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"Mother, the Padre talked to Erasmo in Spanish. I could not understand all he said, but it was about coming to live with him, and going to Mexico, to see the sights there.
And since the form of investiture has been given this summer to the Treasurer of Burgundy, you can obtain it from him by means of Messer Erasmo, and we will afterwards send you the imperial mandate that you may arrange this. As to the form of delivery of the temporalities, we desire to follow that which was employed in the cases of former dukes, which we will seek out and let you have.
And he on his part had much to tell her of the news which Belgiojoso had brought from France, and of the despatches which he received from Erasmo Brasca in Germany. The summer months were spent in the Castello of Pavia, where Beatrice nursed her husband in a slight attack of fever, and afterwards received a visit from her father and brother.
Barges filled with Brenta water or Mirano wine take up their station at the neighbouring steps, and then ensues a mighty splashing and hurrying to and fro of men with tubs upon their heads. The brawny fellows in the winebarge are red from brows to breast with drippings of the vat. And now there is a bustle in the quarter. A barca has arrived from S. Erasmo, the island of the market-gardens.
Luzio-Renier, op. cit., p. 365. Lodovico's ambitious designs Isabella of Aragon appeals to her father Breach between Naples and Milan Alliance between the Pope, Venice, and Milan proclaimed Mission of Erasmo Brasca to the king of the Romans Journey of Lodovico and Beatrice to Ferrara Fêtes and tournaments Visit to Belriguardo, and return of Lodovico to Milan Arrival of Belgiojoso from France.
On the third day after the marriage ceremony, the queen started on her journey across the Alps, attended by Maximilian's ambassadors and a numerous suite, which included her brother, Ermes Sforza; her cousin, Francesco Sforza; the Archbishop of Milan; the poet Gaspare Visconti; and the great jurist Giasone del Maino, as well as Erasmo Brasca, who was to resume his post of envoy to the King of the Romans. The Duke and Duchess of Milan, Lodovico and Beatrice, and Bona of Savoy all accompanied Bianca as far as Como, where the bishop and clergy came out to meet her, and conducted her in state to the cathedral. After 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 cortége 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," wrote the ambassador to Lodovico, "conducts herself well on the whole, but often complains that I deceive her, by telling her, each morning when she mounts her horse, that she will not find the road so rough to-day, and then, as ill luck will have it, it turns out to be worse than ever." At length, however, on the 23rd of December, the travellers reached Innsbrück, and Bianca was kindly received by Maximilian's uncle, the Archduke Sigismund of Austria, and his wife, with whom she spent Christmas and beguiled the winter days with dancing and games, while Erasmo Brasca went on to meet the King of the Romans at Vienna. Even then some weeks passed before this laggard bridegroom joined his newly wedded wife, and Erasmo Brasca's mind was sorely perturbed at his prolonged delays and excuses. Bianca, however, whose childish mind was easily distracted, found plenty of amusement in her new surroundings and wrote long and affectionate letters to her uncle Lodovico, telling him how she and the Archduchess Barbara had been dressing up their ladies
What he first wrote was: 'Andreas Ammonius Erasmo Roterodamo S.D., but afterwards he scratched out Ammonius' name and wrote in 'Guilhelmus Montioius'. In a sense, of course, he was correct; for the letter was written in Mountjoy's name. But he cannot have been unaware that in an age which valued elegant Latinity so highly, his patron would be gratified by the ascription.
And that same evening he wrote long and minute instructions to Maffeo himself and to Erasmo Brasca at Antwerp, urging them to lose no time in laying the case before the emperor. The letter to Maffeo, discovered in the Taverna archives at Milan, and first published by Signor Calvi in his life of Bianca Sforza, is of especial interest.
"Shall we take the peas out under the hackberry and shell them," said Maria. "Yes, my dear, but first tell me where Erasmo is." "Sitting on the steps, mother. I know he will help us to shell them, for he said it was mere fun, picking peas." "Say nothing to him of the Padre or his conversation, but interest him about other things." They left the room swinging the basket between them. Mrs.
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