Italy and the Italians
The identity of Italy in the letters between the Sforza, Gonzaga and
Estensi during the first stage of the Italian Wars 1494-95
Wouter Kreuze (s1065912) Research master thesis
Specialisation: Europe 1000-1800 Thesis supervisor: Dr. R.P. Fagel
Second reader: Prof. Dr. P.C.M. Hoppenbrouwers Leiden University, January 2018
Research master thesis
Leiden University
Italy and the Italians
The identity of Italy in the letters between the Sforza, Gonzaga and Estensi during the first stage of the Italian Wars 1494-95
Table of contents
Introduction ... 1
The identity of Italy before and after 1494 ... 2
Historiographical controversies ... 7
1. Epistolary culture and practice ... 16
2. States & people: the personal relations that made up Italy ... 36
Family Relations ... 36
The military and personal aspects of the condotte ... 50
Servants, soldiers, officials and others; the court environment ... 57
Medals; national interest in personal objects ... 61
3. “Nor have I forgotten to be Italian.” The importance of Italy in the political argument... 70
Before the invasion; preparation and speculation ... 72
Charles’ entry into Italy and the road toward the conquest of Naples ... 81
The conclusion of the Holy League ... 89
The battle of Fornovo and the liberty of Italy ... 95
The conflict moves northwards ... 102
Ludovico changing sides once again ... 111
4. A common language for the Italians ... 115
The court language; a superregional idiom... 116
Shared concepts in the Italian language ... 133
Conclusion ... 147
Used archival material ... 154
1
Introduction
Mentre che io canto, o Dio redemptore, vedo la Italia tutta a fiama e a foco per questi Galli, che con gran valore vengon per disertar non sciò che loco
But while I sing, o my redeemer, I see all Italy on fire,
because these French – so valiant! – come to lay waste who knows what land1
Matteo Maria Boiardo, Orlando Innamorato, Libro III, Canto IX, 1-4.
These verses are from the final stanza of the Orlando Innamorato. Boiardo would never finish this masterpiece of Italian courtly literature as he died in December 1494. Earlier that year, the French had invaded the Italian peninsula and quickly found their way down south, spreading a sense of panic throughout Italy, inspiring Boiardo to cut his story short and write these alarming verses instead. These sentiments of national awareness, feelings that transcended the borders of the individual states, were shared among many Italians in the peninsula; at the same time there were also those supporting the invasion. In the latter category fell for example the Duke of Ferrara, at whose court Boiardo lived and to whom the Innamorato was dedicated. This did not mean that Ercole could not express his concerns about the state of Italy. There cannot be made a clear distinction between supporters and adversaries among the inhabitants of the peninsula. Not only did they frequently change positions, these could also be partially overlapping. This makes one wonder what this ‘Italia’ was that Boiardo and so many others spoke of. Furthermore, it raises questions about the extent where to the peninsula perceived itself as
1 Translation by: C.S. Ross. M.M. Boiardo, Orlando Innamorato. Orlando in Love (West Lafayette
2 united in some kind of conceptual entity and whether they shared a cultural horizon.
The identity of Italy before and after 1494
The existence of Italian national awareness becomes especially clear in moments of crisis, such as the period from 1494 till 1559, wherein the Italian Wars took place. The man who set into motion a series of events leading to the end of Italian self-governance, was the young monarch Charles VIII of France. From his forefathers, Charles had inherited the claims to the throne of Naples that he was determined to materialise. The developments leading to the Italian Wars have been analysed frequently and most extensively by David Abulafia. He describes how the struggle for the kingdom of Naples fought by the Anjou dynasty from the thirteenth century onwards, was eventually taken over by the French crown after these Angevins had died out. In the meantime, he also explains how the Aragonese kings spread their influence over the Mediterranean, which led to the establishment of a cadet branch on the Neapolitan throne, the very same against whom the attack of Charles VIII would be launched.2 As one can see, the French enterprise was very far from
the first of its kind. Incursions by Anjou, Aragonese and also Imperial armies had preceded. The Italian Wars, however, changed the political situation more drastically than previous conflicts had done. The Angevins had included regions outside Italy in their realm such as the Provence, but they would still frequently reside in the peninsula. The Aragonese offspring that ruled over Naples had Italianised over time, only the island of Sicily was governed directly from Spain.3 Also the foreign dynasty ruling over Monferrato, the Palaeologus,
sprouting from the main branch of Byzantine emperors, had settled in Italy.
2 D. Abulafia, The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms (London 1997); Idem, ‘Introduction: From
Ferrante I to Charles VIII’ in: idem ed., The French descent into Renaissance Italy 1494-95 (Aldershot 1995) 1-25; G. Peyronnet, ‘The distant origins of the Italian wars: political relations between France and Italy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries’ in: D. Abulafia ed., The French descent into Renaissance Italy 1494-95 (Aldershot 1995) 29-53.
3 The Island of Sicily, which in the past had formed the Kingdom of Sicily together which by that
3 Beginning with the Italian Wars, foreign powers conquered states on Italian mainland and administered them from their native grounds. Following Charles’ invasion, it was initially France to dominate in this fashion. During later stages of the Italian Wars, Spain would take over the leading position. The question of Spanish hegemony in Italy has been studied and discussed thoroughly.4 In short, even though the invasion of 1494 has become a
commonplace in history, it has been relatively understudied compared to the preceding and following years. This timeframe is particularly interesting however, as, from hindsight, these have been years of transition, especially for Italian identity.5 Therefore, the initial phase of the Italian Wars, beginning
with the invasion of 1494 and ending one year later with the return of French armies back north, will be the timeframe of this thesis.
Even though during these later years of the fifteenth century Italian identity gained more significance, it is not the time of its origin. Locating this is not the aim of this thesis, but it might prove worthwhile to look shortly into Italian identity in earlier periods. The idea of Italy in its most primeval form dates from Roman antiquity. When the idea of the Empire made a recurrence with the crowning of Charlemagne, the Kingdom of Italy was simultaneously carved out of the northern half of the peninsula. This created a bond between northern Italy and the Empire for centuries to come. Duchies and Margraves like those of Milan, Modena, Reggio and Mantua were imperial fiefs. The claims of the Hohenstaufen emperors on the northern half of Italy led to clashes with the allied Italian communes of the Lombard Leagues. Whereas this is also an example of a time wherein Italian self-governance was threatened, historians have not found a strong Italian consciousness in them. They have perceived a sense of being Lombard, a geographical identity stretching far
4 M.J. Levin, Agents of Empire (Ithaca 2005); T.J. Dandelet, Spanish Rome (Harrisongburg 2001); B.
Croce, La Spagna nella vita italiana durante la rinascenza (Bari 1913); S. D’Amico, Spanish Milan: a city within the empire, 1535-1706 (New York 2012).
