Gotha, edición del linaje Ruspoli

RUSPOLI

(House of Marescotti)

Catholic. Lineage authentically proved: Pietro Marescotti lived in Bologna c. 1300, then the family is in Parma and Modena from 1530 and in Rome in the person of Sforza Marescotti c. 1540; Lord of Parrano (Perugia) at the end of 1500 following the marriage of Alfonso Marescotti to Giulia Baglioni; Count of Vignanello 4 Feb 1536 following the marriage of Sforza Marescotti to Beatrice Farnese; took the name of Ruspoli following the marriage of Francesco Mariscotti to Vittoria Ruspoli c. 1652; Prince of Cerveteri (Rome) 5 Feb 1709; Marquess of Riano 1710; Roman Prince (primog.) 1721; Roman Prince (primog.) of Parrano 10 Oct 1733; Francesco Ruspoli, 3rd Prince of Cerveteri (19 Feb 1752; + 8 March 1829) created Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (males) by Emperor Francis II, 1792; Knight of the Golden Fleece; Gd. Master of the Sacred Apostolic Hospice 1807.
Arms:- Argent two Vines interlaced issuing from a Mount of six coupe aux in base all proper.
Members of this House bear the family name: Ruspoli.


LINE I: PRINCES RUSPOLI
Primogenitor: Prince Alessandro (b 5 Oct 1784; + 31 Oct 1842). Italian confirmation of the titles Prince, Prince of Cerveteri, Marquess of Riano, Count of Vignanello, Coscritto (primog.), Patrician of Rome, Noble of Viterbo and Orvieto (males and females) by Ministerial Decree 15 Aug 1929.

FRANCESCO Ruspoli, 10TH PRINCE RUSPOLI, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Roman Prince, Prince of Cerveteri, Marquess of Riano, 17th Count of Vignanello, Roman Noble, Noble of Viterbo, of Orvieto, b at Rome 31 March 1967, Hereditary Gd. Master of the Sacred Apostolic Hospice, succ. his father, son of Alessandro, 9th Pr. Ruspoli, etc. (b 9 Dec 1924; + 11 Jan 2005) and Nancy de Girard de Charbonnières (b 18 April 1939); m at ..., Elizabeth (b at ...), dau of ... O'Rourke and ...
[Palazzo Ruspoli, Via della Fontanella Borghese, 56, IT-00186 Roma].
Mother
Nancy, Dowager Princess Ruspoli, b at Pouillon 18 April 1939, dau of Roger Jean de Girard de Charbonnières and Andrée Marie Pommarede; m at Vignanello 5 May 1964, Alessandro, 9th Pr. Ruspoli, etc. (b at Rome 9 Dec 1924; + there 11 Jan 2005).
Step-Mother
Theresa Patricia, Princess Ruspoli, b at ..., dau of ... Genest and ...; m at Rome 20 Nov 1993, Alessandro, 9th Pr. Ruspoli, etc. (b at Rome 9 Dec 1924; + there 11 Jan 2005).
Half-Brother and Sister
Issue of Alessandro, 9th Pr. Ruspoli, etc. and his third wife, Theresa Patricia Genest (m 20 Nov 1993), having had issue,

1. Mathilda Mélusine, b at Paris 25 July 1994.
2. Pr. Théodore Alexandre, b at Paris 30 April 1997.
Brother of Father
Issue of Francesco, 8th Pr. Ruspoli, etc. (b 23 Feb 1899; + 27 Oct 1989) and Claudia of the Counts of Matarazzo (b 12 March 1899; m 28 Feb 1924; + 30 Oct 1935), having had issue, among whom,

Sforza Marescotto, b at Rome 23 Jan 1927, KHDM, KHS, KJCO; m 1stly at Migliarino 30 Nov 1946 (m diss by div 1983), Flavia Domitilla (b at Rome 28 April 1925; + at Migliarino Pisano 6 April 2007), dau of Duke Alverado Salviati, Duke of Giuliano and Costanza Igiea Florio, and has issue,
1. Claudia, b at Sao Paolo, Brazil 30 Aug 1947.
2. Giada, b at Rome 8 March 1949; m at Rome ... 1970 (m diss by div 1975), Giovanni Angelo Theodoli Braschi, Duke of Nemi (b at Bologna 1 May 1942).
Sforza m 2ndly at Vignanello 15 Oct 1983, Pia (b at Palermo 12 March 1950), DHS, dau of ... Giancaro and ..., and has further issue,
3. Giacinta Ortensia Rosa Maria, b at Paris 3 March 1988.
Brother of Grandfather
Issue of Alessandro, 7th Pr. Ruspoli, etc. (b 14 Jan 1869; + 28 Sept 1952) and Marianita of the Dukes Lante Montefeltro della Rovere (b 30 May 1873; m 5 July 1897; + 22 Feb 1971), having had issue, among whom,
Son
Pr. Luigi Maria, b at Rome 14 March 1908, KHDM; m at Rome 23 April 1938, Noble Eleonora  (b at Rome 25 Aug 1913; + there ... Oct 1989), dau of Arturo Berlingieri of the Marquesses of Valle Perotta and Elisabetta Aramburo Chapman Schillinger, and has issue,
1. Pr. Giulio, b at Rome 23 Sept 1939; m 1stly at Rome 2 June 1974, Paola (b at ...), dau of ... Murri and ... He m 2ndly at London ... 1998, Patrizia (b at ...), dau of ... Memmo and ...
2. Pr. Pietro, b at Rome 27 Oct 1940; m at Cerveteri 3 Oct 1970, Letizia (b at ...), dau of ... Ciancarelli and ..., and has issue,
1. Marianita, b at ... 1976; m at Villa Papale della Suvera, nr. Siena 23 Sept 2006, Luca Pirri Ardizzone (b at Milan 18 April 1973).
Brother of Great-Grandfather
Issue of Giovanni Nepomucene, 6th Pr. Ruspoli, etc. (b 28 June 1807; + 6 Nov 1876) and Barbara of the Princes Massimo (b 20 Dec 1813; m 16 May 1832; + 1 Nov 1839), having had issue, among whom,
Son
Pr. Alessandro, Marquess of Riano, b at Rome 11 April 1844, + at Bagni di Lucca 3 Nov 1916, KHDM; m at Lucca 9 Oct 1877, Eva Capel (b at London 28 Oct 1858; + at ... 2 Aug 1948), dau of ... Broadwood and ..., and had issue, among whom,
1. Pr. Sforza, b at Rome 14 June 1882, + at Bagni di Lucca 27 Dec 1953, Lt.-Col. Cavalry; m at Bagni di Lucca 7 July 1923, Giuseppina (b at Fribourg 16 Jan 1898; + at Garmisch 16 Aug 1961), dau of ... del Grande and ..., and had issue,
1. Pr. Alessandro, b at Bagni di Lucca 27 March 1925, + at Florence 28 March 1981; m at Sienna 18 Feb 1960, Patrizia (b at Florence 28 April 1942), dau of ... Vanni  and ..., and had issue,
1. Alessandra Giacinta, b at Viareggio 5 Nov 1960.
[Piazza Serpione, 4, IT-20154 Milano].
2. Pr. Mario, b at Florence 19 Nov 1930; m at Zikton 3 March 1978, Lucy (b st Lexington, Kentucky 3 June 1952), dau of ... Young and ...


