Italy
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Cesare Borgia
said
Without any sign of alteration.
— Cesare, in reply to Machiavelli, on not having a reputation similar to that of other lords (December 1502) as quoted by Rafael Sabatini,
Cesare Borgia
Duke of Romagna and former Catholic cardinal
- Fame59.5
- Momentum0.0
- Historical Figures rank#167
Source-basedFalling
- Fame59.5
- Momentum0.0
- Historical Figures rank#167
- Wikipedia88.8K
Lived 1475–1507, aged 32Italy
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Summary
Updated 2026-06-08
The pope's son who quit the Church to become a warlord — and in doing so, gave Machiavelli the blueprint for *The Prince*.
Biography
About
Cesare Borgia was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, installed as a cardinal when his father took the papacy. After his brother's death in 1498, he resigned his Church position and reinvented himself as a condottiero. Around 1500 he fought for King Louis XII of France, occupying Milan and Naples during the Italian Wars while carving out his own state in Central Italy. His father's death cut the run short — he couldn't hold power without that papal backing. But Niccolò Machiavelli had been watching, and Borgia's ruthless, calculated reach for control became the major inspiration for *Th…
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Sourced, dated quotes from Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia
said
This is what I wanted to tell Monsignor di Volterra [Soderini] when he came to Urbino, but I could not entrust him with the secret.
— Cesare to Machiavelli, after telling him why he ordered his men to attack the soldiers of Vitelli and Orsini (December 1502) as quoted by
Cesare Borgia
said
[I] had not forgotten the way to reconquer it [Urbino].
— Cesare to Machiavelli, after the loss of Urbino (October 1502), as quoted by Rafael Sabatini, 'The Life of Cesare Borgia', Chapter XV:
Cesare Borgia
said
The constellations this year seem unfavourable to rebels.
— Cesare to Machiavelli (October 1502), as quoted by Rafael Sabatini, 'The Life of Cesare Borgia', Chapter XV: Machiavelli's Legation
Cesare Borgia
said
Diet of bankrupts... To-day, Messer Paolo is to visit me, and to-morrow there will be the cardinal; and thus they think to befool me, at their pleasure.
— Cesare to Machiavelli about his contempt for the Orsini (October 1502), as quoted by Rafael Sabatini, 'The Life of Cesare Borgia', Chapter
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Fame
Falling59.5
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Historical27.2
Now attention10.4
Source confidence65.0
Completeness75.0
Receipts
Sources
- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
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