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.

cheekymonkey503

TFTNT Alex

That quote makes me sad. To many thoughts of the final episode

PhoenixRising

Aww, I'm sorry, Christine. I had that quote stuck in my head and I just liked it, so I used it. I didn't mean to depress you.

il valentino

Yeah, but we're going to see our Prince again! If you can see it, you can reach it!

Lucresiare

How can one be a Borgias fan without a Borgias show ?

cheekymonkey503

Hope you are correct Kim. Would love to see more than Forli for our Prince, hope too he gets his horse, Luis, back they seemed to get along well this season.

It is Ok Alex I always love the interaction between Cesare and Machiavelli. You might have guessed that from the hangman thread.

PhoenixRising

I certainly hope so, Kim.

Well said, Barbara.

Yeah, they have the best conversations, Christine. It's easy considering Machiavelli wrote that book that everyone has to read in school.

Borgia1

Love that quote but it makes me sad too cause Cesare isn't getting his principality unless our campaign for season 4 gets results

PhoenixRising

Thank you, Trina. And yes, I did feel kind of sad writing that quote because Cesare's campaign was just beginning when the season finale aired.

Borgia1

Cesare collage

Kadre

Yes, I just re-watched E10, and with a little distance it becomes even more obvious how there was this build up to something spectacular in S4, and then ... poof.

nataliece

It felt like a perfect season finale not the series finale!!! I was dumbfounded when I heard they cancelled the show midway without a conclusion. Just as the story was heading into its final phase they ended it. I could understand the reason for it if the show delivered very low ratings but that was not the case. It had average ratings that could in no way hit Showtime budget very hard. So WTH happened? and more importantly, when they are going to come to their senses and renew it?

BL.Arinna_1982

Source: http://****yeahcostumedramas.tumblr.com/

cheekymonkey503

Trina thanks for the lovely collage and Arinna I love that pic you posted. Of course when do I not like pics of Francois and Ces
Yes Kathrin I totally agree we got lots of foreshadowing for S4 (Ces's comment to Della in ep 1, his comment to the "wolves" about betrayal, the comments by Machia about the making of a perfect Prince just to name a few.) And we get no follow through. Eternally frustrating to the fans.

Kathrin I notice that you have enough posts to get an custom Avi now. look forward to seeing what you chose.

Borgia1

Glad you like my art, Christine, seems like the only art on here that gets appreciation is C/L and Juan because of May