Читать книгу Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino (Vol. 1-3) - Dennistoun James - Страница 21

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The war of Ferrara, and death of Duke Federigo—His character and portraits.

The sparks of discord, though smothered, were still smouldering in many quarters. Sixtus, whose restless ambition was stirred by schemes of nepotism for his unscrupulous nephew of Forlì, forgot not that Ferdinand had baulked him of full vengeance upon the Medici, and brooded over that monarch's threat of letting the Infidel march upon his capital. He also calculated that, in the scramble of a general war, some pickings might fall to the lot of Count Girolamo. Venice, moreover, had had good cause for apprehending retribution for Naples, for the scurvy trick she had played in bringing the Turks upon Lower Italy; and thus was the way prepared for new party combinations. It was against the Duke of Ferrara that these were chiefly directed; for besides the offence of being son-in-law to Ferdinand, his territory was a desirable acquisition both to the Republic and to Count Girolamo. To Venice the latter accordingly proceeded in September, on a mission from his uncle, and arranged for the partition of that duchy, of which Lugo and Bagnacavallo were to be his share, with full liberty to expel the Manfredi from Faenza and to appropriate their possessions. Among other preliminaries, he stipulated that Federigo should command the allied army, a proceeding not only unauthorised by the Duke, but in direct opposition to the moderate counsels and peaceful policy earnestly pressed by him upon the youthful envoy, during a recent visit at Urbino. The appointment was accordingly declined, nor was his determination shaken by an offer from the Signory of 80,000 ducats as retaining pay, on condition of his taking no part in the war: one of his family demurring to his rejection of so advantageous a proposal, he replied, that "good faith and its observance are still better, and worth more than all the gold in the world." In a long and earnest letter he warned the Pontiff of the impolicy and mischief of such projects, and the miserable results of fresh contests in Italy; urged upon his Holiness that the moment was favourable for turning the united arms of Christendom against the Turks, while distracted by disputes between the sons of Mahomet; and offered his shattered limbs for any post in that glorious cause. Views so repugnant to the schemes of Sixtus had no weight in the Camera, and gave great offence to Girolamo Riario.

Alinari

ASTORGIO III. DE’ MANFREDI

From the picture by Scaletti in the Pinacoteca of Faenza

As it was in his father-in-law Ferdinand's quarrels that the Duke of Ferrara was likely to be victimised, the former was not slow to interpose for his protection. Personal feeling, as well as a sense of justice and a keen perception of the true interests of Italy, brought Lorenzo de' Medici to the same side, while the adherence of Milan, Mantua, and Bologna was secured by an apprehension of the ambitious advances of the Holy See and Venice upon Romagna and Lombardy. By these six powers a league was accordingly formed to defend Ferrara; and, on the 17th April, Federigo was engaged as its captain-general for three years. During war he was to provide 600 men-at-arms and 562 infantry, with 165,000 golden ducats of pay; in peace he was to have 65,000 ducats, finding 300 men-at-arms and 375 foot soldiers. In the event of death, his son and troops were to complete the stipulated period of service, with 15,000 ducats of personal pay.¹⁹⁵ Opposed to him was Roberto di Sanseverino, as leader of the Venetian army; and the papal contingent was nominally under Count Girolamo, who did not take the field, although the quarrel was in a great measure for his profit. The command of the ecclesiastical forces, thus vacated by the Duke of Urbino, had devolved upon his son-in-law Roberto Malatesta, who remained in Central Italy to occupy the Neapolitan troops at home, and protect Rome from the rebellious Colonna and Savelli. The Genoese and the Marquis of Montferrat adhered to the Venetian alliance.

The offer of an engagement by the League had been carried to Federigo, by six envoys commissioned from its leading powers, and was readily accepted. His preparations being completed, he set forth from his capital on St. George's day, while tearful eyes and ominous sighs attested his subjects' anxiety at the departure of their paternal sovereign, bent by failing health and advancing years. Besides his wonted suite, there followed him for many miles a train of men distinguished in letters and arts, philosophers, theologians, jurists, astronomers, and architects. By his side rode his nephew and confidential friend Ottaviano della Carda, to whom, as if anticipating his approaching end, he warmly and affectionately recommended his son Guidobaldo and all his friends. At the foot of the Apennines this sorrowing convoy quitted him to return home, whilst he crossed the mountains to Borgo San Sepolchro, where he was received by Lorenzo de' Medici. In the Val d'Arno he met his old and sage friend Antonio Bellanti, with a troop of white-plumed lances, exiled from his native Siena by adverse factions, and offered him a safe retreat in his state until times should change; an invitation which he declined, and so incurred a bloody death. At Florence the people gladly welcomed the conqueror of Volterra, and the magistracy received him at the door of the Palazzo Vecchio.

The war now impending was alike iniquitous in its motives, and disastrous in its attendant circumstances. Its seat was in the lower plains of Lombardy, where they merge into a wide delta, formed by the arterial channels of the rivers Po and Adige, and veined by the minor drainage of the Polesine and Ferrarese territories. Most of

"That level region, where no echo dwells,"

was, and still continues, so embanked that its waters may easily be let loose upon the hapless cultivators, submerging their dwellings and swamping their crops. Numerous streams, navigable by boats, laid it open to privateering incursions, highly attractive to amphibious Venetian adventurers. Finally, the malaria, always generated by summer heats, was naturally more inveterate when invaders had opened the sluices and broken the banks, thereby flooding an unusual extent of marsh-land. Thus ravaged by fire and sword, and decimated by disease, the unhappy natives had good cause to curse the ambition of which they were victims. In no part of Italy had the people been so exempt from the calamities of war. The family of Este, ever addicted to habits of almost effeminate indulgence, had been long represented by Duke Borso, whose reign, as described in the Ferrarese Diary, was one continued revel at home and pageant abroad. Those who would understand the extent to which prodigal magnificence and immoderate festivity were carried in the Peninsula, will there find details of refined luxury and lavish expenditure, scarcely credible in an age but emerging from what we are accustomed to regard as barbarism, or in a state enjoying no extraordinary resources.

