Cesare Borgia

by Sarah Bradford

  The bones remained in the municipal archives of Viana until 3 December 1953, when they were reinterred with considerable ceremonial in the presence of the civil and military governors of Navarre, a representative of the provincial government of Valencia, home of the Borgias, and other dignitaries, permission for their burial having been given by the Bishop of Calahorra, successor of the sixteenth-century bishop who had expelled Cesare’s impious bones from the church. Preceded by the municipal band, the bones, enclosed in an urn specially made for the occasion, covered with red carnations brought from Valencia, were attended to the church of Santa Maria by the uniformed dignitaries and children waving flowers, to be reinterred in front of the main door. Valencian soil and red carnations, with flowers from the gardens of Viana, were laid over the urn before the grave was closed; inset into the pavement above it they placed a marble memorial tablet with the resounding inscription: CESAR BORGIA GENERALISSIMO OF THE NAVARRESE AND PONTIFICAL ARMIES DIED IN THE FIELDS OF VIANA II [sic] MARCH 1507.

  In 1965 the Diputación Foral de Navarra commissioned a local sculptor to execute a bust of Cesare to be placed on a pediment beside the church. Today his idealized features in bronze, calm, commanding, ascetically beautiful, look down on a quiet leafy square in Viana, in the guise of a hero of Navarrese independence, a reincarnation which would have evoked in Cesare himself a self-mocking Borgia smile.

  Select Bibliography

  I PRIMARY SOURCES

  The following list includes the principal printed manuscript sources, ambassadors’ dispatches, contemporary chronicles, and collections of documents. Further documentary collections are to be found in the appendices of authoritative general works under the Secondary Sources, books section.

  Alberi, E., Le Relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti al Senato durante il seculo XVI (Florence, 1839–63).

  Anonimi, Commentario, ed. F.Madiai, Archivio storico per le Marche e per l’Umbria, vol. III (1886).

  Auton, Jean d’, Chroniques de Louis XII, ed. Société de l’Histoire de France (Paris, 1889–95).

  Bernardi, Andrea, Cronache forlivesi dal 1476 al 1517, ed. G. Mazzatinti, 2 vols (Bologna, 1895).

  Branca Tedallini, Sebastiano di, Diario Romano dal maggio 1485 al 6 giugno 1524, Rerum italicarum scriptores, XXIII (Città di Castello, 1907).

  Brom, G., ‘Einige Briefe von Brandolinus Lippus’, Romische Quartalschrift, vol. ii (1888).

  Buonaccorsi, Biagio, Diario de’ successi piu importanti seguiti in Italia … dall’ anno 1498 in sino all’ anno 1512 (Florence, 1568).

  Buonaccorsi, Biagio, ‘Summario di cose seguite da dì 6 di giugno 1498 fino a dì X di settembre 1508’, in Niccolò Machiavelli, Legazioni, Commissarie, Scritti di Governo, ed. Fredi Chiappelli, 2 vols (Bari, 1971).

  Burchard, Johannes, Diarium, ed. L. Thuasne, 3 vols (Paris, 1883–5).

  Burchard, Johannes, Liber notarum, ed. E.Celani, Rerum italicarum scriptores, XXXII, 2 (Città di Castello, 1907 ff).

  Commines, Philippe de, Mémoires, ed. J.Calmette (Paris, 1924).

  Conti, Sigismondo de’, Le storie dei suoi tempi dal 1475 al 1510 (Rome, 1883).

  de Roo, P., Materials for a History of Pope Alexander VI, his Relatives and his Times, 5 vols (Bruges, 1924).

  Diario Ferrarese 1409–1502, Rerum italicarum scriptores, XXIV (Bologna, 1934–7).

  Fantaguzzi, Caos, cronache cesenate del Seculo XV, ed. D.Bazocchi (Cesena, 1915).

  Giovio, Paolo, Gli Elogi (Florence, 1554).

  Giovio, Paolo, Illustrium Virorum Vitae (Florence, 1551).

