HAPTER XII

DEATH OF LUCRETIA BORGIA--CONCLUSION

The State of Ferrara again found itself in serious difficulties, for Leo
X, following the example of Alexander VI, was trying to build up a
kingdom for his nephew Lorenzo de' Medici. As early as 1516 Leo had made
him Duke of Urbino, having expelled Guidobaldo's legitimate heirs from
their city. Francesco Maria Rovere, his wife, and his adopted mother,
Elisabetta, were in Mantua,--the asylum of all exiled princes. Leo was
consuming with a desire also to drive the Este out of Ferrara, and it
was only the protection of France that saved Alfonso from a war with the
Pope. The duke, to whom the Pope refused to restore the cities of Modena
and Reggio, therefore went to the court of Louis XII in November, 1518,
for the purpose of interesting him in his affairs. In February, 1519, he
returned to Ferrara, where he learned of the death of his
brother-in-law, the Marchese Francesco Gonzaga, of Mantua, which
occurred February 20th. The last of March Lucretia wrote to his widow,
Isabella, as follows:

ILLUSTRIOUS LADY, SISTER-IN-LAW, AND MOST HONORED SISTER:
The great loss by death of your Excellency's husband, of blessed
memory, has caused me such profound grief, that instead of being
able to offer consolation I myself am in need of it. I sympathize
with your Excellency in this loss, and I cannot tell you how
grieved and depressed I am, but, as it has occurred and it has
pleased our Lord so to do, we must acquiesce in his will. Therefore
I beg and urge your Majesty to bear up under this misfortune as
befits your position, and I know that you will do so. I will at
present merely add that I commend myself and offer my services to
you at all times.

YOUR SISTER-IN-LAW LUCRETIA, Duchess of Ferrara.

FERRARA, _the last of March, 1519_.

The Marchese was succeeded by his eldest son, Federico. In 1530 the
Emperor Charles V created him first Duke of Mantua. The following year
he married Margherita di Montferrat. This was the same Federico who had
formerly been selected to be the husband of Caesar's daughter Luisa. His
famous mother lived, a widow, until February 13, 1539.

Alfonso again found his wife in a precarious condition. She was near her
confinement, and June 14, 1519, she bore a child which was still-born.
Eight days later, knowing that her end was near, she dictated an epistle
to Pope Leo. It is the last letter we