Chapter V: Death of Alexander VI

Alexander carefully followed everything that took place in Ferrara. He never lost sight of his daughter. She and his agents reported every mark of favor or disfavor which she received. Following the excitement of the wedding festivities there were painful days for Lucretia, as she was forced to meet envy and contempt, and to win for herself a secure place at the court.

Alexander was greatly pleased by her reports, especially those concerning her relations with Alfonso. He never for a moment supposed that the hereditary prince loved his daughter. All he required was that he should treat her as his wife, and that she should become the mother of a prince. With great satisfaction he remarked to the Ferrarese ambassador on hearing that Alfonso spent his nights with Lucretia, "During the day he goes wherever he likes, as he is young, and in doing this he does right."[180]

Alexander also induced the duke to grant his daughter-in-law a larger allowance than he had agreed to give her. The sum stipulated was six thousand ducats. Lucretia was extravagant, and needed a large income. The amount she received from her father-in-law did not, however, exceed ten thousand ducats.

In the meantime Cæsar was pursuing his own schemes, the success of which was apparently insured by his alliance with Ferrara and the sanction of France. The youthful Astorre Manfredi having been strangled in the castle of S. Angelo by his orders, Valentino set out for Romagna, June 13th, where he succeeded in ensnaring the unsuspecting Guidobaldo of Urbino and in seizing his estates, June 21st. Guidobaldo fled and found an asylum in Mantua, whence he and his wife eventually went to Venice.

Cæsar now turned toward Camerino, where he surprised the Varano, destroying all but one of them. He reported these doings to the court of Ferrara, and the duke did not hesitate to congratulate him for a crime which had resulted in the overthrow of princes who were not only friendly to himself but were also closely connected with him. From Urbino Cæsar wrote his sister as follows:

ILLUSTRIOUS LADY AND DEAREST SISTER: I know nothing could
be better medicine for your Excellency in your present illness than
the good news which I have to impart. I must tell you that I have
just had information that Camerino will yield. We trust that on
receiving this news your condition will rapidly improve, and that
you will inform us at once of it. For your indisposition prevents
us from deriving any pleasure from this and other news. We ask you
to tell the illustrious Duke Don Alfonso, your husband, our
brother-in-law, at once, as, owing to want of time, we have not
been able to write him direct.

Your Majesty's brother, who loves you better than he does himself,

CÆSAR.

URBINO, _July 20, 1502_.

Shortly after this he surprised his sister by visiting her in the palace of Belfiore, whither he came in disguise with five cavaliers. He remained with her scarcely two hours, and then hastily departed, accompanied by his brother-in-law Alfonso as far as Modena, intending to go to the King of France, who was in Lombardy.

In the meantime Alexander had arrived at a decision regarding the seizure of Camerino which conflicted with Cæsar's plans, and which shows that the father's will was not wholly under his son's control. September 2, 1502, Alexander bestowed Camerino as a duchy upon the Infante Giovanni Borgia, whom he sometimes described as his own son and at others as Cæsar's. Giovanni had already been invested with the title of Nepi, and Francesco Borgia, Cardinal of Cosenza, as the child's guardian, administered these estates. There are coins of this ephemeral Duke of Camerino still in existence.[181]

September 5th Lucretia gave birth to a still-born daughter, to the great disappointment of Alexander, who desired an heir to the throne. She was sick unto death, and her husband showed the deepest concern, seldom leaving her for a moment. September 7th Valentino came to see her. The secretary Castellus sent a report of this visit to Ercole, who was in Reggio, whither he had gone to meet Cæsar, who was returning from Lombardy. "To-day," he wrote, "at the twentieth hour, we bled Madama on the right foot. It was exceedingly difficult to accomplish it, and we could not have done it but for the Duke of Romagna, who held her foot. Her Majesty spent two hours with the duke, who made her laugh and cheered her greatly." Lucretia had a codicil added to her will, which she had made before leaving for Ferrara, in the presence of her brother's secretary and some monks. She, however, recovered. Cæsar remained with her two days and then departed for Imola. When Ercole returned he found his daughter-in-law attended by Alexander's most skilful physician, the Bishop of Venosa, and out of all danger.[182]

