Cesar Borgia

César Borgia (Rome, September 13, 1475-Viana, March 12, 1507), with the original Spanish name César de Borja (Italianized his name to Cesare Borgia), was an Italian nobleman, politician and condottiere of Valencian origin, who served as captain-general of the papal armies between 1497 and 1503, in the service of his father and supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church Alexander VI. From 1498 he was Duke of Valentinois and from 1501 he also held the title of Duke of Romagna, after having conquered the territories of Romagna, Urbino and Camerino. This last title also entailed several other noble dignities and domains, among which were the titles of Prince of Andria and Venafro, Duke of Urbino and Camerino, Count of Dyois and Lord of Imola, Forlì, Sassoferrato, Fermo, Fano, Cesena, Pesaro, Rimini, Faenza, Montefiore, Sant'Arcangelo, Verucchio, Catezza, Savignano, Meldola, Porto Cesenatico, Tossignano, Salaruolo, Monte Battaglia, Forlimpopoli and Bertinoro.

Initially destined for a clerical career, Borgia was appointed bishop of Pamplona at sixteen, archbishop of Valencia at nineteen, and cardinal just a year later. After the death of his older brother Juan Borgia in 1497, he succeeded him as Captain General of the Church and went on to reinforce his father's military and diplomatic policy, aimed at consolidating the Borgia House as one of the most powerful families in the Italian states.

It is often said that his political and military career was one of those that served as a model for Nicholas Machiavelli for his image of the ruler developed in The Prince, a work in which he is referred to and cited as an example on several occasions. His marked presence in Machiavelli's text, his political and military career, his patronage, and his membership of the controversial Casa Borgia, have made him one of the most recognized figures of Renaissance Italy. His motto — AUT CAESAR AUT NIHIL ("Either Caesar or Nothing") — became famous.

Youth

Second natural son of the cardinal, of Valencian origin, Rodrigo Borja —future Pope Alexander VI— and his mistress Vannozza Cattanei, a Roman patrician, he had three siblings Juan, Jofré and Lucrecia. On his father's side, he also had other half-siblings, including Pedro Luis de Borja.

In 1486 he was appointed, along with Lucrecia, under the tutelage of Adriana de Milá, his father's distant cousin. Brown-eyed and red-haired, César was a graceful child, who would become a tall, strong man with great ambition, more so than his father. He was an athletic boy through his teens, capable of breaking a spear with his bare hands, riding exhaustion from horses, and spearing bulls. His father assigned him to an ecclesiastical career, as was traditional for the "second son" of noble families, while his brother Juan de él, named Duke of Gandía, would hold the position of captain general of the papal armies.. A position that Borgia longed for himself, because of the power and the incompetence of his brother in it. He studied theology and law at the University of Perugia and at the University of Pisa. At the age of seventeen, César Borgia was consecrated apostolic prothonotary and appointed Bishop of Pamplona (1491). Before turning twenty he was already Archbishop of Valencia and soon after Cardinal.

In 1495 he was imprisoned by the French King Charles VIII after the French invaded Naples. He managed to flee shortly after.

In 1497 his brother John was found murdered on the banks of the Tiber River in Rome. It was speculated that Borgia was related to this death since they were known to be jealous of him and they frequently fought when the subject came up. However, in full investigations, Pope Alejandro decided to suspend them and replace Juan with César in the position of Captain General of the Vatican. In 1498 he abandoned his ecclesiastical career, for which he did not feel the slightest interest, being the first person in history to renounce the cardinalate, and dedicated himself to his new military task, which had always attracted him more. He thus fulfilled his desire to be a man of action.

Duke of Valentinois, ally of France in the conquest of Milan

In the summer of 1497, Borgia exposed his plans to renounce ecclesiastical dignity and return to the secular state by renouncing the cardinalate, which would allow him to try to obtain a principality through marriage with a noblewoman, being in the first instance the alleged Carlota, Princess of Taranto, eldest daughter of King Federico I of Naples. However, the monarch was not willing to marry his legitimate daughter to a Borgia as his brother Alfonso had married his bastards to Jofre and Lucrecia.

In any case, despite his father's reluctance, on August 17, 1498, César renounced the purple with the consent of the college of cardinals.

Alliance between Louis XII and Alexander VI

The newly ascended to the throne Louis XII of France was interested in a league with the Pope, so he proceeded to ingratiate himself with the latter by granting his son a noble title: on September 25, 1498, the French ambassador in Rome delivered the royal patents to Borgia naming him Duke of Valentinois, from then on being known as duca Valentino.

Borgia marches to France by sea, disembarking in Marseilles on October 19. He goes to Chinon to meet the king, passing through Avignon and Lyon. Received by Louis XII, the king tells Borgia his desire to take over the Duchy of Milan, for which a coalition with the Papal States is convenient.

To further strengthen the pact with the Borgias, the king promotes the marriage of the Borgia with a noblewoman, Charlotte d'Albret, sister of Juan III de Albret, king of Navarre, with whom he marries on May 10 in Blois, link that has the presence of the kings and the celebration of a tournament where Borgia breaks four spears.

Shortly thereafter he is appointed administrator of the Borgia estates.

Meanwhile, Louis XII had agreed to an alliance with the Lordship of Venice, which facilitated his intentions of taking over the Milanese. Likewise, a military cooperation plan was agreed upon between the French crown and the papacy, which implied that Caesar would lead a contingent to support the French invasion army, and once the conquest was completed, the king would contribute troops that would support the work of the papal army. in the conquest of the Romagna states, which Alexander VI hoped to unify, bequeathing to his descendants a principality in Italy.

So, in the summer of 1499, Caesar accompanied the French army, led by the king himself ready to take Milan, with a group of one hundred lances.

Lord of Romagna (1499-1504)

Italian lords in 1499

First campaign

After Milan was taken, Borgia was able to set out with his army in November 1499, seconded by 300 lances and 4,000 Swiss from the French army under Yves II d'Alègre, beginning his campaign against Imola, which fell at first from December. The city of Forli surrenders, but Countess Catherine Sforza defends the citadel virilely at the command of 700 men. However, it ends up being taken on January 12. Captured Catalina, she was confined in the Sant'Angelo castle in Rome, until her release in June 1501.

Preparing to march against Cesena and Pesaro, Ludovico the Moor breaks into the Milanese from Como with an army of Swiss mercenaries. Urgently claimed in Lombardy, Yves d'Alegre, goes with his troops to serve Louis XII in his struggle for the Duchy of Milan. Without that support, Borgia opts to return to Rome, where he makes a triumphal entry on February 26, 1500.

Second campaign

On October 1, 1500, he left Rome again at the head of an army of ten thousand men, with important contributions from Italian nobles. The lords of Pesaro and Rimini abandon their states to the invading army. The lord of Faenza, however, offers resistance assisted by the Republic of Florence, having to give up Caesar to take it that winter.

He renewed the campaign in spring, besieging the city from March 7, 1501, surrendering on April 25.

From that moment on, he will add the title of Lord of Romagna to that of Duke of Valentinois.

While maintaining the siege against Faenza, he sends part of his army into the territory of Florence. The lordship agrees to pay a subsidy of 36,000 ducats for three years and give free passage to the troops of that body, who take the principality of Piombino in August.

War in Naples

On June 25, 1501, Alexander VI issues a bull authorizing the sovereigns of France and Spain to divide up the kingdom of Naples, officially dispossessing its lord, Federico I of Naples. Borgia joins the French army that camped near Rome and begins its march south on the 27th. In a brief campaign of the longest war for the kingdom of Naples, the French occupy the part that corresponds to them according to the signed treaty.

On February 17, 1502, already with the title of Duke of Romagna, he went with his father to visit Piombino taken a few months before. The city was considered the door of Tuscany, ideal to leave to take the Republic of Pisa, the Lordship of Florence or the Republic of Siena and unify central Italy in the hands of the Borgia family.

Third campaign

On June 13, 1502, Caesar left Rome at the head of a new army to continue with the seizure of Italian states. He joins his titles that of Duke of Urbino and soon occupies the dukedom of Camerino. Preparing to take Bologna, Louis XII of France warns Alexander VI against further territorial expansion. Caesar immediately goes undercover to Milan to meet with the king, promising to help him in Naples if he gives his approval to the Bologna venture.

