 Section 1 of Celebrated Crimes, Volume 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Celebrated Crimes, Volume 1 by Alexandru Duma. Translated by GB Ives. Section 1, Introduction. The contents of these volumes of Celebrated Crimes, as well as the more tips which led to their inception, are unique. They are a series of stories based upon historical records from the pen of Alexandru Duma, Pair, when he was not the elder, nor yet the author of Takhtanyo or Mont-Crystal, but was a rising young dramatist and a lion in the literary set and world of fashion. Duma, in fact, wrote his Cream a Celebra, just prior to launching upon his wonderful series of historical novels, and they made therefore be considered as source books, whence he was to draw so much of that far-reaching and intimate knowledge of inner history, which has peroneerly astonished his readers. The Crimes were published in Paris, in 1839 to 40, in eight volumes comprising eighteen titles, all of which now appear in the present carefully translated text. The success of the original work was instantaneous. Duma laughingly said that he thought he had exhausted the subject of famous crimes until the work was off the press, when he immediately became deluged with letters from every province in France, supplying him with material upon other deeds of violence. The subjects which he had chosen, however, are of both historic and dramatic importance, and they have the added value of giving the modern reader a clear picture of the state of semi-knowlessness which existed in Europe during the Middle Ages. The Borgias, the Chenchi, Urban Grandier, the Marchioness of Brinvilliers, the Marchioness of Ganges, and the rest, What Subjects for the Pen of Duma? exclaims Garnet. Space does not permit us to consider in detail the material here collected, although each title will be found to present points of special interest. The first volume comprises the annals of the Borgias and the Chenchi. The name of the noted and notorious Florentine family has become a synonym for intrigue and violence, and yet the Borgias have not been without staunch defenders in history. Another famous Italian story is that of the Chenchi. The beautiful Beatrice Chenchi, celebrated in the painting of Guido, the 16th century romance of Giorazzi, and the poetic tragedy of Shelley, not to mention numerous succeeding works inspired by her hapless fate, will always remain a shadowy figure and one of infinite pathos. The second volume chronicles the sanguinary deeds in the south of France carried on in the name of religion but drenching in blood the fair country round about Avignon for a long period of years. The third volume is devoted to the story of Mary Queen of Scots, another woman who suffered a violent death and around whose name an endless controversy has waged. Duma goes carefully into the dubious episodes of her stormy career but does not allow these to blind his sympathy for her fate. Mary, it should be remembered, was closely allied to France by education and marriage and the French never forgave Elizabeth the part she played in the tragedy. The fourth volume comprises three widely dissimilar tales. One of the strangest stories is that of Urbain Grandier, the innocent victim of a cunning and relentless religious plot. His story was dramatized by Duma in 1850. A famous German crime is that of Karl Ludwig Sand, whose murder of Kotzebue, counsellor of the Russian legation, caused an international upheaval which was not to subside for many years. An especially interesting volume is number six, containing, among other material, the famous Man in the Iron Mask. This unsolved puzzle of history was later incorporated by Duma in one of the Dachhtania romances, a collection of the Vicomte de Brajelonna to which it gave its name. But in this later form, the true story of this singular man doomed to wear an iron visor over his features during his entire lifetime could only be treated episodically. While as a special subject in the crimes, Duma indulges his curiosity and that of his reader to the full. Here goes unfinished tragedy, Les Jumeaux, is on the same subject, as also are others by Fournier in French and Chokka in German. Other stories can be given only passing mention. The beautiful Poisoner, Marquis de Brinville, must have suggested to Duma his later portrait of Miladi in the Three Musketeers, the most celebrated of his woman characters. The incredible cruelties of Ali Pasha, the Turkish despot, should not be charged entirely to Duma as he is said to have been largely aided in this by one of his ghosts, Malfil. Not a mere artist, writes Monsieur de Vilmesant, founder of the Figaro, he has nevertheless been able to seize on those dramatic effects which have so much distinguished his theatrical career and to give those sharp and distinct reproductions of character which alone can present to the reader the mind and spirit of an age. Not a mere historian, he has nevertheless carefully consulted the original sources of information as wage testimonies, elicited theories, and has interpolated the poetry of history with its most thorough prose. End of section 1. LibreVox.org Recording by Barry Eads Celebrated Crimes by Aleksander Dumas Translated by GB Ives Section 2. The Borgias Prologue On the 8th of April, 1492, in a bedroom of the Carnegie Palace, about three miles from Florence, where three men grouped about a bed whereon a fourth lay dying. The first of these three men, sitting at the foot of the bed, and half-hidden that he might conceal his tears in the gold-brokaded curtains, was Emolio Barbaro, author of the treatise on celibacy, and of Studies in Pliny. The year before, when he was at Rome in the capacity of ambassador of the Florentine Republic, he had been appointed patriarch of Aqualia by Innocent VIII. The second, who was kneeling and holding one hand of the dying man between his own, was Angelo Poliziano, the coutulis of the 15th century, a classic of the lighter sort, who in his Latin verses might have been mistaken for a poet of the Augustan age. The third, who was standing up and leaning against one of the twisted columns of the bedhead, following with profound sadness the progress of the malady, which he read in the face of his departing friend, was the famous Pico della Morondola, who at the age of 20 could speak 22 languages, and who had offered to reply in each of these languages to any 700 questions that might be put to him by the 20 most learned men in the whole world if they could be assembled at Florence. The man on the bed was Lorenzo the Magnificent, who at the beginning of the year had been attacked by a severe and deep-seated fever to which was added the gout, a hereditary ailment in his family. He had found at last that the draughts containing dissolved pearls which the quack doctor, Leoni di Spolito, prescribed for him, as if he desired to adapt his remedies rather to the riches of his patient than to his necessities, were useless and unavailing. And so he had come to understand that he must part from those gentle-tongued women of his, those sweet-voiced poets, his palaces and their rich hangings. Therefore he had summoned to give him absolution for his sins. In a man of less high place called Crimes, the Dominican, Giralamo Francesco Savonarola. It was not, however, without an inward fear against which the praises of his friends availed nothing that the pleasure-seeker and usurper awaited that severe and gloomy preacher by whose words all Florence was stirred and on whose pardon henceforth depended all his hope for another world. Indeed, Savonarola was one of those men of stone, coming, like the statue of the commandante, at the door of Adon Giovanni and in the midst of feast and orgy to announce that it is even now the moment to begin to think of heaven. He had been born at Ferrara, wither his family, one of the most illustrious of Padua, had been called by Nicola Marchestieste and at the age of twenty-three, summoned by an irresistible vocation, had fled from his father's house and had taken the vows in the cloister of Dominican monks at Florence. There, where he was appointed his superiors to give lessons in philosophy, the young novice had from the first to battle against the defects of a voice that was both harsh and weak, a defective pronunciation, and above all, the depression of his physical powers, exhausted as they were by two severe abstinence. Savonarola from that time condemned himself to the most absolute seclusion and disappeared in the depths of his convent, as if the slab of his tomb had already fallen over him. There, kneeling on the flags, praying unceasingly before a wooden crucifix, fevered by vigils and penances, he soon passed out of contemplation into ecstasy and began to feel in himself that inward prophetic impulse which summoned him to preach the reformation of the church. Nevertheless, the reformation of Savonarola, more reverential than Luther's, which followed about five and twenty years later, respected the thing while attacking the man and had as its aim the altering of teaching that was human, not faith that was of God. He did not work like the German monk by reasoning but by enthusiasm. With him logic always gave way before inspiration. He was not a theologian but a prophet. Yet although hitherto he had bowed his head before the authority of the church, he had already raised it against the temporal power. To him religion and liberty appeared as two virgins equally sacred, so that in his view Lorenzo in subjugating the one was as culpable as Pope Innocent VIII in dishonoring the other. The result of this was that so long as Lorenzo lived in riches, happiness, and magnificence, Savonarola had never been willing, whatever entreaties were made, to sanction by his presence a power which he considered illegitimate. But Lorenzo on his deathbed sent for him, and that was another matter. The austere preacher set forth at once, bare-headed and barefoot, hoping to save not only the soul of the dying man but also the liberty of the Republic. Lorenzo, as we have said, was awaiting the arrival of Savonarola with an impatience mixed with uneasiness, so that when he heard the sound of his steps, his pale face took a yet more death-like tinge, while at the same time he raised himself on his elbow and ordered his three friends to go away. They obeyed at once, and they left by one door, then the curtain of the other