CHAPTER 16: CESARE SURVIVES
p. 275 ‘The territory of this lord . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch (24 October 1502), Opere, ed. Bertelli (Milan, 1968–72), Vols 6–8.
p. 276 ‘seized all the bishop’s goods . . . ’ Burchard, Diario, p. 414.
p. 276 ‘it would be bad for . . . ’ Cited 2 December 1502, Giustinian, Dispacci, Vol. 1, pp. 242–3.
p. 277 ‘Paolo Orsini is in Cesena . . . ’ et seq., Machiavelli despatches 24 et seq. October 1502.
p. 278 ‘customary diversions’ et seq., Burchard, cited Pasquale Villari, The Life and Times of Machiavelli, trans. L. Villari (2 vols, London, 1892), Vol. 1, p. 328.
p. 281 ‘I fail to understand how . . . ’Machiavelli despatch 27 October 1502, et seq., despatches November 1502.
p. 282 ‘All the cities in this region of . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch 16 November 1502.
p. 283 ‘What the devil is he . . . ’ et seq., cited Giustinian, despatch 23 December 1502.
p. 283 ‘In two days we will be leaving . . . ’ et seq., Machiavelli despatch 20 December 1502.
p. 283 ‘The Duke no longer has sufficient . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch 23 December 1502.
p. 283 ‘The suspicions that . . . ’ Giustinian despatch, cited Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 202.
p. 284 ‘It is said that the Duke . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch 23 December 1502.
p. 284 ‘with whom he was greatly . . . ’ cited Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 202.
p. 284 ‘This morning Lorqua was discovered . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch 26 December 1502. This despatch was dated 26 December because Machiavelli wrote it that night, i.e. after 6 p.m., which marked the end of 25 December and the beginning of the new day.
p. 285 ‘affecting the honour of . . . ’ See Woodward, Cesare Borgia, p. 225 n 2.
p. 286 ‘A highly secretive man . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch 26 December 1502.
p. 288 ‘We are all awaiting . . . ’ Giustinian despatch to Venice 1 January 1503.
CHAPTER 17 BORGIA’S ‘RECONCILLIATION’
p. 291 ‘Borgia winked knowingly . . . ’ From Machiavelli, A Description of the Method used by Duke Valentino [Cesare Borgia] . . . Oliverotto da Fermo and Others, see Machiavelli, Works (trans. Gilbert), Vol. 2, p. 167.
p. 292 ‘Having remained a while . . . ’ From ‘A Florentine Account’, cited Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 205.
p. 293 ‘We are taking them as prisoners . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch 1 January 1503.
p. 294 ‘the Pope has become . . . ’ et seq., Giustinian despatch 6 January 1503.
p. 294 ‘The Duke’s actions are . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch 8 January 1503.
p. 294 ‘an act worthy . . . ’ Cited Woodward Borgia, p. 285.
p. 295 ‘a most beautiful deception . . .’ Paolo Giovio, cited Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 207.
p. 295 ‘the worst possible weather . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch 1 January 1503.
p. 296 ‘We have done everything in our . . . ’ Alexander VI, cited Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 209.
p. 297 ‘succeeded in making an . . . ’ de Roo, Alexander VI, Vol. 1, p. 417, citing several sources, including Balan, Storia d’Italia, Vol. 5, p. 417.
p. 297 ‘By the time they reached San . . . ’ Burchard, Journal (Turmel), p. 350.
p. 297 ‘we will proceed to . . . ’ Cited Charles Yriarte, César Borgia: sa vie, sa captivité, sa mort (Paris, 1889), Vol. 2, p. 134.
p. 299 ‘When the Pope dies . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch 8 November 1502.
p. 299 ‘mortars capable of firing . . . ’ et seq., Yriarte, Borgia, Vol. 2, p. 140.
p. 301 ‘Look at it . . . ’ Giustinian despatch 13 April 1503.
p. 301 ‘thus demonstrating to . . . ’ ibid., 31 May 1503.
p. 304 ‘This month is . . . ’ et seq., see Pastor, History of the Popes, Vol. 6, pp. 131–2, who had it from the contemporary chronicler Sigismondo dei Conti, though he suggests ‘there is some confusion in the dates’.
p. 305 ‘It did not overwhelm . . . ’ Paolo Giovio, cited Rachel Erlanger, Lucrezia Borgia (London, 1979), p. 227.
