The interval of the Milanese rising had been spent by Cesare in Rome, where the solemnities of the jubilee year were disturbed by extravagant demonstrations of public joy, provided by his father and himself in honour of his recent successes. Among these was a triumph, after those of the Roman emperors, where he inscribed upon his banners, aut Cæsar aut nullus, an insolent motto, which he frequently used, but which was thus pungently parodied on his death:—
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"Cæsar in deeds as name would Borgia be, A Cæsar or a cipher,—both was he!"[275] |
On the 2nd of April he received from his father the royal distinction of the golden rose, along with the dignities of gonfaloniere and captain-general of the Church, each of which gave occasion for pompous ceremonials of surpassing magnificence, wherein the velvet and brocade liveries of his numberless followers dazzled even the Roman populace. Among his attendants Burchard mentions a thousand Gascon and Scotch infantry [Guascones et Scottenses?], whose unsteady straggling, "caring nought for our arrangements," sadly disconcerted this master of ceremonies.
To supply the vast sums which were unceasingly absorbed in these and similar displays of vanity and selfish profusion by the Borgia, as well as in their ceaseless wars, every device was called into requisition. Besides seizing upon a large portion of the pious gifts brought by pilgrims of the jubilee year to the metropolis of Christianity, the Pope had recourse, for the first time, on a great scale, to the sale of dispensations. Notices were circulated over Europe, that payment of stated sums, by such as found personal performance of the pilgrimage inconvenient or disagreeable, would ensure to them all the benefits of a visit to the prescribed jubilee stations at Rome. Simony had become the rule, not the exception. Every office in church and state was bestowed on the highest bidder by the greedy Pontiff, who himself had purchased the tiara.[*276]
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"The keys, the altar, and his God he sold; 'Twas well! their price he first had paid in gold."[277] |
Having learned the value of this source of wealth, he hesitated not to turn it to new account by a series of crimes unequalled in the annals of iniquity. Finding that the course of nature did not afford vacancies as rapidly as his finances required new supplies, he refined upon the practice of an age "profuse in poisons," and had frequent recourse to the chalice. From time to time cardinals and other high dignitaries were thus disposed of, often from revenge, but oftener for lucre. Now, too, the tax of a tenth was imposed on the clergy, and a twentieth on the Jews, to continue for three years, on the delusive pretext of a Turkish war. How far these unrighteous profits were directly participated by Cesare Borgia may been seen from the diary of Sanuto:—"The twelve new cardinals, after their creation [Sept. 28], went to the Duke, offering their services, and dined there, and balanced their accounts, and swore fealty to him, so that for this creation he has touched about 120,000 ducats."[*278] The dinner was, however, but an empty form of hospitality, for we learn from the same authority, that his cautious guests declined partaking of the splendid banquet laid out to tempt them, observing that omnia preciosa cara sunt, and excusing their scruples by a desire of avoiding popular gossip.
The readiness with which Valentino had suspended his own plans to repair the reverses of Louis in Lombardy, obtained him from the latter a more hearty support. The French troops were sent back to serve under his banner, and their monarch having declared his intention of treating the opponents of Borgia as his personal enemies, the latter hastened again to Romagna, and took possession of Pesaro. Its lord, Giovanni Sforza, had flattered himself that the storm would pass him by unharmed. He was under the avowed protection of Venice, and had been son-in-law of the Pope. But the Signory were not unwilling to close their eyes to an insult which it would have been impolitic to avenge, and Lucrezia's divorce had alienated her late husband from the sympathies as well as from the family circle of the Borgia. Warned by the fate of the Riarii, and perceiving that the friendly dispositions of his relation Guidobaldo were of no avail against such a combination of adverse circumstances, Giovanni had, in the beginning of the year, fled by sea to Venice, and offered his state to that republic, a proposal which was coldly declined by the prudent Signory, who regarded it as a fatal gift. He, however, found shelter in their sea-borne city, where he quickly consoled himself by marrying a daughter of Matteo Tiapolo.
On the 27th of October, Borgia entered Pesaro, with an imposing display of luxurious military equipments. His men-at-arms wore his sumptuous livery of red and yellow over richly wrought cuirasses, and their belts were studded with seven serpents' heads. He then proceeded to Rimini, where Pandolfo and Carlo, natural sons of Roberto Malatesta, fled to avoid at once the perils of his invasion and the seditions of subjects wearied by their senseless tyranny. At Faenza, which he reached on the 20th of November, he met with a check, and winter forced him to postpone operations. Astorre Manfredi, its sovereign, though but a boy of eighteen, was endeared to his subjects, who rallied in his defence; and it was not until the 22nd of April that, overcome by numbers, he closed the hopeless struggle by an honourable capitulation. He was allowed to retain his private revenues, but being sent to Rome with his natural brother, they were both strangled by order of Alexander, and their bodies thrown into the Tiber. Romagna, thus wrested from its lawful feudatories, was erected into a dukedom for Cesare, consent of the consistory being gained by means of that new creation of cardinals to which we have just alluded; and it was at this time, Sanuto tells us, that ten ducats were given in the Roman betting circles to receive a hundred when the upstart should be king of that province.