Venetian Ambassador
Contarini was elected to his first major post as ambassador to the young Holy Roman Emperor Charles V on 24 September 1520.[129] He left Venice on 16 March 1521 and arrived in Germany in April.[130] His commission opened with conventional phrases, then proceeded to instruct him to establish connections with the French ambassador at the imperial court, "as is fitting to the indissoluble league and alliance which we have with his Most Christian Majesty."[131] Here, in one sentence, was the root of countless awkward moments Contarini would have to face, since in the conflicts between Charles V and Francis I Venetian sympathies, especially under the doge Andrea
[128] Jedin, "Contarini und Camaldoli," 55 (letter 22).
[129] Sanuto, Diarii 29:202. The Mantuan ambassador Giambattista Malatesta characterized him in a dispatch of 30 October 1520 as "a very learned man, though not very expert in matters of state" (quoted in Finlay, Politics in Renaissance Venice , 222).
[130] Sanuto, Diarii 30:29, mentions that Contarini delayed his departure on account of his sister Paola's marriage to Matteo Dandolo (whose name is erroneously given as Marco). See also col. 128; and ASV, Avogaria di Comun, Reg. 106, Cronaca matrimoni, 1, where the marriage is listed under March 1521; also VBC, Cod. Cicogna 2171, fol. 87.
[131] ASV, Collegio, Secreta, Commissioni, 1513-1559, fol. 53r; the commission is dated 18 March 1521. For a narrative account of Contarini's embassy, see GC , 26-124. Orestes Ferrara, Gasparo Contarini et ses missions (Paris: A. Michel, 1956), adds no substantive material or interpretation.
Gritti, were with the latter. The emperor was feared because of his interests in Italy, above all in Milan and Naples, and the Venetians preferred to side with the French, considering them a lesser threat to the maintenance of peace. One of the principal tasks of the Venetian ambassador was to steer Charles V away from Italy as much as possible.
Accompanied by his younger brother Tommaso, who probably was in charge of the practical details of the household,[132] Contarini lived for the next four years at the imperial court, moving with it to the Low Countries, England, and then Spain. His meticulous and lengthy dispatches deal with important personages he encountered, events at the court, conversations with Charles V and various members of the imperial suite, and transmit much information about politics and economics.[133] He was in Worms during the momentous diet of 1521, and at the imperial court in the late summer when the Spanish comuneros rose, with effects on Charles V that Contarini observed closely. In Bruges, Contarini met Thomas More, whom he described as "uno cavalier Englese molto letterato." Unfortunately for the modern reader, his report of their dinner together tells very little more than that he tried in vain to get information from More about negotiations between Cardinal Wolsey, in whose suite More was traveling, and Charles V.[134] A series of dispatches describes in detail the ceremonies
[132] The Senate granted Contarini 730 ducats for his expenses on 29 September 1520 (Sanuto, Diarii 29:215), and he was given 400 ducats when he departed (29: 669). Tommaso's surviving letters, all addressed to relatives, show that he enjoyed the journey and that he took special delight in jousts, dances, and pageants at the imperial court. He describes ball games, bullfights, and other festivities and writes in admiring terms about the knightly qualifies of Charles V (33:67). See also 32:270-71, 34: 356-58, 36:543-44. Tommaso later had a long and distinguished career in the Venetian public service; see Derosas, "Contarini, Tommaso," in DBI 28:300-5.
[133] Contarini's dispatches to the Senate from his embassy to Charles V are preserved in VBM, MS It., Cl. VII, 1009 (=7447), copied by his secretary Lorenzo Trevisani (hereafter cited as Dispatches, Charles V); their translation by Rawdon Brown is accompanied by valuable marginal notes: London, Public Record Office (hereafter cited as PRO), MSS. 31/14/70, 31/14/71, and 31/14/91. Extracts and summaries focusing on English affairs were published by Brown in Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts Relating to English Affairs, Existing in the Archives and Collections of Venice, and in Other Libraries of Northern Italy , vols. 3-4 (London, 18691-71) (cited hereafter as CSPV ). Copies of many letters are included in Sanuto, Diarii , vols. 31-39 passim. Eight dispatches from Worms are printed in Deutsche Reichstagsakten , Jüngere Reihe, vol. 2 (Gotha, 1896). The dispatches would merit detailed analysis and fuller discussion than they receive in GC , sec. 2. For political events of these years, see especially Karl Brandi, The Emperor Charles V , trans. C. V. Wedgwood (London: Jonathan Cape, 1939), 134-77, 181-236.
[134] Bruges, 19 Aug. 1521; in Dispatches, Charles V, fol. 79v; and CSPV 3, no. 302.
accompanying the emperor's visit to England and his meetings with Henry VIII. Contarini's special interest was directed to Cardinal Wolsey, at that point a powerful and influential figure at the English court.[135] Finally, Contarini's long sojourn in Spain from June 1522 to August 1525 coincided with the Habsburg-Valois wars, which culminated in the battle of Pavia and the capture of the French king.[136]
Contarini's strategy from the outset was to emphasize the necessity of peace between Christian rulers in the face of the formidable challenge posed by the Turks. He hoped to move Charles V to lead a crusade against the Ottomans. On the emperor's side there was considerable distrust of Venice, reinforced by Mercurio Gattinara, who became grand chancellor upon the death of Chièvres on 27 May 1521. Gattinara was strongly anti-French; he used his position of increasing importance as advisor to Charles V to press Contarini for an alliance of Venice with the imperial side.[137] After Henry VIII joined the emperor against the French king in August 1521, the English ambassadors also began to urge that Venice follow suit.
Contarini was at once personally liked, politically mistrusted, and repeatedly embarrassed. Not only did he have to defend Venetian unwillingness to change sides, but it was also his duty to try to explain away the intelligence received at the imperial court that his government was actively helping the French king with a loan of 25,000 ducats.[138] On another occasion, when the emperor learned that Venice had invited Francis I to come to northern Italy and that a Turkish force of ten thousand men besieging Postoina, a town in the Archduke Ferdinand's domains, had marched through Venetian territory without eliciting any protest from the Republic, Contarini's position became extremely uncomfortable.[139] The emperor was visibly upset. Pedro Ruiz de la Mota, bishop of Palencia, even observed to Contarini, "You Venetians are not just French, but arch-French [francesissimi ]!"[140]
[135] For example, Canterbury, 31 May; and London, 6 June 1522; in Dispatches, Charles V, fols. 235v-237v, 240r-v; and CSPV 3, nos. 463, 466.
[136] Contarini visited Francis I when the latter was a prisoner in Madrid; see GC , 104-5.
[137] See John Headley, The Emperor and His Chancellor: A Study of the Imperial Chancellery Under Gattinara (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).
[138] Brussels, 30 Mar. 1522; in Dispatches, Charles V, fols. 208-210v; and CSPV 3, no. 438.
[139] Brussels, 28 Apr. and 16 May 1522; in Dispatches, Charles V, fols. 221v-222v, 227v-228r; and CSPV 3, nos. 448, 458.
[140] Bruges, 20 May 1522; in Dispatches, Charles V, fol. 229v; and CSPV 3, no. 460.
Eventually Venice did change sides under pressure from the emperor, whose old tutor, elected Pope Hadrian VI on 9 January 1522, now also supported imperial policy in Italy. Doge Andrea Gritti, despite his known pro-French sympathies, was too astute a politician to persist in a course that could be ruinous for Venice, only recently emerged from the costly War of the League of Cambrai. On 29 July 1523, an alliance was concluded among Charles V, his brother Ferdinand, Henry VIII, the pope, and Venice.[141] During his involvement in the negotiations leading to that agreement, Contarini had ample opportunity to see how little room Italian states had for maneuvering between the two great powers in European affairs. Essentially, they could support one side or the other in the continuous conflicts but could not hope to develop an independent foreign policy.
A brief but more pleasant period for Contarini personally followed the conclusion of the alliance between the emperor and Venice. In this accord, however, the Venetians proved to be less than half-hearted partners, vacillating and delaying in fulfilling their obligations almost from the start. Contarini took every opportunity to divert Charles's attention from Italy, and at the same time exerted himself to keep Venice from antagonizing the emperor. This meant defending the reputation of Venice against charges of duplicity, even treason, or continually apologizing for the actions of the Venetian government, which remained pro-French even to the extent of signing a nonaggression clause with Francis I while allied with the emperor.
After the French invaded Italy in 1524 and occupied Milan, Contarini resigned himself to the prospect of war in Lombardy and spent the next months trying to find excuses for Venice's failure to support Charles V in accordance with the terms of the treaty of the preceding year. When at the beginning of February 1525 news of the imperial victory at Pavia and the capture of Francis I reached Spain, Contarini's position was awkward indeed. The Venetians had not supported Charles, and Gattinara told Contarini that their conduct was inexcusable. Contarini appealed in vain to the chancellor as one Italian to another, asking his help and protection for all Italian states, which were in a difficult situation.[142] The emperor seemed to be overmighty, without effective counterbalance to his power. The papal nuncio Baldassare Castiglione, who arrived in Madrid in March 1525, was in an
[141] GC , 74.
[142] Madrid, 12 Mar. 1525; in Dispatches, Charles V, fol. 422r; and CSPV 3, no, 956.
equally unpleasant position, having to defend Clement VII's separate peace with France. In fact, all the Italian states that had not supported the emperor were in a similarly difficult situation.
Another task of the Venetian ambassador was to protect the interests of his compatriots, as when both the Spanish and English governments confiscated Venetian galleys in 1521 and 1522.[143] The English called their action "borrowing"; yet despite many efforts, Contarini was unable to free the galleys. To add to his discomfort, he had to cope with the repercussions of reports that Venetians were denying imperial troops passage through their territory. Contarini's appeals to Wolsey met with no success, and eventually he and Antonio Surian, the Venetian ambassador to England, had to resign themselves to their powerlessness.[144] Venice was not strong enough to enforce the restitution of her galleys when diplomatic means failed, and in the end Contarini, in a revealing joint dispatch with Surian, wisely counseled his government to accept the inevitable:
We know that these parties chuse at any rate to have the gallies aforesaid, wherefore we are of opinion that it is much better they should take them, apparently with the good will and approval of your serenity, than on the contrary, to their displeasure; and considering the nature of the present times, and the business on the carpet, we intend, when an opportunity presents itself for conferring with the Emperor, to offer them to him ourselves and thus make a present of what we are unable to sell.[145]
During his years at the Spanish court Contarini received the training of an expert diplomat. His dispatches are good examples of thorough, professional reporting by a Venetian ambassador at one of the centers of European political life. Naturally they focus on external events and offer only glimpses of Contarini's own thoughts and attitudes. Yet from the rare instances where a personal note can be detected, it is
[143] In Cadiz the Boschaina was seized. On receipt of letters from the Venetian government about this incident Contarini immediately took up the matter with Gattinara, who obtained the emperor's directive to the Council of Castile to free the ship (dispatches from Worms, 7 May [Dispatches, Charles V, fol. 8r-v;] and 14 May 1521 [Dispatches, Charles V, fols. 11r-12r]). The Donata , belonging to the Donà family, was seized as well (dispatch from Ghent, 9 Jan. 1522 [Dispatches, Charles V, fols. 158r-160r; CSPV 3, no. 388; and Davis, Venetian Family , 24]). The Spanish suspected the galleys of aiding the French (dispatch from Ghent, 11 Jan. 1522 [Dispatches, Charles V, fols. 160v-161v; CSPV 3, no. 391]).