CHAPTER 18: LUCREZIA IN FERRARA
p. 307 ‘As soon as I saw you . . . ’ et seq., letter from Bembo to Lucrezia Borgia (22 August 1503). See Letter XV in The Prettiest Love Letters in the World: Letters between Lucrezia Borgia and Pietro Bembo 1503–1519 (London, 1987), trans. Hugh Shankland.
p. 308 ‘letters, running . . . ’ See Bradford, Lucrezia Borgia, p. 159.
p. 309 ‘the first purpose-built . . .’See Thomas Tuohy Herculean Ferrara (Cambridge, 1996)
p. 309 ‘She was now twenty-three . . . ’ Bellonci, Lucrezia Borgia, p. 209.
p. 310 ‘The Prettiest Love . . . ’ See ibid., esp. p. 23. Shankland attributes this phrase to Byron, when he saw the MS of Lucrezia’s letters in the Ambrosiana Library in Milan. Byron was so struck by these letters that he copied them all down, as well as stealing ‘one long strand from the lock of [Lucrezia’s] hair’.
p. 310 ‘Those beautiful tresses the more . . . ’ Original Italian, see after Letter I in Shankland, Letters.
p. 310 ‘I think that should I die . . . ’ Original Spanish, see The Letters, Part 1 (1503–1505), ibid.
p. 311 ‘for reasons of . . . ’ ibid., p. 24.
p. 311 ‘on the balcony with . . . ’ ibid., Letter XVI.
p. 311 ‘Here the heat is . . . ’ ibid., Letter VIII.
p. 311 ‘too many kisses’ Bellonci, Lucrezia Borgia, p. 228.
p. 311 ‘with twenty-two stab . . . ’ See Bradford, Lucrezia Borgia, p. 282.
p. 312 ‘in no way displeasing . . . ’ Ercole I to Ferrarese envoy in Milan (24 August 1503).
p. 312 ‘I well know that you . . . ’ Ferrarese envoy at Macon to Ercole I (8 September 1503).
CHAPTER 19: THE UNFORESEEN
p. 313 ‘St Peter, Alexander . . . ’ et seq., cited Mallett, Borgias, p. 9.
p. 314 ‘He had thought of what . . . ’ et seq., Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, trans. Stephen J. Milner (London, 1995), p. 63.
p. 315 ‘Borgia, who was sick . . . ’ Burchard, Journal (Turmel), p. 355.
p. 316 ‘The skin of his face . . . ’ et seq., ibid., p. 359.
p. 319 ‘women of every . . . ’ Mantuan ambassador despatch 2 September 1503.
p. 319 ‘alive and well and the . . . ’ Cited Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 202.
p. 321 ‘They tell me he . . . ’ Despatch from Beltrando Constabili, Ferrarese ambassador to the Papal Court, cited Hibbert, The House of Borgia, p. 201.
p. 321 ‘I am neither a saint . . . ’ et seq., Giustinian despatches 6, 7 October 1503.
p. 323 ‘was known to be very . . . ’ Giustinian cited Hibbert, The House of Borgia, p. 203.
p. 324 ‘deluded and blind . . . ’ See Mallett, Borgias, p. 257, where he is paraphrasing.
p. 324 ‘according to some of his men . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch 10 November 1503.
p. 324 ‘he is taking action . . . ’ ibid., 11 November 1503.
p. 324 ‘paralysed with . . . ’ et seq., ibid 14 November 1503.
p. 325 ‘news arrived that Don Miguel . . . ’ Machiavelli despatch 1 December 1503.
p. 328 ‘It looks as if . . . ’ ibid., 3 December 1503.
