The Borgias: Power and Fortune
By Paul Strathern
Atlantic Books, 400pp, £25/$28.95
The dubious distinction of serving as the stereotypical exemplars of Renaissance ecclesial corruption is held by the Borgias, a family as infamous as any in Renaissance Italy for its embrace of that era’s mixture of neo-classical learning and aesthetics with the depths of debauchery. In fact, that is only one side of the Borgias’ story, one which has obscured the authentic service to the Church performed by other members of the family, and whose depravity has been exaggerated by legend.
