The life of St. Francis Borgia of the Society of Jesus

Front matter

ffS 64

THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS BORGIA.

ROEHAMPTON

Contents

page

hapter I. — The House of Borgia . • » . i

,, II. — Francis childhood and youth . , . 15

Chapter I

The Spanish house of de Borja, better known under its Italianized form of Borgia, is both ancient and illustrious. It descends from the old Catholic kings of Arragon, and its sons have showed themselves worthy of their royal lineage, many of their exploits being recorded in their country’s history. Nature bestowed her gifts upon them with a liberal hand ; they were conspicuous for personal beauty and physical strength, for talents, courage, and daring, for the energy and force of will which almost invariably com¬ mands success. Early in the twelfth century, when as yet the name of de Borja had not become their distinctive appellation, several members of the family had already acquired fame on account of the intrepidity they displayed in the defence of their country and of their faith. We read in the annals of Arragon that in 1 1 15, King Alphonsus I. to reward Don Pedro d’Aybar for the valour he exhibited in the contest with the Moors, gave him a portion of the territory wrested from the enemy. In these lands, situated to the north of Saragossa, was a small town of great antiquity, which under the rule of the Moors had exchanged its Celtiberian name of Belsinum for that of Borja. Don Pedro, on taking possession of these estates, added to a

THE HOUSE OF BORGIA.

his own patronymic the title of de Borja, and by it his descendants have subsequently been known.

We hear of the de Borjas again in 1244, when Don Jaime the conqueror, having driven the hated Moslems step by step out of the beautiful province of Valencia, la huerta , the garden of Spain, as it was called, dis¬ tributed its smiling and fertile lands among his principal followers in much the same way as William of Nor¬ mandy gave the estates of Anglo-Saxon England to his Norman barons. The fortified town of Xativa, with Gandia and some adjacent cities, fell to the share of the de Borjas, who fixed at Xativa their permanent abode. In the year 1376, also, mention is made of the military achievements of one Don Ramon de Borja, although it is not said that any territorial recompense was awarded to his services.

But not on the battlefield alone did the scions of this noble line render themselves conspicuous. The house of Borja gave to Christendom two Pontiffs, and to the Society of Jesus one of its earliest and most eminent Saints. Pope Calixtus III., who saved Europe from the yoke of Islam, was a Borgia ; so was Alexander VI., wdiose character has unhappily dimmed the glory of his line. The former of these two Popes • was the first member of the family who made his name known beyond the limits of his native land; St. Francis Borgia, the third General of the Jesuits, is the last who has attained to any great celebrity.

Alonzo de Borja, who on ascending the Papal throne took the name of Calixtus III., was the only son of Don Rodriguez, the head of the elder branch of the family. He was born at Xativa, in 1378, and received his education at the University of Lerida. Whilst still young he acquired the reputation of being

THE HOUSE OF BORGIA .

the best jurist of his day. His talents and learning attracted the attention both of Pedro de la Luna, the Antipope, then recognized in Spain under the title of Pope Benedict XIII., who bestowed on him a canonry, and of the King of Naples, who called him to his Court, and whose secretary and Privy Councillor he became. In this capacity his prudence and skill in conducting negotiations proved most valuable, not only to the monarch he served, but also to the Holy See, since at the period of the deplorable schism he suc¬ ceeded in securing for the rightful Pope, Martin V., the allegiance of Spain. For this service he was rewarded with the bishopric of his native province of Valencia. Again, he was instrumental in healing a breach between the King of Naples and the Pope, in consequence of which the latter raised him to the Cardinalate.

