similar career for his son Cæsar.
Lucretia was indeed born at a terrible period in the world's history; the
papacy was stripped of all holiness, religion was altogether material, and
immorality was boundless. The bitterest family feuds raged in the city, in
the Ponte, Parione, and Regola quarters, where kinsmen incited by murder
daily met in deadly combat. In this very year, 1480, there was a new
uprising of the old factions of Guelph and Ghibbeline in Rome; there the
Savelli and Colonna were against the Pope, and here the Orsini for him;
while the Valle, Margana, and Santa Croce families, inflamed by a desire
for revenge for blood which had been shed, allied themselves with one or
the other faction.

CHAPTER III
LUCRETIA'S FIRST HOME

Lucretia passed the first years of her childhood in her mother's house, which
was on the Piazza Pizzo di Merlo, only a few steps from the cardinal's
palace. The Ponte quarter, to which it belonged, was one of the most
populous of Rome, since it led to the Bridge of S. Angelo and the Vatican.
In it were to be found many merchants and the bankers from Florence,
Genoa, and Siena, while numerous papal office-holders, as well as the most
famous courtesans dwelt there. On the other hand, the number of old, noble
families in Ponte was not large, perhaps because the Orsini faction did not
permit them to thrive there. These powerful barons had resided in this
quarter for a long time in their vast palace on Monte Giordano. Not far
distant stood their old castle, the Torre di Nona, which had originally been
part of the city walls on the Tiber. At this time it was a dungeon for
prisoners of state and other unfortunates.
It is not difficult to imagine what Vannozza's house was, for the Roman
dwelling of the Renaissance did not greatly differ from the ordinary house
of the present day, which generally is gloomy and dark. Massive steps of
cement led to the dwelling proper, which consisted of a principal salon and
adjoining rooms with bare flagstone floors, and ceilings of beams and
painted wooden paneling. The walls of the rooms were whitewashed, and
only in the wealthiest houses were they covered with tapestries, and in these
only on festal occasions. In the fifteenth century the walls of few houses
were adorned with pictures, and these usually consisted of only a few
family portraits. If Vannozza decorated her salon with any likenesses, that
of Cardinal Rodrigo certainly must have been among the number. There
was likewise a shrine with relics and pictures of the saints and one of the
Madonna, the lamp constantly burning before it.

TRAJAN'S FORUM, ROME.

Heavy furniture,—great wide beds with canopies; high, brown wooden
chairs, elaborately carved, upon which cushions were placed; and massive
tables, with tops made of marble or bits of colored wood,—was ranged
around the walls. Among the great chests there was one which stood out
conspicuously in the salon, and which contained the dowry of linen. It was
in such a chest—the chest of his sister—that the unfortunate Stefano
Porcaro concealed himself when he endeavored to escape after his
unsuccessful attempt to excite an uprising on the fifth of January, 1453. His
sister and another woman sat on the chest, better to protect him, but the
officers pulled him out.
Although we can only state what was then the fashion, if Vannozza had any
taste for antiquities her salon must have been adorned with them. At that
time they were being collected with the greatest eagerness. It was the period
of the first excavations; the soil of Rome was daily giving up its treasures,
and from Ostia, Tivoli, and Hadrian's Villa, from Porto d'Anzio and

Palestrina, quantities of antiquities were being brought to the city. If
Vannozza and her husband did not share this passion with the other
Romans, one would certainly not have looked in vain in her house for the
cherished productions of modern art—cups and vases of marble and
porphyry, and the gold ornaments of the jewelers. The most essential thing
in every well ordered Roman house was above all else the credenza, a great
chest containing gold and silver table and drinking vessels and beautiful
majolica; and care was taken always to display these articles at banquets
and on other ceremonious occasions.
It is not likely that Rodrigo's mistress possessed a library, for private
collections of books were at that time exceedingly rare in bourgeois houses.
A short time after this they were first made possible in Rome by the
invention of printing, which was there carried on by Germans.
Vannozza's household doubtless was rich but not magnificent. She must
occasionally have entertained the cardinal, as well as the friends of the
family, and especially the confidants of the Borgias: the Spaniards, Juan
Lopez, Caranza, and Marades; and among the Romans, the Orsini, Porcari,
Cesarini, and Barberini. The cardinal himself was an exceedingly
abstemious man, but magnificent in everything which concerned the pomp
and ceremonial of his position. The chief requirement of a cardinal of that
day was to own a princely residence and to have a numerous household.
Rodrigo Borgia was one of the wealthiest princes of the Church, and he
maintained the palace and pomp of a great noble. His contemporary Jacopo
of Volterra, gave the following description of him about 1486: "He is a man
of an intellect capable of everything and of great sense; he is a ready
speaker; he is of an astute nature, and has wonderful skill in conducting
affairs. He is enormously wealthy, and the favor accorded him by numerous
kings and princes lends him renown. He occupies a beautiful and
comfortable palace which he built between the Bridge of S. Angelo and the
Campo dei Fiore. His papal offices, his numerous abbeys in Italy and Spain,
and his three bishoprics of Valencia, Portus, and Carthage yield him a vast
income, and it is said that the office of vice-chancellor alone brings him in
eight thousand gold florins. His plate, his pearls, his stuffs embroidered
with silk and gold, and his books in every department of learning are very
numerous, and all are of a magnificence worthy of a king or pope. I need

not mention the innumerable bed hangings, the trappings for his horses, and
similar things of gold, silver, and silk, nor his magnificent wardrobe, nor the
vast amount of gold coin in his possession. In fact it was believed that he
possessed more gold and riches of every sort than all the cardinals together,
with the exception of one, Estouteville."
Cardinal Rodrigo, therefore, was able to give his children the most brilliant
education, while he modestly maintained them as his nephews. Not until he
himself had attained greatness could he bring them forth into the full light
of day.
In 1482 he did not occupy his house in the Ponte quarter, perhaps because
he was having it enlarged. He spent more of his time in the palace which
Stefano Nardini had finished in 1475 in the Parione quarter, which is now
known as the Palazzo del Governo Vecchio. Rodrigo was living here in
January, 1482, as we learn from an instrument of the notary Beneimbene,—
the marriage contract of Gianandrea Cesarini and Girolama Borgia, a
natural daughter of the same Cardinal Rodrigo. This marriage was
performed in the presence of the bride's father, Cardinals Stefano Nardini
and Gianbattista Savelli, and the Roman nobles Virginius Orsini, Giuliano
Cesarini, and Antonio Porcaro.
The instrument of January, 1482, is the earliest authentic document we
possess regarding the family life of Cardinal Borgia. In it he acknowledges
himself to be the father of the "noble demoiselle Hieronyma," and she is
described as the sister of the "noble youth Petrus Lodovicus de Borgia, and
of the infant Johannes de Borgia." As these two, plainly mentioned as the
eldest sons, were natural children, it would have been improper to name
their mother. Cæsar also was passed by, as he was a child of only six years.
Girolama was still a minor, being only thirteen years of age, and her
betrothed, Giovanni Andrea, had scarcely reached manhood. He was a son
of Gabriello Cesarini and Godina Colonna. By this marriage the noble
house of Cesarini was brought into close relations with the Borgia, and later
it derived great profit from the alliance. Their mutual friendship dated from
the time of Calixtus, for it was the prothonotary Giorgio Cesarini who, on
the death of that pope, had helped Rodrigo's brother Don Pedro Luis when
he was forced to flee from Rome. Both Girolama and her youthful spouse

died in 1483. Was she also a child of the mother of Lucretia and Cæsar? We
know not, but it is regarded as unlikely. Let us anticipate by saying that
there is only a single authentic record which mentions Rodrigo's children
and their mother together. This is the inscription on Vannozza's tomb in S.
Maria del Popolo in Rome, in which she is named as the mother of Cæsar,
Giovanni, Giuffrè, and Lucretia, while no mention is made of their older
brother, Don Pedro Luis, nor of their sister Girolama.
Rodrigo, moreover, had a third daughter, named Isabella, who could not
have been a child of Vannozza. April 1, 1483, he married her to a Roman
nobleman, Piergiovanni Mattuzi of the Parione quarter.[7]

CHAPTER IV
LUCRETIA'S EDUCATION

The cardinal's relations with Vannozza continued until about 1482, for after
the birth of Lucretia she presented him with another son, Giuffrè, who was
born in 1481 or 1482.

CHURCH OF S. MARIA DEL POPOLO, ROME.

After that, Borgia's passion for this woman, who was now about forty, died
out, but he continued to honor her as the mother of his children and as the
confidant of many of his secrets.

Vannozza had borne her husband, a certain Giorgio di Croce, a son, who
was named Octavian—at least this child passed as his. With the cardinal's
help she increased her revenues; in old official records she appears as the
lessee of several taverns in Rome, and she also bought a vineyard and a
country house near S. Lucia in Selci in the Subura, apparently from the
Cesarini. Even to-day the picturesque building with the arched passageway
over the stairs which lead up from the Subura to S. Pietro in Vincoli is
pointed out to travelers as the palace of Vannozza or of Lucretia Borgia.
Giorgio di Croce had become rich, and he built a chapel for himself and his
family in S. Maria del Popolo. Both he and his son Octavian died in the
year 1486.[8]
His death caused a change in Vannozza's circumstances, the cardinal
hastening to marry the mother of his children a second time, so that she
might have a protector and a respectable household. The new husband was
Carlo Canale, of Mantua.
Before he came to Rome he had by his attainments acquired some
reputation among the humanists of Mantua. There is still extant a letter to
Canale, written by the young poet Angelo Poliziano regarding his Orfeo;
the manuscript of this, the first attempt in the field of the drama which
marked the renaissance of the Italian theater, was in the hands of Canale,
who, appreciating the work of the faint-hearted poet, was endeavoring to
encourage him.[9] At the suggestion of Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga, a great
patron of letters, Poliziano had written the poem in the short space of two
days. Carlo Canale was the cardinal's chamberlain. The Orfeo saw the light
in 1472. When Gonzaga died, in 1483, Canale went to Rome, where he
entered the service of Cardinal Sclafetano, of Parma. As a confidant and
dependent of the Gonzaga he retained his connection with this princely
house.[10] In his new position he assisted Ludovico Gonzaga, a brother of
Francesco when he came to Rome in 1484 to receive the purple on his
election as Bishop of Mantua.
Borgia was acquainted with Canale while he was in the service of the
Gonzaga, and later he met him in the house of Sclafetano. He selected him
to be the husband of his widowed mistress, doubtless because Canale's
talents and connections would be useful to him.

Canale, on the other hand, could have acquiesced in the suggestion to marry
Vannozza only from avarice, and his willingness proves that he had not
grown rich in his former places at the courts of cardinals.
The new marriage contract was drawn up June 8, 1486, by the notary of the
Borgia house, Camillo Beneimbene, and was witnessed by Francesco
Maffei, apostolic secretary and canon of S. Peter's; Lorenzo Barberini de
Catellinis; a citizen, Giuliano Gallo, a considerable merchant of Rome;
Burcardo Barberini de Carnariis, and other gentlemen. As dowry Vannozza
brought her husband, among other things, one thousand gold florins and an
appointment as sollicitator bullarum. The contract clearly referred to this as
Vannozza's second marriage. Would it not have been set down as the third,
or in more general terms as new, if the alleged first marriage with
Domenico d'Arignano had really been acknowledged?
In this instrument Vannozza's house on the Piazza de Branchis, in the
Regola quarter, where the marriage took place, is described as her domicile.
The piazza still bears this name, which is derived from the extinct Branca
family. After the death of her former husband she must, therefore, have
moved from the house on the Piazza Pizzo di Merlo and taken up her abode
in the one on the Piazza Branca. This house may have belonged to her, for
her second husband seems to have been a man without means, who hoped
to make his fortune by his marriage and with the protection of the powerful
cardinal.
From a letter of Ludovico Gonzaga, dated February 19, 1488, we learn that
this new marriage of Vannozza's was not childless. In this epistle, the
Bishop of Mantua asks his agent in Rome to act as godfather in his stead,
Carlo Canale having chosen him for this honor. The letter gives no further
particulars, but it can mean nothing else.[11]
We do not know at just what time Lucretia, in accordance with the
cardinal's provision, left her mother's house and passed under the protection
of a woman who exercised great influence upon him and upon the entire
Borgia family.
This woman was Adriana, of the house of Mila, a daughter of Don Pedro,
who was a nephew of Calixtus III, and first cousin of Rodrigo. What
position he held in Rome we do not know.

He married his daughter Adriana to Ludovico, a member of the noble house
of Orsini, and lord of Bassanello, near Civita Castellana. As the offspring of
this union, Orsino Orsini, married in 1489, it is evident that his mother must
have entered into wedlock at least sixteen years before. Ludovico Orsini
died in 1489 or earlier. As his wife, and later as his widow, Adriana
occupied one of the Orsini palaces in Rome, probably the one on Monte
Giordano, near the Bridge of S. Angelo, this palace having subsequently
been described as part of the estate which her son Orsino inherited.
Cardinal Rodrigo maintained the closest relations with Adriana. She was
more than his kinswoman; she was the confidant of his sins, of his intrigues
and plans, and such she remained until the day of his death.
To her he entrusted the education of his daughter Lucretia during her
childhood, as we learn from a letter written by the Ferrarese ambassador to
Rome, Gianandrea Boccaccio, Bishop of Modena, to the Duke Ercole in
1493, in which he remarks of Madonna Adriana Ursina, "that she had
educated Lucretia in her own house."[12] This doubtless was the Orsini
palace on Monte Giordano, which was close to Cardinal Borgia's residence.
According to the Italian custom, which has survived to the present day, the
education of the daughters was entrusted to women in convents, where the
young girls were required to pass a few years, afterwards to come forth into
the world to be married. If, however, Infessura's picture of the convents of
Rome is a faithful one, the cardinal was wise in hesitating to entrust his
daughter to these saints. Nevertheless there certainly were convents which
were free from immorality, such, for example, as S. Silvestre in Capite,
where many of the daughters of the Colonna were educated, and S. Maria
Nuova and S. Sisto on the Appian Way. On one occasion during the papacy
of Alexander, Lucretia chose the last named convent as an asylum, perhaps
because she had there received her early spiritual education.
Religious instruction was always the basis of the education of the women of
Italy. It, however, consisted not in the cultivation of heart and soul, but in a
strict observance of the forms of religion. Sin made no woman repulsive,
and the condition of even the most degraded female did not prevent her
from performing all her church duties, and appearing to be a well-trained
Christian. There were no women skeptics or freethinkers; they would have

been impossible in the society of that day. The godless tyrant Sigismondo
Malatesta of Rimini built a magnificent church, and in it a chapel in honor
of his beloved Isotta, who was a regular attendant at church. Vannozza built
and embellished a chapel in S. Maria del Popolo. She had a reputation for
piety, even during the life of Alexander VI. Her greatest maternal solicitude,
like that of Adriana, was to inculcate a Christian deportment in her
daughter, and this Lucretia possessed in such perfection that subsequently a
Ferrarese ambassador lauded her for her 'saintly demeanor.'
It is wrong to regard this bearing simply as a mask; for that would
presuppose an independent consideration of religious questions or a moral
process which was altogether foreign to the women of that age, and is still
unknown among the women of Italy. There religion was, and still is, a part
of education; it consisted in a high respect for form and was of small ethical
worth.
The daughters of the well-to-do families did not receive instruction in the
humanities in the convents, but probably from the same teachers to whom
the education of the sons was entrusted. It is no exaggeration to say that the
women of the better classes during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
were as well educated as are the women of to-day. Their education was not
broad; it was limited to a few branches; for then they did not have the
almost inexhaustible means of improvement which, thanks to the evolution
of the human mind during the last three hundred years, we now enjoy. The
education of the women of the Renaissance was based upon classical
antiquity, in comparison with which everything which could then be termed
modern was insignificant. They might, therefore, have been described as
scholarly. Feminine education is now entirely different, as it is derived
wholly from modern sources of culture. It is precisely its many-sidedness to
which is due the superficiality of the education of contemporary woman
when compared with that of her sister of the Renaissance.
The education of women at the present time, generally,—even in Germany,
which is famous for its schools,—is without solid foundation, and
altogether superficial and of no real worth. It consists usually in acquiring a
smattering of two modern tongues and learning to play the piano, to which
a wholly unreasonable amount of time is devoted.

During the Renaissance the piano was unknown, but every educated woman
performed upon the lute, which had the advantage that, in the hands of the
lady playing it, it presented an agreeable picture to the eyes, while the piano
is only a machine which compels the man or the woman who is playing it to
go through motions which are always unpleasant and often ridiculous.
During the Renaissance the novel showed only its first beginnings; and
even to-day Italy is the country which produces and reads the fewest
romances. There were stories from the time of Boccaccio, but very few.
Vast numbers of poems were written, but half of them in Latin. Printing and
the book trade were in their infancy. The theater likewise was in its
childhood, and, as a rule, dramatic performances were given only once a
year, during the carnival, and then only on private stages. What we now call
universal literature or culture consisted at that time in the passionate study
of the classics. Latin and Greek held the place then which the study of
foreign languages now occupies in the education of women. The Italians of
the Renaissance did not think that an acquaintance with the classics, that
scientific knowledge destroyed the charm of womanliness, nor that the
education of women should be less advanced than that of men. This
opinion, like so many others prevalent in society is of Teutonic origin. The
loving dominion of the mother in the family circle has always seemed to the
Germanic races to be the realization of the ideal of womanliness. For a long
time German women avoided publicity owing to modesty or a feeling of
decorum. Their talents remained hidden except in cases where peculiar
circumstances—sometimes connected with affairs of court or of state—
compelled them to come forth. Until recently the history of German
civilization has shown a much smaller number of famous female characters
than Italy, the land of strong personalities, produced during the
Renaissance. The influence which gifted women in the Italian salons of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and later in those of France, exercised
upon the intellectual development of society was completely unknown in
England and Germany.
Later, however, there was a change in the relative degree of feminine
culture in Teutonic and Latin countries. In the former it rose, while in Italy
it declined. The Italian woman who, during the Renaissance, occupied a
place by man's side, contended with him for intellectual prizes, and took
part in every spiritual movement, fell into the background. During the last

two hundred years she has taken little or no part in the higher life of the
nation, for long ago she became a mere tool in the hands of the priests. The
Reformation gave the German woman greater personal freedom. Especially
since the beginning of the eighteenth century have Germany and England
produced numbers of highly cultivated and even learned women. The
superficiality of the education of woman in general in Germany is not the
fault of the Church, but of the fashion, of society, and also of lack of means
in our families.
A learned woman, whom men are more apt to fear than respect, is called,
when she writes books, a blue-stocking. During the Renaissance she was
called a virago, a title which was perfectly complimentary. Jacopo da
Bergamo constantly uses it as a term of respect in his work, Concerning
Celebrated Women, which he wrote in 1496.[13] Rarely do we find this word
used by Italians in the sense in which we now employ it,—namely,
termigant or amazon. At that time a virago was a woman who, by her
courage, understanding, and attainments, raised herself above the masses of
her sex. And she was still more admired if in addition to these qualities she
possessed beauty and grace. Profound classic learning among the Italians
was not opposed to feminine charm; on the contrary, it enhanced it. Jacopo
da Bergamo specially praises it in this or that woman, saying that whenever
she appeared in public as a poet or an orator, it was above all else her
modesty and reserve which charmed her hearers. In this vein he eulogizes
Cassandra Fedeli, while he lauds Ginevra Sforza for her elegance of form,
her wonderful grace in every motion, her calm and queenly bearing, and her
chaste beauty. He discovers the same in the wife of Alfonso of Aragon,
Ippolita Sforza, who possessed the highest attainments, the most brilliant
eloquence, a rare beauty, and extreme feminine modesty. What was then
called modesty (pudor) was the natural grace of a gifted woman increased
by education and association. This modesty Lucretia Borgia possessed in a
high degree. In woman it corresponded with that which in man was the
mark of the perfect cavalier. It may cause the reader some astonishment to
learn that the contemporaries of the infamous Cæsar spoke of his
'moderation' as one of his most characteristic traits. By this term, however,
we must understand the cultivation of the personality in which moderation
in man and modesty in woman were part and manifestations of a liberal
education.

It is true that in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries emancipated women
did not sit on the benches of the lecture halls of Bologna, Ferrara, and
Padua, as they now do in many universities, to pursue professional studies;
but the same humane sciences to which youths and men devoted themselves
were a requirement in the higher education of women. Little girls in the
Middle Ages were entrusted to the saints of the convents to be made nuns;
during the Renaissance parents consecrated gifted children to the Muses.
Jacopo da Bergamo, speaking of Trivulzia of Milan, a contemporary of
Lucretia, who excited great amazement as an orator when she was only
fourteen years of age, says, "When her parents noticed the child's
extraordinary gifts they dedicated her to the Muses—this was in her seventh
year—for her education."
The course of study followed by women at that time included the classic
languages and their literature, oratory, poetry, or the art of versifying, and
music. Dilettanteism in the graphic and plastic arts of course followed, and
the vast number of paintings and statues produced during the Renaissance
inspired every cultivated woman in Italy with a desire to become a
connoisseur.
Even philosophy and theology were cultivated by women. Debates on
questions in these fields of inquiry were the order of the day at the courts
and in the halls of the universities, and women endeavored to acquire
renown by taking part in them. At the end of the fifteenth century the
Venetian, Cassandra Fedeli, the wonder of her age, was as well versed in
philosophy and theology as a learned man. She once engaged in a public
disputation before the Doge Agostino Barbarigo, and also several times in
the audience hall of Padua, and always showed the utmost modesty in spite
of the applause of her hearers. The beautiful wife of Alessandro Sforza of
Pesaro, Costanza Varano, was a poet, an orator, and a philosopher; she
wrote a number of learned dissertations. "The writings of Augustinus,
Ambrosius, Jerome, and Gregory, of Seneca, Cicero, and Lactantius were
always in her hands." Her daughter, Battista Sforza, the noble spouse of the
cultivated Federico of Urbino, was equally learned. So, too, it was related
that the celebrated Isotta Nugarola of Verona was thoroughly at home in the
writings of the fathers and of the philosophers. Isabella Gonzaga and
Elisabetta of Urbino were likewise acquainted with them, as were numerous
other celebrated women, such as Vittoria Colonna and Veronica Gambara.

VITTORIA COLONNA.
From an engraving by P. Caronni.

These and other names show to what heights the education of woman
during the Renaissance attained, and even if the accomplishments of these
women were exceptional, the studies which they so earnestly pursued were
part of the curriculum of all the daughters of the best families. These studies
were followed only for the purpose of perfecting and beautifying the
personality. Conversation in the modern salon is so excessively dull that it
is necessary to fill in the emptiness with singing and piano playing. Still the
symposiums of Plato were not always the order of the day in the drawing-
rooms of the Renaissance, and it must be admitted that their social
disputations would cause us intolerable weariness; however, tastes were
different at that time. In a circle of distinguished and gifted persons, to carry

on a conversation gracefully and intelligently, and to give it a classic cast by
introducing quotations from the ancients, or to engage in a discussion in
dialogue on a chosen theme, afforded the keenest enjoyment. It was the
conversation of the Renaissance which attained later to such æsthetic
perfection in France. Talleyrand called this form of human intercourse
man's greatest and most beautiful blessing. The classic dialogue was
revived, with only the difference that cultivated women also took part in it.
As samples of the refined social intercourse of that age, we have
Castiglione's Cortegiano and Bembo's Asolani, which was dedicated to
Lucretia Borgia.
Alexander's daughter did not occupy a preeminent place among the Italian
women renowned for classical attainments, her own acquirements not being
such as to distinguish her from the majority; but, considering the times, her
education was thorough. She had received instruction in the languages, in
music, and in drawing, and later the people of Ferrara were amazed at the
skill and taste which she displayed in embroidering in silk and gold. "She
spoke Spanish, Greek, Italian, and French, and a little Latin, very correctly,
and she wrote and composed poems in all these tongues," said the
biographer Bayard in 1512. Lucretia must have perfected her education
later, during the quiet years of her life, under the influence of Bembo and
Strozzi, although she doubtless had laid its foundation in Rome. She was
both a Spaniard and an Italian, and a perfect master of these two languages.
Among her letters to Bembo there are two written in Spanish; the
remainder, of which we possess several hundred, are composed in the
Italian of that day, and are spontaneous and graceful in style. The contents
of none of them are of importance; they display soul and feeling, but no
depth of mind. Her handwriting is not uniform; sometimes it has strong
lines which remind us of the striking, energetic writing of her father; at
others it is sharp and fine like that of Vittoria Colonna.
None of Lucretia's letters indicate that she fully understood Latin, and her
father once stated that she had not mastered that language. She must,
however, have been able to read it when written, for otherwise Alexander
could not have made her his representative in the Vatican, with authority to
open letters received. Nor were her Hellenic studies very profound; still she
was not wholly ignorant of Greek. In her childhood, schools for the study of
Hellenic literature still flourished in Rome, where they had been established

by Chrysoleras and Bessarion. In the city were many Greeks, some of
whom were fugitives from their country, while others had come to Italy
with Queen Carlotta of Cyprus. Until her death, in 1487, this royal
adventuress lived in a palace in the Borgo of the Vatican, where she held
court, and where she doubtless gathered about her the cultivated people of
Rome, just as the learned Queen Christina of Sweden did later. It was in her
house that Cardinal Rodrigo made the acquaintance, besides that of other
noble natives of Cyprus, of Ludovico Podocatharo, a highly cultivated man,
afterwards his secretary. He it was, probably, who instructed Borgia's
children in Greek.
In the cardinal's palace there was also a humanist of German birth, Lorenz
Behaim, of Nurenburg, who managed his household for twenty years. As he
was a Latinist and a member of the Roman Academy of Pomponius Laetus,
he must have exercised some influence on the education of his master's
children. Generally there was no lack of professors of the humane sciences
in Rome, where they were in a nourishing condition, and the Academy as
well as the University attracted thither many talented men. In the papal city
there were numerous teachers who conducted schools, and swarms of
young scholars, ambitious academicians, sought their fortune at the courts
of the cardinals in the capacity of companions or secretaries, or as
preceptors to their illegitimate children. Lucretia, also, received instruction
in classic literature from these masters. Among the poets who lived in Rome
she found teachers to instruct her in Italian versification and in writing
sonnets, an art which was everywhere cultivated by women as well as men.
She doubtless learned to compose verses, although the writers on the
history of Italian literature, Quadrio and Crescimbeni, do not place her
among the poets of the peninsula. Nowhere do Bembo, Aldus, or the Strozzi
speak of her as a poet, nor are there any verses by her in existence. It is not
certain that even the Spanish canzoni which are found in some of her letters
to Bembo were composed by her.

CHAPTER V
NEPOTISM—GIULIA FARNESE—LUCRETIA'S
BETROTHALS

It is not difficult to imagine what emotions were aroused in Lucretia when
she first became aware of the real condition of her family. Her mother's
husband was not her father; she discovered that she and her brothers were
the children of a cardinal, and the awakening of her conscience was
accompanied by a realization of circumstances which—frowned on by the
Church—it was necessary to conceal from the world. She herself had
always hitherto been treated as a niece of the cardinal, and she now beheld
in her father one of the most prominent princes of the Church of Rome,
whom she heard mentioned as a future pope.
The knowledge of the great advantages to be derived from these
circumstances certainly must have affected Lucretia's fancy much more
actively than the conception of their immorality. The world in which she
lived concerned itself but little with moral scruples, and rarely in the history
of mankind has there been a time in which the theory that it is proper to
obtain the greatest possible profit from existing conditions has been so
generally accepted. She soon learned how common were these relations in
Rome. She heard that most of the cardinals lived with their mistresses, and
provided in a princely way for their children. They told her about those of
Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere and those of Piccolomini; she saw with her
own eyes the sons and daughters of Estouteville, and heard of the baronies
which their wealthy father had acquired for them in the Alban mountains.
She saw the children of Pope Innocent raised to the highest honors; to her
were pointed out his son Franceschetto Cibò and his illustrious spouse
Maddalena Medici. She knew that the Vatican was the home of other
children and grandchildren of the Pope, and she frequently saw his daughter
Madonna Teodorina, the consort of the Genoese Uso di Mare, going and
coming. She was eight years old when his daughter Donna Peretta was

married in the Vatican to the Marchese Alfonso del Carretto with such
magnificent pomp that it set all Rome to talking.
Lucretia first became conscious of the position to which she and her
brothers might be called by their birth when she learned that her eldest
brother, Don Pedro Luis, was a Spanish duke. We do not know when the
young Borgia was raised to this dignity, but it was some time after 1482.
The strong ties which existed between the cardinal and the Spanish court
doubtless enabled him to have his son created Duke of Gandia in the
kingdom of Valencia. As Mariana remarks, he bought this dukedom for his
son.
Don Pedro Luis, however, when still a young man, died in Spain, for a
document of the year 1491 speaks of him as deceased, and mentions a
legacy left by his will to his sister Lucretia. The duchy of Gandia passed to
Rodrigo's second son, Don Giovanni, who hastened to Valencia to take
possession of it.
Meanwhile the fancy of the licentious cardinal had turned to other women.
In May, 1489, when Lucretia was nine years old, appears for the first time
the most celebrated of his mistresses, Giulia Farnese, a young woman of
extraordinary beauty, to whose charms the cardinal and future pope, who
was growing old, yielded with all the ardor of a young man.

FARNESE PALACE, ROME.

It was the adulterous love of this Giulia which first brought the Farnese
house into the history of Rome, and subsequently into that of the world; for
Rodrigo Borgia laid the foundation of the greatness of this family when he
made Giulia's brother Alessandro a cardinal. In this manner he prepared the
way to the papacy for the future Paul III, the founder of the house of
Farnese of Parma, a distinguished family which died out in 1758 in the
person of Queen Elisabeth, who occupied the throne of Spain.
The Farnese, up to the time of the Borgias, were of no importance in Rome,
where two of the most beautiful buildings of the Renaissance have since
helped to make their name immortal. They did not even live in Rome, but in
Roman Etruria, where they owned a few towns—Farneto, from which,
doubtless, their name was derived, Ischia, Capracola, and Capodimonte.
Some time later, though just when is not known, they were temporarily in

possession of Isola Farnese, an ancient castle in the ruins of Veii, which
from the fourteenth century had belonged to the Orsini.
The origin of the Farnese family is uncertain, but the tradition, according to
which they were descended from the Lombards or the Franks, appears to be
true. It is supported by the fact that the name Ranuccio, which is the Italian
form of Rainer, is of frequent occurrence in the family. The Farnese became
prominent in Etruria as a small dynasty of robber barons, without, however,
being able to attain to the power of their neighbors, the Orsini of Anguillara
and Bracciano, and the famous Counts of Vico, who were of German
descent and who ruled over the Tuscan prefecture for more than a hundred
years, until that country was swallowed up by Eugene IV. While these
prefects were the most active Ghibellines and the bitterest enemies of the
popes, the Farnese, like the Este, always stood by the Guelphs. From the
eleventh century they were consuls and podestas in Orvieto, and they
appeared later in various places as captains of the Church in the numerous
little wars with the cities and barons in Umbria and in the domain of S.
Peter. Ranuccio, Giulia's grandfather, was one of the ablest of the generals
of Eugene IV, and he had been a comrade of the great tyrant-conqueror
Vitelleschi, and through him his house had won great renown. His son,
Pierluigi, married Donna Giovanella of the Gaetani family of Sermoneta.
His children were Alessandro, Bartolomeo, Angiolo, Girolama, and Giulia.
Alessandro Farnese, born February 28, 1468, was a young man of intellect
and culture, but notorious for his unbridled passions. He had his own
mother committed to prison in 1487 under the gravest charges, whereupon
he himself was confined in the castle of S. Angelo by Innocent VIII. He
escaped from prison, and the matter was allowed to drop. He was a
prothonotary of the Church. His elder sister was married to Puccio Pucci,
one of the most illustrious statesmen of Florence, a member of a large
family which was on terms of close friendship with the Medici.
On the twentieth of May, 1489, the youthful Giulia Farnese, together with
the equally youthful Orsino Orsini, appeared in the "Star Chamber" of the
Borgia palace to sign their marriage contract. It is worthy of note that this
occurred in the house of Cardinal Rodrigo. His name appears as the first of
the witnesses to this document, as if he had constituted himself the protector
of the couple and had brought about their marriage. This union, however,

had been arranged when the betrothed were minors, by their parents,
Ludovico Orsini, lord of Bassanello, and Pierluigi Farnese, both of whom
had died before 1489. In those days little children were often legally
betrothed, and the marriage was consummated later, as was the custom in
ancient Rome, where frequently boys and girls only thirteen years of age
were affianced. Giulia was barely fifteen, May 20, 1489, and she was still
under the guardianship of her brothers and her uncles of the house of
Gaetani; while the young Orsini was under the control of his mother,
Adriana, who was Adriana de Mila, the kinswoman of Cardinal Rodrigo,
and Lucretia's governess. This, therefore, sufficiently explains the part,
personal and official, which the cardinal took in the ceremony of Giulia's
betrothal.
The witnesses to the marriage contract, which was drawn up by the notary
Beneimbene, were, in addition to the cardinal, Bishop Martini of Segovia,
the Spanish Canons Garcetto and Caranza, and a Roman nobleman named
Giovanni Astalli. The bride's brothers should have supported her, but only
the younger, Angiolo, was present, Alessandro remaining away. His failure
to attend such an important family function in the Borgia palace is strange,
although it may have been occasioned by some accident. The bride's uncles,
the prothonotary Giacomo, and his brother Don Nicola Gaetani were
present. Giulia's dowry consisted of three thousand gold florins, a large
amount for that time.
The civil marriage of the young couple took place the following day, May
21st, in this same palace of the Borgias. Many great nobles were present,
among whom were specially mentioned the kinsmen of the groom, Cardinal
Gianbattista Orsini and Raynaldo Orsini, Archbishop of Florence. The
young couple, as the season was charming, may have gone to Castle
Bassanello, or, if not, may have taken up their abode in the Orsini palace on
Monte Giordano.
Before her marriage Cardinal Rodrigo must have known, and often seen
Giulia Farnese in the palace of Madonna Adriana, the mother of the young
Orsini. There, likewise, Lucretia, who was several years younger, made her
acquaintance. Like Lucretia, Giulia had golden hair, and her beauty won for
her the name La Bella. It was in Adriana's house that this tender, lovely
child became ensnared in the coils of the libertine Rodrigo. She succumbed

to his seductions either shortly before or soon after her marriage to the
young Orsini. Perhaps she first aroused the passion of the cardinal, a man at
that time fifty-eight years old, when she stood before him in his palace a
bride in the full bloom of youth. Be that as it may, it is certain that two
years after her marriage Giulia was the cardinal's acknowledged mistress.
When Madonna Adriana discovered the liason she winked at it, and was an
accessory to the shame of her daughter-in-law. By so doing she became the
most powerful and the most influential person in the house of Borgia.
Two of the three sons of the cardinal, Giovanni and Cæsar, had in the
meantime reached manhood. In 1490 neither of them was in Rome; the
former was in Spain, and the latter was studying at the University of
Perugia, which he later left for Pisa. As early as 1488 Cæsar must have
attended one of these institutions, probably the University of Perugia, for in
that year Paolo Pompilio dedicated to him his Syllabica, a work on the art
of versification. In it he lauded the budding genius of Cæsar, who was the
hope and ornament of the house of Borgia, his progress in the sciences, and
his maturity of intellect—astonishing in one so young—and he predicted
his future fame.[14]
His father had intended him for the Church, although Cæsar himself felt for
it nothing but aversion. From Innocent VIII he had secured his son's
appointment as prothonotary of the Church and even as Bishop of
Pamplona. He appears as a prothonotary in a document of February, 1491,
and at the same time the youngest of Rodrigo's sons, Giuffrè, a boy of about
nine years, was made Canon and Archdeacon of Valencia.
Cæsar went to Pisa, probably in 1491. Its university attracted a great many
of the sons of the prominent Italian families, chiefly on account of the fame
of its professor of jurisprudence, Philippo Decio of Milan. At the university
the young Borgia had two Spanish companions, who were favorites of his
father, Francesco Romolini of Ilerda and Juan Vera of Arcilla in the
kingdom of Valencia. The latter was master of his household, as Cæsar
himself states in a letter written in October, 1492, in which he also calls
Romolini his "most faithful comrade."[15] Francesco Romolini was more
than thirty years of age in 1491. He was a diligent student of law, and
became deeply learned in it. He is the same Romolini who afterwards
conducted the prosecution of Savonarola in Florence. In 1503 Alexander

made him a cardinal, to which dignity Vera had been raised in 1500. His
father's wealth enabled the youthful Cæsar to live in Pisa in princely style,
and his connections brought him into friendly relations with the Medici.
The cardinal was still making special exertions to further the fortunes of his
children in Spain. Even for his daughter Lucretia he could see no future
more brilliant than a Spanish marriage; and he must indeed have regarded it
as a special act of condescension for the son of an old and noble house to
consent to become the husband of the illegitimate daughter of a cardinal.
The noble concerned was Don Cherubino Juan de Centelles, lord of Val
d'Ayora in the kingdom of Valencia, and brother of the Count of Oliva.
The nuptial contract was drawn up in the Valencian dialect in Rome,
February 26 and June 16, 1491. The youthful groom was in Valencia, the
young bride in Rome, and her father had appointed the Roman nobleman
Antonio Porcaro her proxy. In the marriage contract it was specified that
Lucretia's portion should be three hundred thousand timbres or sous in
Valencian money, which she was to bring Don Cherubino as dowry, part in
coin and part in jewels and other valuables. It was specially stated that of
this sum eleven thousand timbres should consist of the amount bequeathed
by the will of the deceased Don Pedro Luis de Borgia, Duke of Gandia, to
his sister for her marriage portion, while eight thousand were given her by
her other brothers, Cæsar and Giuffrè, for the same purpose, presumably
also from the estate left by the brother. It was provided that Donna Lucretia
should be taken to Valencia at the cardinal's expense within one year from
the signing of the contract, and that the church ceremony should be
performed within six months after her arrival in Spain.[16]
Thus Lucretia, when only a child eleven years of age, found her hand and
life happiness subjected to the will of another, and from that time she was
no longer the shaper of her own destiny. This was the usual fate of the
daughters of the great houses, and even of the lesser ones. Shortly before
her father became pope it seemed as if her life was to be spent in Spain, and
she would have found no place in the history of the papacy and of Italy if
she and Don Cherubino had been married. However, the marriage was
never performed. Obstacles of which we are ignorant, or changes in the
plans of her father, caused the betrothal of Lucretia to Don Cherubino to be

annulled. At the very moment this was being done for her by proxy, her
father was planning another alliance for his daughter.
The husband he had selected, Don Gasparo, was also a young Spaniard, son
of Don Juan Francesco of Procida, Count of Aversa. This family had
probably removed to Naples with the house of Aragon. Don Juan
Francesco's mother was Donna Leonora de Procida y Castelleta, Countess
of Aversa. Gasparo's father lived in Aversa, but in 1491 the son was in
Valencia, where, probably, he was being educated under the care of some of
his kinsmen, for he was still a boy of less than fifteen years. In an
instrument drawn by the notary Beneimbene, dated November 9, 1492, it is
explicitly stated that on the thirtieth of April of the preceding year, 1491, the
marriage contract of Lucretia and Gasparo had been executed by proxy with
all due form, and that in it Cardinal Rodrigo had bound himself to send his
daughter to the city of Valencia at his expense, where the church ceremony
was to be performed. However, since the marriage contract between
Lucretia and the young Centelles had been legally executed on the twenty-
sixth of February of the same year, 1491, and was recognized as late as the
following June, there is room for doubt regarding the correctness of the
date; but both the instrument in Beneimbene's protocol-book, and an
abstract of the same in the archives of the Hospital Sancta Sanctorum in
Rome, give the last of April as the date of the marriage contract of Lucretia
and Don Gasparo. In these proceedings her proxies were, not Antonio
Porcaro, but Don Giuffrè Borgia, Baron of Villa Longa, the Canon Jacopo
Serra of Valencia, and the vicar-general of the same place, Mateo Cucia.
Hence follows the curious fact that Lucretia was the betrothed at one and
the same time of two young Spaniards.
In spite of the rejection of her first affianced, the Centelles family appears
to have remained on good terms with the Borgias, for, later, when Rodrigo
became Pope, a certain Gulielmus de Centelles is to be found among his
most trusted chamberlains, while Raymondo of the same house was
prothonotary and treasurer of Perugia.

CHAPTER VI
HER FATHER BECOMES POPE—GIOVANNI SFORZA

On July 25, 1492, occurred the event to which the Borgias had long eagerly
looked forward, the death of Innocent VIII. Above all the other candidates
for the Papacy were four cardinals: Rafael Riario and Giuliano della Rovere
—both powerful nephews of Sixtus IV—Ascanio Sforza, and Rodrigo
Borgia.
Before the election was decided there were days of feverish expectation for
the cardinal's family. Of his children only Lucretia and Giuffrè were in
Rome at the time, and both were living with Madonna Adriana. Vannozza
was occupying her own house with her husband, Canale, who for some time
had held the office of secretary of the penitentiary court. She was now fifty
years old, and there was but one event to which she looked forward, and
upon it depended the gratification of her greatest wish; namely, to see her
children's father ascend the papal throne. What prayers and vows she and
Madonna Adriana, Lucretia, and Giulia Farnese must have made to the
saints for the fulfilment of that wish!
Early on the morning of August 11th breathless messengers brought these
women the news from the Vatican—Rodrigo Borgia had won the great
prize. To him, the highest bidder, the papacy had been sold. In the election,
Cardinal Ascanio Sforza had turned the scale, and for his reward he
received the city of Nepi; the office of vice-chancellor, and the Borgia
palace, which ever since has borne the name Sforza-Cesarini.

ALEXANDER VI.
From an engraving published in 1580.

On the morning of this momentous day, when Alexander VI was carried
from the conclave hall to S. Peter's there to receive the first expressions of
homage, his joyful glance discovered many of his kinsmen in the dense
crowd, for thither they had hastened to celebrate his great triumph. It was a
long time since Rome had beheld a pope of such majesty, of such beauty of
person. His conduct was notorious throughout the city, and no one knew

him better in that hour than that woman, Vannozza Catanei, who was
kneeling in S. Peter's during the mass, her soul filled with the memories of a
sinful past.
Borgia's election did not cause all the Powers anxiety. In Milan, Ludovico il
Moro celebrated the event with public festivals; he now hoped to become,
through the influence of his brother Ascanio, a "half pope." While the
Medici expected much from Alexander, the Aragonese of Naples looked for
little. Bitterly did Venice express herself. Her ambassador in Milan publicly
declared in August that the papacy had been sold by simony and a thousand
deceptions, and that the signory of Venice was convinced that France and
Spain would refuse to obey the Pope when they learned of these enormities.
[17]

In the meantime, Alexander VI had received the professions of loyalty of all
the Italian States, together with their profuse expressions of homage. The
festival of his coronation was celebrated with unparalleled pomp, August
26th. The Borgia arms, a grazing steer, was displayed so generally in the
decorations, and was the subject of so many epigrams, that a satirist
remarked that Rome was celebrating the discovery of the Sacred Apis.
Subsequently the Borgia bull was frequently the object of the keenest satire;
but at the beginning of Alexander's reign it was, naïvely enough, the
pictorial embodiment of the Pope's magnificence. To-day such symbolism
would excite only derision and mirth, but the plastic taste of the Italian of
that day was not offended by it.
When Alexander, on his triumphal journey to the Lateran, passed the palace
of his fanatical adherents, the Porcari, one of the boys of the family
declaimed with much pathos some stanzas which concluded with the
verses:
Vive diu bos, vive diu celebrande per annos,
Inter Pontificum gloria prima choros.[18]
The statements of Michele Ferno and of Hieronymus Porcius regarding the
coronation festivities and the professions of loyalty of the ambassadors
from the various Italian Powers must be read to see to what extremes
flattery was carried in those days. It is difficult for us to imagine how
imposing was the entrance of this brilliant pope upon the spectacular stage

of Rome at the time when the papacy was at the zenith of its power—a
height it had attained, not through love of the Church, nor by devotion to
religion, which had long been debased, but by dazzling the luxury-loving
people of the age and by modern politics; in addition to this, the Church had
preserved since the Middle Ages a traditional and mystic character which
held the respect of the faithful.
Ferno remarks that the history of the world offered nothing to compare with
the grandeur of the Pope's appearance and the charm of his person,—and
this author was not a bigoted papist, but a diligent student of Pomponius
Laetus. Like all the romanticists of the classic revival, however, he was
highly susceptible to theatrical effects. Words failed him when he tried to
describe the passage of Alexander to S. Maria del Popolo: "These holiday
swarms of richly clad people, the seven hundred priests and cardinals with
their retinues, these knights and grandees of Rome in dazzling cavalcades,
these troops of archers and Turkish horsemen, the palace guards with long
lances and glittering shields, the twelve riderless white horses with golden
bridles, which were led along, and all the other pomp and parade!" Weeks
would be required for arranging a pageant like this at the present time; but
the Pope could improvise it in the twinkling of an eye, for the actors and
their costumes were always ready. He set it in motion for the sole purpose
of showing himself to the Romans, and in order that his majesty might lend
additional brilliancy to a popular holiday.
Ferno depicted the Pope himself as a demi-god coming forth to his people.
"Upon a snow-white horse he sat, serene of countenance and of surpassing
dignity; thus he showed himself to the people, and blessed them; thus he
was seen of all. His glance fell upon them and filled every heart with joy.
And so his appearance was of good augury for everyone. How wonderful is
his tranquil bearing! And how noble his faultless face! His glance, how
frank! How greatly does the honor which we feel for him increase when we
behold his beauty and vigor of body!" Alexander the Great would have been
described in just such terms by Ferno. This was the idolatry which was
always accorded the papacy, and no one asked what was the inner and
personal life of the glittering idol.
On the occasion of his coronation Alexander appointed his son Cæsar, a
youth of sixteen, Bishop of Valencia. This he did without being sure of the

sanction of Ferdinand the Catholic, who, in fact, for a long time did
endeavor to withhold it; but he finally yielded, and the Borgias
consequently got the first bishopric in Spain into their hereditary
possession. Cæsar was not in Rome at the time his father received the tiara.
On the twenty-second of August, eleven days after Alexander's election,
Manfredi, ambassador from Ferrara to Florence, wrote the Duchess
Eleonora d'Este: "The Pope's son, the Bishop of Pamplona, who has been
attending the University of Pisa, left there by the Pope's orders yesterday
morning, and has gone to the castle of Spoleto."
The fifth of October Cæsar was still there, for on that date he wrote a letter
to Piero de' Medici from that place. This epistle to Lorenzo's son, the
brother of Cardinal Giovanni, shows that the greatest confidence existed
between him and Cæsar, who says in it that, on account of his sudden
departure from Pisa, he had been unable to communicate orally with him,
and that his preceptor, Juan Vera, would have to represent him. He
recommended his trusted familiar, Francesco Romolini, to Piero for
appointment as professor of canon law in Pisa. The letter is signed, "Your
brother, Cesar de Borja, Elector of Valencia."[19]
By not allowing his son to come to Rome immediately, Alexander wished to
give public proof of what he had declared at the time of his election;
namely, that he would hold himself above all nepotism. Perhaps there was a
moment when the warning afforded by the examples of Calixtus, Sixtus,
and Innocent caused him to hesitate, and to resolve to moderate his love for
his offspring. However, the nomination of his son to a bishopric on the day
of his coronation shows that his resolution was not very earnest. In October
Cæsar appeared in the Vatican, where the Borgias now occupied the place
which the pitiable Cibòs had left.
On September 1st the Pope made the elder Giovanni Borgia, who was
Bishop of Monreale, a cardinal; he was the son of Alexander's sister
Giovanna. The Vatican was filled with Spaniards, kinsmen, or friends of the
now all-powerful house, who had eagerly hurried thither in quest of fortune
and honors. "Ten papacies would not be sufficient to satisfy this swarm of
relatives," wrote Gianandrea Boccaccio in November, 1492, to the Duke of
Ferrara. Of the close friends of Alexander, Juan Lopez was made his
chancellor; Pedro Caranza and Juan Marades his privy chamberlains;

Rodrigo Borgia, a nephew of the Pope, was made captain of the palace
guard, which hitherto had been commanded by a Doria.
Alexander immediately began to lay the plans for a more brilliant future for
his daughter. He would no longer listen to her marrying a Spanish
nobleman; nothing less than a prince should receive her hand. Ludovico and
Ascanio suggested their kinsman, Giovanni Sforza. The Pope accepted him
as son-in-law, for, although he was only Count of Cotognola and vicar of
Pesaro, he was an independent sovereign, and he belonged to the illustrious
house of Sforza. Alexander had entered early into such close relations with
the Sforza that Cardinal Ascanio became all-powerful in Rome. Giovanni,
an illegitimate son of Costanzo of Pesaro, and only by the indulgence of
Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII his hereditary heir, was a man of twenty-six,
well formed and carefully educated, like most of the lesser Italian despots.
He had married Maddalena, the beautiful sister of Elisabetta Gonzaga, in
1489, on the very day upon which the latter was joined in wedlock to Duke
Guidobaldo of Urbino. He had, however, been a widower since August 8,
1490, on which date his wife died in childbirth.
Sforza hastened to accept the offered hand of the young Lucretia before any
of her other numerous suitors could win it. On leaving Pesaro he first went
to the castle of Nepi, which Alexander VI had given to Cardinal Ascanio.
There he remained a few days and then came quietly to Rome, October 31,
1492. Here he took up his residence in the cardinal's palace of S. Clement,
erected by Domenico della Rovere in the Borgo. It is still standing, and in
good preservation, opposite the Palazzo Giraud. The Ferrarese ambassador
announced Sforza's arrival to his master, remarking, "He will be a great
man as long as this pope rules." He explained the retirement in which
Sforza lived by stating that the man to whom Lucretia had been legally
betrothed was also in Rome.[20]
The young Count Gasparo had come to Rome with his father to make good
his claim to Lucretia, through whom he hoped to obtain great favor. Here he
found another suitor of whom he had hitherto heard nothing, but whose
presence had become known, and he fell into a rage when the Pope
demanded from him a formal renunciation. Lucretia, at that time a child of
only twelve and a half years, thus became the innocent cause of a contest
between two suitors, and likewise the subject of public gossip for the first

time. November 5th the plenipotentiary of Ferrara wrote his master, "There
is much gossip about Pesaro's marriage; the first bridegroom is still here,
raising a great hue and cry, as a Catalan, saying he will protest to all the
princes and potentates of Christendom; but will he, will he, he will have to
submit." On the ninth of November the same ambassador wrote, "Heaven
prevent this marriage of Pesaro from bringing calamities. It seems that the
King (of Naples) is angry on account of it, judging by what Giacomo,
Pontano's nephew told the Pope the day before yesterday. The matter is still
undecided. Both the suitors are given fair words; both are here. However, it
is believed that Pesaro will carry the day, especially as Cardinal Ascanio,
who is powerful in deeds as well as in words, is looking after his interests."
In the meantime, November 8th, the marriage contract between Don
Gasparo and Lucretia was formally dissolved. The groom and his father
merely expressed the hope that the new alliance would reach a favorable
consummation, and Gasparo bound himself not to marry within one year.
Giovanni Sforza, however, was not yet certain of his victory; December 9th
the Mantuan agent Fioravante Brognolo, wrote the Marchese Gonzaga,
"The affairs of the illustrious nobleman, Giovanni of Pesaro, are still
undecided; it looks to me as if the Spanish nobleman to whom his
Highness's niece was promised would not give her up. He has a great
following in Spain, consequently the Pope is inclined to let things take their
own course for a time, and not force them to a conclusion."[21] Even as late
as February, 1493, there was talk of a marriage of Lucretia with the Spanish
Conde de Prada, and not until this project was relinquished was she
betrothed to Giovanni Sforza.[22]
In the meantime Sforza had returned to Pesaro, whence he sent his proxy,
Nicolo de Savano, to Rome to conclude the marriage contract. The Count of
Aversa surrendered his advantage and suffered his grief to be assuaged by
the payment to him of three thousand ducats. Thereupon, February 2, 1493,
the betrothal of Sforza and Lucretia was formally ratified in the Vatican, in
the presence of the Milanese ambassador and the intimate friends and
servants of Alexander, Juan Lopez, Juan Casanova, Pedro Caranza, and
Juan Marades. The Pope's daughter, who was to be taken home by her
husband within one year, received a dowry of thirty-one thousand ducats.

