DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36839#0033
BIRTH OF A SON
15
Two months after Castiglione and his wife returned
from their pleasant expedition to Venice, on August 8,
1517, Ippolita gave birth to a son at Mantua. The
proud father announced this happy event to the
Marquis in the following terms :
' Since God has given me a male child, who was
born yesterday morning, and is in good health, as well
as his mother, I must inform Your Excellency, that
you may know that you have one servant more ; and
among all the reasons that I have for rejoicing, none
is greater than the satisfaction which I feel in having
a son to devote to your service.
Congratulations poured in on all sides; the Duke
of Ferrara sent the Count a most cordial letter. The
Duchess Elisabetta, whose affection for Castiglione
never changed, hastened to congratulate the happy
parents in person, and all the chief lords and ladies of
the court met at the given at the Count s house
in honour of his son and heir. Among them was the
novelist Bandello, who told the guests a story on
this occasion, and dedicated it to Emilia Pia, who
came with the Duchess, but was summoned away
before his tale was finished. ^
A week or two earlier we find Madonna Euigia's
name among the court ladies who assisted at an
open-air representation of scenes from the life of
St. Mary Magdalene which were given at a church
outside the Porta Pradella on the saint s feast day.
The Marchesana had just been spending two months
in the South of France, where she visited Lyons,
Avignon, and Marseilles, the Roman remains at
Nimes and Arles, Petrarchs fountain at Vaucluse,
and the sanctuary of St. Mary Magdalene at Ste.
i Luzio e Renier, ' Mantova,' 236. 2 < Novelle,' i, 33.
15
Two months after Castiglione and his wife returned
from their pleasant expedition to Venice, on August 8,
1517, Ippolita gave birth to a son at Mantua. The
proud father announced this happy event to the
Marquis in the following terms :
' Since God has given me a male child, who was
born yesterday morning, and is in good health, as well
as his mother, I must inform Your Excellency, that
you may know that you have one servant more ; and
among all the reasons that I have for rejoicing, none
is greater than the satisfaction which I feel in having
a son to devote to your service.
Congratulations poured in on all sides; the Duke
of Ferrara sent the Count a most cordial letter. The
Duchess Elisabetta, whose affection for Castiglione
never changed, hastened to congratulate the happy
parents in person, and all the chief lords and ladies of
the court met at the given at the Count s house
in honour of his son and heir. Among them was the
novelist Bandello, who told the guests a story on
this occasion, and dedicated it to Emilia Pia, who
came with the Duchess, but was summoned away
before his tale was finished. ^
A week or two earlier we find Madonna Euigia's
name among the court ladies who assisted at an
open-air representation of scenes from the life of
St. Mary Magdalene which were given at a church
outside the Porta Pradella on the saint s feast day.
The Marchesana had just been spending two months
in the South of France, where she visited Lyons,
Avignon, and Marseilles, the Roman remains at
Nimes and Arles, Petrarchs fountain at Vaucluse,
and the sanctuary of St. Mary Magdalene at Ste.
i Luzio e Renier, ' Mantova,' 236. 2 < Novelle,' i, 33.