Lucrezia Borgia

Lucrezia Borgia.
Lady of Pesaro and Gradara
Duchess of Bisceglie and Princess of Salerno
Duchess of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio
Portrait of a Woman by Bartolomeo Veneto, traditionally assumed to be Lucrezia Borgia
Spouse(s) Giovanni Sforza
Alfonso of Aragon
Alfonso d'Este
Issue
Rodrigo Borgia of Aragon
Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara
Ippolito II d'Este
Alessandro d'Este
Leonora d'Este
Francesco d'Este, Marchese di Massalombarda
Isabella Maria d'Este
Noble family House of Borgia
Father Rodrigo Borgia
Mother Vannozza dei Cattanei
Born 18 April 1480(1480-04-18)
Subiaco, Italy
Died 24 June 1519(1519-06-24) (aged 39)
Ferrara

Lucrezia Borgia [luˈkrɛtsia ˈbɔrʤa] (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was the illegitimate 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. It is often suggested that Cesare and Lucrezia may have had an incestuous relationship.[1]

Lucrezia's family later came to epitomize the ruthless Machiavellian politics and sexual corruption alleged to be characteristic of the Renaissance Papacy. Lucrezia was cast as a femme fatale, a role she has been portrayed as in many artworks, novels, and films.

Very little is known of Lucrezia, and the extent of her complicity in the political machinations of her father and brothers is unclear. They certainly arranged several marriages for her to important or powerful men in order to advance their own political ambitions. Lucrezia was married to Giovanni Sforza (Lord of Pesaro), Alfonso of Aragon (Duke of Bisceglie), and Alfonso I d'Este (Duke of Ferrara). Tradition has it that Alfonso of Aragon was an illegitimate son of the King of Naples and that her brother Cesare may have had him murdered after his political value waned.

Contents

Early life

Lucrezia Borgia was born at Subiaco, near Rome. Her mother was Vannozza dei Cattanei, one of the many mistresses of Lucrezia's father Rodrigo Borgia, who is better known as Pope Alexander VI. Lucrezia spoke and wrote five languages: Italian, Valencian (a variety of the Catalan language), French, Latin, and Greek.

Appearance

She is described as having heavy blonde hair which fell past her knees, a beautiful complexion, hazel eyes which changed colour, a full, high bosom, and a natural grace which made her appear to "walk on air";[2] these were the physical attributes that were highly appreciated in Italy during that period. Another description said that "her mouth is rather large, the teeth brilliantly white, her neck is slender and fair, and the bust is admirably proportioned".[3]

One painting, Portrait of a Youth by Dosso Dossi at the National Gallery of Victoria, was identified as a portrait of Lucrezia in November 2008.[4][5][6][7][8] This painting may be the only surviving formal portrait of Lucrezia Borgia; however, doubts have been cast on that claim.[9] Several other paintings, such as Veneto's fanciful portrait, have also been said to depict her but none has been accepted by scholars at present.

Marriages

First marriage: Giovanni Sforza

On February 26, 1491, a matrimonial arrangement was drawn up between Lucrezia and the Lord of Val D'Ayora in the kingdom of Valencia, Don Cherubino Juan de Centelles, which was annulled less than two months later in favour of a new contract engaging Lucrezia to Don Gaspare Aversa, count of Procida.[10] When Rodrigo became Pope Alexander VI he sought to be allied with powerful princely families and founding dynasties of Italy. As such, he called off Lucrezia's previous engagements and arranged for her to marry Giovanni Sforza, a member of the house of Sforza who was Lord of Pesaro and titled Count of Catignola.[11] Giovanni was an illegitimate son of Costanzo I Sforza and a Sforza of the second rank. He married Lucrezia on June 12, 1493 in Rome. The wedding was a scandalous event, but was not much more extravagant than many other Renaissance celebrations.

Before long, the Borgia family no longer needed the Sforzas, and the presence of Giovanni Sforza in the papal court was superfluous. The Pope needed new, more advantageous political alliances, so he may have covertly ordered the execution of Giovanni. The generally accepted version is that Lucrezia was informed of this by her brother Cesare, and she warned her husband, who fled Rome.

It is possible that Pope Alexander VI never made such an order, and it was a plot on the part of Cesare and Lucrezia to drive her husband away. Regardless, Alexander and Cesare were said to be pleased with the chance to arrange another advantageous marriage for Lucrezia.

Alexander asked Giovanni's uncle, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, to persuade Giovanni to agree to a divorce. Giovanni refused and accused Lucrezia of paternal and fraternal incest. The pope asserted that his daughter's marriage had not been consummated and was thus invalid. Giovanni was offered her dowry in return for his cooperation. The Sforza family threatened to withdraw their protection should he refuse. Giovanni signed confessions of impotence finally and documents of annulment before witnesses.

