(1) 1. MILÀ, Luis Juan del (ca. 1430/1432-1510)

Birth. Ca. 1430/1432, Jàtiva, near Valencia, Spain. Fourth of the nine children of Joan de Milà, señor of the barony of Massalaves, and Catalina de Borja y Martì, sister of Pope Callistus III. Cousin of Cardinal Rodrigo de Borja y Borja (1456), future Pope Alexander VI. His last name is also listed as Millán and Milano. He was called the Cardinal Segorbe or the Cardinal of Lérida.

Education. Frequented for some time the University of Bologna studying canon law.

Early life. Canon of the chapter of the collegiate church of Játiva, August 8, 1447. Provost of Valencia. He had an illegitimate son, whom he recognized, Jaime de Milà y de Borja, count of Albaida.

Sacred orders. (No information found).

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Segorbe, January 29, 1453; named administrator untl reaching the canonical age of 27 years. Consecrated (no information found). Named governor of Bologna on July 13, 1455; arrived on June 29 with his cousin Rodrigo de Borja y Borja.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal in secret on February 20, 1456; published in the consistory of September 17, 1456 with the title of Ss. IV Coronati; he was absent from Rome; entered the city on November 16, 1456 and spent the night in S. Maria del Popolo; on the following day, he received the red hat in public consistory. He left Rome for Bologna on January 7, 1457 as legate a latere; started for Rome on August 8, 1458 because of the illness of his uncle the pope; arrived in the city on August 11, after his death. Participated in the conclave of 1458. Went to Siena with the new pope, Pius II, and signed a bull on April 18, 1459. Transferred to the see of Lérida, October 7, 1459; took possession on February 23, 1461; resigned the see shortly before his death; his successor, Juan de Enguera, O.P., was named on December 9, 1510. He left Rome in June 1461 because of the heat and went to Siena. In October and November 1463, was again away from Rome because of the plague. Entered the curia in Siena on February 24, 1464; left on April 5 for Florence and Catalonia. Returned to Rome on February 10, 1467; he was absent from the city in September and October 1468; later, he returned definitively to Spain. He was absent from the conclaves of 1464 and 1471. On June 15, 1478, he received in commendam the Benedictine monasteries of San Vicente, diocese of Lérida, and of Saint-Benigne de Dijon, now in the diocese of Langres. Cardinal protoprete in June 1483. Did not particpate in the conclave of 1484 and of 1492, where his cousin Rodrigo de Borja y Borja was elected Pope Alexander VI. On February 1, 1493, he was given permission to make a will. Did not participate in the two conclaves of 1503.

Death. 1510 (1), Bélgida. Buried in Bélgida; in 1574, his remains were translated to the Dominican convent of Santa Ana, in the village of Albaida, Lérida, which he had funded.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, III, 123-124; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 4 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 989-990; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VII. Les cardinaux de la fin du XVe siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1933. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1933, p. 126; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen II (1431-1503). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1914; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, pp. 12, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 62, 167 and 234; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen III (1503-1592). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, p. 212; Goñi Gaztambide, José. "Mila, Luis Juan del." Diccionario de historia eclesiástica de España. 4 vols and Supplement. Dirigido por Quintín Aldea Vaquero, Tomás Marín Martínez, José Vives Gatell. Madrid : Instituto Enrique Flórez, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1972-1975; Suplemento (1987), suppl. 489-492.

Links. His genealogy, A4; and A Catalan Indulgence for the Cathedral of Lérida, in English, it has brief biographical data on the cardinal in the second paragraph.

(1) Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, II, 12 and 62, gives this date with a question mark; Chacón, Vitae et res gestae Pontificum Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalium, II, col. 989; and Goñi , "Mila, Luis Juan del." Diccionario de historia eclesiástica de España, suppl., 489, give September 10, 1507 as the date of his death. Cristofori, Cronotassi dei cardinali de Santa Romana Chiesa, p. 153, shows him occupying his title of Ss. IV Coronati until December 22, 1508. Dictionnaire des Cardinaux, col. 1242, says that he died in 1507 at an advanced age. Paride de Grassi, Compendio biografico dei Papi e Cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa, indicates that he died on December 22, 1508; his genealogy, linked above, says that he died in Bègida in 1504; his brief biographical data in English, lined above, says that he died in 1508.

