Beatrice Duchess of Bari—Her popularity at the court of Milan—Giangaleazzo and Isabella of Aragon—Lodovico's first impressions—His growing affection for his wife—His letters to Isabella d'Este—Hunting and fishing parties—Cuzzago and Vigevano—Controversy on Orlando and Rinaldo—Bellincioni's sonnets.
1491
We have seen how the childhood and early youth of Beatrice d'Este had been spent, first at her grandfather the King Ferrante's court at Naples, afterwards in her own home at Ferrara. Under the watchful eye of a wise and careful mother, she had been trained in all the learning and accomplishments of the day, but had been allowed little liberty or opportunity of revealing her strong individuality. Her charms and talents had been thrown into the shade by the superior beauty and intellect of the Marchioness Isabella, and until the day she landed at Pavia she had been regarded in the comparatively insignificant light of the younger and less gifted sister. Now all this suddenly changed. At the age of fifteen, Beatrice d'Este found herself the wife of the ablest and most powerful prince in Italy, released from all the restraints hitherto imposed upon her and placed in a position of absolute freedom and independence. From the quiet regularity of the sheltered life which she had led at Ferrara by her mother's side, she suddenly found herself transplanted to the gayest and most splendid court in Italy, surrounded by every luxury that wealth could give and every beautiful object that taste could devise. The bravest captains and the most accomplished artists of the day were at her feet, ready to obey her orders and gratify her smallest fancy. Leonardo and Bramante were at hand to arrange pageants and masquerades, to paint amorini on her mantelpiece or mythological fables along the frieze of her rooms, to build elegant pavilions, or lay out labyrinths and lakes in her garden. Bellincioni and a dozen other poets celebrated her name and recorded her words and actions in verse; learned scholars and commentators read Dante to her when she cared to listen. Niccolo da Correggio not only wrote sonnets and canzoni for her to sing but invented new patterns for her gowns; and Cristoforo Romano laid down the sculptor's chisel to play the lyre or viol for her pleasure. For her the wise man of Pavia, Lorenzo Gusnasco, fashioned cunningly wrought instruments, lutes and viols inlaid with ebony and ivory, and organs inscribed with Latin mottoes; and the wonderful tenor, Cordier, the priest of Louvain, sang his sweetest and most entrancing strains in the ducal chapel. For her amusement the court jesters laughed and chattered and played their foolish tricks—Diodato, who had followed her from Ferrara, and the witty clown Barone, the petted favourite of Isabella d'Este and Veronica Gambara and a dozen other great ladies. And Messer Galeazzo was ready to risk his life and ruin his best clothes, all for the sake of his duchess. From the moment of Beatrice's arrival at the Milanese court she won all hearts, less by her beauty than by her vivacity and high spirits, her bright eyes and ringing laugh, her frank gladness and keen enjoyment of life. How favourable was the first impression which the young duchess made upon those around her, we learn from the letters which the Ferrarese envoy and ladies-in-waiting addressed almost daily to her anxious parents, during the first few weeks after her marriage. Every little incident, each word or act that is likely to please Duchess Leonora, is faithfully reported by these good servants, in their eagerness to allay the natural fears of the loving mother for the absent child in her brilliant but difficult position. The demeanour of Signor Lodovico towards his wife, all he said and thought of her, was narrowly watched by Giacomo Trotti, and duly repeated in his letters to Ferrara. For the present this was eminently satisfactory. "Signor Lodovico," writes the ambassador during the wedding festivities at Milan, "has nothing but the highest praise both for his wife and the Marchesana. He is never tired of saying how much pleasure he takes in their company.
"Here jousting and tilting, feasting and dancing, are the order of the day. Signor Lodovico is delighted with his wife's appearance, and to-day, when she gave away the prizes, he kissed her repeatedly in the eyes of all the people."
And again a few days later, when the festivities were ended and the ducal family were enjoying a little rest before the party broke up, he writes—
"Whenever Lodovico Sforza is wanted, he is always to be found in the company of his wife, of the Marchesana, of Don Alfonso and Madonna Anna, with whom he is never tired of talking and laughing, exactly as if he were a youth of their own age."
On the 6th of February, after the departure of the duchess and her children, Trotti wrote again, remarking, "Signor Lodovico seems to think of nothing but how best to please and amuse his wife, and every day he tells me how dear she is to him."[9]
Among the Ferrarese ladies who had remained at Milan, in attendance on the young duchess, was her cousin, Polisenna d'Este, who, being considerably older and more sedate, and no longer either young or beautiful, had for these very reasons been placed by Leonora in her daughter's household, and desired to keep her informed of all that happened. Early in February this lady-in-waiting wrote the following letter to Isabella d'Este, in terms that were well calculated to reassure both the anxious sister and mother as to Beatrice's happiness and her husband's behaviour:—
"Most Illustrious Madonna and dear Marchesana,
"Since I have remained here after your Highness's departure from Milan, continually in the company of your sister, the illustrious Duchess of Bari, and of her husband, Signor Lodovico, I will no longer delay to discharge my duty in sending you some comforting words as to the well-being and happiness of the said duchess. I cannot express how happy she is to see herself every day more affectionately caressed and petted by her husband, who seems to find his sole delight in giving her every possible pleasure and amusement. It is indeed a rare joy to see them together and to realize what cordial love and good-will he bears her. God grant it may last long! And I felt that I must write this good news to your Highness, knowing that it would give you especial satisfaction. I will only add that the air here seems to suit her particularly well, and that she is certainly very much improved and stronger in appearance, and seems every day to grow more beautiful. I beg of your Highness to commend me to Madonna Beatrice and Collona.