blication of
the same Eucharius Silber, A. 1493.

[19] Ex arce Spoletina, die v. Oct. (Di propria mano). Vr. vti fr. Cesar
de Borja Elect. Valentin. Published by Reumont in Archiv. Stor. Ital.
Serie 3, T. xvii, 1873. 3 Dispensa.

[20] Era venuto il primo marito de la dicta nepote, qual fu rimesso a
Napoli, non visto da niuno.... Despatch of Gianandrea Boccaccio, Bishop
of Modena, Rome, November 2, 1492, and November 5 and 9. Archives of
Modena.

[21] Despatch of that date in the archives of Mantua. Lucretia was still
sometimes designated as the Pope's niece.

[22] Gianandrea Boccaccio to Duke Ercole, Rome, February 25, 1493.

[23] Ms. Memoirs of Pesaro, by Pietro Marzetti and Ludovico Zacconi, in
the Bibl. Oliveriana of Pesaro.

CHAPTER VII

LUCRETIA'S FIRST MARRIAGE

Alexander had a residence furnished for Lucretia close to the Vatican;
it was a house which Cardinal Battista Zeno had built in 1483, and was
known after his church as the Palace of S. Maria in Portico. It was on
the left side of the steps of S. Peter's, almost opposite the Palace of
the Inquisition. The building of Bernini's Colonnade has, however,
changed the appearance of the neighborhood so that it is no longer
recognizable.

The youthful Lucretia held court in her own palace, which was under the
management of her maid of honor and governess, Adriana Orsini. Alexander
had induced this kinswoman of his to leave the Orsini palace and to take
up her abode with Lucretia in the palace of S. Maria in Portico, where
we shall frequently see them and another woman who was only too close to
the Pope.

Vannozza remained in her own house in the Regola quarter. Her husband
had been made commandant or captain of the Torre di Nona, of which
Alexander shortly made him warden, a position of great trust, and Canale
gave himself up eagerly to his important and profitable duties. From
this time Vannozza and her children saw each other but little, although
they were not completely separated. They continued to communicate with
each other, but the mother profited only indirectly by the good fortune
and greatness of her offspring. Vannozza never allowed herself, nor did
Alexander permit her, to have any influence in the Vatican, and her name
seldom appears in the records of the time.

Donna Lucretia was now beginning to maintain the state of a great
princess. She received the numerous connections of her house, as well as
the friends and flatterers of th