was raised, and the monk, pale, immovable, solemn, appeared on the threshold. When he perceived him, Lorenzo de Medici, reading in his marble brow the inflexibility of a statue, fell back on his bed, breathing a sigh, so profound that one might have supposed it was his last. The monk glanced around the room as though to assure himself that he was really alone with the dying man. Then he advanced with a slow and solemn step towards the bed. Lorenzo watched his approach with terror. Then, when he was close beside him, he cried, Oh, my father, I have been a very great sinner. The mercy of God is infinite, replied the monk, and I have come into your presence, laden with a divine mercy. You believe, then, that God will forgive my sins? cried the dying man, renewing his hope as he heard from the lips of the monk such unexpected words. Your sins and also your crimes, God will forgive them all, replied Sava Narola. God will forgive your vanities, your adulterous pleasures, your obscene festivals, so much for your sins. God will forgive you for promising 2,000 Florence reward to the man who should bring you the head of Daya Tasalvi, Nero Nidji, Angelo and Torinori, Nicalo Sodorini, the son of Papi Orlandi, Francesco de Brisagila, Bernardo Nardi, Giacopo Fresco Baldi, Amaretto Baldovaneti, Pedro Balducci, Bernardo di Bondi, Francesco Fresco Baldi, and more than 300 others whose names were nonetheless dear to Florence because they were less renowned, so much for your crimes. And at each of these names, which Sava Narola pronounced slowly, he replied with a groan which proved the monk's memory to be only too true. Then at last, when he had finished, Lorenzo asked in a doubtful tone, then do you believe, my father, that God will forgive me everything, both my sins and my crimes? Everything said Sava Narola, but on three conditions. What are they asked the dying man? The first said Sava Narola is that you feel a complete faith in the power and the mercy of God. My father replied Lorenzo eagerly, I feel this faith in the very depths of my heart. The second said Sava Narola is that you give back the property of others which you have unjustly confiscated and kept. My father, shall I have time? asked the dying man. God will give it to you, replied the monk. Lorenzo shut his eyes as though to reflect more at his ease. Then after a moment's silence my father, I will do it. The third, resumed Sava Narola, is that you restore to the Republic her ancient independence and her former liberty. Lorenzo sat up on his bed shaken by a convulsive movement and questioned with his eyes the eyes of the Dominican, as though he would find out if he had deceived himself and not heard a right. Sava Narola repeated the same words. Never, never, exclaimed Lorenzo and said, never. The monk, without replying a single word, made a step to withdraw. My father, my father, said the dying man. Do not leave me thus. Have pity on me. Have pity on Florence, said the monk. But my father, cried Lorenzo, Florence is free, Florence is happy. Florence is a slave, Florence is poor, cried Sava Narola. Poor ingenious, poor in money and poor in courage. Father Lorenzo will come your son, Puro. Poor in money because from the funds of the Republic, you have kept up the magnificence of your family and the credit of your business houses. Poor in courage because you have robbed the rightful magistrates of the authority which was constitutionally theirs and diverted the citizens from the double path of military and civil life, wherein before they were innervated by your luxuries they had displayed the virtues continued the monk, his eyes fixed and glowing as if he were reading the future, whereon the barbarians shall descend from the mountains, the walls of our towns, like those of Jericho, shall fall at the blast of their trumpets. And do you desire that I should yield up on my deathbed the power that has made the glory of my whole life? cried Lorenzo de Medici. It is not I who desire it. It is the Lord, replied Sava Narola coley. Do you remember Lorenzo? Very well. Then die as you have lived, cried the monk. In the midst of your courtiers and flatterers let them ruin your soul as they have ruined your body. And at these words you austere Dominican without listening to the cries of the dying man left the room as he had entered it, with face and step unaltered, far above human things he seemed to soar, a spirit already detached from the earth. At the cry which broke from Lorenzo de Medici when he saw him disappear, Ermolio, Poliziano, and Pico delta Morondola who had heard all returned into the room and found their friend convulsively clutching in his arms a magnificent crucifix which he had just taken down from the bedhead. In vain did they try to reassure him with friendly words. Lorenzo the Magnificent only replied with sobs. And one hour after the scene which they had just related, his lips clinging to the feet of the Christ, he breathed his last in the arms of these three men of whom the most fortunate, though all three were young, was not destined to survive him more than two years. Since his death was to bring about many calamities, says Nicola Machiavelli, it was the will of heaven to show this by omens only too certain. The dome of the church of Santa Regarata was struck by lightning and Roderigo Borgia was elected pope. End of section 2 Section 3 of Celebrated Crimes Volume 1 Celebrated Crimes Volume 1 by Alexander Dumas translated by G. B. Ives Section 3 The Borgias Chapter 1 Towards the end of the 15th century, that is to say at the epic when our history opens the piazza of St. Peter's at Rome was far from presenting so noble an aspect as that which is offered in our own day to anyone who approaches it by the piazza de Rusticucci. In fact, the Basilica of Constantine existed no longer, while that of Michelangelo, the masterpiece of thirty popes which cost the labor of three centuries and the expense of 260 millions existed not yet. The ancient edifice which had lasted for 1145 years had been threatening to fall in about 1440 and Nicholas the 5th artistic forerunner of Julius II and Leo the 5th had had it pulled down together with the temple of Probus Aeneasius which had adjoined it. In their place he had had the foundations of a new temple laid by the architects Rosalini and Battista Alberti but some years later after the death of Nicholas the 5th the Venetian had not been able to give more than 5,000 crowns to continue the project of his predecessor and thus the building was arrested when it had scarcely risen above the ground and presented the appearance of a stillborn edifice even sadder than that of a ruin. As to the piazza itself it had not yet, as the reader will understand from the foregoing explanation, either the fine colonnade of Bernini or the dancing fountains or the Egyptian obelisk which, Bernini was set up by the pharaoh of Heliopolis and transferred to Rome by Caligula who set it up in Nero's Circus where it remained till 1586. Now as Nero's Circus was situated on the very ground where St. Peter's now stands and the base of this obelisk covered the actual site where the vestry now is it looked like a gigantic needle shooting up from the middle of truncated volumes walls of unequal height and half-carved stones. On the right of this building a ruin from its cradle arose the Vatican a splendid tower of Babel to which all the celebrated architects of the Roman school contributed their works for a thousand years. At this epoch the two magnificent chapels did not exist nor the twelve great halls the two and twenty courts the thirty staircases and the two thousand bed chambers. For Pope Sixtus V the sublime swineherd who did so many things in his five years reign had not yet been able to add the immense building which on the eastern side towers above the court of St. Demacius. Still it was truly the old sacred edifice with its venerable associations in which Charlemagne received hospitality when he was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III. All the same on the 9th of August 1492 the whole of Rome from the people's gate to the Coliseum and from the baths of Diocletian to the castle of St. Angelo seemed to have made an appointment on this piazza. The multitude thronging to it was so great as to overflow into all the neighboring streets which started from this center like the rays of a star. The crowds of people looking at the carpet were climbing up into the Basilica grouping themselves upon the stones hanging on the columns standing up against the walls. They entered by the doors of houses and reappeared at the windows so numerous and so densely packed that one might have said each window was walled up with heads. Now all this multitude had its eyes fixed on one single point in the Vatican. For in the Vatican was the conclave and, as innocent the 8th had been dead for six days the conclave was in the act of electing a pope. Rome is the town of elections since her foundation down to our own day that is to say, in the course of nearly twenty-six centuries she has constantly elected her kings, consuls, tribunes, emperors and popes. Thus Rome during the days of conclave appears to be attacked by a strange fever which drives everyone to the Vatican or to Montgavallo according as the scarlet robe assembly is held in one or the other of these two places. It is, in fact, because the raising up of a new pontiff is a great event for everyone. For according to the average established in the period between St. Peter and Gregory the 16th every pope lasts about eight years and these eight years according to the character of the man who is elected are a period either of tranquility or of disorder of justice or of venality of peace or of war. Never perhaps since the day when the first successor of St. Peter took his seat on the pontifical throne until the interregnum which now occurred had so great an agitation been shown as there was at this moment when, as we have shown all these people were thronging on the piazza of St. Peter and in the streets which led to it. It is true that this was not without reason. For Innocent VIII who was called the father of his people because he had added to his subjects eight sons and the same number of daughters, had, as we have said after living a life of self-indulgence just died after a death struggle during which if the journal of Stefano of Assura may be believed 220 murders were committed