LINE II: DUKES OF ALCUDIA
Primogenitor: Camillo Ruspoli, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (b 30 March 1788; + 30 July 1864); Spanish title of Count of Chinchón (Judicial District of Madrid) following the marriage (1820) of said Camillo to Carlota Luisa de Godoy y Borbón (b 7 Oct 1800; + 13 May 1886), from 1828, 2nd Duchess of Sueca, and from 1833, 16th Countess of Chinchón, dau of Manuel Godoy, Duke of Alcudia and Prince of la Paz (b 12 May 1767; + 4 Oct 1851), Duke of the Alcudia (primog.) 21 April 1792, Spanish title (primog.) of Duke of Sueca (province of Valencia) and Grandee of Spain 1st Class, Aranjuez 7 March 1804, and Maria Teresa de Borbón (b 26 Jan 1780; + 24 Nov 1828); Spanish title (primog.) of Duke of la Alcudia (province of Ciudad Real) 7 Oct 1851.

CARLOS Oswaldo Ruspoli y Morenés, 5TH DUKE OF ALCUDIA, 5TH DUKE OF SUECA, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Count of Chinchón, Grandee of Spain 1st Cl., b at San Sebastian 5 Aug 1932, KHDM, Kt. Royal Maestranza de caballería of Granada, succ. his father, son of Camilo, 4th Duke of Alcudia, 4th Duke of Sueca, etc. (b 5 June 1904; + 20 Nov 1975) and Belén Morenés y Arteaga, Ctss. of Bañares (b 18 Aug 1906; + 30 April 1999); m at Madrid 11 June 1980, Rosario (b at Madrid 19 May 1943), dau of Olivier Herbosch Lodie and Rosario Huidobro Cavanilles.
[Calle de Lagasca, 73, ES-28001 Madrid].
Brothers
1. Pr. Luis Ruspoli y Morenés, 6th Marquess of Boadilla del Monte, 2nd Baron of Mascalbó, b at Madrid 28 Nov 1933, + there 25 May 2011, KHDM; m 1stly at Madrid 19 Sept 1960 (m diss by div), María del Carmen, March. del Vasto, March. of La Casta (b at Madrid 28 Feb 1942), dau of Hipólito Sanchiz y Arróspide, Ct. of Valdemar de Bracamonte and Pilar Núñez-Robres Rodríguez de Valcárcel. He m 2ndly at Madrid 5 May 1990 (m diss by div), Melinda (b at Budapest 16 April 1942; + at Madrid 15 Dec 2004), dau of Itsvan d’Eliassy and Véronique Mallet. He m 3rdly at Pozuelo de Alarcón 26 Nov 1999, Olga (b at Madrid 2 March 1943), dau of Luis Subirana and Carmen Pita, and had issue by his first wife,
1. Monica Ruspoli y Sanchiz, b at Madrid 27 Aug 1961; m at Madrid 20 May 1988, Alonso Dezcaller y Mazarredo (b at ...), amb. of Spain.
2. Pr. Luis Carlos Ruspoli y Sanchiz, 7th Marquess of Boadilla del Monte, 3rd Baron of Mascalbó [succ. to the Barony and Marquessate by Royal Decrees of 6 Nov 1997 and 20 Sept 2012 respectively], b at Madrid 4 April 1963, Kt. Royal Maestranza de Caballería of Granada, Kt. Holy Chalice of Valencia; m at Madrid 24 Jan 1992, María (b at Madrid 14 March 1966), dau of Luis Álvarez de las Asturias Bohorques y Silva of the Dukes of Gor and María Romeu des Armas y Cruzat of the Marquesses of Casa Argudín, and has issue,
[Calle de Zurbano, 82, ES-28010 Madrid].
1. Pr. Carlos Ruspoli y Alvarez de las Asturias Bohórques, b at Madrid 10 Aug 1993, Kt. Royal Maestranza de Caballería of Granada.
2. Pr. Luis Ruspoli y Alvarez de las Asturias Bohórques, b at Madrid 24 Aug 1994.
3. Pr. Juan Ruspoli y Alvarez de las Asturias Bohórques, b at Madrid 20 Oct 1996.
4. Pr. Jaime Ruspoli y Alvarez de las Asturias Bohórques, b at Madrid 10 March 2000.
3. Belén Ruspoli y Sanchiz, b at Madrid 10 May 1964; m at Madrid 19 April 1996, Ct. Cesare Passi (b at Treviso 4 Dec 1950).
[Calle de Claudio Coello, 93, ES-28006 Madrid].
4. Pr. Santiago Ruspoli y Sanchiz, b at Madrid 16 June 1971, + there 2 May 1996.
2. Pr. Enrique Jaime Ruspoli y Morenes, Count of Bañares, b at Madrid 2 Feb 1935, Noble Guard and Papal Gentleman, KPO, KHDM, Kt. of the Royal Cavalry Armory of Granada.
[Calle de Jorge Juan, 7, ES-28001 Madrid].


LINE III: PRINCES OF POGGIO-SUASA
Primogenitor: Bartolomeo Ruspoli (b 1796; + 1872) whose son Emmanuele (b 30 Dec 1838; + 29 Nov 1899) was invested with the Italian title of Prince of Poggia-Suasa by Royal Decree 6 Dec 1885 and Letters Patent 6 May 1886.

CONSTANTINO Ruspoli, 5TH PRINCE OF POGGIO-SUASA, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, b at Recife, Brazil 29 June 1971, succ. his father, Marcantonio, 4th Pr. of Poggio-Suasa (b 28 Nov 1926; + 1 Aug 2003) and Gleide Chagas Portela (b 18 Nov 1935; + 3 July 1992); m at Londrina, Paraná, Brazil 29 Oct 1994 (m diss by div 3 Nov 1999), Vera Cristina (b at ... 28 Oct 1974; + at ... 3 Nov 1999), dau of ... Comar and ...
Brother and Sisters
1. Adriana, b at ... 27 Feb 1963.
2. Elisabeth, b at ... 17 Jan 1965; m at Recife, Brazil 2 Dec 1990, Natanel Gonçalves (b at ...).
3. Christiana, b at ... 25 Jan 1968; m at ... 31 March 1990, José Portella de Macedo (b at ...).
4. Diana, b at Recife, Brazil 5 March 1973; m at Recife, Brazil 2 June 2002, Fábio Miguel Santos (b at ...).
5. Pr. Pietro, b at Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil 25 March 1981, + there 28 March 1981.
Brothers of Father
Issue of Pr. Costantino Carlo Michele Agostino Ruspoli (b 8 July 1891; +ka 26 Oct 1942) and Ctss. Elisabeth Catherine Adrienne Marie Anne van der Noot d’Assche (b 22 July 1899; + 27 March 1974), having had issue, among whom,

1. Pr. Eduardo Eugenio Bosone, b at Brussels 17 Feb 1928.
[Square des Latins, 41, BE-1050 Ixelles].
2. Pr. Marescotti Giovanni, b at Brussels 6 March 1935; m 1stly at ..., Yvonne (b at ...), dau of ... Masse de la Tramerye and ..., and has issue,
1. Pr. Francesco, b at ... 11 Dec 1958, + at ...
2. Pr. Alexis, b at ... 28 Nov 1959, + at ...
Pr. Marescotti m 2ndly at Chelsea, London 6 Sept 1963, Bnss. Diana Henriette Marion Marie (b at Lausanne 21 Jan 1943), dau of Walther Egenolf Ernst, Bn. d’Orville van der Hoop and Monica Culmore, and has further issue,
[Chalet Roa, Route de Tsarbouye, 42, CH-3963 Crans Montana].
3. Livia, b at Brussels 26 March 1966; m at ..., Jean-Pierre Tasiaux (b at ...).
4. Serena, b at Brussels 17 Jan 1971.
5. Daphné Barbara Philippa, b at Uccle 29 Sept 1972; m at Uccle 29 May (civ) and at Eze 27 June (relig) 1998, Ct. François Didisheim (b at Ixelles 16 Jan 1960).
Brothers of Grandfather
Issue of Mario, 2nd Pr. of Poggio-Suasa, etc. (b 16 Oct 1867; + 16 Jan 1963) and Pauline Marie Palma de Talleyrand Périgord of the Dukes of Dino (b 2 April 1871; m 25 Sept 1890; + 21 Oct 1952), having had issue, among whom,

