House of Borgia

Ezio, my friend! How may I be of service?
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"I should have stayed in the stables. What a family this Pope has."

―Toffana, a servant to the Borgia, 1503.^[src]^-[m]

The House of Borgia, or Borja, was a noble family of Spanish origin that came to prominence during the Renaissance, when they acted as a most striking embodiment of the Templar Order. Notable members include Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia and his illegitimate children, Lucrezia and Cesare. In 1492, Rodrigo was elected Pope Alexander VI; as a result of his rule, the city of Rome declined into corruption, theft, murder and oppression.^[1]

During the reign of Alexander VI, the Borgia family was suspected of many crimes, including adultery, simony, theft, bribery, incest, and murder—especially by arsenic poisoning. Because of their constant grasp for power, the Borgia made enemies of the Medici, the Sforza, and the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola, among others. Despite this, they were also patrons of the arts who contributed to the Renaissance.^[1]

In the early 16th century, the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins became a steadfast resistance against the Borgia. Under the leadership of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who recruited citizens to the Brotherhood's cause, the Assassins fought to end the Borgias' tyrannical rule over Rome and the Church. As the power of the Borgias declined into disarray, Rome experienced a change, in that the benefits of art and culture finally arrived in the city and its people discovered the prosperity of the Renaissance.^[1]

In 1503, with the death of Rodrigo—courtesy of his son, Cesare—the Borgia family took an instant downfall, and Cesare, the former Captain General of the Papal armies, was arrested and exiled to Spain. Subsequently, the family lost all of its influence, after Pius III and later Julius II succeeded Rodrigo as Pope.^[1]

Notable members[edit | edit source]

Family tree[edit | edit source]

Jofré Llançol i Escrivá

Isabel de Borja

Rodrigo Borgia

Vannozza dei Cattanei

Juan Borgia the Younger

Gallery[edit | edit source]

Alfons de Borja
Rodrigo Borgia
Juan Borgia the Elder
Juan Borgia the Younger
Cesare Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia
Giovanni Borgia
A Glass of Wine with Caesar Borgia by John Collier
Saint Francis Borgia Helping a Dying Impenitent by Francisco Goya
A Borgia propaganda poster
A letter with a Borgia seal
A Borgia badge

Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]

Despite the above letter bearing the Borgia's house seal, its body text is actually from Ubisoft's 2004 adventure game Myst IV: Revelation from the Myst series and is the character Atrus' opening narration to the player summarizing the series' 1993 titular game, though it excludes his first sentence after the greeting. The original text is as follows:

My friend. For twenty years, I've harbored a secret. People talk about my sons and the evil things they did, but still I remain strangely mute. I do not discuss my own actions that day, or the rage I felt when I burned the two Linking Books that had snared them. Some people believe my sons died in those fires, but the truth is, they did not. You're the only one I can confide in, my friend, so I'm asking you to come to Tomahna. There are things I must tell you... about my sons.^[2]