When the news of this event reached Pesaro, the fortunate Sforza gave a
grand celebration in his palace. "They danced in the great hall, and the
couples, hand in hand, issued from the castle, led by Monsignor Scaltes, the
Pope's plenipotentiary, and the people in their joy joined in and danced
away the hours in the streets of the city."[23]

CHAPTER VII
LUCRETIA'S FIRST MARRIAGE

Alexander had a residence furnished for Lucretia close to the Vatican; it was
a house which Cardinal Battista Zeno had built in 1483, and was known
after his church as the Palace of S. Maria in Portico. It was on the left side
of the steps of S. Peter's, almost opposite the Palace of the Inquisition. The
building of Bernini's Colonnade has, however, changed the appearance of
the neighborhood so that it is no longer recognizable.
The youthful Lucretia held court in her own palace, which was under the
management of her maid of honor and governess, Adriana Orsini.
Alexander had induced this kinswoman of his to leave the Orsini palace and
to take up her abode with Lucretia in the palace of S. Maria in Portico,
where we shall frequently see them and another woman who was only too
close to the Pope.
Vannozza remained in her own house in the Regola quarter. Her husband
had been made commandant or captain of the Torre di Nona, of which
Alexander shortly made him warden, a position of great trust, and Canale
gave himself up eagerly to his important and profitable duties. From this
time Vannozza and her children saw each other but little, although they
were not completely separated. They continued to communicate with each
other, but the mother profited only indirectly by the good fortune and
greatness of her offspring. Vannozza never allowed herself, nor did
Alexander permit her, to have any influence in the Vatican, and her name
seldom appears in the records of the time.
Donna Lucretia was now beginning to maintain the state of a great princess.
She received the numerous connections of her house, as well as the friends
and flatterers of the now all-powerful Borgia. Strange it is that the very man
who, after the stormy period of her life, was to take her to a haven of rest
should appear there about the time of her betrothal to Sforza, and while the
contract was being contested by Don Gasparo.

Among the Italian princes who at that period either sent ambassadors or
came in person to Rome to render homage to the new Pope was the
hereditary prince of Ferrara. In all Italy there was no other court so brilliant
as that of Ercole d'Este and his spouse Eleonora of Aragon, a daughter of
King Ferdinand of Naples. She, however, died about this time; namely,
October 11, 1493. One of her children, Beatrice, had been married in
December, 1490, to Ludovico il Moro, the brilliant monster who was
Regent of Milan in place of his nephew Giangaleazzo; her other daughter,
Isabella, one of the most beautiful and magnificent women of her day, was
married in 1490, when she was only sixteen years of age, to the Marchese
Francesco Gonzaga of Mantua. Alfonso was heir to the title, and on
February 12, 1491, when he was only fifteen years old, he married Anna
Sforza, a sister of the same Giangaleazzo.
In November, 1492, his father sent him to Rome to recommend his state to
the favor of the Pope, who received the youthful scion of the house of
Sforza,—into which his own daughter was to marry,—with the highest
honors. Don Alfonso lived in the Vatican, and during his visit, which lasted
for several weeks, he not only had an opportunity, but it was his duty to call
on Donna Lucretia. He was filled with amazement when he first beheld the
beautiful child with her golden hair and intelligent blue eyes, and nothing
was farther from his mind than the idea that the Sforza's betrothed would
enter the castle of the Este family at Ferrara, as his own wife, nine years
later.
The letter of thanks which the prince's father wrote to the Pope shows how
great were the honors with which the son had been received. The duke says:

Most Holy Father and Lord, my Honored Master: I kiss your Holiness's
feet and commend myself to you in all humility. What honor and praise was
due your Holiness I have long known, and now the letters of the Bishop of
Modena, my ambassador, and also of others, not alone those of my dearly
beloved first born, Alfonso, but of all the members of his suite, show how
much I owe you. They tell me how your Highness included us all, me and
mine, within the measure of your love, and overwhelmed all with presents,
favors, mercy, and benevolence on my son's arrival in Rome and during his
stay there. Therefore I acknowledge that I have for a long time been

indebted to your Holiness, and now am still more so on account of this. My
obligation is more than I can ever repay, and I promise that my gratitude
shall be eternal and measureless like the world. As your most dutiful servant
I shall always be ready to perform anything which may be acceptable to
your Holiness, to whom I recommend myself and mine in all humility. Your
Holiness's son and servant,
Ercole,
Duke of Ferrara.
[Ferrara, January 3, 1493.]

The letter shows how great was the duke's anxiety to remain on good terms
with the Pope.
He was a vassal in Ferrara of the Roman Church, which was endeavoring to
transform itself into a monarchy. The princes, as well as the republicans of
Italy,—at least those whose possessions were close to the sphere of action
of the Holy See or were its vassals,—studied every new pope with
suspicion and fear, and also with curiosity to see in what direction nepotism
would develop under him. How easily Alexander VI might have again taken
up the plans of the house of Borgia where they had been interrupted by the
death of his uncle Calixtus, and have followed in the footsteps of Sixtus IV!
Moreover, it was only ten years since the last named pope had, in
conjunction with Venice, waged war on Ferrara.
Ercole had maintained friendly relations with Alexander VI when he was
only a cardinal; Rodrigo Borgia had even been godfather to his son Alfonso
when he was baptized. For his other son, Ippolito, the duke, through his
ambassador in Rome, Gianandrea Boccaccio, endeavored to secure a
cardinal's cap. The ambassador applied to the most influential of
Alexander's confidants, Ascanio Sforza, the chamberlain Marades, and
Madonna Adriana. The Pope desired to make his son Cæsar a cardinal, and
Boccaccio hoped that the youthful Ippolito would be his companion in good
fortune. The ambassador gave Marades to understand that the two young
men, one of whom was Archbishop of Valencia, the other of Gran, would
make a good pair. "Their ages are about the same; I believe that Valencia is

not more than sixteen years old, while our Strigonia (Gran) is near that
age." Marades replied that this was not quite correct, as Ippolito was not yet
fourteen, and the Archbishop of Valencia was in his eighteenth year.[24]
The youthful Cæsar was stirred by other desires than those for spiritual
honors. He assumed the hated garb of the priest only on his father's
command. Although he was an archbishop he had only the first tonsure. His
life was wholly worldly. It was even said that the King of Naples wanted
him to marry one of his natural daughters and that if he did so he would
relinquish the priesthood. The Ferrarese ambassador called upon him March
17, 1493, in his house in Trastevere, by which was probably meant the
Borgo. The picture which Boccaccio on this occasion gave Duke Ercole of
this young man of seventeen years is an important and significant portrait,
and the first we have of him.
"I met Cæsar yesterday in the house in Trastevere; he was just on his way to
the chase, dressed in a costume altogether worldly; that is, in silk,—and
armed. He had only a little tonsure like a simple priest. I conversed with
him for a while as we rode along. I am on intimate terms with him. He
possesses marked genius and a charming personality; he bears himself like
a great prince; he is especially lively and merry, and fond of society. Being
very modest, he presents a much better and more distinguished appearance
than his brother, the Duke of Gandia, although the latter is also highly
endowed. The archbishop never had any inclination for the priesthood. His
benefices, however, bring him in more than sixteen thousand ducats
annually. If the projected marriage takes place, his benefices will fall to
another brother (Giuffrè), who is about thirteen years old."[25]
It will be seen that the ambassador specially mentions Cæsar's buoyant
nature. This was one of Alexander's most characteristic traits, and both
Cæsar and Lucretia who was noted for it later, had inherited it from him. So
far as his prudence was concerned, it was proclaimed six years later by a no
less distinguished man than Giuliano della Rovere, who afterwards became
pope under the name of Julius II.

CHURCH OF ARA CŒLI, ROME.

The Duke of Gandia was in Rome at this time, but it was his intention to set
out for Spain to see his spouse immediately after the celebration of the
marriage of Sforza and Lucretia. Lucretia's wedding was to take place on S.
George's day, but was postponed, as it was found impossible for the
bridegroom to arrive in time. Alexander took the greatest pleasure in
making the arrangements for setting up his daughter's establishment. Her
happiness—or, what to him was the same thing, her greatness—meant
much to him. He loved her passionately, superlatively, as the Ferrarese
ambassador wrote his master.[26] On the ambassador's suggestion the Duke
of Ferrara sent as a wedding gift a pair of large silver hand basins with the
accompanying vessels, all of the finest workmanship. Two residences were
proposed for the young pair; the palace of S. Maria in Portico and the one
near the castle of S. Angelo, which had belonged to the Cardinal
Domenicus Porta of Aleria, who died February 4, 1493. The former, in
which Lucretia was already living, was chosen.

At last Sforza arrived. June 9th he made his entry by way of the Porta del
Popolo, and was received by the whole senate, his brothers-in-law, and the
ambassadors of the Powers. Lucretia, attended by several maids of honor,
had taken a position in a loggia of her palace to see her bridegroom and his
suite on their way to the Vatican. As he rode by, Sforza greeted her right
gallantly, and his bride returned his salutation. He was most graciously
received by his father-in-law.
Sforza was a man of attractive appearance, as we may readily discover from
a medal which he had struck ten years later, which represents him with
long, flowing locks and a full beard. The mouth is sensitive, the under lip
slightly drawn; the nose is somewhat aquiline; the forehead smooth and
lofty. The proportions of his features are noble, but lacking in character.
Three days after his arrival, that is, June 12th, the nuptials were celebrated
in the Vatican with ostentatious publicity. Alexander had invited the
nobility, the officials of Rome, and the foreign ambassadors to be present.
There was a banquet, followed by a licentious comedy, which is described
by Infessura.
To corroborate the short account given by this Roman, and at the same time
to render the picture more complete, we reproduce, word for word, the
description which the Ferrarese ambassador, Boccaccio, sent his master in a
communication dated June 13th:

Yesterday, the twelfth of the present month, the union was publicly
celebrated in the palace, with the greatest pomp and extravagance. All the
Roman matrons were invited, also the most influential citizens, and many
cardinals, twelve in number, stood near her, the Pope occupying the throne
in their midst. The palace and all the apartments were filled with people,
who were overcome with amazement. The lord of Pesaro celebrated his
betrothal to his wife, and the Bishop of Concordia delivered a sermon. The
only ambassadors present, however, were the Venetian, the Milanese and
myself, and one from the King of France.
Cardinal Ascanio thought that I ought to present the gift during the
ceremony, so I had some one ask the Pope, to whom I remarked that I did
not think it proper, and that it seemed better to me to wait a little while. All

agreed with me, whereupon the Pope called to me and said, "It seems to me
to be best as you say"; consequently it was arranged that I should bring the
present to the palace late in the evening. His Holiness gave a small dinner in
honor of the bride and groom, and there were present the Cardinals
Ascanio, S. Anastasia, and Colonna; the bride and groom, and next to him
the Count of Pitigliano, captain of the Church; Giuliano Orsini; Madonna
Giulia Farnese, of whom there is so much talk (de qua est tantus sermo);
Madonna Teodorina and her daughter, the Marchesa of Gerazo; a daughter
of the above named captain, wife of Angelo Farnese, Madonna Giulia's
brother. Then came a younger brother of Cardinal Colonna and Madonna
Adriana Ursina. The last is mother-in-law of the above mentioned Madonna
Giulia. She had the bride educated in her own home, where she was treated
as a niece of the Pope. Adriana is the daughter of the Pope's cousin, Pedro
de Mila, deceased, with whom your Excellency was acquainted.
When the table was cleared, which was between three and four o'clock in
the morning, the bride was presented with the gift sent by the illustrious
Duke of Milan; it consisted of five different pieces of gold brocade and two
rings, a diamond and a ruby, the whole worth a thousand ducats. Thereupon
I presented your Highness's gift with suitable words of congratulation on
the marriage and good wishes for the future, together with the offer of your
services. The present greatly pleased the Pope. To the thanks of the bride
and groom he added his own expressions of unbounded gratitude. Then
Ascanio offered his present, which consisted of a complete drinking service
of silver washed with gold, worth about a thousand ducats. Cardinal
Monreale gave two rings, a sapphire and a diamond—very beautiful—and
worth three thousand ducats; the prothonotary Cesarini gave a bowl and cup
worth eight hundred ducats; the Duke of Gandia a vessel worth seventy
ducats; the prothonotary Lunate a vase of a certain composition like jasper,
ornamented with silver, gilded, which was worth seventy to eighty ducats.
These were all the gifts presented at this time; the other cardinals,
ambassadors, etc., will bring their presents when the marriage is celebrated,
and I will do whatever is necessary. It will, I think, be performed next
Sunday, but this is not certain.
In conclusion, the women danced, and, as an interlude, a good comedy was
given, with songs and music. The Pope and all the others were present.

What shall I add? There would be no end to my letter. Thus we passed the
whole night, and whether it was good or bad your Highness may decide.

CHAPTER VIII
FAMILY AFFAIRS

Lucretia's marriage with Giovanni Sforza confirmed the political alliance
which Alexander VI had made with Ludovico il Moro. The Regent of Milan
wanted to invite Charles VIII of France into Italy to make war upon King
Ferdinand of Naples, so that he himself might ultimately gain possession of
the duchy, for he was consumed with ambition and impatience to drive his
sickly nephew, Giangaleazzo, from the throne. The latter, however, was the
consort of Isabella of Aragon, a daughter of Alfonso of Calabria and the
grandson of Ferdinand himself.
The alliance of Venice, Ludovico, the Pope, and some of the other Italian
nobles had become known in Rome as early as April 25th. This league,
clearly, was opposed to Naples; and its court, therefore, was thrown into the
greatest consternation.
Nevertheless, King Ferdinand congratulated the Lord of Pesaro upon his
marriage. He looked upon him as a kinsman, and Sforza had likewise been
accepted by the house of Aragon. June 15, 1493, the king wrote to him from
Capua as follows:

Illustrious Cousin and Our Dearest Friend: We have received your letter
of the twenty-second of last month, in which you inform us of your
marriage with the illustrious Donna Lucretia, the niece of his Holiness our
Master. We are much pleased, both because we always have and still do feel
the greatest love for yourself and your house, and also because we believe
that nothing could be of greater advantage to you than this marriage.
Therefore we wish you the best of fortune, and we pray God, with you, that
this alliance may increase your own power and fame and that of your State.
[27]

Eight days earlier the same king had sent his ambassador to Spain a letter,
in which he asked the protection of Ferdinand and Isabella against the
machinations of the Pope, whose ways he described as "loathsome"; in this
he was referring, not to his political actions, but to his personal conduct.
Giulia Farnese, whom Infessura noticed among the wedding guests and
described as "the Pope's concubine," caused endless gossip about herself
and his Holiness. This young woman surrendered herself to an old man of
sixty-two whom she was also compelled to honor as the head of the Church.
There is no doubt whatever about her years of adultery, but we can not
understand the cause of her passion; for however powerful the demoniac
nature of Alexander VI may have been, it must by this time have lost much
of its magnetic strength. Perhaps this young and empty-headed creature,
after she had once transgressed and the feeling of shame had passed, was
fascinated by the spectacle of the sacred master of the world, before whom
all men prostrated themselves, lying at her feet—the feet of a weak child.
There is also the suspicion that the cupidity of the Farnese was the cause of
the criminal relations, for Giulia's sins were rewarded by nothing less than
the bestowal of the cardinal's purple on her brother Alessandro. The Pope
had already designated him, among others, for the honor, but the
nomination was delayed by the opposition of the Sacred College, over
which Giuliano della Rovere presided. King Ferdinand also encouraged this
opposition, and on the very day on which Lucretia's marriage to Pesaro was
celebrated he placed his army at the disposal of the cardinals who refused to
sanction the appointment.

Her consort, Sforza, was now a great man in Rome, and intimate with all
the Borgias. June 16th he was seen by the side of the Duke of Gandia,
decked in costly robes glittering with precious stones, as if "they were two
kings," riding out to meet the Spanish ambassador. Gandia was preparing
for his journey to Spain. He had been betrothed to Doña Maria Enriquez, a
beautiful lady of Valencia, shortly before his father ascended the papal
throne; there is a brief of Alexander's dated October 6, 1492, in which he
grants his son and his spouse the right to obtain absolution from any
confessor whatsoever. The high birth of Doña Maria shows what brilliant
connections the bastard Giovanni Borgia was able to make as a grandee of
Spain, for she was the daughter of Don Enrigo Enriquez, High-Treasurer of
Leon, and Doña Maria de Luna, who was closely connected with the royal
house of Aragon. Don Giovanni left Rome, August 4, 1493, to board a
Spanish galley in Civitavecchia. According to the report of the Ferrarese
agent, he took with him an incredible number of trinkets, with whose
manufacture the goldsmiths of Rome had busied themselves for months.
Of Alexander's sons there now remained in Rome, Cæsar, who was to be
made a cardinal, and Giuffrè, who was destined to be a prince in Naples, for
the quarrel between the Pope and King Ferdinand had been settled through
the intermediation of Spain. She caused Alexander to break with France,
and to sever his connection with Ludovico il Moro. This surprising change
was immediately confirmed by the marriage of Don Giuffrè, a boy of
scarcely thirteen, and Donna Sancia, a natural daughter of Duke Alfonso of
Calabria. August 16, 1493, the marriage was performed by proxy in the
Vatican, and the wedding took place later in Naples.
Cæsar himself became cardinal, September 20, 1493, the stain of his birth
having been removed by the Cardinals Pallavicini and Orsini, who had been
charged with legitimating him. February 25, 1493, Gianandrea Boccaccio
wrote to Ferrara regarding the legitimating of Cæsar, ironically saying,
"They wish to remove the blot of being a natural son, and very rightly;
because he is legitimate, having been born in the house while the woman's
husband was living. This much is certain: the husband was sometimes in the
city and at others traveling about in the territory of the Church and in her
interest." The ambassador, however, never mentions the name of this man,
which, however, Infessura says was Domenico d'Arignano.

Ippolito d'Este and Alessandro Farnese were made cardinals the same day.
To his sister's adultery this young libertine owed his advancement in the
Church, a fact so notorious that the wits of the Roman populace called him
the "petticoat cardinal." The jubilant kinsmen of Giulia Farnese saw in her
only the instrument of their advancement. Girolama Farnese, Giulia 's sister,
wrote to her husband, Puccio, from Casignano, October 21, 1493, "You will
have received letters from Florence before mine reaches you and have
learned what benefices have fallen to Lorenzo, and all that Giulia has
secured for him, and you will be greatly pleased."[28]
Even the Republic of Florence sought to profit by Alexander's relations with
Giulia; for Puccio, her brother-in-law, was sent to Rome as plenipotentiary.
The Florentines had despatched this famous jurist to the papal city
immediately after Alexander's accession to the throne, to swear allegiance,
and later he was her agent for a year in Faenza, where he conducted the
government for Astorre Manfredi, who was a minor. At the beginning of the
year 1494 he went as ambassador to Rome, where he died in August.[29]
His brother, Lorenzo Pucci, subsequently attained to eminence in the
Church under Leo X, becoming a powerful cardinal.
The Farnese and their numerous kin were now in high favor with the Pope
and all the Borgias. In October, 1493, they invited Alexander and Cæsar to
a family reunion at the castle of Capodimonte, where Madonna Giovanella,
Giulia's mother, was to prepare a banquet. Whether or not this really took
place we are ignorant, although we do know that Alexander was in Viterbo
the last of October.
In 1492 Giulia gave birth to a daughter, who was named Laura. The child
officially passed as that of her husband, Orsini, although in reality the Pope
was its father. The Farnese and the Pucci knew the secret and shamelessly
endeavored to profit by it. Giulia cared so little for the world's opinion that
she occupied the palace of S. Maria in Portico, as if she were a blood
relation of Lucretia. Alexander himself had put her there as a lady of honor
to his daughter. Her husband, Orsini, preferred, or was compelled, to live in
his castle of Bassanello, or to stay on one of the estates which the Pope had
presented to him, the husband of Madonna Giulia, "Christ's bride," as the

satirists called her, instead of remaining in Rome to be a troublesome
witness of his shame.
A remarkable letter of Lorenzo Pucci to his brother Giannozzo, written the
23d and 24th of December, 1493, from Rome, discloses these and other
family secrets. He shows us the most private scenes in Lucretia's palace.
Lorenzo had been invited by Cardinal Farnese to go with him to Rome to
witness the Christmas festivities. He accompanied him from Viterbo to
Rignano, where the barons of the Savelli house, kinsmen of the cardinal,
formally received them, after which they continued their journey on
horseback to Rome. Lorenzo repeated to his brother the confidential
conversation which he had enjoyed with the cardinal on the way. Even as
early as this there was talk of finding a suitable husband for Giulia's little
daughter. The cardinal unfolded his idea to Lorenzo. Piero de' Medici
wished to give his own daughter to the youthful Astorre Manfredi of
Faenza, but Farnese desired to bring about an alliance between Astorre and
Giulia's daughter. He hoped to be able to convince Piero that this union
would be advantageous for both himself and the Republic of Florence, and
would strengthen his relations with the Holy See. The affair would be
handled so that it would appear that it was entirely due to the wishes of the
Pope and of Piero. In this the cardinal counted on the consent of both
Alexander and Giulia, and on the influence of Madonna Adriana.
Lorenzo Pucci replied to the cardinal's confidence as follows: "Monsignor, I
certainly think that our Master (the Pope) will give a daughter to this
gentleman (Astorre), for I believe that this child is the Pope's daughter, just
as Lucretia is, and your Highness's niece."[30] In his letter Lorenzo does not
say whether the cardinal made any reply to this audacious statement, which
would have brought a blush to the face of any honorable man. Probably it
only caused Alessandro Farnese a little smile of assent. The bold Pucci
repeated his opinion in the same letter, saying, "She is the child of the Pope,
the niece of the cardinal, and the putative daughter of Signor Orsini, to
whom our Master intends to give three or four more castles near Bassanello.
In addition, the cardinal says that in case his brother Angelo remains
without heir, this child will inherit his property, as she is very dear to him,
and he is already thinking of this; and by this means the illustrious Piero
will obtain the support of the cardinal, who will be under everlasting
obligations to him." Lorenzo did not overlook himself in these schemes; he

openly expressed the wish that his brother Puccio would come to Rome—as
ambassador of the Republic, which he did—and that he might secure
through the influence of Madonna Adriana and Giulia a number of good
places.
Lorenzo continued his letter December 24th, describing a scene in
Lucretia's palace, and his narrative shows her, and especially Giulia, as
plainly as if they stood before us.

Giannozzo Mine: Yesterday evening I wrote you as above. To-day, which is
Easter evening, I rode with Monsignor Farnese to the papal palace to
vespers, and before his Eminence entered the chapel I called at the house S.
Maria in Portico to see Madonna Giulia. She had just finished washing her
hair when I entered; she was sitting by the fire with Madonna Lucretia, the
daughter of our Master, and Madonna Adriana, and they all received me
with great cordiality. Madonna Giulia asked me to sit by her side; she
thanked me for having taken Jeronima (Girolama) home, and said to me
that I must, by all means, bring her there again to please her. Madonna
Adriana asked, 'Is it true that she is not allowed to come here any more than
she was permitted to go to Capodimonte and Marta?' I replied that I knew
nothing about that, and it was enough for me if I had made Madonna Giulia
happy by taking her home, for in her letters she had requested me to do so,
and now they could do as they pleased. I wanted to leave it to Madonna
Giulia, who was alive to all her opportunities, to meet her as she saw fit, as
she wanted her to see her magnificence just as much as Jeronima
(Girolama) herself wanted to see it. Thereupon Madonna Giulia thanked me
warmly and said I had made her very happy. I then reminded her how
greatly I was beholden to her Highness by what she had done for me, and
that I could not show my gratitude better than by taking Madonna Jeronima
(Girolama) home. She answered that such a trifle deserved no thanks. She
hopes to be of still greater help to me, and says I shall find her so at the
right time. Madonna Adriana joined in saying I might be certain that it was
through neither the chancellor, Messer Antonio, nor his deputy, but owing
to the favor of Madonna Giulia herself, that I had obtained the benefices.
In order not to contradict, I replied that I knew that, and I again thanked her
Highness. Thereupon Madonna Giulia asked with much interest after

Messer Puccio and said, "We will see to it that some day he will come here
as ambassador; and although, when he was here, we, in spite of all our
endeavors, were unable to effect it, we could now accomplish it without any
difficulty." She assured me also that the cardinal had mentioned to her the
previous evening the matter we had discussed on the road, and she urged
me to write; she thought if the affair were handled by yourself, the
illustrious Piero would be favorably disposed toward it. Thus far has the
matter progressed. Giulia also wanted me to see the child; she is now well
grown, and, it seems to me, resembles the Pope, adeo ut vere ex ejus semine
orta dici possit. Madonna Giulia has grown somewhat stouter and is a most
beautiful creature. She let down her hair before me and had it dressed; it
reached down to her feet; never have I seen anything like it; she has the
most beautiful hair. She wore a head-dress of fine linen, and over it a sort of
net, light as air, with gold threads interwoven in it. In truth it shone like the
sun! I would have given a great deal if you could have been present to have
informed yourself concerning that which you have often wanted to know.
She wore a lined robe in the Neapolitan fashion, as did also Madonna
Lucretia, who, after a little while, went out to remove it. She returned
shortly in a gown almost entirely of violet velvet. When vespers were over
and the cardinals were departing, I left them.

The close association with Giulia, to whose adulterous relations with her
father Lucretia was the daily witness, if not a school of vice for her, at least
must have kept her constantly in contact with it. Could a young creature of
only fourteen years remain pure in such an atmosphere? Must not the
immorality in the midst of which she was forced to live have poisoned her
senses, dulled her ideas of morality and virtue, and finally have penetrated
her own character?

CHAPTER IX
LUCRETIA LEAVES ROME

By the end of the year 1493 Alexander had amply provided for all his
children. Cæsar was a cardinal, Giovanni was a duke in Spain, and Giuffrè
was soon to become a Neapolitan prince. The last, the Pope's youngest son,
was united in marriage, May 7, 1494, in Naples, to Donna Sancia the same
day on which his father-in-law, Alfonso, ascending the throne as the
successor of King Ferdinand, was crowned by the papal legate, Giovanni
Borgia. Don Giuffrè remained in Naples and became Prince of Squillace.
Giovanni also received great fiefs in that kingdom, where he called himself
Duke of Suessa and Prince of Teano.
For some time longer Lucretia's spouse remained in Rome, where the Pope
had taken him into his pay in accordance with an agreement with Ludovico
il Moro under whom Sforza served. His position at Alexander's court,
however, soon became ambiguous. His uncles had married him to Lucretia
to make the Pope a confederate and accomplice in their schemes which
were directed toward the overthrow of the reigning family of Naples.
Alexander, however, clung closely to the Aragonese dynasty; he invested
King Alfonso with the title to the kingdom of Naples, and declared himself
opposed to the expedition of Charles VIII.
Sforza thereby was thrown into no slight perplexity, and early in April,
1494, he informed his uncle Ludovico of his dubious position in the
following letter:

Yesterday his Holiness said to me in the presence of Monsignor (Cardinal
Ascanio), "Well, Giovanni Sforza! What have you to say to me?" I
answered, "Holy Father, every one in Rome believes that your Holiness has
entered into an agreement with the King of Naples, who is an enemy of the
State of Milan. If this is so, I am in an awkward position, as I am in the pay
of your Holiness and also in that of the State I have named. If things

continue as they are, I do not know how I can serve one party without
falling out with the other, and at the same time I do not wish to offend. I ask
that your Holiness may be pleased to define my position so that I may not
become an enemy of my own blood, and not act contrary to the obligations
into which I have entered by virtue of my agreement with your Holiness
and the illustrious State of Milan." He replied, saying that I took too much
interest in his affairs, and that I should choose in whose pay I would remain
according to my contract. And then he commanded the above-named
monsignor to write to your Excellency what you will learn from his
lordship's letter. My lord, if I had foreseen in what a position I was to be
placed I would sooner have eaten the straw under my body than have
entered into such an agreement. I cast myself in your arms. I beg your
Excellency not to desert me, but to give me help, favor, and advice how to
resolve the difficulty in which I am placed, so that I may remain a good
servant of your Excellency. Preserve for me the position and the little nest
which, thanks to the mercy of Milan, my ancestors left me, and I and my
men of war will ever remain at the service of your Excellency.
Giovanni Sforza.
Rome, April, 1494.

The letter plainly discloses other and deeper concerns of the writer; such,
for example, as the future possession of his domain of Pesaro. The Pope's
plans to destroy all the little tyrannies and fiefs in the States of the Church
had already been clearly revealed.[31]
Shortly after this, April 23d, Cardinal della Rovere slipped away from Ostia
and into France to urge Charles VIII to invade Italy, not to attack Naples,
but to bring this simoniacal pope before a council and depose him.
At the beginning of July Ascanio Sforza, now openly at strife with
Alexander, also left the city. He went to Genazzano and joined the Colonna,
who were in the pay of France. Charles VIII was already preparing to
invade Italy. The Pope and King Alfonso met at Vicovaro near Tivoli, July
14th.

In the meantime important changes had taken place in Lucretia's palace.
Her husband had hurriedly left Rome, as he could do as a captain of the
Church, in which capacity he had to join the Neapolitan army, now being
formed in Romagna under the command of the Duke Ferrante of Calabria.
By his nuptial contract he was bound to take his bride with him to Pesaro.
She was accompanied by her mother, Vannozza, Giulia Farnese, and
Madonna Adriana. Alexander himself, through fear of the plague, which
had appeared, commanded them to depart. The Mantuan ambassador in
Rome reported this to the Marchese Gonzaga, May 6th, and also wrote him
on the fifteenth as follows: "The illustrious Lord Giovanni will certainly set
out Monday or Tuesday accompanied by all three ladies, who, by the Pope's
order, will remain in Pesaro until August, when they will return."[32]
Sforza's departure must have taken place early in June, for on the eleventh
of that month a letter from Ascanio was sent to his brother in Milan
informing him that the lord of Pesaro with his wife and Madonna Giulia,
the Pope's mistress, together with the mother of the Duke of Gandia, and
Giuffrè, had set out from Rome for Pesaro, and that his Holiness had
begged Madonna Giulia to come back soon.[33]
Alexander had returned to Rome from Vicovaro, July 18th, and on the 24th
he wrote his daughter the following letter:

Alexander VI, Pope; by his own hand.
Donna Lucretia, Dearest Daughter: For several days we have had no
letter from you. Your neglect to write us often and tell us how you and Don
Giovanni, our beloved son, are, causes us great surprise. In future be more
heedful and more diligent. Madonna Adriana and Giulia have reached
Capodimonte, where they found the latter's brother dead. His death caused
the cardinal and Giulia such distress that both fell sick of the fever. We have
sent Pietro Caranza to look after them, and have provided physicians and
everything necessary. We pray to God and the glorious Madonna that they
will soon be restored. Of a truth Don Giovanni and yourself have displayed
very little thought for me in this departure of Madonna Adriana and Giulia,
since you allowed them to leave without our permission; for you should
have remembered—it was your duty—that such a sudden departure without

our knowledge would cause us the greatest displeasure. And if you say that
they did so because Cardinal Farnese commanded it, you ought to have
asked yourself whether it would please the Pope. However, it is done; but
another time we will be more careful, and will look about to see where our
interest lies. We are, thanks to God and the glorious Virgin, very well. We
have had an interview with the illustrious King Alfonso, who showed us no
less love and obedience than he would have shown had he been our own
son. I cannot tell you with what satisfaction and contentment we took leave
of each other. You may be certain that his Majesty stands ready to place his
own person and every thing he has in the world at our service.
We hope that all differences and quarrels in regard to the Colonna will be
completely laid aside in three or four days. At present I have nothing more
to say than to warn you to be careful of your health and constantly to pray
to the Madonna. Given in Rome in S. Peter's, July 24, 1494.[34]

This letter is the first of the few extant written by Alexander to his daughter.
His reproof was due to the sudden departure of his mistress—contrary to his
original instructions—from Pesaro before August. From there Giulia went
to Capodimonte to look after her sick brother Angiolo. According to a
Venetian letter written by Marino Sanuto, she had left Rome chiefly for the
purpose of attending the wedding of one of her kinsmen, and the writer
describes her in this place as "the Pope's favorite, a young woman of great
beauty and understanding, gracious and gentle."
Alexander's letter shows us that his mistress remained in communication
with him after her departure from Rome.

CHAPTER X
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF PESARO

The storm which suddenly broke upon Alexander did not disturb Lucretia,
for on the eighth of June, 1494, she and her spouse entered Pesaro. In a
pouring rain, which interrupted the reception festivities, she took possession
of the palace of the Sforza, which was now to be her home.
The history of Pesaro up to that time is briefly as follows:
Ancient Pisaurum, which was founded by the Siculi, received its name from
the river which empties into the sea not far from the city, and which is now
known as the Foglia. In the year 570 of Rome the city became a Roman
colony. From the time of Augustus it belonged to the fourth department of
Italy, and from the time of Constantine to the province of Flaminia. After
the fall of the Roman Empire it suffered the fate of all the Italian cities,
especially in the great war of the Goths with the Eastern emperor. Vitiges
destroyed it; Belisarius restored it.
After the fall of the Gothic power, Pesaro was incorporated in the
Exarchate, and together with four other cities on the Adriatic—Ancona,
Fano, Sinigaglia, and Rimini—constituted the Pentapolis. When Ravenna
fell into the hands of the Lombard King Aistulf, Pesaro also became
Lombard; but later, by the deed of Pipin and Charles, it passed into the
possession of the Pope.
The subsequent history of the city is interwoven with that of the Empire, the
Church and the March of Ancona. For a long time imperial counts resided
there. Innocent III invested its title in Azzo d'Este, the Lord of the March.
During the struggles of the Hohenstaufen with the papacy it first was in the
possession of the emperor and later in that of the Pope, who held it until the
end of the thirteenth century, when the Malatesta became podestas, and
subsequently lords of the city. This famous Guelph family from the castle of
Verrucchio, which lies between Rimini and S. Marino, fell heir to the
fortress of Gradara, in the territory of Pesaro, and by degrees extended its

power in the direction of Ancona. In 1285 Gianciotto Malatesta became
lord of Pesaro, and on his death, in 1304, his brother Pandolfo inherited his
domain.
From that time the Malatesta, lords of nearby Rimini, controlled not only
Pesaro, but a large part of the March which they appropriated to themselves
when the papacy was removed to Avignon. They secured themselves in the
possession of Rimini, Pesaro, Fano, and Fossombrone by an agreement
made during the life of the famous Gil d'Albornoz, confirming them in their
position there as vicars of the Church. A branch of this house resided in
Pesaro until the time of Galeazzo Malatesta. Threatened by his kinsman
Sigismondo, the tyrant of Rimini, and unable to hold Pesaro against his
attack, he sold the city in 1445 for twenty thousand gold florins to Count
Francesco Sforza, and the latter gave it as a fief to his brother Alessandro,
the husband of a niece of Galeazzo. Sforza was the great condottiere who,
after the departure of the Visconti, ascended the throne of Milan as the first
duke of his house. While he was there establishing the ducal line of Sforza,
his brother Alessandro became the founder of the ruling house of Pesaro.
This brave captain took possession of Pesaro in March, 1445; two years
later he received the papal investiture of the fief. He was married to
Costanza Varano, one of the most beautiful and intellectual women of the
Italian Renaissance.
To him she bore Costanzo and also a daughter, Battista, who later, as the
wife of Federico of Urbino, won universal admiration by her virtues and
talents. The neighboring courts of Pesaro and Urbino were connected by
marriage, and they vied with each other in fostering the arts and sciences.
Another illegitimate daughter of Alessandro's was Ginevra Sforza—a
woman no less admired in her day—celebrated, first as the wife of Sante
and then as that of Giovanni Bentivoglio, Lord of Bologna.
After the death of his wife, Alessandro Sforza married Sveva Montefeltre, a
daughter of Guidantonio of Urbino. After a happy reign he died April 3,
1473, leaving his possessions to his son.
A year later Costanzo Sforza married Camilla Marzana d'Aragona, a
beautiful and spirituelle princess of the royal house of Naples. He himself
was brilliant and liberal. He died in 1483, when only thirty-six, leaving no

legitimate heirs, his sons Giovanni and Galeazzo being natural children. His
widow Camilla thenceforth conducted the government of Pesaro for herself
and her stepson Giovanni until November, 1489, when she compelled him
to assume entire control of it.
Such was the history of the Sforza family of Pesaro, into which Lucretia
now entered as the wife of this same Giovanni.
The domain of the Sforza at that time embraced the city of Pesaro and a
number of smaller possessions, called castles or villas; for example, S.
Angelo in Lizzola, Candelara, Montebaroccio, Tomba di Pesaro,
Montelabbate, Gradara, Monte S. Maria, Novilara, Fiorenzuola, Castel di
Mezzo, Ginestreto, Gabicce, Monteciccardo, and Monte Gaudio. In
addition, Fossombrone was taken by the Sforzas from the Malatesta.
The principality belonged, as we have seen, for a long time to the Church,
then to the Malatesta, and later to the Sforza, who, under the title of vicars,
held it as a hereditary fief, paying the Church annually seven hundred and
fifty gold ducats. The daughter of a Roman pontiff must, therefore, have
been the most acceptable consort the tyrant of Pesaro could have secured
under the existing circumstances, especially as the popes were striving to
destroy all the illegitimate powers in the States of the Church. When
Lucretia saw how small and unimportant was her little kingdom, she must
have felt that she did not rank with the women of Urbino, Ferrara, and
Mantua, or with those of Milan and Bologna; but she, by the authority of
the Pope, her own father, had become an independent princess, and,
although her territory embraced only a few square miles, to Italy it was a
costly bit of ground.
Pesaro lies free and exposed in a wide valley. A chain of green hills sweeps
half around it like the seats in a theater, and the sea forms the stage. At the
ends of the semicircle are two mountains, Monte Accio and Ardizio. The
Foglia River flows through the valley. On its right bank lies the hospitable
little city with its towers and walls, and its fortress on the white seashore.
Northward, in the direction of Rimini, the mountains approach nearer the
water, while to the south the shore is broader, and there, rising out of the
mists of the sea, are the towers of Fano. A little farther Cape Ancona is
visible.

The sunny hills and their smiling valley under the blue canopy of heaven,
and near the shimmering sea, form a picture of entrancing loveliness. It is
the most peaceful spot on the Adriatic. It seems as if the breezes from sea
and land wafted a lyric harmony over the valley, expanding the heart and
filling the soul with visions of beauty and happiness. Pesaro is the
birthplace of Rosini, and also of Terenzio Mamiani, the brilliant poet and
statesman who devoted his great talents to the regeneration of Italy.
The passions of the tyrants of this city were less ferocious than were those
of the other dynasties of that age, perhaps because their domain was too
small a stage for the dark deeds inspired by inordinate ambition—although
the human spirit does not always develop in harmony with the influences of
nature. One of the most hideous of evil doers was Sigismondo Malatesta of
mild and beautiful Rimini. The Sforzas of Pesaro, however, seem generous
and humane rulers in comparison with their cousins of Milan. Their court
was adorned by a number of noble women whom Lucretia may have felt it
her duty to imitate.
If, when Lucretia entered Pesaro, her soul—young as she was—was not
already dead to all agreeable sensations, she must have enjoyed for the first
time the blessed sense of freedom. To her, gloomy Rome, with the dismal
Vatican and its passions and crimes, must have seemed like a prison from
which she had escaped. It is true everything about her in Pesaro was small
when compared with the greatness of Rome, but here she was removed
from the direct influence of her father and brother, from whom she was
separated by the Apennines and a distance which, in that age, was great.
The city of Pesaro, which now has more than twelve thousand, and with its
adjacent territory over twenty thousand inhabitants had then about half as
many. It had streets and squares with substantial specimens of Gothic
architecture, interspersed, however, even then, with numerous palaces in the
style of the Renaissance. A number of cloisters and churches, whose ancient
portals are still preserved, such as S. Domenico, S. Francesco, S. Agostino,
and S. Giovanni, rendered the city imposing if not beautiful.
Pesaro's most important structures were the monuments of the ruling
dynasty, the stronghold on the seashore and the palace facing the public
square. The last was begun by Costanzo Sforza in 1474 and was completed

by his son Giovanni. Even to-day his name may be seen on the marble
tablet over the entrance. The castle with its four low, round towers or
bastions, all in ruin, and surrounded by a moat, stands at the end of the city
wall near the sea, and whatever strength it had was due to its environment;
in spite of its situation it appears so insignificant that one wonders how,
even in those days when the science of gunnery was in its infancy, it could
have had any value as a fortress.
The Sforza palace is still standing on the little public square of which it
occupies one whole side. It is an attractive, but not imposing structure with
two large courts. The Della Rovere, successors of the Sforza in Pesaro,
beautified it during the sixteenth century; they built the noble façade which
rests upon a series of six round arches. The Sforza arms have disappeared
from the palace, but in many places over the portals and on the ceilings the
inscription of Guidobaldus II, duke, and the Della Rovere arms may be
seen. Even in Lucretia's day the magnificent banquet hall—the most
beautiful room in the palace—was in existence, and its size made it worthy
of a great monarch. The lack of decorations on the walls and of marble
casings to the doors, like those in the castle of Urbino, which fill the
beholder with wonder, show how limited were the means of the ruling
dynasty of Pesaro. The rich ceiling of the salon, made of gilded and painted
woodwork, dates from the reign of Duke Guidobaldo. All mementos of the
time when Lucretia occupied the palace have disappeared; it is animated by
other memories—of the subsequent court life of the Della Rovere family,
when Bembo, Castiglione, and Tasso frequently were guests there. Lucretia
and the suite that accompanied her could not have filled the wide rooms of
the palace; her mother, Madonna Adriana, and Giulia Farnese remained
with her only a short time. A young Spanish woman in her retinue, Doña
Lucretia Lopez, a niece of Juan Lopez, chancellor and afterward cardinal,
was married in Pesaro to Gianfrancesco Ardizio, the physician and
confidant of Giovanni Sforza.
In the palace there were few kinsmen of her husband besides his younger
brother Galeazzo, for the dynasty was not fruitful and was dying out. Even
Camilla d'Aragona, Giovanni's stepmother, was not there, for she had left
Pesaro for good in 1489, taking up her residence in a castle near Parma.

In summer the beautiful landscape must have afforded the young princess
much delight. She doubtless visited the neighboring castle of Urbino, where
Guidobaldo di Montefetre and his spouse Elisabetta resided, and which the
accomplished Federico had made an asylum for the cultivated. At that time
Raphael, a boy of twelve, was living in Urbino, a diligent pupil in his
father's school.

TASSO.
From an engraving by Raffaelle Morghen.

