Caesar Borgia: A Study of the Renaissance

by John Leslie Garner

Just what the word “modesty” meant in those days is not apparent, for it is applied to persons who would seem to have possessed little of that admirable trait.

Ecclesiastical rules hampered Caesar but little. He was enormously wealthy, and additional benefices were constantly given him. He was promptly allotted the income of the churches of Castres and Perpignan, and thirty thousand gold ducats from San Michele d’Arezzo fell to his share.

At the time of Alexander’s accession to the papal throne Italy, and Naples in particular, were threatened by grave dangers arising from the contests of King Ferdinand of Naples and Ludovico, Duke of Milan, and in March, 1493, the former endeavoured to secure the friendship of the Pope by suggesting a marriage of one of his natural daughters with Giuffre; the suggestion, however, came too late, for in April Lucretia Borgia was betrothed to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro, and kinsman of Ludovico; and a coalition was formed by Milan, Venice, and the Holy See, which could only result in disaster to Ferdinand, as Charles VIII., who had just inherited the crown of France, was beginning to assert his claims to the throne of Naples.

Irritated by the rejection of his offer, the King of Naples wrote his orator in Spain that Alexander was detested by every one in spite of his holy office, and that his only care was to increase the fortunes of his children by fair means or foul.

Some of the other Italian states joined the coalition, and in April, 1493, the Bishop of Nepi, Bartolomeo Flores, publicly read the articles of the treaty in St. Peter’s, and although no threat was made against Ferdinand, every one knew that the purpose of the league was the destruction of the House of Naples. Lucretia Borgia’s betrothal to Giovanni Sforza strengthened the alliance. Alexander hated Ferdinand because he was outspoken in his condemnation of the scandals of the Vatican and because he was a vigorous supporter of the Neapolitan party in the Sacred College. The King had opposed the bestowal of the cardinalate upon Alessandro Farnese, Giulia Bella’s brother, and he had also allied himself with Giuliano della Rovere and Virginio Orsini, who, aided by those who had tried to prevent Alexander’s election, were holding a portion of the territory of the Church by force. Finally the King openly supported the rebels, furnishing them troops and supplies, while his own son, who had gone to Ostia with Giuliano della Rovere, joined Virginio Orsini and Fabrizio Colonna, the Pope’s mortal enemies.

June 12, 1493, Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro, was married to the Pope’s daughter, who was then thirteen years of age. She had been betrothed twice before, and is described as a beautiful, vivacious, golden-haired girl. The marriage ceremony was performed in the Vatican, and the festivities which followed caused an uproar throughout the city.

Burchard, the minute Master of Ceremonies, may not have been present—his diary stops abruptly June 11, 1493, and does not begin again until January 14, 1494—but Infessura fills in the lacuna.

The Pope invited one hundred and fifty of the prominent women of Rome and their husbands, and also the ambassadors and city officials, to the wedding. After being kept waiting for some time in a hall, the women were allowed to enter, but when their husbands and the ambassadors and officials were about to follow, the doors were closed and were not again opened until an hour had elapsed; then the notaries who had attested the marriage contract appeared and informed the men, who were then permitted to enter, that the ceremony was over. It was said that on the conclusion of the ceremony the Pope had produced fifty goblets filled with confetti which, in the exuberance of his joy, he had poured into the bodices of the women, “probably the most beautiful ones, and this,” concludes Infessura, “to the honour and glory of God and the Roman Church.”

The chronicler proceeds to describe a banquet in the papal palace, which was attended by Church dignitaries and numerous women, among whom were the Pope’s daughter and Giulia Bella. The festivities lasted until the seventh hour of the night, and included the reading of several comedies—“among them some obscene ones.” Nowhere in connection with the marriage of Lucretia and Giovanni Sforza is Caesar mentioned, although he had left Spoleto.

The tension in the affairs of Italy was somewhat relieved by the King of Spain, and through the intercession of Frederic, son of the King of Naples, an agreement was reached in July, 1493, between Virginio Orsini and the Pope. The price of the agreement and of the dissolution of the league was the hand of Doña Sancia to be given to Giuffre, Caesar’s younger brother. The contract was formally signed August 15, 1493, and the league was dissolved. Giuffre’s marriage with Doña Sancia, like all those arranged by Alexander VI., was purely a political expedient.