The war between France and Spain for the possession of Naples dragged on, and Alexander was ever intriguing, ready to ally himself with whichever power promised at the moment most advantageous terms. He offered to help Louis on condition that Sicily be given to Cesare, and then offered to help Spain in exchange for Siena, Pisa and Bologna. Cesare was preparing for another expedition into central Italy in July 1503, when, in the midst of all these projects and negotiations, both he and his father were taken ill with fever. The occurrence was of course attributed to poison, although quite without foundation, being merely due to malaria, at that time very prevalent in Rome. On the 18th of August Alexander died at the age of 72. His death was followed by scenes of wild disorder, and Cesare, being himself ill, could not attend to business, but sent Don Michelotto, his chief bravo, to seize the pope's treasures before the demise was publicly announced. When the body was exhibited to the people the next day it was in a shocking state of decomposition, which of course strengthened the suspicion of poison. At the funeral a brawl occurred between the soldiers and the priests, and the coffin having been made too short the body without the mitre was driven into it by main force and covered with an oil-cloth. Alexander's successor on the chair of St Peter was Francesco Todeschini-Piccolomini, who assumed the name of Pius III.
Alexander VI. has become almost a mythical character, and countless legends and traditions are attached to his name. As a matter of fact he cannot be regarded in any sense as a great man. His career shows no great political ideas, and none of his actions indicate genius. His one thought was family aggrandizement, and while it is unlikely that he meditated making the papacy hereditary in the house of Borgia, he certainly gave away its temporal estates to his children as though they belonged to him. The secularization of the church was carried to a pitch never before dreamed of, and it was clear to all Italy that he regarded the papacy as an instrument of worldly schemes with no thought of its religious aspect. During his pontificate the church was brought to its lowest level of degradation. The condition of his subjects was deplorable, and if Cesare's rule in Romagna was an improvement on that of the local tyrants, the people of Rome have seldom been more oppressed than under the Borgia. Alexander was not the only person responsible for the general unrest in Italy and the foreign invasions, but he was ever ready to profit by them. Even if we do not accept all the stories of his murders and poisonings and immoralities as true, there is no doubt that his greed for money and his essentially vicious nature led him to commit a great number of crimes. For many of his misdeeds his terrible son Cesare was responsible, but of others the pope cannot be acquitted. The one pleasing aspect of his life is his patronage of the arts, and in his days a new architectural era was initiated in Rome with the coming of Bramante. Raphael, Michelangelo and Pinturicchio all worked for him, and a curious contrast, characteristic of the age, is afforded by the fact that a family so steeped in vice and crime could take pleasure in the most exquisite works of art.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The chief contemporary authorities for this
reign are:
the diary of Alexander's master of ceremonies,
Johannes Burchardus, edited by L. Thuasne (Paris, 1883-1884),
which is characterized by accuracy and extraordinary candour
often amounting to gross indecency
the despatches of
Giustiniani, the Venetian ambassador, edited by P. Villari
(Florence, 1876), which show great insight and are based on
the most accurate information
and Paolo Cappelli's "Diarii"
in E. Alberi's Relazioni, series ii., iii.
Among modern
works the most important are:
F. Gregorovius's Geschichte
der Stadt Rom (3rd ed., Stuttgart, 1881), a work of immense
research and admirable synthesis, giving a very unfavourable
view of the Borgia
A. von Reumont's Geschichte der Stadt
Rom (Berlin, 1867-1870), also a valuable book
M. Creighton's
History of the Papacy (London, 1897) is very learned and
accurate, but the author is more lenient towards Alexander
F.
Gregorovius's Lucrezia Borgia (Stuttgart, 1874) contains a
great deal of information on the Borgia family
P. Villari's
Machiavelli (English translation, new ed., 1892) deals
with the subject at some length.
Of the Catholic writers L.
Pastor, Geschichte der Papste (Freiburg i. B, 1886) should
be consulted, for although the author tries to extenuate
the pope to some extent, on the whole he is fair. (L. V.*)
This article is from the 1911 edition of an encyclopedia, which is out of copyright here in the U.S. See the encyclopedia main page for disclaimer and copyright information.
