What do you think?
Rate this book
The Life of Cesare Borgia
Though best known for sweeping historical epics such as Scaramouche and the Captain Blood series, Rafael Sabatini also dabbled in nonfiction from time to time, usually with wonderful results. This biography of Italian aristocrat and clergyman Cesare Borgia is packed with the kind of vivid descriptive detail that you don’t usually find in musty history books.
272 pages, Paperback
First published August 8, 1912
187 people are currently reading
965 people want to read
About the author
Rafael Sabatini
692 books539 followersRafael Sabatini (1875 - 1950) was an Italian/British writer of novels of romance and adventure. At a young age, Rafael was exposed to many languages. By the time he was seventeen, he was the master of five languages. He quickly added a sixth language - English - to his linguistic collection. After a brief stint in the business world, Sabatini went to work as a writer. He wrote short stories in the 1890s, and his first novel came out in 1902. Sabatini was a prolific writer; he produced a new book approximately every year. He consciously chose to write in his adopted language, because, he said, "all the best stories are written in English. " In all, he produced thirty one novels, eight short story collections, six nonfiction books, numerous uncollected short stories, and a play. He is best known for his world-wide bestsellers: The Sea Hawk (1915), Scaramouche (1921), Captain Blood (1922) and Bellarion the Fortunate (1926). Other famous works by Sabatini are The Lion's Skin (1911), The Strolling Saint (1913) and The Snare (1917).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 21, 2014
Three reasons I read this book. First, my wife is a descendant of Caesare Borgia through Charlotte d’Albret, the 17 year old French woman whom he married at 27, a political arrangement designed to gain support of the French. He lived with her for four months, leaving her pregnant in France, before returning to Italy. They never saw each other again. Personal nformation about distant ancestors is always interesting. Second, I remember as a kid reading some of Sabatini’s historical swashbuckling thrillers such as CAPTAIN BLOOD, SCARAMOUCHE, and THE SEA HAWK (he wrote many others, and there were movie adaptions – Errol Flynn starred in several of them), and I was surprised to come across this factual history of Borgia. Was this the same Sabatini that I remembered? Finally, Borgia served largely as the model for Machiavelli’s THE PRINCE, and I found that of interest.
I mentioned to a friend who was watching the tv series about the Borgias that I was reading a history of Caesare. Good luck, he said, adding that the endless scheming, plots, and counterplots were beginning to wear down his initial interest. To a large extent, that is true of the book as well. 16th century Italy was a confusing stew of small kingdoms and states, none of which trusted any others - for good reason, as alliances shifted constantly. This state of affairs went on internally but was complicated further by French and Spanish invading forces.
It’s difficult to keep up with all this military and political activity, but Sabatini has another agenda as well. He wants to rehabilitate Borgia’s reputation which he claims has been besmirched by four centuries of outrageous lies and distortions that make Borgia out to be an immoral monster who hesitated at nothing, brutal and violent murders as well as the use of poison to remove anyone who got in the way of him and his father, Pope Alexander VI. Add to this, scandalous abuse of wealth and uncontrolled licentiousness, which makes for high drama and entertainment, (no wonder a tv series was made about the Borgias) but is mostly false, claims Sabatini. He admits that Borgia was ruthless and had many faults but insists that he was no worse than his contemporaries. It was a cruel and harsh period of Italian history.
He sees the chief virtue of Borgia as being a master tactician, cunning and clever, at being able to play off one opposing faction against the other, and practiced, he says, not for personal aggrandizement but to strengthen the temporal power of the Catholic Church. He even goes so far as to say that had Borgia succeeded, he would have established a “wise and liberal government.” The church was struggling for its life, and Sabatini sees this attempt at consolidating power as a good thing. Sabatini doesn’t say much about how Machiavelli incorporated Borgia’s actions into his THE PRINCE which is too bad as it would have made the book more interesting.
Borgia’s downfall began with the sudden death of his father, Alexander VI. Borgia himself was very ill and unable to combat the treacherous betrayals of Pope Julius II who feared and hated Caesare. Borgia’s life ended at 32, killed in a battle in Spain.
What’s lacking in the book is an overall perspective. Sabatini is so intent on attacking the defamers of Borgia that he goes too far in the other direction, and that leads him into using exaggerated and flowery language, more appropriate for his swashbuckler efforts than for a serious history.
I mentioned to a friend who was watching the tv series about the Borgias that I was reading a history of Caesare. Good luck, he said, adding that the endless scheming, plots, and counterplots were beginning to wear down his initial interest. To a large extent, that is true of the book as well. 16th century Italy was a confusing stew of small kingdoms and states, none of which trusted any others - for good reason, as alliances shifted constantly. This state of affairs went on internally but was complicated further by French and Spanish invading forces.
It’s difficult to keep up with all this military and political activity, but Sabatini has another agenda as well. He wants to rehabilitate Borgia’s reputation which he claims has been besmirched by four centuries of outrageous lies and distortions that make Borgia out to be an immoral monster who hesitated at nothing, brutal and violent murders as well as the use of poison to remove anyone who got in the way of him and his father, Pope Alexander VI. Add to this, scandalous abuse of wealth and uncontrolled licentiousness, which makes for high drama and entertainment, (no wonder a tv series was made about the Borgias) but is mostly false, claims Sabatini. He admits that Borgia was ruthless and had many faults but insists that he was no worse than his contemporaries. It was a cruel and harsh period of Italian history.
He sees the chief virtue of Borgia as being a master tactician, cunning and clever, at being able to play off one opposing faction against the other, and practiced, he says, not for personal aggrandizement but to strengthen the temporal power of the Catholic Church. He even goes so far as to say that had Borgia succeeded, he would have established a “wise and liberal government.” The church was struggling for its life, and Sabatini sees this attempt at consolidating power as a good thing. Sabatini doesn’t say much about how Machiavelli incorporated Borgia’s actions into his THE PRINCE which is too bad as it would have made the book more interesting.
