Note 11 page 2. OTTAVIANO FREGOSO, (died 1524), belonged to a noble Genoese family that had long distinguished itself in public service and had furnished several doges to the Republic. His parents were Agostino Fregoso and Gentile di Montefeltro, a half-sister of Duke Guidobaldo. Driven from Genoa as early as 1497, he entered his uncle’s court at Urbino and rendered important military services, especially during the struggle with Cesare Borgia, in which he gallantly defended the fortress of San Leo (see note 275), and was rewarded with the lordship of Santa Agata in the Apennines. In 1506 he commanded the papal forces for the recovery of Bologna, and later in the League of Cambray against Venice. In 1513 he succeeded in putting an end to French domination in Genoa, was elected doge, and ruled so beneficently for two years that when Francis I regained the city, Fregoso was continued as governor. In 1522 Genoa was captured and sacked by Spanish and German troops, and Fregoso given over to the Marquess of Pescara, treated harshly (despite Castiglione’s intercession on his behalf), and carried to Ischia, where he died. Several stories of his absent-mindedness are narrated by Dennistoun, and one illustrates the freedom of intercourse at the court of Urbino. His uncle Guidobaldo appearing one day in a beautiful violet satin jerkin, Ottaviano exclaimed: “My lord Duke, you really are _the_ handsome Signor!” and then, on being reproved for flattery, he replied: “I did not mean that you are a man of worth, though I pronounced you a fine man and a handsome nobleman.” Note 12 page 2. “MY LADY DUCHESS,” ELISABETTA GONZAGA, (born 1471; died 1526), was the second daughter of the Marquess Federico Gonzaga of Mantua and Margarita of Bavaria. She married Duke Guidobaldo in 1489. In 1502 she reluctantly attended the festivities for the marriage, at Ferrara, of Lucrezia Borgia to Alfonso d'Este, and some of her costumes are thus described by an eye-witness: On entering Ferrara, she rode a black mule caparisoned in black velvet embroidered with woven gold, and wore a mantle of black velvet strewn with triangles of beaten gold, a string of pearls about her neck, and a cap of gold; another day indoors she wore a mantle of brown velvet slashed, and caught up with chains of massive gold; another day a gown of black velvet striped with gold, with a jewelled necklace and diadem; and still another day, a black velvet robe embroidered with gold ciphers.