All corrections
Wikipedia July 7, 2026 at 10:41 AM

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Alexander_VI

4 corrections found

1
Claim
In 1455, he inherited his uncle's post as bishop of Valencia
Correction

Rodrigo Borgia did not take over Valencia in 1455. Church reference works place his appointment in Valencia in 1458, not 1455.

Full reasoning

This date is off by about three years.

  • Catholic-Hierarchy lists Rodrigo de Borja as appointed Administrator of Valencia on 30 June 1458 and installed on 21 July 1458.
  • A history published by the Archdiocese of Valencia likewise says he took possession of the Valencian see on 21 June 1458.

So the article's statement that he inherited the Valencia post in 1455 is incorrect; the evidence places his assumption of that office in 1458.

2 sources
2
Claim
Rodrigo only legitimized his children after becoming pope.
Correction

This blanket statement is incorrect. At least one of Rodrigo Borgia’s children, Pedro Luis, was legitimized in 1481, before Rodrigo became pope in 1492.

Full reasoning

The statement is too absolute.

  • The Real Academia de la Historia says Pedro Luis de Borja, Rodrigo's eldest son, was legitimized by Sixtus IV on 5 November 1481 and recognized again in 1483.
  • The same institution's biography of César Borja says he was dispensed from the defect of illegitimacy by a bull of Sixtus IV on 1 October 1480 so he could hold benefices.

Since these steps happened in 1480–1481, they predate Rodrigo Borgia's election as pope in 1492. So it is wrong to say he only legitimized his children after becoming pope.

2 sources
3
Claim
In the Jubilee year 1500, Alexander ushered in the custom of opening a holy door on Christmas Eve and closing it on Christmas Day the following year.
Correction

The closing date is wrong. Vatican sources say the Holy Door for the 1500 Jubilee was closed on Epiphany, 6 January 1501, not on Christmas Day 1500.

Full reasoning

The article gets the end date of that Jubilee rite wrong.

The Vatican's own liturgical documentation says:

  • the Holy Year begun by opening the Holy Door on Christmas Eve 1499;
  • the Jubilee continued until the Epiphany of the Lord, 6 January 1501;
  • and the rite of closing the Holy Door at St. Peter's for the Jubilee of 1500 was celebrated on 6 January 1501.

So Alexander VI did help institutionalize the Holy Door rite for that Jubilee, but it was not closed on Christmas Day the following year. The official closing was on Epiphany, 6 January 1501.

2 sources
  • Closing of the Holy Door - Vatican

    The Jubilee experience of grace and mercy is to continue until the closing of the Holy Year on the day of the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ, 6 January 2001 ... the rite of closing of the Holy Door of the Vatican Basilica was celebrated on 6 January 1501.

  • Resources for the Holy Year - Holy Doors

    The Holy Door of the Jubilee of 1500 was opened on Christmas Eve 1499 and was closed on the Solemnity of Epiphany in 1501.

4
Claim
The pope gave Cardinal Borgia discretion over whether to give dispensation for Ferdinand's marriage to his second cousin Isabella of Castile, and Borgia decided in favour of approving the marriage.
Correction

This overstates Rodrigo Borgia’s role. Sources say Sixtus IV himself issued the dispensation bull in December 1471, and Rodrigo Borgia was sent to carry it to Spain.

Full reasoning

The documentary record cited by Spanish historical reference works says the dispensation was issued by Pope Sixtus IV, not left to Rodrigo Borgia's personal discretion.

  • Historia Hispánica (Real Academia de la Historia) states that on 1 December 1471, Sixtus IV signed the dispensation bull for the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabel and later gave Rodrigo Borja legatine powers to bring it to the Peninsula.
  • The Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes likewise says the marriage dispensation was granted by Sixtus IV in December 1471, while Rodrigo's legation was a separate step.

So Rodrigo Borgia did play an important diplomatic role, but the claim that the pope gave him discretion to decide whether to grant the dispensation is not accurate: the pope himself issued the bull.

3 sources
Model: OPENAI_GPT_5 Prompt: v1.16.0