ABSTRACT
When Cesare Borgia died in battle in 1507, his body was brought back to Viana, a small town on the Camino de Santiago in the Kingdom of Navarre, and buried in the local cathedral. A generation later, his tomb was dug up and his body was reburied in the street outside, expressly so that people and animals would walk over him and keep him from eternal rest. Over the centuries the local community has continued to discuss Cesare’s death and afterlife. People have associated not just Cesare’s actions in life but also his body and grave with the lost Navarrese monarchy, the Church, and the modern Spanish state. While reiterating the importance of his death and these physical items to the town, they have added color to his final hours and even let Cesare speak as a specter from the beyond. This process demonstrates how we attach significance to our lived geographies, creating meaning that privileges local experience at the same time that it asserts a connection to broader structures and communities.
