#Francesco Borgia

[xradiant]

"You're a long way from home." - @xhideyourfires

[woodsteingirl]

when will there be a renaissance assassins musical. i feel excluded

[ivory-forged-steel]

Historical Fiction character tag drop 🎉

[ducavalentinos]

Ladislao Reti, an eminent Leonardo scholar, acknowledged that historians of the past have struggled with how to reconcile their exalted reputation of Leonardo and the fact he worked for Cesare Borgia. This is true for both past and contemporary writers. Paolo Giovio (1483-1552), bishop of Nocera, wrote Life of Leonardo da Vinci and intentionally excluded Cesare entirely from the work, to rid Leonardo of an association that Giovio saw as a tamish on the artist's reputation. Vasari also redacts any mention of Cesare Borgia from his Vita di Leonardo. The writings on Leonardo's life by Gian Paolo Lomazzo, a friend of Francesco Melzi who was Leonardo's student and the individual to whom he bequeathed his notebooks, also offer no reference to the artist's time with Borgia. Even Martin Kemp and Kenneth Clark, both well respected leading minds in the circle of Leonardo studies, minimize the association, customarily dedicating only a surface analysis to the intensive, complicated, and formative period in Leonardo's life.The perpetual disassociation is a disservice to both the artist and his patron-the historical importance of each individual only heightens the value in understanding their relationship and its outcomes. Leonardo and Cesare probably met for the first time when Borgia entered Milan with the French army in 1499. Leonardo arrived in Milan around 1482 and quickly began his association with the court of Ludovico Sforza and in 1489-90 he began earning an official salary. Leonardo's employment in the court of Milan was very different from the time he spent with Cesare. It would be narrow to assume that Leonardo never executed for Cesare the duties traditionally held by court artists like the entertainments staged in Milan. It will in fact be argued that he did, but Cesare's treatment and utilization of Leonardo was different from Ludovico's. The Borgia ruler valued Leonardo for divergent reasons and gave him extraordinary latitude in his work. Cesare treated him as an equal, not as a possession but an asset to honor, as someone from whom he had great respect, and as a familiar. With Cesare Leonardo was given freedom, and although he was given projects, they were self-propelled and stimulating to his curiosity which had struggled to thrive in Milan. He was given the title of military or ducal engineer, one of the most sought after court positions for which an artist could earn a salary. We know from his letter of introduction to Ludovico Sforza in 1489-90 that Leonardo wanted this position. [...]With Borgia he finally held the position that he desired.

At the Court of the Prince: The Patronage and Art Historical Legacy of Cesare Borgia, 1492-1503. Elizabeth H. Bemis

[all-that-is-gold-is-now-gone]

Characters who scream

"Someone who loves you wouldn't do this"

Troy Otto

Laurel Hall

Aegon Targaryen

Francesco Pazzi

Clarice Orsini

Rhaenyra Targaryen (younger)

Alicent Hightower (younger)

Lucrezia Borgia

Piero the Unfortunate

[attila-werther]

I take it back, I just took a look at Ferdinand I of Naples' family tree and I hate that, round of applause for Francesco d'Aragona, Duke of Sant'Angelo and Marquis of Bisceglie

secondary shout out to burchard for the funniest entry of 'either a sforza nephew or cousin,' because I too sometimes look at the sforza family tree and go 'I'm not remembering that.'

[elucubrare]

apropos of nothing but my brain being a machine that sometimes dredges specific momemts from the soup of memory there's a thing that happens sometimes in bel canto where a character asks questions of the chorus & i think it's really effective --

Francesco Foscari, in "Questa dunque è l'iniqua mercede" asks the council of Venice, who has condemned his son to death and wants him to cede the doge's throne, what is left for him, and the chorus, speaking with a single funereal voice, says "Obedience": it's not quite the same as the function of the Greek chorus, but it has that same impersonal finality - because they answer in unison, it's no longer a single member of the council speaking, it's Judgement itself;

or when all of Lucrezia Borgia's victims, one by one, and then as a group, condemn and unmask her, in "Maffio Orsini, signora, son io" -- she could hope for pity and understanding from a single one of them, perhaps, but not from the crowd.

