It was a long time since Rome had beheld a pope of such majesty, of such beauty of person.

His conduct was notorious throughout the city, and no one knew him better in that hour than that woman, Vannozza Catanei, who was kneeling in S.Peter's during the mass, her soul filled with the memories of a sinful past.
Borgia's election did not cause all the Powers anxiety.

In Milan, Ludovico il Moro celebrated the event with public festivals; he now hoped to become, through the influence of his brother Ascanio, a "half pope." While the Medici expected much from Alexander, the Aragonese of Naples looked for little.

Bitterly did Venice express herself.

Her ambassador in Milan publicly declared in August that the papacy had been sold by simony and a thousand deceptions, and that the signory of Venice was convinced that France and Spain would refuse to obey the Pope when they learned of these enormities.[17] In the meantime, Alexander VI had received the professions of loyalty of all the Italian States, together with their profuse expressions of homage.