Courts & camps of the Italian renaissance ; being a mirror of the life and times of the ideal gentleman Count Baldassare Castiglione derived largely from his own letters and other contemporary sources, to which is added an epitome of his famous work "The book of the courtier," with appreciations & annotations by Christopher Hare [pseud.].

Front matter

COURTS AND CAMPS OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

OTHER WORKS BY CHRISTOPHER HARE

10s. 6d. each.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

Introduction xi

Introductory Letter of the Historian, Signor A. Luzio . xiv

Introduction

It is a truism to remark that the favourite masterpiece of one age may seem to be almost forgotten in a later day. Yet, when the verdict alike of his contemporaries and of posterity has once placed a man amongst the Band of Immortals, we may rest certain that his work will have might to conquer the apparently inevitable result of Time — oblivion.

In that roll-call of Honour we venture to place Count Baldassare Castiglione, when we remember the world-wide fame of his Book of the Courtier, "a mirror of the age which gave it birth," a model for all Europe of the Ideal Gentleman, and a textbook on the subject in the spacious days of Elizabethan culture. Thus we stand in need of no apology for telling the little-known story of Castiglione's life, the stirring events in which it was his fortune to take part, and the distinguished group of noble lords and ladies, of great soldiers, scholars, poets, and artists who honoured him with their friendship.

In choosing one of the minor characters in the great Drama of History, there is more space and freedom to dwell upon the intimate daily life of the Renaissance, with all its abiding charm. A purely Historical work, dealing mainly with Kings and ruHng Princes, must give such supreme importance to political matters, that there is no time to linger in the pleasant byways of life, where the flowers blossom and the birds sing.

INTRODUCTION

How often in fiction does the author's instinct lead him to choose some secondary character to tell the story, in which he has the inestimable advantage of being a looker-on as well as an actor !

Never was there a man more fitted by talent and position to play this part than Count Castiglione. His was one of those rare natures which combine absolute honesty and outspoken courage, with all those ideal qualities of a Perfect Courtier which made him everywhere beloved and trusted by Popes and Princes and Emperor, so that with his keen insight he gained intimate and unique knowledge of their character and their deeds. Moreover he was an accomplished letterwriter and, fortunately for us, an immense mass of his correspondence has been preserved.

We are thus able to look upon that most interesting period of the Italian Renaissance, from the fresh point of view of one who had the good fortune to be behind the scenes, or even on the stage, when any striking performance took place. The mere story of Castiglione's own life, his friendships, his marriage, and his adventures, is a romance in itself. But his greatest claim to our interest is his famous and entrancing Book of the Courtier^ written in loyal devotion, to preserve the memory of those "golden years of his life" at the Court of Urbino. Here we find ourselves of a sudden wafted into an enchanted land by the magician to whom it occurred, in a moment of inspiration, that he would chronicle the "sweet conversation" of the noble personages gathered round his peerless Duchess, and thus crystallise for ever the evanescent charm of the spoken word.

A sketch of the Cortegiano is added to this history

INTRODUCTION

of Count Baldassare Castiglione, for whom these words of Tasso will prepare the way : —

(T. Tasso, Diologo della Corle.)

(While Courts shall last, while Princes shall endure, and ladies and knights shall meet together ; while valour and courtesy shall have an abode in our souls, the name of Castiglione shall remain precious to us.)

INTRODUCTORY LETTER OF THE HISTORIAN, SIGNOR A. LUZIO

KEEPER OF THE ARCHIVES OF MANTUA

You have given me in advance the pleasure of reading your book, in which, with so much accuracy and sympathy, you speak of the most perfect courtier of his century, B. Castiglione.

I thank you with sincere gratitude for your courtesy, and I venture to offer you the copy of a document in the Gonzaga Archives which will introduce your beautiful work better than any modest words of mine.

In 1 5 19, the very year in which Castiglione went to Rome as ambassador of the Gonzagas, the representative of Henry VIII at the Court of Leo X, *' Silvestro Gigli," Bishop of Worcester, wrote thus to the Marchese of Mantua : —

Knowing the affection and respect of Your Excellency towards the Most Christian Majesty of my Lord, the King of England, and the universal love towards all the nation, and also the confidence and service which I hold with Your Excellency, I have felt it safe to write to you, feeling certain that in your kindness you do not look upon my letters as trivial.