When, in 1455, on the Chair of Peter becoming vacant by the death of Nicholas V., the Cardinals met in conclave to appoint his successor, they found it impossible to come to a decision. The Sacred College was then divided into two factions, that of the Orsini and that of the Colonnas, each of which, although strong enough to prevent the election of the candidate of the opposite party, was yet too weak to carry through its own. To end the debate they agreed to elect the Cardinal de Borja. He was already an old man, seventy-seven years«of age, and the consciousness that his pontificate would in all probability be short was perhaps in a great measure the motive for his election. His elevation to the Papal throne had not been antici¬ pated, yet after the event, a prophecy uttered by St. Vincent Ferrer returned to men’s minds. It is said that when the great Spanish Dominican was preaching a mission in Valencia, among the persons who came to ask his advice or commend themselves to his prayets, was Don Alonzo de Borja, then quite a young man, not long in Holy Orders. The Saint contemplated him attentively for some moments in silence, and then said: “My son, I congratulate thee; remember that thou art called to be the glory of thy^ family and of thy native land. Thou wilt be invested with the highest dignity to which mortal man can attain, and after my death I shall be the object of thy veneration. See that thou persevere in the practice of virtue.” Alonzo laid up these words in his memory, and never lost confidence in their ultimate fulfilment. The first act of his ponti¬ ficate was to raise to the altars of the Church the servant of God who had predicted the dignity awaiting the simple priest in the far future.

The Cardinal of Valencia, as he had till then been called, deservedly stood high in public opinion. His learning was profound, his character blameless, his political capacity universally recognized, yet his election to the See of Rome was by no means popular. He was a Spaniard, and the choice of a foreigner gave great offence to the Italian people. It was feared, and only too justly, that he would introduce his fellow-countrymen into high places, from whence on his death it would not be easy to oust them. Neverthe¬ less at that juncture of affairs, when the Turks, having already possessed themselves of Constantinople, were threatening to overrun the Continent, and endanger, if not destroy, the faith and civilization of Christendom, the election of a Spaniard was the most fortunate event for Europe. For seven centuries Spain had been engaged in an unceasing struggle with the Moslem power, and undying hatred to the creed of the Prophet and the followers of the Prophet was the strongest

7 HE HOUSE OF BORGIA feeling in a Spaniard's breast. Calixtus recognized the gravity of the situation. No sooner did he ascend the Papal throne than he made a solemn vow to sacrifice everything, his life if needs be, to drive back the Turks, to deliver the captive Christians, and to achieve the triumph of the true Faith. A new Crusade was preached; Legates were sent to every country to awaken the zeal of European potentates. The bell of every church was ordered to be rung at mid-day, and a large Indulgence was granted to the faithful who should on hearing the sound of it, say three Paters and three Aves for the success of the Christian arms.1 To raise funds Calixtus freely'’ sacrificed the gems and objects of value in the Vatican treasury. It is said that one day his eye fell upon a salt-cellar of richly chased goldwork upon his table. “Take it away,’ he cried, “take it for the Turkish war; an earthenware salt¬ cellar is good enough for me.” His efforts were at length rewarded by the victory of Belgrade, August 6, 1456, in which the Ottoman power was broken. In thanksgiving for this he instituted the feast of the Transfiguration on the 6th of August ; on that very day two years later, death ended his brief but important pontificate.

Calixtus III. did great service to the Church, not only through his activity7 and resolution in the defence of Christendom, but by his wise administration of eccle¬ siastical matters, his care for souls, and his vigorous suppression of heresy. In private life he was an example of virtue, and his memory would be handed down to the unqualified admiration and gratitude of posterity, had it not been for one fault, that of nepotism.

1 This is generally said to have been the origin of the Angelus, but some allege it to have been instituted in the preceding century.

THE HOUSE OF BORGIA .

