The Tragedies of the Medici

ZA A

A DE' M

ctims of Fa

h words, an immoral father condemned his lovely daughter to feed the

osa di Cosimo-the property of Cosimo. If he did not murder their bodies, h

in"; true, indeed, was this what time Eleanora and Cammilla were fresh young girls in Florence. They were each made for love, and love they had; but that love was the embrace of a

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the most pathetic of all those lurid domestic vicissitudes which traced t

leanora de Toledo of the broken heart, and Eleanora de Garzia de Toledo of the bl

ps, and gained rubber after rubber. But what a splendid record the Albizzi had! When the Medici were only tentatively placing their feet upon the ladder of fame, Orlando, Fi

lvestro, Giovanni, and Cosimo, of the democratic Medici, disputed place and powe

ot seen eye to eye with his masterful brother-the autocratic Rinaldo, but, noting the trend of political affairs, had,

mansion was in the fashionable Borgo degli Albizzi, and he owned other town property and some farms in the contado. He held, too, several pub

mself at home in the entourage of the Sovereign. By his second wife, Madonna Nannina, daughter of Messer Niccolo de' Soderini-a lineal descendant of the

nd Messer Luigi was left with Eleanora, the pride of her father's heart, the joy of his home. As beautiful as any girl in Florence, she was just sixteen, highly accomplished, fu

ful development of the bright young girl's physical and mental charms; and he had given evid

n those degenerate days, to better himself and his family, he saw that something more than mere romance could be made out of the situation. The commercial assets of

epel her admirer, for what he meant was all for her good and for the distinction of her family. The liaison went on unrebuked

fe were vastly honoured by his condescension to their daughter. In view of favours to come, he plainly intimat

. He was only too pleased to carry off this charming young druda to his villa at Castello, and Eleanora was

the Pitti Palace and Pratolino, whilst he was left in seclusion with his innamorata at Castello. Cardinal Ferdinando, a boy of fifteen, lived in Rome, and Don Piero, only ten, was indifferent to such matters, but Duchess Isabella of Bracciano was intensely interested, an amiable go-between her father and Don Francesco. Cosimo did nothing with respect to removing the reproach attached to his intrigue with Eleanora degli Albizzi, and, consequently, when in December 1566, a litt

to stir up ill-will at the Imperial court, and advised her to mind her own business in the future. To the Emperor Cosimo, addressed a dignified repl

plaint, for they had foreseen, from the beginning of the Duke's intimacy with Eleanora, that an "accident," as they euphemistic

resents, watched by her bedside assiduously, and told her joyfully that he meant to marry her and so legitimatise their little chi

ttendant, Sforza Almeni, how the legitimatisation could be best effected, so as to secure for the littl

inated by Lorenzino de' Medici, he performed the first charitable offices of the dead upon the bleeding body. Moreover, young Almeni's father was a faithful friend and confidant of Madonna Ma

f her Spanish protégés. Both Cosimo and his consort bestowed many benefactions upon their faithful servitor. Among them was a monopoly in the suppl

the parish of San Piero a Quintole, a farm and buildings at Fiesole, and lastly, in

an ambition and the interests of self lead good men often enough astray, and the Duke's private secretary began to look for f

ate and familiar character. Blessed with the spirit of flattery, like all consummate courtiers, he conceived it to be a s

rm his father that any steps he might take to advance his innamorata or their bastard, would be resented by him as Regent of the Duchy. Apparently Almeni di

an in his public duties, was only too ready to give ear to any scandal which he might turn to good account. At first he kept his own counsel, but one day, being unusually exa

is passion, but indignantly retorted that there was a son's duty to a father which should

efore the Duke to learn his pleasure. Cosimo addressed him sternly: "Almeni, you have betrayed my confidence. You, who of al

uchess Isabella. With their knowledge he remained in the city, perhaps faintly hoping the Duke might relent and send for him back. A few days later Cosi

ed at his disobedience and impertinence, and, reaching up to a hunting-trophy on the wall, he seized a stout boar-spear, and cri

weapon still fast in his wound. The day was Wednesday, 22nd May 1566, the Eve of the Annunciation. The corpse lay there for several hours, and no questions were asked as to how

