The first campaign in Romagna—Imola surrenders—Caterina Sforza, the type of the virago—Caesar enters Forli—Death of Cardinal Giovanni Borgia—Return of Ludovico il Moro to Milan—Caesar goes to Rome—His entrance into the city—He is invested with the Vicariate of Romagna—Delegates from Imola and Forli request the Pope to appoint Caesar Governor—Caesar is made Gonfalonier of the Church—His oath—Caesar’s physical strength—His personal appearance.

The campaign in Romagna had been decided upon and Caesar found himself at the head of a thoroughly disciplined and well-equipped force of about sixteen thousand men who were held in camp at Cesena.

Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, whose brother was assured Sinigaglia by the betrothal of his nephew, Francesco, with Angela Borgia, abandoned his kinsmen, the Riario, to their destruction. In a letter dated October 12, 1499, the cardinal thanked the Pope for the proposed marriage and promised to look after Valentino’s interests with the King of France.

November 9th the army broke camp, Caesar taking the cavalry to Piacenza, whence, accompanied by the Bishop of Tulle and a single servant, he came quietly to Rome and remained at the Vatican with the Pope until the 24th, when he rejoined his troops and set out for Imola. Girolamo Riario’s wife, Caterina Sforza, had been given Imola as part of her dowry and, her husband having died in 1488, she acted as regent for her son Ottaviano. Of Caterina Sforza Gregorovius says: “The grandchild of the great Francesco Sforza of Milan, natural daughter of Galeazzo Maria and sister of Bianca, wife of the Emperor Maximilian, she was the ideal of the heroic women of Italy who were found not merely in the poems of Bojardo and Ariosto but also in real life. To understand the evolution of such personalities, in whom beauty and culture, courage and reason, sensuality and cruelty combined to produce a singular organisation, we must be familiar with the conditions from which they sprang—Caterina Sforza’s experiences made her the amazon that she was.”

Shortly after her marriage to the untutored nephew of Sixtus IV., Girolamo Riario, Count of Forli, her father met a tyrant’s death in Milan. Subsequently her husband was stabbed to death and his naked body flung from the walls of the castle of Forli by conspirators. Caterina, however, ferociously avenged the murder of her husband and succeeded in holding his estates for her children. Six years later her brother, Gian Galeazzo, died of poison administered by Ludovico il Moro. Finally her second husband, Giacomo Feo of Savona, was slain by conspirators in Forli, and the heroic Caterina mounted her charger and with a small body of men pursued them to their lair and put them all to the sword, with their women and children—thus she deserved Sanudo’s description, “a courageous woman and most cruel virago.”

She ruled her little domain with force and cunning; and later, when she fell into Caesar’s clutches, few lamented her fate and Giangiacomo Trivulzio cynically remarked: “She has now fallen into the hands of two men who can satisfy all her desires.”

She was a woman of heroic character, such as the Renaissance described as a virago, a term expressive of admiration, not reproach. The virago corresponded to the man who possessed what the Italian called virtu, which has nothing to do with virtue, but which comprises energy, intellect, will, the sum total of attributes which enabled a man successfully to cope with his adversaries—in brief, the qualities most dear to the Italian heart of the fifteenth century.

When the Pope had declared that the lords of the Romagna, having failed to pay the annual tribute to the Holy See, were deprived of their possessions, Caterina Sforza set up the claim that the Holy See still owed her a large sum of money which had been due her husband as Captain of the pontifical army; she therefore announced that if they persisted she would resist, and her first move was to send her younger children and her jewels to Florence for safety.

Knowing in advance that her people, because of their hatred of the Riario, would betray her, she retired to the castle of Forli and, filling it with arms and munitions of war, calmly awaited the enemy.

When Caesar was still some distance from the city, delegates appeared in his camp and offered to surrender the town to him without resistance. The capitulation was signed November 26th and Valentino entered the city the following day. The castle independently of the town was defended by Dionigi di Naldo, whose wife and children were held by Caterina Sforza as hostages in the stronghold of Forli. Naldo held out for some time, but was finally forced to surrender, and December 13, 1499, Cardinal Giovanni Borgia, legate for Romagna and Bologna, received the oath of fidelity to the Holy See, in the Church of S. Domenico in Imola.

