PhoenixRising

Cesare Borgia was born in Rome on September 13th, 1475; the son of Cardinal Rodrigo de Lanzol y Borgia, soon to become Pope Alexander VI, and his mistress Vanozza dei Cattanei. 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 three years later. After his brother Juan's death, Cesare became the first person in history to resign the cardinalate. On the same day the French King Louis XII named Cesare Duke of Valentinois, and this title, along with his former position as Cardinal of Valencia, explains the nickname "Valentino". Cesare's military 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. At the time of his father's death in 1503, Cesare's dominons in the Romagna disintegrated without continued Papal support. In order to smooth the way to his election as pope, Giuliano Della Rovere - later Pope Julius II - made an agreement with Cesare, promising to make him captain of the papal troops again. After the conclave, Cesare surrendered the Castel Sant' Angelo and came to live with Della Rovere in the Vatican. The pope toyed with the idea of using Cesare to stem the Venetians in the Romagna, for he could still attract loyalty not only from the Spanish but also, to some degree, from the people of the province. However, the Venetians claimed that all they were doing was taking the lands of their common enemy, Cesare Boriga. Hence, Julius II asked Cesare for the countersigns of the fortresses that he held (Cesena, Bertinoro and Forlì). In return Cesare received a brief saying that he could go where he liked once the cities had been surrendered. He went to Naples and begun to try to recruit troops but when the Spanish monarchs heard of this they ordered their viceroy Gonsalvo to arrest Cesare. Exiled to Spain in 1504, he was imprisoned in the Castle of La Mota, Medina del Campo, from which he escaped and joined his brother-in-law King John III of Navarre. Subsequently, Cesare was killed in 1507 while fighting for the Navarrese king in the city of Viana, Spain.

In "The Prince", Machiavelli uses Cesare Borgia as an example to elucidate the dangers of acquiring a principality by virtue of another. Cesare also inspired many novels and was portrayed in many movies and television series based on the Borgia's rise and fall. For instance most recently:


François Arnaud (born 5 July 1985 in Québéc, Canada) is a French Canadian stage and film actor who trained at the Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique de Montréal in 2007. He is best known for his performances as "Cesare Borgia" in Showtime's TV series The Borgias and as "Antonin" in the critically acclaimed French Canadian movie J'ai tué ma mère. In 2009, he had a part in Sophie Lorain's Les Grandes Chaleurs. In Québéc, François is known for his role as "Théo" in the TV series Yamaska.

Lucrezia Borgia

TYFTNT! Please, add me too!

PhoenixRising

You're welcome, Lucrezia! And you've just been added!


It was difficult for me to make this new thread because when I went to copy the OP from the previous thread, I saw Christine's old post. She was the first one to post on the previous thread, and she thanked me and let me know that she was about to make the new one until she saw me do it.

Christine was such a huge fan of Francois and kept us all up to date on his new projects. I'd like to make a memorial for her on the OP if we can.

Lucrezia Borgia

Thanks for adding me! I wish I would have known Christine! She sounds like such a warm person.

PhoenixRising

You're very welcome, Lucrezia. And I wish you had met Christine too. She was a very warm, kind, wonderful person.

My avatar is in her honor. She loved the pic of Francois with the monkey in that scene from season 1.

chaleurs2014

Hi Alex !

I try do OP pic with Chrsitine's photo . What do you think ?

PhoenixRising

Hi, Suzanne! That sounds like a great idea!

BL.Arinna_1982

tftnt, Alex! I also think this is an amazing idea!

Lucresiare

TFNT. I love the title. It's one of my favourite scenes.

I think it's a great idea to put Christine's pic in the OP.

chaleurs2014

I sent you PM .

PhoenixRising

You're welcome, Barbara! And thanks. I really think it would be great because Christine cared so much about this thread.

I got both of your PM's, Suzanne! Thanks so much! Arinna and I are gonna look at them both and I'm gonna let her decide which one to use and how they'll go in the OP. She's a woman so I have to let her decide because I'll just make the wrong decision no matter what.

chaleurs2014

OK And what do you think about them? Are they good?

PhoenixRising

I think they're awesome, Suzanne! I loved how you put Christine's face next to Francois'. We can always remember her that way.

chaleurs2014

Yeah! I'm very happy I can see her face. I've imagined her face many times , but I've never seen her , even on Skype too. She was very nice , beautiful woman I think.

BL.Arinna_1982

Alex, ca you add them to the OP?