Francis I and Leo X, Music and Diplomacy at Bologna, 1515
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"And They Vied with Each Other in Singing": Francis I and Leo X, Music and Diplomacy at Bologna, 1515 Lester D. Brothers For four days between December 11 and 15, 1515, a remarkable meeting between Pope Leo X and the French King Francis I took place. Historians remember it as the occasion when the essential issues of the Concordat of Bologna, drawn up the following year, were negotiated, resulting in abolition on the part of the French of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438) so repugnant to the pontiff because it insulated the French church from papal authority, and, by papal concession, in the increased control of the French church by the king. In political history this event has been accorded only nominal atten tion, but for students of music the festive occasion of the meeting at Bologna oftwo rulers possessing the largest and the most notable musical chapels of the time has long exerted fascination. While they whet our appetite for even more detail, the accounts of chroniclers and the testimony of correspon dents permit us to reconstruct a fair sense of the pageantry attendant to such an occasion. A summary of the events would include: 1. The arrival of the king on Thursday, December II-the pope having preceded him by three days with a sullen reception by the Bolognese popu lace-was greeted with extraordinary ceremony and large throngs. Both stayed at the Palazzo Pubblico, where Francis was guest of the pope. Dinner with four cardinals preceded the actual 71 72 Explorations in Renaissance Culture reception of the two dignitaries, who concluded the day with two hours of private negotiation. 2. On December 12 and 13 negotiations were con ducted in secret at the Palazzo, except 3. On the morning of Saturday, December 13, the Pope celebrated high mass at the largest church in Bologna, San Petronio, to an overflow crowd. The service was interrupted by the outcry of a French nobleman frustrated at not being selected to receive communion from the Pope himself. He confessed that he had fought with all his energy against Leo's predecessor, Julius II, having disregarded the ban of excommunication. The king then declared himself similarly guilty, and numerous other nobles joined in, begging for absolution, which the pope immediately granted. 4. Sunday, December 14, a Consistory was held to dispense honors from the pope: the French Bishop of Coutances was elevated to Cardinal and the regal composer Jean Mouton was made Apostolic Protonotary. Francis spent the evening as dinner guest of Leo. 5. The departure of Francis on Monday, December 15 was preceded by a half-hour farewell inter view and an exchange of gifts, most impressive being the papal presentation to Francis of an inordinately expensive jewelled gold cross con taining a relic of the True Cross. That music was a part of the pageantry is a fair assump tion. The most notable testimony we possess is that of a boyhood intimate of Francis, the general Robert de la Mark, who mentions Mass on December 13 as a momen tous occasion. He noted that the pope "sang with such pomp and triumph as he had never sung before" and .