Conspiracy of their captains

Some of the condottieres that Borgia had in his employ saw that the French king was stopping the aspirations of their lord and, interpreting that he had lost the favor of Louis XII, they took the opportunity to divide the recent conquests among themselves. On the 9th the conspirators, meeting in Magione, solemnly stipulate the conditions of their agreement. On October 15 they occupy the duchy of Urbino.

The Valencian Micheletto, with the troops that remained faithful to the duke, headed for Fossombrone where they collided with the traitors. The defeat of the loyalists is clear. The also Valencian Hugo de Moncada falls prisoner, while Don Michele manages to escape, taking refuge in Pésaro while Borgia is in Imola.

Demanding help from the French, they send aid under Charles d'Amboise. Also demanding help from the Lordship of Florence, they sent Machiavelli as an emissary.

Paolo Orsini, Vitellozzo Vitelli and other main rebel leaders tried to reach an agreement with César, who agreed, at least on paper, to respect the status quo reached. However, on December 29, Borgia marches from Pesaro to Senigallia, where he arrives on December 31, and there he meets Orsini, Vittelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, and the Duke of Gravina.

There, on the same day, Vitellozzo Vitelli and Oliverotto da Fermo were strangled to death in retaliation for the plot. Paolo Orsini and the Duke of Gravina were later strangled, on January 18, at Castel de la Pieve, as soon as César Borgia became certain that Alexander VI had also initiated his own punitive action against members of the Orsini family in Rome, with imprisonment and expropriation of property.

Campaign at Lazio

In Rome, Jofré Borgia's attempt to occupy various fortresses belonging to the Orsini family ended with an armed response from them, with the papal troops having to repel an attack on the Nomentano Bridge. Meanwhile, Borgia was advancing from Umbria against squares of this rival family.

At the beginning of April 1503, Cerveteri was taken, after an intense bombardment during which six thousand cannonballs fell against its fortress. And, shortly after, the Orsini ask for an armistice.

In August, the Borgia occupies Perugia.

Spaniards at the service of César

Duke Valentino had the service of many Spanish soldiers of fortune among others:

• Ramiro de Lorca, governor general, fallen in disgrace, executed in 1502.
• Miguel Corella, alias MichelettoYour right hand.
• Diego García de Paredes.
• Hugo de Moncada, who would become viceroy of Sicily.
• Juan de Cardona, who would be Count of Avellino in the Kingdom of Naples.
• Antonio de Cardona, brother of the former, who would be marquis of the Padula in the Kingdom of Naples.
• Gonzalo de Mirafuentes, Spanish de Forlì.
• Diego Ramírez de Quiñones, Castilian of Cesena.
• Pedro Ramírez de Quiñones, Commissioner at Urbino and Montefeltro, one of the four Commissioners of the Romagna.
• Rodrigo Maldonado, Castilian of Rimini.
• Cristóbal de la Torre, its butler and one of the four curators of the Romagna.
• Jerome Bonadia, one of the four Commissioners of Romagna.
• Jerome of Lloris and Borja, brother of Cardinal Francisco Galcerán of Lloris and Borja and who would die as captain of a company of men of arms in the battle of Rávena.
• Bravo de Estella, Spanish of Forlimpopoli.
• Cristóbal de Villalba
• Joan Petit.

Death of Alexander VI and disgrace of Borgia

«A glass of wine with César Borgia»

1893 John Collier.

On August 5 or 6, 1503, Borgia and his father, Alexander VI, attend a party given by Cardinal Adriano da Corneto. On the morning of Saturday, August 12, the Pope feels unwell, and at the same time Borgia, who was about to leave for Perugia with his army, fell ill. At that time there had been many deaths from malaria in Rome—among them his relative, Cardinal Juan Borja who died on the 1st—and Cardinal Adriano himself suffered two episodes of severe fever.

After several days of bloodletting treatments, slight intervals of improvement alternated with strong episodes of fever, the Supreme Pontiff died on August 18.

The Conclave of September 1503

With an army of twelve thousand men, Borgia had the ability to influence a convulsed Rome so that the conclave of the college of cardinals would emerge the desired candidate, but his role was not decisive. On August 22, the college allowed César to retain the position of Captain General of the Vatican until the new Pope was elected, but they immediately began a series of maneuvers to pressure him to leave the city during the election of the new Supreme Pontiff.

