Lucrezia Borgia

Not so holy family: Lucrezia Borgia with father Rodrigo (Pope Alexander VI) and brother Caesare. The figure in the foreground may be a dipction of the messenger Perotto. All three men were rumored to be the father of Lucretia's first son.

Lucrezia Borgia April 18, 1480 - June 24, 1519) was the daughter of Rodrigo Borgia, the powerful Renaissance Valencian who later became Pope Alexander VI, and Vannozza dei Cattanei. Her brothers included Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, and Gioffre Borgia.

Lucrezia's family came to epitomize the ruthless Machiavellian politics and sexual corruption alleged to be characteristic of the Renaissance Papacy. Stories depicted Lucrezia as the infamous femme fatale who was portrayed later through artwork, novels and films. For example it was notoriously rumored that Lucrezia possessed a hollow ring that she used frequently to poison drinks at the family's elaborate dinner-parties.

Not enough is known about the historical Lucrezia to be certain whether any of the stories about her active involvement in her father's and brother's crimes are true, although one of her husbands did accuse her of incest with both her father and her brother. Her father and/or brother certainly arranged several marriages for her to important or powerful men in order to advance their own political ambitions and to augment the political and territorial power of the Borgias. Lucrezia was married to Giovanni Sforza (Lord of Pesaro), Alfonso of Aragon (Duke of Bisceglie), and Alphonso d'Este (Prince of Ferrara).

No authentic portrait of Lucrezia is known, though several paintings, such as Bartolomeo Veneziano's fanciful portrait (see illustration) have been said to depict her. Often these images are simply part of Lucrezia's myth.

Biography

File:Lucrezia borgia bartolomeo veneziano.jpg

Portrait of a Woman by Bartolomeo Veneziano, traditionally assumed to be Lucrezia Borgia.

In 1491, at the tender age of thirteen, Lucrezia was betrothed to two different Spanish nobles. However, by 1492, her father had become pope and both engagements had successively been called off.

First marriage

After Rodrigo became Pope Alexander VI, he decided that Lucrezia would marry Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro, to establish an alliance with the powerful Milanese family. The wedding took place in 1493 and was considered a scandalous event by some because of its ostentation. In actuality, it was not much more extravagant than many other Renaissance celebrations.

Before long, it appears that the Borgia family no longer needed the Sforzas, and the presence of Giovanni Sforza in the papal court was considered superfluous. Pope Alexander allied himself with Naples, and while Milan was allied with the French. Both the Pope and the Milanese Sforza family sought out more advantageous political alliances.

After a series of events—including Giovanni fearing for his life, fleeing from Rome, and charging paternal and fraternal incest by Lucrezia—Alexander asked Giovanni's uncle, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, to persuade Giovanni to agree to a divorce. Since the marriage had supposedly not been consummated, the Pope declared that the marriage was not valid. He offered Giovanni all of Lucrezia's dowry to seal the agreement. The Sforza family threatened to withdraw their protection of Giovanni if he refused Alexander's offer. Having no choice, Giovanni Sforza signed both a confession of impotence and the documents of annulment before witnesses in 1497.

The 'Infans Romanus'

File:Aleksandro la 6-a.jpg

Alexander VI, Lucrezia's father

During the prolonged process of the annulment, Lucrezia may have consummated a relationship with someone, either Alexander's messenger Perotto or—more infamously—Alexander himself, her own father. The result was that she was rumored to be pregnant when her marriage was annulled, despite it having never been consummated. That she even gave birth to a child remains a debated question. In any case, a child, named Giovanni but known to historians as the Roman Infante (Infans Romanus), was born in secret (1498) before Lucrezia's second marriage. Some believe that the child was her brother Cesare's, who at the time was a cardinal, but that Perotto, due to his fondness for Lucrezia, reporetedly claimed that it was his. After he divorce, she stayed away from Rome at a convent, lending credence to the idea that she was attempted to hide her pregancy; and Perotto would bring her messages from her father in Rome.

In 1501, two papal bulls were issued concerning Giovanni Borgia. In the first, he was recognized as Cesare's child from an affair before his marriage. The second bull recognized him as the son of Pope Alexander VI. Lucrezia's name is not mentioned in either, and rumours that she was his mother have never been proven. The second bull was kept a secret for many years, and Giovanni was presumed to be Cesare's son. This version is supported by the fact that in 1502, he became Duke of Camerino, one of Cesare's recent conquests (amidst the backdrop of the Italian Wars), hence the natural inheritance of the Duke of Romagna's oldest son. However, some time after Alexander's death, Giovanni went to stay with Lucrezia in Ferrara, where he was accepted as her half-brother.

Alfonso of Aragon

Cesare Borgia

In order to strengthen ties with Naples, Pope Alexander in 1498 arranged a marriage between Lucrezia and the 17-year-old Alfonso, duke of Bisceglie, an illegitimate son of Alfonso II of Naples.

However, after Cesare's alliance with the French king Louis XII (1499) and his subsequent campaign in the Duchy of Romagna, which threatened Naples, Alfonso fled Rome, returning with Lucrezia in October. While visiting Lucrezia's family in July 1500, he was wounded by four would-be assassins on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica. While recovering, he was reportedly strangled by one of Cesare's servants. The murder provoked the desired rupture with Naples.