(2) 2. PORTUGAL, Jaime de (1433-1459)

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of September 17, 1456 with the deaconry of S. Eustachio; he entered Rome on December 1, 1456; received the red hat the following day. Named administrator of the see of Paphos, Cyprus, June 18, 1457; occupied the post until his death. He left Rome in June 1458 because of the plague; returned to the city in August to participate in the conclave of 1458. The new Pope Pius II named him legate before Emperor Friedrich III; left Rome for his legation and fell ill and died in Florence.

Death. August 27, 1459, Florence. The exequies took place in the metropolitan cathedral of Florence. Buried in marble monument by Antonio Rossellino in the Olivetan church of San Miniato al Monte, Florence (2).

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, III, 124-125; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 4 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 990; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VII. Les cardinaux de la fin du XVe siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1933. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1933, p. 126-127; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen II (1431-1503). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1914; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, pp. 12, 31, 32, 66, 98, 211 and 259.

Links. Brief biographical information, in Portuguese, 8th cardinal; his genealogy, A1 B3 C8 D3 E3; panels of S. Vicente de Fora, Lisbon, by Nuno Gonçalves (the cardinal appears in the third and fifth sections; his tomb, San Miniato al Monte, Florence; additional views of his tomb.

(1) This is the date deducted from the text of his epitaph; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VII. Les cardinaux de la fin du XVe siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1933, p. 126, says that he was bron in 1433; his genealogy, linked above, says that he was born in August 1434.
(2) This is the text of his epitaph taken from Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, 990:

(3) 3. BORJA Y BORJA, Rodrigo de (1430/1432-1503)

Birth. 1430/1432, Jàtiva, near Valencia, Spain. Son of Jofré de Borja i Escrivà and Isabel de Borja, sister Pope Callistus III (1). Cousin of Cardinal Luis Juan del Milà (1456). Father of Cardinal Cesare Borgia (1493). Grand-uncle of Cardinals Juan de Borja Lanzol de Romanm, el menor (1496); Pedro Luis de Borja Lanzol de Romaní, O.S.Io.Hieros. (1500); and Francisco Lloris y de Borja, (1503); Great-great-grandfather of Cardinal Rodrigo Luis de Borja y de Castre-Pinós (1536). His first name is also listed as Roderic. He was called the Cardinal of S. Nicola; and later, the Cardinal vice-chancellor.

Education. Studied in Rome; later, sent to Bologna with his cousin Luis Juan del Milà to complete his studies; obtained a doctorate in law.

Early life. Received a benefice in Játiva in 1444. Sacrista or chantre of Valencia, 1445. Canon of the cathedral chapters of Valencia, Barcelona and Segorbe in 1448. Pastor of Culera, vicar of Alzira ands chantre of Játiva, 1449. Named by his uncle the pope apostolic notary on May 10, 1455. Dean of Santa María de Játiva on June 3, 1455; at the same tiime, he also received other benefices in Valencia.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in secret in the consistory of February 20, 1456; with the order to the cardinals of admitting him to the conclave as had been done with Cardinal Angelo Capranica by order of Pope Martin V in 1423; published on September 17, 1456 with the deaconry of S. Nicola in Carcere; received the red hat on November 17, 1456. Named rector of the hospital S. Andrea, Verceli, August 21, 1456. Left for Bologna on October 18, 1456; returned on November 16, 1456. Named legate a latere in Marche Anconitana in December 1456; left for his legation on January 19, 1457. Named vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church on May 1, 1457. Returned from his legation on November 26, 1457. Named generalissimo of the papal troops in Italy.

