(1) 1. BORJA LANZOL DE ROMANÍ, el mayor, Juan de (1446-1503)

Birth. 1446 (1), Valencia, Spain. Son of Galcerán de Borja y Moncada, cousin of Pope Alexander VI, and Tecla Navarro de Alpicat (2). He was called the Cardinal of Borja and the Cardinal of Monreale. Third-cousin of Cardinals Juan de Borja Lanzol de Romaní, el menor (1496); and Pedro Luis de Borja Lanzol de Romaní (1500). Cousin of Cardinal Juan Castellar y de Borja (1503). Some authors have confused him with Juan de Borja, uncle of Pope Alexander VI. His last name is also listed as Borgia; and his second last name as Navarro; and as Llançol.

Education. (No information found).

Early life. Canon of the cathedral chapter of Velencia. Paborde of Albal. Cleric minoré. Protonotary apostolic and corrector of apostolic letters of Pope Sixtus IV, ca. 1480. Governor of Rome in the pontificate of Pope Innocent VIII (3). He had an illegitimate son, Galcerán.

Sacred orders. (No information found).

Episcopate. Elected archbishop of Monreale, September 13, 1483; never visited the archdiocese; occupied the see until his death. Consecrated (no information found).

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of August 31, 1492, with title of S. Susanna. Administrator of the see of Olomouc, Moravia, February 8, 1493 until January 30, 1497. Ordinary guest of the pope. Named on April 18, 1494 legate a latere to crown King Alfonso II of Naples; he left Rome on April 24; crowned the king on May 8 in the cathedral of Naples with a patriarch, seven archbishops and forty bishops in attendance; returned to Rome on May 29, 1494. Named bishop of Melfi, September 19, 1494; occupied the see until December 3, 1498. Named bishop of Ferrara on October 29, 1494; did not take possession until June 14, 1497; occupied the see until his death. On November 3, 1494, he accompanied Cardinal Ascanio Sfora up to the door of S. Paolo of Rome, who was going to Ostia and then to Florence. On December 25, 1494, he was sent by the pope before King Charles VIII of France, who was in Bracciano, to present propositions for peace; on January 7, 1495, he sought refuge, together with the pope, in Castello Sant'Angelo, Rome, for fear of falling in the hands of French troops. Sent, on March 6, 1495, to Nepi to replace Vice Chancellor Cardinal Ascanio Sforza; returned to Rome the following March 9. On May 27, 1495, he accompanied the pope to Orvieto because of the approach of the French army; returned to Rome with the pope on June 27, 1495, after the departure of the king on June 3. Vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church in 1500, after the flight of Cardinal Sforza. Promoted to the Latin patriarchate of Constantinople, April 24, 1503. He was a very able diplomat but had to retire from the political scene in order not to overshadow his cousin César Borja. Several authors mix up the posts that he occupied with those occupied by his nephew and namesake.

Death. August 1, 1503, Rome, suddenly. Buried in the patriarchal Vatican basilica next to the tomb of Pope Calixtus III.

Bibliography. Aldea, Quintín. "Borja y Lanzol de Romaní, Juan de." Diccionario de historia eclesiástica de España. 4 vols and Supplement. Dirigido por Quintín Aldea Vaquero, Tomás Marín Martínez, José Vives Gatell. Madrid : Instituto Enrique Flórez, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1972-1975, I, 279; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, III, 248-249; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1630, II, col. 1324-1325; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VIII. Les cardinaux du XVIe siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1939, Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1939, p. 111; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen II (1431-1503). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1914; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, pp. 21, 50, 51, 52, 18, 135, 153, 188 and 206; Weber, Christoph and Becker, Michael. Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte. 6 v. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 1999-2002. (Päpste und Papsttum, Bd. 29, 1-6), III, 77.

Webgraphy. Biography by Miguel Navarro Sorní, in Spanish, DB~e, Diccionario Biográfico Español; his genealogy; his portrait, archdiocese of Monreale, Italy.

(1) This is according to Aldea, "Borja y Lanzol de Romaní, Juan de." Diccionario de historia eclesiástica de España, I, 279; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VIII. Les cardinaux du XVIe siècle", Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1939, p. 111, says that he was born in 1453; Weber, Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte, III, 77, says that he was born in 1447.
(2) This is according to his genealogy, linked above, which was composed by Miguel Batllori, the leading authority on the Borgia family; Aldea, "Borja y Lanzol de Romaní, Juan de." Diccionario de historia eclesiástica de España, I, 279, says that he was the son of Pedro-Guillén Lanzol de Romaní, eighth señor of the barony of Villalonga, and Juana Borja, eldest sister of Pope Alexander VI.
(3) This is according to "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VIII. Les cardinaux du XVIe siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1939, p. 111; and Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, III, 248; Niccolò Del Re, Monsignor governatore di Roma (Rome : Istituto di Studi Romani Editore, 1972), do not list him among the occupants of the post.

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