The March of Folly - Part 1

The March of Folly
Barbara W. Tuchman
First Published: 1984 Reprinted: 1985

3. Depravity: Alexander VI, 1492 - 1503

Key points in the first half of the Chapter:
* Rodrigo was 62 when he became Pope (1492)
*Was of Spanish decent and took pride with that heritage
*Had been a Cardinal and Vice-Chancellor for 35 years beforehand (Cardinal at 26)
*Served under five Popes
*It is explained that he bought out the Papacy outright, as he was mainly in competition between Cardinal della Rovere and Ascanio Sforza
*Many tales were told about him, they were spread by Rodrigo's enemies and a society looking for gossip.
*Even though many tales were fabricated he was in fact nowhere near a perfect individual.
* Was awarded the Vice-Chancellorship by his Uncle Pope Calixtus. He rewarded him for recovering certain territories of the Papal States.
*Became very wealthy after becoming both Cardinal and Vice-Chancellor, this eventually made him the wealthiest in the Sacred College.
*Built himself a Palace with many assets including tapestries, gold-embroidered velvets, gold plates, pearls, gold coins e.t.c.
*Was physically described as being "tall and large framed, robust, urbane, dignified, even majestic in appearance", also described as "smiling and good-tempered", "An eloquent speaker and brilliantly skilled in affairs".
*As a cardinal he fathered a son and two daughters. In his forties he fathered three more sons and a daughter. His children included Pedro Luis (The eldest son, Rodrigo acquired for him the "Dukedom of Ganda in Spain", but eventually he died young), Cesare, Lucrezia, Juan and Jofré.
*Had mistresses including Vanozza de Cataneis and Giulia Farnese.
*After Rodrigo's rise to the Pope the streets of Rome became decorated with "garlands of flowers, triumphal arches, living statues formed by gilded naked youths and flags displaying the Borgia arms, a rather apt red bull rampant on a field of gold".
*Seeking alliances, Alexander VI had Lucrezia marry Giovanni Sforza and Jofré marry the granddaughter of the King of Naples.
*Alexander eventually appointed 43 Cardinals including seventeen Spainards and five members of his own family.
*The French devised plans for invasion. A march through the Papal states was soon decided and to be led by Charles VIII.
*Papal and Secular rulers questioned whether to side with France or Naples.
*Alexander feared whether Cardinal della Rovere would influence the King of France as both men (Alexander and della Rovere) had an extreme dislike of one another.
*Alexander joined a league of defense with Naples and Florence, which came apart as soon as it made.
*Charles' army moved on unresisted and eventually they reached Rome.
*Negotations between the two sides were made. Alexander held firm against demands and ultimately Charles and his army soon left to continue on to Naples without meeting any combat.

A quick note to say that I have also started my Proposal last weekend and I feel I have a good grasp of what to write. So far I have made attempts on the first three sections and will continue to progress throughout the week.
The second part should be up within the next few days. The summaries of each book has taken longer than originally thought, but hopefully i should be able to get most of it done in the next few weeks.