I.
Christina's short married life was over. At the end of eighteen months she found herself a widow, before she had completed her fourteenth year. But the brief interval which had elapsed since she left Flanders had sufficed to turn the child into a woman. From the moment of the Duke's death, her good sense and discretion won golden opinions from the grey-headed statesmen around her. The senators and Ambassadors, the deputies from Pavia and the other Lombard cities, who came to offer their condolences, were deeply moved at the sight of this Princess, whose heavy mourning and widow's weeds contrasted strangely with her extreme youth. The dignity and grace of her bearing charmed them still more, and all the Milanese asked was to keep their Duchess among them. By the terms of the late Duke's investiture, if he died without children, the duchy of Milan was to revert to the Emperor, but the city of Tortona was settled on the Duchess. By Francesco's will the town and Castello of Vigevano, which he had done so much to beautify, were also bequeathed to her. Immediately after the Duke's funeral, in obedience to his dying lord's order, Stampa hoisted the imperial standard on the Castello of Milan, but refused to allow Antonio de Leyva to take possession of the citadel until he received orders from Cæsar himself. This was faithfully reported to the Emperor by Christina, who gave her uncle a full account of the steps which she had taken to administer affairs as her lord's representative, adding:
"If I have failed in any part of my duty or done anything contrary to Your Majesty's wishes, I beg you to excuse my ignorance, assuring you that I have acted by the advice of my late husband's Councillors, and with no regard to my own interests, but with the sole object of promoting Your Majesty's honour and service, and remain
"Your very humble and obedient servant,
"Chrétienne.
"November 20, 1535."[128]
The messenger whom Stampa sent to Palermo on the day of the Duke's death missed the Emperor, who had already left for Messina, and the news did not reach him until he had landed in Calabria, on his way to Naples. It was not till the 27th of November that a horseman bearing letters from Cæsar arrived in Milan. Here intense anxiety prevailed among all classes, and the Spaniards were as much hated as the Duke and Duchess had been beloved. Accordingly, the relief was great when it became known that, although Signor Antonio de Leyva was appointed Governor-General, Stampa was to retain his post as Castellan, and the Duchess was to remain in the Castello.
"The Duchess remains Duchess," wrote the chronicler, "and all the other officials retain their places. Above all, Count Massimiliano keeps his office, and the city is perfectly quiet."[129]
Dec., 1535] THE PRINCE OF PIEDMONT
Stampa now made a last effort to maintain the independence of Milan. He proposed that the widowed Duchess should be given in marriage to the Duke of Savoy's eldest son, Louis, a Prince of her own age, who was being educated at his imperial uncle's Court. A petition to this effect, signed by Chancellor Taverna and all the leading senators, was addressed to the Emperor, and Giovanni Paolo Sforza was sent to Rome to meet His Majesty and obtain the Pope's support.
"Gian Paolo Sforza and Taverna," wrote the Venetian Envoy, Lorenzo Bragadin, "have begged Cæsar to give the hand of his niece, the widow, to the Duke of Savoy's son, and this is the wish of all the people of Milan."[130]
Unfortunately, Giovanni Paolo fell ill on the journey, and breathed his last in a village of the Apennines, and before Charles left Naples he heard that the promising young Prince of Piedmont had died on Christmas Day at Madrid. His brother, Emanuel Philibert, was a child of seven, and although his ambitious mother, Duchess Beatrix, hastened to put forward his claim, nothing more was heard of the scheme.
By this time another marriage for Christina was being seriously discussed at the Imperial Court. Even before the Duke's death, the French King had done his best to provoke a quarrel with him, and had begun to make active preparations for war. Hardly had Francesco breathed his last, than he openly renewed his old claim to Milan, and sent an Ambassador to the Emperor at Naples, demanding the duchy for his second son, Henry, Duke of Orleans, the husband of Catherine de' Medici. This plan, which would have made the French supreme in North Italy, could not be entertained for a moment, but Charles, in his anxiety to avoid war, was ready to accept almost any other alternative. When his sister Eleanor implored him to agree to her husband's proposal, and, by way of cementing the alliance, give "the little widow of Milan" in marriage to the King's third son, the Duke of Angoulême, he replied that he would gladly treat of the proposed marriage, but only on condition that Angoulême, not Orleans, was put in possession of Milan.
