Story of Civilization ~ Will & Ariel Durant

[mabel1015j]

"I want to know what were the steps by which
man passed from barbarism to civilization (Voltaire)"

What are our origins? Where are we now? Where are we headed? Share your thoughts with us!

   Volume Five (The Renaissance)

       
"Four elements constitute Civilization -- economic provision, political organization, moral traditions, and the pursuit of knowledge and the arts. "
 
"I shall proceed as rapidly as time and circumstances will permit, hoping that a few of my contemporaries will care to grow old with me while learning. "
       
"These volumes may help some of our children to understand and enjoy the infinite riches of their inheritance."
       
"Civilization begins where chaos and insecurity ends."

In this volume the  term "Renaissance" refers only to Italy. Will Durant studies the growth of industry, the rise of banking families like the Medici, the conflicts of labor and capital and considers the reasons why Italy was the first nation, and Florence the first city in Italy, to feel the awakening of the modern mind. He follows the cultural flowering from Florence to Milan, Mantua, Ferrata, Verona and Venice, Padua and Parma, Bologna, Rimini, Urbino, Perugia, Siena, and Naples. 

In each city of Italy we witness a colorful pageant of princes, queeens, dukes, or doges -- of poets, historians, scientists, and philosophers -- of painters, sculptors, engravers, illuminators, potters, and architects -- of industry, education, manners, morals, crime, and dress -- of women and love and marriage -- of epidemics, famines, earthquakes, and death.

Dr. Durant draws vivid vignettes -- of Petrarch, Boccaccio, Cosimo de' Medici, Fra Angelico, Donatello, Beatrice and Isabella d'Este, Leonardo da Vinci, Piero della Francesca, Signorelli, Perugino, Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Aldus Manutius, Correggio, Alexander VI, Caesar and Lucrezia Borgia, Julius II, Leo X, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

The Renaissance, by recalling classic culture, ended the thousand year rule of the Oriental mind in Europe.

This volume, then, is about YOU. Join our group daily and listen to what Durant and the rest of us are saying. Better yet, share with us your opinions.

SeniorLearn Contact: JoanK & Discussion Facilitator: Trevor
 

Arrrggggghhhhh! And THIS church expects that people should obey the rules IT lays out for them!?! Astonishing! .....It would be interesting to speculate if any of this could happen today w/ 24/7 and international news? If there was a valid story that came out that the pope had children, what might happen? Would it be looked at as a moral issue or just a hypocritical one?

...It's funny how things come to my attention in "groups". I'm reading Thomas Costain's "Below the Salt" which is about the time of King John and the Magna Carta. I don't remember our talking about that period here.But my mind may have lost it...... But it appears that popes have always had problems w/ the kings of England and therefore one or both of them have made problems for the Archbishop of Canterbury.............struggles for power!

Also, last night at dinner w/ friends the book about Pope Joan came up and we had a conversation about the popes and religion in general.

[Emily]

Durant writes "Alexander had many reasons to be proud of his 'now oldest son'.

So how did Caesar become the 'now oldest son'?

Cesare was initially groomed for a career in the church. He was made Bishop of Pamplona at the age of 15. Following school in Perugia and Pisa where Cesare studied law, along with his father's elevation to Pope, Cesare was made Cardinal at the age of 18. Alexander VI staked the hopes of the Borgia family in Cesare's brother Giovanni, who was made captain general of the military forces of the papacy. Giovanni was assassinated in 1497 in mysterious circumstances: with several contemporaries suggesting that Cesare might be his killer, as Giovanni's disappearing could finally open him a long-awaited military career; as well as jealousy over Sancha of Aragon, wife of Cesare's other brother Gioffre, and mistress of both Cesare and Giovanni. Cesare's role in the act, however, has never been clear.

On August 17, 1498, Cesare became the first person in history to resign the cardinalate.

Caesar's brother Giovanni got the job Caesar wanted (General of the Pope's Army). After Giovanni was assassinated Caesar got the job.

Caesar's contemporaries felt that Caesar either killed Giovanni himself or hired an assassin.

Since Caesar and Giovanni both had their younger brothers wife as their mistress, Caesar would have eliminated a rival.

Regardless... Giovanni is dead and Caesar got his job and a mistress to himself and is on the way toward a fame that will outlast him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Borgia

Emily

[Emily]

Caesar Borgia

He was originally buried in a marble tomb beneath the altar of the Church of Santa Maria in the town with an inscription "Here lies in little earth one who was feared by all, who held peace and war in his hand." In 1537, the Bishop of Calahorra ordered had the destroyed and the remains transferred to an unconsecrated site outside the church. In 2007, Fernando Sebastian Aguilar, the Archbishop of Pamplona, allowed the remains to be moved back inside the church on the day before the 500th commemoration of Borgia's death.

Like his father in death, he was removed from the church by those who knew them both in life as unfit to be buried there. Both were moved outside the church and buried.

Both have been brought back into the church, Caesar only in 2007 after 500 years of being on the outs.

Emily

[Emily]

Caesar Borgia in popular culture.

If he lived today he would own a hedge fund, live in NYC, have a reality show, and be running for President.

Here is a list of his credits so far.........

