Caesar Borgia: A Study of the Renaissance

by John Leslie Garner

The Prothonotary Orsini, Bernardino d’Alviano, brother of the condottiere Bartolomeo, Santa Croce, a supporter of the Orsini, and Rinaldo Orsini, Archbishop of Florence, were arrested at the same time. Santa Croce, however, having promised that he would appear when wanted and given bonds, was set at liberty, but Cardinal Orsini was thrown into prison in the Castle of St. Angelo, and the Governor of Rome took possession of his palace and personal property.

January 3rd the Holy Father informed the Signory of Florence of what had taken place at Sinigaglia and in Rome, and the following day he told Giustinian that Caesar’s commanders and Remiro de Lorca, Governor of Romagna, had conspired to destroy him, and that this was the reason Remiro had been executed at Cesena.

A few days later nearly the entire Sacred College went to the Pope to ask him to release their colleague Cardinal Orsini, but the Holy Father insisted that he had been the very heart and soul of the conspiracy and refused to accede to their wishes; he also justified Caesar’s action and showed that he regarded the terrible vengeance he had wrecked on his condottieri as a brilliant stroke of genius.

Giustinian gives particulars of the plundering of Cardinal Orsini’s palace. “Everything, even to the straw, was carried away and taken to the Vatican. A vast quantity of silver vessels was found there—estimated to be worth more than 10,000 ducats—the most beautiful tapestries and other household furniture—of money it is not known how much, but it is said to have been less than had been at first supposed. The cardinal’s mother was dragged from the house with only what she had on her back, and a few of her maids. The cardinal was taken to S. Angelo and every one has given him up for dead.”

In his dispatch of January 5, 1503, the ambassador says that Pope Alexander held a convocation the evening before and explained to the cardinals why he had imprisoned Cardinal Orsini, and he also informed them that everything he had heard regarding the prelate’s treachery toward himself and Caesar had been confirmed since his imprisonment; that all this and more, too, was true. The cardinals begged for mercy for their colleague, to which his Holiness replied that he would be governed by a sense of justice in whatever he did with respect to Orsini; that he would see that he was not wronged, and was treated with perfect justice; then he assured them of his love and of his appreciation of their recommendation—and his words confirmed all in their belief that he intended to have Orsini put to death.

The same day the Pope’s son Giuffre and Jacopo Santa Croce, probably as the cardinal’s representative for form’s sake, with an adequate force rode to Mount Rotundo, and in the name of his Holiness took possession of it and of all the other property of the Orsini, including the abbey of Farfa.

The day after the murder of Vitelli and Oliverotto Caesar set out for Perugia and Siena, having with him his prisoners Paolo and Francesco Orsini. Before he left Sinigaglia Andrea Doria had surrendered the citadel to him on receiving Caesar’s permission to retire whithersoever he wished.

On the way Valentino took possession of Vitelli’s capital, Città di Castello, which had been abandoned by the inhabitants. Then he set out for Perugia, where the Duke of Urbino and the Prince of Camerino, Vitelli’s nephew, had found refuge under the protection of Giampaolo Baglioni, who had announced his intention of resisting. Caesar had, however, no sooner reached Gualdo—January 5th—than the Duke of Urbino fled to Pitigliano, and Baglioni, abandoning his wife and children, who fell into the hands of Caesar’s men, made his escape, and joined Pandolfo Petrucci in Siena.

Their leaders having deserted them, the people of Fermo and Perugia sent messengers to Valentino offering him their allegiance, which he accepted, and, having appointed Vincenzo Calmeto and Agapito Gerardino Governors of these places, he set out for Siena. When he reached Assisi—January 7th—he was met by envoys from Siena, come to ask him what terms he would grant. His first demand was that they surrender Pandolfo Petrucci, and without waiting for an answer he pressed forward in the direction of Castel della Pieve. While there he made public the treaty into which he had entered with Giovanni Bentivoglio, who, to prove his sincerity, immediately announced that he was ready to dispatch the troops he had agreed to furnish. At the same time the marriage contract of the sister of the Bishop of Elne, a relative of the Pope and Caesar, with Costanzo Bentivoglio was signed—this had also been stipulated in the treaty.

Caesar reached Castel della Pieve January 18th, and there he had Paolo and Francesco Orsini strangled. He had stated that he intended to imprison them in Civita Castellana, but he probably found their presence hampering to his movements and concluded that there was no reason to defer their death, upon which he was resolved. The papal Master of Ceremonies calmly records the fact: “January 18th Francesco Orsini, Duke of Gravina, Paolo Orsini, and the Chevalier Orsini[26] were killed and strangled by Michelotto and Marco Romano by order of the Duke Valentino.”