Nikki K

(* 1 January 1431 in Xàtiva, Spain – † 18 August 1503 in Rome, Italy) His parents were the Valencian Jofré Llançol i Escrivà and his wife and distant cousin the Aragonese Isabel de Borja y Cavanilles. Following the elevation to the papacy of his maternal uncle Alonso de Borja as Calixtus III in 1455 Rodrigo took on the surname in its italianized form 'Borgia'. He had one brother, Pedro Luis who accompanied him to Italy, and three sisters Beatrice, Tecla and Juana. Rodrigo Borgia studied law at Bologna. After the election of his uncle as Pope Calixtus III, he was ordained deacon and created Cardinal-Deacon of San Nicola in Carcere at the age of twenty-five in 1456. The following year he was appointed vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church. In 1468 he was ordained to the priesthood and in 1471 he was consecrated bishop and appointed Cardinal-Bishop of Albano. Having served in the Roman Curia under five popes – Pius II, Paul II, Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII – Rodrigo Borgia acquired considerable administrative experience, influence and wealth. In the conclave of 1492, he wasn't a front runner, however, Ascanio Sforza saw that he could not win against Giuliano Della Rovere and therefore threw his vote and the votes of his followers on Borgia. It was rumoured but not substantiated that Borgia succeeded in buying the largest number of votes and Sforza, in particular, promising him the office of Vice Chancellor. In contrast to the preceding pontificate, Pope Alexander VI adhered initially to strict administration of justice and orderly government. Before long, however, he began endowing his relatives at the church's and his neighbours' expense. In terms of foreign policy Alexander VI made many alliances to secure his position, some more some less successful. The war between France and Spain for the possession of Naples dragged on, and the Pope was forever intriguing, ready to ally himself with whichever power promised the most advantageous terms at any moment. Internally the debased state of the curia was a major scandal. Opponents such as the powerful demagogic Florentine friar Girolamo Savonarola launched invectives against papal corruption and appealed for a general council to confront the papal abuses. As for his true faults, known only to his confessor, Pope Alexander VI apparently died genuinely repentant. The Bishop of Gallipoli, Alexis Celadoni, spoke of the pontiff's contrition during the funeral oration. Rodrigo Borgia died at age 72. It has been suggested that, having taken into account the unusual level of decomposition, Alexander VI was accidentally poisoned to death by his son, Cesare, with cantarella (which had been prepared to eliminate Cardinal Adriano), although some commentaries doubt these stories and attribute the Pope's death to malaria, then prevalent in Rome, or to another such pestilence. It had been an exceptionally hot summer and the burial was postponed so the French Cardinals could arrive for the conclave: This could explain the rapid decay of the corpse. Alexander VI was known for his patronage of the arts, Bramante. Raphael, Michelangelo and Pinturicchio all worked for him. In addition to the arts, Alexander VI also encouraged the development of education. In 1495, he issued a papal bull at the request of William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, and King James IV of Scotland, founding King's College, Aberdeen. King's College now forms an integral element of the University of Aberdeen. He distinguished himself by his relatively benign treatment of Jews. After the 1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain, some 9,000 impoverished Iberian Jews arrived at the borders of the Papal States. Alexander welcomed them into Rome, declaring that they were "permitted to lead their life, free from interference from Christians, to continue in their own rites, to gain wealth, and to enjoy many other privileges." He similarly allowed the immigration of Jews expelled from Portugal in 1497 and from Provence in 1498. Of Alexander's many mistresses the one for whom his passion lasted longest was Vanozza Cattanei. The connection began in 1470, and she bore him four children whom he openly acknowledged as his own: Juan, Cesare, Lucrezia and Joffre. His other acknowledged children, Girolama, Isabella and Pedro-Luis, were of uncertain parentage on the mother's side.