Popular culture

Movies
Lucrezia Borgia (1926)
Lucrèce Borgia (1935)
The Black Duke (1961)
Bride of Vengeance (1948)
Prince of Foxes (1949)
Poisons, or the World History of Poisoning (2001)
The Borgia (2006)

Television
Borgia (2011)
 
Literature

Caesar Borgia (acted 1680) by Nathaniel Lee.
The Family by Mario Puzo
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, père mentions many conspiracy theories based on Borgia.
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
Madonna of the Seven Hills by Jean Plaidy (Victoria Holt)
Light on Lucrezia by Jean Plaidy (Victoria Holt)
Cantarella, a manga by You Higuri
Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire
Prince of Foxes by Samuel Shellabarger
The Banner of the Bull by Rafael Sabatini (fiction)
The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis
Kakan no Madonna by Chiho Saito (manga)
The Borgias by Alexandre Dumas, père
The Borgia Testament by Nigel Balchin
Lusts of The Borgias by Marcus Van Heller
City of God, A Novel of the Borgias by Cecelia Holland
Then and Now by W. Somerset Maugham
The Antichrist (1895) by Friedrich Nietzsche Af. #61
Beyond Good and Evil (1886) by Friedrich Nietzsche Af. #197
The Dwarf (1944) by Pär Lagerkvist features an unscrupulous prince likely modeled on Borgia
Borgia, by Milo Manara (artist) & Alejandro Jodorowsky (writer), a comics in the form of serialized graphic novel, depicting the story of the Borgia family.
Cesar by Fuyumi Soryo (manga)
Cesar and Lucrezia Borgia (2009) by Robert Lalonde at http://www.archive.org/details/EveryonesDeathCesar
The Vulture is a patient bird by James Hadley Chase refers to a ring that belonged to Borgia
Valentino: a play in verse by David Wisehart
Carnival of Saints by George Herman features Borgia as one of the main antagonists.
The Artist, The Philosopher and the Warrior by Paul Strathern
"Poison: A Novel of the Renaissance Poisoner Mysteries by Sara Poole

Music

Cesar Borgia is mentioned in the song "B.I.B.L.E.", performed by Killah Priest, which appears on GZA's 1995 album Liquid Swords, as well as Killah Priest's debut album Heavy Mental. He is also mentioned in the song "Jeshurun", on Priest's album Behind the Stained Glass.

Japanese Manga

Cesare Borgia is a central character in three popular serialized mangas, Cesar by Fuyumi Soryo, "Kaken no Madonna" by Chiho Saito, and Cantarella by Higuri Yuu.

Video Games

Cesare is the main antagonist of the video game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, acting as Captain-General of the Papal army in Rome and ordering an assault on the castle-town of Monteriggioni, home to the protagonist Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

Old psychopaths never die, they just keep getting dug up and resurrected by fellow travelers.

Emily

[mabel1015j]

Too bad Robby isn't here to tell give us the psychological perspective of  what is so appealing about his story..........anyone else have ideas?.........jean

[Emily]

Jean, please give us your perspective on why you think Caesar Borgia's story was so appealing. It would be interesting if everyone chimed in to answer your question.

 How many people in history have such a long shelf life? Most are buried and forgotten but not Caesar Borgia.

The Borgia's are still with us and will appear as historical fiction on a new Showtime series in 2011. I am including a link for those who have the Showtime channel and would like to view the series.

The BBC did a series called 'Borgia' in 1982, and this new series seems to be similar but written and produced for an American audience.

The series may be well written and interesting, but it will be fiction based on history. Too many people get their history from fictional books, movies, and television and somehow it gets passed along as fact.

Since I don't have Showtime I won't get to watch it but perhaps someone here who does could give us their interpetation of the series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Borgias_(2011_TV_series)

Emily

[JoanK]

What IS the appeal? Is wickedness more interesting than goodness, or do we have saints with that much written about them?

[Emily]

Joan, the saint that comes to mind is Joan of Arc. I looked her up and here is what I found.

Numerous books have been written about Jeanne d'Arc.

There are over twenty thousand books about Jeanne d'Arc in the Bibliothèque nationale de France alone. There are so many books written in Different language so it's almost impossible figure out.

Some in the temporary bibliography list are still available.
Most books are out of print, and hard to find

There is a list of four books online along with a poem. I am not familiar with any except the one by Mark Twain and it is fiction and I have not read the book.

There are a few still in print and they are listed, but not my cup of tea. There is also a description of each one, and it looks like only one is a history.

There have been many movies made, but most are European (mainly France) with some American ones, and one supposedly in production now.

It is not her life story that holds the interest, but her manner of death and trial. She was young, a woman, spoke of mystical events and died as a result of her mental illness (my opinion only). Of course most writers want the mystical part of her short life to be the main feature, but others like Voltaire decry her mysticism.

Durant wrote about Joan of Arc in the 'Age of Faith', and we probably discussed her, but I remember little that was said.

http://www.jeanne-darc.dk/p_multimedia/0_literature.html

Emily

 

[Frybabe]

Too many people get their history from fictional books, movies, and television and somehow it gets passed along as fact.

I tend to agree with you there, Emily. I don't mind so much if the characters are ficitional in an historic period, but I do mind when the writers put fictional words into the mouths of people who lived. Some fiction writers do a lot of historical research before writing. These days they have to because people like me are likely to fact check their writing. The facts in some of these fictional books are so entwined with the fiction that it can be hard to tell them apart otherwise. I've even discovered some facts that I was sure were a fictional contrivance before I checked.

[Emily]

Joan, I also looked up Saint Patrick (these are the only two that came to mind) and they both are more myth and legend than fact, especially Patrick.

The only writing claimed to have been left by Patrick was his confession and a letter to some soldiers. There seem to be few books other than childrens books that have been written about Patrick. I read Thomas Cahill's book "How the Irish saved Civilization' and enjoyed all the myths and legends about the Irish and the scant knowledge of Patrick's life except from his skimpy writings. The book was not about Patrick so much as about the Irish and their myths, legends, and folk ways.

Patrick did convert the Irish to Christianity, but the Irish put their on spin on the religion and did not always follow Rome.

Patrick did not capture the imagination like Caesar Borgia or Joan of Arc. He lived in an earlier time and knowledge of that era is scant and his life story other than being taken captive is not interesting to me. Evangelists are a dime a dozen.

http://classiclit.about.com/od/stpatrick/tp/aatp_stpatrick.htm

Emily

[Emily]

Thank you, Frybabe.

I only read non fiction now and have for years. I read a lot of fiction, much of it required reading when I was young, but history and biography are my only book reading now. Even there one must be aware of the author and their agenda, especially in auto biography.

Emily

[Frybabe]

For a good bit of my adult life I read mostly non-fiction. Biography, however, was never my favorite. The exceptions back then as I recall were T. E. Lawrence, George Bernard Shaw, Picasso and Samuel Johnson. I still have the Shaw and Johnson books. I've acquired and removed various Lawrence bios and autobios several times.

Having said that, biography has loomed larger in my library in the last five or so years. Catch up time (I've been catching up on fiction I missed too). I now have the likes of Cicero, Julius Caesar (his Gallic Wars), a volume on several of the Emperors, Winston Churchill, John Adams, Washington, Champlain, Hamilton, Gertrude Bell, Peter the Great, Layfette and his wife, and others. Most of these are US or European. I need to expand into South America, Canada, Asia, Middle and Near East, and Africa. Like I don't have enough to read already.

I haven't picked up any books on the Borgia family (or the Medici, for that matter), but have seen several interesting programs over the last few years. They both seem to pop up now and again.

[mabel1015j]

Thinking superficially - i think the Medici/Borgia stories are compelling because their " rich life" has been glamorized so that we can fantasize about what it would be like to wear silks, live in luxurious villas, have sevants do all those nasty chores we don't want to do.......of course, we avoid the thoughts of the negatives of the time - no central heating, dangerous streets, the dirt and grime, no anti-biotics, etc etc. I think we also fantasize about having the power to make things happen for our family and community - who wouldn't like to hire Michaelangelo to paint for us, or to be his patron- and to get revenge in a grand way, even if in our present day life we don't believe in revenge.

Isn't that what all the "action" movies are about? Or why we liked "Dallas" or "Falcon Crest" or watch the "Housewives" series? ...........jean

[Emily]

Jean, you have it figured out in my opinion. Whatever sells will be produced over and over again with different actors or in the case of books, writers. The Borgias had the drama and as you said there is an audience for that.

In the case of the Borgias, so many people died mysteriously young with no apparent cause of death. We have read of poisonings all through the volumes of SOC especially as regards those in power. Without CSI investigators it would have been hard to prove that they didn't just die of a heart attack at age twenty.

Perhaps poison was in fashion in Rome at that time. It was certainly written about enough by the diarists. That lends drama to the tale. I am curious as to how the new series on television will portray the Borgias.

Emily

[3kings(Trevor)]

Durant's SoC
                  Caesar Borgia
                    Pages 419- 420.



The marriage, (of Caesar and Charlotte ) committed the papacy to an alliance which undid all the work of the Holy League that Alexander had help to form in 1495, and it prepared the scene for the wars of Julius II. Caesar Borgia was among the nobles who escorted Louis XII into Milan on October 6 1499; Castiglione, who was there, described Duke Valentino as the tallest and handsomest man in all the King’s stately retinue. His pride matched his appearance. His sword was engraved with scenes from the life of Julius Caesar and bore two mottoes ‘Alea iacta est’—“the die is cast”; and ‘Aut Caesar  aut nullus—“Either Caesar or nobody”.
In this bold youth and happy warrior Alexander found at last the general he had long sought to lead the armed forces of the Church in the reconquest of the Papal States. Louis contributed three hundred French lances, four thousand Gascons and Swiss were recruited, and two thousand Italian mercenaries. It was a small army with which to overcome a dozen despots, but Caesar was eager for the adventure. To add spiritual to military weapons, the Pope issued a bull solemnly declaring that Caterina Sforza and her son Ottaviano, Pandolfo Malatesta, Giulio Varno, Astorre Manfredi, Giudobaldo, and Giovanni Sforza held urban centers only by usurping lands, property, and rights long pertaining in law and justice to the Church; that they were all tyrants who had abused their powers and exploited their subjects; and they must now resign or be expelled by force. Possibly, as some charged, Alexander dreamed of welding these principalities into a kingdom for his son. It is unlikely, for Alexander must have known that neither his successors nor the other states of Italy would long tolerate a usurpation more illegal and unwelcome than any that it would have replaced.
Caesar himself may have dreamed of such a consummation; Machiavelli hoped so, and would have rejoiced to see so strong a hand unite Italy and expel all invaders. But to the end of his life Caesar protested he had no other aim than to win the States of the Church, for the Church, and would be content to be governor of the Romagna as a vassal of the pope.
In January 1500, Caesar and his army marched over the Apennines to Forlì. Imola surrendered at once to his deputy, and the citizens of Forlì threw open the gates to welcome him; but Caterina Sforza, as she had done twelve years before, bravely held the citadel with her garrison. Caesar offered easy terms; she preferred to fight. After a brief siege the papal troops forced their way into the rocca, and put the defenders to the sword.
Caterina was sent to Rome, and was lodged as an unwilling guest in the Belvedere wing of the vatican. She refused to resign her right to rule Forlì and Imola; she tried to escape, and was transferred to Sant’ Angelo. After eighteen months she was released, and entered a nunnery. She was a brave woman, but quite a virago. “She was a feudal ruler of the worst type, and in her dominions, as elsewhere in Romagna, Ceasar was regarded as an avenger commissioned by Heaven to redress ages of oppression and wrong.
But Ceasar’s first triumph was brief. His foreign troops mutinied because Ceasar had insufficient funds to pay them; they were hardly appeased when Louis XII recalled the French detachment to help him recapture the Milan that Lodovico had for a moment regained. Caesar led his remaining army back to Rome, and received almost the honors of a victorious Roman general. Alexander gloried in his son’s success. “The pope,” reported the Venetian ambassador, “ is more cheerful than ever.” He appointed Caesar papal vicar for the conquered cities, and began to lean fondly on his son’s advice.     

[Emily]

Durant writes on Caesar Borgia........

He was clearly not made for an ecclesiastical career, but Alexander, having bishoprics rather than principalities at his disposal, made him archbishop of Valencia ( 1492 ), then cardinal (1493). No one took such appointments as religious; they were means of supplying income to youths who had influential relatives, and who might be trained for the practical management of ecclesiastical property and personnel. Caesar took minor orders, but never became a priest.

So according to Durant Bishops and Cardinals had nothing to do with religion and was merely a way to give your offspring a salary and maybe as a manager of church holdings.

What a cushy job.

Now I have to go back and try to find 'why were these offices of the church created' in the first place. I don't think they were created to give 'junior' a trust fund, but we shall see.

Does anyone know the answer?

Emily

[mabel1015j]

I need to start a list of cast of characters to keep everybody straight.

Interesting how many woman who had some power have been lost to history. When i graduated from college, as a history major no less, the only powerful woman i knew about were the English queens and then only the Elizabeths and Victoria. Oh, i had heard of Cleopatra, as Elizabeth Taylor, of course and Catherine the Great, because i had a Russian history course. It's nice to see the Durants include some of those women of lesser, but important significance. I wonder how much of that was Ariel's influence? 

[JoanK]

" and to get revenge in a grand way, even if in our present day life we don't believe in revenge."

Wouldn't it be sweet to smugly know that you had the power to get a grand revenge, but were much too angelic to use it. You might even manage to smugly forgive the wwrongdoer. He would be so grateful, he would be your servant for life.

Yeah, right.

[3kings(Trevor)]

Durants SoC
The Renaissance
Vol V Pages 420-422



The receipts from the jubilee and from the sale of red hats replenished the treasury, and Caesar could now plan a second campaign.  He offered a convincing sum to Paolo Orsini to join the papal forces with his armed men; Paolovame, and several other nobles followed suit; with this clever stroke Caesar enlarged his army and protected Rome from baronial raids during the absence of the papal troops beyond the Apennines. Perhaps by similar inducements and the promise of spoils, he enlisted the services and soldiers of Gianpalo Baglioni, lord of Perugia, and engaged Vitellozo Viteli to lead the artillery. Louis the XII sent him a small regiment of lancers, but Caesar was no longer dependent upon French reinforcements. In September, 1500, at Alexanders urging, he attacked the castles occupied by hostile Colonna and  Savelli in Latium. One after another surrendered. Soon Alexander was enabled to make a tour in safety and triumph through the regions long lost to papacy. He was received everywhere with popular acclaim, for the feudal barons had not been loved by their subjects.

When Caesar set out on his second major campaign ( October, 1500 ), he had an army of 14000 men, with a retinue of Poets, prelates, and prostitutes to service his troops. Anticipating their arrival, Pandolfo Maletesta vacated Rimini, and Giovanni Sforza fled from Pesaro; the two cities welcomed Caesar as a liberator. At Faenza Astorre Manfredi resisted, and the people supported him loyally. Borgia offered generous terms, Manfredi rejected them. The siege lasted all winter; finally Faenza surrendered on Caesar’s promise of leniency to all. He behaved handsomely to the citizens, and was so warm in praising Manfredi’s resolute defense that the defeated apparently fell in love with the victor, and remained with him as part of his staff or retinue. Astorre’s younger brother did the same, though both were free to go whenever they wished. For two months they followed Caesar in all his wanderings, and were treated with respect. Then suddenly, on reaching Rome, they were thrown in to the Castel Sant’ Angelo. There they remained for a year; then, on June 2, 1502, their bodies were thrown up by the Tiber.  What made Caesar  – or Alexander—condemn them is not known. Like a hundred other strange events in the history of the Borgias, the case remains a mystery that only the uninformed can solve.

Caesar, now adding the Duke of Romagna to his titles, studied the map, and decided to complete the task assigned to him by his father. Camerino and Urbino remained to be taken. Urbino, though doubtless papal in law,was almost a model state as politics went; it seemed a disgraceful thing to depose so loved a couple as Guidobaldo and Elizabetta; and perhaps they would now have consented to be papal vicars in fact as well as in name. But Caesar argued that the city blocked his easiest avenue to the Adriatic, and might, in hostile hands, cut off his communications with Pesaro and Rimini. We do not know if Alexander agreed; it seams incredible, for about this time he persuaded Giudobaldo to lend the papal army his artillery. It is more likely that Caesar deceived his father, or changed his own plans. On June 12, 1502, now with Leonardo da Vinci as his chief engineer, he set out on his third campaign, apparently headed for Camerino. Suddenly he turned north, and approached Urbino so rapidly that its invalid ruler had barely time to escape, leaving the city to fall into Caesar’s hands ( June 21 ). If this move was made with Alexander’s knowledge and consent it was one of the most despicable treacheries in history, though Machiavelli would have been thrilled by its subtlety. The victor treated the inhabitants with feline gentleness, but  appropriated the precious art collection of the fallen Duke , and sold it to pay his troops.

[JoanK]

Interesting the services the priests needed:

"a retinue of Poets, prelates, and prostitutes to service his troops."

I notice only the Poets rate a capital letter. Is this honor bestowed by Durant or Trevor?

[Frybabe]

Cesare's treatment of the Manfredi brothers is diabolical. I wonder if he pretended to be generous and befriend them to lure them away from their home area before disposing of them to avoid an uprising of supporters, or if he just had a vicious sense of humor. I considered the possibility that the Manfredi brothers were caught in a plot, but then Cesare would likely have so stated to justify his actions. I wonder if they were dead before the hit the water or were drowned.

[3kings(Trevor)]

JoanK. I confess. The capital 'P' above in the spelling of 'poets' is my fault. I find I often use capitals inappropriately, but usually manage to correct the error before hitting 'send'. I'm sorry to have mislead you.
Also, it is now 6pm on Christmas day in NZ. I have enjoyed a wonderful day, and now wish all here the best for Christmas, and an enjoyable New Year. == Trevor

[Brian]

Trevor - - -  we are a little behind you here in Alberta Canada, where it is now just after 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve. 
We are looking forward to a wonderful day with our son and daughter and our grandchildren.
I would like to wish all at SeniorLearn (and at Seniors & Friends) a Very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.  You give us something to live for.

Brian

[mabel1015j]

When Caesar set out on his second major campaign ( October, 1500 ), he had an army of 14000 men, with a retinue of Poets, prelates, and prostitutes to service his troops. what else does a man need, an army and the three "p's"? ........i am sensing a sense of humor from the Durants.......

Thank you Trevor for giving us these passages. Do you have to type each page? What a trooper.

We have completed our Christmas, which we celebrate on C eve. Our dgt, son, DIL and 2 grandsons were here for gift exchange and noshing, now comes the relaxation, wheeeeeew!

Happy New Year to all.......Jean

[JoanK]

We have "moved" Christmas to next week, so the family can be together. So I still have that to look forward to. But the phone is humming with Christmas wishes going back and forth.

Merry Christmas to all!!!

[Emily]

Durant writes........

Then suddenly, on reaching Rome, they were thrown in to the Castel Sant’ Angelo. There they remained for a year; then, on June 2, 1502, their bodies were thrown up by the Tiber.

Recently I happened upon a program about Rome on the history channel. The program was already almost over but they were in the Castel Sant' Angelo ready to go underground to examine the dungeon underneath the Castle.

The showed the 'cells' for prisoners of the Pope and explained that they had been expanded under Pope Alexander (Borgia) during the Renaissance.

The massive stone walls and darkness without the artificial lights would have been so oppressive that drowning in the Tiber would have been preferable to me. I cannot imagine living in those cells underground for a year as the Manfreddi's were forced to do. 

What made Caesar  – or Alexander—condemn them is not known. Like a hundred other strange events in the history of the Borgias, the case remains a mystery that only the uninformed can solve.

I reread that last sentence to decipher what Durant meant by 'uninformed'.

Certainly many knew what happened to the Manfreddi's. They also knew the Tiber would 'throw them up' if they told what happened.

So only the 'uninformed' could possibly examine this mystery and come to their own conclusions and since they weren't there could not prove anything.

The Tiber was a favorite place to dispose of 'inconvienent' bodies as we have read all through the history of Rome. Some surfaced and were fished out, but many simply disappeared forever.

Since Durant is writing about this event, it was certainly recorded at the time and many people would have known about the imprisonment, disappearence, and body retrieval. Fear is a powerful emotion, and even on Caesar's tomb it was stated that he was feared by all.

