a solemn
thanksgiving service, at which all the court assisted, the queen and the
German ambassadors spent the night in the episcopal palace, while the
other princes and princesses were entertained in the houses of
distinguished courtiers in the town. On the following morning the bride
took leave of her family, and embarked on a richly decorated barge
fitted out by the royal citizens of Torno and rowed by forty sailors,
while her suite followed in thirty smaller boats, painted and decked out
with laurel boughs and tapestries. Niccolo da Correggio, whose daughter
Leonora was one of the ladies chosen to accompany Bianca on her journey,
has described the beauty of the scene that morning, the blue waters of
the lake covered with glittering sails, the shores crowded with people
in holiday attire, and the joyous sounds of music that filled the air as
the gay _cortege_ left Como. The bridal party reached Bellagio in
safety, and after spending the night at the Marchesino Stanga's castle,
started on their journey towards the upper end of the lake. But hardly
had they left the shore, than the weather changed and a violent storm
scattered the fleet in all directions. The poor young queen and her
ladies wept and cried aloud to God for mercy, and their companions were
scarcely less terrified. Only Giasone del Maino preserved his composure
and smiled at the terror of the courtiers, who gave themselves up for
lost, while he exhorted the frightened boatmen to keep their heads.
Fortunately, towards nightfall the tempest subsided, and after tossing
on the waves for several hours, the queen's barge with part of the fleet
managed to put back into Bellagio. The next day a more prosperous start
was made, and on the 8th of December the party set off on horseback to
cross the mountain passes. But the hardships of the journey were not yet
over. A rough mule-track was the only road that led in those days over
the Alps that divided the Valtellina from the Tyrol, "that fearful and
cruel mountain of Nombray," as the Venetian chronicler calls the pass
now crossed by the Stelvio road. No wonder the sight of those
precipitous cliffs filled the Milanese ladies with terror, and they
shrank from exploring such barbarous regions in the depth of winter. One
maid of honour had to be left behind at Gravedona, unable to bear the
fatigues of the journey, and Bianca herself complained bitterly to
Erasmo Brasca of the hardships which she had to endure. "The queen