The Borgias

by G. J. Meyer

Background: The Young Ones

  1. Everything known about Cesare’s eldest brother … : Extensive information about the first duke of Gandía is in Ferrara, Borgia Pope, p. 166.

  2. Cesare, financially independent … : Cesare’s early life is in Woodward, Cesare Borgia, p. 24.

  Chapter 15: Valentino

  1. For him to submit … : The quote appears in the detailed account of Alexander’s handling of the Savonarola affair in Pastor, History of Popes, p. 6:7.

  2. “Oh prostitute Church …”: Ibid., p. 6:17.

  3. On May 12, yielding to demands … : Pastor, History of Popes, p. 6:19.

  4. But beyond that, he promised … : Louis XII’s benefactions are in Woodward, Cesare Borgia, p. 132.

  5. “Are you aware, monsignor …”: Pastor, History of Popes, p. 6:63.

  PART FOUR: Cesare

  Caesar or Nothing

  It is evidence of the stagnation of Borgia scholarship that, a century after its publication, W. H. Woodward’s Cesare Borgia remains not only unsurpassed but unchallenged as a source of information on its subject. Yriarte, Cesare Borgia, is superior in its treatment of Cesare’s final career in Spain.

  Chapter 16: The Landscape Changes

  1. “Should I have to perish …”: Caterina’s words are in Breisach, Caterina Sforza, p. 207.

  2. Learning of this … : Mallett, Borgias, p. 177.

  Chapter 17: Conqueror

  1. At a point when … : Castellini’s description of Lucrezia is in Bellonci, Lucrezia Borgia, p. 187.

  2. One historian has suggested … : Whitfield, “New Views,” p. 79.

  Chapter 18: “Longing for Greatness and Renown”

  1. Cesare is loved by his soldiers … : This translation of Machiavelli’s famous and variously translated words is in Strathern, Artist, Philosopher, p. 105.

  2. Of the almost preternaturally … : Gregorovius, History of Rome, p. 7:452.

  3. The historian Pandolfo Collenuccio … : Sabatini, Life of Cesare, p. 241.

  4. In a flash of almost … : Strathern, Artist, Philosopher, p. 90.

  5. The two talked all night … : Bellonci, Lucrezia Borgia, p. 241.

  6. A retainer of Francesco Gonzaga … : Strathern, Artist, Philosopher, p. 117.

  7. “I cannot conceal my fears …”: Prescott, Princes, p. 175.

  8. On September 2, in bidding … : Strathern, Artist, Philosopher, p. 119.

  9. He helped to hold her down … : Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, p. 282.

  Background: Superstitions: Another Side of the Renaissance

  1. We want to think of it … : Purcell, Great Captain, p. 183.

  2. The Gian Galeazzo Visconti … : The examples are all from Prescott’s Lords: Gian Galeazzo Visconti on p. 322, Ludovico Sforza on p. 146, and the complaint about the latter on p. 208.

  Chapter 21: Alone

  1. As a priest at the Vatican … : Bellonci, Lucrezia Borgia, p. 261.

  2. The Florentine authorities … : Villari, Machiavelli, p. 357.

  3. “He spoke with words full of poison …”: Strathern, Artist, Philosopher, p. 289.

  4. The duke had a plan … : The size of Cesare’s remaining military forces is in Villari, Machiavelli, p. 361.

  5. He intended to “prevent …”: Strathern, Artist, Philosopher, p. 293.

  6. Another newly minted cardinal … : Soderini’s words on Cesare are in Villari, Machiavelli, p. 361.

  7. Cardinal Lloris … : Mallett, Borgias, p. 249 and 251, Strathern, Artist, Philosopher, p. 293.

  8. At one point … : Strathern, Artist, Philosopher, p. 299.

  9. Evidently he remained … : Ibid., p. 366.

  10. Now recovered from his injuries … : Quote is ibid., p. 367.

  Aftermath

  The literature on Lucrezia Borgia is, for the most part, as credulous and unjustifiably sensational as it is extensive. Bradford, Lucrezia Borgia, is the best biography and unquestionably superior to everything that precedes it. Bradford does not, however, consider the paternity question or even acknowledge that such a question might exist, and neither De Roo nor Ferrara appears in her otherwise impressive bibliography. Ferrara, Borgia Pope, is good on the Borgia family and its relations after the death of Lucrezia.

  1. In almost all ways … : Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, p. 159.

  2. But as the Borgia biographer … : Mallett, Borgias, p. 262.

  3. Her descendants, like Lucrezia’s … : Ibid., p. 260.

  4. When he fell sick …: Gonzaga’s account of the deathbed scene is in Bradford, Lucrezia Borgia, p. 200.

  5. Considered by many … : Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, p. 281.

  Examining Old Assumptions

  1. Because to let go … : Lucas-Dubreton, Borgias, p. 57.

  2. As noted in the introduction … : Gregorovius, History of Rome, p. 7:326.

  3. An English historian … : Robertson, Cesare Borgia, p. 11.

  4. A more recent historian … : Mallett, Borgias, p. 101.

  5. “All experience of psychology …”: Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, p. 290.

  6. Did she become Rodrigo’s mistress … : Pastor’s opinion is in his History of Popes, p. 5:361. “Shortly before 1470” is in Gregorovius, History of Rome, p. 7:327.

  7. “We find,” he writes … : That “there must have been several” Vannozzas is in Ferrara, Borgia Pope, p. 147.

  8. Ferrara concludes … : Ibid., p. 152.

  9. He was several years older … : Conti’s assertion about pressure to make Farnese a cardinal is in Pastor, History of Popes, p. 5:417.

  10. As Ferrara says … : Ferrara, Borgia Pope, p. 154.

  11. Madonna Adriana and Giulia have arrived …: Ibid., p. 158.

  12. W. H. Woodward … : Woodward, Cesare Borgia, p. 125.

  13. Writing earlier, Ludwig Pastor … : Pastor, History of Popes, p. 6:128.

  14. In her fourth chapter … : Bellonci, Lucrezia Borgia, p. 108.

  15. When Bellonci returns … : Ibid., p. 180.

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  Sano di Pietro (1406–1481). Madonna Appearing to Pope Calixtus III. Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena, Italy. Scala/Art Resource, NY

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