Vannozza dei cattanei

Lucrezia de' medici
Lucrezia borgia and cesare borgia relationship
Alfonso of aragon

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Lucrezia Borgia

Spanish-Italian duchess-consort of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio (1480–1519)

This article is about the historical person. For other uses, see Lucrezia Borgia (disambiguation).

Lucrezia Borgia^[a] (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 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 Borgia, may have had him murdered, after his political value waned.

Notorious tales about her family cast Lucrezia as a femme fatale, a controversial role in which she has been latter portrayed in many artworks, novels, and films.

Early life

Description

But the Lucrezia that Maria Bellonci depicts here is a passionate, womanly figure moving uncertainly through the Papal court and through the intrigues, ambitions and political chicanery that swirled about her. Married three times for her family¿s political advantage Lucrezia also entertained, for her own pleasure, a long list of eminent lovers particularly the poet Pietro Bembo. Her father, Pope Alexander VI, emerges as a fiercely devoted parent while the catlike and sinister Cesare Borgia show more is seen as a relentless and unscrupulous power-seeker. Winner of the Viareggio Literary Award and the Galante Prize in Italy upon its first publication in 1953, this celebrated biography is, in the author¿s words, ¿an eternal feminine story swinging between consent and rebellion¿.show less

Recommendations

Member Reviews

You can’t get very deep into a history of the Borgia family without thinking “Mario Puzo should have written this book.” (Apparently Puzo thought so, too, because he was working on a Borgia novel when he died). The Borgias have alway

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The Life and Times of Lucrezia Borgia

"Among the violent personalities of the High Renaissance, Lucrezia Borgia is chiefly remembered as a raven-haired poisoner. But the Lucrezia that Maria Bellonci depicts here is a passionate, womanly figure moving uncertainly through the Papal court and through the intrigues, ambitions and political chicanery that swirled about her." "Married three times for her family's political advantage Lucrezia also entertained, for her own pleasure, a long list of eminent lovers, particularly the poet Pietro Bembo. Her father, Pope Alexander VI, emerges as a fiercely devoted parent while the catlike and sinister Cesare Borgia is seen as a relentless and unscrupulous power-seeker." "Winner of the Viareggio Literary Award and the Galante Prize in Italy upon its first publication in 1953, this celebrated biography is, in the author's words, 'an eternal feminine story swinging between consent and rebellion'." -- Book Jacket.