  Although the escort which was taking the Duchess Lucretia to Ferrara traveled by easy stages, the journey was fatiguing; for the roads, especially in winter, were bad, and the weather, even in the vicinity of Rome, was frequently wet and cold. Not until the seventh day did they reach Foligno. As the report which the Ferrarese ambassadors sent their lord from that place contains a vivid description of the journey, we quote it at length: Illustrious and Honored Master: Although we wrote your Excellency from Narni that we would travel from Terni to Spoleto, and from Spoleto to this place without stopping, the illustrious Duchess and her ladies were so fatigued that she decided to rest a day in Spoleto and another in Foligno. We, therefore, shall not leave here until to-morrow morning, and shall not arrive at Urbino before next Tuesday, that is the eighteenth of the current month, for to-morrow we shall reach Nocera, Saturday Gualdo, Sunday Gubbio, Monday Cagli, and Tuesday Urbino, where we shall rest another day, that is Wednesday. On the twentieth we shall set out for Pesaro, and so on from city to city, as we have already written your Excellency. We feel certain, however, that the duchess will stop frequently to rest, consequently we shall not reach Ferrara before the last of the present or the first of next month, and perhaps not until the second or third. We therefore thought it well to write your Excellency from here, letting I mention this because the illustrious Donna Lucretia is of a delicate constitution and, like her ladies, is unaccustomed to the saddle, and because we notice that she does not wish to be worn out when she reaches Ferrara. In all the cities through which her Majesty passes she is received with every show of affection and with great honors, and presented with numerous gifts by the women. Everything is done for her comfort. She was welcomed everywhere and, as she was formerly ruler of Spoleto, she was well known to the people. Her reception here in Foligno was more cordial and accompanied by greater manifestations of joy than anywhere else outside of Rome, for not only did the signors of the city, as the officials of the commune are called, clad in red silk, come on foot to meet her and accompany her to her inn on the Piazza, but at the gate she was confronted by a float upon which was a person representing the Roman Lucretia with a dagger in her hand, who recited some verses to the effect that her Majesty excelled herself in graciousness, modesty, intelligence, and understanding, and that therefore she would yield her own place to her. There was also a float upon which was a cupid, and on the summit, with the golden apple in his hand, stood Paris, who repeated some stanzas, the gist of which was as follows: he had promised the apple to Venus, the only one who excelled both Juno and Pallas in beauty; but he now reversed his decision, and presented it to her Majesty as she, of all women, was the only one who surpassed all the goddesses, possessing greater beauty, wisdom, riches, and power than all three united. Finally, on the Piazza we discovered an armed Turkish galley coming toward us, and one of the Turks, who was standing on the bulwarks, repeated some stanzas of the following import: the sultan well knew how powerful was Lucretia in Italy, and he had sent him to greet her, We must not forget to tell you that all the reigning Baglione came from Perugia and their castles, and were waiting for Lucretia about four miles from Foligno, and that they invited her to go to Perugia. Her Majesty, as we wrote your Excellency from Narni, persists in her wish to journey from Bologna to Ferrara by water to escape the discomfort of riding and traveling by land. His Holiness, our Lord, is so concerned for her Majesty that he demands daily and even hourly reports of her journey, and she is required to write him with her own hand from every city regarding her health. This confirms the statement which has frequently been made to your Excellency—that his Holiness loves her more than any other person of his blood. We shall not neglect to make a report to your Excellency regarding the journey whenever an opportunity offers. Between Terni and Spoleto, in the valley of the Strettura, one of the hostlers of the illustrious Don Sigismondo engaged in a violent altercation about some turtle doves with one of his fellows in the service of the Roman Stefano dei Fabii, who is a member of the duchess's escort. Both grasped their arms, whereupon one Pizaguerra, also in the service of the illustrious Don Sigismondo, happening to ride by on his horse, wounded Stefano's hostler on the head. Thereupon Stefano, who is naturally quarrelsome and vindictive, became so angry that he declared he would accompany the cavalcade no farther. About this time we reached the castle of Spoleto, and he passed the illustrious Don Sigismondo and Don Ferrante without speaking to them or even looking at them. The whole affair was due to a misunderstanding which we all regretted very much, and as Pizaguerra and Don Sigismondo's hostler had fled, there was nothing more to be done; the Cardinal of Cosenza, the illustrious Madonna, and all the others agreed that Stefano was in the wrong. He, therefore, was mollified, and continued on the journey. We commend Your Majesty's servants, Postscript: The worthy Cardinal of Cosenza, we understand, is unwilling to pass through the territory of the illustrious Duke of Urbino. From Foligno the journey was continued by way of Nocera and Gualdo to Gubbio, one of the most important cities in the duchy of Urbino. About two miles from that place the Duchess Elisabetta met Lucretia and accompanied her to the city palace. After this the two remained constantly in each other's company, for Elisabetta kept her promise and accompanied Lucretia to Ferrara. Cardinal Borgia returned to Rome from Gubbio, and the two ladies occupied the comfortable sedan-chair which Alexander had presented his daughter. January 18th, when the cavalcade was near Urbino, Lucretia was greeted by Duke Guidobaldo, who had come with his entire court to meet her. He accompanied Lucretia to the residence set apart for her—Federico's beautiful palace—where she and the princes of Este were lodged, the duke and duchess having vacated it for them. The artful Guidobaldo had set up the Borgia arms and those of the King of France in conspicuous places in Urbino and throughout the various cities of his domain. Although Lucretia's wedding was regarded by the Montrefeltre with great displeasure, they now, on account of Ferrara and because of their fear of the Pope, hastened to show her every honor. They had been acquainted