in the streets of Rome. The authority had then devolved in the customary way upon the cardinal Camerlengo who during the interregnum had sovereign powers but as he had been obliged to fulfill all the duties of his office that is to get money coined in his name and bearing his arms to take the fisherman's ring from the finger of the dead pope to dress, shave and paint him to have the corpse embalmed to lower the coffin after nine days obsequies into the provisional niche where the last deceased pope has to remain until his successor comes to take his place and consign him to his final tomb. Lastly as he had been obliged to wall up the door of the conclave and the window of the balcony from which the pontifical election is proclaimed he had not had a single moment for busying himself with the police so that the assassinations had continued in goodly fashion and there were loud cries for an energetic hand which should make all these swords and all these daggers retire into their sheets. Now the eyes of this multitude were fixed as we have said upon the Vatican and particularly upon one chimney from which would come the first signal one suddenly at the moment of the Ave Maria that is to say at the hour when the day begins to decline great cries went up from all the crowd mixed with bursts of laughter a discordant murmur of threats and railery the cause being that they had just perceived at the top of the chimney a thin smoke which seemed like a light cloud to go up perpendicularly into the sky. This smoke announced that Rome was still without a master and that the world still had no pope for this was the smoke of the voting tickets which were being burned a proof that the Cardinals had not yet come to an agreement. Scarcely had this smoke appeared to vanish almost immediately when all the innumerable crowd knowing well that there was nothing else to wait for and that all was said and done until ten o'clock the next morning the time when the Cardinals had their first voting went off in a tumult of noisy joking just as they would after the last rocket of a fireworks display so that at the end of one minute nobody was there when a quarter of an hour before there had been an excited crowd except a few curious laggards who, living in the neighborhood or on the very piazza itself were less in a hurry than the rest to get back to their homes. Again little by little these last groups insensibly diminished for half past nine had just struck and at this hour the streets of Rome began already to be far from safe. Then after these groups followed some solitary passerby hurrying his steps one after another the doors were closed one after another the windows were darkened at last when ten o'clock struck with the single exception of one window in the Vatican where a lamp might be seen keeping obstinate vigil all the houses, piazzas and streets were plunged in the deepest obscurity. At this moment a man wrapped in a cloak stood up like a ghost against one of the columns of the uncompleted basilica and gliding slowly and carefully among the stones which were lying about round the foundations of the new church advanced as far as the fountain which formed the center of the piazza erected in the very place where the obelisk is now set up of which we have spoken already when he reached this spot he stopped doubly concealed by the darkness of the night and by the shade of the monument and after looking around him to see if he were really alone drew his sword and with its point wrapping three times on the pavement of the piazza each time made the sparks fly this signal for signal it was was not lost the last lamp which still kept vigil in the Vatican went out and at the same instant an object thrown out of the window fell a few paces off from the young man in the cloak he guided by this silvery sound it had made in touching the flags lost no time in laying his hand upon it in spite of the darkness and when he had it in his possession hurried quickly away thus the unknown walked without turning round half way along the borgo vecchio but there he turned round to the right and took a street at the other end of which was set up a Madonna with a lamp he approached the light and drew from his pocket the object he had picked up which was nothing else than a Roman crown piece but this crown unscrewed and in a cavity hollow in its thickness enclosed a letter which the man to whom it was addressed began to read at the risk of being recognized so great was his haste to know what it contained we say at the risk of being recognized for in his eagerness the recipient of this nocturnal missive had thrown back the hood of his cloak and as his head was wholly within the luminous circle cast by the lamp it was easy to distinguish in the light the head of a handsome young man about five or six and twenty dressed in a purple doublet slashing at the shoulder and elbow to let the shirt come through this head cap of the same color with a long black feather falling to his shoulder it is true that he did not stand there long for scarcely had he finished the letter or rather the note which he had just received in so strange a mysterious manner when he replaced it in its silver receptacle and readjusting his cloak so as to hide all the lower part of his face resumed his walk with a rapid step crossed Borgosan's Borgosan's spirito and took the street of the Longara which he followed as far as the church of Regina Coli when he arrived at this place he gave three rapid knocks on the door of a house of good appearance which immediately opened then slowly mounting the stairs he entered a room where two women were awaiting him with an impatience so unconcealed that both as they saw him exclaimed together I ask oh what news good news my mother good my sister replied the young man kissing one and giving his hand to the other our father has gained three votes today but he still needs six to have the majority then is there no means of buying them cried the elder of the two women while the younger instead of speaking asked him with a look certainly my mother replied the young man and it is just about that that my father has been thinking he is giving Cardinal Orsini his place at Rome and his two castles of Monticello and Soriano to Cardinal Colana his abbey of Sabiaca he gives to Cardinal Sant'Angelo the bishop of Porto with the furniture and cellar to the Cardinal of Parma the town of Nepi to the Cardinal of Genoa to Maria in Violata and last to Cardinal Savelli the church of Santa Maria Maggiore and the town of Savita Castellana as to the Cardinal Assanio Saphorza he knows already that the day before yesterday we sent to his house four mules laden with silver and plate and out of this treasure he has engaged to give five thousand Ducats to the Cardinal Patriarch of Venice but how shall we get the others to know the intentions of Rodrigo asked the elder of the two women my father has provided for everything and proposes an easy method you know my mother with what sort of ceremonial the Cardinal's dinner is carried in yes on a litter in a large basket with the arms of the Cardinal for whom the meal is prepared my father has bribed the bishop who examines it now is a feast day to the Cardinal Orsini Colana Savalli, Sant'Angelo and the Cardinals of Parma and Genoa chickens will be sent for hot meat and each chicken will contain a deed of gift duly drawn up made by me and my father's name of the houses, palaces, or churches which are destined for each capital said the elder of the two women now I am certain all will go well and by the grace of God added the younger with a strangely mocking smile our father will be Pope oh it will be a fine day for us cried Francesco and for Christendom replied his sister with still more ironical expression Lucrezia, Lucrezia said the mother you do not deserve the happiness which is coming to us what does that matter it comes all the same besides you know the proverb mother large families are blessed of the Lord and still more so our family which is so patriarchal at the same time she cast on her brother a look so wanton that the young man blushed under it but as at the moment he had to think of other things than his illicit loves he ordered that four servants should be awakened he drew up and signed the six deeds of gift which were to be carried the next day to the cardinals for not wishing to be seen at their houses he thought he would profit by the night time to carry them himself to certain persons in his confidence who would have them passed in as had already been arranged at the dinner hour then when the deeds were quite ready and the servants also Francesco went out with them leaving the two women to dream golden dreams of their future greatness from the first dawn of the day the people hurried anew as ardent and interested as on the evening before to the piazza of the Vatican where at the ordinary time that is at ten o'clock in the morning the smoke rose again as usual evoking laughter and murmuring as it announced that none of the cardinals had secured the majority a report however began to be spread about that the chances were divided between three candidates who were Rodrigo Borgia Giuliano Delta Rivera and Assanio Siforza for the people as yet knew nothing of four mules laden with plate silver which had been led to Siforza's house by reason of which he had given up his own votes to his rival in the midst of the agitation excited in the crowd by this new report the solemn chanting was heard it proceeded from a procession led by a cardinal Camerlengo with the object of obtaining from heaven the speedy election of a pope this procession starting from the church of Aracoele at the capital was to make stations before the principal Madonna's and the most frequented churches as soon as the silver crucifix was perceived which went in front the most profound silence prevailed and everyone fell on his knees thus a supreme calm followed the tumult and uproar which had been heard a few minutes before and which at each appearance of the smoke had assumed a more threatening character there was a shrewd suspicion that the procession as well as having a religious end in view had a political object also and that its influence was intended to be as great on earth as in heaven in any case if such had been the design of the cardinal Camerlengo he had not deceived himself and the effect was what he desired when the