(1431 – 18 August 1503) – head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503.

Born into the prominent Borja family in Xàtiva in the Kingdom of Valencia under the Crown of Aragon (in present-day Spain), he was known as Roderic de Borja, and he is commonly referred to by the Italianized form as Rodrigo Borgia.  He studied law at the University of Bologna.  He was ordained deacon and made a cardinal in 1456 after the election of his uncle as Pope Callixtus III, and a year later he became vice-chancellor of the Catholic Church.  He proceeded to serve in the Roman Curia under the next four popes, acquiring significant influence and wealth in the process.  In 1492, Rodrigo was elected pope, taking the name Alexander VI.

Alexander’s papal bulls of 1493 (Inter Caetera) confirmed or reconfirmed the rights of the Spanish crown in the New World following the finds of Christopher Columbus in 1492.  During the second Italian war, Alexander VI supported his son Cesare Borgia as a condottiero for the French king.  The scope of his foreign policy was to gain the most advantageous terms for his family.

(Wikipedia contributors. (2026, March 17). Pope Alexander VI. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.)