Affair with Perotto

There has been speculation that during the prolonged process of the annulment, Lucrezia consummated a relationship with someone, perhaps Alexander's messenger Perotto. In any case, she is said to have been pregnant at the time her marriage was annulled for non-consummation. In June 1497, she is known to have retired to the convent of San Sisto to await the outcome of the divorce which was finalized in December of that year. In February 1498, the bodies of a servant, Pedro Calderon, and a maid, Pantasilea, were found in the Tiber. In March 1498 the Ferrarese ambassador reported that Lucrezia had given birth. Although this was denied, a child was born in that year before Lucrezia's marriage to Alfonso of Aragon. He was named Giovanni but known to historians as the Roman Infante.

In 1501, two papal bulls were issued concerning the child, Giovanni Borgia. In the first, he was recognized as Cesare's child from an affair before his marriage. The second, contradictory, bull recognized him as the son of Pope Alexander VI. Lucrezia's name is not mentioned in either, and rumors that she was his mother have never been proven. The second bull was kept secret for many years, and Giovanni was assumed to be Cesare's son. This is supported by the fact that in 1502, he became Duke of Camerino, one of Cesare's recent conquests, 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.

Second marriage: Alfonso of Aragon (Duke of Bisceglie)

Following her divorce from Sforza, Lucrezia was married to the Neapolitan Alfonso of Aragon, the half-brother of Sancha of Aragon who was the wife of Lucrezia's brother Gioffre Borgia. The marriage was a short one, lasting from 1498 until Alfonso's murder in 1500. It is widely rumored that Lucrezia's brother Cesare was responsible for Alfonso's death, as he had recently allied himself (through marriage) with France against Naples. Lucrezia and Alfonso had only one child, Rodrigo, who predeceased his mother in August 1512 at the age of 12.

Third marriage: Alfonso d'Este (Duke of Ferrara)

After the death of her second husband, Lucrezia's father, Pope Alexander VI, wanted to arrange a third marriage. She then married Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara in early 1502 in Ferrara. She gave her third husband a number of children and proved to be a respectable and accomplished Renaissance duchess, effectively rising above her previous reputation and surviving the fall of the Borgias following her father's death.

Neither partner was faithful: beginning in 1503, Lucrezia enjoyed a long relationship with her brother-in-law, Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua[12][13] as well as a love affair with the poet Pietro Bembo. Francesco's wife was the cultured intellectual Isabella d'Este, the sister of Alfonso, to whom Lucrezia had made overtures of friendship to no avail. The affair between Francesco and Lucrezia was passionate, more sexual than sentimental as can be attested in the fevered love letters the pair wrote one another.[14] The affair ended when Francesco contracted syphilis and had to perforce end sexual relations with Lucrezia.[15]

Lucrezia met the famed French soldier, the Chevalier Bayard while the latter was co-commanding the French allied garrison of Ferrara in 1510. According to his biographer, the Chevalier became a great admirer of Lucrezia's, considering her a "pearl among women". How much she returned his admiration is unknown.

Lucrezia Borgia died in Ferrara on 24 June 1519 from complications after giving birth to her eighth child. She was buried in the convent of Corpus Domini.[16]

On 15 October 1816, the Romantic poet Lord Byron visited the Ambrosian Library of Milan. He was delighted by the letters between Borgia and Bembo ("The prettiest love letters in the world"[17][18]) and claimed to have managed to steal a lock of her hair ("the prettiest and fairest imaginable."[18]) held on display.[19][20][21]

Issue

Lucrezia was mother to seven or eight known children:

At least one biographer (Maria Bellonci) claims that Lucrezia gave birth to three more children, one by Alfonso of Aragon and two by Alfonso d'Este, who did not survive infancy. She is also thought to have had at least four miscarriages.

Lucrezia is claimed to be the ancestress of many notable people, including American Civil War general P.G.T. Beauregard.[23] She is a collateral relative of most of the royal families of modern Europe including that of the United Kingdom.Through her granddaughter Anna d'Este, Duchess of Guise and later Duchess of Nemours Lucrezia is the ancestress of Juan Carlos I of Spain, Albert II of Belgium, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, as well as the Count of Paris and the claimants to the Thrones of the Bavaria, Brazil, Parma, Saxony and the Two Sicilies.

Rumours

Several rumours have persisted throughout the years, primarily speculating as to the nature of the extravagant parties thrown by the Borgia family. Many of these concern allegations of incest, poisoning, and murder on her part; however, no historical basis for these rumours has ever been brought forward, beyond allegations made by the rivals of the Borgias.

