The Borgias

Mallett's stated intention is to explain the Borgia phenomenon, not to rehabilitate the family. The Borgias were a Spanish noble family of moderate standing who succeeded in inserting themselves into the upper strata of Renaissance society via the church. The election of one member of the family as Pope Calixtus III prepared the way for the notorious Alexander VI and for many cardinals and rulers in Naples, Italy, France and Spain. The activities of Alexander (Rodrigo Borgia), his children Cesare and Lucrezia, and the lewd legends of incest and poisoning that have surrounded them have attracted the attention of poets, playwrights, novelists and historians of all subsequent generations. Mallett succeeds in answering the questions, Who were the Borgias?, and, What were they doing in 15h century Italy that made them so hated and feared? The history is very thorough, starting with a discussion of the Renaissance Papacy, the Papal States in the 15th century, and the pontificate of Calixtus III. The election of Alexander VI up to the death of Alexander makes for the most exciting reading, while the last two chapters deal with the subsequent fortunes of the Borgia dynasty and the Borjas of Gandia. Genealogocal tables include the Borja family of Jativa, the family of Alexander VI, the family of the dukes of Gandia, plus the Colonna, Orsini and Della Rovere families. There are extensive Notes and an exhaustive bibliography plus a thorough index. Text figures include a map of the Papal States in the 15th century, woodcut views of Rome from 1480 and 1492 and a map of the Roman Campagna. The sixteen black and white plates include portraits of Calixtus III, Alexander VI, Cesare Borgia, Alfonso d'Este and photographs of Bracciano and Nepi castles, the Torre Borgia and the Sala dei Santi in the Borgia Apartments. Mallett's book is well-written and refreshingly free of sensationalism. He paints the bigger picture without getting lost in the complicated details of Italian politics in 15th century Italy and brings all the important individuals to life on these pages. I also recommend the excellent The Borgias by Marion Johnson for readers interested in this colorful and notorious Renaissance family.

Many may not be aware that as a certain notorious Italian navigator stumbled upon and laid claim to a New World for his royal Spanish employers, a preternaturally powerful Spanish family ("Borgia" being an Italianized version of the clan's original "Borja") was making a bid for dictatorial power in Italy. Michael Mallett does a professional job of detailing that family's rise to power, the context in which it occurred, its spectacular undoing, and the continued, albeit much more modest and obscure, fortune of its stay-at-home Spanish branch. Mallett begins with the setting in both time and space: an efficient rendition of the roots of the Rennaissance Papacy in the Great Schism of the fourteenth century, and its firm grounding in Italian princely politics in the fifteenth; a sketch of the Vatican and its practices in that era; and an almost futuristically post-apocalyptic walking tour of the anarchic and delapidated Papal States in the 1400's (my favorite part). The key role of the first powerful Borgia (Alonso/Pope Calixtus III) is detailed, although its significance to the big picture is only hinted at: it might be said that the instrumental part played by Alonso in erasing the Papacy's Great Schism was the fulcrum that levered the Borgias into the upper elite of Italy. His reward--nomination to the Cardinal college, and a career in Rome--launched him on his path to the Papal see, and planted the seeds for his family's aggrandizement. And, of course, the bloom was spectacular: Pope Alexander VI, Lucrezia and Cesare are the legendary characters of Machiavellian fables and visions of Italian Rennaissance high-life. Although Mallett takes pains not to wallow in glib scandal, it is interesting to note that his story cannot avoid lurid scenes of murder, illicit sex, and an exploitation of Church power so cynical that it borders on blasphemy. No amount of balanced historiography can clean the stains even five centuries later. But this book also presents less graphic aspects--at one point Mallett carefully reconstructs daily routine in the Papal household, right down to the amount of mutton purchased for Shrove Tuesday in 1502 (673 lbs) and the provision of eggs (they were provided by a chicken-keeper on the premises). Some may find this detail tiresome, but I found it almost heart-warming; and perhaps an indication that what we see as endless high-stakes power struggles were really just episodes of crisis and strain interspersed among longer periods of more sedate and orderly Mediterranean humdrum.

I had trouble putting this book down. Mr. Mallet gives us a snapshot of the high Renaissance by focusing on the lives of Pope Alexander VI and his son, Cesare Borgia. The political intrigue can be confusing, but can be followed if the reader pays attention. It brings to life the struggles and ever shifting alliances between the Italian City States, France, and Spain. It also gives life to the amibitions and struggles of Roman families whose villas and palaces you may have visited, but about whom a lay person knows very little. The author makes you understand the great conflict between the Papacy as a temporal and a spiritual power. If you are a visitor to Rome, this book is vital to understanding the history of the city during the Renaissance.

This book will give you a clear picture of a much-maligned family, and will certainly present you with an altogether different image of Lucrezia Borgia. The book itself combines good history-writing with reasonable storytelling. Mr. Mallett is a university professor and it shows in his style; the backflap review suggesting you will be "riveted" by his storytelling-talents is only true if you are easily riveted. For more entertaining writing, Marion Johnson's book on the subject just has the edge. This is a good effort, though and the story itself has much to entertain you.