Episcopate. Administrator of the see of Gerona, 1457 to June 30, 1458. In March 1458, he worked to reconcile Pope Calixtus III and King Alfonso of Naples. Named administrator of the see Valencia on June 30, 1458; on July 9, 1492, a month before his election to the papacy, he became its first archbishop when the see was elevated to the rank of archdiocese; he was succeeded by Cesare Borgia on August 31, 1492. He received commendam the deaconry of S. Maria in Via Lata in June 1458; he retained it until August 1492. On the same date, he also obtained the commendam of the Cistercian monastery of Valldigne, Valencia. Returned to Rome from Tivoli on July 26, 1458 to be with his uncle the pope, who was moribund and abandoned; after the death of the pope, set off again, in disguise, with his brother Pedro, on August 6, 1458; much later, he built a superb tomb for Pope Calixtus III in the chapel of S. Andrea, adjacent to St. Peter's. Participated in the conclave of 1458. On January 22, 1459, he left Rome with the new Pope Pius II and went to Perugia, Siena (where he signed a papal bull dated April 18), Florence and Mantua, where the pope held the Congress of Mantua; Cardinal Borja remained in Siena until the summer of 1460; the pope reprimanded him because of his customs; he was back in Rome in December 1461. He ornated his palace, which later became the Palace of the Chancery, on the occasion of the translation of the skull of the Apostle Saint Andrew on April 12, 1462. He helped celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi in Viterbo in June 1462. At the wish of the pope, he built the episcopal palace of Pienza and placed his arms on its façade. Cardinal protodeacon, March 1463 until August 1471. He joined the pope in Terni in July 1464 and accompanied him to Ancona; the cardinal fell ill at the beginning of August, before the death of the pope. Participated in the conclave of 1464; he had not yet recovered from his illness and was not able to crown the new Pope Paul II on September 16, 1464. In 1468, he was ordained a deacon. Together with Cardinal Angelo Capranica, he accompanied Emperor Friedrich III from Rome to Viterbo on January 9, 1469. He was absent from Rome between May and October 1470. Participated in the conclave of 1471; as cardinal protodeacon, he crowned the new Pope Sixtus IV on August 22, 1471.

Priesthood. Ordained, October 30, 1471. He opted for the order of cardinal bishops and the suburbicarian see of Albano on August 30, 1471; he resigned his deaconry at the same time and received the commendam of the Benedictine abbey of Subiaco. He was now ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop. On December 23, 1471, he was named legate before the king of Spain for the crusade against the Turks. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals from January 8 to May 15, 1472, when he departed for Ostia, Catalonia and Spain; returned from his legation on October 24, 1473, without success; encountered a strong storm in the Mediterraean and lost 30,000 florins; received by the pope in public consistory on October 25. On January 14, 1475, he went to Terracina to meet King Frdinando of Naples and accompanied him to Rome., entering the city on January 28; continued with the king to Marino until February 1. Because of the plague, followed the pope to Viterbo on June 10, 1476; then, he went to Narni; in the consistory celebrated in that city on July 24, 1476, he opted for the suburbicarian see of Porto e Santa Rufina; he went to Foligno the following August. On June 25, 1477, he was named legate to crown the new queen of Naples, wife of King Ferdinando; he left Rome on August 22 and returned on October 4, 1477. He inscribed himself in the Confraternity of the Holy Spirit on March 21, 1478. Named administrator of the see of Cartagena on July 8, 1482. Became dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals at the death of Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville occurred on January 22, 1483. Cardinal Borja was the richest cardinal of his time, living in the greatest luxury. Named archpriest of the patriarchal Liberian basilica in 1483. Participated in the conclave of 1484. Elected archbishop of Sevilla shortly before August 26, 1485; he declined (recusatur) a few days after without having taken possession of the see (2)Received in commendam the see of Mallorca at the beginning on October 9, 1489; occupied the post until his election to the papacy. Abbot commendatario of Santa Maria la Real de Nájera from 1487. Went to Ostia with the new Pope Innocent VIII on November 18, 1489. Resigned the commendam of the Benedictine monastery of S. Maria di Rivopullo, diocese of Vicenza, on December 20, 1490. On July 8, 1491, he resigned the commendam of the Benedictine monastery of S. Maria di Monteagu, archdiocese of Monreale; and the one of Basilican monastery of S. Filippo Fargala, archdiocese of Messina. On August 16, 1491, he resigned the commendam of the monastery of Aggere, diocese of Urgel. Named administrator of the metropolitan see of Eger in 1491; occupied the post until his election to the papacy the following year. After the conquest of Granada by the Spanish monarchs on January 2, 1492, he held a bullfight in Rome, a spectacle that the Romans saw for the first time. Participated in the conclave of 1492 and was elected pope.

