Charles VIII. invades Italy—Caesar a hostage—Caesar leaves the King’s camp—The league against France—Charles enters Rome—Caesar appointed Governor of Orvieto—The Pope conceives the idea of recovering Romagna—He declares the Romagnol barons rebels—The Pope summons his son, the Duke of Gandia, from Spain, to command the papal troops—Charles VIII. aids the Romagnol barons—Giuffre Borgia and his wife, DoÑa Sancia of Naples, come to Rome—Caesar appointed Legate to crown the King of Naples.

The nuptial contract of Giuffre Borgia and Sancia of Naples was signed January 25, 1494, but King Ferdinand died before the marriage was performed, and the crown passed to Federigo of Aragon. Giuffre by the contract received for himself and his heirs in perpetuity the principality of Squillace and the county of Cariati in Calabria. The King of Naples and the Pope each promised to give the young man an annual allowance of ten thousand crowns, and Giuffre was to be received and treated as a prince throughout the Regno. The marriage was celebrated with great pomp, May 7, 1494, and Giuffre remained in Naples several months. This alliance for a time put an end to the strife between the Vatican and those who, supported by the King of Aragon, had been holding part of the papal territory by force.

Naples was now filled with reports of the preparations which Charles VIII. of France was making for invading Naples, and King Alfonso sent Ferrante de Genaro to urge Ludovico il Moro to oppose the coming of the French King. Desiring the Pope’s aid, Alfonso also requested an interview with him, and about the end of June the Pontiff, accompanied by three cardinals, set out to meet him at Vicovaro. Burchard describes the departure of the Pope in great detail; among the cardinals in his suite was his Eminence of Valencia.

July 14th the approach of the King was announced to the Pope. As they entered the town Caesar, Cardinal of Valencia, who had gone to escort his Majesty, rode on the King’s left. The Pope and the King remained in Vicovaro three days, and a coalition was established between them and Florence against the King of France, but as all of the allies were afraid of Charles, it came to nothing. The Pope and Caesar returned to Rome some time before July 17th.

To understand why Ludovico il Moro urged the King of France to invade Naples it is necessary to go back to the time of Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, whose oppressions and cruelties were ended by his assassination in December, 1476, as he was about to enter the church of St. Stephen.

Galeazzo left an infant son, Gian Galeazzo Maria, and a widow, Bona of Savoy, sister-in-law of Louis XI. of France. The Duchess acted as regent for her son, but Ludovico, brother of the murdered duke, soon succeeded in wresting the power from her. He also refused to turn the government over to his nephew Galeazzo Maria, when he came of age—at the same time virtually holding him prisoner. Galeazzo Maria’s wife, Isabella of Aragon, daughter of Alfonso, Duke of Naples, hereditary prince of the Regno, complained to her father, whereupon, to render the opposition of Naples unavailing, and eventually obtain control of Milan, Ludovico hit upon the plan of inducing the youthful King of France, Charles VIII., to come to Italy and assert the old rights of the House of Anjou to the throne of Naples.

By his contemporaries Ludovico was regarded as the greatest political genius of the age, and the extravagant admiration bestowed on him shows that the adoption of any means to egotistic purposes was regarded not only as justifiable but also as commendable. Ludovico accepted the applause as his due, and boasted that “the Pope was his chaplain, the Emperor his condottiere, Venice his chamberlain, and the King of France his courier to come and go at his bidding.”

Charles VIII. was a visionary, weak, headstrong young man, and, disregarding the advice of his counsellors, he readily fell in with Ludovico’s plans. Vast preparations were made for war; a great army was gathered at Vienne and a large amount of artillery of a size hitherto unknown in Italy was sent to Genoa. Before Charles entered the peninsula, however, Don Federico began the war by an attack on Genoa, which, however, was unsuccessful.

Finally, August 23, 1494, Charles himself left Vienne and crossed the Alps to Asti, where he fell ill. On his recovery he visited his cousin, the deposed Duke of Milan, and his young wife, who were kept by Ludovico in the castle of Pavia. The Duchess pleaded for her husband and infant son and for her father and family, against whom Charles was advancing.

Shortly after the King’s visit the young duke died, and it was generally believed that he had been poisoned by his uncle, Ludovico.

