The Story of the Borgias (1913)
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The Story of The Borgias John Fyvie L1BRARV OF UN ,VERSITV CALIFORNIA AN DIEGO THE STORY OF THE BORGIAS <Jt^- i//sn6Ut*4Ccn4<s flom fte&co-^-u, THE STORY OF THE BOEGIAS AUTHOR OF "TRAGEDY QUEENS OF THE GEORGIAN ERA" ETC NEW YORK G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 1913 PRINTED AT THE BALLANTYNE PRESS TAVI STOCK STREET CoVENT GARDEN LONDON THE story of the Borgia family has always been of interest one strangely fascinating ; but a lurid legend grew up about their lives, which culminated in the creation of the fantastic monstrosities of Victor Hugo's play and Donizetti's opera. For three centuries their name was a byword for the vilest but in our there has been infamy ; own day an extraordinary swing of the pendulum, which is hard to account for. Quite a number of para- doxical writers have proclaimed to an astonished and mystified world that Pope Alexander VI was both a wise prince and a gentle priest whose motives and actions have been maliciously mis- noble- represented ; that Cesare Borgia was a minded and enlightened statesman, who, three centuries in advance of his time, endeavoured to form a united Italy by the only means then in Lucrezia anybody's power ; and that Borgia was a paragon of all the virtues. " " It seems to have been impossible to whitewash the Borgia without a good deal of juggling with the evidence, as well as a determined attack on the veracity and trustworthiness of the contemporary b v PREFACE historians and chroniclers to whom we are indebted for our knowledge of the time. Guicciardini and Burchard, in particular, have been singled out for depreciation and abuse. But nobody is likely to be much disturbed about Guicciardini 's essential trustworthiness and accuracy after the ample vin- dication of him which has been given by Villari " in his History of the Life and Times of Machia- velli." Nor has Burchard's authority suffered in the slightest degree by these indiscrirninating attacks. He was Master of the Ceremonies at the Vatican throughout the reign of Alexander VI, and he kept a diary, or rather a note-book, in which he jotted down, not officially but for his own private use, brief memoranda of anything connected with the Pope or the Vatican which came under his observation. Although the details he gives are sometimes highly indecent, and shocking to our modern notions, they do not appear to have been so to him. are set without comment They down ; he never imputes motives or makes any reflection on character he of his master ; invariably speaks the Pope with profound reverence and respect, and no really competent authority has questioned his good faith. Of course, it is quite true that we know to-day a good deal more about the true history of the Borgia than was known when Victor Hugo wrote vi PREFACE his play, and Alexander Dumas his lurid book of " Celebrated Crimes." Thousane, in his complete and elaborately annotated edition of Burchard's "Diarium," Pastor, in his "History of the Popes," " Creighton, in his History of the Papacy," " Gregorovius, in his History of the City of Rome " during the Middle Ages and in his monograph " " on Lucrezia Borgia," Villari, in his Life and " Times of Machiavelli and in his edition of the " Dispatches of Giustiniani," and Charles Yriarte, " " in his monograph on Cesare Borgia (to name no others), have brought forward much fresh docu- mentary evidence as well as thrown new light on the old. To these works, as well as to those of Burckhardt and J. A. Symonds on the civilisation and culture of the Renascence, no succeeding writer on the period can fail to be heavily indebted. I wish also to express my obligations to William Gilbert's biography of Lucrezia Borgia for details of her later life in Ferrara many ; and for many facts in my sketch of Francisco Borja, to the biography of the saint by Father A. M. I Clarke, S.J. ; although sincerely hope that nobody will charge that good Jesuit father either with my manner of stating the facts or with any of the comments I have ventured to make thereon. The present volume makes no pretence of con- taining fresh documentary evidence or of being vii PREFACE the result of original research. My aim has been to relate the actions and depict the characters of the principal persons of the House of Borgia in as straightforward and unbiassed a manner as possible after a careful sifting of all the evidence already available. It may be that the last word has not yet been said on the subject : but it seems to be in the highest degree unlikely that anything can now be discovered which can make any appre- ciable difference in the verdict of history on this extraordinary family. J.F. vm CONTENTS PACK I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. THE RISE OF THE BORGIA 48 III. THE FRENCH INVASION 74 IV. DIVORCE AND MURDER 104 V. CESARE BORGIA, DUKE OP