The plan of the campaign was to reduce Ferrara by a combined attack, in which a flotilla of five hundred vessels of light draught, fitted out at Ancona and Venice, was to ascend the Po, and co-operate with the troops of Sanseverino. War was proclaimed on the 3rd of May, but the Venetian general had already opened his operations by invading the Polesine, a fenny dependency of the d'Este family extending between the Adige and the Po. Marching his army southward from Legnano, he crossed the Veronese marshes upon a hastily constructed roadway of beams, supported by flat boats and faggots, and attacked Mellara on the north bank of the Po. Having taken it in three days, he advanced eastward to Castelnuovo, which capitulated after a ten days' siege. Following the river's course, he reached Ficheruolo on the 11th of May, and immediately invested it. This place being scarcely more than twelve miles from Ferrara, already menaced by the armament on the lower reaches of the river, the Duke of Urbino advanced to meet the enemy, and posted himself at La Stellata, which lay opposite Ficheruolo and commanded the passes of the Po. His opinion of the state of matters may best be gathered from a despatch addressed by him about this time to Lorenzo de' Medici, and printed by Fabronio from the Florentine archives.

"Magnificent and dearest Brother,

"Your mightiness will see by the copy, herewith sent to the eight lords of the Balia, of a letter I have written to the most illustrious Duke of Ferrara, that I am advised of the loss of the fort of Mellara, and of the enemy's intention to unite the flotilla with their land forces, and to advance with the stream upon Ferrara: nor can there be a question that this design may to a certain extent succeed, unless prevented by speedy and effective measures on the part of the most serene League, that illustrious lord not being able to maintain himself single-handed, as your magnificence has already heard from himself.

"The remedy that occurs to me in this urgent danger is that your excellent Signory should send him as many infantry as possible, preferring those of Romagna, and the Val di Lamone, both as nearest and as the best drilled, and thus more suitable than any others that can be thought of. And so soon as the most illustrious Lord Duke of Milan shall forward the infantry and cavalry, for whom I have applied to him, I shall move upon the duchy to make the enemy pull up. And when the most serene League shall provide what is requisite for honour and utility, enabling me to face him, I am prepared to prove to him that it is one thing to form a project, but quite another to carry it into effect. I care not to detain your magnificence, feeling assured that once aware of the importance of this, your prudence will not delay the needful provisions.

"I urgently remind your magnificence to forward with all speed the infantry, as agreed on, into my state and that of the Lord Costanzo [of Pesaro]; for I have ordered my men-at-arms not to follow me till these come up, seeing it would be a risk to expose our territories without a force equal to defend them at all hazards. … From Rovere [opposite Mellara], the 4th May, 1482."¹⁹⁶

The affairs of the League were far from promising. Ferdinand, caring little to send his troops through a hostile state in search of distant and unprofitable laurels, preferred carrying on a little war of his own against the Pope in the Pontine marshes to marching upon Lombardy. The Tuscans, ever averse to battle-fields, employed their stipendiaries, under Costanzo Sforza, in guarding the Umbrian principalities. The brunt of the war thus fell upon the Lords of Milan and Mantua; and the Duke of Urbino, ill satisfied with their exertions, took boat soon after the date of this despatch, and proceeded in person to urge further exertions upon them both. Sanzi, somewhat inconsistently, selects this visit of urgency to pause upon his raptures with the works of art he saw at Mantua, introducing an episodical criticism, and a catalogue of the best painters and sculptors of Italy, which will be afterwards noticed.¹⁹⁷ On the 20th of May he returned, bringing with him their contingents to La Stellata, where the League lay almost inactive during the siege of Ficheruolo on the opposite bank of the Po, their offensive operations being confined to a pretty constant and galling discharge of long swivels across the river into the Venetian camp, which they also submerged by cutting the banks of the Mincio. This irksome aggression was answered by a message from Sanseverino that he would presently return fire for their water, and by sending to Federigo a fox in a cage, as a hint that, with all his cunning, he too might be entrapped; a paltry taunt, which provoked only a smile from the veteran. No warfare could be more irksome and inglorious; but Federigo, regarding Ferrara as Italy's best bulwark against the ambitious maritime Republic, resolved to defend it at any sacrifice. Ficheruolo held out until the end of June, by which time the marsh fever had become more fatal than human weapons, and mowed down both armies. The Venetian proveditore or commissioner was among its earliest victims; but, as the summer heats increased, the epidemic spread with augmented virulence, until 20,000 men are said to have perished in this miserable contest. Passing over the sad details, we may borrow from Sanuto an absurd incident which varied these horrors. In order to divert the people from their misfortunes, and to inspire them with courage, their sovereign had devolved extensive powers upon a commission or council of sixteen "sages," and the Duchess sent for a wandering friar, whose eloquence and sanctity were in high repute, to preach in the cathedral. One of his orations was wound up by an offer to provide an armada of twelve galleons, which should disperse the Venetian force before Ficheruolo. On the appointed day he produced a dozen of pennons, each surmounted by a cross, along with figures of Christ, the Madonna, and forty saints; and with these he formed a procession, marching at its head, and followed by a concourse of fanatics to the river's brink, opposite the leaguer. There he commenced shouting a sermon across the stream to Sanseverino; but the Duke of Urbino, attracted by the hubbub, sent him away, covered with ridicule, saying, "Why, Father, the Venetians are not possessed! Tell the Duchess it is money, artillery, and troops that we want to expel them." Although Federigo's obstinate policy averted from the doomed capital the visitation of a siege, its miseries were scarcely the less from such exemption. Many dead bodies, thrown by both armies into the river, aggravated the pestilence, which, spreading to the city, so deterred the peasantry, that its supplies were interrupted, until famine augmented the mortality. In this crisis, Sanzi represents the commander of the League as addressing to the Pontiff the following remonstrance:—

"Most holy Father! turn thy face away

From this so needless and destructive war,

Which direst ills on Italy entails:

Thy pastor's hand put forth that rose to pluck,

Ere others reap its glory: be invoked

With sov'reign and paternal care to free,

From discipline so ruinous and harsh,

Rome, and the dwellers in Ausonia's lands,

Whose bootless passions, pitiably wrecked,

In suicidal outrage spend themselves,

With benefit to none. While time remains,

Oh, Sire! this fatal error shun, nor choose

A course which all your merit tarnishes!"

