The intriguers who thought to divine
Cesare's aims, when holding out to him hopes of the Kingdom of Tuscany,
seem to have been dismissed with contempt.
But all logical conclusions from his premises are idle, not because of
the unaccountable genius, which in fact characterized him as little as
it did Wallenstein, but because the means which he employed were not
compatible with any large and consistent course of action. Perhaps,
indeed, in the very excess of his wickedness some prospect of salvation
for the Papacy may have existed even without the accident which put an
end to his rule.
Even if we assume that the destruction of the petty despots in the
pontifical State had gained for him nothing but sympathy, even if we
take as proof of his great projects the army composed of the best
soldiers and officers in Italy, with Leonardo da Vinci as chief
engineer, which followed his fortunes in 1502, other facts nevertheless
bear such a character of unreason that our judgement, like that of
contemporary observers, is wholly at a loss to explain them. One fact
of this kind is the devastation and maltreatment of the newly-won
State, which Cesare still intended to keep and to rule over. Another is
the condition of Rome and of the Curia in the last decades of the
pontificate. Whether it were that father and son had drawn up a formal
list of proscribed persons, or that the murders were resolved upon one
by one, in either case the Borgias were bent on the secret destruction
of all who stood in their way or whose inheritance they coveted.
Pages:
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145