Renaissance Murders

by Michael Hone

  Just a little more than two years later Charles, on his way to a tennis match, struck his head on the lintel of a door and hemorrhaged to death. His successor, Louis XII, decided to follow up an ancient French claim to Milan by launching an attack on the city-state. Ludovico was captured by Louis and imprisoned in an underground dungeon until his death.

  Cesare and Alexander thought that the incursion of Louis, whom they supported, would be a perfect time to put their house in order, meaning the destruction of their enemies the Orsini and the Colonna, whose hold of the tiny city-states around Rome could choke Rome to death anytime they wished to do so. Fabrizio and Prospero Colonna would even go over to the Spanish and fight with the Spanish general Gonzalo against Louis XII. Alexander’s original idea was to unite the Papal States into an area equivalent in power to Naples, Venice, Florence, Bologna and Ferrara. With the aid of Louis, the reality of such an adventure was at hand. After which would come the reunification of Italy under Cesare, a perilous plan because it meant the eventual expulsion of both the French and the Spanish. Alexander and Cesare started off small, with the seizure of lands belonging to the Gaetani, small-time tyrants who had sided with Naples against Rome and whose lands studded the area around Naples. As for the Colonna and the Orsini, we’ll see how father Alexander and son Cesare tried to bring them to heel, strangling some, poisoning others, from the heads of families to an Orsini cardinal. But like dragons’ teeth, the Orsini kept springing up from nowhere and would continue to do so until well after the last of the Borgia.

  As said, Savonarola had welcomed Charles with open arms, claiming that he had asked God to send the Frenchman as an arm to punish the evildoers in Italy in general, and Florence in particular. He had then dismissed the king like a servant. He himself replaced Charles with gangs of boys he sent to scour the city of its whorehouses, its licentious taverns, its musical instruments, its card games and, especially, its sodomists. When Savonarola had first come to Florence he had gained a huge following because he had had the right answers to how Florentines could wage war against corruption, brigands and iniquity. He painted a clear picture of the depravity of the church, from the trade of indulgences to the selling of cardinal hats. He was the precursor of the coming Reformation, and because he was ahead of his time he was burned at the stake.

  Despite the fact that Cesare had murdered his brother and Alexander’s favorite son, Juan, both father and the remaining son, Cesare, now formed a tandem (it is difficult to count the insignificant Jofrè), the purpose of which was to extend Alexander’s power and to give Cesare enough strength so that he would be able to replace the pope, at his death, becoming the first ruler of a unified Italy since the Romans.

  To get things going, Alexander arranged a rapprochement between Louis XII of France and the Vatican. This the pope accomplished thanks to three of the new king’s needs: the need to conquer Milan, his possession due to a grandmother who had married a Visconti, one of Milan’s first rulers; the need to reconquer Naples, lost with the death of Charles VIII; and the need for a divorce so that Louis could marry Charles’s widow. Louis offered Alexander a huge sum of money and gave Cesare, whom all recognized as the new rising star, the duchy of Valence. Cesare would also be given command over several thousand French troops. Satisfied, Alexander threw in a cardinal’s hat that the French had requested for years. Not to be outdone, Louis raised the stakes by offering to find Cesare a noble wife. Alexander’s rapprochement paid off in spades. Thanks to French intervention in Italy, the four greats would be neutered: Florence and Bologna would become client states of France, doing Louis’ bidding in exchange for his protection against Cesare; Venice would be neutralized by the offer of some territorial scraps when Louis conquered Milan; and Milan itself would be French.

  When Cesare realized that he would soon be meeting Louis in person, he decided to turn himself into a perfect male by force of exercise, physical exercise as well as exercise in arms and horsemanship. He spent hours at the task and contemporaries agreed that there was not a finer looking Italian in all of Italy. Yet, Cesare’s good looks were increasingly disfigured by the ravages of syphilis. The syphilitic rashes, euphemistically called ‘’flowers’’, came and went like the tide, leaving him handsome or disfigured selon. He took to wearing masks during his bad days, the effect of which enhanced the fear people already had of him.

