The day had finally come. I would go into the consistory and announce my desire to renounce the ecclesiastical state in favor of a secular one, with the blessing of His Holiness. Many of the cardinals had not wanted to attend, afraid of the political repercussions, particularly from Spain. The pope had been forced to write them, not so subtly commanding their presence. And so, at last, most were here. I would leave this room the Cardinal of Valencia and reenter it as the Duc de Valentinois. Or, as the Italians were already calling me, Duke Valentino. I would go to France, leave behind my family—and Maddalena, and damn me if she would not be the hardest to leave—and come back a married man, and a man with an army. I could wield power as I had always longed to, and all Italy would fear and admire me.
Yet I found myself remembering my mother’s words to me just after Father’s election: It is a simpler life that I would wish for my children, if it were within my power to wish anything for them … the day will come when you will remember my words and realize I was right.
And as I looked in the large Venetian glass mirror that hung on the wall, I saw that simpler life. One where I had not been born a Borgia, or to a family of any importance. I was a man who was free to marry Maddalena Moretti, a woman so good and kind and who soothed my heart and soul even as she excited my body. What more did any man need than that?
Perhaps my mother was right.
But then I blinked, and refocused on my reflection in the mirror, and that impossible vision was gone. Instead a secular prince looked back at me. The man I had always wanted to be. The man I had always been destined to become.
I had expected to feel pride as I looked at my reflection, once I’d removed my cardinal’s robes and donned the clothing of a warrior, of a prince. A feeling of satisfaction and even elation at having finally accomplished the one thing I’d always wanted. Instead I felt hollow.
Was this happiness?
Father did not choose you to be his general because he feels you are the best man for the task, a malicious little voice—one I had not heard in a long while—whispered. He chose you because you are the only one left. Because there is no one else.
I was getting what I wanted. Why wasn’t that enough?
Maybe it would be, once I had been received at the French court and had wedded and bedded my royal wife. Once I returned to Italy at the head of an army, bent on conquest. When I proved to the world, to my father, and to myself that I could be another Giulio Cesare.
Yet all I could see in the silvery glass was the pain of the past and the doubt of the present, of too many futures dreamt, both possible and impossible, and I could not tell the difference between any of it. I had not been chosen. Father had not chosen me. But did that matter? Truly? A man could take his destiny into his own hands and forge it himself, forge it in blood and fire and steel and ruthlessness. A man did not wait for permission to conquer.
This was what I had always wanted. I was happy. I would be happy.
Maddalena’s words returned to me. Forgive me, but you do not seem happy.
I was. I would be, even if I had to allow her face to fade to the back of my mind.
I would do what I had set out to do. What I was meant to do. I would do it no matter what it cost. Whatever the price, I would pay it.
I would show them all.
And what if you can’t?
My hand slammed into the mirror, smashing it into hundreds of shards that cascaded onto the marble floor. And as I looked down, I saw my reflection again, mingled with my blood. This time the reflection was shattered into pieces.
You were not chosen.
Author’s Note
While Maddalena Moretti is a fictional character (as are most of her fellow servants, with the notable exceptions of Perotto Calderon and Pantasilea), the Borgia family, and most of the figures mentioned in connection with them—from those within the Vatican to political players in the other Italian city-states—are very real. In addition, the historical events described in this novel all really happened: Cesare Borgia’s rise through Church ranks and eventual departure from the Church altogether, the French invasion and Pope Alexander VI’s handling of it, Lucrezia Borgia’s marriages and divorce, the arrival of Sancia of Aragon and her relationships with both Cesare and Juan Borgia, the military campaigns against the Orsini and the French, Juan Borgia’s murder, and Pope Alexander’s involvement in removing Girolamo Savonarola from power in Florence being the main ones. I have tried to depict the varied politics and personalities of this era as accurately as possible based on my research. Some of Pope Alexander’s speeches in conclave, as well as the sermon Savonarola preaches in the Duomo when Maddalena attends, are all factual. This being a novel, however, I have of course taken some artistic liberties in my portrayal of the people and events involved.
