the expedition against naples—the taking of capua—naples surrenders—caesar returns to rome—the orgy in his apartments in the vatican—the pope divides the conquered territory in romagna among his family—negotiations for the marriage of lucretia borgia and alfonso d’este—caesar receives the ferrarese envoys—lucretia’s marriage—her character—the pope and caesar go to piombino—they visit elba—caesar and leonardo da vinci.
his holiness took up his position at a window in the castle of st. angelo, june 28, 1501, and “with great joy” watched the armies of france file by and out of the city on their march to naples to destroy the aragonese dynasty. burchard says that there were about 12,000 foot and 2,000 cavalry, 26 wagons, and 36 mortars. jean d’auton describes the departure of the french troops, the infantry and the cavalry leading, the file two miles long. the “men-at-arms in good order and fair array, encased in their armour and, with lances on thighs, wearing their casques ready for battle—thus they traversed rome, the trumpets and clarions sounding, and the great swiss drums thundering. on the low battlements of the castle of st. angelo stood the pope, surrounded by bishops, archbishops, and cardinals. the illustrious duke of romagna and numerous other gentlemen of rome were with him, and as the army marched by182 the holy father gave it the apostolic blessing; then the troops passed through the city gates and marched forth in the direction of the kingdom of naples and they moved rapidly and in perfect order.”
caesar remained in rome until july 9, 1501, when he left for naples, but burchard adds that he believed he returned to the city again the same evening.
in a secret consistory, june 25th, frederic of aragon had been declared deprived of the kingdom of naples, and the king of france invested with it. the 29th the league between the pope and louis xii. was solemnly proclaimed in st. peter’s, the te deum was sung, and his holiness repeated the lord’s prayer and gave his benediction.
on the way to naples the french destroyed marino and cavi, while san germano opened its gates to the invaders. fabrizio and prospero colonna, who had abandoned their domain to the pope, were frederic’s only allies, but in his employ he had the famous condottiere rinuccio da marciano, who with fabrizio colonna had command of the forces in capua. on the approach of the french frederic promptly retired to naples, where he was pursued by d’aubigny, while valentino and sanseverino laid vigorous siege to capua. the siege lasted for eight days, at the end of which time fabrizio colonna, seeing that further resistance was useless, endeavoured to arrange a meeting to agree upon the terms of surrender, but in the meantime a traitor had opened the gates and the french army rushed into the town.
“after the wall was destroyed and a breach183 effected large enough to permit of the assault, the king’s lieutenants had the trumpets and clarions sound the charge, and the drums beaten to arouse the army; the men-at-arms were given all the wine they wanted—to lend them courage—that the valour of france might humble the pride of italy—and messire berault stuart, lieutenant-general of the king, addressed the men; on the conclusion of his speech the french were fired with courage and resolved to stand firm in the midst of the terrible adventures of war—and there, whether they lived or died, to maintain the justice of their king’s quarrel. and the assault was given about eleven o’clock on the morning of july 25th and was begun by the infantry, and a hand-to-hand fight ensued and the air was filled with spears and arrows and flashing swords—and beyond was the fire and smoke of the artillery—in the streets of the town pikes and halberds clashed—rude was the attack—but so bravely met that in less than half an hour more than two hundred french and germans were killed in the breach—and the men of don frederic—of a truth they received their share of the blows and many were slain—and the troopers had no rest and it would have gone ill with the french if their men-at-arms had not come to their aid—and the shedding of human blood was each man’s care—and the neapolitans and the colonna maintained their quarrel with the sweat of their brow and the blood of their bodies—but the french continued to attack so furiously that the enemy knew not how to save themselves, except by flight—so they fell back and the french gained the breach—and they carried the town by184 assault and entered—and rivers of blood were shed and men innumerable slaughtered—the soldiers destroyed all whom they found armed in the streets, or hiding in the houses—giving quarter to none—whatever his condition—so that down the streets in great streams ran the blood. i will not describe the groans and shrieks of despairing women who beheld their husbands murdered, or the cries of the children over their slaughtered fathers, or the grief of the old men who saw their homes robbed and their city destroyed—but i will say that besides the butchery of the men, many maidens and women were violated and forced, which is the culmination of the horrors of war. the foot-soldiers of the duke of valentino managed to secure thirty of the most beautiful women of the city, who were carried away prisoners to rome.”