The union of the French Prince with Christina now became the subject of prolonged negotiations between the two Courts. The Imperial Chancellor, Granvelle, drew up a long and careful memorandum, dwelling on the obvious advantages of the scheme, on the virtues and charms of the young Duchess, on her large dowry and great popularity in Milan, and Charles told Francis plainly that he would agree to no scheme by which the widowed Duchess was removed from the State, "where she was so much beloved and honoured, and where the people placed all their hopes of tranquillity in her presence." One great object of these negotiations, he wrote, "is to find a noble and suitable husband for our niece, the Widow of Milan, who is to us almost a daughter, and who has always shown herself so discreet and so obedient to our wishes."[131]
March, 1536] MANY SUITORS
Both the Pope and the Venetians supported this scheme as the best means of avoiding war and preserving the independence of Milan. At the same time Pope Paul did not fail to put in a plea for his own kinsman, the son of his niece Cecilia Farnese, and Count Bosio Sforza, a descendant of Francesco I.'s half-brother. Bosio had been a loyal supporter of the late Duke, but died soon after Christina's marriage, leaving a son of fifteen, who was brought up at the Court of Milan. The Pope himself addressed a grateful letter to Christina, thanking her for the kindness which she had shown the boy, and throwing out a hint that a marriage with her young Sforza cousin might be possible. Another husband whom Granvelle proposed for her was Duke Alexander of Florence, but, fortunately, Charles decided to give him his own illegitimate daughter Margaret, and Christina thus escaped union with this reckless and profligate Prince, who was soon afterwards murdered by his kinsman.[132] Meanwhile the Scottish Ambassadors at the French Court made proposals to the Emperor on behalf of their King, James V., who had not yet made up his mind to wed Magdalen of Valois, and these negotiations were only interrupted by the high-handed action of King Henry's new favourite, Thomas Cromwell. Thus, a few weeks after the Duke of Milan's death his widow's hand had become the subject of animated controversy in all the Courts of Europe.[133]
But while others were negotiating the French were arming. On the 6th of March, the first day of Carnival, news reached Milan that a French army had crossed the Alps. The strong citadel of Montmélian was betrayed by the treachery of a Neapolitan captain, and after a gallant defence the Duke of Savoy was compelled to evacuate Turin, and take refuge with his wife and children at Vercelli. All hope of peace was now over, and, in a consistory held in the Vatican on the 8th of April, the Emperor appealed to the Pope to bear witness how earnestly he had tried to prevent war, and how fruitless his efforts had proved. At Granvelle's suggestion, he determined to carry the war into the enemy's country, and, following in the steps of Charles VIII., crossed the Apennines, and marched by the Emilian Way and along the banks of the Po towards Asti.
May, 1536] MEETING WITH CHARLES V.