The Holy League created in 1495 to drive the French from Italy is also known as the League of Venice, as it was in fact signed and sealed in Venice. As Cesare Borgia did take part in those negotiations, I simply moved the whole process to Rome, for both my own convenience and that of the reader in having all the main players stay in the same place.
The murder of Juan Borgia remains unsolved to this day, though suspects abound. Intriguingly enough, Pope Alexander did abruptly call off the search for the assassins with no explanation, leading many to assume that Cesare was in fact the culprit—a popular theory at the time, and one of which a figure no less than Queen Isabella of Spain was apparently convinced. The most likely culprit, or so many historians seem to feel, was the Orsini family, out for revenge after Pope Alexander’s military campaigns against them and the death of Virginio Orsini in a Neapolitan prison, held on the pope’s orders. How better to exact their revenge than by murdering the pope’s favorite son and leader of the ill-fated expedition against them? For dramatic purposes, however, I have made Jofre Borgia the mastermind of the assassination, and indeed he was considered as a possible suspect at the time, due to Juan’s relationship with Sancia.
While Girolamo Savonarola’s rise and fall happened much as described here, I did take some liberties with both the events and timeline leading to his arrest. As Maddalena is herself fictional, so is her involvement in the entire affair, though certainly Pope Alexander had informants in Florence keeping him abreast of events as they unfolded. The siege of San Marco really happened, although for purposes of length I have left out the event that sparked it: a proposed trial by fire in which both Savonarola and a friar from the Franciscan order, who challenged the Dominican’s teachings, were to physically walk through a bed of flames, the idea being that God would protect whoever held the most righteous beliefs. Both parties—and most of Florence—turned out for the event, but after much dispute as to the terms of how the ordeal could proceed it never, in fact, happened, leaving Florentines on both sides of the argument frustrated, disgruntled, and primed for a fight. I have also shifted forward the dates of Savonarola’s arrest and execution: in reality, he was arrested at the siege of San Marco in April of 1498 and executed, after torture and trial, in May of that year. I moved these events to the summer of 1497 in order to be able to focus on the other events that took place in spring of 1498 in the Borgia world: the murders of Perotto and Pantasilea, and the negotiations for Lucrezia’s second marriage. In addition, Cesare actually went to Naples as papal legate in August of 1497 (where he reportedly contracted the syphilis that would plague him the rest of his life), but I have moved that event back to the fall of that same year.
One of the most infamous charges laid against the Borgia family is that of incest—that Lucrezia Borgia had a sexual relationship with her father and brother Cesare (and, as some versions of the story have it, with Juan as well). However, the general consensus among historians is that there is no truth to this. The incest rumor was started by a comment attributed to Giovanni Sforza to the effect that the pope and Cesare wanted Lucrezia all to themselves, as I’ve described in the novel. The rumor was fueled by the fact that the Borgias—especially Cesare and Lucre
zia—were extremely close. However, there is no evidence whatsoever of an actual incestuous relationship between Lucrezia and her father or brother, and given that Giovanni Sforza absolutely had an ax to grind with the Borgia family—for forcing him into a divorce in the first place, and then essentially declaring him impotent before all of Europe on top of it—his words should very much be taken with a rather large grain of salt.
However, the Roman public—and later much of Europe—took the rumor and ran with it, which is why it has been passed down to us to this day. It is worth noting that the evil reputation of the Borgia family has been rather overblown—especially in the case of Lucrezia, who simply was not the villainess she is often portrayed as being in different media. While Pope Alexander VI and Cesare were both certainly guilty of a multitude of sins—from corruption to murder and a great deal in between—none of their actions were truly out of character for powerful families of the Italian Renaissance. This does not excuse their deeds, of course, but it does raise the question of why the Borgia family has long stuck out as being the most notorious. My personal opinion is that much of it has to do with the fact that they were Spanish in a city which was accustomed to seeing power primarily in the hands of Italians. To this day, of the 266 men who have been elected to the papacy in total, 196 have been Italian. Rodrigo Borgia was in fact a brilliant politician and administrator, yet many opposed his rise to power simply on the basis of his nationality. In our own era, where xenophobic rhetoric sadly continues to appear in our political discourse, it does not take too much of a leap to imagine that a foreign family who rose to power on the Italian peninsula in a very turbulent political time would be especially denigrated.
