The account of these disturbances, given by the Prince in his Autobiography, is as follows: "His father having by great liberality and magnificence deranged his finances, found it necessary to augment his revenue, and his subjects, unused to such burdens, began to offer resistance. The Duke, not to let himself be thwarted in that way, prepared to use force; but at last matters were restored to quiet, by their humbling themselves, and receiving his pardon, not without the punishment of some, as an example to the rest. At this juncture Francesco Maria contrived so to conduct himself, that his father had reason to be well satisfied with his services; and the people had no cause to be discontented with him, his uniform endeavour having been, to the utmost of his power, to mollify the one and moderate the other, which was in the end effected."

Of this dull reign little remains to be told. In the words of the same Memoir,—"Guidobaldo went to Ferrara in the autumn of 1574, to visit Henry III. of France, who was on his way from Poland, on the death of his brother Charles IX. Returning to Pesaro during great heats, he fell ill, and passed to a better life on the 28th of September, aged sixty. On hearing of his illness, Francesco Maria hastened to Pesaro from Castel Durante, where he generally stayed for the hunting season, and finding his father in great suffering, he attended him assiduously through the fatal malady. The funeral ceremonies were performed with much pomp, in presence of many deputies and ambassadors; and Giacomo Mazzoni pronounced a long and elaborate oration, commending his clemency, liberality, bravery, prudence, and other princely virtues." We are told by a contemporary chronicler that his illness was a quartan, which became a putrid fever, but that he bore it with patient and pious resignation, supported by the aids of religion. His funeral took place in the church of Corpus Domini, at Pesaro, in conformity with his own wish, mindful perhaps, in his last moments, of his recent quarrel with Urbino, where the ashes of his ancestors were laid.

The character of this Duke, drawn by the Venetian envoys, is quite as favourable as the few notices given us by Urbino writers. His habits were free and social, and his liberality to friends and favourites gave him a popularity at court which extended to his subjects and soldiery. In affairs of honour his judgment was often sought, and his decisions generally admitted. Though seldom in the field, he was considered an authority on military affairs, and, without rivalling the literary tastes of his son, he was a patron of letters, and especially of music.[*71] The device which he selected was a goal or winning-post, with a Greek inscription, "To the most devoted lover of worth"; and Ruscellai informs us that he acted up to the sentiment in encouraging merit. His hospitality is alluded to by Ariosto in Rinaldo's journey to Lapidusa, and Count Litta ascribes to him the institution of the Pacieri, an association of both sexes for the purpose of preventing litigation. It is true that his failings of character or temper were neither gilded by the military renown of his father, nor redeemed by the pious philosophy of his son; but so far as the meagre materials within our reach have enabled us to judge, no great faults have been brought home to him either as a sovereign or as a man. Indeed, we are enabled to adduce one satisfactory instance wherein, under circumstances peculiarly irritating to a person of impetuous disposition, his conduct was marked with great forbearance and gentleness. His favourite undertaking of fortifying Sinigaglia had been thwarted in 1556, from the obstinate refusal of money by a Jew, who, though sent to him for the purpose of effecting a loan, resisted his urgent persuasions to conclude it.[*72] After mentioning the circumstance in a letter to his confidential favourite Marchetti, he thus continues: "We avoided all expressions which might seem to approve of his discourse, and so left him. However, to you we shall just say that if they won't lend, may they meet with the like.[73] We shall seek some other course, and obtain by other means what is required for the operations. You may, therefore, after doing your best for this purpose in Sinigaglia, proceed first towards La Pergola, and then to Fossombrone, but there is no occasion to employ in this matter threats or severe language. On the contrary, you are only to seek out the people, to exhort and civilly urge them to what is wanted, but of their own free will, and by no other means; and if they will not agree, you need not break out upon them, but let it stand over, that we may see what can be effected in some other way."