with Lucretia in Rome when Guidobaldo, Alexander's condottiere, conducted the unsuccessful war against the Orsini, and they had also known her in Pesaro. Perhaps they After resting a day, Lucretia and the duchess, accompanied for a short distance by Guidobaldo, set out from Urbino, January 20th, for Pesaro, which they reached late in the evening. The road connecting these cities is now a comfortable highway, traversing a beautiful, undulating country, but at that time it was little more than a bridlepath; consequently the travelers were thoroughly fatigued when they reached their destination. When Lucretia entered the latter city she must have been overcome by painful emotions, for she could not fail to have been reminded of Sforza, her discarded husband, who was now an exile in Mantua, brooding on revenge, and who might appear at any moment in Ferrara to mar the wedding festivities. Pesaro now belonged to her brother CÆsar, and he had given orders that his sister should be royally received in all the cities she visited in his domain. A hundred children clad in his colors—yellow and red—with olive branches in their hands, greeted her at the gates of Pesaro with the cry, "Duca! Duca! Lucretia! Lucretia!" and the city officials accompanied her to her former residence. Lucretia was received with every evidence of joy by her former subjects, and the most prominent of the noble women of the city, among whom was the matron Lucretia Lopez, once her lady-in-waiting, and now wife of Gianfrancesco Ardizi. Lucretia remained a day in Pesaro without allowing herself to be seen. In the evening she permitted the ladies of her suite to dance with those of the city, but she herself took no part in the festivities. Pozzi wrote the duke that she spent the entire time in her chamber "for the purpose of washing her head, and because she was naturally inclined to solitude." Her seclusion while in Pesaro may be explained as more likely due to the gloomy thoughts which filled her mind. In every town belonging to the Duke of Romagna there was a similar reception; everywhere the magistrates presented Lucretia with the keys of the city. She was now accompanied by her brother's lieutenant in Cesena, Don Ramiro d'Orco,—a monster who was quartered by CÆsar's orders a few months later. Passing Rimini and Cesena she reached Forli, January 25th. The salon of the palace was hung with costly tapestries, and even the ceiling was covered with many-colored cloth; a tribune was erected for the ladies. Presents of food, sweetmeats, and wax tapers were offered the duchess. In spite of the stringent laws which CÆsar's rectors, especially Ramiro, had passed, bands of robbers made the roads unsafe. Fearing that the bold bandit Giambattista Carraro might overtake the bridal train after it had left the boundaries of Cervia, a guard of a thousand men on foot and a hundred and fifty troopers was furnished by the people, apparently as an escort of honor. In Faenza Lucretia announced that she would be obliged to spend Friday in Imola to wash her head, as she would not have an opportunity to do this again until the On the way from Faenza to Imola the cavalcade stopped at Castle Bolognese, which had been abandoned by Giovanni Bentivoglio when he was threatened by CÆsar. They found the walls of the town razed, the moat filled up, and even its name changed to Cesarina. After resting a day in Imola the cavalcade set out January 28th for Bologna. When they reached the borders of the territory belonging to the city they were met by Bentivoglio's sons and his consort Ginevra, with a brilliant retinue, and two miles from the city gate Giovanni himself was waiting to greet them. The tyrant of Bologna, who owed his escape from CÆsar wholly to the protection of the French, spared nothing to honor his enemy's sister. Accompanied by several hundred riders, he led her in triumph through the city, where the arms of the Borgias, of CÆsar, the Pope, and Lucretia, and those of France, and of the Este met her eye on every side. The proud matron Ginevra, surrounded by a large number of noble ladies, received Lucretia at the portals of her magnificent palace. How this famous January 30th was devoted to gorgeous festivities, and in the evening the Bentivoglio gave a ball and a banquet. The following day they accompanied Lucretia for a part of the way, as it was her purpose to continue her journey to Ferrara, which now was not far distant, by boat on the canal, which at that time ran from Bologna to the Po. The same day—January 31st—towards evening, Lucretia reached Castle Bentivoglio, which was but twenty miles from Ferrara. She had no sooner arrived at that place than her consort Alfonso suddenly appeared. She was greatly overcome, but promptly recovered herself and received him "with many professions of esteem and most graciously," to all of which he responded with great gallantry. During this short interview he was greatly impressed by his wife. Lucretia in those two hours had certainly brought Alfonso under the spell of her personality, even if she had not completely disarmed him. Not wholly without reason had the gallant burghers of Foligno awarded the apple of Paris to Lucretia. Speaking of this meeting, one of the chroniclers of Ferrara says, "The entire people rejoiced greatly, as did also the bride and her own followers, because his Majesty had shown a desire to see her and had received her so well—an indication that she would be accepted and treated still better." Probably no one was more pleased than the Pope. His daughter immediately informed him of her reception, for she sent him daily letters giving an account of her journey; and he also received numerous despatches from other persons in her train. Up to this time he had felt some misgivings as to her reception by the Este, but now he was relieved. After she had left Rome he frequently asked Cardinal Ferrari to warn the duke to treat his daughter-in-law kindly, remarking, at the same time, that he had done a great deal for her, and would do still more. He declared that the remission of Ferrara's tribute would, if paid for in money, require not less than two hundred thousand ducats, and that the officials of the chancellery had demanded between five and six thousand ducats merely for preparing the bulls. The kings of France and Spain had been compelled to pay the Duke of Romagna a yearly tribute of twenty thousand ducats for the remission of the taxes of Naples, which consisted only in the payment The duke replied to the cardinal January 22d, assuring him that his daughter-in-law would meet with a most affectionate reception. |
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