  Giovio, Paolo, Istorie del suo Tempo, Prima Parte, trans. L.Domenichi (Venice, 1555).

  Giovio, Paolo, Le Vite del Gran Capitano e del Marchese di Peschara, ed. Panigada (Bari, 1931).

  Giustinian, Antonio, Dispacci, ed. P.Villari, 3 vols (Florence, 1876).

  Guicciardini, Francesco, Storia d’ Italia, ed. C. Panigada (Bari, 1929).

  Guicciardini, Francesco, Storie Fiorentine dal 1378 al 1509, ed. Palmarocchi (Bari, 1931).

  Infessura, Stefano, Diario della Città di Roma, ed. O.Tommasini (Rome, 1890).

  Luzio, A., Isabella d’Este e i Borgia (Milan, 1915).

  Luzio, A., and Renier, R., Mantova e Urbino (Rome, 1893).

  Luzio, A., and Renier, R., ‘Relazione Inedita sulla morte del duca di Gandia’, Archivio della Società romana di storia patria, vol. xi (1888).

  Machiavelli, Niccolò, Il Principe, ed. G.Sasso (Florence, 1963); trans. G.Bull (London, 1961).

  Machiavelli, Niccolò, Legazioni, Commissarie, Scritti di Governo, ed. Fredi Chiappelli, 2 vols (Bari, 1971).

  Machiavelli, Niccolò, Legazioni e Commissarie, ed. S.Bertelli, 3 vols (Milan, 1964).

  Machiavelli, Niccolò, Tutte le Opere, ed. G.Mazzoni and M.Casella (Florence, 1929). For English translations see Gilbert, A., Detmold, C., in Secondary Sources, books section.

  Matarazzo, F., ‘Cronaca della città di Perugia dal 1492 al 1503’, ed. A. Fabretti, Archivio storico italiano, xvi, 2 (1851).

  Menotti, M., Documenti inediti sulla famiglia e la corte di Alessandro VI (Rome, 1917).

  Pélissier, L.G., ‘Sopra alcuni documenti relativi all’alleanza tra Alessandro VI e Luigi XII 1498–9’, Archivio della Società romana di storia patria, xvii – xviii (1894–5).

  Pius II (Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, Pope), Commentarii (Rome, 1584); English translation by F.A.Gragg with introduction and notes by L.C.Gabel, Smith College Studies in History (Northampton,Mass., 1937–57).

  Priuli, G., I Diarii, Rerum italicarum scriptores, XXIV, 3 (Città di Castello, 1921–41).

  Sanuto, M., Diarii (Venice, 1879 ff).

  Strozzi, Ercole, Caesaris Borgiae Ducis Epicedium (Venice, 1513).

  Verona, Gaspare da, Le vite di Paolo II, ed. G.Zippel, Rerum italicarum scriptores, XVI, 3 (Città di Castello, 1904).

  Volterra, Jacopo Gherardi da, Diaro Romano, ed. E.Carusi, Rerum italicarum scriptores, XXIII, 3 (Città di Castello, 1904).

  Zurita, Geronimo, Historia del Rey Don Hernando el Catolico (Zaragoza, 1610).

  II SECONDARY SOURCES

  1 BOOKS

  The best biography of Cesare in English is W.H.Woodward, Cesare Borgia (London, 1913); in other languages Gustavo Sacerdote, Cesare Borgia (Milan, 1950), is the most complete, Edoardo Alvisi, Cesare Borgia, Duca di Romagna, is authoritative and well documented, while C. Yriarte, César Borgia, sa vie, sa captivité et son mort, 2 vols (Paris, 1889), remains useful. The most up-to-date and fair account of the Borgias in general is Michael Mallett, The Borgias: the Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Dynasty (London, 1969).

  Ady, C.M., The Bentivoglio of Bologna (Oxford, 1937).

  Alberti, L.B., I primi tre libri della famiglia, ed. Pellegrini (Florence, 1911).

