The Poisons of the Borgia ‘Holy Family’ I don’t know if Pope Alexander VI believed in that popular proverb. It seems to me that the Spaniard Rodrigo de Borja (Rodrigo Borgia in Italian) believed in nothing at all. Given the crimes he committed, you could...
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The Poisons of the Borgia ‘Holy Family’ I don’t know if Pope Alexander VI believed in that popular proverb. It seems to me that the Spaniard Rodrigo de Borja (Rodrigo Borgia in Italian) believed in nothing at all. Given the crimes he committed, you could say he believed in neither God whose plenipotentiary he was on earth – nor the devil. The Chinese say that the world remembers evil deeds far longer than good works. That seems fair, judging by the fact that no other pontiff has attracted as much attention as Pope Alexander VI, the subject of numerous films and literary works. He was a scoundrel – depraved, vicious, cynical, criminal… I have twice had the opportunity of working as a journalist at the Vatican during the papal conclave, and in the tiresome wait to see white smoke issuing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, the favourite pastime of journalists from all over the world, assembled for the election of the new pope, was to track the Borgia family around the alleyways of Ro
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