Letters of congratulation now poured in from all the Courts of Europe. Christina's own relatives--Ferdinand and Anna, the King and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, the King and Queen of Portugal, the Elector of Saxony and the Marquis of Brandenburg--all congratulated the Duchess on her safe arrival and happy marriage; while the Pope, the Doge of Venice, and other Italian Princes, sent the Duke cordial messages. One of the most interesting letters which the bridegroom received was an autograph epistle from his cousin, Bona Sforza, Queen of Poland, who would probably herself have been Duchess of Milan if Massimiliano Sforza had reigned longer. It had been the earnest wish of her widowed mother, Isabella of Aragon, to effect this union, and it was only after the French conquest of Milan in 1515 that her daughter became the wife of King Sigismund. From her distant home Bona kept up an active correspondence with her Italian relatives, and now sent Francesco the following friendly letter: "DEAREST AND MOST ILLUSTRIOUS COUSIN, "I rejoice sincerely to hear that your most illustrious wife has reached Milan safely. I feel the greatest joy at your happy marriage, and trust that Heaven will send you a fine son. My husband and children join with me in wishing you every possible happiness. "BONA, QUEEN. "From Cracow, July 15, 1534."[102] Another of Francesco's illustrious kinsfolk, Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, came to Milan in person to offer his congratulations to his nephew, although he preferred to remain incognito, and his name does not figure among the guests who were present at the wedding festivities. But Ferrarese chroniclers record that the Duke went to Milan on the 30th of April, to attend the wedding of Duke Francesco Sforza, who took for wife Madame Christierna, daughter of the King of Dacia, and returned home on the 6th of May.[103] Forty-four years before, Alfonso, then a boy of fourteen, had accompanied his sister Beatrice to Milan for her marriage, and escorted his own bride, Anna Sforza, back to Ferrara. Now his long and troubled life was drawing to a close, and he died a few months after this last journey to Milan, on the 31st of October, 1534. By his last will he left two of his best horses and a pair of falcons to his beloved nephew, the Duke of Milan.[104] Some writers have conjectured that Alfonso brought his favourite painter, Titian, to Milan, and that the Venetian master painted portraits of the Duke and Duchess on this occasion.[105] No record of Titian's visit, however, has been discovered, and he probably painted the portraits of Francesco and Christina from drawings sent to him at Venice. [Sidenote: MAY, 1534] TITIAN'S PORTRAIT]