[144] Hampton Court, 13 and 19 June 1522; in Dispatches, Charles V, fols. 244r-245r, 247r-248v; and CSPV 3, nos. 474, 484.
[145] Contarini's and Surian's dispatch, Canterbury, 31 May 1522, translated by Rawdon Brown; PRO, MS. 31/14/71,388.
possible to see something of his development. During the first months of his embassy Contarini was above all anxious to please the Senate. He wrote like a novice, loading his reports with peripheral detail.[146] Gradually, however, he acquired self-confidence, and on occasion even showed more enterprise than ambassadors were expected to display.[147] He also became a shrewd observer of men and developed a sound strategy for dealing with important persons at the court, foremost among them Gattinara. In a revealing dispatch describing his efforts to keep Charles V out of Italy, Contarini gave his assessment of the chancellor's character:
I urged the chancellor strongly to maintain the friendship with England, and made use of many arguments which the chancellor admitted; so I believe him now to be better disposed than he was formerly. It is requisite above all to sustain the fancies of the chancellor, and then adroitly to dispel them, because he is a man of very small brains, and when he once takes an impression he becomes obstinate. The path on which he was entering seemed very perilous. . . . I therefore deemed it necessary to pursue the abovementioned course, which has not proved fruitless.[148]
Actually, Contarini's personality was so pleasing to Gattinara that he continued to like the ambassador despite his strong disapproval of Venetian political decisions—about which the chancellor did not mince words.[149]
In the course of fifty-two months[150] spent in the emperor's entourage, Contarini had ample opportunity to observe the change in Charles V from the shy young monarch at the Diet of Worms to the self-assured victor over the French in 1525. Contarini generally spoke of the emperor without warmth but with respect. He praised the Habsburg ruler's seriousness, habits, and willingness to work long
[146] For example, the minute description of the king of Denmark's dress and hair in a dispatch from Brussels, 4 July 1521 (Dispatches, Charles V, fol. 41r-v; CSPV 3, no. 248).
[147] E.g., Hampton Court, 4 July 1522 (Dispatches, Charles V, fols. 250v-251v; CSPV 3, no. 492), in which Contarini justified himself after being reproved by the government for his independence.
[148] Valladolid, 16 Aug. 1524; Dispatches, Charles V, fol. 370v; and CSPV 3, no. 860; also Contarini's final report to the Senate, in Eugenio Albèri, Relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti al Senato (Florence, 1839-63), 1st ser., 2:55-56 (hereafter, this report specifically [whose full page span is 1-73] is cited as "Relazione"), on Gattinara.
[149] One of the worst moments of Contarini's mission was a six-hour session with Gattinara in which the latter demanded a decision as to whether Venice would become an ally of Charles V; dispatch from Valladolid, 26 October 1522; in Dispatches, Charles V, fols. 269v-273v; and CSPV 3, no. 571.
[150] Contarini says fifty-six: "Relazione," 73. He may have reckoned the time from his appointment, but then it would have been fifty-eight.
hours, gave him credit for his devotion to the Catholic religion, and quoted the emperor's confessor to the effect that Charles's most negative trait was nothing worse than an inability to forgive injuries readily.[151] Charles V, for his part, was favorably impressed by Contarini, to whom he was courteous throughout the entire embassy. Nevertheless, as Contarini observed the Habsburg court and government, he developed no admiration for it. While he could not write about his reservations in his dispatches, he did express them in the report on his mission that he eventually read before the Venetian Senate, as was customary for returning ambassadors.[152] In it he noted that the Habsburg lands were scattered, that their lines of political authority were not clear, and that the working of the government was cumbersome; he remarked with obvious disapproval on their civil unrest and the institution of the inquisition.
Contarini's reflections on the Habsburg possessions form a sharp contrast with his view of Venice. In the former he saw a loosely structured agglomerate of territories held together only by a dynastic bond, while in the latter he admired, and idealized, a well-ordered state.[153] An important revelation of Contarini's private thoughts can be found in his comments on the Spanish Inquisition. In January 1525, in the port of Almazarón, the inquisition seized three masters of Venetian vessels, one of whom was his brother Andrea. They were suspected of having sold a Bible with texts in Hebrew, Latin, and Chaldaean and annotations by a rabbi, and they were brought to Murcia for interrogation. Officials of the inquisition demanded the surrender of all books carried by the galleys, threatening to board the vessels and search for any writings that might be against the faith. One of the captains protested in vain, declaring that he could not permit anything so contrary to Venetian laws. Andrea Contarini, for his part, sent a plea for help to his brother Gasparo.[154] The latter immediately spoke to the emperor, his
[151] Ghent, 27 July 1521; in Dispatches, Charles V, fols. 61v-62r. See also "Relazione," 60-61. Tommaso Contarini, who enjoyed the diversions at the court, expressed great admiration for the emperor's prowess in tourneys and corridas (cf. note 132 above).
[152] For a different view from mine, see Federica Ambrosini, "Immagini dell' impero nell'ideologia del patriziato veneziano del '500," in I ceti dirigenti in Italia in età moderna e contemporanea: atti del Convegno Cividale del Friuli, 10-12 settembre 1983 , ed. Amelio Tagliaferri (Udine: Del Bianco, 1984), 70. She argues that Contarini considered a universal monarchy of Charles V not a threat but a possible advantage to Italian states.
[153] See the discussion of his treatise on Venice in the following chapter.
[154] Copy of letter from Andrea Contarini to Gasparo Contarini, Murcia, 28 Jan. 1525; in Sanuto, Diarii 38:200-201.
council, and the grand inquisitor, and then sent his brother Tommaso to take charge of the galleys. Contarini attempted to secure freedom for his compatriots by addressing the entire council of the inquisition on 4 February: "I spoke for a long time, explaining to them that the practice in Italy as well as in the whole Catholic church was to tolerate any infidel author, such as Averroes and many others, although, as it seemed to them, he contradicted the faith. I adduced many reasons why it would be wrong not to permit our adversaries to be heard and read. . . . In brief, I believe that I omitted little that could be said." Contarini heard that the Venetians had sold Lutheran books, but claimed not to believe it. Although the accused were soon freed, Contarini became convinced that "the inquisition in this kingdom is a most terrible thing, and not even the king has power over it. As far as the New Christians are concerned, what appears to us insignificant seems serious to the inquisition."[155]
In this incident and its echoes in the later report to the Senate it is possible to see a significant side of Contarini, a man who never advocated or approved of the use of force and coercion in matters of religion. On the contrary, he had faith in human reasonableness, and the necessity of calm debate on disputed issues was one of his firmest convictions. While it is not possible to say whether Contarini read Erasmus while he was in Spain, he certainly was in an environment where the views of the Dutch humanist were known.[156]
The nearly four hundred dispatches Contarini wrote during his embassy would repay close study not only as diplomatic documents illustrating the complexities of the Habsburg-Valois wars, but also as evidence for customs and ceremonies at the court of Charles V and for the rapid changes in the image of the world with which European intellectuals were confronted at that period. For example, Contarini showed keen interest in Central America and acquired remarkably accurate knowledge of its geography (which was probably incorporated into his lost work Geographia ).[157] He also astonished the Spanish court by offering an explanation for the seeming loss of one day in the carefully kept log of Magellan's voyage around the world.[158] Through dis-
[155] Letter of Gasparo Contarini to Federico Contarini and his other brothers, Madrid, 7 Feb. 1525; in ibid., 38:202-3. A faulty copy is in Reg ., 257 (Inedita, no. 3). See also Contarini's comments on the inquisition in "Relazione," 40.
[156] Cf. Marcel Bataillon, Erasme et l'Espagne (Paris: Droz, 1937).
[157] See Paola Mildonian, "La conquista dello spazio americano nelle prime raccolte venete," in L'impatto della scoperta dell'America nella cultura veneziana , ed. Angela Caracciolo Aricò (Rome: Bulzoni Editore, 1990), 118n.9.
[158] Ibid., 117n.6.
cussions with Pietro Martire d'Anghiera, an Italian humanist and teacher at the court who later became an administrator, a member of the Council of the Indies, and the author of De orbe novo decades III , a history of Spanish discoveries, Contarini obtained a good deal of knowledge about the native peoples and their customs.[159] He was familiar with Cortés's reports of the conquest of Mexico and saw some of the treasures that were sent back to Spain. But although he admired the skill of Mexican artisans, whose feather-work he called "miraculous" and "finer than the finest embroidery," he had on the whole a conventional attitude toward the people who were conquered.[160] As a Venetian he was concerned with ascertaining the quantity of spices and gold imported from the Spanish and Portuguese overseas possessions, a subject he knew to be of particular interest to his government. Yet strangely, he showed little interest when approached by Sebastian Cabot with a plan, whose details were not spelled out, for launching an enterprise that could be "of great use" to Venice. Contarini duly reported his conversations with the navigator, but did not conceal his skepticism, which was shared by enough Venetian senators to cause Cabot ultimately to offer his services to England instead.[161] Cautious and conservative, Contarini had no sympathy for untried schemes in unknown lands.
It is surprising how rarely Contarini's dispatches mention Luther and the religious situation in Germany. Although he discussed the Lutheran movement as a political problem for Charles V,[162] he gave no sign of a personal interest in the German reformer's theology. Official correspondence, of course, was hardly the place for expressing personal views on religion; still, it is striking how little Contarini reported to Venice about the Reformation and how dry his reports on that subject are. Among his few surviving private letters of the period, at least three convey some interest in Luther as well as his reflections on the impact
[159] Pietro Martire's work was published in three installments, in 1511, 1516, and (first complete edition) 1530. See also Giovanni Stiffoni, "La scoperta e la conquista dell'America nelle prime relazioni degli ambasciatori veneziani (1497-1559)," in Caracciolo Aricò (ed.) L'impatto , 356.
