Cesare Borgia
The model for Machiavelli's The Prince, who campaigned far and wide with the backing of his father, the pope.
Life
Son of the pope
Cesare, son of Pope Alexander VI, was made a cardinal at 18, but later renounced holy orders, married a French princess and was created Duke of Valentinois.
Romagna
With his father's support and French aid, he led armies that conquered many of the small states of the Romagna, including taking Forlì in 1500, which Caterina Sforza had held out in. Decisive and ruthless, he once lured all the mutinous condottieri to a banquet and had them killed. Machiavelli, as Florence's envoy, observed him at close range and later held him up in The Prince as the model of a new ruler.
The Prince
In 1503 his father died and the new pope was his mortal enemy, and his domains quickly fell apart. He went into exile in Spain and was killed in a skirmish in Navarre in 1507.
Legacy
Cesare Borgia was one of the most ambitious political figures of the Renaissance, and through Machiavelli's writings he became the embodiment of "Machiavellianism."
Did you know? Leonardo da Vinci once served him as a military engineer and drew city maps for him.
Key dates
- 1493Became a cardinal
- 1498Renounces holy orders; made Duke of Valentinois
- 1500Captured Forlì
- 1502Lured and killed the rebellious condottieri
- 1503Father dies; his power collapses
- 1507Killed in battle