DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36838#0237
178 COUNT BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE
Castiglione's concern for his sorrowing mother,
whose tears he was not allowed to dry, is evident
from the letter which he addressed to her on Sep-
tember 20 from Lyons:
' I know not when this letter will reach Your
Magnificence, but 1 write to thank you for yours
which I received from Francesco, who joined me here
in Lyons, where I arrived safely and well, thank God,
and am spending four days to rest the horses, which
had suffered a little from the journey across the
mountains. To-morrow, if it pleases God, I shall set
out again on our journey. I am very glad to hear
that M. Tommaso has recovered, but very sorry for
M. Jacopo and M. Polissena. They, too, must bear
these inevitable troubles with patience. I know not
what comfort to give you as to the things which have
happened at home, except to beg you not to distress
yourself; for if Fortune is as changeable as men say,
surely we may look for some prosperity before long.
I commend myself with all my heart to you, and
so do my companions, and 1 beg you to try and
keep well and commend me to all our family, most
of all to Suor Laura/
The dangers of this distant journey to unknown
lands may well have filled Madonna Luigia with
alarm, and the passage of the Channel in winter was
dreaded by every traveller. Pope Julius himself,
while still Cardinal di S. Pietro in Vincula, had
intended to visit England during his exile in France,
but on reaching Calais, he abandoned his intention
because of the roughness of the Channel. Only a
few months before, King Philip and Queen Joanna
of Castile had been shipwrecked off Portland on their
way from Zeeland to Spain, and had been forced to
wade to shore, up to the waist in water! King
Henry had immediately sent Cardinal Adriano
Castiglione's concern for his sorrowing mother,
whose tears he was not allowed to dry, is evident
from the letter which he addressed to her on Sep-
tember 20 from Lyons:
' I know not when this letter will reach Your
Magnificence, but 1 write to thank you for yours
which I received from Francesco, who joined me here
in Lyons, where I arrived safely and well, thank God,
and am spending four days to rest the horses, which
had suffered a little from the journey across the
mountains. To-morrow, if it pleases God, I shall set
out again on our journey. I am very glad to hear
that M. Tommaso has recovered, but very sorry for
M. Jacopo and M. Polissena. They, too, must bear
these inevitable troubles with patience. I know not
what comfort to give you as to the things which have
happened at home, except to beg you not to distress
yourself; for if Fortune is as changeable as men say,
surely we may look for some prosperity before long.
I commend myself with all my heart to you, and
so do my companions, and 1 beg you to try and
keep well and commend me to all our family, most
of all to Suor Laura/
The dangers of this distant journey to unknown
lands may well have filled Madonna Luigia with
alarm, and the passage of the Channel in winter was
dreaded by every traveller. Pope Julius himself,
while still Cardinal di S. Pietro in Vincula, had
intended to visit England during his exile in France,
but on reaching Calais, he abandoned his intention
because of the roughness of the Channel. Only a
few months before, King Philip and Queen Joanna
of Castile had been shipwrecked off Portland on their
way from Zeeland to Spain, and had been forced to
wade to shore, up to the waist in water! King
Henry had immediately sent Cardinal Adriano