As Lucretia felt oppressed in Castle Vecchio, and yearned for the free air, she removed October 8th, accompanied by the entire court, to the convent of Corpus Domini. Her recovery was so rapid that she was able again to take up her residence in the castle, October 22d, to the great joy of every one, as Duke Ercole wrote to Rome. Alfonso even went to Loretto in fulfilment of a vow he had made for the recovery of his wife. The solicitude which was displayed for Lucretia on this occasion shows that she had begun to make herself beloved in Ferrara.[183]

In this same month of October occurred the disaffection of Cæsar's condottieri which nearly ended in his overthrow. In consequence of the desertion of his generals, the country about Urbino rose, and Guidobaldo even succeeded in reentering his capital city, October 18th. The protection of France and the lack of decision on the part of his enemies, however, saved the Duke of Romagna from the danger which threatened him. December 31st he relieved himself of the barons by the well-known coup of Sinigaglia. This was his masterstroke. He had Vitellozzo and Oliverotto strangled forthwith; the Orsini--Paolo, father-in-law of Girolama Borgia, and Francesco, Duke of Gravina, who had once been mentioned as a possible husband for Lucretia--suffered the same fate January 18, 1503.

The Duke of Ferrara congratulated Cæsar, as did also the Gonzaga. Even Isabella did not hesitate to write a graceful letter to the man that had driven her dear sister-in-law,--whose husband had been forced to flee a second time,--from Urbino. The Gonzaga, who were anxious to marry the little hereditary Prince Federico to his daughter Luisa, were endeavoring to secure this end with the help of Francesco Trochio in Rome. Isabella's contemptible letter to Cæsar is as follows:

TO HIS HIGHNESS, THE DUKE OF VALENTINO.

ILLUSTRIOUS SIR: The happy progress of which your
Excellency has been good enough to inform us in your amiable letter
has caused us all the liveliest joy, owing to the friendship and
interest which you and my illustrious husband feel for each other.
We, therefore, congratulate you in his and our own name for the
good fortune which has befallen you, and for your safety, and we
thank you for informing us of it and for your offer to keep us
advised of future events, which we hope will be no less favorable,
for, loving you as we do, we hope to hear from you often regarding
your plans so that we may be able to rejoice with you at the
success and advancement of your Excellency. Believing that you,
after the excitement and fatigue which you have suffered while
engaged in your glorious undertakings, will be disposed to give
some time to recreation, it seems proper to me to send you by our
courier, Giovanni, a hundred masks. We, of course, know how slight
is this present in proportion to the greatness of your Excellency,
and also in proportion to our desires; still it indicates that if
there were anything more worthy and more suitable in this our
country, we certainly would send it you. If the masks, however,
are not as beautiful as they ought to be, your Highness will know
that this is due to the makers in Ferrara, who, as it has been for
years against the law to wear masks, long ago ceased making them.
May, however, our good intentions and our love make up for their
shortcomings. So far as our own affairs are concerned there is
nothing new to tell you until your Excellency informs us as to the
decision of his Holiness, our Master, concerning the articles of
guaranty upon which we, through Brognolo, have agreed. We,
therefore, look forward to this, and hope to reach a satisfactory
conclusion. We commend ourselves to your service.

JANUARY 15, 1503.

Cæsar replied to the marchioness from Aquapendente as follows:

MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LADY, FRIEND, AND HONORED SISTER: We have
received your Excellency's present of the hundred masks, which,
owing to their diversity and beauty, are very welcome, and because
the time and place of their arrival could not have been more
propitious. If we neglected to inform your Excellency of all our
plans and of our intended return to Rome, it was because it was
only to-day that we succeeded in taking the city and territory
adjacent to Sinigaglia together with the fortress, and punished our
enemies for their treachery; freed Città di Castello, Fermo,
Cisterna, Montone, and Perugia from their tyrants, and rendered
them again subject to his Holiness, our Master; and deposed
Pandolfo Petrucci from the tyranny which he had established in
Siena, where he had shown himself such a determined enemy of
ourselves. The masks are welcome especially because I know that the
present is due to the affection which you and your illustrious
husband feel for us, which is also shown by the letter which you
send with it. Therefore we thank you a thousand times, although the
magnitude of your and your husband's deserts exceeds the power of
words. We shall use the masks, and they are so beautiful that we
shall be saved the trouble of providing ourselves with any other
adornment. On returning to Rome we will see that his Holiness, our
Master, does whatever is necessary to further our mutual interests.
We, in compliance with your Excellency's request, will grant the
prisoner his liberty. We will inform your Illustrious Majesty at
once, so that you may rejoice in it the moment he is free. We
commend ourselves to you. From the papal camp near Aquapendente,
February 1st.

Your Excellency's friend and brother, the Duke of Romagna, etc.

CÆSAR.

Cæsar was then near the zenith of his desires--a king's throne in central Italy. This project, however, was never realized; Louis XII forbade him further conquests. The Orsini (the cardinal of this house had just been poisoned in the castle of S. Angelo) and other barons whose estates were in the vicinity of Rome rose for a final struggle, and Cæsar was compelled to hasten back to the papal city. Alexander and his son now turned toward Spain, as Gonsalvo had defeated the French in Naples and had entered the capital of the kingdom May 14th. Louis XII, however, despatched a new army under La Tremouille to recapture Naples. The Marquis of Mantua was likewise in his pay, and in August, 1503, the army entered the Patrimonium Petri.

Alexander and Cæsar were suddenly taken sick at the same moment. The Pope died August 18th. It has been affirmed and also denied that both were poisoned, and proofs equally good in support of both views have been adduced; it is, therefore, a mooted question.

Aside from her grief due to affection, the death of Lucretia's father was a serious event for her, as it might weaken her position in Ferrara. Alexander's power was all that had given her a sense of security, and now she could no longer feel certain of the continuance of the affection of her father-in-law or of that of her husband. Well might Alfonso now recall the words Louis XII had uttered to the effect that on the death of Alexander he would not know who the lady was whom he had married. The king one day asked the Ferrarese plenipotentiary at his court how Madonna Lucretia had taken the Pope's death. When the ambassador replied that he did not know, Louis remarked, "I know that you were never satisfied with this marriage; this Madonna Lucretia is not Don Alfonso's real wife."[184]

* * * * *

Lucretia would have been frightened had she read a letter which Ercole wrote to Giangiorgio Seregni, then his ambassador in Milan, which at that time was under French control, and in which he disclosed his real feelings on the Pope's demise.

GIANGIORGIO: Knowing that many will ask you how we are
affected by the Pope's death, this is to inform you that he was in
no way displeasing to us. At one time we wished, for the honor of
God, our Master, and for the general good of Christendom, that God
in his goodness and foresight would provide a worthy shepherd, and
that his Church would be relieved of this great scandal. Personally
we had nothing to wish for; we were concerned chiefly with the
honor of God and the general welfare. We may add, however, that
there was never a Pope from whom we received fewer favors than from
this one, and this, even after concluding an alliance with him. It
was only with the greatest difficulty that we secured from him what
he had promised, but beyond this he never did anything for us. For
this we hold the Duke of Romagna responsible; for, although he
could not do with us as he wished, he treated us as if we were
perfect strangers. He was never frank with us; he never confided
his plans to us, although we always informed him of ours. Finally
as he inclined to Spain, and we remained good Frenchmen, we had
little to look for either from the Pope or his Majesty. Therefore
his death caused us little grief, as we had nothing but evil to
expect from the advancement of the above-named duke. We want you to
give this our confidential statement to Chaumont, word for word, as
we do not wish to conceal our true feelings from him--but speak
cautiously to others about the subject and then return this letter
to our worthy councilor Gianluca.

BELRIGUARDO, _August 24, 1503_.

This statement was very candid. In view of the advantages which had accrued to Ercole's State through the marriage with Lucretia, he might be regarded as ungrateful; he had, however, never looked upon this alliance as anything more than a business transaction, and so far as his relations with Cæsar were concerned his view was entirely correct.

