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As cardinal and pope, Rodrigo fathered a number of children by his mistress Vannozza Catanei. Cesare Borgia (q.v.; c. 1475/76–1507), son of Rodrigo, achieved political power while ruthlessly attempting to establish a secular kingdom in central Italy.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- The Rise of The Borgias
- Calixtus III: The First Borgia Pope
- Rodrigo: Journey to The Papacy
- Alexander VI: The Second Borgia Pope
- Juan Borgia
- The Rise of Cesare Borgia
- The Wars of Cesare Borgia
- The Fall of The Borgias
- Lucrezia The Patron and The End of The Borgias
- The Borgia Legend
The most famous branch of the Borgia family originated with Alfonso de Borgia (1378–1458, and or Alfons de Borja in Spanish), the son of a middling status family, in Valencia, Spain. Alfons went to university and studied canon and civil law, where he demonstrated talent and after graduation began to rise through the local church. After representing...
On April 8th, 1455, shortly after being made a cardinal, Alfons was elected Pope, largely because he belonged to no major factions and seemed destined for a short reign due to age. He took the name Calixtus III. As a Spaniard, Calixtus had many ready-made enemies in Rome, and he began his rule carefully, keen to avoid Rome’s factions, even though h...
In the conclave following Calixtus’s death, Rodrigo was the most junior cardinal, but he played a key role in electing the new Pope—Pius II—a role that required courage and gambling his career. The move worked, and for a young foreign outsider who had lost his patron, Rodrigo found himself a key ally of the new pope and confirmed Vice-Chancellor. T...
Alexander had widespread public support and was capable, diplomatic, and skilled, as well as rich, hedonistic, and concerned with ostentatious displays. While Alexander at first tried to keep his role separate from family, his children soon benefited from his election, and received huge wealth; Cesare became a cardinal in 1493. Relatives arrived in...
Alexander now turned on a Roman family who stayed loyal to France: the Orsini. The command was given to Alexander’s son Duke Juan, who was recalled from Spain, where he had earned a reputation for womanizing. Meanwhile, Rome echoed to the rumors of the excesses of the Borgia children. Alexander meant to give Juan first the vital Orsini land, and th...
Juan had been Alexander’s favorite and his commander: that honor (and the rewards) were now diverted to Cesare, who wished to resign his cardinal’s hat and marry. Cesare represented the future to Alexander, partly because the other male Borgia children were dying or weak. Cesare secularized himself fully in 1498. He was immediately given replacemen...
Alexander looked at the condition of the Papal States, left in disarray after the first French invasion, and decided military action was needed. He thus ordered Cesare, who was in Milan with his army, to pacify large areas of central Italy for the Borgias. Cesare had early success, although when his large French contingent returned to France, he ne...
As the alliance with France now seemed to be holding Cesare back, plans were made, deals struck, wealth acquired and enemies murdered to take a change of direction, but in mid-1503 Alexander died of malaria. Cesare found his benefactor gone, his realm not yet consolidated, large foreign armies in the north and south, and himself also deeply ill. Fu...
Lucrezia also survived malaria and the loss of her father and brother. Her personality reconciled her to her husband, his family, and her state, and she took up court positions, acting as regent. She organized the state, saw it through war, and created a court of great culture through her patronage. She was popular with her subjects and died in 151...
Alexander and the Borgias have become infamous for corruption, cruelty, and murder. Yet what Alexander did as pope was rarely original, he just took things to a new extreme. Cesare was perhaps the supreme intersection of secular power wielded to spiritual power in Europe’s history, and the Borgias were renaissance princes no worse than many of thei...
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Lucrezia Borgia ( Italian pronunciation: [luˈkrɛttsja ˈbɔrdʒa]; Valencian: Lucrècia Borja [luˈkrɛsia ˈbɔɾdʒa]; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the governor of Spoleto, a position usually ...
- Convent of Corpus Domini
- Borgia
Apr 18, 2023 · The pair produced 8 children, 4 of whom survived until adulthood. Brutal and politically astute, Alfonso was also a great patron of the arts, commissioning work by Titian and Bellini most notably. Lucrezia died in 1519, aged just 39, after giving birth to her 10th and final child.
- Sarah Roller
Lucrezia had many children by Alfonso though a few of them died quite young. She withdrew completely from her active public life in 1512 when her son Rodrigo by Alfonso of Aragon met with an untimely death.
Mar 23, 2021 · The House of Borgia had many notable members, the four best-known of whom are Alfonso de Borgia, who became Pope Callixtus III, his nephew, Rodrigo de Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI, Cesare Borgia, and Lucrezia Borgia, both of whom were Pope Alexander’s children.
Personal Life. He married Chariotte of Albret, sister of King John III of Navarre, in May 1499, and had a daughter named Louise Borgia, Duchess of Valentinois. He is also believed to have at least 11 illegitimate children, including one rumoured to be out of a relationship with his sister.
