DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42861#0238
CHAPTER XII
1502
Isabella presides at Lucrezia Borgia’s marriage festivities—Recep-
tion of the bride at Ferrara—Isabella’s letters to her husband
—Comedies, balls, and fetes—The ambassadors’ gifts—Isa-
bella entertains the French ambassador—Her interview with
the Venetian envoys—Return to Mantua—Lucrezia Borgia’s
life at Ferrara—Her relations with Isabella and the Marquis.
Whii ,e Elisabetta Gonzaga was escorting Lucrezia
Borgia on her journey through Central Italy, Isabella
d’Este came to Ferrara at her father’s request, to
receive her brother’s bride. Her own letters to
Francesco give full descriptions of the wedding
festivities, which were on a splendid scale and are
said to have cost Duke Ercole 25,000 ducats. On
the 29th of January, two days after her arrival,
Isabella wrote:—
“ My dearest Lord,—My father came to my room
after dinner to-day and arranged the order of the
bride’s entry, which is to be as follows. On Tuesday,
I shall accompany Don Alfonso with only a few
ladies in a barge as far as Malalbergo to meet her,
after which she will sleep at my lord Alberto d’Este’s
house at Casale, and I shall return home with the
Duchess of Urbino, who however must go back on
Wednesday to keep the bride company. Madonna
Lucrezia Bentivoglio with half of these ladies will go
to meet her and follow her in the procession, while I
remain here with the other half to receive her at the
steps of the Palace. It is true that I mean to go and
198
1502
Isabella presides at Lucrezia Borgia’s marriage festivities—Recep-
tion of the bride at Ferrara—Isabella’s letters to her husband
—Comedies, balls, and fetes—The ambassadors’ gifts—Isa-
bella entertains the French ambassador—Her interview with
the Venetian envoys—Return to Mantua—Lucrezia Borgia’s
life at Ferrara—Her relations with Isabella and the Marquis.
Whii ,e Elisabetta Gonzaga was escorting Lucrezia
Borgia on her journey through Central Italy, Isabella
d’Este came to Ferrara at her father’s request, to
receive her brother’s bride. Her own letters to
Francesco give full descriptions of the wedding
festivities, which were on a splendid scale and are
said to have cost Duke Ercole 25,000 ducats. On
the 29th of January, two days after her arrival,
Isabella wrote:—
“ My dearest Lord,—My father came to my room
after dinner to-day and arranged the order of the
bride’s entry, which is to be as follows. On Tuesday,
I shall accompany Don Alfonso with only a few
ladies in a barge as far as Malalbergo to meet her,
after which she will sleep at my lord Alberto d’Este’s
house at Casale, and I shall return home with the
Duchess of Urbino, who however must go back on
Wednesday to keep the bride company. Madonna
Lucrezia Bentivoglio with half of these ladies will go
to meet her and follow her in the procession, while I
remain here with the other half to receive her at the
steps of the Palace. It is true that I mean to go and
198