In summer Lucretia removed to one of the beautiful villas on a neighboring
hill. Her husband's favorite abode was Gradara, a lofty castle overlooking
the road to Rimini, whose red walls and towers are still standing in good
preservation. The most magnificent country place, however, was the Villa

Imperiale, which is a half hour's journey from Pesaro, on Monte Accio,
whence it looks down far over the land and sea. It is a splendid summer
palace worthy of a great lord and of people of leisure, capable of enjoying
the amenities of life. It was built by Alessandro Sforza in the year 1464, its
corner-stone having been laid by the Emperor Frederic III when he was
returning from his coronation as Emperor of Rome; hence it received the
name Villa Imperiale. It was enlarged later by Eleonora Gonzaga, the wife
of Francesco Maria della Rovere, the heir of Urbino, and Giovanni Sforza's
successor in the dominion of Pesaro. Famous painters decorated it with
allegoric and historical pictures; Bembo and Bernardo Tasso sang of it in
melodious numbers, and there, in the presence of the Della Rovere court,
Torquato read his pastoral Aminta. This villa is now in a deplorable state of
decay. Pesaro offered but little in the way of entertainment for a young
woman accustomed to the society of Rome. The city had no nobility of
importance. The houses of Brizi, of Ondedei, of Giontini, Magistri, Lana,
and Ardizi, in their patriarchal existence, could offer Lucretia no
compensation for the inspiring intercourse with the grandees of Rome. It is
true the wave of culture which, thanks to the humanists, was sweeping over
Italy did reach Pesaro. The manufacture of majolica, which, in its
perfection, was not an unworthy successor of the pottery of Greece and
Etruria, flourished there and in the neighboring cities on the Adriatic, and as
far as Umbria. It had reached a considerable development in the time of the
Sforza. One of the oldest pieces of majolica in the Correro Museum in
Venice, Solomon worshiping the idol, bears the date 1482. As early as the
fourteenth century this art was cultivated in Pesaro, and it was in a very
nourishing condition during the reign of Camilla d'Aragona. There are still
some remains of the productions of the old craftsmen of the city in the
State-house of Pesaro.
There, too, the intellectual movement manifested itself in other fields,
fostered by the Sforza or their wives, in emulation of Urbino and Rimini,
where Sigismondo Malatesta gathered about him poets and scholars whom
he pensioned during their lives, and for whom, when dead, he built
sarcophagi about the outer wall of the church. Camilla interested herself
especially in the cultivation of the sciences. In 1489 she invited a noble
Greek, Giorgio Diplovatazio, of Corfu, a kinsman of the Laskaris and the
Vatazes, who, fleeing from the Turks, had come to Italy, and taken up his

abode in Pesaro, where were living other Greek exiles of the Angeli,
Komnenen, and Paleologue families. Diplovatazio had studied in Padua.
Giovanni Sforza made him state's advocate of Pesaro in 1492, and he
enjoyed a brilliant reputation as a jurisprudent until his death in 1541.[35]
Lucretia, consequently, found this illustrious man in Pesaro and might have
continued her studies under him and other natives of Greece if she was so
disposed. A library, which the Sforzas had collected, provided her with the
means for this end. Another scholar, however, no less famous, Pandolfo
Collenuccio, a poet, orator, and philologist, best known by his history of
Naples, had left Pesaro before Lucretia took up her abode there. He had
served the house of Sforza as secretary and in a diplomatic capacity, and to
his eloquence Lucretia's husband, Costanzo's bastard, owed his investiture
of the fief of Pesaro by Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII. Collenuccio, however,
fell under his displeasure and was cast into prison in 1488 and subsequently
banished, when he went to Ferrara, where he devoted his services to the
reigning family. He accompanied Cardinal Ippolito to Rome, and here we
find him in 1494 when Lucretia was about to take up her residence in
Pesaro. In Rome she may have made the acquaintance of this scholar.[36]
Nor was the young poet Guido Posthumus Silvester in Pesaro during her
time, for he was then a student in Padua. Lucretia must have regretted the
absence from her court of this soulful and aspiring poet, and her charming
personality might have served him for an inspiration for verses quite
different from those which he later addressed to the Borgias.
Sforza's beautiful consort was received with open arms in Pesaro, where she
immediately made many friends. She was in the first charm of her youthful
bloom, and fate had not yet brought the trouble into her life which
subsequently made her the object either of horror or of pity. If she enjoyed
any real love in her married life with Sforza she would have passed her
days in Pesaro as happily as the queen of a pastoral comedy. But this was
denied her. The dark shadows of the Vatican reached even to the Villa
Imperiale on Monte Accio. Any day a despatch from her father might
summon her back to Rome. Her stay in Pesaro may also have become too
monotonous, too empty for her; perhaps, also, her husband's position as
condottiere in the papal army and in that of Venice compelled him often to
be away from his court.

Events which in the meantime had convulsed Italy took Lucretia back to
Rome, she having spent but a single year in Pesaro.

CHAPTER XI
THE INVASION OF ITALY—THE PROFLIGATE WORLD

Early in September, 1494, Charles VIII marched into Piedmont, and the
affairs of all Italy suffered an immediate change. The Pope and his allies
Alfonso and Piero de' Medici found themselves almost defenseless in a
short time. As early as November 17th the King entered Florence.
Alexander was anxious to meet him with his own and the Neapolitan troops
at Viterbo, where Cardinal Farnese was legate; but the French overran the
Patrimonium without hindrance, and even the Pope's mistress, her sister
Girolama, and Madonna Adriana, who were Alexander's "heart and eyes,"
fell into the hands of a body of French scouts.
The Mantuan agent, Brognolo, informed his master of this event in a
despatch dated November 29, 1494: "A calamity has happened which is
also a great insult to the Pope. Day before yesterday Madonna Hadriana and
Madonna Giulia and her sister set out from their castle of Capodimonte to
go to their brother the cardinal, in Viterbo, and, when about a mile from that
place, they met a troop of French cavalry by whom they were taken
prisoners, and led to Montefiascone, together with their suite of twenty-five
or thirty persons."
The French captain who made this precious capture was Monseigneur
d'Allegre, perhaps the same Ivo who subsequently entered the service of
Cæsar. "When he learned who the beautiful women were he placed their
ransom at three thousand ducats, and in a letter informed King Charles
whom he had captured, but the latter refused to see them. Madonna Giulia
wrote to Rome saying they were well treated, and asking that their ransom
be sent."[37]

CHARLES VIII.
From an engraving by Pannier.

The knowledge of this catastrophe caused Alexander the greatest dismay.
He immediately despatched a chamberlain to Marino, where Cardinal
Ascanio was to be found in the headquarters of the Colonna, and who, on
his urgent request, had returned November 2d, and had had an interview
with King Charles. He complained to the cardinal of the indignity which
had been put upon him, and asked his cooperation to secure the release of

the prisoners. He also wrote to Galeazzo of Sanseverino, who was
accompanying the king to Siena, and who, wishing to please the Pope,
urged Charles VIII to release the ladies. Accompanied by an escort of four
hundred of the French, they were led to the gates of Rome, where they were
received December 1st by Juan Marades, the Pope's chamberlain.[38]
This romantic adventure caused a sensation throughout all Italy. The people,
instead of sympathizing with the Pope, ridiculed him mercilessly. A letter
from Trotti, the Ferrarese ambassador at the court of Milan, to Duke Ercole,
quotes the words which Ludovico il Moro, the usurper of the throne of his
nephew, whom he had poisoned, uttered on this occasion concerning the
Pope.
"He (Ludovico) gravely reproved Monsignor Ascanio and Cardinal
Sanseverino for surrendering Madonna Giulia, Madonna Adriana, and
Hieronyma to his Holiness; for, since these ladies were the 'heart and eyes'
of the Pope, they would have been the best whip for compelling him to do
everything which was wanted of him, for he could not live without them.
The French, who captured them, received only three thousand ducats as
ransom, although the Pope would gladly have paid fifty thousand or more
simply to have them back again. The same duke received news from Rome,
and also from Angelo in Florence, that when the ladies entered, his Holiness
went to meet them arrayed in a black doublet bordered with gold brocade,
with a beautiful belt in the Spanish fashion, and with sword and dagger. He
wore Spanish boots and a velvet biretta, all very gallant. The duke asked
me, laughing, what I thought of it, and I told him that, were I the Duke of
Milan, like him, I would endeavor, with the aid of the King of France and in
every other way—and on the pretext of establishing peace—to entrap his
Holiness, and with fair words, such as he himself was in the habit of using,
to take him and the cardinals prisoners, which would be very easy. He who
has the servant, as we say at home, has also the wagon and the oxen; and I
reminded him of the verse of Catullus: 'Tu quoque fac simile: ars deluditur
arte.'"[39]
Ludovico, the worthy contemporary of the Borgias, once an intimate friend
of Alexander VI, hated the Pope when he turned his face away from him
and France, and he was especially embittered by the treacherous capture of
his brother Ascanio. December 28th the same ambassador wrote to Ercole,

"The Duke Ludovico told me that he was hourly expecting the arrival of
Messer Bartolomeo da Calco with a courier bringing the news that the Pope
was taken and beheaded."[40] I leave it to the reader to decide whether
Ludovico, simply owing to his hatred of the Pope, was slandering him and
indulging in extravagances concerning him when he had this conversation
with Trotti, and also when he publicly stated to his senate that "the Pope
had allowed three women to come to him; one of them being a nun of
Valencia, the other a Castilian, the third a very beautiful girl from Venice,
fifteen or sixteen years of age." "Here in Milan," continued Trotti in his
despatch, "the same scandalous things are related of the Pope as are told in
Ferrara of the Torta."[41]
Elsewhere we may read how Charles VIII, victorious without the trouble of
winning battles, penetrated as far as Rome and Naples. His march through
Italy is the most humiliating of all the invasions which the peninsula
suffered; but it shows that when states and peoples are ready for
destruction, the strength of a weak-headed boy is sufficient to bring about
their ruin. The Pope outwitted the French monarch, who, instead of having
him deposed by a council, fell on his knees before him, acknowledged him
to be Christ's vicar, and concluded a treaty with him.
After this he set out for Naples, which shortly fell into his hands. Italy rose,
a league against Charles VIII was formed, and he was compelled to return.
Alexander fled before him, first in the direction of Orvieto, and then toward
Perugia. While there he summoned Giovanni Sforza, who arrived with his
wife, June 16, 1495, remained four days, and then went back to Pesaro.[42]
The King of France succeeded in breaking his way through the League's
army at the battle of the Taro, and thus honorably escaped death or capture.
Having returned to Rome, Alexander established himself still more firmly
in the holy chair, about which he gathered his ambitious bastards, while the
Borgias pushed themselves forward all the more audaciously because the
confusion occasioned in the affairs of Italy by the invasion of Charles VIII
made it all the easier for them to carry out their intentions.
Lucretia remained a little longer in Pesaro with her husband, whom Venice
had engaged in the interests of the League. Giovanni Sforza, however, does
not appear to have been present either at the battle of the Taro or at the siege

of Novara. When peace was declared in October, 1495, between France and
the Duke of Milan, whereby the war came to an end in Northern Italy,
Sforza was able to take his wife back to Rome. Marino Sanuto speaks of her
as having been in that city at the end of October, and Burchard gives us a
picture of Lucretia at the Christmas festivities.
While in the service of the League Sforza commanded three hundred foot
soldiers and one hundred heavy horse. With these troops he set out for
Naples in the spring of the following year, when the united forces lent the
young King Ferrante II great assistance in the conflicts with the French
troops under Montpensier. Even the Captain-general of Venice, the
Marchese of Mantua, was there, and he entered Rome, March 26, 1496.
Sforza with his mercenaries arrived in Rome, April 15th, only to leave the
city again April 28th. His wife remained behind. May 4th he reached Fundi.
[43]

Alexander's two sons, Don Giovanni and Don Giuffrè, were still away from
Rome. One, the Duke of Gandia, was also in the pay of Venice, and was
expected from Spain to take command of four hundred men which his
lieutenant, Alovisio Bacheto, had enlisted for him. The other, Don Giuffrè,
had, as we have seen, gone to Naples in 1494, where he had married Donna
Sancia and had been made Prince of Squillace. As a member of the house of
Aragon he shared the dangers of the declining dynasty in the hope of
inducing the Pope not to abandon it. He accompanied King Ferrante on his
flight, and also followed his standard when, after the retreat of Charles VIII,
he, with the help of Spain, Venice, and the Pope, again secured possession
of his kingdom, entering Naples in the summer of 1495.
Not until the following year did Don Giuffrè and his wife come to Rome. In
royal state they entered the Eternal City, May 20, 1496. The ambassadors,
cardinals, officers of the city, and numerous nobles went to meet them at the
Lateran gate. Lucretia also was there with her suite. The young couple were
escorted to the Vatican. The Pope on his throne, surrounded by eleven
cardinals, received his son and daughter-in-law. On his right hand he had
Lucretia and on his left Sancia, sitting on cushions. It was Whitsuntide, and
the two princesses and their suites boldly occupied the priests' benches in S.
Peter's, and, according to Burchard, the populace was greatly shocked.

Three months later, August 10, 1496, Alexander's eldest son, Don Giovanni,
Duke of Gandia, entered Rome, where he remained, his father having
determined to make him a great prince.[44] It is not related whether he
brought his wife, Donna Maria, with him.
For the first time Alexander had all his children about him, and in the Borgo
of the Vatican there were no less than three nepot-courts. Giovanni resided
in the Vatican, Lucretia in the palace of S. Maria in Portico, Giuffrè in the
house of the Cardinal of Aleria near the Bridge of S. Angelo, and Cæsar in
the same Borgo.
They all were pleasure-loving upstarts who were consumed with a desire
for honors and power; all were young and beautiful; except Lucretia, all
were vicious, graceful, seductive scoundrels, and, as such, among the most
charming and attractive figures in the society of old Rome. For only the
narrowest observer, blind to everything but their infamous deeds, can paint
the Borgias simply as savage and cruel brutes, tiger-cubs by nature. They
were privileged malefactors, like many other princes and potentates of that
age. They mercilessly availed themselves of poison and poignard, removing
every obstacle to their ambition, and smiled when the object was attained.
If we could see the life which these unrestrained bastards led in the Vatican,
where their father, conscious now of his security and greatness, was
enthroned, we should indeed behold strange things. It was a singular drama
which was being enacted in the domain of S. Peter, where two young and
beautiful women held a dazzling court, which was always animated by
swarms of Spanish and Italian lords and ladies and the elegant world of
Rome. Nobles and monsignori crowded around to pay homage to these
women, one of whom, Lucretia, was just sixteen, and the other, Sancia, a
little more than seventeen years of age.
We may imagine what love intrigues took place in the palace of these young
women, and how jealousy and ambition there carried on their intricate
game, for no one will believe that these princesses, full of the passion and
exuberance of youth, led the life of nuns or saints in the shadows of S.
Peter's. Their palace resounded with music and the dance, and the noise of
revels and of masquerades. The populace saw these women accompanied
by splendid cavalcades riding through the streets of Rome to the Vatican;

they knew that the Pope was in daily intercourse with them, visiting them in
person and taking part in their festivities, and also receiving them, now
privately, and now with ceremonious pomp, as befitted princesses of his
house. Alexander himself, much as he was addicted to the pleasures of the
senses, cared nothing for elaborate banquets. Concerning the Pope, the
Ferrarese ambassador wrote to his master in 1495 as follows:

He partakes of but a single dish, though this must be a rich one. It is,
consequently, a bore to dine with him. Ascanio and others, especially
Cardinal Monreale, who formerly were his Holiness's table companions,
and Valenza too, broke off this companionship because his parsimony
displeased them, and avoided it whenever and however they could.[45]

The doings in the Vatican furnished ground for endless gossip, which had
long been current in Rome. It was related in Venice, in October, 1496, that
the Duke of Gandia had brought a Spanish woman to his father, with whom
he lived, and an account was given of a crime which is almost incredible,
although it was related by the Venetian ambassador and other persons.[46]

SAVONAROLA.
From a painting by Fra Bartolommeo

It was not long before Donna Sancia caused herself to be freely gossiped
about. She was beautiful and thoughtless; she appreciated her position as
the daughter of a king. From the most vicious of courts she was
transplanted into the depravity of Rome as the wife of an immature boy. It
was said that her brothers-in-law Gandia and Cæsar quarreled over her and
possessed her in turn, and that young nobles and cardinals like Ippolito
d'Este could boast of having enjoyed her favors.
Savonarola may have had these nepot-courts in mind when, from the pulpit
of S. Marco in Florence, he declaimed in burning words against the Roman
Sodom.

Even if the voice of the great preacher, whose words were filling all Italy,
did not reach Lucretia's ears, from her own experience she must have
known how profligate was the world in which she lived. About her she saw
vice shamelessly displayed or cloaked in sacerdotal robes; she was
conscious of the ambition and avarice which hesitated at no crime; she
beheld a religion more pagan than paganism itself, and a church service in
which the sacred actors,—with whose conduct behind the scenes she was
perfectly familiar,—were the priests, the cardinals, her brother Cæsar, and
her own father. All this Lucretia beheld, but they are wrong who believe
that she or others like her saw and regarded it as we do now, or as a few
pure-minded persons of that age did; for familiarity always dulls the
average person's perception of the truth. In that age the conceptions of
religion, of decency, and of morality were entirely different from those of
to-day. When the rupture between the Middle Ages and its ascetic Church
and the Renaissance was complete, human passions threw off every
restraint. All that had hitherto been regarded as sacred was now derided.
The freethinkers of Italy created a literature never equaled for bold
cynicism. From the Hermaphroditus of Beccadeli to the works of Berni and
Pietro Aretino, a foul stream of novelle, epigrams, and comedies, from
which the serious Dante would have turned his eyes in disgust, overflowed
the land.
Even in the less sensual novelle, the first of which was Piccolomini's
Euryalus, and the less obscene comedies, adultery and derision of marriage
are the leading motives. The harlots were the Muses of belles-lettres during
the Renaissance. They boldly took their place by the side of the saints of the
Church, and contended with them for fame's laurels. There is a manuscript
collection of poems of the time of Alexander VI which contains a series of
epigrams beginning with a number in praise of the Holy Virgin and the
Saints, and then, without word or warning, are several glorifying the
famous cyprians of the day; following a stanza on S. Pauline is an epigram
on Meretricis Nichine, a well-known courtesan of Siena, with several more
of the same sort. The saints of heaven and the priestesses of Venus are
placed side by side, without comment, as equally admirable women.[47]
No self-respecting woman would now attend the performance of a comedy
of the Renaissance, whose characters frequently represented the popes, the
princes, and the noble women of the day; and their presentation, even

before audiences composed entirely of men, would now be prohibited by
the censor of the theater in every land.
The naturalness with which women of the South even now discuss subjects
which people in the North are careful to conceal excites astonishment; but
what was tolerated by the taste or morals of the Renaissance is absolutely
incredible. We must remember, however, that this obscene literature was by
no means so diffused as novels are at the present time, and also that
Southern familiarity with whatever is natural also served to protect women.
Much was external, and was so treated that it had no effect whatever upon
the imagination. In the midst of the vices of the society of the cities there
were noble women who kept themselves pure.
To form an idea of the morals of the great, and especially of the courts of
that day, we must read the history of the Visconti, the Sforza, the Malatesta
of Rimini, the Baglione of Perugia, and the Borgias of Rome. They were
not more immoral than the members of the courts of Louis XIV and XV and
of August of Saxony, but their murders rendered them more terrible. Human
life was held to be of little value, but criminal egotism often was qualified
by greatness of mind (magnanimitas), so that a bloody deed prompted by
avarice and ambition was often condoned.
Egotism and the selfish use of conditions and men for the profit of the
individual were never so universal as in the country of Macchiavelli, where
unfortunately they still are frequently in evidence. Free from the pedantic
opinions of the Germans and the reverence for condition, rank, and birth
which they have inherited from the Middle Ages, the Italians, on the other
hand, always recognized the force of personality—no matter whether it was
that of a bastard or not—but they, nevertheless, were just as likely to
become the slaves of the successful. Macchiavelli maintains that the Church
and the priests were responsible for the moral ruin of the peninsula—but
were not the Church and these priests themselves products of Italy? He
should have said that characteristics which were inherent in the Germanic
races were foreign to the Italians. Luther could never have appeared among
them.
While our opinion of Alexander VI and Cæsar is governed by ethical
considerations, this was not the case with Guicciardini, and less still with

Macchiavelli. They examined not the moral but the political man, not his
motives but his acts. The terrible was not terrible when it was the deed of a
strong will, nor was crime disgraceful when it excited astonishment as a
work of art. The terrible way in which Ferdinand of Naples handled the
conspiracy of the nobles of his kingdom made him, in the eyes of Italy, not
horrible but great; and Macchiavelli speaks of the trick with which Cæsar
Borgia outwitted his treacherous condottieri at Sinigaglia as a
"masterstroke," while the Bishop Paolo Giovio called it "the most beautiful
piece of deception." In that world of egotism where there was no tribunal of
public opinion, man could preserve himself only by overpowering power
and by outwitting cunning with craft. While the French regarded, and still
regard, "ridiculous" as the worst of epithets, the Italian dreaded none more
than that of "simpleton."
Macchiavelli, in a well-known passage in his Discorsi (i. 27), explains his
theory with terrible frankness, and his words are the exact keynote of the
ethics of his age. He relates how Julius II ventured into Perugia, although
Giampolo Baglione had gathered a large number of troops there, and how
the latter, overawed by the Pope, surrendered the city to him. His comment
is verbatim as follows: "People of judgment who were with the Pope
wondered at his foolhardiness, and at Giampolo's cowardice; they could not
understand why the latter did not, to his everlasting fame, crush his enemy
with one blow and enrich himself with the plunder, for the Pope was
accompanied by all his cardinals with their jewels. They could not believe
that he refrained on account of any goodness or any conscientious scruples,
for the heart of a wicked man, who committed incest with his sister, and
destroyed his cousins and nephews so he might rule, could not be accessible
to any feelings of respect. So they came to the conclusion that there are men
who can neither be honorably bad nor yet perfectly good, who do not know
how to go about committing a crime, great in itself or possessing a certain
splendor. This was the case with Giampolo; he who thought nothing of
incest and the murder of his kinsmen did not know how, or rather did not
dare, in spite of the propitious moment, to perform a deed which would
have caused every one to admire his courage, and would have won for him
an immortal name. For he would first have shown the priests how small
men are in reality who live and rule as they do, and he would have been the

first to accomplish a deed whose greatness would have dazzled every one,
and would have removed every danger which might have arisen from it."

NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI.
From an engraving by G. Marri.

Is it any wonder that in view of such a prostitution of morals to the
conception of success, fame, and magnificence, as Macchiavelli here and in
Il Principe advocates, men like the Borgias found the widest field for their
bold crimes? They well knew that the greatness of a crime concealed the
shame of it. The celebrated poet Strozzi in Ferrara placed Cæsar Borgia,
after his fall, among the heroes of Olympus; and the famous Bembo, one of
the first men of the age, endeavors to console Lucretia Borgia on the death

of the "miserable little" Alexander VI, whom he at the same time calls her
"great" father.
No upright man, conscious of his own worth, would now enter the service
of a prince stained by such crimes as were the Borgias, if it were possible
for such a one now to exist, which is wholly unlikely. But then the best and
most upright of men sought, without any scruples whatever, the presence
and favors of the Borgias. Pinturicchio and Perugino painted for Alexander
VI, and the most wonderful genius of the century, Leonardo da Vinci, did
not hesitate to enter the service of Cæsar Borgia as his engineer, to erect
fortresses for him in the same Romagna which he had appropriated by such
devilish means.
The men of the Renaissance were in a high degree energetic and creative;
they shaped the world with a revolutionary energy and a feverish activity, in
comparison with which the modern processes of civilization almost vanish.
Their instincts were rougher and more powerful, and their nerves stronger
than those of the present race. It will always appear strange that the
tenderest blossoms of art, the most ideal creations of the painter, put forth in
the midst of a society whose moral perversity and inward brutality are to us
moderns altogether loathsome. If we could take a man such as our
civilization now produces and transfer him into the Renaissance, the daily
brutality which made no impression whatever on the men of that age would
shatter his nervous system and probably upset his reason.
Lucretia Borgia lived in Rome surrounded by these passions, and she was
neither better nor worse than the women of her time. She was thoughtless
and was filled with the joy of living. We do not know that she ever went
through any moral struggles or whether she ever found herself in conscious
conflict with the actualities of her life and of her environment. Her father
maintained an elaborate household for her, and she was in daily intercourse
with her brothers' courts. She was their companion and the ornament of
their banquets; she was entrusted with the secret of all the Vatican intrigues
which had any connection with the future of the Borgias, and all her vital
interests were soon to be concentrated there.
Never, even in the later years of her life, does she appear as a woman of
unusual genius; she had none of the characteristics of the viragos Catarina

Sforza and Ginevra Bentivoglio; nor did she possess the deceitful soul of an
Isotta da Rimini, or the spirituelle genius of Isabella Gonzaga. If she had
not been the daughter of Alexander VI and the sister of Cæsar Borgia, she
would have been unnoticed by the historians of her age or, at most, would
have been mentioned only as one of the many charming women who
constituted the society of Rome. In the hands of her father and her brother,
however, she became the tool and also the victim of their political
machinations, against which she had not the strength to make any
resistance.

CHAPTER XII
THE DIVORCE AND SECOND MARRIAGE

After the surrender of the remnant of the French forces in the fall of 1496,
Giovanni Sforza returned from Naples. There is no doubt that he went to
Rome for the purpose of taking Lucretia home with him to Pesaro, where
we find him about the close of the year, and where he spent the winter. The
chroniclers of Pesaro, however, state that he left the city in disguise,
January 15, 1497, and that Lucretia followed him a few days later for the
purpose of going to Rome.[48] Both were present at the Easter festivities in
the papal city.
Sforza was now a worn-out plaything which Alexander was preparing to
cast away, for his daughter's marriage to the tyrant of Pesaro promised him
nothing more, the house of Sforza having lost all its influence; moreover,
the times were propitious for establishing connections which would be of
greater advantage to the Borgias. The Pope was unwilling to give his son-
in-law a command in the war against the Orsini, which he had begun
immediately after the return of his son Don Giovanni from Spain, for whom
he wanted to confiscate the property of these mighty lords. He secured the
services of Duke Guidobaldo of Urbino, who likewise had served in the
allied armies of Naples, and whom the Venetians released in order that he
might assume supreme command of the papal troops.
This noble man was the last of the house of Montefeltre, and the Borgias
already had their eyes on his possessions. His sister Giovanna was married
in 1478 to the municipal prefect, Giovanni della Rovere, a brother of
Cardinal Giuliano, and in 1490 she bore him a daughter, Francesca Maria, a
child who was looked upon as heir of Urbino. Guidobaldo did not disdain to
serve as a condottiere for pay and in the hope of winning honors; he was
also a vassal of the Church. Fear of the Borgias led him to seek their
friendship although he hated them.

In the war against the Orsini the young Duke of Gandia was next in
command under Guidobaldo, and Alexander made him the standard-bearer
of the Church and Rector of Viterbo, and of the entire Patrimonium after he
had removed Alessandro Farnese from that position. This appears to have
been due to a dislike he felt for Giulia's brother. September 17, 1496, the
Mantuan agent in Rome, John Carolus, wrote to the Marchioness Gonzaga:
"Cardinal Farnese is shut up in his residence in the Patrimonium, and will
lose it unless he is saved by the prompt return of Giulia."
The same ambassador reported to his sovereign as follows: "Although every
effort is made to conceal the fact that these sons of the Pope are consumed
with envy of each other, the life of the Cardinal of S. Giorgio (Rafael
Riario) is in danger; should he die, Cæsar would be given the office of
chancellor and the palace of the dead Cardinal of Mantua, which is the most
beautiful in Rome, and also his most lucrative benefices. Your Excellency
may guess how this plot will terminate."[49]
The war against the Orsini ended with the ignominious defeat of the papal
forces at Soriano, January 23, 1497, whence Don Giovanni, wounded, fled
to Rome, and where Guidobaldo was taken prisoner. The victors
immediately forced a peace on most advantageous terms.
Not until the conclusion of the war did Lucretia's husband return to Rome.
We shall see him again there, for the last time, at the Easter festivities of
1497, when, as Alexander's son-in-law, he assumed his official place during
the celebration in S. Peter's, and, standing near Cæsar and Gandia, received
the Easter palm from the Pope's hand. His position in the Vatican had,
however, become untenable; Alexander was anxious to dissolve his
marriage with Lucretia. Sforza was asked to give her up of his own free
will, and, when he refused, was threatened with extreme measures.
Flight alone saved him from the dagger or poison of his brothers-in-law.
According to statements of the chroniclers of Pesaro, it was Lucretia herself
who helped her husband to flee and thus caused the suspicion that she was
also a participant in the conspiracy. It is related that, one evening when
Jacomino, Lord Giovanni's chamberlain, was in Madonna's room, her
brother Cæsar entered, and on her command the chamberlain concealed
himself behind a screen. Cæsar talked freely with his sister, and among

other things said that the order had been given to kill Sforza. When he had
departed, Lucretia said to Jacomino: "Did you hear what was said? Go and
tell him." This the chamberlain immediately did, and Giovanni Sforza threw
himself on a Turkish horse and rode in twenty-four hours to Pesaro, where
the beast dropped dead.[50]
According to letters of the Venetian envoy in Rome, Sforza fled in March,
in Holy Week. Under some pretext he went to the Church of S. Onofrio,
where he found the horse waiting for him.[51]
The request for the divorce was probably not made by Lucretia, but by her
father and brothers, who wished her to be free to enter into a marriage
which would advance their plans. We are ignorant of what was now taking
place in the Vatican, and we do not know that Lucretia made any resistance;
but if she did, it certainly was not of long duration, for she does not appear
to have loved her husband. Pesaro's escape did not please the Borgias. They
would have preferred to have silenced this man forever; but now that he had
gotten away and raised an objection, it would be necessary to dissolve the
marriage by process of law, which would cause a great scandal.
Shortly after Sforza's flight a terrible tragedy occurred in the house of
Borgia—the mysterious murder of the Duke of Gandia. On the failure of
Alexander's scheme to confiscate the estates of the Orsini and bestow them
on his dearly beloved son, he thought to provide for him in another manner.
He made him Duke of Benevento, thereby hoping to prepare the way for
him to reach the throne of Naples. A few days later, June 14th, Vannozza
invited him and Cæsar, together with a few of their kinsmen, to a supper in
her vineyard near S. Pietro in Vinculo. Don Giovanni, returning from this
family feast, disappeared in the night, without leaving a trace, and three
days later the body of the murdered man was found in the Tiber.
According to the general opinion of the day, which in all probability was
correct, Cæsar was the murderer of his brother. From the moment
Alexander VI knew this crime had been committed, and assumed
responsibility for its motives and consequences, and pardoned the murderer,
he became morally accessory after the fact, and fell himself under the
power of his terrible son. From that time on, every act of his was intended
to further Cæsar's fiendish ambition.

None of the records of the day say that Don Giovanni's consort was in
Rome when this tragedy occurred. We are therefore forced to assume that
she was not there when her husband was murdered. It is much more likely
that she had not left Spain, and that she was living with her two little
children in Gandia or Valencia, where she received the dreadful news in a
letter written by Alexander to his sister Doña Beatrice Boria y Arenos. This
is rendered probable by the court records of Valencia. September 27, 1497,
Doña Maria Enriquez appeared before the tribunal of the governor of the
kingdom of Valencia, Don Luis de Cabaineles, and claimed the estate,
including the duchy of Gandia and the Neapolitan fiefs of Suessa, Teano,
Carinola, and Montefoscolo, for Don Giovanni's eldest son, a child of three
years. The duke's death was proved by legal documents, among which was
this letter written by Alexander, and the tribunal accordingly recognized
Gandia's son as his legal heir.[52]
Doña Maria also claimed her husband's personal property in his house in
Rome, which was valued at thirty thousand ducats, and which on the death
of Don Giovanni, had been transferred by Alexander VI, to the fratricide
Cæsar to administer for his nephew, as appears from an official document
of the Roman notary Beneimbene, dated December 19, 1498.
At this time Lucretia was not in her palace in the Vatican. June 4th she had
gone to the convent of S. Sisto on the Appian Way, thereby causing a great
sensation in Rome. Her flight doubtless was in some way connected with
the forced annulment of her marriage. While her father himself may not
have banished her to S. Sisto, she, probably excited by Pesaro's departure,
and perhaps angry with the Pope, had doubtless sought this place as an
asylum. That she was angry with him is shown by a letter written by Donato
Aretino from Rome, June 19th, to Cardinal Ippolito d'Este: "Madonna
Lucretia has left the palace insalutato hospite and gone to a convent known
as that of S. Sisto; where she now is. Some say she will turn nun, while
others make different statements which I can not entrust to a letter."[53]
We know not what prayers and what confessions Lucretia made at the altar,
but this was one of the most momentous periods of her life. While in the
convent she learned of the terrible death of one of her brothers, and
shuddered at the crime of the other. For she, like her father and all the
Borgias, firmly believed that Cæsar was a fratricide. She clearly discerned

the marks of his inordinate ambition; she knew that he was planning to lay
aside the cardinal's robe and become a secular prince; she must have known
too that they were scheming in the Vatican to make Don Giuffrè a cardinal
in Cæsar's place and to marry the latter to the former's wife, Donna Sancia,
with whom, it was generally known, he was on most intimate terms.
Alexander commanded Giuffrè and his young wife to leave Rome and take
up their abode in his princely seat in Squillace, and he set out on August 7th
for that place. It is stated the Pope did not want his children and nepots
about him any longer, and that he also wished to banish his daughter
Lucretia to Valencia.[54]
In the meantime, in July, Cæsar had gone to Capua as papal legate, where
he crowned Don Federico, the last of the Aragonese, as King of Naples.
September 4th he returned to Rome.
Alexander had appointed a commission under the direction of two cardinals
for the purpose of divorcing Lucretia from Giovanni Sforza. These judges
showed that Sforza had never consummated the marriage, and that his
spouse was still a virgin, which, according to her contemporary Matarazzo
of Perugia, set all Italy to laughing. Lucretia herself stated she was willing
to swear to this.
During these proceedings her spouse was in Pesaro. Thence he
subsequently went in disguise to Milan to ask the protection of Duke
Ludovico and to get him to use his influence to have his wife, who had been
taken away, restored to him. This was in June. He protested against the
decision which had been pronounced in Rome, and which had been
purchased, and Ludovico il Moro made the naive suggestion that he subject
himself to a test of his capacity in the presence of trustworthy witnesses,
and of the papal legate in Milan, which, however, Sforza declined to do.[55]
Ludovico and his brother Ascanio finally induced their kinsman to yield,
and Sforza, intimidated, declared in writing that he had never consummated
his marriage with Lucretia.[56]
The formal divorce, therefore, took place December 20, 1497, and Sforza
surrendered his wife's dowry of thirty-one thousand ducats.

Although we may assume that Alexander compelled his daughter to consent
to this separation, it does not render our opinion of Lucretia's part in the
scandalous proceedings any less severe; she shows herself to have had as
little will as she had character, and she also perjured herself. Her
punishment was not long delayed, for the divorce proceedings made her
notorious and started terrible rumors regarding her private life. These
reports began to circulate at the time of the murder of Gandia and of her
divorce from Sforza; the cause of both these events was stated to have been
an unmentionable crime. According to a reliable witness of the day it was
the lord of Pesaro himself, injured and exasperated, who first—and to the
Duke of Milan—had openly uttered the suspicion which was being
whispered about Rome. By permitting himself to do this, he showed that he
had never loved Lucretia.[57]
Alexander had dissolved his daughter's marriage for political reasons. It was
his purpose to marry Lucretia and Cæsar into the royal house of Naples.
This dynasty had reestablished itself there after the expulsion of the French,
but its position had been so profoundly shaken that its fall was imminent;
and it was this very fact that made Alexander hope to be able to place his
son Cæsar on the throne of Naples. The most terrible of the Borgias now
appropriated the place left vacant by the Duke of Gandia, to which he had
long aspired, and only for the sake of appearances did he postpone casting
aside the cardinal's robe. The Pope, however, was already scheming for his
son's marriage; for him he asked King Federico for the hand of his daughter
Carlotta, who had been educated at the court of France as a princess of the
house of Savoy. The king, an upright man, firmly refused, and the young
princess in horror rejected the Pope's insulting offer. Federico, in his
anxiety, made one sacrifice to the monster in the Vatican; he consented to
the betrothal of Don Alfonso, Prince of Salerno, younger brother of Donna
Sancia and natural son of Alfonso II, to Lucretia. Alexander desired this
marriage for no other reason than for the purpose of finally inducing the
king to agree to the marriage of his daughter and Cæsar.
Even before Lucretia's new betrothal was settled upon it was rumored in
Rome that her former affianced, Don Gasparo, was again pressing his suit
and that there was a prospect of his being accepted. Although the young
Spaniard failed to accomplish his purpose, Alexander now recognized the
fact that Lucretia's betrothal to him had been dissolved illegally.

In a brief dated June 10, 1498, he speaks of the way his daughter was
treated—without special dispensation for breaking the engagement, in order
that she might marry Giovanni of Pesaro, which was a great mistake—as
illegal. He says in the same letter that Gasparo of Procida, Count of
Almenara, had subsequently married and had children, but not until 1498
did Lucretia petition to have her betrothal to him formally declared null and
void. The Pope, therefore, absolved her of the perjury she had committed by
marrying Giovanni Sforza in spite of her engagement to Don Gasparo, and
while he now, for the first time, declared her formal betrothal to the Count
of Procida to have been dissolved, he gave her permission to marry any
man whom she might select.[58] Thus did a pope play fast and loose with
one of the holiest of the sacraments of the Church.
When Lucretia had in this way been protected against the demands of all
pretenders to her hand, she was free to enter into a new alliance, which she
did June 20, 1498, in the Vatican. If we were not familiar with the character
of the public men of that age we should be surprised to learn that King
Federico's proxy on this occasion was none other than Cardinal Ascanio
Sforza, who had been instrumental in bringing about the marriage of his
nephew and Lucretia, and who had consented in Sforza's name to the
disgraceful divorce. Thus were he and his brother Ludovico determined to
retain the friendship of the Borgias at any price.
Lucretia received a dowry of forty thousand ducats, and the King of Naples
bound himself to make over the cities of Quadrata and Biselli to his nephew
for his dukedom.[59]
The young Alfonso accordingly came to Rome in July to become the
husband of a woman whom he must have regarded at least as unscrupulous
and utterly fickle. He doubtless looked upon himself as a sacrifice presented
by his father at the altar of Rome. Quietly and sorrowfully, welcomed by no
festivities, almost secretly, came this unhappy youth to the papal city. He
went at once to his betrothed in the palace of S. Maria in Portico. In the
Vatican, July 21st, the marriage was blessed by the Church. Among the
witnesses to the transaction were the Cardinals Ascanio, Juan Lopez, and
Giovanni Borgia. In obedience to an old custom a naked sword was held
over the pair by a knight, a ceremony which in this instance was performed
by Giovanni Cervillon, captain of the papal guard.

CHAPTER XIII
A REGENT AND A MOTHER

Lucretia, now Duchess of Biselli, had been living since July, 1498, with a
new husband, a youth of seventeen, she herself having just completed her
eighteenth year. She and her consort did not go to Naples, but remained in
Rome; for, as the Mantuan agent reported to his master, it was expressly
agreed that Don Alfonso should live in Rome a year, and that Lucretia
should not be required to take up her abode in the kingdom of Naples
during her father's lifetime.[60]
The youthful Alfonso was fair and amiable. Talini, a Roman chronicler of
that day, pronounced him the handsomest young man ever seen in the
Imperial City. According to a statement made by the Mantuan agent in
August, Lucretia was really fond of him. A sudden change in affairs,
however, deprived her of the calm joys of domestic life.
The moving principle in the Vatican was the measureless ambition of
Cæsar, who was consuming with impatience to become a ruling sovereign.
August 13, 1498, he flung aside the cardinal's robes and prepared to set out
for France; Louis XII, who in April had succeeded Charles VIII, having
promised him the title of Duke of Valentinois and the hand of a French
princess. Alexander provided for his son's retinue with regal extravagance.
It happened one day that a train of mules laden with silks and cloth of gold
on the way to Cæsar in Rome was plundered by the people of Cardinal
Farnese and of his cousin Pier Paolo in the forest of Bolsena, whereupon
the Pope addressed some vigorous communications to the cardinal, in
whose territory, he stated, the robbery had been committed.[61]
In the service of the Farnese were numerous Corsicans, some as
mercenaries and bullies, some as field laborers, and these people, who were
universally feared, probably were the guilty ones, for it is difficult to
believe that Cardinal Alessandro would have undertaken such a venture on

his own account. It seems, however, that the relations of the Borgias and the
Farnese were somewhat strained during this period. The cardinal spent most
of his time on his family estates, and at this juncture little was heard of his
sister Giulia. It is not even known whether or not she was living in Rome
and continuing her relations with the Pope, although, from subsequent
revelations, it appears that she was. April 2, 1499, we find the cardinal and
his sister again in Rome, where a nuptial contract was concluded in the
Farnese palace between Laura Orsini, Giulia's seven-year-old daughter, and
Federico Farnese, the twelve-year-old son of the deceased condottiere
Raimondo Farnese, a nephew of Pier Paolo. Laura's putative father, Orsino
Orsini, was present at the ceremony.[62]
It was probably Adriana and Giulia who were endeavoring to bring about a
reconciliation between the house of Orsini and the Borgias. In the spring of
1498 these barons, having issued victorious from their war with the Pope,
began a bitter contest with their hereditary foes, the Colonna, which,
however, ended in their own defeat. These houses made peace with each
other in July, a fact which caused Alexander no little anxiety, for upon the
hostility of these, the two mightiest families of Rome, depended the Pope's
dominion over the city; his greatest danger lay in their mutual friendship.
He therefore endeavored again to set them at loggerheads, and he succeeded
in attaching the Orsini to himself,—which they subsequently had reason to
regret. He accomplished his purpose so well that they intermarried with the
Borgias; Paolo Orsini, Giambattista's brother, uniting his son Fabio with
Girolama, a sister of Cardinal Giovanni Borgia the younger, September 8,
1498. The marriage contract was concluded in the presence of the Pope and
a brilliant gathering in the Vatican, and one of the official witnesses was
Don Alfonso of Biselli, who held the sword over the young couple.[63]
Shortly afterwards, October first, Cæsar Borgia set sail for France, where he
was made Duke of Valentinois, and where, in May, 1499, he married
Charlotte d'Albret, sister of the King of Navarre. At this court he met two
men who were destined later to exercise great influence upon his career—
George of Amboise, Archbishop of Rouen, to whom he had brought the
cardinal's hat, and Giuliano della Rovere. The latter, hitherto Alexander's
bitterest enemy, now suffered himself, by the intermediation of the King of
France, to be won over to the cause of the Borgias; he permitted himself
even to become Cæsar's stepping-stone to greatness.

The reconciliation was sealed by a marriage between the two families; the
city prefect, Giovanni della Rovere, Giuliano's brother, betrothing his
eighteen-year-old son Francesco Maria to Angela Borgia, September 2,
1500.
Angela's father, Giuffrè, was a son of Giovanni, sister of Alexander VI, and
of Guglielmo Lanzol. Giovanni Borgia the younger, Cardinal Ludovico, and
Rodrigo, captain of the papal guard, were her brothers. Her sister Girolama,
as above stated, was married to Fabio Orsini. The ceremony of Angela's
betrothal took place in the Vatican in the presence of the ambassador of
France.
For the purpose of driving Ludovico il Moro from Milan, Louis XII had
concluded an alliance with Venice, which the Pope also joined on the
condition that France would help his son to acquire Romagna.
Ascanio Sforza, who was unable to prevent the loss of Milan, and who
knew that his own life was in danger in Rome, fled July 13, 1499, to
Genazzano and subsequently to Genoa.
His example was followed by Lucretia's youthful consort. We do not know
what occurred in the Vatican to cause Don Alfonso quietly to leave Rome,
where he had spent but a single year with Lucretia. We can only say that his
decision must have been brought about by some turn which the Pope's
politics had taken. The object of the expedition of Louis XII was not only
the overthrow of the Sforza dynasty in Milan, but also the seizure of
Naples; it was intended to be a sequel to the attempt of Charles VIII, which
was defeated by the great League. The young prince was aware of the
Pope's intention to destroy his uncle Federico, who had deeply offended
him by refusing to grant Cæsar the hand of his daughter Carlotta. After this
occurrence the relations of Lucretia's husband with the Pope had altogether
changed.
Ascanio was the only friend the unfortunate prince had in Rome, and it was
probably he who advised him to save himself from certain death by flight,
as Lucretia's other husband had done. Alfonso slipped away August 2, 1499.
The Pope sent some troopers after him, but they failed to catch him. It is
uncertain whether Lucretia knew of his intended flight. A letter written in
Rome by a Venetian, August 4th, merely says: "The Duke of Biseglia,

Madonna Lucretia's husband, has secretly fled and gone to the Colonna in
Genazzano; he deserted his wife, who has been with child for six months,
and she is constantly in tears."[64]
She was in the power of her father, who, highly incensed by the prince's
flight, banished Alfonso's sister Donna Sancia to Naples.
Lucretia's position, owing to these circumstances, became exceedingly
trying. Her tears show that she possessed a heart. She loved, and perhaps
for the first time. Alfonso wrote her from Genazzano, urgently imploring
her to follow him, and his letters fell into the hands of the Pope, who
compelled her to write her husband and ask him to return. It was doubtless
his daughter's complaining that induced Alexander to send her away from
Rome. August 8th he made her Regent of Spoleto. Hitherto papal legates,
usually cardinals, had governed this city and the surrounding territory; but
now the Pope entrusted its administration to a young woman of nineteen,
his own daughter, and thither she repaired.
He gave her a letter to the priors of Spoleto which was as follows:

Dear Sons: Greeting and the Apostolic Blessing! We have entrusted to our
beloved daughter in Christ, the noble lady, Lucretia de Borgia, Duchess of
Biseglia, the office of keeper of the castle, as well as the government of our
cities of Spoleto and Foligno, and of the county and district about them.
Having perfect confidence in the intelligence, the fidelity, and probity of the
Duchess, which We have dwelt upon in previous letters, and likewise in
your unfailing obedience to Us and to the Holy See, We trust that you will
receive the Duchess Lucretia, as is your duty, with all due honor as your
regent, and show her submission in all things. As We wish her to be
received and accepted by you with special honor and respect, so do We
command you in this epistle—as you value Our favor and wish to avoid
Our displeasure—to obey the Duchess Lucretia, your regent, in all things
collectively and severally, in so far as law and custom dictate in the
government of the city, and whatever she may think proper to exact of you,
even as you would obey Ourselves, and to execute her commands with all
diligence and promptness, so that your devotion may receive due

approbation. Given in Rome, in St. Peter's, under the papal seal, August 8,
1499.

Hadrianus (Secretary).[65]

Lucretia left Rome for her new home the same day. She set out with a large
retinue, and accompanied by her brother Don Giuffrè; Fabio Orsini, now
the consort of Girolama Borgia, her kinswoman; and a company of archers.
She left the Vatican mounted on horseback, the governor of the city, the
Neapolitan ambassador, and a number of other gentlemen forming an escort
to act as a guard of honor, while her father took a position in a loggia over
the portal of the palace of the Vatican to watch his departing daughter and
her cavalcade. For the first time he found himself in Rome deprived of all
his children.
Lucretia made the journey partly on horseback and partly in a litter, and the
trip from Rome to Spoleto required not less than six days. At Porcaria, in
Umbria, she found a deputation of citizens of Spoleto waiting to greet her,
and to accompany her to the city, which had been famous since the time of
Hannibal, and which had been the seat of the mighty Lombard dukes. The
castle of Spoleto is very ancient, its earliest portions dating from the Dukes
Faroald and Grimoald. In the fourteenth century it was restored by the great
Gil d'Albornoz, the contemporary of Cola di Rienzi, and it was completed
shortly afterwards by Nicholas V. It is a magnificent piece of Renaissance
architecture, overlooking the old city and the deep ravine which separates it
from Monte Luco. From its high windows one may look out over the valley
of the Clitunno and that of the Tiber, the fertile Umbrian plain, and, on the
east, to the Apennines.
August 15th Lucretia Borgia received the priors of the city, to whom she
presented her papal appointment, whereupon they swore allegiance to her.
Later the commune gave a banquet in her honor.
Lucretia's stay in Spoleto was short. Her regency there was merely intended
to signify the actual taking possession of the territory which Alexander
desired to bestow upon his daughter.

