Caesar Borgia: A Study of the Renaissance

by John Leslie Garner

The night of November 27th the papal guard set out for Ostia to arrest Caesar, but they did not have to proceed far, for, searching the boats they chanced to come upon, they found him on a little craft on the Tiber about two miles from Rome.

The troops he had embarked at Ostia, finding themselves without a head, left the galleys and went back to Rome, while the gentlemen of his suite returned to their estates.

At first the Pope had Caesar taken to Magliano, a place about seven miles from Rome, where he was closely guarded, but not treated harshly. Julius undoubtedly wished to avoid the use of force with Caesar as far as possible and to secure his own ends peaceably if it could be done. He may have feared that if he too openly disclosed his real purpose Valentino’s lieutenants would surrender the castles they still held to some other power, for several were casting longing eyes upon them. Later the Pope ordered Valentino to be brought back to Rome and had him lodged in the Vatican.

Giustinian informs his Government, November 28th, that the Pontiff, to justify himself for arresting Caesar, especially in the eyes of the Spanish cardinals, held a convocation, which was attended by fifteen cardinals, to whom he explained that as Venice had been active in Romagna, not against the Church or the Holy See, but only against Valentino, and also to restrain the Florentines, who appeared to have designs upon the same territory, he had decided to remove the cause, in order that the Republic would have no pretext for going any farther. Therefore he had given the Duke to understand that he must surrender the territory now in his possession into the hands of the Pope and must give the countersigns of the fortresses; but for fear that he would not give the true countersigns it seemed advisable to his Holiness to have the Duke brought to Rome and kept in a safe place until their correctness could be verified. This done, the Duke could go whithersoever he wished. All seemed satisfied. The 29th Valentino was brought back to Rome and lodged in the chambers of the Cardinal of Salerno. “The Pope says that when he has secured possession of the strongholds he will permit him to depart—but God knows what will become of him,” adds the orator.

The 1st of December news reached Rome that Michelotto had been captured and all his men slain or dispersed by Giampaolo Baglioni somewhere between Perugia and Florence. This was a crushing blow to Caesar, who now had little hope left—he was “no longer considered of much importance.”

At this time the Cardinal of Rouen was making preparations to leave Rome for the Court of the Emperor at Florence, and Caesar desired to go with him, but to this the cardinal would not consent. Before Amboise set out the Pope commanded Valentino to send one of his officers, Pedro de Oviedo, accompanied by a prelate, to obtain the surrender of the places his supporters were still holding in Romagna, but before consenting Caesar asked Amboise to give him a guarantee in writing that the Pope would keep the promises he had made to him before the conclave. Amboise, however, refused to do this, and after the Cardinal’s departure the Duke, finding his last support taken from him, acceded to the Pope’s demands. The commandant of Caesar, however, thinking or pretending to think there was treachery, seized the unfortunate Oviedo and hanged him from the battlements forthwith as a traitor to his sovereign.

When he learned of this the Pope was beside himself—in fact, as Carlo da Moncalieri expressed it, he was “mad as the devil”—alterato come il diavolo—and threatened to put Caesar in prison for life. Believing that he had found some way to tell the commandant to disregard the order he had given, the Pope had Valentino confined in the Borgia Tower. He nevertheless continued to treat with him, and again allowed him to go to Ostia, this time in charge of the Spanish Cardinal Carvajal, with the understanding that he was to be given his liberty when his officers surrendered the strongholds in Romagna.

Giustinian records the hanging of Oviedo December 20th and Caesar’s transfer to the Borgia Tower, and adds: “Terrified by recent events, the Cardinal of Sorento and Cardinal Borgia have left the city—possibly to go to the Spanish camp. It is believed by many that their flight was due to Valentino’s affairs or because they had acquiesced in the poisoning of Cardinal Sant Angelo.” When the Cardinals Francesco Romolino and Francesco Borgia fled to Naples with the little Dukes to ask Gonsalvo of Cordova for protection Vannozza and the Borgia ilk were trying to save their plunder. Much of it was intercepted and seized when they endeavoured to send it from the city to a place of safety. Some of the wagons dispatched from Rome to Ferrara in the name of the Cardinal d’Este were stopped by the Florentines, while others from Cesena were captured by Giovanni Bentivoglio.

Caesar was wellnigh ruined when an event occurred which immediately restored the waning influence of the Spanish cardinals with the Pope, who was a French sympathiser, and this was the victory of Gonsalvo de Cordova at the Garigliano, December 31st, which finally assured the Regno to the Spanish crown.

For some time Valentino was partly forgotten, but he was still in the Vatican as late as January 15, 1504, and was planning to go to Ferrara, although Alfonso d’Este was by no means anxious to have him. Just what was to be done with him was a puzzling question. It was finally decided to send him to Civitavecchia in the custody of the Cardinal of Santa Croce, and the Pope told the Venetian orator that he wished to make one more attempt to reach a settlement in order that he might be able to justify himself in the eyes of the world for the steps he would be compelled to take against Valentino if the latter failed to keep the promises he had made to him.