Blue lilies

BLUE LILIES Author: Luigi Alfieri Translated by: Douglas Heise Cover: Cecilia Mistrali © 2014 fermoeditore Via Cairoli 15 – Parma (Italy) Website: www.fermoeditore.it E-mail: info@fermoeditore.it ISBN 978-88-6317-035-1 No part of this publication may be reproduced – All rights reserved This file can be used only for personal purposes. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright owners and the publisher.

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Luigi Alfieri

BLUE LILIES History of the Farnese family

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TABLE OF CONTENTS I. UNDER ENGLISH OAK II. THE TRANSFORMATION III. CARDINAL AND GREAT LOVER IV. TWO ROOSTERS IN THE EUROPEAN HENHOUSE V. OUT WITH THE LIONS, IN WITH THE FOX VI. PIER LUIGI, THE WILD ONE VII. THE DUCHY POPS UP LIKE A MUSHROOM VIII. THE METAMORPHOSIS OF PIER LUIGI IX. A PATRON ON LOAN TO THE CHURCH X. THE MUSHROOM, LOST AND FOUND XI. MARGARET, THE MUSTACHIOED GOVERNOR XII. STUBBORN OTTAVIO XIII. THE DUCHY OF PARMA AND PIACENZA XIV. FRIENDS OF FRANCE XV. PHILIP THE PUPPET-MASTER XVI. THE GREAT ALESSANDRO, CITIZEN OF THE WORLD XVII. ROMAN MONUMENTS XVIII. HOW TO BECOME SPANISH XIX. ALESSANDRO'S FLEMISH ADVENTURE XX. MARGHERITA THE UNASSAILABLE XXI. FROM SIEGE TO SIEGE AND ON TO GLORY XXII. THE ANTWERP JOB XXIII. THE DECLINE OF A WARRIOR XXIV. RANUCCIO, COCKTAIL OF LIGHT AND SHADOWS XXV. BARBARA THE BEAUTIFUL ON THE GALLOWS XXVI. SCARLET LILIES XXVII. ODOARDO, THE WOULD-BE WARRIOR XXVII. RANUCCIO II: THE DYNASTY ON SUNSET BOULEVARD XXIX. THE FARNESE AND AUSTRIA XXX. FRANCESCO, THE MAN BEHIND THE SCENES XXXI. GIULIO ALBERONI, THE DIPLOMAT XXXII. ANTONIO, THE LAST DUKE

XXXIII. THE STORY OF AN UNBORN FARNESE

I. UNDER ENGLISH OAK In the heart of the Middle Ages, immense forests of English oaks – farnie in the local dialect – grew around Lake Bolsena, lording over lands in Lazio, Umbria, and Tuscany like angry giants. One of the best-equipped castles of the area took the name Farnese: the land of the farnie. It was in this area that the Farnese roots first penetrated the earth, the origins of a dynasty destined to shape the history of the Renaissance, the Counter-Reformation, and the Baroque period, only to burn out with the first ruffles of the Rococo.

The family’s origins cannot be exactly identified, but immediately following the first millennium they began making a name for themselves through their skill with arms. It was a factory of warriors. The peerless Farnese soldiers. The Farnese. Captains courageous. Hawk-eyed men always on the lookout for new territories with fertile pastureland and oak tree stands. Slowly but surely, they added other villages to their first castle. In upper Lazio the name of those warlords started to spread. They began to meddle in the affairs of the neighboring towns: the constantly warring factions of Orvieto and Viterbo asked them to intervene with their swords raised.

Far and wide, the Guelphs, supporters of the Pope, were fighting against the Ghibellines, who backed the Holy Roman Emperor. Those soldiers born under English oaks took the side of the pontiff; they would remain loyal to the Vatican for centuries. Each time the favorites of the pope lost control of a city in Lazio, there was always a Farnese battery that arrived just in the nick of time behind the lead of a Ranuccio, a Pier Luigi, a Pepone, a Nicola. Real Farnese men, dropped from the English oaks like acorns. In the blink of an eye, they settled scores and returned to their lands along the banks of the lake. Their fame as coarse and cruel men grew with the passing years.

As the 13th century came to a close, the Guelphs of Siena, Perugia, and even Bologna began to ask for the assistance of these minor captains who had turned themselves into warlords. The Farnese directed their miniature armies wherever they could serve the friends of the pope. Even Florence came to appreciate their worth. Pietro led that city’s banner into battle against Pisa. While still alive, he was hailed by all along the banks of the Arno; upon his death, he was given a wondrous sepulcher in the church of Santa Reparata, the ancient cathedral of Florence.

The fourteenth century witnessed the growth of the family’s military glory and possessions; by the fifteenth century, the family’s coat of arms (or six fleur-de-lys three two and one azure – six blue lilies on a golden field) had become the emblem of a genuine feudal state: its banner flew over Montalto, Canino, Ischia di Castro, Latera, Cassano, Capodimonte, Valentano, Marta, and Gradoli.

One Ranuccio had the first family tomb built on the Bisentina island, in the middle of the peaceful waters of Lake Bolsena. It was a sign: the warlords of the Guelphs would no longer be satisfied

with being mere soldiers amidst the rural nobility; they craved entrance into the upper ranks of the aristocracy. Waving a sword in the name of the pope was not enough anymore; the secret desire to burst onto the stage of the great games of Roman politics began to bear fruit. The wealth, the fame, and the strength of the Farnese justified these dreams. The blue lilies were ready to be emblazoned on some powerful Roman palace: they had the lands, money, soldiers, intelligence, and the courage to spend on audacious undertakings.

The great transformation took place with the marriage of Pier Luigi to Giovannella Caetani di Sermoneta, from a family of rich lords from the lands to the south of Rome, a dynasty that had already given the Church a pope of the caliber of Boniface VIII. Rounding out this union, which took place in the mid-1400s, were other Farnese weddings with men and women descended from the Colonna, the Savelli, the Orsini, the Sforza, and the Pallavicino families. The crème de la crème of the Eternal City.