Gonzaga, House of, 65
Gonzaga, Cardinal Francesco, 65–6
Gonzaga, Federigo, 262
Gonzaga, Francesco, Duke of Mantua, 106, 121, 243–4, 254, 258–9, 263–4, 339–40
Gonzaga, Isabella, 246
gout, 26, 48
Gran Cavallo (‘Great Horse’),
Great Schism, 19, 20–21, 25
Greece, 14, 23, 29, 51
Guicciardini, Francesco, 2, 8, 10, 37, 107, 115, 117, 217, 225, 267, 323
Guy XVI, Count of Laval, 140
de Guzman, 333
Henry the Navigator, Prince, 99
Henry VII, King of England, 118
Heywood, Colin, 79
Holy League, 118–21, 125–6, 148,
Holy Roman Empire, 28
horse races, 64, 106, 242–3
Hundred Years War, 28
Hungary, 28, 29
Hunyadi, János, 29
Imola, Italy, 275, 278, 282, 318, 320, 325
incest, 136, 137, 142–3, 184, 230
indulgences, 83
Infans Romanus, see Borgia, Giovanni
Infessura, Stefano, 10, 91, 97–8
Inghirami, Giovanni, 42
Innocent VIII, Pope, 1–7, 81–2, 83–7
Innocent X, Pope, 341
Isabella I, Queen of Castile, 15, 66–8, 70, 95, 132, 136, 334
Isabella of Naples, 150
Isabelle of Clermont, 20
Jacopo IV Appiano, 220
janissaries 149
Jerusalem, 19, 109, 111, 115–6
Jews, 154, 155–7
Joan of France, 148, 159, 162
Joana la Beltraneja, 68
Joanna II, Queen of Naples, 18–19, 50
Joanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples, 74
John III, King of Navarre, 167
Johnson, Marion, 11
Juan II, King of Aragon, 66–8
Juan, Prince of Asturias, 74
Jubilee year 1475, 64, 73
Jubilee year 1500, 190–91, 200
Julius II, Pope, see Della Rovere, Cardinal Giuliano
Kefalonia, Greece, 215
Knights of St John, 99
La Magione, Italy, 271–2
La Motta, Spain, 334–5
Landucci, Luca, 250
Lascelles, Christopher, 83
Last Supper, The (Da Vinci), 164, 170, 251
Lateran (Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano), Rome, 24, 90
Lerida, University of, 18
Levant, 14, 30
Lippi, Raphael Brandolinus, 204, 206
Little Ice Age, 3
Lives of the Popes (Platina), 63, 66
de Llançol, Jofrè, see Borgia, Jofré
Lopez, Cardinal Bernardino, 201–2
de Lorqua, Ramiro, 185, 203, 212, 232, 246, 267, 274, 284–6, 293
Louis of Orléans, 121
Louis XI, King of France, 69
Louis XII, King of France, 158–60, 162–5, 193, 220, 231–2, 251, 263–4, 283, 294, 320
alliance with Borgias, 149–51, 160, 195–7
and Anne of Brittany, 159, 162
and Cesare Borgia, 151–3, 163, 167–8, 172, 177, 253–5, 261–5, 296, 319, 332, 335
and Joan of France, 147–8, 159,
and Second Italian War, 168–70, 177, 197–8, 225–6
loses Naples, 301
Luther, Martin, 314
Machiavelli, Niccolò, 12–4, 68–9, 178–9, 206–7, 210, 221, 250–51, 253, 263, 264, 268, 271, 275–7, 281–7, 291, 293–4, 299, 322, 324–5, 330–31, 337
malady of San Lazzaro, 161
malaria, 41–2, 303–4, 314
Malatesta family, 212
Malatesta, Sigismondo Pandolfo, Lord of Rimini, 53–4, 57–8, 79, 169, 212, 317
Mallett, Michael, 37, 93
Manfredi family, 212
Manfredi, Giovanni, 216, 217
Mantua, Italy, 65, 263–4
Congress of, 51–2, 65
Marches, 37, 79, 169–70, 269
Marescotti, Cleofe, 284
Marranos, 155–7
Martin V, Pope, 19, 21
Matarazzo, Francesco, 213, 237
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 118, 145, 169
Medici Bank, 76–7, 83
Medici family, 76–8, 221
de’ Medici, Cardinal Giovanni, 3, 11, 77, 100, 104–5, 109
de’ Medici, Giuliano, 78
de’ Medici, Lorenzo (the Magnificent), 3–4, 76–8, 83–4, 98
de’ Medici, Piero, 100–101, 105, 109, 249
Mehmed the Conqueror, Ottoman Sultan, 28–9, 51, 58, 79, 99
de Mendoza, Pedro González, Bishop of Sigüenza, 68
Meyer, G. J., 34, 50, 67, 120, 207
de’ Michaelis, Fiammetta, 198–9
