Hungary

In April 1516 was published the first edition of the Furioso dedicated with gratitude to Cardinal Ippolilto who however did not show equal generosity towards his servant. Leaving for Hungary in August 1517 in order to take care of the bishopric of Agria (which he had obtained in 1497), Ippolito d’Este fiercely insisted that the poet should follow him in his usual role of factotum. Ludovico equally adamantly refused to follow him and left the service of Ippolito, thus provoking an irreversible rupture. Already in 1513 the Cardinal had gone to the bishopric of Agria for a couple of months at the request of the King of Hungary, but the death of Julius II had obliged him to return to Italy in haste. According to Paolo Giovio, Ariosto did go to Hungary with the Cardinal on that occasion whilst he did not follow him already a first time after 1513. In the summer of 1517, almost certainly under pressure from Louis II, the King of Hungary, the Cardinal decided to go back to the Hungarian bishopric with all his court, but Ludovico refused to embark upon such a fearsome journey. The poet motivated his decision with the weakness of his health, which made the trip unadvisable, as indicated by two court doctors (Valentino and Postumo), and the need to care for his aging mother Daria and his unhappy brother Gabriele. The Cardinal, faced with the poet’s categorical refusal, reacted brusquely by withdrawing his benevolence and, it would seem, some sources of income he had conceded Ariosto. The episode of his refusal to go to Hungary, linked to the theme of the poet’s individual freedom, is addressed by Ariosto in Satire I, dedicated to his brother Alessandro and to Ludovico da Bagno and who instead both followed Ippolito to Agria. We should note the polemic tones of vv. 10-12: “Pazzo chi al suo signor contradir vole, / se ben dicesse c’ha veduto il giorno / pieno di stelle e a mezzanotte il sole”.