Disturbing history of Pope Alexander VI (1492 to 1503) including how he handled being challenged by reformist Dominican friar Savonarola
Today has been a pretty disturbing reading & viewing day for me. While I was aware of some really nasty stuff done by Popes in the past, I had no idea that the history of Pope Alexander VI was so scary and so disturbing. This includes how he got a reformist challenger, the Dominican friar Savonarola, executed.
But there are views that Alexander VI behaved as per the times. This view says that the problem was that the Roman Catholic Church had got corrupted and had a lot of nasty politics in those times which sometimes involved murder, executions and even war. So it is unfair to view Alexander VI alone as bad or evil.
Alexander VI is also praised by some as having been a capable Pope, given the times then.
I forced myself to go through this history as I think that as I write on spirituality & religion, I must know this.
For those readers who would like to go through this history, here are some links that I went through.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Alexander_VI
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola
I saw a History channel video on Pope Alexander VI but it is so anti Pope Alexander VI that I suspect that it is a biased video. So I am not giving the video link here.
Machiavelli's The Prince, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince, refers to the Borgia family (Alexander VI and his son Cesare Borgia are mentioned).
A few quotes from The Prince:
He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.
Men worry less about doing an injury to one who makes himself loved than to one who makes himself feared.
Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? One should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved. [Ref: http://ianchadwick.com/machiavelli/chapters-15-21/chapter-17-better-to-be-feared-than-loved/]
But there are views that Alexander VI behaved as per the times. This view says that the problem was that the Roman Catholic Church had got corrupted and had a lot of nasty politics in those times which sometimes involved murder, executions and even war. So it is unfair to view Alexander VI alone as bad or evil.
Alexander VI is also praised by some as having been a capable Pope, given the times then.
I forced myself to go through this history as I think that as I write on spirituality & religion, I must know this.
For those readers who would like to go through this history, here are some links that I went through.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Alexander_VI
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola
I saw a History channel video on Pope Alexander VI but it is so anti Pope Alexander VI that I suspect that it is a biased video. So I am not giving the video link here.
Machiavelli's The Prince, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince, refers to the Borgia family (Alexander VI and his son Cesare Borgia are mentioned).
A few quotes from The Prince:
He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.
Men worry less about doing an injury to one who makes himself loved than to one who makes himself feared.
Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? One should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved. [Ref: http://ianchadwick.com/machiavelli/chapters-15-21/chapter-17-better-to-be-feared-than-loved/]
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