Andrea Navagero

Andrea Navagero (1483 – 8 May 1529) was a Venetian politician, diplomat, orator, translator, poet, historian, and horticulturist. Born to a wealthy family in Venice, he was elected to the Great Council of Venice at the age of twenty. He heavily dedicated himself to the translation of classic Greek and Latin manuscripts at the Aldine Press, garnering a reputation as an erudite and a skilled writer. In 1515, on the request of Bartolomeo d'Alviano, he was appointed the caretaker of a library containing the collection of the scholar Bessarion; he was designated Official Historian of the Republic of Venice at the same time.

As a result of his high standing among Venetian scholarly circles, he was named the Venetian ambassador to Spain in 1523, and was forced to navigate the volatile diplomatic climate caused by the conflict between Charles V and Francis I. During this time, he provided many highly-detailed descriptions of Spanish cities and landmarks. He was imprisoned by Charles in December 1526, but released in a prisoner exchange the following April; before returning home to Venice, he travelled to Paris in order to acquaint himself with the royal court of Francis. By the time he had arrived back in Venice in September 1528, he had grown disillusioned with politics and wished to return to translating manuscripts and cultivating his prized gardens. Much to his dismay, however, he was appointed ambassador to France in January 1529. After traveling through the Alps to meet Francis I in Blois that May, he fell gravely ill and died on 8 May 1529.

Navagero was born in 1483 to an established, wealthy Venetian family.^[1] Little is known about his immediate family, though he did have a brother named Pietro.^[2] Geographer and writer Giovanni Battista Ramusio was also Navagero's distant cousin,^[3][4] and among his closest friends.^[5] Navagero was first educated by private tutors before attending the University of Padua. Pietro Pompanazzi tutored him in philosophy; he was also taught Latin by Marcantonio Sabellico and Greek by Marcus Musurus. He attended meetings at the academies of Rome,^[1] and subscribed to the humanist^[6][7] and Epicurean schools of thought.^[2]

At the age of twenty, he was elected to the Great Council of Venice, five years younger than normal at the time; it was believed that he had the potential to become an ascendant and successful politician.^[8] Despite his election, he dedicated much of his time towards editing manuscripts of classic Greek and Latin works at the Aldine Press, garnering a reputation as an erudite and a skilled writer.^[1][7][8] For the Aldine Press, with which he was involved since its inception, he translated the works of Virgil, Quintilian, Ovid, and Cicero, among others.^[9] He was also a prolific poet,^[1] although he destroyed many of his own works, as they did not meet his rigorous standards. All that remains of his poetry is a collection of 47 Latin poems referred to as Lusus.^[10]

Navagero joined the ranks of Venetian general Bartolomeo d'Alviano's army following the League of Cambrai's declaration of war against the Venetian Republic.^[8][11] He earned the admiration of d'Alviano for both his literary skill and bravery, leading to d'Alviano choosing Navagero as his protege. In 1515, following d'Alviano's death in the siege of Brescia, Navagero delivered a widely-praised funeral oration for the general that lasted multiple hours, referencing d'Alviano's special fondness towards himself.^[12][8] d'Alviano left the Venetian Republic a large sum of money, directing that the funds be used to construct a public library housing Greek scholar Bessarion's collection of Greek and Latin manuscripts, which would later become the Biblioteca Marciana.^[13] He also requested that Navagero be appointed manager of the library. As a result, the Venetian Senate designated Navagero both the manager of the collection and the Official Historian of the Republic, granting Navagero a considerably large salary of 200 ducats a year.^[6]

Following Navagero's appointment to the position, he travelled to Rome alongside humanist Agostino Beazzano. They found lodging at the home of Baldassare Castiglione and frequently toured the city; it was during this excursion that painter Raphael depicted the two travelers in his 1516 work Portrait of Andrea Navagero and Agostino Beazzano.^[14] Following his return to Venice, Navagero was confronted by the challenge of organizing Bessarion's massive collection of valuable codices, which had been improperly stored in damp conditions since 1468.^[11][15] Additionally, the manuscripts were frequently borrowed from the library without being returned.^[16] In order to address these issues, Navagero enlisted the help of Giovanni Battista Ramusio to sort through the many works. Furthermore, the two successfully instituted a system of fines to ensure the timely return of the manuscripts.^[17] As the Official Historian of the Republic, Navagero was also tasked with writing an official history of Venice; however, he made little progress due to his occupation with the library.^[11][17] In 1521, his funeral oration for Doge Leonardo Loredan was widely praised and reinforced his high scholarly standing.^[17]

Due to his prestigious reputation, Navagero, alongside future Doge Lorenzo Priuli, was appointed as the Venetian ambassador to Spain by Doge Antonio Grimani on 10 October 1523,^[18] replacing Gasparo Contarini.^[17] At the time, Venice aimed to protect its own territory in Italy and curtail Spain's dramatic growth of influence. As such, Navagero was tasked with negotiating the ratification of a peace treaty between Spain and Venice. He was also instructed to avoid terms unfavorable to Venice's ally, France.^[17] Before traveling to Spain, Navagero agreed to covertly send Spanish reports regarding New World discoveries to Ramusio; in exchange, Ramusio would oversee the Bessarion library and Navagero's prized gardens in Murano^[19] and Selve, which he "[cared] for ... more than for anything else in this world."^[20]

Navagero and Priuli's journey to Spain was fraught with difficulties.^[19][21] After the two departed Venice in July 1524, Priuli fell severely ill in Parma for three months; he later recovered and rejoined Navagero, who had advanced to Livorno. After Francis I was captured during the Battle of Pavia in February 1525, Navagero and Priuli received instructions to hasten their travel to Spain to negotiate the peace treaty, as well as to broker Francis's release. After months of delay due to a plague outbreak in Genoa, Navagero and Priuli finally obtained naval passage to Barcelona. They were met with extreme storms on the water, killing Navagero's best horse and leading Navagero to proclaim that he had witnessed "mountains of water".^[21][22]