Let us now hear what another famous prince--one who was in the confidence of the Borgias--says regarding the Pope's death. At the time of this occurrence the Marquis of Mantua was at his headquarters with the French army in Isola Farnese, a few miles from Rome. From there, September 22, 1503, he wrote his consort, Isabella, as follows:

ILLUSTRIOUS LADY AND DEAREST WIFE: In order that your
Majesty may be familiar with the circumstances attending the Pope's
death, we send you the following particulars. When he fell sick, he
began to talk in such a way that anyone who did not know what was
in his mind would have thought that he was wandering, although he
was perfectly conscious of what he said; his words were, "I come;
it is right; wait a moment." Those who know the secret say that in
the conclave following the death of Innocent he made a compact with
the devil, and purchased the papacy from him at the price of his
soul. Among the other provisions of the agreement was one which
said that he should be allowed to occupy the Holy See twelve years,
and this he did with the addition of four days. There are some who
affirm that at the moment he gave up his spirit seven devils were
seen in his chamber. As soon as he was dead his body began to
putrefy and his mouth to foam like a kettle over the fire, which
continued as long as it was on earth. The body swelled up so that
it lost all human form. It was nearly as broad as it was long. It
was carried to the grave with little ceremony; a porter dragged it
from the bed by means of a cord fastened to the foot to the place
where it was buried, as all refused to touch it. It was given a
wretched interment, in comparison with which that of the cripple's
dwarf wife in Mantua was ceremonious. Scandalous epigrams are every
day published regarding him.

The reports of Burchard, of the Venetian ambassador Giustinian, of the Ferrarese envoy Beltrando, and of numerous others describe Alexander's end in almost precisely the same way, and the fable of the devil or "babuino" that carried Alexander's soul off is also found in Marino Sanuto's diary. The highly educated Marquis of Gonzaga, with a simplicity equal to that of the people of Rome, believed it.

The Mephisto legend of Faust and Don Juan, which was immediately associated with Alexander's death--even the black dog running about excitedly in St. Peter's is included--shows what was the opinion of Alexander's contemporaries regarding the terrible life of the Borgia, and the extraordinary success which followed him all his days. Alexander's moral character is, however, so incomprehensible that even the keenest psychologists have failed to fathom it.

In him neither ambition nor the desire for power, which, in the majority of rulers, is the motive of their crimes, was the cause of his evil deeds. Nor was it hate of his fellows, nor cruelty, nor yet a vicious pleasure in doing evil. It was, however, his sensuality and also his love for his children--one of the noblest of human sentiments. All psychological theory would lead us to expect that the weight of his sins would have made Alexander a gloomy man with reason clouded by fear and madness, like Tiberius or Louis XI; but instead of this we have ever before us the cheerful, active man of the world--even until his last years. "Nothing worries him; he seems to grow younger every day," wrote the Venetian ambassador scarcely two years before his death.

It is not his passions or his crimes that are incomprehensible, for similar and even greater crimes have been committed by other princes both before and after him, but it is the fact that he committed them while he was Pope. How could Alexander VI reconcile his sensuality and his cruelty with the consciousness that he was the High Priest of the Church, God's representative on earth? There are abysses in the human soul to the depths of which no glance can penetrate. How did he overcome the warnings, the qualms of conscience, and how was it possible for him constantly to conceal them under a joyous exterior? Could he believe in the immortality of the soul and the existence of a divine Being?

When we consider the utter abandon with which Alexander committed his crimes, we are forced to conclude that he was an atheist and a materialist. There is a time in the life of every philosophic and unhappy soul when all human endeavor seems nothing more than the despairing, purposeless activity of an aggregation of puppets. But in Alexander VI we discover no trace of a Faust, nothing of his supreme contempt of the world, of his Titanic skepticism; but we find, on the contrary, that he possessed an amazingly simple faith, coupled with a capacity for every crime. The Pope who had Christ's mother painted with the features of the adulteress Giulia Farnese believed that he himself enjoyed the special protection of the Virgin.

From an engraving by G. Benaglia.]

Alexander's life is the very antithesis of the Christian ideal. To be convinced of this it is only necessary to compare the Pope's deeds with the teachings of the Gospel. Compare his actions with the Commandments: "Thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not bear false witness."

The fact that Rodrigo Borgia was a pope must seem to all the members of the Church the most unholy thing connected with it, and one which they have reason bitterly to regret. This fact, however, can never lessen the dignity of the Church--the greatest production of the human mind--but does it not destroy a number of transcendental theories which have been associated with the papacy?

The execrations which all Italy directed against Alexander could scarcely have reached Lucretia's ears, but she doubtless anticipated them. Her distress must have been great. Her entire life in Rome returned and overwhelmed her. Her father had been the cause, first, of all her unhappiness, and subsequently of all her good fortune. Filial affection and religious fears must have assailed her at one and the same time. Bembo describes her suffering. This man, subsequently so famous, came to Ferrara in 1503, a young Venetian nobleman of the highest culture and fairest presence. He was warmly received by Lucretia, for whom he conceived great admiration. The accomplished cavalier wrote her the following letter of condolence:

I called upon your Majesty yesterday partly for the purpose of
telling you how great was my grief on account of your loss, and
partly to endeavor to console you, and to urge you to compose
yourself, for I knew that you were suffering a measureless sorrow.
I was able to do neither the one nor the other; for, as soon as I
saw you in that dark room, in your black gown, lying weeping, I was
so overcome by my feelings that I stood still, unable to speak, not
knowing what to say. Instead of giving sympathy, I myself was in
need of it, therefore I departed, completely overcome by the sad
sight, mumbling and speechless, as you noticed or might have
noticed. Perhaps this happened to me because you had need of
neither my sympathy nor my condolences; for, knowing my devotion
and fidelity, you would also be aware of the pain which I felt on
account of your sorrow, and you in your wisdom may find consolation
within and not look to others for it. The best way to convey to you
an idea of my grief is for me to say that fate could cause me no
greater sorrow than by afflicting you. No other shot could so
deeply penetrate my soul as one accompanied by your tears.
Regarding condolence, I can only say to you, as you yourself must
have thought, that time soothes and lessens all our griefs. So high
is my opinion of your intelligence and so numerous the proofs of
your strength of character that I know that you will find
consolation, and will not grieve too long. For, although you have
now lost your father, who was so great that Fortune herself could
not have given you a greater one, this is not the first blow which
you have received from an evil and hostile destiny. You have
suffered so much before that your soul must now be inured to
misfortune. Present circumstances, moreover, require that you
should not give any one cause to think that you grieve less on
account of the shock than you do on account of any anxiety as to
your future position. It is foolish for me to write this to you,
therefore I will close, commending myself to you in all humility.
Farewell. In Ostellato.[185]

AUGUST 22, 1503.

FOOTNOTES:

[180] Maxime intendendo che continuano dormire insieme la nocte. Se ben intende ch'el Sig. Don Alfonso el dì va a piacere in diversi loci come giovene; il quale, dice S. Stà. fa molto bene. Beltrando Costabili to the duke, Rome, April 1, 1502.

[181] Silver carlins. Obverse: JOANNES. BOR. DVX. CAMERINI; the Borgia arms surrounded with lilies and the crest of the Lenzuoli. Reverse: S. VENANTIVS DE CAMERI. They are described in the Periodico di Numismatica e Sfragistica per la Storia d'Italia diretto dal March. C. Strozzi, Flor. 1870, A. III, Fascic. ii, 70-77, by G. Amati, and also in A. IV, fasc. vi, 259-265, by M. Santoni. Both writers erroneously describe this Giov. Borgia as the son of the Duke of Gandia, and Amati even confuses Valence in Dauphiné with Valencia in Spain.

[182] In the state archives of Modena there are several letters regarding Lucretia's illness written by the Ferrarese physicians Ludovicus Carrus and J. Castellus.

[183] The duke to Costabili, his ambassador in Rome, October 9-23, 1502.

[184] Despatch of Bartolomeo Cavalieri to Ercole, Macon, September 8, 1503.

[185] Bembo, Opp. iii, 309.