Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto.
Her family arranged several marriages for her that advanced their own political position, including to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro and Gradara, Count of Cotignola; Alfonso of Aragon, Duke of Bisceglie and Prince of Salerno; and Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. Alfonso of Aragon was an illegitimate son of the King of Naples, and tradition has it that Lucrezia's brother Cesare may have had him murdered after his political value waned.
Notorious tales about her family have cast Lucrezia as a femme fatale, a controversial role in which she has been portrayed in many artworks, novels, and films.
Lucrezia Borgia was born on 18 April 1480 at Subiaco, a town near Rome. Her mother was Vannozza dei Cattanei, a mistress of her father, Cardinal Rodrigo de Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI). She had three full siblings: Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, and Gioffre Borgia, although Gioffre's paternity was later contested. Lucrezia's father acknowledged her as his child, and consulted an astrologer after her birth, who foretold a remarkable future. During her early life, Lucrezia's education was entrusted to Carlo Canale and then to Adriana Orsini de Milan. Orsini was a confidant of Lucrezia's father and was his first cousin.
Lucrezia's education primarily took place in the Palazzo Pizzo de Merlo, a building adjacent to her father's residence. Unlike most educated women of her time, for whom convents were the primary source of knowledge, Lucrezia's humanist education came from the sphere of intellectuals in the court and close relatives, and included a solid grounding in the Humanities, which the Catholic Church was reviving at the time. She was fluent in Spanish, Valenciano, Italian, and French and literate in both Latin and Greek. She also became proficient in poetry and oration, and could play the lute and zither, embroider and dance. The biggest testament to her intelligence is her ability in administration, as later on in life she took care of Vatican City correspondence and governance of Ferrara.
First marriage: Giovanni Sforza (Lord of Pesaro and Gradara)
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 (d. 1522). The arrangement was annulled less than two months later in favour of a new contract engaging Lucrezia to Don Gaspare, Count of Aversa (1476–1534).
When Lucrezia's father Rodrigo became Pope Alexander VI in August 1492, he sought to be allied with powerful, princely families and founding dynasties of Italy. Therefore, he called off Lucrezia's previous engagements. Cardinal Ascanio Sforza said: "There are many who long to marry into the Pope's family via his daughter, and he lets many think they have a chance. Even the king of Naples aspires to win her hand!"
The Pope arranged for Lucrezia to marry condottiero Giovanni Sforza, a member of the House of Sforza who was the Lord of Pesaro and titled Count of Catignola. Giovanni was the nephew of the Duke of Milan as an illegitimate son of Costanzo I Sforza. He was a Sforza of the second rank and belonged to a cadet branch of the family. They married by proxy on 12 June 1493 in Rome, when Lucrezia was aged 13. She was outfitted in brocade and jewels for the wedding ceremony.
On 31 May 1494, Lucrezia departed from Rome with a retinue of ladies and gentlemen and accompanied by Giulia Farnese and Adriana Mila. She moved to her husband's palace in Pesaro, where local poets celebrated her with their madrigals, she negotiated the marriage of one of her Spanish ladies-in-waiting, and she exchanged visits with the highly literate court of the Dukes of Urbino.
Before long, the Borgia family no longer needed the Sforzas, and the Pope may have covertly ordered the execution of Giovanni Sforza. Lucrezia was likely informed of this by her brother, Cesare, and she warned her husband, who then fled from Rome.
Alexander asked Giovanni's uncle, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, to persuade Giovanni to agree to an annulment of the marriage. Giovanni refused and accused Lucrezia of paternal incest, spreading the rumour that the pope wanted his daughter to return to Rome so that he could have sex with her. This rumour endured through the centuries, partly due to the writings of Florentine historian Francesco Guicciardini and verses by Giovanni Pontano and Jacopo Sannazaro, and Lucrezia's reputation was tainted. The pope, however, 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 finally signed confessions of impotence and documents of annulment before witnesses, despite how his first wife had died in childbirth.
Purported affair with Pedro Calderon
Historians have speculated that during the prolonged process of the annulment, Lucrezia consummated a relationship with someone, perhaps Alexander's chamberlain Pedro Calderon (sometimes called Perotto). In any case, families hostile to the Borgias would later accuse her of being pregnant at the time her marriage was annulled. She is known to have retired to the cloistered Convent of Saint Sixtus Vecchio in Rome where she was given sanctuary by the Mother Superior in June 1497, to await the outcome of the annulment proceedings, which were finalized in December of the same year. In the convent, in mid-June, she received news of the murder of her brother Giovanni, whose killer was never officially discovered.
The bodies of Pedro Calderon and a maid, Pantasilea, were found in the Tiber river in February 1498. 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” (Child of Rome).
In 1501, two papal bulls were issued concerning 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 he became Duke of Camerino in 1502, which was to be inherited by 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.
Second marriage: Alfonso d'Aragon (Duke of Bisceglie and Prince of Salerno)
Despite the scandal of the annulment of her marriage to Giovanni Sforza, Lucrezia was married for a second time to the Neapolitan Alfonso of Aragon, Duke of Bisceglie and Prince of Salerno of the House of Trastámara. He was the illegitimate son of Alfonso II King of Naples and his mistress Trogia Gazzella. Alfonso was also the half-brother of Sancha of Aragon, Princess of Squillace and wife of Lucrezia's younger brother Gioffre Borgia.