Lucrezia Borgia (Lucrezia Borgia in Italian), born in Subiaco on the 18 April 1480 and died in Ferrara on June 24, 1519, is the natural daughter of the Valencian cardinal Roderic Borgia (future Pope Alexander VI). She marked her time as protector of the arts and letters.
Natural daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (future Pope Alexander VI) and Vannozza Cattanei, a Roman patrician, Lucretia is Caesar Borgia's sister. She remained famous for her beauty as much as for her supposedly dissolute morals.
She lives first with her mother with her brothers and her many stepfathers. Indeed, his mother, although official favorite of Cardinal Borgia, married four times. Her last husband, Carlo Canale, is a humanist who teaches his wife's children ancient Greek and Latin. As a teenager, the young girl moved into her father's palace, who pretended to be her uncle and only revealed the truth to her later. Borgia then lives with his new mistress, Giulia Farnese (married to the unpleasant Orsino Orsini, the son of Adriana de Mila, cousin of the cardinal). She is the new mother to Lucretius. The young girl is indeed brought up like a real princess and her education is neat. Lucretius would have been the great friend of Giulia Farnese, if that word could mean anything in the political sphere and the nest of intrigues in which she lived.
Even if her father and her brother, the ambitious César Borgia, love her dearly, Lucrezia is a political tool in their eyes, like all the women of her time and her rank. She did not begin to live the quiet existence to which she aspired until after her third marriage:
1493 :first marriage, with Giovanni Sforza, annulled in 1497 by her father the pope for diplomatic reasons (change of alliance). Officially, the cancellation is due to the non-consummation of the union. Sforza, vexed and humiliated (he had to declare in front of witnesses that he was impotent, which is false, because he had many illegitimate children), is the first to spread the rumor of incestuous relations between Lucrezia Borgia, his father and his brother. Lucrece does not like this husband, ten years older than her, and even less life in Pesaro. She quickly misses Rome.
1498 :second marriage, with Alphonse of Aragon, assassinated in 1500 by Michelotto Corella, henchman of his brother César Borgia. The couple having had a son, the cancellation for non-consumption was no longer possible. According to the novelist Mario Puzo, this brief marriage satisfied Lucrezia. Alphonse is young, attractive, cultured and caring. Still according to the author, she therefore bears her assassination very badly and falls out with her brother César. She is nevertheless forced by the pope her father to remarry quickly.
1501 :third marriage, with Alfonso I d'Este, future Duke of Ferrara (in 1505). The terms of the marriage were negotiated very bitterly by both parties. Alfonso's father, Duke Hercules I, viewed the Borgias as upstarts and Lucretius as depraved. It was also very difficult for her to see her heir marry a bastard. Even if bastards were legion in Italy at the time and if it was quite common for cardinals and popes to have children, whom they married according to their political interests at the time (as Innocent VIII did) , bastardy remains a defect. Hercules therefore demands a fabulous dowry, which the pope is reluctant to do, because of his perpetual cash flow problems.
In Ferrara, she became protector of the arts. Ariosto and Pietro Bembo celebrate it. Her political role is quite limited, especially since the fall of the Borgia clan upon the death of the pope in 1503. Nevertheless, she served as governor of Spoleto during her father's lifetime.
She died at the age of 39 from sepsis following the birth of a daughter, who also did not survive.
Descent
From 2nd marriage:
Rodrigo of Aragon (of Bisceglie) (1499-1512)
From 3rd marriage:
Alessandro d'Este (* August 19, 1505, † October 1505)
a stillborn daughter on September 5, 1507[ref. necessary]
Hercule II d'Este (1508-1559), Duke in 1534, 1528 Renée de France (1510-1575), daughter of King Louis XII of France
Hippolyte d'Este (1509-1572), cardinal of Ferrara in 1538
Alessandro d'Este (* April 1514, † July 10, 1516)[ref. necessary]
Éléonore d'Este (born July 3, 1515, † July 15, 1575), nun
Francesco d'Este (it) (* November 1, 1516 , † February 22, 1578), Prince of Massa, 1540 Maria di Cardona († 1563)
Isabella Maria d'Este (it) (* June 14, 1519, † 1521)
The myth of Lucrezia Borgia and its influence on the arts
From the 20th century, numerous biographies question the accusations of immorality made against Lucrezia Borgia (some) lent her a son born of her incestuous love with her brother César, a few bastards, an activity as a poisoner, etc.) and present the character as the victim of a rather cruel era for women. Lucrezia Borgia's reputation suffered from the actions of those close to her, but today historians agree that she is innocent of the many crimes and misdeeds that have been attributed to her.
Lucrezia Borgia by Le Pinturicchio, 1492-1494.
The mythical character of Lucrezia Borgia has inspired many authors and artists.