The directory «Plots»

Castiglione Baidasare
(1478—1529)

Baldassare Castiglione, count of Novilara, was an Italian courtier, diplomat, soldier and a prominent Renaissance author.

He was born near Casatico (near Mantua in Italy) where his family had constructed an impressive palazzo. The signoria of Casatico (today part of the commune of Marcaria) had been assigned to one Baldasare da Castiglione, a friend of Ludovico II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, in 1445. The later Baldasare was related to Ludovico through his mother, Luigia Gonzaga.

In 1494, at the age of sixteen, Castiglione began his humanist studies in Milan, which would eventually inform his future writings. However, in 1499, after the death of his father, Castiglione left his studies and Milan to succeed his father as the head of their noble family. Soon his duties seem to have included representative offices for the Gonzaga court; for instance, he accompanied his marquis for the Royal entry at Milan of Louis XII. For the Gonzaga he travelled quite often; during one of his missions to Rome, he met Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, and in 1504 a reluctant Francesco Gonzaga allowed him to pass to that court.

Urbino was at that time the most refined and elegant among Italian courts, a meeting point of culture superbly directed and managed by duchess Elisabetta Gonzaga and her sister-in-law Maria Emilia Pia. The most constant guests included: Pietro Bembo, Giuliano de' Medici, Cardinal Bibbiena, Ottaviano and Federigo Fregoso, and Cesare Gonzaga, a cousin of both Castiglione and the duke. The hosts and guests organised intellectual competitions which resulted in an interesting, stimulating cultural life producing brilliant literary activity.

In 1506, Castiglione wrote (and played together with Cosimo Gonzaga) his eclogue Tirsi, in which allusively, through the figures of three shepherds, he depicted the court of Urbino. The work contains echoes of both ancient and contemporary poetry, recalling Poliziano and Sannazzaro as well as Virgil.

Castiglione wrote about his works and of those of other guests in letters to other princes, maintaining an activity very near to diplomacy, though in a literary form, as in his correspondence with Ludovico da Canossa.

Francesco Maria della Rovere succeeded as duke at Guidobaldo's death, and Castiglione remained at his court; with Francesco Maria, he took part in Pope Julius II's expedition against Venice, an episode in the Italian Wars: for this he received the title of conte di Novilara, a fief near Pesaro. When Pope Leo X was elected, Castiglione was sent to Rome as an ambassador of the duke of Urbino. In Rome he formed friendships with many artists and writers; among these, Raphael soon became a close friend, frequently asking for his suggestions. Raphael gratefully painted a famous portrait of Castiglione, now at the Louvre.

In 1516, Castiglione was back in Mantua, where he married Ippolita Torelli, descendant of another ancient noble family; two passionate letters he wrote to her, expressing deep sentiment, have survived, but she unfortunately died only four years later. At that time Castiglione was in Rome again as an ambassador, this time for the Duke of Mantua. In 1521 Pope Leo X conceded to him the tonsura (first sacerdotal ceremony), and thereupon began Castiglione's second, ecclesiastical career.

In 1524, Pope Clement VII sent him to Spain as Apostolic nuncio (ambassador of the Holy See) in Madrid, and in this role he followed Charles V to Toledo, Seville and Granada. At the time of the Sack of Rome (1527), the Pope suspected him of a "special friendship" for the Spanish emperor Charles: in effect Castiglione should have informed the Holy See about the intentions of Charles V, for it was his duty to investigate what Spain was planning against the Eternal City. On the other side, Alonso, brother of Juan de Valdés and secretary of the emperor, publicly declared that the Sacco was a divine punishment for the too many sins of the clergy.

Castiglione, in an undoubtedly uncomfortable position, answered both the Pope and Valdés, in two famous letters from Burgos. Valdés received a very long and severe letter in which the nuncio used hard terms to define the Sacco and Valdés' comments. The Pope, on the other hand, received a letter (dated December 10, 1527) in which the sense of Castiglione's daring argument was that several aspects of Vatican politics were ambiguous and contradictory, not at all a valid support in his action of pursuing a fair agreement with the Empire; this lack of coherence in the Church's actions had therefore irritated Charles V.

Against any expectation, he received the excuses of the Pope and great honours by the emperor. Today it seems quite certain that Castiglione had no responsibility in the Sacco, and he had played honestly his role in Spain. Also, a popular story about his death from remorse found no confirmation: he died of the plague.

In 1528, the year before his death, the book by which he is most famous, The Book of the Courtier (Il Cortegiano), was published in Venice by the Aldine press run by Andrea d'Asolo, father-in-law of Aldus Manutius. The book is based on Castiglione's experience at the court of Duke Guidobaldo Montefeltro of Urbino. It describes the ideal court and courtier, going into great detail about the philosophical and cultured discussions that occurred at Urbino. The book defined the ideal Renaissance gentleman. In the Middle Ages, the perfect gentleman was a chivalrous knight who distinguished himself by his prowess on the battlefield. Castiglione's book changed that; now the perfect gentleman had to be educated in the classics as well. The book was soon translated into Spanish, German, French, and English, and 108 editions were published between 1528 and 1616. Pietro Aretino's La cortigiana is a parody of this famous work.

Fujeira, 1968, Baidasare Castiglione