Pier Luigi de Borgia, 1st Duke of Gandía (, , ; 1468 – 3 September 1488) was the illegitimate son of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (later

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

) and a member of the

House of Borgia The House of Borgia ( ; ; Spanish language, Spanish and ; ) was a Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Xàtiva, Kingdom of Valencia, the surname being a Toponymic surname, toponymic from ...

. He was the first duke of Gandía, a

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

in the

Kingdom of Valencia The Kingdom of Valencia (; ; ), located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. The Kingdom of Valencia was formally created in 1238 when the Moorish taifa of Valencia was taken in ...

that King

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II, also known as Ferdinand I, Ferdinand III, and Ferdinand V (10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), called Ferdinand the Catholic, was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I of ...

re-established in 1485 as a favour to his father.

Life

Pier Luigi de Borgia was probably born around 1468. In the bull of his legitimation, on 5 November 5 1481,

Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

speaks of him as ''Adolescente Romano'', declaring him to be the son of Cardinal-Deacon Rodrigo Borgia and a freewoman (''de tune Diacono Cardinali et soluta''). He was half-brother of

Isabella Borgia Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...

and

Girolama Borgia Girolama Borgia (Catalan language, Catalan: Jerónima de Borja; 1469 – 20 January 1483) was an illegitimate daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope Alexander VI. Biography Girolama Borgia was born in Rome in 1469 to Cardinal Pope Al ...

, born by unknown mothers, and

Cesare Borgia Cesare Borgia (13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was a Cardinal (Catholic Church)#Cardinal_deacons, cardinal deacon and later an Italians, Italian ''condottieri, condottiero''. He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI of the Aragonese ...

, Giovanni Borgia,

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged ...

and

Gioffre Borgia Gioffre Borgia (1481 – January 1517), also known as Goffredo Borgia (Italian language, Italian) or Jofré Borja (Valencian language, Valencian), was the youngest illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei, and a member of ...

, all born by Vannozza dei Cattanei. The duchy of Gandía was initially created for Pier Luigi. However, even before becoming the duke of Gandía, he purchased the large estates in the area through a financial agreement with local nobles Andrés de Cabrera, Marquis of Moya, and his wife, Beatriz de Bobadilla. Through this agreement, Pier Luigi was required to provide the marquis an unknown sum, albeit considered small, and accept certain rights pertaining to the crown and of Valencia over the lands of the duchy. Some sources state that Pedro Luis' father gave him 50,000 ducats in order to purchase the territory. In late 1485, King Ferdinand II officially elevated Pier Luigi's status to Duke of Gandía. Pier Luigi Borgia fought alongside the Spanish armies during the

Granada War The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ended with the defeat o ...

in the

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

. Following his heroic triumph during the Battle of Ronda, King Ferdinand II rewarded him with the title of '

grandee of Spain Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

' on 18 May 1485. Pier Luigi was promised to María Enríquez de Luna of the House of Enríquez. Due to his untimely death, she would later wed his younger brother Giovanni (also known as Juan) in September 1493. In his will, Pier Luigi ceded the duchy to his younger brother Giovanni and left a dowry of 10,000 florins to his sister, Lucrezia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borgia, Pier Luigi 1460s births 1488 deaths Pier Luigi 15th-century Italian nobility Illegitimate children of Pope Alexander VI 201 Grandees of Spain

Life

See also

References