From Condottieridiventura I found for Masino al Forno: In 1509 he fought together with Carlo Strozzi (I don't kow, who this is, but I assume a relative from Ferrara. No word about the murder accusation.

May 1508:
E’ inviato a Gardenale per impedire il vettovagliamento alle truppe dei Bentivoglio, che vogliono impadronirsi di Bologna ai danni dei pontifici.

May 1509:
Contrasta i veneziani nel Polesine con Bernardino dal Forno, Carlo Strozzi, Rinaldo dal Sacrato e Camillo Costabili al comando di 200 o 225 cavalli leggeri.

1510
....Si trova alla difesa di Zocca sul Po.

August: Viene fatto prigioniero dagli stradiotti di Niccolò Snati nei pressi di Crespino; è condotto a Venezia per essere interrogato dal doge Leonardo Loredan. Rinchiuso in carcere, i pontifici provvedono a confiscare a lui ed al fratello Girolamo i beni da essi posseduti a Modena.

September: Il papa Giulio II richiede ai veneziani la sua consegna per poterlo interrogare su alcune vicende riguardanti il cardinale Ippolito d’Este.

October: Viene consegnato ai pontefici ed è incarcerato in Bologna.

December: Liberato, ritorna a militare per gli estensi. Alla morte di Ludovico della Mirandola è inviato con 100 balestrieri a cavallo a prendere possesso di Mirandola .

And life goes on till 1545. He must at least have reached an age of more than 60.

For Ippolito Este, cardinal:

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of September 20, 1493 [14 years old]; received the deaconry of S. Lucia in Silice, September 23, 1493. On September 28, 1497, he wrote to the pope indicating that he was going to go to Rome, where he had been convoked, after a long delay; arrived in Rome on December 11, 1497; received the red hat on January 8, 1498. Administrator of the see of Milan, November 8, 1497; resigned the post on May 20, 1519 in favor of his nephew Ippolito d'Este. Administrator of the see of Eger, December 20, 1497; occupied the post until his death. Archpriest of the patriarchal Vatican basilica, September 1501. On December 9, 1501, he departed from Ferrara with a cortege of 500 people to accompany Lucrezia Borgia, daugther of Pope Alexander VI, fiancee of his brother Alfonso, on her trip to Rome, where they arrived on December 23rd; the wedding took place at the Vatican on December 30, 1501; he returned to Ferrara after the consistory of February 15, 1503. Administrator of the see of Capua, July 20, 1502; occupied the post until his death. Did not participate in the first conclave of 1503, which elected Pope Pius III; in his haste to go to Rome, he fractured a leg and was unable to attend. Participated in the second conclave of 1503, which elected Pope Julius II. Administrator of the see of Ferrara, October 8, 1503; occupied the post until his death. Administrator of the see of Modena and abbot commendatario of Nonantola, 1507 until his death. Because of the politics of Pope Julius II, he left the Roman Curia in 1507; the pope thanked him however on January 24, 1508 because his part in the repression of the plot of the Bentivogli. During the war of Venice and the pope against the House of Este, he conducted himself with great dexterity at the side of his brother Duke Alfonso I d'Este; he participated in the victorious battle of Policella, December 22, 1509; called to Rome by Pope Julius II on July 27, 1510, he pretended during the trip to have been stricken by a serious illness because he was afraid about the consequences of his conduct against the pontiff; not feeling secure in Italy, he went to his see in Hungary under the pretext that he had been recalled by the king. He was one of the cardinals who, on May 16, 1511, signed a document citing the pope to appear before the schismatic Council of Pisa, to be opened the following September 1st; he detached himself from the other schismatic cardinals in October and the pope allowed him to go to Ferrara; his brother the duke advised him not to participate in the council. Did not participate in the conclave of 1513, which elected Pope Leo X. Enjoying the trust of the new Pope Leo X, he went to Rome; the new pope saw with pleasure the reconciliation between the Bentivogli and the Estensi; on April 22, 1514, the cardinal and all his relatives were pardoned of all the censures they had incurred for having taken part in the wars of Italy. The pope sent him to François I of France and he entered with the monarch in Bologna on December 11, 1515. He went to Poland to attend the marriage of his cousin Bonne Sfroza with King Zygmunt I Stary; he returned through Hungary and France. On January 29, 1518, he received from the pope the faculty of accepting from his brother the duke of Ferrara church properties for him and his heirs and successors. Cardinal protodeacon, June 1519. He was very generous with the poor, friend of writers and artists, and protector of Ludovico Ariosto, "the Italian Homer". His biography was written by Alessandro Sardi.

Julius wanted the control of Ippolito. His interrogation of Masino had this aim.