  Aleson, F.de., Anales del Reino de Navarra, compuestos por el Padre José de Moret, vol. VII (Tolosa, 1890).

  Alvisi, E., Cesare Borgia, Duca di Romagna (Imola, 1878).

  Aretino, P., I Ragionamenti (Rome, 1911; trans. London, 1967).

  Ariosto, L., Orlando Furioso, trans. G.Waldman (London, 1974).

  Aubenas, R., and Ricard, R., L’Eglise et la Renaissance 1449–1517, vol. 15 in Histoire de L’Eglise, ed. A.Fliche and V.Martin (Paris, 1951).

  Bandello, M., Tutte le Opere, vol. II (Milan, 1934, 1952).

  Bellonci, M., Lucrezia Borgia; sua vita e suoi tempi (revised edition, Milan, 1960; abridged English edition, London, 1953).

  Beltrami, G., Leonardo da Vinci e Cesare Borgia (Milan, 1916).

  Boissonade, P., Histoire de la Réunion de la Navarre à la Castille (Paris, 1893).

  Braudel, F., The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, 2 vols, trans. Siân Reynolds (London, 1973).

  Breisach, E., Caterina Sforza, a Renaissance Virago (Chicago, 1967).

  Bridge, J.S.C., A History of France from the Death of Louis XI, vol. II 1493–8, vol. III 1498–1507 (Oxford, 1924, 1929).

  Brinton, S., The Gonzaga – Lords of Mantua (London, 1927).

  Brosch,
M., Papst Julius II und die Gründung des Kirchenstaates (Gotha, 1878).

  Burchard, J., At the Court of the Borgia, selections from the Diarium ed. and trans. G.Parker, Folio Society (London, 1963).

  Burckhardt, J., The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy, trans. S.G.C. Middlemore, 4th ed. revised (London, 1951).

  Caracciolo di Torchiarolo, A., Un ratto di Cesare Borgia (Naples, 1921).

  Cartwright, J. (Mrs Ady), Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497 (London, 1920).

  Cartwright, J. (Mrs Ady), Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua, 1474–1539 (London, 1903).

  Castiglione, B., Il Cortegiano, annot. V.Cian (Florence, 1929), trans. G.Bull (London, 1967).

  Cellini, B., The Life, trans. A.Macdonnell (London, 1960).

  Cipolla, C., Storie delle signorie italiane dal 1313–1530 (Milan, 1881).

  Clementi, F., Il Carnevale Romano (Rome, 1939).

  Collison-Morley, L., The Story of the Sforzas (London, 1933).

  Cortese, P., De Cardinalatu (Castrum Cortesium, 1510).

  Croce, B., Storia del Regno di Napoli (Bari, 1944).

  De Gaury, G., The Grand Captain, Gonzalo de Cordoba (London, 1955).

  Delumeau, J., Vie Economique et Sociale de Rome dans la seconde moitié du XVI siècle, 2 vols (Paris, 1957).

  Detmold, C., Niccolò Machiavelli, Historical, Political and Diplomatic Writings (Boston, 1882).

  Dumesnil, A.J., Histoire de Jules II, sa vie et son pontificat (Paris, 1873).

  Elliott, J., Imperial Spain 1469–1716 (London, 1963).

  Ettlinger, E.D., The Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo, Religious Imagery and Papal Primacy (Oxford, 1965).

  Fumi, L., Alessandro VI e il Valentino in Orvieto (Siena, 1877).

  Fusero, C., Vita di Cesare Borgia (Milan, 1966).

  Gancedo, E., Apuntes Historicos de Viana (Madrid, 1933).

  Garin, E., L’Educazione in Europa 1400–1600 (Bari, 1957).

  Gilbert, A., Niccolò Machiavelli, The Chief Works and Others, selected and translated (N. Carolina, 1965).

  Gnoli, U., Le Cortigiane Romane (Arezzo, 1941).

  Gregorovius, F., History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages, trans. A.Hamilton (London, 1900).

