House of Borgia

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"Borgia" redirects here. For the Italian comune and town, see Borgia (CZ). For the fossil owlfly genus, see Borgia (insect).

The Borgias or Borjas were an Italian noble family of Spanish origin remembered today for their corrupt rule of the Papacy during the Renaissance. They are in fact thought to be "history's first criminal family", and a forerunner to the Italian Mafia.[1] The patriarch of the family, Rodrigo Borgia, "became a bishop, cardinal and vice-chancellor of the church."[2] He was later elected Pope, taking the name Alexander VI and kept that position for at least eleven years. Other members of the Borgia family were Lucrezia Borgia and Cesare Borgia, daughter and son of Rodrigo Borgia, respectively. Among the many accusations against the Borgia family, some are of incest, adultery, murder, and scandal.[1]

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[edit] Rodrigo Borgia

Born in Valencia, Spain, Rodrigo Borgia is remembered most famously for his role as Pope Alexander VI. His papacy reigned from 1492 to 1503. "He is the most controversial of the secular popes of the Renaissance and one whose surname became a byword for the debased standards of the papacy of that era." Although his father's surname was Lanzol, Rodrigo "assumed his mother's family name of Borgia (Borja) on the elevation of his maternal uncle to the papacy as Calixtus III in 1455." Rodrigo Borgia studied for a short while at the University of Bologna, and returned to Rome at the age of 25, and was named Cardinal Deacon of S. Nicolo in Carcere.

He successfully moved up through the hierarchy, and by 1476 he was Dean of the College of Cardinals.[3] Using his powerful skill of persuasion and his ability to handle the most difficult matters, he became highly regarded in the Papal Chancery. He is known for being "strictly abstemious in his eating and drinking, keep[ing] a magnificent household and gambling notoriously at cards. He quickly became one of the wealthiest men of his time. And he liked women. In 1468 he was ordained to the priesthood (until then he had been a Cardinal Deacon)." [3]

He had also begun at this time his long term relationship with Vanozza Catanei, who mothered four of his children: Juan, Cesare, Lucrezia, and Jofre. Many people claim that he used bribery in order to obtain the vote necessary to become Pope, but no one has been able to prove it as of yet. Other claims against him include those of his Papal escapades, orgies, wild parties, poisoning his enemies, and having an incestuous relationship with his daughter, Lucrezia. He courted many women even while he was Pope, and there are confirmed reports of an illegitimate son being born to him in 1497 or 1498.

Only one family lineage still exists. The descendants have spread and there is now a Borja family tree in Mexico, Spain, Italy and possibly The United States. Because it is a direct blood line it is in danger of ceasing. The Family Crest remains in Valencia in the hands of Sr. Antonio Borja.

[edit] In popular culture

[edit] Film, TV and Comics

In the classic 1926 film Don Juan, John Barrymore, as Don Juan, fights the Borgias.

Neil Jordan's proposed film Borgia and the Spanish-Italian 2006 film Los Borgia depict the life of the family. The family were also the subject of the critically-derided BBC series The Borgias.

Alan Moore's comic book Promethea makes mention of a restaurant named Borgia's, in which five courses are served, followed by an antidote.

The character of Pope Julius II in the film The Agony and the Ecstasy states that he is not a Borgia when presenting his plans to rebuild Saint Peter's Basilica.

The Godfather Part III refers to The Borgias when Michael Corleone is in the Vatican attempting to receive a ratification from the Pope on a business deal owned by the Catholic church.

The Third Man (1949) offers a famous quote, penned by Orson Welles for his character Harry Lime, in which he says: "Remember what the fella said: in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

The 1949 Prince of Foxes is Welles' vehicle more directly related to the Borgias; it is an adaptation of 1947 novel Prince of Foxes by Samuel Shellabarger. Orson Welles plays Cesare Borgia as the villain to Tyrone Power's hero, an artist-politico called Andrea Orsini. While Orsini's character is fictional and the film adheres to a romantic swashbuckling formula, the action's setting in the Borgia conquest of the Romagna region and the political machinations behind Lucrezia Borgia's marriage into the powerful d'Este family give the film a modicum of historical legitmacy.

The Borgia, a graphic novel by Milo Manara and Jodorowsky, depicts the story of Borgia and his family. The book was intended to be published in three volumes but only two were published and the story remained unconclusive.

Canterella, a graphic novel by You Higuri, depicts through historical fiction the drama within the family. The series is currently ongoing.

The long-running NBC drama series "Law & Order" included a character named Alexandra Borgia.

An episode of Star Trek, "The Man Trap," took place on a planet whose native flora included the highly toxic Borgia plant.

In the John Ford movie The Quiet Man, Michaleen Flynn (played by Barry Fitzgerald) said to Red Will Danaher's offer of buttermilk, "The Borgias would do better".

In Serpico Frank Serpico jokes that the history of sheepdogs in his family goes all the way back to the Borgias.

In the horror comic Hellblazer #243, it is stated that Alexander VI created a room in which anything done would not be considered a sin in the eyes of God, no matter how vile, for the purpose of raping young men. It absorbs so much negative energy from years of corrupt church officials using it to indulge in their every temptation that it becomes part of hell.

[edit] Novels


[edit] See also

  • The Black Legend, a corpus of books and rumors spreading a bad image of Spain.
  • Rappacini's Daughter - Nathaniel Hawthorne

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Lucrezia Borgia
  2. ^ In the Pillory Preface
  3. ^ a b The Borgias