4 wider than modern-day Lombardy.6 During the early years of the Renaissance,
however, Italian nationalism was very much alive. When Petrarch returned in old age, he greeted his native grounds, exclaiming:
“I greet you, land beloved by God: most holy land, I greet you. Oh, most noble, most fertile, most beautiful of all the regions, enclosed by two seas and traversed by famous mountains.”7
Thoughts on Italy were not limited to the cultural sphere but were political as well. How could it be anything else when the Empire of the Romans, those that had united the peninsula, still represented the highest perception of power in everyone’s mind?8 In this manner, Cola di Rienzo, in the first half of the
fourteenth century, dreamed of a resurrection of Roman greatness from the ruins of the eternal city, deprived of Peter’s Vicar during the Babylonian captivity, by unifying the Italian states.
The time of the communes was not to last. During the fourteenth century, they had to make place for the upcoming signorie where one man ruled all those living in the cities under his control. That Petrarch himself, friend and admirer of Cola in his younger years, left his republican sympathies behind and chose the seigniorial Visconti over the republican Florence of his forebears was symptomatic for the rise of the signorie. The Visconti above all created an enormous conglomerate of cities threatening to take over the peninsula. This provoked the hostility of other Italian states, who, under the Florentine leadership, challenged the Milanese dominance. This struggle between republican Tuscans and princely power from the North was not merely a clash
6 D. Zancani, ‘The notion of ‘Lombard’ and ‘Lombardy’ in the Middle ages’ in: A.P. Smyth ed.
Medieval Europeans: Studies in Ethnic Identity and National Perspectives in Medieval Europe (Basingstoke 2008) 221.
7 Quoted in: G. Carducci, Presso la tomba di Francesco Petrarca in Arquà il XVIII luglio
MDCCCLXXIV (Livorno 1974). Original text: “Ti saluto terra cara a Dio: santissima terra, ti saluto. O piu nobile, o piu fertile, o piu bella di tutte le regioni, cinta da due mari e altera di monti famosi.”
8 G. Brucker, ‘From campanilismo to nationhood: forging an Italian identity’ in: idem Living on the
5 of arms but also a confrontation of ideas. The Florentines launched a war of propaganda led by humanists such as Coluccio Salutati and Leonardo Bruni. They wrote on republicanism and freedom as they understood it. This had a profound influence on modern historians such as Hans Baron, for whom this ‘crisis of the early renaissance’ constituted the beginning of ‘civic humanism’ and of citizenship.9 Also for John Pocock this moment was of great importance,
influencing the tradition and language of republicanism throughout western history.10 The works of these historians, very valuable in their own right, have
given the notion of being free a republican implication. An idea closer to the hearts of modern men. This idea is also very fitting for the nation state; freedom as equality among (some) men. But this is not the only definition possible, one could also choose an interpretation more favourable to the princely or seigneurial state of mind: freedom from foreign rule. Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the great adversary of the republicans, would still regard himself as Italian. By the time that Charles crossed the Alps, a seigneurial government was rather the norm than the exception among Italian states. Florence remained a republic in name but had de facto been ruled by the Medici for decades. It is true, however, that during these years the city would, at least temporarily, return to her republican roots. At the onset of the Wars though, the remaining republics that effectively functioned as such were threefold: Venice, Lucca and Siena. Therefore, it seems fitting to make this history of the struggle for Italian freedom revolve around seigniorial rule and not republican power.
Of these aforementioned republics only Venice was included in the great five Italian states traditionally identified by historians. The others being Milan, Florence, Naples and the papacy. These states concluded the treaty of Lodi in 1454, which ended the quarrels among the participants and intended to protect their common interest. The treaty created some kind of status-quo but failed to cease warfare among the Italian states all together. There had been several incidents during the latter half of the fifteenth century such as
9 H. Baron, The crisis of the early Italian Renaissance: civic humanism and republican liberty in an
age of classicism and tyranny (Princeton 1955) 453-455.
6 the Pazzi (1478-80), Ferrara (1482-84) and Barons’ (1485-86) Wars.11 The
treaty was meant to keep anyone from calling in foreign armies, but several members threatened to do exactly that. This happened eventually with the invasion of Charles VIII, as through his interference Ludovico Sforza aimed to settle his dispute with Alfonso of Naples.12
At the close of the fifteenth century three dynasties will be exemplary for the whole situation: the Sforza, Gonzaga and Estensi. The Sforza had established themselves most recently but were, ruling over the Duchy of Milan, the most powerful of the three nonetheless. A younger son of Francesco Sforza, who had grasped power after the Visconti had gone extinct, Ludovico held power while he kept his nephew, the actual Duke, practically captive. The Gonzaga had a longer history, as they already took power over Mantua in the early fourteenth century.13 One of the most illustrious families of fifteenth
century Italy were the d’Este of Ferrara who traced their origins back deep into the middle ages.14 The suitability of these three houses for the study of identity
during the earliest part of the Italian Wars is twofold. First, despite taking diverging positions within the political landscape, they all expressed their concern on the state of affairs of Italy in one way or the other, how exactly will become clear in the course of this thesis. Secondly, being related, they wrote each other regularly discussing among other politics. Through these letters we can see how they formulated their thoughts on Italy and the political situation at the time. They are the principal source on the basis whereof this research
11 H.C. Butters, ‘Politics and diplomacy in late Quattrocento Italy: the case of the Barons' War
(1485-86)’ in: P. Denley and C. Elam ed., Florence and Italy. Renaissance Studies in Honour of Nicolai Rubinstein (London 1988) 13-31; T. Dean, ‘After the war of Ferrara: Relations between Venice and Ercole d’Este 1484-1505’ in: D.S. Chambers et al. ed. War, Culture and Society in Renaissance Venice: Essays in Honour of John Hale (London 1993) 73-98.
12 Fubini made a more thorough analysis wherein he claims that there was no continuation
between the initial League of Lodi and the treaties that were made later the fifteenth century, see: R. Fubini, ‘The Italian League and the policy of the balance of power at the accession of Lorenzo de' Medici’, Journal of Modern History, 67 (1995) 198.
13 I. Lazzarini, ‘I domini estensi e gli stati signorili padani: tipologie a confronto’ in: G. Fragnito ed.,
Girolamo Savonarola da Ferrara all'Europa (Firenze 2001) 27.
14 L. Marini, ‘Lo stato estense’ in: G. Galasso ed., I ducati padani, Trento e Trieste, Storia d’Italia
7 has been conducted. For now, we only touched upon the matters relating our sources briefly, as they will be scrutinized more extensively in the first chapter.