[porciaenjoyer]

dumas was suchh a historical fiction writer which i think is why his nonfiction (?) is like that.. in short, he had rpf instincts. we could have had borgia rpf by alexandre dumas but instead we have francesco the guy he made up..

[litcest]

The House of Borgia: End of a Dynasty (Part 4)

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | References |

While the Conclave elected Pope Pius III, Cesare was occupied trying to find allies. His old friend, King Louis XII, came to his aid, issuing a statement to Romagna that their Duke was "alive and well and the friend of the King of France". Not only Cesare had the French's support, but he also counted on Ferrara's troops to protect his claim on Romagna, as Lucrezia had persuaded her husband and father-in-law to fight in her brother's defence.

Once Romagna was relatively stable and Cesare felt better, he returned to Rome, where he met with Pius III and had his position as Captain confirmed. Not only that, but due to Cesare's clever theft of the Papal Treasury, Pius III was left financially dependent on him. By all accounts, Cesare's life would continue on exactly as it had under Rodrigo's papacy.

Unfortunately for Cesare, Pius III died twenty six days after being elected Pope. The next Pope, Julius II, had been an old enemy of Rodrigo, and upon his election, was swift to force the Borgias to surrender their lands in Romagna, even ordering the new Captain of the Papal Forces to arrest Cesare when he refused to comply.

After Cesare's arrest, Julius decided to put him on trial and encouraged those wronged by him to file claims for financial compensation. Not only that, but Julius also charged Cesare with the murder of two cardinals, whose deaths were believed to have been arranged by Rodrigo. These trials never occurred, as in April 1503, Cesare was released in exchange for his remaining territories in Romagna. Once free, he departed for Naples, which was under Spanish rule and where the rest of the Borgias had taken refuge, with the exception og Lucrezia, who remained with her husband in Ferrara. Hardly had Cesare set foot in Naples when he was imprisoned again, as King Ferdinand of Spain wished to hand Cesare back to Julius II in exchange for an alliance against the French.

Cesare would remain imprisoned in Spain until 1506, when he managed to escape prison and seek refuge with his brother-in-law, Juan d'Albret, King of Navarre. Taking advantage of a civil war wrecking through Navarre, Cesare offered his services as a military leader to help King Juan reclaim the kingdom. This would prove to be Cesare's downfall, as on 12 March 1507, he was killed in battle by the revolting troops. 

Six weeks would pass until the news of his death reached Lucrazia, who was, by this point, the Duchess of Ferrara. It's said that upon learning of her brother's fate, she locked herself in her room and began to wail his name. In 1508, Lucrezia would finally give birth to a son by d'Este, named Ercole II, who would be followed by Ippolito in 1509, Leonora in 1515, Francesco in 1516 and Isabella Maria in 1519. This last birth proved itself to be terribly complicated and claimed the lives of both mother and daughter.

Rodrigo, due to being a pope, was given a tomb in the Basilica di San Pietro, near his uncle's resting place. In 1586, Rodrigo's bones were dug up and placed on a casket alongside Alfonso's, which, in 1610, was taken to Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli, where the casket was set aside and forgotten about until 1864, when it was unexpectedly found. It would take until 1889 for the joined remains to be once again given a proper tomb, with a stone memorial being carved in honour of Alfonso and Rodrigo.

Cesare was buried in a tomb by Juan d'Albret in the church of Santa Maria of Viana, in front of the high altar. His tomb, however, was destroyed by the bishop of Calahorra some time later, with Cesare's body being dumped in a hole outside the church. In 1945, the remains were exhumed and an autopsy was performed. The remains then bounced from place to place until finally being reburied in the church in 2007. 