Papacy. Elected pope on August 11, 1492. Took the name Alexander VI. Corwned on August 26, 1492, in the steps of the patriarchal Vatican basilica, by Cardinal Francesco Todeschini-Piccolomini, protodeacon of S. Eustachio, future Pope Pius III.He created forty three cardinals in ten consistories. In his personal life, he has been severely criticized (3) but as a pope, from the doctrinal point of view, he was irreproachable (4).

Death. August 18, 1503, of an apoplexy (5), Rome. Buried in the chapel of S. Maria delle Febri, adajacen to the patriarchal Vatican basilica. On January 30, 1610, his remains, together with those of his uncle Pope Callistus III, were transferred to the church of S. Maria in Montserrato, the church of the crown of Aragón in Rome. On August 21, 1889, the remains were transferred to a modern tomb, work of Spanish sculptor Felipe Moratilla, with the medallions of both popes, in the chapel of of S. Diego, in that church (now the Spanish national church in Rome and a cardinalitial title since 2003).

Bibliography. Batllori, M. "Alejandro VI." Diccionario de historia eclesiástica de España. 4 vols and Supplement. Dirigido por Quintín Aldea Vaquero, Tomás Marín Martínez, José Vives Gatell. Madrid : Instituto Enrique Flórez, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1972-1975; Suplemento (1987), I, 36-39; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, III, 125-127; Cerri, Domenico. Borgia, ossia Alessandro VI. Papa e suoi contemporanei. 2d ed. Torino : [s.n.], 1873; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 4 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, cols. 991 and 1293-1352; Clément, Augustin. Les Borgia; histoire du papa Alexandre VI, de César et de Lucrèce Borgia. Paris : Imprimeries-librairies de L'Oeuvre de Saint-Paul, 1882; Compton, Raphael. Lucrezia Borgia : la figlia de Papa. [s.l.], Perodici, 1971; De Angelis, Maria Antonietta. "Alessandro VI.Mondo vaticano. Passato e presente. Città del Vaticano : Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1995, p. 47-49; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VII. Les cardinaux de la fin du XVe siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1933. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1933, p. 127-128; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen II (1431-1503). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1914; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, pp. 12, 31, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40, 49, 59, 60, 67, 83, 159, 165, 184 and 261 ; Ferrara, Orestes. El Papa Borgia. Madrid, Ediciones "La Nave", 1943; Galán, Lola ; Catalán Deus, José. El papa Borgia : un inédito Alejandro VI liberado al fin de la leyenda negra. Madrid : Suma de Letras, 2005. (Punto de lectura); Kelly, John Norman Davidson. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. 252-254; La Torre, Ferdinando. Del conclave di Alessandro VI, papa Borgia. Roma : Olschki, 1933. Other title: Del conclave di Alessandro 6, papa Borgia; Luzi, Pietro. Camilla Battista da Varano : una spiritualità fra papa Borgia e Lutero. Torino : P. Gribaudi, 1989; Masi, Ernesto. Studi e ritratti : Papa Borgia, Vittoria Colonna, Lodovico Castelvetro, Sisto v, Enrico Arnaud, Laura Bassi e il Voltaire, G.G. Rousseau, D. Diderot, G. du Tillot, G. de Gamerra, l'abate Lorenzo da Ponte, E. Costa di Beauregard, Cornelia Martinetti, Ferdinando Lassalle. Bologna : N. Zanichelli, 1881. Note: "Estratti dalla Rassegna settimanale di politica, scienze, lettere ed arti di Roma."; Nerli, Filippo de', 1485-1556; Cesare Borgi, figlio di Papa Alessandro VI. Cesare Borgia, figlio di Papa Alessandro VI. 2 v. in 1. Italia : [s.n.], 1859. Notes: Contains citations to Savonarola. Other title: Commentarii de' fatti civili occorsi nella citt` di Firenze dal 1215 al 1537; Noel, Gerard. The Renaissance popes : statesmen, warriors, and the great Borgia myth. New York : Carrol & Graf Publishers, 2006; Oro, Ignazio dell'. Papa Alessandro VI. Rodrigo Borgia. Milano : Ceschina, 1940. Contents: Rodrigo Borgia [Alessandro VI] e Ferdinando I.