Free Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy by Sarah Bradford Page A

see a gun called ‘Devilchaser’ ( Caza Diavoli ) and told him, ‘These are the keys I would like to give the Pope.’
    For Lucrezia and Alfonso the situation deteriorated through the winter: the papal troops, under Julius’s nephew, Francesco Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino since Guidobaldo’s death in 1508, had taken Modena.The Pope was ensconced in Bologna, although, fortunately for them, ill with a tertian fever and piles. In a bargain with Ferdinand of Spain in exchange for the Bull of Investiture for the Kingdom of Naples, however, he had negotiated for three hundred Spanish men-at-arms under the command of Fabrizio Colonna for the campaign against Ferrara. The French under Chaumont, who had advanced with the intention of reinstalling the Bentivoglio in Bologna, had retreated under the influence of indecision and bad weather. Sassuolo, Angela Borgia’s town, fell in mid November, followed in mid December by Concordia, belonging to another Este ally, the Pico della Mirandola.
    Worst of all was the news that the ferocious old pope had recovered his health and his energy. Despite the fierce cold and with snow on the ground he had himself carried on a litter to the siege of Mirandola, where Lodovico Pico’s widow, Francesca, held out. As Francesco Guicciardini wrote, men marvelled that ‘the supreme pontiff, the vicar of Christ on earth, old and ill . . . should have come in person to a war waged by him against Christians, encamped by an unimportant town where, subjecting himself like the captain of an army to fatigue and dangers, he retained nothing of the pope about him but the robes and the name’. Julius, convinced that he was being cheated by his commanders, including his nephew Francesco Maria della Rovere, who spent his time gaming with Fabrizio Colonna, roundly cursed his men in language so fruity that the Venetian envoy could not bring himself to repeat the exact words, even to his brother. On 19 January the Countess Francesca surrendered Mirandola to the Pope, but probably due to the deliberate dilatoriness of the papal commanders, nothing further was attempted against Ferrara for the moment. Ferrara by then was bristling with French troops, to such an extent that di Prosperi wrote that the Ferrarese were heartily sick of ‘these French’ and wished they would take themselves off somewhere else. Alfonso, however, was glad of their support and rode out with his artillery in late February to take La Bastia, an important fortification on the Po, where he obtained a significant victory. Alfonso was now regarded as a hero: di Prosperi proudly told Isabella how those present at La Bastia had said the victory was ‘all his and that he was a man of such spirit and great prowess such as had never been seen the like’.
    The Pope’s explosions of rage against Ferrara – he told di Camposampiero: ‘I want Ferrara and I will die like a dog rather than give up’ – had alarmed Francesco, who feared for Lucrezia’s safety. On 21 February he had written to the Archdeacon of Gabbioneta asking him to intercede with the Pope for the greatest clemency for Lucrezia, and for himself the assurance that she would be safe ‘because the loving and faithful terms which only she used towards me in the time when I was in prison in Venice and so many connections that we had places an obligation on me now to show her my gratitude, and if the providence of His Holiness does not help us I do not know what will become of this poor woman who alone demonstrated such compassion for me’. 17
    Meanwhile, in Ferrara Lucrezia showed no signs of fear: although the normal carnival celebrations were suspended, she gave private parties for the French captains all through March. Led by the gallant Gaston de Foix, they greatly appreciated the oasis of gaiety and civilization which she created for them amid the devastation of war beyond the walls. The famous Chevalier Bayard, praising her linguistic gifts, left a record of the impression