Charles had sent an ambassador, Philippe de Commines, to endeavour to obtain the support of the Venetians, but they held aloof. The envoy explained that the King desired their aid and counsel in his undertaking; to which they replied that he was indeed most welcome, but that they could not give him any help, as they were afraid of the Turk—although they were at peace with him—and as to advising such a wise King, and one who already had such able counsellors, it would be great presumption on their part; nevertheless, they would much rather assist than injure him. They were careful to talk and also act with circumspection. “I believe their affairs are conducted more judiciously than those of any other power or prince in the whole world,” concludes Commines. As Venice would not assist him, it was necessary for Charles to secure Florence before advancing into Naples. He therefore decided to march through Tuscany, where he encountered no opposition, the cities in many cases voluntarily opening their gates to him and asking his protection.

The citizens of Florence were well disposed toward the French, hoping they would help them to throw off the tyranny of Piero de’ Medici, who refused to desert Naples. Charles therefore entered Tuscany and laid siege to Sarzana, whereupon Piero’s courage failed, and he secretly tried to make terms for himself. His situation had become so desperate that he offered to give up Pisa, Leghorn, Pietrasanta, and Librafatta, and he also agreed that the Republic should advance Charles a large sum of money. On learning of this the Florentines became so incensed that Piero fled and took refuge at the Court of Giovanni Bentivoglio of Bologna and never returned. After a short stay in Pisa and Florence the King set out for Rome.

At that time the French army was greatly superior to the armies of Italy. Charles’s cavalry consisted of lances, each composed of a heavily-armed man-at-arms and his three or four attendants; they and their horses were well equipped. The great strength of the French infantry, however, lay in the Swiss mercenaries.

The Italian troops were subjects of various states and were under the command of their own captains and were paid by them; consequently cohesion and discipline were entirely lacking in the armies of the peninsula. The Italian foot-soldiers were inferior to the Swiss, who were regarded as the best in the world. In addition to their heavy guns the French had a large number of light brass field-pieces, which could be easily moved about, and which threw iron balls, and were discharged with considerable rapidity, while the Italian guns were so heavy that they could be moved only by oxen and with the greatest difficulty; their ammunition consisted of heavy stone balls.

In the fifteenth century wars the loss of life was slight—notwithstanding the blood-curdling accounts of contemporary chroniclers. The defensive armour was so massive that it was difficult to kill a man, although it was comparatively easy to unhorse him.

War is a trade—in spite of the efforts of the advocates of brute force to glorify it. Wars were usually brought about then by adventurers bent on gain, as they are now, by the so-called captains of industry—who control all civilised Governments—for the extension of commerce, but always, of course, in the sacred name of patriotism, which Dr. Johnson described as “the last refuge of a scoundrel.” The leaders and the men in their pay fought for any state which hired them, and they might at any time change employers. The famous Italian captains played the game of war with great profit to themselves and no little skill.

While the French troops were overrunning the Patrimonium Petri a body of their cavalry under Monsignor Yves d’Allegre captured Madonna Adriana Orsini, Giulia Bella, the Pope’s mistress, and her sister Girolama, and great was the consternation of his Holiness; his anxiety to secure the return of the ladies set all Italy to laughing and gave the sonneteers an opportunity to display their wit, of which they were not slow to avail themselves. The captain who made the precious capture wanted to hold them for a vast ransom, “because the Holy Father would give his very eyes to have them back”; but Charles surrendered them for a comparatively insignificant sum, doubtless not valuing them as highly as did Christ’s Vicar.

The Neapolitan troops retreated before Charles, who entered Rome the last day of the year 1494; and Burchard describes in detail the manner of his reception and how the populace greeted him with shouts of “Francia, Francia! Colonna, Colonna! Vincola, Vincola!” Evidently they preferred France, Colonna, and Della Rovere to Borgia.

All the great prelates then in Rome promptly paid their respects to the King, the youthful Cardinal of Valencia among the number. While the French were in the city they committed all sorts of outrages, robberies, and murders. It was at this time that Vannozza’s house was plundered, and on January 10, 1495, the Pope for his greater security removed to the Castle of St. Angelo, accompanied by several cardinals, including Valencia.

The following day the Holy Father and Philibert De Bressa, Charles’s representative, concluded an agreement by which the Pope was to crown the French monarch King of Naples and was to abstain from harming the cardinals Della Rovere, Gurk, Savelli, and Colonna. It was also arranged that the Pope’s son Caesar should accompany the King of France as his hostage.