Borgia’s downfall began with the sudden death of his father, Alexander VI. Borgia himself was very ill and unable to combat the treacherous betrayals of Pope Julius II who feared and hated Caesare. Borgia’s life ended at 32, killed in a battle in Spain.
What’s lacking in the book is an overall perspective. Sabatini is so intent on attacking the defamers of Borgia that he goes too far in the other direction, and that leads him into using exaggerated and flowery language, more appropriate for his swashbuckler efforts than for a serious history.
March 17, 2021
The book of my beloved Cesare. It was a very detailed book of his life and very difficult to read since it has difficult words for non-English speaker.
I bought this book in 2016, but finished just in 2021. And it took me so long to finish this book, because I wanted to enjoy it as long as possible and of course reading was very slow due to difficult grammar. I wish it would be translated to Lithuanian so I could read it again. I give a highest rating, because I found out so much of my favorite historical person. I'm crazily in love with him! And to have this book- is my Holy Grail.
I bought this book in 2016, but finished just in 2021. And it took me so long to finish this book, because I wanted to enjoy it as long as possible and of course reading was very slow due to difficult grammar. I wish it would be translated to Lithuanian so I could read it again. I give a highest rating, because I found out so much of my favorite historical person. I'm crazily in love with him! And to have this book- is my Holy Grail.
August 28, 2022
But I'm always true to you, darlin', in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin', in my way
Cole Porter, Always True to You in My Fashion [From Kiss Me, Kate]
Early on in The Life of Cesare Borgia : Classic Edition With Original Illustrations Kindle Edition
by Rafael Sabatini, the author introduces his hypothesis with a letter detailing a scandalous orgy sponsored by a very senior leader of the Catholic Church. None are de-frocked and mostly it turns into a slightest of sighs of disappointment. This is the Catholic Church In 15th Century Italy. Men are certainly manly including Popes and Bishops. What passes between them includes more than a soupçon of debauchery, scheming, opulent over the top display of riches and an assumed right to be righteous about all manner of violence, while soiling of the commonplace virtues. Sabatini would have us believe that Cesare is a man of his times, only to be judged in the context of his times, and by the way, an all too frequent victim of history. More accused than accuse worthy and more sinned against than given to sinning.
This is perhaps a very difficult argument to make in 2022 than it was when originally written in 100 years ago. Now we feel free to judge anyone by standards and vocabularies unknown in the life time of the person being judged. In this case he is almost a walking proof positive case of testosterone poisoning. Even so the evidence, once cleaned of rumor and fake news it can be argued that the man could not have been as bad as all that.
As best we can say Cesare Borgia began as the illegitimate son of a Cardinal, later to be Pope. By age 15 he had been a student of law and was made Bishop of Paploma. Keep in mind that such titles carried with them hefty incomes. Within a very few years he was also wearing shovel hats for Castres and Elne, and made Abbot of abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa. All of this before his father’s election to Pope, who them elevated his son to Cardinal. His private time would be spent with more than a few women, and many common forms of less than ecclesiastical activities. Even more so this part of his life was dedicated to fighting local wars. All in the name of his father’s earthly goals for his church. Sabatini will argue over and over that the goal of these battles was either in defense of the Church in Rome, or to promote legitimate cases that were bigger than either the Pope or this warrior Cardinal. In any case, by 1498 he resigned the cardinalate, and by 1499 was released of all church titles. Then by the act of the French king, Louis II he became the Duke of Valentinois were he continued his life, such as was left of it, as a professional soldier.
This is bare bone summary of his life. Sabatini would have us believe that it was hardly without precedent for that period of Italian history. Further is it closely researched and backed with careful scholarship.
What will take up much of Sabatini’s book is the huge amount of back-stage maneuvering, literal back stabbing, plotting and counter plotting, wild accusations and systematic proof that most of them are either baseless, nonsense or surmises by sources who were not there, not even alive at the time, or were started by known enemies with well know ulterior motives. Still, the author will admit that at least some of them may be true, if not just as the rumor mongers wanted them to be. People including his brother were murdered in ways mysterious and unsolved. Other sudden and convenient deaths were re told to be certainly the action of a poisons. Sabatini is firmly of the opinion that Borgias were infamously over associated with poisons, and some of the carefully chosen aspects of these hypothetical, rumored poisons were not possible then or now.
Sabatini is just as certain, that the victorious Cesare was just in the dispensing of after the battle justice. Limiting and refusing to his men the traditional rights to plunder and especially harsh on his soldiers accused of rape. Sabatini would have us believe, and he has the research to back it that in peace, Cesare was a just ruler of his lands and was often preferred over forcibly displaced previous ruling houses. By the way the title for the ruler of these middling fiefdoms, was tyrant. Some body gave the term a bad name. Just not Cesare.
It was Sabatini the author of pot boiler, swash buckling fiction that drew me to this book. I had just read his The Shame of Motley, that made me aware of his respect for and complex attitudes towards this historic figure. Sabatini was known for his research, but I had not known he also wrote histories. Hence my choice to read The Life of Cesare Borgia. This book was very popular and frequently re-printed 100 years ago. It was the Borgia, Television spectacle before television was invented. For me it had a tendency to plod. Sabatini covers in more than enough detail a lot of highly detailed events and people in the life of his subject. He will, with savage exactness prove that the charges against Cesare cannot be sustained even if it can not always be disproved. We will read many quotes from many of the great clerical soldier’s enemies that he did something evil, then have the case made, from the documents, how the crime most likely cannot be upheld against the same scheming man. Never will he claim that Cesare was a good man in any high moral sense, but too often Sabatini is ready to make every excuse for his undoubted lack of purity, and too often reminded that his was an age with littler regard for the utility of being saintly.
So every possible excuse for his excesses and way too many denials of the veracity of his enemies.
