BERSALA, ANN,
Daughter and principal heiress of Wolfard de Borselle, and of Chariotte de Bourbon-Montpensier, who was married June the 17th., 1468; she was wife of Philip of Burgundy, son of Anthony of Burgundy, Lord of Bevres, of the illegitimate sons of the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. She brought to him, for her dowry, the lordship of Vere, that of Flushing, and some others, and had by him one son and two daughters.
Erasmus had a peculiar esteem for her. He thus writes to a friend:—"We came to Anne, Princess of Vere. Why should I say anything to you of this lady's complaisance, benignity, or liberality? I know the embellishments of rhetoricians are suspected, especially by those who are not unskilled in those arts. But, believe me, I am so far here from enlarging, that it is above the reach of our art. Never did nature produce anything more modest, more wise, or more obliging. She was so generous to me—she loaded me with so many benefits, without my seeking them! It has happened to me, my Battus, with regard to her, as it often used to happen with regard to you, that I begin to love and admire most when I am absent. Good God, what candour, what complaisance in the largest fortune, what evenness of mind in the greatest injuries, what cheerfulness in such great cares, what constancy of mind, what innocence of life, what encouragement of learned men, what affability to all!"
BERTANA, LUCIA.
In the sixteenth century the literary annals of Italy shone with illustrious names, and among these may be found many women assiduously cultivating poetry and science, and attaining no mean proficiency in these elevated pursuits. Naples boasted Vittoria Colonna, and a few years afterwards, Laura Terracina. Padua possessed Gaspara Stampa; Brescia, Veronica Gambara; and Modena, Tarquenia Molza. At Bologna, among many poetesses at that time, we find Ippolita Paleotti writing elegant verses in Greek and in Latin; the nun Febronia Pannolini, remarkable for her choice prose, and flowing hymns, as well in Latin as in Italian; and Valeria Miani, who achieved that difficulty some male sceptics arrogantly refuse to feminine capacity—a successful tragedy. But among all the Bolognese women, the crown must be yielded to Lucia Bertana. Not only contemporary authorities award her this praise, but Maffei, in his "History of Italian literature," gives her the third place among the most admirable poetesses of the sixteenth century, preferring only Vittoria Colonna and Veronica Gambara. She was born at Bologna, of the family Dall'Oro, in 1521; and became the wife of Gerone Bertana, a gentleman of Modena, where she resided after her marriage. She was not only celebrated for her poetry, but possessed a vigorous and polished prose style. She cultivated music and painting, and turned her attention to what was at that time a respectable and sensible object of study—astrology. Besides these accomplishments, Lucia was gifted with all the virtues of her sex. She was amiable and gentle, and her excellent disposition was manifested in an attempt she most earnestly made to effect a reconciliation between two rival men of letters, Caro and Castelvetro. She conducted the matter with the utmost delicacy and good sense—appealed to the better feelings of each—and tried to show how