the chronicler jean d’auton adds that to escape dishonour numerous women committed suicide; that many of the soldiers made themselves rich for life with the plunder, which caused them henceforth to be all the more eager for war. between seven and eight thousand people were killed. those of the men who were left, together with the women and priests, fled and hid in the belfries and towers of the churches, in the caves, and among the rocks, but the next day they were hunted out and held for ransom.
fabrizio colonna was captured, and his enemy, giangiordano orsini, generously furnished his ransom. rinuccio da marciano, wounded in the fight, was taken prisoner by valentino’s men and died two days later—guicciardini maintains of poison. giovio says marciano’s wounds were poisoned by vitellozzo in revenge for the death of his brother paolo, who had been condemned by rinuccio’s faction in florence.
frederic ii. of naples.
from a drawing by boudan in the bibliothèque nationale
to face p. 184.
185 july 26th news reached the pope of the capture of capua by caesar, per ducem valentinum, says burchard; but the importance of caesar’s part in it seems to have been exaggerated, although he was one of the signers of the agreement between the king of france and king frederic of naples, by which the latter was to retire to ischia for six months, and if he obtained help within that time he was to be allowed to denounce the armistice and endeavour to recover his throne. he was permitted to remove all his property, except his artillery and provisions. in case he failed to secure assistance within six months he agreed to abandon ischia and salerno, and was to be allowed to go wherever he wished. in about a month he saw that further resistance was useless and set sail for france, where he was received by louis xii., who presented him with the duchy of anjou and a pension suitable to his rank. the unfortunate king of naples died an exile september 9, 1504. when he left his kingdom he was accompanied by sannazzaro, the famous poet, who was one of the bitterest of the enemies of the borgia, and whose epigrams have perhaps done more than anything else to perpetuate the memory of their infamy.
before caesar returned to rome the king of france sent edouart buillon to naples to thank him for his services. the instructions to the envoy are dated august 8, 1501. he is to tell valentino that the king has been informed of his great and good services in the conquest of naples, for which186 he thanks him with all his heart, and that the king also recognises the goodwill the duke bears him and which he purposes to reward by assisting him in his own affairs and treating him as his good friend and relative.
the king further requests valentino to withdraw all his forces, except his own company, from the regno, and to hold them in readiness and good order for use should occasion arise. he explains that this is necessary on account of the great gathering of men about naples and the difficulty of providing for so many. he also enjoins him to prevent his men from robbing and pillaging.24
caesar’s lieutenants in the north—with whom he remained in communication while he was in naples—had advanced his projects to some extent, vitellozzo vitelli and paolo orsini having secured possession of piombino, september 3rd.
valentino returned to rome with his men september 15, 1501.
burchard describes an orgy which took place in caesar’s apartments in the apostolic palace shortly after his return, to which fifty harlots were invited. after the supper they danced nude and indulged in various performances, the pope, caesar, and lucretia looking on. matarazzo also gives an account of the bacchanalia, but slightly changed. a description of it is likewise included in the letter to silvio savelli, and this is repeated by sanudo in his diary.
august 20th the pope had pronounced the ban against the colonna and the savelli, and the confiscation of their property, and shortly afterwards187 by a bull, dated september 17th, he divided their domains and the estates of the gaetani, of the savelli, of the estouteville, and of the barons of pojano and magenza between the two borgia infants. rodrigo, the two-year-old son of lucretia and the murdered alfonso, received sermoneta, ninfa, norma, albano, nettuno, and ardea; while giovanni was given nepi, palestrina, paliano, rigano, and other cities. the pope erected nepi, sermoneta, and palestrina into duchies, while he bestowed subiaco with its eighteen castles on the borgia family in perpetuity; the bull was signed by all the cardinals then in rome, nineteen in number, among whom were caraffa, sanseverino, cesarini, farnese, palavicini, and medici, not one of them opposing this high-handed robbery of the ghibelline lords of latium by the pope for the benefit of his own family—and with the help of the funds and offices of the church. almost the entire patrimony of st. peter was now in the hands of the borgia, for caesar controlled all of romagna.25
in one bull the pope describes giovanni borgia as caesar’s son, but in the second he calls him his own “son by a certain woman”—this woman was giulia bella. it would be difficult to believe such effrontery possible if the bulls, both of which are dated september 1, 1501, were not in existence to prove it.