  Gregorovius, F., Lucretia Borgia, trans. J.L.Garner (London, 1903).

  Hauser, H., and Renaudet, A., La Renaissance et la Réforme, in Peuples et Civilisations, vol. 8, 1489–1559 (Paris, 1929).

  Hale, J.R., Renaissance Europe 1480–1520 (London, 1971).

  Hay, D., ed., The Age of the Renaissance (London, 1967).

  Jacob, E.F., ed., Italian Renaissance Studies (London, 1961).

  Jedin, H., and Dolan, J., eds, Handbook of Church History, From the Middle Ages to the Eve of the Reformation, vol. IV, trans. A. Biggs (London, 1970).

  Klaczko, J., Jules II, Rome et la Renaissance, Essais et Esquisses (Paris, 1898).

  Lacarra, J.M., Historia Politica del Reino de Navarra, desde sus origines hasta su incorporacion a Castilla, vol. 3 (Pamplona, 1973).

  Lanciani, R., The Golden Days of the Renaissance in Rome (New York, 1906).

  Larner, J., The Lords of the Romagna (London, 1965).

  Lavedan, P., L’Architettura in Roma nel Quattrocento (Rome, 1942).

  Lemonnier, H., La France sous Charles VIII, Louis XII et François I, in Histoire de France, ed. E.Lavisse, vol. V (Paris, 1900).

  Leti, G. (pseud. Tomaso Tomasi), La Vita del Duca Valentino (Monte Claro, 1655).

  Muntz, E., Les Arts à la cour des Papes Innocent VIII, Alexandre VI, Pie III, 1484–1503 (Paris, 1898).

  Litta, P., Famiglie Celebri Italiane (Milan, 1819).

  Madrazo, P.de., Navarra y Logronño, vol. III (Barcelona, 1886).

  Mallett, M., The Borgias: The Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Dynasty (London, 1969).

  Mallett, M., Mercenaries and their Masters, Warfare in Renaissance Italy (London, 1974).

  Masson, G., The Companion Guide to Rome (London, 1965).

  Mattingly, G., Renaissance Diplomacy (London, 1955).

  Maulde de la Clavière, M., Histoire de Louis XII (Paris, 1890–3).

  Medin, A., Il duca Valentino nella mente di Niccolò Machiavelli (Florence, 1883).

  Merriman, R.B., The Rise of the Spanish Empire, vol. II The Catholic Kings (New York, 1918).

  Miron; E.L., Duchess Derelict: A Study of the Life and Times of Charlotte d’Albret, Duchesse de Valentinois (London, n.d.).

  Monteverde, G., Astorre Manfredi, storia dei tempi del Duca Valentino (Milan, 1852).

  Partner, P., The Lands of St. Peter, the Papal State in the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance (London, 1972).

  Paschini, P., Adriano Castellesi, tre illustri prelati del rinascimento (Rome, 1957).

  Paschini, P., Roma nel Rinascimento (Bologna, 1940).

  Pasolini, P.D., Caterina Sforza, 3 vols (Imola, 1893).

  Pastor, L., The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages, ed. F.I. Antrobus (London, 1898).

  Pecchiai, P., Roma nel Cinquecento (Bologna, 1949).

  Pepe, G., La politica dei Borgia (Naples, 1946).

  Plumb, J.H., ed., The Horizon Book of the Renaissance (London, 1961).

  Prescott, W.H., History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (London, 1962).

  Rival, P., César Borgia (Paris, 1931).

  Rodocanachi, E., Courtisanes et Buffons (Paris, 1894).

  Rodocanachi, E., Histoire de Rome, Une Cour Princière au Vatican pendant la Renaissance (Paris, 1925).

  Rodocanachi, E., Rome au temps de Jules II et de Léon X (Paris, 1912).

  Rodriguez Villa, A., Cronicas del Gran Capitan (Madrid, 1908).

