alliance, the object of which he had the sagacity to discover; and Alexander and his son thus baffled, sought to promote their designs through the influence of Louis XII., king of France. An opportunity soon occurred. Louis, desirous of espousing Anne of Brittany, applied to the pope for a deed of dispensation, authorizing him to separate from his wife Jeanne de France, sister of Charles VIII., and to marry the object of his new attachment. This was readily obtained, and Cæsar was artfully chosen as the bearer of the pontifical dispensation. In return for this gratification Louis created him duke of Valentinois, conferred on him a large pension, married him to the daughter of Jean d'Albret, king of Navarre, and promised him effectual assistance in his contemplated invasion of Italy. The pope, who entered warmly into the ambitious projects of his son, now formed the design of founding a principality for him in Romagna, and in consequence Cæsar, in 1499, entered Italy at the head of 8000 men, and laid siege to Imola and Forli, which surrendered. He subsequently subjugated Pesaro, Rimini, and Faenza; and in 1501 was created duke of Romagna. From that period he commenced a career of conquest and usurpation, attended by deeds of treachery and cruelty, that have stamped his name with undying infamy. At length a confederacy was formed against him among the Italian states, but he had the address to bring about its dissolution. Contriving under pretext of holding a conference to allure three of the leaders to Senigaglia, he caused them to be strangled, and Cardinal Ursini, another of the confederates, even after he had signed an order for delivering up to Cæsar all the places held by his family, was treacherously poisoned. But the hour of retribution, both for him and his father, who co-operated with him in all these atrocities, was now at hand. They had formed the design of poisoning Cardinal Corneto at a banquet, but through some mistake had themselves swallowed the poison that had been prepared for their intended victim. Alexander was immediately taken ill and died, and Cæsar narrowly escaped sharing the same well-merited fate. Quitting the French party he now joined himself to that of Spain, by whom he was less powerfully supported. The Venetians recovered many of the towns of Romagna, and Cæsar was imprisoned by Julius II. to compel him to give up the remainder. He, however, escaped to Naples, whence he was, by order of King Ferdinand, sent to Spain, where he was condemned to imprisonment for life. He contrived a second time to make his escape, but soon after accompanying his brother-in-law Jean d'Albret, king of Navarre, in an expedition against some of his revolted subjects, the stroke of a lance under the walls of Pampeluna did good service to the world by ridding it of a monster who had long been a disgrace to human nature.—G. M.
BORGIA, Geronimo, an Italian poet of Spanish extraction, died about 1549. He went to Rome in the time of Alexander VI.; became bishop of Massa, and was patronized by Lucrezia Borgia for his poetic talent. He wrote a history of his times, in 20 volumes.
BORGIA, Lucrezia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI., and sister of Cæsar Borgia, infamous as the paramour of both. She was married in 1493 to Giovanni Sforza, lord of Pesaro, but was divorced from him in 1497, and next year united to a natural son of Charles II. of Naples, Alfonso, duke of Beseglia, who, becoming obnoxious to Cæsar Borgia, was shortly afterwards assassinated. She was next received into the noble family of Este, being espoused in 1501 by Alfonso, son of Hercules, duke of Ferrara. Her conduct subsequently was such as to justify the suspicions with which, on other grounds, Roscoe and other historians are disposed to treat the hideous imputation on her memory; that imputation which, in spite of the honour and respect that her patronage of letters, her talents, and her beauty received among such contemporaries as Bembo, has rendered her name a symbol of infamy hardly less black and fearful than that of Cæsar Borgia.—J. S., G.
BORGIA, Stefano, cardinal, born at Veletri in 1731. At an early age he exhibited a singular enthusiasm for antiquarian studies, and before leaving the residence of his uncle, in whose family he was educated, had collected a number of rare medals, manuscripts, and other curiosities, with the design—which in the midst of various distractions, and with serious detriment to his fortunes, was afterwards realized—of forming an extensive museum. After filling with remarkable credit the post of governor of Benevento, and that of secretary to the congregation De Propaganda, he was created a cardinal by Pius VI.; and Rome being threatened in 1797 by the French army, along with two other cardinals he was appointed by the pontiff to manage the defence of the city. On the proclamation of the republic in the following year he was arrested, but recovered his liberty after the lapse of a month, and repaired to Valencia to organize in presence of the exiled pope a new Propaganda. In 1800 Pius VII. called him to the head of his council, and the following year appointed him rector of the college of Rome. His death occurred in 1804 at Lyons, whither he had followed the pontiff journeying to Paris to crown Napoleon.—J. S., G.
