The House of Borgia were a noble family from Spain who ended up key figures in Italian politics during the The Renaissance, particularly Rodrigo, a cardinal who was elected Pope in 1492 as Alexander VI, and his children.
Despite being Spanish (and therefore, to the xenophobic Italians, a terrifying and probably heretic foreigner), Rodrigo got to, and stayed in, a powerful position in the church. He was made a cardinal while in his 20s, by his uncle, Pope Callixtus III (Alonso Borgia). He served decades as vice-chancellor of the Vatican, second-in-command to a number of popes, a position which he kept even through the reigns of popes who were his family's enemies. Now, the time had come for him, and his family, to take center stage.
This is where the story usually (but not always) begins. Once he was crowned Pope, Alexander brought his young mistress, Giulia Farnese, into the Vatican. He also brought his four children by his previous mistress, Vanozza dei Cattanei.
Notable Borgia family members
See his own page.
Born in 1475. The oldest of the four children of Rodrigo and Vanozza, he was chosen and trained to be his father's heir. Of course, this meant he had to be a priest. The Nepotism started early — at the age of 8, he was made an apostolic protonotary (a position that, in modern times, requires one to have been a bishop for over 20 years), and at 16, he became Bishop of Pamplona. Soon after his father became pope, Cesare was made Archbishop of Valencia, and a cardinal. He was never suited to the priesthood, however. He could have just shrugged his shoulders and gone along with the money and power it brought him (like Giulia's brother Alessandro Farnese, who was made a cardinal by Rodrigo at the same time, and later became Pope Paul III, using the office to give away church properties to his family, all while writing a book about fine wine). But Cesare was different from that. In 1498, the King of France needed a favor from the pope, and Rodrigo negotiated a ducal title for Cesare in exchange. That in hand, Cesare finally gained permission to resign from being a cardinal — something no one else in history, to this day, has done.
Once free of his clerical roles, Alexander made the newly designated Duke of Valentinois (still nicknamed "Il Valentino") captain of the papal forces. At the time, Rome was surrounded by the Papal States, which were ruled, badly, by petty tyrant families on behalf of the church. These rulers were supposed to pay rents and fulfill other obligations to the church, but they didn't because they knew that the church couldn't do anything about it. Alexander and Cesare hoped to change that. Cesare set out to conquer those lands back, and his military exploits would inspire Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince. After the death of his father, the fact that Cesare was ill with the same malaria made it impossible for him to hold his gains together, and he was soon captured. He escaped from the castle where he was being held (by actually climbing out of the window on a bedsheet), but he was killed in battle shortly after, on March 12, 1507 — just 3 days short of his namesake.
- Miguel da Corella
Throughout his life, he was accompanied by Miguel da Corella (a.k.a. Michelotto, a.k.a. Micheletto, a.k.a. Don Michele), his childhood friend and most loyal companion. Miguel's origins and date of birth are unknown, though some say he was an illegitimate son of a count in Spain. He is most often recorded in history committing murders for Cesare (see below), and his Undying Loyalty is well attested to. He was captured before Cesare, in 1505, and tortured for information about his master, but he gave nothing. Cesare was very distraught over Miguel's capture as well, offering castles and large amounts of money to his enemy in order to have him back. Miguel was released, but never reunited with Cesare. Machiavelli got him a position as Bargello, or police chief, of Florence (a position that was always held by a foreigner so that the factions within Florence couldn't hold that influence). After about a year — likely when news of Cesare's death reached him — he left, and was killed in Milan about a year later.
Second born son of Rodrigo. Sometimes italianized as "Giovanni". His date of birth is unknown, leading some historians (and works) to believe he might have been older than Cesare. While Cesare was assigned to the Church, Juan had no such limitations placed on him. He inherited a dukedom from Rodrigo's older son, his half-brother Pedro-Luis (from an unknown mother), who was something of a war hero for Spain and was killed in battle. As Duke of Gandia, he was married to a noblewoman from Spain's royal family. His father made him captain of the papal forces, but he was not a capable soldier and ended up humiliated. He was murdered in 1498, stabbed nine times and thrown in the river. The murder was never solved. Many over the centuries have pinned the blame on Cesare, but for many reasons, it is highly unlikely that Cesare was the guilty party. Some member of the Orsini family, one of the Borgias' many enemies, was most likely behind it — Juan had many enemies among the Orsini personally (and sexually) as well.
Daughter of Rodrigo, born in 1480. Rather than the vicious murderer she's usually depicted as, most historical sources say that she was sweet, charming, and beautiful. She was also intelligent — even historians who want to see her in a negative light have to admit that, from the letters between her and Cesare when they were teenagers, they were both smart enough to make those teenaged doctors and generals in anime look realistic.
- Giovanni Sforza
On the ascension of her father to the Papacy, she was married to Giovanni Sforza, but when this became politically inconvenient, the marriage was forcibly annulled on grounds of non-consummation, and Sforza was forced to sign papers declaring himself to be impotent in order to back up those grounds. That was what provoked Sforza to start one of the rumors that Lucrezia is most known for to most people. The other is that she poisoned everyone who came near her, especially husbands.
