Cesare Borgia
Cardinal turned condottiero, son of Pope Alexander VI, and inspiration for Machiavelli's The Prince.
Pope Alexander VI was his father, and Lucrezia Borgia was his sister, with Cesare being born outside of marriage.[1] Niccolò Machiavelli's work The Prince was significantly influenced by Cesare's pursuit of political power.[2]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 13 September 1475
- Birthplace
- Subiaco, Papal States (now Italy)
- Died
- 12 March 1507
- Place of death
- Viana, Navarre (now Spain)
- Burial place
- Iglesia de Santa María (Viana)
- Spouse
- Charlotte of Albret (m. 1499)
- Parents
- Pope Alexander VI, Vannozza dei Cattanei
- Relatives
- Giovanni Borgia (brother)
- Lucrezia Borgia (sister)
- Gioffre Borgia (brother)
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Cesare married Charlotte of Albret, a sister of King John III of Navarre, on 10 May 1499.[3] When his father became Pope, Cesare was elevated to the rank of Cardinal at 18 years old.[4] Cesare gave up his cardinalate on 17 August 1498 so he could follow a path in the military.[5] Around 1500, King Louis XII of France employed Cesare as a condottiero; during the Italian Wars, he took control of both Milan and Naples.[2]
In Central Italy, Cesare managed to establish his own domain, yet after his father's death he could not hold onto power for an extended period.[2]
What the cited sources add
The same source notes that in 1493 his father made him cardinal without Cesare ever having received priestly orders.[6] The "Today in Catholic History" blog states that Cesare Borgia became the first man to ever resign from the cardinalate on 17 August 1498.[7] The same blog notes that Cesare was 23 when he resigned the cardinalate.[7] The Studia rapido account reports that Cesare's motto became "Aut Caesar, aut nihil" ("O Cesare or nothing").[6]
The "Bòrgia, Cesare" encyclopedia entry reports that Cesare preserved his state by betraying and executing conspirators at Senigallia, among them Oliverotto da Fermo, Vitellozzo Vitelli, the duke of Gravina, and Paolo Orsini.[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Cesare Borgia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Borgia Family – Italian family", Encyclopedia Britannica (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cesare Borgia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Machiavelli, "The Prince", University of Chicago Press, 15 May 2010, p. 33 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cesare Borgia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Adot Lerga, "Juan de Albret y Catalina de Foix o la defensa del Estado navarro (1483–1517)", Pamiela, 2005, p. 164–165 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cesare Borgia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Herfried Münkler and Marina Münkler, Lexikon der Renaissance, Munich: Beck, 2000, pp. 43ff. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cesare Borgia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Today in Catholic History", Catholic Under the Hood, 17 August 2010; "Cesare Borgia Biography & Facts", Encyclopædia Britannica; "Alexander VI Biography, Legacy, & Facts Britannica", www.britannica.com, 2025-08-14 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Cesare Borgia, detto Il Valentino", Studia rapido, 5 September 2014. facts only, no text reused. studiarapido.it
- "Today in Catholic History", Catholic Under the Hood, 17 August 2010. facts only, no text reused. catholicunderthehood.com
- "Bòrgia, Cesare - Enciclopedia". facts only, no text reused. treccani.it
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Cesare Borgia (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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