Borgia

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Borja (better known by the Italian spelling of the name, Borgia) was an influential Spanish-Italian family during the Renaissance. Callixtus III was a pope. His nephew, Alexander VI, also a pope, was a brilliant man notorious for his unpontifical private life. Alexander's illegitimate children included Cesare Borgia, a political operator and intriguer, and Lucrezia Borgia, married to the Duke of Ferrara and a patron of learning and art. The Borgias legendarily poisoned people to gain political advantage and wealth, although little documentary evidence for this exists. A later member of this family, Francis Borgia, was canonized as a saint.

Although the Borgia family is closely associated with the Italian Renaissance, they were of Spanish origin and the name is of Valencian/Catalan origin; the family used the Valencian language among themselves, for privacy, even in Italy. There is a town in Spain called Borja which is the seat of the Camp de Borja comarca, in the province of Zaragoza in Aragon. But the Borjas themselves were Valencian.

Alexander VI created for Giovanni Borgia the title duke of Gandía, an Valencian fief he purchased from King Ferdinand II of Aragon.

The following members of the Borgia or Borja family have individual entries:

Pope Callixtus III (born "Alfons de Borja (Italian Alfonso di Borgia)" and his nephew:
Pope Alexander VI (born "Roderic de Borja (Italian Rodrigo Borgia)" and Alexander's well-known children:
Giovanni Borgia, 2nd Duke of Gandia
Cesare Borgia, made archbishop of Valencia and duke of Borja, in Aragon
Lucrezia Borgia
Giovanni Borgia, the Infans Romanus
Saint Francis Borgia

The world-famous Spanish operatic soprano, Lucrezia Bori, whose real surname was Borja and who came from Valencia, was always said to belong to a collateral branch of the famous Borja/Borgia family.

Borja also refers to an espresso drink similar to a café mocha, but with the addition of orange extract. (Valencia province grows famous oranges.)

There exist rumors that the Borgia Family had family ties with the Mastai-Ferretti but they were never proven.

1 In popular culture
- 1.1 Film and TV
- 1.2 Novels
2 See also

[edit] In popular culture

[edit] Film and TV

Neil Jordan's upcoming film Borgia and the Spanish-Italian 2006 film Los Borgia depict the life of the family. The family were also the subject of the critically-derided BBC series The Borgias.