The game in which Sixtus had engaged was one of selfish ambition and nepotism, and he played it boldly, unmoved by this appeal, or by the straits to which he was reduced by his lawless barons. In the words of the same old chronicler—

"Hapless was then the holy Father's case,

Each house in Rome a garrison, each street

Alive with armed escorts; e'en by day

Rapine was rife as in the lonely wood,

And unredressed, while cardinals

Were seized in full consistory; for now

Colonna's and Savelli's bands were up;

The Pontiff's power at discount."

Under a robust frame Federigo concealed the taint of a vitiated constitution, and though but entering upon the autumn of life, long exposure and fatigue, aggravated by repeated severe accidents, had anticipated the effects of age. Yet he rallied from the first attack of malaria, at all times dangerous to one of his years, and, had he yielded to the persuasions of friends and confederates by retiring to Bologna during the unhealthy season, his valuable life might have been spared. He owned the justice of their apprehensions, but, deeming his personal danger in remaining to be fully counterbalanced by the probable loss of Ferrara, which, at that juncture, he considered the key-stone of Italian policy, should he quit the army, he rejected the reiterated representations of his family and adherents, refusing on any consideration to relinquish the post of honour and duty. But, whilst he spared not himself, he ever and anon renewed to the allied powers his remonstrances against their folly in thus pitting a brave army against a noxious climate. As his saddest trial was to see fresh levies of his attached subjects prostrated by sickness on arriving from the healthful breezes of their native uplands, he sent away his son Antonio, with all whom he could spare, reserving in the camp at La Stellata but 400 of his immediate followers, whom the foggy atmosphere and putrid water soon thinned away to forty.

Anderson

FEDERIGO DI MONTEFELTRO

After the picture by Justus van Ghent, once in the Ducal Collection at Urbino, now in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome

A relapse of fever having supervened about the beginning of September, he felt that his end was approaching, and calling around him the commissioners of the League, showed them how all his repeated warnings had come true, protesting that his life was sacrificed to unflinching duty in an evil cause. After exposing to them his plan of escape from the jaws of destruction, by removing the seat of operations into a healthy part of Lombardy, he recommended to them the surrounding country and fortresses, and then formally resigned his command, thus briefly reviewing his military career:—

"To Heaven's almighty Lord my thanks are due

For eight-and-forty years of manhood, spent

In war's most worthy calling, though of these

Three-fourths the cares of high command on me

Imposed, beneath time-honoured banners, all

Unstained by foreign insult, and upheld

Proudly victorious. Mine the task has been

To conquer further frontiers for their states,

With gainful triumphs and distinctions high,

Or vindicate a good and lasting peace."¹⁹⁸

The commissioners at length, by affectionate persuasions, induced the invalid to leave his army in charge of the Lord Giulio Orsini, and withdraw to Ferrara, where a villa of the Duke was prepared for his reception.¹⁹⁹ But it was too late. The disease rapidly gaining ground, he set himself to prepare for death like a Christian hero, and, by the grace of God, was permitted to do so in full exercise of his mental powers. "Having arranged all matters pertaining to the succession of his son, he began to attend to his soul's salvation, and after confessing himself repeatedly, as a faithful and good Christian, he set in order all that seemed to him tending to his future welfare, and took, in their prescribed order, the sacraments of the Church. It was graciously vouchsafed him from on high to perform all this with a mind amply prepared by full examination, so that nothing was omitted that behoved a faithful Christian; and this favour was granted him by God for his perseverance through life in the habitual exercise of virtue, for on every occasion his clemency entitled him to the appellation of father of the miserable, and protector of the afflicted."²⁰⁰

Among the friends who tended his last hours was his secretary, Comandino Comandini, to whom he gave instructions for his funeral; but his son, Count Antonio, having come from the army to visit him, was, according to Sanzi, received with this reproof:—

"How! wouldst thou thus my gallant comrades quit,

In time of need, to gaze upon a corpse?

Far other course the urgent hour demands!

The sacred church's all-consoling rites,

Like staid and thoughtful Christian, then he sought:

Nor did they fail his latest pangs to cheer.

Few were the watchers round his lonely couch,

To whom, in sadly soothing words, he spoke

Of gentle kindness, and to God his soul

In peace committed, spurning mundane moils.

* * * * * * *

Just as a locust by the sun struck down,

With holy zeal his last behests were told

In charity and love; and, having touched

The hand of each in turn, with tears bedewed,

That lofty and unvanquished spirit sped;

Whilst on his lips, with pious fervour, late

Lingered the names of God and of our Lady,

Giving good hope, if man such signs may read,

That to a glorious home its flight was winged."

Veterani, another laureate of Urbino, composed a touching sonnet on his patron's death, which begins thus:—

"With ever-welling tears I weep for him,

On him I call, of him I nightly dream,

And to my lips his cherished image strain,

Till by my stains of grief its smile grows dim.

To it my verse I vow, it living deem

For solace of my stricken soul, in vain!"

The Duke died on the 10th of September, within a few days of the premature decease of Roberto Malatesta of Rimini, his son-in-law, and successor in command of the papal troops.^*201 Aided by the factious barons of the Campagna, the Duke of Calabria had gradually penetrated to the gates of Rome, when Roberto, on the 21st of August, dispersed his army in a pitched battle, and returned in triumph as saviour of the Eternal City. His death supervened in a few days, in consequence of a draught of cold water, or, as some thought, of poison administered by the jealous Count of Forlì; and Sixtus, to testify gratitude or remove suspicion, forthwith erected a monument to his general in St. Peter's, with an epitaph testifying that his life had been attended by valour, his death by victory.²⁰²

