Lucrezia Borgia Part 4

Giulio remained in his palace in the Via degli Angeli, observing experiments with poison on cats, dogs and doves. At the end of April, Lucrezia, who had been fond of Giulio, might have had some inkling of what was going on and, for this reason and perhaps for fear of what Ippolito might do to him, attempted, without success, to make Giulio leave Ferrara. Alfonso, perhaps at her prompting, also sent Gian Luca Pozzi to order him to leave but he again refused and was still there when Alfonso left in May. Di Prosperi, who had reported optimistically to Isabella that Alfonso was able to leave untroubled, 'because My Lady and your brothers are all disposed for the good', then curiously remarked of Giulio that he could come and go as he pleased but as yet had not ventured out by day, spending all his time in his palazzo, in his garden or with his horses.

Ippolito and his spies had indeed picked up some information as to what was going on. On 24 May, di Prosperi reported the arrest, on the cardinal's orders, of one of Giulio's servants, one Hieronymo, 'a flycatcher pigliamosche pigliamosche of a sad sort'. He did not know the reason and was not going to try and find out, a.s.suming that it was yet another episode in the enmity between the brothers 'May G.o.d put his hand in these things and discords.' On 13 June it was reported that a servant of Don Ferrante, Andrea della Matta, had been arrested in the Romagna on Ippolito's commission and brought to Ferrara, while Giulio's servant Hieronymo had been sent to the Castello. 'May G.o.d, once and for all, place his hand on us with peace and love' was di Prosperi's despairing reaction. As well as Giulio's servant and Ferrante's Andrea, another man involved in the mechanics of the conspiracy, one Tuttobono, was arrested; both Andrea and Tuttobono were shortly afterwards released. The arrest of the latter, for some reason, had terrified Ferrante who wrote to Isabella pleading with her to get Giulio out of Ferrara to safety in Mantua. The historian of the of a sad sort'. He did not know the reason and was not going to try and find out, a.s.suming that it was yet another episode in the enmity between the brothers 'May G.o.d put his hand in these things and discords.' On 13 June it was reported that a servant of Don Ferrante, Andrea della Matta, had been arrested in the Romagna on Ippolito's commission and brought to Ferrara, while Giulio's servant Hieronymo had been sent to the Castello. 'May G.o.d, once and for all, place his hand on us with peace and love' was di Prosperi's despairing reaction. As well as Giulio's servant and Ferrante's Andrea, another man involved in the mechanics of the conspiracy, one Tuttobono, was arrested; both Andrea and Tuttobono were shortly afterwards released. The arrest of the latter, for some reason, had terrified Ferrante who wrote to Isabella pleading with her to get Giulio out of Ferrara to safety in Mantua. The historian of the Congiura Congiura suspected Tuttobono of being an agent provocateur, presumably of Ippolito, his function having been to spy on the conspirators. His release and that of Andrea were intended to lull Giulio into an illusion of security. On the 19th di Prosperi reported that crossbowmen had been sent to arrest Gian Cantore 'the cause, I understand, being that he refused to go on the s.h.i.+p with the Duke, excusing himself on the grounds that the sea made him ill. And that he had fled without telling anyone, which disturbed the Duke. Others,' he added, judge that his flight proceeds from those troubles and discords between the cardinal and Don Giulio, which have reached such terms that I doubt that there can ever be love or peace between them.' It seems that Gian Cantore's original mission in accompanying Alfonso on his voyage had been to poison him: his nerve had, however, failed him and he disappeared for fear that the conspirators might try to silence him. suspected Tuttobono of being an agent provocateur, presumably of Ippolito, his function having been to spy on the conspirators. His release and that of Andrea were intended to lull Giulio into an illusion of security. On the 19th di Prosperi reported that crossbowmen had been sent to arrest Gian Cantore 'the cause, I understand, being that he refused to go on the s.h.i.+p with the Duke, excusing himself on the grounds that the sea made him ill. And that he had fled without telling anyone, which disturbed the Duke. Others,' he added, judge that his flight proceeds from those troubles and discords between the cardinal and Don Giulio, which have reached such terms that I doubt that there can ever be love or peace between them.' It seems that Gian Cantore's original mission in accompanying Alfonso on his voyage had been to poison him: his nerve had, however, failed him and he disappeared for fear that the conspirators might try to silence him.

Meanwhile, Alfonso, having paid his respects to Venice, continued his journey on 15 May by boat down the ca.n.a.ls, accompanied by Niccol da Correggio, the doctor Francesco Castello, and a large company, with the intention of attending the annual fair at Lanciano, a rough event which included mock battles and appealed to his fondness for low life. At Lanciano he encountered two Venetian war galley captains (soracomiti) (soracomiti), and, dismissing most of his party, continued his voyage down the Adriatic with them, keeping Lucrezia informed all the while. Having landed incognito at Trani in Puglia, he surveyed the surrounding countryside from a belltower before going on to Bari where his cousin, Isabella d'Aragona, the widow of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, now resided with Lucrezia's son, Rodrigo Bisceglie, in her care; whether or not Alfonso saw him there has not been recorded. Alfonso and his two Venetian captains next set off for Ragusa on the Dalmatian coast and then Corfu, pursuing some pirate s.h.i.+ps in the hope of capturing them. In fact his true intention was almost certainly to familiarize himself with the situation of the Venetians in the Adriatic. Venice responded in fury, imprisoning the two captains and turning away Alfonso's envoy Niccol da Correggio, sent there to plead innocence since Alfonso had been given (limited) letters of authorization. Alfonso's attempts to ingratiate himself with Venice had failed; he now had personal experience of the arrogance of La Serenissima. La Serenissima. He decided to return to Ferrara, where he arrived on 2 July, moving with his usual swiftness and unexpectedness, so much so that Ippolito and Ferrante, who had gone to meet him at Monastirolo, missed him. He decided to return to Ferrara, where he arrived on 2 July, moving with his usual swiftness and unexpectedness, so much so that Ippolito and Ferrante, who had gone to meet him at Monastirolo, missed him.

Yielding to Isabella's advice and, possibly that of Lucrezia, Giulio was by then safely out of the way at Mantua. But neither Ferrante, nor the co-conspirators, the Boschetti, seem to have been aware of imminent danger. Alfonso had written in a friendly manner to Boschetti, offering him unaccustomed favours. Suspicion appeared to be centred on Giulio: Isabella and Francesco sent Capilupo to Ferrara to see Alfonso on a mission of reconciliation, but Alfonso responded by demanding that Giulio return in person to Ferrara to explain himself, as he told Giulio in a written ultimatum on 22 July: 'If you do not return within two days we will judge that you do not wish to return and we will commence an investigation into your case.' Giulio replied indirectly to Niccol da Correggio, refusing on the grounds that 'he had [as] good cause to fear returning to Ferrara as he had in leaving there' since many days before Isabella had been warned that 'certain evil' would have been done him if he did not. This warning, apparently, had been at the instigation of Ferrante at the time of Tuttobono's arrest.

Gonzaga then asked for safe conduct for Giulio or, at the very least, the raising of the two-day ultimatum. Alfonso replied in a letter of 25 July that he would certainly give Giulio safe conduct and that he would not be harmed by anyone, specifically mentioning Ippolito, but that he could not guarantee him a safeguard against justice should Giulio be found guilty of plotting against him.