Messer Antonio Frokmorthon (Throgmorton?), the bearer of this present, an English gentleman of honourable and noble parents coming from England hither to Rome together with his father, as fate would have it, his father died by the way. Therefore when he found himself thus in Italy he wrote to his own country, to his elder brother and his relations, asking them to direct him as to what he should do ; from whom he received the reply that for some time he should remain in Italy in the service of some great and honourable Lord, to learn

INTRODUCTORY LETTER

the customs and manners of this country ; and I on his behalf and that of his kindred, my friends, beg that you will favour and help him to this effect. Thus for the aforesaid reasons, and knowing- the magnanimity, nobility, and munificence of Your Excellency and of your Court, I have thought that in no other place could he better fulfil his desire and be more willingly received than in your service. Wherefore with all my heart I pray that you will deign to receive the said M. Antonio, who has the means to maintain himself well, and to do honour to you without much trouble, and I am certain that he will serve you faithfully. This, as I hope, being accomplished, besides giving great pleasure to the King's Majesty and to many Lords and gentlemen of the nation, will oblige me for ever.

Rome, January 9, 1519.

Servus

Sil. Episcopus Wigorniensis

This seems to me one of the most characteristic documents showing the importance which Mantua then had in the civilised world ; it was looked upon as one of the most brilliant centres of the Italian Renaissance ; it was pointed out as the best place where a young English gentleman could perfect his education.

Alas ! to-day it has become a squalid provincial city, unjustly neglected by foreigners, although so many historical treasures are collected in its archives, and its monuments are adorned with so many luminous traces of beauty.

To you, who with intellectual and loving discernment have claimed for Castiglione and his country the attention of the English public, it is a pleasure for me to express my most cordial appreciation and my most

sincere praise.

ALESSANDRO LUZIO,

Chapter I 1478-1494

Baldassare Castiglione— His Birth and Lineage— His early home— Education in the days of the Renaissance— The Gonzaga Family— Francesco Gon-

ZAGA BECOMES MaRCHESE OF MaNTUA — ChIARA GONZAGA

MARRIES Gilbert de Montpensier— Elisabetta Gonzaga MARRIES GUIDOBALDO, DUKE OF URBINO— THE COMING OF ISABELLA D'ESTE TO MaNTUA— STORY OF

THE New World— Castiglione goes to study at Milan.

In those stately Courts of the Renaissance, the wise courtier who could guide and counsel his lord, and serve him in diplomacy at home and abroad, had quite as important a part to play as the man of action, the warrior captain of his army. But in Count Baldassare Castiglione we find combined the perfect courtier, the gallant condottiere and the distinguished man of letters. Born of high estate, he was destined to carry on the noblest traditions of his race, to become a citizen of the world, to be a welcome guest at the most cultivated Courts of Europe, and to sit in council with princes and kings, with cardinals and popes.

The warrior host, the crash of arms, the triumphant entry ; pomps and pageants alike of peace and war were to him familiar scenes, in which he had to play his own stately part. Count Castiglione had the marvellous good fortune to be ever at the centre of interest in those epoch-making days of a nation's story. Perhaps no period of Italian history is of more striking interest than the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century — the years between 1478 and 1529, which cover the span of his adventurous life. The mention of a few illustrious contemporaries will place his period more vividly than any list of dates. Born a few years later than Isabella and Beatrice d'Este, their brother Alfonso Duke of Ferrara, Michelangelo, Leo X, and Titian — the same year as Giorgione the artist and Giovanni dei Medici (delle Bande nere) — Castiglione was five years older than Martin Luther, and Raphael with whom he became linked in the most intimate bonds of friendship.

Our courtier was of noble birth (which was greatly to his advantage, on the ground which he points out in the Cortegiano that noblesse oblige), the eldest son of the distinguished condottiere of men-at-arms in the service of the Marchese of Mantua — Count Cristoforo Castiglione III, he was proudly styled, as though of a reigning dynasty. The mother of Baldassare was Aloisia da Antonia Gonzaga, a beautiful and accomplished woman, a near kinswoman of the ruling family in Mantua. During the whole of his life, the constant and intimate correspondence of her son reveals Madonna Aloisia to us as a most wise and devoted mother, worthy indeed of his unchanging love and confidence.

