Alexander VI (1431-1503) was the most worldly of the Renaissance popes. He was elected pope in 1492 and displayed the character and ambition more typical of a secular (nonreligious) ruler.
Alexander was born in Jativa, Spain. His given and family name was Rodrigo Borja (Borgia in Italian). Alexander’s uncle Alphonso Borgia became Pope Callistus III in 1455 and soon appointed Alexander to the profitable position of vice chancellor of the Roman Curia. Alexander held the position for many years, accumulating vast wealth and influence. He fathered many children, whose fortunes he worked to advance even before becoming pope.
The first years of Alexander’s reign were dominated by Italian wars, which broke out when King Charles VIII of France invaded Italy in 1494. The pope managed to survive the dangers of the conflict, largely through skillful diplomatic maneuvers. After Alexander’s son Juan was murdered in Rome in 1497, the grief-stricken pope decided to launch a program of church reform. But he never carried it out. For the rest of his reign, Alexander devoted much of the papacy’s resources to furthering the ruthless ambitions of his son Cesare to control central Italy for the Borgias. Alexander died on Aug. 18, 1503.