Events were now moving swiftly and an inquiry had already begun on 22 July; on the 25th Albertino Boschetti was arrested and detained in the Castello, and on the 26th the craven Ferrante denounced Giulio to Alfonso, as he told Francesco Gonzaga in a panic-stricken letter pleading for his protection: If Your Lords.h.i.+p does not help and save me I shall perish because, having been induced yesterday morning to reveal the conspiracy of Don Julio to my Ill.u.s.trious Lord and brother and thus having facilitated Julio's escape although knowing him to merit every evil and punishment for conspiracy, nonetheless I earnestly pray Your Lords.h.i.+p that you will give up the person of Don Julio to the Most Ill.u.s.trious Don Sigismondo, my brother, and Messer Antonio de Costabili, because thus Your Lords.h.i.+p will give me life since the Lord Duke will be content with that for all [despite] the punishment I might merit and however, once again I pray Your Lords.h.i.+p to have more respect for my safety than that of Don Julio and to grant me this grace ...3 Gonzaga, however, refused to hand over Giulio to Costabili and Sigismondo, provoking an agitated letter from Alfonso who had taken to his bed with a fever caused by the anxiety of the case. There is no doubt that he had been horribly shocked by the revelations of his brothers' plot against him and, he told Gonzaga, more and worse facts against Ferrante had been discovered and he had therefore had him imprisoned in the castle. Naively, he still seems to have had absolute trust in the friends.h.i.+p and good faith of Francesco Gonzaga, reminding him of the obligations they had towards each other as heads of state 'of being of one mind and will in every fortune'. Far from being trustworthy, however, two days later, Gonzaga wrote to the Pope's nephew, Galeotto Franciotti della Rovere, Cardinal of San Pietro in Vincula, asking him for his protection of Gian Cantore 'whom I have always known to be a good man and recognised as such by the Most Ill.u.s.trious Duke Ercole, my late father-in-law'.4 Gonzaga's reasons for doing this are hard to fathom; by this time the complicity of Gian Cantore and his gross betrayal of his patron, Alfonso, were known. Bacch.e.l.li attributes it to Gonzaga's hostility towards both Alfonso, for his pro-Venetian policy, and Niccol da Correggio, promoter of that policy. That same policy had provoked a hostile reaction in Rome where the fratricidal conduct of the Este brothers had made the worst possible impression. Gonzaga's reasons for doing this are hard to fathom; by this time the complicity of Gian Cantore and his gross betrayal of his patron, Alfonso, were known. Bacch.e.l.li attributes it to Gonzaga's hostility towards both Alfonso, for his pro-Venetian policy, and Niccol da Correggio, promoter of that policy. That same policy had provoked a hostile reaction in Rome where the fratricidal conduct of the Este brothers had made the worst possible impression.

The trial of the conspirators began, on Alfonso's orders, on 3 August, in the privacy of Sigismondo d'Este's house and concluded with sentences against Albertino Boschetti, Gherardo de'Roberti and Franceschino Boccacci da Rubiera. The guilt of Ferrante and Giulio was p.r.o.nounced on 25 August and 9 September. The judges (the Savi Savi) were among the most distinguished men in Ferrara, and the executive sentence was given on 9 September by their leader, the Giudice dei XII Savi Giudice dei XII Savi, Antonio Costabili. The involvement of the Savi Savi showed that Alfonso was determined to keep to his oath of justice; there were to be no summary punishments even though the eventual fate of all the conspirators was to be cruel. Ferrante had been under arrest since 29 July when Alfonso had personally accompanied him to the castle and had him imprisoned in a room in the Torre Marchesana. After four days, the windows were blocked halfway up so that Ferrante could not see out. showed that Alfonso was determined to keep to his oath of justice; there were to be no summary punishments even though the eventual fate of all the conspirators was to be cruel. Ferrante had been under arrest since 29 July when Alfonso had personally accompanied him to the castle and had him imprisoned in a room in the Torre Marchesana. After four days, the windows were blocked halfway up so that Ferrante could not see out.

On the same day Alfonso had had Gherardo de'Roberti brought from Carpi and taken through the piazza to the piazzetta where a great crowd waited to see him. From the windows of Alfonso's rooms in the via coperta the triumvirate of Alfonso, Lucrezia and Ippolito watched. Afterwards, Alfonso visited de'Roberti in the castle dungeon to interrogate him: enraged, he seized a baton and gave him such a blow that he almost took out an eye. De'Roberti was then consigned to the lowest dungeon of the Great Tower and shackled. The discovery of the plot, symbolized by the imprisonment of the two men, was greeted with the ringing of all the bells, and bonfires were lit that evening all over the city; this continued for three days. Lucrezia and the n.o.blewomen of Ferrara attended solemn ma.s.s sung by the ducal singers in the cathedral, and afterwards thanksgiving processions wound through the city, attended by Alfonso and Ippolito with the n.o.blemen and populace.

Lucrezia no doubt found the whole business hard to bear and the tension within the family and household excruciating. She had been fond of both Ferrante and Giulio: Ferrante had been her proxy husband at the Vatican ceremony and her companion on her wedding journey north. Giulio had frequently accompanied her on her forays to the Este villas and had been one of her favourite dancing partners. Ippolito was ruthless and unyielding, Alfonso bitter and emotional. On 19 August Lucrezia rode to Belriguardo for a few days to escape the atmosphere. Alfonso remained nervous and mistrustful. He gave orders that only his guards should have access to the Castello and, probably to her great annoyance, moved Lucrezia from her beautifully decorated apartments in the castle to the rooms in the Corte she had occupied during his absence. Di Prosperi reported: The princ.i.p.al cause I believe is because His Lords.h.i.+p wishes to restrict access to the Castle by anyone except the guards and it seems that he has moved the Lady to the rooms in the Corte The Lord keeping for himself his camerini camerini with the two with the two camere dorate camere dorate [gilded rooms] above the piazzetta of the Castello, from which he can come to the small salon with the balcony and the Sala Grande. However every day he changes his mind but he has told Madonna that she cannot at the moment enjoy her beautiful Rooms and princely apartments which she had had decorated (and was still having done) and on which have been spent thousands of ducats. [gilded rooms] above the piazzetta of the Castello, from which he can come to the small salon with the balcony and the Sala Grande. However every day he changes his mind but he has told Madonna that she cannot at the moment enjoy her beautiful Rooms and princely apartments which she had had decorated (and was still having done) and on which have been spent thousands of ducats.

As a show of force Alfonso held a review of his light horse and a new display of men-at-arms.