negotiations for the marriage of lucretia borgia and alfonso d’este had been in progress for some time. it had become known that he was looking188 for a wife, and his holiness immediately discerned the advantages a union with the powerful house of ferrara would afford. ferrara would serve as a bulwark against the venetians, who, the pope knew, had designs on romagna. the duke of ferrara was not very favourably disposed toward a marriage with a borgia, and when alexander suggested an alliance between his daughter lucretia and the duke’s son alfonso, ercole received the suggestion coldly. moreover, louis xii. had partly promised to find him a french princess for a wife for his son. louis, however, being more anxious to please the pope than any other italian sovereign, had the cardinal of rouen inform ercole that he could look to him for nothing. lucretia had twice lost her husband under tragic circumstances, and alfonso himself had little inclination for the match, while his sister isabella d’este, wife of the marquis of mantua, was bitterly opposed to the union upon which the pope’s heart was set. alfonso and his father, however, did not dare offend the pope and caesar, so they determined to drive as good a bargain as they could. the negotiations were wellnigh interminable. at first ercole merely demanded a large dowry; then he insisted upon the remission of four-fifths of the annual tribute due the church, and in addition he required the bishopric of ferrara for his son, cardinal d’este. the dowry was to be 200,000 gold ducats, secured by liens on fiefs in romagna, and an agreement was finally reached. in secret consistory, september 7th, all the cardinals present had consented to the remission of the church’s tribute for the purpose of advancing the family interests and political ambitions of alexander and caesar borgia.
lucretia borgia.
after titian.
to face p. 183.
189 valentino had returned to rome about the middle of september, and the 23rd he received the envoys of the duke of ferrara, who found him lying on a bed, but dressed. october 6th they again had occasion to confer with him, and they brought the list of those who were to come to rome to escort the bride to ferrara. valentino was especially gracious; the orators gave a detailed account of their interview, because, as they explained, it was a favour usually accorded only to cardinals. it seems to have been difficult to obtain an audience with caesar; when the ferrarese orators again tried to see him two days later they were refused; they complained to the pope, who appeared greatly annoyed, and said: “caesar turns night into day, and day into night; the ambassadors of rimini have been in rome more than two months without securing an audience.” they also reported that alexander was much displeased with caesar’s conduct, and that he remarked that he was not certain that his excellency would be able to hold the conquered territory.
the preparations for the wedding were interrupted for some days by the absence of the pope and caesar, who, accompanied by a number of cardinals and their suites, went to civita castellana and nepi to inspect the changes which had been made in the stronghold of the latter place, and the fortress which was being constructed in the former town by antonio di sangallo.
during their absence lucretia had been left as regent in the vatican, according to burchard, just190 as she had been on a former occasion, with authority to open letters and transact ecclesiastical business.
the escort which was expected to come to conduct lucretia to ferrara was delayed several times, and they were still looking for it at the end of october; finally ercole announced that, owing to the inclemency of the season, he had decided to postpone the matter; the true reason, however, was the fact that the emperor maximilian had given him to understand that the alliance with the borgia to which he had committed himself was highly displeasing to himself.
it was at this time that the remarkable “letter to silvio savelli” was received in rome; it was a small book printed in germany. its author is unknown, but it is supposed to have been written by a colonna. savelli had been robbed of his property by alexander, and was an exile living at the court of maximilian. gregorovius remarks: “this is an authentic document revealing the condition of rome under the borgia; no other writing so well exhibits the iniquity of these people, their corrupt politics, in great as well as small affairs, and the terror that ruled the city, which was filled with their spies and cut-throats.”
the universal execration in which they were held is also well revealed in the epigrams of the day, one of the most famous of which is the following:—
“vendit alex. claves, altaria, christum, emerat ille prius, vendere jure potest. de vitio in vitium, de flamma crescit in ignem, roma sub hispano deperit imperio. sextus tarquinius, sextus nero, sextus et iste. semper sub sextis perdita roma fuit.”