--Rodrigo Borgia e Gerolamo Savonarola I Borgia e Giuliano della Rovere; Picotti, Giovanni Battista ; Sanfilippo, Matteo. "Alessandro VI." Enciclopedia dei papi. 3 vols. Roma : Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 2000, III, 13-22; Reichenberger, Kurt ; Reichenberger, Theo ; Lauer, Robert H. Portrait of Alexander VI in three British and American Works: "Cromwells complaint of injustice" (1681), Barnabe Barnes's The Devils charter (1607), and Mario Puzo's The family (2001). Kassel : Edition Reichenberger, 2003. (Estudios de literatura ; 85; Variation: Teatro del Siglo de Oro.; Estudios de literatura ; 85). Note: Attachment "Portrait of Alexander VI." Other titles: Portrait of Alexander VI in three British and American Works: "Cromwells complaint of injustice" (1681), Barnabe Barnes's The Devils charter (1607), and Mario Puzo's The family (2001); Scaltritti, Arturo. Luci ed ombre del '400 : San Francesco di Paola, Alessandro VI Papa Borgia, Fra Girolamo Savonarola. Napoli : Fiory, 1983. Other titles: San Francesco di Paola; Alessandro VI Papa Borgia; Fra Girolamo Savonarola; Soranzo, Giovanni. Studî intorno a papa Alessandro VI (Borgia). Milano : Vita e pensiero, 1950.(Pubblicazioni dell'Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore, nuova ser., v. 34; Variation: Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore ; Pubblicazioni, nuova ser., v. 34). Contents: L'assunzione al pontificato del cardinale Rodrigo Borgia (Alessandro VI)--Giovanni Burckard, ll suo "Liber notarum" e papa Alessandro VI.--Un prezloso carteggio paple delgi anni 1490-94. -Il presunto scandalo di Giulia Farnese e Alessandro VI.--Le linee direttive della politica di Alessandro VI;.

Links. Biography, in English; biography, in English (Britannica); portrait and biography, in English; biography, in German; portraits and biography, in Catalan; biography and statue, in front of the collegiate church, Játiva, Spain; portrait and biography, in Spanish; origins of the Borja family, in Catalan; three biographies of the pope, in English; portrait, arms and biographical data, in English; his genealogy, A2; another genealogy, in Catalan; his children, in Catalan; his portrait by Bernardino di Betto (Benedetto), called II Pinturicchio, Sala dei Misteri, Appartamento Borgia, The Vatican; his portrait by Cristoforo dell'Altissimo, Corridoio Vasariano, Uffizi, Florence, Italy; portrait in a missal and statue, portico of the basilica of the Seu of Játiva, Spian; his portrait by an anonymous artist, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, France (there are doubts about the portrait because it very much resembles Pope Sixtus IV); his portrait, Museo de Bellas Artes, Valencia, Spian; his engraving, Bibliothek, Universiät Regensburg, Germany; his effigy on a medallion, Appartamento Borgia, The Vatican; his effigy on a relief, Castello Sant'Angelo, Rome; his effigy on a memorial coin by Gergely Jenő, Kossuth Könyvkiadó, Budapest, Hungary; his effigy on six medals, Numismatic collection of Olomouc archiepiscopate, Olomouc, Czech Republic; commemorative stamps with his portrait and arms; his arms, next to the metropolitan cathedral of Valencia; his old sarcophagus, grotto, patriarchal Vatican basilica; and his tomb, together with Pope Callistus III, church of S. Maria in Montserrato, Rome.

