Cesare Borgia

Cesare Borgia (September 13, 1475 – March 12, 1507), Duke of Valentinois, and Romagna, Prince of Andria and Venafro, Count of Dyois, Lord of Piombino, Camerino and Urbino, Gonfalonier and Captain-General of Holy Church , was a Spanish-Italian condottiero, lord and cardinal. The son of Rodrigo Borgia, the future Pope Alexander VI, and Vannozza dei Cattani, he was the older brother to Lucrezia Borgia.

Biography

Early life

Cesare's father, Rodrigo Borgia, was an important cardinal and nephew of Pope Calixtus III. Rodrigo planned to use the forces of the papacy to further his own family. After years of scheming, Rodrigo was elected Pope in 1492.

Cesare was initially groomed by his father for a career in the church as was customary in those days to save a religious career for the youngest male child. Following school in Milan where Cesare studied law, and his father's elevation to Pope, Cesare was made Cardinal at the age of 22. Alexander VI staked the hopes for the Borgia family on Cesare's brother Juan, who was made captain general of the military forces of the papacy. When Juan was assassinated, Alexander was forced to substitute Cesare, despite the fact that this conflicted with Cesare's vows.

Military career

Cesare's career was founded entirely upon his father's ability to distribute patronage. Appointed commander of the papal armies, Cesare was sent by his father to subdue the cities of Romagna in central Italy. Though in theory subject directly to the pope, the rulers of these cities had been practically independent or dependent on other states for generations. Alexander VI hoped that by subduing them his son would create a new central Italian kingdom that would rival Naples, Florence, Milan and Venice.

Cesare Borgia briefly employed Leonardo da Vinci as military architect and engineer at one point. Leonardo had worked at the Milanese court of Ludovico Sforza for many years, until Charles VIII of France drove Sforza out of Italy.

Though an immensely capable general and statesman, Cesare could do nothing without continued papal patronage. The death of his father ended his own career. Gravely ill at the time that his father died in 1503, he was seized and imprisoned by his political enemies, led by Pope Julius II. 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. In his service, Cesare died at the siege of Viana in 1507, at the age of thirty-one.

Cesare Borgia was greatly admired by Niccolò Machiavelli, who knew him personally. Machiavelli used many of his exploits and tactics as examples in The Prince. A few scholars, however, have argued that Machiavelli's praise for Borgia was a parody, to cover up the actual anti-hero of the work, Ferdinand II of Aragon.

It has been suggested that some pictures of Jesus Christ produced around Borgia's lifetime were based on Cesare Borgia, and that this in turn has influenced images of Jesus produced since that time.

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, Duchess of Valentinois, Dame de Chalus , Duchess of Borgia (1500 - 1553). 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 two illegitimate children. Girolamo Borgia who married Isabella Contessa di Carpi and Lucrezia Borgia (d. 1573), Abbess of San Bernardino in Ferrara.

Popular culture

Movies

Lucrezia Borgia (Richard Oswald, 1926), a silent movie starring Liane Haid and Conrad Veidt
Lucrèce Borgia (Abel Gance, 1935), a French film starring Edwige Feuillère as Lucrezia and Gabriel Gabrio as Cesare.
The Black Duke (1961), starring Cameron Mitchell and Gloria Milland
Bride of Vengeance (1948), starring Macdonald Carey and Paulette Goddard
Prince of Foxes (1949), starring Orson Welles and Tyrone Power (from the best-selling book by Samuel Shellabarger) at IMDB ..

Fiction

The Family by Mario Puzo
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas mentions many conspiracy theories based around Borgia.
Cantarella by Yuu Higuri is a manga attributing supernatural causes to historic events, starring Cesare.
Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire
Prince of Foxes by Samuel Shellabarger
The Banner of the Bull by Rafael Sabatini (Fiction)
The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kaolgridis
Kakan no Madonna by Chiho Saitou (manga)
The Borgias by Alexandre Dumas
The Borgia Testament by Nigel Balchin
Lusts of The Borgias by Marcus Van Heller

Sources

The Borgias by Ivan Cloulas (biographical)
Cesare Borgia by Rafael Sabatini (Biography)
The Prince by Machiavelli
Cesare Borgia Duque Valentino Tragedia en Cuatro Actos by Santiago Sevilla in Liceus El Portal de las Humanidades per Internet

External links

The Prince (html format)
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 (html format)
The Life of Cesare Borgia (available in many formats) A biography of Cesare Borgia

1475 births | 1507 deaths | Cardinals | Italian nobility | Borgia

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