[160] "Relazione," 53. He may have seen the pieces that are now preserved in the Museum für Völkerkunde in Vienna. His letter about the conquest of Mexico City is printed in Sanuto, Diarii 33:501-3. See also Federica Ambrosini, "Echi della conquista del Messico nella Venezia del Cinquecento," in Caracciolo Aricò (ed.), L'impatto , 7-23, esp. 10-11.
[161] Giorgio Padoan, "Sulla relazione cinquecentesca dei viaggi nord-atlantici di Nicolò e Antonio Zen (1383-1403)," in ibid., 234n.45.
[162] Toledo, 26 June 1525; in Dispatches, Charles V, fols. 456v-457r; and CSPV 3, no. 1049.
of Lutheranism.[163] But he did not perceive the Reformation as directly touching Venetian interests; instead he concentrated on the minutiae of the Franco-Spanish wars into which Venice, too, was being drawn.
In June 1525, to Contarini's considerable relief, his designated successor, Andrea Navagero, arrived in Toledo. After inducting Navagero into the conduct of affairs, Contarini finally left for Venice on 11 August. The leisurely return trip took him through southern France and northern Italy.[164] Not until 16 November did he make his formal report to the Senate, in accordance with the provisions of a law of 1268.[165] Marin Sanuto has left a vivid picture of Contarini and Lorenzo Priuli, who accompanied Navagero and then spent two months with Contarini in Spain, as the two appeared before Venetian dignitaries.[166] Priuli, the younger, was dressed in crimson velvet and spoke first. Contarini addressed the Senate after dinner. Sanuto does not fail to mention that he was clad in the solemn black velvet robe of a Venetian noble. He spoke for three and a half hours, presenting an informative description of the countries he had visited, their people, cities, and governments, and of Charles V and his court. The summary of Contarini's report can still be read with profit, especially where it deals with the emperor's family and advisors. How his report struck his audience is hard to say, since we are told that he spoke "in a very soft voice which could not easily be heard."[167] Apparently he lacked the oratorical ability that would have brought him to the fore in a large group like the Great Council, a fact that may partly account for his slow start in public life. Later, however, he seems to have become a more effective speaker, for Sanuto praised his "wise and good speeches."[168] Contarini's biographer Giovanni della Casa reports that Contarini spoke
[163] To Niccolò Tiepolo, Worms, 25 Apr. 1521 (Reg ., 252-53 [Inedita, no. 1]); to his brother-in-law Matteo Dandolo, Worms, 26 Apr. 1521 (Reg ., 254-57 [Inedita, no. 2]) and Brussels, 3 Feb. 1522 (Sanuto, Diarii 32:473).
[164] For Contarini's description of the homeward journey, see "Relazione," 66-73.
[165] In 1268 the Great Council ordered that all reports of embassies be made in writing. This order was reaffirmed in 1425, but the oldest extant reports date from the end of the fifteenth century. On 15 November 1524, the Senate issued a decree that every report had to be presented in writing two weeks after it was delivered, and registered by the chancery; see Angelo Ventura, "Scrittori politici e scritture di governo," in Arnaldi and Stocchi (eds.), Storia della cultura veneta 3(3):553-54. See also Donald E. Queller, "The Development of Ambassadorial Relazioni," in Hale (ed.), Renaissance Venice , esp. 184-87. Contarini's relazione is printed in Albèri, Relazioni , 1st ser., 2:1-73; and in Luigi Firpo, ed., Relazioni di ambasciatori Veneti al Senato , vol. 2: Germania, 1506-1554 (Turin: Bottega d'Erasmo, 1970).
[166] Sanuto, Diarii 40:284, 286.
[167] Ibid., 286.
[168] Ibid., 55:348, 536; 56:667.
calmly, in a simple direct way that carried authority, so that his audience remembered what he said,[169] while an eighteenth-century biographer even makes his eloquence exemplary.[170] The latter two sources are not reliable, but Sanuto's testimony to Contarini's increasing effectiveness as a speaker is important because it comes from a contemporary who saw him in action. It is certain, however, that Contarini never developed the charismatic qualifies necessary for an outstanding public speaker; he remained most effective in small groups.[171]
Contarini's embassy had an unpleasant epilogue. He stated before the Senate that he had spent more than four thousand ducats "of his, that is of his brothers' property" on it.[172] While he did not ask directly for any financial relief, a proposal was made by some of the highest Venetian officials that he be allowed to keep one thousand ducats that the emperor had given him as a parting present. Two votes were taken, but the motion failed to pass:[173] nobles simply were expected to draw on their own resources in the service of the state. Despite the length of the embassy and its attendant high costs, the senators were not moved to grant Contarini even partial compensation. The ambassador's reaction to this setback is characteristic. We are told that, far from displaying any resentment, "he wanted to rest awhile, and to see whether he could be elected on Sunday to the Council of Ten in the place of sier Andrea Badoer, . . .who had died"[174] —a clear indication of Contarini's ambition to enter the inner circle of Venetian government. While he did not succeed in so doing at this date, another lower office was open to which he had been elected while still on his embassy, that of savio di terraferma , one of five officials charged with overseeing affairs of the Venetian mainland, especially regarding war and defense.[175] He was
[169] Giovanni della Casa, "Gasparis Contareni Vita," in Gasparis Contareni Cardinalis Opera (Paris, 1571), [4] (hereafter cited as Opera ).
[170] ". . . Sic sententiam dicebat, ut neminem magis prudenter, magisve composite locutum unquam fuisse constaret" (Card. Angelo Mafia Quirini, Tiara et purpura veneta [Venice, 1761], 147).
[171] It is interesting to note that one generation after Contarini, Agostino Valier, the reforming bishop of Verona, in a tract addressed to Contarini's nephew Alvise, attached little importance to oratorical skills, thinking that ornate rhetoric was not in keeping with the traditions of a Venetian patrician; see Valier, Memoriale . . . a Luigi Contarini Cavaliere sopra gli studi ad un senatore veneziano convenienti , ed. G. Morelli (Venice, 1803), 46-47.
[172] This was in addition to the 730 ducats that the Senate had voted for his expenses on 29 September 1520; Sanuto, Diarii 29:215.
[173] Ibid., 40:308.
[174] Ibid.
[175] Contarini received the news of his election in letters from his family, and replied in a dispatch from Brussels on 5 March 1522: "I thus know my obligation to be as great as any ever incurred by any other son and servant of that most illustrious state. . . . After my duty to God [I am] bound to spare no labour in the service of the State, and besides my fortune to place my life itself, if necessary, at the disposal [of] your Highness" (PRO, MS. 31/14/70, 299). Brown notes in the margin that "the appointment implied that members of the Grand Council were well satisfied with their ambassador at the Imperial Court."
also elected capitano of Brescia, or military governor charged with the fortifications and defense of the city.[176] On 20 November 1525, thus, he assumed the post of savio , which had been reserved for him until his embassy was concluded.[177] But he never actually held the position at Brescia and indeed resigned it two years later. The reason is uncertain, for members of his family regarded the post as important; a period of poor health may have been the determining factor.[178]
Despite his efforts as ambassador, the mission to Charles V did not immediately result in election to higher office but was followed only by a series of short-term, often ad hoc appointments. He was, for example, on several committees convoked to settle disputes involving
[176] Oliver Logan, Culture and Society in Venice, 1470-1790 (London: Batsford, 1972), 25, has a succinct paragraph on the hierarchy of Venetian offices and the place of the military governorship of Brescia in it. He considers it "at the summit of the cursus honorum ," along with the civil and military governorships of Padua, the lieutenancy of Friuli, and full ambassadorships. Contarini was elected by the Great Council on 19 March 1525 (Sanuto, Diarii 38:106). There was disagreement over holding the post of capitano open for him until he could assume it. On 19 June 1525 a motion was made and passed by the Senate over the objections of Niccolò Malipiero, Contarini's maternal uncle, to elect another capitano of Brescia at the expiration of whose term of office Contarini could assume the post (ibid., 39:89). His brothers complained to the public prosecutors (avogaria di comun ), and the motion was annulled (ibid., 95). It was decided that a substitute should be elected until Contarini could take up the post (ibid., 105). See also J. R. Hale, "Terra Ferma Fortifications in the Cinquecento," in Florence and Venice: Comparisons and Relations (Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1980), 2:168-69.
[177] Sanuto, Diarii 39:484, 40: 316.
[178] Cicogna, Inscrizioni 2:229, states that Contarini did not accept the position because he fell ill with quartan fever and because he wanted to avoid the tumults of war. The anonymous "Portione di Huomeni Illustri della Famiglia Contarini di Venetia," VBC, Cod. Cicogna 2327, fol. 82r-v, gives the same reasons but is more explicit: the news of the sack of Rome, which reached him as he was about to take up his position at Brescia, together with his poor health, was the reason for his refusal. Neither source mentions that all through 1526 Contarini intended to assume the position though he never actually did so. On 24 April 1526 (the vigil of St. Mark's), for example, he accompanied the doge to solemn vespers carrying a sword, the symbol of his captaincy in Brescia (Sanuto, Diarii 41:214). On 5 October 1526, he stated in a letter that he was beginning to think about his post (Reg ., 260 [Inedita, no. 5]), while in September 1527 he mentioned that his possessions had been loaded on board a ship and he was ready to depart when he fell ill and renounced the appointment on the advice of family and friends (to Giustiniani, Opera , 94). One wonders whether he underwent another period of listlessness or depression.
cities, individuals, and a monastery.[179] In January 1527, he and Lorenzo Priuli were appointed censors by the three heads of the Council of Ten and charged to examine a book that Franciscans in Venice claimed contained libelous and heretical material. Contarini and Priuli presented their report on this book, Alvise Cinzio's Libro della origine delli volgari proverbi ,[180] on 18 March 1527, as a consequence of which the author had to modify his text. This seemingly minor episode was to have significant consequences. On 29 January 1527, while the matter was still pending, the heads of the Council of Ten issued a regulation providing that no book could be printed in Venice unless they first licensed it after examination by two censors. This requirement of an imprimatur marked the beginning of official press censorship in Venice.[181]
In September 1527 Contarini was elected one of the advisors to the Senate[182] and in the following month was sent as envoy to Duke Alfonso d'Este of Ferrara.[183] His mission was to help secure the duke's adherence to the anti-imperial League of Cognac concluded in May 1526 among France, England, Pope Clement VII, Venice, and Milan.[184] After the terrible sack of Rome by the troops of Charles V in May 1527—atrocious even by the standards of sixteenth-century
[179] Between Verona and Vicenza (Sanuto, Diarii 42:472), between Diana d'Este and a monastery about water mills (43:57), and problems among the Benedictines of S. Giustina in Padua (43:68).
