E-text prepared by Suzanne Lybarger, Linda Cantoni, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images
generously made available by Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries
(https://archive.org/details/toronto)

      See 44235-h.htm or 44235-h.zip:
      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44235/44235-h/44235-h.htm)
      or
      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44235/44235-h.zip)

      Project Gutenberg has the other two volumes of this work.
      Volume I: see http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42560
      Volume III (including the index): see http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50577

      Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries. See
      https://archive.org/details/memoirsofdukeso02dennuoft

Transcriber's note:

      This work was originally published in 1851. As noted below,
      footnotes marked by an asterisk were added by the editor
      of the 1909 edition, from which this e-book was prepared.

      Obvious printer errors have been corrected without note.
      Other errors are indicated by a [Transcriber's Note].

      Certain spelling inconsistencies have been made consistent;
      for example, variants of Michelangelo's last name have been
      changed to Buonarroti. Archaic spellings in English and
      Italian have been retained as they appear in the original.

      The original contains several letters with non-standard
      tildes. These are represented in brackets, e.g., [~v].

      Full-page illustrations have been moved so as not to break
      up the flow of the text.

MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO

Illustrating the Arms, Arts & Literature of Italy, 1440-1630

by

JAMES DENNISTOUN OF DENNISTOUN

A New Edition with Notes by Edward Hutton
& Over a Hundred Illustrations

In Three Volumes. VOLUME TWO

London John Lane The Bodley Head
New York John Lane Company MCMIX

William Brendon and Son, Ltd., Printers, Plymouth

[Illustration: _Alinari_

ELISABETTA DI MONTEFELTRO, DUCHESS OF URBINO

_After the picture by Andrea Mantegna in the Uffizi Gallery,
Florence_]

CONTENTS

                                                                  PAGE

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS OF VOLUME II.                               ix

  CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.                     xi

BOOK THIRD

(_continued_)

OF GUIDOBALDO DI MONTEFELTRO, THIRD DUKE OF URBINO

  CHAPTER XIX

  The massacre of Sinigaglia--Death of Alexander VI.--Narrow
  escape of Cesare Borgia                                            3

  CHAPTER XX

  Duke Guidobaldo restored--The Election of Julius II.--The
  fall of Cesare Borgia--The Duke's fortunate position--Is
  made Knight of the Garter--The Pope visits Urbino                 23

  CHAPTER XXI

  The Court of Urbino, its manners and its stars                    43

  CHAPTER XXII

  Emilia Pia--The _Cortegiano_--Death of Duke Guidobaldo,
  succeeded by Francesco Maria della Rovere                         72

BOOK FOURTH

OF LITERATURE AND ART UNDER THE DUKES DI MONTEFELTRO AT URBINO

  CHAPTER XXIII

  The revival of letters in Italy--Influence of the
  princes--Classical tastes tending to pedantry and
  paganism--Greek philosophy and its effects--Influence of
  the Dukes of Urbino                                               93

  CHAPTER XXIV

  Count Guidantonio a patron of learned men--Duke
  Federigo--The _Assorditi_ Academy--Dedications to
  him--Prose writers of Urbino--Gentile Becci, Bishop of
  Arezzo--Francesco Venturini--Berni of Gubbio--Polydoro di
  Vergilio--Vespasiano Filippi--Castiglione--Bembo--Learned
  ladies                                                           109

  CHAPTER XXV

  Poetry under the Montefeltri--Sonnets--The Filelfi--Giovanni
  Sanzi--Porcellio Pandonio--Angelo Galli--Federigo
  Veterani--Urbani Urbinate--Antonio
  Rustico--Naldio--Improvisatori--Bernardo Accolti--Serafino
  d'Aquila--Agostino Staccoli--Early comedies--_La
  Calandra_--Corruption of morals--Social position of women        130

  CHAPTER XXVI

  Mediæval art chiefly religious--Innovations of Naturalism,
  Classicism, and Paganism--Character and tendencies of
  Christian painting ill-understood in England--Influence of
  St. Francis                                                      157

  CHAPTER XXVII

  The Umbrian School of Painting, its scholars and
  influence--Fra Angelico da Fiesole--Gentile da
  Fabriano--Pietro Perugino--Artists at Urbino--Piero della
  Francesca--Fra Carnevale--Francesco di Giorgio                   184

  CHAPTER XXVIII

  Giovanni Sanzi of Urbino--His son, the immortal
  Raffaele--Early influences on his mind--Paints at Perugia,
  Città di Castello, Siena, and Florence--His visits to Urbino,
  and works there                                                  216

  CHAPTER XXIX

  Raffaele is called to Rome, and employed upon the
  Stanze--His frescoes there--His other works--Change in his
  manner--Compared with Michael Angelo--His death, character,
  and style                                                        235

  CHAPTER XXX

  Timoteo Viti--Bramante--Andrea Mantegna--Gian
  Bellini--Justus of Ghent--Medals of Urbino                       254

BOOK FIFTH

OF THE DELLA ROVERE FAMILY

  CHAPTER XXXI

  Birth and elevation of Sixtus IV.--Genealogy of the della
  Rovere family--Nepotism of that pontiff--His improvements
  in Rome--His patronage of letters and arts--His brother
  Giovanni becomes Lord of Sinigaglia and Prefect of
  Rome--His beneficent sway--He pillages a papal
  envoy--Remarkable story of Zizim or Gem--Portrait of
  Giovanni--The early character and difficulties of Julius
  II.--Estimate of his pontificate                                 277

BOOK SIXTH

OF FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE, FOURTH DUKE OF URBINO

  CHAPTER XXXII

  Youth of Duke Francesco Maria I.--The League of
  Cambray--His marriage--His first military service--The
  Cardinal of Pavia's treachery--Julius II. takes the field        313

  CHAPTER XXXIII

  The Duke routed at Bologna from the Cardinal of Pavia's
  treason, whom he assassinates--He is prosecuted, but
  finally absolved and reconciled to the Pope--He reduces
  Bologna--Is invested with Pesaro--Death of Julius II.            334

  CHAPTER XXXIV

  Election of Leo X.--His ambitious projects--Birth of
  Prince Guidobaldo of Urbino--The Pontiff's designs upon
  that state, which he gives to his nephew--The Duke retires
  to Mantua                                                        351

  CHAPTER XXXV

  The Duke returns to his state--His struggle with the
  usurper--His victory at Montebartolo                             372

  CHAPTER XXXVI

  Continuation of the ruinous contest--The Duke finally
  abandons it--Death of Lorenzo de' Medici--Charles V.
  elected Emperor                                                  391

  CHAPTER XXXVII

  Death of Leo X.--Restoration of Francesco Maria--He
  enters the Venetian service--Louis XII. invades the
  Milanese--Death of Bayard--The Duke's honourable reception
  at Venice--Battle of Pavia                                       411

  CHAPTER XXXVIII

  New league against Charles V.--The Duke's campaign in
  Lombardy--His quarrels with Guicciardini--Rome pillaged
  by the Colonna--The Constable Bourbon advances into
  Central Italy--The Duke quells an insurrection at
  Florence                                                         433

APPENDICES

  I. Portraits of Cesare Borgia                                    459

  II. Duke Guidobaldo I. of Urbino, a Knight of the Garter         462

  III. Giovanni Sanzi's MS. Chronicle of Federigo,
  Duke of Urbino                                                   471

  IV. Epitaph of Giovanni della Rovere                             480

  V. Remission and rehabilitation of Duke Francesco Maria I.
  in 1512-13                                                       481

  VI. Letter from Cardinal Wolsey to Lorenzo de' Medici            484

  GENEALOGICAL TABLES                                 _At end of book_

ILLUSTRATIONS

  Elisabetta di Montefeltro, Duchess of Urbino.
  After the picture by Andrea Mantegna in the Uffizi
  Gallery, Florence. (Photo Alinari)                    _Frontispiece_

                                                           FACING PAGE

  Il Castello di Sinigaglia. (Photo Alinari)                        10

  Pope Julius II. From the picture by Raphael in the
  Pitti Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson)                         40

  Portrait of a lady, her hair dressed in the manner
  of the fifteenth century. From the picture by ? Verrocchio
  in Poldo-Pezzoli Collection, Milan. (Photo Alinari)               44

  A lady of the fifteenth century with jewels of the
  period. (Photo Alinari)                                           48

  Count Baldassare Castiglione. From a picture in the
  Torlonia Gallery, Rome                                            50

  Hair dressing in the fifteenth century. Detail from the
  fresco by Pisanello in S. Anastasia of Verona. (Photo Alinari)    54

  Cardinal Bembo. From a drawing once in the possession of
  Cavaliere Agricola in Rome                                        62

  Elisabetta Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino. From a lead medal
  by Adriano Fiorentino in the British Museum. By the
  courtesy of G.F. Hill, Esq.                                       72

  Emilia Pia. From a medal by Adriano Fiorentino in the
  Vienna Museum. By the courtesy of G.F. Hill, Esq.                 72

  Hair dressing in the sixteenth century. After a picture
  by Bissolo. (Photo Alinari)                                       76

  Portrait of a lady in mourning. After the picture by
  Pordenone in the Dresden Gallery. (Photo R. Tammé)                84

  S. Martin and S. Thomas with Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino,
  and Bishop Arrivabeni. After the picture by Timoteo Viti
  in the Duomo of Urbino. (Photo Alinari)                           88

  Baldassare Castiglione. After the picture by Raphael in
  the Louvre.                                                      120

  Madonna del Belvedere. After the fresco by Ottaviano
  Nelli in S. Maria Nuova, Gubbio                                  190

  Madonna del Soccorso. After the gonfalone by a pupil of
  Fiorenzo di Lorenzo in S. Francesco, Montone                     196

  Raphael, aged six years. From a picture once in the
  possession of James Dennistoun                                   216

  Raphael. After the portrait by himself in the Uffizi
  Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson)                              220

  Madonna and child. After the picture by Giovanni Santi,
  in the Pinacoteca of Urbino. (Photo Alinari)                     224

  Ecce Homo. From the picture by Giovanni Santi in the
  Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. (Photo Alinari)                          226

  S. Sebastian. After the picture by Timoteo Viti in the
  Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. (Photo Alinari)                          228

  Margherita "La Fornarina." After the picture by Raphael
  called La Donna Velata in the Pitti Gallery, Florence.
  (Photo Alinari)                                                  230

  Margherita "La Fornarina." After the spoiled picture by
  Raphael in the Galleria Barberini in Rome. (Photo Anderson)      232

  The Sposalizio. After the picture by Raphael, once in the
  Ducal Collection at Urbino, now in the Brera, Milan.
  (Photo Alinari)                                                  240

  Isabella of Aragon. After the picture by Raphael in the
  Louvre                                                           246

  St. Sebastian. From the picture by Timoteo Viti in the
  Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. (Photo Alinari)                          254

  Francesco Maria I. della Rovere. After the picture by
  Titian in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (From the Ducal
  Collection.) (Photo Alinari)                                     314

  Venetian wedding-dress in the sixteenth century. After
  the picture called "La Flora" by Titian in the Uffizi
  Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson)                              316

  Detail of the Urbino Venus. Supposed portrait of
  Duchess Leonora, from the picture by Titian in the
  Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (Photo Anderson)                       320

  The girl in the fur-cloak. Possibly a portrait of Duchess
  Leonora of Urbino. After the picture by Titian in the
  Imperial Gallery, Vienna. (Photo Franz Hanfstaengl)              324

  Duchess of Urbino, either Eleonora or Giulia Varana.
  After the picture by Titian in the Uffizi Gallery,
  Florence. Painted _ca._ 1538. (Photo Brogi)                      328

  Leo X. After the picture by Raphael in the Pitti Gallery,
  Florence. (Photo Anderson)                                       352

  Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, Duke of Urbino. After the
  picture by Bronzino in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
  (Photo Alinari)                                                  366

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

CHAPTER XIX

  A.D.                                                         PAGE

  1502.  Dec.      Valentino marches against Sinigaglia           3

    "     "   28.  Which surrenders                               4

    "     "   31.  Cesare massacres the confederate chiefs        4

  1503.  Jan.  2.  His letter to the authorities at Perugia       6

    "    Feb. 22.  Cardinal Orsini poisoned at Rome               8

    "    Jan.      Machiavelli's indifference to the massacre     8

    "     "        General extinction of moral feeling           10

    "     "   18.  Further murders of the chiefs                 11

    "     "        Valentino in the Val di Chiana                11

    "     "        Jealousy of Louis XII.                        11

    "     "        State of affairs at Urbino                    12

    "    June.     Siege of San Leo                              13

    "     "        Relieved by a dexterous stroke                13

    "              The Pontiff's wholesale poisonings            15

    "    Aug. 18.  To which he fell himself a victim             16

    "     "        The various accounts of this examined         17

    "     "        His character                                 19

    "     "        Valentino's narrow escape from the same fate  19

    "     "        His policy                                    20

    "     "        Results of the Pope's death at Rome           21

    "    Sep. 22.  Election of Pius III.                         22

CHAPTER XX

  1503.  Aug. 22.  Urbino resumes its allegiance                 23

    "     "        Guidobaldo returns from Venice                23

    "     "   28.  And is welcomed enthusiastically              24

    "              He joins the other princes in a defensive
                   confederacy                                   24

