DEATH OF CESARE BORGIA
Cesare was born on 13th September 1475 to cardinal Rodrigo Borgia and his mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei.
Rodrigo acknowledged Cesare as his own child, along with his other three children by Vannozza – Lucrezia, Giovanni and Gioffre.
Cesare was educated and groomed to enter the church.
On 11th August 1492, Cesare’s father Rodrigo, was elected Pope.
Cesare’s father was now Pope Alexander VI, and one of the most powerful men in Christendom.
Unfortunately, Cesare turned out to be ill-suited for a priestly life.
His vows of chastity clearly meant as little to him as his father’s had.
Cesare contracted syphilis in 1497 in Naples, while acting as his father’s delegate.
His temper too, did little to endear him to his fellow churchmen.
To make matters worse, Giovanni ~ who was Rodrigo’s favourite son, was receiving the glory and military commands Cesare desired.
The two brothers clearly despised each other, evidenced by them both taking the same woman as mistress, the beautiful Sancha.
Sancha of Aragon was ironically the wife of their younger brother Gioffre.
Talk about share and share alike!
So, naturally, when Giovanni’s corpse was dragged out of the river, Cesare was a chief suspect.
No Cardinal in the entire history of the Church had ever voluntarily left the office, and Cesare resigned as Cardinal of Valencia.
Cesare then became the Duke of Valentinois.
The combination of the two titles gave him his nickname ~ Valentino.
To cement an alliance with France, Cesare married Charlotte of Albret, sister of the King of Navarre.
With Cesare’s position secure, there was work to be done.
The Papal States had previously been ruled by Vicars, non-priest nobles who held their lands in fealty to the Vatican.
It came as a shock in 1500, when Pope Alexander declared them all deposed.
Cesare led the armies out to depose them.
Cesare returned to Rome and received a triumphal entrance, reminiscent of those of the ancient Romans.
Cesare conquered the remainder of the Romagna, the rich fertile lands around Rome, and was granted the title of Duke of the territory.
In 1502 Cesare set out to conquer Bologna, but his mercenary generals decided to try to revolt and seize control of the lands they had conquered.
Cesare persuaded them to meet with him to discuss a possible compromise, then had them all seized and exEcuted.
With his holdings secure, Cesare looked to have a shot at bringing most of central Italy under papal control.
Then his father died.
The sickness that claimed his father’s life also nearly ended Cesare’s, as both men caught it at the same time.
At the time it was speculated that it was a poisoning attempt, but it is more likely to have been malaria, which was rife in Rome at the time.
Weakened by the disease, Cesare was unable to properly use his influence on his father’s successor.
The immediate successor to his father was Pius III, unfortunately he died after only 26 days in office.
His successor, Julius II, was not a fan of Pope Alexander or his children.
Cesare left the city for Naples, but there he was arrested and imprisoned.
The new papacy revoked Cesare’s dukedom over the Romagna, and took the lands back for itself.
Cesare was transferred to Spain, where he was held for two years, before he managed to escape and flee to Navarre.
Here, Cesare worked for his brother-in-law King John III.
The king was in need of an experienced general, as he was worried about invasion from Spain.
On 12th March 1507, Cesare was attempting to suppress a rebellion against his brother-in-law, King John of Navarre.
Cesare had ridden out of the town during a rainstorm, expecting to be followed by his men.
They’d taken one look at the weather and turned back.
Cesare was surrounded by the enemy and stabbed to death with lances.
The blow that ended his life, was just beneath his armpit.
They left Cesare to bleed out on the ground, and stripped him of his armour, and his leather half-mask he wore to conceal his facial blemishes from syphilis.
The son of the most powerful man in Christendom was left a naked corpse, in the middle of the road.
Cesare was buried in a marble tomb in Viana by his brother in law, but sometime in the next century it was destroyed by enemies of the Borja.
He was reburied in the street outside “to be trampled by those who passed”.
? Portrait of Cesare Borgia 1515/20
Altobello Melone.
