Alexander VI (
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Alexander VI (real name: Roderigo Lanzol y Borja [Borgia]): (b. c1431, Jativa [Xátiva], Valencia, Spain; d. Aug 18, 1503, Rome) Pope. (rAug 11, 1492-Aug 18, 1503). Originally an enemy of King Ferdinand (Ferrante) I of Naples, he concluded a treaty of alliance with him. As part of the terms of this agreement, Alexander’s son, Goffredo, was to marry Ferrante’s daughter, Sancia. In 1494, when the French King Charles VIII invaded Italy, Alexander formed a defensive alliance with Alfonso II, Ferrante I’s son and successor on the throne of Naples. Despite this treaty, Alexander soon betrayed his allies and opened the gates of Rome to the French. He took refuge in the Papal Castel Sant’Angelo during the French occupation. After Charles concluded a treaty with Alexander, the French king was free continue south and launch an invasion of the kingdom of Naples that would ultimately prove disastrous to the future of the Regno.
After the withdrawal of the French, Alexander sought a new alliance with Naples. In July 1498, Alexander’s daughter, Lucretia Borgia, married King Alfonso’s natural son, Alfonso, duke of Bisceglie. This union proved to be a happy one with the two young newlyweds genuinely falling in love with one another. Changes in the political necessities of the Papacy ultimately doomed this marriage. Alexander’s son, Cesare, who did not approve of the alliance with Naples, ordered his henchmen to murder his brother-in-law on Aug. 18, 1500. This assassination doomed the Papal-Naples alliance and opened up the opportunity for Cesare to develop closer ties with France.
Alexander died on Aug, 18, 1503, succumbing to apoplexy and malaria.