- Alfonso d'Aragon
In real life, it was only her second husband, Alfonso d'Aragon, duke of Bisceglie, who died while married to her. He was strangled by Cesare's right-hand man Michelotto (see above), not poisoned by Lucrezia. The marriage was said to be happy, but somehow, she forgave Cesare for the murder.
- Alfonso d'Este
After that, she married the Duke of Ferrara, Alfonso d'Este. As Duchess of Ferrara, she oversaw one of the most elegant and peaceful noble courts in Italy, though the factional and grudge-based violence still wasn't that much better than what she'd seen in Rome. She had an affair with a Venetian poet named Pietro Bembo, and Lord Byron said that their love letters were the most beautiful he'd ever read (he also stole a lock of Lucrezia's hair from the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan.)
- Pedro Calderon
After her divorce from Sforza, Lucrezia spent some time in a convent. When the body of a Borgia servant named Pedro Calderon, who had delivered letters to Lucrezia, was dragged out of the river, the rumors began to swirl that he'd been killed for having an affair with Lucrezia. At around the same time, a baby named Giovanni Borgia, also known as the infans Romanus ("Roman infant") showed up. The theory ran that the baby was Lucrezia's, and that the father was either Pedro, or her father or brother. In reality, Giovanni was likely the son of Rodrigo and Giulia, and much later, he lived in Ferrara at the ducal court with Lucrezia, openly recognized as her half-brother.
The youngest of the four children of Rodrigo, he was married to Sancia d'Aragon (sister of Alfonso, see above), an illegitimate daughter of the King of Naples, soon after his father became pope.
- Sancia d'Aragon
Gioffre's older wife — when they married, he was about 12, and she was about 16. She is said to have found him less than satisfying, and she had affairs with both Cesare and Juan. At Lucrezia's wedding to Alfonso, a private party, Cesare danced with her eight times. It is from her private writings that we get the detail of Cesare dancing in a ballet costumed as a unicorn at that party.
Tropes as portrayed in fiction:
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Rodrigo was a fairly average-looking 62-year-old pope on most contemporary paintings representing him, but media tend to case more attractive actors to play him, such as Jeremy Irons (The Borgias), Manuel Tadros (Assassin's Creed), and Tetsuya Bessho (Cesare - Il Creatore che ha distrutto). On the other hand, contemporary accounts suggest that he was actually an attractive man in his prime. His children, especially Cesare and Lucrezia, had their beauty praised quite often as well.
- The Chessmaster: Machiavelli's The Prince is heavily inspired by Cesare's conquests, and sings his praises throughout. The final chapter is practically begging the leaders of Florence to pick up where Cesare left off, and unify Italy. He also acknowledges Alexander as an expert manipulator of the political game.
Alexander VI did nothing else but deceive men, nor ever thought of doing otherwise, and he always found victims; for there never was a man who had greater power in asserting, or who with greater oaths would affirm a thing, yet would observe it less; nevertheless his deceits always succeeded according to his wishes, because he well understood this side of mankind.
- Death Equals Redemption: Alexander was apparently moved to tears at his final confession, and quite thorough in describing his misdeeds.
- The Don: Unbuilt Trope material — Rodrigo was probably the ancestor of most examples. Mario Puzo took several metric tons of inspiration from him in writing The Godfather and even wrote his own historical fiction rendition of the Borgia family story. In turn, fictional adaptations tend to play up his shades of "Mafia Don/Patriarch".
- Historical Domain Character: Rodrigo, Cesare and Lucrezia are very popular choices for historical characters in stories set in the Renaissance, alongside people like Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Rodrigo was a ruthless political manipulator, but fiction usually takes this up to eleven.
- Even as early as the 18th Century historians noted that compared to many of the other cunning and shrewd nobles of his generation, he wasn't all that bad. He wasn't even worse than other cardinals and popes of the era, who tended to be just as corrupt as their secular counterparts. What made everyone see him as such a monster was the fact that he was foreign, that he gave his illegitimate children actual status, and that they were competent enough to use that status to make waves beyond the imagination of others at the time.
- Parental Favoritism: As in real life, Rodrigo is usually depicted favoring his children by Vanozza over his children from other liaisons, and displays favoritism even within the four, preferring his son Juan over Cesare. On the other hand, Rodrigo is consistently depicted as treating Joffre as The Unfavorite.
- Really Gets Around: Rodrigo was a man of many appetites, and loved the pleasures of the flesh. He had at least 12 known children, from at least 3 different mothers. It's worth noting that his predecessor as pope, Innocent VIII, is thought to have had as many as 16, and his most famous son was best known for his gambling addiction. Alexander's successor, Julius II, also had many children, only they all died young except for one.
- Cesare is also known to have had at least 12 children, mostly from different mothers.
