POV: you’re at the sickest rave of your life. Candles flickering. Incense burning. Gregorians chanting. The place: Vatican City. The year: 1492. The man behind it all: Pope Alexander VI aka Rodrigo Borgia.

This week, we return to a place of pope as we tell the story of the most ruthless family in papal history. Hear about the depravity and delusion of the entire Borgia clan in an episode rife with sex and greed, two of Jared’s favorite things. And please PLEASE don’t ask why Abe is wearing sunglasses inside. It’s a private matter. Tangents include Kermit the Frog’s nephew Robin, the show Vikings, Pope Leo blind item, and “Lose Yourself” by Eminem.

SOURCES:

• The Bad Popes by E.R. Chamberlin
• The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
• Hillgarth, J. N. (1996). The Image of Alexander VI and Cesare Borgia in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 59, 119–129. https://doi.org/10.2307/751400
• “The Borgias” In Our Time podcast, BBC Radio 4 https://open.spotify.com/episode/10PVoxVIv1iTSt56TNSqpC?si=TI7DR1a-TNOaoNPMWJ6QSA
• Najemy, J. M. (2013). Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia: A Reconsideration of Chapter 7 of “The Prince.” The Review of Politics, 75(4), 539–556. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43670906
• Lucrezia Borgia: Poison, Power, and Papal Scandal | Full Documentary | Biography
• Pope Alexander VI: The Infamous "Borgia Pope"

THAT'S HISTORY, BABE! is hosted by Abe Merker and Jared Tetreau. This episode was produced by Jared Tetreau, Abe Merker, and Claudia Chiossone. Research Assistance by Madison Albertson. Music by Kinneret. Series Artwork by Sid Lugo. Intro Animations by Gemma Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.