Rodrigo Borgia was born in 1431 into a prominent family at Játiva, in the kingdom of Aragon, now in Spain. His uncle Alfonso de Borgia, bishop of Valencia, guided his nephew’s education and saw to it that while still in his teens, Rodrigo was endowed with ecclesiastical benefices (ecclesiastical offices with revenue attached).
तोपर्यंत कार्डिनल झालेल्या ऑल्फोन्सोच्या देखरेखीखाली, १८ वर्षांचा रॉड्रिगो, इटलीला गेला आणि तेथे त्याने कायद्याचा अभ्यास केला.