LUCREZIA BORGIA: FEMME FATALE OR POLITICAL PAWN?

Was the Borgia beauty a femme fatale or political pawn?

It is difficult to chip away the notorious reputation that surrounds the Borgia daughter to discover the true woman that lived and breathed. Lucrezia Borgia’s association with her family’s debauchery, treachery and brutality has inspired her portrayal in paintings, books and films to the degree that the myth and rumour have almost become fact.

Accounts of Lucrezia at the time describ her as a beautiful young woman with thick golden hair that reached her knees, a slender form, hazel eyes and an ample bosom. As a female of the Borgia house she was fated to be used by her father as a pawn in his political schemes. Rodrigo carefully evaluated every potential spouse for Lucrezia, drawing up marriage contracts and annulling them when a better option came along. She was first married aged just 13 to the 26-year-old widower Giovanni Sforza. Although they celebrated with a lavish feast, Rodrigo deliberately delayed the consummation of the marriage, as he was already fishing for a new spouse for his little girl. Within three years, the pope wanted the marriage over, claiming it was never consummated.

Sforza vehemently denied this claim, but he was eventually pushed to annul the marriage. Throughout the trial he accused Lucrezia of multiple disgraces, most notably incest with Cesare and Rodrigo. Although such accusations were common at the time, the rumours stuck and Lucrezia’s reputation was irrevocably tarnished.

Soon rumours abounded about Lucrezia’s extramarital affairs during the divorce, and a possible love child hidden away in the Borgia palace. Her second union was quickly arranged before the stories could stick. She was married to the young and handsome Alfonso of Aragon, a match she was apparently very pleased with. The marriage was consummated and Lucrezia gave birth to a child. However, the Borgia daughter was not fated to remain happy for long. Her marriage to Alfonso got in the way of her brother’s plans for an alliance with France, and he was promptly dealt with.

Lucrezia was devastated; after being used as a pawn by her brother and father her entire life, she began to stand up for herself. She took charge of her household and wrote coded letters to one of her father’s reported mistresses in Rome. For the first time, Lucrezia was starting to take control of her own destiny, and her father took notice. When he left the Vatican, he placed Lucrezia in charge. Battling against Cesare’s rebellious ambitious tendencies, it is likely that Rodrigo trusted his loyal daughter more than anyone. When Lucrezia married again, it was a match she was happy with; most importantly, it gave her power and took her out of Rome. Before she left to join her husband, she began to carve her own path, playing a role in her dowry negotiations and efriending her father in law. She went on to become a patron for the arts in Ferrara, but died aged 39 giving birth to a stillborn daughter.

TALES OF DEPRAVITY

If Lucrezia lived today, she would be a tabloid favourite.

1. Incest in the house of God

In the midst of annulment proceedings, Lucrezia Borgia has been accused of engaging in cardinal relations with her brother, the infamous warlord Cesare Borgia. Giovanni Sforza has further claimed that the Borgia tart also engages in intercourse with her father the pope. Does this family’s debauchery know no bounds.

2. Femme fatale claims her next victim

Lucrezia Borgia is reportedly killing off her family’s enemies by a far subtler means than her brother’s brutal assassin. The Borgia daughter is said to store poison in a specially designed ring that she then slips into her victims’ drinks.

3. Newest Borgia love child is Lucrezia's

Our sources inform us that the mysterious Infans Romanus, the child that the Borgia family attempted to hide, is in fact Lucrezia’s, and not of her husband. Due to the tart’s string of affairs, the father is a mystery, but could be her murdered lover Perotto Calderon, her brother Cesare, or even the pope himself.

4. Banquet of chestnuts is secret Borgia orgy.

50 prostitutes were seen entering Cesare Borgia’s apartment in the Palazzo Apostolico. It is believed that the women of the night were there to entertain his guests including the pope and Lucrezia Borgia. Prizes were reportedly awarded to those who performed the act the most times with the courtesans.

EXPERT OPINION

Dr Mary Hollingsworth is the author of "The Borgias: History’s Most Notorious Dynasty" (Quercus Editions, 2011). Her other books include "The Cardinal’s Hat" (Prospect Books, 2004) and "Conclave" (Thistle Publishing, 2013). She is currently finishing a book on the history of another notorious papal dynasty, the Medici.

Were the Borgias really as bad as people believe?’

To us, the Borgia name is a byword for brutality and corruption, but, in truth, the family was no more depraved than other famous papal dynasties of the period in the ruthlessness with which they pursued wealth and power.

Renaissance society was notoriously violent and corrupt, and Rome, where everything from a modest administrative post to a cardinal’s hat could be bought for the right price, was a magnet for the greedy and ambitious.

Renaissance popes were rarely elected for their spiritual qualities. They were political leaders in an age when ostentation was the hallmark of prestige and they shamelessly promoted their nephews and children to positions of power and influence in the church and elsewhere. The fact that Rodrigo, Pope Alexander VI, had children was far from unique.

Renaissance cardinals routinely ignored the rule of celibacy – and they all knew that there was a chapel in the basilica of Saint Peter’s that was dedicated to Saint Petronilla, the daughter of the first pope.

Written by Frances White in "All About History", issue 30, 2015, UK, excerpts pp.56-57. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.