ALEXANDER VI. (Rodrigo Borgia) (1431-1503), pope from 1492
to his death, is the most memorable of the corrupt and secular
popes of the Renaissance. He was born (January 1, 1431) at
Xativa, near Valencia in Spain, and his father's surname was
Lanzol or Llancol; that of his mother's family, Borgia or
Borja, was assumed by him on the elevation of his maternal
uncle to the papacy as Calixtus III. (April 8, 1455). He
studied law at Bologna, and after his uncle's election he
was created successively bishop, cardinal and vice-chancellor
of the church, an act of nepotism characteristic of the
age. He served in the Curia under five popes and acquired
much administrative experience, influence and wealth,
although no great power; he was economical in his habits;
on occasion he displayed great splendour and lived in a fine
palace. His manners were agreeable and his appearance
fascinating, but, like many other prelates of the day, his
morals were far from blameless, his two dominant passions
being greed of gold and love of women, and he was devotedly
fond of the children whom his mistresses bore him. Although
ecclesiastical corruption was then at its height, his
riotous mode of life called down upon him a very severe
reprimand from Pope Pius II., who succeeded Calixtus III. in
1458. Of his many mistresses the one for whom his passion
lasted longest was a certain Vannozza (Giovanna) dei Cattani,
born in 1442, and wife of three successive husbands. The
connexion began in 1470, and she bore him many children whom
he openly acknowledged as his own: Giovanni, afterwards duke
of Gandia (born 1474), Cesare (born 1476), Lucrezia (born
1480), and Goffredo or Giuffre (born 1481 or 1482). His other
children--Girolamo, Isabella and Pier Luigi--were of uncertain
parentage. Before his elevation to the papacy Cardinal
Borgia's passion for Vannozza somewhat diminished, and she
subsequently led a very retired life. Her place in his
affections was filled by the beautiful Giulia Farnese (Giulia
Bella), wife of an Orsini, but his love for his children by
Vannozza remained as strong as ever and proved, indeed, the
determining factor of his whole career. He lavished vast sums
on them and loaded them with every honour. A characteristic
instance of the corruption of the papal court is the fact that
Borgia's daughter Lucrezia (see BORGIA, LUCREZIA) lived with
his mistress Giulia, who bore him a daughter Laura in 1492.
On the death of Pope Innocent VIII. the three likely candidates
for the Holy See were Cardinals Borgia, Ascanio Sforza and
Giuliano della Rovere; at no previous or subsequent election
were such immense sums of money spent on bribery, and Borgia
by his great wealth succeeded in buying the largest number of
votes, including that of Sforza, and to his intense joy he
was elected on the 10th of August 1492, assuming the name of
Alexander VI. Borgia's elevation did not at the time excite
much alarm, except in some of the cardinals who knew him, and
at first his reign was marked by a strict administration of
justice and an orderly method of government in satisfactory
contrast with the anarchy of the previous pontificate, as
well as by great outward splendour. But it was not long
before his unbridled passion for endowing his relatives
at the expense of the church and of his neighbours became
manifest. For this object he was ready to commit any crime
and to plunge all Italy into war. Cesare, then a youth
of sixteen and a student at Pisa, was made archbishop of
Valencia, his nephew Giovanni received a cardinal's hat,
and for the duke of Gandia and Giuffre the pope proposed
to carve fiefs out of the papal states and the kingdom of
Naples. Among the fiefs destined for the duke of Gandia
were Cervetri and Anguillara, lately acquired by Virginio
Orsini, head of that powerful and turbulent house, with the
pecuniary help of Ferdinand of Aragon, king of Naples (Don
Ferrante). This brought the latter into conflict with
Alexander, who determined to revenge himself by making an
alliance with the king's enemies, especially the Sforza family,
lords of Milan. In this he was opposed by Cardinal della
Rovere, whose candidature for the papacy had been backed by
Ferdinand. Della Rovere, feeling that Rome was a dangerous
place for him, fortified himself in his bishopric of Ostia at
the Tiber's mouth, while Ferdinand allied himself with Florence,
Milan, Venice, and the pope formed a league against Naples
(April 25, 1493) and prepared for war. Ferdinand appealed
to Spain for help; but Spain was anxious to be on good terms
with the pope to obtain a title over the newly discovered
continent of America and could not afford to quarrel with him.
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