CHAPTER 20: DESPERATE FORTUNE
p. 333 ‘all proclaiming their . . . ’ Andrea Bernardi, Cronache Forlivese 1476–1515, trans. G. Mazzatinti (Bologna, 1895), pp. 406–7.
p. 335 ‘Cesar, Duke of . . . ’ See, for instance, Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 282.
p. 336 ‘a big man, strong . . . ’ Cited ibid., p. 285.
p. 336 ‘had been in some pain . . . ’ Reported conversation with Carvajal in Giustinian despatch 26 April 1504.
p. 336 ‘bare as a hand’ Cited Erlanger, Lucrezia Borgia, p. 272.
p. 337 ‘for all those who rise . . . ’ See Machiavelli, The Prince, ch. 7, paras 13, 14.
EPILOGUE
p. 339 ‘The more I turn . . . ’ Alessandro Luzio, Isabella d’
Este e i Borgia, Archivo Storico Lombardo (Milan, 1916), Serie Quinta, Book 1, p. 747.
p. 340 ‘I will not live in the same . . . ’ Cited Nigel Cawthorner, Sex Lives of the Popes (London, 1996), p. 219.
p. 340 ‘a respectable and accomplished . . . ’ See Roberto Gervasio, I Borgia (Milan, 1977) pp. 375–80.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Section one
Bronze medal depicting Pope Innocent VIII, attributed to Niccolò Fiorentino, c. 1480/1486 (Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA)
Portrait of Pope Alexander VI (The Picture Art Collection/Alamy Stock Photo)
Pope Alexander VI, detail from Bernardino Pinturicchio’s fresco of the Resurrection in the Borgia Apartments of the Vatican (Granger Historical Picture Archive/Alamy Stock Photo)
Ferdinand I of Aragon, painted marble bust, 15th century (DeAgostini/Getty Images)
Posthumous portrait of Lorenzo de’ Medici, 1560 (Universal Images Group North America LLC/Alamy Stock Photo)
Portrait of Pope Julius II (GL Archive/Alamy Stock Photo)
Scenes from the life of Pius II, fresco by Bernardino Pinturicchio, 1503–1508 (Sergio Anelli/Electa/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
View of Rome, woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493 (Wikimedia Commons)
Wedding portrait of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, 15th century (The Picture Art Collection/Alamy Stock Photo)
Portrait of Federigo da Montefeltro by Piero Della Francesca, 1466 (Hirarchivum Press/Alamy Stock Photo)
Pope Pius II arrives in Ancona between 1502 and 1508 by Bernardino Pinturicchio (The Picture Art Collection/Alamy Stock Photo)
Portrait of Cesare Borgia (The Picture Art Collection/Alamy Stock Photo)
‘Studies of the Head of Cesare Borgia from Three Points of View’ by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1480 (Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo)
Plan of Imola by Leonardo da Vinci, 1502 (PAINTING/Alamy Stock Photo)
Section two
Portrait of Lucrezia Borgia by Bartolomea da Venezia (GL Archive/Alamy Stock Photo)
Lucrezia Borgia, detail from Bernardino Pinturicchio’s fresco in the Borgia Apartments of the Vatican (The History Collection/Alamy Stock Photo)
Portrait of Charles VIII (World History Archive/Alamy Stock Photo)
Portrait of King Louis XII (Matthew Corrigan/Alamy Stock Photo)
Portrait of Sancia of Aragon (The Picture Art Collection/Alamy Stock Photo)
Portrait of Cardinal d’Amboise (Art Collection 4/Alamy Stock Photo)
Portrait of Caterina Sforza by Lorenzo di Credi (The Picture Art Collection/Alamy Stock Photo)
Bust of Cardinal Guillaume d’Estouteville (Peter Horree/Alamy Stock Photo)
