the fair and learned
Margherita Pia of Carpi, a beloved friend and cousin of the Este
princesses, were prominent figures at the Milanese court. But the most
famous and popular of all the brothers was Galeazzo. This brilliant and
accomplished cavalier, who was to play so great a part at the Milanese
court, early attracted the notice of Lodovico by his personal charm and
rare skill in knightly exercises. As a rider and jouster, he was without
a rival. Wherever he entered the lists, at Milan or Venice, at Ferrara
or Urbino, he invariably carried off the prize, and was proclaimed
victor in the games. And to this prowess in courtly exercises he joined
a love of art and learning which especially commended him to the Moro.
Unlike his brother Captain Fracassa, who refused Caterina Sforza's
invitation to join in dance and song, saying that war was his trade and
he sought no other, Galeazzo was a model of courtesy and grace. All fair
ladies had a smile for him. Isabella d'Este and Elisabetta Gonzaga
honoured him with their friendship, and Beatrice d'Este found in him the
truest of friends and best of servants. Three kings of France, Charles
VIII., Louis XII., and Francis I., singled him out for special
distinction, and after enjoying the highest honour at Lodovico Sforza's
court, he lived to become Grand Ecuyer of France in the next century.
French Italian chroniclers alike own the fascination of his handsome
presence and extol the _gentilezza_ of this very perfect knight.
Leonardo da Vinci and Luca Pacioli the mathematician had in him a noble,
generous patron, and Baldassare Castiglione, who knew him in his youth
at Milan, has enshrined his memory in the pages of his "Cortigiano." It
was this rare union of qualities which endeared the young Sanseverino to
the Moro, who chose him for his intimate friend and companion. On his
return from his successful campaign against the Forli rebels, Lodovico
appointed him Captain-general of the Milanese armies, a step which
naturally excited great jealousy among his rivals, and mortally wounded
the pride of Messer Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, an older captain in the same
service. Short of stature and rude of speech, with the big nose and
rugged features that are familiar to us in Caradosso's medal, this able
soldier presented a curious contrast to the brilliant and courtly Messer
Galeazzo, whose rival he remained to the end of his life. Yet he knew
how to appreciate genius, and after his triumphant r