procession had gone past the laughing and joking continued but the cries and threats had completely ceased the whole day passed thus for in Rome nobody works you're either a cardinal or a lackey and you live nobody knows how the crowd was still extremely numerous when towards two o'clock in the afternoon another procession which had quite as much power of provoking noise as the first of imposing silence traversed in its turn to the piazza of St. Peter's this was the dinner procession the people received it with the usual bursts of laughter without suspecting for all their irreverence that this procession more efficacious than the former had just settled the election of the new pope the hour of the Ave Maria came as on the evening before but as on the evening before the waiting of the whole day was lost for as half past eight struck the daily smoke reappeared at the top of the chimney but when at the same moment rumors which came from the inside of the Vatican were spread about announcing that in all probability the election would take place the next day the good people preserved their patience besides it had been very hot that day and they were so broken with fatigue and roasted by the sun these dwellers in shade and idleness that they had no strength left to complain the morning of the next day which was the 11th of August 1492 arose stormy and dark this did not hinder the multitude from thronging the piazzas streets doors, houses, churches moreover this disposition of the weather was a real blessing from heaven for if there were heat at least there would be no sun towards nine o'clock threatening storm clouds were heaped over all the trans toveré but to this crowd what mattered rain, lightning or thunder they were preoccupied with the concern of a very different nature they were waiting for their pope a promise had been made them for today and it could be seen by the manner of all that if the day should pass without any election taking place the end of it might very well be a riot therefore in proportion as the time advanced the agitation grew greater nine o'clock half past nine a quarter to ten struck without anything happening to confirm or destroy their hopes at last the first stroke of ten was heard all eyes turned toward the chimney ten o'clock struck slowly each stroke vibrating in the heart of the multitude at last the tenth stroke trembled then vanished shuttering into space and a great cry breaking simultaneously from a hundred thousand breasts followed the silence non vefumo there is no smoke in other words we have a pope at this moment the rain began to fall but no one paid any attention to it so great were the transports of joy and impatience among all the people at last a little stone was detached from the walled window which gave on the balcony and upon which all eyes were fixed a general shout saluted its fall little by little the aperture grew larger and in a few minutes it was large enough to allow a man to come out on the balcony the cardinal Asanyo Siforza appeared but at the moment when he was on the point of coming out frightened by the rain and the lightning he hesitated in instant and finally drew back immediately the multitude in their turn broke out like a tempest into cries, curses, howls to tear down the Vatican and to go seek their pope themselves at this noise cardinal Siforza more terrified by the popular storm than by the storm in the heavens advanced on the balcony in between two thunderclaps in a moment of silence astonishing to anyone who had just heard the clamor that went before made the following proclamation I announced to you a great joy the most eminent and most revered Senor Rodrigo Lanzolo Borgia Archbishop of Valencia Cardinal Dico of San Nicolo in Carcir Vice Chancellor of the Church has now been elected Pope and has assumed the name of Alexander the Sixth the news of this nomination was received with strange joy Rodrigo Borgia had the reputation of a dissolute man it is true but libertinism had mounted the throne with Sixtus the Fourth and Innocent the Eighth so that for the Romans there was nothing new in the singular situation of a pope with a mistress and five children the great thing for the moment was that the power fell into strong hands and it was more important for the tranquility of Rome that the new pope inherited out of St. Paul than that he inherited the keys of St. Peter and so in the feasts that were given on this occasion the dominant character was much more warlike than religious and would have appeared rather to suit with the election of some young conqueror than the exultation of an old pontiff there was no limit to the pleasantries and prophetic epigrams of the name of Alexander at that time seemed to promise the Romans the empire of the world and the same evening in the midst of brilliant illuminations and bonfires which seemed to turn the town into a lake of flame the following epigram was read amid the acclamation of the people Rome under Caesar's rule is ancient history at home and or the world victorious trod but Alexander still extends his glory Caesar was man but Alexander God as to the new pope scarcely had he completed the formalities of etiquette which his exultation imposed upon him and paid to each man the price of his simony when from the height of the Vatican he cast his eyes upon Europe a vast political game of chess which he cherished the hope of directing at the will of his own genius End of the Borgias Chapter 1 Section 4 of Celebrated Crimes Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Celebrated Crimes Volume 1 by Alexander Dumas Translated by G.B. Ives Section 4 The Borgias Chapter 2 The world had now arrived at one of those supreme moments of history when everything is transformed between the end of one period and the beginning of another In the East Turkey in the South Spain in the West France and in the North Germany all were going to assume together with the title of great powers that influence which they were destined to exert in the future over the secondary states Accordingly, we too with Alexander VI will cast a rapid glance over them and see what were their respective situations in regard to Italy which they all coveted as a prize Constantine Paleolegostragosis besieged by 300,000 Turks after having appealed in vain for aid to the whole of Christendom had not been willing to survive the loss of his empire and had been found in the midst of the dead close to the Tofana Gate and on the 30th of May, 1453 Mohammed II had made his entry into Constantinople where after a reign which had earned for him the surname of Fatih or the Conqueror he had died leaving two sons the elder of whom had ascended the throne under the name of Bejesus II The accession of the new Sultan, however, had not taken place with the tranquility which his right as elder brother and his father's choice of him should have promised His younger brother, Dejem better known under the name of Zizema had argued that whereas he was born in the purple that is, born during the reign of Mohammed Bejesus was born prior to his epic and was therefore the son of a private individual this was rather a poor trick but where force is all and right is not it was good enough to stir up a war the two brothers each at the head of an army met accordingly in Asia in 1482 Dejem was defeated after a seven hours fight and pursued by his brother who gave him no time to rally his army he was obliged to embark from Salisha and took refuge in Rhodes where he implored the protection of the Knights of St. John they not daring to give him an asylum in their island so near to Asia sent him to France where they had him carefully guarded in one of their commanderies in spite of the urging of Kayid Bey Sultan of Egypt who having revolted against Bejesus desired to have the young prince in his army to give his rebellion the appearance of legitimate warfare the same demand moreover with the same political object had been made successfully by Matthias Corvinus king of Hungary by Ferdinand king of Aragon and Sicily and by Ferdinand king of Naples on his side Bejesus who knew all the importance of such arrival if he once allied himself with any one of the princes with whom he was at war had sent ambassadors to Charles VIII offering if he would consent to keep Dejem with him to give him a considerable pension to give to France the sovereignty of the Holy Land so soon as Jerusalem should be conquered by the Sultan of Egypt the king of France had accepted these terms but then innocent VIII had intervened and in his turn had claimed Dejem ostensibly to give support to the claims of the refugee to a crusade which he was preaching against the Turks but in reality to appropriate the pension of 40,000 ducats to be given by Bejesus to any one of the Christian princes who would undertake to be his brother's jailer Charles VIII had not dared to refuse to the spiritual head of Christendom a request supported by such holy reasons and therefore Dejem had quitted France accompanied by the grandmaster de Busson under whose direct charge he was but his guardian had consented for the sake of a cardinal's hat to yield up his prisoner thus on the 13th of March 1489 the unhappy young man signisher of so many interested eyes made his solemn entry into Rome mounted on a superb horse clothed in a magnificent oriental costume between the prior of Auvergne nephew of the grandmaster de Busson and Francesco Sibo the son of the Pope after this he had remained there and Bejesus faithful to promises which it was so much his interest to fulfill had punctually paid to the sovereign Pontiff a pension of forty thousand ducats so much for Turkey Ferdinand and Isabella were reigning in Spain and were laying the foundations of that vast power which was destined five and twenty years later to make Charles V declare that the son never set on his dominions in fact these two sovereigns on whom history has bestowed Catholic had reconquered in succession nearly all Spain and driven the Moors out of Granada their last entrenchment while two men of genius Bartolome Diaz and Christopher Columbus had succeeded much to the profit of Spain the one in recovering a lost world the other in conquering a world yet unknown they had accordingly thanks to their victories in the ancient world and their discoveries in the new acquired an influence at the court of Rome which had never been enjoyed by any of their predecessors