[180] The book is scarce. A fine copy, which probably belonged to Cinzio himself, is in the Biblioreca Marciana in Venice; it contains some manuscript poems by the author in the back; Degli Fabritii, Alvise Cintio, Libro della origine delli volgari proverbi (Venice: Bernardino & Matheo Vitali, 1526) [Cod. Ital. C1. IX, 648 (=11942)]. On the flyleaf is the following note: "J'ai cherché ce livre pendant 30 ans, et le hasard seul me l'a procuré. Il a été bruslé par l'inquisition et recherché avec rant de soins qu'il est presque introuvable. Je l'ay payé fort chef. La pièce MS qui est ò la fin écrite de la main de l'Auteur semble annoncer que cet exemplaire lui a appartenu." An attached letter is dated I May 1784. The Franciscans objected to a commentary on the proverb "Ciascun tira l'acqua a suo molino" (Everyone diverts the water to his own mill, clxxv -clxxix ). It castigates Franciscans who tolerate and perpetuate abuses in their order and no longer follow the teachings of their founder.
[181] Sanuto, Diarii 43:26, 748. Horatio Brown, The Venetian Printing Press (London, 1891), 67-71, discusses this incident more fully; as does Cicogna, Inscrizioni 5:586-88. Paul Grendler, The Roman Inquisition and the Venetian Press, 1540-1605 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977), 74, mentions it only in general terms.
[182] He was elected to the zonta de pregadi , an advisory body of the Senate; Sanuto, Diarii 46:122.
[183] Ibid., 239-40.
[184] Sanuto (ibid., 42:78) describes its publication and celebration in Venice on 8 July 1526.
warfare[185] —the league decided to take action against the overmighty emperor. Together with the envoys of the other member-states and Florence, Contarini persuaded the duke to join the anti-Habsburg allies[186] and signed the resulting treaty in the name of the Republic. He stressed that the duke had housed him in his palace, had come twice to his rooms to consult with him, and had "done him great honor."[187] While these outward manifestations were meant to show Duke Alfonso's respect for Venice rather than for the person of the ambassador, Contarini's emphasis on them demonstrates that he was an ambitious man who wanted to make his successes known. His first allegiance clearly was to the Council of Ten, and only then to the Senate, as Sanuto tells in a revealing passage.[188] It comes as no surprise, therefore, that Contarini was soon proposed as a candidate for the Council of Ten.[189] Although he was not elected on this occasion, his star definitely was in the ascendant.[190]
In January 1528 a new ambassador to Pope Clement VII was elected. Although the respected old Marco Dandolo received the most votes, he did not accept the office, and the Senate chose Contarini in his stead.[191] Contarini's willingness, even eagerness, to accept the post was evidence of his keen desire for a public career. In a sense, it was a gamble: he and his brothers had to bear the heavy expenses of the embassy, which, however, might then open the door to higher offices in the Venetian government. The mission, moreover, was an especially difficult one. While the pope was confined to Castel Sant'Angelo following the sack of Rome, Venice, though his ally, had taken advantage
[185] Recent works dealing with the sack of Rome and containing bibliographies of earlier literature are Judith Hook, The Sack of Rome, 1527 (London: Macmillan, 1972); Eric R. Chamberlin, The Sack of Rome (London: Batsford, 1979); and André Chastel, The Sack of Rome, 1527 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983).
[186] For the most important provisions of the treaty, see Sanuto, Diarii 46:336-38.
[187] Only a summary of Contarini's report is extant; see ibid., 321 -22. Also see p. 302 for a partial summary of additional provisions of the treaty.
[188] Contarini had been sent on his mission by the Council of Ten, to whom he reported while there. Sanuto repeatedly states that he was not informed of the contents of Contarini's letters (which have not survived): ibid., 275, 280, 284. Some senators "murmured" at their being left in the dark concerning Contarini's mission, and a motion was passed requiring that Contarini's oral report be made before the Senate (312). Nevertheless, Contarini reported first to the Council of Ten and only on the following day to the Senate (319).
[189] On two occasions, 24 November and 15 December 1527, Contarini was one of four candidates for the Council often; ibid., 323, 376.
[190] As shown, for instance, by his being chosen as one of eight senators who accompanied the papal legate during his ceremonial visit; ibid., 459.
[191] This occurred on 16 January 1528; see ibid., 492.
of the situation by unilaterally reestablishing its right to make ecclesiastical appointments in all territories of the Republic[192] and occupying the papal cities of Ravenna and Cervia on the pretext of protecting their inhabitants.[193] Thus, upon the pope's liberation from detention in December, the Venetian government was faced with the necessity of sending a particularly skilled envoy to the Holy See for what were bound to be protracted negotiations over the two occupied cities and the recurrent problem of jurisdictional rights. At the same time, it was the ambassador's task to draw Clement VII into the anti-imperial league.
Under these pressing circumstances it at first seems strange that Contarini did not leave on his embassy until late May. The explanation for the delay lies at least partly in the unsettled conditions of the papal court at Orvieto, where the pope had moved from Rome, as well as in the uncertainties of the war in southern Italy and in Lombardy, in which Venice was involved on the side of the league and against the emperor.[194] But the most important factor was the lack of agreement among the members of the Venetian government about whether an ambassador should be sent at all. On 6 May the collegio , the initiative and executive body of the Republic, discussed making a motion in the Senate to send Contarini on his embassy.[195] When such a motion was in fact made two days later it was opposed by Lunardo Emo, one of the savi del consiglio (a high-level advisory committee of six), and attacked by Alvise Mocenigo on the grounds that "nothing good could come of it" and that the Florentines and the duke of Ferrara would be alienated. Others spoke in the opposite sense, and at length the matter was tabled for lack of agreement.[196] On 10 May discussion was resumed,
[192] The Republic had had to relinquish this right to the pope in 1510 during the War of the League of Cambrai. In August 1527, when the bishopric of Treviso fell vacant, the Venetian government reasserted its right to appoint a successor. See Heinrich Kretschmayr, Geschichte von Venedig (Gotha: Perthes, 1905-34), 3:16-17. For relations between the Venetian government and the church following the War of the League of Cambrai, see Paolo Prodi, "The Structure and Organization of the Church in Renaissance Venice: Suggestions for Research," in Hale (ed.), Renaissance Venice , esp. 412-13.
[193] On the economic importance of Cervia in the production of salt, see Jean-Claude Hocquet, "Monopole et concurrence à la fin du moyen âge: Venise et les salines de Cervia (XII -XVI siècles)," Studi veneziani 15 (1973): 21-133; and idem, Le sel et la fortune de Venise , 2d ed. (Lille: Publications de I'Universit é de Lille, 1982), 1:95, 246-47, and passim. On Venetian relations with Ravenna, still useful is Pietro Desiderio Pasolini, Delle antiche relazioni fra Venezia e Ravenna (Florence, 1874).
[194] F. Bennato, "La partecipazione militare di Venezia alla Lega di Cognac," Archivio veneto , 5th set., 58 (1956): 70 -87.
[195] Sanuto, Diarii 47:364.
[196] Ibid., 392, 393.
and a long list of speakers stated their views for or against Contarini's mission. Among the former we find the doge Andrea Gritti, and among the latter the irascible Alvise Mocenigo, who was not in the habit of mincing words and wanted to treat the seizure of Ravenna and Cervia as an accomplished fact rather than a matter for negotiation. Yet despite opposition, the motion to dispatch Contarini carried. An additional delay was caused by the death of his brother Andrea before Contarini finally left on or shortly after 19 May.[197]
The surviving documentation for this embassy is unusually full, making possible an insight into the highest councils of the Venetian government and giving a far better picture of Contarini's personality than do the surviving dispatches from Spain.[198] His experience, self-confidence, and knowledge of psychology are mirrored in the reports, which also document the growth of a friendship between the pope and the ambassador. Whereas Contarini's dispatches from Spain were almost invariably the straightforward accounts of an observer rather than an actor, and the emperor remained a figure described only from the outside, the dispatches from the papal court have a much more personal quality, revealing their author's character and shedding new light on his thought.
On 11 May Contarini was voted money for his expenses and staff,[199] and on the twenty-third he was given a commission with detailed instructions.[200] The Senate spelled out the arguments he was to use
[197] Sanuto (ibid., 470), without mentioning the name, reports simply that "one of his brothers died." That it was Andrea can be seen from ASV, Barbaro, Arbori , vol. II, fol. 466. Andrea Contarini participated in the family trading ventures in North Africa; Barbaro adds after his name, "fu in Barberia." GC , 127, should be corrected on the date of Contarini's departure, which according to Sanuto was the twentieth; Contarini's final report to the Senate mentions the eighteenth as his departure date, but since it was written several years later it was probably in error: see Albèri, Relazioni , 2d set., 3:260.
[198] Contarini's dispatches are in VBM, MS It., Cl. VII, 1043 (=7616). CSPV , vol. 4; and Reg . give extracts and summaries from them (the latter is not always reliable because the author used copyists). VBC, Cod. Cicogna 3477 (hereafter cited as Ducali ), contains thirty ducali , or instructions, from Doge Andrea Gritti to Contarini. Written on parchment, they are badly damaged, and several can no longer be read. Expert restoration in 1976 has made it possible to use portions or all of twenty-one of them. The ducali were published in part by Domenico Urbani, "Lettere ducali a Gasparo Contarini," Raccolta Veneta 1 (1866): disp. 1, 19-34, and disp. 3, 7-25.
[199] ASV, Senato Terra, Reg. 25 (1528/29), fol 44v; and Sanuto, Diarii 47:405. Contarini was given 400 ducats, although on 10 May a proposal was made to give him an initial sum of 600 ducats; see ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), fol. 54v.