Baldassare Castiglione was born on Sunday, the 6th of November, 1478, in the picturesque old castle of Casatico, within the Commune of Maccaria, about twelve miles south-west of Mantua on the way to Cremona. This was one of the hereditary domains of the Castiglione family, who also possessed a grand old thirteenth-century palace in Mantua, whose splendid portals may still be seen on the Piazza Sordello, in the quarter of San Jacobi.

There was a passion for beautiful gardens in the Italy of that day, and these were nowhere more luxurious than in the rich fertile country around Mantua. In the charm of its surroundings, the stately home at Casatico could bear comparison with the more famous villas of the Gonzaga princes. We will try to picture its old-world beauty. Closed in by thick dark hedges of box and yew, sheltered by groves of plane-trees to the south, so that there was always shade at noon, the gardens were laid out in terraces in front of the Castello, from whence stretched forth long straight walks covered with vine-grown pergolas, and bordered with rose-trees and jessamine. Green lawns sloped down to the steep banks of the river Oglio, with a marble fountain in the centre of the turf, and orange trees in boxes at every corner, while in distant nooks were sylvan arbours and strange grottoes with quaint figures of animals carved in stone. A place to dream and linger in on a summer evening, ''green with perpetual verdure, musical with the voice of waters, glowing with luscious fruits and sweetest flowers."

Such was the home of Baldassare's early days, an ideal spot for the games of happy childhood, for his was no lonely lot. Besides his three sisters Polissena, Francesca, and Anna, and his younger brother Jeronimo, there was no lack of Gonzaga cousins both at Mantua and at Bozzolo, a few miles to the south of Casatico. One early playmate, Cesare Gonzaga, three years older than himself, remained till death his in- 3 separable companion and friend. With kindred tastes, they shared alike in study and in the fortune of war and diplomacy.

The Renaissance in Italy was a palmy time for children of high birth. We see it well described in the charming letters of little Piero dei Medici to his father, asking for a new pony, for ''some of the best setters that there are," and merrily describing the doings of his brothers and sisters. A bright-spirited boy would be accustomed from his earliest years to imitate, from afar, the sports and amusements of his elders. Baldassare learnt to ride almost as soon as to walk, and in after years we are constantly reminded of his splendid horsemanship. This was an indispensable accomplishment in those times when so much depended upon individual gallantry, for in the day of battle it might mean life or death to the rider. Thus we remember the three rules which Francesco Sforza, the greatest of the condottieri, gave to his son : —

" Leave other men's wives alone.

"Strike none of your followers, or if you do, send the injured man far away.

"Never ride a hard-mouthed horse, or one who drops his shoe."

It was necessary to be a good judge of a horse, as well as a perfect rider. Castiglione himself once, in writing for a war-horse, remarks: "He must be thoroughly trained, and have brains." Amongst numberless other instances, we remember that the life of Charles VIII was saved at the battle of Fornovo by the docility and swiftness of his charger " Savoie."

Cristoforo Castiglione encouraged his son in every manly pursuit ; he was early initiated into the mysteries of hunting and hawking, and every knightly exercise and pastime. But that which strikes us most in the education of these children of the Renaissance is not only their marvellous proficiency in classical and literary studies, but their enduring love for them. Baldassare Castiglione was one of those happy scholars to whom learning seemed to come so lightly, and yet who, amid the distractions of his full active life, could use Latin as his mother-tongue ; make a stately speech, write a diplomatic letter, or toss off an ode or an epigram. The Classic authors of Greece and Rome remain ever such familiar friends to him that in the Cortegiano, his masterpiece, their deepest thoughts shine forth once more in vivid life and beauty.

