PO PE ALE! ANDE R V I
AND HIS CO U R T
E!
TRA CTS
ATI N DIARY
F R OM THE L
OF
J O HA N N E S B
C
H
A
D
U
R
R
U
S
N
Bxsn or
O
Poxn
vm
O RTA AN D
mca x MA S TE R
or
.
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or
CA S TE LLAN A
Cn n xu oxm s
E DIT E D BY
DR
.
F
.
L
.
G LASER
N I C HO L AS L
NEW YO RK
.
BR O W N
MCM! ! I
,
CO PY R IG HT. 1 92 1
BY
NICHOLAS L
.
B R OW N
C O N TE N T S
A T R
CH P E
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VI I
VI I I
IX
!
XI
XII
X II I
XIV
I N TR O D U C T I O N
D E A T H A N D FU N E R AL
THE C O N C LA V E
V II I
OF
WH I C H
S I!
TU S
C H O SE
IV
I N NO C E N T
F I R ST Y E A R S O F TH E R E I G N O F I N N O C E N T
VI I I
L A ST Y E A R S OF I N N O C E N T V I I I
A C C E SS I O N O F A L E ! A N D E R V I
C O R O N A T I O N O F T HE KI N G O F N A P L E S
KI N G C H A R LE S V I II I N R O M E
A L E ! A N DE R A N D HI S F A M I LY
LI F E I N R O M E U N DE R
THE
THE
T HE
B O R G I AS
A G G R A N D IZ E M E N T O F T H E
YE A R O F T HE J U B I L E E
FE A STS
AN D
B O R G I AS
FE E DS I N R O M E
Y E A R S O F A L E! A N D E R S R E I G N
A N D F U NE R A L O F A LE! A N DE R
C LO S I N G
DE AT H
A P PE N D I!
’
I N TR O DU CT I O N
My de a r S on z We have lea rned that y o u r
Wo rthiness forgetful o f the high Office wi th which
you are invested wa s p resent from the seventeenth
to the twenty second hou r fou r days a g o in the
Garden s Of John de B ichis where there were several
women Of Siena women wholly given over to worldly
vanities Y our companion was on e o f your c ol
leagues whom hi s years if no t the dignity o f his
O ffice ought t o have reminded o f his duty We have
heard that the dance was indulged in in all wanton
ness N one o f the allurements Of love were lacking
and you conducted yourself in a wholly worldly man
ner Shame forbids mention of a l l that took place
fo r n o t only the things themselves but thei r very
names a re unwo rthy of your rank I n order that
you r lust might be all the more unrestrained the
husbands fathers brothers and kinsmen Of the young
women and g irl s were n o t invited to be present Yo u
and a few se rvants were the leaders and inspirers o f
this orgy I t is said that nothing is now talked o f
in Siena but your vanity which is the subj ec t Of
universal ridicule Certain it i s that here at the
baths where churchmen and the laity are very nu
”
me rou s you r name is on every one s tongue
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I N TR OD UC TI O N
viii
The wo rds are t aken from an admonito ry letter o f
Pope Pius II to C ardinal R odri go B o rgia — better
kno wn to the world as Pope Alexander VI
written
in June 1 4 6 0 when the youn g cardinal ha d n ot yet
reached the thirties and reproving him for having
arranged a bacchanalian feast in Siena N O words
could better characterize the personality Of Alexan
der V I for they show him as the man Of the wo rld
he was as C ardinal Borgia and rem ain ed after he
had become Po p e Alexander
The limelight O f history has pl ayed in a r ather
oblique and unkind way on the B o rg i a s Pope Alex
and er ‘s pe rsonality has been distorted until he
bec ame a perfect monster ; yet his greatest weak
ness was an easy freedom from moral scruples and
this might no t have blurred h is personal charm at all
had he n o t become the tool of his son Cesare More
unj ust s till were most histori ans t o his daughter Ln
who has been depicted a s a kind o f Messalina
c re t ia
”
“
although she was at the bes t the
indiff e rente
among the great women Of her time and at her
wo rst a beauty wi thout any will Of her O wn I f it is
the histo rian s task to di stribute praise and blame
some O f the latter m ay fall o n Ale x ander s favorite
E ven if he was n o t such a perfect vir
s o n Cesare
t u o s o O f crime as he h as been described he certainly
was n o t much better than some Of the worst o f his
mo re prominent contempora ries
Thus in considerin g th e rise an d fall of the B orgia
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I N T R O DU C T I O N
ix
family o n e ought to keep in min d that the B o rgia s
were after all the creatures O f an epoch rich in ex
t ra o rdin a ry personalities as few o thers in human h is
tory have been B efore rendering j udgment c o n
sideration m ust be given to the remarkably complex
personalities o f the Renaiss ance The men an d
women o f that epoch Of transfo rmation f rom the
middle ages t o modern times were s o constituted that
it was ea s ily possible f o r them to tu rn from cruel ty
and c rime and vice from co rruption and treachery
to religion with a fervid and imp assioned sincerity
The B org ia s as will be seen did not di ff er greatly
from many o f their contemporaries T O make them
the scapegoats o f their times shows perhaps a j ust
indignation at their c rimes but little understanding
Of the conditions under which t h e y lived
B earing in mind these conditions and the remark
able rise O f the Hous e o f B orgia one will be better
p repared to understand the personality Of Pope
Alexander who with all his faults wa s certainly not
withou t redeeming features
O f his ability Of hi s
”
genius even s ays Bi shop A H M athew one Of his
recent biographers
there can be n o two Opinions ;
indeed if vigo r o f body and mind were all that wa s
requi red O f a pope Alexander VI would have been
among the greatest He had a remarkable cap acity
for hard mental work and hi s buoyant j ovial nature
enabled him t o bear hi s burden Of vice and c rime with
a lightness impo ssible t o a m an Of a less s ang uine
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I N T R O DU C T I O N
dispos ition
Such was the c omplex pers o nality of
this typical ma n o f the Renaissance
A fai r est im ate Of Alexander VI must in clude in
addition t o his pe rsonal gifts and the complexities
Of his character a consideration Of the remarkable
ris e of his f am ily
I t was from this source that he
r eceived a further impetus toward that most s e du c
tive o f all hum an temptations
the abuse Of p ower
The B o rg ia s like the Bonap artes three centu ries later
in France were neither an Old nor a native family
They h a d come from Spain where their ancestors had
p articipated in the expul sion O f the Moors in the
thirteenth centu ry their family name being derived
from their native place o f B orj ia on the borders
Of Aragon Castile and N avarre
But with the election of o n e O f their family Al onzo
B orgia a s Pope Calixtus II I in the middle o f the
fifteenth century they became p rb min e n t in the a f
fai rs O f the E u ropean world j ust at the m omen t
when I taly then the most advan ced country o f that
continent had ca st o f? the fetters O f m e dize va l e n
vel o p m e n t and entered upon the most brillian t period
Of its c ultu ral development Calixtu s III h ad been
a p rofessor Of j urisp rudence in Lerida in Spa in
where he wo n the reputation Of being o n e Of the
foremost j u ri sts Of hi s time He had come to Rome
as a legal adviser to King Alphonso O f N aples
H is knowledge and ch aracter and his extreme age
which made it certa in that he would n o t be long in
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I N T R O DU C T I O N
xi
the way O f other aspir a nt s to the p ap al tiar a finally
secured h is elevation t o the h ighest place in Ch risten
dom
I n contrast t o the other p apal elections Of the
time the nomination Of Calixtu s III w a s not aecom
a n ied by the sneering remarks which
such
occa
p
sions usua lly called forth Although his r e i gn l asted
only th ree years he managed to secure a firm foo t
ing fo r the Bor gia fami ly in the Rom an hierarchy
H e may indeed be considered as o n e Of the initiators
Of nepotism in the p apacy and the firs t ruler Of
the Roman church who founded a kind Of family
dynasty through the promotion Of hi s nephews
Two Of these Luis and R od rigo B o rgia ( later Pope
Alexand er VI ) became cardinals while a third who
was not a priest w
a s promoted to the captaincy
general Of the p apal state and c reated duke o f S p o
leto The latter as prefect Of Rome had a lso t o
keep in check the Old families O f the Colonna and
O rsini the t raditional enemies O f the p apal rule in
the Holy City
While Cali x tus III kept on the defensive against
his enemies in the city Of his residence he followed
the p apal tradition o f c rus ading against the Turk
The latter had j ust taken pos session Of Constanti
n opl e and made it his capital
The power Of the
Turkish empire was spreadin g in South E astern
E urope and to war agai nst it C alixtus brought
gre a t sacrifices selling th e j ewels Of the papal t reas
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I N T R O DU C T I O N
xii
ury and other possessions Of the Church F o r a n
other and greater phenomenon Of his time the
R enaissance in I taly Pope C alixtus had no under
standing The humanists co mplained that he never
gave them a helping h and and that he even sold the
precious golden bindi ngs Of G reek m anuscripts in
o rder to finance hi s expe ditions against the Turks
The successors Of Calixtus III held o ther views
Literature and the a rts flourished under their pat
ro u age Painters and sculptors writers and s a v
ants thronged the papal Court This intrusion Of
s cantily disguised agnosticism into the heart of the
church frightened the pious and the conservatives
who heard the firs t rumblings Of the R eformation
Paul II resto red the p agan monuments O f R ome and
after the Medici Of Flo rence wa s the greatest col
lector o f the time The succes sor Of Paul Si x tus
I V wen t even further
The p rin cipal result of his
reign was th e secularization O f the papacy Fo r
Sixtus IV w a s a worldly prince in the full sense o f
the word The aim Of his policy was not even the
extension Of the power O f the Holy See but p rimarily
the en richment o f his relatives and favorites With
h is approval the Medici were murdered by the Pazz i
family a design which could n o t b e accomplished
completely and whi ch finall y reacted to the disa d
vantage O f the P ope himself There w a s an in
creasing demand for a coun cil which should depose
this ruler of the church With o ut religion and con
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I N T R O DU CTI O N
xi ii
s cien ce wh o wa s cal led the Pope
a pious poet Of
t he time wailed over the fact that everything was at
“
sale in Rome : Temples priests altars and even
”
p rayers heaven and God
I n August 1 4 8 4 Sixtus
died a t the age o f seventy a martyr to gout and
worn o ut with rage at the news o f the p eace which
had been made between the D uke Of Ferrara and the
V en etians without h is con sent
I n the eyes o f the critics O f the H oly S ee the reign
I nnocent V II I ( 1 4 8 4 —1 4 92 ) wa s no improve
of
ment H e wa s the first Pope who dared to a c kn owl
edge h is s on in public and o n e Of his chief aims
I f S ixtu s
wa s to p ro cure him wealth and position
had secured money through the sale o f spiritual
indulgences an d dignities I nnocent and his s o n O h
t a in e d i t through a bank O f secul a r p ardons where
amnesty fo r murder could be had at high fees A
hundred and fifty ducats Of every fine went to the
papal treasury the rest to the Pope s s on Frances
c h e t t O Cibo
Special traps were s e t in Rome to
catch the criminals who were able t o pay th e Pope
f o r thei r misdeeds
I n the mean time I nnocent
looked o n complacently from his well —guarded palace
a t the increasing criminality in R ome
This Fran
c e s ch e t t o had only o n e aim in life
and thi s wa s to
get the papal treasu re chests in hi s hands a s soon
a s his father di ed When in 1 4 90 a false ru mor
spread that the Pop e had died he attempted in fa ct
t o carry O ff a ll the available cash O f the p apal
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xi v
I N T R O DU C T I O N
Camera He even t ried to t ake along the Turk ish
Prince Zizim who lived a s a prisoner at the papal
court hoping to s ell him at a high p rice to o n e O f
the many fo reign rul ers who were a n xious to get p o s
session Of him
R odri go Borgia who succeed e d I nno cent V II I
two years after this incident was bo rn at K ativa
Spain in 1 4 3 1 and became a p ries t in 1 4 6 8 The
man Of the world who was s o a dmire d in his l ater
life wa s foreshadowed in the boy f o r at the age O f
scarc ely eight years he w as conspicuous in the streets
o f his home to wn f o r the grac e and gallantry Of his
bearing After having been educated at V alencia
he studied at the University O f B ologna and on hi s
retu rn t o Spain he pr acticed successfully a s an a dvo
c ate I n 1 456 C alixtus III bestowed the c ardi nal s
purple upon hi s nephew and a yea r l ater the imp or
tant Office O f vice chancello r of the Church o f Rome
w as confe rred on him
By the historian G asparino Of V eron a the young
“
Cardin a l is thus desc ribed : H e is handsome ; o f
a most glad countenan ce and j oyous aspect gifted
with honeyed and choice eloquence The beautiful
women o n whom his eyes are cast he lures to love
him and moves them in a wondrou s way more
”
powerfull y than the m agnet influences i ron
It
appears however that only th ree women played a
p rominen t rOl e in his life The first w as V a n o z z a
de i C a t a n e i and in h is later l ife the beautiful Giulia
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I NT ROD UCTI ON
x
Fa rnese is Openly men tioned a s h is mistress I n
the intervening period his niece Ha dria n a O rsini
seems to have had relation s with him but sh e
p atiently e ff aced herself when any other intimate
a cqu aintan ce
Of Al exander was concerned H e
never forgot V a n o z z a whom he had met in his earlier
life ; she was bo rn in 1 4 42 and died in 1 5 1 8 and was
the mother Of his dearest children She always lived
in magnificence and enj oyed the p ossession Of the
various palaces whi ch her lover had given her
At the time when he was still practicing l aw R o d
rigo B orgia made the acquaintance Of a widow and
her two daughters H e entered into intimate rela
tions with the mother and after her death became
guardi a n Of the girls O ne Of these he sent to a
convent ; the other he made his mistress This wa s
V a n oz z a who i s described by contemporaries a s a
combination Of voluptuous beauty amiability and
shrewdnes s He had five children by her but he did
n ot
recognize them Openly until after he became
Pope The Oldest wa s Ped ro Luis first D uke O f
Gandia who w as born about 1 4 67 ; Giovanni was
born in 1 4 7 4 and assassinated 1 4 98 ( s e e p
and
Cesare in 1 4 76 The other two children were D onn a
Lucretia bo rn in 1 4 80 and Don Jofre bo rn in
1 481
About 1 4 80 Cardinal Borgi a in order to
cover up his relations with V a n o z z a and to lighten
his o wn burden found a husband f o r her H e Oh
t a in e d a position as apostolic secretary fo r him from
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xv i
I N T R O DU CT I O N
Pope
S ixtus I V
t ion e d
.
This is the only m arri age men
.
Of Va n o z z a s contempora ries have g iven any
clue as to the gifts that enabled her to hold the
pleas ur e loving ca rdinal s o securely and to Obt ain
f o r her recognition a s the mother Of several Of hi s
acknowledged children She was Of Roman origin
“
and came from a middle cl a s s family
We m ay
”
“
imagine her sa ys the hi sto rian G re g o ro viu s
to
have been a strong and voluptuous woman like thos e
still seen about the st reets O f R ome They possess
n one Of the gr a ce O f the ideal wom a n o f the Umbrian
s chool but they h ave something Of the m agn ificence
Of the impe rial city — Juno and Venus a re uni ted
in them They would resemble the ide a l s Of Titian
and Paolo V eronese bu t fo r their black h a ir and
dark complexion
blond and red h ai r have always
been ra re among the Romans B ut without doubt
V a n o z z a was Of great beau ty and ardent passions ;
fo r if not how coul d s h e have maintai ned her rela
”
tion s with the cardinal ?
R od rigo B o rgia secured h is a ccession to the Holy
S ee by buying the necessary m aj ority through prom
A short while before the meeting
is e s and b ribery
Of the Conclave fo r in st an ce he had sent fo ur mule
lo ads Of silver to Cardinal Sforza s hou se on the p re
text that it mi g ht be m o re safely guarded there
After his el e ction in 1 4 9 2 he hu rried o n the same
night to St Peter s for the inaugural ceremonies A
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xv
ii
I N T R O DU C T I O N
contemporary Sigism ondo de Conti s aid Of the h ew
Pope : Few people understand etiquette s o well a s
he did ; he knew how to make most o f himself and
took p ains to shine in conversation and to be dignified
in his mann e rs I n the latter point h is m aj estic
s tature gave him an advantage Also he wa s j ust
at the age ( about sixty ) at whi ch A ri stotle s ays that
men are wisest Robus t in body and vigo rous in
m ind he was a dmirably well equi pped f o r hi s new
po sition H e was tall an d powerfull y built and
though his eyes were blinking they were penetrating
and lively ; in convers ation he was extremely a ff able ;
”
h e understood money m atters thoroughly
An
other contempo rary H ieronymu s Fort i n s de s c rib
ing him in 1 4 93 says : Alexander i s t all and nei ther
light n o r dark his eyes are black and his lips some
wha t ful l H is health is robust and he is able t o
bear any p ain o r fatigue H e i s wonderfully el o
”
quent and a thorough man Of the world
Th e
celebrated J ason M a in u s o f Milan call s attention t o
his elegance o f figu re his serene brow hi s kingly fore
head hi s countenance with it s expression Of g en eros
ity and maj esty his genius and the heroi c beauty
O f h is whole p resence
I t wa s a happy combination o f mind an d body
and it s power l ay in the perfect balance Of all it s
faculties I t wa s a personality which r a diat e d
serene brightness f o r the picture Often drawn o f
this B orgia a s a sinister mons ter is n o t tru e to l ife
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x i ii
I N T R O DU C T I O N
v
the contrary and unlike his s on Cesare s ays
Bishop A H Mathew in hi s biography o f R odrigo
B orgia Alexander does n o t appea r to have bee n
wantonly i n human although the p revalent belief that
1
h e poison e d hi s c ardinals when h is t reasury needed
replenishing c a n neither be p roved no r disproved
B ut he di d n o t revel in c ruelty a s
( see p
cru elty though he certa inly neve r let any humane
scruples stand in the way Of his o wn advancement
H e was n o t a tyrant in the o rdinary sense Of the
w ord being p rese rved fro m tha t vi ce as a rule by his
natural geniality
The advancemen t o f his family be came as the
years Of his reign went o n more and more the domi
nant p assion Of Ale x ander but at the same time the
organization Of the R oman Cu ria w a s improved and
the s alaries o f O fficials were paid pu nctually The
l atter had not always been a custom under former
Popes The admini stration of j u s tice in R ome and
the Pap al State was al so made more eff ective and in
time O f famine the poor were helped with s upplies of
”
c o rn from Sicily
N eve rtheless
admits Mathew
the popula ce detested their Pope wi th a deadly
loathing and the fact that R odrigo B or g ia w a s
permitted to occupy the throne O f St Peter for a
The f am ou s sl ow an d e ff e cti v
e wh ite p owde r u se d by th e
B org ias w s a rs e ni c a n d th y p rob a bly us d i t m o e s uc c e ss
f ully a n d p e rh p s m ore f re que n tly t h an othe rs o f t h at p e riod
! uite
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xx
I N T R O DU C T I O N
Thi s plan he achi eved in the year 1 50 1 when Ln
After this
c re t ia w a s married to Alphonso d E s t e
marriage and until her death in 1 5 1 9 Lu cretia seems
to have lived a comparatively quiet an d happy l ife
D uring he r earlier l ife s h e was much maligned and
accus ed Of m any cr im e s ; a s a matter Of fact s h e w a s
always the tool Of her father and b rother I n 1 4 93
at the age Of thi rteen yea rs S he had been mar ried to
Giovanni Sforza and a gorgeous banquet was given
to celebrate the event Afte r spendi ng a happy and
careless yea r at her husband s beautiful estate O f
Pesa ro her marriage t o ok a bad tu rn becaus e the
house Of Sfo rz a w a s fast losing it s fo rmer p restige
Giovanni s life w a s threatened if he did not give up
the Pope s daughte r I n 1 4 97 the final divorce wa s
p ronounced Lu c re t ia s attitude in the whol e aff air
became the subj ect O f much satire and criticism
Bu t in the following year sh e entered into a second
ma rriage with Alphonso Bisceglia a natural s on Of
King Al phonso II O f N aples He r husband wa s c o n
”
one O f the mos t beautiful men Of I taly
s ide re d
and was seven years younger than S he Threatened
by the Open hat red O f Cesare B orgia Alphonso flew
from Rome during the following year but retu rned
a few months l ater wi th Lucretia who was pas si on
ately e n amored o f her handsome husband I n the
sum mer Of 1 500 Alphonso wa s wounded m ortally by
ass assins w h o probably acted under o rders O f the
O rsin i family
Al phons o conside red Cesare a s the
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I N T R O DU C T I O N
xxi
real instigato r Of the assaul t and s ho t at him as he
left his house after c alling o n him and was cut to
pieces by C es are s guards
Lu cretia wa s only a tool Of the B o rg ia s father
and s o n but Cesa re was the p ride and center O f
the family From 1 4 97 on he was the real rule r
Of the Pontifical State and Alexander frequently
seems to h ave submit t ed to his will against his o wn
better j udgment The cro wn o f I taly was Cesare s
ambition The plottings o f the Pope with the Kings
O f France and N aples and other I talian rulers had
their origin in this wish whi ch burned mo re violently
in the breas t o f this gifted and demonic s on of
Al exander than in th at Of other I talian tyrants O f
the time Wo rking towa rd this end the B o rg ia s
decided upon the annihilation o f the prominent
I talian fa milies The Gaetani and the O rsini were
thus exterminated ( s ee p
the C ol on n a s and
others were d riven from their p o s sess ions I n the
mids t Of this slaughter and ass assination stood
Cesare and Alexander put all the money and in flu
ence O f the church at hi s dispos al
Pope Sixtus IV al ready had favo red young Cesare
Sca rcely seven years Old he received from him the
income Of the Cathedral Of V alencia two years later
he was m ade p rovos t o f Abar ; at the age O f fifteen
I nnocent V II I created him Bishop Of Pamp lon a
After the co ronation Of his father he became Arch
bishop o f V a len c ia and a few years l a ter a c ardinal
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xxii
I N T R O DU C T I O N
F rom the bishopri c o f V alencia Cesare d re w an
annual income O f
du cats But even under the
then existing conditions he found p riesthood t o o
great an Obstacle for his pol itical ambitions and he
resigned the cardinalate to devote h imself to hi
military and poli tical plans
B efore his excesses and the dise a se resulting from
them disfigured h im and fo rced him o ccasionally to
wear a mask he possessed great beauty and st rength
H e could cut Off a bull s he ad with o n e stroke he
bent an i ron ba r a n d broke a ho rseshoe with h is
hands a n d he to re a new rope H is strong body was
graceful and he w as admi re d as an accomplished
dancer and ho rsem an H e love d precious clothes
and rare weapons which are described at length in
the diplomatic report s Of the time ; hi s sword was
known as the king O f sw o rds H e rem ained always
a Spaniard preferring the Spanish tongue and p re
serving the proud s e n s t it ive n e s s o f a Spanish grandee
even in respect to the w ritten wo rd tou ching his per
s on a li t
The more j ovial personality Of Alexander
y
pe rmitted a remarkable fre edom Of exp ression but
C esare perse cuted all c riticism directed against him
with savage c ruelty Whe n Alexander remarked
that Rome was a free city where every o n e coul d
w rite and s a y wh at he pleased Ces are replied that
he would m a ke repent those who did S O I f he s u c
c e e de d in s eizing o n e who had w mt t e n a Pasqu inade
against him he had hi s tongue sliced with a red hot
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I N T R O DU C T I ON
xxiii
d a gger and both his hands cu t O ff H e frequently
indulged in needl ess cruelty On e day he had s ix
me n b rought i n the street before St Peter s and
they we re hun ted like game with crossbows in the
closed street M a ny mu rders were ascribed to h im
by his contempo ra ries ; a few O f these have been
p roven to have bee n the deeds of Others Thus he
was held responsible fo r the murder Of his brother
Cardinal Giovanni B o rgia bu t i t is mo re likely that
this mysterious a s sassination w as an a ct Of revenge
on the part O f an o ff ended husband
O n ac count o f his m a gnificent physique Ces are a t
t rac te d women b u t they played a much smaller rOl e
in his life than m any Of the sen sational biographies
would have u s believe On l y o n e real love adventure
is repo rted and that was du ring the winter Of 1 500
when he had his Spanish ho rsemen seize the wife O f
o n e o f the captains Of the R epublic Of V enice
The
Republic sent a fo rmal protest to Pope Alexander
who regretted the incident B ut n o wo rd Of protes t
w a s hea rd from D o rotea the abduc t ed wi fe who a
few years later wrote t o the Republic O f S an Marco
that s h e wa s willing to return to her husband in c as e
good treatment would be as su red her There is also
mentioned a st rong and beau t iful woman comp anio n
du ring o n e Of his campaign s Women may have been
a certain distraction in hi s hours Of l eisure but they
meant little in his life H i s mar ri age with Charlotte
d Alb re t a sister o f the Kin g of Nav
a rre , had lasted
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xxi v
I N T R O DU C T I O N
s c ar cely four months when Cesa re retu rned to Rome
H e never s a w his wife again n o r did he eve r see hi s
daughter Lo uise bo rn in 1 50 0 H is style o f life
w a s considered peculia r even in that time fo r he s e l
dom rose befo re th ree O clo ck in the afternoo n and
went t o bed at the twilight Of the mo rning
After the death of Pope Alexander the star o f
Cesa re declined A few weeks after C a rdinal Giu l iano
Rovere had become Pope Julius II Cesa re wa s ar
rested and taken to R ome H e was s e t at liberty
soon afte rward however without the knowledge o f
the Pope and escaped t o N aples where he was seized
again an d s ent to Sp a in There he was kept u nder
stric t confi nement in va riou s c as tles and his only
re cr eation wa s flying his fal cons and watching
them a s they seized upon their p rey and tore it to
pieces I n 1 506 he a ga in es caped and fell in battle
the same yea r a s the commander O f an army O f his
brother in law the King O f N ava rre
Thus ended th e B o rg ia s father and s o n Their
graves are u n kn own Their c rimes h a ve been e xa g
gerated but the works O f a rtists they encouraged and
p atronized are s till extant Raph ael Mi chel a ngel o
and Pintu ric chio worked f o r the B o rgi a s and Coper
n ic u s lectured in Rome dur ing the yea r O f t h e j ub ilee
on his new theo ry o f the motion o f t h e heavenly
bodies I f this Pope h a s bee n called the mos t char
a c t e rt is t ic inc a rn ation o f the secula r spiri t in t h e
t
apacy
Of
the
fif
t
eenth
cen
ury it should be r e mem
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xxv
I N T R O DU C T I O N
bered that the secula riz ation Of t h e papacy h ad be
gun with Sixtu s IV a n d that i t w a s a s conspicuou s
under I nnocent VI II a s under Alex ander VI
.