ROMAGNA 183 VI. LUCREZIA BORGIA, PRINCESS OF ESTE 165 VII. THE CULMINATION 180 VIII. THE DOWNFALL 208 IX. LIFE IN A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY CITY 244 X. LUCREZIA BORGIA, DUCHESS OF FERRARA 262 XI. A SAINT OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA 803 INDEX 387 IX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS RODRIGO BORGIA (POPE ALEXANDER VI) Frontispiece From the fresco by Pinturricchio in the Vatican To/ace page CARDINAL ASCANIO SFORZA 72 From a medal in the British Museum CESARE BORGIA 134 From a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci LUCREZIA BORGIA 264 After the manner of Titian, in Casa Pamphili-Doria SAINT FRANCISCO DE BOHJA 328 XI I INTRODUCTION WHEN Rodrigo Borgia ascended the Papal throne, as Alexander VI, in 1492, a revolution was in progress throughout Europe. Not only was the old political order changing, but literature, art, science, commerce, and social life were undergoing a bewildering transformation. The history of all this elsewhere it is must be sought ; but impossible to form any just estimate of the characters and careers of the Borgia without first making a brief survey of the social and political conditions which prevailed in Italy towards the end of the fifteenth century. Guicciardini declares that at no time for a thousand years past had Italy enjoyed such prosperity. Her fertile lands, he says, were cul- tivated to the of the her tops mountains ; popula- tion and wealth were abundant ; she contained numerous and beautiful cities ; her various States suffered under no foreign influence, but were their she was remark- governed by own princes ; able for the number of her citizens who were distinguished in politics, in science, and in every noble art ; and within her boundaries was the majestic seat of the Primate of the Christian religion. But there was also a heavy balance on A 1 THE STORY OF THE BORGIAS the other side, which this eloquent historian omits to mention. The Italian Princedoms and Republics were in a state of perpetual conflict with one of sold another ; bands mercenary troops, who their services to the highest bidder, plundered and the from end to wasted country end ; everywhere the many were taxed, often to the point of ex- haustion, for the benefit of the few ; and in addition to the sufferings which the people of Italy had to endure from these causes, they were ravaged by numerous visitations of the plague, which from time to time devastated both the cities and the country districts. The Eastern Empire had been recently over- whelmed by the conquering Turks, who, firmly established in Constantinople, continued to extend their boundaries, and constituted a standing menace to their Christian neighbours. The Western Empire still existed, but was now restricted to Germany, and shorn of all its power. The independent fiefs and communes of the Middle were Ages tending to disappear ; and the great nations of modern Europe were in process of consolidation. France, which under Louis XI had permanently annexed the great duchy of Burgundy, was just on the point of adding that of Brittany also to the hereditary possessions of its crown. Spain, by the union of the crowns of Castile and of Aragon, held the greater part of the Peninsula, and had just driven the Moors from their last stronghold in Granada. The consolidating process, which was also at work in Hungary, in Poland, in 2 INTRODUCTION Scandinavia, and in Russia, seems to have been unfelt in Italy alone, where the five principal States, Venice, Milan, Naples, Florence, and Rome, jealously maintained their independence, and abhorred the idea either of a Republican federation or of a monarchical unity. The only approach to a national league amongst the Italians had been in 1455, when, in consequence of the taking of Constantinople and the dread that Mohammed might soon make his appearance in the Mediter- ranean, Pope Nicholas V had induced these five States to conclude a defensive alliance for twenty- five years against any foreign foe that might invade any part of Italy. Had any of the other Italian potentates possessed the foresight and sagacity of Lorenzo de' Medici, or even had his life been prolonged for another ten or fifteen years, this alliance might have been developed into some- thing of a wider and more permanent character. Why it was not will become apparent in the course of the following narrative. In the meantime it will be necessary to devote a few words to each of these five States separately. Venice, satisfied with having defeated her mari- time rivals, Pisa and Genoa, mistress of the seas, abundantly rich from her extensive commerce, and fortunate in possessing a stronger internal govern- ment than any of the other States, had consistently, if also somewhat selfishly, kept herself aloof from Italian politics until circumstances brought about a change in her policy in the fourteenth century.