{{Short description|Son of Pope Alexander VI}} {{More citations needed|date=April 2011}} {{Expand Italian|topic=bio|Goffredo Borgia|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox noble | name = Gioffre Borgia | title = [[Prince of Squillace]] | image = Goffredo Borgia.jpg | caption = A portrait of a young man, believed to be Jofré Borgia. | CoA = | spouse = {{marriage|[[Sancha of Aragon, Princess of Squillace|Sancha of Aragon]]|1494|1506|end=her death}}<br />Maria de Mila of Aragon | issue = Geronimo Borgia ''ill.''<br/>{{small|'''Second marriage'''}}<br />Francesco Borgia de Mila<br />Lucrezia Borgia de Mila<br />Antonia Borgia de Mila<br />Maria Borgia de Mila | tenure = | predecessor = | successor = | full name = | noble family = [[House of Borgia]] | father = [[Pope Alexander VI]] | mother = [[Vannozza dei Cattanei]] | birth_date = {{birth-year|1481}} | birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1517|1||1481|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Squillace]], [[Kingdom of Naples]] }}
'''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 the [[House of Borgia]]. He was the youngest brother of [[Cesare Borgia|Cesare]], [[Giovanni Borgia, 2nd Duke of Gandia|Giovanni]], and [[Lucrezia Borgia]].{{sfn|Gregorovius|1904|p=20<!--date of birth-->}}{{sfn|De Caro|1971<!--date of death-->}}
== Early relations == Gioffre married [[Sancha of Aragon, Princess of Squillace|Sancha of Aragon]], natural daughter of [[Alfonso II of Naples]], obtaining as dowry both the [[Principality]] of [[Squillace]] (1494),{{sfn|Gregorovius|1904|p=71}} and after a period of political turmoil in the Kingdom of Naples, the [[Duchy of Alvito]] (1497).
Gioffre and Sancha were 12 and 16, respectively, at the time of their marriage. The marriage was a political one. Alfonso married his daughter to Gioffre and gave the over-large dowry in return for Pope Alexander's recognition of Alfonso's claim to the throne of [[Naples]]. Almost as soon as the wedding ceremony was over, the political situation changed with the invasion of Italy by King [[Charles VIII of France]], who claimed Naples as his own. Alfonso fled, leaving the throne to his short-lived son, and a long war between Spain, France and their Italian adherents ensued.
During this time the young couple lived mostly at Rome, where Sancha reputedly had affairs with both of her husband's elder brothers, Giovanni and Cesare, among others.{{sfn|Gregorovius|1904|p=95}} In the beginning of their marriage, Sancha was somewhat domineering over her husband and she sought after older men.
Gioffre's relationship with his father was poor. Pope Alexander VI legitimized him, but privately expressed doubts that Gioffre was his son.{{sfn|Catholic University of America|2003}} He considered him a weakling because of his lack of interest in politics.
== Later life == During the War of 1499{{ndash}}1504, when [[Louis XII]] of France attempted to conquer Naples, Gioffre sided with the French; but when he was captured by [[Prospero Colonna]] he changed sides to join the Spanish, which caused a rebellion in Alvito. In 1504 he sent the [[Condottieri|condottiero]] [[Fabrizio Colonna]] to stabilise his lands, partly paid for with money he had appropriated from the papal treasury after the death of his father the year before. With the rebellion crushed, Gioffre finally moved to his estates in Alvito and Squillace in 1504.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=BORGIA, Goffredo - Enciclopedia |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/goffredo-borgia_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ |access-date=2025-10-01 |website=Treccani |language=it}}</ref>
Two years later Sancha died childless. Consequently, the Spanish King of Naples, [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]], took possession of Gioffre's estates in Alvito. However, Gioffre was able to retain [[Squillace]], on the [[Calabria]]n coast, which he ruled as a [[vassal|feudal vassal]] of Naples.{{sfn|Gregorovius|1904|p=334}}
Gioffre's second marriage in 1506 was to one of Sancha's cousins, Maria de Mila de Aragón y de Villahermosa.{{sfn|Cloulas|1993|p=298}}<ref name=":0" /> They had a son, Francesco, and three daughters: Lucrezia, Antonia and Maria. Francesco inherited his father's lands and the title of Prince of Squillace.{{sfn|De Caro|1971}} Gioffre's descendants ruled the city of Squillace until 1735. They generally ruled through governors, since they resided at either Naples or the Spanish court. After his death, the existence of a natural son, Geronimo, was also revealed, who was entrusted to his sister Lucrezia at the request of their mother Vannozza.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bellonci |first=Maria |title=Lucrezia Borgia |date= |publisher=Mondadori |year=2003 |isbn=978-88-04-51658-3 |edition= |series= |location=Milano |pages=504 |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chastenet |first=Geneviève |title=Lucrezia Borgia: la perfida inocente |last2=Gargiulio |first2=Tania |last3=Chastenet |first3=Geneviève |date=2013 |publisher=Mondadori |isbn=978-88-04-42107-8 |edition=Rist |series=Oscar storia |location=Milano |pages=312 |language=it}}</ref>
== Issue == By his second wife, Maria de Mila, Gioffre had a son and three daughters:
* Francesco Borgia de Mila. II prince of Squillace, married Isabella Piccolomini and later Isabella of Aragon; * Lucrezia Borgia de Mila, married Giovanni Battista Carafa, Marquis of Castelvetere; * Antonia Borgia de Mila, married Antonio Todeschini Piccolomini, Marquis of Delicete; * Maria Borgia de Mila, married Michele Ayerba of Aragon, Count of Simari.