Still Francesco Gonzaga held out, refusing to return Giulio; Sigismondo d'Este and Costabili, now reinforced by Niccol da Correggio with twenty-five crossbowmen, failed to persuade him to hand over Giulio and, after a blazing row, returned to Ferrara empty-handed. Gonzaga continued to demand humane treatment for Giulio and also for Ferrante, although, as Bacch.e.l.li remarks, the latter did not even have the excuse of bad treatment by Ippolito for his treachery. In Ferrara, however, the courtiers besieged Alfonso with advice as to how the prisoners should be punished, Antonio Costabili pointing out that in ancient Rome traitors were put in a sack with animals and thrown into the Tiber. Alfonso, however, promised Gonzaga that neither Giulio nor Ferrante should be personally harmed but that they would be imprisoned. Meanwhile, in the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, Gian Cantore confessed to papal and Ferrarese commissaries that he had been drawn into the plot by the Este brothers: he had not yet been handed over. Alfonso expelled the Boschetti family from their castle of San Cesario; in Mantua the unfortunate Boschetti daughter was forced into a convent. Giulio, now confined to his room in the castle at Mantua, his goods confiscated, had written a grovelling letter of apology to Alfonso, excusing his treachery by blaming Ippolito's attack on him and Alfonso's apparent alliance with the cardinal, an excuse unlikely to further his cause. Moreover, Ippolito was enraged by any attempt to lay blame upon him and was working cunningly behind the scenes to cover his tracks, even to the extent of instructing Ariosto, now his employee, not to mention the part he had played in the eclogue which Ariosto was writing about the Congiura Congiura.

Alfonso was determined to lay his hands on Giulio, and Francesco Gonzaga could no longer hold out. On 6 September, with two hundred light horse, crossbowmen and stradiots stradiots (the dreaded Albanian light cavalry brought to Italy by the Venetians), he arrived in Ferrara en route to meet Julius II, whose Gonfalonier he had been appointed, at Urbino preparatory to the campaign against the Bentivoglio. On the day of his arrival he was escorted by Alfonso to see Lucrezia in the Camera de la Stufa Grande where she was then lodged. He spent two days in the city, lodged in the Palazzo del Corte, leaving on the 8th. Giulio, in chains, was handed over to Alfonso's representative in Mantua on Isabella's orders on 9 September and taken the next day to Ferrara by the brothers Masino and Girolamo del Forno, trusted henchmen of Alfonso and Ippolito. He was imprisoned in the deepest dungeon in the Torre dei Leoni and shackled. He was only twenty-six years old. (the dreaded Albanian light cavalry brought to Italy by the Venetians), he arrived in Ferrara en route to meet Julius II, whose Gonfalonier he had been appointed, at Urbino preparatory to the campaign against the Bentivoglio. On the day of his arrival he was escorted by Alfonso to see Lucrezia in the Camera de la Stufa Grande where she was then lodged. He spent two days in the city, lodged in the Palazzo del Corte, leaving on the 8th. Giulio, in chains, was handed over to Alfonso's representative in Mantua on Isabella's orders on 9 September and taken the next day to Ferrara by the brothers Masino and Girolamo del Forno, trusted henchmen of Alfonso and Ippolito. He was imprisoned in the deepest dungeon in the Torre dei Leoni and shackled. He was only twenty-six years old.

The grisly punishment of the non-Este conspirators took place publicly: they were taken on a wagon from the castle to a tribune in the piazza where the process against them was read out. Franceschino da Rubiera was the first to suffer. Blindfolded, stunned with the executioner's axe and kicked as he lay on the floor, he was then dragged to a block, decapitated and then quartered. Boschetti and Gherardo suffered the same fate. Their heads were placed on lances on the tower of the Palazzo della Ragione, their butchered body parts above three gates of the city. On 8 October, Ferrante and Giulio were sentenced to death but pardoned by Alfonso and imprisoned in rooms on two floors of the Torre dei Leoni. Finally, Gian Cantore was brought to Ferrara, seated on a horse with his hands tied behind him and his feet bound together under the horse's stomach. Before him rode the executioner, holding a rope tied round the singer's neck, and as he was led through the streets the populace spat in his face, pulled out his beard and aimed blows at his ribs. He was imprisoned in the Castello until 6 January 1507, Epiphany, when he was put in an iron cage suspended halfway up the Torre dei Leoni. Dressed in thin rags, s.h.i.+vering in the cold, icy wind, he remained there subsisting on bread and wine until the night of the 13th when either he hanged himself or was hanged by his gaolers. His body was then stripped and dragged by the heels through the streets behind a cart, to be hung by the feet from the bridge of Castel Tedaldo above the Po, the same bridge by which Lucrezia had entered the city.

As far as the Este family was concerned, the story was over. Giulio and Ferrante were kept imprisoned in the Torre dei Leoni while court life went on as if they had never existed. Their goods were handed over to Alfonso's favourites with Niccol da Correggio receiving the prize of Giulio's magnificent palazzo on the Via degli Angeli. Ferrante died in prison in February 1540, aged sixty-three, after spending thirty-four years without a visit from any of his family. Giulio was released by Alfonso's grandson, Alfonso II, on his accession, after fifty-three years' imprisonment. Aged eighty-one, Giulio emerged to astound the people of Ferrara, still dandified and, according to the chroniclers, 'a most handsome man' but a figure from the past with a long beard and clothes which had been made for him in the fas.h.i.+on of fifty years ago.

Julius II, meanwhile, had revived Alexander VI's campaign to bring the Papal States under the control of the Church. The Bentivoglio of Bologna, who had only escaped being taken over by Cesare in the name of the Church by very substantial bribes, were now a prime target. They were deprived of their status as papal vicars of the city, which was excommunicated as long as they remained there. On 14 October 1506, a copy of the papal interdict against Bologna had been nailed to the door of the cathedral in Ferrara. Under its terms anyone who killed a Bolognese would be granted remission of his sin and a papal indulgence, as well as the goods of his victim. Any priest who failed to leave Bologna would forfeit his benefices. The author of this Christian doc.u.ment, the belligerent, bibulous Julius II, was on his way north; having already received the submission of Gian Paolo Baglioni of Perugia, he was approaching Imola with his army which included Francesco Gonzaga. The Bentivoglio family had already been excommunicated. Alfonso and Ippolito, who were related by marriage to the Bentivoglio and who had already outraged the Pope by their treatment of his G.o.dson, Ferrante, hastened to Imola to pay reverence to him. On 28 October a relieved Lucrezia wrote to Alfonso to tell him of her delight at hearing he had been well received there by the Pope and cardinals. He was not, however, prepared to partic.i.p.ate totally in the humiliation of his friends and on his return to Ferrara on 3 November he issued a proclamation to the effect that anyone who had taken cattle and other animals from a Bolognese should register them with the Giudice dei Savi Giudice dei Savi on pain of payment of a fine or, if not, on pain of payment of a fine or, if not, tracti de corda tracti de corda. (This particularly painful torture involved tying the victim's arms behind his back, then hoisting him up by cords tied around his wrists, thus dislocating his shoulders.) He also refused the Pope's invitation to accompany him on his triumphal entry into Bologna.

