Senigallia massacre

The Senigallia massacre (Italian: La strage di Senigallia) was a series of executions perpetrated on the orders of Cesare Borgia as revenge for the Magione conspiracy, where powerful princes, most of whom were Borgia's former military allies and commanders, plotted to remove him from power to prevent him from gaining too much influence over Italy. ^{[1] [2]} Borgia, having misled his enemies into believing he was seeking reconciliation, lured Oliverotto Euffreducci, Vitellozzo Vitelli, Paolo and Francesco Orsini to a dinner in Senigallia (then Sinigaglia ^[3] ) on 31 December 1502 to discuss military matters. ^[4] At a signal, Borgia's guards captured the four men, with Vitellozzo and Oliverotto being garroted that same night by Michelotto Corella. ^[5] The Orsini brothers were killed a few weeks later on January 18, 1503. Niccolò Machiavelli, who was himself a physical witness to many of the events, chronicled the killings in his works The Description and Il Principe . ^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

Overview

Cesare Borgia's plan to take over the Romagna was not received well by other local Italian lords, who felt uneasy as Borgia was increasing his already dominant empire over central Italy, and he also had a reputation for betrayal even amongst those he allied himself with. This led the rulers, which included Oliverotto Euffreducci, Vitellozzo Vitelli, Gian Paolo Baglioni, Pandolfo Petrucci, Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Giovanni Bentivoglio (through his son Ermes) and the leading members of Orsini family to plot against Borgia with the aim of having him either killed, or at the very least taken prisoner. ^{[10] [7]} Vitelli vowed to kill Borgia personally should he ever be approached by him. ^{[11] [7] [12]} Baglioni warned that if they did not act, they risked being "devoured one by one by the dragon". ^[13] The anti-Borgia league could have defied both Borgia and Pope Alexander VI, but their distrust for one another led to the coalition being divided easily. ^[14]

The capture and execution of the leaders

Commemorative plaque of the massacre

Cesare was able to persuade the leaders to agree to a truce: Paolo Orsini, lured with bribes (corrupted by the duke with gifts and horses), reached an agreement with Borgia, which was key in also convincing Vitellozzo and the other leaders to submit to the request for peace. The execution of the unpopular Remiro de Lorqua also persuaded the conspirators and put them at ease, though it was later revealed that de Lorqua was killed due to him being a participant in several anti-Borgia plots. ^[15] The exceptions included Giampaolo Baglioni, who refused to sign the agreement, Pandolfo Petrucci, whom also did not trust Cesare, Guidobaldo of Montefeltro and Giovanni Bentivoglio, lord of Bologna. Many of the conspirators tried to downplay their role in the conspiracy through sending ostensibly apologetic messages to Cesare. ^{[16] [17]}

The duke, leaving Imola on 10 December, after spending a few days in Cesena, set out for Senigallia (a possession of the Della Rovere family), which he intended to conquer, where a regiment commanded by Andrea Doria was defending the citadel. Paolo Orsini, who had acted as guarantor for Borgia, convinced all the former conspirators to meet on the night of 31 December 1502 for a banquet in the city of Senigallia. ^[18]

Valentino met the leaders and together they entered Senigallia, outside which Oliverotto's few troops were camped. Cesare, noticing Oliverotto's absence, ordered Michelotto Corella, his lieutenant (who had conveniently arranged Borgia's apartment in a palace in the city), to reach him, inviting him to come with him to meet the duke. ^[19] The latter asked his companions to enter with him to prepare plans for the subsequent battles. When they had settled in, Cesare secretly left the room and at his signal the leaders were surrounded by armed men and taken prisoner. ^{[20] [21]} Upon receiving news of the arrests of the conspirators, Machiavelli sent a report to Florence stating "in my view they will not be alive tomorrow morning". ^[22]

Vitellozzo and Oliverotto were killed during the night between 31 December and 1 January by Michelotto Corella, having been seated back to back on a bench, and strangled with a cord. ^[23] After they were killed, Borgia's soldiers pillaged the troops of Oliverotto, and they came close to sacking Senigallia itself, getting so uncontrollable that it even forced Borgia to execute a few disobedient soldiers. Paolo Orsini and the Duke of Gravina were initially held by Borgia at Castel della Pieve, due to the arrest by his father Alexander VI of Cardinal Orsini (supporter of a conspiracy against the Pope and who had hosted the council of Magione), of Rinaldo Orsini and Jacopo Santacroce, a Roman gentleman who supported the Orsini faction (the latter were later released, while Cardinal Orsini was poisoned in Castel Sant'Angelo). After a brief imprisonment, Paolo and the Duke of Gravina were killed on 18 January 1503. ^[24]

