Princes of the Renaissance by Mary Hollingsworth

Author:Mary Hollingsworth [Hollingsworth, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788547826
Publisher: Head of Zeus

a Now the Fondaco de’ Turchi.

b The rooms themselves no longer exist and their contents were dispersed at the end of the sixteenth century.

FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE (1490–1538)

Duke of Urbino

FEDERIGO GONZAGA (1500–40)

Marquis of Mantua

Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino

Margherita Paleologus, Duchess of Mantua

Charles V, Emperor

Clement VII, Pope

Giulio Romano and Titian, Artists

THE NEW POLITICAL ORDER

Francesco Maria della Rovere

&

Federigo Gonzaga

It was a moment of huge symbolic importance when Charles V stepped on to Italian soil for the first time, on 12 August 1529. He made his grand entry into Genoa late in the afternoon and was rowed ashore from his galley into the harbour on a ceremonial barge, to the thunder of earsplitting salvoes of artillery fired from the port’s fortresses. It was a splendid occasion: the emperor was superbly dressed in a coat of cloth-of-gold, and even the slaves rowing his barge were wearing expensive black velvet.1 The crowds gathered on the quay shouted ‘Long live the ruler of all the world!’ – and the words were not empty hyperbole.2 Charles V was the political leader of the Christian world, ruling an empire which stretched across Europe and the Americas. More importantly for the Italians, he was the unchallenged arbiter of political authority on the peninsula.

News of Charles V’s forthcoming trip to Italy had been filling the diplomatic pouches since the spring, but it was only after his departure from Barcelona on 26 July that the actual details of the armada became known. Rumours had proliferated about the quantities of soldiers, horses and artillery on the troopships that were sailing across the Mediterranean with the royal galley, and many Italians were apprehensive about the intentions of this all-powerful figure, whose army had brutally sacked Rome just two years previously. Ostensibly the emperor was travelling in peace to Italy, where he hoped to be crowned by the pope – but was this just an excuse to cloak more hostile intentions?

In Venice the news that 14,000 soldiers had disembarked from seventy troopships at Savona, 20 miles to the west of Genoa, and that another 14,000 men, together with heavy artillery, had crossed the Alps and were marching south, was received with consternation.3 The government ordered the Duke of Urbino, Francesco Maria della Rovere, who was captain-general of the army, to make preparations for the defence of the city and its mainland possessions in case the Emperor’s intentions were not as peaceable as had been advertised. Meanwhile the duke’s brother-in-law Federigo Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, had joined the dignitaries gathering in Genoa to greet the emperor in person. By all accounts their meeting was very cordial: when Federigo bowed to kiss his hand, the emperor forestalled this formality by quickly removing his hat and warmly embracing the marquis, who had earned his gratitude three years earlier for the support he had given to the imperial cause.

The emperor, however, was a realist and recognized the qualities of both men, regardless of their political loyalties. As the Venetian ambassador wrote: ‘Naturally his Majesty is very fond of

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.