The education which bore such fruit in the children of the Renaissance deserves a careful study. It is true that Baldassare was fortunate, not alone in the time but in the place of his birth. The labours of the famous Vittorino da Feltre, half a century before, had placed Mantua in the van of educational progress. This great humanist had a lofty ideal of a schoolmaster's mission, and was marvellously successful as a teacher. He came to the Casa Zoiosa (House of Joy) near the Castello of Mantua, as tutor to the Gonzaga princes in the first place, but he soon had quite a group of pupils under his care, including several maidens of high birth. His aim was to give a thorough training of mind and body, and to encourage a simple life, of which virtue and religion were the foundation. The course of study included Greek (in which Vittorino was specially distinguished), Latin, philosophy, logic, grammar, mathematics, and also music, dancing, and singing, varied by all kinds of outdoor sports and games, 5 amongst which the very energetic palla was most popular in the meadows by the Mincio.

An enthusiast himself, Vittorino had the rare and precious gift of inspiring his pupils with his own enthusiasm for learning. With regard to his methods, we are told that he would choose his own favourite passages from Homer, Demosthenes, Virgil, or Cicero, and read them aloud, explaining as he continued ; then encourage his class to learn them by heart in order to improve their style. One of his rules was : '' First be sure that you have something to say, then say it as simply as possible." Those who were slow to learn received special attention from him, and it is interesting to know that he had scholars of all ranks, some who were too poor to pay being received "for the love of God." During the long summer days, he would take his scholars to the rising ground at Pietola, the reputed birthplace of Virgil, and tell them stories of the great heroes of olden time, as they rested after their games ; and we even hear of an occasional visit to the Tyrolese Alps. Amongst his distinguished pupils we find the great Duke of Urbino, Federico di Montefeltro, the Gonzaga princesses, Margherita and Cecilia Gonzaga, and their brothers.

The traditions of Vittorino da Feltre still lived in Mantua in the days of Castiglione, and amongst his learned teachers we hear of the Veronese professor Columbino reading Virgil publicly in the city, and Pietro di Vidana, who devoted himself chiefly to dramatic art, having frequent representations of the best comedies of Plautus and Terence. Other distinguished scholars are mentioned as teaching here, such as Giovanni da Cavallana, who encouraged the 6 study of Virgil, Ovid, Titus Livius, and also the Italian Classics. Another Mantuan tutor thus describes his method of teaching a young prince : "We have gone through the abridged history of Livy, and he has translated two books of Valerius with my help in case of difficulty, and now he has a good knowledge of Roman history and the Laws and Constitution of the State. ... I have taught him a work of Ovid, In Ibim, full of unfamiliar fables and stories. . . . He has read some beautiful elegies with me, and construes orations with ease. I dictate epistles to him every day . . . and also expound an epistle of Cicero to him, for the sake of his style. ... In modern literature, he has read through Petrarch with me, and other poems . . . * Francesco Vigilius.'"

Such interest and enthusiasm as we have seen in the teachers of that day deserved to be successful.

They were undoubtedly so in the case of Baldassare, who became a most accomplished youth, and whose love for learning had been so stimulated in early days, that it continued an undying source of pleasure through life. Besides his literary pursuits, we are told that he studied music, architecture, sculpture, and painting, and it is quite possible that he may have been encouraged in the love of art by seeing the famous painter Andrea Mantegna at work on his great series of " Triumphs" for the decoration of the Castello of Mantua.

It will be necessary to give a brief sketch of the reigning Gonzaga family, which is so intimately connected with the fortunes of Baldassare Castiglione. In the year of his birth, 1478, Federico Gonzaga succeeded his father Lodovico as Marchese of Mantua, and soon afterwards he lost his young wife Margaret of 7

Bavaria, and his six children were left to the care of their grandmother, Barbara of Brandenberg. These were Chiara, Francesco (who succeeded his father in 1484), Sigismondo, Elisabetta (the Duchess of Urbino, famous in the Cortegiano), Maddalena, and Giovanni, who was only five years old. When in 148 1 a marriage was arranged for Chiara with Gilbert, Due de Montpensier, we find that Count Cristoforo Castiglione and his wife Madonna Aloisia were in such high esteem at the Court of Mantua that they were chosen to escort the bride to France. This was a splendid match for the young Gonzaga princess, as her husband was one of the first nobles of the realm — of the blood royal, in direct descent from St. Louis, through the brother of Philippe le Hardi, Robert, who married Beatrice of Burgundy.

