Upon becoming Pope, Sixtus abused his new position to shower gifts on his family. Within a year, Sixtus’ sisters had elaborate houses in Rome and every luxury they desired. His nephews Pietro and Guiliano were immediately made cardinals despite being completely unqualified for the position. Pietro was made a bishop and then the Archbishop of Florence in 1473. Pietro was close to his uncle and effectively ran Sixtus’ foreign policy until his sudden death later in 1473. Meanwhile, Giovanni was made the Lord of Papal Lands in Senigallia and Mondavio and given a favorable marriage to a daughter of the powerful Montefeltro family. But perhaps the most richly rewarded nephew was Girolamo Riario who was made Captain-General of the Church, effectively in full control of the papacy’s military resources, and was made the Lord of Imola - a recently acquired city that would cause a cascade of problems in time.
He was also married off to the daughter of the Duke of Milan and in 1480 was made the Lord of the city of Forli as well. Thanks to Sixtus’ nepotism, no fewer than 6 of his nephews were made cardinals. Sixtus also poured honors onto other friends and allies, such as his friend Francesco Salviati who was made the Archbishop of Pisa. In fact, of the 34 cardinals created during his papacy, almost none of them were properly qualified. This corruption did not go unnoticed. Stefano Infessura, a prominent critic who lived in Rome during Sixtus’ reign, wrote a scathing description of the man. He was, quote, “an impious and unjust king, who had no fear of God, no love of governing the Christian people, with no affection for charity or love, only caring for dishonest pleasure, greed, and vanity.” Infessura had his own theories for why Sixtus appointed so many cardinals. According to rumors, Sixtus was a closested homosexual who gave out cardinal positions to his illicit lovers. There’s no solid evidence, but most historians agree that this was a widespread belief among his critics at the time.
A Flawed Papacy
Outside of his nepotism and private life, Sixtus showed an eagerness for power. For example, he had a serious disagreement with the King of France over the King’s insistence that all papal decrees needed his royal assent before being obeyed in France. Sixtus thirsted for the glory of the old papacy whose power was unchallenged and extensive. The glory days of the crusades were long gone, but that didn’t stop Sixtus calling for them multiple times. His efforts produced unremarkable results. He also wanted to be the Pope to reunite Catholicism with the Orthodox East, another papal pipe dream that was never going to work, and once again his lofty ambitions came to nothing and he achieved no meaningful progress towards that goal. It seemed that Sixtus pursued his own ego and dreams of a glorious papacy before anything else, and every time met with disappointment.
To his credit, Sixtus proved a far better ruler of Rome than of the Catholic Church. Sixtus’ road pavements and bridge work significantly improved the city’s infrastructure and he had dozens of churches restored throughout the city. Sixtus was also a true patron of the Renaissance, acting as a patron to a number of scientists and artists including Botticelli. He extended this support for knowledge abroad, such as in Sweden where he approved the creation of the country’s first university in Uppsala.
