House of Borgia

• 1. Introduction

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  The House of Borgia once filled the Vatican Palace with a party that its own record keeper found almost unbelievable. Johann Burchard, a diarist working under Pope Alexander VI, wrote that fifty courtesans attended a gathering later nicknamed the Banquet of Chestnuts. That gathering still stands out as a strange symbol of the family's years in Rome.

  Where did this family come from, and how did they rise so far within the Church? Why did people whisper about poison and incest behind Vatican doors? What happened to the sons and daughter who carried the Borgia name forward?

• 2. Origins and Old Rumors

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  Xàtiva, a town in the Kingdom of Valencia, gave the Borgias their earliest home before the family carried its name into Italy. Their surname came from the town of Borja, in what was then the Crown of Aragon, near Zaragoza. For centuries, unsubstantiated rumors claimed the family was originally Jewish and only pretending at Catholic piety.

  Giuliano della Rovere, a rival within the Church, was among those who spread the rumor. Political opponents often branded the family marranos, a slur suggesting hidden Jewish ancestry. These rumors persisted long after the family's fall from power, turning up as late as the Semi-Gotha of 1912.

  Pedro de Atarés, a 12th-century lord of Borja who once claimed the crown of Aragon, anchors the family's own version of its history. The Borgias traced a genealogy back to him, even though he actually died childless. None of this speculation stopped Alfons de Borja from becoming a cardinal, and then something far greater.

• 3. Two Men Who Became Pope

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  Alfons de Borja was born in 1378 in La Torreta, Canals, in the Kingdom of Valencia, to Francina Llançol and Domingo de Borja. He became a professor of law at the University of Lleida before serving as a diplomat for the Kings of Aragon. At an advanced age, he was elected Pope Callixtus III in 1455 as a compromise candidate. He reigned only three years, dying in 1458.

  Rodrigo Borgia, born in 1431 in Xàtiva to Isabel de Borja i Cavanilles and Jofré Llançol i Escrivà, would follow a similar climb. He studied law at Bologna and was later appointed cardinal by his own uncle, Pope Callixtus III. In 1492, Rodrigo was elected Pope, taking the name Alexander VI.

  But it was as Pope that Rodrigo's ambitions reached well past the walls of the Vatican.

• 4. Alexander's Family and Power

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  As a cardinal, Rodrigo Borgia kept a long-term relationship with Vannozza dei Cattanei, and together they had four children: Giovanni, Cesare, Lucrezia, and Gioffre. He also fathered a daughter with another mistress, Giulia Farnese.

  Critics accused Alexander VI of overspending Church funds, selling Church offices, and indulging openly in lasciviousness. He was also charged with nepotism, using his position to enrich the Borgia family directly. Alexander appointed his son Giovanni as captain-general of the papal army, the Church's foremost military post. He also named his son Cesare a cardinal.

  The Sforza family, rulers of Milan and one of the most powerful in Europe, gained a marriage alliance when Alexander wed Lucrezia to Giovanni Sforza. Alexander also married his youngest son, Gioffre, to Sancha of Aragon, tying the family to the Crown of Aragon and Naples. A second link to the Spanish royal house came through Giovanni's marriage, forged during ongoing conflict between France and Spain over the Kingdom of Naples.

  Alexander VI died in Rome in 1503, after contracting a disease generally believed to have been malaria. Two of his successors, Sixtus V and Urban VIII, later called him one of the most outstanding popes since St. Peter. His son Cesare, already made a cardinal by his father, would soon trade church robes for a soldier's life.

• 5. Cardinal Turned Soldier

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  Cesare's education followed a precise plan set by his father: tutors in Rome guided him until his 12th birthday. He then studied law and the humanities at the University of Perugia before moving to the University of Pisa to study theology. As soon as he graduated, his father made him a cardinal.

  Giovanni's death cleared the way for his younger brother to leave the priesthood behind. Cesare was suspected of murdering his own brother, though no clear evidence has ever confirmed it. He left the holy orders to take over the role Giovanni had once held, becoming a condottiero, and he married the French princess Charlotte d'Albret.

  After Alexander's death in 1503, Cesare tried to steer the choice of the next Pope. His preferred candidate, Pius III, did become Pope but died only a month after his selection. Cesare then had to back Giuliano della Rovere, who promised he could keep all his titles and honors before betraying him and becoming his fiercest enemy.

  Cesare died in 1507 at Viana Castle in Navarre, Spain, while besieging the army of the rebellious Count de Lerín. The castle was held by Louis de Beaumont, and Cesare attacked it alongside King John's army of 10,000 men. He staged a desperate surprise attack against the fortification's defenses. He was killed in the battle, and his army failed to take the castle.

