Cesare Borgia, il Duca di Valentino (Duc de Valentinois), an illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia). First destined for a clerical career, Cesare became the Archbishop of Valencia (Spain) and later a cardinal, but by 22 he renounced his cardinalate and became the Captain-General of the Church. Cesare Borgia was the military leader of the campaign to unite the warring states of Italy under papal hegemony. After Alexander's death in 1503, Cesare was imprisoned and later exiled to Spain, where he died in 1507 at the seige of Viana.
"When all the actions of the duke are
recalled, I do not know how to blame him, but rather it appears
to me, as I have said, that I ought to offer him for imitation to
all those who, by the fortune or the arms of others, are raised
to government. Because he, having a lofty spirit and far-reaching
aims, could not have regulated his conduct otherwise, and only
the shortness of the life of Alexander and his own sickness
frustrated his designs."
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
Links to Borgia sites
