Portrait: AI-generated imagined likeness
Politician · Military leader
A politician and military leader in Renaissance Italy who was responsible for expanding the power of the Borgia family. Machiavelli is known to have referenced it in The Prince. It is a symbol of thinking about power politics.
View in catalogSubiaco
Birth
Romagna
Campaign
Viana
1507
Death
Borgia expansion during the Italian Wars
1499–1503
War · Commander
Map: Natural Earth (PD)
Born into the Borgia family as the son of Pope Alexander VI, he initially rose through the ranks as a clergyman. He eventually moved on to secular military and political activities, and rose to prominence by taking advantage of the Papal States and French influence.
He conducted military campaigns in the Romagna region, subjugating divided cities and feudal lords in an attempt to unify control. With the authority of his father, the Pope, he had a strong influence on Italian politics during the Renaissance.
Machiavelli portrayed Cesare Borgia as an example of a capable but fateful ruler. His rapid rise and fall became a subject that illustrates the relationship between power and chance.
Studying Cesare Borgia reveals that behind the glamorous culture of the Renaissance was a harsh politics involving competition between city-states, the papacy, mercenary captains, and foreign powers. You can also understand the background of modern political thought.
