Dominican Spirituality: A Retreat with the Life and Lands of St. Dominic

A History and Some Criticisms

By Raphael Sabatini

Cesare Borgia was an Italian condottiero, nobleman, politician, and cardinal. He was the son of Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492-1503) and his long-term mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei. He was the brother of Lucrezia Borgia; Giovanni Borgia (Juan), Duke of Gandia; and Gioffre Borgia (Jofre in Catalan), Prince of Squillace. He was half-brother to Don Pedro Luis de Borja (1460-88) and Girolama de Borja, children of unknown mothers.

After initially entering the church and becoming a cardinal on his father's election to the Papacy, after the death of his brother in 1498 he became the first person to resign a cardinalcy. His father set him up as a prince with territory carved from the Papal States, but after his father's death he was unable to retain power for long, and after escaping from prison died fighting in Spain.

Like nearly all aspects of Cesare Borgia's life, the date of his birth is a subject of dispute. He was born in Rome-in either 1475 or 1476-the son of Cardinal Rodrigo de Lanzol y Borgia, later Pope Alexander VI, and his mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei, about whom information is sparse. The Borgia family originally came from the Kingdom of Valencia, and rose to prominence during the mid-15th century; Cesare's great-uncle Alphonso Borgia (1378-1458), bishop of Valencia, was elected Pope Callixtus III in 1455. Cesare's father, Pope Alexander VI, was the first pope who openly recognized his children born out of wedlock.

Stefano Infessura writes that Cardinal Borgia falsely claimed Cesare to be the legitimate son of another man-Domenico d'Arignano, the nominal husband of Vannozza de' Cattanei. More likely, Pope Sixtus IV granted Cesare a release from the necessity of proving his birth in a papal bull of 1 October 1480.