  When the time came, Cesare set off for France with cartloads of precious gifts. He was beautifully dressed in black and white velvet, pearls and gold chains and precious gems attached to his clothes and boots, his horse attired in gorgeous livery and silver bells. He was accompanied by dozens of mules covered in satin, in cloth of gold, dozens of grooms in crimson velvet, noblemen in gold and silver, musicians playing trumpets, all of which made the French laugh at his pomposity. He knelt to kiss Louis’ foot but was halted and allowed the king’s hand instead. In addition to the wealthy display, Cesare had not forgotten the cardinal’s hat to be presented to Georges d’Amboise, Louis’ trusted counselor. Cesare was offered the sister of the King of Navarre, sixteen-year-old Carlotta. Alexander was hoping for a better match for his son, a girl from the king’s own family, but allowed the marriage because Cesare seemed happy with her, and Alexander even gave the girl’s brother, Amanieu d’Albret, a cardinal’s hat. Louis wrote Alexander a description of the wedding night, telling the pope that Cesare honored his wife eight times in a row. Louis added that he had done the same with his new wife--thanks to the divorce Alexander had accorded him--but confessed that he had nonetheless done less well as his sessions had been broken up, twice before dinner, six times afterwards. Alexander replied that he was awed by the king and proud of his son but not surprised by his virility. Carlotta was immediately pregnant with a girl, Cesare’s only known child. Charles’s former wife wasn’t. Louis’ first wife entered a nunnery and was canonized in 1950. From here on in Cesare would put the French coat-of-arms, the fleur-de-lys, on all his possessions, accompanied by the Borgia bull.

  Now that Alexander and Cesare were aligned with France against Milan and Naples, Lucrezia’s new husband Alfonso, illegitimate son of the former king of Naples Alfonso II, was an embarrassment that the two men eliminated by eliminating Alfonso himself. The boy had dined with the pope and was on his way home when waylaid by men with daggers. Wounded, he was taken to the Vatican where the pope gave him his own rooms. Instinctively knowing what was in store for the lad she loved, Lucrezia hovered over him day and night. Alfonso knew who was responsible for his injuries, and when he had recuperated enough, he took a potshot at Cesare with a crossbow as he passed through the garden below Alfonso’s window. Cesare was unscathed, but his reaction was immediate. He sent men to clear Alfonso’s rooms of both Alfonso’s sister, Sancia, and his wife, Lucrezia. When they refused to budge, the men told the women that they were acting under orders from the pope himself. If the two women doubted their word they could ask the pope who was in an adjoining apartment. As they left to do so, the doors to Alfonso’s rooms were closed and Alfonso strangled, probably by Micheletto, Cesare’s loyal assassin. Cesare made no pretense of innocence, maintaining that since Alfonso had tried to kill him, he was only protecting his life.

  Cesare then left Rome at the head of thousands of French troops and headed for the Romagna and the city-states he was set on conquering in the name of the pope because they were, after all, Papal States. On his way he visited his dear sister Lucrezia who was recuperating at Nepi after the loss of her beloved Alfonso. One wonders what they had to say to each other….

  From Nepi Cesare went on to Rimini to capture the city-state from the Malatesta (see the chapter dedicated to them).

  On his way back from Rimini Cesare came upon the sister of the ruler of Rimini whom he had just chased from power, the grandson of Sigismondo. Cesare immediately sequestered and raped her over a period of months, denying any knowledge of her whereabouts. Anyway, he scoffed, he didn’t need to rape women as they came to him willingly from everywhere. Which was
true. Ambassadors from many city-states were nonetheless so upset by the abduction that they joined forces in demanding that Alexander severely punish his son. Alexander too was reported as being upset, but in the end, what could he do? The woman was eventually restored to her husband but from what she reported later, either she was suffering from Stockholm syndrome or her months with Cesare hadn’t been all that traumatizing.

  The time had come for Lucrezia to marry again, a marriage which would, naturally, benefit the pope. Alexander thusly chose the son of Duke Ercole of Ferrara, another Alfonso, Alfonso d’Este, for his daughter Lucrezia. Behind closed doors the Duke of Ferrara laughed at such pretention. His family was noble, old and wealthy, that of Alexander hick parvenus. Ercole had heard stories about them all, that Alexander had prostitutes from the best bordellos brought to him after dinner, that Cesare slept during the day and whored at night, that both he and his dad had shared Lucrezia, that they were murderous slime, socially nonexistent and morally rotten to the core.