He had also a natural son:
* Geronimo Borgia (born {{Circa|1506}}). After his father's death, he was entrusted to his aunt [[Lucrezia Borgia]] at the request of [[Vannozza dei Cattanei|Vannozza]] and raised at the [[House of Este|Este]] court in Ferrara.
==Representations in popular culture==
=== Art === [[File:Appartamento borgia, sala dei santi, disputa di santa caterina, dettaglio 2.jpg|250px|right|thumb|[[Pinturicchio]]'s ''Disputation of St Catherine'' in the [[Borgia Apartments]] in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]].]] Gioffre and Sancha are thought to have been the models for the young couple in love in [[Pinturicchio]]'s ''Disputation of St Catherine''. There is no documentary evidence to support this assumption.
===Television=== * In the 1981 BBC mini-series ''[[The Borgias (1981 TV series)|The Borgias]]'', Jofré is played by British Actor Louis Selwyn. * In the 2006 Spanish-Italian film ''[[The Borgia]],'' Jofré is played by Spanish actor Eloy Azorín. * In the 2011 [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] series ''[[The Borgias (2011 TV series)|The Borgias]]'', Joffré is played by British actor Aidan Alexander. The role was a minor one, and he only appeared in the first season. * In the 2011 [[Canal+ (French TV channel)|Canal+]] series ''[[Borgia (TV series)|Borgia]]'', Goffredo is played by Czech actor Adam Mišík in the first and second seasons. In the third and final season, the role is played by Italian actor Niccolò Besio. In this series, his son Francesco is depicted as being the bastard son of his first wife Sancia from her affair with his brother Juan, as opposed to being his own legitimate son by his second wife, Maria de Mila.
==Notes== {{reflist|2}}
==References== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Gregorovius |first=Ferdinand |date=1904 |title=Lucrezia Borgia |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20804/20804-h/20804-h.htm |location=New York |publisher=Benjamin Blom |access-date=August 1, 2014 }} * {{cite web |url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/goffredo-borgia_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ |title=BORGIA, Goffredo |last1=De Caro |first1=Gaspare |date=1971 |website=Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani |publisher=Treccani, L'Enciclopedia Italiana |language=it |access-date=3 September 2014 }}{{in lang|it}} * {{cite book |last=Catholic University of America |title=New Catholic Encyclopedia |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3407701612.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924170749/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3407701612.html |url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-09-24 |volume=2 |edition=2|location=Detroit |publisher=Gale |date=2003 |chapter=Borgia (Borja) |access-date=2 September 2014 }} * {{cite book |last=Cloulas |first=Ivan |date=1993 |title=The Borgias |location=New York |publisher=Barnes & Noble |isbn=0-88029-806-5 }} {{refend}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Borgia, Gioffre}} [[Category:1481 births]] [[Category:1517 deaths]] [[Category:Italian Roman Catholics]] [[Category:Princes in Italy]] [[Category:House of Borgia|Gioffre]] [[Category:Illegitimate children of Pope Alexander VI]] [[Category:People from the Papal States]]