Rodrigo Borgia, his papacy and his family inspired many novels and was portrayed in many movies and television series. For instance most recently:


Jeremy John Irons was born 19 September 1948 in Cowes on the Isle of Wright, England. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including "Macbeth", "Much Ado About Nothing", "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Richard II". In 1984, he made his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing" and received a Tony Award for Best Actor. Irons's first major film role came in the 1981 romantic drama "The French Lieutenant's Woman", for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. He appeared sporadically in films during the 1980s. His work includes the 1997 remake of "Lolita" and playing the musketeer Aramis opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1998 film version of "The Man in the Iron Mask". n 2004, Irons played Severus Snape in Comic Relief's Harry Potter parody, "Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan". In 2005, he appeared in the films "Casanova" opposite Heath Ledger, and Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven". Over the years he made several appearances on British television. The role which brought him fame was that of Charles Ryder in the television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited" (1981). In 2005, Irons won both an Emmy award and a Golden Globe award for his supporting role in the TV mini-series, "Elizabeth I". Currently, he can be seen as Rodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI in Showtime's Renaissance soap opera "The Borgias" and also on BBC2 which adapted a series of plays by William Shakespeare under the title "The Hollow Crown" for the screen. There he plays the role of Henry IV in both parts of the play. Irons married Irish actress Sinéad Cusack in March 1978. Recently she was starring on the short-lived TV series "Camelot" alongside Joseph Fiennes, Eva Green and Claire Forlani. The couple has two sons, Samuel James Brefni Irons (16 September 1978), who works as a photographer, and Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons (17 October 1985) and aspiring actor. In October 2011, Irons was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.


» "God will forgive us my son, but I will not forgive failure from you or your brother!"
» "You would surprise yourself if such destiny ever brushed against you."
» "The others bought and sold. We merely proved ourselves better at the game, but we draw the line at murder. Do we not?"
» "Don't challenge me! And never, ever within these sacred walls!"
» "Oh what would Rome be without a good plot?"
» "What the Holy Church needs at this juncture is someone who can ensure its survival by whatever means necessary."
» "We would have a wedding only to once again see our dear Lucrezia."
» "We did love our children, did we not my dear?"
» "Unburden your souls"

BL.Arinna_1982

tftnt, Nina.

Nikki K

Sure. No problem. I tried my best. I've finally found smaller files of Henry IV, so I might get to see it after all at some point.

Elenwyn

Thanks for the new thread, Nina!

The second part of Henry IV was so good. Jeremy Irons really outshone everyone else in it, I was crying my eyes out. I'm really enjoying these adaptions, they've been the best thing the BBC has done in a long time.

Nikki K

Even better than S5 of Doctor Who? Well, I will look for them as soon as I am finished downloading that 1953 movie about Lucrezia. I finally found a version that isn't dubbed in Czech. Downside - the file is huge. But Henry IV is next on my list after that.

Also you're welcome. Making the OP for this thread, Vanozza's thread and writing up the Sforza family history and discussing Rodrigo's and Della Rovere's relationship in the "Fanfiction/Books/Movies etc." thread, quoting sources took a good part of my evening yesterday. It's amazing how these things often take so long. I wonder if I'm waisting my time but by the same token... you can't beat the educator out of me it seems. If you find time, join us at Vanozza's?

Otherwise, I hope you are well and we can discuss Henry IV and Jeremy's performance soon.

Elenwyn

S5 of New or Old Who? And I actually would say so, but that's just me. It's the kind of thing I could watch every day and never get bored of.

I don't think you're wasting your time! I'd love to know as much as you do. And yes, I will

Nikki K

New. What was the S5 of Classic - was that already Troughton or still Hartnell. I watched it all at some point - even listened to the reconstruction of the lost ones.

Okay now, I looked it up and S5 of Classic Who is actually one of my favourites of the Classic aera: After all it has Troughton as the 2nd doctor who played the recorder and landed the TARDIS on water and it also had Jaime and Victoria who I thought complemented each other and the Doctor as companions very well.