Although character is usually best estimated by the evidence of contemporaries speaking from personal knowledge, some allowance must be made for the language of adulation applied to princes by their subjects or favourites. Yet in reference to one whose elevated qualities are so well established as those of Federigo, less caution than usual is requisite in adopting the words of his courtiers, and seldom has the meed of praise been more amply confirmed by the award of posterity. We shall, therefore, willingly give a place to the testimony left by one of the most eminent of his acquaintances. Poggio Bracciolino, who had studied the world in many courts and countries, thus writes of him:—"Besides his rare eloquence and acquirements, and the many excellent personal and mental endowments accorded him by nature, his military skill was especially conspicuous, wherein he was surpassed by no contemporary captain. For who does not know the prudence of his undertakings, the promptitude of his actions, the soundness of his decisions, rendering him as it were the model to our age of those great men of antiquity gifted with all the arts of command?" Francesco di Giorgio, the associate of his studies, and the comrade of his campaigns towards the close of his glorious career, ranks his generalship higher than any known to history from the days of old Rome, and acknowledges himself his debtor for many important suggestions as to fortification. The principle of his tactic was, according to this most competent authority, great caution at the commencement of an engagement, holding himself in readiness to support any point exposed by mistake or failure of a subordinate; and, when such opportunity occurred, an impetuous daring which, "with eyes to see and wings to fly," remedied the mischief and secured the victory. "Considerate of his soldiery, compassionate to the enemy, it was his pleasure to mitigate the horrors and miseries of war. He was liberal and merciful, but uncompromisingly just. An eloquent orator, a most subtle philosopher, an eminent moralist, an expert and ingenious mathematician, his intellectual habits were confirmed by long and constant practice. So intense was his admiration of worth, that he sought to attract to his court and reward every man conspicuous by virtue and attainments. A Mars in the field, a Minerva in his administration, he was equally feared and loved." Such is an abstract of the character which Francesco terms but an atom of the encomium due to his patron.

Let us now hear Pirro Pirotti, who seasons his tribute with something more quaint and racy than most of the eulogists who followed in his wake. In dedicating to Federigo the Cornucopia of his uncle Nicolò (who had united the medley honours of apostolic secretary, governor of Umbria, archbishop of Siponto, and poet-laureate of Frederick III.), Pirro apostrophises its happiness, "in having you as the foremost to welcome and assign it a place in this your palace, so truly worthy of a victorious prince. At the first glance which it will enjoy on entering your magnificent library, all glittering in marble, silver, and gold, though without speech or life, it will seem to exult and rejoice. It will also be read by you, in whom flourish all the virtues desirable in a prince: it will experience your bounty, clemency, courtesy, and wisdom. With you will it visit the porticoes, palaces, fanes there raised, so costly and magnificent. It will admire your experience in the arts of peace and of war; it will hear of your deeds foreign and domestic, your successes far exceeding expectation, your stratagems and triumphs, your fame, bounded but by the sun's far circuit. It will survey with admiration your almost superhuman frame, your robust limbs, your dignified bearing, your mature years, a rare majesty, coupled with not less affability; qualities, in short, befitting a prince selected as generalissimo of the Roman states. It will further be the companion and sharer of your studies and your discussions; it will witness all the honours you pay to professors of belles-lettres, and the reception bestowed by you on men of learning, in consequence whereof the fine arts, long exiled wanderers, are through you alone restored to life and country."

Were we to quote every contemporary compliment to the Duke's character, we should fatigue our readers with fulsome epithets. None is more condensed or complete than the notice of his death by Pietro Cyrneo, a resident in Venice, against which Federigo was then fighting. "He was gifted with all virtues beyond all other mortals; for he was a man of consummate prudence, truthful in his discourse, righteous in his judgments, provident in his counsels, conspicuous for his worth, distinguished for the uniform purity of his morals, liberal of his charities; most eloquent, of unprecedented equity, consummate justice, singular sincerity, superhuman wisdom; equally learned in every branch of study, patient under reverses, most moderate in prosperity; the bravest of generals."

One more such tribute, and we have done. It was paid by Vespasiano, who concludes his biographical sketch with the attestation that, having long resided at the court of Urbino, he witnessed most of what he relates, and that whatever did not come under his own observation, he had from persons of credit attached to the Duke's service.²⁰³ "In Messer Federigo were united many virtues, and his age produced no one superior in every laudable quality. In military science, which was his peculiar profession, he was excelled by no commander of his time; uniting energy with consummate judgment, he conquered by prudence as much as by force. The like wariness was observed in all his affairs; and in none of his many battles was he ever worsted. More numerous were the victories he gained and the places he captured, and all redounding to his honour. … His modesty equalled his merit. Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza having one day observed, 'Whenever I have fighting on hand, I should wish to keep by me your Lordship, who, in my opinion, cannot be worsted'; he replied, 'I learned all that from his excellency the Duke your father.' … Nor may I omit, among his remarkable excellences, the strict observance of good faith, wherein he never failed. All to whom he once gave his word, might testify to his inviolate performance of it, but especially the two sovereigns of Naples, whom he served above thirty-two years."

Of Federigo's personal habits and conduct, we borrow some interesting sketches from the same pen:—"He was singularly religious, and most observant of the Divine commands. No morning ever passed without his hearing mass on his knees. He fasted on all the vigils enjoined by the Church, and during every Lent. The year preceding his death, the Lord Ottaviano, being most affectionately attached to him, procured from the papal court a dispensation for his eating flesh, which was presented to him one morning at table; whereupon, turning to Ottaviano and smiling, he thanked him, but added, 'Since I am able enough to fast, why will you not let me do so? What an example should I give to my people in omitting it!' and so continued his meagre fare as before. Every morning he attended mass and sermon with his household, and such others as chose. During his forenoon meal he had a homily of St. Leo, or some other religious book, read to him, and when any striking passage occurred, he made the reader pause that he might understand it thoroughly. His clemency and compassion were remarkable, and he was prone to pardon all offences, excepting blasphemy and fraudulent murder. He daily distributed at his palace a considerable amount of bread and wine, besides administering to the necessities of many unfortunate persons of learning or of birth. He was, in short, a refuge for all men of worth. Large were his donations to charitable institutions, and his secret alms to modest paupers; indeed, none ever vainly appealed to his compassion. When an ecclesiastic came into his presence, he took his hand with much respect, and would not let him speak until seated by him; indeed, he honoured all holy men beyond any other personage of my day. He liberally endowed various monastic orders, and extended his special protection to the nunnery of Sta. Chiara, which he had built in Urbino, repairing weekly to the grating to inquire after the welfare of her inmates from the superior, an aged and honourable lady. Even his own establishment was conducted with the regularity of a religious fraternity, rather than like a military household. Gambling and swearing were unknown, and singular decorum of language was observed, whilst numerous noble youths, sent there to learn good manners and military discipline, were brought up under the most exemplary tuition.