The minute des crip tions in Burchard s Diary help
u s t o understand the cont radi cto ry elements in the
many sided character o f Alexander VI and S how it
in it s relations with politics wa r gove rnment love
and reli gion O f the description O f Al exander s
court in this Dia ry G re g o ro viu s one Of the for e
“
most autho rities o f the peri od s ays : N ever did
any chronicler des cribe the things about him s o
clearly an d S O concisely s o dryly and with s o little
feeling — thi ngs that were worthy Of the pen o f
Tacit u s Tha t Bu rchard wa s n o t friendl y t o the
B o rg ia s i s p roved by the way his diary is written
I t is however absolutely truthful This m an well
knew how to conceal hi s feelings i f the dull routin e
o f h is Office had left him any
H e went th rough
t h e daily ce remonies O f the V atican mechani cally and
kep t hi s place there under five popes Bu rchard
must have appeared to the B o rgia s a s a ha rmless
p edant ; for if not would they have permitted him t o
behold and desc ribe thei r doings and yet live ? E ven
the little he di d write in hi s D iary conce rning events
O f the day would have cost h im his head had it c o me
to the knowledge o f Alexander o r Cesare I t a p
pears howeve r th at the diaries o f the masters Of
c e rem o nies were no t subj ected t o Official censorship
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xxv i
I N T R O DU CT I O N
Cesa re wo ul d have spared him no mo re than he di d
his father s favori t e Pedro Calderon P e ro t t o whom
he stabbed and C e rvil l on ( se p
whom he k illed
both O f who m frequently perform ed impo rtant
p arts in the ceremonies O f the V atic an N o r did
Cesare spare the p riva t e se c ret ary Francesco
Troche whom Ale x ander VI had Often employed in
diplomatic a fl a irs The re is n o doubt that he wa s
o n e Of Lu c re t ia s mos t intim ate acquaintances
In
June 1 50 3 Cesare had this favo rite Of his father
”
strangled
Th is fate woul d have awaited the
autho r Of the p resent Diary had its exi stence ever
come to the k nowledge Of t he B o rg ia s Johann e s
B u rch a rdus ( o r Burchard ) w a s bor n nea r St rasburg
in Alsace in the middle O f the fiftee n century De s
tined fo r the Chu rch he was e ducated from his carli
e st
childhood in an ecclesiastical environment
I nstead o f follo wing a course O f theology which then
re qui red ten years close study to Obtain the D o ctor s
degree B u rchard p ractical man that he was chose
an easier way that Of the law whe re the cou rse O f
study w a s only four years a n d the hope O f hon o r
and fo rtune equally su re Four years after having
receiv e d his D octor s cap he indeed succeeded wi th
the help O f friend s in reaching R ome H ere a d vo
cates found a lucrative income in the numb e rless l aw
suits that we re inces s antly befo re the ec clesi a s tical
courts The pursuit O f b e n e fic e s charac teristic Of
the time gave rise t o numerou s a ct s O f inj ustice and
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I N T R O DU C T I O N
c aused h im acute annoyance Bu t it is j ust
this pedant ry whi ch m akes his diary especi ally val u
able I t is j us t the lymphatic egotistic u n im a g in a
tive qualities in a man like B urcha rd that give h is
det a il e d narrative the st amp O f tru th and there is
li ttle doubt that he is one Of the mos t t rus tworthy
contempo rary witnesses
This is especi ally t rue of the outside dealing with
the cou rt Of Al exander VI fo r du ring this period
he devotes inc reasing attentio n to political incidents
and anecdotal S idelights The part Of the D iary c ov
e ring the reign O f I nnocent V I II h a s Of course an
interest and value fo r the special studen t Of history
but it would scarcely h ave re scued the author s name
f rom Ob s curity
The Diary no t only gives an accoun t of many Of
the import ant political events O f the reign Of Al ex
ander but also glimpses into the intimate daily life
T here is the s to ry O f the supper which Cesare B orgia
gave to fifty cou rt esans in h is apa rtments at the
V atic a n in the p resence O f the Pope himself a n d hi s
sister Lucretia Tha t this banquet actu ally took
place c annot be doubt e d for the Flo rentine orator
Capello wrote a few days aft e r the feast to the
The Pope h a s not been to St Peter s Of
S eigno ry :
late fo r the feast Of All Saints no r for All S oul s
no r the chapel Th ey s a y that he h a s t a ken cold
but th at fact did n o t hinder him on Sunday evening
qu e t t e
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I N T R O DU CT I ON
xxix
Saints E ve from si t ting up until midnight with
the D u k e wh o had invited courtesans and public
women t o the V atican They spent the nigh t in
”
dancing and rioting
Piu s 1 11 had made Bu rcha rd Bishop o f O rt a and
Civita Castellana and other honors a n d O ffices were
conferr e d on him under Julius 1 1 But his health
began t o fail and the entries in the D ia ry became
more condensed O n N ovember l 6 t h 1 50 5 he wi t
n e s s e d the m arri age Of Laura O rsini the daughter Of
Giulia Farn ese and Po p e Alexander with N icholas
dell a Rove re nephe w t o Pope Julius I I
The adul
”
t e rou s wife
s ays Pa ris de G rassi s a colleague O f
Bu rchard
the mi stres s O f Pope Alexande r VI the
but t O f all the s atirist s Of Rome and I taly n ow
entered the V atican a s the most distinguished woman
in the Roman aristocracy fo r the purpose Of uniting
her daughter with the Pope s nephew Th e late
”
Pope seemed t here by absolved from all h is crimes
I n March 1 50 6 Burcha rd went t o V iterbo to take
the wa t e rs where the famous spring Of B ulicame a t
tra cted the fashionable so ci e ty O f the neighbo rhoo d
and the great p relates o f the Roman Court I t was
mo reover the reso rt O f the demimonde Of Rome the
”
honest cou rtesans as B urcha rd calls them in his
D iary
His O ffice soon c alled him again and he
superintended the ceremony Of layin g the foundatio n
stone O f the B a silic a Of S t Peter and in May 1 506
All
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xxx
I N T R O DU C T I O N
died
His end was melancholy wa s the com
ment Of a friend who added a few lines to the Di ary
whose last entry was mad e on Ap ril 2 7 t h 1 50 6
This Dia ry remains a s B ishop A H Mathew
points o ut the most valuable record we possess O f the
history O f the Popes at the end O f the fifteenth cen
tury and the beginning Of the six t eenth The hi s
t o ri a n s Of the sixteenth seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries used it as the m ain sou rce O f their info rma
tion but up to the second half O f the n inetee nth cen
tu ry only e x tracts Of the D ia ry from m an usc ripts
in various libra ries were published O ne Of these
e x tracts wa s brought o ut in 1 6 96 by the philosopher
Leibnitz under the title : S p e c im en His t o ria e Ar
c a na e
i t a Al e xa/nd n VI P a p as
e a n e c do t a de v
s iv
I n 1 8 54 Achille Gennarelli publish e d in Florence an
accoun t O f the p o n t ific a t e Of I nnocent V I II and the
fi rs t t wo ye a rs Of t ha t Of Alexander VI B ut th e
Obstacles pla c e d in hi s way by the governmen t Of
the G rand Duke o f Tu scany and the annoyances to
which he wa s su bj ected fo rced him to abandon the
publication Of the Dia ry whi ch h a d b een copied a s
far a s M ay 1 5th 1 4 9 4
I n the yea rs 1 883—1 88 5 L Thu a sn e b rought ou t
in P aris the first complete L atin edi tion o f Bur
chard s D iary in three volumes based on the manu
sc ripts in the libraries o f Paris Rome a n d Flo rence
This edition was used in part fo r the E nglish trans
lation o f Burchard s Diary by Bishop A H Mathew
he
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I N T R O DU CT I O N
of
xxxi
which however only the first volume covering the
years 1 4 83— 1 4 92 has appeared ( London
B ut even this translation is n o t absolutely complete
f o r in order to make the work n o t t oo cumbersome
minor details such as long lists Of names o r weights
and sizes Of wax candles o r repetitions in documents
and the like were o mitted
I n the p resent volume t he omissions had to be made
o n a much larger scale and all unes sentials had t o be
eliminated T O give as comprehensive a picture Of
the times a s possible some o f Burchard s entries dur
ing the reign s Of Sixtu s IV and I nnocent VI II have
been included and in these u s e has been m ade o f
Bishop A H Mathew s t ransl ation
The edito r s aim throughout h a s been to m ake
available to a larger public the treasures hidden
away in the endless details Of the dia ry and he hopes
that in the p assages selected he has succeeded in c on
ve y in g to the reader the cha racteristic features Of a
remarkable period and its complex personalities a s
recorded by a contemporary
F L G L A SE R
N e w York March 1 92 1
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PO PE ALE! ANDER V I
A ND HIS C O U R T
THE DE A TH
A N D F U N E RA L
S I ! T U S IV
OF
P OPE
EB I N G
th a t i t behooves a Master Of the Cere
mo n ies t o pay heed to individual s I John
Bur ch ard Clerk Of t h e Ceremonies i n the ch apel o f
H is H oliness o u r Lo rd the Pop e will note below the
things which happ en e d in my time and appea red t o
be con n ecte d with ceremonies together wi th at leas t
some exte rn al a ff airs s o tha t I m ay the m o re read
ily give accoun t Of the Offic e ent rusted t o m e
O n the fourth Sunday in Advent o n the l t of
1 4 83
D ecembe r
the feas t Of St Thom as the
Apostle I was r e cei ved a s Mast e r o f the Ceremoni es
by the Reverend F a ther in C h rist Lo rd Adriano
B ishop o f Ardic in o della P ort a But I was a d
m it t e d to the conduct o f the c erem onies much later
that is o n the 2 6 t h day o f the month Of Janua ry
1 4 84 by the autho rit ies O f the Apostolic Chu rch
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1
P OPE A LEXAND E R V I AN D H I S
2
COURT
in place o f the R everend Father in Christ Lord
Agostino P atrizi Piccolomini Canon o f Sien a wh o
was afterwards appoint e d to the churches Of Pienz a
and Montal cino and who retired from this post and
O ffice ; and when his resign ation wa s accepted I was
prepared f o r the po st by these same authorities
through the m ost Holy Father and Lo rd in Chri st
Si x tus I V Pope by Divine Providence
And for this I p aid the aforesaid Lord Bisho p
Of Pie n za together wi th the attendant e x penses
a total O f about 4 50 ducats in gold Of the Camera
O n Sunday the 3 0 t h O f May 1 4 84 the Lord G iro
lamo R ia rio Count and Captain general Of the
Holy Roman Church and Gentilio O rsini together
with thei r men to the number of
o r there
abouts during the night surrounded the residence
Of the Very Reverend Father and Lord in Christ
Lord Giovanni of Santa Mari a in Aqu iro com
moul y known as Cardin al Deacon Colonna The
Cardi nal s men who were within bravely defended it
for the space O f about two hours At length over
come by the count s men who ru shed in from the
back a n d sides they fled from the house The
c ount s men entered and plundered the house com
stripping
it
even
to
the
l
t
l
O f all that was in it
e
e
p
y
doors and windows Finally they set fi re to i t and
burned the residence and chambers O f the cardin al
taking p risoner the Lord Lorenzo Colonn a prothon
Otary O f the Apostolic See together with several
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P O PE A LEXA ND E R V I AN D H I S
4
C O U RT
durin g the night it w a s brought to the Church o f
the Twelve Apostles and given over t o the Church
f o r burial
O n Friday the 2 n d O f July 1 4 8 4 in the morning
G iro ma l o C ount and Captain Of the Church to
gether wi th hi s men artillery two large battering
en gines and several small ones went forth from the
city to pitch his camp o n the lands o f the C olonna
in order to be siege them and he inflicted great
inj ury upon them
A t the same time the L ord D omenico de Alber
gatis p rothonotary Of B ologn a governo r O f the
city died from grief it was said at the down fall
Of the hou se o f the V alle The Obsequies were per
formed in the Church O f Santa Maria del Popolo
O n Thursday the 1 2 t h o f August 1 4 8 4 betwee n
the fourth and fifth hou r o f the night o r thereabouts
in the V atican at St Peter s in an upper chamber
above the cou rt in fron t O f the library there died
o u r Most H oly Fathe r and Lord in Christ
Lo rd
Sixtus IV Pope by Divine Providence May the
Almighty o f H is goodness deign to have mercy on his
soul Amen !
After his death a ll the Most Reverend Lords the
Cardinals who were p resent in the city came to the
pal ace and passed through the chamber wherein
the deceased was lying o n the b ed wearing a vest
ment over hi s cas sock a c ruci fix o n his breast his
hands clasped together
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THE
FUN E R A L O F P O PE S I X T US I V
5
They paid profound respects to the deceased such
as are due from the cardinals ; then they entered the
great court nea r the s aid chamber fo r the purpose
O f discussing what should be done
The Bishop o f Ceuta was appointed Cap tain o r
Governo r O f the Capitol ; the Bishop Of C e rvic a
Captain O f the Gate O f the Palace Of St Peter ; to
each O f the City G ates were appointed apostolic
s criveners together with solicito rs and R oman citi
zens and i t was decided that all the princes co un
tries and Official s should be informed O f the Pope s
decease
Certain cardinals were appointed to guard the
p al ace and to transac t any business which might
p resent i tself After the fi f th hour Giovanni Maria
my colleague called upon me at my house and I
went with him to the afo res aid p alace to m ake
the necessary arrangements for the burial Of the
deceased But pri or to this the Most R everend
Lord Vi ce Chancellor had arrived at the palace and
according to custom he broke the seal used for the
p ap al bulls on which was engraved the name Of
the deceased pope Then when the cardinals had
assembled in the aforesaid place they stopped up
the mouth nostrils ears and anus O f the deceased
with silk dipped in balm And with the assistance
Of the regul ar penitentiaries o f the B asilica of St
Peter who meanwhile chanted the Office for the dead
in subdued but distinct tones standing round the
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P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S
6
C OU R T
corpse they bore it away fro m this chamber to the
lesser papal ch amber wrapped in the covering Of
the bed and in a certain cloth wh ich formerly hung
from the bed before the door O f the afores aid cham
ber and there about the tenth hou r they placed
it naked in thei r midst o n a long table The Abbot
Of S an Sebastiano the s acristan had arranged a
bier with torches although that belonged rather to
o u r office
All the other rites were performed immediately s o
to speak a s soon as the deceased had been borne
away from the chamber ; for from that hour until
the 6 t h despite all my diligence I could not Obtain
one
towel linen cloth o r any vessel in w h ich to
place the wine and wate r and fragrant herbs for
cleansing the deceased Pontiff n or could I find
drawers o r a clean shirt in which to clothe him
although I several times besought the C ardinal o f
Pa rma Pietro Of Mantua Lord A c c o rs io Gr ego rio
and B artolommeo della R overe Giorgio hi s private
sweeper and Andrea his barber who were all his
private C hamberlains and O f his household and who
h a d received the best Of treatment at his hands
At
length the cook furnished me with hot water and a
cauldron in which he was wont to heat the water for
washing the dishes and the aforesaid Andrea the
barbe r sent fo r the basin from his S hop
Thus the p ope was washed and since there was
n o linen cloth wherewith to dry him
I caused him
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THE FUN E R AL
OF
P O PE S I X T US I V
7
to be dri e d wi th the s hi rt in which he h ad expir e d
torn in twain I could not change the drawers in
which he died and in whi ch he was washed fo r there
were n o others H e was clothed in a doublet without
a s hirt and a pair Of shoes o f pink cloth furnished
by the Bishop O f C e rvic a who was also his groom
Of the bed chamber and unles s my memo ry fails
me a damask ves tment ei t her red o r white I n thi s
I er red fo r he should h ave been bu ried in the habit
Of St Francis t o whos e O rder he belonged worn
over the holy p on t ifi c a l vestments And since he
had no ro chet w e placed on hi m the holy vestments
over the afo rementioned things ;
the sandals amice
alb gi rdle and the s to l e c rossed over his bre a s t
n o t p rocu re a pecto ral c ross
because
I
co
d
the
u
l
(
)
tunic dalmatic gloves t h e p re cious white chasuble
—
the pallium the simple mi tre and the S ignet ring
with its valu able sapphir e whi ch the sacri stan s a id
Thus vested we l aid him on
w a s wort h 3 00 ducats
the bier whi ch we arranged o n the afo rementioned
table with cushions at hi s head and a pall O f bro
c a de in the midst Of the a fo res aid chamber There
he remained until the hou r O f bu rial
I n the meanwhile I entreated for w ax candles and
with great difficulty about the fourteenth hour these
were p roduced to the numbe r Of twenty When
these had been brought without any o ffi ce havin g
been said round the corps e the cru c i fi x and the
acolytes going first the p enitentia ries and the cham
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8
P OPE ALE !
A ND E R
V I AN D H I S
C OU R T
b e rl a in s
ca rri ed the dece as e d as far a s the fi rs t l arge
cour t that i s t o say o f the palace H ere were the
canons and the beneficia ries and the clergy o f the
B asilica of St Peter ; from that place the afo res a id
canons bore t he deceased t o the high altar The
p rocession p a s sed over the st airc a s e and through the
court the way by which the cardin als a re wont to
descend when they g o o ut through the p rin cipal gate
of the pal a ce to the central cou rt yard ; thence t urn
ing in t h e direction o f the steps o f the B asilica we
entered t h e chu rch
The deceased w as placed before the altar o n the
first step ne x t hi s head w a s placed towards the alta r
and h is feet outside the i ron rail s in o rder that those
who wished might kiss them and the gates o f the
rails were closed
These were afterwards open e d fo r a short tim e
and the deceased was placed nearer the altar S O
that all could fr e ely enter and dep art and some
guardians were stationed there lest hi s ring o r any
o ther poss e s sion shoul d be s tolen H e rem ained in
that place until the fir st hou r o f the night o r th e re
abouts when the shield be arers bore him away a n d
we walked in fro nt with the afo rementioned twenty
wax candles O nly eight c ardinals fo llowed After
them came the prelates and the ambassado rs and a
grea t m any othe rs
After t h e deceas ed h a d bee n c a r ri ed as st ated
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THE
FUN E R AL
OF
P O PE S I X T US I V
9
in t o the chu rch the c ardin als withdrew ; some went
t o the a forementioned p alace while others went t o
their homes
When they had p artaken Of a refection the car
din a l s entrusted to me the o rdering O f a co ffin in
which to bury the pope and the arrangement for his
burial in his new chapel of the choi r o f the canons
and clergy o f t he aforesaid B asilica which the de
ceased himself had o rdered t o be built in the same
Basilica about the middle o f the s ame chapel facin g
the p rincip al altar in the center a s they decla red
that the deceased had himsel f chosen this place fo r
I did thi s as I was o rdered
hi s bu rial
About the fi rst hour o f the night of Friday 1 3 th
August the body o f the dec e ased was b o rne from the
choir o f the p ri ncipal altar by t h e clergy O f the said
B asilica in a p rocession to the place O f burial and
it was buried wi th all the vestments p recious ring
and chas uble aforesaid There as i t lay in the
tomb in a long wide coffin o f nut wood which I had
o rde red Lo rd Achilles B ishop of C e rvic a wh o was
the only prelate there toget her with a few clergy
chanted the M is ere re and a p rayer H e sp rinkl ed
the deceased and the tomb with holy water and we
immediately covered the corpse with the p all Then
according to the command and e x press inj unction o f
the College of the Most R everend Lords the Cardinal s
I fo rbade th e canons and the clergy O f the aforesaid
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10
P O PE ALEXAN D E R V I AN D H I S
C OU RT
B as ilica under penal ty O f being dep rived O f their
b e n e fi c e s to allow any m an to touch the deceas e d
o r to remove the said S ignet ring o r the chasuble or
anythi ng else
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P O PE
12
ALEXAND E R
VI
AN D
HIS
C OU RT
the m a g is t ri domo rum the treasurers came to the
above mentioned places from the houses o f t h e c ar
din a l s bringing wines and with them came some of
the chaplains shield bearers and o thers who were
guarding the p alaces O f the cardinals Then when
the hour had come t h e shield bearers walked in f ront
two by two and t he chaplains follo wed in thei r order
—
with s table boys o n e before a n d t he other behind
who bore between them o n their s h b ul de rs w o oden
vessels slung on a s tick cont aining the foo d and
drink and bread o f the cardi nals
When they a rrived a t the doo r of the second watch
o f the palace
the shield bea re rs and the chaplains
rem ained there together wi th the maj or domo and
the S tabl e bo y s with the wo o den vessels went up the
s taircase as far as the t h ird o r fou rth watch and
there outside the doo r o f the conclave they s e t down
the wooden vessels This kind Of wooden vessel has
a lid with t w o keys the o n e like unto the other ; Of
these the master of the court kep t o n e and the other
was in the possession o f thos e in the conclave who
attended upon each V ery R everend Lo rd Ca rdinal
The former when he had placed the food and
wine in the w oo de n vessel having firs t m ade a list
Of each t h ing closed the wooden vessel with the key
and in the m anner above des cribed desp atched it
to the conclave There were two o f these wooden
vessel s Of which one wa s sen t in the manner above
described and the other which was in the conclave
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I N N OC E N T
VI I I
13
was returned and in this all the things tak e n o u t
from the one that rem ained outside were placed these
things having bee n handed int o the conclave through
the hatch and then each vessel was replaced in the
chamber o f t h e cardinal to whom it belonged
I o r my colleague summoned the m embers o f
the conclave o f that c ardinal t o whom the wooden
vessel belonge d and when t hey app roached with his
empty wooden vessel I opened the hatch Of the
doo r from within and those Of the fou rth watch
Opened it from without and the members Of the con
clave themselves from within held out the wooden
vessels t o the custodians who when they had Opened
each wooden vessel drew o u t everything fro m it and
placed it upon the small table which sto od in re a di
nes s there nea r the doo r o f the conclave ; and there
one O f the custodians appointed for this purp ose by
the others inspected each t u rning over the middle
o f the loaves and the soup
cutting open the fowls
tearing asunder the j oints the loaves and the tarts
whenever i t seemed good t o them an d looking through
the glass bottles or dec a nters o f wine F o r the
wine was sen t o r carri ed in uncovered glass bottles
no t in flasks o r any o ther vessel B ut the soup was
sen t in as small j ars as possible
When they had carefully inspected each o f the
vessel s the guard ians themselves handed them to u s
clerks O f the ceremonies through the hat ch o f the
door Mo reo ver we on receiving them plac e d them
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P O PE ALE XAND E R V I AN D H I S
14
C OU R T
our great sideb o ard where the members of the
conclave who were waiting received them each plac
ing them in his wooden vessel which he held in re a di
ness there wherein each O f them carri ed the vi ctuals
to his chamber When the food for supper ar riv e d
in the evening the members o f the conclave s e t forth
ves sels of silver and glass whi ch they had taken in
the mo rning upon o u r sideboard in the conclave and
I returned them empty to the s table boys who were
waiting from without But we clerks o f the cere
monies placed the bread and the wine and the s al t
m eats and other things that woul d keep in o u r ve s
sels whi ch we had brought to the concl ave for thi s
purpose Mo reover I had b rought a small bottle
in whi ch to co ll ect the wine and a big basket f o r the
bread and the li ke and this I placed in the chamber
o f the docto rs whi ch led to the p rivies in the corner
near the doo r of the c o nclave But the other
things that is to s a y the soup s j oints or fresh fish
and the like which we re left over we gave t o the
aforesaid custodians and I di d the same in the morn
ing with regard to the vessels received in the eve
ning
The stabl e boys o r the other servants o f the car
din a l s waited near the second wat ch in the morning
and in the evening and they were informed by us
and by the custodians a t what hou r the food should
be brought a n d when they had been informed they
brought it and not befo re ; fo r a fix ed time could not
on
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be assigned to them because the cardinals dispatched
their business sometimes sooner sometimes later
The afores aid custodians did n o t deal with the said
food in any given order but he who c ame first with
the food was the first to be released whether he were
fi rst o r last in impo rtan ce o r whether he were the
i
il
r
of
any
cardinal
whatsoever
The
same
cus
a
m
a
f
t o dia n s appointed between themselves every day two
of t h e fourth wat ch one for lunch and the other
for supper t o examine the foo d in the f a shion de
scribed above whilst the o thers assisted him N o
member of the conclave at any time or for any cause
whatsoever wa s admitted to the hatch whether this
were open o r closed even fo r the pu rpos e o f spea k ing
to any one from without e x cept w ith the express leave
Of th e college I f any l etters came t o h e colleg e
t
which could not be received th rough the opening o f
the hatch we Opened the hatch and having t a k e n Jt hé
letters we quickly closed it again B ut we gave s
t
b
letters I o r my colleague to the College o f Car
din a l s if they were all assembled together o r we told
two or three O f the senior ca rdinals that we h a d
letters for the college and that if it pl eased them
we could give them to the Dean O f Cardinals
B ut if any on e fro m outside desi red to send in f or
mation within he S poke with t h e hatch closed a n d
o n e o f us two
having heard wh at h e, had t o s ay ”;
referred it to the Dean o f the Cardinal s’ an d t o three
z
or four of the other cardinal s he bei ng also notified
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P O PE
16
ALE XAND E R
V I AN D H I S
COU RT
this Wh en the hatch wa s O pened to tak e in the
food and to s end f o rth the vessels he took great
care t o p revent any membe r of the conclave no t only
from app roaching the hatch but al so from making
any sign w h ich would be receiv e d from any one from
without When the sacristan celebrated a public
mass all the members Of the conclave o r thos e who
wi shed mi ght hea r the said mass but they must
s tand outside the doors o f the sm alle r chapel in
which mass was celebrated which doors led into the
first and second c ou rt o f the concl ave and whilst
mas s w a s being cel eb rated n o m an kno cked at the
door o f the conclave Likewise whils t the votes were
being examined when mass was over and when the
stools had been arranged for each o f the c ardin als
with a folio o f papyrus paper and reed pen ink
and two o r three small c an dles a ll return e d to the
larger chapel in which they were all confined by us
the clerks Of the ce remonies the cardinals being in
con g regation I guarded the door o f the first cour t
s o that
between the thi rd court in which the con
re a t io n s
were
held
and
mysel
f
there
was
the
g g
second middle court and when they wished to s u m
mon me o n e o r other o f the c ardin als rang the bell ;
some took their meals alone in their cell s others
with t wo three o r four others o r several togethe r
When luncheon was over on the afores aid S atur
day Augus t 2 8 t h vari ous intrigues we re s e t on foot
and at length the votes Of ab o ut seventeen of the
of
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I N NOCE N T
V I II
17
V ery Reverend Lords the Cardinals were given in
favo r Of the V ery Reverend Lord Cardinal o f M O1
fetta who the following evening before the sixth
hour O f the night began at the request Of certain
of the cardinal s t o sign petitions in his chamber ;
h avi ng knelt down o n o n e knee he signed the petitions
pl aced before him o n a certain small box ; som e o f the
cardinal s who were asking an d waiting fo r these sig
n atu re s stood round ; while thi s was happenin g the
V ery Reverend Lord Cardinal o f Siena came up ,
and seeing this he said with a smile : Thi s i s an
inversion O f the right order o f things ; the Pope is
sign ing petitions on h is knees and we , the petitioners ,
”
s tand upright
O n Tuesday the 2 9t h o f August the day o f the
D ecollation o f S aint John the B aptist very early in
the morning the V ery Reverend Lo rd Cardinal o f
San Marco from motives o f piety celebrated a
public mas s in the small chapel as indeed he did o n
the two following days ; thereupon about the tenth
hou r when all the cardinal s were standing in order
in the afo rementioned small chapel in their capes
an d with their c roziers a s on the day before o ur
sa cristan celebrated the mass o f the Holy Ghost with
commemoration o f the faithful departed as on the
day before and when this was over we prepared a
small table and stools with their appurtenances a s
and we all went o ut o f the s a me
o n the day before
chap el leaving the car dinals t here alone and al l the
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18
P OPE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S
CO U R T
members of the con clave were confined in the larger
chap el And meanwhile the latter put their posses
sions together asked fo r their ch ambers and each
o n e collected all hi s things wi th the exception of the
members Of the conclave Of the C ardinal of Molfetta
who left the chamber of their lord with the posses
sions Of the members of the conclave The card in als
in the smal l chapel made examin ation Of the votes a s
on the day before but there was no mention made O f
the accession
When the examin ation Of the votes was over i t
was found that the V ery Reverend Lord G iovanni
Of the title o f S anta Cecilia Cardinal priest o f Mol
fetta had sufficient votes Therefo re unanimou sly
by a ll the cardin als and by the whole college
of
the said cardi nal s without any protest he
was admitted and received as Sup reme Pon
ti ff Of the Holy R oman and Catholic C hurch and
a s a sign of his admitta n ce the cardin als l aid down
their croziers befo re him and invest e d hi m with the
cape over the ro chet And they plac ed him in the
magnificent seat O f th e chamber between the altar
and the afores aid small table and they placed upon
hi s finger the S ignet ring Of Pope Sixtus IV Of
blessed memory whi ch ring the s acri stan had in
readiness for this pu rpose ; and when he had been
received as Pope thus seated he himself chose for
himself the name of I nnocent VI I I Pope
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P O PE A LEXAN D E R V I AN D H I S
20
C OU R T
O n Thursday the 1 7 th o f N ovember 1 4 8 5 the
R everend Fathe r in Christ Achil l e M a re s c o t t o o f
B ononi a B isho p o f Ce rvia who on the preceding
Saturday the 1 2 th O f thi s month had returned in
health and spirits to the city and o n the preceding
Tuesday the 1 5 th h ad fallen ill o f the plague o n
the night of this day breathed his last O n the same
night he was i n the B as ilic a o f St Peter handed
over for ecclesiastic al bu ri al with no ceremonies
May his soul res t in peace
O n F riday the 2 2 n d o f September 1 4 8 6 before
the hour o f the consistory o n the sp ace above the
steps before the B asili c a o f St Peter upon a plat
fo rm erected for the p urpose were assembled the
fo ll owing persons : the R everend Father Tito Lo rd
B ishop o f Castres in the Patrimony vested in amice
alb gi rdle stole red cope and plain mitre seated
o n a folding st ool ; the Reverend Father Pietro di
V ic e n t ia Lord Auditor Of the Apostolic Chamber of
the Court o f Causes ; N di Pa rma fis cal procurato r;
and several others with Friar Gabriel di P ontaria o f
Pia cenza a professed re l ig io n s o f the O rder o f the
Canons R egular Of St Augu stine o n e who has re
e d a ll the orders
c e iv
up to and including that of
priest Wearing hi s vestments and standing facing
the people the Lo rd Giacom o the not ary read the
s umm ary o f the p rocess ag a inst the said Gabriel and
the sentence pronoun ced against him and the com
mission f o r his degradation Wh en these had been
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F I R S T YEA R S
OF
I N N O C E N T VI I I
21
ead the said Lord Bishop degraded him in a ccord
ance with the order given in the Pontifical upon the
s trength o f the commission given
After he had been degr aded the app a rito r led
him away t o the Castle O f Soldano and o n Saturday
2 3 rd September about o n e o clock the said degraded
person wa s hanged in the Campo dei Fio ri suff ering
the death penalty with great patience and devotion
a s the witnesses reported
At the head o f the cord
by which he w a s hanged was fastened gold foil as a
S ign that he w a s a no t ed robber
The s am e morn i ng I n the C a mp idol io was hanged
fo r theft a certain J e w who had become a Christian
H e refused to have the cross before him o r a Chris
tian to comfort him in the faith o f Christ but wished
to die in Judaism and thus he was hanged and died
H is accomplice another J ew also i n p rison ought
t o have been hanged with him but he threw himself
into the sewer from which he was t aken o ut alive
on the s ame day and then was also hanged
O n the Second Sunday in Advent l ot h D ecember
1 4 86 in the larger chapel the R everend Father in
Chri st Lorenzo Lo rd Archbishop Of Benevento
celebrated the solemn mass in cardinal s vestments
as wa s don e at the first Sunday The Pope and the
cardi nal s were presen t Fou r p rayers were recited :
the first of the day ; the second De us qui s a lu t is
etc ; the third again s t t he heathe n ; the f ou rth , f or
the Pope
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22
P O PE A LEXAN D E R V I AN D H I S
C O U RT
The P rocurato r o f the O rder Of Friars Mino r
p reached the serm on concerning which there was a
great dispute between him and the Master o f the
P alace Fo r the Master O f the Palac e had told me
no t to allo w him t o preach because he had no t shown
him the sermo n first H e excused hi mself s aying
tha t he had only returned to the city in the evening
Of the day befo re yesterday and thi s mo rn ing whe n
he sought him at his house he could not find hi m
The C ardinal O f S Pietro in V in coli protector of
the O rde r of Minors said t o the Master o f the
P alace that the procur ato r wa s an approved m an
all o w the p rocu rator to preach The master afo re
said had previously however come over to this view
and therefore he ought not to t rouble At length I
asked our Most Holy Lo rd who s aid that I should
in the op inion o f the Most Reverend Lo rd Cardinal
afo resaid although he did n o t give his consent All
the othe r Observan ces were a s usual
I think that the p rocurato r did not S how hi s s e r
mon to the m aste r be cause o f what he intended to
s a y ; fo r he s aid in it that the Blessed Virgin Mary
was con ceived without o riginal s in which is in a c
but con
c o rda n c e with the doctrine Of the S cotists
t r a ry to that o f the Thomists to which latter p arty
the Master Of the P al ac e belongs
On the Fou rth Sunday i n Advent the Vigil of the
N ati v
ity o f O u r Savio r 2 4 t h D ecember 1 4 8 6 t h e
Pope c ame t o the chapel with only fou r cardin als
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F I R S T YEA R S O F I N N O C E N T
V I II
23
the Cardinal o f N aples and three deacons The Car
dinal o f N aples held the boat for the incense as there
was no pries t Then the p riests came and there
were all the usual Observances The cardinal s made
the reverence and wrongly fo r they were to make
it the same evening and it ought not to be made
