Lucrezia Borgia

Lucrezia Borgia [luˈkrɛtːsi̯a ˈbɔrdʒa] (Latin Lucretia Borgia; Spanish/cat. Lucrecia Borja; * 18 April 1480 in Rome or Subiaco; † 24 June 1519 in Belriguardo near Ferrara) was an Italian-Spanish Renaissance princess and the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI with his mistress Vanozza de' Cattanei. She was the sister of Cesare, Juan and Jofré Borgia.

Described by contemporaries as pretty and fun-loving, Lucrezia became the beneficiary, but above all the instrument, of her father's policies after the rise of her notorious family.

Alexander VI, who loved her dearly, gave her the reins of government in the Vatican several times during his absence. He married her off three times in politically motivated marriages to consolidate the Borgia power. Lucrezia's first marriage, to Giovanni Sforza, was dissolved when she lost her usefulness to the Borgia family; her second husband, Alfonso of Aragon (1481-1500), Duke of Bisceglie, was murdered, presumably on the orders of her brother Cesare. In her third marriage she finally married Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, to whom she remained married until her death and had several children.

Lucrezia survived the death of her father and the fall of her brother Cesare and the Borgia family in Italy unscathed; she died, highly honored, as Duchess of Ferrara.

The Borgia family still embodies the greed for power and moral corruption of the Renaissance papacy like no other, and Lucrezia Borgia retained a reputation for centuries as a wicked poisoner, adulteress and incestuous with her father as well as her brother Cesare. These accusations originated in the rumors and slanders of her own time and were later echoed and amplified by famous authors such as Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas in their works. It is only modern historical research that views Lucrezia Borgia in a different light and rejects these charges.

Origin

Lucrezia Borgia was born on 18 April 1480, the third of four children of the Spanish cardinal and vice-chancellor of the Church, Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope Alexander VI, and his long-time Italian mistress Vanozza de' Cattanei. She was probably born in Subiaco, one of her father's fortresses outside Rome, because her father initially wanted to keep the existence of his illegitimate family secret out of consideration for his church career. Illegitimate children were common among clerics of the time, but were usually passed off as nephews and nieces. Rodrigo Borgia therefore caused a scandal after his election as pope when he openly confessed to his children, who thus became known throughout Europe. Especially Lucrezia and her brother Cesare gained a notorious reputation that lasts until today.

Entrepreneurial activity

In northern Italy, Lucrezia acquired seemingly worthless marshland, had it drained with the help of drainage ditches and canals, and then used it as pasture or cultivation land for grain, beans, olives, flax, and wine. Within six years she bought up to 20,000 hectares of land in northern Italy and made great profits.