The Borgias

by Paul Strathern

  However, unbeknown to Lucrezia her position remained secure, at least for the time being, owing to the fact that Ercole I was unwilling (and probably unable) to pay back the colossal dowry her marriage had gifted him.

  ________________

  *Ironically, Isabella herself was just as Spanish as Lucrezia, her mother having been Eleanora d’Aragona. However, Lucrezia insisted upon clinging to her Spanish roots and was resented for speaking incomprehensible Catalan with her favourite Spanish attendants.

  CHAPTER 19

  THE UNFORESEEN

  IT HAD TAKEN ALEXANDER VI six days to die: a period of intense illness during which he had been subjected to all manner of increasingly desperate medical remedies. One such grotesque episode took place on 15 August, when the Pope was carried from his bed and placed in a large olive-oil cask filled with ice and water. The shock of this immersion caused the skin to peel from his body, which eventually drove him into a delirium.

  On 18 August Alexander VI would finally die, ending a reign of eleven years and seven days: one which to this day many consider to have been the most notorious in papal history. Yet this opinion has not been universally upheld. Over the coming century and a half no less than two popes – and not minor ones either – would rate Alexander VI highly – indeed, very highly. When, later in the century, Sixtus V was asked to name the most illustrious popes, he replied: ‘St Peter, Alexander and ourselves.’ And when, during the middle of the following century, Urban VIII was asked the same question, he replied: ‘St Peter, St Sylvester, Alexander and me.’

  According to modern medical opinion, the symptoms exhibited by Alexander VI bear no relation to arsenic poisoning. It now seems evident that as Cardinal da Corneto’s party lasted into the evening, the Pope and Cesare Borgia were stung by malaria-bearing mosquitoes. This is reinforced by the fact that Cardinal da Corneto himself also fell ill with the same symptoms, though he would recover.

  Despite modern knowledge indicating that Alexander VI, his son, and the Venetian cardinal were all infected with malaria, the news that Alexander VI had died of poison (and the story that he had poisoned himself by mistake) soon spread across Europe. Within four days of his death news had reached Florence; days later it reached Ferrara, then Milan and Venice. Weeks later it had spread across Christendom, even reaching the ears of an earnest nineteen-year-old student at the University of Erfurt in Germany. This was Martin Luther, whose disgust at papal depravity would later split Christendom in two.

  And what of Cesare Borgia? He would eventually recover. Years later, he would tell Machiavelli:

  He had thought of what might happen on the death of his father, and had made suitable provision for all eventualities, except for the one possibility that at the time of his father’s death he, too, would be at death’s door.

  Fortuna had deserted Cesare Borgia. In his enfeebled state he could not have seized the papal throne, even if this had been his intention; or, as may have been the case, asserted his position as the all-powerful Captain-General of the Papal Army.

  If he had been healthy at the time of Alexander’s death, everything would have been easy for him . . . and though he could not dictate who became pope, he could dictate who did not.

  Even if the Borgias had not converted the papacy into a hereditary fiefdom, as many suspected them of plotting, with Cesare Borgia as an all-powerful Captain-General of the Papal Army they could just as easily have emerged as the power behind the throne, becoming pope-makers and reducing the Pope himself to a puppet figure. With the emergence of a powerful Roman state, Cesare Borgia might then have fulfilled his father’s dreams of a united Italy, even a second Roman empire.

  Yet Cesare Borgia was not one to despair so easily. As it was, he decided to take the only action that appeared open to him. Summoning all his strength, he would try his utmost to make the best of his situation, and perhaps survive to fight another day. According to Burchard, who was in the Vatican at the time:

  Borgia, who was sick, sent downstairs Don [Miguel da Corella] with an escort of heavily armed men. These entered the Pope’s apartment and secured all the doors behind them. Then one of them unsheathed his dagger and threatened Cardinal Casanova* that he would slit his throat and throw him out of the window if he refused to hand over the keys to the papal treasure. The terrified cardinal handed over the keys. Then Don [Miguel] and his men went, one after the other, into the chamber behind the Pope’s bed. They took all the money that was there and two caskets containing around 100,000 ducats.

  On top of this, Miguel da Corella and his men are known to have stolen gold plate and jewels worth around 300,000 ducats. Though according to Burchard they missed the locked chamber beside the Pope’s bedroom, which contained priceless papal accoutrements (bejewelled mitres, rings and so forth) sufficient to have filled several chests. Da Corella and his men then carted all they found up to Cesare Borgia’s apartment. With such money at his disposal, Borgia could now bide his time, watching the course of events, awaiting his opportunity.

  Meanwhile, the body of the Pope was laid out in the main hall of the Vatican, the location of many of Alexander VI’s most debauched ‘entertainments’. Just two candles illuminated his open bier through the darkness of the night. Not a single person stood vigil. The Vatican was virtually empty: most of the servants and officials had fled, carrying with them any remaining valuables they could lay their hands on.

  Next morning, as the chanting monks bearing candles accompanied Alexander VI and his bier out of the hall, a scuffle broke out as the Vatican guards attempted to wrench the gold candlesticks from the hands of the monks. During the ensuing fisticuffs, the Pope’s cadaver was tipped off its bier. That afternoon, Burchard found the Pope’s body, which had become so bloated and disfigured that it was barely recognizable as human:

  The skin of his face was the colour of black cloth, like that of the most black of Africans, and it was disfigured with purple blotches. His nose had swelled up and his tongue was so enormous that it filled his entire mouth and ballooned out between his wide open lips.

  Those who witnessed this sight swore that they had never seen anything so ghastly in their lives. Worse was to come, when the bier carrying the Pope’s cadaver reached the graveyard. As all were afraid to touch this hideous object, the body was eventually dragged to its open grave by a rope tied around its foot, and unceremoniously dumped. Burchard continues:

  The six porters whose duty it was to bury him began making blasphemous jokes about the Pope and his grotesque appearance. The carpenters had made the coffin too narrow and too small, so they bent the mitre, wrapped the body in some old cloth and began stuffing it into the coffin anyhow, pummelling at it with their fists to make it fit.

  Upon hearing the news confirming the death of Alexander VI, the far-flung cardinals hastened to Rome to join their resident colleagues for the conclave to elect a new pope. Yet such was the gathered cardinals’ fear of Cesare Borgia, no matter how ill he might have been, that they decided against holding the conclave in the Vatican. Instead, they congregated at the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, a mile away across the Tiber in the heart of Rome itself.

  This decision was not taken lightly, for the city was in its usual state of ferment between the death of a pope and the election of his successor. This time the turbulence took the form of rival gangs marching through the streets, shouting slogans in favour of the Orsini, the Colonna or the Borgias. The city was on the brink of chaos and the Orsini were determined to seize this opportunity for revenge on the Borgias. But even on his sickbed Cesare Borgia succeeded in outwitting the Orsini. He sent word offering an alliance with the Colonna, promising them back their seized estates and castles in return for their support.

  Yet Rome also found itself under serious external threat. The French army, which had been marching south to relieve its garrison under siege by the Spanish at Gaeta, halted some fifty miles north of Rome at Viterbo. Meanwhile, the Spanish had called off their siege of Gaeta and marched nor
th, halting at Marino, just ten miles south of the Holy City. Such were the inauspicious circumstances under which the conclave began. But how would the cardinals vote? Cesare Borgia’s reputation, even in his parlous state, looked set to hold the balance of power. The Spanish and French armies may have stood opposed to each other on either side of the Holy City, but both wanted the backing of Borgia and his army. Meanwhile, inside the conclave the Spanish cardinals were expected to follow Borgia’s bidding. And whichever side won the papacy would in all likelihood become the major power throughout Italy.

