Difference between revisions of "Cesare Borgia" - New World Encyclopedia
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==Legacy== | ==Legacy== | ||
[[Image:A Glass of Wine with Caesar Borgia - John Collier.jpg|thumb|300px|Not so holy family: Cesare Borgia (left)with father Rodrigo ([[Pope Alexander VI]]) and sister Lucrezia.]] | [[Image:A Glass of Wine with Caesar Borgia - John Collier.jpg|thumb|300px|Not so holy family: Cesare Borgia (left)with father Rodrigo ([[Pope Alexander VI]]) and sister Lucrezia.]] | ||
| − | Cesare Borgia has been the subject of many legends regarding his ruthlessness and cruelty, and he and his father, Pope [[Alexander VI]], are considered by many to be the epitome of power-hungry corruption surrounding the Renaissance papacy. His family became the brunt of sermons by the likes of puritanical preachers such as [[Savanorola]], as well as propaganda by various political rivals. | + | Cesare Borgia has been the subject of many legends regarding his ruthlessness and cruelty, and he and his father, Pope [[Alexander VI]], are considered by many to be the epitome of power-hungry corruption surrounding the Renaissance papacy. His family became the brunt of sermons by the likes of puritanical preachers such as [[Savanorola]], as well as propaganda by various political rivals. He has featured prominently, nearly always portrayed as a villain, in numerous motion pictures and modern or contemporary novels. |
Cesare was greatly admired by [[Niccolò Machiavelli]], who met the duke on a diplomatic mission in his function as Secretary of the Florentine Chancellery. Machiavelli was at Borgia's court from October 7, 1502 through January 18, 1503. During this time he wrote regular dispatches to his superiors in Florence, many of which have survived and are published in Machiavelli's collected works. Machiavelli used many of Borgia's exploits and tactics as examples in ''[[The Prince]]'' and advised politicians to imitate Borgia. Two episodes were particularly impressive to Machiavelli: the method by which Borgia pacified the Romagna, and Borgia's execution of his rebellious captains in Senigallia. | Cesare was greatly admired by [[Niccolò Machiavelli]], who met the duke on a diplomatic mission in his function as Secretary of the Florentine Chancellery. Machiavelli was at Borgia's court from October 7, 1502 through January 18, 1503. During this time he wrote regular dispatches to his superiors in Florence, many of which have survived and are published in Machiavelli's collected works. Machiavelli used many of Borgia's exploits and tactics as examples in ''[[The Prince]]'' and advised politicians to imitate Borgia. Two episodes were particularly impressive to Machiavelli: the method by which Borgia pacified the Romagna, and Borgia's execution of his rebellious captains in Senigallia. | ||
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Cesare Borgia briefly employed [[Leonardo da Vinci]] as military architect and engineer. Leonardo had previously worked at the Milanese court of [[Ludovico Sforza]] for many years, until [[Charles VIII of France]] drove Sforza out of Italy. | Cesare Borgia briefly employed [[Leonardo da Vinci]] as military architect and engineer. Leonardo had previously worked at the Milanese court of [[Ludovico Sforza]] for many years, until [[Charles VIII of France]] drove Sforza out of Italy. | ||
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== References== | == References== | ||
Revision as of 05:53, 28 August 2008
Cesare Borgia (September 13, 1475? – March 11, 1507) was a Spanish-Italian condottiero, lord, and cardinal. The son of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei, he was the sibling of Lucrezia Borgia, Jofré Borgia Prince of Squillace and Giovanni Borgia, duke of Gandia, and half-brother to Don Pedro Luis de Borja and Girolama de Borja, children of unknown mothers. His titles included Duke of Valentinois and Romagna; Prince of Andria and Venafro; Count of Dyois; Lord of Piombino, Camerino and Urbino; Gonfalonier; and military Captain-General of Holy Church.
