The Borgias : the hidden history / G.J. Meyer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Meyer, G. J., 1940-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Borgia family.

Nobility--Italy--Biography.

Nobility.

Renaissance--Italy.

Renaissance.

Italy--History--15th century.

Italy.

Italy--History--1492-1559.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxx, 478 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Bantam Books, 2013.

Summary:

Sweeping aside the gossip, slander, and distortion that have shrouded the Borgias for centuries, G. J. Meyer offers an unprecedented portrait of the infamous Renaissance family and their storied milieu. They burst out of obscurity in Spain to capture the great prize of the papacy, not once but twice. Throughout a tumultuous half-century--as popes, statesmen, warriors, lovers, and breathtakingly ambitious political adventurers--they held center stage in the glorious and blood-drenched pageant known to us as the Italian Renaissance. Five centuries after their fall--a fall even more sudden than their rise to the heights of power--they remain symbols of the depths to which humanity can descend: Rodrigo, who bought the papal crown and prostituted the Roman Church; Cesare, who became the most treacherous cutthroat of a violent time; Lucrezia, as immoral as she was beautiful. But did these Borgias of legend actually exist? Grounding his narrative in exhaustive research and drawing from rarely examined key sources, Meyer brings fascinating new insight to the real people within the age-encrusted myth. Equally illuminating is the light he shines on the brilliant circles in which the Borgias moved and the thrilling era they helped to shape.--From publisher description.

Contents:

Prologue: One Whom All Did Fear

Part One. Alonso, From Out of Nowhere

A Most Improbable Pope

Background: The Road to Rome

Surprises, Disappointments, Hope

Background: Il Regno-The Kingdom

Pope and King, Friends No More

Background: Amazing Italy

Family Matters

Background: The Men in the Red Hats

The End of the Beginning

Part Two. Rodrigo, A Long Apprenticeship

Surviving

Background: The Eternal City, Eternally Reborn

Pius II : Troubles Rumored and Real

Background: Il Papa

Paul II : The Poisoned Chalice

Background: The Inextinguishable Evil-Heads

Sixtus IV : Disturbing the Peace

Background: War, Italian Style

Innocent VIII : Plumbing the Depths

Part Three. Alexander, Pope At Last

The Best Man for the Job

Background: Madness and Milan

The Coming of the French

Background: The Paternity Question : An "Apology"

The French Depart

Background: Florence : An Anti-Renaissance

A Shattering Loss

Background: The Young Ones

Valentino

Part Four. Cesare, Caesar or Nothing

The Landscape Changes

Background: Venice, Serene No More

Conqueror

Background: The Angel's Castle

"Longing for Greatness and Renown"

Background: The Newest Profession

Settling Scores

Background: The Great Discoveries

Man of Destiny

Background: Superstitions : Another Side of the Renaissance

Alone

Aftermath

Examining Old Assumptions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Beardwood Fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9780345526915 ;