A brief note on names: I have generally tried to stick to the Italian spellings of names in this book. There are a few exceptions to this, this most notable being Juan Borgia. He is most often referred to in sources I consulted as “Juan” as opposed to “Giovanni,” which is the Italian version of the name, so I chose the Spanish spelling. I also wanted to avoid any confusion between him and Giovanni Sforza. Jofre, too, is a commonly used spelling of the name of the youngest Borgia, as opposed to Goffredo, which would be the Italian spelling. In addition, King Federigo of Naples is sometimes referred to as King Federico (Italian) or King Frederick (English), but I chose to use Federigo as the novel already had a Federico, and an English spelling would have seemed out of place.
When researching the lives of domestic servants in Renaissance Italy I found—perhaps not surprisingly, given power structures and who was able to leave written records—that little information is available about the lives of the people who formed one of the largest industries in Rome at the time. Specifically, one thing I was never able to confirm for certain is whether or not women were employed as servants in the Vatican Palace, as Maddalena is in the early chapters. I am inclined to think so—one source I consulted outlined a task in the papal household that was performed specifically by a male servant, which would suggest that there were also female servants, hence the need for differentiation. However, in the absence of solid proof (that I could find in English, anyway) I thought it not out of the question that Maddalena’s initial place of employment could have been the Vatican.
Cesare Borgia has always been the member of the Borgia family who most fascinated me, the undisputed bad guy in a notorious family. I’ve long wanted to write his villain origin story, so to speak, and am thrilled that you now hold that very book in your hands. The addition of Maddalena’s point of view seemed like a no-brainer as well. What better way to explore questions of power and politics than through the eyes of both one of the powerful and one of the powerless? These questions of power, corruption, and complicity with which the novel grapples made it a challenge to write, but a worthy challenge. My favorite kinds of novels are those that entertain, teach, and provoke thought. I hope I have done all of those things in this book.
As to what happened to Cesare after he left the Church, well, that information is out there, if you’re interested in seeking it out. Maybe someday I will get the chance to write that story as well.
For further reading on the Borgias and Renaissance Italy, below is a selection of sources I consulted while writing this novel.
Bradford, Sarah. Cesare Borgia: His Life and Times. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1976.
——Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy. New York: Penguin Books, 2004.
Brown, Meg Lota, and McBride, Kari Boyd. Women’s Roles in the Renaissance. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005.
Cloulas, Ivan. The Borgias. Trans. Gilda Roberts. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1989.
Cohen, Elizabeth, and Cohen, Thomas. Daily Life in Renaissance Italy. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001.
Frieda, Leonie. The Deadly Sisterhood: A Story of Women, Power, and Intrigue in the Italian Renaissance. New York: HarperCollins, 2013.
Hibbert, Christopher. The Borgias and Their Enemies, 1431–1519. Boston: Mariner Books, 2008.
Meyer, G. J. The Borgias: The Hidden History. New York: Bantam Books, 2013.
Partner, Peter. Renaissance Rome 1500–1559: A Portrait of a Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976.
Sabatini, Rafael. The Life of Cesare Borgia. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1924.
Strathern, Paul. Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City. New York: Pegasus Books, 2015.
Acknowledgments
This book has been many years in the making—almost half my life, really, given that my near obsession with the Borgias began in my teenage years and has culminated in the book you are now holding in your hands. As such, bear with me, as I have a lot of people to thank.
