The day before yesterday died Madonna Vannozza, once the mistress of Pope Alexander and mother of the Duchess of Ferrara and the Duke of Valentino. That night I happened to be at a place where I heard the death announced, according to the Roman custom, in the following formal words: 'Messer Paolo gives notice of the death of Madonna Vannozza, mother of the Duke of Gandia; she belonged to the Gonfalone Company.' She was buried yesterday in S. Maria del Popolo, with the greatest honors,—almost like a cardinal. She was sixty-six years of age. She left all her property,—which was not inconsiderable,—to S. Giovanni in Laterano. The Pope's chamberlain attended the obsequies, which was unusual.[243]

Marcantonio Altieri, one of the foremost men of Rome, who was guardian of the Company of the Gonfalone ad Sancta Sanctorum, and as such made an inventory of the property of the brotherhood in 1527, drew up a memorial regarding her, the manuscript of which is still preserved in the archives of the association, and is as follows:

We must not forget the endowments made by the respected and honored lady, Madonna Vannozza of the house of Catanei, the happy mother of the illustrious gentlemen, the Duke of Gandia, the Duke of Valentino, the Prince of Squillace, and of Madonna Lucretia, Duchess of Ferrara. As she wished to endow the Company with her worldly goods she gave it her jewels, which were of no slight value, and so much more that the Company in a few years was able to discharge certain obligations, with the help also of the noble gentlemen, Messer Mariano Castellano, and my dear Messer Rafael Casale, who had recently been guardians. She made an agreement with the great and famous silversmith Caradosso by which she gave him two thousand ducats so that he with his magnificent work of art might gratify the wish of that noble and honorable woman. In addition she left us so much property that we shall be able to take care of the annual rent of four hundred ducats and also feed the poor and the sick, who, unfortunately, are very numerous. Out of gratitude for her piety and devout mind and for these endowments our honorable society unanimously and cheerfully decided not only to celebrate her obsequies with magnificent pomp, but also to honor the deceased with a proud and splendid monument. It was also decided from that time forth to have mass said on the anniversary of her death in the Church del Popolo, where she is buried, and to provide for other ceremonies, with an attendance of men bearing torches and tapers, in all devotion, for the purpose of commending her soul's salvation to God, and also to show the world that we hate and loathe ingratitude.

Thus this woman's vanity led her to provide for a ceremonious funeral; she wanted all Rome to talk of her on that day as the mistress of Alexander VI and the mother of so many famous children. Leo X bestowed an official character upon her funeral by having his court attend it; by doing this he recognized Vannozza either as the widow of Alexander VI or as the mother of the Duchess of Ferrara. As the Company of the Gonfalone was composed of the foremost burghers and nobles of Rome, almost the entire city attended her funeral. Vannozza was buried in S. Maria del Popolo in her family chapel, by the side of her unfortunate son Giovanni, Duke of Gandia. We do not know whether a marble monument was erected to her memory, but the following inscription was placed over her grave by her executor: "To Vanotia Catanea, mother of the Duke Caesar of Valentino, Giovanni of Gandia, Giuffre of Squillace, and Lucretia of Ferrara, conspicuous for her uprightness, her piety, her discretion, and her intelligence, and deserving much on account of what she did for the Lateran Hospital. Erected by Hieronymus Picus, fiduciary-commissioner and executor of her will. She lived seventy-seven years, four months, and thirteen days. She died in the year 1518, November 26th."

Vannozza doubtless had passed away believing that she had expiated her sins and purchased heaven with gold and silver and pious legacies. She had even purchased the pomp of a ceremonious funeral and a lie which was graven deep on her tombstone. For more than two hundred years the priests in S. Maria del Popolo sang masses for the repose of her soul, and when they ceased it was perhaps less owing to their conviction that enough of them had been said for this woman than from a growing belief in the trustworthiness of historical criticism. Later, owing either to hate or a sense of shame, her very tombstone disappeared, not a trace of it being left.

FOOTNOTES:

[234] Despatch of Beltrando Costabili to Ercole, Rome, March 7, 1504.

[235] Magnifico et prestanti viro maiori honorandmo D. Ludovico Romanellio Ducali Secretario Ferrarie. Omissis. Il Papa mi ha mandato Don Michiele il quale habiamo cominciato examinare cum turtura de queste sue sceleranze fin qui ē sta saldo et nulla confessa non so mō se fara cussi in futurum. Omissis. Dixe che Papa Alexandro fu quello che fece ammazzare Don Alfonso, marito che fu della Ducessa. Rome XX. Lulii, 1504. Thadeus Locumtenens Senatus. In the archives of Modena.

[236] The documents are in the archives of the Sancta Sanctorum.

[237] Act of December 4, 1503, in the same archives.

[238] Archives of the Sancta Sanctorum. The instrument is dated April 1, 1504.

[239] Archives of the Sancta Sanctorum.

[240] Ibid.

[241] This was reported to Cardinal Ippolito by Girolamo Sacrati from Rome, November 2, 1515. Archives of Modena.

[242] Vannozza's will, in the archives of the Capitol, Cred. xiv, T. 72, p. 305, among the instruments drawn by the notary Andrea Carosi.

[243] In the diary of Marino Sanuto, vol. xxvi, fol. 135.