1. Pr. Marescotti Carlo Maurizio Gilberto, b at New York 17 Oct 1892, +ka at El Alamein 24 Oct 1942, Gold Medal of Military Valour, Lt.-Col.; m at Rome 10 June 1935, Virginia (b at Rome 22 Feb 1901; + at ... 6 Aug 1977), dau of Marq. Giuseppe Patrizi Naro Montoro and Maria Francesca Lee-Cooper, and had issue,
1. Pr. Eugenio, b at Rome 12 June 1938; m at Paris 2 May 1960, Catherine (b at St.-Jean-de-Luz 13 Aug 1941), dau of ... Carolus-Barré and ..., and has issue,
[Via Margutta, 54, IT-00187 Roma].
1. Esmeralda, b at Rome 19 Aug 1961.
2. Pr. Marescotti Carlo, b at Rome 23 Sept 1963.
2. Francesca Patrizia Palma Rita Maria Raimonda Carla, b at Rome 17 July 1940; m at Rome 12 July 1969, Ct. Eriprando of the Dukes Visconti di Modrone (b at Milan 24 Sept 1932; + at Pavia 25 Mar 1995).
[Via Margutta, 54, IT-00187 Roma].
2. Pr. Alessandro Edmondo Eugenio, b at New York 14 March 1895, + at Rome 1975; m at Paris 28 Aug 1924, Marta (b at Paris 7 Jan 1899;      + at Dade County, Florida 3 Dec 1984), dau of ... de Pineton de Chambrun and ..., and had issue, among whom,
1. Pr. Mario Giovanni Battista Pietro, b at Rome 17 June 1925,   + at Paris 13 June 1986; m 1stly at Paris 8 April 1947 (m diss by div), Claude (b at La Rochelle 16 March 1924), dau of ... Delmas and ... He m 2ndly at ... 4 April 1974, Dominique (b at Neuilly-sur-Seine 12 Aug 1946), dau of ... Rivolier and ..., and had issue by his first wife,
1. Pr. Stefano, b at Paris 5 Oct 1947; m 1stly at Paris ... 1978, Laurence (b at ...), dau of ... Allix and ... He m 2ndly at Paris ..., Annie (b at ...), dau of ... Nataf and ..., and has issue by his first wife,
[La Respelido, 595, boulevard Georges Courteline, FR-06250 Mougins].
1. Léonore, b at Paris 31 Oct 1981.
[8, rue Louis Bonnet, FR-75011 Paris].
2. Pr. Fabrizio, b at Paris 4 April 1951.
2. Palma Maria, b at Lozanne 19 Aug 1928; m at Miami 6 Feb 1989, Walter Joseph Demaio (b at ... 5 June 1928; + at Dade County, Florida 27 May 1989).
[315 East Rivo Alto Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139, U.S.A.].
3. Pr. Carlo Maurizio Giuseppe Edgardo Francesco, b at Oberhofen 25 Aug 1906, + at Buenos Aires 11 June 1947, KHDM; m 1stly at Venice 12 Sept 1927, Marina (b at Venice 19 Feb 1908; + at ... 9 March 1977), dau of ... of the Counts Volpi di Misurata and ..., and had issue,
1. Esmeralda Giovanna Amelia Palma Maria, b at Rome 24 June 1928, + at Rome ... 1992; m at Rome ..., Giancarlo Sbragia (b at ...).
Pr. Carlo m 2ndly at Rome ..., Luisa Maria (b at ...; + at Rome 30 Aug 1948), dau of ... Camperio and ..., and had further issue,
2. Pr. Costantino Filippo Maria, b at New York 23 April 1947;     m at ... 1990, Fiona (b at ... 1958), dau of ... Medawar and ..., and has issue,
[Via Bonazza, 34, IT-50028 Tavarnelle Val di Pesa].
1. Pr. Marescotti Lawrence, b at ... 1990.
2. Pr. Baldassare Mario, b at ... 1992.
Brothers of Great-Grandfather
Issue of Emanuele Ruspoli, 1st Pr. of Poggio-Suasa, etc. (b 30 Dec 1838; + 29 Nov 1899) and his third wife, Josephine Mary Curtis (b 27 Jan 1861; m 18 June 1885; + ... 1943), having had issue, among whom,

1. Francesco Alfredo Maria Giorgio Washington, 1st Duke of Morignano [cr. Duke of Morignano (primog.) at Rome 30 May 1907], Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, b at Rome 19 April 1891, + there 2 March 1970; m at Rome 28 Jan 1920, Josefa Giuseppina Pia (b at Reggio Emilia 27 Sept 1898; + at Fregene 29 April 1992), dau of Pio, Ct. of Brazzà Cergneu Savorgnan and Lavinia Ottavi, and had issue,
1. Galeazzo Maria Alvise Emanuele, 2nd Duke of Morignano, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, b at Rome 27 March 1922, + at Paris 21 Feb 2003, KHDM; m 1stly at Rome 10 Jan 1949, María Elisa (b at San Salvador, El Salvador 25 June 1926), dau of Ángel Soler y Serra and María Elisa Borghi y Martínez-Castañeda, and had issue,
1. Carlo Emanuele, 3rd Duke of Morignano, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, b at Rome 29 Oct 1949, KHDObM, GCpMM, GCJCO, GCSG, KOIC, KCMRI, dott. arch. (Rome), writer and researcher; m at Puebla de Montalbán, nr. Toledo 11 Oct 1975, Maria de Gracia, 19th Dss. of Plasencia, etc. (b at Madrid 12 March 1957), DHDM, dau of Pedro de Solis-Beaumont y Lasso de La Vega and Ángela Maria Tellez-Giron y Duque de Estrada, 16th Duchess of Osuna, and has issue,
[Calle de las Amapolas, 8B, ES-28003 Madrid].
1. María de Gracia Giacinta, 26th Marchioness del Villar de Grajanejos, b at Madrid 16 June 1977, DHDM, M.B.A. (Instituto de Empresa); m at Madrid 28 Nov 2009, Javier Isidro González de Gregorio y Molina of the Counts of La Puebla de Valverde (b at Madrid 7 Nov 1971), M.B.A., lawyer.
[Avenida de Pío XII, 97 bis, ES-28036 Madrid].
Galeazzo m 2ndly at Rome 7 Dec 1960, Giovanna (b at Bologna 14 Jan 1933; + at Neuilly-sur-Seine 10 July 1994), dau of Sergio Nannini of the Barons of Casabianca and Rossana Zamboni, and had issue,
2. Ginevra, b at Rome 15 Sept 1962, art dealer; m at Rome 16 Jan 1988, Ct. Frèdéric de La Rochefoucauld (b at Paris 20 Nov 1955), advocate.
[P.O. Box 352, CH-1211 Genève; Chemin Byron 2, CH-1223 Cologny].
2. Pr. Eugenio Mario Giuseppe Bartolomeo, b at Senigallia 26 July 1894, + at Rome ... 1978, Master of Ceremonies to the King of Italy; m at Collesalvetti 22 Jan 1927, Marie Dorothée (b at Paris 4 Feb 1884; + at Rome 27 Sept 1944), dau of Henry Dupré-Labouchère and Henrietta Hodson, and had issue,
1. Francesca, b at Varese 24 July 1925; m at Rome 6 Aug 1946 (m diss by div), Pr. Giulio Rocco di Torrepadula (b at Rome 21 March 1916).
[Via Angelo Butturini, 15, IT-37126 Verona].