"His subjects he regarded as his children, and was at all times accessible to hear them personally state their petitions, being careful to give answers without unnecessary delay. He walked freely about the streets, entering their shops and work-rooms, and inquiring into their circumstances with paternal interest. On market-days he went among the peasants, conversing and jesting with them about their bargains. When riding through the country, he always accosted those whom he met; and by these various means, so gained the attachment of his subjects, that, as he passed by, they used to bend the knee and shower blessings upon him. The large sums he spent at home, on buildings and other improvements, enriched his people, among whom a pauper was nowhere seen.

"In summer he was in the saddle at dawn, and rode three or four miles in the country with half-a-dozen of his court, attended by one servant and two footmen unarmed, reaching home again when others were just up. After mass, he went into an open garden and gave audience to all comers until breakfast-time. When at table, he listened to the Latin historians, chiefly Livy, except in Lent, when some religious book was read, any one being free to enter the hall and speak with him then. His fare was plain and substantial, denying himself sweet dishes and wines, except drinks of pomegranates, cherries, apples, or other fruits. After dinner and supper, an able judge of appeal stated in Latin the causes brought before him, on which the Duke gave judgment in that language; and I have been assured that these decisions were worthy of Bartolo and Baldi.²⁰⁴ When his mid-day meal was finished, if no one appeared to demand audience, he retired to his closet and transacted private business, or listened to reading until evening approached, when he generally walked out, giving patient ear to all who accosted him in the streets. He then occasionally visited the convent of Sta. Chiara, or at other times repaired to a meadow of the Franciscans, where thirty or forty of the youths brought up in his court stripped their doublets, and played at throwing the bar, or at wrestling, or ball. This was a fine sight, which the Duke much enjoyed, encouraging the lads, and listening freely to all until supper-time. When that and the audiences were over, he repaired to a private apartment with his principal courtiers, whom, after some familiar discourse, he would dismiss to bed, taunting them on their sluggish indulgences of a morning.

"Federigo inculcated courtesy as a most valuable quality in a sovereign, and he practised it to a remarkable degree in his intercourse with all ranks. He entertained a very modest estimate of his own merits, but was most particular in recollecting and acknowledging services of any sort, and in giving credit for assistance where it was due: he never indulged in detraction nor permitted it in his presence. Though of a naturally choleric temper, he by long attention brought it entirely under control, and was on all occasions the peace-maker among his people. In short, no state of Italy for a long period had been ruled by a sovereign in all respects so worthy of admiration."

It would have been easy to condense the substance of these extracts in smoother language and more balanced periods, but we prefer laying them before the reader in their original form, and with the genuine impress of the grateful feelings which dictated them. Although already occupying so large a space, we venture to add a passage from Muzio, who, writing seventy-two years after Federigo's death, had gleaned from the traditions of Urbino several traits characteristic at once of his hero, and of what is not less germane to our purpose, the primitive manners of an age when European civilisation was starting into vigour.

"In person, Federigo was of the common height, well made and proportioned, active and stout, enduring of cold and heat, apparently affected neither by hunger nor thirst, by sleeplessness nor fatigue. His expression was cheerful and frank; he never was carried away by passion, nor showed anger unless designedly. His language was equally remarkable for modesty and politeness; and such his sobriety that, having once had the gout, he immediately left off wine, and never again returned to it. His inclinations were naturally amorous and addicted to sensual indulgence, but so entirely were they under control, that even in earliest youth nothing was ever alleged against him inconsistent with decorum and the due influence of his rank. He was uniformly courteous and benignant to those of private station, as well as to his equals and to men of birth. With his soldiers he was ever familiar, calling them all friends and brethren, and often addressing them as gentlemen or honoured brothers, whilst he personally assisted the sick and wounded and supplied them with money. None such were excluded from his table; indeed he caressed and invited them by turns, so that all loved, honoured, served, and extolled him, and those who had once been under his command were unwilling to follow any other leader.

"But if his kindness was notable in the camp, it was much more so among his people. While at Urbino, he daily repaired to the market-place, whither the citizens resorted for gossip and games, as well as for business, mixing freely with them, and joining in discourse, or looking on at their sports, like one of themselves, sitting among them, or leaning on some one by the hand or arm. If, in passing through the town, he noticed any one building a house, he would stop to inquire how the work went on, encouraging him to beautify it, and offering him aid if required, which he gave as well as promised. Should any answer him, that although desirous of making a handsome dwelling, he was frustrated by the refusal of some neighbour to part with an adjoining hovel at a fair price, Federigo sent for its obstructive owner, and urged him to promote the improvement of the city, kindly assisting to arrange a home for him elsewhere. On hearing that a merchant had suffered loss in his business, he would enter his shop to inquire familiarly into his affairs, and, after learning the extent of his difficulties, would advance him the means of restoring his credit and trade. Once, meeting a citizen who had daughters to marry, he said to him, 'How is your family?—have you got any of your girls disposed of?' And being answered that he was ill able to endow them, he helped him with money or an appointment, or set him in some way of bettering himself. Indeed, such instances were numberless of his charitable and sympathising acts, among which were the numerous poor children of talent or studious tastes whom he educated out of love for letters. On the death of those in his service, he took special interest in their families, providing for their maintenance or education, or appointing them to offices, and continually inquiring in person as to their welfare. When the people came forth to meet him as he went through his state, receiving him with festive demonstrations, he had for each a word. To one, 'How are you?' to another,'How is your old father?' or 'Where is your brother?' to a third, 'How does your trade thrive?' or 'Have you got a wife yet?' One he took by the hand; he put his hand on the shoulder of another; but spoke to all uncovered, so that Ottaviano Ubaldini used to say, when any person was much occupied, 'Why, you have more to do than Federigo's bonnet!' Indeed, he often told the Duke that his cap was overworked, hinting that he ought to maintain more dignity with his subjects. Talking of his courtesy: when returning one day from Fossombrone to Urbino, he met a bride being escorted to her husband by four citizens, as was then customary; he at once dismounted, and joined them in accompanying her, and sharing in their festivities.

