"Finally the Duke decided upon his marriage with Donna Lucrezia d'Este, sister of Alfonso, the last Duke of Ferrara, which took place, though little to his taste; for she was old enough to have been his mother. He went for this purpose to Ferrara, where the nuptials were celebrated with great splendour, and with chivalrous games and other festivities."
Such is all that we learn from the Memoirs of Francesco Maria regarding one of the most eventful moments of his life. Passeri, in his collections for the life of Prince Federigo, mentions a rumour of his attachment to a lady at the Spanish court as the immediate cause of his recall home, and of the match with Princess Lucrezia being concluded; indeed, I have seen, in the correspondence of the Oliveriana Library, that a certain Donna Madalena Girona was the supposed object of that early affection. That he made no secret to his father of his distaste at the connection laid out for him, is stated on the same authority, as well as the Duke's answer, that his people's welfare was to be considered rather than his son's fancies, whose youth made it the more requisite to mate him with a princess of tried prudence and staid manners. How far these epithets were borne out by Lucrezia's subsequent conduct will be presently seen; meanwhile, the following letter, to one who long after continued an especial friend and favourite, will show that the bridegroom gave no outward signs of his discontent.
"To Camillo Giordani.
"My most magnificent and well-beloved,
"I am confident that you feel the pleasure which you express at the conclusion which it has pleased God to vouchsafe to my marriage with Madam Lucrezia d'Este, and at all other like occasions of joy which happen to me; and the duty you have in this instance paid me in your letter has been most truly acceptable, and has my best thanks. God ever bless you! From Pesaro, the last day of [15]69.
"The Prince of Urbino."
The ceremony took place at Ferrara on the 2nd of January, 1571, and on the 8th the bride was brought home to Pesaro. The people hailed her with enthusiasm, and spent largely in shows and rejoicings to welcome her arrival, besides giving to the Duke a donative exceeding 10,000 scudi. Yet Mocenigo, the Venetian ambassador accredited to the marriage, while lauding the handsome and gracious Princess, admits an early prepossession against her, on the part both of her new subjects and her lord. It was the hope of a heir to the dukedom that preponderated with the former; and, as she was many years older than her husband, a chill of disappointment naturally mingled even with their congratulations.[77] The same observer states it as the general impression that, the Prince having compromised himself with a lady in Spain, his father thought the best way of getting him out of all difficulty with that court was to match him suddenly with a princess of high rank, whose dowry of 150,000 scudi was by no means unacceptable. Zane, another envoy from the maritime Republic a few years later, describes the Duchess as below par in good looks, but well-dressed: adding that difference of age accounted for the absence of affection between her and her husband.
The following letters from the Duke and Duchess of Urbino, Prince Francesco Maria and his bride, were written in answer to congratulations sent them on occasion of the marriage, by the Cardinal de' Medici, who afterwards became Grand Duke of Florence, by the title of Ferdinand I.[78] They have been introduced here as an index to the feelings of the respective writers regarding a union which turned out so unsatisfactory to all parties; but, still more, as a specimen of the epistolary style then prevalent between personages of exalted rank, and of the general formality and barrenness of interest which characterise such documents.
"My most illustrious, most reverend, and most respected Lord,
"The Marquis of Villa Franca has discharged towards me the duty with which your most illustrious Lordship was pleased to entrust him, and he has represented your gracious sympathy towards our wedding in a manner most acceptable to all. For the satisfaction we, and myself especially, have derived from this, I do most heartily thank your most illustrious Lordship, praying you to lend a willing ear to the assurances of my affection, and of my wish for frequent opportunities of correspondence, which I have given to the Marquis, and which I do not doubt he will, without fail, in compliance with my desire, fully repeat to you. I kiss your most illustrious Lordship's hands, praying for you all happiness. From Pesaro, the 15th of January, 1571.