twice in a day ; it wa s done however inadvertently
There wa s no sermon The mass ended because I
w a s hindered with the p a r and my colleagues did
N O indulgenc e was asked fo r n or was
n o t notice
o n e granted by the Pop e
N O o n e noticed however
and therefore there wa s no blame nor scandal what
ever
O n Thursday 2 4 t h May 1 4 8 7 the Feast of the
Ascension o f O ur Lord J esu s Chri st the Mos t R ev
e re n d Lord Cardinal of St
Clement p erformed the
Office in the B asil ica O f the chief o f the Apostles in
white vestments t h e Pope being present The Duke
o f Ferrara bore the borders o f the Pope s cope to
the steps Of the palace where the Pope ascended his
chair and was ca rried i n st at e to the B asilica afore
said in the usual way
Before the entranc e O f the a foresaid B asilica were
kneeling n aked two citizens o f B ononia O ne o f
these several months before when Officer of Justice
o f the State o f B ononia
had caused two priests
on e secular the other a regular member o f the O rder
of S t
Francis who were condemned t o die by hi s
sentence to be taken and hanged fo r thei r crimes
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24
P O PE ALEXA ND E R V I AN D H I S
COU RT
Because they were not under hi s j urisdiction our
Mo st Holy Lord had dep rived hi m o f thi s and all
hi s Offices and had caused his O fli c ia l s t o be punishe d
with fi tting penalties O f these fou r have recently
done p en ance and on e was here with h is superio r
thi s morning Around these two m e n there stood
vested in priestly vestments all the penitentiaries
o f the aforesaid B asilica
hol ding rods o r s taves in
thei r hands and smiting them whilst reciting the
psalm M is ere re me i De us t o the end When it w a s
ended o n e o f thes e p enitentiarie s admonished them
in the usual words Then o ur Most Holy Lord laid
a s a penance that o f
u pon the aforesaid penitents
their o wn personal estate they should found in B 0
nonia o n e chapel and endo w i t fo r o n e b e n e fi c e and
sufficiently f o r on e priest who should celebrate o n
each Sunday and Feas t a mass in the chapel ; thi s
m ass the first citizen S hould hear and be p resent a t
from beginning to end kneeling and holding a lighted
candle in h is hand and should p ray and entreat God
fo r the soul s o f the two p riests whom a s told above
he had had hanged Thi s penance he accepted
O n Thu rsday the 2 8 t h o f June, 1 4 8 7 the V igil
o f the Ap os tles P eter and Paul
ther e were solemn
o n t ifi c a l vespers i n t h e B asilica O f the chief O f the
p
Apostles The cardinals and all the clergy c ame
fr om the ro bing roo m t o the said B asilic a in their
v e s tments and wrongly f o r they ought to have come
in their cap es and after the c ardinals had made the
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F I R S T YEA R S O F I N N O C E N T
VI I I
25
reverence in thei r capes they and the clergy ought
then t o ha ve tak en their vestments
B ut the cardinals desired to come in this w ay I
could no t prevent thi s but I would not allow th e m
to bear the baldacchi no over the Pontiff until they
carried the censer and the candles ticks into t h e
B asilica The ca rdinals only m ade the reverence
and no t the clergy in the usual way After the rev
erence the Pop e be gan the vespers The other ob
excep t that some
a n c e s we re co nducted a s usu al
s e rv
Of the ca rdinals wished to c o me in their vest ments
and t o es c ort o ur lo rd s o that f rom t he o n e un fi t
ting ci rcumstance several othe rs resulted They
cam e outside the B as ilica and t he re they l aid as ide
their vestmen t s a n d t o ok thei r c ape s and wrongly
Though I s a w it I could no t resist their pleasure
and p assed the matter over in sil ence
O n Friday the 2 9t h o f June 1 4 87 the Feast o f
the Apostles Peter and Paul o ur Mos t Holy L o rd
came to the church in p roces sion under the b a lda c
chino in the m o rning e s co rted by the cardina ls an d
clergy in thei r vestments a n d by the officials in white
T hi s a n d everythi ng else was c ar ri e d ou t this morn
i n g in the u sual w ay
Wa t e r was brough t to the
Ponti ff fo r wa shing his h a nds : firstly by o n e Of the
ambassadors O f the King O f E ngland ; s econdly by
a s en ato r ; thi rdly by the C ount o f Tendilla the
ambass a d o r of the King Of Spain ; fourt hly by the
E mpero r o f Con stantinople
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26
P O PE ALE ! AND E R V I AN D H I S
C O U RT
O n Monday the 4t h o f Feb ru ary 1 488 the re w as
a publi c c o nsisto ry in the first and large r hall of the
Apo stoli c P alace at which the four am bassado rs o f
the Most S erene King Ma x imi lian did homage and
reverence t o ou r Most H oly Lord in the name of
the ki n g and hi s s o n Philip for the dukedoms of
Austri a and Burgu ndy and other of his princip ali
ties and do minions
This done the two deacon cardinals came to assist
o u r Mos t H oly Lo rd while all the other ca rdinals and
clergy remained in thei r pl ace s There then entere d
the consisto ry and passed on t o the s econd hall abou t
a hundred Mo o rs e ach with large iron rings on their
necks and a ll bound together with a long chain and
ropes and dressed all in the s ame costume These
were follow e d by an ambassado r Of the King and
! u e en o f S pain who knel t befo re ou r Mos t Holy
Lord ki ssing h is foot only and present e d the lette rs
of the afo res aid king and queen wri tten in the Span
ish tongue The R everend Father A n t on io t t o Lord
B ishop O f Auray t h e data ry read these letters
aloud t o the eff ect that the King and ! ueen o f Spain
were sending to His Ho li ness a hundr e d Moors a
part o f the spoil s ta ken in their victory of the p re
ceding summer over the King o f G ran ada whi ch
Moors they p resented a s a gift to His H oliness and
off ered m oreover to send others should it s o pleas e
His H oliness
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P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S
28
C OU R T
who had hi s head cover e d after the fashion o f his
people with a large white turban un covered to no
body but merely bowed slightly
The firs t o f the household o f each c ardinal re
c e iv
e d hi m in some such words as these
The Most
Reverend My L o rd the Cardin al by command o f ou r
Most H oly L o rd the Pope h a s s ent this hi s house
hold t o m ee t Y ou r H ighnes s rej oicing at you r
”
safe a rrival excep t the Lo rd Pietro Sp anish cauda
tory t o the Mos t Reverend the Lord Cardi n a l of
S an Marco who welcom e d him in some such form of
words a s thi s
Most Se ren e P rince the Mos t
R everend My Lo rd the Cardi n a l O f S a n Ma rco w as
fill ed with j oy when he learn ed tha t your Highness
w as to come to the city : wherefore to show the pleas
u re whic h he feels he h a s sent h is household to hono r
your entry His R everend Lo rdship prays G o d the
all good all great a n d a l l powe rful that You r
M aj esty s coming here may be happy and prosper
o u s and may have such resul t as all good men desi re
and t o thi s end he congratulates Y our H ighness upon
your s afe a rrival and at the same time pl aces himself
”
a n d al l tha t he h a s at you r f ree dis p o s al
After t his recep tion the Turkish prince afore
mentioned rode between Frances co CibO s on o f our
Mos t H oly Lo rd the Pope who was o n his right
hand an d the Pri o r o f Alvernia nephew O f the n ew
cardinal on hi s left ; and although a senator an d
s everal lay ambas sadors n amely the ambass adors Of
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F I R S T YEA R S O F I N NO C E N T
V I II
29
King Ferdinand V enice and others also kinsmen
received the said Turkish prince yet
o f t h e Pontiff
because the Prior o f Alvernia who claimed to be the
ambass ado r o f the King of France and to have charge
Of the s aid prince would n o t give place t o the senato r
and ambassado rs they all withdrew except the sen a
tor who rode before u S I n this order we came to
the Apostolic Palace where the p ri nce wa s en te r
t a in e d in the Apostolic apartments in which the
emp ero r and kin gs and other great p rinces are re
c e iv
ed
The route was over the B ri dge o f B a rto
l omme o o r the I sland by the Ghett o acros s t h e
Campo dei Fiori str aight t o the afores aid pal ace A
great crowd o f people stood around and watched hi s
entry
Fi rs t rode the households Of the ca rdin al s then
the households of the knights and the knights who
had escorted the Turkish prince from France ; the
household Of the p rince about ten in number e xcl u d
ing his other retainers the chief O f whom had at h is
right h a nd the ambass ador O f the Sul tan of whom
we sh a ll speak below ; the esquires O f the Pope the
senato r with certain nobles the men a t —arms the
herald of the F rench king and o f the m asters of
ceremonies O n my left wa s the interpreter Of the
Turkish prince and the p rince himself who rode
between Francesco Cib 6 and the prio r a foresaid the
Tu rc h ope ll e rius o f R hodes
four o f the nobles
in the household o f the p rin ce t h e Pop e s cham
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30
P OPE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S
b e rl a in s ,
be rl a in
and all
COU R T
Rh odians after the cham
th e
.
The prince dismounted in the court of the p alace
where the cardin als p as s and from there he went up
t h rough the great h a ll an d was conducted to the
afo rementioned apartments where he was entertained
and gu ard e d by the troop s aforesaid
During the p as t months there came to the city an
amb a ss a dor f rom the Grand Turk sent to the Pope
o n account o f the Turkish p rince received to day
When he learned that the prince wo uld m ake his
ent ry into the city to day he went o n horseback to
meet him outs ide the Porta F ortese with his house
hold on foot of whom there were about ten For
the Turki sh prince was w ai ting o n horseback near
the city wall s and the river outside the said gate for
the hour appointed fo r his entry The prior and
Tu rc h op c ll e ria s afo res aid went to meet this ambas
sador who w as waiting outside th e s a id gate to pre
vent his approaching the p rince ; but when Fran
cesco Cib o l earned that the ambassado r wished to
app ro ach the pri nce he gave orde rs that he should
be allowed
Thereupon the prior a n d Tu rc hope ll e rius afore
s aid commanded the retainers O f the ambassador who
were holding their bows taut though not with arrows
to them t o lay as ide thei r bows and s o to approach
unarmed which they did Then t hey c ame up the
ambassado r on horseb ack and his men on f oot and
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F I R S T YEA R S
OF
I N NOCE NT
VI I I
31
when he wa s within sight o f the princ e and abou t
fo rty p aces away the am b ass ado r got down from
his ho rse and with a very noble carriage approached
to within fifte e n paces Then c oming forward about
five paces he bowed himsel f t o the ground touching
it with hi s head up on the righ t side ; then ri sing
(1 coming fo rward th ree o r fou r paces more
he
knelt upon his right knee touched the ground with
his right hand and then kiss e d his own hand Then
rising again and c o ming as m any paces fo rward to
the prince he kn elt before hi m and emb raced his
ho rse by the right o r left foot and the p rin c e by his
right foot and at the same time he kissed the prince s
foot Then rising he kissed his right knee thrice
and when the prince stretched o u t hi s right hand to
his neck he kissed his garm ents in the same way
All this the ambassado r appeared to do s o sincerely
t ha t he s e emed t o all to be weeping
But the prince
made him n o S ign but wai ted fo r hi m as a p rince
unmoved and neither spoke a word to the othe r but
when the ambass a dor had made hi s salutations in
a single word as he s tood there be fo re him the
p rince b a de him mount his horse ; his own horse
was fi rst brough t for him to mount and then he
retired a whole p ace from the p rince to mount and
returned on ho rseback before the prince Mean
while there came on e o f the pri nce s household who
embraced in turn each member Of the ambassador s
household while they knelt on e by o n e before the
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32
P O PE A LEXAND E R V I AN D H I S
C OU RT
p rin c e touched the ground with the right hand and
k iss ed thei r right hand ; then kneeling they embrac e d
the ho rse s foot and the prince s right foo t ; then
kissed first his foo t and afte rward hi s knee I n the
fewes t possible words the Turki sh p ri nce and the
amb a s sado r made peac e and thu s afte rward the
p rince m ade h is ent ry in t o the city in the o rder
described above
O n Saturday the 1 4 th o f March 1 4 8 9 notice
w a s given o f a public con sis t ory to be held in the
first great h all of the Apo stoli c P al ace a t on e o clock
E sco rted by Francesco C ib g and the Prio r o f
Alve rnia preceded by men a t arms and followed by
h is fou rtee n servitors and s oldiers the Turkish prin ce
came to the c onsisto ry into the p resence o f the
N o w though it was said that the prince
Pontiff
would do reverence to the Pontiff in the Turkish
fa sh ion by touching the ground with hi s hand and
then kissing hi s h and h e refused t o do S O I ndeed
he merely bowed his c o vered head very slightly to
the Pontiff s o slightly that the bow could s carcely
be seen or recognized a s such He went up t o the
Pontiff and s tan ding erect embraced him and kissed
him lightly upon the right arm all the time keeping
his head covered Then standi ng befo re the Pontiff
he s aid by means O f an interprete r that he was gl a d
to have come into t h e presence of the Pontiff and
asked him t o be mindful O f the fact and t o aff ord
him protection ; adding that when a tim e and place
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F I R S T YEA R S O F I N NO C E N T
V I II
33
were appointed he would tell him o f other m atters in
p rivate The Pontiff replied that he had already
taken the measu res f o r his s afety and welfare where
with his H ighness had bee n brought t o Rome and that
his Highness ought in n o wise to mistrust but to
dwell in peace seeing that all thi ngs were o rdered
for a wise end Fo r thes e words the prince thanked
His H oliness stating that he felt full confidence in
them
Then the prin ce withdrew from befo re the Ponti ff
and embraced all the ca rdinals as they st o od in their
places and kis s e d them o n o r near the right shoulder
Meanwhi le the othe r m embers o f his household came
into the pres ence o f the Pontiff and one afte r the
o t h e r in turn
knelt upon the throne and touching
the ground with the right hand kissed it ; they then
embraced the feet o f the Pope as well as his cop e
and vestments and on bended knee kissed these and
followed the prince their patron H e having em
b raced all the cardinal s excep t the two who remain e d
with the Pontiff to assist him without bearing him
self in a n y other fashion o r making any other sort
Of salut ation to the Pontiff returned to his apart
ments escorted a s befo re Then the Pontiff rose
and retu rn e d to his apartmen t in the u sual way
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36
P O PE A LEXAND E R V I AN D H I S
COU RT
idea that he might assume the insign ia o f his cap
t a in c y under favorable auspices to day sought and
Obt ai ned from o u r Mo s t H oly Lord permission for
the s ai d insigni a t o be given t o him
O n the Sun day night 1 5t h September 1 4 8 9 Sig
no r D omenico Gentil e Of V iterbo apo stoli c wr iter
Fran cesco M a l de n t e canon o f Forli and Con rado
also B attist a o f Spell nota ry o f the Apostolic
Camera Lorenzo S ign o re t t o w riter in the R e g is t e r
and Bartolommeo B udello procurato r o f
of B ul l s
the Peni tentiary w ere successively taken and de
t a in e d in the C astle of S an Angelo on a cha rge Of
forging apostolic lette rs The Lo rd D omenico
aforesai d confessed that he had forged about fifty
apostolic letters o r bulls containing various matters
in the followin g way
The Lord Francesco woul d
discover matte rs to be d e sp atched and a gree wi th the
parties upon the s um w h ich they were to p ay af t er
the despatch of letters When the agr eement had
been made and a bank nam ed by the p a rty fo r paying
the sum agreed upon to be p aid when the letters
were p res ented t o the bank then he would desp atch
o n e t h at was e x pect e d
o r som e matter that would
pass e a s ily through all the Offices by the royal way
When thi s was do n e the Lo rd D omenico a f o re me n
t ion e d was hed out a ll the writing o f the bull o r that
part whi ch he did no t w a nt, with a cert a i n fluid
restored t he paper with flou r a n d s tiff ened it again
Af terw a rd he wrote o n i t the matte r conce rn in g
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LA S T YEA R S
O F I N N O C EN T V I I I
37
.
which Franc esco had agreed with the party leaving
in the bull the names o f the re s c rib e n da ry compu
More Often he changed
t a t o rs and othe r O fli c ia l s
the stamp and put on another acco rding t o the
n ature Of the matte r H e als o u sed diff erent inks
That with which he wrote the firs t matter to be
despatched in the p rop e r way was made of gum o r
som e other materi al but w as certainl y indelible
But the other which he u s e d to write o ver the bull
that had been e rased was ordin a ry ink I n this way
they gave forged bull s t o the pa rties
Within about two yea rs t hey h ad despatched
divers m atters fo r exampl e dispensation s t o one o r
two b e n e fic e s for Fri ars o f the O rders o f Mendica n ts
union s o f many b e n e fi c e s to the incomes Of certain
abbots with p ermission to rule thes e in an order
changeable a t ple a su re a disp ens ation f o r a certain
priest o f the Di ocese of Rouen wh o h a d m arried a
wife to the eff ect that he might lawfully keep her
a n d m any o thers for which they h ad received some
times a hundre d t wo hundred two hundred and fifty
and two thousand ducats as is related in the process
instituted against them
The s a id Francesco al so m ad e confession and o n
Sunday the 1 8t h O f O ctober a t about nine in the
evening they both were l e d from the castl e a fo re men
t ion e d to the C astle of Soldano and befo re they
reached that place they believed they we re condemned
t o death For t he audito r O f the Camera the
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P O PE ALEXAN D E R V I AN D H I S
38
C OU R T
B ishop o f Cesen a and the Lo rd B a rtolomm eo D eol
pito fi rs t apostolic nota ry an d governo r o f the city
wh o in thei r Offici al c ap acity h a d prosecute d them
told the s aid Francesco that if he named his fell ow
accompli ces ou r Mos t H oly L o rd would be pleased
t o bestow the Office o f abbreviat o r upo n hi m and s e t
hi m at libe rty and he believ
ing that he would do thi s
accused the a b ove n am ed and several others O n b e
half of the Lord Domenico his father who had a t
tended our Most Holy Lo rd in the firs t illness Of hi s
t
i
n
fi
c
a
t
e
i
and
his
two
b
rothers
nterceded mos t
o
p
earnestly with the cardinals and o ther influential men
in the city for his life B ut no one c oul d p reva il
upon ou r Mo st H oly Lo rd 8 0 af t e r they h a d
been es tablish e d in the sai d castle they were told
that they were t o die on the morrow ; and therefore
were bidden t o take heed t o the s alva tion O f their
souls an d p riests were sen t to them to hea r their
confession and s trengthen them in the faith
O n Monday the 1 9t h of O ctober 1 48 9 there w a s
a consisto ry and the audito r o f the Camera afores aid
with the governo r came to the Castle of Soldano
where they p ass e d defini te s entence against the s a id
D omeni co and Francesco degrad e d th e m dep rived
them of Office and emoluments an d handed them over
t o the s ecula r cou rt Then m ass was celebrated in
the s aid castle at whi ch the said D omenico a n d F ran
ces co were presen t and a t the close they r e c eived
the holy communi on from the hands O f the celebrant ;
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L AS T
YEA R S
OF
I N N O C EN T
V I II
39
after thi s they were l ed t o the Piazza di S an Piet ro
where a pl a tform had been erected in a sp ace not f ar
from the lowes t step four rods long three wide and
o n e hi gh
o r thereabouts There the said Fran cesco
who was a pri es t was robed in full vestments in the
usual way Then the summary o f the case was read
by the notary Antonio of Paimpo l After the read
ing Of it Francesco was degraded and given over
to the secul ar court into the hands o f Ambrosin o
the apparito r
After he had been given ove r D omenico who had
only the first tonsu re was robed in a surplice and
degraded from that rank by the F a ther Pietro Paolo
L ord B ishop o f S anta Agata who vested himself in
stole and c o pe upon the platfo rm and put on in
front a plain a lb over the rochet After his d e gra
dation Domeni c o was given over to the cou rt a n d
the said app aritor Their heads were not shaved
otherwise than they had been befo re no r were they
stripped of the clothes in which they came from the
c astle because O f their O ffi ce and becaus e such w as
the pleasu re O f the Bishop o f Cesena the audito r
After this the afores aid having been degrad e d
were placed upo n a chariot which stood ready there
Domenico on t he righ t and Frances co o n the left
I n front of them were s eated a fri a r O f the O rder
o f Minors
their conf esso r in accordance with the
Observance in parts O f Fran ce a n d another Of the
society o f the Misericordi a who held a cru cifix and
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P O PE A LEXAND E R V I AN D H I S
40
COU RT
was robed in the garb of that society with his face
c over e d Behind the degraded ones were erected two
rods and to the top of them cords were fastened
on which were hung four of the bulls desp atched
and forged by them I n thi s way they were con
ducted by the B ridge o f San Angelo past the Castle
of Soldano and hard by the house o f the Cardinal Of
As canio pas t the H ospital of the G ermans close
to the house Of the Lord Falco by the Pario straight
to another street thence by the bridge to the Campo
dei Fiori whe re near the corner by the steps and
the Tabern a V acca s o called the pl ace o f execution
had b e en prepa red in the form Of a hut having a
wo oden pillar erected in the center and surrounded
by p iled u p faggots To the upper part O f the
column had been fi x ed two rop es B elow the ropes
two stools were placed upon the ground for the a c
c u se d and another on the o the r side o f the column
fo r the lictor and around the shed o utside man y
piles o f logs
When the afo remen tioned degraded persons
reached the said place o f execution they got down
from the cart and entered the hut where in the
guise and clothes in which they were brought there
they ascended the two s tool s prepa red for them
The lic t o r put ropes upon their neck o f which t hey
were scarcely cons cious fo r the confessor and the
other friar who bore the cruci fix were continu al ly
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LAS T YEA R S
I NN O C E N T
OF
V I II
41
st rengthening them in Chri st When the ropes had
been placed in position the lictor s assist ants drew
away the stools from beneath thei r feet and thus
they were ha n ged and gave up the ghost After they
were dead they were taken down from the pillar
stripped to their shirt s and placed in a sitting posi
tion upon the s aid stool s p ropped against the pillar
and bound t o the col umn with the chain beneath their
arms Then the fi re was kindled and thei r bodies
bu rned Th e lic to r heaped up the logs many times
until after the hour O f vespers that the bodies might
be entirel y consumed an d thus the fire lasted until
t h e follo wi ng m orning
O n the following day about the hou r o f vespers
ashes in which m any o f the bon e s were still found
were collect e d b y certain o f the s o c ie t y o f Miseri
co rdia with a broom placed in a s ack in a new chest
and with the cross and the usual procession wa s
borne by the said society to the chu rch appointed for
the pu rpose and bu ried
O n W e dnesday the 1 9t h o f May 1 4 90 the V igil
there
o f the As cension o f O u r Lord Jesus Christ
were p o n t ific a l vespers in the la rge r chapel of the
Apostolic Palace the Pope being present a n d per
forming the office When the cardinal s had made
the usual salutation to him there arose a con tentio n
betw e en the ambassado rs O f the Kings O f N aples and
of Scotl and and of V enice Milan and the Kingdom
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42
P O PE A LEXAND E R V I AN D H I S
f
C OU RT
Flo rence o n the other hand who said they ought
n o t to be divided o r separated fro m the ambass a dor
of the Duk e of Milan and the ambass a dors of O tho
Albert and George D ukes o f B avari a who stationed
themselves above the V enetian ambass adors whereat
the Venetian and Florentine ambassadors straight
way withdrew in wrath The ambassado rs of Ferdi
n and King Of N aples and of the King of Scotlan d
still persisted in the dispute and by spe cial command
o f the Pope I o rdered them both to leave the chapel
which they did immediately
The vespers ended H is Holin es s spoke with the
c ardinal s whom he called round him in a circle in
the said chapel upon the precedence o f the person
ages aforesaid Then h e in structed me to notify
the ambassado rs o f the Kings of Scotland and B a
va ri a not to come t o the chapel on the morrow and
t o inform them that on the next F riday H is H oli
ness would b ring this question o f p recedence before
the consisto ry
O n Friday the 2 8 t h o f May 1 4 90 o u r Mos t
H oly Lord learning that the ambassado r of the King
o f N aples was p rep aring to come to the vesp er s o n
the V igil of Pentecost and take his place by arm ed
force ins tru cted me to report this to the Lo rd C ar
din a l s Of Angers Lisbon San Angelo Siena and the
V ice —C han cellor that they migh t consider what should
be done in the matter and what course to pursue wi th
regard to the amba ss a dors in thi s question Of p re
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P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S
44
C O U RT
by the Lo rd Falco treasurer general O f o u r Most
H oly Lord the Pop e wh o u po n learning o f the death
o f the said Lore n zo visited the ca rdin al in the m orn
ing H e had all ornaments and all coverings re
moved from his walls and couches and orde red black
caps to be given to all the membe rs Of his household
The cardi nal hi mself put on a tu n i c o f dark violet
and had all seats o f brocade and velvet removed
from hi s apartments retaining o nly those cove red
with re d le a ther an d the usu al stools He had a
valis e made o f dark violet cloth without arms up o n
it and he kep t upon hi s tables as well as upon the
bu ff et and the couches only coverings o f ras cia
All his servants he had dressed in bl ack
F riday the 4 t h o f May 1 4 92 there their Most
Reverend Lo rdship s the V ice Chancello r and the
Cardin al s as sembled in the p ap al chamber o f the
Apostolic Pal a ce at S t Peter s
The Sultan o f Const a ntinople sent by his amb as
s a do r who had j ust reached Ancona o n his mission
the head o f the spear with whi ch it was said that
the side of o u r Lo rd Jesus Ch ri s t was pierc ed as H e
hung upo n the cross At the clos e O f the congrega
tion aforesaid the cardin als proceeded to consid e r
with what ce remonies an d Observances thi s spear
head should be received and they agreed that the
question should be referred to our Most H oly Lord
I n the congregation va rious points we re brought
For
up and touched upon in relation to thi s matter
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LA S T YEA R S O F I N N O C E N T
V I II
45
while so me wer e o f the Opinion that the gift should
be receiv e d with all s olemnity and reverence and in
the same manner as t h e head of St Andrew the
Ap o s tle in the time o f Pop e Pius II o f happy mem
o ry othe rs asserted on the cont rary that they had
seen the po int o f t h e s aid spea r in N uremberg where
it was exposed each yea r o n the d ay which is the
Feast O f the Spea r and others in o ther St ates a s
in Paris for example whe re i t was kept in the king s
chape l The latter therefo re though t that it should
be re ceived from the hands of t h e ambass a do r bring
ing it by o u r Mo st H oly Lo rd in his own apartment
in p resence o f all o r some o f the Most R everend
Lo rd Cardinals without any solemnity and that we
should be sent to N u remberg Pa ris and elsewhere t o
ascert ai n the truth and examine the documents a t
Paris an d als o at N uremberg if they happen to
have any apostolic letters there from whi ch the t ruth
of the matte r may be l ea rned From some chron
i cle s it appears th a t the spear point wa s given in
pledge by B aldwin 1 1 then E mpero r Of Constanti
n o le
t
o the V enetian s
and with their consent to
p
Lo uis I X King O f France ; in others that from
some very Old chronicles i t appea red that the spea r
he a d was kept a t Cons t an tinople and p reserved there
until thi s day public hono red and venerated by all
and that there a re several witnesses still living who
had seen it there before the siege of Const antinople
and sin ce
They a ve rred th a t the V enetians sent
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P O PE ALE XAND E R VI AN D H I S
46
COU R T
with all diligence to the hou se Of a cert ain citizen
in Co n stantinopl e wh o had received the spear head
during the siege of the town and Off ered him fift e en
thousand ducats fo r it Then again they sent to
the G rand Turk who had receiv e d i t from the said
citizen and off ered hi m seventy thou sand ducats for
it but S till were no t abl e t o get i t O thers again
s a id t ha t in the receiving Of thi s reli c
three points
should be considered namely the gift the recipient
and the giver wh o is t he a rch enemy o f our faith
a n d that it wo uld be mo re n atural to suppose tha t
thi s was don e in a spirit Of mo ckery and deri sion
than from any othe r mo tive
All the se and many other remarks upon the s ub
j e c t were duly considered an d the maj ority o f the
cardinal p riest s incl ined t o the Opinion that the
spea r head afores ai d should be received by o u r Mos t
Holy Lo rd from the Turkish ambass ador wi thout any
solemnity and that the truth should then be in
quired into at N uremberg o r at Pa ri s as to whether
i t were the t ru e spear he a d o r some other T hen if
thi s fac t should be satisfactor ily settled it could be
announced and the reli c conveyed in procession with
all veneration and solemnity t o some church at the
pleasu re O f o u r Most H oly Lord ; whil e o n the other
hand if perhaps thi s relic S hould be received in a
solemn m anner a n d i t were afterwards discove red
that the t rue spear head was elsewhere the Apostolic
S e e might be involved in contumely o r confusion
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LAS T YEA R S O F I N N O C E N T
VI I I
47
Ho wever o ur Most H oly Lo rd dete rmined and or
dained that the relic be solemn ly received And f or
this p urpose he deput e d L ord N icola Cib o Arch
bishop o f A rles the Bishop of Folign o and his
domestic clergy t o g o t o Ancona and there receive
the relic from the hands o f the Turkish ambas sador
and b ring it thence to Rom e wi th a procession drawn
from t he several states and territories lying along
the route That this mi ght be the more conveniently
don e they were given a casket o f crystal fro m the
P o pe s s ac ri sty and a h o rs e, together with a covere d
chest and other t rappings i n which the H ost is borne
when the Pope rides ou t in full p on t ific a l s with a
lantern to carry a light pe rpetually before it
On the 2 9 t h o f May 1 4 9 2 about the hou r Of
V espers , the Count o f Pitigliano , capt ain o f the
Church Francesco Cibo the Pope s s on and the
Roman n obles left the city by t h e Po rt a Virida rii
and has tened by way o f the meadows towards the
Ponte Milvi o to m eet the Turkish ambass ador but
he in the m eantime h a d cross e d the bridge afo resaid
and was riding towards the Porta del Popolo
When I s a w the cap tain s mistake I mad e the
a mbassado r wait hal fway between the bridge and the
gate afo res aid an d the capt ain and Francesco wi th
their nobles came up from behind and welcome d t h e
“
amb a ss ador the capt ai n s aying
Welcome O ur
L o rd and the cardinals send thei r households t o do
”
y o u h o nor Welcome
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P O PE ALEXA ND E R V I AN D H I S
48
C OU R T
The ho useholds o f the c ardi n a ls were scattered in
both directions s o that the amb a s s ador coul d not s e e
them at the time but he overtook them and they each
j o ined hi s t rain but said nothing t o him
The ambassado r h a d onl y five retaine rs and wi th
him w as the Lo rd Giorgi o B u c c i a rdo cousin o f the
Bishop Of Arles also his interp rete r with two serv
ants This Gio rgi o repeated the capt ai n s words to
the amb a s s a do r and then replied in his n ame The
ambassado r rode between the captain on his right
and the Pope s son on hi s left from the afo resaid
place to h is pla ce o f entertainment There al s o went
outside the g a te to m eet the am bassado r the lay
ambas sadors of the King of Poland o f the Seigno ry
o f V enice
and of the Dukes Of Milan O f Florence
and S ien a
Du ring these p as t days I w as summon ed to the
Lord Car dinal s O f B enevento a n d S anta Anast asia
t o arr a nge fo r the reception o f the s aid rel ic and
I found there with them Giovanni Pietro Lord
B ishop o f U rbin o Many thi ngs relative to the ce re
mony were spoken of among others that o n a ccount
o f the ill health o f ou r Most Holy Lo rd the spe a r
head should be conveyed by way O f the m eadows to
the p al ace of the Spinell i out s ide O f the Port a V iri
darii and shoul d be h o m e thence in p roc e s sion by
way Of t h e aforesaid gate t o the ca stle This would
be the mos t conveni en t route fo r the p r o cession in
the extreme he a t of thi s s eason or in the c as e o f mud
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LAS T YEA R S
OF
VI II
I NN O C E N T
49
i f the r a in f a ll s on that day as i t h a s fo r m any days
p as t
O n S unday the third o f J une 1 4 92 in the firs t
chamber beyond the hall of the Pontiff s above the
garden a low chai r o f gold brocad e was placed re a dy
agains t t h e wall with on e s tep leading up t o it and
above it a go lde n canop y wa s sp read and a round the
chair o n either side m a ny velvet covered stool s were
set in prepa ra tion fo r the ma rriage o f the Pope s
nephew which wa s to b e celebr ated there As the
hour drew nea r a t abou t t wo in the aftern oon the
C ardinals O f Benevento and S anta Anastasia accord
ing t o the inst ru ction s o f ou r Mos t Holy Lo rd wen t
to the Prince o f C apu a and es cort e d him between
them from his apartments into the p res ence Of the
Po n tiff who was accompanied by his p rinces and
b arons When he had com e to the Ponti ff the ladies
we re await e d and afte r thei r coming the Pontiff
came o ut t o the ch a mber afores aid and took his
seat upon the said chai r
O n hi s righ t were the Lo rd Cardinals Of S a n Piet ro
in Vincoli and Santa An a s tasia o n his left Benevento
and next t o him the P rince o f C apu a N ext to
Santa Anastasia with a moderate space between upon
similar stools sat Teodorina t h e Pope s daugh t er
a nd Peretta her daughter Ba t tistin a the bride also
her daughter Maddalena the daughte r of the l ate
L orenzo de Medici wife Of the Pop e s son and many
ladies after her N ext t o the P rince of C apu a that
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P O P E ALEXAN DER VI
50
AND
HI S
C O UR T
to s ay on the left O f the Pop e stood Al oy s io o f
Aragon Marquis of Gerace the bridegroom the
D uke o f Amal fi Francesco C ibo the Pope s son and
many other nobles to the number o f about forty
After sil ence had been secur e d the R everend Lo rd
Giovanni Archbishop o f R agus a the D atary kneel
in g befo re ou r Most Holy L o rd at a p rope r distance
o f two cannes o r there abou t s made a brief oration in
whi ch he expounded the institution of the sa crament
Of matrimony and it s di gnity
Thereupon he rose and stoo d in the s am e place
and turning t o the I llus t rious Lord Alfons o o f
A rago n the half bro ther of t h e P rince O f Capua
spoke thes e o r simila r wo rds : Mos t I llustrious Lo rd
Luigi Of Aragon will you t ake the most I llustrious
La dy B attistina Cibo here p resent to be your l awful
spo use and wi fe ?
