I never thought me you would be so bold with my tale; yet Sister, I confess to find myself delighted by your frankly fair telling! Without wishing to compete with your eloquence, may I speak freely of that grandmother whom you mention, Isabella d’Este? Most people compare—especially in these English-speaking lands—men’s and women’s education in the Renaissance by stating that men have a far more interesting time of it than do women, the fairer sex being too often relegated to learning embroidery. My grandmother Isabella, who became Marchioness of Mantua when she married Francesco, a prince of the ruling family of Ferra, was of an entirely different upbringing.

She came to her marriage well prepared, educated in Greek , Latin, Rhetoric, and Politics as well, of course, as Lute playing, Song and Dance. Whenever her husband left the state, she ruled in his stead, and when he died, she became Chief of State in Mantua. Imagine, she wrote over two thousand letters discussing war, politics, art, poetry, inventions. . . need I go on? For this feat, some have called her the first female historian of the Renaissance Age.

By the time I could walk, she had me in the school she founded for girls. She set a very strict code of morals for those young women, I might add. Isabella promoted the arts, commissioning and collecting paintings and statues, and encouraging writers and artists—even the women amongst them—to exchange ideas in her home. It was one of the saddest days of my young life when she died at 64 years old, in 1539. I was still very small, and she had been the central light of my existence!

On your behalf, we have made an inquiry at Arundel Castle to discover whether the head gardener would be willing to sell you some flower seeds. Please be patient. He is more often in the garden than dipping his plume into the ink pot. We shall let you know as soon as we do. A tout a l’heure.

After reading your comment, I consulted my two friends, Roger Frantz PHd and professor of economics at SDSU (and author of many weighty tomes on economics) and Nancy O’Barr, MA Econ. who happens to be Roger’s wife and inspiration to get up each morning. Here is their response:

“Dearest Dame Sylvie, There are many ways to calculate it but the conversion tables only go to the year 1264. £20,000 in 1264 is worth anywhere from £10.5 Million (using retail prices to calculate) to £237 Million (using average earnings to calculate). The current exchange rate as of Aug 5, 2009 is £1.00 = $1.70 but this changes daily. In April it was $1.40.
So the answer today is somewhere between $17.85 Million and $402 Million and remember that only goes back to 1264.

If you want to emphasis how much he paid for the bridge use the retail price method. (£17.85 Million)

The average wage method shows purchasing power parody does not really mean much over this much time. “