THE LIFE OF CESARE BORGIA

Of France, Duke of Valentinois and Romagna, Prince of Andria and VenafriCount of Dyois, Lord of Piombino, Camerino and Urbino, Gonfalonier andCaptain-General of Holy Church

A History and Some Criticisms

By Raphael Sabatini

PREFACE

This is no Chronicle of Saints. Nor yet is it a History of Devils. It isa record of certain very human, strenuous men in a very human, strenuousage; a lustful, flamboyant age; an age red with blood and pale withpassion at white-heat; an age of steel and velvet, of vivid colour, dazzling light and impenetrable shadow; an age of swift movement, pitiless violence and high endeavour, of sharp antitheses and amazingcontrasts. 

To judge it from the standpoint of this calm, deliberate, and correctcentury--as we conceive our own to be--is for sedate middle-age to judgefrom its own standpoint the reckless, hot, passionate, lustful humoursof youth, of youth that errs grievously and achieves greatly. 

So to judge that epoch collectively is manifestly wrong, a hopelessprocedure if it be our aim to understand it and to be in sympathy withit, as it becomes broad-minded age to be tolerantly in sympathy with theyouth whose follies it perceives. Life is an ephemeral business, andwe waste too much of it in judging where it would beseem us better toaccept, that we ourselves may come to be accepted by such future ages asmay pursue the study of us. 

But if it be wrong to judge a past epoch collectively by the standardsof our own time, how much more is it not wrong to single out individualsfor judgement by those same standards, after detaching them for thepurpose from the environment in which they had their being? How falsemust be the conception of them thus obtained! We view the individuals soselected through a microscope of modern focus. They appear monstrousand abnormal, and we straight-way assume them to be monsters andabnormalities, never considering that the fault is in the adjustmentof the instrument through which we inspect them, and that until that iscorrected others of that same past age, if similarly viewed, must appearsimilarly distorted. 

Hence it follows that some study of an age must ever prelude andaccompany the study of its individuals, if comprehension is to wait uponour labours. To proceed otherwise is to judge an individual Hottentot orSouth Sea Islander by the code of manners that obtains in Belgravia orMayfair. 

Mind being the seat of the soul, and literature being the expression ofthe mind, literature, it follows, is the soul of an age, the survivingand immortal part of it; and in the literature of the Cinquecento youshall behold for the looking the ardent, unmoral, naïve soul of thisRenaissance that was sprawling in its lusty, naked infancy and bellowinghungrily for the pap of knowledge, and for other things. You shallinfer something of the passionate mettle of this infant: histempestuous mirth, his fierce rages, his simplicity, his naïveté, hisinquisitiveness, his cunning, his deceit, his cruelty, his love ofsunshine and bright gewgaws. 

To realize him as he was, you need but to bethink you that this wasthe age in which the Decamerone of Giovanni Boccaccio, the Facetiae ofPoggio, the Satires of Filelfo, and the Hermaphroditus of Panormitanoafforded reading-matter to both sexes. This was the age in which thelearned and erudite Lorenzo Valla--of whom more anon--wrote his famousindictment of virginity, condemning it as against nature with argumentsof a most insidious logic. This was the age in which Casa, Archbishopof Benevento, wrote a most singular work of erotic philosophy, which, coming from a churchman's pen, will leave you cold with horror shouldyou chance to turn its pages. This was the age of the Discovery of Man;the pagan age which stripped Christ of His divinity to bestow it uponPlato, so that Marsilio Ficino actually burnt an altar-lamp before animage of the Greek by whose teachings--in common with so many scholarsof his day--he sought to inform himself. 

It was an age that had become unable to discriminate between the meritsof the Saints of the Church and the Harlots of the Town. Therefore ithonoured both alike, extolled the carnal merits of the one in much thesame terms as were employed to extol the spiritual merits of the other. Thus when a famous Roman courtesan departed this life in the year 1511, at the early age of twenty-six, she was accorded a splendid funeral andan imposing tomb in the Chapel Santa Gregoria with a tablet bearing thefollowing inscription:

"IMPERIA CORTISANA ROMANA QUAE DIGNA TANTO NOMINE, RARAE INTER MORTALESFORMAE SPECIMEN DEDIT. "

It was, in short, an age so universally immoral as scarcely to be termedimmoral, since immorality may be defined as a departure from the moralsthat obtain a given time and in a given place. So that whilst fromour own standpoint the Cinquecento, taken collectively, is an age ofgrossest licence and immorality, from the standpoint of the Cinquecentoitself few of its individuals might with justice be branded immoral. 

For the rest, it was an epoch of reaction from the Age of Chivalry:an epoch of unbounded luxury, of the cult and worship of the beautifulexternally; an epoch that set no store by any inward virtue, by truthor honour; an epoch that laid it down as a maxim that no inconvenientengagement should be kept if opportunity offered to evade it. 

The history of the Cinquecento is a history developed in broken pledges, trusts dishonoured and basest treacheries, as you shall come to concludebefore you have read far in the story that is here to be set down. 

In a profligate age what can you look for but profligates? Is it just, is it reasonable, or is it even honest to take a man or a family fromsuch an environment, for judgement by the canons of a later epoch? Yetis it not the method that has been most frequently adopted in dealingwith the vast subject of the Borgias?

To avoid the dangers that must wait upon that error, the history of thatHouse shall here be taken up with the elevation of Calixtus III to thePapal Throne; and the reign of the four Popes immediately precedingRoderigo Borgia--who reigned as Alexander VI--shall briefly be surveyedthat a standard may be set by which to judge the man and the family thatform the real subject of this work. 

The history of this amazing Pope Alexander is yet to be written. Noattempt has been made to exhaust it here. Yet of necessity he bulkslarge in these pages; for the history of his dazzling, meteoric son isso closely interwoven with his own that it is impossible to present theone without dealing at considerable length with the other. 

The sources from which the history of the House of Borgia has beenculled are not to be examined in a preface. They are too numerous, and they require too minute and individual a consideration that theirprecise value and degree of credibility may be ascertained. Abundantlyshall such examination be made in the course of this history, and ina measure as the need arises to cite evidence for one side or for theother shall that evidence be sifted. 

Never, perhaps, has anything more true been written of the Borgias andtheir history than the matter contained in the following lines of RawdonBrown in his Ragguagli sulla Vita e sulle Opere di Marino Sanuto: "Itseems to me that history has made use of the House of Borgia as ofa canvas upon which to depict the turpitudes of the fifteenth andsixteenth centuries. "

Materials for the work were very ready to the hand; and although theydo not signally differ from the materials out of which the historiesof half a dozen Popes of the same epoch might be compiled, they are farmore abundant in the case of the Borgia Pope, for the excellent reasonthat the Borgia Pope detaches from the background of the Renaissance farmore than any of his compeers by virtue of his importance as a politicalforce. 

In this was reason to spare for his being libelled and lampooned evenbeyond the usual extravagant wont. Slanders concerning him and his sonCesare were readily circulated, and they will generally be foundto spring from those States which had most cause for jealousy andresentment of the Borgia might--Venice, Florence, and Milan, amongstothers. 

No rancour is so bitter as political rancour--save, perhaps, religiousrancour, which we shall also trace; no warfare more unscrupulous or moreprone to use the insidious weapons of slander than political warfare. Of this such striking instances abound in our own time that there canscarce be the need to labour the point. And from the form taken by suchslanders as are circulated in our own sedate and moderate epoch may beconceived what might be said by political opponents in a fierce age thatknew no pudency and no restraint. All this in its proper place shall bemore closely examined. 

For many of the charges brought against the House of Borgia sometestimony exists; for many others--and these are the more lurid, sensational, and appalling covering as they do rape and murder, adultery, incest, and the sin of the Cities of the Plain--no singlegrain of real evidence is forthcoming. Indeed, at this time of dayevidence is no longer called for where the sins of the Borgiasare concerned. Oft-reiterated assertion has usurped the place ofevidence--for a lie sufficiently repeated comes to be credited by itsvery utterer. And meanwhile the calumny has sped from tongue to tongue, from pen to pen, gathering matter as it goes. The world absorbs thestories; it devours them greedily so they be sensational, and writerswell aware of this have been pandering to that morbid appetite for somecenturies now with this subject of the Borgias. A salted, piquant taleof vice, a ghastly story of moral turpitude and physical corruption, a hair-raising narrative of horrors and abominations--these are thestock-in-trade of the sensation-monger. With the authenticity of thematters he retails such a one has no concern. "Se non é vero é bentrovato, " is his motto, and in his heart the sensation-monger--ofwhatsoever age--rather hopes the thing be true. He will certainlymake his public so believe it; for to discredit it would be to losenine-tenths of its sensational value. So he trims and adjusts his wares, adds a touch or two of colour and what else he accounts necessaryto heighten their air of authenticity, to dissemble any peepingspuriousness. 

A form of hypnosis accompanies your study of the subject--a suggestionthat what is so positively and repeatedly stated must of necessity betrue, must of necessity have been proved by irrefutable evidence at sometime or other. So much you take for granted--for matters which begantheir existence perhaps as tentative hypotheses have imperceptiblydeveloped into established facts. 

Occasionally it happens that we find some such sentence as the followingsumming up this deed or that one in the Borgia histories: "A deal ofmystery remains to be cleared up, but the Verdict of History assigns theguilt to Cesare Borgia. "

Behold how easy it is to dispense with evidence. So that your talebe well-salted and well-spiced, a fico for evidence! If it hangs notoverwell together in places, if there be contradictions, lacunae, oropenings for doubt, fling the Verdict of History into the gap, and sostrike any questioner into silence. 

So far have matters gone in this connection that who undertakes to setdown to-day the history of Cesare Borgia, with intent to do just andhonest work, must find it impossible to tell a plain and straightforwardtale--to present him not as a villain of melodrama, not a monster, ludicrous, grotesque, impossible, but as human being, a cold, relentlessegotist, it is true, using men for his own ends, terrible and eventreacherous in his reprisals, swift as a panther and as cruel where hisanger was aroused, yet with certain elements of greatness: a splendidsoldier, an unrivalled administrator, a man pre-eminently just, ifmerciless in that same justice. 

To present Cesare Borgia thus in a plain straightforward tale at thistime of day, would be to provoke the scorn and derision of those whohave made his acquaintance in the pages of that eminent German scholar, Ferdinand Gregorovius, and of some other writers not quite so eminentyet eminent enough to serve serious consideration. Hence has it beennecessary to examine at close quarters the findings of these great ones, and to present certain criticisms of those same findings. The author isoverwhelmingly conscious of the invidious quality of that task; but heis no less conscious of its inevitability if this tale is to be told atall. 

Whilst the actual sources of historical evidence shall be examined inthe course of this narrative, it may be well to examine at this stagethe sources of the popular conceptions of the Borgias, since there willbe no occasion later to allude to them. 

Without entering here into a dissertation upon the historical romance, it may be said that in proper hands it has been and should continue tobe one of the most valued and valuable expressions of the literary art. To render and maintain it so, however, it is necessary that certainwell-defined limits should be set upon the licence which its writersare to enjoy; it is necessary that the work should be honest work; thatpreparation for it should be made by a sound, painstaking study of theperiod to be represented, to the end that a true impression may first beformed and then conveyed. Thus, considering how much more far-reachingis the novel than any other form of literature, the good results thatmust wait upon such endeavours are beyond question. The neglect ofthem--the distortion of character to suit the romancer's ends, the likedistortion of historical facts, the gross anachronisms arising out ofa lack of study, have done much to bring the historical romance intodisrepute. Many writers frankly make no pretence--leastways none thatcan be discerned--of aiming at historical precision; others, however, invest their work with a spurious scholarliness, go the length of citingauthorities to support the point of view which they have taken, andwhich they lay before you as the fruit of strenuous lucubrations. 

These are the dangerous ones, and of this type is Victor Hugo's famoustragedy Lucrezia Borgia, a work to which perhaps more than to any other(not excepting Les Borgias in Crimes Célèbres of Alexandre Dumas) is duethe popular conception that prevails to-day of Cesare Borgia's sister. 

It is questionable whether anything has ever flowed from a distinguishedpen in which so many licences have been taken with the history ofindividuals and of an epoch; in which there is so rich a crop of crude, transpontine absurdities and flagrant, impossible anachronisms. VictorHugo was a writer of rare gifts, a fertile romancer and a great poet, and it may be unjust to censure him for having taken the fullestadvantages of the licences conceded to both. But it would be difficultto censure him too harshly for having--in his Lucrezia Borgia--struck apose of scholarliness, for having pretended and maintained that his workwas honest work founded upon the study of historical evidences. Withthat piece of charlatanism he deceived the great mass of the unletteredof France and of all Europe into believing that in his tragedy hepresented the true Lucrezia Borgia. 

"If you do not believe me, " he declared, "read Tommaso Tommasi, read theDiary of Burchard. "

Read, then, that Diary, extending over a period of twenty-three years, from 1483 to 1506, of the Master of Ceremonies of the Vatican (whichlargely contributes the groundwork of the present history), and the oneconclusion to which you will be forced is that Victor Hugo himself hadnever read it, else he would have hesitated to bid you refer to a workwhich does not support a single line that he has written. 

As for Tommaso Tommasi--oh, the danger of a little learning! Into whatquagmires does it not lead those who flaunt it to impress you!

Tommasi's place among historians is on precisely the same plane asAlexandre Dumas's. His Vita di Cesare Borgia is on the same historicallevel as Les Borgias, much of which it supplied. Like Crimes Célèbres, Tommasi's book is invested with a certain air of being a narrative ofsober fact; but like Crimes Célèbres, it is none the less a work offiction. 

This Tommaso Tommasi, whose real name was Gregorio Leti--and it is underthis that such works of his as are reprinted are published nowadays--wasa most prolific author of the seventeenth century, who, having turnedCalvinist, vented in his writings a mordacious hatred of the Papacy andof the religion from which he had seceded. His Life of Cesare Borgia waspublished in 1670. It enjoyed a considerable vogue, was translated intoFrench, and has been the chief source from which many writers of fictionand some writers of "fact" have drawn for subsequent work to carryforward the ceaseless defamation of the Borgias. 

History should be as inexorable as Divine Justice. Before we admitfacts, not only should we call for evidence and analyse it when it isforthcoming, but the very sources of such evidence should be examined, that, as far as possible, we may ascertain what degree of credit theydeserve. In the study of the history of the Borgias, we repeat, therehas been too much acceptance without question, too much takingfor granted of matters whose incredibility frequently touches andoccasionally oversteps the confines of the impossible. 

One man knew Cesare Borgia better, perhaps, than did any othercontemporary, of the many who have left more or less valuable records;for the mind of that man was the acutest of its age, one of the acutestItaly and the world have ever known. That man was Niccolô Macchiavelli, Secretary of State to the Signory of Florence. He owed no benefits toCesare; he was the ambassador of a power that was ever inimical to theBorgias; so that it is not to be dreamt that his judgement suffered fromany bias in Cesare's favour. Yet he accounted Cesare Borgia--as we shallsee--the incarnation of an ideal conqueror and ruler; he took CesareBorgia as the model for his famous work The Prince, written as a grammarof statecraft for the instruction in the art of government of thatweakling Giuliano de'Medici. 

Macchiavelli pronounces upon Cesare Borgia the following verdict:

"If all the actions of the duke are taken into consideration, it willbe seen how great were the foundations he had laid to future power. Uponthese I do not think it superfluous to discourse, because I should notknow what better precept to lay before a new prince than the example ofhis actions; and if success did not wait upon what dispositions hehad made, that was through no fault of his own, but the result of anextraordinary and extreme malignity of fortune. "

In its proper place shall be considered what else Macchiavelli had tosay of Cesare Borgia and what to report of events that he witnessedconnected with Cesare Borgia's career. 

Meanwhile, the above summary of Macchiavelli's judgement is put forwardas a justification for the writing of this book, which has for scope topresent to you the Cesare Borgia who served as the model for The Prince. 

Before doing so, however, there is the rise of the House of Borgia to betraced, and in the first two of the four books into which this historywill be divided it is Alexander VI, rather than his son, who will holdthe centre of the stage. 

If the author has a mercy to crave of his critics, it is that theywill not impute it to him that he has set out with the express aim of"whitewashing"--as the term goes--the family of Borgia. To whitewash isto overlay, to mask the original fabric under a superadded surface. Toomuch superadding has there been here already. By your leave, allshall be stripped away. The grime shall be removed and the foulness ofinference, of surmise, of deliberate and cold-blooded malice, with whichcenturies of scribblers, idle, fantastic, sensational, or venal, havecoated the substance of known facts. 

But the grime shall be preserved and analysed side by side with theactual substance, that you may judge if out of zeal to remove the formerany of the latter shall have been included in the scraping. 

The author expresses his indebtedness to the following works which, amongst others, have been studied for the purposes of the presenthistory:

 Alvisi, Odoardo, Cesare Borgia, Duca di Romagna. Imola, 1878. Auton, Jean d', Chroniques de Louis XII (Soc. De l'Hist. De France). Paris, 1889. Baldi, Bernardino, Della Vita e Fatti di Guidobaldo. Milano, 1821. Barthélemy, Charles, Erreurs et Mensonges Historiques. Paris, 1873. Bernardi, Andrea, Cronache Forlivese, 1476-1517. Bologna, 1897. Bonnaffé, Edmond, Inventaire de la Duchesse de Valentinois, Paris, 1878. Bonoli, Paolo, Istorie della Città di Forli. Forli, 1661. Bourdeilles, Pierre, Vie des Hommes Illustres. Leyde, 1666. Brown, Rawdon, Ragguagli Sulla Vita e sulle Opere di Marino Sanuto. Venezia, 1837. Buonaccorsi, Biagio, Diario. Firenze, 1568. Burchard, Joannes, Diarium, sive Rerum Urbanarum Commentarii. (Edited by L. Thuasne. ) Paris, 1885. Burckhardt, Jacob, Der Cultur der Renaissance in Italien. Basel, 1860. Castiglione, Baldassare, Il Cortigiano. Firenze, 1885. Chapelles, Grillon des, Esquisses Biographiques. Paris, 1862. Cerri, Domenico, Borgia. Tonino, 1857. Clementini, Cesare, Raccolto Istorico delle Fondatione di Rimino. Rimini, 1617. Corio, Bernardino, Storia di Milano. Milano, 1885. Corvo, Baron, Chronicles of the House of Borgia. London, 1901. Espinois, Henri de l', Le Pape Alexandre VI (in the Revue des Questions Historiques, Vol. XXIX). Paris, 1881. Giovio, Paolo, La Vita di Dicenove Uomini Illustri. Venetia, 1561. Giovio, Paolo, Delle Istorie del Suo Tempo. Venetia, 1608. Giustiniani, Antonio, Dispacci, 1502-1505. (Edited by Pasquale Villari. ) Firenze, 1876. Granata, F. , Storia Civile di Capua. 1752. Gregorovius, Ferdinand, Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter. Stuttgart, 1889. Gregorovius, Ferdinand, Lacrezia Borgia (Italian translation). Firenze, 1855. Guicciardini, Francesco, Istoria d'Italia. Milan, 1803. Guingené, P. L. , Histoire Littéraire d'Italie. Milano, 1820. Infessura, Stefano, Diarum Rerum Romanum. (Edited by 0. Tommassini. ) Roma, 1887. Leonetti, A. , Papa Alessandro VI. Bologna, 1880. Leti, Gregorio ("Tommaso Tommasi"), Vita di Cesare Borgia, Milano, 1851. Lucaire, Achille, Alain le Grand, Sire d'Albret. Paris, 1877. Macchiavelli, Niccolô, Il Principe. Torino, 1853. Macchiavelli, Niccolô, Le Istorie Fiorentine. Firenze, 1848. Macchiavelli, Niccolô, Opere Minori. Firenze, 1852. Matarazzo, Francesco, Cronaca della Città di Perugia, 1492-1503. (Edited by F. Bonaini and F. Polidori. ) In Archivio Storico Italiano, Firenze, 1851. Panvinio, Onofrio, Le Vite dei Pontefici. Venezia, 1730. Pascale, Aq. , Racconto del Sacco di Capova. Napoli, 1632. Righi, B. , Annali di Faenza. Faenza, 1841. Sanazzaro, Opere. Padua, 1723. Sanuto Marino, Diarii, Vols. I to V. (Edited by F. Stefani. ) Venice, 1879. Tartt, W. M. , Pandolfo Collenuccio, Memoirs connected with his life. 1868. "Tommaso Tommasi" (Gregorio Leti), Vita di Cesare Borgia. 1789. Varchi, Benedetto, Storia Fiorentina. Florence, 1858. Visari, Gustavo, Vita degli Artefici. Villari, Pasquale, La Storia di Girolamo Savonarola, etc. Florence, 1861. Villari, Pasquale, Niccolò Machiavelli e I suoi Tempi. Milano, 1895. Yriarte, Charles, La Vie de César Borgia. Paris, 1889. Yriarte, Charles, Autour des Borgia. Paris, 1891. Zurita, Geronimo, Historia del Rey Don Hernando el Catolico (in Anales). Çaragoça, 1610. 

CONTENTS

BOOK I

THE HOUSE OF THE BULL

CHAPTER

 I. THE RISE OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA

 II. THE REIGNS OF SIXTUS IV AND INNOCENT VIII

 III. ALEXANDER VI

 IV. BORGIA ALLIANCES

BOOK II

THE BULL PASCANT

 I. THE FRENCH INVASION

 II. THE POPE AND THE SUPERNATURAL

 III. THE ROMAN BARONS

 IV. THE MURDER OF THE DUKE OF GANDIA

 V. THE RENUNCIATION OF THE PURPLE

BOOK III

THE BULL RAMPANT

 I. THE DUCHESS OF VALENTINOIS

 II. THE KNELL OF THE TYRANTS

 III. IMOLA AND FORLI

 IV. GONFALONIER OF THE CHURCH

 V. THE MURDER OF ALFONSO OF ARAGON

 VI. RIMINI AND PESARO

 VII. THE SIEGE OF FAENZA

 VIII. ASTORRE MANFREDI

 IX. CASTEL BOLOGNESE AND PIOMBINO

 X. THE END OF THE HOUSE OF ARAGON

 XI. THE LETTER TO SILVIO SAVELLI

 XII. LUCREZIA'S THIRD MARRIAGE

 XIII. URBINO AND CAMERINO

 XIV. THE REVOLT OF THE CONDOTTIERI

 XV. MACCHIAVELLI'S LEGATION

 XVI. RAMIRO DE LORQUA

 XVII. "THE BEAUTIFUL STRATAGEM"

 VIII. THE ZENITH

BOOK IV

THE BULL CADENT

 I. THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER VI

 II. PIUS III

 III. JULIUS II

 IV. ATROPOS

BOOK I

THE HOUSE OF THE BULL

"Borgia stirps: BOS: atque Ceres transcendit Olympo, Cantabat nomensaecula cuncta suum. "

Michele Ferno

CHAPTER I. THE RISE OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA

Although the House of Borgia, which gave to the Church of Rome two popesand at least one saint, (1) is to be traced back to the eleventh century, claiming as it does to have its source in the Kings of Aragon, we shalltake up its history for our purposes with the birth at the city ofXativa, in the kingdom of Valencia, on December 30, 1378, of Alonso deBorja, the son of Don Juan Domingo de Borja and his wife Doña Francisca. 

 1 St. Francisco Borgia, S. J. --great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI, born at Gandia, in Spain, in 1510. 

To this Don Alonso de Borja is due the rise of his family to itsstupendous eminence. An able, upright, vigorous-minded man, he became aProfessor and Doctor of Jurisprudence at the University of Lerida, and afterwards served Alfonso I of Aragon, King of Naples and the TwoSicilies, in the capacity of secretary. This office he filled with thedistinction that was to be expected from one so peculiarly fitted for itby the character of the studies he had pursued. 

He was made Bishop of Valencia, created Cardinal in 1444, andfinally--in 1455--ascended the throne of St. Peter as Calixtus III, anold man, enfeebled in body, but with his extraordinary vigour of mindall unimpaired. 

Calixtus proved himself as much a nepotist as many another Pope beforeand since. This needs not to be dilated upon here; suffice it thatin February of 1456 he gave the scarlet hat of Cardinal-Deacon of SanNiccoló, in Carcere Tulliano, to his nephew Don Roderigo de Lanzol yBorja. 

Born in 1431 at Xativa, the son of Juana de Borja (sister of Calixtus)and her husband Don Jofrè de Lanzol, Roderigo was in his twenty-fifthyear at the time of his being raised to the purple, and in the followingyear he was further created Vice-Chancellor of Holy Church with anannual stipend of eight thousand florins. Like his uncle he had studiedjurisprudence--at the University of Bologna--and mentally and physicallyhe was extraordinarily endowed. 

From the pen-portraits left of him by Gasparino of Verona, and GirolamoPorzio, we know him for a tall, handsome man with black eyes and fulllips, elegant, courtly, joyous, and choicely eloquent, of such healthand vigour and endurance that he was insensible to any fatigue. GiasoneMaino of Milan refers to his "elegant appearance, serene brow, royalglance, a countenance that at once expresses generosity and majesty, andthe genial and heroic air with which his whole personality is invested. "To a similar description of him Gasparino adds that "all women upon whomhe so much as casts his eyes he moves to love him; attracting them asthe lodestone attracts iron;" which is, it must be admitted, a mostundesirable reputation in a churchman. 

A modern historian(1) who uses little restraint when writing of RoderigoBorgia says of him that "he was a man of neither much energy nordetermined will, " and further that "the firmness and energy wanting tohis character were, however, often replaced by the constancy of his evilpassions, by which he was almost blinded. " How the constancy of evilpassions can replace firmness and energy as factors of worldly successis not readily discernible, particularly if their possessor is blindedby them. The historical worth of the stricture may safely be left to bemeasured by its logical value. For the rest, to say that Roderigo Borgiawas wanting in energy and in will is to say something to which hiswhole career gives the loud and derisive lie, as will--to some extent atleast--be seen in the course of this work. 

 1 Pasquale Villari in his Machiavelli i suoi Tempi

His honours as Cardinal-Deacon and Vice-Chancellor of the Holy See heowed to his uncle; but that he maintained and constantly improved hisposition--and he a foreigner, be it remembered--under the reigns ofthe four succeeding Popes--Pius II, Paul II, Sixtus IV, and InnocentVIII--until finally, six-and-twenty years after the death of CalixtusIII, he ascended, himself, the Papal Throne, can be due only to theunconquerable energy and stupendous talents which have placed him wherehe stands in history--one of the greatest forces, for good or ill, thatever occupied St. Peter's Chair. 

Say of him that he was ambitious, worldly, greedy of power, and a preyto carnal lusts. All these he was. But for very sanity's sake do not letit be said that he was wanting either in energy or in will, for he wasenergy and will incarnate. 

Consider that with Calixtus III's assumption of the Tiara Rome becamethe Spaniard's happy hunting-ground, and that into the Eternal Citystreamed in their hundreds the Catalan adventurers--priests, clerks, captains of fortune, and others--who came to seek advancement at thehands of a Catalan Pope. This Spanish invasion Rome resented. She grewrestive under it. 

Roderigo's elder brother, Don Pedro Luis de Lanzol y Borja, was madeGonfalonier of the Church, Castellan of all pontifical fortressesand Governor of the Patrimony of St. Peter, with the title of Duke ofSpoleto and, later, Prefect of Rome, to the displacement of an Orsinifrom that office. Calixtus invested this nephew with all temporal powerthat it was in the Church's privilege to bestow, to the end that hemight use it as a basis to overset the petty tyrannies of Romagna, andto establish a feudal claim on the Kingdom of Naples. 

Here already we see more than a hint of that Borgia ambition which wasto become a byword, and the first attempt of this family to found adynasty for itself and a State that should endure beyond the transienttenure of the Pontificate, an aim that was later to be carried intoactual--if ephemeral--fulfilment by Cesare Borgia. 

The Italians watched this growth of Spanish power with jealous, angryeyes. The mighty House of Orsini, angered by the supplanting of one ofits members in the Prefecture of Rome, kept its resentment warm, andwaited. When in August of 1458 Calixtus III lay dying, the Orsini seizedthe chance: they incited the city to ready insurgence, and with fire andsword they drove the Spaniards out. 

Don Pedro Luis made haste to depart, contrived to avoid the Orsini, whohad made him their special quarry, and getting a boat slipped down theTiber to Civita Vecchia, where he died suddenly some six weeks later, thereby considerably increasing the wealth of Roderigo, his brother andhis heir. 

Roderigo's cousin, Don Luis Juan, Cardinal-Presbyter of Santi QuattroCoronati, another member of the family who owed his advancement to hisuncle Calixtus, thought it also expedient to withdraw from that zone ofdanger to men of his nationality and name. 

Roderigo de Lanzol y Borja alone remained--leastways, the only prominentmember of his house--boldly to face the enmity of the majority of theSacred College, which had looked with grim disfavour upon his uncle'snepotism. Unintimidated, he entered the Conclave for the election of asuccessor to Calixtus, and there the chance which so often prefers tobestow its favours upon him who knows how to profit by them, gave himthe opportunity to establish himself as firmly as ever at the Vatican, and further to advance his interests. 

It fell out that when the scrutiny was taken, two cardinals stoodwell in votes--the brilliant, cultured Enea Silvio Bartolomeode' Piccolomini, Cardinal of Siena, and the French Cardinald'Estouteville--though neither had attained the minimum majoritydemanded. Of these two, the lead in number of votes lay with theCardinal of Siena, and his election therefore might be completedby Accession--that is, by the voices of such cardinals as had notoriginally voted for him--until the minimum majority, which must exceedtwo-thirds, should be made up. 

The Cardinal Vice-Chancellor Roderigo de Lanzol y Borja led thisaccession, with the result that the Cardinal of Siena became Pontiff--asPius II--and was naturally enough disposed to advance the interests ofthe man who had been instrumental in helping him to that eminence. Thus, his position at the Vatican, in the very face of all hostility, becamestronger and more prominent than ever. 

A letter written two years later from the Baths at Petriolo by Pius IIto Roderigo when the latter was in Siena--whither he had been sentby his Holiness to superintend the building of the Cathedral andthe Episcopal and Piccolomini palaces--is frequently cited by way ofestablishing the young prelate's dissolute ways. It is a letter at oncestern and affectionate, and it certainly leaves no doubt as to whatmanner of man was the Cardinal Vice-Chancellor in his private life, andto what manner of unecciesiastical pursuits he inclined. It is difficultto discover in it any grounds upon which an apologist may build. 

"BELOVED SON, "When four days ago, in the gardens of Giovanni de Bichis, wereassembled several women of Siena addicted to worldly vanity, yourworthiness, as we have learnt, little remembering the office which youfill, was entertained by them from the seventeenth to the twenty-secondhour. For companion you had one of your colleagues, one whom his yearsif not the honour of the Holy See should have reminded of his duty. Fromwhat we have heard, dancing was unrestrainedly indulged, and not one oflove's attractions was absent, whilst your behaviour was no differentfrom that which might have been looked for in any worldly youth. Touching what happened there, modesty imposes silence. Not only thecircumstance itself, but the very name of it is unworthy in one of yourrank. The husbands, parents, brothers, and relations of these youngwomen were excluded, in order that your amusements should be the moreunbridled. You with a few servants undertook to direct and lead thosedances. It is said that nothing is now talked of in Siena but yourfrivolity. Certain it is that here at the baths, where the concourseof ecclesiastics and laity is great, you are the topic of the day. Ourdispleasure is unutterable, since all this reflects dishonourably uponthe sacerdotal estate and office. It will be said of us that we areenriched and promoted not to the end that we may lead blameless lives, but that we may procure the means to indulge our pleasures. Hence thecontempt of us entertained by temporal princes and powers and the dailysarcasms of the laity. Hence also the reproof of our own mode of lifewhen we attempt to reprove others. The very Vicar of Christ is involvedin this contempt, since he appears to countenance such things. You, beloved son, have charge of the Bishopric of Valencia, the first ofSpain; you are also Vice-Chancellor of the Church; and what renders yourconduct still more blameworthy is that you are among the cardinals, withthe Pope, one of the counsellors of the Holy See. We submit it to yourown judgement whether it becomes your dignity to court young women, tosend fruit and wine to her you love, and to have no thought for anythingbut pleasure. We are censured on your account; the blessed memory ofyour uncle Calixtus is vituperated, since in the judgement of manyhe was wrong to have conferred so many honours upon you. If you seekexcuses in your youth, you are no longer so young that you cannotunderstand what duties are imposed upon you by your dignity. A cardinalshould be irreproachable, a model of moral conduct to all. And what justcause have we for resentment when temporal princes bestow upon us titlesthat are little honourable, dispute with us our possessions, and attemptto bend us to their will? In truth it is we who inflict these woundsupon ourselves, and it is we who occasion ourselves these troubles, undermining more and more each day by our deeds the authority of theChurch. Our guerdon is shame in this world and condign punishment in thenext. May your prudence therefore set a restraint upon these vanitiesand keep you mindful of your dignity, and prevent that you be known fora gallant among married and unmarried women. But should similar factsrecur, we shall be compelled to signify that they have happened againstour will and to our sorrow, and our censure must be attended by yourshame. We have always loved you, and we have held you worthy of ourfavour as a man of upright and honest nature. Act therefore in sucha manner that we may maintain such an opinion of you, and nothing canbetter conduce to this than that you should lead a well-ordered life. Your age, which is such as still to promise improvement, admits that weshould admonish you paternally. "

"PETRIOLO, June 11, 1460. "

Such a letter is calculated to shock us in our modern notions of achurchman. To us this conduct on the part of a prelate is scandalousbeyond words; that it was scandalous even then is obvious from thePontiff's letter; but that it was scandalous in an infinitely lesserdegree is no less obvious from the very fact that the Pontiff wrotethat letter (and in such terms) instead of incontinently unfrocking theoffender. 

In considering Roderigo's conduct, you are to consider--as has beenurged already--the age in which he lived. You are to remember that itwas an age in which the passions and the emotions wore no such masks asthey wear to-day, but went naked and knew no shame of their nudity; anage in which personal modesty was as little studied as hypocrisy, and inwhich men, wore their vices as openly as their virtues. 

No amount of simple statement can convey an adequate notion of thecorrupt state of the clergy at the time. To form any just appreciationof this, it is necessary to take a peep at some of the documents thathave survived--such a document, for instance, as that Bull of this PopePius II which forbade priests from plying the trades of keeping taverns, gaming-houses, and brothels. 

Ponder also that under his successor, Sixtus IV, the tax levied upon thecourtesans of Rome enriched the pontifical coffers to the extent ofsome 20, 000 ducats yearly. Ponder further that when the vicar ofthe libidinous Innocent VIII published in 1490 an edict againstthe universal concubinage practised by the clergy, forbidding itscontinuation under pain of excommunication, all that it earned him wasthe severe censure of the Holy Father, who disagreed with the measureand who straightway repealed and cancelled the edict. (1)

 1 See Burchard's Diarium, Thuasne Edition, Vol. II. P. 442 et seq. 

All this being considered, and man being admittedly a creature of hisenvironment, can we still pretend to horror at this Roderigo and at thefact that being the man he was--prelate though he might be--handsome, brilliant, courted, in the full vigour of youth, and a voluptuary bynature, he should have succumbed to the temptations by which he wassurrounded?

One factor only could have caused him to use more restraint--the goodexample of his peers. That example he most certainly had not. 

Virtue is a comparative estate, when all is said; and before we can findthat Roderigo was vile, that he deserves unqualified condemnation forhis conduct, we must ascertain that he was more or less exceptional inhis licence, that he was less scrupulous than his fellows. Do we findthat? To find the contrary we do not need to go beyond the matter whichprovoked that letter from the Pontiff. For we see that he was not evenalone, as an ecclesiastic, in the adventure; that he had for associateon that amorous frolic one Giacopo Ammanati, Cardinal-Presbyter ofSan Crisogno, Roderigo's senior and an ordained priest, which--withoutseeking to make undue capital out of the circumstance--we may mentionthat Roderigo was not. He was a Cardinal-Deacon, be it remembered. (1) Weknow that the very Pontiff who admonished these young prelates, thoughnow admittedly a man of saintly ways, had been a very pretty fellowhimself in his lusty young days in Siena; we know that Roderigo'suncle--the Calixtus to whom Pius II refers in that letter as of "blessedmemory"--had at least one acknowledged son. (2) We know that Piero andGirolamo Riario, though styled by Pope Sixtus IV his "nephews, " weregenerally recognized to be his sons. (3) And we know that the numerousbastards of Innocent VIII--Roderigo's immediate precursor on thePontifical Throne--were openly acknowledged by their father. We know, inshort, that it was the universal custom of the clergy to forget its vowsof celibacy, and to circumvent them by dispensing with the outwardform and sacrament of marriage; and we have it on the word of Pius IIhimself, that "if there are good reasons for enjoining the celibacy ofthe clergy, there are better and stronger for enjoining them to marry. "

 1 He was not ordained priest until 1471, after the election of Sixtus IV. 

 2 Don Francisco de Borja, born at Valencia in 1441. 

 3 Macchiavelli, Istorie Fiorentine. 

What more is there to say? If we must be scandalized, let us bescandalized by the times rather than by the man. Upon what reasonablegrounds can we demand that he should be different from his fellows; andif we find him no different, what right or reason have we for pickinghim out and rendering him the object of unparalleled obloquy?

If we are to deal justly with Roderigo Borgia, we must admit that, inso far as his concessions to his lusts are concerned, he was a typicalchurchman of his day; neither more nor less--as will presently growabundantly clear. 

It may be objected by some that had such been the case the Pope wouldnot have written him such a letter as is here cited. But consider amoment the close relations existing between them. Roderigo was thenephew of the late Pope; in a great measure Pius II owed his election, as we have seen, to Roderigo's action in the Conclave. That his interestin him apart from that was paternal and affectionate is shown in everyline of that letter. And consider further that Roderigo's companionis shown by that letter to be equally guilty in so far as the actsthemselves are to be weighed, guilty in a greater degree when weremember his seniority and his actual priesthood. Yet to CardinalAmmanati the Pope wrote no such admonition. Is not that sufficient proofthat his admonition of Roderigo was dictated purely by his personalaffection for him?

In this same year 1460 was born to Cardinal Roderigo a son--Don PedroLuis de Borja--by a spinster (mulier soluta) unnamed. This son waspublicly acknowledged and cared for by the cardinal. 

Seven years later--in 1467--he became the father of a daughter--Girolamade Borja--by a spinster, whose name again does not transpire. Like PedroLuis she too was openly acknowledged by Cardinal Roderigo. It was widelybelieved that this child's mother was Madonna Giovanna de' Catanei, whosoon became quite openly the cardinal's mistress, and was maintained byhim in such state as might have become a maîtresse en titre. But, as weshall see later, the fact of that maternity of Girolama is doubtful inthe extreme. It was never established, and it is difficult to understandwhy not if it were the fact. 

Meanwhile Paul II--Pietro Barbo, Cardinal of Venice--had succeeded PiusII in 1464, and in 1471 the latter was in his turn succeeded bythe formidable Sixtus IV--Cardinal Francesco Maria della Rovere--aFranciscan of the lowest origin, who by his energy and talents hadbecome general of his order and had afterwards been raised to thedignity of the purple. 

It was Cardinal Roderigo de Lanzol y Borja who, in his official capacityof Archdeacon of Holy Church, performed the ceremony of coronation andplaced the triple crown on the head of Pope Sixtus. It is probable thatthis was his last official act as Arch­deacon, for in that same year1471, at the age of forty, he was ordained priest and consecrated Bishopof Albano. 

CHAPTER II. THE REIGNS OF SIXTUS IV AND INNOCENT VIII

The rule of Sixtus was as vigorous as it was scandalous. To say--as hasbeen said--that with his succession to St. Peter's Chair came for theChurch a still sadder time than that which had preceded it, is notaltogether true. Politically, at least, Sixtus did much to strengthenthe position of the Holy See and of the Pontificate. He was not long ingiving the Roman factions a taste of his stern quality. If he employedunscrupulous means, he employed them against unscrupulous men--on thesound principle of similia similibus curantur--and to some extent theywere justified by the ends in view. 

He found the temporal throne of the Pontiffs tottering when he ascendedit. Stefano Porcaro and his distinguished following already in 1453 hadattempted the overthrow of the pontifical authority, inspired, no doubt, by the attacks that had been levelled against it by the erudite anddaring Lorenzo Valla. 

This Valla was the distinguished translator of Homer, Herodotus, andThucydides, who more than any one of his epoch advanced the movement ofGreek and Latin learning, which, whilst it had the effect of arrestingthe development of Italian literature, enriched Europe by opening up toit the sources of ancient erudition, of philosophy, poetry, and literarytaste. Towards the year 1435 he drifted to the court of Alfonso ofAragon, whose secretary he ultimately became. Some years later heattacked the Temporal Power and urged the secularization of the Statesof the Church. "Ut Papa, " he wrote, "tantum Vicarius Christi sit, etnon etiam Coesari. " In his De falso credita et ementita ConstantiniDonatione, he showed that the decretals of the Donation of Constantine, upon which rests the Pope's claim to the Pontifical States, was animpudent forgery, that Constantine had never had the power to give, nor had given, Rome to the Popes, and that they had no right to governthere. He backed up this terrible indictment by a round attack upon theclergy, its general corruption and its practices of simony; and as aresult he fell into the hands of the Inquisition. There it might havegone very ill with him but that King Alfonso rescued him from theclutches of that dread priestly tribunal. 

Meanwhile, he had fired his petard. If a pretext had been wanting towarrant the taking up of arms against the Papacy, that pretext Valla hadafforded. Never was the temporal power of the Church in such danger, andultimately it must inevitably have succumbed but for the coming of sostrong and unscrupulous a man as Sixtus IV to stamp out the patricianfactions that were heading the hostile movement. 

His election, it is generally admitted, was simoniacal; and by simony heraised the funds necessary for his campaign to reestablish and supportthe papal authority. This simony of his, says Dr. Jacob Burckhardt, "grew to unheard-of proportions, and extended from the appointment ofcardinals down to the sale of the smallest benefice. "

Had he employed these means of raising funds for none but the purposeof putting down the assailants of the Pontificate, a measure ofjustification (political if not ecclesiastical) might be argued in hisfavour. Unfortunately, having discovered these ready sources of revenue, he continued to exploit them for purposes far less easy to condone. 

As a nepotist Sixtus was almost unsurpassed in the history of thePapacy. Four of his nephews and their aggrandizement were the particularobjects of his attentions, and two of these--as we have alreadysaid--Piero and Girolamo Riario, were universally recognized to be hissons. 

Piero, who was a simple friar of twenty-six years of age at the timethat his father became Pope, was given the Archbishopric of Florence, made Patriarch of Constantinople, and created Cardinal to the title ofSan Sisto, with a revenue of 60, 000 crowns. 

We have it on the word of Cardinal Ammanati(1)--the same gentleman who, with Roderigo de Lanzol y Borja made so scandalously merry in de Bichis'garden at Siena--that Cardinal Riario's luxury "exceeded all that hadbeen displayed by our forefathers or that can even be imagined by ourdescendants"; and Macchiavelli tells us(2) that "although of very loworigin and mean rearing, no sooner had he obtained the scarlet hat thanhe displayed a pride and ambition so vast that the Pontificate seemedtoo small for him, and he gave a feast in Rome which would have appearedextraordinary even for a king, the expense exceeding 20, 000 florins. "

 1 In a letter to Francesco Gonzaga. 

 2 Istorie Florentine. 

Knowing so much, it is not difficult to understand that in one year orless he should have dissipated 200, 000 florins, and found himself indebt to the extent of a further 60, 000. 

In 1473, Sixtus being at the time all but at war with Florence, thisCardinal Riario visited Venice and Milan. In the latter State he wasplanning with Duke Galeazzo Maria that the latter should become King ofLombardy, and then assist him with money and troops to master Rome andascend the Papal Throne--which, it appears, Sixtus was quite willingto yield to him--thus putting the Papacy on a hereditary basis like anyother secular State. 

It is as well, perhaps, that he should have died on his return to Romein January of 1474--worn out by his excesses and debaucheries, say some;of poison administered by the Venetians, say others--leaving a mass ofdebts, contracted in his transactions with the World, the Flesh, and theDevil, to be cleared up by the Vicar of Christ. 

His brother Girolamo, meanwhile, had married Caterina Sforza, a naturaldaughter of Duke Galeazzo Maria. She brought him as her dowry the Cityof Imola, and in addition to this he received from his Holiness the Cityof Forli, to which end the Ordelaffi were dispossessed of it. Here againwe have a papal attempt to found a family dynasty, and an attempt thatmight have been carried further under circumstances more propitious andhad not Death come to check their schemes. 

The only one of the four "nephews" of Sixtus--and to this one wasimputed no nearer kinship--who was destined to make any lasting markin history was Giuliano della Rovere. He was raised by his uncle to thepurple with the title of San Pietro in Vincoli, and thirty-two yearslater he was to become Pope (as Julius II). Of him we shall hear much inthe course of this story. 

Under the pontificate of Sixtus IV the position and influence ofCardinal Roderigo were greatly increased, for once again the SpanishCardinal had made the most of his opportunities. As at the election ofPius II, so at the election of Sixtus IV it was Cardinal Roderigo wholed the act of accession which gave the new Pope his tiara, and forthis act Roderigo--in common with the Cardinals Orsini and Gonzaga whoacceded with him--was richly rewarded and advanced, receiving as hisimmediate guerdon the wealthy Abbey of Subiaco. 

At about this time, 1470, must have begun the relations between CardinalRoderigo and Giovanna Catanei, or Vannozza Catanei, as she is styled incontemporary documents--Vannozza being a corruption or abbreviation ofGiovannozza, an affectionate form of Giovanna. 

Who she was, or whence she came, are facts that have never beenascertained. She is generally assumed to have been a Roman; but thereare no obvious grounds for the assumption, her name, for instance, being common to many parts of Italy. And just as we have no sources ofinformation upon her origin, neither have we any elements from whichto paint her portrait. Gregorovius rests the probability that she wasbeautiful upon the known characteristics and fastidious tastes ofthe cardinal. Since it is unthinkable that such a man would have beencaptivated by an ugly woman or would have been held by a stupid one, it is fairly reasonable to conclude that she was beautiful andready-witted. 

All that we do know of her up to the time of her liaison with CardinalRoderigo is that she was born on July 13, 1442, this fact beingascertainable by a simple calculation from the elements afforded by theinscription on her tomb in Santa Maria del Popolo:

Vix ann. LXXVI m. IV d. XII Objit anno MDXVIII XXVI, Nov. 

And again, just as we know nothing of her family origin, neither have weany evidence of what her circumstances were when she caught the magneticeye of Cardinal Roderigo de Lanzol y Borja--or Borgia as by now hisname, which had undergone italianization, was more generally spelled. 

Infessura states in his diaries that Roderigo desiring later--as PopeAlexander VI--to create cardinal his son by her, Cesare Borgia, hecaused false witness to be borne to the fact that Cesare was thelegitimate son of one Domenico d'Arignano, to whom he, the Pope, hadin fact married her. Guicciardini(1) makes the same statement, without, however, mentioning name of this d'Arignano. 

 1 Istoria d'Italia. 

Now, bastards were by canon law excluded from the purple, and it isprobably upon this circumstance that both Infessura and Guicciardinihave built the assumption that some such means as these had been adoptedto circumvent the law, and--as so often happens in chronicles concerningthe Borgias--the assumption is straightway stated as a fact. Butthere were other ways of circumventing awkward commandments, and, unfortunately for the accuracy of these statements of Infessura andGuicciardini, another way was taken in this instance. As early as1480, Pope Sixtus IV had granted Cesare Borgia--in a Bull dated October1(1)--dispensation from proving the legitimacy of his birth. Thisentirely removed the necessity for any such subsequent measures as thosewhich are suggested by these chroniclers. 

 1 See the supplement to the Appendix of Thuasne's edition of Burchard's Diarium. 

Moreover, had Cardinal Roderigo desired to fasten the paternity ofCesare on another, there was ready to his hand Vannozza's actualhusband, Giorgio della Croce. (2) When exactly this man became herhusband is not to be ascertained. All that we know is that he was so in1480, and that she was living with him in that year in a house in PiazzaPizzo di Merlo (now Piazza Sforza Cesarini) not far from the house onBanchi Vecchi which Cardinal Roderigo, as Vice-Chancellor, had convertedinto a palace for himself, and a palace so sumptuous as to excite thewonder of that magnificent age. 

 2 D'Arignano is as much a fiction as the rest of Infessura's story. 

This Giorgio della Croce was a Milanese, under the protection ofCardinal Roderigo, who had obtained for him a post at the Vatican asapostolic secretary. According to some, he married him to Vannozza inorder to afford her an official husband and thus cloak his own relationswith her. It is an assumption which you will hesitate to accept. If weknow our Cardinal Roderigo at all, he was never the man to pursue hispleasures in a hole-and-corner fashion, nor one to bethink him of acloak for his amusements. Had he but done so, scandalmongers wouldhave had less to fasten upon in their work of playing havoc with hisreputation. What is far more likely is that della Croce owed CardinalRoderigo's protection and the appointment as apostolic secretary to hisown complacency in the matter of his wife's relations with the splendidprelate. However we look at it, the figure cut in this story by dellaCroce is not heroic. 

Between the years 1474 and 1476, Vannozza bore Roderigo two sons, CesareBorgia (afterwards Cardinal of Valencia and Duke of Valentinois), thecentral figure of our story, and Giovanni Borgia (afterwards Duke ofGandia). 

Lucrezia Borgia, we know from documentary evidence before us, was bornon April 19, 1479. 

But there is a mystery about the precise respective ages of Vannozza'stwo eldest sons, and we fear that at this time of day it has becomeimpossible to establish beyond reasonable doubt which was the firstborn;and this in spite of the documents discovered by Gregorovius and hisassertion that they remove all doubt and enable him definitely to assertthat Giovanni was born in 1474 and Cesare in 1476. 

Let us look at these documents. They are letters from ambassadors totheir masters; probably correct, and the more credible since theyhappen to agree and corroborate one another; still, not so utterly andabsolutely reliable as to suffice to remove the doubts engendered by theno less reliable documents whose evidence contradicts them. 

The first letters quoted by Gregorovius are from the ambassadorGianandrea Boccaccio to his master, the Duke of Ferrara, in 1493. Inthese he mentions Cesare Borgia as being sixteen to seventeen years ofage at the time. But the very manner of writing--"sixteen to seventeenyears"--is a common way of vaguely suggesting age rather than positivelystating it. So we may pass that evidence over, as of secondaryimportance. 

Next is a letter from Gerardo Saraceni to the Duke of Ferrara, datedOctober 26, 1501, and it is more valuable, claiming as it does to be therelation of something which his Holiness told the writer. It is in thepost-scriptum that this ambassador says: "The Pope gave me to understandthat the said Duchess [Lucrezia Borgia] will complete twenty-two yearsof age next April, and at that same time the Duke of Romagna willcomplete his twenty-sixth year. "(1)

 1 "Facendomi intendere the epsa Duchessa é di etá di anni ventidui, liquali finiranno a questo Aprile; in el qual tempo anche lo Illmo. Ducadi Romagna fornirá anni ventisei. "

This certainly fixes the year of Cesare's birth as 1476; but we areto remember that Saraceni is speaking of something that the Pope hadrecently told him; exactly how recently does not transpire. An errorwould easily be possible in so far as the age of Cesare is concerned. In so far as the age of Lucrezia is concerned, an error is not onlypossible, but has actually been committed by Saraceni. At least the agegiven in his letter is wrong by one year, as we know by a legal documentdrawn up in February of 1491--Lucrezia's contract of marriage with DonJuan Cherubin de Centelles. (2)

 2 A contract never executed. 

According to this protocol in old Spanish, dated February 26, 1491, Lucrezia completed her twelfth year on April 19, 1491, (3) whichdefinitely and positively gives us the date of her birth as April 19, 1479. 

 3 "Item mes attenent que dita Dona Lucretia a XVIIII de Abril prop. Vinent entrará in edat de dotze anys. "

A quite extraordinary error is that made by Gregorovius when hesays that Lucrezia Borgia was born on April 18, 1480, extraordinaryconsidering that he made it apparently with this very protocol under hiseyes, and cites it, in fact (Document IV in the Appendix to his LucreziaBorgia) as his authority. 

To return, however, to Cesare and Giovanni, there is yet anotherevidence quoted by Gregorovius in support of his contention that thelatter was the elder and born in 1474; but it is of the same nature andof no more, nor less, value than those already mentioned. 

Worthy of more consideration in view of their greater official andlegal character are the Ossuna documents, given in the Supplement of theAppendix in Thuasne's edition of Burchard's Diary, namely:

(a) October 1, 1480. --A Bull from Sixtus IV, already mentioned, dispensing Cesare from proving his legitimacy. In this he is referred toas in his sixth year--"in sexto tuo aetatis anno. "

This, assuming Boccaccio's letter to be correct in the matter of Aprilbeing the month of Cesare's birth, fixes the year of his birth as 1475. 

(b) August 16, 1482. --A Bull of Sixtus IV, appointing Roderigo Borgiaadministrator of Cesare's benefices. In this he is mentioned as beingseven years of age (i. E. , presumably in his eighth year), which againgives us his birth-year as 1475. 

(c) September 12, 1484. --A Bull of Sixtus IV, appointing Cesaretreasurer of the Church of Carthage. In this he is mentioned as in hisninth year--"in nono tuo aetatis anno. " This is at variance with theother two, and gives us 1476 as the year of his birth. 

To these evidences, conflicting as they are, may be added Burchard'smention in his diary under date of September 12, 1491, that Cesare wasthen seventeen years of age. This would make him out to have been bornin 1474. 

Clearly the matter cannot definitely be settled upon such evidence as wehave. All that we can positively assert is that he was born between theyears 1474 and 1476, and we cannot, we think, do better for the purposesof this story than assume his birth-year to have been 1475. 

We know that between those same years, or in one or the other of them, was born Giovanni Borgia; but just as the same confusion prevails withregard to his exact age, so is it impossible to determine with anyfinality whether he was Cesare's junior or senior. 

The one document that appears to us to be the most important in thisconnection is that of the inscription on their mother's tomb. This runs:

FAUSTIAE CATHANAE, CESARE VALENTINAE, JOHANNAE CANDIAE, JUFFREDOSCYLATII, ET LUCRETIA FERRARIAE DUCIB. FILIIS NOBILI PROBITATE INSIGNI, RELIGIONE EXIMIA, ETC. , ETC. 

If Giovanni was, as is claimed, the eldest of her children, why does hisname come second? If Cesare was her second son, why does his name takethe first place on that inscription?

It has been urged that if Cesare was the elder of these two, he, and notGiovanni, would have succeeded to the Duchy of Gandia on the death ofPedro Luis--Cardinal Roderigo's eldest son, by an unknown mother. Butthat does not follow inevitably; for it is to be remembered that Cesarewas already destined for an ecclesiastical career, and it may well bethat his father was reluctant to change his plans. 

Meanwhile the turbulent reign of Sixtus IV went on, until his ambitionto increase his dominions had the result of plunging the whole of Italyinto war. 

Lorenzo de'Medici had thwarted the Pope's purposes in Romagna, coming tothe assistance of Città di Castello when this was attacked in the Pope'sinterest by the warlike Giuliano della Rovere. To avenge himself forthis, and to remove a formidable obstacle to his family's advancement, the Pope inspired the Pazzi conspiracy against the lives of the famousmasters of Florence. The conspiracy failed; for although Giulianode'Medici fell stabbed to the heart--before Christ's altar, and at thevery moment of the elevation of the Host--Lorenzo escaped with slighthurt, and, by the very risk to which he had been exposed, rallied theFlorentines to him more closely than ever. 

Open war was the only bolt remaining in the papal quiver, and openwar he declared, preluding it by a Bull of Excommunication against theFlorentines. Naples took sides with the Pope. Venice and Milan came tothe support of Florence, whereupon Milan's attentions were diverted toher own affairs, Genoa being cunningly set in revolt against her. 

In 1480 a peace was patched up; but it was short-lived. A few monthslater war flared out again from the Holy See, against Florence thistime, and on the pretext of its having joined the Venetians againstthe Pope in the late war. A complication now arose, created by theVenetians, who seized the opportunity to forward their own ambitions andincrease their territories on the mainland, and upon a pretext of thepettiest themselves declared war upon Ferrara. Genoa and some minortyrannies were drawn into the quarrel on the one side, whilst on theother Florence, Naples, Mantua, Milan, and Bologna stood by Ferrara. Whilst the papal forces were holding in check the Neapolitans whosought to pass north to aid Ferrara, whilst the Roman Campagna was beingharassed by the Colonna, and Milan was engaged with Genoa, the Venetiansinvested Ferrara, forced her to starvation and to yielding-point. Thereupon the Pope, perceiving the trend of affairs, and that the onlylikely profit to be derived from the campaign would lie with Venice, suddenly changed sides that he might avoid a contingency so far removedfrom all his aims. 

He made a treaty with Naples, and permitted the Neapolitan army passagethrough his territories, of which they availed themselves to conveysupplies to Ferrara and neutralize the siege. At the same time the Popeexcommunicated the Venetians, and urged all Italy to make war upon them. 

In this fashion the campaign dragged on to every one's disadvantage andwithout any decisive battle fought, until at last the peace of Bagnolowas concluded in August of 1484, and the opposing armies withdrew fromFerrara. 

The news of it literally killed Sixtus. When the ambassadors declaredto him the terms of the treaty he was thrown into a violent rage, anddeclared the peace to be at once shameful and humiliating. The gout fromwhich he suffered flew to his heart, and on the following day--August12, 1484--he died. 

Two things he did during his reign to the material advantage ofthe Church, however much he may have neglected the spiritual. Hestrengthened her hold upon her temporal possessions and he enriched theVatican by the addition of the Sistine Chapel. For the decorationof this he procured the best Tuscan talent of his day--and of manydays--and brought Alessandro Filipeppi (Botticelli), Pietro Vannuccio(Il Perugino), and Domenico Bigordi (IL Ghirlandajo) from Florence toadorn its walls with their frescoes. (1)

 1 The glory of the Sistine Chapel, however, is Michelangelo's "LastJudgement, " which was added later, in the reign of Pope Julius II(Giuliano della Rovere). 

In the last years of the reign of Pope Sixtus, Cardinal Roderigo'sfamily had suffered a loss and undergone an increase. 

In 1481 Vannozza bore him another son--Giuffredo Borgia, and in thefollowing year died his eldest son (by an unknown mother) Pedro Luis deBorgia, who had reached the age of twenty-two and was betrothed at thetime of his decease to the Princess Maria d'Aragona. 

In January of that same year, 1482, Cardinal Roderigo had married hisdaughter Girolama--now aged fifteen--to Giovanni Andrea Cesarini, thescion of a patrician Roman house. The alliance strengthened the bonds ofgood feeling which for some considerable time had prevailed between thetwo families. Unfortunately the young couple were not destined to manyyears of life together, as in 1483 both died. 

Of Cesare all that we know at this period is what we learn from thePapal Bulls conferring several benefices upon him. In July 1482 he wasgranted the revenues from the prebendals and canonries of Valencia; inthe following month he was appointed Canon of Valencia and apostolicnotary. In April 1484 he was made Provost of Alba, and in Septemberof the same year treasurer of the Church of Carthage. No doubt he wasliving with his mother, his brothers, and his sister at the house in thePiazza Pizzo di Merlo, where an ample if not magnificent establishmentwas maintained. 

By this time Cardinal Roderigo's wealth and power had grown tostupendous proportions, and he lived in a splendour well worthy of hislofty rank. He was now fifty-three years of age, still retaining the airand vigour of a man in his very prime, which, no doubt, he owed as muchas to anything to his abstemious and singularly sparing table-habits. Hederived a stupendous income from his numerous abbeys in Italy andSpain, his three bishoprics of Valencia, Porto, and Carthage, andhis ecclesiastical offices, among which the Vice-Chancellorship aloneyielded him annually eight thousand florins. (1)

 1 The gold florin, ducat, or crown was equal to ten shillings of ourpresent money, and had a purchasing power of five times that amount. 

Volterra refers with wonder to the abundance of his plate, to hispearls, his gold embroideries, and his books, the splendid equipment ofhis beds, the trappings of his horses, and other similar furnishings ingold, in silver, and in silk. In short, he was the wealthiest prince ofthe Church of his day, and he lived with a magnificence worthy of a kingor of the Pope himself. 

Of the actual man, Volterra, writing in 1586, says: "He is of a spiritcapable of anything, and of a great intelligence. A ready speaker, and of distinction, notwithstanding his indifferent literary culture;naturally astute, and of marvellous talent in the conduct of affairs. "

In the year in which Volterra wrote of Cardinal Roderigo in such termsVannozza was left a widow by the death of Giorgio della Croce. Herwidowhood was short, however, for in the same year--on June 6--she tooka second husband, possibly at the instance of Roderigo Borgia, whodid not wish to leave her unprotected; that, at least, is the generalinference, although there is very little evidence upon which to base it. This second husband was Carlo Canale, a Mantovese scholar who had servedCardinal Francesco Gonzaga in the capacity of chamberlain, and who hadcome to Rome on the death of his patron. 

The marriage contract shows that by this time Vannozza had removed herresidence to Piazza Branchis. In addition to this she had by thistime acquired a villa with its beautiful gardens and vine­yards in theSuburra near S. Pietro in Vincoli. She is also known to have been theproprietor of an inn--the Albergo del Leone--in Via del Orso, oppositethe Torre di Nona, for she figures with della Croce in a contractregarding a lease of it in 1483. 

With her entrance into second nuptials, her relations with CardinalRoderigo came to an end, and his two children by her, then inRome--Lucrezia and Giuffredo--went to take up their residence withAdriana Orsini (née de Mila) at the Orsini Palace on Monte Giordano. Shewas a cousin of Roderigo's, and the widow of Lodovico Orsini, by whomshe had a son, Orso Orsini, who from early youth had been betrothed toGiulia Farnese, the daughter of a patrician family, still comparativelyobscure, but destined through this very girl to rise to conspicuouseminence. 

For her surpassing beauty this Giulia Farnese has been surnamed LaBella--and as Giulia La Bella was she known in her day--and she has beenimmortalized by Pinturicchio and Guglielmo della Porta. She sat to theformer as a model for his Madonna in the Borgia Tower of the Vatican, and to the latter for the statue of Truth which adorns the tomb of herbrother Alessandro Farnese, who became Pope Paul III. 

Here in Adriana Orsini's house, where his daughter Lucrezia was beingeducated, Cardinal Roderigo, now at the mature age of some six-and-fiftyyears, made the acquaintance and became enamoured of this beautifulgolden-headed Giulia, some forty years his junior. To the fact that shepresently became his mistress--somewhere about the same time thatshe became Orso Orsini's wife--is due the sudden rise of the House ofFarnese. This began with her handsome, dissolute brother Alessandro'selevation to the purple by her lover, and grew to vast proportionsduring his subsequent and eminently scandalous occupation of the PapalThrone as Paul III. 

In the year 1490 Lucrezia was the only one of Roderigo's children byVannozza who remained in Rome. 

Giovanni Borgia was in Spain, whither he had gone on the death of hisbrother Pedro Luis, to take posession of the Duchy of Gandia, which thepower of his father's wealth and vast influence at the Valencian Courthad obtained for that same Pedro Luis. To this Giovanni now succeeded. 

Cesare Borgia--now aged fifteen--had for some two years been studyinghis humanities in an atmosphere of Latinity at the Sapienza of Perugia. There, if we are to believe the praises of him uttered by Pompilio, hewas already revealing his unusual talents and a precocious wit. Inthe preface of the Syllabica on the art of Prosody dedicated to him byPompilio, the latter hails him as the hope and ornament of the Hous ofBorgia--"Borgiae familiae spes et decus. "

From Perugia he was moved in 1491 to the famous University of Pisa, acollege frequented by the best of Italy. For preceptor he had GiovanniVera of Arcilla, a Spanish gentleman who was later created a cardinal byCesare's father. There in Pisa Cesare maintained an establishment of amagnificence in keeping with his father's rank and with the example sethim by that same father. 

It was Cardinal Roderigo's wish that Cesare should follow anecclesiastical career; and the studies of canon law which he pursuedunder Filippo Decis, the most rated lecturer on canon law of his day, were such as peculiarly to fit him for that end and for the highesthonours the Church might have to bestow upon him later. At the age ofseventeen, while still at Pisa, he was appointed prothonotary of theChurch and preconized Bishop of Pampeluna. 

Sixtus IV died, as we have seen, in August 1482. The death of a Popewas almost invariably the signal for disturbances in Rome, and theycertainly were not wanting on this occasion. The Riario palaces werestormed and looted, and Girolamo Riario--the Pope's "nepot"--threwhimself into the castle of Sant' Angelo with his forces. 

The Orsini and Colonna were in arms, "so that in a few daysincendiarism, robbery, and murder raged in several parts of the city. The cardinals besought the Count to surrender the castle to the SacredCollege, withdraw his troops, and deliver Rome from the fear of hisforces; and he, that he might win the favour of the future Pope, obeyed, and withdrew to Imola. "(1)

 1 Macchiavelli, Istorie Fiorentine. 

The cardinals, having thus contrived to restore some semblance of order, proceeded to the creation of a new Pontiff, and a Genoese, GiovanniBattista Cibo, Cardinal of Malfetta, was elected and took the name ofInnocent VIII. 

Again, as in the case of Sixtus, there is no lack of those who chargethis Pontiff with having obtained his election by simony. The CardinalsGiovanni d' Aragona (brother to the King of Naples) and Ascanio Sforza(brother of Lodovico, Duke of Milan) are said to have disposed of theirvotes in the most open and shameless manner, practically putting themup for sale to the highest bidder. Italy rang with the scandal of it, weare told. 

Under Innocent's lethargic rule the Church again began to lose much ofthe vigour with which Sixtus had inspired it. If the reign of Sixtushad been scandalous, infinitely worse was that of Innocent--a sordid, grasping sensualist, without even the one redeeming virtue of strengththat had been his predecessor's. Nepotism had characterized manyprevious pontificates; open paternity was to characterize his, for hewas the first Pope who, in flagrant violation of canon law, acknowledgedhis children for his own. He proceeded to provide for some sevenbastards, and that provision appears to have been the only aim and scopeof his pontificate. 

Not content with raising money by the sale of preferments, Innocentestablished a traffic in indulgences, the like of which had never beenseen before. In the Rome of his day you might, had you the money, buyanything, from a cardinal's hat to a pardon for the murder of yourfather. 

The most conspicuous of his bastards was Francesco Cibo--conspicuouschiefly for the cupidity which distinguished him as it distinguished thePope his father. For the rest he was a poor-spirited fellow who sorelydisappointed Lorenzo de'Medici, whose daughter Maddalena he receivedin marriage. Lorenzo had believed that, backed by the Pope's influence, Francesco would establish for himself a dynasty in Romagna. But fatherand son were alike too invertebrate--the one to inspire, the other toexecute any such designs as had already been attempted by the nepots ofCalixtus III and Sixtus IV. 

Under the weak and scandalous rule of Innocent VIII Rome appears tohave been abandoned to the most utter lawlessness. Anarchy, robbery, andmurder preyed upon the city. No morning dawned without revealing corpsesin the streets; and if by chance the murderer was caught, there waspardon for him if he could afford to buy it, or Tor di Nona and thehangman's noose if he could not. 

It is not wonderful that when at last Innocent VIII died Infessurashould have blessed the day that freed the world of such a monster. 

But his death did not happen until 1492. A feeble old man, he had becomesubject to lethargic or cataleptic trances, which had several timesalready deceived those in attendance into believing him dead. He grewweaker and weaker, and it became impossible to nourish him upon anythingbut woman's milk. Towards the end came, Infessura tells us, a Hebrewphysician who claimed to have a prescription by which he could save thePope's life. For his infusion(1) he needed young human blood, and toobtain it he took three boys of the age of ten, and gave them a ducatapiece for as much as he might require of them. Unfortunately he took somuch that the three boys incontinently died of his phlebotomy, and theHebrew was obliged to take to flight to save his own life, for the Pope, being informed of what had taken place, execrated the deed and orderedthe physician's arrest. "Judeus quidem aufugit, et Papa sanatus notest, " concludes Infessura. 

 1 The silly interpretation of this afforded by later writers, that thisphysician attempted transfusion of blood--silly, because unthinkable inan age which knew nothing of the circulation of the blood--has alreadybeen exploded. 

Innocent VIII breathed his last on July 25, 1492. 

CHAPTER III. ALEXANDER VI

The ceremonies connected with the obsequies of Pope Innocent VIIIlasted--as prescribed--nine days; they were concluded on August 5, 1492, and, says Infessura naïvely, "sic finita fuit eius memoria. "

The Sacred College consisted at the time of twenty-seven cardinals, fourof whom were absent at distant sees and unable to reach Rome in timefor the immuring of the Conclave. The twenty-three present were, in theorder of their seniority: Roderigo Borgia, Oliviero Caraffa, Giulianodella Rovere, Battista Zeno, Giovanni Michieli, Giorgio Costa, Girolamodella Rovere, Paolo Fregosi, Domenico della Rovere, Giovanni deiConti, Giovanni Giacomo Sclafetani, Lorenzo Cibo, Ardicino della Porta, Antoniotto Pallavicino, Maffeo Gerardo, Francesco Piccolomini, RaffaeleRiario, Giovanni Battista Savelli, Giovanni Colonna, Giovanni Orsini, Ascanio Maria Sforza, Giovanni de'Medici, and Francesco Sanseverino. 

On August 6 they assembled in St. Peter's to hear the Sacred Mass of theHoly Ghost, which was said by Giuliano della Rovere on the tomb of thePrince of the Apostles, and to listen to the discourse "Pro eligendoPontefice, " delivered by the learned and eloquent Bishop of Carthage. Thereafter the Cardinals swore upon the Gospels faithfully to observetheir trust, and thereupon the Conclave was immured. 

According to the dispatches of Valori, the Ferrarese ambassador in Rome, it was expected that either the Cardinal of Naples (Oliviero Caraffa)or the Cardinal of Lisbon (Giorgio Costa) would be elected to thePontificate; and according to the dispatch of Cavalieri the ambassadorof Modena, the King of France had deposited 200, 000 ducats with a Romanbanker to forward the election of Giuliano della Rovere. Nevertheless, early on the morning of August 11 it was announced that Roderigo Borgiawas elected Pope, and we have it on the word of Valori that the electionwas unanimous, for he wrote on the morrow to the Council of Eight (theSignory of Florence) that after long contention Alexander VI was created"omnium consensum--ne li manco un solo voto. "

The subject of this election is one with which we rarely find an authordealing temperately or with a proper and sane restraint. To vituperatein superlatives seems common to most who have taken in hand this andother episodes in the history of the Borgias. Every fresh writer whocomes to the task appears to be mainly inspired by a desire to emulatehis forerunners, allowing his pen to riot zestfully in the accumulationof scandalous matter, and seeking to increase if possible its luridquality by a degree or two. As a rule there is not even an attempt madeto put forward evidence in substantiation of anything that is alleged. Wild and sweeping statement takes the place that should be held by calmdeduction and reasoned comment. 

"He was the worst Pontiff that ever filled St. Peter's Chair, " is oneof these sweeping statements, culled from the pages of an able, modern, Italian author, whose writings, sound in all that concerns othermatters, are strewn with the most foolish extravagances and flagrantinaccuracies in connection with Alexander VI and his family. 

To say of him, as that writer says, that "he was the worst Pontiffthat ever filled St. Peter's Chair, " can only be justified by an utterignorance of papal history. You have but to compare him calmly andhonestly--your mind stripped of preconceptions--with the wretchedand wholly contemptible Innocent VIII whom he succeeded, or with thelatter's precursor, the terrible Sixtus IV. 

That he was better than these men, morally or ecclesiastically, isnot to be pretended; that he was worse--measuring achievement byopportunity--is strenuously to be denied. For the rest, that he wasinfinitely more gifted and infinitely more a man of affairs is not to begainsaid by any impartial critic. 

If we take him out of the background of history in which he is set, andjudge him singly and individually, we behold a man who, as a churchmanand Christ's Vicar, fills us with horror and loathing, as a scandalousexception from what we are justified in supposing from his office musthave been the rule. Therefore, that he may be judged by the standard ofhis own time if he is to be judged at all, if we are even to attempt tounderstand him, have we given a sketch of the careers of those Popes whoimmediately preceded him, with whom as Vice-Chancellor he was intimatelyassociated, and whose examples were the only papal examples that hepossessed. 

That this should justify his course we do not pretend. A good churchmanin his place would have bethought him of his duty to the Master whoseVicar he was, and would have aimed at the sorely needed reform. But weare not concerned to study him as a good churchman. It is by no meansclear that we are concerned to study him as a churchman at all. ThePapacy had by this time become far less of an ecclesiastical than apolitical force; the weapons of the Church were there, but they werebeing employed for the furtherance not of churchly, but of worldly aims. If the Pontiffs in the pages of this history remembered or evoked theirspiritual authority, it was but to employ it as an instrument for theadvancement of their temporal schemes. And personal considerationsentered largely into these. 

Self-aggrandizement, insufferable in a cleric, is an ambition notaltogether unpardonable in a temporal prince; and if Alexander aimed atself-aggrandizement and at the founding of a permanent dynasty forhis family, he did not lack examples in the careers of those among hispredecessors with whom he had been associated. 

That the Papacy was Christ's Vicarage was a fact that had long sincebeen obscured by the conception that the Papacy was a kingdom of thisworld. In striving, then, for worldly eminence by every means in hispower, Alexander is no more blameworthy than any other. What, then, remains? The fact that he succeeded better than any of his forerunners. But are we on that account to select him for the special object of ourvituperation? The Papacy had tumbled into a slough of materialism inwhich it was to wallow even after the Reformation had given it pauseand warning. Under what obligation was Alexander VI, more than any otherPope, to pull it out of that slough? As he found it, so he carried iton, as much a self-seeker, as much a worldly prince, as much a familyman and as little a churchman as any of those who had gone immediatelybefore him. 

