Michelotto Corella

Michelotto Corella (Michelotto Coreglia, Michele di Corella or Miquel de Corella) was a valencian condottiero born on an unknown date in València. He was killed in Milan in January 1508.

(Background, from left to right) Cesare Borgia - Niccolò Machiavelli - Michelotto Corella.

Biography

Known as the Valentino's executioner, he met Cesare Borgia during his studies at the University of Pisa.^[1] With time he developed a boundless devotion for him to the grade of committing several murders for him.

The exact number of murders he committed under the Borgia’s command is still unknown.^{[citation needed]} Remarkably, he killed both Vitellozzo Vitelli and Oliverotto da Fermo at the same time, strangling them with a violin string in Senigallia on December 31, 1502.^{[citation needed]}

After his capture in 1503, Corella was first imprisoned in Florence and then in Rome where he was questioned and tortured.^[2] However, he refused to reveal the many secrets he knew about the Borgias.^[3]

He was released in 1505, and thanks to Niccolò Machiavelli's mediation, was hired by Florence as bargello. He held this position for two years, until 1507.^[4]

He was killed in Milan in 1508 by some fellow countrymen although the instigator is unknown.^[5]

Portrayals in popular culture

Television

• The 1981 BBC series The Borgias, starring actor Maurice O'Connell as Michelotto Corella.
• The 2011 Showtime series The Borgias, starring actor Sean Harris as Michelotto Corella

Literature

• Cantarella, a manga by You Higuri
• The Borgias by Alexandre Dumas, père
• Borgia, by Milo Manara (artist) & Alejandro Jodorowsky (writer), serialized graphic novel depicting the story of the Borgia family.
• Cesare by Fuyumi Soryo (manga)
• O César o nada by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán

Games

• Michelotto Corella is a character in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.

Notes

1. ^ Fusero 1972, p.247.
2. ^ Dionisotti 1980, p.30.
3. ^ Fusero 1972, p.247.
4. ^ Dionisotti 1980, p.10
5. ^ Dionisotti 1980, p.25.

Sources

This article incorporates information from the Italian Wikipedia.

• Carlo Dionisotti, Machiavelli, Cesare Borgia e don Micheletto, in Machiavellerie. Storia e fortuna di Machiavelli, Torino, Einaudi 1980, ISBN 88-0650-005-8
• Clemente Fusero, The Borgias, translated by Peter Green, Praeger 1972, ISBN 02-7557-740-6
• Niccolò Machiavelli, Description of the Manner in which Duke Valentino put Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, Lord Pagola and the Duke of Gravina to Death
• Niccolò Machiavelli, Letters

External links

• (Italian) Condottieri di Ventura

Persondata
Name	Corella, Michelotto
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Date of birth
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Date of death	1508
Place of death