In the meantime her husband Alfonso had decided, unfortunately for
himself, to obey Alexander's command and return to his wife—perhaps
because he really loved her. The Pope ordered him to go to Spoleto by way
of Foligno, and then to come with his spouse to Nepi, where he himself
intended to be. The purpose of this meeting was to establish his daughter as
sovereign there also.
Nepi had never been a baronial fief, although the prefects of Vico and the
Orsini had held the place at different times. The Church through its deputies
governed the town and surrounding country. When Alexander was a
cardinal his uncle Calixtus had made him governor of the city, and such he
remained until he was raised to the papal throne, when he conferred Nepi
upon Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. The neatly written parchment containing the
municipal statute confirming Ascanio's appointment, which is dated January
1, 1495, is still preserved in the archives of the city. At the beginning of the
year 1499, however, Alexander again assumed control of Nepi by
compelling the castellan, who commanded the fortress for the truant
Ascanio, to surrender it to him. He now invested his daughter with the
castle, the city, and the domain of Nepi.[66] September 4, 1499, Francesco
Borgia, the Pope's treasurer, who was also Bishop of Teano, took possession
of the city in her name.
September 25th Alexander himself, accompanied by four cardinals, went to
Nepi. In the castle, which he had restored, he met Lucretia and her husband,
and also her brother Don Giuffrè. He returned to Rome almost immediately
—October 1st. On the tenth he addressed a brief from there to the city of
Nepi, in which he commanded the municipality thenceforth to obey
Lucretia, Duchess of Biselli, as their true sovereign. On the twelfth he sent
his daughter a communication in which he empowered her to remit certain
taxes to which the citizens of Nepi had hitherto been subject.[67]
Lucretia, therefore, had become the mistress of two large domains—a fact
which clearly shows that she stood in high favor with her father. She did not
again return to Spoleto, but entrusted its government to a lieutenant.
Although Alexander made Cardinal Gurk legate for Perugia and Todi early
in October, he reserved Spoleto for his daughter. Later, August 10, 1500, he
made Ludovico Borgia—who was Archbishop of Valencia—governor of

this city, without, however, impairing his daughter's rights to the large
revenue which the territory yielded.
As early as October 14th Lucretia returned to Rome. November 1, 1499,
she gave birth to a son, who was named, in honor of the Pope, Rodrigo. Her
firstborn was baptized with great pomp November 11th in the Sistine
Chapel—not the chapel now known by that name, but the one which Sixtus
IV had built in S. Peter's. Giovanni Cervillon held the child in his arms, and
near by were the Governor of Rome and a representative of the Emperor
Maximilian. All the cardinals, the ambassadors of England, Venice, Naples,
Savoy, Siena, and the Republic of Florence were present at the ceremony.
The governor of the city held the child over the font. The godfathers were
Podocatharo, Bishop of Caputaqua, and Ferrari, Bishop of Modena.
In the meantime, October 6th, Louis XII had taken possession of Milan,
Ludovico Sforza having fled, on the approach of the French forces, to the
Emperor Maximilian. In accordance with his agreement with Alexander, the
king now lent troops to Cæsar Borgia to enable him to seize the Romagna,
where it was proclaimed that the vassals of the Church, the Malatesta of
Rimini, the Sforza of Pesaro, the Riario of Imola and Forli, the Varano of
Camerino, and the Manfredi of Faenza had forfeited their fiefs to the Pope.
Cæsar went to Rome, November 18, 1499. He stayed in the Vatican three
days and then set forth again to join his army, which was besieging Imola. It
was his intention first to take this city and then attack Forli, in the castle of
which the mistress of the two cities, Catarina Sforza, had established herself
for the purpose of resisting him.
While he was engaged in his campaigns in Romagna, his father was
endeavoring to seize the hereditary possessions of the Roman barons. He
first attacked the Gaetani. From the end of the thirteenth century this
ancient family had held large landed estates in the Campagna and Maritima.
It had divided into several branches, one of which was settled in the vicinity
of Naples. There the Gaetani were Dukes of Traetto, Counts of Fundi and
Caserta, and likewise vassals and favorites of the crown of Naples.
Sermoneta, the center of the domain of the Gaetani family in the Roman
Campagna, was an ancient city with a feudal castle, situated in the foothills
of the Volscian mountains. Above it and to one side were the ruins of the

great castle of Norba; below were the beautiful remains of Nymsa; while at
its foot, extending to the sea, lay the Pontine marshes. The greater part of
this territory, which was traversed by the Appian Way, including the Cape
of Circello, was the property of the Gaetani, to whom it still belongs.
At the time of which we are speaking it was ruled by the sons of Honoratus
II, a powerful personality, who had raised his house from ruin. He died in
the year 1490, leaving a widow, Catarina Orsini, and three sons—Nicola the
prothonotary; Giacomo, and Guglielmo. His daughter Giovanella was the
wife of Pierluigi Farnese and mother of Giulia. Nicola, who had married
Eleonora Orsini, died in the year 1494; consequently, next to the
prothonotary Giacomo, Guglielmo Gaetani was head of the house of
Sermoneta.
Alexander lured the prothonotary to Rome and, having confined him in the
castle of S. Angelo, began a process against him. Guglielmo succeeded in
escaping to Mantua, but Nicola's little son Bernardino was murdered by the
Borgia hirelings. Sermoneta was besieged, and its inhabitants surrendered
without resistance.
As early as March 9, 1499, Alexander compelled the apostolic chamber to
sell his daughter the possessions of the Gaetani for eighty thousand ducats.
He stated in a document, which was signed by eighteen cardinals, that the
magnitude of the expenditures which he had recently made in the interests
of the Holy See compelled him to increase the Church property; and for this
purpose there were Sermoneta, Bassiano, Ninfa and Norma, Tivera,
Cisterna, San Felice (the Cape of Circello), and San Donato, which, owing
to the rebellion of the Gaetani, might be confiscated. This transaction was
concluded in February, 1500, and Lucretia, who was already mistress of
Spoleto and Nepi, thus became ruler of Sermoneta.[68] In vain did the
unfortunate Giacomo Gaetani protest from his prison; July 5, 1500, he was
poisoned. His mother and sisters buried him in S. Bartolomeo, which stands
on an island in the Tiber, where the Gaetani had owned a palace for a great
many years.
Giulia Farnese, therefore, was unable to save her own uncle. She was
reminded that Giacomo and Nicola had stood beside her when she was
married to the youthful Orsini in 1489 in the Borgia palace. We do not

know whether Giulia was living in Rome at this time. We occasionally find
her name in the epigrams of the day, and it appears in a satire, Dialogue
between Death and the Pope, sick of a Fever, in which he called upon
Giulia to save him, whereupon Death replied that his mistress had borne
him three or four children. As the satire was written in the summer of 1500,
when Alexander was suffering from the fever, it is probable that his
relations with Giulia still continued.
Cæsar, who had taken Imola, December 1, 1499, was far from pleased when
he saw the great estates of the Gaetani, whose revenues he himself could
use to good advantage, bestowed upon his sister; and, as he himself wished
absolutely to control the will of his father, her growing influence in the
Vatican caused him no little annoyance. He had sinister plans for whose
execution the time was soon to prove propitious.

CHAPTER XIV
SOCIAL LIFE OF THE BORGIAS

Lucretia certainly must have been pleased by her brother's long absence; the
Vatican was less turbulent. Besides herself only Don Giuffrè and Donna
Sancia, who had effected her return, maintained a court there.
We might avail ourselves of this period of quiet to depict Lucretia's private
life, her court, and the people about her; but it is impossible to do this, none
of her contemporaries having left any description of it. Even Burchard
shows us Lucretia but rarely, and when he does it is always in connection
with affairs in the Vatican. Only once does he give us a fleeting view of her
palace—on February 27, 1496—when Giovanni Borgia, Juan de Castro,
and the recently created Cardinal Martinus of Segovia were calling upon
her.
None of the foreign diplomatists of that time, so far as we may learn from
their despatches, made any reports regarding Lucretia's private life. We
have only a few letters written by her during her residence in Rome, and
there is not a single poem dedicated to her or which mentions her; therefore
it is due to the malicious epigrams of Sannazzaro and Pontanus that she has
been branded as the most depraved of courtesans. If there ever was a young
woman, however, likely to excite the imagination of the poet, Lucretia
Borgia in the bloom of her youth and beauty was that woman. Her
connection with the Vatican, the mystery which surrounded her, and the fate
she suffered, make her one of the most fascinating women of her age.
Doubtless there are buried in various libraries numerous verses dedicated to
her by the Roman poets who must have swarmed at the court of the Pope's
daughter to render homage to her beauty and to seek her patronage.
In Rome, Lucretia had an opportunity to enjoy, if she were so disposed, the
society of many brilliant men, for even during the sovereignty of the
Borgias the Muses were banished neither from the Vatican nor from Rome.
It can not be denied, however, that the daughters of princely houses were

allowed to devote themselves to the cultivation of the intellect more freely
at the secular courts of Italy than they were at the papal court. Not until
Lucretia went to Ferrara to live was she able to endeavor to emulate the
example of the princesses of Mantua and Urbino. While living in Rome she
was too young and her environment too narrow for her to have had any
influence upon the literary and æsthetic circles of that city, although, owing
to her position, she must have been acquainted with them.
Her father was not incapable of intellectual pleasures; he had his court
minstrels and poets. The famous Aurelio Brandolini, who died in 1497, was
wont to improvise to the strains of the lute during banquets in the Vatican
and in Lucretia's palace. Cæsar's favorite, Serafino of Aquila, the Petrarch
of his age, who died in Rome in the year 1500, still a young man, aspired to
the same honor.
Cæsar himself was interested in poetry and the arts, just as were all the
cultivated men and tyrants of the Renaissance. His court poet was
Francesco Sperulo, who served under his standard, and who sang his
campaigns in Romagna and in the neighborhood of Camerino.[69] A number
of Roman poets who subsequently became famous recited their verses in
the presence of Lucretia, among them Emilio Voccabella and Evangelista
Fausto Maddaleni. Even at that time the three brothers Mario, Girolamo,
and Celso Mellini enjoyed great renown as poets and orators, while the
brothers of the house of Porcaro—Camillo, Valerio, and Antonio—were
equally famous. We have already noted that Antonio was one of the
witnesses at the marriage of Girolama Borgia in the year 1482, and that he
subsequently was Lucretia's proxy when she was betrothed to Centelles in
1491. These facts show how closely and how long the Porcaro were allied
to the Borgias.
This Roman family had been made famous in the history of the city by the
fate of Stefano, Cola di Rienzi's successor. The Porcaro claimed descent
from the Catos, and for this reason many of them adopted the name Porcius.
Enjoying friendly relations with the Borgias, they claimed them as kinsmen,
stating that Isabella, the mother of Alexander VI, was descended from the
Roman Porcaro, who somehow had passed to Spain. The similarity of
sound in the Latin names Borgius and Porcius gave some appearance of
truth to this pretension.

Next to Antonio, Hieronymus Porcius was one of the most brilliant retainers
of the house of Borgia. Alexander, upon his election to the papal throne,
made him auditor of the Ruota (the Papal Court of Appeals). He was the
author of a work printed in Rome in September, 1493, under the title
Commentarius Porcius, which was dedicated to the King and Queen of
Spain. In it he describes the election and coronation of Alexander VI, and
quotes portions of the declarations of loyalty which the Italian envoys
addressed to the Pope. Court flattery could not be carried further than it was
in this case by Hieronymus, an affected pedant, an empty-headed braggart,
a fanatical papist. Alexander made him Bishop of Andria and Governor of
the Romagna. In 1497 Hieronymus, then in Cesena, composed a dialogue
on Savonarola and his "heresy concerning the power of the Pope." The
kernel of the whole thing was the fundamental doctrine of the infallibilists;
namely, that only those who blindly obey the Pope are good Christians.[70]
Porcius also essayed poetry, celebrating the magnificence of the Pope and
Cardinal Cæsar, whom, in his verses on the Borgia Steer, he described as
his greatest benefactor. Apparently he was also the author of the elegy on
the death of the Duke of Gandia, which is still preserved.
Phædra Inghirami, the famous student of Cicero, whom Erasmus admired
and whom Raphael rendered immortal by his portrait, doubtless made the
acquaintance of the Borgias and of Lucretia through the Porcaro. Even as
early as this he was attracting the attention of Rome. Inghirami delivered an
oration at the mass which the Spanish ambassador had said for the Infante
Don Juan, January 16, 1498, in S. Jacopo in Navona, which was greatly
admired. He also made a reputation as an actor in Cardinal Rafael Riario's
theater.
The drama was then putting forth its first fruits, not only at the courts of the
Este and Gonzaga families, but also in Rome. Alexander himself, owing to
his sensuous nature, was especially fond of it, and had comedies and ballets
performed at all the family festivities in the Vatican. The actors were young
students from the Academy of Pomponius Laetus, and we have every
reason to believe that Inghirami, the Mellini, and the Porcaro took part in
these performances whenever the opportunity was offered. Carlo Canale,
Vannozza's consort, must also have lent valuable assistance, for he had been
familiar with the stage in Mantua; and no less important was the aid of

Pandolfo Collenuccio, who had repeatedly been Ferrara's ambassador in
Rome, where he enjoyed daily intercourse with the Borgias.
The celebrated Pomponius, to whom Rome was indebted for the revival of
the theater, spent his last years, during the reign of Alexander, in the
enjoyment of the highest popular esteem. Alexander himself may have been
one of his pupils, as Cardinal Farnese certainly was. Pomponius died June
6, 1498, and the same pope who had sent Savonarola to the stake had his
court attend the obsequies of the great representative of classic paganism,
which were held in the Church of Aracoeli, a fact which lends additional
support to the belief that he was personally known to the Borgias.
Moreover, one of his most devoted pupils, Michele Ferno, had for a long
time been a firm adherent of Alexander. Although the Pope in 1501 issued
the first edict of censorship, he was not an enemy of the sciences. He
fostered the University of Rome, several of whose chairs were at that time
held by men of note; for example, Petrus Sabinus and John Argyropulos.
One of the greatest geniuses—one whose light has blessed all mankind—
was for a year an ornament of this university and of the reign of Alexander;
Copernicus came to Rome from far away Prussia in the jubilee year 1500,
and lectured on mathematics and astronomy.
Among Alexander's courtiers there were many brilliant men whose society
Lucretia must have had an opportunity to enjoy. Burchard, the master of
ceremonies, laid down the rules for all the functions in which the Pope's
daughter took part. He must have called upon her frequently, but she could
scarcely have foreseen that, centuries later, this Alsatian's notes would
constitute the mirror in which posterity would see the reflections of the
Borgias. His diary, however, gives no details concerning Lucretia's private
life—this did not come within his duties.
Never did any other chronicler describe the things about him so clearly and
so concisely, so dryly, and with so little feeling—things which were worthy
of the pen of a Tacitus. That Burchard was not friendly to the Borgias is
proved by the way his diary is written; it, however, is absolutely truthful.
This man well knew how to conceal his feelings—if the dull routine of his
office had left him any. He went through the daily ceremonial of the Vatican
mechanically, and kept his place there under five popes. Burchard must
have seemed to the Borgias a harmless pedant; for if not, would they have

permitted him to behold and describe their doings and yet live? Even the
little which he did write in his diary concerning events of the day would
have cost him his head had it come to the knowledge of Alexander or
Cæsar. It appears, however, that the diaries of the masters of ceremony were
not subjected to official censorship. Cæsar would have spared him no more
than he did his father's favorite, Pedro Calderon Perotto, whom he stabbed,
and Cervillon, whom he had killed—both of whom frequently performed
important parts in the ceremonies in the Vatican.
Nor did he spare the private secretary, Francesco Troche, whom Alexander
VI had often employed in diplomatic affairs. Troche, according to a
Venetian report a Spaniard, was, like Canale, a cultivated humanist, and like
him, he was also on friendly terms with the house of Gonzaga. There are
still in existence letters of his to the Marchioness Gonzaga, in which he asks
her to send him certain sonnets she had composed. She likewise writes to
him regarding family matters, and also asks him to find her an antique
cupid in Rome. There is no doubt but that he was one of Lucretia's most
intimate acquaintances. In June, 1503, Cæsar had also this favorite of his
father strangled.
Besides Burchard and Lorenz Behaim, there was another German who was
familiar with the family affairs of the Borgias, Goritz of Luxemburg, who
subsequently, during the reigns of Julius II and Leo X, became famous as an
academician. Even in Alexander's time the cultivated world of Rome was in
the habit of meeting at Goritz's house in Trajan's Forum for the purpose of
engaging in academic discussions. All the Germans who came to Rome
sought him out, and he must have received Reuchlin, who visited that city
in 1498, and subsequently Copernicus, Erasmus, and Ulrich von Hutten,
who remembered him with gratitude; it is also probable that Luther visited
his hospitable home. Goritz was supplicant referent, and as such he must
have known Lucretia personally, because the influential daughter of the
Pope was the constant recipient of petitions of various sorts. He had ample
opportunity to observe events in the Vatican, but of his experiences he
recorded nothing; or, if he did, his diary was destroyed in the sack of Rome
in 1527, when he lost all his belongings.
Among Lucretia's personal acquaintances was still another man, one who
was in a better position than any one else to write the history of the Borgias.

This was the Nestor of Roman notaries, old Camillo Beneimbene, the
trusted legal adviser of Alexander and of most of the cardinals and grandees
of Rome. He knew the Borgias in their private as well as in their public
character; he had been acquainted with Lucretia from her childhood; he
drew up all her marriage contracts. His office was on the Lombard Piazza,
now known as S. Luigi dei Francesi. Here he worked, drawing up legal
documents until the year 1505, as is shown by instruments in his
handwriting.[71] A man who had been the official witness and legal adviser
in the most important family affairs of the Borgias for so long a time, and
who, therefore, was familiar with all their secrets, must have occupied, so
far as their house, and especially Lucretia, were concerned, the position of a
close friend. Beneimbene records none of his personal experiences, but his
protocol-book is still preserved in the archives of the notary of the Capitol.
Adriano Castelli of Corneto, a highly cultivated humanist, and privy-
secretary to Alexander, who subsequently made him a cardinal, was very
close to the Borgias. As the Pope's secretary he must have frequently come
in contact with Lucretia. Among her intimate acquaintances were also the
famous Latinist, Cortesi; the youthful Sardoleto, the familiar of Cardinal
Cibò; young Aldo Manuzio; the intellectual brothers Rafael and Mario
Maffei of Volterra; and Egidio of Viterbo, who subsequently became
famous as a pulpit orator and was made a cardinal. The last maintained his
connection with Lucretia while she was Duchess of Ferrara. He exercised a
deep influence upon the religious turn which her nature took during this the
second period of her life.
The youthful Duchess of Biselli certainly enjoyed the lively society of the
cultured and gallant ecclesiastics about her—Cardinals Medici, Riario,
Orsini, Cesarini, and Farnese—not to mention the Borgias and the Spanish
prelates. We may look for her, too, at the banquets in the palaces of Rome's
great families, the Massimi and Orsini, the Santa Croce, Altieri, and Valle,
and in the homes of the wealthy bankers Altoviti, Spanocchi, and Mariano
Chigi, whose sons Lorenzo and Agostino—the latter eventually became
famous—enjoyed the confidence of the Borgias.
Lucretia was able in Rome to gratify a taste for the fine arts. Alexander
found employment for the great artists of the day in the Vatican, where
Perugino executed some paintings for him, and where, under the picture of

the holy Virgin, Pinturicchio, who was his court artist, painted the portrait
of the adulteress, Giulia Farnese. He also painted portraits of several
members of the Borgia family in the castle of S. Angelo.
"In the castle of S. Angelo," says Vasari, "he painted many of the rooms a
grotesche; but in the tower below, in the garden, he depicted scenes from
the life of Alexander VI. There he painted the Catholic Queen Isabella;
Niccolò Orsini, Count of Pitigliano; Giangiacomo Trivulzio; and many
other kinsmen and friends of the Pope, and especially Cæsar Borgia and his
brother and sisters, as well as numerous great men of the age." Lorenz
Behaim copied the epigrams which were placed under six of these paintings
in the "castle of S. Angelo, below in the papal gardens." All represented
scenes from the critical period of the invasion of Italy by Charles VIII, and
they were painted in such a way as to make Alexander appear as having
been victorious. One showed the king prostrating himself at the Pope's feet
in this same garden of the castle of S. Angelo; another represented Charles
declaring his loyalty before the consistory; another, Philip of Sens and
Guillaume of S. Malo receiving the cardinal's hat; another, the mass in S.
Peter's at which Charles VIII assisted; the subject of another was the
passage to S. Paul's, with the king holding the Pope's stirrup; and, lastly, a
scene depicting the departure of Charles for Naples, accompanied by Cæsar
Borgia and the Sultan Djem.[72]
These paintings are now lost, and with them the portraits of the members of
the Borgia family. Pinturicchio doubtless painted several likenesses of the
beautiful Lucretia. Probably many of the figures in the paintings of this
master resemble the Borgias, but of this we are not certain. In the
collections of antiquaries, and among the innumerable old portraits which
may be seen hanging in rows on the discolored walls in the palaces of
Rome and in the castles in Romagna, there doubtless are likenesses of
Lucretia, of Cæsar, and of his brothers, which the beholder never suspects
as such. It is well known that there was a faithful portrait of Alexander VI
and his children above the altar of S. Lucia in the Church of S. Maria del
Popolo, the work of Pinturicchio. Later, when Alexander restored this
church, the painting was removed to the court of the cloister, and eventually
it was lost.[73]

Of the famous artists of the day, Lucretia must likewise have known
Antonio di Sangallo, her father's architect, and also Antonio Pollajuolo, the
most renowned sculptor of the Florentine school in Rome during the last
decades of the fifteenth century. He died there in 1498.
But the most famous of all the artists then in Rome was Michael Angelo. He
appeared there first in 1498, an ambitious young man of three and twenty.
At that time the city of Rome was an enchanting environment for an artistic
nature. The boundless immorality of her great past, speaking so eloquently
from innumerable monuments of the pagan and Christian worlds; her
majesty and holy calm; the sudden breaking loose of furious passions—all
this is beyond the imaginative power of modern men, just as is the wickedly
secular nature of the papacy and the spirit of the Renaissance which swept
over these ruins. We are unable to comprehend in their entirety the soul-
activities of this great race, which was both creative and destructive. For to
the same feeling which impelled men to commit great crimes do we owe the
great works of art of the Renaissance. In those days evil, as well as good,
was in the grand style. Alexander VI displayed himself to the world, for
whose opinion he had supreme contempt, as shamelessly and fearlessly as
did Nero.
The Renaissance, owing to the violent contrasts which it presents, now
naïvely and now in full consciousness of their incongruity, and also on
account of the fiendish traits by which it is characterized, will always
constitute one of the greatest psychologic problems in the history of
civilization.
All virtues, all crimes, all forces were set in motion by a feverish yearning
for immaterial pleasures, beauty, power, and immortality. The Renaissance
has been called an intellectual bacchanalia, and when we examine the
features of the bacchantes they become distorted like those of the suitors in
Homer, who anticipated their fall; for this society, this Church, these cities
and states—in fine, this culture in its entirety—toppled over into the abyss
which was yawning for it. The reflection that men like Copernicus, Michael
Angelo, and Bramante, Alexander VI and Cæsar Borgia could live in Rome
at one and the same time is well nigh overpowering.

Did Lucretia ever see the youthful artist, subsequently the friend of the
noble lady, Vittoria Colonna, whose portrait he painted? We know not; but
there is no reason to doubt that she did. The curiosity of the artist and of the
man would have induced Michael Angelo to endeavor to gain a glimpse of
the most charming woman in Rome. Although only a beginner, he was
already recognized as an artist of great talent. As he had just been taken up
by Gallo the Roman and Cardinal La Grolaye, it is altogether probable that
he would have been the subject also of Lucretia's curiosity.
Affected by the recent tragedies in the house of Borgia—for example, the
murder of the Duke of Gandia—Michael Angelo was engaged upon the
great work which was the first to attract the attention of the city, the Pietà,
which Cardinal La Grolaye had commissioned him to paint. This work he
completed in 1499, about the time the great Bramante came to Rome. The
group should be studied with the epoch of the Borgias for background; the
Pietà rises supreme in ethical significance, and in the moral darkness about
her she seems a pure sacrificial fire lighted by a great and earnest spirit in
the dishonored realm of the Church. Lucretia stood before the Pietà, and the
masterpiece must have affected this unhappy daughter of a sinful pope more
powerfully than the words of her confessor or than the admonitions of the
abbesses of S. Sisto.

CHAPTER XV
MISFORTUNES OF CATARINA SFORZA

The jubilee year 1500 was a fortunate one for Cæsar, but an unhappy one
for Lucretia. She began it January 1st with a formal passage to the Lateran,
whither she went to make the prescribed pilgrimage to the Roman churches.
She rode upon a richly caparisoned jennet, her escort consisting of two
hundred mounted nobles, men and women. On her left was her consort,
Don Alfonso; on her right one of the ladies of her court; and behind them
came the captain of the papal guard, Rodrigo Borgia. While she and her
retinue were crossing over the Bridge of S. Angelo, her father stood in a
loggia of the castle, feasting his eyes upon his beloved daughter.
The new year brought Alexander only good news—if we except that of the
death of the Cardinal-legate Giovanni Borgia, Bishop of Melfi and
Archbishop of Capua, who was known as the "younger," to distinguish him
from another cardinal of the same name. He died in Urbino, January 8,
1500, of a fever, according to a statement made by Elisabetta, consort of
Guidobaldo, to her brother Gonzaga, in a letter written from Fossombrone
on the same day.[74]
Cæsar was in Forli when he received the news of the cardinal's death, the
very morning—January 12th—on which the stronghold surrendered to him.
He at once conveyed the information to the Duke of Ferrara in a letter, in
which he said that Giovanni Borgia had been called to Rome by the Pope,
and having set out from Forli, had died suddenly in Urbino of a flux. The
fact that he had been in Cæsar's camp, and that, according to Elisabetta's
letter, he had been taken sick in Urbino, lent some probability to the
suspicion that he had been poisoned.
It is worthy of note that Cæsar, in his letter to the duke, speaks of the
deceased as his brother;[75] and Ercole, in offering him his condolences,
January 18th, on the death of the cardinal, also called him Cæsar's brother.
Are we thereby warranted in concluding that the younger Giovanni Borgia

was a son of Alexander VI? Further, the Ferrarese chronicler Zambotto,
speaking of the cardinal's death, uses the expression, "son of Pope
Alexander."[76] If this was the case, the number of Alexander's children
must be increased, for Ludovico Borgia was also his son. This Borgia, who
succeeded to Giovanni's benefices, was Archbishop of Valencia and
subsequently cardinal. He reported his promotion to the Marchioness
Gonzaga in a letter in which he everywhere speaks of the deceased as "his
brother," just as Cæsar had done.[77]
These statements, however, do not refute the hitherto generally accepted
opinion regarding the descent of Giovanni Borgia, "the younger," and
Zambotta certainly was in error—the word fratre, which he uses in his letter
means merely "dear cousin," fratello cugino.[78]
January 14th news reached the Vatican that Cæsar had taken the castle of
Forli. After a brave resistance Catarina Sforza Riario, together with her two
brothers, was compelled to surrender. The grandchild of the great Francesco
Sforza of Milan, the natural daughter of Galeazzo Maria and the illegitimate
sister of Blanca, wife of Emperor Maximilian, was the ideal of the heroic
women of Italy, who were found not only in Bojardo's and Ariosto's poems,
but also in real life. Her nature exceeded the feminine and verged on
caricature. To understand the evolution of such personalities, in whom
beauty and culture, courage and reason, sensuality and cruelty combined to
produce a strange organism, we must be familiar with the conditions from
which they sprang. Catarina Sforza's experiences made her the amazon that
she was.
At an early age she was married to the rude nephew of Sixtus IV, Girolamo
Riario, Count of Forli. Shortly afterwards her terrible father met a tyrant's
death in Milan. Then her husband fell beneath the daggers of the
conspirators, who flung his naked body from a window of the stronghold of
Forli. Catarina, however, with determined courage, succeeded in keeping
the castle for her children, and she avenged her husband's death with
ferocious cruelty. Subsequently she was known—to quote Marino Sanuto's
words—as "a courageous woman and cruel virago."[79] Six years later she
saw her brother Giangaleazzo die of poison administered by Ludovico il
Moro, while before her very eyes her second, but not openly recognized,
husband, Giacomo Feo of Savona, was slain in Forli by conspirators. She

immediately mounted her charger, and at the head of her guard pursued the
murderers to their quarter, where she had every living being—men, women,
and children—hacked to pieces. She buried a third lover, Giovanni Medici,
in 1497.
With cunning and force this amazon ruled her little domain until she herself
finally fell into Cæsar's hands. Few lamented her fate. When the news
reached Milan that she was in the duke's power, and consequently also in
that of Pope Alexander, the celebrated General Giangiacomo Trivulzio
made a jesting remark which clearly shows how little her fate grieved the
people. According to the stories of the day, Cæsar led her to Rome in
golden chains, like another Queen of Palmyra. He entered the city in
triumph, February 26th, and the Pope assigned the Belvedere to the captive
for her abode.
The city was filled at that time with the faithful, who had come to receive
absolution for their sins, this the jubilee year,—and from a Borgia. Among
the number was Elisabetta Gonzaga, consort of Guidobaldo of Urbino. The
pilgrimage of this famous woman was a dangerous experiment, the Pope
having secretly placed Urbino on the list of proscribed cities included in the
Church fiefs. Cæsar already looked upon it as his property. The thought of
meeting this Borgia in Rome must have been exceedingly painful to her.
How easily might he have found a pretext for keeping her prisoner! Her
brother, Francesco Gonzaga, warned her against her decision, but on her
way to Rome she wrote him a letter so remarkable and so amiable that we
quote it at length:

Illustrious Prince and Lord, Honored Brother: I have left Urbino and set
out for Rome for the purpose of receiving absolution, this the jubilee year.
Several days ago I informed your Excellency of my prospective journey.
Only to-day, in Assisi, did I receive your letter; I understand from what you
write that you wish me to abandon this journey—perhaps thinking that I
have not yet set out—which grieves me greatly, and causes me unspeakable
pain, because I wish in this as in all other things to do your Majesty's will,
having always looked upon you as my most honored father, and never
having had any thought or purpose but to follow your wishes. However, as I
have said, I am now on the way and am out of the country. With the help of
Fabritius (Colonna) and Madonna Agnesina, my honored sister-in-law and
sister, I have made arrangements for a residence in Rome, and for whatever
may be necessary for my comfort. I have also informed them that I would
be in Marino four days hence, and consequently Fabritius has gone to the
trouble of securing an escort for me; further, my departure and journey have
been noised about; therefore, I see no way to abandon this pilgrimage
without affecting my honor and that of my husband—since the thing has
gone so far—the more so as the journey was undertaken with the full
knowledge and consent of my lord, and all and everything carefully
considered. Your Majesty must not be distressed or annoyed by this, my
journey, and in order that you may know everything, I will tell you that I am
first going to Marino, and thence, accompanied by Madonna Agnesina, and
incognito, shall go to Rome for the purpose of receiving absolution at this
the holy jubilee of the Church. I need not see any one there, for during my
stay in Rome I shall live in the palace of the deceased Cardinal Savelli. The
house is a good one, and is exactly what I want, and it is within reach of the
Colonna. It is my intention to return soon to Marino, there to spend the
greater part of the time. Your Majesty, therefore, need have no further
anxiety about my journey, and must not be displeased by it. Although these
reasons are sufficient to induce me not only to continue the journey, but to
begin it, if I had not already set out I would relinquish it, not on account of
any fear of anything unpleasant that might attend my pilgrimage, but simply
to comply with the wish expressed in your Majesty's letter, as I desire to do
always. But as I am now here, and as your Excellency will soon receive this
letter, I am sure you will approve of my course. I earnestly beg you to do so,
and to assure me by letter, addressed to Rome, that you are not displeased,

so that I may receive absolution in greater peace and tranquillity. If you do
not I shall suffer great anxiety and grief. I commend myself to your
Excellency's merciful benevolence as your Majesty's youngest sister,
Elisabetta.
Assisi, March 21, 1500.

Agnesina di Montefeltre mentioned in the letter, Guidobaldo's soulful sister,
was married to Fabritius Colonna, who subsequently became one of Italy's
greatest captains. She was then twenty-eight years of age. She and her
husband lived at the castle of Marino in the Alban mountains, where, in
1490, she bore him Vittoria Colonna, the future ornament of her house.
Elisabetta found this beautiful child already betrothed to Ferrante d'Avalos,
son of Marquis Alfonso of Pescara; Ferdinand II of Naples having brought
about the betrothal of the two children as early as 1495 for the purpose of
winning over the Colonna, the retainers of the house of Aragon.
The Duchess of Urbino actually went to Rome for the purpose of protecting
her noble kinswoman, whom she kept incognito. She remained there until
Easter. On her way to S. Peter's she directed anxious glances toward the
Belvedere, where the bravest woman of Italy, a prisoner, was grieving her
life away, Catarina Sforza having been confined there since Cæsar's return,
February 26th, as is attested by a letter of that date written by the Venetian
ambassador in Rome to his Signory. Elisabetta's feelings must have been
rendered still more painful by the fact that her own husband, as well as her
brother Gonzaga, both of whom were in the service of France, had given the
princess up for lost.
She had scarcely left Rome when Catarina received news that her uncles
Ludovico and Ascanio had fallen into the hands of the King of France.
Having, with the aid of Swiss troops, again secured possession of Milan in
1500, they were ignominiously betrayed by the mercenaries at Novara,
April 10th. Ludovico was carried away to France, where he died in misery,
having spent ten years a prisoner in the tower of Loches; the once powerful
cardinal was likewise taken a captive to France. A great tragedy had
occurred in the house of Sforza. What must have been Catarina's distress
when she, in her prison, learned that fate had overthrown all her race! Could

one transport himself to that environment he would breathe the oppressive
atmosphere with which Shakespeare enveloped his characters.
Catarina's jailers were the two most dreaded men of the age—the Pope and
his son. The very thought of what surrounded her must have filled her with
terror. In the Belvedere she was in constant dread of Cæsar's poison, and it
is indeed a wonder that she did escape it. She made an unsuccessful attempt
at flight, whereupon Alexander had her removed to the castle of S. Angelo.
However, certain French gentlemen in the service of the one who was bent
on her destruction—especially Ivo d'Allegre—interceded for her; and the
Pope, after she had spent a year and a half in captivity, allowed her to
choose Florence for her asylum. He himself commended her to the Signory
in the following letter:

Unto my Beloved Sons: Greeting and the Apostolic Blessing. Our beloved
daughter in Christ, the noble lady Catarina Sforza, is on her way to you.
She, as you are aware, having for good reasons been held a prisoner by Us
for a time, has again become the object of Our mercy. We, according to Our
custom and to Our pastoral duties, have not only exercised mercy with
regard to this Catarina, but also, so far as We with God's help were able,
have looked with paternal solicitude after her welfare; therefore We deem it
proper to write you for the purpose of commending this Catarina to your
protection, so that she, having full confidence in Our good will towards
you, and returning, so to speak, into her own country, may not be deluded in
her expectations and by Our recommendation. We, therefore, shall be glad
to learn that she has been well received and treated by you, in gratitude to
her for having chosen your city for her abode, and owing to your feelings
toward Us. Given at Rome, in S. Peter's, under the Apostolic seal, July 13,
1501. In the ninth year of our pontificate.
Hadrianus.

Catarina Sforza died in a convent in Florence in 1509. In her fatherland she
left a son of the same mettle as herself, Giovanni Medici, the last of the
great condottieri of the country, who became famous as leader of the Black
Bands. There is a seated figure in marble of this captain, of herculean

strength, with the neck of a centaur, near the church of S. Lorenzo in
Florence.

CHAPTER XVI
MURDER OF ALFONSO OF ARAGON

After the fall of the Riario, of Imola, and Forli, all the tyrants in the domain
of the Church trembled before Cæsar; and greater princes, like those of the
Gonzaga and Este families, who were either entirely independent or were
semi-independent vassals of the Church, courted the friendship of the Pope
and his dreaded son. Cæsar, as an ally of France, had secured for himself
the services of these princes, and since 1499 they had helped him in his
schemes in the Romagna. He engaged in a lively correspondence with
Ercole d'Este, whom he treated as his equal, as his brother and friend,
although he was a young and immature man. To him he reported his
successes, and in return received congratulations, equally confidential in
tone, all of which consisted of diplomatic lies inspired by fear. The
correspondence between Cæsar and Ercole, which is very voluminous, is
still preserved in the Este archives in Modena. It began August 30, 1498,
when Cæsar was still a cardinal. In this letter, which is written in Latin, he
announces to the duke that he is about to set out for France, and asks him
for a saddle horse.
Cæsar engaged in an equally confidential correspondence with Francesco
Gonzaga, with whom he entered into intimate relations which endured until
his death. In the archives of the Gonzaga family in Mantua there are
preserved forty-one letters written by Cæsar to the marquis and his consort
Isabella. The first is dated October 31, 1498, from Avignon; the second,
January 12, 1500, from Forli; the third is as follows:

Illustrious Sir and Honored Brother: From your Excellency's letter we
have learned of the birth of your illustrious son, which has occasioned us no
less joy than we would have felt on the birth of an heir to ourselves. As we,
owing to our sincere and brotherly goodwill for you, wish you all increase
and fortune, we willingly consent to be godfather, and will appoint for our
proxy anyone whom your Excellency may choose. May he in our stead

watch over the child from the moment of his baptism. We earnestly pray to
God to preserve the same to you.
Your Majesty will not fail to congratulate your illustrious consort in our
name. She will, we hope, through this son prepare the way for a numerous
posterity to perpetuate the fame of their illustrious parents. Rome, in the
Apostolic Palace, May 24, 1500.
Cæsar Borgia of France, Duke of Valentinois,
Gonfallonier, and Captain-General
of the Holy Roman Church.

This son of the Marquis of Mantua was the hereditary Prince Federico, born
May 17, 1500. Two years later, when Cæsar was at the zenith of his power,
Gonzaga requested the honor of the betrothal of this son and the duke's little
daughter Luisa.
Cæsar remained in Rome several months to secure funds for carrying out
his plans in Romagna. All his projects would have been wrecked in a
moment if his father had not escaped, almost unharmed, when the walls of a
room in the Vatican collapsed, June 27, 1500. He was extricated from the
rubbish only slightly hurt. He would allow no one but his daughter to care
for him. When the Venetian ambassador called, July 3d, he found Madonna
Lucretia, Sancia, the latter's husband, Giuffrè, and one of Lucretia's ladies-
in-waiting, who was the Pope's "favorite," with him. Alexander was then
seventy years of age. He ascribed his escape to the Virgin Mary, just as Pius
IX did his own when the house near S. Agnese tumbled down. July 5th
Alexander held a service in her honor, and on his recovery he had himself
borne in a procession to S. Maria del Popolo, where he offered the Virgin a
goblet containing three hundred ducats. Cardinal Piccolomini ostentatiously
scattered the gold pieces over the altar before all the people.
The saints had saved a great sinner from the falling walls in the Vatican, but
they refrained from interfering eighteen days later to prevent a hideous
crime—the attempted murder of a guiltless person. In vain had the youthful
Alfonso of Biselli been warned by his own premonitions and by his friends
during the past year to seek safety in flight. He had followed his wife to
Rome like a lamb to the slaughter, only to fall under the daggers of the

assassins from whom she was powerless to save him. Cæsar hated him, as
he did the entire house of Aragon, and in his opinion his sister's marriage to
a Neapolitan prince had become as useless as had been her union with
Sforza of Pesaro; moreover, it interfered with the plans of Cæsar, who had a
matrimonial alliance in mind for his sister which would be more
advantageous to himself. As her marriage with the Duke of Biselli had not
been childless, and, consequently, could not be set aside, he determined
upon a radical separation of the couple.
July 15, 1500, about eleven o'clock at night, Alfonso was on his way from
his palace to the Vatican to see his consort; near the steps leading to S.
Peter's a number of masked men fell upon him with daggers. Severely
wounded in the head, arm, and thigh, the prince succeeded in reaching the
Pope's chamber. At the sight of her spouse covered with blood, Lucretia
sank to the floor in a swoon.
Alfonso was carried to another room in the Vatican, and a cardinal
administered the extreme unction; his youth, however, triumphed, and he
recovered. Although Lucretia, owing to her fright, fell sick of a fever, she
and his sister Sancia took care of him; they cooked his food, while the Pope
himself placed a guard over him. In Rome there was endless gossip about
the crime and its perpetrators. July 19th the Venetian ambassador wrote to
his Signory: "It is not known who wounded the duke, but it is said that it
was the same person who killed the Duke of Gandia and threw him into the
Tiber. Monsignor of Valentinois has issued an edict that no one shall be
found with arms between the castle of S. Angelo and S. Peter's, on pain of
death."
Cæsar remarked to the ambassador, "I did not wound the duke, but if I had,
it would have been nothing more than he deserved." His hatred of his
brother-in-law must have been inspired also by personal reasons of which
we are ignorant. He even ventured to call upon the wounded man,
remarking on leaving, "What is not accomplished at noon may be done at
night."
The days passed slowly; finally the murderer lost patience. At nine o'clock
in the evening of August 18th, he came again; Lucretia and Sancia drove
him from the room, whereupon he called his captain, Micheletto, who

strangled the duke. There was no noise, not a sound; it was like a
pantomime; amid a terrible silence the dead prince was borne away to S.
Peter's.
The affair was no longer a secret. Cæsar openly stated that he had destroyed
the duke because the latter was seeking his life, and he claimed that by
Alfonso's orders some archers had shot at him when he was strolling in the
Vatican gardens.

CÆSAR BORGIA.
From a painting by Giorgione.

Nothing so clearly discloses the terrible influence which Cæsar exercised
over his wicked father as this deed, and the way in which the Pope regarded

it. From the Venetian ambassador's report it appears that it was contrary to
Alexander's wishes, and that he had even attempted to save the unfortunate
prince's life. After the crime had been committed, however, the Pope
dismissed it from his mind, both because he did not dare to bring Cæsar—
whom he had forgiven for the murder of his brother—to a reckoning, and
because the murder would result in offering him opportunities which he
desired. He spared himself the trouble of directing useless reproaches to his
son, for Cæsar would only have laughed at them. Was the care with which
Alexander had his unfortunate son-in-law watched merely a bit of deceit?
There are no grounds for believing that the Pope either planned the murder
himself or that he consented to it.
Never was bloody deed so soon forgotten. The murder of a prince of the
royal house of Naples made no more impression than the death of a Vatican
stable boy would have done. No one avoided Cæsar; none of the priests
refused him admission to the Church, and all the cardinals continued to
show him the deepest reverence and respect. Prelates vied with each other
to receive the red hat from the hand of the all-powerful murderer, who
offered the dignity to the highest bidders. He needed money for carrying out
his schemes of confiscation in the Romagna. His condottieri, Paolo Orsini,
Giuliano Orsini, Vitellozzo Vitelli, and Ercole Bentivoglio were with him
during these autumn days. His father had equipped seven hundred heavy
men at arms for him, and, August 18th, the Venetian ambassador reported to
the signory that he had been requested by the Pope to ask the Doge to
withdraw their protection from Rimini and Faenza. Negotiations were in
progress with France to secure her active support for Cæsar. August 24th
the French ambassador, Louis de Villeneuve, made his entry into Rome;
near S. Spirito a masked man rode up and embraced him. The man was
Cæsar. However openly he committed his crimes, he frequently went about
Rome in disguise.
The murder of the youthful Alfonso of Aragon was by far the most tragic
deed committed by the Borgias, and his fate was more terrible than even
that of Astorre Manfredi. If Lucretia really loved her husband, as there is
every reason to suppose she did, his end must have caused her the greatest
anguish; and, even if she had no affection for him, all her feelings must
have been aroused against the murderer to whose fiendish ambition the

tragedy was due. She must also have rebelled against her father, who
regarded the crime with such indifference.
None of the reports of the day describe the circumstances in which she
found herself immediately after the murder, nor events in the Vatican just
preceding it. Although Lucretia was suffering from a fever, she did not die
of grief, nor did she rise to avenge her husband's murder, or to flee from the
terrible Vatican.
She was in a position similar to that of her sister-in-law, Doña Maria
Enriquez, after Gandia's death; but while the latter and her sons had found
safety in Spain, Lucretia had no retreat to which she could retire without the
consent of her father and brother.
It would be wrong to blame the unfortunate woman because at this fateful
moment of her life she did not make herself the subject of a tragedy. Of a
truth, she appears very weak and characterless. We must not look for great
qualities of soul in Lucretia, for she possessed them not. We are
endeavoring to represent her only as she actually was, and, if we judge
rightly, she was merely a woman differentiated from the great mass of
women, not by the strength, but by the graciousness, of her nature. This
young woman, regarded by posterity as a Medea or as a loathsomely
passionate creature, probably never experienced any real feeling. During the
years she lived in Rome she was always subject to the will of others, for her
destiny was controlled, first, by her father, and subsequently by her brother.
We know not how much of an effort, in view of the circumstances by which
she was trammeled, she could make to maintain the dignity of woman. If
Lucretia, however, ever did possess the courage to assert her individuality
and rights before those who injured her, she certainly would have done so
when her husband was murdered. Perhaps she did assail her sinister brother
with recriminations and her father with tears. She was troublesome to
Cæsar, who wished her away from the Vatican, consequently Alexander
banished her for a time; and apparently she herself was not unwilling to go.
The Venetian ambassador Paolo Capello refers to some quarrel between
Lucretia and her father. He departed from Rome, September 16, 1500, and
on his return to Venice made a report to his government on the condition of
affairs, in which he says: "Madonna Lucretia, who is gracious and

generous, formerly was in high favor with the Pope, but she is so no
longer."
August 30th, Lucretia, accompanied by a retinue of six hundred riders, set
out from Rome for Nepi, of which city she was mistress. There, according
to Burchard, she hoped to recover from the perturbation which the death of
the Duke of Biselli had caused her.

CHAPTER XVII
LUCRETIA AT NEPI

Travelers from Rome to Nepi, then as now, followed the Via Cassia, passing
Isola Farnese, Baccano, and Monterosi. The road consisted in part of the
ancient highway, but it was in the worst possible condition. Near Monterosi
the traveler turned into the Via Amerina, much of the pavement of which is
still preserved, even up to the walls of Nepi.
Like most of the cities of Etruria, Nepi (Nepe or Nepete) was situated on a
high plain bordered by deep ravines, through which flowed small streams,
called rii. The bare cliffs of tuff constituted a natural means of defense, and
where they were low, walls were built.
The southern side of the city of Nepi, where the Falisco River flows and
empties into a deep chasm, was in ancient times fortified with high walls
built of long, square blocks of tuff laid upon each other without mortar, like
the walls of neighboring Falerii. Some remains of Nepi's walls may still be
seen near the Porta Romana, although much of the material has been used
in constructing the castle and for the high arches of the Farnese aqueduct.
The castle defended the weakest side of Nepi, where, in the old days, stood
the city fortress. In the eighth century it was the seat of a powerful duke,
Toto, who made a name for himself also in the history of Rome. Cardinal
Rodrigo Borgia gave it the form it now has, rebuilding the castle and
enlarging the two great towers inside the walls, the larger of which is round
and the smaller square. Later the castle was restored and furnished with
bastions by Paul III and his son, Pierluigi Farnese, the first Duke of Castro
and Nepi.[80]
In 1500 this castle was as strong as that of Civitacastellana, which
Alexander VI rebuilt. Unfortunately, it is now in ruins. The remains of the
castle-palace and all the outer walls are covered with thick ivy. Time has
spared nothing but the two great towers.