Other leaders who participated in the conspiracy but who never trusted Borgia's deceptive reconciliation ruse were nevertheless quickly overthrown. ^[25] Baglioni managed to avoid Duke Valentino's wrath and he fled to Siena with Pandolfo Petrucci, then he took refuge in Lucca, Pisa, then finally Florence. ^{[26] [27]} Pandolfo Petrucci suspected his life was in danger and avoided the meeting, but nevertheless also fled his lordship in Siena in January 1503 in order to avoid Borgia's killers. ^{[28] [29]} He subsequently resided in Lucca.

The killings were celebrated throughout Italy, and also by several European rulers, including the king of France, and it prompted Paolo Giovio (bishop of Nocera) to refer to the act as a "magnificent deception" ("bellissimo inganno"). ^[30]

References

1. Strathern, Paul (29 September 2009). The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior: The Intersecting Lives of da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Borgia and the World They Shaped. Random House Publishing. ISBN   978-0-553-90689-9.
2. Meyer, G. J. (2013). The Borgias: The Hidden History. Bantam Books. p. 349. ISBN   978-0-345-52691-5.
3. Strathern, p. 102
4. Strathern, Paul (6 August 2019). The Borgias. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-64313-183-2.
5. Hibbert, p. 238
6. Machiavelli, Niccolò (September 1998). The Prince: Second Edition. University of Chicago Press. ISBN   978-0-226-50043-0.
7. Franzero, Carlo Maria (1969). Leonardo. W. H. Allen. ISBN   978-0-491-00282-0.
8. Viroli, Maurizio (9 January 2002). Niccolo's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. Macmillan. ISBN   978-0-374-52800-3.
9. Machiavelli: The Chief Works and Others, Vol. I. Duke University Press. 27 July 2013. ISBN   978-0-8223-8157-0.
10. "Magione - Enciclopedia".
11. "Vitèlli, Vitellozzo - Enciclopedia".
12. Strathern, Paul (29 September 2009). The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior: The Intersecting Lives of da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Borgia and the World They Shaped. Random House Publishing. ISBN   978-0-553-90689-9.
13. Strathern, Paul (29 September 2009). The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior: The Intersecting Lives of da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Borgia and the World They Shaped. Random House Publishing. ISBN   978-0-553-90689-9.
14. Meyer, p 349
15. see Meyer, p. 362 and Hibbert, pg. 238
16. Hibbert, Christopher (2008). The Borgias and Their Enemies: 1431-1519. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN   978-0-15-101033-2.
17. Meyer, pg. 358
18. Hibbert, Christopher (2008). The Borgias and Their Enemies: 1431-1519. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN   978-0-15-101033-2.
19. Machiavelli, The Description
20. Machiavelli, The Description
21. "The Project Gutenberg eBook of the Life of Cesare Borgia, by Rafael Sabatini".
22. Hibbert, 238
23. Hibbert, p. 239
24. Hibbert, p. 239
25. Setton, Kenneth M. (1984). The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571. American Philosophical Society. ISBN   978-0-87169-161-3.
26. Hibbert, p. 239
27. "BAGLIONI, Giampaolo - Enciclopedia".
28. "Petrucci, Pandolfo - Enciclopedia".
29. The Borgias: The Hidden History p. 371
30. Bramly, Serge (1992). Leonardo: The Artist and the Man. Michael Joseph. ISBN   978-0-7181-3386-3.

Further reading

• Hibbert, Christopher (2008). The Borgias and Their Enemies: 1431-1519. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN   978-0-15-101033-2.

• Strathern, Paul (29 September 2009). The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior: The Intersecting Lives of da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Borgia and the World They Shaped. Random House Publishing. ISBN   978-0-553-90689-9.

• Meyer, G. J. (2013). The Borgias: The Hidden History. Bantam Books. p. 349. ISBN   978-0-345-52691-5.

• Niccolò Machiavelli, Descrizione del modo tenuto dal Duca Valentino nello ammazzare Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, il Signor Pagolo e il duca di Gravina Orsini (shortened in English as The Description)