A look at the influential and powerful House of Borgia, using the stars of the Canal + series. For educational purposes (and a little gossip) only.

1. The House of…

3. b.1431
Pope Alexander VI 1492 1503
Besides being the Holy Father, he was the real father of Pier Luigi, Juan,
Cesare, Lucrecia, Gioffre, Ottaviano, Girolamo and Isabella.
History Fact: Set the Line of Demarcation between areas of the New
World claimed by Spain and Portugal. Portugal got Brazil. Spain got
everything else.

5. "the ugliest, most monstrous and horrible dead body that was
ever seen, without any form or likeness of humanity.”

6. In the end, his body was removed from the Vatican and interred with his uncle,
Pope Calixtus III, at the Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli in Rome.

7. 1442 - 1518
Mistress of Pope Alexander VI, mother of Juan, Cesare, Lucrezia and Gioffre

8. Cesare
Lucrezia
Gioffre
Juan
Despite the number of mistresses in Pope Alexander’s life, Vanozza shared a
high level of esteem with him because of their children.

9. Sadly, not even Vanozza’s charms could keep the Holy Father from
falling in love with…
1474 - 1524

10. There was one small problem: Giulia was already
married to this man:
He’s the son of this woman:
Caretaker of the Borgia household and governess to Lucrezia.

11. 2nd Duke of Gandia (Valencia, Spain), Duke of
Sessa, Grand Constable of Naples, Governor of
St. Peter's, and Gonfalonier and Captain
General of the Church.

12. Juan became the 2nd Duke of
Gandia upon the murder of the 1st
Duke…his half-brother, Pier
Luigi Borgia.
Guess who
(supposedly) killed
Pier Luigi?
In September, 1493, Juan married Maria
Enriquez de Luna, who was engaged to Pier
Luigi before his death. They had two children,
Juan (b. 1495) and Isabella (b. 1498).

13. In June, 1497, Juan was murdered in
Rome. His body was found in the Tiber
River, hands bound and with gold
ducats still in his purse, which
His widow commissioned one of
painting
appeared to make the deaththis 1500 in
(“Virgen de los Caballeros’) in
Juan’s memory,
vengeance. with the man she
perceived to be his killer standing over
him with a dagger.
His brother, Cesare
Juan

14. Juan’s son, Juan de Borja y Enriquez, would become the 3rd Duke of
Gandia and the father of who many believe a true man of the
Church and the only ‘good’ Borgia…
St. Francis Borgia (1510 – 1572)

15. Duke of
Valentinois,
husband of
Charlotte
d’Albret,

16. Aside from Lucrezia, Cesare is
perhaps the most notorious of the
Borgia family.
…a reputation he almost fully d

17. Between 1502 and 1503, Cesare befriended one man who was Secretary to the
Chancellery of Florence.
Cesare
Borgia
Niccolò
Machiavelli
Machiavelli’s book, ‘The Prince’, recounts the rule of Borgia as a
lesson in depending too much on acquiring power by virtue of
another force (in this case, Cesare’s father, the Pope).

18. During the same period, Borgia hired another man as a military advisor and
engineer…

20. Sure enough, after Alexander’s death and the ascention of Pope Julius II
(Giuliano della Rovere), Cesare’s Italian empire was shattered in a matter of
months and he was forced back to Spain, where, in 1507, he was killed in action
fighting alongside his brother-in-law, King John III of Navarre.

21. HIS ORIGINAL EPITAPH:
"Here lies in little earth one who was feared by all, who held peace and
war in his hand." .

22. Lady of Pesaro and Gradara
Duchess of Bisceglie and
Princess of Salerno
Duchess of Ferrara, Modena

23. Very little is known about Lucrezia Borgia or her role in
her family business. She may well be one of the most
maligned women in history.
“If you were to serve up one of your meals at Staff HQ, you'd be arrested
for the greatest mass poisoning since Lucrezia Borgia invited 500 of her
close friends
for a Wine and Anthrax party!”
-‘Blackadder Goes Forth: Captain Cook

24. Husband #1:
The
beautif
ul
Lucrezi
a was
married
Giovanni Sforza
Arranged by Pope Alexander.
Was declared null because
marriage was never
consumated.
Husband #2:
Alfonso of Aragon,
Duke of Bisceglie
Attacked in the Piazzo of
St. Peter’s in August,
1500, then strangled,
(most believe on Cesare’s
orders).
They had one child, Rodrigo
(1499 - 1512)

25. Husband #3:
Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara
(fortunately, it appears Cesare approved)

26. Following the death of
Alexander VI and the rise
of Pope Julian II,
Lucrezia moved with
d’Este to Ferrara in
northern Italy and
remained until her death
on June 24, 1519, a
week after giving birth to
their eighth child.

27. Through her granddaughter, Anna d’Este, Lucrezia Borgia is claimed
as an ancestor of the following personages…
King Juan Carlos I of
Spain
Albert II of Belgium
Henri of Luxembourg
Confederate General P.G.T.
Beauregard

28. Gioffre was 12 when he married 16-year-old
Sancia of Aragon and became Prince of Squillace
in southern Italy.

29. To all appearences, it was an ideal marriage for the
two…except it wasn’t.
For Sancia had her eyes on two others…

30. …His own brothers.
Cesare
Juan

31. There are, in fact, many who believe
Juan was not killed by Cesare at all…
…but by Gioffre, in his jealousy over the b
Fortunately, he
was cleared of
all wrong-doing
by his father, the
Pope.
Needless to say,
Gioffre and Sancia
had no children.