28 Alexander VI
Rome. Old and sick, he died at Cività Castellana on
August 30, 1181.
Further reading:G. M. Ellis, trans., Boso’s Life of
Alexander III (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1973); Robert
Summerville, Pope Alexander III and the Council of Tours
(1163): A Study of Ecclesiastical Politics and Institutions in
the Twelfth Century(Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1977); Marshall Baldwin, Alexander III and the
Twelfth Century(Glen Rock, N.J.: Newman, 1968).
Alexander VI(Rodrigo de Borja y Doms, Rodrigo de
Borgia)(1431–1503)notorious Renaissance pope
On January 1, 1431, Alexander VI was born Rodrigo
Borja at Játiva in Valencia, Spain. He studied law at the
University of Bologna and rose to prominence in 1455,
when his uncle was elected pope as Calixtus III
(r. 1455–58). As his uncle had, Rodrigo changed his
name to Borgia, the Italian form of Borja. When
Rodrigo was 25, his uncle made him a cardinal; at 26
he became the vice-chancellor of the papal court, a
position he filled competently for 35 years. Borgia lived
a secular life in Rome and did not become a priest until
1468, when he was 37 years old. Priesthood, however,
did not change the character of his life. He had children
by several mistresses. There is certainty only about the
mother of four of his children, Caesare born in 1475,
Giovanni born in 1476, Lucrezia born in 1480, and
Goffredo born in 1481. She was Vanozza de’ Catanei.
Rodrigo was considered handsome and attractive to
women, intelligent, a good public speaker, and popular
with the citizens of Rome.
In the conclave of August 6 to October 11, 1492, the
cardinals elected the 61-year-old Borgia as pope. He took
the name of Alexander VI in honor of Alexander the
Great. He started his reign well. The populace of Rome
was pleased by his election. He began extensive building
projects in the city and worked conscientiously at papal
business. In 1494, King Ferrante or Ferdinand I
(1423–94) of Naples died. The Kingdom of NAPLEShad
once been a possession of the French throne; King
Charles VIII (r. 1483–98) of France decided to reclaim it
by invasion and reached Rome in December 1494.
Alexander feared deposition but managed to negotiate his
freedom. He then joined forces with VENICE, the Holy
Roman Emperor, Spain, and MILAN. Together they
expelled Charles from Italy. Pope Alexander in the mean-
time had to face the monumental task of regaining con-
trol of the PAPALSTATES, which had fallen into the hands
of local nobles during the pontificate of his predecessor,
Innocent VIII (r. 1484–92). Alexander delegated this task
to his son Caesare Borgia (ca. 1475–1507), who accom-
plished it with brutal determination. Caesare’s ambitious
marriage to the French princess Charlotte d’Albret in
1499 committed Alexander to friendship with the new
French king, Louis XII (r. 1498–1515), forcing the pope
into an unwise course of action. In exchange for French
help in retaking the Papal States, Alexander cooperated
with Louis’s conquest of Milan and deposition of
Ludovico Sforza (r. 1494–99, d. 1508). Alexander VI died
on August 18, 1503, perhaps of malaria. According to
another story, he was poisoned.
Alexander VI has been widely condemned for his
conduct. He was seen by some as disregarding priestly
celibacy, practicing SIMONYand nepotism, and preferring
political chicanery to spiritual leadership. He used his
position to enrich his children, to support a host of Span-
ish relatives in Rome, and to create 19 Spanish cardinals.
Though he shocked his contemporaries by openly
acknowledging his children, his morals were hardly
worse than those of his contemporaries. Vicious rumors
that he poisoned his enemies and held sexual orgies are
dubious.
Further reading:Johann Burchard, Pope Alexander VI
and His Court: Extracts from the Latin Diary of Johannes
Burchardus,ed. F. L. Glaser (New York: N. L. Brown,
1921); E. R. Chamberlain, The Fall of the House of Borgia
(New York: Dial Press, 1974); Michael Mallett, The Bor-
gia: The Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Dynasty(London:
The Bodley Head, 1969); Georgina Masson, The Borgias
(London: Macdonald Futura, 1981).Alexander Nevsky, Saint SeeNEVSKY,ALEXANDER,
SAINT.Alexander romances Alexander romances are gener-
ally found in all of the literatures of medieval Europe,
including Bulgarian, Armenian, Hebrew, Serbian, Greek,
Syriac, Persian, and Ethiopian. They consist of extensive
and involved narratives in both prose and poetry. The
career of Alexander the Great was the subject of these
romances. They were somewhat historical and somewhat
fictional and were initially formulated soon after his
death in 323 B.C.E. The Latin prose history was written by
Quintus Curtius Rufus, The History of Alexander,in the
first century C.E. and is the standard historical account
available to medieval writers.
Two important fictional works did circulate in the
central Middle Ages. One was a letter purporting to be
from Alexander to his tutor ARISTOTLEdescribing his
travels and the wonders of India. The other work, The
Journey to Paradise, definitely of Hebrew origin, was
sometimes combined with other stories that connected
Alexander with Jerusalem and Daniel the prophet. It
tells of the arrival of Alexander at the gates of an earthly
paradise. He asks for tribute but is given a stone with
mysterious markings. These were interpreted by an
elderly Jew from Babylon as symbolizing Alexander’s
power but also of its impotence in the face of death, and
as warning him of the danger of avarice and the value of
humility.