Banquet of Chestnuts: Difference between revisions
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* Johann Burchard, ''Liber Notarum'', translated by Geoffray Parker as ''At the Court of the Borgia'', Folio Society, London 1963. |
* Johann Burchard, ''Liber Notarum'', translated by Geoffray Parker as ''At the Court of the Borgia'', Folio Society, London 1963. |
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* Barbara W. Tuchman, ''The March of Folly'', p. 106. Cox & Wyman Ltd, Great Britain, 1987. ISBN 0-349-13365-4 |
* Barbara W. Tuchman, ''The March of Folly'', p. 106. Cox & Wyman Ltd, Great Britain, 1987. ISBN 0-349-13365-4 |
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* Terence Lee, |
* Terence Lee, ''Time Camera'', Trafford Publishing, 2005 ISBN 1412053900, 9781412053907 |
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* Phil Mundt, ''A Scientific Search for Religious Truth'', BookPros, LLC, 2006 ISBN 1933538619, 9781933538617 |
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[[Category:History of Catholicism in Italy]] |
[[Category:History of Catholicism in Italy]] |
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Revision as of 02:50, 25 May 2009
 | This article's factual accuracy is disputed. (July 2008) |
The Banquet of Chestnuts, known more properly as the Ballet of Chestnuts, refers to a fête in Rome, and particularly to a supper held in the Papal Palace by Don Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI on October 30, 1501[1]. An account of the banquet is preserved in Protonotary Apostolic and Master of Ceremonies Johann Burchard's Liber Notarum.
History
The banquet was given in Cesare's apartments in the Palazzo Apostolico. Fifty prostitutes or courtesans were in attendance for the entertainment of the banquet guests. After the food was eaten, lamp stands holding lighted candles were placed on the floor and chestnuts strewn about. The clothes of the courtesans were auctioned; then they and the prostitutes crawled naked among the candelabra to pick up the chestnuts. Immediately following the spectacle, members of the clergy and other party guests together engaged with the prostitutes in sexual activity [2]. According to Burchard, "prizes were offered - silken doublets, pairs of shoes, hats and other garments - for those men who were most successful with the prostitutes".[3]
According to William Manchester, "Servants kept score of each man's orgasms, for the pope greatly admired virility and measured a man's machismo by his ejaculative capacity."[4] He also refers to use of sex toys. Burchard, however, makes no reference to this in his account of the banquet.
In media
The Spanish film Los Borgia (2006) includes this banquet among its scenes.
See also
Notes
References
- William Manchester, A World Lit only by Fire. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, New York and London, 1992. ISBN 0-316-54556-2
- John (Johann) Burchard, Pope Alexander VI and his Court. Extracts from the Latin Diary of the Papal Master of Ceremonies, 1484–1506. Ed. F. L. Glaser, New York, 1921.
- Johann Burchard, Liber Notarum, translated by Geoffray Parker as At the Court of the Borgia, Folio Society, London 1963.
- Barbara W. Tuchman, The March of Folly, p. 106. Cox & Wyman Ltd, Great Britain, 1987. ISBN 0-349-13365-4
- Terence Lee, Time Camera, Trafford Publishing, 2005 ISBN 1412053900, 9781412053907
- Phil Mundt, A Scientific Search for Religious Truth, BookPros, LLC, 2006 ISBN 1933538619, 9781933538617