But anyway, the development in these years is very dynamic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the ... of_Cambrai

Simply, Julius II. wanted to proceed with the earlier robbery of Cesare Borgia. He had some success with it, the territory of the Chiesa became larger, Bologna got under control and also Ravenna. He also wanted Ferrara, as earlier his uncle Sixtus IV. This didn't work out, again.

As already said, I could imagine, that the plot of Ferrante and Giulio, brothers of Alfonso, was initiated by Julius. This story happened in late summer 1506.

And this happened very short after:

"October 7, 1506, Pope Julius II issued a bull deposing and excommunicating Bentivoglio and placing the city under interdict. When the papal troops, along with a contingent sent by Louis XII of France, marched against Bologna, Bentivoglio and his family fled. Julius II entered the city triumphantly on November 10."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_II_Bentivoglio

In 1504 already Julius desired, that Ferrante should become heir and not Alfonso.

I think, that's the red line through the jungle of information, Julius' II. desire to expand. In his youth Julius as cardinal Giulio Rovere (likely) had plotted against his cousin Girolamo in the Lorenzo Zane scandal. When he had emigrated to France to have some distance between himself and the Borgia, he hesitated not to work for the French invasions in Italy.

***************

I stumbled about this: a description in German language (Gregorovius) from a literary work, that Ercole Strozzi wrote at begin of 1508, before the birth of Ercole II d'Este, the long desired male heir of Alfonso, born in April, about two months before the death of the poet.
He reflects the death of Cesare Borgia, connected to "Olympic scenes", in which it is promised, that the soon born child also would become a hero and would be somehow the rebirth of his uncle Cesare.

Reading this, I remembered, that also the old Roman Julius Caesar died on many knife-stabs. How much?
Wiki says: "According to Eutropius, around 60 or more men participated in the assassination. Caesar was stabbed 23 times." ... and then "A wax statue of Caesar was erected in the Forum displaying the 33 stab wounds."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassinat ... ius_Caesar
German Wikipedia has also 23, so I think, this is okay, but Italy has: "Dall'esame risultò che una sola delle 18 ferite era da considerarsi mortale, la seconda, per ordine temporale."

Also I note the curious name relationship Cesare - Alexander (VI) - Julius (II). Caesar and Alexander belonged to the Neuf Preux, the 3rd Pagan ruler was Hector (... :-) ... which sound a little bit like Ercole)

In Italian wiki I read about Ercole Strozzi ...
"Lasciò tre figli naturali, Giulia (poi legittimata dopo il suo matrimonio con la poetessa Barbara Torelli), Romano e Cesare."
Again Julius (Giulia) and Caesar.

http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/2413/33

Ercole Strozzi tröstete sie mit pomphaften Versen: er widmete ihr im Jahre 1508 seine Totenklage um Cesar. Dies barocke Gedicht ist durch die Auffassung dieses Menschen merkwürdig, und fast darf man es das poetische Seitenstück des »Fürsten« Machiavellis nennen. Erst zeigt der Dichter den tiefen Jammer der beiden Frauen Lucrezia und Charlotte, die dem Gefallenen heißere Tränen nachweinen, als einst Cassandra und Polyxena um Achill vergossen haben. Er schildert die Heldenlaufbahn Cesars, der dem großen Römer an Taten wie an Namen gleich gewesen sei. Er zählt alle von ihm eroberten Städte der Romagna auf und klagt das neidische Schicksal an, welches ihm nicht erlaubte, deren mehr zu bewältigen; denn sonst würde er Julius II. nicht den Ruhm Bolognas übrig gelassen haben. Der Dichter erzählt, daß zuvor der Genius der Roma vor dem römischen Volk erschienen sei und das Ende Alexanders und Cesars prophezeit habe, klagend, daß mit ihnen die Hoffnung Roms untergehe, es werde aus dem Stamm Calixts einst ein Heiland kommen, wie das die Götter verheißen hatten. Nun belehrt Erato den Dichter über diese Verheißungen im Olymp. Pallas und Venus, jene als Freundin Cesars und der Spanier, diese als italienische Patriotin und unwillig, daß Fremdlinge über die Nachkommen Trojas gebieten sollten, hätten miteinander hadernd vor Jupiter Klage geführt und ihn beschuldigt, seine Verheißung eines Heldenkönigs Italiens nicht erfüllt zu haben. Jupiter habe sie beruhigt: das Fatum sei unwiderruflich. Zwar habe Cesar gleich wie Achill sterben müssen, aber aus den beiden Stämmen Este und Borgia, die von Troja und Hellas hergekommen, werde der verheißene Held hervorgehen. Pallas tritt darauf in Nepi, wo nach Alexanders Tode Cesar an der Pest krank lag, an dessen Lager in Gestalt seines Vaters und verkündet ihm sein Ende, welches er im Bewußtsein seines Ruhmes als Held dahinnehmen solle. Dann verschwindet sie wie ein Vogel und eilt zu Lucrezia nach Ferrara. Nachdem der Dichter den Fall Cesars in Spanien geschildert hat, tröstet er seine Schwester erst mit philosophischen Gemeinplätzen, dann mit der Verkündigung, daß sie die Mutter des prädestinierten Heroenkindes sein werde.

