Pope Alexander VI

Papal styles of
**Pope Alexander VI**
Papal styles of; Pope Alexander VI
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	None

Pope

Alexander VI

Valentinus ("The Valencian")
Pope; Alexander VI; Valentinus ("The Valencian")
Bishop of Rome
	Portrait attributed to Pedro Berruguete; (c. 1495, oil on canvas, Vatican Museums)
Church	Catholic Church
Papacy began	11 August 1492
Papacy ended	18 August 1503
Predecessor	Innocent VIII
Successor	Pius III
Orders
Ordination	1468
Consecration	30 October 1471
Created cardinal	17 September 1456; by Callixtus III
Personal details
Born	Roderic de Borgia (Rodrigo Borja); 1 January 1431; Xàtiva, Kingdom of Valencia, Crown of Aragon
Died	18 August 1503 (aged 72); Rome, Papal States
Buried	Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli, Rome
Nationality	Kingdom of Valencia, Aragonese – Spanish
Denomination	Catholic Church
Parents	Jofré de Borja y Escrivà; Isabel de Borja;
Children	Pier Luigi; Girolama; Isabella; Giovanni; Cesare; Lucrezia; Gioffre; Others disputed;
Previous post(s)	Cardinal-Deacon of San Nicola in Carcere (1456–1471); Administrator of Girona (1457–1458); Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata (1458–1492); Administrator of Valencia (1458–1492); Bishop of Urgell (1467–1472); Cardinal-Bishop of Albano (1471–1476); Cardinal-Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina (1476–1492); Administrator of Cartagena (1482–1492); Administrator of Mallorca (1489–1492); Administrator of Eger (1491–1492); Archbishop of Valencia (1492);
Education	University of Bologna
Coat of arms
	Other popes named Alexander

Pope Alexander VI (born Rodrigo de Borja; 1 January 1431 – 18 August 1503) (epithet: Valentinus ("The Valencian") was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into the prominent Borgia family in Xàtiva in the Kingdom of Valencia under the Crown of Aragon (now Spain), Rodrigo studied law at the University of Bologna. He was ordained deacon and made a cardinal in 1456 after the election of his uncle as Pope Callixtus III, and a year later he became vice-chancellor of the Catholic Church. He proceeded to serve in the Curia under the next four popes, acquiring significant influence and wealth in the process. In 1492, Rodrigo was elected pope, taking the name Alexander VI.

Alexander's papal bulls of 1493 confirmed or reconfirmed the rights of the Spanish crown in the New World following the finds of Christopher Columbus in 1492. During the second Italian war, Alexander VI supported his son Cesare Borgia as a condottiero for the French king. The scope of his foreign policy was to gain the most advantageous terms for his family.

Alexander is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, partly because he acknowledged fathering several children by his mistresses. As a result, his Italianized Valencian surname, Borgia, became a byword for libertinism and nepotism, which are traditionally considered as characterizing his pontificate.

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