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The Relations Between the English and Urbino Courts, 1474-1508

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2019

Cecil H. Clough
Cecil H. Clough*
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
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Extract

Raphael's small painting, depicting St. George Killing dragon with his sword, was the first Italian painting to enter the English Royal Collection. It was given to the King of England in 1506 by the Duke of Urbino, and it is the most tangible evidence that exists today of a connection between the English and Urbino Courts.

At its longest this connection lasted two generations. The dates which help to define it are: from 1474, when Federigo da Montefeltro of Urbino was elected Knight of the Garter, to 1508, the year of the death of Duke Guidobaldo, Federigo's son, likewise Knight of the Garter. This is approximately Urbino's ‘Golden Age'. Federigo received a considerable stipend as a military captain, and had few responsibilities, so that he could dispense patronage on a scale which rivaled the Duke of Milan, or even the Pope. Urbino for a short time, about 1468 to 1476, was the center of artistic creativity in Italy, when Federigo was completing his splendid Palace in Urbino.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in the Renaissance , Volume 14 , 1967 , pp. 202 - 218
Copyright
Copyright © Renaissance Society of America 1967

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References

1 Cf. Exhibition Catalogue: Italian Art. The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace (London, 1964)Google Scholar, I. The painting is now in the Louvre; see Cartwright, Julia, The Early Work of Raphael (London, 1895), pp. 60–62 Google Scholar and pl. on p. 35. The painting in the National Gallery, Washington, D.C., reproduced by Suida, W. E., Raphael (2d ed., London, 1948), pl. 22Google Scholar, appears to have been painted for Duke Guidobaldo's own collection, and, in this, St. George is wearing the Garter.

2 P. Rotondi, Il Palazzo Ducale di Urbino (2 vols., Urbino, 1951), 1, index references; for furnishings see Zeri, F., Due dipinti… II Maestro delle Tavole Barberini (Turin, 1961)Google Scholar; for the helmet see Sabatini, A., Antonio e Piero del Pollaiolo (Florence, 1944), p. 98 Google Scholar and Paltroni, P. A., Commentari della vita … dell'illustrissimo Federico Duca d’ Urbino, ed. Tommasoli, W. (Urbino, 1966), p. 275 Google Scholar n. 1.

3 C. H. Clough, ‘Cardinal Bessarion and Greek at the Court of Urbino', Manuscripta VIII (1964), 160-171.

4 Cf. Weiss, R., Humanism in England during the fifteenth century (2d. ed., Oxford, 1957)Google Scholar; Jayne, S., John Colet and Marsilio Ficino (Oxford, 1963).Google Scholar For humanism see Kristeller, P. O., Eight Philosophers of the Italian Renaissance (Stanford, 1964), pp. 3–4.Google Scholar

5 Einstein, L., Italian Renaissance in England (New York, 1902)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; for its failings see Hay, D., ‘The Early Renaissance in England', in From the Renaissance to the Counter-Reformation: Essays in Honor of Garrett Mattingly, ed. Carter, C. H. (New York, 1965), p. 95.Google Scholar

6 J. R. Hale, England and the Italian Renaissance (London, rev. ed., 1963).

7 Cf. the study cited in n. 68.

8 P. Rebora, ‘Echi di Urbino nella culturainglese', Studi Urbinati, XII (1938), 3-25, is the only account, and rather superficial.

9 Anstis, J., The Register of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (London, 2 vols., 1724), II, 188.Google Scholar

10 Ibid., 190-191; cf. G. F. Beltz, Memorials of the… Order of the Garter (London, 1841), p. CLXV.

11 A distorted version of the letter of election exists only, in G. Santi, F. da Montefeltro … Cronaca (MS. Ottobon. 1305, Vatican Library), ed. H. Holtzinger (Stuttgart, 1893), p. 130; English tr. in J. Dennistoun, Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino (3 vols., London, 1851), 1, 431. F. da Montefeltro, Lettere di Stato e d'Arte (1470-1480), ed. P. Alatri (Rome, 1949), Letter 21. Henceforth this collection is cited as Letter. The collection is a letter book in the hand of Federigo Galli, in MS. Urb. lat. 1198, Vatican Library; see L. Michelini Tocci, T due manoscritti urbinati dei privilegi dei Montefeltro', in La Bibliqfilia, LX (1958), p. 219 [also printed in a volume with the title page: Studi in memoria del Card. Giovanni Mercati, ed. L. Donati (Florence, 1958), with the same pagination].

