he
festivities of Augsburg at length--he questioned the ambassador about
the women of Italy, and especially about those of Ferrara, whereupon
"much was said regarding the good qualities of our duchess. I spoke of
her beauty, her graciousness, her modesty, and her virtues. The emperor
asked me what other beauties there were in Ferrara, and I named Donna
Diana and Donna Agnola, one the sister and the other the wife of Ercole
d'Este." Such was the report the ambassador sent to Ferrara.[217]

Lucretia's nature had become more composed, thanks to the stability of
the world to which she now belonged and owing to the important duties
she now had, and only rarely was it disturbed by any reminder of her
experiences in Rome. The death of Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro, however, in
1510, served to recall her early life.

On returning to his State, Sforza had been confirmed in its possession
as a vassal of the Church by a bull of Julius II. He endeavored to rule
wisely, made many improvements, and strengthened the castle of Pesaro.
He was a cultivated man given over to the study of philosophy. Ratti, a
biographer of the house of Sforza, mentions a catalogue which he
compiled of the entire archives of Pesaro. In 1504 he married a noble
Venetian, Ginevra, of the house of Tiepolo, whose acquaintance he had
made while in exile. November 4, 1505, she bore him a son,
Costanzo.[218]

What were his exact relations with the Este, with whom he was connected,
we do not know, although they, doubtless, were not altogether pleasant.
Sforza could not have found much pleasure in life, for his famous house
was fast becoming extinct, and he could not foresee a long future for
his race. He died peacefully July 27, 1510, in the castle of Gradara,
where he had been in the habit of spending much of his time alone.

As his son was still a small child his natural brother Galeazzo, who
had married Ginevra, a daughter of Ercole Bentivoglio, assumed the
government of Pesaro. Giovanni's child died August 15, 1512, whereupon
Pope Julius II withdrew his support from Galeazzo, and forced the last
of the Sforza of Pesaro to enter into an agreement by which, October 30,
1512, he surrendered the castle and domain to Francesco Maria Rovere,
who had been Duke of Urbino since the death of Guidobaldo in April,
1508. Pesaro therefore was united with this State. Galeazzo died in
Milan in 1515, having made the Duke Maximilian Sforza his heir. The line
of the lords of Pesar