January 28th, after taking leave of the Pope with many expressions of friendship, Charles departed. At the place appointed for Caesar to join him the youthful cardinal presented himself with six magnificent chargers, and they rode forth, Caesar on the King’s left. Two days later news was brought the Pope that the Cardinal of Valencia, disguised as a stable-boy, had fled from the King’s camp at Velletri.

When Caesar joined the King he had nineteen large chests, which were supposed to contain his personal effects; two of the trunks were brought back to Rome; the remaining seventeen were opened by the King’s order after the flight of his hostage, and were found to contain nothing—“at least, so I was informed,” adds Burchard, “but I do not believe this.”

On his return to Rome Caesar spent the first night at the house of Antonio Flores, Auditor of the Ruota—perhaps to give the paternal anger time to cool. The following day the Pope sent his secretary, the Bishop of Nepi and Sutri, to the King to disclaim all responsibility for Caesar’s disregard of the agreement.

February 1st the city of Rome sent three envoys, Hieronymus Portius, the Pope’s intimate, Coronato Planca, senior Consistorial Auditor, and Jacopo Sinibaldi, Master of the Seals, to the King to recommend the city to his care and to beg him not to be angry on account of the cardinal’s flight.

At the time it was generally believed in Rome that his Holiness had connived at Caesar’s conduct, but his right to give his son to Charles as a hostage was also questioned. Caesar was then only nineteen, and his flight was clear proof of his powers of dissimulation and of his determination. Charles finally concluded to ignore the matter, and in the course of a few days the young cardinal again appeared about the Vatican.

About the time that Caesar took his unceremonious departure the Spanish ambassadors arrived in Charles’s camp to renew the protests of the House of Aragon, which was determined to assert its own rights to the Neapolitan throne, and while at Velletri Don Antonio de Fonseca had threatened Charles with war. These protests, which were the beginning of the famous League of the Conservation, furnish a more reasonable explanation of Caesar’s flight from the French camp than does the theory of an earlier agreement between himself and his father.

The day the League was proclaimed in Rome—April 1st—a mob of Spaniards attacked a body of Swiss troops belonging to the French army, and Burchard intimates that Caesar inspired the assault in revenge for outrages committed by the mercenaries. The Pope, to avoid the charge of complicity in Caesar’s escape, sent him to Spoleto, where the promising ecclesiastic awaited developments. Twenty days after Caesar left the French camp Charles VIII. entered Naples as conqueror.

Ludovico il Moro now began to regret the alliance he had made with King Charles, although by his coming he had been able to make himself Duke of Milan. A league against France was solemnly proclaimed in St. Peter’s on Palm Sunday—the Venetians having signed it March 30th—and when Charles learned of the preparations that were being made in the north of Italy to oppose him and that his ally the Duke of Milan, throwing off his mask, had attacked the French vessels in the harbour of Genoa, he became anxious for his own safety. He therefore arranged for the occupation of the Regno, leaving a considerable force in the conquered territory, and decided to return to France. He determined to endeavour to detach Alexander from the league, and with this end in view he set out for Rome. The Pope was his nearest and most dangerous enemy; the King therefore was anxious to win him over and obtain from him the investiture of the Kingdom of Naples.

Alexander, knowing that Charles was offended by Caesar’s flight and by his own activity in the formation of the league, decided to avoid him. Therefore, accompanied by Caesar and nineteen other cardinals, he left Rome for Orvieto, where he arrived May 28th. In notifying the people of Orvieto of his intended visit the Pope stated that he was going thither to meet the King of France. When his Holiness left Rome he placed Palavicini, Cardinal of Sta Anastasia, in charge of the city, and directed him not to oppose the King in any way, and to show him all honour and respect. The Pontiff’s escort numbered more than five thousand men, including Greek mercenaries, archers, mounted and on foot, courtiers, and servants.14 The Pope sent to Montefiascone and Viterbo for all the artillery, mortars, siege guns, and small cannon, which he placed in the castle, together with the munitions of war brought from Rome.