The smaller places in the county of Imola having been captured without difficulty, Valentino advanced against Forli, December 15th. On learning of Caesar’s approach, Caterina, who had retired to the castle, dispatched her brother, Alessandro Sforza, to urge the citizens to resist, saying that she herself would fight to the last. They, however, refused, and she took advantage of the last moments to send her eldest son to Florence for safety. The citizens were determined to surrender, and they so informed both the Countess and Valentinois. The two commissioners—who never returned—had scarcely delivered their message when she directed her artillery on the city and partly demolished the town hall.

Caesar arrived before the gates of Forli December 17th, but refused to enter as conqueror until the articles of capitulation had been given him. Two days later he made his entry without opposition, the citizens preferring him to their lord, Girolamo Riario, who had burdened them with heavy taxes and administered the laws in the most partial manner.

The castle still held out and Caesar immediately began preparations for its capture. On Christmas Day Caterina raised the flag of Venice, the lion of St. Mark, to make the enemy believe that the republic was her ally, but Caesar was not deceived.

After attempting to make a breach, Valentino decided to try to effect an agreement of some sort, and for this purpose presented himself before the walls, where the Countess herself talked to him from the ramparts; but she refused all offers; the Duke made two other equally unsuccessful attempts, and did not open fire until December 28th.

The Countess succeeded in repelling all his attacks until January 12, 1500. She was everywhere on the ramparts encouraging and directing her men. When the outer walls were stormed, Caterina, before retiring to the keep—the last resort—ordered all the supplies to be set on fire, thinking thereby to compel the enemy to retreat, but it was too late, for Yves d’Allegre and his French company succeeded in forcing their way into the tower, and a Bourguignon, in searching the halls, found the heroic Countess of Forli surrounded by a band of her faithful people. Eager for the reward of twenty thousand ducats which had been offered for her capture alive, he declared her his prisoner.

That same evening the Countess left the fortress with the honours of war; she rode forth, mounted on her charger, between the Duke of Valentinois and Yves d’Allegre, who conducted her and her maids to the palace of the Numai.

Immediately after the capture of Forli, Caesar dispatched Yves d’Allegre to secure the surrender of the remaining small towns, while he devoted himself to reorganising the government of the conquered territory. His solicitude for the proper administration of justice and the prompt restoration of order at once won him the respect of the Romagnols, and from Imola and Forli envoys were sent to ask the Pope to appoint Caesar—who had declared himself to be merely the representative of the Holy See—their Governor in place of the tyrant he had expelled.

Caesar signed his first decree: “Caesar Borgia De France, Duke of Valentinois, Count of Diois and Issoudun, Pontifical Vicar of Imola and Forli,” and at the head of the province he placed Don Remiro de Lorca, the Spaniard who had been his constant companion, and whom we shall meet again.

After the capture of Imola, Cardinal Giovanni Borgia, papal legate to Romagna, had gone to Urbino, where he suddenly died, January 14, 1500. In spite of the fact that seventeen days had intervened between his departure from Caesar’s camp and his death, it was rumoured that Valentino, actuated by jealousy, had poisoned him. Sanudo was the first to attribute the Cardinal’s death to Caesar, but—as in the case of the murder of the Duke of Gandia—there is not the slightest evidence that he had anything to do with it. The Cardinal had been in Rome, and on his way to Urbino had been seized with a fever from which he died.

Caesar readily consented that all the benefices of the deceased should be given to his brother, Ludovico, who was made Governor of Spoleto.

The general hatred of the Borgia explains the facility with which these rumours spread and the universal credence they obtained. January 24th it was decided to set out for Pesaro the following day; but in the night the Swiss mutinied, and the Bailli of Dijon went to the castle where Caterina Sforza was held, and, declaring that it was contrary to the rules of war to hold a woman prisoner, and that his sense of honour was outraged, escorted her to the palace where he lodged and refused to surrender her to Valentino, who intended to take her to Rome and deliver her to the Pope.

The revolt lasted a day, and Yves d’Allegre, having been hastily summoned by Caesar, returned in the evening, and Valentino, now sure of being able to repress the rebels with the aid of the French and the Spaniards, addressed the mutineers and threatened them with dire punishment. It was finally agreed that the bailli should surrender the Countess, “who shall be retained in the discretion of the King of France,” and an understanding with the Swiss mercenaries was reached.

