The Banquet of Chestnuts (sometimes Ballet of Chestnuts, Festival of Chestnuts, or Joust of Whores) was a supper purportedly held at the
Papal Palace Palace of the Popes may refer to:
* Apostolic Palace, Vatican City State – the pope's residence since the return from Avignon in 1377
* ''Domus Sanctae Marthae'', Vatican City – also known as Saint Martha's House, the Vatican hotel where Pope ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and hosted by former Cardinal
Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia (; ca-valencia, Cèsar Borja ; es, link=no, César Borja ; 13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was an Italian ex- cardinal and '' condottiero'' (mercenary leader) of Aragonese (Spanish) origin, whose fight for power was a major ...
, son of
Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...
on 31 October 1501. An account of the banquet is presented in a Latin diary by
Protonotary Apostolic
In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...
and Master of Ceremonies
Johann Burchard
Johann Burchard, also spelled Johannes Burchart or Burkhart (c.1450–1506) was an Alsatian-born priest and chronicler during the Italian Renaissance. He spent his entire career at the papal Courts of Sixtus IV, Innocent VIII, Alexander VI, Pi ...
(it is titled ''Liber Notarum''), but its accuracy is disputed.
History
According to Burchard, the
banquet
A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...
was given in Cesare's apartments in the ''
Palazzo Apostolico''. Fifty
prostitutes
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
or
courtesan
Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...
s were in attendance for the entertainment of the banquet guests. Burchard describes the scene in his ''Diary'':
Alexander Lee notes that, "The so-called 'Banquet of the Chestnuts' ... is, for example, attested only in Burchard's memoirs, and not only was intrinsically implausible, but also was dismissed as such by many contemporaries."
De Roo interpretation
Vatican researcher
Right Reverend
The Right Reverend (abbreviated The Rt Revd, The Rt Rev'd, The Rt Rev.) is a style applied to certain religious figures.
Overview
*In the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church in Great Britain, it applies to bishops, except that ''The M ...
Monsignor Peter de Roo (1839–1926), rejected the story of the "fifty courtesans" as described in Louis Thuasne's edition of Burchard's diary (vol. 3). While granting that
Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia (; ca-valencia, Cèsar Borja ; es, link=no, César Borja ; 13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was an Italian ex- cardinal and '' condottiero'' (mercenary leader) of Aragonese (Spanish) origin, whose fight for power was a major ...
may have indeed given a feast at the Vatican, de Roo attempts, through exhaustive research, to refute the notion that the Borgias – certainly not the pope – could have possibly participated in "a scene truly bestial" such as Burchard describes, on grounds that it would be inconsistent with:
*Alexander VI's essentially decent but much maligned character
*Burchard's otherwise "decent ways" of writing
*The majority consensus of writers at the time, who either questioned the story, or rejected it as outright falsehood.
De Roo believes that a more credible explanation for the alleged "orgy" is a later
interpolation
In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points.
In engineering and science, one often has a n ...
of events by those hostile to Alexander:
In popular culture
William Manchester
William Raymond Manchester (April 1, 1922 – June 1, 2004) was an American author, biographer, and historian. He was the author of 18 books which have been translated into over 20 languages. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal and the ...
's book ''
A World Lit Only by Fire
''A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age'' is an informal history of the European Middle Ages by American historian William Manchester. Published in 1992, the book is divided into three sections: "The ...
'', embellishes the story: "Servants kept score of each man's orgasms, for the pope greatly admired
virility
Virility (from the Latin ''virilitas'', manhood or virility, derived from Latin ''vir'', man) refers to any of a wide range of masculine characteristics viewed positively. Virile means "marked by strength or force". Virility is commonly associ ...
and measured a man's
machismo
Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...
by his ejaculative capacity.... After everyone was exhausted, His Holiness distributed prizes."
[pp. 79-80.]
/ref> Professional historians, however, have dismissed or ignored the book because of its numerous factual errors and its dependence on interpretations that have not been accepted by experts since the 1930s at the latest. In a review for '' Speculum'', the journal of the Medieval Academy of America
The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until c. 1980) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes ...
, Jeremy duQuesnay Adams remarked that Manchester's work contained "some of the most gratuitous errors of fact and eccentricities of judgment this reviewer has read (or heard) in quite some time."
The banquet is depicted in episode 4 of season 3 of the Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
TV series ''The Borgias''. In the show, the Banquet is shown to be a trap to blackmail otherwise disloyal members of the College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are appoi ...
, and is officiated by Giulia Farnese
Giulia Farnese (1474 – 23 March 1524) was an Italian noblewoman, a mistress to Pope Alexander VI, and the sister of Pope Paul III. Known as ''Giulia la bella'', meaning "Julia the beautiful" in Italian, Giulia was a member of the noble Farnese ...
, and witnessed by Burchard who chronicles the debaucheries of the Cardinals while hidden behind a screen. None of the Borgia family are seen to be present, and loyal Cardinals such as Cardinal Farnese are warned not to accept the invitation. In the series, the event takes place in .
See also
* List of dining events
This is a list of historic and contemporary dining events, which includes banquets, feasts, dinners and dinner parties. Such gatherings involving dining sometimes consist of elaborate affairs with full course dinners and various beverages, while ...
* List of sexually active popes
This is a list of sexually active popes, Catholic priests who were not celibate before they became pope, and popes who were legally married, while people under holy orders are usually required to be celibate. Some candidates were sexually active b ...
* House of Borgia
The House of Borgia ( , ; Spanish and an, Borja ; ca-valencia, Borja ) was an Italian-Aragonese Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town ...
* Route of the Borgias
The Route of the Borgias is a cultural route, that includes sites associated with the Borja or ''Borgia'', located in their native Valencian Community, Spain. The marketing of the route was inaugurated in 2007.Source: ABCPaseo por la hist ...
References
Bibliography
*John (Johann) Burchard, ''Pope Alexander VI and his Court: extracts from the Latin diary of the Papal Master of Ceremonies, 1484–1506''; ed. F. L. Glaser, New York, 1921
*Barbara W. Tuchman, ''The March of Folly''. New York: Knopf, 1984; p. 106 ; another issue has {{ISBN, 0-349-13365-4
*Burgo Partridge
Lytton Burgo Partridge (8 June 19357 September 1963) was an English author and member of the Bloomsbury Group.
He was the son of Ralph Partridge and Frances Marshall, and named after Lytton Strachey. In 1962, Burgo married Henrietta Garnett, ...
, '' A History of Orgies'', Bonanza Books, 1960, p. 106
History of Catholicism in Italy
Sexuality in Catholicism
Renaissance Rome
16th-century Catholicism
16th-century Christianity
1501 in Italy
16th century in Rome
1501 in Christianity
History of the papacy