r was studying at the University of
Perugia, which he later left for Pisa. As early as 1488 Caesar must have
attended one of these institutions, probably the University of Perugia,
for in that year Paolo Pompilio dedicated to him his _Syllabica_, a work
on the art of versification. In it he lauded the budding genius of
Caesar, who was the hope and ornament of the house of Borgia, his
progress in the sciences, and his maturity of intellect--astonishing in
one so young--and he predicted his future fame.[14]

His father had intended him for the Church, although Caesar himself felt
for it nothing but aversion. From Innocent VIII he had secured his son's
appointment as prothonotary of the Church and even as Bishop of
Pamplona. He appears as a prothonotary in a document of February, 1491,
and at the same time the youngest of Rodrigo's sons, Giuffre, a boy of
about nine years, was made Canon and Archdeacon of Valencia.

Caesar went to Pisa, probably in 1491. Its university attracted a great
many of the sons of the prominent Italian families, chiefly on account
of the fame of its professor of jurisprudence, Philippo Decio of Milan.
At the university the young Borgia had two Spanish companions, who were
favorites of his father, Francesco Romolini of Ilerda and Juan Vera of
Arcilla in the kingdom of Valencia. The latter was master of his
household, as Caesar himself states in a letter written in October, 1492,
in which he also calls Romolini his "most faithful comrade."[15]
Francesco Romolini was more than thirty years of age in 1491. He was a
diligent student of law, and became deeply learned in it. He is the same
Romolini who afterwards conducted the prosecution of Savonarola in
Florence. In 1503 Alexander made him a cardinal, to which dignity Vera
had been raised in 1500. His father's wealth enabled the youthful Caesar
to live in Pisa in princely style, and his connections brought him into
friendly relations with the Medici.

The cardinal was still making special exertions to further the fortunes
of his children in Spain. Even for his daughter Lucretia he could see no
future more brilliant than a Spanish marriage; and he must indeed have
regarded it as a special act of condescension for the son of an old and
noble house to consent to become the husband of the illegitimate
daughter of a cardinal. The noble concerned was Don Cherubino Juan de
Centelles, lord of Val d'Ayora in the kingdom of Valencia, and brother
of the Count o