The Cardinal's Hat: Money, Ambition, and Everyday Life in the Court of a Borgia Prince

This is a most remarkable piece of archival research that recreates the everyday life of a 16th-century Italian aristocrat as he and his family pursue his goal of attaining for him the rank of cardinal in the wholly worldly and corrupt Catholic Church of that era. Using an enormous trove of documents she stumbled upon in the archives of Modena, Hollingsworth brings to vivid and detailed life the world of Ippolito d' Este, one of the sons of the notorious Lucrezia Borgia and her last husband, Duke Alfonso d'Este of Ferrara. In the hands of the wrong writer, this kind of research could be deadly dull--little more than an endless 16th-century shopping list. But in Hollingsworth's hands these "dry" documents come to life, and take the reader into the day-to-day, material world of Ippolito d'Este as no other form of research could do. This is history that takes us from politics and power-seeking all the way to the level of perfumed gloves and crystal urinals, a world of mind-boggling aristocratic affluence and luxury. The author's writing style, which some might consider a bit dull, is appropriate for her subject, in the sense that Ippolito needs no editorializing-- his documents themselves speak louder than anything the author could say about them. In any case, the writing is always competent, and often enlivened with flashes of dry British humor. Her ability to make sense of endless pages of accounts-- and to make the contents of those account books of interest to a modern reader-- is nothing short of masterful. My only criticism is that, among all the illustrations, there doesn't seem to be a single one of Ippolito himself.

The beauty of this book is that it uses account books and letters to put together a very detailed account of the life of an Italian noble churchman who aspired to be (and near the end of the book becomes) a cardinal. And he's no ordinary cardinal -- he's a favorite of Francois I of France, a patron of Cellini, and the like. The downside of the book is that every so often you feel as if you're reading an annotated Visa bill. Long discussions of how much money was paid for different items, where the best items came from, etc. Not everything is likely to be interesting. In my case I enjoyed details of how clothing was made (and discovering that furs were often recycled from one piece to another) but was bored by long discussion of fees to bargemen and carters for hauling produce.

One of the most admirable tasks of an art historian is to endure long hours, days, and weeks in cold, often musty, archives to produce an incomparable image based on documents. Since the two previous reviews elaborate on the central figures of the D'Este family, their history, roots, and struggle for power, let me guide the reader to the fine details of Mary Hollingsworth's transcriptions of the family ledgers. We learn about all levels of the "famiglia," the group of servants around the young Cardinal Ippolito, from men who clothed and fed him, to those who emptied his chamber pots and cleaned his bedchambers, made his candles, embroidered his shirts, and looked after his ledger books. Fascinating is the author's account of crossing the Alps in wintertime, the management of Ippolito's large entourage, transport of huge travel chests and the Cardinal's four-poster bed, worries about miniscule details like the cold feet of his favorite dogs. We learn about the life of a prince who spared no money to buy his cardinal's hat and to promote the image of his noble family. Try a good glass of Italian wine, fresh semolina bread, and the oil from the former D'Este lands while paging through the book. Great reading for scholars and general readers alike.

A boon for the historian of Renaissance Italy is that it was remarkably bureaucratic, and paper trails are all over the place. They do need finding, sorting, and placing in context. Mary Hollingsworth is such a historian, and was forced by weather to make a detour to Modena in 1999. As long as she was there, she started looking through the archives. A friend had already told her that the story of Ippolito d'Este would be worth looking up, and she started to do so. There were 2,000 of his letters, letters written to him, and 200 account books. She had found "a unique account of life in sixteenth-century Europe, a detailed record of how a Renaissance prince lived." Not just a Renaissance prince, but an archbishop who was a climber, aiming for a cardinal's hat and perhaps the papacy. In _The Cardinal's Hat: Money, Ambition, and Everyday Life in the Court of a Borgia Prince_ (Overlook Press), Hollingsworth has set out her findings in detail. Ippolito has, of course, been written about before, but mostly as an important patron of the arts; he built the magnificent Villa d'Este at Tivoli and he was a patron of the musician Palestrina. The life and career have otherwise been ignored, and Hollingsworth here corrects this void through the remarkable documents she found. Ippolito d'Este was born in 1509 in Ferrara, the second son of Alfonso d'Este and Lucretia Borgia. The firstborn son was fated to be the Duke of Ferrara, and Ippolito was fated to enter the church. Ippolito was no more pious than his brother; their respective careers were merely a matter of birthright. Ippolito became Archbishop of Milan at age nine, and his family was thereupon interested in making him a cardinal. The means for acquiring the cardinal's hat was financial. The cardinalship was in fact purchased from the corrupt Pope Paul III by the Duke for his brother, although there were many complicated arguments made as all the parties involved attempted to improve their positions in the arrangements. Ippolito's candidacy was greatly improved by his friendship with Francis I of France, with whom he seems to have had a sincere friendship. The two men were interested in the sorts of things young men were interested in, hunting, tennis, gambling, and women. A great deal of Hollingsworth's research has been into account books, and many of the entries are for elaborate, strange, or funny items. Ippolito was a dandy, favoring bright colors, especially expensive reds, with elaborate shirts, doublets, coats, breeches, and hose. One inventory includes 611 shoelaces. Another lists fifteen pairs of gloves, and while gloves themselves were relatively cheap, glove-wearing was expensive, because they were perfumed with ambergris and musk. There are relatively few religious items inventoried, evidence that Ippolito liked his pleasures more than his religious duties. Even his rosaries were filled with musk and ambergris. Much of Hollingsworth's narrative necessarily involv

Few historical periods are as intriguing as the Renaissance; few families fascinate as much as the Borgias. However, we've not been privy to many firsthand accounts of daily life among the powerful in 16th century Italy. Now, thanks to a bit of luck and assiduous research, art historian Mary Hollingsworth presents a detailed picture of Ippolito d'Este, the second son of Lucretia Borgia who later became Archbishop of Milan. In Modena, Italy, Hollingsworth came upon a treasure - over 2,00 letters and 200 account books pertaining to the days of Ippolito. The ledgers contain such minute details as the items in his wardrobe, what he ate. He wasn't timid about keeping a log of his women right along with his horses, dogs, falcons, peacocks, and a plethora of servants. Nor, was he embarrassed to note how much was spent on bribes and to whom he paid them. Thus, readers have the unparalleled experience of seeing courtly life on a daily basis, even to Ippolito's visit to the mistress of the King of France while she was in her bath. Ippolito reached the ripe old age of 29 before he received the cardinal's red hat, which at that time was a guarantee of wealth and power. He was a man who enjoyed women thoroughly and often, gambled frequently, and spent time hunting rather than in prayer. Thus, his elevation to such a lofty position had naught to do with religiosity, much to do with politics. Mary Hollingsworth has created an amazing view of everyday life among the rich and powerful in Renaissance Italy. Highly recommended. - Gail Cooke