erialists--Duke Francesco restored by Charles V.--
His marriage and death in 1535--Removal of Lodovico and Beatrice's
effigies to the Certosa 375

INDEX 381

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

BIANCA SFORZA, BY AMBROGIO DE PREDIS _Frontispiece_
_From a photograph by_ SIGNOR D. ANDERSON, of Rome.

SFORZA MS. ILLUMINATED _To face p. 83_
_From a private photograph._

ALTAR-PIECE, ASCRIBED TO ZENALE, WITH PORTRAITS OF
LODOVICO SFORZA, BEATRICE D'ESTE AND THEIR SONS _To face p. 284_
_From a photograph by_ SIGNOR D. ANDERSON, of Rome.

GALEAZZO DI SANSEVERINO, BY AMBROGIO DE PREDIS _To face p. 304_
_From a photograph by_ SIGNOR D. ANDERSON, of Rome.

TOMB OF LODOVICO SFORZA AND BEATRICE D'ESTE IN THE
CERTOSA OF PAVIA _To face p. 389_
_From a photograph by_ FRATELLI ALINARI, of Florence.

BEATRICE D'ESTE

CHAPTER I

The Castello of Ferrara--The House of Este--Accession of Duke Ercole
I.--His marriage to Leonora of Aragon--Birth of Isabella and Beatrice
d'Este--Plot of Niccolo d'Este--Visit of Leonora to Naples--The court of
King Ferrante--Betrothal of Beatrice d'Este to Lodovico Sforza, Duke of
Bari--And of Isabella d'Este to Francesco Gonzaga.

1471-1480

In the heart of old Ferrara stands the Castello of the Este princes. All
the great story of the past, all the romance of medieval chivalry, seems
to live again in that picturesque, irregular pile with the crenellated
towers and dusky red-brick walls, overhanging the sleepy waters of the
ancient moat. The song of Boiardo and Ariosto still lingers in the air
about the ruddy pinnacles; the spacious courts and broad piazza recall
the tournaments and pageants of olden time. Once more the sound of
clanging trumpets or merry hunting-horn awakes the echoes, as the joyous
train of lords and ladies sweep out through the castle gates in the
summer morning; once more, under vaulted loggias and high-arched
balconies, we see the courtly scholar bending earnestly over some
classic page, or catch the voice of high-born maiden singing Petrarch's
sonnets to her lute.

St. George was the champion of Ferrara and the patron saint of the house
of Este. There year by year his festival was celebrated with great
rejoicings, and vast crowds thronged t