biography
pronunciation:
[baw(r)ja]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (c.1476–1507)
|
| biography:
| Italian soldier, born probably in Rome, Italy, the illegitimate son of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI), and brother of Lucrezia Borgia. He was appointed Archbishop of Valencia (1492) and a cardinal (1493) after his father's election to the papacy. In 1499 he succeeded his elder brother Juan (whom he was suspected of murdering) as captain-general of the papal army. In two campaigns, he made himself master of Romagna, Perugia, Siena, Piombini, and Urbino, and planned a kingdom of central Italy. After the death of Alexander (1502), his enemies rallied. He surrendered at Naples in 1504, was imprisoned, escaped in 1506, but soon after died while fighting for the King of Navarre. Though he remains a monster in the public perception, he was praised by Machiavelli as a model prince. He also encouraged art, and was the protector of Leonardo da Vinci. |
|
|