In absence of any contemporary estimate of this Duke's character, we may cite one from the pen of a modern writer, himself a citizen of Urbino, and an enthusiastic student of its history. "Although possessing not the marvellous sagacity, the untainted justice, the quick intelligence in public affairs, nor the other brilliant and rare virtues of his ancestors and of his son, which have rendered their names great, their authority respected, their memory dear and popular; he had good sense, military experience, and much fondness for all liberal acquirements. He protected and honoured the first geniuses of his time; and his beneficent actions were splendid even beyond his means. Could one page be blotted from his life, too fatally memorable from its unjust and slippery policy, too detestable and disgraceful to his name; and had his manners been more affable, his nature less impetuous and violent, his temper less overbearing, and his resolutions less inflexible; the people of Urbino would probably have attempted no revolutionary movement, and he would have acquired much of the reputation left by his great-grandfather, and by his estimable son."[74]

For the fine arts he seems to have cared little, and his memory has suffered in consequence of this neglect. Angelo Bronzino is said to have painted him during the life of his father, but the only original portrait I have ever found of him is a miniature in the Pitti Palace. Bernardo Tasso was the laureate of his court, and we shall mention, in chapter L., the friendly welcome extended to that fortune-stricken bard during part of his life-long struggle. Bernardo Capello and Pietro Aretino were among his guests; and Ludovico Domenichini of Piacenza, having dedicated to him an Italian translation of Plutarch's Lives, visited Urbino in 1555 to present the work to his patron.

Guidobaldo left by his first wife one daughter,—

The children of his second marriage were,—

Guidobaldo left also two natural daughters,—

BOOK EIGHTH

OF FRANCESCO MARIA II. DELLA ROVERE,
SIXTH AND LAST DUKE OF URBINO

CHAPTER XLIV

IN following the history of his father, we have details of the early life of Francesco Maria. Upon these we now turn back, and shall avail ourselves to the utmost of the Memoirs he has left behind him, which, though brief and incomplete, afford a valuable illustration of his character, and an interesting addition to our few autobiographies of sovereigns. From the introductory sentence, we learn the motives by which they were undertaken:—"As it is very usual for people to blame the actions of others, and especially the proceedings of those who have long directed the affairs of government, it has hence seemed to me right to narrate simply, truly, and briefly, the incidents that have occurred to Francesco Maria, second of that name and sixth Duke of Urbino, in order that those who read this abstract may be aware of the actual and candid truth." Upon a narrative thus modestly prefaced it is unnecessary to make any critical remarks. Ere we close this Book, their abrupt termination, before the marriage of Prince Federigo, will be sadly but sufficiently accounted for.[76]

"To them [Duke Guidobaldo II. and Duchess Vittoria] was born at Pesaro, on the 20th of February, 1549, a son, who was named Francesco Maria. Cardinal Duranti was sent by the Pope to perform the ceremony of his baptism, which was celebrated with great splendour on the 1st of May, Giacomo Soranzo acting as godfather in name of the republic of Venice. He was in infancy brought up with becoming care, and at three years of age was carried to Venice by his father and mother. Guidobaldo was then general in the service of that state, and their troops were chiefly stationed at Verona, whither Francesco Maria was taken, and where he had a dangerous illness, recovered from which he returned home. There, as he grew up, he was taught all fitting exercises of mind and body, under the successive superintendence of Muzio of Giustinopoli, Antonio Galli of Urbino, and Girolamo Simonetta of Cagli: his masters in grammar were Vincenzo Bartoli of Urbino, and afterwards Ludovico Corrado of Mantua, of literary note. After some years, the Duke and his brother the Cardinal, having resolved to amuse themselves with a visit to Venice, at the fête of the Ascension, they took with them Francesco Maria, who was received with great favour and much made of, being admitted into the company delle Calze." This was in 1564, and even thus early his taste for painting was noticed by Titian, and celebrated in a sonnet by Verdizzotti. An establishment was maintained for him at Venice apart from that of his father and uncle, and he gave many sumptuous entertainments.

"Having returned to Pesaro, and completed his sixteenth year, he had a great wish to go forth and see the world and its usages, and made much interest that his father should send him to some court, preferring that of the Emperor, who was then at war with the Turk. To this his father was pleased to agree, but desired first to consult the Catholic King (Philip II.), in whose service he was, and who in reply commended the plan, but desired that it might be carried into effect at his own court, where the Prince would be welcomed and treated as a son. His intentions being thus necessarily altered, at the close of 1565, after the marriage of his sister Donna Isabella with the Prince of Bisignano, he took his way to Spain, accompanied by many knights, particularly by Count Francesco Landriani, and Pier-Antonio Lonato. Choosing the route by Genoa, he passed through Ferrara to Mantua, where he stayed fifteen days by his father's desire, who in youth long inhabited that city; and hearing of his uncle the Duke of Parma's return just then from Flanders, he went to see him. On his arrival at Genoa he was lodged by Count Filippino Doria, his vassal in the castle of Sassocorbaro, and, after being visited and much distinguished by the Signory, he embarked in a war-galley of the Duke of Savoy, which, with another fully armed, had been sent on purpose for him, under the command of Admiral di Leini. In it he went to Savona, the native place of his family, where he was received into the house of Vigeri, who were his subjects, and being storm-stayed during eight days of the carnival, was entertained with festivities and serenades, as is customary in that country.