By the outrageous discrepancy between the Papacy's professed and actualaims it was fast becoming an object of execration, and it is Alexander'smisfortune that, coming when he did, he has remained as the type of hisclass. 

The mighty of this world shall never want for detractors. The mean andinsignificant, writhing under the consciousness of his shortcomings, ministers to his self-love by vilifying the great that he may lessenthe gap between himself and them. To achieve greatness is to achieveenemies. It is to excite envy; and as envy no seed can raise up such acrop of hatred. 

Does this need labouring? Have we not abundant instances about us of thevulgar tittle-tattle and scandalous unfounded gossip which, born Heavenalone knows on what back-stairs or in what servants' hall, circulatescurrently to the detriment of the distinguished in every walk oflife? And the more conspicuously great the individual, the greaterthe incentive to slander him, for the interest of the slander iscommensurate with the eminence of the personage assailed. 

Such to a great extent is the case of Alexander VI. He was too powerfulfor the stomachs of many of his contemporaries, and he and his sonCesare had a way of achieving their ends. Since that could not bedenied, it remained to inveigh loudly against the means adopted; andwith pious uplifting of hands and eyes, to cry, "Shame!" and "Horror!"and "The like has never been heard of!" in wilful blindness to what hadbeen happening at the Vatican for generations. 

Later writers take up the tale of it. It is a fine subject aboutwhich to make phrases, and the passion for phrase-making will at timesoutweigh the respect for truth. Thus Villari with his "the worst Pontiffthat ever filled St. Peter's Chair, " and again, elsewhere, echoing whatmany a writer has said before him from Guicciardini downwards, inutter and diametric opposition to the true facts of the case: "Theannouncement of his election was received throughout Italy withuniversal dismay. " To this he adds the ubiquitous story of KingFerrante's bursting into tears at the news--"though never before knownto weep for the death of his own children. "

Let us pause a moment to contemplate the grief the Neapolitan King. Whatpicture is evoked in your minds by that statement of his bursting intotears at Alexander's election? We see--do we not?--a pious, noble soul, horror-stricken at the sight of the Papacy's corruption; a truly sublimefigure, whose tears will surely stand to his credit in heaven; a greatheart breaking; a venerable head bowed down with lofty, righteous grief, weeping over the grave of Christian hopes. Such surely is the image weare meant to see by Guicciardini and his many hollow echoers. 

Turn we now for corroboration of that noble picture to the history ofthis same Ferrante. A shock awaits us. We find, in this bastard ofthe great and brilliant Alfonso a cruel, greedy, covetous monster, sotreacherous and so fiendishly brutal that we are compelled to extendhim the charity of supposing him to be something less than sane. Let usconsider but one of his characteristics. He loved to have his enemiesunder his own supervision, and he kept them so--the living ones cagedand guarded, the dead ones embalmed and habited as in life; and thiscollection of mummies was his pride and delight. More, and worse couldwe tell you of him. But--ex pede, Herculem. 

This man shed tears we are told. Not another word. It is left to ourimagination to paint for us a picture of this weeping; it is left to usto conclude that these precious tears were symbolical of the grief ofItaly herself; that the catastrophe that provoked them must have beenterrible indeed. 

But now that we know what manner of man was this who wept, see howdifferent is the inference that we may draw from his sorrow. Can westill imagine it--as we are desired to do--to have sprung from a lofty, Christian piety? Let us track those tears to their very source, and weshall find it to be compounded of rage and fear. 

Ferrante saw trouble ahead of him with Lodovico Sforza, concerning amatter which shall be considered in the next chapter, and not at allwould it suit him at such a time that such a Pope as Alexander--who, hehad every reason to suppose, would be on the side of Lodovico--shouldrule in Rome. 

So he had set himself, by every means in his power, to oppose Roderigo'selection. His rage at the news that all his efforts had been vain, his fear of a man of Roderigo's mettle, and his undoubted dread ofthe consequences to himself of his frustrated opposition of that man'selection, may indeed have loosened the tears of this Ferrante who hadnot even wept at the death of his own children. We say "may" advisedly;for the matter, from beginning to end, is one of speculation. If weleave it for the realm of fact, we have to ask--Were there any tearsat all? Upon what authority rests the statement of the Florentinehistorian? What, in fact, does he say?

"It is well known that the King of Naples, for all that in public hedissembled the pain it caused him, signified to the queen, hiswife, with tears--which were Unusual in him even on the death of hischildren--that a Pope had been created who would be most pernicious toItaly. "

So that, when all is said, Ferrante shed his kingly tears to his wifein private, and to her in private he delivered his opinion of the newPontiff. How, then, came Guicciardini to know of the matter? True, hesays, "It is well known"--meaning that he had those tears upon hearsay. It is, of course, possible that Ferrante's queen may have repeated whatpassed between herself and the king; but that would surely have been incontravention of the wishes of her husband, who had, be it remembered, "dissembled his grief in public. " And Ferrante does not impress oneas the sort of husband whose wishes his wife would be bold enough tocontravene. 

It is surprising that upon no better authority than this should theseprecious tears of Ferrante's have been crystallized in history. 

If this trivial instance has been dealt with at such length it isbecause, for one reason, it is typical of the foundation of so manyof the Borgia legends, and, for another, because when history has beencarefully sifted for evidence of the "universal dismay with which theelection of Roderigo Borgia was received" King Ferrante's is the onlycase of dismay that comes through the mesh at all. Therefore was itexpedient to examine it minutely. 

That "universal dismay"--like the tears of Ferrante--rests upon the wordof Guicciardini. He says that "men were filled with dread and horror bythis election, because it had been effected by such evil ways [con artesi brutte]; and no less because the nature and condition of the personelected were largely known to many. "

Guicciardini is to be read with the greatest caution and reserve when hedeals with Rome. His bias against, and his enmity of, the Papacy are asobvious as they are notorious, and in his endeavours to bring it as muchas possible into discredit he does not even spare his generous patrons, the Medicean Popes--Leo X and Clement VII. If he finds it impossible torestrain his invective against these Pontiffs, who heaped favours andhonours upon him, what but virulence can be expected of him whenhe writes of Alexander VI? He is largely to blame for the flagrantexaggeration of many of the charges brought against the Borgias; that hehated them we know, and that when he wrote of them he dipped his goldenTuscan pen in vitriol and set down what he desired the world to believerather than what contemporary documents would have revealed to him, we can prove here and now from that one statement of his which we havequoted. 

Who were the men who were filled with dismay, horror, or dread atRoderigo's election?

The Milanese? No. For we know that Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, the Dukeof Milan's brother, was the most active worker in favour of Roderigo'selection, and that this same election was received and celebrated inMilan with public rejoicings. 

The Florentines? No. For the Medici were friendly to the House ofBorgia, and we know that they welcomed the election, and that fromFlorence Manfredi--the Ferrarese ambassador--wrote home: "It is said hewill be a glorious Pontiff" ("Dicesi che sará glorioso Pontefice"). 

Were Venice, Genoa, Mantua, Siena, or Lucca dismayed by this election?Surely not, if the superlatively laudatory congratulations of theirvarious ambassadors are of any account. 

Venice confessed that "a better pastor could not have been found for theChurch, " since he had proved himself "a chief full of experience and anexcellent cardinal. "

Genoa said that "his merit lay not in having been elected, but in havingbeen desired. "

Mantua declared that it "had long awaited the pontificate of one who, during forty years, had rendered himself, by his wisdom and justice, capable of any office. "

Siena expressed its joy at seeing the summit of eminence attained bya Pope solely upon his merits--"Pervenuto alla dignitá pontificalemeramente per meriti proprii. "

Lucca praised the excellent choice made, and extolled theaccomplishments, the wisdom, and experience of the Pontiff. 

Not dismay, then, but actual rejoicing must have been almost universalin Italy on the election of Pope Alexander VI. And very properly--alwaysconsidering the Pontificate as the temporal State it was then beingaccounted; for Roderigo's influence was vast, his intelligence wasrenowned, and had again and again been proved, and his administrativetalents and capacity for affairs were known to all. He was well-born, cultured, of a fine and noble presence, and his wealth was colossal, comprising the archbishoprics of Valencia and Porto, the bishoprics ofMajorca, Carthage, Agria, the abbeys of Subiaco, the Monastery of OurLady of Bellefontaine, the deaconry of Sancta Maria in Via Lata, and hisoffices of Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Holy Church. 

We are told that he gained his election by simony. It is veryprobable that he did. But the accusation has never been categoricallyestablished, and until that happens it would be well to moderatethe vituperation hurled at him. Charges of that simony are common;conclusive proof there is none. We find Giacomo Trotti, the Frenchambassador in Milan, writing to the Duke of Ferrara a fortnight afterRoderigo's election that "the Papacy has been sold by simony and athousand rascalities, which is a thing ignominious and detestable. "

Ignominious and detestable indeed, if true; but be it remembered thatTrotti was the ambassador of France, whose candidate, backed by Frenchinfluence and French gold, as we have seen, was della Rovere; and, evenif his statement was true, the "ignominious and detestable thing" was atleast no novelty. Yet Guicciardini, treating of this matter, says: "Hegained the Pontificate owing to discord between the Cardinals AscanioSforza and Giuliano di San Pietro in Vincoli; and still more because, ina manner without precedent in that age [con esempio nuovo in quella etá]he openly bought the votes of many cardinals, some with money, some withpromises of his offices and benefices, which were very great. "

Again Guicciardini betrays his bias by attempting to render Roderigo'scourse, assuming it for the moment to be truly represented, peculiarlyodious by this assertion that it was without precedent in that age. 

Without precedent! What of the accusations of simony against InnocentVIII, which rest upon a much sounder basis than these against Alexander, and what of those against Sixtus IV? Further, if a simoniacal electionwas unprecedented, what of Lorenzo Valla's fierce indictment ofsimony--for which he so narrowly escaped the clutches of the Inquisitionsome sixty years before this date?

Simony was rampant at the time, and it is the rankest hypocrisy to makethis outcry against Alexander's uses of it, and to forget the others. 

Whether he really was elected by simony or not depends largely--so faras the evidence available goes--upon what we are to consider assimony. If payment in the literal sense was made or promised, thenunquestionably simony there was. But this, though often asserted, stillawaits proof. If the conferring of the benefices vacated by a cardinalon his elevation to the Pontificate is to be considered simony, thenthere never was a Pope yet against whom the charge could not be levelledand established. 

Consider that by his election to the Pontificate his Archbishoprics, offices, nay, his very house itself--which at the time of which we writeit was customary to abandon to pillage--are vacated; and remember that, as Pope, they are now in his gift and that they must of necessity bebestowed upon somebody. In a time in which Pontiffs are imbued with aspiritual sense of their office and duties, they will naturally makesuch bestowals upon those whom they consider best fitted to use themfor the greater honour and glory of God. But we are dealing with no suchspiritual golden age as that when we deal with the Cinquecento, as wehave already seen; and, therefore, all that we can expect of a Pope isthat he should bestow the preferment he has vacated upon those amongthe cardinals whom he believes to be devoted to himself. Considering hiselection in a temporal sense, it is natural that he should behave as anyother temporal prince; that he should remember those to whom he owesthe Pontificate, and that he should reward them suitably. AlexanderVI certainly pursued such a course, and the greatest profit from hiselection was derived by the Cardinal Sforza who--as Roderigo himselfadmitted--had certainly exerted all his influence with the SacredCollege to gain him the Pontificate. Alexander gave him the vacatedVice-Chancellorship (for which, when all is said, Ascanio Sforza wasexcellently fitted), his vacated palace on Banchi Vecchi, the town ofNepi, and the bishopric of Agri. 

To Orsini he gave the Church of Carthage and the legation of Marche; toColonna the Abbey of Subiaco; to Savelli the legation of Perugia (fromwhich he afterwards recalled him, not finding him suited to so difficulta charge); to Raffaele Riario went Spanish benefices worth four thousandducats yearly; to Sanseverino Roderigo's house in Milan, whilst heconsented that Sanseverino's nephew--known as Fracassa--should enterthe service of the Church with a condotta of a hundred men-at-arms and astipend of thirteen thousand ducats yearly. 

Guicciardini says of all this that Ascanio Sforza induced many of thecardinals "to that abominable contract, and not only by request andpersuasion, but by example; because, corrupt and of an insatiableappetite for riches, he bargained for himself, as the reward of so muchturpitude, the Vice-Chancellorships, churches, fortresses [the veryplurals betray the frenzy of exaggeration dictated by his malice] andhis [Roderigo's] palace in Rome full of furniture of great value. "

What possible proof can Guicciardini have--what possible proof can therebe--of such a "bargain"? It rests upon purest assumption formed afterthose properties had changed hands--Ascanio being rewarded by them forhis valuable services, and, also--so far as the Vice-Chancellorship wasconcerned--being suitably preferred. To say that Ascanio receivedthem in consequence of a "bargain" and as the price of his vote andelectioneering services is not only an easy thing to say, but it is theobvious thing for any one to say who aims at defaming. 

It is surprising that we should find in Guicciardini no mention of thefour mule-loads of silver removed before the election from CardinalRoderigo's palace on Banchi Vecchi to Cardinal Ascanio's palace inTrastevere. This is generally alleged to have been part of the priceof Ascanio's services. Whether it was so, or whether, as has also beenurged, it was merely removed to save it from the pillaging by the mobof the palace of the cardinal elected to the Pontificate, the fact isinteresting as indicating in either case Cardinal Roderigo's assuranceof his election. 

M. Yriarte does not hesitate to say: "We know to-day, by the dispatchesof Valori, the narrative of Girolamo Porzio, and the Diarium ofBurchard, the Master of Ceremonies, each of the stipulations made withthe electors whose votes were bought. "

Now whilst we do know from Valori and Porzio what benefices Alexanderactually conferred, we do not know, nor could they possibly havetold us, what stipulations had been made which these benefices wereinsinuated to satisfy. 

Burchard's Diarium might be of more authority on this subject, forBurchard was the Master of Ceremonies at the Vatican; but, unfortunatelyfor the accuracy of M. Yriarte's statement, Burchard is silent on thesubject, for the excellent reason that there is no diary for the periodunder consideration. Burchard's narrative is interrupted on the death ofInnocent VIII, on July 12, and not resumed until December 2, when it isnot retrospective. 

There is, it is true, the Diarium of Infessura. But that is of no moreauthority on such a matter than the narrative of Porzio or the lettersof Valori. 

Lord Acton--in his essay upon this subject--has not been content to restthe imputation of simony upon such grounds as satisfied M. Yriarte. Hehas realized that the only testimony of any real value in such a casewould be the actual evidence of such cardinals as might be willingto bear witness to the attempt to bribe them. And he takes it forgranted--as who would not at this time of day, and in view of suchpositive statements as abound?--that such evidence has been dulycollected; thus, he tells us confidently that the charge rests upon theevidence of those cardinals who refused Roderigo's bribes. 

That it most certainly does not. If it did there would be an end tothe matter, and so much ink would not have been spilled over it; but nosingle cardinal has left any such evidence as Lord Acton supposes andalleges. It suffices to consider that, according to the only evidencesavailable--the Casanatense Codices(1) and the dispatches of that sameValori(2) whom M. Yriarte so confidently cites, Roderigo Borgia'selection was unanimous. Who, then, were these cardinals who refusedhis bribes? Or are we to suppose that, notwithstanding that refusal--arefusal which we may justifiably suppose to have been a scandalized andrighteously indignant one--they still afforded him their votes?

 1 "... Essendo concordi tutti i cardinali, quasi da contrari voti rivoltitutti in favore di uno solo, crearono lui sommo ponteflce" (CasanatenseMSS). See P. Leonetti, Alessandro VI. 2 "Fu pubblicato il CardinaleVice-Cancelliere in Sommo Pontefice Alessandro VI(to) nuncupato, elquale dopo una lunga contentione fu creato omnium consensum--ne ii mancoun solo voto" (Valori's letter to the Otto di Pratica, August 12, 1492). See Supplement to Appendix in E. Thuasne's edition of Burchard'sDiarium. 

This charge of simony was levelled with the object of making AlexanderVI appear singularly heinous. So much has that object engrossed andblinded those inspired by it, that, of itself, it betrays them. Hadtheir horror been honest, had it sprung from true principles, had itbeen born of any but a desire to befoul and bespatter at all costsRoderigo Borgia, it is not against him that they would have hurled theirdenunciations, but against the whole College of Cardinals which tookpart in the sacrilege and which included three future Popes. (1)

 1 Cardinals Piccolomini, de'Medici, and Giuliano della Rovere. 

Assuming not only that there was simony, but that it was on as wholesalea scale as was alleged, and that for gold--coined or in the form ofbenefices--Roderigo bought the cardinal's votes, what then? He boughtthem, true. But they--they sold him their sacred trust, their dutyto their God, their priestly honour, their holy vows. For the gold heoffered them they bartered these. So much admitted, then surely, in thattransaction, those cardinals were the prostitutes! The man who boughtso much of them, at least, was on no baser level than were they. Yet invective singles him out for its one object, and so betrays theaforethought malice of its inspiration. 

Our quarrel is with that; with that, and with those writers who havetaken Alexander's simony for granted--eagerly almost--for the purposeof heaping odium upon him by making him appear a scandalous exception tothe prevailing rule. 

If, nevertheless, we hold, as we have said, that simony probably didtake place, we do so, not so much upon the inconclusive evidence of thefact, as upon the circumstance that it had become almost an establishedcustom to purchase the tiara, and that Roderigo Borgia--since hisambition clearly urged him to the Pontificate--would have been anexception had he refrained. 

It may seem that to have disputed so long to conclude by admitting somuch is no better than a waste of labour. Not so, we hope. Our aim hasbeen to correct the adjustment of the focus and properly to trim thelight in which Roderigo Borgia is to be viewed, to the end that you maysee him as he was--neither better nor worse--the creature of histimes, of his environment, and of the system in which he was reared andtrained. Thus shall you also get a clearer view of his son Cesare, whenpresently he takes the stage more prominently. 

During the seventeen days of the interregnum between the death ofInnocent and the election of Alexander the wild scenes usual tosuch seasons had been taking place in Rome; and, notwithstanding theCardinal-Chamberlain's prompt action in seizing the gates and bridges, and the patrols' endeavours to maintain order, crime was unfetteredto such an extent that some 220 murders are computed to have takenplace--giving the terrible average of thirteen a day. 

It was a very natural epilogue to the lax rule of the lethargicInnocent. One of the first acts of Alexander's reign was to dealsummarily with this lawlessness. He put down violence with a hard handthat knew no mercy. He razed to the ground the house of a murderercaught red-handed, and hanged him above the ruins, and so dealtgenerally that such order came to prevail as had never before been knownin Rome. 

Infessura tells us how, in the very month of his election, he appointedinspectors of prisons and four commissioners to administer justice, and that he himself gave audience on Tuesdays and settled disputes, concluding, "et justitiam mirabili modo facere coepit. "

He paid all salaries promptly--a striking departure, it would seem, from what had been usual under his predecessor--and the effect of hisimproved and strenuous legislation was shortly seen in the diminishedprices of commodities. 

He was crowned Pope on August 6, on the steps of the Basilica ofSt. Peter, by the Cardinal-Archdeacon Piccolomini. The ceremony wascelebrated with a splendour worthy of the splendid figure that was itscentre. Through the eyes of Michele Ferno--despite his admission thathe is unable to convey a worthy notion of the spectacle--you may see thegorgeous procession to the Lateran in which Alexander VI showed himselfto the applauding Romans; the multitude of richly adorned men, gay andfestive; the seven hundred priests and prelates, with their familiarsthe splendid cavalcade of knights and nobles of Rome; the archers andTurkish horsemen, and the Palatine Guard, with its great halberds andflashing shields; the twelve white horses, with their golden bridles, led by footmen; and then Alexander himself on a snow-white horse, "serene of brow and of majestic dignity, " his hand uplifted--theFisherman's Ring upon its forefinger--to bless the kneeling populace. The chronicler flings into superlatives when he comes to praise thepersonal beauty of the man, his physical vigour and health, "which go toincrease the veneration shown him. "

Thus in the brilliant sunshine of that Italian August, amid the plauditsof assembled Rome, amid banners and flowers, music and incense, theflash of steel and the blaze of decorations with the Borgian armseverywhere displayed--or, a grazing steer gules--Alexander VI passes tothe Vatican, the aim and summit of his vast ambition. 

Friends and enemies alike have sung the splendours of that coronation, and the Bull device--as you can imagine--plays a considerable part inthose verses, be they paeans or lampoons. The former allude to Borgia as"the Bull, " from the majesty and might of the animal that was displayedupon their shield; the latter render it the subject of much scurrilousinvective, to which it lends itself as readily. And thereafter, inalmost all verse of their epoch, writers ever say "the Bull" when theymean the Borgia. 

CHAPTER IV. BORGIA ALLIANCES

At the time of his father's election to the throne of St. Peter, CesareBorgia--now in his eighteenth year--was still at the University of Pisa. 

It is a little odd, considering the great affection for his childrenwhich was ever one of Roderigo's most conspicuous characteristics, that he should not have ordered Cesare to Rome at once, to share in thegeneral rejoicings. It has been suggested that Alexander wished to avoidgiving scandal by the presence of his children at such a time. But thatagain looks like a judgement formed upon modern standards, for by thestandards of his day one cannot conceive that he would have givenvery much scandal; moreover, it is to be remembered that Lucrezia andGiuffredo, at least, were in Rome at the time of their father's electionto the tiara. 

However that may be, Cesare did not quit Pisa until August of that year1492, and even then not for Rome, but for Spoleto--in accordance withhis father's orders--where he took up his residence in the castle. Thence he wrote a letter to Piero de'Medici, which is interesting, firstly, as showing the good relations prevailing between them;secondly, as refuting a story in Guicciardini, wherewith that historian, ready, as ever, to belittle the Borgias, attempts to show him cutting apoor figure. He tells us(1) that, whilst at Pisa, Cesare had occasionto make an appeal to Piero de'Medici in the matter of a criminal caseconnected with one of his familiars; that he went to Florence and waitedseveral hours in vain for an audience, whereafter he returned to Pisa"accounting himself despised and not a little injured. "

 1 Istoria d'Italia, tom. V. 

No doubt Guicciardini is as mistaken in this as in many another matter, for the letter written from Spoleto expresses his regret that, onthe occasion of his passage through Florence (on his way from Pisa toSpoleto), he should not have had time to visit Piero, particularly asthere was a matter upon which he desired urgently to consult with him. He recommends to Piero his faithful Remolino, whose ambition it is tooccupy the chair of canon law at the University of Pisa, and begs hisgood offices in that connection. That Juan Vera, Cesare's preceptorand the bearer of that letter, took back a favourable answer is highlyprobable, for in Fabroni's Hist. Acad. Pisan we find this Remolino dulyestablished as a lecturer on canon law in the following year. 

The letter is further of interest as showing Cesare's full consciousnessof the importance of his position; its tone and its signature--"yourbrother, Cesar de Borgia, Elect of Valencia"--being such as were usualbetween princes. 

The two chief aims of Alexander VI, from the very beginning of hispontificate, were to re-establish the power of the Church, which wasthen the most despised of the temporal States of Italy, and to promotethe fortune of his children. Already on the very day of his coronationhe conferred upon Cesare the bishopric of Valencia, whose revenuesamounted to an annual yield of sixteen thousand ducats. For the timebeing, however, he had his hands very full of other matters, and itbehoved him to move slowly at first and with the extremest caution. 

The clouds of war were lowering heavily over Italy when Alexander cameto St. Peter's throne, and it was his first concern to find for himselfa safe position against the coming of the threatening storm. The chiefmenace to the general peace was Lodovico Maria Sforza, surnamed IlMoro, (1) who sat as regent for his nephew, Duke Gian Galeazzo, uponthe throne of Milan. That regency he had usurped from Gian Galeazzo'smother, and he was now in a fair way to usurp the throne itself. He kepthis nephew virtually a prisoner in the Castle of Pavia, together withhis young bride, Isabella of Aragon, who had been sent thither by herfather, the Duke of Calabria, heir to the crown of Naples. 

 1 Touching Lodovico Maria's by-name of "Il Moro"--which is generallytranslated as "The Moor, " whilst in one writer we have found himmentioned as "Black Lodovico, " Benedetto Varchi's explanation (in hisStoria Fiorentina) may be of interest. He tells us that Lodovico was notso called on account of any swarthiness of complexion, as is supposed byGuicciardini, because, on the contrary, he was fair; nor yet on accountof his device, showing a Moorish squire, who, brush in hand, dusts thegown of a young woman in regal apparel, with the motto, "Per Italianettar d'ogni bruttura"; this device of the Moor, he tells us, was arébus or pun upon the word "moro, " which also means the mulberry, andwas so meant by Lodovico. The mulberry burgeons at the end of winterand blossoms very early. Thus Lodovico symbolized his own prudence andreadiness to seize opportunity betimes. 

Gian Galeazzo thus bestowed, Lodovico Maria went calmly about thebusiness of governing, like one who did not mean to relinquish theregency save to become duke. But it happened that a boy was born to theyoung prisoners at Pavia, whereupon, spurred perhaps into activity bythis parenthood and stimulated by the thought that they had now a son'sinterests to fight for as well as their own, they made appeal to KingFerrante of Naples that he should enforce his grandson-in-law's rightsto the throne of Milan. King Ferrante could desire nothing better, forif his grandchild and her husband reigned in Milan, and by his favourand contriving, great should be his influence in the North of Italy. Therefore he stood their friend. 

Matters were at this stage when Alexander VI ascended the papal throne. 

This election gave Ferrante pause, for, as we have seen, he had schemedfor a Pope devoted to his interests, who would stand by him in thecoming strife, and his schemes were rudely shaken now. Whilst he wasstill cogitating the matter of his next move, the wretched FrancescoCibo (Pope Innocent's son) offered to sell the papal fiefs of Cervetriand Anguillara, which had been made over to him by his father, toGentile Orsini--the head of his powerful house. And Gentile purchasedthem under a contract signed at the palace of Cardinal Giuliano dellaRovere, on September 3, for the sum of forty thousand ducats advancedhim by Ferrante. 

Alexander protested strongly against this illegal transaction, forCervetri and Anguillara were fiefs of the Church, and neither had Cibothe right to sell nor Orsini the right to buy them. Moreover, that theyshould be in the hands of a powerful vassal of Naples such as Orsinisuited the Pope as little as it suited Lodovico Maria Sforza. It stirredthe latter into taking measures against the move he feared Ferrantemight make to enforce Gian Galeazzo's claims. 

Lodovico Maria went about this with that sly shrewdness socharacteristic of him, so well symbolized by his mulberry badge--ahumorous shrewdness almost, which makes him one of the most delightfulrogues in history, just as he was one of the most debonair and cultured. He may indeed be considered as one of the types of the subtle, crafty, selfish politician that was the ideal of Macchiavelli. 

You see him, then, effacing the tight-lipped, cunning smile from hiscomely face and pointing out to Venice with a grave, sober countenancehow little it can suit her to have the Neapolitan Spaniards rufflingit in the north, as must happen if Ferrante has his way with Milan. The truth of this was so obvious that Venice made haste to enter intoa league with him, and into the camp thus formed came, for their ownsakes, Mantua, Ferrara, and Siena. The league was powerful enough thusto cause Ferrante to think twice before he took up the cudgels for GianGaleazzo. If Lodovico could include the Pope, the league's might wouldbe so paralysing that Ferrante would cease to think at all about hisgrandchildren's affairs. 

Foreseeing this, Ferrante had perforce to dry the tears Guicciardini hasit that he shed, and, replacing them by a smile, servile and obsequious, repaired, hat in hand, to protest his friendship for the Pope'sHoliness. 

And so, in December of 1492, came the Prince of Altamura--Ferrante'ssecond son--to Rome to lay his father's homage at the feet of thePontiff, and at the same time to implore his Holiness to refuse the Kingof Hungary the dispensation the latter was asking of the Holy See, toenable him to repudiate his wife, Donna Leonora--Ferrante's daughter. 

Altamura was received in Rome and sumptuously entertained by theCardinal Giuliano della Rovere. This cardinal had failed, as we haveseen, to gain the Pontificate for himself, despite the French influenceby which he had been supported. Writhing under his defeat, and hatingthe man who had defeated him with a hatred so bitter and venomousthat the imprint of it is on almost every act of his life--from thefacilities he afforded for the assignment to Orsini of the papal fiefsthat Cibo had to sell--he was already scheming for the overthrow ofAlexander. To this end he needed great and powerful friends; to this endhad he lent himself to the Cibo-Orsini transaction; to this end did hemanifest himself the warm well-wisher of Ferrante; to this end did hecordially welcome the latter's son and envoy, and promise his support toFerrante's petition. 

But the Holy Father was by no means as anxious for the friendship ofthe old wolf of Naples. The matter of the King of Hungary was one thatrequired consideration, and, meanwhile, he may have hinted slyly therewas between Naples and Rome a little matter of two fiefs to be adjusted. 

Thus his most shrewd Holiness thought to gain a little time, and in thattime he might look about him and consider what alliances would suit hisinterests best. 

At this Cardinal della Rovere, in high dudgeon, flung out of Rome andaway to his Castle of Ostia to fortify--to wield the sword of St. Paul, since he had missed the keys of St. Peter. It was a shrewd move. He foresaw the injured dignity of the Spanish House of Naples, andFerrante's wrath at the Pope's light treatment of him and apathy forhis interests; and the cardinal knew that with Ferrante were allied themighty houses of Colonna and Orsini. Thus, by his political divorcementfrom the Holy See, he flung in his lot with theirs, hoping for red warand the deposition of Alexander. 

But surely he forgot Milan and Lodovico Maria, whose brother, AscanioSforza, was at the Pope's elbow, the energetic friend to whose effortsAlexander owed the tiara, and who was therefore hated by della Rovereperhaps as bitterly as Alexander himself. 

Alexander went calmly about the business of fortifying the Vatican andthe Castle of Sant' Angelo, and gathering mercenaries into his service. And, lest any attempt should be made upon his life when he went abroad, he did so with an imposing escort of men-at-arms; which so vexed andfretted King Ferrante, that he did not omit to comment upon it inscathing terms in a letter that presently we shall consider. For therest, the Pope's Holiness preserved an unruffled front in the face ofthe hostile preparations that were toward in the kingdom of Naples, knowing that he could check them when he chose to lift his finger andbeckon the Sforza into alliance. And presently Naples heard an alarmingrumour that Lodovico Maria had, in fact, made overtures to the Pope, and that the Pope had met these advances to the extent of betrothinghis daughter Lucrezia to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro and cousin toLodovico. 

So back to the Vatican went the Neapolitan envoys with definiteproposals of an alliance to be cemented by a marriage between GiuffredoBorgia--aged twelve--and Ferrante's granddaughter Lucrezia of Aragon. The Pope, with his plans but half-matured as yet, temporized, wasevasive, and continued to arm and to recruit. At last, his arrangementscompleted, he abruptly broke off his negotiations with Naples, and onApril 25, 1493, publicly proclaimed that he had joined the northernleague. 

The fury of Ferrante, who realized that he had been played with andoutwitted, was expressed in a rabid letter to his ambassador at theCourt of Spain. 

"This Pope, " he wrote, "leads a life that is the abomination of all, without respect for the seat he occupies. He cares for nothing save toaggrandize his children, by fair means or foul, and this is his soledesire. From the beginning of his Pontificate he has done nothing butdisturb the peace, molesting everybody, now in one way, now in another. Rome is more full of soldiers than of priests, and when he goes abroadit is with troops of men-at-arms about him, with helmets on their headsand lances by their sides, all his thoughts being given to war and toour hurt; nor does he overlook anything that can be used against us, notonly inciting in France the Prince of Salerno and other of our rebels, but befriending every bad character in Italy whom he deems our enemy;and in all things he proceeds with the fraud and dissimulation naturalto him, and to make money he sells even the smallest office andpreferment. "

Thus Ferrante of the man whose friendship he had been seeking some sixweeks earlier, and who had rejected his advances. It is as well to knowthe precise conditions under which that letter was indited, for extractsfrom it are too often quoted against Alexander. These conditions known, and known the man who wrote it, the letter's proper value is at onceapparent. 

It was Ferrante's hope, and no doubt the hope of Giuliano della Rovere, that the King of Spain would lend an ear to these grievances, and movein the matter of attempting to depose Alexander; but an event moreimportant than any other in the whole history of Spain--or of Europe, for that matter--was at the moment claiming its full attention, and thetrifling affairs of the King of Naples--trifling by comparison--wentall unheeded. For this was the year in which the Genoese navigator, Cristofero Colombo, returned to tell of the new and marvellous worldhe had discovered beyond the seas, and Ferdinand and Isabella wereaddressing an appeal to the Pope--as Ruler of the World--to establishthem in the possession of the discovered continent. Whereupon the Popedrew a line from pole to pole, and granted to Spain the dominion overall lands discovered, or to be discovered, one hundred miles westward ofCape Verde and the Azores. 

And thus Ferrante's appeal to Spain against a Pope who showed himself soready and complaisant a friend to Spain went unheeded by Ferdinand andIsabella. And what time the Neapolitan nursed his bitter chagrin, thealliance between Rome and Milan was consolidated by the marriage ofLucrezia Borgia to Giovanni Sforza, the comely weakling who was Lord ofPesaro and Cotignola. 

Lucrezia Borgia's story has been told elsewhere; her rehabilitationhas been undertaken by a great historian(1) among others, and allserious-minded students must be satisfied at this time of day that theLucrezia Borgia of Hugo's tragedy is a creature of fiction, bearinglittle or no resemblance to the poor lady who was a pawn in theambitious game played by her father and her brother Cesare, before shewithdrew to Ferrara, where eventually she died in child-birth in herforty-first year. We know that she left the duke, her husband, strickenwith a grief that was shared by his subjects, to whom she had so deeplyendeared herself by her exemplary life and loving rule. (2)

 1 Ferdinand Gregorovius, Lucrezia Borgia. 2 See, inter alia, the letters of Alfonso d'Este and Giovanni Gonzaga onher death, quoted in Gregorovius, Lucrezia Borgia. 

Later, in the course of this narrative, where she crosses the storyof her brother Cesare, it will be necessary to deal with some ofthe revolting calumnies concerning her that were circulated, and, inpassing, shall be revealed the sources of the malice that inspired themand the nature of the evidence upon which they rest, to the eternalshame alike of those pretended writers of fact and those avowed writersof fiction who, as dead to scruples as to chivalry, have not hesitatedto make her serve their base melodramatic or pornographic ends. 

At present, however, there is no more than her first marriage to berecorded. She was fourteen years of age at the time, and, like all theBorgias, of a rare personal beauty, with blue eyes and golden hair. Twice before, already, had she entered into betrothal contracts withgentlemen of her father's native Spain; but his ever-soaring ambitionhad caused him successively to cancel both those unfulfilled contracts. A husband worthy of the daughter of Cardinal Roderigo Borgia was nolonger worthy of the daughter of Pope Alexander VI, for whom an alliancemust now be sought among Italy's princely houses. And so she came to bebestowed upon the Lord of Pesaro, with a dowry of 30, 000 ducats. 

Her nuptials were celebrated in the Vatican on June 12, 1493, inthe splendid manner worthy of the rank of all concerned and of thereputation for magnificence which the Borgia had acquired. That nightthe Pope gave a supper-party, at which were present some ten cardinalsand a number of ladies and gentlemen of Rome, besides the ambassadorsof Ferrara, Venice, Milan, and France. There was vocal and instrumentalmusic, a comedy was performed, the ladies danced, and they appear tohave carried their gaieties well into the dawn. Hardly the sort of scenefor which the Vatican was the ideal stage. Yet at the time it shouldhave given little or no scandal. But what a scandal was there not, shortly afterwards, in connection with it, and how that scandal washeaped up later, by stories so revolting of the doings of that nightthat one is appalled at the minds that conceived them and the credulitythat accepted them. 

Infessura writes of what he heard, and he writes venomously, as hebetrays by the bitter sarcasm with which he refers to the fifty silvercups filled with sweetmeats which the Pope tossed into the laps ofladies present at the earlier part of the celebration. "He did it, "says Infessura, "to the greater honour and glory of Almighty God and theChurch of Rome. " Beyond that he ventures into no great detail, checkinghimself betimes, however, with a suggested motive for reticence athousand times worse than any formal accusation. Thus: "Much else issaid, of which I do not write, because either it is not true, or, iftrue, incredible. "(1)

 1 "Et multa alia dicta sunt; que hic non scribo, que aut non sunt; velsi sunt, incredibilia" (Infessura, Diarium). 

It is amazing that the veil which Infessura drew with those words shouldhave been pierced--not indeed by the cold light of fact, but by the hoteye of prurient imagination; amazing that he should be quoted at all--hewho was not present--considering that we have the testimony of what didtake place from the pen of an eye-witness, in a letter from GianandreaBoccaccio, the ambassador of Ferrara, to his master. 

At the end of his letter, which describes the proceedings and thewedding-gifts and their presentation, he tells us how the night wasspent. "Afterwards the ladies danced, and, as an interlude, a worthycomedy was performed, with much music and singing, the Pope and all therest of us being present throughout. What else shall I add? It wouldmake a long letter. The whole night was spent in this manner; let yourlordship decide whether well or ill. "

Is not that sufficient to stop the foul mouth of inventive slander? Whatneed to suggest happenings unspeakable? Yet it is the fashion to quotethe last sentence above from Boccaccio's letter in the original--"totamnoctem comsumpsimus; judicet modo Ex(ma. ) Dominatio vestra si beneo male"--as though decency forbade its translation; and at once thispoisonous reticence does its work, and the imagination--and not onlythat of the unlettered--is fired, and all manner of abominations arespeculatively conceived. 

Infessura, being absent, says that the comedies performed werelicentious ("lascive"). But what comedies of that age were not? It wasan age which had not yet invented modesty, as we understand it. ThatBoccaccio, who was present, saw nothing unusual in the comedy--therewas only one, according to him--is proved by his description of it as"worthy" ("una degna commedia. ")

M. Yriarte on this same subject(1) is not only petty, but grotesque. He chooses to relate the incident from the point of view of Infessura, whom, by the way, he translates with an amazing freedom, (2) and he makesbold to add regarding Gianandrea Boccaccio that: "It must also besaid that the ambassador of Ferrara, either because he did not seeeverything, or because he was less austere than Infessura, was notshocked by the comedies, etc. " ("soit qu'il n'ait pas tout vu, soitqu'il ait été moins austère qu'Infessura, n'est pas choqué.... ")

 1 La Vie de César Borgia. 2 Thus in the matter of the fifty silver cups tossed by the Pope intothe ladies' laps, "sinum" is the word employed by Infessura--a wordwhich has too loosely been given its general translation of "bosom, "ignoring that it equally means "lap" and that "lap" it obviously meansin this instance. M. Yriarte, however, goes a step further, and prefersto translate it as "corsage, " which at once, and unpleasantly, falsifiesthe picture; and he adds matter to dot the I's to an extent certainlynot warranted even by Infessura. 

M. Yriarte, you observe, does not scruple to opine that Boccaccio, whowas present, did not see everything; but he has no doubt that Infessura, who was not present, and who wrote from "hearsay, " missed nothing. 

Alas! Too much of the history of the Borgias has been written in thisspirit, and the discrimination in the selection of authorities has everbeen with a view to obtaining the more sensational rather than the moretruthful narrative. 

Although it is known that Cesare came to Rome in the early part of1493--for his presence there is reported by Gianandrea Boccaccioin March of that year--there is no mention of him at this time inconnection with his sister's wedding. Apparently, then, he was notpresent, although it is impossible to suggest where he might have beenat the time. 

Boccaccio draws a picture of him in that letter, which is worthy ofattention, "On the day before yesterday I found Cesare at home inTrastevere. He was on the point of setting out to go hunting, andentirely in secular habit; that is to say, dressed in silk and armed. Riding together, we talked a while. I am among his most intimateacquaintances. He is man of great talent and of an excellent nature; hismanners are those of the son of a great prince; above everything, he isjoyous and light-hearted. He is very modest, much superior to, and of amuch finer appearance than, his brother the Duke of Gandia, who also isnot short of natural gifts. The archbishop never had any inclination forthe priesthood. But his benefice yields him over 16, 000 ducats. "

It may not be amiss--though perhaps no longer very necessary, after whathas been written--to say a word at this stage on the social position ofbastards in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, to emphasize the factthat no stigma attached to Cesare Borgia or to any other member of hisfather's family on the score of the illegitimacy of their birth. 

It is sufficient to consider the marriages they contracted to perceivethat, however shocking the circumstances may appear to modern notions, the circumstance of their father being a Pope not only cannot have beenaccounted extraordinarily scandalous (if scandalous at all) but, on thecontrary, rendered them eligible for alliances even princely. 

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries we see the bastard born ofa noble, as noble as his father, displaying his father's arms withoutdebruisement and enjoying his rank and inheritance unchallenged on thescore of his birth, even though that inheritance should be a throne--aswitness Lucrezia's husband Giovanni, who, though a bastard of the houseof Sforza, succeeded, nevertheless, his father in the Tyranny of Pesaroand Cotignola. 

Later we shall see this same Lucrezia, her illegitimacy notwithstanding, married into the noble House of Este and seated upon the throne ofFerrara. And before then we shall have seen the bastard Cesare marriedto a daughter of the royal House of Navarre. Already we have seen thebastard Francesco Cibo take to wife the daughter of the great Lorenzode'Medici, and we have seen the bastard Girolamo Riario married toCaterina Sforza--a natural daughter of the ducal House of Milan--and wehave seen the pair installed in the Tyranny of Imola and Forli. A scoreof other instances might be added; but these should suffice. 

The matter calls for the making of no philosophies, craves noexplaining, and, above all, needs no apology. It clears itself. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries--more just than our own moreenlightened times--attributed no shame to the men and women born out ofwedlock, saw no reason--as no reason is there, Christian or Pagan--whythey should suffer for a condition that was none of their contriving. 

To mention it may be of help in visualizing and understanding thatdirect and forceful epoch, and may even suggest some lenience inconsidering a Pope's carnal paternity. To those to whom the point ofview of the Renaissance does not promptly suggest itself from this plainstatement of fact, all unargued as we leave it, we recommend a perusalof Gianpietro de Crescenzi's Il Nobile Romano. 

The marriage of Lucrezia Borgia to Giovanni Sforza tightened therelations between the Pope and Milan, as the Pope intended. Meanwhile, however, the crafty and mistrustful Lodovico, having no illusions asto the true values of his allies, and realizing them to be self-seekerslike himself, with interests that were fundamentally different from hisown, perceived that they were likely only to adhere to him for justso long as it suited their own ends. He bethought him, therefore, oflooking about him for other means by which to crush the power of Naples. France was casting longing eyes upon Italy, and it seemed to Lodovicothat in France was a ready catspaw. Charles VIII, as the representativeof the House of Anjou, had a certain meagre claim upon the throne ofNaples; if he could be induced to ride south, lance on thigh, and pressthat claim there would be an end to the dominion of the House of Aragon, and so an end to Lodovico's fears of a Neapolitan interference with hisown occupation of the throne of Milan. 

To an ordinary schemer that should have been enough; but as a schemerLodovico was wholly extraordinary. His plans grew in the maturing, andtook in side-issues, until he saw that Naples should be to Charles VIIIas the cheese within the mouse-trap. Let his advent into Italy to breakthe power of Naples be free and open; but, once within, he should findMilan and the northern allies between himself and his retreat, andLodovico's should it be to bring him to his knees. Thus schemed Lodovicoto shiver, first Naples and then France, before hurling the latter backacross the Alps. A daring, bold, and yet simple plan of action. And whata power in Italy should not Lodovico derive from its success!

Forthwith he got secretly to work upon it, sending his invitation toCharles to come and make good his claim to Naples, offering the Frenchtroops free passage through his territory. (1) And in the characterof his invitation he played upon the nature of malformed, ambitiousCharles, whose brain was stuffed with romance and chivalricrhodomontades. The conquest of Naples was an easy affair, no more thana step in the glorious enterprise that awaited the French king, forfrom Naples he could cross to engage the Turk, and win back the HolySepulchre, thus becoming a second Charles the Great. 

 1 See Corlo, Storia di Milano, and Lodovico's letter to Charles VIII, quoted therein, lib. Vii. 

Thus Lodovico Maria the crafty, to dazzle Charles the romantic, and totake the bull of impending invasion by the very horns. 

We have seen the failure of the appeal to Spain against the Pope madeby the King of Naples. To that failure was now added the tightening ofRome's relations with Milan by the marriage between Lucrezia Borgia andGiovanni Sforza, and Ferrante--rumours of a French invasion, withNaples for its objective being already in the air--realized that nothingremained him but to make another attempt to conciliate the Pope'sHoliness. And this time he went about his negotiations in a mannerbetter calculated to serve his ends, since his need was grown moreurgent. He sent the Prince of Altamura again to Rome for the ostensiblepurpose of settling the vexatious matter of Cervetri and Anguillara andmaking alliance with the Holy Father, whilst behind Altamura was theNeapolitan army ready to move upon Rome should the envoy fail this time. 

But on the terms now put forward, Alexander was willing to negotiate, and so a peace was patched up between Naples and the Holy See, theconditions of which were that Orsini should retain the fiefs for hislifetime, but that they should revert to Holy Church on his death, andthat he should pay the Church for the life-lease of them the sum of40, 000 ducats, which already he had paid to Francesco Cibo; that thepeace should be consolidated by the marriage of the Pope's bastard, Giuffredo, with Sancia of Aragon, the natural daughter of the Duke ofCalabria, heir to the throne of Naples, and that she should bring thePrincipality of Squillace and the County of Coriate as her dowry. 

The other condition demanded by Naples--at the suggestion of CardinalGiuliano della Rovere--was that the Pope should disgrace and dismisshis Vice­Chancellor, Ascanio Sforza, which would have shattered thepontifical relations with Milan. To this, however, the Pope would notagree, but he met Naples in the matter to the extent of consenting tooverlook Cardinal della Rovere's defection and receive him back intofavour. 

On these terms the peace was at last concluded in August of 1493, andimmediately afterwards there arrived in Rome the Sieur Peron de Basche, an envoy from the King of France charged with the mission to prevent anyalliance between Rome and Naples. 

The Frenchman was behind the fair. The Pope took the only coursepossible under the awkward circumstances, and refused to see theambasssador. Thereupon the offended King of France held a grand council"in which were proposed and treated many things against the Pope and forthe reform of the Church. "

These royal outbursts of Christianity, these pious kingly frenzies tounseat an unworthy Pontiff and reform the Church, follow always, youwill observe, upon the miscarriage of royal wishes. 

In the Consistory of September 1493 the Pope created twelve newcardinals to strengthen the Sacred College in general and his own handin particular. 

Amongst these new creations were the Pope's son Cesare, and AlessandroFarnese, the brother of the beautiful Giulia. The grant of the red hatto the latter appears to have caused some scandal, for, owing to thePope's relations with his sister, to which it was openly said thatFarnese owed the purple, he received the by-name of Cardinal dellaGonella--Cardinal of the Petticoat. 

That was the first important step in the fortunes of the House ofFarnese, which was to give dukes to Parma, and reach the throne of Spain(in the person of Isabella Farnese) before becoming extinct in 1758. 

BOOK II. THE BULL PASCANT

Roma Bovem invenit tunc, cum fundatur aratro, Et nunc lapsa suo est eccerenata Bove. 

From an inscription quoted by Bernardino Coaxo. 

CHAPTER I. THE FRENCH INVASION

You see Cesare Borgia, now in his nineteenth year, raised to the purplewith the title of Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria Nuova--notwithstandingwhich, however, he continues to be known in preference, and, indeed, tosign himself by the title of his archbishopric, Cardinal of Valencia. 

It is hardly necessary to mention that, although already Bishop ofPampeluna and Archbishop of Valencia, he had received so far only hisfirst tonsure. He never did receive any ecclesiastical orders beyond theminor and revocable ones. 

It was said by Infessura, and has since been repeated by a multitude ofhistorians, upon no better authority than that of this writer on hearsayand inveterate gossip, that, to raise Cesare to the purple, Alexanderwas forced to prove the legitimacy of that young man's birth, and thatto this end he procured false witnesses to swear that he was "the son ofVannozza de' Catanei and her husband, Domenico d'Arignano. " Already hasthis been touched upon in an earlier chapter, here it was shown thatVannozza never had a husband of the name of d'Arignano, and it mightreasonably be supposed that this circumstance alone would have sufficedto restrain any serious writer from accepting and repeating Infessura'sunauthoritative statement. 

But if more they needed, it was ready to their hands in the Bullof Sixtus IV of October 1, 1480--to which also allusion has beenmade--dispensing Cesare from proving his legitimacy: "Super defectumnatalium od ordines et quoecumque beneficia. "

Besides that, of what avail would any false swearing have been, considering that Cesare was openly named Borgia, that he was openlyacknowledged by his father, and that in the very Bull above mentioned heis stated to be the son of Roderigo Borgia?

This is another instance of the lightness, the recklessness with whichAlexander VI has been accused of unseemly and illicit conduct, which itmay not be amiss to mention at this stage, since, if not the accusationitself, at least the matter that occasioned it belongs chronologicallyhere. 

During the first months of his reign--following in the footsteps ofpredecessors who had made additions to the Vatican--Alexander setabout the building of the Borgia Tower. For its decoration he broughtPerugino, Pinturicchio, Volterrano, and Peruzzi to Rome. ConcerningPinturicchio and Alexander, Vasari tells us, in his Vita degli Artefici, that over the door of one of the rooms in the Borgia Tower the artistpainted a picture of the Virgin Mary in the likeness of Giulia Farnese(who posed to him as the model) with Alexander kneeling to her inadoration, arrayed in full pontificals. 

Such a thing would have been horrible, revolting, sacrilegious. Fortunately it does not even amount to a truth untruly told; and wellwould it be if all the lies against the Borgias were as easy to refute. True, Pinturicchio did paint Giulia Farnese as the Madonna; true alsothat he did paint Alexander kneeling in adoration--but not to theMadonna, not in the same picture at all. The Madonna for which GiuliaFarnese was the model is over a doorway, as Vasari says. The kneelingAlexander is in another room, and the object of his adoration is theSaviour rising from His tomb. 

Yet one reputable writer after another has repeated that lie ofVasari's, and shocked us by the scandalous spectacle of a Pope sodebauched and lewd that he kneels in pontificals, in adoration, at thefeet of his mistress depicted as the Virgin Mary. 

In October of that same year of 1493 Cesare accompanied his father on avisit to Orvieto, a journey which appears to have been partly undertakenin response to an invitation from Giulia Farnese's brother Alessandro. 

Orvieto was falling at the time into decay and ruin, no longer theprosperous centre it had been less than a hundred years earlier; but theshrewd eye of Alexander perceived its value as a stronghold, to be usedas an outpost of Rome or as a refuge in time of danger, and he proceededto repair and fortify it. In the following summer Cesare was investedwith its governorship, at the request of its inhabitants, who sent anembassy to the Pope with their proposal, --by way, no doubt, of showingtheir gratitude for his interest in the town. 

But in the meantime, towards the end of 1493, King Ferrante's uneasinessat the ever-swelling rumours of the impending French invasion wasquickened by the fact that the Pope had not yet sent his son Giuffredoto Naples to marry Donna Sancia, as had been contracted. Ferrante fearedthe intrigues of Milan with Alexander, and that the latter mightbe induced, after all, to join the northern league. In a frenzy ofapprehension, the old king was at last on the point of going to Milan tothrow himself at the feet of Lodovico Sforza, who was now his only hope, when news reached him that his ambassadors had been ordered to leaveFrance. 

That death-blow to his hopes was a death-blow to the man himself. Uponreceiving the news he was smitten by an apoplexy, and upon January 25, 1494, he departed this life without the consolation of being able tosuppose that any of his schemes had done anything to avert the impendingruin of his house. 

In spite of all Alexander's intercessions and representations, calculated to induce Charles VIII to abandon his descent upon Italy; inspite, no less, of the counsel he received at home from such far-seeingmen as had his ear, the Christian King was now determined upon theexpedition and his preparations were well advanced. In the month ofMarch he assumed the title of King of Sicily, and sent formal intimationof it to Alexander, demanding his investiture at the hands of the Popeand offering to pay him a heavy annual tribute. Alexander was thus givento choose between the wrath of France and the wrath of Naples, and--toput the basest construction on his motives--he saw that the peril froman enemy on his very frontiers would be more imminent than that of anenemy beyond the Alps. It is also possible that he chose to be guided byhis sense of justice and to do in the matter what he considered right. By whatever motive he was prompted, the result was that he refused toaccede to the wishes of the Christian King. 

The Consistory which received the French ambassador--Peron deBasche--became the scene of stormy remonstrances, Cardinal Giulianodella Rovere, of course, supporting the ambassador and being supportedin his act of insubordination by the Vice-Chancellor Ascanio Sforza(who represented his brother Lodovico in the matter) and the CardinalsSanseverino, Colonna, and Savelli, all attached to French interests. Peron de Basche so far presumed, no doubt emboldened by this support, asto threaten the Pope with deposition if he persisted in his refusal toobey the King of France. 

You see once more that kingly attitude, and you shall see it yet againpresently and be convinced of its precise worth. In one hand a bribe ofheavy annual tribute, in the other a threat of deposition; it was thusthey conducted their business with the Holy Father. In this instance hisHoliness took the threat, and dismissed the insolent ambassador. DellaRovere, conceiving that in France he had a stouter ally than in Naples, and seeing that he had once more incurred the papal anger by hisopen enmity, fled back to Ostia; and, not feeling safe there, for thepontifical forces were advancing upon his fortress, took ship to Genoa, and thence to France, to plot the Pope's ruin with the exasperatedCharles; and, the charge of simony being the only weapon with whichthey could attack Alexander's seat upon the papal throne, the charge ofsimony was once more brandished. 

His Holiness took the matter with a becoming and stately calm. He senthis nephew, Giovanni Borgia, to Naples to crown Alfonso, and with himwent Giuffredo Borgia to carry out the marriage contract with Alfonso'sdaughter, and thus strengthen the alliance between Rome and Naples. 

By the autumn Charles had crossed the Alps with the most formidable armythat had ever been sent out of France, full ninety thousand strong. Andso badly was the war conducted by the Neapolitan generals who were sentto hold him in check that the appearance of the French under the verywalls of Rome was almost such as to take the Pope by surprise. Charles'sadvance from the north had been so swift and unhindered that Alexandercontemptuously said the French soldiers had come into Italy with woodenspurs and chalk in their hands to mark their lodgings. 

Charles had been well received by the intriguing Lodovico Sforza, withwhom he visited the Castle of Pavia and the unfortunate Gian Galeazzo, who from long confinement, chagrin, and other causes was now reducedto the sorriest condition. Indeed, on October 22, some days after thatvisit, the wretched prince expired. Whether or not Lodovico had himpoisoned, as has been alleged--a charge, which, after all, rests on noproof, nor even upon the word of any person of reliance--his death mostcertainly lies at his ambitious uncle's door. 

Charles was at Piacenza when the news of Gian Galeazzo's death reachedhim. Like the good Christian that he accounted himself, he ordered themost solemn and imposing obsequies for the poor youth for whom in lifehe had done nothing. 

Gian Galeazzo left a heart-broken girl-widow and two children to succeedhim to the throne he had never been allowed to occupy--the eldest, Francesco Sforza, being a boy of five. Nevertheless, Lodovico waselected Duke of Milan. Not only did he suborn the Parliament of Milanto that end, but he induced the Emperor to confirm him in the title. Tothis the Emperor consented, seeking to mask the unscrupulous deed by apitiful sophism. He expounded that the throne of Milan should originallyhave been Lodovico's, and never Galeazzo Maria's (Gian Galeazzo'sfather), because the latter was born before Francesco Sforza had becomeDuke of Milan, whereas Lodovico was born when he already was so. 

The obsequies of Gian Galeazzo completed, Charles pushed on. FromFlorence he issued his manifesto, and although this confined itself toclaiming the kingdom of Naples, and said no word of punishing the Popefor his disobedience in crowning Alfonso and being now in alliance withhim, it stirred up grave uneasiness at the Vatican. 

The Pope's position was becoming extremely difficult; nevertheless, he wore the boldest possible face when he received the ambassadors ofFrance, and on December 9 refused to grant the letters patent of passagethrough the Pontifical States which the French demanded. ThereuponCharles advanced threateningly upon Rome, and was joined now by thoseturbulent barons Orsini, Colonna, and Savelli. 

Alexander VI has been widely accused of effecting a volte-face at thisstage and betraying his Neapolitan allies; but his conduct, properlyconsidered, can hardly amount to that. What concessions he made toFrance were such as a wise and inadequately supported man must make toan army ninety thousand strong. To be recklessly and quixotically heroicis not within the function of Popes; moreover, Alexander had Rome tothink of, for Charles had sent word that, if he were resisted he wouldleave all in ruins, whereas if a free passage were accorded him he woulddo no hurt nor suffer any pillage to be done in Rome. 

So the Pope did the only thing consistent with prudence: he made avirtue of necessity and gave way where it was utterly impossible for himto resist. He permitted Charles the passage through his territory whichCharles was perfectly able to take for himself if refused. There ensuedan interchange of compliments between Pope and King, and early inJanuary Charles entered Rome in such warlike panoply as struck terrorinto the hearts of all beholders. Of that entrance Paolo Giovio has leftus an impressive picture. 

The vanguard was composed of Swiss and German mercenaries--tall fellows, these professional warriors, superb in their carriage and steppingin time to the beat of their drums; they were dressed in variegated, close-fitting garments that revealed all their athletic symmetry. Afourth of them were armed with long, square-bladed halberts, new toItaly; the remainder trailed their ten-foot pikes, and carried a shortsword at their belts, whilst to every thousand of them there were ahundred arquebusiers. After them came the French infantry, withoutarmour save the officers, who wore steel corselets and head-pieces. These, again, were followed by five thousand Gascon arbalisters, eachshouldering his arbalest--a phalanx of short, rude fellows, not to becompared with the stately Swiss. Next came the cavalry, advancing insquadrons, glittering and resplendent in their steel casings; 2, 500 ofthese were in full heavy armour, wielding iron maces and the ponderouslances that were usual also in Italy. Every man-at-arms had with himthree horses, mounted by a squire and two valets (four men going to thelance in France). Some 5, 000 of the cavalry were more lightly armed, incorselets and head-piece only, and they carried long wooden bows in theEnglish fashion; whilst some were armed with pikes, intended to completethe work of the heavier cavalry. These were followed by 200 knights--thevery flower of French chivalry for birth and valour--shouldering theirheavy iron maces, their armour covered by purple, gold-embroideredsurcoats. Behind them came 400 mounted archers forming the bodyguard ofthe king. 

The misshapen monarch himself was the very caricature of a man, hideousand grotesque as a gargoyle. He was short of stature, spindle-shanked, rachitic and malformed, and of his face, with its colossal nose, loosemouth and shallow brow, Giovio says that "it was the ugliest ever seenon man. "

Such was the person of the young king--he was twenty-four years of ageat the time--who poured his legions into Rome, and all full-armed as iffor work of immediate destruction. Seen, as they were, by torchlightand the blaze of kindled bonfires--for night had fallen long beforethe rearguard had entered the city--they looked vague, fantastic, andterrifying. But the most awe-inspiring sight of all was kept for theend; it consisted of the thirty-six pieces of artillery which broughtup the rear, each piece upon a carriage swiftly drawn by horses, andthe longest measuring eight feet, weighing six thousand pounds, anddischarging an iron ball as big as a man's head. 

The king lay in the Palace of San Marco, where a lodging had beenprepared for him, and thither on the day after his entrance came CesareBorgia, with six Cardinals, from the Castle of Sant' Angelo, whitherthe Pope had withdrawn, to wait upon his Christian Majesty. Charlesimmediately revealed the full and exigent nature of his demands. Herequired the Pope's aid and counsel in the conquest of Naples, uponwhich he was proceeding; that Cesare Borgia be delivered into his handsas a hostage to ensure the Pope's friendliness; and that the Castle ofSant' Angelo be handed over to him to be used as a retreat in case ofneed or danger. Further, he demanded that Prince Djem--the brother ofSultan Bajazet, who was in the Pope's hands--should be delivered up tohim as a further hostage. 

This Djem (Gem, or Zizim, as his name is variously spelled) was thesecond son of Mahomet II, whose throne he had disputed with his brotherBajazet on their father's death. He had raised an army to enforce hisclaim, and had not lacked for partisans; but he was defeated and putto flight by his brother. For safety he had delivered himself up to theKnights of Rhodes, whom he knew to be Bajazet's implacable enemies. They made him very welcome, for d'Aubusson, the Grand Master of Rhodes, realized that the possession of the prince's person was a very fortunatecircumstance for Christianity, since by means of such a hostage theTurk could be kept in submission. Accordingly d'Aubusson had sent him toFrance, and wrote: "While Djem lives, and is in our hands, Bajazet willnever dare to make war upon Christians, who will thus enjoy great peace. Thus is it salutary that Djem should remain in our power. " And in FranceDjem had been well received and treated with every consideration due toa person of his princely rank. 

But he appears to have become a subject of contention among thePowers, several of which urged that he could be of greater service toChristianity in their hands than in those of France. Thus, the King ofHungary had demanded him because, being a neighbour of Bajazet's, hewas constantly in apprehension of Turkish raids. Ferdinand of Spain haddesired him because the possession of him would assist the Catholic Kingin the expulsion of the Moors. Ferrante of Naples had craved him becausehe lived in perpetual terror of a Turkish invasion. 

In the end he had been sent to Rome, whither he went willingly underthe advice of the Knights of Rhodes, whose prisoner he really consideredhimself. They had discovered that Bajazet was offering enormous bribesto Charles for the surrender of him, and they feared lest Charles shouldsuccumb to the temptation. 

So Prince Djem had come to Rome in the reign of Pope Innocent VIII, andthere he had since remained, Sultan Bajazet making the Pope an annualallowance of forty thousand ducats for his brother's safe custody. Hewas a willing prisoner, or rather a willing exile, for, far from beingkept a prisoner, he was treated at Rome with every consideration, associating freely with those about the Pontifical Court, and beingfrequently seen abroad in company with the Pope and the Duke of Gandia. 

Now Charles was aware that the Pope, in his dread of a French invasion, and seeing vain all his efforts to dissuade Charles from making hisdescent upon Italy, had appealed for aid to Bajazet. For so doing he hasbeen severely censured, and with some justice, for the picture of theHead of Christianity making appeal to the infidel to assist him againstChristians is not an edifying one. Still, it receives some measureof justification when we reflect what was the attitude of these sameChristians towards their Head. 

Bajazet himself, thrown into a panic at the thought of Djem falling intothe hands of a king who proposed to make a raid upon him, answered thePope begging his Holiness to "have Djem removed from the tribulations ofthis world, and his soul transported to another, where he might enjoy agreater peace. " For this service he offered the Pope 300, 000 ducats, tobe paid on delivery of the prince's body; and, if the price was high, sowas the service required, for it would have ensured Bajazet a peace ofmind he could not hope to enjoy while his brother lived. 

This letter was intercepted by Giovanni della Rovere, the Prefect ofSinigaglia, who very promptly handed it to his brother, the CardinalGiuliano. The cardinal, in his turn, laid it before the King of France, who now demanded of the Pope the surrender of the person of this Djem asa further hostage. 

Alexander began by rejecting the king's proposals severally andcollectively, but Charles pressed him to reconsider his refusal, and so, being again between the sword and the wall, the Pope was compelled tosubmit. A treaty was drawn up and signed on January 15, the king, onhis side, promising to recognize the Pope and to uphold him in all hisrights. 

On the following day Charles made solemn act of veneration to thePontiff in Consistory, kissing his ring and his foot, and professingobedience to him as the kings of France, his forbears, had ever done. Words for deeds!

Charles remained twelve days longer in Rome, and set out at last, onJanuary 28, upon the conquest of Naples. First he went solemnly to takehis leave of the Pope, and they parted with every outward mark of amutual esteem which they most certainly cannot have experienced. WhenCharles knelt for the Pope's blessing, Alexander raised him up andembraced him; whilst Cesare completed the show of friendliness bypresenting Charles with six beautiful chargers. 

They set out immediately afterwards, the French king taking with himhis hostages, neither of which he was destined to retain for long, withCesare riding in the place of honour on his right. 

The army lay at Marino that night, and on the following at Velletri. Inthe latter city Charles was met by an ambassador of Spain--Antonio daFonseca. Ferdinand and Isabella were moved at last to befriend theircousins of Naples, whom all else had now abandoned, and at the same timeserve their own interests. Their ambassador demanded that Charles shouldabandon his enterprise and return to France, or else be prepared for warwith Spain. 

It is eminently probable that Cesare had knowledge of this ultimatum toCharles, and that his knowledge influenced his conduct. However that maybe, he slipped out of Velletri in the dead of that same night disguisedas a groom. Half a mile out of the town, Francesco del Sacco, an officerof the Podestá of Velletri, awaited him with a horse, and on this hesped back to Rome, where he arrived on the night of the 30th. He wentstraight to the house of one Antonio Flores, an auditor of the Tribunalof the Ruota and a person of his confidence, who through his influenceand protection was destined to rise to the eminence of the archbishopricof Avignon and Papal Nuncio to the Court of France. 

Cesare remained at Flores's house, sending word to the Pope of hispresence, but not attempting to approach the Vatican. On the followingday he withdrew to the stronghold of Spoleto. 

Meanwhile Rome was thrown into a panic by the young cardinal'saction and the dread of reprisals on the part of France. The quakingmunicipality sent representatives to Charles to assure him that Rome hadhad nothing to do with this breach of the treaty, and to implore him notto visit it upon the city. The king replied by a special embassy tothe Pope, and there apparently dropped the matter, for a few days laterCesare reappeared at the Vatican. 

Charles, meanwhile, despite the threats of Spain, pushed on toaccomplish his easy conquest. 

King Alfonso had already fled the kingdom (January 25), abdicating infavour of his brother Federigo. His avowed object was to withdraw toSicily, retire from the world, and do penance for his sins, for which nodoubt there was ample occasion. The real spur was probably--as opinedby Commines--cowardice; for, says that Frenchman, "Jamais homme cruel nefut hardi. "

Federigo's defence of the realm consigned to him was not conspicuous, for the French entered Naples almost without striking a blow withintwenty days of their departure from Rome. 

Scarcely had Charles laid aside his armour when death robbed him of thesecond hostage he had brought from the Vatican. On February 25, aftera week's illness, Prince Djem died of dysentery at the Castle of Capua, whither Charles had sent him. 

Rumours that he had been poisoned by the Pope arose almost at once; but, considering that twenty­eight days had elapsed since his partingfrom Alexander, it was, with the best intentions in the world, ratherdifficult to make that poisoning credible, until the bright notion wasconceived, and made public, that the poison used was a "white powder"of unknown components, which did its work slowly, and killed the victimsome time after it had been administered. Thus, by a bold and brazeninvention, an impossible falsehood was made to wear a possible aspect. 

And in that you have most probably the origin of the famous secretpoison of the Borgias. Having been invented to fit the alleged poisoningof Prince Djem, which it was desired to fasten upon the Pope by hook orby crook, it was found altogether too valuable an invention not to beused again. By means of it, it became possible to lay almost any deathin the world at the door of Alexander. 

Before proceeding to inquire further into this particular case, let ushere and now say that, just as to-day there is no inorganic toxin knownto science that will either lie fallow for weeks in the human system, suddenly to become active and slay, or yet to kill by slow degreesinvolving some weeks in the process, so none was known in the Borgian orany other era. Science indeed will tell you that the very notion ofany such poison is flagrantly absurd, and that such a toxic action isagainst all the laws of nature. 

But a scientific disquisition is unnecessary. For our present needsarguments of common sense should abundantly suffice. This poison--thiswhite powder--was said to be a secret of the Borgias. If that is so, by what Borgia was the secret of its existence ever divulged? Or, if itnever was divulged, how comes it to be known that a poison so secret, and working at such distances of time, was ever wielded by them?

The very nature of its alleged action was such as utterly to conceal thehand that had administered it; yet here, on the first recorded occasionof its alleged use, it was more or less common knowledge if Giovio andGuicciardini are to be believed!

Sagredo(1) says that Djem died at Terracina three days after having beenconsigned to Charles VIII, of poison administered by Alexander, to whomBajazet had promised a large sum of money for the deed. The same ispractically Giovio's statement, save that Giovio causes him to die ata later date and at Gaeta; Guicciardini and Corio tell a similar story, but inform us that he died in Naples. 

 1 In Mem. Storiche dei Monarchi Ottomani. 

It is entirely upon the authority of these four writers that the Pope ischarged with having poisoned Djem, and it is noteworthy that in the fournarratives we find different dates and three different places given asthe date and place of the Turk's death, and more noteworthy still thatin not one instance of these four is date or place correctly stated. 

Now the place where Djem died, and the date of his death, were publicfacts about which there was no mystery; they were to be ascertained--asthey are still--by any painstaking examiner. His poisoning, on theother hand, was admittedly a secret matter, the truth of which it wasimpossible to ascertain with utter and complete finality. Yet of thispoisoning they know all the secrets, these four nimble writers whocannot correctly tell us where or when the man died!

We will turn from the fictions they have left us--which, alas! have buttoo often been preferred by subsequent writers to the true factswhich lay just as ready to their hands, but of course were lesssensational--and we will consider instead the evidence of thosecontemporaries who do, at least, know the time and place of Djem'sdecease. 

If any living man might have known of a secret poison of the Borgias atthis stage, that man was Burchard the Caeremoniarius, and, had he knownof it, not for a moment would he have been silent on the point. Yetnot a word of this secret poison shall you find in his diaries, andconcerning the death of Djem he records that "on February 25 died at theCastle of Capua the said Djem, through meat or drink that disagreed withhim. "

Panvinio, who, being a Neapolitan, was not likely to be any too friendlyto the Pope--as, indeed, he proves again and again--tells us positivelythat Djem died of dysentry at Capua. (1)

 1 Vitis Pontif. Rom. 

Sanuto, writing to the Council of Ten, says that Djem took ill at Capuaof a catarrh, which "descended to his stomach"; and that so he died. 

And now mark Sanuto's reasoning upon his death, which is the veryreasoning we should ourselves employ finally to dispose of this chatterof poisoning, did we not find it awaiting quotation, more authoritativetherefore than it could be from us, and utterly irrefutable andconclusive in its logic. "This death is very harmful to the King ofFrance, to all Italy, and chiefly to the Pope, who is thereby deprivedof 40, 000 ducats yearly, which was paid him by his [Djem's] brother forhis custody. And the king showed himself greatly grieved by this death, and it was suspected that the Pope had poisoned him, which, however, wasnot to be believed, as it would have been to his own loss. "

Just so--to his own infinite loss, not only of the 40, 000 ducats yearly, but of the hold which the custody of Djem gave him upon the Turks. 

The reason assigned by those who charged Alexander with this crimewas the bribe of 300, 000 ducats offered by Bajezet in the interceptedletter. The offer--which, incidentally, had never reached the Pope--wasinstantly taken as proof of its acceptance--a singular case of makingcause follow upon effect, a method all too prevalent with the Borgianchroniclers. Moreover, they entirely overlooked the circumstance that, for Djem's death in the hands of France, the Pope could make no claimupon Bajazet. 

Finally--though the danger be incurred of becoming tedious upon thispoint--they also forgot that, years before, Bajazet had offered suchbribes to Charles for the life of Djem as had caused the Knights ofRhodes to remove the Turk from French keeping. Upon that circumstancethey might, had it sorted with their inclinations, have set up astronger case of poisoning against Charles than against the Pope, andthey would not have been put to the necessity of inventing a toxin thatnever had place in any earthly pharmacopoeia. 

It is not, by this, suggested that there is any shadow of a case againstCharles. Djem died a perfectly natural death, as is established by theonly authorities competent to speak upon the matter, and his death wasagainst the interests of everybody save his brother Bajazet; and againstnobody's so much as the Pope's. 

CHAPTER II. THE POPE AND THE SUPERNATURAL

By the middle of March of that year 1495 the conquest of Naples was athoroughly accomplished fact, and the French rested upon their victory, took their ease, and made merry in the capital of the vanquishedkingdom. 

But in the north Lodovico Sforza-now Duke of Milan de facto, as we haveseen--set about the second part of the game that was to be played. Hehad a valuable ally in Venice, which looked none too favourably on theFrench and was fully disposed to gather its forces against the commonfoe. The Council of Ten sent their ambassador, Zorzi, to the Pope topropose an alliance. 

News reached Charles in Naples of the league that was being formed. Helaughed at it, and the matter was made the subject of ridicule in someof the comedies that were being performed for the amusement of hisCourt. Meanwhile, the intrigue against him went forward; on March 26 hisHoliness sent the Golden Rose to the Doge, and on Palm Sunday the leaguewas solemnly proclaimed in St. Peter's. Its terms were vague; therewas nothing in it that was directly menacing to Charles; it was simplydeclared to have been formed for the common good. But in the north theforces were steadily gathering to cut off the retreat of the French, andsuddenly Lodovico Sforza threw aside the mask and made an attack uponthe French navy at Genoa. 

At last Charles awoke to his danger and began to care for his safety. Rapidly he organized the occupation of Naples, and, leaving Montpensieras Viceroy and d'Aubigny as Captain-General, he set out for Rome withhis army, intent upon detaching the Pope from the league; for the Pope, being the immediate neighbour of Naples, would be as dangerous as anenemy as he was valuable as an ally to Charles. 