Was there no Court astrologer to predict to the gentle Chiara that her first-born son would be the most splendid and flamboyant figure of the Renaissance — the magnificent Prince Charles, Due de Montpensier, Constable of France, who outdid kings in splendour, and whose story was to close with a tragedy of Empire ?

The Marchesa Barbara died a few months after the marriage of her eldest granddaughter, and her solemn funeral procession, as she was borne through the streets of Mantua to the Duomo, may have been one of the earliest memories of young Castiglione. When Lorenzo dei Medici came to the city two years later, so illustrious a visitor as the Magnifico cannot fail to have made a vivid impression upon the boy, whose birth gave him a right to share in all that took place at the Court of Mantua. In 1484, the Marchese Federico died and was succeeded by his eldest son Francesco, who at eighteen

Andersofi, Photo

FEDERICO OF URBINO

Francesca To face p. S was already betrothed to Isabella d'Este. There was constant coming and going of great people. In August, i486, we find the young Duke of Urbino arriving as a visitor, on his betrothal to Elisabetta Gonzaga, the eldest of the two remaining princesses. The Court Chamberlain remarks in a letter that the illustrious guest ** went for his pastime in a boat on the lake after having dined, but being unused to the water he became ill and landed at the gate of the Corte. Here he saw the Triumphs of Ccesar, which Mantegna was painting, and took much pleasure in them. Afterwards he passed onward to the Castello by the Via Coperta."

This young Guidobaldo of Urbino was a handsome, cultivated youth of fifteen, the same age as his proposed bride, but unfortunately he was delicate in health, and already a sufferer from hereditary gout. He had been a ruling prince during the last four years, since the death of his father Federico Montefeltro in 1482. This prince was destined in future years to have Baldassare Castiglione as his most devoted friend and courtier.

The next important visitor at Mantua was Chiara, the Duchess of Montpensier, who had now been married five years, but who still clung to her old home with the most passionate affection, and was never so happy as when she could be with her own people. The three sisters had a gay time together that Christmas of i486, although they had to put off some of their proposed festivities until the New Year on account of the absence of their brother Francesco. The wedding of Elisabetta was arranged to take place early in the year 1488, and there were great preparations for the important event, and a stately ceremony in the Duomo before the bride set forth on her wedding journey. 9

It is interesting to suppose that, as the young princess was an intimate friend of his mother, Baldassare may even then have had a childish admiration for his peerless lady of the Cortegta?io, whose idolater he was to become in those halcyon days at the Court of Urbino, with the far-off worship of lowly reverence. To the student of his life and work, all that concerns Elisabetta Gonzaga will be welcome.

With a goodly suite in attendance and her youngest brother Giovanni to keep her company, she set sail in a stately bucentaur down the river Po towards Ferrara ; but the wintry weather was unpropitious, and such terrible storms came on, that the bridal party had serious hardships to endure before they were welcomed by Duke Ercole and the Duchess Leonora. Here the gentle, retiring Elisabetta was strongly attracted by the brilliant charm of Isabella d'Este, her future sister-inlaw, and the two young girls formed a close friendship which lasted all their lives. It is curious to learn that before proceeding on her journey, the bride was confirmed by the Bishop of Ferrara in the presence of all the Este family. As she had reached the age of seventeen, it was an interlude which we should scarcely have expected.

After leaving Ferrara the poor bride met with more storms and bad weather, which reached such a pitch at Ravenna that the Podesta's palace was flooded. The mountain travel beyond was still more trying for the delicate girl, the torrents being so swollen as to be almost impassable, and she wrote to her brother Francesco, that if it had not been for the devotion of her attendants she should never have reached Urbino alive. Here a magnificent reception awaited her, to atone for past sufferings. " Ranged upon the hillslope were the ladies of the city, exquisitely dressed, and the children bearing olive-branches in their hands. As soon as the bridal party came in sight, a screen of mounted choristers rose up before them, accompanied by nymphs in antique garb ; dogs started off in pursuit of hareslet loose for them; thehillsresoundedwith a cantata specially composed, and the Goddess of Mirth in person descended the slope and offered the young Duchess her congratulations and good wishes." Guidobaldo, with knightly devotion, led his lady by the hand down into the splendid palace which seemed to climb the last height above the city, and whose walls were draped with tapestry and cloth of gold, while on every side were costly pictures, antiques, and bronzes, and to crown all, a precious library of the rarest books and manuscripts.

