Nikki K

Juan Borgia, 2nd duke of Gandía, was the son of Pope Alexander VI the second of the Pope's four children by Vanozza Cattanei. He born in Rome in 1476. He was made 2nd Duke of Gandia, Duke of Sessa, Grand Constable of Naples, Governor of St. Peter's, and Gonfalonier and Captain General of the Church and married Maria Enriquez de Luna, the Spanish betrothed of his deceased older half-brother, Pedro Luis, in September 1493. They had two children: Juan de Borja y Enriquez (known as Juan Borgia), who became the 3rd duke of Gandía, and Francisca de Jesus Borja, who became a nun at a convent in Valladolid. Juan is also the grandfather of Saint Francis Borgia.


He was murdered the night of 14 June 1497 near what later became the Piazza della Giudecca in the Ghetto of Rome. It has been speculated that either his brother Cesare or Joffre Borgia had him murdered, the former because of his ambitions to lead the papal armies in his stead, the latter because it was rumoured that Juan had an affair with his wife Sancia d'Aragón. Other suspects included the Orsini to whose estates Juan attacked in order to reclaim the fiefs for the pope and eventually himself. Juan's richly attired body was recovered from the Tiber River with 30 golden ducats untouched in the purse at his belt. To the immense grief of the pope, this act occasioned the heartless epigram by Sannazzaro on the pope as "fisher of men". Borgia's only attendant was also slain, so there were no known witnesses. Later when his brother Cesare was imprisoned in Spain, his wife Maria Enriquez tried to have him put on trial for Juan's murder.

Juan also is an essential part of many novels about the family and was portrayed in many movies and television series based on the Borgia's rise and fall. For instance most recently:


David Oakes (born in 1983 in Fordingbridge, Hampshire) is an English film, television and theatre actor. He was head boy at Bishop Wordsworth's School, in Salisbury, Wiltshire, where he was also heavily involved with the Salisbury Playhouse and their youth theatre, Stage 65. He graduated with a first in English Literature from the University of Manchester. From 2005 to 2007, Oakes attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. In 2008 he was part of a BBC 4 radio play A Dance to the Music of the Time where he spoke the part of "Charles Stringham". Between 2008 and 2011 he was part of several stage and television production. For instance, he played the villainous "William Hamleigh" in the television miniseries The Pillars of the Earth (2010), produced by Ridley Scott. In 2011 he was cast as "Juan Borgia" in the television Showtime series The Borgias. He was cast in the role of "Justin" for the movie Truth or Dare? which will be released in 2012.

PhoenixRising

Thanks for the new thread, Nina! Do you have the next episode ready?

Nikki K

Yes, I do. Just give me a minute... need to get another cuppa but I'll be right back.

Okay... opening credits!!!

PhoenixRising

Okay, cheerio!

Oh, you're back already?

Nikki K

bloody double posts... urgh

Nikki K

Witchcraft and prayer are not mutually exclusive...

Lord Warwick is still not happy, his daughter blissfully naive... and this is how you make a seating chart in the late 1400s... and here we have Richard and George... David of course looks splendid and is slick as an eel whereas Richard is insincere as ****...

Of course David looks splendid riding on that horse behind Elizabeth's setee. Love the coronation gown... so beautifully embroidered. The thing is though on TWP they were more correct as to showing the dire state of the streets of London. This is much too clean. It's like how on 'The Borgias' everyting was waaaay too shiny whereas on 'Borgia' we saw more of the ugly dirty truth of medieval streets.

Ah yes... of course this whole service would have been in Latin. And Isabel really doesn't want Anne to say "God save the Queen".

PhoenixRising

Okay, let me try to follow all this bull

I swear, the English spent so much time fighting each other I'm surprised they had the energy to fight France or Spain.

PhoenixRising

So let me get this straight... Warwick's daughter is The Kingmaker's Daughter, Margaret Beaufort is The Red Queen, and Elizabeth Woodward is The White Queen.


OMG, there's David!

PhoenixRising

Elizabeth is being made Queen. Wow, this is all so eerily similar to what Lizzie would go through.

So Edward can't be there with her, he has to watch from behind a screen?

Nikki K

Yes you got that right. Both about the whole fighting amongst themselves and about the who is who. Ah, Richard already tries to catch Anne – after all she comes with a huge dowry. Meanwhile George (David) has to work on his compliments... "like beautiful fish"... yeah... to a fish scientist that might work...

Yeah, there are a lot of traditions that are followed for centuries. So a lot of things will seem similar.

Ah yeah, Edward still blissfully naive as in that Warwick will ever be okay with him choosing Elizabeth.

PhoenixRising

Damn, I've seen Anne for all of a few seconds and she's already a bitch.

PhoenixRising

Oh, David. You just bring that to every role, don't you?

Wait, so Anne has a problem with Elizabeth talking with her own husband in public?

Nikki K

I think you've mixed that up – Anne is the bubbly one, Isabel is the bitchy one. She will marry George.

Yes, that's Isabel who said she'd be a queen of ice. So she will marry George (David's character) and since you already watched some of TWP you already know that Maggie and Teddy will be their children.

PhoenixRising

Ohhh, I see. Anne is the younger one and Isabel is the older one? And Anne will marry Richard III? That's ironic.

PhoenixRising

Did Warwick just say, "burn her?" And which queen is in that portrait? A scheming queen?