Caesar would have been proud of that epitaph.

Emily

[3kings(Trevor)]

Durant's SoC
The Borgias,
Pages 422-423


Meanwhile,Borgia's general, Vitelli, apparently on his own authority, seized Arezzo, long since an appanage of Florence. The shocked Signory sent the bishop of Volterra, with Machiavelli, to appeal to Caesar at Urbino. He received them with successful charm. “I am not here to play the tyrant,” he told them, “but to extinguish tyrants.” He agreed to check Vitelli and restore Arezzo to Florentine allegiance; in return he demanded a definite policy of mutual friendliness between Florence and himself. The bishop thought him sincere, and Machiavelli wrote to the Signory with undiplomatic enthusiasm:

"This lord is splendid and magnificent, and is so bold that there is no enterprise so great that it does not seem to him small. To gain glory and dominions he robs himself of repose, and knows neither danger nor fatigue. He comes to a place before his intentions are understood. He makes himself well liked among his soldiers and has chosen the best men in Italy. These things make him victorious and formidable, with the aid of perpetual good fortune."

On July 20 Camerino surrendered to Caesar’s lieutenants, and the Papal States were papal again. Directly, or by proxy Caesar gave them such good government as seemed to vindicate his claim to be a  deposer of tyrants; later all of them but Urbino and Faenza would mourn his fall. Hearing that Gianfrancesco Gonzaga ( Elizabetta’s brother and Isabella’s husband ) had gone with several prominent men to Milan to turn Louis XII against him, Caesar hurried across Italy, confronted his enemies, and quickly regained the favour of the King ( August, 1502). It is deserving of note that up to this point, and even after his most questionable exploit, a bishop, a king, and a diplomat later famous for subtlety, should have joined in admiring Caesar, and accepting the justice of his conduct and his aims.
Nevertheless Italy was dotted with men who prayed for his fall. Venice, though it had made him an  honorary citizen( gentiluomo di Venezia ), was not happy to see the Papal States so strong again, and controlling so much of the Adriatic shore. Florence fretted at the thought that Forlì, only  eight miles from Florentine territory, was in the hands of an incalculable and unscrupulous young genius of statecraft and war. Pisa offered itself to his rule ( December 1502 ); he politely refused; but what if he changed his course—as on the way to Camerino ? The gifts that Isabella sent him were perhaps a blind to disguise the resentment she and Mantua felt against his rape of Urbino. The Collonna and Savelli, and in less degree the Orsini, had been ruined by his victories, and merely bided their time to raise some coalition against him.  His own “best men,” who had led his cohorts brilliantly, were not sure but he might attack their territories next, some of which were also claimed by the Church. Gianpaolo Baglioni trembled for his hold on Perugia, Giovanni Betntivoglio for his rule in Bologna; Paolo  Orsini and Francesco Orsini, Duke of Gravina, wondered how long it would be before Caesar would do to the Orsini clan what he had done to the Colonna.
Vitelli, raging at being forced to relinquish Arezzo, invited these men, and Oliverotto of Fermo, and Pandolfo Petrucci of Siena, and representatives of Guildbaldo, to meet at La Magione on lake Trasimene ( September 1502). There they agreed to turn their troops against Caesar, capture and depose him, end his rule in Romagna and the Marches, and restore the dispossessed lords. It was a formidable plot, whose success would have brought to a sorry issue the best laid plans of Alexander and his son.

[JoanK]

Ahhhh. The suspense is killing me. Will they succeed?

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

[Frybabe]

Ah, hah! Now we have Machiavelli in the mix. What intrigue. What suspense.

[3kings(Trevor)]

Durant's SoC, Vol. V
The Renaissance
The Bogias
Pages 423-425



The conspiracy began with brilliant victories. Revolts were organised in Urbino and Camerino, with the support of the people; the papal garrisons there were expelled; Guildobaldo returned to his palace ( October 18, 1502 ); everywhere the fallen lords raised their heads and planned to return to power. Caesar suddenly found his lieutenants would not obey him, and that his forces were reduced to a point where he could not possible hold his conquests. In the crisis Cardinal Ferrari opportunely died; Alexander hurriedly appropriated the 50,000 ducats left by him, and sold some of the Cardinal’s benefices; he tuned over the  receipts to Caesar, who rapidly raised a new army of 6000 men. In the meantime Alexander negotiated individually with the conspirators, made them fair promises, and won so many  of them back to obedience that  by the end of October they had all made their peace with Caesar; it was an astonishing feat of diplomacy. Caesar received their apologies with silent scepticism; and he noted that though Guidobaldo again fled from Urbino, the Orsini still held the duchy’s strongholds with their troops.

In December, Caesar’s lieutenants, at his  bidding, besieged  Senigallia, on the Adriatic. The town soon yielded, but the governor of the castle refused to surrender it except to Caesar himself. A messenger was sent to the Duke at Cesena; he hastened down the coast, followed by twenty-eight hundred soldiers especially devoted to him. Arriving at Senigallia he greeted with apparent cordiality the four leaders of the conspiracy -- Vitellozo Vitelli, Papolo and Francesco Orsini, and Oliverotto. He invited them to a conference with him in the governor’s palace; when they came he had them arrested; and that very night ( December 31, 1502 ) he had Vitelli and Oliverotto strangled. The two Orsini where kept in prison till Caesar could communicate with his father; apparently Alexander’s views agreed with his son’s; and on January 18 the two men were put to death.