On the side toward the city the ruined stronghold is entered through a
gateway above which is inscribed in the fair characters of the Renaissance,
YSV VNICVS CVSTOS. PROCVL HINC TIMORES. YSV. This leads into
a rectangular court surrounded by walls now in ruins. The beholder is
confronted by the façade of the castle, a two-storied structure in the style of
the Renaissance, with windows whose casements are made of peperino
(cement). The inscription P. LOISIVS FAR DVX PRIMVS CASTRI on the
door frame shows that this was also the work of the Farnese.
The interior is a mass of ruins, all the walls having fallen in. This notable
monument of the past has been suffered to go to decay; it was only eighty
years ago that the walls of the last remaining salon fell in. The only room
left is an upper chamber, reached by climbing a ladder. The place where the
hearth was is still discernible, as is also the paneled ceiling found in so
many of the buildings of the early Renaissance. The ends of the rafters are
supported by beautifully carved consoles. All the woodwork is stained dark
brown, and here and there on the ceiling are wooden shields, on which are
painted the Borgia arms in colors.
In various places in the interior, and also without, on the towers of the
stronghold, the same arms may be seen carved in stone. There are also two
stones, with the arms very carefully chiseled, set in the walls of the entrance
hall of the town house of Nepi, which were originally in the castle where
they had been placed by Lucretia's orders. The Borgia arms and those of the
house of Aragon, which Lucretia, as Duchess of Biselli, had adopted, are
united under a ducal crown.
Lonely Nepi, which now has only 2,500 inhabitants, had but few more in
the year 1500. It was a little town in Campagna, whose streets were
bordered by Gothic buildings, with a few old palaces and towers belonging
to the nobles, among the most important of whom were the Celsi. There is a
small public square, formerly the forum, on which the town hall faces, and
also an old church, originally built upon the ruins of the temple of Jupiter.
There were a few other ancient churches and cloisters, such as S. Vito and
S. Eleuterio, and other remains of antiquity, which have now disappeared.
There are only two ancient statues left—the figures of two of Nepi's citizens
whose names are now unknown—they are on the façade of the palace, a
beautiful building dating from the late Renaissance. Owing to the

topography of the region and the general decadence peculiar to all Etruria,
the country about Nepi is forbidding and melancholy. The dark and rugged
chasms, with their huge blocks of stone and steep walls of black and dark
red tuff, with rushing torrents in their depths, cause an impression of
grandeur, but also of sadness, with which the broad and peaceful highlands
and the idyllic pastures, where one constantly hears the melancholy bleating
of the sheep, and the sad notes of the shepherds' flutes are in perfect accord.
Here and there dark oak forests may still be seen, but four hundred years
ago, in the neighborhood of Nepi, they were more numerous and denser
than they are to-day; in the direction of Sutri and Civitacastellana they are
well cleared up; but there are still many fine groves. From the top of the
castle may be seen a magnificent panorama, which is even more extensive
than that which greets the eye from the castle of Spoleto. There on the
horizon are the dark volcano of Bracciano and Monte di Rocca Romana,
and here the mountains of Viterbo, on whose wide slopes the town of
Caprarola, which belonged to the Farnese, is visible. On the other side rises
Soracte. Towards the north the plateau slopes gently down to the valley of
the Tiber, across which, in the misty distance, the blue chain of the Sabine
mountains stands out boldly, with numerous fortresses scattered about the
declivities.
August 31st Alfonso's young widow went to the castle of Nepi, taking with
her part of her court and her child Rodrigo. These knights and ladies, all
generally so merry, were now either oppressed by a real sorrow or were
required by court etiquette to renounce all pleasures. In this lonely
stronghold Lucretia could lament, undisturbed, the taking-off of the
handsome youth who had been her husband for two years, and together with
whom she had dwelt in this same castle scarcely a twelve-month before.
There was nothing to disturb her melancholy brooding; but, instead, castle,
city, and landscape all harmonized with it.
Some of Lucretia's letters written during her stay at the castle of Nepi are
still in existence, and they are especially valuable, being the only ones we
have which date from what is known as the Roman period of the life of the
famous woman. Lucretia addressed them to her trusted servant in Rome,
Vincenzo Giordano; some are in her own handwriting, and others in that of
her secretary, Cristoforo. She signs herself "the most unhappy Princess of

Salerno," although she herself afterwards struck out the words, principessa
de Salerno, and left only the words, La infelicissima. In only a single letter
—and this one has no date—did she allow the whole signature to stand.
The first letters, dated September 15th and October 24, 1500, "in our city of
Nepi," are devoted to domestic affairs, especially clothes, of which she was
in need. Two days later she states that she had written to the Cardinal of
Lisbon, her godfather, in the interest of the bearer of the letter, Giovanni of
Prato. October 28th she directs Vincenzo to have certain clothes made for
the little Rodrigo and to send them to her immediately by a courier. She also
orders him to have prayers said for her in all the convents "on account of
this, my new sorrow." October 30th she wrote as follows:

Vincenzo: As we have decided that the memorial service for the soul of his
Lordship, the duke, my husband—may the glory of the saints be his—shall
be held, you will, with this end in view, go to his Eminence the Lord
Cardinal of Colenzo, whom we have charged with this office, and will do
whatever his Eminence commands you, both in regard to paying for the
mass and also for performing whatever his Majesty directs; and you will
keep account of what you spend of the five hundred which you have, for I
will see that you are reimbursed, so it will be necessary. From the castle of
Nepi, next to the last day of October, 1500.
The Unhappy Princess of Salerno.

There is an undated letter written by Lucretia which, apparently, belongs to
the same period, because it is written in a melancholy tone, and in it she
asks Heaven to watch over her bed. The last dated letters, which are of
October 31st and November 2d, are devoted to unimportant domestic
affairs; they show that Lucretia was in Nepi as late as November. Another
undated letter to the same Vincenzo Giordano refers to her return to Rome;
it purposely contains obscurities which it is now impossible to decipher and
fictitious names which had been agreed upon with her servant. Even the
signature is a conventional sign. The epistle is word for word as follows: "I
am so filled with misgivings and anxiety on account of my returning to
Rome that I can scarcely write—I can only weep. And all this time when I

found that Farina neither answered nor wrote to me I was able neither to eat
nor sleep, and wept continually. God forgive Farina, who could have made
everything turn out better and did not do so. I will see whether I can send
him Roble before I set out—for I wish to send him. No more for the
present. Again look well to that matter, and on no account let Rexa see this
letter."
Lucretia, it appears, wished to leave Nepi and return to Rome, for which her
father at first might refuse his permission. Perhaps Rexa in this letter means
Alexander, and the name Farina may signify Cardinal Farnese, upon whose
intermediation she counted. Vincenzo finally wrote her that he had spoken
to the Pope himself, and Lucretia, in an undated letter, showed her servant
how pleased she was because everything had turned out better than she had
expected. This is the only letter in which the signature, "The unhappy
Princess of Salerno" is not stricken out.
We do not know how long Lucretia remained in Nepi, where, in summer,
the moisture rising from the rocky chasms caused deadly fevers, and still
renders that place and Civitacastellana unhealthful. Her father recalled her
to Rome before Christmas, and received her again into his favor as soon as
her brother left the city. Only a few months had passed when Lucretia's soul
was again filled with visions of a brilliant future, before which the vague
form of the unfortunate Alfonso sank into oblivion. Her tears dried so
quickly that, on the expiration of a year, no one would have recognized in
this young and frivolous woman the widow of a trusted consort who had
been foully murdered. From her father Lucretia had inherited, if not
inexhaustible vitality, at least the lightness of mind which her
contemporaries, under the name of joy of living, discovered in her and in
the Pope.

CHAPTER XVIII
CÆSAR AT PESARO

Towards the end of September, Cæsar entered Romagna with seven hundred
heavy men at arms, two hundred light horsemen, and six thousand foot
soldiers. First he advanced against Pesaro for the purpose of driving out his
former brother-in-law. Sforza, on hearing of the terrible fate of his
successor as husband of Lucretia, had good reason to congratulate himself
on his escape. He was literally consuming with hate of all the Borgias, but,
instead of being able to avenge himself for the injury they had done him, he
found himself threatened with another, a greater and almost unavoidable
one. He had been informed by his representative in Rome and by the
ambassador of Spain, who was friendly to him, of the preparations his
enemy was making, a fact proved by his letter to Francesco Gonzaga, the
brother of his first wife, Maddalena.[81]
September 1, 1500, he informed the Marquis of Cæsar's intention to attack
Pesaro, and asked him to endeavor to interest the Emperor Maximilian in
his behalf. On the twenty-sixth he wrote an urgent appeal for help. This the
marquis did not refuse, but he sent him only a hundred men under the
command of an Albanian. Thus do we see how these illegitimate dynasties
of Italy were in danger of being overthrown by every breath. Faenza was
the only place where the people loved their lord, the young and fair Astorre
Manfredi, and remained true to him. In all the other cities of Romagna,
however, the regime of the tyrants was detested. Sforza himself could be
cruel and exacting, and not in vain had he been a pupil of the Borgias in
Rome.
Never was throne so quickly overturned as his, or, rather, so promptly
abandoned before it was attacked. Cæsar was some distance from Pesaro
when there was a movement in his favor among the people; a party hostile
to the Sforza was formed, while the whole populace, excited by the thought
of what might follow the storming of the city by the heartless enemy, was
anxious to make terms with him. In vain did the poet, Guido Posthumus,

who had recently returned from Padua to his fatherland, urge his fellow
citizens, in ardent verses, to resist the enemy.[82] The people rose Sunday,
October 11th, even before Cæsar had appeared under the city walls. What
then happened is told in Sforza's letter to Gonzaga:

Illustrious Sir and Honored Brother-in-Law: Your Excellency doubtless
has learned ere this how the people of Pesaro, last Sunday morning, incited
by four scoundrels, rose in arms, and how I, with a few who remained
faithful, was forced to retire to the castle as best I could. When I saw that
the enemy was approaching, and that Ercole Bentivoglio, who was near
Rimini, was pressing forward, I left the castle at night to avoid being shut in
—this was on the advice and with the help of the Albanian Jacomo. In spite
of the bad roads and great obstacles, I escaped to this place, for which I
have, first of all, to thank your Excellency—you having sent me Jacomo—
and next, to thank him for bringing me through safely. What I shall now do,
I know not; but if I do not succeed in getting to your Excellency within four
days, I will send Jacomo, who will tell you how everything happened, and
what my plans are. In the meantime I wish you to know that I am safe, and
that I commend myself to you. Bologna, October 17, 1500. Your
Excellency's Brother-in-Law and Servant,
Johannes Sforza of Aragon, Count of Cotignola and Pesaro.

October 19th he again wrote from Bologna, saying he was going to
Ravenna, and intended to return from there to Pesaro, where the castle was
still bravely holding out; he also asked the marquis to send him three
hundred men. Three days later, however, he reported from Ravenna that the
castle had capitulated.
Cæsar Borgia had taken the city of Pesaro, not only without resistance, but
with the full consent of the people, and with public honors he entered the
Sforza palace, where only four years before his sister had held her court. He
took possession of the castle October 28th, summoned a painter and
commanded him to draw a picture of it on paper for him to send the Pope.
From the battlements of the castle of the Sforza twelve trumpeters sounded

the glad tidings, and the heralds saluted Cæsar as Lord of Pesaro. October
29th he set out for the castle of Gradara.[83]
Among those who witnessed his entry into Pesaro was Pandolfo
Collenuccio. On receiving news of the fall of the city, Duke Ercole, owing
to fear, and also on account of a certain bargain between himself and the
Pope, of which we shall soon speak, sent this man, whom Sforza had
banished, and who had found an asylum in Ferrara, to Cæsar to congratulate
him. Collenuccio gave the duke a report of his mission, October 29th, in the
following remarkable letter:

My Illustrious Master: Having left your Excellency, I reached Pesaro two
and a half days ago, arriving there Thursday at the twenty-fourth hour. At
exactly the same time the Duke of Valentino made his entry. The entire
populace was gathered about the city gate, and he was received during a
heavy fall of rain, and was presented with the keys of the city. He took up
his abode in the palace, in the room formerly occupied by Signor Giovanni.
His entry, according to the reports of some of my people who witnessed it,
was very impressive. It was orderly, and he was accompanied by numerous
horse and foot soldiers. The same evening I notified him of my arrival, and
requested an audience whenever it should suit his Majesty's convenience.
About two o'clock at night (eight o'clock in the evening) he sent Signor
Ramiro and his majordomo to call upon me and to ask, in the most
courteous manner, whether I was comfortably lodged, and whether, owing
to the great number of people in the city, I lacked for anything. He had
instructed them to tell me to rest myself thoroughly, and that he would
receive me the following day. Early Wednesday he sent me by a courier, as
a present, a sack of barley, a cask of wine, a wether, eight pairs of capons
and hens, two large torches, two bundles of wax candles, and two boxes of
sweetmeats. He, however, did not appoint an hour for an audience, but sent
his excuses and said I must not think it strange. The reason was that he had
risen at the twentieth hour (two o'clock in the afternoon) and had dined,
after which he had gone to the castle, where he remained until night, and
whence he returned greatly exhausted owing to a sore he had in the groin.
To-day, about the twenty-second hour (four in the afternoon), after he had
dined, he had Signor Ramiro fetch me to him; and with great frankness and
amiability his Majesty first made his excuses for not granting me an
audience the preceding day, owing to his having so much to do in the castle
and also on account of the pain caused by his ulcer. Following this, and
after I had stated that the sole object of my mission was to wait upon his
Majesty to congratulate and thank him, and to offer your services, he
answered me in carefully chosen words, covering each point and very
fluently. The gist of it was, that knowing your Excellency's ability and
goodness, he had always loved you and had hoped to enjoy personal
relations with you. He had looked forward to this when you were in Milan,
but events and circumstances then prevented it. But now that he had come
to this country, he—determined to have his wish—had written the letter

announcing his successes, of his own free will and as proof of his love, and
feeling certain that your Majesty would be pleased by it. He says he will
continue to keep you informed of his doings, as he desires to establish a
firm friendship with your Majesty, and he proffers everything he owns and
in his power should you ever have need. He desires to look upon you as a
father. He also thanked your Majesty for the letter and for having sent it him
by a messenger, although the letter was unnecessary; for even without it he
would have known that your Majesty would be pleased by his success. In
short, he could not have uttered better and more seemly words than those he
used when he referred to you as his father and to himself as your son, which
he did repeatedly.
When I take both the actual facts and his words into consideration, I see
why he wishes to establish some sort of friendly alliance with your Majesty.
I believe in his professions, and I can see nothing but good in them. He was
much pleased by your Majesty's sending a special messenger to him, and I
heard that he had informed the Pope of it; to his followers here he spoke of
it in a way that showed he considered it of the greatest moment.
Replying in general terms, I said that I could only commend the wisdom he
had shown in regard to your Excellency, owing to our position and to that of
our State, which, however, could only redound to his credit; to this he
emphatically assented. He gave me to understand that he recognized this
perfectly, and thereupon, breaking the thread of our conversation, we came
to the subject of Faenza. His Majesty said to me, "I do not know what
Faenza wants to do; she can give us no more trouble than did the others;
still she may delay matters. I replied that I believed she would do as the
others had done; but if she did not, it could only redound to his Majesty's
glory; for it would give him another opportunity to display his skill and
valor by capturing the place." This seemed to please him, and he answered
that he would assuredly crush it. Bologna was not mentioned. He was
pleased by the messages which I brought him from your people, from Don
Alfonso and the cardinal, of whom he spoke long and with every
appearance of affection.
Thereupon, having been together a full half hour, I took my departure, and
his Majesty, mounting his horse, rode forth. This evening he is going to
Gradara; to-morrow to Rimini, and then farther. He is accompanied by all

his troops, including the artillery. He told me he would not move so slowly
but that he did not wish to leave the cannon behind.
There are more than two thousand men quartered here but they have done
no appreciable damage. The surrounding country is swarming with troops;
whether they have done much harm we do not know. He granted the city no
privileges or exemptions. He left as his lieutenant a certain doctor of Forli.
He took seventy pieces of artillery from the castle, and the guard he left
there is very small.
I will tell your Excellency something which a number of people mentioned
to me; it was, however, related to me in detail by a Portuguese cavalier, a
soldier in the army of the Duke of Valentino who is lodged here in the
house of my son-in-law with fifteen troopers—an upright man who was a
friend of our lord, Don Fernando, when he was with King Charles. He told
me that the Pope intended to give this city to Madonna Lucretia for her
portion, and that he had found a husband for her, an Italian, who would
always be able to retain the friendship of Valentino. Whether this be true I
know not, but it is generally believed.
As to Fano, the Duke did not retain it. He was there five days. He did not
want it, but the burghers presented it to him, and his it will be when he
desires it. It is said the Pope commanded him not to take Fano unless the
citizens themselves asked him to do so. Therefore it remained in statu quo.
Postscript:
The Duke's daily life is as follows: he goes to bed at eight, nine, or ten
o'clock at night (three to five o'clock in the morning). Consequently, the
eighteenth hour is his dawn, the nineteenth his sunrise, and the twentieth his
time for rising. Immediately on getting up he sits down to the table, and
while there and afterwards he attends to his business affairs. He is
considered brave, strong, and generous, and it is said he lays great store by
straightforward men. He is terrible in revenge—so many tell me. A man of
strong good sense, and thirsting for greatness and fame, he seems more
eager to seize States than to keep and administer them.
Your illustrious ducal Majesty's servant,
Pandulphus.

Pesaro, Thursday, October 29,
Six o'clock at night, 1500.

The Duke's Retinue

Bartolomeo of Capranica, Field- }
Marshal.
Piero Santa Croce.
Giulio Alberino.
All Noblemen of
Mario Don Marian de Stephano.
Rome.
Menico Sanguigni.
Jo. Baptista Mancini.
Dorio Savello.

Prominent Men in the Duke's Household.

Bishop of Elna, Spaniards.
Bishop of Sancta Sista, }
Bishop of Trani, an Italian.
A Neapolitan abbot.
Sigr Ramiro del Orca, Governor; he is the
factotum.
Don Hieronymo, a Portuguese.
Messer Agabito da Amelio, Secretary.
Mesr Alexandro Spannocchia, Treasurer,
who says that the duke
since his departure from Rome up to the
present time has spent
daily, on the average, eighteen hundred
ducats.

Collenuccio in his letter omits to mention the fact that he had addressed to
Cæsar, the new master of Pesaro, a complaint against its former lord,
Giovanni Sforza, and that the duke had reinstated him in the possession of
his confiscated property. He was destined a few years later bitterly to regret
having taken this step. Guido Posthumus, on the other hand, whose property
Cæsar appropriated, fled to the Rangone in Modena. Sforza, expelled,
reached Venice November 2d, where he endeavored, according to
Malipiero, to sell the Republic his estates of Pesaro—in which attempt he
failed. Thence he went to Mantua. At that time Modena and Mantua were
the asylums of numerous exiled tyrants who were hospitably received into
the beautiful castle of the Gonzaga, which was protected by the swamps of
the Mincio.
After the fall of Pesaro, Rimini likewise expelled its hated oppressors, the
brothers Pandolfo and Carlo Malatesta, whereupon Cæsar Borgia laid siege
to Faenza. The youthful Astorre, its lord, finally surrendered, April 25,
1501, to the destroyer, on the duke's promise not to deprive him of his
liberty. Cæsar, however, sent the unfortunate young man to Rome, where he
and his brother Octavian, together with several other victims, were confined
in the castle of S. Angelo. This was the same Astorre with whom Cardinal
Alessandro Farnese wished to unite his sister Giulia in marriage, and the
unfortunate youth may now have regretted that this alliance had not taken
place.

CHAPTER XIX
ANOTHER MARRIAGE PLANNED FOR LUCRETIA

During this time Lucretia, with her child Rodrigo, was living in the palace
of S. Peter's. If she was inclined to grieve for her husband, her father left
her little time to give way to her feelings. He had recourse to her
thoughtlessness and vanity, for the dead Alfonso was to be replaced by
another and greater Alfonso. Scarcely was the Duke of Biselli interred
before a new alliance was planned. As early as November, 1500, there was
talk of Lucretia's marrying the hereditary Prince of Ferrara, who, since
1497, had been a widower; he was childless, and was just twenty-four years
of age. Marino Zorzi, the new Venetian ambassador, first mentioned the
project to his signory November 26th. This union, however, had been
considered in the Vatican much earlier—in fact while Lucretia's husband
was still living. At the Christmas holidays of 1500 it was publicly stated
that she was to marry the Duke of Gravina, an Orsini who, undeterred by
the fate of Lucretia's former husbands, came to Rome in December to sue
for her hand. Some hope was held out to him, probably with a view to
retaining the friendship of his family.
Alexander himself conceived the plan of marrying Lucretia to Alfonso of
Ferrara. He desired this alliance both on his beloved daughter's account and
because it could not fail to prove advantageous to Cæsar; it would not only
assure to him the possession of Romagna, which Venice might try to wrest
from him, but it would also increase his chances of consummating his plans
regarding Bologna and Florence. At the same time it would bring to him the
support of the dynasties of Mantua and Urbino, which were connected by
marriage with the house of Ferrara. It would be the nucleus of a great
league, including France, the Papacy, Cæsar's States, Ferrara, Mantua, and
Urbino, which would be sufficiently strong to defend Alexander and his
house against all enemies.
If the King of France was to maintain his position in Italy he would require,
above all else, the help of the Pope. He already occupied Milan, and he

wished to seize half of the kingdom of Naples and hold it as a vassal of the
Church; for France and Spain had already agreed upon the wicked partition
of Naples, to which Alexander had thus far neither refused nor given his
consent.
In order to win over the Duke of Ferrara to his bold scheme, Alexander
availed himself, first of all, of Giambattista Ferrari of Modena, an old
retainer of Ercole, who was wholly devoted to the Pope, and whom he had
made datarius and subsequently a cardinal. Ferrari ventured to suggest the
marriage to the duke, "on account," so he wrote him, "of the great
advantage which would accrue to his State from it."[84] This proposal
caused Ercole no less embarrassment than King Federico of Naples had felt
when he was placed in a similar position. His pride rebelled. His daughter,
the noble Marchioness Isabella of Mantua, and her sister-in-law Elisabetta
of Urbino, were literally beside themselves. The youthful Alfonso objected
most vigorously. Moreover, there was a plan afoot to marry the hereditary
duke to a princess of the royal house of France, Louise, widow of the Duke
of Angoulême.[85] Ercole rejected the offer absolutely.
Alexander had foreseen his opposition, but he felt sure he could overcome
it. He had the advantages of the alliance pointed out more clearly, and also
the disadvantages which might result from a refusal; on one hand was
Ferrara's safety and advancement, and on the other the hostility of Cæsar
and the Pope, and perhaps also that of France.[86] Alexander was so certain
of his victory that he made no secret of the projected marriage, and he even
spoke of it with satisfaction in the consistory, as if it were an accomplished
fact.[87] He succeeded in winning the support of the French court, which,
however, was not difficult, as Louis XII was then very anxious for the Pope
to allow him to lead his army out of Tuscany, through the States of the
Church, into Naples, which he could not do without the secret consent of
his Holiness. Above all, the Pope counted on the help of Cardinal Amboise,
to whom Cæsar had taken the red hat when he went to France, and whose
ambitious glances were directed toward the papal throne, which, with the
aid of his friend Cæsar and of the Spanish cardinals, he hoped to reach on
the death of Alexander.
It is, nevertheless, a fact that Louis XII at first was opposed to the match,
and even endeavored to prevent it. He himself was not only determinedly

set against everything which would increase the power of Cæsar and the
Pope, but he was also anxious to enhance his own influence with Ferrara by
bringing about the marriage of Alfonso and some French princess. In May
Alexander sent a secretary to France to induce the king to use his influence
to effect the alliance, but this Louis declined to do.[88] On the other hand, he
was anxious to bring about the marriage of Don Ferrante, Alfonso's brother,
with Lucretia, and secure for her, as portion, the territory of Piombino.[89]
He had also placed a check on Cæsar's operations in Central Italy, in
consequence of which the latter's attempts against Bologna and Florence
had miscarried.
The whole scheme for the marriage would have fallen through if the subject
of the French expedition against Naples had not just then come up. There is
ground for believing that the Pope's consent was made contingent upon the
King's agreeing to the marriage.
June 13, 1501, Cæsar himself, now created Duke of Romagna by his father,
came secretly to Rome, where he remained three weeks, exerting all his
efforts to further the plan. After this, he and his men at arms followed the
French Marshal Aubigny, who had set out from near Rome for Naples, to
engage in a nefarious war of conquest, whose horrors, in the briefest of
time, overwhelmed the house of Aragon.
As early as June the King of France yielded to the Pope's solicitations, and
exerted his influence in Ferrara, as appears from a despatch of the Ferrarese
ambassador to France, dated June 22d. He reported to Ercole that he had
stated to the king that the Pope threatened to deprive the duke of his domain
if he did not consent to the marriage; whereupon the king replied that
Ferrara was under his protection and could fall only when France fell. The
envoy feared that the Pope might avail himself of the question of the
investiture of Naples—upon which the king was determined—to win him
over to his side. He finally wrote the duke that Monsignor de Trans, the
most influential person at the king's court, had advised him to agree to the
marriage upon the conditional payment of two hundred thousand ducats, the
remission of Ferrara's annual dues, and certain benefices for the house of
Este.[90]

Amboise sent the Archbishop of Narbonne and other agents to Ferrara to
win over the duke; the King of France himself wrote and urged him to give
his consent, and he now refused Don Alfonso the hand of the French
princess. While the French ambassador was presenting his case to the duke,
the Pope's messengers and Cæsar's agents were also endeavoring to secure
his consent. Caught in a network of intrigue, fear at last forced Ercole to
yield.
July 8th he had Louis XII notified that he would do as he wished, if he and
the Pope could agree upon the conditions.[91] He yielded only to the
demand of the king, who advised the marriage solely because he himself
had need of the Pope. All the while he was urging Ercole to give his
consent, he was also counselling him not to be in too great haste to send his
son Don Ferrante to Rome to conclude the matter, but to hold him back as
long as possible—until he himself should reach Lombardy, which would be
in September. He even had Ercole informed that he would keep his promise
to bestow the hand of Madonna d'Angoulême on Don Alfonso, and he made
no effort to conceal the displeasure he felt on account of the projected
alliance with Lucretia.[92] To the Ferrarese ambassador he remarked that he
would consider the duke unwise if he allowed his son to marry the daughter
of the Pope, for, on Alexander's death, he would no longer know with whom
he had concluded the alliance, and Alfonso's position would become very
uncertain.[93]
The duke did not hurry; it is true he sent his secretary, Hector Bellingeri, to
Rome, but only for the purpose of telling the Pope that he had yielded to the
king's wishes upon the condition that his own demands would be satisfied.
The Pope and Cæsar, however, urged that the marriage contract be executed
at once, and they requested the Cardinal of Rouen, who was then in Milan,
to induce Ercole to send his son Alfonso there (to Milan), so that the
transaction might be concluded in the cardinal's presence. This the duke
refused to do until the Pope agreed to the conditions upon which he had
based his consent.[94]
While these shameful negotiations regarding Lucretia were dragging on,
Cæsar was in Naples, and was the instrument and witness of the sudden
overthrow of the hated house of Aragon, whose throne, however, was not to
fall to his portion. Alexander used this opportunity to appropriate the

property of the barons of Latium, especially that of the Colonna, the Savelli,
and Estouteville, all of which, owing to the Neapolitan war, had been left
without protection. The confiscation of this property was, as we shall soon
see, part of the scheme which included the marriage. As early as June, 1501,
he had taken possession of a number of cities belonging to these families.
Alexander, accompanied by troops, horse and foot-soldiers, went to
Sermoneta July 27th.
This was the time that—just before his departure—he made Lucretia his
representative in the Vatican. Following are Burchard's words: "Before his
Holiness, our Master, left the city, he turned over the palace and all the
business affairs to his daughter Lucretia, authorizing her to open all letters
which should come addressed to him. In important matters she was to ask
advice of the Cardinal of Lisbon.
"When a certain matter came up—I do not know just what it was—it is said
Lucretia went to the above-named cardinal and informed him of the Pope's
instructions, and laid the matter before him. Thereupon he said to her, that
whenever the Pope had anything to submit to the consistory, the vice-
chancellor, or some other cardinal in his stead, would write it down together
with the opinions of those present; therefore some one should now record
what is said. Lucretia replied, 'I can write very well.' 'Where is your pen?'
asked the cardinal. Lucretia saw that he was joking, and she laughed, and
thus their conference had a fit ending."
What a scene for the Vatican! A young and beautiful woman, the Pope's
own daughter, presiding over the cardinals in consistory. This one scene is
sufficient to show to what depths the Church of Rome had sunk; it is more
convincing than a thousand satires, than a thousand official reports. The
affairs which the Pope entrusted to his daughter were—at least so we
assume—wholly secular and not ecclesiastical; but this bold proceeding
was entirely unprecedented. The prominence given Lucretia, the highest
proof of favor her father could show her, was due to special reasons.
Alexander had just been assured of the consent of Alfonso d'Este to the
marriage with Lucretia, and in his joy he made her regent in the Vatican.
This was to show that he recognized in her, the prospective Duchess of
Ferrara, a person of weight in the politics of the peninsula. In doing this he
was simply imitating the example of Ercole and other princes, who were

accustomed, when absent from their domains, to confide state business to
the women of their families.
The duke had found it difficult to overcome his son's objections, for nothing
could offend the young prince so deeply as the determination to compel him
to marry Lucretia; not because she was an illegitimate child, for this blot
signified little in that age when bastards flourished in all Latin countries.
Many of the ruling dynasties of Italy bore this stain—the Sforza, the
Malatesta, the Bentivoglio, and the Aragonese of Naples; even the brilliant
Borso, the first Duke of Ferrara, was the illegitimate brother of his
successor, Ercole. Lucretia, however, was the daughter of a Pope, the child
of a priest, and this, in the eyes of the Este, constituted her disgrace. Neither
her father's licentiousness nor Cæsar's crimes could have greatly affected
the moral sense of the court of Ferrara, but not one of the princely houses of
that age was so depraved that it was indifferent to the reputation of a
woman destined to become one of its prominent members.
Alfonso was the prospective husband of a young woman whose career,
although she was only twenty-one years of age, had been most
extraordinary. Twice had Lucretia been legally betrothed, twice had she
been married, and twice had she been made a widow by the wickedness or
crimes of others. Her reputation, consequently, was bad, therefore Alfonso,
himself a man of the world, never could feel sure of this young woman's
virtue, even if he did not believe all the reports which were circulated
regarding her. The scandalous gossip about everything which takes place at
court passed from city to city just as quickly then as it does now. The duke
and his son were informed by their agents of everything which actually
occurred in the Borgia family, as well as of every story which was started
concerning its members. The frightful reasons which the disgraced Sforza
had given Lucretia's father in writing as grounds for the annulment of his
marriage were at once communicated to the duke in Ferrara. The following
year his agent in Venice informed him that "a report had come from Rome
that the Pope's daughter had given birth to an illegitimate child."[95]
Moreover, all the satires with which the enemies of the Borgias persecuted
them—including Lucretia—were well known at the court of Ferrara, and
doubtless maliciously enjoyed. Are we warranted in assuming that the Este
considered these reports and satires as really well founded, and yet
overcame their scruples sufficiently to receive a Thais into their house when

they would have incurred much less danger by following the example of
Federico of Naples, who had persisted in refusing his daughter's hand to
Cæsar Borgia?
It is now time to investigate the charges which were made against Lucretia;
and, in view of what Roscoe and others have already proved, this will not
occupy us long. The number of accusers among her contemporaries
certainly is not small. The following—to name only the most important—
charged her explicitly or by implication with incest: the poets Sannazzaro
and Pontanus, and the historians and statesmen Matarazzo, Marcus Attilius
Alexis, Petrus Martyr, Priuli, Macchiavelli, and Guicciardini, and their
opinions have been constantly reiterated down to the present time. On the
other side we have her eulogists among her contemporaries and their
successors.

GUICCIARDINI.
From an engraving by Blanchard.

Here it should be noted that Lucretia's accusers and their charges can refer
only to the Roman period of her life, while her admirers appear only in the
second epoch, when she was Duchess of Ferrara. Among the latter are men
who are no less famous than her accusers: Tito and Ercole Strozzi, Bembo,
Aldo Manuzio, Tebaldeo, Ariosto, all the chroniclers of Ferrara, and the
French biographer Bayard. All these bore witness to the uprightness of her
life while in Ferrara, but of her career in Rome they knew nothing.
Lucretia's advocate, therefore, can offer only negative proofs of her virtue.
Even making allowance for the courtier's flattery, we are warranted in
assuming that upright men like Aldo, Bembo, and Ariosto could never have
been so shameless as to pronounce a woman the ideal character of her day
if they had believed her guilty, or even capable, of the hideous crimes with
which she had been charged only a short time before.
Among Lucretia's accusers only those who were actual witnesses of her life
in Rome are worthy of attention; and Guicciardini, her bitterest enemy, is
not of this number. The verdicts of all later writers, however, have been
based upon his opinion of Lucretia, because of his fame as a statesman and
historian. He himself made up his estimate from current gossip or from the
satires of Pontanus and Sannazzaro—two poets who lived in Naples and not
in Rome. Their epigrams merely show that they were inspired by a deep-
seated hatred of Alexander and Cæsar, who had wrought the overthrow of
the Aragonese dynasty, and further with what crimes men were ready to
credit evil-doers.
The words of Burchard, who was a daily witness of everything that
occurred in the Vatican, must be considered as of much greater weight.
Against him in particular has the spleen of the papists been directed, for by
them his writings are regarded as the poisonous source from which the
enemies of the papacy, especially the Protestants, have derived material for
their slanders regarding Alexander VI. Their anger may readily be
explained, for Burchard's diary is the only work written in Rome—with the
exception of that of Infessura, which breaks off abruptly at the beginning of
1494—which treats of Alexander's court; moreover, it possesses an official
character. Those, however, who attempt to palliate the doings of the papacy

would feel less hatred for Burchard if they were acquainted with the reports
of the Venetian envoys and the despatches of innumerable other
ambassadors which have been used in this work.
Burchard is absolutely free from malice, making no mention whatever of
Alexander's private conduct. He records only facts—never rumors—and
these he glosses over or cloaks diplomatically. The Venetian ambassador
Polo Capello reports how Cæsar Borgia stabbed the chamberlain Perotto
through the Pope's robe, but Burchard makes no mention of the fact. The
same ambassador explicitly states, as does also a Ferrarese agent, that
Cæsar killed his brother Gandia; Burchard, however, utters not a word
concerning the subject.[96] Nor does he say anything about the way Cæsar
despatched his brother-in-law Alfonso. The relations of the members of the
Borgia family to each other and to strangers, such as the Farnese, the Pucci,
and the Orsini; the intrigues at the papal court; the long series of crimes; the
extortion of money; the selling of the cardinal's hat; and all the other
enormities which fill the despatches of the ambassadors—regarding all this
Burchard is silent. Even Vannozza he names but once, and then incorrectly.
There are two passages in particular in his diary which have given the
greatest offense: the report of the bacchanal of fifty harlots in the Vatican,
and the attack made on the Borgias in the anonymous letter to Silvio
Savelli. These passages are found in all the manuscripts and doubtless also
in the original of the diary. That the letter to Silvio is a fabrication of neither
Burchard nor of some malicious Protestant is proved by the fact that Marino
Sanuto also reproduces it in his diary. Further, that neither Burchard nor any
subsequent writer concocted the story of the Vatican bacchanal is proved by
the same letter, whose author relates it as a well-known fact. Matarazzo of
Perugia also confirms it; his account differs from that of Burchard, whose
handwriting he could hardly have seen at that time, but it agrees with
reports which he himself had heard. He remarks that he gave it full
credence, "for the thing was known far and wide, and because my
informants were not Romans merely, but were the Italian people, therefore
have I mentioned it."
This remark indicates the source of the scandalous anecdote—it was
common talk. It doubtless was based upon an actual banquet which Cæsar
gave in his palace in the Vatican. Some such orgy may have taken place
there, but who will believe that Lucretia, now the legally recognized bride

of Alfonso d'Este and about to set out for Ferrara, was an amused spectator
of it?
This is the only passage in Burchard's diary where Lucretia appears in an
unfavorable light; nowhere else has he recorded anything discreditable to
her. The accusations of the Neopolitans and of Guicciardini are not
substantiated by anything in his diary. In fact we find corroboration
nowhere unless we regard Matarazzo as an authority, which he certainly
was not. He states that Giovanni Sforza had discovered that criminal
relations existed between his wife and Cæsar and Don Giovanni, to which a
still more terrible suspicion was added. Sforza, therefore, had murdered
Gandia and fled from Rome, and in consequence Alexander had dissolved
his marriage. Setting aside the monstrous idea that the young woman was
guilty at one and the same time of threefold incest, Matarazzo's account
contains an anachronism: Sforza left Rome two months before the murder
of Gandia.
An authentic despatch of the Ferrarese ambassador in Milan, dated June 23,
1497, makes it clear that Lucretia's worthless consort was the one who
started these rumors about her. Certainly no one could have known
Lucretia's character and mode of life better than her husband. Nevertheless
Sforza, before the tribunals of every age, would be precisely the one whose
testimony would receive the least credit. Consuming with hate and a desire
for revenge, this was the reason he ascribed to the evil-minded Pope for
dissolving the marriage. Thus the suspicion he let drop became a rumor, and
the rumor ultimately crystallized into a belief. In this connection, however,
it is worthy of note that Guido Posthumus, Sforza's faithful retainer, who in
epigrams revenged himself on Alexander for his master's disgrace, neither
mentions this suspicion nor anywhere refers to Lucretia.[97]
In none of the numerous despatches of the day is this suspicion mentioned,
although in a private letter of Malipiero's, dated Rome, June 17, 1497, and
in one of Polo Capello's reports, allusion is made to the "rumor" regarding
the criminal relations of Don Giovanni and his sister.[98] Could the fact that
Lucretia never engaged in any love intrigue—at least she is not charged
with having done so—with anyone else, when there were in Rome so many
courtiers, young nobles, and great cardinals who were her daily
companions, have given rise to these reports? It is a fact that nothing has

been discovered which would indicate that this beautiful young woman ever
did engage in any love affair. Even the report of the ambassador, who,
writing to Ferrara, not from Rome but from Venice, states that Lucretia had
given birth to a child stands alone. She had at that time been separated from
her husband Sforza a whole year. But even if we admit that this rumor was
well founded, and that Lucretia did engage in some illicit love affair, are not
these relations and slips frequent enough in all societies and at all times?
Even now nothing is more readily glossed over in the polite world.
It is difficult to believe that Lucretia, in the midst of the depravity of Rome,
and in the environment in which she was placed, could have kept herself
spotless; but just as little will any unprejudiced person believe that she was
really guilty of that unmentionable crime. If it were possible to conceive
that a young woman could have the strength—a strength beyond that of the
most depraved and hardened man—to hide behind a joyous exterior the
moral perturbation which the most loathsome crime in the world would
certainly cause the subject, we should be forced to admit that Lucretia
Borgia possessed a power of dissimulation which passed all human bounds.
Nothing, however, charmed the Ferrarese so much as the never failing,
graceful joyousness of Alfonso's young wife. Any woman of feeling can
decide correctly whether—if Lucretia were guilty of the crimes with which
she was charged—she could have appeared as she did, and whether the
countenance which we behold in the portrait of the bride of Alfonso d'Este
in 1502 could be the face of the inhuman fury described in Sannazzaro's
epigram.

CHAPTER XX
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE HOUSE OF ESTE

The hereditary Prince of Ferrara made a determined resistance before
yielding to his father's pressure, but the latter was now so anxious for the
marriage to take place that he told his son that, if he persisted in his refusal,
he would be compelled to marry Lucretia himself. After the duke had
overcome his son's pride and secured his consent, he regarded the marriage
merely as an advantageous piece of statecraft. He sold the honor of his
house at the highest price obtainable. The Pope's agents in Ferrara,
frightened by Ercole's demands, sent Ramondo Remolini to Rome to submit
them to Alexander, who sought the intervention of the King of France to
secure more favorable terms from the duke. A letter from the Ferrarese
ambassador to France to his master throws a bright light on this transaction.

My Illustrious Master: Yesterday the Pope's envoy told me that his
Holiness had written him about the messenger your Excellency had sent
him demanding two hundred thousand ducats, the remission of the annual
tribute, the granting of the jus patronatus for the bishopric of Ferrara, by
decree of the consistory, and certain other concessions. He told me that the
Pope had offered a hundred thousand, and as to the rest—your Excellency
should trust to him, for he would grant them in time and would advance the
interests of the house of Este so that everyone would see how high in his
favor it stood. In addition, he told me that he was instructed to ask his most
Christian Majesty to write to the illustrious cardinal to advise your
Excellency to agree. As your Excellency's devoted servant I mention this,
although it is superfluous; for if this marriage is to take place, you will
arrange it in such a way that "much promising and little fulfillment" will not
cause you to regret it. I informed your Excellency in an earlier letter how
his most Christian Majesty had told me that his wishes in this affair were
the same as your own, and that if the marriage was to be brought about, you
might derive as much profit from it as possible, and if it was not to take

place, his Majesty stood ready to give Don Alfonso the lady whom your
Excellency might select for him in France.
Your ducal Excellency's servant,
Bartolomeo Cavaleri.
Lyons, August 7, 1501.

Alexander did not wish to send his daughter to Ferrara with empty hands,
but the portion which Ercole demanded was not a modest one. It was larger
than Blanca Sforza had brought the Emperor Maximilian; moreover, one of
the duke's demands involved an infraction of the canon law, for, in addition
to the large sum of money, he insisted upon the remission of the yearly
tribute paid the Church by the fief of Ferrara, the cession of Cento and
Pieve, cities which belonged to the archbishopric of Bologna, and even on
the relinquishment of Porto Cesenatico and a large number of benefices in
favor of the house of Este. They wrangled violently, but so great was the
Pope's desire to secure the ducal throne of Ferrara for his daughter that he
soon announced that he would practically agree to Ercole's demands, which
Cæsar urged him to do.[99] Nor was Lucretia herself less urgent in begging
her father to consent; she was the duke's most able advocate in Rome, and
Ercole knew that it was due largely to her skilful pleading that he succeeded
in carrying his point.
The negotiations took this favorable turn about the end of July or the
beginning of August, and the earliest of the duke's letters to Lucretia and the
Pope, among those preserved in the archives of the house of Este, belong to
this period.
August 6th Ercole wrote his future daughter-in-law, recommending to her
for her agent one Agostino Huet (a secretary of Cæsar's), who had shown
the greatest interest in conducting the negotiations.
August 10th he reported to the Pope the result of the conferences which had
taken place, and urged him not to look on his demands as unreasonable.
This he repeated in a letter dated August 21st, in which he stated in plain,
commercial terms that the price was low enough; in fact, that it was merely
nominal.

In the meantime the projected marriage had become known to the world,
and was the subject of diplomatic consideration, for the strengthening of the
papacy was agreeable to neither the Powers of Italy nor those beyond the
peninsula. Florence and Bologna, which Cæsar coveted were frightened; the
Republic of Venice, which was in constant friction with Ferrara, and which
had designs upon the coast of Romagna, did not conceal her annoyance, and
she ascribed the whole thing to Cæsar's ambition.[100] The King of France
put a good face upon the matter, as did also the King of Spain; but
Maximilian was so opposed to the marriage that he endeavored to prevent
it. Ferrara was just beginning to acquire the political importance which
Florence had possessed in the time of Lorenzo de' Medici, consequently its
influence was such that the German emperor could not be indifferent to an
alliance between it and the papacy and France. Moreover, Bianca Sforza
was Maximilian's wife, and at the German court there were other members
and retainers of the overthrown house—all bitter enemies of the Borgias.
In August the Emperor despatched letters to Ferrara in which he warned
Ercole against any marital alliance between his house and that of Alexander.
This warning of Maximilian's must have been highly acceptable to the
duke, as he could use it to force the Pope to accede to his demands. He
mentioned the letter to his Holiness, but assured him that his determination
would remain unshaken. Then he instructed his counselor, Gianluca Pozzi,
to answer the Emperor's letter.[101] Ercole's letter to his chancellor is dated
August 25th, but before its contents became known in Rome the Pope
hastened to agree to the duke's conditions, and to have the marriage contract
executed. This was done in the Vatican, August 26, 1501.[102]
He immediately despatched Cardinal Ferrari to Ercole with the contract,
whereupon Don Ramiro Remolini and other proxies hastened to Ferrara,
[103]
where, in the castle of Belfiore, the nuptial contract was concluded ad
verba, September 1, 1501.
On the same day the duke wrote Lucretia, saying that, while he hitherto had
loved her on account of her virtues and on account of the Pope and her
brother Cæsar, he now loved her more as a daughter. In the same tone he
wrote to Alexander himself, informing him that the betrothal had taken
place, and thanking him for bestowing the dignity of Archpriest of S. Peter's
on his son, Cardinal Ippolito.[104]

Less diplomatic was Ercole's letter to the Marchese Gonzaga informing him
of the event. It clearly shows what was his real opinion, and he tries to
excuse himself for consenting by saying he was forced to take the step.

Illustrious Sir and Dearest Brother: We have informed your Majesty that
we have recently decided—owing to practical considerations—to consent to
an alliance between our house and that of his Holiness—the marriage of our
eldest son, Alfonso, and the illustrious lady Lucretia Borgia, sister of the
illustrious Duke of Romagna and Valentinois, chiefly because we were
urged to consent by his Most Christian Majesty, and on condition that his
Holiness would agree to everything stipulated in the marriage contract.
Subsequently his Holiness and ourselves came to an agreement, and the
Most Christian King persistently urged us to execute the contract. This was
done to-day in God's name, and with the assistance of the (French)
ambassador and the proxies of his Holiness, who were present; and it was
also published this morning. I hasten to inform your Majesty of the event
because our mutual relations and love require that you should be made
acquainted with everything which concerns us—and so we offer ourselves
to do your pleasure.

Ferrara, September 2, 1501.[105]

September 4th a courier brought the news that the nuptial contract had been
signed in Ferrara. Alexander immediately had the Vatican illuminated and
the cannon of Castle S. Angelo announce the glad tidings. All Rome
resounded with the jubilations of the retainers of the house of Borgia.
This moment was the turning point in Lucretia's life. If her soul harbored
any ambition and yearning for worldly greatness, what must she now have
felt when the opportunity to ascend the princely throne of one of Italy's
oldest houses was offered her! If she had any regret and loathing for what
had surrounded her in Rome, and if longings for a better life were stronger
in her than were these vain desires, there was now held out to her the
promise of a haven of rest. She was to become the wife of a prince famous,
not for grace and culture, but for his good sense and earnestness. She had
seen him once in Rome, in her early youth, when she was Sforza's

betrothed. No sacrifice would be too great for her if it would wipe out the
remembrance of the nine years which had followed that day. The victory
she had now won by the shameful complaisance of the house of Este was
associated with deep humiliation, for she knew that Alfonso had
condescended to accept her hand only after long urging and under threats. A
bold, intriguing woman might overcome this feeling of humiliation by
summoning up the consciousness of her genius and her charm; while one
less strong, but endowed with beauty and sweetness, might be fascinated by
the idea of disarming a hostile husband with the magic of her personality.
The question, however, whether any honor accrued to her by marrying a
man against his will, or whether under such circumstances a high-minded
woman would not have scornfully refused, would probably never arise in
the mind of such a light-headed woman as Lucretia certainly was, and if it
did in her case, Cæsar and her father would never have allowed her to give
voice to any such undiplomatic scruples. We can discover no trace of moral
pride in her; all we discern is a childishly naive joy at her prospective
happiness.
The Roman populace saw her, accompanied by three hundred knights and
four bishops, pass along the city streets, September 5th, on her way to S.
Maria del Popolo to offer prayers of thanksgiving. Following a curious
custom of the day, which shows Folly and Wisdom side by side, just as we
find them in Calderon's and Shakespeare's dramas, Lucretia presented the
costly robe which she wore when she offered up her prayer, to one of her
court fools, and the clown ran merrily through the streets of Rome, bawling
out, "Long live the illustrious Duchess of Ferrara! Long live Pope
Alexander!" With noisy demonstrations the Borgias and their retainers
celebrated the great event.
Alexander summoned a consistory, as though this family affair were an
important Church matter. With childish loquacity he extolled Duke Ercole,
pronouncing him the greatest and wisest of the princes of Italy; he
described Don Alfonso as a handsomer and greater man than his son Cæsar,
adding that his former wife was a sister-in-law of the Emperor. Ferrara was
a fortunate State, and the house of Este an ancient one; a marriage train of
great princes was shortly to come to Rome to take the bride away, and the
Duchess of Urbino was to accompany it.[106]

September 14th Cæsar Borgia returned from Naples, where Federico, the
last Aragonese king of that country, had been forced to yield to France. To
his great satisfaction he found Lucretia prospective Duchess of Ferrara. On
the fifteenth Ercole's envoys, Saraceni and Bellingeri, appeared. Their
object was to see that the Pope fulfilled his obligations promptly. The duke
was a practical man; he did not trust him. He was unwilling to send the
bridal escort until he had the papal bull in his own hands. Lucretia
supported the ambassador so zealously that Saraceni wrote his master that
she already appeared to him to be a good Ferrarese.[107] She was present in
the Vatican while Alexander carried on the negotiations. He sometimes used
Latin for the purpose of displaying his linguistic attainments; but on one
occasion, out of regard for Lucretia, he ordered that Italian be used, which
proves that his daughter was not a perfect mistress of the classic tongue.
From this ambassador's despatches it appears that life in the Vatican was
extremely agreeable. They sang, played and danced every evening. One of
Alexander's greatest delights was to watch beautiful women dancing, and
when Lucretia and the ladies of her court were so engaged he was careful to
summon the Ferrarese ambassadors so that they might note his daughter's
grace. One evening he remarked laughingly that "they might see that the
duchess was not lame."[108]

The Pope never tired of passing the nights in this way, although Cæsar, a
strong man, was worn out by the ceaseless round of pleasure. When the
latter consented to grant the ambassadors an audience, a favor which was
not often bestowed even on cardinals, he received them dressed, but lying
in bed, which caused Saraceni to remark in his despatch, "I feared that he
was sick, for last evening he danced without intermission, which he will do
again tonight at the Pope's palace, where the illustrious duchess is going to
sup."[109] Lucretia regarded it as a relief when, a few days later, the Pope
went to Civitacastellana and Nepi. September 25th the ambassadors wrote
to Ferrara, "The illustrious lady continues somewhat ailing, and is greatly
fatigued; she is not, however, under the care of any physician, nor does she
neglect her affairs, but grants audiences as usual. We think that this

indisposition merely indicates that her Majesty should take better care of
herself. The rest which she will have while his Holiness is away will do her
good; for whenever she is at the Pope's palace, the entire night, until two or
three o'clock, is spent in dancing and at play, which fatigues her greatly."
[110]

About this time occurred a disagreeable episode in connection with
Giovanni Sforza, Lucretia's divorced husband, which the Pope discussed
with the Ferrarese ambassadors. What they feared from him is revealed by
the following despatch:

Illustrious Prince and Master: As his Holiness the Pope desires to take all
proper precautions to prevent the occurrence of anything that might be
unpleasant to your Excellency, to Don Alfonso, and especially to the
duchess, and also to himself, he has asked us to write your Excellency and
request that you see to it that Lord Giovanni of Pesaro—who, his Holiness
has been informed, is in Mantua—shall not be in Ferrara at the time of the
marriage festivities. For, although his divorce from the above named
illustrious lady was absolutely legal and according to prescribed form, as
the records of the proceedings clearly show, he himself fully consenting to
it, he may, nevertheless, still harbor some resentment. If he should be in
Ferrara there would be a possibility of his seeing the lady, and her
Excellency would therefore be compelled to remain in concealment to
escape disagreeable memories. He, therefore, requests your Excellency to
prevent this possibility with your usual foresight. Thereupon his Holiness
freely expressed his opinion of the Marchese of Mantua, and censured him
severely because he of all the Italian princes was the only one who offered
an asylum to outcasts, and especially to those who were under not only his
own ban, but under that of his Most Christian Majesty. We endeavored,
however, to excuse the marchese by saying that he, a high-minded man,
could not close his domain to such as wished to come to him, especially
when they were people of importance, and we used every argument to
defend him. His Holiness, however, seemed displeased by our defense of
the marchese. Your Excellency may, therefore, make such arrangements as
in your wisdom seem proper. And so we, in all humility, commend
ourselves to your mercy.