[200] ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), fols. 68r-70v. There was disagreement in the Senate about what Contarini should say to the pope, especially regarding Ravenna and Cervia; Sanuto, Diarii 47:501.
both in the initial public audience and in the subsequent private one. Contarini was ordered to express above all the sorrow of his government at the pope's plight, to stress Venetian obedience to the Holy Father, and to emphasize the great danger the Spanish posed for Italy and all Christianity. Only in the private interview was the envoy to broach the question of Ravenna and Cervia by expressing the surprise of the Republic at hearing that there existed some misunderstanding on the part of Clement VII regarding the two cities, which Venice had saved from imperial occupation at great cost to herself and which had formerly been in her possession with the acquiescence of many popes. To Clement's predictable reaction at this point Contarini was to use another approach by urging the pope to consider the insignificance of the cities in comparison with the benefits he could derive from Venetian help and support. The tactics become clear: without arguing about legal matters but falling back on his skill and pleasant manner,[201] Contarini was to deflect the pope's interest away from Ravenna and Cervia; instead he was to turn the pope against Charles V as the cause of all his sufferings, thus drawing him closer to Venice and France as his true allies.
The persuasiveness of Contarini's arguments depended not only on the Senate's well-laid plans but also on the political and military situation in Italy. Shortly before Contarini's departure, Andrea Doria, the French and papal captain-general, had been victorious over a Spanish fleet near Amalfi. The anti-imperial allies were on the offensive: Marshal Lautrec's army was besieging Naples, and Venetian forces had taken several cities in Apulia, including Trani and Manfredonia. The affairs of the allies were going well in the north also: the Senate even hoped that all Lombardy might be taken.[202] But the situation began to change abruptly when Doria shifted his allegiance from Francis I to Charles V.[203] This defection was followed by a further setback for the
[201] There are several references to the tone Contarini was to adopt, for example: "Et vederai de redur sua Beat in quella bona dispositione che devemo desiderar, come speramo seguira mediante la dexterita del ingegno tuo" (ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 [1528/29], fol. 69r). Or again: "Et vederai de addolcirla, mitigarli l'animo, et aquietarli lanimo quanto piu potrai" (ibid., fol. 69v).
[202] Ibid., 22 Sept. 1528, fol. 105r.
[203] Contarini's dispatches of 12 July 1528, in which he reports that Doria and Francis I are said to have ironed out their disagreements (VBM, MS It., C1. VII, 1043 [=7616], fol. 27r); of 19 July (fol. 31v); of 21 July (two), when the first news of Doria's change of sides reached the papal court (fols. 32v-34r); and of 23 July (fols. 34v-35r) show the anxiety of the pope, his advisors, and Contarini himself. Henceforward I quote from the corrected text of the Regesten , collated with the originals. The latter will be cited as Dispatches, Papal Court, and used to supplement the Regesten where their summaries are too brief.
anti-imperial camp: an outbreak of disease among French troops and the death of Lautrec made it necessary to raise the siege of Naples on 30 August. The anti-imperial forces were now disunited and poorly led. This was the atmosphere in which Contarini was to persuade the pope to join what was clearly becoming the losing side.
Contarini entered on his embassy with no very favorable opinion of Clement VII's statecraft. While still in Spain he had come to the conclusion that the pope was too timid to be relied on.[204] This verdict was only confirmed by a year at the papal court, when he wrote in blunt words to the Council of Ten: "Your Excellencies should know that the pope is by nature extremely timid and cowardly."[205] The final report to the Senate on his embassy, in March 1530, again makes a point of Clement's indecisiveness and irresolution; Contarini had found no reason to change his view.[206] Yet despite their antagonism in political matters and Contarini's critical attitude, the two men developed a warmer relationship than the usual one of a ruler and an ambassador, marked by the pope's expressions of trust in Contarini.
Their first long private interview in Viterbo, where the pope now resided, set the tone for subsequent audiences. The pope recalled how badly Venice had treated him, showing great perturbation and raising his voice as he spoke. In obedience to the Senate's instruction Contarini reiterated that the Venetians had saved Ravenna and Cervia from falling into enemy hands, and then proceeded to portray an idealized Venice: "Could a better occasion than this be found to gratify the [Venetian] Signoria, which would be most obliged to [Your Holiness]? In the past we have been the church's front line of defense against the Turks. So we are still, [only] now on the sea against the Turks and on land against Lutheran Germans who are greater enemies of the Holy See than the Turks!" To this the pope replied coldly, "Much though you personally please me, your embassy displeases me equally."[207] He pointed to the practical reality of the salt pans of Cervia, which produced annually seventy thousand sacks of salt, the tax on which would constitute an important source of revenue for the depleted papal treasury,[238] and refused even to consider the Venetian side
[204] Toledo, 7 May 1525: "Dio voglia, che questa timidità sua non sii causa de la ruina d'Italia. Certo è, che molto ha pegiorata la conditione di quel eccellentissimo stato [Venice] et ha diminuita la reputatione d'Italia" (Reg ., 23 [no. 57]).
[205] Rome, 31 July 1529: "V. Serenità sappia, che la natura del Pontefice e supra modum timida et vile" (Reg ., 60 [no. 191]).
[206] Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:265.
[207] Viterbo, 7 June 1528; Reg ., 29 (no. 86).
[208] Dispatches, Papal Court, 7 June 1528, fol. 7r.
of the case.[298] He had other complaints against Venice as well, primarily its heavy taxation of the clergy and its interference in ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
To his surprise and even frustration, Contarini came to realize that the pope's indecisiveness did not extend to the subject of the papal state and that Clement was unwilling to engage in any negotiations regarding the two disputed cities. The French and English ambassadors supported him in his demands for their restitution.[210] Contarini had to hear repeatedly that Venice was a stumbling block to the success of the anti-imperial forces; indeed, while the French agent, Joachim Passano, went so far as to curse Ravenna and Cervia several times as the cause of all the mischief, the pope was overheard cursing Venice.[211] Clearly, Contarini's diplomatic finesse was a necessity in this difficult situation.
That he possessed the needed abilities is beyond doubt. His dispatches show that he was successful in winning the pope's goodwill despite his unwelcome charge. Clement took a liking to Contarini from the first, and the ambassador knew how to make the most of this liking. Less than three weeks after his arrival Contarini was already on easy terms with the pope, who discussed various subjects with him as they walked together. Contarini mentioned in passing the Venetian expenses during the war but then went on to other things; he reported that he did not wish to make himself odious and thus endanger Venetian affairs, "which must be treated with all possible delicacy and skill."[212] The pope and the ambassador could even adopt a bantering tone about serious issues, showing that both were masters of that art of conversation so highly admired in their society.[213] Time after time Contarini reports that he had sought to calm the pope, or "soothe and appease his mind," always aware that he must not exceed certain limits lest he irritate the pontiff.[214] Sometimes he tried to move the issues onto a philosophical plane, but the pope was uniformly unresponsive,
[209] Second dispatch of the same date, ibid., fols. 8v-9r; and 8 June 1528, fols. 9v-10r.
[210] The English ambassador, Stephen Gardiner, is described as "caldissimo ad far ogni opera adcio Ravenna et Cervia siano restituite al Pontefice" (ibid., 14 June 1528, fol. 11v).
[211] Ibid., 28 Sept. 1528, fol. 87r; and 18 July 1528, fol. 29v.
[212] Ibid., 10 June 1528, fol. 10v.
[213] Contarini describes how the pope and he made rather barbed remarks to each other "while laughing" (ridendo ); Reg ., 14 June 1528, 31 (no. 89). There is a faint reminder of the conversations in the Cortegiano in this dispatch, with phrases like "Io ridendo . . . dissi," or "proferendo tale parole cum riso."
[214] Reg ., 31 (no. 89).
and Contarini took refuge in resigned platitudes about the divine will.[215] Clement VII, like many weak people, had a stubborn side, especially when he thought his dignity had been offended. He never swerved from his contention that the Venetians had not only taken his lands but also injured his honor. He put his case plainly to Contarini: the Signoria had shown openly, "so that everyone can see, that you Venetians take little account of me. . . . You behave without proper respect in taking my lands, conferring [ecclesiastical] benefices, levying imposts"; and on another occasion the pope cried, "I want my lands, and you do not want to give them to me!"[216]
Try as he might, however, Contarini did not succeed in moving the pope, though he was aware that Clement thought highly of him personally. "I continually seek to placate the mind of His Holiness by various means. Therefore I sometimes try to be in his presence, seeing that I am not displeasing to him. In this way I can always drop some word or make some courteous and appropriate gesture, which certainly does no harm. In my judgment it is necessary to proceed step by step in this business, and to use all [possible] skill."[217] The Senate in response praised its ambassador's dexterity and prudence, granting him discretion in further talks.[218] But despite Contarini's entreaties, it put no pressure on the Venetian cardinals Corner and Grimani to rejoin the papal court and help counteract anti-Venetian sentiment in the pope's entourage.[219] Thus Contarini was left to answer for Venetian actions alone, as a resourceful and intelligent man in an increasingly intractable situation.
His dispatches from this embassy can be read on several levels. Most report how the complex political situation during an intense phase of the Habsburg-Valois struggles looked from the perspective of the
[215] Dispatches, Papal Court, 18 July 1528, fols. 29v-30r.
[216] Reg ., 16 June 1528, 31 (no. 91), and 27 June 1528 (no. 93). Clement could also be subtle: he realized that he had a strong card to play by threatening to seek the aid of the emperor, both for the restoration of the Medici in Florence and for the restitution of church lands. Appealing to Venice to return his cities he added ominously, "Perhaps you do not know the difference between the mad and the wise. The mad and the wise both do the same thing—the difference between them does not lie in that. But the wise do it at the right time and the mad at the wrong time, and therein lies the difference" (Reg ., 30 July 1528 [date should be corrected], 33 [no. 100]).
[217] Reg ., 16 June 1528, 31 (no. 91).
[218] ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), 27 June 1528, fol. 83v.
[219] This despite Contarini's report to the Council often (12 July 1528, ASV, Capi del Consiglio dei X, Lettere di ambasciatori, busta 22 [Roma, 1515-38], fol. 170) about the desirability of their coming; and to the Senate in the same sense (Dispatches, Papal Court, 15 July 1528, fol. 27v).
papacy and illuminate the diplomatic intricacies of the papal court.[220] Contarini is a keen observer who creates a sense of immediacy, at times even of tension, in the reader. Then, the letters and instructions from the Senate and Doge Andrea Gritti together with Contarini's replies give a good idea of how Venice attempted to deal with the new political realities of an Italian peninsula whose fate was increasingly determined by the large European territorial states. Gritti, despite his pro-French views, was a political realist. His ducali , or letters to Contarini, written between 27 July 1528 and 21 January 1530, range from, at the start, urging the ambassador to draw Clement VII into firmly supporting the anti-Habsburg forces,[221] to a final realization that the best course of action for the Venetians would be to come to terms with Charles V and the pope and work for a general peace.[222] Differences of opinion about this change of direction existed within the Venetian ruling group.[223] The fear of Habsburg power runs through the entire correspondence of the Senate with Contarini, together with an at times pathetic trust in Francis I, who certainly did not deserve it.[224] Not only did Francis show no concern for his former allies when concluding the Peace of Cambrai with Charles V; he also subsequently offered to subsidize the emperor in a war against Venice and to divide the Venetian territory with him in return for the cession of Milan to France.[225] For the Venetians this was a hard blow indeed, and for Contarini personally a bitter political lesson.