At around this same time, Alexander VI took the opportunity, with the help of the Orsini (family), to reduce the Colonna to obedience. He did this, in part, by leaving Lucrezia in charge of the Holy See as his representative or regent. This worked to give Lucrezia the air of political stature while Alexander IV concurrently worked to secure Lucrezia's marriage to her next husband, Alfonso, son of Ercole, Duke of Ferrara.

Lucrezia and Alfonso of Aragon had only one child, Rodrigo, who was destined to die before his mother, in August 1512 at the age of 12.

Alphonso d'Este and the Fall of the Borgias

After the murder of Alfonso of Aragon, a third marriage was arranged by her father, Alexander, consolidating her brother Cesare's position in the Romagna by opening the road to Tuscany, an important trade route of the day. Lucrezia was subsequently married to Alphonso d'Este (Prince of Ferrara). She bore her third and final husband six children.

The fall of the power of the Borgias followed with her father's death in 1503 despite her brother Cesare's immense capabilities. Cesare, gravely ill, was planning the conquest of Tuscany, but could do nothing without continued papal patronage. The new pope, Pius III, supported him, but his reign was short and was followed with the accession of the Borgias' deadly enemy, Julius II. While moving to Romagna to quench a revolt, he was seized and imprisoned by Gian Paolo Baglioni near Perugia. All Borgia lands were subsequently acquired by the Papal States. After exile to Spain, in 1504, followed by imprisonment and escape, Cesare joined his brother-in-law, King John III of Navarre, dying in his service at the siege of Viana in 1507.

Meanwhile, Lucrezia, no longer needing to play a major political role at the court of Ferrara—which became a center for the arts and letters of the Italian Renaissance—was able to live a more normal life and turned to religion in her final years. She died on June 24, 1519 at the age of 39, due to complications occurring during the birth of her eighth child.

Children

Tomb of Alfonso I d'Este and Lucrezia Borgia, Ferrara.

Lucrezia was mother to eight children:

• Giovanni Borgia, the "infans Romanus" ("Child of Rome," c. 1498 - 1548). Paternity acknowledged by Perotto; however Alexander and Cesare have also been identified as the father.
• Rodrigo Borgia of Aragon (November 1, 1499 - August, 1512). Son by Alfonso of Aragon.
• Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (April 5, 1508 - October 3, 1559).
• Ippolito II d'Este (August 25, 1509 - December 1, 1572). Archbishop of Milan and later Cardinal.
• Alessandro d'Este (1514 - 1516).
• Leonora d'Este (July 3, 1515 - July 15, 1575). A nun.
• Francesco d'Este, Marchese di Massalombarda (November 1, 1516 - February 2, 1578).
• Isabella Maria d'Este (Born and deceased on June 14, 1519).

Legacy

The various stories surrounding the life of Lucrezia Borgia have made her a virtual icon for corruption and death within the halls of power, particularly, within the Roman Catholic Church. Rumors and exaggeration over time have only added to such. Let it be noted that, it seems, Lucrezia Borgia, in those few final years after the death of her father and in the ensuing years of the nascent Protestant Reformation, found her religion at last. Her legacy is perhaps, therefore, that in all life there is the hope of ultimate (and eternal) redemption if one is but willing to seek it.

Her Story in Film

• Lucrezia Borgia (1922) a silent movie with Liane Haid, directed by Richard Oswald.
• Don Juan (1926), one of the first Vitaphone/Silent films starring John Barrymore features the Borgia as villains.
• Lucrèce Borgia (1935), a French film version with Edwige Feuillère, directed by Abel Gance.
• Lucrezia Borgia (1940), an Italian film with Isa Pola, directed by Hans Hinrich.
• Bride of Vengeance or A Mask for Lucretia (1949) starred Paulette Goddard as Lucretia (and Macdonald Carey as Cesare).
• Lucrèce Borgia (1953), a French movie with Martine Carol, directed by Christian-Jaque.
• Le Notti segrete di Lucrezia Borgia (1982), a Spanish-Italian film with Finnish actress Sirpa Lane as Lucrezia, directed by Roberto Bianchi Montero.
• Los Borgia (2006), a Spanish-Italian film with María Valverde as Lucrezia.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bradford, Sarah. Lucrezia Borgia - Life, Love And Death In Renaissance Italy. Penguin (Non-Classics) (November 1, 2005). ISBN 978-0143035954.
• Cloulas. Ivan. The Borgias. Franklin Watts (March 1989). ISBN 978-0531151013.
• Erlanger, Rachel. Lucrezia Borgia: A Biography. Dutton Adult (June 3, 1985). ISBN 978-0801547256.
• Faunce, John. Lucrezia Borgia: A Novel. Three Rivers Press (March 23, 2004). ISBN 978-1400051229.
• Mallett, Michael Edward. The Borgias: The Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Dynasty. Academy Chicago Publishers (June 1987). ISBN 978-0897332385.

External Links

• On-line biography
• Lucrezia Borgia - An Opera by Gaetano Donizetti - Synopsis
• Lucrezia Borgia An Essay by Marguerite L. M. Wolf.
• Lucrezia Borgia, infamous murderess or political pawn?
• Lucrezia Borgia Biographia - Cronologia (Italian) by Anna Jannello
• Lucrezia Borgia About.com European History
• Lucretia Borgia Reigns in the Vatican in the Absence of Pope Alexander VI Painting by Frank Cadogan Cowper (1908-14)