A History of the Borgias

by Frederick Rolfe

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction

408 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1901

About the author

English writer, novelist, artist, fantasist and eccentric. Rolfe is also known as Baron Corvo. His best known work is the novel Hadrian the Seventh.

Reviews

[Anna Prejanò · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nevrotico, eccessivo, afflitto da manie di persecuzione, orgoglioso ma servile con chi poteva essergli utile, prete mancato, eminente vittoriano finito in miseria a Venezia. La vita di Frederick Rolfe è più interessante della sua opera, che mi lascia sempre un senso d’incompiuto se non di talento buttato alle ortiche. I suoi libri richiedono una lettura lenta e sono ad (ampi) tratti farraginosi, ma la fatica è premiata da squarci di luce sorprendente.
Libro bizzarro e decisamente poco canonico per la struttura e il taglio, questa storia dei Borgia è certamente consigliata solo agli amatori (di Rolfe più che dei Borgia). L’ossessione genealogica che raggiunge il parossismo nel finale e si spegne come l’ultimo discendente senza prole è quasi commovente.

[Max Renn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books. To my young self it was a revelation along with Carlyle's 'French Revolution' that all those stuffy sounding classics were classics for a reason. That history was not only edifying but mind-blowingly entertaining as well especially when filtered through a sensibility as perceptive and unique as Baron Corvo's.

[P.J. Sullivan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Baron Corvo was an apologist for the Borgias, not to be taken too seriously. He thinks their crimes too monstrously inhuman to be true. The murders attributed to Cesare and Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI) fail of proof, he argues. If they happened at all they were committed by someone else. He thinks the pope was too busy to find time for the murders. He admits that Cesare Borgia ordered the murder of Lucretia's second husband, but excuses it as self defense. This is preposterous, according to contemporary accounts; the victim was convalescing in bed when he was strangled!

Baron Corvo admits that Pope Alexander fathered at least seven bastard children but this was permissible, he says, according to the moral standards of the day. The pope was a great man and beyond reproach, who did not cause the failure of Lucretia Borgia's first marriage. Corvo argues that Cesare Borgia brought law, order, and prosperity to the Papal States. That simony also was the norm. Why not leave the sins of the Borgias to the recording angel? he asks. Why should we?

The Borgias were probably worse than they are portrayed in the history books because the histories draw on Johann Burchard, whose sacristan’s book was accessible to the Borgias. Thus it is likely that Burchard self-censored their worst crimes.

Much is unknown and disputed about the Borgias, but this book is an unreliable source. It is heavily biased and conflicts with most other histories of this family, in dates and in more important matters. At times it is racist. Baron Corvo was not contemporary with the Borgias and had no special access to their private papers.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is probably mostly worth reading if you're interested as rolfe as a writer, since he's not really a historian. it's sometimes surprisingly modern and reasonable sounding when he's saying that we shouldn't judge a historical period by the moral standards of today, or when he's pointing out the lack of verification of the borgia use of poison by primary sources. on the other hand he will also say silly reactionary stuff sometimes, like that the spanish inquisition was particularly brutal and violent because of the presence of african blood in the spaniards. there is also some quite nice writing, although nothing really as striking as you find in his fiction with maybe a few exceptions here and there.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

For an author with such a colorful life, I'd expect a no less colorful history. However, Corvo is dedicated to disproving many of the outlandish legends of the Borgias. He's actually quite fond of them, from Pope Alexander VI to Lucrezia Duke Cesare to St. Francis Borgia SJ. How accurate he is in recounting facts and anecdotes doesn't really concern me as I'm here more for the story he tells.

[lucrecia · Rating 3 out of 5]

È scritto molto bene, ma purtroppo ha degli errori storici pazzeschi e immotivati. Tra l’altro l’autore sostiene con forza queste teorie false. Sarebbe un bel libro.