And he s t raightway repli e d I
”
will
Then tu rni n g t o B attistina the archbishop
s a id : Most I llustrious L ady will you take the Most
Il lustrious Lo rd Luigi o f A ragon here p resent to be
you r lawful spouse and husband ?
To these words
s h e made n o reply but after the a rchbishop had r e
”
I
will
The
b
ride
e a t e d the words
S h e replied
p
and bridegroom then app ro ached the Pontiff and
kneeling before him the bridegroom placed the wed
din g ring upon the th ird fin ger o f the bride s left
hand an d then m any rings u p on the other finge rs Of
tha t hand and upon the other the right hand of the
b ride which G iovanni Fa n t an o the chief sec reta ry
is
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52
P O PE A LEXAND E R V I AN D H I S
C OU RT
with the Ca rdinal o f S an Piet ro in V incoli c a me
with many o ther barons and R oman citizens to the
p alace o f the conse rvato rs and stated and m ad e
known t o the s aid Offi cials and citizens that they the
barons were o f o n e mind with the R oman people
whom they dearly loved a n d forthwith they O ff ered
themselves and thei r castles and their goods to the
Roman people for their welfare and goodwill and
asked them if the death o f the Pontiff should chance
t o come that they would j oin with them for their
aid ; on their p a rt the conserv ato rs and citiz ens O f
f e re d them wh atever could be Off ered
O n the 2 5t h o f July 1 4 92 St James day about
S ix o r seven O clock in the morning Pope I nn o cen t
V I I I di ed
May h is soul rest in peace !
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THE A C C E S S IO N
I
OF
A L E!
A N DE R VI
the year o f the Lord 1 4 92 o n S aturday the
1 1 t h o f August at noon R oderigo B orgia vice
c hancellor and the nephew O f Calixtus II I
was c re
ated Pope and n amed Alexander V I
O n the 2 7 t h of August Ale x ander was crowned in
S t Peter s Then he went in the customary m anner
to the Church of S t John Lateran while the greatest
honor was done to him throughout the city by the
Rom an people with triumphal arches and with more
than there was ever done to other Popes
And in the first consistory he held he created the
Archbishop o f Mount Royal his nephew from a S is
t er a cardinal
After his coronation it was brought to his knowl
edge that fro m the day O f the las t illness o f I nn ocent
until his co ronation mo re tha n two hundred and
t wenty men had been ass assinated in various places
and a t variou s times I t w a s also brought to his
knowledge who the murderers were a n d the reasons
a n d success they had had
O f all this that had gone
on in Rome he received full knowledge
O n the 3 d O f September o f the year 1 4 92 Salva
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53
P O PE A LE ! AND E R V I AN D H I S
54
to r the son of
T u t io
C O U RT
del Rosso insulted D omenico
B e n e a c c e du t o hi s enemy o n the Campo dei Fiori
with whom he w as under a pledge of five hund red
ducats t o keep the p eace He st abbed him twice
with a dagger inflicting a mo rt al wound of which
he died forthwith O n the 4 t h the pope di spatched
his vic e Ch amberlain with the magist rates who pro
c e e d e d thither at tended by a throng to destroy hi s
house which w a s done O n the same day the
brother of t he afo res a id S alv ato r o n e Hieronymus
was hanged on the instigation O f Domeni co Thu s
a ssuredly by the will Of God on a single day j ustice
wa s accomplished The fin e w as collected fr o m the
guarantors by the Pope
I n the s ame m onth Al exande r appointed pris on
inspecto rs in addition to four commi ss aries to hear
complain t s in R o me Fu rtherm ore he appoint e d hi s
O fficials fo r t he ad mini stration of V ignol a fixed an
audien c e f o r Wednesday fo r all citizens men as well
received the c ompl ai nts himself and began
a s women
t o adm ini ster j ustice in an admirable way
O n Monday the l 0 t h Of D ec ember 1 4 92 I rode
at daybreak t o Marino to inst ruct the noble Lord
Federigo of Aragon Prince of Altamu ra second s o n
Of King Fe rdin and of Sicily and Jerusalem wi th re
gard t o the ceremoni e s a t hi s reception befo re his
arrival in Rome The royal amba ssado r in Rome
Giacomo Pontano who declared that he had received
a special l e t ter abo u t thi s matter f rom his master
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THE
A C C E SS I O N O F ALE ! A N D E R VI
55
had asked fo r me the evening before at abo ut eleven
o clock I found there the p rince whom I inst ructed
in det a il with reference t o the order and arr angement
o f the entry and reception as well as o f his o wn de
meano r
O n Tuesday the 1 1 t h o f D ecember 1 4 92 about
two o clock in t h e afternoon the cardinals Carafa
and Piccolomini went out beyond the second mile
stone before R om e in order to meet the prince as
thei r special friend They greeted him with the
usual h o nors a n d he rod e then between them until
they came t o the road that leads through the Port a
Latina where the cardinals t oo k leave o f him The
prince continued on hi s way with his suite until he
reached the Chu rch o f St John Lateran a n d its main
p ortal firstly in order to avoid the mud and then
because two cardinals who were to meet him at the
gate o f St J ohn La t eran had n o t yet a rrived
I n the meantime the suites o f all the cardin als and
p rin cely amb as sado rs in R ome came to m eet him ;
further on e after the other G iulio O rsini the
brother o f Cardin al O rsini Gerardo U s o dim a re DO
menico D oria and other noblemen who dismounted
from their horses and were for m aking Obeisance to
the prince H e did not allow it h owever until they
had remounted thei r horses The p ri nce waite d
about an hour before the p ortal of the a f o re me n
t io n e d basilic a fo r the arrival of the t wo cardinal s
e d finally
who had bee n des pa t che d an d Who ar riv
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56
P O PE
ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
after six o clock namely Juan Borgi a and As cani o
Sforza They received him in the usual way and
esco rted him in their midst
After the a rrival at the place of S an Giovanni in
L aterano where one sees the bronze s tatue of a
horseman there c a me the p relates o f the palace with
the suite o f the Pope which also greeted the prince
i n the usual w ay alth o ugh the maj o r —domo o f the
Ap ostoli c p alace B artolommeo M arti h a d made hi s
speech as a prelate Together with the p rin ce seven
other ambassadors had b een sent to swear the o ath
o f loyalty to the Pop e
I assigned every o n e his
place in due orde r of precedence and i n this o rder
w e r od e s traight on pa s sing to the right o f the col
iseum t o S anta M a ri a N uov a along by the H ospital
of
the Cons olation and the house of the S avelli
through the Peschiera the squ a re of the Jews the
dei Fio re meadows to the Apostolic p alace nea r St
P eter s I assume that the reason that the c ardinal s
were s o l ate was that the Pope endeavored in this
way to prevent the prince from continuing on the
same day t o the p a l ace and t o divert him to the inn
Ad Apostolos where he was supp osed to t ake his
quarters Behind the barons nobles and t h e whole
retinue o f the prince rode the shield bearers o f the
Pope and ou r barons with the captain o f the palace
T here were two pages before the a rmed men o f the
prince and s ix before those of the Pope : The firs t
with cross bow and quiver o f gilded silver in French
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THE
ACC ESS IO N
OF
A LEXAND E R V I
57
dress a n d on a French horse the second in Turkish
dress on a Berber ho rse the third clad in Sp anish
fashion with a long lance on a sm a ll Spanish hack
the fourth with the rain coat o f hi s m aster the fifth
with a valise of a crimson color the si x th wi th a
sword sheathed in its scabbard with a h andle studded
with pearls and p recious stones estimated at s ix
thousand ducats in value There were several rid
ers mounted o n very magnificent ho rses dressed in
gold brocade and weari ng j ewels o f great value on
their breasts and in thei r hats and ba rrets The
prince wore a ga rm e nt o f violet velvet a chain o f
pearls and j ewels wo rth six thousand ducats and
a belt with a sw o rd o f the s am e value His bridle
was studded all over with pea rls and preciou s stones
worth three thousand ducats and the whole ha rness
was gilded before and behind
The suite w as preceded by two hundred sumpters
all covered with red cloth and the whole suite in
cluded seven o r eight hundred people a s I was told
When we passed through a somewhat n a rrow alley
Cardin al Juan Borgi a rode fi rst followed by the
prince and after him came Ascanio S forza which
wa s improper Th e other two C a rdinals Caraf a
a n d Piccolomini behaved di ff erently
fo r in the s am e
alley they stay e d behi nd him which was more
p roper
H aving arrived at the palace they went up to the
Po pe who await e d the p ri n c e in the last o f the nine
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P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
58
c h ambe rs be sides the s ec ret chamber Five cardi
namely Carafa D omenic o delle
n a l s were with him
Rovere A n t o n io t t o G entile Pallavicini the Cham
After t he pri nce
b e rl a in O rsini and Piccolomini
there entered the afo re mention e d ambass adors a n d
all ba ro n s and nobles o f the s uite of the prince
After Federig o had bee n perm itted by the Pope to
kiss his foot his hand and h is mouth they too kissed
the foo t of the Po p e while the prince was kneeling
o n a cushion at the left o f the Pop e
F o r the Cardi
n al A scanio Sforz a had decided that the p rin ce
sh oul d be allowed to sit down only after all o f the
cardinals had taken their seats while I more cau
t io u s l y preferred t ha t he should wait kn e eling there
instead o f taking a seat that was n ot p roper for
him For he should have h a d a seat after the last
deacon cardinal if no t further to the f ront an d b e
fore most o f the deacons Sforza however w anted
t o place him even behind the c ardinals in o rder to
favo r his own duke o f Milan
After this reception the prince accompanied by
Car a fa and Piccolomini rode to the inn Ad Apos
tolos and t o the p alace o f Cardinal Giuli ano delle
R ove re where he was to tak e up hi s qu arters After
him c ame the prelates o f the pal ace the amb assa
dors and the o ther prelates in the same o rder as
they had come from the Lateran church to the Apos
tolic palace B ef ore the po rtal o f the pal ace t h e
p rince wa s a bout t o t ake l e av
e of t he car din als with
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60
P O PE A LEXAN D E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
fr o m there t o the Pope Th e same p ro cedure there
fore mi ght be followed thi s tim e although not quite
fi t t in g l y because such escort wa s not customary for
those who had been sent t o swear all egiance but o n
other occasions only fo r sons of k ings and great
p rinc es As for the second po int the seat before the
second l as t deacon c a rdinal n a mely Frances co Sev
erino was to be assigned t o him
The Pope added to this that Federigo had indeed
a s the Govern or o f R o me had recalled to him
ha d
his seat when he wa s in the city in the times of Paul
II ; befo re the d e ceas ed ca rdinal o f Mantua who
then was the last deacon c ardinal Concern ing my
answer the Pope asked fo r t he opinions o f the cardi
n a l s s tanding aro u nd him while we were kneeling
down befo re the Pope in their midst The cardinals
Mich a eli Pall avici n i O rsi ni and S fo rz a declared ex
pres sly that a s far as they could remember Fran
cesco the b rother o f Federigo h a d had his seat
a fter all the deacon c ardinals
I considered this an
erro r but did not s a y anyt h ing They obj ected
however saying that Fr a ncisco had been the fou rth
s on while Federigo w a s the second
and that there
was therefore a great di ff erence between the two
Ascanio Sforza asked whether Federigo or the Duke
o f Milan was higher in rank
I answered that a o
cordin g to our ce remonies Federigo wa s much higher
in rank than the Duke for a s the s on of a king he
had precedence no t onl y over the D uke o f Milan but
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THE ACC ESS IO N O F ALEXAN DE R V I
61
al so over the electors Cardin al Zen o before giving
his vote rem arked that t his ought not t o be done in
our presence B ut when the Pop e answered that we
ought to hear it because it con ce rned o u r duties he
voted that he would a ccep t the decision of Agostino
Patrizzi and he sent f o r him but he could no t come
as the Cardinal Piccolo mini h a d sent him to aecom
p any Federigo N evertheless Zeno did not wan t to
forestall him with hi s vote and declared that he
would no t vote
Fin ally the Pope decided o n the basis of a mere
maj ority o f votes that the t wo younger deacon
c ardinal s should accomp any Federigo to the p res
ence o f the Pope and that the seat be fore the last
deacon cardinal should be assigned t o hi m because
he had had the same seat once befo re and also b e
c ause on this day he ought not to sit with the cardi
n a l s o n account o f swea ring allegian ce but ought to
s tand together with those who had been sent with
him behind the c ardinal presbyters at the usual
place
N ow when F e de rig o came to the palace in order
not to lose any time there w e nt out t o meet him a s
far a s the st ai rcase of the floor o f the Apostolic
chamber those assigned f o r hi s es cort the vic e chan
c e ll o r Ascanio Sforz a
S an Severino and the two last
deacon cardinals a s well a s several assistants o f the
Pope
The p rince wa s first pe rmitted t o kis s the foot
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62
P O PE A LEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
hand and mouth o f the Pope and after him the eight
others who had been delegated with him Then the
prince submitted the credentials from his father the
King o f N aples wi th the remark that his illustrious
father was laying hi mself humbly at the fee t o f his
H oliness Then they took up their places again
while the two cardi n als accompanied the p rince to
the end but not be yond the benches of the cardinal s
P aulus de Planca made his spee ch and the Pope a n
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s we re d.
Then Cardinal P o do c a t oro re ad the royal letter
which s aid that he the ki ng sen t h is dearest son
the illustrious Duke o f Andria Prince o f Altamura
and Admiral o f the Kingdom together with a ll his
other c o am bassadors t o swear allegianc e Zeno
the bishop of S an Marco del ivered the or ation
The consisto ry end ed the p rin ce c arried t h e e dge o f
the posterior end o f the papal pluviale The cardi
n a l s Piccolomini and O rsini assisted the Pope during
the entire time Also they stood up during the
whole reception taking seats only after ward on their
bench
L aying o ff h is robes the Pope ordered the cardi
n a l s Cibo and Colonn a to e s cort the p rince bet w een
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them in the usual way to the inn Ad Apostolos
which was done Where the way narrowed down
they let the prince precede and quite co rrectly fo r
this was the proper w ay even if Ascanio S forza b e
haved di ff eren tly with San Severino and the other
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THE A C CE S S IO N O F AL E! AN DE R V I
63
Juan Borgia gr atifyi ng his special mo od
Lord Federigo came to day to the palace in great
magnifi cen ce with h is whole r e tinue three p ages in
German d ress crimson colored and adorn ed with
gorgeous pearls and j ewel s ridin g t e f o re on horses
that had been bridled in the German way
D uring the pr e vious days the several cardinal s
had m ade their calls upon Federigo which he a n
s we re d to day and o n the following days
I t would
h ave been more p roper o f course i f the calls had
been made and returned afte r allegian ce had been
sworn but since Carafa and Piccolomini a s p er
sonal friends of the prince as I believe had called
o n him immediately after his a rrival and together
with them Rovere Cibo and Colonna they all s u c
c u mbe d to the sam e mi stake
O n Monday the 2 4 t h of D ecembe r the day b e
fore Christm as the Pope who had been ad orn ed wi th
the usual robes in the thi rd o f the n e w chambers
wen t th rough the two halls the n ew one and the
large ol d one and down the stai rs into the cour t
where the cardinals usually dismount from thei r
horses Fr o m there he pro ceeded by way o f the
B asilic a to St Peter the cardinals going before in
their usua l dres s and the Suite o f prelates also in
their customary coats I n the Basilica the ca rdinals
and prelates after having m a de their Obeisance put
on thei r robe s in unseemly dis order and without wait
ing until a ll had c o mplet ed the Obeis an ce f o r only
da y w ith
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64
P O PE
ALEXAND E R
VI
AN D
H I S CO U RT
then were they sup po s e d to rob e thems elves a s we re
th o se of the elder deacon s who were to assis t them
At the request o f the Pope our s acristan had hung
old Greek p aintings around be low the tribun e on
three sides above the m ain al tar of the B a silica a s
was the custom in the times of Paul II Two large
crystal lamps we re also hung at the entrance
After the vespers were ended the Pop e was borne
back in the customa ry w ay t o the palace passing
through the old h all s t o t h e C amera P a p a g a l li
where he laid o ff the blessed ga rments and assigned
the new chambers to the prince to retire there for
the night The chambers were adorned m a g n ifi
cen tl
y the third fourth and fifth being hung with
Alexandrine velvet in cerulean blu e with curtain s o f
gold bro cade while in the s e c ond chamber stood the
bed of crimson colored velvet
The 2 7 t h of D ecember 1 4 92
About ten days
ago the news came from B arcelona that King Ferdi
n and o f Spain had been severely wounded in hi s n eck
by a peasan t on the steps o f his p alace on the 7 t h of
D ecember s o tha t s ix stitches had t o be applied
The criminal had received two wounds from the men
A f e w days later
o f the King and had been seized
the additional news arrived that the King wa s o u t
o f dange r and that the peasan t had acted under a
vision from the devil The devil had appeared to
him twenty years ago in the form o f an angel and
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THE A CC E SS IO N
OF
ALEXA N D E R V I
65
had commanded him to ki ll the King in order to b e
come king h i mself but he h a d forbidden him to tell
anybody o f this After that he had appeared t o
him again and a g ain urging him on The pe asant
had been forced to a confessio n by the promis e o f
reward Then th e s cales fell from his eyes as i t
were and he had repented imm ediately from the
depth o f hi s heart and considered himself worthy o f
the most cru el death Whereupon he was con
de mn e d to be executed a fte r the following man n e r
n a m ely that al l his limbs o r extremities of every limb
should be cut o ff one after the other and at inter
vals o f time but on one and the same day I n order
however that he should not be driven t o despai r he
was given at the beginning a he a vy blo w on the head
by order o f the queen s o that h e might die more
quickly and would suff er les s while his limbs were b e
ing cut o ff by his c on s c io u s n e s s b e in g dimmed
All thi s was m ade known t o the Pope o n the 2 7 t h
o f December through a royal letter that w a s brought
to him by the bishops of B a j a do z and Astorga as
ambass adors The Pope decided t o have a mas s
said in honor of the glorious V irgin Mary fo r the
recovery of the King o n Saturday the 2 9 t h of De
c e mb e r in the chapel of Maria dell e Febbri besides
the B asilic a of St Peter Afte rwards the face o f
O ur Lord and the spea r should be shown to the
pe o ple and t h e day should be celebr a ted as a feast
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66
P O PE
ALE !
A ND E R VI
AN D
H I S CO U RT
day by a ll c raftsm e n and othe rs And he orde red
that all thi s ought to b e p roclaim e d in public an d he
m ade known through pl acards in the vari o us
ters o f the city
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P O PE A LEXA ND E R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
68
prope r that the Pope should ride during Le nt in a
white cowl and an ado rned su rplice but rather in a
re d cowl and a violet surpli c e
He answered that
he h a d decided that the cardin al s should ride before
him and not af t e r him also that he intended t o wear
a whi te and n o t a red cowl and not a vi olet su rplice
but a gorgeous on e adorn e d with pearls Accord
ing t o hi s decisio n b e w a s adorned in hi s p rivate
chambe r an d went then to the Camer a P a p a g a l li
where he held a co n sisto ry o f o n e hour s duration
Then he m oun ted a white ho rs e cove red with cloth
and ad orned with c rimson velvet Preceded by the
cross and the cardi n al s and followed as u sual by the
p rivy ch a mberlains the assistants and p relates he
went through the Campo dei Fio ri an d the Squ a re
of the Jews and p assed the hous e o f C ardinal S av
elli the church o f S an ta Mar ia de C onsolazion e and
St Adri an an d wen t then to S anta M a ri a Mag
i
g o re where he w a s receiv e d at the portal by the
clergy in p roces sion
The arch p riest o f the B asilica Cardin al Savelli
gave h im the cr o ss to kiss and the clergy s ang
E c ce s a c e rdo s m a gma s etc
The Pop e pronounced
a prayer o n the foldi ng chair befo re the al tar a n d
then stepped up to the alta r and ki ssed it deposit
in g thereon ten gold ducats a s I had reminded him
t o do Then turning to the c rowd h e blessed t he
people as he had decided to do D u ring t he ce re
mony the cross was held l o wer than is the cus t o m in
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CORO NATIO N O F KI NG O F NAPLE S
69
S t Peter s Then he went up to the p alace s aying
a prayer before the image of the Virgi n Mary a n d
the picture of S t Luke H e inspected the work
tha t had been done returning afterward t o the B as
ilica Then he went home on horseback p assing St
B asilius a n d S an Marco through the V ia P oll ic ia ri a
near the Cas a M a s sim i and the p al ace o f Cardinal
Carafa and thence through the P a rio n e Square to
the p alace
An extra o rdinarily l arge number o f armed men
took part in this mounted procession which was no t
exactly app roved by everybody For o u r p ro ce s
sion that is to say the baggage o f the ca rdinals
wa s p receded by several cro ssbow beare rs and bands
o f soldiers an d in the same way several men with
lances and in full a rmo r follo w ed the p relates rid
ing behind the Pop e The governo r of the city with
the magist rates and a f e w of the district wardens
1
and the B argell o and m any men o n ho rseback and
on foot p resented themselves to the Pope at va rio us
corn ers and places H e o rde red therefore that the
captain s of the Chu rch and o f the port al of the p al
a ce should proceed between him and the cardinals
and that the Lo rds o f Serm oneta and Corrigia and
many othe r leaders of the soldie rs should follow him
afte r the physicians and before the assisting p re
l ate s as was done while they p assed over the whole
square of St Peter as fa r as abou t the hous e o f
1 Th e ch i e f o f p ol ice
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P O PE A LEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
70
Ca rdinal S o de rin i When I noticed the in vert ed o r
der I told the Pop e that thi s would be quite um
seemly and tried to persuade him to permit me t o as
sign them their places H e answered m e I shoul d
a rrange them befo re the captains and after all the
cardinals But when he heard that thi s would be
mos t obj ectionable to the ca rdinals he ordered me
to place them be fore the c ross after the armed men
o n f o o t wh o m arched along in quite extraord inary
large numbers with long l ances bare swords c ros s
bows and other a rms Thi s I did
O n the l 0 t h o f June 1 49 3 Alexander t h e s on
o f the Lord of Pes aro
ar rived in R ome with a large
suite of bishops and o n the very day o f his a rrival
was b e t h ro t he d to the ille g itimate daughter o f Pope
Alexander While still a ca rdinal t h e Pope had
m a rri ed her t o a Sp a niard As Pope however he
wished to imp rove the position o f hi s daughter and
the re fo re dissolved the ma rriage bestowing thr ee
thous a nd ducats upon the Spaniard as compen sa
tion N ow he mar ried her t o the afo re mentioned
1
Lo rd while her fi rs t husband w a s still liv ing but t h e
latter kept his mouth shut on accoun t o f the money
and yielded
O n Wednesday the 7 t h o f May 1 4 94 a m ar riage
was contra c ted b et w een G o f redo B orgia s on o f Alex
ander V I and Sancia o f Aragon the illegitimat e
daughter o f King Alphon so II o f S icily
l His re a l n am e w as G i ovann i S forz a
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P O PE ALE XAND E R
72
VI
AN D H I S CO U R T
before the alta r in the middle he was approach e d by
order of the Kin g by his secre t ary Giovann i Pon
tan o a n d another who stat ed th at the kings o f
Aragon did not u s ually kneel down while they were
receiving the royal insigni a als o that it was not
the custom t h at they swore o r re ad personally the
o ath d uring thei r c oron ation and installation but
that so me o n e else di d thi s i n their name O nly after
the oath had been read woul d they swea r it them
s elves o n thei r knees Although they had heard
from me th at the King h a d to kneel down du ri n g the
s we a ring in and had t o re a d p ersonally Pon t ano w as
f o r reading the oath in the presence o f the King as
he was se a ted whereu po n the King would rise kneel
down o n a cus hion and with his ha n d o n the E van
giles would swear to keep wh a t had been read
The legate c alled me nearer and I s a id that the
procedure ought not to be in any cas e a s sugges te d
but th at it wa s custom ary that the o n e wh o kneeled
do wn should sw e ar hi s oath into the hands of the
legate as the deputy o f the Holy R oma n Church the
Apostolic See a n d His H oliness the Pope and that
the King h a d to swear it hi m self The legate a g reed
with me I n o rder n ot to a ppear c ompletely un su c
c e s s f ul in thei r end e avo rs
Ponta no and the other
secretary ask e d the legate to grant that the King
should at least kneel do wn on a cushion and that the
secret ary should read be fo re the King from the b o ok
and tha t the King shoul d repeat it This wa s pe r
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CORO NATIO N
OF
KI NG O F NAPLES
73
mit t e d
by the legate because we explained that it
would n o t be in contr a ction with the usual ceremonies
a n d that i t onl y r e quired m o re time
About eleven o clock while i t was still raining
the King appe a red in the chu rch with his courtiers
and barons H e wor e o ver a close fi t t in g garm en t
o f black s atin a larger one o f crimson colored bro
cade lined with fl o un c e s of e rmin e and with this a
barre t with a pendan t of thr e e pearls and one pre
He
c io us stone worth a b o ut ten thous an d ducats
kep t the barret on his head until he rece ived the
crown
H e p rocee ded as f a r a s the middle o f the
choi r o f t h e canons There the A rchbishop o f
N aples and the Patriarch o f Antiochia c ame fo rwa rd
to m e et him They salut e d and e s corted him the
p relates rising t o s alute h im while the King himself
m ade a b o w and then he to ok his seat
After the bull had been read by Stephanus de
N arn i a the King knelt down on a cus hion before
the legate A t his left knel t his secretary Giovanni
Pont a no who held in writing in h is hands the oath
t o be swo rn by the King and re a d i t King Alphonso
repeated it wo rd for word After he h ad spoken the
words E t h a e c s a/n c t a Dei e van g e lia the legate took
t he opened m issal a nd held it s o o n his knees tha t he
had the image o f the C ru c ifie d at his right befo re
him
At t h e left side I h a d had laid a ch a rt with
the begi nning words of the fou r E va n g ile s The
King then l a id his right han d o n the E va n g ile s and
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P O PE ALE XANDE R VI AN D H I S CO U R T
74s
lef t o n the C ru c ifie d and swo re the o ath Ther e
upon the leg a te i n ve sted the King by handing him
ove r the banner a n d introduced him in t o its posses
s ion with the w ord s : By virtue o f Apostolic autho r
”
ity
The re h ad been a long di s cussi on about these
words the day before
After h avin g be en invested t h e King handed the
banner over t o the cha n cello r o f t he kingdom wh o
s t o od prepa red to receive it betwee n his two assist
in g p r e l ates
The notary Stephanus de N a rni a
called upon those s tanding around to be witnesses
o f the investitu re but the tr e asu rer of the King said
n o t hing Whe n the legate in readi ng t h e litany
c ame to the roy al blessing
he p ronounced twice by
inattention in the tune o f the litany : u t hun c e le c t u m
in reg e m c oron a dwm b en e di c e re dig n e t u r
H e re
p e a t ed therefore and added a t the third time : at
All p raye rs and s o fo rth we re read by
c on s e c ra re
the legate with the p roper voice
Whil e the legat e af ter the blessing o f the King
was con fessing with his assistants the deacon and
subdeac o n the King knelt befor e his fo l ding chai r
turning with the footstool toward the co rn e r o f the
H e confessed with his t w o
E van g il e s o f the altar
chi ef chaplains a n d remained o n his knees until the
l eg a te had censed the alta r and read near his folding
c hai r the introitus and the epistle and h a d sat down
a r rangement I had made in o rder to be able
to be of greater assist ance to the King
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76
P OPE
ALE XAND E R
V I AN D H I S CO U R T
due to m e a s a gift B ut out of modesty I did not
ask f o r the small one a n d did not want t o resis t the
req ues t of the l egate H e al s o told me t o h a ve
p resented t o him as a due gif t the ba rret of the
King wi th the pendant I answere d that it would
c erta inly be modes t if I requested i t fo r mysel f but
that if he in sist ed I would do as he wi shed I did
not d o s o however
The King was then c rown e d in th e p roper orde r
and the ro va l insignia we re handed over t o him a s
afo remention ed But neither during this ce remony
nor befo re during the anointment coul d all the pre
lates fo rm the presc ribed circle behind the King on
account of the great throng o f people comp o sing the
ro v
a l and princel y suites
t h e b arons courtie rs and
ambassado rs who crowded the prelates by pushing
fo rward
After the coron ation the King stepped up to the
seat o f the th ron e and s at down while the populace
cheer e d repeat e dly sho uting : Viva re Alp h o ns o !
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K IN G C HARL E S VII I
l 0t h
of
IN
R OM E
D ecember , 1 4 94 , t he
ambass a
do rs of the King of F rance who had repeatedly
dem anded an open let t e r fro m the Pope duri ng these
days in regard t o t he pas sage t h rough hi s territory
and concerning supplies again made re p resentations
The Pope replied
t o his H oliness on this matte r
to them af t er the c onsis tory that in n o case would
he gran t free passage and supplies t o the King and
t hat they could info rm t h e King o f thi s ac c o rding to
thei r pleasure
O n Thursda y the 1 8 th o f D ecember all the pos
ses sions o f the Pope were packed up for departure
with the exception o f the bed and the ordinary side
board I n additio n t he paraments o f the sacristy
o f the Apostolic chapel and the whole fu rn ishings o f
the p al ace an d other p ap al be longings were sent to
the castle San Angelo All the cardin als were pre
p ared fo r departure with freshly shod horses and
m ul es in readiness
I n former days a s well as at thi s tim e that is
o n the 1 9 t h 2 1 s t
2 2 n d and 2 3 rd of D ecember the
men of the French King organized raids o ver the
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77
78
P O PE ALEXAND E R VI AN D H I S CO U R T
Mon te Mario a s f a r a s San L a z ar o and the a dj oining
m eadow o f San Angel o
They a lso decided t o f all
upon the city by steal th on o n e o f these nights the
French through o ne gate a n d the Colonn e s e through
F o r a id a n d ass ist an c e a thousand
t he o ther
Frenchm en wer e t o c ome up by shi p from O sti a
Bu t the wind r o s e s o s tr ongly against them t h at
they c oul d n ot complete th ei r program O therwise
they woul d have ca rried their evil designs and
b roken int o the city th rough t h e Po rt a San Paolo
setting fire pillaging and doing much mischief
S ome pointed o u t a s the a u t ho r o f thi s pl an the
Cardin al de Gurek who had come as the r eport went
in hi s o wn person t o the vicinity o f the city gate
du ring that night bu t had withdrawn ag a in a s the
resul t of the advers e wind
I n any case he wa s the main cause f o r the advance
o f the King against Rome
F o r he had caused the
inh a bitants of Aquap endente a n d o f other lands o f
the Church t o a dmit the King of France by p rais ing
to the skies the hones ty and wo rth of himself a n d
hi s m e n with the assu ranc e that they would p ay in
full and in c oin fo r every fowl and eve ry egg or even
fo r the sm a ll e s t trifle H e asserted als o the Pope
himsel f had p romis e d him acces s to and p as sage
through the lands of the Chu rch I n thi s way he
induced the popul ation to let in the King and his
men against the decided will of the P Op e And in
o rder t o win over als o the curial s o f G erm a n n ati o n
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P O PE ALEXANDE R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
80
replied to hi s H oliness th a t for G od s s ake he sh o uld
not get excite d a s I now kn ew hi s intentions an d
would no t say anythi ng mo re t o them whe rever they
shoul d stand O n Wednesday the 3 1 s t o f D ec em
be r 1 4 9 4 I ro de o u t by order o f the Pope quite
early in the mo rning to meet the King of F rance in
order to expl a in to him t he a rra n gements o f the
reception acco rding t o the c eremonial and to receive
his decision and c ar ry o ut h is Maj esty s orde rs
N ea r Galera afte r two miles j o urney we me t the
Ca rdinal s Giulian o delle R overe G urek and S avelli
to whom I made obeis a n ce wi thout dismoun ting from
my horse Soon afterwards came the King to whom
we also made o u r obeisance without di smounting on
account of the dirt and the rain as well as hi s fast
approach The B ishop of N epi execut e d the com
mission wi th whi ch he h a d been cha rge d by the Pope
and I also
c o ncern ing the reception o f the Kin g
explained t o h is Maj esty wh a t I had been charged
with by the Pope The King replied he wi shed t o
come to R ome without any di spl ay whatever I
received his answer and afte r m e H ieronymus Po rca
rius in the n ame of the Roman autho ri ties pl aced
the citizens and thei r posses sions at the disp osal o f
the King The King replied in a few words wi t hout
ente ring in to thi s m atter The R om a ns withdr e w
and the King called me at hi s side an d conve rs e d
with me fo r about fou r miles continuously asking me
abo ut the ceremonies the condition o f the P Ope the
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KI N G C HA R LE S V III I N ROME
81
rank a n d position o f Cesare B orgia and a number
of other things s o that I found i t almost impossible
to give prope r answers to every p articular question
N ear Borghetto two ambassadors of V enice came
to meet the King They dismounted and kissed their
o wn hands before they o ff ered them to the King
They did not kis s the ha nd o f the King however
Behind them cam e Ca rdinal S forza who greeted the
King barehead e d without dismounting from his mule
The King too bared hi s head and greeted the car
dinal Then they covered their heads and Sforz a
riding at the left of the King escorted him into
the city over the Ponte Molle as far as the P alace
San Marco the usual residence o f the Cardinal Cibo
The whole w ay to the palace was one mud a n d puddle
I n all the streets from the palace o f the Cardinal
Costa near the Chu rch S an Lorenzo in Luzina as
far a s S an Marco there w a s an illumination o f fires
and torches at eleven o clock in the evening a n d all
shouted : F ra n cia ! Fra nc ia ! C olon n a ! C olon/rm ! Vi n
Vi n cul a ! When w e had arrived before the
c ul a !
Pal ace S an M ar co Cardinal S forza did not dis
moun t from his mule but baring hi s head took leave
f rom the King with his perm ission before he e u
t e re d the port al
er e nor an y
N o r did delle Ro v
other o f the c ardinals accompany the King T o
day before the entry o f the King into Rome the
keys t o the gates o f the Virida rii o f B elvedere o f
the mid dl e gate a n d of all o t her g ates o f the ci ty
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82
P O PE ALEXAN DE R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
were entrusted to the grand —m arshal o f France the
above mentioned am bassador o f the King upon hi s
request and with the consent o f the Pope F o r the
Frenchmen said
and this was true
that the keys
had been sur render e d the o ther day to the D uke o f
Calabria when he was in Rome and that the King o f
France was not infe rior to him
O n Monday the 1 2 th of January 1 4 95 the King
sights H e was accompanied only by the C ardinal
o f France rode alone through the city to s e e th e
of S t D enis J ean de V ill iers de l a G ro sl a y e who
rode with a few nobles at a distan ce beh ind the King
B etween him and the King there rode a captain o f
the body gu ard that m arched with the King loo king
after the men as they marched along The cardin al
followed them with the other nobles
O n Thursday the 2 9 t h o f January 1 4 95 there
a rrived from France
ducat s in barrels on
mules f o r the Fren ch King and on the next day 4 0 0 0
more were brought for the expenses that the King
and th o se with hi m had every day
O n F riday the 3 0t h o f Ja nuary 1 4 95 it was
repo rted t o the Pope that Ces are h a d fled from
V elletri in the disgu ise of a royal gro om
H e had
left t h e King already before arriving there and had
slept during th at night in the house o f the auditor
of the R o ta Antonio Flores When he departed t o
gether with the King Cesare had taken along with
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84
P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
Performan ces we re given before him by his men with
French humo r o f tragedies and comedies representing
the Pope the King of Spain and the D oges of V enice
a s con cluding a leagu e and alliance with each other
,
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AN D
AL E X A ND E R
HI S FAM I L Y
Friday the 2 0 t h of May 1 4 96 at six o clock
in the aftern oon an entry was m ade into R ome
through the Late ran gate by o n e G o f redo B orgia o f
Aragon a son o f the Pope about fourteen years ol d
and hi s wi fe Sancia o f Aragon with about s ix ladies
There went o u t to meet them the
o f her household
—
t
captain of t he squadron with his m en a arms about
two hundred o f them the suites o f all the cardinal s
and the p ap al p relates For every single cardin al
had been requested that morn ing by pap al runners
a t the instigation o f Cesare to send their chaplain
and men a t arm s to meet his brothe r G o f re do upon
This they all did and dis
h is entry into the city
p atched thei r men as far as beyond the a f o re me n
t io n e d gate and here Lucre tia Sforza also a da u g h
ter of the Pope and wife o f Giovanni Sforza Lord
o f Pesaro and siste r of G o f re do met them with twelve
o ther women Two pages preceded her bearing t wo
cloaks and riding o n two horses one of which w as
covered with precious gold brocade the other with
crimson velvet She greeted her br o the r a nd his wife
with aff ection
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P O PE ALEXAN D E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
86
When we had come to the palace the Pope went
t o the hall o f the Pontiff s and sat down on an ele
va t ed seat that had been prepared for him the re in
the center of the left wall with a green carpet before
i t o n wh ich was depicted the Savio r laying His
fingers o n the side o f St Thomas Another similar
c arpet w as l aid over the seat
E leven cardinals
w ere s t anding around in their co ats
We en t ered
the h a ll t h rough the th ree ordinary halls the cham
ber o f pa raments the C am era P a p a g a l li and the
others B efore the footstool of t h e Pope there sto od
a small s tool o n which lay a cushion of bro cade an d
before it fou r la rger cushions o f crimson velvet cross
wise o n the floo r G o f re do m ade obeisance to the
Pope in the custom ary way and kiss e d his foo t and
ha nd The Pope took the head o f G o f re do bet ween
bo t h his hands b owing hi s he ad over him but wi thout
k issing him
The re followed San cia who in the same
way kis sed the foot and h a nd of the P ope and whose
head he took in the sam e way between his h ands
Also Lu cretia was thus received by the Pope After
this G o f re do approa ched every card inal begi n n ing
with Pall avi cini a n d kissed their hands whereupon
each o f them gave hi m a ki s s upon the mouth
S ancia too kissed the hands of the cardinals and
these t ook her head between their hands as if they
w a nt e d to kiss it D uring thi s the daughter of t h e
Pope s t ood before her father Then G o f re do pl aced
himsel f b e tween the ca rdin a l s S anseverino and Cesare
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P O PE ALE XAN D E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
88
.
occupied the whole stairway and the floor around it
which aroused great di sgust and scandal among us
and the populac e
O n Wednesday the 1 4 th of June 1 4 97 Ces a re
Borgia and Juan Borgia Duke of Aragon the Cap
tain General o f the gu a rds the favo ri te son s o f the
Pope dined at the house of D onna V a n o z z a thei r
mother who lived in the neighborhood o f the Church
of Saint Peter in Chains Their mother and v arious
other people were p resent at the dinner After the
meal when night had fallen Cesa re urged his brother
to return to the Apostoli c p a l ace And s o they bo th
mounted th e horses or mules with a f e w attendants
a s they had n o t many servants with them
and rode
together until they approached the n eighborhood o f
the p alace o f the V ice chancello r A scanio S forza
which the Po pe had erected and u sually occupied
during hi s tenure of the offi ce o f V i ce chancellor
At this point the duke declared that he would like
t o find entertainment somewhere and took leave of his
br other the Cardinal H e dismissed all his servants
excep t o n e and retain e d furthe r a m asked man who
had al ready presented himself before the dinner and
had vi sited h im in the Apo stolic p alace almost every
day for a month T he duke took him up behind
hi m on his mul e and rode to the Square o f the Jews
where he dismissed the on e groom and sen t hi m back
to the pala ce H e in stru c ted him however that
he should wait for him about eight o clock in the
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ALEXANDE R AND H I S FAM ILY
89
square and if he had n o t appeared at the end of an
hour he should retu rn t o the p alace Thereupon
the duke departed from the groom with the m asked
man behind him on the back o f the mule and rode
n o one knows whi ther and was murdered
The corp s e was thrown int o the ri ver at the point
besides the fountain where the refuse of the streets
is usually dumped into the water nea r o r beside the
H ospital o f Saint H ieronymus of the Slavonians o n
the road which runs from the Angel s B ridge straight
to the Church o f Sant a Maria del Popolo The
groom who had been dismis sed o n the Square o f the
Jews was hurt seriously and wounded unto death
H e was mercifully t aken into the house o f some o n e
unknown to me and cared f o r U nconscious as he
was he could tell nothing abou t his instructions and
the expedition of his master
When the duke did no t retu rn to the p alace on the
next morning whi ch wa s Thursday the 1 5th o f
J une his trusted servants became uneasy and one
o f them carried to the Pope the news of t h e l ate
expedition of the duke and Cesare and the vain watch
for the return o f t h e fo rmer The Pop e was much
disturbed at the news but tried to persuade himself
that the duke was enj oying himself somewhere with a
girl and was embarrassed for that re a son a t leaving
her hous e in bro a d daylight and he clung t o the
hope that he might retu rn at any r ate in the evening
When this hope was not fulfilled the P Op e was
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90
P O PE ALEXAN DE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
stricken with deadl y ter ro r and s e t on foot all pos
sible inquiries through a few o f his t rusted men
Am ong those who were questioned was a Slavonian
dealer in wood by the name o f Georgio who had u n
lo a ded hi s wood o u the bank o f the Tibe r near the
above mentioned fountain and who had spent the
night o n hi s boat guarding his wood to preven t it
being s tolen The question was put t o him whether
he had seen anything thrown into the ri ver du ring
the middle o f the night j us t p ast to whi ch he m ade
answer that a t about t wo o clock in the morning two
men came o u t of a lane by the hospital on to the
public r o ad along the river They looked about
cautiously to see whether any o n e was passing and
vhen they did not see anybody they disappeared again
in the lane After a littl e while two others c ame
o u t o f the lane
looked about in the same way and
made a sign to their compani on s when they dis
covered nobody Th ereupon a rider appear e d o n
a white horse wh o had a corp se behind him with the
head and arms hanging down on one side a n d the legs
on the other and supported on both sides by the two
The p rocession a d
m e n wh o had firs t appeared
va n c e d to the pl ace wher e the refuse i s thrown into
the river At the bank they cam e to a halt and
tu rned t he horse with its tail to th e rive r Then
they lift e d the corpse one holding it by its hands and
arms , the other by the legs and feet dragged it do wn
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P O PE ALEXAN D E R V I AN D H I S C O U RT
92
I t wa s
j ust before vespers when they found the duke
still fully clad with his stockings shoes coat waist
coat and cloak and in h is bel t there was his purse
with thirty ducats H e had nine woun ds on e in the
neck through the thro at the other eight in the head
body and legs The duke was laid in a boat and was
carried into the c as tle o f San Angelo where his cloth
ing was removed The co rp se wa s then wa shed and
cloth e d in prin cely r aiment E verything wa s do n e
a t the orde r of my colleague B ern ard in o G ut ie ri
cleric in charge o f ceremonies
O n the evening o f this day at nine o clock the
co rpse o f the duke w as brought by his noble retain
ers if I remember rightly from the castle o f S a n
Angelo to the church o f S ant a Maria del Popolo
preceded by 1 2 0 torchbearers and all the prelates o f
the palace togethe r with the papal servitors and
p ages With loud l amentations and weeping they
proceeded without a n y o rderly formation The
co rp se w a s bo rn e upon a bier with pomp and cer e
mony in publi c view and looked more as if sleeping
than de ad I n t he a foremen tioned chur ch it w a s
con sign e d to the vault where it reposes up to the
p resent day
When the Pope was info rmed that the duke ha d
been murdered and thro wn into the rive r like refuse
and there discovered violent grief overcame him and
in his deep sorrow b e locked himself in his chambers
and wep t bitterly O nl y a ft e r l on g pleadin g P6 1
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ALE XANDE R
AND H I S FAM ILY
93
suasion and solici ta tion befo re his d oo r di d the C a r
dinal B artolommeo Marti finally succ eed a fter several
hours in being admi t ted with a few attendants The
Po p e t o ok n o food o r d ri nk from the evening o f
Wednesday the 1 4 th o f J une until the followin g
Satu rday an d he let n o sl e ep come to his eyes from
the morning o f Thu rsday until the next Sunday
Up o n vari ed and ceaseles s appeal s o f his t ru sted
f riends he admitt e d him self t o be won over an d
finally began to co nquer his grief a s well as he could
Thi s he di d al s o ou t o f co n s ideratio n for the risk and
d a nge r t o his o wn p ers on
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P OPE ALEXAN DE R VI AN D H I S C O U R T
96
iven
a
brevi
ary
a
Bible
and
the
letters
of
S
int
a
g
Peter Furthe rmo re he received a keg of water
three l o a ves o f bread a cup o f oil and a lamp fo r
lighting There he w a s inca rcerated fo r the t e rm
o f his life
The Pope a s I w a s told ha s given the o rder that
the warden o f the c a s t le o r his dep uty shoul d vis i t
the prisoner every day o r every three days and
that bre a d an d wate r should be portioned ou t to him
f o r hi s m ain tenance and oil for hi s light
May
Al mi ghty God in all hi s me rcy and loving kindnes s
bestow upon t his mos t m iserable man the gift o f
p atienc e and gran t hi m grace that he ma y s ave h is
s oul
The report was tha t befo re this the Pop e had daily
disp atched to the imp ris o n e d Flo rid o in the castle
o f S an Angelo the suff raga n bishop of Toul
John
M a ra de s the a rchdeacon de B a c chi s Pet rus de Solis
and a few others o f hi s t rust e d s ervants t o play
dice and chess with him an d to lead him through
proper pe rsu as ion t o the confessio n that he h ad
dra wn up vario us brav
e s without the o rder o f the
Pop e Fo r t h e Pop e thought thu s to obt a in f o r
i
v
o
e
n
e
s
s
for
o
ther
r
t
h
at
had
been
dra
w
n
up
n
b
e
w
s
g
hi s o rder and had off ended the King and ! ueen o f
Spain on the plea that they h a d bee n issued without
his foreknowledge
I f Fl o rido would adm it this the
Pop e would r a is e his rank an d reward him wi th
highe r o ffic e s At thei r repeated ins tiga tion he had
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LI FE I N R O M E UN DE R THE
B O RG IAS
97
confes s e d and thereafter neither M a rade s n o r the
others had ever visited him again
O n Sunda y the 2 9t h of O ctober at 1 1 o c lock in
the morn ing the main to wer of the c a s tle of San
Angel o was st ru ck by lightni ng where the p owder
for the defense o f the castle was stor e d The ex
plosion scatte red far and wid e the whole upper p art
of the tower togethe r with the walls and the great
m arble angel p art o f w h ich fell nea r t h e house of
Cardin a l Michaeli beside the church o f S aint Celsus
a nd the nea r t he hous e o f the merchants Sp annocchi
About fiftee n gua rds o f the castle were inj ured but
none o f th e m mo rt al ly
O n Wednesday the 1 4 th of Februa ry 14 98 the re
w a s found in the river the pap al g ro om o f the c h a m
ber Pet r us Cal des with the su rname P e ri t t o who
had fallen involuntarily int o the Tiber on Thursday
l ast the 8 t h of February during the night an event
whi ch arou sed much comment in R ome
O n W e dnesday the 2 l s t of Februa ry the car
din a l s and Cesare B o rgi a rode fo r their pleasure in
French layman s garments from Rome to O sti a o n
the mouth o f the Tibe r and re t urned to Rom e in
the s a m e garmen ts o n the 2 4 t h
At the carn ival of this year no feas t o r public
a musemen t was held in R ome o r in Agone o r in
T e s t a c c io nor did any masked p rocession take pla ce
L as t Sunday t h e 1 8 t h Giulio V itelli of Corne t o
a servant of Ca rdinal D omenic o delle Ro ver e was
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P O PE ALE XANDE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
98
j ust attending m a s s in the conve n t church o f the
D omi ni can s sop ra Mine rva when s ome one entered
the church with abou t ten comp a nion s in arms carry
in g con ceal e d cro ssbows and bearing long and sho rt
swords la n ces and round shi elds They rushed into
the Chapel of C ru cifixi on to w ard Giul i o and his
b ro the rs and wound e d them and o f these wounds
Giuli o a n d two o f his brothers died within a few
days
After breakfast time o n Sunday the governo r r od e
with a large suite to the house o f the aforesaid
O n Ash Wedn es day the 2 8 t h o f Februa ry 1 4 98
the Pope pronounced the benediction ove r the ashes
in the m ain cha p el o f the palace
First the o ffic i
ating Ca rdinal G ro sl a y e strewed ashes upon him the n
he on the c ardinal a n d then on the others in th e
accustomed manner Guglielmo Serra o f the o rder
o f the Minorites in surplice and pluvial e withou t a
m itre preached the sermon a n d kissed the foot o f
the Pope because he was n o t yet an ordained bishop
The res t of the ceremony p ro ceeded in the usu al
manner
Ca rdinal Cesa re Borgi a did not atten d the mass
and se rvice After the m ass in response to my re
quest the Pop e granted to us the mas t ers of cere
mony to all the singers and to the o the r members
o f the papal c hapel the permis sion f o r every o n e
of us to ch oo se a confess or t o abs olve u s from all
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ALE XANDE R
P O PE
1 00
V I AN D H I S CO U RT
Torre di N on a t ogether with two other b rigands wi th
a S b irre ri di ng before them o n a n a s s car rying on
the p oint of a stick two testicles wh ich had been cut
o u t from a Jew because he h a d had intercourse with
a Christian woman They were brought to the Flor a
field where th e two b rig a nds we re hanged The
Moor was placed o n a p ile o f wo od and was killed
on the pole o f the gal lows a rope being ti e d about hi s
neck whereby he was strun g fast to the pol e Then
the pile was light e d but o n a ccount o f a do wnpour
o f rain i t did n o t burn well and only his legs were
ch arred
O n the 2 l s t o f Ap ril 1 4 98 in the e vening o r
during the night the m aj o r domo o f the Apostolic
palace the Bishop o f Calahorr a P e trus de Aranda
was locked u p in his chambe r i n the p alace and a
guard was placed before hi s door until the 2 6 t h o f
April o n which day he wa s conduct e d before the
Pop e After a conversation with him he was brought
into the chambers between the two secret ga rdens
o f the Pope
n ot
fa r fro m t he covered walk that
leads f ro m the palac e t o the ca s tle o f San Angelo
There he was g uarded carefully by the grooms o f the
Pope and others until abou t the middle of September
The reason fo r his imp riso n ment w a s that the bishop
was being sus p ec t ed o f heresy being a marano and
sim ilar off enses
O n Sunday the 2 9t h o f J ul y 1 4 98 a large and
spacious plat f o rm wa s erected before two po rticos
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B O RG IAS
L IFE I N RO ME UN DE R THE
101
’
There a h undred and eighty
o f St Peter s C hurch
1
were admi tted in o rder t o be re c o ncil ed
m a ra n oe s
to the faith There they were c owe ring d own on
the floor in their everyday ga rments and there s a t
also the Archbishop of R eggio a n d G overno r o f
R o m e Pietro I s u a g li the ambass ado r of t he King
and ! ueen o f Spain Jua n Ruiz de Medina the
Bishop O ctavius de Monte Marano re ferendary o f
the Pop e the audito rs Dominicus J a c ob a t iu s and
J a c ob u s Dra gn a t iu s the professors o f theology Paul
de Modi a of the order of the Pr e dicants an d J o
hannes de M a l c on e o f the o rder of t he Minorites
both papal pen itentia ries in S t Peter s church for
the Spanish nation also in t hei r every day garments
A mas ter o f theology of the o rd er o f the Predicants
preached a serm o n on the faith i n I t a lian and re
p ro a c h e d the ma ra n o e s who were all Spaniards
amon g them a Franciscan m onk fo r thei r errors
in faith rep rim anding and inst ructing them Aft er
the s e rmon the ma ra no e s a sk e d fo r a remission o f s ins
and absolution Thereu p o n Pa ul de M on dia admon
ish e d them in a Latin address to adhere to the right
faith and to lead a right eous life and told them o f
the punishment they all dese rv e d This adm o nition
he explained to them in a few wo rds i n Sp anish
Then while they were all down on thei r knees he
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we re c a ll e d t h ose J e ws a n d M oors wh o durin g
t he p e rs e c u t i on by t he S p a n i s h I nq u i s i t i on p ro fe s se d t o b e
C a th olic s wh il e s e cre tly a dh e ri n g t o th e i r o wn re li g ion
l
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P O PE ALE XAN DE R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
1 02
p ronoun ced the puni shment upon them n amely that
they shoul d walk two and two to the chu rch of St
Peter in a garment pre s cribed and wo rn for this
pu rpo se There they shoul d p ray and then go in
the same order to the chu rch of the convent o f S anta
Ma ri a sopra Minerva whe re eve ry one of them might
l ay down t h e garment and retu rn t o hi s home The
magisters Paul and John anno unc e d the absolution
to all whe reupon they started o n thei r w ay to the
ch ur ch The Pope o bserved all that was going on
from the n ew chambe rs and gave them the benedic
tion
Th e ga rm e nt in which the ma ra n oe s were clad
looked a s follo ws : over thei r every day clothes they
wore cove rings of red and pea c o ck blue cloth which
we re hung down over the shoulders up o n the breast
and down to the legs behind with a yellow cro ss four
fingers in width an d o f the length o f the clo th B e
fore the altar in Santa Ma ri a s op ra M ine rva every
on e put down hi s cloth
The monk s then hung up
the cloth in the chu rch in memo ry of the event
I n thi s yea r 1 4 99 all the feasts o f the R o m an
c arnival we re celebrated O n Sunday in Lent the
3 rd of Feb ru ary the Jews held their race from the
C ampo dei Fiori t o the castle S an Angel o near the
B o rg o —Gate for the p rice o f a red cloth which how
ever was not ha n ded over on that day a s the st a rt
w as b ad as h a s been rep o rt ed
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P O PE ALE XAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 04
fo r three days M ay Almighty G od in H is
eternal kindness p rese rve me fro m such and all other
dangers !
O n Friday the 8 th o f Feb ru ary 1 4 99 the bulls
were caught and d is t ributed over the various dis
t ri c t s of the city and o n S aturday eve n ing they were
brought in the usual w ay t o the Capitol
O n Sunday the l 0 t h of February there was held
a race o f the Berbe r steeds the Spanish saddle horses
and the mares after dinner in T e s t a c c io for the usual
p rizes The first and third Cardinal S anseverino
received and he would a lso have won the second had
not a rider falle n d o wn The s e cond prize was re
e d by John F r a n c is c u s Mutus
Then the feast
c e iv
o f the bu l ls and pigs was celebrated in the customary
way and without up roa r and scandal
O n Monday the 1 1 t h after dinner the race o f the
do nkeys wa s held with a sky blue cloth as a p ri ze
fr o m the Camp o dei Fiori t o the Place o f St Peter
and Sh rove Tuesday the 1 2 t h in the s ame way the
race o f the buff al oe s fo r a red cloth
c ul a t e d
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THE
A GG RAN D IZ E M E N T
OF THE
B OR G IAS
E S T E R DAY ,
l 6 th
of
February 1 4 99
D onn a Lucretia the daughter o f the Pope
went fo r wal k in the arbo r fell do wn in a faint and
as a result had a mis car ri age of a female child wi th
which s h e was preg nant
O n Satu rday the 2 0 t h o f Apri l 1 4 99 the P ope
received a let ter from F rance advising him that the
m arriage contrac t had been concluded by the fo rmer
C ardinal C esare Bo rgi a and the Lo rd d Alb re t in
the nam e of his daughter b y whi ch as was repo rted
and a s i t was in fac t set do wn in the contract the
Pope wa s to give a dowry of
d ucats and
the m a r ri age was no t t o be p erformed until his
Holiness h ad nomin ated the brother of the bride a
ca rdinal
O n the 2 3 rd o f May 1 4 99 a courier arrived fro m
France with the re p ort for the Pope that his s on
Cesare the former ca rd inal had cont racted the ma r
ria g e with the Lad y d Al b re t
o n Sunday
the 1 2 th
o f May and had p erfo rmed it and did take her eight
times one after the othe r Another messenger a n
t he
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1 05
ALE XANDE R
P O PE
1 06
V I AN D H I S CO U R T
the K ing of Fran ce had receiv e d the duke
on Penteco st
the 1 9t h of May into the Fraternity
of S t Mi chael which is roy a l and very glo rio u s
Therefo re by the o rder of the Pope n umerous fires
were light e d in the city o n the evening of the 2 3 rd
o f May
namely before the houses o f the Cardinals
O rsini and G ro sl a y e of L uc re tia and m any Sp an
i a rds as a sign o f j oy but a grea t shame and scan
dal fo r the Pope and the H oly See
O n Saturday the 2 0 t h of July a t eight o clock in
the evening the Pope received a repor t that the
maj or domo o f Ces are B orgia Jacobus who on Fri
d ay the 1 2 th o f Jul y had wal ked apparently qui te
unconcerned through the halls o f the pal ace while
the sec ret consistory w a s being held and who had
secretly mounted hi s horse afte r the consisto ry w a s
over in o rder to betake himself a s fas t as possible
through the gates in the name o f the Pop e with
secret m e s sages fo r hi s master had been seized and
sea rched by the D uke o f Mil an a n d all hi s secre t
despatches surrendered The Pope frighten ed at
the news h ad the gat e s o f the ci ty closed and
gua rded a n d n o o n e was let o u t without the per
mis sio n of the governo r The serv ants of the V ice
chancello r Ascanio Sforza and the ambassador o f
the D uke o f Milan had bee n informed o f this how
ever through a letter o f the duke that had a rriv e d
in the m o rning Therefore a ll his servants and the
prel ates fled f ro m the ho use o f the V ic e chancellor
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P O PE ALEXANDE R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
1 08
under detention in the room o f the D ata ry Ferrari
B ishop o f Modena and guarded by the datary him
self Fina lly o n Sunday after dinner he set him free
and sent hi m back to his house O n the same Sunday
in the morning the gove rno r went by orde r o f the
Pope with all hi s men to the house o f the Vice chan
After about two hou rs he
c e ll o r and searched it
went away again without having disturbed anything
there
O n the same Saturday eveni ng before s even o clock
the B ishop of Aquina B aptista B uff a llus was re
turning home o n ho rseback from the house of the
Cardinal O rsini when o n e o f his enemies assaul t e d
h im n o t far from Mon t e G io rg da n o and wounded
hi m with his sword I t w a s rumored thereupon that
the bishop had been killed He finally a rrived how
ever only slightly hurt at his o w n house
O n Tuesday th e 2 3 rd of July 1 4 99 the V ice
chan cellor Cardinal Ascanio boarded at the Colon
nese N eptuno Cast ro a ship o f King Federigo o f
N aples which was lying ready f o r him there and
under the escort o f three other roy al s hips set his
course for Piombino in order to go to Milan H e
then left the ship in the territory of Siena and wrote
from there to the Pope and the Holy colleague ask
ing for leave and stating the reason s o f his de
p artu re
O n Friday the 2 n d of August 1 4 99 befo re day
break Alphonso o f Aragon D uke o f B is ceglia the
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AGG R AND I Z EME N T O F THE
B O R G IAS
1 09
husband of Lucretia B orgia depart ed secretly from
Rome in o rder to reach the Colonnese te rritory
From there he went to the King of N aples and this
withou t the p ermission knowledge or consent of the
Pope
O n Thursday the 8 th o f August 1 4 99 Luc retia
Borgi a departed from the city through the Porta del
Popolo to go t o the Castle of Spoleto of which sh e
had been appointed governor by the P O p e She wa s
accompanied by Don G o f redo B orgi a of A ragon her
brother who rode a t her left and sen t many lade n
sumpters in advanc e which the Pop e inspected from
the loggia When sh e and her brothe r had mounted
their h o rses or mules in the place o f St Pet e r at
the foo t of the step s o f the church they made a very
reverential obeisance from their horses to the Pope
who stood above and took their last leave of him
After the Pop e had blessed them from the window
for the third time they rode a way Before them
there ma rched in good order the whol e p alace guard
o f the Pope and the
o vernor of Rome w ith his men
g
I n the train was also a mul e which h a d been laden
with a st retcher a n d mattress a c rimson cover
strewn with flo wers two pillows o f white damask and
a beautiful canopy s o that D onna Lucreti a could rest
there in case sh e wa s tired from riding Another
mule bo re a s addle up on which was erected a silk
cove re d and magnificently ado rned arm—chair with
back and footstool in o rder th at D onn a Lucretia
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1 10
P O PE
ALEXANDE R
V I AN D H I S CO U R T
might si t in it from t ime to time and travel mo re c o m
From the place o f S t Peter a s far as the
f or t a bl y
bridge o f S an An gelo s h e was es corted on her righ t
by the ambass ador of the Kin g o f N aples and later
by the governor o f R ome while there followed after
two by two the prel ates and a large crowd in hono r
and praise o f the Holy S ee
O n the 1 s t o f N ovember 1 4 99 at s ix o clock in the
morning D onna Lucreti a was d elivered of a boy
Thi s was announced by order o f the P op e to a ll the
cardinals and ambassadors and to hi s o ther friends
even before daybre ak in their residences The mes
s e n g e rs received fo r t his fro m e very cardinal and
ambassador two ducats mo re o r les s according t o
t he mood o f the giver
O n the feast of St M artin Monday the 1 1 t h o f
N ovember the son o f Lucretia Rodrigo was chris
tened by Cardinal Carafa in the chapel o f Pop e
Si x tus I V in S t Peter s O n the day be fore the
chapel of the C ardinal Zeno in S t Peter s had been
put in readi ness fo r the event and ado rned with two
large rugs whi ch covered the wall a t the right and
l eft as well a s the bench and floor before the ben ch
The altar had no decoration only a pl ain and rather
soiled and ta ttered cover I n this chapel gathered
all the cardinals present in Rome sixteen in number
The house of C ardinal Zeno where the l ady in
ch ildbed resided w a s als o adorned m agnificently : the
two portals were completely gilded the whole c o urt
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P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D HI S CO U R T
1 12
a towel ; the othe r o n e a t the left ca rried a large
candle of whi t e w ax weighing about thi rteen poun ds
adorned with gold and very magn ificen t workman
ship T hese were followed by Juan Ce rv
i ll on of
C atalonia formerly captain of the p apal soldiers
who ca rried the child on his r igh t arm I t was
covered with brocade lined wi th ermine a s on e usually
covers children to be christened A t the right
walked the g overno r o f Rom e and at the left the
I mperi al Ambassado r P h il ib e rt u s all two by two and
a numerous cro wd closed the procession A t the e n
trance o f the S i x tine chapel Juan Ce rvill o n handed
ove r the child to the Archbishop o f Cosenza Fran
ces co Borgia who took him o n his right arm that
i s in the sil k en cloth magnificently interwoven with
gold which Juan h a d carried slung around his neck
C ardinal Juan Ca rafa came to th e entrance of the
chapel a n d catechized the child and then had i t
brought into the chapel to the space between the
altar and the monumen t o f Sixtus IV There in the
center on a stool covered with a rug stood the large
Si x tine baptismal vessel of silver p artly gilded O n
this spot the a fore mentioned silk cloth was p u t
around the shoulders of the governo r o f R ome who
thereupo n took the child to be christen e d upon his
right arm fro m the hands o f the A rchbishop o f
Co senza The c a rdinal moistened the head o f the
chil d and baptized it and did everythi ng in the usual
way while the s ecretary P o do c a t o ro and the D at ary
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THE B O RG IAS
AGG R AND IZ E M E NT OF
1 13
Ferrari held their hands o ve r the child a s god
fathers
After the child had been baptized and the Cardinal
Ca rafa and t h e godfathers had washed thei r hands
a s usual Paol o O rsini pu t the silk cloth around his
neck and took o ver the child from the governo r upon his
right a rm and return ed wi th it to the ho use o f Cardinal
Zeno E ven befo re he had come to the entrance
of the chapel the child began to cry m iserably while
befo re t his from its mother s bed to the chapel and
th rou g hout the baptismal ceremonies it had patiently
submitted to everything without showing displeasure
O n the returning f rom the church however the re
wa s such a noise fro m tru mpets and other in s t ru
ments tha t on e could not even hea r t h e sound of h is
o wn voice
They ret urn e d in the s ame order a s they had come
After them the c a rdinals also left the church
m ounted thei r mules at the foo t o f the stairs of the
church and returned ho m e O n the way to the
christening a c rowd of Roman women ol d men young
men and maidens gathered and fo llowed behind the
prelates who sat do wn here and there in the Sixtine
ch apel on the seats higher up
O n Monday the 1 8 t h of N ovember 1 4 99 Cesare
B orgi a re turn ed secretly through the Porta C aval
l e gi e ri to Rome with a chamberl ain and the brother
of the deceased John M a ra de s and stayed with the
PO pe in the p alace until Thursday the 2 1 s t
On
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P O PE ALE! AND ER VI AND HIS CO UR T
1 14
the morning o f thi s d ay he departed and rode away
sec retly with an esco rt of p ap al soldi ers to the city o f
I mol a whi ch he to ok over soon afte rward by fo rce
toge ther with the castl e The Lo rds o f the city the
son s o f the deceas e d Coun t Girolamo R ia rio nephew
o f Cardinal R ia ri o were robbed with vio l ence
O n the same Thursday after dinner t h e Cardinal
When
R ia rio rode out with his household to hunt
he was nea r the c astrum J ub il e i he sent his cham
b e rl a in C a rdill a back to Rome wi th the greater num
ber o f his suite while h e hi mself r od e o n with a few
attendants to Monte Rotondo
I n the evening o f the same day a papal musician
Thomasin s o f Forli w as arrested with his aecom
i
l
p ce s and incarcerated in the c astle o f San Angelo
This Thomasins had com e to R ome with a poisoned
letter which h e put into a reed to give it to the Pope
pretending that he came from the community of
Forli which wanted a n agreement w ith the Pope
H ad the Pope ac cepted the letter he would h ave been
p oisoned a n d would have fallen down dead within a
f e w days o r hou rs
I n o rder t o obtain acces s to
the Pope he app roached a friend Thoma si n s of
Forli a mus ician o f Juan B orgia the p rince o f
Squillace and then bribed a guard of the portal
o f the papal pal ace whom he initiated into his under
taking Thi s came to the knowledge of the Pope
and they were imp ris oned by his orders as has been
told When questi o ned they imm ediately admitted
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1 16
P O PE ALE XAN DE R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
before the meal in the hous e o f Cardinal Carv a j al
who knew much about his feuds and admonished him
in a fatherly way that he should not leave mo re h is
house this evening Also he ordered hi s serv ants
they should not let o u t C e rvill on N evertheless a s
Pign atello who was waiting for him had sent for
him several times up to t welve o clock he left the
house o f Cardinal Ca rvaj al at about that hou r and
repair e d to th e house o f Pignatello where he ate
I n addition t o these two C e rvill on and Pignatello
there p artook of the meal a nephew o f Ce rvill on one
o f their friends
and a l ady of the papal court
After the m eal C e rvill on was for leaving the house
again but Pignatello obj ected with all hi s might
When he fo und tha t all his arts o f persu asion were
o f no avail he besought him that at least his nephew
who was a rmed and a few o f his servants should
escort him bu t Ce rvill o n firmly declined and said
that he desired no escort They urged him to per
mit at least that some on e should go o ut before hi m
to look around and s e e if there was any suspicious
person p assing o r lying in wait E ven this he would
no t permit bu t he wanted t o g o o u t fr e e and u n
accompanied S o he fared forth from the house
abou t on e o clock in the night armed only with hi s
sword and paused not far f rom the entrance As he
stood there two men approached him and asked
”
”
Who goes there ?
H e an s wered Good friend !
When they asked in a more p ressing mann er : What
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AGG RAND IZ EME N T O F
THE B O R G IAS
117
good friend ? he added Juan C e rvillo n
As soon
as he had said this they j umped at him and o n e
sword while the other severed his head with o n e blow
and both escaped
When the nephew and t he others within the house
heard the voice of Ce rvill o n and the cl ash o f swords
They found
t hey ran out to see what had happened
Ju an C e rvill on l y ing on the wall and his head a short
distan ce o ff o n the ground but n o trace of those who
had committed the deed O n the following morning
the incident was repo rted to the Pope by the gover
nor o f R ome who o n the very night of the murder
il l on h ad displayed the greates t energy upon
o f C e rv
receiving the news and had questioned Pignatello as
well a s all the other inhabitant s of the house with
the greatest c are abou t everything that had hap
pened This he reported to the Pope in my presence
and added that when the nephew and the others had
ill o n dead and no on e
rushed o u t and had found C e rv
in the street they had hu rried farther along the
street and had presently met a boy of whom they
inquired if he had seen anybody H e answered no
only two men who had walked through the alley and
had fled over the large open pla ce before the stabl e
Thus ended poor C e rvill o n
o f the V ice chan ce l lor
His body was soon afterw ard
with a bitter death
brought by his servants to the church of Santa Mari a
Tra n s p o n t in a and there buried without pomp
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P O PE ALEXAN D E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
120
for their o wn advantage and that there was no hell
and many other
o r purgatory but only p aradise
things
O n the 2 5t h of February 1 50 0 a p apal letter
wa s posted at the doors o f St Peter s and the L at
eran Church which stated that the roads and inn s fo r
the pilgrim s to R ome ought t o be s afegua rde d dur
ing the year of the j ubilee and that the vassal s o f the
Church woul d be held responsible fo r damage su s
t a in e d and that reprisals would be m ade agains t
them
O n Monday the 2 6 t h o f Februa ry 1 500 by order
o f the Pope it was urged upon all the cardi n als that
they should send their suites on this day a t four
o clock in the afternoon ou t to the Po rt a S anta
Maria del Popol o to meet Cesare B orgia a s he a p
ro a c h e d the city and furthermore u pon all ambass a
p
dors conservat ors and officials of Rome a s wel l a s
upon the abbreviators clerics etc o f the Rom an
Curia that they should go o u t personally to meet him
O n the previous Friday the 2 1 s t Cardinal O rsini
had gone to meet the Duke Cesare a s far as Castel lo ;
a n d there followed him o n Saturday
the 2 2 md the
C ardinal Farnese O n this morning the Cardinal
Lopez with my colleague in his suite went o u t to
meet him about three to four miles beyond the Ponte
Molle All the ambassadors also rode o u t beyond
the bridge a s far as the meadows t o aw a it the duk e
there When i t had sounded the hou r o f four Car
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THE
YEA R
o r THE J U B I L E E
12 1
dinal Pall avicini went on horseback from the palace
t o the residence of Cardin al O rsini who awaited h im
there outside on his mul e They rode together to the
church o f Santa Maria del Popolo to receive the
duke there H e entered through the gate between
s even and eigh t o clock and was greeted by all the
ambassadors retainers and official s o f the said ca r
When they heard that the duke was outside
dinal
the gate they mounted thei r mules and awaited him
at the said place before the gate where they saluted
hi m with bared heads while he thanked them also in
the same manner Then he rode between them to the
V atican
I n the train of the duke there came first in goo d
order a hundred sumpters p rovided with new black
covers and then about fifty others without any order
I coul d n o t arrange the escort in proper o rder as
there were about a thousand ducal soldiers on foot
Swiss and Gascons who marched in their own order
in five sections and under five banners with the
ducal arm s and took n o heed of ou r order There
were also papal soldiers marching on foot to meet
the duke and lansquenets with the flag o f St Andrew
The Swiss wanted the lansquenet s to ro l l up their
banner bu t they woul d n o t consent and a great
quarrel started among them B ut the conflict was
settled by the duke with littl e e ff ort The Swiss
and G ascons marched first with their banners b e
hi nd them came the lansquenets with theirs and
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P O PE ALE XAND E R VI AN D H I S CO U R T
122
then about fifty noblemen of the duke H e himself
had a hundred men around him of whom every on e
bore a new halberd and wore a co at o f black velvet
and shoes o f black cloth
H e ha d al so many trumpeters wearing h is arm s
a s well a s two heralds o f his own and o n e o f the King
o f France who wanted to march under all conditions
behind the soldiers The duke however when a p
pealed to decided that he ought to precede them
which he did only with great reluctance By order
o f the duke the t rumpeters and the other musicians
did n ot pl ay
Behind them rode the D uke o f B is ceglia at the
right and t h e Prince o f Squillace the s on of the
P ope at the left Then came the duke between the
cardinal s behind them the Arch
a forementioned
bishop o f Ragusa de S achis at the right and the
Bishop of Tr eguier Robert G u ib é Ambass ador o f
the King of France at the left the Bishop of Zamor a
at the right and the a mbas sador o f the King o f Spai n
at the left and so o n the others according to their
rank Two ambass adors o f t he King o f N avarre got
int o a quarrel with the ambassadors o f the Kings of
N aples and o f E ngland who retorted in a very hot
headed manner The two ambass adors of N avarre
had to give in and dep arted There were also pres
ent the ambassadors of Florence Venice S avoy and
others Behin d them followed a large crowd in su ch
confusion tha t the p relates were n ot a ble to take thei r
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124
P O PE ALEXANDE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
chariot All these chariots were taken to the palace
and back aga in with the exception o f t he last one
with Jul ius Caesar whi ch rema ined there The duke
rode from the palace to the Agone where the festivi
ties o f the Ro mans were held in the customary way
O n Thursday the 5t h of March Cesare B orgi a
began with his calls on the cardin als H e had n o
bishop or prel ate with him but was only a ccompanied
by o n e o f his retainers Whe n calling o n Card inal
Piccolomini h e went with him from the chamber down
t o the foot o f the stairs walking o n h is left side a s
he did not want to take the right one in any case
although the cardinal off ered it to him with eager
insistency A s I hear he did the same with the
other cardinals but I do not know how far the car
din a l s went to meet him when he a rrived and there
fore I could n o t put i t down
O n the fourth Sunday o f Lent the Pope with the
intention of making C esare B orgia Captain General
and Gonfaloniere o f the R om an Church decided to
1
bestow upon him the G olden R ose
O n Sunday
Laetare therefore the fourth o f Len t and the 2 9 t h
1 500 t h e P ope had come into the small
o f March
audience room in the morning at the usual hour with
the cardinals who had assembled in the Camer a
P a p a g a ll i and decided with their consen t to bestow
the aforesaid Rose on Ces are B orgia of France D uke
his dearest s on and to nominate him
o f V a l e n t in o is
S ee p a ge 1 9
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THE
THE
YEAR OF
JU BILE E
125
Cap tain G eneral and G on faloniere of the H oly R oman
Church From there the Pope went with the car
din a l s into the chamber blessed the Ros e in the cus
t om a ry way and went in procession o n his portable
chair with the Rose in hi s left hand to the church of
St Peter I mmediately before h im walked a p apal
shield bearer in a garment o f frilled brocade which
came down to his knees H e walked before the cham
b e rl a in s and carried over his arm a n ew garmen t
that i s a coat and barret the insignia o f the dignity
The barret was of crimson two
o f a G onfaloniere
sp ans high and lined with ermine I n the middle
there was a sm all piece of gold brocade with four
large buttons that i s to s ay pearl s o f the size o f
ordinary nuts At the four corners and inside there
wa s a stripe o f ermine fur about five fingers br o ad
and above there wa s attached a dove composed of
pearls four fingers wide and adorned wi th m any
pearls While the Pope wa s still sitting in his por
table chair Cardinal Ci bo appeared who wa s o ffic
i a t in g in the church and dressed him self a s us ual
in the sandals and the holy garments Afte r arriv
ing at the main alta r the Pope took down the mitre
and prayed i n his folding chair ; then he made the
confession o f faith together with the celebrant
I n the meantime the duke stepped U p to the papal
throne and placed himself at the right side After
the obeisance of the cardinals the duke in his shor t
tunic stepped before the Pope and kneeled down
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P O PE ALEXAN DE R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
1 26
before him at the last step above H e was j oin e d
by the Cardinal delle Rovere as an as sistant o f the
Pope who n o w with the mitre in h is hand rose and
said : O ur assistance in the n ame o f the Lord who
made heaven and earth The Lord be with you an d
with your spiri t — Let u s pray : God who Thou
has promised to be an aid to Thy servants assembled
in Thy name grant to this Thy servant Cesare o ur
Gonfaloniere the mercy that has be en granted to
Abraham at the burn t o ff ering to Moses with his
legions to E lia in the desert t o Samuel in the tem
ple Give 0 Lord the unity th at Thou gavest to
the patriarchs that Thou hast p reached to the
p eoples that Thou hast handed down to the
Apostles that Thou h ast o rdered t o the victors
Bless O L o rd we a s k Thee this o ur Gonfaloniere
who has been given to us certainly for the welfare o f
o u r people
Let him grow rich in years let him be
blooming and heal thy in vigor o f body until a rip e
old age and let him arrive finally a t a blessed end
May the trust rem ain with us that h e will receive
the sam e compassion in favo r o f his people that
A aron received in the sanctuary E lisha by the
stream E zekiel on his bed and the old Zachary in
the temple May the force and power of dominion
be granted to him a s Joshua p ossessed i t in the
c amp and Gideon in battle and a s Pete r received it
wi th the keys and Paul used i t in doctrine Thus the
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P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
128
That success may be t ru e to y o u may be granted
to you mercifully by H im tha t is bles s e d in all
”
eternity
A cleri c o f the Camera brought the R ose from the
alta r an d the Pope t ook it from the hands o f the
Cardinal delle Rovere and handed it over to the
duke who knelt before him with the following words
Receive from o u r hands a s we are although un
deservedly God s rep resentative o n earth as a symbol
o f the j oy of Jerusalem triumphant a s well as o f the
church mili t ant To all who believe in Christ it
means the most preciou s flower as it is the j oy and
crown of a ll saints Receive it my most beloved
son you who a re of secul ar nobi y p owerful and
rich in virtue in order that you may win furthe rmore
the nobility o f every virtue in Christ the Lord simi
l ar to the R ose tha t ha s been pl anted on the bank
o f many waters
This favor m ay grant you in its
overflowing kindness t h e O ne who i s the triune in
”
eternity Amen
The duke took the Rose i n his right hand and
kis sed first the hand then the foot of the Pope
Both rose the duke covered himself with the barret
and wi th the R ose in his right hand walked fo r the
entire t i me before the Pope T h e holy handkerchief
was shown as usual and the cardinals besides the
duk e accompanied the Pope as far as the courtyard
where the c ardinals u sually ride away From there
the Pope went up to his pala c e after he had dis
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THE YEA R
O F THE
JU BI LE E
129
miss e d the duke and the ca rdinals who then all
mounted their horses The older cardinals rode firs t
a n d last between Picco lomi ni and C e s a rin i the duke
still wea ring t h e barret of the Gonfaloniere on hi s
head The R ose howeve r he did n ot bear in his
hand al l the way but he had i t c arri ed most o f the
way by one of hi s servants o f whom he had only six
o r eight around him self while the oth ers followed
I n rid ing back the usual order was observed the
banners were c arried by those two a rm ed men o n
horseback both Spaniards o f the lower class They
rode behind all the ambassadors preceded by eight
trumpeters and before these four drummers After
the trumpeters there came three heralds after these
the armed men then all the cardin als and among the
las t o f these the cardinal wi th all his servants
There followed the p relates and the men o f the duke
in a crowd as this could not be hel ped I n this o rder
we rode to the residen ce o f C ardinal S c l a f e n a t a
where the duke intended t o have dinner Before the
entrance the duke thank e d with bared head every o n e
o f the cardinal s
who had s topped here an d there
Finally he turned around on ce agai n before the doo r
to the cardinal s who then dep arted
O n Tuesday the 1 2 th o f May 1 50 0 a certain
B aron Ren é d Ag rimo n t ambassador of the King of
France while o n his way to Rome with his sumpters
and about thirt e en horses and servants was robbed
completely by twenty tw o highwaymen a n d brig a nds
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P OPE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 80
in
the moun tains of V iterbo O ne of hi s noblemen
together with a servan t was wounded severely
The ambassado r entered Rome on the 1 3 th May
withou t p omp and escorte d only by hi s m en The
P ope indignan t a t the incident sent out the
B argello t o capture the malefa ctors an d wrote
n um erous b rew s to Fabrizio Colonna
from
who se territory the brigands had come and to oth
ers in order that they should send the highwaymen
t o the city Fi ftee n o f the m were ap p rehended
and brought t o Rome
O n Wednesday 2 7 t h May 1 50 0 the day before
As sumption eighteen men were hanged at noon while
the cardinals p assed over the bridge o f S an Angelo
nine o n each side o f the bridge The hanged men
fell down with the gall ows on the bridge but were
immediately set up again so that the cardinals when
they returned from the p al ace coul d s ee a ll o f them
hanged
T h e firs t of the eighteen was a docto r of medicine
physician and su rgeon t o the hospital of S t Jo h n
Lateran who had left the hospital every day early
in the morni ng in a short t unic and with a crossbow
and had sh o t every o n e who happen e d to cros s his
path and pocketed his m oney I t was also s aid that
the confesso r of the ho spital communicated with
the physician when a p atient confided to him during
confession tha t he p ossessed any money whereupon
he gave an effica cious remedy to the p atient and they
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PO PE
1 32
ALE XAND E R V I AN D HI S CO U RT
j uries to the new tower above the papal cellar in the
main garden o f the V atican and had been carefully
guarded was strangled in his bed at fou r o clock in
the afternoon as he did not die o f his wounds I n
the evening at ten o clock t h e body w a s carried to
the church o f St Peter a n d buried in the chapel o f
Maria delle Febbri The archbishop o f Cosenza
Fran cesco B orgia the treasure r o f the Pope a ecom
a n ie d the body with thei r suites
p
The physici a n s o f the deceased and a hunchback
who had nursed him a lmos t all the time were ar
rested an d brought to the castle o f San Angelo
where an investigation was started against them
They were set free later o n a s they were found not
guilty a f a ct that was very well known to tho se
who had m ade out t he W E R E?
The same day and almost at t h e same hour Lucas
de Dul c ib u s the chamberlain o f Cardinal delle R o
vere and master of the Register o f Papal D ecrees
was wounded t o death on the back of his mul e before
the house o f the Roman citizen D omenico de Mas
simi and his membrum virile was c u t o ff by a man
of R e it i whose wife he had kept a s a concubine H e
was brought into the house of the s aid Domeni co
where he died after three o r four hours I n the
evening he was carr ied to the church o f Maria
T ra n 5p o n t in a and the next morning Wednesday the
1 9 t h the body was t ran sferr ed to the church of
S anta Maria del Popolo with the suite o f the Car
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THE
YEA R
O F THE
JU BILE E
1 33
dinal delle Rovere and many others in the funeral
procession May he rest in peace
O n Sunday 2 3 d August 1 50 0 there arrived in
R ome Lo rd Lucas de Villeneuve Baron de Trans
chamberlain o f the King of France and his ambas
sador To the inn of Domenico A t t a van t i where
the ambassador staye d nea r the hospital o f S t Laz
a ru s a masked rider came in grea t haste a ecom
n ie d by a man on foot
a
H e dismounted embraced
p
the ambassador with the mask over his face a n d h a d a
conversation with him After a short while the mas
ked person returned to the city I t has been said
that it was Cesare Bo rgia
The ambas sador mounted hi s horse and rode t o
the city The suite of the Pope and o f a ll the car
din a l s present in Rome went to meet him as well as
the ambassadors o f the Kings of Spain and N aples
who said to him : Be wel come ! I asked them if
they wanted to s a y anything more They a n
The ambassado r who head this
s we re d :
No
added : Who does not want to s a y anything else
He rode then between
does n ot expect an an swer
the A rchbishop o f Cosenza the governor o f the city
and the Archbishop o f Ragusa through the Via
P apac to the inn o f the H oly Apostles where he took
up his quarters
O n Monday S l s t o f August 1 50 0 Lucretia on ce
the daughter o f the Pope betook herself
o f Aragon
from the city to N epi accompani e d by s ix hundred
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1 34
P O PE ALEXAN DE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
on horseback in orde r to find some consolation and
rest after the grief and consternation in which s h e
had been thrown by the recent death of her husband
Alphon s e o f Aragon
O n 2 oth D ecember 1 500 a bull wa s po sted on the
doors o f St Peter concerning the prolongation of
the j ubilee year until the coming feast of E piphany
in favor of those abroad The Pope granted to
I t aly the unlimited indul gence until the ne x t feas t
of
Penteco st and n omin ated fo r this pu rpose a s
commissaries the Mino ri ties o f the strict observance
through an Apostolic l etter
After the beginning o f the las t year o f the j ubilee
the penitentiaries of St Peter s a w from cases that
came befo re them in confessi o n that t he rights o f in
dulg e n c e granted to the m were not broad enough
I n the course of a conversation I had with one o f
them I asked hi m to l e t m e hear some o f the cases
that were submitted daily to his c olleagues He
told me that there were varied and curious cases
reported t o them but that he could n ot retain all o f
them in hi s memory H e told me however a few he
remembered
Some o n e had con cluded m atrimony wi th a virgin
and after he had slept with her and had had inter
course with her for a certain time he had deserted
her in order to contrac t a m arriage with a second
and a third one The s a me he did with a fourth o n e
and had thus fou r wives living at t he same time
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ALEXAND E R
P O PE
1 36
V I AND H I S CO U R T
o ntracted a m arriage with a married woman whom
he later deserted after intercour s e N ow h e entered
another order which he left within the probationary
year in o rder to contract a m arriage with another
m arried woman When he heard after cohabitation
with her tha t she was the wife o f some one else he
left her and m arried another free woman with whom
he also cohabited He ran away from this o n e too
and m arried a fou rth o n e with whom h e also c c
habited Finally he deserted the fourth one also
and entered the order o f Santa M aria o f the Teu
tons o f whi ch he confes sed t o be a member When
the fourth o n e heard o f this she went to the convent
in the belief that he was her husband and dem anded
his surrender He fled before the imminent danger
and c ame to R ome with the request to render him
appropriat e aid I t w a s s aid that the c ase was
known in Strasburg
T he two principals o f a merchant firm in Provins
Pierre and Jean had both beautiful wives Pierre
acting on inform ation from his servants told his
wi fe that he would go on a certain day to B ruges
s o that she could make an appointment with Jean
O n that day Pierre pretended t o s e t forth o n a
j ourney bu t went instead to the house o f a friend
and arranged with h is serv an t s that they should let
him know as soon as Jean had shut up himself with
his wife This they faithfully did Pierre then
went to his hous e and knocked violently at the door
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THE
YEA R
O F THE
JU BI LE E
137
The f rightened wife locked the n aked Jean into a
chest in her room Pierre was admitted went to hi s
wife s chamber and sent immediately for Jean s wife
who appeared soon afterwards H e asked her abou t
her husband and she answered sh e did not kno w
H e often left t he house early in the
where he was
morning and returned in t h e late evening O ften he
would stay away fo r o n e o r two days Pierre s aid
Y our husband is lo cked up in thi s chest here and
he has often slep t with my wife a lthough you are
m uch more beautiful than she is I give y o u the
choice either yo u surrender yourself to me on the
top o f this chest o r you will s e e your husband cruelly
”
The woman asked her husband in the
m urdered
ches t what she should do H e answered from the
chest tha t one could more easily compromise with
decency than with death So Pierre took Jean s
wife on the t 0 p of the chest then he let h im out a n d
they were the best friends The incident had be en
kept secret for years
A similar case happe ned in Lubeck Philip had a
very beautiful sister and Anton whom she loved very
much slept with he r She climbed through the win
do w o f her chamber over the roof and went to the
room o f her lover When Philip f o u n d out that his
si ste r had gone to Anton he sent fo r the sister of
Anton who c ame to hi s room without any hesitation
“
Philip said to her :
Y our brother Anton has often
slep t with my sister and n o w they are lying together
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P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 38
again I decided to lie with y o u or your brother
will die an evil death
She consented in order t o
free her brother After he had la in with her he
sen t h e r back to her house through the window over
the roof the same way by which his sister usually re
turned When Anton heard o f it he came t o an
understanding with Philip that the matter should
be kep t secret N evertheless i t c ame finally to our
knowledge
When Angelo went through a church at noon b e
cas t a glance into the chapel of S t Florence situated
i n a corner There he saw how Grada was lying
under Paolo and h o w they amused themselves t o
gether Fo r this Angelo later o n reproached Paolo
in public Paolo denied the incident stubbornly
and a s Angelo did n o t cease h is pointed remarks he
sued him f o r libel before the magis trate Pro ceed
ings were started against Angelo and his insul ts
were proven while he could n o t j ustify hi s accus a
tion Judgm en t was rendered therefore against
Angelo that he had to recant hi s abuse and libellous
speeches p ub l ic l vin the church from the p ulpit and
to restore the good reput ation o f Paolo Whe n
therefore on a Sunday the p rincipal o f the church
came down from the pulpit after the sermon Angelo
stepped up and told before all the people o f his tri al
before the magi strate and of the decision rendered
and recanted the abuse and libellous speeches by a d
mitting his error in approp riate words Then how
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P O PE ALEXANDE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 40
V atican The proces sion o f the brethren however
p as sed through the railing and around the main a l
ta r between the c ardinal who was o fficia t in g and the
other bishops and cardinal s Then they passed o ut
through the side door towards the V atican Many
of the brethren threw themselves do wn between the
al t a r and the Pope and tu rning towards the l atter
they kissed the floo r after the manner o f the Turks
As I con sidered this improper I intervened in o rder
to prevent the others from doing s o The Pope
however disapp roved o f my intervention and ordere d
that I should let them kiss the floor which I did
The new general o f the Predi ca nts together with
many provincial brethren of his order went up to the
Pope and with him Cardinal Carafa who re c o m
mended his cause t o the Pope All the brethren
kissed t h e f o o t of the Pope and then j oined the pro
c ession again the remainde r of which did n o t pas s
through the railing after the general but turn ed to
ward the V atican
I n the meanwhile Petrus of Vi ce n za auditor of
the Camera and Bishop o f C esena donned a red
pluviale and the plain mitre and went up to the altar
to the Pope and kissed his knees H e asked with
o ut mentioning the benediction
for the plena ry in
dul g e n c e which the Pope granted to a l l those p re
ent After having received the indulgence he
mounted the pulpit and announced in an o ration the
a lliance between the Pope the King of H ungary and
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THE
YEA R O F THE JU BI LE E
14 1
the Signory o f V eni ce against the Turks H e did
not enter however into a specification and a n
n o un c e me n t o f the vari o us points
I mmediately a f
ter this o ra tion he announced the indulgence oh
t a in e d from the Pope
The l atter ros e immediately
from his throne and began without the mitre Te
De u m l a uda mu s in a clear voice which wa s continued
to the end by the choir
Then the Pope still standing recited the Lo rd s
p rayer as well a s the verses and two p rayers that
have been p rovid e d fo r in the ceremonial at the a n
n o un c e me n t
of an alliance against the in fide ls
Then he administered t he benediction to the peopl e
as usual stepped down and after a prayer before the
altar took up the tia ra and left the railing H e
looked a t the iron of the spear o f C hrist and then
a t the Lo rd s image and retu rned as usual to the
palace
I n the evening the m ai n hell of the Capitol was
ru ng and bonfires were lighted throughout the city
By order o f the Pope it was announced publicly in
the city o n the 3 rd o r 4 t h of June that all bandits
and those outlawed on account of murder theft or
other crimes could enter the city free and without
punishment
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P O PE ALEXANDE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 44
him as he was and went away before Cardin al L opez
came to him I n the mea dows we took o ff f rom the
cardinal the cape and the violet cloak o f rather
thick cloth which we app rop ri ated fo r ourselves a s
usual
O n the s ame evening about twelve o clock in the
night Ces are Borgia came secretly t o Rome and
took up his quart ers in the V atic an without being no
ticed by anybody
O n the following Fri day 1 3 th J un e 1 50 1 I w e n t
quite early in the morning to Santa Maria del P o
polo and a s the chapel in the convent wa s too damp
and close I decorated the chapter befo re the chapel
w ith a f e w o range bran ches as well as I could
Fo r
the stewards had not sent anything although they
had been requested to The c ardinals o f the palace
appeared first and when all h ad assembled Cara fa
desired that w e should start immediately which wa s
done accordingly and we mounted our hors e s
There appeared still the Cardinals O rsini and
Medici and when we had reached the hospital of the
Slavonians Cardinal Sans everino Cardinal Castro
was with the Pope in the palace The new cardinal
h ad come a lone in a coat o f crim son colored camlet
while all the others were in violet ones H e rode in
the last rank between Piccol omini at t h e right and
Medici at the left I did not send the two deacons
in advance t o the Pop e to dress him because I
doubted tha t he had arisen The new cardinal re
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FEAS TS AN D FEUD S I N RO ME
145
m ained with Piccol omini and Farnese in the little
chapel which was decorated with tapestry but had
no carpet s o n the floor When the Pope came from
his chamber in the Camera P a p a g a lli to don the
paraments he reproached me for having come with
the others in such a hurry from Maria del Popolo
I answered truly that it was after nine o clock
The P O p e in his robes appeared at the public con
which
was
held
in
the
third
hall
Four
re
s is t o r
y
p orts were gi ven the firs t by Justinus the second
o n e by B ur un du s
D u ring thi s I conducted the
g
Car dinal Medici to the sm all chapel and sent Fa r
nese back to the consistory The latter bowed b e
fo re the Pope and took his s eat Soon afte rwards
appeared the n e w one with the two old cardinal s at
the s ession First Piccolomini behind him the new
c a rdinal rendered to the Pope the u sual obeisance
Medici remained below before the throne o f the Pope
Piccolomini and the n e w cardinal then stepped do wn
again and the new one was greeted by all the cardi
n a l s with the kiss o n the mouth
He took his sea t
behind Fa rnese B urg u n du s continued his report
then Alphonsus R ic e n a s made the third and Fran
eis ens Gerona t he fourth o n e After this the two
assisting cardinals went u p again with the new one
to the Pope who received also the retainers of the
new cardinal in the ceremony of ki ssing his foot
while all the cardinal s and prelates were sitting
around in their seat s as befo re T hen the Pope rose
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146
P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
and returned to the Camera P a p a g a l l i where he l aid
o ff the sacred robes
O n this occasion the Cardi
n al P allavicini asked m e in the ci rcle why the new
cardinal alone wa s wearing the re d coat and I a n
s we re d that h e did s o in orde r not to look as if he
were of a religious order F o r Cardinal B orgia is a
kn ight o f S t John Carafa and Pallavi cini smiled
Finally all the cardinals
a s they knew about this
accompanied the new cardinal to the room o f the
t re a surer p repared for him and took leave of hi m
O n the same day afte r di nne r i t was announ ced
in Rome : that under penalty o f a fine of a hundred
ducats all orders o f the twen ty s ix s o called p ro
visors appointed by the Pope h ad to be obey e d
Their task was to procure supplies for the F rench
soldiers who ha d come to conquer the kingdom of
N aples and had been qua rtered outside the walls
Whoever had carts o r sumpters or mules must n otify
the governor of Rome in order that they could be
u sed t o transport these supplies Under p enalty o f
t wo hundred ducats and forfeiture o f the obj ect no
o n e should dare t o buy anything from the soldiers
This was don e becaus e the latter during their a d
vance had stolen horses d onkeys corn and grain and
anything they coul d lay h ands to
O n the following Saturday 1 9 th June 1 50 1 a n
other p roclam ation wa s i ssued in R ome a ccording to
which all the men o f the King o f France who did not
receive pay from him or the Pope o r fro m Ces are
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148
P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S C O U RT
t ory o f the Colonna in order to take possession o f
R occa di Papa and all t h e l a nds and castles of the
C olonn a in the name o f the Pope H e had Papal
commissa ries and soldiers wi th him and took pos ses
sion o f everythi n g without any protest o r resistan ce
O n Wednesday the 2 3 rd of June 1 50 1 the Arch
deacon o f Aquila Fran cis cus Lu c e n t in u s was a t
t ac k ed nea r Pellegrino and mo rtally wound e d by
fou r me n o f Hie rn o y mu s G a g lio ffi o f Aquila his mo r
t al enemy of whom o n e had himsel f warned Fran
eis e ns a few days before that he would slay him with
hi s associate s if it had to be even in the house o f
C ardinal Piccol o mini There the dying man was
brought on the same day and e x pi r e d after vespers
I n the evening he w as ca rried to the church o f the
Saint M aria de Consol azione where he had desired
t o be bu ried and there he was interred May he
rest in peac e Amen !
O n the same day th e Knight B e ra uld Stuart
d Aub ign y C aptain o f the Fre n ch sol diers made his
entry into Rome from the direction o f the meadows
and was greeted in the usual way by the suites of
the Pope and o f all t he cardinal s H e rode between
the B ishops V a l do e s o f Z a mo ra and Pistachio of
Conversan o straight to the Vatican where he met
the Pope in the Camera P a p a g a lli together with the
Ca rdinals P a ll a vic in ia San Gio rgio Lopez Fer
rari and the referenda ries There he was admitt e d
by the Po pe to th e ceremony o f kissing his foot and
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FEASTS AN D FEUDS I N RO ME
1 49
a f ter him ten or t welve o f his suite The Pope
j e s t e d with him for a short while and dismissed him
then whereupon b e accompanied by Archbishop S ac
chis of R agusa and the Bis hop V a l do e s and the oth
e rs who had received him
rode ba ck to the house of
the V i ce chancello r where quarters h a d been pro
vided f o r him There were also present the French
ambassador Bishop Gub é o f Tr eguier the E nglish
ambassado r and the ambassadors o f the duke o f
Savoy and o f V enice a n d Florence who kept n o o r
der a s the S avoyard who rode at the left o f the
E nglish ambassador was quarreling with the V e
n e t ia n who rode at his right
I did n o t want to in
a s usual
e n e and everythin
else
was
t e rv
g
O n the 2 5t h o r 2 6 t h o f June 1 50 1 in the early
mo rning it was publicly p roclaimed in t h e city by
order o f t he Pope o r the governor that al l those wh o
were not in pay o f t he Pope the King of Fran ce o r
o f Cesa re Borgia sho uld leave the city within th ree
hours and should not enter again There was fur
t h e rm ore a proclamation is sued in the n am e o f the
Lord Captain d Aub ig n y tha t all soldiers under the
command of the King of Fr a nce should stay duri ng
the whole day in the camp assigned to them near
Aqua Travers a under penalty
O n Monday the 2 8 t h o f June 1 50 1 all the s ol
diers camping near Aqua Travers a marched through
the meadows into the B orgo Petri by o rder of the
Pope There they met with a ll the othe r s oldiers o f
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P O PE ALEXAN D E R V I AN D H I S C O U R T
1 50
the King of France in R ome and when all were to
gether they marched in rank and file over the bridge
o f S an Angelo towards N aples in execution of their
orders The Pope was in the castle o f San Angelo
in the room s adj oining the garden o r in the loggia
from which he viewed them with great pleasure while
they marched past Those on foot were twelve
thousan d men strong the cavalry two thousand
After the soldiers there came twen ty six carriages
with thirty s ix bo mbards
O n Tuesday the 6 t h o f July 1 50 1 a Spanish
p rostitute Ludovi ca wh o had her quarters n ear the
White Fountain w a s arrested brought t o the S a
b e l lia n j ail where she wa s immediately subj ected to
torture and strung up within an hour She had
robbed her visitors as best sh e could and h a d had
several st abbed to death She wa s arrested because
a Frenchman from whom she had stolen twelve Scudi
quarrel ed with her i n publi c o n that account j ust
as the governor was passing and complained ab out
her to the govern o r
O n the 2 6 t h of J uly 1 50 1 about the fifth hour of
the night the Pope received the ne ws of the capture
o f Capua by the Duke of V a l e n t in ois
T he capture
of this city wa s achieved through treason by a cer
t ain Fabri zio a c it izen of Capua who let the men
B ut F a b riz io himself
o f the D uke enter in secret
w a s the first o n e to be killed by them and after hi m
there were a b o ut three thous and soldiers on fo ot and
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1 52
P O PE ALE XANDE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
papal rooms during his absence H e charged her
also to open the letters sen t him and in case any
di ffi culty should a rise to consul t Cardin al Cost a and
the other cardin a ls whom s h e might c all upon for
that purp ose
I t is s aid that at one occasion Lucreti a sent f o r
Costa and explain ed the o rde r of the Pope and a
p e nding case Cost a co n sidered the c a s e as being
withou t importance and said to Lu cretia that when
the Pope brought up these aff airs before the c o n s is
tory there was the V ice chancello r o r another cardi
n al who kept the record for h im I t would be
proper th erefore if there were som e one present who
would note down the conversation Lucretia a n
”
s we re d
I understand quite well how to write !
Costa asked :
Where i s your pen ? Lucretia u n
She
de rs t o od the meaning and j oke of the cardinal
smiled and they brought the convers ation to an end
in go od humor I wa s not consul ted about these
matters
O n Friday the 1 3 th of August 1 50 1 early in t h e
m o rning a placard wa s hung upon the statue o f
Master Pasquino at the corner o f the house of
C arafa a nnouncing the death o f the Pop e if he
should leave the city Thi s sp read immediately
throughout Rome and the same morning similar
posters were hung up i n various p arts of the city
containin g the following words
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FEAS TS AN D FEUDS I N RO ME
1 53
I s a i d to y ou before 0 P op e y ou were an ox ;
I tel l y ou now y ou die i f you g o o ut ;
1
Th e wheel w i ll follow h i m w h o drove the ox
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O n Saturday the 4 t h o f September 1 50 1 about
vespers the news came from Ferrara o f the conclu
sion of the marri a ge contrac t between Alphonso the
fi rs t born o f the Duke of Ferra ra and Lucretia B or
gia Therefore bombards were s e t o ff continuou sly
from the castle o f San Angelo from then until into
the night O n the following Sunday after break
fas t Lucreti a rode from the pala ce where s h e resided
to the church Santa Maria del Popol o dressed in a
robe of golden brocade accompanied by about three
hundred on horseback Before her rode four
bi shops namely H ieronymus de P o rc a rris V incenz
Pistachio Petrus Gambo a and Antonio Flores two
by two Then followed Lucreti a alone and after her
her suite and servants I n the s ame way sh e re
turned to the pala ce
O n the same day the main bell o f the Capitol wa s
rung f rom the hour of supper until the thi rd hour in
the night N umerous fi res were lighted in the castle
The tow
o f S an Angelo and over the whole city
ers o f the castle and the Capitol a n d o thers were il
l umin a t e d i n order t o excite everybody to j oy ,
though shame would h a ve been more fitting
1 Th e ox i s a n a ll u s i o n t o t h e B o r i a a rm s a b ul l
p a s a n t on a
g
fi e l d a n d t he whe e l t o t he a rms of t he C a rdi n al o f Li s b on
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P O PE ALEXAN DE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 54
O n the following Monday two j ugglers to o n e o f
whom o n horseback Donna Luc retia had given her
new robe o f brocade worn only once on the previou s
day and worth three hundr ed ducats went through
all t h e m ain stree t s and alleys of Rome with the loud
cry :
Long live the n oble D uchess o f Ferrara
”
long live Pope Alexander ! Long may they live
And then the other o n e o n foot t o whom D onn a Ln
c re t i a had also given a robe went along with the
same cry
O n Thursday the 9 t h o f Septembe r 1 50 1 there
was hun g at the wall of the Torre di N on a a woman
who had stabbed her husband to death with a knife
durin g the previou s night
O n Saturday the 2 5 t h o f S eptember the Pope
wen t early in the morning to N epi Civita Castellan a
and to the other pla ces in the neighborhood and
with him Cesare Borgi a and the Cardinals Serra
Francesco and Ludovico B orgi a with a small suite
D onna L ucreti a rem ained in the chamber of the Pope
in order to guard it and wi th the s ame orders a s
upon the previous absence o f the Pope He re
turned to Rome on Saturday the 2 3 rd o f O ctober
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O n the evening of the l ast day o f O ctober 1 50 1
Cesare B orgia a rran ged a banquet in his chambers
i n the Vatican with fifty honest p ros titutes called
courtesans who danced after the dinner with the a t
t en da n t s a n d the o thers who were present , at first in
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CL O S I N G Y E AR S
OF
’
AL E ! A ND E R S R E I G N
the evening o f the 5t h of January 1 502 as I
have been told the Pope counted out a h u n
d red thousand ducats in minted gold in the presence
o f the bro thers o f the b ridegro o m
Ferdin and an d
Sigismund as a dowry fo r D o nn a Lucretia which
he paid over to them in coined money While count
ing o u t the money he received a letter from France
according to w h ich the French King had restored
full liberty t o the ca rdinal Ascanio Sfo rza
T o day o n the 6 t h o f Janua ry D onn a Lucretia
started on her j ou rn ey from the V atican t o her hus
band in Ferrara She rode st rai ght way t o the
B ridge of S an Angelo f ro m there t o the left past
the house of the fo rmer Cardinal o f Parma through
the Porta del Popolo I n her retinue sh e had about
s i x ho rses
a nd
she wo re n o luxuri ous garm ents
The o rder o f the outriders wa s the usual o n e includ
ing the arm e d guards B ehi nd them rode the Car
dinal Francesco Borgia whom the Pope had recently
named p apal legate de l a t e re in order t o conduc t
D onna Lucreti a through the te rri to ry o f the
Church H e r ode betwee n D o n Fe rdinand a t the
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1 57
1 58
P O PE ALEXAND E R VI AN D H I S CO U R T
right and Do n Sigismund at the left Th en came
D onn a Lucretia between the Ca rdinal d E s t e at the
right and Cesa re Bo rgia at the left and behi n d them
their men in rank and file There was n o bishop
prothonotary or abbot in the train but in stead the
papal shield b ea rers a n d R om an nobles who a ecom
n i e d Lucretia on their o wn
a
account They all
p
had o n n e w garments o f gold and silve r brocades
and di vers silken stuff s made for the occasion F ur
t he rmo re the Pope had d u ring these days requested
the cardinals through my colleagu e that each o f
them shoul d lend t h ree ho rs es o r mul es and he h a d
al so asked many bishops mo re than twenty in num
ber that they should each put o n e stallion or one
s teed at the disposal o f the esco rt o f Lucretia to
Ferr ara which they did A few ca rdinals however
contributed only a single hors e o r mule and none o f
the b orrowed anim als was eve r return e d
The o ther day before the Cardinal d E s t e came
to Home with his s uite the Pope bethought him o f
his own will to honor thos e who had appeared with
him in addition to his servants and were to make
the j ourney to Ferrara wi th D onn a Lucretia a n d
dist ributed the n e w arrivals with their attendants
among the houses of those who belonged to the c u r ia
To each cleric o f the Camera he assigned twelve per
son s and twelve horses and the same number to the
clerics o f the c oll egium and t o the other official s a
certain number to each alike E very o ne had to
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P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
160
fo r the reason that he f o r whom they petitioned had
already been disposed o f For a ccording to report
he had been strangl e d as the Pop e c a me back t o
R ome and thrown into the Tibe r
O n the l s t o f March 1 502 the Pope and hi s s on
Cesare B orgi a had gone on a pleas ure trip each o n
hi s o wn ship with his suite
O n Sunday the 5t h o f March the two ship s con
tinned their j ourney in spite o f the stormy sea and
weather to C orneto in the neighbo rhood of which
t h e y put in
The Duke apprehendi ng greater dan
ger left the ship at the dinner hour entered a small
boat and rowed for the shore There he sent to
Corneto for ho rses and rode to the city The Pope
however wa s not able to m ake the harbor with his
ship W hereupon all o n bo a rd were stricken with fear
and frightened by the stormy s e a c ast themselves
down here and there on the floor o f the boat
The Pope alon e remain ed sitting fi rm and um
afraid in his armchair o n the quarterdeck and looked
on at everything and when the wild seas d ash e d
”
against the ship he s ai d
Jesus ! and crossed
himself H e frequently addressed the sa ilors order
ing them to prepare food fo r the meal But they ex
c u s e d themselves on the plea that they were unable
to make any fire on ac coun t of the disturbed sea and
the continuous tempest When after a time the s e a
had subsided somewhat they fried fishes whi ch the
Pope ate O n the e vening of this Saturday the Pope
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C L O S I NG YE AR S
16 1
retu rned by ship with his whole retinue to Porto
E rcole and sent the same night to Corneto for riding
a ccommodations which a rr ived on the following Sun
day
O n Thursday the 9t h o f Jun e 1 502 there was
found in the Tiber strangled wi th a cro ss bow a round
h is neck the Signo r o f Faenza a young man o f about
1 8 years and o f su ch handsome figure and appear
ance tha t his like could hardly have been found
among a thousand young men of his age There
we re also fo und two young people bound t o each
other by the arms the o n e fifteen years o f age and
the other t wenty five years a n d with them a woman
and many others
O n Sunday the 3 rd of Jul y 1 502 a strong rope
was stretched in that court of the V atican where the
C ardinals u sually dism o un t from their horses four
or five rods above the ground and ten to twelve rods
long Upon this rope a m an a t —arms of Alphonso
d E s t e the husband of Lucretia gave a perf o rmance
carrying a boy o n his shoulders and exhibited vari
o u s other feats of rope dancing
The Pope looked
o n with many cardinals p relates and others as spec
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the s ame Sunday at about seve n o clock there
p assed away in the conven t of Mine rva at the age o f
almost hundred years a fria r George A le m a n us o f
S teiermark o f the thi rd o rder o f the D ominicans
T he m onks give numero us examples of his p raise
On
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P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
162
worthy and religio u s life asserting that he went
s traight to heaven They laid him in his cowl on
a bier before the high altar of the church of the con
vent And there he lay stretched out straight while
during his lifetime he had gone around bowe d over
and very bent He lay in this state the following
Monday and Tuesday until vespers when he was
lifted u p on the bier before the altar The people
t rooped by in masses and there was a mighty throng
Many friars stood nea r t h e bier around the al tar as
a guard again st the crowd I also s a w him H e
was wel l preserved and had n o odo r of putrefaction
Many mi racles are said t o have been worked on the
lame and the sick whom he restored to health but I
could not disc o ver anything reliable When the
Pope heard o f the m atter h e
him to be
buried during the night of Wednesday which took
place in the presence of the b a rg e ll o o f the city
O n Wednesday the 6 t h o f July 1 502 at nine
o clock in the m o rning a cleric of the diocese of B asle
by the n am e of Hieronymus wa s pl aced with the cap
of infamy on his head o n a wooden ladder which was
propped aga inst t he columns o f ben e diction on the
steps o f S ai nt Peter befo re the pl ace o f audience
H e had confessed that he had sign e d and d ated
eleven petitions with the n ame o f the C ardinal s
P a l lv
ic ini and San Giorgio and with the inscription
”
o n the back :
Registrata and furthe rm ore with
the book and page o f the register of promotion s for
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P O PE ALE XANDE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 64
O n this da y a fever resulting from t wo in
t e rmit t e n t fevers which was very violent and which
he had in addition to his con stant fever stopped and
only appeared again on S aturday the l 6 t h H e
had several capable physician s who visited him con
s t a n t ly but they coul d not persuade him to t ake any
me dicine until Sun day the 1 7 th when he took o n e
sixth o r eighth o f the m edicine prescribed whi ch
only served to hurt mo re than help hi m N or did
he want to make any will o r choose any burial place
o r m ake any bequest s o r gifts to hi s servants
On
the morning before hi s death perhaps in the de
l iri um he complain e d tha t somebody with whom he
had m ade arrangement s for a petition had cheated
him to the exten t o f ten ducats Two monks were
p resent who remarked this They brought him back
t o consciousness held the cru cifix before him and
“
said :
V enerable Lord do n ot wo rry abou t a r
rangements but take your refuge to this entrust
yourself to H im who will red eem you from all fraud
”
and deception
Thereupon he kissed the cru cifix
touched his lip and m ade the sign o f contrition
Soon afte rwards he breathed forth his spirit May
he res t in peace !
