#on the front they were all: yeah let's kill il valentino

[ducavalentinos]

“Whenever the Borgias tested the resolve of the men plotting against them, they found weakness and readiness to cut deals - even separate deals, when that seemed feasible. They could be confident that in a showdown each of the conspirators would look at his own immediate interests regardless of the fate of the others. They had reason to be worried all the same. The risings south of the Romagna, and the fact that Cesare was all but trapped at Imola, left Alexander feeling deeply insecure. He feared that everything the two of them had achieved and were planning to achieve, the whole grand enterprise into which he was pouring the wealth of the papacy, was suddenly on the verge of collapse. […]Cesare by contrast waited and watched in silence, using his own inscrutability to unnerve his enemies. When Ernes Bentivoglio moved his troops near the outskirts of Imola but failed to provoke the expected countermove by Cesare, failed even to get an acknowledgment of his presence, he lost heart and withdrew in befuddlement. When it became certain that the plotters could expect no help from Venice or Florence, and that when Louis XII’s army arrived on the scene it would come as Cesare’s friend, their resolve disintegrated.” lmaoo when you call Cesare Borgia to a fight and he doesn’t even acknowledges your presence bc you know, he’s better than you. plus I’m sure It’s more fun to just watch your enemies panic and ask for your forgiveness.