Portrait of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, c. 1506 (Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo)
The Borgia Apartments (© 2019 Veronica Costache/fotoLibra)
Posthumous portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito (Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo)
Portrait of Girolamo Savonarola by Alessandro Bonvicino (DeAgostini/Getty Images)
The Borgia fortress at Nepi (Lucky Team Studio/Shutterstock)
Portrait of the Duke Alfonso I d’Este (Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo)
INDEX
Aguerre, Ménaut, 133
d’Albret, Alain, 195
d’Albret, Cardinal Amanieu, 191
d’Albret, Charlotte, 167, 168, 195, 198, 262, 302, 335
d’Albret, Jean, King of Navarre, 333, 335
d’Alègre, Yves, 179, 184–5, 190, 223
Alexander the Great, 11, 14
Alexander VI, Pope, 4, 11–12, 26, 77, 79–80
ambitions, 12–14, 33, 84, 94, 98–100, 129, 139–40, 150–60, 165–6, 168–9, 189, 269–70
appearance and personality, 8, 27, 35–6, 68, 86, 216
depravity/immorality, 8–9, 54–6, 57, 59–60, 85, 129, 142–3, 237, 259, 278
early life and education, 33–6
relationship with Cesare, 94, 106, 126–7, 139, 149, 158–60, 171–2, 183, 187, 189, 208, 222, 263, 268–70, 283, 300
relationship with children, 94–8, 102–6, 126–33
relationship with Juan, 94, 130–32
relationship with Lucrezia, 133, 136–7, 142–3, 166, 174, 227–30
spirituality and piety, 189, 237
superstitious nature, 189, 201–2, 237, 304
wealth and greed, 49–50, 75, 80, 84, 153–4, 191, 226–7, 245, 329–30
1431: birth, 33
1455: appointed Bishop of Valencia, 27–8, 37
1456: appointed cardinal, 30, 36–7; appointed papal legate to Ancona, 37
1457: appointed vice-chancellor to Callixtus III, 9, 30, 38–9; appointed Captain-General of Papal Forces, 40–41
1458: death of Callixtus III, 32, 43–4; papal conclave, 44–7; appointed vice-chancellor to Pius II, 48–50
1459: attends Congress of Mantua, 51–2
1460: attends ‘party’ in Seina, 54; admonished by Pius II, 54–6
1461: supports Pius II’s crusade, 58
1462: birth of Pedro Luis, 57
1464: travels to Ancona, 59; catches plague, 60; death of Pius II, 60; papal conclave, 60–61; appointed vice-chancellor to Paul II, 61–2
1467: birth of Isabella, 64
1469: birth of Girolama, 64
1471: death of Paul II, 64; papal conclave 64–5; appointed vice-chancellor to Sixtus IV, 65
1472: travels to Spain on diplomatic mission, 66–8, 70
1473: shipwrecked, 69
1474: returns to Rome, 69; takes Vanozza de’ Cattanei as mistress, 9, 70–71
1475: birth of Cesare, 71; sent to greet King Ferrante, 73–4
1476: birth of Juan, 71
1477: appointed papal legate to Naples, 74–5; lends money to Sixtus IV, 75–6
1480: birth of Lucrezia, 71
1482: birth of Jofrè, 71
1484: death of Sixtus IV, 80; papal conclave, 81–2; appointed vice-chancellor to Innocent VIII, 82, 84
1488: death of Pedro Luis, 94–5
c.1491: takes Giulia Farnese as mistress, 91–2
1492: death of Innocent VIII, 4–10, 86–7; elected as pope, 10–11, 89; transforms Rome, 89–90; coronation, 90–91; moves family and Giulia Farnese to Vatican, 91–4; birth of Laura, 93
1493: marriage of Lucrezia to Giovanni Sforza, 95–8; appoints twelve nephew-cardinals, 98
1494: Treaty of Tordesillas, 99–100; French army occupy Rome, 110–11
1495: surrenders Sultan Cem to Charles VIII, 111; appoints Cesare as papal legate to Charles VIII, 112; has secret negotiations with Milan, Venice and Spain, 114; refuses to recognize Charles as ruler of Naples, 115; suspected of poisoning Cem, 116; establishes Holy League; 118–20; flees Rome, 120–21; bans Savonarola from preaching, 124; Rome floods, 124–5
1496: excommunicates Orsini and Colonna, 125; summons Lucrezia and Jofrè to Rome, 127–8; summons Juan to Rome, 130; sends papal force against the Orsini, 131
1497: papal army defeated, 132; refuses to pay Montefeltro’s ransom, 132; sends papal force against French at Ostia, 132–3; appoints Cesare as papal legate to Naples, 134; Juan murdered, 135–6; banishes Lucrezia for affair with Calderon, 138; reassesses family strategy, 139–40; seeks annulment of Lucrezia’s marriage, 141–2; accused of incest with Lucrezia, 142
1498: birth of Giovanni (Infans Romanus), 143; marriage of Lucrezia to Duke of Bisceglie, 144; arrest and execution of Savonarola, 144–7; gives consent to Louis XII to marry, 148; Cesare resigns as cardinal, 149; forms alliance with Louis XII, 150–52, 154; confiscates Jewish property and goods, 156–7; sends Cesare to France to marry Carlotta of Naples, 152–3, 158–60
1499: Carlotta refuses Cesare, 165; Duke of Bisceglie flees Rome, 166; Sancia flees Rome, 166; sends Lucrezia and Jofrè to Spoletto, 166–7; Cesare marries Charlotte d’Albret, 167; Giulia Farnese returns to Vatican, 172–3; Lucrezia reunite
d with Duke of Bisceglie, 174; travels to Spoletto, 174; appoints Lucrezia governor of Nepi, 174; strengthens position in Rome, 175; baptism of grandson, 175–6; declares Romagna ‘feudatories’ forfeit, 177–8; Cesare leads papal forces against Romagna, 179–81; Caterina Sforza’s plot fails, 182
1500: receives Cesare back in Rome, 186–8; appoints Cesare captain-general of papal forces, 188–9; releases Caterina Sforza from prison, 189–90; modernizes Rome in Jubilee Year, 190–93; plans second Romagna campaign, 196; raises funds for a crusade, 196–7; makes Cardinal d’Amboise papal legate to France, 197; survives accident, 201–2; Duke of Bisceglie attacked and murdered, 204–8; crusader fleet sets sail, 215
1501: appoints Cesare Duke of Romagna, 217; excommunicates King Federigo, 223; combined Papal and French force march on Naples, 223–4; Naples campaign successful, 226; departs Rome leaving Lucrezia in charge, 227; legitimizes Infans Romanus, 229–30; negotiates marriage of Lucrezia to Alfonso d’Este, 230–32; departs Rome with Cesare to inspect fortresses, 234–5; ‘Banquet of Chestnuts’, 237
1502: travels to Civitavecchia, 248; celebrates news of Lucrezia’s pregnancy, 259; meetings with Cesare at Camerino, 268–70; orders Cesare to take Bologna, 270; furious over San Leo uprising, 273; raises funds for Cesare, 276; promises Cardinal Orsini papacy in return for support, 278; celebrates Cesare’s promised return to Rome, 287–8
1503: imprisons Cardinal Orsini, 294–5; irate at Cesare’s action against Siena, 296–7; threatens to excommunicate Cesare, 298, raises funds for Cesare, 300–301; negotiates over Naples, 302–3; son Rodrigo born, 304; taken ill, 305; death, 313–4; burial, 316
Alfonso II, King of Naples, 22, 28–9, 31, 34, 43, 66, 104, 108, 114–5, 141, 225
Alfonso V, King of Aragon, 18–20,
Alfonso of Aragon, Duke of Bisceglie, 141, 144, 166, 173, 175, 204–8, 233, 246, 333
d’Aliffe, Count, 141, 158
Alphonse, Duke of Calabria, 78
d’Amboise, Georges, Archbishop of Rouen, 148, 158, 160, 163, 168, 197, 320, 322
America, 99–100
Ancona, Italy, 37, 40, 59
The Borgias Page 40
