48 Lionel's Journey to Italy 



tury (Murray, Handbook for Travellers in Northern Italy, 3d. 



ed., 1847, P- 203) : 



Quitting Milan by the Porta Ticinese, the road enters what may be 

 termed the most Flemish portion of the plain of Lombardy. Meadows, 

 rich in clover, yield two or three crops a year; thick rows of sallows 

 and poplars bespeak the humidity of the soil, luxuriant even to rank- 

 ness. On either side are frequent transverse or longitudinal cuts 

 and canals. Of these the largest is the Naviglio" di Pavia, completed 

 by the French, which joins the Ticino at Pavia. The road skirts this 

 canal all the way. 



As the festal company approached Milan, there issued from 

 the Ticinese Gate a gorgeous procession to meet them.^- This 

 procession was headed by Galeazzo.'^^ First came Bianca,^* 



and returned to Guastalla, and thence went by boats to Borgoforte, which 

 he captured and destroyed (Corio, p. 471). Borgoforte is on the northern 

 shore of the Po, 7 miles south of Mantua; Guastalla on the southern 

 bank of the Po, midway by rail between Mantua and Parma, and a dozen 

 miles from Borgoforte. 



■^So Annal. Med.; Frag. Corio says May 17 (XVII for XXVII), 

 but provides the means of correction by adding that it was the vigil of 

 Pentecost. 



^^Cf. p. II. 



'^ Annal. Med.; Corio; Frag. 



•^ According to Magenta (i. 156), following Jovius, Galeazzo was 

 strong and handsome, tall, with fair and curHng locks, friendly but keen 

 looks, a white and delicate skin, and lofty bearing. Symonds says {Age 

 of the Despots, chap. 2) : 'Galeazzo was distinguished as the handsomest 

 man of his age. He was tall and graceful, with golden hair, which he 

 wore in long plaits, or tied up in a net, or else loose and crowned with 

 flowers.' See his portrait on p. 17. For his character, cf. p. 16. 



'^^Bianca (1336-1387), now 32 years old, was herself the daughter of a 

 Violante (second child of Theodore Palaeologus, Marquis of Montferrat), 

 married to Aimon of Savoy {Arch. Stor. Lomhardo 34. 6). Beautiful 

 at the time of her marriage in 1350 {M. H. P., p. 1180; Corio, p. 438), 

 Bianca's character remained beautiful till her death. Magenta (i. 178-p) 

 speaks of her ready intellect and unspeakable goodness of heart. Amid 

 agitating vicissitudes, in victory and defeat, through all the excesses and 

 crimes perpetrated by her husband and her son, she remained meek and 

 untroubled, an exemplary wife and mother. Her native sweetness led her 

 to innumerable works of charity, and, as far as in her lay, she mitigated 

 the sufferings which Galeazzo inflicted (cf. R. I. S. 16. 550). Notwith- 

 standing, Bernabo sent one of his creatures from Milan to Pavia to 

 assassinate her when she should be walking in the park accompanied 

 by none but her ladies, merely because she had tried to reconcile her 

 brother with her husband {R. I. S. 16. 797). When the assassin returned 



