History of the christian church

4⁷⁹⁴ Gregorovius, Lucrezia Borgia, p. 19, and Appendix, Germ. ed., where the marriage contract of Girolama is given.

5⁷⁹⁵ These two bulls, extant at Mantua and first published by Gregorovius, Lucr. Borgia, Appendix, 76-85, were issued the same day. Burchard, III. 170, calls the child’s mother quaedam Romana. Following Burchard, Gregorovius and Pastor have no doubt that it was Alexander’s own child. Pastor, III. 475, says that the bull is unquestionably genuine. A satire of the year 1500 ascribes to Alexander 3 or 4 children by Julia Farnese. According to Villari, Life of Savonarola, p. 376, note, the Civilta cattolica, the papal organ at Rome, March 15, 1873, acknowledged the existence of Giovanni, as Alexander’s sixth or seventh child.

6⁷⁹⁶ These letters are given in full by Burchard, II. 202 sqq. Alexander’s letters Gregorovius pronounces to be genuine beyond a doubt. The sultan’s are matter of dispute. Ranke discredited them, but Gregorovius regards their contents as genuine, though the form may be spurious. Creighton, III. 300 sqq., gives reasons for accepting them.

7⁹⁷ Dictum Gem levare facere ex angustiisistius mundi et transferre ejus animan in aliud seculum ubi meliorem habebit quietem, Burchard, II. 209.

8⁷⁹⁸ The French left behind them a terrible legacy in the disease which they are said to have carrried during the Crusades and again a century ago, under Napoleon, to Syria, and known as the French disease. See Pastor, III. 7.

9⁷⁹⁹ Burchard’s account of the tragedy, II. 387-390. Gregorovius, VIII. 424, confidently advocates the theory of fratricide. This explains why Alexander dropped the investigation two weeks after it was begun, and why he and Caesar in the first meetings after the event were silent in each other’s presence. However, it is almost too much to believe that Alexander would at once begin to heap honors upon Caesar, as he did, if the father believed him to be the murderer. Roscoe, I. 153 sq., and Pastor discredit the theory of fratricide, to which Creighton, III. 388, also inclines. Don Juan was the only one of the Borgias that founded a family.

0⁸⁰⁰ Burchard, II. 280, 493, filia clarissima, filia jocosa et risoria.

1⁸⁰¹ Infessura, p. 286 sq., closes his account by saying he would not tell all, lest it might seem incredible. The account of Boccaccio, ambassador of Ferrara, who was present, is given by Gregorov., Lucr. Borgia, pp. 59-61.

2⁸⁰² Alexander had courteously attended a mass for the repose of the soul of his old enemy, Charles, in the Sistine chapel, Burchard, II. 461.

3⁸⁰³ Burchard, II. 591-593.

4⁸⁰⁴ Rodrigo, who was baptized in St. Peter’s, Nov. 1, 1499, the 16 cardinals then in Rome, many ambassadors and other dignitaries being present. In 1501 he was invested with the duchy of Sermoneta. Burchard, II. 675, 578; III. 170.

5⁸⁰⁵ Infessura, p. 293.

6⁸⁰⁶ Burchard, III. 236.

7⁸⁰⁷ So Pastor, though with some hesitation, III. 491. Even Creighton, IV. 40, is unwilling to dismiss the charge as groundless. But in another place, p. 265, he seems to contradict himself.

8⁰⁸ Burchard, III. 161 sq.

9⁸⁰⁹ The letter is given in Gregor., Lucr. Borgia, p. 212.

0⁸¹⁰ The question of whether or no poison was the cause of the pope’s death must be regarded as an open one. This is the view taken by Gregorovius, Roscoe, I. 193 sq., Reumont, Pastor, III. 499. Creighton, IV. 43, and Hergenröther, III. 987, are against the theory of poisoning. Neither Burchard nor the ambassador of Venice speak of poison. The ambassador of Mantua, writing on the 19th, denies the charge, which was freely made on the streets. Ranke, D. röm. Päpste, p. 35, distinctly decides for poisoning. So also Hase, Kirchengesch., III. 353. Many contemporary writers pronounced for poisoning, Guicciardini, Cardinal Bembo, Jovius, Cardinal Aegidius, etc. Alexander’s physician gave as the immediate cause of death apoplexy. Against the theory of poisoning is the fact that Cardinal Hadrian was also taken sick. On the other hand is the evidence that Alexander’s body immediately after death was bloated and disfigured and his mouth was filled with foam, and that Caesar was taken sick at the same time with the same symptoms, a fact which Gregorovius, VII. 521, pronounces the strongest evidence for the theory of poisoning.

