Daughters of the Doge (8 page)

Dear Father and Mother,

So much has happened since I last had an opportunity to write.

We have travelled right across Germany, led by a new guide, a German called Eckhardt Danner, who joined us at Cologne. The weather has been kind to us and the German people, generally, have been helpful and friendly.

We spent Christmas at Tübingen, a beautiful old city with a very ancient and prestigious university. There Professor Fuchs, who is a famous physician and expert on plant medicines, entertained us.

From there we passed to Augsburg, a great city, perhaps larger than London, and certainly much wealthier. It is the home of the Fugger family, wealthy merchants, who finance trade all over the world, but especially between Venice and northern Europe. We left Augsburg on January the 2nd and began to climb into the mountains as part of a larger travelling party. We accepted our Fugger guide’s recommendation that our carts should be modified to allow them to be towed by oxen. His Grace was concerned that oxen would slow us down, but their ability to maintain a steady speed in the face of steep hills is remarkable, and by the time we reached Garmisch Partenkirchen, we were pleased to have made the change.

Most of the merchandise using the route comes north, and so there are many carts returning south half-empty We have therefore been able to ride these carts, and all of our horses have been able to walk unburdened and unsaddled, at oxen pace, which has eased the challenge of the mountains for us and for them.

When we joined the Fuggers, there were over thirty strangers travelling in the party. Slowly, we have begun to speak, and with little to do but ride the carts, we have become a sort of family, with each of us falling into a role within the group. Amongst our travelling companions are a prioress, two nuns, a friar and a number of other priests, most of whom are travelling on to Rome.

Thomas has been accepted as the physician, giving advice and caring for the ailments of our party, although to date there have been few. His Grace, however, does not join us in the carts, but has a tendency to ride on ahead as we approach our final destination for the day, taking charge of the sleeping and eating arrangements. I do not believe he trusts anyone else to look after his interests, and he always seems to have the best room when we settle for the night. Some of the English members of the party have christened him ‘The Knight’, for he is fond of wearing some of his armour outside his clothing when on the road. I think he believes it sets him apart from the rest of us. He certainly manages to look a picture of chivalry and has been catching the eye of a married lady from Baden-Baden, who is travelling south to join her husband in Verona.

Many of the travellers are merchants who seem to travel vast distances across Europe and into the Byzantine Empire. They appear tough and self-sufficient but are extremely interesting once they start to talk. We also have some sailors: one shipman tells me he has crossed the Atlantic Ocean and visited a place called Caracas. He says the Fuggers financed the original voyage that discovered it and now they own it. It is hard to understand people owning countries but, having seen the wealth in Augsburg, I am willing to believe anything.

By January the 4th I assumed we had crossed the high mountains, for we began to descend again into a beautiful valley called Seefeld. From there we followed a precipitous path into an even larger valley and proceeded to the city of Innsbrück. As we approached, any thoughts that we had already passed the highest mountains were dashed by the snow-topped peaks that came into view. For the next two and a half days, we paid the price of climbing downward by having to ascend again; this time much higher. Amazingly, the road is magnificent. I have no idea how these mountain people make roads so wide and comfortable, but having done so, they reap their reward, for we have to pay handsomely for every ox, cart, guide and resting-place along the way.

Finally on the afternoon of January the 7th, we reached the highest point, known as the Passo di Brenna. It was as if the earth had fallen away from us. But the guides would not let us rest and drove the party forward with renewed energy. We entered the valley of the Adige River and followed it down, and down, and down again, through Chiusa, eventually arriving here in Bolzano.

Even now, we have not fully reached the plain below, but the country is beginning to flatten out and finally we can safely say the mountains are behind us. The last week has been a most miraculous experience and I was so pleased, when we rested last night, to meet a merchant, a manciple, who is travelling in the other direction – all the way to London – having completed his purchases in Venice. He has kindly agreed to take this letter that far, and I hope it will finally reach you. By that time, we will have reached our destination. It is feeling warmer already.

There is one amusing incident I must tell you of before I give this message to our carrier. Last night I wandered the market here, buying bread and enjoying stretching my legs. I decided to practise my Italian, and the baker asked me if I was from Venice. He said I had a Venetian accent! I thought long and hard about this and remembered that Lady Jane had regularly practised her Italian at Court with the Venetian Ambassador. Strange, but I suppose it would have been stranger still had the baker in Bolzano recognized a Devon accent!

The carrier is waiting, so I must end. Do not worry about me. All is well, and also with Thomas. Please pass this message to his family, in case his letter (which travels also with the manciple) does not succeed as well as this one. I will write again on arrival.

Your loving son,

Richard