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| Pope Alexander VI One of the Borgias that followed Alfonso de Borgia to Rome was
his nephew, Rodrigo Borgia. He was born in 1431 in Spain.
He was brought up the church’s hierarchy quickly because
of his uncle, the pope. He was made a cardinal in 1456 at age twenty-five
and then vice-chancellor in 1457. As a cardinal he had to
be warned by Callixtus III’s follower, Pius II, to refrain
from participating in orgies. He had many children while in
the holy order. Two of which were Cesare and Lucrezia in 1475
and 1480 respectively. In 1492 Rodrigo Borgia bought the papacy after the
death of Pope Innocent VIII. There were four popes in between
him and his uncle, Callixtus III. He paid off enough voting cardinals
to obtain the papacy. He collected his wealth as the vice-chancellor,
a very lucrative position. As pope Borgia took the name of Alexander
VI. He started out as pope with some positive and “popely”
things, but he soon turned to selfish gain including the pursuit
of wealth and women. But his main goal as pope seemed to be
to look out for his children, especially Cesare and Lucrezia.
He made Cesare a cardinal when he was only eighteen. He added
to his authority by marrying his children off, especially Lucrezia.
She was skillfully placed into marriages and maliciously taken
out of them leaving one ex-husband dead. Many times when Alexander
VI was away from Rome he left Lucrezia in charge. He is praised as a good administrator of the church. He put into effect the line of demarcation, which divided the recently discovered new world to Spain and Portugal, he kept the advancing French led by King Charles VIII out of Rome, and he was a patron of the arts. But mostly he continued his scandalous way of life. He was known for throwing wild, sensual parties. He took from the Italian princes and claimed some of their power and wealth. He used Cesare as his military force to control much of northern Italy. He funnelled papal money and resources to Cesare continuously. He led his life more like a prince, himself, than a pope, but used his power over religion to benefit himself. He died at the age of seventy-seven in 1503. It is rumored he drank some poison planned for a cardinal he was dining with. The news of his death was good news to most Romans. pictures from www.catholic-forum.com/saints/pope0214.htm |
