Pope Alexander VI (1 January 1431 – 18 August 1503), born Rodrigo de Borja, was Pope from 11 August 1492 to 18 August 1503, succeeding Pope Innocent VIII and preceding Pope Pius III. Pope Alexander was the head of the powerful House of Borgia, and he became controversial for acknowledging fathering several children by his mistresses (including Pedro Luis, Isabella, Cesare, Juan, Lucrezia, and Joffre Borgia), as well as for his libertinism and nepotism. Corruption flourished in Rome during his papacy, and Pope Alexander also increased the role of the Papal States in Italian politics, leading it during the early Italian Wars.
Biography[]
Rodrigo Llancol i de Borja was born in Xativa, Crown of Aragon on 1 January 1431 to the prestigious House of Borgia, a family of Catalan nobles. He was the nephew of Pope Callixtus III, who consecrated him as a Cardinal of the Catholic Church in 1456; he became Vice-Chancellor of the Church a year later. He acquired significant administrative experience, influence, and wealth, and he became the first Archbishop of Valencia. As a cardinal, Borgia also engaged in vices, and he fathered several children with mistresses, chief among them Vannozza dei Cattanei, the mother of his children Cesare, Juan, Lucrezia, and Joffre Borgia.
Cardinal[]
Borgia in 1476
Rodrigo Borgia (as he would become known in Italy) would also become the Grand Master of the secretive Templar Order, a secret society dedicated to subjugating the world through intrigues and conspiracies. He was also known as "the Spaniard", and he wore a red hood to conceal his identity. In 1476, he conspired with the House of Pazzi to overthrow the House of Medici, and he secured Pope Sixtus IV's support for the "Pazzi Conspiracy". This conspiracy resulted in the deaths of the prominent banker Giovanni Auditore da Firenze and his sons Federico and Petruccio, and the House of Pazzi would later attempt to assassinate Duke Lorenzo de Medici. Auditore's surviving son, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, embarked on a quest of revenge against the Pazzi conspirators and those allied to them, first killing his the corrupt Gonfaloniere Uberto Alberti, then his childhood rival Vieri de Pazzi, and then slaying the Pazzi conspirators Francesco de Pazzi and Jacopo de Pazzi after they failed to assassinate Lorenzo. With the conspiracy in Florence crushed, Borgia orchestrated another conspiracy in Venice, which aimed to bring the House of Barbarigo to power by assassinating Doge Giovanni Mocenigo. Auditore failed to prevent Mocenigo from taking power, and the Barbarigo candidate Marco Barbarigo became doge. However, Auditore succeeded in assassinating him as well, and the anti-Borgia Agostino Barbarigo took power. Borgia was forced to flee from Venice in 1488, and he returned to Rome.
Election as Pope[]
Pope Alexander in 1498
After Pope Innocent VIII's death in 1492, Borgia was one of the principal candidates at the Papal Conclave, rivalling Giuliano Della Rovere, Orsino Orsini, and Ascanio Sforza, among others. Borgia secured the vote of Sforza by promising him the position of Vice-Chancellor, and he also had his family give large shares of its wealth to other cardinals (including monetary bribes and bottles of wine) to wine their loyalty; he even had the family grant some of its bishoprics to cardinals to give them more income. This won him a majority of cardinals, and he won after the third round of voting during the conclave. Borgia took the name "Pope Alexander VI", and his papacy began on 11 August 1492. Borgia was forced to end his public relationship with Cattanei, who remained the matriarch of the family from her own residence in Rome. Borgia sought to appear as a great Pope, despite his engagement in public lechery, simony, and other forms of corruption.
French invasion[]
The Pope in 1500
Pope Alexander focused on building the power of the papacy by having his opponents murdered, and he would also seek to build the prestige and power of his house by marrying off his children to members of the nobility from other countries. He had his daughter Lucrezia marry Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro, in an attempt to ally with the powerful Milanese House of Sforza; this marriage broke down due to Sforza's abuse of his daughter, as well as because of the House of Sforza's alliance with France. His son Juan was originally betrothed to Princess Sancia of Naples, but he refused to marry her due to her illegitimacy; she married his youngest son, Joffre, instead. Finally, his son Cesare married Charlotte d'Albret, a member of the royal house of France, creating an alliance with France in 1499. Pope Alexander also pursued an active foreign policy, seeking to empower the Papal States' standing in Italy. The Papal States allied with Naples during the early stages of the Italian War of 1494-98, but it abandoned the alliance in favor of investing the invading King Charles VIII of France as the new King of Naples in 1495. Pope Alexander pretended to be a humble pope, dressing in a friar's clothing and removing the treasures from his church; he then met with King Charles, who was persuaded to leave Rome alone during his march on Naples. Charles felt betrayed by the Pope when he found that Naples was suffering from the plague, and Pope Alexander formed the League of Venice to oppose the French as they retreated northwards. The French were defeated at the Battle of Fornovo, and King Charles' army suffered heavy losses.
Italian War of 1499-1504[]
Cesare Borgia and Pope Alexander, 1503
The Papacy would succeed in driving the French from Italy, only to side with them when they invaded Milan in 1499. Pope Alexander's son Cesare conducted military campaigns in the Romagna region, subduing cities such as Forli and Monteriggioni with his large armies, and his alliance with France empowered the Papacy. However, Spain's entry into the war on the side of the Italian city-states led to France's defeat on many fronts, and Borgia's campaigns stalled. Soon, Pope Alexander grew angry at his son, who claimed that he could do whatever he wished, as he was in command of the army. While Pope Alexander was opposed to upsetting the balance of power in Italy, Cesare supported the unification of Italy under Papal rule.
Death[]
On 18 August 1503, an ill Cesare Borgia returned from his campaigns in Romagna, and he intended on visiting his father at the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. Pope Alexander attempted to poison his son with poisoned apples, fearing his ambitions and his lust for power. However, Cesare Borgia discovered his father's deceit, and he forced his father to eat one of the apples, killing him. Cardinal Piccolomini was consecrated "Pope Pius III" after Borgia's death.