B O R 



B O R 



-litited at riorenre in 15S4 and 15^51 4to which comprf- 

 :^iid twelve dillVrtations on the origin and ancient itate of 

 that city, and of olhevs in Tufcaiiv, nboundinjr with a variety 

 of curious erudition. He was hlvcwife well (killed in paint- 

 ing and architecture ; and he was ewtrufted hy duke Cofnio 

 with tlie decorations for the nuptiaL of his Con FraTieis, and 

 named by him as his fnbllitule in the academy of deiign. 

 Several of his letters are publilhed in various collections. 

 Gen. Biog. 



BORGHOLM, in Gcof^raphy, a town of Sweden, in the 

 jfland of Oeland. Near it is the commodious harbour of 

 Borga. 



BORGHOLZHAUSEN, a town of Germany, in the 

 circle of Weltphnha, and county of Raveriiherg, 6 miles 

 S. W. of Hervorden. 



BORGHORST, a town of Germany, in the circle of 

 AVeftphalia, and bilhupric of Munller ; 3 miles E. of Stcin- 

 fort. 



BORGI, m yindent Geography, a people of Afia, placed 

 by Ptolemy in Aria. 



BORGIA, C;esar, in Biography, a man whofe dire am- 

 bition defcrves to be configned to perpetual infamy in the 

 page of hiftory, was the fecond fon of cardinal Rodcrigo, 

 (afterwards pope Alexander VI.) by his miitrefs, the artful 

 Vanozza. As he was defigned for the church, he was in- 

 vefted, whilll a child, with the archbifliopric of Pamplona, 

 and fent to Pifa for his education. As foon as his father 

 was eledted to the papal fee, in 1492, Borgia haftened to 

 Rome, expecting to fliare in thole dignities which his father's 

 elevated Itation empowered him to bellow. On his arrival, 

 Alexander received him with a grave afpeit, and with a lec- 

 ture on the neccITity of veitraining his ambitious views, and 

 of feeking honour in the path of virtue. Tliis mode of re- 

 ccjrtion was neither fuited to the charaftcr of the father nor 

 to the difpofition of the fon ; but the mother of Borgia 

 foon quieted his mind, by afcribing it to its tine caufe, the 

 artifice and hypocrify which Alexander thought it neceffary 

 to prattife on his elevation to the papal throne. Notwith- 

 ftanding this IcflTon of moderation, Borgia was immediately 

 made archbirtiop of Valcntia, and, in tlie following year, 

 promoted to the dignity of cardinal. When the Fre.:ch 

 army, under Charles VIII. entered Rome, in their expedition 

 againit Naples, and compelled the pope to a treaty, Borgia 

 was obliged to accompany the king as apoltohcal legate, or 

 rather as an hoftage for the performance of the ftipidated 

 conditions ; but finding an opportunity to make his cfcape, 

 and to return to Rome, the treaty was broken, and the king 

 was under a neceffity of leaving Italy. About this time 

 V'anozza urged a complaint againft the French for having 

 plundered her property, and-excited both Alexander and her 

 ion to revenge the injury file had fufFcred. Accordingly 

 they began with adminillering poifon to Geme, brother to 

 Bajazet, who had fled to Italy, as to a fanduary, from that 

 fultan, and whom the French wifhtd to have in their pofTcf- 

 fion, becaufe, after the taking of Naples, they projcfted an 

 expedition againit the Turks. Not fatistied with tliis viola- 

 tion of the obligations of hofpitality, they proceeded, by 

 means of afiaflins, to deftroy the French who remained at 

 Rome. Borgia, conceiving that his elder brother, the duke 

 of Gandia, obllrufted him in the career of his ambition, and 

 that he was his rival in an amour with a lady, faid by fome 

 to be their own lifter, Lucretia Borgia, who was alfo a very 

 particular favourite of her father, determined to get rid of 

 his competitor. Accordingly, on the eve of his departure 

 to the king of Naples, under the charaftcr of his legate a 

 latere, Ije contrived means to affafTinate his brother. This 

 event happened in the year 1497. After the acceflion of 



Vol. V. 