The love of family and of country was strong in him, in fact he carried it to an extreme which was both injudicious and blameworthy. From the very com¬ mencement of his reign he showed undue favour, not only to his relatives, but to all his countrymen. The Romans regarded with anger and aversion the influx of strangers, for the most part less polished than them¬ selves, while many Germans and French who held offices at the Papal Court withdrew to their own country, saying they would not be subject to “ Cata¬ lans.” Their posts were immediately filled with Spaniards. Most of all Calixtus promoted the advance¬ ment of two favourite nephews, Pedro-Luis and Rodrigo de Llangol, the sons of a sister who had espoused a gentleman of Valencia. On his elevation to the Papal See he summoned them to Rome and conferred on them his name of Borgia, with the right to wear the armorial bearings of the family, a red bull on a gold field, the motto being Tentanda via. On the elder of the two brothers, who was destined for a secular career, worldly distinctions were heaped ; he was made Gonfalonier of the Church, Prefect of Rome, and later on Commander-in-chief of the Papal forces on sea and land. His career was a brief one. On the death of his uncle he fled to Civita Vecchia, one of the strongholds under his authority, and shortly afterwards died there.

The history of the other brother, Rodrigo, destined at a subsequent period to wear the tiara under the name of Alexander VI., is a very different one. Born at Xativa, on the ist of January, 1431, he was twenty-four years of age on his coming to Rome. Like his uncle, he too studied jurisprudence in his youth, but afterwards served in the army of the King of Naples.

THE HOUSE OF BORGIA.

Conscious of the rare talents the young man possessed* Calixtus desired to induce him to seek distinction in the Church. He made him his successor in the bishopric of Valencia, ecclesiastical dignities being at that time by a grave abuse frequently held by seculars. In February, 1456, he caused him, together with another nephew, Juan Luis de Mila, to be raised in a secret Consistory to the Cardinalate, although their promotion was reserved in petto until the following September, owing to the opposition of the Cardinals, who protested against the nomination of men so young and, as they alleged, of unsuitable character. Furthermore, Calixtus heaped upon him benefices and dignities, and finally nominated him to the lucrative office of Vice-Chancellor. Thus for a time the management of affairs, military and political, was virtually in the hands of the Pope’s relatives, and the power they exercised was despotic. But when the report was spread abroad that Calixtus lay on his death-bed, the smouldering hatred to the “ Catalans ” burst into flame. Spaniards were attacked and roughly handled in the streets, and one of them lost his life in a fray. All houses bearing the Borgia arms were ruthlessly plundered ; so that the majority of the Spanish residents were fain to fly in haste from the city. Rodrigo Borgia displayed more courage. He was absent from Rome when the tidings of his uncle’s illness reached him, and he returned thither immediate^, to find his staff of servants gone and his palace sacked.

Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia was, like most of the race from which he sprang, a man of splendid physique and lordly bearing. He united, as is the case with some of his nation, to the proud carriage of a hidalgo, a winning grace of manner that none

THE HOUSE OF BORGIA.

could resist. A contemporary1 describes him as “ a comely man of cheerful countenance and honeyed dis¬ course, who gains the affections of all the women he admires, and attracts them as the loadstone does iron.” It can hardly be matter of surprise that a young man of so fascinating an appearance and manners should have been led away by the laxity of morals prevailing in Italy at that period, and have forgotten what was due to the clerical character with which he was to a certain extent invested. It cannot possibly be denied that his manner of life previous to his ordination gave great scandal, and his unseemly conduct brought down upon him a severe reprimand from Pope Pius II. Unhappily in those days a man might enjoy the rank and revenues of bishoprics and cf the Cardinalate, though not even in Holy Orders; and however blame¬ worthy the conduct of Rodrigo Borgia may have been during his life as a Cardinal, there is no proof of any immorality in him after he ascended the Papal throne.

The vigour of his character, his liberality in relieving the needy, and the magnificence he displayed on occasions, rendered him during his Cardinalate extremely popular with the Roman people, and when, in 1492, he was elected to the Pontifical throne, the announcement was hailed with acclamations of joy. The ceremonies and pageants attending his corona¬ tion exceeded in pomp and grandeur all that modern Rome had before witnessed and whilst the new Pontiff, who took the name of Alexander VI., passed under the triumphal arches erected in his honour, he read on them inscriptions that augured the return of a golden age, and welcomed him as a conqueror and a king.