The dread of a French invasion had united all parties in Milan. The citizens forgot their hatred of the Spaniards in their terror of another siege, and cheerfully submitted to fresh taxes to pay the defending army. It was a late spring that year in Lombardy, the weather was bitterly cold, and by the end of April the vines had only put forth tiny shoots, and the roses were not yet in flower. Nothing was heard in the streets but the din of approaching warfare, and the tramp of armed Landsknechten marching from Tyrol on their way to the frontier. But in the last days of April Christina's dull life was brightened by the sudden arrival of the Duchess of Savoy, who fled from the camp at Vercelli to take refuge in the Castello of Milan. Times were altered since the two Princesses had met at Turin, and the Duchess Beatrix, who had welcomed the little bride so warmly, was sadly changed in body and mind. She had lost her eldest son, and been driven out of her home by foreign invaders, never to return there again in her lifetime. With her she brought her two remaining children, the little Princess Catherine and Emanuel Philibert, who was one day to become famous as the bravest captain in Europe. And she also brought a treasure which excited the utmost enthusiasm among the Milanese—the Holy Shroud of St. Joseph of Arimathea, which had been preserved for centuries at Chambéry. Crowds flocked to the Duomo when Beatrix's Franciscan confessor preached, in the hope of seeing the precious Shroud; but the Duchess would not allow the relic to leave the Castello, and on the 7th it was exposed on the ramparts to the view of an enormous multitude assembled in the piazza.[134]
A week later Francesco Sforza's cousin, Ferrante Gonzaga, and the Duke of Savoy, came to Milan, but soon left for the camp. Beatrix then obtained permission to pay the Emperor a visit on his journey north, and by Charles's express request took Christina with her. On the 18th of May the magistrates of Pavia received orders from the Duchess of Milan's maggiordomo, Benedetto da Corte, to prepare lodgings for Her Excellency and the Duchess of Savoy, as near to each other as possible.[135] The Castello of Pavia had suffered terribly in the siege by Lautrec in 1528, but a few rooms were hastily furnished, and on the 20th Beatrix and Christina arrived, escorted by Count Massimiliano and several courtiers. Early on the following morning the two Duchesses rode out to Arena on the Po, where they found the Emperor awaiting them. Charles was unfeignedly glad to see both his sister-in-law and the niece whom he had left as a child at Brussels four years before, and welcomed them affectionately.[136] But the interview was a short one, and the next day he continued his journey to Asti, where he joined Antonio de Leyva and Ferrante Gonzaga, and prepared to invade Provence.
Oct., 1536] CARDINAL CARACCIOLO
Meanwhile Beatrix and Christina returned to Milan, and spent the summer together in the Castello. A close friendship sprang up between the two Duchesses. Beatrix took a motherly interest in her young companion, and the children's presence helped to cheer these anxious months. At first the Emperor's arms were entirely successful. The French retired before him to Avignon, laying the country waste, and he met with no opposition until he reached Aix, which resisted all his attacks. During the long siege which followed, his soldiers suffered severely from disease and famine, and many youths of the noblest Milanese families were among the victims.[137] Early in September, while Christina's own secretary, Belcorpo, was robbed and murdered on his way to the camp, Antonio de Leyva, the redoubtable Commander-in-Chief, died, and was buried in S. Eustorgio at Milan. The Papal Legate, Cardinal Caracciolo, a Neapolitan by birth, was appointed to succeed him as Viceroy of Milan. He had only just assumed the reins of office, and paid his first visit to the young Duchess, when he received a summons from the Emperor to join him at Genoa. Finding it impossible to reduce Aix, Charles had determined to abandon the campaign, and on the 16th of November a three months' truce was signed between the two monarchs. The Emperor was anxious to return to Spain, where his presence was sorely needed. But before his departure he sent for the Cardinal, desiring him to leave some trusty lieutenant to govern the State in his absence, and take charge of his niece the Duchess. Accordingly, Caracciolo went to Genoa on the 4th of October, accompanied by Beatrix of Savoy, who, after a long interview with the Emperor, joined her husband at Nice, the only city which still belonged to him. Soon after this her health gave way under the prolonged strain, and this once brilliant and beautiful woman died in January, 1538, as she said herself, of a broken heart.
Christina, now left alone at Milan, wrote a long letter to the Cardinal, whom she addressed in the language of a caressing child, saying that he was dear to her as a father, and seeking his help for two objects which lay very near her heart.
"The true affection," she writes, "which Your Excellency has shown me, and the kind remembrance of me which you always keep, makes me anxious for your health and welfare. So I beg you to tell me how you have prospered on your journey, and if you are well in health."