I^cwisXlI. to thcthroncof France, pope Alexandcrcnterea 

 into a negotiation with him, parlicularly with a view to tlw 

 promotion of his fon. For the more efleftua! attainment of 

 the objects of his ambition, Burgia rdigncd his dignity of 

 cardinil; and proceeled as ambadador to France, wlicre 

 Lewis created him duke of Valtntinoi.s, granted him a peii- 

 (ion, and appointed him to a command of cavalry. Ax. this 

 time Lewis had folicited the pope for a difp'-nlation to di- 

 vorce his wife, and to marry Anne, duchefs of Burgundy ; 

 and the <iilpeniation for this purpofe was conveyed by 

 Borgia. Borgia, however, retained it in his poflifiion, in 

 order to enforce his intercft with the king, for obtaining 

 Charlotta, daughter of the king of Naples, who was intended 

 liy his father Alexander for his wife. But pretending that 

 he was in daily exptftation of receiving the difpenfation 

 from Rome, and delaying the delivery of it, the king be- 

 came impatient ; and applying to the bifliop of Setta, whs 

 was then tlie pope's inuicio at Paris, he was informed, that 

 Borgia had brought it with him to France. Upon thi» 

 Lewis convened a number of divines, who authorized him to 

 divorce his wife, and to many Anne of Burgundy. The 

 marriage having been concluded, Borgia was at length 

 obliged to deliver the difpenfation to the king ; bat he it- 

 vengcd himielf on the nuncio by a dofe of poifon, which 

 proved fatal. Charlotta rejeding his addreffes, on account 

 of his infamous charadter, he married the daughter of the 

 king of Navarre, and was honoured by Lewis with the order 

 of St. Michael. The father and the fon, powerfully pro- 

 tefted by France, co-operated in a variety of barbarous af- 

 faflinations, partly for the purpofe of revenge for real or 

 imagined injury, and partly with a view of feizing the pro- 

 perty of thofe whom they difpatchcd, in order to cari-y on 

 an unjuft war, which they had undertaken. The pope, 

 having formed a defign of reducing the territory of Romagna 

 to the obedience of the holy fee, intended to form it into a 

 principality for his Ion. Borgia, now duke of Valentinois, 

 came from France with a confiderablc force, in order to ac- 

 complilh the purpofee of his father ; and began his campaign 

 with the ilege cf Imola and Forli, which foon furrc;ideved ; 

 and he afterwards reduced I'efaro, Rimini, and Faenza.- 

 In 1501, Borgia obtained from his father the title of duke 

 of Romagna. In the courfe of this war, conduilcd with a 

 ferocity and fpirit of rapine and revenge fcldom paralleled, 

 he proceeded with fuch fuccefs, that the Italian powers were 

 at length alarmed, and formed a confederacy againft him. 

 He contrived, however, to defeat this conibination, to detach 

 fome parties from the alliance, and, with his accullomed per- 

 fidy and cruelty, to invite three of the heads of the adocia- 

 tion to Senigaglia, under a pretence of eftablilhing peace, and 

 there to caufe them to be Itrangled. Borgia and his father 

 concurred in all thefe dctellable meafures, and by their united 

 arts, alternately courted the powers of France and Spain, at 

 each appeared to have the greatefl influence in the aflairs of 

 Italy. In J 503, Borgia lolt his father, who was fuppofed to 

 have died by poifon, which they had prepared for a rick 

 cardinal, vvhofe cftntc they wiflicd to appropriat.' to them- 

 felvcs, but which tlicy both tot k by miilakc. It proved 

 fatal to the father; but the fon, by ftrength of conflitutiou, 

 efcaped with his life, though he long experieiiccd its per- 

 nicious effetts. Upon the acccflicn of pope Pius III. 

 Borgia came to Rome with a great retinue ; but bcir.g uiii- 

 verlally detellcd, he avoided the affaults of his cncml.-s by 

 flieltcring himfelf in the Vatican ; and his life was preferved 

 bv the protection of the king of France ; but he afterwards, 

 with bale ingratitude, qiiitted his party, and joined that of 

 Spain. During this interval, many of the towns in his tcr. 

 ritory of Romagna were fcized by the Venetians ; and pope 

 H Juhus iL 



