Word: viana
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...sometimes think," sang the Poet Omar, "that never blows so red the rose as where some buried Caesar bled." Few, if any. roses bloomed in the church of Spain's highland town of Viana where lethal and licentious Cesare Borgia was buried in March 1507. But over his remains, bled white by assassins' knives, rose a fine sarcophagus bearing the legend: "Here in little earth lies he who was feared by all, who held peace and war in his hand...
...Pope Alexander VI and himself a cardinal at 18, an accomplished murderer at 25, and military conqueror of a good part of Italy at 27, were carried into the street and buried beneath the cobblestones and the dung of passing cattle. For 400 years the villagers of Viana avoided the unmarked grave, particularly on the night of March 11, when Cesare's ghost is said to be abroad and thirsty for vengeance. For generations the city fathers of Viana urged Cesare's reburial inside the church; for generations the priests of Viana resisted them...
...last week as the villagers of Viana lined the streets, the casket bearing all that remained of Cesare Borgia was carried at last from the town hall and laid to rest once again in Santa Maria Church, with the full blessing of the see of Calahorra. In Viana it was felt that everyone would sleep better from...