Editing Ludovico Ariosto (section)

==New patronage and diplomatic career==
[[File:Titian - Portrait of a man with a quilted sleeve.jpg|thumb|left|[[Titian]], ''[[A Man with a Quilted Sleeve]]'', long believed to be Ludovico Ariosto]]
[[File:I Suppositi (1551).JPG|thumb|Ariosto's play ''{{Interlanguage link|I suppositi|it}}'', first published in verse form in 1551]]

The cardinal's brother, Alfonso, duke of [[Ferrara]], now took Ariosto under his patronage. By then, Ariosto had already distinguished himself as a diplomat, chiefly on the occasion of two visits to Rome as ambassador to [[Pope Julius II]]. The fatigue of one of these journeys brought on an illness from which he never recovered, and on his second mission he was nearly killed by order of the Pope, who happened at the time to be in conflict with Alfonso.<ref name=":0" />

On account of the war, his salary of 84 crowns a year was suspended, and it was withdrawn altogether after the peace. Because of this, Ariosto asked the duke either to provide for him, or to allow him to seek employment elsewhere. He was appointed to the province of [[Garfagnana]], then without a governor, situated on the Apennines, an appointment he held for three years. The province was distracted by factions and bandits, the governor lacked the requisite means to enforce his authority and the duke did little to support his minister. Ariosto's government satisfied both the sovereign and the people given over to his care, however; indeed, there is a story about a time when he was walking alone and fell into the company of a group of bandits, the chief of which, on discovering that his captive was the author of ''Orlando Furioso'', apologized for not having immediately shown him the respect due his rank.

In 1508 Ariosto's play ''Cassaria'' appeared, and the next year ''{{ill|I suppositi|it}}'' was first acted in [[Ferrara]] and ten years later in the [[Holy See|Vatican]]. A prose edition was published in Rome in 1524, and the first verse edition was published at Venice in 1551. The play, which was translated by [[George Gascoigne]] and acted at [[Gray's Inn]] in London in 1566 and published in 1573, was later used by [[Shakespeare]] as a source for ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]''.

In 1516 the first version of the ''Orlando Furioso'' in 40 [[canto]]s, was published at Ferrara. The third and final version of the ''Orlando Furioso'', in 46 cantos, appeared on 8 September 1532. The work is according to Goethe “a graceful smiling fantastic creation”.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Brand |first=C. P. |date=1968-01-01 |title=Ludovico Ariosto - Poet and Poem in the Italian Renaissance |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/fmls/4.1.87 |journal=Forum for Modern Language Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=87–101 |doi=10.1093/fmls/4.1.87 |issn=0015-8518}}</ref> The third edition of the book is quite distinct in terms of diction and structure.<ref name=":1" /> However, it seems that today, the reader tends to consider this version as the primary text.<ref name=":1" /> Therefore, it might be beneficial to read the three texts in comparison to gain a more comprehensive understanding.<ref name=":1" /> Additionally, imitation was a matter of grace at that time, which is why Ariosto took on the task of completing Boiardo’s unfinished ''Orlondo Innamorato''.<ref name=":1" />