so much for Spain in France Charles VIII had succeeded his father Louis XI on the 30th of August 1483 Louis by dint of executions had tranquilized his kingdom and smoothed the way for a child who ascended the throne under the regency of a woman and the regency had been a glorious one and had put down the pretensions of princes of the blood put an end to civil wars and united to the crown all that yet remained of the great independent fiefs the result was that at the epic where we now are here was Charles VIII about 22 years of age a prince if we are to believe La Tramouie little of body but great of heart a child if we are to believe Comines only now taking his first flight from the nest destitute of both sense and money, feeble in person full of self-will and consorting rather with fools than with the wise lastly if we are to believe Guicciardini who as an Italian might well have brought a somewhat partial judgment to bear upon the subject a young man of little wit concerning the actions of men but carried away by an ardent desire for rule and the acquisition of glory a desire based far more on his shallow character and impetuosity than on any consciousness of genius he was an enemy to all fatigue and all business and when he tried to give his attention to it he showed himself always totally wanting imprudence and judgment if anything in him appeared at first sight to be worthy of praise on a closer inspection it was found to be something nearer akin to vice issue he was liberal it is true but without thought with no measure and no discrimination he was sometimes inflexible in will but this was through obstinacy rather than a constant mind and what his flatterers called goodness deserved far more the name of insensibility to injuries or poverty of spirit as to his physical appearance if we are to believe the same author he was less admirable and answered marvelously to his weakness of mind and character he was small with a large head a short thick neck broad chest and high shoulders his thighs and legs were long and thin and as his face also was ugly and was only redeemed by the dignity and force of his glance and all his limbs were disproportionate with one another he had rather the appearance of a monster than such was he whom fortune was destined to make a conqueror for whom heaven was reserving more glory than he had power to carry so much for France the imperial throne was occupied by Frederick III who had been rightly named the peaceful not for the reason that he had always maintained peace but because having constantly been beaten he had always been forced to make it the first proof he had given of this very philosophical forbearance was during his journey to Rome whether he betook himself to be consecrated in crossing the Apennines he was attacked by brigands they robbed him but he made no pursuit and so encouraged by example and by the impunity of lesser thieves the greater ones soon took part in the robberies Amorath seized part of Hungary Matthias Corvinus took lower Austria and Frederick consult himself for these usurpations by repeating the maxim forgetfulness is the best cure for the losses we suffer at the time we have now reached he had just after a reign of 53 years affianced his son Maximilian to Maria Burgundy and had put under the ban of the empire his son-in-law Albert of Bavaria who laid claim to the ownership of the Tyrol he was therefore too full of his family affairs to be troubled about Italy besides he was busy looking for a motto for the house of Austria an occupation of the highest importance for a man of the character of Frederick III this motto which Charles V was destined almost to render true was at last discovered to the great joy of the old emperor who, judging that he had nothing more to do on earth after he had given this last proof of sagacity died on the 19th of August 1493 leaving the empire to his son Maximilian this motto was simply founded on the five vowels A-E-I-O-U the initial letters of these five words ostriae est emperare orbi universo this means it is the destiny of Austria to rule over the whole world so much for Germany now that we have cast a glance over the four nations which were on the way, as we said before to become European powers let us turn our attention to those secondary states which formed a circle more contiguous to Rome and whose business it was to serve as armor, so to speak to the spiritual queen of the world should it please any of these political giants whom we have described to make encroachments on the seas or the mountains the Adriatic Gulf or the Alps the Mediterranean or the Apennines these were the Kingdom of Naples the Duchy of Milan the magnificent Republic of Florence and the most serene Republic of Venice the Kingdom of Naples was in the hands of the old Ferdinand whose birth was not only illegitimate but probably also well within the prohibited degrees Alfonso of Aragon received his crown from Giovanna of Naples who had adopted him as her successor but since in the fear of having no heir the Queen on her deathbed had named two instead of one Alfonso had to sustain his rights against Rene the two aspirants for some time disputed the crown at last the House of Aragon carried the day over the House of Anjou and in the course of the year 1442 Alfonso definitely secured his seat on the throne of this sort were the claims of the defeated rival which we shall see Charles the 8th maintaining later on Ferdinand had neither the courage nor the genius of his father and yet he triumphed over his enemies one after another he had two rivals both far superior in merit to himself the one was his nephew who basing his claim on his uncle's shameful birth commanded the whole Aragonese party the other was Duke John of Calabria who commanded the whole Angevan party still he managed to hold the two apart and to keep himself on the throne by dint of his prudence which often verged upon duplicity he had a cultivated mind and had studied the sciences above all law he was of middle height with a large handsome head his brow open and admirably framed in beautiful white hair which fell nearly down to his shoulders moreover though he had rarely exercised his physical strength in arms this strength was so great that one day when he happened to be on the square of the Mercado Nuovo at Naples he seized by the horns a bull that had escaped and stopped him short in spite of all the efforts his uncle made to escape from his hands now the election of Alexander had caused him great uneasiness and in spite of his usual prudence he had not been able to restrain himself from saying before the bearer of the news that not only did he fail to rejoice in this election but also that he did not think any Christian could rejoice in it seeing that Borja having always been a bad man would certainly make a bad pope to this he added that even were the choice an excellent one and such as would please everybody else it would be none the less fatal to the house of Aragon although Rodrigo was born her subject and owed to her the origin and progress of his fortunes for wherever reasons of state come in the ties of blood and parentage are soon forgotten and our fortiori relations arising from the obligations of nationality thus one may see that Ferdinand judged Alexander the sixth with his usual perspicacity this however did not hinder him as we shall soon perceive from being the first to contract an alliance with him the Duchy of Milan belonged nominally to John Galliazzo grandson of Francesco Sforza who had seized it by violence on the 26th of February 1450 and bequeathed it to his son Galliazzo Maria father of the young prince now reigning we say nominally because the real master of the Milanese was at this period not the legitimate heir who was supposed to possess it but his uncle Ludovico surnamed Il Moro because of the mulberry tree which he bore in his arms after being exiled with his two brothers Philip who died of poison in 1479 and Escanio who became the cardinal he returned to Milan some days after the assassination of Galliazzo Maria which took place on the 26th of December 1476 in St. Stephen's church and assumed the regency for the young Duke who at that time was only eight years old from now onward even after his nephew had reached the age of two and twenty Ludovico continued to rule and according to all probabilities was destined to rule a long time yet for some days after the poor young man had shown a desire to take the reins himself he had fallen sick and it was said and not in a whisper that he had taken one of those slow but mortal poisons of which princes made so frequent a use at this period that even when a malady was natural a cause was always sought connected with some great man's interests however it may have been Ludovico had relegated his nephew now too weak to busy himself hence forward with the affairs of his Duchy to the castle of Pavia where he lay and languished under the eyes of his wife Isabella daughter of King Ferdinand of Naples as to Ludovico he was an ambitious man full of courage and astuteness familiar with the sword and with poison which he used alternately according to the occasion without feeling any repugnance or any predilection for either of them but quite decided to be his nephew's heir whether he died or lived Florence although she had preserved the name of a republic had little by little lost all her liberties and belonged in fact if not by right to Piero dei Medici to whom she had been bequeathed as a paternal legacy by Lorenzo at the risk of his soul's salvation the son unfortunately was far from having the genius of his father he was handsome it is true whereas Lorenzo on the contrary was remarkably ugly he had an agreeable musical voice whereas Lorenzo had always spoken through his nose he was instructed in Latin and Greek his conversation was pleasant and easy and he improvised verses almost as well as magnificent but he was both ignorant of political affairs and haughtily insolent in his behavior to those who had made them their study added to this he was an ardent lover of pleasure passionately addicted to women incessantly occupied with bodily exercises that should make him shine in their eyes above all with tennis a game at which he very highly excelled he promised himself that when the period of mourning was passed he would occupy the attention not only of Florence but of the whole of Italy