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eported, to the administration of poison. Eleanora was inconsolable, and the Duke did all he could to comfort her. He organised fêtes a

y that name was given him. The Duke's happiness knew no bounds, but the arrival of this second child, born out of wedlock and in the face of the hot displeasure of Duke Francesco and Duchess Giovanna, was the disenchantment of Cosim

nni was born there. The disillusionment of them both was as immediate as it was dramatic. It was reported that the Pope had written a remonstrance to Cosimo, and hinted that the cr

a, was the intimacy which had sprung up between Eleanora and his own precocious and vivacious son,

ll, or better, than any one else. Eleanora and he had from the first been rivals for the confidences of the Duke, and hated each other heartily. She had good grounds doubtless for her con

m the Pitti Palace. Francesco and Giovanna had never ceased trying to detach the old debauchee from hi

i, accidentally cannoned against Jacopo d'Antonio, and the latter dismounted and demanded satisfaction for the presumed insult. A duel was promptly arranged, in which

punished by sentence of death. The Otto di Guardia e Balia met and deliberated the matter, and imposed a fine of four thousand gold lire. This sum Messer Bartolommeo

r contempt of court. The unhappy father appealed for mercy, and, because the law of the Ducal

the origination of the tactful expedient, but some say Bianca Buonaventuri was its inspiratrix. Anyhow, the solution came in a form agree

avy fine imposed in the first case; and in response to Duke Francesco's request, the charge of contempt was withdrawn. Neither Carlo nor Eleanora were

anni to be legitimatised, and he was entered in the Register of Baptisms as "Giovanni de' Medici, undoubted son of Cosimo I. Duke of Florence and Siena." An

he young couple at once took up their residence at the Panciatichi Palace in the Via Larga. Upon Carlo was confe

braggadocio was a safeguard against the advances of young Piero de' Medici. Three years after the marriage a child was born, to whom the name of Cosimo was given, a laconic compliment to the old libertine! A second son appeared in 1571, Bartolommeo, but he died within a twelvemonth of hi

tacit avowal of his parentage. The relations between Carlo and his wife had quite naturally never been of the best, and as gradually fears of death, upon the scaffold faded, or by a retrib

rlo refused her both bed and board, and, in the spring of 1578, he forced her into the Francisc

ily, the gay and attractive mistress of Castello and of the Medici Palace at Pisa, with countless admirers and many lovers, was indeed an object of sympathetic commiseration. To be sure, the Cavaliere made ample provision for his wife's maintenance, appointed a small suite

ffects which Eleanora retained, the Grand Duke made an order that, as they belonged to Guardaroba of the So

ed in harmony with her melancholy surroundings. Youth gave way to middle age, and middle age to the crepuscule of life, and the seasons came, and the seasons went, and one life in that sanctuary seemed fated to go on for ever. Forgotten and unvisited, Eleanora, the drud

ous Lady, Donna Eleanora degli Albizzi de' Panciatichi, who had resided in this monastery for fifty-six years, and had reached the ninetieth year of her age. She lived in the odour of sanctity with the devotion of a religious, and

ning a servant of his, Sebastiano del Valdarno, who had not been paid wages due to him, ventured to remind his master of the circumstance. Cavaliere Carlo, who could never tolerate demands for mone

Balia. He was conveyed to prison, the old Stinche, until he paid the fine. Eleanora, in her convent, heard of his punishment, and actually rendered him good for evil, as a tende

She was a superior domestic servant in the employment of the Panciatichi family, and a personal attendant upon Eleanora. Madonna Ginevra, she was called, and she had two little girls. Whether these children were the Ca

ous Cardinal Ferdinando, and by him was appointed a Gentleman of Honour and a member of the new Grand Ducal Cou

