The Borgias and Their Enemies, 1431 – 1519

The Borgias and Their Enemies, 1431 – 1519 by Christopher Hibbert

Ignorance Confession: Before I read this book, I had absolutely no idea what or who the “Borgias” were.  I love history, but the majority of my knowledge is geared towards my home country (U.S.) and really doesn’t stretch more than 250 years ago when, not coincidentally, was when my home country was established. I am, however, always keen to learn more about history everywhere, so when this book showed up as a bargain on Amazon, I cautiously snapped it up.  300 pages later, this was a journey well-taken.  I enjoyed the book, and now know who the Borgias were!

Without going into too much detail of who this family was, let’s just say that they were a very powerful Italian family during the years mentioned in the title of this book.  The head of the family was Rodrigo Borgia, who may or may not be better known as Pope Alexander VI.  For those not too familiar with the Catholic Church, it wasn’t always led by holy, philanthropic, celibate men.  Oh no.  The position of “Pope” was sadly seen in a much different vein in the times before Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Quite often, those highest in the church were some of the most unscrupulous greedy men in history. Their view of the scriptures was often quite twisted, and the fact that they were a sort of ‘officer’ of the church meant that they could pretty much do and say whatever they wanted, while the humble subjects simply bowed in obedience and reverence.   Side note: Most of these humble subjects never learned how to read.  So they knew what the Bible was, but really didn’t know what it said.

So as our book starts, we get a bit of a background of Rome during the time and many of the key individuals. Rodrigo Borgia is one such individual.  Is Rodrigo an evil man?  Well, this book never explicitly states so.  We know he’s a politician and he has to make several unscrupulous deals ‘under the table’ as well as manipulate many of his enemies, but, hey, are politicians today much different?  So, yes, today it’s hard to imagine that someone that holds the position of Pope could be so sleazy, but we must remember to keep the narrative in context of the times.

Rodrigo has several children as well (yes, Popes had wives, children, and mistresses) and by the time he is Alexander VI, his children are somewhat grown. We read about their comings and goings as well.  Some, like daughter Lucrezia, have a host of husbands and lovers and are followed by the population insatiably as if they were reading the National Enquirer.  His son Cesare, however, seems to have a sadistic streak that puts fear into the entire nation.  This is a prime example of a rich spoiled kid who can do whatever he wants since his daddy is the big boss.  His treacherous behavior is indeed scary.  In fact, it seems like most of the book really centers on these two children as they have such ‘interesting’ lives.   There are a host of other children and family members, yet their sins and sensuality don’t compare to Lucrezia and Cesare, so they don’t warrant as much space in this narrative.

This leads me to my only gripe of this book.  There are simply too many people to keep track.  All of the different (mostly Italian sounding) names packed into this book will make your head spin.  It might be a good idea to take some notes while reading.  I know, you shouldn’t feel like you’re back in school when reading something for enjoyment, but it’s probably worth the trouble.   I wish this book would have included pictures (i.e. illustrations/paintings) of some of the key figures for ease of reference.  A family tree or two would have been majorly helpful as well.  Again, way too many mistresses, marriages, cousins, and allegiances between countries for the average brain to assimilate.  There is also tons of descriptions of weddings, festivities, and ceremonies as people enter and conquer cities.  I guess one must include such things if it was well known since ‘real’ history might be a tad scant from 500 years ago.

Still, a great beginner’s guide to a famous family.  With a length of 300 pages, there really isn’t too much detail to overwhelm you and get you completely lost.  I also now have a desire to learn more about this family, as well as the people and places that occupied this place and time in history.  And really, isn’t that what a good history book is supposed to do?

Note: I should point out that the Borgia family are lead characters of the popular video game Assassin’s Creed II.  This is one of my favorite games of all time.  Although I’ve played through the game several times, I never pay attention to “story” lines in video games.  I’m one of those grouchy old gamers who doesn’t give a rip about a story.  I play games to DO, not to LEARN.  But if, like me, you loved Assassin’s Creed II, this is probably a good primer to the real comings and goings of the family.