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.
Monday, 13 February 2012
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Aims
Recently I have managed to get a good block of reading done for Hibbert's book. I'm past halfway now and while I still have 140-150 pages left to read the last 60-70 pages refer to what occured after Rodrigo's death in 1503. This means that most of the information that I should be able to gather from Rodrigo's life in this book will finish with roughly 70-90 pages left. After I finish this book I shall be looking back over the chapters and taking out main points/areas concerning my topic/question.
So far, I feel my progress has been good concerning the research, but I feel right now that I have enough information and sources available to me concerning Rodrigo's life. I now need to look more at debates and views in reference to Rodrigo's behaviour/actions and whether he was not as horrible as many claim. This brings me to my next point, I feel that my main question should be around the lines of:
"In the context of the Italian Renaissance and the Renaissance Papacy, was Pope Alexander VI or Rodrigo Borgia based on his actions/behaviour an appalling Pope who committed various crimes or was he a decent Pope and person, with his controversial status being entirely fabricated?
I want to ask questions such as:
"Who was Rodrigo Borgia?"
"How his life panned out before and after his rise to the papacy, even leading up to his death"
"What actions and decisions he made during his reign"
"Who were his allies and who were his enemies?"
"What did others think of him?"
"What did he do to become marked with this controversial status?"
"Who made negative claims against him and were these claims factual or made up?"
"Did he do more good than bad, or more bad than good during his time as Pope?"
"How do Historians interpret Rodrigo as a Pope?"
These are the series of questions I'm thinking of tackling so far. Thoughts and opinions concerning whether I'm on the right track or not are appreciated. Also, as I said before I was going to write about both : "The March of Folly" and "The Borgias and their enemies" in detail this week, but I've decided instead to push that back abit and put two posts up soon regarding both books.
So far, I feel my progress has been good concerning the research, but I feel right now that I have enough information and sources available to me concerning Rodrigo's life. I now need to look more at debates and views in reference to Rodrigo's behaviour/actions and whether he was not as horrible as many claim. This brings me to my next point, I feel that my main question should be around the lines of:
"In the context of the Italian Renaissance and the Renaissance Papacy, was Pope Alexander VI or Rodrigo Borgia based on his actions/behaviour an appalling Pope who committed various crimes or was he a decent Pope and person, with his controversial status being entirely fabricated?
I want to ask questions such as:
"Who was Rodrigo Borgia?"
"How his life panned out before and after his rise to the papacy, even leading up to his death"
"What actions and decisions he made during his reign"
"Who were his allies and who were his enemies?"
"What did others think of him?"
"What did he do to become marked with this controversial status?"
"Who made negative claims against him and were these claims factual or made up?"
"Did he do more good than bad, or more bad than good during his time as Pope?"
"How do Historians interpret Rodrigo as a Pope?"
These are the series of questions I'm thinking of tackling so far. Thoughts and opinions concerning whether I'm on the right track or not are appreciated. Also, as I said before I was going to write about both : "The March of Folly" and "The Borgias and their enemies" in detail this week, but I've decided instead to push that back abit and put two posts up soon regarding both books.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Continuing Reading
I've finished "March of Folly" and it was an interesting read, detailing the key events of Rodrigo's life and what else was going on around that time. I still have photocopied notes on his chapter, so that i can look back if needed.
I'm also almost halfway through Hibbert's book and it's quite interesting to note that the book coincides with the tv series interestingly. Both sources depict similar events, but with the book providing much more thorough detail and depth.
I'll elaborate with more detail on these two books in my next post.
I'm also almost halfway through Hibbert's book and it's quite interesting to note that the book coincides with the tv series interestingly. Both sources depict similar events, but with the book providing much more thorough detail and depth.
I'll elaborate with more detail on these two books in my next post.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Books and Reading
Apologies for not blogging lately. Anyhow, theres not much to report except that Hibbert's book "The Borgias and their enemies" arrived in the mail around New Years which was pleasing. Its a fairly lengthy and detailed book (Roughly 330 pages) that also contains a detailed index and list of primary sources. The years the book discusses roughly spans from 1431 to 1519. It illustrates events before and after Rodrigo's time which can give me extra background information. I think this book will be an excellent read and source, but i have yet to actually start reading it.
I have almost finished reading "The March of Folly" and the chapter on Rodrigo. Once i've finished reading that book, I can begin reading Hibbert's book.
I have almost finished reading "The March of Folly" and the chapter on Rodrigo. Once i've finished reading that book, I can begin reading Hibbert's book.
Friday, 23 December 2011
Decent Progress
Again, I've been really busy these holidays so the amount of time I've had to do work/research has been reduced to some extent but nonetheless I have managed to write my next blog.
So far, I've completely watched the whole first season of "The Borgias" and begun reading "The March of Folly".
The TV series was quite interesting and intriguing. However, I did not gather information from every episode as the series focused on all members of the Borgia family and not just Rodrigo, which was expected and alluded to by the title. The main events in the season revolving around Rodrigo included his rise to the papacy, how he got there, what occured afterwards due to the rise, actions he took after becoming Pope Sixtus and finally the latter half of the season focused on King Charles and the French army's march through the Papal and Italian states and how Rodrigo, being the Pope and such, deals with that.
The season contained nine episode and each one roughly went 50 mins-1 hour long. The series has apparently been renewed for a second season, which hopfully won't take long to be released to view.