He entered Rome on June 1. The Pope, however, was not there to receivehim. Alexander had left on May 28 for Orvieto, accompanied by Cesare, the Sacred College, 200 men-at-arms, and 1, 000 horse and 3, 000 foot, supplied by Venice. At Orvieto, on June 3, the Pontiff received anambassador from the Emperor, who had joined the league, and on the4th he refused audience to the ambassador of France, sent to him fromRonciglione, where the King had halted. Charles, insistent, sent again, determined to see the Pope; but Alexander, quite as determined not tosee the king, pushed on to Perugia with his escort. 

There his Holiness abode until the French and Italians had met on theRiver Taro and joined battle at Fornovo, of which encounter both sidesclaimed the victory. If Charles's only object was to win through, thenthe victory undoubtedly was his, for he certainly succeeded in cuttinga way through the Italians who disputed his passage. But he sufferedheavily, and left behind him most of his precious artillery, his tentsand carriages, and the immense Neapolitan booty he was taking home, withwhich he had loaded (says Gregorovius) twenty thousand mules. All thisfell into the hands of the Italian allies under Gonzaga of Mantua, whilst from Fornovo Charles's retreat was more in the nature ofa flight. Thus he won back to France, no whit the better for hisexpedition, and the only mark of his passage which he left behind himwas an obscene ailment, which, with the coming of the French into Italy, first manifested itself in Europe, and which the Italians paid them thequestionable compliment of calling "the French disease"--morbo gallico, or il mal francese. 

During the Pope's visit to Perugia an incident occurred which is notwithout importance to students of his character, and of the characterleft of him by his contemporaries and others. 

There lived in Perugia at this time a young nun of the Order of St. Dominic, who walked in the way of St. Catherine of Siena, Colomba daRieti by name. You will find some marvellous things about her in thePerugian chronicles of Matarazzo, which, for that matter, abound inmarvellous things--too marvellous mostly to be true. 

When he deals with events happening beyond the walls of his native townMatarazzo, as an historian, is contemptible to a degree second only tothat of those who quote him as an authority. When he deals with mattersthat, so to speak, befell under his very eyes, he is worthy, if not ofcredit at least of attention, for his "atmosphere" is valuable. 

Of this Sister Colomba Matarazzo tells us that she ate not nor drank, save sometimes some jujube fruit, and even these but rarely. "On the dayof her coming to Perugia (which happened in 1488), as she was Crossingthe Bridge of St. Gianni some young men attempted to lay hands upon her, for she was comely and beautiful; but as they did so, she showed themthe jujube fruit which she carried in a white cloth, whereupon theyinstantly stood bereft of strength and wits. "

Next he tells us how she would pass from life for an hour or two, andsometimes for half a day, and her pulse would cease to beat, and shewould, seem all dead. And then she would quiver and come to herselfagain, and prophesy the future, and threaten disaster. And again:"One morning two of her teeth were found to have fallen out, which hadhappened in fighting with the devil; and, for the many intercessionswhich she made, and the scandals which she repaired by her prayers, thepeople came to call her saint. "

Notwithstanding all this, and the fact that she lived withoutnourishment, he tells us that the brothers of St. Francis had littlefaith in her. Nevertheless, the community built her a very finemonastery, which was richly endowed, and many nuns took the habit of herOrder. 

Now it happened that whilst at Perugia in his student days, Cesare hadwitnessed a miracle performed by this poor ecstatic girl; or rather hehad arrived on the scene--the Church of St. Catherine of Siena--tofind her, with a little naked boy in her lap, the centre of an excited, frenzied crowd, which was proclaiming loudly that the child had beendead and that she had resurrected him. This was a statement which thePrior of the Dominicans did not seem disposed unreservedly to accept, for, when approached with a suggestion that the bells should be rungin honour of the event, he would not admit that he saw any cause tosanction such a course. 

In the few years that were sped since then, however, sister Colombahad acquired the great reputation of which Matarazzo tells us, so that, throughout the plain of Tiber, the Dominicans were preaching her famefrom convent to convent. In December of 1495 Charles VIII heard ofher at Siena, and was stirred by a curiosity which he accounteddevotional--the same curiosity that caused one of his gentlemen toentreat Savonarola to perform "just a little miracle" for the King'sentertainment. You can picture the gloomy fanatic's reception of thatinvitation. 

The Pope now took the opportunity of his sojourn in Perugia to payColomba da Rieti a visit, and there can be no doubt that he did so in acritical spirit. Accompanied by Cesare and some cardinals and gentlemenof his following, he went to the Church of St. Dominic and was conductedto the sister's cell by the Prior--the same who in Cesare's student-dayshad refused to have the bells rung. 

Upon seeing the magnificent figure of the Pontiff filling the doorway ofher little chamber, Sister Colomba fell at his feet, and, taking hold ofthe hem of his gown, she remained prostrate and silent for some moments, when at last she timidly arose. Alexander set her some questionsconcerning the Divine Mysteries. These she answered readily at first, but, as his questions grew, she faltered, became embarrassed, and fellsilent, standing before him white and trembling, no doubt a very piteousfigure. The Pope, not liking this, turned to the Prior to demand anexplanation, and admonished him sternly: "Caveto, Pater, quia ego Papasum!"

This had the effect of throwing the Prior into confusion, and he sethimself to explain that she was in reality very wonderful, that hehimself had not at first believed in her, but that he had seen somuch that he had been converted. At this stage Cesare came to hisaid, bearing witness, as he could, that he himself had seen thePrior discredit her when others were already hailing her as a saint, wherefore, if he now was convinced, he must have had very good evidenceto convince him. We can imagine the Prior's gratitude to the youngcardinal for that timely word when he saw himself in danger perhaps ofbeing called to account for fostering and abetting an imposture. 

What was Alexander's opinion of her in the end we do not know; but wedo know that he was not readily credulous. When, for instance, he heardthat the stigmata were alleged to have appeared upon the body of Luciadi Narni he did what might be expected of a sceptic of our own timesrather than of a churchman of his superstitious age--he sent hisphysicians to examine her. 

That is but one instance of his common-sense attitude towardssupernatural manifestations. His cold, calm judgement caused him toseek, by all available and practical means, to discriminate between thetrue and the spurious in an age in which men, by their credulity, werebut too ready to become the prey of any impostor. It argues a breadth ofmind altogether beyond the times in which he had his being. Witches andwarlocks, who elsewhere--and even in much later ages, and in Protestantas well as Catholic States--were given to the fire, he contemptuouslyignored. The unfortunate Moors and Jews, who elsewhere in Europe werebeing persecuted by the Holy Inquisition and burnt at the stake as anact of faith for the good of their souls and the greater honour andglory of God, found in Alexander a tolerant protector and in Rome a safeshelter. 

These circumstances concerning him are not sufficiently known; it isgood to know them for their own sake. But, apart from that, they havea great historical value which it is well to consider. It is not to beimagined that such breadth of views could be tolerated in a Pope in thedawn of the sixteenth century. The times were not ripe for it; mendid not understand it; and what men do not understand they thirst toexplain, and have a way of explaining in their own fashion and accordingto their own lights. 

A Pope who did such things could not be a good Pope, since such thingsmust be abhorrent to God--as men conceived God then. 

To understand this is to understand much of the bad feeling againstAlexander and his family, for this is the source of much of it. Becausehe did not burn witches and magicians it was presently said that hewas himself a warlock, and that he practised black magic. It was not, perhaps, wanton calumny; it was said in good faith, for it was the onlyreason the times could think of that should account for his restraint. Because he tolerated Moors and Jews it was presently said by some thathe was a Moor, by others that he was a Jew, and by others still that hewas both. 

What wonder, then, if the rancorous Cardinal Giuliano della Roverevenomously dubbed him Moor and Jew, and the rabid fanatic Savonarolascreamed that he was no Pope at all, that he was not a Christian, nordid he believe in any God?

Misunderstood in these matters, he was believed to be an infidel, and nocrime was too impossible to be fastened upon the man who was believed tobe that in the Italy of the Cinquecento. 

Alexander, however, was very far from being an infidel, very far fromnot being a Christian, very far from not believing in God, as he hasleft abundant evidence in the Bulls he issued during his pontificate. It is certainly wrong to assume--and this is pointed out byl'Espinois--that a private life which seems to ignore the commandmentsof the Church must preclude the possibility of a public life devoted tothe service of the Church. This is far from being the case. Such a stateof things--such a dual personality--is by no means inconsistent withchurchmen of the fifteenth, or, for that matter, of the twentiethcentury. 

The whole truth of the matter is contained in a Portuguese rhyme, whichmay roughly be translated:

 Soundly Father Thomas preaches. Don't do as he does; do as he teaches. 

A debauchee may preach virtue with salutary effect, just as a man maypreach hygiene without practising the privations which it entails, ormay save you from dyspepsia by pointing out to you what is indigestiblewithout himself abstaining from it. 

Such was the case of Alexander VI, as we are justified in concludingfrom the evidence that remains. 

Let us consider the apostolic zeal revealed by his Bull granting Americato Spain. This was practically conceded--as the very terms of it willshow--on condition that Spain should employ the dominion accorded herover the New World for the purpose of propagating the Christianfaith and the conversion and baptism of the heathen. This is strictlyenjoined, and emphasized by the command that Spain shall send outGod-fearing men who are learned in religion and capable of teaching itto the people of the newly discovered lands. 

Thus Alexander invented the missionary. 

To King Manuel the Fortunate (of Portugal), who sought his authority forthe conquest of Africa, he similarly enjoined that he should contrivethat the name of the Saviour be adored there, and the Catholic faithspread and honoured, to the end that the king "might win eternal lifeand the blessing of the Holy See. "

To the soldiers going upon this expedition his Holiness granted the sameindulgences as to those who fought in the Holy Land, and he aided thekings of Spain and Portugal in this propagation of Christianity out ofthe coffers of the Church. 

He sent to America a dozen of the children of St. Francis, as apostlesto preach the Faith, and he invested them with the amplest powers. 

He prosecuted with stern rigour the heretics of Bohemia, who wereobscenely insulting Church and Sacraments, and he proceeded similarlyagainst the "Picards" and "Vaudois. " Against the Lombard demoniacs, whohad grown bold, were banding themselves together and doing great evil toproperty, to life, and to religion, Alexander raised his mighty arm. 

Then there is his Bull of June 1, 1501, against those who already wereturning to evil purposes the newly discovered printing-press. In thishe inveighed against the printing of matter prejudicial to healthydoctrine, to good manners, and, above all, to the Catholic Faith oranything that should give scandal to the faithful. He threatened theprinters of impious works with excommunication should they persist, and enlisted secular weapons to punish them in a temporal as well asa spiritual manner. He ordered the preparation of indexes of allworks containing anything hurtful to religion, and pronounced a ban ofexcommunication against all who should peruse the books so indexed. 

Thus Alexander invented the Index Expurgatorius. 

There is abundant evidence that he was a fervid celebrant, and of hisextreme devotion to the Blessed Virgin--in whose honour he revived theringing of the Angelus Bell--shall be considered later. 

Whatever his private life, it is idle to seek to show that his publiccareer was other than devoted to the upholding of the dignity and honourof the Church. 

CHAPTER III. THE ROMAN BARONS

Having driven Charles VIII out of Italy, it still remained for theallies to remove all traces of his passage from Naples and to restorethe rule of the House of Aragon. In this they had the aid of Ferdinandand Isabella, who sent an army under the command of that distinguishedsoldier Gonzalo de Cordoba, known in his day as the Great Captain. 

He landed in Calabria in the spring of 1496, and war broke out afreshthrough that already sorely devastated land. The Spaniards were joinedby the allied forces of Venice and the Church under the condotta of theMarquis Gonzaga of Mantua, the leader of the Italians at Fornovo. 

Lodovico had detached himself from the league, and again made termswith France for his own safety's sake. But his cousin, Giovanni Sforza, Tyrant of Pesaro--the husband of Lucrezia Borgia--continued in thepontifical army at the head of a condotta of 600 lances. Another commandin the same ranks was one of 700 lances under the youthful GiuffredoBorgia, now Prince of Squillace and the husband of Doña Sancia ofAragon, a lady of exceedingly loose morals, who had brought to Rome thehabits acquired in the most licentious Court of that licentious age. 

The French lost Naples even more easily than they had conquered it, andby July 7 Ferdinand II was able to reenter his capital and reascendhis throne. D'Aubigny, the French general, withdrew to France, whilstMontpensier, the Viceroy, retired to Pozzuoli, where he died in thefollowing year. 

Nothing could better have suited the purposes of Alexander than thestate of things which now prevailed, affording him, as it did, the meansto break the power of the insolent Roman barons, who already had sovexed and troubled him. So in the Consistory of June 1 he publisheda Bull whereby Gentile Virginio Orsini, Giangiordano Orsini, and hisbastard Paolo Orsini and Bartolomeo d'Alviano, were declared outlawedfor having borne arms with France against the Church, and theirpossessions were confiscated to the State. This decree was to beenforced by the sword, and, for the purposes of the impending war, theDuke of Gandia was recalled to Rome. He arrived early in August, havingleft at Gandia his wife Maria Enriquez, a niece of the Royal House ofSpain. It was Cesare Borgia who took the initiative in the pomp withwhich his brother was received in Rome, riding out at the head of theentire Pontifical Court to meet and welcome the young duke. 

In addition to being Duke of Gandia, Giovanni Borgia was already Dukeof Sessa and Prince of Teano, which further dignities had been conferredupon him on the occasion of his brother Giuffredo's marriage to DonnaSancia. To these the Pope now added the governorship of Viterbo and ofthe Patrimony of St. Peter, dispossessing Cardinal Farnese of the latteroffice to bestow it upon this well-beloved son. 

In Venice it was being related, a few months later, --in October--thatGandia had brought a woman from Spain for his father, and that thelatter had taken her to live with him. The story is given in Sanuto, and of course has been unearthed and served up by most historians andessayists. It cannot positively be said that it is untrue; but it canbe said that it is unconfirmed. There is, for instance, no word of itin Burchard's Diarium, and when you consider how ready a chroniclerof scandalous matter was this Master of Ceremonies, you will no doubtconclude that, if any foundation there had been for that Venetian story, Burchard would never have been silent on the subject. 

The Pope had taken into his pay that distinguished condottiero, DukeGuidobaldo of Urbino, who later was to feel the relentless mightof Cesare. To Guidobaldo's command was now entrusted the punitiveexpedition against the Orsini, and with him was to go the Duke ofGandia, ostensibly to share the leadership, in reality that, under soable a master, he might serve his apprenticeship to the trade of arms. So on October 25 Giovanni Borgia was very solemnly created Gonfalonierof the Church and Captain-General of the pontifical troops. On the sameday the three standards were blessed in St. Peter's--one being the PapalGonfalon bearing the arms of the Church and the other two the personalbanners of Guidobaldo and Gandia. The two condottieri attended theceremony, arrayed in full armour, and received the white truncheons thatwere the emblems of their command. 

On the following day the army set out, accompanied by the Cardinal deLuna as papal legate a latere, and within a month ten Orsini strongholdshad surrendered. 

So far all had been easy for the papal forces; but now the Orsinirallied in the last three fortresses that remained them--Bracciano, Trevignano, and Anguillara, and their resistance suddenly acquired astubborn character, particularly that of Bracciano, which was captainedby Bartolomeo d'Alviano, a clever, resourceful young soldier who wasdestined to go far. Thus the campaign, so easily conducted at theoutset, received a check which caused it to drag on into the winter. Andnow the barons received further reinforcements. Vitellozzo Vitelli, theTyrant of Città di Castello, came to the aid of the Orsini, as did alsothe turbulent Baglioni of Perugia, the della Rovere in Rome, and allthose who were inimical to Alexander VI. On the other hand, however, thebarons Colonna and Savelli ranged themselves on the side of the Pope. 

Already Trevignano had fallen, and the attack of the pontifical armywas concentrated upon Bracciano. Hard pressed, and with all suppliescut off, Bartolomeo d'Alviano was driven to the very verge of surrender, when over the hills came Carlo Orsini, with the men of VitellozzoVitelli, to take the papal forces by surprise and put them to utterrout. Guidobaldo was made prisoner, whilst the Duke of Gandia, FabrizioColonna, and the papal legate narrowly escaped, and took shelter inRonciglione, the Pope's son being slightly wounded in the face. 

It was a severe and sudden conclusion to a war that had begun undersuch excellent auspices for the Pontificals. Yet, notwithstanding thatdefeat, which had left guns and baggage in the hands of the enemy, thePope was the gainer by the campaign, having won eleven strongholds fromthe Orsini in exchange for one battle lost. 

The barons now prepared to push home their advantage and completethe victory; but the Pope checkmated them by an appeal to Gonzalo deCordoba, who promptly responded and came with Prospero Colonna to theaid of the Church. He laid siege to Ostia, which was being held for theCardinal della Rovere, and compelled it to a speedy surrender, therebybringing the Orsini resistance practically to an end. For the presentthe might of the barons was broken, and they were forced to payAlexander the sum of 50, 000 ducats to redeem their captured fortresses. 

Gonzalo de Cordoba made a triumphal entry into Rome, bringing with himMonaldo da Guerra, the unfortunate defender of Ostia, in chains. He wasreceived with great honour by the Duke of Gandia, accompanied by hisbrother-in-law, Giovanni Sforza, and they escorted him to the Vatican, where the Pope awaited him. 

This was but one of the many occasions just then on which GiovanniSforza was conspicuous in public in close association with hisfather-in-law, the Pope. Burchard mentions his presence at the blessingof the candles on the Feast of the Purification, and shows him to us asa candle-bearer standing on the Pope's right hand. Again we see himon Palm Sunday in attendance upon Alexander, he and Gandia standingtogether on the steps of the pontifical throne in the Sixtine Chapelduring the Blessing of the Palms. There and elsewhere Lucrezia's husbandis prominently in the public eye during those months of February andMarch of 1497, and we generally see him sharing, with the Duke ofGandia, the honour of close attendance upon the Pontiff, all of whichbut serves to render the more marked his sudden disappearance from thatscene. 

The matter of his abrupt and precipitate flight from Rome is oneconcerning which it is unlikely that the true and complete facts willever be revealed. It was public gossip at this time that his marriagewith Lucrezia was not a happy one, and that discord marred their lifetogether. Lucrezia's reported grievance upon this subject reads alittle vaguely to us now, whatever it may have conveyed at the time. Shecomplained that Giovanni "did not fittingly keep her company, "(1) whichmay be taken to mean that a good harmony did not prevail between them, or, almost equally well, that there were the canonical grounds forcomplaint against him as a husband which were afterwards formallypreferred and made the grounds for the divorce. It is also possible thatAlexander's ambition may have urged him to dissolve the marriage tothe end that she might be free to be used again as a pawn in hisfar-reaching game. 

 1 "Che non gli faceva buona compagnia. "

All that we do know positively is that, one evening in Holy Week, Sforzamounted a Turkish horse, and, on the pretext of going as far as theChurch of Sant' Onofrio to take the air, he slipped out of Rome, and sodesperately did he ride that, twenty-four hours later, he was home inPesaro, his horse dropping dead as he reached the town. 

Certainly some terrible panic must have urged him, and this rather lendscolour to the story told by Almerici in the Memorie di Pesaro. Accordingto this, the Lord of Pesaro's chamberlain, Giacomino, was in Lucrezia'sapartments one evening when Cesare was announced, whereupon, byLucrezia's orders, Giacomino concealed himself behind a screen. TheCardinal of Valencia entered and talked freely with his sister, theessence of his conversation being that the order had been issued for herhusband's death. 

The inference to be drawn from this is that Giovanni had been given tochoose in the matter of a divorce, and that he had refused to be a partyto it, whence it was resolved to remove him in a still more effectivemanner. 

Be that as it may, the chroniclers of Pesaro proceed to relate that, after Cesare had left her, Lucrezia asked Giacomino if he had heard whathad been said, and, upon being answered in the affirmative, urged himto go at once and warn Giovanni. It was as a consequence of this allegedwarning that Giovanni made his precipitate departure. 

A little while later, at the beginning of June, Lucrezia left theVatican and withdrew to the Convent of San Sisto, in the Appian Way, astep which immediately gave rise to speculation and to unbridled gossip, all of which, however, is too vague to be worthy of the least attention. Aretino's advices to the Cardinal Ippolito d'Este suggest that she didnot leave the Vatican on good terms with her family, and it is verypossible, if what the Pesaro chroniclers state is true, that herwithdrawal arose out of her having warned Giovanni of his danger andenabled him to escape. 

At about the same time that Lucrezia withdrew to her convent her brotherGandia was the recipient of further honours at the hands of his fondfather. The Pope had raised the fief of Benevento to a dukedom, and asa dukedom conferred it upon his son, to him and to his legitimate heirsfor ever. To this he added the valuable lordships of Terracina andPontecorvo. 

Cesare, meanwhile, had by no means been forgotten, and already thisyoung cardinal was--with perhaps the sole exception of the Cardinald'Estouteville--the richest churchman in Christendom. To his many otheroffices and benefices it was being proposed to add that of Chamberlainof the Holy See, Cardinal Riario, who held the office, being grievouslyill and his recovery despaired of. Together with that office it was thePope's avowed intention to bestow upon Cesare the palace of the lateCardinal of Mantua, and with it, no doubt, he would receive a proportionof the dead cardinal's benefices. 

Cesare was twenty-two years of age at the time; tall, of an athleticslenderness, and exceedingly graceful in his movements, he wasacknowledged to be the handsomest man of his age. His face was long andpale, his brow lofty, his nose delicately aquiline. He had longauburn hair, and his hazel eyes, large, quick in their movements, andsingularly searching in their glance, were alive with the genius of thesoul behind them. He inherited from his father the stupendous healthand vigour for which Alexander had been remarkable in his youth, andwas remarkable still in his old age. The chase had ever been Cesare'sfavourite pastime, and the wild boar his predilect quarry; and inthe pursuit of it he had made good use of his exceptional physicalendowments, cultivating them until--like his father before him--he wasequal to the endurance of almost any degree of fatigue. 

In the Consistory of June 8 he was appointed legate a latere to go toNaples to crown King Federigo of Aragon--for in the meanwhile anotherchange had taken place on the Neapolitan throne by the death of youngFerdinand II, who had been succeeded by his uncle, Federigo, Prince ofAltamura. 

Cesare made ready for his departure upon this important mission, uponwhich he was to be accompanied by his brother Giovanni, Duke of Gandia. They were both to be back in Rome by September, when Gandia was toreturn to Spain, taking with him his sister Lucrezia. 

Thus had the Pope disposed; but the Borgia family stood on the eve ofthe darkest tragedy associated with its name, a tragedy which was toalter all these plans. 

CHAPTER IV. THE MURDER OF THE DUKE OF GANDIA

On June 14, 1497, the eve of Cesare and Giovanni Borgia's departurefor Naples, their mother Vannozza gave them a farewell supper in herbeautiful vineyard in Trastevere. In addition to the two guests ofhonour several other kinsmen and friends were present, among whom werethe Cardinal of Monreale and young Giuffredo Borgia. They remained atsupper until an advanced hour of the night, when Cesare and Giovannitook their departure, attended only by a few servants and a mysteriousman in a mask, who had come to Giovanni whilst he was at table, and whoalmost every day for about a month had been in the habit of visiting himat the Vatican. 

The brothers and these attendants rode together into Rome and as far asthe Vice-Chancellor Ascanio Sforza's palace in the Ponte Quarter. HereGiovanni drew rein, and informed Cesare that he would not be returningto the Vatican just yet, as he was first "going elsewhere to amusehimself. " With that he took his leave of Cesare, and, with one singleexception--in addition to the man in the mask--dismissed his servants. The latter continued their homeward way with the cardinal, whilst theDuke, taking the man in the mask upon the crupper of his horse andfollowed his single attendant, turned and made off in the direction ofthe Jewish quarter. 

In the morning it was found that Giovanni had not yet returned, andhis uneasy servants informed the Pope of his absence and of thecircumstances of it. The Pope, however, was not at all alarmed. Explaining his son's absence in the manner so obviously suggested byGiovanni's parting words to Cesare on the previous night, he assumedthat the gay young Duke was on a visit to some complacent lady and thatpresently he would return. 

Later in the day, however, news was brought that his horse had beenfound loose in the streets, in the neighbourhood of the Cardinal ofParma's palace, with only one stirrup-leather, the other having clearlybeen cut from the saddle, and, at the same time, it was related that theservant who had accompanied him after he had separated from the resthad been found at dawn in the Piazza della Giudecca mortally wounded andbeyond speech, expiring soon after his removal to a neighbouring house. 

Alarm spread through the Vatican, and the anxious Pope ordered inquiriesto be made in every quarter where it was possible that anything mightbe learned. It was in answer to these inquiries that a boatman of theSchiavoni--one Giorgio by name--came forward with the story of what hehad seen on the night of Wednesday. He had passed the night on board hisboat, on guard over the timber with which she was laden. She was mooredalong the bank that runs from the Bridge of Sant' Angelo to the Churchof Santa Maria Nuova. 

He related that at about the fifth hour of the night, just beforedaybreak, he had seen two men emerge from the narrow street alongsidethe Hospital of San Girolamo, and stand on the river's brink at the spotwhere it was usual for the scavengers to discharge their refuse cartsinto the water. These men had looked carefully about, as if to makesure that they were not being observed. Seeing no one astir, they made asign, whereupon a man well mounted on a handsome white horse, his heelsarmed with golden spurs, rode out of that same narrow street. Behindhim, on the crupper of his horse, Giorgio beheld the body of a man, thehead hanging in one direction and the legs in the other. This body wassupported there by two other men on foot, who walked on either side ofthe horseman. 

Arrived at the water's edge, they turned the horse's hind-quarters tothe river; then, taking the body between them, two of them swung it wellout into the stream. After the splash, Giorgio had heard the horsemaninquire whether they had thrown well into the middle, and had heardhim receive the affirmative answer--"Signor, Si. " The horseman then satscanning the surface a while, and presently pointed out a dark objectfloating, which proved to be their victim's cloak. The men threw stonesat it, and so sank it, whereupon they turned, and all five departed asthey had come. 

Such is the boatman's story, as related in the Diarium of Burchard. Whenthe Pope had heard it, he asked the fellow why he had not immediatelygone to give notice of what he had witnessed, to which this Giorgioreplied that, in his time, he had seen over a hundred bodies thrown intothe Tiber without ever anybody troubling to know anything about them. 

This story and Gandia's continued absence threw the Pope into a frenzyof apprehension. He ordered the bed of the river to be searched foot byfoot. Some hundreds of boatmen and fishermen got to work, and on thatsame afternoon the body of the ill-fated Duke of Gandia was brought upin one of the nets. He was not only completely dressed--as was tohave been expected from Giorgio's story--but his gloves and his pursecontaining thirty ducats were still at his belt, as was his dagger, theonly weapon he had carried; the jewels upon his person, too, were allintact, which made it abundantly clear that his assassination was notthe work of thieves. 

His hands were still tied, and there were from ten to fourteen wounds onhis body, in addition to which his throat had been cut. 

The corpse was taken in a boat to the Castle of Sant' Angelo, where itwas stripped, washed, and arrayed in the garments of the Captain-Generalof the Church. That same night, on a bier, the body covered with amantle of brocade, the face "looking more beautiful than in life, " hewas carried by torchlight from Sant' Angelo to Santa Maria del Popolofor burial, quietly and with little pomp. 

The Pope's distress was terrible. As the procession was crossing theBridge of Sant' Angelo, those who stood there heard his awful cries ofanguish, as is related in the dispatches of an eye-witness quoted bySanuto. Alexander shut himself up in his apartments with his passionatesorrow, refusing to see anybody; and it was only by insistence that theCardinal of Segovia and some of the Pope's familiars contrived to gainadmission to his presence; but even then, not for three days could theyinduce him to taste food, nor did he sleep. 

At last he roused himself, partly in response to the instances of theCardinal of Segovia, partly spurred by the desire to avenge the death ofhis child, and he ordered Rome to be ransacked for the assassins;but, although the search was pursued for two months, it proved utterlyfruitless. 

That is the oft-told story of the death of the Duke of Gandia. Those areall the facts concerning it that are known or that ever will be known. The rest is speculation, and this speculation follows the trend ofmalice rather than of evidence. 

Suspicion fell at first upon Giovanni Sforza, who was supposed to haveavenged himself thus upon the Pope for the treatment he had received. There certainly existed that reasonable motive to actuate him, but not aparticle of evidence against him. 

Next rumour had it that Cardinal Ascanio Sforza's was the hand that haddone this work, and with this rumour Rome was busy for months. It wasknown that he had quarrelled violently with Gandia, who had been grosslyinsulted by a chamberlain of Ascanio's, and who had wiped out the insultby having the man seized and hanged. 

Sanuto quotes a letter from Rome on July 21, which states that "it iscertain that Ascanio murdered the Duke of Gandia. " Cardinal Ascanio'snumerous enemies took care to keep the accusation alive at theVatican, and Ascanio, in fear for his life, had left Rome and fled toGrottaferrata. When summoned to Rome, he had refused to come save undersafe­conduct. His fears, however, appear to have been groundless, forthe Pope attached no importance to the accusation against him, convincedof his innocence, as he informed him. 

Thereupon public opinion looked about for some other likely personupon whom to fasten its indictment, and lighted upon Giuffredo Borgia, Gandia's youngest brother. Here, again, a motive was not wanting. Already has mention been made of the wanton ways of Giuffredo'sNeapolitan wife, Doña Sancia. That she was prodigal of her favours thereis no lack of evidence, and it appears that, amongst those she admittedto them, was the dead duke. Jealousy, then, it was alleged, was the spurthat had driven Giuffredo to the deed; and that the rumour of this musthave been insistent is clear when we find the Pope publicly exoneratinghis youngest son. 

Thus matters stood, and thus had public opinion spoken, when in themonth of August the Pope ordered the search for the murderer to cease. Bracci, the Florentine ambassador, explains this action of Alexander's. He writes that his Holiness knew who were the murderers, and that he wastaking no further steps in the matter in the hope that thus, conceivingthemselves to be secure, they might more completely discover themselves. 

Bracci's next letter bears out the supposition that he writes frominference, and not from knowledge. He repeats that the investigationshave been suspended, and that to account for this some say what alreadyhe has written, whilst others deny it; but that the truth of the matteris known to none. 

Later in the year we find the popular voice denouncing Bartolomeod'Alviano and the Orsini. Already in August the Ferrarese ambassador, Manfredi, had written that the death of the Duke of Gandia was beingimputed to Bartolomeo d'Alviano, and in December we see in Sanuto aletter from Rome which announces that it is positively stated that theOrsini had caused the death of Giovanni Borgia. 

These various rumours were hardly worth mentioning for their own values, but they are important as showing how public opinion fastened the crimein turn upon everybody it could think of as at all likely to have hadcause to commit it, and more important still for the purpose of refutingwhat has since been written concerning the immediate connection ofCesare Borgia with the crime in the popular mind. 

Not until February of the following year was the name of Cesare evermentioned in connection with the deed. The first rumour of hisguilt synchronized with that of his approaching renunciation of hisecclesiastical career, and there can be little doubt that the formersprang from the latter. The world conceived that it had discovered onCesare's part a motive for the murder of his brother. That motive--ofwhich so very much has been made--shall presently be examined. Meanwhile, to deal with the actual rumour, and its crystallization intohistory. The Ferrarese ambassador heard it in Venice on February 12, 1498. Capello seized upon it, and repeated it two and a half yearslater, stating on September 28, 1500: "etiam amazó il fratello. "

And there you have the whole source of all the unbridled accusationssubsequently launched against Cesare, all of which find a prominentplace in Gregorovius's Geschichte der Stadt Rom, whilst the rumoursaccusing others, which we have mentioned here, are there slurred over. 

One hesitates to attack the arguments and conclusions of the veryeminent author of that mighty History of Rome in the Middle Ages, butconscience and justice demand that his chapter upon this subject bedealt with as it deserves. 

The striking talents of Gregorovius are occasionally marred by theegotism and pedantry sometimes characteristic of the scholars of hisnation. He is too positive; he seldom opines; he asserts with finalitythe things that only God can know; occasionally his knowledge, transcending the possible, quits the realm of the historian for thatof the romancer, as for instance--to cite one amid a thousand--when heactually tells us what passes in Cesare Borgia's mind at the coronationof the King of Naples. In the matter of authorities, he follows adangerous and insidious eclecticism, preferring those who support thepoint of view which he has chosen, without a proper regard for theirintrinsic values. 

He tells us definitely that, if Alexander had not positive knowledge, hehad at least moral conviction that it was Cesare who had killed theDuke of Gandia. In that, again, you see the God-like knowledge whichhe usurps; you see him clairvoyant rather than historical. Starting outwith the positive assertion that Cesare Borgia was the murderer, he setshimself to prove it by piling up a mass of worthless evidence, whoseworthlessness it is unthinkable he should not have realized. 

"According to the general opinion of the day, which in all probabilitywas correct, Cesare was the murderer of his brother. "

Thus Gregorovius in his Lucrezia Borgia. A deliberate misstatement! For, as we have been at pains to show, not until the crime had been fastenedupon everybody whom public opinion could conceive to be a possibleassassin, not until nearly a year after Gandia's death did rumour forthe first time connect Cesare with the deed. Until then the ambassadors'letters from Rome in dealing with the murder and reporting speculationupon possible murderers never make a single allusion to Cesare as theguilty person. 

Later, when once it had been bruited, it found its way into the writingsof every defamer of the Borgias, and from several of these it is takenby Gregorovius to help him uphold that theory. 

Two motives were urged for the crime. One was Cesare's envy of hisbrother, whom he desired to supplant as a secular prince, frettingin the cassock imposed upon himself which restrained his unboundedambition. The other--and no epoch but this one under consideration, in its reaction from the age of chivalry, could have dared to level itwithout a careful examination of its sources--was Cesare's jealousy, springing from the incestuous love for their sister Lucrezia, which heis alleged to have disputed with his brother. Thus, as l'Espinois haspointed out, to convict Cesare Borgia of a crime which cannot absolutelybe proved against him, all that is necessary is that he should becharged with another crime still more horrible of which even less proofexists. 

This latter motive, it is true, is rejected by Gregorovius. "Our senseof honesty, " he writes, "repels us from attaching faith to the beliefspread in that most corrupt age. " Yet the authorities urging one motiveare commonly those urging the other, and Gregorovius quotes those thatsuit him, without considering that, if he is convinced they lie in oneconnection, he has not the right to assume them truthful in another. 

The contemporary, or quasi-contemporary writers upon whose "authority"it is usual to show that Cesare Borgia was guilty of both thoserevolting crimes are: Sanazzaro, Capello, Macchiavelli, Matarazzo, Sanuto, Pietro Martire d'Anghiera, Guicciardini, and Panvinio. 

A formidable array! But consider them, one by one, at close quarters, and take a critical look at what they actually wrote:

SANAZZARO was a Neapolitan poet and epigrammatist, who could not--histimes being what they were--be expected to overlook the fact thatin these slanderous rumours of incest was excellent matter forepigrammatical verse. Therefore, he crystallized them into lines which, whilst doing credit to his wit, reveal his brutal cruelty. No one willseriously suppose that such a man would be concerned with the veracityof the matter of his verses--even leaving out of the question his enmitytowards the House of Borgia, which will transpire later. For him a bentrovato was as good matter as a truth, or better. He measured its valueby its piquancy, by its adaptability to epigrammatic rhymes. 

Conceive the heartlessness of the man who, at the moment of Alexander'sawful grief at the murder of his son--a grief which so moved evenhis enemies that the bitter Savonarola, and the scarcely less bitterCardinal della Rovere, wrote to condole with him--could pen thatterrible epigram:

 Piscatorem hominum ne te non, Sexte, putemus, Piscaris notum retibus ecce tuum. 

Consider the ribaldry of that, and ask yourselves whether this is a manwho would immolate the chance of a witticism upon the altar of Truth. 

It is significant that Sanazzaro, for what he may be worth, confineshimself to the gossip of incest. Nowhere does he mention that Cesare wasthe murderer, and we think that his silence upon the matter, if it showsanything, shows that Cesare's guilt was not so very much the "generalopinion of the day, " as Gregorovius asks us to believe. 

CAPPELLO was not in Rome at the time of the murder, nor until threeyears later, when he merely repeated the rumour that had first sprung upsome eight months after the crime. 

The precise value of his famous "relation" (in which this matter isrecorded, and to which we shall return in its proper place) and thespirit that actuated him is revealed in another accusation of murderwhich he levels at Cesare, an accusation which, of course, has also beenwidely disseminated upon no better authority than his own. It is Capellowho tells us that Cesare stabbed the chamberlain Perrotto in the Pope'svery arms; he adds the details that the man had fled thither for shelterfrom Cesare's fury, and that the blood of him, when he was stabbed, spurted up into the very face of the Pope. Where he got the story isnot readily surmised--unless it be assumed that he evolved it out of hisfeelings for the Borgias. The only contemporary accounts of the death ofthis Perrotto--or Pedro Caldes, as was his real name--state that he fellby accident into the Tiber and was drowned. 

Burchard, who could not have failed to know if the stabbing story hadbeen true, and would not have failed to report it, chronicles thefact that Perrotto was fished out of Tiber, having fallen in six daysearlier--"non libenter. " This statement, coming from the pen of theMaster of Ceremonies at the Vatican, requires no further corroboration. Yet corroboration there actually is in a letter from Rome of February20, 1498, quoted by Marino Sanuto in his Diarii. This states thatPerrotto had been missing for some days, no one knowing what had becomeof him, and that now "he has been found drowned in the Tiber. "

We mention this, in passing, with the twofold object of slaying anothercalumny, and revealing the true value of Capello, who happens to be thechief "witness for the prosecution" put forward by Gregorovius. "Is itnot of great significance, " inquires the German historian, "thatthe fact should have been related so positively by an ambassador whoobtained his knowledge from the best sources?"

The question is frivolous, for the whole trouble in this matter is thatthere were no sources at all, in the proper sense of the word--good orbad. There was simply gossip, which had been busy with a dozen namesalready. 

MACCHIAVELLI includes a note in his Extracts from Letters to the Ten, inwhich he mentions the death of Gandia, adding that "at first nothing wasknown, and then men said it was done by the Cardinal of Valencia. "

There is nothing very conclusive in that. Besides, incidentally itmay be mentioned, that it is not clear when or how these extracts werecompiled by Macchiavelli (in his capacity of Secretary to the Signoryof Florence) from the dispatches of her ambassadors. But it has beenshown--though we are hardly concerned with that at the moment--thatthese extracts are confused by comments of his own, either for his ownfuture use or for that of another. 

MATARAZZO is the Perugian chronicler of whom we have already expressedthe only tenable opinion. The task he set himself was to recordthe contemporary events of his native town--the stronghold of theblood-dripping Baglioni. He enlivened it by every scrap of scandalousgossip that reached him, however alien to his avowed task. Theauthenticity of this scandalmongering chronicle has been questioned;but, even assuming it to be authentic, it is so wildly inaccurate whendealing with matters happening beyond the walls of Perugia as to beutterly worthless. 

Matarazzo relates the story of the incestuous relations prevailing inthe Borgia family, and with an unsparing wealth of detail not to befound elsewhere; but on the subject of the murder he has a tale to tellentirely different from any other that has been left us. For, whilst heurges the incest as the motive of the crime, the murderer, he tells us, was Giovanni Sforza, the outraged husband; and he gives us the fullestdetails of that murder, time and place and exactly how committed, andall the other matters which have never been brought to light. 

It is all a worthless, garbled piece of fiction, most obviously; as suchit has ever been treated; but it is as plausible as it is untrue, and, at least, as authoritative as any available evidence assigning the guiltto Cesare. 

SANUTO we accept as a more or less careful and painstaking chronicler, whose writings are valuable; and Sanuto on the matter of the murderconfines himself to quoting the letter of February 1498, in which theaccusation against Cesare is first mentioned, after having given otherearlier letters which accuse first Ascanio and then Orsini far morepositively than does the latter letter accuse Cesare. 

On the matter of the incest there is no word in Sanuto; but there ismention of Doña Sancia's indiscretions, and the suggestion that, throughjealousy on her account, it was rumoured that the murder had beencommitted--another proof of how vague and ill-defined the rumours were. 

PIETRO MARTIRE D'ANGHIERA writes from Burgos, in Spain, that heis convinced of the fratricide. It is interesting to know of thatconviction of his; but difficult to conceive how it is to be accepted asevidence. 

If more needs to be said of him, let it be mentioned that the letterin which he expresses that conviction is dated April 1497--two monthsbefore the murder took place! So that even Gregorovius is forced todoubt the authenticity of that document. 

GUICCIARDINI is not a contemporary chronicler of events as theyhappened, but an historian writing some thirty years later. He merelyrepeats what Capello and others have said before him. It is for himto quote authorities for what he writes, and not to be set up as anauthority. He is not reliable, and he is a notorious defamer of thePapacy, sparing nothing that will serve his ends. He dilates with gustoupon the accusation of incest. 

Lastly, PANVINTO is in the same category as Guicciardini. He was notborn until some thirty years after these events, and his History of thePopes was not written until some sixty years after the murder of theDuke of Gandia. This history bristles with inaccuracies; he nevertroubles to verify his facts, and as an authority he is entirelynegligible. 

In the valuable Diarium of Burchard there is unfortunately a lacuna atthis juncture, from the day after the murder (of which he gives the fullparticulars to which we have gone for our narrative of that event) untilthe month of August following. And now we may see Gregorovius actuallyusing silence as evidence. He seizes upon that lacuna, and goes so faras to set up the tentative explanation that Burchard "perhaps purposelyinterrupted his Diary that he might avoid mentioning the fratricide. "

If such were the case, it would be a strange departure from Burchard'sinvariable rule, which is one of cold, relentless, uncriticalchronicling of events, no matter what their nature. Besides, anysignificance with which that lacuna might be invested is discounted bythe fact that such gaps are of fairly common occurrence in the courseof Burchard's record. Finally it remains to be shown that the lacunain question exists in the original diaries, which have yet to bediscovered. 

So much for the valuable authorities, out of which--and by means of aselection which is not quite clearly defined--Gregorovius claims to haveproved that the murderer of the Duke of Gandia was his brother CesareBorgia, Cardinal of Valencia. (1)

 1 It is rather odd that, in the course of casting about for a possiblemurderer of Gandia, public opinion should never have fastened uponCardinal Alessandro Farnese. He had lately been stripped of thePatrimony of St. Peter that the governorship of this might be bestowedupon Gandia; his resentment had been provoked by that action of thePope's, and the relations between himself and the Borgias were strainedin consequence. Possibly there was clear proof that he could have had noconnection with the crime. 

Now to examine more closely the actual motives given by thoseauthorities and by later, critical writers, for attributing the guilt toCesare. 

In September of the year 1497, the Pope had dissolved the marriageof his daughter Lucrezia and Giovanni Sforza, and the grounds forthe dissolution were that the husband was impotens et frigidusnatura--admitted by himself. (2)

 2 "El S. De Pesaro ha scripto qua de sua mano non haverla maicognosciuta et esser impotente, alias la sententia non se potea dare. Elprefato S. Dice pero haver scripto cosi per obedire el Duca de Milano etAschanio" (Collenuccio's letter from Rome to the Duke of Ferrara, Dec. 25, 1497). 

If you know anything of the Italy of to-day, you will be able toconceive for yourself how the Italy of the fifteenth century must haveheld her sides and pealed her laughter at the contemptible spectacle ofan unfortunate who afforded such reason to be bundled out of a nuptialbed. The echo of that mighty burst of laughter must have rung fromCalabria to the Alps, and well may it have filled the handsome weaklingwho was the object of its cruel ridicule with a talion fury. Theweapons he took up wherewith to defend himself were a little obvious. Heanswered the odious reflections upon his virility by a wholesale chargeof incest against the Borgia family; he screamed that what had been saidof him was a lie invented by the Borgias to serve their own unutterableends. (1) Such was the accusation with which the squirming Lord of Pesaroretaliated, and, however obvious, yet it was not an accusation thatthe world of his day would lightly cast aside, for all that theperspicacious may have rated it at its proper value. 

 1 "Et mancho se e curato de fare prova de qua con Done per poternechiarire el Rev. Legato che era qua, sebbene sua Excellentia tastandolosopra cio gli ne abbia facto offerta. " And further: "Anzi haverlaconosciuta infinite volte, ma chel Papa non geiha tolta per altro senon per usare con lei" (Costabili's letter from Milan to the Duke ofFerrara, June 23, 1497). 

What is of great importance to students of the history of the Borgias isthat this was the first occasion on which the accusation of incest wasraised. Of course it persisted; such a charge could not do otherwise. But now that we see in what soil it had its roots we shall know whatimportance to attach to it. 

Not only did it persist, but it developed, as was but natural. Cesareand the dead Gandia were included in it, and presently it suggesteda motive--not dreamed of until then--why Cesare might have been hisbrother's murderer. 

Then, early in 1498, came the rumour that Cesare was intending toabandon the purple, and later Writers, from Capello down to our owntimes, have chosen to see in Cesare's supposed contemplation of thatstep a motive so strong for the crime as to prove it in the mostabsolutely conclusive manner. In no case could it be such proof, evenif it were admitted as a motive. But is it really so to be admitted? Didsuch a motive exist at all? Does it really follow--as has been takenfor granted--that Cesare must have remained an ecclesiastic had Gandialived? We cannot see that it does. Indeed, such evidence as there is, when properly considered, points in the opposite direction, even if noaccount is taken of the fact that this was not the first occasion onwhich it was proposed that Cesare should abandon the ecclesiasticalcareer, as is shown by the Ferrarese ambassador's dispatches of March1493. 

It is contended that Gandia was a stumbling-block to Cesare, and thatGandia held the secular possessions which Cesare coveted; but if thatwere really the case why, when eventually (some fourteen months afterGandia's death) Cesare doffed the purple to replace it by a soldier'sharness, did he not assume the secular possessions that had been hisbrother's?

His dead brother's lands and titles went to his dead brother's son, whilst Cesare's career was totally different, as his aims were totallydifferent, from any that had been Gandia's, or that might have beenGandia's had the latter lived. True, Cesare became Captain-General ofthe Church in his dead brother's place; but for that his brother's deathwas not necessary. Gandia had neither the will nor the intellectto undertake the things that awaited Cesare. He was a soft-natured, pleasure-loving youth, whose way of life was already mapped out for him. His place was at Gandia, in Spain, and, whilst he might have continuedlord of all the possessions that were his, it would have been Cesare'sto become Duke of Valentinois, and to have made himself master ofRomagna, precisely as he did. 

In conclusion, Gandia's death no more advanced, than his life could haveimpeded, the career which Cesare afterwards made his own, and to saythat Cesare murdered him to supplant him is to set up a theory which thesubsequent facts of Cesare's life will nowise justify. 

It is idle of Gregorovius to say that the logic of the crime isinexorable--in its assigning the guilt to Cesare--fatuous of him tosuppose that, as he claims, he has definitely proved Cesare to be hisbrother's murderer. 

There is much against Cesare Borgia, but it never has been proved, andnever will be proved, that he was a fratricide. Indeed the few reallyknown facts of the murder all point to a very different conclusion--aconclusion more or less obvious, which has been discarded, presumablyfor no better reason than because it was obvious. 

Where was all this need to go so far afield in quest of a probablemurderer imbued with political motives? Where the need to accuse in turnevery enemy that Gandia could possibly possess before finally fasteningupon his own brother?

Certain evidence is afforded by the known facts of the case, scant asthey are. It may not amount to much, but at least it is sufficientto warrant a plausible conclusion, and there is no justificationfor discarding it in favour of something for which not a particle ofevidence is forthcoming. 

There is, first of all, the man in the mask to be accounted for. Thathe is connected with the crime is eminently probable, if not absolutelycertain. 

It is to be remembered that for a month--according to Burchard--hehad been in the habit of visiting Gandia almost daily. He comes toVannozza's villa on the night of the murder. Is it too much to supposethat he brought a message from some one from whom he was in the habit ofbringing messages?

He was seen last on the crupper of Gandia's horse as the latter rodeaway towards the Jewish quarter. (1) Gandia himself announced that he wasbound on pleasure--going to amuse himself. Even without the knowledgewhich we possess of his licentious habits, no doubt could arise as tothe nature of the amusement upon which he was thus bound at dead ofnight; and there are the conclusions formed in the morning by hisfather, when it was found that Gandia had not returned. 

 1 The Ghetto was not yet in existence. It was not built until 1556, under Paul IV. 

Is it so very difficult to conceive that Gandia, in the course of theassignation to which he went, should have fallen into the hands ofan irate father, husband, or brother? Is it not really the obviousinference to draw from the few facts that we possess? That it was theinference drawn by the Pope and clung to even some time after thecrime and while rumours of a different sort were rife, is shown by theperquisition made in the house of Antonio Pico della Mirandola, who hada daughter whom it was conceived might have been the object of the youngduke's nocturnal visit, and whose house was near the place where Gandiawas flung into the Tiber. 

We could hazard speculations that would account for the man in the mask, but it is not our business to speculate save where the indications arefairly clear. 

Let us consider the significance of Gandia's tied hands and the woundsupon his body in addition to the mortal gash across his throat. To whatdoes this condition point? Surely not to a murder of expediency so muchas to a fierce, lustful butchery of vengeance. Surely it suggests thatGandia may have been tortured before his throat was cut. Why else werehis wrists pinioned? Had he been swiftly done to death there would havebeen no need for that. Had hired assassins done the work they would nothave stayed to pinion him, nor do we think they would have troubled tofling him into the river; they would have slain and left him where hefell. 

The whole aspect of the case suggests the presence of the master, of thepersonal enemy himself. We can conceive Gandia's wrists being tied, tothe end that this personal enemy might do his will upon the wretchedyoung man, dealing him one by one the ten or fourteen wounds in the bodybefore making an end of him by cutting his throat. We cannot explainthe pinioned wrists in any other way. Then the man on the handsome whitehorse, the man whom the four others addressed as men address their lord. Remember his gold spurs--a trifle, perhaps; but hired assassins do notwear gold spurs, even though their bestriding handsome white horses maybe explainable. 

Surely that was the master, the personal enemy himself--and it was notCesare, for Cesare at the time was at the Vatican. 

There we must leave the mystery of the murder of the Duke of Gandia; butwe leave it convinced that, such scant evidence as there is, points toan affair of sordid gallantry, and nowise implicates his brother Cesare. 

CHAPTER V. THE RENUNCIATION OF THE PURPLE

At the Consistory of June 19, 1497 the Sacred College beheld abroken-hearted old man who declared that he had done with the world, andthat henceforth life could offer him nothing that should endear it tohim. 

"A greater sorrow than this could not be ours, for we loved himexceedingly, and now we can hold neither the Papacy nor any other thingas of concern. Had we seven Papacies, we would give them all to restorethe duke to life. " So ran his bitter lament. 

He denounced his course of life as not having been all that it shouldhave been, and appeared to see in the murder of his son a punishmentfor the evil of his ways. Much has been made of this, and quiteunnecessarily. It has been taken eagerly as an admission of hisunparalleled guilt. An admission of guilt it undoubtedly was; but whatman is not guilty? and how many men--ay, and saints even--in the hour oftribulation have cried out that they were being made to feel the wrathof God for the sins that no man is without?

If humanity contains a type that would not have seen in such a cause forsorrow a visitation of God, it is the type of inhuman monster towhich we are asked to believe that Alexander VI belonged. A sinnerunquestionably he was, and a great one; but a human sinner, and not anincarnate devil, else there could have been no such outcry from him insuch an hour as this. 

He announced that henceforth the spiritual needs of the Church should behis only care. He inveighed against the corruption of the ecclesiasticalestate, confessing himself aware of how far it had strayed from theancient discipline and from the laws that had been framed to bridlelicence and cupidity, which were now rampant and unchecked; and heproclaimed his intention to reform the Curia and the Church of Rome. Tothis end he appointed a commission consisting of the Cardinal-BishopsOliviero Caraffa and Giorgio Costa, the Cardinal-Priests AntoniettoPallavicino and Gianantonio Sangiorgio, and the Cardinal-DeaconsFrancesco Piccolomini and Raffaele Riario. 

There was even a suggestion that he was proposing to abdicate, but thathe was prevailed upon to do nothing until his grief should have abatedand his judgement be restored to its habitual calm. This suggestion, however, rests upon no sound authority. 

Letters of condolence reached him on every hand. Even his arch-enemy, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, put aside his rancour in the face of thePope's overwhelming grief--and also because it happened to consort withhis own interests, as will presently transpire. He wrote to Alexanderfrom France that he was truly pained to the very soul of him in hisconcern for the Pope's Holiness--a letter which, no doubt, laid thefoundations to the reconciliation that was toward between them. 

Still more remarkable was it that the thaumaturgical Savonarola shouldhave paused in the atrabilious invective with which he was inflamingFlorence against the Pope, should have paused to send him a letter ofcondolence in which he prayed that the Lord of all mercy might comforthis Holiness in his tribulation. 

That letter is a singular document; singularly human, yielding asingular degree of insight into the nature of the man who penned it. A whole chapter of intelligent speculation upon the character ofSavonarola, based upon a study of externals, could not reveal as much ofthe mentality of that fanatical demagogue as the consideration of justthis letter. 

The sympathy by which we cannot doubt it to have been primarily inspiredis here overspread by the man's rampant fanaticism, there diluted by theprophecies from which he cannot even now refrain; and, throughout, themanner is that of the pulpit-thumping orator. The first half of hisletter is a prelude in the form of a sermon upon Faith, all very triteand obvious; and the notion of this excommunicated friar holding forthto the Pope's Holiness in polemical platitudes delivered with all theauthority of inspired discoveries of his own is one more proof that atthe root of fanaticism in all ages and upon all questions, lies an utterlack of a sense of fitness and proportion. Having said that "the justman liveth in the Lord by faith, " and that "the Lord in His mercypasseth over all our sins, " he proclaims that he announces thingsof which he is assured, and for which he is ready to suffer allpersecutions, and begs his Holiness to turn a favourable eye upon thework of faith in which he is labouring, and to give heed no more to theimpious, promising the Holy Father that thus shall the Lord bestow uponhim the essence of joy instead of the spirit of grief. Having begun, aswe have seen, with an assurance that "the Lord in His mercy passeth overall our sins, " he concludes by prophesying, with questionable logic, that "the thunders of His wrath will ere long be heard. " Nor does heomit to mention--with an apparent arrogance that again betrays that samewant of a sense of proportion--that all his predictions are true. 

His letter, however, and that of Cardinal della Rovere, among somany others, show us how touched was the world by the Pope's loss andoverwhelming grief, how shocked at the manner in which this had beenbrought about. 

The commission which Alexander had appointed for the work of reform hadmeanwhile got to work, and the Cardinal of Naples edited the articles ofa constitution which was undoubtedly the object of prolonged study andconsideration, as is revealed by the numerous erasures and emendationswhich it bears. Unfortunately--for reasons which are not apparent--itwas never published by Alexander. Possibly by the time that it wasconcluded the aggrandizement of the temporal power was claiming hisentire attention to the neglect of the spiritual needs of the Holy See. It is also possible--as has been abundantly suggested--that the sternmood of penitence had softened with his sorrow, and was now overpast. 

Nevertheless, it may have been some lingering remnant of this fervour ofreform that dictated the severe punishment which fell that year upon theflagitious Bishop of Cosenza. A fine trade was being driven in Rome bythe sale of forged briefs of indulgence. Raynaldus cites a Bull on thatscore addressed by Alexander, in the first year of his pontificate, tothe bishops of Spain, enjoining them to visit with punishment all whoin that kingdom should be discovered to be pursuing such a traffic. OnSeptember 4, 1497, Burchard tells us, three servants of the PontificalSecretary, the Archbishop of Cosenza (Bartolomeo Florido) were arrestedin consequence of the discovery of twenty forged briefs issued by them. In their examination they incriminated their master the archbishop, whowas consequently put upon his trial and found guilty. Alexander deposed, degraded, and imprisoned him in Sant' Angelo in a dark room, wherehe was supplied with oil for his lamp and bread and water for hisnourishment until he died. His underlings were burnt in the Campo diFiori in the following month. 

The Duke of Gandia left a widow and two children--Giovanni, a boy ofthree years of age, and Isabella, a girl of two. In the interests ofher son, the widowed duchess applied to the Governor of Valencia inthe following September for the boy's investiture in the rights of hisdeceased father. This was readily granted upon authority from Rome, andso the boy Giovanni was recognized as third Duke of Gandia, Princeof Sessa and Teano, and Lord of Cerignola and Montefoscolo, and theadministration of his estates during his minority was entrusted to hisuncle, Cesare Borgia. 

The Lordship of Benevento--the last grant made to Giovanni Borgia--wasnot mentioned; nor was it then nor ever subsequently claimed by thewidow. It is the one possession of Gandia's that went to Cesare, who wasconfirmed in it by the King of Naples. 

The Gandia branch of the Borgia family remained in Spain, prospered andgrew in importance, and, incidentally, produced St. Francis de Borgia. This Duke of Gandia was Master of the Household to Charles V, and thusa man of great worldly consequence; but it happened that he was so movedby the sight of the disfigured body of his master's beautiful queenthat he renounced the world and entered the Society of Jesus, eventuallybecoming its General. He died in 1562, and in the fulness of time wascanonized. 

Cesare's departure for Naples as legate a latere to anoint and crownFederigo of Aragon was naturally delayed by the tragedy that hadassailed his house, and not until July 22 did he take his leave of thePope and set out with an escort of two hundred horse. 

Naples was still in a state of ferment, split into two parties, one ofwhich favoured France and the other Aragon, so that disturbances werecontinual. Alexander expressed the hope that Cesare might appear in thatdistracted kingdom in the guise of an "angel of peace, " and that by hiscoronation of King Federigo he should set a term to the strife that wastoward. 

The city of Naples itself was now being ravaged by fever, and inconsequence of this it was determined that Cesare should repair insteadto Capua, where Federigo would await him. Arrived there, however, Cesarefell ill, and the coronation ceremony again suffered a postponementuntil August 10. Cesare remained a fortnight in the kingdom, and onAugust 22 set out to return to Rome, and his departure appears to havebeen a matter of relief to Federigo, for so impoverished did the Kingof Naples find himself that the entertainment of the legate and hisnumerous escort had proved a heavy tax upon his flabby purse. 

On the morning of September 6 all the cardinals in Rome received asummons to attend at the Monastery of Santa Maria Nuova to welcome thereturned Cardinal of Valencia. In addition to the Sacred College all theambassadors of the Powers were present, and, after the celebration ofthe Mass, the entire assembly proceeded to the Vatican, where thePope was waiting to receive his son. When the young cardinal presentedhimself at the foot of the papal throne Alexander opened his arms tohim, embraced, and kissed him, speaking no word. 

This rests upon the evidence of two eye-witnesses, (1) and thecircumstance has been urged and propounded into the one conclusive pieceof evidence that Cesare had murdered his brother, and that the Pope knewit. In this you have some more of what Gregorovius terms "inexorablelogic. " He kissed him, but he spake no word to him; therefore, theyreason, Cesare murdered Gandia. Can absurdity be more absurd, fatuitymore fatuous? Lucus a non lucendo! To square the circle should surelypresent no difficulty to these subtle logicians. 

 1 "Non dixit verbum Pape Valentinus, nec Papa sibi, sed eo deosculato, descendit de solio" (Burchard's Diarium, and "Solo lo bació, " in letterfrom Rome in Sanuto's Diarii)

It was, as we have seen, in February of 1498 that it was first rumouredthat Cesare intended to put off the purple; and that the rumour hadample foundation was plain from the circumstance that the Pope wasalready laying plans whose fulfilment must be dependent upon that step, and seeking to arrange a marriage for Cesare with Carlotta of Aragon, King Federigo of Naples's daughter, stipulating that her dowry shouldbe such that Cesare, in taking her to wife, should become Prince ofAltamura and Tarentum. 

But Federigo showed himself unwilling, possibly in consideration ofthe heavy dowry demanded and of the heavy draft already made by theBorgias--through Giuffredo Borgia, Prince of Squillace--upon this Napleswhich the French invasion had so impoverished. He gave out that he wouldnot have his daughter wedded to a priest who was the son of a priest andthat he would not give his daughter unless the Pope could contrive thata cardinal might marry and yet retain his hat. 

It all sounded as if he were actuated by nice scruples and highprinciples; but the opinion is unfortunately not encouraged when wefind him, nevertheless, giving his consent to the marriage of his nephewAlfonso to Lucrezia Borgia upon the pronouncement of her divorce fromGiovanni Sforza. The marriage, let us say in passing, was celebratedat the Vatican on June 20, 1498, Lucrezia receiving a dowry of 40, 000ducats. But the astute Alexander saw to it that his family shouldacquire more than it gave, and contrived that Alfonso should receive theNeapolitan cities of Biselli and Quadrata, being raised to the title ofPrince of Biselli. 

Nevertheless, there was a vast difference between giving in marriage adaughter who must take a weighty dowry out of the kingdom and receivinga daughter who would bring a handsome dowry with her. And the factssuggest that such was the full measure of Federigo's scruples. 

Meanwhile, to dissemble his reluctance to let Cesare have his daughterto wife, Federigo urged that he must first take the feeling of Ferdinandand Isabella in this matter. 

While affairs stood thus, Charles VIII died suddenly at Amboise in Aprilof that year 1498. Some work was being carried out there by artists whomhe had brought from Naples for the purpose, and, in going to visit this, the king happened to enter a dark gallery, and struck his forehead soviolently against the edge of a door that he expired the same day--atthe age of twenty-eight. He was a poor, malformed fellow, as we haveseen, and "of little understanding, " Commines tells us, "but so goodthat it would have been impossible to have found a kinder creature. "

With him the Valois dynasty came to an end. He was succeeded by hiscousin, the Duke of Orleans, who, upon his coronation at Rheims, assumedthe title of King of France and the Two Sicilies and Duke of Milan--amatter which considerably perturbed Federigo of Aragon and LodovicoSforza. Each of these rulers saw in that assumption of his own title byLouis XII a declaration of enmity, the prelude to a declaration of openwar; wherefore, deeming it idle to send their ambassadors to representthem at the Court of France, they refrained from doing so. 

Louis XII's claim upon the Duchy of Milan was based upon his being thegrandson of Valentina Visconti, and, considering himself a Visconti, henaturally looked upon the Sforza dominion as no better than a usurpationwhich too long had been left undisturbed. To disturb it now was thefirst aim of his kingship. And to this end, as well as in anothermatter, the friendship of the Pope was very desirable to Louis. 

The other matter concerned his matrimonial affairs. No sooner did hefind himself King of France than he applied to Rome for the dissolutionof his marriage with Jeanne de Valois, the daughter of Louis XI. Thegrounds he urged were threefold: Firstly, between himself and Jeannethere existed a relationship of the fourth degree and a spiritualaffinity, resulting from the fact that her father, Louis XI, hadheld him at the baptismal font--which before the Council of Trentdid constitute an impediment to marriage. Secondly, he had not been awilling party to the union, but had entered into it as a consequence ofintimidation from the terrible Louis XI, who had threatened his lifeand possessions if not obeyed in this. Thirdly, Jeanne laboured underphysical difficulties which rendered her incapable of maternity. 

Of such a nature was the appeal he made to Alexander, and Alexanderresponded by appointing a commission presided over by the Cardinal ofLuxembourg, and composed of that same cardinal and the Bishops of Albiand Ceuta, assisted by five other bishops as assessors, to investigatethe king's grievance. There appears to be no good reason for assumingthat the inquiry was not conducted fairly and honourably or that thefinding of the bishops and ultimate annulment of the marriage was not inaccordance with their consciences. We are encouraged to assume that allthis was indeed so, when we consider that Jeanne de Valois submittedwithout protest to the divorce, and that neither then nor subsequentlyat any time did she prefer any complaint, accepting the judgement, it ispresumable, as a just and fitting measure. 

She applied to the Pope for permission to found a religious order, whosespecial aim should be the adoration and the emulation of the perfectionsof the Blessed Virgin, a permission which Alexander very readilyaccorded her. He was, himself, imbued with a very special devotion forthe Mother of the Saviour. We see the spur of this special devotion ofhis in the votive offering of a silver effigy to her famous altar of theSantissima Nunziata in Florence, which he had promised in the event ofRome being freed from Charles VIII. Again, after the accident of thecollapse of a roof in the Vatican, in which he narrowly escaped death, it is to Santa Maria Nuova that we see him going in procession to holda solemn thanksgiving service to Our Lady. In a dozen different waysdid that devotion find expression during his pontificate; and be itremembered that Catholics owe it to Alexander VI that the Angelus-bellis rung thrice daily in honour of the Blessed Virgin. 

To us this devotion to the Mother of Chastity on the part of a churchmanopenly unchaste in flagrant subversion of his vows is a strange andincongruous spectacle. But the incongruity of it is illumining. Itreveals Alexander's simple attitude towards the sins of the flesh, and shows how, in common with most churchmen of his day, he found noconscientious difficulty in combining fervid devotion with perfervidlicence. Whatever it may seem by ours, by his lights--by the light ofthe examples about him from his youth, by the light of the precedentsafforded him by his predecessors in St. Peter's Chair--his conduct wasa normal enough affair, which can have afforded him little with which toreproach himself. 

In the matter of the annulment of the marriage of Louis XII it is tobe conceded that Alexander made the most of the opportunity it affordedhim. He perceived that the moment was propitious for enlisting theservices of the King of France to the achievement of his own ends, moreparticularly to further the matter of the marriage of Cesare Borgiawith Carlotta of Aragon, who was being reared at the Court of France. Accordingly Alexander desired the Bishop of Ceuta to lay his wishes inthe matter before the Christian King, and, to the end that Cesare mightfind a fitting secular estate awaiting him when eventually he emergedfrom the clergy, the Pope further suggested to Louis, through thebishop's agency, that Cesare should receive the investiture of thecounties of Valentinois and Dyois in Dauphiny. On the face of it thiswears the look of inviting bribery. In reality it scarcely amountedto so much, although the opportunism that prompted the request isundeniable. Yet it is worthy of consideration that in what concerned thecounties of Valentinois and Dyois, the Pope's suggestion constituteda wise political step. These territories had been in dispute betweenFrance and the Holy See for a matter of some two hundred years, duringwhich the Popes had been claiming dominion over them. The claims hadbeen admitted by Louis XI, who had relinquished the counties to theChurch; but shortly after his death the Parliament of Dauphiny hadrestored them to the crown of France. Charles VIII and Innocent VIII hadwrangled over them, and an arbitration was finally projected, but neverheld. 

Alexander now perceived a way to solve the difficulty by a compromisewhich should enrich his son and give the latter a title to replace thatof cardinal which he was to relinquish. So his proposal to Louis XII wasthat the Church should abandon its claim upon the territories, whilstthe king, raising Valentinois to the dignity of a duchy, should soconfer it upon Cesare Borgia. 

Although the proposal was politically sound, it constituted at the sametime an act of flagrant nepotism. But let us bear in mind that Alexanderdid not lack a precedent for this particular act. When Louis XI hadsurrendered Valentinois to Sixtus IV, this Pope had bestowed it uponhis nephew Girolamo, thereby vitiating any claim that the Holy Seemight subsequently have upon the territory. We judge it--under thecircumstances that Louis XI had surrendered it to the Church--to be afar more flagrant piece of nepotism than was Alexander's now. 

Louis XII, nothing behind the Pope in opportunism, saw in the concessionasked of him the chance of acquiring Alexander's good-will. Heconsented, accompanying his consent by a request for a cardinal's hatfor Georges d'Amboise, Bishop of Rouen, who had been his devoted friendin less prosperous times, and the sharer of his misfortunes underthe previous reign, and was now his chief counsellor and minister. Inaddition he besought--dependent, of course, upon the granting ofthe solicited divorce--a dispensation to marry Anne of Brittany, thebeautiful widow of Charles VIII. This was Louis's way of raising theprice, as it were, of the concession and services asked of him; yet, that there might be no semblance of bargaining, his consent to Cesare'sbeing created Duke of Valentinois was simultaneous with his request forfurther favours. 

With the Royal Patents conferring that duchy upon the Pope's son, Louisde Villeneuve reached Rome on August 7, 1498. On the same day the youngcardinal came before the Sacred College, assembled in Consistory, tocrave permission to doff the purple. 

After the act of adoration of the Pope's Holiness, he humbly submittedto his brother cardinals that his inclinations had ever been inopposition to his embracing the ecclesiastical dignity, and that, if hehad entered upon it at all, this had been solely at the instances of hisHoliness, just as he had persevered in it to gratify him; but that, hisinclinations and desires for the secular estate persisting, he imploredthe Holy Father, of his clemency, to permit him to put off his habit andecclesiastical rank, to restore his hat and benefices to the Church, andto grant him dispensation to return to the world and be free to contractmarriage. And he prayed the very reverend cardinals to use their goodoffices on his behalf, adding to his own their intercessions to thePope's Holiness to accord him the grace he sought. 

The cardinals relegated the decision of the matter to the Pope. CardinalXimenes alone--as the representative of Spain--stood out against thegranting of the solicited dispensation, and threw obstacles in the wayof it. In this, no doubt, he obeyed his instructions from Ferdinand andIsabella, who saw to the bottom of the intrigue with France that wastoward, and of the alliance that impended between Louis XII and the HolySee--an alliance not at all to the interests of Spain. 

The Pope made a speedy rout of the cardinal's objections with the mostapostolic and irresistible of all weapons. He pointed out that it wasnot for him to hinder the Cardinal of Valencia's renunciation of thepurple, since that renunciation was clearly become necessary for thesalvation of his soul--"Pro salutae animae suae"--to which, of course, Ximenes had no answer. 

But, with the object of conciliating Spain, this ever-politic Popeindicated that, if Cesare was about to become a prince of France, hismany ecclesiastical benefices, yielding some 35, 000 gold florins yearly, being mostly in Spain, would be bestowed upon Spanish churchmen, and hefurther begged Ximenes to remember that he already had a "nephew" at theCourt of Spain in the person of the heir of Gandia, whom he particularlycommended to the favour of Ferdinand and Isabella. 

Thus was Cesare Borgia's petition granted, and his return to the worldaccomplished. And, by a strange chance of homonymy, his title remainedunchanged despite his change of estate. The Cardinal of Valencia, inSpain, became the Duke of Valence--or Valentinois--in France and inItaly Valentino remained Valentino. 

BOOK III. THE BULL RAMPANT

"Cum numine Caesaris omen. "

(motto on Cesare Borgia's sword. )

CHAPTER I. THE DUCHESS OF VALENTINOIS

King Louis XII dispatched the Sieur de Sarenon by sea, with a fleet ofthree ships and five galleys, to the end that he should conduct thenew duke to France, which fleet was delayed so that it did not drop itsanchors at Ostia until the end of September. 

Meanwhile, Cesare's preparations for departure had been going forward, and were the occasion of a colossal expenditure on the part of his sire. For the Pope desired that his son, in going to France to assume hisestate, and for the further purposes of marrying a wife, of conveyingto Louis the dispensation permitting his marriage with Anne of Brittany, and of bearing the red hat to Amboise, should display the extraordinarymagnificence for which the princes of cultured and luxurious Italy wereat the time renowned. 

His suite consisted of fully a hundred attendants, what withesquires, pages, lacqueys and grooms, whilst twelve chariots and fiftysumpter-mules were laden with his baggage. The horses of his followerswere all sumptuously caparisoned with bridles and stirrups of solidsilver; and, for the rest, the splendour of the liveries, the weaponsand the jewels, and the richness of the gifts he bore with him were theamazement even of that age of dazzling displays. 

In Cesare's train went Ramiro de Lorqua, the Master of his Household;Agabito Gherardi, his secretary; and his Spanish physician, GaspareTorella--the only medical man of his age who had succeeded indiscovering a treatment for the pudendagra which the French had left inItaly, and who had dedicated to Cesare his learned treatise upon thatdisease. 

As a body-guard, or escort of honour, Cesare took with him thirtygentlemen, mostly Romans, among whom were Giangiordano Orsini, PietroSanta Croce, Mario di Mariano, Domenico Sanguigna, Giulio Alberini, Bartolomeo Capranica, and Gianbattista Mancini--all young, and allmembers of those patrician families which Alexander VI had skilfullyattached to his own interest. 

The latest of these was the Orsini family, with which an alliance wasestablished by the marriage celebrated at the Vatican on September 28 ofthat same year between Fabio Orsini and Girolama Borgia, a niece of thePope's. 

Cesare's departure took place on October 1, in the early morning, whenhe rode out with his princely retinue, and followed the Tiber alongTrastevere, without crossing the city. He was mounted on a handsomecharger, caparisoned in red silk and gold brocade--the colours ofFrance, in which he had also dressed his lacqueys. He wore a doubletof white damask laced with gold, and carried a mantle of black velvetswinging from his shoulders. Of black velvet, too, was the cap on hisauburn head, its sable colour an effective background for the ruddyeffulgence of the great rubies--"as large as beans"--with which it wasadorned. 

Of the gentlemen who followed him, the Romans were dressed in the Frenchmode, like himself, whilst the Spaniards adhered to the fashions oftheir native Spain. 

He was escorted as far as the end of the Banchi by four cardinals, andfrom a window of the Vatican the Pope watched the imposing cavalcadeand followed it with his eyes until it was lost to view, weeping, weare told, for very joy at the contemplation of the splendour andmagnificence which it had been his to bestow upon his beloved son--"thevery heart of him, " as he wrote to the King of France in that letter ofwhich Cesare was the bearer. 

On October 12 the Duke of Valentinois landed at Marseilles, where he wasreceived by the Bishop of Dijon, whom the king had sent to meet him, andwho now accompanied the illustrious visitor to Avignon. There Cesarewas awaited by the Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere. This prelate was nowanxious to make his peace with Alexander--and presently we shall lookinto the motives that probably inspired him, a matter which has so far, we fancy, escaped criticism for reasons that we shall also strive tomake apparent. To the beginnings of a reconciliation with the Pontiffafforded by his touching letter of condolence on the death of the Dukeof Gandia, he now added a very cordial reception and entertainment ofCesare; and throughout his sojourn in France the latter received atthe hands of della Rovere the very friendliest treatment, the cardinalmissing no opportunity of working in the duke's interests and for theadvancement of his ends. 