    "              The fortunes of Valentino rally               25

    "              His wavering conduct                          25

    "              Election of Julius II.                        27

    "              Fatal to Valentino's prospects                27

    "    Nov.      Guidobaldo's difficult position               28

    "     "        The Pope's negotiation with Borgia            29

  1504.  April.    Who escapes to Naples                         30

    "              But is sent prisoner to Spain                 30

  1507.  Mar. 10.  His death                                     31

  1503.            Guidobaldo's fortunate position               31

    "    Nov. 20.  Summoned to Rome                              32

    "     "        His favour with the Pope                      32

    "     "   15.  The Duchess returns home from Venice          33

    "     "        His interview with Valentino                  33

    "     "        Represented in a fresco                       33

  1504.            He is named Gonfaloniere of the Church        34

    "              And invested with the Garter of England       34

    "    June 1.   Returns home, accompanied by Count
                   Castiglione                                   34

    "    Feb.      Strange pastimes there                        34

    "              His brief campaign                            35

    "              And happy residence at Urbino                 35

    "              His installation as generalissimo of the
                   papal forces                                  36

    "    Sep.      His nephew, the young Prefect, invested as
                   his heir-apparent                             37

    "              Claims of Venice upon Romagna                 38

  1505.            Guidobaldo summoned to visit the Pope         38

  1506.  July.     Returns home                                  39

    "    Aug. 26.  Julius sets out for Romagna                   39

    "    Sep. 25.  His magnificent reception at Urbino           39

    "      "       Tariff of provisions there                    40

    "              Reaches Bologna                               41

    "              His statue there, and its fate                42

  1507.  Mar. 3.   Revisits Urbino on his return to Rome         42

CHAPTER XXI

  1507.            The cultivated tastes of the princes
                   in Romagna                                    43

    "              The Court of Urbino described by Count
                   Castiglione, in his _Cortegiano_              44

    "              The requisites of a lady of that court        45

    "              State of female refinement and morals         46

    "              Coarseness of language and wit                47

    "              Poetical and social pastimes                  49

    "              Sketch of the prominent personages there      50

    "              Count Baldassare Castiglione                  51

    "              He goes to England                            52

    "              His marriage, and conjugal affection          53

    "              His portraits                                 53

    "              His death and character                       55

    "              Giuliano de' Medici                           56

    "              Cesare Gonzaga                                58

    "              Ottaviano Fregoso                             58

    "              Cardinal Federigo Fregoso                     59

    "              Bembo's letter on his death                   61

    "              Cardinal Bembo                                62

    "              His attachment to Lucrezia Borgia             63

    "              His promotion under Leo X.                    64

    "              His lax morals                                64

    "              Bernardo Dovizii, Cardinal Bibbiena           65

    "              His ingratitude and ambition                  67

    "              His beauty and worldly character              68

    "              Bernardo Accolti, l'Unico Aretino             69

    "              Count Ludovico Canossa                        70

    "              Alessandro Trivulzio                          71

CHAPTER XXII

  1507.            The Duke's declining health                   72

    "              The court enlivened by female society         72

    "              Emilia Pio, surnamed Pia                      75

    "              Her decorum and wit                           76

    "              Her management of the social resources
                   of the palace                                 77

    "              The origin of Castiglione's _Cortegiano_      78

    "              Guidobaldo a martyr to gout                   79

  1506-1508.       Extraordinary derangement of the seasons      79

  1508.  April.    He is carried to Fossombrone                  80

    "     "   11.  His great sufferings and resigned end         80

    "     "        The paganism of his biographers               81

    "     "        Precautions of the Duchess against
                   a revolution                                  82

    "     "        And of the Pontiff                            83

    "     "        His body taken to Urbino                      84

    "     "   13.  The Prefect Francesco Maria proclaimed
                   Duke of Urbino                                85

    "     "        His visit to the Duchess                      85

    "     "        Funeral of Guidobaldo                         85

    "    May 2.    His obsequies and funeral oration             85

    "              His portraits                                 86

    "              His accomplishments and excellent character   86

    "              His patronage of Paolo Cortesio               87

    "              Enduring influence of his reign               88

    "              His widow                                     89

CHAPTER XXIII

  1443-1508.       The golden age of Italian letters and arts    93

    "    "         Rich in scholars but poor in genius           94

    "    "         Its prosaic tendency                          94

    "    "         The revival of learning                       95

    "    "         Promoted by the multiplicity of
                   independent communities                       97

    "    "         Especially by the petty sovereigns            98

    "    "         Adulatory tendency of such literature         99

    "    "         A narrow patriotism generated                100

    "    "         Taste for classical erudition, philology
                   and grammar                                  101

    "    "         The study of Latin induced pedantry and
                   languid conventionality                      102

    "    "         The prosaic scholarism of this period        103

    "    "         Tending to pagan ideas                       103

    "    "         The rival philosophies of Aristotle
                   and Plato                                    105

    "    "         Leading to fierce quarrels                   106

    "    "         Superseding Christian revelation             106

    "    "         And eventually shaking Catholic unity        107

    "    "         Influence of the Dukes of Urbino on letters  107

    "    "         Mediocrity of many authors of local fame     108

CHAPTER XXIV

  1412-1441.       Letters of Count Guidantonio in favour
                   of various learned men                       109

  1444-1482.       Duke Federigo's love for literary converse   111

    "    "         The academies                                112

    "    "         Fulsome dedications                          112

  1473.            Gentile de' Becci                            113

  1480.            Ludovico Odasio                              114

                   Francesco Venturini                          114

                   Guarniero Berni of Gubbio                    115

  1470-1555.       Polydoro di Vergilio                         115

    "    "         His preferments in England                   115

    "    "         His English history                          117

                   Vespasiano Filippi                           118

  1478-1529.       Count Baldassare Castiglione                 119

    "    "         His _Cortegiano_                             119

    "    "         Compared with Machiavelli's _Principe_       120

    "    "         His letter to Henry VIII. regarding
                   Duke Guidobaldo                              121

    "    "         His poetry                                   121

  1528.            His letter to his children                   122

  1470-1547.       Cardinal Bembo                               123

    "    "         His pedantry and affected imitation
                   of Cicero                                    123

    "    "         His history of Venice                        124

    "    "         His Essay on Duke Guidobaldo                 124

    "    "         His other works                              125

                   Learned ladies                               128

CHAPTER XXV

  1443-1508.       Poetry under the Montefeltrian Dukes         130

    "    "         Defects of the sonnet                        131

                   Francesco Filelfo                            131

  1480.            Gian Maria Filelfo, his son                  132

                   His Martiados in praise of Duke Federigo     132

                   His minor poems                              133

                   Specimen of the dedication                   134

                   His sonnet to Gentile Bellini the painter    135

                   His life of Duke Federigo                    136

                   Pandonio of Naples                           136

                   His Feltria on Duke Federigo's campaigns     137

                   Specimen of it                               137

                   Giovanni Sanzi of Urbino, father of
                   Raffaele Sanzio                              138

                   His metrical chronicle of Duke Federigo      138

                   Various specimens of it translated           140

  1428-1457.       Angelo Galli from Urbino                     143

                   Specimen of his poetry                       143

                   Federigo Veterani, his beautiful
                   transcripts                                  144

                   His tribute in verse to Duke Federigo        145

                   Urbani of Urbino                             146

                   Antonio Rustico of Florence                  146

                   Naldio of Florence                           146

                   Bernardo Accolti of Arezzo                   146

                   His improvisation                            146

                   Serafino di Aquila                           147

                   Agostino Staccoli of Urbino                  147

                   Early Italian comedies                       147

                   La Calandra of Bibbiena                      147

  1513.            Its performance at Urbino                    148

                   Description of the scenery and
                   accompanying interludes                      148

                   Origin of the ballet                         152

                   Nature of the plot in La Calandra            152

                   Low standard of morals at that time          153

                   Obscene jest books                           154

CHAPTER XXVI

                   Mediæval art almost exclusively religious    157

                   The introduction of types and
                   traditionary forms                           157

                   A picture by Botticelli denounced as
                   heretical (note)                             158

                   The choice and treatment of sacred themes    159

                   Modified by the personal character of
                   artists                                      160

                   Instances of this                            161

                   Devotional feeling of early painters         161

                   Shown in the rules of their guilds at
                   Siena and Florence                           162

                   Case of Giorgio Vasari                       163

                   The gloomy character of Spanish art          163

                   The subject to be considered apart from
                   sectarian views                              164

                   Christian art modified in the fifteenth
                   century                                      166

                   Gradual innovation of naturalism             167

                   Followed by paganism and classicism          168

                   Rise of the "new manner"                     169

                   Religious prudery in Spain fatal to art      170

                   Von Rumohr's definition of Christian art     170

                   Opinions prevailing in England               171

                   Hogarth and Savonarola                       172

                   Burnet and Barry                             172

                   Reynolds and Raffaele                        172

                   Obstacles to a due appreciation of this
                   subject among us                             173

                   Mr. Ruskin and Lord Lindsay                  174

                   Sir David Wilkie                             175

                   It does not necessarily lead to popery       175

                   Nor is it a desirable "groundwork for a
                   new style of art"                            176

                   St. Francis of Assisi, his legends
                   and shrine                                   177

                   Their influence renders Umbria the cradle
                   of sacred art                                178

                   Opinions of Rio, Boni, and Herbert Seymour   179

CHAPTER XXVII

                   The Umbrian school hitherto overlooked       184

                   The cathedral of Orvieto and the sanctuary
                   of Assisi attract many artists               185

                   The dramatic or Dantesque character of
                   Florentine painting                          186

                   Sentimental devotion of the Sienese school   187

                   Influence of these on Umbrian painters       187

       -1299.      Oderigi da Gubbio                            188

                   Notice of him by Dante                       188

                   Guido Palmerucci of Gubbio                   189

                   Angioletto, a glass-painter of Gubbio        190

  1375-1444.       Ottaviano Nelli of Gubbio and his pupils     190

  1434.  June 30.  His letter to Caterina, Countess of Urbino   192

                   Allegretto Nuzi of Fabriano                  193

  1370-14.         Gentile da Fabriano; he studies under        193

  1383-14.         Fra Giovanni da Fiesole, the Beato Angelico  194

    "  "           A friar of holy life and pencil              194

    "  "           Gentile called "master of the masters"       196

  1370-14.         His works studied by Raffaele                196

    "  "           Goes to Venice                               197

    "  "           His taste for gaudy trappings                197

                   Benedetto Bonfigli of Perugia                199

  1446-1524.       Pietro Perugino                              199

                   Painters in Urbino                           200

      -1478.       Piero della Francesca of Borgo
                   San Sepolcro                                 201

    "   "          His history obscure                          201

    "   "          His two distinct manners                     202

    "   "          His knowledge of geometry                    203

    "   "          His claims to the introduction
                   of perspective                               203

    "   "          These examined, and those of Luca Pacioli    203

    "   "          His unedited writings (note)                 204

    "   "          His frescoes at Arezzo and their influence
                   on Raffaele                                  206

    "   "          His portrait of Sigismondo Pandolfo
                   Malatesta                                    208

    "   "          His portraits of the Montefeltrian princes   209

      -1484.       Bartolomeo Coradino, the Fra Carnevale       210

                   Beautiful altar-picture near Pesaro          211

  1423-1502.       Francesco di Giorgio of Siena                211

                   His works in painting, architecture,
                   and engineering                              212

                   Letter of Duke Federigo on his behalf        214

                   His writings                                 215

CHAPTER XXVIII

      -1494.       Giovanni Sanzi of Urbino                     216

                   Till lately unjustly depreciated             216

                   His own account of himself                   217

                   His style and works                          218

                   His portrait of his son, the divine
                   Raffaele                                     218

  1483.  Apr. 6.   Birth of Raffaele Sanzio of Urbino,
                   surnamed "the Divine"                        220

                   Notice of his biographers                    220

                   His appearance happily timed                 221

                   First pictorial influences on his mind       222

  1495.            He goes to the school of Perugino            223

  1500-1504.       His earliest independent works at Città
                   di Castello                                  225

    "    "         Returns to paint at Perugia                  226

    "    "         Visits Siena and Florence                    226

    "    "         Returns to paint at Urbino                   227

    "    "         His second visit to Florence                 227

    "    "         With a recommendation from Joanna
                   della Rovere                                 228

  1504-1505.       His works, patrons, and associates there     228

  1505-1507.       Again painting at Perugia                    230

  1505-1507.       His intercourse with Francia                 231

  1503-1508.       And with the polished court of Urbino        231

    "    "         Works commissioned of him there              232

    "    "         His recently discovered fresco at Florence   234

CHAPTER XXIX

  1508.            He is called to Rome by Julius II.           235

    "              And employed to paint in the Stanze          236

  1508-1513.       His plan for the frescoes there detailed
                   and examined                                 236