12 Scofield, C. L., The Life… of Edward IV (2 vols., London, 1923)Google Scholar, II, 99; Dennistoun, 1, 209-212; Letter 49 for the Order of Ermine, correcting Dennistoun, 1, 212.

13 Letter 24; Dennistoun, 1, 213-214, 424-430, with some errors.

14 Ashmole, E., Institutions and Laws of the Order of the Garter (London, 1672),p. 343.Google Scholar For Ubaldini see Ordini et qffitij … , ed. G. Ermini (Urbino, 1932), Appendice, p. II, and Letter p. 20, n. 4.

15 Letter 17 (the editor's suggested date errs).

16 Letters 77, 78, 82, 83, 84, 23.

17 Scofield, II, 129-149.

18 Letter 22.

19 Letters 16, 19, 61, 56, 57.

20 Clough, 169-170.

21 The Anon. Chronicle of Urbino (1502-08), ed. F. Madiai as ‘Commentari...', in Archiviostoricoper leMarche eper VUmbria, III (Foligno, 1886), 423,444; cf. C. H. Clough, 'Sources for … Urbino …', Manuscripta, VII (1963), 67-79.

22 Santi, ‘Cronaca’ (omitted in Holtzinger ed.), printed in P. Papini, Francesco di Giorgio … (3 vols., Florence, 1946), II, 281-282; Dennistoun, 1,424-425,430-432. The victory at Volterra was won 18 June 1472; see Fiumi, E., L'impresa di Lorenzo de’ Medici contra Volterra (Florence, 1948).Google Scholar

23 Cf. V. Cian, ed. B. Castiglione, Il Cortegiano (4th ed., Florence, 1947), 522.

24 Original letter from Henry vn to the Duke, 20 February 1503 [1504], sometime after the election, in MS. 374, vol. 1, c. 55, Bibl. Oliveriana, Pesaro; see Mazzatinti-Sorbelli, Inventari … , XXXIII (Florence, 1925), 156. This letter was found by Dennistoun and printed in tr., II, 443-444. Beltz, CLXX.

25 J. Burckhard, ‘Liber Notarum', ed. F. Celani, in L. A. Muratori, RIS (rev. ed.) XXXII, parte i, II, 450.

26 Ibid.; cf. J. Cartwright, B. Castiglione (2 vols., London, 1908), 1,42-43. For Castellesi see Paschini, P., Tre illustriprelati… (Rome, 1957), pp. 62–63.Google Scholar

27 Burckhard, 450-451; for the Bulls see 452, n. 1.

28 A. Giustinian, Dispacci…, ed. P.Villari (3 vols., Florence, 1876), III, 116-117; Anstis II, Appendix, i-ii; cf. Cartwright, 1, 43-44.

29 B. Castiglione, Lettere, ed. P. A. Serassi (2 vols., Padua, 1769-71), 1, 21; Cesare Gonzaga's dedication letter calls him ‘Cavaliero', II, 237. Cf. Cartwright, 1, 170.

30 Cartwright, 1, 173-174, 183-190, with some errors and poor references; the letters of Castiglione not printed in Cartwright, Appendix to vol. I, are found in ed. Serassi, I, 27-29. The letter of Frisio (not Christo) dated 8 September 1506, is in Busta 2468, Archivio di Stato, Mantua.