Historiographical controversies
With the study of these letters, we enter one of the oldest areas within the historical discipline: the study of diplomacy. Italy has traditionally taken a prominent place within the study of diplomacy whereby one would especially think of the work of Garrett Mattingly. He describes the introduction of the resident-ambassador; a permanent diplomatic representative abroad. According to his central theory, the current diplomatic tradition would find its origin in the Italian fifteenth century.15 In this way, traditional diplomatic
history ran the risk to reason back from the current praxis of existing sovereign nation states. The Renaissance has in general been prone to be studied in this way, as the classical Burckhardtian theory follows that the modern world originated in this period.16 Later historians questioned the breakthrough that
the introduction of the resident-ambassadors would have been and its development toward modern diplomacy. Around three decades ago, the more traditional current within diplomatic history gave way to the so-called ‘new diplomatic history’ which would rather view pre-modern diplomacy in its own right. Furthermore, they would aim to deploy diplomatic sources for other historical fields than politics, for instance social history.17 This thesis could be
seen in the same light as it endeavours to reconstruct the thoughts on national identity rather than recount the diplomatic process.
Italian identity takes a particular place within the broader study of identity as there was an idea of being Italian long before there was one unified Italian state. In this sense it shows that national identities are way deeper rooted, and less centrally planned, than is often accounted for. Of course, in comparing my very specific case study with the broader literature on identity,
15 G. Mattingly, Renaissance diplomacy (London 1955) 71-77.
16 J. Burckhardt, The civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (trans: S.G.C. Middlemore)(London
2004) 205, 243, 280.
17 J. Watkins, ‘Toward a new diplomatic history of Medieval and Early Modern Europe’, Journal of
8 I am only able to make claims concerning this specific example, but at the same time, this has enabled me to study the phenomenon in far more detail.
The field of identity studies is generally sketched by means of several conceptual positions. On the one end, there are the modernists; those who claim that national identities only came into being in the late eighteenth century. They admit that people living before this age had a way of seeing themselves, but deny continuity to the national identities of the modern age. This current has been particularly strong in the eighties and nineties of the previous century, but remained strong over the past few years. Its representatives bear well-known names such as Eric Hobsbawm, Ernest Gellner and, in a slightly less rigid position, Benedict Anderson. Furthermore, this train of thought has been very influential in the broader public debate.
Sometimes, the distinction is made between modernists and instrumentalists, by the conviction of the latter that national identity not only came into being relatively late but was also purposely constructed by intervention of some cynical power.18 In my view, however, all modernist
thought bears something instrumentalistic in itself, in particular caused by the modernists’ fixation on the role of states in nation-building. Shortly, we will encounter an example of this in their approach to language.
Opposed to the modernists, there are two identifiable groups, the primordialists and the perennialists. The former assume that nations are unchangeable entities and have always existed as we find them today. Very few serious historians adhere to this position nowadays. A more fruitful current has proved to be the perennialists, who have set out to prove that nationalism already existed before the eighteenth century referring to examples such as England or the Netherlands after the revolt. Therefore, they believe that nations have always, or at least since centuries, existed. Consequently, they
18 A. Gat, Nations: The long history and deep roots of political ethnicity and nationalism
9 acknowledge the possibility of these national identities to continue to exist from the pre-modern into the modern world.19
Great part of this discussion revolves around definitions. Risking consequently to eternally debate concepts rather than the available primary sources. Part of the modernists’ conviction about the very recent creation of national identities lies in their definition of ‘nationalism’. The one by Gellner, later to be adopted by Hobsbawm, follows:
“primarily principle which holds that the political and national unit should be congruent.”20
Earlier mentioned perennialist, such as Hastings for England, Gorski for the Netherlands and Anthony Smith on a more general level, to name a few, contest this by showing earlier examples that apply hereto. 21 It is not my
intention to do this for Italy. It was divided and there was in general no desire for unification. That does not mean that there could be no national awareness before the eighteenth century. The requirement of national unity has been called into existence by the modernists themselves, not without any merit, it teaches us that ‘nationalism’ defined in this way has a particular relation with the modern era. But it certainly does not prove that it had no precedent. In this sense ‘nation state’ is used to refer to the modern nationalistic unified entity, and ‘nation’ to an earlier not necessarily centralized entity caused by national awareness. There are also many other terminologies in circulation, such as
19 Anthony Smith (and other with them) also distinguish another group, not discussed here, which
is ‘ethno-symbolism,’ which focuses on the symbols used by nations. It is more an approach than a theory however, and therefore not discussed here. A.D. Smith, Nationalism. Theory, ideology, history (Cambridge 2001) 57-60.
20 E. Hobsbawn, Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality (Cambridge 1990)
9.
21 A. Hastings, The construction of nationhood : ethnicity, religion and nationalism (Cambridge
1997) 4-5; P.S. Gorski, ‘The Mosaic Moment: An Early Modernist Critique of Modernist Theories of Nationalism’, American Journal of Sociology, 105, 5 (2000) in particular: 1434-1452; A.D. Smith, The ethnic origins of nations (Oxford 1986) 1-5; A.D. Smith, Nationalism and Modernism (London and New York 1998) 145.
10 ‘ethnic’ and ‘nationhood.’ In this thesis, I for one, will speak of the existence of ‘national awareness’ leading to the existence of the Italian ‘nation’. The expression of concerns about the state of this nation I have named ‘nationalism.’ This term is not contemporaneous, in fifteenth century Italy they would not talk in terms of ‘nationalism,’ as no such word existed.22 This word’s
root, however, is the Latin natio, wherefrom was also derived the Italian
nazione,23 encountered in the letters too.24
Nations are mental concepts with little or no clearly definable counterparts to perceive in physical reality. Also Anderson’s much-acclaimed notion of ‘imagined communities’ fits into this thought, following that the members of the nation state felt part of the same group, even though they did not personally knew every other member. This idea spoke to Hobsbawm, commenting upon it:
“it is, in Benedict Anderson’s useful phrase, an ‘imagined community,’ and no doubt this can be made to fill the emotional void left by the retreat or disintegration, or the unavailability of real human communities and networks.”25
In my view, however, in this passage Hobsbawm misinterpreted the ingenuity of the idea. Anderson himself reacted to a misunderstanding by Gellner in the following words:
22 Smith, Nationalism, 6; R. Stein, ‘Introduction’ in: idem and J. Pollmann ed., Networks, Regions
and Nations Shaping Identities in the Low Countries, 1300-1650 (Leiden 2009) 5.
23 Or ‘natione’ in the courtly language. This term would not be used to refer to the same idea of
the nation as many modernists would use it today. It seems mainly used to refer to a group of people that were supposed to form one cultural group.
24 The times that it is being used, it never refers to the Italian nation. Ludovico speaks twice of the
French nation, ASMan1613, Ludovico Sforza to Francesco Gonzaga, 24 August 1495;
ASMod1215A, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 28 January 1494. Another time, Ercole speaks of the German nation, ASMil335, Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 15 January.
