Monday, May 20, 2013

Lucrezia Borgia

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Lucrezia Borgia
Lady of Pesaro and Gradara
Duchess of Bisceglie and Princess of Salerno
Duchess of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio
Lucretia Borgia Pinturicchio.jpg
Lucrecia as St. Catherine of Alexandria in a fresco by Pinturicchio, in the Sala dei Santi the Borgia apartments in the Vatican c. 1494.
Spouse(s)Giovanni Sforza
Alfonso of Aragon
Alfonso d'Este
Issue
Rodrigo 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 familyHouse of Borgia
FatherPope Alexander VI
MotherVannozza dei Cattanei
Born(1480-04-18)18 April 1480
Subiaco, Italy
Died24 June 1519(1519-06-24) (aged 39)
Ferrara
“Lucretia de Borgia” in a letter to his sister Isabella Gonzaga (March 1519)
Lucrezia Borgia (Italian pronunciation: [luˈkrɛtsja ˈbɔrdʒa]; Catalan: Lucrècia; Catalan pronunciation: [luˈkrɛsiə]; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI, and Vannozza dei Cattanei. Her brothers included Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, and Gioffre Borgia.
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.

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Early life [edit]

See also: House of Borgia
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.

Appearance [edit]

Portrait of a Woman by Bartolomeo Veneto, traditionally assumed to be Lucrezia Borgia.
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";[1] 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".[2]
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.[3][4][5][6][7] This painting may be the only surviving formal portrait of Lucrezia Borgia; however, doubts have been cast on that claim.[8] 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 [edit]

First marriage: Giovanni Sforza [edit]

On 26 February 1491, a matrimonial arrangement was drawn up between Lucrezia and the Lord of Val D'Ayora in the kingdom of Valencia, Don Cherubino Joan 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.[9] 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.[10] Giovanni was an illegitimate son of Costanzo I Sforza and a Sforza of the second rank. He married Lucrezia on 12 June 1493 in Rome.
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.
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 [edit]

There has been speculation that during the prolonged process of the annulment, Lucrezia consummated a relationship with someone, perhaps Alexander's chamberlain Pedro Calderon, also named Perotto.[11] In any case, families hostile to the Borgia would later accuse her of being 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 Pedro Calderon,[11] and a maid, Pantasilea, were found in the Tiber. In March 1498, the Ferrarese ambassador claimed that Lucrezia had given birth, but this was denied by other sources. However, a child was born in the Borgia household the year before Lucrezia's marriage to Alfonso of Aragon. He was named Giovanni but is known to historians as the Infans Romanus.
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 proved. 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. After Alexander's death, Giovanni went to stay with Lucrezia in Ferrara, where he was accepted as her half-brother.
Tomb of Alfonso I d'Este and Lucrezia Borgia, Ferrara

Second marriage: Alfonso d'Aragon (Duke of Bisceglie) [edit]

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 one child, Rodrigo of Aragon, who predeceased his mother in August 1512 at the age of 12.

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

After the death of her second husband, Lucrezia's father, Pope Alexander VI, arranged 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 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, having had a lifelong history of complicated pregnancies and miscarriages. 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 [edit]

Lucrezia was mother to seven or eight known children:
  • Giovanni Borgia, "infans Romanus" ("Child of Rome", c. 1498–1548). The child's paternity was acknowledged by both Alexander and Cesare in two separate Papal bulls, but it was rumoured that he was the child of Lucrezia and Perotto. The child (identified in later life as Lucrezia's half-brother) was most likely the result of a liaison between Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI, Lucrezia's father) and an unknown mistress and was not Lucrezia's child.[22]
  • Rodrigo of Aragon (1 November 1499 – August 1512). Son by Alfonso of Aragon.
  • Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (5 April 1508 – 3 October 1559).
  • Ippolito II d'Este (25 August 1509 – 1 December 1572). Archbishop of Milan and later Cardinal.
  • Alessandro d'Este (1514–1516).
  • Leonora d'Este (3 July 1515 – 15 July 1575). A nun.
  • Francesco d'Este, Marquess of Massalombarda (1 November 1516 – 2 February 1578).
  • Isabella Maria d'Este (born and died on 14 June 1519). Complications at birth caused the death of Lucrezia ten days later.
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 Portugal, Austria, Bavaria, Brazil, Parma, Saxony and the Two Sicilies.

