Christopher Hibbert's The Borgias And Their Enemies

During the Renaissance period there were many intellectuals and many different rulers. However, in: The Borgias: and Their Enemies, by Christopher Hibbert, the time period resembles one of which most readers are not familiar with. The book is masked with violence, greed, incest, and many forms of sin that is all too common in the modern world. The book itself aims to reveal how corrupted not only society itself once was, but the church as well. There is an apparent parallel between the church and society during this time period, and modern society and as well as the government we live in today. This parallel can be drawn by the reader by looking into two key elements: greed and corruption. Corruption is defined by many as the use of public

office for personal, and unfair, game. Corruption can come in many different forms such as bribery, embezzlement, and nepotism, or the use of public office to put one’s family member in an official office. These forms of corruption are presented throughout the book multiple times. Within the first chapter, the narrator goes on to tell of how “corruption was rife in the church and shocked the pilgrims who came to Rome….” To any pilgrim migrating to any land, it would not only a disappointment, but possibly even a loss in faith to come to your highly coveted land, only to find it battered and corrupted. As the narrator counties, he goes on to mention that “…The Borgias were considered socially inferior and morally corrupt.” .For someone to mention a ‘morally corrupt’ person or yet alone an entire family, this can cause one can only imagine the kind of honor that family must hold to not only other people, but to their own family members as well. Government today can be undisputedly related to government during the Renaissance period. In today’s modern world, if an investigator was to dig deep enough or one was to simple do their own investigating, you would be able to find multiple cases of under the table dealings. There might also be cases of paying corporations by the millions in return of political support in campaigns. If the reader is to in fact realize that this parallel exists in the book, he would also be able to recognize the aforementioned actions in the modern government, by helping the reader become a more elevated and knowledgeable citizen.
Leaders today are a rare and interesting thing to come by in today’s society. In some of cases, high standing, political leaders turn out to be victims of corruption, possibly turning people away from that political party or maybe even disbanding that person from politics altogether. People such as this are scarce in the Borgia family. When comparing leaders of the modern world to those of the Borgia family, one might conclude that some members of the Borgia family are in fact, not leaders at all, but rather bullies that rely on fear to get their work done. Michelangelo describes Alexander VI as “…violent and materialistic….” Deeper into the book, Cesare Borgia is known to have become “increasingly independent, elusive, and self-assured, and liable to fly off the handle at the least hint of criticism of his action….” Cesare is also known to have arrested, imprisoned, and later executed a man that merely whispered criticism about his actions. Today, a leader must realize that there is constant scrutiny and criticism surrounding that leaders decisions. No matter the job or task one must move forward and accept the fact that whatever decisions are made may not be to everyone’s liking. Cesare in this case, failed to accept that fact. The difference between the leaders of today compared to those of the Renaissance, are vastly different that we can imagine. With new found technology and an ever changing society and culture, leaders have had to adapt in this change. However, leaders must also come to realize that in order to make decisions based on their own morals and their own values. To do this, a leader must sometimes withdraw himself from the influence and act on his own. Machiavelli, a Renaissance philosopher, exclaimed while reporting to Florence, that “… he does not revile his plans until they are ready to be carried out.” This action exemplifies a trait that is common many leaders of today and many of the past. As a leader, you are expected to provide for your subordinates. As Cesare might not have been the perfect leader, and despite his short temper, by staying up to the last hour into the night to finalize plans so that they are flawless and ready to be carried out by his subordinates with ease, shows that has a commitment to his work and to what he does which is essential to any leader for any time period. By revealing some of actions of Cesare Borgia, recorded by scholars and historians of the time, we are able to see that Cesare is in fact a leader. Knowing that his morals may not line up those of other important leaders, we are still able to see that Cesare personifies leadership qualities that can be related to the leaders of today.
For many countries today, church and state are separated by constitutional law. The government usually tires to not get involved with religious affair due the backlash the government can receive as a result of getting involved. The church on the other hand, tends to waive between that medium that separates church and state. Some church’s, tend to be a little more ‘aggressive’ with their preaching’s which results in media booms and public outrage. Normally, however, the church and government stay at bay with each other while they both operate in each other’s boundaries. During the Renaissance period, the same could not have been said for the church. In fact, the idea of the separation of church and state was merely a thought to most people. Essentially, the church was the state. With the Pope having control of armies such as ones similar to Cesare Borgia’s, the reader is able draw a parallel to the Pope of this time to many governments of the modern era. With the government having control of whether or not our armies go to war with someone is usually entirely up to them. The Pope however, had control over commanders to send their armies out on campaigns to conquer new lands in the Popes own favor. At this time, the Pope was basically a political leader within the Church, having much say in the actions of everyday activities. In similar terms, politics first, religion second. “This was an ambitious Pope, powerful, rich, politically astute, and determined to establish his own family in the ranks of Europe’s ruling elite.” This quote not only reinforces the presence of corruption within the Borgia family, but it more immensely shows the eagerness to put the Borgia name on to the political map. When Rodrigo Borgia, more commonly known as Alexander VI, was elected as the Pope, it was obvious that he has great deal of political power. In regard to the Pope’s children, his one daughter Lucrezia, was used many of times for the Pope’s political gain, whether it be for land, money, soldiers, or for simple good relations with other countries. The narrator mentions that “like other girls of noble birth, Lucrezia was expected to marry young, to a man of her father’s choice whose connections would be beneficial to the family.” The use of the Popes own daughter as a ‘pawn’ in his game of conquest, seems unhuman in some of today’s society. Nonetheless, during this time period, it was deemed normal for brides to be accepted for marriage for most forms of deals and transactions. In the eastern world, where girls no older than the young age of 12 are married off to a family by their own fathers. Scary this must seem to some of the light hearted people, but during the Renaissance period, this was extremely common.
Throughout the Renaissance period, many artist, philosophers, and other intellectuals such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli, had ties with many aristocratic families during the era. Machiavelli, and as well as da Vinci, were commissioned by Cesera and “appointed his ‘Architect and General Engineer’.” With ties to the Borgia family, such as Machiavelli, it can be concluded that members of the Borgia family, had a great deal influence over not only what the work of art would be themed, but also what the characters in the work of art would look like. When any one ponders about a work of art that features Jesus Christ himself, he is resembled as a white man, with dark brown hair along with a beard. To many, this is a result of Cesare influencing the first commissioned artist to paint Christ with dark brown hair, much to the resemblance of Cesare himself. Michelangelo however, who “…had arrived in Rome from Florence on June 25, 1496….” to begin work under Cardinal Raffaello Riario, had him work on a life sized sleeping cupid. As a commissioned artist, one must create what the commissioner wants. Whether it be an animal or a life sized cupid, the artist must do as he is told. In the modern world, artist today are usually seen as freelance artist or writers. During the Renaissance period however, artist and writers were deemed as historians. Some were depended on to record history with and un-biased opinion. However, when an artist is commissioned under a family such as the Borgias, one artist might find himself doing work for things such as propaganda for the Borgia family. Michelangelo, the creator of many beautiful works of art that are still seen today and admired around the world, were created under the commission of the Borgia family. Michelangelo was known for being “proud of his work….” , however, “…Michelangelo,…was not happy in the Rome of Alexander VI, which he described as violent and materialistic and was relieved when the time it came for him [Michelangelo] to return to Florence.” With forms of corruption ever present in the Borgia family, one could consider the use of Michelangelo and many others as biased works of art and literature, corrupted by families such as the Borgias. With artist like such, it is a necessity to have a free expansion on to what one can work on without restrictions from aristocratic families.
To have an empowering influence on someone can become a useful but malevolent responsibility.

