Cesare Borgia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
maleborgia) wrote2012-03-12 06:38 pm
maleborgia) wrote2012-03-12 06:38 pm
Entry tags:
Travel Pics: Cesare's Deathday and Photos of Viana
I'll post a link to my journal entry when I get it all written up about my trip to Viana, but here is the short version. Let's just say that Cesare died in the night between March 11th and 12th in 1507, just outside of the little town of Viana.
Viana!
Viana is really proud of having Cesare Borgia be a part of their history. :) Long story short, after falling out of power in Italy he was sent to a couple of different prisons in Spain and eventually broke out and made his way all the way up to Viana, since he was brother-in-law to the man who ruled the region. He became involved in the fighting against Aragon and Castile, as the region didn't want to be absorbed into their kingdom, and was the captain general of their troops and eventually died in battle defending the town from the opposing forces. It turned out that there was an arranged walk in commemoration of his death, and I was going to be there in time to participate in it.
shh, shh, only borgia things now
We followed the main road out through the gate that Cesare road out of that night, according to local history, and then down a dirt road over the hills for about an hour and a half.
Then we reached this:
See it?
Grave!
His grave! Or monument, really, as he's not buried here. Cesare was killed here and the space was marked and recorded for 500 years. After he was killed, stripped, left in a ditch, he was discovered by one of his soldiers and his body was brought back to Viana where it was buried in the church. This was the initial inscription, as far as I know:
Aquí yace en poca tierra
el que toda le temía,
el que la paz y la guerra
en su mano la tenía.
¡Oh tú, que vas a buscar
dignas cosas de loar!
si tú alabar al más digno
aquí para tu camino,
no cures de más andar.
or, roughly translated into English:
Here in a little earth lies
one who everyone feared,
who held in his hand
both peace and war.
Oh, you who go in search
of worthy things to praise!
if you would praise the worthiest
stop your journey here,
there is no need to go any further.
His grave was dug up and his body was moved out into the streets by a later church official, so that people would step on his bones. In the past few years, however, the town reclaimed him as an important part of their history and had him moved yet again to immediately in front of the church doors.
gpoy of Cesare
And that's where he is now! :)
This is the landscape of the area, by the way:
I thought it was really beautiful and looking back on it kept being reminded of this brief scene from canon. I hadn't expected Viana to be, well, much to see at all. It was a great trip, though, and the historyfun I had just made it better. That the sky was so blue was just a surprising and amazing way to top it all off.
Viana!
Viana is really proud of having Cesare Borgia be a part of their history. :) Long story short, after falling out of power in Italy he was sent to a couple of different prisons in Spain and eventually broke out and made his way all the way up to Viana, since he was brother-in-law to the man who ruled the region. He became involved in the fighting against Aragon and Castile, as the region didn't want to be absorbed into their kingdom, and was the captain general of their troops and eventually died in battle defending the town from the opposing forces. It turned out that there was an arranged walk in commemoration of his death, and I was going to be there in time to participate in it.
shh, shh, only borgia things now
We followed the main road out through the gate that Cesare road out of that night, according to local history, and then down a dirt road over the hills for about an hour and a half.
Then we reached this:
See it?
Grave!
His grave! Or monument, really, as he's not buried here. Cesare was killed here and the space was marked and recorded for 500 years. After he was killed, stripped, left in a ditch, he was discovered by one of his soldiers and his body was brought back to Viana where it was buried in the church. This was the initial inscription, as far as I know:
Aquí yace en poca tierra
el que toda le temía,
el que la paz y la guerra
en su mano la tenía.
¡Oh tú, que vas a buscar
dignas cosas de loar!
si tú alabar al más digno
aquí para tu camino,
no cures de más andar.
or, roughly translated into English:
Here in a little earth lies
one who everyone feared,
who held in his hand
both peace and war.
Oh, you who go in search
of worthy things to praise!
if you would praise the worthiest
stop your journey here,
there is no need to go any further.
His grave was dug up and his body was moved out into the streets by a later church official, so that people would step on his bones. In the past few years, however, the town reclaimed him as an important part of their history and had him moved yet again to immediately in front of the church doors.
gpoy of Cesare
And that's where he is now! :)
This is the landscape of the area, by the way:
I thought it was really beautiful and looking back on it kept being reminded of this brief scene from canon. I hadn't expected Viana to be, well, much to see at all. It was a great trip, though, and the historyfun I had just made it better. That the sky was so blue was just a surprising and amazing way to top it all off.