Being that this was written in an earlier century, there are many exact quotes from private and not so private letters detailing this or that scandal. Rather than scandalize his contemporaries, Sabatini leaves much of this material in its original, Latin, French or whichever was the Vulgate language of the quoted material. We are left with hints that terrible things had been written, but rarely with the accompanying translation. Perhaps a more modern edition of this book would give us less multi-lingual readers the benefit of what was too rough for more tender readers.
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin', in my way
Cole Porter, Always True to You in My Fashion [From Kiss Me, Kate]
Early on in The Life of Cesare Borgia : Classic Edition With Original Illustrations Kindle Edition
by Rafael Sabatini, the author introduces his hypothesis with a letter detailing a scandalous orgy sponsored by a very senior leader of the Catholic Church. None are de-frocked and mostly it turns into a slightest of sighs of disappointment. This is the Catholic Church In 15th Century Italy. Men are certainly manly including Popes and Bishops. What passes between them includes more than a soupçon of debauchery, scheming, opulent over the top display of riches and an assumed right to be righteous about all manner of violence, while soiling of the commonplace virtues. Sabatini would have us believe that Cesare is a man of his times, only to be judged in the context of his times, and by the way, an all too frequent victim of history. More accused than accuse worthy and more sinned against than given to sinning.
This is perhaps a very difficult argument to make in 2022 than it was when originally written in 100 years ago. Now we feel free to judge anyone by standards and vocabularies unknown in the life time of the person being judged. In this case he is almost a walking proof positive case of testosterone poisoning. Even so the evidence, once cleaned of rumor and fake news it can be argued that the man could not have been as bad as all that.
As best we can say Cesare Borgia began as the illegitimate son of a Cardinal, later to be Pope. By age 15 he had been a student of law and was made Bishop of Paploma. Keep in mind that such titles carried with them hefty incomes. Within a very few years he was also wearing shovel hats for Castres and Elne, and made Abbot of abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa. All of this before his father’s election to Pope, who them elevated his son to Cardinal. His private time would be spent with more than a few women, and many common forms of less than ecclesiastical activities. Even more so this part of his life was dedicated to fighting local wars. All in the name of his father’s earthly goals for his church. Sabatini will argue over and over that the goal of these battles was either in defense of the Church in Rome, or to promote legitimate cases that were bigger than either the Pope or this warrior Cardinal. In any case, by 1498 he resigned the cardinalate, and by 1499 was released of all church titles. Then by the act of the French king, Louis II he became the Duke of Valentinois were he continued his life, such as was left of it, as a professional soldier.
This is bare bone summary of his life. Sabatini would have us believe that it was hardly without precedent for that period of Italian history. Further is it closely researched and backed with careful scholarship.
What will take up much of Sabatini’s book is the huge amount of back-stage maneuvering, literal back stabbing, plotting and counter plotting, wild accusations and systematic proof that most of them are either baseless, nonsense or surmises by sources who were not there, not even alive at the time, or were started by known enemies with well know ulterior motives. Still, the author will admit that at least some of them may be true, if not just as the rumor mongers wanted them to be. People including his brother were murdered in ways mysterious and unsolved. Other sudden and convenient deaths were re told to be certainly the action of a poisons. Sabatini is firmly of the opinion that Borgias were infamously over associated with poisons, and some of the carefully chosen aspects of these hypothetical, rumored poisons were not possible then or now.
Sabatini is just as certain, that the victorious Cesare was just in the dispensing of after the battle justice. Limiting and refusing to his men the traditional rights to plunder and especially harsh on his soldiers accused of rape. Sabatini would have us believe, and he has the research to back it that in peace, Cesare was a just ruler of his lands and was often preferred over forcibly displaced previous ruling houses. By the way the title for the ruler of these middling fiefdoms, was tyrant. Some body gave the term a bad name. Just not Cesare.
It was Sabatini the author of pot boiler, swash buckling fiction that drew me to this book. I had just read his The Shame of Motley, that made me aware of his respect for and complex attitudes towards this historic figure. Sabatini was known for his research, but I had not known he also wrote histories. Hence my choice to read The Life of Cesare Borgia. This book was very popular and frequently re-printed 100 years ago. It was the Borgia, Television spectacle before television was invented. For me it had a tendency to plod. Sabatini covers in more than enough detail a lot of highly detailed events and people in the life of his subject. He will, with savage exactness prove that the charges against Cesare cannot be sustained even if it can not always be disproved. We will read many quotes from many of the great clerical soldier’s enemies that he did something evil, then have the case made, from the documents, how the crime most likely cannot be upheld against the same scheming man. Never will he claim that Cesare was a good man in any high moral sense, but too often Sabatini is ready to make every excuse for his undoubted lack of purity, and too often reminded that his was an age with littler regard for the utility of being saintly.
So every possible excuse for his excesses and way too many denials of the veracity of his enemies.
Being that this was written in an earlier century, there are many exact quotes from private and not so private letters detailing this or that scandal. Rather than scandalize his contemporaries, Sabatini leaves much of this material in its original, Latin, French or whichever was the Vulgate language of the quoted material. We are left with hints that terrible things had been written, but rarely with the accompanying translation. Perhaps a more modern edition of this book would give us less multi-lingual readers the benefit of what was too rough for more tender readers.
June 23, 2013
Since there are now a couple of cable series about the Borgias, The Borgias on Showtime and Borgia: Faith and Fear, I have had a look at what most of the world thinks about the Borgias. Everyone knows that Lucrezia Borgia was a poisoner without peer and I seem to remember she was involved The Shaggy Dog, something about a painting of her and a ring that turned a teenage boy into a shaggy dog and eventually into a shaggy D.A., but that is as far as my knowledge went.
Cesare Borgia intrigued me, not only because he was a handsome and charismatic man, at least on The Borgias, but because he died so young. Yes, I do surf Wikipedia while watching shows because I want to know the truth. I did it quite often while caught up in The Tudors. I chose The Life of Cesare Borgia by Rafael Sabatini and I'm glad I did -- mostly. There was so much about Roderigo (Pope Alexander VI) than about Cesare, but Cesare was in there.