"Many similar anecdotes are preserved of him at Urbino and other places; and it is told that, during a year of great scarcity, several citizens secretly stored up grain, in order to make a large profit, which being known to the Duke, he summoned them to his presence, and thus addressed them:—'My people, you see how severe is the dearth; and that, unless some measures be adopted, it will increase daily. It is thus my duty to provide for the support of the population. If, therefore, any of you possess grain, say so, and let a note of it be made, in order that it may be gradually brought to market for supply of the needy; and I shall make up what is required, by importing from Apulia all that is necessary for my state.' Some there were who stated that they had a surplus beyond their own wants; others said they had not even enough. Of the latter he demanded how much more they required, and had a list taken of what each asked. He then regulated the sale of what had been surrendered; and sent meanwhile to Apulia for a large store of corn. When it arrived, he prohibited all further sales of grain, and called upon those who had stated themselves as short of supplies to purchase from him the quota they had applied for, accepting of no excuse, on the allegation that, having bought in a quantity for them, he could not let it be useless. Thus were those punished who, refusing to sell what they had over at a fair price, lost the advantage of their stock, and were forced to pay for more. In the distribution of this imported grain, he desired that the poor who could not pay in cash, should be supplied on such security as they could offer. The distribution took place in the court of the palace, under charge of Comandino, his secretary; and when any poor man came, representing that, with a starving family and nothing left to sell, he could find no cautioner, Federigo, after listening from a window to the argument, would call out, 'Give it him, Comandino, I shall become bound for him.' And subsequently when his ministers wished to enforce payment from the securities, he in many instances prevented them, saying, 'I am not a merchant: it is gain enough to have saved my people from hunger.'

"There arose a notable matter which he had to settle, in reference to Urbino. The citizens, having come to a resolution that no one from the country ought to have houses in the town, petitioned Federigo to pass such a law, on the ground that, the city being theirs, no one else ought to intrude pretensions to it. He replied that there was much reason in this, and that he wished to gratify them in every such just proposal; but, before doing so, he wished their opinion what he ought to say, should the country-folks in turn ask a favour, alleging that, as the city was for the townsfolk, and the rural districts for themselves, the citizens should be prohibited from holding extra-mural property. Not knowing what to answer, they remained silent, and no longer asked for any law of the sort. He was most particular in the performance of justice, in acts as well as words. His master of the household having obtained large supplies for the palace from a certain tradesman, who had also many courtly creditors, and could not get paid, the latter was obliged to have recourse to the Duke, who said, 'Summon me at law.' The man was retiring with a shrug of his shoulders, when his lord told him not to be daunted, but to do what he had desired, and it would turn out for his advantage and that of the town. On his replying that no tipstaff could be found to hazard it, Federigo sent an order to one to do whatever this merchant might require for the ends of justice. Accordingly, as the Sovereign issued from the palace with his retinue, the tipstaff stood forward, and cited him to appear next day before the podestà, on the complaint of such-a-one. Whereupon he, looking round, called for the master of his household, and said, in presence of the court, 'Hear you what this man says? Now give such instructions as shall save me from having to appear from day to day before this or that tribunal.' And thus, not only was the man paid, but his will was made clear to all—that those who owed should pay, without wronging their creditors.

THE CONTESSA PALMA OF URBINO

After the portrait by Piero della Francesca in the National Gallery

"It having been represented to him that the fashion of going armed gave daily occasion for brawls and tumults, he made the podestà put forth a proclamation that no one should carry any weapon, and took care to be passing with his court when the crier was publishing it. Stopping to listen, he turned:—'Our podestà must have some good reason for this order, and that being so, it is right he should be obeyed.' He then, unbuckling his sword, gave it to one of his suite to be taken home; whereupon all the others did the same. Thus by his example he maintained more prompt and perfect justice than others could effect by sentences, bail-bonds, imprisonments, tortures, or the halter; … and it was just when he made least show of power that he was most a sovereign. One Nicolò da Cagli, an old and distinguished soldier in his service, having lost a suit, went to Fossombrone to lodge an appeal with Federigo, and, finding that he was hunting in the park, followed him, without ever considering that the time and place were ill adapted for such a purpose. At the moment when he put his petition into his sovereign's hand, a hart went by with the hounds in full cry. The Count spurred after them, and in the hurry of the moment dropped the petition, which Nicolò taking as a personal slight, he retired in great dudgeon, and went about abusing him roundly, as unjust, ungrateful, and haughty. Federigo hearing of this, ordered the commissary of Cagli to send the veteran to Urbino, who hesitated to obey the summons, dreading punishment of his rashness. In reliance, however, on his master's leniency, and his own merits, he set out, and found the Count at breakfast in the great audience chamber. It was customary while at his meals, for those who had the entrée to fall back on each side, leaving the entrance clear, so that he saw Nicolò come in: and when he had done eating, he called and thus addressed him:—'I hear that you go about speaking much ill of me, and as I am not aware of having ever offended you, I desire to know what you have been saying, and of what you complain.' At first he turned it off with some excuse, but on being pressed for an explanation, he recounted what had occurred in the park; and that, considering his long and zealous service, his sacrifices and wounds, it appeared to him a slight, and virtually a cut direct, to run after a wild beast when he came in search of justice; that having in consequence let slip the opportunity of appealing, and so, irretrievably lost a cause of much importance, he had in irritation given too great licence to his tongue. Whereupon, Federigo, turning to the bystanders, said, 'Now see what obligations I am under to my subjects, who not only peril their lives in my service, but also teach me how to govern my state!' and continued thus to the litigant, 'Friend Nicolò! you are quite right; and since you have suffered from my fault, I shall make it up to you.' He then ordered the commissary of Cagli to pay him down the value of the house, and all his travelling expenses, although the fault was clearly his for not bringing his appeal at a fitter time. Again, during one severe winter, the monks at S. Bernardino,^*205 being snowed up, and without any stores, rang their bells for assistance; the alarm reaching Urbino, Federigo called out the people, and went at their head to cut a way and carry provisions to the good friars."

