DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36838#0079
DUKE GUIDOBALDO
39
an enthusiasm which Castiglione himself has described
in eloquent language. ' Guidobaldo,' he writes in
his Latin Epistle to our Henry VII., 'came back
to his own and recovered the State of which he
had been so unjustly deprived, amid the rejoicing of
all Italy. Troops of children Hocked to meet him
with olive branches in their hands, singing for glad-
ness at the sight of their beloved Prince. Old men,
tottering under the weight of years, hurried out to
meet him with tears of joy streaming down their
cheeks, mothers with babes in their arms, and persons
of every age and sex joined the crowds that thronged
the streets. The very stones seemed to dance and
exult in his coming.
The accession of his kinsman, Giuliano della Rovere,
to the Papal throne, two months later, secured the
permanence of Guidobaldo's restoration. The new
Popes brother, Giovanni della Rovere, who in his
lifetime held the oHice of Prefect of Rome, had
married the Duke of Urbino's sister, Giovanna, the
Lady Prefetessa who was the patron of Perugino and
Raphael, and her young son, Francesco Maria, was
tacitly recognized as Guidobaldo's heir. One of
Julius II.s Hrst acts was to summon Guidobaldo
to Rome and promise to appoint him Gonfaloniere
of the Church in the place of Cesare Borgia. Cas-
tiglione's cousin, Cesare Gonzaga, had accompanied
the Duke on his return to Urbino, and, after taking
part in his campaign against Borgia's forces in
Romagna, now followed him to Rome. Thus, when
Baldassare reached Rome with the Marquis of Mantua
on his return from the French camp, he found his
kinsman already settled in the Vatican. On Decem-
ber 7 Cesare wrote the following letter to his aunt
i Serassi, ii. 351.
39
an enthusiasm which Castiglione himself has described
in eloquent language. ' Guidobaldo,' he writes in
his Latin Epistle to our Henry VII., 'came back
to his own and recovered the State of which he
had been so unjustly deprived, amid the rejoicing of
all Italy. Troops of children Hocked to meet him
with olive branches in their hands, singing for glad-
ness at the sight of their beloved Prince. Old men,
tottering under the weight of years, hurried out to
meet him with tears of joy streaming down their
cheeks, mothers with babes in their arms, and persons
of every age and sex joined the crowds that thronged
the streets. The very stones seemed to dance and
exult in his coming.
The accession of his kinsman, Giuliano della Rovere,
to the Papal throne, two months later, secured the
permanence of Guidobaldo's restoration. The new
Popes brother, Giovanni della Rovere, who in his
lifetime held the oHice of Prefect of Rome, had
married the Duke of Urbino's sister, Giovanna, the
Lady Prefetessa who was the patron of Perugino and
Raphael, and her young son, Francesco Maria, was
tacitly recognized as Guidobaldo's heir. One of
Julius II.s Hrst acts was to summon Guidobaldo
to Rome and promise to appoint him Gonfaloniere
of the Church in the place of Cesare Borgia. Cas-
tiglione's cousin, Cesare Gonzaga, had accompanied
the Duke on his return to Urbino, and, after taking
part in his campaign against Borgia's forces in
Romagna, now followed him to Rome. Thus, when
Baldassare reached Rome with the Marquis of Mantua
on his return from the French camp, he found his
kinsman already settled in the Vatican. On Decem-
ber 7 Cesare wrote the following letter to his aunt
i Serassi, ii. 351.