June 3rd an ambassador arrived from the Emperor Maximilian with a retinue of thirty horsemen, and was escorted into the town by a number of cardinals with a guard of a thousand men, horse and foot. The following day an envoy also arrived from the King of France. It is believed that the purpose of Maximilian’s embassy was to prevent the Pope and the French monarch—who was persisting in his efforts to see his Holiness—from coming to any agreement. While the diplomatists were endeavouring to hoodwink each other Caesar was busily engaged in putting the strongholds and castles in a condition for defence. The evening of June 4th the Pope held a consistory, at which it was decided to send Juan Lopez, Datory and Bishop of Perugia, to that city, whither the Pope had determined to go, and direct the officials to make proper preparations for the reception of his Holiness. It was said at the time that it was the Pope’s intention to go from Perugia to Ancona and thence to Venice to ask the aid of the Republic, rather than have an interview with Charles.

June 5th the entire Pontifical Court set out for Perugia, and they had no sooner left the town of Orvieto than a royal envoy arrived with instructions to follow the Pope and see him at any cost. As soon as the messenger learned of Alexander’s departure he left for Perugia. At Toscanella his people were refused lodging, a fight ensued, and blood was shed. At Santa Fiora the French learned that Guido Sforza was in command of the citadel and they immediately took him prisoner, an act due to their hatred of his kinsmen Ludovico il Moro, who had betrayed their sovereign. In the meantime the Pope and Caesar had arrived at Perugia, and thus avoided the meeting they feared.

Charles had entered Rome—June 1st—and had remained there only over night. On the 5th he was in Viterbo, and thence he advanced into Lombardy; he avoided Florence and refused to give up Pisa. He reached Pontremoli and crossed the Apennines without encountering any resistance, but found the armies of Milan and Venice, under the command of Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, lying in wait for him on the other side of the mountains. After a brief struggle at Fornovo, on the Taro, the King with his army of 10,000 men broke through the allied forces of 35,000—who lost about 3,500—and escaped to Turin and thence to France, where he apparently forgot all about his conquest of Naples, for he left his Viceroy, Gilbert de Montpensier, to look after himself as best he might. Immediately after the battle of Fornovo, Ferdinand II. with a few Spanish troops surprised Naples and captured Montpensier, and the French dominion in the Regno came to an end as quickly as it had been established. Before leaving Italy Charles had made peace with Ludovico independently of the Moor’s allies.

The danger passed, the inhabitants of Orvieto, anxious for the Pope to return to their city, sent a delegation to request him to do so, and June 21st he did return, but was so anxious to be back in Rome that he remained only a day. The Pontiff, however, appreciated the strategic advantages of the castle of Orvieto so highly that he made the town a legation a latere and appointed his son legate and governor for life.

The Pope’s letter announcing Caesar’s nomination is dated July 22, 1495, and is as follows:—

“Beloved Sons etc. Having15 for a long time known of your great love and loyalty toward us and that you desired us to appoint our beloved son, Caesar, Cardinal of Valencia, to be your protector and governor; and knowing that on account of his high character and especially his sound judgment, you can expect much from him; and being exceedingly anxious to comply with your wishes in order that you may know how great is our love for you we have decided to make him your governor for life and do so appoint him as you will see by the proper document under our seal. We do this the more willingly as, owing to the great love and affection he bears you, we are confident that you will be well governed and also protected; and that your affairs will prosper in all ways. On account of other matters which concern us he is not able to go to you immediately, consequently he sends in his place our beloved son, Giacomo Dracaz, etc. Given in Rome, in St. Peter’s under the Pontifical seal xxii July MCCCCLXXXXV, the third year of our pontificate.

“B. Floridus.”

The reader may well wonder whether any one was ever deceived by such an epistle.

Caesar’s first act was to make certain appointments to office which were beyond his authority, and when the fact was brought to his attention he withdrew them, and apologised with a tact and courtesy which proved the maturity of his judgment and character and at once endeared him to the people of Orvieto.

Caesar concludes his letter:—

“In view of the tricks and shrewdness of certain men who have no regard for the truth nothing is more difficult for those who are animated by just intentions than to distinguish the true from the false. If in future I should ever do anything contrary to your customs, statutes, or privileges, know that I have been led into error by some designing person, for I am only human and as such am liable to be tricked and deceived.”

The cardinal of nineteen years signs himself C. cardinalis Valentinus, qui vos ex corde amat.