  1513.  Feb. 21.  Death of Julius II.                          239

  1513-1520.       Raffaele's powers overtaxed                  240

    "    "         He gradually falls into "the new manner"     241

    "    "         The charge against him of a vicious life
                   unfounded                                    241

    "    "         Question how far he imitated others          242

    "    "         Especially Michael Angelo                    243

    "    "         No parallel between them                     244

    "    "         His diminished intercourse with Urbino       246

  1520.  Apr. 6.   His sudden death and funeral                 247

    "              His intended marriage and cardinal's hat     249

    "              His varied gifts                             250

    "              Testimonies to his merits                    250

    "              His sense of beauty                          251

    "              Purity of his taste                          252

CHAPTER XXX

  1470-1523.       Timoteo Viti                                 254

                   His picture of questioned orthodoxy          256

  1444-1514.       Donato Bramante                              259

                   Confusion regarding him                      259

                   His works at Urbino                          261

                   Commences St. Peter's, at Rome               262

                   Builds at the Vatican                        263

                   Fra Bernardo Catelani                        264

                   Crocchia of Urbino                           265

  1450-1517.       Francesco Francia                            265

  1430-1506.       Andrea Mantegna                              265

  1424-1514.       Giovanni Bellini                             266

  1446-1523.       Pietro Perugino                              266

  1386-1445.       Jean van Eyck                                266

  1474.            Justus of Ghent                              267

                   Italian portrait medallions                  269

  1468.            Clemente of Urbino                           270

                   Medals of Duke Federigo                      270

                   Medal of Duchess Elisabetta                  272

                   Medal of Emilia Pia                          273

CHAPTER XXXI

  1414.  July 21.  Birth of Sixtus IV.                          277

    "              Origin of his family                         277

  1414.            Omens attending his birth                    278

  1471.  Aug. 9.   His education and elevation to the papacy    278

                   Children of his father, and their
                   descendants                                  279

                   His partiality to his nephews                283

                   Extravagance of Cardinal Pietro Riario       284

                   Hospitalities of Sixtus                      285

                   His improvements in Rome                     286

                   Scandals regarding him                       287

                   His patronage of art                         287

                   And of the Vatican Library                   289

                   Portrait there of himself and nephews        289

                   Painted by Melozzo da Forlì                  290

                   His brother Giovanni della Rovere            291

  1474.  Oct. 12.  Made vicar of Sinigaglia                     291

    "     "   28.  His marriage with Princess Giovanna
                   of Urbino                                    291

  1475.            Made Lord Prefect of Rome                    291

                   His beneficial reign                         292

                   His favour at the papal court                293

  1474.            The story of Zizim or Gem                    293

    "              His ransom is seized by the Prefect          294

    "              Curious correspondence of the Sultan
                   with Alexander VI.                           295

    "              Description of Gem by Mantegna the painter   297

  1501.  Nov. 6.   Death of the Prefect                         299

                   His portrait                                 299

                   His widow                                    300

                   Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere               301

                   His persecutions by the Borgias              301

  1503.  Nov. 1.   His election to the Tiara                    303

                   His character and policy                     304

                   His patronage of art                         306

                   His improvements in Rome                     306

                   Parallel of him with Leo X.                  307

CHAPTER XXXII

  1490.  Mar. 25.  Birth of Duke Francesco Maria I.             313

  1501.  Nov. 6.   He succeeds to his father's state
                   of Sinigaglia                                313

    "     "        He is carried to Urbino                      313

  1502.  Apr. 24.  Is made Prefect of Rome                      313

    "              His early education and tastes               314

    "              His military propensities                    314

    "    June 20.  His escape from Cesare Borgia                315

  1502.            He is received at the court of France        315

  1504.  March.    His return to Italy                          315

    "    June 17.  Restored at Sinigaglia                       316

    "    Sep. 18.  Invested as heir-apparent of Urbino          316

  1505.  Jan.      Contracted in marriage to Leonora Gonzaga    316

  1506.            His first military service                   316

  1507.  Oct. 6.   Assassinates the paramour of his sister      317

  1508.  Apr. 14.  He succeeds to the dukedom of Urbino         318

    "     "        His constitutional concessions               319

    "     "   25.  His summons to his new subjects to
                   swear allegiance                             319

    "              His judicious and conciliatory measures      320

    "              Origin of the League of Cambray              321

    "    Dec. 10.  It is signed                                 322

    "     "        The objects of this unnatural combination    322

    "    Oct. 4.   Francesco Maria made captain-general of
                   the ecclesiastical forces                    323

  1509.  May.      Elected a Knight of the Garter, but not
                   confirmed by Henry VIII.                     324

    "    Dec. 24.  His marriage celebrated                      324

                   The Duchess Leonora's psalter                324

    "    April.    He takes the field against Venice            325

    "    May 4.    Takes Brisghella                             325

    "              Remarkable incident in his camp              325

    "              The Pope's partiality for the Cardinal
                   of Pavia                                     326

    "              His character and intrigues against
                   Francesco Maria                              327

    "              His treachery                                327

    "    May 14.   The Venetians beaten at Vaila                328

    "    June 11.  Rimini capitulates, and the campaign
                   closes                                       329

    "              The Duke carries his bride to Rome           329

    "              He reconciles the Pope to Giuliano
                   de' Medici                                   329

    "              The Pope changes sides                       330

    "              Further treachery of the Cardinal of Pavia   330

  1510.  July.     The Duke marches against Ferrara             331

    "    Sep.      Julius II. takes the field                   331

    "              His suspicions of the Cardinal               332

    "              The council of Pisa threatened               332

    "              His indomitable resolution                   333

CHAPTER XXXIII

  1510.  Dec.      His ill-judged appearance at the siege
                   of Mirandola                                 334

  1511.  May 21.   The Duke's miscarriage before Bologna
                   by the Cardinal's treachery                  336

    "     "        The Cardinal prepossesses the Pope
                   against his nephew                           338

    "     "  24.   And falls by his hand                        339

    "              Ill-timed badinage of Cardinal Bembo (note)  339

    "              The Duke retires to Urbino                   340

    "    June.     And the Pontiff returns to Rome              340

    "              His indignation against the Duke             340

    "              Who is arrested, and subjected to a
                   complicated prosecution                      341

    "              Defended by Beroaldo the younger             341

    "              Dangerous illness of Julius                  342

    "              He is reconciled to Francesco Maria          343

    "    Dec. 9.   And absolves him                             343

    "     "        New league against the French                343

  1512.            Hesitation of Francesco Maria                344

    "              Consequent disgust of Julius                 344

    "    Apr. 11.  The field of Ravenna                         344

    "              Francesco Maria is reconciled to the Pope    345

    "    June 22.  He retakes Bologna                           345

    "    Aug.      And reduces Reggio                           345

    "              The French abandoned by their
                   Italian allies                               346

    "              The Duke's fruitless attempt on Ferrara      347

    "              Restoration of the Medici at Florence        347

    "              The Duke's feeling towards them examined     347

    "              New projects of the Pope                     348

    "              Lapse of Pesaro to the Holy See              349

    "    Oct. 23.  The town reduced by Francesco Maria          349

  1513.  Feb. 16.  He is invested with that state               350

    "     "   21.  Death of Julius II.                          350

    "    Mar. 16.  The Duke's reception at Pesaro               350

CHAPTER XXXIV

  1513.            Influence of Francesco Maria in the
                   conclave favourable to the Medici            351

    "    Mar. 11.  Election of Leo. X.                          351

    "     "        His singular good fortune                    352

    "     "        His character contrasted with that of
                   Julius by Sismondi                           352

    "     "   19.  Francesco Maria attends his coronation       353

    "     "        And is confirmed in all his dignities        354

    "    Sep.      His favour for Baldassare Castiglione        355

    "              Notice of the fief of Novilara               357

  1514.            Ambitious projects and intrigues of
                   Leo X., involving Urbino                     358

    "    Apr. 2.   Birth of Prince Guidobaldo of Urbino         359

  1515.  Jan. 1.   Bembo's visit to that court                  359

    "    June      The Duke superseded by Leo X. in
                   his command                                  360

    "              Friendship of Giuliano de' Medici for him    361

    "    Jan. 1.   Death of Louis XII., succeeded by
                   Francis I.                                   362

    "              The Pontiff's undecided policy               362

    "    Sep. 13.  Battle of Marignano                          364

  1516.  Jan.      Death of Ferdinand of Spain                  364

    "    Mar. 17.  And of Giuliano de' Medici                   365

    "     "        Character of Lorenzo de' Medici              365

    "     "        Francesco Maria exposed to the fury of Leo   366

    "    Apr. 27.  Sentence of deprivation against him          367

    "    Aug. 18.  And his dignities conferred upon Lorenzo     367

    "    April     Ingratitude of Bembo                         367

                   Lashed by Porrino                            368

    "    May.      The duchy of Urbino invaded                  368

    "     "   31.  Francesco Maria withdraws to Lombardy
                   with his family                              369

    "     "        The duchy surrenders to Lorenzo              369

    "    Sep.      S. Leo surprised                             370

CHAPTER XXXV

  1516.  Aug. 13.  The peace of Noyon                           372

    "              Attempt on his state by the Duke             372

  1517.  Jan. 17.  His manifesto                                373

    "     "        His address to the soldiery                  376

    "     "        Alarm of the Pontiff                         377

    "     "        Gradara is sacked                            377

    "    Feb.      Partial rising in his favour                 377

    "     "   5.   Remarkable adventure of Benedetto Giraldi    378

    "    "    "    Francesco Maria enters Urbino                380

    "              Measures adopted by Leo                      380

    "              The Duke challenges Lorenzo to a personal
                   encounter, which is declined                 382

    "    Mar. 25.  Sack of Montebaroccio                        383

    "     "        Siege of Mondolfo, where Lorenzo is wounded  384

    "              Its sack, with many excesses                 385

    "              Cardinal Bibbiena appointed to the command
                   as legate                                    387

    "              Disorganisation of his army                  388

    "    May 6.    It is routed on Montebartolo                 388

    "     "  "     The Duke's letter to his consort detailing
                   the battle                                   389

CHAPTER XXXVI

  1517.            Conspiracy against Leo                       391

    "              Fate of Cardinal Adrian of Corneto           392

    "    June 20.  Leo applies to Henry VIII.                   392

    "              His unscrupulous measures                    392

    "    May.      Francesco Maria's expedition against
                   Perugia                                      393

    "     "        Treason in his camp                          393

    "     "        His energetic proceedings                    394

    "    June.     Makes a foray into La Marca                  395

    "     "        A conversation with the Pope                 396

    "     "        His apprehensions                            397

    "    July.     The Duke's advantage over the Swiss at
                   Rimini, and march upon Tuscany               398

    "    Aug.      Progress of negotiations                     398

    "              Conditions granted to Francesco Maria        402

    "              Vile conduct of his Spaniards                402

    "              Curious votive inscription                   403

    "              The Duke again withdraws from his state      403

    "              Immense cost of the campaign                 404

    "              Its remote consequences upon the
                   Reformation                                  404

    "              The fortunes of Lorenzo de' Medici           405

  1519.  Apr. 28.  His death                                    405

    "              Partition of the duchy of Urbino             406

  1520.  Mar.      Fate of Gian Paolo Baglioni                  406

  1519.            The singular good fortune of Charles V.      407

    "    June 28.  He is elected Emperor                        408

  1521.            Combinations for new wars in Italy           408

    "              Francesco Maria in the French interest       409

    "              He retires to Lonno                          409

    "              Milan restored to the Sforza family          410

CHAPTER XXXVII

  1521.  Dec. 1.   Disgust and death of Leo                     411

    "     "        Opinions as to his being poisoned            411

    "     "        Francesco Maria returns to his state         412

    "     "   22.  And is readily welcomed                      413

  1522.  Jan. 5.   He restores the Varana and Baglioni          413

    "     "        And invades Tuscany                          414

    "     "   15.  His letter to the Priors of Siena            414

    "              Urbino invaded by the Medici                 415

    "              Their reconciliation with the Duke           415

    "              His condotta by them                         416

    "              Election of Adrian VI                        416

    "    May 18.   The Duke is reinstated in his dignities      418

    "    Feb. 18.  His bond to the Sacred College               418

    "              Pretensions of Ascanio Colonna upon Urbino   418

    "    June 22.  Murder of Sigismondo Varana                  419

    "              The Duke refuses service with the French     420

    "    Aug.      But aids the Pope against Rimini             420

  1523.            The ladies of his court return home          421

    "              He establishes his residence at Pesaro       421

    "              Hospitality of the Duchesses                 421

    "              He goes to Rome, to wait upon Adrian         422

    "              New league for the defence of Sforza         423

    "              Francesco Maria retained by Venice as
                   general-in-chief                             423