La familia de Francesco Ruspoli desayunando en Viena.

Una firma a favor de los delfines

Cari amici della comunità di Avaaz,

Quasi 15mila delfini vengono uccisi ogni anno nelle acque del Perù per poi essere usati come esche per catturare squali in pericolo di estinzione. Una nuova inchiesta ha costretto il governo ad esprimersi contro il massacro ma non stanno ancora facendo nulla di concreto e nel frattempo i delfini e gli squali continuano a essere uccisi. Possiamo fermare questo massacro se diventiamo una minaccia per la reputazione internazionale del Perù come meta turistica. Firma ora e condividi:

FIRMA LA PETIZIONE

Ho appena visto un filmato scioccante girato in Perù in cui si mostra come i pescatori stiano massacrando circa 15mila delfini ogni anno per usarli come esche per catturare squali in pericolo d'estinzione. Questa storia assurda mi ha fatto stare malissimo e ora sto lottando per mettere fine a questo incubo. Ti unisci a me?

Il governo del Perù si sta svegliando ora, ma non sta facendo abbastanza. La caccia ai delfini è già illegale e punibile con diversi anni di prigione, ma le autorità si girano dall'altra parte per non vedere, lasciando massacrare migliaia di delfini e squali. Quello che però importa, e molto, al governo è la reputazione del Perù nel mondo, specialmente per il turismo e se riusciremo a metterli sotto pressione con una campagna globale e di massa, sono sicura che cominceranno a fare veramente qualcosa per mettere fine al massacro.

Non appena avremo raccolto un milione di firme da tutto il mondo rivolte al governo del Perù, Avaaz comprerà delle pagine a pagamento su riviste turistiche dei paesi da cui provengono il maggior numero dei turisti e il governo non potrà più ignorarci! Aiutami a fermare questa brutale mattanza firmando ora:

http://www.avaaz.org/it/dolphin_hunt_peru_to_nw/?bqfjcgb&v=32433

Quando sono venuta a sapere di questa terrificante caccia al delfino ho capito di dover fare qualcosa prima che per delfini e squali sia troppo tardi. Allora ho deciso di far partire una petizione, condividendola con i miei amici e in meno di 24 ore l'hanno firmata più di 10mila persone!

I nostri oceani sono sotto attacco. Squali e delfini sono già minacciati da inquinamento, cambiamento climatico e dal rischio di finire intrappolati nelle reti da pesca. Giocano un ruolo importante come predatori dell'oceano e devono essere protetti, non sterminati. Molti ecosistemi marini rischiano un collasso dal quale non si potranno riprendere e non aspetteranno che i nostri politici smettano di fare dichiarazioni a cui non danno seguito.

Il turismo è la terza industria del Perù, e cresce molto più velocemente che in qualsiasi altro paese del Sud America. I visitatori vengono ad ammirare la nostra natura incontaminata e l'eco-turismo è sempre più importante. E se pubblicheremo le nostre dure accuse su giornali e riviste dei paesi chiave da cui provengono la maggior parte dei visitatori, faremo capire che il turismo è a rischio. Il nostro governo capirà che le persone non solo amano il nostro paese per il Machu Picchu e la cucina locale ma anche per i nostri oceani e la nostra fauna. Firma ora e condividi con tutti:

http://www.avaaz.org/it/dolphin_hunt_peru_to_nw/?bqfjcgb&v=32433

In quanto membro di Avaaz sono ammirata dalla nostra capacità di proteggere i nostri oceani. Inizialmente, volevo raccogliere 15mila firme per rappresentare i 15mila delfini uccisi ogni anno, ma assieme possiamo rappresentare tutti i delfini e gli squali che possono essere salvati nelle acque del Perù!

Con speranza ed emozione,

Zoe assieme al team delle Petizioni della Comunità di Avaaz

Questa petizione è stata lanciata sul sito delle Petizioni della Comunità di Avaaz. E' facile e veloce far partire una petizione su qualsiasi tema ti stia a cuore, clicca qui: http://avaaz.org/it/petition/start_a_petition/?30311


ULTERIORI INFORMAZIONI:

In mare con i pescatori di frodo: la mattanza di delfini e squali in Perù (La Repubblica)
http://www.repubblica.it/ambiente/2013/10/21/news/in_mare_con_i_pescatori_di_frodo_la_mattanza_di_delfini_e_squali-68987565/

Perù, pesca choc di delfini e squali (La Stampa)
http://www.lastampa.it/2013/10/22/multimedia/societa/lazampa/per-pesca-choc-di-delfini-e-squali-iwcppYvxCwJIXkKZHgzhGJ/pagina.html

Strage di delfini esche per squali (Italia Oggi)
http://www.italiaoggi.it/giornali/dettaglio_giornali.asp?preview=false&accessMode=FA&id=1850204&codiciTestate=1

Gotha, edición del linaje Téllez-Girón, duques de Osuna

OSUNA

(House of Téllez-Girón)

Catholic. Feudal House of Spain that traces its lineage to Fernando, Lord of Acuña-Alta and links its origins to Infant Pelayo Fruela, called the Deacon (1032) of the ancient Royal House of Léon. Rico hombres of the Blood in Portugal and in Castile. Took the name of Téllez-Girón following the marriage (1398) of Martin Vazquez de Acuña, Count of Valencia de Campos to Teresa Téllez-Girón, last of the House of that name. — [The House of Téllez-Girón also traces its origin to the Kings of Léon from the Gothic dynasty. Pedro Girón, Grand Master of the Order of Calatrava (+ 1466). Count of Ureña, 1464; Duke of Medina de Rioseco granted to Fernando Enríquez y Velasco, 5th Adm. of Castile, Count of Melgar and Lord of Medina de Río Seco (+ 1542) by Charles V 22 April 1538; Duke of Osuna, 5 Feb 1562; Marquess of Peñafiel, 1568, Grandee of Spain 1st Class and recognition of the former Grandeeship, 1520; acquisition by inheritance of the titles of Duke of Benavente (of the House of Pimentel), Duke of Gandia (of the House of Borja), Duke of Uceda (of the House of Sandoval) — granted in favour of Cristóbal Gómez de Sandoval Rojas y de la Cerda, 1st Duke of Cea (b c. 1581; + 1624), by Philip III, 16 May 1610 —, Escalona (Pacheco), all with Grandeeship.] — Duchy of Arcos (Arcos de la Frontera, Andalucia) granted by elevation of the Countship of the same in favour of Rodrigo Ponce de León y Ponce de León, 3rd Marquess of Zahara (b 1493; + 1530) by Isabella I of Castile, 20 Jan 1493. Upon the death of the 11th Duke, Antonio Ponce de León y Spínola, in 1780, the title joined with the Duchy of Osuna. Duchy of Plasencia (Cáceres) granted by elevation of the Countship of the same in favour of Álvaro de Zúñiga y Guzmán, 2nd Count of Plasencia, later 1st Duke of Béjar, 1st Duke of Arévalo and 1st Count of Bañares (b c. 1410; + 1488) by Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand V of Castile, 1476; Duchy of Arévalo was forfeited, but those of Béjar and Plasencia where inherited by the descendants of the 1st Duke and were held jointly until the 19th century; the two titles passed from the House of Zúñiga to that of Osuna upon the inheritance of María Josefa Pimentel, 14th Countess and Duchess of Benavente and Duchess Consort of Osuna, 1777. Upon the death of the 12th Duke of Osuna all of his titles were distributed by royal warrants of Queen Isabella II among his numerous nephews. Dukedom of Plasencia granted with Grandeeship to María del Pilar Gayoso de los Cobos y Sevilla (b 1856) as 16h Duchess. The subsequent three dukes died without issue, and the title was claimed by Ángela María Téllez-Girón Duque de Estrada, 16th Duchess of Osuna, 1962.