On September 1, the army under the command of the Duke of Valentinois begins its withdrawal from Rome. That same day, Borgia had reached an agreement with the king of France: the duke would contribute his troops to the king and pressure the French candidate, Cardinal Georges d'Amboise, to be elected, and the monarch in return would guarantee territorial acquisitions. made in previous years.

Finally, Pius III is elected on September 21.

When Borgia returns to Rome on October 3, he does so with only 650 men. On October 15, when the Orsini demanded that the Pope be arrested, he only had 70 loyalists left, but he sent his captains to carry out new levies. However, the Pope had been ill since the 13th and ordered nothing in this regard.

Julius II and the squares of Romagna

Venice took advantage to take some states in Rome.

After the conclave in October 1503, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere was elected Pope, taking the name of Julius II.

Taking advantage of the duke's weakness, the Venetians seized various places in Romagna, such as Rimini or Faenza. Borgia held Cesena, Forli, Forlimpopolo and Bertinoro at the end of November. The Pope announces his intention that none of the places conquered in the Borgia campaigns remain in the hands of either the Venetians or the Borgia, but that they remain under the jurisdiction of Rome, ordering the duke to hand over these cities to him in name of the Church before they were occupied by the Lordship of Venice and Romagna ended up being one more province of Terra Ferma.

On November 24, Julius II orders the arrest of Borgia. The duke is treated courteously, being held in the Vatican palace and not in the dungeons of Sant'Angelo. Borgia sends his Castilians in Romagna public instructions to hand over the plazas to Julius II, but he gives them private instructions to keep them in his name.

A nuncio is sent to Cesena for the formal delivery of the square, he is rejected and his servant is assassinated. The event shocked Julius II, who did not expect such a maneuver. Military preparations were made to besiege the plaza, but the Castilian, Diego de Quiñones, defended it, linking its delivery to the liberation of Borgia.

Finally, the duke reached an agreement, and handed over Forlì, Cesena, and Bertinoro in exchange for their release on April 19, 1504. Forlimpopolo had been taken by the Venetians in January, and therefore could not be a trump card. in negotiations.

Borgia's relationship with the Catholic Monarchs after the death of Alexander VI. Spanish prison

In September 1503, the Catholic Monarchs wrote to their ambassador in Rome, Francisco de Rojas, that they were pleased to receive the duke at their service. But with the Spanish and French armies encamped near Rome, Borgia left Rome and marched to join the French under the Marquis of Mantua Francisco II Gonzaga, when he was expected to join the Spanish under Prospero Colonna, although the Cardinal Carvajal, leader of the Spanish cardinals, had already foreseen such a maneuver.

With Julius II coming to power and the conflict over the states of Romagna, the Catholic Monarchs even offered him troops from the Kingdom of Naples to recover for the Church, Imola, Forlì and Cesena that the Duke of Valentines has usurped.

When Borgia is released from his prison in Rome, he goes to Naples with the safe-conduct of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, viceroy of Naples, for which the Pope protests before Isabel and Fernando, understanding that he is supporting his rival, or that Borgia has to put himself at the service of the kings of Spain.

Nevertheless, and without the knowledge of his sovereigns, the Great Captain had proceeded to arrest him, locking him up in the Castel Nuovo, before which, the monarchs applauded the decision and offered his lieutenant in Italy several options regarding his to do with such an uncomfortable prisoner, which implied in any case the expulsion of the duke from Italy: to France, Germany or Spain, the instructions regarding his transfer to their kingdoms being the most detailed. The viceroy opted for the latter and sent him with galleys disembarking in Cartagena in August under Antonio de Cardona.

He was imprisoned in Chinchilla and months later was transferred to La Mota Castle in Medina del Campo.

Portrait of profile of César Borgia at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome, c. 1500-1510.

Flight to death

One night in October 1506, he lowers himself from the tower with the help of a servant, but is discovered and the rope is cut. As fate would have it, a bruised Borgia manages to escape on horseback. Queen Juana I orders his arrest and puts a price on his head.

With the intention of embarking to reach Navarra, Borgia leaves Medina del Campo pretending to be a grain merchant and from there he goes to Santander, where he disguises himself and accompanied by some Basque merchants embarks on a ship, but the state of the sea prevents you from continuing beyond Castro Urdiales. In this town he rented three mules to the convent of Santa Clara and passed through Bermeo, Vergara, Atallo and the port of Azpíroz, until he arrived on December 3 in Pamplona, his former episcopal seat, where he was welcomed by his brother-in-law, the King of Navarra, John of Albert.

