The Borgias: The Hidden History by G. J. Meyer

Author:G. J. Meyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, Renaissance, Italy, Biography & Autobiography, Historical
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2013-04-02T05:39:49+00:00

Background

THE PATERNITY QUESTION: AN “APOLOGY”

FOR FIVE HUNDRED YEARS IT HAS BEEN PRETTY MUCH UNIVERSALLY understood—accepted is the better word—that Cesare Borgia and his siblings were Alexander VI’s children. The story of how the pope fathered these and other offspring during his decades as vice-chancellor of the Roman Catholic Church, schooling them to become moral monsters, has always been the cornerstone of the Borgia legend. More than half a century has passed since the last time anyone questioned it in print, only to be, like those few who had done the same thing earlier, almost completely ignored before being forgotten. It is nonetheless the opinion of the author of the present work, after examination of all the source materials of which he has knowledge:

That although it long ago became impossible to establish the truth beyond possibility of doubt, it appears that Cesare and his siblings were not—indeed almost could not have been—the children of Rodrigo Borgia.

That the familiar story of how over a period of some ten years the vice-chancellor of the Roman Catholic Church maintained an intimate relationship with a shadowy mistress named Vannozza, becoming the proud father of a large family while nobody took notice in even the most gossipy chronicles and diplomatic reports of the time, becomes all but incredible when evidence to the contrary is given its proper weight.

That though there was a Vannozza, and though she was the mother of as many as four Borgia sons and three Borgia daughters (see this page for more on her), she was not Rodrigo’s mistress but the wife and then the widow of one Guillen Ramón Lanzol y de Borja, eldest son of Rodrigo’s sister Juana.

That Vannozza and her children—most and probably all of whom were conceived and born in Spain while Rodrigo was in Italy—were taken into Cardinal Rodrigo’s care after Guillen Ramón’s death around 1481, and that in the years following all were brought to Rome except the eldest son, Pedro Luis (quite possibly so named in memory of Cardinal Rodrigo’s deceased brother), who remained in Spain to pursue a career at the royal court.

And that, although much about Rodrigo’s personal life is unknown, it is unproven that at any point either before or after his election as pope he had a mistress, fathered a child, or was involved in even a brief sexual relationship with anyone male or female.

This is not to say that no such thing ever happened, or that it was improbable considering the times, or that our understanding of Rodrigo would be radically altered if we learned that several such things had happened. It is simply to point out that, in connection with this as with so many other questions, where the Borgias are concerned too many things have always been assumed to be true for which satisfactory evidence does not exist. That having been said, it becomes necessary to acknowledge that the opinions expressed above, being so far at variance with what is generally believed of the Borgias, obviously require defense and explanation.

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