Huck wrote, in the first post on this thread

There appears twice the date 26th of December, once for Avignon and a second time for Ferrara ...

Ross, is this correct according your informations?

... I hope, that this isn't another confusion.

Since I don't know what thread this comment appeared in originally, I don't know whether Ross replied. However, in Huck's post that I'm quoting from, the date 26th of December is based on what Franceschini says in an essay that Huck quoted from (in its entirety?):

Per la Francia il riferimento è a un atto notarile
steso ad Avignone il 26 dicembre 1505, accuratamente
preso in esame e illustrato da Thierry Depaulis in un
recentissimo saggio...

However in other posts, 2011, Huck has given a different date for Avignon, namely 6th of December 1505, although I didn't see a reference cited (viewtopic.php?f=11&t=756&p=10781&hilit=Avignon#p10781). Huck wrote:

And - accident or not - just in this time, there's a "Taraux" document in Avignon at 6th of December 1505 and a further Tarochi document in Ferrara at 26th of December.

I asked Andrea Vitale about this question. In private correspondence he wrote back:

About the date in Ludica is mentioned 6 december 1505.

Ludica: annali di storia e civiltà del gioco, Volumi 9-10

It says: “Per la Francia il riferimento è a un atto notarile steso ad Avignone il 6 dicembre 1505”

I am struck by the similarity in wording between Franceschini and Ludica, except for the "2". It seems that 6 December is the most popular date for Avignon, at least in Italian. But it would be nice to see some primary sources cited.

The date is definitely 6 December. The error 26 December should be corrected everywhere it is found in connection with taraux in Avignon in 1505, in order not to mislead future researchers.

The original Latin text, published by Thierry Depaulis, gives the date as "Anno a Nativitate Domini millesimo quingentesimo quinto et die sexta mensis decembris...quatuor duodenis quartarum vulgo appelatarum taraux"

"Des “cartes communément appelées taraux”", The Playing Card,vol. 32, n° 5, March-April 2004, pages 199-205.

Thanks, Ross. And what is the original source that Depaulis cites for the Latin text, just so we have all of it?

Ross G. R. Caldwell wrote:The date is definitely 6 December. The error 26 December should be corrected everywhere it is found in connection with taraux in Avignon in 1505, in order not to mislead future researchers.

The original Latin text, published by Thierry Depaulis, gives the date as "Anno a Nativitate Domini millesimo quingentesimo quinto et die sexta mensis decembris...quatuor duodenis quartarum vulgo appelatarum taraux"

"Des “cartes communément appelées taraux”", The Playing Card,vol. 32, n° 5, March-April 2004, pages 199-205.

As I said ...

A more complete version was in an informing letter to Trionfi.com:

"QUANDO SI INIZIA A PARLARE DI "TAROCCO": FERRARA 1505
di Adriano Franceschini

La comparsa in Europa delle carte da gioco nel tardo
Trecento portò a radicali novità nelle pratiche
ludiche. La corte estense in Ferrara fu uno dei luoghi
nei quali le carte ebbero speciale fortuna e la città
si trovò ad avere un ruolo primario nella produzione e
diffusione in particolare dei tarocchi,
sistematicamente indicati nella documentazione più
risalente come "trionfi", col nome che poi venne
piuttosto riservato alle figure che nel mazzo avevano
la funzione di briscola o atout. Quanto all'apparire
del termine "tarocchi" in luogo di "trionfi" per
indicare il gioco, per quel che finora si sa occorre
attendere il secolo XVI. Curiosamente allo stesso anno
1505 risalgono le prime apparizioni finora note del
termine in Italia e in Francia: a Ferrara ed Avignone
(DEPAULIS 2003, p. ..; ORTALLI 1996, p. 190 e nota
75).

Per la Francia il riferimento è a un atto notarile
steso ad Avignone il 26 dicembre 1505, accuratamente
preso in esame e illustrato da Thierry Depaulis in un
recentissimo saggio.

The reporting "letter to Trionfi.com" is lost (mailbox-crash). Franceschini's original we don't have. As far I remember, we changed the reporting webpage to a not satisfying, but not incorrect ...

"France Avignon:
I've only the refering note of Franceschini (still missing informations)"
http://trionfi.com/0/p/23/

... when the double "26 December" was noted and waited for better times. ... :-)

Either it was in the unknown article of Franceschini, or it was confused by the transmission on the way from original text to the webpage.
Well, of importance is in this case the article of Depaulis, not the second-hand-report of Franceschini.