His dispatches also offer a wealth of information about his personality. We meet in them a Venetian patrician, proud of his standing, well versed in court etiquette, and moving with ease in the world of princes. Beyond his role as ambassador he filled the more personal one of
[220] GC , 125-203, presents a detailed discussion of the main political events reported on by Contarini.
[221] Ducali , 30 Aug. and 31 Oct. 1528; 19 Apr. and 23 July 1529.
[222] Ibid., 26 Sept. and 22 Oct. 1529.
[223] Sanuto, Diarii 48:413-14 and 49:222, shows that there was no general agreement about how to instruct Contarini.
[224] News of Charles V's planned trip to Italy greatly worried the Venetian Senate, which deliberated about asking Francis I to come: ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), 2 Apr. 1529, fol. 166r. Contarini, too, had faith in Francis I's promises to Venice and rejected the possibility that the French king could think of concluding a separate peace with Charles V; see Dispatches, Papal Court, 9 Apr. 1529, fols. 222v-223r. Without regard for the Italian states, and to the great consternation of Contarini, Francis I did precisely that; ibid., 14 Aug. 1529, fols. 288v-290v. Contarini tersely records in his final report to the Senate that "the Republic and all other allies were excluded from this peace" (Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:263).
[225] Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:199.
the pope's frequent confidant,[226] at times even of his conscience. Most striking is Clement VII's exclamation to Contarini, made after only seven months of acquaintance: "I trust you to such an extent, that if you were not the Venetian ambassador and a nobleman of that city, I would place all my disagreements in your hands."[227]
The welfare of Italy was a theme often brought up by Contarini in his conversations with Clement, only to elicit the justified response that Venice, having seized the cities of its neighbor, was hardly the model of a state concerned with the common good. One senses Contarini's frustration as he replied to the pope on one such occasion: "Holy Father, this is not the time to dwell at length on the problems of Ravenna and Cervia. If you do not wish to hear me as orator of the illustrious Signoria of Venice, then listen to me as an Italian speaking to you only for the common good of Italy and for the Holy See, which will certainly be ruined entirely if the plans of its enemies succeed!" When the pope replied that he was interested only in the good of the church, that he had done too much for Italy already with no other result than his own defeat, Contarini became disturbed indeed, fearing the ruin of Italy.[228] That the good of Italy was not merely a convenient diplomatic counter but genuinely dear to Contarini can be seen from his impassioned letter to Carlo Cappello, the Venetian ambassador to Florence, written immediately after reports of the accord between Charles V and Clement VII, made public in Barcelona on 29 June 1529, reached Rome. Passing on the bad news that now emperor and pope would collaborate against the Florentine Republic, Contarini declares that men with noble hearts should have little concern for their own lives, property, or wealth in the defense of freedom. If the
[226] Brief remarks show that Contarini continued to be on friendly personal terms with the pope; for example: "Doppo pranso retiratese [Clement VII] cum me solo ne la sua camera intrassemo in ragionamento de le presente ocorentie" (Dispatches, Papal Court, 4 Oct. 1528, fol. 90r); or 10 June 1528, fol. 10v; and 14 Oct. 1528, fol. 98r—both of which mention Contarini's walking with the pope. On one occasion the pope sent his secretary, Sanga, to tell Contarini that he would see him as his friend: "Et cosi heft da sera preditto secretario mi fece intender, che hoggi a 21 hora dovesse andar perche seria admesso non gia come oratore, ne per parlarli de facende alcune, ma solurn come privato amico suo" (ibid., 7 June 1529, fol. 252v).
[227] Reg ., 4 Jan. 1529, 44 (no. 126).
[228] Reg ., 5 Sept. 1528, 34 (no. 103). The pope's reply should be corrected to read: "Io non voglio procurar se non il ben de la chiesia; troppo ho io fatto per Italia et a bon fine, siche mi ho ruinato" (Dispatches, Papal Court, fol. 66v). See also, e.g., Reg., 7 June 1529, 55 (no. 173); or 14 Aug. 1529, 61 (no. 196), where Contarini asserts what he takes to be best for Italy.
Florentines comprehend this and make the necessary preparations for their defense they will withstand their enemies: "Thus, they will preserve themselves and Italy to their eternal glory, and [their enemies] will be baffled in their designs."[229] The Senate, too, had expressed concern at the rumor that the emperor was actually to come,[230] only reinforcing Contarini's anxiety. He was in a position to see how little room for maneuver the Italian states really had, and his concern for Italy and desire to speak as an Italian went far beyond mere rhetoric. Unfortunately, however, the pope thought neither as an Italian nor even as a Florentine but as the head of the house of Medici, on whose restoration he was single-mindedly bent.
The greatest theoretical interest attaches to the arguments Contarini used with Clement VII and reported to the Senate in a dispatch of 4 January 1529, the most lively and personal dispatch in his entire diplomatic correspondence.[231] In a private audience with the pope Contarini explained that this time he had not come to convey an official instruction from his government, but to be heard as an Italian, a private person, and a Christian. Encouraged by Clement to continue, he appealed to the pope to act in a manner different from other rulers who pursued only their own interests. Contarini called on the pope to put the interests of all Christians first and to become a peacemaker among European states. He argued that what distinguished the pope's position from that of other princes was his twofold appointment by Christ: as his vicar, the holder of the highest spiritual authority in the respublica Christiana , and as the magistrate primarily responsible for the well-being of the Christian commonwealth, who for that very reason must give an example of unselfish behavior. In answer to
[229] Reg ., 16 July 1529, 58 (no. 183), should be corrected to read: "Et cosi cum immortal gloria si conserverano loro et Italia et costoro rimanian inganati del pensier loro" (Dispatches, Papal Court, fol. 273r). In a dispatch of 31 October 1529 Contarini is more explicit: "All of Italy can be regarded as a body composed of several members. It is not possible for one of them to suffer without harm to the others" (Reg ., 70 [no. 227]).
[230] ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), 2 Apr. 1529, fol. 166r. Kretschmayr, Geschichte von Venedig 3:14, thinks that during its whole history Venice had rarely concerned itself with the idea of Italy as much as it did during the period of the League of Cognac.
[231] Dispatches, Papal Court, fols. 148r-154r, should be used to correct the long extracts in Reg ., 4146 (no. 126). See GC , 146-51; Ludwig von Pastor, Geschichte der Päpste seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters , vol. 4, pt. 2 (Freiburg i.B., 1956), 347-49; and Giuseppe De Leva, Storia documentata di Carlo V in correlazione all'Italia (Venice, 1863-94), 2:503-5.
Clement's declaration that in pursuing the return of Ravenna and Cervia he was acting only for the good of the church, Contarini made a sharp reply:
Your Holiness should not think that the welfare of Christ's church is comprised in this little temporal state which she has acquired. Even before this state existed there was a church, and a most excellent one. The church is the community of all Christians. This state is like the state of an Italian prince, joined to the church. But Your Holiness should above all be concerned with the welfare of the true church, which consists in peace and tranquillity among all Christians, and for the present relegate to second place the interests of this temporal state.[232]
For Clement VII Contarini's words must have lost some of their sting because they were spoken by a Venetian in the service of his state.[233] Yet the pope responded to this serious plea by admitting its truth, though still assuming the attitude of a political realist: "Don't you see that the world has reached a point where it is the most cunning schemer who reaps most praise, is esteemed and extolled as an admirable man, whereas he who acts in opposite fashion is thought of as good but worthless and is left only with the name of 'a good man'?" In his reply Contarini raised the issue to a higher plane: "Holy Father, if [you] search through the whole of Sacred Scripture, which cannot lie, you will see that there is nothing stronger or more powerful than truth, virtue, goodness, and right intention. I have found this to be true and have experienced it in many of my private affairs; let Your Holiness take heart and proceed with honorable intention, and God will undoubtedly send his help and render you most glorious!"[234] Contarini's words made an impression on the pope,[235] who however did not change his mind either about the disputed cities or about the political stand that half a year later culminated in the alliance with Charles V.
This letter, striking for its reported dialogue, is also important for revealing Contarini's thought. His primary purpose was to convince Clement VII to embrace the cause of the anti-imperial side, but Ludwig von Pastor, the historian of the popes, has judged Contarini's
[232] Reg ., 43 (no. 126).
[233] Already in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries there was Venetian insistence on the pastoral rather than political role of the pope; see Gaetano Cozzi, "I rapporti tra stato e chiesa," in La chiesa di Venezia tra riforma protestante e riforma cattolica , ed. Giuseppe Gullino (Venice: Edizioni Studium Cattolico Veneziano, 1990), 17.
[234] Reg ., 44 (no. 126).
[235] Contarini reports, "Io non credo inganarme, vedeva, che le parole mie li facevano impressione" (Reg ., 45 [no. 126]).
motives too harshly in asserting that the Venetian ambassador in this instance confused what was advantageous for the Republic and the lost cause of the independence of Italy with the welfare of Christendom.[236] Contarini's dispatch touches on two themes to which he was often to return: that of an idealized, spiritual papacy, and that of the crucial importance of experience and example. Of course he was speaking to the pope as a Venetian; but that fact should not cast into doubt Contarini's own convictions about the papacy, which he was to elaborate in later tracts, or the important place he gave to emotion in his understanding of human nature. In this dispatch we see not ad hoc arguments but ideas that had become a permanent part of Contarini's thinking, and which he shared with other Venetian patricians who dreamed of a reformed, spiritual church removed from the sordidness of money, possessions, and political deals. Beyond the inadequacies of the individual pope he discerned the ideal papacy instituted by Christ, just as beyond the world of contention, whether in politics or religion, there was for him the power of human goodness and charity to move men's hearts. In this famous audience Contarini spoke as a Venetian deeply imbued with reform ideas current among his friends, as an expert diplomat, and as a concerned Christian who expressed his vision of what the papacy might become if the pope were to take reform seriously.
