And Rodrigo Borgia, also known as Pope Alexander VI Borgia, would greet his guests with a radiant smile and, embracing each by the shoulders, seat them at a luxurious table laden with delicacies and superb wine. The «Vicar of Saint Peter» joked cheerfully, his witticisms infused with a subtle humor all his own.
A treacherous trio
The pope, a Spaniard by origin, possessed a rare intelligence and shrewdness. Beside him, as was the custom, sat his children: his beautiful daughter Lucrezia and his son Cesare – a brilliant, talented organizer and skilled military commander.
The festive mood of this trio was barely sustained by the invited fathers of the Catholic Church and the noblemen. All of them, with animal fear in their hearts, awaited the dreadful Borgia «dessert». It might be in a goblet of wine, in a sweet pastry, or in a roasted joint of meat. Rodrigo Borgia loved to repeat in the silence of his chambers his signature phrase: «Wars are won not by armies and gold, but by cooks in the kitchens and the stewards of banquets. All it takes is a trifle – to know how to pour a drop of poison into a barrel of honey».
Rivals were dispatched to the next world in batches. Their deaths were agonizing and inspired genuine horror in the relatives of the unfortunate victims. In the «holy family», each played their own fateful role. The director and screenwriter of these treacherous intrigues, ending in people’s deaths, was of course the pope himself.
He brewed poisons himself
Incidentally, Alexander VI was an excellent pharmacist, and in his laboratory, hidden from prying eyes, he prepared cantarella – his favorite and beloved poison. He kept the recipe for this deadly concoction secret. With its help, Borgia easily and unnoticeably rid himself of his enemies. And he did so with unprecedented ingenuity. For example, an ordinary key with a tiny point at the end, generously smeared with poison, was often used. The unsuspecting person paid no attention to the prick. And a week later they would die in terrible agony. The beautiful Lucrezia also made use of her father’s poison and, when the occasion suited, would poison yet another lover of whom she had grown tired.
The «Roman apothecary» quietly carried out his dark deeds, while his son Cesare waged brilliant wars against enemies, expanding the Papal States with new cities.
An absurd death
Even the best laid plans, however, can go awry. One day, through absentmindedness, Alexander VI Borgia mixed up the goblets and took a swallow of poisoned wine. He died in terrible agony, covered in sores that ate away at his body. After the death of Rodrigo Borgia, criticism rained down on the family from all sides. Enemies, awakened from their fear, began to persecute the Borgia sons. Now every surviving Italian cardinal boldly called the late pope a «monster of debauchery» and a murderer. Surprisingly, the common people loved Borgia and revered him like Solomon, famed for his wisdom.
A cursed period
By the way, historians would call the period in the history of the Holy See from 904 to 963 the «rule of the harlots». In other words – «pornocracy». For instance, Pope John XII set up a brothel and had a passion for personally attending executions. Innocent VIII also did not waste his time and adored worldly life. He is considered the father of 12 illegitimate children. Admittedly, two of them he did publicly acknowledge as his own.
It should be noted that poisons were the most refined weapon of emperors and kings in the struggle for power. Nero, for example, turned this into an industry. He even kept a Gaulish poisoner named Locusta on his staff. The French queen Catherine de’ Medici would give her rivals poisoned gloves or perfume. From such gifts the victims slowly died over the course of a month.
They survived but went gray: a plane with 270 passengers went into a tailspin for several minutes
