When Cardinal Borgia was elected to the See of Peter on August 11, 1492 he was known as a man of skill and leadership, but also one of considerable weaknesses, the most obvious being women. Through several mistresses he had a total of nine illegitimate children, 6 sons and 3 daughters. He was not excessive in any other way but this, and it should also be remembered that he treated his mistresses well and saw to it that his children were well taken care of. The most extreme stories however, of wild orgies being held in the Vatican and presided over by the Pope can be attributed simply to anti-Spanish propaganda. The mis-deeds of the Borgias are on the whole sufficient on their own without resorting to such sensationalism. Taking the name of Alexander VI, he immediately brought order back to chaotic Rome, stamped out crime and started new building programs. When Isabella and Ferdinand drove the last of the Moors out of Granada he even treated the crowds to a Spanish bull fight.
If Alexander VI completely ignored his vow of celibacy, he did take his other duties and obligations very seriously and handled the demands of the office quite well. Central Italy was under great stress due to rival factions, to which the Pope responded by forming the "League of St Mark" between the Papal States, Milan, Venice and joining by the marriage of two of his children to the kingdoms of Spain and Naples. He also saved the world from a great deal of conflict by settling the rival claims of exploration made by Spain and Portugal, drawing a line of demarcation which gave everything to the west to Spain and everything to the east to Portugal. He also managed to keep the peace when war nearly broke out between Naples, Venice, Spain, Germany and the Papal States.
Pope Alexander also had to deal with the renegade priest Savonarola, which caused some considerable uproar as did the on-going problems of feuding cardinals. However, he was popular with unlikely groups for a Supreme Pontiff such as the Jews, artists, actors, architects (whom he employed) and with the intellectuals of Rome who he helped reestablish. Those who penned the wild stories about his perversion and misdeeds though did not shake Alexander in the least. He was extremely tolerant in this way, and somewhat libertarian even, saying that, "Rome is a free city, where everyone can say or write whatever he pleases. They say much evil of me, but I don't mind". It was an attitude that other Popes would have been praised for, but Alexander suffered the disability of the fact the accusations against him were so lurid and pornographic, and thus popular, that they were widely and quickly believed, proving Hitler's theory that people will sooner believe a big lie than a small one.
In 1500 Pope Alexander VI declared a Holy Year and as pilgrims streamed into Rome he became the first Pope to erect and open a "Holy Door" in St Peter's which is still done by pontiffs to this day. Money that poured in because of these pilgrimages went to fund great artistic achievements, magnificent new buildings, and it must be said the military campaigns of the Pope's son Cesare Borgia. Only a few years later, on the anniversary of his election in 1503 came down with a fever and died on the 18th. The cause of death has been theorized to be everything from malaria to assassination by poison. On the whole, Pope Alexander VI, while not the raging sexual monster he is often portrayed as, was certainly a worldly man who was guilty of many lapses of piety. However, along with his sensuality and nepotism was also an often forgotten talent at the business of leadership and a practical ability to solve the problems of the Church even while his private life, and the scandal it caused was destined to bring about more problems as his failings were spread around, growing more and more shocking with each re-telling. He was a "Renaissance Pope" with all of the good and bad the name implies.
