ers, followed
by a hundred of his men. In this order they led him all through the
town, up to the castle on the hill, where he will be well guarded for
the next week, until the iron cage is ready, which will be his room both
by night and day. The cage, I hear, is very strong, and made of iron
framed in wood, in such a manner that the iron bars, instead of breaking
under a file or any other instrument, would throw out sparks of fire.
One thing I must not forget to tell you. The ambassador of Spain and I
were together at a window when Signor Lodovico passed, and when the
Spaniard was pointed out to him, he took off his hat and bowed. And
being told that I was the ambassador of your Serene Highness, he
stopped, and seemed about to speak. But I did not move, and the captain
of the archers, who rode by him, said, 'Go on--go on!' Afterwards the
captain mentioned this to the king, who said, 'Do you mean that he
refused to pay you any reverence?' adding that such men as this who do
not keep faith are bad, and so on. And I replied that I should have felt
shame rather than honour if I had received any sign of courtesy from a
person of this kind. The king was in his palace, and had seen Signor
Lodovico pass, and with him were many other lords and gentlemen, who
spoke much of the Moro. His Christian Majesty said that he had decided
not to send him to Loches as he had intended, because at certain seasons
of the year he himself goes there with his court for his amusement, and
would rather not be there with him, as he does not wish to see him. So
he has decided to send him to Lys in Berry, two leagues from the city of
Bourges, where the king has a very strong castle with trenches wider
than those of the Castello of Milan, full of water. This place is in the
centre of France, and is kept by a gentleman, who was captain of the
archers when his Majesty was Duke of Orleans, and had a body of tried
guards who were trained by the king himself. When the Moro alighted from
the mule which he rode, he was carried into the castle, and is, I am
told, so weak that he cannot walk a step without help. From this I judge
that his days will be few. I commend myself humbly to your Serene
Highness.

"BENEDICTUS TREVISANUS.[81]
_Eques. Orator_."

Fortunately, the iron cage seems to have been a fable invented by the
Venetian ambassador, and from all accounts the prisoner was well and
honourably treated, although the king absolutely re