Lucrezia, meanwhile, was buried in Monastero del Corpus Domini, in Ferrara, alongside the other Dukes and Duchess of Ferrara. In time, Alfonso d'Este joined her, as did her children and grandchildren

Thus, the era of Borgia dominance came to a close. Although the family continued to hold titles in the subsequent years (most notably, Rodrigo's great-grandson, Francis Borgia, was canonized as a saint) they never reclaimed the formidable power they once commanded during Rodrigo's papacy. Yet, Rodrigo, Cesare, and Lucrezia did not fade into obscurity. Their legacy endured, capturing the public imagination for centuries to come. Indeed, as the chronicles of their lives spread through the courts of Europe, their reputation grew, blending reality and legend. Their lives continue to fascinate audiences, inspiring countless reinterpretations in literature, drama, and visual media even to this day.

[malkaleh]

The Lioness and The Bear’s Cubs: The children of Elizabeth Tudor & Robert Dudley in my Tudors OT3 Universe.*

*(An alternate history in which Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII and Thomas (Frain) Cromwell are in a secret triad marriage from 1536, have eight children, Anne is always a beloved Queen and their oldest son marries Mihrimah Sultan and they bring in a truly progressive by modern standards golden world, minus colonialism and empire because it’s my wish fulfilment au)

Anne (b. 1552): As Elizabeth inherited her mothers title before her marriage of Duchess of Pembroke, so Anne, as the oldest daughter, inherited it in turn (to this day, the Duchy is passed to the oldest daughter). She married Matthew Cecil, son of William Cecil (I think this is hilarious due to the fact that okay, Robert and William Cecil aren’t as ‘…FUCK IT’S HIM’ at each other in this AU but they still kind of are, so the fact that their children marry each other is like, Cecil is delighted but also he really has to deal with ROBERT DUDLEY and vice versa). They have eight children - William, Robert, Elizabeth, George, Anne, Turhan, Henry and Mihrimah. 

Anne is her fathers favourite child, without a doubt. She is also extremely like to her maternal grandmother Queen Anne in looks. Incredibly intelligent she becomes a renowned poet in her adulthood - corresponding with other learned women from across the European and Islamic worlds, she loved to experiment with form and style - particularly admired for her series of sonnets. Known to love wearing green, can ride better than both her parents, charms everyone. 

Also she’s her cousin the King’s secret spymaster but that’s an entire other story I might even write one day. 

Henry (b. 1557): Duke of Leicester after his father. Married to Cecily, daughter of John de Vere, Earl of Oxford. He is the father of three children  - Robert, Mihrimah & Thomas. Harry is tbh, a giant womaniser - he and his wife are friends but they married for reasons of companionship and children, not love, though they are fond of each other. He is the courtier, the one who absolutely inherited all his fathers Dramatic - often joked that he should have been an actor upon the stage. Not so much a scholar, though he’s definitely smart, he is a brilliant musician and dancer though. Also known for his fashion sense - he wore ‘brilliant robes of deep black with golden trim’ and an expert jouster which gives his parents approximately fifteen heart attacks. 

Thomas (b. 1557): Henry’s twin. He married Halime, Lady Stanley and they are the parents of four daughters - Elizabeth, Maryam, Soraya & Philippa. Thom is the one who manages the Leicester Estates and he’s happy doing that - his hobby is gardening/garden design and the gardens of the family seat are still famous to this day - he wrote a whole number of works on gardening and gardens and corresponded with gardeners from all across the world. Almost certainly has a plant named after him. Ambitious but his ambitions go into gardening. 

Robert (b. 1559): Sailor, traveller and early travel writer (in that he wrote a chronicle of his travels). Lord High Admiral for his cousin King Thomas II, he travelled as far as Indonesia and lived for a long time in his cousin Maryam’s court in Persia, where he fathered a daughter Parisa with a woman named Tahmina. So so much wandering feet - language nerd in the extreme, Robbie definitely wanted to learn all he could about the world and was a superb commander and leader. Credited with building the modern navy. 

