“Cesar Borgia che ere della gente Per armi et per virtù tenuto un sole; Mancar dovendo, andó dove andar sole Phebo, verso la sera, a l’occidente.” Leaving France immediately after his marriage with Charlotte d’Albret, Caesar had never seen his wife again, and there is nothing to show that he regretted her. She was merely a pawn in the political game, and she had been sacrificed by her father for his own gain and to further the plans of Louis XII., on whose marriage to Anne of Bretagne she had retired to Berri to be as near as possible to Jeanne of France, his repudiated Queen. It was not long, however, before she took up her final residence at Motte-Feuilly, where she occupied herself with the education of her daughter Louise, whom the father, Caesar, had never seen. The Duchess of Valentinois died March 11, 1514, leaving, as her sole heir, her daughter, who two years later, when she was seventeen years of age, married Louis II. de La Trémoille, Viscount of Thouars and Prince of Talmont, the Chevalier Bayard, the knight _sans peur et sans reproche_, who was slain at the battle of Pavia in 1525. Five years later she again married, her second husband being Philippe de Bourbon, Lord of Busset, eldest son of Pierre de Bourbon. Caesar also left an illegitimate son, Girolamo, whose mother is unknown, and who probably died young, as we find no trace of him after his removal to Naples about the time of Caesar’s release by Julius II. He likewise had a natural daughter, whom he named Lucretia in honour of his sister, and who subsequently became abbess of San Bernardino and died at Ferrara in 1573. Caesar’s mother, Vannozza de’ Catanei, survived him eleven years. Up to the time of her death she had maintained close relations with her numerous children. She lived in Rome and enjoyed a certain competency, provided for her by Alexander VI.; she engaged actively in charitable work. The day of her death, according to the Roman custom, the announcement was made by the public crier:-- “Messer Paolo gives notice of the demise of Madonna Vannozza, mother of the Duke of Gandia. The deceased belonged to the fraternity of the Gonfalon.” She left her entire fortune to S. Giovanni in Lateran. She was interred in Santa Maria del Popolo, her parish church, and on her tomb her executor inscribed the following epitaph:-- “To Vannozza Catanea, ennobled by her children, the Dukes, Caesar of Valentinois, and Juan of Gandia, the Prince Giuffre of Squillace, and the Duchess Lucretia of Ferrara. To the woman rendered illustrious by her integrity, her piety, her wisdom, and to whom the Hospital of the Lateran is so greatly indebted, Geronimo Pico, her testamentary executor, has erected this monument. She lived seventy-seven years, four months, and thirteen days, and died November 26, 1518.” For two centuries the friars of Santa Maria del Popolo prayed for the repose of her soul, but a sense of decency or shame finally asserted itself, and the monument was removed.