Cesare Borgia : a renaissance prince

Abstract

Through the study of Cesare Borgia, one can absorb several aspects of the Renaissance and my dissertation attempts to do as such. It will not be a complete biography, since this requires much more detail, but rather the study of a prince in the Renaissance period which despite renowned for its beauty and grandeur was also a time of conflict, war, and conspiracies. As in all things in history, there is no phenomenon which exists independently of a wider context, and this applies to Cesare’s world. As such, his study requires underlining several themes; mainly, the turn of events in the Italian Peninsula characterised for the most part by the Italian wars, the setting which for the most part is the Papal States and of course the Borgia dynasty and therefore the Borgia family as a whole must also be given its importance not to mention the most important figures in Cesare’s life mainly his father, Pope Alexander VI. Being a central figure of the Italian Renaissance especially since he played a leading role during the papacy of his father, Cesare’s name has found itself in various writings, starting with his contemporaries and to the present day he has been the subject of various works ranging from literature to popular culture. The political reality of the period as will be explained has played a leading role in formulating his place in history and as such the decipherment of sources will also be emphasised. Primary sources have also been used in the original language for the most part that is mostly Italian and Latin and also French which allowed for a more first-hand comprehension of them. The main points of this dissertation will be those of analysing the figure of Cesare as a prince in the Renaissance, giving a general picture of the period in question, and demonstrating how after all Cesare deserves a place of his own in history. I would like to express my wholehearted gratitude to Mr. Charles Dalli who acted as tutor for this dissertation and was a constant point of reference for any queries as well as guiding me in the process of formulating my work.