DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42863#0146
124
FRANCIS THE FIRST
The young king was much fascinated by the
beauty and rich attire of the Milanese ladies, and de-
sired Federico to ask his mother, of whose taste and
charms he heard so much, to send him a wax doll
clad in the Mantuan style, with the pattern of
robe, vest and sleeves worn by herself, and hair
dressed in the same fashion, so that the French
ladies might be able to copy them. Isabella re-
plied : “ We will gladly send a figure arrayed in
all the fashions that we wear on our backs and heads,
to please His Most Christian Majesty, but fear he
will see nothing new, as here we dress exactly in
the same style as the Milanese ladies.”1 It was a
more serious matter when Francis I. expressed the
keenest curiosity to see Brognina, the fair but frail
maid-of-honour whose flirtations had already excited
so many quarrels, and actually sent the Bishop of
Nice with a forged papal brief to bring her from the
convent at Goito. Fortunately a band of Spanish
cavaliers, whose help Brognina implored, waylaid the
party, and compelled this worthless prelate to beat an
ignominious retreat.2 In spite of this discreditable
affair, Federico succeeded in retaining the king’s
favour, and Isabella’s delight was great when King
Francis invited her son to return with him to France
in January. On this journey, as before, Federico
was accompanied by his trusted servant, Stazio Gadio,
who in his letters to the Marchesa describes the
king’s entry into Marseilles, where the life of St.
Louis was represented in a series of tableaux. At
Aix, scenes from the Old Testament were performed
in his honour, while at Avignon Federico witnessed a
1 Luzio, Nuova Antologia, 1896, p. 466.
2 Luzio in Arch. St. Lomb., 1901, p. 167.
FRANCIS THE FIRST
The young king was much fascinated by the
beauty and rich attire of the Milanese ladies, and de-
sired Federico to ask his mother, of whose taste and
charms he heard so much, to send him a wax doll
clad in the Mantuan style, with the pattern of
robe, vest and sleeves worn by herself, and hair
dressed in the same fashion, so that the French
ladies might be able to copy them. Isabella re-
plied : “ We will gladly send a figure arrayed in
all the fashions that we wear on our backs and heads,
to please His Most Christian Majesty, but fear he
will see nothing new, as here we dress exactly in
the same style as the Milanese ladies.”1 It was a
more serious matter when Francis I. expressed the
keenest curiosity to see Brognina, the fair but frail
maid-of-honour whose flirtations had already excited
so many quarrels, and actually sent the Bishop of
Nice with a forged papal brief to bring her from the
convent at Goito. Fortunately a band of Spanish
cavaliers, whose help Brognina implored, waylaid the
party, and compelled this worthless prelate to beat an
ignominious retreat.2 In spite of this discreditable
affair, Federico succeeded in retaining the king’s
favour, and Isabella’s delight was great when King
Francis invited her son to return with him to France
in January. On this journey, as before, Federico
was accompanied by his trusted servant, Stazio Gadio,
who in his letters to the Marchesa describes the
king’s entry into Marseilles, where the life of St.
Louis was represented in a series of tableaux. At
Aix, scenes from the Old Testament were performed
in his honour, while at Avignon Federico witnessed a
1 Luzio, Nuova Antologia, 1896, p. 466.
2 Luzio in Arch. St. Lomb., 1901, p. 167.