"When the weather cleared, he re-embarked, and after a pleasant voyage of a few days reached Palamos in Spain, whence he went by land to Barcelona. In that city he passed most of Lent, to give time for an apartment being prepared for him in the palace, but got to Madrid for Easter week. He was met by the whole court and by many grandees, especially by the Marquis of Pescara, who manifested singular courtesy, attending to him as his own son; whence a most intimate and enduring friendship arose between them. He got the same quarters which the Prince of Florence had occupied shortly before, and his treatment was precisely similar. Next day he waited upon the King, Queen, and Prince Royal, the Princess of Portugal, and the two sons of the Emperor [Maximilian II.], who were being educated there. By all he was received with distinguished favour, which continued during the two years and a half he spent at Madrid. He occupied himself in all those noble exercises which there, more than anywhere else, were attended to, practising military games on foot and horseback in public, and also privately under superintendence of the Marquis of Pescara, who was then considered unequalled in them. He frequently went out hunting with Don Carlos, by whom he was received into much intimacy; and enjoyed a close friendship with Don John of Austria, afterwards the famed commander by sea and land. He also paid court to the ladies, and learned the sports of the jennet as practised there, from Don Pedro Enciquel, afterwards Count of Fuentes and general in Flanders.

"Some movements having occurred in Flanders, the King gave orders to proceed there, and the court, including Francesco Maria, made preparations to attend him. But the latter, wishing to see France, asked permission to take that route by land, and so to rejoin his Majesty, who was to go by sea. The King, desiring his attendance on his person, refused his request, and so the opportunity was lost, to his great mortification, and perhaps to the no small loss of his Majesty. Subsequently occurred the imprisonment of Don Carlos, which was thus effected by order of his own father. An hour after midnight, the King, in his dressing-gown, holding a candle in his hand, having gone down to the Prince's room with his council of state and but one gentleman of his chamber, found him in bed. The Prince on seeing them tried to reach the corner, where were his sword and a pair of arquebuses, which he kept there always ready; but this was prevented by the Duke of Feria, who had already secured these arms. Then, rushing to his father, he exclaimed, 'So you are come to kill me?' To this his Majesty replied, 'Not so, but because you must live as becomes you, so be calm;' and never addressed him again. The Prince then said, 'I see that I am taken for a madman, which I am not, though a desperate one.' The King, having seen the doors and windows nailed up, leaving only a shutter open for light, and having desired the arms and all such things to be taken away, returned to his apartment, leaving with Don Carlos his major-domo Ruggo Mez de Silva (?) with several chamberlains and other officers of his household, a guard of Germans being stationed outside of his door; and the court was greatly vexed thereat."

These details are curious, in illustration of the mysterious fate of Don Carlos, eldest son of Philip II. It seems agreed that he was of a most unhappy temperament, perverse, wilful, and violent, possibly insane. The immediate cause of the unnatural scene here described has never been satisfactorily explained. It is generally stated that he was discovered in treasonable correspondence with the Dutch; though others have attributed the behaviour of his father to jealousy of an old attachment between his wife Elizabeth of Valois, and the Prince, to whom she was said to have been previously promised. The Prince's arrest occurred in January 1568: it was followed by no trial or public investigation, but in the following July he ceased to live. His death was understood to have taken place under some judicial sanction, but whether by poison or the sword was never known. The entombment of his head separate from his body renders the second supposition more probable.

We may here mention that, before embarking for Spain, the Prince had, from his Cardinal uncle, the dukedom of Sora, yielding an income of about 4000 scudi, which, however, proved quite inadequate to his expenditure. Zane, the Venetian ambassador, asserts that the large arrears of pay due to his father, which he was commissioned to recover from the Spanish government, were more than absorbed by his extravagance, and that this was the reason of his recall. His own narrative, however, is entirely silent upon this subject.

