Alexander VI (circa 1431-1503), pope (1492-1503), who was noted for his worldliness and corruption.

Born Rodrigo de Borja (Italian Borgia) in Játiva, near Valencia, Spain, he was adopted into the family of his maternal uncle, Alfonso Borgia (later Pope Callistus III). Even as a teenager, Rodrigo was given ecclesiastical grants and revenues. After studying law at Bologna, he became successively a cardinal, a bishop, and an able administrator in the papal court. As a member of the powerful Borgia family, he acquired wealth and lived a life of worldly pleasure. He had four children by a Roman noblewoman, Vanozza Catanei; the two most famous were Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia. During the conclave of 1492, following the death of Innocent VIII, Rodrigo was elected pope. Even though he used bribery to secure the necessary two-thirds of the votes, his election was generally welcomed.

The course of his pontificate was determined by economic and political considerations. He established the machinery for a reform of papal finances; recovered the territories of the Papal States, which had been ruled by local tyrants; and tried to unite Christendom against the Ottoman Empire. Other notable acts included his issuance (1493) of the Bull of Demarcation, which divided the New World between Spain and Portugal, and his sending of the first missionaries to America. In 1498 he ordered the execution of the Florentine church reformer Girolamo Savonarola. The course of Alexander's pontificate was also determined by family considerations; he greatly increased the fortunes of his children through ecclesiastical and political appointments and marriages. Some modern studies have tended to minimize the spiritual laxity of his pontificate, but the positive aspects of his reign remain overshadowed by corruption and ambition. He died August 18, 1503.