L'Italo-Americano

W hat's the m o s t i n f a - m o u s family in I t a l i a n h i s t o r y ? W e l l , the Borgias, of course. Of Spanish origin, the Borgias were known for two things, t h e i r p o w e r , a n d t h e i r immorality, even though the latter has been largely con- s t r u c t e d i n t h e c e n t u r i e s after their demise. We know them mostly for Rodrigo, Pope Alexander VI, and his – of course ille- gitimate – children, many of t h e m c o n c e i v e d w i t h h i s long-time lover, the beauti- ful Vannozza Cattanei, mother of Lucrezia - who suffered perhaps the most from the damnatio memori- a e l a u n c h e d a g a i n s t h e r family- and Giovanni, con- sidered the pope's favorite child. Giovanni was a contro- v e r s i a l , i f n o t d o w n r i g h t negative, figure. Cherished by his mother, adored by his father, attractive and young – Dumas father famously w r o t e h e " t u r n e d h e a d s because of his beauty" - he wasn't liked much by those around him: he was spoiled, arrogant, excessive and vio- lent, and his only achieve- m e n t s w e r e t h o s e h e o b t a i n e d t h a n k s t o h i s father's power or his good looks. It's not surprising that a young arrogant man, com- i n g f r o m o n e o f t h e m o s t powerful families in the cap- ital, ended up murdered. It was the 15th century, in the end: often things were sort- ed that way. T h e d e a t h o f G i o v a n n i B o r g i a i s p r o b a b l y t h e biggest cold case of the Ital- i a n R e n a i s s a n c e b e c a u s e despite Alexander VI's com- mitment to finding the cul- prit (or culprits) of his son's a s s a s s i n a t i o n , t h e c a s e remained unsolved, and still i s t o d a y . A s y o u w o u l d e x p e c t f o r s u c h a f a m o u s murder - and as the modern, a l m o s t m o r b i d i n t e r e s t towards true crime shows – it made ink flow copiously through the centuries, with names such as Alexandre Dumas father, Ferdinand Gregorovius, Maria Bellonci, A n t o n i o S p i n o s a , a n d R o b e r t o G e r v a s o w r i t i n g about it. B u t w h a t r e a l l y h a p - pened? It was the evening of the 14th of June 1497, 525 years ago, and Giovanni Borgia, Duke of Gandia and, as we said, an illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI and Van- nozza Cattanei, spent the evening in one of his moth- e r ' s m a n y e s t a t e s o n t h e Esquiline, not far from San Pietro in Vincoli. He was celebrating with his uncle Juan, a cardinal, his brother Cesare, also a cardinal, and his younger brother Goffre- do: it was a peaceful time for t h e c i t y a n d , i n a t i m e o f almost constant war, it was reason enough to be merry. At some stage during the evening, however, Giovanni decided to leave the family gathering. Some say that he h a d b e e n t a l k i n g w i t h a m y s t e r i o u s h o o d e d m a n d u r i n g t h e e v e n i n g , b u t there seems to be no agree- m e n t o n i t . W h y d i d h e leave? Rome wasn't a very safe city back then, and he was a well-known but little- liked figure: why would he walk around the streets of the Caput Mundi alone at night? In truth, he wasn't r e a l l y a l o n e , b e c a u s e h i s burly and feisty bodyguard was with him. Pity that both of them, that night, disap- peared. I n t h e m o r n i n g , a l a r m wasn't risen immediately: Giovanni liked women and had many lovers, so every- one thought he was enjoying the gracious company of one of his favorites, but it wasn't t h e c a s e . H i s b o d y w a s found in the Tiber, with sev- eral stab wounds on his face, body, and legs: it was clear G i o v a n n i h a d b e e n m u r - dered. I n v e s t i g a t i o n s b e g a n immediately: in the end, he wasn't only a Borgia, he was the Pope's son, and every- o n e k n e w i t . Q u i c k l y enough, along with inves- tigative work, speculation arose wildly: the first sus- pect, the one who, for many, is the real murderer, was Giovanni's brother, Cesare. Cesare was a bit of a tug, r e a l l y , h e u s e d v i o l e n c e freely and his morals were c l o s e t o z e r o , s o n o o n e would have been surprised if he did it, also because the two siblings didn't like each o t h e r m u c h . C e s a r e w a s incredibly jealous of Giovan- ni because, as the oldest, he was to enjoy all the fame and fortunes of the family, while he, Cesare, was "just" going to become a cardinal. Moreover, Giovanni was the leader of the Papal Army, a position Cesare wanted for himself. But there was more because Cesare considered himself much smarter than his brother and resented the fact he was privileged and received all the family hon- ors, honors Cesare felt Gio- vanni didn't deserve. A C a i n a n d A b e l s i t u a - tion, you know… But, guess what: with Giovanni dead, C e s a r e w o u l d i n h e r i t t h e f a m i l y f o r t u n e a n d h i s b r o t h e r ' s g l a m o r o u s l i f e . T h a t m a y w e l l h a v e b e e n reason enough to get rid of him. B u t C e s a r e w a s n ' t t h e only suspect. Some believed t h e m u r d e r w a s c o m m i s - s i o n e d b y C a r d i n a l Ascanio Sforza, who had a fight with the young Bor- g i a a n d h a d b e e n h e a r d threatening him with death. Others believed the Orsini family, arch-enemies of the B o r g i a s , w e r e b e h i n d t h e murder: Alexander VI had h a d V i r g i n i o O r s i n i , t h e h e a d o f t h e f a m i l y , m u r - dered sometime earlier and Giovanni himself had con- quered their land posses- sions and castles outside the c a p i t a l w h i l e l e a d i n g t h e Papal Army. Here, too, there w a s e n o u g h b i t t e r n e s s t o seek vengeance. M a n y s u s p e c t s , a n d a g r e a t m y s t e r y t h a t s t i l l r e m a i n s u n s o l v e d . W i t h today's forensic technology and knowledge, finding the murderer would probably be quite simple, but in those d a y s , t h e r e w a s n o D N A testing nor CSI teams: if you were lucky enough to disap- pear unseen in the night, your guilt was to remain a secret for eternity. Giovanni Borgia in a portrait by Girolamo Marchesi (Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons agreement. Author: www.asn-ibk.ac-at. License: Public Domain) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano Who killed Giovanni Borgia? LUCA SIGNORINI

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