By December Lodovico and his wife were again settled in Milan, where they received an unexpected visit from the Marquis of Mantua in the first week of that month. Gianfrancesco's own wife was absent with her mother at Ferrara, and without even informing Isabella of his intention, he suddenly arrived at Milan, and spent a week at the Castello with the Duke and Duchess of Bari. As a rule, the company of the marquis, a brave soldier, but not apparently a very attractive person, with his short ungainly figure and rugged features, his dark complexion and rough manners, was not particularly agreeable to his polished brother-in-law; but he received a kindly welcome from both his hosts on this occasion, and was highly gratified with the honours and attention that were paid him. Isabella, on her part, was overjoyed to hear of the kindness with which her husband had been treated at the court of Milan, and declared that his letters gave her as much pleasure as if she had been with him herself. Lodovico did his guest the honours of his palace and city, showed him the treasures and jewels of the Castello, and sent him home loaded with gifts. Among other presents which Gianfrancesco received from his brother-in-law were a pair of lions which the Moro, who was constantly sending to Africa for wild beasts, showed him in his menagerie, and promised to send him as soon as they were sufficiently tame. Some weeks, however, passed before they were pronounced fit to travel safely, and it was not till February of the following year that they were sent to Mantua, with a note from Lodovico, explaining that the keeper who accompanied them was accustomed to wild beasts, and would teach Gianfrancesco's servants how to treat them.
FOOTNOTES:
[15] Luzio-Renier, op. cit., p. 111.
[16] Luzio-Renier, op. cit., p. 114.
CHAPTER X
Claims of Charles VIII. to Naples—Of the Duke of Orleans to Milan—Intrigues of the Venetian Senate, of Pope Innocent VIII., and of Ferrante and Alfonso of Naples—Visit of the French ambassadors to Milan —Treasures of the Castello—Jewels of Lodovico Sforza—Isabella of Aragon and her father—An embassy to the French court proposed—Secret instructions of the Count of Caiazzo—Fête at Vigevano—Tournament of Pavia.
1491
The most important event at the court of Milan that winter was the visit of the French ambassadors. The young King of France, Charles VIII., now that he had emancipated himself from his sister's tutelage and felt himself his own master, was beginning to cherish secret dreams of conquest, and already turned envious eyes towards the kingdom of Naples, that ancient heritage of the House of Anjou. His own ardour for military glory was fanned by the presence at the French court of several exiled noblemen, who had fled from Naples to escape the harsh rule of King Ferrante and his hated son Alfonso, and were burning to avenge their wrongs. Chief among these were Antonio, Prince of Salerno, the head of the great Sanseverino family, and his cousin, the Prince of Bisignano, both of whom were in constant communication with their kinsmen at the Milanese court. At the same time, Charles VIII.'s brother-in-law and cousin, Louis, Duke of Orleans, a valiant and ambitious prince just thirty years of age, who had inherited the Lombard town of Asti from his grandmother, Valentina Visconti, and claimed the Duchy of Milan in right of his descent from the Visconti dukes, rejoiced at the prospect of advancing his pretensions against the rival House of Sforza.