1⁸¹¹ There is one exception, the address made in the conclave after Alexander’s death by the bishop of Gallipolis. See Garnett’s art. Engl. Hist. Rev., 1892, p. 311 sq., giving the text of the British Museum, the only copy in existence.

2⁸¹² The duke of Mantua, whose camp was near Rome, wrote to his duchess that seven devils appeared in the pope’s room at the moment of his death, that the body swelled and was dragged from the bed with a cord. Gregorovius, Lucr. Borgia, p. 288.

3⁸¹³ Bishop Creighton, IV. 44, lays stress on the fact that hypocrisy was not added to Alexander’s other vices.

4⁸¹⁴ Infessura, p. 287.

5⁸¹⁵ Burchard, III. 167, who reports the wild scene, was reticent about many of the evil happenings in the papal palace. The other authorities for the orgy may be seen in Thuasne’s ed. of Burchard. See also Villari, Machiavelli, I. 538. When we are taken to the square of St. Peter’s, where the pope and the cardinals watched a feat of tight-rope walking, an expert walking with a child in his arms, we may easily applaud or tolerate the recreation, Burchard, III. 210; but the dark furies of evil seem at will to have had mastery over Alexander’s soul.

6⁸¹⁶ Burchard, III. 110.

7⁸¹⁷ Mansi, XXXII. 533 sq.

8¹⁸ Calvin spoke of having been taken as a child by his mother to the abbey of Ourscamp, near Noyon, where a part of St. Anna’s body was preserved, and of having kissed the relic.

9⁸¹⁹ Decretum de libris non sine censura imprimendis, 1501. Reusch, Index, p. 54.

0⁸²⁰ , De nostra mera liberalitate ... auctoritate omnip. Dei, nobis in beato Petro concessa, ac vicariatus J. Christi, qua fungimur in terris. For the bull, see Mirbt, pp. 174-176. Also Fiske, Disc. of Am., I. 454-458; II. 581-593.

1⁸²¹ Pastor, III. 520, seeks to break the force of the charge that Alexander’s gift was a short-sighted piece of work by putting the unnatural interpretation upon donamus et assignamus, that it referred only to what Portugal and Spain had already acquired. But the very wording of the bull makes this impossible, for it is distinctly said that all islands and continents were given to Spain and Portugal which were to be discovered in the future, as well as those which were already discovered—omnes insulas et terras firmas inventas et inveniendas, detectas et detegendas. For the bull of Sept. 26, 1493, giving India to Spain, see Davenport in Am. Hist. Rev., 1909, p. 764 sqq.

2⁸²² Hergenröther-Kirsch, II. 987.

3⁸²³ III. 503

4⁸²⁴ Pastor, in the course of prolonged estimates, Gesch. der Päpste, III. pp. vi, 601sq., etc., says: "The life of this voluptuary—Genussmenschen —a man of untamed sensuality, contradicted at every point the demands of him he was called upon to represent. With unrestrained abandon, he gave himself up to a vicious life until his end." Ranke thus expresses himself, Hist. of the Popes, Germ. ed., I. 32. "All his life through, Alexander was bent on nothing else than to enjoy the world, to live pleasurably, to satisfy his passions and ambitions." The estimate of Gregorovius, City of Rome, VII. 525, is this: "No one can ever discover in Alexander’s history any other guiding principle than the contemptible one of aggrandizing his children at any cost. To the despicable objects of nepotism and self-preservation he sacrificed his own conscience, the happiness of nations, the existence of Italy and the good of the Church." Bishop Creighton, IV. 43-49, lays such elaborate emphasis upon Alexander’s knowledge of politics, firmness of purpose and affability of manners that one loses the impression of the baseness of his morals and the sacrilege to which he subjected his office and himself. He seems to have been influenced by Roscoe’s presentation of Alexander’s "many great qualities," I. 195.

