Editing Cesare Borgia (section)

==Career==

===Diaconate===
Cesare was initially groomed for a career in the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. Following school in [[Perugia]] and [[Pisa]], Cesare studied law at the ''Studium Urbis'' (today as the [[Sapienza University of Rome]]). He was made Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pamplona y Tudela|Archdiocese of Pamplona and Tudela]] (aged 15) and Archbishop of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Valencia in Spain|Valencia]] (aged 17). In 1493, he had also been appointed bishop of both [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Albi|Castres]] and [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Perpignan-Elne|Elne]]. In 1494, he also received the title of abbot of the [[abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa]].<ref>{{66 PHPC}}</ref> Along with his father's elevation to Pope, Cesare was made [[Catholic Cardinal|Cardinal]] at the age of 18.<ref name="xvfywc" />
[[File:Coat of arms of Cesare Borgia.svg|thumb|The [[coat of arms]] of Cesare Borgia as [[Duke of Valentinois]] and [[Duke of Romagna]] and [[Captain-General of the Church]].]]
Alexander VI staked the hopes of the Borgia family on Cesare's brother [[Giovanni Borgia, 2nd Duke of Gandia|Giovanni]], who was made captain-general of the military forces of the papacy. Giovanni was assassinated in 1497 under mysterious circumstances. Several contemporaries suggested that Cesare might have been his killer,<ref>Spinosa, ''La saga dei Borgia''</ref> as Giovanni's disappearance could finally open to him a long-awaited military career and also solve the jealousy over [[Sancha of Aragon]], wife of Cesare's younger brother, [[Gioffre Borgia|Gioffre]], and mistress of both Cesare and Giovanni.<ref>Rendina, ''I capitani di ventura''</ref> Cesare's role in the act has never been clear. However, he had no definitive motive, as he was likely to be given a powerful secular position, whether or not his brother lived. It is possible that Giovanni was killed as a result of a sexual liaison.<ref>Michael de la Bedoyere, ''The Meddlesome Friar and the Wayward Pope'', p. 20, Quote: "Next morning the absence of the Duke was noticed by his servants, and the Pontiff was informed. He was not too worried for, as Burchard says, Alexander jumped to the conclusion that his son had spent the night with some girl and preferred to avoid the indiscretion of leaving by day. It may be mentioned in passing that this touch, as with many others one comes across, hardly squares with the general view that the Pope, his family and those around him were without shame. Juan was a dissolute young man and not a churchman, yet Alexander presumed on a discretion more in keeping with later times."</ref>

On 17 August 1498, Cesare resigned from the cardinalate, in order to pursue a military career.<ref>{{cite web|title=Today in Catholic History|url=http://catholicunderthehood.com/2010/08/17/today-in-catholic-history-cesare-borgia-resigns-from-the-cardinalate/|publisher=Catholic Under the Hood|access-date=29 December 2012|date=17 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802191653/http://catholicunderthehood.com/2010/08/17/today-in-catholic-history-cesare-borgia-resigns-from-the-cardinalate/|archive-date=2 August 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=December 2019}} On the same day, [[Louis XII of France]] named Cesare [[Duke of Valentinois]]. This random title was selected as being homophonous with his nickname ''Il Valentino'' ("The [[Kingdom of Valencia|Valencian]]"), derived from his father's papal epithet in Latin ''Valentinus'' ("The [[Kingdom of Valencia|Valencian]]")<ref name="valentinus">See inscription on 5 Ducat piece of his father Pope Alexander VI "Alexander VI Pontifex Maximus Borgia Valentinus" ("The Valencian", his epithet indicating his birth in Xàtiva in the Kingdom of Valencia under the [[Crown of Aragon]] (now Spain)</ref> indicating his birth in Xàtiva in the [[Kingdom of Valencia]] under the [[Crown of Aragon]], and along with Cesare's former position as Cardinal of Valencia. On 6 September 1499, he was released from all ecclesiastical duties and [[Loss of clerical state|laicised]] from his diaconal orders (because he only was ordained deacon on 26 March 1494 and never received other major orders as [[Priesthood in the Catholic Church|priesthood]] and [[Bishops in the Catholic Church|bishop consecration]]<ref name="CH">{{Catholic-hierarchy|bishop|bdeborjac|Mister César de Borja (Borgia)|6 August 2022}}</ref><ref name="miranda2">{{Cite web|title=Consistory of Friday September 20, 1493 (II) Celebrated at the Apostolic Palace, Rome|url=https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1493.htm#Borgia|access-date=7 August 2022|website=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church}}</ref>).

===Military===
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2012}}
Cesare's career was founded upon his father's ability to distribute patronage, along with his alliance with France (reinforced by his marriage with [[Charlotte d'Albret]], sister of [[John III of Navarre]]), in the course of the [[Italian Wars]]. Louis XII invaded Italy in 1499; after [[Gian Giacomo Trivulzio]] had ousted its duke [[Ludovico Sforza]], Cesare accompanied the king in his entrance into [[Milan]].{{cn|date=January 2025}}
[[File:Cesare Borgia eng.png|alt=Map of Cesare Borgia's Duchy of Romagna|thumb|right|Cesare Borgia's domains mapped. Sources are in the image's description.]]
At this point, Alexander decided to profit from the favourable situation and carve out for Cesare a state of his own in northern Italy. To this end, he declared that all his vicars in [[Romagna]] and [[Marche]] were deposed. Though in theory subject directly to the pope, these rulers had been practically independent or dependent on other states for generations. In the view of the citizens, these vicars were cruel and petty. When Cesare eventually took power, he was viewed by the citizens as a great improvement.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

Cesare was appointed commander of the papal armies with a number of Italian mercenaries, supported by 300 cavalry and 4,000 Swiss infantry sent by the king of France. Alexander sent him to capture [[Imola]] and [[Forlì]], ruled by [[Caterina Sforza]] (mother of the Medici ''condottiero'' [[Giovanni dalle Bande Nere]]). Despite being deprived of his French troops after the conquest of those two cities, Borgia returned to Rome to celebrate a triumph and to receive the title of [[Gonfalonier of the Church|Papal Gonfalonier]] from his father. In 1500 the creation of twelve new cardinals granted Alexander enough money for Cesare to hire the ''condottieri,'' [[Vitellozzo Vitelli]], [[Gian Paolo Baglioni]], [[Giulio Orsini|Giulio]] and [[Paolo Orsini (condottiero, born 1450)|Paolo]] Orsini, and [[Oliverotto Euffreducci]], who resumed his campaign in Romagna.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

[[Giovanni Sforza]], first husband of Cesare's sister [[Lucrezia Borgia|Lucrezia]], was soon ousted from [[Pesaro]]; [[Pandolfo IV Malatesta|Pandolfo Malatesta]] lost [[Rimini]]; [[Faenza]] surrendered, its young lord [[Astorre III Manfredi]] being later drowned in the [[Tiber]] by Cesare's order. In May 1501 the latter was created duke of Romagna. Hired by Florence, Cesare subsequently added the lordship of [[Piombino]] to his new lands.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

While his ''condottieri'' took over the siege of Piombino which ended in 1502, Cesare commanded the French troops in the sieges of Naples and [[Capua]], defended by [[Prospero Colonna|Prospero]] and [[Fabrizio Colonna]]. On 24 June 1501, Borgia's troops stormed the latter to end the siege of Capua.

In June 1502, he set out for Marche, where he was able to capture [[Urbino]] and [[Camerino]] by treason. He planned to conquer [[Bologna]] next. However, his ''condottieri'', most notably Vitellozzo Vitelli and the Orsini brothers (Giulio, Paolo and Francesco), feared Cesare's cruelty and set up a plot against him. [[Guidobaldo da Montefeltro]] and [[Giovanni Maria da Varano]] returned to Urbino and Camerino, and [[Fossombrone]] revolted. The fact that his subjects had enjoyed his rule thus far meant that his opponents had to work much harder than they would have liked. He eventually recalled his loyal generals to Imola, where he waited for his opponents' loose alliance to collapse. Cesare called for a reconciliation, but imprisoned his ''condottieri'' in [[Senigallia]], then called Sinigaglia, a feat described as a "wonderful deceiving" by historian [[Paolo Giovio]],<ref>Rendina, p. 250.</ref> and had them strangled. In 1503 he conquered the [[San Marino|Republic of San Marino]].<ref name="Paul Joseph 2017">Paul Joseph ''The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives: Volume IV'', 2017, p. 1511.</ref>