    "              French invasion of the Milanese              423

    "    Sep. 24.  Death of Adrian succeeded by Clement VII.    423

    "              Death of Prospero Colonna, and his
                   influence on the tactics of Francesco
                   Maria                                        423

    "              Venetian _proveditori_ and their evils      424

  1524.            Lanoy commander-in-chief of the allies       426

    "              The Duke of Urbino hampered by the
                   Proveditore                                 426

    "              His tactics                                  427

  1523.            The French admiral, Bonnivet, wounded        427

    "              Is succeeded by the Chevalier Bayard         427

  1524.  Apr. 30.  His heroic death                             427

    "              The French driven out of Italy               428

    "    June 25.  His honourable reception at Venice           429

    "      "  27.  Made captain-general by the Signory          429

    "    July 3.   Received into the company della Calza        430

    "      "  5.   Returns home                                 431

    "    Oct.      New invasion of Italy by Francis I.          431

  1525.  Feb. 25.  The battle of Pavia                          431

CHAPTER XXXVIII

  1525.            Altered policy of Clement                    433

    "              Treason and death of the Marquis of Pescara  434

  1526.  Feb. 14.  Letter from the Duke of Urbino to Cardinal
                   Wolsey                                       434

    "    May.      New League against Charles V.                435

    "     "        The Duke marches to relieve Milan            435

    "    June.     And obtains Lodi                             435

    "              His embarrassment from the number of
                   leaders in the army                          436

    "              Sketch of Francesco Guicciardini             436

    "              His differences with Francesco Maria         436

    "              Opinions divided as to the advance on Milan  437

    "              The Duke's policy explained                  438

    "    July 6.   Miscarriage and retreat of the army          439

    "     "        The prejudices of Guicciardini               439

    "     "   24.  Milan is surrendered by Sforza               441

    "     "        The Duke's quarrels with Guicciardini        441

    "              Opinions of Sismondi                         442

    "              The Duke's illness from vexation             443

    "    Sep.      He carries Cremona                           443

    "              The Colonna rebel against the Pope           443

    "    Sep. 20.  They surprise Rome, and pillage the Borgo    444

    "     "        Francesco Maria visits his Duchess           445

    "    Nov.      Fründesberg brings the lansquenets
                   into Lombardy                                445

    "              The Duke's plans of defence considered       446

    "    Nov. 30.  Battle of Borgoforte, and death of
                   Giovanni de' Medici _delle bande nere_       446

  1527.            Tortuous policy of Clement                   447

    "    Mar. 15.  His truce with Lanoy                         448

    "     "        Inertness of the allies                      449

    "     "        The Constable Bourbon                        449

    "     "        His policy in this war                       449

    "     "        Inactivity of the Duke                       451

    "     "        Bourbon's advance into Central Italy         452

    "     "        He repudiates Lanoy's truce                  452

    "     "        His progress through Romagna                 453

    "     "        Vain attempt of Lanoy to interrupt him       453

    "     "        Feeble and selfish views of all the allies   454

    "     "        Secret motives of the Duke                   454

    "    Apr. 22.  Bourbon crosses into Tuscany                 455

    "              The Duke quells an insurrection at
                   Florence                                     456

    "    May 1.    His fortresses of S. Leo and Maiuola
                   restored                                     456

    "    Apr. 26.  Bourbon hurries onward to Rome               456

APPENDICES

                   Cesare Borgia's personal appearance
                   and portraits                                459

  1504.  Feb. 20.  Letter of Henry VIII. to Duke Guidobaldo
                   with the insignia of the Garter              462

    "              Instructions for his investiture             463

    "              Polydoro di Vergilio's account of it         466

  1506.  July 24.  The Duke sends Count Castiglione to
                   England as his proxy                         469

    "    Oct. 20.  His reception and installation               469

  1507.            He is knighted, and returns to Urbino        470

                   Giovanni Sanzi's metrical Chronicle of
                   Duke Federigo                                471

                   Fac-simile of the autograph                  472

                   Table of the contents                        472

                   Epitaph upon Giovanni della Rovere           480

                   Remission and rehabilitation of Duke
                   Francesco Maria I.                           481

                   Letter from Cardinal Wolsey to Lorenzo
                   de' Medici                                   484

MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO--II

NOTE.--The Editor's notes are marked with an asterisk.

BOOK THIRD

(_continued_)

OF GUIDOBALDO DI MONTEFELTRO, THIRD DUKE OF URBINO

MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO

CHAPTER XIX

     The massacre of Sinigaglia--Death of Alexander VI.--Narrow
     escape of Cesare Borgia.

The principal object of the new combination having been attained
by the submission of Urbino, followed by that of Camerino, Borgia
hastened to anticipate the suspicions of his allies by sending
the French succours back to Milan. He however retained a body of
troops, and proposed that the chiefs should co-operate with him in
reducing Sinigaglia, which was held by the late Prefect's widow.
Accordingly, Paolo Orsini, his relation the Duke of Gravina,
Vitellozzo, and Liverotto advanced upon that town, the garrison of
which was commanded by the celebrated Andrea Doria. This remarkable
man, finding himself excluded by the state of parties at Genoa
from all prospect of preferment, had in youth adopted the career
of a condottiere. He took service with Giovanni della Rovere,
distinguishing himself greatly in the campaign of Charles VIII. at
Naples; after which he continued attached to the Prefect and his
widow, with a hundred light horse. Seeing the case of Sinigaglia
desperate, and dreading Liverotto's bitter hatred of the Rovere
race, he retired, having first sent off the Prefectess on horseback
to Florence, disguised as a friar. On the 28th of December, the
assailants took undisputed possession of the city, and sacked it.
His prey now in his toils, Valentino, who had lulled their suspicion
by keeping aloof with his troops in Romagna, flew to the spot on the
pretext of reducing the citadel, and on the 31st arrived at the town
with a handful of cavalry.

He was met three miles outside of the gate by the chiefs, and
immediately requested their attendance in the house of one Bernardino
di Parma, to receive his congratulations and thanks on their success.
At the same time he desired quarters to be provided for their
respective followings outside of the city, in order to admit his own
army, amounting to two thousand cavalry and ten thousand infantry.
Startled at the appearance of a force so disproportioned to the
service in hand, they would gladly have demurred to this distribution
of the troops, but Cesare had contrived that there should be no
opportunity for remonstrance, and resistance would have obviously
been too late. Affecting a confidence they were far from feeling, the
leaders accepted the invitation, and were received with cordiality
and distinction. After an interchange of compliments, Borgia withdrew
upon some pretext, when there immediately entered his chosen agent
of iniquity, Don Michelotto, with several armed followers, who,
after some resistance, arrested the Duke of Gravina, Paolo Orsini,
Vitellozzo, and Liverotto, with some ten others. Before morning the
two last were strangled with a Pisan cord, or violin-string, and a
wrench-pin, by the hands of that monster, in his master's presence.
Their death, according to Machiavelli, was cowardly, especially that
of the blood-stained Liverotto; and their bodies, after being dragged
round the piazza, were exposed for three days before burial.

That night Valentino, at the head of his Gascons, attacked six
thousand of these captains' troops, which had not dispersed on
hearing the capture of their leaders, slaughtering and plundering
them with the same barbarity they had themselves used towards the
citizens. The greater portion were cut to pieces, and those who
escaped reached their homes naked, having only straw tied round their
legs. Fabio Orsini was saved by his accidental absence from Borgia's
levee; Petrucci and Baglioni, suspicious of treachery, had avoided
their fate by previously retiring home. Against the last of these,
Borgia marched in a few days, carrying with him the remaining chiefs,
of whom he reserved the Orsini until he should hear his father's
intentions; but each night after supper he is said to have had one
of the others brought out, and put to a cruel death before him. Thus
did he, by a dexterous stroke of the most refined duplicity, turn the
tools of his ambition into victims of his vengeance, and at the same
time ridded himself of faithless adherents, whom any change in his
fortune would have again converted into overt and implacable foes.[1]

[Footnote 1: Our chief authorities for this tragic scene are
Machiavelli's despatches and separate narrative, with the Diaries of
Burchard, Buonaccorsi, and Sanuto. Some details are taken from the
Ricordi of Padre Gratio, guardian of the Monastery delle Grazie at
Sinigaglia, a contemporary, and probably an eye-witness to many of
them. Vat. Urb. MSS. 1023, art. 17.[*A]]

[Footnote *A: Cf. MADIAI, _Diario delle Cose di Urbino_,
in _Arch. St. per le Marche e per l'Umbria_, tom. III., p. 437.
Machiavelli, who was with Cesare at the time, describes the massacre
of Sinigaglia as "il bellissimo inganno di Sinigaglia." Cesare wrote
an account of it to Isabella d'Este. Cf. her letter to her husband
(D'ARCO, _Notizie di Isabella Estense_, in _Arch. St. Ital._, ser. i.,
App., vol. I., No. II. (1845), p. 262).]

Vermiglioli, in his life of Malatesta Baglioni, has printed, from
the archives of Perugia, a letter from Borgia to the magistrates of
that city, which, in consideration of the comparative obscurity of
that interesting volume, we shall here translate. It is, perhaps, the
only known document fully stating the case of the writer, and so may
be regarded as his defence from the charges we have brought against
him: the style and orthography are remarkably rude; and the matter
abounds in that common expedient, whereby bold and bad men seek to
evade merited accusations, by throwing them upon those they have
outraged.[2]

[Footnote 2: Our version is from the original letter. Nearly similar
in purport, but much shorter, is a despatch written by him to the
Doge of Venice on the very night of the raid, so anxious was he to
conciliate the Signory.]

     "Magnificent and potent Lords, my special Friends and
     Brothers;

     "Superfluous were it to narrate from their outset the
     perfidious rebellion and atrocious treason, so known to
     yourselves and to all the world, and so detestable, which
     your [lords, the Baglioni,] and their accomplices have
     committed against his Holiness the Pope and ourselves.
     And although all were our vassals, and most of them in
     our pay, received and caressed by us as sons or brothers,
     and favoured with high promotion, they nevertheless,
     regardless of the kindness of his Holiness and our own,
     as of their individual honour, banded in schemes of
     overweening ambition, and blinded by greed of tyranny,
     have failed us at the moment of our utmost need, turning
     his Holiness' arms and ours against him and ourselves,
     for the overthrow of our sovereignty and person. They
     commenced their aggressions upon us by raising our
     states of Urbino, Camerino, and Montefeltro, throwing
     all Romagna into confusion by force and by seditious
     plots, and proceeding under the mask of reconciliation to
     fresh offences, until our new levies were brought up in
     irresistible force. And so atrocious was their baseness,
     that neither the beneficent clemency of his [Holiness]
     aforesaid, nor our renewed indulgence to them, weaned them
     from the slough of their first vile designs, in which
     they still persisted. And as soon as they learned the
     departure of the French troops on their return towards
     Lombardy, whereby they deemed us weakened and left with no
     effective force, they, feigning an urgent desire to aid
     in our attack upon Sinigaglia, mustered a third only of
     their infantry, and concealed the remainder in the houses
     about, with instructions to draw together at nightfall,
     and unite with the men-at-arms, whom they had posted in
     the neighbourhood, meaning, at a given moment, to throw
     the infantry, through the garrison (with whom they had an
     understanding), upon the new town, in the narrow space
     whereof they calculated upon our being lodged with few
     attendants, and so to complete their long-nourished plans
     by crushing us at unawares. But we, distinctly forewarned
     of all, so effectively and quickly anticipated them, that
     we at once made prisoners of the Duke of Gravina, Paolo
     Orsini, Vitellozzo of Castello, and Liverotto of Fermo,
     and discovered, sacked, and overthrew their foot and
     horse, whether concealed or not; whereupon the castellan,
     seeing the plot defeated, quickly surrendered the fortress
     at discretion. And this we have done, under pressure
     of necessity imposed by the measures of these persons
     aforesaid, and in order to make an end of the unmeasured
     perfidy and villanies of them and their coadjutors,
     thereby restraining their boundless ambition and insensate
     cupidity, which were truly a public nuisance to the nations
     of Italy. Thus your highnesses have good cause for great
     rejoicing at your deliverance from these dangers. And on
     your highnesses' account, I am now, by his Holiness's
     commands, to march with my army, for the purpose of
     rescuing you from the rapacious and sanguinary oppression
     whereby you have been vexed, and to restore you to free
     and salutary obedience to his Holiness and the Apostolic
     See, with the maintenance of your wonted privileges. For
     the which causes, We, as Gonfaloniere and Captain of his
     Holiness and the aforesaid See, exhort, recommend, and
     command you, on receipt hereof, to free yourselves from
     all other yoke, and to send ambassadors to lay before his
     Holiness your dutiful and unreserved obedience: which
     failing, we are commanded to reduce you by force to that
     duty,--an event that would distress us on account of the
     serious injuries which must thereby result to your people,
     for whom we have, from our boyhood, borne and still bear
     singular favour. From Corinaldo, the 2d of January, 1503.

