Cesare Borgia doc

CESARE BORGIA THE PRINCE OF DISSIMULATION Written by LLA ~80% done CHAPTER I SON OF SINS: THE YOUNGHOOD OF CESARE (1475-1492) Whilst there is little doubt about Cesare Borgia’s date of birth, the place of his birth is uncertain. Some suggest Subbiaco, others Rignano (the more likely possibility);1 some even point to Valencia, in Spain. Having ruled out this last possibility, it can be said that Cesare was born in the very region where he lived and fought for the rest of his life: central Italy. He was the son of the then ambitious Spanish Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (or Borja, as in the original form), who would later go down in history under his papal name of Alexander VI, and his Mantuan lover Vannozza Cattanei. The illicit nature of his parents’ union was considered so little of a scandal in the Church of the late XV century that Cesare was recognised almost immediately by his father, who took charge of organising his education with the intention of setting him on a path to the priesthood (the military career had already been taken by his elder half-brother, Pier Luigi). His education, which had to be of the very highest standard to meet the requirements of the upper echelons of the clergy, began at a very early age and was guided by the finest teachers in Rome at the time, including Spannolio of Majorca, a member of the Roman Academy. Rodrigo was the most far-sighted father in the world, and his determination to introduce his son to political and cultural circles at an …