A city’s triumphal architecture that stand as reminders of power
The Borgia name originates from the Spanish town of Borja, where the family has its roots in the 12th-century Kingdom of Aragon. The family was of nominal importance until one particularly industrious Borgia, Alfonso de Borgia, began to ascend the social ranks in the early 15th century.
Alfonso continued to climb the political ladder, moving from diplomat, to envoy, until eventually being named Vice-Chancellor of Aragon by King Alfonso V (pictured). Once the king left Aragon on a campaign of conquest, Vice-Chancellor Alfonso stepped in and became king regent in the monarch’s absence.
Nepotism was a common practice in the Church, and Pope Callixtus III took full advantage of his position by appointing numerous members of his family to powerful positions, effectively starting the Borgia dynasty. Amongst these new appointees were his nephews Rodrigo and Pedro Luis (pictured), who were made cardinals at very young ages.
Rodrigo was such a close ally to the popes, in fact, that in 1469 he was sent to the Iberian Peninsula by Pope Paul II to either approve or condemn the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, whose union united the Kingdom of Spain. Although still not quite in the upper echelon of Church authorities, Rodrigo wielded enormous power.
In 1455, 10 years after his appointment as cardinal, Alfonso was elected to the papal throne, albeit more out of convenience for the Church than actual religious merit. During a tumultuous era for the Church, which was fighting off Ottoman invasions and had just suffered the fall of Constantinople, the aging and mild Alfonso seemed a safe choice.
Alexander VI didn’t give up his penchant for debauchery once he became leader of the Holy See. Relationships with his many mistresses, including the mother of Cesare and Lucrezia, Vannozza Cattanei (pictured), continued, out in the open, and began to draw heavy criticism from the public.
Pope Alexander VI’s antics came to an abrupt end after the mysterious assassination of his oldest son, Giovanni. While the culprit was never caught and the motive never confirmed, many believe the assailant to be another Borgia, most likely one of his two brothers, Cesare or Gioffre, acting out of jealousy, as they were all known to be in love with the same woman and were out of favor with their father as well.
Following the death of his favorite son, Pope Alexander VI chose for the first time in his life to at least try to live in the light of God and give up the worst of his worldly vices. He retreated from the Vatican and chose to reside instead in the Castel Sant’Angelo, where he devoted the rest of his life to moral reform.
Despite the public backlash, Alexander VI not only continued his infidelity in public, but even legitimized the children he had with Vannozza Cattanei, becoming the first pope in history to do so. The family’s personal life became the foundation for countless rumors, with many people believing that the Pope’s bedroom escapades included all members of his family.
While Rodrigo had many allies within the Church and the throne rooms of Europe, he had still not successfully found himself pope by the time he began to reach old age. After the death of Pope Innocent VIII, Rodrigo called in all of the favors he’d accumulated throughout his career, and was finally crowned Pope Alexander VI.
Once Rodrigo became Pope Alexander VI and the Borgias once more had control of the Catholic Church, distant members of the family came flooding into Italy and became one of the largest houses in the country, saturating the government and the Church with their presence.
Daughter to Alexander VI, Lucrezia Borgia would prove to be the most resilient of the inner Borgia circle. She was married off by her father three times in her life, but after his death lived a relatively free and respectable life, frequently acting as regent and becoming a well-respected politician.
In her younger years, however, Lucrezia had built up a nasty reputation as a cunning assassin with a particular affinity for poison. These rumors were never substantiated, but they were certainly prolonged by their inclusion in popular media, including a play by Victor Hugo that was written nearly 300 years later.
Cesare’s violent exploits were so extreme that it is said he became the inspiration for Machiavelli’s tale of power, viciousness, and amorality—‘The Prince.’ Machiavelli was a friend of the Borgias, and had a close relationship with Cesare.
With Giovanni out of the way, Cesare Borgia was now graced with his father’s favor and charged with retaining the family’s power. Cesare, however, didn’t see a future for himself in the Church, and renounced his cardinalship in 1498 to pursue a military career.
While the younger and more resilient Cesare was able to eventually overcome his ailments, the Pope slid further into sickness and was eventually diagnosed with malaria. A few short weeks afterward, the powerful and hated Pope Alexander VI was dead.
In 1503, after sharing a meal with Cardinal Adriano Castellesi, a known enemy of the Borgias, both Alexander VI and Cesare fell violently ill for a number of days. Many historians believe the cause of their illness was a poisoning gone wrong, with Cardinal Castellesi being the intended victim.
