Posted on 01/24/2007 8:42:52 PM PST by xzins
Malcolm Moore
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Five hundred years after he was killed in battle, the remains of Cesare Borgia, the notorious inspiration for Machiavelli's The Prince, are to be moved into a Spanish church. Banned from holy ground by bishops horrified by his sins, the remains of the ruthless military leader lie, at present, under a pavement in Viana in northern Spain.
Borgia was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, and was made a cardinal by his father at the age of 17. He was an accomplished murderer by 25 and had conquered a good part of Italy by 27.
He died in Viana in 1507 at the age of 31, after attempting to storm the town's castle and overthrow the Count of Lerin.
He was originally buried beneath the altar of the Church of Santa Maria in the town, in a marble tomb on which was written: "Here lies in little earth one who was feared by all, who held peace and war in his hand."
However, his body was dug up in 1527 when the Bishop of Calahorra visited the town and expressed his outrage that such a sinner was buried in church ground. The tomb was demolished and Cesare Borgia was re-buried in unconsecrated ground, where his body would be "trampled on by men and beasts," according to the bishop.
His remains stayed there until 1945 and locals used to scrupulously avoid the cobbled street March 11, when his ghost was said to be abroad and hungry for vengeance.
After workmen inadvertently dug him up, he was moved in a silver casket to the town hall, where local politicians pleaded with the Catholic Church to let him be buried properly.
The town of Viana looks fondly upon Borgia because of his link with the King of Navarre, whose sister he married. After fleeing the wrath of Pope Julius II, Borgia ended up in charge of his brother-in-law's armies and laid siege to Viana.
A bust of him has been erected in the town, with the inscription: "Captain of the Navarre Army."
But the local bishop rejected the requests for a proper burial and his body was placed under a marble plaque outside the church grounds.
However, Fernando Sebastian Aguilar, the Archbishop of Pamplona, has caved in after more than 50 years of petitions and Borgia will finally be moved back inside the church on March 11, the day before the 500th anniversary of his death. "We have nothing against the transfer of his remains. Whatever he may have done in life, he deserves to be forgiven now," said the local church.
Borgia took control of the papal armies in 1497 following the murder of his brother, and chalked up a series of astonishing military successes. He was greatly admired by Niccolo Machiavelli, who was at his court in 1502 for several months. Machiavelli drew on Borgia's exploits for The Prince - a treatise on the art of acquiring and maintaining political power - and advised politicians to imitate him.
The way in which Borgia pacified the Romagna is described in chapter seven. Borgia's assassination of his rivals in Sinigaglia on New Year's Eve, 1503, is also mentioned.
It's a little off topic, but how many people have come to a saving faith because of those Gideon Bible's in those hotels?
So, you're saying the Pope is not open to divine guidance?
77,333,888
(pssss....I don't know :>)
But, after conversion, I faithfully carried my little Gideon NT in my breast-pocket during my first tour of duty with the Army. Amazing how often you can find time to read.
I believe before this the RCC only had scribes write translations in Latin.
After the development of the printing press did the RCC print large numbers of the Bible in native tongues and distribute them to their congregants?
The vast majority of Europe is either Catholic or Lutheran or Orthodox. A handful of American-style denominations/congregations started up in the past 30 years is not a "marketplace".
Africa, Asia, and S. America are the centers of great Christian expansion, and that expansion is broad rather than narrowly concentrated in one denomination.
S. America/Central America has been all-Catholic for 500 years. Its humorous to see you term the recent invasion of American Evangelicals "great Christian expansion". Your true colors shining through.
In east Asia, there is real competition in S. Korea and parts of China. Most Asian Christians are in the mostly Catholic areas of the Philippines and India, as well as in Vietnam.
Africa is bifurcated between nations where most Christians are Catholic (French, Belgian, and Portuguese colonies) and nations with your marketplace (a number of former English colonies).
Untrue.
After the development of the printing press did the RCC print large numbers of the Bible in native tongues and distribute them to their congregants?
No, I never claimed that they did. There were only 50 years between the invention of printing and the beginning of the Reformation anyway.
Actually, that was mostly brought about by the printing press, not by the Deformation. Without the printing press, translations (and there certainly were some) before both the Deformation and the printing press simply could not be mass produced.
In each instance you demonstrate that a marketplace of ideas is present.
Does that mean you agree?
Clearly, the Holy Spirit was at work!
You not only had sects that left the RCC, but other sects emerged from the shadows. The spread of Scripture throughout the world and ultimately, after the religious wars ended, the freedom to worship GOD.
I don't know too much about individual Popes. Which was the last one to raise people from the dead?
Actually, we've established a few things.
We've already acknowledged that God's timing was ideal. The Reformation came at the time that the printing press showed up.
Second, this article is evidence of GREAT, EVIL CORRUPTION of that period. That corruption made the Reformation not just necessary, but also Godly.
:>)
(hint: they'll say Peter.:>)
Why then did God wait until the 1440's to inspire the invetion of the printing press. Was it not important for this great good to occur in the thousands of years of history before then?
I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know it has nothing to do with infallibility.
Guttenberg made his invention in the 1440's. Luther came along in 1517. 75+ years is a span of 3-4 generations. Not exactly simultaneous events, but then, hey, what's a little historical fact when it gets in the way of attempting to score points?
I don't know either, but I'm sure the number is BIG.
But, after conversion, I faithfully carried my little Gideon NT in my breast-pocket during my first tour of duty with the Army.
The great blessing of having Scripture available and being allowed to read it is when in doubt the answer is always there! Isn't this what the Reformation ultimately brought us?
Or did it come about because the printing press showed up?
Not only because the printing press made mass-produced Bibles possible, but perhaps more because it made mass-produced propaganda -- in the form of leaflets, tracts, posters, etc. -- possible.
Why did God not bring you about 2000 years ago?
Why is the return of Christ still in the future?
Answer: "This world in this way is the best way that brought about God's intentions in creation."
Class dismissed.
Why would that stop the RCC from using the invention of the printing press to widely distribute Scripture to it's congregants?
The article is a pack of lies.
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