The names for each of the episodes of the first season include: The Poisoned Chalice, The Assassin, The Moor, Lucrezia's Wedding, The Borgias in Love, The French King, Death On a Pale Horse, The Art of War and Nessuno (Nobody).
While the series was interesting, not all of it was historical fact (which was expected to an extent). The core story was mostly accurate but there was, here and there, glimpses of historical inaccuracy. (e.g. The times (in terms of what events occured first, then next) was slightly inaccurate in some places.
In a few areas, where some events occured in a specific way they instead historically occured in another way.
The Wikipedia site for the Borgias contains detailed information on each episode of the series. One section dicusses what occured in each episode and contrasts it with what historically occured.
This is the website: http://theborgias.wetpaint.com/
However, the main story was reasonably fairly accurate as most events depicted actually did occur.
The book "The March of Folly" I have just begun reading. I started off reading the introduction (as suggested by Sir) which discusses the concept of 'Folly' and the writer uses relevant historical examples to further emphasis and explain the concept. I'm just over halfway through the introduction (its quite lengthy) and afterwards I can begin reading the chapter on Pope Alexander the VI.
Finally, I have ordered Hibbert's book "The Borgias and their Enemies" and estimate it to arrive around New Years at the earliest and a month later at the latest. This is only a estimate though, so I'm not 100% sure.
So far, there has been decent progress and until Hibbert's book arrives I will continue reading "The March of Folly". I will continue doing some research on the web every so often as well
So far, I've completely watched the whole first season of "The Borgias" and begun reading "The March of Folly".
The TV series was quite interesting and intriguing. However, I did not gather information from every episode as the series focused on all members of the Borgia family and not just Rodrigo, which was expected and alluded to by the title. The main events in the season revolving around Rodrigo included his rise to the papacy, how he got there, what occured afterwards due to the rise, actions he took after becoming Pope Sixtus and finally the latter half of the season focused on King Charles and the French army's march through the Papal and Italian states and how Rodrigo, being the Pope and such, deals with that.
The season contained nine episode and each one roughly went 50 mins-1 hour long. The series has apparently been renewed for a second season, which hopfully won't take long to be released to view.
The names for each of the episodes of the first season include: The Poisoned Chalice, The Assassin, The Moor, Lucrezia's Wedding, The Borgias in Love, The French King, Death On a Pale Horse, The Art of War and Nessuno (Nobody).
While the series was interesting, not all of it was historical fact (which was expected to an extent). The core story was mostly accurate but there was, here and there, glimpses of historical inaccuracy. (e.g. The times (in terms of what events occured first, then next) was slightly inaccurate in some places.
In a few areas, where some events occured in a specific way they instead historically occured in another way.
The Wikipedia site for the Borgias contains detailed information on each episode of the series. One section dicusses what occured in each episode and contrasts it with what historically occured.
This is the website: http://theborgias.wetpaint.com/
However, the main story was reasonably fairly accurate as most events depicted actually did occur.
The book "The March of Folly" I have just begun reading. I started off reading the introduction (as suggested by Sir) which discusses the concept of 'Folly' and the writer uses relevant historical examples to further emphasis and explain the concept. I'm just over halfway through the introduction (its quite lengthy) and afterwards I can begin reading the chapter on Pope Alexander the VI.
Finally, I have ordered Hibbert's book "The Borgias and their Enemies" and estimate it to arrive around New Years at the earliest and a month later at the latest. This is only a estimate though, so I'm not 100% sure.
So far, there has been decent progress and until Hibbert's book arrives I will continue reading "The March of Folly". I will continue doing some research on the web every so often as well
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Commitments
Over the past week I have not been able to do sufficient work/research into my topic, due to homework/assessments and other events occurring. However, a special thanks to Sir for lending me the book the "The March of Folly" by Barbara W. Tuchman. I've had a brief skim through of the book and there is one chapter concerning my topic. The relevant chapter is "3. Depravity:Alexander VI" from pages 89 to 109. I shall begin reading soon, when I get some time. I shall have a more thorough and detailed post next week, where I can finally get more research/work done for my topic.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Expanding my search
So far, research is still underway. I've continued looking at websites and watching the tv series to further my research.
I have also looked online at a few books relating to the Borgias, and are seriously considering purchasing/borrowing a few. These include:
"The Borgias and Their Enemies 1431-1519" - Christopher Hibbert
"The Crimes of the Borgias" - Alexandre Dumas
"The Borgias" - Marion Johnson
Sir, i know you suggested Hibbert and after reading abit about the book, i believe that it seems to be the most relevant book in relation to my historical topic and it also seems quite informative.
So, while considering whether i'll purchase or borrow these books (once i find them that is), i'll continue my research. I'm also beginning to take a few notes down as well. I may have alook at the local second hand bookshops or take up that library trip.
Stay Tuned!
I have also looked online at a few books relating to the Borgias, and are seriously considering purchasing/borrowing a few. These include:
"The Borgias and Their Enemies 1431-1519" - Christopher Hibbert
"The Crimes of the Borgias" - Alexandre Dumas
"The Borgias" - Marion Johnson
Sir, i know you suggested Hibbert and after reading abit about the book, i believe that it seems to be the most relevant book in relation to my historical topic and it also seems quite informative.
So, while considering whether i'll purchase or borrow these books (once i find them that is), i'll continue my research. I'm also beginning to take a few notes down as well. I may have alook at the local second hand bookshops or take up that library trip.
Stay Tuned!
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