31 L. Michelini Tocci, ‘II manoscritto di dedica della “Epistola…” ‘, Italia Medioeuale e Umanistica, v (1962), 273-282.

32 Pressmark ‘Riserva iv. 47', Bibl. Vat., see Michelini Tocci, 273. D. Hay, Polydore Vergil (Oxford, 1952), 5.

33 Castiglione, 77 Cortegiano (1947), p. 455 (Lib. IV, 38); also, The Courtier, tr. T. Hoby, ed. D. Henderson (London, 1928), p. 290.

34 Anstis, II, 141-142, for Alfonso v; Scofield, n, 99, for Ferdinand.

35 Anstis, II, 190-191.

36 Cf. the Garter given to the King of Portugal in 1488, E. Prestage, ‘The Anglo- Portuguese Alliance', TRHS, 4th ser., XVII (1934), 77.

37 Meiss, M., Andrea Mantegna as illuminator (New York, 1957), pp. 1-29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Cf. the Golden Fleece given on the eve of alliances to Edward IV (1468), King of Naples (1473), Henry vn (1491); see Exhibition Catalogue: La Toison d'Or (Bruges, 1962), pp. 37-38.

38 Scofield, II, 99.

39 Cf. Mattingly, G., Renaissance Diplomacy (London, 1955), p. 98 Google Scholar, for negotiations with the Duchy of Milan.

40 Cf. E. W. Nelson, ‘The Origins of Modern Balance-of-Power Polities', Medievalia et Humanistica, I (1943), 138.

41 Letter, p. 57, n. 3, which corrects Dennistoun, I, 212.

42 D. S. Chambers, ‘English representation at the Court of Rome in the early Tudor period', D. Phil, thesis (Oxford, 1962), Chs. I, II, of Pt. ii, which is entitled ‘Representation of the English Crown in the Court of Rome up to 1509', 105-133; and his Cardinal Bainbridge … (Oxford, 1965), pp. 1-5.

43 B. Behrens, ‘Origins of the office of English Resident Ambassador at Rome', EHR, XLIX (1934), 645-650; cf. Parks, G. B., The English Traveler to Italy (Rome, 1954), p. 304.Google Scholar

44 See Chambers, English representation.

45 Chambers, Bainbridge, 2, n. 2.

46 Scofield, II, 264.

47 Letter 16 mentions a vacant Irish Bishopric, probably Lismore and Waterford, filled 17 March 1475; see C. Eubel, Hierarch. Cath., n, 178. See R.J. Knecht, ‘The Episcopate and the Wars of the Roses', in The University of Birmingham Historical Journal, VI, no. 2 (1958), 108-131, which deals with Edward iv's control of the English episcopacy.

48 Letters 16, 19; Parks, 284.

49 Chambers, Bainbridge, p. 6.

50 Letter 24.

51 See n. 28; Dennistoun, II, 32.

52 C. H. Clough, ‘The Problem of P. Bembo's Rime', Italica, XLI (1964), 319-320; Cartwright, I, 44-46.

53 J. D. Mackie, The Earlier Tudors… (Oxford, 1952), pp. 174-176; the articles, drawn up 3 March 1503, are in P. R. Legajo 53, f. 1, Archivio General de Simancas.

54 Mackie, pp. 175-176.

55 Mackie, R. L., King James IV of Scotland (London, 1958), pp. 98–99.Google Scholar

56 Ibid., pp. 101, 109. Mattingly, G., Catherine of Aragon (London, 1942), pp. 51–54 Google Scholar, stresses the Spanish King's interest in the marriage.

57 MS. Cotton Cleop. E., iii, c. 162, B.M., printed in Letters and Papers… ofRichardlll and Henry VII, ed. J. Gairdner (London, 1863), II, 122-123.

