Palazzo Giuli-Rosselmini-Gualandi _ Palazzo Blu (A. Matteucci)In 1406, Florence conquered Pisa, abandoning it for years in desolation. In 1494, Charles VIII, King of France, arrived in Pisa during his journey to the South over which he boasted rights of succession. The population welcomed him, longing for freedom from Florence. A Pisan deputation, led by Simone Orlandi, appeared before him to ask for freedom and the guarantee of an alliance. It is said, however, that it was on the occasion of a wonderful ball in Palazzo Blu, then Palazzo dei del Testa, that the king decided to support the Pisan cause, thanks to Luisa del Lante, later renamed Camilla, who bewitched him with her beauty and wit. That evening, the lady was introduced to captain Ernesto D'Entragues with whom she danced and with whom she fell in love, reciprocated, since when Charles VIII called his men back, Captain D'Entragues decided to remain alongside Camilla and the Pisans who fought to maintain that rediscovered freedom: men, women and children united in this struggle against the Florentines, it was a people's war. For fifteen years Pisa went through what is now known as the Second Pisan Republic. Unfortunately, in 1509, exhausted by constant attacks, even threatened by Leonardo da Vinci to divert the river and therefore leave the city without water, the Pisans surrendered. What happened to Ernesto and Camilla? According to oral tradition, Camilla del Lante left Pisa with her family during the last sieges, while Ernesto, wanted by both the French and the Florentines, fled to the Romito, south of Livorno, where he met his death. It was said that Luisa, back in the city, wanted to go immediately to visit the place where her love rested and that from that day, every 8 November, she went by boat in front of the Romito to throw a flower into the sea, a symbol of their love.