"Francesco Maria, having been at length recalled by his father, who was anxious for the marriage of his only son and heir, took leave of the King and Queen, and the royal family, and proceeded by Saragossa to Barcelona, where he embarked in a galley with the Marquis of Pescara, then going as viceroy to Sicily. After a prosperous voyage of eight days, he reached Genoa, where he lived with Giovanni Andrea Doria, with whom he had become intimate at the court of Spain. Thence he went to Milan for some days, and was welcomed with distinction; and then visited Madame of Austria at Piacenza; and at Parma stayed with the Duke and his son, towards both of whom he maintained the best intelligence and cousinship. He next passed through Bologna to Ravenna, where his uncle, the Cardinal of Urbino, was archbishop, and accompanied him to Pesaro. He arrived on the 11th of July, 1568, and was received with the greatest joy by all classes.

"After a few months, seeing that his father made no movement in the affair of his marriage, he returned to his studies, interrupted during his absence from Italy. He read mathematics with Federigo Comandino, and afterwards philosophy with Cesare Benedetti (subsequently Bishop of Pesaro), Felice Pacciotti, Giacomo Mazzoni, and Cristofero Guarimone. At the same time he kept up active exercise in arms, riding, hunting, ball, and racket." About this time Mocenigo, the Venetian ambassador, praises his fine dispositions and pleasing manners, as well as his progress in various pursuits, especially mathematics and fortification; but says that his eager exposure to fatigue gave rise to apprehensions for his health, which were sadly realised. He adds that, since his return from Spain, something of the hauteur which characterised that nation was noticed in his manner.

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.

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.

Renée of France, mother of Princess Lucrezia, had embraced the doctrines of Calvin, who visited Ferrara about the time of her daughter's birth, and Francesco Porta da Creta, preceptor of the young Princess, was discovered to be tinged with the same principles. Alarmed for the orthodoxy of his daughters, Duke Ercole dismissed their instructor, and secluded his escort, in a wing of the palace, from all intercourse with the children. A cloud of mystery hangs over these transactions.

"Soon after his return to Pesaro from his marriage, the Pope, the King of Spain, and the Venetians having [on the 20th of May] leagued together against the Turk, Don John of Austria came into Italy as commander-in-chief, and Francesco Maria, with his father's permission, set out on the 8th of July, to join him at Genoa. There he embarked in the Savoyard frigate[79] that had carried him to Spain, commanded by the same Monsignor de Leini, who had orders from the Duke of Savoy to receive him with that affectionate courtesy which both he and his sovereign ever displayed towards him. Having touched at Naples, he was there welcomed with the utmost favour and distinction, and passed his time most agreeably. From thence the fleet sailed to Messina, where he assisted at a general council of war, as indeed he often subsequently did.[80] Leaving Sicily, the expedition in a few days arrived at Corfu, and on the morning of the 7th of October fell in with the Turk. Don John drew up the Christian fleet in order of battle, the Proveditore Agostino Barbarigo, of Venice, having the landward squadron, and Giovanni Andrea Doria the opposite and heavier one, with Don Alvarez di Bassano as a reserve; the centre he kept for himself, where was also Francesco Maria, in the foresaid frigate. Here was the thick of the fight, as at this point the two admirals met. The Turkish at first selected the frigate in which was Francesco Maria, whom he well knew, and who warmly received his attack; but as soon as he distinguished the flag-ship, he turned to engage it: and, after fighting for two hours, the Turks struck, their admiral, Pacha Ali, having been killed by an arquebus; the others were all put to the sword; and so was this long very doubtful victory secured to the Christians. Meanwhile the Savoyard frigate fought two galleys, one ahead and the other astern, and had enough to do, most of her company being killed or wounded. The squadron under Barbarigo drove on shore many galleys, sinking and taking others; but he was wounded by a splinter in the eye, of which he soon after died. Doria had at first run out to sea, fighting all the while; but seeing the wing exposed, he returned and made good use of the opportunity, cutting up several galleys, and getting off uninjured. Such is an abstract of this battle, wherein Francesco Maria acquitted himself becomingly, for which Don John distinguished him with many marks of regard, and assigned him, among other favours, twenty-four Turkish slaves. The Admiral bearing for Sicily, he sailed from Corfu in a Venetian galley to Otranto, and returned home by land in November, to await orders, and rejoin the fleet the following year."

