III.
Oct., 1537] "EN VOYAGE"
On the 15th of October Christina and her suite left Pavia, and started on their long-deferred journey to Flanders. When she first set foot in Italy as a bride, three and a half years before, the Lombard plains were in the first flush of spring, roses and myrtles were breaking into bloom, and the flowers sprang up under her feet. Now the autumn rains fell in such torrents that Cardinal Caracciolo was seriously alarmed, and wrote to Benedetto da Corte and Monsignore di Corea, asking if it might not be well to delay their departure. The first idea had been to go from Pavia to Cremona in a single day, but the bad roads and swollen rivers increased the difficulties of travel, and the Cardinal wrote to implore Messer Benedetto and Corea not to undertake such long journeys, lest the Duchess should be overtired. So the party only rode as far as Codogno, the castle of Count Gaspare Trivulzio, where he and his beautiful wife, Deianira, received them joyfully, and entertained them "as magnificently as if they had been invited to a wedding." Christina's lady-in-waiting, the Princess of Macedonia, rejoiced to be under her daughter's roof, and Benedetto da Corte wrote to tell the Cardinal that nothing could exceed the splendour and hospitality of Count Gaspare's reception. On the 18th the travellers rode along the plains flooded by the swollen Po till they reached Cremona, the dower city of Bianca Visconti, where she had been married to the great Condottiere Francesco Sforza, and which had clung with unswerving loyalty to the fortunes of his house. Here the Castellan came out to meet the Duchess, at the head of the chief citizens, and escorted her to the Castello under the shadow of the famous Torrazza, where she and all her suite found the best of cheer. The next morning the travellers resumed their way, and crossed the rushing Oglio, under the castle of the Gonzagas of Bozzolo, and rode along the green meadows by Castiglione's country home, where his aged mother was still living. The great courtier's name was familiar to all Charles V.'s servants, and Montmorency, who had known him in Spain, may have paused to look at the fair sepulchral chapel which Giulio Romano had lately reared in the pilgrimage church of S. Maria delle Grazie. At Mantua another splendid welcome awaited Christina. The Gonzaga Princes never forgot their close relationship to the Sforzas, and while the reigning Duchess welcomed the Princess of Macedonia as a kinswoman, the old Marchesana, Isabella, rejoiced to embrace her nephew's wife, and looked with affection on this youthful Duchess who bore the same title as her long-lost Beatrice.
The next morning Benedetto da Corte sent the Cardinal a glowing account of their journey, which, in spite of the weather, had been one triumphal progress:
"Reverendissimo,
"Her Excellency arrived safely here at Mantua yesterday with all her company, horses, and carriages, and was received most royally, as has, indeed, been the case in every place where we have halted on our way. Her whole household has been entertained with the best fare, and with little damage to our purses.... The kindness with which we have been received has made these perpetual rains tolerable. We are quite accustomed to them, and shall not be afraid of the next tempest! We are resting here on this sixth day of our journey at the entreaty of these illustrious Princes. On Sunday, please God, we shall reach Verona, and I have sent to ask the Governor to prepare convenient lodgings for Her Excellency. His Reverence the Cardinal of Trent has sent a messenger here to-night to inquire how many we number, and so we go on gaily from stage to stage. Once we have reached Trent, we shall seem to be in sight of the Rhine, and can pursue our way at less peril to our lives, and, let us hope, to the greater advantage of His Majesty's service. I kiss Your Reverence's hand, and so also does Monsignore di Corea.
"Benedetto da Corte.
"Mantova, October 20."[148]
Oct., 1537] THE CARDINAL OF TRENT
The Cardinal's worst anxieties were relieved by the receipt of Benedetto's letter, and he sent a reply to the Castle of Trent thanking him and Monsignore di Corea for their trouble, and expressing great satisfaction to hear of their prosperous journey. The travellers now turned their steps northwards, and, after spending a night in the city of the Scaligeri, followed the Adige through the rocky defile known as La Chiusa di Verona. As they passed through the fortified gates at the farther end of the ravine, a salute from the guns made them aware that they had entered Austrian territory. A few miles farther they were met by the Cardinal-Bishop, Bernhard von Clès, who had ridden out with a great train to welcome the Duchess. A strong Imperialist no less than an active reformer, Bernhard von Clès had been raised to the cardinalate at Charles's coronation, and was now Vice-Chancellor of the Empire.[149] He had lately received a visit from Christina's uncle, King Ferdinand, and his wife, Anna, who honoured his niece's wedding with their presence, and the sumptuous rooms which they had occupied were now placed at Christina's disposal. "Nothing was lacking," wrote Benedetto da Corte, "which could please the eye or delight the mind." The splendour of the episcopal palace and the open-handed liberality of the Cardinal made a great impression on Montmorency, who wrote himself to tell the Cardinal how well Madama had borne the journey.