ANGELA María Téllez-Girón y Duque de Estrada, 16TH DUCHESS OF OSUNA, 21st Duchess of Medina de Río Seco, 17th Countess and Duchess of Benavente, 16th Duchess of Arcos, Duchess of Gandia, Duchess of Uceda, 20th Countess of Oropesa, 12th Marchioness of Jabalquinto, Countess of Penaranda de Bracamonte, Countess of Fuensalida, Marchioness of Frechilla and Villarramiel, del Toral, of Lombay, of Frómista, 20th Countess of Ureña, of Pinto, of Alcaudete, of la Puebla de Montalbán, Grandee of Spain 1st Cl., b at Malaga 7 Feb 1925, succ. her father, dau of Mariano Tellez-Giron y Fernandez de Cordoba, 15th Duke of Osuna, etc. (b 9 Sept 1887; + 3 Oct 1931) and Petra Duque de Estrada y Moreno (b 9 Nov 1900; m 1stly at Espejo, Córdoba 26 Oct 1946, Pedro de Solís-Beaumont y Lasso de la Vega (b at Seville 17 Sept 1916; + there 2 Feb 1959). She m 2ndly at Madrid 6 Dec 1963, José María de Latorre y Montalvo, 6th Marq. of Montemuzo, 8th Marq. of Alcántara del Cuervo (b at [Place and Date of Birth ... ???] 1923; + at Castillo de Espejo, Córdoba 31 July 1991), KM.
[Plaza del Mayor, 12, ES-45516 La Puebla de Montalbán; Calle de Julián Romea, 17, ES-28003 Madrid].
Daughters - 1st Marriage
1. Angela María de Solís-Beaumont y Téllez-Girón, 18th Duchess of Arcos, 18th Marchioness of Peñafiel, etc. [succ. to the Ducal title and Grandeeship by Letters Patent 10 Jan 1973], b at Seville 21 Nov 1950; m 1stly at Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo 3 March 1973 (m diss by div), Álvaro de Ulloa y Suelves, 11th Marq. of Castro Serna, 14th Count of Adanero, b at [Place of Birth ... ???] 12 Aug 1950. She m 2ndly at [Place and Date of Marriage ... ???] 1994, Pedro Romero y Solís (b at [Place and Date of Birth ... ???]).
[Calle de Claudio Coello, 50, ES-28001 Madrid].
1. Ángela María de Ulloa y Solís-Beaumont, 21st Countes of Ureña, b at Madrid 23 Nov 1973.
[Address … ???]
2. María Cristina de Ulloa y Solís-Beaumont, Marchioness of Jarandilla, b at [Place and Date of Birth ... ???]; m at Madrid [Date of Marriage ... ???], Jaime Álvarez de las Asturias Bohorques y Romeu (b at [Place and Date of Birth ... ???]).
[Address … ???]
2. María de Gracia de Solís-Beaumont y Téllez-Girón, 19th Duchess of Plasencia, 19th Marchioness of Frómista, 25th Marchioness del Villar de Grajanejos, Grandee of Spain 1st Cl. [succ. to the Ducal title by Letters Patent 7 Feb 1974], b at Madrid 12 March 1957, DHDM, restorer; m at Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo 11 Oct 1975, Carlo Emanuele Ruspoli of the Princes of Poggio Suasa, 3rd Duke of Morignano, Noble of Viterbo (b at Rome 29 Oct 1949), KHDObM, GCpMM, GCJCO, GCSC, KOIC, KCMRI, dott. arch. (Rome), writer and researcher, and has issue (see Ruspoli).
[Calle de las Amapolas, 8B, ES-28003 Madrid].
Daughters - 2nd Marriage
3. María del Pilar de Latorre y Téllez-Girón, 15th Duchess of Uceda, 7th Marchioness of Montemuzo, Marchioness of Belmonte, Grandee of Spain 1st Cl. [succ. to the Ducal title and Grandeeship by Letters Patent 24 Sept 1981], b at [Place of Birth ... ???] 5 Aug 1965; m at Espejo, Córdoba 23 Oct 1993, Miguel Angel Pastor y Vélez (b at [Place and Date of Birth ... ???]).
[Calle del General Rodrigo, 3, ES-28003 Madrid].
4. María de la Asunción de Latorre y Téllez-Girón, 22nd Duchess of Medina de Rioseco, Countess Salazar de Velasco, Grandee of Spain 1st Cl. [succ. to the Ducal title and Grandeeship by Letters Patent 24 Sept 1981], b at Madrid [Date of Birth ... ???] 1968; m at [Place and Date of Marriage ... ???], Cristóbal del Castillo Ybarra (b at [Place and Date of Birth ... ???]), and has issue,
[Address … ???]
1. Cristóbal del Castillo y de Latorre, b at [Place and Date of Birth ... ???].

Gotha, edición de mi rama del linaje Ruspoli

Issue of don Emanuele Ruspoli, 1st Pr. of Poggio-Suasa, Pr. of Holy Roman Empire, Pr. of Candriano,(b 30 Dec 1838; + 29 Nov 1899) and his third wife, Josephine Mary Curtis (b 27 Jan 1861; m 18 June 1885; + 1943), having had issue, among whom,

1. Don Francesco Alfredo Maria Giorgio Washington, 1st Duke of Morignano, Pr. of Holy Roman Empire, [cr. Duke of Morignano (primog.) at Rome 30 May 1907], b at Rome 19 April 1891, + there 2 March 1970; m at Rome 28 Jan 1920, Josefa Giuseppina Pia (b at Reggio Emilia 27 Sept 1898; + at Fregene 29 April 1992), dau of Pio, Ct. of Brazzà Cergneu Savorgnan and Lavinia Ottavi, and had issue,

1. Don Galeazzo Maria Alvise Emanuele, 2nd Duke of Morignano, Pr. of Holy Roman Empire, b at Rome 27 March 1922, + at Paris 21 Feb 2003, KHDM; m 1stly at Rome 10 Jan 1949, María Elisa, of the Marquis of Rabell (b at San Salvador, El Salvador 25 June 1926), dau of Ángel Soler y Serra and María Elisa Borghi y Martínez-Castañeda, and had issue,

1. Don Carlo Emanuele, 3rd Duke of Morignano, Pr. of Holy Roman Empire, b at Rome 29 Oct 1949, KHDObM, GCpMM, GCJCO, GCSG, KOIC, KCMRI, dott. arch. (Rome), writer and researcher;m at Puebla de Montalbán, nr. Toledo 11 Oct 1975, Maria de Gracia, 19th Dss. of Plasencia, etc. (b at Madrid 12 March 1957), DHDM, dau of Pedro de Solis-Beaumont y Lasso de La Vega and Ángela Maria Tellez-Giron y Duque de Estrada, 16th Duchess of Osuna, and has issue,

[Calle de las Amapolas, 8B, ES-28003 Madrid].

