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40 Facts About the Borgias, One of History’s More Scandalous Dynasties

Tim Flight October 27, 2019 26 min

Jeremy Irons - The Borgias — Jeremy Irons as Pope Alexander VI in the TV series, The Borgias. The Hollywood Review

34. Despite being a Cardinal, Rodrigo was a notorious womanizer, and had many illegitimate children

A 16th-century portrait of a woman thought to be Rodrigo’s chief mistress, Vannozza Cattanei, by Innocenzo di Pietro Francucci da Imola. Wikimedia Commons

Rodrigo was Vice-Chancellor to the Holy See through the reigns of 4 popes, a lucrative position widely coveted. But even though Cardinals were meant to be celibate, Rodrigo simply carried on with his main occupation of whoremongering. He fathered numerous bastards with several mistresses and behaved so scandalously that his friend Pius II had to rebuke him. Pius read Rodrigo the riot act after he hosted an orgy in a garden in Siena. The men escorting women to the party were forbidden entry, and Siena was outraged by the Cardinal’s appalling behavior. Rodrigo didn’t care.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk