"On Sunday, January 18th, I was summoned to the pope's presence by his groom, and told by His Holiness that on the following day there was to be a public consistory to receive the King of France, and that he was going to carry out the reception himself. I replied that such an arrangement as ordered by His Holiness was unique and came outside the usual ceremonial order...". [p.110]
This is what Burchard is known for. Calling out the pope for stepping out of regular ceremonial proceedings is the reputation you should get for being the Master of Ceremonies. But over the next couple days Charles VIII, the King of France and Pope Alexander VI - the Spanish pope - sat down next to each other and worked out the details for the French passage through, and finally, out of Rome. But it was all quite out of the ordinary and a sui generis occurrence.
So many details were worked over and then were delightfully lain down by Johann Burchard, that these dozen pages give a wonderful window into their place and time. The pope and Burchard were walking and talking and the King arrived to 'review the articles earlier concluded'. There arose a dispute over how many French guards should go along 'as sureties' to either protect the Ottoman prince, or act as 'hostages for good behavior' as was commonly done in those days. After a long discussion they came to an agreement and then had the articles of agreement read out in french and in latin.
The following Monday, the scheduled public gathering of cardinals and officials was carried out. The King appeared and in this public occasion the King kissed the pope's feet and swore his allegiance to him. But first the King and his retinue had to be gathered and brought to the Vatican for the long sought ceremony. Burchard himself was sent with the Bishop of Concordia and a number of cardinals to escort the King from his 'apartments' at the Palazzo Venezia back to the church. But the King said he wanted to hear mass first in St Peter's Church and then to dine, and then to go see the pope. And he could not be dissuaded from that.
Burchard returned to still another consistory at the Vatican 'on urgent matters' without the King, and then returned to the King's Palazzo where he was still dining but who received them. After a half hour, the King began questioning Burchard on what the pope wanted he and his men to do. Then the king would retire to innner rooms and discuss them with his ministers and then return and ask more questions. After awhile Burchard was allowed into the inner rooms to be further queried and explain things again a second time. Only after all this did the procession to the Vatican begin.
Once there the King knelt in reverence three times before the pope and 'lastly, before the papal throne, he knelt and kissed the foot and hand of the pope who lifted him up for the kiss on the cheek'. [p.114] The King did as he was instructed but there followed a couple of his men who immediately rose and addressed the pope. Jean Ganay, President of the Paris Parlement, then rose and knelt and asked for three favors. Thet the King should receive every privilege with every specified grants in deeds that the pope could confirm, that he should also be invested with crown of Naples, and that article agreed to the previous day should be struck out. This agreement involved the 'safe return' of Prince Djem the Ottoman Sultan's brother who had been under the protection of the pope, and placed into the hands of the French.
Of these three requests, the pope's reply, as related by Burchard, seems both proprietarily responsible and also, plainly evasive. For the first request of 'privileges', pope Alexander VI agreed to 'immediately' confirm any any 'held valid'. Concerning the crown of Naples, he had said, this 'involved another person' and so needed more deliberation with the cardinals. As for the prince, this needed 'harmony between the King and the College of Cardinals'.
The King humbly stated he wanted to offer his homage to the pope as his predecessors had done. Then Ganay stood up and 'amplified' this by offering 'all that was his, that is, all that was the king's,' to the pope. [p. 115] So many cardinals crowded around with so many of the 'french mob and its insolent behavior' surrounding them that the pope tried to lead the King away, and then, he even asked the King to accompany him further. But the king refused this and simply returned to his own apartments without any papal or any cardinal escort.
Next day, Tuesday 20 January, was the Feast of San Sebastian. The pope celebrated High Mass in the Basilica after waiting for the King and his retinue. That day they had already been there but had left to eat breakfast,
"... and for this, all the food, pots, flagons and other utensils had been carried through the church." p 116
The rest of the proceedings were carried out, with many details supplied by Burchard including minor deviating mistakes of the pope.
A week later, Prince Djem was, after all, escorted to the Palazzo Venezia and the King in residence there. On Wednesday, January 28, by Burchard's account, the King then came to the Vatican to give his farewells. They also waited for and then received Cardinal Cesare Borgia, acting as our editor tells us, as a kind of hostage to ensure the pope's good behavior. [p. 119]
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quotes and noted pagination from Johann Burchard: At The Court of the Borgia translated for english, with introduction, notes by Geoffrey Parker, The Folio Society, Ltd, 1963
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