1. Donna María de Gracia Giacinta, 26th Marchioness del Villar de Grajanejos, b at Madrid 16 June 1977, DHDM, M.B.A. (Instituto de Empresa); m at Madrid 28 Nov 2009, Javier Isidro González de Gregorio y Molina of the Counts of La Puebla de Valverde (b at Madrid 7 Nov 1971), M.B.A., lawyer.

[Avenida de Pío XII, 97 bis, ES-28036 Madrid].

Don Galeazzo m 2ndly at Rome 7 Dec 1960, Giovanna Nannini (b at Bologna 14 Jan 1933; + at Neuilly-sur-Seine 10 July 1994), dau of Sergio Nannini of the Barons of Casabianca and Rossana Zamboni, and had issue,

2. Donna Ginevra, b at Rome 15 Sept 1962, art dealer; m at Rome 16 Jan 1988, Ct. Frèdéric de La Rochefoucauld (b at Paris 20 Nov 1955), advocate.

[P.O. Box 352, CH-1211 Genève; Chemin Byron 2, CH-1223 Cologny].

2. Don Eugenio Mario Giuseppe Bartolomeo, Pr. of Holy Roman Empire,  b at Senigallia 26 July 1894, + at Rome 1978, Master of Ceremonies to the King of Italy; m at Collesalvetti 22 Jan 1927, Marie Dorothée (b at Paris 4 Feb 1884; + at Rome 27 Sept 1944), dau of Henry Dupré-Labouchère and Henrietta Hodson, and had issue,

1. Francesca, b at Varese 24 July 1925; m at Rome 6 Aug 1946 (m diss by div), Pr. Giulio Rocco di Torrepadula (b at Rome 21 March 1916).

[Via Angelo Butturini, 15, IT-37126 Verona].

VALOR MORAL Y DIVERSIDAD HUMANA

Los predicadores tienen mala prensa, pues la malevolencia los identifica con charlatanes que buscan inconfesables intereses egoístas tras una retórica aparentemente virtuosa. Los moralistas estrictos de una inflexible rectitud ética se han ganado una reputación todavía peor, al equipararse con siniestros jueces despiadados con los errores humanos. Bergman desplegó en sus cintas una larga saga de personajes moralistas que provocan en los demás la desdicha y el terror íntimo, como sucede con el inolvidable obispo luterano de Fanny y Alexander. Para muchos, un motivo más para desechar los valores morales tradicionales y seguir, por el contrario, la vía de un relativismo ético permisivo, abierto, liberado del miedo y de los riesgos de la intolerancia. 
El pensador Robert Audi, profesor de Filosofía en la Universidad de Notre Dame, forma parte de la corriente de pensamiento ético que trata de rescatar y restaurar el uso de esos cuestionados valores morales, desactivando en ellos cualquier componente autoritario o intolerante. Lo novedoso de su meditación estriba, precisamente, en repensar los principios morales de modo que sean útiles a sociedades democráticas, globalizadas y multiculturales. 

Amenazas a la paz 

Para Audi el relativismo es una falsa solución dentro de un espejismo de libertad. Ve en él un 
desarme ideológico que impide utilizar argumentos realmente incontrovertibles contra las amenazas a la paz, la violencia en los hogares y en las 
escuelas, el expolio del medio ambiente, el fraude y la incompetencia incluso en los organismos democráticos. Si cada civilización, nación, grupo étnico o individuo puede establecer sus propias normas autónomas de conducta, ¿cómo podría reprocharse la pena de muerte, la sumisión de la mujer, la esclavitud, la violencia institucionalizada o las leyes para la guerra que cada uno de ellos se han dado a sí mismos, convirtiéndolas en intocables? 
Audi considera que esas y otras lacras solo son refutables a partir de valores universales  encontrados bajo la gran pluralidad humana, Halla tres principios fundamentales: la Felicidad, la Justicia y la Libertad, como aspiraciones éticas que se detectan por igual en las más diversas culturas. No son metas independientes. El sistema interconectado de estos valores establece un ideal humano que demanda un orden democrático y otorga cohesión moral a sociedades multiculturales.

Convivir con el error 

Es una novedad crucial considerar que a esos valores neurálgicos se puede acceder desde modos de vida muy diversos y desde perspectivas muy plurales, exigiendo estilos de vida democráticos. Otra novedad, derivada de la anterior, son sus propuestas sobre lo que Audi denomina ética institucional. No es suficiente que existan organismos democráticos, sino que es imprescindible que la conducta ética personal de quienes trabajan en ellos y los controlan sea leal, y esté a la altura de los fines institucionales establecidos, evitando malversar las instituciones y vaciarlas de sentido con fraudes arbitrarios o guiados por el simple beneficio Propio. Una última novedad de Robert Audi: se descarta la infalibilidad, dando por sentado que el pensamiento humano convive con el error y necesita del debate para corregirlo. 
De hecho, los textos de Valer moral y diversidad humana están concebidos como punto de partida para su discusión universitaria. Este retorno de los valores éticos universales se despoja, pues, de cualquier in- 
tolerancia y encierra, definitivamente, al obispo luterano de Fanny y Alexander bajo siete llaves en el arcón de los tiempos trasnochados.

La igualdad

Todos los hombres nacen iguales, pero es la ultima vez que lo son (Abraham Lincoln).

De todas las mentiras con que la seudofilosofia progre intenta castrar a la sociedad, la de la igualdad de los seres humanos me parece la más patente y la piedra de molino más descomunal con la que se nos invita a la eucaristía. Ni siquiera esta voluntariosa afirmación de Lincoln es verdad.

Naturalmente todos podemos y debemos estar de acuerdo en el ya conquistado derecho, siempre necesitado de defensa, de la igualdad ante la ley, sin cuyo requisito la democracia se convierte en una pálida parodia, pero lo progre, que no en vano algunos definen como la filosofía de la envidia, quiere ir mucho mas allá y cercenar toda distinción.

Me es muy difícil comprender el odio a la diversidad, sin embargo, una casta política, a la que sobran, siempre, seguidores incautos, quiere ocultar la evidencia más patente que existe, la total desigualdad, la singularidad de todos los seres humanos e imponer la organización de la sociedad acabando con las diferencias y convirtiendo al pueblo en una masa uniforme y aborregada que les permita engolfarse en sus divinizados liderazgos y privilegios. 

En los imperfectos sistemas democráticos de las sociedades occidentales, en los que esta singularidad puede ejercitarse, se vive, con la amnesia habitual, como si esta posibilidad fuera un don de la naturaleza; pero es necesario recordar, continuamente, que llevamos un siglo de sangre y dolor peleando contra regimenes totalitarios, entupidamente adjetivados de derechas o de izquierdas, que han tratado y a veces conseguido, imponer esta triste filosofía de la uniformidad. Regimenes impuestos por iluminados arribistas, lideres sociales, políticos o religiosos.  

Para aliviar la inaudita  ceguera del ciudadano occidental, podemos animarle a contemplar, en la tele, las reuniones de masas en los regímenes totalitarios y la obsesiva preocupación por convertirlas, a base de un entrenamiento inhumano, en desfiles de robots en los que se tiene como merito irrenunciable que no desentone ni el gesto de una ceja. Esto, como cínico simbolo de lo que unos encanallados lideres pueden llegar a hacer con una sociedad.

