But the Marchesana's intended visit to Milan was, after all, put off, and Messer Galeazzo was called away to more arduous duties in camp and field. The debate, which had been prolonged with so much wit and ingenuity on both sides, came to an abrupt ending. It was left to the Florentine poet, Bellincioni, in whose verses the smallest incidents that took place at court were faithfully reflected, to celebrate this "praiseworthy and memorable duel of intellect between these two august personages." At Beatrice's command Bellincioni wrote three sonnets illustrating the arguments brought forward on either side. In the first, he adopts Isabella's standpoint, and is all in favour of Rinaldo. In the second, he sees a vision of Roland with the saints in Paradise, and declares almost in the same language as Galeazzo, that whereas Rinaldo was only a brave soldier, Roland was able and virtuous as well as valiant. Finally, in the third, he exhorts the illustrious marchioness to recant her errors, since the Scriptures tell us that it is human to err, and not to follow the bad example of Pharaoh who hardened his heart, but to see how immeasurably inferior Rinaldo was to his rival, and to become, with Messer Galeazzo and others of his merit, a true Christian and follower of Roland.
The whole controversy is a curious instance of the deep interest which these great ladies of the Italian Renaissance and their courtiers took in literary subjects, and especially in the romances of the Carlovingian cycle. This interest was not confined to the upper circles of society, but spread through all classes, and was no doubt largely increased by the songs and the improvisations of strolling minstrels and Provençal story-tellers. First of all the Florentine Pulci, and after him Boiardo and Bello of Ferrara, sought inspiration in the same source, and later on their example was followed by Ariosto and Tasso. And Poggio, writing in the fifteenth century, tells us how in his day a worthy citizen of Milan, after hearing one of these wandering cantatores chanting the story of Roland's death with dramatic action and effect, went home weeping so bitterly that his wife and friends could hardly console him or induce him to dry his tears. "And yet," remarks the grave historian, "this Roland they tell of has been dead well-nigh seven hundred years."
Unfortunately, Isabella's share in this singular and interesting correspondence has perished, and only Messer Galeazzo's letters survive. These may still be seen in the Gonzaga Archives, where they were first discovered by Signor Alessandro Luzio and Signor Rodolfo Renier. These learned writers are in some perplexity as to the identity of the writer, since the letters are signed Galeaz Sfortia Vicecomes, and internal evidence will not allow them to have been written by any Galeazzo Sforza or Visconti then living. But there can hardly be a doubt as to who the writer actually was. Galeazzo di Sanseverino had been adopted by Lodovico Sforza when he married his daughter Bianca, and from that time used the surname of the ducal house, Sfortia Vicecomes, and very frequently added his title of Armorum Capitaneus, captain of the armies of Milan. His well-known patronage of artists and love of letters, as well as his intimate connection with the duke and duchess, all point in the same direction; and if any further proof were needed, the mention of his brother Gaspare, and the allusion to Galeazzo by name in one of Bellincioni's sonnets on the subject, and the fact that one of the letters is dated from his own villa of Castelnuovo, near Tortona, would be sufficient to settle the question. The champion of Orlando and the faithful servant of Beatrice d'Este was, it is evident, none other than the friend of Leonardo and Castiglione—that ideal knight, Galeazzo di Sanseverino.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] G. Uzielli, Leonardo da Vinci, etc., p. 26.
[10] Luzio-Renier, op. cit., p. 98.
[11] Luzio-Renier, op. cit., p. 104.