Rome, September 23, 1501.[111]

As a result of Ercole's insistence, the question of the reduction of Ferrara's
yearly tribute as a fief of the Holy See from four hundred ducats to one
hundred florins was brought to a vote in the consistory, September 17th. It
was expected that there would be violent opposition. Alexander explained
what Ercole had done for Ferrara, his founding convents and churches, and
his strengthening the city, thus making it a bulwark for the States of the
Church. The cardinals were induced to favor the reduction by the
intervention of the Cardinal of Cosenza—one of Lucretia's creatures—and
of Messer Troche, Cæsar's confidant. They authorized the reduction and the
Pope thanked them, especially praising the older cardinals—the younger,
those of his own creation, having been more obstinate.[112]
The same day he secured possession of the property he had wrested from
the barons who had been placed under his ban August 20th. These domains,
which embraced a large part of the Roman Campagna, were divided into
two districts. The center of one was Nepi; that of the other Sermoneta—two
cities which Lucretia, their former mistress, immediately renounced.
Alexander made these duchies over to two children, Giovanni Borgia and
Rodrigo. At first the Pope ascribed the paternity of the former child to his
own son Cæsar, but subsequently he publicly announced that he himself
was its father.
It is difficult to believe in such unexampled shamelessness, but the legal
documents to prove it are in existence. Both bulls are dated September 1,
1501, and are addressed to my beloved son, "the noble Giovanni de Borgia
and Infante of Rome." In the former, Alexander states that Giovanni, a child
of three years, was the natural son of Cæsar Borgia, unmarried (which he
was at the time of its birth), by a single woman. By apostolic authority he
legitimated the child and bestowed upon it all the rights of a member of his
family. In the second brief he refers to the proceedings in which the child
had been declared to be Cæsar's son, and says verbatim: "Since it is owing,
not to the duke named (Cæsar), but to us and to the unmarried woman
mentioned that you bear this stain (of illegitimate birth), which for good
reasons we did not wish to state in the preceding instrument; and in order
that there may be no chance of your being caused annoyance in the future,

we will see to it that that document shall never be declared null, and of our
own free will, and by virtue of our authority, we confirm you, by these
presents, in the full enjoyment of everything as provided in that
instrument." Thereupon he renews the legitimation and announces that even
if this his child, which had hitherto been declared to be Cæsar's, shall in
future, in any document or act be named and described as his (Cæsar's), and
even if he uses Cæsar's arms, it shall in no way inure to the disadvantage of
the child, and that all such acts shall have the same force which they would
have had if the boy had been described not as Cæsar's, but as his own, in the
documents referring to his legitimation.[113]
It is worthy of note that both these documents were executed on one and the
same day, but this is explained by the fact that the canon law prevented the
Pope from acknowledging his own son. Alexander, therefore, extricated
himself from the difficulty by telling a falsehood in the first bull. This lie
made the legitimation of the child possible, and also conferred upon it the
rights of succession; and this having once been embodied in a legal
document, the Pope could, without injury to the child, tell the truth.
September 1, 1501, Cæsar was not in Rome. Even a man of his stamp may
have blushed for his father, when he thus made him the rival of this bastard
for the possession of the property. Later, after Alexander's death, the little
Giovanni Borgia passed for Cæsar's son; he had, moreover, been described
as such by the Pope in numerous briefs.[114]
It is not known who was the mother of this mysterious child. Burchard
speaks of her merely as a "certain Roman." If Alexander, who described her
as an "unmarried woman," told the truth, Giulia Farnese could not have
been its mother.
It is possible, however, that the Pope's second statement likewise was
untrue, and that the "Infante of Rome" was not his son, but was a natural
child of Lucretia. The reader will remember that in March, 1498, the
Ferrarese ambassador reported to Duke Ercole that it was rumored in Rome
that the Pope's daughter had given birth to a child. This date agrees
perfectly with the age of the Infante Giovanni in September, 1501. Both
documents regarding his legitimation, which are now preserved in the Este
archives, were originally in Lucretia's chancellery. She may have taken

them with her from Rome to Ferrara, or they may have been brought to her
later. Eventually we shall find the Infante at her court in Ferrara, where he
was spoken of as her "brother." These facts suggest that the mysterious
Giovanni Borgia was Lucretia's son—this, however, is only a hypothesis.
The city of Nepi and thirty-six other estates were conferred upon the child
as his dukedom.
The second domain, including the duchy of Sermoneta and twenty-eight
castles, was given to little Rodrigo, Lucretia's only son by Alfonso of
Aragon.
Under Lucretia's changed conditions, this child was an embarrassment to
her, for she either was not allowed or did not dare to bring a child by her
former husband to Ferrara. For the sake of her character let us assume that
she was compelled to leave her child among strangers. The order to do so,
however, does not appear to have emanated from Ferrara, for, September
28th, the ambassador Gerardi gave his master an account of a call which he
made on Madonna Lucretia, in which he said, "As her son was present, I
asked her—in such a way that she could not mistake my meaning—what
was to be done with him; to which she replied, 'He will remain in Rome,
and will have an allowance of fifteen thousand ducats.'"[115] The little
Rodrigo was, in truth, provided for in a princely manner. He was placed
under the guardianship of two cardinals—the Patriarch of Alexandria and
Francesco Borgia, Archbishop of Cosenza. He received the revenues of
Sermoneta, and he also owned Biselli, his unfortunate father's inheritance;
for Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile authorized their ambassador in Rome,
Francesco de Roxas, January 7, 1502, to confirm Rodrigo in the possession
of the duchy of Biselli and the city of Quadrata. According to this act his
title was Don Rodrigo Borgia of Aragon, Duke of Biselli and Sermoneta,
and lord of Quadrata.[116]

CHAPTER XXI
THE EVE OF THE WEDDING

Lucretia was impatient to leave Rome, which, she remarked to the
ambassador of Ferrara, seemed to her like a prison; the duke himself was no
less anxious to conclude the transaction. The preparation of the new bull of
investiture, however, was delayed, and the cession of Cento and Pievi could
not be effected without the consent of Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere,
Archbishop of Bologna, who was then living in France. Ercole, therefore,
postponed despatching the bridal escort, although the approach of winter
would make the journey, which was severe at any time, all the more
difficult. Whenever Lucretia saw the Ferrarese ambassadors she asked them
how soon the escort would come to fetch her. She herself endeavored to
remove all obstacles. Although the cardinals trembled before the Pope and
Cæsar, they were reluctant to sign a bull which would lose Ferrara's tribute
to the Church. They were bitterly opposed to allowing the descendants of
Alfonso and Lucretia, without limitation, to profit by a remission of the
annual payment; they would suffer this privilege to be enjoyed for three
generations at most. The duke addressed urgent letters to the cardinal and to
Lucretia, who finally, in October, succeeded in arranging matters, thereby
winning high praise from her father-in-law. During the first half of October
she and the duke kept up a lively correspondence, which shows that their
mutual confidence was increasing. It was plain that Ercole was beginning to
look upon the unequal match with less displeasure, as he discovered that his
daughter-in-law possessed greater sense than he had supposed. Her letters
to him were filled with flattery, especially one she wrote when she heard he
was sick, and Ercole thanked her for having written it with her own hand,
which he regarded as special proof of her affection.[117]
The ambassadors reported to him as follows: "When we informed the
illustrious Duchess of your Excellency's illness, her Majesty displayed the
greatest concern. She turned pale and stood for a moment bowed in thought.
She regretted that she was not in Ferrara to take care of you herself. When

the walls of the Vatican salon tumbled in, she nursed his Holiness for two
weeks without resting, as the Pope would allow no one else to do anything
for him."[118]
Well might the illness of Lucretia's father-in-law frighten her. His death
would have delayed, if not absolutely prevented, her marriage with Alfonso;
for up to the present time she had no proof that her prospective husband's
opposition had been overcome.
There are no letters written by either to the other at this time—a silence
which is, to say the least, singular. Still more disturbing to Lucretia must
have been the thought that her father himself might die, for his death would
certainly set aside her betrothal to Alfonso. Shortly after Ercole's illness
Alexander fell sick. He had caught cold and lost a tooth. To prevent
exaggerated reports reaching Ferrara, he had the duke's envoy summoned,
and directed him to write his master that his indisposition was insignificant.
"If the duke were here," said the Pope, "I would—even if my face is tied up
—invite him to go and hunt wild boars." The ambassador remarked in his
despatch that the Pope, if he valued his health, had better change his habits,
and not leave the palace before daybreak, and had better return before
nightfall.[119]
Ercole and the Pope received congratulations from all sides. Cardinals and
ambassadors in their letters proclaimed Lucretia's beauty and graciousness.
The Spanish envoy in Rome praised her in extravagant terms, and Ercole
thanked him for his testimony regarding the virtues of his daughter-in-law.
[120]

Even the King of France displayed the liveliest pleasure at the event, which,
he now discovered, would redound greatly to Ferrara's advantage. The
Pope, beaming with joy, read the congratulations of the monarch and his
consort to the consistory. Louis XII even condescended to address a letter to
Madonna Lucretia, at the end of which were two words in his own hand.
Alexander was so delighted thereby that he sent a copy of it to Ferrara. The
court of Maximilian was the only one from which no congratulations were
received. The emperor exhibited such displeasure that Ercole was worried,
as the following letter to his plenipotentiaries in Rome shows:

The Duke of Ferrara, etc.
Our Well-Loved: We have given his Holiness, our Lord, no further
information regarding the attitude of the illustrious Emperor of the Romans
towards him since Messer Michele Remolines departed from here, for we
had nothing definite to communicate. We have, however, been told by a
trustworthy person with whom the king conversed, that his Majesty was
greatly displeased, and that he criticised his Holiness in unmeasured terms
on account of the alliance which we have concluded with him, as he also
did in letters addressed to us before the betrothal, in which he advised us
not to enter into it, as you will learn from the copies of his letters which we
send you with this. They were shown and read to his Holiness's ambassador
here. Although, so far as we ourselves are concerned, we did not attach
much importance to his Majesty's attitude, as we followed the dictates of
reason, and are daily becoming more convinced that it will prove
advantageous for us; it nevertheless appears proper, in view of our relations
with his Holiness, that he should be informed of our position.
You will, therefore, tell him everything, and also let him see the copies, if
you think best, but you must say to him in our name that he is not to ascribe
their authorship to us, and that we have not sent you these copies because of
any special importance that we attached to them.
Ferrara, October 3, 1501.

The duke now allowed nothing to shake his resolution. Early in October he
selected the escort whose departure from Ferrara, he frankly stated, would
depend upon the progress of his negotiations with the Pope. The
constitution of the bridal trains, both Roman and Ferrarese, was an
important question, and is referred to in one of Gerardo's despatches.

Illustrious Sir, etc.: To-day at six o'clock Hector and I were alone with the
Pope, having your letters of the twenty-sixth ultimo and of the first of the
present month, and also a list of those who are to compose the escort. His
Holiness was greatly pleased, the various persons being people of wealth
and standing, as he could readily see, the rank and position of each being
clearly indicated. I have learned from the best of sources that your

Excellency has exceeded all the Pope's expectations. After we had
conversed a while with his Holiness, the illustrious Duke of Romagna and
Cardinal Orsini were summoned. There were also present Monsignor Elna,
Monsignor Troche, and Messer Adriano. The Pope had the list read a
second time, and again it was praised, especially by the duke, who said he
was acquainted with several of the persons named. He kept the list,
thanking me warmly when I gave it to him again, for he had returned it to
me.
We endeavored to get the list of those who are to come with the illustrious
Duchess, but it has not yet been prepared. His Holiness said that there
would not be many women among the number, as the ladies of Rome were
not skilful horsewomen.[121] Hitherto the Duchess has had five or six young
ladies at her court—four very young girls and three married women—who
will remain with her Majesty. She has, however, been advised not to bring
them, as many of the great ladies in Ferrara will offer her their services. She
has also a certain Madonna Girolama, Cardinal Borgia's sister, who is
married to one of the Orsini. She and three of her women will accompany
her. These are the only ladies of honor she has hitherto had. I have heard
that she will endeavor to find others in Naples, but it is believed that she
will be able to secure only a few, and that these will merely accompany her.
The Duchess of Urbino has announced that she expects to come with a
mounted escort of fifty persons. So far as the men are concerned, his
Holiness said that there would not be many, as there were no Roman
noblemen except the Orsini, and they generally were away from the city.
Still, he hoped to be able to find sufficient, provided the Duke of Romagna
did not take the field, there being a large number of nobles among his
followers. His Holiness said that he had plenty of priests and scholars to
send, but not such persons as were fit for a mission of this sort. However,
the retinue furnished by your Majesty will serve for both, especially as—
according to his Holiness—it is better for the more numerous escort to be
sent by the groom, and for the bride to come accompanied by a smaller
number. Still I do not think her suite will number less than two hundred
persons. The Pope is in doubt what route her Majesty will travel. He thinks
she ought to go by way of Bologna, and he says that the Florentines
likewise have invited her. Although his Holiness has reached no decision,
the Duchess has informed us that she would journey through the Marches,

and the Pope has just concluded that she might do so. Perhaps he desires her
to pass through the estates of the Duke of Romagna on her way to Bologna.
Regarding your Majesty's wish that a cardinal accompany the Duchess, his
Holiness said that it did not seem proper to him for a cardinal to leave
Rome with her; but that he had written the Cardinal of Salerno, the Legate
in the Marches, to go to the seat of the Duke in Romagna and wait there,
and accompany the Duchess to Ferrara to read mass at the wedding. He
thought that the cardinal would do this, unless prevented by sickness, in
which case his Holiness would provide another.
When the Pope discovered, during this conversation, that we had so far
been unable to secure an audience with the illustrious Duke, he showed
great annoyance, declaring it was a mistake which could only injure his
Majesty, and he added that the ambassadors of Rimini had been here two
months without succeeding in speaking with him, as he was in the habit of
turning day into night and night into day. He severely criticized his son's
mode of living. On the other hand, he commended the illustrious Duchess,
saying that she was always gracious, and granted audiences readily, and that
whenever there was need she knew how to cajole. He lauded her highly, and
stated that she had ruled Spoleto to the satisfaction of everybody, and he
also said that her Majesty always knew how to carry her point—even with
himself, the Pope. I think that his Holiness spoke in this way more for the
purpose of saying good of her (which according to my opinion she
deserved) than to avoid saying anything ill, even if there were occasion for
it. Your Majesty's Ever devoted.
Rome, October 6th.

The Pope seldom allowed an opportunity to pass for praising his daughter's
beauty and graciousness. He frequently compared her with the most famous
women of Italy—the Marchioness of Mantua and the Duchess of Urbino.
One day, while conversing with the ambassadors of Ferrara, he mentioned
her age, saying that in October (1502) she would complete her twenty-
second year, while Cæsar would be twenty-six the same month.[122]
The Pope was greatly pleased with the members of the bridal escort, for
they all were either princes of the house of Este or prominent persons of

Ferrara. He also approved the selection of Annibale Bentivoglio, son of the
Lord of Bologna, and said laughingly to the Ferrarese ambassadors that,
even if their master had chosen Turks to come to Rome for the bride, they
would have been welcome.
The Florentines, owing to their fear of Cæsar, sent ambassadors to Lucretia
to ask her to come by way of their city when she went to Ferrara; the Pope,
however, was determined that she should make the journey through
Romagna. According to an oppressive custom of the day, the people
through whose country persons of quality traveled were required to provide
for them, and, in order not to tax Romagna too heavily, it was decided that
the Ferrarese escort should come to Rome by way of Tuscany. The Republic
of Florence firmly refused to entertain the escort all the time it was in its
territory, although it was willing to care for it while in the city or to make a
handsome present.[123]
In the meantime preparations were under way in Ferrara for the wedding
festivities. The Duke invited all the princes who were friendly to him to be
present. He had even thought of the oration which was to be delivered in
Ferrara when Lucretia was given to her husband. During the Renaissance
these orations were regarded as of the greatest importance, and he was
anxious to secure a speaker who could be depended upon to deliver a
masterpiece. Ercole had instructed his ambassadors in Rome to send him
particulars regarding the house of Borgia for the orator to use in preparing
his speech.[124]
The ambassadors scrupulously carried out their instructions, and wrote their
sovereign as follows:

Illustrious Prince and Master: We have spared no efforts to learn
everything possible regarding the illustrious house of Borgia, as your
Excellency commanded. We made a thorough investigation, and members
of our suite here in Rome, not only the scholars but also those who we
knew were loyal to you, did the same. Although we finally succeeded in
ascertaining that the house is one of the noblest and most ancient in Spain,
we did not discover that its founders ever did anything very remarkable,

perhaps because life in that country is quiet and uneventful—your
Excellency knows that such is the case in Spain, especially in Valencia.
Whatever there is worthy of note dates from the time of Calixtus, and, in
fact, the deeds of Calixtus himself are those most worthy of comment;
Platina, however, has given an account of his life, which, moreover, is well
known to everybody. Whoever is to deliver the oration has ample material,
therefore, from which to choose. We, illustrious Sir, have been able to learn
nothing more regarding this house than what you already know, and this
concerns only the members of the family who have been Popes, and is
derived chiefly from the audience speeches. In case we succeed in finding
out anything more, we shall inform your Excellency, to whom we commend
ourselves in all humility.
Rome, October 18, 1501.

When the descendant of the ancient house of Este read this terse despatch
he must have smiled; its candor was so undiplomatic that it bordered on
irony. The doughty ambassadors, however, apparently did not go to the
right sources, for if they had applied to the courtiers who were intimate with
the Borgia—for example, the Porcaro—they would have obtained a
genealogical tree showing a descent from the old kings of Aragon, if not
from Hercules himself.
In the meantime the impatience of the Pope and Lucretia was steadily
increasing, for the departure of the bridal escort was delayed, and the
enemies of the Borgia were already beginning to make merry. The duke
declared that he could not think of sending for Donna Lucretia until the bull
of investiture was in his hands. He complained at the Pope's delay in
fulfilling his promises. He also demanded that the part of the marriage
portion which was to be paid in coin through banking houses in Venice,
Bologna, and other cities be handed over on the bridal escort's entry into
Rome, and threatened in case it was not paid in full to have his people
return to Ferrara without the bride.[125] As it was impossible for him to
bring about the immediate cession of Cento and Pievi, he asked from the
Pope as a pledge that either the bishopric of Bologna be given his son
Ippolito, or that his Holiness furnish a bond. He also demanded certain

benefices for his natural son Don Giulio, and for his ambassador Gianluca
Pozzi. Lucretia succeeded in securing the bishopric of Reggio for the latter
and also a house in Rome for the Ferrarese envoy.
Another important question was the dowry of jewels which Lucretia was to
receive. During the Renaissance the passion for jewels amounted to a
mania. Ercole sent word to his daughter-in-law that she must not dispose of
her jewels, but must bring them with her; he also said that he would send
her a handsome ornament by the bridal escort, gallantly adding that, as she
herself was a precious jewel, she deserved the most beautiful gems—even
more magnificent ones than he and his own consort had possessed; it is true
he was not so wealthy as the Duke of Savoy, but, nevertheless, he was in a
position to send her jewels no less beautiful than those given her by the
duke.[126]
The relations between Ercole and his daughter-in-law were as friendly as
could be desired, for Lucretia exerted herself to secure the Pope's consent to
his demands. His Holiness, however, was greatly annoyed by the duke's
conduct; he sent urgent requests to him to despatch the escort to Rome, and
assured him that the two castles in Romagna would be delivered over to
him before Lucretia reached Ferrara, but in case she did arrive there first
that everything she asked would be granted—his love for her was such that
he even thought of paying her a visit in Ferrara in the spring.[127] The Pope
suspected, however, that the delay in sending the bridal escort was due to
the machinations of Maximilian. Even as late as November the emperor had
despatched his secretary, Agostino Semenza, to the duke to warn him not to
send the escort to Rome, adding that he would show his gratitude to Ercole.
November 22d the duke wrote the imperial plenipotentiary a letter in which
he stated that he had immediately sent a courier to his ambassador in Rome;
it would soon be winter, and the time would therefore be unfavorable for
bringing Lucretia; if the Pope was willing, he would postpone the wedding,
but he would not break off with him entirely. His Majesty should remember
that if he did this, the Pope would become his bitterest enemy, and would
persecute him, and might even make war on him. It was, he stated, for the
express purpose of avoiding this that he had consented to enter into an
alliance with his Holiness. He, therefore, hoped that his Majesty would not

expose him to this danger, but that, with his usual justice, he would
appreciate his excuses.[128]

ERCOLE D'ESTE, DUKE OF FERRARA.

At the same time he instructed his ambassadors in Rome to inform the Pope
of the emperor's threats, and to say to him that he was ready to fulfil his
own obligations and also to urge his Holiness to have the bulls prepared at
once, as further delay was dangerous.
Alexander thereupon fell into a rage; he overwhelmed the ambassadors with
reproaches, and called the duke a "tradesman." On December 1st Ercole
announced to the emperor's messenger that he was unable longer to delay
sending the bridal escort, for, if he did, it would mean a rupture with the

Pope. The same day he wrote to his ambassadors in Rome and complained
of the use of the epithet "tradesman," which the Pope had applied to him.
[129]
He, however, reassured his Holiness by informing him that he had
decided to despatch the bridal escort from Ferrara the ninth or tenth of
December.[130]

GUICCIARDINI.

CHAPTER XXII
ARRIVAL AND RETURN OF THE BRIDAL ESCORT

In the meantime Lucretia's trousseau was being prepared with an expense
worthy of a king's daughter. On December 13, 1501, the agent in Rome of
the Marchese Gonzaga wrote his master as follows: "The portion will
consist of three hundred thousand ducats, not counting the presents which
Madonna will receive from time to time. First a hundred thousand ducats
are to be paid in money in instalments in Ferrara. Then there will be
silverware to the value of three thousand ducats; jewels, fine linen, costly
trappings for horses and mules, together worth another hundred thousand.
In her wardrobe she has a trimmed dress worth more than fifteen thousand
ducats, and two hundred costly shifts, some of which are worth a hundred
ducats apiece; the sleeves alone of some of them cost thirty ducats each,
being trimmed with gold fringe." Another person reported to the Marchesa
Isabella that Lucretia had one dress worth twenty thousand ducats, and a hat
valued at ten thousand. "It is said," so the Mantuan agent writes, "that more
gold has been prepared and sold here in Naples in six months than has been
used heretofore in two years. She brings her husband another hundred
thousand ducats, the value of the castles (Cento and Pieve), and will also
secure the remission of Ferrara's tribute. The number of horses and persons
the Pope will place at his daughter's disposal will amount to a thousand.
There will be two hundred carriages—among them some of French make, if
there is time—and with these will come the escort which is to take her."[131]
The duke finally concluded to send the bridal escort, although the bulls
were not ready for him. As he was anxious to make the marriage of his son
with Lucretia an event of the greatest magnificence, he sent a cavalcade of
more than fifteen hundred persons for her. At their head were Cardinal
Ippolito and five other members of the ducal house; his brothers, Don
Ferrante and Don Sigismondo; also Niccolò Maria d'Este, Bishop of Adria;
Meliaduse d'Este, Bishop of Comacchio; and Don Ercole, a nephew of the
duke. In the escort were numerous prominent friends and kinsmen or

vassals of the house of Ferrara, lords of Correggio and Mirandola; the
Counts Rangone of Modena; one of the Pio of Carpi; the Counts
Bevilacqua, Roverella, Sagrato, Strozzi of Ferrara, Annibale Bentivoglio of
Bologna, and many others.
These gentlemen, magnificently clad, and with heavy gold chains about
their necks, mounted on beautiful horses, left Ferrara December 9th, with
thirteen trumpeters and eight fifes at their head; and thus this wedding
cavalcade, led by a worldly cardinal, rode noisily forth upon their journey.
In our time such an aggregation might easily be mistaken for a troop of
trick riders. Nowhere did this brave company of knights pay their
reckoning; in the domain of Ferrara they lived on the duke; in other words,
at the expense of his subjects. In the lands of other lords they did the same,
and in the territory of the Church the cities they visited were required to
provide for them.
In spite of the luxury of the Renaissance, traveling was at that time very
disagreeable; everywhere in Europe it was as difficult then as it is now in
the Orient. Great lords and ladies, who to-day flit across the country in
comfortable railway carriages, traveled in the sixteenth century, even in the
most civilized states of Europe, mounted on horses or mules, or slowly in
sedan-chairs, exposed to all the inclemencies of wind and weather, and
unpaved roads. The cavalcade was thirteen days on the way from Ferrara to
Rome—a journey which can now be made in a few hours.
Finally, on December 22d, it reached Monterosi, a wretched castle fifteen
miles from Rome. All were in a deplorable condition, wet to the skin by
winter rains, and covered with mud; and men and horses completely tired
out. From this place the cardinal sent a messenger with a herald to Rome to
receive the Pope's commands. Answer was brought that they were to enter
by the Porta del Popolo.
The entrance of the Ferrarese into Rome was the most theatrical event that
occurred during the reign of Alexander VI. Processions were the favorite
spectacles of the Middle Ages; State, Church, and society displayed their
wealth and power in magnificent cavalcades. The horse was symbolic of the
world's strength and magnificence, but with the disappearance of
knighthood it lost its place in the history of civilization. How the love of

form and color of the people of Italy—the home of processions—has
changed was shown in Rome, July 2, 1871, when Victor Emmanuel entered
his new capital. Had this episode—one of the weightiest in the whole
history of Italy—occurred during the Renaissance, it would have been made
the occasion of a magnificent triumph. The entrance into Rome of the first
king of united Italy was made, however, in a few dust-covered carriages,
which conveyed the monarch and his court from the railway station to their
lodgings; yet in this bourgeois simplicity there was really more moral
greatness than in any of the triumphs of the Cæsars. That the love of
parades which existed in the Renaissance has died out is, perhaps, to be
regretted, for occasions still arise when they are necessary.

CASTLE OF S. ANGELO, ROME.

Alexander's prestige would certainly have suffered if, on the occasion of a
family function of such importance, he had failed to offer the people as
evidence of his power a brilliant spectacle of some sort. The very fact that
Adrian VI did not understand and appreciate this requirement of the
Renaissance made him the butt of the Romans.

At ten o'clock on the morning of December 23d the Ferrarese reached the
Ponte Molle, where breakfast was served in a nearby villa. The appearance
of this neighborhood must at that time have been different from what it is
to-day. There were casinos and wine houses on the slopes of Monte Mario
—whose summit was occupied even at that time by a villa belonging to the
Mellini—and on the hills beyond the Flaminian Way. Nicholas V had
restored the bridge over the Tiber, and also begun a tower nearby, which
Calixtus III completed. Between the Ponte Molle and the Porta del Popolo
there was then,—just as there is now,—a wretched suburb.
At the bridge crossing the Tiber they found a wedding escort composed of
the senators of Rome, the governor of the city, and the captain of police,
accompanied by two thousand men, some on foot and some mounted. Half
a bowshot from the gate the cavalcade met Cæsar's suite. First came six
pages, then a hundred mounted noblemen, followed by two hundred Swiss
clothed in black and yellow velvet with the arms of the Pope, birettas on
their heads, and bearing halberds. Behind them rode the Duke of Romagna
with the ambassador of France at his side, who wore a French costume and
a golden sash. After greeting each other mid the blare of trumpets, the
gentlemen dismounted from their horses. Cæsar embraced Cardinal Ippolito
and rode at his side as far as the city gate. If Valentino's following
numbered four thousand and the city officials two thousand more, it is
difficult to conceive, taking the spectators also into account, how so large a
number of people could congregate before the Porta del Popolo. The rows
of houses which now extend from this gate could not have been in existence
then, and the space occupied by the Villa Borghese must have been vacant.
At the gate the cavalcade was met by nineteen cardinals, each accompanied
by two hundred persons. The reception here, owing to the oration, required
over two hours, consequently it was evening when it was over.
Finally, to the din of trumpets, fifes, and horns, the cavalcade set out over
the Corso, across the Campo di Fiore, for the Vatican, where it was saluted
from Castle S. Angelo. Alexander stood at a window of the palace to see the
procession which marked the fulfilment of the dearest wish of his house.
His chamberlain met the Ferrarese at the steps of the palace and conducted
them to his Holiness, who, accompanied by twelve cardinals, advanced to
meet them. They kissed his feet, and he raised them up and embraced them.
A few moments were spent in animated conversation, after which Cæsar led

the princes to his sister. Leaning on the arm of an elderly cavalier dressed in
black velvet, with a golden chain about his neck, Lucretia went as far as the
entrance of her palace to greet them. According to the prearranged
ceremonial she did not kiss her brothers-in-law, but merely bowed to them,
following the French custom. She wore a dress of some white material
embroidered in gold, over which there was a garment of dark brown velvet
trimmed with sable. The sleeves were of white and gold brocade, tight, and
barred in the Spanish fashion. Her head-dress was of a green gauze, with a
fine gold band and two rows of pearls. About her neck was a heavy chain of
pearls with a ruby pendant. Refreshments were served, and Lucretia
distributed small gifts—the work of Roman jewelers—among those present.
The princes departed highly pleased with their reception. "This much I
know," wrote El Prete, "that the eyes of Cardinal Ippolito sparkled, as much
as to say, She is an enchanting and exceedingly gracious lady."
The cardinal likewise wrote the same evening to his sister Isabella of
Mantua to satisfy her curiosity regarding Lucretia's costume. Dress was
then an important matter in the eyes of a court; in fact there never was a
time when women's costumes were richer and more carefully studied than
they were during the Renaissance. The Marchioness had sent an agent to
Rome apparently for the sole purpose of giving her an account of the bridal
festivities, and she had directed him to pay special attention to the dresses.
El Prete carried out his instructions as conscientiously as a reporter for a
daily paper would now do.[132] From his description an artist could paint a
good portrait of the bride.
The same evening the Ferrarese ambassadors paid their official visit to
Donna Lucretia, and they promptly wrote the duke regarding the impression
his daughter-in-law had made upon them.

Illustrious Master: To-day after supper Don Gerardo Saraceni and I
betook ourselves to the illustrious Madonna Lucretia, to pay our respects in
the name of your Excellency and his Majesty Don Alfonso. We had a long
conversation regarding various matters. She is a most intelligent and lovely,
and also exceedingly gracious lady. Your Excellency and the illustrious Don
Alfonso—so we were led to conclude—will be highly pleased with her.
Besides being extremely graceful in every way, she is modest, lovable, and

decorous. Moreover, she is a devout and God-fearing Christian. To-morrow
she is going to confession, and during Christmas week she will receive the
communion. She is very beautiful, but her charm of manner is still more
striking. In short, her character is such that it is impossible to suspect
anything "sinister" of her; but, on the contrary, we look for only the best. It
seems to be our duty to tell you the exact truth in this letter. I commend
myself to your Highness's merciful benevolence. Rome, December 23,
1501, the sixth hour of the night.
Your Excellency's servant,
Johannes Lucas.

Pozzi's letter shows how anxious were the duke and his son, even up to the
last. It must have been a humiliation for both of them to have to confide
their suspicions to their ambassador in Rome, and to ask him to find out
what he could regarding the character of a lady who was to be the future
Duchess of Ferrara. The very phrase in Pozzi's letter that there was nothing
"sinister" to be suspected of Lucretia shows how black were the rumors that
circulated regarding her. His testimony, therefore, is all the more valuable,
and it is one of the most important documents for forming a judgment of
Lucretia's character. Had she been afforded a chance to read it, her
mortification would, no doubt, have outweighed her satisfaction.[133]
The Ferrarese princes took up their abode in the Vatican; other gentlemen
occupied the Belvedere, while the majority were provided for by the
citizens, who were compelled to entertain them. At that time the popes
handled their private matters just as if they were affairs of state, and met
expenses by taxing the court officials, who, in spite of this, made a good
living, and even grew rich by the Pope's mercy. The merchants likewise
were required to bear a part of the expense of these ecclesiastical functions.
Many of the officials grumbled over entertaining the Ferrarese, and
provided for them so badly that the Pope was compelled to interfere.[134]
During the Christmas festivities the Pope read mass in S. Peter's. The
princes were present, and the duke's ambassador described Alexander's
magnificent and also "saintly" bearing in terms more fitting to depict the
appearance of an accomplished actor.[135]

The Pope now gave orders for the carnival to begin, and there were daily
banquets and festivities in the Vatican.
El Prete has left a naive account of an evening's entertainment in Lucretia's
palace, in which he gives us a vivid picture of the customs of the day. "The
illustrious Madonna," so wrote the reporter, "appears in public but little,
because she is busy preparing for her departure. Sunday evening, S.
Stephen's Day, December 26th, I went unexpectedly to her residence. Her
Majesty was in her chamber, seated by the bed. In a corner of the room
were about twenty Roman women dressed a la romanesca, 'wearing certain
cloths on their heads'; the ladies of her court, to the number of ten, were
also present. A nobleman from Valencia and a lady of the court, Niccola, led
the dance. They were followed by Don Ferrante and Madonna, who danced
with extreme grace and animation. She wore a camorra of black velvet with
gold borders and black sleeves; the cuffs were tight; the sleeves were
slashed at the shoulders; her breast was covered up to the neck with a veil
made of gold thread. About her neck she wore a string of pearls, and on her
head a green net and a chain of rubies. She had an overskirt of black velvet
trimmed with fur, colored, and very beautiful. The trousseaux of her ladies-
in-waiting are not yet ready. Two or three of the women are pretty; one,
Catalina, a native of Valencia, dances well, and another, Angela, is
charming. Without telling her, I picked her out as my favorite. Yesterday
evening (28th) the cardinal, the duke, and Don Ferrante walked about the
city masked, and afterwards we went to the duchess's house, where there
was dancing. Everywhere in Rome, from morning till night, one sees
nothing but courtesans wearing masks, for after the clock strikes the
twenty-fourth hour they are not permitted to show themselves abroad."
Although the marriage had been performed in Ferrara by proxy, Alexander
wished the service to be said again in Rome. To prevent repetition, the
ceremony in Ferrara had been performed only vis volo, the exchange of
rings having been deferred.
On the evening of December 30th, the Ferrarese escorted Madonna Lucretia
to the Vatican. When Alfonso's bride left her palace she was accompanied
by her entire court and fifty maids of honor. She was dressed in gold
brocade and crimson velvet trimmed with ermine; the sleeves of her gown
reached to the floor; her train was borne by some of her ladies; her golden

hair was confined by a black ribbon, and about her neck she wore a string
of pearls with a pendant consisting of an emerald, a ruby, and a large pearl.
Don Ferrante and Sigismondo led her by the hands; when the train set forth
a body of musicians stationed on the steps of S. Peter's began to play. The
Pope, on the throne in the Sala Paolina, surrounded by thirteen cardinals
and his son Cæsar, awaited her. Among the foreign representatives present
were the ambassadors of France, Spain, and Venice; the German envoy was
absent. The ceremony began with the reading of the mandate of the Duke of
Ferrara, after which the Bishop of Adria delivered the wedding sermon,
which the Pope, however, commanded to be cut short.[136] A table was
placed before him, and by it stood Don Ferrante—as his brother's
representative—and Donna Lucretia. Ferrante addressed the formal
question to her, and on her answering in the affirmative, he placed the ring
on her finger with the following words: "This ring, illustrious Donna
Lucretia, the noble Don Alfonso sends thee of his own free will, and in his
name I give it thee"; whereupon she replied, "And I, of my own free will,
thus accept it."
The performance of the ceremony was attested by a notary. Then followed
the presentation of the jewels to Lucretia by Cardinal Ippolito. The duke,
who sent her a costly present worth no less than seventy thousand ducats,
attached special weight to the manner in which it was to be given her. On
December 21st he wrote his son that in presenting the jewels he should use
certain words which his ambassador Pozzi would give him, and he was told
that this was done as a precautionary measure, so that, in case Donna
Lucretia should prove untrue to Alfonso, the jewels would not be lost.[137]
Until the very last, the duke handled the Borgias with the misgivings of a
man who feared he might be cheated. On December 30th Pozzi wrote him:
"There is a document regarding this marriage which simply states that
Donna Lucretia will be given, for a present, the bridal ring, but nothing is
said of any other gift. Your Excellency's intention, therefore, was carried out
exactly. There was no mention of any present, and your Excellency need
have no anxiety."
Ippolito performed his part so gracefully that the Pope told him he had
heightened the beauty of the present. The jewels were in a small box which
the cardinal first placed before the Pope and then opened. One of the

keepers of the jewels from Ferrara helped him to display the gems to the
best advantage. The Pope took the box in his own hand and showed it to his
daughter. There were chains, rings, earrings, and precious stones beautifully
set. Especially magnificent was a string of pearls—Lucretia's favorite gem.
Ippolito also presented his sister-in-law with his gifts, among which were
four beautifully chased crosses. The cardinals sent similar presents.
After this the guests went to the windows of the salon to watch the games in
the Piazza of S. Peter; these consisted of races and a mimic battle for a ship.
Eight noblemen defended the vessel against an equal number of opponents.
They fought with sharp weapons, and five people were wounded.
This over, the company repaired to the Chamber of the Parrots, where the
Pope took his position upon the throne, with the cardinals on his left, and
Ippolito, Donna Lucretia, and Cæsar on his right. El Prete says: "Alexander
asked Cæsar to lead the dance with Donna Lucretia, which he did very
gracefully. His Holiness was in continual laughter. The ladies of the court
danced in couples, and extremely well. The dance, which lasted more than
an hour, was followed by the comedies. The first was not finished, as it was
too long; the second, which was in Latin verse, and in which a shepherd and
several children appeared, was very beautiful, but I have forgotten what it
represented. When the comedies were finished all departed except his
Holiness, the bride, and her brother-in-law. In the evening the Pope gave the
wedding banquet, but of this I am unable to send any account, as it was a
family affair."
The festivities continued for days, and all Rome resounded with the noise of
the carnival. During the closing days of the year Cardinal Sanseverino and
Cæsar presented some plays. The one given by Cæsar was an eclogue, with
rustic scenery, in which the shepherd sang the praises of the young pair, and
of Duke Ercole, and the Pope as Ferrara's protector.[138]
The first day of the new year (1502) was celebrated with great pomp. The
various quarters of Rome organized a parade in which were thirteen floats
led by the gonfalonier of the city and the magistrates, which passed from
the Piazza Navona to the Vatican, accompanied by the strains of music. The
first car represented the triumph of Hercules, another Julius Cæsar, and
others various Roman heroes. They stopped before the Vatican to enable the

Pope and his guests to admire the spectacle from the windows. Poems in
honor of the young couple were declaimed, and four hours were thus
passed.
Then followed comedies in the Chamber of the Parrots. Subsequently a
moresca or ballet was performed in the "sala of the Pope," whose walls
were decorated with beautiful tapestries which had been executed by order
of Innocent VIII. Here was erected a low stage decorated with foliage and
illuminated by torches. The lookers-on took their places on benches and on
the floor, as they preferred. After a short eclogue, a jongleur dressed as a
woman danced the moresca to the accompaniment of tamborines, and
Cæsar also took part in it, and was recognized in spite of his disguise.
Trumpets announced a second performance. A tree appeared upon whose
top was a Genius who recited verses; these over, he dropped down the ends
of nine silk ribbons which were taken by nine maskers who danced a ballet
about the tree. This moresca was loudly applauded. In conclusion the Pope
asked his daughter to dance, which she did with one of her women, a native
of Valencia, and they were followed by all the men and women who had
taken part in the ballet.[139]
Comedies and moresche were in great favor on festal occasions. The poets
of Rome, the Porcaro, the Mellini, Inghirami, and Evangelista Maddaleni,
probably composed these pieces, and they may also have taken part in
them, for it was many years since Rome had been given such a brilliant
opportunity to show her progress in histrionics. Lucretia was showered with
sonnets and epithalamia. It is strange that not one of these has been
preserved, and also that not a single Roman poet of the day is mentioned as
the author of any of these comedies. On January 2d a bull fight was given in
the Piazza of S. Peter's. The Spanish bull fight was introduced into Italy in
the fourteenth century, but not until the fifteenth had it become general. The
Aragonese brought it to Naples, and the Borgias to Rome. Hitherto the only
thing of the sort which had been seen was the bull-baiting in the Piazza
Navona or on the Testaccio. Cæsar was fond of displaying his agility and
strength in this barbarous sport. During the jubilee year he excited the
wonder of all Rome by decapitating a bull with a single stroke in one of
these contests. On January 2d he and nine other Spaniards, who probably
were professional matadors, entered the enclosure with two loose bulls,
where he mounted his horse and with his lance attacked the more ferocious

one single-handed; then he dismounted, and with the other Spaniards
continued to goad the animals. After this heroic performance the duke left
the arena to the matadors. Ten bulls and one buffalo were slaughtered.
In the evening the Menæchmi of Plautus and other pieces were produced in
which was celebrated the majesty of Cæsar and Ercole. The Ferrarese
ambassador sent his master an account of these performances which is a
valuable picture of the day.

This evening the Menæchmi was recited in the Pope's room, and the Slave,
the Parasite, the Pandor, and the wife of Menæchmus performed their parts
well. The Menæchmi themselves, however, played badly. They had no
masks, and there was no scenery, for the room was too small. In the scene
where Menæchmus, seized by command of his father-in-law, who thinks he
is mad, exclaims that he is being subjected to force, he added: "This passes
understanding; for Cæsar is mighty, Zeus merciful, and Hercules kind."
Before the performance of this comedy the following play was given: first
appeared a boy in woman's clothes who represented Virtue, and another in
the character of Fortune. They began to banter each other as to which was
the mightier, whereupon Fame suddenly appeared, standing on a globe
which rested on a float, upon which were the words, "Gloria Domus
Borgiæ." Fame, who also called himself Light, awarded Virtue the prize
over Fortune, saying that Cæsar and Ercole by Virtue had overcome
Fortune; thereupon he described a number of the heroic deeds performed by
the illustrious Duke of Romagna. Hercules with the lion's skin and club
appeared, and Juno sent Fortune to attack him. Hercules, however,
overcame Fortune, seized her and chained her; whereupon Juno begged him
to free her, and he, gracious and generous, consented to grant Juno's request
on the condition that she would never do anything which might injure the
house of Ercole or that of Cæsar Borgia. To this she agreed, and, in
addition, she promised to bless the union of the two houses.
Then Roma entered upon another float. She complained that Alexander,
who occupied Jupiter's place, had been unjust to her in permitting the
illustrious Donna Lucretia to go away; she praised the duchess highly, and
said that she was the refuge of all Rome. Then came a personification of

Ferrara—but not on a float—and said that Lucretia was not going to take up
her abode in an unworthy city, and that Rome would not lose her. Mercury
followed, having been sent by the gods to reconcile Rome and Ferrara, as it
was in accordance with their wish that Donna Lucretia was going to the
latter city. Then he invited Ferrara to take a seat by his side in the place of
honor on the float.
All this was accompanied by descriptions in polished hexameters, which
celebrated the alliance of Cæsar and Ercole, and predicted that together they
would overthrow all the latter's enemies. If this prophecy is realized, the
marriage will result greatly to our advantage. So we commend ourselves to
your Excellency's mercy.
Your Highness's servants,
Johann Lucas and Gerardus Saracenus.
January 2, 1502.

Finally the date set for Lucretia to leave—January 6th—arrived. The Pope
was determined that her departure should be attended by a magnificent
display; she should traverse Italy like a queen. A cardinal was to accompany
her as legate, Francesco Borgia, Archbishop of Cosenza, having been
chosen for this purpose. To Lucretia he owed his cardinalate, and he was a
most devoted retainer; "an elderly man, a worthy person of the house of
Borgia," so Pozzi wrote to Ferrara. Madonna was also accompanied by the
bishops of Carniola, Venosa, and Orte.
Alexander endeavored to persuade many of the nobles of Rome, men and
women, to accompany Lucretia, and he succeeded in inducing a large
number to do so. The city of Rome appointed four special envoys, who
were to remain in Ferrara as long as the festivities lasted—Stefano del
Bufalo, Antonio Paoluzzo, Giacomo Frangipane, and Domenico Massimi.
The Roman nobility selected for the same purpose Francesco Colonna of
Palestrina and Giuliano, Count of Anguillara. There were also Ranuccio
Farnese of Matelica and Don Giulio Raimondo Borgia, the Pope's nephew,
and captain of the papal watch, together with eight other gentlemen
belonging to the lesser nobility of Rome.

Cæsar equipped at his own expense an escort of two hundred cavaliers, with
musicians and buffoons to entertain his sister on the way. This cavalcade,
which was composed of Spaniards, Frenchmen, Romans, and Italians from
various provinces, was joined later by two famous men—Ivo d'Allegre and
Don Ugo Moncada. Among the Romans were the Chevaliers Orsini; Piero
Santa Croce; Giangiorgio Cesarini, a brother of Cardinal Giuliano; and
other gentlemen, members of the Alberini, Sanguigni, Crescenzi, and
Mancini families.
Lucretia herself had a retinue of a hundred and eighty people. In the list—
which is still preserved—are the names of many of her maids of honor; her
first lady-in-waiting was Angela Borgia, una damigella elegantisima, as one
of the chroniclers of Ferrara describes her, who is said to have been a very
beautiful woman, and who was the subject of some verses by the Roman
poet Diomede Guidalotto. She was also accompanied by her sister Donna
Girolama, consort of the youthful Don Fabio Orsini. Madonna Adriana
Orsini, another woman named Adriana, the wife of Don Francesco Colonna,
and another lady of the house of Orsini, whose name is not given, also
accompanied Lucretia. It is not likely, however, that the last was Giulia
Farnese.
A number of vehicles which the Pope had ordered built in Rome and a
hundred and fifty mules bore Lucretia's trousseau. Some of this baggage
was sent on ahead. The duchess took everything that the Pope permitted her
to remove. He refused to have an inventory made, as Beneimbene the
notary had advised. "I desire," so he stated to the Ferrarese ambassadors,
"that the duchess shall do with her property as she wishes." He had also
given her nine thousand ducats to clothe herself and her servants, and also a
beautiful sedan-chair of French make, in which the Duchess of Urbino was
to have a seat by her side when she joined the cavalcade.[140]
While Alexander was praising his daughter's graciousness and modesty, he
expressed the wish that her father-in-law would provide her with no
courtiers and ladies-in-waiting but those whose character was above
question. She had told him—so the ambassadors wrote their master—that
she would never give his Holiness cause to be ashamed of her, and
"according to our view he certainly never will have occasion, for the longer
we are with her, and the closer we examine her life, the higher is our

opinion of her goodness, her decorum, and modesty. We see that life in her
palace is not only Christian, but also religious."[141]
Even Cardinal Ferrante Ferrari ventured to write Ercole—whose servant he
had been—a letter in which he spoke of the duke's daughter-in-law in
unctuous terms and praised her character to the skies.[142]
January 5th the balance of the wedding portion was paid to the Ferrarese
ambassadors in cash, whereupon they reported to the duke that everything
had been arranged, that his daughter-in-law would bring the bull with her,
and that the cavalcade was ready to start.[143]
Alexander had decided at what towns they should stop on their long
journey. They were as follows: Castelnovo, Civitacastellana, Narni, Terni,
Spoleto, and Foligno; it was expected the Duke Guidobaldo or his wife
would meet Lucretia at the last-named place and accompany her to Urbino.
Thence they were to pass through Cæsar's estates, going by way of Pesaro,
Rimini, Cesena, Forli, Faenza, and Imola to Bologna, and from that city to
Ferrara by way of the Po.
As the places through which they passed would be subjected to very great
expense if the entire cavalcade stopped, the retinue was sometimes divided,
each part taking a different route. The Pope's brief to the Priors of Nepi
shows to what imposition the people were subjected.

