United States or Palau ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
In addition there were the Contrarii, Pio, Costabili, the Strozzi, Saraceni, Boschetti, the Roverella, the Muzzarelli, and Pendaglia. The Ferrarese aristocracy had long ago emerged from the state of municipal strife and feudal dependence, and had set up their courts.
The Saracens* had for some time past been encroaching on the Eastern frontiers of the empire, and had only been kept back by treaties which proved the weakness of the Romans, as the armies of Constantinople were still called, and which encouraged the barbarians in their attacks. * The name Saraceni was given by the Greeks and Romans to the nomadic Arabs who lived on the borders of the desert.
Sciebat enim eos multum de vita et salute eius desperare, Saraceni autem viso eius signo, et recognito, ea parte quae vrbem nauigio cingebat illi in galeis viginti et Carinis tredecim, quas vulgo appelant Cazh, occurrerunt, volentes Buzam regis coronare.
Chief among the ecclesiastical offenders mentioned were the worthy Abbate Brandolino of Narvesa, who was accused, among other things, of poisoning his own father; and the good Canonico Saraceni of Vicenza, who was repulsed in overtures made to his beautiful cousin, and who revenged himself by defaming her character, and "filthily defacing" the doors of her palace.
The orator Manfredo Manfredi to Ercole, Florence, November 22 and 24, 1501. The duke to his ambassadors in Rome, October 7, 1501. Ercole to Gerardo Saraceni, November 24, 1501. Other letters of like import were written by the duke to his plenipotentiaries. Ercole to Gerardo Saraceni in Rome, October 11, 1501. Despatch of the Ferrarese ambassadors to Ercole, Rome, October 31, 1501.
At about the same time that Burchard was making in his Diarium those entries which reflect so grossly upon the Pope and Lucrezia, Gianluca Pozzi, the ambassador of Ferrara at the Vatican, was writing the following letter to his master, Duke Ercole, Lucrezia's father-in-law elect: "This evening, after supper, I accompanied Messer Gerardo Saraceni to visit the Most Illustrious Madonna Lucrezia in your Excellency's name and that of the Most Illustrious Don Alfonso.
"Verily, my lady, I believe thou art not responsible for thine own foolishness!" her husband exclaimed angrily. "If that prelate cousin of Saraceni comes again to thy salon, let him be refused! He shall not prate to thee of 'law' and 'supremacy, who hath sought for this occasion to embroil us with the Holy See.
When the latter consented to grant the ambassadors an audience, a favor which was not often bestowed even on cardinals, he received them dressed, but lying in bed, which caused Saraceni to remark in his despatch, "I feared that he was sick, for last evening he danced without intermission, which he will do again tonight at the Pope's palace, where the illustrious duchess is going to sup."
There is a despatch of the orator Girardo Saraceni, dated Rome, May 4th, in which he informs the duke that Monsignor Venosa and Donna Adriana had returned from Ferrara, and had expressed to the Pope their gratitude for the affectionate reception which had been accorded them. February 14th Ercole wrote the Pope a letter whose meaning is perfectly clear, if we eliminate one or two phrases.
Duca di Romagna fornira anni ventisei." This certainly fixes the year of Cesare's birth as 1476; but we are to remember that Saraceni is speaking of something that the Pope had recently told him; exactly how recently does not transpire. An error would easily be possible in so far as the age of Cesare is concerned.
Word Of The Day