ot likely that Rodrigo's mistress possessed a library, for
private collections of books were at that time exceedingly rare in
bourgeois houses. A short time after this they were first made possible
in Rome by the invention of printing, which was there carried on by
Germans.

Vannozza's household doubtless was rich but not magnificent. She must
occasionally have entertained the cardinal, as well as the friends of
the family, and especially the confidants of the Borgias: the Spaniards,
Juan Lopez, Caranza, and Marades; and among the Romans, the Orsini,
Porcari, Cesarini, and Barberini. The cardinal himself was an
exceedingly abstemious man, but magnificent in everything which
concerned the pomp and ceremonial of his position. The chief requirement
of a cardinal of that day was to own a princely residence and to have a
numerous household.

Rodrigo Borgia was one of the wealthiest princes of the Church, and he
maintained the palace and pomp of a great noble. His contemporary Jacopo
of Volterra, gave the following description of him about 1486: "He is a
man of an intellect capable of everything and of great sense; he is a
ready speaker; he is of an astute nature, and has wonderful skill in
conducting affairs. He is enormously wealthy, and the favor accorded him
by numerous kings and princes lends him renown. He occupies a beautiful
and comfortable palace which he built between the Bridge of S. Angelo
and the Campo dei Fiore. His papal offices, his numerous abbeys in Italy
and Spain, and his three bishoprics of Valencia, Portus, and Carthage
yield him a vast income, and it is said that the office of
vice-chancellor alone brings him in eight thousand gold florins. His
plate, his pearls, his stuffs embroidered with silk and gold, and his
books in every department of learning are very numerous, and all are of
a magnificence worthy of a king or pope. I need not mention the
innumerable bed hangings, the trappings for his horses, and similar
things of gold, silver, and silk, nor his magnificent wardrobe, nor the
vast amount of gold coin in his possession. In fact it was believed that
he possessed more gold and riches of every sort than all the cardinals
together, with the exception of one, Estouteville."

Cardinal Rodrigo, therefore, was able to give his children the most
brilliant education, while he modestly maintained them as his nephews.
Not until he himself had attained greatness could he bring them forth
into the full ligh