NOTES TO THE SECOND BOOK OF THE COURTIER Note 303, page 153. Cervia is a little town on the Adriatic (between Ravenna and Rimini). A Dominican, Tommaso Cattanei, was bishop of the diocese from i486 to 1509. The pope referred to in the text was Julius II. Note 304, page 155. ' Montefiore Inn' was a proverbial expression for a bad hostelry. The rustic inns of Italy at this period were usually wretched and for the most part kept by Germans. Note 305, page 156. One Andrea Castillo was secretary to Leo X, and died in 1545. Note 306, page 156. Cian identifies this Cardinal Borgia as the Francesco (born 1441 ; died 1511) who was raised to the purple by Alexander VI, and w s known as a schismatic. Note 307, page 156. The modern form of ballatore is hallerino. Although the distinction is not free from doubt, there seems to be reason for believing that dansare was the term applied to the more stately forms of dance, while ballare was reserved for more animated movements. See note 147. Note 308, page 157. The Bergamasque was and still is regarded as the rudest and most rustic of the Italian dialects. Note 309, page 157. Except as applied to a small Tuscan stream or torrent (flowing near Acquapendente and Orvieto, and finally tributary to the Tiber), the name Paglia does not occur in modern Italian geography. In his autobi- ography, Cellini mentions crossing the little stream on his first journey from Siena to Rome. Later in the i6th century, Montaigne records (in his diary of a trip into Italy) having spent the night at " La Paille" (Italian, Paglia), and describes it as "a small village of five or six houses at the foot of several barren and ill-favoured mountains." Note 310, page 157. They seem to have been playing primero (the modern primiera), a game much in vogue at this time. Note 311, page 158. Loreto is a small hill town near Ancona, and is cele- brated for its pilgrimage shrine of the Sacred House (Santa Casa), which was reputed to have been the veritable dwelling of the Virgin, miraculously trans- ported by angels from Nazareth, and set down in Italy in 1294. In 1511 and again in 1524 Castiglione wrote to his mother that he was preparing to go to Our Lady of Loreto in fulfilment of a vow. The name was said to be derived from that of the widow upon whose land the house was deposited by the angels. Note 312, page 158. Acquapendente is the name of a small town sixty-seven miles north-west of Rome. 382