BORGIA or BORJA, Francisco, a Spanish poet, died in 1658. He was great-grandson of the famous Pope Alexander VI., descended by his mother's side from Ferdinand, prince of Squillace. He was formerly considered the prince of Spanish poets; but posterity has not endorsed this judgment. He wrote, however, with elegance, taste, and facility.
BORGIANNI, Orazio, a painter and engraver, born at Rome in 1580. He was taught by his brother, surnamed Scalzo. The invitation of a nobleman, and the patronage bestowed on the arts by Philip II., led him to Spain, where he worked in the Escurial, and painted many pictures for the principal grandees, his works being held in great estimation. On the death of his wife, having no longer a tie to the parched land of the cork-tree and the orange, he returned to Rome, and painted some colossal historical subjects with indifferent success, the figures being splay, ill-drawn, and all abroad. The Spanish ambassador, however, employed him, and he clambered about altar scaffolds in various churches and convents, acquiring honour and living in affluence. He died at last in 1630 of vain vexation at the malice of a rival much his inferior, one Celio. Borgianni etched some prints, and fifty-two Bible histories, called Raphael's Bible, in a bold, free, and, for an amateur, finished way.—W. T.
BORGO or BORGUS, Pietro Battista, an Italian historian, lived at Genoa in the first half of the seventeenth century. He entered the service of Sweden, and distinguished himself by his valour in the Thirty Years' war, of which he has written a history entitled, "Commentarii de Bello Suecico."
BORGOGNONE. See Cortese.
BÖRJESON, Johan, a Swedish poet and clergyman, born in 1790, author of "Skapelsen i Sanger," published at Upsala in 1820.—M. H.
BORKHAUSEN, Moritz Balthasar, a German naturalist, was born at Giessen in 1760, and died at Darmstadt in 1806. He was employed as director of forests and waters, was a ducal counsellor, and in his domain of Arheiligen devoted himself to the study of zoology and botany. He wrote several works in both these departments of science. Among others, a "History of the Butterflies of Europe;" "Zoological Terminology;" "Description of Forest Trees;" "An Arrangement of German Plants;" "A Botanical Dictionary;" and a "German Fauna."—J. H. B.
BORLASE, Edmond, a physician who practised with great reputation at Chester, son of Sir John Borlase; died in 1682. He left the following works—"The Reduction of Ireland to the Crown of England, with the Governors since the Conquest by Henry II. in 1172, and some passages in their government;" "A Brief Account of the Rebellion of 1641;" "The Origin of the University of Dublin and the College of Physicians," London, 1675; and "The History of the Execrable Irish Rebellion, traced from many preceding acts to the grand eruption, October 23rd, 1641, and thence pursued to the Act of Settlement in 1661," London, 1680.—J. S., G.
BORLASE or BORLACE, William, a distinguished English antiquary and naturalist, was born at Pendeen in Cornwall in 1696, and educated at Exeter college, Oxford, where he took his degree as master of arts in 1719, and took orders in the same year. In 1722 he obtained the living of Ludgvan in Cornwall, and in 1732 the chancellor presented him to the living of Saint Just, his native parish. While residing at Ludgvan he commenced the study of the natural history of his native county, by collecting specimens of the minerals and fossils brought to light by the neighbouring copper works, belonging to the earl of Godolphin. From these he advanced to other kindred subjects, until at last, he engaged zealously in the investigation of the natural history and antiquities of Cornwall. The first results of his labours (with the exception of one or two essays, read before the Royal Society) appeared in 1754, under the title of "The History and Antiquities of Cornwall." In 1758 appeared the well-known
