t of the Gonzaga he
retained his connection with this princely house.[10] In his new
position he assisted Ludovico Gonzaga, a brother of Francesco when he
came to Rome in 1484 to receive the purple on his election as Bishop of
Mantua.

Borgia was acquainted with Canale while he was in the service of the
Gonzaga, and later he met him in the house of Sclafetano. He selected
him to be the husband of his widowed mistress, doubtless because
Canale's talents and connections would be useful to him.

Canale, on the other hand, could have acquiesced in the suggestion to
marry Vannozza only from avarice, and his willingness proves that he had
not grown rich in his former places at the courts of cardinals.

The new marriage contract was drawn up June 8, 1486, by the notary of
the Borgia house, Camillo Beneimbene, and was witnessed by Francesco
Maffei, apostolic secretary and canon of S. Peter's; Lorenzo Barberini
de Catellinis; a citizen, Giuliano Gallo, a considerable merchant of
Rome; Burcardo Barberini de Carnariis, and other gentlemen. As dowry
Vannozza brought her husband, among other things, one thousand gold
florins and an appointment as _sollicitator bullarum_. The contract
clearly referred to this as Vannozza's second marriage. Would it not
have been set down as the third, or in more general terms as new, if the
alleged first marriage with Domenico d'Arignano had really been
acknowledged?

In this instrument Vannozza's house on the Piazza de Branchis, in the
Regola quarter, where the marriage took place, is described as her
domicile. The piazza still bears this name, which is derived from the
extinct Branca family. After the death of her former husband she must,
therefore, have moved from the house on the Piazza Pizzo di Merlo and
taken up her abode in the one on the Piazza Branca. This house may have
belonged to her, for her second husband seems to have been a man without
means, who hoped to make his fortune by his marriage and with the
protection of the powerful cardinal.

From a letter of Ludovico Gonzaga, dated February 19, 1488, we learn
that this new marriage of Vannozza's was not childless. In this epistle,
the Bishop of Mantua asks his agent in Rome to act as godfather in his
stead, Carlo Canale having chosen him for this honor. The letter gives
no further particulars, but it can mean nothing else.[11]

We do not know at just what time Lucretia, in accordance with the
cardinal's provision, left her mother's