1. But much of the above may be false…
How bad were the Borgias? We will never know, but allegations of incest and poison rings must be viewed skeptically. As foreigners rose to the top of Renaissance Italy, the Borgias made many powerful enemies. Most of the rumors are unsubstantiated, and the products of envy and malice. But there is no doubt that the Borgias were corrupt, sexually promiscuous, and did bump off rivals. They did what was necessary to achieve power, and were hardly unusual in this. Renaissance Italy was a place of murder, corruption, and political intrigue. The Borgias were just the most successful at it.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
Bradford, Sarah. Cesare Borgia: His Life and Times. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1976.
Bradford, Sarah. Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy. London: Viking, 2004.
Hibbert, Christopher. The Borgias. London: Constable, 2011.
Kelly, J.N.D. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Meyer, G. J. The Borgias: The Hidden History. New York: Random House, 2013.
Alexander VI: Demon or Angel? Jason Rodarte. Medium. Dec 7, 2020
Sinister Facts About Cesare Borgia, The Dark Lord Of Rome. Kyle Climans. Fascinate. May 21, 2020
The Pope Who Threw Orgies And Tortured His Enemies. Melissa Sartore. Ranker. September 23, 2021