58 Mackie, Earlier Tudors, p. 176.

59 Pastor, L., The History of the Popes, ed. Antrobus, F. I. (London, 1950), VI, 212–219.Google Scholar

60 P. Vergil, The Anglka Historia … , ed. and tr. D. Hay (Camden Series, LXXIV) (London, 1950), pp. 140-141. Dennistoun, 11, 447, points out the difference between the autograph text and the printed version. Cf. also ‘B. Andreae: Annales Henrici vn', in Memorials of King Henry VII, ed. J. Gairdner (London, 1858), pp. 84-85, where the embassy is mentioned, but not the dispensation.

61 Chambers, Bainbridge; and see his ‘Cardinal Wolsey and the Papal Tiara', BIHR, XXXVIII (1965), 20-30.

62 For Shirwood, see DNB; A. B. Emden, A Biographical Register of the Univ. of Oxford … (3 vols., Oxford, 1956-59), III, 1692; Weiss, p. 150; Parks, p. 302; G. Hay, ‘Pilgrims and the Hospice …', and B. Newns, ‘The Hospice … and the English Crown', in the collection: ‘The English Hospice in Rome: Sexcentenary Issue', The Venerabile, xxi (1962), 102-103, 152-156. For Sant, who received a pardon, see J. Armstrong, ‘An Italian Astrologer …', in Italian Renaissance Studies: A Tribute to the late C. M. Ady, ed. E. F. Jacob (London, i960), pp. 446-447; Newns, 151; Emden, ni, 1641. Other Italianate English who served both Yorkist and Tudor include: John Gunthorpe—see Weiss, index references; John Argentine—see D. E. Rhodes, J . Argentine (Amsterdam, 1967), pp. 12- 14. The Italian Carmeliano arrived in England in 1481, and remained to serve Henry vn; see R. Weiss, ‘C. Vitelli . . .',JWI, II (1938-39), 223. Cf. Hay, ‘The Early Renaissance …', p. 102.

63 Weiss, Humanism, p. 100; Parks, p. 302; L. D. Ettlinger, The Sistine Chapel… (Oxford, 1965), p. 8, n. 2.

64 Weiss, , Humanism, pp. 120–122.Google Scholar

65 Ibid.

66 Hale, pp. 63-66; Cartwright cited in n. 1, and cf. Suida, p. 23, no. 22.

67 Letter 19; Ettlinger, pp. 14-31, for Sixtus iv in Rome.

68 J. Jacquot, ‘Les lettres francaises … : Le role de Caxton et l'mfluence de la Cour de Bourgogne', La Renaissance dans les Provinces du Nord, ed. F. Lesure (Paris, 1956), pp. 71-96.

69 Lavalleye, J., Juste de Gand (Brussels, 1936), p. 185 Google Scholar, n. 2. Scherer, M. R., The Legends of Troy in Art and Literature (New York, 1963), p. 242.Google Scholar

70 G. Gordon, ‘The Trojans in Britain', in his The Discipline of Letters (Oxford, 1946), PP. 55-57.

71 Santi, Cronaca, ed. Holtzinger, 130; Eng. tr. in Dennistoun, I, 431.

72 Lavalleye, pp. 141-146, pl. 26; pp. 146-150, pi. 32. My study on the painting for Gubbio is forthcoming in Manuscripta, and in it I present evidence for identifying the orator as Antonio Bonfini.

73 P. Remington, ‘A Renaissance Room from the Ducal Palace at Gubbio', Bull, of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, XXXVI, no. I, sec. ii (1941), 6, 9.

74 Parks, p. 176.

75 I am publishing the evidence in the October 1967 issue of EHR. It seeks to modify Hay, P. Vergil, pp. 79-81, and his ‘The manuscript…', EHR, LIV (1939), 240-251.

76 N. Vian, ‘L'Assertio … di Enrico vin', Collectanea Vaticana in Honorem Anselmi Card. Albareda … (2 vols., Vatican City, 1962), II, 362-363.

77 Il Cortegiano (1947), pp. 30-31 (Lib. 1, 9); also, Hoby tr. (1928), p . 26, where Hoby misses the point. For the collar, see Michelini Tocci, 280, 282.

78 Hoby tr. (1928), pp. 1-2.