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ALEXANDER VI
Pope from 1492 to 1503, arguably the most infamous successor
to the throne of St. Peter, described by the Florentine
historian Francesco Guicciardini as "more evil and more
lucky than perhaps any pope before him.'' Born at Jativa,
near Valencia, Rodrigo de Borja y Borja was a member of the
increasingly powerful Borgia family. His uncle, Alfonso de
Borja, one-time Bishop of Valencia, was elected pope as
Callistus III in April 1455 and soon bestowed many offices
upon his nephew. In February 1456, Rodrigo was made a
cardinal (without ordination) and the next year became
vice-chancellor of the Holy See. While an Italianized
Spaniard, Rodrigo proved adroit at political maneuverings,
amassing a truly vast personal fortune and influencing the
election of Sixtus IV (1471-1484). Meanwhile, he enjoyed a
decidedly unreligious life, fathering numerous children and
earning a sharp rebuke from Pope Pius II. His favorite
mistress was the Roman aristocrat Vannozza Catanei by whom
he would sire four children: Juan Cesare, Lucrezia, and
Jofre. Vannozza led a discreet life, and after his election
to the papacy, Rodrigo married her off.
Roodrigo had long, harbored ambitions toward the papacy, but
he failed to secure his own elevation in succession to
Sixtus. He tried again after Innocent VIII died in July
1492, using lavish bribes and promises and a reputation for
administrative skill to secure the needed majority of votes
by the cardinals on August 11, 1492. His initial acts seemed
to point to a promising reign. Civil order was restored in
the Eternal City, a general reform of the Curia was
proclaimed, and a crusade against the Ottoman Turks was
proposeol. But Alexander quickly forgot his plans and
instead devoted his attentions to his precious causes: the
ruthless advaneement of the House of Borgia and wholehearted
fondness for riches and extravagant dissipation. His son
(Cesare was made a cardinal at the age of eighteen--one of
five Borgias to be made princes of the Church. He had high
hopes for his first son, but plans (such as the throne of
Naples) were cut short by Juan's murder in 1497. Juan had
dined with Cesare and was found brutally stabbed and
floating in the Tiber the next morning. When Alexander
tearfully commanded his son's body be dragged out of the
water, sharp-tongued Romans observed that the pontiff truly
was a fisher of men. Rumors placed the crime at the feet of
the pope, but real guilt almost certainly belonged to
Cesare, who was ever jealous of Juan's power.
The death of his son stunned Alexander, prompting him to
make serious efforts at reforming his life. His reform
proved fleeting. The bull he intended to issue for the
revitalization of the Church was never promulgated. Instead,
he sank back into assisting Cesare's bloody subjugation of
the nobles of Rome and the Papal States. By the time of his
death, the States of the Church were essentially a fiefdom
of the House of Borgia. He did involve himself in several
other notable affairs, such as the feud with the Florentine
dictator Savonarola (who was burned at the stake in 1498)
and the division of the New World between Spain and Portugal
through a bull issued in 1493-1494. He also celebrated a
jubilee, but in typical fashion the sums brought in by
selling indulgences were given to Cesare to pay for his
campaigns. A patron of the arts, Alexander restored Castel
Sant'Angelo, had the Borgia Apartments in the Vatican
decorated by Pinturicchio, and even had Michelangelo draw up
plans for a new St. Peter's. Alexander died quite suddenly
on August 18, 1503, his demise immediately attributed to
poison. The story at the time was that he and Cesare (who
fell ill but recovered) had accidentally taken an evil brew
intended for one of Alexander's cardinals. He perhaps
actually died of malaria. His reign, looked upon as one of
the darkest in papal history, was subject to wild slander,
with chroniclers enthusiastically reporting orgies,
poisonings, and even incest. While these were exaggerations,
Alexander nevertheless epitomized the worst excesses of the
period and the need for genuine reform in the papacy.
Successor: Pius III.
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