Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy Read Online Free PDF Page A

Spain. Lucrezia was to be left in charge as Governor of the city, giving audiences and issuing orders, not merely attending to the examination of petitions. It was an indication not only of her administrative talents but a demonstration of trust. Otherwise, of all his relations, Alfonso confided only in Ippolito, who remained in Ferrara, and Niccolò da Correggio, who accompanied him to Venice. Moreover, said di Prosperi, Alfonso had told Lucrezia that he did not wish her to consult him about anything while he was away ‘except for something of such importance that it bore on the maintenance and conservation of the State’. For greater security in Alfonso’s absence, Lucrezia was to move into Alfonso’s rooms in the Palazzo del Corte, while hired lanzknechts and men-at-arms were moved in to guard the Castello. On the day scheduled for Alfonso’s departure, Lucrezia went to stay in Corpus Domini, as was her wont in Holy Week, and there she fell ill with a fever and chills. According to di Prosperi her illness developed into ‘ el terzo termine de terzana ’—the third stage of tertian fever – and Alfonso deferred his departure, as usual keeping everyone in the dark as to the day he actually planned to leave. He eventually left on 19 April, characteristically at dawn so as to avoid the attentions of the populace who would wish to kiss his hand. He returned at the end of the month to be greeted by Lucrezia and Ippolito who dined with him in his garden. He was off again in mid May to Venice and the Adriatic.
    Giulio remained in his palace in the Via degli Angeli, observing experiments with poison on cats, dogs and doves. At the end of April, Lucrezia, who had been fond of Giulio, might have had some inkling of what was going on and, for this reason and perhaps for fear of what Ippolito might do to him, attempted, without success, to make Giulio leave Ferrara. Alfonso, perhaps at her prompting, also sent Gian Luca Pozzi to order him to leave but he again refused and was still there when Alfonso left in May. Di Prosperi, who had reported optimistically to Isabella that Alfonso was able to leave untroubled, ‘because My Lady and your brothers are all disposed for the good’, then curiously remarked of Giulio that he could come and go as he pleased but as yet had not ventured out by day, spending all his time in his palazzo, in his garden or with his horses.
    Ippolito and his spies had indeed picked up some information as to what was going on. On 24 May, di Prosperi reported the arrest, on the cardinal’s orders, of one of Giulio’s servants, one Hieronymo, ‘a flycatcher – pigliamosche— of a sad sort’. He did not know the reason and was not going to try and find out, assuming that it was yet another episode in the enmity between the brothers—‘May God put his hand in these things and discords.’ On 13 June it was reported that a servant of Don Ferrante, Andrea della Matta, had been arrested in the Romagna on Ippolito’s commission and brought to Ferrara, while Giulio’s servant Hieronymo had been sent to the Castello. ‘May God, once and for all, place his hand on us with peace and love’ was di Prosperi’s despairing reaction. As well as Giulio’s servant and Ferrante’s Andrea, another man involved in the mechanics of the conspiracy, one Tuttobono, was arrested; both Andrea and Tuttobono were shortly afterwards released. The arrest of the latter, for some reason, had terrified Ferrante who wrote to Isabella pleading with her to get Giulio out of Ferrara to safety in Mantua. The historian of the Congiura suspected Tuttobono of being an agent provocateur, presumably of Ippolito, his function having been to spy on the conspirators. His release and that of Andrea were intended to lull Giulio into an illusion of security. On the 19th di Prosperi reported that crossbowmen had been sent to arrest Gian Cantore – ‘the cause, I understand, being that he refused to go on the ship with the Duke, excusing