And they were Spanish, not Italian. From
Air Mail:
Such evil and bravado were all too necessary for success in Renaissance
Italy, especially during the last days of the 15th century and beyond,
the time when the Borgias attained the pinnacle of their success. Worse
still, in Italian eyes, the Borgias were Spanish. The close family
guarded their secrets by speaking Catalan among themselves—a language
opaque to Italian ears. The Borgias’ detractors labeled them conversos,
the name given to Spanish Jews who had been forcibly converted to
Christianity by the Spanish Inquisition. The secret language spoken
among the Borgia family was evidently Hebrew, according to inquisitive
outsiders.
Not surprisingly, the streets of Rome became abuzz with rumors during
the time of Alexander VI (the Borgia Pope) that the family were guilty
of all the sins and evil practices that had grown up around their
reputation. The rumors were for the most part not true, yet they
frequently germinated from a seed of truth. No, the Borgias were not
incestuous, as the rumors claimed. Yet, as I learned during my research,
the spread of rumors was quite understandable: the Borgias were a very
close family, often embracing or caressing one another casually in
public, in “the Spanish fashion.” And it’s likely that there was more
than a hint of Freudian practice at play in their close family
relations—Alexander VI seemed to love his daughter Lucrezia with an
ardor which would certainly raise suspicions in our more psychologically
aware age. (Read more.)
Share
6 comments:
I forget who but someone wrote, I think rightly, that the horror of Alexander was not so much that he was the demon of legend, but that the same faults and vices that might have seemed less shocking in a secular prince were monstrous in a pope. He seemed a complete mixture of religion and piety that were no doubt genuine, on the one hand, and ruthless pursuit of dynastic and political ambitions, on the other.
Exactly!
Unfortunately it seems to be only in Italian, but I recently read a book of the letters between Savonarola and Alexander VI which sheds much more light on both. It includes commentary by theologians and canon lawyers of the reign of Pius XII. The study was published in the Holy Year 1950 and dedicated to the Pope.
It is not well known, but Pius XII loved Savonarola and declared:
“ One thing seems certain, and that is the moral integrity, the pure intention, the good faith and the apostolic ardor of Savonarola... a man who passionately loved the Church, who venerated, as a son, the Vicar of Christ, even when his name was Alexander VI, to whom he was, perhaps, the only one to remain truly faithful. He did not act out of fanaticism or ambition, but with a clear theological understanding of the situation, basing himself on and appealing to the precise provisions of canon law. As such, he was calm, balanced, master of his actions and enlightened in his decisions. “
From a speech given in 1950 to Dominican superiors, quoted in various Italian and French sources and published in L’Osservatore Romano on November 5, 1969.
These comments might surprise many, but as only he could do, perhaps, Pius boldly defended Savonarola while at the same time preserving the reverence due to his predecessor and even evoking compassion for Alexander as a man himself surrounded by treachery.
Thank you for bringing that quotation to my attention! That adds a richer understanding of the situation as it really existed beneath the gossip and scandals.
Yes, one of the things stated in the book is that even Alexander later regretted the execution of Savonarola and declared in consistory that he considered him worthy of being canonized. Alexander blamed everything on his advisors, which may have been partly disingenuous, but it is no doubt true that he was surrounded and misled by those who preyed on his weaknesses and ambitions rather than giving him honest advice.
I know that there were many genuine conversions because of Savonarola's preaching, including Caterina Sforza, who by that time had married a Medici. I think politics was behind it more than anything else.
Post a Comment