The Pope wrote to the cardinal commending Cesare to his good graces, andthe cardinal replied with protestations which he certainly proceeded tomake good. 

Della Rovere was to escort Cesare to the king, who was with his Courtthen at Chinon, awaiting the completion of the work that was beingcarried out at his Castle of Blois, which presently became his chiefresidence. But Cesare appears to have tarried in Avignon, for he wasstill there at the end of October, nor did he reach Chinon until themiddle of December. The pomp of his entrance was a thing stupendous. Wefind a detailed relation of it in Brantôme, translated into proseform some old verses which, he tells us, that he found in the familytreasury. He complains of their coarseness, and those who are acquaintedwith the delightful old Frenchman's own frankness of expression maywell raise their brows at that criticism of his. Whatever the coarseliberties taken with the subject--of which we are not allowed more thanan occasional glimpse--and despite the fact that the relation wasin verse, which ordinarily makes for the indulgence of the rhymer'sfancy--the description appears to be fairly accurate, for it correspondsmore or less with the particulars given in Sanuto. 

At the head of the cavalcade went twenty-four sumpter-mules, laden withcoffers and other baggage under draperies embroidered with Cesare'sarms--prominent among which would be the red bull, the emblem of hishouse, and the three-pointed flame, his own particular device. Behindthese came another twenty-four mules, caparisoned in the king's coloursof scarlet and gold, to be followed in their turn by sixteen beautifulchargers led by hand, similarly caparisoned, and their bridles andstirrups of solid silver. Next came eighteen pages on horseback, sixteenof whom were in scarlet and yellow, whilst the remaining two were incloth of gold. These were followed by a posse of lacqueys in the sameliveries and two mules laden with coffers draped with cloth of gold, which contained the gifts of which Cesare was the bearer. Behind theserode the duke's thirty gentlemen, in cloth of gold and silver, andamongst them came the duke himself. 

Cesare was mounted on a superb war-horse that was all empanoplied in acuirass of gold leaves of exquisite workmanship, its head surmountedby a golden artichoke, its tail confined in a net of gold abundantlystudded with pearls. The duke was in black velvet, through the slashingsof which appeared the gold brocade of the undergarment. Suspended froma chain said by Brantôme's poet to be worth thirty thousand ducats, amedallion of diamonds blazed upon his breast, and in his black velvetcap glowed those same wonderful rubies that we saw on the occasion ofhis departure from Rome. His boots were of black velvet, laced with goldthread that was studded with gems. 

The rear of the cavalcade was brought up by more mules and the chariotsbearing his plate and tents and all the other equipage with which aprince was wont to travel. 

It is said by some that his horse was shod with solid gold, and there isalso a story--pretty, but probably untrue--that some of his mules wereshod in the same metal, and that, either because the shoes were looselyattached of intent, or because the metal, being soft, parted readilyfrom the hoofs, these golden shoes were freely cast and left as largessefor those who might care to take them. 

The Bishop of Rouen--that same Georges d'Amboise for whom he wasbringing the red hat--the Seneschal of Toulouse and several gentlemenof the Court went to meet him on the bridge, and escorted him up throughthe town to the castle, where the king awaited him. Louis XII gave hima warm and cordial welcome, showing him then and thereafter thefriendliest consideration. Not so, however, the lady he was come to woo. It was said in Venice that she was in love with a young Breton gentlemanin the following of Queen Anne. Whether this was true, and Carlottaacted in the matter in obedience to her own feelings, or whether shewas merely pursuing the instructions she had received from Naples, sheobstinately and absolutely refused to entertain or admit the suit ofCesare. 

Della Rovere, on January 18, wrote to the Pope from Nantes, whither theCourt had moved, a letter in which he sang the praises of the young Dukeof Valentinois. 

"By his modesty his readiness, his prudence, and his other virtues hehas known how to earn the affections of every one. " Unfortunately, therewas one important exception, as the cardinal was forced to add: "Thedamsel, either out of her own contrariness, or because so induced byothers, which is easier to believe, constantly refuses to hear of thewedding. "

Della Rovere was quite justified in finding it easier to believe thatCarlotta was acting upon instructions from others, for, when hardpressed to consent to the alliance, she demanded that the Neapolitanambassador should himself say that her father desired her to do so--astatement which, it seems, the ambassador could not bring himself tomake. 

Baffled by the persistence of that refusal, Cesare all but returned abachelor to Italy. So far, indeed, was his departure a settled matterthat in February of 1489, at the Castle of Loches, he received theking's messages for the Pope. Yet Louis hesitated to let him go withouthaving bound his Holiness to his own interests by stronger bonds. 

In the task of tracing the annals of the Borgias, the honest seekerafter truth is compelled to proceed axe in hand that he may hack himselfa way through the tangle of irresponsible or malicious statements thathave grown up about this subject, driving their roots deep into thesoil of history. Not a single chance does malignity, free or chartered, appear to have missed for the invention of flagitious falsehoodsconcerning this family, or for the no less flagitious misinterpretationof known facts. 

Amid a mass of written nonsense dealing with Cesare's sojourn in Franceis the oft-repeated, totally unproven statement that he withheld fromLouis the dispensation enabling the latter to marry Anne of Brittany, until such time as he should have obtained from Louis all that hedesired of him--in short, that he sold him the dispensation for thehighest price he could extract. The only motive served by this statementis once more to show Alexander and his son in the perpetration ofsimoniacal practices, and the statement springs, beyond doubt, from apassage in Macchiavelli's Extracts from Dispatches to the Ten. Elsewherehas been mentioned the confusion prevailing in those extracts, and theirunreliability as historical evidences. That circumstance can be nowestablished. The passage in question runs as follows:

"This dispensation was given to Valentinois when he went to Francewithout any one being aware of its existence, with orders to sell itdearly to the king, and not until satisfied of the wife and his otherdesires. And, whilst these things were toward, the king learnt from theBishop of Ceuta that the dispensation already existed, and so, withouthaving received or even seen it the marriage was celebrated, andfor revealing this the Bishop of Ceuta was put to death by order ofValentinois. "

Now, to begin with, Macchiavelli admits that what passed between Popeand duke was secret. How, then, does he pretend to possess thesedetails of it? But, leaving that out of the question, his statement--soabundantly repeated by later writers--is traversed by every one of theactual facts of the case. 

That there can have been no secret at all about the dispensation is madeplain by the fact that Manfredi, the Ferrarese ambassador, writes of itto Duke Ercole on October 2--the day after Cesare's departure from Rome. And as for the death of Fernando d'Almeida Bishop of Ceuta, this did nottake place then, nor until two years later (on January 7, 1499) at thesiege of Forli, whither he had gone in Cesare's train--as is related inBernardi's Chronicles and Bonoli's history of that town. 

To return to the matter of Cesare's imminent departure unwed fromFrance, Louis XII was not the only monarch to whom this was a sourceof anxiety. Keener far was the anxiety experienced on that score by theKing of Naples, who feared that its immediate consequence would be todrive the Holy Father into alliance with Venice, which was paying itscourt to him at the time and with that end in view. Eager to conciliateAlexander in this hour of peril, Federigo approached him withalternative proposals, and offered to invest Cesare in theprincipalities of Salerno and Sanseverino, which had been taken from therebel barons. To this the Pope might have consented, but that, in themoment of considering it, letters reached him from Cesare which made himpause. 

Louis XII had also discovered an alternative to the marriage of Cesarewith Carlotta, and one that should more surely draw the Pope into thealliance with Venice and himself. 

Among the ladies of the Court of Queen Anne--Louis had now been weddeda month--there were, besides Carlotta, two other ladies either of whommight make Cesare a suitable duchess. One of these was a niece of theking's, the daughter of the Comte de Foix; the other was Charlotted'Albret, a daughter of Alain d'Albret, Duc de Guyenne, and sister tothe King of Navarre. Between these two Cesare was now given to choose byLouis, and his choice fell upon Charlotte. 

She was seventeen years of age and said to be the most beautiful maidin France, and she had been reared at the honourable and pious Court ofJeanne de Valois, whence she had passed into that of Anne of Brittany, which latter, says Hilarion de Coste, (1) was "a school of virtue, anacademy of honour. "

 1 Éloges et vies des Reynes, Princesses, etc. 

Negotiations for her hand were opened with Alain, who, it is said, wasat first unwilling, but in the end won over to consent. Navarre had needof the friendship of the King of France, that it might withstand thepredatory humours of Castille; and so, for his son's sake, Alain couldnot long oppose the wishes of Louis. Considering closely the pecuniarydifficulties under which this Alain d'Albret was labouring and hisnotorious avarice, one is tempted to conclude that such difficultiesas he may have made were dictated by his reduced circumstances, hisimpossibility, or unwillingness, to supply his daughter with a dowryfitting her rank, and an unworthy desire to drive in the matter the bestbargain possible. And this is abundantly confirmed by the obvious careand hard-headed cunning with which the Sieur d'Albret investigatedCesare's circumstances and sources of revenue to verify their values tobe what was alleged. 

Eventually he consented to endow her with 30, 000 livres Tournois (90, 000francs) to be paid as follows: 6, 000 livres on the celebration of themarriage, and the balance by annual instalments of 1, 500 livres untilcleared off. This sum, as a matter of fact, represented her portion ofthe inheritance from her deceased mother, Françoise de Bretagne, and itwas tendered subject to her renouncing all rights and succession in anyproperty of her father's or her said deceased mother's. 

Thus is it set forth in the contract drawn up by Alain at Castel-Jalouxon March 23, 1499, which contract empowers his son Gabriel and oneRegnault de St. Chamans to treat and conclude the marriage urged by theking between the Duke of Valentinois and Alain's daughter, Charlotted'Albret. But that was by no means all. Among other conditions imposedby Alain, he stipulated that the Pope should endow his daughter with100, 000 livres Tournois, and that for his son, Amanieu d'Albret, there should be a cardinal's hat--for the fulfilment of both of whichconditions Cesare took it upon himself to engage his father. 

On April 15 the treaty between France and Venice was signed at Blois. It was a defensive and offensive alliance directed against all, with thesole exception of the reigning Pontiff, who should have the faculty toenter into it if he so elected. This was the first decisive step againstthe House of Sforza, and so secretly were the negotiations conductedthat Lodovico Sforza's first intimation of them resulted from thecapture in Milanese territory of a courier from the Pope with letters toCesare in France. From these he learnt, to his dismay, not only of theexistence of the league, but that the Pope had joined it. The immediateconsequence of this positive assurance that Alexander had gone over toSforza's enemies was Ascanio Sforza's hurried departure from Rome onJuly 13. 

In the meantime Cesare's marriage had followed almost immediately uponthe conclusion of the treaty. The nuptials were celebrated on May 12, and on the 19th he received at the hands of the King of France theknightly Order of St. Michael, which was then the highest honourthat France could confer. When the news of this reached the Pope hecelebrated the event in Rome with public festivities and illuminations. 

Of Cesare's courtship we have no information. The fact that the marriagewas purely one of political expediency would tend to make us conceive itas invested with that sordid lovelessness which must so often attend themarriages of princes. But there exists a little data from which we maydraw certain permissible inferences. This damsel of seventeen was saidto be the loveliest in France, and there is more than a suggestion inLe Feron's De Gestis Regnum Gallorum, that Cesare was by no meansindifferent to her charms. He tells us that the Duke of Valentinoisentered into the marriage very heartily, not only for the sake of itsexpediency, but for "the beauty of the lady, which was equalled by hervirtues and the sweetness of her nature. "

Cesare, we have it on more than one authority, was the handsomest manof his day. The gallantry of his bearing merited the approval of sofastidious a critic in such matters as Baldassare Castiglione, whomentions it in his Il Cortigiano. Of his personal charm there is also nolack of commendation from those who had his acquaintance at this time. Added to this, his Italian splendour and flamboyance may well havedazzled a maid who had been reared amid the grey and something sterntones of the Court of Jeanne de Valois. 

And so it may well be that they loved, and that they were blessed intheir love for the little space allotted them in each other's company. The sequel justifies in a measure the assumption. Just one little summerout of the span of their lives--brief though those lives were--did theyspend together, and it is good to find some little evidence that, duringthat brief season at least, they inhabited life's rose-garden. 

In September--just four short months after the wedding-bells had pealedabove them--the trumpets of war blared out their call to arms. Louis'spreparations for the invasion of Milan were complete and he poured histroops through Piedmont under the command of Giangiacomo Trivulzio. 

Cesare was to accompany Louis into Italy. He appointed hisseventeen-year-old duchess governor and administrator of his lands andlordships in France and Dauphiny under a deed dated September 8, andhe made her heiress to all his moveable possessions in the event of hisdeath. Surely this bears some witness, not only to the prevailing ofa good understanding between them, but to his esteem of her and theconfidence he reposed in her mental qualities. The rest her latermourning of him shows. 

Thus did Cesare take leave of the young wife whom he was never to seeagain. Their child--born in the following spring--he was never to see atall. The pity of it! Ambition-driven, to fulfil the destiny expected ofhim, he turned his back upon that pleasant land of Dauphiny where theone calm little season of his manhood had been spent, where happinessand peace might have been his lifelong portion had he remained. He sethis face towards Italy and the storm and stress before him, and in thetrain of King Louis he set out upon the turbulent meteoric course thatwas to sear so deep and indelible a brand across the scroll of history. 

CHAPTER II. THE KNELL OF THE TYRANTS

In the hour of his need Lodovico Sforza found himself without friendsor credit, and he had to pay the price of the sly, faithless egotisticalpolicy he had so long pursued with profit. 

His far-reaching schemes were flung into confusion because a French kinghad knocked his brow against a door, and had been succeeded by one whoconceived that he had a legal right to the throne of Milan, and theintent and might to enforce it, be the right legal or not. It was invain now that Lodovico turned to the powers of Italy for assistance, in vain that his cunning set fresh intrigues afoot. His neighbours hadfound him out long since; he had played fast and loose with them toooften, and there was none would trust him now. 

Thus he found himself isolated, and in no case to withstand the Frenchavalanche which rolled down upon his duchy. The fall of Milan was amatter of days; of resistance there was practically none. Town aftertown threw up its gates to the invaders, and Lodovico, seeing himselfabandoned on all sides, sought in flight the safety of his own person. 

Cesare took no part in the war, which, after all, was no war--no morethan an armed progress. He was at Lyons with the King, and he did notmove into Italy until Louis went to take possession of his new duchy. 

Amid the acclamations of the ever-fickle mob, hailing him as itsdeliverer, Louis XII rode triumphantly into Milan on October 6, attendedby a little host of princes, including the Prince of Savoy, the Dukesof Montferrat and Ferrara, and the Marquis of Mantua. But the place ofhonour went to Cesare Borgia, who rode at the king's side, a brilliantand arresting figure. This was the occasion on which BaldassareCastiglione--who was in the Marquis of Mantua's suite--was moved to suchpraise of the appearance and gallant bearing of the duke, and of thesplendid equipment of his suite, which outshone those of all that littlehost of attendant princes. 

From this time onward Cesare signs himself "Cesare Borgia of France, "and quarters on his shield the golden lilies of France with the red bullof the House of Borgia. 

The conditions on which Alexander VI joined the league of France andVenice became apparent at about this time. They were to be gathered fromthe embassy of his nephew, the Cardinal Giovanni Borgia, to Venice inthe middle of September. There the latter announced to the Council ofTen that the Pope's Holiness aimed at the recovery to the Church ofthose Romagna tyrannies which originally were fiefs of the Holy Seeand held by her vicars, who, however, had long since repudiated thePontifical authority, refused the payment of their tributes, and in someinstances had even gone so far as to bear arms against the Church. 

With one or two exceptions the violent and evil misgovernment of theseturbulent princelings was a scandal to all Italy. They ruled by rapineand murder, and rendered Romagna little better than a nest of brigands. Their state of secession from the Holy See arose largely out of thenepotism practised by the last Popes--a nepotism writers are too proneto overlook when charging Alexander with the same abuse. Such Popes asSixtus IV and Innocent VIII had broken up the States of the Church thatthey might endow their children and their nephews. The nepotism of suchas these never had any result but to impoverish the Holy See; whilst, onthe other hand, the nepotism of Alexander--this Pope who is held upto obloquy as the archetype of the nepotist--had a tendency rather toenrich it. It was not to the States of the Church, not by easy waysof plundering the territories of the Holy See, that he turned to founddominions and dynasties for his children. He went beyond and outside ofthem, employing princely alliances as the means to his ends. Gandiawas a duke in Spain; Giuffredo a prince in Naples, and Cesare a dukein France. For none of these could it be said that territories hadbeen filched from Rome, whilst the alliances made for them were suchas tended to strengthen the power of the Pope, and, therefore, of theChurch. 

The reconsolidation of the States of the Church, the recovery ofher full temporal power, which his predecessors had so grievouslydissipated, had ever been Alexander's aim; Louis XII afforded him, atlast, his opportunity, since with French aid the thing now might beattempted. 

His son Cesare was the Hercules to whom was to be given the labour ofcleaning out the Augean stable of the Romagna. 

That Alexander may have been single-minded in his purpose has neverbeen supposed. It might, indeed, be to suppose too much; and the generalassumption that, from the outset, his chief aim was to found a powerfulState for his son may be accepted. But let us at least remember thatsuch had been the aims of several Popes before him. Sixtus IV andInnocent VIII had similarly aimed at founding dynasties in Romagna fortheir families, but, lacking the talents and political acuteness ofAlexander and a son of the mettle and capacity of Cesare Borgia, thefeeble trail of their ambition is apt to escape attention. It is also tobe remembered that, whatever Alexander's ulterior motive, the immediateresults of the campaign with which he inspired his son were to reuniteto the Church the States which had fallen away from her, and tore-establish her temporal sway in the full plenitude of its dominion. However much he may have been imbued with the desire to exalt andaggrandize his children politically, he did nothing that did not at thesame time make for the greater power and glory of the Church. 

His formidable Bull published in October set forth how, after trial, ithad been found that the Lords or Vicars of Rimini, Pesaro, Imola, Forli, Camerino and Faenza, with other feudatories of the Holy See (includingthe duchy of Urbino) had never paid the yearly tribute due to theChurch, wherefore he, by virtue of his apostolic authority, deprivedthem of all their rights, and did declare them so deprived. 

It has been said again and again that this Bull amounting to adeclaration of war, was no more than a pretext to indulge his rapacity;but surely it bears the impress of a real grievance, and, howeverblameable the results that followed out of it, for the measure itselfthere were just and ample grounds. 

The effect of that Bull, issued at a moment when Cesare stood at armswith the might of France at his back, ready to enforce it, was naturallyto throw into a state of wild dismay these Romagna tyrants whoseacquaintance we shall make at closer quarters presently in the course offollowing Cesare's campaign. Cesare Borgia may have been something of awolf; but you are not to suppose that the Romagna was a fold of lambs. 

Giovanni Sforza--Cesare's sometime brother-in­law, and Lord ofPesaro--flies in hot haste to Venice for protection. There are nolengths to which he will not go to thwart the Borgias in their purpose, to save his tyranny from falling into the power of this family which hehates most rabidly, and of which he says that, having robbed him of hishonour, it would now deprive him of his possessions. He even offers tomake a gift of his dominions to the Republic. 

There was much traders' blood in Venice, and, trader-like, she was avidof possessions. You can surmise how she must have watered at the mouthto see so fine a morsel cast thus into her lap, and yet to know thatthe consumption of it might beget a woeful indigestion. Venice shook herhead regretfully. She could not afford to quarrel with her ally, KingLouis, and so she made answer--a thought contemptuously, it seems--thatGiovanni should have made his offer while he was free to do so. 

The Florentines exerted themselves to save Forli from the fate thatthreatened it. They urged a league of Bologna, Ferrara, Forli, Piombino, and Siena for their common safety--a proposal which came to nothing, probably because Ferrara and Siena, not being threatened by the Bull, saw no reason why, for the sake of others, they should call down uponthemselves the wrath of the Borgias and their mighty allies. 

Venice desired to save Faenza, whose tyrant, Manfredi, was alsoattainted for non-payment of his tributes, and to this end the Republicsent an embassy to Rome with the moneys due. But the Holy Father refusedthe gold, declaring that it was too late for payment. 

Forli's attempt to avert the danger was of a different sort, and notexerted until this danger--in the shape of Cesare himself--stood inarms beneath her walls. Two men, both named Tommaso--though it does nottranspire that they were related--one a chamberlain of the Palaceof Forli, the other a musician, were so devoted to the CountessSforza-Riario, the grim termagant who ruled the fiefs of her murderedhusband, Girolamo Riario, as to have undertaken an enterprise from whichthey cannot have hoped to emerge with their lives. It imported no lessthan the murder of the Pope. They were arrested on November 21, andin the possession of one of them was found a hollow cane containinga letter "so impregnated with poison that even to unfold it would bedangerous. " This letter was destined for the Holy Father. 

The story reads like a gross exaggeration emanating from men who, on thesubject of poisoning, display the credulity of the fifteenth century, soignorant in these matters and so prone to the fantastic. And our mindsreceive a shock upon learning that, when put to the question, these messengers actually made a confession--upon which the storyrests--admitting that they had been sent by the countess to slay thePope, in the hope that thus Forli might be saved to the Riarii. At firstwe conclude that those wretched men, examined to the accompanimentof torture, confessed whatever was required of them, as so frequentlyhappened in such cases. Such, indeed, is the very explanation advancedby more than one writer, coupled with the suggestion, in some instances, that the whole affair was trumped up by the Pope to serve his own ends. 

They will believe the wildest and silliest of poisoning stories (such asthose of Djem and Cardinal Giovanni Borgia) which reveal the Borgiasas the poisoners; but, let another be accused and the Borgias be theintended victims, and at once they grow rational, and point out to youthe wildness of the statement, the impossibility of its being true. Yetit is a singular fact that a thorough investigation of this case of theCountess Sforza-Riario's poisoned letter reveals it to be neither wildnor impossible but simply diabolical. The explanation of the matteris to be found in Andrea Bernardi's Chronicles of Forli. He tells usexactly how the thing was contrived, with a precision of detail which wecould wish to see emulated by other contemporaries of his who so lightlythrow out accusations of poisoning. He informs us that a deadly andinfectious disease was rampant in Forli in that year 1499, and that, before dispatching her letter to the Pope, the Countess caused it to beplaced upon the body of one who was sick of this infection--thus hopingto convey it to his Holiness. (1)

 1 "Dite litre lei le aveva fate tocare et tenere adose ad uno nostroinfetado. "--Andrea Bernardi (Cronache di Forli). 

Alexander held a thanksgiving service for his escape at Santa Mariadella Pace, and Cardinal Raffaele Riario fled precipitately from Rome, justly fearful of being involved in the papal anger that must fall uponhis house. 

By that time, however, Cesare had already taken the field. The supportof Louis, conqueror of Milan, had been obtained, and in this CardinalGiuliano della Rovere had once more been helpful to the Borgias. 

His reconciliation with the Pope, long since deserved by the services hehad rendered the House of Borgia in forwarding Cesare's aims, as wehave seen, was completed now by an alliance which bound the two familiestogether. His nephew, Francesco della Rovere, had married Alexander'sniece, Angela Borgia. 

There is a letter from Giuliano to the Pope, dated October 12, 1499, inwhich he expresses his deep gratitude in the matter of this marriage, which naturally redounded to the advantage of his house, and pledgeshimself to exert all the influence which he commands with Louis XII forthe purpose of furthering the Duke of Valentinois' wishes. So well doeshe keep this promise that we see him utterly abandoning his cousinsthe Riarii, who were likely to be crushed under the hoofs of the nowcharging bull, and devoting himself strenuously to equip Cesare forthat same charge. So far does he go in this matter that he is one of thesureties--the other being the Cardinal Giovanni Borgia--for the loanof 45, 000 ducats raised by Cesare in Milan towards the cost of hiscampaign. 

This is the moment in which to pause and consider this man, who, becausehe was a bitter enemy of Alexander's, and who, because earlier he hadcovered the Pope with obloquy and insult and is to do so again later, ishailed as a fine, upright, lofty, independent, noble soul. 

Not so fine, upright, or noble but that he can put aside his rancourwhen he finds that there is more profit in fawning than in snarling; notso independent but that he can become a sycophant who writes panegyricsof Cesare and letters breathing devotion to the Pope, once he hasrealized that thus his interests will be better served. This is theman, remember, who dubbed Alexander a Jew and a Moor; this the man whoagitated at the Courts of France and Spain for Alexander's depositionfrom the Pontificate on the score of the simony of his election; thisthe man whose vituperations of the Holy Father are so often quoted, since--coming from lips so honest--they must, from the very moment thathe utters them, be merited. If only the historian would turn the medalabout a little, and allow us a glimpse of the reverse as well as of theobverse, what a world of trouble and misconceptions should we not bespared!

Della Rovere had discovered vain his work of defamation, vain hisattempts to induce the Kings of France and Spain to summon a GeneralCouncil and depose the man whose seat he coveted, so he had sought tomake his peace with the Holy See. The death of Charles VIII, and thesuccession of a king who had need of the Pope's friendship and who founda friend in Alexander, rendered it all the more necessary that dellaRovere should set himself to reconquer, by every means in his power, thefavour of Alexander. 

And so you see this honourable, upright man sacrificing his veryfamily to gain that personal end. Where now is that stubbornly honestconscience of his which made him denounce Alexander as no Christian andno Pope? Stifled by self-interest. It is as well that this should beunderstood, for this way lies the understanding of many things. 

The funds for the campaign being found, Cesare received from Louisthree hundred lances captained by Yves d'Allègre and four thousandfoot, composed of Swiss and Gascons, led by the Bailie of Dijon. Furthertroops were being assembled for him at Cesena--the one fief of Romagnathat remained faithful to the Church--by Achille Tiberti and ErcoleBentivogli, and to these were to be added the Pontifical troops thatwould be sent to him; so that Cesare found himself ultimately at thehead of a considerable army, some ten thousand strong, well-equipped andsupported by good artillery. 

Louis XII left Milan on November 7--one month after his triumphalentrance--and set out to return to France, leaving Trivulzio torepresent him as ruler of the Milanese. Two days later Cesare's armytook the road, and he himself went with his horse by way of Piacenza, whilst the foot, under the Bailie of Dijon, having obtained leave ofpassage through the territories of Ferrara and Cremona, followed the Podown to Argenta. 

Thus did Cesare Borgia--personally attended by a caesarian guard, wearing his livery--set out upon the conquest of the Romagna. Perhapsat no period of his career is he more remarkable than at this moment. Toall trades men serve apprenticeships, and to none is the apprenticeshipmore gradual and arduous than to the trade of arms. Yet CesareBorgia served none. Like Minerva, springing full-grown and armed intoexistence, so Cesare sprang to generalship in the hour that saw him madea soldier. This was the first army in which he had ever marched, yet hemarched at the head of it. In his twenty-four years of life he had neverso much as witnessed a battle pitched; yet here was he riding todirect battles and to wrest victories. Boundless audacity and swiftestintelligence welded into an amazing whole!

CHAPTER III. IMOLA AND FORLI

Between his departure from Milan and his arrival before Imola, where hiscampaign was to be inaugurated, Cesare paid a flying visit to Rome andhis father, whom he had not seen for a full year. He remained three daysat the Vatican, mostly closeted with the Pope's Holiness. At the end ofthat time he went north again to rejoin his army, which by now had beenswelled by the forces that had joined it from Cesena, some Pontificaltroops, and a condotta under Vitellozzo Vitelli. 

The latter, who was Lord of Castello, had gone to Milan to seek justiceat the hands of Louis XII against the Florentines, who had beheaded hisbrother Paolo--deservedly, for treason in the conduct of the war againstPisa. This Vitellozzo was a valuable and experienced captain. He tookservice with Cesare, spurred by the hope of ultimately finding a wayto avenge himself upon the Florentines, and in Cesare's train he nowadvanced upon Imola and Forli. 

The warlike Countess Caterina Sforza-Riario had earlier been grantedby her children full administration of their patrimony during theirminority. To the defence of this she now addressed herself with all theresolution of her stern nature. Her life had been unfortunate, and ofhorrors she had touched a surfeit. Her father, Galeazzo Sforza, wasmurdered in Milan Cathedral by a little band of patriots; her brotherGiangaleazzo had died, of want or poison, in the Castle of Pavia, thevictim of her ambitious uncle, Lodovico; her husband, Girolamo Riario, she had seen butchered and flung naked from a window of the very castlewhich she now defended; Giacomo Feo, whom she had secretly married insecond nuptials, was done to death in Forli, under her very eyes, by aparty of insurrectionaries. Him she had terribly avenged. Getting hermen-at-arms together, she had ridden at their head into the quarterinhabited by the murderers, and there ordered--as Macchiavelli tellsus--the massacre of every human being that dwelt in it, women andchildren included, whilst she remained at hand to see it done. Thereafter she took a third husband, in Giovanni di Pierfrancescode'Medici, who died in 1498. By him this lusty woman had a son whosename was to ring through Italy as that of one of the most illustriouscaptains of his day--Giovanni delle Bande Nere. 

Such was the woman whom Sanuto has called "great-souled, but a mostcruel virago, " who now shut herself into her castle to defy the Borgia. 

She had begun by answering the Pope's Bull of attainder with thestatement that, far from owing the Holy See the tribute which itclaimed, the Holy See was actually in her debt, her husband, CountGirolamo Riario, having been a creditor of the Church for the provisionsmade by him in his office of Captain-General of the Pontifical forces. This subterfuge, however, had not weighed with Alexander, whereupon, having also been frustrated in her attempt upon the life of the Pope'sHoliness, she had proceeded to measures of martial resistance. Herchildren and her treasures she had dispatched to Florence that theymight be out of danger, retaining of the former only her son Ottaviano, a young man of some twenty years; but, for all that she kept him nearher, it is plain that she did not account him worthy of being entrustedwith the defence of his tyranny, for it was she, herself, the daughterof the bellicose race of Sforza, who set about the organizing of this. 

Disposing of forces that were entirely inadequate to take the fieldagainst the invader, she entrenched herself in her fortress of Forli, provisioning it to withstand a protracted siege and proceeding tofortify it by throwing up outworks and causing all the gates but one tobe built up. 

Whilst herself engaged upon military measures she sent her son Ottavianoto Imola to exhort the Council to loyalty and the defence of the city. But his mission met with no success. Labouring against him was a mightyfactor which in other future cases was to facilitate Cesare's subjectionof the Romagna. The Riarii--in common with so many other of the Romagnatyrants--had so abused their rule, so ground the people with taxation, so offended them by violence, and provoked such deep and bitter enmitythat in this hour of their need they found themselves deservedlyabandoned by their subjects. The latter were become eager to try achange of rulers, in the hope of finding thus an improved condition ofthings; a worse, they were convinced, would be impossible. 

So detested were the Riarii and so abhorred the memory they left behindthem in Imola that for years afterwards the name of Cesare Borgia wasblessed there as that of a minister of divine justice ("tanquam ministerdivina justitiae") who had lifted from them the harsh yoke by which theyhad been oppressed. 

And so it came to pass that, before ever Cesare had come in sight ofImola, he was met by several of its gentlemen who came to offer himthe town, and he received a letter from the pedagogue Flaminiowith assurances that, if it should be at all possible to them, theinhabitants would throw open the gates to him on his approach. AndFlaminio proceeded to implore the duke that should he, nevertheless, beconstrained to have recourse to arms to win admittance, he should notblame the citizens nor do violence to the city by putting it to pillage, assuring him that he would never have a more faithful, loving city thanImola once this should be in his power. 

The duke immediately sent forward Achille Tiberti with a squadronof horse to demand the surrender of the town. And the captain of thegarrison of Imola replied that he was ready to capitulate, since thatwas the will of the people. Three days later--on November 27--Cesarerode in as conqueror. 

The example of the town, however, was not followed by the citadel. Underthe command of Dionigio di Naldo the latter held out, and, as theduke's army made its entrance into Imola, the castellan signifiedhis resentment by turning his cannon upon the town itself, with suchresolute purpose that many houses were set on fire and demolished. ThisNaldo was one of the best reputed captains of foot of his day, and hehad seen much service under the Sforza; but his experience could availhim little here. 

On the 28th Cesare opened the attack, training his guns upon thecitadel; but it was not until a week later that, having found a weakspot in the walls on the side commanding the town, he opened a breachthrough which his men were able to force a passage, and so possessthemselves of a half-moon. Seeing the enemy practically within hisoutworks, and being himself severely wounded in the head, Naldoaccounted it time to parley. He begged a three-days' armistice, pledginghimself to surrender at the end of that time should he not receivereinforcements in the meanwhile; and to this arrangement the dukeconsented. 

The good faith of Naldo has been questioned, and it has been suggestedthat his asking for three days' grace was no better than a cloak tocover his treacherous sale of the fortress to the besieger. It seems, however, to be no more than one of those lightly-uttered, irresponsibleutterances with which the chronicles of the time abound, for Naldo hadleft his wife and children at Forli in the hands of the Countess, ashostages for his good faith, and this renders improbable the unsupportedstory of his baseness. 

On December 7, no reinforcements having reached him, Naldo made formalsurrender of the citadel, safe-conduct having been granted to hisgarrison. 

A week later there arrived at Imola Cesare's cousin, the CardinalGiovanni Borgia, whom the Pope had constituted legate in Bologna and theRomagna in place of the Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, and whom he had sentto support Cesare's operations with ecclesiastical authority. CardinalGiovanni, as the Pope's representative, received in the Church ofSan Domenico the oath of fealty of the city to the Holy See. This waspledged by four representative members of the Council of Thirty; andby that act the conquest and subjection of the town became a fullyaccomplished fact. 

The lesser strongholds of the territory threw up their gates one byone before the advancing enemy, until only Forli remained to be taken. Cesare pushed forward to reduce it. 

On his way he passed through Faenza, whose tyrant, Manfredi, deeminghimself secure in the protection of Venice and in view of thecircumstance that the republic had sent to Rome the arrears of tributedue from his fief, and anxious to conciliate the Pope, received andentertained Cesare very cordially. 

At Forli the case of Imola was practically repeated. Notwithstandingthat the inhabitants were under the immediate eye of the formidablecountess, and although she sent her brother, Alessandro Sforza, toexhort the people and the Council to stand by her, the latter, wearyas the rest of the oppressive tyranny of her family, dispatched theirrepresentatives to Cesare to offer him the town. 

The Countess's valour was of the sort that waxes as the straits becomemore desperate. Since the town abandoned and betrayed her, she woulddepend upon her citadel, and by a stubborn resistance make Cesare pay asdearly as possible for the place. To the danger which she seems almosteager to incur for her own part, this strong-minded, comely matron willnot subject the son she has kept beside her until now; and so she packsOttaviano off to Florence and safety. That done, she gives her mutinoussubjects a taste of her anger by attempting to seize half a dozen of theprincipal citizens of Forli. As it happened, not only did this intentmiscarry, but it went near being the means of involving her in battleeven before the duke's arrival; for the people, getting wind of theaffair, took up arms to defend their threatened fellow-citizens. 

She consoled herself, however, by seizing the persons of NicoloTornielli and Lodovico Ercolani, whom the Council had sent to informher that their representatives had gone to Cesare with the offer of thetown. Further, to vent her rage and signify her humour, she turned hercannon upon the Communal Palace and shattered the tower of it. 

Meanwhile Cesare advanced. It was again Tiberti who now rode forwardwith his horse to demand the surrender of Forli. This was accorded asreadily as had been that of Imola, whereupon Cesare came up to takepossession in person; but, despite the cordial invitation of thecouncillors, he refused to enter the gates until he had signed thearticles of capitulation. 

On December 19, under a deluge of rain, Cesare, in full armour, thebanner of the Church borne ahead of him, rode into Forli with histroops. He was housed in the palace of Count Luffo Nomaglie (one ofthe gentlemen whom Caterina had hoped to capture), and his men werequartered through the town. These foreign soldiers of his seem to havegot a little out of hand here at Forli, and they committed a good manyabuses, to the dismay and discomfort of the Citizens. 

Sanuto comments upon this with satisfaction, accounting the city wellserved for having yielded herself up like a strumpet. It is a commentmore picturesque than just, for obviously Forli did not surrenderthrough pusillanimity, but to the end that it might be delivered fromthe detestable rule of the Riarii. 

The city occupied, it now remained to reduce the fortress and bring itswarrior-mistress to terms. Cesare set about this at once, nor allowedthe Christmas festivities to interfere with his labours, but kept hismen at work to bring the siege-guns into position. On Christmas Day thecountess belatedly attempted a feeble ruse in the hope of intimidatingthem. She flew from her battlements a banner, bearing the device of thelion of St. Mark, thinking to trick Cesare into the belief that she hadobtained the protection of Venice, or, perhaps, signifying thus thatshe threw herself into the arms of the republic, making surrender of herfiefs to the Venetians to the end that she might spite a force which shecould not long withstand--as Giovanni Sforza had sought to do. 

But Cesare, nowise disturbed by that banner, pursued his preparations, which included the mounting of seven cannons and ten falconets in thesquare before the Church of St. John the Baptist. When all was readyfor the bombardment, he made an effort to cause her to realize thehopelessness of her resistance and the vain sacrifice of life it mustentail. He may have been moved to this by the valour she displayed, orit may have been that he obeyed the instincts of generalship which madehim ever miserly in the matter of the lives of his soldiers. Be that asit may, with intent to bring her to a reasonable view of the situation, he rode twice to the very edge of the ditch to parley with her; butall that came of his endeavours was that on the occasion of his secondappeal to her, he had a narrow escape of falling a victim to hertreachery, and so losing his life. 

She came down from the ramparts, and, ordering the lowering of thebridge, invited him to meet her upon it that there they might confermore at their ease, having, meanwhile, instructed her castellan toraise the bridge again the moment the duke should set foot upon it. Thecastellan took her instructions too literally, for even as the duke didset one foot upon it there was a grind and clank of machinery, and thegreat structure swung up and clattered into place. The duke remainedoutside, saved by a too great eagerness on the part of those who workedthe winches, for had they waited but a second longer they must havetrapped him. 

Cesare returned angry to Forli, and set a price upon Caterina'shead--20, 000 ducats if taken alive, 10, 000 if dead; and on the morrow heopened fire. For a fortnight this was continued without visible result, and daily the countess was to be seen upon the walls with her castellan, directing the defences. But on January 12, Cesare's cannon having beenconcentrated upon one point, a breach was opened at last. Instantly thewaiting citizens, who had been recruited for the purpose, made forwardwith their faggots, heaping them up in the moat until a passage waspracticable. Over this went Cesare's soldiers to force an entrance. 

A stubborn fight ensued within the ravelin, where the duke's men wereheld in check by the defenders, and not until some four hundred corpseschoked that narrow space did the besieged give ground before them. 

Like most of the Italian fortresses of the period, the castle of Forliconsisted of a citadel within a citadel. In the heart of the mainfabric--but cut off from it again by its own moat--arose the great towerknown as the Maschio. This was ever the last retreat of the besiegedwhen the fortress itself had been carried by assault, and, in the caseof the Maschio of the Citadel of Forli, so stout was its constructionthat it was held to be practically invulnerable. 

Had the countess's soldiers made their retreat in good order to thistower, where all the munitions and provisions were stored, Cesare wouldhave found the siege but in the beginning; but in the confusion of thatgrim hour, besieged and besiegers, Borgian and Riarian, swept forwardinterlocked, a writhing, hacking, bleeding mob of men-at-arms. Thusthey flung themselves in a body across the bridge that spanned the innermoat, and so into the Maschio, whilst the stream of Cesare's soldiersthat poured uninterruptedly across in the immediate wake of thatbattling mass rendered it impossible for the defenders to take up thebridge. 

Within the tower the carnage went on, and the duke's men hackedtheir way through what remained of the Forlivese until they had madethemselves masters of that inner stronghold whither Caterina had soughther last refuge. 

A Burgundian serving under the Bailie of Dijon was the first to comeupon her in the room to which she had fled with a few attendants and ahandful of men, amongst whom were Alessandro Sforza, Paolo Riario, andScipione Riario--this last an illegitimate son of her first husband's, whom she had adopted. The Burgundian declared her his prisoner, and heldher for the price that had been set upon her head until the arrival ofCesare, who entered the citadel with his officers a little while afterthe final assault had been delivered. 

Cesare received and treated her with the greatest courtesy, and, seeingher for the moment destitute, he presented her with a purse containingtwo hundred ducats for her immediate needs. Under his escort she leftthe castle, and was conducted, with her few remaining servants, to theNomaglie Palace to remain in the Duke's care, his prisoner. Her brotherand the other members of her family found with her were similarly madeprisoners. 

After her departure the citadel was given over to pillage, and allhell must have raged in it if we may judge from an incident relatedby Bernardi in his chronicles. A young clerk, named Evangelista daMonsignane, being seized by a Burgundian soldier who asked him if he hadany money, produced and surrendered a purse containing thirteen ducats, and so got out of the mercenaries' clutches, but only to fall into thehands of others, one of whom again declared him a prisoner. The pooryouth, terrified at the violence about him, and eager to be gone fromthat shambles, cried out that, if they would let him go, he would paythem a ransom of a hundred ducats. 

Thereupon "Surrender to me!" cried one of the soldiers, and, as theclerk was about to do so, another, equally greedy for the ransom, thrusthimself forward. "No. Surrender to me, rather, " demanded this one. 

The first insisted that the youth was his prisoner, whereupon the secondbrandished his sword, threatening to kill Evangelista. The clerk, in apanic, flung himself into the arms of a monk who was with him, cryingout for mercy, and there in the monk's arms he was brutally slain, "toput an end, " said his murderer, "to the dispute. "

Forlimpopoli surrendered a few days later to Yves d'Allègre, whomCesare had sent thither, whilst in Forli, as soon as he had reduced thecitadel, and before even attempting to repair the damage done, theduke set about establishing order and providing for the dispensation ofjustice, exerting to that end the rare administrative ability which noteven his bitterest detractors have denied him. 

He sent a castellan to Forlimpopoli and fetched from Imola a Podestà forForli. (1) He confirmed the Council of Forty that ruled Forli--beingten for each quarter of the city--and generally made sound and wiseprovision for the town's well-being, which we shall presently seebearing fruit. 

 1 It was customary throughout Italy that the Podestà, or chiefmagistrate, should never be a native of the town--rarely of theState--in which he held his office. Thus, having no local interests orrelationships, he was the likelier to dispense justice with desirablesingle-mindedness. 

Next the repairing of the fortress claimed his attention, and hedisposed for this, entrusting the execution of his instructions toRamiro de Lorqua, whom he left behind as governor. In the place wherethe breach was opened by his cannon he ordered the placing of a marblepanel bearing his arms; and there it is to be seen to this day: Dexter, the sable bars of the House of Lenzol; Sinister, the Borgia bull inchief, and the lilies of France; and, superimposed, an inescutcheonbearing the Pontifical arms. 

All measures being taken so far as Forli was concerned, Cesare turnedhis attention to Pesaro, and prepared to invade it. Before leaving, however, he awaited the return of his absent cousin, the CardinalGiovanni Borgia, who, as papal legate, was to receive the oath of fealtyof the town; but, instead of the cardinal whom he was expecting, came amessenger with news of his death of fever at Fossombrone. 

Giovanni Borgia had left Forli on December 28 to go to Cesena, withintent, it was said, to recruit to his cousin's army those men ofRimini, who, exiled and in rebellion against their tyrant Malatesta, had sought shelter in that Pontifical fief. Thence he had moved onto Urbino, where--in the ducal palace--he awaited news of the fall ofForli, and where, whilst waiting, he fell ill. Nevertheless, when thetidings of Cesare's victory reached him, he insisted upon getting tohorse, to repair to Forli; but, discovering himself too ill to keep thesaddle, he was forced to abandon the journey at Fossombrone, whilst theoutcome of the attempt was an aggravation of the fever resulting in thecardinal's death. 

Cesare appears to have been deeply grieved by the loss of Giovanni, and there is every cause to suppose that a sincere attachment prevailedbetween the cousins. Yet Cesare has been charged with his death, andaccused of having poisoned him, and, amidst the host of silly, baselessaccusations levelled against Cesare, you shall find none more silly orbaseless than this. In other instances of unproven crimes with which hehas been charged there may be some vestiges of matter that may do dutyfor evidence or be construed into motives; here there is none thatwill serve one purpose or the other, and the appalling and rabidunscrupulousness, the relentless malice of Borgian chroniclers is innothing so completely apparent as in this accusation. 

Sanuto mentions the advices received, and the rumours which say thatCesare murdered him through jealousy, knowing him beloved by the Pope, seeing him a legate, and fearing that he might come to be given thegovernorship of some Romagna fief. 

When Gandia died and Cesare was accused of having murdered him, themotive advanced was that Cesare, a papal legate, resented a brother whowas a duke. Now, Cesare, being a duke, resents a cousin's being a papallegate. You will observe that, if this method of discovering motives ispursued a little further, there is no man who died in Cesare's life-timewhom Cesare could not be shown to have had motives for murdering. 

Sillier even than Sanuto's is the motive with which Giovio attempts tobolster up the accusation which he reports: "He [Cesare] poisoned himbecause he [Giovanni] favoured the Duke of Gandia. "

That, apparently, was the best that Giovio could think of. It is hardlyintelligible--which is perhaps inevitable, for it is not easy to beintelligible when you don't quite know, yourself, what you mean, whichmust have been Giovio's case. 

The whole charge is so utterly foolish, stupid, and malicious that itwould scarcely be worth mentioning, were it not that so many modernwriters have included this among the Borgia crimes. As a matter offact--and as a comparison of the above-cited dates will show--eighteendays had elapsed between Giovanni Borgia's leaving Cesare at Forli andhis succumbing at Urbino--which in itself disposes of the matter. Itmay be mentioned that this is a circumstance which those foolish ordeliberately malicious calumniators either did not trouble to ascertainor else thought it wiser to slur over. Although, had they been pressed, there was always the death of Djem to be cited and the fiction of theslow-working poison specially invented to meet and explain his case. 

The preparations for the invasion of Pesaro were complete, and it wasdetermined that on January 22 the army should march out of Forli; but onthe night of the 21st a disturbance occurred. The Swiss under theBailie of Dijon became mutinous--they appear throughout to have been anill-conditioned lot--and they clamoured now for higher pay if they wereto go on to Pesaro, urging that already they had served the Duke ofValentinois as far as they had pledged themselves to the King of France. 

Towards the third hour of the night the Bailie himself, with thesemutineers at his heels, presented himself at the Nomaglie Palace todemand that the Countess Sforza-Riario should be delivered into hishands. His claim was that she was his prisoner, since she had beenarrested by a soldier of his own, and that her surrender was to France, to which he added--a thought inconsequently, it seems--that the Frenchlaw forbade that women should be made prisoners. Valentinois, takenutterly by surprise, and without the force at hand to resist the Bailieand his Swiss, was compelled to submit and to allow the latter to carrythe countess off to his own lodging; but he dispatched a messenger toForlimpopoli with orders for the immediate return of Allègre and hishorse, and in the morning, after Mass, he had the army drawn up in themarket-place; and so, backed by his Spanish, French, and Italian troops, he faced the threatening Swiss. 

The citizens were in a panic, expecting to see battle blaze out at anymoment, and apprehensive of the consequences that might ensue for thetown. 

The Swiss had grown more mutinous than ever overnight, and they nowrefused to march until they were paid. It was Cesare's to quell andrestore them to obedience. He informed them that they should be paidwhen they reached Cesena, and that, if they were retained thereafterin his employ, their pay should be on the improved scale which theydemanded. Beyond that he made no concessions. The remainder of hisharangue was matter to cow them into submission, for he threatened toorder the ringing of the alarm-bells, and to have them cut to pieces bythe people of Forli whom their gross and predatory habits had alreadydeeply offended. 

Order was at last restored, and the Bailie of Dijon was compelled tosurrender back the countess to Cesare. But their departure was postponeduntil the morrow. On that day, January 23, after receiving the oathof fealty from the Anziani in the Church of San Mercuriale, the dukemarched his army out of Forli and took the road to Pesaro. 

Caterina Sforza Riario went with him. Dressed in black and mounted upona white horse, the handsome amazon rode between Cesare Borgia and Yvesd'Allègre. 

At Cesena the duke made a halt, and there he left the countess in thecharge of d'Allègre whilst he himself rode forward to overtake the mainbody of his army, which was already as far south as Cattolica. As forGiovanni Sforza, despite the fact that the Duke of Urbino had sent somefoot to support him, he was far more likely to run than to fight, andin fact he had already taken the precaution of placing his money andvaluables in safety and was disposing, himself, to follow them. Butit happened that there was not yet the need. Fate--in the shape of hiscousin Lodovico of Milan--postponed the occasion. 

On the 26th Cesare lay at Montefiori, and there he was reached bycouriers sent at all speed from Milan by Trivulzio. Lodovico Sforzahad raised an army of Swiss and German mercenaries to reconquer hisdominions, and the Milanese were opening their arms to receive him back, having already discovered that, in exchanging his rule for that of theFrench, they had but exchanged King Log for King Stork. Trivulzio beggedfor the instant return of the French troops serving under Cesare, and Cesare, naturally compelled to accede, was forced to postpone thecontinuance of his campaign, a matter which must have been not a littlevexatious at such a moment. 

He returned to Cesena, where, on the 27th, he dismissed Yves d'Allègreand his men, who made all haste back to Milan, so that Cesare was leftwith a force of not more than a thousand foot and five hundred horse. These, no doubt, would have sufficed him for the conquest of Pesaro, butGiovanni Sforza, encouraged by his cousin's return, and hopeful now ofassistance, would certainly entrench himself and submit to a siege whichmust of necessity be long-drawn, since the departure of the French haddeprived Cesare of his artillery. 

Therefore the duke disposed matters for his return to Rome instead, and, leaving Ercole Bentivogli with five hundred horse and Gonsalvo deMirafuente with three hundred foot to garrison Forli, he left Cesenawith the remainder of his forces, including Vitelli's horse, on January30. With him went Caterina Sforza-Riario, and of course there were notwanting those who alleged that, during the few days at Cesena hehad carried his conquest of her further than the matter of herterritories(1)--a rumour whose parent was, no doubt, the ribald jestmade in Milan by Trivulzio when he heard of her capture. 

 1 "Teneva detta Madona (la qual é belissima dona, fiola del DuchaGaleazo di Milan) di zorno e di note in la sna camera, con laquale--judicio omnium--si deva piacer" (Sanuto's Diarii). 

He conducted her to Rome--in golden chains, "like another Palmyra, " itis said--and there she was given the beautiful Belvedere for her prisonuntil she attempted an escape in the following June; whereupon, forgreater safety, she was transferred to the Castle of Sant' Angelo. Thereshe remained until May of 1501, when, by the intervention of the King ofFrance, she was set at liberty and permitted to withdraw to Florenceto rejoin her children. In the city of the lilies she abode, devotingherself to good works until she ended her turbulent, unhappy life in1509. 

The circumstance that she was not made to pay with her life for herattempt to poison the Pope is surely something in favour of the Borgias, and it goes some way towards refuting the endless statements of theirfierce and vindictive cruelty. Of course, it has been urged that theyspared her from fear of France; but, if that is admitted, what thenbecomes of the theory of that secret poison which might so well havebeen employed in such a case as this?

CHAPTER IV. GONFALONIER OF THE CHURCH

Although Cesare Borgia's conquest of Imola and Forli cannot seriously beaccounted extraordinary military achievements--save by consideration ofthe act that this was the first campaign he had conducted--yet in Romethe excitement caused by his victory was enormous. Possibly this is tobe assigned to the compelling quality of the man's personality, whichwas beginning to manifest and assert itself and to issue from the shadowinto which it had been cast hitherto by that of his stupendous father. 

The enthusiasm mounted higher and higher whilst preparations were beingmade for his reception, and reached its climax on February 26, when, with overpowering pomp, he made an entrance into Rome that was averitable triumph. 

Sanuto tells us that, as news came of his approach, the Pope, inhis joyous impatience and excitement, became unable to discharge thebusiness of his office, and no longer would give audience to any one. Alexander had ever shown himself the fondest of fathers to his children, and now he overflowed with pride in this son who already gave suchexcellent signs of his capacity as a condottiero, and justified hishaving put off the cassock to strap a soldier's harness to his lithe andcomely body. 

Cardinals Farnese and Borgia, with an imposing suite, rode out some waybeyond the gates of Santa Maria del Popolo to meet the duke. At the gateitself a magnificent reception had been prepared him, and the entirePontifical Court, prelates, priests, ambassadors of the Powers, andofficials of the city and curia down to the apostolic abbreviators andsecretaries, waited to receive him. 

It was towards evening--between the twenty-second and the twenty-thirdhours--when he made his entrance. In the van went the baggage-carts, andbehind these marched a thousand foot in full campaign apparel, headedby two heralds in the duke's livery and one in the livery of the Kingof France. Next came Vitellozzo's horse followed by fifty mountedgentlemen-at-arms--the duke's Caesarean guard--immediately precedingCesare himself. 

The handsome young duke--"bello e biondo"--was splendidly mounted, butvery plainly dressed in black velvet with a simple gold chain for onlyornament, and he had about him a hundred guards on foot, also in blackvelvet, halbert on shoulder, and a posse of trumpeters in a liverythat displayed his arms. In immediate attendance upon him came severalcardinals on their mules, and behind these followed the ambassadors ofthe Powers, Cesare's brother Giuffredo Borgia, and Alfonso of Aragon, Duke of Biselli and Prince of Salerno--Lucrezia's husband and the fatherof her boy Roderigo, born some three months earlier. Conspicuous, too, in Cesare's train would be the imposing figure of the formidableCountess Sforza-Riario, in black upon her white horse, riding in hergolden shackles between her two attendant women. 

As the procession reached the Bridge of Sant' Angelo a salute wasthundered forth by the guns from the castle, where floated the bannersof Cesare and of the Church. The press of people from the Porta delPopolo all the way to the Vatican was enormous. It was the year ofthe Papal Jubilee, and the city was thronged, with pilgrims fromall quarters of Europe who had flocked to Rome to obtain the plenaryindulgence offered by the Pope. So great was the concourse on thisoccasion that the procession had the greatest difficulty in movingforward, and the progress through the streets, packed with shoutingmultitudes, was of necessity slow. At last, however, the Bridge of Sant'Angelo being crossed, the procession pushed on to the Vatican alongthe new road inaugurated for the Jubilee by Alexander in the previousDecember. 

From the loggia above the portals of the Vatican the Pope watched hisson's imposing approach, and when the latter dismounted at the steps hisHoliness, with his five attendant cardinals, descended to the Chamberof the Papagallo--the papal audience­chamber, contiguous to the Borgiaapartments--to receive the duke. Thither sped Cesare with his multitudeof attendants, and at sight of him now the Pope's eyes were filled withtears of joy. The duke advanced gravely to the foot of the throne, wherehe fell upon his knees, and was overheard by Burchard to express tohis father, in their native Spanish, all that he owed to the Pope'sHoliness, to which Alexander replied in the same tongue. Then Cesarestooped and kissed the Pope's feet and then his hand, whereuponAlexander, conquered no doubt by the paternal instincts of affectionthat were so strong in him, raised his son and took him fondly in hisarms. 

The festivities in honour of Cesare's return were renewed in Rome uponthe morrow, and to this the circumstance that the season was that ofcarnival undoubtedly contributed and lent the displays a threatricalcharacter which might otherwise have been absent. In these the duke'svictories were made the subject of illustration. There was a processionof great chariots in Piazza Navona, with groups symbolizing the triumphsof the ancient Caesar, in the arrangement of which, no doubt, theassistance had been enlisted of that posse of valiant artists who werethen flocking to Rome and the pontifical Court. 

Yriarte, mixing his facts throughout with a liberal leaven of fiction, tells us that "this is the precise moment in which Cesare Borgia, fixinghis eyes upon the Roman Caesar, takes him definitely for his model andadopts the device 'Aut Caesar, aut nihil. '"

Cesare Borgia never adopted that device, and never displayed it. Inconnection with him it is only to be found upon the sword of honourmade for him when, while still a cardinal, he went to crown the Kingof Naples. It is not at all unlikely that the inscription of the deviceupon that sword--which throughout is engraved with illustrations of thecareer of Julius Caesar--may have been the conceit of the sword-makeras a rather obvious play upon Cesare's name. (1) Undoubtedly, were thedevice of Cesare's own adoption we should find it elsewhere, and nowhereelse is it to be found. 

 1 The scabbard of this sword is to be seen in the South KensingtonMuseum; the sword itself is in the possession of the Caetani family. 

Shortly after Cesare's return to Rome, Imola and Forli sent theirambassadors to the Vatican to beseech his Holiness to sign the articleswhich those cities had drawn up and by virtue of which they createdCesare their lord in the place of the deposed Riarii. 

It is quite true that Alexander had announced that, in promoting theRomagna campaign, he had for object to restore to the Church the Stateswhich had rebelliously seceded from her. Yet there is not sufficientreason to suppose that he was flagrantly breaking his word in accedingto the request of which those ambassadors were the bearers and increating his son Count of Imola and Forli. Admitted that this was toCesare's benefit and advancement, it is still to be remembered thatthose fiefs must be governed for the Church by a Vicar, as had ever beenthe case. 

That being so, who could have been preferred to Cesare for the dignity, seeing that not only was the expulsion of the tyrants his work, but thatthe inhabitants themselves desired him for their lord? For the rest, granted his exceptional qualifications, it is to be remembered that thePope was his father, and--setting aside the guilt and scandal of thatpaternity--it is hardly reasonable to expect a father to prefer someother to his son for a stewardship for which none is so well equippedas that same son. That Imola and Forli were not free gifts to Cesare, detached, for the purpose of so making them, from the Holy See, is clearfrom the title of Vicar with which Cesare assumed control of them, asset forth in the Bull of investiture. 

In addition to his receiving the rank of Vicar and Count of Imola andForli, it was in this same month of March at last--and after Cesare maybe said to have earned it--that he received the Gonfalon of theChurch. With the unanimous concurrence of the Sacred College, the Popeofficially appointed him Captain-General of the Pontifical forces--thecoveting of which position was urged, it will be remembered, as one ofhis motives for his alleged murder of the Duke of Gandia three yearsearlier. 

On March 29 Cesare comes to St. Peter's to receive his new dignity andthe further honour of the Golden Rose which the Pope is to bestow uponhim--the symbol of the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant. 

Having blessed the Rose, the Pope is borne solemnly into St. Peter's, preceded by the College of Cardinals. Arrived before the High Altar, he puts off his tiara--the conical, richly jewelled cap, woven from theplumage of white peacocks--and bareheaded kneels to pray; whereafter heconfesses himself to the Cardinal of Benevento, who was the celebranton this occasion. That done, he ascends and takes his seat upon thePontifical Throne, whither come the cardinals to adore him, while theorgan peals forth and the choir gives voice. Last of all comes Cesare, dressed in cloth of gold with ermine border, to kneel upon thetopmost step of the throne, whereupon the Pope, removing his tiara anddelivering it to the attendant Cardinal of San Clemente, pronounces thebeautiful prayer of the investiture. That ended, the Pope receivesfrom the hands of the Cardinal of San Clemente the splendid mantle ofgonfalonier, and sets it about the duke's shoulders with the prescribedwords: "May the Lord array thee in the garment of salvation and surroundthee with the cloak of happiness. " Next he takes from the hands of theMaster of the Ceremonies--that same Burchard whose diary supplies uswith these details--the gonfalonier's cap of scarlet and ermine richlydecked with pearls and surmounted by a dove--the emblem of the HolySpirit--likewise wrought in pearls. This he places upon Cesare'sauburn head; whereafter, once more putting off his tiara, he utters theprescribed prayer over the kneeling duke. 

That done, and the Holy Father resuming his seat and his tiara, Cesarestoops to kiss the Pope's feet, then rising, goes in his gonfalonierapparel, the cap upon his head, to take his place among the cardinals. The organ crashes forth again; the choir intones the "Introito ad altareDeum"; the celebrant ascends the altar, and, having offered incense, descends again and the Mass begins. 

The Mass being over, and the celebrant having doffed his sacredvestments and rejoined his brother cardinals, the Cardinal of SanClemente repairs once more to the Papal Throne, preceded by twochamberlains who carry two folded banners, one bearing the Pope'spersonal arms, the other the arms of Holy Church. Behind the cardinalfollows an acolyte with the censer and incense-boat and another with theholy water and the aspersorio, and behind these again two prelates witha Missal and a candle. The Pope rises, blesses the folded banners andincenses them, having received the censer from the hands of a priest whohas prepared it. Then, as he resumes his seat, Cesare steps forward oncemore, and, kneeling, places both hands upon the Missal and pronounces ina loud, clear voice the words of the oath of fealty to St. Peter and thePope, swearing ever to protect the latter and his successors from harmto life, limb, or possessions. Thereafter the Pope takes the blessedbanners and gives the charge of them to Cesare, delivering into hishands the white truncheon symbolic of his office, whilst the Master ofCeremonies hands the actual banners to the two deputies, who in fullarmour have followed to receive them, and who attach them to the lancesprovided for the purpose. 

The investiture is followed by the bestowal of the Golden Rose, whereafter Cesare, having again kissed the Pope's feet and the Ring ofthe Fisherman on his finger, has the cap of office replaced upon hishead by Burchard himself, and so the ceremonial ends. 

The Bishop of Isernia was going to Cesena to assume the governorship ofthat Pontifical fief, and, profiting by this, Cesare appointed himhis lieutenant-general in Romagna, with authority over all his otherofficers there and full judicial powers. Further, he desired him to actas his deputy and receive the oath of fealty of the duke's new subjects. 

Meanwhile, Cesare abode in Rome, no doubt impatient of the interruptionwhich his campaign had suffered, and which it seemed must continue yetawhile. Lodovico Sforza had succeeded in driving the French out of hisdominions as easily as he, himself, had been driven out by them afew months earlier. But Louis XII sent down a fresh army under LaTrémouille, and Lodovico, basely betrayed by his Swiss mercenaries atNovara in April, was taken prisoner. 

That was the definite end of the Sforza rule in Milan. For ten years thecrafty, scheming Lodovico was left to languish a prisoner in the Castleof Loches, at the end of which time he miserably died. 

Immediately upon the return of the French to Milan, the Pope asked fortroops that Cesare might resume his enterprise not only against Pesaro, Faenza, and Rimini, but also against Bologna, where Giovanni Bentivoglihad failed to support--as in duty bound--the King of France againstLodovico Sforza. But Bentivogli repurchased the forfeited Frenchprotection at the price of 40, 000 ducats, and so escaped the impendingdanger; whilst Venice, it happened, was growing concerned to see noprofit accruing to herself out of this league with France and Rome; andthat was a matter which her trader spirit could not brook. Therefore, Venice intervened in the matter of Rimini and Faenza, which sheprotected in somewhat the same spirit as the dog protected the straw inthe manger. Next, when, having conquered the Milanese, Louis XII turnedhis thoughts to the conquest of Naples, and called upon Venice to marchwith him as became a good ally, the Republic made it quite clear thatshe was not disposed to move unless there was to be some profit toherself. She pointed out that Mantua and Ferrara were in the same caseas Bologna, for having failed to lend assistance to the French in thehour of need, and proposed to Louis XII the conquest and division ofthose territories. 

Thus matters stood, and Cesare had perforce to await the conclusionof the Pisan War in which the French were engaged, confident, however, that, once that was at an end, Louis, in his anxiety to maintainfriendly relations with the Pope, would be able to induce Venice towithdraw her protection from Rimini and Faenza. So much accomplished forhim, he was now in a position to do the rest without the aid of Frenchtroops if necessary. The Jubilee--protracted for a further year, so vastand continuous was the concourse of the faithful, 200, 000 of whom kneltin the square before St. Peter's on Easter Day to receive the Pope'sblessing--was pouring vast sums of money into the pontifical coffers, and for money men were to be had in plenty by a young condottiero whosefame had been spreading ever since his return from the Romagna. He wasnow the hope of the soldiers of fortune who abounded in Italy, attractedthither from all quarters by the continual opportunities for employmentwhich that tumultuous land afforded. 

It is in speaking of him at about this time, and again praising hispersonal beauty and fine appearance, that Capello says of him that, ifhe lives, he will be one of Italy's greatest captains. 

Such glimpses as in the pages of contemporary records we are allowedof Cesare during that crowded time of the Papal Jubilee are slight andfleeting. On April 13 we see him on horseback accompanying the Popethrough Rome in the cavalcade that visited the four Basilicas to win theindulgence offered, and, as usual, he is attended by his hundred armedgrooms in black. 

On another occasion we behold him very differently engaged--giving anexhibition of his superb physical gifts, his strength, his courage, andhis matchless address. On June 24, at a bull-fight held in Rome--Spanishtauromachia having been introduced from Naples, where it flourishedunder the Aragon dominion--he went down into the arena, and onhorseback, armed only with a light lance, he killed five wild bulls. But the master-stroke he reserved for the end. Dismounting, and takinga double­handed sword to the sixth bull that was loosed against him, hebeheaded the great beast at one single stroke, "a feat which all Romeconsidered great. "

Thus sped the time of waiting, and meanwhile he gathered about him aCourt not only of captains of fortune, but of men of art and letters, whom he patronized with a liberality--indeed, a prodigality--sogreat that it presently became proverbial, and, incidentally, by itsproportions provoked his father's disapproval. In the brilliant group ofmen of letters who enjoyed his patronage were such writers as Justolo, Sperulo, and that unfortunate poet Serafino Cimino da Aquila, known tofame and posterity as the great Aquilano. And it would be, no doubt, during these months that Pier di Lorenzo painted that portrait of Cesarewhich Vasari afterwards saw in Florence, but which, unfortunately, isnot now known to exist. Bramante, too, was of his Court at this time, aswas Michelangelo Buonarroti, whose superb group of "Mercy, " painted forCardinal de Villiers, had just amazed all Rome. With Pinturicchio, andLeonardi da Vinci--whom we shall see later beside Cesare--Michelangelowas ever held in the highest esteem by the duke. 

The story of that young sculptor's leap into fame may not be so widelyknown but that its repetition may be tolerated here, particularly since, remotely at least, it touches Cesare Borgia. 

When, in 1496, young Buonarroti, at the age of twenty-three, came fromFlorence to Rome to seek his fortune at the opulent Pontifical Court, hebrought a letter of recommendation to Cardinal Sforza-Riario. This wasthe time of the great excavations about Rome; treasures of ancient artwere daily being rescued from the soil, and Cardinal Sforza-Riario was agreat dilletante and collector of the antique. With pride of possession, he conducted the young sculptor through his gallery, and, displaying hisstatuary to him, inquired could he do anything that might compare withit. If the cardinal meant to use the young Florentine cavalierly, hispunishment was immediate and poetic, for amid the antiques Michelangelobeheld a sleeping Cupid which he instantly claimed as his own work. Riario was angry; no doubt suspicious, too, of fraud. This Cupidwas--as its appearance showed--a genuine antique, which the cardinal hadpurchased from a Milanese dealer for two hundred ducats. Michelangelo, in a passion, named the dealer--one Baldassare--to whom he had sentthe statue after treating it, with the questionable morality of thecinquecentist, so as to give it the appearance of having lain in theground, to the end that Baldassare might dispose of it as an antique. 

His present fury arose from his learning the price paid by the cardinalto Baldassare, from whom Michelangelo had received only thirty ducats. In his wrath he demanded--very arbitrarily it seems--the return of hisstatue. But to this the cardinal would not consent until Baldassare hadbeen arrested and made to disgorge the money paid him. Then, at last, Sforza-Riario complied with Michelangelo's demands and delivered him hisCupid--a piece of work whose possession had probably ceased to give anypleasure to that collector of the antique. 

But the story was bruited abroad, and cultured Rome was agog to see thestatue which had duped so astute a judge as Sforza-Riario. The fame ofthe young sculptor spread like a ripple over water, and it was CesareBorgia--at that time still Cardinal of Valencia who bought the Cupid. Years later he sent it to Isabella d'Este, assuring her that it had notits equal among contemporary works of art. 

CHAPTER V. THE MURDER OF ALFONSO OF ARAGON

We come now to the consideration of an event which, despite the lightthat so many, and with such assurance, have shed upon it, remainswrapped in uncertainty, and presents a mystery second only to that ofthe murder of the Duke of Gandia. 

It was, you will remember, in July of 1498 that Lucrezia took a secondhusband in Alfonso of Aragon, the natural son of Alfonso II of Naplesand nephew of Federigo, the reigning king. He was a handsome boyof seventeen at the time of his marriage--one year younger thanLucrezia--and, in honour of the event and in compliance with the Pope'sinsistence, he was created by his uncle Duke of Biselli and Prince ofSalerno. On every hand the marriage was said to be a love-match, and ofit had been born, in November of 1499, the boy Roderigo. 

On July 15, 1500, at about the third hour of the night, Alfonso wasassaulted and grievously wounded--mortally, it was said at first--on thesteps of St. Peter's. 

Burchard's account of the affair is that the young prince was assailedby several assassins, who wounded him in the head, right arm, and knee. Leaving him, no doubt, for dead, they fled down the steps, at the footof which some forty horsemen awaited them, who escorted them out of thecity by the Pertusa Gate. The prince was residing in the palace of theCardinal of Santa Maria in Portico, but so desperate was his conditionthat those who found him upon the steps of the Basilica bore him intothe Vatican, where he was taken to a chamber of the Borgia Tower, whilstthe Cardinal of Capua at once gave him absolution in articulo mortis. 

The deed made a great stir in Rome, and was, of course, the subjectof immediate gossip, and three days later Cesare issued an edictforbidding, under pain of death, any man from going armed between Sant'Angelo and the Vatican. 

News of the event was carried immediately to Naples, and King Federigosent his own physician, Galieno, to treat and tend his nephew. In thecare of that doctor and a hunchback assistant, Alfonso lay ill of hiswounds until August 17, when suddenly be died, to the great astonishmentof Rome, which for some time had believed him out of danger. Inrecording his actual death, Burchard is at once explicit and reticent toan extraordinary degree. "Not dying, " he writes, "from the wound he hadtaken, he was yesterday strangled in his bed at the nineteenth hour. "

Between the chronicling of his having been wounded on the steps of St. Peter's and that of his death, thirty-three days later, there is noentry in Burchard's diary relating to the prince, nor anything that canin any way help the inquirer to a conclusion; whilst, on the subject ofthe strangling, not another word does the Master of Ceremonies addto what has above been quoted. That he should so coldly--almostcynically--state that Alfonso was strangled, without so much assuggesting by whom, is singular in one who, however grimly laconic, isseldom reticent--notwithstanding that he may have been so accounted bythose who despaired of finding in his diary the confirmation of suchpoints of view as they happen to have chosen and of such matters as itpleased them to believe and propagate. 

That same evening Alfonso's body was borne, without pomp, to St. Peter's, and placed in the Chapel of Santa Maria delle Febbre. It wasaccompanied by Francesco Borgia, Archbishop of Cosenza. 

The doctor who had been in attendance upon the deceased and thehunchback were seized, taken to Sant' Angelo and examined, but shortlythereafter set at liberty. 

So far we are upon what we may consider safe ground. Beyond that wecannot go, save by treading the uncertain ways of speculation, and byfollowing the accounts of the various rumours circulated at the time. Formal and absolutely positive evidence of the author of Alfonso'smurder there is none. 

The Venetian ambassador, the ineffable, gossip­mongering Paolo Capello, whom we have seen possessed of the fullest details concerning the Dukeof Gandia's death--although he did not come to Rome until two and a halfyears after the crime--is again as circumstantial in this instance. Yousee in this Capello the forerunner of the modern journalist of the basersort, the creature who prowls in quest of scraps of gossip and items ofscandal, and who, having found them, does not concern himself greatlyin the matter of their absolute truth so that they provide him withsensational "copy. " It is this same Capello, bear in mind, who givesus the story of Cesare's murdering in the Pope's very arms that PedroCaldes who is elsewhere shown to have fallen into Tiber and beendrowned, down to the lurid details of the blood's spurting into thePope's face. 

His famous Relazione to the Senate in September of 1500 is little betterthan an epitome of all the scandal current in Rome during his sojournthere as ambassador, and his resurrection of the old affair of themurder of Gandia goes some way towards showing the spirit by which hewas actuated and his love of sensational matter. It has pleased mostwriters who have dealt with the matter of the murder of Alfonso ofAragon to follow Capello's statements; consequently these must beexamined. 

He writes from Rome--as recorded by Sanuto--that on July 16 Alfonso ofBiselli was assaulted on the steps of St. Peter's, and received fourwounds, "one in the head, one in the arm, one in the shoulder, and onein the back. " That was all that was known to Capello at the time hewrote that letter, and you will observe already the discrepancy betweenhis statement, penned upon hearsay, and Burchard's account--which, considering the latter's position at the Vatican, must always bepreferred. According to Burchard the wounds were three, and they were inthe head, right arm, and knee. 

On the 19th Capello writes again, and, having stated that Lucrezia--whowas really prostrate with grief at her husband's death--was strickenwith fever, adds that "it is not known who has wounded the Duke ofBiselli, but it is said that it was the same who killed and threw intoTiber the Duke of Gandia. My Lord of Valentinois has issued an edictthat no one shall henceforth bear arms between Sant' Angelo and theVatican. "

On the face of it, that edict of Valentinois' seems to argue vexation atwhat had happened, and the desire to provide against its repetition--aprovision hardly likely to be made by the man who had organized theassault, unless he sought, by this edict, to throw dust into the eyesof the world; and one cannot associate after the event and the fear ofcriticism with such a nature as Cesare's or with such a character asis given him by those who are satisfied that it was he who murderedBiselli. 

