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Cesare Borgia (English: Caesar Borgia) (1476 - March 12, 1507), Duke of Valencia, was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI and brother to Lucrezia Borgia.
Initially, he followed his father into a Church career and was elevated by his father to the rank of Cardinal by the age of 22.
Finding Church rank insufficient to his ambitions, Cesare set out on a campaign of conquest through much of Italy. He employed Leonardo da Vinci as military architect and engineer.
Gravely ill at the time that his father died in 1503, his political enemies were able to seize and imprison him. He was then exiled to Spain and died at the siege of Viana[?] in 1507, at the age of thirty-three.
He appears to have been greatly admired by Niccolo Machiavelli, who used many of his exploits and tactics as examples in The Prince. Some scholars, however, have argued that Machiavelli's praise for Borgia was a parody, to cover up the actual anti-hero of the work, Ferdinand II of Aragon.
Notable fictionalized films about Cesare Borgia include:
- Lucrezia Borgia[?] (Richard Oswald[?], 1926), a silent movie starring Liane Haid and Conrad Veidt[?]
- The Black Duke (1961) starring Cameron Mitchell[?] and Gloria Milland[?].
- Bride of Vengeance (1948) starring Macdonald Carey[?] and Paulette Goddard[?].
- Prince of Foxes (1949) starring Orson Welles and Tyrone Power (from the best-selling book by Samuel Shellabarger).