Valencia - Itinerary Comunitat Valenciana -

Catedral

City that enjoys a great economic and cultural development in the fifteenth century.

Valencia, founded by the Romans under the name of Valentia, was renamed Balansinya under the control of the Muslims and Valencia after the capture of the city by Jaume I in 1238.

During the fifteenth century the city experienced a period of great economic and cultural development under the auspices of King Alfonso V, the Magnanimous.

In 1429 Alfonso de Borja becomes bishop of the city. Although he barely lived in Valencia, he put a stop to secular power and had constant clashes with the authorities of the kingdom and the city. In 1438 he sailed for Italy, where he would later become Pope Calixtus III.

His nephew, Rodrigo de Borja, succeeded him in the episcopal seat in 1458, although his residence was in Rome. During one of his brief stays in the capital as a cardinal and papal legate, in 1472, he had the opportunity to entertain Cardinal Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza and demonstrate the power of the splendor that surrounded him.

The Borgia dynasty continues to maintain control of the diocese and expand its influence. In 1482, when he was only six years old, Cesare, son of Rodrigo de Borja, became canon of Valencia.

In 1492, after the election of his father as Alexander VI, Cesare Borgia's ecclesiastical career was boosted with several appointments, among which the rich archbishopric of Valencia stands out, which he resigned after passing to the secular state.

Valencia will receive the creation of its university in 1501, at the hands of Alexander VI and years later will see Cesare Borgia go prisoner, in September 1504, who set foot on Spanish soil for the first time.

The Valencian branch of the family, organized around the Dukes of Gandia, will become the regular host of royal visits.

Special expectation had, already in 1571, the mass and preaching of Francisco de Borja, former Duke of Gandia and general of the Jesuits, in the cathedral of Valencia.