11 “he assimilates ‘invention’ to ‘fabrication’ and ‘falsity,’ rather than to ‘imagining’ and ‘creation.’ In this way he implies that ‘true’ communities exist which can be advantageously juxtaposed to nations.”26
The whole nature of communities, such as nations, is that they are imagined, or, in other words, mental concepts. The same thought could be applied to a whole range of things whose ontological existence does not correspond with much less abstract concepts such as, for example, a ‘chair.’ ‘Nations’ exist within the minds of men in the same way that ‘languages’ and ‘universities’ do. One cannot point out exactly what a ‘language’ consists of physically. That does not mean it does not exist. In the same way, I identify as a member of Leiden University, that does not mean that I know every other student or staff member, nor is the university reducible to the walls and bricks of its buildings. The university has, of course, been consciously founded at a specific point, whereas languages, and, as I argue, the nation, have not.
This research endeavours to study this mental concept, or, in less abstract terms, the thought, on the nation. They have once been in the mind of man, but one perished with the other and we have no direct access hereto. These individuals wrote to each other in the earlier mentioned letters, and between all the pressing concerns and contemporary topics we are able to discern the traces that enable us to create an image of their idea of the nation. It has often been said that words do not have a meaning in themselves but only in relation to each other. This could perhaps be compared to the approach of the anthropologist Frederik Barth, who, in order to identity different ethnic identities, aimed to study the boundaries between groups rather than their cultural characteristics. This idea consequently has been frequently adopted in the study of identity.27 Members of one group would
distinguish themselves from ‘the other’ by words as ‘barbarians,’ a practice also encountered in our letters. This idea, on the other hand, is very hard to apply, first of all because being a historian and not an anthropologist I cannot
26 B. Anderson, Imagined communities (London 2006) 6.
12 interrogate individuals as such, or, at least, I am bound to the material (the letters in this case) they left behind. Secondly, these individuals themselves perceived differences through cultural characteristics and would for example speak of ‘our language’ as opposed to others, as well as ‘our customs,’ juxtaposed to those of ‘others.’
One of these cultural phenomena is language. The position of the modernist is rather complex, and sometimes they allow a pre-modern form of nationalism, for example called ‘proto-nationalism,’28 wherein the importance
of language is generally stressed. This is perceived, however, from the perspective of the state, showing thus instrumentalistic tendencies. The two following quotations are particularly revealing. The first is by Anderson, who speaks of:
“the slow, geographical uneven, spread of particular vernaculars as instruments of administrative centralization by certain well-positioned would-be absolutist monarchs.”29
He consequently influenced Hobsbawm, who claimed something similar:
“it creates a community of this intercommunicating elite which, if it coincides with or can be made to coincide with a particular territorial state area and vernacular zone, can be a sort of model or pilot project for the as yet non-existent larger intercommunicating community of ‘the nation.’”30
The different Italian states, however, tended to grow linguistically together, rather than to use their regional dialects as administrative languages. The modernists have been so preoccupied to bring about some unmasking of nations that they solely focus on singular states as cynical creators of identity. It is in
28 This is the term used by Hobsbawm, Nations, 46. 29 Anderson, Imagined communities, 40.
13 these matters that a detailed study of national consciousness in fifteenth century Italy can prove worthwhile.
In both past and present Italians are known to have strong affection towards their city of origin. By some this might be seen as the proof that these Italian states actually did operate as cynical creators of identity, and indeed, there have been historians that set out to study how these princes created an identity around their court.31 However, even though they were active in
self-promotion, they never created anything like national identities within their territorial states. This becomes visible through the civic identities in existence in cities that did not function as the capital of a dynastic state. This goes for example for Modena and Reggio in the Estensi state and many cities in Lombardy under the Sforza.32 A more troublesome problem in this respect is
how to distinguish these lower layers of identity from the national level. In what sense are they of a different nature? Could one also speak of a Tuscan nation? Apparently not.
Let us then turn to some of the insights of earlier historians on Italian identity. There are first of all, historians that have claimed that the Italian peninsula had been culturally united by the fourteenth century or that there was something as an Italian society.33 These ideas will occur implicitly in this
thesis since I will stress both the importance of culture and personal relations. Fundamental for my own thought has been the realization by Federico Chabod that nation states could not exist before modern times since one swore allegiance to people and not countries.34 Diana Webb claimed that being Italian
meant to live under the rule of the church. Personally, I think that the papal
31 M. Folin, Rinascimento estense : politica, cultura, istituzioni di un antico Stato italiano (Bari
2001) 1-8; I. Lazzarini, ‘La difesa della città. La definizione dell’identità urbana assediata in tempo di guerra e in tempo di pace (Mantova, 1357-1397)’ in: D. Degrassi and G.M. Vararini ed., Città sotto assedio, Reti Medievali Rivista, 8 (2007) 20-21.
32 Marini, ‘Lo stato estense’, 8-13; G. Vigo, Fisco e società nella Lombardia del Cinquecento
(Bologna 1979) 21-24.
33 D. Hay, The Italian Renaissance in its historical background (Cambridge 2006), 26-57; J.K. Hyde,
Society and politics in medieval Italy. The evolution of the civil life, 1000-1350 (London 1973) 5.
34 F. Chabod, ‘Esiste uno stato del rinascimento’ in: Idem, Scritti sul Rinascimento (Turin 1967)
14 presence was important for Italian pride, but not that it was fundamental for Italian national awareness.35 We have already been warned by Lauro Martines
that:
“the temptation to read the nationalism of the modern world back into the sixteenth century must be resisted.”36
In general, there has been many a claim that the importance of nationalism would have been diminished by other factors putting a hold to political action in the face of national threats.37 On the basis of my selected sources, I will
propose an interpretation that takes these limitations into account and could be summarised as follows: through the French invasion, national awareness rose, in particular in all those with political consciousness, thus resulting in the existence of the nation, its importance only to be diminished through the personal character of power. From this it follows that the only main characteristic that distinguishes modern from pre-modern nationalism is that power was exclusively executed in a personal capacity as the state was private property.
In order to arrive at this conclusion, we have to start in the first chapter at a far more elementary level: the series of letters that I have selected as our sources. The circumstances where under these letters were written, sent and preserved are important to their interpretation. Since the letters are composed according to certain conventions, the correspondence from the different courts share similarities in their appearance. It is within the shared greater cultural framework that the statements on identity were being made. The second chapter elaborates on this by investigating the importance of personal relations. The writers knew each other well; they were all related and part of the same social environment. The letters are remnants of personal relations,
35 D. Webb, ‘Italians and others: some quattrocento views of nationality and the church’, Studies
in Church History, 18 (1982) 259.
36 L. Martines, Power and imagination : city-states in Renaissance Italy (London 2002) 288. 37 Brucker, ‘From campanilismo’, 47.
15 one can see the intertwinement of the personal and political through them. The protection of Italian interests equalled the preservation of its existing states. Then, in the third chapter, we will see how the current state of affairs in Italy was used as a political argument. If the participants of the correspondence were aware that the political situation as they knew it was in crisis, then this must have had its effect on the letters. The fourth chapter will discuss something more essential to the thoughts expressed in the letters, namely language. Its content is twofold. As the so-called ‘language question’ was debated at the time, we will delve into the morphological features of the language. Herein, we see how these courts were linguistically linked. The other part of this chapter is of a more political nature and puts under scrutiny several key concepts appearing in the letters to describe the state of Italy.