Dear Sons: Greeting and the Apostolic Blessing. As our dearly beloved
daughter in Christ, the noble lady and Duchess Lucretia de Borgia, who is
to leave here next Monday to join her husband Alfonso, the beloved son and
first born of the Duke of Ferrara, with a large escort of nobles, two hundred
horsemen will pass through your district; therefore we wish and command
you, if you value our favor and desire to avoid our displeasure, to provide
for the company mentioned above for a day and two nights, the time they
will spend with you. By so doing you will receive from us all due
approbation. Given in Rome, under the Apostolic seal, December 28, 1501,
in the tenth year of our Pontificate.[144]

Numerous other places had similar experiences. In every city in which the

cavalcade stopped, and in some of those where they merely rested for a
short time, Lucretia, in accordance with the Pope's commands, was honored
with triumphal arches, illuminations, and processions—all the expense of
which was borne by the commune.
January 6th Lucretia, leaving her child Rodrigo, her brother Cæsar, and her
parents, departed from Rome. Probably only two persons were present
when she took leave of Vannozza. None of those who describe the
festivities in the Vatican mention this woman by name.
The Chamber of the Parrots was the scene of her leave-taking with her
father. She remained with the Pope some time, departing on Cæsar's
entrance. As she was leaving, Alexander called after her in a loud voice,
telling her to be of good cheer, and to write him whenever she wanted
anything, adding that he would do more for her now that she had gone from
him than he had ever done for her while she was in Rome. Then he went
from place to place and watched her until she and her retinue were lost to
sight.[145]
Lucretia set forth from Rome at three o'clock in the afternoon. All the
cardinals, ambassadors, and magistrates of the city accompanied her as far
as the Porta del Popolo. She was mounted on a white jennet caparisoned
with gold, and she wore a riding habit of red silk and ermine, and a hat
trimmed with feathers. She was surrounded by more than a thousand
persons. By her side were the princes of Ferrara and the Cardinal of
Cosenza. Her brother Cæsar accompanied her a short distance, and then
returned to the Vatican with Cardinal Ippolito.
Thus Lucretia Borgia departed, leaving Rome and a terrible past behind her
forever.

BOOK THE SECOND
LUCRETIA IN FERRARA

CHAPTER I
LUCRETIA'S JOURNEY TO FERRARA

Although the escort which was taking the Duchess Lucretia to Ferrara
traveled by easy stages, the journey was fatiguing; for the roads, especially
in winter, were bad, and the weather, even in the vicinity of Rome, was
frequently wet and cold.
Not until the seventh day did they reach Foligno. As the report which the
Ferrarese ambassadors sent their lord from that place contains a vivid
description of the journey, we quote it at length:

Illustrious and Honored Master: Although we wrote your Excellency
from Narni that we would travel from Terni to Spoleto, and from Spoleto to
this place without stopping, the illustrious Duchess and her ladies were so
fatigued that she decided to rest a day in Spoleto and another in Foligno.
We, therefore, shall not leave here until to-morrow morning, and shall not
arrive at Urbino before next Tuesday, that is the eighteenth of the current
month, for to-morrow we shall reach Nocera, Saturday Gualdo, Sunday
Gubbio, Monday Cagli, and Tuesday Urbino, where we shall rest another
day, that is Wednesday. On the twentieth we shall set out for Pesaro, and so
on from city to city, as we have already written your Excellency.
We feel certain, however, that the duchess will stop frequently to rest,
consequently we shall not reach Ferrara before the last of the present or the
first of next month, and perhaps not until the second or third. We therefore
thought it well to write your Excellency from here, letting you know where
we were and where we expected to be, so that you might arrange matters as
you thought best. If you wish us not to arrive in Ferrara until the second or
third, it would not be difficult so to arrange it; but if you think it would be
better for us to reach the city the last of this month or the first of February,
write us to that effect, and we will endeavor, as we have hitherto done, to
shorten the periods of rest.

I mention this because the illustrious Donna Lucretia is of a delicate
constitution and, like her ladies, is unaccustomed to the saddle, and because
we notice that she does not wish to be worn out when she reaches Ferrara.
In all the cities through which her Majesty passes she is received with every
show of affection and with great honors, and presented with numerous gifts
by the women. Everything is done for her comfort. She was welcomed
everywhere and, as she was formerly ruler of Spoleto, she was well known
to the people. Her reception here in Foligno was more cordial and
accompanied by greater manifestations of joy than anywhere else outside of
Rome, for not only did the signors of the city, as the officials of the
commune are called, clad in red silk, come on foot to meet her and
accompany her to her inn on the Piazza, but at the gate she was confronted
by a float upon which was a person representing the Roman Lucretia with a
dagger in her hand, who recited some verses to the effect that her Majesty
excelled herself in graciousness, modesty, intelligence, and understanding,
and that therefore she would yield her own place to her.
There was also a float upon which was a cupid, and on the summit, with the
golden apple in his hand, stood Paris, who repeated some stanzas, the gist
of which was as follows: he had promised the apple to Venus, the only one
who excelled both Juno and Pallas in beauty; but he now reversed his
decision, and presented it to her Majesty as she, of all women, was the only
one who surpassed all the goddesses, possessing greater beauty, wisdom,
riches, and power than all three united.
Finally, on the Piazza we discovered an armed Turkish galley coming
toward us, and one of the Turks, who was standing on the bulwarks,
repeated some stanzas of the following import: the sultan well knew how
powerful was Lucretia in Italy, and he had sent him to greet her, and to say
that his master would surrender everything he had taken from the
Christians. We made no special effort to remember these verses, for they
were not exactly Petrarchian, and, moreover, the ship did not appear to us to
be a very happy idea; it was rather out of place.
We must not forget to tell you that all the reigning Baglione came from
Perugia and their castles, and were waiting for Lucretia about four miles
from Foligno, and that they invited her to go to Perugia.

Her Majesty, as we wrote your Excellency from Narni, persists in her wish
to journey from Bologna to Ferrara by water to escape the discomfort of
riding and traveling by land.
His Holiness, our Lord, is so concerned for her Majesty that he demands
daily and even hourly reports of her journey, and she is required to write
him with her own hand from every city regarding her health. This confirms
the statement which has frequently been made to your Excellency—that his
Holiness loves her more than any other person of his blood.
We shall not neglect to make a report to your Excellency regarding the
journey whenever an opportunity offers.
Between Terni and Spoleto, in the valley of the Strettura, one of the hostlers
of the illustrious Don Sigismondo engaged in a violent altercation about
some turtle doves with one of his fellows in the service of the Roman
Stefano dei Fabii, who is a member of the duchess's escort. Both grasped
their arms, whereupon one Pizaguerra, also in the service of the illustrious
Don Sigismondo, happening to ride by on his horse, wounded Stefano's
hostler on the head. Thereupon Stefano, who is naturally quarrelsome and
vindictive, became so angry that he declared he would accompany the
cavalcade no farther. About this time we reached the castle of Spoleto, and
he passed the illustrious Don Sigismondo and Don Ferrante without
speaking to them or even looking at them. The whole affair was due to a
misunderstanding which we all regretted very much, and as Pizaguerra and
Don Sigismondo's hostler had fled, there was nothing more to be done; the
Cardinal of Cosenza, the illustrious Madonna, and all the others agreed that
Stefano was in the wrong. He, therefore, was mollified, and continued on
the journey. We commend ourselves to your Excellency's mercy. From
Foligno, January 13, 1502.
Your Majesty's servants,
Johannes Lucas and Girardus Saracenus.
Postscript: The worthy Cardinal of Cosenza, we understand, is unwilling to
pass through the territory of the illustrious Duke of Urbino.

From Foligno the journey was continued by way of Nocera and Gualdo to

Gubbio, one of the most important cities in the duchy of Urbino. About two
miles from that place the Duchess Elisabetta met Lucretia and accompanied
her to the city palace. After this the two remained constantly in each other's
company, for Elisabetta kept her promise and accompanied Lucretia to
Ferrara.
Cardinal Borgia returned to Rome from Gubbio, and the two ladies
occupied the comfortable sedan-chair which Alexander had presented his
daughter. January 18th, when the cavalcade was near Urbino, Lucretia was
greeted by Duke Guidobaldo, who had come with his entire court to meet
her. He accompanied Lucretia to the residence set apart for her—Federico's
beautiful palace—where she and the princes of Este were lodged, the duke
and duchess having vacated it for them. The artful Guidobaldo had set up
the Borgia arms and those of the King of France in conspicuous places in
Urbino and throughout the various cities of his domain.
Although Lucretia's wedding was regarded by the Montrefeltre with great
displeasure, they now, on account of Ferrara and because of their fear of the
Pope, hastened to show her every honor. They had been acquainted with
Lucretia in Rome when Guidobaldo, Alexander's condottiere, conducted the
unsuccessful war against the Orsini, and they had also known her in Pesaro.
Perhaps they now hoped that Urbino's safety would be assured by Lucretia's
influence and friendship. However, only a few months were to pass before
Guidobaldo and his consort were to be undone by the fiendishness of their
guest's brother and driven from their domain.
After resting a day, Lucretia and the duchess, accompanied for a short
distance by Guidobaldo, set out from Urbino, January 20th, for Pesaro,
which they reached late in the evening. The road connecting these cities is
now a comfortable highway, traversing a beautiful, undulating country, but
at that time it was little more than a bridlepath; consequently the travelers
were thoroughly fatigued when they reached their destination.
When Lucretia entered the latter city she must have been overcome by
painful emotions, for she could not fail to have been reminded of Sforza,
her discarded husband, who was now an exile in Mantua, brooding on
revenge, and who might appear at any moment in Ferrara to mar the
wedding festivities. Pesaro now belonged to her brother Cæsar, and he had

given orders that his sister should be royally received in all the cities she
visited in his domain. A hundred children clad in his colors—yellow and red
—with olive branches in their hands, greeted her at the gates of Pesaro with
the cry, "Duca! Duca! Lucretia! Lucretia!" and the city officials
accompanied her to her former residence.[146]
Lucretia was received with every evidence of joy by her former subjects,
and the most prominent of the noble women of the city, among whom was
the matron Lucretia Lopez, once her lady-in-waiting, and now wife of
Gianfrancesco Ardizi.[147]
Lucretia remained a day in Pesaro without allowing herself to be seen. In
the evening she permitted the ladies of her suite to dance with those of the
city, but she herself took no part in the festivities. Pozzi wrote the duke that
she spent the entire time in her chamber "for the purpose of washing her
head, and because she was naturally inclined to solitude." Her seclusion
while in Pesaro may be explained as more likely due to the gloomy
thoughts which filled her mind.[148]
In every town belonging to the Duke of Romagna there was a similar
reception; everywhere the magistrates presented Lucretia with the keys of
the city. She was now accompanied by her brother's lieutenant in Cesena,
Don Ramiro d'Orco,—a monster who was quartered by Cæsar's orders a
few months later.
Passing Rimini and Cesena she reached Forli, January 25th. The salon of
the palace was hung with costly tapestries, and even the ceiling was covered
with many-colored cloth; a tribune was erected for the ladies. Presents of
food, sweetmeats, and wax tapers were offered the duchess. In spite of the
stringent laws which Cæsar's rectors, especially Ramiro, had passed, bands
of robbers made the roads unsafe. Fearing that the bold bandit Giambattista
Carraro might overtake the bridal train after it had left the boundaries of
Cervia, a guard of a thousand men on foot and a hundred and fifty troopers
was furnished by the people, apparently as an escort of honor.[149]
In Faenza Lucretia announced that she would be obliged to spend Friday in
Imola to wash her head, as she would not have an opportunity to do this
again until the end of the carnival. This washing of the head, which we have

already had occasion to notice as an important part of the toilet in those
days, must, therefore, have been in some manner connected with dressing
the hair.[150] The Ferrarese ambassador spoke of this practice of Lucretia's
as a repeated obstacle which might delay the entrance of her Majesty into
Ferrara until February 2d. Don Ferrante likewise wrote from Imola that she
would rest there a day to put her clothes in order and wash her head, which,
said she, had not been done for eight days, and she, therefore, was suffering
with headache.[151]
On the way from Faenza to Imola the cavalcade stopped at Castle
Bolognese, which had been abandoned by Giovanni Bentivoglio when he
was threatened by Cæsar. They found the walls of the town razed, the moat
filled up, and even its name changed to Cesarina.
After resting a day in Imola the cavalcade set out January 28th for Bologna.
When they reached the borders of the territory belonging to the city they
were met by Bentivoglio's sons and his consort Ginevra, with a brilliant
retinue, and two miles from the city gate Giovanni himself was waiting to
greet them.
The tyrant of Bologna, who owed his escape from Cæsar wholly to the
protection of the French, spared nothing to honor his enemy's sister.
Accompanied by several hundred riders, he led her in triumph through the
city, where the arms of the Borgias, of Cæsar, the Pope, and Lucretia, and
those of France, and of the Este met her eye on every side. The proud
matron Ginevra, surrounded by a large number of noble ladies, received
Lucretia at the portals of her magnificent palace. How this famous woman,
the aunt of Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro, must in her soul have hated this
Borgia! However, it was neither Alexander nor Cæsar, but Giuliano della
Rovere, subsequently Julius II, who was destined, only four years later, to
drive her and all her race from Bologna forever.
January 30th was devoted to gorgeous festivities, and in the evening the
Bentivoglio gave a ball and a banquet.
The following day they accompanied Lucretia for a part of the way, as it
was her purpose to continue her journey to Ferrara, which now was not far
distant, by boat on the canal, which at that time ran from Bologna to the Po.

The same day—January 31st—towards evening, Lucretia reached Castle
Bentivoglio, which was but twenty miles from Ferrara. She had no sooner
arrived at that place than her consort Alfonso suddenly appeared. She was
greatly overcome, but promptly recovered herself and received him "with
many professions of esteem and most graciously," to all of which he
responded with great gallantry.[152] Hitherto the hereditary Prince of Ferrara
had sullenly held aloof from the wife that had been forced upon him. Men
of that age had not a trace of the tenderness or sentimentality of those of to-
day, but, even admitting this, it is certainly strange that there is no evidence
of any correspondence between Lucretia and Alfonso during the time the
marriage was being arranged, although a great many letters then passed
between the duchess and Ercole. Either owing to a desire to please his
father or to his own curiosity or cunning, the rough and reticent Alfonso
now threw off his reserve. He came in disguise, remained two hours, and
then suddenly left for Ferrara.
During this short interview he was greatly impressed by his wife. Lucretia
in those two hours had certainly brought Alfonso under the spell of her
personality, even if she had not completely disarmed him. Not wholly
without reason had the gallant burghers of Foligno awarded the apple of
Paris to Lucretia. Speaking of this meeting, one of the chroniclers of Ferrara
says, "The entire people rejoiced greatly, as did also the bride and her own
followers, because his Majesty had shown a desire to see her and had
received her so well—an indication that she would be accepted and treated
still better."[153]
Probably no one was more pleased than the Pope. His daughter immediately
informed him of her reception, for she sent him daily letters giving an
account of her journey; and he also received numerous despatches from
other persons in her train. Up to this time he had felt some misgivings as to
her reception by the Este, but now he was relieved. After she had left Rome
he frequently asked Cardinal Ferrari to warn the duke to treat his daughter-
in-law kindly, remarking, at the same time, that he had done a great deal for
her, and would do still more. He declared that the remission of Ferrara's
tribute would, if paid for in money, require not less than two hundred
thousand ducats, and that the officials of the chancellery had demanded
between five and six thousand ducats merely for preparing the bulls. The
kings of France and Spain had been compelled to pay the Duke of Romagna

a yearly tribute of twenty thousand ducats for the remission of the taxes of
Naples, which consisted only in the payment of a single white horse.
Ferrara, on the other hand, had been granted everything.[154]
The duke replied to the cardinal January 22d, assuring him that his
daughter-in-law would meet with a most affectionate reception.[155]

CHAPTER II
FORMAL ENTRY INTO FERRARA

February 1st Lucretia continued her journey to Ferrara by the canal. Near
Malalbergo she found Isabella Gonzaga waiting to meet her. At the urgent
request of her father, the marchioness, much against her will, had come to
do the honors during the festivities in his palace. "In violent anger," so she
wrote her husband, who remained at home, she greeted and embraced her
sister-in-law. She accompanied her by boat to Torre della Fossa, where the
canal empties into a branch of the Po. This river, a majestic stream, flows
four miles from Ferrara, and only a branch—Po di Ferrara—now known as
the Canale di Cento, reaches the city, where it divides into two arms, the
Volano and Primaro, both of which empty into the Adriatic. They are very
small canals, and, therefore, it could have been no pleasure to travel on
them, nor was it an imposing spectacle.
The duke, with Don Alfonso and his court, awaited Lucretia at Torre della
Fossa. When she left the boat the duke saluted her on the cheek, she having
first respectfully kissed his hand. Thereupon, all mounted a magnificently
decorated float, to which the foreign ambassadors and numerous cavaliers
came to kiss the bride's hand. To the strains of music and the thunder of
cannon the cavalcade proceeded to the Borgo S. Luca, where they all
descended. Lucretia took up her residence in the palace of Alberto d'Este,
Ercole's illegitimate brother. Here she was received by Lucretia
Bentivigolio, natural daughter of Ercole, and numerous ladies of her court.
The duke's seneschal brought to her Madonna Teodora and twelve young
women who were to serve her as ladies-in-waiting. Five beautiful carriages,
each drawn by four horses, a present from her father-in-law, were placed at
her disposal. In this villa, which is no longer in existence, Lucretia spent the
night. The suburb of S. Luca is still there, but the entire locality is so
changed that it would be impossible to recognize it.
The seat of the Este was thronged with thousands of sightseers, some of
whom had been invited by the duke and others drawn thither by curiosity.

All the vassals of the State, but not the reigning princes, were present. The
lords of Urbino and Mantua were represented by the ladies of their families,
and the house of Bentivoglio by Annibale. Rome, Venice, Florence, Lucca,
Siena, and the King of France had sent ambassadors, who were lodged in
the palaces of the nobles. The Duke of Romagna had remained in Rome and
sent a representative. It had been Alexander's wish that Cæsar's wife,
Charlotte d'Albret, should come from France to attend the wedding
festivities in Ferrara and remain a month, but she did not appear.
With royal extravagance Ercole had prepared for the festivities; the
magazines of the court and the warehouses of the city had been filled with
supplies for weeks past. Whatever the Renaissance had to offer, that she
provided in Ferrara; for the city was the seat of a cultivated court and the
home of a hospitable bourgeoisie, and also a town where science, art, and
industry thrived.
Lucretia's entrance, February 2d, was, therefore, one of the most brilliant
spectacles of the age, and, as far as she herself was concerned, it was the
greatest moment of her life; for she was entering into the enjoyment of the
highest and best of which her nature was capable.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the duke and all the ambassadors betook
themselves to Alberto's villa to fetch his daughter-in-law to the city. The
cavalcade set out over the bridge, crossing the branch of the Po, to pass
through the gate of Castle Tedaldo, a fortress no longer in existence.
At its head were seventy-five mounted archers in the livery of the house of
Este—white and red—who were accompanied by eighty trumpeters and a
number of fifes. Then came the nobility of Ferrara without regard to rank,
followed by the members of the courts of the Marchioness of Mantua, who
remained behind in the palace, and of the Duchess of Urbino. Behind them
rode Alfonso, with his brother-in-law, Annibale Bentivoglio, at his side, and
accompanied by eight pages. He was dressed in red velvet in the French
fashion, and on his head he wore a black velvet biretta, upon which was an
ornament of wrought gold. He wore small red boots and French gaiters of
black velvet. His bay horse was caparisoned in crimson and gold.
On the way to Ferrara, Don Alfonso did not ride by the side of his consort
as this would have been contrary to the etiquette of the day. The bridegroom

led the procession, near the middle of which was the bride, while the father-
in-law came last. This arrangement was intended to indicate that Lucretia
was the chief personage in the parade. Just behind Alfonso came her escort,
pages, and court officials, among whom were several Spanish cavaliers;
then five bishops, followed by the ambassadors according to rank; the four
deputies of Rome, mounted upon beautiful horses and wearing long brocade
cloaks and black birettas coming next. These were followed by six
tambourines and two of Lucretia's favorite clowns.
Then came the bride herself, radiantly beautiful and happy, mounted upon a
white jennet with scarlet trappings, and followed by her master of horse.
Lucretia was dressed in a loose-sleeved camorra of black velvet with a
narrow gold border, and a cape of gold brocade trimmed with ermine. On
her head she wore a sort of net glittering with diamonds and gold—a
present from her father-in-law. She did not wear a diadem. About her neck
she had a chain of pearls and rubies which had once belonged to the
Duchess of Ferrara—as Isabella noticed with tears in her eyes. Her
beautiful hair fell down unconfined on her shoulders. She rode beneath a
purple baldachin, which the doctors of Ferrara—that is, the members of the
faculties of law, medicine, and mathematics—supported in turn.
For the purpose of honoring the King of France, the protector of Ferrara and
of the Borgias, Lucretia had summoned the French ambassador, Philipp
della Rocca Berti, to ride at her left, near her, but not under the baldachin.
This was intended to show that it was owing to this powerful monarch that
the bride was entering the palace of the Este.
Behind Lucretia came the duke, in black velvet, on a dark horse with
trappings of the same material. On his right was the Duchess of Urbino clad
in a dark velvet gown.[156]
Then followed nobles, pages, and other personages of the house of Este,
each of whom was accompanied by one of Lucretia's ladies. The only
important member of the family not present was Cardinal Ippolito, who had
remained in Rome, and who, from that city, wrote Lucretia, January 16th,
saying he had called on her son Rodrigo and found him asleep. February
9th he wrote that the Pope had invited Cæsar and himself together with
Cardinal Borgia and the Signora Principessa—this was Sancia—to supper.

[157]
Of the women who accompanied Lucretia, only three were mounted—
Girolama Borgia, wife of Fabio Orsini; another Orsini, who is not described
more explicitly; and Madonna Adriana, "a widowed noblewoman, a
kinswoman of the Pope."[158]
Behind them came fourteen floats upon which were seated a number of the
noble women of Ferrara, beautifully dressed, including the twelve young
ladies who had been allotted to Lucretia as maids of honor. Then followed
two white mules and two white horses decked with velvet and silk and
costly gold trappings. Eighty-six mules accompanied the train bearing the
bride's trousseau and jewels. When the good people of Ferrara saw them
slowly wending their way through the streets, they must have thought that
Alfonso had chosen a rich bride. It never occurred to them that these chests,
boxes, and bales which were being carried through the streets with such
ostentation were filled with the plunder of various cities of Christendom.
At the gate near Castle Tedaldo, Lucretia's horse was frightened by the
discharge of a cannon, and the chief actor was thrown. The bride rose
without assistance, and the duke placed her upon another horse, whereupon
the cortege started again. In honor of Lucretia there were triumphal arches,
tribunes, orations, and mythological scenes. Among the last was a
procession of nymphs, with their queen at their head, riding upon a bull,
with satyrs disporting themselves about her. Sannazzaro may have thought
that the epigram in which he had referred to Giulia Farnese as Europa on
the bull suggested this representation of the Borgia arms.
When the cavalcade reached the Piazza before the church, two rope-walkers
descended from the towers and addressed compliments to the bride; thus
was the ludicrous introduced into public festivities at that time.
It was now night, and the procession had reached the palace of the duke,
and at the moment it did so all prisoners were given their liberty. At this
point all the trumpeters and fifes were massed.
It is impossible to tell exactly where the palace was situated to which
Lucretia was conducted. The Este had built a number of residences in the
city, which they occupied in turn. Among them were Schifanoja, Diamanti,
Paradiso, Belvedere, Belfiore, and Castle Vecchio. A local chronicler in the
year 1494 mentions, in enumerating the palaces of the lords of the house of

Este, the Palazzo del Cortile and Castle Vecchio as belonging to the duke;
Castle Vecchio to Alfonso and the palace of the Certosa to Cardinal
Ippolito.[159] Ercole, therefore, in the year 1502, was residing in one of the
two palaces mentioned above, which were connected with each other by a
row of structures extending from the old castle to the Piazza before the
church, which ended in the Palazzo della Ragione. They are still connected,
although the locality has greatly changed.
The duke's palace was opposite the church. It had a large court with a
marble stairway, and was therefore called the Palazzo del Cortile. This court
is doubtless the one now known as the Cortile Ducale. It was entered from
the Piazza through a high archway, at the sides of which were columns
which formerly supported statues of Niccolò III and Borso. The writers who
describe Lucretia's entrance into the city say that she dismounted from her
horse at the steps of the marble court (a le scale del Cortile di Marmo).
Here she was received by the Marchioness Gonzaga and numerous other
prominent ladies. Alfonso's young wife must have smiled—if in the
excitement of the moment she noticed it—when she found that the noble
house of Este had selected such a large number of their bastard daughters to
welcome her. She was greeted at the stairway by Lucretia, Ercole's natural
daughter, wife of Annibale Bentivoglio, and three illegitimate daughters of
Sigismondo d'Este—Lucretia, Countess of Carrara; the beautiful Diana,
Countess of Uguzoni; and Bianca Sanseverino.[160]
It was night, and lights and torches illuminated the palace. To the sound of
music the young couple was conducted to the reception hall, where they
took their places on a throne. Here followed the formal introduction of the
court officials, and an orator delivered a speech apparently based upon the
information which the duke had instructed his ambassadors to secure
regarding the house of Borgia. It is not known who was the fortunate orator,
but we are familiar with the names of some of the poets who addressed
epithalamia to the beautiful princess. Nicolaus Marius Paniciatus composed
a number of spirituelle Latin poems and epigrams in honor of Lucretia,
Alfonso, and Ercole, which were collected under the title of "Borgias."
Among them are some ardent wishes for the prosperity of the young couple.
Lucretia's beauty is described as excelling that of Helen because it was
accompanied by incomparable modesty.[161]

Apparently this youthful poet did not have his stanzas printed, for they exist
only in a manuscript in the library of Ferrara. Before Lucretia's entry the
printer Laurentius published an epithalamium by a young Latinist, the
celebrated Celio Calcagnini, who subsequently became famous as a
mathematician. He was a favorite of Cardinal Ippolito, and a friend of the
great Erasmus. The subject matter of the poem is very simple. Venus leaves
Rome and accompanies Lucretia. Mnemosyne admonishes her daughters,
the Muses, to celebrate the noble princess, which they accordingly do. The
princes of the house are not forgotten, for Euterpe sings the praises of
Ercole, Terpsicore lauds Alfonso, and Caliope recites Cæsar's victories in
the Romagna.[162]
Another Ferrarese poet makes his appearance on this occasion, a man of
whom much was expected, Ariosto, who was then twenty-seven years old,
and already known at the court of the Este and in the cultivated circles of
Italy as a Latinist and a writer of comedies. He also wrote an epithalamium
addressed to Lucretia. It is graceful, and not burdened with mythological
pedantry, but it lacks invention. The poet congratulates Ferrara,—which
will henceforth be the envy of all other cities,—for having won an
incomparable jewel. He sympathizes with Rome for the loss of Lucretia,
saying that it has again fallen into ruins.[163] He describes the young
princess as "pulcherrima virgo," and refers to Lucretia of ancient times.
On the conclusion of the festivities which greeted her on her arrival, the
duke accompanied Lucretia to the apartments which had been prepared for
her. She must have been pleased with her reception by the house of Este,
and the impression made by her own personality was most favorable. The
chronicler Bernardino Zambotto speaks of her as follows: "The bride is
twenty-four years of age (this is incorrect); she has a beautiful countenance,
sparkling and animated eyes; a slender figure; she is keen and intellectual,
joyous and human, and possesses good reasoning powers. She pleased the
people so greatly that they are perfectly satisfied with her, and they look to
her Majesty for protection and good government. They are truly delighted,
for they think that the city will greatly profit through her, especially as the
Pope will refuse her nothing, as is shown by the portion he gave her, and by
presenting Don Alfonso with certain cities."

Lucretia's face, judging by the medal, must have been fascinating. Cagnolo
of Parma describes her as follows: "She is of medium height and slender
figure. Her face is long, the nose well defined and beautiful; her hair a
bright gold, and her eyes blue; her mouth is somewhat large, the teeth
dazzlingly white; her neck white and slender, but at the same time well
rounded. She is always cheerful and good-humored."[164]
To indicate the color of the eyes, Cagnolo uses the word "bianco," which in
the language of the people still means blue. In the folk songs of Tuscany
collected by Tigri, there is frequent mention of occhi bianchi,—that is,
"blue eyes." The Florentine Firenzuola, in his work on "the perfect beauty
of woman," says she must have blond hair and blue eyes, with the pupil not
quite black, although the Greeks and Italians preferred it so. The most
beautiful color for the eyes, according to this writer, is tané.[165] The poets
of Ferrara, who immediately began to sing the dazzling power of the eyes
of their beautiful duchess, did not mention their color.
This remarkable woman charmed all beholders with her indescribable
grace, to which there was added something of mystery, and not by any
classic beauty or dignity. Vivacity, gentleness, and amiability are the
qualities which all Lucretia's contemporaries discovered in her.[166] This
animated and delicate face, with large blue eyes, and surrounded with
golden hair, suggests the ethereal beauty of Shakespeare's Imogene.

ARIOSTO.
From a painting by Titian.

CHAPTER III
FÊTES GIVEN IN LUCRETIA'S HONOR

The wedding festivities in Ferrara continued for six days during the
carnival. At the period of the Renaissance, court functions and festivities, so
far as the intellectual part is concerned, were not unlike those of the present
day; but the magnificent costumes, the highly developed sense of material
beauty, and the more elaborate etiquette of the age which gave birth to
Castiglione's Cortegiano lent these festivities a higher character.
The sixteenth century was far behind our own in many of its productions—
theatrical performances, displays of fireworks, and concert music. There
were illuminations, and mounted torchlight processions; and rockets were
frequently used; but an illuminated garden fête such as the Emperor of
Austria gave for the Shah of Persia at Schönbrunn would at that time have
been impossible. The same might be said of certain forms of musical
entertainment; for example, concerts. Society in that age would have
shuddered at the orchestral music of to-day, and the ear-splitting drums
would have appeared barbarous to the Italians of the Renaissance, just as
would the military parades, which are still among the favorite spectacles
with which distinguished guests are either honored or intimidated at the
great courts of Europe. Even then tourneys were rare, although there were
occasional combats of gladiators, whose costumes were greatly admired.
The duke and his master of ceremonies had spent weeks in preparing the
program for the wedding festivities, although these did not admit of any
great variety, being limited as they are now to banquets, balls, and theatrical
productions. It was from the last-named form of entertainment that Ercole
promised himself the most, and which, he expected, would win for him the
applause of the cultivated world.
He was one of the most active patrons of the theater during the
Renaissance. Several years before he had commissioned the poets at his
court to translate some of the plays of Plautus and Terence into terza rima,

and had produced them. Guarino, Berardo, Collenuccio, and even Bojordo
had been employed in this work by him. As early as 1486 an Italian version
of the Menæchmi, the favorite play of Plautus, had been produced in
Ferrara. In February, 1491, when Ercole, with most brilliant festivities,
celebrated the betrothal of his son Alfonso and Anna Sforza, the Menæchmi
and one of the comedies of Terence were given. The Amphitryon, which
Cagnolo had prepared for the stage, was also played.
There was no permanent theater in Ferrara, but a temporary one had been
erected which served for the production of plays which were given only
during the carnival and on other important occasions. Ercole had arranged a
salon in the palace of the Podestà—a Gothic building opposite the church—
which is still standing and is known as the Palazzo della Ragione. The salon
was connected with the palace itself by a passage way.
A raised stage called the tribune was erected. It was about one hundred and
twenty feet long and a hundred and fifty feet wide. It had houses of painted
wood, and whatever was necessary in the way of scenery, rocks, trees, etc.
It was separated from the audience by a wooden partition in which was a
sheet-metal curtain. On the forward part of the stage—the orchestra—sat
the princes and other important personages, and in the amphitheater were
thirteen rows of cushioned seats, those in the middle being occupied by the
women, and those at the sides by the men. This space accommodated about
three thousand people.
According to Strozzi, Ariosto, Calcagnini, and other humanists of Ferrara, it
was Ercole himself who constructed this theatre. They and other
academicians probably took part in the performances, but the duke also
brought actors from abroad, from Mantua, Siena, and Rome. They
numbered in all no less than a hundred and ten persons, and it was
necessary to build a new dressing-room for them. The theatrical
performances on this brilliant occasion must, therefore, have aroused great
expectations.
The festivities began February 3d, and it was soon apparent that the chief
attraction would be the beauty of three famous women—Lucretia, Isabella,
and the Duchess of Urbino. They were regarded as the three handsomest
women of the age, and it was difficult to decide which was the fairer,

Isabella or Lucretia. The Duchess of Mantua was six years older than her
sister-in-law, but a most beautiful woman, and with feminine curiosity she
studied Lucretia's appearance. In the letters which she daily wrote to her
husband in Mantua, she carefully described the dress of her rival, but said
not a word regarding her personal charms. "Concerning Donna Lucretia's
figure," so she wrote February 1st, "I shall say nothing, for I am aware that
your Majesty knows her by sight." She was unable to conceal her vanity,
and in another letter, written February 3d, she gave her husband to
understand that she hoped, so far as her own personality and her retinue
were concerned, to be able to stand comparison with any of the others and
even to bear away the prize. One of the ladies of her suite, the Marchesana
of Cotrone, wrote the duke, saying, "The bride is not especially handsome,
but she has an animated face, and in spite of her having such a large number
of ladies with her, and notwithstanding the presence of the illustrious lady
of Urbino, who is very beautiful, and who clearly shows that she is your
Excellency's sister, my illustrious mistress Isabella, according to our
opinion and of those who came with the Duchess of Ferrara, is the most
beautiful of all. There is no doubt about this; compared with her Majesty, all
the others are as nothing. Therefore we shall bring the prize home to the
house of our mistress."[167]
The first evening of the festivities a ball was given in the great salon of the
palace at which the attendance was so large that many were unable to gain
admission. Lucretia was enthroned upon a tribune, and near her were the
princesses of Mantua and Urbino. Other prominent ladies and the
ambassadors also came and took up a position near her. The guests,
therefore, in spite of the crowd, had a chance to admire the beautiful
women, and their gowns and jewels. During the Renaissance, balls were
less formal than they are now. Pleasures then were more natural and simple;
frequently the ladies danced with each other, and sometimes even alone.
The dances were almost exclusively French, for even at that time France
had begun to impose her customs on all the rest of the world; still there
were some Spanish and Italian ones. Lucretia was a graceful dancer, and
she was always ready to display her skill. She frequently descended from
the tribune and executed Spanish and Roman dances to the sound of the
tambourine.[168]

The following day the eagerly expected dramatic performances were given.
First the duke had the actors appear in masks and costumes for the purpose
of reviewing them. The director of the troop then came forward in the
character of Plautus and read the program and the argument of each piece
which was to be rendered during the five evenings. The selection of
comedies by living dramatists in the year 1502 could not have cost the duke
much thought, for there were none of any special importance. The Calandra
of Dovizi, which a few years later caused such a sensation, was not yet
written. It is true Ariosto had already composed his Cassaria and the
Suppositi, but he had not yet won sufficient renown for him to be honored
by their presentation at the wedding festivities.[169] Moreover, the duke
would have none but classic productions. He wanted to set all the world
talking; and, in truth, Italy had never seen any theatrical performances equal
to these. We possess careful descriptions of them which have not yet been
incorporated in the history of the stage. They show more clearly than do the
reports regarding the Vatican theater in the time of Leo X what was the real
nature of theatrical performances during the Renaissance; consequently,
they constitute a valuable picture of the times.
If one could follow the reports of Gagnolo, Zambotto, and Isabella, and
reproduce in imagination the brilliant wedding and the guests in their rich
costumes seated in rows, he would behold one of the fairest and most
illustrious gatherings of the Renaissance. This scene, rich in form and color,
taken in conjunction with the stage, and the performances of the comedies
of Plautus, and with the pantomimes and the moresche which occupied the
time between the acts, is so romantic that we might imagine ourselves
translated to Shakespeare's Midsummer-Night's Dream, and that Duke
Ercole had changed places with Theseus, Duke of Athens, and that the
comedies were being performed before him and the happy bridal pair.
According to the program, from February 3d to February 8th—with the
exception of one evening—five of the plays of Plautus were to be given.
The intermissions were to be devoted to music and moresche. The moresca
resembled the modern ballet; that is, a pantomime dance. It is of very
ancient origin, and traces of it appear in the Middle Ages. At first it was a
war dance in costume, which character it preserved for a long time. The
name is, I believe, derived from the fact that in all the Latin countries which
suffered from the invasions of the Saracens, dances in which the

participants were armed and which simulated the battles of the Moor and
Christian were executed. The Moors, for the sake of contrast, were
represented as black. Subsequently the meaning of the term moresca was
extended to include the ballet in general, and all sorts of scenes in which
dances accompanied by flutes and violins were introduced. The subjects
were derived from mythology, the age of chivalry, and everyday life.
There were also comic dances performed by fantastic monsters, peasants,
clowns, wild animals, and satyrs, during which blows were freely dealt
right and left. The classico-romantic ballet appears to have reached a high
development in Ferrara, which was the home of the romantic epics—the
Mambriano and the Orlando. It is needless to say that the ballet possessed
great attraction for the public in those days, just as it now does. The
presentation of the comedies of Plautus would have no more effect upon
people of this age than would a puppet show. They lasted from four to five
hours—from six in the evening until midnight.
The first evening the duke conducted his guests into the theater, and when
they had taken their seats, Plautus appeared before the bridal couple and
addressed some complimentary verses to them. After this the Epidicus was
presented. Each act was followed by a ballet, and five beautiful moresche
were given during the interludes of the play. First entered ten armed
gladiators, who danced to the sound of tambourines; then followed a mimic
battle between twelve people in different costumes; the third moresca was
led by a young woman upon a car which was drawn by a unicorn, and upon
it were several persons bound to the trunk of a tree, while seated under the
bushes were four lute players. The young woman loosed the bonds of the
captives, who immediately descended and danced while the lute players
sang beautiful canzone—at least so says Gagnolo; the cultured Duchess of
Mantua, however, wrote that the music was so doleful that it was scarcely
worth listening to. Isabella, however, judging by her remarkable letters, was
a severe critic, not only of the plays but of all the festivities. The fourth
moresca was danced by ten Moors holding burning tapers in their mouths.
In the fifth there were ten fantastically dressed men with feathers on their
heads, and bearing lances with small lighted torches at their tips. On the
conclusion of the Epidicus there was a performance by several jugglers.

Friday, February 4th, Lucretia did not appear until the afternoon. In the
morning the duke showed his guests about the city, and they went to see a
famous saint, Sister Lucia of Viterbo, whom the devout Ercole had brought
to Ferrara as a great attraction. Every Friday the five wounds of Christ
appeared on the body of this saint. She presented the ambassador of France
with a rag with which she had touched her scars, and which Monseigneur
Rocca Berti received with great respect. At the castle the duke showed his
guests the artillery, to the study of which his son Alfonso was eagerly
devoted. Here they waited for Lucretia, who, accompanied by all the
ambassadors, soon appeared in the great salon. A dance was given which
lasted until six in the evening. Then followed a presentation of the
Bacchides which required five hours. Isabella found these performances
excessively long and tiresome. Ballets similar to those which accompanied
the Epidicus were given; men dressed in flesh-colored tights with torches in
their hands, which diffused agreeable odors, danced fantastic figures, and
engaged in a battle with a dragon.
The following day Lucretia did not appear, as she was engaged in writing
letters and in washing her hair, and the guests amused themselves by
wandering about the city. No entertainments were given for the populace.
The French ambassador, in the name of the King of France, sent presents to
the princes of the house. The duke received a golden shield with a picture of
S. Francis in enamel, the work of a Parisian artist, which was highly valued;
to the hereditary Prince Alfonso was given a similar shield with a portrait of
Mary of Magdala, the ambassador remarking that his Majesty had chosen a
wife who resembled the Magdalene in character: Quæ multum meruit, quia
multum credidit. Perhaps presenting Alfonso with a gift suggestive of the
Magdalene was an intentional bit of irony on the part of the French king. In
addition to this he received a written description of a process for casting
cannon. A golden shield was likewise presented to Don Ferrante. Lucretia's
gift was a string of gold beads filled with musk, while her charming maid of
honor, Angela, was honored with a costly chain.
Everything was done to flatter the French ambassador. He was invited to
dinner in the evening by the Marchioness of Mantua, and was placed
between his hostess and the Duchess of Urbino. The evening was passed,
according to Gagnolo, in gallant and cultivated conversation. On leaving
the table the marchioness sang the most beautiful songs to the

accompaniment of the lute, for the entertainment of the French ambassador.
After this she conducted him to her chamber, where, in the presence of two
of her ladies-in-waiting, they held an animated conversation for almost an
hour, at the conclusion of which she drew off her gloves and presented them
to him, "and the ambassador received them with assurances of his loyalty
and his love, as they came from such a charming source; he told her that he
would preserve them until the end of time, as a precious relic." We may
believe Gagnolo, for doubtless the fortunate ambassador regarded this
memento of a beautiful woman as no less precious than the rag poor Saint
Lucia had given him.
Sunday, February 6th, there was a magnificent ceremony in the church; one
of the Pope's chamberlains in the name of his Holiness presented Don
Alfonso with a hat and also a sword which the Holy Father had blessed, and
which the archbishop girded on him at the altar. In the afternoon the princes
and the princesses of the house of Este went to Lucretia's apartments to
fetch her to the banquet hall. They danced for two hours; Lucretia herself,
with one of her ladies-in-waiting, taking part in some French dances. In the
evening the Miles Gloriosus was presented; it was followed by a moresca in
which ten shepherds with horns on their heads fought with each other.
February 7th there was a tourney in the piazza before the church between
two mounted knights, one of whom was a native of Bologna and the other a
citizen of Imola. No blood was shed. In the evening the Asinaria was
presented, together with a wonderful moresca in which appeared fourteen
satyrs, one of which carried a silvered ass's head in his hands, in which
there was a music-box, to the strains of which the clowns danced. This play
of the satyrs was followed by an interlude performed by sixteen vocalists,—
men and women,—and a virtuoso from Mantua who played on three lutes.
In conclusion there was a moresca in which was simulated the agricultural
work of the peasants. The fields were prepared, the seed sown, the grain cut
and threshed, and the harvest feast followed. Finally a native dance to the
accompaniment of the bagpipe was executed.
The last day of the festivities, February 8th, also marked the end of the
carnival. The ambassadors, who were soon to depart, presented the bride
with costly gifts consisting of beautiful stuffs and silverware. The most
remarkable present was brought by the representatives of Venice. The

Republic at its own expense had sent two noblemen to the festivities,
Niccolò Dolfini and Andrea Foscolo, both of whom were magnificently
clothed. In those days dress was as costly as it was beautiful, and the artists
who made the clothes for the men and women of the Renaissance would
look with contempt upon those of the present time, for in that æsthetic age
their productions were works of art. The most magnificent stuffs, velvet,
silk, and gold embroidery were used, and painters did not scorn to design
the color schemes and the shapes and folds of the garments. Dress,
therefore, was a most weighty consideration, and one to which great value
was attached, as it indicated the importance of the wearer. All who have left
accounts of the festivities in Ferrara describe in detail the costumes worn on
each occasion by Donna Lucretia and the other prominent women, and even
those of the men. The reports which the Venetians sent home and the
description in the diary of Marino Sanuto show how great was the
importance attached to these matters. The following is even more striking
evidence: before the two ambassadors of Venice set out for Ferrara they
were required to appear before the whole senate in their robes of crimson
velvet trimmed with fur, and wearing capes of similar material. More than
four thousand persons were present in the great council hall, and the Piazza
of S. Marco was crowded with people who gazed with wonder on these
strange creatures. One of these robes contained thirty-two and the other
twenty-eight yards of velvet.[170] Following the instructions of the Seignory
of Venice, the ambassadors sent their robes to Duchess Lucretia as a bridal
gift.[171] This wonderful gift was presented in the most naive way
imaginable. One of the noble gentlemen delivered a Latin oration, and the
other followed with a long discourse in Italian; thereupon they retired to an
adjoining room, removed their magnificent robes, and sent them to the
bride. This present and the pedantry of the two Venetians excited the
greatest mirth at the Ferrarese court.[172]
In the evening they danced for the last time, and attended the final theatrical
performance, the Casina. Before the comedy began, music composed by
Rombonzino was rendered, and songs in honor of the young couple were
sung. Everywhere throughout the Casina, musical interludes were
introduced. During the intermission six violinists, among them Don
Alfonso, the hereditary prince, who was a magnificent amateur performer,
played. The violin seems to have been held in great esteem in Ferrara, for

when Cæsar Borgia was about to set out for France he asked Duke Ercole
for a violin player to accompany him, as they were much sought after in
that country.[173]
The ballet which followed was a dance of savages contending for the
possession of a beautiful woman. Suddenly the god of love appeared,
accompanied by musicians, and set her free. Hereupon the spectators
discovered a great globe which suddenly split in halves and began to give
forth beautiful strains. In conclusion twelve Swiss armed with halberds and
wearing their national colors entered, and executed an artistic dance,
fencing the while.
If this scene, as Cagnolo says, ended the dramatic performances we are
forced to conclude that they were exceedingly dull and spiritless. The
moresca partook of the character of both the opera and ballet. It was the
only new form of spectacle offered during all the festivities. Compared with
those which were given in Rome on the occasion of Lucretia's betrothal,
they were much inferior. Among the former we noticed several pastoral
comedies with allegorical allusions to Lucretia, Ferrara, Cæsar, and
Alexander.
In spite of the outlay the duke had made, his entertainments lacked novelty
and variety, although they probably pleased most of those present. Isabella,
however, did not hesitate to mention the fact that she was bored. "In truth,"
so she wrote her husband, "the wedding was a very cold affair. It seems a
thousand years before I shall be in Mantua again, I am so anxious to see
your Majesty and my son, and also to get away from this place where I find
absolutely no pleasure. Your Excellency, therefore, need not envy me my
presence at this wedding; it is so stiff I have much more cause to envy those
who remained in Mantua." Apparently the noble lady's opinion was
influenced by the displeasure she still felt on account of her brother's
marriage with Lucretia, but it may also have been due partly to the
character of the festivities themselves, for the marchesa in all her letters
complains of their being tiresome.[174]
Soon after the conclusion of the festivities the marchioness returned to
Mantua; her last letter from Ferrara to her husband is dated February 9th.
Her first letter from Mantua to her sister-in-law, which was written

February 18th, is as follows:

Illustrious Lady: The love which I feel for your Majesty, and my hope that
you continue in the same good health in which you were at the time of my
departure, cause me to believe that you have the same feelings for me;
therefore I inform you—hoping that it will be pleasant news to you—that I
returned to this city on Monday in the best of health, and that I found my
illustrious consort also well. There is nothing more for me to write but to
ask your Majesty to tell me how you are, for I rejoice like an own sister in
your welfare. Although I regard it as superfluous to offer you what belongs
to you, I will remind you once for all, I and mine are ever at your disposal. I
am also much beholden to you, and I ask you to remember me to your
illustrious consort, my most honored brother.