  Rodriguez Villa, A., Don Francisco de Rojas (Madrid, 1896).

  Rolfe, F.W., Chronicles of the House of Borgia (London, 1901).

  Ross, J., The Lives of the Early Medici as told in their Correspondence (London, 1910).

  Ruano Prieto, F., Anexion del Reino de Navarra (Madrid, 1899).

  Sabatini, R., The Life of Cesare Borgia (London, 1913).

  Sacerdote, G., Cesare Borgia, la sua vita, la sua famiglia, e i suoi tempi (Milan, 1950).

  Sasso, G., Machiavelli e Cesare Borgia, Storia di un giudizio (Rome, 1966).

  Schlumberger, G.L., Charlotte d’Albret, femme de César Borgia (Paris, 1913).

  Schüller-Piroli, S., Die Borgia, Die Serstorung einer Legende, der Gesichte einer Dynastie (Freiburg, 1963).

  See, H., and Rebellion-Preclin, A., Le XVI Siècle, Clio series (Paris, 1950).

  Simeoni, L., Le Signorie (Milan, 1950).

  Symonds, J.A., The Renaissance in Italy (London, 1906–7).

  Tomei, P., L’Architettura a Roma nel Quattrocento (Rome, 1942).

  Trease, G., The Condottieri (London, 1970).

  Ugolini, F., Storia dei Conti e dei Duchi d’Urbino (Florence, 1859), trans. de la Sizeranne, R., César Borgia et le duc d’Urbino 1502–3 (Paris, 1924).

  Villari, P., La Storia di Girolamo Savonarola e dei suoi tempi. (Florence, 1887–8).

  Villari, P., Machiavelli e i suoi tempi, 3 vols (Florence, 1877–82).

  Von Reumont, A., Lorenzo de’ Medici the Magnificent, trans. R.Harrison, 2 vols (London, 1876).

  Wind, E., Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance (London, 1958).

  Woodward, W.H., Cesare Borgia, a Biography (London, 1913).

  Yriarte, C., Autour des Borgia (Paris, 1891).

  Yriarte, C., César Borgia, sa vie, sa captivité, son mort, 2 vols (Paris, 1889).

  2 ARTICLES, OFFSETS, MONOGRAPHS

  Acton, Lor., ‘The Borgias and their Latest Historian’, in Historical Essays and Studies (London, 1919).

  Batllori, M., ‘Alejandro VI y la Casa Real de Aragon 1492–8’, in Madrid Real Academia de la Historia (1958).

  Black, C.F., ‘The Baglioni as Tyrants of Perugia 1488–1540’, English Historical Review, 85 (1970).

  Blair, C., Cesare Borgia’s Sword-scabbard (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1969).

  Bonardi, A., ‘Vene
zia e Cesare Borgia’, in Nuovo Archivio Veneto, 20 (1910).

  Campana, A., ‘Dal Calmeta al Colucci’, in Tra Latino e Volgare, Per Carlo Dionisotti, ed. G.B.Trezzini and others, vol. I (Padua, 1974).

  Cansacchi, C., ‘Agapito Geraldini da Amelia, primo segretario di Cesare Borgia 1450–1515’, in Bolettino della Deputazione di Storia Patria per L’Umbria, LXI (1961).

  Celier, L., ‘Alexandre VI et ses enfants en 1493’, in Mélanges d’Archéologie et d’Histoire, vol. XXVI (1906).

  Chambers, D.S., ‘The Economic Predicament of Renaissance Cardinals’, in Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History, vol. III (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1966).

  Cian, V., Review of Pastor in Giornale Storico della Litteratura Italiana, vol. 29 (1897).

  Clough, C.H., ‘Niccolò Machiavelli, Cesare Borgia and the Francesco Troche Episode’, in Medievalia et Humanistica, Fasc. 17 (1966).

  Clough, C.H., ‘Niccolò Machiavelli’s Political Assumptions and Objectives’, reprinted from the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, vol. 53, No. I (Autumn 1970).