16
1. Epistolary culture and practice
The archives of Milan, Mantua and Modena contain an abundance of letters, ready to be rediscovered. Those that have been disclosed in the process of this research originated in the years 1494 and 1495, and are limited to those between the princes of the aforementioned cities and their family members. They only amount to a fragment of the complete richness of available sources. All these letters that passed through my hands, in their totality more than a thousand, form the backbone of this research. They are fascinating objects, but it has proved an arduous task to understand them in all their complexities. Some of these, insofar as they have to do with the letters in material sense, will be set out in this chapter. We will try to understand the circumstances wherein these letters were created, used and preserved. Its function is threefold. First of all, there is the reason I have already more or less set out: the context of creation of the material will be fundamental for the rest of this research, when we will interpret the texts preserved in them. Then, secondly, the next chapter will be about personal relations since this constitutes a crucial link in my central thesis on Italian nationalism in the fifteenth century. For this argument the letters are in their material sense crucial because they are testimony to the personal relations between the correspondents. As such, we anticipate a bit on the next chapter. The personal relations must originally have encompassed other means of communication, from direct conversation to oral messages sent through ambassadors (or others). The letters are, however, the part we still have access to. Third, the letters are in their similar appearance an example of the shared cultural framework between the courts of the Italian peninsula. In broad lines the structure of this chapter follows the lives of the letters. We will begin at the moment of their creation, follow them on their journey to their recipient, see how they were read and finally brought to the archives.
There were, in broad lines, three types of letters in early modern Europe. The private vernacular writing of the middle and upper class, the humanist Latin letters and lastly, the category wherein the letters of this research in
17 general fall, the diplomatic and official, or the chancellery letter.38 In most
instances, if a prince, or one of his family members, wanted to write a letter, they did not take up the feather themselves. Instead, they relied on the services of a scribe, that usually would leave his name in the bottom-right corner of the document (still under the name of the formal sender). Here, we encounter a practical problem. It is hard to establish, not to say impossible, whether the person in whose name the letter was written, was actually present at the time of its composition. In general, it is assumed that the formal sender was dictating the text while the scribe was writing.39 Isabella d’Este seemed to have
meant this when she excused herself to Ludovico Sforza on several occasions for not writing a letter in her own hand because she was impeded by sickness, weariness or other obligations.40 In other cases, however, there are actually
grounds to think that the person whose signature the letter bore was absent at its composition. At a certain point in the war, pope Alexander VI tried to re-establish relations with Ludovico Sforza after the imprisonment of his brother, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. Il Moro angrily responded to his letter by saying, “O this pope has a lack of secretaries and notaries that write his letters properly,” implying that they would decide their contents.41 Two decades earlier, after the
failed conspiracy of Niccolò di Leonello d’Este against duke Ercole, the ducal
38 This is the distinction as made by J.M. Najemy, Between friends : discourses of power and desire
in the Machiavelli-Vettori letters of 1513-1515 (Princeton 1993) 18; I. Lazzarini, Communication and Conflict: Italian Diplomacy in the Early Renaissance, 1350-1520 (Oxford 2015) 202-203.
39 J. Bryce, ‘Between friends? Two letters of Ippolita Sforza to Lorenzo de’ Medici’, Renaissance
Studies, 21, 3 (2007) 353.
40 ASMil399, Isabella d’Este do Ludovico Sforza, 9 May 1495. In her native Ferrara she had already
learned how to write letters from a very young age, D. Shemek, ‘Isabella d’Este and the properties of persuasion,’ in: A. Crabb and J. Couchman ed., Early Modern Women's Letters Across Europe (Ashgate 2005) 125.
41 Citation found in: A. Segre, ‘Ludovico Sforza detto il Moro e la republica di Venezia dall’autunno
1494 alla primavera 1495’, Archivio storico lombardo 29 (1902) 315. Original: “O questo papa ha difecto de secretarij et nodari che li scriuano bene le sue lettere.”
18 secretary Ugo Callefini wrote in his chronicle that he composed some letters to various princes and signed them with the duke’s name.42
The reason that one relied on the scribe’s services was not solely to be free from the practical act of writing. The position of amanuensis was political as well; these secretaries were part of the chancellery, the main political institution at the courts. In Ferrara the referendarius, the head of the chancellery, also had a seat in the ducal council. Under him there were (at least in 1476) two secretaries, and under those another 6 so-called cancelleri.43 In
Milan, the chancellery was divided in four sectors, in one of them, the political, the letters to foreign princes would be written. The chancellery conducted all the diplomatic affairs, from ambassadors to the ducal mail. To become part of the cancelleria segreta one had to be a trained scribe.44 All those employed in
the chancellery had received a literary and humanistic education and had obtained political insights working their way up the hierarchy of the Ducal administration.45 These were not simple servants, but influential figures at
court. This also makes sense, since through their writing state secrets and other confidential information would be revealed to them. This also means that as a general rule, all the princely letters were written by one and the same scribe. As such figures of importance, secretaries were also sent out to act as intermediaries on behalf of their masters autonomously. Isabella d’Este was known to have done this regularly with her secretary Capilupi.46 We know that
Ludovico Sforza did the same with Bartolommeo Calco, as he wrote reports
42 I. Lazzarini, ‘A “New” Narrative? Historical Writing, Chancellors and Public Records in Renaissance
Italy (Milan, Ferrara and Mantua, ca. 1450–1520)’ in: N.S. Baker and B.J. Maxson ed., After Civic Humanism: Learning and Politics in Renaissance Italy (Toronto 2015) 195.
43 W.L. Gundersheimer, Ferrara. The style of a Renaissance despotism (Princeton 1973) 291; The
title of referendarius for the most important office in the chancellery seems to have been a typical Ferrarese thing, as in Milan the referendarius oversaw financial matters, F. Leverotti, ‘Gli officiale dell ducato sforzesco,’ Annali della Classe di Lettere e Filosofia della Scuola Normale Superiore IV, 1 (1997) 40.