Although the letter does not sound like that of a boy of nineteen we must remember that children were precocious in those days and that his training and constant association with astute men much older than himself, who were concerned with the great interests of the age, probably made him wise beyond his years.

The letter to the conservators is dated August 7, 1495; consequently the Pope and Caesar had returned to Rome as soon as they knew that the French army was engaged with the forces of the league.

It was about this time that Alexander conceived the great idea of his reign—namely, to secure the definitive submission of the Romagnol barons who had greatly troubled the earlier years of his Pontificate. Caesar was only twenty years of age, and it is hardly probable that he was of much help in this project, although he could not have been indifferent to events about him—the collecting of men to strengthen the papal army, the repairing and provisioning of the castles about Rome, movements undoubtedly directed against the barons of the Romagna now deprived of the support of both France and Naples, the latter the victim of another war, caused by the determination of the Catholic sovereigns to restore the throne of Aragon in the Regno.

At this juncture the Pope decided to strengthen the Spanish party in the Sacred College; he accordingly at one creation—February 19, 1496—bestowed the cardinalate on four Castillians: the Bishop of Segovia, the Bishop of Agrigentum, the Bishop of Perugia, and on Francesco Borgia. The number of Spanish votes in the Sacred College was thereby raised to nine, and a great protest was made in Rome.

Romagna, the Marches, and Umbria nominally belonged to the Papacy, but in reality they were governed by certain powerful families: the Orsini and Colonna near Rome, the Verano in Camerino, the Freducci in Fermo, the Trinci in Foligno, the Della Rovere in Sinigaglia and Urbino, the Baglioni in Perugia, the Vitelli in CittÀ di Castella, the Sforza in Pesaro, the Malatesta in Rimini, the Manfredi in Faenza, the Bentivoglio in Bologna, and the Este in Ferrara. These families Alexander determined to destroy, ostensibly to recover the territory for the Church, but actually to build up a great principality for his family.

To carry out his design, however, the Pope had to find a reasonable pretext, and this he readily did, for when the King of France came to Italy the Orsini had entered into a treaty by which they were to help him, although they had hitherto supported the House of Aragon. Alexander could not have had a better excuse for crushing them; accordingly June 1, 1496, in public consistory he had a bull read declaring Virginio, Gian Giordano, Paolo and Carlo Orsini, and Bartolomeo d’Alviano rebels and deprived of their estates for having sided with the French and borne arms against the Church. Their ruin was hastened by the surrender of Aversa, July 23rd, when Virginio, the head of the family, was taken prisoner.

To carry out his plan the Pope summoned his son Giovanni, Duke of Gandia, to Rome, intending to confer on him the office of Gonfalonier of the papal forces, a position his elder brother, Pier Luigi, had previously held. Giovanni was born in 1474; he was therefore two years older than Caesar. In 1492 he had married DoÑa Maria Enriquez, a niece of the Catholic Sovereigns, and he seemed destined for a great career.

When Giovanni reached Rome, August 10, 1496, the Cardinal of Valencia, accompanied by the entire Court on horseback, went to meet him at the Porta Pertusa, and escorted him in great state to the papal palace.

Giovanni found his sister Lucretia and his brother Giuffre married into two of the great families of the peninsula and his brother Caesar an enormously wealthy Prince of the Church.

So many benefices had been conferred on him that he was one of the richest of the cardinals. At this time Caesar’s secretary was Carlo Valgulio of Brescia, a famous scholar, who dedicated his “De Contemplatione Orbium Excelsorum Disputatio,” a translation from Cleomedes, to his master with the usual flattery.

Towards the end of October the Duke of Gandia was made Captain-General of the Pontifical forces, and, together with the Duke of Urbino and several of the Colonna, with all his men, arms, and machines of war, set out for Anguillara for the purpose of seizing the estates of the Orsini.

In less than a month they took ten castles, but during this time Bartolomeo d’Alviano made a raid up to the very walls of Rome and just missed capturing Caesar, who was hunting; the cardinal only saved himself by flight.

Carlo Orsini arrived at Soriano January 26, 1497, with the troops of Vitellozzo Vitelli, and after a fierce struggle the Duke of Urbino was captured. In the fight the Duke of Gandia was slightly wounded in the face. Fabrizio Colonna and the legate Pietro de Luna were forced to flee to Ronciglione. The war continued for another month, and ended with an agreement by which the Orsini promised to pay 50,000 ducats for the return of the territory which had been occupied and to release all their prisoners except the Duke of Urbino.