Sabatini goes to great lengths to provide proof for his history and dispells the myths and bad press the Borgias have had at the hands of historians over the centuries. Someone died and immediately, even if the death was a month or more later and the Borgias far from the scene of the death on their own business, the murdered was slain by the Borgias' special poison. Right, get that one through a court of law, except there was no court of law and no charges were brought, just a lot of innuendo and carping.
Cesare Borgia was a handsome, athletic, well formed man with tons of charisma, much like his father, Roderigo. He chafed at being a cardinal and gave up the religious life for a life of the warrior, the position his brother held until he died. Roderigo meant Cesare for the church and Juan for soldiering, and he mostly got his way, except in the end with Cesare.
Sabatini lays all the accusations of murder to rest, as much as possible, and paints a very different picture of Cesare and the rest of the Borgias. Cesare was a man of quick intelligence and a master of warfare. The people loved him and many of his conquests welcomed him with open arms and the keys to the cities. He helped his father bring most of Italy back under the control of the papal state and did so with dispatch and ingenuity. He wasn't above mercy and many of the tyrants he overthrew were allowed to leave the area with their portable wealth and goods, except in a couple of cases. The Life of Cesare Borgia is a well researched look at the Borgias that puts the family and their actions in the perspective of the times and shows that they indeed were good people whose ambitions led them to the highest levels of society with a trail of jealous and vengeful colleagues and detractors bent on destroying the Spanish pope and his family.
I found The Life of Cesare heavy on proof and history and a bit light on anything more than fact about Cesare. This is a book for those interested in the history of the time and its people who aren't looking for a book with lots of action and characterization. These are the facts, just the facts, with strong proofs that paint a very different picture of the family and Cesare. I find I like Cesare and all the Borgias much better even with my gut instinct that the Borgias have been the victims of a centuries long smear campaign.
Cesare Borgia intrigued me, not only because he was a handsome and charismatic man, at least on The Borgias, but because he died so young. Yes, I do surf Wikipedia while watching shows because I want to know the truth. I did it quite often while caught up in The Tudors. I chose The Life of Cesare Borgia by Rafael Sabatini and I'm glad I did -- mostly. There was so much about Roderigo (Pope Alexander VI) than about Cesare, but Cesare was in there.
Sabatini goes to great lengths to provide proof for his history and dispells the myths and bad press the Borgias have had at the hands of historians over the centuries. Someone died and immediately, even if the death was a month or more later and the Borgias far from the scene of the death on their own business, the murdered was slain by the Borgias' special poison. Right, get that one through a court of law, except there was no court of law and no charges were brought, just a lot of innuendo and carping.
Cesare Borgia was a handsome, athletic, well formed man with tons of charisma, much like his father, Roderigo. He chafed at being a cardinal and gave up the religious life for a life of the warrior, the position his brother held until he died. Roderigo meant Cesare for the church and Juan for soldiering, and he mostly got his way, except in the end with Cesare.
Sabatini lays all the accusations of murder to rest, as much as possible, and paints a very different picture of Cesare and the rest of the Borgias. Cesare was a man of quick intelligence and a master of warfare. The people loved him and many of his conquests welcomed him with open arms and the keys to the cities. He helped his father bring most of Italy back under the control of the papal state and did so with dispatch and ingenuity. He wasn't above mercy and many of the tyrants he overthrew were allowed to leave the area with their portable wealth and goods, except in a couple of cases. The Life of Cesare Borgia is a well researched look at the Borgias that puts the family and their actions in the perspective of the times and shows that they indeed were good people whose ambitions led them to the highest levels of society with a trail of jealous and vengeful colleagues and detractors bent on destroying the Spanish pope and his family.
I found The Life of Cesare heavy on proof and history and a bit light on anything more than fact about Cesare. This is a book for those interested in the history of the time and its people who aren't looking for a book with lots of action and characterization. These are the facts, just the facts, with strong proofs that paint a very different picture of the family and Cesare. I find I like Cesare and all the Borgias much better even with my gut instinct that the Borgias have been the victims of a centuries long smear campaign.
June 13, 2018
I don’t think Sabatini’s work is as whitewashing as I thought it would be, by reading the reviews. Whitewashing for me is more like Meyer’s bio or even Lev's bio on Caterina Sforza. Sabatini knows how to be fair, at least with the Borgias, without excusing every little bad deed they did. The thing is though, his book is more of a political book of sorts. He doesn’t present to us much about Cesare as a person, and when he does, it must be said that, it is his view on the man and in my opinion it is a flawed and simplistic one.
Surely Cesare could be a cold, pragmatic man. If he didn't had that ability, we wouldn't be reading about him today because he wouldn't have lived long enough to have left a mark on history. But Sabatini exaggerates. Especially when it comes to his relationships with women, he says one thing, but there are actually proof against his statement that "women play no part in his history", and you can find it on his own bio and other bios as well.
On the whole, he mainly presents him to us as the politician, If you want to know the intimate details about Cesare, or even a more nuanced and humanized view on him, and you don’t care much about the political side, then this book might be boring and dry. Personally I love the politics, so I enjoyed. But it definitely has its flaws and is not a book for everyone or beginner’s book on the Borgias either.
I must also say that I found his writing is amazing and entertaining. his sardonic sense of humour in particular, kind of matched with my own. His sources are extensively stated throughout the book in a very organized manner, and he does tries to discern myth from truth, which when it comes to the Borgia family it is both a difficult and necessary task for the historian to do.
Surely Cesare could be a cold, pragmatic man. If he didn't had that ability, we wouldn't be reading about him today because he wouldn't have lived long enough to have left a mark on history. But Sabatini exaggerates. Especially when it comes to his relationships with women, he says one thing, but there are actually proof against his statement that "women play no part in his history", and you can find it on his own bio and other bios as well.