44 Leverotti, ‘Gli officiali’, 6.
45 Folin, Rinascimento Estense, 157, 160.
46 G. Malacarne, I Gonzaga di Mantova: I Gonzaga marchesi.Il sogno del potere, da Gianfrancesco
19 back from Ferrara, informing his master about the made progress.47 Not much
later Calco was instead sent to the Venetian Republic to discuss a treaty.48 The
letters were not necessarily written by the head of the chancellery; this is problematic because biographical information is hard to retrieve for others. For instance, the scribe’s name in the Este letters does not belong to the
referendario Siviero Savieri, but to a certain ‘Theobaldus.’49 Probably one of the
other secretaries we spoke of earlier.50 In Milan, the situation was different, as
we always find the name of the head of the chancellery: ‘B. Calcus:’ Bartolommeo Calco.51 In the Gonzaga letters, the scribe’s name is usually
missing, but when found, it was ‘Antimachus.’ This was the nickname (Italianised ‘Antimacho’) of Matteo Sachetti, first secretary of the marquess.52
From the earlier mentioned letter by Isabella, the reader can already have understood that in some instances noblemen and women did take up the feather themselves. They would usually make mention of this, though it does not take an expert’s eye to discern their disorganised scribbles from the regular lines of a professional scribe. Letters were not written by own hand due to a lack of available scribes but for social reasons. They confirmed and strengthened the personal bond between two people. At times, they were even explicitly requested.53 People with a particularly strong relationship, such as
Ludovico and his wife’s sister Isabella d’Este, would exchange such letters frequently. At various occasions the Marchioness excused herself for not having written something herself:
47 For example: ASMil334, Bartolommeo Calco to Ludovic Sforza, 2 November 1494. 48 ASMod1215A, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 10 December 1494.
49 M. Folin, Il sistema politico di un antico Stato italiano: i ducati estensi nella prima Età moderna
(1452-1598) (Pisa 2000) 159; By Gundersheimer the name of the secretary is written as Siverio Siveri, Gundersheimer, Ferrara, 8.
50 There were also notaries that could be used in different parts of the Ducal household. It seems
unlikely that it was one of them, however, as they were part of the camera and not of the chancellery. G. Guerzoni, ‘The administration of the Este courts in the xv-xvii century’ in: C. Arcelli ed., I saperi nelle corti = Knowledge at the court (Florence 2008) 549; Gundersheimer, W.L., ‘The patronage of Ercole I d’Este’, Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies 6,1 (1976) 8-10.
51 Leverotti, ‘Gli officiali’, 6.
52 F. Dolfo, Lettere ai Gonzaga (Rome 2002) 322n.
20 “if this letter is not by my hand as is my custom and obligation, you will have to excuse me.”54
Hand-written letters were considered of such importance that their autographic nature was even recorded when they were turned into copies.55 A
simpler alternative to the autograph was the letter where one simply added one’s name under an already composed text. The Gonzaga Marquess observed in an autograph to Sforza, “to undersign it with the own hand as a sign of great affection.”56 In an attempt to persuade Gonzaga, il Moro himself wrote:
“the greatness of our desire will become clear to you through the signature [sottoscriptione] in our own hand.”57
These practices were the exceptions though. Most letters were from beginning to end written by the scribe.
The letters always follow the same structure and employ identical formulas. Therefore, they are very similar in appearance. In the fifteenth century, letter writing was being theorised and it was possible to consult manuals on how to write letters.58 These similarities in the letters from this
54 ASMil399, Isabella d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 16 June 1495. “Se questa l’ra non è de mia mane
como è costuma & debito mio la sua v. me hauera per excusata.” See also: ASMil399, Isabella d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 9 April, 9 May, 6, 20 July 1495; For an example of Beatrice d’Este excusing herself for the same thing, see: ASMan1612, Beatrice d’Este to Isabella d’Este, 10 September, 20(?) December 1494.
55 For example: ASMod1215, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 2 February 1494; ASMil334, Ludovico
Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 20 March; ASMil335, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, March 1495.
56 ASMil399, Francesco Gonzaga to Ludovico Sforza, 9 February 1495. Original: “p’ magior
testimonio de caldeza, sottoscriuer’ la l’ra de mano p’pria.”
57 ASMan1613, Ludovico Sforza to Francesco Gonzaga, 6 February 1495. Original: “questo n’ro
desiderio la grandeza del quale gli/ sara manifesta per la sottoscritpione de mano n’ra.”
21 period have been observed by others as well.59 The first thing on top of the page
(besides modern archival additions) was always the formal salutation to the addressee. This did usually not include a name. For instance, the salutation of Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este follows, "Jllustrissime et Exellentissime Domine Socer et pater honore".60 Hereafter, we find the content of the letter.
When there is something to thank the addressee for, such as intelligence transmitted in earlier letters, this was usually mentioned first. If this was not the case, it moved directly to the matter itself. To introduce new subjects, the writers used indents, shifting the beginning of the line slightly to the right. Practically the same way wherein paragraphs are opened in this text. This does not apply to many letters, simply because they only contain one subject. The letters are sometimes concluded with recommending oneself to the recipient. More common is some wish of luck, such as “bene valeat.”61 Then, the
conclusion follows very standard conventions, hardly any letter not containing it: first the place and date of composition, then, after a whitespace, the senders name and title, for example:
“[…] Ferrariae xiij Februarij
Hercules Dux Ferrarriae etc.”62
The addressees’ name does usually not appear on the front side of the letter. Instead, it is written on the backside, sometimes also partly on the piece of paper connected to the seal. The full addressee from a letter from Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza would for example be:
59 C. James, ‘Marriage by Correspondence: Politics and Domesticity in the Letters of Isabella d’Este
and Francesco Gonzaga, 1490–1519’, Renaissance Quarterly 65, 2 (2012) 324; Lazzarini, Communication, 51.
60 ASMod1215, Ludovico Sfroza to Ercole d'Este, 18 March 1494.
61 For example: ASMan1186, Ercole d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, 19 January 1494. 62 ASMil334, Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 13 February 1494.
22 “Jllustrissimo & Exellentissimo Domino e Genero e fratri nostro honorando domine Ludouico marię sforzię vicecomiti Duci Bari etcetera.”63
Establishing the mode of delivery is challenging since the letters contain little information about this themselves. When forwarding reports from various states, Ludovico always speaks of ‘horse ridings’ (cavalcate),64 implying that
these messages were transmitted by horse. For transition over his own territory, il Moro disposed over a mail system with horses stationed at the greater cities. Since one wanted to be sure that this information was in safe hands, the offices at the stations tended to get monopolized by the same families.65 Only in extraordinary instances we have information on the
identities of the messengers. On one occasion, Ferrante d’Este mentions that his servant (cameriero) brought the letter in question.66 At another peculiar
instance, a certain man named Vincenzo Da Reggio67 brings a letter from
Ludovico Sforza to Isabella d’Este discussing a case concerning his own person. The letter has been signed by Ludovico himself and mentions that it had been recited by its courier, “Vincenzo himself, the earlier said, word by word.”68 The
rest of the letter was written in the scribe’s hand. Letters were also given to other princes who were supposed to act as intermediaries and pass them on to their final destination. This was especially useful when normal diplomatic relations between sender and recipient were interrupted. Il Moro, for instance, desperately wanted to get in touch with Giovanni Bentivoglio, the de facto ruler of Bologna. He dispatched the letters not directly to him but by means of Ercole d’Este, who had a better relationship with the first citizen of the Emilian city
63 ASMil334, Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 10 April 1494.
64 For example ASMod1215A, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 6 February 1494. 65 Leverotti, ‘Gli officiali’, 6, 29-30.
66 ASMan1186, Ferrante d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, 6 December 1495. 67 Vicentio Da Rezo, the standardization to modern Italian is my guess.