As we take leave of Elisabetta in her new and splendid home, it is not without a touch of sympathy for her in the bitter tears she shed, on parting with her young brother and her Mantuan friends.

The next event of importance which in any way affected Castiglione was the appointment of Francesco Gonzaga, Marchese of Mantua, to the coveted position of Captain-General of the armies of Venice in 1489, as this would involve his frequent absence, and also that of Cristoforo Castiglione, who served under him as a condottiere. This was a period of comparative peace — a lull before the storm — although there had been serious disturbances, and a revolt of the inhabitants both at Forli and at Faenza. In October of this year, 1489, Maddalena, the last of the Gonzaga princesses, was married to Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro, but her place was taken the following February by the coming of Isabella d'Este as bride to Francesco. On the magnificence of this favourite of fortune so much glowing enthusiasm has been spent, that it will only be needful to describe briefly the pageants which delighted the eyes of the twelve-year-old boy, Baldassare.

The wedding party, consisting of most of the Este family, arrived in a splendid gilt bucentaur with attendant galleys, and next came the grand procession into the city on horseback, through the streets garlanded with flowers and hung with banners, welcomed by the singing of children and by strange masques. When the bride alighted at the Castello she was met at the foot of the great staircase by Elisabetta, Duchess of Urbino, who had come with her husband to the wedding. They had brought their precious tapestries from Urbino to do honour to the occasion, and it seems strange to hear that the bridegroom had borrowed costly plate and carpets and brocades from all his friends and relations. Considering the difficulty and danger of transit in those days, it was very generous of them to lend their treasures ! The festivities continued for days ; banquets, dances, tournaments, and processions, until we should imagine the treasury of the small State would have been almost exhausted. It is true that Isabella brought with her a dowry of some 30,000 ducats, thirteen wedding chests richly decorated with gold leaf and ultramarine, costly hangings and artistic personal ornaments, besides a gilt chariot, a bucentaur of her own, and a silver altar with all needful officebooks and vessels.

We learn that the young Marchesa found a kindred spirit in Madonna Luigia Castiglione, and that the two ladies soon became inseparable friends. We can imagine them sitting together in the beautiful rooms of the Castello, or in the shady gardens of their country villas, reading the latest romance or poem, playing scartino, or working at some choice embroidery ; while at times the blind improvisatore, Francesco Bello, would delight them with his flowing verse, until the Lord of Bozzolo summoned back his favourite to cheer his sick-room.

The coming of Madonna Isabella to Mantua made a gay and brilliant change in Court life. Every form of luxury was natural to her ; splendid and most costly garments and jewels (her favourite dress was embroidered with notes of music in gold on an azure ground), and gay entertainments of every kind. All her rooms had to be painted and decorated afresh according to her minute directions, and she even brought with her a number of skilled artists to carry out her wishes. Apparently the young princess treated them in the most despotic fashion, and if there was any delay in obeying her orders, the luckless offender was threatened with the Castle dungeon. But when she was pleased she could be supremely gracious, and had a charming welcome for the many interesting visitors who came to do her homage. Amongst these were the young poet Antonio Tebaldeo, also the famous courtier and writer of pastoral plays and other poems, Niccolo da Correggio, with whom young Castiglione now made that first acquaintance which ripened into friendship. He must also have enjoyed meeting the great musicians who came to Mantua to give lessons in singing to the young Marchesa — Giovanni Martini, the organist from Constance, and Girolama da Sestola from Ferrara. 13

The famous Florentine, Atalante Migliorotti, came to perform in a gala performance of Poliziano's *'Orfeo" at the villa of Marmirola, in 1491, and made the princess a present of a silver lute, the last fashionable instrument. Mantegna returned to Mantua from Rome the same year, and somewhat later the imperious Isabella sent for Giovanni Santi, the father of Raphael, to paint her portrait. He came at her request but, before the picture was finished, the poor man fell ill and had to return to the more healthy climate of Urbino. The visit to Mantua, however, proved fatal to the great artist, who never recovered from the fever caught there, and died the following August.