The Borgias: Power, Corruption, and the Fall of a Dynasty (1492–1503)

Introduction: Cardinal Borgia and the Rise to Power

The most fascinating pope of the Renaissance, Rodrigo Borgia, was born on January 1, 1431, in Xàtiva, Spain. His parents were cousins and both belonged to the Borgia (Borja) family, which was somewhat aristocratic. Rodrigo completed his studies in Xàtiva, Valencia, and Bologna. When his uncle became a cardinal and then pope as Calixtus III, a new path opened for the young student in ecclesiastical careers. After moving to Italy, he changed his name from Borja to Borgia. At twenty-five he was made a cardinal, and at twenty-six he was appointed to the most fruitful office: Vice-Chancellor of the Apostolic Chancery.

He performed his duties with skill, gained a reputation for management, lived frugally, and made many friends of both sexes. Yet he was not yet a priest before the age of twenty-seven. In his youth he was so handsome and so distinguished in elegance of manner, sensual warmth, cheerful temperament, and constant witty eloquence that women found it difficult to resist him. Raised in the morally lax environment of fifteenth-century Italy, and seeing that many priests allowed themselves the enjoyment of women, this young purple-clad libertine decided to take full advantage of all the gifts God had given him and to women.

Pius II reproved him for participating in a “disgraceful and misleading dance” in 1460, but accepted his apology and kept him as a trusted assistant in the Vice-Chancellorship. Around 1466 he formed a relatively permanent attachment to Vannozza de’ Cattanei, who was then twenty-four. Vannozza bore him four children: Giovanni (1474), Cesare (1476), Lucrezia (1480), and Goffredo (1481). These four children are attributed to him on Vannozza’s tombstone, and Rodrigo occasionally acknowledged them as his own.

Alexander VI: Election and the Beginning of His Reign

Rodrigo Borgia was elected pope on August 6, 1492, by a large majority and took the name Alexander VI. His election greatly pleased the people of Rome, and his coronation was celebrated with unparalleled splendor. Crowds were delighted by the magnificent procession of white horses, banners, tapestries, knights, Turkish archers and horsemen, seven hundred priests, colorfully dressed cardinals, and finally Alexander himself—tall, with a face radiating health, strength, and pride, and, according to an eyewitness, “a calm and majestic appearance.”

Alexander began his rule well. In the thirty-six years between the death of Innocent VIII and his own coronation, two hundred and twenty notorious murders had occurred in Rome. The new pope made an example of the first murderer caught: the criminal was hanged, his brother executed with him, and his house destroyed. The city praised this severity, crime decreased, order was restored, and all Italy rejoiced that a strong man stood at the head of the Church.

Politics and Power under Alexander VI

Alexander administered the affairs of the Church effectively in the early years of his pontificate. Innocent VIII had left the treasury empty and indebted. Alexander used all his financial power to restore papal finances; it took him two years to balance the budget. He reduced the number of Vatican staff and expenses, yet administrative affairs continued with precision and salaries were paid on time.

He faced political problems arising from the pressure of scheming Italian powers. The Papal States had again fallen into the hands of local dictators. His first duty was to bring these territories back under central papal government and to collect taxes from them—the same task that the kings of Spain, France, and England had performed against their feudal lords. He entrusted this mission to Cesare Borgia, who carried it out with the utmost speed and ruthlessness, leaving Machiavelli’s mouth open in admiration.

To finance his government and wars, Alexander sold offices, seized the estates of deceased cardinals, and made the most of the 1500 Jubilee. The issuance of dispensations and annulments formed an important part of his political transactions.

Cesare Borgia: Warrior and Statesman

Alexander had many reasons to be satisfied with Cesare, now his eldest surviving son. Cesare was golden-haired and golden-bearded, with a piercing gaze, tall, upright, strong, and imposing. Like Leonardo, it was said he could bend a horseshoe with his bare hands. He rode unruly horses with power and hunted with the eagerness of a bloodhound.

He had studied law at the University of Perugia. He had little time for books or “culture,” though he occasionally wrote poetry. He greatly valued art; when Raffaele Riario refused to buy the ancient Cupid because he thought it was the work of an unknown Florentine youth, Cesare paid a good price for it.