     "CESARE BORGIA OF FRANCE, DUKE OF ROMAGNA AND
     VALENTINO, PRINCE OF ADRIA AND VENAFRA, LORD OF
     PIOMBINO, Gonfaloniere and Captain-General of the Holy
     Roman Church."

News of the Sinigaglia tragedy reached the Pope late in the evening,
and he instantly communicated to Cardinal Orsini that Cesare had
taken that city, assured that an early visit of congratulation from
his Eminence would follow. The Cardinal was perhaps the richest and
most influential of his house. He chiefly had organised the league
of La Magione, but having always contrived to keep on good terms
with Alexander, he believed in the professions of regard with which
his Holiness subsequently seduced him from that policy, and thence
reposed in him a fatal confidence. Next morning he rode in state to
pay his respects at the Vatican, where his own person and those of
his principal relations were instantly seized, whilst his magnificent
palace at Monte Giordano was pillaged by orders and for the benefit
of the Pontiff. After an imprisonment of some weeks, he was cut off
by slow poison, prescribed from the same quarter, and died on the 22d
of February. Thus did the Pope set his seal of approval on his son's
atrocities, which he justified by a poor and pointless jest, avowing
that as the confederates of La Magione, after stipulating that they
should not be required to re-enter the service of Valentino unless
singly, had thought fit to place themselves within his power _en
masse_, they merited their fate as forsworn.

[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF SIGNATURES

[1. 1480]

[2. 1494]

[3. 1501]

[4. 1504]

[5. 1501]

[6. 1510]

[7. 1522]

[8. 1540]

[9. 1517]]

The massacre of Sinigaglia has been condemned by every writer except
Machiavelli, and posterity has in severe retribution suspected him
of abetting it. This charge possesses a twofold interest, as
inculpating the character of the historian, and as affecting the
morality of the age.[*3] In the latter view alone does it fall under
our consideration: yet however horrible these wholesale murders, they
are more remarkable in Italian history as the crowning crime of an
ambitious career, and as widely influencing the political aspect of
Romagna and La Marca, than from their relative enormity. The fates
of the young Astorre Manfredi of Faenza, of Fogliano of Fermo, of
the Lord of Camerino and his three sons, have all been mentioned in
these pages as occurring within a year or two of this event. It would
be easy to swell the catalogue of slaughter; and we find Baglioni
and Vitellozzo both classed with Cesare himself in the category
of murder, by a chronicler of Alexander VI., who also quotes from
the mouth of Giovanni Bentivoglio, at the diet of La Magione, this
bravado, "I shall assassinate Duke Valentino should I be so lucky as
to have opportunity."[4] The spirit of the age is further illustrated
by its unnumbered poisonings: and the fact that Machiavelli should
neither have used his influence with Valentino to avert the massacre
of the confederates, nor his pen to brand the treachery of that foul
deed, is but another link in the evidence from which we may deduce
the total extinction of moral feeling, which, anticipating the worst
doctrines of Loyola, carried them out with a selfishness, falsehood,
and cruelty unparalleled in the annals of human civilisation.[*5]

[Footnote *3: It is unlikely that Machiavelli abetted the massacre,
though he certainly approved it dispassionately enough. By it the
Papacy was rid at last of the houses of Colonna and Orsini. Cesare
met Machiavelli after the affair "with the best cheer in the world,"
reminding him that he had given him a hint of his intentions, but
adding, "I did not tell you all." He urged on Machiavelli his
desire for a firm alliance with Florence. Cf. MACHIAVELLI,
_Legazione al Valentino_, Lett. 86, and the _Modo tenuto dal Duca
Valentino nel ammazzare Vitellozzo_. See also CREIGHTON,
_op. cit._, vol V., p. 40.]

[Footnote 4: VERMIGLIOLI: _Vita di Malatesta Baglioni_.]

[Footnote *5: The schemes of Cesare were in his age no more
unscrupulously carried out than Bismarck's in his. "It is well," said
Cesare, "to beguile those who have shown themselves to be masters of
treachery."]

[Illustration: _Alinari_

IL CASTELLO DI SINIGAGLIA]

Gianpaolo Baglioni having fled to Siena, Valentino followed him in
that direction, after taking possession of Perugia, and learning
that Città di Castello, abandoned by the adherents of the Vitelli,
had been plundered by his own partizans. On the 18th of January,
hearing at Città della Pieve of the blow struck by his father against
the Orsini, and that Fabio, who escaped the snare at Sinigaglia,
was ravaging the Campagna, he handed over Paolo and the Duke of
Gravina to the tender mercies of Michelotto, whose noose quickly
encircled their necks. Invading the Sienese, he carried fire and
sword by Chiusi as far as Pienza and San Quirico, massacring even
the aged and infirm with horrible tortures. His real object, besides
revenging himself upon Petrucci and Baglioni, was to add Siena to his
territory, but his position being then a delicate one with France, he
accepted the proposal of that republic to purchase safety, by exiling
Petrucci their seigneur, and dismissing Baglioni their guest.[*6]

[Footnote *6: Cf. LISINI, _Cesare Borgia e la repubblica di
Siena_, in the _Boll. Senese di Stor. Pat._, ann. VII. (fasc. I.),
pp. 114, 115, and 144 _et seq._ for all the documents. And for a
short but excellent account in English of the whole Sienese affair,
LANGTON DOUGLAS, _A History of Siena_ (Murray, 1902), p. 206
_et seq._]

This series of rapid successes is ascribed by Machiavelli to the
policy of Valentino in ridding himself of his French auxiliaries and
his mercenary confederates, and so being enabled, during the brief
remainder of his career, to give his talents and energy full scope in
the conduct of an army entirely devoted to his views. His conquests
had now extended along the eastern fall of the Apennines, from
Imola to Camerino, and included the upper vale of the Tiber and the
principality of Piombino. He had but to add to them Siena, and the
best part of Central Italy from sea to sea would be his own. The eyes
of Louis, at length opened to a danger which he had so long fostered,
were not blinded by Cesare's affected moderation in claiming his
recent acquisitions rather for the Church than for himself, and that
monarch hastened to caution him from further hostilities against
Tuscany. The successes of Fabio Orsini around Rome at the same time
called for his presence, so he changed his route to make a foray
upon the holdings of that family about the Lake of Bracciano, with
whom the Colonna and Savelli had united against their common enemies
the Borgia. This opportunity was greedily seized by the Pontiff to
carry out his long cherished policy of breaking the power of the
great barons, and the castles of the Orsini having one after another
been reduced, their influence ceased for the future to be formidable
either to their sovereign or their neighbours.

But it is time we should return to Urbino, where we left the
citizens bewailing the departure of their Duke. As soon as he was
gone, Antonio di S. Savino took possession of the place in name of
Valentino, and issued a proclamation enjoining the townsfolk to
disarm, the peasantry to return home, and all to surrender whatever
they had stolen the day before from the palace. In the afternoon,
after a conciliatory harangue to the people, he took his lodging
in the palace. Next morning, after mass, the Bishop published a
general amnesty, and oaths of allegiance to the new sovereign were
administered. Towards evening the bells were rung, and a bonfire was
lit in the piazza; but these were heartless and forced rejoicings,
and no bribes could induce even the children to raise the cry of
"Valenza." Nor was this sadness without cause, for the soldiery of
Orsini and Vitellozzo, who still quartered in the town, treated all
with such outrage, that many of the inhabitants prayed for death
to close their sufferings, envying those who were summoned from
such scenes of misery. But when the troops were withdrawn, the mild
character and popular manners of Antonio the governor, skilfully
seconding the conciliatory policy which Borgia had resolved upon,
gave matters another aspect, and occasioned surprise to those who
knew the cruel perfidy of their new master. Various notorious abuses
were put down under severe penalties, especially the acceptance
of presents by judges, and the following up of private vengeance.
The deputy governor, Giovanni da Forlì, was however a man of quite
opposite temperament, whose harshness soon counteracted these gentler
influences, and occasioned general disgust. But the people heard
with satisfaction the tragedy of Sinigaglia; for to the perfidy
of the chiefs and the brutality of their army, the loss of their
independence and the whole of their late misfortunes were unanimously
ascribed; and a permission to ravage the territory of the Vitelli,
now publicly proclaimed throughout the duchy, was by many greedily
seized.

Borgia, having secured fourteen distinguished inhabitants of Urbino
as hostages, ordered that the fortresses left by agreement in
the hands of Guidobaldo should be attempted: that of Maiuolo was
accordingly surprised about the beginning of May, and easily reduced.
S. Leo being better provided, as well as considered impregnable,
its siege was more methodically undertaken, and levies were ordered
to reinforce the assailants. The amount of public sympathy with the
cause may be estimated from Baldi's assertion that, in the city of
Urbino, the utmost difficulty was experienced in raising eight foot
soldiers with one month's pay. Eight hundred Gascons in the French
service were obtained from De la Tremouille; but these, having
turned the siege into a sort of blockade, were dispersed among the
neighbouring villages, where, on the 5th of June, their revels
were suddenly interrupted by unknown assailants, who disappeared
as mysteriously as they had issued from the mountain defiles,
leaving many of the besiegers slain or wounded. The surrounding
peasantry, catching the enthusiasm, rushed to arms, and, but for
extraordinary exertions, the whole duchy would have once more
been out for their legitimate lord. News of this movement having
reached the Duke early in July, he obtained from Florence free
passage through her territory, and from the Venetians a promise of
passive support, and thereupon put himself into communication with
his principal adherents, by means of letters carried by persons of
low condition, many of which were unfortunately intercepted by the
lieutenant-governor of Urbino. His people were thus kept in a fever
of expectation; but, finally, this plan of an invasion was abandoned,
whereupon he repaired to Mantua, to his brother-in-law the Marquis,
who had been taken into the French service under De la Tremouille,
and engaged him to represent to Louis the hardships of his case, and
the danger of Borgia's excessive ambition.

Disgusted with their ignominious overthrow at S. Leo, the Gascons
assumed the habitual licence of such mercenaries, by soon taking
their departure from

     "The tentless rest beneath the humid sky,
     The stubborn wall that mocks the leaguer's art,
     And palls the patience of his baffled heart."

The siege was nevertheless maintained by the commandant of Romagna;
but the place was ably and spiritedly defended by Ottaviano Fregoso,
who will soon attract our notice in other scenes. Marini has recorded
another act of romantic daring by the same Brizio who, in the
preceding year, had surprised the place. Fregoso's tiny garrison
being greatly exhausted by the long blockade, he, with one Marzio,
made his way, during a violent storm of rain, over the rocks, and
through the beleaguering force, and reached a castle near Mantua
where Guidobaldo then was. In vain these emissaries besought him for
a reinforcement of two hundred men; for, thinking it would only waste
their gallantry by prolonging a hopeless struggle, he thankfully
declined their proposal. At length their urgency obtained twenty-five
men who happened to be at hand, and with these they returned to
the leaguer. Marzio, boldly presenting himself to the commandant,
volunteered to join the besiegers with his little party, which being
accepted, he advanced them under the walls, whence, having been
recognised by the garrison, they made a rush to the upper gate,
and were received into the fortress ere the trick was discovered.
By this timely succour, S. Leo was enabled to hold out until the
restoration of its rightful sovereign; and its brave defenders did
not even falter at the threat of summary vengeance upon their wives
and families, who had been brought to the palace of Urbino to answer
for their obstinacy.

Christendom was now to be appalled by a fearful catastrophe, which
fitly closed the career of the Borgias, diverting their wonted
weapons to their own destruction, for--

     "'Tis sure a law of retribution just
     That turns the plotters' arts against themselves."[7]

[Footnote 7:

     "Neque enim lex æquior ulla
     Quam necis artifices arte perire sua." OVID. _Ar. Amat._ i. 655.]

Alexander and his son perceiving that they could no longer turn to
good account the co-operation of Louis for their grasping schemes,
began to look round for new combinations: having squeezed the orange
they were ready to throw aside the rind. But to such projects their
exhausted treasury offered serious obstacles. To supply it they
had recourse, on an extended scale, to an expedient which they had
invented, and already occasionally employed,--that of poisoning the
richest cardinals, seizing on their treasures, and selling their
vacant hats to the highest bidders. Among the most recent and wealthy
of the sacred college was Adrian of Corneto, and he was therefore
selected as next victim. On the 12th of August, the Pope and Cesare
invited him to sup in the Belvidere casino of the Vatican, and the
latter sent forward a supply of poisoned wine, in charge of his
butler, with strict injunctions not to serve it until specially
desired by himself. Several other cardinals were to partake of the
banquet, and, probably, were intended to share the drugged potion.
Alexander had been assured by an astrologer that, so long as he had
about him the sacramental wafer, he should not die; and, accordingly,
he constantly carried it in a little golden box; but, having on that
evening forgotten it upon his toilet, he sent Monsignor Caraffa,
afterwards Paul IV., to fetch it. Meanwhile, overcome by the dog-day
heat, he called for wine. The butler was gone to fetch a salver of
peaches, which had been presented to his Holiness, and his deputy,
having received no instructions as to the medicated bottles, offered
a draught from them to the Pope. He greedily swallowed it, and his
example was more moderately followed by Cesare; thus,

                         "Even-handed justice
     Commends the ingredients of the poisoned chalice
     To their own lips."

