Book Review-- The Borgias: The Hidden History by G.J. Meyer

The Borgias: The Hidden History
By G.J. Meyer
Published by Bantam Books, 2013
Print: $30.00
e-book: $14.99

This book starts with a prologue in which a visiting Spanish bishop finds the tomb of the infamous Cesare Borgia inside one of his churches. He proceeds to destroy the tomb and moves the body and buries it on the road at the bottom of the church steps. Why did he do this? So that Cesare's bones would be "trampled on by man and beasts forever".  This is pretty much the common view of the Borgia family even in our time. They were immoral thugs disguised as popes, they were murderers, incestuous adulterers clad in outward beauty which allowed them to beguile men, women, kings, and even members of their own family. They were almost seen as demonic by some, or at the least the very portrait of evil.

G.J. Meyer's new book seeks to find out the truth behind all the sensationalized rumors and legends that have grown up around the Borgias. And without saying it directly, he also wants to cash in on the hit Showtime series, The Borgias, much as he did with The Tudors tv show.

Meyers divides the book into 4 parts. The first focuses on Alonso Borgia, an old cardinal who was elected for two reasons. First, none of the major power brokers saw him as a threat since he had never really taken sides during his church career with any of the main papal, familial, or political factions of the time. Also, he was OLD. Alonso was 77 when he was elected as Pope Calixtus III! In 1455, that was WAY beyond the normal lifespan of the average man, so essentially he was living on borrowed time. Those with power in Rome believed that the Pope would be long dead before he could rock the boat and piss anyone off. They were in for a big surprise when they found out that Alonso planned to be very active and started off the tradition of the Borgia Popes to try and unify all of Italy into one country instead of various competing city states who were constantly at war with one another.

Parts 2 and 3 focus on Alonso's nephew, Cesare Borgia, who later became Pope Alexander VI. Rodrigo was a extremely effective advisor and diplomat under his Uncle Alonso, but once he became Pope, his calculating nature and leadership abilities were diluted by nepotism on a grand scale uncommon even for that era in history when familial relations could make or break your career prospects. He also had to cement his power and restablish Papal rule over some very unruly territories that belonged to the Pope essentially in name only. All the while, he was also maneuvering members of his family into positions of power and royalty.

Part 4 chronicles the rise and fall of Cesare Borgia, Alonso's great-nephew. He was pretty much  Alonso's warhammer, who was sent out to pacify all the Pope's enemies, whether through force, diplomacy, threat, or even murder. Cesare also set about carving up parts of Italy into a kingdom he himself could rule even after his great-uncle was dead. Things didn't end up working out like he had planned.

It's apparent very early on in this book that G.J. Meyer is writing an apologia for the Borgias. It seems like every murder or bad thing that the Borgias did, in Meyer's opinion, was justified, or done without the direct participation of the Borgias themselves. When the enemies of the Borgias do something morally wrong, they are EVIL, BAD PEOPLE. When the Borgias have someone killed, or betray an ally, there was no other option, or it's glossed over with the author stating that there is no direct evidence of Borgia involvement. Unfortunately, Meyer's main evidence that the Borgias were good people is the LACK of evidence that they were bad from people that worked with them. Just because their enemies said bad things about the Borgias and their friends said good things, Meyer asserts, their enemies MUST be WRONG and their friends MUST be RIGHT! How lamebrained and nonsensical can you get?

Meyer also makes assertions that are against what is commonly accepted fact. Namely, that Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia were in reality Alonso Borgia's KIDS by a mistress named Vanozza dei Cattanei, not the grandnephew and grandniece that Meyers claims they were! It's pretty incredible that Meyers makes these assertions. The only crime Alonso and Cesare seem to be guilty of is loving their family too much! The Borgias exist in a vacuum of benevolence surrounded by evil men and women wishing to do them in.

I guess when Meyer made the thesis of his book be that the Borgias really weren't that bad, he HAD to make them out to be the good guys, or else his book falls apart. One of the main themes of The Hidden History is that the Borgias were looking out for the good of all Italy, not just for themselves. That they wanted to strengthen it against foreign invaders from the Muslim world and the greedy monarchs of Europe. This argument falls flat as well, as the Borgias allied themselves with some of these very invaders to save their own skins or when it served to bolster their own power or familial interests.

One of the biggest weaknesses of this book and of the writer himself is that after almost every chapter, there are "Background" sections, almost like appendices that give you more info and history that wasn't in the chapters themselves. I never understood what the purpose was to include these sections. They were almost entirely written in dry, factual prose and I ended up skipping over them. To me, it almost seemed as if Meyer wasn't skilled enough to include parts of the backgrounds in the chapters or just couldn't be bothered to work it in. I mean, if it wasn't important enough to include in the chapters, why include it at all?

If you want the true story of the Borgias that is objective and historically accurate, I would steer clear of this book. If you want an entertaining account of the Borgias, I would also look elsewhere. It's obvious that Meyer was just trying to cash in on the current fad of Borgia interest and didn't try very hard to polish this rushed account.

My Grade: C-