DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36839#0204
176 COUNT BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE
dere, a very remote and safe place, and see very few
people, so V. S. may be quite tranquil in mindA
For some time it was feared that the plague would
afford the Pope a fresh excuse for delaying his
coming. However, on August 5 he sailed for Italy,
and, after visiting Genoa to console the unhappy
people for their sufferings in the recent capture and
sack of the city, continued his journey along the
coast. On August 27 Castiglione informed the
Marchesana that her son Federico had left the camp
at Bologna to join His Holiness at Leghorn, together
with Cardinal de' Medici, and had embarked with
him for Civita Vecchia. The next day the Pope
landed at Ostia, and, after spending a night at the
convent of S. Paolo fuori le Mura, entered Rome in
state, and was crowned on the steps of St. Peter s on
the last day of August.
For the moment the terrors of the plague were
forgotten ; Cardinals and ambassadors hurried back
from their country houses to pay homage to the
Holy Father, and, although the procession to the
Lateran was abandoned and the coronation was shorn
of its usual splendour, there was great rejoicing in
Rome. ' The city feels that it can breathe once
more/ wrote Bembo s friend, Girolamo Negri. ' The
people are filled with incredible delight, and their
shouts and applause made the Pope wonder what
was happening. I myself saw many women weeping
for joy A
* Serassi, i. 80-84. ^ 'Lettere di Principi/ i. 81.
dere, a very remote and safe place, and see very few
people, so V. S. may be quite tranquil in mindA
For some time it was feared that the plague would
afford the Pope a fresh excuse for delaying his
coming. However, on August 5 he sailed for Italy,
and, after visiting Genoa to console the unhappy
people for their sufferings in the recent capture and
sack of the city, continued his journey along the
coast. On August 27 Castiglione informed the
Marchesana that her son Federico had left the camp
at Bologna to join His Holiness at Leghorn, together
with Cardinal de' Medici, and had embarked with
him for Civita Vecchia. The next day the Pope
landed at Ostia, and, after spending a night at the
convent of S. Paolo fuori le Mura, entered Rome in
state, and was crowned on the steps of St. Peter s on
the last day of August.
For the moment the terrors of the plague were
forgotten ; Cardinals and ambassadors hurried back
from their country houses to pay homage to the
Holy Father, and, although the procession to the
Lateran was abandoned and the coronation was shorn
of its usual splendour, there was great rejoicing in
Rome. ' The city feels that it can breathe once
more/ wrote Bembo s friend, Girolamo Negri. ' The
people are filled with incredible delight, and their
shouts and applause made the Pope wonder what
was happening. I myself saw many women weeping
for joy A
* Serassi, i. 80-84. ^ 'Lettere di Principi/ i. 81.