1 Gaspar Vercr.ensis, quoted by Maratori, iii. pt. 2, p. 1036.

7 HE HOUSE OF BORGIA.

H e was called to take the helm of the bark of Peter in troublous times. He brought to the government of the Church an intelligence, a prudence, and a foresight of no common order. His capacity as a secular ruler is sufficiently evinced by the tranquillity he maintained in Rome, the regularity wherewith financial obligations were discharged, and the energetic prosecution of useful public works.

Pope Alexander VI. has been made the subject of unmeasured abuse, and the most heinous crimes have been imputed to him. His memory was stigmatized and his name held up to the reprobation of posterity by a majority of the historians of his day, and their example has been followed in succeeding ages. To what extent these charges are true, or to what extent the reprehensible partiality he exhibited for his relatives, whose aggrandisement he made an object of primary importance, may have prejudiced against him the minds of men already irritated by the pre¬ ponderance in Italy of an alien race, is an inquiry upon which it is not for us to enter. At any rate not only Pope Alexander VI. but also the members of his family have become legendary as types of unrestrained violence and wickedness. “ It appears to me,” says an Italian writer, “that history has made use of the house of Eorgia as a canvas whereon to delineate the unbridled license of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 1

It may possibly be in consequence of the odium attaching to the name that the life and virtues of so illustrious a Saint as St. Francis Borgia have hitherto

IO

THE HOUSE OF BORGIA .

been allowed to remain comparatively unknown in our country. In other lands, amongst Catholics, the heroic virtues and remarkable graces of the great grandson of Rodrigo Borgia have rescued the family name from obloquy and have restored to it its savour.

We must now proceed briefly to narrate the history of the more immediate progenitors of the Saint.

Pedro, the eldest of Cardinal Borgia’s sons, entered the army of Ferdinand of Arragon. Whilst fighting against the Moors, he was the first to scale the walls of the fortress of Ronda, the capture of which was the turning-point of the war. In reward of his prowess, the King bestowed on him and his heirs the duchy of Gandia, which through the failure of the succession in the younger branch of the House of Arragon, had lately reverted to the Crown. What induced the young Duke to return to Italy it is impossible to say, but we read that a year or two later he died in Rome, struck down by a fatal malady. He left behind him a blameless reputation ; and the fact that at the time of his death he was betrothed to a cousin of King Ferdinand, shows that he stood high in that monarch’s favour. His brother Juan succeeded to his title and estates, as well as to the hand of his bride, Dona Maria Henriquez, of whom more will be said hereafter.

The marriage of the second Duke of Gandia was celebrated with great pomp at Barcelona, where the Spanish Court was then held. All the grandees of the kingdom were present. For months previously, the most skilful goldsmiths in Rome had been busied in fashioning choree and costly ornaments for the Duke to take with him to Spain, to be distributed as presents on the festive occasion. He did not remain long at Gandia. About 1496, at the time of the invasion of

THE HOUSE OF BORGIA.

ii

Charles VIII. to assert the claims of Anjou to the crown of Naples, Alexander VI., who had a high opinion of the military capacities of his son, recalled him to Italy to take part in the war. After the retreat of the French, he entrusted to him the command of the Papal troops. But a tragic event speedily cut short the career of the young man. One night when he was returning from an entertainment given by his mother in his honour, he was assassinated, and his b:>dy, pierced with many wounds, cast into the Tiber. The Pope was overwhelmed with grief ; but in vain did he seek to discover the author of the crime.

Dona Maria had not accompanied her husband to Italy. She was at Gandia with her two young children when the news reached her of the terrible misfortune which had befallen her, and there she remained during her widowhood, occupied as a Christian mother should be, with their education. The elder of the two children, Isabel, was, when scarcely more than an infant, affianced according to the fashion of the time, to the son of the Duke of Segovia. However, the sad event that darkened her childhood, impressed her so deeply with the vanity of earthly things, that at a very early age she desired to take the veil in the Convent of Poor Clares, founded on her father’s estate. To this her mother hesitated to give her consent, on the ground that as she had only one other child, she feared to endanger the succession. Whereupon Isabel, after recollecting herself a moment in God, uttered these prophetic words, her countenance beaming with a supernatural radiance; “ I assure you, Senora, on the part of our Lord, that the Duke my brother will have a son who will be called Francis, and that with him the succession will not fail, but he will render his house glorious in Heaven and on earth. ”

This remarkable prophecy was recorded in the annals of the monastery, in order to preserve the remembrance of an utterance so evidently inspired by the Holy Ghost.