On the whole, he mainly presents him to us as the politician, If you want to know the intimate details about Cesare, or even a more nuanced and humanized view on him, and you don’t care much about the political side, then this book might be boring and dry. Personally I love the politics, so I enjoyed. But it definitely has its flaws and is not a book for everyone or beginner’s book on the Borgias either.
I must also say that I found his writing is amazing and entertaining. his sardonic sense of humour in particular, kind of matched with my own. His sources are extensively stated throughout the book in a very organized manner, and he does tries to discern myth from truth, which when it comes to the Borgia family it is both a difficult and necessary task for the historian to do.
January 18, 2009
Sabatini does not takes sides but faces off with the facts presenting a vary unbiased and realistic view of one of the worlds most infamous families.
December 4, 2017
Meestal als er over de Borgia's geschreven wordt, worden vooral hun wandaden en tirannie in de verf gezet. Deze auteur echter is duidelijk een andere mening toegedaan. Hij legt er dikwijls de nadruk op dat veel slechts wat over de Borgia's geschreven wordt, niet met bewijzen gestaafd kan worden, en dus als roddels beschouwd kan worden. De dingen die wel bewezen zijn, beargumenteerd hij veelal als zijnde niet abnormaal voor het tijdperk en de plaats. Zoals het feit dat Paus Alexander XI Borgia verschillende kinderen had, onwettig dus. Dan haalt hij aan dat zowel de vorige als latere pausen ook minaressen en kinderen hadden.
Ik vond dat dit boek een verfrissende kijk bood op de overgeleverde geschiedenis, en de lezer laat inzien dat veel gerelativeerd kan worden. Fijn boek.
Ik vond dat dit boek een verfrissende kijk bood op de overgeleverde geschiedenis, en de lezer laat inzien dat veel gerelativeerd kan worden. Fijn boek.
June 15, 2021
Best known for his swashbuckling adventures, Sabatini here turns his hand to nonfiction. More or less. Refreshing as it is to read a book about Cesare Borgia that isn't heavily biased against the entire family and gives credence to every spurious disparaging rumour that ever circulated about them, this one is so heavily biased in favour that it too should be taken with more than a pinch of salt.
January 22, 2013
This books is a good reminder why most people hate biographies. Written in 1913, this is a vast effort to rehabilitate Cesare Borgia and his family. I give it three stars for the quantity (if not quality) of research and primary sources used to scrape away centuries of innuendo, hypotheses and reiterated falsehoods that have varnished the Borgias. That said, the author is too insistent on white washing that which is dark and malevolent in the Borgia's grab for power and their complcity in murder, betrayals and scurrilous deeds. From a sociological perspective, it is interesting how willing Sabatini is to forgive them for their immoral behaviors by "blaming" the times in which they lived. Quite frankly, that is the type of thinking that allowed the many horrors of humanity (Roman blood sport, stake-burning for heresy, Nazism) to survive and flourish and mar human history.
I got about 75% through and stopped. I was glad to round out my knowledge of the early Borgia ascent as the Hibbert book which I read was secondary sources and did not probe for accuracy. I am familiar enough with the later years that I was done being hectored by Sabatini.
I got about 75% through and stopped. I was glad to round out my knowledge of the early Borgia ascent as the Hibbert book which I read was secondary sources and did not probe for accuracy. I am familiar enough with the later years that I was done being hectored by Sabatini.
December 25, 2014
I see most comments here are made by people who seem to think that the televised version is the accurate historiography. The book was researched and presented well. As a historian I enjoyed the book immensely. Bravo!
December 29, 2025
Cesare Borgia (and his whole immediate family for that matter) has long been one of the favourite subjects of historical dramas, from Victor Hugo’s famous play Lucrezia Borgia to video game series, often portrayed in a heinous light. Cesare has widely been made out to be, in the English-speaking world anyway, the devil incarnate who committed fratricide, incest, shunned papal power, and engaged in all manner of sinful acts, making him the perfect villain for any writer. Even in the 1930s, when this book was first penned, this was a widely known fact.
What the author of this biography attempts to do, then, is shed some light on the man himself beyond the “devil” legend built up by volumes of fictional dramas. The author first offers some insight into the Borgia family history, explaining the origin of the many family rivalries that would help define Cesare’s life, namely with respect to the papacy of Callixtus III and the so-called “Spanish invasion” of Rome that followed Callictus’ nepotism, and the rise of Cesare’s father, Rodriego, which placed the family at odds with the Orsini and della Rovere, among others.
By examining these long-standing family rivalries as the background for many of the most serious accusations brought against Cesare and the Borgia family, the author offers a contribution to analysing the weight of each particular accusation, showing how many of the accusations were born out of political convenience rather than factual evidence, with some accusations coming about only years after this or that incident when it was necessary to portray Cesare in a negative light. Rarely, say for when there is no actual evidence whatsoever to base the accusations of Cesare upon, does the author actually outright say that this or that accusation is outright false, but he does offer some insight into where the accusations came from and who would’ve benefited from defaming Cesare in such a way, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions from the evidence (or lack thereof!).
Recognising the clear pitfalls of relying on such unreliable sources as Giuliano della Rovere (Pope Julius II) and the Orsini family, preferring to rely on more objective first-hand sources and papal documents, Mr. Sabatini offers what is quite possibly the most objective biography of Cesare Borgia in the English language. Unconcerned with speculating on gossip or trying to create some “devil incarnate” portrait which family and religious rivalries compelled many other biographers and drama writers to do, he offers only what can be properly confirmed about the Borgia family.
In the opening of this book, the author states clearly that his intention is not to “whitewash” Cesare or anyone else, only to present a sober picture of the man and put him in the context of his time. He does not gawk at Cesare’s actions or try to act as judge, only to strip away the hearsay and put the man on equal footing with his peers. It is for this reason, and for the great service in helping unmask much of the prejudiced thinking around the Borgias as this uniquely evil bunch, that I hold this book in high esteem. Of course, no work is free from bias, and perhaps the author’s aim of stripping away the gossip-work does override his objectivity at times, but the author does do his absolute best to present the facts and leave the reader to their own conclusions, which is respectable.