Hasta podemos ver, en imágenes robadas en alguna nación en la que este camino se ha recorrido casi hasta el final, el mas delirante culto a la personalidad de las elites, que han logrado formar regimenes aristocráticos medievales, perpetuándose en el disfrute de unos privilegios inauditos, mientras mantienen al pueblo en la miseria material y en un enajenamiento mental que deja a la altura de cuentecillos infantiles a algunas novelas de ciencia ficción que anunciaban que esto podía pasar.

En otros países, en los que esos lideres ventajistas han conseguido aislar a la sociedad que pastorean, la vemos convertida en una pulpa blanda y sumisa, carente de impulso hasta para lograr la propia manutención.

Afortunadamente, la desigualdad, la originalidad, la singularidad, ha acabado triunfando hasta ahora, marcando nuevos caminos y nuevos objetivos, pero no seamos ingenuos, pues aquí mismo, en el seno de nuestras sociedades occidentales tenemos la semilla que puede, si bajamos la guardia, producir cosechas como esas. Lo progre es esa semilla. He aquí dos pinceladas.

Primera: Yo no tengo información para poder valorar la nueva ley de educación que se está, ahora, debatiendo en España, pero si creo que es un intento de evitar que la línea progre, que busca la eliminación del merito, el esfuerzo y la singularidad, buscando la uniformización de la sociedad, siga, con los resultados que el que quiera puede ver, produciendo una sociedad ignorante y mediocre, fácil de pastorear y conducir por los caminos citados.

Segunda: Escuchen y lean las declaraciones del Sr. Anguita, ejemplar progre químicamente puro y madera de líder totalitario, afortunadamente malogrado. Infalibilidad, egolatría delirante, menosprecio, a distancias siderales, de los demás lideres contemporáneos suyos y contemplador distante del pueblo al que considera como un rebaño de bartolillos, que alienados por el bebedizo capitalista no han reconocido al Mesías que les hubiera conducido a los paraísos zombis de la igualdad, donde la envidia desaparece porque no hay nada que envidiar. ¡Lo que se han perdido por no reconocer su liderazgo!

The Ugly Renaissance: Sex Disease and Excess in an Age of Beauty.

Renaissance Italy 

Portrait of Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI

Renaissance Italy was dominated by rich and powerful families whose reputations have been shaped by the many dark and dastardly deeds they committed. In quattrocento Florence, the Medici bought, bribed, and blackmailed their way to the top; in Rimini, the Malatesta flitted continually between self-destructive megalomania and near psychopathic brutality; and in Milan, the Sforza were every by as infamous for their sexual proclivities as they were for their political ruthlessness. But in this devilish roll-call of nefarious names, none sends such a chill up the spine as that of ‘Borgia’.

It is impossible to imagine a family more heavily tainted by the stains of sin and immorality, and – as even those who have not seen the eponymous television series will know – there is scarcely one of their number who does not seem to be cloaked in an aura of iniquity. The founder of the family’s fortunes, Alfons de Borja (1378-1458) – who reigned as Pope Callixtus III – was decried even by his closest allies as the “scandal of [his] age” for his monstrously corrupt ways. His nephew, Rodrigo (1431-1503) – who he himself elevated to the cardinalate, and who would be elected Pope Alexander VI in 1492 – was reputed to be even worse. Accused of buying the papacy, he would later be besmirched by rumours so severe that the Venetian diplomat Girolamo Priuli felt able to claim he had “given his soul and body to the great demon in Hell”. Indeed, as the papal master of ceremonies, Johann Burchard, was to contend in the middle of Alexander’s reign:

There is no longer any crime or shameful act that does not take place in public in Rome and in the home of the Pontiff. Who could fail to be horrified by the…terrible, monstrous acts of lechery that are committed openly in his home, with no respect for God or man? Rapes and acts of incest are countless…[and]great throngs of courtesans frequent St. Peter’s Palace, pimps, brothels, and whorehouses are to be found everywhere!

But worse still was the reputation of Alexander’s children, and Burchard’s blithe comment that they were “utterly depraved” barely begins to cover the crimes with which they were associated in the contemporary imagination. Lucrezia (1480-1519) – with whom the pope was reputed to have slept – was cast not only as a whore, but also as a poisoner, a murderer, and a witch. And Cesare (1475/6-1507) – the most handsome, dashing, and despicable Borgia of all – was widely believed to have killed his elder brother Juan in a fit of jealousy, bedded his sister, and embarked on a campaign of slaughter and conquest aimed at carving a kingdom out of the scattered states of Northern Italy.

Confronted with so comprehensively damning a portrait, it is difficult to believe that the Borgias could have been any more dreadful if they had tried. But precisely because the impression conveyed by contemporary accounts is so utterly dreadful, it is equally difficult not to question whether such a terrible reputation was entirely justified. Were the Borgias really all that bad?

As with most things that are supposed to have happened behind the scenes in the shadowy world of Renaissance Rome, certainty is often elusive, and it is a challenging task to separate the evidential wheat from the gossipy chaff when sifting through the documents which have survived. Yet despite this, there is enough to suggest that the Borgias weren’t quite the one-dimensional evil-doers they first appear to have been.

On the one hand, they certainly weren’t the demonic arch-villains they have been painted as.  For all of the vividness with which observers such as Burchard, Priuli, Machiavelli, and Guicciardini described the Borgias, it is clear that at least some of the family’s unenviable reputation was entirely undeserved. The charge of incest, for example, seems to be without any solid basis in fact. So too, the suggestion that Lucrezia was a poisoner is grounded more on salacious gossip and the hysterical accusations of a divorced husband than on reliable evidence. Although thrice married – each time for political reasons – she was, by all accounts, a highly cultured and intelligent figure who was admired and respected by contemporaries such as the poet Pietro Bembo, and who was never seriously associated with any misdeeds. But equally untenable is the claim that Cesare killed his brother. Not only was there little for Cesare to gain from Juan’s death, but it is even arguable that – since Cesare was compelled to set aside his cardinal’s hat to assume Juan’s secular roles - the family’s long-term position was weakened so severely that he could not have been unaware of the risks. Much more plausible is the suggestion that Juan was killed either in an amorous adventure gone wrong, or at the instigation of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, with whom he had argued, and who was an avowed enemy of the whole family. Even less credible, however, are the piquant accounts of the Borgias’ supposedly raucous parties. The so-called “Banquet of the Chestnuts” – an all-night orgy at Apostolic Palace attended by fifty “honest prostitutes” and involving eye-popping sexual athletics – is, for example, attested only in Burchard’s memoirs, and is not only intrinsically implausible, but was also dismissed as such by many contemporaries.

On the other hand, even those crimes of which the Borgias were guilty weren’t anything out of the ordinary. Indeed, when the evidence is interrogated more carefully, it is apparent that the Borgias were entirely typical of the families who were continually vying for the papal throne during the Renaissance.

They were, for example, undoubtedly guilty of both nepotism and simony. Although the sums involved were unquestionably exaggerated by contemporary chroniclers, both Callixtus III and Alexander VI bribed their way to the papacy, and used their power to advance their family as fully as possible. Alexander VI alone elevated not fewer than ten of his relatives to the College of Cardinals, and endowed others with a host of fiefdoms in the Papal States. But precisely because the papacy could so easily be misused for familial aggrandisement and enrichment, these ecclesiastical abuses were all too familiar. Though formally classed as a sin, simony was common. In 1410, for example, Baldassare Cossa borrowed 10,000fl. from Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici to bribe his way to becoming Anti-pope John XXIII, and at the conclave of 1458, Cardinal Guillaume d’Estouteville promised to distribute a vast array of lucrative benefices to anyone who would vote for him, albeit in vain. Nepotism, too, was widespread. In the early fifteenth century, Martin V had secured immense estates for his Colonna relatives in the kingdom of Naples, but within a century, nepotism had become so extreme that even Machiavelli felt obliged to attack Sixtus IV – who had elevated six of his relatives to the Sacred College – for this crime. Later, Julius II (a kinsman of Sixtus IV) acquired the duchy of Urbino for his nephew, Francesco Maria della Rovere; Clement VII made his illegitimate son, Alessandro, the first duke of Florence; and Paul III raised his bastard child, Pier Luigi Farnese, to the duchy of Parma.   

