Castiglione's princes

In his intense though not lengthy existence, Castiglione sojourned in various Italian and European courts, where he had repeated opportunities to observe and get to know the princes protagonists of the political, diplomatic and military scene of the age. Twenty one years old, Baldassarre was admitted to the Sforza court in Milan, and there met Ludovico il Moro. Returning to Mantua after the fall of Ludovico, he entered the service of Francesco Gonzaga, their relationship, however, for reasons that remain obscure, was to degenerate. Thus, in the spring of 1504, he succeeded with difficulty in obtaining his freedom and moving into the service of Guidubaldo di Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino. On his behalf, from 1506 to 1507, he went on a diplomatic mission to London, at the court of Henry VII, who welcomed him with affection and deference. After the death of Guidubaldo, Castiglione remained in Urbino at the court of his successor, his adopted son Francesco Maria Della Rovere, however, the relationship progressively deteriorated, due to the unstable and violent temperament of the Duke.

With Francesco Maria Della Rovere ousted by an underhand move by Leone X, and Francesco Gonzaga dead, the conditions matured for Castiglione’s return to service at Mantua, as the ambassador of the new Marquis, Federico Gonzaga, on whose behalf he obtained some of his greatest diplomatic successes. After the death of his wife, Baldassarre took up ecclesiastical orders and acquired a position of growing importance within the Roman court, even if with varying fortunes, during the reigns of popes Leone X, Adriano VI and Clemente VII. In 1524, with the title of papal nuncio, he was sent to Madrid, at the imperial court of Charles V, with whom, despite the dramatic circumstances, he developed a relationship of reciprocal respect and friendship. It is said that, on his death, Charles V said of him to his nephew, Ludovico Strozzi: “Yo vos digo che es muerto uno de los mejores caballeros del mundo” (I tell you that one of the greatest courtiers in the world has died) (V. Cian, Un illustre nunzio pontificio del Rinascimento. Baldassar Castiglione, The Vatican 1951, 124-125).