Following the harrowing journey, Navagero and Priuli travelled for four weeks from Barcelona to Toledo,^[23] the location of Emperor Charles V's court, and arrived on 11 June 1525.^[18][21] There, after a waiting period of three weeks outside of the city walls, they were met by Diego Columbus and granted entry to the city.^[24] Columbus was accompanied by Baldassare Castiglione, with whom Navagero would spend much of his time in Spain.^[11][21] After the two ambassadors introduced themselves to Charles V, they were later informed by advisor Mercurino di Gattinara that Charles viewed Italy as "his property" and recommended that Venice pay the emperor 120,000 ducats to ensure peace in the region.^[25] Priuli returned to Venice, as had been previously planned, while Navagero settled in Toledo, supplying highly-detailed descriptions of the city to Ramusio^[26] and translating Decades of the New World, written by his newfound friend Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, into Italian.^[27] Navagero would eventually acquire numerous other manuscripts from d'Anghiera.^[4]

Navagero continued to lobby Charles V for the release of Francis I, who at that time was imprisoned and severely ill in Madrid.^[28] In return, Charles demanded control of Burgundy and northern Italy; France acquiesced, ending the negotiations and allowing the royal court to move to Seville, a development which pleased Navagero.^[29] Enamored by the city, he enthusiastically described to Ramusio the city's landmarks, including the Alcázar, the Seville harbor, and the Giralda.^[30] While in Seville, he was also tasked to gather information on commerce between Spain and the New World by the Venetian Senate; he later provided these details to Ramusio, who included them in his compendium Navigationi et Viaggi.^[4]

Shortly after, Charles and his new bride, Isabella of Portugal, travelled to Granada for their honeymoon; Navagero and the rest of the ambassadors followed. There, Navagero stayed in a "pleasant", "small house".^[31] He soon set out to explore the nearby Alhambra, detailing its impressive marble architecture, gardens, and fountains to Ramusio.^[32] Navagero, who had previously studied ancient architecture in depth, concluded that the fortress "lack[ed] nothing pleasing or beautiful."^[33] He also described to Ramusio the surrounding ruins, homes, gardens, and inhabitants, as well as the valley of the Darro and its fruit, which he labelled "the most delicious in the world".^[34] Navagero lamented that the Moors no longer administered the city, believing the Spanish would allow its beauty to deteriorate, and was upset by the forced religious conversion of the locals as part of the Spanish Inquisition.^[35][36]

In December 1526, Navagero followed the royal court to Valladolid, which soon relocated to Palencia after a plague outbreak. Navagero and the rest of the diplomats stayed in Paredes de Nava during this time, attempting to calm tensions after Charles V's invasion of Italy, which ignited the War of the League of Cognac.^[37] After the plague continued spreading, the court moved further north to Burgos, which Navagero referred to pessimistically as a "melancholy city under a melancholy sky."^[38] After Francis I had Spanish diplomat Íñigo López de Mendoza arrested in Paris, Charles ordered the ambassadors of all member nations of the League of Cognac detained and held at the castle in Poza de la Sal. As Venice was a member of the league, Navagero was among those arrested; he loathed his prison, calling it a "dreadful little place on some rocky mountain."^[38] While imprisoned, he grew to resent Charles' powerful advisor Gattinara, who he saw as delaying the peace negotiations, possibly for his own personal interests.^[39]

In April 1527, Francis I and Charles V arranged a prisoner exchange, and Navagero travelled across the Pyrenees to Fuenterrabia, where the exchange was to be conducted.^[40] However, instead of returning to Venice, he was ordered to travel to Paris to develop contacts within Francis's court. He made the journey through France, writing descriptions of its towns and regions along the way, until he reached Paris on June 27, where he acquainted himself with the French court. Afterwards, he finally travelled back to Venice, returning home on 24 September 1528, nearly five years after he initially left.^[41]

Upon Navagero's return to Venice, he joyfully found his library and garden well-maintained by Ramusio; in return, he delivered Ramusio multiple manuscripts regarding Spanish knowledge of the New World, as he had promised to do. His ambassadorship in Spain during the diplomatically volatile period was lauded; however, he later revealed to Ramusio that he had become disillusioned with politics and strongly desired to leave the field. He instead wished to return to translating the manuscripts he had collected in Spain and cultivating his gardens.^[42] Much to his dismay, however, he was named the ambassador to France in January 1529 after failing to obtain employment at the Studio di Padova.^[43]

After Francis I's army laid seige to Naples, Navagero was sent urgently to France in order to attempt to pacify the emperor. After travelling through the freezing-cold Alps, Navagero arrived in Blois, meeting Francis there. Feeling ill, Navagero then retreated to his quarters; his condition gradually worsened until he died on 8 May 1529.^[5] Francis, who had grown to like Navagero during his ambassadorship with Spain, arranged a grand funeral in his honor.^[2] Navagero's brother Pietro retrieved his coffin, which was later buried next to his beloved garden in Murano.^[5] Navagero's death caused great grief among his many friends; Ramusio, his closest friend, was despondent. Pietro Bembo, another close friend and fellow scholar, wrote a sonnet memorializing Navagero;^[5] privately, he lamented, "Poor Navagero was a rare being, who could not fail to do honor to his country. Had he been an ignorant fool, he would have lived!"^[2] Jacopo Sadoleto noted Navagero's "excellent gifts and noble character" in a letter following his death.^[2] Navagero's Italian translation of Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo's Natural and General History of the Indies was found after his death and published by Ramusio in Venice.^[44]

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