Caesar prided himself on his clever stroke at Senigallia; he thought Italy should thank him for ridding it so neatly of four men who were not only feudal usurpers of Church lands but had been reactionary oppressors of the helpless subjects. Perhaps he felt a qualm or two, for he excused himself to Machiavelli: “ It is proper to snare those who are proving themselves past masters in the art of snaring others”. Machiavelli fully agreed with him, and considered Caesar, at this time, the bravest and wisest man in Italy. Paolo Giovio, historian and bishop, called the quadruple extinction of the conspirators ‘bellissimo inganno’-- a “most lovely” ruse. Isabella d’Este, playing safe, sent Caesar congratulations, and a hundred masks to amuse him “after the fatigues and struggles of this glorious expedition.” Louis XII hailed the coup as “ a deed worthy of the great days of Rome.”

Alexander was now free to express his full rage at the conspiracy against his son and the reclaimed cities of the Church. He claimed to have evidence that Cardinal Orsini had plotted with his relatives to assassinate Caesar; he had the Cardinal and several other suspects arrested  ( January 3, 1503 ); he seized the Cardinals palace, and confiscated all his goods. The Cardinal died in prison on February 22, probably through excitement and exhaustion; Rome speculated that the Pope had him poisoned. Alexander advised Caesar to root out the Orsini completely from Rome and the campagna. Caesar was not so anxious; perhaps he too was exhausted; he delayed returning to the capital, and then set out unwillingly to besiege Giulio Orsini’s mighty fortress at Ceri ( March 15, 1503 ). In this siege -- perhaps in others -- Borgia used some of Leonardo’s war machines; one was a moving tower holding three hundred men and capable of being raised to the top of the enemy’s walls.

Giulio surrendered, and went with Caesar to the Vatican to ask for peace; the Pope granted it on condition that all Orsini castles in papal territory should be given to the Church; it was done. In the meantime Perugia and Fermo had quietly accepted governors sent them by Caesar. Bologna was still unredeemed, but Ferrara had joyfully received Lucrezia Borgia as its duchess. Aside from these two major principalities -- which would occupy Alexander’s successors -- the reconquest of the Papal States was complete, and Caesar Borgia, at twenty-eight, found himself the governor of a realm equalled in size, in the peninsular, only by the Kingdom of Naples. He was now by common consent the most remarkable and powerful man in Italy.

[Emily]

Durant writes..............

Alexander was now free to express his full rage at the conspiracy against his son and the reclaimed cities of the Church. He claimed to have evidence that Cardinal Orsini had plotted with his relatives to assassinate Caesar; he had the Cardinal and several other suspects arrested  ( January 3, 1503 ); he seized the Cardinals palace, and confiscated all his goods. The Cardinal died in prison on February 22, probably through excitement and exhaustion; Rome speculated that the Pope had him poisoned.

What happened to the 'several other suspects' that were arrested along with Cardinal Orsini? No word on their fate, and even who they were. It seems likely they were part of the Cardinals staff and those who worked for him.

What a dangerous place to work while the Borgias were in power. It didn't take them long to finish off Cardinal Orsini about six weeks seems to have been their limit, and I don't buy the idea that he died of exhaustion. Sitting in a prison cell would be boring but not exhausting. Excitement? I wonder who wrote these two unbelievable explanations of death for Durant to copy many years later.

The Borgia Pope must have been feeling the power to put out such nonsense and expect people to believe it. The people did not believe as stated above, but the Pope had such a criminal mind that he did not care, as those who had to show up for work in that atmosphere knew they could be next.

Emily

[Emily]

Pope Borgia got all the Orsini castles and land. Here is a photo of one Castle Orsini outside Rome.

http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/lazio/castello-orsini-cesi-borghese

Emily

 

[mabel1015j]

Emily, i too had a question abt "exhaustion"......thanks for the link to the castle. I am always intriqued w/ the way those old buildings have been converted for modern living,  the "doorway"pic shows a tiny bit of that.......i have often said to my students "you live in the best of times" and have tho't for myself, "thank goodness i was born in the middle of the 20th century". Students often argued w/ me bcs thay didn't know factual history, but you're right living w/ the Borgias would not have been pleasant.....jean

[Emily]

Hi Jean and all.......I went searching for more castles of the Orsini (they had a lot) and came upon a web site that had the following as an aside after a painting of Macheivelli.

Cesare Borgia

"On the evening of the 31st of October 1501, [Alexander's son] Cesare Borgia hosted in his rooms in the Vatican a party with 50 honorable prostitutes, referred to as courtesans, who after the meal danced with the servants and others present, first in their clothes and then naked.

After the meal the candelabras with the burning candles were stood on the floor and chestnuts spread around them, which the naked prostitutes collected on their hands and knees and crawling between the candelabras, watched by the Pope, Cesare, and his sister Lucrezia [Borgia]."

by Johannes Burcardus,
Alexander VI's master of ceremonies

Durant did quote Johannes Burcardus (used different spelling) in his writings, so he must have read his history of the time he spent with several Popes. He was in charge of all ceremonial activities in the Vatican and I gave an excerpt from his 'history' on the death of the Borgia Pope since Johann was responsible for the funeral set on precedent of past popes.

Perhaps Durant did not think this entry was relevant to the Borgias history, but to me it sums them up well.

I read a history of one of the great leaders of the Moslem empire when they ruled a large swath of territory. In his huge palace in Constantinople he had one of the largest harems known to history.

His overseer of the Harem (an eunuch) told of games the Caliph would play with his concubines. They would get undressed and crawl on the floor in a circle and he would play a game of leap frog until he made his selection.

Extreme measures for a one inch fuse in a room full of dynamite.

Emily



 

[Emily]

Forgot the link again. Here it is.............

http://www.all-art.org/Visual%20History/266-1.htm

Emily

[mabel1015j]

Great site Emily. I've got it bookmarked.

Ahhhh, Yes, powerful men and their games. Hard to read about, but important for us to realize what the people who lacked power have had to endure. Something we might have learned if more women's history was included in our curricula.........jean

[mabel1015j]

And love that classical music is included in the site, including a history of jazz, w/audio! Am listening to Rhapsody in Blue as i type......thanks again

[3kings(Trevor)]

Durant's SoC Vol. V
The Renaissance
The Bogias  Pages 425-426.


For a time Caesar remained in unwonted quiet at the Vatican. We should have expected him at this point to send for his wife; he did not. He had her left with her family in France, and she had borne him a child during his wars; occasionally he wrote to her and sent her gifts; but he never saw her again. The duchesse of Valentinios lived a modest and retired life in Bourges, or in the chateau de La Mitte-Feuilly in the Dauphine, waiting hopefully to be sent for, or to have her husband come to her. When he was ruined and deserted she tried to go to him; when he died she hung her house with black, and remained in mourning for him until her death. Perhaps he would have sent for her later, had he been given a few more months of peace; more likely he looked upon the marriage as purely political, and felt no obligation to tenderness.

There was apparently only a modicum of tenderness in him, and he kept most of that for Lucrezia, whom he loved as much as he could love a woman. Even when hurrying from Urbino to Milan to circumvent his foes with LouisXII, he had gone considerably out of his way to visit his sister at Ferrara, then dangerously ill. Returning from Milan he stopped there again, held her in his arms while physicians bled her, and stayed with her till she was out of danger. Caesar was not made for marriage; he had mistresses, but none for long; he was too consumed by the will to power to let any woman enter possessively into his life.

In Rome he lived in privacy, almost in concealment. He worked at night and was rarely seen by day. But he worked hard, even in this period of seeming rest; he kept close watch on his appointees in the States of the Church, punished those who misused their position, had one appointee put to death for cruelty and exploitation, and always found time to see men who needed his instructions on the government of the Romagna or the maintenance of order in Rome.

Those who knew him respected his shrewd intelligence, his capacity for going directly to the heart of the matter, for seizing every opportunity that chance presented, and for taking quick, decisive, and effective action. He was popular with his soldiers, who secretly admired the saving severity of his discipline. They highly approved of the bribes , stratagems, and deceits by which he reduced the number and persistence of his enemies and the battles and casualties of his troops. Diplomats were chagrined to find that this swift-moving and fearless young general could out think and outreason them in their shrewdest subtleties, and could, at need, match all their charm and tact and eloquence.

His flair for secrecy made him an easy victim  for the satirists of Italy, and for the ugly rumours that hostile ambassadors or deposed aristocrats might invent or spread; it is impossible today separate fact from fiction in these lurid reports. A favourite story was that Alexander and his son made a practice of arresting ecclesiastics on trumped up charges, and releasing them on the payment of large ransoms or fines; so, it was alleged, the bishop of Cesna, for a crime whose nature was not divulged, was cast into Sant’ Angelo, and was freed on paying 10,000 ducats to the Pope. We cannot say  whether this was justice or robbery; in fairness to Alexander we should bear in mind it was the custom of both secular and ecclesiastical courts to make crime pay the court by replacing expensive imprisonment with lucrative fines. According to the Venetian ambassador Giustiniani and the Florentine ambassador Vitorio Soderini, Jews were frequently arrested on charges of heresy and could prove their orthodoxy only by substantial contributions to the papal treasury  It is possible, but Rome was known for its relatively decent treatment  of the Jews, and no Jew was considered a heretic-- or was prosecuted by the Inquisition-- for being a Jew.

[JoanK]

Very interesting person and time. Many of the things that shock us were probably taken for granted then.

So dictators impose their own mix of strengths and weaknesses, bad and good on the society, and the people in it learn to live around those constraints. We still don't know much of what this was like for the person-on-the street.

[bookad]

I find it interesting that Caesar could be apparently so reasonable that his troops respected him and he would not let wrongs go unpunished within the area he controlled
...............yet he married and left his wife to her own (would that be so he could sire an offspring to continue his linage...would a man bother to get married if the linage was continued thru the wife's side !!!)  

Deb

[he kept close watch on his appointees in the States of the Church, punished those who misused their position, had one appointee put to death for cruelty and exploitation, /quote]