The Bentivoglio had scattered before the Pope's advance; Alfonso diplomatically retired to Belriguardo and Ostellato en route for Comacchio on 9 November, shortly before the arrival that afternoon of his half-sister Lucrezia Bentivoglio and her children, as refugees in Ferrara. Lucrezia, too, kept her at arm's length, as di Prosperi told Isabella on 12 November: 'Yesterday evening the Most Ill.u.s.trious Madonna Lucretia [Bentivoglio] was to have been taken to see the d.u.c.h.ess, but Her Excellency was celebrating the feast of St Martin with the Cardinal and Messer Sigismondo and others.' That day with Niccol da Correggio she received her half-sister-in-law for a lengthy conversation which, however, di Prosperi noted acidly, did not appear to have been of great consolation to Lucrezia Bentivoglio: 'I did not see her return to her lodging more comforted than before, not so much for her adversities, but for reasons I cannot write: Your Ladys.h.i.+p, I believe, will hear of this from her ...' Lucrezia Bentivoglio's mother-in-law and sister-in-law arrived that day and lodged outside the city walls. They were clearly not invited in. Ippolito had not seen his half-sister Lucrezia since her arrival although he had called and been told that she was at table. Some of the leading n.o.blewomen of the town had visited her but it was clear the ruling family could not risk incurring the Pope's wrath and possible excommunication by harbouring his enemies. On 11 November, Julius II made his formal entry into Bologna.

Meanwhile, what of Lucrezia in all these Este family affairs? Apart from a brief intervention when she had been warned off by Alfonso, she seems to have kept herself apart, although undoubtedly aware of what was going on. Only one letter of that year from her to Alfonso has survived a.s.suming that there were more and that, dated from Ferrara on 28 October, when the Congiura Congiura and its attendant horrors were over, refers to her pleasure at hearing from him of the good reception he and Ippolito had received from Julius II at Imola, where the warrior pope was on his way north to take Bologna. There is not one letter from her to Ippolito but since they were together in Ferrara for much of that year it is understandable. There are many letters to Francesco Gonzaga, some of them via trusted messengers such as Tebaldeo, Alberto Pio da Carpi and Hector Berlinguer, who transmitted her messages orally. Others, more explicit, were mainly of an administrative nature: requests for clemency for various subjects, asking him to take action concerning the reduction of water to their lands in Carpesana and their subjects there, caused by the construction of a watermill by a Mantuan citizen on the ca.n.a.l leading to their mills. She repeated Alfonso's request to him to return the situation to what it had previously been. She was a pa.s.sionate defender of the interests of her citizens and friends; she took up the cause of one Messer Amato Cusatro, who had suffered greatly from losing Gonzaga's esteem and was now being unjustly persecuted by the and its attendant horrors were over, refers to her pleasure at hearing from him of the good reception he and Ippolito had received from Julius II at Imola, where the warrior pope was on his way north to take Bologna. There is not one letter from her to Ippolito but since they were together in Ferrara for much of that year it is understandable. There are many letters to Francesco Gonzaga, some of them via trusted messengers such as Tebaldeo, Alberto Pio da Carpi and Hector Berlinguer, who transmitted her messages orally. Others, more explicit, were mainly of an administrative nature: requests for clemency for various subjects, asking him to take action concerning the reduction of water to their lands in Carpesana and their subjects there, caused by the construction of a watermill by a Mantuan citizen on the ca.n.a.l leading to their mills. She repeated Alfonso's request to him to return the situation to what it had previously been. She was a pa.s.sionate defender of the interests of her citizens and friends; she took up the cause of one Messer Amato Cusatro, who had suffered greatly from losing Gonzaga's esteem and was now being unjustly persecuted by the podesta podesta of Sermide in consequence: 'I pray with all my heart that Your Lords.h.i.+p will not deny me this favour, because the love that I bear Messer Amato is such that I would hold any injury done to him as if it were to my own person, having found him a rare and affectionate servant to my Ill.u.s.trious consort and myself ...' In December she wrote in her own hand asking Francesco to favour Ercole Strozzi: 'Your Lords.h.i.+p knows that affection I bear to Messer Hercule Strozza [sic] and the obligations I have to him for his singular virtues and merit. He is coming to ask you a favour, as he will explain to you. I recommend him with all my heart and pray you that you will for love of me do for Messer Hercule as I am sure you would do for myself, because for the reasons I have referred to no less do I desire his wellbeing and ease than my own: whatever favour you will do him I will receive as done to me...' of Sermide in consequence: 'I pray with all my heart that Your Lords.h.i.+p will not deny me this favour, because the love that I bear Messer Amato is such that I would hold any injury done to him as if it were to my own person, having found him a rare and affectionate servant to my Ill.u.s.trious consort and myself ...' In December she wrote in her own hand asking Francesco to favour Ercole Strozzi: 'Your Lords.h.i.+p knows that affection I bear to Messer Hercule Strozza [sic] and the obligations I have to him for his singular virtues and merit. He is coming to ask you a favour, as he will explain to you. I recommend him with all my heart and pray you that you will for love of me do for Messer Hercule as I am sure you would do for myself, because for the reasons I have referred to no less do I desire his wellbeing and ease than my own: whatever favour you will do him I will receive as done to me...'

Angela Borgia's up-and-down erotic career appeared finally to have reached a happy conclusion, despite her contrary mother-in-law. In June, di Prosperi reported that Alessandro Pio had appeared in Ferrara and 'remarried' Angela. Early in December, he wrote to Isabella that Angela had had a row with her husband over a golden robe which she wanted and which he told her should be paid for out of her dowry. This quarrel was resolved: a few days later she was ceremonially accompanied to the rented house she was to share with her husband, in a carriage with Lucrezia and attended by Alfonso, Ippolito and all the court on horseback 'to the sound of trumpets'. She was dressed in brocade, richly adorned and her fine carriage covered with satin striped with black velvet which, di Prosperi gossiped, had 'cost her dowry but little'. There was a collation with plates of sugar confections, supper and dancing.

For Lucrezia, the great event of that extraordinary year was the news which reached her in the last week of November that Cesare was at liberty again. On the night of 25 October, he had made a dramatic escape from La Mota, injuring himself quite severely when the rope down which he was climbing was cut from above, precipitating him into the fosse. He made for Navarre and the court of his brother-in-law, Jean d'Albret, taking a tortuous route to evade capture, and reaching Pamplona on 3 December. Somewhere along the way he managed to get word to Lucrezia, who learned of his escape on 26 November and wrote immediately to Gonzaga, expecting him to share her joy. By the end of December, Lucrezia had learned where he was from his chancellor, Federico, whom she sent on to Gonzaga with the happy news and a letter from Cesare. (Cesare had also written to Ippolito; he did not, significantly, write to Alfonso.) 'I am sure,' Lucrezia wrote disingenuously, 'that this [news] will make you rejoice and you will derive from it as much contentment as does the Duke [Cesare] ... loving him as you do as a brother ...'5 One other important person certainly did not share her joy: Julius II, now triumphantly ensconced in Bologna. As Federico pa.s.sed through Bologna, the Pope had him seized. Lucrezia was distraught and wrote to Gonzaga asking him to intercede with Julius for his release, a.s.suring him that Cesare intended no harm to the Pope, nor would she have allowed Federico to engage in any such activity, 'being a most devoted and faithful servant to His Beat.i.tude together with my consort. I know that he is not here for anything other than to give me the news of his [Cesare's] liberation.' Such a detention could only do harm to her brother and herself, giving the impression that they were not in the Pope's good graces, therefore she begged Francesco to obtain Federico's speedy release. In fact Julius had little to fear from Cesare. Although il Valentino still signed his letters 'Cesar Borgia de Francia, duca di Romagna', these were but empty words. As Julius himself sneered, Cesare now had 'not one rampart in the Romagna'. He was practically penniless: Julius had sequestrated the money which his bankers had distributed around the leading Italian banks, and the treasure which Florence and the Bentivoglio had captured. Louis XII had refused his request for the rest.i.tution of his duchy of Valentinois and his offer to take service with him once again. Yet where the charismatic, driven Cesare was concerned you could never be sure that he was finished. As Ferdinand of Aragon's chronicler Zurita wrote, the news of his escape 'put the Pope in great consternation, because the Duke was such a man that only his presence was sufficient to raise new troubles in all Italy: and he was greatly loved, not only by the soldiery, but also by many people of Tuscany and the States of the Church'.6 And in Ferrara he had his loyal and loving sister who would do anything to help him. And in Ferrara he had his loyal and loving sister who would do anything to help him.