  Ironically, despite Cesare Borgia’s power in Rome, his dukedom in the Romagna appeared to be crumbling fast. Taking advantage of Borgia’s evident incapacity, the Venetians had acted swiftly. During the first week in September they moved troops to take Cesenatico on the coast, and loaned further forces to Guidobaldo da Montefeltro so that he could retake Urbino. Encouraged by the Venetian moves, Baglioni had reoccupied Perugia, Vitellozzo had moved on Città di Castello, Pandolfo Malatesta had moved back into Rimini, and even Lucrezia’s ex-husband Giovanni Sforza had taken back Pesaro. But Borgia’s capital Cesena, as well as the strategic cities of Imola and Faenza on the Via Emelia, had remained loyal to their duke.

  In Rome, events soon began to transform the situation with a similar swiftness and unpredictability. Doubts had been voiced concerning the validity of a conclave which did not take place inside the Vatican. Consequently, with the backing of the College of Cardinals a delegation of ambassadors was despatched to the Vatican, intent upon persuading Cesare Borgia to leave, so that the conclave could take place in the Sistine Chapel. Borgia agreed to allow this, but only under two conditions. Whoever was elected pope must reinstate him as Captain-General of the Papal Forces; and word should be sent to Venice demanding that it cease to interfere in the Romagna. These terms were agreed and Borgia made ready to leave the Vatican. It seemed that he would abandon his stronghold in Rome.

  Arrangements were made for Cesare Borgia to meet up with his new ally Prospero Colonna across the Tiber at the Porta del Popolo. Colonna had been fighting alongside the Spanish in Naples and would accompany Borgia south to the safety of the Spanish army. By allying himself with the Colonna, Borgia had allied himself with the Spanish, who could now confidently expect that the Spanish cardinals would ensure that their candidate would become pope.

  Borgia left the Vatican with a large armed guard commanded by Miguel da Corella. Borgia himself was so ill that he needed to be carried on a litter, born aloft by eight liveried halberdiers in the Borgia colours. Borgia himself was obscured from public view by closed crimson curtains. The litter was followed by Borgia’s favourite black stallion, covered with a black velvet coat adorned with a golden motif depicting his ducal crown. Many of the spectators were struck by the resemblance to a funeral procession. Little did they realize how much deeper this resemblance went. Behind the curtains of Borgia’s litter lay a cadaver-like figure. Borgia was a ghost of his former self, his limbs emaciated, his face like a skull, its skin disfigured with syphilitic blooms.

  The resemblance to a funeral was reinforced by the family procession following the closed litter. This was led by Cesare’s mother Vanozza, accompanied by Borgia’s gaggle of illegitimate children; as well as Jofrè Borgia, Cesare’s younger brother; and Giovanni Borgia, the Infans Romanus. (Lucrezia’s acknowledged four-year-old son Rodrigo, by the murdered Alfonso, Duke of Bisceglie, would be transferred to Naples, where he would be looked after by Lucrezia’s childhood friend Sancia, who had abandoned her complaisant husband Jofrè Borgia.) Also amongst this ‘family’ group, the Mantuan ambassador noted the presence of ‘women of every kind’. And bringing up the rear was a heavily guarded mule train, bearing the strongboxes which contained Cesare’s valuables, including as much of Alexander VI’s treasure as he had managed to find and carry off.

  Yet even in his weakened state, Cesare Borgia was still capable of a treacherous guile which would have made his father proud. Instead of heading across the Ponte Sant’Angelo into Rome to meet Prospero Colonna at the Porta del Popolo, Miguel da Corella unexpectedly ordered Borgia’s procession to turn left, down the way to the Porto Viridaria, a smaller gate in the Vatican walls. Here, the procession was met by an advanced guard from the Papal Army, which escorted Borgia north towards the family stronghold at Nepi, where the French army was camped nearby. Borgia had deceived the Spanish and abandoned their cause in favour of the French. Within three days, Louis XII had issued a proclamation to the Romagna that their duke was ‘alive and well and the friend of the King of France’. Any territory wavering in its support for Borgia quickly issued a declaration of loyalty to his cause.

