EURO ST 10 Lecture Notes - Lecture 31: Pope Callixtus Iii, Cesare Borgia, House Of Borgia
Document Summary
The borgia family became prominent during the renaissance in italy. They were from valencia, the name coming from the family fief of borja. The borgias became prominent in ecclesiastical and political affairs in the 15th and 16th centuries, producing two popes, alfons de borja who ruled as pope callixtus the third during 1455-1458 and rodrigo lanzol borgia, as pope. Especially during the reign of alexander vi, they were suspected of many crimes, including adultery, simony (buying or selling of ecclesiastical privileges), theft, bribery and murder (especially murder by arsenic poisoning) Because of their grasping for power, they made enemies of the medici, the sforza, and the dominican friar savonarola, among others. They were also patrons of the arts who contributed to the renaissance. Machiavelli deals with the case of cesare borgia in detail in chapter 7. The old order has been shaken (religiously, socially, politically) We have seen a new order emerging (the westphalian system )