Thanks, Ross. And what is the original source that Depaulis cites for the Latin text, just so we have all of it?
mikeh

Title


the relevant text


French translation by Depaulis


The article has various pages and a second part (199-205) + (244-249). The document presentation takes one page (and seems to be not totally complete), the translation has also a page.

Many thanks to you both!

Now I want to turn to something more speculative, i.e. something we could discuss forever.

Huck wrote,

Julius wanted the control of Ippolito. His interrogation of Masino had this aim.

The interrogation of Masino most likely had the aim of convincing Francesco Gonzaga to see Alfonso d'Este as his mortal enemy, so that he would whole-heartedly lead Julius's army against Ferrara. The means was to prove to by Masino's testimony that Federico that Alfonso and Ippolito had plotted against him, possibly even to have him killed. I quoted Sarah Bradford on this in an earlier post. Here is more:

Julius II, who appears sincerely to have detested Alfonso, made every effort to stir up trouble between the brothers-in-law. He intimated that the Este had tried to keep Francesco as prisoner of the Venetians for as long as they could and that he had the evidence for it, showing "villanous deeds" (cose nephande) relating to the process he had instituted against Masino del Forno who had fallen into his hands.

Then Bradford quotes the Venetian diarist Sanudo, lines I quoted earlier, that Julius "wanted him [Masino] because he is the confidant and minister of the betrayals and assassinations of the Cardinal [of] Ferrara". Masino was being held in Bologna, where the Pope went. There he had the Archdeacon of Gabbioneta write to Gonzaga on 26 September 1510, that, Bradford says

...the Pope wished to communicate to him things of capital importance but had expressly forbidden him under pain of excommunication to commit them to paper: 'then he said to me: I want to tell the Lord Marchese what those brothers-in-law wanted to do to him.'

For the larger picture, I will go to Maria Bellonci, Life and Times of Lucrezia Borgia (originally in Italian, 1953) (p. 343) (my emphasis):

The Archdeacon could not possibly explain himself in writing because the Pope had forbidden him to do so under pain of excommunication, but he should warn him of 'unspeakable things' hatched by Alfonso and Ippolito of Este against himself. This is the moment, perhaps, to call to mind the mysterious courtier, 'M.', eho ion 1508 had acted as an agent provocateur, visiting both Lucrezia and the Marquis and trying to induce the latter to visit Ferrara. Was 'M." Masino del Forno? And was the visit a trap that the Este family had prepared against their brother-in-law--or did it concern a subsequent act of violence in which Lucrezia all unknowing was involved? All we know for certain is that as soon as Gonzaga received this letter, which was dated September 26, he went to Bologna, and on September 30 he took over the command of the Venetian and Papal army.

Bellonci had told us about "M." earlier in the book, from a letter that the Marquis had written to Lucrezia just before the murder of Ercole Strozzi; somehow it survived. This man, called "M." in the letter, had insinuated that he came from Lucrezia; he invited Gonzaga to a secret meeting with Lucrezia in Ferrara; he also offered Gonzaga a miniature of Lucrezia as a token. Gonzaga, recognizing a gift designed to compromise him when he saw one, refused it and threw the man out, he wrote.

For the content of the Pope's and Gonzaga's discussion in Bologna 1510, I refer again to Bradford, p. 319. This is Julius in 1512, reminding Francesco of what he already knew (my emphasis):

He [Julius] reminded Francesco that the Este had been the historical enemies of the Gonzaga, despite the present relationship, and Alfonso especially so, having always sought to do evil to the Marquis, to kill him and to mock him and hold him in little esteem, and that if he remained in Ferrara he would be the greatest enemy Gonzaga could have. (6) [Footnote 6: Luzio, Isabella d'Este di Fronte a Giulio II, p. 169.]

Now to another subject. Huck speculates that the 22 stab wounds are related to the 23 stab wounds of Julius Caesar, noting the prevalence of "Julius" and "Caesar" in the names of many of the people involved -- Cesare Borgia vs. Julius II, and a Giulia and Cesare Strozzi. But given these names to these people, I can't see what the point of such an association would be; what would the reference add, not conveyed by the murder itself, to reinforce the warning that the murder represented? Also, it seems to me that 22 would be associated more naturally with tarot than with Julius Caesar.

The most likely explanation for the 22 stab wounds, I think, is that it had some significance relating both to tarot and to the Federico-Lucrezia relationship. Somehow it was meant to convey something that Francesco would have thought was a secret, but that the 22 stab wounds show that Alfonso knew, and therefore much more besides. It would be proof that Alfonso or Ippolito had succeeded in breaching Francesco and Lucrezia's security in a major way. Francesco already knew that either Alfonso or Isabella was onto him (most likely both), from the visit by "M." Since Francesco wasn't going let himself be lured into a trap, Alfonso would have to settle for scaring him off, and punishing those who abet such disloyalty to their sovereign.