Similarly, there is no doubting that Alexander VI was a lusty and sexually adventurous pope. He openly acknowledged fathering a bevy of children by his mistress, Vannozza dei Cattanei, and later enjoyed the legendary affections of Giulia Farnese, renowned as one of the most beautiful women of her day. But here again, Alexander was merely following the norms of the Renaissance papacy, and it is telling that Pius II had no shame about penning a wild, sexual comedy called Chrysis. Popes and cardinals were almost expected to have mistresses. Julius II, for example, was the father of numerous children, and never bothered to hide the fact, while Cardinal Jean de Jouffroy was notorious for being a devotee of brothels. Homosexual affairs were no less common, and in that he seems to have limited himself to only one gender, Alexander VI almost seems straight-laced. Sixtus IV was, for instance, reputed to have given the cardinals special permission to commit sodomy during the summer, perhaps to allow him to do so without fear of criticism, while Paul II was rumoured to have died while being sodomised by a page-boy.

Even Cesare’s deserved reputation for savage megalomania is rather less impressive when set in the context of the period. He was, of course, a ferociously ambitious figure who indulged in some pretty low tactics. Having divested himself of his cardinal’s hat, he ripped through the Romagna and Le Marche, building a vast, private fiefdom in the space of just three years. In all this, murder seemed not an occasional necessity, but an integral part of everyday existence. In 1499 alone, he ordered the assassination or execution of the Spanish Constable of the Guard, the soldier-captain Juan Cervillon, and Ferdinando d’Almaida, the cruel-minded bishop of Ceuta, and subsequently added a host of individuals such as Astorre III Manfredi to his list of victims. Later, he even slaughtered three of his own senior commanders at a dinner in Senigallia after (rightly) suspecting them of plotting against him. But from a certain perspective, all of this was only to be expected. It was quite normal for the relatives of Renaissance popes to set their sights on conquest and acquisition. Although some ‘papal’ families – such as the Colonna – owned huge tracts of land, the majority – such as the Piccolomini and the della Rovere – started out as cash-strapped minor nobles, or – in the Borgias’ case – as landless foreigners, and popes from this latter group naturally encouraged their kinsmen to seize enough territory to put them on a par with the greatest noble houses in Italy. This meant war. And in an age in which war was the preserve of mercenaries, war meant cruelty on a grand scale. The wild, bisexual Pier Luigi Farnese, for example, was infamous for his brutality, and not only pillaged at will, but also made a habit of hunting down those men who resisted his advances. So too, Francesco Maria della Rovere, was nothing more than a soldier for hire, who ordered his troops to slaughter Cardinal Francesco Alidosi after his own failure to capture Bologna. Indeed, if anything, Cesare was unusual only in his tactical brilliance and in his comparative self-restraint.

It seems clear that the Borgias’ rather unfortunate reputation was undeserved. While some of the accusations levelled at them were simply untrue, even those crimes which they did commit were typical of the period, and paled by comparison to those of other ‘papal’ families.

Yet this leaves us with a problem. If the Borgias weren’t as bad as they may seem, why was their name so heavily tarnished? Why did observers turn on them quite so comprehensively, and what was the reason for so dramatic a smear campaign?

Although in later years, the steady worsening of the Borgias’ reputation was intimately linked to the shifting currents of Reformation and Counter-Reformation thought, there are perhaps three reasons why contemporary observers were prepared to attack them quite so viciously.

The first is simply that they were Spaniards, and as such, were yoked to shifting perceptions of Spanish influence in the Italian peninsula. Attitudes were, of course, often positive, but as a result of the involvement of Spain and the Aragonese kingdom of Naples in the affairs of Northern Italy during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, there gradually emerged a ‘Black Legend’, a virulent form of anti-Spanish propaganda which identified all things Spanish with oppression, brutality, and cruelty. The fact that the Borgias hailed from Valencia, and that Alexander VI had helped to involve the Spanish more closely in Italian affairs meant that the family was almost inevitably tarred with the same brush.

The second reason is that they were outsiders. In spite of the universality of the Church’s message, the Renaissance papacy was perceived to be an Italian institution, simply by virtue of the fact that the control of the Papal States gave a pontiff and his family colossal power in the Italian peninsula itself, both in terms of direct political influence, and in terms of familial aggrandizement. Whichever way you looked at it, the papacy was dominated by Italians, directed in the interest of Italian states, and misused for the benefit of Italians. The Borgias were an anomaly. It was not merely that they were not Italian (there would be only one other non-Italian pope between the end of the Great Schism in 1417 and the Sack of Rome in 1527); rather, it was that Callixtus III and Alexander VI sought to use the papacy to enrich their family at the expense of Italians. They despoiled other (Italian) families of their land and titles; they invoked the help of foreign powers; and they generally disrupted the delicate balance of power in Italy. As a consequence, it was almost natural that Italian commentators and historians – many of whom had experienced the rapaciousness of successive pontiffs – were willing to depict the Borgias inaccurately as especially corrupt and vile individuals. 

The third – and most important – reason is, however, that the Borgias simply weren’t all that successful. Although it was not unusual for families to base their success entirely on papal favour, most were canny enough to limit their ambitions, to consolidate their gains gradually and to graft themselves into other more established families. In other words, they started small, played the long game and tried not to ruffle too many feathers. And, by and large, this was a technique that worked. The Piccolomini, the della Rovere, and the Farnese families all climbed the ladder slowly and effectively, and – in time – became dominant players in the game of Italian politics. This fact alone prevented anyone from taking too strong a dislike to them. You just had to get along with them. But the Borgias were different. They were too hasty, too reliant on papal authority and foreign favour, and too unwilling to respect existing patters of landed power. They were building on sand. No sooner had Alexander VI died than Cesare’s proto-kingdom imploded and he himself was betrayed by Julius II. There was nothing left, and there was no-one to turn to for help. Forced to return to Spain, Cesare – and the Borgias – had failed. And in failure, even their former friends had no hesitation in decrying them as scoundrels. Without lasting power or influence, there was nothing either to hold back the criticism or to restrain the exaggerations.   

If the Borgias weren’t as bad as they have often seemed, therefore, the background to their unfortunate and ill-deserved reputation leaves us with a rather more interesting and engaging history. On the one hand, it is a tale of an obscure Spanish family determined to seek its fortune in a foreign land, set on beating the Italians at their own game, and perhaps willing to engage a little too freely in some of the more sensuous pleasures of the age. But on the other hand, it is a story of inglorious failure, dramatic defeat, and the ignominious assaults of enemies who hated outsiders – especially Spaniards – more than anything else. It is not a tale we might expect of the Borgias, but it is nevertheless a tale that is all too reflective of the amazing double-standards of the Renaissance, and is perhaps all the richer for it.

Alexander Lee's book The Ugly Renaissance: Sex Disease and Excess in an Age of Beauty is published by Hutchinson. From The Archive: Give the Borgias a Break