CHAPTER XII

DEATH OF LUCRETIA BORGIA—CONCLUSION

The State of Ferrara again found itself in serious difficulties, for Leo X, following the example of Alexander VI, was trying to build up a kingdom for his nephew Lorenzo de' Medici. As early as 1516 Leo had made him Duke of Urbino, having expelled Guidobaldo's legitimate heirs from their city. Francesco Maria Rovere, his wife, and his adopted mother, Elisabetta, were in Mantua,—the asylum of all exiled princes. Leo was consuming with a desire also to drive the Este out of Ferrara, and it was only the protection of France that saved Alfonso from a war with the Pope. The duke, to whom the Pope refused to restore the cities of Modena and Reggio, therefore went to the court of Louis XII in November, 1518, for the purpose of interesting him in his affairs. In February, 1519, he returned to Ferrara, where he learned of the death of his brother-in-law, the Marchese Francesco Gonzaga, of Mantua, which occurred February 20th. The last of March Lucretia wrote to his widow, Isabella, as follows:

ILLUSTRIOUS LADY, SISTER-IN-LAW, AND MOST HONORED SISTER: The great loss by death of your Excellency's husband, of blessed memory, has caused me such profound grief, that instead of being able to offer consolation I myself am in need of it. I sympathize with your Excellency in this loss, and I cannot tell you how grieved and depressed I am, but, as it has occurred and it has pleased our Lord so to do, we must acquiesce in his will. Therefore I beg and urge your Majesty to bear up under this misfortune as befits your position, and I know that you will do so. I will at present merely add that I commend myself and offer my services to you at all times.

YOUR SISTER-IN-LAW LUCRETIA, Duchess of Ferrara.

FERRARA, the last of March, 1519.

The Marchese was succeeded by his eldest son, Federico. In 1530 the Emperor Charles V created him first Duke of Mantua. The following year he married Margherita di Montferrat. This was the same Federico who had formerly been selected to be the husband of Caesar's daughter Luisa. His famous mother lived, a widow, until February 13, 1539.

Alfonso again found his wife in a precarious condition. She was near her confinement, and June 14, 1519, she bore a child which was still-born. Eight days later, knowing that her end was near, she dictated an epistle to Pope Leo. It is the last letter we have of Lucretia, and as it was written while she was dying, it is of the deepest import, enabling us to look into her soul, which for the last time was tormented by the recollection of the terrors and errors of her past life of which she had long since purged herself.

MOST HOLY FATHER AND HONORED MASTER: With all respect I kiss your Holiness's feet and commend myself in all humility to your holy mercy. Having suffered for more than two months, early on the morning of the 14th of the present, as it pleased God, I gave birth to a daughter, and hoped then to find relief from my sufferings, but I did not, and shall be compelled to pay my debt to nature. So great is the favor which our merciful Creator has shown me, that I approach the end of my life with pleasure, knowing that in a few hours, after receiving for the last time all the holy sacraments of the Church, I shall be released. Having arrived at this moment, I desire as a Christian, although I am a sinner, to ask your Holiness, in your mercy, to give me all possible spiritual consolation and your Holiness's blessing for my soul. Therefore I offer myself to you in all humility and commend my husband and my children, all of whom are your servants, to your Holiness's mercy. In Ferrara, June 22, 1519, at the fourteenth hour.

Your Holiness's humble servant,

LUCRETIA D'ESTE.

The letter is so calm and contained, so free from affectation, that one is inclined to ask whether a dying woman could have written it if her conscience had been burdened with the crimes with which Alexander's unfortunate daughter had been charged.

She died in the presence of Alfonso on the night of June 24th, and the duke immediately wrote his nephew Federico Gonzaga as follows:

ILLUSTRIOUS SIR AND HONORED BROTHER AND NEPHEW: It has just pleased our Lord to summon unto Himself the soul of the illustrious lady, the duchess, my dearest wife. I hasten to inform you of the fact as our mutual love leads me to believe that the happiness or unhappiness of one is likewise the happiness or unhappiness of the other. I cannot write this without tears, knowing myself to be deprived of such a dear and sweet companion. For such her exemplary conduct and the tender love which existed between us made her to me. On this sad occasion I would indeed seek consolation from your Excellency, but I know that you will participate in my grief, and I prefer to have some one mingle his tears with mine rather than endeavor to console me. I commend myself to your Majesty. Ferrara, June 24, 1519, at the fifth hour of the night.

ALFONSUS, Duke of Ferrara.[244]

The Marchese Federico sent his uncle Giovanni Gonzaga to Ferrara, who wrote him from there as follows:

Your Excellency must not be surprised when I tell you that I shall leave here to-morrow, for no obsequies will be celebrated, only the offices said in the parish church. His Excellency the Duke accompanied his illustrious consort's body to the grave. She is buried in the Convent of the Sisters of Corpus Christi in the same vault where repose the remains of his mother. Her death has caused the greatest grief throughout the entire city, and his ducal majesty displays the most profound sorrow. Great things are reported concerning her life, and it is said that she has worn the cilice for about ten years, and has gone to confession daily during the last two years, and has received the communion three or four times every month. Your Excellency's ever devoted servant,

JOHANNES DE GONZAGA, Marquis.[245]

FERRARA, June 28, 1519.

Among the numerous letters of condolence which the duke received was one in Spanish from the mysterious Infante Don Giovanni Borgia, who was then in Poissy, France. The duke himself had informed him of the death of his consort, and Don Giovanni lamented the loss of his "sister," who had also been his greatest patron.

The graves of Lucretia and Alfonso and numerous other members of the house of Este in Ferrara have disappeared. No picture of the famous woman exists either in that city or in Modena. Although many, doubtless, were painted, none has been preserved. In Ferrara there were numerous artists, Dossi, Garofalo, Cosma, and others. Titian may have painted the beautiful duchess's portrait. His likeness of Isabella d'Este Gonzaga, Lucretia's rival in beauty, is preserved in the Belvedere gallery in Vienna; it shows a charming feminine face of oval contour, with regular lines, brown eyes, and an expression of gentle womanliness. There is no portrait of Lucretia from this master's hand, for the one in the Doria Gallery in Rome, which some ascribe to him and others to Paul Veronese,—although this artist was not born until 1528,—is one of the many fictions we find in galleries. In the Doria Gallery there is a life-sized figure of an Amazon with a helmet in her hand, ascribed to Dosso Dossi, which is said to be a likeness of Vannozza.