First, as always, I must thank Lindsay Fowler, who was the first person I told when the idea for this novel finally, finally crystallized. I sent her a long series of texts outlining the idea, and the last one said, This feels important. She agreed, and in talking it all out with me helped start me on the long and difficult journey that was this novel. She also read the hot mess of a first draft, gave me her notes, and didn’t think too badly of me afterward! Thank you, Lindsay, for everything. For all of it.
All of the thanks to my wonderful agent, Brianne Johnson, for getting as enthusiastic about this project as me, and for agreeing that it was the right project at the right time. Thanks as well for all the spot-on feedback on this one—you can always see the things that elude me.
So much gratitude to my stalwart editor, Vicki Lame, since I’m sure that editing this beast was akin to dragging an army’s worth of cannon over the Italian hills! Thanks for zeroing in on exactly what this book needed, for responding immediately to all my way-too-excited emails with revision ideas, and for brainstorming titles (omg, so many titles).
Thanks to Lauren Humphries-Brooks, copy editor extraordinaire, for saving me from embarrassing mistakes. Copy editors are publishing’s true heroes.
Many thanks to the marketing, sales, publicity, and art teams at St. Martin’s Press for spreading the word about my books and getting them into the hands of readers all over the world.
My eternal gratitude to fellow authors Crystal King, Meghan Masterson, Kris Waldherr, and Heather Webb for reading an early copy of this novel and providing such kind words. I am honored to have the support of each one of you!
Thanks to friend and fellow writer Caitie McAneney-Klimchuk, who also read that notoriously messy first draft of this book and provided excellent feedback. Many thanks to Mike Slish, for answering all my research question texts, no matter how random! See you at the next Most Solemn Feast.
My everlasting gratitude to Dr. Mick Cochrane at Canisius College, who didn’t bat an eye (not that I know of, anyway) when I turned in a dark and murder-y short story about a maid who becomes involved with Cesare Borgia. And for helping to make me the writer I am today.
Thanks to Talking Leaves Books in Buffalo for their continued support of me and of the Buffalo literary
community at large.
Thanks for everything, always, to my writing group: Dee, Kate, Jenn, Sandi, Adrienne, and Claudia. I love seeing all the places this writing journey is taking all of us!
Thank you to the wonderful staff of the lovely Hearth Hotel in Rome for an amazing stay and lots of tips as I was researching this book.
Special shout-out to Jen Hark-Hameister for letting me drag her into my Borgias obsession, and for listening to me rant about historical inaccuracies throughout multiple seasons of the TV show.
All my gratitude and love, as always, to my dear friends and family for your continued support throughout this bananas writing career of mine: Amanda Beck, Bob and Marcia Britton, Alex Dockstader, Sandy Hark, Andrea Heuer Bieniek, Mike and Kathy Zimmerman, and Tom and Mary Zimmerman. It truly means the world to me.
As always, I must acknowledge all the amazing bands and musicians whose music inspired and fueled me while writing this novel: Kamelot, Halsey, Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Evanescence, Epica, Chevelle, The Murder of My Sweet, Mayan, Stream of Passion, The Dark Element, Letters from the Fire, Timo Tolkki, Meg Myers, Within Temptation, and Delain. Special shout-out to Kamelot for helping me get inside Cesare’s head.
Huge thanks and many espresso shots to my brother, Matt Palombo, for letting me drag him around Rome and babble at him about Renaissance history while I researched this book, and for not complaining when I made him hang out in the Borgia apartments with me for, like, an hour. You’re a good sport, dude. And hey! This book has a whole war and also murder! They’re getting more exciting as I go!
Thanks and lots of cookies to Fenway the silky terrier, the most ferocious and sleepy of writing buddies.
Eternal gratitude and so much love to my parents, Tony and Debbie Palombo, for all their love and unyielding support, no matter what corner of the world or of human nature my books take me to. Dad, thanks for all the long conversations about Renaissance history and politics, and Mom, thanks for promoting my books to everyone you meet and always being up for watching a good costume drama.
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