These extracts, illustrating the true spirit of a paternal government, amply account for the esteem in which the Duke of Urbino was held by contemporaries, and for his fame which still survives in Italy, although partially obscured north of the Alps by Sismondi's indifference to whatever merit emerged among the petty sovereigns of that fair land. Immensely superior to most of them in intellectual refinement and in personal worth, he may be regarded as, in military tactics, the type of his age, and was sought for and rewarded accordingly. He served as captain-general under three pontiffs, two kings of Naples, and two dukes of Milan. He repeatedly bore the baton of Florence, and refused that of Venice. He was engaged by several of the recurring Italian leagues as their leader in the field. From the popes he earned his dukedom, and the royal guerdons of the Rose, the Hat, and the Sword. Henry VII of England^*206 sent him the Garter; Ferdinand of Naples conferred on him the Ermine. In fine, Marcilio Ficino, a philosopher as well as a courtier, cited him as the ideal of a perfect man and a wise prince.

* * * * *

Federigo's dying requests were, that his nephew and confidential friend Ottaviano Ubaldini should charge himself with the care of his youthful heir, and that his body should be interred by that of his father in the parish church of S. Donato, a short distance eastward from Urbino. The funeral, though celebrated with

"Those rites which custom doth impose,"

was more remarkable for the heartfelt grief which attested the calamity fallen upon his people. His funeral oration, pronounced by Odasio, whom we shall afterwards find performing the like sad office to his son, is preserved in the Vatican, and has furnished us with some traits of his character. His body, duly embalmed, was enclosed in a marble sarcophagus in the new church of the Zoccolantines, which he left unfinished, close to that of S. Donato.^*207 Thirty years after his death, it was laid open by his grandson, Duke Francesco Maria, who reverently plucked a few hairs from his manly breast.²⁰⁸ The tomb, thus strangely violated, remained open, and Baldi, who wrote in 1603, describes the corpse as still perfect, except a slight injury to the nose, and resembling a wooden figure, fleshless, and covered with white skin. It was attired after the fashion of Italy, in a gala dress of crimson satin and scarlet, with a sword by its side. Muzio tells us that he too had seen the body half a century before, when it was visited by Duke Guidobaldo II. and many of his people.

* * * * *

We may here notice six likenesses still preserving to us the form and fashion of that body, with which his people's posterity thus strangely held converse, beginning with, I. the portraits of Federigo and his consort, painted in tempera by Piero della Francesca, now in the Uffizi gallery at Florence, which we reproduce. The individuality belonging alike to the features and the costumes could scarcely be doubted, even had we not historical authority for the Count's broken nose, and that of Giovanni Sanzi for Battista's "grave and modest eye," already more particularly mentioned at page 218.^*209 The clear tone and enamel finish are admirable, notwithstanding a thick varnish, with which old tempera pictures are invariably dabbled, under the recent management of the Florence gallery. The panels are painted on both sides, the subjects on the reverse being triumphs of the two sovereigns in a style of mythological allegory then in fashion. On a car drawn by two milk-white steeds with docked tails, driven by Cupid, Federigo sits on a curule chair, in full armour, pointing forward with his truncheon, and holding a helmet on his knee, whilst a winged Victory, standing behind, crowns him with a garland. On the front of the car ride four female figures, one of whom, representing Force, has in her arms a broken Corinthian column; another, emblematic of Prudence, is placed in the centre of the group, holding a mirror in her hand; her face, bright with youthful hope, looks in advance to the future, and the profile or mask of a bearded and wrinkled old man, affixed to the back of her Janus head, contemplates the past with matured experience; a metaphor closely followed by Raffaele for his Jurisprudence in the Stanza della Segnatura. Justice is introduced with her scales and two-edged sword; and the fourth figure is scarcely seen. The distant country, in this as in the others of these pictures, shows that their author was unable to apply to landscape the excellence in linear perspective displayed by his architectural designs. Countess Battista's triumph is similarly treated; but her car is drawn by bay unicorns, types of purity, and she sits on a chair of state, splendidly attired, with an open book on her knee. Behind her a bright maiden, meant probably for Truth, contrasts with an elderly female in semi-monastic dress who may be intended for

"A pensive nun, devout and pure,

Sober, steadfast, and demure,

All in a robe of darkest grain,

Flowing with majestic train,

And ashy stole of Cyprus lawn

Over her decent shoulders drawn."

On the front of the car, Faith, with cross and chalice, sits by Religion, on whose knee the pelican feeds her young, emblematic of the Saviour's love for mankind. Under each of these allegorical paintings is a strophe of Sapphic measure, which may be thus rendered:—

"In gorgeous triumph is borne the hero, whom enduring fame worthily celebrates as a sovereign, equalling in his virtues the greatest generals.

"Thus conducted amid her prosperity, and illustrated by the laurels of her mighty husband's deeds, her name circles in the mouths of mankind."²¹⁰

II. Our next portrait of this Duke was probably obtained by the Barberini family at the devolution of Urbino to the Holy See, about 1630, and remains in their palace at Rome. It is on a three-quarters panel, life size, in full armour, wearing the ducal mantle of crimson flowered with gold, and an ermine cape. From his neck hangs the order of the Ermine, and below his left knee is the Garter. The ducal cap of yellow silk, thickly studded with pearls, hangs on a tall lectern in front of his armchair. He holds a crimson book, and reads from it to his son, standing by his knee, in a yellow frock richly jewelled, a sceptre in the boy's right hand. This head and figure have been copied by Clovio, in an illuminated volume which we shall describe in VI. of the Appendix; and although ascribed to Mantegna, they may rather be a work of Piero della Francesca (if I may form an opinion after the single visit and distant inspection allowed me in 1845 by its jealous owner), but always with the proviso that that able artist's blindness^*211 had not supervened in 1478, when, from the prince's age, this picture must have been done. We have no notice of Mantegna having been at Urbino, although this is probable, from Sanzi's admiration of him.²¹²

III. In 1843, there was in the possession of the widow Comerio, at Milan, a very small head of Federigo on copper, which she wished to sell as a Raffaele for 200l. I have learned, by the kindness of an intelligent friend, that it is a good old copy of the seventeenth century, the composition slightly varied from the Barberini picture and Clovio miniature. It may have been the original of a poor engraving prefixed to Muzio's life of this Duke, and would scarcely have been noticed here had not the Abbé Pungileone, with his usual lack of discrimination, ventured a conjecture that it was done by Raffaele from a work of his father; a random guess, discountenanced by the Italian editor of Quartremere de Quincy, notwithstanding his readiness to adopt all speculative Raffaeles in the hands of his Milanese townsmen. It is a duty to expose such blunders, especially when greedily adopted as a foundation for imposture.

