Juan (Giovanni) Borgia

Juan’s body was taken by boat to the castle of Sant’Angelo, where it was washed and richly dressed in brocade with the insignia of Captain General of the Church. At six o’clock on the same evening Juan was carried from the castle by the noblemen of his household to be buried in the family chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in a procession led by 120 torch-bearers, all the palace ecclesiastics, the papal chamberlains and shield-bearers, ‘all marching along weeping and wailing and in considerable disorder’, commented Burchard. He continued: ‘The body was borne on a magnificent bier so that all could see it, and it seemed that the Duke were not dead but sleeping,’ while another observer remarked that Juan looked ‘almost more handsome than when he was alive’.

Alexander’s grief for his handsome son was indescribable; even the stolid Burchard was moved.