When the King of France had learned of Alexander’s activity against the great feudatories of the Romagna, who had sided with him, he had sent Carlo Orsini and Vitellozzo Vitelli to their aid with fresh troops. One after another the Baglioni, the Della Rovere, and all who hated Alexander and saw that the destruction of the Orsini would be followed by the overthrow of their own power joined the Pope’s enemies. Only the Colonna and the Savelli held to the Holy Father.

The Duke of Gandia was the hero of the fÊtes which followed the termination of the war. He and Lucretia’s husband, Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro, were selected to meet Gonsalvo de Cordova when he came to Rome, March 15th, after the capture of Ostia, which Minaldo da Guevra had endeavoured to hold for Giuliano della Rovere. The Holy Father, however, continued to look after the interests of Lucretia, and especially of those of Caesar, who was given a share of the spoils wrested from the Roman barons. Next to Estouteville, Caesar was the wealthiest of the cardinals, and it now began to be whispered about that he intended to relinquish the purple.

In entering the Church he had merely yielded to his father’s wishes and he had only the first tonsure. The ambassadors noted his dislike for the Church; his instincts were those of a soldier; he was always armed; he was attracted by war and greedy for power. Had he been the eldest son he undoubtedly would have been made Captain-General of the papal forces, for he had more energy, a stronger will, a livelier imagination, and what is perhaps of even greater importance in the egotistical scramble for wealth and honours, he had absolutely no moral sense. In the great drama that was preparing he undoubtedly would have promptly found his fitting part. He was as violent and overbearing as his father, who had not dared to punish him when he fled from the French camp.

Giuffre, Prince of Squillace, and his wife, DoÑa Sancia of Naples, entered Rome in great state, May 20, 1496, by the Lateran Gate. The Prince was then fourteen and his wife two years older. They were escorted to the principal entrance of the Lateran Church by Caesar and Lucretia, with a company of two hundred persons, including the orators of all the powers, the cardinals and their suites, and numerous citizens; here Giuffre, Sancia, and Lucretia dismounted and entered the edifice; thence, after a short stay, they proceeded to the Apostolic Palace, where from a window the Pope eagerly watched their approach. His Holiness, attended by eleven cardinals—Caesar having now joined him—received them in a great hall. Before the Pope’s footstool was a low bench, on which was a brocaded cushion, and before this on the floor, in the form of a cross, were four large cushions of crimson velvet. Giuffre knelt before the Pope, who took the Prince’s head between his hands, but did not kiss him. Sancia and Lucretia followed, and were received in the same manner. Thereupon the Prince and his consort kissed the hands of all the cardinals. This done, Giuffre took his place between his brother, the Cardinal of Valencia, and Cardinal Sanseverino, while Lucretia and Sancia seated themselves on the Pope’s left-hand, and “all conversed for some time pleasantly and wittily,” after which they took their departure. The next day Sancia and Lucretia and a number of other women, to the great scandal of Rome, crowded into and about the marble pulpit in St. Peter’s, from which the priests were accustomed to read the gospel.

Sancia, brought up in the corrupt Court of Naples, was a bold and perverse woman, who later became Caesar’s most determined and fearless enemy; she was the only person who dared brave him. Older than her husband, she despised and dominated him. It is said that she was the mistress of both her brothers-in-law, the Cardinal of Valencia and the Duke of Gandia, and also later of Cardinal Ippolito d’Este.

In a consistory held June 8, 1497, Caesar Borgia was appointed legate to anoint and crown Frederic of Aragon King of Naples. Alexander had consented to invest him with the Regno and remit the annual tribute to the Church if he would make Benevento an independent principality for his son, the Duke of Gandia, without feudal obligations. In secret consistory the Pope secured the cardinals’ consent to the investiture of the Duke of Gandia with Terracina and Pontecorvo.

Caesar was making extravagant preparations for his departure and Gandia was completing arrangements to go with him to receive the investiture of his new domains when an event occurred which changed the whole order of things, and one which has continued to baffle historians—the murder of the Duke of Gandia the night of June 14, 1497.