DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36838#0466
GIULIANO'S MARRIAGE
891
August, and the Pope stood at the window of the
Vatican on one of the hottest days in the year to see
him make his state entry d But it was the last time
that Francesco Maria appeared in Rome as Captain
of the Church. His term of olhce had already
expired, and it was an open secret that the Pope
intended to give the baton to his brother Giuliano.
On January 8, 1515, the Magnihco was solemnly in-
vested with the badge of ofhce. At daybreak the
next morning, as we learn from an entry in Leonardo's
note-books, he left for Turin, to celebrate his marriage
with Filiberta of Savoy. This Princess, we are told,
was thirty years of age, and neither young nor
beautiful,^ but gentle and attractive in manner, and,
what was of greater importance in the Pope's eyes,
closely connected with the French Royal Family
through her sister Louise, the mother of Francis 1.
But on the very day that Giuliano left Rome, His
Holiness received the news of Louis KII.'s death.
This event relieved the Pope of his worst fears. Of
late he had lived in hourly dread of hearing that the
French armies had once more invaded Milan, and
had been seeking to avert this catastrophe by his
customary intrigues. Now he made no pretence to
conceal his joy, and went off to hunt at La Magliana,
where he killed fifty stags and twenty wild-boars in
one day. s
Alberto Pio, the Emperor's representative at the
Vatican, told the Mantuan envoy that he would
have given his best velvet suit for the French King's
life to have been prolonged another fortnight, by
which time the Pope would have been too deeply
1 Sanuto, xviii. 426.
2 'The Writings of Leonardo/ by Dr. Richter, ii. 417.
s Sanuto, xix. 391.
891
August, and the Pope stood at the window of the
Vatican on one of the hottest days in the year to see
him make his state entry d But it was the last time
that Francesco Maria appeared in Rome as Captain
of the Church. His term of olhce had already
expired, and it was an open secret that the Pope
intended to give the baton to his brother Giuliano.
On January 8, 1515, the Magnihco was solemnly in-
vested with the badge of ofhce. At daybreak the
next morning, as we learn from an entry in Leonardo's
note-books, he left for Turin, to celebrate his marriage
with Filiberta of Savoy. This Princess, we are told,
was thirty years of age, and neither young nor
beautiful,^ but gentle and attractive in manner, and,
what was of greater importance in the Pope's eyes,
closely connected with the French Royal Family
through her sister Louise, the mother of Francis 1.
But on the very day that Giuliano left Rome, His
Holiness received the news of Louis KII.'s death.
This event relieved the Pope of his worst fears. Of
late he had lived in hourly dread of hearing that the
French armies had once more invaded Milan, and
had been seeking to avert this catastrophe by his
customary intrigues. Now he made no pretence to
conceal his joy, and went off to hunt at La Magliana,
where he killed fifty stags and twenty wild-boars in
one day. s
Alberto Pio, the Emperor's representative at the
Vatican, told the Mantuan envoy that he would
have given his best velvet suit for the French King's
life to have been prolonged another fortnight, by
which time the Pope would have been too deeply
1 Sanuto, xviii. 426.
2 'The Writings of Leonardo/ by Dr. Richter, ii. 417.
s Sanuto, xix. 391.