Lucrezia. Indeed, the pope patently adored his daughter, the ‘apple of his eye,’ and, useful as her marriage to Alfonso d’Este would be to both of them politically, providing a reliable alliance with Ferrara, both father and brother looked upon it as a sacrifice, one that would bring Lucrezia’s inevitable departure from Rome.
Meanwhile, Duke Ercole’s ambassadors continued to send favourable reports regarding the behaviour of the girl soon to be his daughter-in-law. ‘Lucrezia is a highly intelligent, gracious and extremely graceful young lady, modest and lovable,’ one envoy reported in November 1501. ‘She is also devout and dutiful as a Christian. Tomorrow she will go to confession and intends to receive communion during Christmas week.’
The duke’s daughter, Isabella d’Este, however, was suspicious of this attractive twenty-one-year-old woman who was to become her sister-in-law and was to receive so many valuable family jewels and sumptuous clothes in consequence. She dispatched to Rome a man who could be trusted to send her accurate reports of the unwelcome bride, her trousseau, and the ladies of her court. The man, having undertaken ‘to follow the most excellent lady as a shadow follows a body,’ sent back to Mantua reports that cannot have pleased Isabella, describing a ‘charming and very graceful lady’:
On Sunday I went to see her in the evening [one of the reports ran] and found her sitting near her bed with ten maids of honour and twenty other ladies wearing handkerchiefs on their heads in the Roman fashion. They soon began to dance and Madonna Lucrezia did so very gracefully… She wore a
Finally, at the beginning of December 1501, Duke Ercole gave the order for the departure of the grand cavalcade that was to travel to Rome in order to escort his son’s bride back to her new home. Three of Alfonso’s brothers — Ferrante, Sigismondo, and Cardinal Ippolito — led the party of ducal courtiers, secretaries, councillors, bishops, soldiers, and servants, horses, mules, and wagons. The weather was dreadful, the going exceptionally hard. They struggled for three weeks through the snowbound passes of the Apennines and down to the flooded Tiber plain. Finally, just before Christmas, the long line of horsemen, carriages, and carts drew to a halt outside the walls of Rome at the gate by Santa Maria del Popolo.
— CHAPTER 20 — Frolics and Festivities
‘THE CUSTOMARY FESTIVITIES [FOR CARNIVAL], INCLUDING THE HORSE RACES, WILL COMMENCE AFTER CHRISTMAS’
LATE IN THE AFTERNOON of December 23, 1501, the entire papal court assembled, at Alexander VI’s orders, at the gate of Santa Maria del Popolo to greet the Este princes and their courtiers, who had come to Rome to escort Lucrezia back to Ferrara. The cardinals waited an uncomfortable hour on their mules before dismounting and retiring to the comparative warmth of the church, where they waited another hour before the visitors finally arrived.
They were received by Cesare, who was accompanied by pages in silk tunics, a band of trumpeters, and four thousand soldiers, all wearing his personal livery. And after the lengthy speeches of welcome had been finished, he escorted the Ferrarese party through the city, across the Ponte Sant’Angelo, to the deafening roar of cannons that thundered from the ramparts of the castle, and on to the Vatican. His appearance thrilled the crowds that had gathered on the streets to watch the cavalcade pass: Burchard recorded that he ‘excited great admiration in the minds of all who beheld him, for he was magnificently dressed in a coat of the French fashion, fastened with a gold belt which set off his graceful yet athletic form to advantage, and rode a fine, strong charger which was so magnificently caparisoned that its trappings alone were said to be worth 10,000 ducats.’
At the Vatican Alexander VI graciously welcomed his guests, the bridegroom’s three brothers, Ferrante, Sigismondo, and Cardinal Ippolito. Cesare then led them across the piazza of St Peter’s to be greeted by his sister, who was looking dramatically radiant in a white dress, her long fair hair partially concealed by a green gossamer net, secured by a gold band and two rows of fine pearls encircling her forehead.
The preparations in Rome for the reception of the Ferrarese visitors could scarcely have been more impressive. Cesare, in his extravagant way, was determined to make everything as splendid as possible: ‘The things that are ordered here for these festivities are unheard of,’ wrote the Florentine ambassador Francesco Pepi, shocked at the extravagance, adding, ‘The shoes of the Duke’s footmen are made of gold brocade, and so are the shoes of the Pope’s grooms while he and the Duke vie with each other in wearing the most magnificent, the most fashionable and the most expensive things.’
Magnificent as he himself chose to appear, Cesare wisely decided not to try to take precedence over the Este brothers, who were, after all, his guests. This tactful behaviour was ‘considered as highly complimentary to the embassy,’ Burchard commented, ‘as it was known that ever since his marriage to Charlotte d’Albret, sister of the King of Navarre, his pride had so much increased that he allowed neither ambassadors from kings nor any of the princes of Germany, nor even cardinals, to take precedence over him in any way, making an exception only in favour of the blood royal of France.’
In order to entertain his guests as splendidly as possible, the pope had issued a decree announcing that Carnival would be celebrated early: ‘The customary festivities,’ wrote Burchard, ‘including the horse races, will commence after Christmas.’ Accordingly, on December 26 the streets filled with revellers; the masked figures of Cesare and the Este princes were also to be seen joining in the bawdy fun as courtesans ran about dressed as boys and throwing eggshells filled with rosewater at each other and at passersby.
That evening Lucrezia hosted a ball, where, so Isabella d’Este’s secret informant told her, the young bride ‘danced with extreme grace and liveliness, wearing a
The next morning the Carnival was in full swing. For the following three days, the streets of Rome were filled with crowds watching, and taking part, in the great races run between Campo dei Fiori and the piazza in front of St Peter’s. The Jews were the first to run, but the winner was disqualified because, it was said, he had broken the rules, and it was announced that the race would be rerun the next day. There were races for old men and for prostitutes, a particular favourite with the populace. According to Burchard, there was also a race for wild boars, mounted by youths, ‘who beat them with sticks and kept control of their heads with reins attached to the rings that pierced their snouts, whilst other men guided them along and prevented them from running into side alleys.’
When the last race was over, on December 29, those gathered in the piazza of St Peter’s watched as trumpeters and players of other musical instruments assembled on the platform above the steps of the basilica and began to sound the fanfare to announce the arrival of the bride. Burchard recorded the scene:
From her residence next to St Peter’s, Donna Lucrezia emerged, clothed in a robe of golden brocade, decorated in the Spanish fashion, and with a long train behind her which was borne by a young girl. At her side were the two brothers of her bridegroom, Ferrante on the right and Sigismondo on the left. Fifty Roman ladies, most beautifully attired, came next, followed by Lucrezia’s own ladies-in-waiting, walking in pairs.
When the bridal procession had entered the Vatican, the crowds watched as a wooden castle was wheeled into the piazza and two companies of Cesare’s soldiers fought a mock battle, with plenty of noise and colour, for possession of the structure.
Meanwhile, inside the palace, Lucrezia was received by her father, accompanied by thirteen cardinals and by her brother Cesare, and the ceremony began. The sermon, which was delivered by the bishop of Adria, a