Scarcely had they taken their seats at the table, when the two
victims successively fell down insensible, from the virulence of the
poison, and were carried to bed. The Pontiff rallied so far as to
recover consciousness, and to linger for about a week, but at length
sank under the shock and the fever which supervened, his age being
seventy-one, and his constitution enervated by long debauchery. The
last sacraments were duly administered, and it was remarked that,
during his illness, he never alluded to his children Cesare and
Lucrezia, through life the objects of an overweening, if not criminal
fondness, in whose behalf most of his outrages upon the peace and the
rights of mankind had been committed. His death occurred on the 18th
of August.[*8]

[Footnote *8: There is no authentic basis for this story. Rome was
in a pestilential condition in August, and the Pope, Cesare, and
the Cardinal Hadrian were all stricken with fever, which a supper
in the open air was surely not unlikely to produce. Alexander was
so detested that the strangeness of his death suggested poison at
once to his enemies. Cf. CREIGHTON, _op. cit._, vol. V., p.
49. An excellent essay on _The Poisonings attributed to the Borgia_
will be found in CREIGHTON, _op. cit._, vol. V., p. 301 _et
seq._]

Such is the account of this awful retribution given by Tommasi,
from which most other narratives but slightly deviate as to dates
or immaterial details. Another version, however, occurs in Sanuto's
Diaries, which, being contemporary, and probably supplied from the
diplomatic correspondence of the Signory, merits notice, and has
not been hitherto published. The Cardinal of Corneto, who figures
prominently in this narrative, was made collector for Peter's pence
in England, and Bishop of Hereford, from whence he was translated
to Bath and Wells. We shall find him compromised in Petrucci's
conspiracy against Leo X., but the following charge of pope-poisoning
is new.

"The Lord Adrian Castillense of Corneto, Cardinal Datary, having
been desired by the Pope to receive him and Duke Valentino at supper
in his vineyard, his Holiness supplying the eatables, this Cardinal
presumed the invitation to be planned for his death by poison, so
that the Duke might obtain his money and benefices, which were
considerable. In order to save himself there seemed but one course,
so, watching his opportunity, he summoned the Pontiff's steward,
whom he knew intimately, and on his arrival received him alone in
a private chamber, where 10,000 ducats were laid out: these he
desired him to accept for love of him, offering him also more of his
property, which he declared he could continue to enjoy only through
his assistance, and adding, 'You certainly are aware of the Pope's
disposition, and I know that he and the Duke have designed my death
by poison through you; wherefore I pray you have pity on me and spare
my life.' The steward, moved with compassion on hearing this, at
length avowed the plan concerted for administering the poison; that,
after the supper, he was to serve three boxes of confections, one
for the Pope, another for the Duke, and a third for the Cardinal,
the last being poisoned; so they arranged that the service of the
table should be contrived in such a way that the Pontiff might eat
of the Cardinal's poisoned box, and die. On the appointed day, the
Pope having arrived at the vineyard with the Duke, the Cardinal
threw himself at his Holiness' feet and kissed them, saying he had
a boon to request, and would not rise until it were granted. The
Pope assuring him of his consent, he continued, 'Holy Father! on the
lord's coming to his servant's house, it is not meet that the servant
should sit with his lord; and the just and proper favour I ask is
permission for the servant to wait at the table of your Holiness.'
The supper being thus served, and the moment arrived for giving the
confections, the box having been poisoned by the steward as directed
by the Pope, the Cardinal placed it before his Holiness, who, relying
on his steward, and convinced of the Cardinal's sincerity by his
service, ate joyfully of this box, as did the Cardinal of the other,
which the Pontiff believed the poisoned one. Thereafter, at the hour
when from its nature the poison took effect, his Holiness began to
feel it, and thus he died: the Cardinal being still alarmed, took
medicine and an emetic, and was easily cured."

The death of Alexander by poison is generally credited, although
Raynaldus and Muratori, willing to mitigate so heinous a scandal,
incline to the few and obscure authorities who attribute it to
tertian fever. It was natural that the truth should be glossed over,
especially in despatches addressed to the court of his daughter
Lucrezia, to which the latter annalist probably had access. But
though the earliest intelligence of the event forwarded by the
Venetian envoy alludes to the Pope's seizure as fever, his subsequent
letters, quoted by Sanuto, thus loathsomely confirm the current
suspicion of poison having been administered. "On this day [19th] I
saw the Pontiff's corpse, whose apparel was not worth two ducats.
He was swollen beyond the size of one of our large wine-skins. Never
since the Christian era was a more horrible and terrible sight
witnessed. The blood flowed from ears, mouth, and nose faster than
it could be wiped away; his lips were larger than a man's fist, and
in his open mouth the blood boiled as in a caldron on the fire, and
kept incessantly flowing as from a spout; all which I report from
observation."[9]

[Footnote 9: This passage appears conclusive as to the fact of poison
having been taken by the Pontiff; and it will be observed that
Sanuto's story of the confection-boxes in no way accounts for the
illness of Valentino, which is equally passed over in another totally
different statement of this affair, given in the Appendix to Ranke's
_History of the Popes_, section i. No. 4,--omissions to be kept
in view in testing the probability of these conflicting accounts.
Roscoe seems to have subsequently abandoned the doubts thrown upon
the poisoning in his first edition, although ever prone to extenuate
vices of the Borgia: witness his elaborate defence of Lucrezia, or
his views as to the Duke of Gandia's murder and the massacre of
Sinigaglia. Voltaire treats the question like a habitual doubter,
with the ingenuity of a critic rather than the matured judgment of a
historian. He is answered, with perhaps unnecessary detail, by Masse,
to whom Sanuto was unknown.]

The character of Alexander VI. as a man and as a sovereign admits of
no question, and is thus forcibly summed up by Sismondi. "He was the
most notoriously immoral man in Christendom; one whose debauchery
no shame restrained, whose treaties no good faith sanctioned, whose
policy was never guarded by justice, to whose vengeance pity was
unknown."[*10] As a pontiff he must be tried by a different test,
and those ecclesiastical writers, who attempt not to defend his
morals or example, assert the orthodoxy of his faith and doctrine,
and commend the wisdom of his provisions for maintenance of that
religion which regarded him as its head. He was the first to
establish the censorship of books,[*11] an important bulwark of the
Roman Church; and among the orders which he instituted or protected
was that of S. Francesco di Paolo. Nor can it be doubted that his
ambitious nepotism eventually aggrandised the temporal possessions
of the papacy, by quelling the mutinous barons of the Campagna, and
by so crushing the more distant seigneurs as to render their states
a speedy and easy prey to Julius II. On the other hand, the openly
simoniacal practices which prevailed during his reign, the strong
measures adopted to raise money for his private ends by a lavish
scale of indulgences, and, generally, the unscrupulous employment of
the power of the keys and the treasures of the Church for unworthy
purposes, all tended to alienate men's minds, and to stir those
doubts which the different, but not less injudicious, policy of his
immediate successors ripened into schism.

[Footnote *10: This is probably an exaggeration. Alexander VI. was
without reticence in his sins, and so has not escaped whipping. I
append a brief list of authorities for the Borgia:--

  CERRI, _Borgia ossia Alessandro VI._ (1858).
  ANTONETTI, _Lucrezia Borgia in Ferrara_ (1867).
  SCHUBERT-SOLDERN, _Die Borgias und ihre Zeit_ (Dresden, 1902).
  CITADELLA, _Saggio di Albero Genealogico della Famiglia Borgia_ (1872).
  GREGOROVIUS, _Lucrezia Borgia_ (1874).
  ---- _Geschichte der Stadt Rom._, tom. VII. (1880).
  ALVISI, _Cesare Borgia_ (Imola, 1878).
  NEMEC, _Papst Alexander VI. eine Rechtfertigung_ (1879).
  LEONETTI, _Papa Alessandro VI._ (1880).
  D'EPINOIS, in _Revue des Questions Historiques_ (April, 1881).
  VEHON, _Les Borgia_ (1882).
  MARICOURT, _Le Procès des Borgia_ (1883).
  YRIARTE, _César Borgia_ (1887).
  ---- _Autour des Borgias_ (1891).]

[Footnote *11: I am not quite clear what this means. The Inquisition
was introduced into Italy in 1542, and the _Index Librorum
Prohibitorum_ was established. But the congregation of the Index
was not established till the Council of Trent. Magical books were
prohibited as early as the Council of Nice, 325.]

Favoured by youth, constitution, and energy of mind, Cesare Borgia
wrestled successfully with the deadly ingredients which he had
inadvertently swallowed. He is said to have been saved by being
frequently placed in the carcass of a newly-killed bullock or mule,
and, whether in consequence of this treatment, or of the inflammatory
nature of the potion, to have lost the whole skin of his body. He had
flattered himself that, foreseeing every possible contingency which
his father's death could develop, he had so planned his measures
as to secure, in any event, his own safety, and the maintenance of
his authority. But, never having anticipated being disabled from
action at that very juncture, his well-laid schemes fell to the
ground, a signal illustration of the proverb, "Man proposes, God
disposes." By means of Don Michelotto, he was, however, able to draw
round the Vatican a body of twelve thousand devoted troops, and that
unscrupulous agent executed his instructions by seizing about 500,000
ducats in money, jewels, and valuables, from the Pope's apartment,
before his death was published.

The Diaries of Sanuto give a lively description of the immediate
effects of Alexander's death on Lower Italy,--the exultations of the
people, the prompt movements of the Campagna barons, the hesitation
of Valentino, the intrigues of the cardinals. As soon as the good
news transpired, Rome rose in arms against the Spaniards; and the
Colonna and the Orsini, entering at the head of their troops,
willingly aided in spoiling and slaughtering these countrymen of
the Borgia, who "could nowhere find holes to hide in." Even their
cardinals narrowly escaped a general massacre; and on the 8th of
September, a proclamation by the College cleared the city of these
foreigners on pain of the gibbet. Duke Valentino, although prostrated
in strength, and "seeming as if burnt from the middle downwards,"
was not without formidable resources. His hope was, that in the
distracted state of Rome, the cardinals would provide for their
personal safety by holding the conclave in St. Angelo, where the
election would be in his own hands. This calculation was, however,
defeated by their assembling at the Minerva convent, guarded by the
barons of Bracciano and Palestrina, with the bravest of the citizens,
and protected by barricades which withstood an assault by the
redoubted Michelotto. Still his troops were staunch, the Vatican and
St. Angelo were his, and he had secured the treasure of the Holy See.
But his nerve gave way, and after turning the castle guns against the
Orsini palace on Monte Giordano, he fled in a litter to the French
camp without the gates, on the 1st of September, and thence made his
way to the stronghold of Nepi. This vacillation brought its fitting
recompense, and lost him the advantages of his position. Hesitating
betwixt the Colonna and Orsini factions, wavering between Spanish and
French interests, his friends dropped off, his forces melted away,
and he lost the favourable moment for swaying the papal election.

The rival parties in the conclave, having had no time to mature their
plans, in consequence of the late Pontiff's sudden decease, trusted
to strengthen their respective interests by delay, and so were
unanimous in choosing, on the 22nd of September, the most feeble of
their body, the respected Piccolomini, who survived his exaltation
as Pius III. but twenty-six days. The state of matters at Naples
added to the general embarrassment. The ceaseless struggles for that
crown had of late taken a new turn, the contest being now between
Louis of France and Ferdinand of Spain. The Borgia, long adherents
of the former, had recently inclined to the Spanish side; but their
influence was now irretrievably gone.

     *NOTE.--The following is a list of the chief
     conquests of Cesare:--

     City.              Family.         Date.                 Campaign.

     Imola              Riarii          Nov. 27, 1499         First.
     Forlì              Riarii          Jan. 12, 1500         First.
     Rimini             Malatesta       Oct. 10, 1500         Second.
     Pesaro             Sforza          Oct. 21, 1500         Second.
     Faenza             Manfredi        April 25, 1501        Second.
     Piombino           Appiani         Sept. 3, 1501         Second.
     Urbino             Montefeltri     June 21, 1502         Third.
     Camerino           Varani          July 29, 1502         Third.
     Sinigaglia         Roveri          Dec. 28, 1502         Third.
     Città di Castello  Vitelli         Jan. 2, 1503          Third.
     Perugia            Baglioni        Jan. 6, 1503          Third.
     Siena              Petrucci        Jan. (end), 1503      Third.

     Cf. BURD, ed. _Il Principe_ (Oxford, 1891), p.
     218, note 15.

