(Brooklyn Museum, Alexander VI) This is one of the finest examples of how Rodrigo was a corrupt and cruel person even before he actually became Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. This also showed how even though by 1468 Rodrigo had already been ordained a priest; he would still continue break every priestly rule (especially the priestly rule of celibacy) and clearly showed that he did not care for the catholic faith. Near the beginning of 1470, the future Pope, Rodrigo Borgia, showed his dishonesty and corruption again as a political leader and priest by having four children with Vanozza Catanei, who was one of his several "mistresses ". (Burchard, XVI) Even though Rodrigo held the position of Vice Chancellor of the Roman Catholic Church, he held another title "Cardinal Deacon in Carcere " which he had until the year 1471 when he was promoted to Cardinal Bishop in the city of Albano. After only five years, Rodrigo had become the Cardinal Bishop of Porto and the Dean of Sacred College. Eventually, on the morning of August 11th, 1492 Rodrigo was proclaimed Pope and took the name Alexander VI, after paying for almost two thirds of the votes he needed to secure the papacy for himself. (Burchard, XVIII)This is a great example of the new Popes corruption, for he had not even stepped into the office and he already paid everyone off to secure his spot as Pope. Instead of being a fair vote for the papacy. When Rodrigo paid off two thirds of the Cardinals voting in the Conclave, it previewed his later corruption and greed as Pope, and this would also show how Rodrigo would often use simony, the deliberate intention of buying or selling for a temporal price such things as are spiritual of annexed unto spirituals, to get whatever he wanted. To be more specific, Rodrigo bribed the conclave; the group of Cardinals that vote for the who will become the next Pope, with four Mule loads of silver, as mentioned on page fifteen of the introduction of Johann Burchards diary.