On the occasion when Federico and Lucrezia had developed an affection for each other, at Carnival in 1507, they reportedly danced together and also conversed. And Alfonso wasn't happy. Bellonci writes (p. 303):

She [Lucrezia] danced with her beloved Gonzaga and, alone together in the intricacy of their steps, she made him see the exotic grace of her movements and the lightness of her tread as she bent to the persuasive music of the violas. There is no detailed account of their conversation, but the whole of Ferrara noticed the 'great cheer and affection' with which Lucrezia honoured her brother-in-law. She danced so tirelessly that the third Este offspring was lost. As Prosperi put it, "The lady miscarried yesterday, which was Friday, and the Lord (Alfonso) was very displeased, according to what I hear, (than) when the one who was born died, because this time she is weakened in the spine." Alfonso had not the delicacy to conceal his ill-humour and let his wife know that he held her responsible for what had happened because of her excessive dancing.

Later Bellonci reveals that Gonzaga came to Carnival in Ferrara not once but twice that February (p. 311), although with no details. The letters started in the early summer of 1507, with Ercole Strozzi as go-between, sometimes writing what Lucrezia or Francesco had told him, sometimes passing letters written by them. All the people were given fictitious names, but they would have been easy to figure out. Strozzi at least seems to have been quite an enthusiastic intriguer. In one of his last letters, shortly after Lucrezia had given birth to Alfonso's heir, he assures Gonzaga that (Bellonci p. 317)

"She loves you exceedingly, far more than you believe...I give you my word that she loves you, and if you continue as I have told you, you will certainly achieve what you desire... Show every diligence in hastening to come where she is and then you will understand if I tell you even less than what is true...

Such language suggests that Strozzi was quite confident in his choice of messengers.. If other letters had referred to tarot, the 22 stab wounds would signify that Alfonso knew them. Alternatively, if they had written about Julius Caesar, then the stab wounds would serve the same purpose, although you'd think they'd get the number right. And it's not as likely for them to write about Julius Caesar as about tarot.

TThe murder, of course, was effective enough. For the popular verdict on that, Bellonci cites a verse by Gerolamo Casio (1464-1533) (p. 325):

Ercole Strozzi cui fu dato morte
per aver di Lucrezia Borgia scritto

Ercole Strozzi to whom death was dealt
for having written about Lucrezia Borgia.

Strozzi had never written anything negative about her. These lines, to be sure, could be taken as meaning that Strozzi loved her too much himself. But the secret letters suggest something else, and perhaps they were not as secret as the three of them had thought.

mikeh wrote: Now I want to turn to something more speculative, i.e. something we could discuss forever.

... :-) .... we (and also the other researchers) hardly can solve an unsolved murder of 1508 with our limited access of information about the case. And if you conclude, that it was just a love-affair murder, you gain nothing, cause you never get, who really kissed whom and why the nose of the one was preferred for the eyes of the other, 500 years ago.

Ercole and Tito Vespasiano both were well known for erotic poems, and clearly they presented them at court. Petrarca loved Laura ... which doesn't mean, that he really had something with her. Knights commonly declared their admiration (also) to married women inside the Minne-jungle.

Adding to Ercole's 22 (or 23) stabs, we have, that Tito Vespasiano also had an emperor name (and Ercole Strozzi *
1473 clearly was named after the installation of Ercole d'Este as duke of Ferrara).
So the Ferrrarese Strozzi had it with Emperor names.

Generally a potential father is naturally not delighted, when his wife dances very wild and loses a child for this reason. Especially if this child was the very much desired heir of Ferrara.

*********

Alfonso was educated as a prince to be able to carry responsibility later ... When he was 6-8 years old, there was war in Ferrara, and later Ferrara suffered from it, so he got early lessons, what he might expect later. Very early he made the decision to be interested in cannons. And he stayed to it, so intensive, that he finally had the best cannons. So Alfonso was not a short-time-thinker. When he visited foreign cities, he looked for the weak points in their city walls, just for the case ... that he would need this knowledge one time. When he's described as making not a good figure at all these playboy-parties in Ferrara, then it just means, that these were a little bit too stupid for him. He had better things to do. That he got bad comments of the playboy visitors of the parties is not a surprise.

Likely he made this strange journey in 1506, cause he knew, that an attack on him was prepared (likely he expected something from the side of Julius). When the attack came, and it is said, that Ferrante and Giulio were too stupid for a good assassination, it just means, that Alfonso was too clever to play the victim.

He stopped the execution, and both brothers wandered right in the room below the kitchen in Ferrara, where they spend the most of their life.
They weren't allowed to talk to anybody (was that really the law all the time ?). Why? What did they know, that was too dangerous? Perhaps they had given evidence, that the operation was sponsored by pope Julius? If this would have been so, then both were witnesses against Julius perhaps in the right moment in an unknown future. Julius might have been worried about their living existence, and might have felt, that he must be more careful with Alfonso and Ferrara than he would have been otherwise.

From some timeline I get:

2nd of March 1508: battle of Venice against troops of Maximilian. Maximilian wished to cross Venetian territory for the crowning as emperor in Rome, Venice didn't like that. Heavy loss for the German troops.

June 1508 (the month of murder): Venice and France are in negotiations, which don't work. They are disrupted, cause the Venetians don't agree with the suggestions of the French. I would like to know, where and when this happened, but for the moment I find nothing.

December 1508: League of Cambrai. Emperor and France agree (in secret way) on an attack against Venice. The pope is involved 4 month later. Wen Ferrara entered, is not clear to me.

From the life of Ippolito we have:

Because of the politics of Pope Julius II, he left the Roman Curia in 1507; the pope thanked him however on January 24, 1508 because his part in the repression of the plot of the Bentivogli. During the war of Venice and the pope against the House of Este, he conducted himself with great dexterity at the side of his brother Duke Alfonso I d'Este; he participated in the victorious battle of Policella, December 22, 1509; called to Rome by Pope Julius II on July 27, 1510, he pretended during the trip to have been stricken by a serious illness because he was afraid about the consequences of his conduct against the pontiff; not feeling secure in Italy, he went to his see in Hungary under the pretext that he had been recalled by the king.

I'm not sure, what Ippolito did in the Bentivoglio case.

One point to Alfonso: He is mentioned in two of the oldest festival books ...

http://special-1.bl.uk/treasures/festiv ... kList.aspx
... a trumphal entry into Genova at 27th of April 1507 after a local rebellion. 16.000 men made this triumphal march. I'm not sure, in which way Alfonso had been involved.

Woodcut-title



Group with Duke of Ferrara



Alfonso leads a group of princes of different houses. Right behind this group follows the French king. Before the group is Galeazzo Sanseverino, who seems to have played a greater role.

Cannon group



This passage mentions 22 cannons of different kinds. Well, maybe an accidental "22". It's not clear, if these were Alfonso cannons. A "herren" of "Spy" is given as the commander of 200 men, who seem to be responsible for the cannons. I don't know, who this is "Spy" is.

************

Well, I think, one should cover patiently the unknown points about Alfonso, what he made in the critical early time of the "Tarochi". And how the world the world moved to the situation of the fight against Venice. How Julius triggered the fight against Venice just to get some possessions at the Adria under control.

***********

Added later:

books.google.de/books?id=mkM8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128&dq=genoa+1507&source=bl&ots=YqCcEVzvAy&sig=KFJjqXjnTvP_8duN1GJqFXIGdoI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4qWkUbifBYXc4QT3ioGoAw&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=genoa 1507&f=false

... reports details about the fight for Genova, which, after the big army of the French king had arrived, surrendered within a few days.

Huck wrote,

They [Alfonso's brothers who conspired against him] weren't allowed to talk to anybody (was that really the law all the time ?). Why? What did they know, that was too dangerous? Perhaps they had given evidence, that the operation was sponsored by pope Julius? If this would have been so, then both were witnesses against Julius perhaps in the right moment in an unknown future. Julius might have been worried about their living existence, and might have felt, that he must be more careful with Alfonso and Ferrara than he would have been otherwise.

The brothers, Giulio and Ferrante, weren't allowed to talk because they knew things extremely damaging to Ippolite, namely, the latter's deeds against their brother Giulio (yes, another Julius). Bradford writes (p. 245f):

Shortly after Lucrezia returned to Ferrara, on 3 November 1505, Giulio, returning from a pleasure excursion in the meadows by the straight road leading to Belriguardo, ran into an ambush laid by Ippolito and his servants. He was dragged from his horse and stabbed in the eyes. The official version given by Alfonso in a letter of 5 November to Isabella was that the staffieri had done it of their own accord 'perhaps to please their lord or perhaps because of some insult one of them had received from Don Julio...' In a postscript, however, he confessed the truth. Ippolito had been present and had ordered the assault: 'Don Julio returning from the fields as I have said, met the Most Reverend Cardinal, our brother, who had come there with four staffieri who he commanded "Kill that man: cut out his eyes".' There was no hope, they thought, for Giulio's left eye, and no one could be sure about the vision in his right.
Unwisely, Alfonso gave a hostage to fortune by writing the next day to Francesco, including both versions he had given to Isabella, telling him to burn the postcript and only to disclose the official version which blamed it all on the staffieriand did not reveal Ippolito's direct involvement. (18) [Footnote 18, p. 387: Alfonso d'Este to Isabella and Francesco Gonzaga, 5 and 6 November 1505, both in AG (Archivio di Stato di Mantova, Archivio Gonzaga), Busta 1189.]

