DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36839#0310
276 COUNT BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE
On the feast of San Giovanni, that day dear to
Italian hearts, both Castiglione and Navagero were
present at a grand tournament held on the green
Vega beyond the city walls. Charles, who was as
expert a j ouster as any cavalier in Spain, rode at
the head of one troop, clad in white satin and
cloth of gold ; while another troop, wearing suits of
black and gold, was led by Ferdinand, Duke of
Calabria, son of Federico, the last King of Naples.
This was followed by a bull-fight on the piazza in
front of the Alcazar, and another tilting-match, in
which the Emperor and his kinsman again broke
lances, while the ambassadors looked on from the
palace windows. His Majesty's skill and agility
excited the admiration of all present. Only, as Zuan
Negro remarked, the hulls were craven creatures,
who turned tail at the first onset of the toreadors, and
made poor sport J
But the chief events of this summer at Toledo
were the arrangement of the Emperor's marriage with
the Infanta Isabel of Portugal, and the arrival in
Spain of the captive King of France. The Portu-
guese alliance had long been popular with the Spanish
people, and the dowry of 800,000 ducats offered by
the King of Portugal, together with the liberal
promises made by the Cortes, finally decided Charles
to abandon his proposed marriage with Henry VIII.'s
daughter Mary, and wed the Infanta. The coming
of Francis 1. was more unexpected and less generally
popular. The Viceroy had embarked at Portofino
with his royal captive, intending to sail to Naples,
but at the King's urgent request he suddenly altered
his course, and landed at Barcelona on June 20.
The Emperor himself told Castiglione that Lannoy
* Sanuto, xliv. 239.
On the feast of San Giovanni, that day dear to
Italian hearts, both Castiglione and Navagero were
present at a grand tournament held on the green
Vega beyond the city walls. Charles, who was as
expert a j ouster as any cavalier in Spain, rode at
the head of one troop, clad in white satin and
cloth of gold ; while another troop, wearing suits of
black and gold, was led by Ferdinand, Duke of
Calabria, son of Federico, the last King of Naples.
This was followed by a bull-fight on the piazza in
front of the Alcazar, and another tilting-match, in
which the Emperor and his kinsman again broke
lances, while the ambassadors looked on from the
palace windows. His Majesty's skill and agility
excited the admiration of all present. Only, as Zuan
Negro remarked, the hulls were craven creatures,
who turned tail at the first onset of the toreadors, and
made poor sport J
But the chief events of this summer at Toledo
were the arrangement of the Emperor's marriage with
the Infanta Isabel of Portugal, and the arrival in
Spain of the captive King of France. The Portu-
guese alliance had long been popular with the Spanish
people, and the dowry of 800,000 ducats offered by
the King of Portugal, together with the liberal
promises made by the Cortes, finally decided Charles
to abandon his proposed marriage with Henry VIII.'s
daughter Mary, and wed the Infanta. The coming
of Francis 1. was more unexpected and less generally
popular. The Viceroy had embarked at Portofino
with his royal captive, intending to sail to Naples,
but at the King's urgent request he suddenly altered
his course, and landed at Barcelona on June 20.
The Emperor himself told Castiglione that Lannoy
* Sanuto, xliv. 239.