Cesare was not made for ecclesiastical office. Yet Alexander made him Archbishop of Valencia (1492) and then elevated him to the cardinalate (1493). No one regarded such positions as truly spiritual; they were means of providing income. Cesare performed minor religious duties but was never ordained a priest.

In 1497, shortly after Giovanni’s death, Cesare went to Naples as the pope’s envoy. After returning to Rome, he persistently asked his father to allow him to resign his ecclesiastical office. Alexander, by confessing Cesare’s illegitimacy before the cardinals, invalidated his cardinalate (August 17, 1498). Cesare then returned with complete enthusiasm to the game of politics.

Alexander hoped that Frederick III of Naples would accept Cesare as husband for his daughter Carlotta, but Frederick had other plans. The pope turned to France. This gave Louis XII the opportunity to request the annulment of his forced marriage. In October 1498 Alexander sent Cesare to France with the annulment decree and 200,000 ducats. Louis offered marriage to Charlotte d’Albret, sister of the King of Navarre, and granted Cesare the duchy of Valentinois.

Cesare’s Conquests

In January 1500 Cesare and his army crossed the Apennines and entered Forlì. Imola surrendered immediately, but Caterina Sforza held the castle. After a short siege, papal forces entered the city and put the defenders to the sword. Caterina was sent to Rome as an enforced guest.

In his second campaign Cesare took Rimini and Pesaro. In Faenza, Astorre Manfredi resisted but eventually surrendered. Cesare treated all inhabitants with generosity.

In his third campaign he conquered Urbino and Camerino. In December 1502 his captains besieged Senigallia. Cesare arrested four conspirators and ordered two of them strangled that same night (December 31, 1502). The two Orsini were executed later in January 1503.

Alexander was now free to express his full anger at the conspiracy against his son. Cardinal Orsini and several others were arrested. The cardinal died in prison on February 22, perhaps from grief and exhaustion.

The Fall of the Borgia Dynasty

Alexander’s last years appeared happy and successful. His daughter had married into a distinguished family and was respected in Ferrara; his son had carried out his missions as a capable general and administrator, and the Papal States enjoyed excellent government.

But on the afternoon of August 5, 1503, Alexander, Cesare, and others dined in the open air at the villa of Cardinal Adriano da Corneto. They remained in the garden until midnight because the heat inside was unbearable. On August 11 the cardinal suffered a severe fever. On August 12 both the pope and his son fell ill with fever and vomiting. Physicians diagnosed malaria caused by remaining outdoors in the midsummer Roman air.

Alexander lingered between life and death for thirteen days and died on August 18. His body turned black and putrid, giving strength to poisoning rumors. Cesare also fell ill but recovered.

After Alexander’s death, Cesare found himself in unforeseen dangers. The Colonna and Orsini quickly recovered the fortresses taken from them. Deposed rulers of the Romagna began to reclaim their domains with Venetian encouragement.

Cesare went to Civita Castellana. Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere) was elected pope. Cesare returned to Rome but was imprisoned in his own house. Julius forced him to surrender the fortresses. Cesare fled to Naples but was arrested by Gonzalo de Córdoba on Ferdinand’s orders and taken to Spain.

In November 1506 Cesare escaped and went to the court of Navarre. In March 1507 he was killed in battle against the Count of Lerín near Viana. He was thirty-one years old.

Lucrezia Borgia: From Rome to Ferrara

Lucrezia was born in 1480. She was educated in a convent and later moved to the household of Donna Adriana Mila. At thirteen she married Giovanni Sforza, but the marriage was annulled in 1497 on grounds of non-consummation.

Her second marriage, to Alfonso, Duke of Bisceglie, took place in 1498. Alfonso was murdered in 1500, apparently on Cesare’s orders. Lucrezia retired to Nepi in mourning.

Her third marriage, to Alfonso d’Este, son of Duke Ercole of Ferrara, was arranged in 1501 and celebrated in 1502. In Ferrara Lucrezia was respected and bore four sons and a daughter for her husband.

In her final years she devoted herself to raising her children and charitable works. She died on June 24, 1519, at the age of thirty-nine.

Conclusion: The Legacy of the Borgias

The Borgia family reached its zenith with the power and ambition of Alexander VI but collapsed rapidly after his death and Cesare’s fall. Lucrezia, vilified in Rome, became a symbol of virtue in Ferrara. The legacy of this dynasty is a mixture of art, politics, corruption, and scandal that continues to fascinate historians.