The Pope’s Darkest Secret: Sleeping With His Own Nieces.

Описание: Pope Sixtus IV, remembered outwardly as a spiritual leader and patron of Renaissance art, in practice transformed the papacy into a family enterprise. He elevated his nephews to cardinalships and military posts, and arranged marriages for his nieces that secured political alliances across Italy. This web of nepotism quickly provoked resentment in Rome, and his excessive affection toward certain nieces gave rise to persistent rumors of incest. Late-night visits to papal apartments, extravagant gifts, and unusually close attention to young female relatives became the material of satire, allowing enemies and poets to portray the Vatican as a stage for desire rather than devotion.

At the same time, his political intrigues amplified the scandal. The most infamous was the Pazzi Conspiracy of 1478, in which he and his relatives backed the attempted assassination of the Medici brothers inside Florence Cathedral. Giuliano de’ Medici was murdered, Lorenzo survived, and the result was open war between Florence and the papacy. To his critics, this cemented the image of a pope who was both a political schemer and a man ruled by forbidden passions. His niece Caterina Riario, later known as Caterina Sforza, became a symbol of this legacy: admired for her resilience and military skill, yet always shadowed by the belief that her rise was bound to her uncle’s scandal.

When Sixtus IV died in 1484, Romans vented their anger by looting the homes of his relatives, as though purging the city of his corrupt dynasty. His legacy split in two. On one side stood the magnificent Sistine Chapel, a jewel of human achievement. On the other lingered the taint of nepotism, intrigue, and whispered incest. Scholars continue to debate whether the charges were slander or grounded in truth, but the persistence of these stories ensured that his name could never be separated from them. His reign remains a paradox: marble monuments and enduring frescoes on one hand, and centuries of rumor and ridicule on the other.