Alexander VI - the scandalous pope (1492-1503)
Rodrigo de Borgia was a wealthy Spaniard who used his riches to buy the papacy.
Having bribed the cardinals into electing him pope, he used his power to give jobs to his relatives. The papacy virtually became a family business.
The religious life did not stop him enjoying the pleasures of the flesh. He was the father of nine children by various mistresses - the murderous Lucrezia Borgia was his daughter.
Appropriately, given the family's talent for administering deadly potions, it is thought he may himself have died from poison.
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