16th century AD

(111.) S. Maria della Presentazione (also called In Cantelma) was built in fulfillment of the testamentary request of the widow of Sigismondo Cantelmo, Margherita Maroscelli, the duchess of Sora, who named her good friend Isabella as her heir. Donesmondi, vol. 2, 157-58; Amadei, vol. 2, 565; Marani and Perina (as inn. 81), 26. On S. Giovanni delle Carrette, founded by Poma, the widow of Guido Visconti, see above and n. 81 above. Both churches, destroyed earlier in this century, were late manifestations of the Gothic style. Ercolano Marani, "Nuovi documenti mantovani su Jacomello a Pietropaolo dale Masegne," Accademia Virgiliana di Mantova: Atti e Memorie, n.s., 32 (1960): 98; Marani and Perina, 25-26. On the religious role of Gonzaga women, see Elisabeth Swain, "Faith in the Family: The Practice of Religion by the Gonzaga," Journal of Family History 8, no. 2 (1983): 182-83.

(112.) Arsago's arms in the Polirone chapel of S. Ambrose--six bandy gules and argent below, and a sable eagle on gules above--are comparable to those in Francois Daugnon des Foucault, I de Capitani d'Arzago; Note storicogenealogiche ed araldiche (Milan, 1883).

(113.) ASMil, FPR, SBP, b. 214, no. 60; ASMan, Carlo D'Arco, "Le famiglie di Mantova," vol. 2, fols. 356-57, s.v. "Arsago."

(114.) Rezzaghi, 100. In 1491 and 1493, the commune of Mirandola granted Arsago and his company the right to all city privileges. ASMil, FPR, SBP, b. 213, nos. 99, 159.

(115.) ASMan, AG, Dacreti, libro 27, fob. 25v-26r. I would like to thank Daniela Ferrari for bringing this document to my attention.

(116.) ASMil, FPR, SBP, b. 216, no. 100 (Jan. 1, 1512).

(117.) ASMil, FPR, SBP, b. 214, no. 107; b. 216, no. 67 (Aug. 28, 1511, Arsago inventory).

(118.) See n. 128 below. Three staia were equal to one sacco of grain, and a Mantuan sacco was equivalent to 1.038 hectoliters (2.95 bushels). Angelo Martini, Manuale di Metrologia (Turin: Ermanno Loescher, 1883), 336.

(119.) ASMil, FPR, SBP, b. 219, no. 65 (Papal bull, July 23, 1538); Isecoli di Polirone, vol. 1, 38-89: "corpus suum sepeliri deberet in cappella ecciesie Monasterii Sancti Benedicti de Padolirone dicte diocesis edificanda nomine ipsius testatoris quam construi et edificari iussit et ordinavit sub vocabulo Sanctorum Francisci et Jacobi cum monumento marmoreo ac in omnibus bonis iuribus et actionibus remanentibus exponentes predictos heredes universales cum onere certas missas et anniversaria pro sue et aliorum tunc expressorum animarum salute celebrandi instituit voluitque quod omnes et singuli fructus redditus at proventus bonorum et hereditatis ipsius testatoris deponeretur et deponi deberent penes personam idoneam que placeret ipsis exponentibus ad finem et effectum quod nomine ipsius testatoris possint incipere construi facere ipsam ecclesiam quam fieri et construi de ipsius bonis curn armis et insignijs eiusdem testatoris in locis necessarijs voluit et iussit ac pro constructione huiusmodi duas possessio nes ex alijs possessionibus dicte hereditatis valoris decem milium ducatorum vendi mandavit prout in instrumento desuper confecto plenius dicitur contineri."