The Pope initially accepted Alfonso's and Ippolito's reports, but then:

Five days later, however, [Beltrando] Costabili informed Ippolito that the Pope no longer believed in the exactitude of the account he had been given - 'that he was of the opinion that the case had happened in another manner than Your Excellency's account of it'. Needless to say, the four were never brought to justice and it was rumoured that they had fled to Hungary.

To Bradford the reason why Ippolito wanted Giulio's eyes cut out is obvious (p. 245):

Angela Borgia was the most beautiful and charming of Lucrezia's ladies, graceful and eleganat, according to her many admirers. And among those admirers in 1505 were Ippolito and Giulio. Angela is held to have enraged Ippolito by telling him: 'Monsignore, your brother's eyes are worth more than the whole of your person.'

Bellonci says that it comes from Guicciardini that Angela told Ippolito "she preferred Don Giulio to him, because of his beautiful eyes" (p. 293); the part about them being worth more than Ippolito's whole body is "tradition". Less than a year later, of uncertain date, both Bellonci and Bradford relate, Angela gave birth to a child somewhere away from Ferrara, on board a ship, di Prospero reports. She was still unmarried and no father was named.

A major witness, if not perpetrator, of the blinding would have been Masino del Forno, as a close associate of Ippolito and probable killer of Ercole Strozzi.

One thing I might not have mentioned before is Bradford's comment that

Seizing a victim by the hair was a signature of del Forno's operation, as had been noted in his violent arrest of Ippolito's chamberlain, Cestatello, the prevous year. Masino del Forno was one of the most loyal and ruthless of the seior Este brothers' henchmen...

You will recall that Ercole Strozzi had been found with tufts of hair pulled out. Masino didn't mind leaving his trademark, because he knew he wouldn't be prosecuted.

Huck's hypothesis that Julius II was part of the brothers' conspiracy against Alfonso is contradicted by the fact that one of the two main points of contention between Alfonso and Julius, when Alfonso went to Rome to end the Pope's war against him, was that Julius insisted on the release of the brothers, which to Alfonso was absolutely unacceptable. Here is Sarah Bradford (p. 314)

The Pope wanted Alfonso to release his brothers, particularly Ferrante who had recently smuggled a letter to him pleading for his help, and he wanted Ferrara. These conditions were completely unacceptable to Alfonso and, fearing a trap, he fled Rome on 19 July with Fabrizio Colonna, the pair forcing their way through the Porta San Giovanni and riding to Colonna's stronghold at Marino.

Even at the time of the conspiracy, despite the Pope's skepticism about how Giulio came to be attacked, at the Vatican "the fratricidal conduct of the Este brothers [meaning Giulio and Ferrante] had made the worst possible impression," Bradford reports (p. 259). Again, this suggests that the Pope was not part of the conspiracy. All the same, it was later not the conspiring brothers that Julius wanted, but Alfonso and Ippolito.

... hm ...

... what does Bradford say about Julius' II. engagement in 1504 to have Ferrante as the heir in Ferrara and not Alfonso?

added later:

There's a limited online version:
http://books.google.de/books?id=1fM9rq0 ... us&f=false



Here we see trouble between Ippolito and Ferrante likely around begin of 1504. Ferrante was the godson of Julius, and he desired Ferrante as the true heir, clearly hurting the Ferrarese system of succession. Ippolito's reaction is quite understandable, Ferrante is close to be a traitor already then.
Bradford's argument, that the November 1505 conflict had been just an activity cause of the beautiful Angela Borgia, looks "romantic". Giulio sided with Ferrante, and Ferrante hadn't given up his aspirations. The situation was so, that, if Alfonso died, Ferrante would have become duke of Ferrara.
In comparable situations Galeazzo Maria in Milan and Leonello and Borso had arranged, that competing brothers were send outside of their state, and Ercole had finished nephew Niccolo in 1473, and an Obizzo had been executed 1388 in another Ferrarese succession problem.

Alfonso had been much more tolerant in his begin, perhaps careless.

Wasn't it so, that Giulio had caused trouble before, when Ercole was still alive?

Added later:

ESTE, Ferrante d'. - Secondogenito del duca Ercole I e di Eleonora d'Aragona, nacque presso Napoli il 19 sett. 1477; gli fu imposto il nome del nonno materno, re di Napoli. Furono suoi padrini di battesimo il cardinale Giuliano della Rovere - il futuro papa Giulio II - e l'ambasciatore di Firenze, Lorenzo de' Medici. Cresciuto alla corte napoletana, nel 1489 per volontà del padre si trasferì a Ferrara, dove ben presto fu, nell'ambito della politica estense di alleanza con la monarchia francese, avviato alla carriera militare presso quella corte.

http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/fer ... rafico%29/

Here we have the story, how Pope Julius became godfather for Ferrante d'Este. Ferrante was born and had his youth in Naples, as Beatrix d'Este, his sister.

