Pope Alexander VI, born Rodrigo de Borja , was Pope from 11 August 1492 until his death. During the Age of Discovery, the Iberian-born pope's bulls of 1493 confirmed or reconfirmed the rights of the Spanish crown in the New World, following the finds of Christopher Columbus in 1492. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, partly because he acknowledged fathering several children by his mistresses. Therefore his Italianized Valencian surname, Borgia, became a byword for libertinism and nepotism, which are traditionally considered as characterizing his pontificate. Two of Alexander's successors, the controversial pontiffs Sixtus V and Urban VIII, described him as one of the most outstanding popes since Saint Peter.
“For the salvation of their soul.”
Pro salutae animae sua.
As pope, to Cardinal Ximenes on the why he saw no reason to hinder his son Cesare Borgia's renunciation of the Purple (August, 1498), as quoted in The Life of Cesare Borgia (1912) by Rafael Sabatini, Chapter V: The Renunciation of the Purple.
As pope, in a letter to the King of France, about the magnificence of his son Cesare Borgia (October, 1498), as quoted in The Life of Cesare Borgia (1912) by Rafael Sabatini, Book III The Bull Rampant, Chapter I: The Duchess of Valentinois.
“But may God, who grants pardon and loves to save man”
Quoted in, Material for a History of Pope Alexander VI, Peter de Roo, 2:378 http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt/search?q1=%22God%2C+who+grants+pardon+and+loves+to+save+man%22&id=mdp.39015013144061&view=1up&seq=9 http://www.attomelani.net/index.php/english/the-new-series-of-monaldi-sorti/the-doubts-of-salai/ Compare: For God loves saving, not condemning, and therefore He is patient with bad people, in order to make good people out of bad people." - St. Augustine, On the Verse of the Psalm: God Will Come Openly, (420-425), Sermon 18:2. Works of Saint Augustine, A translation for the 21st Century, (1990), Pt. III - Sermons, vol. I, (1-19), Edmund Hill, O.P.,translation and notes, John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., New City Press, New York, p. 374. Latin: Non enim amat Deus damnare sed salvare, et ideo patiens est in malos, ut de malis faciat bonos. http://www.augustinus.it/latino/discorsi/discorso_022_testo.htm http://books.google.com/books?id=Z2w7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PT10&dq=Non+enim+amat+Deus+damnare+sed+salvare,+et+ideo+patiens&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_c41U5u-BbTTsASR8oDwDQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Non%20enim%20amat%20Deus%20damnare%20sed%20salvare%2C%20et%20ideo%20patiens&f=false <br class="br">Context: But may God, who grants pardon and loves to save man, in his goodness, give strength to us and make prosperous the Holy See.
Report of the Ferrarese ambassador, Beltrando Costabili to Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, February 1, 1502. Archives of Modena: As quoted in History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages (1900), Ferdinand Gregorovius, George Bell & Sons, London, Volume 7, Part 2 (1497-1503), p. 486. http://books.google.com/books?id=kW1OAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA486&dq=%22often+told+him+that+Rome+is+a+free+city%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PQRlUeiiBIPA9QT4s4H4CA&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22often%20told%20him%20that%20Rome%20is%20a%20free%20city%22&f=false See also L. Pastor, History of the Popes, vol.6, p. 12. http://books.google.com/books?id=hk1DAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA112&dq=%22told+him+that+Rome+is+a+free+city%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ojZlUeS7Dob49QTTn4HQBw&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22told%20him%20that%20Rome%20is%20a%20free%20city%22&f=false. (Commonweal writes: “Whatever his faults, the Pope appears to have been of a forgiving and clement disposition, pardoning foes when he had them in his power, and becoming reconciled with those who had bitterly opposed him. With Savonarola — pulpit methods, by the way, were scarcely as novel and extraordinary then as our author (Peter de Roo) thinks — Alexander VI dealt on the whole rather patiently, more so, indeed, than our author, who is hardly fair to the friar.” -- Commonweal (1924), Commonweal Publishing Company, volume 1, p. 185. https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=Whatever+his+faults%2C+the+Pope+appears+to+have+been+of+a+forgiving+and+clement+disposition&btnG=#hl=en&tbm=bks&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22Whatever+his+faults%2C+the+Pope+appears+to+have+been+of+a+forgiving+and+clement+disposition%22&oq=%22Whatever+his+faults%2C+the+Pope+appears+to+have+been+of+a+forgiving+and+clement+disposition%22&gs_l=serp.3...1287.1287.1.1562.1.1.0.0.0.0.79.79.1.1.0...0.0...1c.1.8.psy-ab.VnzmdIrn1SQ&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44990110,d.eWU&fp=5b7686e7449457e7&biw=1294&bih=770)
“I am coming; I am coming. It is just. But wait a little.”
Last words (August, 1503), as quoted in The Life of Cesare Borgia (1912) by Rafael Sabatini, Book IV The Bull Cadent, Chapter I: The Death of Alexander VI
“May the Lord array thee in the garment of salvation and surround thee with the cloak of happiness.”
Inscribed words upon the mantle of gonfalonier given to his son Cesare Borgia (March 29, 1499), as quoted in The Life of Cesare Borgia (1912) by Rafael Sabatini, Chapter IV: Gonfalonier of the Church.