by the splendor of his courts and the renown of his fates Piero dei Medici had at any rate formed this plan but heaven decreed otherwise as to the most serene Republic of Venice whose doge was Agostino Barbarico she had attained at the time we have reached to her highest degree of power and splendor from Cadiz to the palace meotis there was no port that was not open to her thousand ships she possessed in Italy beyond the coastline of the canals and the ancient duchy of Venice the provinces of Bergamo Brescia, Cremma Verona, Vicenza and Padua she owned the marches of Treviso which comprehend the districts of Feltre Belluno, Cadori Policella of Ravigo and the Principality of Ravenna she also owned the Friuli except Aquileia Istria except Trieste she owned on the east side of the gulf Zara, Spallatra and the shore of Albania in the Ionian sea the islands of Zonte and Corfu in Greece, Lopanto and Patras in the Morea Moroni, Coroni, Neopolis and Argos lastly in the archipelago besides several little towns and stations on the coast she owned Candia and the kingdom of Cyprus thus from the mouth of the Po to the eastern extremity of the Mediterranean the most serene Republic was mistress of the whole coastline and Italy and Greece seemed to be mere suburbs of Venice in the intervals of space between Naples, Milan, Florence and Venice Petty Tyrants had arisen who exercised an absolute sovereignty over their territories thus the colonos were at Ostia and at Natuna the Montefeltri at Urbino the Manfredi at Fenza the Bentivoli at Bologna the Molattesta family at Rimini the Vitelli at Sida di Castello the Balioni at Perugia the Orsini at Vicovaro and the Princes of Este at Ferrara finally in the center of this immense circle composed of great powers of secondary states and of little tyrannies Rome was set on high the most exalted yet the weakest of all without influence without lands without an army without gold it was the concern of the new pope to secure all this let us see therefore the great manner of man was this Alexander VI for undertaking and accomplishing such a project end of section 4 section 5 of celebrated crimes volume 1 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org celebrated crimes volume 1 by Alexander Dumas translated by GB Ives section 5 the Borges chapter 3 part 1 Rodrigo Lenzuolo was born at Valencia in Spain in 1430 or 1431 and on his mother's side was descended as some writers declare of a family of royal blood which had cast its eyes on the tiara only after cherishing hopes of Aragon and Valencia Rodrigo from his infancy had shown signs of a marvelous quickness of mind and as he grew older he exhibited an intelligence extremely apt for the study of sciences especially law and jurisprudence the result was that his first distinctions were gained in the law a profession wherein he soon made a great reputation by his ability in the discussion of the most thorny cases all the same he was not slow to leave this career and abandoned it quite suddenly for the military profession which his father had followed but after various actions which served to display his presence of mind and courage he was as much disgusted with this profession as with the other and since it happened that at the very time he began to feel this disgust his father died leaving a considerable fortune in his work but to live according to his own fancies and caprices about this time he became the lover of a widow who had two daughters the widow dying Rodrigo took the girls under his protection put one into a convent and as the other was one of the loveliest women imaginable made her his mistress this was the notorious Rosa Venosa by whom he had five children Francesco Cesar Lucrezia and Gofredo the name of the fifth is unknown Rodrigo retired from public affairs was given up entirely to the affections of a lover and a father when he heard that his uncle who loved him like a son had been elected pope under the name of Calyxtus III but the young man was at this time so much a lover that love imposed silence on ambition and indeed he was almost terrified at the exaltation of his uncle which was no doubt destined to force him once more into public life consequently instead of hurrying to Rome as anyone else in his place would have done he was content to indict to his holiness a letter in which he begged for the continuation of his favors and wished him a long and happy reign this reserve on the part of one of his relatives contrasted with the ambitious schemes which beset the new pope at every step struck Calyxtus III in a singular way he knew the stuff that was in young Rodrigo and at a time when he was besieged on all sides by mediocrities this powerful nature holding modestly aside gained new grandeur in his eyes so he replied instantly to Rodrigo that on the receipt of his letter he must quit Spain for Italy Valencia for Rome this letter uprooted Rodrigo from the center of happiness he had created for himself and where he might perhaps have slumbered on like an ordinary man if fortune had not thus interposed to drag him forcibly away Rodrigo was happy Rodrigo was rich the evil passions which were natural to him had been if not extinguished at least lulled he was frightened himself at the idea of changing the quiet life he was leading for the ambitious agitated career that was promised him and instead of obeying his uncle he delayed the preparations for departure hoping that Calyxtus would forget him it was not so two months after he received the letter from the pope there arrived at Valencia a prelate from Rome the bearer of Rodrigo's nomination to a benefit worth 20,000 ducats a year a positive order to the holder of the post to come and take possession of his charge as soon as possible holding back was no longer feasible so Rodrigo obeyed but as he did not wish to be separated from the source whence had sprung eight years of happiness Rosa Venotza also left Spain and while he was going to Rome she betook herself to Venice accompanied by two confidential servants and under the protection of a Spanish gentleman named Manuel Melchior Fortune kept the promises she had made to Rodrigo the pope received him as a son and made him successively Archbishop of Valencia Cardinal Deacon and Vice Chancellor to all these favors Calyxtus added a revenue of 20,000 ducats so that at the age of scarcely 35 Rodrigo found himself the equal of a prince in riches and power Rodrigo had had some reluctance about accepting the cardinal ship which kept him fast at Rome and would have preferred to be general of the church a position which would have allowed him more liberty for seeing his mistress and his family but his uncle Calyxtus made him reckon with the possibility of being his successor some day and from that moment the idea of being the supreme head of kings and nations took such Rodrigo that he no longer had any end in view but that which his uncle had made him entertain from that day forward there began to grow up in the young cardinal that talent for hypocrisy which made of him the most perfect incarnation of the devil that has perhaps ever existed and Rodrigo was no longer the same man with words of repentance and humility on his lips his head bowed as though he were bearing the most sins disparaging the riches which he had acquired and which according to him were the wealth of the poor and ought to return to the poor he passed his life in churches monasteries and hospitals acquiring his historian tells us even in the eyes of his enemies the reputation of a Solomon for wisdom of a Job for patience and of a very Moses for his promulgation of the word of God was the only person in the world who could appreciate the value of this pious cardinal's conversion it proved a lucky thing for Rodrigo that he had assumed this pious attitude for his protector died after a reign of three years three months and nineteen days and he was now sustained by his own merit alone against the numerous enemies he had made by his rapid rise to fortune so during the whole of reign of pious the second he lived always apart from public affairs and only reappeared in the days of Sixtus the fourth who made him the gift of the abyssey of subiaco and sent him in the capacity of ambassador to the kings of Aragon in Portugal on his return which took place during the pontificate of innocent the eighth he decided to fetch his family at last to Rome thither they came escorted by Don Manuel Malkior who from that moment passed as the husband of Rosa van Oetze and took the name of Count Ferdinand of Castile the cardinal Rodrigo received the noble spaniard as a countryman and a friend and he who expected to lead a most retired life engaged a house in the street of the Lungara near the church of Regina Chaley on the banks of the Tiber there it was that after passing and prayers and pious works cardinal Rodrigo used to repair each evening and lay aside his mask and it was said though nobody could prove it that in this house infamous scenes passed reports said the dissipations were of so disilluted character that their equals had never been seen in Rome with a view to checking the rumors that began to spread abroad Rodrigo sent Cesar to study in Pisa and married Lucretia to a young gentleman of Aragon thus there only remained at home Rosa van Oetze and her two sons such was the state of things when innocent the eighth died and Rodrigo Borgia was proclaimed Pope we have seen by what means the nomination was effected and so the five cardinals who had taken no part in this simony namely the cardinals of Naples Sierra, Portugal, Santa Maria in Portico and Saint Peter in Vinculus protested loudly against this election which they treated as a piece of jobbery but Rodrigo had none the less however it was done secured his majority Rodrigo was none the less the 260th successor of Saint Peter Alexander the sixth however though he had arrived at his object did not dare throw off at first the mask which the cardinal Borgia had worn so long although when he was apprised of his election he could not dissimulate his joy indeed on hearing the favourable result of the scrutiny he lifted his hands to heaven and cried in the accents of satisfied ambition am I then Pope am I then Christ's vicar am I then the keystone of the Christian world yes Holy Father replied cardinal Ascanios Forza the same who had sold to Rodrigo the nine votes that were at his disposal at the conclave for