  During the following weeks Lucrezia Borgia in Ferrara would prevail upon her husband Alfonso to let her raise troops, which could be sent to the aid of her brother’s forces in the Romagna. Alfonso, as well as his father Ercole I, proved unexpectedly favourable towards Lucrezia’s wishes. By now the ruler of Ferrara had come to the conclusion that his state stood in peril of the Venetians if they took over the Romagna. Only if this state was ruled by Borgia would Ferrara be assured of an ally against the ever-constant threat of its powerful neighbour Venice. Lucrezia was able to raise 1,000 infantrymen and 150 crossbowmen, which set off under the command of Pedro Ramirez, one of the two Spanish brothers whom Cesare Borgia had left in command of his capital Cesena. Lucrezia’s troops successfully saw off the threat to Cesena, Imola and Borgia’s other garrisons holding out along the strategic line of the Via Emelia. For the time being Cesare’s hold on the Romagna remained; meanwhile, his health continued to improve as he lay in bed, biding his time within the stronghold of Nepi.

  Back in Rome the conclave had by now met to elect a new pope. At the outset it became clear that the conclave was split into two opposing factions, the Spanish and the French, each capable of blocking the other. Between these camps was a minority of Italian cardinals, most of whom had let it be known that their vote was available to the highest bidder. Borgia had issued orders that his exiled enemy Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere should at all costs be prevented from reaching Rome in time to take part in the conclave. However, the wily cardinal had been prepared for this and managed to slip into Rome on the very day after the prostrate Borgia and his heavily armed procession left for Nepi.

  Meanwhile, Louis XII now made it plain to Borgia that his own choice for pope was the French Cardinal Georges d’Amboise, the close advisor whom Alexander VI had appointed to the cardinalate at the time of Cesare’s marriage in France. The French king clearly expected Borgia to deliver the votes of all the Spanish cardinals to elect his chosen candidate. Here indeed was a witches’ brew of conflicting forces, as the cardinals filed in to register their first vote. Out of this the well-prepared Cardinal della Rovere emerged with fifteen votes, while Cardinal d’Amboise commanded just thirteen. And it soon became clear that neither of these two candidates could obtain the necessary two-thirds majority amongst the thirty-seven cardinals present. The only answer favourable to both sides was to elect a compromise candidate of sufficient age and infirmity that a new papal election would soon be required. There was but one candidate who fitted the bill: the ailing sixty-four-year-old Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini, who was duly elected on 22 September. The new pope took on the name Pius III, in recognition of his Piccolomini uncle who had become Pius II some forty-five years previously.

  By now Borgia was making an all but miraculous recovery; though for tactical purposes he decided to keep this news to himself. He was intent upon returning to Rome to see Pius III, with the aim of insisting that he keep the promise made by the College of Cardinals that he would be confirmed by the new pope as Captain-General of the Papal Forces. Yet now that Borgia’s father was no longer pope he required permission from the new pope to enter the Holy City. According to the Ferrarese envoy, Pius III spoke to him about Borgia: ‘They tell me he is very ill [and I] indeed most deeply pity him. He wants to come to Rome to die, so I have given my permission.’ Withi
n two weeks of Pius III’s election, Borgia returned to Rome, at the head of several hundred of his own liveried soldiers.

  Cardinal della Rovere confronted the enfeebled pope, enraged that he had permitted Borgia to re-enter the Holy City. Pius III could only reply that he had been tricked into allowing Borgia back, pleading with Cardinal della Rovere: ‘I am neither a saint nor an angel, but only a man and liable to err.’ Next it was Borgia’s turn to visit the new pope, where the old man was subjected to the full radiance of Cesare’s charm. Pius III had discovered that the papal exchequer was empty; worse still the Vatican had been stripped of all its expensive furnishings, while its gates were besieged by debtors, all claiming they had loaned money to the Pope’s predecessor. Why, it appeared that Pius III did not even have sufficient funds to pay for his coming coronation, and the accompanying lavish celebrations expected of him. Within days of becoming pope he would be disgraced.