He was ordained deacon and made a cardinal in 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 Curia under the next four popes, acquiring significant influence and wealth in the process. In , Rodrigo was elected pope, taking the name Alexander VI. Alexander's papal bulls of confirmed or reconfirmed the rights of the Spanish crown in the New World following the finds of Christopher Columbus in The scope of his foreign policy was to gain the most advantageous terms for his family.
Alexander is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, partly because he acknowledged fathering several children by his mistresses. As a result, his Italianized Valencian surname, Borgia , became a byword for libertinism and nepotism , which are traditionally considered as characterizing his pontificate.
Rodrigo de Borja was born c. He had a younger brother, Pedro. Peter de Roo gives a flattering summary of contemporary descriptions of Alexander, relating him to have been "of a medium complexion, with dark eyes and slightly full lips, of robust health"; in later life, he reports that "his aspect [was declared] to be venerable and far more august than an ordinary human appearance", and that he was "so familiar with Holy Writ , that his speeches were fairly sparkling with well-chosen texts of the Sacred Books".
Rodrigo de Borja's career in the Church began in at the age of 14 when he was appointed sacristan at the Cathedral of Valencia by his influential uncle, Alfons Cardinal de Borja , who had been appointed a cardinal by Pope Eugene IV the previous year. His uncle, Cardinal de Borja, persuaded Pope Nicholas V to allow young Borja to perform this role in absentia and receive the associated income, so that Borja could travel to Rome.
He then studied law at Bologna where he graduated, not simply as Doctor of Law , but as "the most eminent and judicious jurisprudent. These nepotistic appointments were characteristic of the era. Each pope during this period found himself surrounded by the servants and retainers of his predecessors who often owed their loyalty to the family of the pontiff who had appointed them. The following year, he was ordained deacon and created cardinal-deacon of San Nicola in Carcere.
