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Prince of darkness finds peace at church
The Standard ^ | Jan 27, 2007 | Malcolm Moore

Posted on 01/24/2007 8:42:52 PM PST by xzins

Malcolm Moore

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Five hundred years after he was killed in battle, the remains of Cesare Borgia, the notorious inspiration for Machiavelli's The Prince, are to be moved into a Spanish church. Banned from holy ground by bishops horrified by his sins, the remains of the ruthless military leader lie, at present, under a pavement in Viana in northern Spain.

Borgia was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, and was made a cardinal by his father at the age of 17. He was an accomplished murderer by 25 and had conquered a good part of Italy by 27.

He died in Viana in 1507 at the age of 31, after attempting to storm the town's castle and overthrow the Count of Lerin.

He was originally buried beneath the altar of the Church of Santa Maria in the town, in a marble tomb on which was written: "Here lies in little earth one who was feared by all, who held peace and war in his hand."

However, his body was dug up in 1527 when the Bishop of Calahorra visited the town and expressed his outrage that such a sinner was buried in church ground. The tomb was demolished and Cesare Borgia was re-buried in unconsecrated ground, where his body would be "trampled on by men and beasts," according to the bishop.

His remains stayed there until 1945 and locals used to scrupulously avoid the cobbled street March 11, when his ghost was said to be abroad and hungry for vengeance.

After workmen inadvertently dug him up, he was moved in a silver casket to the town hall, where local politicians pleaded with the Catholic Church to let him be buried properly.

The town of Viana looks fondly upon Borgia because of his link with the King of Navarre, whose sister he married. After fleeing the wrath of Pope Julius II, Borgia ended up in charge of his brother-in-law's armies and laid siege to Viana.

A bust of him has been erected in the town, with the inscription: "Captain of the Navarre Army."

But the local bishop rejected the requests for a proper burial and his body was placed under a marble plaque outside the church grounds.

However, Fernando Sebastian Aguilar, the Archbishop of Pamplona, has caved in after more than 50 years of petitions and Borgia will finally be moved back inside the church on March 11, the day before the 500th anniversary of his death. "We have nothing against the transfer of his remains. Whatever he may have done in life, he deserves to be forgiven now," said the local church.

Borgia took control of the papal armies in 1497 following the murder of his brother, and chalked up a series of astonishing military successes. He was greatly admired by Niccolo Machiavelli, who was at his court in 1502 for several months. Machiavelli drew on Borgia's exploits for The Prince - a treatise on the art of acquiring and maintaining political power - and advised politicians to imitate him.

The way in which Borgia pacified the Romagna is described in chapter seven. Borgia's assassination of his rivals in Sinigaglia on New Year's Eve, 1503, is also mentioned.


TOPICS: General Discusssion
KEYWORDS: bishopofcalahorra; borgia; cardinal; cesareborgia; churchofsantamaria; godsgravesglyphs; italy; kingofnavarre; machiavelli; machiavellia; middleages; pamplona; popealexandervi; popejuliusii; potstirrer; renaissance; spain; theprince; viana
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To: Blogger
I would concur among Popes Alexander VI was apostate.

Oddly enough, that was the one thing he wasn't. ("Apostasy" == "obstinate denial of the fundamental truths of the faith".)

A notorious public sinner, yes, but not one who embraced heretical opinions.

141 posted on 01/25/2007 7:06:42 PM PST by Campion ("I am so tired of you, liberal church in America" -- Mother Angelica, 1993)
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To: Campion

He denied the one thing that matters. He denied that Christ was Lord of his life.


142 posted on 01/25/2007 7:43:45 PM PST by Blogger
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To: Campion

He denied the one thing that matters. He denied that Christ was Lord of his life.


143 posted on 01/25/2007 7:43:45 PM PST by Blogger
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To: Blogger
You've never heard of a 60 inch waistline?

You've never heard of PI*Diameter=Circumfrence of a circle?

A 60" waistline is an approximately 20" wide person. I don't know of many people who are 20" tall. A 5 ft. tall person who is also 5 ft. wide at the waist would have a 190" waistline, or three times the size of your grossly obese fatso.

144 posted on 01/26/2007 6:37:47 AM PST by Andrew Byler
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To: Andrew Byler
WORLD'S LARGEST WAIST Walter Hudson (USA) had a 9 ft. 11 in. waist (size 119 inches) in 1987. His typical daily snack was 12 doughnuts, 10 bags of potato chips, 2 giant pizzas, and half a cake!

145 posted on 01/26/2007 11:28:15 AM PST by Blogger
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To: Blogger

And he still wasn't up to 5 ft. of girth.

Admit it. The comment made is ridiculous.


146 posted on 01/26/2007 12:31:00 PM PST by Andrew Byler
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To: Andrew Byler

I don't know that it was. I wasn't there. Neither were you. The body swelled grotesquelly. The man was evil. I have no idea why you are defending him.


147 posted on 01/26/2007 12:42:44 PM PST by Blogger
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To: P-Marlowe

Once again, you've demonstrated that you are ignorant of the teachings of the Church.


148 posted on 01/26/2007 8:02:15 PM PST by A.A. Cunningham
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Note: this topic is from 01/24/2007. Thanks xzins. Just adding, not pinging, found the topic thanks to a search on Peter Martyr d'Anghiera

149 posted on 10/17/2019 7:40:02 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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