The death of Giovanni Borgia
The assassination of Giovanni Borgia, Duke of Gandia, was never clarified.
On the night of June 14, 1497, Cesare and Giovanni had dinner at their mother's house near San Pietro in Vincoli, on the current Borgia steps. The relationship between the two has traditionally been contentious.
When they arrive at the gate of what is now the Sforza Cesarini Palace, they say goodbye. Giovanni walks away in the company of a masked man. Everything seems to indicate that he is preparing for another licentious night.
The next day hours pass and his brother does not appear. The pope, worried about the fate of his son, orders to search all of Rome. At noon on the 16th they find the body of the Duke of Gandia floating in the waters of the Tiber.
The body of Giovanni Borgia is clothed, with his throat slit and his chest pierced by nine wounds. The perfectly buttoned clothing, the gloves hanging from his waist and his bag retains thirty gold ducats.
That same night his body is exposed in Santa María del Pópolo and buried with great pomp.
The investigations never managed to find out the name of the murderers. Discarded the Orsini, great enemies of the Borgias, the eyes point to Cesare. Alexander VI, who has entered a deep depression, closes the investigation without clarifying the facts.
