DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36839#0064
44 COUNT BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE
promised to use his influence with both Cardinal de'
Medici and the Holy Father. Francesco Maria now
drew up a final statement of the conditions which
he was prepared to accept if the Pope would rein-
state him in his duchy. He proposed that the
little Caterina —' the daughter of His Holiness's
nephew' — should be given in marriage to his son
Guidobaldo, and offered to settle 28,000 ducats upon
her, and to pay down 10,000 more on the spot.
He also promised to serve the Church for three
years with 250 lances, and further pay a tribute
of 20,000 ducats to the Pope, all of which he
reckoned would be equivalent to a payment of
104,000 ducats. This would be a heavy burden for
his state, but, still, he was prepared to make the
offer, and the dowry could be raised on Fossombrone
and Cagli.
' This we say,' he adds, ' in order to arrive at a final
settlement, and we empower you to arrange these
matters with your accustomed skill and diligence, and
beg you to see they do not drag on interminably, for
we will not be fed with empty words. And you
might also see if the Cardinal of Agen and Madonna
Felice can lend us a few thousand ducatsP
On October 1, Cardinal de' Medici arrived in
Rome. During Bibbiena's absence this prelate had
acquired great influence over the Pope, and was
described by Marco Minio as the man 'who does
everything with His Holiness now.' Castiglione lost
no time in calling upon the Cardinal, and wrote a long
letter to the Duke of Urbino, informing him of the
result of the interview :
i B. Feliciangeli in Propugnatore, N.S., v. 354.
promised to use his influence with both Cardinal de'
Medici and the Holy Father. Francesco Maria now
drew up a final statement of the conditions which
he was prepared to accept if the Pope would rein-
state him in his duchy. He proposed that the
little Caterina —' the daughter of His Holiness's
nephew' — should be given in marriage to his son
Guidobaldo, and offered to settle 28,000 ducats upon
her, and to pay down 10,000 more on the spot.
He also promised to serve the Church for three
years with 250 lances, and further pay a tribute
of 20,000 ducats to the Pope, all of which he
reckoned would be equivalent to a payment of
104,000 ducats. This would be a heavy burden for
his state, but, still, he was prepared to make the
offer, and the dowry could be raised on Fossombrone
and Cagli.
' This we say,' he adds, ' in order to arrive at a final
settlement, and we empower you to arrange these
matters with your accustomed skill and diligence, and
beg you to see they do not drag on interminably, for
we will not be fed with empty words. And you
might also see if the Cardinal of Agen and Madonna
Felice can lend us a few thousand ducatsP
On October 1, Cardinal de' Medici arrived in
Rome. During Bibbiena's absence this prelate had
acquired great influence over the Pope, and was
described by Marco Minio as the man 'who does
everything with His Holiness now.' Castiglione lost
no time in calling upon the Cardinal, and wrote a long
letter to the Duke of Urbino, informing him of the
result of the interview :
i B. Feliciangeli in Propugnatore, N.S., v. 354.