Christina's short married life was over. At the end of eighteen months she found herself a widow, before she had completed her fourteenth year. But the brief interval which had elapsed since she left Flanders had sufficed to turn the child into a woman. From the moment of the Duke's death, her good sense and discretion won golden opinions from the grey-headed statesmen around her. The senators and Ambassadors, the deputies from Pavia and the other Lombard cities, who came to offer their condolences, were deeply moved at the sight of this Princess, whose heavy mourning and widow's weeds contrasted strangely with her extreme youth. The dignity and grace of her bearing charmed them still more, and all the Milanese asked was to keep their Duchess among them. By the terms of the late Duke's investiture, if he died without children, the duchy of Milan was to revert to the Emperor, but the city of Tortona was settled on the Duchess. By Francesco's will the town and Castello of Vigevano, which he had done so much to beautify, were also bequeathed to her. Immediately after the Duke's funeral, in obedience to his dying lord's order, Stampa hoisted the imperial standard on the Castello of Milan, but refused to allow Antonio de Leyva to take possession of the citadel until he received orders from Cæsar himself. This was faithfully reported to the Emperor by Christina, who gave her uncle a full account of the steps which she had taken to administer affairs as her lord's representative, adding:
"If I have failed in any part of my duty or done anything contrary to Your Majesty's wishes, I beg you to excuse my ignorance, assuring you that I have acted by the advice of my late husband's Councillors, and with no regard to my own interests, but with the sole object of promoting Your Majesty's honour and service, and remain
"Your very humble and obedient servant,
"Chrétienne.
"November 20, 1535."[128]
The messenger whom Stampa sent to Palermo on the day of the Duke's death missed the Emperor, who had already left for Messina, and the news did not reach him until he had landed in Calabria, on his way to Naples. It was not till the 27th of November that a horseman bearing letters from Cæsar arrived in Milan. Here intense anxiety prevailed among all classes, and the Spaniards were as much hated as the Duke and Duchess had been beloved. Accordingly, the relief was great when it became known that, although Signor Antonio de Leyva was appointed Governor-General, Stampa was to retain his post as Castellan, and the Duchess was to remain in the Castello.
"The Duchess remains Duchess," wrote the chronicler, "and all the other officials retain their places. Above all, Count Massimiliano keeps his office, and the city is perfectly quiet."[129]
Dec., 1535] THE PRINCE OF PIEDMONT
Stampa now made a last effort to maintain the independence of Milan. He proposed that the widowed Duchess should be given in marriage to the Duke of Savoy's eldest son, Louis, a Prince of her own age, who was being educated at his imperial uncle's Court. A petition to this effect, signed by Chancellor Taverna and all the leading senators, was addressed to the Emperor, and Giovanni Paolo Sforza was sent to Rome to meet His Majesty and obtain the Pope's support.
"Gian Paolo Sforza and Taverna," wrote the Venetian Envoy, Lorenzo Bragadin, "have begged Cæsar to give the hand of his niece, the widow, to the Duke of Savoy's son, and this is the wish of all the people of Milan."[130]
Unfortunately, Giovanni Paolo fell ill on the journey, and breathed his last in a village of the Apennines, and before Charles left Naples he heard that the promising young Prince of Piedmont had died on Christmas Day at Madrid. His brother, Emanuel Philibert, was a child of seven, and although his ambitious mother, Duchess Beatrix, hastened to put forward his claim, nothing more was heard of the scheme.