5⁸²⁵ The Prince, ch. VII.

6⁸²⁶ The statue was placed in front of St. Petronio in Bologna. The left hand held neither book nor sword, but the keys. Pastor, III. 569, says,in einer derartigen Persönlichkeit lag mehr Stoff zu einem Könige und Feldherrn als zu einem Priester.

7⁸²⁷ The Prince, written in 1515, was dedicated to Leo X.’s nephew, Lorenzo de’ Medici, at a time when it was contemplated giving Lorenzo a large slice of Italian territory to govern. See Villari: Machiavelli, III. 372-424. Also Louis Dyer: Machiavelli and the Modern State, Boston, 1904. Caesar Borgia had his laureate, who sung his praises in 12 Latin lyrics, Peter Franciscus Justulus of Spoleto. Jupiter, who is represented as about to destroy the world for its wickedness, perceives that it contains at least one excellent young man, Caesar, and sends Mercury to urge him to take up arms for the world’s deliverance. Engl. Hist. Rev., Jan., 1902, pp. 15-20.

8²⁸ The letter is given by Gregorovius, Lucr. Borgia, p. 319.

9⁸²⁹ The expedition is described by de Grassis, the new master of ceremonies at the papal palace, who accompanied the expedition, and also by Aegidius of Viterbo,

0⁸³⁰ Pastor, III. 643, contents himself with the simple mention of the absolution of the Venetian’s, and omits all reference to the humiliating conditions. The Venetian scribblers let loose their pens against Julius and, among other charges, made against him the charge of sodomy. Pastor, III. 644, Note.

1⁸³¹ Zwingli’s friend, Thomas Platter (1499-1582), in speaking in his Autobiography of his travels in Germany as a boy to get knowledge and begging his bread, mentions how willing the people were to give him ear, "for they were very fond of the Swiss." At Breslau a family was ready to adopt him partly on this ground. After the defeat of Marigano, 1515, it was a common saying, so Platter says, "The Swiss have lost their good luck." On one occasion near Dresden, after a good dinner, to which he had been treated, he was taken in to see the mother of the home, who was on her death-bed. She said to Platter and his Swiss companions, "I have heard so many good things about the Swiss that I was very anxious to see one before my death." See Whitcomb, Renaissance Source-Book, p. 108; Monroe, Thos. Platter, p. 107.

2⁸³² Mansi, XXXII. 555-559.

3⁸³³ Creighton, IV. 123, unguardedly says that Julius was the first pope who let his beard grow. Many of the early bishops of Rome, as depicted in St. Peter’s, wore beards. So did Clement VII. after him, and other popes.

4⁸³⁴ See the pope’s letter granting it, Mansi, XXXII. 554.

5⁸³⁵ Pastor, III. 725.

6⁸³⁶ Hefele-Hergenröther, VIII. 520.

7⁸³⁷ See Mansi, XXXII. 570.

8³⁸ A pamphlet war was waged over the council. Among the writers on the papal side was Thomas de Vio Gaeta, general of the Dominican order and afterwards famous as Cardinal Cajetan, who had the colloquies with Luther. His tracts were ordered burnt by Louis XII. He took the ground that no council can be oecumenical which has not the pope’s support. An account of this literary skirmish is given by Hefele-Hergenröther, VIII. 470-480.

9⁸³⁹ Tu pastor, tu medicus, tu gubernator, tu cultor, tu denique alter Deus in terris, Mansi, XXXII. 761. Hefele-Hergenröther VII. 528-531, pronounce this expression, God on earth, used before by Gregory II., a rhetorical flourish and nothing more. See also Pastor, III. 725.

0⁸⁴⁰ De Grassis reports the rumors abroad concerning the pope’s mortal malady. One of them was the Gallic disease, and another that the pope’s stomach had given way under excessive indulgence. He also speaks of the great number who went to look at the pope’s corpse and to kiss his feet. Döllinger, III. 432.