Michelangelo, 6, 84
Michiel, Cardinal Giovanni, 300–301, 305
de Milà, Adriana, 72, 92, 102, 110, 127
de Milà, Cardinal Luis Juan, 6, 34–8, 72
Milan, 4, 12, 84, 95, 134, 142, 183, 185, 192, 196
and First Italian War, 109, 114
and Second Italian War, 168–70, 177
de Moncada, Ugo, 273–4
da Montefeltro, Federigo, Duke of Urbino, 54, 58, 73, 77, 131, 178
da Montefeltro, Giovanna, 73
da Montefeltro, Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, 131–2, 136, 154, 246, 250, 254, 259, 264, 272–3, 277–8, 280–81, 317, 325–7
Moors, 155
Mystras, Greece, 23, 51, 58
da Naldo, Dionigi, 183–4
Naples, 4, 17, 19–20, 31–2, 34, 50, 53, 74–5, 84, 104, 108–9, 134, 193, 301, 328, 332
and First Italian War, 114–20
and outbreak of syphilis, 117–8
and Second Italian War, 197–8, 204, 205, 223–6
coronation of Federigo, 139–41
partition of, 215, 276–7
Navarre, 335–6
nephew-cardinals, 62, 65, 98
Nepi, Italy, 75–6, 207, 209
Castle, 174
Nicholas V, Pope, 22, 25, 30, 35, 41
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 13
Noel, Gerard, 45, 46, 48
Norwich, John Julius, 35, 63, 81
Oliverotto da Fermo, 219, 249, 271, 287, 291–3, 295
‘ordeal by fire’, 146–7
Orsi family, 181
Orsini family, 20, 24, 27, 90, 110, 125–6, 131–2, 174, 202, 234, 292–3, 297–9, 317
Orsini, Cardinal Giambattista, 203, 254, 271, 278, 287, 293, 294–5, 299
Orsini, Carlo, 131
Orsini, Francesco, 289, 291, 293
Orsini, Giangiordano, 298
Orsini, Giulio, 203, 209, 218, 221, 224–5, 249, 253–4, 268, 270–73, 287, 299, 301
Orsini, Niccolò, 298
Orsini, Orsino, 9, 92–3
Orsini, Paolo, 203, 209, 221, 224–5, 249, 253–4, 268, 270–73, 287, 289, 291–3, 277–9
Orsini, Roberto, 289, 291, 293
Orsini, Virginio, 125
Orthodox Catholic Church, 22–3
Ostia, Italy, 11, 44, 110, 133, 324–5
Otranto, Italy, 79
Ottoman Empire, 14, 22–3, 28–30, 51, 58, 70, 79, 99, 111, 215, 223
Palazzo San Marco, Rome, 62–3
Pallavicini, Cardinal Sforza, 141
Pantasilea (Lucrezia’s maid), 138
papal bulls, 35, 78–80, 83
Papal States, 21, 49, 53, 179, 196, 231, 302
Paracelsus, 35
Parker, Geoffrey, 96–7
Pasha, Gedik Ahmed, 79
von Pastor, Ludwig, 55, 85–6, 196–7
Paul II, Pope, 7, 61–4, 65
Pazzi family, 76–8
Pedro of Atares, 235
Perotto, see Calderon, Pedro
Perugia, Italy, 213–4, 317
Perugino, Pietro, 84
Pesaro, Italy, 184–5, 210, 246, 287
Petrarch, 35, 310
Petrucci, Pandolfo, 272, 295, 297–8
Piccolomini, Cardina
l Aeneas, see Pius II
Piccolomini, Cardinal Francesco, see Pius III
Pinturicchio, 126
Piombino, Italy, 220, 248
Pisa, 69–70, 77, 219, 248, 330
University of, 77, 104–5, 284
de Pistoia, Antonio, 31
Pius II, Pope, 7, 8–9, 48–52, 5 3–60
as Bishop of Siena, 40, 45, 54
as Cardinal, 38–40, 43–8
crusade, 58–60
death, 60
elected Pope, 44–8
Pius III, Pope, 320–22
plague, 42, 59–60, 304
Platina, Bartolomeo, 63, 66
Plato, 22–3
poisoning, 116, 133, 300, 305, 313–4
del Pollaiuolo, Antonio, 87
Ponte Sisto, Rome, 80
Pope Joan, 24
Portugal, 99–100
Poto, Gaspare, 201
Prince, The (Machiavelli), 13, 263, 269, 294, 337
Procida, Don Gaspar de, 102, 141
di Prosperi, Bernardo, 308–9
Pucci, Puccio, 92
da Puglia, Francisco, 146
Ramirez, Diego, 327
Ramirez, Pedro, 319, 327
Ramiro I, King of Aragon, 18, 235
Raphael, 84, 179
Ravenna, Battle of, 340
Renaissance, 2, 4, 14–5, 22, 25, 80, 84, 192–3
Réné, Count of Anjou, 58
Rexach, Juan, 25
Riario family, 73
Riario, Cardinal Raffaele, 78
Riario, Francesco Salviati, 77–8
Riario, Girolamo, 81, 181
di Rignano, Domenico, 71
