Lucrezia Borgia

Lucrezia Borgia was born on 18th April, 1480 in Subiaco, a place near the city of Rome. She was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza Cattanei, who was one her father’s mistresses, She grew up with two elder brothers- Cesare and Giovanni.

Lucrezia was a member of the Borgias family which is one of the most well-known families in the history of world renowned for their desire to control the whole of Italy. However, it was also a family known for its notoriety, violence, evilness and corruption.

She was staying with a lady called Adriana de Mila, who was her father’s third cousin by the year 1489 and received her education at ‘Convent of St. Sixtus’, which was located at close proximity.

Lucrezia was fluent in several languages such as Greek French, Italian, Spanish and Latin. She not only spoke all these languages fluently but also wrote them with equal ease. Along with languages, as part of her early education she was also taught painting, embroidery, and music.

Lucrezia was barely eleven years old when her father, Pope Alexander VI and her elder brother, Cesare annulled an existing marriage contract between Lucrezia and her Spanish fiancée.

Her father instead got her married to Giovanni Sforza, the lord of Pesaro who was known for his fierce temper and was twenty seven year old when they exchanged nuptial vows.

When Lucrezia was just seventeen, Giovanni sensed that he was losing favor with his wife’s family and fled to save his life. Alexander annulled his daughter’s marriage to the utter humiliation of Giovanni.

Lucrezia’s second husband was the 17 year old Alfonso of Aragon who was also the son of the late king of Naples. Lucrezia was 6 months pregnant with her first child by the time her first marriage was annulled in the year 1497.

It is said that Lucrezia was madly in love with her second husband but the Alfonso too lost his favor with his wife’s family soon as her brother Cesare wanted to have a political alliance with France and his sister’s marriage was standing in the way. Alfonso was murdered and Duchess of Bisceglie became a widow, at the age of twenty, in 1500.

Though Lucrezia’s individual contribution may not be well known, however her family benefitted immensely in term of achieving their political ambition through her matrimonial alliances to some of the most powerful families during that era.

In the early 16th century, especially after the death of her father, Pope Alexander, Lucrezia was widely acclaimed for being a great patron of arts and she also presided successfully over a flourishing and famed artistic community of her times.

Lucrezia socialized with noted poets, artists, and well-known citizens of the Italian Renaissance court and helped in making Ferrara one of the leading centres for writers and artists under her patronage.