The evening of January 25th the army set out for Cesena, Caterina Sforza, in a black satin gown and heavily veiled, riding between the Duke of Valentinois and Monsieur d’Allegre.

At Montefiore, January 26th, news reached Caesar that Ludovico il Moro, who had fled from Milan, had learned of the dissatisfaction of the people under French rule, and, having gathered an army of 1,300 Swiss and Bourguignons, was advancing on Como. Trivulzio, who had been left in charge of Milan, hastily sent for Yves d’Allegre, whose withdrawal from Caesar’s army terminated operations in the Romagna for a time, as it deprived Valentino of his artillery, and left him with only about five hundred cavalry and a thousand foot-soldiers.

In Milan the French were defeated as easily as they had conquered, and the people displayed the same enthusiasm on the return of the Moor as they had shown on his overthrow.

Caesar had left a small force to hold each of the towns he had captured in Romagna, and he had placed five hundred horse, under the command of Ercole Bentivoglio, conveniently situated to go to the aid of any garrison that might be threatened.

Valentino, having with him the Countess of Forli, who had again been placed in his charge on the departure of Yves d’Allegre for Milan, set out January 30th with five hundred horse, and passing through Fano, Urbino, and Spoleto, arrived in Rome February 26, 1500.

The Pope evidently wished to make the entrance of the Duke of Valentinois—returning from his victorious campaign in the Romagna—into the Eternal City as imposing as possible, for he instructed all the Church dignitaries then in Rome to meet the illustrious Caesar, with their suites. Several of the cardinals had already gone to greet him at some distance from the city, and now the orators of the various powers, the abbreviators of the Roman Curia, and the secretaries rode forth to welcome him. The Duke entered the city late in the afternoon, and was met near the Church of Sta Maria del Popolo by the Church dignitaries.

First came a train of wagons laden with chests filled with the Duke’s personal effects; then there were a thousand of his foot-soldiers, Swiss and Gascons; these were followed by a papal escort of lancers, with the flag of St. Andrew. Caesar followed, riding between Cardinal Orsini and Cardinal Farnese, who had gone forth to meet him. They were accompanied by a bodyguard of a hundred men clad in black velvet. Caesar wore a black velvet cloak reaching down to his knees. Just behind him were several flute-players wearing his arms, and then came two heralds of his own and one of the King of France. After them were the Duke of Bisceglia on the right and the Prince of Squillace on the left; then the Archbishop of Ragusa on the right and the Bishop of Treguier on the left of the orator of the King of France; then came the Bishop of Zamora and the orator of Spain, who were followed by the two ambassadors of Navarre, who engaged in an altercation with the orators of Naples and England regarding the question of precedence—the former lost and dropped out of the procession in a tiff. Then came the envoys of Venice, Florence, and Savoy, who were followed by a great rabble, who crowded and pushed so rudely that the prelates were unable to secure their proper places.

The Pope had taken up his position in a room above the entrance to the palace, and with him were the Cardinals of Monreale, Alessandria and Capua, together with Cesarini and Farnese.

When the Duke reached the Vatican the Pope went to the Chamber of the Papagalli with several cardinals, and when the doors were thrown open Caesar and a great swarm of nobles and prelates entered. Valentino advanced, and kneeling before the Holy Father, addressed him briefly in Spanish, thanking him for the honours he had conferred upon him. The Pope replied in the same tongue, “which I did not understand,” says Burchard. Thereupon the Duke kissed the Pope’s feet and right hand, and his Holiness kissed his son on the lips. Then such of the nobles who desired to do so kissed the Pontiff’s feet. Sanudo says the Holy Father was so overjoyed at the return of his son, that he laughed and wept at one and the same time, and that he would not grant any audiences that day.