Biographies

Treatments and references

Literature and opera

TV

Video Games

Films

2006 Los Borgia (played by Maria Valverde)

1990 Lucrezia Borgia (played by Lucia Prato)

1982 Le notti segrete di Lucrezia Borgia (played by Sirpa lane)

1974 Lucrezia giovane (played by Simonetta Stefanelli)

1974 Contes Immoraux (played by Florence Bellamy)

1968 Lucrezia Borgia, l'amante del diavolo (played by Olga Schoberova)

1966 L'uomo che ride (played by Lisa Gastoni)

1966 Le piacevoli notti (Maria Grazia Buccella)

1963 Il duce nero (played by Gloria Osuna)

1960 Not Tonight Henry (played by Brandy Long)

1960 Le Notti di Lucrezia Borgia (played by Belinda Lee)

1959 Caterina Sforza, la lionessa di Romagna (played by Caprice Chantal)

1953 Lucrece Borgia (played by Martine Carol)

1949 Bride of Vengeance (played by Paulette Goddard)

1942 Passing Parade No. 29: We Do It Because - (played by Ava Gardner)

1940 Lucrezia Borgia (played by Isa Pola)

1935 Lucrece Borgia (played by Edwige Feuilliere)

1926 Don Juan (played by Estelle Taylor)

1923 Lucrezia Borgia; or, Plaything of Power (played by Nina Vanna)

1923 Bride of Vengeance (played by Liane Haid)

1922 Lucrezia Borgia (played by Liane Haid)

1920 Satanas (played by Else Berna)

1917 The Eternal Sin (played by Florence Reed)

1912 Lucrezia Borgia (played by Francesca Bertini)

1910 Lucrezia Borgia (played by Vittoria Lepanto)

1910 Lucrezia Borgia (played by Francesca Bertini)

See also

References

  1. ^ The Borgias by Ivan Cloulas, p. 52
  2. ^ George R. Marek The Bed and the Throne: the Life of Isabella d'Este, Harper & Row, 1976, ISBN 978-0060128104 p. 142
  3. ^ The Times Arts section page 14, 31 Jan 2011
  4. ^ NGV's Renaissance mystery woman revealed, The Age, 25 November 2008, retrieved on 25 November 2008.
  5. ^ Only known painting of Lucrezia Borgia discovered in Australian gallery The Times, London, 25 November 2008
  6. ^ Infamous Renaissance woman subject of mystery portrait – Australian Broadcasting Corporation 26 November 2008, retrieved on 26 November 2008.
  7. ^ Gallery unveils portrait of infamy, The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 November 2008, retrieved on 26 November 2008.
  8. ^ Portrait of Renaissance femme fatale Lucrezia Borgia found at NGV, The Age, 26 November 2008, retrieved on 26 November 2008.
  9. ^ Art detective says the brother did it, The Age, 27 November 2008
  10. ^ Bellonci, Maria (2000). Lucrezia Borgia. London: Phoenix Press. pp. 18. ISBN 1842126164. 
  11. ^ Bellonci, Maria (2000). Lucrezia Borgia. London: Phoenix Press. pp. 23. ISBN 1842126164. 
  12. ^ Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy, Sarah Bradford, Viking, 2004
  13. ^ Observer review of Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy
  14. ^ Marek, pp.166-67
  15. ^ Marek (1976) p. 169
  16. ^ "Ferrara 2002 Anno di Lucrezia Borgia". Comune di Ferrara. http://www.comune.fe.it/lucrezia/index_ing.htm. 
  17. ^ Viragos on the march, The Spectator, 25 June 2005, by Ian Thomson, a review of Viragos on the march by Gaia Servadio. I. B. Tauris, ISBN 1850434212.
  18. ^ a b Pietro Bembo: A Renaissance Courtier Who Had His Cake and Ate It Too, Ed Quattrocchi, Caxtonian: Journal of the Caxton Club of Chicago, Volume XIII, No. 10, October 2005.
  19. ^ The Byron Chronology: 1816–1819 – Separation and Exile on the Continent.
  20. ^ Byron by John Nichol.
  21. ^ Letter to Augusta Leigh, Milan, 15 October 1816. Lord Byron's Letters and Journals, Chapter 5: Separation and Exile.
  22. ^ sarah Bradford: Lucrezia Borgia, Penguin Group, 2004, p. 68 and 114
  23. ^ Frances P. Keyes, Madame Castel's Lodger, pp. 40–41.
  24. ^ "NGV's Renaissance mystery woman revealed". Brisbane Times. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/ngvs-renaissance-mystery-woman-revealed/2008/11/25/1227491534785.html. 
  25. ^ Maike Vogt-Luerssen: Lucrezia Borgia – The Life of a Pope's Daughter in the Renaissance, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4537-2740-9, pp. 90–91.
  26. ^ Lucretia Borgia | guardian.co.uk:Philip Pank (5 February 2002).
  27. ^ BBC – h2g2 – A Brief History of Poisoning, 28 July 2005.
  28. ^ Tate Collection | Lucretia Borgia Reigns in the Vatican in the Absence of Pope Alexander VI: Frank Cadogan Cowper 1877–1958
  29. ^

External links

Lucrezia Borgia
Born: 18 April 1480 Died: 24 June 1519
Royal titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Maddalena Gonzaga		 Lady of Pesaro and Gradara
12 June 1492 – 20 December 1497		 Vacant
Title next held by
Ginevra Tiepolo
Vacant
Title last held by
Eleanor of Naples		 Duchess consort of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio
15 June 1505 – 24 June 1519		 Vacant
Title next held by
Laura Eustachia Dianti