Since 1452, Navarre had been in a civil war between two opposing factions, the Agramontese, supporters of Kings Juan and Catalina, and the Beaumontese, supporters of the constable of the kingdom, Luis de Beaumont, II Count of Lerín. Borgia puts himself at the service of his brother-in-law, King Juan de Albret, who appoints him constable and generalissimo or captain of the armies of Navarre.

Its first military objective is the conquest of the Beaumont square of Larraga and, after an unsuccessful attempt, it passes to the town of Viana in possession of the count of Lerín. In March he decides to conquer the town and succeeds, although not the castle. On the night of March 11, 1507, a great storm broke out and Borgia ordered the surveillance of the town to be removed, which was taken advantage of by sixty horsemen of the Count of Lerín, possibly with the collaboration of some neighbors, to evade the siege. enter the fortress through a postern or passageway in the walls, traditionally called "Puerta del Socorro", and supply its defenders with food for another month.

At dawn, the guard sees how the horsemen leave the castle in the direction of Mendavia and report to César Borgia. The latter, enraged at feeling mocked and humiliated, equips himself, takes weapons and a horse and sets off in pursuit through the Portal de la Solana. Borgia does not realize that he has left his guard and his soldiers behind until he reaches the terminus known as "La Barranca Salada".

César died during a treasonous ambush, in Viana, on March 12, 1507. There three men of the Count of Lerín prepared an ambush for him, Garcés de Ágreda, Pedro de Allo and a third unknown man. Then they seized his clothes and goods; leaving his corpse in place, completely naked. His corpse was found at the foot of La Barranca Salada, without knowing exactly who he was, until the arrival of Juanicot, Borgia's page, who began to cry like a child, hugging the remains of his lord. The Count of Lerín, like a good gentleman, mourned and allowed Juanicot to transfer the corpse to Viana where he was buried in the Church of Santa María. His epitaph read:

Here lies in little land
the one that feared him all,
peace and war
in his hand he had it.

Oh you, you're gonna look for it.
worthy things of loar!
if you praise the most worthy
here for your way,
Don't cure any more walking.

Tomb of Caesar Borgia with the inscription of 1953.

This tomb remained for a short time in the church of Santa María, since in the middle of the XVI century, a bishop of Calahorra, to whose diocese the parish of Viana belonged, considered the permanence of the remains of this character in a sacred place to be sacrilege. He ordered them to be removed and buried in front of the church in the middle of Rúa Mayor, "so that men and beasts would trample him as payment for his guilt." The end result was the destruction of the mausoleum. In 1884 what are supposed to be his remains were located in Rúa de Santa María or Calle Mayor, at the foot of the steps in front of the main entrance to the church, and they were left in the same place.

In 1945 the remains were exhumed again, analyzed and then deposited in 1953 at the foot of the church façade, on the outside but within its enclosure, under a white marble tombstone that reads as follows: «César Borgia generalissimo of the armies of Navarra and papal dead in Campos de Viana on March XI, MDVII».

On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of his death, the Archbishop of Pamplona was asked to transfer his remains inside the church, but it was denied on the grounds that people are not currently buried inside churches. Yes that a field cross was installed in Barranca Salada to remember the place where he supposedly fell dead.

Origin and continuity

Marriage and children

On May 10, 1499, César Borgia married Carlota de Albret, sister of the king consort of Navarre, Juan III de Albret. From this marriage a girl was born whom Borgia would never meet:

• Luisa Borgia, duchess of Valentinois, lady of Chalus, duchess of Borgia (1500–1553). Married with Louis II de la Trémoille, governor of Burgundy and second nuptists with Felipe de Borbón, Mr. Busset.