  His sister Lucrezia, already married more than once by then, would face two more political unions of her own.

• 6. Lucrezia's Three Marriages

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  Lucrezia was born in Subiaco, Italy, to Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia and his mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei. Before she turned 13, she had already been engaged to two Spanish princes. In 1493, at age 13, she married Giovanni Sforza, a match meant to strengthen her father's power. Once Alexander no longer needed the Sforza alliance, the marriage was annulled in 1497 on the dubious claim that it had never been consummated.

  A Spaniard known as Perotto, born Pedro Calderón, was allegedly involved with Lucrezia. His body turned up in the Tiber on the 14th of February 1498, alongside the body of one of her ladies. It is likely that Cesare had them killed, since an affair would have damaged the negotiations underway for another marriage. Rumors also spread that a child born around this time, Giovanni Borgia, known as the Infans Romanus, or child of Rome, was actually Lucrezia's.

  Prince Alfonso of Aragon became Lucrezia's second husband, tying the Borgias to another powerful family. That marriage did not last either: Cesare wanted to strengthen ties with France and break entirely with the Kingdom of Naples. Since Alfonso's father ruled Naples, the young husband found himself in real danger. A first attempt on his life failed, but Alfonso was eventually strangled inside his own quarters.

  Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, became Lucrezia's third and final husband. After her father died in 1503, she lived freely in Ferrara with her husband and children. Her pregnancies were difficult, and she lost several babies after birth. She died in 1519, ten days after the birth and death of her final child, Isabella Maria. She was buried in a tomb alongside Isabella and Alfonso.

  Rumor cast her as a notorious poisoner skilled in political intrigue. Modern reassessments picture her instead as a woman endangered by her own family's schemes. That same family ambition carried the Borgia name into branches that would outlast Italy itself.

• 7. A Family Tree That Spread

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  One branch of the Borgias settled in Velletri, where for generations they served in the administration of the Papal States. Stefano Borgia, who lived from 1731 to 1804, rose to Cardinal, while Alessandro Borgia, from 1682 to 1764, became Archbishop of Fermo. Camillo Borgia, who lived from 1777 to 1817, served as Adjutant-General and Field Marshall in Murat's army.

  Gioffre Borgia, Pope Alexander VI's youngest son, gained the Principality of Squillace in 1494 through his marriage to Sancha of Aragon. He added the Duchy of Alvito in 1497, and later married again, to Maria de Mila y Aragón.

  Francis Borgia, 4th Duke of Gandía and a great-grandson of Alexander VI, became an organizer of the Society of Jesus. He was canonized by Pope Clement X as Saint Francis Borgia on the 20th of June 1670.

  Gaspar de Borja y Velasco was born in Villalpando, Spain, and chose to keep the Spanish spelling Borja. Many of his Italian relatives had shifted to the spelling Borgia. He went on to serve as Primate of Spain, Archbishop of Seville, and Archbishop and Viceroy of Naples.

  Centuries later, the Borja name resurfaced far from Spain, in Ecuador. Arturo Borja Pérez, an Ecuadorian poet who died in 1912, belonged to a group known as the Generación decapitada, or Decapitated Generation. Rosa Borja de Ycaza worked as a writer, playwright, sociologist, and feminist activist. Luz Elisa Borja Martínez worked as a poet, pianist, painter, and sculptor. Rodrigo Borja Cevallos, who lived from 1935 to 2025, served as President of the Republic of Ecuador.

  The Borgia name had by then traveled far from the Crown of Aragon, and it was about to travel into novels, film, and song as well.

• 8. Villains in Fiction

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  Cecelia Holland published a novel called City of God: A Novel of the Borgias in 1979. Mario Puzo wrote his own version, The Family, in 2001, and Dan Simmons wove the family into his 1991 novel Summer of Night.

  A film simply titled The Borgia arrived in 2006. Two television series followed in 2011: one called Borgia, and another called The Borgias, which aired on CTV and on Showtime. The family has also turned up in comics, plays, and operas. A manhwa called How To Win My Husband Over references them, as does Ubisoft's 2010 video game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.

  Horrible Histories parodied the family in its fourth series, in a segment called Radical Renaissance. The song, titled The Borgia Family, set new lyrics to the theme from The Addams Family.

  Even Disney reached for the Borgias. The family's lore and artifacts drive the plot of the 1959 film The Shaggy Dog. It is proof that a Renaissance scandal could still shape a children's story centuries later.