The rumour that Alfonso had been assailed by the murderer of Gandia is areasonable enough rumour, so long as the latter remains unnamed, forit would simply point to some enemy of the House of Borgia who, havingslain one of its members, now attempts to slay another. Whether Capelloactually meant Cesare when he penned those words on July 19, is not asobvious as may be assumed, for it is to be borne in mind that, at thisdate, Capello had not yet compiled the "relation" in which he deals withGandia's murder. 

On July 23 he wrote that the duke was very ill, indeed, from the woundin his head, and on the 28th that he was in danger owing to the samewound although the fever had abated. 

On August 18 he announces Alfonso's death in the following terms: "TheDuke of Biselli, Madonna Lucrezia's husband, died to-day because hewas planning the death of the Duke [of Valentinois] by means of anarbalest-bolt when he walked in the garden; and the duke has had him cutto pieces in his room by his archers. "

This "cutting-to-pieces" form of death is one very dear tothe imagination of Capello, and bears some witness to hissensation-mongering proclivities. 

Coming to matters more public, and upon which his evidence is moreacceptable, he writes on the 20th that some servants of the prince'shave been arrested, and that, upon being put to the question, theyconfessed to the prince's intent to kill the Duke of Valentinois, adding that a servant of the duke's was implicated. On the 23rd Capellocircumstantially confirms this matter of Alfonso's attempt upon Cesare'slife, and states that this has been confessed by the master of Alfonso'shousehold, "the brother of his mother, Madonna Drusa. "

That is the sum of Capello's reports to the Senate, as recorded bySanuto. The rest, the full, lurid, richly-coloured, sensationalstory, is contained in his "relation" of September 20. He prefaces thenarrative by informing the Senate that the Pope is on very bad termswith Naples, and proceeds to relate the case of Alfonso of Aragon asfollows:

"He was wounded at the third hour of night near the palace of the Dukeof Valentinois, his brother­in-law, and the prince ran to the Pope, saying that he had been wounded and that he knew by whom; and his wifeLucrezia, the Pope's daughter, who was in the room, fell into anguish. He was ill for thirty-three days, and his wife and sister, who is thewife of the Prince of Squillace, another son of the Pope's, were withhim and cooked for him in a saucepan for fear of his being poisoned, asthe Duke of Valentinois so hated him. And the Pope had him guarded bysixteen men for fear that the duke should kill him. And when thePope went to visit him Valentinois did not accompany him, save on oneoccasion, when he said that what had not been done at breakfast might bedone at supper.... On August 17 he [Valentinois] entered the room wherethe prince was already risen from his bed, and, driving out the wife andsister, called in his man, named Michieli, and had the prince strangled;and that night he was buried. "

Now the following points must arise to shake the student's confidencein this narrative, and in Capello as an authority upon any of the othermatters that he relates:

 (i) "He was wounded near the palace of the Duke of Valentinois. " Thislooks exceedingly like an attempt to pile up evidence against Cesare, and shows a disposition to resort to the invention of it. Whatever maynot have been known about Alfonso's death, it was known by everybodythat he was wounded on the steps of St. Peter's, and Capello himself, in his dispatches, had said so at the time. A suspicion that Capello'swhole relation is to serve the purpose of heaping odium upon Cesare atonce arises and receives confirmation when we consider that, as we havealready said, it is in this same relation that the fiction about PedroCaldes finds place and that the guilt of the murder of the Duke ofGandia is definitely fixed upon Cesare. 

 (ii) "He ran to the Pope ['Corse dal Papa'] saying that he had beenwounded, and that he knew by whom. " A man with a wound in his headwhich endangered his life for over a week would hardly be conscious onreceiving it, nor is it to be supposed that, had he been conscious, hisassailants would have departed. It cannot be doubted that they left himfor dead. He was carried into the palace, and we know, from Burchard, that the Cardinal of Capua gave him absolution in articulo mortis, whichabundantly shows his condition. It is unthinkable that he should havebeen able to "run to the Pope, " doubtful that he should have been ableto speak; and, if he did, who was it reported his words to the Venetianambassador? Capello wisely refrains from saying. 

 (iii) Lucrezia and Sancia attempt to protect him from poison bycooking his food in his room. This is quite incredible. Even admittingthe readiness to do so on the part of these princesses, where was theneed, considering the presence of the doctor--admitted by Capello--sentfrom Naples and his hunchback assistant?

 (iv) "The Pope had him guarded by sixteen men for fear the duke shouldkill him. " Yet when, according to Capello, the duke comes on hismurderous errand, attended only by Michieli (who has been generallyassumed by writers to have been Don Michele da Corella, one of Cesare'scaptains), where were these sixteen guards? Capello mentions thedismissal only of Lucrezia and Sancia. 

 (v) "Valentinois... Said that what had not been done at breakfast mightbe done at supper. " It will be observed that Capello never onceconsiders it necessary to give his authorities for anything that hestates. It becomes, perhaps, more particularly noteworthy than usual inthe case of this reported speech of Cesare's. He omits to say to whomCesare addressed those sinister words, and who reported them to him. The statement is hardly one to be accepted without that very necessarymention of authorities, nor can we conceive Capello omitting them had hepossessed them. 

It will be seen that it is scarcely necessary to go outside of Capello'sown relation for the purpose of traversing the statements contained init, so far as the death of Alfonso of Aragon is concerned. 

It is, however, still to be considered that, if Alfonso knew who hadattempted his life--as Capello states that he told the Pope--and knewthat he was in hourly danger of death from Valentinois, it may surelybe taken for granted that he would have imparted the information tothe Neapolitan doctor sent him by his uncle, who must have had hisconfidence. 

We know that, after the prince's death, the physician and his hunchbackassistant were arrested, but subsequently released. They returnedto Naples, and in Naples, if not elsewhere, the truth must have beenknown--definite and authentic facts from the lips of eye-witnesses, notmere matters of rumour, as was the case in Rome. It is to Neapolitanwritings, then, that we must turn for the truth of this affair; andyet from Naples all that we find is a rumour--the echo of the Romanrumour--"They say, " writes the Venetian ambassador at the Court of KingFederigo, "that he was killed by the Pope's son. "

A more mischievous document than Capello's Relazione can seldom havefound its way into the pages of history; it is the prime source ofseveral of the unsubstantiated accusations against Cesare Borgia uponwhich subsequent writers have drawn--accepting without criticism--andfrom which they have formed their conclusions as to the duke'scharacter. Even in our own times we find the learned Gregoroviusfollowing Capello's relation step by step, and dealing out this matterof the murder of the Duke of Biselli in his own paraphrases, as so muchsubstantiated, unquestionable fact. We find in his Lucrezia Borgia thefollowing statement: "The affair was no longer a mystery. Cesare himselfpublicly declared that he had killed the duke because his life had beenattempted by the latter. "

To say that Cesare "publicly declared that he had killed the duke" is tosay a very daring thing, and is dangerously to improve upon Capello. Ifit is true that Cesare made this public declaration how does it happenthat no one but Capello heard him? for in all other documents there isno more than offered us a rumour of how Alfonso died. Surely it is tobe supposed that, had Cesare made any such declaration, the letters fromthe ambassadors would have rung with it. Yet they will offer you nothingbut statements of what is being rumoured!

Nor does Gregorovius confine himself to that in his sedulous followingof Capello's Relation. He serves up out of Capello the lying story ofthe murder of Pedro Caldes. "What, " he says of Cesare, to support hisview that Cesare murdered Alfonso of Aragon, "could be beyond thisterrible man who had poignarded the Spaniard Pedro Caldes... Under thePope's very cloak, so that his blood spurted up into the Pope's face?"This in his History of Rome. In his Lucrezia Borgia he almost improvesupon it when he says that "The Venetian ambassador, Paolo Capello, reports how Cesare Borgia stabbed the chamberlain Perotto, etc. , butBurchard makes no mention of the fact. " Of the fact of the stabbing, Burchard certainly makes no mention; but he does mention that the manwas accidentally drowned, as has been considered. It is again--and moreflagrantly than ever--a case of proving Cesare guilty of a crime ofwhich there is no conclusive evidence by charging him with another, which--in this instance--there is actually evidence that he did notcommit. 

But this is by the way. 

Burchard's entries in his diary relating to the assault upon Alfonsoof Aragon can no more escape the criticism of the thoughtful than canCapello's relation. His forty horsemen, for instance, need explaining. Apart from the fact that this employment of forty horsemen would bean altogether amazing and incredible way to set about the murder of asingle man, it is to be considered that such a troop, drawn up inthe square before St. Peter's, must of necessity have attracted someattention. It was the first hour of the night, remember--according toBurchard--that is to say, at dusk. Presumably, too, those horsemenwere waiting when the prince arrived. How then, did he--and why washe allowed--to pass them, only to be assailed in ascending the steps?Burchard, presumably, did not himself see these horsemen; certainlyhe cannot have seen them escorting the murderers to the Pertusa Gate. Therefore he must have had the matter reported to him. Naturally enough, had the horsemen existed, they must have been seen. How, then, does ithappen that Capello did not hear of them? nor the Florentine ambassador, who says that the murderers were four, nor any one else apparently?

To turn for a moment to the Florentine ambassador's letters upon thesubject, we find in this other Capello--Francesco Capello was hisname--accounts which differ alike from Paolo Capello's and fromBurchard' stories. But he is careful to say that he is simply repeatingthe rumours that are abroad, and cites several different versions thatare current, adding that the truth of the affair is not known toanybody. His conclusions, however, particularly those given in cipher, point to Cesare Borgia as the perpetrator of the deed, and hint at somesuch motive of retaliation for an attempt upon his own life as thatwhich is given by the ambassador of Venice. 

There is much mystery in the matter, despite Gregorovius's assertionto the contrary--mystery which mere assertion will not dissipate. Thisconclusion, however, it is fair to draw: if, on Capello's evidence, we are to accept it that Cesare Borgia is responsible for the death ofAlfonso of Aragon, then, on the same evidence, we must accept the motiveas well as the deed. We must accept as equally exact his thrice-repeatedstatement in letters to the Senate that the prince had planned Cesare'sdeath by posting crossbow-men to shoot him. (1)

 1 It is extremely significant that Capello's Relazione contains nomention of Alfonso's plot against Cesare's life, a matter which, as wehave seen, had figured so repeatedly in that ambassador's dispatchesfrom Rome at the time of the event. This omission is yet another proofof the malicious spirit by which the "relation" was inspired. Thesuppression of anything that might justify a deed attributed to Cesarereveals how much defamation and detraction were the aims of thisVenetian. 

Either we must accept all, or we must reject all, that Capello tells us. If we reject all, then we are left utterly without information as to howAlfonso of Aragon died. If we accept all, then we find that it was asa measure of retaliation that Cesare compassed the death ofhis brother-in-law, which made it not a murder, but a privateexecution--justifiable under the circumstances of the provocationreceived and as the adjustment of these affairs was understood in theCinquecento. 

CHAPTER VI. RIMINI AND PESARO

In the autumn of 1500, fretting to take the field again, Cesare wasoccupied in raising and equipping an army--an occupation which receivedan added stimulus when, towards the end of August, Louis de Villeneuve, the French ambassador, arrived in Rome with the articles of agreementsetting forth the terms upon which Louis XII was prepared furtherto assist Cesare in the resumption of his campaign. In these it wasstipulated that, in return for such assistance, Cesare should engagehimself, on his side, to aid the King of France in the conquest ofNaples when the time for that expedition should be ripe. Further, LoiusXII was induced to make representations to Venice to the end that theRepublic should remove her protection from the Manfredi of Faenza andthe Malatesta of Rimini. 

Venice being at the time in trouble with the Turk, and more anxious thanever to conciliate France and the Pope, was compelled to swallow herreluctance and submit with the best grace she could assume. Accordinglyshe dispatched her ambassadors to Rome to convey her obedience to thePope's Holiness, and formally to communicate the news that she withdrewher protection from the proscribed fiefs. 

Later in the year--in the month of October--the Senate was to conferupon Cesare Borgia the highest honour in her gift, the honour of whichthe Venetians were jealous above all else--the honour of Venetiancitizenship, inscribing his name in the Golden Book, bestowing upon hima palace in Venice and conferring the other marks of distinction usualto the occasion. One is tempted to ask, Was it in consequence ofPaolo Capello's lurid Relation that the proud Republic considered himqualified for such an honour?

To return, however, to the matter of the Republic's removal of hershield from Rimini and Faenza, Alexander received the news of this withopen joy and celebrated it with festivities in the Vatican, whilst frombeing angry with Venice and from declaring that the Republic need neveragain look to him for favour, he now veered round completely and assuredthe Venetian envoys, in a burst of gratitude, that he esteemed no Powerin the world so highly. Cesare joined in his father's expressionsof gratitude and appreciation, and promised that Alexander should besucceeded in St. Peter's Chair by such a Pope as should be pleasing toVenice, and that, if the cardinals but remained united, the Pontificateshould go to none but a Venetian. 

Thus did Cesare, sincerely or otherwise, attempt to lessen theRepublic's chagrin to see him ride lance-on-thigh as conqueror into thedominions which she so long had coveted. 

France once more placed Yves d'Allègre at Cesare's disposal, and withhim went six hundred lances and six hundred Swiss foot. These swelledthe forces which already Cesare had assembled into an army some tenthousand strong. The artillery was under the command of VitellozzoVitelli, whilst Bartolomeo da Capranica was appointed camp-master. Cesare's banner was joined by a condotta under Paolo Orsini--besideswhom there were several Roman gentlemen in the duke's following, including most of those who had formed his guard of honour on theoccasion of his visit to France, and who had since then continued tofollow his fortunes. Achille Tiberti came to Rome with a condotta whichhe had levied in the Romagna of young men who had been moved by Cesare'sspreading fame to place their swords at his disposal. A member of theexiled Malvezzi family of Bologna headed a little troop of fellow-exileswhich came to take service with the duke, whilst at Perugia a strongbody of foot awaited him under Gianpaolo Baglioni. 

In addition to these condotte, numerous were the adventurers who cameto offer Cesare their swords; indeed he must have possessed much of thatpersonal magnetism which is the prime equipment of every born leader, for he stirred men to the point of wild enthusiasm in those days, and inspired other than warriors to bear arms for him. We see men ofletters, such as Justolo, Calmeta, Sperulo, and others throwingdown their quills to snatch up swords and follow him. Painters, andsculptors, too, are to be seen abandoning the ideals of art to pursuethe ugly realities of war in this young condottiero's train. Among theseartists, bulks the great Pietro Torrigiani. The astounding pen of hisbrother-sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini, has left us a sharp portrait ofthis man, in which he speaks of his personal beauty and tells us thathe had more the air of a great soldier than a sculptor (which must havebeen, we fancy, Cellini's own case). Torrigiani lives in history chieflyfor two pieces of work widely dissimilar in character--the erectionof the tomb of Henry VII of England, and the breaking of the nose ofMichelangelo Buonarroti in the course of a quarrel which he had with himin Florence when they were fellow-students under Masaccio. Of nothingthat he ever did in life was he so proud--as we may gather fromCellini--as of having disfigured Michelangelo, and in that sentiment thenaïve spirit of his age again peeps forth. 

We shall also see Leonardo da Vinci joining the duke's army asengineer--but that not until some months later. 

Meanwhile his forces grew daily in Rome, and his time was consumed inorganizing, equipping, and drilling these, to bring about that perfectunity for which his army was to be conspicuous in spite of the varietyof French, Italian, Spanish, and Swiss elements of which it wascomposed. So effectively were his troops armed and so excellent was thediscipline prevailing among them, that their like had probably neverbefore been seen in the peninsula, and they were to excite--as muchelse of Cesare's work--the wonder and admiration of that great criticMacchiavelli. 

So much, however, was not to be achieved without money, and still morewould be needed for the campaign ahead. For this the Church provided. Never had the coffers of the Holy See been fuller than at this moment. Additional funds accrued from what is almost universally spoken of as"the sale of twelve cardinals' hats. "

In that year--in September--twelve new cardinals were appointed, andupon each of those was levied, as a tax, a tithe of the first year'srevenues of the benefices upon which they entered. The only justifiableexception that can be taken to this lies in the number of cardinalselected at one time, which lends colour to the assumption that thesole aim of that election was to raise additional funds for Cesare'scampaign. Probably it was also Alexander's aim further to strengthen hispower with the Sacred College, so that he could depend upon a majorityto ensure his will in all matters. But we are at the moment concernedwith the matter of the levied tax. 

It has been dubbed "an atrocious act of simony;" but the reasoning thatso construes it is none so clear. The cardinals' hats carried with themvast benefices. These benefices were the property of the Church; theywere in the gift and bestowal of the Pope, and in the bestowing of themthe Pope levied a proportionate tax. Setting aside the argument thatthis tax was not an invention of Alexander's, does such a proceedingreally amount to a "sale" of benefices? A sale presupposes bargaining, amaking of terms between two parties, an adjusting of a price to be paid. There is evidence of no such marketing of these benefices; indeed onecardinal, vowed to poverty, received his hat without the imposition of atax, another was Cesare's brother-in-law, Amanieu d'Albret, who had beenpromised the hat a year ago. It is further to be borne in mind that, four months earlier, the Pope had levied a similar decima, or tax, uponthe entire College of Cardinals and every official in the service of theHoly See, for the purposes of the expedition against the Muslim, who wasin arms against Christianity. Naturally that tax was not popular withluxurious, self-seeking, cinquecento prelates, who in the maincared entirely for their own prosperity and not at all for that ofChristianity, and you may realize how, by levying it, Alexander laidhimself open to harsh criticism. 

The only impugnable matter in the deed lies, as has been said, in thenumber of cardinals so created at a batch. But the ends to be servedmay be held to justify, if not altogether, at least in some measure, the means adopted. The Romagna war for which the funds were needed wasprimarily for the advancement of the Church, to expunge those faithlessvicars who, appointed by the Holy See and holding their fiefs in trustfor her, refused payment of just tribute and otherwise so acted as toalienate from the Church the States which she claimed for her own. Theirrestoration to the Church--however much it might be a means of foundinga Borgia dynasty in the Romagna--made for the greater power and glory ofthe Holy See. Let us remember this, and that such was the end whichthat tax, levied upon those newly elected cardinals, went to serve. Theaggrandizement of the House of Borgia was certainly one of the resultsto be expected from the Romagna campaign, but we are not justified inaccounting it the sole aim and end of that campaign. 

Alexander had this advantage over either Sixtus IV or Innocent VIII--notto go beyond those Popes whom he had served as Vice-Chancellor, forinstances of flagrant nepotism--that he at least served two purposesat once, and that, in aggrandizing his own family, he strengthened thetemporal power of the Church, whereas those others had done nothing butundermine it that they might enrich their progeny. 

And whilst on this subject of the "sale" of cardinals' hats, it may notbe amiss to say a word concerning the "sale" of indulgences with whichAlexander has been so freely charged. Here again there has been too loudan outcry against Alexander--an outcry whose indignant stridency leadsone to suppose that the sale of indulgences was a simony invented byhim, or else practised by him to an extent shamefully unprecedented. Such is very far from being the case. The arch-type ofindulgence-seller--as of all other simoniacal practices--is InnocentVIII. In his reign we have seen the murderer commonly given to choosebetween the hangman and the purchase of a pardon, and we have seen themoneys so obtained providing his bastard, the Cardinal Francesco Cibo, with the means for the luxuriously licentious life whose gross disordersprematurely killed him. 

To no such flagitious lengths as these can it be shown that Alexandercarried the "sale" of the indulgences he dispensed. He had no lack ofprecedent for the practice, and, so far as the actual practice itselfis concerned, it would be difficult to show that it was unjustifiable orsimoniacal so long as confined within certain well-defined bounds, andso long as the sums levied by it were properly employed to the benefitof Christianity. It is a practice comparable to the mulcting of a civiloffender against magisterial laws. Because our magistrates levy fines, it does not occur to modern critics to say that they sell pardonsand immunity from gaol. It is universally recognized as a wise andcommendable measure, serving the two­fold purpose of punishing theoffender and benefiting the temporal State against which he hasoffended. Need it be less commendable in the case of spiritual offencesagainst a spiritual State? It is more useful than the imposition of thepattering of a dozen prayers at bedtime, and since, no doubt, it fallsmore heavily upon the offender, it possibly makes to an even greaterextent for his spiritual improvement. 

Thus considered, this "sale" of indulgences loses a deal of theheinousness with which it has been invested. The funds so realized gointo the coffers of the Church, which is fit and proper. What afterwardsbecomes of them at the hands of Alexander opens up another matteraltogether, one in which we cannot close our eyes to the fact that hewas as undutiful as many another who wore the Ring of the Fishermanbefore him. Yet this is to be said for him: that, if he plunged hishands freely into the treasury of the Holy See, at least he had theability to contrive that this treasury should be well supplied; and thecircumstance that, when he died, he left the church far wealthier andmore powerful than she had been for centuries, with her dominions whichhis precursors had wantonly alienated reconsolidated into that powerfulState that was to endure for three hundred years, is an argument to thecredit of his pontificate not lightly to be set aside. 

Imola and Forli had, themselves, applied to the Pontiff to appointCesare Borgia their ruler in the place of the deposed Riarii. To thesewas now added Cesena. In July disturbances occurred there betweenGuelphs and Ghibellines. Swords were drawn and blood flowed in thestreets, until the governor was constrained to summon Ercole Bentivogliand his horse from Forli to quell the rioting. The direct outcome ofthis was that--the Ghibellines predominating in council--Cesena sent anembassy to Rome to beg his Holiness to give the lordship of the fiefto the Duke of Valentinois. To this the Pope acceded, and on August2 Cesare was duly appointed Lord Vicar of Cesena. He celebrated hisinvestiture by remitting a portion of the taxes, abolishing altogetherthe duty on flour, and by bringing about a peace between the twoprevailing factions. 

By the end of September Cesare's preparations for the resumption of thecampaign were completed, and early in October (his army fortified inspirit by the Pope's blessing) he set out, and made his first halt atNepi. Lucrezia was there, with her Court and her child Roderigo, havingwithdrawn to this her castle to mourn her dead husband Alfonso; andthere she abode until recalled to Rome by her father some two monthslater. 

Thence Cesare pushed on, as swiftly as the foul weather would allow him, by way of Viterbo, Assisi, and Nocera to cross the Apennines at Gualdo. Here he paused to demand the release of certain prisoners in the hillfortress of Fossate, and to be answered by a refusal. Angered by thisresistance of his wishes and determined to discourage others fromfollowing the example of Fossate, he was swift and terrible in hisrejoinder. He seized the Citadel, and did by force what had been refusedto his request. Setting at liberty the prisoners in durance there, hegave the territory over to devastation by fire and pillage. 

That done he resumed his march, but the weather retarded him more andmore. The heavy and continuous rains had reduced the roads to such acondition that his artillery fell behind, and he was compelled to calla halt once more, at Deruta, and wait there four days for his guns toovertake him. 

In Rimini the great House of Malatesta was represented byPandolfo--Roberto Malatesta's bastard and successor--a degenerate sodetested by his subjects that he was known by the name of Pandolfaccio(a contumelious augmentative, expressing the evil repute in which he washeld). 

Among his many malpractices and the many abuses to which he resortedfor the purposes of extorting money from his long-suffering subjectswas that of compelling the richer men of Rimini to purchase from him theestates which he confiscated from the fuorusciti--those who had soughtin exile safety from the anger provoked by their just resentment of hisoppressive misrule. He was in the same case as other Romagna tyrants, and now that Venice had lifted from him her protecting aegis, he had noillusions as to the fate in store for him. So when once more thetramp of Cesare Borgia's advancing legions rang through the Romagna, Pandolfaccio disposed himself, not for battle, but for surrender on thebest terms that he might succeed in making. 

He was married to Violante, the daughter of Giovanni Bentivogli ofBologna, and in the first week of October he sent her, with theirchildren, to seek shelter at her father's Court. Himself, he withdrewinto his citadel--the famous fortress of his terrible grandfatherSigismondo. The move suggested almost that he was preparing to resistthe Duke of Valentinois, and it may have prompted the message sent himby the Council to inquire what might be his intention. 

Honour was a thing unknown to this Pandolfaccio--even so much honouras may be required for a dignified retreat. Since all was lost it butremained--by his lights--to make the best bargain that he could and getthe highest possible price in gold for what he was abandoning. So hereplied that the Council must do whatever it considered to its bestadvantage, whilst to anticipate its members in any offer of surrender, and thus seek the favour and deserve good terms at the hands of thisman who came to hurl him from the throne of his family, he dispatched aconfidential servant to Cesare to offer him town and citadel. 

In the meantime--as Pandolfo fully expected--the Council also sentproposals of surrender to Cesare, as well as to his lieutenant-generalof Romagna, Bishop Olivieri, at Cesena. The communications had theeffect of bringing Olivieri immediately to Rimini, and there, on October10, the articles of capitulation were signed by the bishop, as theduke's representative, and by Pandolfo Malatesta. It was agreed in thesethat Malatesta should have safe-conduct for himself and his familiars, 3, 000 ducats and the value--to be estimated--of the artillery which heleft in the citadel. Further, for the price of 5, 500 ducats he abandonedalso the strongholds of Sarsina and Medola and the castles of theMontagna. 

His tyranny thus disposed of, Pandolfaccio took ship to Ravenna, wherethe price of his dishonour was to be paid him, and in security forwhich he took with him Gianbattista Baldassare, the son of the ducalcommissioner. 

On the day of his departure, to celebrate the bloodless conquest ofRimini, solemn High Mass was sung in the Cathedral, and Bishop Olivierireceived the city's oath of allegiance to the Holy See, whither veryshortly afterwards Rimini sent her ambassadors to express to the Popeher gratitude for her release from the thraldom of Pandolfaccio. 

Like Rimini, Pesaro too fell without the striking of a blow, for allthat it was by no means as readily relinquished on the part of itsruler. Giovanni Sforza had been exerting himself desperately for thepast two months to obtain help that should enable him to hold histyranny against the Borgia might. But all in vain. His entreaties to theemperor had met with no response, whilst his appeal to Francesco Gonzagaof Mantua--whose sister, it will be remembered, had been his firstwife--had resulted in the Marquis's sending him a hundred men under anAlbanian, named Giacopo. 

What Giovanni was to do with a hundred men it is difficult to conceive, nor are the motives of Gonzaga's action clear. We know that at this timehe was eagerly seeking Cesare's friendship, sorely uneasy as to thefate that might lie in store for his own dominions, once the Duke ofValentinois should have disposed of the feudatories of the Church. Earlyin that year 1500 he had asked Cesare to stand godfather for his child, and Cesare had readily consented, whereby a certain bond of relationshipand good feeling had been established between them, which everythingshows Gonzaga most anxious to preserve unsevered. The only reasonableconclusion in the matter of that condotta of a hundred men is thatGonzaga desired to show friendliness to the Lord of Pesaro, yet wascareful not to do so to any extent that might be hurtful to Valentinois. 

As for Giovanni Sforza of whom so many able pens have written sofeelingly as the constant, unfortunate victim of Borgia ambition, thereis no need to enter into analyses for the purpose of judging him here. His own subjects did so in his own day. When a prince is beloved by allclasses of his people, it must follow that he is a good prince and awise ruler; when his subjects are divided into two factions, one tooppose and the other to support him, he may be good or bad, or goodand bad; but when a prince can find none to stand by him in the hour ofperil, it is to be concluded that he has deserved little at the hands ofthose whom he has ruled. The latter is the case of Giovanni Sforza--thisprince whom, Yriarte tells us, "rendered sweet the lives of hissubjects. " The nobility and the proletariate of Pesaro abhorred him;the trader classes stood neutral, anxious to avoid the consequences ofpartisanship, since it was the class most exposed to those consequences. 

On Sunday, October 11--the day after Pandolfo Malatesta had relinquishedRimini--news reached Pesaro that Ercole Bentivogli's horse was marchingupon the town, in advance of the main body of Cesare's army. Instantlythere was an insurrection against Giovanni, and the people, takingto arms, raised the cry of "Duca!" in acclamation of the Duke ofValentinois, under the very windows of their ruler's palace. 

Getting together the three hundred men that constituted his army, Giovanni beat a hasty retreat to Pesaro's magnificent fortress, and thatsame night he secretly took ship to Ravenna accompanied by the AlbanianGiacopo, and leaving his half-brother, Galeazzo Sforza di Cotignola, in command of the citadel. Thence Giovanni repaired to Bologna, and, already repenting his precipitate flight, he appealed for help toBentivogli, who was himself uneasy, despite the French protectionhe enjoyed. Similarly, Giovanni addressed fresh appeals to FrancescoGonzaga; but neither of these tyrants could or dared avail him, and, whilst he was still imploring their intervention his fief had falleninto Cesare's power. 

Ercole Bentivogli, with a small body of horse, had presented himself atthe gates of Pesaro on October 21, and Galeazzo Sforza, having obtainedsafe-conduct for the garrison, surrendered. 

Cesare, meanwhile, was at Fano, where he paused to allow his army tocome up with him, for he had outridden it from Fossate, through foulwintry weather, attended only by his light horse. It was said thathe hoped that Fano might offer itself to him as other fiefs had done, and--if Pandolfo Collenuccio is correct--he had been counselled by thePope not to attempt to impose himself upon Fano, but to allow the towna free voice in the matter. If his hopes were as stated, he wasdisappointed in them, for Fano made no offer to him, and mattersremained for the present as they were. 

On the 27th, with the banners of the bull unfurled, he rode into Pesaroat the head of two thousand men, making his entrance with his wontedpomp, of whose dramatic values he was so fully aware. He was met at thegates by the Council, which came to offer him the keys of the town, and, despite the pouring rain under which he entered the city, the people ofPesaro thronged the streets to acclaim him as he rode. 

He took up his lodgings at the Sforza Palace, so lately vacated byGiovanni--the palace where Lucrezia Borgia had held her Court when, asGiovanni's wife, she had been Countess of Pesaro and Cotignola. Early onthe morrow he visited the citadel, which was one of the finest in Italy, rivalling that of Rimini for strength. On his arrival there, a flourishof trumpets imposed silence, while the heralds greeted him formally asLord of Pesaro. He ordered one of the painters in his train to draw upplans of the fortress to be sent to the Pope, and issued instructionsfor certain repairs and improvements which he considered desirable. 

Here in Pesaro came to him the famous Pandolfo Collenuccio, as envoyfrom the Duke of Ferrara, to congratulate Cesare upon the victory. In sending Collenuccio at such a time Ercole d'Este paid the Duke ofValentinois a subtle, graceful compliment. This distinguished poet, dramatist, and historian was a native of Pesaro who had been exiled tenyears earlier by Giovanni--which was the tyrant's way of showing hisgratitude to the man who, more than any other, had contributed tothe bastard Sforza's succession to his father as Lord of Pesaro andCotignola. 

Collenuccio was one of the few literary men of his day who was not aboveusing the Italian tongue, treating it seriously as a language and notmerely as a debased form of Latin. He was eminent as a juris­consult, and, being a man of action as well as a man of letters, he had filledthe office of Podestá in various cities; he had found employment underLorenzo dei Medici, and latterly under Ercole d'Este, whom we now seehim representing. 

Cesare received him with all honour, sending the master of hishousehold, Ramiro de Lorqua, to greet him on his arrival and to bearhim the usual gifts of welcome, of barley, wine, capons, candles, sweet-meats, etc. , whilst on the morrow the duke gave him audience, treating him in the friendliest manner, as we see from Collenuccio'sown report to the Duke of Ferrara. In this he says of Cesare: "He isaccounted valiant, joyous, and open-handed, and it is believed that heholds honest men in great esteem. Harsh in his vengeance, according tomany, he is great of spirit and of ambition, athirst for eminence andfame. "

Collenuccio was reinstated by Cesare in the possessions of whichGiovanni had stripped him, a matter which so excited the resentment ofthe latter that, when ultimately he returned to his dominions, one ofhis first acts was to avenge it. Collenuccio, fearing that he might notstand well with the tyrant, had withdrawn from Pesaro. But Giovanni, with all semblance of friendliness, treacherously lured him back to casthim into prison and have him strangled--a little matter which those who, to the detriment of the Borgia, seek to make a hero of this GiovanniSforza, would do well not to suppress. 

A proof of the splendid discipline prevailing in Cesare's army isafforded during his brief sojourn in Pesaro. In the town itself, sometwo thousand of his troops were accommodated, whilst some thousandsmore swarmed in the surrounding country. Occupation by such an army was, naturally enough, cause for deep anxiety on the part of a people whowere but too well acquainted with the ways of the fifteenth­centurymen-at-arms. But here was a general who knew how to curb and control hissoldiers. Under the pain of death his men were forbidden from indulgingany of the predations or violences usual to their kind; and, as aconsequence, the inhabitants of Pesaro had little to complain of. 

Justolo gives us a picture of the Duke of Valentinois on the banks ofthe River Montone, which again throws into relief the discipline whichhis very presence--such was the force of his personality--was able toenforce. A disturbance arose among his soldiers at the crossing of thisriver, which was swollen with rains and the bridge of which had beendestroyed. It became necessary to effect the crossing in one smallboat--the only craft available--and the men, crowding to the bank, stormed and fought for precedence until the affair grew threatening. Cesare rode down to the river, and no more than his presence wasnecessary to restore peace. Under that calm, cold eye of his the meninstantly became orderly, and, whilst he sat his horse and watched them, the crossing was soberly effected, and as swiftly as the single craftwould permit. 

The duke remained but two days in Pesaro. On the 29th, having appointeda lieutenant to represent him, and a captain to the garrison, he marchedout again, to lie that night at Cattolica and enter Rimini on themorrow. 

There again he was received with open arms, and he justified thepeople's welcome of him by an immediate organization of affairs whichgave universal satisfaction. He made ample provision for the properadministration of justice and the preservation of the peace; he recalledthe fuorusciti exiled by the unscrupulous Pandolfaccio, and he saw themreinstated in the property of which that tyrant had dispossessed them. As his lieutenant in Rimini, with strict injunctions to preserve lawand order, he left Ramiro de Lorqua, when, on November 2, he departed tomarch upon Faenza, which had prepared for resistance. 

What Cesare did in Rimini was no more than he was doing throughout theRomagna, as its various archives bear witness. They bear witness no lessto his vast ability as an administrator, showing how he resolved theprevailing chaos into form and order by his admirable organization andsuppression of injustice. The same archives show us also that he foundtime for deeds of beneficence which endeared him to the people, whoeverywhere hailed him as their deliverer from thraldom. It would not bewise to join in the chorus of those who appear to have taken Cesare'saltruism for granted. The rejection of the wild stories that picturehim as a corrupt and murderous monster, utterly inhuman, and lay a dozenghastly crimes to his account need not entail our viewing Cesare as anangel of deliverance, a divine agent almost, rescuing a suffering peoplefrom oppression out of sheer humanitarianism. 

He is the one as little as the other. He is just--as Collenuccio wroteto Ercole d'Este--"great of spirit and of ambition, athirst foreminence and fame. " He was consumed by the desire for power and worldlygreatness, a colossus of egotism to whom men and women were pieces tobe handled by him on the chess-board of his ambition, to be sacrificedruthlessly where necessary to his ends, but to be husbanded and guardedcarefully where they could serve him. 

With his eyes upon the career of Cesare Borgia, Macchiavelli was anon towrite of principalities newly-acquired, that "however great may be themilitary resources of a prince, he will discover that, to obtain firmfooting in a province, he must engage the favour and interest of theinhabitants. "

That was a principle self-evident to Cesare--the principle upon whichhe acted throughout in his conquest of the Romagna. By causing his newsubjects to realize at once that they had exchanged an oppressive for agenerous rule, he attached them to himself. 

CHAPTER VII. THE SIEGE OF FAENZA

The second campaign of the Romagna had opened for Cesare as easily ashad the first. So far his conquest had been achieved by little more thana processional display of his armed legions. Like another Joshua, hereduced cities by the mere blare of his trumpets. At last, however, he was to receive a check. Where grown men had fled cravenly at hisapproach, it remained for a child to resist him at Faenza, as a womanhad resisted him at Forli. 

His progress north from Pesaro was of necessity slow. He paused, aswe have seen, at Rimini, and he paused again, and for a rather longerspell, at Forli, so that it was not until the second week of Novemberthat Astorre Manfredi--the boy of sixteen who was to hold Faenza--caughtin the distance the flash of arms and the banners with the bull deviceborne by the host which the Duke of Valentinois led against him. 

At first it had been Astorre's intent to follow the examples set him byMalatesta and Sforza, and he had already gone so far as to remove hisvaluables to Ravenna, whither he, too, meant to seek refuge. But he wasin better case than any of the tyrants so far deposed inasmuch as hisfamily, which had ruled Faenza for two hundred years, had not provokedthe hatred of its subjects, and these were now ready and willing tostand loyally by their young lord. But loyalty alone can do little, unless backed by the might of arms, against such a force as Cesare wasprepared to hurl upon Faenza. This Astorre realized, and for his ownand his subjects' sake was preparing to depart, when, to his undoing, support reached him from an unexpected quarter. 

Bologna--whose ruler, Giovanni Bentivogli, was Astorre's grandfather--incommon with Florence and Urbino, grew daily more and more alarmed atthe continual tramp of armed multitudes about her frontiers, and at thesteady growth in numbers and in capacity of this splendid army whichfollowed Casare--an army captained by such enemies of the Bentivogli asthe Baglioni, the Orsini, and the exiled Malvezzi. 

Bentivogli had good grounds for his anxiety, not knowing how long hemight depend upon the protection of France, and well aware that, oncethat protection was removed, there would be no barrier between Bolognaand Cesare's manifest intentions concerning her. 

Next to Cesare's utter annihilation, to check his progress was thedesire dearest just then to the heart of Bentivogli, and with this endin view he dispatched Count Guido Torella to Faenza, in mid-October, with an offer to assist Astorre with men and money. 

Astorre, who had succeeded Galeotto Manfredi in the tyranny of Faenza atthe age of three, had been and still continued under the tutelage ofthe Council which really governed his territories. To this Council cameCount Torella with Bentivogli's offer, adding the proposal that youngAstorre should be sent to Venice for his personal safety. But to thisthe Council replied that it would be useless, if that course wereadopted, to attempt resistance, as the people could only be urged to itby their affection for their young lord, and that, if he were removedfrom their midst, they would insist upon surrender. 

News of these negotiations reached Rome, and on October 24 Alexandersent Bentivogli his commands to refrain, under pain of excommunication, from interfering in the affairs of Faenza. Bentivogli made a feebleattempt to mask his disobedience. The troops with which he intended toassist his grandson were sent ostensibly to Castel Bolognese, but withinstructions to desert thence and make for Faenza. This they did, andthus was Astorre strengthened by a thousand men, whilst the work ofpreparing his city for resistance went briskly forward. 

Meanwhile, ahead of Cesare Borgia, swept Vitellozzo Vitelli with hishorse into Astorre's dominions. He descended upon the valley of theLamone, and commenced hostilities by the capture and occupation ofBrisghella on November 7. The other lesser strongholds and townshipsoffered no resistance to Cesare's arms. Indeed they were induced intoready rebellion against their lord by Dionigio di Naldo--the sometimedefender of Imola, who had now taken service with Cesare. 

On November 10 Cesare himself halted his host beneath the walls ofFaenza and called upon the town to surrender. Being denied, he encampedhis army for the siege. He chose the eastern side of the town, betweenthe rivers Lamone and Marzano, and, that his artillery might have freeplay, he caused several houses to be demolished. 

In Faenza itself, meanwhile, the easy conquest of the valley had notproduced a good effect. Moreover, the defenders had cause to feartreachery within their gates, for a paper had been picked up out of themoat containing an offer of terms of surrender. It had been shot intothe castle attached to an arbalest­bolt, and was intended for thecastellan Castagnini. This Castagnini was arrested, thrown into prison, and his possessions confiscated, whilst the Council placed the citadelin the hands of four of its own members together with GianevangelistaManfredi--Astorre's half-brother, and a bastard of Galeotto's. Theseset about defending it against Cesare, who had now opened fire. The dukecaused the guns to be trained upon a certain bastion through which hejudged that a good assault might be delivered and an entrance gained. Night and day was the bombardment of that bastion kept up, yet withoutproducing visible effect until the morning of the 20th, when suddenlyone of its towers collapsed thunderously into the moat. 

Instantly, and without orders, the soldiers, all eager to be among thefirst to enter, flung themselves forward in utter and fierce disorder tostorm the breach. Cesare, at breakfast--as he himself wrote to the Dukeof Urbino--sprang up at the great noise, and, surmising what was takingplace, dashed out to restrain his men. But the task was no easy one, for, gathering excitement and the frenzy of combat as they ran, they hadalready gained the edge of the ditch, and thither Cesare was forced tofollow them, using voice and hands to beat back again. 

At last he succeeded in regaining control of them, and in compellingthem to make an orderly retreat, and curb their impatience until thetime for storming should have come, which was not yet. In the affairCesare had a narrow escape from a stone-shot fired from the castle, whilst one of his officers--Onorio Savelli--was killed by a cannon-ballfrom the duke's own guns, whose men, unaware of what was taking place, were continuing the bombardment. 

Hitherto the army had been forced to endure foul weather--rain, fogs, and wind; but there was worse come. Snow began to fall on the morning ofthe 22nd. It grew to a storm, and the blizzard continued all that day, which was a Sunday, all night, and all the following day, and lashed themen pitilessly and blindingly. The army, already reduced by shortness ofvictuals, was now in a miserable plight in its unsheltered camp, and thedefenders of Faenza, as if realizing this, made a sortie on the 23rd, from which a fierce fight ensued, with severe loss to both sides. On the25th the snow began again, whereupon the hitherto unconquerable Cesare, defeated at last by the elements and seeing that his men could notpossibly continue to endure the situation, was compelled to strike campon the 26th and go into winter quarters, no doubt with immense chagrinat leaving so much work unaccomplished. 

So he converted the siege into a blockade, closing all roads that leadto Faenza, with a view to shutting out supplies from the town; and hedistributed troops throughout the villages of the territory with ordersconstantly to harass the garrison and allow it no rest. 

He also sent an envoy with an offer of terms of surrender, but theCouncil rejected it with the proud answer that its members "had agreed, in general assembly, to defend the dominions of Manfredi to the death. "

Thereupon Cesare withdrew to Forli with 150 lances and 2, 500 foot, andhere he affords a proof of his considerateness. The town had alreadyendured several occupations and the severities of being the seat of warduring the siege of the citadel. Cesare was determined that it shouldfeel the present occupation as little as possible; so he issued an orderto the inhabitants upon whom his soldiers were billeted to supply themen only with bed, light, and fire. What more they required must bepaid for, and, to avoid disputes as to prices of victuals and othernecessaries, he ordered the Council to draw up a tariff, and issued anedict forbidding his soldiers, under pain of death, from touching anyproperty of the townsfolk. Lest they should doubt his earnestness, he hanged two of his soldiers on December 7--a Piedmontese and aGascon--and on the 13th a third, all from the windows of his own palace, and all with a label hanging from their feet proclaiming that they hadbeen hanged for taking goods of others in spite of the ban of the LordDuke, etc. 

He remained in Forli until the 23rd, when he departed to Cesena, whichwas really his capital in Roomagna, and in the huge citadel of whichthere was ample accommodation for the troops that accompanied him. InForli he left, as his lieutenants, the Bishop of Trani and Don Micheleda Corella--the "Michieli" of Capello's Relation and the "Michelotto"of so many Borgia fables. That this officer ruled the soldiers left withhim in Forli in accordance with the stern example set him by his masterwe know from the chronicles of Bernardi. 

In Cesena the duke occupied the splendid palace of Malatesta Novello, which had been magnificently equipped for him, and there, on ChristmasEve, he entertained the Council of the town and other important citizensto a banquet worthy of the repuation for lavishness which he enjoyed. Hewas very different in this from his father, whose table habits were ofthe most sparing--to which, no doubt, his Holiness owed the wonderful, almost youthful vigour which he still enjoyed in this his seventiethyear. It was notorious that ambassadors cared little for invitations tothe Pope's table, where the meal never consisted of more than one dish. 

On Christmas Day the duke attended Mass at the Church of San GiovanniEvangelista with great pomp, arrayed in the ducal chlamys and followedby his gentlemen. With these young patricians Cesare made merry duringthe days that followed. The time was spent in games and joustings, in all of which the duke showed himself freely, making display of hisphysical perfections, fully aware, no doubt, of what a short cut theseafforded him to the hearts of the people, ever ready to worship physicalbeauty, prowess, and address. 

Yet business was not altogether neglected, for on January 4 he wentto Porto Cesenatico, and there published an edict against all who hadpractised with the fuorusciti from his States, forbidding the offenceunder pain of death and forfeiture of possessions. 

He remained in winter quarters until the following April, from which, however, it is not to be concluded that Faenza was allowed to be atpeace for that spell. The orders which he had left behind him, that thetown was constantly to be harassed, were by no means neglected. On thenight of January 21, by arrangement with some of the inhabitants of thebeleaguered city, the foot surrounding Faenza attempted to surprise thegarrison by a secret escalade. They were, however, discovered betimes inthe attempt and repulsed, some who had the mischance--as it happened--togain the battlements before the alarm was raised being taken and hanged. The duke's troops, however, consoled themselves by capturing Russiand Solarolo, the last two strongholds in the valley that had held forAstorre. 

Meanwhile, Cesare and his merry young patricians spent the time asagreeably as might be in Cesena during that carnival. The author ofthe Diario Cesenate is moved by the duke's pastimes to criticize himseverely as indulging in amusements unbecoming the dignity of hisstation. He is particularly shocked to know that the duke should havegone forth in disguise with a few companions to repair to carnivalfestivities in the surrounding villages and there to wrestle with therustics. It is not difficult to imagine the discomfiture suffered bymany a village Hercules at the hands of this lithe young man, who couldbehead a bull at a single stroke of a spadoon and break a horseshoe inhis fingers. The diary in question, you will have gathered, is that ofa pedant, prim and easily scandalized. So much being obvious, it isnoteworthy that Cesare's conduct should have afforded him no subjectfor graver strictures than these, Cesare being such a man as has beenrepresented, and the time being that of carnival when licence wasallowed full play. 

The Pope accounted that the check endured by Cesare before Faenza wasdue not so much to the foul weather by which his army had been beset asto the assistance which Giovanni Bentivogli had rendered his grandsonAstorre, and bitter were the complaints of it which he addressed tothe King of France. Alarmed by this, and fearing that he might havecompromised himself and jeopardized the French protection by his actionin the matter, Bentivogli made haste to recall his troops, and did infact withdraw them from Faenza early in December, shortly after Cesarehad gone into winter quarters. Nevertheless, the Pope's complaintscontinued, Alexander in his secret, crafty heart no doubt rejoicing thatBentivogli should have afforded him so sound a grievance. As LouisXII desired, for several reasons, to stand well with Rome, he sent anembassy to Bentivogli to express his regret and censure of the latter'sintervention in the affairs of Faenza. He informed Bentivogli that thePope was demanding the return of Bologna to the States of the Church, and, without expressing himself clearly as to his own view of thematter, he advised Bentivogli to refrain from alliances with theenemies of the Holy See and to secure Bologna to himself by some soundarrangement. This showed Bentivogli in what danger he stood, and hisuneasiness was increased by the arrival at Modena of Yves d'Allègre, sent by the King of France with a condotta of 500 horse for purposeswhich were not avowed but which Bentivogli sorely feared might prove tobe hostile to himself. 

At the beginning of February Cesare moved his quarters from Cesena toImola, and thence he sent his envoys to demand winter quarters for histroops in Castel Bolognese. This flung Bentivogli into positive terror, as he interpreted the request as a threat of invasion. Castel Bolognesewas too valuable a stronghold to be so lightly placed in the duke'shands. Thence Bentivogli might, in case of need, hold the duke in check, the fortress commanding, as it did, the road from Imola to Faenza. He had the good sense, however, to compromise the matter by returningCesare an offer of accommodation for his men with victuals, artillery, etc. , but without the concession of Castel Bolognese. With this Cesarewas forced to be content, there being no reasonable grounds upon whichhe could decline so generous an offer. It was a cunning concession onBentivogli's part, for, without strengthening the duke's position, ityet gave the latter what he ostensibly required, and left no cause forgrievance and no grounds upon which to molest Bologna. So much was thisthe case that on February 26 the Pope wrote to Bentivogli expressing histhanks at the assistance which he had thus given Cesare in the Faenzaemprise. 

It was during this sojourn of Cesare's at Imola that the abduction tookplace of Dorotea Caracciolo, the young wife of Gianbattista Caracciolo, a captain of foot in the Venetian service. The lady, who was attached tothe Duchess of Urbino, had been residing at the latter's Court, and inthe previous December Caracciolo had begged leave of the Council of Tenthat he might himself go to Urbino for the purpose of escorting her toVenice. The Council, however, had replied that he should send for her, and this the captain had done. Near Cervia, on the confines of theVenetian territory, towards evening of February 14, the lady's escortwas set upon by ten well­armed men, and rudely handled by them, somebeing wounded and one at least killed, whilst the lady and a woman whowas with her were carried off. 

The Podestá of Cervia reported to the Venetian Senate that the abductorswere Spaniards of the army of the Duke of Valentinois, and it was fearedin Venice--according to Sanuto--that the deed might be the work ofCesare. 

The matter contained in that Relation of Capello's to the Senate mustby now have been widespread, and of a man who could perpetrate thewickednesses therein divulged anything could be believed. Indeed, itseems to have followed that, where any act of wickedness was brought tolight, at once men looked to see if Cesare might not be responsible, nor looked close enough to make quite sure. To no other cause can it beassigned that, in the stir which the Senate made, the name of Cesarewas at once suggested as that of the abductor, and this so broadly thatletters poured in upon him on all sides begging him to right thiscruel wrong. So much do you see assumed, upon no more evidence thanwas contained in that letter from the Podestá of Cervia, which went nofurther than to say that the abductors were "Spaniards of the Duke ofValentinois' army. " The envoy Manenti was dispatched at once to Cesareby the Senate, and he went persuaded, it is clear, that Cesare Borgiawas the guilty person. He enlisted the support of Monsieur de Trans (theFrench ambassador then on his way to Rome) and that of Yves d'Allègre, and he took them with him to the Duke at Imola. 

There, acting upon his strong suspicions, Manenti appears to have takena high tone, representing to the duke that he had done an unworthything, and imploring him to restore the lady to her husband. Cesare'spatience under the insolent assumption in justification of which Manentihad not a single grain of evidence to advance, is--guilty or innocent--arare instance of self-control. He condescended to take oath that he hadnot done this thing which they imputed to him. He admitted that he hadheard of the outrage, and he expressed the belief that it was the workof one Diego Ramires--a captain of foot in his service. This Ramires, heexplained, had been in the employ of the Duke of Urbino, and in Urbinohad made the acquaintance and fallen enamoured of the lady; and he addedthat the fellow had lately disappeared, but that already he had set onfoot a search for him, and that, once taken, he would make an example ofhim. 

In conclusion he begged that the Republic should not believe this thingagainst him, assuring the envoy that he had not found the ladies of theRomagna so difficult that he should be driven to employ such rude andviolent measures. 

The French ambassador certainly appears to have attached implicit faithto Cesare's statement, and he privately informed Manenti that Ramireswas believed to be at Medola, and that the Republic might rest assuredthat, if he were taken, exemplary justice would be done. 

All this you will find recorded in Sanuto. After that his diaryentertains us with rumours which were reaching Venice, now that thedeed was the duke's, now that the lady was with Ramires. Later the tworumours are consolidated into one, in a report of the Podestá of Cerviato the effect that "the lady is in the Castle of Forli with Ramires, andthat he took her there by order of the duke. " The Podestá says that aman whom he sent to gather news had this story from one Benfaremo. Buthe omits to say who and what is this Benfaremo, and what the source ofhis information. 

Matters remaining thus, and the affair appearing in danger of beingforgotten, Caracciolo goes before the Senate on March 16 and implorespermission to deal with it himself. This permission is denied him, theDoge conceiving that the matter will best be dealt with by the Senate, and Caracciolo is ordered back to his post at Gradisca. Thence he writesto the Senate on March 30 that he is certain his wife is in the citadelof Forli. 

After this Sanuto does not mention the matter again until December of1503--nearly three years later--when we gather that, under pressureof constant letters from the husband, the Venetian ambassador at theVatican makes so vigorous a stir that the lady is at last delivered up, and goes for the time being into a convent. But we are not told where orhow she is found, nor where the convent in which she seeks shelter. Thatis Sanuto's first important omission. 

And now an odd light is thrown suddenly upon the whole affair, andit begins to look as if the lady had been no unwilling victim of anabduction, but, rather, a party to an elopement. She displays a positivereluctance to return to her husband; she is afraid to do so--"infear for her very life"--and she implores the Senate to obtain fromCaracciolo some security for her, or else to grant her permission towithdraw permanently to a convent. 

The Senate summons the husband, and represents the case to him. Heassures the Senate that he has forgiven his wife, believing her to beinnocent. This, however, does not suffice to allay her uneasiness--orher reluctance--for on January 4, 1504, Sanuto tells us that the Senatehas received a letter of thanks from her in which she relates hermisfortunes, and in which again she begs that her husband be compelledto pledge security to treat her well ("darli buona vita") or else thatshe should be allowed to return to her mother. Of the nature of themisfortunes which he tells us she related in her letter, Sanuto saysnothing. That is his second important omission. 

The last mention of the subject in Sanuto relates to her restoration toher husband. He tells us that Caracciolo received her with great joy;but he is silent on the score of the lady's emotions on that occasion. 

There you have all that is known of Dorotea Caracciolo's abduction, which later writers--including Bembo in his Historiae--have positivelyassigned to Cesare Borgia, drawing upon their imagination to fill up thelacunae in the story so as to support their point of view. 

Those lacunae, however, are invested with a certain eloquence which itis well not to disregard. Admitting that the construing of silence intoevidence is a dangerous course, all fraught with pitfalls, yet it seemspermissible to pose the following questions:

If the revelation of the circumstances under which she was found, therevelations contained in her letters to the Senate, and the revelationswhich one imagines must have followed her return to her husband, confirmpast rumours and convict Cesare of the outrage, how does it happen thatSanuto--who has never failed to record anything that could tell againstCesare--should be silent on the matter? And how does it happen that somany pens that busied themselves greedily with scandal that touched theBorgias should be similarly silent? Is it unreasonable to infer thatthose revelations did not incriminate him--that they gave the lie to allthe rumours that had been current? If that is not the inference, thenwhat is?

It is further noteworthy that on January 16--after Dorotea's letter tothe Senate giving the details of her misfortunes, which details Sanutohas suppressed--Diego Ramires, the real and known abductor, is still theobject of a hunt set afoot by some Venetians. Would that be the case hadher revelations shown Ramires to be no more than the duke's instrument?Possibly; but not probably. In such a case he would not have been worththe trouble of pursuing. 

Reasonably may it be objected: How, if Cesare was not guilty, does ithappen that he did not carry out his threat of doing exemplary justiceupon Ramires when taken--since Ramires obviously lay in his power foryears after the event? The answer to that you will find in the lady'sreluctance to return to Caracciolo, and the tale it tells. It is notin the least illogical to assume that, when Cesare threatened thatvengeance upon Ramires for the outrage which it was alleged had beencommitted, he fully intended to execute it; but that, upon takingRamires, and upon discovering that here was no such outrage as had beenrepresented, but just the elopement of a couple of lovers, he foundthere was nothing for him to avenge. Was it for Cesare Borgia to set upas a protector and avenger of cuckolds? Rather would it be in keepingwith the feelings of his age and race to befriend the fugitive pair whohad planted the antlers upon the brow of the Venetian captain. 

Lastly, Cesare's attitude towards women may be worth considering, thatwe may judge whether such an act as was imputed to him is consistentwith it. Women play no part whatever in his history. Not once shallyou find a woman's influence swaying him; not once shall you seehim permitting dalliance to retard his advancement or jeopardize hischances. With him, as with egotists of his type, governed by cold willand cold intellect, the sentimental side of the relation of the sexeshas no place. With him one woman was as another woman; as hecraved women, so he took women, but with an almost contemptuousundiscrimination. For all his needs concerning them the lupanariasufficed. 

Is this mere speculation, think you? Is there no evidence to supportit, do you say? Consider, pray, in all its bearings the treatise onpudendagra dedicated to a man of Cesare Borgia's rank by the physicianTorella, written to meet his needs, and see what inference you drawfrom that. Surely such an inference as will invest with the ring oftruth--expressing as it does his intimate nature, and confirming furtherwhat has here been said--that answer of his to the Venetian envoy, "thathe had not found the ladies of Romagna so difficult that he should bedriven to such rude and violent measures. "

CHAPTER VIII. ASTORRE MANFREDI

On March 29 Cesare Borgia departed from Cesena--whither, meanwhile, hehad returned--to march upon Faenza, resume the attack, and make an endof the city's stubborn resistance. 

During the past months, however, and notwithstanding the presence of theBorgia troops in the territory, the people of Faenza had been able toincrease their fortifications by the erection of out-works and a stoutbastion in the neighbourhood of the Osservanza Hospital, well beyond thewalls. This bastion claimed Cesare's first attention, and it was carriedby assault on April 12. Thither he now fetched his guns, mounted them, and proceeded to a steady bombardment of the citadel. But the resistancecontinued with unabated determination--a determination amounting toheroism, considering the hopelessness of their case and the straits towhich the Faentini were reduced by now. Victuals and other necessariesof life had long since been running low. Still the men of Faenzatightened their belts, looked to their defences, and flung defianceat the Borgia. The wealthier inhabitants distributed wine and flour atprices purely nominal, and lent Astorre money for the payment of histroops. It is written that to the same end the very priests, theirpatriotism surmounting their duty to the Holy Father in whose namethis war was waged, consented to the despoiling of the churches and themelting down of the sacred vessels. 

Even the women of Faenza bore their share of the burden of defence, carrying to the ramparts the heavy stones that were to be hurled downupon the besiegers, or actually donning casque and body-armour and doingsentry duty on the walls while the men rested. 

But the end was approaching. On April 18 the Borgia cannon opened atlast a breach in the walls, and Cesare delivered a terrible assault uponthe citadel. The fight upon the smoking ruins was fierce and determinedon both sides, the duke's men pressing forward gallantly under showersof scalding pitch and a storm of boulders, launched upon them by thedefenders, who used the very ruins of the wall for ammunition. For fourhours was that assault maintained; nor did it cease until the deepeningdusk compelled Cesare to order the retreat, since to continue in thefailing light was but to sacrifice men to no purpose. 

Cesare's appreciation of the valour of the garrison ran high. Itinspired him with a respect which shows his dispassionate breadth ofmind, and he is reported to have declared that with an army of such menas those who held Faenza against him he would have conquered all Italy. He did not attempt a second assault, but confined himself during thethree days that followed to continuing the bombardment. 

Within Faenza men were by now in desperate case. Weariness and hungerwere so exhausting their endurance, so sapping their high valour thatnightly there were desertions to the duke's camp of men who could bearno more. The fugitives from the town were well received, all save one--aman named Grammante, a dyer by trade--who, in deserting to the duke, came in to inform him that at a certain point of the citadel thedefences were so weak that an assault delivered there could not fail tocarry it. 

This man afforded Cesare an opportunity of marking his contempt fortraitors and his respect for the gallant defenders of Faenza. Theduke hanged him for his pains under the very walls of the town he hadbetrayed. 

On the 21st the bombardment was kept up almost without interruption foreight hours, and so shattered was the citadel by that pitiless cannonadethat the end was in sight at last. But the duke's satisfaction wastempered by his chagrin at the loss of Achille Tiberti, one of the mostvaliant of his captains, and one who had followed his fortunes from thefirst with conspicuous devotion. He was killed by the bursting of a gun. A great funeral at Cesena bore witness to the extent to which Cesareesteemed and honoured him. 

Astorre, now seeing the citadel in ruins and the possibility of furtherresistance utterly exhausted, assembled the Council of Faenza todetermine upon their course of action, and, as a result of theirdeliberations, the young tyrant sent his ambassadors to the duke topropose terms of surrender. It was a belated proposal, for there was nolonger on Cesare's part the necessity to make terms. The city's defenceswere destroyed, and to talk of surrender now was to talk of givingsomething that no longer existed. Yet Cesare met the ambassadors in aspirit of splendid generosity. 

The terms proposed were that the people of Faenza should have immunityfor themselves and their property; that Astorre should have freedom todepart and to take with him his moveable possessions, his immoveablesremaining at the mercy of the Pope. By all the laws of war Cesare wasentitled to a heavy indemnity for the losses he had sustained throughthe resistance opposed to him. Considering those same laws and theapplication they were wont to receive in his day, no one could havecensured him had he rejected all terms and given the city over topillage. Yet not only does he grant the terms submitted to him, but inaddition he actually lends an ear to the Council's prayer that out ofconsideration for the great suffering of the city in the siege he shouldrefrain from exacting any indemnity. This was to be forbearing indeed;but he was to carry his forbearance even further. In answer to theCouncil's expressed fears of further harm at the hands of his troopersonce these should be in Faenza, he actually consented to effect noentrance into the town. 

We are not for a moment to consider Cesare as actuated in all this byany lofty humanitarianism. He was simply pursuing that wise policy ofhis, in refraining from punishing conquered States which were tobe subject henceforth to his rule, and which, therefore, must beconciliated that they might be loyal to him. But it is well that youshould at least appreciate this policy and the fruit it bore when youread that Cesare Borgia was a blood-glutted monster of carnage whoravaged the Romagna, rending and devouring it like some beast of prey. 

On the 26th the Council waited upon Cesare at the Hospital of theOsservanza--where he was lodged--to tender the oath of fealty. That sameevening Astorre himself, attended by a few of his gentlemen, came to theduke. 

To this rather sickly and melancholy lad, who had behind him a terriblefamily history of violence, and to his bastard brother, Gianevangelista, the duke accorded the most gracious welcome. Indeed, so amiable didAstorre find the duke that, although the terms of surrender affordedhim perfect liberty to go whither he listed, he chose to accept theinvitation Cesare extended to him to remain in the duke's train. 

It is eminently probable, however, that the duke's object in keeping theyoung man about him was prompted by another phase of that policy ofhis which Macchiavelli was later to formulate into rules of conduct, expedient in a prince:

"In order to preserve a newly acquired State particular attention shouldbe given to two points. In the first place care should be taken entirelyto extinguish the family of the ancient sovereign; in the second, lawsshould not be changed, nor taxes increased. "

Thus Macchiavelli. The second point is all that is excellent; the firstis all that is wise--cold, horrible, and revolting though it be to ourtwentieth-century notions. 

Cesare Borgia, as a matter of fact, hardly went so far as Macchiavelliadvises. He practised discrimination. He did not, for instance, seek thelives of Pandolfaccio Malatesta, or of Caterina Sforza-Riario. He sawno danger in their living, no future trouble to apprehend from them. Thehatred borne them by their subjects was to Cesare a sufficient guaranteethat they would not be likely to attempt a return to their dominions, and so he permitted them to keep their lives. But to have allowedAstorre Manfredi, or even his bastard brother, to live would have beenbad policy from the appallingly egotistical point of view which wasCesare's--a point of view, remember, which receives Macchiavelli'shorribly intellectual, utterly unsentimental, revoltingly practicalapproval. 

So--to anticipate a little--we see Cesare taking Astorre andGianevangelista Manfredi to Rome when he returned thither in thefollowing June. A fortnight later--on June 26--the formidable amazon ofForli, the Countess Sforza-Riario, was liberated, as we know, from theCastle of Sant' Angelo, and permitted to withdraw to Florence. But thegates of that grim fortress, in opening to allow her to pass out, openedalso for the purpose of admitting Astorre and Gianevangelista, upon whomthey closed. 

All that is known positively of the fate of these unfortunate young menis that they never came forth again alive. 

The record in Burchard (June 9, 1502) of Astorre's body having beenfound in the Tiber with a stone round his neck, suffers in probabilityfrom the addition that, "together with it were found the bodies of twoyoung men with their arms tied, a certain woman, and many others. "

The dispatch of Giustiniani to the effect that: "It is said thatthis night were thrown into Tiber and drowned the two lords of Faenzatogether with their seneschal, " was never followed up by any otherdispatch confirming the rumour, nor is it confirmed by any dispatch sofar discovered from any other ambassador, nor yet does the matter findplace in the Chronicles of Faenza. 

But that is of secondary importance. The ugliest feature of the case isnot the actual assassination of the young men, but the fact that Cesarehad pledged himself that Astorre should go free, and yet had kept himby him--at first, it would seem, in his train, and later as aprisoner--until he put an end to his life. It was an ugly, unscrupulousdeed; but there is no need to exaggerate its heinousness, as isconstantly done, upon no better authority than Guicciardini's, whowrote that the murder had been committed "saziata prima la libidine diqualcuno. "

Of all the unspeakable calumnies of which the Borgias have been thesubject, none is more utterly wanton than this foul exhalation ofGuicciardini's lewd invention. Let the shame that must eternally attachto him for it brand also those subsequent writers who repeated andretailed that abominable and utterly unsupported accusation, and moreparticularly those who have not hesitated to assume that Guicciardini's"qualcuno" was an old man in his seventy-second year--Pope Alexander VI. 

Others a little more merciful, a little more careful of physicalpossibilities (but no whit less salacious) have taken it that Cesare wasintended by the Florentine historian. 

But, under one form or another, the lie has spread as only such foulnesscan spread. It has become woven into the warp of history; it has grownto be one of those "facts" which are unquestioningly accepted, but itstands upon no better foundation than the frequent repetition which acharge so monstrous could not escape. Its source is not a contemporaryone. It is first mentioned by Guicciardini; and there is no logicalconclusion to be formed other than that Guicciardini invented it. Another story which owes its existence mainly, and its particularsalmost entirely, to Guicciardini's libellous pen--the story of the deathof Alexander VI, which in its place shall be examined--provoked therighteous anger of Voltaire. Atheist and violent anti-clerical thoughhe was, the story's obvious falseness so revolted him that he penned hisformidable indictment in which he branded Guicciardini as a liar who haddeceived posterity that he might vent his hatred of the Borgias. Bettercause still was there in this matter of Astorre Manfredi for Voltaire'sindignation, as there is for the indignation of all conscientiousseekers after truth. 

CHAPTER IX. CASTEL BOLOGNESE AND PIOMBINO

To return to the surrender of Faenza on April 26, 1501, we see Cesareon the morrow of that event, striking camp with such amazing suddennessthat he does not even pause to provide for the government of theconquered tyranny, but appoints a vicar four days later to attend to it. 

He makes his abrupt departure from Faenza, and is off like a whirlwindto sweep unexpectedly into the Bolognese territory, and, by strikingswiftly, to terrify Bentivogli into submission in the matter of CastelBolognese. 

This fortress, standing in the duke's dominions, on the road betweenFaenza and Imola, must be a menace to him whilst in the hands of a powerthat might become actively hostile. 

Ahead of him Cesare sent an envoy to Bentivogli, to demand itssurrender. 

The alarmed Lord of Bologna, having convened his Council (theReggimento), replied that they must deliberate in the matter; and twodays later they dispatched their ambassador to lay before Cesare thefruits of these deliberations. They were to seek the duke at Imola; butthey got no farther than Castel S. Pietro, which to their dismay theyfound already in the hands of Vitellozzo Vitelli's men-at­arms. For, what time Bentivogli had been deliberating, Cesare Borgia hadbeen acting with that promptness which was one of his most salientcharacteristics, and, in addition to Castel S. Pietro he had alreadycaptured Casalfiuminense, Castel Guelfo, and Medecina, which were nowinvested by his troops. 

When the alarming news of this swift action reached Bologna it causedBentivogli to bethink him at last of Louis XII's advice, that he shouldcome to terms with Cesare Borgia, and he realized that the time to doso could no longer be put off. He made haste, therefore, to agree to thesurrender of Castel Bolognese to the duke, to concede him stipend forone hundred lances of three men each, and to enter into an undertakingto lend him every assistance for one year against any power with whichhe might be at war, the King of France excepted. In return, Cesarewas to relinquish the captured strongholds and undertake that the Popeshould confirm Bentivogli in his ancient privileges. On April 29 PaoloOrsini went as Cesare's plenipotentiary to Bologna to sign this treaty. 

It was a crafty arrangement on Bentivogli's part, for, over and abovethe pacification of Cesare and the advantage of an alliance with him, hegained as a result the alliance also of those famous condottieri Vitelliand Orsini, both bitter enemies of Florence--the latter intent uponthe restoration of the Medici, the former impatient to avenge upon theSignory the execution of his brother Paolo. As an instalment, on accountof that debt, Vitelli had already put to death Pietro da Marciano--thebrother of Count Rinuccio da Marciano--when this gentleman fell into hishands at Medicina. 

Two days before the treaty was signed, Bentivogli had seized fourmembers of the powerful House of Marescotti. This family was related tothe exiled Malvezzi, who were in arms with Cesare, and Bentivogli fearedthat communications might be passing between the two to his undoing. On that suspicion he kept them prisoners for the present, nor did berelease them when the treaty was signed, nor yet when, amid publicrejoicings expressing the relief of the Bolognese, it was published onMay 2. 

Hermes Bentivogli--Giovanni's youngest son--was on guard at the palacewith several other young Bolognese patricians, and he incited these togo with him to make an end of the traitors who had sought to destroy thepeace by their alleged plottings with Bentivogli's enemies in Cesare'scamp. He led his companions to the chamber where the Marescotti wereconfined, and there, more or less in cold blood, those four gentlemenwere murdered for no better reason--ostensibly--than because it wassuspected they had been in communication with their relatives in theDuke of Valentinois's army. That was the way of the Cinquecento, whichappears to have held few things of less account than human life. 

In passing, it may be mentioned that Guicciardini, of course, does hisludicrous best to make this murder appear--at least indirectly, sincedirectly it would be impossible--the work of Cesare Borgia. 

As for Castel Bolognese itself, Cesare Borgia sent a thousanddemolishers in the following July to raze it to the ground. It is saidto have been the most beautiful castle in the Romagna; but Cesare hadother qualities than beauty to consider in the matter of a stronghold. Its commanding position rendered it almost in the nature of a gatewaycontrolling, as we know, the road from Faenza to Imola, and itsoccupation by the Bolognese or other enemies in time of disturbancemight be of serious consequence to Cesare. Therefore he ruthlesslyordered Ramiro de Lorqua to set about its demolition. 

The Council of Castel Bolognese made great protest, and implored Ramiroto stay his hand until they should have communicated with the dukepetitioning for the castle's preservation; but Ramiro--a hard, sternman, and Cesare's most active officer in the Romagna--told them bluntlythat to petition the duke in such a matter would be no better than awaste of time. He was no more than right; for Cesare, being resolvedupon the expediency of the castle's destruction, would hardly be likelyto listen to sentimental reasonings for its preservation. Confident ofthis, Ramiro without more ado set about the execution of the orders hehad received. He pulled down the walls and filled up the moat, untilnothing remained so much as to show the place where the fortress hadstood. 

Another fortress which shared the fate of Castel Bolognese was theCastle of Sant' Arcangelo, and similarly would Cesare have disposedof Solarolo, but that, being of lesser importance and the inhabitantsoffering, in their petition for its preservation, to undertake, themselves, the payment of the Castellan, he allowed it to remain. 

Scarcely was the treaty with Bologna signed than Cesare received lettersfrom the Pope recalling him to Rome, and recommending that he should notmolest the Florentines in his passage--a recommendation which Alexanderdeemed very necessary considering the disposition towards Florenceof Vitelli and Orsini. He foresaw that they would employ arguments toinduce Valentinois into an enterprise of which all the cost would behis, and all the possible profit their own. 

The duke would certainly have obeyed and avoided Tuscany, butthat--precisely as the shrewd Pope had feared--Vitelli and Orsiniimplored him to march through Florentine territory. Vitelli, indeed, flung himself on his knees before Cesare in the vehemence of hissupplications, urging that his only motive was to effect the deliverancefrom his unjust imprisonment of Cerbone, who had been his executedbrother's chancellor. Beyond that, he swore he would make no demandsupon Florence, that he would not attempt to mix himself in the affairsof the Medici, and that he would do no violence to town or country. 

Thus implored, Cesare gave way. Probably he remembered the verycircumstances under which Vitelli had joined his banner, and consideredthat he could not now oppose a request backed by a promise of so muchmoderation; so on May 7 he sent his envoys to the Signory to crave leaveof passage for his troops through Florentine territory. 

Whilst still in the Bolognese he was sought out by Giuliano de'Medici, who begged to be allowed to accompany him, a request which Cesareinstantly refused, as being contrary to that to which he had engagedhimself, and he caused Giuliano to fall behind at Lojano. Nor would heso much as receive in audience Piero de'Medici, who likewise sought tojoin him in Siennese territory, as soon as he perceived what was toward. Yet, however much the duke protested that he had no intention to makeany change in the State of Florence, there were few who believed him. Florence, weary and sorely reduced by the long struggle of the Pisanwar, was an easy prey. Conscious of this, great was her anxiety andalarm at Cesare's request for passage. The Signory replied granting himthe permission sought, but imposing the condition that he should keep tothe country, refraining from entering any town, nor bring with him intoFlorentine territory Vitelli, Orsini, or any other enemy of the existinggovernment. It happened, however, that when the Florentine ambassadorreached him with this reply the duke was already over the frontier ofTuscany with the excluded condottieri in his train. 

It was incumbent upon him, as a consequence, to vindicate thishigh-handed anticipation of the unqualified Florentine permission whichhad not arrived. So he declared that he had been offended last year byFlorence in the matter of Forli, and again this year in the matter ofFaenza, both of which cities he charged the Signory with having assistedto resist him, and he announced that, to justify his intentions so faras Florence was concerned, he would explain himself at Barberino. 

