The Renaissance Popes: Statesmen, Warriors and the Great Borgia Myth

by Gerard Noel

Between the years of 1447 (Nicholas V) and 1572 (Pius V), the Vatican became the official home of the Church, and a succession of Renaissance Popes -- who were statesmen, warriors, and patrons of the arts as well as churchmen -- turned Rome into an unparalleled center for culture, and turned the Church into the world's largest bureaucracy. These mercurial popes, such as Alexander VI, the infamous Borgia patriarch, and Julius 'Il Terrible' II, contributed to cultural achievements -- the Basilica of St. Peters and Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel -- through the sale of indulgences, and targeted heretics with Inquisitions and witchhunts. In the midst of this explosion of great culture and violent debasement, Alexander VI, father of the ruthless Cesare and jezebel Lucrezia, came to be seen as the embodiment of this iniquity. But Gerard Noel shows that Alexander's legacy was tainted by false confessions and historical myth. In fact, Alexander created the blueprint for reform -- the first of its kind -- that would eventually lead to the Counter-Reformation. In his survey of the colorful reigns of the seventeen Renaissance Popes and his examination of the great Borgia myth, Noel brings to light the true legacy -- political, artistic, religious -- of an extraordinary time.

Genres: History, Renaissance, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Sigrid Delphine · Rating 5 out of 5]

As this was a chance acquisition, I was very very pleasantly surprised upon reading it. Nothing (and no subject) could have pleased me more! Neil professes to humanize the Renaissance popes, who are indeed villified quite often and placed miserably out of context. He succeeds, I'd say, which is somewhat impressive since he manages to stay objective through most of this humanification process. I especially liked his careful dismantling of the Borgia myth; it seems to me Neil is one of the few historians to render an account that comes close to being complete - though he is a little biased in that his version of Borgia is essentially a predetermined conclusion, meant from the start to project the pope as one of the greatest instead of one of the worst popes - there is a risk of the self-fulfilling prophecy here, or perhaps even positive discrimination, if one can call it that. But still: the message definitely comes across. As for the chapters on the other popes; they are very well written and provide a nice framework for the Borgia part, while also speaking very much for themselves. The attention reserved for the various conclaves ant the many (hilarious) historical details provided made the work a great success. I was as likely to feel genuinely distraught as I was to laugh out loud (though explaining the joke to other people proved somewhat difficult - even if the hilarity of a cardinal exclaiming 'balls! balls!' seems obvious enough). Neil pulls the reader in, despite the academic nature of his book. It is a little sad that I pose this as a contradiction, actually, for it needn't be - so congratulations to Neil for being able to combine the two! I look forward to reading more of him.

[Ania · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not as long as I would like it to be and not as informative in general about Europe in renaissance times. But it's a good start if you are looking for some information about popes in XV and XVI centuries, especially Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia). Being inspired to look for some more information about him and Borgias because of videogame Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the book served its purpose.

Gerard Noel describes the life and achievements (good and bad equally) of eighteen popes. Some of them have barely 4 pages for them in the book and some like Alexander VI and succedding him (after short papacy of Pius III) his longstanding enemy, cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (Julius II) Noel devoted more attention. To be honest, it's hard after completing the book to remember - who was who, especially if the pope ruling time was so short and his actions not remarkable. Reader can get general information about popes and more thorough descirpion of the most interesting ones (and those can be remembered) and that's the biggest advantage of the book - you can get not only basic information of the renaissance popes, but also some trivia not commonly known about their lives and the Catholic Church in general.

Wish it would have more information like that and additionaly - a map of Italy and it's different kingdoms, etc. (land and cities were quickly chaning their rulers but it would be nice not checking where Ferrara is and analysing Italian houses family trees.

Although the author has an accesible style and great knowledge, sometimes I've felt lacking information about the Europe at that times and foreing countires that were either alliancing or fighting with Rome. Maybe if the book was a little bit longer - even 30-50 pages it would be easier to read and provide more context to everything that was happening during that times.

It is still a nice pick for someone looking to get more information about Borgias family, renaissance popes and Italy in that times - after reading it I can easily see what Assassin's Creed series got wrong about that times (including Pazzi conspiracy to displace the de' Medici family as rulers of Florence.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nobody, aside from royalty (a subject Mr. Noel also produces mediocre books), attract bad writers and are the subject of so many bad books as pope's (i.e. the head of the Catholic church. I am sure Mr. Noel like his readers would be ignorant of and shocked to know that their are other pope's). This book is a waste of time and an insult to your intelligence. Even the most cursory exploration should allow anyone to find something better to read on the subject then this book.

[Thomas Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times it felt as if the author was desperately rushing through chapters on some Popes in order to write more on the Borgia Popes and the 'black legend.'
This book really shines whenever the Borgias are mentioned and it's clear that the author enjoyed writing these bits the most.