Marian (b. 1580). Marian died in 1680 and was her parents Extremely Surprise Late In Life Child. She was christened Mary but everyone called her Marian. She first married Alfonso, Duke of Ferrera (who I think might be a descendent of Lucrezia Borgia) with whom she had four children - Francesco, Giovanni, Contessina and Lorenzo and secondly Turhan, Earl of Surrey with whom she had twins Turhan & Mihrimah. Marian is amazing - she lived through the English Civil War and the Restoration Period and then the return of the monarchy under her relative Queen Charlotte Askala - during the period of the Restoration King she helped to smuggle out refugees from the Restoration Regime - particularly Jewish, Muslim and other non white families using her contacts in Italy as well as her noble blood to get away with it well into her old age. 

She’s the painter of the family - particularly learning from female artists in Italy - her surviving landscape works hang in the Albion National Gallery today and her informal sketches during the Restoration Regime remain a valuable insight into this period of history. 

[xradiant]

@xhideyourfires​

“This is what you got from him?”

[teecupangel]

On the badtouch templar idea, just how bad is the Pazzi-Auditore rivalry pre- and post-Dec. 29, 1476?

Badtouch Templars AU! (main idea, the Auditores and the Borgias)

The Auditores’ relationship with the Pazzi could be summarized as ‘pulling the pigtails’ kind. Giovanni didn’t immediately think they were Templars because they were rival bankers and more of a nuisance than an actual threat to the Medici family.

Then Vieri and Ezio had a one night stand before becoming bitter rivals who may or may not kiss and hatefuck once in a while and Giovanni just chalked that up to teenage hormones.

So when he got evidence that the Pazzi were in on a very serious and dangerous plan to take out the Medici, he jailed Francesco out of caution. When Francescao started making comments of how Giovanni needed a firm hand to guide him, well… red flags are being raised by then but he still needs proof.

The Auditore arrest still happens though and Giovanni will never stop beating himself for simply dismissing the Pazzi’s previous actions as ‘meh’ instead of ‘Templars! Absolutely Templar badtouch!’ but, in his defense, the Pazzi’s badtouch didn’t really start amping to Templar level until they showed their true colors.

In a nutshell:

Vieri absolutely carries a torch for Ezio but, in this case, Ezio has an upper hand in their ‘relationship’. Also, Ezio has had a threesome with Vieri and his sister, Viola… the joke of Ezio fucking Viola once that enraged Vieri was because he was mad that Viola got to fuck Ezio without him.

Claudia hates Viola because she’s super clingy whenever they meet during noble gatherings and even in the streets. She assumes Viola is into Ezio and is trying to be close to Claudia to get to him. Viola wants Ezio AND Claudia. (She may or may not be a Templar BUT she’s definitely a Pazzi with the hots for the Auditores)

Francesco definitely wants Giovanni, half because, come on, it’s Giovanni, and half because he wants what Lorenzo has

Jacopo thinks Giovanni is a lost cause but his children, especially Federico and Ezio could still be ‘saved’.

[moesartblog]

Need 2 know the fedvi intricate rituals going on in your au. Sorry I'm just excited someone else's remembers fedvi in 2023

I find that fans of very niche pairings tend to persist for a long time lol

My version of it is kinda a departure from the original canon version of the characters.

Firstly I should say I changed the ages up by a couple years so vieri is like 19 and Federico is 21 during the time of that fight on the ponte veccio and they aren’t super familiar with each other beyond the rivalries between vieri and ezio. It’s only after Giovanni’s death that things start to adjust. I sorta made vieri have a big problem with making the execution so public bc it put a big target on the pazzis back and it’s the first major time vieris like “my dad fucked up what is he doing??” And that escalates from there. Vieri goes through with the orders he’s given from Borgia but he’s kinda half hearted into it and he’s starting to question the pazzis place in the templars. I want to incorporate a moment where vieri gives some information to the assassins about Templar plans in hopes of saving his family/dad. And the assassins are conflicted about it but it’s sort of a tiny olive branch unintentionally. Eventually vieri realizes his dad is gonna destroy the family so they have a fight which ends up with vieri stabbed in the abdomen pretty gravely, and him killing his dad. That’s during the same time ezio and Federico were breaking in to assassinate Francesco. Viola finds vieri slumped against a wall and tried to stop the bleeding. Vieris kinda just ready to slip away. Viola flags down fed and ezio and asks them to save her brother. Ezios like uh if he does, two birds one stone. But Federico decides to help vieri and viola and take them both back to the villa auditore.