CHAPTER XX

     Duke Guidobaldo restored--The election of Julius II.--The
     fall of Cesare Borgia--The Duke's fortunate position--Is
     made Knight of the Garter--The Pope visits Urbino.

Whilst Valentino and his partizans thus had their hands full at Rome,
Romagna and his recent conquests threw off his rule. His officers had
concealed the first news of the tragedy at the Vatican, but, on the
22nd of August, authentic intelligence of the death of Alexander and
the illness of his son having reached Urbino, through some emissaries
of Guidobaldo who announced that the moment for action had arrived,
the people ran to arms. The governor fled to Cesena; his lieutenant
was slain in the tumult; the siege of S. Leo was raised; and in one
day the entire duchy, except one unimportant castle, returned to its
lawful sovereign.[*12]

[Footnote *12: During the Duke's absence an interesting
correspondence passed between Isabella d'Este and Cardinal Ippolito
d'Este in Rome concerning a Venus and a Cupid of the Duke's. The
Venus was a torso and antique, but the Cupid was the work of
Michelangelo. Cf. GAYE, _Carteggio d'Artisti_, vol. II.,
p. 53; ALVISI, _Cesare Borgia_, p. 537; LUZIO, in _Arch. St. Lombardo_
(1886), and JULIA CARTWRIGHT, _Isabella d'Este_ (Murray, 1903), vol. I.,
p. 230 _et seq._]

On hearing that the Pope and Cesare were both ill, the Duke of Urbino
hastily quitted Venice, his honourable and secure retreat, leaving
behind, in the words of Bembo, "a high reputation for superhuman
genius, for admirable acquirements, for singular discretion." As
a parting favour, that republic advanced him 3000 or 4000 ducats,
towards the expenses of his restoration. He wrote desiring his
nephew Fregoso to send over a detachment from S. Leo, to maintain
order in his capital, and himself following upon the steps of his
messenger, reached that fortress on the 27th of August. Next day he
proceeded to Urbino, where, Castiglione tells us, "he was met by
swarms of children bearing olive-boughs, and hailing his auspicious
arrival; by aged sires tottering under their years, and weeping for
joy; by men and women; by mothers with their babes; by crowds of
every age and sex; nay, the very stones seemed to exult and leap."
Women of all ranks flocked in from the adjacent townships, with
tambourines played before them, to see their sovereign, and touch his
hand; whilst popular fury spent itself upon the usurper's armorial
ensigns, which had been painted in fresco over the city gates a few
months before by Timoteo Vite, at the rate of from one to four ducats
each.[*13]

[Footnote *13: Cf. MADIAI, _Diario delle Cose di Urbino_, in
_Arch. St. per le Marche e per l'Umbria_, vol. III., p. 444.]

The example of Urbino was quickly followed by Sinigaglia, Pesaro,
and the other principalities; and by October, a confederacy for
their common maintenance and defence, under oaths and a mutual bond
of 10,000 ducats, was organised by these three states, along with
Camerino, Perugia, Piombino, Città di Castello, and Rimini, in all
which the exiled seigneurs had resumed their ascendancy.

It was a condition of this league, that no step or engagement should
be taken by any of the parties without the sanction of Guidobaldo,
who a month before had strengthened his position by accepting service
from the Venetians. The Signory engaged to protect him during life in
his state, against all attacks, and to pay him annually 20,000 scudi,
he maintaining for them a hundred men-at-arms, and a hundred and
fifty light cavalry, besides placing at their disposal, for instant
service, two thousand foot. These were forthwith sent to ravage the
neighbourhood of Cesena, which remained faithful to Valentino, and
thereafter, co-operating with other forces of the new league under
Ottaviano Fregoso, they attacked in succession such citadels and
castles as were held for the usurper.

The star of Borgia seemed once more in the ascendant. Early
in October Cesare, now able to bestride a mule, returned to
Rome, attended by a hundred and fifty men-at-arms and a hundred
halberdiers, where he patched up a reconciliation with the Orsini
faction, then dominant. From motives which it would now be difficult
to trace, the new Pontiff received him with favour, and named
him captain-general of the Church. But in this crisis of his
destiny he displayed no elevation of character. Disconcerted by
the embarrassment of his position, perhaps by the admonitions of
conscience, uncertain where to repose confidence or look for support,
he quickly repented having trusted himself in the city, and longed
to escape from its incensed populace and exasperated factions to
the shelter of his strongholds in Romagna. Humbling himself before
Gian-Giordano Orsini, the enemy of his race, he obtained a promise of
his escort across the Campagna; but perceiving, ere he had cleared
the gate, that he was in the hands of men by whom old grudges were
not forgotten, he fled in panic to the Vatican. There he crouched
beneath the doubtful favour of Pius, and the waning influence of the
Spanish cardinals, who vainly sought to protect his property from
pillage, and to expedite his escape in disguise, until the Holy See
was again vacated by its short-lived occupant.[14]

[Footnote 14: In the communal archives of Perugia, there is a brief
addressed to the authorities of that town by Pius III., dated 17th of
October, 1503, "before his coronation," but in fact the day preceding
his death, which must have been obtained by the influence of Cesare,
and which speaks a language very different from what his Holiness
would probably have adopted had his life been spared. Its object
was to prohibit certain "conventicles" which Gianpaolo Baglioni
was reported to be holding in Perugia, for the purpose of plotting
against the person of the Duke of Valenza and Romagna, and to desire
that he be charged to avoid all courses tending to the prejudice of
Borgia.]

Thus was that make-shift policy defeated by which the late conclave
had sought time for strengthening their interests and maturing their
intrigues: a new election was at hand ere its elements had subsided
from their recent turmoil. The Orsini were paramount in the city,
the Spaniards in the Sacred College. A struggle ensued whether the
former should obtain an order for Valentino's departure, or should
themselves withdraw from Rome before the conclave was closed. Victory
declared for the Iberian cardinals, by aid of Ascanio Sforza, who
sought to conciliate their suffrages for himself. Once again the
bantling of fortune had the game in his hand, again to play it
away. Holding, as was supposed, at his absolute disposal the votes
of the Borgian cardinals, he was courted by all who aspired to the
tiara; and in hopes of retrieving his affairs by the election of a
friendly pope, he took measures for throwing his whole influence
into the scale of Amboise, Cardinal of Rouen, as organ of the French
party. But that strong will and indomitable resolution which had
triumphantly carried him through many crimes were now wanting. From
day to day his plans faltered and his policy wavered; finally his
efforts failed. Men were wearied of the feeble counsels, the selfish
epicureanism, the public scandals of recent pontiffs. To rescue
the Church from utter degradation, a very different category of
qualifications was required, and even the electors felt that they
must find a pope in all respects the reverse of Alexander.

There was no member of the Sacred College whom Valentino had such
reason to fear and hate, none of whose domineering ambition the
Consistory stood in such awe, as Giulio della Rovere. Yet did his
master-spirit overcome all opposition. On the day preceding the
conclave he effected a reconciliation with the Spaniards, and his
ancient rival Ascanio Sforza sought his friendship. As he rode to
enter upon its duties, the cortège of attendant prelates equalled
that which usually swelled the train of an elected pope. Before
the door was closed, bets of eighty-two to a hundred were made on
his success, one hundred to six being offered against any other
candidate. It was, therefore, scarcely matter of surprise that within
an hour or two thereafter Julius II. was chosen by acclamation,
without a scrutiny.[15]

[Footnote 15: Our information is in many respects deficient regarding
the numerous and complicated events occurring at Rome between the
poisoning of Alexander and the final departure of his son Cesare,
and authorities are frequently irreconcileable. We are indebted to
Sanuto's Diary for many unedited particulars, especially of the papal
elections, but the most distinct account of these transactions, and
on the whole trustworthy, which we have met with, is given by Masse.]

At the last moment, Borgia's adherents, finding opposition vain,
thought it best to lay the new occupant of St. Peter's chair under
the obligation of their suffrages, a policy which Machiavelli had
justly condemned as the greatest blunder ever committed by their
leader. Some historians allege that their support was gained by an
offer of Julius to maintain him in his dignities and investitures,
betrothing his infant daughter to his own nephew the young Lord
Prefect. Unlikely as this may seem, there is much apparent
inconsistency in the Pontiff's treatment of him, which, if our
authorities are to be trusted, showed nothing of that choleric
temperament and energetic firmness which habitually characterised
him. Within two days of his election, when speaking of Valentino
to the Venetian envoy, he said, "We shall let him get off with all
he has robbed from the Church in his evil hour, but would that
the towns of Romagna were taken from him." Yet a change appears
to have supervened, induced perhaps by Cesare's representations,
which had formerly been successful with Pius III., that, under his
sway, the influence of the Church in that province of her patrimony
would be far better maintained than by handing it again to the old
dynasties, whom he had with difficulty eradicated, and who had ever
been turbulent vassals of the Apostolic Chamber. The now manifest
intention of the Venetians to obtain a footing in that quarter, upon
various pretexts founded on claims of the Manfredi and others of the
dispossessed lords, gave cogency to this reasoning in the eyes of
Julius, whose paramount policy of at all hazards aggrandising the
keys, rendered Valentino's sovereignty preferable to such extension
of their dominion, and may have somewhat extenuated the Borgian
policy in his eyes. He therefore brought the usurper from St. Angelo
to lodge in the Vatican, and entered with seeming cordiality into
his views. But the lapse of a few days found his Holiness in another
mood, declaring that his guest should not hold a single battlement
throughout Italy, but might be thankful if spared his life and the
treasures he had plundered, most of which were however already
dissipated. From that moment the prestige of his position was at an
end, and he remained at the palace "in small repute."

The crisis soon became urgent, for the Venetian troops were pouring
upon Romagna, whilst the few fortresses that still owned Borgia as
their master were gradually falling to the confederate chiefs, led
by Guidobaldo. On the 9th of November, letters, demanding these
captured castles in the name of the Signory, found the latter ill
of gout; but in reply he expressed surprise at the summons, seeing
that he had wrested them from the usurper, and hoped to hold them
for the pope elect, and in security for the valuables of which he
had been pillaged. In consideration, perhaps, of his being then
actually in pay of the Republic, he agreed to deliver up Verucchio
and Cesenatico, whereupon the messenger reported him to the Doge as
"a good Christian, but in want of some one to counsel him."

In this exigency, Cesare proposed to surrender to the Pope the
citadels of Cesena, Bertinoro, Forlì, and Forlimpopoli, as a means
of immediately arresting the progress of their assailants, and of
cutting short the schemes of Venice, offering to serve the Church
during the rest of his life in any capacity that was thought
expedient. This offer Julius declined, but gave him liberty to
repair to the scene of action, and act for the best with what
troops he could raise. He accordingly went to Ostia on the 19th
of November, meaning to take shipping for Upper Italy; but on the
21st the Pontiff, alarmed at the progress of the Venetians, and
influenced by Guidobaldo, who, arriving on that day, had demanded
justice upon Borgia, thought better of it, and sent to get from
him the countersigns of his citadels. These Valentino refusing,
he was brought back to Rome under arrest on the 29th, and, after
much temporising, ultimately gave the necessary passwords for the
surrender of his last hold upon his recent dominions.

Such seem the admitted facts of the Pope's treatment of Borgia.
His change of conduct may have been dictated by new circumstances
coming to his knowledge, or it may have been part of a systematic
deception, in order to turn Valentino's influence to his own
purposes. The opinions of Giovio and De Thou show that such treachery
as Guicciardini charges upon Julius, and as Cesare met soon after
from Gonsalvo di Cordova, was regarded by the lax public and private
morality of the age as justified by his own infamous perfidies. On
the other hand, it is admitted that the Cardinal della Rovere's high
reputation for good faith was one of his recommendations to the
conclave. Bossi, in an additional note to vol. IV. of his translation
of _Leo X._, considers this dark passage of history to be cleared up
by the narrative of Baldi, regarding Guidobaldo's generous treatment
of the enemy of his house, to which he attributes the moderation of
his Holiness; but this view does not seem borne out either by dates
or by Baldi's words.[*16]

[Footnote *16: Cf. the latter, in which an account of the interview
between Cesare and Guidobaldo is given, UGOLINI, _op. cit._, vol. II.,
p. 523. It does not bear out Giustiniani's account (q.v. ii., 326) of
what Guidobaldo said to him, and is probably mere rhetoric.]