four mules laden with silver and we hope by your election to give glory to God repose to the church and joy to Christendom seeing that you have been chosen by the Almighty himself as the most worthy among all your brethren but in the short interval occupied by this reply the new Pope had already assumed papal authority and in a humble voice and with hands crossed upon his breast he spoke we hope that God will grant us his powerful aid in spite of our weakness and that he will do for us that which he did for the apostle when a four time he put into his hands the keys of heaven and entrusted to him the government of the church a government which without the aid of God would prove too heavy a burden for mortal man but God promised that his spirit should God will do the same I trust for us and for your part we fear not lest any of you fail in that holy obedience which is due unto the head of the church even as the flock of Christ was bidden to follow the prince of the apostles having spoken these words Alexander donned the pontifical robes and through the windows of the Vatican had strips of paper thrown out on which his name was written in Latin these blown by the wind seemed to convey to the whole world the news of the great event which was about to change the face of Italy the same day couriers started for all the courts of Europe Cesar Borgia learned the news of his father's election at the University of Pisa where he was a student his ambition had sometimes dreamed of such good fortune yet his joy was little short of madness he was then a young man about 22 or 24 years of age skillful in all bodily exercises and especially infencing he could ride bareback to the most fiery of steeds could cut off the head of a bull at a single sword stroke moreover he was arrogant jealous and insincere according to Tomasi he was great among the godless as his brother Francesco was good among the great as to his face even contemporary authors have left utterly different descriptions for some have painted him as a monster of ugliness while others on the contrary extol his beauty this contradiction is due to the fact that at certain times of the year and especially in the spring his face was covered with an eruption which so long as it lasted made him an object of horror and disgust a somber black-haired cavalier with pale skin and tawny beard whom Raphael shows us in the fine portrait he made of him and historians both chroniclers and painters agree as to his fixed and powerful gaze behind which burned a ceaseless flame giving to his face something infernal and superhuman such was the man whose fortune was to fulfill all his desires he had taken for his motto out Cesar, out Nihil Caesar or nothing End of Section 5 Section 6 of Celebrated Crimes, Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Celebrated Crimes, Volume 1 by Alexander Dumas translated by GB Ives Section 6 The Borges Chapter 3 Part 2 Cesar posted to Rome with certain of his friends and scarcely was he recognized at the gates of the city when the deference shown to him gave instant proof of the change in his fortunes At the Vatican the respect was twice as great mighty men bowed down before him as before one mightier than themselves and so in his impatience he stayed not to visit his mother or any other member of his family but went straight to the pope to kiss his feet and as the pope had been forewarned of his coming he awaited him in the midst of a brilliant and numerous assemblage of cardinals with the three other brothers standing behind him His holiness received Cesar with a gracious countenance he did not allow himself any demonstration of his paternal love but, bending towards him kissed him on the forehead and inquired how he was and how he had fared on his journey Cesar replied that he was wonderfully well and altogether at the service of his holiness that as to the journey the trifling inconveniences and short fatigue had been compensated and far more than compensated by the joy which he felt having been able to adore upon the papal throne a pope who was so worthy at these words leaving Cesar still on his knees and receding himself for he had risen from his seat to embrace him the pope assumed a grave and composed expression of face and spoke as follows loud enough to be heard by all and slowly enough for everyone present to be able to ponder and retain in his memory we are convinced Cesar that you are peculiarly rejoiced and beholding us on this sublime height so far above our desserts where to it has pleased the divine goodness to exalt us this joy of yours is first of all our due because of the love we have always borne you and which we bear you still and in the second place is prompted by your own personal interest since henceforth you may feel sure of receiving from our pontifical hand those benefits which your own good works shall deserve but if your joy and this we say to you as we have even now said to your brothers if your joy is founded on ought else than this you are very greatly mistaken Cesar and you will find yourself sadly deceived perhaps we have been ambitious we confess this humbly before the face of all men passionately and immoderately ambitious to attain to the dignity of sovereign pontif and to reach this end we have followed every path that is open to human industry but we have acted thus vowing an inward vow that when once we had reached our goal we would follow no other path but that which conduces best to the service of God and to the advancement of the holy sea so that the glorious memory that we will do may efface the shameful recollection of the deeds we have already done thus shall we let us hope leave to those who follow us a track where upon if they find not the footsteps of a saint they may at least tread in the path of a true pontif God who has furthered the means claims at our hands the fruits and we desire to discharge to the full this mighty debt that we have encouraged to him unfortunately we refuse to arouse by any deceit the stern rigor of his judgments one soul hindrance could have power to shake our good intentions and that might happen should we feel too keen an interest in your fortunes therefore are we armed beforehand against our love and therefore have we prayed to God beforehand that we stumble not because of you for in the path of favoritism a pope cannot slip without a fall and cannot fall without injury and dishonor to the holy sea even to the end of our life we shall deplore the faults which have brought this experience home to us and may it please God that our uncle Calyxtus of blessed memory bear not this day in purgatory the burden of our sins more heavy alas than his own ah he was rich in every virtue he was full of good intentions but he loved too much his own people and among them he loved me chief and so he suffered this love to lead him blindly astray all this love that he bore to his kindred who to him were too truly flesh of his flesh so that he heaped upon the heads of a few persons only and those perhaps the least worthy benefits which would more fittingly have rewarded the desserts of many in truth he bestowed upon our house treasures that should never have been amassed at the expense of the poor or else should have been turned to a better purpose he severed from the ecclesiastical state already weak and poor the Duchy of Spoleto and other wealthy properties that he might make them thieves to us he confided to our weak hands the vice chancellor ship the vice prefecture of Rome and other most important offices which instead of being monopolized by us should have been conferred on those who are most meritorious moreover there were persons who were raised on our recommendation to posts of great dignity although they had no claims but such as our undue partiality accorded them others were left out with no reason for their failure except the jealousy excited in us by their virtues Rob Ferdinand of Aragon of the Kingdom of Naples Calyxtus kindled the terrible war which by a happy issue only served to increase our fortune and by an unfortunate issue must have brought shame and disaster upon the holy sea lastly by allowing himself to be governed by men who sacrificed public good to their private interests he inflicted an injury not only upon the pontifical throne and his own reputation but what is far worse, far more deadly upon his own conscience and yet a wise judgments of God hard and incessantly though he toiled to establish our fortunes scarcely had he left empty that supreme seat which we occupy today when we were cast down from the pinnacle whereon we had climbed abandoned to the fury of the rabble and the vindictive hatred of the Roman barons who chose to feel offended by our goodness to their enemies thus not only we tell you César not only did we plunge headlong from the summit of our grandeur losing the worldly goods and dignities which our uncle had heaped at our feet but for very peril of our life we were condemned to a voluntary exile we and our friends and in this way only did we contrive to escape the storm which our too good fortune had stirred up against us now this is a plain proof that God mocks at men's designs when they are bad ones how great an error is it for any pope to devote more care to the welfare of a house which cannot last more than a few years than to the glory of the church which will last forever what utter folly for any public man whose position is not inherited and cannot be bequeathed to his posterity to report the edifice of his grandeur on any other basis than the noblest virtue practiced for the general good and to suppose that he can ensure the continuance of his own fortune otherwise than by taking all precautions against sudden world winds which are want to arise in the midst of a calm and to blow up the storm clouds I mean the host of enemies now any one of these enemies who does his worst injuries far more powerful than any help that is at all likely to come from a hundred friends and their lying promises if you and your brothers walk in the path of virtue which we shall now open for you every wish of your heart shall be instantly accomplished but if you take the other path if you have ever hoped that our affection will wink at disorderly life then you will very soon find out that we are truly pope father of the church not father of the family that vicar of Christ as we are we shall act as we deem best for Christendom