Biography
Early years
Like nearly all aspects of Cesare Borgia's life, the date of his birth is a subject of conflict. However, it is accepted that he was born in Rome between 1474 and 1476 as the son of Cardinal Rodrigo de Lanzol y Borja, soon to become Pope Alexander VI, and the cardinal's mistress, Vannozza de' Cattanei. The Borgia family originally came from Spain and rose in the mid fifteenth century, when Cesare's great uncle Alonso Borgia (1378-1458), bishop of Valencia, was elected Pope Callixtus III in 1455. [1] Cesare's father, as Pope Alexander VI, was the first pope who openly recognized the children he had with his lover.[2]
With brown eyes and orange hair, Cesare was acknowledged to be a beautiful child and grew to be a fleet-footed, tall, handsome man of great ambition, much like his father. He was initially groomed for a career in the church and was made bishop of Pamplona at the age of 15. Following legal studies in Perugia and Pisa and his father's election as Pope Alexander VI, Cesare was made cardinal at the age of 18. [3] Alexander VI staked his primary hopes for the Borgia family on Cesare's brother Giovanni, who was made captain general of the military forces of the papacy. However, Giovanni was assassinated in 1497 under mysterious circumstances, and several contemporaries suggested that Cesare was his killer[4], since Giovanni's death could open a long-desired military career for him.
On August 17, 1498, Cesare became the first person ever known to resign the cardinalate. On the same day, the French king Louis XII named Cesare Duke of Valentinois, securing his future nickname, "Valentino."
Military career
Cesare's alliance with France, reinforced by his marriage with Charlotte d'Albret, sister of John III of Navarre in the course of the Italian Wars, help lay the foundation for his military political career, as did his father's ability to distribute patronage in ways that favored Cesare. Cesare's first important victory came after the French King Louis XII invaded Italy in 1499 in an effort to press his claims against those of Ferdinand I of Spain regarding the city-state kingdoms of Milan and Naples. after Gian Giacomo Trivulzio had ousted Milan's duke Ludovico Sforza, Cesare accompanied the Louis in his entrance in Milan.
At this point Alexander moved to create for Cesare a domain in northern Italy. The pope thus deposed his vicars in Romagna and Marche, and Cesare was appointed commander of the papal armies, including with a number of Italian mercenaries supported by 300 cavalry and 4,000 Swiss infantry sent by the Louis XII. Caesare marched on Imola and Forlì, which were ruled Caterina Sforza, the mother of the Medici military leader Giovanni dalle Bande Nere). After the conquest of those two cities, Cesare's French troops were withdrawn from him, but he returned to Rome to celebrate his triumph and received the prestigious title of papal Gonfaloniere (protector) from his father. In 1500 the gifts associated with the creation of 12 new cardinals gave Alexander enough money to hire the powerful condottieri mercenary leaders) Vitellozzo Vitelli, Gian Paolo Baglioni, Giulio and Paolo Orsini, and Oliverotto da Fermo. Under Cesare's commander these forces serve to renew the campaign to expand the papal states in Romagna.
Cesare's forces went from victory to victory. Giovanni Sforza, the former husband of Cesare's sister Lucrezia, was soon ousted from Pesaro. Pandolfo Malatesta lost Rimini. Faenza, too, surrendered, its youg lord Astorre III Manfredi later being drowned in the Tiber river by Cesare's order. In May 1501 Cesare was created duke of entire region of Romagna. Hired to the service of the city of Florence, Cesare subsequently added the lordship of Piombino to his new lands.
While his condottieri took over the siege of Piombino (which eneded in 1502), Cesare commanded the French troops in the sieges of Naples and Capua south of the papal states. On June 24 1501 his troops successfully stormed Capua, causing the fall of the Aragonese power in southern Italy.
In June 1502 he set out for the Marche on Italy's east coast, where he was able to capture the towns Urbino and Camerino without a fight. The next step would be Bologna, but his condottieri, both fearing and resenting Cesare's cruelty, set up a plot against him. His commanders Guidobaldo da Montefeltro and Giovanni Maria da Varano returned to Urbino and Camerino and Fossombrone revolted. Cesare called for a reconciliation, but treacherously imprisoned the condottieri in the port city of Senigallia and had them executed for treason.
Last years
Despite his immensely capabilities as a general and statesman, Cesare could do nothing without continued papal patronage. The news of his father's death in 1503 arrived when Cesare, himself gravely ill possibly of the same disease (thought to be malaria), was planning the conquest of Tuscany. While he was convalescent in Castel Sant'Angelo, his troops showed their force in Rome, creating a strong influence on the conclave which would elect the new pope. Pius III thus supported Cesare, but his reign was short, lasting only 10 death. After his death, Cesare seems to have been deceived into giving his support to the new likely candidate, Julius II, who in fact had never ceased being an enemy of the Borgias.
Moving to Romagna to quench a revolt, Cesare was seized and imprisoned by Gian Paolo Baglioni, Julius II's agent, near Perugia. All his lands were forfeited to the Papal States. Exiled to Spain in 1504, he escaped from a Spanish prison two years later and joined his brother-in-law, King John III of Navarre, the new husband of Lucrezia. In his service, Cesare died at the siege of Viana in 1507, at the age of 31.
Marriage and children
On May 10, 1499, Cesare married Charlotte d'Albret (1480 - March 11, 1514). She was a sister of John III of Navarre. They were parents to a daughter, Louise Borgia, (1500 - 1553) who married first Louis II de La Tremouille, Governor of Burgundy, and secondly Philippe de Bourbon, Seigneur de Busset.
Cesare was also father to at least 11 illegitimate children: Girolamo Borgia, who married Isabella Contessa di Carpi. Rumors of an incestuous relationship with his sister are considered unfounded.
Legacy
Cesare Borgia has been the subject of many legends regarding his ruthlessness and cruelty, and he and his father, Pope Alexander VI, are considered by many to be the epitome of power-hungry corruption surrounding the Renaissance papacy. His family became the brunt of sermons by the likes of puritanical preachers such as Savanorola, as well as propaganda by various political rivals. He has featured prominently, nearly always portrayed as a villain, in numerous motion pictures and modern or contemporary novels.
Cesare was greatly admired by Niccolò Machiavelli, who met the duke on a diplomatic mission in his function as Secretary of the Florentine Chancellery. Machiavelli was at Borgia's court from October 7, 1502 through January 18, 1503. During this time he wrote regular dispatches to his superiors in Florence, many of which have survived and are published in Machiavelli's collected works. Machiavelli used many of Borgia's exploits and tactics as examples in The Prince and advised politicians to imitate Borgia. Two episodes were particularly impressive to Machiavelli: the method by which Borgia pacified the Romagna, and Borgia's execution of his rebellious captains in Senigallia.
However, Machiavelli's praise for Borgia as the ideal of a prince unconstrained by moral conscience is subject to a great deal of controversy. Some scholars see in Machiavelli's Borgia the precursor of a parade of moral outrages carried out by various rulers, culminating in the heinous state crimes in the twentieth century.
A little known fact about Cesare Borgia is that his handsome appearance seems to have influence many images of Jesus Christ painted during and subsequent to his career. Volume One of Celebrated Crimes, Alexandre Dumas, père states that several noted pictures of Jesus produced around Borgia's lifetime were based on Cesare, and that this in turn has influenced images of Jesus produced since that time.
Cesare Borgia briefly employed Leonardo da Vinci as military architect and engineer. Leonardo had previously worked at the Milanese court of Ludovico Sforza for many years, until Charles VIII of France drove Sforza out of Italy.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Cloulas, Ivan. The Borgias.
- Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince.
- Johnson, Marion. The Borgias.
- Sabatini, Rafael. The Life of Cesare Borgia.
- Spinosa, Antonio (1999). La saga dei Borgia. Mondadori.
Notes
- ↑ Herfried Münkler and Marina Münkler, Lexikon der Renaissance, Munich: Beck, 2000, 43ff.(German)
- ↑ Several early popes also had children the acknowledged, some of whom even became popes themselves, but these were all legitimate son conceived before their fathers had been appointed to the higher clergy.
- ↑ Münkler and Marina, 2000, 43ff.
- ↑ Spinosa, La saga dei Borgia
External links
- The Prince, by Niccolò Machiavelli
- Description of the Methods Adopted by the Duke Valentino When Murdering Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, the Signor Pagolo, and the Duke di Gravina Orsini, from The Prince
| Preceded by: Ottaviano Riario |
Lord of Forlì 1499–1503 |
Succeeded by: Antonio II Ordelaffi |
| Lord of Imola 1499–1503 |
To the Papal States | |
| Preceded by: Pandolfo IV Malatesta |
Lord of Rimini 1500–1503 |
Succeeded by: Pandolfo IV Malatesta |
| Preceded by: Astorre III Manfredi |
Lord of Faenza 1501–1503 |
Succeeded by: Astorre IV Manfredi |
| Preceded by: Guidobaldo I da Montefeltro |
Duke of Urbino 1502–1503 |
Succeeded by: Francesco Maria I della Rovere |
br:Cesare Borgia
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