Thus terminated Duke Valentino's connection with the immediate
subject of this narrative. A few words will suffice to trace the
remainder of his fluctuating fortunes. Having been again transmitted
to Ostia, he remained there a sort of prisoner at large until
April, 1504, when his escape to Naples was connived at. There he
was received with distinction by Gonsalvo di Cordova, viceroy of
Ferdinand II.; but soon after, an order arrived from that king to
send him prisoner to Spain. With this command, suggested probably by
a brief from Julius, which Raynaldus has printed, the Great Captain
at once complied, although Borgia held his safe-conduct,--a breach of
faith which the Spanish historians justify by the alleged detection
of schemes and intrigues, originated by Cesare and perilous to the
ascendancy of his Catholic Majesty. Yet we learn that the Viceroy's
last hour seemed troubled by repentance for this stain upon his
conscience, which even in his day of pride one chivalrous spirit had
dared thus to question. Baldassare Scipio of Siena, a free captain
long in Cesare's service, publicly placarded a challenge to any
Spaniard who should venture to maintain "that the Duke Valentino had
not been arrested at Naples, in direct violation of a safe-conduct
granted in the names of Ferdinand and Isabella, to the great infamy
and infinite faithlessness of all their crowns." On reaching the land
of his fathers, this incarnate spirit of a blood-stained age was
confined in the castle of Medina del Campo, and the interest used for
his release by the Spanish cardinals, and by his brothers-in-law the
King of Navarre and the Duke of Ferrara, who offered their guarantee
for his good behaviour, was, during three years, unavailing on the
ground of his dangerous character. At length he made his escape by
a rope-ladder or cord, under circumstances so fool-hardy as to be
ascribed by the country people to supernatural aid, and reached the
King of Navarre, who gave him the command of an expedition against
the Count de Lérin. On the 10th of March, 1507, he fell into an
ambuscade near Viane, and was cut to pieces fighting desperately. By
a singular coincidence, his stripped and plundered body, having been
recognised by a servant, was interred in the church of Pampeluna, the
archbishopric of which had been his earliest promotion. Short as was
his life (for he seems to have died under thirty) he had survived all
his dignities and distinctions, realising the distich of Sannazaro,

     "CÆSAR, he aimed at all, he vanquished all;
       In all he fails, a CYPHER in his fall."[17]

[Footnote 17:

     "Omnia vincebas, sperabas omnia Cæsar;
       Omnia deficiunt, incipis esse nihil."]

Valentino's was a character peculiar to Spain, with which Pizarro
alone seems to have matched. His boundless ambition was profoundly
selfish and utterly unscrupulous; his energy of purpose owned no
impulse but egotism; his capacity was marred by meanness; his
splendid tastes served but as incentives to spoliation. The demands
of honour, the compunctions of conscience, the value of human
life availed nothing in his eyes. In him foresight became fraud,
calculation cunning, prudence perfidy, courage cruelty. His daring,
his constancy, his talent were devoted to murder, rapine, and
treachery. His campaigns were massacres, his justice vengeance, his
diplomacy a trick. Generosity was a stranger to his impulses, remorse
to his crimes.

Fortune, so long adverse to Guidobaldo, at length smiled upon him.
The election to the tiara of his relative and confidential friend,
Cardinal della Rovere, freed him from anxiety as to the restoration
of his duchy, and promised him a long career of prosperity and
honour. His policy of supporting the Venetians in their views upon
Romagna thus not only became superfluous as a check upon Borgia,
but seemed not unlikely to place him in a dilemma with the Camera.
The new Pontiff, therefore, lost no time in removing him from a
position of such delicacy, by summoning him to Rome. The invitation
found him encamped before Verucchio, whence he immediately set out;
and, after devoting two days at Urbino to public thanksgivings and
festivities for his own restoration and for the election of Julius,
he performed the journey in a litter, his gout preventing him from
riding. On the eleventh day, being the 20th of November, he was met
at the Ponte Molle by a superbly caparisoned mule, and on it was
painfully but honourably escorted by an imposing cortège to his
apartment in the Vatican, under a salute from the artillery of St.
Angelo. Notwithstanding his fatigue, he was bidden by the impatient
Pontiff to supper that evening, and was received by his Holiness on
the landing-place with equal favour and distinction.

In the explanations which followed, their mutual views were frankly
stated. The claim which the Venetians had upon Guidobaldo, from
extending to him their hospitality and support in almost desperate
circumstances, was fully allowed by the Pope, and his avowal that, in
co-operating with them in an invasion of Romagna, he conceived they
were thwarting Borgia, not the Church, was accepted as satisfactory.
But his Holiness intimated, with reference to the future, that the
vassal of the Apostolic See had duties paramount to all foreign ties;
and that, since the rights of the Camera over that province admitted
of no compromise, he would do well to resign the service of the
Republic, and recall his consort to administer his affairs at home,
whilst he remained in Rome for the winter. To these suggestions the
Duke agreed, and wrote in most grateful terms to the government of
Venice, explaining the obstacles which had unexpectedly arisen to his
repaying at that moment the obligations he had incurred. We learn
from Sanuto that on the 10th of October the Duchess with her ladies
went into college, and being seated near the Doge, thanked the
Signory in her lord's name for the favour, command, and protection
granted to him, to which the Doge replied blandly, asserting the love
borne him by the Republic. Again, on the 15th of November, there came
into the cabinet of the Signory "the Duchess of Urbino with Madonna
Emilia and her company of damsels to take leave, for she is departing
early to-morrow morning for her duchy; she goes in a barge by the Po
as far as Ravenna, and from thence on horseback: and the Doge spake
her fair, and having taken leave, we sages of the orders accompanied
her as far as the palace-gates, and she proceeded along the Mercery,
reaching home on the 2d of December."

Borgia took the opportunity of Guidobaldo's visit to make advances
for a reconciliation, having reason to dread his influence with
the Pope. These were received with courtesy; but, in the words of
the Venetian chronicler just quoted, "the Duke was resolved to
have his own again, especially the library, which was promised
him without damage, with the tapestries, although the Cardinal of
Rouen had already got a good share of them." According to Baldi's
elaborate and somewhat too dramatic description of their interview,
he magnanimously forgave the extraordinary injuries he had received
from his now humbled adversary. On the authority of private letters,
an anonymous diary, already noticed, states that the usurper threw
himself, cap-in-hand, at the Duke's feet, beseeching mercy and
pardon, and excusing his conduct on the plea of youth, the brutality
of his father, and the persuasions of others. This incident was
represented in a fresco by Taddeo Zucchero, which I saw at Cagli in
1843, and which had been cut from the villa built at S. Angelo in
Vado, by Duke Guidobaldo II. Cesare is a slight figure handsomely
dressed, with long sharp features, a high nose and reddish hair. He
kneels before the Duke of Urbino, raising his cap, whilst one notary
appears to read aloud an act of surrender, and another makes an
instrument upon the transaction.[18]

[Footnote 18: Considering that Borgia was probably dead half a
century before this painting was commissioned, little reliance can be
placed upon the likeness. *This is the account alluded to in note *1,
page 29.]

Even after Valentino had given authority for a surrender of the
citadels in Romagna, they were held by his officers upon the plea
that he was not a free agent, and the bearer of his missive was
hanged by the castellan of Cesena. At length the Pope ordered
Guidobaldo to reduce them by force. For this purpose he named
him gonfaloniere of the Church, retaining him and four hundred
men-at-arms, with a year's pay of 7000 ducats in advance. It was
about this time that he was invested with the insignia of the Garter,
to which illustrious order he had been elected in February. His
acquisition of this dignity, and Count Baldassare Castiglione's
mission to London as proxy at his installation, form an episode of
so much interest to an English reader that we have gleaned every
possible notice of these events, and have arranged them in II. of the
Appendix.

The Duke left Rome for his command, accompanied by his nephew the
Prefettino, as he was then usually called from his youth, who had
returned from France three months before to wait upon his Holiness.
They were attended by Castiglione, who, after charming Julius by
his polished society, was permitted by him to transfer his services
to the court of Guidobaldo, of which he became the ornament and
commentator. On the 1st of June they reached Urbino, and found the
Duchess re-established among an attached people, who, to drive away
sad recollections of their recent sufferings, had amused her during
the preceding carnival with scenic imitations of the principal events
of the usurpation! One of these was the comedy (so called rather
in a Dantesque than a comic sense) of the Duke Valentino and Pope
Alexander VI. In it were successively represented their plotting the
seizure of the state, their sending the Lady Lucrezia to Ferrara,
their inviting the Duchess to her wedding, the invasion of the duchy,
the duke's first return, and his redeparture, the massacre of the
confederates, the death of the Pope, and the Duke's restoration to
his rights.

The garrisons of Cesena and Bertinoro had surrendered ere Guidobaldo
took the field, that of Forlì came to terms as soon as his troops
appeared. With it passed the last wreck of the Borgian substantial
power and vast ambition, within a year from the death of Alexander,
leaving to future times no memorial but a name doomed to lasting
execration. Guidobaldo had at the same time the satisfaction of
recovering most of the valuables that had been pillaged from his
palace, estimated by him at not less than 100,000 ducats, especially
a large proportion of his father's celebrated library.

On the 6th of September the Duke retraced his steps to Urbino, and
there at length renewed the long-suspended joys of his secure and
tranquil residence. Few, perhaps, of their rank and age, less needed
such rough discipline to inculcate moderation, than this exemplary
couple. Yet must the lessons of adversity have been ordained for some
purifying purpose, and we may indulge the hope that they were not
sent in vain. The Duke devoted his earliest leisure to signalise his
gratitude for the unflinching loyalty of his subjects by conferring
upon their several municipalities various privileges and immunities,
and remitting their fiscal arrears. The Duchess expressed her
thankfulness by many works of piety, by liberal charities, and by
instituting a three days' fair on the anniversary of her lord's
restoration. Their domestic circle was agreeably enlarged by the
arrival of the Lady Prefectess, as the widow of Giovanni delle Rovere
was entitled, who, on returning from a similar exile, and after
paying her reverence to her brother-in-law the Pope, hastened to join
her son at her brother's court. We have noticed the services which
when assailed by Valentino, she received from Andrea Doria; they
were now acknowledged by Guidobaldo with the castle of Sassocorbaro,
and other holdings. Another guest at Urbino was Sigismondo Varana,
the young heir of Camerino, who arrived with his mother Maria, sister
of the Prefettino, and with his uncle and guardian Giovanni Maria,
who afterwards supplanted him in that state.

Urbino was now enlivened by an event which proved of paramount
interest to its sovereign, and was destined by providence to carry
forward its independence and glories under a new dynasty. We have
seen how it had been proposed between the Cardinal della Rovere and
Guidobaldo, in 1498, that the latter should adopt the young Prefect
as his heir, and procure from the Pope a renewal of the Dukedom and
investitures to his favour.[19] The simulated sanction of Alexander
to this arrangement led to no result; but, as soon as Julius was
fixed in the seat of St. Peter, he took measures for placing his
nephew's prospects beyond question. In the natural course of events
the state of Urbino would lapse to the Holy See on the Duke's death,
and, as the uniform policy of this Pontiff was to unite to it as many
such fiefs as the failure of their seigneurs or the force of his
arms brought within his grasp, his making an exception of the most
valuable of them all in favour of his own nephew gave rise to not a
few strictures. It is, however, the only instance in which nepotism
can be laid to his charge, and the precedents left him by recent
Popes may be pleaded in justification of a comparatively trifling
abuse.

[Footnote 19: See vol. I., p. 371.]

On the 14th of September the Archbishop of Ragusa arrived at
Urbino as papal nuncio, charged with brieves for the completion
of this affair, and also with the ensigns of command for the Duke
as generalissimo of the ecclesiastical troops. The ceremonials
consequent upon the implement of his mission have been detailed by
Baldi, and are characteristic of the times we are endeavouring
to depict. The nuncio and his splendid suite were received with
distinction, and next day, being Sunday, was fixed for Guidobaldo's
installation. The whole court and principal inhabitants being
assembled in the cathedral, high mass was performed by him, after
which, standing in front of the altar, he laid aside his mitre, and
pronounced a solemn benediction on the two standards of the Church,
which were held furled by a canon, whilst he waved incense over them,
and sprinkled them with holy water. This ended, he desired them to
be mounted on their staves, and having sat down and resumed his
mitre, he presented them to the Duke, who received them, devoutly
kneeling on the altar-steps, and handed one to Ottaviano Fregoso, the
other to Morello d'Ortona. He then received the baton, with the like
ceremonies, and rose, after kissing hands; whereupon the audience
dispersed amid strains of martial music and popular acclamations.

Upon the 18th, there assembled in the Duomo a still more numerous
and distinguished auditory; when, after celebration of mass by the
nuncio, he seated himself before the altar, with the Prefect on his
right, and the Duke on his left, and in an elegant Latin discourse,
set forth the desire of the latter to make sure the succession by
adopting his nephew, and the approval of the Pope and college of
cardinals to that substitution, in evidence of which the brieves and
other formal documents were read. A magnificent missal,--perhaps
that painted for Matthew Corvinus King of Hungary, which adorns the
Vatican Urbino Library,--was then placed in the hands of Francesco
Maria, opened at a miniature of the holy sacrament, and upon it
deputies from the communities of the duchy took the oath of fidelity
and homage to him as their future sovereign; all which having been
regularly attested in notorial instruments, the solemnity ended.[*20]

[Footnote *20: Cf. MADIAI, _op. cit._, in _Arch. cit._, vol.
_cit._, p. 451-2.]

These events served to aggravate the jealousy of the Venetians