Monsignor Antonelli, custodian of the numismatic collection of Ferrara, has a portrait in oil which may be that of Lucretia Borgia,—not because it has her name in somewhat archaic letters, but because the features are not unlike those of her medals. This portrait, however (the eyes are gray), is uncertain, as are also two portraits in majolica in the possession of Rawdon Brown, in Venice, which he regards as the work of Alfonso himself, who amused himself in making this ware. Even if there were any ground for this belief, the portraits, as they are merely in the decorative style of majolica, would resemble the original but slightly.

The portrait in the Dresden gallery which is catalogued as a likeness of Lucretia Borgia is not authentic. There are no undoubted portraits of her except those on the medals which were struck during her life in Ferrara. One of these is reproduced as the frontispiece[246] of the present volume; it is the finest of all and is one of the most noteworthy medals of the Renaissance. It probably was engraved by Filippino Lippi in 1502, on the occasion of Lucretia's marriage. On the reverse is a design characteristic not only of the age but especially of Lucretia. It is a Cupid with out-stretched wings bound to a laurel, suspended from which are a violin and a roll of music. The quiver of the god of love hangs broken on a branch of the laurel, and his bow, with the cord snapped, lies on the ground. The inscription on the reverse is as follows: "Virtuti Ac Formae Pudicitia Praeciosissimum." Perhaps the artist by this symbolism wished to convey the idea that the time for love's free play had passed and by the laurel tree intended to suggest the famous house of Este. Although this interpretation might apply to every bride, it is especially appropriate for Lucretia Borgia.

Whoever examines this girlish head with its long flowing tresses will be surprised, for no contrast could be greater than that between this portrait and the common conception of Lucretia Borgia. The likeness shows a maidenly, almost childish face, of a peculiar expression, without any classic lines. It could scarcely be described as beautiful. The Marchesana of Cotrone spoke the truth when in writing to Francesco she said that Lucretia was not especially beautiful, but that she had what might be called a "dolce ciera,"—a sweet face. The face resembles that of her father—as shown by the best medals which we have of him—but slightly; the only likeness is in the strongly outlined nose. Lucretia's forehead was arched, while Alexander's was flat; her chin was somewhat retreating while his was in line with the lips.

Another medal shows Lucretia with the hair confined and the head covered with a net, and has the so-called lenza, a sort of fillet set with precious stones or pearls. The hair covers the ear and descends to the neck, according to the fashion of the day, which we also see in a beautiful medal of Elizabetta Gonzaga of Urbino.

The original sources from which the material for this book has been derived would place the reader in a position to form his own opinion regarding Lucretia Borgia, and his view would approximate a correct one, or at least would be nearer correct than the common conception of this woman. Men of past ages are merely problems which we endeavor to solve. If we err in our conception of our contemporaries how much more likely are we to be wrong when we endeavor to analyze men whose very forms are shadowy. All the circumstances of their personal life, of their nature, the times, and their environment,—of which they were the product,—all the secrets of their being exist only as disconnected fragments from which we are forced to frame our conception of their characters. History is merely a world-judgment based upon the law of causality. Many of the characters of history would regard their portraits in books as wholly distorted and would smile at the opinion formed of them.



Lucretia Borgia might correspond with the one derived from the documents of her time, which show her as an amiable, gentle, thoughtless, and unfortunate woman. Her misfortunes, in life, were due in part to a fate for which she was in no way responsible, and, after her death, in the opinion which was formed regarding her character. The brand which had been set upon her forehead was removed by herself when she became Duchess of Ferrara, but on her death it reappeared. How soon this happened is shown by what the Rovere in Urbino said of her. In the year 1532 it was arranged that Guidobaldo II, son of Francesco Maria and Eleonora Gonzaga, should marry Giulia Varano, although he himself wished to marry a certain Orsini. His father directed his attention to the unequal alliances into which princes were prone to enter, and among others to that of Alfonso of Ferrara, who, he said, had married Lucretia Borgia, a woman "of the sort which everybody knows," and who had given his son a monster (Renee) for wife. Guidobaldo acquiesced in this view and replied that he knew he had a father who would never compel him to take a wife like Lucretia Borgia, "one as bad as she and of so many disreputable connections."[247] Thus the impression grew and Lucretia Borgia became the type of all feminine depravity until finally Victor Hugo in his drama, and Donizetti in his opera, placed her upon the stage in that character.

* * * * *

In conclusion a few words regarding the descendants of Lucretia and Alfonso,—the Duke of Ferrara survived his wife fifteen stormy years. He, however, succeeded in defending himself against the popes of the Medici family, and he revenged himself on Clement VII by sacking Rome with the aid of the emperor's troops. Charles V gave him Modena and Reggio, and he was therefore able to leave his heir the estates of the house of Este in their integrity. He never married again, but a beautiful bourgeoise, Laura Eustochia Dianti, became his mistress. She bore him two sons, Alfonso and Alfonsino. The duke died October 31, 1534, at the age of fifty-eight; his brothers, Cardinal Ippolito and Don Sigismondo, having passed away before him, the former in 1520 and the latter in 1524.

By Lucretia Borgia he had five children. Ercole succeeded him; Ippolito became a cardinal, and died December 2, 1572, in Tivoli, where the Villa d'Este remains as his monument; Elenora died, a nun, in the Convent of Corpus Domini, July 15, 1575; Francesco finally became Marchese of Massalombarda, and died February 22, 1578.

Lucretia's son Ercole reigned until October, 1559. In 1528 his father had married him to Renee, the plain but intellectual daughter of Louis XII. Lucretia had never seen her daughter-in-law nor had she ever had any intimation that it was to be Renee. The life of this famous duchess forms a noteworthy part of the history of Ferrara. She was an active supporter of the Reformation, which was inaugurated to free the world from a church which was governed by the Borgia, the Rovere, and the Medici. Renee was therefore described as a monster by the Rovere. She kept Calvin and Clement Marot in concealment at her court a long time.

By a curious coincidence, in the year 1550 a man appeared at the court of Lucretia's son, who vividly recalled to the Borgias who were still living their family history, which was already becoming legendary. This man was Don Francesco Borgia, Duke of Gandia, now a Jesuit. His sudden appearance in Ferrara gives us an opportunity briefly to describe the fortunes of the house of Gandia.

Of all the progeny of Alexander VI the most fortunate were those who were the descendants of the murdered Don Giovanni. His widow, Donna Maria, lived for a long time highly respected at the court of Queen Isabella of Castile, and subsequently she became an ascetic bigot and entered a convent. Her daughter Isabella did the same, dying in 1537. Her only son, Don Giovanni, while a child, had succeeded his unfortunate father as Duke of Gandia and had managed to retain his Neapolitan estates, which included an extensive domain in Terra di Lavoro, with the cities of Suessa, Teano, Carinola, Montefuscolo, Fiume, and others. In 1506 the youthful Gandia relinquished these towns to the King of Spain on payment of a sum of money. To the great Captain Gonsalvo was given the Principality of Suessa.

Don Giovanni remained in Spain a highly respected grandee. He married Giovanna d'Aragona, a princess of the deposed royal house of Naples; his second wife was a daughter of the Viscount of Eval, Donna Francesca de Castro y Pinos, whom he married in 1520. The marriages of the Borgias were as a rule exceedingly fruitful. When this grandson of Alexander VI died in 1543 he left no fewer than fifteen children. His daughters married among the grandees of Spain and his sons were numbered among the great nobles of the country, where they enjoyed the highest honors. The eldest, Don Francesco Borgia, born in 1510, became Duke of Gandia and a great lord in Spain and highly honored at the court of Charles V, who made him Vice-Regent of Catalonia and Commander of San Iago. He accompanied the emperor on his expedition against France and even to Africa. In 1529 he married one of the ladies in waiting to the empress, Eleonora de Castro, who bore him five sons and three daughters. When she died, in 1546, the Duke of Gandia yielded to his long-standing desire to enter the Society of Jesus and to relinquish his brilliant position forever. It seemed as if a mysterious force was impelling him thus to expiate the crimes of his house. It is not strange, however, to find a descendant of Alexander VI in the garb of a Jesuit, for the diabolic force of will which had characterized that Borgia lived again in the person of his countryman, Loyola, in another form and directed to another end. The maxims of Macchiavelli's "Prince" thus became part of the political programme of the Jesuits.

In 1550 the Duke of Gandia went to Rome to cast himself at the feet of the Pope and to become a member of the Order. Paul III, brother of Giulia Farnese, had just died, and del Monte as Julius III had ascended the papal throne. Ercole II, cousin of Don Francesco, still occupied the ducal throne of Ferrara. He remembered the relationship and invited the traveler to stop at his city on his way to Rome. Francesco spent three days at the court of Lucretia's son, where he was received by Renee. Whether Loyola's brilliant pupil had any knowledge of the religious attitude of Calvin's friend is not known. The presence of this man in Savonarola's native city and at Lucretia's former residence is, on account of the contrast, remarkable. Francesco left for Rome almost immediately, and then returned to Spain. On the death of Lainez, in 1565, he became general,—the third in order,—of the Society of Jesus. He still held this position at the time of his death, which occurred in Rome in the year 1572. The Church pronounced him holy, and thus a descendant of Alexander VI became a saint.[248]

The descendants of this Borgia married into the greatest families of Spain. His eldest son, Don Carlos, Duke of Gandia, married Donna Maddalena, daughter of the Count of Oliva, of the house of Centelles, and thus the family to which Lucretia's first suitor belonged, after the lapse of fifty years, became connected with the Borgias. The Gandia branch survived until the eighteenth century, when there were two cardinals of the name of Borgia who were members of it.

Ercole II did not discover the heretical tendencies of his wife Renee until 1554, when he placed her in a convent. The noble princess remained true to the Reformation. As the Inquisition stamped out the reform movement in Ferrara while her son was reigning duke, she returned to France, where she lived with the Huguenots in her Castle of Montargis, dying in 1575. It is worthy of note that the Duke of Guise was her son-in-law.

Renee had borne her husband several children,—the hereditary Prince Alfonso Luigi, who subsequently became a cardinal; Donna Anna, who married the Duke of Guise; Donna Lucretia, who became Duchess of Urbino; and Donna Leonora, who remained single.

Her son Alfonso II succeeded to the throne of Ferrara in 1559. This was the duke whom Tasso made immortal. Just as Ariosto, during the reign of the first Alfonso and Lucretia, had celebrated the house of Este in a monumental poem, so Torquato Tasso now continued to do at the home of his descendant, Alfonso II. By a curious coincidence the two greatest epic poets of Italy were in the service of the same family. Tasso's fate is one of the darkest memories of the house of Este, and is also the last of any special importance in the history of the court of Ferrara. His poem may be regarded as the death song of this famous family, for the legitimate line of the house of Este died out October 27, 1597, in Alfonso II, Lucretia Borgia's grandson. Don Caesar, a grandson of Alfonso I, and son of that Alfonso whom Laura Dianti had borne him and of Donna Giulia Rovere of Urbino, ascended the ducal throne of Ferrara on the death of Alfonso II as his heir. The Pope, however, would not recognize him. In vain he endeavored to prove that his grandfather, shortly before his death, had legally married Laura Dianti, and that consequently he was the legitimate heir to the throne. It availed nothing for the contestants to appear before the tribunal of emperor and pope and endeavor to make Don Caesar's pretensions good, nor does it now avail for the Ferrarese, who, following Muratori, still seek to substantiate these claims. Don Caesar was forced to yield to Clement VIII, January 13, 1598, the grandson of Alfonso I renouncing the Duchy of Ferrara. Together with his wife, Virginia Medici and his children, he left the old palace of his ancestors and betook himself to Modena, the title of duke of that city and the estates of Reggio and Carpi having been conferred upon him.

Don Caesar continued the branch line of the Este. At the end of the eighteenth century it passed into the Austrian Este house in the person of Archduke Ferdinand, and in the nineteenth century this line also became extinct.

No longer do the popes control Ferrara. Where the castle of Tedaldo stood when Lucretia made her entry into the city in 1502, where Clement VIII later erected the great castle which was razed in 1859, there is now a wide field in the middle of which, lost and forgotten, is a melancholy statue of Paul V, and all about is a waste. There is still standing before the castle of Giovanni Sforza in Pesaro a column from which the statue has been overturned, and on the base is the inscription: "Statue of Urban VII—That is all that is left of it."

FOOTNOTES:

[244] This letter is quoted by Zucchetti.

[245] Printed in Zucchetti's work. Che da forse dieci anni in qua la portava el silizio.... This is not, as Zucchetti supposes, the goat-hair shirt.

[246] In this translation it appears on the cover.

[247] Di quella mala sorte che fu quella, e con tante disoneste parti. See Ugolino Storia dei Duchi d'Urbino, ii, 242.

[248] J. M. S. Daurignac, Histoire de S. Francois de Borgia, Duc de Gandie, Troisieme General de la Compagnie de Jesus. Paris, 1863.



INDEX

Adriana de Mila, see Mila, Adriana de.

Albret, Charlotte d', married to Caesar Borgia, 115, 325.

Aldo Manuzio, 132, 305, 327; in Venice, 340.

Alexander VI, see Borgia, Rodrigo.

Alfonso d'Este, see Este.

Alfonso of Biselli, see Alfonso of Naples.

Alfonso of Naples, 111, 113; flees from Rome, 116; attempt on his life, 147; murdered, 148.

Allegre, Monsignor d', captures Alexander's mistress, 87, 143.

Amboise, Cardinal George d', 115, 169, 296.

Angelo, Michael, first appearance in Rome, 135; his Pieta, 136.

Aragon, Eleonora of, wife of Ercole d'Este, 54.

Aragona, Camilla Marzana d', wife of Costanza Sforza, 78, 82.

Aragona, Isabella d', of Milan, 334; guardian of Rodrigo Borgia, 335.

Aragonese of Naples, their fall, 172.

Arignano, Domenico of, 11.

Ariosto, 247, 254, 308-309, 311; his Orlando, 340.

Asolani, i, 31.

Baglione, Giampolo, his cowardice, 99.

Ballet, the, 255.

Bayard, the Chevalier, his opinion of Lucretia, 332.

Behaim, Lorenz, humanist, 32.

Bella, la, or Giulia Bella, 39; see also Farnese, Giulia.

Bellingeri, Hector, 188.

Bembo, Cardinal, 31; eulogizes Alexander VI, 100; condoles Lucretia on Alexander's death, 291; dedicates his Asolani to Lucretia, 305, 306, 340.

Beneimbeni, notary, 131.

Bentivoglio, Ginevra, 101.

Bisceglie or Biseglia, see Biselli.

Biselli, 111; Lucretia duchess of, 113.

Biselli, Alfonso of, see Alfonso of Naples.

Borgia, Alfonso, founder of the family, 3.

Borgia, Angela, married to Francesco Maria della Rovere, 115, 223, 310; wife of Alessandro Pio, 311.

Borgia, Anna de, Princess of Squillace, 334.

Borgia, Beatrice, sister of Alexander VI, 5.

Borgia, Caesar, his birth, 12; his moderation, 29; at the University of Pisa, 39; made bishop of Valencia, 48; his personality, 57-58; made cardinal, 65; crowns Federico, king of Naples, 108; renounces his cardinalate, 113; sails for France, 115; made duke of Valentinois, 115; marries Charlotte d'Albret, 115; campaigns in the Romagna, 122, 280; takes Forli, 139; correspondence with Ercole d'Este, 145; letter to Gonzaga, 146; power over his father, 149; enters Romagna, 159; takes Pesaro, 161; Faenza, 166; made duke of Romagna, 170; in Naples, 172; returns from Naples, 188; his age, 202; letter to Lucretia, 280; treachery of his captains, 283; letter to Isabella Gonzaga, 285; taken sick, 286; loses his estates, 293; in Nepi, 295, 298; goes to Naples, 299; to Spain, 299; confined in Castle of Seville, 300; escapes, 317-318; informs Gonzaga of his escape, 319; his death, 321-322; his character, 323.

Borgia, Catarina, sister of Calixtus III, 4.

Borgia, Francesco, duke of Gandia, enters the Society of Jesus, 364; general of the order, 365; dies in Rome and is canonized, 365.

Borgia, Giovanni, duke of Gandia, son of Vannozza, 12, 93.

Borgia, Giovanni, Cardinal, "the elder," made cardinal, 49.

Borgia, Giovanni, Cardinal, "the younger," 116; death of, 137; his parentage, 138.

Borgia, Giovanni, "Infante of Rome," his parentage, 192-194, 295, 335; at Lucretia's court, 341-342; his death, 343-344.

Borgia, Girolama, daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, 18.

Borgia, Giuffre, son of Vannozza, his birth, 20; made archdeacon of Valencia, 40; marries Donna Sancia, of Naples, 65; Prince of Squillace, 71; comes to Rome, 92, 295; goes to Naples, 299.

Borgia, Isabella, daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo, 19.

Borgia, Isabella, sister of Calixtus III, 4.

Borgia, Juana, sister of Cardinal Rodrigo, 5.

Borgia, Juan Luis, nephew of Calixtus III, 4.

Borgia, Lucretia, daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo and Vannozza, birth, 12-13; her education, 23; her modesty, 28; her linguistic attainments, 31; letters to Bembo, 31; betrothed to Cherubino Juan de Centelles, 41; betrothed to Gasparo de Procida, 42; married to Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro, 58-60; returns to Rome, 86; goes to the Convent of S. Sisto, 107; rumors concerning, 109; divorced from Sforza, 109; betrothed to Alfonzo of Naples, 111; becomes duchess of Biselli, 113; regent of Spoleto, 117; invested with title to Nepi, 118; gives birth to a son, 121; her private life, 125; her weakness, 151; goes to Nepi, 151; letters from there, 155-157, 172; represents the pope in his absence, 173; charges against her, 175; objections to her marriage, 184; nuptials with Alfonso d'Este, 185-187; prepares to depart, 196; her age, 201; her dowry, 204-207; her character, 212; her marriage, 216; her retinue, 222; leaves Rome, 225; journey to Ferrara, 232-240; entrance into Ferrara, 240-244; her person, 247; fetes in her honor, 250-263; letter to Isabella Gonzaga, 263; gives birth to a daughter, 282; duchess of Ferrara, 303; her library, 304; corresponds with Giulia Farnese, 313; bears a son, 326; another, 328; regent of Ferrara, 328; claims Rodrigo's property, 336; change in her character, 338; relations with her husband, 341; her son, Alessandro, 341; letter to Isabella Gonzaga, 355; letter to Leo X, 356; her death, 357; place of burial unknown, 358; portraits of, 358-359; medals of, 359; posthumous reputation, 361; her children by Alfonso, 362.

Borgia, Ludovico, governor of Spoleto, 121.

Borgia, Luigi, 325.

Borgia, Luisa, Caesar's daughter, 325.

Borgia, Pedro Luis, nephew of Calixtus III, 4, 5; his death, 6.

Borgia, Rodrigo, nephew of Calixtus III, made cardinal, 4; vice-chancellor, 5; his sensuality, 7; his person, 9; his wealth, 17; and Adriana Orsini, 23; witness to marriage of Giulia Farnese and Orsino Orsini, 38; elected pope, 44; his coronation, 45; letter to his daughter, 74; his abstinence, 94; secures Lucretia's divorce, 108; determines to marry Lucretia into house of Naples, 110; demands hand of Carlotta of Naples for Caesar, 110; letter to priors of Spoleto, 117; assumes control of Nepi, 120; his intellectual pleasures, 126; extols Ercole, 188; his Latin, 189; falls sick, 197; letter to the priors of Nepi, 224; sickness and death, 286; his immorality, 289-291.

Borgia, Rodrigo, nephew of Alexander VI, captain of the papal guard, 49.

Borgia, Rodrigo, son of Lucretia and Alfonso of Naples, his birth, 121, 194, 295-296; his death, 333.

Borgia, Tecla, sister of Cardinal Rodrigo, 5.

Borgias, their coat of arms, 45; their character, 93-94; family, 203.

Brandolini, Aurelio, 126.

Bull-fighting in Rome, 220.

Burchard, 125; his diary, 129-131, 177, 289.

Cagnolo of Parma, his description of Lucretia, 248.

Calcagnini, Celio, bridal song, 246, 340.

Calixtus III, 4; his death, 6.

Calvin, 363.

Cambray, League of, 327.

Canale, Carlo, 21-22.

Capello, Polo, account of Caesar, 177, 180.

Caracciolo, his De Varietate Fortunae, 334.

Caranza, Pedro, privy-chamberlain, 49.

Carlotta of Naples, 110.

Carlotta, Queen of Cyprus, 32.

Castelli, Adriano, 132.

Castiglione, 31, 250, 305.

Castle Vecchio, description of, 270-272.

Catanei, see Vannozza Catanei.

Cavalliere, Bartolomeo, letter of, 182.

Caviceo, Jacopo, dedicates his Peregrino to Lucretia, 308.

Centelles, Cherubino Juan de, betrothal to Lucretia, 41.

Charles V, 4, 327.

Charles VIII, 62; enters Italy, 87; retreats, 90.

Chrysoleras, 32.

Cieco, Francesco, his Mambriano, 277.

Classic culture, 26.

Collenuccio, Pandolfo, poet and orator, 85; letter to Ercole, 161, 293-294; his death, 295.

Colonna, Vittoria, 30, 136, 142.

Copernicus in Rome, 129.

Cortegiano, il, 31.

Cosenza, Cardinal of, 191; Rodrigo Borgia's guardian, 297.

Costa, Michele, 339.

Cotrone, Marchesana of, letter to Gonzaga, 253.

Croce, Giorgio de, husband of Vannozza, 12, 20.

Dance, the, during the Renaissance, 253.

Decio, Philippo, jurisprudent, 40.

Della Rovere, see Rovere.

Dianti, Laura Eustochia, mistress of Alfonso d'Este, 362, 366.

Diplovatazio, Giorgio, 84.

Dossi, Dosso, 278, 339.

Drama, the, 128.

Eleonora of Aragon, wife of Ercole d'Este, 270.

Enriquez, Maria, wife of Giovanni Borgia, duke of Gandia, 64.

Este, palaces of the, 244; their history, 266-270; family expires in Alfonso II, 366.

Este, Alfonso d', 54; projected marriage with Lucretia, 167, 182; greets his bride, 236; becomes duke of Ferrara, 303; conspiracy against, 315; suspected of the murder of Strozzi, 327; under ban of Julius II, 331; asks the pope's forgiveness, 333; attends coronation of Leo X, 338; cultivates the arts, 339; letter to his nephew on Lucretia's death, 357.

Este, Alfonso II, d', succeeds to throne of Ferrara, 366.

Este, Alfonso Luigi d', son of Renee, 365.

Este, Anna d', wife of the duke of Guise, 366.

Este, Beatrice d', wife of Ludovico il Moro, 54.

Este, Ercole d', 54; letter to Alexander VI, 55; letter to Gonzaga, 186; to his envoys, 198; relations with Lucretia, 205; present to her, 217; letter to Alexander VI, 265; congratulates Caesar, 284; letter to Seregni, 287; to Lucretia regarding her son Rodrigo, 297-298; his death, 303.

Este, Ercole II, d', duke of Ferrara, 362, 364.

Este, Ferrante d', his imprisonment and death, 316.

Este, Giulio d', attack on, 310; its consequences, 315; his imprisonment and death, 316.

Este, Ippolito d', 56; made cardinal, 65, 186, 310.

Este, Isabella d', wife of Francesco Gonzaga of Montua, her learning, 30, 54; meets Lucretia, 239, 245; her beauty and vanity, 252; letter to Lucretia, 263; congratulates Caesar on his successes, 284; predilection for the arts, 340.

Estouteville, Cardinal, his children, 54.

Farnese, Alessandro, 36-37; made cardinal, 65.

Farnese, family, 36-37.

Farnese, Girolama, 65, 312.

Farnese, Giulia, 35; her betrothal, 37; marriage, 38, 39; "the pope's concubine," 63, 65; her daughter, Laura, 66; "Christ's bride," 66; her beauty, 69; captured by the French, 87, 123, 311; her death, 314.

Fedeli, Cassandra, 28, 30.

Federico of Naples, consents to betrothal of Alfonso and Lucretia, 110.

Ferdinand of Naples, congratulates Sforza on his marriage, 62.

Ferdinand of Spain, 299, 302.

Ferno, Michele, describes Alexander's coronation, 46-48, 129.

Ferrara, 191; Lucretia enters, 240-244; description of, 272-278.

Ferrari, Cardinal, 185, 224.

Filosseno, Marcello, sonnets to Lucretia, 308.

Florence, her fear of Caesar, 202.

Foix, Gaston de, 332.

Gaetani, family, 122; their property given Lucretia, 123; return to Sermoneta, 296.

Gambara, Veronica, her learning, 30.

Gandia (see also Giovanni Borgia), Duke of, gonfalonier, 103; murder of, 105-106; his heir, 106, 177.

Garofalo, Benvenuto, 278, 339.

Ghibbelines, 14.

Gonsalvo, 299.

Gonzaga, Elisabetta, her pilgrimage to Rome, 140; letter to her brother, Francesco Gonzaga, 140-142.

Gonzaga, Isabella, see Este, Isabella d'.

Gradara, Castle of, 83.

Greek, study of, 32.

Guelf III of Swabia, 267.

Guelphs, 14.

Guicciardini, Francesco, his charges against Lucretia, 176.

Imola, attacked by Caesar Borgia, 121.

Infessura, 11, 24.

Inghirami, Phaedra, 128.

Inquisition, the, 365.

Jovius, Paul, his opinion of Lucretia, 338.

Jubilee of 1500, 137, 140.

Julius II (see also Rovere, Giuliano della), 298, 312; offends Lucretia, 313; takes Perugia and Bologna, 317; forms League of Cambray, 327; places Alfonso under his ban, 331; his death, 338.

Lanzol family, 4.

Leo X, 338; his court, 340.

Literature during the Renaissance, 96.

Lopez, Juan, made chancellor, 49.

Louis XII, 116; takes Milan, 121; opposes marriage of Lucretia and Alfonso d'Este, 169; congratulates Alexander VI, 198.

Loyola, Ignatius, 4, 364.

Lucia of Viterbo, Sister, 257.

Ludovico il Moro, 45; hatred of the pope, 89.

Macchiavelli, his theory of the ruler, 98-99; his "Prince," 100.

Majolica, 83.

Malatesta, the, of Rimini, 77.

Malatesta, Sigismondo, 25.

Malipiero, letter of, 180.

Manfredi, Astorre, surrenders to Caesar, 166.

Mantua, Isabella of, see Este, Isabella d'.

Mantua, Marquis of, his letter on Alexander's death, 288.

Manuzio, Aldo, see Aldo Manuzio.

Marades, Juan, made privy-chancellor, 49.

Marot, Clement, at court of Renee, 363.

Matarazza of Perugia, 178-179.

Matilda, Countess, 267.

Maximilian, Emperor, opposition to Lucretia's marriage, 184, 329.

Melini, the brothers, 127.

Micheletto, confesses that Alfonso of Biselli was murdered by Alexander's orders, 346.

Mila or Mella family, 4.

Mila, Adriana, 5; married to Ludovico Orsini, 23.

Montefeltre, the, 232.

Montefeltre, Agnesina di, 142.

Nepi, 119; given to Ascanio Sforza, 120; description of, 152-155; unhealthful climate of 158.

Nepotism, 14.

Novel, the, during the Renaissance, 26.

Nugarolla, Isotta, her learning, 30.

Orsini, Adriana (see also Mila, Adriana de), captured by the French, 87, 223.

Orsini, Laura, daughter of the pope, 66; betrothed to Federico Farnese, 114; betrothed to Raimondo Farnese, 312.

Orsini, Orsino, 23; betrothed to Giulia Farnese, 37; the marriage, 38.