When you not only have the ability to controls some ones actions, but have the power to control their actions for the benefit of your own, you can consider yourself a very powerful individual. During the Renaissance era, many aristocratic families had control over intellectuals of the time. Some of them included, Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Machiavelli. However, throughout The Borgias, the narrator makes notes of how Machiavelli sees the Borgia family and gives hints to his liking toward the family. To the reader, Machiavelli seems like a well-adjusted citizen, capable of being reliant and separate to other aristocratic families other than the Borgias. By being, as one would say, loyal to the Borgias, Machiavelli is able to gain a quality insight on the Borgia family. Machiavelli, during the time period, was the well know author of his book, The Prince, and being a close acquaintance of the Borgia family, became an informer to Florence about members of the Borgia family’s actions. During his time in the Papal States, he observed the Borgias “…without excessive exaggeration, these lands were ‘a nursery of all the worst crimes, of outbreaks of rapine and murder, resulting from the wickedness of local lords and not, as these lords maintained, from the disposition of their subjects’.” The reader can only best assume that Machiavelli thought of the Borgias as a disgusted and disgraceful joke of a family. In spite of the repulsiveness of the family, Machiavelli had an idolization for Cesare Borgia. Machiavelli exclaims: “this lord is very proud…and, as a soldier, he is so enterprising that nothing is so great that it does not seem trivial to him.” During this part in the book, Machiavelli has been following Cesare, and keeping tabs on him and then reporting back to Florence. Throughout Cesare’s conquest throughout Italy, Machiavelli accompanies his army, once

writing a letter saying how “the lord is very splendid and magnificent.” With Machiavelli’s obvious obsession over Cesare, it makes one wonder why he would have a soft heart for Cesare, but also has a bitter side for other members of the Borgia family such as Pope Alexander VI. Favoring Cesare over the rest of the Borgia family, it shows that even masterminds during the Renaissance, individuals such as Machiavelli, are guilty of favorability of one member of a certain family. This can induce favoritism and can sometimes lead to nepotism. This can also be rooted back to corruption and false propaganda, because, Machiavelli, whom adores Cesare, could relay a false message to Florence by Cesare command or even create paintings of Cesare heroism when the story depicted in the painting is false. These traits that describe Machiavelli, along with the corruption that shown by Alexander VI, further proves how vastly related the church of the Renaissance can was at the time, and it parallels the modern world today.