The Master of Ceremonies describes the decorations of the Castle of St. Angelo and the pageants and festivities at great length, and “never before had I beheld such extravagance and display,” he concludes. February 27th, the day after Valentino’s arrival, there was a magnificent pageant representing the “Triumph of Julius Caesar,” in which there were eleven cars, the last bearing the Roman Emperor. The procession went to the palace, where the car of Julius Caesar was left, whence some writers have concluded that Valentino took the part of the Emperor. Burchard says that Caesar rode on horseback from the palace to the Agona quarter, where the festivities of the citizens were held according to their custom. The games, which included races of horses, asses, bulls, buffaloes, lasted until March 5th, when Caesar began to pay his calls on the cardinals. He went unaccompanied by any of the Church dignitaries, but had with him a few of his officers and a military escort of a hundred men clad in black velvet. He displayed his usual tact, and surprised the cardinals by always allowing them the place of precedence. Caesar had brought his prisoner, Caterina Sforza, to Rome, but the story that he compelled her to grace his triumphal entry into the Eternal City is undoubtedly false, because, had he done so, Burchard, who chronicles the most insignificant details regarding his entry, would certainly have mentioned her, and he does not refer to the Countess. The stories of her having been led through the streets of Rome with golden chains on her wrists were probably picturesque inventions of the enemies of the Borgia.

When the Countess was confined in the Belvedere she made an unsuccessful attempt to escape, whereupon Alexander had her removed to the Castle of St. Angelo, from which, on the expiration of about eighteen months, she was liberated, owing to the intervention of certain French gentlemen, especially of Yves d’Allegre. His Holiness gave her permission to go to Florence, and commended her to the Signory in a letter which is a masterpiece of hypocrisy. In it he refers to our “beloved daughter in Christ”; “we have,” he says, “not only exercised mercy with respect to this Caterina, but also, so far as we were able, with God’s help, have looked with paternal solicitude after her welfare”—and more of the same sort.

In Florence Caterina Sforza married Giovanni de’ Medici, and, dying in 1509, left a son of the same mettle as herself, the famous Giovanni of the Black Bands, the last of the great condottieri.

March 15, 1500, Alexander signed a bull investing Caesar with the vicariate of Romagna, seventeen cardinals concurring in his action. When his Holiness had held the consistory to find ways and means for securing money for recovering the Church domain, which was being held by the great lords who refused to pay tribute and acknowledge the Pope’s authority, it was for the purpose of restoring the territory to the Holy See.

Twice delegations had come from Imola and Forli to ask Alexander to sign the agreement made by these cities to have the Duke of Valentino for their governor. Had the Pope needed an excuse for handing this territory over to his son, he could not have had a better one. The cardinals readily yielded to the persuasions of Alexander and Caesar. To render the transaction perfectly legal, the Riario were formally deprived of their domain by a decree of the camerlengo for having failed for a number of years to pay the tribute to the Holy See—a thousand gold florins for Forli, two hundred for Imola, and two silver cups for Mauri.

Caesar signed the agreement, March 15, 1500, with the citizens of Imola, by which he promised to govern them with justice and mercy; to maintain them in peace, and defend them in time of war; to preserve their communal rights and restore those usurped by Count Girolamo Riario and his successors. The great seal which the document bears has the bull of the House of Borgia and the three bands azure of the family of Doms, quartered with the lilies of France. Caesar signs as lieutenant of the King.

Alexander had his son invested with the office of Gonfalonier and Captain-General of the Church, March 29th, in the Church of St. Peter, himself bestowing the insignia of the office—the biretta, the baton, and the gonfalon—on Caesar. The ceremony is described by Burchard in detail. The Duke was clad in a doublet of brocaded gold velvet, with large pearls for buttons; on his head he wore a scarlet velvet cap. The biretta of investiture, according to the Master of Ceremonies, was of the height of two palms, bordered with ermine, and embellished with four large pearls; on top was a dove, fashioned also of pearls.

Caesar received the baton and the gonfalon as his unfortunate brother the Duke of Gandia had before him. The Pope in blessing the standard repeated the prescribed formula, and then, after performing the necessary rites, Caesar came forward, removed his biretta, knelt before his father, and in a firm voice repeated the solemn words:—

“I, Caesar Borgia of France, Duke of Valentinois, Gonfalonier and Captain-General of the Holy Roman Church, swear now and henceforth to be faithful and obedient to the Blessed Peter and to you, my most holy Master, Alexander VI., Pope, and to your legally constituted successors. Never by deed or word will I enter into any conspiracy to destroy or injure you, or to imprison you by treachery, in short to lay violent hands on you or your successors in any manner whatsoever, or to do you any violence under any pretext whatsoever. The commissions which you or your successors entrust to me either directly by messenger, or by letter, will be disclosed to no one, and no one will receive from me any advice which could turn to your disadvantage or to that of your successors. I will aid you, and those who shall come after you, to preserve and defend the Pontifical State and the royal rights of St. Peter against any and all enemies; I will honour the legate of the Apostolic See on his coming and on his going, and I will lend him my aid when he shall have need of it; I shall take care to preserve, defend, augment, and extend the rights, honours, privileges, and authority of the Roman Church under you and your successors; I will take no part in any projects, acts, or treaties which might cloak any criminal design or enterprise prejudicial to you or your successors, or finally to the Roman Church; and if I should learn that any such project has been arranged or is under way I will use all my strength to prevent it, and as promptly as possible; and I will inform you or your said successors or some one who may inform you of it in my stead. So help me God and the Holy Angels!”