1⁸⁴¹ A satire, called Julius exclusus, which appeared after the pontiff’s death, represented him as appearing at the gate of heaven with great din and noise. Peter remarked that, as he was a brave man, had a large army and much gold and was a busy builder, he might build his own paradise. At the same time the Apostle reminded him he would have to build the foundations deep and strong to resist the assaults of the devil. Julius retorted by peremptorily giving Peter three weeks to open heaven to him. In case he refused, he would open siege against him with 60,000 men. This recalls a story Dr. Philip Schaff used to tell of Gregory XVI., with whom, as a young graduate of Berlin, he had an audience. Gregory had a reputation with the Romans for being a connoisseur of wines. At his death, so the Roman wits reported, he appeared at the gate of heaven and, drawing out his keys, tried to unlock the gate. The keys would not fit. Peter, hearing the noise, looked out and, seeing the bunch of keys, told his vicar that he had brought with him by mistake the keys to his wine cellar, and must return to his palace and get the right set.

2⁸⁴² Guicciardini pronounces Julius a priest only in name. A letter dated Rome, Feb. 24, 1513, and quoted by Brosch, p. 363, has this statement, hic pontifex nos omnes, omnem Italiam a Barbarorum et Gallorum manibus eripuit, an expression used by Aegidius and Marcello before the Lateran council. See also Paris de Grassis-in Döllinger, p. 482. Pastor, III. 732, and Hergenröther, Conciliengesch., VIII. 535, justify Julius’ attention to war on the ground that he was fighting in a righteous cause and for possessions he had held as temporal prince ever since the 8th century. The right of a pope to defend the papal state is inherent in the very existence of a papal state. Even a saint, Leo IX., urges Pastor, p. 741, followed the camp.

3⁸⁴³ See Ranke: Hist. of the Popes, I. 35.

4⁸⁴⁴ Pastor, III. 575, condemns Julius under this head, tadelnswerth erscheint dass das Ablassgeschäft vielfach zu einer Finanzoperation wurde.

5⁸⁴⁵ An original cartoon of this portrait is preserved in the Corsini Florence. In 1889 I met Professor Weizsäcker of Tübingen in Florence standing before Julius’ portrait and studying it. I had been with him in his home before he started on his journey, and he told me that one of the chief pleasures which he was anticipating from his Italian trip was the study of that portrait of one of the most vigorous—thatkräftig —of the popes.

6⁸⁴⁶ These words are upon the testimony of the contemporary ambassador, Marino Giorgi, and cannot be set aside. Similar testimony is given by a biographer of Leo in Cod. Vat., 3920, which Döllinger quotes, Papstthum, p. 484, and which runs volo ut pontificatu isto quam maxime perfruamur. Pastor, IV. 353, while trying to break the force of the testimony for Leo’s words, pronounces the love of pleasure a fundamental and insatiable element of his nature—eine unersättliche Vergügungssucht, etc. Hefele-Knöpfler, Kirchengesch., p. 488, speak in the same vein when they say, Des neuen Papstes vorzüglichstes Streben galt heiterem Lebensgenuss, etc.

7⁸⁴⁷ See Vaughan, p. 13 sq.

8⁴⁸ The famous letter is given by Roscoe, Bohn’s ed., pp. 285-288, and Vaughan, p. 23 sqq.

9⁸⁴⁹ See Schulte, p. 198 sq., and Reumont, III., part II., p. 67. In front of the house of the banker, Agostino Chigi, were seen two persons representing Apollo and Mercury, and two little Moors, together with the inscription—

Olim habuit Cypria sua tempora, tempora Mavors

Olim habuit, sua nunc tempora Pallas habet.
The goddess of Cyprus had her day and also Mars,

But now Minerva reigns.

0⁸⁵⁰ August 15, 1513. The Scotch king, James IV., who had married Henry’s sister, Margaret, joined the French. The memorable defeat at Flodden followed, Sept. 9, 1513. James and the flower of the Scotch nobility fell. Leo recognized Henry’s victories by conferring upon him the consecrated sword and hat which it was the pope’s custom to set aside on Christmas day.

