 |
| Portrait of a man believed be Cesare Borgia |
The Loss of a Cardinal
Over the
past six years Cesare had been working on his father in his attempts to discard
his role as a prince of the church. In August 1498 Rodrigo finally agreed to
release Cesare from the cardinalate and his priestly vows. On 14th
August Cesare appeared before the sacred college in full regalia, robes he very
rarely wore, and asked for his release from his vows.
‘Thus now in God’s church
everything is upside down’[i]
wrote one
Venetian diarist. Cesare could forge a new career and reputation for himself as
the soldier he had always wanted to be.
But to allay
Ferdinand and Isabella’s wrath Alexander gave them increased authority over the
church in Spain, freeing them to use their Inquisition as they pleased, with tragic consequences for Spanish Jews,
Muslims and even suspect Christians. In return Ferdinand and Isabella allowed
Rodrigo his choice of nominee for the Archbishopric of Valencia, vacant
following Cesare’s resignation. Rodrigo, always looking to further Borgia
interests, gave the post to Juan de Borgia the younger.
Another Annulment
 |
| Louis XII |
Following
the death of Charles VIII in April 1498, the new king of France Louis XII[ii] applied for an annulment of his
marriage to his wife Jeanne[iii]. Louis had his eye on the widowed
queen, Anne, Duchess of Brittany; marriage to her would confirm the
annexation of Brittany as part of the kingdom of France[iv]. As an inducement to
Rodrigo, Louis was moved to bestow on
Cesare the title of Duke of Valentinois[v].
Cesare
travelled to France with the coveted annulment and a dispensation for Louis to
marry Anne[vi]. He arrived;
‘Mounted on a great charger
richly harnessed with a robe of parti-coloured red satin and gold brocade and
bordered with many pearls. In his bonnet in two rows there were five or six
rubies as large as beans…..at the edge of his biretta he also had a large
quantity of jewels down to his boots.’[vii]
The French
court found the excessive display of wealth ridiculous.
At The Court of France
 |
| Chateau de Chinon |
The royal
marriage took place on 1st January 1499 with Cesare present. He
discussed with Louis the projected invasion of Italy to be supported by the
papacy. Cesare had his eye on Carlotta of Aragon as a bride; Carlotta was the daughter of Ferrante of
Naples and a ward at Louis’ court.
The
projected marriage with Carlotta fell through as the princess had an aversion
to Cesare that could not be overcome[viii]. Cesare was already
showing the marks of secondary stage of the French
disease as it was known in Italy, or syphilis, on his face. Even so he was
still very attractive to women; perhaps his reputation put her off.
Cesare
stayed at the court at Chinon, almost a hostage. Louis appeared to
like Cesare, seeming to enjoy his company and wanting to help him. After all
Cesare enjoyed the same bright good nature as his father and sister. Even so,
he was urgent to leave knowing that he depended entirely upon his father’s
goodwill.
 |
| Chateau de Blois |
Cesare married
Charlotte d’Albret; the beautiful daughter of Alain, Count of Graves and Castres. Charlotte’s brother was King John III[ix] of Navarre. The bride was not eager for the
match, but was persuaded by Louis,
the new queen and her own family. But Rodrigo’s bribe of 200,000 ducats[x] could not be gainsaid.
The couple
were married on 10th May 1499 in the queen’s apartments in the chateau of Blois. According to Louis there could be
no doubt that the marriage had been consummated; Cesare had ‘broken his lance’ no fewer than eight
times on the wedding night.
‘A courier arrived from
France………announcing that he [Cesare] had….contracted a marriage to Charlotte
d’Albret and that the marriage had been consummated on the Sunday of the same
month, 12 May, when he had managed to give her eight proofs of his virility. Another
courier arrived at Pentecost, on 19th May, to say that the king had
admitted the duke to the Order
of St Michael[xi].’[xii]
Rodrigo was overjoyed by the marriage, so much
so, that he endorsed Louis’ claim to Milan.
A Falling Out with Spain
 |
| Alexander and possibly Giulia Farnese as the Virgin |
Rodrigo’s
alliance with France, on Cesare’s behalf, lost him the support of Spain. When
Ferdinand learned of the French-Venetian treaty he recalled his ambassadors
from Venice and Rome. Ferdinand took the position that Rodrigo’s election was
invalid and that a council must be called to rectify matters. In response
‘Alexander threatened to
have him [the Spanish envoy] thrown into the Tiber, and scolded the Spanish
King and Queen in insulting terms for their interference.’[xiii]
In an
attempt to appease Ferdinand, who was also objecting to the huge amounts of
church revenue being used to enrich the Borgia family, Rodrigo restored papal
rule in Benevento, removing the duchy from the rule of
his young 5 year old grandson Juan.