13. 'Horrors and Tears'

'The more I try to please G.o.d, the more he tries me ...'

Lucrezia's anguished cry on hearing of the violent death of Cesare in Navarre in March 1507

The new year of 1507 began as the old year had ended, with present-giving, b.a.l.l.s and festivities. Lucrezia sent Isabella boxes of salted fish and oysters from the lagoons valli valli of Comacchio, while Isabella ordered for herself pounds of sweetmeats and the Ferrarese speciality, sugared of Comacchio, while Isabella ordered for herself pounds of sweetmeats and the Ferrarese speciality, sugared cedri cedri (large lemon-type citrus fruit), from Lucrezia's celebrated confectioner Vincenzo Morello da Napoli, known as 'Vincentio spetiale'. Lucrezia gave b.a.l.l.s for the French commander de Lapalisse at which the torch dance (' (large lemon-type citrus fruit), from Lucrezia's celebrated confectioner Vincenzo Morello da Napoli, known as 'Vincentio spetiale'. Lucrezia gave b.a.l.l.s for the French commander de Lapalisse at which the torch dance ('il bailo de la torce) was performed.

Lucrezia was pregnant again, as di Prosperi learned on 3 January, from il Barone, who in turn had had confirmation from one of Lucrezia's priests. Despite her history of miscarriages and difficult pregnancies, she threw herself into the carnival celebrations. Francesco Gonzaga arrived on the 9th with two pleasure-loving young cardinals, his brother, Sigismondo Gonzaga, and Alfonso's cousin, Luigi d'Aragona, and immediately visited Lucrezia, accompanied by Alfonso. The Sala Grande was decorated with tapestries and silks in preparation for the carnival b.a.l.l.s. Lucrezia's enthusiasm proved fatal to her pregnancy: in mid January she miscarried again. Alfonso was furious and despondent, the more so because he blamed Lucrezia for bringing it on herself: 'it is attributed to various causes,' di Prosperi reported, 'to remaining on her feet for long hours, going about in carriages, and perhaps some jaunts abroad in masks also by climbing some steep stairs which she has had made in the camerini camerini above the above the stuffeta longa stuffeta longa, which she has turned into two camerini camerini with two more above them.' The foetus was so undeveloped that it could not be discerned whether it was male or female possibly six weeks old, di Prosperi guessed. Lucrezia too was very upset by 'this disaster of hers', as di Prosperi put it: at her failure at her third attempt to provide an Este heir, and perhaps by the knowledge that her own overexuberance in the presence of Gonzaga had been responsible for it. Adding to her pain was the fact that Isabella was pregnant and nearing her proper term; she successfully gave birth to a third son shortly afterwards, which she, perhaps defiantly, named Ferrante. The concealed rivalry between the two women continued. with two more above them.' The foetus was so undeveloped that it could not be discerned whether it was male or female possibly six weeks old, di Prosperi guessed. Lucrezia too was very upset by 'this disaster of hers', as di Prosperi put it: at her failure at her third attempt to provide an Este heir, and perhaps by the knowledge that her own overexuberance in the presence of Gonzaga had been responsible for it. Adding to her pain was the fact that Isabella was pregnant and nearing her proper term; she successfully gave birth to a third son shortly afterwards, which she, perhaps defiantly, named Ferrante. The concealed rivalry between the two women continued.

With her usual resilience, however, Lucrezia quickly recovered her spirits, although she kept to her rooms. By early February she was well enough to go out and take part in the masking in the streets, and in the evening there was dancing, singing and concerts in her apartments, attended by Luigi d'Aragona and other worldly cardinals including Cardinal Giovanni de'Medici, the future Pope Leo X. She went out richly dressed in a carriage to a supper at the house of Antonio Costabili and herself gave a dinner, with dancing in her princ.i.p.al chamber. The cardinals, having escaped from the less amusing court of Julius II, enjoyed themselves every night until dawn until the end of carnival. By the end of February, di Prosperi wrote that the masques and dancing had been put aside and 'now we all attend the sermons of Fra Raphaele of Varese', whom Lucrezia had invited specially to Ferrara. Despite her lighthearted enjoyment of conversation, dancing and singing, Lucrezia had a strong streak of genuine piety in her nature and took her religion seriously. She enthusiastically followed Fra Raphaele's sumptuary prohibitions but when orders were issued to 'moderate the pomp of ladies' forbidding the wearing of rich materials and cosmetics (women used a white paste as a foundation on which they dabbed a rouge made of maiolica) most people thought that she was going too far and that they should be allowed to practise as they wished. Deep decolletees decolletees were also proscribed. The ladies of Ferrara rebelled and Lucrezia and her preacher were forced to back down. were also proscribed. The ladies of Ferrara rebelled and Lucrezia and her preacher were forced to back down.

While Lucrezia and her friar were attempting to tame the ladies of Ferrara, Cesare Borgia was embarking on his last campaign, fighting for his brother-in-law, the King of Navarre, against a rebel count. At dawn on 12 March 1507 he was killed in an ambush outside the small town of Viana in Navarre; stripped of its armour, his naked body was left bleeding on the ground. Cesare was thirty years old; he had survived the lifespan, twenty-eight, he had set himself by just two years, dying three days short of the Ides of March which had been fatal to his hero, Julius Caesar.

