16. Cesare and his siblings were accused of incest
One of the most famous rumors dogging the Borgias is incest. Johann Burchard wrote that ‘in the home of the Pontiff… acts of incest are countless’. Most of the rumors concerned Cesare and his sister, Lucrezia, but all of Pope Alexander’s illegitimate children were implicated. There is no real evidence to support this accusation, however. It may have been inspired by the love triangles arising from the Borgia brothers having the same mistresses. Another cause could be the Borgias’ loathed nepotism. Most importantly, though, they were very unpopular and held much-coveted positions of power.