(1) They both belonged to the same family but to different branches and their relationship was distant. The paternal family was of a higher nobility than the maternal's. The relationship of the latter with Pope Callistus III placed the family in a higher level.
(2) This is according to Peter de Roo, Material for a history of the Pope Alexander VI, his relatives, and his time (5 vols. Bruges: Desclee, De Brouwer & Co., 1924), p. 245-246; and Pius Bonifatius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae (3 v. in 1. Graz : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1957), p. 73; Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, II, 165, note 7, mentions what Gams says but does not list him among the occupants of the metropolitan see of Sevilla.
(3) According to his first genealogy, linked above he had the following natural children: Pedro Luis (ca 1467-1488); Jirolama (ca 1469-1483); Cesare Borgia (ca April 1475-March 12, 1507); Juan I de Borja (1474-June 14, 1497); Lucrezia Borgia (April 18, 1481-June 24, 1519); Isabella (1471-1547); Jofre Borgia (1481/82-1517); Laura Orsini (1492-1505/1508); Giovanni Borgia (1498-1547); and Rodrigo Borgia (1503-1527).
(4) In the political order Alexander VI tried to maintain its independence with respect to Spain and to prevent the French predominance in Italy. It displeased Fernando and Isabel of Spain that he received in Rome many Jews expelled from Spain, but he favored the monarchs with The Alejxandrian bulls and the concession of the title of "Reyes Catslicos". He leaned on King Luis XII of France to aggrandize his son Cesare, but with that, he also restrained the ambitions of the kings of Spain in Italy. The victim of that oscillating policy was the kingdom of Naples. In the religious aspect, the accusations of heresy connivency with the Jews cannot be taken seriously. Its velleity with the Turks was only a tentative diplomatic action. In the Curia, he reorganized the office of the "apostolic writers" and definitively attributed to the Augustinians the post of papal sacristan. The celebration of the Jubilee Year 1500, contributed to give prestige the Roman pontificate and to help see that the deprived life of Rodrigo de Borja as cardinal and as pope were not against a sincere piety, although somewhat elementary. He renewed bula In coena Domini against heresy, promoted the ecclesiastical reforms in Europe and the propagation of the faith in America and the Far East. He approved the Order of the Minimums founded by St. Francis de Paula. In the cultural sphere, he simultaneously extended his patronage to canon lawyers and humanists such as Lascaris, Aldo Manuzio, Brandolini, Podocataro, and Pomponio Leto, among others. In his time, Il Pinturicchio decorated the Borja apartments, and Michelangelo Buonarroti sculpted the Pietà at the Vatican; Alexander cooperated in the reconstruction of the University of Rome (La Sapienza) and left remarkable works in Castel Sant'Angelo and in the patriarchal Liberian basilica (translation of the article by Batllori, "Alejandro VI.") Diccionario de historia eclesiástica de España, I, 38-39.
(5) This is according to "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VII. Les cardinaux de la fin du XVe siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1933, p. 128; and Batllori, "Alejandro VI." Diccionario de historia eclesiástica de España, I, 38; his first genealogy, linked above, says that he died poisoned.

©1998-2008 Salvador Miranda.