1⁸⁵¹ The battle is vividly described by D. J. Dierauer, Gesch. der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft, 2 vols., Gotha, 1892, vol. II. 451 sqq. On the second day of the battle, the arrival of the Venetian troops gave victory to the French. Of the 12,000 left on the field dead, the most were Swiss. Before entering the battle, as was their custom, the mountaineers engaged in prayer, and the leader, Steiner of Zug, after repeating the usual formula of devotion unto death, threw, in the name of the Trinity, a handful of earth over his fellow-soldiers’ heads.

2⁸⁵² Pastor, IV. 185 sq., strongly condemns Leo’s two-tongued diplomacy, doppelzüngiges Verhalten. Leo’s brief, authorizing Francis to make a promise of red hats to the two archbishops, is dated March 12, 1519.

3⁸⁵³ One-half was to be paid in cash and the other half to be deposited with the Fuggers, Schulte, p. 196.

4⁸⁵⁴ The investigation, started by Leo, resulted in making it appear that Julius’ mother, Floreta, and his father had agreed to regard themselves as married, though a formal service was wanting.

5⁸⁵⁵ Silvio Passerini, one of the fortunate candidates, was a prince of benefice-hunters. Pastor, IV. 139, gives fifty-five notices of benefices bestowed on him from Leo’s Regesta. He calls the list of the places he received as wahrhaft erschreckend, "something terrifying."

6⁸⁵⁶ The elephant became the subject of quite an extensive literature, poets joining others in setting forth his peculiarities. See Pastor, IV. 52, Note.

7⁸⁵⁷ The concordat met with serious resistance in France both from parliament and the University of Paris on the ground that it set aside the decisions of the Councils of Constance and Basel on the question of conciliar authority, and thus overthrew the Gallican liberties. The rector of the university forbade the university printer issuing the document, but he was brought to time by Leo instructing his legate to pronounce censure against him and the university, who "thinking themselves to be wise, had become fools."

8⁵⁸ Perpetuis futuris temporibus, nullus librum aliquem seu aliam quamcunque scripturam tam in urbe nostra quam aliis quibusvis civitatibus et diocesibus imprimere seu imprimi facere praesumat, Mansi, XXXII. 912 sq. Also in part in Mirbt, p. 177.

9⁸⁵⁹ Sacro concilio approbante. Döllinger, Papstthum, p. 185, affirms that, in far-reaching significance, no other rule ever passed in a Roman synod equals this bull.

0⁸⁶⁰ Mansi, XXXII. 968; Mirbt, p. 178. Solum Rom. pontificem auctoritatem super omnia concilia habentem et conciliorum indicendorum transferendorum ac dissolvendorum plenum ius et potestatem habere ... et cum de necessitate salutis existat omnes Christi fideles Romano pontifici subesse, etc.

1⁸⁶¹ Petri successores ... quibus ex libri Regum testimonio ita obedire necesse est, ut qui non obedierit, morte moriatur.

2⁸⁶² Kirchengesch., p. 383.

3⁸⁶³ III., part II., p. 128

4⁸⁶⁴ Pastor, who gives eight solid pages, IV. 407-415, to an account of Leo’s hunting expeditions, speaks of his passion for the chase as his leidenschaftliche Jagdliebhaberei.

5⁸⁶⁵ Vaughan, p. 177.

6⁸⁶⁶ See Reumont, III, Part II., 134 sq.

7⁸⁶⁷ Sanuto, as quoted by Pastor, IV. 384. For some of the entertainments given by Cardinal Riario Cornaro, see Vaughan, p. 186 sqq. At one of the banquets given by Cardinal Cornaro, sixty-five courses were served, three dishes to each course, and all served on silver. Such devices as a huge pie, from which blackbirds or nightingales flew forth, or dishes of peacocks’ tails, or a construction of pastry from which a child would emerge to say a piece,—these were some of the inventions prepared for the amusement of guests at the tables of members of the sacred college.