What the author of this biography attempts to do, then, is shed some light on the man himself beyond the “devil” legend built up by volumes of fictional dramas. The author first offers some insight into the Borgia family history, explaining the origin of the many family rivalries that would help define Cesare’s life, namely with respect to the papacy of Callixtus III and the so-called “Spanish invasion” of Rome that followed Callictus’ nepotism, and the rise of Cesare’s father, Rodriego, which placed the family at odds with the Orsini and della Rovere, among others.
By examining these long-standing family rivalries as the background for many of the most serious accusations brought against Cesare and the Borgia family, the author offers a contribution to analysing the weight of each particular accusation, showing how many of the accusations were born out of political convenience rather than factual evidence, with some accusations coming about only years after this or that incident when it was necessary to portray Cesare in a negative light. Rarely, say for when there is no actual evidence whatsoever to base the accusations of Cesare upon, does the author actually outright say that this or that accusation is outright false, but he does offer some insight into where the accusations came from and who would’ve benefited from defaming Cesare in such a way, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions from the evidence (or lack thereof!).
Recognising the clear pitfalls of relying on such unreliable sources as Giuliano della Rovere (Pope Julius II) and the Orsini family, preferring to rely on more objective first-hand sources and papal documents, Mr. Sabatini offers what is quite possibly the most objective biography of Cesare Borgia in the English language. Unconcerned with speculating on gossip or trying to create some “devil incarnate” portrait which family and religious rivalries compelled many other biographers and drama writers to do, he offers only what can be properly confirmed about the Borgia family.
In the opening of this book, the author states clearly that his intention is not to “whitewash” Cesare or anyone else, only to present a sober picture of the man and put him in the context of his time. He does not gawk at Cesare’s actions or try to act as judge, only to strip away the hearsay and put the man on equal footing with his peers. It is for this reason, and for the great service in helping unmask much of the prejudiced thinking around the Borgias as this uniquely evil bunch, that I hold this book in high esteem. Of course, no work is free from bias, and perhaps the author’s aim of stripping away the gossip-work does override his objectivity at times, but the author does do his absolute best to present the facts and leave the reader to their own conclusions, which is respectable.
January 15, 2020
The first half mentions Cesar very little but the 2nd half contains more and is interesting in the life he leads as a soldier, gives a different view to what we usually hear or read
August 7, 2013
Author's Thesis/Purpose in Writing the Biography:
To whitewash is to overlay, to mask the original fabric under a superadded surface. Too much superadding has there been here already. By your leave, all shall be stripped away. The grime shall be removed and the foulness of inference, of surmise, of deliberate and cold-blooded malice, with which centuries of scribblers, idle, fantastic, sensational, or venal, have coated the substance of known facts. But the grime shall be preserved and analysed side by side with the actual substance, that you may judge if out of zeal to remove the former any of the latter shall have been included in the scraping. (13)
Favorite quotes:
Life is an ephemeral business, and we waste too much of it in judging where it would beseem us better to accept, that we ourselves may come to be accepted by such future ages as may pursue the study of us. (5)
Mind being the seat of the soul, and literature being the expression of the mind, literature, it follows, is the soul of an age, the surviving and immortal part of it; (6)
Without entering here into a dissertation upon the historical romance, it may be said that in proper hands it has been and should continue to be one of the most valued and valuable expressions of the literary art. To render and maintain it so, however, it is necessary that certain well-defined limits should be set upon the licence which its writers are to enjoy; it is necessary that the work should be honest work; that preparation for it should be made by a sound, painstaking study of the period to be represented, to the end that a true impression may first be formed and then conveyed. Thus, considering how much more far-reaching is the novel than any other form of literature, the good results that must wait upon such endeavours are beyond question. The neglect of them—the distortion of character to suit the romancer's ends, the like distortion of historical facts, the gross anachronisms arising out of a lack of study, have done much to bring the historical romance into disrepute. (10)
To whitewash is to overlay, to mask the original fabric under a superadded surface. Too much superadding has there been here already. By your leave, all shall be stripped away. The grime shall be removed and the foulness of inference, of surmise, of deliberate and cold-blooded malice, with which centuries of scribblers, idle, fantastic, sensational, or venal, have coated the substance of known facts. But the grime shall be preserved and analysed side by side with the actual substance, that you may judge if out of zeal to remove the former any of the latter shall have been included in the scraping. (13)
Favorite quotes:
Life is an ephemeral business, and we waste too much of it in judging where it would beseem us better to accept, that we ourselves may come to be accepted by such future ages as may pursue the study of us. (5)
Mind being the seat of the soul, and literature being the expression of the mind, literature, it follows, is the soul of an age, the surviving and immortal part of it; (6)
Without entering here into a dissertation upon the historical romance, it may be said that in proper hands it has been and should continue to be one of the most valued and valuable expressions of the literary art. To render and maintain it so, however, it is necessary that certain well-defined limits should be set upon the licence which its writers are to enjoy; it is necessary that the work should be honest work; that preparation for it should be made by a sound, painstaking study of the period to be represented, to the end that a true impression may first be formed and then conveyed. Thus, considering how much more far-reaching is the novel than any other form of literature, the good results that must wait upon such endeavours are beyond question. The neglect of them—the distortion of character to suit the romancer's ends, the like distortion of historical facts, the gross anachronisms arising out of a lack of study, have done much to bring the historical romance into disrepute. (10)
May 31, 2014
Lately, I've been interested in middle-age European history, a truly interesting time in European. After seeing the internationally produced TV series "Borgia" (not to be confused with the crappy Showtime series called "The Borgias") I decided to seek a historically accurate account of the fascinating life and times of Cesare Borgai, the son of Pope Alexander V! during the dawn of the Renaissance.
The politics of those times are complex, and the author takes care in attempting to separate fact from the many rumors and fiction that arose around these historic characters. It was a crazy time for Western civilization. How can the story of a man who rubbed elbows with the like of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and was the model for Machiavelli's "Prince" not be an interesting one?
