Alexander VI, who fathered seven known children (among them the infamous Lucrezia Borgia), was the most notorious of the so-called "bad" Renaissance popes. He was made a cardinal at 26 -- even though he had never been ordained -- and became pope in 1492. Alexander's tenure in Rome was divided between politicking, advancing his family's power, securing serious personal wealth, dispensing bribes and collecting mistresses. After one particularly eventful orgy while he was vice-chancellor, an angry Pope Pius II reproached that "shame forbids mention of all that took place -- not only the acts themselves but their very names are unworthy of your position."