68 ASMan1613, Ludovico Sforza to Isabella d’Este, 7 April 1495. Original: “Vicenzo p’prio la ditata de
23 and also held court nearby.69 A fixed delivery procedure occurred when
ambassadors were sent abroad and arrived at court for the first time to hand over their letters of credence.70 But their role in delivery extended beyond
protocol. Ambassadors disposed over their own channels to secure frequent correspondence with their princely masters. They might have offered to put the same means to the disposition of their host prince and make his letters reach their homeland. This is at least what il Moro seemed to suggest when mentioning the letters that Ercole d’Este would receive through his ambassador Jacomo Trotto in Lombardy.71 It is proven more explicitly by a copy
of a letter to Alfonso d’Este from Milan; here it is noted that the letter was:
“Expeditae dentur Domino Jacomo Trotto cum lettris Jllustrissimi Domini Reuerendi.”72
When two people sent letters to a common correspondent, they could be send together, as did Beatrice d’Este, when her husband Ludovico Sforza sent a letter to her father, Ercole d’Este.73 The Este Duke answered them likewise
with two separate letters.74
Letters often refer to other letters in the correspondence as well as to communication between others. Many of the letters were brief messages whose sole intention was to communicate information obtained elsewhere.75 In some
instances, this was done by sending the original letter, but in others a summary or an exemplum had been made.76 An exemplum could be both a selected
69 ASMod1215, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 11 March 1494.
70 D.E. Queller, The office of ambassador in the middle ages (Princeton 1967) 111-112. 71 ASMod1215A, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 6 February 1494.
72 ASMil335, Copy of Ludovico Sforza to Alfonso d’Este, 4 June 1495. 73 ASMil334, Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 13 February 1495.
74 For example: ASMil336, Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 2 December; Ercole d’Este to Beatrice
d’Este, 2 December 1495.
75 An important diplomatic aim at the time was the gathering of information, see for example: C.
Vivante, ‘Machiavelli e l’informazione diplomatica nel primo cinquecento’ in: A. Pontremoli ed., La Lingua e le lingue di Machiavelli: Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Torino, 2-4 dicembre 1999 (Florence 2001),’ 21-46; Lazzarini, Communication, 78-80.
24 fragment as well as a copy of the whole letter. This may sound surprising as one would expect otherwise, but one of the letters of Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza has been preserved within the Archivio di Stato of Milan both in its original form as well as the in the ‘exemplum,’ and they are practically identical.77 “I had made a summary containing things worthy of your
attention,” Ludovico explained.78 In the same way, we find in, for example, the
Archive of Modena, a “copy of a chapter of the letter,”79 of Ludovico to Ercole
instead of the original. This sharing of information was of great significance, as it proved political engagement and constituted an attempt to build mutual trust.80 Another use of the exchange was to compare one’s own sources with the
intellegence collected by someone else in order to establish the reliability of both the information as well as the agent. This is at least what Ludovico seems to allude to when he said:
“I have gladly received your news from Rome and from Florence and from Rome I have the same.”81
The agreement to keep each other informed was usually made explicit.82 The
sharing of information could even lead to the opening of letters by someone other than their addressee. On one occasion, we know that Ercole d’Este opened, with permission, letters from Rome directed to Ludovico Sforza that by
77 ASMil335, Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sfrorza, 10 May 1495 and ASMil335, Exemplum of Ercole
d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 10 May 1495.
78 ASMil334, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 2 June 1494. Original: “ho facto fare vno summario
continente le cose che sono digne de sua noticia.”
79 ASMil1216, Summary of a letter of Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 24 April 1495. Original: “copia
de vno Cap’lo de l’ra.” According to the vocabolario della crusca, ‘capitolo’ is used as a part of a written text, comparable to the Latin ‘caput.’
80 Also noted by others, Lazzarini, Communication, 111.
81 ASMil1215A, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 11 October 1494. Original: “ho veduto voluntera li
auisi suoi de roma et de Firenza Da roma io ho el/ medesmo.”
82 See more in Chapter 2. This apparently happened in other times as well, as in 1502, Ercole’s
ambassador Beltrando Costabili asked the same practice to the pope, M. Folin, ‘Gli oratori estensi nel sistema politico italiano (1440-1505),’ in: G. Fragnito ed., Girolamo Savonarola da Ferrara all'Europa (Firenze 2001) 67.
25 circumstances had fallen into his hands.83 Possibly, the same had happened at
other occasions where the Este Duke mentioned to have opened other letters and consequently forwarded to Milan.84
Since the Sforza, Este and Gonzaga shared letters and contents among themselves that they had received from others, one can safely assume that their own letters were also shared beyond their circle. It was very common to reveal the content of letters to ones most trusted advisers. As the letters contained both political and personal content, this could lead to the sharing of information with people for whom it must have been slightly inappropriate or at least redundant. For this reason, il Moro, as we will see, asked others to write him two letters with different contents.85 The letters also circulated
between family members. The Gonzaga are a particular case, since Isabella d’Este often stood in for her husband Francesco Gonzaga in administering the state while he was leading the soldiers into battle.
Since the letters contained information of political importance, security was paramount concern. Thence a series of measures were taken to control the spreading of information. Limiting the amount of surviving archival material and access hereto was the norm in early modern Italy.86 It was in particular
Ludovico Sforza who took measures to improve safety. In the Duchy of Milan, it was the responsibility of the officiali delle bollette to monitor all mail passing through the duchy.87 Ludovico told his father-in-law, “I urge you strongly to
keep these things secret to yourself.”88 Furthermore, the princes also called
their originals back from their recipients.89
83 ASMil336, Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 7 July 1495.
84 For example: ASMil336, Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 16 July 1495. 85 ASMod1215A, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 6 February 1494.
86 At least, De Vivo perceives similar measures for Venetian state documents. F. De Vivo,
Information and Communication in Venice (New York 2007) 4.
87 Leverotti, ‘Gli officiali’, 27-28.
88 ASMod1215, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 19 March 1494. Original: “ben prego la ex’ v’ra
tenga queste cose secrete preso se.”
26 “In order to inform your excellency about what I recently received from France, I send you the attached excerpts of the letters, requesting you to keep them in the secrecy that the material asks for and to return them consequently.”90
In yet another letter, Ludovico mentions the reason for returning the letters explicitly:
“in order that you will be sure that this news will not end up elsewhere, we resend you your letters.”91
Another strategy the Milanese Duke employed was requesting his letters to be burned after their addressee had read them.
“Hereby, I give example of this to your excellency, in order to follow our usual agreement to communicate everything, urging you strongly that when you have read it, not only not to talk about it with others, but for more security also to burn it.”92
Note that this refers to an attached document and not to the letter itself. Thus, the Este Duke did not, as far as we are concerned, ignore the instructions. Some of the qualified information was so confidential that Ludovico gave only access to a very restricted group of individuals:
90 ASMod1215, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 20 March 1494. Original: “Per fare participle la ex’
v’ra de quello che [h]o nouam’te de Franza li mando li alligati exempli de le l’re pregandole tenga [i]n quella secreteza che ricercar la materia et remandandoli poi inante.”