I find no confirmation about the presence of cardinal Giulio Rovere (later pope Julius ii). But I find ...

"King Ferdinand I of Naples, an illegitimate son of his brother Alfonso V of Aragon by his mistress Giraldona Carlino, asked Joanna's hand in marriage from John II and the King accepted.[1] After the wedding on September 14, the contract was signed in Navarre, on 5 October 1476 and the agreement was ratified on November 25.[1] John II gave his daughter a dowry of 100,000 gold florins and Ferdinand gave his new wife many duchies and/or cities, such as Sorrento, Theano, Isernia, Teramo, Sulmona, Francavilla and Nocera. He also gave her more than 20,000 ducats annually.[1] Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, eldest son of the king from his first marriage, sailed to Spain on 11 June 1477 in order to bring Joanna to Naples. She arrived on 1 September 1477. The formal wedding, with both the bride and groom present, took place on 14 September 1477 and was officiated by Rodrigo Borgia, the future Pope Alexander VI"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_of_ ... _of_Naples

There was an important wedding, old King Ferrante got a new wife, at September 14. Likely Leonara had to go there for the wedding, possibly also Giulio Rovere. The new Ferrante (d'Este) was born at September 19, 5 days later.
Perhaps the d'Este feared, that a second son, born short after the first (* Juni 21. 1476) would compete too much with his elder brother.
Looking through Ferrante's life, he hadn't much time in Ferrara. Later he spend some years in France.

I took a longer read of a chapter of an dissertation by DR Bryant, interestingly a pupil of Nerida Newbigin (who found the oldest Trionfi note 1440).
It's a letter exchange between Eleanor of Aragon with her husband Ercole d'Este written in the year 1477, May till November. Nearly 6 months took the journey to and from Naples.
Chapter 5 "Separation: Eleonora Returns to Naples"
http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstrea ... 0%9366.pdf

So I got: Yes, Cardinal Giuliano Rovere became godfather at this opportunity and he was present.

The child was baptized on 7 October 1477, and “fu tenuto a baptesimo dal cardinale San Piedro in Vincula da Savona, e da l’ambasatore de Lorenzo de Cosmo primario fiorentino, e perché nacque la festa de San
Zenaro, che se guarda a Napoli, ge fu messo nome Ferrante, Alovise, Zoanne Maria e Zenaro, con triumphi, regali
”[he was held at his baptism by the Cardinal of San Sisto in Vincula, from Savona [= Giuliano Rovere]", and by the ambassador of Lorenzo de’ Medici, the leading citizen of Florence, and since he was born on the Feast of San Genaro, which is observed in Naples, he was given the names, Ferrante, Alovise, Giovanni Maria and Gennaro, and this was accompanied by triumphs and gifts].

Further I got ...

During Eleonora’s absence, Ercole did have a relationship with one of her ladies-in-waiting, Isabella Arduino, sometime around July 1477. This lady was conveniently married off and her son, who would be known as Giulio d’Este, was born three months later, in March 1478. Eleonora brought this boy up with her own children; see Caleffini, 290. This is Ercole’s only reported infidelity during his marriage to Eleonora; see Gardner, 151.

Somehow both, Ferrante and Giulio, were connected since birth. They lived long and survived all their brothers and sisters.

There was a fifth son, Sigismondo (1480-1525), who became half-invalid in 1496-97 by Syphilis. After this he lived retired.


http://books.google.de/books?id=wCdPhi0 ... 80&f=false

Further I learnt, that a letter from Ferrara to Naples took 7-8 days usually.

***************

A coincidence caught my attention: the 4.4.1508 (birth of the heir Ercole, is very short before the death of Guidobaldo Montefeltro (January 17, 1472 – April 10/11, 1508), husband of Isabella d'Este's loved sister-in-law, Elisabetta Gonzaga and duke of Urbino.
"He adopted Francesco Maria della Rovere, his sister's child and nephew of pope Julius II, thus uniting the seigniory of Senigallia with Urbino." Wikipedia knows: "Suffering from pellagra, Guidobaldo died in Fossombrone at the age of 36."
Wikipedia also knows, that the sickness Pellagra depends on excessive corn-eating and corn was detected by Colombus in America. It's a rather short time from Columbus 1492 in America till a dead man in Urbino in 1508, so some skepticism might be justified.

https://www.google.de/search?q=guidobal ... refox-beta

The Rovere-family (which profited from the death of Guidobaldo) made some greater progress with it (very short after the disappointment, that Ferrara now really had a male heir).
Nonetheless, all, what I could find about this death, looks natural.