The Duke remained kneeling before the Pope, who handed him the standard. Thereupon the golden rose was brought to the Pope, who presented it to Caesar, who was still kneeling, with the following words:—

“Receive this rose from our hands, from the hands of him who, however unworthy, holds the place of God on earth. It signifies the joy of the two Jerusalems—that is, of the Church triumphant and the Church militant—and to the faithful in Christ it symbolises the admirable flower which is the joy of all the saints, and constitutes their crown. Receive it therefore, dear son, thou who art noble in all time, and who art endowed with so many virtues; receive it in order that you may still further grow in virtue through Christ, our Lord, like the rose that flourishes on the banks of the streams with abundant waters; and may Christ, our Lord, deign to grant you His grace, and in His infinite mercy may you be blessed by Him who is Three in One in the centuries of centuries. Amen!”

The Duke received the rose, kissed the Pope’s hand and foot, and Burchard, who conducted the ceremony, placed the toque of the gonfalonier on Caesar’s head. Thus the hypocritical performance ended, and Caesar, with a number of the cardinals, accompanied the Pope to the Curia, where he took leave of his father.

Caesar’s first act as Governor of Imola was to appoint Giovanni Olivieri, Bishop of Isernia, his lieutenant, April 10, 1500, and a few days later he empowered him to receive the oaths of allegiance of his new subjects in his stead. All Caesar’s official letters at this time are countersigned Agapitus—Agapito Gerardino of Amelia, his first secretary, who remained with him throughout his career. Valentino immediately turned his attention to reorganising the government of the conquered territory and to providing for the administration of justice.

The return of Ludovico il Moro to Milan did not prove a serious obstacle to Caesar’s plans, for he was completely defeated by the French, under Louis de La TrÉmoille, at Novara, April 10, 1500, and taken prisoner to France, where he died on being released ten years later—it was said—of sheer joy.

Bull-fighting had been introduced into Italy by the Spaniards in the time of Calixtus III., and June 24, 1500, Caesar gave an exhibition of his prowess by dispatching a number of bulls in the open space back of St. Peter’s. He entered the arena armed with only a short sword and killed five of the bulls, the last with a single stroke of his weapon, which excited much enthusiasm among the people and secured him a reputation for great physical strength. The event is described more fully by Capello, the Venetian ambassador, than by Burchard. The orator adds: “Caesar is twenty-seven years of age, handsome of figure, tall, and well formed; he is most regal and extravagant—which greatly displeases the Pope; if he lives he will be one of the great captains of Italy.” His generosity was such that it was described as liberalita cesarea, and his Court was thronged with soldiers, artists, and men of letters, though we look in vain for any great name among them. The men of letters were mostly mediocre rhymesters and Latinists whose works have been consigned to oblivion.

It is hardly to be supposed that an Italian condottiere of twenty-seven years, engrossed with the actualities of life, fascinated by a dream of vast power, could take very much interest in the arts. Although Michael Angelo, Garofalo, Bramante, and Antonio di Sangallo were in Rome at this time, the efforts of Caesar’s eulogists to find in this, and other similar circumstances, enhanced glory for the young adventurer should not be taken too seriously.

He undoubtedly had relations with Leonardo da Vinci, as he availed himself of the artist’s services as an engineer in remodelling certain fortresses and designing machines of war. Vasari says that Pietro di Cosimo, the Florentine artist, who died in 1521, painted many portraits of distinguished persons in Rome, “including those of Virginio Orsini, and Roberto Sanseverino, and also that of the Duke Valentino, son of Pope Alexander VI., which portrait is now lost as I know, although the artist’s preliminary sketch is in the possession of Cosimo Bartoli.”22