[1] Early in his career, Casanova came under the protection of Cardinal Roderic Llançol i de Borja (the future Pope Alexander VI).
[1] In Rome, he became abbreviatore di parco minore; then a papal notary; and then a protonotary apostolic.
[1] Pope Alexander VI made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of 31 May 1503.
[1] The pope died on 18 August 1503; the next day his son Cesare Borgia sent Michelotto Corella and a band of thugs to the Papal Apartments, where they pulled a knife on Cardinal Casanova and demanded he give them all the money in the apartments.
[1] He then participated in the papal conclave of October 1503 that elected Pope Julius II.