User:RenaissanceMan1389/Pope Alexander VI

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Rodrigo Borgia was born in the Kingdom of Valencia in 1431. His career in the Church began in 1445 at the age of fourteen when he was appointed sacristan at the cathedral of Valencia by his uncle, Alfonso Borgia who had just been appointed a cardinal by Pope Eugene IV in the previous year. In 1448, Borgia became canon at the cathedrals of Valencia, Barcelona, and Segorbe, a position in the Church that came with an income (17). His uncle persuaded Pope Nicholas V to allow Borgia to perform this role in absentia and receive the associated income, allowing Borgia to travel to Rome (19). While in Rome, Borgia studied under a humanist tutor Gaspare da Verona. Rodrigo Borgia studied law at Bologna where he graduated, not simply as Doctor of Law, but as "the most eminent and judicious jurisprudent." (existing citation). The election of his uncle Alfonso as Pope Callixtus III in 1455 enabled Borgia's appointments to other positions in the Church. These nepotistic appointments were characteristic of the age. Each pope during this period inevitably found himself surrounded by the servants and retainers of his predecessors who often owed their loyalty to the family of the pontiff who had appointed them (existing citation). In 1455, he inherited his uncle's post as bishop of Valencia, and Callixtus appointed him Dean of Santa Maria in Játiva. The following year, he was ordained deacon and created Cardinal-Deacon of San Nicola in Carcere. Rodrigo Borgia's appointment as cardinal only occurred after Callixtus III convened the cardinals in Rome to create three new cardinal positions, two for his nephews Rodrigo and Luis Juan de Milà, and one for the Prince Jaime of Portugal (36). In 1457, Callixtus III assigned Borgia to go to Ancona as a papal legate to quell a revolt. Borgia was successful in his mission, and his uncle rewarded him with his appointment as vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church (43). The position of vice-chancellor was both incredibly powerful and lucrative, and Borgia held this post for 35 years until his own election to the papacy in 1492. At the end of 1457, Rodrigo Borgia's elder brother, Pedro Luis Borgia fell ill, so Rodrigo temporarily filled Pedro Luis' position as captain-general of the papal army until he recovered (45). In 1458, Cardinal Borgia's uncle and greatest benefactor, Pope Callixtus, died.

In the papal election of 1458, Rodrigo Borgia was too young to seek the papacy himself, so he sought to support a cardinal who would maintain him as vice chancellor. Borgia was one of the deciding votes in the election of Cardinal Piccolomini as Pope Pius II (Piccolomini memoir p. 80), and the new pope rewarded Borgia not only with maintaining the chancellorship, but also with a lucrative abbey benefice and another titular church (55). In 1460, Pope Pius rebuked Cardinal Borgia for attending a private party which Pius had heard turned into an orgy. Borgia apologized for the incident but denied that there had been an orgy. Pope Pius forgave Borgia, and the true events of the evening remain unknown (60). In 1462, Rodrigo Borgia had his first son, Pedro Luis, with an unknown mistress. He sent Pedro Luis son to grow up in Spain (65). The following year, Borgia acceded to Pope Pius's call for cardinals to help fund a new crusade. Before embarking to lead the crusade personally, Pope Pius II fell ill and died, so Borgia would need to ensure the election of yet another ally to the papacy to maintain his position as vice chancellor.

On the first ballot, the conclave of 1464 elected Borgia's friend Pietro Barbo as Pope Paul II. Borgia was in high standing with the new pope and retained his positions, include as vice chancellor. Paul II also reversed some of his predecessor's reforms that diminished the power of the chancellory. Following the election, Borgia fell ill to the plague but recovered. Borgia had two daughters, Isabella and Girolama, with his unknown mistress in 1467 and 1469. Despite his position in the Church, he openly acknowledged all three of his children (81). Pope Paul II died suddenly in 1471, necessitating a new election for Borgia to survive.

While Borgia had acquired the reputation and wealth to mount a bid for the papacy in this conclave, there were only three non-Italians in the conclave, making his election a near-impossibility. Consequently, Borgia continued his previous strategy of positioning himself as kingmaker. This time, Borgia gathered the votes to make Francesco della Rovere (the uncle of future Borgia rival Giuliano della Rovere) Pope Sixtus IV. Della Rovere's appeal was that he was a pious and brilliant Franciscan monk who lacked many political connections in Rome (82). He seemed to be the perfect cardinal to reform the Church, and the perfect cardinal for Borgia to maintain his influence. Sixtus IV rewarded Borgia by promoting him to cardinal-bishop and consecrating him as the Cardinal-Bishop of Albano, following Borgia's ordination as priest. Borgia also received a lucrative abbey from the pope and remained vice chancellor (85). At the end of the year, the pope appointed Borgia to be the papal legate for Spain to negotiate a peace treaty between Castile and Aragon and to solicit their support for another crusade. In 1472, Borgia was appointed to be the papal chamberlain until his departure to Spain. Borgia arrived in his native Aragon in the summer, reuniting with family and meeting with King Juan II and Prince Ferdinand. The pope gave Cardinal Borgia discretion over whether to give dispensation for Ferdinand's marriage to his first cousin Isabella of Castile, and Borgia decided in favor of approving the marriage. The couple named Borgia to be the godfather of their first son in recognition of this decision (95). This decision was critical in the unification of Castile and Aragon into Spain. Borgia also negotiated peace between Castile and Aragon and an end to the civil wars in the latter Kingdom, gaining the favor of the future King Ferdinand who would go on to promote the interests of the Borgia family in Aragon (87). Borgia returned to Rome the following year, narrowly surviving a storm that sunk a nearby galley that was carrying 200 men of the Borgia household. Back in Rome, Borgia began his affair with Vanozza dei Cattenei which would yield four children: Cesare in 1475, Giovanni in 1476, Lucrezia in 1480, and Gioffre in 1482. In 1476, Pope Sixtus appointed Borgia to be the cardinal-bishop of Porto. In 1480, the pope legitimized Cesare as a favor to Cardinal Borgia, and in 1482, the pope began to appoint the seven-year-old to positions in the Church, demonstrating Borgia's intention to use his influence to promote the interests of his children. Contemporaneously, Borgia continued to add to his list of benefices, becoming the wealthiest cardinal by 1483 (100). He also become Dean of the College of Cardinals in that year. In 1484, Pope Sixtus IV died, and Borgia was finally in a position to make a bid for the papacy himself.