Lucrezia remained unaware of what had happened for some six weeks after his death. Cesare's faithful squire Juan Grasica arrived in Ferrara with the news on 22 April. He went first to Ippolito who, knowing that, as one of Isabella's correspondents put it, Lucrezia 'loved her brother as much as if she were his mother', could not bring himself to tell her and deputed Fra Raphaele to do so. For Lucrezia, Cesare's death was the supreme sorrow of a life already full of tragedies. She apparently responded with an anguished cry: 'The more I try to please G.o.d, the more he tries me ...', and shut herself away, 'torturing herself day and night' with grief, calling out his name, unable to conceal her pain. Di Prosperi opined that few people would dare condole with her 'because of her reserved nature'. In public, just as she had when Alexander died, she kept her self-control, as Sanudo reported on 22 April: '... the death of Duke Valentino was notified to his sister, madama Lucretia by Fra Raphael who preached there this lent; she showed great grief, nevertheless with a great constancy and without tears'.1 Fort.i.tude was a much admired quality in the Renaissance, as it had been during cla.s.sical times. Alfonso was proud of her and grateful for Ippolito's tactful handling of the matter: 'We are beyond measure satisfied with what your most reverend Lords.h.i.+p has intimated to us, touching the notification of the fate of the Duke her brother to our most ill.u.s.trious consort,' he wrote to Ippolito on 27 April from the camp at Genoa, 'it seeming to us that Your Lords.h.i.+p in this matter has proceeded according to your natural prudence and experience. Likewise we are much pleased that Her Ladys.h.i.+p, our consort, has borne this calamity so patiently as Your Lords.h.i.+p tells us...' Fort.i.tude was a much admired quality in the Renaissance, as it had been during cla.s.sical times. Alfonso was proud of her and grateful for Ippolito's tactful handling of the matter: 'We are beyond measure satisfied with what your most reverend Lords.h.i.+p has intimated to us, touching the notification of the fate of the Duke her brother to our most ill.u.s.trious consort,' he wrote to Ippolito on 27 April from the camp at Genoa, 'it seeming to us that Your Lords.h.i.+p in this matter has proceeded according to your natural prudence and experience. Likewise we are much pleased that Her Ladys.h.i.+p, our consort, has borne this calamity so patiently as Your Lords.h.i.+p tells us...'2 It was not until the end of the month that she could bring herself to leave her bed and to receive the condolences of her own household; few others were admitted. Agapito da Amelia, the distinguished humanist who had long served as Cesare's confidential princ.i.p.al secretary, arrived from Bologna where he was now secretary to the papal legate, and remained many hours with her talking over the past. Beyond Angela Borgia, with whom she had dined during carnival in Ferrara and who returned from Sa.s.suolo to comfort her, there was no one with whom she could truly share her grief; and, indeed, outside the remaining Borgia circle, no one mourned the death of the terrible Valentino. Alfonso, who was away helping Louis XII crush the rebellion at Genoa, tried to comfort her by writing that Cesare was 'victorious against the enemies of his brother-in-law' when he was killed.

Lucrezia's circle of poets now sprang into action: Ercole Strozzi wrote an epicedium on Cesare's death which he dedicated to 'the divine Lucretia Borgia', describing Cesare as 'The chief pride of thy race... thy brother, mighty in peace, mighty in war, whose arduous glory is equal both in deed and in name to the great Caesars ...' 'And now all dare give rein to so great a sorrow,' he added with pardonable exaggeration. Geronimo Casio of Bologna, who had known Cesare, wrote equally histrionically, 'Cesare Borgia, whom all for force of arms and valour regarded as a sun, dying, went where sets the sun Phoebus, towards the evening, to the West.' Machiavelli saw Cesare's life in Renaissance terms, as an example of the extreme malignity of fortune, as he wrote in Chapter VII of The Prince, The Prince, of which Cesare was the hero: So summing up all that the Duke did, I cannot possibly censure him. Rather, I think I have been right in putting him forward as an example for all those who have acquired power through good fortune and the arms of others. He was a man of high courage and ambition, and he could not have conducted himself other than the way he did; his plans were frustrated only because Alexander's life was cut short and because of his own sickness... If when Alexander died, he had been well himself, everything would have been easy for him.' of which Cesare was the hero: So summing up all that the Duke did, I cannot possibly censure him. Rather, I think I have been right in putting him forward as an example for all those who have acquired power through good fortune and the arms of others. He was a man of high courage and ambition, and he could not have conducted himself other than the way he did; his plans were frustrated only because Alexander's life was cut short and because of his own sickness... If when Alexander died, he had been well himself, everything would have been easy for him.'

But Cesare's enemies mocked him and his famous motto 'Either Caesar or nothing'. In Mantua Isabella d'Este gleefully recalled Sister Osanna's prophecy that Cesare's dominion would be 'as a straw fire'. Some remembered him with sympathy: 'In war he was a brave man and a good companion', a French captain said of him. He has gone down in history as a monster which, to a certain extent, he was. He was a creature of darkness and light, ruthless, amoral, charming and brilliant. His soldiers loved him and those close to him remained loyal to the end. He was popular in his lands of the Romagna where he had begun to lay down a new administration of justice. History has not been kind to him: he made too many enemies and in the end he failed; but the single-minded drive and ability with which he pursued what he saw as his high destiny had the qualities of genius.

Lucrezia had loved her brother pa.s.sionately: whether their relations had ever been incestuous or not, he was part of her and no man could ever replace him. In her anguish she turned for solace to the other two men in her life: her husband, Alfonso, and her lover, Francesco Gonzaga. Bembo, probably aware by the autumn of 1505, when he had last written to her, of her relations.h.i.+p with Gonzaga and of Alfonso's hostility, had removed himself to the court of Urbino. Lucrezia's dealings with men were as deft as the neat steps with which she executed the complicated ch.o.r.eography of the torch dance. She managed to keep the affection and respect of her husband while retaining the lifelong love of Gonzaga under the most difficult and dangerous circ.u.mstances, seemingly occupying a special place in the hearts of two men who were not generally known for their respect for women.

Bravely, Lucrezia had managed to bring herself to write almost daily to Alfonso, saying how pleased she was by his favourable reception by Louis at the camp before Genoa and that he was in good health and spirits. She received Gian Luca Pozzi, who gave her a long account of the events at Genoa, but it was not until 30 April that she received Alfonso's handwritten letter of the 27th about Cesare (which has not survived). In her grief she felt the need of his rea.s.suring presence: 'I pray G.o.d continually for the preservation and good health of Your Lords.h.i.+p and that matters at Genoa are quickly and happily expedited so that Your Lords.h.i.+p can return home with a swiftness which I desire with all my heart.' In Alfonso's absence, she also had the presence of mind to correspond with Ippolito about the movements of the Bentivoglio, whom the Pope suspected of trying to recapture Bologna, and about the information she had received from the papal legate there and about his request that she should send a commissioner into the Modenese with orders not to facilitate their pa.s.sage nor to provide them with supplies.3 She wrote to no one else for several months in the period after Cesare's death not even to Gonzaga or if she did the letters have not survived. After the surrender of Genoa to the French King, Alfonso returned on 9 May but, although he visited her first, he did not spend long with her and went on to confer at length with Ippolito. She wrote to no one else for several months in the period after Cesare's death not even to Gonzaga or if she did the letters have not survived. After the surrender of Genoa to the French King, Alfonso returned on 9 May but, although he visited her first, he did not spend long with her and went on to confer at length with Ippolito.

From the time of Cesare's death rumours that Lucrezia was pregnant were repeated and denied throughout the summer with increasing insistence by di Prosperi. On 18 May she was reposing in bed for most of the time 'to preserve her pregnancy' but by 2 August, when Alfonso left for Venice and Comacchio, she was in charge again: 'The Lady is Governor in the usual way which has clarified the fact that she is not pregnant,' he reported. Later in August, Lucrezia went to Modena while Alfonso busied himself with his artillery foundry in Ferrara and dined frequently with Ippolito. By 16 September, in a letter reporting the marriage of Ercole Strozzi to Barbara Torelli and the return to Ferrara of Angela Borgia and her husband to spend some months there, the inquisitive di Prosperi had found the Comatre Fra.s.sina in the Corte and asked her if the d.u.c.h.ess were indeed pregnant: 'It seems that there is some hope that she is.' This time it appears that the rumours were true: on 7 November the Comatre Fra.s.sina confirmed the pregnancy and that in four months a child would be born.

