Pope Alexander VI, born Roderic Llançol i de Borja (Valencian pronunciation: [roðeˈɾiɡ ʎanˈsɔɫ i ðe ˈβɔɾdʒa], Spanish: Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja [roˈðɾiɣo lanˈθol i ðe ˈβorxa]; 1 January 1431 -- 18 August 1503) was Pope from 11 August 1492 to his death on 18 August 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized Valencian surname, Borgia, became a byword for libertinism and nepotism, which are traditionally considered as characterizing his papacy. However, his reputation is mostly drawn from his enemies, the Italian prelates and barons whose power he subverted. Two of Alexander's successors, Sixtus V and Urban VIII, described him as one of the most outstanding popes since St. Peter. His reputation rests more on his considerable skills as a diplomat, politician, and civil administrator rather than as a pastor, although regarding the latter he was no less effective than any of the other renaissance pontiffs. Roderic Llançol was born on 1 January 1431, in the town of Xativa near Valencia, Spain, one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon, in what is now Spain. His parents were Jofré Llançol i Escrivà (died bef. 24 March 1437) and his Aragonese wife and distant cousin Isabel de Borja y Cavanilles (died 19 October 1468). His family name is written Llançol in Catalan (Valencian) and Lanzol in Castillian (Spanish). Rodrigo adopted his mother's family name of Borja in 1455 following the elevation to the papacy of maternal uncle Alonso de Borja (Italianized to Alfonso Borgia) as Calixtus III. Of Alexander's many mistresses the one for whom passion lasted longest was a certain Vannozza (Giovanna) dei Cattani, born in 1442, and wife of three successive husbands. The connection began in 1470, and she bore him four children whom he openly acknowledged as his own: Giovanni, afterwards duke of Gandia (born 1474), Cesare (born 1476), Lucrezia (born 1480), and Goffredo or Giuffre (born 1481 or 1482). Three of his other children, Girolama, Isabella and Pedro-Luiz, were of uncertain parentage. However, his son Bernardo, a product of his liaison with Vittoria (Victoria) Sailór dei Venezia in 1469, is much less known because his father kept him in hiding, most likely due to shame, for he was a cardinal, who aspired to become the pope. He obviously gave up hiding his many children after he fathered four more. Therefore, Bernardo received the least amount of attention of his siblings. When he became older, he grew bitter of his father and fled for his mother. Before his elevation to the papacy Cardinal Borgia's passion for Vannozza somewhat diminished, and she subsequently led a very retired life. Her place in his affections was filled by the beautiful Giulia Farnese (Giulia Bella), wife of an Orsini, but his love for his children by Vannozza remained as strong as ever and proved, indeed, the determining factor of his whole career. He lavished vast sums on them and lauded them with every honour. The atmosphere of Alexander's household is typified by the fact that his daughter Lucrezia lived with his mistress Giulia, who bore him a daughter, Laura, in 1492. He is an ancestor of virtually all royal houses of Europe, mainly the southern and western ones, for being the ancestor of Dona Luisa de Guzmán, wife of King John IV of Portugal, of the House of Braganza. Rodrigo Borgia studied law at Bologna where he graduated, not simply as Doctor of Law, but as "the most eminent and judicious jurisprudent." After the election of his uncle as Pope Calixtus III, he was ordained deacon and created Cardinal-Deacon of San Nicola in Carcere at the age of twenty-five in 1456. The following year, he was appointed vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church. Both nepotistic appointments were characteristic of the age. In 1468, he was ordained to the priesthood and, in 1471, he was consecrated bishop and appointed Cardinal-Bishop of Albano. Having served in the Roman Curia under five popes -- Calixtus III, Pius II, Paul II, Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII -- Rodrigo Borgia acquired considerable administrative experience, influence and wealth When his uncle Alonso de Borja (bishop of Valencia) was elected Pope Callixtus III, he "inherited" the post of bishop of Valencia. Sixteen days before the death of Pope Innocent VIII, he proposed Valencia as a metropolitan and he became the first archbishop of Valencia. When Rodrigo de Borja was elected pope as Alexander VI following the death of Innocent VIII, it was the turn of his son Cesare Borgia to "inherit" the post as second archbishop of Valencia. The third and the fourth archbishops of Valencia were Juan de Borja and Pedro Luis de Borja, grand-nephew and brother of Alexander VI.

• published: 05 Apr 2014
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