Rumours [edit]

Possible portrait of Lucrezia Borgia assumed to be by Dosso Dossi[24][25]
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.
  • It is rumoured that Lucrezia was in possession of a hollow ring that she used frequently to poison drinks.[26][27]
  • An early 20th century painting by Frank Cadogan Cowper that hangs in the London art gallery, Tate Britain, portrays Lucrezia taking the place of her father, Pope Alexander VI, at an official Vatican meeting. This apparently documents an actual event, although the precise moment depicted (a Franciscan friar kissing Lucrezia's feet) was invented by the artist.[28]

Biographies [edit]

  • Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love And Death In Renaissance Italy by Sarah Bradford; Viking 2004; ISBN 0-670-03353-7
  • Lucrezia Borgia: A Biography by Rachel Erlanger; 1978; ISBN 0-8015-4725-3
  • Lucrezia Borgia by Maria Bellonci; Phoenix 2002; ISBN 978-1-84212-616-5
  • The Borgias (1971) by Michael Mallett
  • Lucretia Borgia (187?) by Ferdinand Gregorovius (Author); translated in 1903 by John Leslie Garner (Translator)
  • The Borgias by Christopher Hibbert; Constable 2011; ISBN 978-1-84901-994-1

Treatments and references [edit]

Literature and opera [edit]

  • Victor Hugo's 1833 stage play Lucrèce Borgia, loosely based on the stories of Lucrezia, was transformed into a libretto by Felice Romani for Donizetti's opera, Lucrezia Borgia (1834), first performed at La Scala, Milan, 26 December 1834.
  • F. M. Klinger´s 1791 novel Fausts Leben, Thaten und Höllenfahrt features an episode in which the Borgias figure, including an affair between Faust and Lucrezia.
  • Rafael Sabatini wrote the 1912 non-fiction book, The Life of Cesare Borgia,[29] that attempts to treat the Borgias historically.
  • The 1947 historical novel Prince of Foxes by Samuel Shellabarger describes the adventures of the fictional Andrea Orsini, a captain in the service of Cesare Borgia, during his conquest of the Romagna; it was made into a film of the same name in 1949, starring Orson Welles and Tyrone Power.
  • Jean Plaidy's two 1958 novels, Madonna of the Seven Hills and Light On Lucrezia follow the story of Lucrezia and her entanglement with her father and brothers.

Other [edit]

  • Lucrezia is the subject of Abel Gance's film Lucrèce Borgia (1935) and in a French film of the same name in 1953, played by Martine Carol.
  • In the video game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Lucrezia acts as an antagonist along with Cesare and Rodrigo. In the game the incestuous relationship between Cesare and Lucrezia is depicted openly.
  • In the pilot of the science-fiction television series Warehouse 13 Lucrezia's bejeweled comb is featured as an artifact.
  • Lucrezia Borgia is frequently referenced in Dark Shadows as one of the most vile women of history, particularly in the year 1968 of the series.
  • Is mentioned in American sitcom, Three's Company Season 2, Episode 3 by the character Krissy Snow, in reference to poisoning her boss.
  • The 1988 song Lucretia My Reflection by the English goth rock band The Sisters of Mercy off their Floodland album was written by band vocalist Andrew Eldritch for fellow band mate Patricia Morrison, in which he speaks "she always strikes me as a Lucretia [Borgia]-type person". The lyrics of the song refers to the fall of empire (quite possibly referring to the Papal empire), war (quite likely referencing and objectifying religious politics of the time, and intimidation threats and assassination methods utilized by her mafio-esque family) and the consequent destruction of other aspects of life (possibly in reference to the aftershocks involving the personal antics of the Borgias, their political intrigue and ecclesiastical perversions she, Cesare and Rodrigo thrust upon the Roman populace).

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ George R. Marek The Bed and the Throne: the Life of Isabella d'Este, Harper & Row, 1976, ISBN 978-0-06-012810-4 p. 142
  2. ^ The Times Arts section page 14, 31 January 2011
  3. ^ NGV's Renaissance mystery woman revealed, The Age, 25 November 2008, retrieved on 25 November 2008.
  4. ^ Only known painting of Lucrezia Borgia discovered in Australian gallery The Times, London, 25 November 2008
  5. ^ Infamous Renaissance woman subject of mystery portrait – Australian Broadcasting Corporation 26 November 2008, retrieved on 26 November 2008.
  6. ^ Gallery unveils portrait of infamy, The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 November 2008, retrieved on 26 November 2008.
  7. ^ Portrait of Renaissance femme fatale Lucrezia Borgia found at NGV, The Age, 26 November 2008, retrieved on 26 November 2008.
  8. ^ Art detective says the brother did it, The Age, 27 November 2008
  9. ^ Bellonci, Maria (2000). Lucrezia Borgia. London: Phoenix Press. p. 18. ISBN 1-84212-616-4. 
  10. ^ Bellonci, Maria (2000). Lucrezia Borgia. London: Phoenix Press. p. 23. ISBN 1-84212-616-4. 
  11. ^ a b Thurmel, Joseph (1923). Le Journal de Jean Burchard, Évêque et Cérémoniaire au Vatican. Paris: Les Éditions Reider. p. 328. 
  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. 
  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 1-85043-421-2.
  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. 
  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 [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lucrezia Borgia
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
Renée of France
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