depraved, thieves, intriguing, corrupters and, as if that were not enough, patent poisoners. On behalf of Borgia, a reputation is as detestable as well established. Considered the worst breed of the Renaissance, this wealthy family of Spanish origin took advantage of the degradation of the customs of the papacy to take hand on Rome at the end of the 15th e century. His favorite weapon? The poison, the fastest average, if not the most discreet, to eliminate rivals or cardinal enriched and appropriate their goods.
son of Pope Alexander VI, elected in 1492 after wearing the conclave – Nothing very new, at the time -, César Borgia, Cardinal de Valence (at age 7 years old, he had become canon of the city cathedral), has a fairly beautiful collection of poison rings. A weapon which we do not even dare to say that it is secret since it carries it on the finger. The best known consists of two lion heads. When you switch the kitten (the top of the ring), emerges a punch impregnated with a deadly substance.
The poison is a homemade recipe, a family secret called “Cantarella”, or “lead sugar”. It is a green powder created from a mixture based on arsenic and phosphorus that the Assassin jewelry sting instilled, pricking the victim’s hand or neck at the time of the accolade. If suicide by using the poison to escape his enemies in the manner of Hannibal by the sea of Marmara, in Lybissa, or demosthène on the island of Poros is heroism, the practice of borgia proceeds from Perfidie. Death generally intervenes within twenty-four hours, certifies Alexandre Dumas in the Count of Monte-Cristo. Exaggerated affirmation, because toxin from specialists displaying “perfumer” as a social reason was previously brought to a boil and mixed with various other substances, thus losing part of its effects.
The poisoned poisoner
As in a moral tale, the Borgia will seal their own loss. In 1503, father and son inadvertently drank a wine intended to eliminate an entire table of wealthy ecclesiastics, who came to sneer around the Holy Father. Alexandre VI succumbs. Caesar, poisoned poisoner, rechecks, but he loses the protection he enjoyed. He will have to go into exile in his native Spain, where he will be passed over the sword a few years later.
The black legend of the Borgia splashed the reputation of the beautiful Lucrèce, sister of César, brought up to the rank of satanous corrupter when her only wrong would have been to have been married to the alliances, necessarily ephemeral, negotiated by the family males. And as the poisoners did not lack in Renaissance Italy, it is Caesar’s ring that would have inspired the tradition which consists in toast by raising its fairly high glass, in order to prevent any substance be surreptitiously paid.
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