Borgia was wealthy and powerful enough to mount a bid in 1484, but he faced competition from the Giuliano della Rovere, the late pope's nephew. Della Rovere's faction had the advantage of being incredibly large as Sixtus had appointed many of the cardinals who would participate in the election. Borgia's attempts to gather enough votes included bribery and leveraging his close ties to Naples and Aragon. However, many of the Spanish cardinals were absent from the conclave and della Rovere's faction had an overwhelming advantage. Della Rovere chose to promote Cardinal Cibo as his preferred candidate, and Cibo wrote to the Borgia faction wanting to strike a deal. Once again, Borgia played kingmaker and conceded to Cardinal Cibo who became Pope Innocent VIII (106). Again, Borgia retained his position of vice chancellor, successfully holding this position over the course of five papacies and four elections.

In 1485, Pope Innocent VIII nominated Borgia to become the archbishop of Seville, a position that King Ferdinand II wanted for his own son. In response, Ferdinand angrily seized the Borgia estates in Aragon and imprisoned Borgia's son Pedro Luis. However, Borgia healed the relationship by turning down this appointment. Pope Innocent, at the urging of his close ally Giuliano della Rovere, decided to declare war against Naples, but Milan, Florence, and Aragon chose to support Naples over the pope. Borgia led the opposition within the College of Cardinals to this war, and King Ferdinand rewarded Borgia by making his son Pedro Luis the duke of Gandia and arranging a marriage between his cousin Maria Enriquez and the new duke. Now, the Borgia family was directly tied to the royal families of Spain and Naples. While Borgia gained the favor of Spain, he stood opposed to the pope and the della Rovere family. As a part of his war opposition, Borgia sought to obstruct an alliance negotiation between the papacy and France. These negotiations were unsuccessful and in July 1486, the pope capitulated and ended the war (111). In 1488, Borgia's son Pedro Luis died, and Juan Borgia became the new duke of Gandia. In the following year, Borgia hosted the wedding ceremony between Orsino Orsini and Giulia Farnese, and within a few months, Farnese had become Borgia's new mistress. She was 15, and he was 58 (114). Borgia continued to acquire new benefices with their large streams of income, including the bishopric of a Majorca and the see of Eger in Hungary. In 1491, Cesare began to study law in Pisa and his father nominated him to his first position in the church as Bishop of Pamplona. In 1492, Pope Innocent elevated Valencia to an archdiocese, making Borgia the first archbishop. Two weeks later, Pope Innocent VIII died, necessitating a new election. At the age of 61, this was likely Borgia's last chance to become pope himself, especially since most of his rivals were much younger than he was.

ELECTION

There was change in the constitution of the College of Cardinals during the course of the fifteenth century, especially under Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII. Of the twenty-seven cardinals alive in the closing months of the reign of Innocent VIII no fewer than ten were Cardinal-nephews, eight were crown nominees, four were Roman nobles and one other had been given the cardinalate in recompense for his family's service to the Holy See; only four were able career churchmen.

On the death of Pope Innocent VIII on 25 July 1492, the College had two main factions: those who supported Ascanio Sforza, the Milanese candidate, and those who supported Giuliano della Rovere, the pro-French candidate. Meanwhile, Borgia was an outside bet to become pope, with his major advantage being his connections and knowledge of the cardinals, as well as his wealthy benefices that he would have to distribute upon his election. These advantages allowed Borgia to use blackmail and bribery to gain votes, although these were common methods that the other candidates employed as well, just with a lesser degree of success. Johann Burchard, the conclave's master of ceremonies and a leading figure of the papal household under several popes, recorded in his diary that the 1492 conclave was a particularly expensive campaign. Della Rovere was bankrolled to the cost of 200,000 gold ducats by King Charles VIII of France, with another 100,000 supplied by the Republic of Genoa.

The leading candidates in the first ballot were Oliviero Carafa of Sforza's party with nine votes, and Giovanni Michiel and Jorge Costa, both of della Rovere's party with seven votes each. Borgia himself gathered seven votes. However, Borgia convinced Sforza to join with his camp through the promise of being appointed vice chancellor as well aas bribes that included benefices and perhaps four mule-loads of silver. With Sforza now canvassing for votes for Borgia, Borgia's election was assured, and Borgia was elected on 11 August 1492, assuming the name of Alexander VI (due to confusion about the status of Pope Alexander V elected by the Council of Pisa). The city of Rome was happy with their new pope because he was a generous and competent administrator who had served for decades as vice-chancellor (126).

Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici (later Pope Leo X) is said to have warned after the election, "Now we are in the power of a wolf, the most rapacious perhaps that this world has ever seen. And if we do not flee, he will inevitably devour us all." Such a criticism, particularly by the very youthful Giovanni, is believed to be highly unlikely: "Precocious though he was, the cardinal would scarcely have made this observation when sixteen years of age." Even if he did make the comment, though, Michael de la Bédoyère says that it would be "unintentionally complimentary as coming from a representative of one of the leading Italian States about a pope whose aim it would be to save Italy in defiance of the prejudices and jealousies of its petty rulers".