The doge on several occasions praised Contarini's conduct of affairs and expressed trust in him.[237] The collegio , too, was most pleased with his dispatches.[238] After receiving the report of 4 January, the Senate wrote to express its great satisfaction with his handling of matters and sent him a mandate to engage in negotiations for a universal peace.[239] This did not mean, however, that he had much scope for initiative or that he could conclude any agreement on his own. One little episode, insignificant in itself, shows that even a trusted ambassador like Contarini was expected to be above all the obedient servant of the
[236] Pastor, Geschichte der Päpste 4(2):349.
[237] Ducali , 10 Nov. 1528, 30 Oct. 1529, and 28 Dec. 1529.
[238] ASV, Collegio, Lettere Secrete, 30 Dec. 1528.
[239] ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), 15 Jan. 1529, fol. 141v: "Abbiamo per quelle [Contarini's letters of 2, 4, and 5 January] inteso il longo, et fiducial conferimento per voi havuto cum la Sant del Pontefice circa le occorentie delli importantissimi presenti tempi. Nelche invero vi havete si ben, et accomodamente disporta, che di tal officio vostro et noi [the Signoria] et il Senato nostro habbiamo sentita cumulata satisfattion, et vi attribuimo merite, et condigne laude." The mandate is on fols. 142v-143r.
state. When rumors reached Venice that the pope was ill and that the emperor might come to Italy, but no letter arrived from Contarini for several days, he was sharply reminded of his duty to keep an anxious Signoria and Senate promptly informed. The doge lectured him, the experienced diplomat, in no uncertain terms about transmitting not only facts but also hearsay and rumors, adding pedantically that of course Contarini should specify which was which.[240]
During the first half of 1529 Contarini continued to work in vain against a rapprochement of pope and emperor, aided for a time by Gian Matteo Giberti, bishop of Verona as well as former secretary and leading counselor of Clement VII, who had left the papal court after the sack of Rome.[241] Giberti was strongly pro-French, and both the doge and Contarini had high hopes that he could influence the pope at least to remain neutral. Giberti, however, who knew Clement well, realized there was little he could do and returned to his diocese despite Contarini's annoyance and efforts to detain him.[242] Contarini was again left to look after Venetian interests alone. He could neither prevent Clement from signing an accord with the emperor[243] nor do more than wait passively to learn what Charles V and Francis I would determine about Italy and Venice in the Peace of Cambrai.[244] After July his dispatches become increasingly reports of what he had learned at second hand. Charles V landed in Genoa on 12 August; meanwhile, the pope was preoccupied with the impending meeting with the emperor, for which Bologna was chosen. Contarini found that Clement did not want to tell him anything specific about his dealings with the emperor,[245] which meant that he had to operate from rumors—such as that Clement might consent to the present state of Ravenna and Cervia, which proved groundless.[246] One can sense his frustration when he complains at finding himself "in deep darkness," not knowing how to proceed since he had heard nothing from Venice in three weeks.[247] No
[240] Ducali , 17 Feb. 1529. The instruction to write is repeated in ASV, Collegio, Lettere Secrete, 1528 (dated 7 Feb. 1528) (more Veneto = 1529).
[241] For Giberti, see the excellent study by Adriano Prosperi, Tra evangelismo e controriforma: G. M. Giberti (1495-1543) (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 1969).
[242] Reg ., 14 Apr. 1529, 52 (no. 159).
[243] Reg ., 28 July 1529, 59 (no. 189). The treaty had been negotiated in Barcelona, and agreed upon on 29 June.
[244] Dispatches, Papal Court, 7 Aug. 1529, fol. 285r.
[245] Ibid., 10 Sept. 1529, fol. 306v.
[246] Ibid., 5 Sept. 1529, fol. 304v.
[247] Ibid., 19 Sept. 1529, fol. 311r. Contarini's tone is almost sarcastic: "Pero la [the Signoria] prego instantemente che la si degni qualche volta per sue lettere darmi qualche pocco de lume."
wonder that he asked for the appointment of a successor, alleging that he could no longer support the burden and expense of his mission. Yet despite his discouragement he continued in his embassy, reaching the high point of his Venetian diplomatic career in his personal contributions to the Peace of Bologna in 1530.
In 1529 the Venetian government began preparing for a general peace. After the conclusion of separate treaties between the pope and the emperor and between the emperor and the French king, it was obvious that the anti-imperial league had crumbled and that the Italian states were on their own. Venice naturally tried to preserve her territories. But an equally important objective for her was to prevent Milan, her neighbor to the west, from becoming a Spanish dependency. Over and over Contarini was sent instructions to work for the restitution of Milan to Duke Francesco Sforza, a difficult task since the duke's anti-imperial stand had made him unpopular with Charles V and his advisors.[248] Contarini urged the pope to make sure than the Milanese ruler was an Italian,[249] but became perturbed when he suspected that the emperor might grant Milan to the pope's nephew Alessandro de' Medici, admittedly an Italian but pro-imperial and therefore undesirable from the Venetian point of view. A tone of growing unease appears in Contarini's reports about the pope's Italian policies, especially his attitude toward Florence. Despite Clement's assurances, the envoy was worried about the destiny of Florence and took every opportunity to put in a good word for the Florentines, urging the pope to work for the liberty and the good of his native city. At one point he provoked Clement into exclaiming, "Do you think I do not realize what it would mean to place Florence at the mercy of Spaniards and Germans? I have many women relatives there. Do you think I want them to go—to use his own words—to the bordello with Spaniards and Germans?"[250] Ironically, despite these disclaimers, one of the clauses in the agreement between the emperor and the pope specified that they would collaborate in reducing Florence to a Medici dependency, and Contarini's fears proved justified when the last Florentine republic fell in 1530.
The Venetian Senate and Signoria had no choice but to adapt to the reality of the emperor's power. After Charles V arrived in Italy the
[248] Ducali , 26 Sept. and 5 Dec. 1529, reiterate that Venice stood by the duke of Milan. See also ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), 19 Nov. 1529, fols. 267v-270r.
[249] Reg ., 10 Aug. 1529, 61 (no. 196).
[250] Reg ., 13 July 1529, 60 (no. 190).
instructions to Contarini change tone: now he was to stress above all Venice's desire for peace, with no reference to the role Venice had played in the anti-imperial league.[251] In October, Contarini accompanied the papal train on its journey to Bologna. He received a mandate from the doge as well as credentials from the Senate to negotiate in the name of the Republic with both emperor and pope.[252] While realistic about the necessity of restoring to Charles V cities conquered in Apulia, the Venetians were still hoping against hope for some agreement that would leave Ravenna and Cervia in their hands. Contarini was told to use "all the strength and quickness" of his mind, and even ordered to engage the good offices of the emperor to persuade Clement VII if necessary.[253] This was no easy task for the Venetian ambassador, for it meant petitioning the emperor to help a state that only very recently had been his enemy. Predictably, Charles V was not willing to put pressure on the pope in this matter. Despite Contarini's best efforts in the course of several meetings, Clement VII remained adamant about regaining possession of the two cities,[254] and finally the majority in the Venetian Senate realized that the cities would have to be returned to the pope.[255]
The emperor made a splendid entrance into Bologna on 5 November.[256] Contarini's pleasant and gentlemanly manner came to his aid at the awkward moment of meeting Charles V face to face. Saying nothing about Venice's war against him, the emperor greeted Contarini not as the orator who was an agent of the Republic, but as Messer Gasparo Contarini, with whom he had been on very friendly terms while the latter was ambassador to him in Spain; "and he received him
[251] Ducali , 26 Sept. and 22 Oct. 1529. In the former a striking change of tone in regard to the emperor occurs, and Contarini is told that Venice is "most inclined" toward His Majesty. See also ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), 31 Aug. 1529, fol. 225r; 5 Oct. 1529, fol. 239r-v:
[252] Dispatches, Papal Court, 22 Oct. 1529, fol. 247r.
[253] Ibid., 2 Nov. 1529, fol. 252r.
[254] Reg ., 26 Oct. 1529, 68-69 (no. 224); 27 Oct. 1529, 69 (no. 225); and 5 Nov. 1529, 71 (no. 230). In early November Contarini still tried in vain to appeal to the pope "non come oratore dei miei signori, ma come Gasparo Contarini, privato e sviscerato servitore della Santità Vostra" (Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:160).
[255] ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), 10 Nov. 1529, fols. 253v, 254r. This decision provoked intense debates. Hardliners in the Senate like Girolamo Pesaro, Alvise and Pietro Mocenigo, and Lunardo Emo did not favor the restitution of the cities; see Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:171-72. See also Sanuto, Diarii 52:212.
[256] Dispatches, Papal Court, 5 Nov. 1529, fols. 338r-340r, describes the emperor's entry into the city with about eight hundred horse and three to four thousand infantry, and his gracious reception of Contarini.
with such kind words and courteous actions that all who were present marveled."[257] Contarini later replied with a masterful speech to the effect that Venice had gone to war against the emperor only for defensive reasons but now welcomed him as a bringer of peace.[258]
The documents of the peace negotiations show Contarini to be a skilled, intelligent statesman who knew how to smooth over difficulties with his genial manner.[259] He could speak informally to emperor and pope, assuming the persona of a "private person," and get a ready hearing. Clement VII solicited his advice,[260] while Charles V accepted it when it was offered. In the latter case Contarini stressed that he was approaching the emperor "not as the Venetian orator" but as a faithful servitor who allowed himself to suggest that neither Charles V nor his counselors understood the nature of Italians. He argued deftly against the Spanish plan to retain fortresses in Milanese territory as a pledge of the duke's loyalty, saying that if that were to occur the people would think the Spaniards were the real masters of Milan and would not pay taxes to the duke; as a result, the latter would be unable to pay the indemnity he was required to give to the emperor, and in the end no solid result would be achieved.[261] With great diplomatic skill and tact Contarini won Charles V's high opinion.[262] He was instrumental in persuading the emperor to return Milan to Duke Francesco Sforza as a means of keeping peace in northern Italy, even though the duke had been an enemy. This victory of Venetian diplomacy kept direct Spanish power out of northern Italy for the time being. Contarini also managed to whittle down the payment demanded of Venice to one
[257] Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:162.
[258] Ibid., 173.
[259] The judgment of Horatio F. Brown, "Cardinal Contarini and His Friends," in Studies in the History of Venice (London: John Murray, 1907), 2:128, to the effect that Contarini had no "grain of humor," should be qualified. See, for example, the quick reply Contarini made "sorridendo" to Clement VII's complaint that the Venetians had not paid him interest on the value of the salt from Cervia while the city was in their hands: "Your Holiness might with more justification ask for the interest on what you suffered during the siege and sack of Rome, in which so many silver objects, crosses, chalices, relics, together with churches, were robbed and destroyed!" (Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:188).