She then begs her friend the Cardinal to use his influence with the Emperor on behalf of her sister Dorothea, "the person now nearest and dearest to her on earth," who is in need of her powerful uncle's help. Probably the Palatine was, as usual, endeavouring to recover arrears of the pension due to him by the Emperor, and to obtain compensation for the costs which he had incurred in the disastrous expedition against Copenhagen. Hubert had lately been sent to Charles with this object, and had at the same time suggested that, if the Emperor needed a Viceroy for Milan, no one could be more suitable than his lord. But whatever the precise object of Dorothea's request may have been, Christina's intercession, it is to be feared, availed her little.
The Duchess's other petition was more easily granted.
"As a whole year," she wrote, "will soon have elapsed since the death of my dearest husband, of blessed memory, I beg you to entreat His Majesty, in my name, to be pleased to give orders that this anniversary may be observed in a due and fitting manner. And I am quite certain that he will not refuse to hear this my prayer."[138]
It would indeed have been impossible for the Emperor to refuse so reasonable a request, and the anniversary of the late Duke's death was observed with due ceremonial in all the churches of Milan. But the days of the young Duchess's abode in this city were fast drawing to a close. Before Charles left Italy he had determined to place a strong Spanish garrison in the Castello, to defend Milan against the risk of a French invasion, and had only delayed to take this step from fear of exciting discontent in the city. Stampa had hitherto succeeded in warding off the blow, but now he was forced to bow to the imperial command, and surrender the Castello to a foreign captain.
Charles, it must be owned, did his best to soften the blow. He made the Count a present of the rich fief of Soncino in the province of Cremona, and sent him as a parting gift the costly plate which had belonged to the late Duke, with a cordial invitation to follow him to Spain. But we see, from a letter which Stampa's friend Aretino sent him, how sorely this vexed his noble heart.
Dec., 1536] ARETINO'S COMFORT
"I will not grieve, my illustrious friend," wrote the time-serving Venetian, "if you have to give up the Castello, which you held for love of His Excellency, of happy memory, because to my mind it was a prison for your genius. Dry your tears, and console yourself with the reflection that now at least you are a free man. His Majesty is relieved from the jealousy of his Spanish servants, and you are saved from further anxieties on this subject. Now you can, if you choose, follow him to Spain, and lay down your office with honour unstained, and then return to Milan to live in freedom and contentment."[139]
This was poor comfort for Massimiliano, but the Emperor's will was not to be gainsaid, and the Count could only lay down his office and take leave of the young Duchess, assuring her of his undying loyalty and faithfulness. Charles had not forgotten his niece, and before he sailed for Barcelona on the 15th of November he sent one of his oldest and most trusted servants, Jean de Montmorency, Sieur de Courrières, the Captain of the Archers' Guard, to take charge of the Duchess, and eventually conduct her to Flanders. But while negotiations for her second marriage were still pending, it was felt desirable that she should remain in Lombardy; and since the Castello would no longer be a fit place for her, Montmorency was ordered to escort her to Pavia. On the 10th of December, 1536, De Courrières arrived with fifty archers of the Imperial Guard, and, after a brief consultation with the Cardinal and Stampa, decided to take the Duchess to Pavia without delay.[140]
The leaves of the trees in the gardens were turning yellow, and a pale wintry sun shone down on the Castello, which Christina had first seen in the joyous May-time, when a little procession of black-robed ladies, with their attendants, issued from the Rocchetta, and mounted the horses and litters in waiting for them. A few bystanders saluted them reverently, and followed them with wistful eyes as they rode out of the gates, down the street leading to the Porta Ticinese, until they were out of sight.
A few days later Count Massimiliano Stampa marched out of the Castello at the head of his troops, and gave up the keys, which he had received from the last Sforza Duke, to the Spanish Captain Alvarez de Luna, who entered the gates amid the curses and groans of the citizens. Henceforth the life of Milan as an independent State was over, and the yoke of Spain descended on the ancient capital of Lombardy.