Garfagnana

Is the locality where Ariosto was sent by Duke Alfonso I d’Este in February 1522 as commissioner, after a serious economic crisis, due to heavy military expenditure, had made it impossible for the Estes to pay Ludovico a regular courtier’s salary.  The job of commissioner in the mountainous region of Garfagnana was a tough one because the area, apart from being infested by bandits, had long been contested by Lucca and Florence,  and was thus not kept easily under the orders of the House of Este. The poet reached Castelnuovo on 20 February, after a difficult winter journey with the risk of being attacked by brigands in the wooded mountains. Ludovico undertook the journey in a state of great melancholy  and with a sense of sacrifice. Of the ‘squalor’ of Garfagnana he speaks in Satire IV in vv. 139-144: "La nuda Pania tra l’Aurora il Noto, / da l’altre parti il giogo mi circonda / che fa d’un Pellegrin la gloria noto. / Questa è una fossa, ove abito, profonda / donde non muovo piè senza salire / del silvoso Apennin la fiera sponda". Ludovico lived in the fortress, today known as Rocca Ariostea, a square shaped structure with towers at the corners. Initially accompanied by his son Virginio, Ariosto held the post until June 1525, showing a great sense of fairness towards his men, preferring dialogue to conflict, not only with the local population but also with the bandit chiefs, who ended up respecting the commissioner-poet. During his years at Castelnuovo, Ludovico had a lot of contact with a variety of personalities, such as the Florentine Zanobi Buondelmonti, a friend of Machiavelli. At Castelnuovo the poet was able to dedicate less time to his literary work, given his many diplomatic and military commitments.