[260] The pope asked Contarini, "Ditemi il vostro parer, non come ambasciatore, ma come Messer Gasparo Contarini privato" (Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:191 ).
[261] Ibid., 207. See also Ducali , 17 Dec. 1529.
[262] Charles V was convinced of Contarini's goodwill toward him. During the peace negotiations he remarked, "Domine orator, . . . although you can be accused of doing everything for your homeland, still we know that next to it you have always loved the person of the emperor" (Albèfi, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:178).
hundred thousand ducats in addition to what was still owed the emperor after the peace treaty of 1523.[263]
While Contarini in Bologna was using his good offices also for the dukes of Ferrara and Urbino, considerable dissent erupted in the Venetian Senate. Besides the disagreements regarding the restitution of Ravenna and Cervia, there was discord about a proposed defensive league of Italian states with Charles V and his brother Ferdinand. The emperor pressed for the league, but the Venetians hesitated to enter it for fear of provoking the Turks, who had only recently lifted the siege of Vienna and were still at war with the Habsburgs.[264] In the Senate the relations of Venice with the emperor, Francis I, and the Turks were hotly discussed.[265] To Contarini's annoyance, some senators leaked the content of the debates to the papal nuncio in Venice, who promptly wrote to Clement VII. Thus the pope was sometimes informed of what was going on in Venice before Contarini himself received official letters. Other potential problems for Contarini were caused by senators like Alvise Gradenigo and Girolamo Pesaro, who proposed that Venice send an ambassador to the Turks to apologize for treating for peace with the emperor and explain that she did so only because otherwise she would remain isolated, all other Italian states having agreed to peace. Alvise Mocenigo, who frequently opposed Contarini, this time rose in his support. He declared that if Charles V heard that such an ambassador was sent, the peace negotiations would certainly suffer a setback.[266] His view prevailed, and Contarini's labors were made easier.
On 23 December the peace treaty of Bologna was concluded, and by the twenty-eighth the news had reached Venice, causing great joy in the whole city.[267] On New Year's Day 1530 the treaty was solemnly proclaimed in the cathedral of San Petronio in Bologna. Venice, besides having to return to the pope Ravenna and Cervia, and to the emperor Trani, Monopoli, and other towns in southern Italy, was also constrained to join a defensive league that included Charles V, Ferdinand of Austria, Clement VII, and the duke of Milan.[268] The Venetians
[263] Ibid., 217.
[264] ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), 26 Nov. 1529, fols. 264v-265r.
[265] Alvise Mocenigo delivered a long and clever anti-French speech; see Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:195-96.
[266] Ibid., 211-12.
[267] Ducali , 28 Dec. 1529; and ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), fols. 282v-283r. The Senate swore to uphold the treaty on January 11; see fol. 293r-v.
[268] For the provisions of the treaty, see ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), fols. 265r-267r; and Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:217-18.
elected four ambassadors for the ceremonial mission to congratulate both pope and emperor on the peace.[269] Clement VII's intimation that he wished to receive formal obeisance from Venice provoked a long debate in the Senate, including a lengthy speech by the anti-papal Alvise Mocenigo.[270] Regrettably, the sources do not tell us whether Mocenigo was elected as one of the four ambassadors because of his speech or in spite of it.[271] Contarini was instructed to remain in Bologna for the emperor's coronation on 24 February; thereupon his request to be relieved of his post was granted, with Antonio Soriano elected to succeed him.[272] After the splendid ceremonies of the imperial coronation, described in detail by his brother-in-law Matteo Dandolo,[273] Contarini finally returned to Venice.
On 4 March he made the customary final report on his mission before the Senate. A short summary, not written until at least five years later, is all that survives.[274] In it he briefly discusses the pope and his advisors, the emperor and his advisors, and the duke of Milan. There is nothing not contained in his dispatches, and one looks in vain for any personal reflection on the diplomatic background of the Peace of Bologna. One of the few noteworthy phrases concerns Clement VII, whose attitude to church reform Contarini sums up pithily: "He manifests his desire to see the abuses of the Holy Church curbed, but nevertheless he does nothing to put any such idea into practice, nor does he decide to issue any regulations."[275] Contarini's perfunctory summary is no substitute for the full report, which was described as "very specific but contained nothing superfluous; it was unanimously praised by the whole Senate, which listened to it most attentively for more than two hours."[276]
[269] ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), 29 Dec. 1529, fol. 286v.
[270] Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:231-34.
[271] The other ambassadors were Marco Dandolo, Alvise Gradenigo, and Lorenzo Bragadin. Their commission is in ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 53 (1528/29), fols. 294v-295r, with a characteristic touch at the end: Juan Dolfin was sent along to super- vise expenses and make a daily accounting.
[272] Ibid., fol. 289r-v.
[273] Sanuto, Diarii 52:628-38, 639-79, gives other descriptions of the coronation and associated festivities.
[274] Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:259-74. The summary was written after Pope Paul III's election in 1534 (260). Albèri mistakenly reports Sanuto as dating Contarini's speech to 7 March and saying that it lasted three hours; Sanuto, Diarii 53:16, says two hours.
[275] Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:265.
[276] Ibid., 247. Niccolò da Ponte summarized twenty-two years later what Contarini said, basing himself on letters he had written to his father in 1530. His recapitulation omits details that would flesh out Contarini's report.
For Venice, the peace provided a welcome breathing spell after the war and the expenses of the unsuccessful alliance against Charles V. But it also underlined her political decline, which had begun during the War of the League of Cambrai. Venice was increasingly forced to perceive herself as a small state whose fate was, if not determined, at least decisively influenced by the great European monarchies. For Contarini personally, the peace was the culmination of twenty months of patient and determined work. While he did not achieve his main objective, the retention of Ravenna and Cervia in Venetian hands, he did contribute to making the situation of the northern Italian states easier than it would have been had the Spanish established themselves in Milan at that point. The embassy had also given him insight into the affairs of the church, stimulating his reflections on its structure and the nature of the papacy. At the papal court he had become a well-known figure, among others to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who as Pope Paul III was to appoint him cardinal. Contarini had also won the respect of Charles V and his advisors; it was Charles who requested Contarini's presence as papal legate at the Diet of Regensburg eleven years later.
The most immediate impact of Contarini's success and prestige was on his career in the service of the state. On 31 December 1529 he was elected in absentia by the Senate savio grande (or savio del consiglio ), a member of the committee of six that constituted one of the highest levels of the Venetian government.[277] Because he was still in Bologna, a supplementary motion was passed to elect another savio while Contarini was on his diplomatic mission but to give him the first vacant position on the committee after his return.[278] His status was further enhanced by a letter to the Senate from the Mantuan ambassador to Bologna, Giovanni Battista Malatesta, who praised Contarini as an outstanding emissary who would be greatly missed at the papal court; "it is impossible," he declared, "to express in what a praiseworthy manner, giving satisfaction to all, he behaved during his embassy."[279]
Yet Contarini also had enemies among his peers, most notably Francesco Foscari, who managed to invoke a procedural technicality to
[277] The six savii del consiglio (or savii grandi ), together with five savii di terraferma (in charge of mainland affairs) and five savii agli ordini (in charge of naval affairs), formed the consulta , which was a part of the pien collegio , the initiative and executive body of the government. See Appendix 2. For Contarini's election, see Sanuto, Diarii 52:401; and Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:237.
[278] Sanuto, Diarii 52:448.
[279] Ibid., 478.
prevent the ambassador from keeping the emperor's parting present of 1,500 gold ducats. Though the doge urged the Senate to grant Contarini the money, and a motion was made to award it to him "in recompense for the expenses he incurred, and in recognition of his praiseworthy work," the necessary four-fifths of votes could not be mustered. That Contarini's pride was hurt can be seen from his unwillingness to have the matter voted on again. Even a motion to grant him one-half the sum was defeated, and Contarini had to hand over his gift to the treasury.[280]
More humiliating for Contarini was a sharp attack on him on 11 March by the same Francesco Foscari for having signed the peace treaty of Bologna without noticing that it contained a phrase against the Turks. After Contarini explained that the offending words were inserted owing to an oversight of his secretary Antonio Mazzaruolo, the heads of the Council of Ten proposed sending instructions to the new ambassador, Antonio Soriano, to have the phrase removed. The Venetian government was unwilling to antagonize the Turks in any way, but neither the doge nor most of the collegio thought this was a crucial matter. Piero Mocenigo and then Foscari, however, turned it into a major issue; the latter moved that Contarini be handed over to the public prosecutors for investigation and trial, "as such a great disorder demands," since he had not followed his instructions exactly. Contarini's brother Tommaso came to his defense, "shouting that if his brother did wrong he should be punished, but first he must be heard; he is without guilt!" Others thought the same, even Contarini's old enemy Alvise Mocenigo, who defended him in this instance, and Foscari's motion was defeated.[281] This bitter epilogue to Contarini's
[280] This episode shows that although Contarini was generally wall liked, he had enemies among the Venetian nobles. Francesco Foscari, in 1530 one of the ducal councillors, seems to have felt a strong personal hostility toward Contarini. Knowing that the Contarini family had paid all the expenses of the embassy to Clement VII, he still opposed even the motion to let Contarini keep the 1,500 ducats. When the motion he opposed was put to the vote he invoked the absence of Alvise Gradenigo, one of the four ceremonial ambassadors to the emperor, as the reason no final decision should be taken He insisted that senators be reminded of legislation forbidding gifts to ambassadors and managed to sway enough senators so that the motion lost. See ibid., 53:16, 17, 19; ASV, Senato Terra, Reg. 26 (1530/31), fols. lv, 2r-v; Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:249-50. Other nobles in high government positions were more likely to oppose Contarini on specific issues, for example the pro-imperial Alvise Mocenigo, Girolamo Pesaro, Pietro Mocenigo, and Lunardo Emo; but at times they attacked him personally as well; see Sanuto, Diarii 53:24, 126; 56:667, among other instances.
[281] Sanuto, Diarii 53:24-25; ASV, Senato, Delib. Secreta, Reg. 54 (1530/31), fols. 6r-v, 7r; Albèri, Relazioni , 2d ser., 3:251-53.
embassy reveals not only the divisions among the ruling elite, but also Venice's keen sensitivity to the Turkish danger in its political calculations[282] and the extreme circumspection with which it approached any issue involving the Ottoman Empire.[283]