Lucretia replied to the marchioness's letter as follows:

My Illustrious Lady, Sister-in-Law, And Most Honored Sister: Although
it was my duty to anticipate your Excellency in the proof of affection which
you have given me, this neglect on my part only makes me all the more
beholden to you. I can never tell you with what pleasure and relief I learned
that you had reached Mantua safely and had found your illustrious husband
well. May he and your Majesty, with God's help, continue to enjoy all
happiness, and the increase of all good things, according to your desires. In
obedience to your Majesty's commands I am compelled, and I also desire,
to let you know that I, by God's mercy, am well, and shall ever be disposed
to serve you.
Your devoted sister, who is anxious to serve you,
Lucrezia Estensis de Borgia.[175]
Ferrara, February 22, 1502.

These letters, written with diplomatic cunning, are the beginning of the
correspondence of these two famous women which was carried on for

seventeen years, and which shows that Isabella's displeasure gradually
passed away, and that she became a real friend of her sister-in-law.
The duke was heartily glad when his guests finally departed. Madonna
Adriana, Girolama, and the woman described simply as "an Orsini" seemed
in no haste to return to Rome. Alexander had instructed them to remain
until Cæsar's wife arrived. They were to wait for her in Lombardy, and then
accompany her to Rome. The Duchess of Romagna, however, in spite of the
urgent requests of the nuncio, refused to leave France. Her brother, Cardinal
d'Albret, reached Ferrara February 6th, and shortly afterwards set out for
Rome.
Adriana, as a near connection of the Pope and Lucretia, had been treated
with the highest respect at Ercole's court, where she had enjoyed a close
intimacy with the Marchioness Isabella, as is shown by a letter which the
latter addressed to Adriana, February 18th, the same day on which she
wrote Lucretia. It is regarding a certain person whom Adriana while in
Ferrara had recommended to her in her own name and also in that of Donna
Giulia. It, therefore, appears that the anonymous Orsini was not Giulia
Farnese.
Ercole was exceedingly anxious for the women to leave. In a letter, dated
February 14th, to his ambassador in Rome, Costabili, he complains bitterly
about their "useless" stay at his court. "I tell you," so he wrote, "that these
women by remaining here cause a large number of other persons, men as
well as women, to linger, for all wish to depart at the same time, and it is a
great burden and causes heavy expense. The retinue of these ladies, taken
into consideration with the other people, numbers not far from four hundred
and fifty persons and three hundred and fifty horses." Ercole instructed his
ambassador to inform the Pope of this, also to tell him that the supplies
were about exhausted, and that the Duchess of Romagna would not arrive
before Easter, and that he could stand the expense no longer, as the wedding
festivities had already cost twenty-five thousand ducats. The Pope should
therefore direct the ladies to return. In a postscript to the same letter the
duke says: "After the noble ladies of the Duchess of Romagna had been
here twelve days, I sent them away because they were impertinent, and
because their presence would not do his Holiness or the duchess any good."
[176]

The troublesome women finally departed. There is a despatch of the orator
Girardo Saraceni, dated Rome, May 4th, in which he informs the duke that
Monsignor Venosa and Donna Adriana had returned from Ferrara, and had
expressed to the Pope their gratitude for the affectionate reception which
had been accorded them.
February 14th Ercole wrote the Pope a letter whose meaning is perfectly
clear, if we eliminate one or two phrases.

Holy Father and Master: Before the illustrious Duchess, our daughter,
came here, it was my firm determination to receive her, as was meet, with
all friendliness and honor, and to show her in every way how great was the
affection I felt for her. Now that her Majesty is here, I am so pleased with
her on account of the virtues and good qualities which I have discovered in
her that I am not only strengthened in that determination, but also am
resolved to do even more than I had intended, and all the more because your
Holiness has asked me to do so in the autographic letter which you wrote
me. Your Holiness need have no fears, for I shall treat the Duchess in such a
way that your Holiness will see that I regard her as the most precious jewel
I have in the world.

CHAPTER IV
THE ESTE DYNASTY—DESCRIPTION OF FERRARA

On entering the castle of the Este, Lucretia found a new environment, new
interests—one might almost say a new world. She was a princess in one of
the most important Italian States, and in a strange city, which, during the
latter half of the century, had assumed a place of the first importance, for
the spirit of Italian culture had there developed new forms. She had been
received with the highest honors into a family famous and princely; one of
the oldest and most brilliant in the peninsula. It was a piece of supreme
good fortune that had brought her to this house, and now she would
endeavor to make herself worthy of it.
The family of Este, next to that of Savoy, was the oldest and most
illustrious in Italy, and it forced the latter into the background by assuming
the important position which the State of Ferrara, owing to its geographical
position, afforded it.
The history of the Este is briefly as follows:
These lords, whose name is derived from a small castle between Padua and
Ferrara, and who first appeared about the time of the Lombard invasion,
were descended from a family whose remote ancestor was one Albert. The
names Adalbert and Albert assume in Italian the form Oberto, from which
we have the diminutives Obizzo and Azzo. In the tenth century there
appears a Marquis Oberto who was first a retainer of King Berengar and
later of Otto the Great. It is not known from what domain he and his
immediate successors derived their title of marquis; they were, however,
powerful lords in Lombardy as well as in Tuscany. One of Oberto's
ancestors, Alberto Azzo II, who is originally mentioned as Marchio de
Longobardia, governed the territory from Mantua to the Adriatic and the
region about the Po, where he owned Este and Rovigo. He married
Kunigunde, sister of Count Guelf III of Swabia, and in this way the famous
German family of Guelf became connected with the Oberti and drawn into

Italian politics. When Alberto Azzo died in the year 1096—more than a
hundred years old—he left two sons, Guelf and Folco, who were the
founders of the house of Este in Italy and the Guelf house of Braunschweig
in Germany, for Guelf inherited the property of his maternal grandfather,
Guelf III, in whom the male line of the house became extinct in the year
1055. He went to Germany, where he became Duke of Bavaria and founded
the Guelf line.
Folco inherited his father's Italian possessions, and in the great struggle of
the German emperor with the papacy, the Margraves of Este were
aggressive and determined soldiers. At first they were simply members of
the Guelf faction, but subsequently they became its leaders, and thus were
able to establish their power in Ferrara.
The origin of the city is lost in the mists of antiquity. By the gift of Pipin
and Charles it passed to the Church. It was also included in the deed of
Matilda. In the war between the Pope and the Emperor, occasioned by this
gift of Matilda, Ferrara succeeded in regaining its independence as a
republic.
The Este first appeared there about the end of the twelfth century. Folco's
grandson, Azzo V, married Marchesella Adelardi, who was the heir of the
leader of the Guelfs in that city, where Salinguerra was the head of the
Ghibellines. From that time the Margraves of Este possessed great influence
in Ferrara. They were likewise leaders of the Guelf party in the north of
Italy.
In the year 1208 Azzo VI succeeded in driving Salinguerra out of Ferrara,
and the city having wearied of the long feud made the victor its hereditary
Podestà. This is the first example of a free republic voluntarily submitting
to a lord. In this way the Este established the first tyranny on the ruins of a
commune. The brave Salinguerra, one of the greatest captains of Italy in the
time of the Hohenstaufen, repeatedly drove Azzo VI and his successor,
Azzo VII, from Ferrara, but he himself was finally defeated in 1240 and
cast into prison, where he died. Thenceforth the Este ruled Ferrara.
About the time of the removal of the papacy to Avignon they were expelled
from the city by the Church, but they returned on the invitation of the
citizens who had risen against the papal legate. John XXII issued a diploma

of investiture by the terms of which they were to hold Ferrara as a fief of
the Church on payment of an annual tribute of ten thousand gold ducats.
The Este now set themselves up as tyrants in Ferrara, and in spite of
numerous wars maintained the dynasty for a great many years. This
dominion was not, like that in many other Italian States, due to a lucky
stroke on the part of an upstart, but it was ancient, hereditary, and firmly
established.
It was due to a succession of remarkable princes, beginning with
Aldobrandino, Lord of Ferrara, Modena, Rovigo, and Comacchio, that
Ferrara succeeded in winning the important position she held at the
beginning of the sixteenth century. Aldobrandino was followed by his
brothers, Niccolò, from 1361 to 1388, and Alberto until 1393. After that his
son Niccolò III, a powerful and bellicose man, ruled until the year 1441. As
his legitimate children Ercole and Sigismondo were minors, he was
succeeded by his natural son Lionello. This prince not only continued the
work begun by his father, but also beautified Ferrara. In the year 1444 the
great Alfonso of Naples gave him his daughter Maria as wife, and the Este
thus entered into close relations with the royal house of Aragon. Lionello
was intelligent and liberal, a patron of all the arts and sciences, a "prince of
immortal name." In the year 1450 he was succeeded by his brother Borso,
illegitimate like himself, as an effort was being made to displace the
legitimate sons of Niccolò II.
Borso was one of the most magnificent princes of his age. Frederick II,
when he stopped in Ferrara on his return from his coronation in Rome,
made him Duke of Modena and Reggio, and Count of Rovigo and
Comacchio, all of which territories belonged to the empire. The Este
thereupon adopted for their arms, instead of the white eagle they had
hitherto borne, the black eagle of the empire, to which were added the lilies
of France, the use of which had been granted them by Charles VII. April 14,
1471, Paul VII in Rome created Borso Duke of Ferrara. Soon after this—
May 27th—this celebrated prince died unmarried and childless.
He was succeeded by Ercole, the legitimate son of Niccolò II, the direct line
of the Este thereby reacquiring the government of Ferrara, the importance
of the State having been greatly increased by the efforts of the two
illegitimate sons. In June, 1473, amid magnificent festivities, Ercole

married Eleonora of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand of Naples. Twenty-nine
years—years of conflict—had passed when the second Duke of Ferrara
married his son to Lucretia with similar pomp. By putting an end to the war
with Venice and Pope Sixtus IV, in the year 1482, Ercole had succeeded in
saving his State from the great danger which threatened it, although he had
been forced to relinquish certain territory to the Venetians. This danger,
however, might arise again, for Venice and the Pope continued to be
Ferrara's bitterest enemies. Political considerations, therefore, compelled
her to form an alliance with France, whose king already owned Milan and
might permanently secure possession of Naples. For the same reason he had
married his son to Lucretia on the best terms he was able to make. She,
therefore, must have been conscious of her great importance to the State of
Ferrara, and this it was which gave her a sense of security with regard to the
noble house to which she now belonged.
The Duke presented the young couple Castle Vecchio for their residence,
and there Lucretia established her court. This stronghold, which is still in
existence, is one of the most imposing monuments of the Middle Ages. It
overlooks all Ferrara, and may be seen for miles around. Its dark red color;
its gloominess, which is partly due to its architectural severity; its four
mighty towers—all combine to cause a feeling of fear, especially on
moonlight nights, when the shadows of the towers fall on the water in the
moat, which still surrounds the castle as in days of old. The figures of the
great ones who once lived in the stronghold—Ugo and Parisina Malatesta,
Borso, Lucretia Borgia and Alfonso, Renée of France, and Calvin, Ariosto,
Alfonso II, the unfortunate Tasso and Eleonora—seem to rise before the
beholder.

CASTLE VECCHIO AT FERRARA.

The Marchese Niccolò, owing to an uprising of the citizens began Castle
Vecchio in the year 1385, and his successor completed it and decorated the
interior. It is connected by covered passage-ways with the palace opposite
the church. Before Ercole extended Ferrara on the north, the castle marked
the boundary of the city. One of the towers, called the Tower of the Lions,
protected the city gate. A branch of the Po, which at that time flowed near
by, supplied the moat—over which there were several drawbridges—with
water.
In Lucretia's time only the main features of the stronghold were the same as
they are now; the cornices of the towers are of a later date, and the towers
themselves were somewhat lower; the walls were embattled like those of
the Gonzaga castle in Mantua. Cannon, cast under the direction of Alfonso,
were placed at various points. There is an interior quadrangular court with
arcades, and there Lucretia was shown the place where Niccolò II had
caused his son Ugo and his stepmother, the beautiful Parisina, to be

beheaded. This gruesome deed was a warning to Alexander's daughter to be
true to her husband.
A wide marble stairway led to the two upper stories of the castle, one of
which, the lower, consisting of a series of chambers and salons, was set
aside for the princes. In the course of time this has suffered so many
changes that even those most thoroughly acquainted with Ferrara do not
know just where Lucretia's apartments were.[177] Very few of the paintings
with which the Este adorned the castle are left. There are still some frescoes
by Dossi and another unknown master.
The castle was always a gloomy and oppressive residence. It was in perfect
accord with the character of Ferrara, which even now is forbidding.
Standing on the battlements, and looking across the broad, highly
cultivated, but monotonous fields, whose horizon is not attractive, because
the Veronese Alps are too far distant, and the Apennines, which are closer,
are not clearly defined; and gazing down upon the black mass of the city
itself, one wonders how Ariosto's exuberant creation could have been
produced here. Greater inspiration would be found in the sky, the land, and
the sea of idyllic Sorrento, which was Tasso's birthplace, but this is only
another proof of the theory that the poet's fancy is independent of his
environment.
Ferrara is situated in an unhealthful plain which is traversed by a branch of
the Po and several canals. The principal stream does not contribute to the
life of the city or its suburbs, as it is several miles distant. The town is
surrounded by strong walls in which are four gates. In addition to Castle
Vecchio on the north, there was, in Lucretia's time, another at the southwest
—Castle Tealto or Tedaldo—which was situated on one of the branches of
the Po, and which had a gate opening into the city and a pontoon bridge
connecting it with the suburb S. Giorgio. Lucretia had entered by this gate.
Nothing is now left of Castle Tedaldo, as it was razed at the beginning of
the seventeenth century, when the Pope, having driven out Alfonso's
successors, erected the new fortress.
Ferrara has a large public square, and regular streets with arcades. The
church, which faces the principal piazza, and which was consecrated in the
year 1135, is an imposing structure in the Lombardo-Gothic style. Its high

façade is divided in three parts and gabled, and it has three rows of half
Roman and half Gothic arches supported on columns. With its ancient
sculptures, black with time, it presents a strange appearance of mediæval
originality and romance. In Ferrara there is now nothing else so impressive
on first sight as this church. It seems as if one of the structures of Ariosto's
fairy world had suddenly risen before us. Opposite one side of the castle,
the Palazzo del Ragione is still standing, and there are also two old towers,
one of which is called the Rigobello. Opposite the façade was the Este
palace in which Ercole lived, and which Eugene IV occupied when he held
the famous council in Ferrara. In front of it rose the monuments of the two
great princes of the house of Este, Niccolò III and Borso. One is an
equestrian statue, the other a sitting figure; both were placed upon columns,
and therefore are small. The crumbling pillars by the entrance archway are
still standing, but the statues were destroyed in 1796.
The Este vied with the other princes and republics in building churches and
convents, of which Ferrara still possesses a large number. In the year 1500
the most important were: S. Domenico, S. Francesco, S. Maria in Vado, S.
Antonio, S. Giorgio before the Porta Romana, the convent Corpus Domini,
and the Certosa. All have been restored more or less, and although some of
them are roomy and beautiful, none have any special artistic individuality.
As early as the fifteenth century there were numerous palaces in Ferrara
which are still numbered among the attractions of the gloomy city, and
which are regarded as important structures in the history of architecture,
from the early Renaissance until the appearance of the rococo style. Many
of them, however, are in a deplorable state of decay. Marchese Alberto built
the Palazzo del Paradiso (now the University) and Schifanoja at the end of
the sixteenth century. Ercole erected the Palazzo Pareschi. He also restored
a large part of Ferrara and extended the city by adding a new quarter on the
north, the Addizione Erculea, which is still the handsomest part of Ferrara.
The city is traversed by two long, wide streets—the Corso di Porta Po, with
its continuation, the Corso di Porta Mare, and the Strada dei Piopponi.
Strolling through these quiet streets one is astonished at the long rows of
beautiful palaces of the Renaissance, reminders of a teeming life now
passed away. Ercole laid out a large square which is surrounded by noble
palaces, and which is now known as the Piazza Ariostea, from the
monument of the great poet which stands in the center. This is, doubtless,

the most beautiful memorial ever erected to a poet. The marble statue stands
upon a high column and looks down upon the entire city. The history of the
monument is interesting. Originally it was intended that an equestrian statue
of Ercole on two columns should occupy this position. When the columns
were being brought down the Po on a raft, one of them rolled overboard and
was lost; the other was used in the year 1675 to support the statue of Pope
Alexander VII, which was pulled down during the revolution of 1796 and
replaced with a statue of Liberty, the unveiling of which was attended by
General Napoleon Bonaparte. Three years later the Austrians overthrew the
statue of Liberty, leaving the column standing, and in the year 1810 a statue
of the Emperor Napoleon was placed upon it. This fell with the emperor. In
the year 1833 Ferrara set Ariosto's statue upon the column, where it will
remain in spite of all political change.
Magnificent palaces rose in Ercole's new suburb. His brother Sigismondo
erected the splendid Palazzo Diamanti, now Ferrara's art gallery, while the
Trotti, Castelli, Sacrati, and Bevilacqua families built palaces there which
are still in existence. Ferrara was the home of a wealthy nobility, some of
whom belonged to the old baronial families. In addition there were the
Contrarii, Pio, Costabili, the Strozzi, Saraceni, Boschetti, the Roverella, the
Muzzarelli, and Pendaglia.
The Ferrarese aristocracy had long ago emerged from the state of municipal
strife and feudal dependence, and had set up their courts. The Este,
especially the warlike Niccolò III, had subjugated the barons, who
originally lived upon their estates beyond the city walls, and who were now
in the service of the ruling family, holding the most important court and city
offices; they were also commanders in the army. They took part, probably
more actively than did the nobility of the other Italian States, in the
intellectual movement of the age, which was fostered by the princes of the
house of Este. Consequently many of these great lords won prominent
places in the history of literature in Ferrara.
The university, which had flourished there since the middle of the fifteenth
century, was, excepting those of Padua and Bologna, the most famous in
Italy. Founded by the Margrave Alberto in 1391, and subsequently
remodeled by Niccolò III, it reached the zenith of its fame in the time of
Lionello and Borso. The former was a pupil of the celebrated Guarino of

Verona, and was himself acquainted with all the sciences. The friend and
idol of the humanists of his age, he collected rare manuscripts and
disseminated copies of them. He founded the library, and Borso continued
the work begun by him.
As early as 1474 the University of Ferrara had forty-five well paid
professors, and Ercole increased their number. Printing was introduced
during his reign. The earliest printer in Ferrara after 1471 was the
Frenchman Andreas, called Belforte.[178]
Like the city, the people seemed to have been of a serious cast of mind,
which led to speculation, criticism, and the cultivation of the exact sciences.
From Ferrara came Savonarola, the fanatical prophet who appeared during
the moral blight which characterized the age of the Borgias, and Lucretia
must frequently have recalled this man in whom her father, by the
executioner's hand, sought to stifle the protestations of the faithful and
upright against the immorality of his rule.
Astronomy and mathematics, and especially the natural sciences and
medicine, which at that time were part of the school of philosophy, were
extensively cultivated in Ferrara. It is stated that Savonarola himself had
studied medicine; his grandfather Michele, a famous physician of Padua,
had been called to Ferrara by Niccolò II.[179] Niccolò Leoniceno, a native of
Vincenza, at whose feet many of the most famous scholars and poets had
sat, enjoyed great renown in Ferrara about 1464 as a physician,
mathematician, philosopher, and philologist. He was still the pride of the
city when Lucretia arrived there, as the great mathematician, Domenico
Maria Novara, was then teaching in Bologna, where Copernicus had been
his pupil.
Many famous humanists, who at the time of Lucretia's arrival were still
children or youths—for example, the Giraldi and genial Celio Calcagnini,
who dedicated an epithalamium to her on her appearance in the city—were
members of the Ferrarese university. All of these men were welcome at the
court of the Este because they were accomplished and versatile. It was not
until later, after the sciences had been classified and their boundaries
defined, that the graceful learning of the humanists degenerated into
pedantry.

It was, however, especially the art of poetry which gave Ferrara, in
Lucretia's time, a peculiarly romantic cast. This it was which first attracted
attention to the city as one of the main centers of the intellectual movement.
Ferrara produced numerous poets who composed in both tongues—Latin
and Italian. Almost all the scholars of the day wrote Latin verses; most of
them, however, it must be admitted, were lacking in poetic fire. Some of the
Ferrarese, however, rose to high positions in poetry and are still
remembered; preeminent were the two Strozzi, father and son, and Antonio
Tebaldeo. The poets, however, who originated the romantic epic in Italian
were much more important than the writers of Latin verse. The brilliant and
sensuous court of Ferrara, together with the fascinating romance of the
house of Este—which really belongs to the Middle Ages—and the
charming nobility and modern chivalry, all contributed to the production of
the epic, while the city of Ferrara, with its eventful history and its striking
style of architecture, was a most favorable soil for it. Monuments of Roman
antiquity are as rare in Ferrara as they are in Florence; everything is of the
Middle Ages. Lucretia did not meet Bojardo, the famous author of the
Orlando Inamorato, at the court of his friend Ercole, but the blind singer of
the Mambriano, Francesco Cieco, probably was still living. We have seen
how Ariosto, who was soon to eclipse all his predecessors, greeted Lucretia
on her arrival.
The graphic arts had made much less progress in Ferrara than had poetry
and the sciences; but while no master of the first rank, no Raphael or Titian
appeared, there were, nevertheless, some who won a not unimportant place
in the history of Italian culture. The Este were patrons of painting; they had
their palaces decorated with frescoes, some of which, still considered
noteworthy on account of their originality, are preserved in the Palazzo
Schifanoja, where they were rediscovered in the year 1840. About the
middle of the fifteenth century, Ferrara had its own school, the chief of
which was Cosimo Tura. It produced two remarkable painters, Dosso Dossi
and Benvenuto Tisio, the latter of whom, under the name of Garofalo,
became famous as one of Raphael's greatest pupils. The works of these
artists, who were Lucretia's contemporaries—Garofalo being a year
younger—still adorn many of the churches, and are the chief attractions in
the galleries of the city.

BENVENUTO GAROFALO.
From an engraving by G. Batt. Cecchi.

Such, broadly sketched, was the intellectual life of Ferrara in the year 1502.
We, therefore, see that in addition to her brilliant court and her political
importance as the capital of the State, she possessed a highly developed
spiritual life. The chroniclers state that her population at that time numbered
a hundred thousand souls; and at the beginning of the sixteenth century—
her most flourishing period—she was probably more populous than Rome.
In addition to the nobility there was an active bourgeoisie engaged in
commerce and manufacturing, especially weaving, who enjoyed life.

CHAPTER V
DEATH OF ALEXANDER VI

Alexander carefully followed everything that took place in Ferrara. He
never lost sight of his daughter. She and his agents reported every mark of
favor or disfavor which she received. Following the excitement of the
wedding festivities there were painful days for Lucretia, as she was forced
to meet envy and contempt, and to win for herself a secure place at the
court.
Alexander was greatly pleased by her reports, especially those concerning
her relations with Alfonso. He never for a moment supposed that the
hereditary prince loved his daughter. All he required was that he should
treat her as his wife, and that she should become the mother of a prince.
With great satisfaction he remarked to the Ferrarese ambassador on hearing
that Alfonso spent his nights with Lucretia, "During the day he goes
wherever he likes, as he is young, and in doing this he does right."[180]
Alexander also induced the duke to grant his daughter-in-law a larger
allowance than he had agreed to give her. The sum stipulated was six
thousand ducats. Lucretia was extravagant, and needed a large income. The
amount she received from her father-in-law did not, however, exceed ten
thousand ducats.
In the meantime Cæsar was pursuing his own schemes, the success of
which was apparently insured by his alliance with Ferrara and the sanction
of France. The youthful Astorre Manfredi having been strangled in the
castle of S. Angelo by his orders, Valentino set out for Romagna, June 13th,
where he succeeded in ensnaring the unsuspecting Guidobaldo of Urbino
and in seizing his estates, June 21st. Guidobaldo fled and found an asylum
in Mantua, whence he and his wife eventually went to Venice.
Cæsar now turned toward Camerino, where he surprised the Varano,
destroying all but one of them. He reported these doings to the court of

Ferrara, and the duke did not hesitate to congratulate him for a crime which
had resulted in the overthrow of princes who were not only friendly to
himself but were also closely connected with him. From Urbino Cæsar
wrote his sister as follows:

Illustrious Lady and Dearest Sister: I know nothing could be better
medicine for your Excellency in your present illness than the good news
which I have to impart. I must tell you that I have just had information that
Camerino will yield. We trust that on receiving this news your condition
will rapidly improve, and that you will inform us at once of it. For your
indisposition prevents us from deriving any pleasure from this and other
news. We ask you to tell the illustrious Duke Don Alfonso, your husband,
our brother-in-law, at once, as, owing to want of time, we have not been
able to write him direct.
Your Majesty's brother, who loves you better than he does himself,
Cæsar.
Urbino, July 20, 1502.

Shortly after this he surprised his sister by visiting her in the palace of
Belfiore, whither he came in disguise with five cavaliers. He remained with
her scarcely two hours, and then hastily departed, accompanied by his
brother-in-law Alfonso as far as Modena, intending to go to the King of
France, who was in Lombardy.

Reduced facsimile of a letter written by Alexander VI to his daughter,
Lucretia.

In the meantime Alexander had arrived at a decision regarding the seizure
of Camerino which conflicted with Cæsar's plans, and which shows that the
father's will was not wholly under his son's control. September 2, 1502,
Alexander bestowed Camerino as a duchy upon the Infante Giovanni
Borgia, whom he sometimes described as his own son and at others as
Cæsar's. Giovanni had already been invested with the title of Nepi, and
Francesco Borgia, Cardinal of Cosenza, as the child's guardian,
administered these estates. There are coins of this ephemeral Duke of
Camerino still in existence.[181]
September 5th Lucretia gave birth to a still-born daughter, to the great
disappointment of Alexander, who desired an heir to the throne. She was
sick unto death, and her husband showed the deepest concern, seldom
leaving her for a moment. September 7th Valentino came to see her. The
secretary Castellus sent a report of this visit to Ercole, who was in Reggio,

whither he had gone to meet Cæsar, who was returning from Lombardy.
"To-day," he wrote, "at the twentieth hour, we bled Madama on the right
foot. It was exceedingly difficult to accomplish it, and we could not have
done it but for the Duke of Romagna, who held her foot. Her Majesty spent
two hours with the duke, who made her laugh and cheered her greatly."
Lucretia had a codicil added to her will, which she had made before leaving
for Ferrara, in the presence of her brother's secretary and some monks. She,
however, recovered. Cæsar remained with her two days and then departed
for Imola. When Ercole returned he found his daughter-in-law attended by
Alexander's most skilful physician, the Bishop of Venosa, and out of all
danger.[182]
As Lucretia felt oppressed in Castle Vecchio, and yearned for the free air,
she removed October 8th, accompanied by the entire court, to the convent
of Corpus Domini. Her recovery was so rapid that she was able again to
take up her residence in the castle, October 22d, to the great joy of every
one, as Duke Ercole wrote to Rome. Alfonso even went to Loretto in
fulfilment of a vow he had made for the recovery of his wife. The solicitude
which was displayed for Lucretia on this occasion shows that she had begun
to make herself beloved in Ferrara.[183]
In this same month of October occurred the disaffection of Cæsar's
condottieri which nearly ended in his overthrow. In consequence of the
desertion of his generals, the country about Urbino rose, and Guidobaldo
even succeeded in reentering his capital city, October 18th. The protection
of France and the lack of decision on the part of his enemies, however,
saved the Duke of Romagna from the danger which threatened him.
December 31st he relieved himself of the barons by the well-known coup of
Sinigaglia. This was his masterstroke. He had Vitellozzo and Oliverotto
strangled forthwith; the Orsini—Paolo, father-in-law of Girolama Borgia,
and Francesco, Duke of Gravina, who had once been mentioned as a
possible husband for Lucretia—suffered the same fate January 18, 1503.
The Duke of Ferrara congratulated Cæsar, as did also the Gonzaga. Even
Isabella did not hesitate to write a graceful letter to the man that had driven
her dear sister-in-law,—whose husband had been forced to flee a second
time,—from Urbino. The Gonzaga, who were anxious to marry the little
hereditary Prince Federico to his daughter Luisa, were endeavoring to

secure this end with the help of Francesco Trochio in Rome. Isabella's
contemptible letter to Cæsar is as follows:

To His Highness, the Duke of Valentino.
Illustrious Sir: The happy progress of which your Excellency has been
good enough to inform us in your amiable letter has caused us all the
liveliest joy, owing to the friendship and interest which you and my
illustrious husband feel for each other. We, therefore, congratulate you in
his and our own name for the good fortune which has befallen you, and for
your safety, and we thank you for informing us of it and for your offer to
keep us advised of future events, which we hope will be no less favorable,
for, loving you as we do, we hope to hear from you often regarding your
plans so that we may be able to rejoice with you at the success and
advancement of your Excellency. Believing that you, after the excitement
and fatigue which you have suffered while engaged in your glorious
undertakings, will be disposed to give some time to recreation, it seems
proper to me to send you by our courier, Giovanni, a hundred masks. We, of
course, know how slight is this present in proportion to the greatness of
your Excellency, and also in proportion to our desires; still it indicates that
if there were anything more worthy and more suitable in this our country,
we certainly would send it you. If the masks, however, are not as beautiful
as they ought to be, your Highness will know that this is due to the makers
in Ferrara, who, as it has been for years against the law to wear masks, long
ago ceased making them. May, however, our good intentions and our love
make up for their shortcomings. So far as our own affairs are concerned
there is nothing new to tell you until your Excellency informs us as to the
decision of his Holiness, our Master, concerning the articles of guaranty
upon which we, through Brognolo, have agreed. We, therefore, look
forward to this, and hope to reach a satisfactory conclusion. We commend
ourselves to your service.
January 15, 1503.

Cæsar replied to the marchioness from Aquapendente as follows:

Most Illustrious Lady, Friend, and Honored Sister: We have received
your Excellency's present of the hundred masks, which, owing to their
diversity and beauty, are very welcome, and because the time and place of
their arrival could not have been more propitious. If we neglected to inform
your Excellency of all our plans and of our intended return to Rome, it was
because it was only to-day that we succeeded in taking the city and territory
adjacent to Sinigaglia together with the fortress, and punished our enemies
for their treachery; freed Città di Castello, Fermo, Cisterna, Montone, and
Perugia from their tyrants, and rendered them again subject to his Holiness,
our Master; and deposed Pandolfo Petrucci from the tyranny which he had
established in Siena, where he had shown himself such a determined enemy
of ourselves. The masks are welcome especially because I know that the
present is due to the affection which you and your illustrious husband feel
for us, which is also shown by the letter which you send with it. Therefore
we thank you a thousand times, although the magnitude of your and your
husband's deserts exceeds the power of words. We shall use the masks, and
they are so beautiful that we shall be saved the trouble of providing
ourselves with any other adornment. On returning to Rome we will see that
his Holiness, our Master, does whatever is necessary to further our mutual
interests. We, in compliance with your Excellency's request, will grant the
prisoner his liberty. We will inform your Illustrious Majesty at once, so that
you may rejoice in it the moment he is free. We commend ourselves to you.
From the papal camp near Aquapendente, February 1st.
Your Excellency's friend and brother, the Duke of Romagna, etc.
Cæsar.

Cæsar was then near the zenith of his desires—a king's throne in central
Italy. This project, however, was never realized; Louis XII forbade him
further conquests. The Orsini (the cardinal of this house had just been
poisoned in the castle of S. Angelo) and other barons whose estates were in
the vicinity of Rome rose for a final struggle, and Cæsar was compelled to
hasten back to the papal city. Alexander and his son now turned toward
Spain, as Gonsalvo had defeated the French in Naples and had entered the
capital of the kingdom May 14th. Louis XII, however, despatched a new
army under La Tremouille to recapture Naples. The Marquis of Mantua was

likewise in his pay, and in August, 1503, the army entered the Patrimonium
Petri.
Alexander and Cæsar were suddenly taken sick at the same moment. The
Pope died August 18th. It has been affirmed and also denied that both were
poisoned, and proofs equally good in support of both views have been
adduced; it is, therefore, a mooted question.
Aside from her grief due to affection, the death of Lucretia's father was a
serious event for her, as it might weaken her position in Ferrara. Alexander's
power was all that had given her a sense of security, and now she could no
longer feel certain of the continuance of the affection of her father-in-law or
of that of her husband. Well might Alfonso now recall the words Louis XII
had uttered to the effect that on the death of Alexander he would not know
who the lady was whom he had married. The king one day asked the
Ferrarese plenipotentiary at his court how Madonna Lucretia had taken the
Pope's death. When the ambassador replied that he did not know, Louis
remarked, "I know that you were never satisfied with this marriage; this
Madonna Lucretia is not Don Alfonso's real wife."[184]

Lucretia would have been frightened had she read a letter which Ercole
wrote to Giangiorgio Seregni, then his ambassador in Milan, which at that
time was under French control, and in which he disclosed his real feelings
on the Pope's demise.

Giangiorgio: Knowing that many will ask you how we are affected by the
Pope's death, this is to inform you that he was in no way displeasing to us.
At one time we wished, for the honor of God, our Master, and for the
general good of Christendom, that God in his goodness and foresight would
provide a worthy shepherd, and that his Church would be relieved of this
great scandal. Personally we had nothing to wish for; we were concerned
chiefly with the honor of God and the general welfare. We may add,
however, that there was never a Pope from whom we received fewer favors
than from this one, and this, even after concluding an alliance with him. It

was only with the greatest difficulty that we secured from him what he had
promised, but beyond this he never did anything for us. For this we hold the
Duke of Romagna responsible; for, although he could not do with us as he
wished, he treated us as if we were perfect strangers. He was never frank
with us; he never confided his plans to us, although we always informed
him of ours. Finally as he inclined to Spain, and we remained good
Frenchmen, we had little to look for either from the Pope or his Majesty.
Therefore his death caused us little grief, as we had nothing but evil to
expect from the advancement of the above-named duke. We want you to
give this our confidential statement to Chaumont, word for word, as we do
not wish to conceal our true feelings from him—but speak cautiously to
others about the subject and then return this letter to our worthy councilor
Gianluca.
Belriguardo, August 24, 1503.

This statement was very candid. In view of the advantages which had
accrued to Ercole's State through the marriage with Lucretia, he might be
regarded as ungrateful; he had, however, never looked upon this alliance as
anything more than a business transaction, and so far as his relations with
Cæsar were concerned his view was entirely correct.
Let us now hear what another famous prince—one who was in the
confidence of the Borgias—says regarding the Pope's death. At the time of
this occurrence the Marquis of Mantua was at his headquarters with the
French army in Isola Farnese, a few miles from Rome. From there,
September 22, 1503, he wrote his consort, Isabella, as follows:

Illustrious Lady and Dearest Wife: In order that your Majesty may be
familiar with the circumstances attending the Pope's death, we send you the
following particulars. When he fell sick, he began to talk in such a way that
anyone who did not know what was in his mind would have thought that he
was wandering, although he was perfectly conscious of what he said; his
words were, "I come; it is right; wait a moment." Those who know the
secret say that in the conclave following the death of Innocent he made a
compact with the devil, and purchased the papacy from him at the price of

his soul. Among the other provisions of the agreement was one which said
that he should be allowed to occupy the Holy See twelve years, and this he
did with the addition of four days. There are some who affirm that at the
moment he gave up his spirit seven devils were seen in his chamber. As
soon as he was dead his body began to putrefy and his mouth to foam like a
kettle over the fire, which continued as long as it was on earth. The body
swelled up so that it lost all human form. It was nearly as broad as it was
long. It was carried to the grave with little ceremony; a porter dragged it
from the bed by means of a cord fastened to the foot to the place where it
was buried, as all refused to touch it. It was given a wretched interment, in
comparison with which that of the cripple's dwarf wife in Mantua was
ceremonious. Scandalous epigrams are every day published regarding him.

The reports of Burchard, of the Venetian ambassador Giustinian, of the
Ferrarese envoy Beltrando, and of numerous others describe Alexander's
end in almost precisely the same way, and the fable of the devil or
"babuino" that carried Alexander's soul off is also found in Marino Sanuto's
diary. The highly educated Marquis of Gonzaga, with a simplicity equal to
that of the people of Rome, believed it.
The Mephisto legend of Faust and Don Juan, which was immediately
associated with Alexander's death—even the black dog running about
excitedly in St. Peter's is included—shows what was the opinion of
Alexander's contemporaries regarding the terrible life of the Borgia, and the
extraordinary success which followed him all his days. Alexander's moral
character is, however, so incomprehensible that even the keenest
psychologists have failed to fathom it.
In him neither ambition nor the desire for power, which, in the majority of
rulers, is the motive of their crimes, was the cause of his evil deeds. Nor
was it hate of his fellows, nor cruelty, nor yet a vicious pleasure in doing
evil. It was, however, his sensuality and also his love for his children—one
of the noblest of human sentiments. All psychological theory would lead us
to expect that the weight of his sins would have made Alexander a gloomy
man with reason clouded by fear and madness, like Tiberius or Louis XI;
but instead of this we have ever before us the cheerful, active man of the
world—even until his last years. "Nothing worries him; he seems to grow

younger every day," wrote the Venetian ambassador scarcely two years
before his death.
It is not his passions or his crimes that are incomprehensible, for similar and
even greater crimes have been committed by other princes both before and
after him, but it is the fact that he committed them while he was Pope. How
could Alexander VI reconcile his sensuality and his cruelty with the
consciousness that he was the High Priest of the Church, God's
representative on earth? There are abysses in the human soul to the depths
of which no glance can penetrate. How did he overcome the warnings, the
qualms of conscience, and how was it possible for him constantly to
conceal them under a joyous exterior? Could he believe in the immortality
of the soul and the existence of a divine Being?
When we consider the utter abandon with which Alexander committed his
crimes, we are forced to conclude that he was an atheist and a materialist.
There is a time in the life of every philosophic and unhappy soul when all
human endeavor seems nothing more than the despairing, purposeless
activity of an aggregation of puppets. But in Alexander VI we discover no
trace of a Faust, nothing of his supreme contempt of the world, of his
Titanic skepticism; but we find, on the contrary, that he possessed an
amazingly simple faith, coupled with a capacity for every crime. The Pope
who had Christ's mother painted with the features of the adulteress Giulia
Farnese believed that he himself enjoyed the special protection of the
Virgin.

CARDINAL BEMBO.
From an engraving by G. Benaglia.

Alexander's life is the very antithesis of the Christian ideal. To be convinced
of this it is only necessary to compare the Pope's deeds with the teachings
of the Gospel. Compare his actions with the Commandments: "Thou shalt
not commit adultery; thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not bear false witness."
The fact that Rodrigo Borgia was a pope must seem to all the members of
the Church the most unholy thing connected with it, and one which they
have reason bitterly to regret. This fact, however, can never lessen the
dignity of the Church—the greatest production of the human mind—but
does it not destroy a number of transcendental theories which have been
associated with the papacy?

The execrations which all Italy directed against Alexander could scarcely
have reached Lucretia's ears, but she doubtless anticipated them. Her
distress must have been great. Her entire life in Rome returned and
overwhelmed her. Her father had been the cause, first, of all her
unhappiness, and subsequently of all her good fortune. Filial affection and
religious fears must have assailed her at one and the same time. Bembo
describes her suffering. This man, subsequently so famous, came to Ferrara
in 1503, a young Venetian nobleman of the highest culture and fairest
presence. He was warmly received by Lucretia, for whom he conceived
great admiration. The accomplished cavalier wrote her the following letter
of condolence:

I called upon your Majesty yesterday partly for the purpose of telling you
how great was my grief on account of your loss, and partly to endeavor to
console you, and to urge you to compose yourself, for I knew that you were
suffering a measureless sorrow. I was able to do neither the one nor the
other; for, as soon as I saw you in that dark room, in your black gown, lying
weeping, I was so overcome by my feelings that I stood still, unable to
speak, not knowing what to say. Instead of giving sympathy, I myself was in
need of it, therefore I departed, completely overcome by the sad sight,
mumbling and speechless, as you noticed or might have noticed. Perhaps
this happened to me because you had need of neither my sympathy nor my
condolences; for, knowing my devotion and fidelity, you would also be
aware of the pain which I felt on account of your sorrow, and you in your
wisdom may find consolation within and not look to others for it. The best
way to convey to you an idea of my grief is for me to say that fate could
cause me no greater sorrow than by afflicting you. No other shot could so
deeply penetrate my soul as one accompanied by your tears. Regarding
condolence, I can only say to you, as you yourself must have thought, that
time soothes and lessens all our griefs. So high is my opinion of your
intelligence and so numerous the proofs of your strength of character that I
know that you will find consolation, and will not grieve too long. For,
although you have now lost your father, who was so great that Fortune
herself could not have given you a greater one, this is not the first blow
which you have received from an evil and hostile destiny. You have suffered
so much before that your soul must now be inured to misfortune. Present

circumstances, moreover, require that you should not give any one cause to
think that you grieve less on account of the shock than you do on account of
any anxiety as to your future position. It is foolish for me to write this to
you, therefore I will close, commending myself to you in all humility.
Farewell. In Ostellato.[185]
August 22, 1503.

CHAPTER VI
EVENTS FOLLOWING THE POPE'S DEATH

After Lucretia's first transports had passed she may well have blessed her
good fortune, for to what danger would she have been exposed if she now,
instead of being Alfonso's wife, was still forced to share the destiny of the
Borgias! She was soon able to convince herself that her position in Ferrara
was unshaken. She owed this to her own personality and to the permanent
advantages which she had brought to the house of Este. She saw, however,
that the lives of her kinsmen in Rome were in danger; there were her sick
brother, her child Rodrigo, and Giovanni, Duke of Nepi; while the Orsini,
burning with a desire to wipe out old scores, were hastening thither to
avenge themselves for the blood of their kinsmen.
She besought her father-in-law to help Cæsar and to preserve his estates for
him. Ercole thought that it would be more to his own advantage for Cæsar
to hold the Romagna than to have it fall into the hands of Venice. He,
therefore, sent Pandolfo Collenuccio thither to urge the people to remain
true to their lord. To his ambassador in Rome he confided his joy that Cæsar
was on the road to recovery.[186]
With the exception of the Romagna, the empire of Alexander's son at once
began to crumble away. The tyrants he had expelled returned to their cities.
Guidobaldo and Elisabetta hastened from Venice to Urbino and were
received with open arms. Still more promptly Giovanni Sforza had returned
from Mantua to Pesaro. The Marquis Gonzaga had sent him the first news
of Alexander's death and of Cæsar's illness, and Sforza thanked him in the
following letter:

Illustrious Sir and Honored Brother: I thank your Excellency for the
good news which you have given me in your letter, especially regarding the
condition of Valentino. My joy is great because I believe my misfortunes
are now at an end. I assure you that if I return to my country, I shall regard

myself as your Excellency's creature, and you may dispose of my person
and my property as you will. I ask you, in case you learn anything more
regarding Valentino, and especially of his death, that you will send me the
news, for by so doing you will afford me great joy. I commend myself to
you at all times.
Mantua, August 25, 1503.

As early as September 3d, Sforza was able to inform the Marquis that he
had entered Pesaro amid the acclamations of the people. He immediately
had a medal struck in commemoration of the happy event. On one side is
his bust and on the other a broken yoke with the words PATRIA RECEPTA.
[187]
Filled with the desire for revenge he punished the rebels of Pesaro by
confiscating their property, casting them into prison, or by putting them to
death. He had a number of the burghers hanged at the windows of his castle.
Even Collenuccio, who had placed himself under the protection of Lucretia
and the duke, in Ferrara, was soon to fall into his hands. With flattering
promises Giovanni induced him to come to Pesaro, and then on the ground
of the complaint he had addressed to Cæsar Borgia, which Sforza claimed
he had only just discovered, he cast him into prison. Collenuccio, not
wholly guiltless as far as his former master and friend was concerned,
resigned himself to his fate and died in July, 1504.[188]
Meanwhile Lucretia was anxiously following the course of events in Rome.
None of her letters to Cæsar written at this time are preserved, nor are any
of Cæsar's to her. The only ones we have are those which he exchanged
with the Duke of Ferrara, who continued to write him. September 13th
Ercole wrote congratulating him on his recovery, and informing him that he
had sent a messenger to the people of Romagna urging them to remain true
to him.
Cæsar was in Nepi when he received this letter, having gone there
September 2d after he had arranged with the French ambassador in Rome,
on the suggestion of the cardinal, to place himself under the protection of
France. He was accompanied by his mother, Vannozza, his brother Giuffrè,
and, doubtless, also by his little daughter Luisa and the two children
Rodrigo and Giovanni, the latter of whom was Duke of Nepi. There he was

safe, as the French army was camped in the neighborhood. Just as if nothing
had happened, he wrote letters to the Marquis Gonzaga, who was then at his
headquarters in Campagnano. He even sent him some hunting dogs as a
present. There is also in existence a letter written by Giuffrè to the same
Gonzaga, dated Nepi, September 18th. While here Cæsar learned that his
protector and friend, Amboise, had not been elected pope as he had hoped,
but that Piccolomini had been chosen. September 22d this cardinal, senile
and moribund, ascended the papal throne, assuming the name Pius III. He
was the happy father of no less than twelve children, boys and girls, who
would have been brought up in the Vatican as princes but for his early
death. He permitted Cæsar to return to Rome and even showed him some
favor; but scarcely had the Borgia appeared—October 3d—when the Orsini
rose in their wrath and clamored for the death of their enemy. He and the
two children took refuge in Castle S. Angelo, and October 18th Piccolomini
died.
The two children now had no protector but Cæsar and the cardinals whom
Alexander had appointed as their guardians. On the death of the Pope their
duchies crumbled away. The Gaetani returned from Mantua and again took
possession of Sermoneta and all the other estates which had been bestowed
upon the little Rodrigo. Ascanio Sforza demanded either Nepi or the
position of chamberlain, and the last Varano again secured Camerino.
Rodrigo was Duke of Biselli, and as such under the protection of Spain,
Alexander having succeeded in obtaining, May 20, 1502, from Ferdinand
and Isabella of Castile, a diploma by virtue of which the royal house of
Spain confirmed the Borgia family in the possession of all their Neapolitan
estates. In this act Cæsar and his heirs, Don Giuffrè of Squillace; Don Juan,
son of the murdered Gandia; Lucretia, as Duchess of Biselli, and her son
and heir Rodrigo are explicitly named.[189] There is likewise in the Este
archives an instrument which was drawn up in Lucretia's chancellery,
referring to the control of Rodrigo's property, and also others regarding the
little Giovanni.[190] The two children, Rodrigo and Giovanni, during their
early years were reared together. Lucretia provided for them from Ferrara,
as is shown by the record of her household expenses in 1502 and 1503.
There are numerous entries for velvet and silk and gold brocade which she
bought for the purpose of clothing the children.[191]

In spite of the protection of Spain, Lucretia's son's life was in danger in
Rome, and it was her duty to have the child brought to her; but this she
neglected to do, either because she did not dare to do so, or she was not
strong enough to bring it about, or because she perhaps feared that the child
would be in still greater danger in Ferrara. The Cardinal of Cosenza,
Rodrigo's guardian, suggested to her that she sell all his personal property
and send him to Spain, where he would be safe. In a letter she informed her
father-in-law of this, and he replied as follows:

Illustrious Lady, Our Dearest Daughter-in-law And Daughter: We have
received your Majesty's letter, and also the one which his Eminence the
Cardinal of Cosenza addressed to you and which you sent us; this we return
to you with our letter; no one but ourselves read it. We note the unanimity
with which your Majesty and the cardinal write. His advice shows such
solicitude that it is at once apparent that it is due to his affection and
wisdom. We have considered everything carefully, and it seems to us that
your Majesty can and ought to do what the worthy monsignor suggests. In
fact I think your Majesty is bound to do as he advises on account of the
affection which he displays for you and the illustrious Don Rodrigo, your
son, who, I am told, owes his life to the cardinal. Although Don Rodrigo
will be at a distance from you, it is better for him to be away and safe than
for him to be near and in danger, as the cardinal thinks he would be. Your
mutual love would in no way suffer by this separation. When he grows up
he can decide, according to circumstances, whether it is best for him to
return to Italy or remain away. The cardinal's suggestion to convert his
personal property into money to provide for his support and to increase his
income—as he states he is anxious to do—is a good idea. In brief, as we
have said, it seems to us that you had best consent. Nevertheless, if your
Majesty, who is perfectly competent to decide this, determine otherwise, we
are perfectly willing. Farewell.
Hercules, Duke of Ferrara, etc.
Codegorio, October 4, 1503.

In the meantime, November 1, 1503, Della Rovere ascended the papal