Home › B › Borgia (CESARE bor'j a the natural son)

Borgia (CESARE bor'j a the natural son)

CESARE (bor'jē-a), the natural son of Pope Alexander VI., and of a Roman lady named Vanozza, born in 1478. He was raised to the rank of Cardinal in 1492, but afterward divested himself of the office, and was made Duc de Valentinois by Louis XII. In 1499 he married a daughter of King John of Navarre, and accompanied Louis XII. to Italy. He then, at the head of a body of mercenaries, carried on a series of BORGIA petty wars, made himself master of the Romagna, attempted Bologna and Flcrence, and had seized Urbino when Alexander VI. died, 1503. He was now at tacked by a severe disease, but found means, indeed, to get the treasures of his father into his possession, and assembled his troops in Rome; but enemies rose against him on all sides, including the new Pope, Julius II. Borgia was arrested and carried to Spain. He at length made his escape to his brother-inlaw, the King of Navarre, and was killed before the castle of Viana, March 12, 1507. He was charged with the murder of his elder brother, of the husband of his sister Lucretia, etc. With all his crimes he was a patron of art and literature.