Gdzie jest pochowany przeklęty papież Borgia? Egzekwie i koleje losu doczesnych szczątków Aleksandra VI w relacji Johannesa Burcharda i Giacomo Grimaldiego

Abstract

In order to tell the story o f the funeral and the fate o f Alexander V i’s ashes, there were elected two clerics: Johannes Burchard and Giacomo Grimaldi. Burchard (1450-1506) spent his entire career at the papal courts o f Sixtus IV, Innocent VIII, Alexander VI, Pius III and Julius II, serving as papal Master o f Ceremonies and left his diary Liber notarum which is one o f the most important sources o f the history o f popes in the 15th century. Grimaldi (1568-1623) was a Vatican cleric who described the old Basilic o f Saint Peter before its demolition in the book called Descrizione della basilica antica di San Pietro. The author of the paper has chosen these two writers non only to present their texts to the Polish reader, but also to show two different ways of constructing historical narratives. Burchard manipulates the facts to show that the way in which the body of the Spanish pope was treated was a punishment for his immoral life. The key to the interpretation of his text is personal dislike of his own supervisor and the desire to show him in a negative light. Whereas Grimaldi writes quite differently about the deceased body of Alexander VI and his uncle Callixtus III. For him, the most important thing is the function they performed in the Church, not their personal qualities. The facts displayed by him are not transformed, but presented with objectivity.