191 alexander vi. read and enjoyed the letter to silvio savelli, as he was used to these satires, but burchard remarks that caesar regarded them more seriously, and cites the case of the rhetorician jeronimo mancini of naples, who, having spoken ill of the duke, was seized, and suffered the loss of the end of his tongue and a hand, which were exposed at a window in the curia s. crucis for two days. some have ascribed the authorship of the famous letter to mancini. january 28, 1502, a venetian, who, it was said, had sent something he had written against the pope to venice, was seized, and when his ambassador went to intercede for him that night, he was informed that the unfortunate wretch had already been executed. costabili, the ferrarese ambassador, when he spoke to the pope about the duke’s vindictiveness, was told by his holiness, “the duke is good, but he cannot bear insults; and,” he added, “once when i told him he should profit by my example and let them write all the satires they wished, he became angry, and exclaimed he would teach these scribblers good manners.”
in the meantime ercole d’este, having no excuse for further delay, dispatched the escort—december 7th—for rome, where it arrived the 23rd. in the cortège were cardinal ippolito and fernando d’este, brothers of the groom, with their suites, numbering more than five hundred persons. valentino, accompanied by the french ambassador, monseigneur de trans, went to meet the princes. he embraced the cardinal affectionately, and when returning to the city rode on ippolito’s left. at the gates they were met by nineteen other cardinals192 and their “families.” they were received by the pope and his court in the vatican, after which caesar conducted the princes to his sister’s apartments. the wedding gifts were magnificent—the least of all was that of florence, a present of cloth of gold and silver to the value of 3,000 ducats. the betrothal took place december 28th, and the church ceremony the 30th.
burchard describes the wedding with a wealth of detail that would do credit to a modern society reporter; the gowns, the jewels, the presents, the guests, the bride, the groom—all are there; the games for the entertainment—all are described.
another move in the great political game had been made; the declining house of naples had been eliminated as a factor in the borgia plans by the murder of alfonso of aragon, and the support of the great house of este, secured by the marriage of ercole’s son, the future duke of ferrara, with lucretia, who was apparently a passive instrument in the hands of caesar and the pope in their machinations. the final historical estimate of her is that she was not the virago, the baneful fiend she is represented to have been, but a colourless, characterless personality, wholly lacking in will, and completely under the control of caesar and the pope. she had none of the characteristics of caterina sforza. she left rome to go to her future husband, who had been represented by a proxy, and she never returned. she appears to have made an excellent wife and mother.
caesar remained in rome until february 17, 1502, when he and the pope, accompanied by several cardinals, left for piombino, where they193 arrived the 21st. on the 25th they sailed for elba to inspect two strongholds which caesar was having his engineers construct on the island. when they were returning, march 1st, there was a severe storm, which made it impossible for them to leave the vessels for five days, and burchard remarks that the pope and cardinals who were in the captain’s ship were so frightened that they fell ill. they did not succeed in getting back to rome until the 11th of march.
the strongholds on the island of elba were probably built by leonardo da vinci, who had left cesena in the fall of 1501 to go to rome to confer with caesar, and not by antonio di sangallo, who was engaged on the works in the vicinity of civita castellana during the early months of 1502.
in october, caesar had declared his intention of attacking camerino, but, owing to various causes, had been compelled to defer his undertaking. we have few details regarding valentino during the months which he spent in rome, but the chroniclers have left minute records of the administrative measures of his lieutenants in the romagna. the petty states had been allowed to retain their own laws and customs, and, so far as possible, their own peculiar governmental systems; but all officials were responsible to the governor of romagna, don remiro de lorca, an overbearing martinet, feared and hated by every one.
