In 1492, Rodrigo Borgia was elected Pope Alexander VI, beginning a papacy remembered for nepotism, political intrigue, and scandal. His family became a byword for Renaissance corruption. The episode showed the papal court as both a spiritual centre and a worldly power machine.

The Borgias fed Renaissance and later literary fascination with poisoned courts, beautiful villains, and holy office corrupted by appetite. Machiavellian drama, historical fiction, and decadent poetry all drew energy from this image of splendour mixed with vice.