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- The Borgia Bride Jeanne Kalogridis (Goodreads Author)
- Blood & Beauty: The Borgias Sarah Dunant.
- The Family Mario Puzo.
- Poison (The Poisoner Mysteries, #1) Sara Poole (Goodreads Author)
July 5, 2013. On June 29 in the jubilee year of 1500, lightning made a direct hit on Vatican City, striking the roof directly above the corrupt, scheming Spanish-born Pope Alexander VI — better ...
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Who was Lucrezia Borgia?
Oct 21, 2004 · 4,575 ratings247 reviews. The very name Lucrezia Borgia conjures up everything that was sinister and corrupt about the Renaissance—incest, political assassination, papal sexual abuse, poisonous intrigue, unscrupulous power grabs.
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4. Cesare Borgia liked to use prisoners as target practice. Cesare was handsome and a highly capable military leader and administrator, but he was also a ruthless tyrant. At the height of Cesare’s power, one chronicler reported that the bodies of murdered men were fished out of the Tiber in Rome every single day.
- She Was Illegitimate
- She Was only 13 at The Time of Her First Marriage
- Lucrezia’s Annulment Was Tainted with Accusations of Incest
- She Was Extremely Beautiful by The Standards of Her Day
- Her Second Husband Was Murdered – Possibly by Her Own Brother
- She Was Governor of Spoleto
- Rumours Began to Taint The Borgias
- Her Third Marriage Was Considerably More Successful
- Lucrezia Embarked on Passionate Affairs
- But She Was A Model Renaissance Duchess
Born on 18 April 1480, Lucrezia Borgia was the daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo de Borgia (who would later go on to be Pope Alexander VI) and his chief mistress, Vannozza dei Cattanei. Importantly – and unlike some of her half-siblings – Rodrigo acknowledged heras his child. This meant she was permitted an education, and not merely a convent one. Lucre...
Lucrezia’s education and connections meant she would marry well – in a way that was advantageous to both her family and her prospects. At the age of 10, her hand was officially in matrimony for the first time: in 1492, Rodrigo Borgia was made Pope, and he cancelled Lucrezia’s existing engagement in order to create an alliance through marriage with ...
Giovanni Sforza was furious about the annulment – particularly given it was to be on grounds on non-consummation – and accused Lucrezia of paternal incest. Rumours also swirled that Lucrezia was in fact pregnant at the time of the annulment, hence why she retired to a convent for 6 months during the proceedings. The marriage was eventually annulled...
Lucrezia’s allure came not just from her wealthy and powerful family. Contemporaries described her as having long blonde hair, white teeth (not always a given in Renaissance Europe), hazel eyes and a natural grace and elegance.
Lucrezia’s second marriage was short-lived. Her father arranged for her to marry Alfonso d’Aragonawho was Duke of Bisceglie and Prince of Salerno. Whilst the match conferred titles and status on Lucrezia, it also proved to be something of a love match. It quickly became clear that shifting Borgia alliances were making Alfonso uneasy: he fled Rome f...
Unusually for the time, Lucrezia was granted the position of Governor of Spoleto in 1499. The role was usually reserved solely for cardinals, and for Lucrezia as opposed to her husband to be appointed was certainly controversial.
One of the most lasting rumours that has stuck surrounding Lucrezia was her ‘poison ring’. Poison was viewed as a woman’s weapon, and Lucrezia was said to have a ring in which she stored poison. She could open the catch and quickly drop poison into their drink whilst they were turned the other way. There is no evidence for Lucrezia poisoning anyone...
In 1502, Lucrezia was married – for political reasons – again, this time to Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara. The pair produced 8 children, 4 of whom survived until adulthood. Brutal and politically astute, Alfonso was also a great patron of the arts, commissioning work by Titian and Bellini most notably. Lucrezia died in 1519, aged just 39, after g...
Neither Lucrezia nor Alfonso was faithful: Lucrezia embarked on a feverish affair with her brother-in-law, Francesco, Marquess of Mantua – their ardent love letters survive to this day and give a glimpse into their desires. Later, Lucrezia also had a love affair with the poet Pietro Bembo, which appears to have been somewhat more sentimental than h...
Lucrezia and Alfonso’s court was cultured and fashionable – the poet Ariosto described her ‘beauty, virtue, chastity and fortune’, and she won the admiration and respect of the citizens of Ferrara during the excommunication crisis of 1510. After the unexpected death of Rodrigo, the son from her first marriage to Alfonso d’Aragona, she withdrew to a...
- Sarah Roller
Rafael Sabatini. 3.74. 514 ratings37 reviews. Though best known for sweeping historical epics such as Scaramouche and the Captain Blood series, Rafael Sabatini also dabbled in nonfiction from time to time, usually with wonderful results. This biography of Italian aristocrat and clergyman Cesare Borgia is packed with the kind of vivid ...
Sep 30, 2016 · The great-grandson of the infamous Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI), Francis was born on 28 October 1510, the first son and heir of Juan de Borgia, third duke of Gandía and grandee of Spain. Raised in palaces among the elites, he later served at the court of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V from 1528. There he met and married Leonor de Castro, a ...