- When Juan was sent to Spain to consummate his marriage, Cesare ended up having to send him a letter about how His Holiness the Pope was displeased at the rumors that Juan was sleeping around with everyone in town except his wife, and that he'd better father legitimate children soon and get himself back to Rome (he did, and his grandson ended up becoming a saint). Once back in Rome, he continued the same party playboy lifestyle. A romantic liaison likely provided motive for whoever stabbed him nine times and threw him in the river in 1498.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Rodrigo as the Sensitive Guy to Cesare's "manly man". Several adaptations play up Rodrigo's possible genuine faith and cerebral interests in contrast to Cesare's direct brutality. However, historically, Cesare was also quite brilliant, and his brutality was shown rarely, yet pointedly — it's what he's known for because he did it so well. There are also stories that show Rodrigo as the worldly one, unashamed to use the church to build personal power, and Cesare as the intellectual, envisioning a less corrupt and more functional future for Italy.
- Villainous Incest: Propaganda spread by the family's enemies, most notably Giovanni Sforza (see above), accuses them of this. It's highly unlikely to be true, though it hasn't stopped the more sensationalist adaptations from making it canon — and making viewers ship Cesare/Lucrezia even if they never thought they would.
Works featuring the Borgias:
Anime and Manga:
- Cantarella is a fantastically-slanted manga about Cesare. In it, Rodrigo sells not his own soul, but Cesare's, to the devil in exchange for the papacy.
- Cesare - Il Creatore che ha distrutto is a manga series about Cesare in school in 1491-92, and it ends with the conclave and Rodrigo's becoming pope. We see Cesare and Miguel through the eyes of Angelo, a Florentine commoner in their class, who befriends them despite their difference in rank and origin. A musical adaptation was first produced in 2023.
- The 1990's shoujo manga Madonna of the Flower Crown by Chiho Saito features Cesare as its villain. The heroine is a kind of Chosen One, with a prophecy around her that in order to rule Italy, one must possess her. She is targeted by everyone who wants power, Cesare included, until she finally takes the power for herself.
- One Winged Michelangelo features Cesare quite prominently, and quite positively, in one story arc. Michelotto is by his side, and the length of their friendship is acknowledged. Lucrezia is the Mature Younger Sibling, keeping Bunny-Ears Lawyer Cesare from wandering off.
- Trinity Blood, essentially a post-apocalyptic vampire AU of Italian Renaissance historical figures, has Antonio Borgia, clearly based on Cesare. He's the prince of the Kingdom of Valencia, a playful, flirtatious genius who earned 7 PhDs by the time he was 24 years old, and he works for the Vatican's anti-vampire military force essentially just for fun. He doesn't appear in the anime, only in the manga and light novels.
Films:
- The 1926 film version of Don Juan sets the story during the Borgia reign, and has Lucrezia set her sights on Don Juan as a conquest.
- The 1935 French film Lucrèce Borgia (from the French pronunciation of Lucrezia's name). Starred Edwige Feuillère as Lucrezia, Gabriel Gabrio as Cesare, Roger Karl as Rodrigo/Alexander VI and Maurice Escande as Juan.
- The 1953 French-Italian film Lucrèce Borgia. Starred Martine Carol as Lucrezia and Pedro Armendariz as Cesare.
Literature
- Cesare Borgia, or, the Elegant Cruelty by Nanami Shiono, first published in 1970, is a highly respected novel.
- Cesare and Lucrezia show up in Fate/Requiem as Assassin-class Servants, very young-looking twins who share thoughts and operate as Knowledge Brokers.
- The Justice of the Duke and The Banner of the Bull, by Rafael Sabatini, star Cesare, and feature gushing Purple Prose in adoration of his genius, his eyes, his nostrils...
- Sabatini also wrote a biography of him.
Live-Action Television:
- 1981's The Borgias, produced by The BBC. One in a series of failures by the BBC to create "the new I, Claudius". Starring Adolfo Celi as Rodrigo/Alexander VI, Oliver Cotton as Cesare and Anne-Louise Lambert as Lucrezia.
- 2011 gave us both The Borgias and Borgia. Both start with Rodrigo's ascent to the papacy, but only Borgia completed the story through Cesare's death — or, his supposed death.
Theatre
- The musical adapatation of ''Cesare: Il Creatore che ha distrutto'', cancelled in 2020, finally premiered in 2023. Like its source, it shows Cesare at 16 in school.
- The OuSta (Kings Stage) stage play series' second episode, Hoshikuzu no Ou (King of Stardust), features Cesare as its focus. It shows his meeting with the main character of episode 1, Vlad Dracula.
- Photos survive of early 20th century stage adaptations of Sabatini's books about Cesare.
- Lucrezia Borgia, a play by Victor Hugo adapted into an opera by Gaetano Donizetti, takes the Historical Villain Upgrade slander to extremes, and has almost no connection to Lucrezia's life. Hugo said about writing it that he wanted to present the figure of a Complete Monster who is also a mother, and explore what he saw as the inherent contradictions there.
Video Games:
- The Assassin's Creed series gives them a hefty Historical Villain Upgrade by making them leading figures of the Templar Order that's bound to suppress humanity's free will, though here they mainly seem concerned to enrich themselves and control Italy. The Big Bad of Assassin's Creed II (and Assassin's Creed: Lineage) turns out to be Rodrigo/Alexander VI (played by Manuel Tadros), and an Ax-Crazy Cesare takes that role in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (and the Brother–Sister Incest with Lucrezia is alluded to, of course).
