MARIA Grasso della Rovere, the spirited niece of Julius II. after the death of Sinibaldo removed from the city to her castles, first to those in Pontremoli and Valditaro where she gave birth to Scipione, and then to Montobbio where she established her residence. In those days our matrons, when their husbands were fighting abroad or when they became widows, took active charge of their estates and, laying aside all elegant recreations, employed their zeal in promoting their family fortunes. From this came the masculine counsels and splendid examples which illustrated their history. Of such was Maria della Rovere, daughter of the Duke of Urbino. Emancipated from the luxury and pomp of her Genoese life, she applied herself, like a good farmer’s wife, to restore the fortunes of her house and to pay the large debts of Sinibaldo, especially the twelve thousand ducats of gold due to Sforza for the feud of Pontremoli. Her chief care, however, was the education of her children. The eldest of them, Gianluigi, was ten years of age at the death of his father. The others were Gerolamo, Ottobuono, Camilla (who became the wife of Nicolò Doria, illegitimate son of Cardinal Gerolamo), Angela, Caterina, and Scipione, born after his father’s death. There was in addition a Cornelio, who though illegitimate (his mother was a certain Clementina of Torriglia), was much beloved on account of his spirited character. Some report that Sinibaldo had other illegitimate children, and number among them a Giulio and a Claudia, the latter of whom married into the family of the Ravaschieri. The children were instructed by Paolo Panza, a man of many literary acquirements, who trained them in liberal studies. The ardent spirit of Gianluigi imbibed less from the gentle instructions of Panza than from the masculine promptings of Maria della Rovere, who, in the fashion of Spartan mothers, exhorted him not to forget the paths by which his ancestors reached fame, contending as Guelphs for the rights of the people. Influenced by such counsels, he grew up into youth, and acquired strength both of body and mind in rough exercises of arms and in the chase. He was so skilful in these arts and in swimming, that the most robust of his rivals could not excel him. His mother taught him to hate the rule of strangers; and he must very early have become an enemy to the Dorias, whom he saw grasping the destinies of the Republic.