Republics has sweepingly charged upon all mediæval dynasties.
A. Nini, del. A. Marchetti, sculp.
URBINO
From an original drawing by Agostino Nini of Bologna
The few notices of his government wherewith Baldi has favoured us savour of those minute and paternal attentions which ensure to a prince great personal popularity. He tells us that the Count commissioned certain persons called revisors to perambulate the state, and investigate the condition of the people. Among the matters specially committed to them were these: To inquire into the requirements of the religious houses; to ascertain where maidens of good reputation were unable from poverty to obtain husbands; to inform themselves secretly as to modest paupers; to learn what traders or shopkeepers were distressed by large families, debts, or any particular misadventure. In order to secure efficiency to this charitable espionage, these officers were privileged to pass at all times into the sovereign's presence, and it is said that a porter or groom of the chambers, who had rudely denied one of them access, was summarily punished by a public whipping. Following up this system, the Count, in his daily walks or rides, used to call to him the citizens individually, questioning as to their welfare and circumstances, or encouraging them in any enterprise or building they had undertaken. "But," continues the Abbot of Guastalla, "to such details we do not descend, as do some writers, overscrupulous about trifles; nor shall we tell how, on daily recurring occasions, he interfered to maintain the poor, to arrest litigation, to secure a pure administration of justice, to protect the honour of families, and to recompense his diligent servants. Still less do we collect his witty jests and pleasant sayings, as these are things far too petty and unbecoming the gravity of history, besides which, they all or most of them live in the memory and mouths of the people. But since splendour is a virtue peculiar to great princes, we shall touch upon some circumstances regarding the nobleness, the numerical grandeur, and the magnificence of his court."115
This passage fairly represents the pervading spirit of Italian biographies and local histories, though probably containing a latent sneer from Baldi at the earlier work of Muzio, whose "petty details," with those scantily supplied by Vespasiano, will be greedily gathered in a future page of this volume. Little deemed the reverend pedant how independent the historic muse would become of the stilts on which he, and many of his contemporaries, so unfortunately elevated her, or how infinitely posterity would have preferred his despised omissions to his solemn prosings! Nor is this our only complaint. His illustrations of the Urbino court, thus magniloquently ushered, consist of a dull catalogue of twelve or fifteen noble names, ending with an apology for such trespass on his reader's patience, and a reference to some unpublished manuscript for details. This excuse is offered after devoting six pages, out of eight hundred, to the home interests and adminstrations of his hero. In supplement to these unsatisfactory allusions, we have recourse to such MSS. as detail the establishment which gained for Federigo's court the high reputation it enjoyed as a model of princely taste and munificence. Its constitution may be seen at a glance, from this minute return of its members, by one of their number.116
| Counts of the duchy, and from other states | 45 |
| Knights of the Golden Spur | 5 |
| Gentlemen | 17 |
| Judges and councillors | 2 |
| Ambassadors and secretaries [at Naples, Rome, Florence, Milan, and Siena] | 7 |
| Secretaries of state | 5 |
| Clerks in chancery [or public offices] | 14 |
| Teachers of grammar, logic, and philosophy [including Maestro Paolo, astrologer, and Gian Maria Filelfo] | 4 |
| Architects and engineers [Luziano, Francesco di Giorgio, Pipo the Florentine, Fra Carnevale, and Sirro of Casteldurante] | 5 |
| Readers during meals | 5 |
| Transcribers of MSS. for library [besides many abroad] | 4 |
| Chaplains | 2 |
| Choristers of the chapel | 3 |
| Singing boys | 5 |
| Organists | 2 |
| Workers in tapestry | 5 |
| Dancing-masters for the pages | 2 |
| Dancing-masters | 2 |
| Apothecary | 1 |
| Master of the palace keys | 1 |
| Chamberlain | 1 |
| Master of the household | 1 |
| Treasurer | 1 |
| Chamber attendants | 5 |
| Pages | 22 |
| Carvers and sewers | 3 |
| Stewards of the buttery | 4 |
| Storekeepers | 2 |
| Purveyors | 3 |
| Grooms of the chamber | 19 |
| Table waiters | 19 |
| Footmen | 31 |
| Cooks | 5 |
| Various menial servants | 8 |
| Masters of horse and purveyors of the stable | 5 |
| Servants under them | 50 |
| Keeper of the bloodhounds | 1 |
| Keeper of the camel-leopard | 1 |
| ````` | |
| Total household of the Duke | 317 |
| Captains in constant pay | 4 |
| Colonels of infantry | 3 |
| Trumpeters | 6 |
| Drummers | 2 |
| Master-armourers | 3 |
HOUSEHOLD OF COUNTESS BATTISTA AND HER CHILDREN.
| Ladies in waiting | 7 |
| [After the Duchess's death, Madonna Pantasilea Baglione, sister of Brozo Baglione of Perugia, was made governess to the Princesses.] | |
|
A great many female attendants.
|