It cannot be denied, however, that Alexander VI. also possessed great virtues. His contemporaries describe him as energetic, cultivated, astute, and prompt to act, and also as ready and vigorous of speech.
Rodrigo Borgia had spent seven years at Bologna studying canon law; and when his uncle, Calixtus III., in 1456, made him Bishop of Valencia, he also created him Cardinal-deacon of San Niccolò in Carcere Tulliano, and shortly afterwards made him Vice-Chancellor of the Church.
During the reign of Sixtus IV. he had been made Bishop of Porto and sent as legate to Spain. While returning to Italy he was shipwrecked and rescued only with great difficulty. When he was cardinal he occupied the Cesarini palace, but it is said that he was miserly and that, in spite of his vast wealth, he seldom entertained.
The Borgia made a majestic and imposing Pope; he was crowned August 26, 1492, with the greatest pomp and magnificence. Never before since the days of the Empire had Rome beheld such pageants. When the Pope, half dead with fatigue, reached the Lateran he fainted; and again when he took his seat on the throne, he swooned, his head falling on Riario’s shoulder.
Guicciardini says Italy’s two greatest misfortunes were Lorenzo de’ Medici’s death and Rodrigo Borgia’s accession to the papacy.
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The Borgias were vicious, shrewd, intellectual, and perspicacious, and possessed of indomitable will. They were endowed with the mental and physical force which wins success and often hatred.
POPE ALEXANDER VI.
From a fresco by Pinturicchio.