There, on May 12, he gave audience to the ambassador. He declared to himthat he desired a good understanding with Florence, and that she shouldoffer no hindrance to the conquest of Piombino, upon which he was nowbound; adding that since he placed no trust in the present government, which already had broken faith with him, he would require some goodsecurity for the treaty to be made. Of reinstating the Medici he saidnothing; but he demanded that some satisfaction be given Vitelli andOrsini, and, to quicken Florence in coming to a decision, he pushedforward with his army as far as Forno dei Campi--almost under her verywalls. 

The Republic was thrown into consternation. Instantly she got togetherwhat forces she disposed of, and proceeded to fling her artillery intothe Arno, to the end that she should be constrained neither to refuse itto Cesare upon his demand, nor yet to deliver it. 

Macchiavelli censures the Signory's conduct of this affair as impolitic. He contends that the duke, being in great strength of arms, and Florencenot armed at all, and therefore in no case to hinder his passage, itwould have been wiser and the Signory would better have saved its faceand dignity, had it accorded Cesare the permission to pass which hedemanded, rather than have been subjected to behold him enforce thatpassage by weight of arms. But all that now concerned the Florentineswas to be rid of an army whose presence in their territory was aconstant menace. And to gain that end they were ready to give anyundertakings, just as they were resolved to fulfil none. 

Similarly, it chanced that Cesare was in no less a hurry to be gone; forhe had received another letter from the Pope commanding his withdrawal, and in addition, he was being plagued by Vitelli and Orsini--grownrestive--with entreaties for permission to go into either Florence orPistoja, where they did not lack for friends. To resist them Cesare hadneed of all the severity and resolution he could command; and he evenwent so far as to back his refusal by a threat himself to take up armsagainst them if they insisted. 

On the 15th, at last, the treaty--which amounted to an offensive anddefensive alliance--was signed. By the terms of this, Florence undertookto give Cesare a condotta of 300 lances for three years, to be used inFlorentine service, with a stipend of 36, 000 ducats yearly. How muchthis really meant the duke was to discover two days later, when hesent to ask the Signory to lend him some cannon for the emprise againstPiombino, and to pay him the first instalment of one quarter of theyearly stipend before he left Florentine territory. The Signory repliedthat, by the terms of the agreement, there was no obligation forthe immediate payment of the instalment, whilst in the matter of theartillery they put him off from day to day, until Cesare understood thattheir only aim in signing the treaty had been the immediate one of beingrid of his army. 

The risk Florence incurred in so playing fast-and-loose with such aman, particularly in a moment of such utter unfitness to resist him, is, notwithstanding the French protection enjoyed by the Signory, amazingin its reckless audacity. It was fortunate for Florence that the Pope'sorders tied the duke's hands--and it may be that of this the Signoryhad knowledge, and that it was upon such knowledge, in conjunction withFrance's protection, that it was presuming. Cesare took the matter inthe spirit of an excellent loser. 

Not a hint of his chagrin and resentment did he betray; instead, he setabout furnishing his needs elsewhere, sending Vitelli to Pisa with arequest for artillery, a request to which Pisa very readily responded, as much on Vitelli's account as on the duke's. As for Florence, ifCesare Borgia could be terribly swift in punishing, he could also beformidably slow. If he could strike upon the instant where the openingfor a blow appeared, he could also wait for months until the openingshould be found. He waited now. 

It would be at about this time that young Loenardo da Vinci soughtemployment in Cesare Borgia's service. Leonardo had been in Milan untilthe summer of 1500, when he repaired to Florence in quest of betterfortune; but, finding little or no work to engage him there, he took thechance of the duke of Valentinois's passage to offer his service to onewhose liberal patronage of the arts was become proverbial. Cesaretook him into his employ as engineer and architect, leaving him in theRomagna for the present. Leonardo may have superintended the repairs ofthe Castle of Forli, whilst he certainly built the canal from Cesena tothe Porto Cesenatico, before rejoining the duke in Rome. 

On May 25 Cesare moved by the way of the valley of Cecina to tryconclusions with Giacomo d'Appiano, Tyrant of Piombino, who with someGenoese and some Florentine aid, was disposed to offer resistance to theduke. The first strategic movement in this affair must be the captureof the Isle of Elba, whence aid might reach Piombino on its promontorythrusting out into the sea. For this purpose the Pope sent from CivitaVecchia six galleys, three brigantines, and two galleons under thecommand of Lodovico Mosca, captain of the papal navy, whilst Cesarewas further reinforced by some vessels sent him from Pisa together witheight pieces of cannon. With these he made an easy capture of Elba andPianosa. That done, he proceeded to lay siege to Piombino, which, aftermaking a gallant resistance enduring for two months, was finally pressedto capitulate. 

Long before that happened, however, Cesare had taken his departure. Being awaited in Rome, he was unable to conduct the siege operationsin person. So he quitted Piombino in June to join the French underd'Aubigny, bound at last upon the conquest of Naples, and claiming--astheir treaty with him provided--Cesare's collaboration. 

CHAPTER X. THE END OF THE HOUSE OF ARAGON

Cesare arrived in Rome on June 13. There was none of the usual pomp onthis occasion. He made his entrance quietly, attended only by a smallbody of men-at-arms, and he was followed, on the morrow, by Yvesd'Allègre with the army--considerably reduced by the detachments whichhad been left to garrison the Romagna, and to lay siege to Piombino. 

Repairing to his quarters in the Vatican, the duke remained so closethere for the few weeks that he abode in Rome on this occasion(1) that, from now onward, it became a matter of the utmost difficulty to obtainaudience from him. This may have been due to his habit of turning nightinto day and day into night, whether at work or at play, which in factwas the excuse offered by the Pope to certain envoys sent to Cesarefrom Rimini, who were left to cool their heels about the Vaticanante-chambers for a fortnight without succeeding in obtaining anaudience. 

 1 "Mansit in Palatio secrete, " says Burchard. 

Cesare Borgia was now Lord of Imola, Forli, Rimini, Faenza and Piombino, warranting his assumption of the inclusive title of Duke of Romagnawhich he had taken immediately after the fall of Faenza. 

As his State grew, so naturally did the affairs of government; and, during those four weeks in Rome, business claimed his attention and anenormous amount of it was dispatched. Chiefly was he engaged upon theadministration of the affairs of Faenza, which he had so hurriedlyquitted. In this his shrewd policy of generosity is again apparent. Ashis representative and lieutenant he appointed a prominent citizen ofFaenza named Pasi, one of the very members of that Council which hadbeen engaged in defending the city and resisting Cesare. The duke gaveit as his motive for the choice that the man was obviously worthy oftrust in view of his fidelity to Astorre. 

And there you have not only the shrewdness of the man who knows howto choose his servants--which is one of the most important factors ofsuccess--but a breadth of mind very unusual indeed in the Cinquecento. 

In addition to the immunity from indemnity provided for by the termsof the city's capitulation, Cesare actually went so far as to grant thepeasantry of the valley 2, 000 ducats as compensation for damage done inthe war. Further, he supported the intercessions of the Council to thePope for the erection of a new convent to replace the one that had beendestroyed in the bombardment. In giving his consent to this--in a briefdated July 12, 1501--the Pope announces that he does so in response tothe prayers of the Council and of the duke. 

Giovanni Vera, Cesare's erstwhile preceptor--and still affectionatelyaccorded this title by the duke--was now Archbiship of Salerno, Cardinalof Santa Balbina, and papal legate in Macerata, and he was chosen by thePope to go to Pesaro and Fano for the purpose of receiving the oath offealty. With him Cesare sent, as his own personal representative, hissecretary, Agabito Gherardi, who had been in his employ in that capacitysince the duke's journey into France, and who was to follow his fortunesto the end. 

However the people of Fano may have refrained from offering themselvesto the duke's dominion when, in the previous October, he had affordedthem by his presence the opportunity of doing so, their conductnow hardly indicated that the earlier abstention had been born ofreluctance, or else their minds had undergone, in the meanwhile, aconsiderable change. For, when they received the brief appointinghim their lord, they celebrated the event by public rejoicings andilluminations; whilst on July 21 the Council, representing the people, in the presence of Vera and Gherardi, took oath upon the Gospels ofallegiance to Cesare and his descendants for ever. 

In the Consistory of June 25 of that year the French and Spanishambassadors came formally to notify the Holy Father of the treaty ofGranada, entered into in the previous November by Louis XII of the onepart, and Ferdinand and Isabella of the other, concerning the conquestand division of the Kingdom of Naples. The rival claimants had come toa compromise by virtue of which they were to undertake together theconquest and thereafter share the spoil--Naples and the Abruzzi going toFrance, and Calabria and Puglia to Spain. 

Alexander immediately published his Bull declaring Federigo of Naplesdeposed for disobedience to the Church, and for having called the Turkto his aid, either of which charges it would have taxed Alexander'singenuity--vast though it was--convincingly to have established; or, being established, to censure when all the facts were considered. The charges were no better than pretexts for the spoliation of theunfortunate king who, in the matter of his daughter's alliance withCesare, had conceived that he might flout the Borgias with impunity. 

On June 28 d'Aubigny left Rome with the French troops, accompanied bythe bulk of the considerable army with which Cesare supported his Frenchally, besides 1, 000 foot raised by the Pope and a condotta of 100 lancesunder Morgante Baglioni. As the troops defiled before the Castle ofSant' Angelo they received the apostolic benediction from the Pope, whostood on the lower ramparts of the fortress. 

Cesare himself cannot have followed to join the army until after July10, for as late as that date there is an edict indited by him againstall who should offer injury to his Romagna officers. At about the sametime that he quitted Rome to ride after the French, Gonsalo de Cordobalanded a Spanish army in Calabria, and the days of the Aragon dominionin Naples were numbered. 

King Federigo prepared to face the foe. Whilst himself remaining inNaples with Prospero Colonna, he sent the bulk of his forces to Capuaunder Fabrizio Colonna and Count Rinuccio Marciano--the brother of thatMarciano whom Vitelli had put to death in Tuscany. 

Ravaging the territory and forcing its strongholds as they came, theallies were under the walls of Capua within three weeks of setting out;but on July 17, when within two miles of the town, they were met by sixhundred lances under Colonna, who attempted to dispute their passage. It was Cesare Borgia himself who led the charge against them. Jeand'Auton--in his Chronicles of Louis XII--speaks in warm terms of theduke's valour and of the manner in which, by words and by example, heencouraged his followers to charge the Colonna forces, with such goodeffect that they utterly routed the Neapolitans, and drove them headlongback to the shelter of Capua's walls. 

The allies brought up their cannon, and opened the bombardment. Thislasted incessantly from July 17--which was a Monday--until the followingFriday, when two bastions were so shattered that the French were ableto gain possession of them, putting to the sword some two hundredNeapolitan soldiers who had been left to defend those outworks. Thenceadmittance to the town itself was gained four days later--on the25th--through a breach, according to some, through the treacherousopening of a gate, according to others. Through gate or breach thebesiegers stormed to meet a fierce resistance, and the most horriblecarnage followed. Back and back they drove the defenders, fighting theirway through the streets and sparing none in the awful fury that besetthem. The defence was shattered; resistance was at an end; yet stillthe bloody work went on. The combat had imperceptibly merged into aslaughter; demoralized and panic-stricken in the reaction from theirlate gallantry, the soldiers of Naples flung down their weapons andfled, shrieking for quarter. But none was given. The invader butcheredevery human thing he came upon, indiscriminant of age or sex, and theblood of some four thousand victims flowed through the streets of Capualike water after a thundershower. That sack of Capua is one of the mosthorrid pages in the horrid history of sacks. You will find full detailsin d'Auton's chronicle, if you have a mind for such horrors. There isa brief summary of the event in Burchard's diary under date of July 26, 1501, which runs as follows:

"At about the fourth hour last night the Pope had news of the capture ofCapua by the Duke of Valentinois. The capture was due to the treason ofone Fabrizio--a citizen of Capua--who secretly introduced the besiegersand was the first to be killed by them. After him the same fate wasmet by some three thousand foot and some two hundred horse-soldiers, bycitizens, priests, conventuals of both sexes, even in the very churchesand monasteries, and all the women taken were given in prey to thegreatest cruelty. The total number of the slain is estimated at fourthousand. "

D'Auton, too, bears witness to this wholesale violation of the women, "which, " he adds, "is the very worst of all war's excesses. " He informsus further that "the foot-soldiers of the Duke of Valentinois acquittedthemselves so well in this, that thirty of the most beautiful women wentcaptive to Rome, " a figure which is confirmed by Burchard. 

"What an opportunity was not this for Guicciardini! The foot-soldiersof the Duke of Valentinois acquitted themselves so well in this, thatthirty of the most beautiful women went captive to Rome. "

Under his nimble, malicious, unscrupulous pen that statement isre-edited until not thirty but forty is the number of the capturedvictims taken to Rome, and not Valentinois's foot, but Valentinoishimself the ravisher of the entire forty! But hear the elegantFlorentine's own words:

"It was spread about [divulgossi]" he writes, "that, besides otherwickednesses worthy of eternal infamy, many women who had taken refugein a tower, and thus escaped the first fury of the assault, were foundby the Duke of Valentinois, who, with the title of King's Lieutenant, followed the army with no more people than his gentlemen and hisguards. (1) He desired to see them all, and, after carefully examiningthem [consideratele diligentemente] he retained forty of the mostbeautiful. "

 1 This, incidentally, is another misstatement. Valentinois had withhim, besides the thousand foot levied by the Pope and the hundred lancesunder Morgante Baglioni, an army some thousands strong led for him byYves d'Allègre. 

Guicciardini's aim is, of course, to shock you; he considers itnecessary to maintain in Cesare the character of ravenous wolf which hehad bestowed upon him. The marvel is not that Guicciardini should havepenned that utterly ludicrous accusation, but that more or less serioussubsequent writers--and writers of our own time even--instead of beingmoved to contemptuous laughter at the wild foolishness of the story, instead of seeking in the available records the germ of true fact fromwhich it was sprung, should sedulously and unblushingly have carriedforward its dissemination. 

Yriarte not only repeats the tale with all the sober calm of one utterlydestitute of a sense of the ridiculous, but he improves upon it by adelicious touch, worthy of Guicciardini himself, when he assures us thatCesare took these forty women for his harem!

It is a nice instance of how Borgia history has grown, and is stillgrowing. 

If verisimilitude itself does not repudiate Guicciardini's story, thereare the Capuan chronicles to do it--particularly that of Pellegrini, whowitnessed the pillage. In those chronicles from which Guicciardini drewthe matter for this portion of his history of Italy, you will seek invain for any confirmation of that fiction with which the Florentinehistorian--he who had a pen of gold for his friends and one of iron forhis foes--thought well to adorn his facts. 

If the grotesque in history-building is of interest to you, you may turnthe pages of the Storia Civile di Capua, by F. Granata, published in1752. This writer has carefully followed the Capuan chroniclers in theirrelation of the siege; but when it comes to these details of the fortyladies in the tower (in which those chroniclers fail him) he actuallygives Guicciardini as his authority, setting a fashion which has notlacked for unconscious, and no less egregious, imitators. 

To return from the criticism of fiction to the consideration of fact, Fabrizio Colonna and Rinuccio da Marciano were among the many captainsof the Neapolitan army that were taken prisoners. Rinuccio was thehead of the Florentine faction which had caused the execution of PaoloVitelli, and Giovio has it that Vitellozzo Vitelli, who had alreadytaken an instalment of vengeance by putting Pietro da Marciano to deathin Tuscany, caused Rinuccio's wounds to be poisoned, so that he died twodays later. 

The fall of Capua was very shortly followed by that of Gaeta, and, within a week, by that of Naples, which was entered on August 3 byCesare Borgia in command of the vanguard of the army. "He who had comeas a cardinal to crown King Federigo, came now as a condottiero todepose him. "

Federigo offered to surrender to the French all the fortresses thatstill held for him, on condition that he should have safe-conduct toIschia and liberty to remain there for six months. This was agreed, andFederigo was further permitted to take with him his moveable possessionsand his artillery, which latter, however, he afterwards sold to thePope. 

Thus the last member of the House of Aragon to sit upon the throne ofNaples took his departure, accompanied by the few faithful ones wholoved him well enough to follow him into exile; amongst these was thatpoet Sanazzaro, who, to avenge the wrong suffered by the master whom heloved, was to launch his terrible epigrams against Alexander, Cesare, and Lucrezia, and by means of those surviving verses enable the enemiesof the House of Borgia to vilify their memories through centuries tofollow. 

Federigo's captains Prospero and Fabrizio Colonna, upon being ransomed, took their swords to Gonzalo de Cordoba, hoping for the day when theymight avenge upon the Borgia the ruin which, even in this Neapolitanconquest they attributed to the Pope and his son. 

And here, so far as Naples is concerned, closes the history of the Houseof Aragon. In Italy it was extinct; and it was to become so, too, inSpain within the century. 

CHAPTER XI. THE LETTER TO SILVIO SAVELLI

By September 15 Cesare was back in Rome, the richer in renown, in Frenchfavour, and in a matter of 40, 000 ducats, which is estimated as thetotal of the sums paid him by France and Spain for the support which hiscondotta had afforded them. 

During his absence two important events had taken place: the betrothalof his widowed sister Lucrezia to Alfonso d'Este, son of Duke Ercole ofFerrara, and the publication of the Bull of excommunication (of August20) against the Savelli and Colonna in consideration of all that theyhad wrought against the Holy See from the pontificate of Sixtus IVto the present time. By virtue of that Bull the Pope ordered theconfiscation of the possessions of the excommunicated families, whilstthe Caetani suffered in like manner at the same time. 

These possessions were divided into two parts, and by the Bull ofSeptember 17 they were bestowed, one upon Lucrezia's boy Roderigo, andwith them the title of Duke of Sermoneta; the other to a child, GiovanniBorgia (who is made something of a mystery) with the title of Duke ofNepi and Palestrina. 

The entire proceeding is undoubtedly open to grave censure, since thedistribution of the confiscated fiefs subjects to impeachment the purityof the motives that prompted this confiscation. It was on the partof Alexander a gross act of nepotism, a gross abuse of his pontificalauthority; but there is, at least, this to be said, that in perpetratingit he was doing no more than in his epoch it was customary for Popes todo. Alexander, it may be said again in this connection, was part of acorrupt system, not the corrupter of a pure one. 

Touching the boy Giovanni Borgia, the mystery attaching to him concernshis parentage, and arises out of the singular circumstance that thereare two papal Bulls, both dated September 1, 1501, in each of which adifferent father is assigned to him, the second appearing to supplementand correct the first. 

The first of these Bulls, addressed to "Dilecto Filio Nobili Joanni deBorgia, Infanti Romano, " declares him to be a child of three years ofage, the illegitimate son of Cesare Borgia, unmarried (as Cesare was atthe time of the child's birth) and of a woman (unnamed, as was usual insuch cases) also unmarried. 

The second declares him, instead, to be the son of Alexander, and runs:"Since you bear this deficiency not from the said duke, but from us andthe said woman, which we for good reasons did not desire to express inthe preceding writing. "

That the second Bull undoubtedly contains the truth of the matter is theonly possible explanation of its existence, and the "good reasons"that existed for the first one are, no doubt, as Gregorovius says, thatofficially and by canon law the Pope was inhibited from recognizingchildren. (His other children, be it remembered, were recognized by himduring his cardinalate and before his elevation to St. Peter's throne. )Hence the attempt by these Bulls to circumvent the law to the end thatthe child should not suffer in the matter of his inheritance. 

Burchard, under date of November 3 of that year, freely mentions thisGiovanni Borgia as the son of the Pope and "a certain Roman woman"("quadam Romana"). 

On the same date borne by those two Bulls a third one was issuedconfirming the House of Este perpetually in the dominion of Ferrara andits other Romagna possessions, and reducing by one-third the tribute of4, 000 ducats yearly imposed upon that family by Sixtus IV; and it wasexplicitly added that these concessions were made for Lucrezia and herdescendants. 

Three days later a courier from Duke Ercole brought the news that themarriage contract had been signed in Ferrara, and it was in salvoesof artillery that day and illuminations after dark that the Pope gaveexpression to the satisfaction afforded him by the prospect of hisdaughter's entering one of the most ancient families and ascending oneof the noblest thrones in Italy. 

It would be idle to pretend that the marriage was other than one ofconvenience. Love between the contracting parties played no part in thistransaction, and Ercole d'Este was urged to it under suasion of theKing of France, out of fear of the growing might of Cesare, and out ofconsideration for the splendid dowry which he demanded and in the matterof which he displayed a spirit which Alexander contemptuously describedas that of a tradesman. Nor would Ercole send the escort to Rome for thebride until he had in his hands the Bull of investiture in the fiefsof Cento and Pieve, which, with 100, 000 ducats, constituted Lucrezia'sdowry. Altogether a most unromantic affair. 

The following letter from the Ferrarese ambassador in Rome, datedSeptember 23, is of interest in connection with this marriage:

"MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE AND MOST NOBLE LORD, "His Holiness the Pope, taking into consideration such matters asmight occasion displeasure not only to your Excellency and to the MostIllustrious Don Alfonso, but also to the duchess and even to himself, has charged us to write to your Excellency to urge you so to contrivethat the Lord Giovanni of Pesaro, who, as your Excellency is aware, is in Mantua, shall not be in Ferrara at the time of the nuptials. Notwithstanding that his divorce from the said duchess is absolutelylegitimate and accomplished in accordance with pure truth, as ispublicly known not only from the proceedings of the trial but also fromthe free confession of the said Don Giovanni, it is possible that he maystill be actuated by some lingering ill-will; wherefore, should hefind himself in any place where the said lady might be seen by him, herExcellency might, in consequence, be compelled to withdraw into privacy, to be spared the memory of the past. Wherefore, his Holiness exhortsyour Excellency to provide with your habitual prudence against such acontingency. "

Meanwhile, the festivities wherewith her betrothal was celebrated wentmerrily amain, and into the midst of them, to bear his share, cameCesare crowned with fresh laurels gained in the Neapolitan war. Nomerry-makings ever held under the auspices of Pope Alexander VI at theVatican had escaped being the source of much scandalous rumour, but nonehad been so scandalous and disgraceful as the stories put abroad onthis occasion. These found a fitting climax in that anonymous Letter toSilvio Savelli, published in Germany--which at the time, be it borne inmind, was extremely inimical to the Pope, viewing with jaundiced eyeshis ever-growing power, and stirred perhaps to this unspeakable burst ofvenomous fury by the noble Este alliance, so valuable to Cesare in thatit gave him a friend upon the frontier of his Romagna possessions. 

The appalling publication, which is given in full in Burchard, wasfictitiously dated from Gonzola de Cordoba's Spanish camp at Tarantoon November 25. A copy of this anonymous pamphlet, which is the mostviolent attack on the Borgias ever penned, perhaps the most terribleindictment against any family ever published--a pamphlet whichGregorovius does not hesitate to call "an authentic document of thestate of Rome under the Borgias"--fell into the hands of the Cardinal ofModena, who on the last day of the year carried it to the Pope. 

Before considering that letter it is well to turn to the entries inBurchard's diary under the dates of October 27 and November 11 of thatsame year. You will find two statements which have no parallel in therest of the entire diary, few parallels in any sober narrative of facts. The sane mind must recoil and close up before them, so impossible doesit seem to accept them. 

The first of these is the relation of the supper given by Cesare in theVatican to fifty courtesans--a relation which possibly suggested tothe debauched Regent d'Orléans his fêtes d'Adam, a couple of centurieslater. 

Burchard tells us how, for the amusement of Cesare, of the Pope, and ofLucrezia, these fifty courtesans were set to dance after supper withthe servants and some others who were present, dressed at first andafterwards not so. He draws for us a picture of those fifty women on allfours, in all their plastic nudity, striving for the chestnuts flung tothem in that chamber of the Apostolic Palace by Christ's Vicar--an oldman of seventy--by his son and his daughter. Nor is that all byany means. There is much worse to follow--matter which we dare nottranslate, but must leave more or less discreetly veiled in the decadentLatin of the Caerimoniarius:

"Tandem exposita dona ultima, diploides de serico, paria caligarum, bireta ed alia pro illis qui pluries dictas meretrices carnaliteragnoscerent; que fuerunt ibidem in aula publice carnaliter tractatearbitrio presentium, dona distributa victoribus. "

Such is the monstrous story!

Gregorovius, in his defence of Lucrezia Borgia, refuses to believethat she was present; but he is reluctant to carry his incredulity anyfurther. 

"Some orgy of that nature, " he writes, "or something similar may verywell have taken place. But who will believe that Lucrezia, already thelegal wife of Alfonso d'Este and on the eve of departure for Ferrara, can have been present as a smiling spectator?"

Quite so. Gregorovius puts his finger at once upon one of the obviousweaknesses of the story. But where there is one falsehood there areusually others; and if we are not to believe that Lucrezia was present, why should we be asked to believe in the presence of the Pope? IfBurchard was mistaken in the one, why might he not be mistaken in theother? But the question is not really one of whom you will believe tohave been present at that unspeakable performance, but rather whetheryou can possibly bring yourself to believe that it ever took place as itis related in the Diarium. 

Gregorovius says, you will observe, "Some orgy of that nature, orsomething similar, may very well have taken place. " We could creditthat Cesare held "some orgy of that nature. " He had apartments in theVatican, and if it shock you to think that it pleased him, with hisgentlemen, to make merry by feasting a parcel of Roman harlots, youare--if you value justice--to be shocked at the times rather thanthe man. The sense of humour of the Cinquecento was primitive, andin primitive humour prurience plays ever an important part, as isdiscernible in the literature and comedies of that age. If you wouldappreciate this to the full, consider Burchard's details of the masksworn at Carnival by some merry-makers ("Venerunt ad plateam St. Petrilarvati... Habentes nasos lungos et grossos in forma priaporum") and youmust realize that in Cesare's conduct in this matter there would havebeen nothing so very abnormal considered from the point of view ofthe Cinquecento, even though it were to approach the details given byBurchard. 

But even so, you will hesitate before you accept the story of thatsaturnalia in its entirety, and before you believe that an old man ofseventy, a priest and Christ's Vicar, was present with Cesare and hisfriends. Burchard does not say that he himself was a witness of what herelates. But the matter shall presently be further considered. 

Meanwhile, let us pass to the second of these entries in the diary, and(a not unimportant detail) on the very next page of it, under the dateof November 11. In this it is related that certain peasants entered Romeby the Viridarian Gate, driving two mares laden with timber; that, incrossing the Square of St. Peter's, some servants of the Pope's ranout and cut the cords so that the timber was loosened and the beastsrelieved of their burden; they were then led to a courtyard within theprecincts of the palace, where four stallions were loosed upon them. "Ascenderunt equas et coierunt cum eis et eas graviter pistarunt etleserunt, " whilst the Pope at a window above the doorway of the Palace, with Madonna Lucrezia, witnessed with great laughter and delight, theshow which it is suggested was specially provided for their amusement. 

The improbabilities of the saturnalia of the fifty courtesans palebefore the almost utter impossibility of this narrative. To render itpossible in the case of two chance animals as these must have beenunder the related circumstances, a biological coincidence is demanded soutterly unlikely and incredible that we are at once moved to treat thestory with scorn, and reject it as a fiction. Yet not one of those manywriters who have retailed that story from Burchard's Diarium as a truthincontestable as the Gospels, has paused to consider this--so blindedare we when it is a case of accepting that which we desire to accept. 

The narrative, too, is oddly--suspiciously--circumstantial, even to theunimportant detail of the particular gate by which the peasants enteredRome. In a piece of fiction it is perfectly natural to fill in suchminor details to the end that the picture shall be complete; but theyare rare in narratives of fact. And one may be permitted to wonder howcame the Master of Ceremonies at the Vatican to know the precise gate bywhich those peasants came. It is not--as we have seen--the only occasionon which an excess of detail in the matter of a gate renders suspiciousthe accuracy of a story of Burchard's. 

Both these affairs find a prominent place in the Letter to SilvioSavelli. Indeed Gregorovius cites the pamphlet as one of the authoritiesto support Burchard, and to show that what Burchard wrote must have beentrue; the other authority he cites is Matarazzo, disregarding not onlythe remarkable discrepancy between Matarazzo's relation and that ofBurchard, but the circumstance that the matter of that pamphlet becamecurrent throughout Italy, and that it was thus--and only thus--thatMatarazzo came to hear of the scandal. (1)

 1 The frequency with which the German historian cites Matarazzo as anauthority is oddly inconsistent, considering that when he findsMatarazzo's story of the murder of the Duke of Gandia upsetting thetheory which Gregorovius himself prefers, by fastening the guiltupon Giovanni Sforza, he devotes some space to showing--with perfectjustice--that Matarazzo is no authority at all. 

The Letter to Silvio Savelli opens by congratulating him upon his escapefrom the hands of the robbers who had stripped him of his possessions, and upon his having found a refuge in Germany at the Emperor's Court. It proceeds to marvel that thence he should have written letters tothe Pope begging for justice and reinstatement, his wonder being at thecredulity of Savelli in supposing that the Pope--"betrayer of the humanrace, who has spent his life in betrayals"--will ever do any just thingother than through fear or force. Rather does the writer suggest theadoption of other methods; he urges Savelli to make known to the Emperorand all princes of the Empire the atrocious crimes of that "infamouswild beasts" which have been perpetrated in contempt of God andreligion. He then proceeds to relate these crimes. Alexander, Cesare, and Lucrezia, among others of the Borgia family, bear their share of theformidable accusations. Of the Pope are related perfidies, simonies, andravishments; against Lucrezia are urged the matter of her incest, thesupper of the fifty courtesans, and the scene of the stallions; againstCesare there are the death of Biselli, the murder of Pedro Caldes, theruin of the Romagna, whence he has driven out the legitimate lords, andthe universal fear in which he is held. 

It is, indeed, a compendium of all the stories which from Milan, Naples, and Venice--the three States where the Borgias for obvious reasons arebest hated--have been disseminated by their enemies, and a more violentwork of rage and political malice was never uttered. This malice becomesparticularly evident in the indictment of Cesare for the ruin of theRomagna. Whatever Cesare might have done, he had not done that--hisbitterest detractor could not (without deliberately lying) say that theRomagna was other than benefiting under his sway. That is not a matterof opinion, not a matter of inference or deduction. It is a matter ofabsolute fact and irrefutable knowledge. 

To return now to the two entries in Burchard's Diarium when consideredin conjunction with the Letter to Silvio Savelli (which Burchard quotesin full), it is remarkable that nowhere else in the discovered writingsof absolute contemporaries is there the least mention of either of thosescandalous stories. The affair of the stallions, for instance, must havebeen of a fairly public character. Scandal-mongering Rome could not haveresisted the dissemination of it. Yet, apart from the Savelli letter, nosingle record of it has been discovered to confirm Burchard. 

At this time, moreover, it is to be remembered, Lucrezia's betrothal toAlfonso d'Este was already accomplished; preparations for her departureand wedding were going forward, and the escort from Ferrara was dailyexpected in Rome. If Lucrezia had never been circumspect, she must becircumspect now, when the eyes of Italy were upon her, and therewere not wanting those who would have been glad to have thwarted themarriage--the object, no doubt, of the pamphlet we are considering. Yetall that was written to Ferrara was in praise of her--in praise ofher goodness and her modesty, her prudence, her devoutness, and herdiscretion, as presently we shall see. 

If from this we are to conclude--as seems reasonable--that there was nogossip current in Rome of the courtesans' supper and the rest, we mayassume that there was no knowledge in Rome of such matters; for withknowledge silence would have been impossible. So much being admitted, it becomes a matter of determining whether the author of the Letter toSilvio Savelli had access to the diary of Burchard for his facts, orwhether Burchard availed himself of the Letter to Silvio Savelli tocompile these particular entries. The former alternative being out ofthe question, there but remains the latter--unless it is possible thatthe said entries have crept into the copies of the "Diarium" and are notpresent in the original, which is not available. 

This theory of interpolation, tentatively put forward, is justified, tosome extent at least, by the following remarkable circumstances: thattwo such entries, having--as we have said--absolutely no parallel in thewhole of the Diarium, should follow almost immediately the one upon theother; and that Burchard should relate them coldly, without reproof orcomment of any kind--a most unnatural reticence in a writer who loosedhis indignation one Easter-tide to see Lucrezia and her ladies occupyingthe choir of St. Peter's, where women never sat. 

The Pope read the anonymous libel when it was submitted to him by theCardinal of Modena--read it, laughed it to scorn, and treated it withthe contempt which it deserved, yet a contempt which, considering itsnature, asks a certain greatness of mind. 

If the libel was true it is almost incredible that he should not havesought to avenge it, for an ugly truth is notoriously hurtful andprovocative of resentment, far more so than is a lie. Cesare, however, was not of a temper quite as long-suffering as his father. Enough andmore of libels and lampoons had he endured already. Early in Decembera masked man--a Neapolitan of the name of Mancioni--who had been goingthrough Rome uttering infamies against him was seized and so dealt withthat he should in future neither speak nor write anything in any man'sdefamation. His tongue was cut out and his right hand chopped off, andthe hand, with the tongue attached to its little finger, was hung insight of all and as a warning from a window of the Church of Holy Cross. 

And towards the end of January, whilst Cesare's fury at that pamphletout of Germany was still unappeased, a Venetian was seized in Rome forhaving translated from Greek into Latin another libel against the Popeand his son. The Venetian ambassador intervened to save the wretch, buthis intervention was vain. The libeller was executed that same night. 

Costabili--the Ferrara ambassador--who spoke to the Pope on the matterof this execution, reported that his Holiness said that more than oncehad he told the duke that Rome was a free city, in which any one was atliberty to say or write what he pleased; that of himself, too, much evilwas being spoken, but that he paid no heed to it. 

"The duke, " proceeded Alexander, "is good-natured, but he has notyet learnt to bear insult. " And he added that, irritated, Cesare hadprotested that, "However much Rome may be in the habit of speaking andwriting, for my own part I shall give these libellers a lesson in goodmanners. "

The lesson he intended was not one they should live to practise. 

CHAPTER XII. LUCREZIA'S THIRD MARRIAGE

At about the same time that Burchard was making in his Diarium thoseentries which reflect so grossly upon the Pope and Lucrezia, GianlucaPozzi, the ambassador of Ferrara at the Vatican, was writing thefollowing letter to his master, Duke Ercole, Lucrezia's father-in-lawelect:

"This evening, after supper, I accompanied Messer Gerardo Saraceni tovisit the Most Illustrious Madonna Lucrezia in your Excellency's nameand that of the Most Illustrious Don Alfonso. We entered into a longdiscussion touching various matters. In truth she showed herself aprudent, discreet, and good-natured lady. "(1)

 1 See Gregorovius's Lucrezia Borgia. 

The handsome, athletic Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, with his brothersSigismondo and Fernando, had arrived in Rome on December 23 with theimposing escort that was to accompany their brother Alfonso's bride backto Ferrara. 

Cesare was prominent in the welcome given them. Never, perhaps, had hemade greater display than on the occasion of his riding out to meet theFerrarese, accompanied by no fewer than 4, 000 men-at-arms, and mountedon a great war-horse whose trappings of cloth of gold and jewels wereestimated at 10, 000 ducats. 

The days and nights that followed, until Lucrezia's departure afortnight later, were days and nights of gaiety and merry-making at theVatican; in banquets, dancing, the performance of comedies, masques, etc. , was the time made to pass as agreeably as might be for the guestsfrom Ferrara, and in all Cesare was conspicuous, either for the graceand zest with which he nightly danced, or for the skill and daringwhich he displayed in the daily joustings and entertainments, and moreparticularly in the bull-fight that was included in them. 

Lucrezia was splendidly endowed, to the extent, it was estimated, of 300, 000 ducats, made up by 100, 000 ducats in gold, her jewels andequipage, and the value of the Castles of Pieve and Cento. Her departurefrom Rome took place on January 6, and so she passes out of thischronicle, which, after all, has been little concerned with her. 

Of the honour done her everywhere on that journey to Ferrara, thedetails are given elsewhere, particularly in the book devoted to herhistory and rehabilitation by Herr Gregorovius. After all, the realLucrezia Borgia fills a comparatively small place in the actual historyof her house. It is in the fictions concerning her family that she isgiven such unenviable importance, and presented as a Maenad, a poisoner, and worse. In reality she appears to us, during her life in Rome, as arather childish, naïve, and entirely passive figure, important only inso far as she found employment at her father's or brother's hands forthe advancement of their high ambitions and unscrupulous aims. 

In the popular imagination she lives chiefly as a terrific poisoner, anappalling artist in venenation. It is remarkable that this should be thecase, for not even the scandal of her day so much as suggests thatshe was connected--directly or even indirectly--with a single case ofpoisoning. No doubt that popular conception owes its being entirely toVictor Hugo's drama. 

Away from Rome and settled in Ferrara from the twenty-second year of herage, to become anon its duchess, her life is well known and admits ofno argument. The archives of the State she ruled show her devout, god-fearing, and beloved in life, and deeply mourned in death by asorrowing husband and a sorrowing people. Not a breath of scandaltouches her from the moment that she quits the scandalous environment ofthe Papal Court. 

Cesare continued at the Vatican after her departure. His duchess was tohave come to Rome in that Easter of 1502, and it had been disposed thatthe ladies and gentlemen who had gone as escort of honour with Lucreziashould proceed--after leaving her in Ferrara--to Lombardy, to do thelike office by Charlotte d'Albret, and, meeting her there, accompany herto Rome. She was coming with her brother, the Cardinal Amanieu d'Albret, and bringing with her Cesare's little daughter, Louise de Valentinois, now two years of age. But the duchess fell ill at the last moment, andwas unable to undertake the journey, of which Cardinal d'Albret broughtword to Rome, where he arrived on February 7. 

Ten days later Cesare set out with his father for Piombino, for whichpurpose six galleons awaited them at Civita Vecchia under the commandof Lodovico Mosca, the captain of the Pontifical navy. On these thePope and his son embarked, upon their visit to the scene of the latestaddition to Cesare's ever-growing dominions. 

They landed at Piombino on February 21, and made a solemn entrance intothe town, the Pope carried in state in the Sedia Gestatoria, undera canopy, attended by six cardinals and six singers from the SixtineChapel, whilst Cesare was accompanied by a number of his gentlemen. 

They abode four days in Piombino, whence they crossed to Elba, for thepurpose of disposing for the erection there of two fortresses--a mattermost probably entrusted to Leonardo da Vinci, who continued in the ducaltrain as architect and engineer. 

On March 1 they took ship to return to Rome; but they were detainedat sea for five days by a tempest which seems to have imperilledthe vessels. The Pope was on board the captain's galley with hiscardinals-in-waiting and servants, and when these were reduced bythe storm and the imminent danger to a state of abject terror, thePope--this old man of seventy-one--sat calm and intrepid, occasionallycrossing himself and pronouncing the name of Jesus, and encouraging thevery sailors by his example as much as by his words. 

In Piombino Cesare had left Michele da Corella as his governor. ThisCorella was a captain of foot, a soldier of fortune, who from theearliest days of Cesare's military career had followed the duke'sfortunes--the very man who is alleged to have strangled Alfonso ofAragon by Cesare's orders. He is generally assumed to have been aSpaniard, and is commonly designated as Michelotto, or Don Miguel; butAlvisi supposes him, from his name of Corella, to have been a Venetian, and he tells us that by his fidelity to Cesare and the implicitmanner in which he executed his master's orders, he earned--as isnotorious--considerable hatred. He has been spoken of, indeed, as theâme damnée of Cesare Borgia; but that is a purely romantic touch akin tothat which gave the same designation to Richelieu's Father Joseph. 

The Romagna was at this time administered for Cesare Borgia by Ramirode Lorqua, who, since the previous November, had held the office ofGovernor in addition to that of Lieutenant-General in which he hadbeen earlier invested. His power in the Romagna was now absolute, allCesare's other officers, even the very treasurers, being subject to him. 

He was a man of some fifty years of age, violent and domineering, fearedby all, and the dispenser of a harsh justice which had at least themerit of an impartiality that took no account of persons. 

Bernardi gives us an instance of the man's stern, uncompromising, pitiless nature. On January 29, 1502, two malefactors were hanged inFaenza. The rope suspending one of them broke while the fellow wasalive, and the crowd into which he tumbled begged for mercy for him atfirst, then, swayed by pity, the people resolved to save him in spiteof the officers of justice who demanded his surrender. Preventinghis recapture, the mob bore him off to the Church of the Cerviti. TheLieutenant of Faenza came to demand the person of the criminal, but hewas denied by the Prior, who claimed to extend him sanctuary. 

But the days of sanctuary were overpast, and the laws of the time heldthat any church or consecrated place in which a criminal took refugeshould ipso facto be deemed unconsecrated by his pursuers, and further, that any ecclesiastic sheltering such a fugitive did so under peril ofexcommunication from his bishop. This law Ramiro accounted it his dutyto enforce when news was carried to him at Imola of what had happened. 

He came at once to Faenza, and, compelling the Prior by actual forceto yield up the man he sheltered, he hanged the wretch, for the secondtime, from a window of the Palace of the Podestá. At the same time heseized several who were alleged to have been ringleaders of the fellow'srescue from the hands of the officers, and made the citizens of Faenzacompromise for the lives of these by payment of a fine of 10, 000 ducats, giving them a month in which to find the money. 

The Faentini sent their envoys to Ramiro to intercede with him; but thatharsh man refused so much as to grant them audience--which was well forthem, for, as a consequence, the Council sent ambassadors to Rome tosubmit the case to the Pope's Holiness and to the Duke of Valentinois, together with a petition that the fine should be remitted--a petitionthat was readily granted. 

Harsh as it was, however, Ramiro's rule was salutary, its very harshnessnecessary in a province where lawlessness had become a habit throughgenerations of misgovernment. Under Cesare's dominion the change alreadywas remarkable. During his two years of administration--to count fromits commencement--the Romagna was already converted from a seethinghell of dissensions, disorders and crimes--chartered brigandage andmurder--into a powerful State, law-abiding and orderly, where human lifeand personal possessions found zealous protection, and where those whodisturbed the peace met with a justice that was never tempered by mercy. 

A strong hand was wanted there, and the duke, supreme judge of the toolsto do his work, ruled the Romagna and crushed its turbulence by means ofthe iron hand of Ramiro de Lorqua. 

It was also under the patronage of Valentinois that the firstprinting-press of any consequence came to be established in Italy. Thiswas set up at Fano by Girolamo Sancino in 1501, and began the issue ofworthy books. One of the earliest works undertaken (says Alvisi) was theprinting of the Statutes of Fano for the first time in January of 1502. And it was approved by the Council, civil and ecclesiastical, thatSancino should undertake this printing of the Statutes "Ad perpetuammemoriam Illmi. Domini nostri Ducis. "

CHAPTER XIII. URBINO AND CAMERINO

It may well be that it was about this time that Cesare, his ambitionspreading--as men's ambition will spread with being gratified--wasconsidering the consolidation of Central Italy into a kingdom of whichhe would assume the crown. 

It was a scheme in the contemplation of which he was encouraged byVitellozzo Vitelli, who no doubt conceived that in its fulfilment theruin of Florence would be entailed--which was all that Vitelli caredabout. What to Cesare would have been no more than the means, would havebeen to Vitelli a most satisfactory end. 

Before, however, going so far there was still the work of subjugatingthe States of the Church to be completed, as this could not be soconsidered until Urbino, Camerino, and Sinigaglia should be under theBorgia dominion. 

For this, no doubt, Cesare was disposing during that Easter of 1502which he spent in Rome, and during which there were heard from the souththe first rumblings of the storm of war whereof ill-starred Naples wasonce more--for the third time within ten years--to be the scene. Theallies of yesterday were become the antagonists of to-day, and Franceand Spain were ready to fly at each other's throats over the division ofthe spoil, as a consequence of certain ill-definitions of the matterin the treaty of Granada. The French Viceroy, Louis d'Armagnac, and thegreat Spanish Captain, Gonzalo de Cordoba, were on the point of comingto blows. 

Nor was the menace of disturbance confined to Naples. In Florence, too, the torch of war was alight, and if--as he afterwards swore--CesareBorgia had no hand in kindling it, it is at least undeniable that hecomplacently watched the conflagration, conscious that it would makefor the fulfilment of his own ends. Besides, there was still that littlematter of the treaty of Forno dei Campi between Cesare and Florence, a treaty which the Signory had never fulfilled and never intended tofulfil, and Cesare was not the man to forget how he had been fooled. 

But for the protection of France which she enjoyed, Florence must longere this have been called to account by him, and crushed out ofall shape under the weight of his mailed hand. As it was she was toexperience the hurt of his passive resentment, and find this rather morethan she could bear. 

Vitellozzo Vitelli, that vindictive firebrand whose original motive inallying himself with Cesare had been the hope that the duke might helphim to make Florence expiate his brother's blood, finding that Cesarewithheld the expected help, was bent at last upon dealing, himself, with Florence. He entered into plots with the exiled Piero de'Medicito restore the latter to his dominion; he set intrigues afoot in Pisa, where his influence was vast, and in Siena, whose tyrant, PandolfoPetrucci, was ready and willing to forward his designs, and generallymade so disturbing a stir in Tuscany that the Signory became gravelyalarmed. 

Cesare certainly took no apparent active part in the affair. He lentVitelli no aid; but neither did he attempt to restrain him or any otherof the Borgia condottieri who were allied with him. 

The unrest, spreading and growing sullenly a while, burst suddenly forthin Arezzo on June 4, when the cries of "Medici!" and "Marzocco!" rangin its streets, to announce that the city was in arms against thegovernment of Florence. Arezzo followed this up by summoning Vitelli, and the waiting, watchful condottiero was quick to answer the desiredcall. He entered the town three days later at the head of a small bodyof foot, and was very shortly afterwards followed by his brotherGiulio Vitelli, Bishop of Città di Castello, with the artillery, and, presently, by Gianpaolo Baglioni with a condotta of horse. 

A few days later Vitelli was in possession of all the strongholds ofthe Val di Chiana, and panic-stricken Florence was speeding ambassadorshot-foot to Rome to lay her complaints of these matters before the Pope. 

Alexander was able to reply that, far from supporting the belligerents, he had launched a Bull against them, provoked by the poisoning of theBishop de'Pazzi. 

Cesare looked on with the inscrutable calm for which Macchiavelli waspresently to find him so remarkable. Aware as he was of the Frenchprotection which Florence enjoyed and could invoke, he perceived howvain must ultimately prove Vitelli's efforts, saw, perhaps, in allthis the grave danger of ultimate ruin which Vitelli was incurring. YetVitelli's action served Cesare's own purposes, and, so that his purposeswere served, there were no other considerations likely to weigh withthat cold egotist. Let Vitelli be caught in the toils he was spinning, and be choked in them. Meanwhile, Florence was being harrowed, andthat was all to Cesare's satisfaction and advantage. When sufficientlyhumbled, it might well befall that the Republic should come on her kneesto implore his intervention, and his pardon for having flouted him. 

While matters stood so in Arezzo, Pisa declared spontaneously forCesare, and sent (on June 10) to offer herself to his dominion and toannounce to him that his banner was already flying from her turrets--andthe growth of Florence's alarm at this is readily conceived. 

To Cesare it must have been a sore temptation. To accept such apied-à-terre in Tuscany as was now offered him would have been the firstgreat step towards founding that kingdom of his dreams. An impulsiveman had surely gulped the bait. But Cesare, boundless in audacity, mostswift to determine and to act, was not impulsive. Cold reason, foresightand calculation were the ministers of his indomitable will. He lookedahead and beyond in the matter of Pisa's offer, and he perceived thedanger that might await him in the acceptance. The time for that wasnot yet. To take what Pisa offered might entail offending France, andalthough Cesare was now in case to dispense with French support, he wasin no case to resist her opposition. 

And so, the matter being considered and determined, Cesare quitted Romeon the 12th and left it for the Pope to give answer to the Pisan envoysin the Consistory of June 14--that neither his Holiness nor the Duke ofValentinois could assent to the proposals which Pisa made. 

From Rome Cesare travelled swiftly to Spoleto, where his army, some tenthousand strong, was encamped. He was bent at last upon the conquestof Camerino, and, ever an opportunist, he had seized the moment whenFlorence, which might have been disposed to befriend Varano, Tyrant ofCamerino, was over-busy with her own affairs. 

In addition to the powerful army awaiting him at Spoleto, the duke hada further 2, 000 men in the Romagna; another 1, 000 men held themselvesat his orders between Sinigaglia and Urbino, and Dionigio di Naldo wasarming yet another 1, 000 men at Verucchio for his service. Yet furtherto increase this force, Cesare issued an edict during his brief sojournat Spoleto ordering every house in the Romagna to supply him with oneman-at-arms. 

It was whilst here--as he afterwards wrote to the Pope--that newsreached him that Guidobaldo da Montefeltre, Duke of Urbino, was armingmen and raising funds for the assistance of Camerino. He wrote thathe could not at first believe it, but that shortly afterwards--atFoligni--he took a chancellor of Camerino who admitted that the hopesof this State were all founded upon Urbino's assistance; and later, amessenger from Urbino falling into his hands, he discovered that therewas a plot afoot to seize the Borgia artillery as it passed throughUgubio, it being known that, as Cesare had no suspicions, the guns wouldbe guarded only by a small force. Of this treachery the duke stronglyexpressed his indignation in his letter to the Pope. 

Whether the matter was true--or whether Cesare believed it to betrue--it is impossible to ascertain with absolute conviction. But itis in the highest degree unlikely that Cesare would have written sucha letter to his father solely by way of setting up a pretext. Had thatbeen his only aim, letters expressing his simulated indignation wouldhave been in better case to serve his ends had they been addressed toothers. 

If Guidobaldo did engage in such an act, amounting to a betrayal, he wascertainly paid by Cesare in kind and with interest. If the duke hadbeen short of a pretext for carrying a drawn sword into the dominionsof Guidobaldo, he had that pretext now in this act of enmity againsthimself and the Holy See. 

First, however, he disposed for the attack upon Camerino. This State, lying on the Eastern spurs of the Apennines, midway between Spoleto andUrbino, was ruled by Giulio Cesare Varano, an old war-dog of seventyyears of age, ruthless and bloodthirsty, who owed his throne to hismurder of his own brother. 

He was aided in the government of his tyranny by his four sons, Venanzio, Annibale, Pietro, and Gianmaria. 

Several times already had he been menaced by Cesare Borgia, for he wasone of the Vicars proscribed for the non-payment of tribute due tothe Holy See, and at last his hour was come. Against him Cesare nowdispatched an army under the command of Francesco Orsini, Duke ofGravina, and Oliverotto Eufreducci, another murderous, bloody gentlemanwho had hitherto served the duke in Vitelli's condotta, and who, by anatrocious act of infamy and brigandage, had made himself Lord of Fermo, which he pretended--being as sly as he was bloody--to hold as Vicar forthe Holy See. 

This Oliverotto Eufreducci--hereafter known as Oliverotto da Fermo--wasa nephew of Giovanni Fogliano, Lord of Fermo. He had returned home tohis uncle's Court in the early part of that year, and was there receivedwith great honour and affection by Fogliano and his other relatives. To celebrate his home-coming, Oliverotto invited his uncle and theprincipal citizens of Fermo to a banquet, and at table contrived to turnthe conversation upon the Pope and the Duke of Valentinois; whereupon, saying that these were matters to be discussed more in private, he rosefrom table and begged them to withdraw with him into another room. 

All unsuspecting--what should old Fogliano suspect from one so loved andso deeply in his debt?--they followed him to the chamber where he hadsecretly posted a body of his men-at-arms. There, no sooner had thedoor closed upon this uncle, and those others who had shown him somuch affection, than he gave the signal for the slaughter that had beenconcerted. His soldiers fell upon those poor, surprised victims of hisgreed, and made a speedy and bloody end of all. 

That first and chief step being taken, Oliverotto flung himself on hishorse, and, gathering his men-at-arms about him, rode through Fermo onthe business of butchering what other relatives and friends of Foglianomight remain. Among these were Raffaele della Rovere and two of hischildren, one of whom was inhumanly slaughtered in its mother's lap. 

Thereafter he confiscated to his own uses the property of those whom hehad murdered, and of those who, more fortunate, had fled his butcher'shands. He dismissed the existing Council and replaced it by a governmentof his own. Which done--to shelter himself from the consequences--hesent word to the Pope that he held Fermo as Vicar of the Church. 

Whilst a portion of his army marched on Camerino, Cesare, armed with hispretext for the overthrow of Guidobaldo, set himself deliberately andby an elaborate stratagem to the capture of Urbino. Of this there canbe little doubt. The cunning of the scheme is of an unsavoury sort, whenconsidered by the notions that obtain to-day, for the stratagem was nobetter than an act of base treachery. Yet, lest even in this you shouldbe in danger of judging Cesare Borgia by standards which cannot apply tohis age, you will do well to consider that there is no lack of evidencethat the fifteenth century applauded the business as a clever coup. 

Guidobaldo da Montefeltre was a good prince. None in all Italy wasmore beloved by his people, towards whom he bore himself with a kindly, paternal bonhomie. He was a cultured, scholarly man, a patron of thearts, happiest in the splendid library of the Palace of Urbino. Ithappened, unfortunately, that he had no heir, which laid his dominionsopen to the danger of division amongst the neighbouring greedy tyrantsafter his death. To avoid this he had adopted Francesco Maria dellaRovere, hereditary Prefect of Sinigaglia, his sister's child anda nephew of Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere's. There was wisdom andforesight in the adoption, considering the favour enjoyed in Rome and inFrance by the powerful cardinal. 

From Nocera Cesare sent Guidobaldo a message calculated to allaywhatever uneasiness he may have been feeling, and to throw himcompletely off his guard. The duke notified him that he was marchingupon Camerino--which was at once true and untrue--and begged Guidobaldoto assist him in this enterprise by sending him provisions to Gubbio, which he should reach on the morrow--since he was marching by way ofCagli and Sassoferrato. Further--and obviously with intent that theDuke of Urbino should reduce the forces at his disposal--he desiredGuidobaldo to send Vitelli the support of a thousand men, which thelatter had earlier solicited, but which Guidobaldo had refused tosupply without orders from the Pope. Cesare concluded his letter withprotestations of brotherly love--the Judas' kiss which makes him hatefulto us in this affair. 

It all proved very reassuring to Guidobaldo who set his mind at easeand never bethought him of looking to his defences, when, from Nocera, Cesare made one of those sudden movements, terrible in their swiftnessas the spring of a tiger--enabling him to drive home his claws whereleast expected. Leaving all baggage behind him, and with provisionsfor only three days, he brought his troops by forced marches to Cagli, within the Urbino State, and possessed himself of it almost before thetown had come to realize his presence. 

Not until the citadel, taken entirely by surprise, was in Cesare's handsdid a messenger speed to Guidobaldo with the unwelcome tidings thatthe Duke of Valentinois was in arms, as an enemy, within the territory. Together with that message came others into the garden of the Zoccolantimonastery--that favourite resort of Guidobaldo's--where he was indulginghis not unusual custom of supping in the cool of that summer evening. They brought him word that, while Valentinois was advancing upon himfrom the south, a force of 1, 000 men were marching upon Urbino fromIsola di Fano in the east, and twice that number through the passesof Sant' Angelo and Verucchio in the north--all converging upon hiscapital. 

The attack had been shrewdly planned and timed, and if anything cancondone the treachery by which Guidobaldo was lulled into his falsesecurity, it is the circumstance that this conduct of the matter avoidedbloodshed--a circumstance not wholly negligible, and one that was evera part of Cesare Borgia's policy, save where punishment had to beinflicted or reprisals taken. 

Guidobaldo, seeing himself thus beset upon all sides at once, andbeing all unprepared for resistance, perceived that nothing but flightremained him; and that very night he left Urbino hurriedly, taking withhim the boy Francesco Maria, and intending at first to seek shelter inhis Castle of S. Leo--a fortress that was practically impregnable. Butalready it was too late. The passes leading thither were by now inthe hands of the enemy, as Guidobaldo discovered at dawn. Thereupon, changing his plans, he sent the boy and his few attendants to Bagno, and, himself, disguised as a peasant, took to the hills, despite thegout by which he was tormented. Thus he won to Ravenna, which was fastbecoming a home for dethroned princes. 

Urbino, meanwhile, in no case to resist, sent its castellan to meetCesare and to make surrender to him--whereof Cesare, in the letteralready mentioned, gives news to the Pope, excusing himself for havingundertaken this thing without the Pope's knowledge, but that "thetreachery employed against me by Guidobaldo was so enormous that I couldnot suffer it. "

Within a few hours of poor Guidobaldo's flight Cesare was housed inUrbino's splendid palace, whose stupendous library was the marvel ofall scholars of that day. Much of this, together with many of theart-treasures collected by the Montefeltri, Cesare began shortlyafterwards to transfer to Cesena. 

In addition to publishing an edict against pillage and violence in theCity of Urbino, Cesare made doubly sure that none should take placeby sending his soldiers to encamp at Fermignano, retaining near him inUrbino no more than his gentlemen-at-arms. The capital being taken, the remainder of the duchy made ready surrender, all the strongholdsannouncing their submission to Cesare with the exception of thatalmost inaccessible Castle of S. Leo, which capitulated only after aconsiderable resistance. 

From Urbino Cesare now entered into communication with the Florentines, and asked that a representative should be sent to come to an agreementwith him. In response to this request, the Republic sent him BishopSoderini as her ambassador. The latter arrived in Urbino on June 25 andwas immediately and very cordially received by the duke. With him, in the subordinate capacity of secretary, came a lean, small-headed, tight-lipped man, with wide-set, intelligent eyes and prominentcheek-bones--one Niccolò Macchiavelli, who, in needy circumstances atpresent, and comparatively obscure, was destined to immortal fame. Thusdid Macchiavelli meet Cesare Borgia for the first time, and, for allthat we have no records of it, it is not to be doubted that his study ofthat remarkable man began then in Urbino, to be continued presently, as we shall see, when Macchiavelli returns to him in the quality of anambassador himself. 

To Soderini the duke expounded his just grievance, founded upon theFlorentines' unobservance of the treaty of Forno dei Campi; he demandedthat a fresh treaty should be drawn up to replace the broken one, andthat, for the purpose, Florence should change her government, as inthe ruling one, after what had passed, he could repose no faith. Hedisclaimed all associations with the affair of Vitelli, but franklydeclared himself glad of it, as it had, no doubt, led Florence toperceive what came of not keeping faith with him. He concluded byassuring Soderini that, with himself for their friend, the Florentinesneed fear no molestation from any one; but he begged that the Republicshould declare herself in the matter, since, if she did not care to havehim for her friend, she was, of course, at liberty to make of him herenemy. 

So impressed was Soderini by Cesare Borgia that on that same night hewrote to the Signory:

"This lord is very magnificent and splendid, and so spirited in feats ofarms that there is nothing so great but that it must seem small to him. In the pursuit of glory and in the acquisition of dominions he neverrests, and he knows neither danger nor fatigue. He moves so swiftly thathe arrives at a place before it is known that he has set out for it. He knows how to make himself beloved of his soldiers, and he has in hisservice the best men of Italy. These things render him victorious andformidable, and to these is yet to be added his perpetual good fortune. He argues, " the Florentine envoy proceeds, "with such sound reason thatto dispute with him would be a long affair, for his wit and eloquencenever fail him" ("dello ingegno e della lingua si vale quanto vuole"). 

You are to remember that this homage is one of the few survivingimpressions of one who came into personal contact with Cesare, and ofone, moreover, representing a Government more or less inimical to him, who would therefore have no reason to draw a favourable portrait ofhim for that Government's benefit. One single page of such testimony isworth a dozen volumes of speculation and inference drawn afterwards bymen who never knew him--in many cases by men who never began to know hisepoch. 

The envoy concludes by informing the Signory that he has the duke'sassurances that the latter has no thought of attempting to depriveFlorence of any of her possessions, as "the object of his campaign hasnot been to tyrannize, but to extirpate tyrants. "

Whilst Cesare awaited the Florentines' reply to their ambassador'scommunication, he withdrew to the camp at Fermignano, where he wassought on July 6 by a herald from Louis XII. This messenger came toexhort Cesare to embark upon no enterprise against the FlorentineRepublic, because to offend Florence would be to offend the Majesty ofFrance. Simultaneously, however, Florence received messages from theCardinal d'Amboise, suggesting that they should come to terms withValentinois by conceding him at least a part of what had been agreed inthe Treaty of Forno dei Campi. 

As a consequence, Soderini was able to inform Cesare that the Republicwas ready to treat with him, but that first he must withdraw Vitellifrom Arezzo, and compel him to yield up the captured fortresses. Theduke, not trusting--as he had frankly avowed--a Government which oncealready had broken faith with him, and perceiving that, if he whistledhis war-dogs to heel as requested, he would have lost the advantages ofhis position, refused to take any such steps until the treaty should beconcluded. He consented, however, to enforce meanwhile an armistice. 

But now it happened that news reached Florence of the advance of LouisXII with an army of 20, 000 men, bound for Naples to settle the disputewith Spain. So the Republic--sly and treacherous as any other ItalianGovernment of the Cinquecento--instructed Soderini to temporize withthe duke; to spend the days in amiable, inconclusive interviews anddiscussions of terms which the Signory did not mean to make. Thus theycounted upon gaining time, until the arrival of the French should putan end to the trouble caused by Vitelli, and to the need for anycompromise. 

But Cesare, though forced to submit, was not fooled by Soderini'ssmooth, evasive methods. He too--having private sources of informationin France--was advised of the French advance and of the imminence ofdanger to himself in consequence of the affairs of Florence. And itoccasioned him no surprise to see Soderini come on July 19 to take hisleave of him, advised by the Signory that the French vanguard was athand, and that, consequently, the negotiations might now with safety beabandoned. 

To console him, he had news on the morrow of the conquest of Camerino. 

The septuagenarian Giulio Cesare Varano had opposed to the Borgia forcesa stout resistance, what time he sent his two sons Pietro and Gianmariato Venice for help. It was in the hope of this solicited assistance thathe determined to defend his tyranny, and the war opened by a cavalryskirmish in which Venanzio Varano routed the Borgia horse under thecommand of the Duke of Gravina. Thereafter, however, the Varani had toendure a siege; and the old story of the Romagna sieges was repeated. Varano had given his subjects too much offence in the past, and it wasfor his subjects now to call the reckoning. 

A strong faction, led by a patrician youth of Camerino, demanded thesurrender of the State, and, upon being resisted, took arms and openedthe gates to the troops of Valentinois. The three Varani were takenprisoners. Old Giulio Cesare was shut up in the Castle of Pergola, wherehe shortly afterwards died--which was not wonderful or unnatural at histime of life, and does not warrant Guicciardini for stating, withoutauthority, that he was strangled. Venanzio and Annibale were imprisonedin the fortress of Cattolica. 

In connection with this surrender of Camerino, Cesare wrote thefollowing affectionate letter to his sister Lucrezia--who wasdangerously ill at Ferrara in consequence of her delivery of astill-born child:

"Most Illustrious and most Excellent Lady, our very dearSister, --Confident of the circumstance that there can be no moreefficacious and salutary medicine for the indisposition from which youare at present suffering than the announcement of good and happy news, we advise you that at this very moment we have received sure tidings ofthe capture of Camerino. We beg that you will do honour to this messageby an immediate improvement, and inform us of it, because, tormented aswe are to know you so ill, nothing, not even this felicitous event, can suffice to afford us pleasure. We beg you also kindly to conveythe present to the Illustrious Lord Don Alfonso, your husband and ourbeloved Brother-in-law, to whom we are not writing to-day. "

CHAPTER XIV. THE REVOLT OF THE CONDOTTIERI

The coincidence of the arrival of the French army with the conquest ofUrbino and Camerino and the Tuscan troubles caused one more to be addedto that ceaseless stream of rumours that flowed through Italy concerningthe Borgias. This time the envy and malice that are ever provoked bysuccess and power gave voice in that rumour to the thing it hoped, and there ensued as pretty a comedy as you shall find in the pages ofhistory. 

The rumour had it that Louis XII, resentful and mistrustful of thegrowth of Cesare's might, which tended to weaken France in Italy andbecame a menace to the French dominions, was come to make an end of him. Instantly Louis's Court in Milan was thronged by all whom Cesare hadoffended--and they made up by now a goodly crowd, for a man may not riseso swiftly to such eminence without raising a rich crop of enemies. 

Meanwhile, however, Valentinois in the Montefeltre Palace atUrbino remained extremely at ease. He was not the man to be withoutintelligences. In the train of Louis was Francesco Troche, the Pope'sconfidential chamberlain and Cesare's devoted servant, who, possessedof information, was able to advise Valentinois precisely what were theintentions of the King of France. Gathering from these advices that itwas Louis's wish that the Florentines should not be molested further, and naturally anxious not to run counter to the king's intentions, Cesare perceived that the time to take action had arrived, the time forpassivity in the affairs of Florence was at an end. 

So he dispatched an envoy to Vitelli, ordering his instant evacuationof Arezzo and his withdrawal with his troops from Tuscany, and he backedthe command by a threat to compel Vitelli by force of arms, andto punish disobedience by depriving him of his state of Città diCastello--"a matter, " Cesare informed him, "which would be easilyaccomplished, as the best men of that State have already offeredthemselves to me. "

It was a command which Vitelli had no choice but to obey, not beingin sufficient force to oppose the duke. So on July 29, with GianpaoloBaglioni, he relinquished the possession of Arezzo and departed out ofTuscany, as he had been bidden. But so incensed was he against the dukefor this intervention between himself and his revenge, and so freely didhe express himself in the matter, that it was put about at once that heintended to go against Cesare. 

And that is the first hint of the revolt of the condottieri. 

Having launched that interdict of his, Cesare, on July 25, in the garbof a knight of St. John of Jerusalem, and with only four attendants, departed secretly from Urbino to repair to Milan and King Louis. Hepaused for fresh horses at Forli on the morrow, and on the 28th reachedFerrara, where he remained for a couple of hours to visit Lucrezia, whowas now in convalescence. Ahead of him he dispatched, thence, a courierto Milan to announce his coming, and, accompanied by Alfonso d'Este, resumed his journey. 

Meanwhile, the assembly of Cesare's enemies had been increasing daily inMilan, whither they repaired to support Louis and to vent their hatredof Cesare and their grievances against him. There, amongst others, might be seen the Duke of Urbino, Pietro Varano (one of the sons ofthe deposed Lord of Camerino), Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro, and FrancescoGonzaga of Mantua--which latter was ever ready to turn whichever way thewind was blowing, and was now loudest in his denunciations of Cesare andeagerly advocating the formation of a league against him. 

Louis received the news of Cesare's coming, and--endowed, it is clear, with a nice sense of humour-­kept the matter secret until within afew hours of the duke's actual arrival. On the morning of August 5, according to Bernardi, (1) he whispered the information in Trivulzio'sear-­and whispered it loudly enough to be overheard by those courtierswho stood nearest. 

 1 Cronache Forlivesi. 

Whatever check their satisfaction at the supposed state of things mayhave received then was as nothing to their feelings a few hours laterwhen they witnessed the greeting that passed between king and duke. Under their uneasy eyes Louis rode forth to meet his visitor, and gavehim a glad and friendly welcome, addressing him as "cousin" and "dearrelative, " and so, no doubt, striking dismay into the hearts of thosecourtiers, who may well have deemed that perhaps they had expressedthemselves too freely. 

Louis, in person, accompanied Valentinois to the apartments preparedfor him in the Castle of Milan, and on the morrow gave a banquet andcommanded merry-makings in his visitor's honour. 

Conceive the feelings of those deposed tyrants and their friends, andthe sudden collapse of the hopes which they had imagined the king to beencouraging. They did, of course, the only thing there was to do. Theytook their leave precipitately and went their ways--all save Gonzaga, whom the king retained that he might make his peace with Cesare, andengage in friendship with him, a friendship consolidated there and thenby the betrothal of their infant children: little Francesco Gonzagaand Louise de Valentinois, aged two, the daughter whom Cesare had neverbeheld and was never to behold. 

Two factors were at work in the interests of Valentinois--the coming warin Naples with the Spaniard, which caused Louis to desire to stand wellwith the Pope; and the ambition of Louis's friend and counsellor, theCardinal d'Amboise, to wear the tiara, which caused this prelate todesire to stand well with Cesare himself, since the latter's will inthe matter of a Pope to succeed his father should be omnipotent with theSacred College. 

Therefore, that they might serve their interests in the end, both kingand cardinal served Cesare's in the meantime. 

The Duke of Valentinois's visit to Milan had served to increase thecholer of Vitelli, who accounted that by this action Cesare had put himin disgrace with the King of France; and Vitelli cried out that thus washe repaid for having sought to make Cesare King of Tuscany. In such highdudgeon was the fierce Tyrant of Città di Castello that he would not goto pay his court to Louis, and was still the more angry to hear of thewarm welcome accorded in Milan to the Cardinal Orsini. In this heread approval of the Orsini for having stood neutral in the Florentinebusiness, and, by inference from that, disapproval of himself. 

Before accusing Valentinois of treachery to his condottieri, beforesaying that he shifted the blame of the Tuscan affair on to theshoulders of his captains, it would be well to ascertain that there wasany blame to shift--that is to say, any blame that must originally havefallen upon Cesare. Certainly he made no effort to restrain Vitelliuntil the King of France had arrived and he had secret information whichcaused him to deem it politic to intervene. But of what avail until thatmoment, would any but an armed intervention have been with so vindictiveand one-idea'd a man, and what manner of fool would not Cesare havebeen to have spent his strength in battle with his condottieri for thepurpose of befriending a people who had never shown themselves otherthan his own enemies?

Like the perfect egotist he was, he sat on the fence, and took pleasurein the spectacle of the harassing of his enemies by his friends, prepared to reap any advantages there might be, but equally prepared toavoid any disadvantages. 

It was not heroic, it was not noble; but it was extremely human. 

Cesare was with the King of France in Genoa at the end of August, andremained in his train until September 2, when finally he took his leaveof him. When they heard of his departure from the Court of Louis, hisnumerous enemies experienced almost as much chagrin as that which hadbeen occasioned them by his going thither. For they had been consolingthemselves of late with a fresh rumour; and again they were believingwhat it pleased them to believe. Rumours, you perceive, were neverwanting where the Borgias were concerned, and it may be that you arebeginning to rate these voces populi at their proper value, and toapprehend the worth of many of those that have been embalmed as truthsin the abiding records. 

This last one had it that Louis was purposely keeping Cesare by him, andintended ultimately to carry him off to France, and so put an end to thedisturbances the duke was creating in Italy. What a consolation wouldnot that have been to those Italian princelings to whose undoing he hadwarred! And can you marvel that they believed and circulated so readilythe thing for which they hoped so fondly? By your appreciation of thatmay you measure the fresh disappointment that was theirs. 

So mistaken were they, indeed, as it now transpired, that Louis hadactually, at last, removed his protection from Bologna, under thepersuasion of Cesare and the Pope. Before the duke took his departurefrom King Louis's Court, the latter entered into a treaty with him inthat connection to supply him with three hundred lances: "De bailler auValentinois trois cents lances pour l'aider à conquérir Bologne au nomede l'Eglise, et opprimer les Ursins, Baillons et Vitelozze. "

It was a double-dealing age, and Louis's attitude in this affairsorted well with it. Feeling that he owed Bologna some explanation, hepresently sent a singularly lame one by Claude de Seyssel. He put itthat the Bentivogli personally were none the less under his protectionthan they had been hitherto, but that the terms of the protectionprovided that it was granted exclusively of the rights and authorityof the Holy Roman See over Bologna, and that the king could not embroilhimself with the Pope. With such a shifty message went M. De Seysselto make it quite clear to Bentivogli what his position was. And on theheels of it came, on September 2, a papal brief citing Bentivogli andhis two sons to appear before the Pontiff within fifteen days for thepurpose of considering with his Holiness the matter of the pacificationand better government of Bologna, which for so many years had been sodisorderly and turbulent. Thus the Pope's summons, with a menace thatwas all too thinly veiled. 

But Bentivogli was not taken unawares. He was not even astonished. Eversince Cesare's departure from Rome in the previous spring he had beendisposing against such a possibility as this--fortifying Bologna, throwing up outworks and erecting bastions beyond the city, and levyingand arming men, in all of which he depended largely upon the citizensand particularly upon the art-guild, which was devoted to the House ofBentivogli. 

Stronger than the affection for their lord--which, when all is said, was none too great in Bologna--was the deep-seated hatred of the clergyentertained by the Bolognese. This it was that rallied to Bentivoglisuch men as Fileno della Tuate, who actually hated him. But it was achoice of evils with Fileno and many of his kidney. Detesting the rulinghouse, and indignant at the injustices it practised, they detested thepriests still more--so much that they would have taken sides with Satanhimself against the Pontificals. In this spirit did they carry theirswords to Bentivogli. 

Upon the nobles Bentivogli could not count--less than ever since thecold-blooded murder of the Marescotti; but in the burghers' adherence hedeemed himself secure, and indeed on September 17 he had some testimonyof it. 

On that date--the fortnight's grace expiring--the brief was again readto the Reggimento; but it was impossible to adopt any resolution. Thepeople were in arms, and, with enormous uproar, protested that theywould not allow Giovanni Bentivogli or his sons to go to Rome, lest theyshould be in danger once they had left their own State. 

Italy was full of rumours at the time of Cesare's proposed empriseagainst Bologna, and it was added that he intended, further, to makehimself master of Città di Castello and Perugia, and thus, by deprivingthem of their tyrannies, punish Vitelli and Baglioni for theirdefection. 

This was the natural result of the terms of Cesare's treaty with Francehaving become known; but the part of it which regarded the Orsini, Vitelli, and Baglioni was purely provisional. Considering that thesecondottieri were now at odds with Cesare, they might see fit to considerthemselves bound to Bentivogli by the Treaty of Villafontana, signed byVitelli and Orsini on the duke's behalf at the time of the capitulationof Castel Bolognese. They might choose to disregard the fact that thistreaty had already been violated by Bentivogli himself, through thenon-fulfilment of the terms of it, and refuse to proceed against himupon being so bidden by Valentinois. 

