In Rome, Alexander destroyed the power of the Orsini and Colonna families and concluded an alliance with Spain, granting Isabella and Ferdinand the title of Catholic sovereigns. By a ruthless policy of siege and assassination, Cesare brought the north of Italy under his control he conquered the duchies of Romagna, Umbria, and Emilia and earned the admiration of Niccolò Machiavelli ( Machiavelli, Niccolò), who used Cesare as the model for his classic on politics, The Prince. He still refused to support the king's claim to Naples and, by an alliance with Milan, Venice, and the Holy Roman emperor, eventually forced the French to withdraw from Italy.Ĭesare resigned the cardinalate in 1498 and married Charlotte d'Albret in order to cement the Borgia alliance with the French king Louis XII, whose request for a marriage annulment was granted by the pope. In the course of the pope's meeting with King Charles in Rome in early 1495, however, he received the traditional obeisance from the French monarch. Politically isolated, Alexander sought assistance from the Turkish sovereign, Bayezid II. Charles, at the instigation of a rival cardinal of the influential della Rovere family, threatened the pope with deposition and the convocation of a reform council. His position was menaced by the French king Charles VIII, who invaded Italy in 1494 to vindicate his claim to the Kingdom of Naples. He embarked upon a reform of papal finances and a vigorous pursuit of the war against the Ottoman Turks. 10–11, 1492, as Pope Alexander VI and received the acclaim of the Roman populace. Despite the shadow of simony that surrounded the disposal of his benefices among the papal electors, Rodrigo emerged from a tumultuous conclave on the night of Aug.

The Fabulous Ego by Milton Klonsky