To address
concerns that his children were directing papal policy Rodrigo ordered Lucrezia
and Jofré to leave Rome and take up residence in Spoleto, which they duly did on 8th August. Lucrezia was installed as
governor of the city. Alfonso was not as biddable as Lucrezia and had left Rome
six days earlier to join his father, without Rodrigo’s permission. Six days
after his children’s departure Giulia Farnese was reinstalled as Rodrigo’s
mistress.
The Fall of Milan
 |
| Gian Giacomo Trivulzio |
Like his
predecessor Louis XII had his eye on Milan, to which Louis had a claim through
his grandmother Valentina Visconti[xiv]. In February 1499 Louis came to an
agreement with Venice to dismember the duchy of Milan.
By early
summer Louis had an army on the march en-route to Milan; led by a former Sforza
employee, Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, a man who felt he had something to
prove. His army was followed more leisurely by Louis, who had not only Cesare
but also Cardinal della Rovere in his train.
The Orsini
and the Colonna were so concerned about the implications of the French alliance
with the papacy that they ceased their vicious squabbling and along with
Naples, allied themselves with Milan. Alexander assured the allies that his
agreement with Louis was a personal matter to help Cesare find his way in the
world.
In early
September Ludovico Sforza fled Milan with his two sons and Cardinal Ascanio and
joined his brother-in-law Emperor Maximilian, taking with him a fortune in gold
and jewels. Trivulzio took possession of the city on 11th September
and Louis made his official entrance into Milan in early October.
The After Shock
 |
| Lucrezia Borgia |
Louis’s
invasion of Italy increased his standing in Europe; Ferdinand of Spain made
haste to make protestations of friendship to France[xv]. This, coupled with Louis’
friendship to Cesare and his
appreciation of Rodrigo’s help, led Louis to become a patron of the Borgias.
This gave Rodrigo a freedom of action that he had not had hitherto.
On 14th
October Lucrezia and Alfonso returned to Rome. Just over a year after Lucrezia’s
marriage to Alfonso she presented him with an heir, Rodrigo who was born on 1st November. On 11th
November Rodrigo was baptised in the Pope Sixtus chapel in St Peter’s Basilica.
‘On arriving at the door of
Pope Sixtus’s Chapel, Cervillon gave the child to Don Francisco Borgia[xvi]…..Cardinal
Caraffa came to the door, catechized the
child, and then had him brought into the chapel….Cardinal Podocathro[xvii]
of Capaccio,
and the datary,
Cardinal Ferrari placed their hands on the child’s head as Godfathers.’
Bibliography
At the Court
of the Borgia – Johan Burchard, Folio Society 1990
Lucrezia
Borgia – Rachel Erlanger, Michael Joseph 1979
The Borgias
– Mary Hollingsworth, Quercus Editions 2014
The Borgias
– GJ Meyer, Bantam 2013
A History of
Venice – John Julius Norwich, Penguin Books 1982
Absolute
Monarchs – John Julius Norwich, Random House 2011
The March of
Folly – Barbara Tuchman, Cardinal 1990
Niccolo’s
Smile – Maurizio Viroli, IB Tauris & Company Ltd 2001
www.wikipedia.en
[i]
The March of Folly - Tuchman
[iii]
Who was incapable of bearing a child due to her heavy disabilities; the couple
had been forcibly married by Charles VIII in an attempt to eliminate this cadet
branch of the royal family
[v]
The title, which fell into abeyance after Cesare’s death, was next given to Diane de Poitiers,
mistress of Henry II
of France
[vi]
Louis was forbidden to marry Anne, the widow of his brother Charles
[vii]
Lucrezia Borgia - Erlanger
[x]
In 2013
the relative: historic standard of living
value of that income or wealth is £137,300,000.00 economic status value of that income or wealth is £3,875,000,000.00 economic power value of that income or wealth is £54,620,000,000.00 www.measuringworth.com
[xi]
Instituted by Louis
XI in response to the creation of the Order of the
Golden Fleece by the Duke
of Burgundy
[xii]
The Borgias - Hollingsworth
[xiii]
The March of Folly - Tuchman
[xiv]
Daughter of Gian
Galeazzo Visconti, the first Duke of Milan; Valentina’s two brothers had
inherited the title from their father, both dying without issue. Valentina’s marriage contract with the Duke of Orleans
stipulated that in failure of male heirs, she would inherit the Visconti dominions. The title was, after a short lived
republic, assumed by Francesco,
the first of the Sforza dukes
[xv]
And as Rodrigo was Louis’ ally, to put aside his grievances about Rodrigo and
his family
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.