The news of the Pope’s death brought widespread joy throughout Italy and other parts of the Catholic world. The corruption, debauchery, and selfishness that defined his reign had left him with a reputation as an object of disgust, and was seen as a stain on the papal canon.
In 1519, after leading a mostly peaceful life following the death of her father and brother, Lucrezia gave birth to her 10th child and fell ill shortly afterwards. Although at first she had shown signs of recovery, her illness eventually got the best of her and Lucrezia died just a few days after the birth. Lucrezia’s death marked the end of the terrible and brutal reign of the Borgias.
Lucrezia is often depicted wearing a ring that is rumored to be hollowed out. It’s said that this was Lucrezia’s preferred method of murder: she would supposedly fill the ring with poison to pour into her unsuspecting victim’s drinks. Some believe that she killed her second husband this way.
The Borgias, over the course of just one generation, would cement themselves as one of the most notorious, controversial, and despised families in European history. Cesare has been cited in numerous philosophical works on the nature of evil, from Machiavelli to Nietzsche. While the Borgia name would never hold the power it did during the late 15th century, it would continue to inspire shudders and grimaces for many more years to come.
Sources: (ThoughtCo) (History Collection) (Britannica)
See also: Step inside the House of Medici
Cesare continued to fight during his later years, although he grew increasingly unpopular after the death of his father. He was eventually bested by a group of enemy knights during the siege of Navarre of 1507, who stripped him of his clothes and jewelry and left him dead on the road.
Alfonso’s work in politics and diplomacy caught the attention of the Catholic Church, and, in 1444, they made him a cardinal. A year later, Alfonso left the Iberian Peninsula for good and relocated to Rome, where he officially changed the spelling of the family name from Borja to Borgia.
Behind his grand displays of power and his popularity within the Church, Rodrigo was a scoundrel at heart. While working on building backdoor connections within the Church and buying up large amounts of land and influence to cover his tracks, he also fathered numerous illegitimate children, with some historians accounting for as many as 10. Among these children was a son, Cesare (pictured), born in 1475, and a daughter, Lucrezia, born five years later.
Rodrigo de Borgia was a skilled politician, and managed to retain his status and influence within the Church even after the death of his uncle. As cardinal, he played key roles in the appointments of the next two popes, Pious II (pictured) and Paul II.
While his military victories outside of Rome brought great fame and respect to Cesare from his father and other allies, he had also built a second reputation as a petty and murderous scoundrel. Numerous mysterious assassinations of Cesare’s critics, husbands of his mistresses, and most infamously his own brother were all thought to be ordered by Cesare himself.
Cesare would go onto to have a successful and brutal career as a military leader. After the attempted French invasion in the final years of the 15th century, many regions of Italy had become destabilized, and Cesare was sent by his father to reclaim these areas in the name of the Borgias and in the name of the Church.
From his humble beginnings, Alfonso de Borgia excelled in college, where he studied religious and secular law. After leaving academia, Alfonso became deeply involved in his local church and government, and often acted as a diplomat to the king of Aragon.
Alfonso de Borgia would be known as Pope Callixtus III for the rest of his life. While Callixtus had lived a noble and sober life free of scandal and tried to lead the Church in the same manner, his papacy inevitably set the stage for the debauchery and depravity that was to characterize later members of his family.
Few families in history left behind as horrid a legacy as the Borgias. During the Italian Renaissance, their name was synonymous with scandal, depravity, and debauchery. Even though many members held high-ranking positions within the Catholic Church, including the papal throne itself, they were despised throughout Italy and beyond. The accusations ranged from corruption to murder, and interrelations amongst the family members. The Pope himself was accused of all these things and more within the walls of the Vatican, and once he died his quarters were sealed for hundreds of years. His successor claimed, "I will not live in the same rooms as the Borgias lived. He desecrated the Holy Church as none before."
Intrigued? Read on to find out more about the Renaissance's most notorious dynasty.
Inside Europe's most scandalous family
All about the Borgias
LIFESTYLE History
Few families in history left behind as horrid a legacy as the Borgias. During the Italian Renaissance, their name was synonymous with scandal, depravity, and debauchery. Even though many members held high-ranking positions within the Catholic Church, including the papal throne itself, they were despised throughout Italy and beyond. The accusations ranged from corruption to murder, and interrelations amongst the family members. The Pope himself was accused of all these things and more within the walls of the Vatican, and once he died his quarters were sealed for hundreds of years. His successor claimed, "I will not live in the same rooms as the Borgias lived. He desecrated the Holy Church as none before."
Intrigued? Read on to find out more about the Renaissance's most notorious dynasty.