Although written in the 1920's, I found the book to be a good read, and this factual account of the saga of the Borgias to be as dramatic and fascinating as the more fictionalized TV shows done in their name.
There's so much interesting history that we have never been taught in school and it's sad that fictionalized accounts are so inaccurate when the actual history of what went on during those times was fascinating enough.
I recommend this book for history buffs of the Renaissance period, and of the politics surrounding the Catholic church during those times.
ps. the kindle version is free
The politics of those times are complex, and the author takes care in attempting to separate fact from the many rumors and fiction that arose around these historic characters. It was a crazy time for Western civilization. How can the story of a man who rubbed elbows with the like of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and was the model for Machiavelli's "Prince" not be an interesting one?
Although written in the 1920's, I found the book to be a good read, and this factual account of the saga of the Borgias to be as dramatic and fascinating as the more fictionalized TV shows done in their name.
There's so much interesting history that we have never been taught in school and it's sad that fictionalized accounts are so inaccurate when the actual history of what went on during those times was fascinating enough.
I recommend this book for history buffs of the Renaissance period, and of the politics surrounding the Catholic church during those times.
ps. the kindle version is free
May 31, 2011
I finally finished it! :) It took me the better part of the month but I got through it.
I have to be honest, it was not an easy read. Informative and interesting, very much. But at times, it was slow and very wordy. Well, it was written in 1912-ish so I have to consider the style during that time. I do like History and Historical Fiction - and lately, the Borgia family, so this was right up my alley.
The book talks about Cesare Borgia, his life, his work, and what was said about him. Sabatini quoted many Borgia historians whether they were pro- or anti-Borgia. At parts, the author praised Cesare Borgia's appearance and wit. It took every contradiction to Cesare's character like a grain of salt, giving him the benefit of the doubt. But the book itself never blatantly took sides. It never gave a piece of information that was not backed up by quotes or historical proof. The author did a great job compiling everything and making it concise.
It was new to me to read a book about the Borgias that did not dwell heavily on either Rodrigo or Lucrezia. Cesare Borgia is my favorite member of that family and he really was a fascinating man.
I have to be honest, it was not an easy read. Informative and interesting, very much. But at times, it was slow and very wordy. Well, it was written in 1912-ish so I have to consider the style during that time. I do like History and Historical Fiction - and lately, the Borgia family, so this was right up my alley.
The book talks about Cesare Borgia, his life, his work, and what was said about him. Sabatini quoted many Borgia historians whether they were pro- or anti-Borgia. At parts, the author praised Cesare Borgia's appearance and wit. It took every contradiction to Cesare's character like a grain of salt, giving him the benefit of the doubt. But the book itself never blatantly took sides. It never gave a piece of information that was not backed up by quotes or historical proof. The author did a great job compiling everything and making it concise.
It was new to me to read a book about the Borgias that did not dwell heavily on either Rodrigo or Lucrezia. Cesare Borgia is my favorite member of that family and he really was a fascinating man.
January 4, 2016
This is one of he most thorough biographies of Cesare Borgia I have read in respect to the fact that it does not present occurrences as unquestionable facts but weighs the accounts of several chroniclers in order to discern the truth of the matter. By the same token, however, Sabatini is revealed throughout the work to be ardently infatuated with Borgia, and his bias is quite evident. Where other biographers were willing to admit that Cesare, although accused of many atrocities during his short life, was at least responsible of the murder of his brother in law, Alfonso of Aragon, Sabatini instead spends more time trying to blame the murder on the other leading families of Rome, such as the ever-hostile Orsinis. In the end, Sabitini portrays Cesare as a product of his environment, a ruthless and immoral cinquecentist. Because of the innate lawlessness of fifteenth century Itay, Sabitini argues that Cesare cannot be condemned for his crimes by the twenty first (or twentieth, when the book was published) century reader. It seems as if the author's purpose here is to paint Cesare Borgia as a saint when in reality he is anything but.
November 6, 2014
Rafael Sabatini's obvious crush on Cesare Borgia has produced an often interesting but also frequently hilarious work of historical rehabilitation. Some of what seems risible to a modern reader is a product of the book's age (especially the adorable attempts to shield innocent eyes by quoting dirty passages in untranslated Latin) but the majority of the mirth comes from a complete, fervid partiality that goes under the guise of being impartial simply because all previous accounts had leaned so far in the opposite direction. Notably, those crimes that Sabatini must admit the Borgias committed, he often dismisses as typical for the times - only to excoriate those same crimes (notably treason, nepotism, and simony) when they are committed by the house's enemies. To take a page from Sabatini's own argument, this probably seemed like a reasonable tack to take in a context where all the existing histories were slanted hard to the contrary, but for a modern reader who has a variety of portrayals of Borgia to choose from, the special pleading can only lead to eye-rolling.
August 12, 2016
Très ardu à lire, l'auteur semble s'adresser davantage aux historiens qu'au grand public. Ce livre m'intéressait car la vie de Cesare Borgia m'intéresse. Je me suis retrouvée à lire un bloc de texte dont la 1ere moitié ne parlait que du père, et où les arguments massues sont cités en langue d'origine: l'italien et le latin. Sans traduction.
Sabatini semble avoir écrit ce livre pour rétablir la réputation de Cesare, ce qui fait que plutôt que de raconter sa vie, il s'applique à réfuter les arguments de ses collègues historiens. On passe donc plus de temps à lire sur les sources que sur les événements eux-mêmes. Sans compter qu'à force d'alterner entre les noms d'historiens qui me sont inconnus et les noms des contemporains de Cesare (qui me sont tout aussi inconnus), je n'arrivais plus du tout à situer si l'on parlait de Cesare ou d'une source.