Paniciatus, N. Marius, his poems in honor of Lucretia, 245.

Paul III, 36.

Pazzi conspiracy, the, 14.

Perotto, 177.

Perugino, 100, 133.

Pesaro, history of, 76-79; description of, 79-86; captured by Caesar Borgia, 161.

Pesaro, Giovanni of, see Sforza, Giovanni.

Philosophy, study of, during the Renaissance, 29.

Piccolomini, Cardinal, his children, 34; elected pope, 296.

Pieta of Michael Angelo, 136.

Pinturicchio, 100; his portrait of Giulia Farnese, 133; portraits of the Borgias, 134.

Pius II, admonitory letter to Cardinal Borgia, 7.

Pius III, 296.

Poliziano, Angelo, 21.

Pollajuolo, Antonio, sculptor, 134.

Pompilio, Paolo, dedicates his Syllabica to Caesar Borgia, 39, 129.

Pontanus, 125; his epigrams, 176.

Porcaro, the, adherents of the Borgias, 46; the brothers, 127.

Posthumus, Guido, see Silvester, Guido Posthumus.

Pozzi, Gianlucca, 185; description of Lucretia, 213; letter to Ercole d'Este, 220, 229-232.

Prete, el, his account of Lucretia's wedding, 214-215, 218.

Principe il, 100.

Procida, Gasparo de, betrothed to Lucretia, 42; the contract dissolved, 51, 111.

Pucci, Lorenzo, 66; letter to his brother, 67.

Pucci, Puccio, 37, 65.

Ravenna, battle of, 332.

Reformation, the, 363.

Renaissance, the, education of women during, 24-33; immorality during, 96-101, 135; the theater, 97, 251; traveling, 208; the dance, 253; dress, 260.

Renee of France, wife of Ercole II, 362-363; placed in convent, 365; dies in France, 365.

Requesenz, 300, 319, 321.

Reuchlin, in Rome, 131.

Romagna, Duke of, see Borgia, Caesar.

Rome, society of, 133; sack of, 362.

Romolini, Francesco, 40.

Romolini, Raimondo, goes to Rome, 182.

Rovere, Francesco Maria della, secures Pesaro, 331.

Rovere, Giuliano della (see also Julius II), his children, 34; goes to France to urge Charles VIII to invade Italy, 73, 115, 196; becomes pope, 298, 314.

Sadoleto, 340.

Sancia of Naples, Donna, gossip concerning, 95; banished from Rome, 134; her death, 334.

Sangallo, Antonio di, Alexander's architect, 134.

Sannazzaro, his epigrams, 125, 176.

Sanuto, Marino, his diary, 178, 289.

Saraceni, 188; letter regarding the bridal escort, 199-201; letter to Ercole d'Este, 220, 222-232.

Savonarola, 95, 276.

Serafina of Aquila, 126.

Sermoneta, 122.

Sessa, see Suessa.

Sforza, the palace of, 81; tragedies among, 334.

Sforza, Ascanio, made vice-chancellor, 44; joins the Colonna, 73; leaves Rome, 116, 143.

Sforza, Battista, her learning, 30.

Sforza, Blanca, 183, 185.

Sforza, Cattarina, 101; surrenders to Caesar, 139; her life, 139; released, 143; her death, 144.

Sforza, Galeazzo, succeeds Giovanni, 331.

Sforza, Ginevra, 28.

Sforza, Giovanni, of Pesaro, offered Lucretia's hand, 50; betrothed to her, 52; marriage, 58; his person, 59; his relations with the pope uncertain, 71; letter to his uncle, Ludovico il Moro, 71; leaves Rome, 73; returns, 102; flees from Rome, 104; protests against divorce, 108; divorced from Lucretia, 109; appeals to Gonzaga for help, 159-160; leaves Pesaro, 160, 179; returns to Pesaro, 294; his death, 330.

Sforza, Ippolita, 28.

Sforza, Ludovico, captured by king of France, 143.

Silvester, Guido Posthumus, poet, 85, 179.

Sixtus IV, 14.

Soriano, defeat of the pope at, 104.

Sperulo, Francesco, Caesar's court poet, 126.

Spoleto, the castle of, 119.

Squillace, Prince of, see Borgia, Giuffre.

Stage, the, during the Renaissance, 97.

Strozzi, Ercole, eulogizes Caesar Borgia, 100; poem on death of Caesar, 324; murder of, 326.

Strozzi, father and son, 277, 307.

Suessa, Giovanni Borgia, duke of, 71.

Taro, battle of the, 91.

Tasso, Torquato, his Aminta, 83, 366.

Tebaldeo, Antonio, 277, 308, 340.

Theology, study of, during the Renaissance, 29.

Tiepoli, Ginevra, wife of Giovanni Sforza, 330.

Tisio, Benvenuto, see Garofalo.

Titian, 327.

Torelli, Barbara, 327.

Trivulzia of Milan, 29.

Troche, Caesar's confidant, 191.

Urbino, Elisabetta of, her learning, 30; her beauty, 252.

Urbino, Guidobaldo of, in command of papal troops, 102.

Valentino or Valentinois, see Borgia, Caesar.

Vannozza Catanei, mistress of Rodrigo Borgia, 10; her children, 12; her home, 15; marriage to Carlo Canale, 22, 295; charged with theft, 346; gives her house to Church of S. Maria del Popolo, 346; her last years, 347-351; her bequests, 351; her death, 351; her obsequies, 353.

Vasari, his account of Pinturicchio's work, 133.

Vatican, the orgy in, 178; life in, 189.

Villa Imperiale, 83.

Vinci, Leonardo da, 100.

Virago, meaning of the term, 28, 101.

Zambotto, Bernardino, his description of Lucretia, 247.

THE END