Borgia, Cesare
Nickname/Alias: Duc (Duke) de Valentinois
Achievements: Historical reputation as evil-doer
Born: c 1475/76; near Rome, Italy
Died: 1507; near Viana, Spain (Aged 32)
Field & Discipline: Military; Politics; Army Commander
Language: Italian
Father: Rodrigo Borgia
Mother: Vannoza de'Cattanei
Siblings: 2 brothers: Juan; Joffre. 1 sister: Lucrezia
Spouse: Charlotte d'Albret.
Children: 1 daughter: Luisa
Education: Private tutors, University of Perugia, University of Pisa.
Life & Times:
Borgia was the illegitimate son of a Catholic Cardinal, who was Vice-Chancellor of the Church of Rome and second-in-command to the Pope. His mother was the Cardinal's mistress. At the age of seven, he was made Apostolic Prothonotary and Canon of the Cathedral of Valencia, Spain. Aged thirteen he began to study law at the University of Perugia and from there he moved to Pisa, where he was taught by Filippo Decio, a leading lawyer. He left university with a degree in canon and civil law and in 1491, was made Bishop of Pamplona, Spain, at the age of sixteen.
In 1492, when his father became Pope [father was] Alexander VI*, Borgia was promoted Archbishop of Valencia and the following year became a Cardinal while still only in his teens. In 1498, Borgia gave up the church to get married, so as to protect the Borgia succession, as one brother, Juan, was dead and the other, Joffre apparently uninterested in consummating his marriage. He travelled to France to marry Charlotte d'Albret, the sister of the King of Navarre, and was made Duc de Valentinois. The marriage had the further advantage of bringing the Papal States and France together at a time when the Pope needed help against rebellious nobles and princes.
Back home, Borgia set about reasserting his Papal father's authority in Italy. He knew that when his father died he would no longer have automatic access to wealth and power. He was determined, therefore, to make himself an independent Italian prince. Parts of Italy had come under the sway of rulers acting independently of the Pope, and Borgia began a military campaign to capture and occupy the main cities involved. In 1499, he took Imola and Forli and in 1500-1, he captured Rimini, Pesaro, and Faenza.
Borgia was accused of many murders for which there was no real evidence, but, in 1500, it is certain that he arranged the death of Alfonso, the Duke of Bisceglie, second husband of his sister, Lucrezia. The reason for this murder was both personal and political. Borgia had arranged the support of the French against the Spanish, for which their reward would be territory in Naples. Lucrezia and her husband were pro-Spanish and, at a time when the Pope was becoming irritated with the French king, Borgia feared that his father would be persuaded by Lucrezia to give his support to Spain.
In 1501, Lucrezia was married again, to the son of the Duke of Ferrara and, in that same year, Borgia took the cities of Urbino and Camerino with little or no bloodshed. Borgia then decided that he would take Florence, but with the advice of [opposed successfully by] Macchiavelli*, the Florentines were able to stall him until the French came to their aid. In August 1503, Alexander VI. In poor health at the time, Borgia couldn't use his influence on the Papal selection. The new [arrested by] Pope, Julius II*, stripped Borgia of his position as commander of the Papal forces, demanded that Borgia restore the Romagna cities (Faenza, Imola, Rimini, Fiorli and Pesaro) to their rightful rulers. Borgia was then arrested but escaped to Naples.
There, the Spanish Viceroy, [safe conduct from] De Cordoba*, promised Borgia safe conduct. Borgia wanted de Cordoba to join him in a war against the Pope, but De Cordoba would only take orders from King Ferdinand of Spain and refused. Borgia tried to leave Naples, thinking that he was protected by the safe conduct, but was arrested, but then permitted to leave for Spain. Once there, he found that, France and Spain having signed a truce, he could no longer manipulate one against the other and was imprisoned in the fort of Chinchilla. He tried to escape so in 1505 he was transferred to La Mota castle in Medina del Campo, a fortress considered escape-proof. In October 1506 Borgia escaped by climbing down a rope from the tower. Borgia stayed in hiding for a month, then joined the army of King Ferdinand, and was killed fighting rebels, in 1507.
Extra Connections: Related by marriage to [related to] Isabella d’Este*
He employed [employed] Da Vinci*
Assessment: He was consumed by the lust for power and his name has become a by-word political manipulation.
Oneliner: Cesare Borgia, major Renaissance bad guy
Bibliography:
- Bradford, Sarah, Cesare Borgia, His Life and Times, Futura, Macdonald & Co. Ltd., London, 1981.