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rand Duke of Tuscany. She was the youngest of the two daughters, the only children, of Messer Antonio di Domenico de' Martelli, and his wife, Madonna Fiam

he Stabbielli of the Val di Sieve in the fourteenth. They appear to have settled in the Via degli Spadai, and to have "hammere

for his fidelity by being assassinated in 1531, by one Paolo del Nero. Another relative of Cammilla died tragically, Lodovico, who was killed by Giovanni Bandini in a duel at Poggio Baroncelli in 1530-a duel

way or other Messer Antonio had lit on evil days, at all events he appears to have lost the banking business, which had been mainly operative in the raising of his house, and had reverted

ena, Gaspare Chinucci, but her husband divorced her; and then Duke Cosimo caused her father to marry her, in 1572, to an o

ich distinguished her mother, whose sister, Nannina, the wife of Mes

e and manner, full of intelligence in conversation, and quite naturally fond of admiration and amours." This is a contemporary word-picture of the physic

te. Duke Cosimo had not observed for nothing the daily walk of his fascinating young neighbour, he never overlooked a pretty face and comely figure, and his heart was large

le with the lovely Eleanora degli Albizzi, her cousin. Something prompted the Duke to accost the maiden,-her blush and his own tremor revealed delightful possibilities quite in his wa

nor publicity, so, for a while, he kept his hopes and his intentions to himself. At last, inflamed more and more by the fresh, unsullied beauty of Cammilla, he broached his proposition to Messer Antonio. Greatly i

gave birth, at Pisa, to a dear little girl, the latest child of Duke Cosimo! This was by no means to the mind of Duke Francesco, and news of the birth quickly reac

ss the pressure was so great that he was compelled to yield; and, in January 1569, he took Cammilla to be his wedded wife, but not to share his Du

ncio," "like Whalebone"! It is said that when his wife's kinsman, Alamanno de' Pazzi, ventured to congratulate

e show for, Messer

have married my daught

y. We have now no rel

what wo

nucci to be banished out of Tuscany; some indeed say that he even instigated his assassination! Messer Suarez was promoted to an honourable place at Court, and his name was changed to Martelli. Two sons and a daughter blessed his union with Madonna Ma

me and saw and conquered," and young Violante became his chief mistress in Florence-t

obtained a reversion of the title in perpetuity for his descendants. The Easter of that year he spent at the Pitti Pa

lead the quiet life of a country gentleman. He apportioned to his wife Cammilla four gentlewomen as maids of honour. Henceforward neithe

mperament disagree. Cammilla sighed for the gaieties, the pleasures, and gallantries of Florence. Love's young dream had not been hers, she had not chosen her ancient love

t that a son of his was a member of the Sacred College, and a possible occupant of the chair of St Peter,

on the other hand, he was an honoured guest, and, for lack of lovers, his young stepmother was not displeased by his attentions. Cosimo kept her strictly in seclusion, and she had not the courage, or, be it said,

zzi, the other, Ferdinando, the lover of his wife! It would be very difficult, perhaps impossible, t

nd Duke and Grand Duchess in Florence. She knew, of course, that there was no love lost between herself and them; and she

Ferdinando and Cammilla more than ever into one another's arms. What, and if Francesco and Bianca died without male heir! Why, on the death of Cosimo, Ferdinando and Cammilla might succeed to the Grand Ducal throne. This was the temptati

The strenuous life he had lived, with its exercise of lustful love and lurid hate, tried to the breaking point his iron constitution. Gout was his

. Of his other surviving children, Isabella-once his favourite-had suffered for sixteen years the misunderstandings and the heartburnings which her heartless marriage-contract had imposed; she was estranged from him and from Cammilla, and from the Cardinal. Piero was a wastrel, the exponent of his father's

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He placed her first with the Benedictine nuns of the Vergine dell' Annunziata delle Murate, and then i

he security of Francesco's rule depended entirely upon the suppression of dynastic intrigues. The person of Ferdinando was unassailable; as a Prince of the Church he

made as agreeable as possible, and she had the privilege of receiving visitors, other than political. Madonna Costanza

er the parental roof. The Grand Duke was immovable in his resolution, he counselled the father to let the matter

n certain articles, such objects as were regarded as the property of the reigning Grand Duchess were transferred to the Guardaroba of Bianca

end Abbess of Santa Monica humbly thanked his Serene Highness "for the generous treatment of t

for the administration of the one hundred and four thousand gold florins-the fortune left by Duke Cosimo to the Lady

