Source Evaluation - Draft

Extension History – Source Evaluation

Christopher Hibbert - The Borgia’s and Their Enemies: Hibbert’s book focuses on the Borgia reign from 1431-1519 during the Italian Renaissance. His work most notably details the story of the life of Rodrigo Borgia or Alexander VI.
Strengths and Weaknesses: The books main strength relies on Hibbert’s objective view of Alexander’s life. While many historians and writers have either tried to rehabilitate or slander Rodrigo’s name Hibbert’s work instead aims for an objective side where Hibbert doesn’t identify himself on either side. This is expected from an empiricist such as himself.
The strength in this book also comes from the plain truthfulness of the account and how factual based it is, all information conveyed is almost always thoroughly backed by strong and supportive evidence and sources. Hibbert through his bibliography utilises many modern day, contemporary sources, but he also uses the accounts of those who were there during this time, such as Johannes Burchard. Burchard was a chronicler who lived and recorded events during Rodrigo’s time and Hibbert uses Burchard to support what he writes.
Hibbert’s vast array of sources, evidence and overall objective/unbiased tone makes his work very reliable and useful in studying Rodrigo’s life.
While proving to be a strongly knit and thorough piece of work, Hibbert’s main weakness comes from his very own foundation and aim, he provides no opinion/view. With such a thoroughly researched account, Hibbert sticks too close to his roots and doesn’t provide an overall summary of his own actual input on Alexander and the Borgia family themselves.
Hibbert’s work, however, is still well established with thorough research and evidence that overall provides an intricate account/narrative on the Borgia’s, particularly Rodrigo.

Barbara Tuchman – The March of Folly: Tuchman’s work largely focuses on the concept of folly and how history seemingly repeats itself. In her book she provides overviews on many different significant historical characters including Alexander VI.
Strengths and Weaknesses: Tuchman’s main strength is reliant on her own view/opinion on Rodrigo and how she strongly sides against him and the family. Tuchman solely believes in the corrupt image that has plagued Alexander’s life over history’s course. Her work is useful in the sense that it provides a very one sided and intriguing view over the situation/events that occurred.
While utilising similar sources to Hibbert such as Burchard she enjoys placing her own spin on events and has a habit of exaggeration when discussing certain events (e.g. Describing Rodrigo’s use of buying out his opponents during the election).
While having an intriguing and unique view and spin on the Borgia’s this Is also where her work shows signs of weakness.
Tuchman’s use of exaggeration and personal interpretation is used to further her own negative views of Rodrigo and this shows the incompetence and inconsistency of her work. She at times adds exaggeration and sarcasm when she writes to describe different parts of Rodrigo’s life. Her own opinion has seemingly plagued her work and clouded reasonable judgement of him and the family.

Michael Mallett – The Borgia’s ‘The rise and fall of the most infamous family in history’: Michael Mallett establishes his main intention for his book early on and describes how he aims to address the current views of the Borgia’s and why they are seen the way they are. Mallett also provides a narrative where, like Tuchman, he places his own opinions and interpretations into the mix.

Strengths and Weaknesses: Like Tuchman Mallett’s strength relies on his own interpretation of the Borgia’s, but unlike Tuchman his view is one that sides with Rodrigo instead of against him. Mallett’s contrasting view of the Borgia’s is useful in the sense that comparisons can be made between both Mallett and Tuchman.
Mallett also contextualises his work and the Borgia’s by discussing Italian politics, the Italian renaissance, what was occurring during this time and how this specific era/time worked in terms of both society and government.
In some sense Mallett’s account is much more detailed and thoroughly supported by relevant sources more than Tuchman’s. Mallett has also been one of the more useful sources for my essay as his work addresses similar questions that I set myself to analyse and query.
In similarity to Tuchman, Mallett’s main weakness is also evident in the way in which he views Alexander. In some sense throughout the book he presents his one sidedness and defence of the Borgia’s too excessively.
Overall though his work has been a very important source for the work on my essay and has contributed significantly through the way in which he sets himself to answer the questions that I’ve set myself.