Borgia was also the father of at least three illegitimate children:

• Girolamo Borgia, son of an unknown woman, was legitimized in 1537, year in which he married Elisabetta Pizzabeccari and recognized as the son of Borgia in 1545, year in which he contracted second marriages with Isabella, Countess of Carpi; he had two daughters of his first marriage:
  • Hipólita Borgia (Ippolita Borgia, Italian)
  • Lucrecia Borgia (Lucrezia Borgia in Italian) married Bartolomeo Ottoboni
• Camila Borgia(1502-1573), was the daughter of a married woman named Drusila, lady of company of Lucrecia Borgia, recognized in 1539 as daughter of Borgia, was nun and Abbey of the Monastery of Saint Bernardino de Ferrara.
• Giovanni Borgia (1498-1548), or Juan Borgia, called the "Roman infants", supposedly son of his incestuous relationship with his sister Lucrecia.

Ancestry

Legacy

César Borgia, drawings by Leonardo da Vinci

Controversial figure, great statesman and soldier.

Defender, along with his father Alexander VI and his brothers Juan and Lucrecia, of the supreme power of the Church, as well as the political and territorial independence of the Vatican, as well as a skillful negotiator in political and military matters.

It has been speculated^{[citation needed]} that some portraits of Jesus Christ painted around Borgia times were based on César Borgia, which has influenced the images of Jesus created to this day. Alexandre Dumas (Sr.) supported this theory and, furthermore, in The Count of Monte Cristo he made many mentions of Borgia-based conspiracies.

Patronage

His patronage activity, together with his relatives, was very important and reached artists as famous as Michelangelo, Pinturicchio, Bartolommeo Veneto, Titian or Bosco, who were protected at some point in their artistic life by the Borgias. To this protection we owe some of his best known works. Although these works were rather commissioned by other members of his family, Caesar personally called Leonardo da Vinci, naming him "captain and general engineer", and he designed numerous war machines for the papal army.

Recorded by César Borgia

The Prince

César Borgia has been immortalized as the prototype of the cruel and ambitious individual who harbored no generous feelings and to satisfy his hatreds committed innumerable murders. Actually, it was not an exception, since such conduct was followed by most of the Italian princes of the XV century.

Cesar Borgia, called Duke Valentino for the vulgo, acquired the state with the fortune of his father, and with that of him he lost it, despite having employed all the imaginable means and having done all that a wise and skillful man must do to root in a state that has been obtained with weapons and support from others.
The new prince who believes it is necessary to defend himself from enemies, to conquer friends, to overcome by force or by fraud, to be loved or feared by the inhabitants, to respect and to obey by the soldiers, to kill those who may harm him, to replace with new old laws, to be severe and kind, magnanimous and liberal, to dissolve the unfaithful militias, to create new ones, to preserve the friendship of kings and princes so that they favor him in a good degree, to find him. It can only be criticized as regards the election of the new pontiff, because, while he could not make a name for an addicted pope, he could prevent this or that of the cardinals, and he should never have consented to the elevated to the Pontificate any of the cardinals whom he had offended or those who, once popes, had to fear him. For men offend for fear or hatred. All the others, if they had arrived at the solio, should fear him, except the Cardinal of Amboise given his power, which was born of France, and the Spaniards linked to him by mutual alliance and obligations. Therefore, the Duke should first of all try to anoint a pope to a Spaniard, and, unless possible, accept the Cardinal of Amboise before that of St.Peter Advincula. For it is deceived who believes that among eminent people the new benefits make forget the old offenses. The Duke was wrong in this election, the ultimate cause of his final ruin.

Nicolas Machiavelli (The Prince)Chapter VII

A different vision

In his novel Los Borgia, Mario Puzo presents different hypotheses regarding his life, although being a novel, they should be taken with caution:

• Cesar Borgia would be the second son of Alexander (the firstborn would have died shortly after birth). Such a circumstance, to be the second son, would explain that in his youth he had dedicated himself to ecclesiastical life. John would, in such a hypothesis, be the third of the children.
• Cesar and Lucrecia would have been really in love. But she got rid of him when Caesar killed his second husband, Alfonso de Aragón, motivated by jealousy, in the face of her husband's deep love.
• He also shows us how his brother Juan is killed by his younger brother, Jofré, because of the jealousy that caused his brother's relationship with his wife Sancha.

The vision that Puzo gives us of the Borgia family as a whole is a little more human than what is normally exposed, since he treats them from a more human and logical point of view, outside of the common myths or justifying them, in some cases. However, the book is inserted within the systematics of Puzo's works, which present a virtuous, skilful character, around whose evolution the story unfolds (César); a wise man, calculating and attached to the family (Alejandro) and a nemesis of the protagonist, generally with vile attitudes and psychopathic characteristics (Juan); therefore, the historical value could also be questioned.

