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The Borgias: The Hidden History QUOTES

The Borgias: The Hidden History QUOTES

1 " Don Pedro Luis de Borja-Pierluigi Borgia to the Italians—was still in his mid-twenties when he became the first member of his family to be the most hated man in Rome. He did so not by behaving badly in any way of which a credible record has survived, but by carrying out an assignment that made him the enemy of some of the most badly behaved Romans of his time. "

― G.J. Meyer , The Borgias: The Hidden History

2 " He was rather statedly conservative in his religious beliefs-entirely comfortable with established dogma and no friend of theological or philosophical innovation-but he showed marked tolerance in dealing with those whose views were not as orthodox as his own, on one occasion making the lame joke that “the Lord requires not the death of the sinner, but rather that he pay and live.” Late in his career, when the Jews were being expelled from Spain, Rodrigo would annoy Ferdinand and Isabella by making the refugees welcome in Rome. "

― G.J. Meyer , The Borgias: The Hidden History

3 " The accepted version of his life story provides the world with something it apparently needs: the perfect example of papal decadence. "

― G.J. Meyer , The Borgias: The Hidden History

4 " Upon bullying and bribing his way to the throne at last, this towering but evil-tempered man, a great hater as well as a great patron of Michelangelo, made it one of his purposes to blacken the Borgia name. He had former associates of the Borgias tortured in the quest for blacking material. Though the results must have disappointed him keenly-employment by the Borgias turned out to be no guarantee that one had witnessed unspeakable things-the supply of gossip grew steadily all the same, at a pace that accelerated over time. "

― G.J. Meyer , The Borgias: The Hidden History

5 " The dark legend of the Borgias, having taken root in Italy, found a wider audience when religious reformers went forth in search of evidence not just that non-Italian popes were a bad idea but that the papacy was an evil institution, illegitimate, and inherently corrupt. "

― G.J. Meyer , The Borgias: The Hidden History