"I cannot tell you," he adds, "how splendidly Monsignor Reverendissimo has received the Duchess, and how sumptuously he has feasted us. Here we mean to rest all to-day, and to-morrow we will pursue our journey with the utmost diligence."
But so pressing was the Cardinal, and so luxurious were the quarters provided for them, that the travellers remained at Trent several days, and only resumed their journey on the 27th of October.
The most arduous part of the way now lay before them, and Benedetto describes how they harnessed the mules to the chariot in order that the Duchess and her ladies might drive across the Brenner Pass, at least as far as Innsbruck. Montmorency was in some doubt as to the route which the Duchess had better take through Germany, but, much to his satisfaction, he found the long-expected letter from the Emperor awaiting him at Innsbruck. It was written from Monzone on the last day of October, a fortnight after Christina had left Pavia. Charles put the blame of his delay on the Queen of Hungary's shoulders, and, since it was too late to wait for her directions, bade him consult the Cardinal of Trent as to their future journey.
"If you have already left Trent, you had better go on either by road or else by the Rhine. If you are at Innsbruck, you can take advice from the King our brother or from Dr. Matthias Held"—one of Ferdinand's most trusted German Councillors—"and choose whichever route they consider the safest. If you have received no letters from the Queen, you had better send a messenger to Flanders, and we will inform you as soon as we know her pleasure regarding our niece's future plans."
In conclusion the Emperor tells Montmorency that he is sending the letters patent for which he asked, although they are hardly necessary, and has already told the Queen to refund all the expenses which he has incurred, and to be mindful of his great and long services.[150]
The travellers spent some time at Innsbruck in the ancient castle which is still adorned with the Sforza arms, and Christina saw the superb monument erected by her great-grandfather Maximilian in the church hard by. Ferdinand and his wife and daughters were in Vienna, but the route which Montmorency chose was that followed by most travellers, along the Lake of Constance and down the Rhine to Spires. From the first Christina had been very anxious to visit her sister Dorothea on her journey north, and she succeeded in obtaining her uncle's consent to this arrangement. The two Princesses had not met since Christina left Brussels in the spring of 1534, and Dorothea was no less impatient to see her sister. Even before the travellers reached Trent, they met two Genoese merchants, who told Montmorency that on their way through Germany they had seen the Count Palatine Frederic and Madama la Principessa, his wife, with a great company, on their way to Heidelberg to await the Duchess's coming. When, in November, the travellers at length reached Heidelberg, they found themselves impatiently expected, and Christina received the warmest welcome from the Elector Palatine and his family.
Dec., 1537] AT HOME AGAIN
Festivities such as Frederic and Dorothea took delight in—jousting, banquets, and dances—followed each other in rapid succession, and the castle blazed with innumerable torches through the winter nights. It was a great change from the funereal blackness of the Castello of Milan and the desolate halls of Pavia, and the young Duchess enjoyed it to the full. The days sped by all too quickly, and so happy were the sisters in each other's company that the Elector invited Christina to stay over Christmas. The young Duchess accepted the proposal gleefully, and all were preparing to spend a joyous festival, when Montmorency received peremptory orders from the Queen-Regent to bring her niece forthwith to Flanders. After this no delays were possible. The sisters parted sadly from each other, and the travellers once more took boat and sailed down the Rhine to Cologne.
From here it was an easy journey to Aix-la-Chapelle, and through the friendly State of Cleves to Maestricht, and thence to Louvain and Brussels. On the 8th of December Christina set foot once more in the ancient palace of the Dukes of Brabant, and was clasped in her aunt's arms. Ten days afterwards she wrote a letter to inform the Emperor of her safe arrival, and of "the good and loving welcome" which she had received from "Madame my aunt." She begged His Majesty to keep her still in his remembrance, and signed herself, "Your humble niece, Chrétienne."[151]
She was at home once more among her own people, and all the strange sights and scenes, all the wonderful experiences which she had known, in these four eventful years, seemed to fade away like a dream. But she had left Flanders a child, and she came back a woman.