32. Incredibly, Rodrigo was elected Pope Alexander VI in 1492, allegedly through bribery
Despite his appalling corruption and disdain for the office of Cardinal, Rodrigo was soon in the running to become Pope. He failed to succeed Sixtus IV, but when Innocent VIII died in 1492, the 61-year-old Rodrigo seized his chance. As a Spaniard, and a notoriously corrupt one, he was a rank outsider, but he was also very rich. According to most historians and contemporaries, Rodrigo paid dozens of bribes left, right, and center. He even paid his main rival to drop out of the race. Rodrigo became Pope Alexander VI.