and not as you deem best for your own private good and now that we have come to a thorough understanding Cesar receive our pontifical blessing and with these words alexander the sixth rose up laid his hands upon his son's head kneeling and then retired into his apartments without inviting him to follow the young man remained a while stupefied at this discourse so utterly unexpected so utterly destructive at one fell blow to his most cherished hopes he rose giddy and staggering like a drunken man and at once leaving the Vatican hurried to his mother whom he had forgotten before but sought now in his despair rose of the notsa possessed all the vices and all the virtues of a Spanish courtesan her devotion to the virgin amounted to superstition her fondness for her children to weakness and her love for Rodrigo to sensuality in the depth of her heart she relied on the influence she had been able to exercise over him for nearly thirty years and like a snake she knew how to envelop him in her coils and the imagination of her glance had lost its power rose anew of old the profound hypocrisy of her lover and thus she was in no difficulty about reassuring César Lucretia was with her mother when César arrived the two young people exchanged a lover-like kiss beneath her very eyes and before he left César had made an appointment for the same evening with Lucretia who was now living apart from her husband Rodrigo paid a pension in her palace of the Via del Pellegrino opposite the Campo de Fiori and there enjoying perfect liberty in the evening at the hour fixed César appeared at Lucretia's but he found there his brother Francesco the two young men had never been friends still as their tastes were very different hatred with Francesco was only the fear of the deer for the hunter César it was the desire for vengeance and that lust for blood which lurks perpetually in the heart of a tiger the two brothers nonetheless embraced one from general kindly feeling the other from hypocrisy but at first sight of one another the sentiment of a double rivalry first in their fathers and then in their sisters good graces had sent the blood mantling to the cheek of Francesco and called a deadly pallor into Césars so the two young men sat on each resolved not to be the first to leave when all at once there was a knock at the door and a rival was announced before whom both of them were bound to give way it was their father Rosa Venoso was quite right in comforting César indeed although Alexander the sixth had repudiated the abuses of nepotism he understood very well the part he played for his benefit by his sons and his daughter for he knew he could always count on Lucrezia and César if not on Francesco and Gofredo in these matters the sister was quite worthy of her brother Lucrezia was wanton in imagination godless by nature ambitious and designing she had a craving for pleasure admiration, honors, money jewels, gorgeous stuffs and magnificent mansions a true Spaniard beneath her golden tresses the courtesan beneath her frank looks she carried the head of a Raphael Madonna and concealed the heart of a Messalina she was dear to Rodrigo both as daughter and as mistress and he saw himself reflected in her as a magic mirror every passion and every vice Lucrezia and César were accordingly the best beloved of his heart and the three composed that diabolical trio which for eleven years occupied the pontifical throne like a mocking parody of the heavenly trinity nothing occurred at first to give the lie to Alexander's professions of principle in the discourse he addressed to César and the first year of his pontificate exceeded all the hopes of Rome at the time of his election he arranged for the provision of stores in the public granaries of the British Liberality that within the memory of man there had never been such astonishing abundance and with a view to extending the general prosperity to the lowest class he organized numerous doles to be paid out of his private fortune which made it possible for the very poor to participate in the general banquet from which they had been excluded for long enough the safety of the city was secured from the very first days of succession by the establishment of a strong and vigilant police force and a tribunal consisting of four magistrates of irreproachable character empowered to prosecute all nocturnal crimes which during the last pontificate had been so common that their very numbers made impunity certain these judges from the first showed a severity which neither the rank nor the purse of the culprit could modify this presented such a great contrast to the corruption of the last reign in the course of which the Vice Chamberlain one day remarked in public when certain people were complaining of the venality of justice God wills not that a sinner die but that he live and pay that the capital of the Christian world felt for one brief moment restored to the happy days of the papacy so at the end of a year Alexander VI had reconquered that spiritual credit so to speak which his predecessors lost his political credit was still to be established if he was to carry out the first part of his gigantic scheme to arrive at this he must employ two agencies alliances and conquests his plan was to begin with alliances the gentleman of Aragon who had married Lucrezia when she was only the daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia was not a man powerful enough either by birth and fortune or by intellect to enter with any sort of effect into the plots and plans of Alexander VI the separation was therefore changed into a divorce and Lucrezia Borgia was now free to remarry Alexander opened up two negotiations at the same time he needed an ally to keep a watch on the policy of the neighboring states John Sforza, grandson of Alexander Sforza the father of the great Francis I Duke of Milan was Lord of Pizarro the geographical situation of this place on the coast on the way between Florence and Venice was wonderfully convenient for his purpose so Alexander first cast an eye upon him and as the interest of both parties was evidently the same it came about that John Sforza was very soon Lucrezia's second husband at the same time the overtures had been made to Alfonso of Aragon, heir presumptive to the crown of Naples to arrange a marriage between Dona Sancia, his illegitimate daughter and Goffredo, the pope's third son but as the old Ferdinand wanted to make the best bargain he could out of it, he dragged on the negotiations as long as possible urging that the two children were not of marriageable age and so highly honored as he felt in such a prospective alliance there was no hurry about the engagement matters stopped at this point to the great annoyance of Alexander VI who saw through this excuse and understood that the postponement was nothing more or less than a refusal accordingly Alexander and Ferdinand remained in status quo equals in the political game both on the watch till events should declare for one or other the turn of fortune was for Alexander Italy though tranquil was instinctively conscious that her calm was nothing but the lull which goes before a storm she was too rich and too happy to escape the envy of other nations as yet the plains of Pisa had not been reduced to marshlands by the combined negligence and jealousy of the Florentine Republic neither had the rich country that lay around Rome been converted into a barren desert by the wars of the Marima and Orsini families not yet had the Marquis of Marignan raised to the ground 120 villages in the Republic of Siena alone and though the Marima was unhealthy it was not yet a poisonous marsh it is a fact that Flavio Blondo writing in 1450 describes Ostia as being merely less flourishing than in the days of the Romans when she had numbered 50,000 inhabitants whereas now in our own day there are barely 30 in all the Italian peasants were perhaps the most blessed on the face of the earth instead of living scattered about the country in solitary fashion they lived in villages that were enclosed by walls as a protection for their harvests, animals and farm implements their houses at any rate those that yet stand proved that they lived in much ordinary townsmen of our day further there was a community of interests and many people collected together in the fortified villages with the result that little by little they attained to an importance never acquired by the bourgeois French peasants or the German serfs they bore arms they had a common treasury they elected their own magistrates and whenever they went out to fight it was to save their common country also commerce was no less flourishing than agriculture Italy at this period was rich in industries silk, wool, hemp, fur, alum, sulphur, bitumen those products which the Italian soil could not bring forth were imported from the Black Sea, from Egypt, from Spain from France and often returned once they came their worth doubled by labour and fine workmanship the rich man brought his merchandise the poor his industry the one was sure of finding workmen the other was sure of finding work art also was by no means behind hand Dante, Giotto, Brunelleschi and Donatello were dead but Ariosto, Raphael, Bramante and Michelangelo were now living Rome, Florence and Naples had inherited the masterpieces of antiquity and the manuscripts of Escalus Sophocles and Euripides had come thanks to the conquest of Muhammad II to rejoin the statues of Zanthippus and the works of Phidias and Praxitellus the principal sovereigns of Italy had come to understand when they let their eyes dwell upon the fat harvests the wealthy villages the flourishing manufactures and the marvelous churches and then compared with them the traditions of fighting men who surrounded them on all sides that some day or other they were destined to become for other countries what America was for Spain a vast gold mine for them to work in consequence of this a league offensive and defensive had been signed about 1480 by Naples, Milan, Florence and Ferrara prepared to take a stand against enemies within or without in Italy outside Ludovico Sforza who was more than anyone else interested in maintaining this league because he was nearest to France once the storm seemed to threaten saw in the new pope's election means not only of strengthening the league but of making its power and unity conspicuous in the sight of Europe End of section 6