IV. The picture of which we have now to speak possesses strong claims upon our interest. Among the artists of Urbino who will figure in our twenty-seventh chapter was Fra Carnevale, a Dominican monk, who, at the Duke's desire, painted, for his new church of the Zoccolantines, an altar-piece, transferred by French rapine to the Brera gallery at Milan, where the imperfect restitution of 1815 has left it. Tradition, fortified by a questionable MS., points out the Madonna and child as portraits of Countess Battista and her son, while Federigo's figure kneeling before her throne, cannot be mistaken. But, as we shall afterwards have occasion to show, the genius of Christian art was at that time opposed to embodying in sacred personages the lineaments of real life, and, although the apocryphal legend has been received without challenge by two recent commentators on Fra Carnevale, a monkish limner seems unlikely to have infringed the rule.²¹³ Marchese, correctly describing the picture from Rosini's print, tells us that before the enthroned Madonna and four attendant saints "is the Duke of Urbino in armour, prostrate on his knees, and imploring her favour for himself and his children, who appear grouped behind the throne." After praising the life-like heads of these portraits, this critic from the cloisters questions the propriety of so stowing away the ducal progeny. But an artist friend, who at my request examined the original work since I have been able to do so, informs me that the latter are winged angels in long white robes and pearl necklaces, although with faces apparently taken from the life. Federigo's figure is unquestionably introduced, by a usual and very beautiful licence, as donor of this altar-piece, thus bearing witness to the devotional spirit which dictated his gift; and could we have it replaced in the church that was reared at his bidding, over against the sarcophagus which contains his remains, and believe that on its panel, painted in pious commemoration of the birth of an heir, are preserved the features of six of his family, no more interesting memorial of Urbino's golden days could be conceived.

V. This Duke's portrait is delineated in another altar-piece at Urbino, in which, being from the hand of a Fleming, such mixture of sacred and historical art is less inconsistent. Having already alluded at page 205 to the occasion on which it was commissioned, and having to describe it in our thirtieth chapter, we need not further notice it now.

VI. I saw at Florence in 1845, in the hands of Signor di Tivoli, master of languages, an interesting but ruined picture painted on panel, apparently by a Venetian master of the sixteenth century. In a chair of state, on the elevated platform of a vast hall, is seated Duke Federigo, with Guidobaldo at his knee, the Garter embroidered on his left sleeve, and its star on his ducal mantle. Three courtiers stand behind him, and another group on the floor below, listening to the prelections of a figure in black robes. On a cornice of the saloon is inscribed "Federigo Duke of Urbino and Count of Montefeltro." We conjecture this subject to be a sitting of the Academy degli Assorditi, though it may represent Odasio or some other lettered guest reading his compositions: in either case the painting is an interesting, though scarcely contemporary, memorial of this lettered court.²¹⁴

* * * * *

By his first marriage Federigo had no family, but his wife Battista Sforza brought him eight children in twelve years. Their son was the youngest, but the daughters' seniority is disputed.

1 Guidobaldo, his heir.

2 A daughter, who died in infancy, 1461.

3 Elisabetta, born in 1461–2, betrothed March 1471, and married in 1475 to Roberto Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, with 12,000 florins of dowry. This match was intended to solder up the long feuds of the Montefeltri and Malatesta. At the age of twenty she heard, at the same moment, of the deaths of her husband and her father, and soon after assumed the veil by the name of Sister Chiara, in a convent of Franciscan minor observantines which she founded at Urbino in honour of that saint, endowing it with all her possessions.

4 Giovanna, married in 1474, to Giovanni della Rovere, nephew of Sixtus IV., who became Lord of Sinigaglia and Prefect of Rome. From this marriage sprang the second dynasty of Urbino, as we shall see in chapter xxxi.

5 Agnesina, married in 1474 to Fabrizio Colonna, Lord of Marino, Duke of Albi and Tagliacozza. She inherited the talents and literary tastes which, as we have already seen, had descended to her mother, and transmitted them to a still more gifted daughter, the illustrious Vittoria Colonna, Marchioness of Pescara. Of this marriage was also born Ascanio Colonna, Duke of Palliano, who, in 1526 and 1529, set up claims upon Urbino, on the ground that his mother was an elder sister of the Prefectess Giovanna.

6 Costanza, married to Antonello Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno, and had a son born in 1507. Their grandson was the patron of Bernardo Tasso, whom we shall mention in chapter l.

7 Chiara, a nun.

8 Violante, married to Galeotto Malatesta.

Federigo's natural children were:—

1 Bonconte, a youth of singular promise and accomplishments, on whom, in absence of legitimate issue, were centred his father's hopes. Having been sent at fourteen to the court of Naples, he died there of plague.

2 Antonio, who was legitimated, along with his eldest brother, in 1454, and became a student. But soon devoting himself to arms, he attended his father in many campaigns, and especially in the fatal one of Ferrara. A cloud, however, came over his military renown at the battle of the Taro in 1495, where he misconducted himself under the banner of St. Mark. He married Emilia, youngest daughter of Marco Pio of Carpi, and died childless soon after 1500. His wife was the chief ornament of Urbino when its court was the model of intellectual refinement, and she will often be noticed in after portions of this work. Her charming social qualities are celebrated in prose and verse by Castiglione, and she is called by Bembo a magnanimous and prudent lady, remarkable for wisdom as for warm affection. The Duchess Elisabetta, whose friend and companion she had been, alike during the bright days of wedlock and the blight of widowhood, bequeathed to her in 1527 the liferent of Poggio d'Inverno, and appointed her an executrix of her will. Her portrait from a medal will be found in our second volume.

3 Bernardino, who died at Castel Durante, 1458.

4 Gentile, a celebrated beauty, who married Agostino Fregoso of Genoa, and had the Montefeltrian fief of Sta. Agatha. Their sons, Ottaviano and Federigo Fregoso, will figure in our twenty-first chapter, and attained the respective dignities of Doge of Genoa and Cardinal. Ottaviano's posterity were Marquises of Sta. Agatha in the seventeenth century.