The naval engagement of which Francesco Maria has given the preceding sketch was that of Lepanto or Curzolari, where Passeri states that he had with him a large body of his father's subjects, a fact which, although passed over in his own account of this his only military service, is confirmed by Armanni, who tells us that there were in the fleet above fifty from Gubbio alone, thirty of whom were officers, a circumstance on which the Prince was complimented by Don John. It is unnecessary here to add to the Prince's details. The general result of the engagement was most conclusive: the enemy's loss has been calculated at thirty thousand killed, ten thousand wounded, and fifteen thousand Christian slaves rescued from bondage, besides the destruction or capture of six hundred sail, and a vast booty. The Christian fleet consisted of above two hundred war-galleys, besides many other vessels of various sorts.

"On bringing his wife from Ferrara to Pesaro [in January, 1572], they were magnificently received, and passed a gay carnival. In Lent he repaired to Rome, after visiting the holy house of Loreto, and was there entertained by his uncles, the Cardinals of Urbino and Farnese. Pius V. insisted upon very graciously admitting him to an audience, notwithstanding an illness of which he soon died....[81] Francesco Maria was also distinguished by his successor, Gregory XIII., but, on suddenly being recalled by his father, he at once, though reluctantly, obeyed. Soon afterwards, he was attacked by a severe illness, which lasted for three months, aggravated by a false rumour of another naval engagement."

The part taken by the Prince in the unhappy disturbances of Urbino has been already shown from his own pen, and that of other narrators, as well as his attendance upon his father's death-bed.[*82] We have now, therefore, to enter upon his reign, and here again we have recourse to his memoirs:—"The new Duke departed from Urbino, where he showed himself at the archiepiscopal palace in his robes of sovereignty, and then, as was usual, rode through the streets, on a milk-white steed, dressed in white, and under canopy, thereafter receiving the oaths of allegiance in the great hall of the palace: all this he repeated at Sinigaglia." Among the Oliverian MSS. is this account of the ceremonial, curiously illustrative of the manners of the age:—"After mass of the Holy Spirit had been sung, the Archbishop, Felice of Cagli, advanced to the door of the cathedral, and thence, accompanied by the Gonfaloniere, the three priors, and the people, went to bring forth the Prince from the palace. He wore a riband and scarf of white damask; on his head a crown of pearls, from behind which there hung some bands; and on his shoulders a short cloak of white fur. When he reached the head of the stair in the archiepiscopal palace, on which was a carpet and a cushion, the Archbishop held the Cross for him to kiss. He then entered the church, and approached the high altar, on which was the Holy Sacrament, where, after the usual devotions, accompanied with beautiful sacred music, the Primate read certain prayers and pronounced the benediction, and his Highness made offertory of a piece of ten scudi. He then retired to an adjoining chapel, and, changing his dress, put on a mantle of white, with cap and feathers, in which he issued from the church, and mounted a handsome charger. The Gonfaloniere preceded him on horseback, his drawn sword in his hand, calling aloud, 'Long live the Duke of Urbino!' and the people followed, repeating the cry. Thus they went through the city and returned to the palace. The populace then took off his cloak; and M[aestr]o Antonio Fazino asked his cap, and received it. In like manner he was stripped of his spurs; and his Highness then presented his horse to the city youths, and Mo. Calber Galler mounted it. Mo. Antonio Corboli and the Cavaliere Guido Staccoli next put him on his spurs, Mo. Flaminio Bonaventura his mantle, and Mo. Antonio Fazino held his horse. Having been by this formality elected, he went into the great hall, where the Gonfaloniere and priors, with all the deputies of other cities, by a formal instrument gave their oaths of allegiance, whilst he, in a letter read in his presence by Mo. Giulio Veterani, his secretary, promised to be to them a loving sovereign; after which, all the people came one by one to kiss his hand. All this was done with much rejoicing on the part of the public, and of his Highness, to whom may God grant grace to rule his subjects to the contentment of all."

The following letter, to the young Duke upon his succession, is printed in the correspondence of Girolamo Muzio, his preceptor, whose advices, though somewhat long, well merit attention, totally opposed as they are in spirit to then prevailing principles of government, and anticipating opinions even in our day charily developed in Italy. It is, above all, interesting to discover, on such satisfactory evidence, the political views which must have been inculcated on Francesco Maria from his early years, and which bore some seed in after life, notwithstanding the natural defects of his temper, and the crotchets imbibed from a false philosophy. Had such counsels been generally given and followed, constitutional government in Italy would now have been neither a mockery nor a bone of contention.