February 14, 1498, the body of Pedro Calderon, one of the Pope’s familiars, was found in the Tiber, into which he had fallen, non libenter, as Burchard says, a few days before. In this connection the Venetian ambassador, Capello, writes: “and another time he [Caesar] murdered with his own hand messer Pierotto, under the very mantle of the Pope, so that the blood spurted up into the face of his Holiness, of whom Pierotto was a favourite.” This account agrees with that in the letter to Silvio Savelli. Sanudo’s report of the affair is the same as Burchard’s, but he adds that Pierotto was “found drowned in the Tiber with a young woman called Madona Panthasilea, one of Madonna Lucretia’s young women and a creature of this pontiff’s—and the cause is not known.” Early in the year 1498 it was rumoured in Rome that Caesar intended to leave the Church. A letter written by Alexander in August, 1497—less than two months after the murder of the Duke of Gandia—shows that the Pope was already considering a plan which implied this step on his son’s part. Caesar now seldom appeared in the garb of a cleric; he went everywhere dressed in the “French style” and armed. His tastes were altogether martial.
It appears that his Holiness was scheming for Caesar to marry either the widow of King Ferdinand of Naples or Doña Sancia, his sister-in-law, who was to be separated from Giuffre for this purpose; later the Prince of Squillace was to be made a cardinal to replace his brother, in order that the number of Spanish members of the Sacred College be kept the same.
In this connection Sanudo says in his diary: “Giuffre, younger than his wife, has not yet consummated the marriage (he is not sixteen), he is not a man, and according to what I have heard Doña Sancia has for some months been the mistress of the Cardinal of Valencia.” Fifteenth-century chroniclers went into minute particulars.
Lucretia Borgia’s marriage with Giovanni Sforza had been dissolved in spite of the husband’s protests. For her the Pope was planning a more brilliant future than the insignificant Lord of Pesaro could offer and his Holiness readily found a pretext for getting rid of him; in his project he was assisted by both Ascanio Sforza and the Duke of Milan. Although every one was against him, Giovanni did not submit tamely, and he it was who launched the charge of incest against the Pope and Caesar and his own wife—a charge which, whether true or false, has done more than anything else to blacken their memory.
Lucretia’s formal divorce took place December 2, 1497. It had been brought about by the Pope and Caesar purely for political reasons, and it was now rumoured in Rome that she was to marry Alfonso of Bisceglia, Sancia’s brother.
The Pope had asked King Frederic for the hand of his daughter Carlotta for Caesar, but both he and the princess absolutely refused. In his anxiety, however, to escape the Pope’s wrath he made one sacrifice and consented to the marriage of Lucretia and Don Alfonso, Sancia’s younger brother. This youth of seventeen came to Rome unattended by any pomp and the betrothal took place in the Vatican June 20, 1498, and the marriage the 21st of the following month. Lucretia was about a year older than her husband.
CHAPTER IV
Louis XII. succeeds to the throne of France—His bargain with the Pope—Caesar prepares to go to France—He renounces his cardinalate—He arrives in Avignon, where he meets Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere—Louis XII. and Caesar meet—Caesar’s entry into Chinon—Duke of Valentinois—Caesar’s shrewdness—Charlotte d’Albret—Her marriage to Caesar—The projected conquest of Milan—Ludovico il Moro—The French army invades Italy—Caesar leaves France—He enters Milan with Louis XII.
Charles VIII. died April 7, 1498, and was succeeded by Louis XII., who was endeavouring to secure from the Pope the necessary dispensation to enable him to repudiate his wife Jeanne and marry his predecessor’s widow, Queen Anne, whose dowry would include the Duchy of Bretagne.