It was for such a contingency as this that provision was made by theclause concerning them in Cesare's treaty with Louis. 

The Orsini were still in the duke's service, in command of troops leviedfor him and paid by him, and considering that with them Cesare had noquarrel, it is by no means clear why they should have gone over to thealliance of the condottieri that was now forming against the duke. Joinit, however, they did. They, too, were in the Treaty of Villafontana;but that they should consider themselves bound by it, would havebeen--had they urged it--more in the nature of a pretext than a reason. But they chose a pretext even more slender. They gave out that in MilanLouis XII had told Cardinal Orsini that the Pope's intention was todestroy the Orsini. 

To accept such a statement as true, we should have to believe in adisloyalty and a double-dealing on the part of Louis XII altogetherincredible. To what end should he, on the one side, engage to assistCesare with 300 lances to "oppress" the Orsini--if necessary, and amongothers--whilst, on the other, he goes to Orsini with the story whichthey attribute to him? What a mean, treacherous, unkingly figure musthe not cut as a consequence! He may have been--we know, indeed, that hewas--no more averse to double­dealing than any other Cinquecentist; buthe was probably as averse to being found out in a meanness and madeto look contemptible as any double-dealer of our own times. It is aconsideration worth digesting. 

When word of the story put about by the Orsini was carried to thePope he strenuously denied the imputation, and informed the Venetianambassador that he had written to complain of this to the King ofFrance, and that, far from such a thing being true, Cesare was sodevoted to the Orsini as to be "more Orsini than Borgian. "

It is further worth considering that the defection of the Orsini wasneither immediate nor spontaneous, as must surely have been the case hadthe story been true. It was the Baglioni and Vitelli only who first metto plot at Todi, to declare that they would not move against their allyof Bologna, and to express the hope that they might bring the Orsini tothe same mind. They succeeded so well that the second meeting was heldat Magione--a place belonging to the powerful Cardinal Orsini, situatednear the Baglioni's stronghold of Perugia. Vitellozzo was carriedthither on his bed, so stricken with the morbo gallico--which in Italywas besetting most princes, temporal and ecclesiastical--that he wasunable to walk. 

Gentile and Gianpaolo Baglioni, Cardinal Gianbattista Orsini, FrancescoOrsini, Duke of Gravina, Paolo Orsini, the bastard son of the Archbishopof Trani, Pandolfo Petrucci--Lord of Siena--and Hermes Bentivogli wereall present. The last-named, prone to the direct methods of murder bywhich he had rid Bologna of the Marescotti, is said to have declaredthat he would kill Cesare Borgia if he but had the opportunity, whilstVitelli swore solemnly that within a year he would slay or capture theduke, or else drive him out of Italy. 

From this it will be seen that the Diet of Magione was no mere defensivealliance, but actually an offensive one, with the annihilation of CesareBorgia for its objective. 

They certainly had the power to carry out their resolutions, forwhilst Cesare disposed at that moment of not more than 2, 500 foot, 300men-at-arms, and the 100 lances of his Caesarean guard of patricians, the confederates had in arms some 9, 000 foot and 1, 000 horse. Consciousof their superior strength, they determined to strike at once, beforeCesare should be further supported by the French lances, and to makesure of him by assailing him on every side at once. To this end it wasresolved that Bentivogli should instantly march upon Imola, where Cesarelay, whilst the others should possess themselves of Urbino and Pesarosimultaneously. 

They even approached Florence and Venice in the matter, inviting theRepublics to come into the league against Valentinois. 

The Florentines, however, could not trust such enemies of their own asVitelli and the Orsini, nor dared they join in an enterprise which hadfor scope to make war upon an ally of France; and they sent word toCesare of their resolve to enter into no schemes against him. 

The Venetians would gladly have moved to crush a man who had snatchedthe Romagna from under their covetous eyes; but in view of the leaguewith France they dared not. What they dared, they did. They wrote toLouis at length of the evils that were befalling Italy at the hands ofthe Duke of Valentinois, and of the dishonour to the French crown whichlay for Louis in his alliance with Cesare Borgia. They even went sofar--and most treacherously, considering the league--as to allow theirfamous captain, Bartolomeo d'Alviano, to reconduct Guidobaldo to Urbino, as we shall presently see. 

Had the confederates but kept faith with one another Cesare's knellhad soon been tolled. But they were a weak-kneed pack of traitors, irresolute in their enmity as in their friendships. The Orsini hungback. They urged that they did not trust themselves to attack Cesarewith men actually in his pay; whilst Bentivogli--treacherous by natureto the back-bone of him--actually went so far as to attempt to opensecret negotiations with Cesare through Ercole d'Este of Ferrara. 

CHAPTER XV. MACCHIAVELLI'S LEGATION

On October 2 news of the revolt of the condottieri and the diet ofMagione had reached the Vatican and rendered the Pope uneasy. Cesare, however, had been informed of it some time before at Imola, where he wasawaiting the French lances that should enable him to raid the Bologneseand drive out the Bentivogli. 

Where another might have been paralyzed by a defection which left himalmost without an army, and would have taken the course of sendingenvoys to the rebels to attempt to make terms and by concessions topatch up a treaty, Cesare, with characteristic courage, assurance, andpromptitude of action, flung out officers on every side to levy himfresh troops. 

His great reputation as a condottiero, the fame of his wealth and hisnotorious liberality, stood him now in excellent stead. The response tohis call was instantaneous. Soldiers of fortune and mercenaries showedthe trust they had in him, and flocked to his standard from everyquarter. One of the first to arrive was Gasparo Sanseverino, known asFracassa, a condottiero of great renown, who had been in the Pontificalservice since the election of Pope Alexander. He was a valuableacquisition to Cesare, who placed him in command of the horse. Anotherwas Lodovico Pico della Mirandola, who brought a small condotta of 60lances and 60 light horse. Ranieri della Sassetta rode in at the headof 100 mounted arbalisters, and Francesco de Luna with a body of 50arquebusiers. (1)

 1 The arquebus, although it had existed in Italy for nearly a century, was only just coming into general use. 

Valentinois sent out Raffaele dei Pazzi and Galeotto Pallavicini, theone into Lombardy to recruit 1, 000 Gascons, the other to raise a body ofSwiss mercenaries. Yet, when all is said, these were but supplementaryforces; the main strength of Cesare's new army lay in the troops raisedin the Romagna, which, faithful to him and confident of his power andsuccess, rallied to him now in the hour of his need. Than this there canbe no more eloquent testimony to the quality of his rule. In command ofthese Romagnuoli troops he placed such Romagnuoli captains as Dionigiodi Naldo and Marcantonio da Fano, thereby again affording proof of hiswisdom, by giving these soldiers their own compatriots and men with whomthey were in sympathy for their leaders. 

With such speed had he acted, and such was the influence of his name, that already, by October 14, he had assembled an army of upwards of6, 000 men, which his officers were diligently drilling at Imola, whilstdaily now were the French lances expected, and the Swiss and Gasconmercenaries he had sent to levy. 

It may well be that this gave the confederates pause, and suggestedto them that they should reconsider their position and ask themselveswhether the opportunity for crushing Cesare had not slipped by whilstthey had stood undecided. 

It was Pandolfo Petrucci who took the first step towards areconciliation, by sending word to Valentinois that it was not hisintention to take any measures that might displease his Excellency. HisExcellency will no doubt have smiled at that belated assurance fromthe sparrow to the hawk. Then, a few days later, came news that GiulioOrsini had entered into an agreement with the Pope. This appeared togive the confederacy its death-blow, and Paolo Orsini was on the pointof setting out to seek Cesare at Imola for the purpose of treatingwith him--which would definitely have given burial to the revolt--whensuddenly there befell an event which threw the scales the other way. 

Cesare's people were carrying out some work in the Castle of S. Leo, in the interior of which a new wall was in course of erection. For thepurposes of this, great baulks of timber were being brought into thecastle from the surrounding country. Some peasants, headed by oneBrizio, who had been a squire of Guidobaldo's, availed themselves of thecircumstance to capture the castle by a stratagem. Bringing forward somegreat masses of timber and felled trees, they set them down along thedrawbridge in such a manner as to prevent its being hoisted. That done, an attack in force was directed against the fortress. The place, whosenatural defences rendered it practically impregnable, was but slightlymanned; being thus surprised, and unable to raise the bridge, it waspowerless to offer any resistance, so that the Montefeltre peasants, having killed every Borgia soldier of the garrison, took possession ofit and held it for Duke Guidobaldo. 

This capture of S. Leo was as a spark that fired a train. Instantly thehardy hillmen of Urbino were in arms to reconquer Guidobaldo's duchy forhim. Stronghold after stronghold fell into their hands, until theywere in Urbino itself. They made short work of the capital's scantydefenders, flung Cesare's governor into prison, and finally obtainedpossession of the citadel. 

It was the news of this that caused the confederates once more to pause. Before declaring themselves, they waited to see what action Venice wouldtake, whilst in the meantime they sought shelter behind a declarationthat they were soldiers of the Church and would do nothing against thewill of the Pontiff. They were confidently assured that Venice wouldbefriend Guidobaldo, and help him back to his throne now that his ownpeople had done so much towards that end. It remained, however, to beseen whether Venice would at the same time befriend Pesaro and Rimini. 

Instantly Cesare Borgia--who was assailed by grave doubts concerning theVenetians--took his measures. He ordered Bartolomeo da Capranica, whowas chief in command of his troops in Urbino, to fall back upon Riminiwith all his companies, whilst to Pesaro the duke dispatched Michele daCorella and Ramiro de Lorqua. 

It was a busy time of action with the duke at Imola, and yet, amid allthe occupation which this equipment of a new army must have given him, he still found time for diplomatic measures, and, taking advantage ofthe expressed friendliness of Florence, he had replied by desiringthe Signory to send an envoy to confer with him. Florence responded bysending, as her representative, that same Niccolò Macchiavelli who hadearlier accompanied Soderini on a similar mission to Valentinois, andwho had meanwhile been advanced to the dignity of Secretary of State. 

Macchiavelli has left us, in his dispatches to his Government, themost precious and valuable information concerning that period of CesareBorgia's history during which he was with the duke on the business ofhis legation. Not only is it the rare evidence of an eye-witness thatMacchiavelli affords us, but the evidence, as we have said, of oneendowed with singular acumen and an extraordinary gift of psychologicalanalysis. The one clear and certain inference to be drawn, not only fromthose dispatches, but from the Florentine secretary's later writings, is that, at close quarters with Cesare Borgia, a critical witness of hismethods, he conceived for him a transcending admiration which was laterto find its fullest expression in his immortal book The Prince--abook, remember, compiled to serve as a guide in government to Giulianode'Medici, the feeble brother of Pope Leo X, a book inspired by CesareBorgia, who is the model prince held up by Macchiavelli for emulation. 

Does it serve any purpose, in the face of this work from the pen of theacknowledged inventor of state-craft, to describe Cesare's conquestof the Romagna by opprobrious epithets and sweeping statements ofcondemnation and censure--statements kept carefully general, and neverpermitted to enter into detail which must destroy their own ends andexpose their falsehood?

Gregorovius, in this connection, is as full of contradictions as anyman must be who does not sift out the truth and rigidly follow it in hiswritings. Consider the following scrupulously translated extracts fromhis Geschichte der Stadt Rom:

 (a) "Cesare departed from Rome to resume his bloody work in theRomagna. "

 (b) "... The frightful deeds performed by Cesare on both sides of theApennines. He assumes the semblance of an exterminating angel, andperforms such hellish iniquities that we can only shudder at thecontemplation of the evil of which human nature is capable. "

And now, pray, consider and compare with those the following excerptfrom the very next page of that same monumental work:

"Before him [Cesare] cities trembled; the magistrates prostratedthemselves in the dust; sycophantic courtiers praised him to the stars. Yet it is undeniable that his government was energetic and good; forthe first time Romagna enjoyed peace and was rid of her vampires. In thename of Cesare justice was administered by Antonio di Monte Sansovino, President of the Ruota of Cesena, a man universally beloved. "

It is almost as if the truth had slipped out unawares, for the firstperiod hardly seems a logical prelude to the second, by which it islargely contradicted. If Cesare's government was so good that Romagnaknew peace at last and was rid of her vampires, why did cities tremblebefore him? There is, by the way, no evidence of such trepidations inany of the chronicles of the conquered States, one and all of which hailCesare as their deliverer. Why, if he was held in such terror, did cityafter city--as we have seen--spontaneously offer itself to Cesare'sdominion?

But to rebut those statements of Gregorovius's there is scarce the needto pose these questions; sufficiently does Gregorovius himselfrebut them. The men who praised Cesare, the historian tells us, weresycophantic courtiers. But where is the wonder of his being praised ifhis government was as good as Gregorovius admits it to have been? Whatwas unnatural in that praise? What so untruthful as to deserve to bebranded sycophantic? And by what right is an historian to reject assycophants the writers who praise a man, whilst accepting every wordof his detractors as the words of inspired evangelists, even whentheir falsehoods are so transparent as to provoke the derision of thethoughtful and analytic?

As l'Espinois points out in his masterly essay in the Revue desQuestions Historiques, Gregorovius refuses to recognize in Cesare Borgiathe Messiah of a united Central Italy, but considers him merely asa high-flying adventurer; whilst Villari, in his Life and Times ofMacchiavelli, tells you bluntly that Cesare Borgia was neither astatesman nor a soldier but a brigand-chief. 

These are mere words; and to utter words is easier than to make themgood. 

"High-flying adventurer, " or "brigand-chief, " by all means, if itplease you. What but a high-flying adventurer was the wood-cutter, MuzioAttendolo, founder of the ducal House of Sforza? What but a high-flyingadventurer was that Count Henry of Burgundy who founded the kingdomof Portugal? What else was the Norman bastard William, who conqueredEngland? What else the artillery officer, Napoleon Bonaparte, who becameEmperor of the French? What else was the founder of any dynasty but ahigh-flying adventurer--or a brigand-chief, if the melodramatic term ismore captivating to your fancy?

These terms are used to belittle Cesare. They achieve no more, however, than to belittle those who penned them; for, even as they are true, the marvel is that the admirable matter in these truths appears to haveescaped those authors. 

What else Gregorovius opines--that Cesare was no Messiah of UnitedItaly--is true enough. Cesare was the Messiah of Cesare. The well-beingof Italy for its own sake exercised his mind not so much asthe well-being of the horse he rode. He wrought for his ownaggrandisement--but he wrought wisely; and, whilst the end in view is nomore to be censured than the ambition of any man, the means employedare in the highest degree to be commended, since the well-being ofthe Romagna, which was not an aim, was, nevertheless, an essential andpraiseworthy incident. 

When it can be shown that every other of those conquerors who cut heroicfigures in history were purest altruists, it will be time to damn CesareBorgia for his egotism. 

What Villari says, for the purpose of adding rhetorical force tohis "brigand-chief"--that Cesare was no statesman and no soldier--isentirely of a piece with the rest of the chapter in which itoccurs(1)--a chapter rich in sweeping inaccuracies concerning Cesare. But it is staggering to find the statement in such a place, amidMacchiavelli's letters on Cesare, breathing an obvious and profoundadmiration of the duke's talents as a politician and a soldier--anadmiration which later is to go perilously near to worship. ToMacchiavelli, Cesare is the incarnation of a hazy ideal, as isabundantly shown in The Prince. For Villari to reconcile all this withhis own views must seem impossible. And impossible it is; yet Villariachieves it, with an audacity that leaves you breathless. 

 1 In his Niccolò Machiavelli. 

No--he practically tells you--this Macchiavelli, who daily saw and spokewith Cesare for two months (and during a critical time, which is whenmen best reveal their natures), this acute Florentine--the acutestman of his age, perhaps--who studied and analysed Cesare, and sent hisGovernment the results of his analyses, and was inspired by them laterto write The Prince--this man did not know Cesare Borgia. He wrote, notabout Cesare himself, but about a creation of his own intellect. 

That is what Villari pretends. Macchiavelli, the representative of apower unfriendly at heart under the mask of the expedient friendliness, his mind already poisoned by all the rumours current throughout Italy, comes on this mission to Valentinois. Florence, fearing and hatingValentinois as she does, would doubtless take pleasure in detractoryadvices. Other ambassadors--particularly those of Venice--pander totheir Governments' wishes in this respect, conscious that there is asycophancy in slander contrasted with which the ordinary sycophancy offlattery is as water to wine; they diligently send home every scrapof indecent or scandalous rumour they can pick up in the Romanante-chambers, however unlikely, uncorroborated, or unconcerning thebusiness of an ambassador. 

But Macchiavelli, in Cesare Borgia's presence, is overawed by hisgreatness, his force and his intellect, and these attributes engage himin his dispatches. These same dispatches are a stumbling-block to allwho prefer to tread the beaten, sensational track, and to see inCesare Borgia a villain of melodrama, a monster of crime, brutal, and, consequently, of no intellectual force. But Villari contrives to stepmore or less neatly, if fatuously, over that formidable obstacle, bytelling you that Macchiavelli presents to you not really Cesare Borgia, but a creation of his own intellect, which he had come to admire. Itis a simple, elementary expedient by means of which every piece ofhistorical evidence ever penned may be destroyed--including all thatwhich defames the House of Borgia. 

Macchiavelli arrived at Imola on the evening of October 7, 1502, and, all travel-stained as he was, repaired straight to the duke, as ifthe message with which he was charged was one that would not brook amoment's delay in its deliverance. Actually, however, he had nothing tooffer Cesare but the empty expressions of Florence's friendship andthe hopes she founded upon Cesare's reciprocation. The crafty youngFlorentine--he was thirty-three at the time--was sent to temporize andto avoid committing himself or his Government. 

Valentinois listened to the specious compliments, and replied by similarprotestations and by reminding Florence how he had curbed the handof those very condottieri who had now rebelled against him as aconsequence. He showed himself calm and tranquil at the loss of Urbino, telling Macchiavelli that he "had not forgotten the way to reconquerit, " when it should suit him. Of the revolted condottieri hecontemptuously said that he accounted them fools for not having knownhow to choose a more favourable moment in which to harm him, and thatthey would presently find such a fire burning under their feet as wouldcall for more water to quench it than such men as these disposed of. 

Meanwhile, the success of those rustics of Urbino who had risen, andthe ease of their victories, had fired others of the territory to followtheir example. Fossombrone and Pergola were the next to rebel and to putthe Borgia garrisons to the sword; but, in their reckless audacity, they chose their moment ill, for Michele da Corella was at hand with hislances, and, although his orders had been to repair straight to Pesaro, he ventured to depart from them to the extent of turning aside to punishthe insurgence of those towns by launching his men-at-arms upon them andsubjecting them to an appalling and pitiless sack. 

When Cesare heard the news of it and the details of the horrors that hadbeen perpetrated, he turned, smiling cruelly, to Macchiavelli, whowas with him, and, "The constellations this year seem unfavourable torebels, " he observed. 

A battle of wits was toward between the Florentines' Secretary of Stateand the Duke of Valentinois, each mistrustful of the other. In the endCesare, a little out of patience at so much inconclusiveness, thoughoutwardly preserving his immutable serenity, sought to come to grips bydemanding that Florence should declare whether he was to account her hisfriend or not. But this was precisely what Macchiavelli's instructionsforbade him from declaring. He answered that he must first write to theSignory, and begged the duke to tell him what terms he proposed shouldform the treaty. But there it was the duke's turn to fence and to avoida direct answer, desiring that Florence should open the negotiations andthat from her should come the first proposal. 

He reminded Macchiavelli that Florence would do well to come to adecision before the Orsini sought to patch up a peace with him, since, once that was done, there would be fresh difficulties, owing, of course, to Orsini's enmity to the existing Florentine Government. And of such apeace there was now every indication, Paolo Orsini having at lastsent Cesare proposals for rejoining him, subject to his abandoning theBologna enterprise (in which, the Orsini argued, they could not beara hand without breaking faith with Bentivogli) and turning againstFlorence. Vitelli, at the same time, announced himself ready to returnto Cesare's service, but first he required some "honest security. "

Well might it have pleased Cesare to oblige the Orsini to the letter, and to give a lesson in straight-dealing to these shuffling Florentinepedlars who sent a nimble-witted Secretary of State to hold him in playwith sweet words of barren meaning. But there was France and her wishesto be considered, and he could not commit himself. So his answer wasperemptory and condescending. He told them that, if they desired to showthemselves his friends, they could set about reconquering and holdingUrbino for him. 

It looked as if the condottieri agreed to this, for on October 11Vitelli seized Castel Durante, and on the next day Baglioni was inpossession of Cagli. 

In view of this, Cesare bade the troops which he had withdrawn toadvance again upon the city of Urbino and take possession of it. Butsuddenly, on the 12th, a messenger from Guidobaldo rode into Urbino toannounce their duke's return within a few days to defend the subjectswho had shown themselves so loyal to him. This, the shifty confederatesaccounted, must be done with the support of Venice, whence theyconcluded that Venice must have declared against Valentinois, and againthey treacherously changed sides. 

The Orsini proceeded to prompt action. Assured of their return tohimself, and counting upon their support in Urbino, Cesare had contentedhimself with sending thither a small force of 100 lances and 200light horse. Upon these fell the Orsini, and put them to utter rout atCalmazzo, near Fossombrone, capturing Ugo di Moncada, who commandedone of the companies, but missing Michele da Corella, who contrived toescape to Fossombrone. 

The conquerors entered Urbino that evening, and, as if to put it onrecord that they burnt their boats with Valentinois, Paolo Orsini wrotethat same night to the Venetian Senate advices of the victory won. Three days later--on October 18--Guidobaldo, accompanied by his nephewsOttaviano Fregioso and Gianmaria Varano, re-entered his capital amid thecheers and enthusiasm of his loyal and loving people. 

Vitelli made haste to place his artillery at Guidobaldo's disposal forthe reduction of Cagli, Pergola, and Fossombrone, which were still heldfor Valentinois, whilst Oliverotto da Fermo went with Gianmaria Varanoto attempt the reconquest of Camerino, and Gianpaolo Baglioni to Fano, which, however, he did not attempt to enter as an enemy--an idle course, seeing how loyally the town held for Cesare--but as a ducal condottiero. 

Fired by Orsini's example, Bentivogli also took the offensive, and beganby ordering the canonists of Bologna University to go to the churchesand encourage the people to disregard the excommunications launchedagainst the city. He wrote to the King of France to complain that Cesarehad broken the Treaty of Villafontana by which he had undertaken neveragain to molest Bologna--naïvely ignoring the circumstance that hehimself had been the first to violate the terms of that same treaty, andthat it was precisely upon such grounds that Cesare was threatening him. 

Thus matters stood, the confederates turning anxious eyes towardsVenice, and, haply, beginning to wonder whether the Republic was indeedgoing to move to their support as they had so confidently expected, andrealizing perhaps by now their rashness, and the ruin that awaited themshould Venice fail them. And fail them Venice did. The Venetians hadreceived a reply from Louis XII to that letter in which they had heapedodium upon the Borgia and shown the king what dishonour to himself dweltin his alliance with Valentinois. Their criticisms and accusations wereignored in that reply, which resolved itself into nothing more than athreat that "if they opposed themselves to the enterprise of the Churchthey would be treated by him as enemies, " and of this letter he sentCesare a copy, as Cesare himself told Macchiavelli. 

So, whilst Valentinois in Imola was able to breathe more freely, thecondottieri in Urbino may well have been overcome with horror at theirposition and at having been thus left in the lurch by Venice. None wasbetter aware than Pandolfo Petrucci of the folly of their action and ofthe danger that now impended, and he sent his secretary to Valentinoisto say that if the duke would but reassure them on the score of hisintentions they would return to him and aid him in recovering what hadbeen lost. 

Following upon this message came Paolo Orsini himself to Imola on the25th, disguised as a courier, and having first taken the precaution ofobtaining a safe-conduct. He left again on the 29th, bearing with hima treaty the terms of which had been agreed between himself and Cesareduring that visit. These were that Cesare should engage to protect theStates of all his allied condottieri, and they to serve him and theChurch in return. A special convention was to follow, to decide thematter of the Bentivogli, which should be resolved by Cesare, CardinalOrsini, and Pandolfo Petrucci in consultation, their judgment to bebinding upon all. 

Cesare's contempt for the Orsini and the rest of the shifty men whoformed that confederacy--that "diet of bankrupts, " as he had termedit--was expressed plainly enough to Macchiavelli. 

"To-day, " said he, "Messer Paolo is to visit me, and to-morrow therewill be the cardinal; and thus they think to befool me, at theirpleasure. But I, on my side, am only dallying with them. I listen to allthey have to say and bide my own time. "

Later, Macchiavelli was to remember those words, which meanwhileafforded him matter for reflection. 

As Paolo Orsini rode away from Imola, the duke's secretary, Gherardi, followed and overtook him to say that Cesare desired to add to thetreaty another clause--one relating to the King of France. To this PaoloOrsini refused to consent, but, upon being pressed in the matter byGherardi, went so far as to promise to submit the clause to the others. 

On October 30 Cesare published a notice in the Romagna, intimating thereturn to obedience on the part of his captains. 

Macchiavelli was mystified by this, and apprehensive--as men will beof the things they cannot fathom--of what might be reserved in it forFlorence. It was Gherardi who reassured him, laughing in the face of thecrafty Florentine, as he informed him that even children should come tosmile at such a treaty as this. He added that he had gone after PaoloOrsini to beg the addition of another clause, intentionally omitted bythe duke. 

"If they accept that clause, " concluded Messer Agabito, "it will open awindow; if they refuse it, a door, by which the duke can issue from thetreaty. "

Macchiavelli's wonder increased. But the subject of it now was that thecondottieri should be hoodwinked by a document in such terms, and wellmay he have bethought him then of those words which Cesare had used tohim a few days earlier. 

CHAPTER XVI. RAMIRO DE LORQUA

It really seemed as if the condottieri were determined to make theirscore as heavy as possible. For even whilst Paolo Orsini had been on hismission of peace to Cesare, and whilst they awaited his return, they hadcontinued in arms against the duke. The Vitelli had aided Guidobaldoto reconquer his territory, and had killed, in the course of doing so, Bartolomeo da Capranica, Cesare's most valued captain and Vitelli'sbrother­in-arms of yesterday. The Baglioni were pressing Michele daCorella in Pesaro, but to little purpose; whilst the butcher Oliverottoda Fermo in Camerino--of which he had taken possession with GianmariaVarano--was slaughtering every Spaniard he could find. 

On the other side, Corella in Pesaro hanged five men whom he caughtpractising against the duke's government, and, having taken young PietroVarano--who was on his way to join his brother in Camerino in view ofthe revolt there--he had him strangled in the market-place. There is astory that, with life not yet extinct, the poor youth was carried intochurch by the pitiful crowd. But here a friar, discovering that he stilllived, called in the soldiers and bade them finish him. This friar, going later through Cagli, was recognized, set upon by a mob, and tornto pieces--in which, if the rest of the tale be true, he was richlyserved. 

Into the theatre of bloodshed came Paolo Orsini from his missionto Valentinois, bringing with him the treaty for signature by thecondottieri. Accustomed as they were to playing fast and loose, they opined that, so far as Urbino was concerned, enough changes ofgovernment had they contrived there already. Vitelli pointed out theunseemliness of once again deposing Guidobaldo, whom they had justreseated upon his throne. Besides, he perceived in the treaty the endof his hopes of a descent upon Florence, which was the cause of all hislabours. So he rejected it. 

But Valentinois had already got the Orsini and Pandolfo Petrucci onhis side, and so the confederacy was divided. Another factor came tobefriend the duke. On November 2 he was visited by Antonio GaleazzoBentivogli, sent by his father Giovanni to propose a treaty withhim--this state of affairs having been brought about by the mediation ofErcole d'Este. From the negotiations that followed it resulted that, onthe 13th, the Orsini had word from Cesare that he had entered intoan alliance with the Bentivogli--which definitely removed their mainobjection to bearing arms with him. 

It was resigning much on Cesare's part, but the treaty, after all, wasonly for two years, and might, of course, be broken before then, as theyunderstood these matters. This treaty was signed at the Vatican on the23rd, between Borgia and Bentivogli, to guarantee the States of both. The King of France, the Signory of Florence, and the Duke of Ferraraguaranteed the alliance. 

Inter alia, it was agreed between them that Bologna should supply Cesarewith 100 lances and 200 light horse for one or two enterprises withinthe year, and that the condotta of 100 lances which Cesare held fromBologna by the last treaty should be renewed. The terms of the treatywere to be kept utterly secret for the next three months, so thatthe affairs of Urbino and Camerino should not be prejudiced by theirpublication. 

The result was instantaneous. On November 27 Paolo Orsini was back atImola with the other treaty, which bore now the signatures of all theconfederates. Vitelli, finding himself isolated, had swallowed hischagrin in the matter of Florence, and his scruples in the matter ofUrbino, abandoning the unfortunate Guidobaldo to his fate. This cameswiftly. From Imola, Paolo Orsini rode to Fano on the 29th, and orderedhis men to advance upon Urbino and seize the city in the Duke ofValentinois's name, proclaiming a pardon for all rebels who would besubmissive. 

Guidobaldo and the ill-starred Lord of Faenza were the two exceptions inRomagna--the only two who had known how to win the affections of theirsubjects. For Guidobaldo there was nothing that the men of Urbino wouldnot have done. They rallied to him now, and the women of Valbone--likethe ladies of England to save Coeur-de-Lion--came with their jewels andtrinkets, offering them that he might have the means to levy troops andresist. But this gentle, kindly Guidobaldo could not subject his countryto further ravages of war; and so he determined, in his subjects'interests as much as in his own, to depart for the second time. 

Early in December the Orsini troops are in his territory, and Paolo, halting them a few miles out of Urbino, sends to beg Guidobaldo'sattendance in his camp. Guidobaldo, crippled by gout and unable at thetime to walk a step, sends Paolo his excuses and begs that he will cometo Urbino, where he awaits him. There Guidobaldo makes formal surrenderto him, takes leave of his faithful friends, enjoins fidelity toValentinois and trust in God, and so on December 19 he departs intoexile, the one pathetic noble figure amid so many ignoble ones. Paolo, taking possession of the duchy, assumes the title of governor. 

The Florentines had had their chance of an alliance with Cesare, and haddeliberately neglected it. Early in November they had received lettersfrom the King of France urging them to come to an accord with Cesare, and they had made known to the duke that they desired to reoccupy Pisaand to assure themselves of Vitelli; but, when he pressed that Florenceshould give him a condotta, Macchiavelli--following his instructionsnot to commit the Republic in any way--had answered "that his Excellencymust not be considered as other lords, but as a new potentate in Italy, with whom it is more seemly to make an alliance or a friendship than togrant him a condotta; and, as alliances are maintained by arms, andthat is the only power to compel their observance, the Signory couldnot perceive what security they would have when three-quarters orthree-fifths of their arms would be in the duke's hands. " Macchiavelliadded diplomatically that "he did not say this to impugn the duke'sgood faith, but to show him that princes should be circumspect and neverenter into anything that leaves a possibility of their being put at adisadvantage. "(1)

 1 See the twenty-first letter from Macchiavelli on this legation. 

Cesare answered him calmly ("senza segno d'alterazione alcuna") thatwithout a condotta, he didn't know what to make of a private friendshipwhose first principles were denied him. And there the matter hung, for Macchiavelli's legation had for only aim to ensure the immunityof Tuscany and to safeguard Florentine interests without conceding anyadvantages to Cesare--as the latter had perceived from the first. 

On December 10 Cesare moved from Imola with his entire army, intent nowupon the conquest of Sinigaglia, which State Giuliano della Rovere hadbeen unable to save for his nephew, as king and Pope had alike turneda deaf ear upon the excuses he had sought to make for the Prefetessa, Giovanna da Montefeltre--the mother of the young prefect--who had aidedher brother Guidobaldo in the late war in Urbino. 

On the morrow Valentinois arrived in Cesena and encamped his army therefor Christmas, as in the previous year. The country was beginningto feel the effects of this prolonged vast military occupation, andalthough the duke, with intent to relieve the people, had done all thatwas possible to provision the troops, and had purchased from Venice30, 000 bushels of wheat for the purpose, yet all had been consumed. "Thevery stones have been eaten, " says Macchiavelli. 

To account for this state of things--and possibly for certain othermatters--Messer Ramiro de Lorqua, the Governor-General, was summonedfrom Pesaro; whilst to avert the threatened famine Cesare ordered thatthe cereals in the private granaries of Cesena should be sold at reducedprices, and he further proceeded, at heavy expense, to procure grainfrom without. Another, less far-seeing than Valentinois, might havemade capital out of Urbino's late rebellion, and pillaged the country toprovide for pressing needs. But that would have been opposed to Cesare'spolicy, of fostering the goodwill of the people he subjected. 

On December 20 three of the companies of French lances that had beenwith Cesare took their leave of him and returned to Lombardy, sothat Cesare was left with only one company. There appears to be someconfusion as to the reasons for this, and it is stated by somethat those companies were recalled to Milan by the French governor. Macchiavelli, ever inquisitive and inquiring, questioned one of theFrench officers in the matter, to be told that the lances were returningbecause the duke no longer needed them, the inference being that thiswas in consequence of the return of the condottieri to their allegiance. But the astute secretary did not at the time account this convincing, arguing that the duke could not yet be said to be secure, nor couldhe know for certain how far he might trust Vitelli and the Orsini. Presumably, however, he afterwards obtained more certain information, for he says later that Valentinois himself dismissed the French, andthat the dismissal was part of the stratagem he was preparing, and hadfor object to reassure Vitelli and the other confederates, and to throwthem off their guard, by causing them to suppose him indifferentlysupported. 

But the departure of the French did not take place without muchdiscussion being provoked, and rumour making extremely busy, whilstit was generally assumed that it would retard the Sinigaglia conquest. Nevertheless, the duke calmly pursued his preparations, and proceedednow to send forward his artillery. There was no real ground upon whichto assume that he would adopt any other course. Cesare was now inconsiderable strength, apart from French lances, and even as theseleft him he was joined by a thousand Swiss, and another six hundredRomagnuoli from the Val di Lamone. Moreover, as far as the reduction ofSinigaglia was concerned, no resistance was to be expected, for CardinalGiuliano della Rovere had written enjoining the people to surrenderpeacefully to the duke. 

What matters Cesare may have found in Cesena to justify the arrest ofhis Governor-General we do not know to the full with absolute certainty. On December 22 Ramiro de Lorqua, coming from Pesaro in response to hismaster's summons, was arrested on his arrival and flung into prison. Hisexamination was to follow. 

Macchiavelli, reporting the arrest, says: "It is thought he [Cesare] maysacrifice him to the people, who have a very great desire of it. "

Ramiro had made himself detested in Romagna by the ruthlessness of hisrule, and a ruthless servant reflects upon his master, a matter whichcould nowise suit Borgia. To all who have read The Prince it will beclear that upon that ground alone--of having brought Valentinois'sjustice into disrepute by the harshness which in Valentinois's name hepractised--Macchiavelli would have approved the execution of Ramiro. He would have accounted it perfectly justifiable that Ramiro shouldbe sacrificed to the people for no better reason than because he hadprovoked their hatred, since this sacrifice made for the duke's welfare. He does, as a matter of fact, justify this execution, but upon muchfuller grounds than these. Still, had the reasons been no better thanare mentioned, he would still have justified it upon those. So muchis clear; and, when so much is clear, much more will be clear to youtouching this strange epoch. 

There was, however, more than a matter of sacrificing theGovernor-General to the hatred of the people. There was, for one thing, the matter of that wheat which had disappeared. Ramiro was charged withhaving fraudulently sold it to his own dishonest profit, puttingthe duke to the heavy expense of importing fresh supplies for thenourishment of the people. The seriousness of the charge will beappreciated when it is considered that, had a famine resulted fromthis peculation, grave disorder might have ensued and perhaps even arebellion against a government which could provide no better. 

The duke published the news of the governor's arrest throughout Romagna. He announced his displeasure and regret at the harshnesses and corruptpractices of Ramiro de Lorqua, in spite of the most urgent admonishingsthat he should refrain from all undue exactions and the threat of gravepunishment should he disobey. These frauds, corruption, extortion, andrapine practised by the governor were so grave, continuous and general, stated the duke in his manifesto, that "there is no city, country-side, or castle, nor any place in all Romagna, nor officer or minister ofthe duke's, who does not know of these abuses; and, amongst others, the famine of wheat occasioned by the traffic which he held against ourexpress prohibition, sending out such quantities as would abundantlyhave sufficed for the people and the army. "

He concludes with assurances of his intention that, in the future, theyshall be ruled with justice and integrity, and he urges all who mayhave charges to prefer against the said governor to bring them forwardimmediately. 

It was freely rumoured that the charges against Ramiro by no means endedthere, and in Bologna--and from Bologna the truth of such a matter mightwell transpire, all things considered--it was openly said that Ramirohad been in secret treaty with the Bentivogli, Orsini, and Vitelli, against the Duke of Valentinois: "Aveva provixione da Messer ZoaneBentivogli e da Orsini e Vitelozo contro el duca, " writes Fileno dellaTuate, who, it will be borne in mind, was no friend of the Borgia, andwould be at no pains to find justification for the duke's deeds. 

But of that secret treaty there was, for the moment, no officialmention. Later the rumour of it was to receive the fullest confirmation, and, together with that, we shall give, in the next chapter, the duke'sobvious reasons for having kept the matter secret at first. Matterenough and to spare was there already upon which to dispose of MesserRamiro de Lorqua and disposed of he was, with the most summary justice. 

On the morning of December 26 the first folk to be astir in Cesenabeheld, in the grey light of that wintry dawn, the body of Ramiro lyingheadless in the square. It was richly dressed, with all his ornamentsupon it, a scarlet cloak about it, and the hands were gloved. On apike beside the body the black-bearded head was set up to view, andso remained throughout that day, a terrible display of the swift andpitiless justice of the duke. 

Macchiavelli wrote: "The reason of his death is not properly known"("non si sa bene la cagione della sua morte") "beyond the fact that suchwas the pleasure of the prince, who shows us that he can make and unmakemen according to their deserts. "

The Cronica Civitas Faventiae, the Diariurn Caesenate, and the CronacheForlivese, all express the people's extreme satisfaction at the deed, and endorse the charges of brutality against the man which are containedin Cesare's letter. 

CHAPTER XVII. "THE BEAUTIFUL STRATAGEM"

Cesare left Cesena very early on the morning of December 26--the morningof Ramiro's execution--and by the 29th he was at Fano, where he receivedthe envoys who came from Ancona with protestations of loyalty, as wellas a messenger from Vitellozzo Vitelli, who brought him news of thesurrender of Sinigaglia. The citadel itself was still being held byAndrea Doria--the same who was afterwards to become so famous in Genoa;this, it was stated, was solely because Doria desired to make surrenderto the duke himself. The Prefectress, Giovanna da Montefeltre, hadalready departed from the city, which she ruled as regent for hereleven-year old boy, and had gone by sea to Venice. 

The duke returned answer to Vitelli that he would be in Sinigagliahimself upon the morrow, and he invited the condottieri to receive himthere, since he was decided to possess himself of the citadel at once, whether Doria chose to surrender it peacefully or not; and that, toprovide for emergencies, he would bring his artillery with him. Lastly, Vitelli was bidden to prepare quarters within the new town for thetroops that would accompany Cesare. To do this it was necessary todispose the soldiers of Oliverotto da Fermo in the borgo. These were theonly troops with the condottieri in Sinigaglia; the remainder of theirforces were quartered in the strongholds of the territory at distancesof from five to seven miles of the town. 

On the last day of that year 1502 Cesare Borgia appeared beforeSinigaglia to receive the homage of those men who had used him sotreacherously, and whom--with the exception of Paolo Orsini--he nowmet face to face for the first time since their rebellion. Here wereFrancesco Orsini, Duke of Gravina, with Paolo and the latter's sonFabio; here was Oliverotto, the ruffianly Lord of Fermo, who had won hislordship by the cold-blooded murder of his kinsman, and concerning whoma rumour ran in Rome that Cesare had sworn to choke him with his ownhands; and here was Vitellozzo Vitelli, the arch-traitor of them all. 

Gianpaolo Baglioni was absent through illness--a matter less fatal tohim than was their health to those who were present--and the Cardinaland Giulio Orsini were in Rome. 

Were these captains mad to suppose that such a man as Cesare Borgiacould so forget the wrong they had done him, and forgive them in thiseasy fashion, exacting no amends? Were they mad to suppose that, aftersuch proofs as they had given him of what manner of faith they kept, he would trust them hereafter with their lives to work further mischiefagainst him? (Well might Macchiavelli have marvelled when he beheldthe terms of the treaty the duke had made with them. ) Were they mad toimagine that one so crafty as Valentinois would so place himself intotheir hands--the hands of men who had sworn his ruin and death? Truly, mad they must have been--rendered so by the gods who would destroy them. 

The tale of that happening is graphically told by the pen of theadmiring Macchiavelli, who names the affair "Il Bellissimo Inganno. "That he so named it should suffice us and restrain us from criticisms ofour own, accepting that criticism of his. To us, judged from our modernstandpoint, the affair of Sinigaglia is the last word in treacheryand iscariotism. But you are here concerned with the standpoint ofthe Cinquecento, and that standpoint Macchiavelli gives you when hedescribes this business as "the beautiful stratagem. " To offer judgmentin despite of that is to commit a fatuity, which too often already hasbeen committed. 

Here, then, is Macchiavelli's story of the event:

On the morning of December 31 Cesare's army, composed of 10, 000 footand 3, 000 horse, (1) was drawn up on the banks of the River Metauro--somefive miles from Sinigaglia--in accordance with his orders, awaiting hisarrival. He came at daybreak, and immediately ordered forward 200 lancesunder the command of Don Michele da Corella; he bade the foot to marchafter these, and himself brought up the rear with the main body of thehorse. 

 1 This is Macchiavelli's report of the forces; but, it appears to be anexaggeration, for, upon leaving Cesena, Cesare does not appear to havecommanded more than 10, 000 men in all. 

In Sinigaglia, as we have seen, the condottieri had only the troops ofOliverotto--1, 000 foot and 150 horse--which had been quartered in theborgo, and were now drawn up in the market-place, Oliverotto at theirhead, to do honour to the duke. 

As the horse under Don Michele gained the little river Misa and thebridge that spanned it, almost directly opposite to the gates ofSinigaglia, their captain halted them and drew them up into two files, between which a lane was opened. Through this the foot went forwardand straight into the town, and after came Cesare himself, a graceful, youthful figure, resplendent in full armour at the head of his lances. To meet him advanced now the three Orsini and Vitellozzo Vitelli. Macchiavelli tells us of the latter's uneasiness, of his premonitions ofevil, and the farewells (all of which Macchiavelli had afterwards heardreported) which he had taken of his family before coming to Sinigaglia. Probably these are no more than the stories that grow up about such menafter such an event as that which was about to happen. 

The condottieri came unarmed, Vitelli mounted on a mule, wearing a cloakwith a green lining. In that group he is the only man deserving of anyrespect or pity--a victim of his sense of duty to his family, driven tohis rebellion and faithlessness to Valentinois by his consuming desireto avenge his brother's death upon the Florentines. The others werepoor creatures, incapable even of keeping faith with one another. PaoloOrsini was actually said to be in secret concert with Valentinois sincehis mission to him at Imola, and to have accepted heavy bribes from him. Oliverotto you have seen at work, making a holocaust of his family andfriends under the base spur of his cupidity; whilst of the absent ones, Pandolfo Petrucci alone was a man of any steadfastness and honesty. 

The duke's reception of them was invested with that graciousfriendliness of which none knew the art better than did he, intentupon showing them that the past was forgiven and their offences againsthimself forgotten. As they turned and rode with him through the gatesof Sinigaglia some of the duke's gentlemen hemmed them about in thepreconcerted manner, lest even now they should be taken with alarm. Butit was all done unostentatiously and with every show of friendliness, that no suspicions should be aroused. 

From the group Cesare had missed Oliverotto, and as they now approachedthe market-square, where the Tyrant of Fermo sat on his horse at thehead of his troops, Cesare made a sign with his eyes to Don Michele, thepurport of which was plain to the captain. He rode ahead to suggest toOhiverotto that this was no time to have his men under arms and out oftheir lodgings, and to point out to him that, if they were not dismissedthey would be in danger of having their quarters snatched from them bythe duke's men, from which trouble might arise. To this he added thatthe duke was expecting his lordship. 

Oliverotto, persuaded, gave the order for the dismissal of his troops, and the duke, coming up at that moment, called to him. In responsehe went to greet him, and fell in thereafter with the others who wereriding with Valentinois. 

In amiable conversation with them all, and riding between Vitelli andFrancesco Orsini, the duke passed from the borgo into the town itself, and so to the palace, where the condottieri disposed to take their leaveof him. But Cesare was not for parting with them yet; he bade them inwith him, and they perforce must accept his invitation. Besides, hismood was so agreeable that surely there could be nought to fear. 

But scarce were they inside when his manner changed of a sudden, and ata sign from him they were instantly overpowered and arrested by thosegentlemen of his own who were of the party and who came to it wellschooled in what they were to do. 

Buonaccorsi compiled his diary carefully from the letters ofMacchiavelli to the Ten, in so far as this and other affairs areconcerned; and to Buonaccorsi we must now turn for what immediatelyfollows, which is no doubt from Macchiavelli's second letter of December31, in which the full details of the affair are given. His first letterno more than briefly states the happening; the second unfortunatelyis missing; so that the above particulars--and some yet to follow--areculled from the relations which he afterwards penned ("Del modo tenuto, "etc. ), edited, however, by the help of his dispatches at the time inregard to the causes which led to the affair. Between these and theactual relation there are some minor discrepancies. Unquestionably thedispatches are the more reliable, so that, where such discrepanciesoccur, the version in the dispatches has been preferred. 

To turn for a moment to Buonaccorsi, he tells us that, as the Florentineenvoy (who was, of course, Macchiavelli) following the Duke ofValentinois entered the town later, after the arrest of the condottieri, and found all uproar and confusion, he repaired straight to the palaceto ascertain the truth. As he approached he met the duke, riding out infull armour to quell the rioting and restrain his men, who were bynow all out of hand and pillaging the city. Cesare, perceiving thesecretary, reined in and called him. 

"This, " he said, "is what I wanted to tell Monsignor di Volterra[Soderini] when he came to Urbino, but I could not entrust him with thesecret. Now that my opportunity has come, I have known very well how tomake use of it, and I have done a great service to your masters. "

And with that Cesare left him, and, calling his captains about him, rode down into the town to put an end to the horrors that were beingperpetrated there. 

Immediately upon the arrest of the condottieri Cesare had issued ordersto attack the soldiers of Vitelli and Orsini, and to dislodge them fromthe castles of the territory where they were quartered, and similarlyto dislodge Oliverotto's men and drive them out of Sinigaglia. This hadbeen swiftly accomplished. But the duke's men were not disposed to leavematters at that. Excited by the taste of battle that had been theirs, they returned to wreak their fury upon the town, and were proceeding toput it to sack, directing particular attention to the wealthy quarteroccupied by the Venetian merchants, which is said to have been plunderedby them to the extent of some 20, 000 ducats. They would have made anend of Sinigaglia but for the sudden appearance amongst them of the dukehimself. He rode through the streets, angrily ordering the pillage tocease; and, to show how much he was in earnest, with his own hands hecut down some who were insolent or slow to obey him; thus, before dusk, he had restored order and quiet. 

As for the condottieri, Vitelli and Oliverotto were dealt with that verynight. There is a story that Oliverotto, seeing that all was lost, drewa dagger and would have put it through his heart to save himself fromdying at the hands of the hangman. If it is true, then that was his lastshow of spirit. He turned craven at the end, and protested tearfully tohis judges--for a trial was given them--that the fault of all the wrongwrought against the duke lay with his brother-in-law, Vitellozzo. Morewonderful was it that the grim Vitelli's courage also should break downat the end, and that he should beg that the Pope be implored to granthim a plenary indulgence and that his answer be awaited. 

But at dawn--the night having been consumed in their trial--they wereplaced back to back, and so strangled, and their bodies were taken tothe church of the Misericordia Hospital. 

The Orsini were not dealt with just yet. They were kept prisoners, andValentinois would go no further until he should have heard from Romethat Giulio Orsini and the powerful cardinal were also under arrest. Toput to death at present the men in his power might be to alarm and solose the others. They are right who say that his craft was devilish; butwhat else was to be expected of the times?

On the morrow--January 1, 1503--the duke issued dispatches to the Powersof Italy giving his account of the deed. It set forth that the Orsiniand their confederates, notwithstanding the pardon accorded them fortheir first betrayal and revolt, upon learning of the departure of theFrench lances--and concluding that the duke was thereby weakened, andleft with only a few followers of no account--had plotted a fresh andstill greater treachery. Under pretence of assisting him in thetaking of Sinigaglia, whither it was known that he was going, they hadassembled there in their full strength, but displaying only one-thirdof it, and concealing the remainder in the castles of the surroundingcountry. They had then agreed with the castellan of Sinigaglia, that onthat night they should attack him on every side of the new town, which, being small, could contain, as they knew, but few of his people. Thistreachery coming to his knowledge, he had been able to forestall it, and, entering Sinigaglia with all his troops, he had seized thetraitors and taken the forces of Oliverotto by surprise. He concluded byexhorting all to render thanks unto God that an end was set to the manycalamities suffered in Italy in consequence of those malignant ones. (1)

 1 See this letter in the documents appended to Alvisi's Cesare Borgia, document 76. 

For once Cesare Borgia is heard giving his own side of an affair. Butare the particulars of his version true? Who shall say positively? Hisstatement is not by any means contrary to the known facts, although itsets upon them an explanation rather different to that afforded us byMacchiavelli. But it is to be remembered that, after all, Macchiavellihad to fall back upon the inferences which he drew from what he beheld, and that there is no scrap of evidence directly to refute any one ofCesare's statements. There is even confirmation of the statement thatthe condottieri conceived that he was weakened by the departure of theFrench lances and left with only a few followers of no account. ForMacchiavelli himself dwells upon the artifice with which Cesare broke uphis forces and disposed of them in comparatively small numbers here andthere to the end that his full strength should remain concealed; and headmires the strategy of that proceeding. 

Certainly the duke's narrative tends to increase his justification foracting as he did. But at best it can only increase it, for the actualjustification was always there, and by the light of his epoch it isdifficult to see how he should be blamed. These men had openly swornto have his life, and from what has been seen of them there is littlereason to suppose they would not have kept their word had they but beengiven the opportunity. 

In connection with Cesare's version, it is well to go back for a momentto the execution of Ramiro de Lorqua, and to recall the alleged secretmotives that led to it. Macchiavelli himself was not satisfied that allwas disclosed, and that the governor's harshness and dishonesty had beenthe sole causes of the justice done upon him. "The reason of his deathis not properly known, " wrote the Florentine secretary. Another envoyof that day would have filled his dispatches with the rumours that werecurrent, with the matters that were being whispered at street corners. But Macchiavelli's habit was to disregard rumours as a rule, knowingtheir danger--a circumstance which renders his evidence the mostvaluable which we possess. 

It is perhaps permissible to ask: What dark secrets had the torture ofthe cord drawn from Messer Ramiro? Had these informed the duke of thetrue state of affairs at Sinigaglia, and had the knowledge brought himstraight from Cesena to deal with the matter?

There is justification for these questions, inasmuch as on January 4 thePope related to Giustiniani--for which see his dispatches--that Ramirode Lorqua, being sentenced to death, stated that he desired to informthe duke of certain matters, and informed him that he had concerted withthe Orsini to give the latter the territory of Cesena; but that, asthis could not now be done, in consequence of Cesare's treaty with thecondottieri, Vitelli had arranged to kill the duke, in which design hehad the concurrence of Oliverotto. They had planned that a crossbow-manshould shoot the duke as he rode into Sinigaglia, in consequence ofwhich the duke took great care of himself and never put off his armouruntil the affair was over. Vitellozzo, the Pope said, had confessedbefore he died that all that Ramiro had told the duke was true, andat the Consistory of January 6, when the Sacred College begged forthe release of the old Cardinal Orsini--who had been taken with theArchbishop of Florence, Giacomo di Santacroce, and Gianbattista daVirginio--the Pope answered by informing the cardinals of this plotagainst the duke's life. 

These statements by Cesare and his father are perfectly consistentwith each other and with the events. Yet, for want of independentconfirmation, they are not to be insisted upon as affording the trueversion--as, of course, the Pope may have urged what he did as a pretextto justify what was yet to follow. 

It is readily conceivable that Ramiro, under torture, or in the hopeperhaps of saving his life, may have betrayed the alleged plot to murderCesare. And it is perfectly consistent with Cesare's character and withhis age that he should have entered into a bargain to learn what Ramiromight have to disclose, and then have repudiated it and given him to theexecutioner. If Cesare, under such circumstances as these, had learntwhat was contemplated, he would very naturally have kept silent on thescore of it until he had dealt with the condottieri. To do otherwisemight be to forewarn them. He was, as Macchiavelli says, a secret man, and the more dangerous for his closeness, since he never let it be knownwhat he intended until he had executed his designs. 

Guicciardini, of course, has called the Sinigaglia affair a villainy("scelleragine") whilst Fabio Orsini and a nephew of Vitelli's whoescaped from Sinigaglia and arrived two days later at Perugia, sought toengage sympathy by means of an extraordinary tale, so alien to all thefacts--apart from their obvious reasons to lie and provoke resentmentagainst Cesare--as not to be worth citing. 

CHAPTER XVIII. THE ZENITH

Andrea Doria did not remain to make formal surrender of the citadelof Sinigaglia to the duke--for which purpose, be it borne in mind, hadCesare been invited, indirectly, to come to Sinigaglia. He fled duringthe night that saw Vitelli and Oliverotto writhing their last in thestrangler's hands. And his flight adds colour to the versions of theaffair that were afforded the world by Cesare and his father. AndreaDoria, waiting to surrender his trust, had nothing to fear from theduke, no reason to do anything but remain. Andrea Doria, intriguingagainst the duke's life with the condottieri, finding them seized by theduke, and inferring that all was discovered, had every reason to fly. 

The citadel made surrender on that New Year's morning, when Cesaresummoned it to do so, whilst the troops of the Orsini and Vitelli lodgedin the castles of the territory, being taken unawares, were speedilydisposed of. So, there being nothing more left to do in Sinigaglia, Cesare once more marshalled his men and set out for Città diCastello--the tyranny of the Vitelli, which he found undefended and ofwhich he took possession in the name of the Church. Thence he rushedon towards Perugia, for he had word that Guidobaldo of Urbino, FabioOrsini, Annibale and Venanzio Varano, and Vitelli's nephew wereassembled there under the wing of Gianpaolo Baglioni, who, with aconsiderable condotta at his back, was making big talk of resistingthe Duke of Romagna and Valentinois. In this, Gianpaolo persevered mostbravely until he had news that the duke was as near as Gualdo, whenprecipitately he fled--leaving his guests to shift for themselves. Hehad remembered, perhaps, at the last moment how narrow an escape hehad had of it at Sinigaglia, and he repaired to Siena to join PandolfoPetrucci, who had been equally fortunate in that connection. 

To meet the advancing and irresistible duke came ambassadors fromPerugia with smooth words of welcome, the offer of the city, and theirthanks for his having delivered them of the tyrants that oppressedthem; and there is not the slightest cause to suppose that this was meresycophancy, for a more bloody, murderous crew than these Baglioni--whosefeuds not only with the rival family of the Oddi, but among theirvery selves, had more than once embrued the walls of that city in thehills--it would be difficult to find in Italy, or anywhere in Europe. The history of the Baglioni is one record of slaughter. Under theirrule in Perugia human blood seems commonly to have flowed anywhere morefreely than in human veins. It is no matter for wonder that the peoplesent their ambassador to thank Cesare for having delivered them from theyoke that had oppressed them. 

Perugia having rendered him her oath of fealty, the duke left herhis secretary, Agabito Gherardi, as his commissioner, whilst sendingVincenzo Calmeta to Fermo--Oliverotto's tyranny--another State which wasvery fervent in the thanks it expressed for this deliverance. 

Scarcely was Cesare gone from Perugia when into the hands of his peoplefell the person of the Lady Panthasilea Baglioni d'Alviano--the wife ofthe famous Venetian condottiero Bartolomeo d'Alviano--and they, aware ofthe feelings prevailing between their lord and the Government of Venice, bethought them that here was a valuable hostage. So they shut her upin the Castle of Todi, together with her children and the women who hadbeen with her when she was taken. 

As in the case of Dorotea Caracciolo, the rumour is instantly put aboutthat it was Cesare who had seized her, that he had taken her to hiscamp, and that this poor woman had fallen a prey to that lustfulmonster. So--and in some such words--ran the story, and such a hold didit take upon folks' credulity that we see Piero di Bibieno before theCouncil of Ten, laying a more or less formal charge against the duke inrather broader terms than are here set down. So much, few of thosewho have repeated his story omit to tell you. But for some reason, notobviously apparent, they do not think it worth while to add that theDoge himself--better informed, it is clear, for he speaks with finalityin the matter--reproved him by denying the rumour and definitely statingthat it was not true, as you may read in the Diary of Marino Sanuto. That same diary shows you the husband--a person of great consequence inVenice--before the Council, clamouring for the enlargement of his lady;yet never once does he mention the name of Valentinois. The Council ofTen sends an envoy to wait upon the Pope; and the Pope expresses hisprofound regret and his esteem for Alviano, and informs the envoy thathe is writing to Valentinois to demand her instant release--in fact, shows the envoy the letter. 

To that same letter the duke replied on January 29 that he had knownnothing of the matter until this communication reached him; that he hassince ascertained that the lady was indeed captured and that she hassince been detained in the Castle of Todi with all the considerationdue to her rank; and that, immediately upon ascertaining this he hadcommanded that she should be set at liberty, which was done. 

And so the Lady Panthasilea returned unharmed to her husband. 

In Assisi Cesare received the Florentine ambassador Salviati, who cameto congratulate the duke upon the affair of Sinigaglia and to replaceMacchiavelli--the latter having been ordered home again. Congratulationsindeed were addressed to him by all those Powers that had received hisofficial intimation of the event. Amongst these were the felicitationsof the beautiful and accomplished Isabella d'Este, Marchioness ofGonzaga--whose relations with him were ever of the friendliest, evenwhen Faenza by its bravery evoked her pity--and with these she sent him, for the coming carnival, a present of a hundred masks of rare varietyand singular beauty, because she opined that "after the fatigues he hadsuffered in these glorious enterprises, he would desire to contrive forsome recreation. "

Here in Assisi, too, he received the Siennese envoys who came to waitupon him, and he demanded that, out of respect for the King of France, they should drive out Pandolfo Petrucci from Siena. For, to use hisown words, "having deprived his enemies of their weapons, he would nowdeprive them of their brain, " by which he paid Petrucci the complimentof accounting him the "brain" of all that had been attempted againsthim. To show the Siennese how much he was in earnest, he leaves allbaggage and stores at Assisi, and, unhampered, makes one of his suddenswoops towards Siena, pausing on January 13 at Castel della Pieve topublish, at last, his treaty with Bentivogli. The latter beingnow sincere, no doubt out of fear of the consequences of furtherinsincerity, at once sends Cesare 30 lances and 100 arbalisters underthe command of Antonio della Volta. 

It was there in Assisi, on the morning of striking his camp again, thatCesare completed the work that had been begun at Sinigaglia by havingPaolo Orsini and the Duke of Gravina strangled. There was no causeto delay the matter longer. He had word from Rome of the capture ofCardinal Orsini, of Gianbattista da Virginio, of Giacomo di Santacroce, and Rinaldo Orsini, Archbishop of Florence. 

On January 27, Pandolfo Petrucci being still in Siena, and Cesare'spatience exhausted, he issued an ultimatum from his camp at Sartiano inwhich he declared that if, within twenty-four hours, Petrucci had notbeen expelled from the city, he would loose his soldiers upon Siena todevastate the territory, and would treat every inhabitant "as a Pandolfoand an enemy. "

Siena judged it well to bow before that threatening command, and Cesare, seeing himself obeyed, was free to depart to Rome, whither the Pope hadrecalled him and where work awaited him. He was required to make an endof the resistance of the barons, a task which had been entrusted to hisbrother Giuffredo, but which the latter had been unable to carry out. 

In this matter Cesare and his father are said to have violentlydisagreed, and it is reported that high words flew between them; forCesare--who looked ahead and had his own future to consider, whichshould extend beyond the lifetime of Alexander VI--would not moveagainst Silvio Savelli in Palombara, nor Gian Giordano in Bracciano, alleging, as his reason for the latter forbearance, that Gian Giordano, being a knight of St. Michael like himself, he was inhibited by theterms of that knighthood from levying war upon him. To that he adhered, whilst disposing, however, to lay siege to Ceri, where Giulio andGiovanni Orsini had taken refuge. 

In the meantime, the Cardinal Gianbattista Orsini had breathed his lastin the Castle of Sant' Angelo. 

Soderini had written ironically to Florence on February 15: "CardinalOrsini, in prison, shows signs of frenzy. I leave your Sublimitiesto conclude, in your wisdom, the judgment that is formed of such anillness. "

It was not, however, until a week later--on February 22--that hesuccumbed, when the cry of "Poison!" grew so loud and general that thePope ordered the cardinal's body to be carried on a bier with the faceexposed, that all the world might see its calm and the absence of suchstains as were believed usually to accompany venenation. 

Nevertheless, the opinion spread that he had been poisoned--and thepoisoning of Cardinal Orsini has been included in the long list of theCrimes of the Borgias with which we have been entertained. That therumour should have spread is not in the least wonderful, consideringin what bad odour were the Orsini at the Vatican just then, and--be itremembered--what provocation they had given. Although Valentinois dubbedPandolfo Petrucci the "brain" of the conspiracy against him, the realguiding spirit, there can be little doubt, was this Cardinal Orsini, in whose stronghold at Magione the diet had met to plot Valentinois'sruin--the ruin of the Gonfalonier of the Church, and the freshalienation from the Holy See of the tyrannies which it claimed for itsown, and which at great cost had been recovered to it. 

Against the Pope, considered as a temporal ruler, that was treasonin the highest degree, and punishable by death; and, assuming thatAlexander did cause the death of Cardinal Orsini, the only just censurethat could fall upon him for the deed concerns the means employed. Yeteven against that it might be urged that thus was the dignity of thepurple saved the dishonouring touch of the hangman's hands. 

Some six weeks later--on April 10--died Giovanni Michieli, Cardinal ofSant' Angelo, and Giustiniani, the Venetian ambassador, wrote to hisGovernment that the cardinal had been ill for only two days, andthat his illness had been attended by violent sickness. This--and thereticence of it--was no doubt intended to arouse the suspicion that thecardinal had been poisoned. Giustiniani adds that Michieli's house wasstripped that very night by the Pope, who profited thereby to the extentof some 150, 000 ducats, besides plate and other valuables; and this wasintended to show an indecent eagerness on the Pope's part to possesshimself of that which by the cardinal's death he inherited, whereas, intruth, the measure would be one of wise precaution against the customarydanger of pillage by the mob. 

But in March of the year 1504, under the pontificate of JuliusII (Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere) a subdeacon, named Asquino deColloredo, was arrested for defaming the dead cardinal ("interfectorbone memorie Cardinalis S. Angeli"). (1) What other suspicions wereentertained against him, what other revelations it was hoped to extractfrom him, cannot be said; but Asquino was put to the question, tothe usual accompaniment of the torture of the cord, and under this heconfessed that he had poisoned Cardinal Michieli, constrained to itby Pope Alexander VI and the Duke of Valentinois, against his will andwithout reward ("verumtamen non voluisse et pecunias non habuisse"). 

 1 Burchard's Diarium, March 6, 1504. 

Now if Asquino defamed the memory of Cardinal Michieli it seems tofollow naturally that he had hated the cardinal; and, if we know that hehated him, we need not marvel that, out of that hatred, he poisoned him. But something must have been suspected as a motive for his arrestin addition to the slanders he was uttering, otherwise how camethe questions put to him to be directed so as to wring from him theconfession that he had poisoned the cardinal? If you choose to believehis further statement that he was constrained to it by Pope Alexanderand the Duke of Valentinois, you are, of course, at liberty to do so. But you will do well first to determine precisely what degree of creditsuch a man might be worth when seeking to extenuate a fault admittedunder pressure of the torture--and offering the extenuation likeliest togain him the favour of the della Rovere Pope, whose life's task--as weshall see--was the defamation of the hated Borgias. You will also dowell closely to examine the last part of his confession--that he wasconstrained to it "against his will and without reward. " Would the deedhave been so very much against the will of one who went about publishinghis hatred of the dead cardinal by the slanders he emitted?

Upon such evidence as that the accusation of the Pope's murder ofCardinal Michieli has been definitely established--and it must beadmitted that it is, if anything, rather more evidence than is usuallyforthcoming of the vampirism and atrocities alleged against him. 

Giustiniani, writing to his Government in the spring of 1503, informsthe Council of Ten that it is the Pope's way to fatten his cardinalsbefore disposing of them--that is to say, enriching them beforepoisoning them, that he may inherit their possessions. It was a wild andsweeping statement, dictated by political animus, and it has since grownto proportions more monstrous than the original. You may read usquead nauseam of the Pope and Cesare's constant practice of poisoningcardinals who had grown rich, for the purpose of seizing theirpossessions, and you are very naturally filled with horror at so muchand such abominable turpitude. In this matter, assertion--coupled withwhorling periods of vituperation--have ever been considered by theaccusers all that was necessary to establish the accusations. It hasnever, for instance, been considered necessary to cite the names of thecardinals composing that regiment of victims. That, of course, would beto challenge easy refutation of the wholesale charge; and refutation isnot desired by those who prefer the sensational manner. 

The omission may, in part at least, be repaired by giving a list ofthe cardinals who died during the eleven years of the pontificateof Alexander VI. Those deaths, in eleven years, numbertwenty-one--representing, incidentally, a percentage that comparesfavourably with any other eleven years of any other pontificate orpontificates. They are:

 Ardicino della Porta . . In 1493, at Rome Giovanni de'Conti. . . In 1493, at Rome Domenico della Rovere . . In 1494, at Rome Gonzalo de Mendoza. . . In 1495, in Spain Louis André d'Epinay . . In 1495, in France Gian Giacomo Sclafetano. . In 1496, at Rome Bernardino di Lunati . . In 1497, at Rome Paolo Fregosi. . . . In 1498, at Rome Gianbattista Savelli . . In 1498, at Rome Giovanni della Grolaye . . In 1499, at Rome Giovanni Borgia . . . In 1500, at Fossombrone Bartolomeo Martini. . . In 1500, at Rome John Morton. . . . In 1500, in England Battista Zeno. . . . In 1501, at Rome Juan Lopez . . . . In 1501, at Rome Gianbattista Ferrari . . In 1502, at Rome Hurtado de Mendoza. . . In 1502, in Spain Gianbattista Orsini. . . In 1503, at Rome Giovanni Michieli. . . In 1503, at Rome Giovanni Borgia (Seniore). . In 1503, at Rome Federico Casimir . . . In 1503, in Poland

Now, search as you will, not only such contemporary records as diaries, chronicles, and dispatches from ambassadors in Rome during that periodof eleven years but also subsequent writings compiled from them, and youshall find no breath of scandal attaching to the death of seventeen ofthose cardinals, no suggestion that they died other than natural deaths. 

Four remain: Cardinals Giovanni Borgia (Giuniore), Gianbattista Ferrari(Cardinal of Modena), Gianbattista Orsini, and Giovanni Michieli, all ofwhom the Pope and Cesare have, more or less persistently, been accusedof poisoning. 

Giovanni Borgia's death at Fossombrone has been dealt with at lengthin its proper place, and it has been shown how utterly malicious andgroundless was the accusation. 

Giovanni Michieli's is the case that has just been reviewed, andtouching which you may form your own conclusions. 

Gianbattista Orsini's also has been examined. It rests upon rumour; buteven if that rumour be true, it is unfair to consider the deed in anybut the light of a political execution. 

There remains the case of the Cardinal of Modena, a man who had amassedenormous wealth in the most questionable manner, and who was universallyexecrated. The epigrams upon his death, in the form of epitaphs, dealtmost terribly with "his ignominious memory"--as Burchard has it. Ofthese the Master of Ceremonies collected upwards of a score, which hegives in his Diarium. Let one suffice here as a fair example of therest, the one that has it that the earth has the cardinal's body, thebull (i. E. The Borgia) his wealth, and hell his soul. 

 "Hac Janus Baptista jacet Ferrarius urna, Terra habuit corpus, Bos bona, Styx animam. "

The only absolutely contemporary suggestion of his having been poisonedemanated from the pen of that same Giustiniani. He wrote to the VenetianSenate to announce the cardinal's death on July 20. In his letter herelates how his benefices were immediately distributed, and how thelion's share fell to the cardinal's secretary, Sebastiano Pinzone, andthat it was said ("é fama") that this man had received them as the priceof blood ("in premium sanguinis"), "since it is held, from many evidentsigns, that the cardinal died from poison" ("ex veneno"). 

Already on the 11th he had written: "The Cardinal of Modena lies ill, with little hope of recovery. Poison is suspected" ("si dubita diveleno"). 

That was penned on the eighth day of the cardinal's sickness, for he wastaken ill on the 3rd--as Burchard shows. Burchard, further, lays beforeus the whole course of the illness; tells us how, from the beginning, the cardinal refused to be bled or to take medicine of any kind, tellsus explicitly and positively that the cardinal was suffering from acertain fever--so prevalent and deadly in Rome during the months ofJuly and August; he informs us that, on the 11th (the day on whichGiustiniani wrote the above-cited dispatch), the fever abated, toreturn on the 16th. He was attended (Burchard continues) by many ablephysicians, who strove to induce him to take their medicines; but herefused persistently until the following day, when he accepted a smallproportion of the doses proposed. On July 20--after an illness ofseventeen days--he finally expired. 

Those entries in the diary of the Master of Ceremonies constitute anincontrovertible document, an irrefutable testimony against the chargesof poisoning when taken in conjunction with the evidence of factafforded by the length of the illness. 

It is true that, under date of November 20, 1504 (under the pontificateof Julius II), there is the following entry:

"Sentence was pronounced in the 'Ruota' against Sebastiano Pinzone, apostolic scribe, contumaciously absent, and he was deprived of allbenefices and offices in that he had caused the death of the Cardinal ofModena, his patron, who had raised him from the dust. "

But not even that can shake the conviction that must leap to everyhonest mind from following the entries in the diary contemporary withthe cardinal's decease. They are too circumstantial and conclusive tobe overthrown by this recorded sentence of the Ruota two years lateragainst a man who was not even present to defend himself. Besides, it isnecessary to discriminate. Burchard is not stating opinions of his ownwhen he writes "in that he caused the death of the Cardinal of Modena, "etc. ; he is simply--and obviously--recording the finding of the Tribunalof the Ruota, without comment of his own. Lastly, it is as well toobserve that in that verdict against Pinzone--of doubtful justice as itis--there is no mention made of the Borgias. 

The proceedings instituted against Sebastiano Pinzone were of a piecewith those instituted against Asquino de Colloredo and others yet tobe considered; they were set on foot by Giuliano della Rovere--thatimplacable enemy of the House of Borgia--when he became Pope, for thepurpose of heaping ignominy upon the family of his predecessor. But thatshall be further dealt with presently. 

Another instance of the unceasing growth of Borgia history is affordedin connection with this Sebastiano Pinzone by Dr. Jacob Burckhardt (inDer Cultur der Renaissance in Italien) who, in the course of the usualsweeping diatribe against Cesare, mentions "Michele da Corella, hisstrangler, and Sebastiano Pinzone, his poisoner. " It is an amazingstatement; for, whilst obviously leaning upon Giustiniani's dispatchfor the presumption that Pinzone was a poisoner at all, he ignores thestatement contained in it that Pinzone was the secretary and favouriteof Cardinal Ferrari, nor troubles to ascertain that the man was never inCesare Borgia's service at all, nor is ever once mentioned anywhere asconnected in any capacity whatever with the duke. Dr. Burckhardt felt, no doubt, the necessity of linking Pinzone to the Borgias, that thealleged guilt of the former may recoil upon the latter, and so heaccomplished it in this facile and irresponsible manner. 

Now, notwithstanding the full and circumstantial evidence afforded byBurchard's Diarium of the Cardinal of Modena's death of a tertianfever, the German scholar Gregorovius does not hesitate to write of thiscardinal's death: "It is certain that it was due to their [the Borgias']infallible white powders. "

Oh the art of writing history in sweeping statements to support apreconceived point of view! Oh that white powder of the Borgias!

Giovio tells us all about it. Cantarella, he calls it--Cantharides. WhyCantarella? Possibly because it is a pleasing, mellifluous word thatwill help a sentence hang together smoothly; possibly because thenotorious aphrodisiac properties of that drug suggested it to Giovio asjust the poison to be kept handy by folk addicted to the pursuits whichhe and others attribute to the Borgias. Can you surmise any betterreason? For observe that Giovio describes the Cantarella for you--ablunder of his which gives the lie to his statement. "A white powder ofa faint and not unpleasing savour, " says he; and that, as you know, isnothing like cantharides, which is green, intensely acrid, and burning. Yet who cares for such discrepancies? Who will ever question anythingthat is uttered against a Borgia? "Cantarella--a white powder of a faintand not unpleasing savour, " answers excellently the steady purpose ofsupporting a defamation and pandering to the tastes of those who likesensations in their reading--and so, from pen to pen, from book to bookit leaps, as unchallenged as it is impossible. 