But in the summer of 1507, as she looked for consolation for the loss of her adored brother, Lucrezia's relations.h.i.+p with Gonzaga had become ever more pa.s.sionate and secret. Ercole Strozzi had again taken up the dangerous role of facilitator of romance between Lucrezia and her admirers, which he had played so effectively during her relations.h.i.+p with Pietro Bembo, and was now involved in her correspondence with Gonzaga. Gonzaga was an old friend and patron, Alfonso a man who both disliked him and had deprived him of his lucrative office. And Strozzi had a tenderness for Lucrezia, probably exaggerated by his biographer, Wirtz, into love. Under the pseudonym 'Zilio' (lily), Strozzi carried on a correspondence between 'Guido', the name of one of his brothers but actually referring to Francesco Gonzaga, and 'Madonna Barbara', who was not Barbara Torelli, the object of his affections, but Lucrezia herself. In a letter to Gonzaga dated 23 September 1507 announcing his own marriage to Barbara Torelli, Strozzi coyly referred to Torelli as 'my Madonna Barbara', sending greetings from himself and Lucrezia 'your Madonna Barbara'.4 The master archivist of Mantua, Alessandro Luzio, however, found an earlier letter among the few surviving in the Gonzaga archives at Mantua, beginning in the summer of 1507: 'I have not sent back that messenger because I have been trying everything to get an answer to M. Guido's letter, if Madonna Barbara had not been suffering such mental travail [presumably a reference to Lucrezia's continuing mourning for Cesare], it would have already been done because Zilio never stops soliciting for it ...' The master archivist of Mantua, Alessandro Luzio, however, found an earlier letter among the few surviving in the Gonzaga archives at Mantua, beginning in the summer of 1507: 'I have not sent back that messenger because I have been trying everything to get an answer to M. Guido's letter, if Madonna Barbara had not been suffering such mental travail [presumably a reference to Lucrezia's continuing mourning for Cesare], it would have already been done because Zilio never stops soliciting for it ...'5 The situation was complicated for Lucrezia by the undercurrents of hostility of which she was well aware between Francesco Gonzaga and Alfonso. That September of 1507 in the official correspondence with Gonzaga which she had resumed in the absence of Alfonso she had felt it necessary to stress that Alfonso's letters and actions showed 'his excellent disposition towards Your Lords.h.i.+p'.6 Knowing that she was pregnant, Lucrezia had made preparations for the carnival of the new year of 1508 to be particularly joyful. The Sala Grande was hung with the most splendid of the Este tapestries. Everyone focused on the pleasures of going about masked: Lucrezia, her ladies and courtiers watched from the great window of the Sala Grande. A 'very gallant' ball was held in the Sala Grande. There was tilting at the quintain ( ('Quintana'), more feasts and more b.a.l.l.s. Angela Borgia, who was rumoured to be pregnant, 'found it necessary to dance' but Lucrezia, wiser this time and without the stimulating presence of Francesco Gonzaga, did not. The carnival festivities went on unhindered despite the thun-derings of a h.e.l.lfire preacher. The young men of the court began practising for a great joust on the feast of St Matthew, and on 13 February an eclogue commissioned by Ippolito was performed in the Sala Grande where Alfonso and Ippolito, 'both masked', and Lucrezia with a good company of gentlewomen, sat on a tribune hung with tapestries. The eclogue was composed by Ercole Pio, brother of Emilia, one of the heroines of Castiglione's more feasts and more b.a.l.l.s. Angela Borgia, who was rumoured to be pregnant, 'found it necessary to dance' but Lucrezia, wiser this time and without the stimulating presence of Francesco Gonzaga, did not. The carnival festivities went on unhindered despite the thun-derings of a h.e.l.lfire preacher. The young men of the court began practising for a great joust on the feast of St Matthew, and on 13 February an eclogue commissioned by Ippolito was performed in the Sala Grande where Alfonso and Ippolito, 'both masked', and Lucrezia with a good company of gentlewomen, sat on a tribune hung with tapestries. The eclogue was composed by Ercole Pio, brother of Emilia, one of the heroines of Castiglione's The Courtier, The Courtier, a dialogue of amorous shepherds praising the great ladies of Old Testament, Greek and Roman times and of three contemporary a dialogue of amorous shepherds praising the great ladies of Old Testament, Greek and Roman times and of three contemporary grandes dames, grandes dames, Lucrezia, Isabella d'Este and Elisabetta, d.u.c.h.ess of Urbino. This was followed by Ippolito's Slav acrobats executing prodigious leaps, a girl tightrope walker and the cardinal's lute players and singers singing the praises of the 'diva Borgia'. Incense was thrown on a sacrificial fire and the whole thing ended in a dance. The eclogues, separately commissioned by Alfonso and Lucrezia (from Tebaldeo) and performed on 8 March, were generally considered inferior, but the first performance of Ariosto's comedy, Lucrezia, Isabella d'Este and Elisabetta, d.u.c.h.ess of Urbino. This was followed by Ippolito's Slav acrobats executing prodigious leaps, a girl tightrope walker and the cardinal's lute players and singers singing the praises of the 'diva Borgia'. Incense was thrown on a sacrificial fire and the whole thing ended in a dance. The eclogues, separately commissioned by Alfonso and Lucrezia (from Tebaldeo) and performed on 8 March, were generally considered inferior, but the first performance of Ariosto's comedy, La Ca.s.saria, La Ca.s.saria, ordered by Ippolito, was praised by di Prosperi as 'as elegant and delightful as any other I have ever seen played'. Described by Gardner as 'a rollicking piece of work', it was greatly appreciated by the court, as were the music and the scenery painted by the Duke's court painter, Pellegrino da San Daniele. ordered by Ippolito, was praised by di Prosperi as 'as elegant and delightful as any other I have ever seen played'. Described by Gardner as 'a rollicking piece of work', it was greatly appreciated by the court, as were the music and the scenery painted by the Duke's court painter, Pellegrino da San Daniele.7 The joint presentation of the eclogues and comedy by the three symbolized the new unity of the Este family after the upheavals of the The joint presentation of the eclogues and comedy by the three symbolized the new unity of the Este family after the upheavals of the Congiura, Congiura, but in the bowels of the Torre dei Leoni, Ferrante and Giulio lived their lives in isolation and silence. but in the bowels of the Torre dei Leoni, Ferrante and Giulio lived their lives in isolation and silence.

For the moment, however, the Este were determined to enjoy carnival. There were jousts, and Ippolito and a companion were seen going about disguised in Turkish costumes of gold brocade ornamented with applique flowers of black silk, estimated to cost 200 ducats each. It was hardly a disguise, di Prosperi commented, since the pair stood out among the others for the richness of their clothes. Ippolito reacted with his usual violence to the impertinence of his chamberlain, one Alfonso Cestatello, whom he had ordered not to take part in the last evenings carnival celebration, for failing to provide some things necessary for the cardinal's masking. Cestatello had replied impertinently and gone there all the same whereupon he was seized by the hair by Masino del Forno, confined to prison and afterwards exiled to Capua for six months.