Don Juan Borgia, the third Duke of Gandia, the father of St. Francis, married young. His wife was Doha Maria of Arragon, grand-daughter of the Catholic King Ferdinand, and consequently cousin to the Emperor Charles V. Thus was she, too, of royal lineage. She was a model Christian matron, being throughout her life distinguished for her great liberality to the poor, her kind condescension to her dependents, and her un¬ ceasing care for the pious training of her children, in whose instruction she took a personal share. But of all the lessons she gave them day by day the best and most forcible was her own admirable example. She had a special devotion to the Five Wounds of Christ, and also to the succour of the souls in Purgatory. Her favourite occupation was the adornment of churches, and many splendid pieces of needlework were wrought by her skilful fingers. One biographer tells us that she was never idle for a single moment.

Nor was the Duke, her husband, less remarkable for piety and virtue. He appropriated to the poor a consi¬ derable proportion of his yearly revenues, his munificence eliciting, on more than one occasion, the respectful remonstrances of his faithful steward. It was his invariable custom to assist, with all the members of his family, at the sermons which were preached in the principal church of Gandia. His profound veneration for the Blessed Sacrament was a silent sermon in itself. Whenever he was aware that Holy Communion was being taken to the sick, it was his habit to accompany the Sacred Host, bearing a lighted torch in his hand. The deep reverence of his demeanour impressed all

THE HOUSE OF BORGIA.

who beheld him. When It was carried to the poor, he always left a large alms with the sick person, laying down his gift in such a manner that it could not be discovered until after his departure, thus proving that to reverence and piety he united humility and charity.

We are told that, when quite a young man, he was upon one occasion eagerly engaged in a game of cards with some of his companions. On hearing the bell which warned him that the Blessed Sacrament was. about to pass that way, he promptly left the table and hastened to follow His Majesty.1

Another day when, with a party of huntsmen, he was in hot pursuit of a wild boar, the bell of a distant parish church, announcing that some dying person was about to receive the Viaticum, fell upon his ear. Without delay he left the chase, and, turning his horse’s head, galloped off in the opposite direction. “ The piety which pierced his heart was,” as a biographer quaintly expresses it, “ a spur yet sharper than that with which he pricked on his steed.”

The present chapter may be suitably brought to a conclusion by a statement of the privileges granted by Pope Clement VII., in 1531, to the Duke of Gandia, to his heirs and descendants of either sex, and to whomso¬ ever they may marry, in acknowledgment of the signal services rendered to the Holy See by the House of Borgia ; and pre-eminently the prowess exhibited by the third Duke of Gandia (the father of the Saint) in the defence of Rome, on occasion of the assault of the city by the Constable de Bourbon, when that redoubted warrior fell from the walls mortally wounded at the moment of victory. The Bull grants :

t Su Majestad. This is the beautiful expression used by the pious Spaniards to designate our Lord in the Sacrament of His Love.

M

THE HOUSE OF BORGIA.

To any confessor whom they may select, powers to absolve them from the gravest ecclesiastical censures and penalties ; to commute the fasts of the Church into almsgiving ; once a year to absolve them in cases usually reserved for the Holy See, or from any oath or vow, but those generally excepted.

Special Indulgences for the hour of death and for every visit to a church or an altar ; also for every Mass celebrated by a member of the family (he being in Priest’s Orders), or offered for the intention of any member of the family, Indulgences equal to those gained at certain altars in Rome.