Rimini, Italy, 53, 54, 57, 169, 196, 212, 317
Rodrigo of Aragon, Duke of
Bisceglie, 175–6, 244–5, 319, 322
de Rohan, Cardinal, 231
Romagna territories, 49, 53, 57, 79, 203, 224
first Romagna campaign, 169–70, 178, 188–9
second Romagna campaign, 196–7, 209–22
third Romagna campaign, 235, 249–55, 262
under Cesare Borgia, 266–8, 275–301, 317–20
Roman Catholic Church, 22–3
Great Schism, 19, 20–21
Orthodox Catholic Church, 22–3
Roman Empire, 14, 20
Rome, 3, 4, 9, 11–2, 20–26, 35, 41–2, 56, 64, 75, 79, 83–4
anarchy and riots of 1484, 80–81
and First Italian War, 109–11, 113–4, 116
Carnival season, 64, 186, 242–3, 288, 300
flood of 1495, 124–5
improvements in Jubilee of 1500, 190–92
outbreaks of malaria, 41–2, 303–4
outbreaks of plague, 42, 304
under Alexander VI, 89–90
de Roo, Peter, 34, 74, 118
Rota (Church’s supreme court), 49
Rovere, della, see Della Rovere
St Francis Borgia, 341
St Peter’s, Rome, 21
Sala del Pappagallo, 187
di Saluzzo, Giorgio, Bishop of Lausanne, 36
Salviati Bank, 76
di San Genesio, Giacomo, 1–2, 4
San Leo, Italy, 273
San Sisto convent, 138, 142, 229
Sancia of Aragon, 115, 127–8, 144, 166, 205–6, 232, 259, 319, 332
affair with Cesare Borgia, 128, 130, 135
appearance and personality, 104,
marriage to Jofrè Borgia, 95, 104,
relationship with Rodrigo Borgia, 259
Sansavino, Antonio di Monte, 267, 279–80
Santa Maria Sopra Minerva church, 317
Santa Marie delle Grazie monastery, 170
Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome, 22
Sanuto the younger, Marino, 138, 185, 245
Savelli family, 27, 234, 297–8
Savonarola, Girolamo, 4, 101, 107, 109, 118, 123–4, 144–7, 173
Scalona, Gian Carlo, 4, 128
Scotland, 39–40
‘Scourge of God’, 4, 109, 118, 121,
Second Italian War (1499–1504), 168–70, 177, 197–8, 204, 205, 223–6
Sforza Pallavicini, Cardinal Francesco, 120
Sforza, Anna, 230
Sforza, Cardinal Ascanio, 10, 12, 95, 142, 169, 174–5
Sforza, Caterina, Countess of Forli, 81, 181–6, 188–90
Sforza, Francesco, Duke of Milan, 30, 50, 54, 58, 170
Sforza, Giovanni, Lord of Pesaro, 184–5, 210, 317
annulment of marriage, 141–3,
marriage to Lucrezia, 95–8, 102–3, 127, 133–4, 136–8
Sforza, Ludovico, Duke of Milan, 12, 95, 108–9, 114, 142, 148, 161, 164, 168–70, 174, 181, 183, 185, 189–91, 252
Sicily, 19
siege machines, 299–300
Siena, 8, 54–5, 129, 215, 296–8
Sigismondo of Foligno, 217
Sinigalia, Italy, 281, 283, 286–8, 289–95
Sistine Chapel, 6, 10–11, 66, 80, 81
Sixtus IV, Pope, 6, 7, 65–71, 73–81, 94, 181
slavery, 79
Smyrna, Turkey, 70
Soderini, Francesco, Bishop of Volterra, 250–51
Soderini, Piero, 221, 250–51, 274, 281, 324, 330
Spain, 15, 17, 20, 35, 66–8, 70, 94, 99–100, 147, 165, 167, 202, 277, 302
Spanish Inquisition, 3, 79, 83, 155
Spannocchi Bank, 11
Strozzi, Ercole, 309, 311
syphilis, 60, 117–18, 141, 153, 161,
Tordesillas, Treaty of, 100
Torella, Gaspar, 141, 153, 161, 242, 260
de Torquemada, Tomás, 3, 83, 155
Trabzon, Turkey, 58
Trastevere, Rome, 27
Trevisano, Cardinal Ludovico, 21, 28–9
da Trezzo, Antonio, 30
Trivulzio, Gian Giacomo, 168–9
Umbria, Italy, 213–4
Urbino, Italy, 54, 77, 178–9, 246, 250–53, 273–4, 278–81, 317
Valencia, Spain, 8, 18, 34
da Varano, Giulio, 249, 253–4
Vatican apartments, 126, 187
Vatican Library, 25, 66, 80
Velletri, Italy, 112
Venice, 4, 12, 28, 59–60, 84, 119, 180, 192, 196, 210, 276–7, 302–3
crusade, 215
de Vera, Cardinal Juan, 331
da Verona, Gaspare, 35
Vesalius, Andreas, 80
vice-chancellorship (papal), 49–50