Did you watch any of the series? I came across some crazy meta yesterday where somebody tried to prove that Amy Pond was in fact the Rani.

I realised one thing - I enjoy plays a lot more when I see them in a theatre on stage but again, that was probably just me. However, with the possible exception of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", you know the movie with Michelle Pfeiffer and Stanley Tucci if I remember correctly. That was a sumptuous set they had there.

I'm glad you think it's not an entire waste of time, I often worry that my posts bore people but then while I do like gushing over certain scenes etc., I also like to understand the context.

Elenwyn

Yes, Troughton is one of my favourite Doctors. Second favourite after my lovely Four I've watched the old series on and off, part of growing up watching it with my parents. I've watched less from Five onwards, but I've watched all of New Who so far.

I enjoy plays in theatre a lot more usually - I like it when the RSC adapts their plays to be shown on the BBC but it's basically taking the stage production and showing it on TV which I don't think always translates well. Nothing beats the feeling of seeing something live Which is part of the reason I'm so happy with the Hollow Crown. It's really taken something that could seem boring to people that don't like the plays/don't know them and made them work for TV.

Nikki K

Troughton was excellent but my favourite will forever remain Pertwee (Three). Perhaps it's - because I'm a scientist, he was a scientist and he tried to mould all of his comapnions (and he had some of the best ones) into scientists too. In all fairness Liz already had that PhD in physics and Sarah Jane was naturally curious and investigative but he even tried with Jo which I found remarkable. I loved that reunion episode of Jo and Sarah Jane on SJA.

My problem with Five was - I didn't care for his companions at all and when he finally got a companion that suited him and I actually loved their chemistry, he died/reincarnated and I hated Six, he was so obnoxious. And I loved Peri so much becaus again, she was a scientist, a botanist at that! I just love watching things with women in science. I thought her and Five were cute together and I enjoyed all the audioplays they did together. If I had any vidding skills Gwen Stefani's "Early Winter" always reminds me of Peri/Five.

I think Seven was the worst - I don't know, he was constantly pissy and and cynical, had none of his predecessor's enthusiasm and optimistic outlook. It didn't help that I hated Ace (sorry, I know a lot of people like her but I hated her with a passion)and every bloody story-line seemed to have something to do with fascism and Nazi Germany. Perhaps it's how I was brought up but this part of the history of my country is such a dark and painful one, I don't find the right words to compare the horror I feel, so I understand that the Brits and the U.S. Americans like to parody the Third Reich perhaps thinking that ridiculing it helps in some way... I don't know but to me it is so close to my heart that I have trouble seeing it fictionalised (apart perhaps from "Downfall" which I was very sceptical about but in the end had to acknowledge it was a good movie). I was especially offended at that one episode where they basically said that the Daleks were the power behind Hitler - it was like maming an excuse that men was not able to commit such horrible crimes out of his own brutally flawed character but that there had to be an evil alien force pushing him. I thought that was really I don't know playing down severe issues.

One thing TV clearly has an advantage in comparison to a stage production is the set. Epsecially when there are outdoor scenes like the one with Rchard on the shore etc. - of course there are clever ways to put things on stage in a modern way but still, this was a good example, I think why this series is so suitable for TV.

One play I'd like to see made into a current TV production similar to 'The Hollow Crown' is Friedrich Schillers's 'Mary Stuart'. I feel that a lot of movies have been made lately about 'Elizabeth I.', not dealing with the Queen of Scots all that much and the movies that exist are mostly romanticized scripts that were filmed in the 40s to 60s or so. At least to my knowledge.

BL.Arinna_1982

Source:TFLN: The Borgias

Nikki K

My favourite pictures are when he grouches and slouches in his chair.

BL.Arinna_1982

He does havegood facial expressions.

Nikki K

A quote from an interview or article, I guess. Doesn't give a source but is quite interesting:


Source: Consistory

BL.Arinna_1982

Source: beware the rose

Nikki K

Source: woodenwhisper