Vieri nursed back to at least consciousness and the family’s been cycling through watching over him. Ezios the one who’s there when he wakes up and vie makes a snide remark and Ezio starts threatening him and fed has to pull him out to chastise him. At this point it’s partly they could get more info about Templar plans from him and part he promised to help the two siblings, and he can’t let ezio cause issues because of their rivalry. They’re having this fight right outside the door and vieri is listening and is like “clearly I’m not wanted here, and being among these people is going to get me into some torture situation or something” so he sneaks out (clumsily cus of his injuries) . Fed and ezio see he’s gone and ezios like “if I find him first I get to kill him” and fed is now racing against him to make sure that doesn’t happen.

He finds him just outside the city gates trying to get on a horse and he stops him. They have a little talk where fed reminds him of his condition and vie is like u should have just let me die. Fed convinces him to come back and rest.

From there on the dynamic is vieri being kinda thrust into what he perceived as dangerous waters and trying to learn to open up to people. He’s hesitant to get help from anyone no matter what. Federico is sorta the force pushing him to be more vulnerable. Fed also kinda learns to rekindle that more cheeky side through some teasing of vieri and teaching him how to be an assassin. They also talk to each other about their fathers and just how different their lives were. Vieri also starts to develop through fed a way to have healthy competition. Yknow races and sparring, etc.

That was a lot but yeah it’s still something I’m exploring in my art. I’ve drawn some of the stuff I mentioned up top lol

[all-that-is-gold-is-now-gone]

Open Starters

HOTD/GOT:

Helaena Targaryen

Jacaerys Velaryon

Cregan Stark

Lynesse Hightower

Daemon Targaryen

Rhaenyra Targaryen

Rhaena 'The Black Bride' Targaryen

Visenya Targaryen (OC)

Alicent Hightower

Visenya Targaryen

Jocelyn Baratheon

Aegon Targaryen

Steffon Baratheon

Otto Hightower

The Last Kingdom:

Sihtric

Medici

Francesco Pazzi

Contessina de Bardi

Clarice Orsini

TWD/FTWD

Serena Otto/Laurel Hall

Dwight

Jake Otto

The Borgias

Cesare

Juan

[fantasybewritten]

Fandoms and Characters I write for:

The Vampire Diaries/The Originals

Mira Salvatore (OC)

Klaus Mikaelson

Elijah Mikaelson

Kol Mikaelson

Davina Claire

Stefan Salvatore

Damon Salvatore

Caroline Forbes

Enzo St. James

Bonnie Bennett

The Borgias

Cesare Borgia

Juan Borgia

Lucrezia Borgia

Maddalena de Medici (OC)

The Medici

Clarice Orsini

Lorenzo the Magnificent

Giuliano de Medici

Cosimo de Medici

Contessina de Bardi

Francesco Pazzi

Cursed

Nimue

The Weeping Monk

Arthur

Petra (OC)

Gawain

Fear The Walking Dead

Laurel Hall (OC)

Serena Otto

House of the Dragon

Rhaenyra Targaryen

Dameon Targaryen

Helaena Targaryen

Alicent Hightower

Laena Velaryon

Jacaerys Velaryon

The Last Kingdom

Sihtric

Finan

Osferth

Petra (OC)

Uhtred

Brida

Ragnar

Skade

Aethelflaed

Gisela

Vikings

Idrin (OC)

Ubbe Ragnarsson

Hvitserk Ragnarsson

Ivar Ragnarsson

Princess Snaefrid

Thorunn

Bjorn Ironside

Lagertha

Margarthe