>
> That is to say,
> unless many 'constituents' would gain (spiritually, and maybe even -- in
the
> best sense -- financially and politically) from the publicity surrounding
an
> exhumation and study of whatever remains may be found, then I think that
no
> amount of scholarly argument could possibly convince 'the authorities' to
> allow an exhumation to proceed.
>
Yes George, that is too true, I'm afraid.
But, because Alexander VI's death in 1503 had such mysterious circumstances,
and he had (and has) such a bad reputation as pope--when he reallly did A
LOT of good for the church, though admittedly he liked his women--one of my
motivations would be that if it could be proven that he died from malaria
and NOT the infamous Borgia poison, 'cantarella', that it would shed a
better light on the Borgia pope and thus the tarnished reputation of the
Renaissance (sp?) church.
Alexander and his son Cesare attended a garden party of one Cardinal
Corretta (sp?) on a very hot August evening in 1503. Cesare allegedly told a
servant to serve two particular glasses of wine to the cardinal and someone
else. Well, Alexander had forgotten his consecrated host that he kept in a
gold box, which he carried everywhere with him. He coincidentally told the
same servant to go back tot he Vatican and get it, so the servant had to
obey. In the meantime, the glasses of wine were served and so both Cesare
and the pope became very ill, as did a few other partygoers. Cardinal
Corretta, however, did not get sick. Alexander died shortly
afterwards--that's a great scene too, but I won't go into that here--and
Cesare managed to recover, no doubt because of his youth (he was around 30).
But on the other hand, malaria ran rampant in Rome that particular
summer...so many scholars believe it was malaria, not poison, that killed
Alexander VI.
I do consider myself a Borgia expert, though with only a Masters in Medieval
History (and background in death studies, both modern and medieval) I know I
do not have the credentials one would need to even approach someone for such
a monumental task.
So...and I know this is a longshot...but if any listmembers have forensic,
archeological, or anthropologic type of background or degree, and this
mystery interests you, please email me at [log in to unmask] and perhaps
we could just chat...
Thanks,
Wendy Reardon
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