nd
Beatrice. Gian Galeazzo, sunk in idle pleasures and debauchery, had long
ceased to take any interest in the government of Milan, or to show the
least wish to assert himself. He was recognized on all hands as
altogether unfit to rule--in the words of the historian Guicciardini,
"_incapacissimo_." But with his wife it was different. In public she
controlled her rage and appeared with her cousin at _fetes_ and state
ceremonies, but in private she wept bitter tears. Already her father,
Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, had begged his sister Duchess Leonora and her
husband to try and induce Lodovico to restore the Duke and Duchess of
Milan to their rightful position, and the good duchess, who was on
friendly terms with Bona of Savoy and with her own niece, Isabella of
Aragon, did all in her power to soften the rivalry between the two young
princesses. But after her departure from Milan, Isabella's ill-concealed
anger broke out, and, according to Corio, she wrote the memorable Latin
letter to her father.

"It was then," writes the Milanese chronicler, "that the duchess, being
a princess of great spirit, refused to endure the humiliations to which
she and her husband were exposed, and wrote to Alfonso her father, after
this manner: 'Many years have passed, my father, since you first wedded
me to Gian Galeazzo, on the understanding that he would in due time
succeed to the sceptre of his father and ascend the throne of Galeazzo
and Francesco Sforza and of his Visconti ancestors. He is now of age and
is himself a father; but he is not yet in possession of his dominions,
and can only obtain the actual necessaries of life from the hands of
Lodovico and his ministers. It is Lodovico who administers the state,
treats of war and peace, confirms the laws, grants privileges, imposes
taxes, hears petitions, and raises money. Everything is in his power,
while we are left without friends or money, and are reduced to live as
private persons. Not Gian Galeazzo, but Lodovico, is recognized as lord
of the kingdom. He places prefects in the castles, raises military
forces, appoints magistrates, and discharges all the duties of a prince.
He is, in fact, the true duke. His wife has lately borne him a son, who
every one prophesies will soon be called Count of Pavia, and will
succeed to the dukedom, and royal honours were paid him at his birth,
while we and our children are treated with contempt, and it is not
without risk to our lives that we remain u