THE CERTOSA OF FLORENCE 



planned on the same vastness of scale. Churches, 

 convents, altars, in Greece, in Naples, and Tuscany 

 are to perpetuate his name ; hundreds of poor are to 

 be clothed yearly in memory of his father ; masses 

 to be said by thousands for the repose of his soul and 

 those dear to him. The whole of his lands in the 

 Val d'Ema are to endow the Certosa, and the convent 

 itself is to be the finest in Italy. 



The real greatness of the man was best shown in 

 the hour of trial. However extreme the peril, how- 

 ever sudden the emergency, his serenity never forsook 

 him. His fortitude in defeat and exile excited general 

 admiration, and his biographers speak with wonder of 

 his behaviour on hearing of his son Lorenzo's death. 

 This, his eldest son, described as " a youth of a most 

 lovely countenance, tried in arms, and eminent for 

 his graceful manners and his gracious and noble 

 aspect," was Niccolo's pride and joy, the darling of 

 his heart, and hope of his house. Already he had 

 won his first laurels in the defence of Melfi ; and now 

 he had received the honour of knighthood and been 

 betrothed to a daughter of the proud house of Sanse- 

 verino, when a sudden death cut him off in the flower 

 of his manhood. The Grand Seneschal was at Gaeta, 

 providing for the defence of the realm, when the news 

 reached him. For a moment his constancy forsook 

 him, and, strong man as he was, he quailed under the 



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