Quality Cheesecake and Bad Popes

and Audrey Tatou
Alexander VI (Borgia)-

Rodrigo Borja

1490s

Roman mistress Vannozza dei Catenei
poisoned cardinals
enriched 9 illegitimate children

- Lucrezia left in charge when he was out of town

- Cesare model for Machiavelli's Prince, carved out a personal empire out of church real estate with dad's help

Sergius III and Sarah Silverman

When the antipope Christopher seized the throne by force, the Roman people revolted and threw him from the papacy. They then invited Sergius to come out of retirement and take the ring. He annulled all the ordinations of Formosus. Restored Saint John Lateran after it was destroyed by fire. First pope to wear the papal tiara. His papal flag contained the Croat Coat of Arms in the shape of a falcon.

One of the worst popes in history, his reign begins the era known as the pornocracy or the rule of the harlots, the darkest period in the history of the papacy. His mistress Marozia was the mother of Pope John XI, the aunt of Pope John XIII, and the grandmother of Pope Benedict VI. In addition to Christopher, he killed Pope Leo V in order to obtain the throne, and once in power he had the body of Formosus exhumed, tried, found guilty, and beheaded.

John XII And Debbie Harry

“On 6 November a synod composed of fifty Italian and German bishops was convened in St. Peter's; John was accused of sacrilege, simony, perjury, murder, adultery, and incest, and was summoned in writing to defend himself."


And The Moral of the Story: Beautiful, Talented Women are Far Better Than Bad Popes