91 ASMod1215, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 28 June 1494. Original: “et perch’ la sij certa che
q’s’a auisi no’ penetrano in altri li reman’o le l’re sue.”
92 ASMod1215, Ludovico Sforza to Ercoled’Este, 2 February 1494; Also copy: ASMil334, Ercole
d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 2 February 1494; See for other instances: ASMod1215, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 19 January 1495. Original: “Ne mando exemplo cum questa alla ex’ v’ per seruare lo instituto consueto de communicarli omne cosa: pregandola bene quando lhabia letta lei: no’ solo non ne volia fare parole cum altri ma per piu sicurreza ancora brusarla.”
27 “I inform your excellency that I follow this order: of the cavalcate that come I make two parts, whereof one containing the general things, this one I have read out in the presence of our advisors where I also allow to be present messer Giacomo [Trotto, Ferrarese ambassador]: and from this, one can understand a few things: the other with the more essential things I do no not communicate to anyone, except with your excellency and with the most reverent monsignore my brother [Ascanio Sforza, cardinal].”93
Another means of enclosing information was through encoding with secret scripts. These scripts were exchanged between the parties to write “secret and important things.”94 Many letters were written with cryptography, but they
only rarely survive. As they contained the most important information of the whole correspondence, this was what one wanted to hide from unauthorised eyes. This means, unfortunately, that many of the letters where political ambitions were most outspoken have not survived. In this research there has only been found one encrypted letter. Herein, only the body text has been written in secret script, whereas the introduction, including the salutation and the ending of the letter, have been composed in the regular Latin alphabet.95
These measures were not redundant, there was a real risk involved in the circulation of information, proved by the cases wherein it passed into unauthorised hands. Sforza was furious when he found out that one of the officials at his court had been sending the Neapolitan king letters.96 Their
93 ASMod1215A, Ludovico Sfroza to Ercole d’Este, 6 February 1494. Original: “Auiso la v’ ex’tia chio
io seruo questo ordine: che de le caualcate che vegnono lo ne facio due parte de le quale Luna che contene Le cose generale: et questa la facio legere alla p’ntia de li n’ri consilieri, doui facio anche Interuenire epso m’ Jacomo: et per questo el po recogliere qualche cosa: laltra de le cose piu interinseche: et de questa no’ se ne participa, saluo cu’ la v’ ex’tia et cu’ Mons’re Rv’mo mio Fratello.”
94 ASMil335, Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 15 March 1495. Original: “cose secrete e
d’importantia.”
95 ASMil335, Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 18 March 1495; For other letters in which secret code
language is mentioned, see: ASMod1216, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 11, 13, 27 March; ASMil335, Ercole d’Este to Ludovico Sforza, 15, 18, 24 March, 11 July.
96 Namely by one messer Bochalino Da Osmo, ASMod1215, Ludovico Sforza to Ercole d’Este, 15
28 adversaries encountered likewise difficulties disclosing their intelligence, and Ludovico’s men once succeeded in intercepting letters by Louis de Orléans.97
One should proceed with caution however as sly tactics could be into play. During later stages of the war, in circumstances very different from those two early years, Isabella had one of her letters intentionally intercepted to assure the pope of her allegiance.98
The original letters that survived all the way up to our days are as a rule preserved in the archives of the addressee. The structure they are placed into could vary from one collection to the other. The original Estensi archive was organized in three main components. Of these, the letters from foreign states were kept in the secret archive (archivio segreto), together with investitures, privileges, titles and other personal documents belonging to the family members. As an effect, they were kept apart from the writings of Estensi ambassadors and other informants abroad, that were to be found in the so-called Grotta. This structure is very characteristic for the way wherein the Estensi organised their state. It existed of different distinguishable parts; newly founded institutions existed next to older ones.99 Private matters of the
ruling dynasty and state-related affairs were far more integrated in the Mantuan archives.100 At the Sforza court, the integration of diplomatic and
personal epistolary activity was reflected in the archival organisation where in the same place letters received from the members of other dynasties are scattered among diplomatic reports from the same areas.
The amount of remaining letters varies from one correspondence to the other and from period to period. It is often said that the amount of remaining letters is not representational for the number of letters that was originally
97 ASMan1613, Ludovico Sforza to Francesco Gonzaga, 23 August 1495. 98 James, ‘Marriage’, 339.
99 D. Frigo, ‘Small states and diplomacy: Mantua and Modena’ in: idem and A. Belton ed., Politics
and diplomacy in early modern Italy: the structure of diplomatic practice, 1450-1800 (Cambridge and New York 2000) 148; T. Dean, ‘Ferrara and Mantua’ in: A. Gamberini and I. Lazzarini, The Italian Renaissance State (Cambridge 2012) 117.
100 Folin, Il sistema, 123-124; Lazzarini, ‘I domini’, 24, 32; Their state had also one centre till the
acquisition of Monferrato in 1530, I., Lazzarini, ‘Gli officiali del marchesato di Mantova’, Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. Classe di lettere e filosofia 4 (1997) 81.
29 written and delivered. This is a very theoretical approach that only looks to numbers; often when there are very few letters left, the reason is a very practical one on the side of the receiver. We will get back to this later. The amount of remaining letters on both sides of the correspondence sometimes seems to roughly follow the same trend, such as between d’Este and Sforza in 1495. On the other hand, we also have cases wherein one end has a bunch of material left, while on the other there is hardly any at all. This happens for example in August 1495; there are still 52 letters from Ludovico Sforza to Francesco Gonzaga in the Mantuan archive, whereas in the other direction merely one. That there are far less letters preserved in the Milanese archive could be explained by Francesco’s military campaigns at the time. The Gonzaga administration was a particular case, since especially when Francesco went abroad, his wife Isabella used to take care of state affairs. When we add Isabella’s letters to those of Francesco, however, as I have done in chart three, the picture does not become more balanced. Broadly speaking, the frequency of the correspondences that Ludovico Sforza held on the one hand with Ercole d’Este and on the other with Francesco Gonzaga is opposite to each other. Il Moro fervidly wrote to Ercole d’Este in the run-up and first stage of the war to discuss the strategic positions and again at the end of the second year when the war was coming to a close and Ercole acted as an intermediary. Between these two points, it was Gonzaga that became the more regular correspondent of the Duke of Milan. When correspondents found themselves at the same place, be it because of a visit or other reasons, they had no reason to write each other. This occurs for the first time in September 1494, when Ercole d’Este travelled to Alessandria, where il Moro was present, to honour Charles VIII after his arrival in Italy. In October, Ercole d’Este travelled again to Lombardy in order to discuss matters with the King.101 Isabella went once to Milan to
attend her sister’s first childbirth, but also to visit il Moro, as her visit was
