Nikki K

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.

Nikki K

Okay, perhaps we can collect some good quotes? Arinna already suggested the next thread title "Trust Me I'm Borgia". So... let's see how fast we can get to 300?!

Also I understand the OP isn't terribly inspired, so if you have things to add, please let me know!

xinya

Nina you sooo need to add me to the list! lol

ring of fire

I just realized I'm not in the list. Please add me Nina

Nikki K

Will do. Give me a moment.

xinya

hehe thanks Nina

He is yummy!

Nikki K

is totally hateful to me tonight. Always get the "server too busy" message.

Drunk On You

Me too. Or at least earlier I did, which is common for me anyways.

Nikki K

Let's see how it is this afternoon. I guess normally it's fine for me because I'm on during the day.

Elenwyn

Loving the OP! I realise I'm not on the list either, could I be added, please?

Enjoyed Cesare's scenes in the last ep, especially the bit where he chose not to warn his brother Ludovico's army were going to attack. Oh, Cesare, someone might start thinking you didn't like Juan or something

Nikki K

Sure, I'll add you right away.

It's somewhat petty. I wonder why Rodrigo doesn't see that his parenting style is obviously not working.

Elenwyn

Thank you

I think Rodrigo has a case of rose-coloured glasses when it comes to his sons and how they feel about each other. I think he doesn't want to see what's really happening between them. Which isn't good parenting, I must admit.

Nikki K

Yes, I think that's exactly what's happening. And every time one of them or Lucrezia doesn't do as he says he gets so angry that you'd expect foam to come of his mouth. I mean, he could have reasoned with Lucrezia. But then he tried to explain the world to Cesare and it didn't help at all.

BL.Arinna_1982

After the new promo pics, I'm now curious what's gonna happen in this scene where he's holding the baby.

Nikki K

You mean if he will announce that he is the father?