It was noticed that Lucrezia had not taken part in the dancing during the last days of carnival; she was reported to be seven months gone and to have engaged a beautiful young wet nurse. Both she and Angela Borgia were nearing their term, and both had ordered sumptuous cradles and preparations for their lying-in. On 25 March, di Prosperi estimated the birth to be imminent; people were storing away books and doc.u.ments from the Palazzo della Ragione and public offices for fear of their being burned in an outbreak of rowdy celebrations at the birth of an heir. By the 29th, Angela Borgia had already given birth to a son while Lucrezia's delivery was daily awaited. Alfonso, who had had some misunderstanding with Venice, went there on 3 April with a fleet of boats to make his peace and he was there when, on 4 April, Lucrezia gave birth to a son, named Ercole in honour of his grandfather. The baby was fair-skinned, handsome and lively, with, according to di Prosperi, who saw him when he was three weeks old, 'a most beautiful mouth but a little snub nose and eyes [which were] not very dark nor very large'.

On 27 April, di Prosperi went to visit Lucrezia in her camerini camerini and found her reposing on her bed in conversation with Ippolito. 'Her Ladys.h.i.+p is very well and from what I understand for these holy feast days she has gone to the loggia of the Chapel to hear divine service. I also saw her son who seemed to me even handsomer and more vivacious than before...' He described Lucrezia's apartments: and found her reposing on her bed in conversation with Ippolito. 'Her Ladys.h.i.+p is very well and from what I understand for these holy feast days she has gone to the loggia of the Chapel to hear divine service. I also saw her son who seemed to me even handsomer and more vivacious than before...' He described Lucrezia's apartments: Yesterday I visited the d.u.c.h.ess's rooms ... the decoration of the apartment is as follows. In the Salotto there is only a great carpet over the table, with a bench and a backrest; in the large Antechamber the upholstery of the bed is of mulberry satin which belonged to your mother [the d.u.c.h.ess Eleonora], embroidered with bunches of everlasting flowers, with very fine hanging [tapestries] of silk and wool around this room from the ceiling to the floor, among them the scene of the Judgement of Solomon. In the Camera de la Stufa Grande, the back hangings are fas.h.i.+oned in pavilion style [tent shaped], attached to the gilded cornice which surrounds this room.In the first Camerino the hangings ordered by the d.u.c.h.ess Eleonora include a pavilion with curtains of crimson satin with the arms of the Este. In the d.u.c.h.ess Lucrezia's room, where she is now, there is a pavilion of cloth of silver with a deep fringe of gold thread, decorated with sheets of striped cambric ... and round this Camerino are curtains of crimson mulberry velvet and cloth of gold, with the arms of the house of Este. In the Camera dorata next to these rooms the baby lies in a camp bed [de bachete], [de bachete], with a satin cover striped with a satin cover striped alla morescha alla morescha in white, crimson and other colours; the room is hung round with satin cloth. Then there is the cradle placed in front of the bed in this room which is of such a splendour that I do not know how to describe it: it is made in a square six feet long and five feet wide with a mounting step covered with white cloth, and at each corner there is a square block in the antique fas.h.i.+on, above which rise four columns which sustain a most beautiful architrave with its cornice, and above the architrave is a carved garland which goes from corner to corner all in gold without any colour, and it is hung with curtains of white satin, as is the canopy. In the centre of this square is a cradle... on a pedestal, all of it gilded. The cradle cover is of cloth of gold and its sheets of cambric and turnings of most beautiful embroidered linen. in white, crimson and other colours; the room is hung round with satin cloth. Then there is the cradle placed in front of the bed in this room which is of such a splendour that I do not know how to describe it: it is made in a square six feet long and five feet wide with a mounting step covered with white cloth, and at each corner there is a square block in the antique fas.h.i.+on, above which rise four columns which sustain a most beautiful architrave with its cornice, and above the architrave is a carved garland which goes from corner to corner all in gold without any colour, and it is hung with curtains of white satin, as is the canopy. In the centre of this square is a cradle... on a pedestal, all of it gilded. The cradle cover is of cloth of gold and its sheets of cambric and turnings of most beautiful embroidered linen.

In the outer rooms, Beatrice de'Contrari and the Comatre Fra.s.sina were in attendance, while il Barone sat on the floor with other court jesters.

Ercole Strozzi's ostensible role in corresponding with Francesco Gonzaga was to compose differences between Alfonso and Ippolito on the one side and Francesco on the other, petty but continuing disputes to which di Prosperi also referred. An optimistic letter of 2 January 1508 from Strozzi to Gonzaga was counteracted by an angry letter of 14 January from Francesco complaining that fugitive servants of his had been welcomed at Ferrara and another on 13 March, a.s.serting that his brothers-in-law, under the cover of amicable protestations, continued in their intent to find new cause for controversy.8 The efforts of Benedetto Brugi and Bernardino di Prosperi were equally optimistic and equally unavailing. According to Luzio, Alfonso's feelings against Francesco were such that when he had left for Venice just before Lucrezia's delivery of their son, he had ordered that Lucrezia was not to send news of the event to the Marquis of Mantua. The efforts of Benedetto Brugi and Bernardino di Prosperi were equally optimistic and equally unavailing. According to Luzio, Alfonso's feelings against Francesco were such that when he had left for Venice just before Lucrezia's delivery of their son, he had ordered that Lucrezia was not to send news of the event to the Marquis of Mantua.

It was just before Alfonso's prohibition concerning the communication of the birth that the first surviving letter of the 'Zilio' correspondence of this year began. Naturally, pseudonyms were used: Alfonso was 'Camillo' and Ippolito 'Tigrino' ('little tiger'), an apt reference to his fierce nature. According to this letter, dated 23 March 1508, Francesco ('Guido') had obviously sent back the incriminating letters: Strozzi had handed Lucrezia her letter and burned the rest. Some of the letter is devoted to the cause of reconciliation between Gonzaga and the Este brothers; there had been a suggestion that Gonzaga should have come to Ferrara to effect it. From the text it is apparent that it was Lucrezia who made the running; Gonzaga hung back on the excuse that he was ill. Although he suffered from syphilis, this was a pretext which he frequently deployed to keep himself out of trouble and Lucrezia, it seems, saw through it: 'She regrets that you have been unwell, all the more that that sickness has prevented you from writing and even more from coming here. If you come here it will be as dear to you as 25,000 ducats and more: I cannot express to you the anger that has taken her because she was [so] willing to see you and because you have never answered her, which has made her anxious to know the cause.' Strozzi advised him to 'dissimulate' with Alfonso and Ippolito even if they had taken his servant (a page who had apparently fled Mantua and been received and protected in Ferrara by Ippolito).9 If Francesco did not do this, 'they will seek every day to offend you in one way or another'. 'Madonna Barbara' had commissioned him to write on her behalf that he (Francesco) should follow Strozzi's advice: 'It cannot injure you and could profit you, and if it does not profit you in one way in another it will profit you with Madonna Barbara who I certify to you loves you: she is displeased by your lack of warmth but she is pleased that you are discreet, as well as many qualities she praises in you.' Nonetheless he repeated Lucrezia's surprise that Francesco had not written to her: 'if you agree, a