Villa Belvedere, Rome, 87
Villari, Pasquale, 145
‘Virtù e Fortuna’, 13, 68–9, 165–6, 263, 322
Visconti family, 148
Vitellozzo, Vitelli, 203, 209, 220, 221, 224, 249–51, 254, 268, 270–71, 273–4, 277–8, 285, 287, 289, 291–3, 295, 317
da Volterra, Jacopo, 8
witchcraft, 3, 83
Xàtiva, Spain, 33, 34
Zambotti, Bernardino, 213, 247
Zeno, Cardinal Giovanni, 226–7
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul Strathern studied philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin. He has lectured in philosophy and mathematics. He is a Somerset Maugham Award-winning novelist and the author of two series of books – ‘Philosophers in 90 Minutes’ and ‘The Big Idea: Scientists Who Changed the World’. His other works include The Medici; The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior; The Spirit of Venice and Death in Florence.
Innocent VIII, the ineffectual pope who preceded the Borgia pope Alexander VI.
A portrait of Rodrigo Borgia as Alexander VI, which hints at his personal power and depravity.
Alexander VI in a more orthodox pose.
The notorious King Ferrante I of Naples.
Lorenzo the Magnificent, the ugly but charismatic Medici ruler of Florence.
Giuliano della Rovere, a bitter enemy of the Borgias, who would eventually become Pope Julius II.
Pope Callixtus III, the first Borgia pope, investing Aeneas Piccolomini with his cardinal’s red hat. Piccolomini would eventually become Pope Pius II.
A woodcut of Rome in 1493, the year after Alexander VI became pope. The turreted fortress to the right is the Castel Sant’ Angelo. The pillared building behind it is the old St Peter’s Basilica.
A portrait of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, whose marriage would pave the way to a unified Spain.
The condottiere Federigo da Montefeltro, ruler of Urbino. His portrait was painted in profile after the right side of his face was disfigured in a jousting tournament.
Pope Pius II being carried into Ancona, where he planned to lead his crusade against the Ottomans.
A portrait of Cesare Borgia c. 1500 after he had been made Duke of Valentinois by the French King Louis XII.
Three drawings by Leonardo da Vinci believed to be of Cesare Borgia during his third Romagna campaign, suggesting how his features coarsened during his later years.
Leonardo da Vinci’s map of Imola, which succeeds in combining beauty and great exactitude.
Widely thought to be a portrait of Lucrezia Borgia at her most glamorous.
The only verified portrait of Lucrezia Borgia, which appears on a mural in the Borgia Apartments.
A highly flattering portrait of the ugly and misshapen French King Charles VIII, who would invade Italy shortly after Alexander VI became pope.
King Louis XII of France, who succeeded after the death of Charles VIII, and whose backing of Cesare Borgia would prove decisive.
The spirited Sancia of Aragon, the illegitimate granddaughter of King Ferrante I of Naples, who would be married to the unfortunate Jofrè Borgia.
Cardinal Georges d’Amboise, who would become a powerful figure in the French court of King Louis XII.
The formidable Caterina Sforza, ruler of Imola, who would attempt to defy Cesare Borgia.
The fabulously wealthy Cardinal Guillaume d’Estouteville, who would become a friend of Carinal Rodrigo Borgia.
Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, who would succeed his father Federigo as Duke of Urbino with disastrous consequences.