Permission to eat not only milk-food, but meat in Lent (at that time meat was prohibited during the whole of Lent, and on all Saturdays throughout the year), and on other fasts when it is forbidden ; and per¬ mission extending to all servants and guests of the family. To take collation at mid-day and the meal in the evening when so disposed. To eat meat on Saturdays. To receive the sacraments if necessary within prohibited times, also for members of the house¬ hold to be buried on any day in the year, Easter Day only excepted.

Permission to priests of the House of Borgia to anticipate or postpone the recitation of the Breviary without observing the fixed hours, reciting it all at once or dividing it at their pleasure.

To ladies who are members of the family, or connected with it by marriage, liberty to enter once a month into the enclosure of nuns, taking with them four others; to converse with the nuns and eat with them, provided only that they do not remain for the night.1

1 Cien-Fuegos, La heroica vida, &c. . del arande San Francisco dc Borja. Madrid. 1726, p. 4.

Chapter II. Francis' Childhood And Youth

In one of the biographies of St. Francis Borgia, we find a quaint conceit which, if it appears to sober English ideas somewhat fanciful and far-fetched, may yet be fitly prefixed to a history of his life. It is not only pleasing in itself, but it serves to show how great wras the esteem in which he was held by his con¬ temporaries, who regarded him as one of the most prominent figures of the age in which he lived.

“ In the year in which he died, nay more, in the very month in which he passed to a better life — possibly upon the day when he breathed his last — there appeared, in the constellation known as Cassio¬ peia’s Chair, a new and magnificent star which attracted universal attention. Numerous volumes were written at the time, and various theories propounded, both as to the cause of its appearance, and as to what it might signify.” In the opinion of the biographer to whom we refer, the most probable of all these theories seemed to be that God designed to indicate, by means of this fresh star, the entrance into Heaven of another and a glorious Saint. “ The constellation, moreover, in which it appeared, may well symbolize the Holy Roman Church, firmly established on earth by means of the Chair of Peter, and no less firmly i6

FRANCIS' CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.

seated in Heaven. Well, therefore, might she console herself for the loss of so eminent a man, since by his death she gained a powerful advocate in Heaven, a brilliant luminary which could not fail to rain down upon her gracious influences.”1

Thus we find fancy, in the ages of faith, expressing the idea of a modern poet,

The saints above are stars in Heaven.

But it is time for us to quit the realm of imagination, and return to the facts we have undertaken to relate.

In the preceding chapter we have spoken of the parents of Francis, of their piety and virtues. The Saint was born at Gandia, the town from which the duchy takes its name, on the 28th of October, the feast of SS. Simon and Jude, in the year 1510. The sufferings of his mother were so prolonged and severe, that the physicians feared her life must inevitably be sacrificed. It was thought that the child was already dead; in order to avert so great a calamity as the loss of both mother and child, many Masses were said, and many prayers offered up. The Duchess, who was fully aware of her critical condition, had all her life cherished a tender devotion to St. Francis of Assisi. She had unbounded confidence in his intercession, and had at various times received signal benefits from his hand. She now made a vow that, if she were safely delivered of a living son, she would give to her first-born the name of the Seraphic Saint. A few hours later, all danger wras pronounced to be over, the birth being nothing short of miraculous.

“ When the Duchess heard that the infant was alive and was a boy, she could not restrain her joy.

1 Sgambati, Ragguaglio della vita di S. Francisco Borgia. Roma, 1702, P- 5-

FRANCIS’ CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.

Her tongue was inspired by the Holy Ghost, and she greeted him in a clear and sonorous voice, saying : ‘ Welcome, Francis, my angel!’ Thus did she announce what the child was to be in his life and in his purity, and what also he was to appear in the beauty of his person. She gave him the name of Francis, in order that the sweet Saint might, as it were, receive him in his arms before the cradle received his infant form, at the very moment, that is, in which he entered upon his life on earth. This being the first time that the name of Francis had been bestowed on a scion of the house of Gandia, the novelty of the appellation caused the reason why it was selected to be kept in remem¬ brance.”1