Henry's Who's Who in Rome Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rodrigo Borgia

Pope Alexander VI grew up in a family with powerful connections, and he let those connections work to his advantage. Described as intelligent and capable, he studied law, and became Cardinal-Deacon of San Nicola in Carcera and Bishop of Valencia when his uncle was elected pope in 1456.

After serving under five popes in various capacities, he became pope in 1492. He appeared to have the attitude that he did not have to stay within the bounds of moral restraints (libertinism) and granted political favors to his relatives (nepotism).

Answer: The Prince

In his book, "The Prince", Alexander VI served as the example for Machiavelli as to how immorality and ruthlessness can work to the advantage of a ruler. He referred to Alexander VI as a con man, and "an astute politician who did much to strengthen the power of the Church". He went on to say that more than any other pope prior to his time, Alexander VI showed how much a pope could achieve with "finance and by force of arms". In Machiavelli's opinion, Alexander VI's main goal had been to help his son achieve greatness. However, his actions increased the greatness of the Church as well. Even though his successor, Pope Julius II, could not stand Alexander VI (he did not even want to live in the same apartments), he did inherit a position that was stronger than ever in a Church that was left powerful with a pretty large chunk of territory.

By the way, Julius II ordered that the Borgia apartments be sealed, and they remained so until the 19th century.

Answer: Cesare

Cesare was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI and his mistress, Vannozza dei Cattanei. When his father was elected to the papacy, Cesare was made a cardinal; he resigned the position (the first person to ever do so) in 1498 after his brother's death. At that time he was given a large part of the Papal States (called the Romagna) and a huge army. Machiavelli used Cesare over and over as an example of what a ruler should do: in summary: kill the strong, make friends with the weak, set up your own army and never use mercenaries, don't let people hate you, but make people fear you. He said of Cesare, "There was one man who showed glimpses of greatness, the kind of thing that made you think he was sent by God for the country's redemption". As it turned out, Cesare was ill himself at the time of his father' death; he had the support of the new pope, Pius III, who unfortunately only lived twenty-six days after taking office. The new pope, Julius II, hated the Borgias, and undermined Cesare whenever possible. Cesare was killed in an ambush four years after his fathers death, and the Church reclaimed all his land.

As for Cesare's part in his brother's death, your guess is as good as mine. Some claim that Cesare would have been given a military role even if his brother had lived, and suggest that it might have been a disagreement due to the fact that Caesare and Giovanni shared the same mistress, their brother Gioffre's wife!

Answer: Leonardo

By the time Leonardo agreed to become Cesare's chief military engineer in 1502, he already had a reputation as a great painter, as well as the greatest military engineer in Italy. It seems that Leonardo was tired of painting, and had begun to have the reputation of leaving many of his painting commissions incomplete. The reason why he joined Cesare's entourage is unclear; Cesare allowed Leonardo to roam the Romagna, his territory, and explore the inventive and scientific side of his genius. He drew maps, designed a hodometer for the precise measuring of distances, and carefully encrypted his weaponry ideas in notebooks. Sadly, all those ingenious devices came to nothing, and Leonardo and Cesare parted ways in 1503.

It is believed that Leonardo's explorations in Romagna led him to the upper Arno valley that provided for the background to his famous work, "Mona Lisa".

Answer: Lucrezia

In history Lucrezia is sometimes portrayed as being in collusion (incest, murder, poisoning) with her ruthless father and brother. It is, however, unclear as to what her part in the intrigue really was. By all appearances it seems that she was rather used as a pawn by her ambitious father - forced to marry as he sought alliances with powerful families.

Her first marriage was at the age of 13; altogether she was married three times by the age of 22. The third marriage, her last, was to Alfonso d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara.

It is said that the trousseau for her last marriage was so large that it required 150 mules to carry everything. It appears that after this marriage she was a devoted wife and mother. She died at the age of thirty-nine giving birth to what is thought to be her tenth child.

Answer: Isabella d'Este

Isabella d'Este was eventually Lucretia's sister-in-law. She was said to have been a beautiful woman, who was educated in Greek and Latin, and could sing, dance, and play musical instruments. Her promotion of the textile industry made Mantua the center in Italy of the manufacture of velvet, satin, and damask. Under her guidance, the court of Mantua became known as the center of elegance and artistic genius.

This is a sketch for a portrait that was done by Leonardo da Vinci that many thought was never completed in spite of the many letters sent to Leonardo by Isabella! In 2013 a portrait, found in a private Swiss collection, was identified as being Isabella's portrait.

Answer: Girolamo Savonarola

Savonarola not only criticized the pope, but he was concerned about the paganism that seemed to come with the Renaissance. Of course, Pope Alexander VI gave Savonarola a lot to criticize. "...their palaces and halls are the refuse of all the beast and monsters of the earth, and are a shelter...for every kind of wickedness". Savonarola wanted a return to the simple faith of the early Christians, and when he assumed leadership of Florence, he exiled many scholars and patrons of the arts. Eventually Pope Alexander VI threatened Florence with the interdict; in retaliation Savonarola asked for a general council to overthrow the pope.

In 1495 his own people of Florence declared Savonarola a heretic and burned him at the stake.

Answer: Charles VIII

Although some, like Savonarola, believed God was using King Charles VIII to rid Florence of corruption, others, like Pope Alexander VI, who had not hesitated to use Charles VIII when he needed his help, did not like the idea of having a foreign king in northern Italy where he could easily interfere with the Papal States.

The pope formed the Holy League, which outwardly was to appear to be working against the Ottoman Turks. In realty, it was made to expel the French from Italy. While Charles VIII dreamed of uniting Europe into one nation, his actions involved France in a series of struggles known as the Italian Wars, which lasted from 1494 to 1559.

Answer: Michelangelo

While Michelangelo is well-known for painting the Sistine Chapel for Pope Julius II, it must not be forgotten that he had already made a name for himself in Rome. He was only twenty-three when he was commissioned to create the lovely "Pieta", a statue of the Virgin Mary grieving over the dead body of Christ.

This piece brought him instant recognition as a sculptor, and the statue was soon considered to be a great masterpiece.

Answer: True

While it is true that Pope Alexander VI favored his relatives with political and religious offices, and did not keep his vows of celibacy, his deeds were similar to other "princes" of the day, except that he was connected to the Church and they were not. Does that excuse his lifestyle? Probably not! He had, however, planned some reforms in the Church which were not carried out after his death.

He was an important patron of the arts; at one time or another he hired artists like Raphael, Michelangelo and Pinturicchio to work for him.

He also supported education; he issued a papal bull providing for the establishment of King's College in Aberdeen, Scotland. Jews who had been expelled from Spain in 1492 were welcomed (yes, Ferdinand and Isabella made a dumb move, and the pope made a smart one) into the Papal States "to continue in their own rites, to gain wealth, and to enjoy many other privileges".

He did leave the Church, and the office of the papacy stronger than ever, and was one of the supporters of the Renaissance.