Whilst Cesare's troops were engaged in laying siege to Ceri, and, byengines contrived by Leonardo da Vinci, pressing the defenders sosorely that at the end of a month's resistance they surrendered withsafe-conduct, the inimical and ever-jealous Venetians in the north werestirring up what trouble they could. Chafing under the restraint ofFrance, they but sought a pretext that should justify them in the eyesof Louis for making war upon Cesare, and when presently envoys cameto lay before the Pope the grievance of the Republic at the pillage byBorgian soldiery of the Venetian traders in Sinigaglia, Cesare had nodelusions concerning their disposition towards himself. 

Growing uneasy lest they should make this a reason for assailing hisfrontiers, he sent orders north recommending vigilance and instructinghis officers to deal severely with all enemies of his State, whilst heproceeded to complete the provisions for the government of the Romagna. To replace the Governor-General he appointed four seneschals: Cristoforodella Torre for Forli, Faenza and Imola; Hieronimo Bonadies for Cesena, Rimini, and Pesaro; Andrea Cossa for Fano, Sinigaglia, Fossombrone, andPergola; and Pedro Ramires for the duchy of Urbino. This last was tofind a deal of work for his hands; for Urbino was not yet submissive, Majolo and S. Leo still holding for Guidobaldo. 

Ramires began by reducing Majolo, and then proceeded to lay siege toS. Leo. But the Castellan--one Lattanzio--encouraged by the assurancesgiven him that the Venetians would render Guidobaldo assistance toreconquer his dominions, resisted stubbornly, and was not brought tosurrender until the end of June, after having held the castle for sixmonths. 

If Venice was jealous and hostile in the north, Florence was scarcelyless so in mid-Italy--though perhaps with rather more justification, forCesare's growing power and boundless ambition kept the latter Republicin perpetual fear of being absorbed into his dominions--into thatkingdom which it was his ultimate aim to found. There can be littledoubt that Francesco da Narni, who appeared in Tuscany early in theMarch of that year, coming from the French Court for the purpose ofarranging a league of Florence, Bologna, Siena, and Lucca--the fourStates more or less under French protection--had been besought byFlorence, to the obvious end that these four States, united, mightinter-defend themselves against Valentinois. And Florence even wentso far as to avail herself of this to the extent of restoring PandolfoPetrucci to the lordship of Siena--preferring even this avowed enemy tothe fearful Valentinois. Thus came about Petrucci's restoration towardsthe end of March, despite the fact that the Siennese were divided on thesubject of his return. 

With the single exception of Camerino, where disturbances stillcontinued, all was quiet in the States of the Church by that summer of1503. 

This desirable state of things had been achieved by Cesare's wise andliberal government, which also sufficed to ensure its continuance. 

He had successfully combated the threatened famine by importing grainfrom Sicily. To Sinigaglia--his latest conquest--he had accorded, as tothe other subjected States, the privilege of appointing her own nativeofficials, with, of course, the exception of the Podestà (who nevercould be a native of any place where he dispensed justice) and theCastellan. In Cesena a liberal justice was measured out by the Tribunalof the Ruota, which Cesare had instituted there, equipping it with thebest jurisconsults of the Romagna. 

In Rome he proceeded to a military organization on a new basis, andwith a thoroughness never before seen in Italy--or elsewhere, for thatmatter--but which was thereafter the example all sought to copy. We haveseen him issuing an edict that every house in the Romagna should furnishhim one man-at-arms to serve him when necessary. The men so levied wereunder obligation to repair to the market-place of their native town whensummoned thither by the ringing of the bells, and it was estimated thatthis method of conscription would yield him six or seven thousand men, who could be mobilized in a couple of days. He increased the numberof arquebusiers, appreciating the power and value of a weaponwhich--although invented nearly a century earlier--was still regardedwith suspicion. He was also the inventor of the military uniform, putting his soldiers into a livery of his own, and causing hismen-at-arms to wear over their armour a smock, quartered red andyellow with the name CESARE lettered on the breast and back, whilst thegentlemen of his guard wore surcoats of his colours in gold brocade andcrimson velvet. 

He continued to levy troops and to arm them, and it is scarcelyover-stating the case to say that hardly a tyrant of the Romagna wouldhave dared to do so much for fear of the weapons being turned againsthimself. Cesare knew no such fear. He enjoyed a loyalty from the peoplehe had subjected which was almost unprecedented in Italy. The veryofficers he placed in command of the troops of his levying were, for themost part, natives of the Romagna. Is there no inference concerning himto be drawn from that!

For every man in his service Cesare ordered a back-and-breast andheadpiece of steel, and the armourers' shops of Brescia rang busily thatsummer with the clang of metal upon metal, as that defensive armour forCesare's troops was being forged. At the same time the foundries wereturning out fresh cannon in that season which saw Cesare at the veryheight and zenith of his power, although he himself may not haveaccounted that, as yet, he was further than at the beginning. 

But the catastrophe that was to hurl him irretrievably from the eminenceto which in three short years he had climbed was approaching withstealthy, relentless foot, and was even now upon him. 

BOOK IV. THE BULL CADENT

"Cesar Borgia che era della gente Per armi e per virtú tenuto un sole, Mancar dovendo andó dove andar sole Phebo, verso la sera, al Occidente. 

"Girolamo Casio--Epitaffi. "

CHAPTER I. THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER VI

Unfortunate Naples was a battle-field once more. France and Spain wereengaged there in a war whose details belong elsewhere. 

To the aid of France, which was hard beset and with whose arms thingswere going none too well, Cesare was summoned to fulfil the obligationsunder which he was placed by virtue of his treaty with King Louis. 

Rumours were rife that he was negotiating secretly with Gonzalo deCordoba, the Great Captain, and the truth of whether or not he wasguilty of so base a treachery has never been discovered. These rumourshad been abroad since May, and, if not arising out of, they werecertainly stimulated by, an edict published by Valentinois concerningthe papal chamberlain, Francesco Troche. In this edict Cesare enjoinedall subjects of the Holy See to arrest, wherever found, this man who hadfled from Rome, and whose flight "was concerned with something againstthe honour of the King of France. "

Francesco Troche had been Alexander's confidential chamberlain andsecretary; he had been a diligent servant of the House of Borgia, andwhen in France had acted as a spy for Valentinois, keeping the dukesupplied with valuable information at a critical time, as we have seen. 

Villari says of him that he was "one of the Borgias' most trustedassassins. " That he has never been so much as alleged to have murderedanyone does not signify. He was a servant--a trusted servant--ofthe Borgias; therefore the title of "assassin" is, ipso facto, to bebestowed upon him. 

The flight of a man holding such an intimate position as Troche's wasnaturally a subject of much speculation and gossip, but a matter uponwhich there was no knowledge. Valentinois was ever secret. In commonwith his father--though hardly in so marked a degree, and if we exceptthe case of the scurrilous Letter to Silvio Savelli--he showed acontemptuous indifference to public opinion on the whole which isinvested almost with a certain greatness. At least it is rarely otherthan with greatness that we find such an indifference associated. It wasnot for him to take the world into his confidence in matters with whichthe world was not concerned. Let the scandalmongers draw what inferencesthey pleased. It was a lofty and dignified procedure, but one that wasfraught with peril; and the Borgias have never ceased to pay the priceof that excessive dignity of reserve. For tongues must be wagging, and, where knowledge is lacking, speculation will soon usurp its place, andpresently be invested with all the authority of "fact. "

Out of surmises touching that matter "which concerned the honour of theKing of France" grew presently--and contradictorily--the rumour thatTroche was gone to betray to France Valentinois's intention of goingover to the Spanish side. A motive was certainly required to account forTroche's action; but the invention of motives does not appear ever tohave troubled the Cinquecentist. 

It was now said that Troche was enraged at having been omitted from thelist of cardinals to be created at the forthcoming Consistory. It isall mystery, even to the end he made; for, whereas some said that, afterbeing seized on board a ship that was bound for Corsica, Troche in hisdespair threw himself overboard and was drowned, others reported that hewas brought back to Rome and strangled in a prison in Trastevere. 

The following questions crave answer:

If it was Troche's design to betray such a treachery of the Borgiasagainst France, what was he doing on board a vessel bound for Corsicaa fortnight after his flight from Rome? Would not his proper goal havebeen the French camp in Naples, which he could have reached in a quarterof that time, and where not only could he have vented his desire forvengeance by betraying Alexander and Valentinois, but he could furtherhave found complete protection from pursuit?

It is idle and unprofitable to dwell further upon the end of FrancescoTroche. The matter is a complete mystery, and whilst theory is very wellas theory, it is dangerous to cause it to fill the place of fact. 

Troche was drowned or was strangled as a consequence of his having fledout of motives that were "against the honour of the King of France. " Andstraightway the rumour spread of Valentinois's intended treachery, andthe rumour was kept alive and swelled by Venice and Florence in pursuitof their never-ceasing policy of discrediting Cesare with King Louis, tothe end that they might encompass his expedient ruin. 

The lie was given to them to no small extent by the Pope, when, inthe Consistory of July 28, he announced Cesare's departure to join theFrench army in Naples with five hundred horse and two thousand footassembled for the purpose. 

For this Cesare made now his preparations, and on the eve of departurehe went with his father--on the evening of August 5--to sup at the villaof Cardinal Adriano Corneto, outside Rome. 

Once before we have seen him supping at a villa of the Suburra on theeve of setting out for Naples, and we know the tragedy that followed--atragedy which he has been accused of having brought about. Here again, in a villa of the Suburra, at a supper on the eve of setting out forNaples, Death was the unseen guest. 

They stayed late at the vineyard of Cardinal Corneto, enjoyingthe treacherous cool of the evening, breathing the death that wasomnipresent in Rome that summer, the pestilential fever which hadsmitten Cardinal Giovanni Borgia (Seniore) on the 1st of that month, andof which men were dying every day in the most alarming numbers. 

On the morning of Saturday 12, Burchard tells us, the Pope felt ill, andthat evening he was taken with fever. On the 15th Burchard records thathe was bled, thirteen ounces of blood being taken from him. It relievedhim somewhat, and, seeking distraction, he bade some of the cardinals tocome and sit by his bed and play at cards. 

Meanwhile, Cesare was also stricken, and in him the fever raged sofierce and violently that he had himself immersed to the neck in a hugejar of ice-cold water--a drastic treatment in consequence of which hecame to shed all the skin from his body. 

On the 17th the Pope was much worse, and on the 18th, the end being athand, he was confessed by the Bishop of Culm, who administered ExtremeUnction, and that evening he died. 

That, beyond all manner of question, is the true story of the passing ofAlexander VI, as revealed by the Diarium of Burchard, by the testimonyof the physician who attended him, and by the dispatches of theVenetian, Ferrarese, and Florentine ambassadors. At this time of day itis accepted by all serious historians, compelled to it by the burden ofevidence. 

The ambassador of Ferrara had written to Duke Ercole, on August 14, thatit was no wonder the Pope and the duke were ill, as nearly everybody inRome was ill as a consequence of the bad air ("Per la mala condictionede aere"). 

Cardinal Soderini was also stricken with the fever, whilst Corneto wastaken ill on the day after that supper-party, and, like Cesare, is saidto have shed all the skin of his body before he recovered. 

Even Villari and Gregorovius, so unrestrained when writing of theBorgias, discard the extraordinary and utterly unwarranted stories ofGuicciardini, Giovio, and Bembo, which will presently be considered. Gregorovius does this with a reluctance that is almost amusing, andwith many a fond, regretful, backward glance--so very apparent in hismanner--at the tale of villainy as told by Guicciardini and the others, which the German scholar would have adopted but that he dared not forhis credit's sake. This is not stated on mere assumption. It is obviousto any one who reads Gregorovius's histories. 

Burchard tells us--as certainly matter for comment--that, during hislast illness, Alexander never once asked for Cesare nor ever oncementioned the name of Lucrezia. So far as Cesare is concerned, the Popeknew, no doubt, that he was ill and bedridden, for all that the gravityof the duke's condition would, probably, have been concealed fromhim. That he should not have mentioned Lucrezia--nor, we suppose, Giuffredo--is remarkable. Did he, with the hand of Death already uponhim, reproach himself with this paternity which, however usual andcommonplace in priests of all degrees, was none the less a scandal, andthe more scandalous in a measure as the rank of the offender was higher?It may well be that in those last days that sinful, worldly old manbethought him of the true scope and meaning of Christ's Vicarship, whichhe had so wantonly abused and dishonoured, and considered that to thatJudge before whom he was summoned to appear the sins of his predecessorswould be no justification or mitigation of his own. It may well be that, grown introspective upon his bed of death, he tardily sought to thrustfrom his mind the worldly things that had so absorbed it until thespiritual were forgotten, and had given rise to all the scandalconcerning him that was spread through Christendom, to the shame anddishonour of the Church whose champion he should have been. 

Thus may it have come to pass that he summoned none of his children inhis last hours, nor suffered their names to cross his lips. 

When the news of his father's death was brought to Cesare, the duke, allfever-racked as he was, more dead than living, considered his positionand issued his orders to Michele da Corella, that most faithful of allhis captains, who so richly shared with Cesare the execration of thelatter's enemies. 

Of tears for his father there is no record, just as at no time are weallowed to see that stern spirit giving way to any emotion, conceivingany affection, or working ever for the good of any but himself. Besides, in such an hour as this, the consciousness of the danger in whichhe stood by virtue of the Pope's death and his own most inopportunesickness, which disabled him from taking action to make his futuresecure, must have concerned him to the exclusion of all else. 

Meanwhile, however, Rome was quiet, held so in the iron grip of Micheleda Corella and the ducal troops. The Pope's death was being kept secretfor the moment, and was not announced to the people until nightfall, bywhen Corella had carried out his master's orders, including the seizureof the Pope's treasure. And Burchard tells us how some of Valentinois'smen entered the Vatican--all the gates of which were held by the ducaltroops--and, seizing Cardinal Casanova, they demanded, with a daggerat his throat and a threat to fling his corpse from the windows ifhe refused them, the Pope's keys. These the cardinal surrendered, andCorella possessed himself of plate and jewels to the value of some200, 000 ducats, besides two caskets containing about 100, 000 ducats ingold. Thereafter the servants of the palace completed the pillage byransacking the wardrobes and taking all they could find, so that nothingwas left in the papal apartments but the chairs, a few cushions, and thetapestries of the walls. 

All his life Alexander had been the victim of the most ribald calumnies. Stories had ever sprung up and thriven, like ill weeds, about his nameand reputation. His sins, great and scandalous in themselves, wereswelled by popular rumour, under the spur of malice, to monstrous andincredible proportions. As they had exaggerated and lied about themanner of his life, so--with a consistency worthy of better scope--theyexaggerated and lied about the manner of his death, and, the age beinga credulous one, the stories were such that writers of more modernand less credulous times dare not insist upon them, lest they shoulddiscredit--as they do--what else has been alleged against him. 

Thus when, in his last delirium, the Pope uttered some such words as: "Iam coming; I am coming. It is just. But wait a little, " and when thosewords were repeated, it was straightway asserted that the Devil was thebeing he thus addressed in that supreme hour. The story grew in detail;that is inevitable with such matter. He had bargained with the devil, it was said, for a pontificate of twelve years, and, the time beingcompleted, the devil was come for him. And presently, we even have adescription of Messer the Devil as he appeared on that occasion--in theshape of a baboon. The Marquis Gonzaga of Mantua, in all seriousness, writes to relate this. The chronicler Sanuto, receiving the nowpopularly current story from another source, in all seriousness gives itplace in his Diarii, thus:

"The devil was seen to leap out of the room in the shape of a baboon. And a cardinal ran to seize him, and, having caught him, would havepresented him to the Pope; but the Pope said, 'Let him go, let him go. It is the devil, ' and that night he fell ill and died. "(1)

 1 "Il diavolo sarebbe saltato fuori della camera in forma di babuino, etun cardinale corso per piarlo, e preso volendolo presentar al papa, il papa disse lasolo, lasolo ché ii diavolo. E poi la notte si amaló emorite. "--Marino Sanuto, Diarii. 

That story, transcending the things which this more practical ageconsiders possible, is universally rejected; but it is of vastimportance to the historical student; for it is to be borne in mind thatit finds a place in the pages of those same Diarii upon the authorityof which are accepted many defamatory stories without regard to theirextreme improbability so long as they are within the bounds of barepossibility. 

After Alexander was dead it was said that water boiled in his mouth, andthat steam issued from it as he lay in St. Peter's, and much else of thesame sort, which the known laws of physiology compel so many of us veryreluctantly to account exaggerations. But, again, remember that thesource of these stories was the same as the source of many otherexaggerations not at issue with physiological laws. 

The circumstances of Alexander's funeral are in the highest degreescandalous, and reflect the greatest discredit upon his age. 

On the morrow, as the clergy were chanting the Libera me, Domine in St. Peter's, where the body was exposed on a catafalque in full pontificals, a riot occurred, set on foot by the soldiers present for reasons whichBurchard--who records the event--does not make clear. 

The clerics fled for shelter to the sacristy, the chants were cut short, and the Pope's body almost entirely abandoned. 

But the most scandalous happening occurred twenty-four hours later. ThePope's remains were removed to the Chapel of Santa Maria delle Febbreby six bearers who laughed and jested at the expense of the poor corpse, which was in case to provoke the coarse mirth of the lower classes of anage which, setting no value upon human life, knew no respect for death. By virtue of the malady that had killed him, of his plethoric habitof body, and of the sweltering August heat, the corpse was decomposingrapidly, so that the face had become almost black and assumed an aspectgrotesquely horrible, fully described by Burchard:

"Factus est sicut pannus vel morus nigerrimus, livoris totus plenus, nasus plenus, os amplissimum, lingua duplex in ore, que labia totaimplebat, os apertum et adeo horribile quod nemo viderit unquam vel essetale dixerit. "

Two carpenters waited in the chapel with the coffin which they hadbrought; but, either through carelessness it had been made too narrowand too short, or else the body, owing to its swollen condition, didnot readily fit into this receptable; whereupon, removing the mitre, forwhich there was no room, they replaced it by a piece of old carpet, andset themselves to force and pound the corpse into the coffin. And thiswas done "without candle or any light being burned in honour of thedead, and without the presence of any priest or other person to carefor the Pope's remains. " No explanation of this is forthcoming; it wasprobably due to the panic earlier occasioned the clergy by the ducalmen-at-arms. 

The story that he had been poisoned was already spreading like aconflagration through Rome, arising out of the appearance of the body, which was such as was popularly associated with venenation. 

But a Borgia in the rôle of a victim was altogether too unusual to beacceptable, and too much opposed to the taste to which the public hadbeen educated; so the story must be edited and modified until suitablefor popular consumption. The supper-party at Cardinal Corneto's villawas remembered, and upon that a tale was founded, and trimmed by degreesinto plausible shape. 

Alexander had intended to poison Corneto--so ran this tale--that hemight possess himself of the cardinal's vast riches; in the main awell-worn story by now. To this end Cesare had bribed a butler to pourwine for the cardinal from a flask which he entrusted to him. ExitCesare. Exit presently the butler, carelessly leaving the poisoned wineupon a buffet. (The drama, you will observe, is perfectly mechanical, full of author's interventions, and elementary in its "preparations"). Enter the Pope. He thirsts, and calls for wine. A servant hastens; takesup, of course, the poisoned flask in ignorance of its true quality, andpours for his Beatitude. Whilst the Pope drinks re-enters Cesare, alsoathirst, and, seating himself, he joins the Pope in the poisoned wine, all unsuspicious and having taken no precautions to mark theflask. Poetic justice is done, and down comes the curtain upon thatpreposterous tragi-farce. 

Such is the story which Guicciardini and Giovio and a host of other moreor less eminent historians have had the audacity to lay before theirreaders as being the true circumstances of the death of Alexander VI. 

It is a noteworthy matter that in all that concerns the history of theHouse of Borgia, and more particularly those incidents in it that arewrapped in mystery, circumstantial elucidation has a habit of proceedingfrom the same quarters. 

You will remember, for instance, that the Venetian Paolo Capello (thoughnot in Rome at the time) was one of those who was best informed in thematter of the murder of the Duke of Gandia. And it was Capello again whowas possessed of the complete details of the scarcely less mysteriousbusiness of Alfonso of Aragon. Another who on the subject of the murderof Gandia "had no doubts"--as he himself expressed it--was PietroMartire d'Anghiera, in Spain at the time, whence he wrote to informItaly of the true circumstances of a case that had happened in Italy. 

It is again Pietro Martire d'Anghiera who, on November 10, 1503, writesfrom Burgos in Spain to inform Rome of the true facts of Alexander'sdeath--for it is in that letter of his that the tale of the flask ofwine, as here set down, finds place for the first time. 

It is unprofitable to pursue the matter further, since at this timeof day even the most reluctant to reject anything that tells againsta Borgia have been compelled to admit that the burden of evidence isaltogether too overwhelming in this instance, and that it is proved tothe hilt that Alexander died of the tertian fever then ravaging Rome. 

And just as the Pope's death was the subject of the wildest fictionswhich have survived until very recent days, so too, was Cesare'srecovery. 

Again, it was the same Pietro Martire d'Anghiera who from Burgos wroteto inform Rome of what was taking place in the privacy of the Duke ofValentinois's apartments in the Vatican. Under his facile and magic pen, the jar of ice-cold water into which Cesare was believed to have beenplunged was transmuted into a mule which was ripped open that thefever-stricken Cesare might be packed into the pulsating entrails, thereto sweat the fever out of him. 

But so poor and sexless a beast as this seeming in the popular mindinadequate to a man of Cesare's mettle, it presently improved upon andconverted it into a bull--so much more appropriate, too, as being theemblem of his house. 

Nor does it seem that even then the story has gone far enough. Facilisinventis addere. There comes a French writer with an essay on theBorgias, than which--submitted as sober fact--nothing more amazinglylurid has been written. In this, with a suggestive cleverness entirelyGallic, he causes us to gather an impression of Cesare in the intestinalsudatorium of that eventrated bull, as of one who is at once thehierophant and devotee of a monstrous, foul, and unclean rite of someunspeakable religion--a rite by comparison with which the Black Mass ofthe Abbé Gribourg becomes a sweet and wholesome thing. 

But hear the man himself:

"Cet homme de meurtres et d'inceste, incarné dans l'animal deshécatombes et des bestialités antiques en évoque les monstrueusesimages. Je crois entendre le taureau de Phalaris et le taureau dePasiphaë répondre, de loin, par d'effrayants mugissements, aux crishumains de ce bucentaure. "

That is the top note on this subject. Hereafter all must pale toanti-climax. 

CHAPTER II. PIUS III

The fever that racked Cesare Borgia's body in those days can have beenas nothing to the fever that racked his mind, the despairing rage thatmust have whelmed his soul to see the unexpected--the one contingencyagainst which he had not provided--cutting the very ground fromunderneath his feet. 

As he afterwards expressed himself to Macchiavelli, and as Macchiavellihas left on record, Cesare had thought of everything, had provided foreverything that might happen on his father's death, save that in such aseason--when more than ever he should have need for all his strength ofbody and of mind--he should, himself, be lying at the point of death. 

Scarce was Alexander's body cold than the duke's enemies began to lifttheir heads. Already by the 20th of that month--two days after the Popehad breathed his last--the Orsini were in arms and had led a rising, inretort to which Michele da Corella fired their palace on Montegiordano. 

Venice and Florence bethought them that the protection of France hadbeen expressly for the Church and not for Cesare personally. So theVenetians at once supplied Guidobaldo da Montefeltre with troopswherewith to reconquer his dominions, and by the 24th he was master ofS. Leo. In the city of Urbino itself Ramires, the governor, held out aslong as possible, then beat a retreat to Cesena, whilst Valentinois'spartisans in Urbino were mercilessly slaughtered and their housespillaged. 

Florence supported the Baglioni in the conquest of Magione from theBorgias, and they aided Giacopo d'Appiano to repossess himself ofPiombino, which had so gladly seen him depart out of it eighteen monthsago. 

From Magione, Gianpaolo Baglioni marches his Florentine troops toCamerino to aid the only remaining Varano to regain the tyranny of hisfathers. The Vitelli are back in Città di Castello, carrying a goldencalf in triumph through the streets; and so by the end of August, withinless than a fortnight, all the appendages of the Romagna are lostto Cesare, whilst at Cesare's very gates the Orsini men-at-arms areclamouring with insistent menace. 

The Duke's best friend, in that crisis, was his secretary AgabitoGherardi. For it is eminently probable--as Alvisi opines--that it wasGherardi who urged his master to make an alliance with the Colonna, Gherardi himself being related to that powerful family. The alliance ofthese old enemies--Colonna and Borgia--was in their common interests, that they might stand against their common enemy, Orsini--the oldfriends of the Borgias. 

On August 22 Prospero Colonna came to Rome, and terms were made andcemented, in the usual manner, by a betrothal--that of the littleRodrigo--(Lucrezia's child)--to a daughter of the House of Colonna. On the same day the Sacred College confirmed Cesare in his office ofCaptain-General and Gonfalonier of the Church, pending the election of anew Pope. 

Meanwhile, sick almost to the point of death, and scarce able to stirhand or foot, so weak in body had he been left by the heroic treatmentto which he had submitted, Cesare continued mentally a miracle of energyand self-possession. He issued orders for the fortifying of the Vatican, and summoned from Romagna 200 horse and 1, 000 foot to his aid in Rome, bidding Remolino, who brought these troops, to quarter himself atOrvieto, and there await his further orders. 

Considering that the Colonna were fighting in Naples under the bannerof Gonzalo de Cordoba, it was naturally enough supposed, from Cesare'salliance with the former, that this time he was resolved to go over tothe side of Spain. Of this, M. De Trans came to protest to Valentinoison behalf of Louis XII, to be answered by the duke's assurances that thealliance into which he had entered was strictly confined to the Colonna, that it entailed no treaty with Spain; nor had he entered into any; thathis loyalty to the King of France continued unimpaired, and that hewas ready to support King Louis with the entire forces he disposedof, whenever his Majesty should desire him so to do. In reply, hewas assured by the French ambassador and Cardinal Sanseverino of thecontinued protection of Louis, and that France would aid him to maintainhis dominions in Italy and reconquer any that might have seceded; andof this declaration copies were sent to Florence, Venice, and Bologna onSeptember 1, as a warning to those Powers not to engage in anything tothe hurt of Valentinois. 

Thus sped the time of the novendiali--the nine days' obsequies of thedead Pope--which were commenced on September 4. 

As during the conclave that was immediately to follow it was againstthe law for armed men to be in Rome, Cesare was desired by the SacredCollege to withdraw his troops. He did so on September 2, and himselfwent with them. 

Cardinal Sanseverino and the French ambassador escorted him out of Romeand saw him take the road to Nepi--a weak, fever-ravaged, emaciated man, borne in a litter by a dozen of his halberdiers, his youth, his beauty, his matchless strength of body all sapped from him by the insidiousdisease which had but grudgingly spared his very life. 

At Nepi he was awaited by his brother Giuffredo, who had preceded himthither from Rome. A shadowy personage this Giuffredo, whose unimportantpersonality is tantalizingly elusive in the pages where mention is madeof him. His incontinent wife, Doña Sancia, had gone to Naples under theescort of Prospero Colonna, having left the Castle of Sant' Angelo wherefor some time she had been confined by order of her father-in-law, thePope, on account of the disorders of her frivolous life. 

And now the advices of the fresh treaty between Cesare Borgia and theKing of France were producing their effect upon Venice and Florence, whowere given additional pause by the fierce jealousy of each other, whichwas second only to their jealousy of the duke. 

From Venice--with or without the sanction of his Government--Bartolomeod'Alviano had ridden south into the Romagna with his condottaimmediately upon receiving news of the death of Alexander, and, findingPandolfaccio Malatesta at Ravenna, he proceeded to accompany him backto that Rimini which the tyrant had sold to Cesare. Rimini, however, refused to receive him back, and showed fight to the forces underd'Alviano. So that, for the moment, nothing was accomplished. Whereuponthe Republic, which at first had raised a feeble, make-believe protestat the action of her condottiero, now deemed it as well to find apretext for supporting him. So Venice alleged that a courier of hers hadbeen stripped of a letter, and, with such an overwhelming cause as thatfor hostilities, dispatched reinforcements to d'Alviano to the end thathe might restore Pandolfaccio to a dominion in which he was abhorred. Further, d'Alviano was thereafter to proceed to do the like office forGiovanni Sforza, who already had taken ship for Pesaro, and who wasrestored to his lordship on September 3. 

Thence, carrying the war into the Romagna itself, d'Alviano marched uponCesena. But the Romagna was staunch and loyal to her duke. The governorhad shut himself up in Cesena with what troops he could muster, including a thousand veterans under the valiant Dionigio di Naldo, and there, standing firm and resolute, he awaited the onslaught of theVenetians. 

D'Alviano advanced rapidly and cruelly, a devastator laying waste thecountry in his passage, until to check him came suddenly the Borgiatroops, which had ventured upon a sally. The Venetians were routed andput to flight. 

On September 16 the restored tyrants of Rimini, Pesaro, Castello, Perugia, Camerino, Urbino, and Sinigaglia entered into and signed atPerugia a league, whose chiefs were Bartolomeo d'Alviano and GianpaoloBaglioni, for their common protection. 

Florence was invited to join the allies. Intimidated, however, byFrance, not only did the Signory refuse to be included, but--in herusual manner--actually went so far as to advise Cesare Borgia of thatrefusal and to offer him her services and help. 

On the same date the Sacred College assembled in Rome, at the Mass ofthe Holy Spirit, to beseech the grace of inspiration in the election ofthe new Pontiff. The part usually played by the divine afflatus inthese matters was so fully understood and appreciated that the Venetianambassador received instructions from the Republic(1) to order theVenetian cardinals to vote for Giuliano della Rovere, whilst the King ofFrance sent a letter--in his own hand--to the Sacred College desiring itto elect his friend the Cardinal d'Amboise, and Spain, at the same time, sought to influence the election of Carvajal. 

 1 See Sanuto's Diarrii. 

The chances of the last-named do not appear ever to have amountedto very much. The three best supported candidates were della Rovere, d'Amboise, and Ascanio Sforza--who made his reappearance in Rome, released from his French prison at last, in time to attend thisConclave. 

None of these three factions was strong enough to ensure the electionof its own candidate, but any two were strong enough to prevent theelection of the candidate of the third. Wherefore it happened that, asa result of so much jealousy and competition, recourse was had totemporizing by electing the oldest and feeblest cardinal in the College. Thus there should presently be another election, and meantime thecandidates would improve the time by making their arrangements andcanvassing their supporters so as to control the votes of the College atthat future Conclave. Therefore Francesco Piccolomini, Cardinal ofSiena (nephew of Pius II), a feeble octogenarian, tormented by an ulcer, which, in conjunction with an incompetent physician, was to cut his lifeeven shorter than they hoped, was placed upon the throne of St. Peter, and assumed with the Pontificate the name of Pius III. 

The new Pope was entirely favourable to Cesare Borgia, and confirmed himin all his offices, signifying his displeasure to Venice at her attemptupon the Romagna, and issuing briefs to the allied tyrants commandingthem to desist from their opposition to the will of the Holy See. 

Cesare returned to Rome, still weak on his legs and ghastly to behold, and on October 6 he received in St. Peter's his confirmation asCaptain-General and Gonfalonier of the Church. 

The Venetians had meanwhile been checked by a letter from Louis fromlending further assistance to the allies. The latter, however, continuedtheir hostilities in spite of that. They had captured Sinigaglia, andnow they made an attempt on Fano and Fermo, but were repulsed in bothplaces by Cesare's loyal subjects. At the same time the Ordelaffi--whoin the old days had been deposed from the Tyranny of Forli to make roomfor the Riarii--deemed the opportunity a good one to attempt to regaintheir lordship; but their attempt, too, was frustrated. 

Cesare sat impotent in Rome, no doubt vexed by his own inaction. Hecannot have lacked the will to go to the Romagna to support the subjectswho showed him such loyalty; but he lacked the means. Owing to theFrench and Spanish dispute in Naples, his army had practically meltedaway. The terms of his treaty with Louis compelled him to send thebulk of it to the camp at Garigliano to support the French, who were introuble. The force that Remolino had quartered at Orvieto to await theduke's orders he had been unable to retain there. Growing uneasy attheir position, and finding it impossible either to advance or toretreat, being threatened on the one side by the Baglioni and on theother by the Orsini, these troops had steadily deserted; whilst mostof Cesare's Spanish captains and their followers had gone to the aid oftheir compatriots under Gonzalo de Cordoba in response to that captain'ssummons of every Spaniard in the peninsula. 

Thus did it come about that Cesare had no force to afford his Romagnasubjects. His commissioners in the north did what was possible to repairthe damage effected by the allies, and they sent Dionigio di Naldo withsix hundred of his foot, and, further, a condotta of two hundred horse, against Rimini. This was captured by them in one day and almost withoutresistance, Pandolfaccio flying for his life to Pesaro. 

Next the allies, by attempting to avenge the rout they had sufferedat Cesena, afforded the ducal troops an opportunity of scoring anothervictory. They prepared a second attack against Cesare's capital, andwith an army of considerable strength they advanced to the very walls ofthe stronghold, laying the aqueduct in ruins and dismantling what otherbuildings they found in their way. But in Cesena the gallant PedroRamires lay in wait for them. Issuing to meet them, he not only put themto flight and drove them for shelter into the fortress of Montebello, but laid siege to them there and broke them utterly, with a loss, as wasreputed, of some three hundred men in slain alone. 

The news of this came to cheer Valentinois, who, moreover, had nowthe Pope and France to depend upon. Further, and in view of thatsame protection, the Orsini were already treating with him for areconciliation, despite the fact that the Orsini blood was scarce dryupon his hands. But he had a resolute, sly, and desperate enemy inVenice, and on October 10 there arrived in Rome Bartolomeo d'Alviano andGianpaolo Baglioni, who repaired to the Venetian ambassador and informedhim that they were come in quest of the person of Valentinois, intendinghis death. 

To achieve their ends they united themselves to the Orsini, who werenow in arms in Rome, their attempted reconciliation with Cesare havingaborted. Valentinois's peril became imminent, and from the Vatican hewithdrew for shelter to the Castle of Sant' Angelo, going by way of theunderground passage built by his father. 

Thence he summoned Michele da Corella, who was at Rocca Soriana with hisfoot, and Taddeo della Volpe (a valiant captain and a great fighter, whohad already lost an eye in Cesare's service) and Baldassare Scipione, who were in the Neapolitan territory with their men-at-arms. He wasgathering his sinews for a spring, when suddenly the entire face ofaffairs was altered and all plans were checked by the death of Pius IIIon October 18, after a reign of twenty-six days. 

Once more there was an end to Cesare's credit. No man might say what thefuture held in store. Giustiniani, indeed, wrote to his Governmentthat Cesare was about to withdraw to France, and that he had besoughta safe-conduct of the Orsini--which report is as true as many anothercommunication from the same Venetian pen, ever ready to write whatit hoped might be true; and it is flatly contradicted by thebetter-informed Macchiavelli, who was writing at the same time:

"The duke is in Sant' Angelo, and is more hopeful than ever ofaccomplishing great things, presupposing a Pope according to the wishesof his friends. "

But the Romagna was stirred once more to the turbulence from which ithad scarcely settled. Forli and Rimini were lost almost at once, theOrdelaffi succeeding in capturing the former in this their secondattempt, whilst Pandolfaccio once more sat in his palace at Rimini, having cut his way to it through a sturdy resistance. Against ImolaBentivogli dispatched a force of two thousand foot; but this was beatenoff. 

The authority of France appeared to have lost its weight, and in vaindid Cardinal d'Amboise thunder threats in the name of his friend KingLouis, and send envoys to Florence, Venice, Bologna, and Urbino, to complain of the injuries that were being done to the Duke ofValentinois. 

CHAPTER III. JULIUS II

Giuliano della Rovere, Cardinal of S. Pietro in Vincoli, had much in hischaracter that was reminiscent of his terrible uncle, Sixtus IV. Like that uncle of his, he had many failings highly unbecoming anyChristian--laic or ecclesiastic--which no one has attempted to screen;and, incidentally, he cultivated morality in his private life andobserved his priestly vows of chastity as little as did any otherchurchman of his day. For you may see him, through the eyes of Paride deGrassi, (1) unable one Good Friday to remove his shoes for the adorationof the cross in consequence of his foot's affliction--ex morbo gallico. But with one great and splendid virtue was he endowed in the eyes of theenemies of the House of Borgia--contemporary, and subsequent down toour times--a most profound, unchristian, and mordacious hatred of allBorgias. 

 1 Burchard's successor in the office of Master of Ceremonies. 

Roderigo Borgia had defeated him in the Conclave of 1492, and for twelveyears had kept him out of the coveted pontificate. You have seen how hefound expression for his furious jealousy at his rival's success. Youhave seen him endeavouring to his utmost to accomplish the deposition ofthe Borgia Pope, wielding to that end the lever of simony and seeking afulcrum for it, first in the King of France and later in Ferdinand andIsabella; but failing hopelessly in both instances. You have seen him, when he realized the failure of an attempt which had made Rome toodangerous for him and compelled him to remain in exile, suddenly veeringround to fawn and flatter and win the friendship of one whom his enmitycould not touch. 

This man who, as Julius II, was presently to succeed Pius III, hasbeen accounted a shining light of virtue amid the dark turpitude of theChurch in the Renaissance. An ignis fatuus, perhaps; a Jack-o'-lanthornbegotten of putrescence. Surely no more than that. 

Dr. Jacob Burckhardt, in that able work of his to which referencealready has been made, follows the well-worn path of unrestrainedinvective against the Borgias, giving to the usual empty assertionsthe place which should be assigned to evidence and argument. Like hispredecessors along that path, he causes Giuliano della Rovere toshine heroically by contrast--a foil to throw into greater relief theblackness of Alexander. But he carries assertion rather further than doothers when he says of Cardinal della Rovere that "He ascended the stepsof St. Peter's Chair without simony and amid general applause, andwith him ceased, at all events, the undisguised traffic in the highestoffices of the Church. "

Other writers in plenty have suggested this, but none has quite soplainly and resoundingly thrown down the gauntlet, which we will makebold to lift. 

That Dr. Burckhardt wrote in other than good faith is not to beimputed. It must therefore follow that an entry in the Diarium of theCaerimoniarius under date of October 29, 1503, escaped him utterly inthe course of his researches. For the Diarium informs us that on thatday, in the Apostolic Palace, Giuliano della Rovere, Cardinal of S. Pietro in Vincoli, concluded the terms of an agreement with the Duke ofValentinois and the latter's following of Spanish cardinals, by whichhe undertook that, in consideration of his receiving the votes of theseSpanish cardinals and being elected Pope, he would confirm Cesare in hisoffice of Gonfalonier and Captain-General, and would preserve him in thedominion of the Romagna. And, in consideration of that undertaking, theSpanish cardinals, on their side, promised to give him their suffrages. 

Here are the precise words in which Burchard records the transaction:

"Eadem die, 29 Octobris, Rmus. D. S. Petri ad Vincula venit inpalatio apostolico cum duce Valentino et cardinalibus suis Hispanis etconcluserunt capitula eorum per que, inter alia, cardinalis S. Petri adVincula, postquam esset papa, crearet confalonierium Ecclesiae generalemducem ac ei faveret et in statibus suis (relinqueret) et vice versa duxpape; et promiserunt omnes cardinalis Hispani dare votum pro CardinaliS. Petri ad Vincula ad papatum. "

If that does not entail simony and sacrilege, then such things donot exist at all. More, you shall hunt in vain for any accusation soauthoritative, formal and complete, regarding the simony practised byAlexander VI on his election. And this same Julius, moreover, was thePope who later was to launch his famous Bull de Simoniaca Electione, toadd another stain to the besmirched escutcheon of the Borgia Pontiff. 

His conciliation of Cesare and his obtaining, thus, the support of theSpanish cardinals, who, being Alexander's creatures, were now Cesare'svery faithful servants, ensured the election of della Rovere; for, whilst those cardinals' votes did not suffice to place him in St. Peter's Chair, they would abundantly have sufficed to have kept him outof it had Cesare so desired them. 

In coming to terms with Cardinal della Rovere, Cesare made the firstgreat mistake of his career, took the first step towards ruin. Heshould have known better than to have trusted such a man. He should haveremembered the ancient bitter rancour; should have recognized, in theamity of later times, the amity of the self-seeker, and mistrusted it. But della Rovere had acquired a reputation for honesty and for beinga man of his word. How far he deserved it you may judge from what ispresently to follow. He had acquired it, however, and Cesare, to hisundoing, attached faith to that reputation. He may, to some extent, havecounted upon the fact that, of Cardinal della Rovere's bastard children, only a daughter--Felice della Rovere--survived. Raffaele, the last ofhis bastard boys, had died a year ago. Thus, Cesare may have concludedthat the cardinal having no sons whose fortunes he must advance, wouldlack temptation to break faith with him. 

From all this it resulted that, at the Conclave of November 1, Giulianodella Rovere was elected Pope, and took the name of Julius II; whilstValentinois, confident now that his future was assured, left theCastle of Sant' Angelo to take up his residence at the Vatican, in theBelvedere, with forty gentlemen constituting his suite. 

On November 3 Julius II issued briefs to the Romagna, ordering obedienceto Cesare, with whom he was now in daily and friendliest intercourse. 

In the Romagna, meanwhile, the disturbances had not only continued, butthey had taken a fresh turn. Venice, having reseated Malatesta on thethrone, now vented at last the covetousness she had ever, herself, manifested of that dominion, and sent a force to drive him out again andconquer Rimini for the Republic. 

Florence, in a spasm of jealous anger at this, inquired was the Pope tobecome the chaplain of Venice, and dispatched Macchiavelli to bear thetale of these doings to Julius. 

Under so much perpetual strife the strength of the Romagna was graduallycrumbling, and Cesare, angry with Florence for never going beyondlip-service, expressed that anger to Macchiavelli, informing theambassador that the Signory could have saved the Romagna for him with ahundred men-at-arms. 

The duke sent for Giustiniani, the ambassador of Venice, who, however, excused himself and did not go. This within a week of the new Pope'selection, showing already how men discerned what was in store forValentinois. Giustiniani wrote to his Government that he had not gonelest his going should give the duke importance in the eyes of others. (1)The pettiness and meanness of the man, revealed in that dispatch, willenable you to attach to Giustiniani the label that belongs to him. 

 1 "Per non dar materia ad altri che fazino un po di lui mazor estimaziondi quel che fanno quando lo vedessero in parte alcunafavorito. "--Giustiniani, Dispatch of November 6, 1503. 

To cheer Valentinois in those days of depression came news that hissubjects of Imola had successfully resisted an attack on the part of theVenetians. So stimulated was he that he prepared at once to go, himself, into the Romagna, and obtained from the Pope, from d'Amboise, andfrom Soderini, letters to Florence desiring the Signory to afford himsafe-conduct through Tuscany for himself and his army. 

The Pope expressed himself, in his letter, that he would count suchsafe-conduct as a great favour to himself, and urged the granting of itout of his "love for Cesare, " owing to the latter's "great virtues andshining merits. "(2) Yet on the morrow of dispatching that brief, thisman, who was accounted honest, straightforward, and imbued with alove of truth, informed Giustiniani--or else Giustiniani lied in hisdispatches--that he understood that the Venetians were assailing theRomagna, not out of enmity to the Church, but to punish the demerits ofCesare, and he made it plain to Giustiniani that, if he complainedof the conduct of the Venetians, it was on his own behalf and not onCesare's, as his aim was to preserve the Romagna, not for the duke, butfor the Church. 

 2 "In quo nobis rem gratissimam facietis ducis enim ipsum propter ejusinsignes virtutes et praeclara merita praecipuo affectur et caritatepraecipua complectimur. "--Archivio di Stato, Firenze. (See Alvisi, Doct. 96. )

With the aim we have no quarrel. It was laudable enough in a Pontiff. But it foreshadows Cesare's ruin, in spite of the love-protesting letterto Florence, in spite of the bargain struck by virtue of which Juliushad obtained the pontificate. Whether the Pope went further in histreachery, whether, having dispatched that brief to Florence, he sentother communications to the Signory, is not ascertainable; but thesuspicion of some such secret action is inspired by what ensued. 

On November 13 Cesare was ready to leave Rome; but no safe-conducthad arrived. Out of all patience at this, he begged the Pope that thecaptain of the pontifical navy should prepare him five galleons atOstia, by which he could take his foot to Genoa, and thence proceed intoRomagna by way of Ferrara. 

Macchiavelli, at the same time, was frenziedly importuning Florence togrant the duke the desired safe-conduct lest in despair Cesare shouldmake a treaty with Venice--"or with the devil"--and should go to Pisa, employing all his money, strength, and influence to vent his wrath uponthe Signory. But the Signory knew more, perhaps, than did Macchiavelli, for no attention was paid to his urgent advice. 

On the 19th Cesare left Rome to set out for Genoa by way of Ostia, andhis departure threw Giustiniani into alarm--fearing that the duke wouldnow escape. 

But there was no occasion for his fears. On the very day of Cesare'sdeparture Julius sent fresh briefs to the Romagna, different indeedfrom those of November 3. In these he now expressed his disapproval ofAlexander's having conferred the vicarship of the Romagna upon CesareBorgia, and he exhorted all to range themselves under the banner of theChurch, under whose protection he intended to keep them. 

Events followed quickly upon that. Two days later news reached the Popethat the Venetians had captured Faenza, whereupon he sent a messengerafter Valentinois to suggest to the latter that he should surrenderForli and the other fiefs into pontifical hands. With this Cesarerefused to comply, and, as a result, he was detained by the captain ofthe navy, in obedience to the instructions from Julius. At the same timethe Pope broke the last link of the treaty with Cesare by appointinga new Governor of Romagna in the person of Giovanni Sacchi, Bishop ofRagusa. He commanded the latter to take possession of the Romagna in thename of the Church, and he issued another brief--the third within threeweeks--demanding the State's obedience to the new governor. 

On November 26, Remolino, who had been at Ostia with Cesar; came toRome, and, throwing himself at the feet of the Pontiff, begged for mercyfor his lord, whom he now accounted lost. He promised Julius that Cesareshould give him the countersigns of the strongholds, together withsecurity for their surrender. This being all that the Pope could desire, he issued orders that Cesare be brought back to Rome, and in Consistoryadvised the Sacred College--by way, no doubt, of exculpating himselfto men who knew that he was refusing to pay the price at which he hadbought the Papacy--that the Venetians in the Romagna were not movingagainst the Church, but against Cesare himself--wherefore he haddemanded of Cesare the surrender of the towns he held, that thus theremight be an end to the war. 

It was specious--which is the best that can be said for it. 

As for putting an end to the war, the papal brief was far indeed fromachieving any such thing, as was instantly plain from the reception itmet with in the Romagna, which persisted in its loyalty to Cesare indespite of the very Pope himself. When that brief was read in Cesena awild tumult ensued, and the people ran through the streets clamouringangrily for their duke. 

It was very plain what short work would have been made of such men asthe Ordelaffi and the Malatesta had Cesare gone north. But Cesare wasfast at the Vatican, treated by the Pope with all outward friendlinessand consideration, but virtually a prisoner none the less. Juliuscontinued to press for the surrender of the Romagna strongholds, which Remolino had promised in his master's name; but Cesare persistedobstinately to refuse, until the news reached him that Michele daCorella and della Volpe, who had gone north with seven hundred horse tosupport his Romagnuoli, had been cut to pieces in Tuscany by the army ofGianpaolo Baglioni. 

Cesare bore his burning grievance to the Pope. The Pope sympathized withhim most deeply; then went to write a letter to the Florentines tothank them for what had befallen and to beg them to send him Micheleda Corella under a strong escort--that redoubtable captain having beentaken prisoner together with della Volpe. 

Corella was known to be fully in the duke's confidence, and there wererumours that he was accused of many things perpetrated on the duke'sbehalf. Julius, bent now on Cesare's ruin, desired to possess himselfof this man in the hope of being able to put him upon his trial undercharges which should reflect discredit upon Cesare. 

At last the duke realized that he was betrayed, and that all waslost, and so he submitted to the inevitable, and gave the Pope thecountersigns he craved. With these Julius at once dispatched an envoyinto the Romagna, and, knowing the temper of Cesare's captains, heinsisted that this envoy should be accompanied by Piero d'Orvieto, asCesare's own commissioner, to demand that surrender. 

But the intrepid Pedro Ramires, who held Cesena, knowing the true factsof the case, and conceiving how his duke had been constrained, insteadof making ready to yield, proceeded further to fortify for resistance. When the commissioners appeared before his gates he ordered theadmission of Piero d'Orvieto. That done, he declared that he desired tosee his duke at liberty before he would surrender the citadel which heheld for him, and, taking d'Orvieto, he hanged him from the battlementsas a traitor and a bad servant who did a thing which the duke, had hebeen at liberty, would never have had him do. 

Moncalieri, the papal envoy, returned to Rome with the news, and thisso inflamed the Pope that the Cardinals Lodovico Borgia and FrancescoRemolino, together with other Borgia partisans, instantly fled fromRome, where they no longer accounted themselves safe, and sought refugewith Gonzalo de Cordoba in the Spanish camp at Naples, imploring hisprotection at the same time for Cesare. 

The Pope's anger first vented itself in the confiscation of the Duke ofValentinois's property wherever possible, to satisfy the claims of theRiarii (the Pope's nephews) who demanded an indemnity of 50, 000 ducats, of Guidobaldo, who demanded 200, 000 ducats, and of the FlorentineRepublic, which claimed the same. The duke's ruin was by now--within sixweeks of the election of Julius II--an accomplished fact; and manywere those who chose to fall with him rather than abandon him in hisextremity. They afford a spectacle of honour and loyalty that wasexceedingly rare in the Italy of the Renaissance; clinging to theirduke, even when the last ray of hope was quenched, they lightened forhim the tedium of those last days at the Vatican during which he was nobetter than a prisoner of state. 

Suddenly came news of Gonzalo de Cordoba's splendid victory atGarigliano--a victory which definitely broke the French and gave thethrone of Naples to Spain. Naturally this set Spanish influence oncemore, and mightily, in the ascendant, and the Spanish cardinals, together with the ambassador of Spain, came to exert with the Pope aninfluence suddenly grown weighty. 

As a consequence, Cesare, escorted by Carvajal, Cardinal of Santa Croce, was permitted to depart to Ostia, whence he was to take ship for France. Leastways, such was the understanding upon which he left the Vatican. But the Pope was not minded, even now, to part with him so easily, andhis instructions to Carvajal were that at Ostia he should await furtherorders before sailing. 

But on December 26, news reaching the Spanish cardinal that the Romagnafortresses--persuaded that Cesare had been liberated--had finallysurrendered, Carvajal took it upon himself to allow Cesare to depart, upon receiving from him a written undertaking never to bear arms againstPope Julius II. 

So the Duke of Valentinois at last regained his freedom. Whether, inrepairing straight to Naples, as he did, he put a preconceived planinto execution, or whether, even now, he mistrusted his enlargement, andthought thus to make himself secure, cannot be ascertained. Butstraight to Gonzalo de Cordoba's Spanish camp he went, equipped witha safe-conduct from the Great Captain, obtained for Cesare by CardinalRemolino. 

There he found a court of friends already awaiting him, among whom werehis brother Giuffredo and the Cardinal Lodovico Borgia, and he receivedfrom Gonzalo a very cordial welcome. 

Spain was considering the invasion of Tuscany with the ultimateobject of assailing Milan and driving the French out of the peninsulaaltogether. Piero de'Medici--killed at Garigliano--had no doubt beenserving Spain with some such end in view as the conquest of Florence, and, though Piero was dead, there was no reason why the plan should beabandoned; rather, all the more reason to carry it forward, since nowSpain would more directly profit by it. Bartolomeo d'Alviano was to havecommanded the army destined for that campaign; but Cesare, by virtueof his friends and influence in Pisa, Siena, and Piombino, was sopreferable a captain for such an expedition that Gonzalo gave him chargeof it within a few days of his arrival at the Spanish camp. 

To Cesare this would have been the thin end of a mighty edge. Here wasa chance to begin all over again, and, beginning thus, backed by Spanisharms, there was no saying how far he might have gone. Meanwhile, what abeginning! To avenge himself thus upon that Florentine Republic which, under the protection of France, had dared at every turn to flout him andhad been the instrument of his ultimate ruin! Sweet to him would havebeen the poetic justice he would have administered--as sweet to himas it would have been terrible to Florence, upon which he would havedescended like another scourge of God. 

Briskly and with high-running hopes he set about his preparations duringthat spring of 1504 what time the Pope's Holiness in Rome was seeking tojustify his treachery by heaping odium upon the Borgias. Thus he thoughtto show that if he had broken faith, he had broken faith with knavesdeserving none. It was in pursuit of this that Michele da Corella wasnow pressed with questions, which, however, yielded nothing, and thatAsquino de Colloredo (the sometime servant of Cardinal Michaeli)was tortured into confessing that he had poisoned his master at theinstigation of Alexander and Cesare--as has been seen--which confessionPope Julius was very quick to publish. 

But in Naples, it may well be that Cesare cared nought for thesematters, busy and hopeful as he was just then. He dispatched Baldassareda Scipione to Rome to enlist what lances he could find, and Scipioneput it about that his lord would soon be returning to his own and givinghis enemies something to think about. 

And then, suddenly, out of clearest heavens, fell a thunderbolt toshiver this last hope. 

On the night of May 26, as Cesare was leaving Gonzalo's quarters, wherehe had supped, an officer stepped forward to demand his sword. He wasunder arrest. 

Julius II had out-manoeuvred him. He had written to Spain settingforth what was his agreement with Valentinois in the matter of theRomagna--the original agreement which was the price of the Pontificate, had, of course, been conveniently effaced from the pontifical memory. Headdressed passionate complaints to Ferdinand and Isabella that Gonzalode Cordoba and Cardinal Carvajal between them were affording Valentinoisthe means to break that agreement, and to undertake matters that werehostile to the Holy See. And Ferdinand and Isabella had put it uponGonzalo de Cordoba, that most honourable and gallant captain, to dothis thing in gross violation of his safe-conduct and plighted word toValentinois. It was a deed under the shame of which the Great Captainconfessedly laboured to the end of his days, as his memory has labouredunder it ever since. For great captains are not afforded the immunityenjoyed by priests and popes jointly with other wearers of the petticoatfrom the consequences of falsehood and violated trust. 

Fierce and bitter were Valentinois's reproaches of the Great Captain forthis treachery--as fierce and bitter as they were unavailing. On August20, 1504, Cesare Borgia took ship for Spain--a prisoner bound for aSpanish dungeon. Thus, at the early age of twenty-nine, he passed fromItaly and the deeds that well might have filled a lifetime. 

Conspicuous amid those he left behind him who remained loyal to theirduke was Baldassare Scipione, who published throughout Christendom acartel, wherein he challenged to trial by combat any Spaniard who dareddeny that the Duke of Valentinois had been detained a prisoner in Naplesin spite of the safe-conduct granted him in the name of Ferdinand andIsabella, "with great shame and infamy to their crown. "(1)

 1 Quoted by Alvisi, on the authority of a letter of Luigi da Porto, March 16, 1510, in Lettere Storiche. 

This challenge was never taken up. 

Amongst other loyal ones was that fine soldier of fortune, Taddeo dellaVolpe, who, in his Florentine prison, refused all offers to enter theservice of the Signory until he had learnt that his lord was gone fromItaly. 

Fracassa and Mirafuente had held Forli until they received guaranteesfor Cesare's safety (after he had left Ostia to repair to the Spanishcamp). They then rode out, with the honours of war, lance on thigh. Dionigio di Naldo, that hardy captain of foot, entered the service ofVenice; but to the end he wore the device of his dear lord, and imposedthe same upon all who served under his banner. 

Don Michele da Corella was liberated by Julius II after an interrogatorywhich can have revealed nothing defamatory to Cesare or his father; asit is unthinkable that a Pope who did all that man could do to ruin theHouse of Borgia and to befoul its memory, should have preserved silencetouching any such revelations as were hoped for when Corella was put totorture. That most faithful of all Cesare's officers--and sharer of theodium that has been heaped upon Cesare's name--entered the service ofthe Signory of Florence. 

CHAPTER IV. ATROPOS

Vain were the exertions put forth by the Spanish cardinals to obtainCesare's enlargement, and vainer still the efforts of his sisterLucrezia, who wrote letter after letter to Francesco Gonzaga ofMantua--now Gonfalonier of the Church, and a man of influence at theVatican--imploring him to use his interest with the Pope to the sameend. 

Julius II remained unmoved, fearing the power of Cesare Borgia, andresolved that he should trouble Italy no more. On the score of that, noblame attaches to the Pope. The States which Borgia had conquered inthe name of the Church should remain adherent to the Church. Upon thatJulius was resolved, and the resolve was highly laudable. He wouldhave no duke who controlled such a following as did Cesare, using thoseStates as stepping-stones to greater dominions in which, no doubt, hewould later have absorbed them, alienating them, so, from the Holy See. 

In all this Julius II was most fully justified. The odious matter in hisconduct, however, is the abominable treachery it entailed, following asit did upon the undertaking by virtue of which he gained the tiara. 

For some months after his arrival in Spain, Cesare was confined in theprison of Chinchilla, whence--as a result, it is said, of an attempton his part to throw the governor bodily over the battlements--he wasremoved to the fortress of Medina del Campo, and kept well guarded byorders of the Pope. 

Rumours that he had been liberated by the King of Spain overran theRomagna more than once, and set the country in a ferment, even reachingthe Vatican and shaking the stout-hearted Julius into alarm. 

One chance of regaining his ancient might, and wreaking a sweet andterrific vengeance upon his betrayers came very close to him, butpassed him by. This chance occurred in 1505, when--Queen Isabella beingdead--King Ferdinand discovered that Gonzalo de Cordoba was playing himfalse in Naples. The Spanish king conceived a plan--according to thechronicles of Zurita--to employ Cesare as a flail for the punishment ofthe Great Captain. He proposed to liberate the duke, set him at thehead of an army, and loose him upon Naples, trusting to the formidablealliance of Cesare's military talents with his hatred of Gonzalo--whohad betrayed him--to work the will of his Catholic Majesty. 

Unfortunately for Cesare, there were difficulties. Ferdinand's power wasno longer absolute in Castille now that Isabella was dead. He sought toovercome these difficulties; but the process was a slow one, and inthe course of it, spurred also by increased proofs of his lieutenant'sperfidy, Ferdinand lost patience, and determined--the case having grownurgent--to go to Naples in person to deal with Gonzalo. 

Plainly, Cesare's good fortune, which once had been proverbial, had nowutterly deserted him. 

He had received news of what was afoot, and his hopes had run high oncemore, only to suffer cruel frustration when he learnt that Ferdinand hadsailed, himself, for Naples. In his despair the duke roused himself to alast effort to win his freedom. 

His treatment in prison was fairly liberal, such as is usually measuredout to state prisoners of consideration. He was allowed his own chaplainand several attendants, and, whilst closely guarded and confined to theHomenaje Tower of the fortress, yet he was not oppressively restrained. He was accorded certain privileges and liberties; he enjoyed the facultyof corresponding with the outer world, and even of receiving visits. Amongst his visitors was the Count of Benavente--a powerful lord ofthe neighbourhood, who, coming under the spell of Cesare's fascination, became so attached to him, and so resolved to do his will and effect hisliberation, that--says Zurita--he was prepared even to go the length ofaccomplishing it by force of arms should no other way present itself. (1)

 1 Sanuto confirms Zurita, in the main, by letters received by theVenetian Senate. 

Another way, however, did present itself, and Benavente and the dukehatched a plot of evasion in which they had the collaboration of thechaplain and a servant of the governor's, named Garcia. 

One September night a cord was let down from the crenels of the tower, and by this the duke was to descend from his window to the castle ditch, where Benavente's men awaited him. Garcia was to go with him since, naturally, it would not be safe for the servants to remain behind, andGarcia now let himself down that rope, hand over hand, from the terribleheight of the duke's window. It was only when he had reached the end ofit that he discovered that the rope was not long enough, and that belowhim there was still a chasm that might well have appalled even desperatemen. 

To return was impossible. The duke above was growing impatient. Garcialoosed his hold, and dropped the remainder of the distance, breakingboth his legs in the fall. Groaning, he lay there in the ditch, whilsthand over hand now came the agile, athletic duke, unconscious of hispredecessor's fate, and of what awaited him at the end. He reached it, and was dangling there, perhaps undecided whether or not to take thatdaring leap, when suddenly his doubts were resolved for him. His evasionwas already discovered. The castle was in alarm, and some one above himcut the rope and precipitated him into the ditch. 

Benavente's men--we do not know how many of them were at hand--ran tohim instantly. They found him seriously injured, and that he, too, hadbroken bones is beyond doubt. They lifted him up, and bore him with allspeed to the horses. They contrived, somehow, to mount him upon one, and, holding him in the saddle, they rode off as fast as was possibleunder the circumstances. There was no time to go back for theunfortunate Garcia. The castle was all astir by now to stop thefugitives, and to have returned would have been to suffer capturethemselves as well as the duke, without availing the servant. 

So poor Garcia was left to his fate. He was found by the governor wherehe had fallen, and he was immediately put to death. 

If the people of Medina organized a pursuit it availed them nothing, forCesare was carried safely to Benavente's stronghold at Villalon. 

There he lay for some five or six weeks to recover from the hurts hehad taken in escaping, and to allow his hands--the bones of which werebroken--to become whole again. At last, being in the main recovered, though with hands still bandaged, he set out with two attendants andmade for Santander. Thence they took ship to Castro Urdiales, Cesareaiming now at reaching the kingdom of Navarre and the protection of hisbrother-in-law the king. 

At the inn at Santander, where, weary and famished, they sat down todine after one of the grooms had made arrangements for a boat, they hada near escape of capture. The alcalde, hearing of the presence of thesestrangers, and his suspicions being aroused by the recklessly high pricethey had agreed to pay the owner of the vessel which they had engaged, came to examine them. But they had a tale ready that they werewheat-merchants in great haste to reach Bernico, that a cargo of wheatawaited them there, and that they would suffer great loss by delay. Thetale was smooth enough to satisfy the alcalde, and they were allowed todepart. They reached Castro Urdiales safely, but were delayed there fortwo days, owing to the total lack of horses; and they were forced, inthe end, to proceed upon mules obtained from a neighbouring convent. Onthese they rode to Durango, where they procured two fresh mules anda horse, and so, after further similar vicissitudes, they arrived atPampeluna on December 3, 1506, and Cesare startled the Court of hisbrother-in-law, King Jean of Navarre, by suddenly appearing in it--"likethe devil. "

The news of his evasion had already spread to Italy and set it ina ferment, inspiring actual fear at the Vatican. The Romagna wasencouraged by it to break out into open and armed insurrection againstthe harsh rule of Julius II--who seems to have been rendered positivelyvindictive towards the Romagnuoli by their fidelity to Valentinois. Thus had the Romagna fallen again into the old state of insufferableoppression from which Cesare had once delivered it. The hopes of theRomagnuoli rose in a measure, as the alarm spread among the enemies ofCesare--for Florence and Venice shared now the anxiety of the Vatican. Zurita, commenting upon this state of things, pays Cesare the followingcompliment, which the facts confirm as just:

"The duke was such that his very presence was enough to set all Italyagog; and he was greatly beloved, not only by men of war, but also bymany people of Tuscany and of the States of the Church. "

Cesare's wife--Charlotte d'Albret--whom he had not seen since thatSeptember of 1499, was at Bourges at the Court of her friend, thesaintly, repudiated first wife of Louis XII. It is to be supposed thatshe would be advised of her husband's presence at her brother's Court;but there is no information on this score, nor do we know that they evermet. 

Within four days of reaching Pampeluna Cesare dispatched his secretaryFederico into Italy to bear the news of his escape to his sisterLucrezia at Ferrara, and a letter to Francesco Gonzaga, of Mantua, whichwas little more than one of introduction, the more important matters tobe conveyed to Gonzaga going, no doubt, by word of mouth. Federico wasarrested at Bologna by order of Julius II, after he had discharged hismission. 

France was now Cesare's only hope, and he wrote to Louis begging hisroyal leave to come to take his rank as a prince of that country, and toserve her. 

You may justly have opined, long since, that the story here set down isone never-ending record of treacheries and betrayals. But you willfind little to surpass the one to come. The behaviour of Louis at thisjuncture is contemptible beyond words, obeying as it does the maximof that age, which had it that no inconvenient engagement should beobserved if there was opportunity for breaking it. 

Following this detestable maxim, Louis XII had actually gone thelength of never paying to Charlotte d'Albret the dot of 100, 000 livresTournois, to which he had engaged himself by written contract. WhenCesare, in prison at Medina and in straits for money, had solicitedpayment through his brother-in-law of Navarre, his claim had beencontemptuously disregarded. 

But there was worse to follow. Louis now answered Cesare's request forleave to come to France by a letter (quoted in full by M. Yriarte fromthe Archives des Basses Pyrénées) in which his Very Christian Majestyannounces that the duchy of Valentinois and the County of Dyois havebeen restored to the crown of France, as also the lordship of Issoudun. And then follows the pretext, of whose basely paltry quality you shalljudge for yourselves. It runs:

"After the decease of the late Pope Alexander, when our people and ourarmy were seeking the recovery of the kingdom of Naples, he [Cesare]went over to the side of our enemies, serving, favouring, and assistingthem at arms and otherwise against ourselves and our said people andarmy, which resulted to us in great and irrecoverable loss. "

The climax is in the deliberate falsehood contained in the closingwords. Poor Cesare, who had served France at her call--in spite ofwhat was rumoured of his intentions--as long as he had a man-at-armsto follow him, had gone to Naples only in the hour of his extreme need. True, he had gone to offer himself to Spain as a condottiero when naughtelse was left to him; but he took no army with him--he went alone, aservant, not an ally, as that false letter pretends. He had nevercome to draw his sword against France, and certainly no loss had beensuffered by France in consequence of any action of his. Louis's army wasdefinitely routed at Garigliano, with Cesare's troops fighting in itsranks. 

But Pope Alexander was dead; Cesare's might in in Italy was dissipated;his credit gone. There lay no profit for Louis in keeping faith withhim; there lay some profit in breaking it. Alas, that a king shouldstain his honour with base and vulgar lies to minister to his cupidity, and that he should set them down above his seal and signature to shamehim through centuries still in the womb of Time!

Cesare Borgia, landless, without right to any title, he that had held somany, betrayed and abandoned on every side, had now nothing to offer inthe world's market but his stout sword and his glad courage. These wentto the first bidder for them, who happened to be his brother-in-law KingJean. 

Navarre at the time was being snarled and quarrelled over by France andSpain, both menacing its independence, each pretending to claims upon itwhich do not, in themselves, concern us. 

In addition, the country itself was torn by two factions--the Beaumontesand the Agramontes--and it was entrusted to Cesare to restore Navarreto peace and unity at home before proceeding--with the aid upon whichhe depended from the Emperor Maximilian--to deal with the enemies beyondher frontiers. 

The Castle of Viana was being held by Louis de Beaumont--chief of thefaction that bore his name--and refused to surrender to the king. To reduce it and compel Beaumont to obedience went Cesare asCaptain-General of Navarre, early in February of 1507. He commanded aconsiderable force, some 10, 000 strong, and with this and his cannon helaid siege to the citadel. 

The natural strength of the place was such as might have defied anyattempt to reduce it by force; but victuals were running low, and therewas every likelihood of its being speedily starved into surrender. Tofrustrate this, Beaumont conceived the daring plan of attempting to sendin supplies from Mendavia. The attempt being made secretly, by night andunder a strong escort, was entirely successful; but, in retreating, theBeaumontese were surprised in the dawn of that February morning by atroop of reinforcements coming to Cesare's camp. These, at sight of therebels, immediately gave the alarm. 

The most hopeless confusion ensued in the town, where it was at onceimagined that a surprise attack was being made upon the Royalists, andthat they had to do with the entire rebel army. 

Cesare, being aroused by the din and the blare of trumpets calling mento arms, sprang for his weapons, armed himself in haste, flung himselfon a horse, and, without pausing so much as to issue a command to hiswaiting men-at-arms, rode headlong down the street to the Puerta delSol. Under the archway of the gate his horse stumbled and came down withhim. With an oath, Cesare wrenched the animal to its feet again, gaveit the spur, and was away at a mad, furious gallop in pursuit of theretreating Beaumont rearguard. 

The citizens, crowding to the walls of Viana, watched that last recklessride of his with amazed, uncomprehending eyes. The peeping sun caughthis glittering armour as he sped, so that of a sudden he must haveseemed to them a thing of fire--meteoric, as had been his whole life'strajectory which was now swiftly dipping to its nadir. 

Whether he was frenzied with the lust of battle, riding in the recklessmanner that was his wont, confident that his men followed, yet tooself-centred to ascertain, or whether--as seems more likely--it wassimply that his horse had bolted with him, will never be known until allthings are known. 

Suddenly he was upon the rearguard of the fleeing rebels. His swordflashed up and down; again and again they may have caught the gleamof it from Viana's walls, as he smote the foe. Irresistible as athunderbolt, he clove himself a way through those Beaumontese. He wasalone once more, a flying, dazzling figure of light, away beyond thatrearguard which he left scathed and disordered by his furious passage. Still his mad career continued, and he bore down upon the main body ofthe escort. 

Beaumont sat his horse to watch, in such amazement as you may conceive, the wild approach of this unknown rider. 

Seeing him unsupported, some of the count's men detached themselvesto return and meet this single foe and oblige him with the death he soobviously appeared to seek. 

They hedged him about--we do not know their number--and, engaging him, they drew him from the road and down into the hollow space of a ravine. 

And so, in the thirty-second year of his age, and in all the glory ofhis matchless strength, his soul possessed of the lust of combat, swordin hand, warding off the attack that rains upon him, and dealing deathabout him, he meets his end. From the walls of Viana his resplendentarmour renders him still discernible, until, like a sun to its setting, he passes below the rim of that ravine, and is lost to the watcher'sview. 

Death awaited him amid the shadows of that hollow place. 

Unhorsed by now, he fought with no concern for the odds against him, and did sore execution upon his assailants, ere a sword could find anopening in his guard to combine with a gap in his armour and so drivehome. That blade had found, maybe, his lungs. Still he swung his sword, swaying now upon his loosening knees. His mouth was full of blood. It was growing dark. His hands began to fail him. He reeled like adrunkard, sapped of strength, and then the end came quickly. Blowsunwarded showered upon him now. 

He crashed down in all the glory of his rich armour, which thosebrigand-soldiers already coveted. And thus he died--mercifully, maybe happily, for he had no time in which to taste the bitterness ofdeath--that awful draught which he had forced upon so many. 

Within a few moments of his falling, this man who had been a livingforce, whose word had carried law from the Campagna to the Bolognese, was so much naked, blood-smeared carrion--for those human vulturesstripped him to the skin; his very shirt must they have. And there, a stark, livid corpse, of no more account than any dog that diedlast Saturday, they left Cesare Borgia of France, Duke of Romagna andValentinois, Prince of Andria, and Lord of a dozen Tyrannies. 

The body was found there anon by those who so tardily rode after theirleader, and his dismayed troopers bore those poor remains to Viana. The king, arriving there that very day, horror-stricken at the news andsight that awaited him, ordered Cesare a magnificent funeral, and so hewas laid to rest before the High Altar of Sainte Marie de Viane. 

To rest? May the soul of him rest at least, for men--Christian men--haverefused to vouchsafe that privilege to his poor ashes. 

Nearly two hundred years later--at the close of the seventeenth century, a priest of God and a bishop, one who preached a gospel of love andmercy so infinite that he dared believe by its lights no man to havebeen damned, came to disturb the dust of Cesare Borgia. This Bishopof Calahorra--lineal descendant in soul of that Pharisee who exaltedhimself in God's House, thrilled with titillations of delicious horrorat the desecrating presence of the base publican--had his pietist's eyesoffended by the slab that marked Cesare Borgia's resting-place. (1)

 1 It bore the following legend:

 AQUI YACE EN POCA TIERRA AL QUE TODO LE TEMIA EL QUE LA PAZ Y LA GUERRA EN LA SUA MANO TENIA. OH TU QUE VAS A BUSCAR COSAS DIGNAS DE LOAR SI TU LOAS LO MAS DIGNO AQUI PARE TU CAMINO NO CURES DE MAS ANDAR. 

which, more or less literally may be Englished as follows: "Here in alittle earth, lies one whom all did fear; one whose hands dispensed bothpeace and war. Oh, you that go in search of things deserving praise, if you would praise the worthiest, then let your journey end here, nortrouble to go farther. "

The pious, Christian bishop had read of this man--perhaps that lifeof him published by the apostate Gregorio Leti under the pen-name ofTommaso Tommasi, which had lately seen the light--and he ordered thetomb's removal from that holy place. And thus it befell that the ashesof Cesare Borgia were scattered and lost. 

Charlotte d'Albret was bereft of her one friend, Queen Jeanne, in thatsame year of Cesare's death. The Duchess of Valentinois withdrew to LaMotte­Feuilly, and for the seven years remaining of her life was neverseen other than in mourning; her very house was equipped with sombre, funereal furniture, and so maintained until her end, which supports theview that she had conceived affection and respect for the husband ofwhom she had seen so little. 

On March 14, 1514, that poor lady passed from a life which appears tohave offered her few joys. 

Louise de Valentinois--a handsome damsel of the age offourteen--remained for three years under the tutelage of the Duchess ofAngoulême--the mother of King Francis I--to whom Charlotte d'Albret hadentrusted her child. Louise married, at the age of seventeen, Louis dela Trémouille, Prince de Talmont and Vicomte de Thouars, known as theKnight Sans Peur et Sans Reproche. She maintained some correspondencewith her aunt, Lucrezia Borgia, whom she had never seen, and ever signedherself "Louise de Valentinois. " At the age of thirty--Trémouille havingbeen killed at Pavia--she married, in second nuptials, Philippe deBourbon-Busset. 

Lucrezia died in 1519, one year after her mother, Vanozza de'Catanei, with whom she corresponded to the end. 

REQUIESCANT!