The Borgias

There have been no shortage of controversial Popes who were accused by Catholics and other Christians of impropriety, but the most controversial of all was the Borgia Pope, Alexander VI. Born Rodrigo Borgia, the future Pope made his way up the ranks of the Catholic Church with an assist from nepotism, breaking his vows of chastity and fathering several illegitimate children along the way.

The stories and legends attributed to Rodrigo and his children, particularly Cesare and Lucrezia, have made the Borgias one of the most notorious families in history. 500 years after Rodrigo’s death, he and his family have come to be associated more with incest, political intrigue, murder and state-sponsored violence. While 21st century TV series have cast the Borgias as the first organized crime family, the rumors spread by the family’s political opponents in the late 15th century have taken hold among a fascinated public. Did Cesare really have an incestuous relationship with Lucrezia? Did he really throw lavish orgies?

While Rodrigo may not have been as colorful or criminal as the enduring legends, there is no question he was manipulative, ruthless and, ultimately, effective. From an administrative standpoint, Rodrigo was a success as Pope Alexander VI, with a big assist from son Cesare. To the extent that the Borgias are still associated with murder and mayhem, it was the father and son whose actions can be credited with the lion’s share of the perception. Not surprisingly, almost everything about Rodrigo’s life is still up for debate.

In many ways, Cesare has been characterized as the “prince” Machiavelli tells his readers to be. As one translator of The Prince put it, Cesare is “cited as a type of the man who rises on the fortune of others, and falls with them; who takes every course that might be expected from a prudent man but the course which will save him; who is prepared for all eventualities but the one which happens; and who, when all his abilities fail to carry him through, exclaims that it was not his fault, but an extraordinary and unforeseen fatality.”

500 years after Cesare’s death, he and his family have come to be associated more with crime, specifically murder and state-sponsored violence. While 21st century TV series have cast the Borgias as the first organized crime family, the rumors spread by the family’s political opponents in the late 15th century have taken hold among a fascinated public. Did Cesare really have an incestuous relationship with sister Lucrezia? Did he really kill his own brother Giovanni (Juan)? While Cesare may not have been as colorful or criminal as the enduring legends, there is no question he was manipulative, ruthless and, for a short time at least, effective. He helped make his father's papacy a success, but his rise was as dramatic as his fall.

History remembers Lucrezia Borgia in unflattering terms. She has been portrayed as an incestuous adulteress and a murderer, but her contemporaries thought of her in very different terms. Lucrezia was a political pawn in her father and brother's plots and a political power in her own right. She was well-educated and well-respected during her lifetime. While she was, in all certainty, a part of multiple political plots, she was also considered to be pious, thoughtful, and mannerly.

While these facts reveal a very contradictory nature, it may very well have been impossible for Lucrezia to have lived any other way given her gender and position within the Borgia family. But as the German historian Ferdinand Gregorovius so aptly notes in the introduction of his biography of Lucrezia, the positive characteristics attributed to Lucrezia by her contemporaries have gone largely forgotten.