the outside world she had, and when the report of the horrors of the year 1576 reached her, she was prostrated with grief. Inde

woman she really was, she set to work to occupy her time, and that of her suite, in useful and interesting occupations. Garden

the noble cloths and lustrous silks of Santa Monica, with the Lady Cammilla's initials attached, became famous far and near. These objects consisted of pillow-cases, screens, portièr

t industries, and, moreover, she frequently visited the gentle prisoner, and showed her many charming attentions. For two Medici brides, also, Cammilla superintend

nd every sort of delectable confectionery. Perfumes and liqueurs-usually the piquant produce of monasteries-were also cunningly extracted by Cammilla's subtle f

hese, the Archpriest Monsignore Simone Fortuna, confessor of the Duke of Urbino, and Cavaliere Ercole Cortile, the ambassador of Ferrara, have recorded their visits and their pleasure at s

ong years, and not till 4th February 1586 was she allowed a congé. Then a sumptuous cavalcade, with splendid sedan-chairs, halted at the main portal of Santa Monica, and out of one stepped th

Cavaliere Mario Sforza, General of the army of the Grand Duke Francesco. The match, however, was broken off, when Cardinal Alessandro Sforza died

with the daughter also, were rife in Florence and in Rome. Sufficient grounds there were for him to accept the cancellation of the proposal with equanimity.

di Santa Fiora, but he changed his mind and renounced the world-conventionally of course-to accept the Cardinal's red hat and privileges fr

Tasso, the Grand Duchess Bianca'

e morte

rest

poisoned by her husband-the last of a

ereign. But whilst men and women gossiped delightedly about the charms of the beauteous young bride and the gallant bearing of the groom, every tongue expressed wonderment a

esented as a finely-developed woman, with the proud profile of a true daughter of Florence, a high brow, a shapely no

one her confidante. After the solemnity and festivities she betook herself once more-she had no other choice-to h

been that parting with the world she loved, but so little knew. She viewed the coming years with apprehension and hopelessness. She had not reached th

tly in frequency and intensity. Skilful medical treatment was of no avail, and at length her doctors appealed to the Grand Duke for some relaxat

fy his decision. His fully justified fear of the Cardinal's intrigues acted as a negative magnet to all his bes

t, and gave way to fits of frenzied desperation. The Abbess, greatly alarmed, took counsel with her spiritual advisers, who judged that the unhappy lady was losing her reason, and, perchance, her soul.

and Duke and Grand Duchess died together at Poggio a Caiano, victims of his jealousy and hate. He obtain

Grand Duchess, and hypocritically sad, had followed the remains of his poisoned brother to San Lorenzo, he went ri

gements had made ineffaceable marks in the erstwhile beauteous girl, and Cammilla de' Medici was no longer possible as the wife of the renegade Cardinal. Marriage was out of th

dy when I come into my own!" This estate, with a sufficient household, he made over to the Lady Cammilla, for her own free use. Before, however, she took up her residence, Ferdinando, now, of course, Grand Duke o

of Ferdinando. Called upon, at his succession to the throne, to renounce his spiritual character-it was a character, indeed, which ill-fitted him-the new Grand Duke devoted himself to the duties of his high st

by Eleanora degli Albizzi; his brother Piero, and any one of his bastard sons, and several other scions of the house. The Lady Cammilla entered heartily

aughter of Charles, Duke of Lorraine, and nephew of Queen Caterina de' Medici. She was received in Florence with joy, and married to the Grand Duke i

een her prison and her home-the convent of Santa Monica, where she breathed her last on the 30th of May 1590, at the early age of forty-five, to the unutterable sorrow of the devoted ladies of her suite and

a dragon, her legend: "Uno avulso non deficit alter aureus." This may be the epitome of her life's history, and upon it one may moralise at wi

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sixteenth century. The superabundance of private riches and the enervation of idle leisure destroyed the framework of domestic economy

uds divided every household. The worst of human passions ran riot, and life became a pandemonium, wherein the sh

ng fragrant iris of the unsophisticated countryside, drooped before the flaming, passionate tiger-lily of the formal garden of deb

ure

rdant fortune

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lack of exc

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