Summary
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Borgias, the most notorious family in Renaissance Italy. Famed for their treachery and corruption, the Borgias produced two popes during their time of dominance in Rome in the late 15th century. The most well-known of these two popes is Alexander VI, previously Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia. He was accused of buying votes to elect him to the papacy and openly promoted his children in positions of power. Rodrigo's daughter, Lucrezia, is widely remembered as a ruthless poisoner; his son, Cesare, as a brutal soldier.
Murder, intrigue and power politics characterised their rule, but many of the stories now told about their depraved behaviour and evil ways emerged after their demise and gave rise to the so-called 'Black Legend'. The sullied reputation of the Borgia dynasty endures even today and their lives have provided a major theme for plays, novels and over forty films.
With:
Evelyn Welch Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London
Catherine Fletcher Lecturer in Public History at the University of Sheffield
Christine Shaw Honorary Research Fellow at Swansea University
Producer: Natalia Fernandez.
Transcript
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| 0:45.9 | the program. Hello the Borges are thought to be one of the most notorious dynasties |
| 0:51.0 | in European history. In 1501 the Papal diarist |
| 0:54.4 | Yakob Burkhart wrote there is no longer any crime or shameful act that does not |
| 0:59.7 | take place in public in Rome and in the house of the pontiff. Rapes and acts of incest are countless. His sons and |
| 1:06.1 | daughters are utterly depraved. Great throngs of cortisands frequent St Peter's Palace, |
| 1:10.8 | pimps, brothels and whorehousesls and whorehouses are to be found everywhere, a most shameful |
| 1:16.2 | situation. The Pope in question was Alexander the 6th, the leader and possibly most infamous |
| 1:21.4 | member of the Borgeses who dominated the Italian city |
| 1:24.2 | states in the 15th and early 16th century. Today their name is synonymous with |
| 1:29.0 | vice brutality and corruption, so much so that all the stories related to their wrongdoings are referred |
| 1:34.2 | to collectively as the Black Legend, but is the Borges' infamous reputation justified, and |
| 1:40.1 | how significant was their rule in Renaissance Italy. |
| 1:43.2 | With me to discuss the Borges are Averlin Welsh, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen |
| 1:47.3 | Mary, University of London, Christine Shaw, |
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