DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42861#0306
266 PLOT OF THE ESTE BROTHERS
had recovered his sight, Niccolo da Correggio succeeded
in effecting an apparent reconciliation between the
brothers. But a few months afterwards Giulio entered
into a conspiracy with his younger brother Ferrante
to murder both the Duke and Cardinal and seize the
duchy. The plot was discovered, and Ferrante was
thrown into prison. Giulio fled to Mantua, where
Isabella not only gave him shelter, but did her utmost
to save him from Alfonso’s wrath, and wrote long
letters to her old friend Niccolo on the subject. But
the Duke was implacable, and Niccolo visited Isabella,
in July 1506, at her villa of Sacchetta, and laid proofs
of Giulio’s guilt before her eyes. After this the un-
fortunate prince was given up, and imprisoned together
with Ferrante in the dungeon of the Castello of
Ferrara. Here the unhappy brothers were left to
languish in captivity during the whole of Alfonso’s
reign. Ferrante died in prison in 1540, and Giulio
was only released in 1559, two years before his death.
By this time he was eighty-three years of age, and
the Ferrarese chroniclers relate that when the old man
came out of his cell he still wore the clothes which
had been in fashion when he was first imprisoned
more than half a century before.1
This tragic incident threw a gloom over Isabella’s
family life, and after 1506, her visits to Ferrara became
less frequent than of old. But her strong family
instincts made her cling to her father’s house, and in
the long struggle which Alfonso maintained against
three successive Popes, he found a loyal friend and
supporter in his sister.
While these dark shadows saddened Isabella’s old
home, happier events were taking place at Mantua.
1 Frizzi, op. cit., p. 255.
had recovered his sight, Niccolo da Correggio succeeded
in effecting an apparent reconciliation between the
brothers. But a few months afterwards Giulio entered
into a conspiracy with his younger brother Ferrante
to murder both the Duke and Cardinal and seize the
duchy. The plot was discovered, and Ferrante was
thrown into prison. Giulio fled to Mantua, where
Isabella not only gave him shelter, but did her utmost
to save him from Alfonso’s wrath, and wrote long
letters to her old friend Niccolo on the subject. But
the Duke was implacable, and Niccolo visited Isabella,
in July 1506, at her villa of Sacchetta, and laid proofs
of Giulio’s guilt before her eyes. After this the un-
fortunate prince was given up, and imprisoned together
with Ferrante in the dungeon of the Castello of
Ferrara. Here the unhappy brothers were left to
languish in captivity during the whole of Alfonso’s
reign. Ferrante died in prison in 1540, and Giulio
was only released in 1559, two years before his death.
By this time he was eighty-three years of age, and
the Ferrarese chroniclers relate that when the old man
came out of his cell he still wore the clothes which
had been in fashion when he was first imprisoned
more than half a century before.1
This tragic incident threw a gloom over Isabella’s
family life, and after 1506, her visits to Ferrara became
less frequent than of old. But her strong family
instincts made her cling to her father’s house, and in
the long struggle which Alfonso maintained against
three successive Popes, he found a loyal friend and
supporter in his sister.
While these dark shadows saddened Isabella’s old
home, happier events were taking place at Mantua.
1 Frizzi, op. cit., p. 255.