The s ame morning a secret c o n s is t o ri um was held
at which the Pope trans ferred the ch u rc h of Capua
whi ch had become vacant through the death of Fer
rari to the Cardinal d E s t e A s the head o f the
church o f Moden a he appointed the brother o f the
rist
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C L O S I N G YEA R S
165
deceased D on Francesco de Ferrari an un c o uth
m a n an d a layman who had come t o Rome on M on
day the 1 8 t h a t the news o f the i llnes s o f his
brother the Cardinal I n orde r to receive the
church of the deceas e d C ardinal he had spent all his
o wn money in bribery for this pur ose and had also
p
renounced the whole est ate of his brother
The elected was clothed i mmedia tely after the
conclus io n of the c on s is t o ri um i n the ecclesiastical
robes in which he appeared to us like a monster O n
account o f my former acquaintance with him I gave
him my hand in order to congratulate him H e
took it and was fo r kissing it if I had not withd ra wn
my hand
The Pop e charged my colleague and o rdered that
the s ame arrangements should be m ade for his f u
neral as had bee n mad e upon the death of the Cardi
nal o f Capua who had died on the 1 5 th of August o f
the previous year I n his an teroom we prepared a
bier on w h ich we laid the dead at six o clock adorned
with all the priestly vestments which had been newly
made f o r hi m fr o m violet t aff eta At the right and
the left s ix torches were set up H ere he lay until
nine o clo ck N either the Cardinals no r their suites
n o r other cle rics were invited into the p alace The
clergy o f S aint Peter s awaited him with the cro ss in
the outer hall of the chur ch Th e beneficia ries o f
S aint Pet er s bo re the dead from h is chamber to the
place o f the b u ria l preceded by thirty torch bear
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P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
166
The Responsorium was sung in the cust omary
manner in the center of the chu rch He was then
c arried to the chap el o f Santa Maria dell e Febbri
where he w a s to be interr e d
All torches we re taken away and I retained but
o n e with d ifficulty to lighten the funeral
O ne o f
hi s confi dential men threw himsel f upon the corpse
and dre w a ring o ff his hand which the de a d Ca rd i
n al had bought for two carlines H e also took an
o l d w allet from h im which was worth hard ly two
carlines and whi ch the same confidenti al man had
received from the papal s acris ty with the p romise to
give it back again
The coffin was somewhat to o small ; therefore a
carpenter kneeled o n the corpse to force it in He
was buried barely two sp ans de e p below the floo r b e
sides the wall an d the outer pavem ent between the
alta r of S ant a Ma ria delle Febbri and the al ta r o f
Pope Ca l ixtus III Fo r a few days the pl ac e o f
bu rial wa s without a sign no r were there any torches
placed o n it a s was the custom with c ardi nals
Finally this was done by the beneficiaries of S aint
Peter s to whom fifty carl ines were paid according
to agreement fo r ca rrying the corpse The tomb
looked for a few days li k e the grave o f o n e who had
been hanged fo r some rascals had scratched two
g al lows o n it and had engraved above the o n e from
“
which a rope hung down the words
The Lord
will demand the intercessi o ns from your hands and
e rs
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16 8
P O PE ALEXAN D E R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
“
ter the realm o f God
Mode n a ans wered :
I
”
have no money
Thereupon Peter
Then give
”
me five hund red
The answer was
I have
neither thousand nor five hundred Poo r I departed
from life robbed o f all my possessions livings
money gold and silver vessels and all m y riches have
been taken by the Pop e N aked I come ; in the name
”
Peter went down step
o f God have pity u p o n me
by step from five hundred to o n e ducat which he
want e d to levy a s admission from him B ut when
Ferrari continued to advance the pretext of his
poverty Peter told hi m :
I f yo u c an not even p ay
o n e du cat g o to the devi l and s tay poor with him to
”
all eternity
The Frenchman thus alluded t o the life and con
duct o f Ferrari who exto rt ed money fro m the poor
with great cruelty He had pity fo r none bu t sent
the poor al ways to the devil t o enj oy ete rn al pov
e r t y with hi m
That is al so why Pete r above con
sign ed him to the etern al fire o f hell So Ferrari
comes to hell and knocks there The doo rk eeper
“
asks who knocks H e r e ceives the answer
He
”
fro m Moden a
T h e doorkeeper bargains in the
s ame way a b out the p rice And a s Ferrari was not
read y to pay anything he d rove him away and a s
sig n ed him a place aside where he should be to r
m e n t e d with etern al p unishm ent
I feel deeply griev e d in soul that he had been s o
cruel to the p oo r and had bethough t hi mself s o little
”
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C L O S I N G YEA R S
169
of the welfare o f his soul while he showed towa rd me
only m u n ific e n c e generosity and appreciation
May Almighty G o d have mercy upo n his s oul H e
i s repo rted to h ave left thi rty thous and double
ducats in coined money ten thousand in o ther coin
and gold and silver vessels to the valu e of ten tho u
sand d uc ats That he left s o many ducats I ha rdly
believe
O n the first day o f Christmas 1 50 2 thi rty m asked
men with long thick noses in t he fo rm o f enormou s
phalli p re c ed e d after dinn e r to the pl a ce of S aint
Peter Before them a ca rdinal s ches t was b o rn e
”
to wh ich wa s affixed a shi eld with three di c e Then
c ame the masked fello ws a n d behi nd them some on e
rode in a long co at and an o ld card inal s hat The
fellows rode also on donkeys some of them O n su ch
small on e s th a t thei r feet touche d the ground and
that they wal k ed thus astride togethe r with the don
keys They went up to the little pl a c e between the
porta l of the palace and the hall o f audience where
they showed th e mselves to the Pop e wh o stood at the
windo w above the po rtal in the Loggi a Paulina
Then they made a p rocession through the whole city
At two o clock o n the nigh t o f the 3 rd of Janu
a ry 1 50 3 the Pope m a de known to the C ardinal
O rsini and to J a cobu s de S anta C ro ce that Cesa re
B orgi a had n ow taken the Castle o f S in ig a glia
Therefore in order t o congratulate the Pope the
cardinal rode in the m orning t o the V atic an and
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P O PE ALE XAND E R V I AN D H I S CO U RT
1 70
w i t h h im
the governo r o f the city who made as if
After the card inal
b e accompanied h im by accident
had alighted in the p alace all hi s horses and mules
were brought to the papa l stables and he found h im
self suddenly sur ro unded by a rmed men in the
Camera Pa p a g a ll i and fainted H e was b rought
mediately to the Torre di N on a prison behi nd the
garden o r arbo r of the Pop e into the room of the
Bishop Gamboa and with him afterwards the P ro
t o n o t a ry O rsini Ja cobus de S anta C roce and the
Abbot Bernardo de Alvino who were all kept there in
confinement
The secretary and t reasurer o f the Pope Adri ano
Castel li who had on the p re c eding night read the let
ter o f Cesa re to the Po p e in whi ch he notified the
Pope that he should arres t the Cardinal O rsini a nd
Jacobus in t he mo rning did not want to leave the
p apal chambe r tha t n ight s o that if the C ardin al
O rsini should be warn ed the Pope might not suspe c t
th at he had done i t
The s ame Adriano s en t fo r t he A rchbishop R in
aldo O rsini o f Florenc e on the mo rning that the
cardinal rode to the V atican and had him a r rested
and placed under gua rd in his room in the Va tican
After the arr e s t of the ca rdi n al the governo r rode
with all his men to hi s house on the Monte Giordano
loc k ed i t pl aced guards befo re it and took up his
res idence there hims elf While t his w as happeni ng
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P O PE ALE XAN DE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 72
ta ry and the abbott were brought there s oon afte r the
arrest J a c ob us de S anta Croce was kept a prisoner
in the V ati can
C esare B orgi a had seiz e d the p risoners mentioned
above in the followi ng way When he was lying be
fore the Castle o f S in ig a g l ia with V it e l oz z o P aolo
and the others he p retended that he di d not want
yet to advance against the castle but preferr e d
rather to take a meal first and he invited those men
t io n e d to p artake with him
The Duke entered the
house followed by Paolo to whom he had extende d a
special invitation Then came V it e l o z z o whom
Paolo had caused to be called and the others came
beh ind them When they were all within the cou rt
yard the D uke went into o n e of the rooms where
upon M ich e l o t t o and many others s u rrounded V i
“
Y ou
t e l o z z o a s wel l a s Paolo w ith the words
”
a re under arre s t
Thereupon V it el o z z o snatched
o u t his dagge r and wounded several who had thrown
themselves upon him This was in vain fo r he and
others were put int o prison and t reated a s h a s been
told
O n Wednesday the 4 t h o f January Jacobus de
S anta C roce engage d himself t o the Pope to report
a t any time and place that he should desire Fo r
this he pledged himsel f and his p roperty as a bond
Several citize n s
f o r the fines o f the p apal chamber
took a guaranty o f twenty thousand ducats upon
t hemselves a nd he was set at liberty on the same day
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C L O S I N G YEA R S
1 73
and return e d t o hi s residenc e soon after vespers
I n the eve n ing o f the same day the governo r stayed in
the apart ment o f the Archbishop O rsini o f Florence
and after dinner he had al l poss essions o f the Ca r
dinal O rsini and of the Archbishop b rought in their
ca rriages and o ther veh icles to the V atican o r t o his
o wn house acc o rding t o his pleasu re
Many things
were also t aken by the s oldiers a n d o t hers and car
ried a way
O n Thursd a y the 5t h of Janua ry 1 50 3 the sun
shone through the clouds early in the mo rning an d
then retir e d behind them I t did not rain until ves
pers but then rai n fell d uring the whole night and
the next day
The same mo rning J acobus de Santa Croce rode
with Prince Go ff redo the s on of the Pope to Monte
R o t o n c a and i n the name of the Pop e took posses
sion of it as well a s of all land of the O rsini and also
o f the Abbey o f F arfa
At the usual hour the p apal vespers were s aid in
the mai n chap el Mass was conducted with the
Cardinal S a n Giorg i o officiating The Pope was not
p resent A fter this the cardinals went to the Pope
to in t ercede for the Cardinal O rs ini The Pop e told
them of the co nspiracy of V it e l oz z o o f the O rsi n i
o f B aglioni and P andolfo and thei r a ccom plices fo r
the assassinatio n of Cesa re B orgia who wanted to
take revenge on them Thei r intercession was o f no
avail
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1 74
P O PE
ALEXAN D E R
V I AN D H I S CO U R T
The same da y the city o f Perugia surrendered to
the Pope I ts tyrant G iova n ni Paolo had previously
fled to Pandolfo in Sien a
O n the 6 t h o f January 1 50 3 after dinner the gov
e rn o r rode t o the residence o f the auditor of the
camera B ishop Petro Me n z i o f Cesena summoned
hi m to his pres ence s ick a s he was and brought him
to the Castle San Angel o where he had him locked
up and placed un der gu ard Then he went to the
V atica n and from there to the residence of An drea
Spiriti o f V iterbo prothonota ry o f the Apostolic
S ee and cleric o f the p apal c amera with whom he
pro ceeded as he had done with Menzi When the
p rothonotary realized that he had been ar rest e d he
threw the k eys o f his library and his money chest
into the sewer for what reason I do not kno w
The following S aturday the governo r o rde red all
the possessions o f the bishop audito r as well as of
the prothonotary to be carri e d from hi s residence to
the Vatican I t was said tha t only very little had
been fo und in the house o f the p rothonotary
Alarmed by the arrest o f the auditor and the
i
n o fl o of
S
ro t h o n t a r
Spiriti
the
Bishop
of
Chiusi
y
p
Cas tle L o tario cleric o f the Apostoli c camera and
papal Secretary contra cted the fever and made hi s
will on Saturday the 4 t h o f January and as e xe c u
tors he design ed the Cardinals Pall avici ni and Pie
To the Pope he bequeathed a h undred
c ol omin i
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1 76
P O PE ALEXAND E R V I AND H I S CO U R T
t o r tu re The villai n ous band tore the roofs from
the houses the beams windows doo rs chests and
barrels from which they had let the wine run out
and set fi re t o everything They took wi th them
whatever they could plunder in the places they
passed through a s well as in Aquapendente Monte
fia s c on e Viterbo and everywhere else
I n the evening o f the l s t o f F ebruary 1 50 3 a
co rp se w a s found in the river near the Ponte N uovo
without clothing and with scarlet stockings Dur
ing these days Antonio de P is t o rio and his a ssociate
were forbidden to see the Cardinal O rsini to whom
they were accustomed to bring every day the food
a n d drinks se n t by his mother
This was done a s it
has been said because t he Pope h a d requested from
the ca rdinal two thousand ducats which a relative of
the cardin al ha d d eposit e d for the s ale o f a lar g e
pearl to hi m The pearl had been bought by the
c ardinal himself for the price o f two thousand ducats
from a certain V irgilio O rsini or hi s heirs I n order
t o come t o the assistance o f her s on th e mother o f
the c ardinal when she heard o f it paid the Pope the
two thousand duc ats and the mistres s of the cardi
n al who had the said pearl p rocur e d admission to
the Pope in m ale attire and presented him the pearl
Possessed of the pearl and the money the Pope gave
the o rder tha t the two should be allow e d again as b e
fore to bring the cardinal food and drink The
cardinal had howe ver in the meantime as the people
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C L O S I N G YEAR S
1 77
said emptied the cup that had been prep ar ed f o r him
by order a n d direction o f the Pope
O n Thursday the 2 n d o f February 1 50 3 the
feast o f Purific ation the Pope bl e s sed a n d dis
tributed the candles in the main chapel without an y
c rowdi n g N evert heless he had a round hi m sel f the
wooden railing T wo conservators held the candles
for the Pope Cardinal C astro celebrated the sol
e mn mass in the chapel
All this wa s done in the
usual and custom ary m anner
O n Monday the 1 3 th o f February 1 503 i t was
said in R ome that G ia n g io rda n o O rsini had s u r
rendered to the Pope and Cesa re without any condi
tion that furthermore Pandolfo Pet rucci of Sien a
and Gian Paolo B aglioni o f Perugia had been taken
prisoners on Fl orentine territo ry
O n Wednesday the 1 5th o f Feb ruary 1 50 3 the
Cardinal d E s t e departed from R ome after the con
s is t o r
y in which he had take n p art in o rder t o re
turn to Ferrara o n account o f the resentment Cesare
Borgia bo re toward him because he loved the p rincely
sister in l a w of Cesare and had h ad intercourse with
her a s als o had h ad Cesa re
O n Thursd a y the l 6 t h o f Feb ruary the Pop e
sent bombards to Cesare from the Castle San Angelo
to aid in reduc in g B racciano
O n Monday the 2 0 t h o f February a secret con
s is t o r
y was held during which the Pope told the
cardinals that the O rsini were planning to i nv a de
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P OPE ALEXAND E R VI AN D HI S COU R T
1 78
Ho m e by steal th a n d to pillage the houses o f the
c ardinals He therefore warned the cardinals that
every o n e o f them should lay in a sto re o f provisions
for himself in his house and protec t it with artillery
H e complained o f Ces are that hitherto he had n o t
been willing to obey hi s orders concerning the con
ques t o f B raccian o and the other strongholds of the
O rsini bu t that he p referred to listen to the King of
France al though he was cap tain o f the church H e
declared he would insist in any case on the capture
o f B racciano and the other places
Furthermore
C ardinal O rsini had off ered him
ducats fo r
hi s release He had consoled and admonished him
to be o f go od cheer and befo re a l l to take good c are
o f h is health
sin ce everything was o f secondary
importan ce and he had ordered all the physicians
t o take the greatest ca r e o f the welfare o f the ca r
dinal
O n Wednesday the 2 2 n d o f February the Car
May
dinal O rsini died in the Cas tle o f S an Angelo
his soul rest in peace ! Amen !
The Pope com manded my colleague Bernardino
G u t t e rii to arrange the funeral of the deceased
I
will n ot therefore attend the ceremony myself nor
have anythi n g to do with it a s I have no wish to learn
1
aught th a t does not concern me
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i ly p b a b le
I t i s h gh
ro
o rde r o f t h e B org ias
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t ha
t
t he
i
c a rd n a
l wa s
p ois on e d by
P O PE ALE XANDE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 80
all doors a t the entrance t o the residence of the
Pope O ne o f them drew a d agger and threatened
Cardinal Casanova i f he did not give hi m the keys
and the money of the Pope he would stab him and
throw him o ut o f the window whereupon the fright
en ed cardinal surrendered the keys to him O ne
after the other they entered the room behind the
chamber o f the Pope and took all the sil ver they could
find as well as two chests with
ducats each
At eight o clock they opened the doo rs again an d
the death o f the Pope became kno wn I n the mean
time his servants had approp riated whatever was left
in the wa rdrobes and they left nothing but the pap al
a rm chairs a few cu shions and the rugs o n the
wall s Ces are d id not appea r during the whole ill
nes s o f the Pope and no t even a t hi s death N or
di d the Pope mention him o r Lucretia with o n e wo rd
After seven o clock my colleague arrived at the
V atican and was recognized and a dmitted H e
found the Pope dead and had h im washed by the
servant o f the s acristy Balthasar and a pap al serv
ant Then they p u t o n him all hi s everyday gar
ments a n d a white coat without a t rain whi ch he
had never worn wh ile alive O ver this they put a
surplice And thus they l aid him on a bie r in the
ante chamber o f the hall where he had died with a
crimson silk and a beautiful carpet over him
After eigh t o clock my colleague sent for me and
I came
The ca rdi nals in the city had not yet re
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THE
FUNE R AL
v
ce i e d
OF
ALEXAND E R
181
any announc e ment but duri n g the time that I
went to the Vatican i t was c ommunicated to them
But none o f them made any move nor did they meet
anywhere else I suggested to Ca rafa that he ought
to prepare f o r imminent dangers a n d afte r nine
o clo ck he notified all the cardinals t hrough his s e c
that they should deign to appear the next
re t a ry
There in the
morn ing in Santa Maria Minerva
middl e of the sacri sty four ben ches were pl aced for
the cardinal s in a quadrangle When I came t o the
P ope I dressed him in re d robes all of brocade with
a shor t fanon a beautiful chasuble and with stock
ings And as there was no cros s o n the shoes I
put o n instead his daily slippers o f crimson velvet
with the golden cross which I bound with two strings
to the b a ck o f the heels His ring was missing and
I could no t recove r i t
Thereupon we carried him
through the two rooms the hall o f the Ponti ff s
and the a udience room to the Camera P a p a g a lli
where we p repared a beautiful table o f o n e rod in
length with a crimson c over and a beautiful rug
over it We obtained fou r cushion s o f brocade and
The o n e o f ol d crimson vel
o n e o f c rimson velv e t
vet we did not use but of the others we laid o n e
under the shoulders of the Pope two besides and one
beneath the he a d and ove r this an old carpet And
s o he lay throughout the n ight with two torches
quite alone although the prothonotaries had been
invi ted t o read the burial se rvice
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P O PE ALEXANDE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 82
I return ed to the city du ring the night after
twelve o clock accompanied by eight palace guards
I n the n ame o f the V ic e chancellor I o rdered the run
ner Carlo together with his companions under pen
al ty of the los s o f hi s office to inform the whole
clergy o f Rome b o th regul ar a n d secular that they
should be at the V atican o n the morrow at nine
o clock in the morning to escor t the b ody from the
m ain chapel to St Peter s Two hundred to rches
were prepared f o r the escort of the Pope
O n the following Monday the 1 9 th o f August
1 503 I had the coffin brough t t o the Camera Papa
gall i and laid the body in i t The subdeacon in his
cloak s tood ready to carry the cros s but we could
no t find the p apal cro ss The shield bearers and a
f e w servants o f the chamber were c alled together to
bea r forty three torches a s well as four penitentiaries
n amely the B ishop o f M il op o t a m o Claudi us Cata
leni And reas Frisner and Arnold de B edie t t o of the
order o f the Minorites D uring the night they sung
the requiem sitting o n the window bench and laying
their hands o n the bier of the Pope which was then
carried by the poo r who stood aro und in order to
I then put a double mattress into
s e e the Pope
the coffin and over it a beautiful n e w bishop s cloak
a le m auve with two new veils o n
o f brocade o f
p
which were embroidered the arms o f Po pe Al exander
I then laid the Po p e o n thi s a n d covered him with
an old rug and plac ing a n old p ill o w beneath his
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P O PE ALEXAN DE R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 84
When the coffi n w a s depo sit e d in the c enter o f the
church the N on in t re s i/n j ud ic iu m etc should have
been reci ted but there was no book there While
we were waiting fo r i t in v a in the clergy intonated
the resp onso rium : L ib e ro me D o mine
During the
singing some soldiers o f the pal a c e gu ard attempted
t o appr op riate several torches The clergy de
fended i tself ag a ins t t hem and the soldiers tu rned
their weapo ns again st the clergy wh o left their
singing and fled to the sacristy An d the Pope was
left lyi ng there al most al one I too k up the bier
to g ether wi th th ree others and we carried him up
to the main altar and the papal throne and pl aced
him wi th the head t owards the altar closing the choir
behind the coffin
The bishop of Sessa feared that if
the people c a me n ear to the dead the re might b e a
s c a nd al that is s o me o n e wh o m the de a d ha d in j ured
might tak e revenge upon hi m Therefore he had
the c offin t a ken away again and had it de p o sited at
the entra n ce o f the c h ap el between the s t a i rs the fee t
s o nea r to the ra ils and t he doo r that o n e coul d to uch
them eas ily with the hand through the rai l ing
There it remained the whol e day thro ugh behi nd t he
well closed railing
I n the meantime sixteen cardinals had ass e mbl e d
in St a Ma ria Mine rva afte r nine o clock They
appoin ted A rchbisho p S achis o f R a gus a a s govern or
o f R om e an d a s signed two hundred soldiers to hi m
The office of the chamberlain they handed over to
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THE
FUNE RAL
OF
ALEXANDE R
1 85
Cardinal V era And to these t wo they entrusted
the supervisio n o f the gates of R ome and o f the
populace and the clergy The leaden seal of Alex
ander V I wa s b r o ken be fo re them in their presence
by the pl um b a t o rs and they o rder e d that the p ap al
ring should be handed ove r t o the datary which
was done by Ca rdinal Casano va whi le Pallavicini
and Borgia ch arged themselves with the task o f tak
ing an invento ry o f the possessions o f the Pope in
his chamber The c ongregation ended about three
o clock
After dinner the cardi n als befo re named together
with the clerics o f the Camera t ook an inventory o f
the silver and c o stly fu rnishings They found the
papal crown and two pre cious ti aras all the rings
which the Pope used at the mass a n d t he whole
service of vessels used by the Pope when o fficiating
a s m uch as could be packed into eight large chests
There were furtherm ore s ilver vessels in the first
chamber behind the pap al apartment which Michel
otto N eri had ove rlook ed and a box of cyp rus wood
which was covered with a green clo th and had also
not been discovered I n thi s box were p recious
stones and rings to the value o f ab o ut twenty five
thousand ducats many papers among them the o a th
o f the card inal s
the bull of investiture o f the king
dom of N aples and various other docum ents
The cleric o f the chambe r Fern ando P o n z e t t o
made arrangements during my a bsence with the ca r
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P O PE
1 86
ALEXAND E R
V I AN D H I S CO U RT
Michaele
fo
r
a
catafalque
in
an d Buccio
p
the middle o f the chu rch o f S t Pete r fifteen spans in
length twelve sp a ns in width and six sp a n s in height ;
fu rthermore fo r a r ailing i n t h e aisle besides t h e
c atafalque to h old fifty torches and a hundred and
fifty t o rc hh olde rs a lso fo r b e n ch e s for the mourn ers
a n d a hund red p relates — everything for the p rice
of
a hund red and fif t e e n duca ts the ducat at ten
c arlin e s H e als o arr an ged for a c redence fo r t he
celebrant and that they sho uld execute the catafalque
and everythi ng els e du ring the whole of the follow
ing day
Meanwhile the Pope as h a s been told before stood
between the rail s o f t he mai n al t a r and beside him
there bu rned four torches The decomposi t ion and
blackn ess o f his fa c e increased const antly s o that
he looked at eight o clock when I s a w h im like the
blackest cloth o r the da rkest neg ro completely
spotted the nose swollen the mo uth qui te large the
t ongu e s woll en up doubled s o that it started out o f
his lips the mouth open in short s o horrible that
n o on e ever s a w anything simil a r o r declared to kn ow
of i t
I n the evening after ni ne o clock he was brought
f rom there to the chapel o f S anta Maria delle Febbri
and deposited in the corn er o n t he wall a t the left of
the alta r by s ix p orters wh o made j okes and allu
sions to the Pope all the while The two c a rpenters
had made the co ffin t o o n arr o w and t oo sh o rt They
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APPEND I X
C HAR LE S V III
Ph i l ip de C om ines a c ontem p orary
h
i
m
n
i
n i n t e ll i
d
escr
i
es
as
lac
ki
o f the French K i n
b
g
g
g ence a n d as be in g cap r i c i ous a n d eas i l y i n fluence d
wh i le G uic c a rdin i a lso a contem p ora ry h a d a much
better o pi n i on of h im C harles w a s short of sta ture
a n d short nec k e d
w i th a p a rrot l ik e nose of enorm ous
di mens i ons a fi ery b i rth m a rk a roun d hi s left e y e a n d
twelve toes on h i s feet h i dden in s p lay ed shoes wh i ch
set the fa sh i on in foot gear for the e n d of the fi fteenth
century i n I tal y
I N N O C E N T V III — A g oo d desc r ip ti on of I nnocent i s
conta i ne d i n a re p ort o f t h e ambassador of Floren c e
“
to h i s g overnment : He i s a man the ambassador
“
wri tes
of ra ther mo re th a n me di um he i ght of f a i r
cultu re p leas a nt a n d ki n dl y as a cardi n a l more so th a n
t h e di g n i ty of a cardin a l re qu i res ; he a pp e a rs t o be a
man of p eaceable di s p os i ti on but I doubt whether i n
t i m e h i s offi ce ma y not ch a n g e h i s mi nd He has a n
i ll e g i ti mate s on who i s n ow at Na p les a m a n of more
th a n twenty y ears of a g e a n d som e ma rr i e d dau ghters
w h o t hemselves have sons ; h e has a brother a n d ne p hew s
bes i des o n e of whom i s a p ri est a c a non of St Peter s
Messer Lorenzo b y name a n d i t i s thou ght th a t he w i ll
mak e h im a cardi n a l at his fi rst electi o n of cardi nals
Fi l ipp o di Nerone has a n i ece of h i s a s h i s m i stress
who was the w i fe of S t ol do Al t ovit e , a n d when the Pon
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1 89
P O PE ALEXAN D E R V I AN D H I S CO U R T
1 90
ti ff w a s a cardi n a l he hel d h im i n h igh esteem H e i s
natural l y rather s t out fi f t y thre e y e ars of a g e very
p ros p erous a n d an a dmi rer o f le a rne d men
Another conte m p orary the h i stori an I n f e s s u ra h a s
th i s of h i m to s a y : The v i car o f the Po p e in R ome
a n d ne i hb orhoo d
watchful of h i s fl oc k as be fi ts a n
g
honor a ble m a n p ub l i she d an e di ct forb i ddi n g clergy as
well as l a i cs wh a tever the i r p os i ti o n m i ght be to k ee p
mi stresses e ither o p enl y or i n sec ret Th e p enalty for
s o doi n
g woul d be e x commun i c a t i on a n d c on fi sc a t i on of
the i r b e n e fic e s for i t w a s a p ra cti ce wh i ch re doun de d
to the discre di t of p r i estl y di g ni ty a n d divi ne law
When the Po p e heard th i s b e summone d the v i car a n d
comman de d h i m to a nnul the e di ct s a yi n g th a t t h e p r a e
ti ce was not forbi dden An d i ndee d such was the l i fe
l e d b y t h e cler gy that there w a s hardl y one who did not
k ee p a m i stress Th e number of h a rlots a t that time
l i v in g in R ome a mounte d t o 6 8 0 0 not counti n g those
who p racti ce d the i r n efari ous tra de un der the clo a k o f
concub i n a g e a n d those who e x erc i se d the i r arts i n
sec ret
Z rz m ( or D J E M )
He was the y oun ger son of Ma
bomet II a n d was defeate d by hi s brother B a j a z e t
when he a tte m p te d t o drive h im from the throne He
then took refu g e w i th the kn i ghts at R hodes S ulta n
B a j a z e t use d i n turn b oth p rom i ses a n d thre a ts to ge t
the fu gi ti ve i nto h i s p ower For g reater safety Zi z im
went t o Fra nce w h e re the Bi sho p of Aubusson un der
t ook o u cons i derat i on of a p ens i on of
ducats
of g ol d p ay able o n the fi rst of August i n each y ear t o
defra y a ll the p r in ce s e xp ens es a n d p revent h i s fl i g ht
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