Recently, Geneviève Chastenet's book Lucrezia Borgia: Angel or Demon, a documented biography, demonstrates the falsity of the infamies (of crimes and incest) that the enemies of the Borgia wove against her. It shows Lucrecia as a cultured woman, lover of arts and letters, highly spiritual and, in a way, a victim of the political intrigues of her father and her brother César Borgia.

For the artists of the late XIX century, the name of César Borgia meant the myth of the patron and man of the greatest nobility of spirit Efrén Rebolledo dedicates some laudatory verses to him in his poem & # 34; Panoplia & # 34;:

From his blade the cursed reflection

as a sign of death shed,

and shine, faking a scale,

in his fist the exquisite relief.

In its glossy sheet

lives in purple figures the drama,

and a thousand times his trémula flama

He was a student in the infamous crime.

Like an apicious, treacherous and treacherous,

stripping manlsalva his steel

She called in a murderous hand,

and vibrating his silver tongue

of scarlet liquor

it abbreviated in petty revenge.

Succession

Predecessor: Rodrigo de Borja, as Archbishop of Valencia	Cardinal-arzobispo of Valencia 1492 - 1498	Successor: Cardinal Juan de Borja Llançol de Romaní, the minor
Predecessor: Nobility title created	Duke of Valentinois 1498 - 1507	Successor: Luisa Borgia
Predecessor: Ottaviano Riario	Lord of Imola 1499 - 1503	Successor: To the Papal States
Predecessor: Juan Sforza	Lord of Pésaro 1500 - 1503	Successor: Juan Sforza
Predecessor: Pandolfo IV Malatesta	Lord of Rimini 1500 - 1503	Successor: Pandolfo IV Malatesta
Predecessor: Astorre III Manfredi	Lord of Faenza 1501 - 1503	Successor: Astorre IV Manfredi
Predecessor: James IV Appiano	Lord of Piombino 1501 - 1503	Successor: James IV Appiano
Predecessor: Guidobaldo I da Montefeltro	Duke of Urbino 1502 - 1503	Successor: Guidobaldo I da Montefeltro

Filmography

• 2014: Isabelplayed by Nacho Aldeguer.
• 2012: Horrible Histories Tv Series. It appears in episode 9 of the fourth season played by Mathew Baynton.
• 2011: Assassin's Creed: Ascendance.
• 2011 - 2013: The Borgias (Showtime), played by François Arnaud.
• 2011 - 2013: Borgia (Canal +), played by Mark Ryder.
• 2008: Cantarella, interpreted by Hatsune Miku and Kaito, about the alleged love with his sister.
• 2006: The Borgia (Antonio Hernández), played by Sergio Peris Mencheta.
• 1981: The Borgia. BBC series, played by Oliver Cotton.
• 1974: Immoral counts (Contes immoraux), one of the episodes is dedicated to the Borgia family, played by Lorenzo Berinizi.
• 1966: L'uomo che ride. Franco-Italian production film directed by Sergio Corbucci and based very freely on the novel The man who laughsVictor Hugo, moving the action to the Renaissance Italy. The role of César Borgia is played by Edmund Purdom.
• 1968: Lucreziaplayed by Lou Castel.
• 1963: The Black Duke (Pino Mercanti), played by Cameron Mitchell.
• 1949: Prince of the foxes (Henry King), played by Orson Welles.
• 1948: The mask of the Borgia (Mitchell Leisen), played by Macdonald Carey.
• 1935: Lucrèce Borgia. Interpreted by Gabriel Gabrio.
• 1922: Lucrezia Borgia, German film directed by Richard Oswald and presenting a very fictionalized and novel vision of the Borgia family. The role of César Borgia is played by Conrad Veidt.

Video games

• 2010: Assassin's Creed: Project Legacywhere in some chapters this character appears.
• 2010: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, appears as general of the pope's armies and member of the secret society of the Templars. As a nemesis of Ezio Auditore, it is the main villain to beat. In the original version he lends his voice Andreas Apergis, being in the Spanish Juan Logar Jr.