  Yet … his own boy was perhaps no better. Alfonso was known to have two interests in life, making cannons in his own personal foundry and parading around town at night, his sword in one hand, his erect cock in the other. His former wife had been so fed up with him that she turned to women for satisfaction. But the wedding did take place since Louis XII of France wanted it, all because he needed the Borgias to further his ambitions. The price Ercoli demanded would have been dismissed out of hand by any other person in Italy, but not Alexander who disposed of literally bottomless resources, resources brought in, in multiple ways, every single day, via every church in the country. Alfonse was 26, Lucrezia still only 21. Parties were thrown in Rome prior to her leaving the city, one of which, in 1501, was the famous Banquet of the Chestnuts, during which prizes were given to those who could ejaculate the most times and copulate with the most prostitutes. Some say Lucrezia was present. Some put Cesare there. Others place them both. All named Alexander.

  Later Sancia would visit her dear friend Lucrezia becoming, during her stay, the mistress of Lucrezia’s husband Alfonso.

  The trip to Ferrara and the celebration there cost a fortune, but the wedding night came off well. Alexander was told that Alfonso had contented Lucrezia that night and then took his pleasure with other women during the day. The pope supposedly thought this just fine as Alfonso was a young man and, as such, multiple adventures were good for him. The historian Burchard wrote that all the talk of lubricity inspired the pope to increase the number of prostitutes he welcomed into his rooms that night. As always in Italy, love was in the air.

  Alexander sent Cesare to conquer Forlì and Imola, ruled by Caterina Riario Sforza de’ Medici, and Faenza headed by Astorre Manfredi. Both conquests are fully covered in the chapter on Astorre Manfredi.

  For Cesare, Caterina and Forlì and Imola, Astorre and Faenza, were an interlude to much bigger acts of bravura. He went on to take Urbino, the citadel of the Montefeltro, and a dozen other city-states. Along the way he heard stories about some of his captains, traitors in the pay of Roman nobles eager for the reign of Alexander to come to an end by assassinating their leader, Cesare.

  He moved on to Siena, sacking, destroying, maiming, killing and raping. Those who wouldn’t give up their money were tortured; if they were found to have nothing to give up, their throats were slashed (the soldiers were instructed that this was the best way not to blunt a sharp sword or dagger).

  The French army of 14,000, accompanied by Cesare and led by d’Aubigny, a Scotsman by birth, made its way to Naples with, Burchard tells us, a very inadequate number of prostitutes: 16. On the way only Capua put up a fight, but the town was betrayed from someone inside. This person, as well as the entire population, women, children, priests and nuns, were slaughtered in the usual manner Louis XII had developed as a warning to the towns to come, slaughtered after serving the men’s sexual needs. When the troops entered Naples, there was no confrontation. Cesare was rewarded 40,000 ducats. He was 26. The year was 1501.

  The ruler of Urbano, Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, had come from extremely hallowed lineage. His father had been none other than the most famous condottiere of perhaps all time, Frederico. Guidobaldo fled when he heard that Cesare was near, although Alexander had sent a messenger offering him the red hat of a cardinal if he would agree to give up power peacefully. He turned down the offer, a move that displeased Alexander to the extent that he circulated the rumor that Guidobaldo was impotent, certainly true as his wife came out with a statement saying that she would prefer him as a brother to not having him as a husband. Guidobaldo had fought for Alexander against Charles VIII, but as usual when Alexander no longer needed someone, he was cast aside. Guidobaldo would get his revenge, though. After the death of Alexander he would return to govern Urbino and he would help Julius II in regaining the Romagna for the church. He would be succeeded by a della Rovere, his sister’s child and a nephew of Julius II. Like that of his famous father, the court of Urbino was and would continue as the most refined in Italy. But Cesare stole what he could, sending the major paintings and sculptures to Rome. One piece was Michelangelo’s Cupid. Experts had declared that it was not only Greek, but that it was an example of Greek mastery in sculpture, never equaled since. Michelangelo then admitted that it was his, and that he had buried it as a stunt to get attention. It worked. He was called to Rome by Cardinal Raffaele Riario who was a renowned collector of art. The rest, as one says, is history.

  Machiavelli was smitten by Cesare who became his model as the perfect tyrant. He wrote that the man never rested which allowed him to move from one place to another, taking an adversary by surprise. Cesare would often summon him in the middle of the night or early morning, his syphilitic face covered in gauze.

  The copyright for the scene of the mafia meeting that ends in everyone sitting around a banquet table, offered rich gifts to ease them into a spirit of tranquility and insouciance, prior to their being slaughtered, goes to Cesare Borgia and dates from 1503. Cesare surrounded himself with some of Italy’s greatest tyrants and cutthroats. There was Vitellozzo Vitelli, lord of several minor towns, but known as a condottiere at the head of his own army that he placed under the highest bidder. He and his brother Paolo had fought for Florence until Paolo was put to death for supposed treachery. Vitelli then fought for Cesare, a man he respected so much he conquered the town of Senigallia as a gift to the charismatic Borgia, a gift he had to relinquish to Florence, following orders from Cesare who was himself following orders from King Louis XII under whom Cesare had placed himself. Embittered, Vitelli met with other unhappy condottieri at Magione to plot Cesare’s downfall.

  Among them was Oliverotto of Fermo. As often happens, it seems, in Hollywood productions, Oliverotto had had the original idea for the mafia-massacre-banquet scenario that Cesare later stole. Oliverotto had lost his father when very young and had been raised by his uncle Giovanni. The boy decided to strike out on his own by inviting his uncle and all the powers of Fermo to a huge dinner where armed men had been hidden in strategic recesses. At his signal the diners were slaughtered. He then joined forces with Vitelli in campaigns for and then against Pisa, for and then against Florence, for and then against Cesare. Like Vitelli, he was set on following Cesare to the ends of the earth, even capturing Camerino for him. Camerino was a small fief ruled by the da Varani since 1262. The lords now were Giulio Cesare da Varano and his three sons, all of whom Oliverotto had strangled in their castle La Pergola. Pope Alexander VI then visited the town alongside his son Cesare and installed, as Duke of Camerino, his daughter Lucrezia’s four-year-old son Juan, the child she had had with the servant Pedro Calderon, the boy Cesare had murdered in the Vatican as he sought shelter in the robes of Alexander, knifing him with such fury that the boy’s blood splattered the pope’s face. Instead of thanking Oliverotto sufficiently for Camerino, Cesare neglected him in favor of greater men such as King Louis, leaving Oliverotto stranded along the route like an abandoned dog.

  The Orsini br
others were also present at Magione, Paolo, Roberto and Francesco. A fourth brother, Cardinal Giambattista Orsini, was held back in Rome. It was he the supposed brains behind the plot to destroy Cesare. Louis XII had personally told Cardinal Orsini, during the king’s visit to Milan, that Cesare was determined to annihilate the Orsini, which was not only true, it was set to happened in a matter of weeks. The cardinal later confronted Pope Alexander with the accusation. Alexander told him that his son Cesare loved the Orsini even more than his own Borgia.

  Pandolfo Petrucci attended the meeting at Magione. He had gained power in Siena thanks to wealth inherited from his brother and the fortune held by his father-in-law. Petrucci used his money to put his supporters in positions of power, earning enemies, among whom was his father-in-law who plotted to have him assassinated. Petrucci struck first, murdering him in 1500. Petrucci managed Siena so deftly--avoiding wars and bringing financial stability--that he won what was literally the love of the Sienese. Convinced that he would make a far more just and competent leader than Cesare, he joined the others as the head of the revolt. Fearing a trap at Senigallia where Cesare would later convoke them all, he alleged other business to stay away. After the events at Senigallia he left Siena, certain he was next on the list of planned assassinations, but returned to Siena at the insistence of Louis XII who wanted war replaced by stability. Petrucci never gained real power because there was always someone still more competent or ambitious than he, Pope Julius II, for example, whom he admired. Before turning over Siena to his son he was thought to have been behind the death of Pius III who was pope for 26 days, by poisoning, in order to make way for Julius II.