Sabatini semble avoir écrit ce livre pour rétablir la réputation de Cesare, ce qui fait que plutôt que de raconter sa vie, il s'applique à réfuter les arguments de ses collègues historiens. On passe donc plus de temps à lire sur les sources que sur les événements eux-mêmes. Sans compter qu'à force d'alterner entre les noms d'historiens qui me sont inconnus et les noms des contemporains de Cesare (qui me sont tout aussi inconnus), je n'arrivais plus du tout à situer si l'on parlait de Cesare ou d'une source.
May 15, 2010
This is a decent book on the Borgias, but like every other book about them, it must be read very critically. The author would have you believe he is not an apologist, when he clearly demonstrates that he is. At one moment he will present, say, Burchard's Diarium as an almost unimpeachable source. At the next, he declares it wildly inaccurate - when it says something negative about his Valentino. A reasonably intelligent person will not have any difficulty seeing the logical fallacies here, like when Sabatini says that a leader cannot be both feared and loved. Everyone loves a badass, especially a brilliant one. But he's not anymore full of it than the Borgia detractors, and the book is well-written and worth reading for his point of view no matter how skewed it is.
August 27, 2014
Couldn't get past first few pages of this book
Couldn't get past first few pages of this book
From the outset of the book (especially in the Preface), the author consistently defends members of the Borgia family by arguing that they were justified in their horrendous actions, because everyone at the time was doing it too. What utter nonsense and bunk. There were plenty of good men and women living at the time in all phases of that society, true Renaissance giants.
To use the author's metric, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, and Gengise Khan would have been justified in collective destruction. This author bay needs a moral intervention. Evil is evil irrespective of context. And hold otherwise is the height of moral bankruptcy.
Couldn't get past first few pages of this book
From the outset of the book (especially in the Preface), the author consistently defends members of the Borgia family by arguing that they were justified in their horrendous actions, because everyone at the time was doing it too. What utter nonsense and bunk. There were plenty of good men and women living at the time in all phases of that society, true Renaissance giants.
To use the author's metric, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, and Gengise Khan would have been justified in collective destruction. This author bay needs a moral intervention. Evil is evil irrespective of context. And hold otherwise is the height of moral bankruptcy.
February 18, 2013
Sabatini is, as always, a delightful and compelling writer, but here he is somewhat undone by facts. It must have been a Herculean task to try to rehabilitate Cesare Borgia, and Sabatini gives it his all. Even to the point of being annoying. As other reviewers have noted, the book is less about Cesare than how previous biographers got his story wrong. Sabatini is so intent on propping up his man that he becomes the thing he criticizes. Interesting, for awhile, but tedious ultimately. Back to Sabatini's fiction, where he can do no wrong.
November 2, 2011
Obviously this is not a book that appeals to a wide audience, but - if you are at all interested in Cesare Borgia, Machiavelli, this time period, political theory... like I said, it isn't for everyone. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is the translation. It was a distraction from the plot. A better version (if it exists) would be phenomenal. This has added a few other non-fiction reads of the same general topic to my to-read list.
March 19, 2012
On the whole, I enjoy Sabatini's style of writing, and this book is well-researched (no surprise there). However, it seems that the book is mistitled, as the subject is less Cesare's life and more where other of his biographers have gone wrong--not to mention, Cesare doesn't make a substantive appearance until the book is one-third finished (until that point, it is entirely about his father--a significant player, yes, but 1/3-book-worth?).
May 7, 2013
OMG! I made it all the way through. I have read Sabatini's fiction and enjoyed it. This, however, was only enjoyable for about the last 30 pages. Sabatini was a proponent of the Borgias and spends most of the book defending them from their critics. He also includes quotes in their original language (which I cannot read). While I gave the book one star, I think I deserve five for finishing it. (Sabatini is dead so I can't hurt his feelings.)
December 8, 2015
Utterly confident in its brave defense of a notorious character, The Life of Cesare Borgia is a must read for any serious scholar of the period or a fan of the Borgias.
Sabatini pulls off a polemic against the historians who disparage the Borgias because he relies on evidence and a superior understanding of the human psyche, also bolstered by a few truths of Machiavelli.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and hope to read more courageous efforts by biographers in the future.
Sabatini pulls off a polemic against the historians who disparage the Borgias because he relies on evidence and a superior understanding of the human psyche, also bolstered by a few truths of Machiavelli.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and hope to read more courageous efforts by biographers in the future.
February 21, 2016
Сабатини автор романтических приключений. Определенно не историк. Такого мимими про Борджиа я еще не читала. Хотя, он довольно обоснованно указывает на явные нестыковки в исторических источниках и подвергает сомнению те же факты, которые вызывали у меня здоровый скептицизм. Поэтому впечатление двоякое, с одной стороны довольно детальное исследование, с другой сплошная романтика "плаща и кинжала". В целом - приятно и увлекательно. Если воспринимать не критично.
January 23, 2013
While there is a lot of good history in this book, it is written as more of an argument than a history. Sabatini criticizes much of the previous historical work that shines a dark light on the life of the 16th century Borgias. While most of his points seem to be valid, and he includes many references his intent appears to be to refute instead of inform.
July 4, 2015
The truth is refreshing
this book is excellent because it cuts all the fake history and gossip out of the true cesera Georgia. it still examines the gossip and rumours and tells you where they came from and why. I love how he cuts to shreds, with the undeniable truth ,the so called "historians" who so falsely represented Cesera
this book is excellent because it cuts all the fake history and gossip out of the true cesera Georgia. it still examines the gossip and rumours and tells you where they came from and why. I love how he cuts to shreds, with the undeniable truth ,the so called "historians" who so falsely represented Cesera
September 20, 2024
Excellent read in history, fascinating subject, presented as he was found by the author, a product of his times rather than an innovator. Sabatini obviously had a prejudice towards the subject, continously describing historical errors in other writings, which he believes were written solely for their tittaler value.
Want to read
May 24, 2011I've only read Sabatini's swashbuckling fiction before--I can only imagine that his bio of Cesare Borgia will be epic! (if, perhaps, a touch more romanticized than is strictly proper in a "serious history"...)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews