Duchess of Ferrara, patron of poets, musicians, and the Venetian publisher Aldo Manuzio (Aldus Manutius)
Lucrezia Borgia, noblewoman and controversial figure of the Italian Renaissance, was born in Rome, the natural daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, the future Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503). She was one of four children the cardinal had from Vannozza Cattanei, the others being Juan, Cesare (ca. 1475-1507), and Jof-fre. After spending the first years of life in her mother’s house, she was moved to the Orsini palace on Monte Giordano to be brought up
Lucrezia Borgia, duchess of Ferrara. Portrait by unknown artist. (Leonard de Selva/Corbis)
Under the tutelage of Adriana de Mila, confidant and first cousin to Cardinal Rodrigo. Nothing is known about the education she received. Borgia was conversant in both Italian and Catalan, the latter being the language spoken in her family, and she is supposed to have composed poems in both languages, but she was described by no one as a poet and no verse by her is mentioned anywhere.
Pope. Alexander loved Lucrezia Borgia “to a superlative degree,” in the expression used by the Ferrarese ambassador in Rome in his dispatch to Duke Ercole d’Este on 4 April 1493. His attachment to her did not prevent him from using her as a pawn in his political strategy and in the advancement of his dynastic aims. In 1491, as he was endeavoring to establish the fortunes of his sons in Spain, Alexander betrothed Borgia to two Spanish noblemen, first to Cherubino Juan de Centelles, brother of the count of Oliva and Valencia, and, almost immediately after, to Gasparo of Procida, son of Count of Aversa, of aValencian family that had moved to the kingdom of Naples. The contracts of both betrothals, which for a short period overlapped, were annulled when Alexander became an ally of Charles VIII of France and Ludovico Sforza, ruler of Milan (1452—1508).As a consequence, on 12 June 1493, Lucrezia Borgia, then thirteen, was married by proxy to Giovanni Sforza, count of Cotignola and vicar of Pesaro, a vassal of the church belonging to a cadet branch of the house of Sforza. By 1495, however, as Charles retreated to France, the pontiff’s political allegiances switched. He now aimed at a match for Cesare with the Neapolitan royal house of Aragon and at an eventual takeover of that kingdom. Marital relations between Borgia and Giovanni Sforza were made increasingly difficult until, on 20 December 1497, their marriage was annulled by the Vatican on grounds of nonconsummation. The following year, Borgia was already married to Don Alfonso, duke of Bisceglie, natural son of Alfonso II of Aragon.
Although the new union was a happy one—a son, named Rodrigo, was born on 14 October 1500—soon Cesare wanted for Borgia a marriage more consonant to his new plans. The Neapolitan scheme having failed, at present he intended to carve a domain of his own out of the papal territory of Romagna and actively sought the financial and military support of Louis XII of France. Alfonso was first attacked in the street by paid assassins, and, having survived the attack, on 18 August 1500 he was strangled in his bed. Even before the murder, the pope let it be known that Lucrezia Borgia was to marry Alfonso d’Este, son of Er-cole, duke of Ferrara. The match would establish for Cesare an advantageous alliance with both France and the Este, guarantee his acquisition of Romagna, and increase his chances of taking possession of Bologna and Florence.
Borgia’s betrothal to Alfonso was a turning point in her life. From this moment on, the pope’s daughter ceased to be a pawn in her family’s political machinations, and her determination to take charge of her life became paramount. During the negotiations for her marriage, Borgia was effective in mediating between the Duke of Ferrara—who had consented to the marriage only under Alexander’s threat to deprive him of his domain—and the objections her father kept raising to the duke’s demands: that he be paid two hundred thousand ducats, that Ferrara’s annual dues to the church be remitted, and that several ecclesiastical benefices be conferred on the house of Este. Ercole came to appreciate the diplomatic skill exercised by his future daughter-in-law in her own interest and in that of the house of Este; furthermore, notwithstanding the rumors about incest and about her participation in murderous plots, the reports that the duke received about Borgia from his agents described her as intelligent, lovely, and exceedingly gracious, a lady of whom it was impossible to suspect anything sinister. The wedding ceremony took place in Rome in December 1501: Alfonso was not present, and the rings were exchanged between the bride and Ferrante d’Este, who stood in lieu of his brother. Then, richly dressed and accompanied by a splendidly attired retinue, Borgia rode at the head of a spectacular procession through papal territories, entering Ferrara in triumph. Soon, her vitality, kindness, and amiability ingratiated her to her family-to-be and to the Ferrarese people. The popularity thus became important to her one year after the wedding, when Pope Alexander died, depriving her of her base of power. Three years later Alfonso became duke of Ferrara and Borgia its duchess.
Ferrara could boast of one of the most cultured courts in Italy, one that will be forever associated with such poets as Matteo Maria Boiardo (1441-1494) and Ludovico Ariosto (1474—1533). The court was also a center for music and theater, and disposed of a well furnished classical and humanistic library. The Este were the sponsors of a university as well as a renowned school of painters and architects. Although not keenly interested in cultural matters, Borgia kept in touch with members of the local literary circle. Devoted to her were Tito Vespasiano Strozzi (1424—1505) and his son Er-cole (1473—1508), two humanistic poets who figured prominently in the court bureaucracy: Borgia gave her support to Aldus Manutius (1449—1515) in his attempt to establish an academy to his own specifications. Aldus made her the executor of the will he drew up in 1509, and in 1513, on her recommendation, he published the Latin verse of both Strozzi. With Pietro Bembo (1470—1547), the future pundit of Italian literature, Borgia carried on a romantic affair from the moment of her arrival in Ferrara until 1505. At this time, on what seems to have been sober considerations of decorum and prudence, Bembo left Ferrara. InVenice he published and dedicated his dialogue on love, Gli Asolani, to her. Lucrezia Borgia’s lifelong, passionate, and fully reciprocated attachment, however, was for Francesco II Gonzaga (1484-1519), Marquis of Mantua, husband of her sister-in-law, Isabella d’Este. Their intense liaison, which was risky but not without practical advantages for the safety of the duchy, was managed by Borgia with circumspection. All the while, her vivacity and love of pleasure, as well as her constant attentiveness to promote the interests of the Ferrarese dynasty, secured the regard of her husband, as they had ingratiated his father before.
Throughout the years, Borgia provided for the living expenses of her entourage-ladies-in-waiting, singers, musicians, and secretaries. She cared for the welfare of Rodrigo, her child by Alfonso of Bisceglie, who lived in the south of Italy under the tutelage of his paternal relatives, as well as for the upbringing of Cesare’s natural offsprings, Girolamo and Camilla, who resided near her. An insight into her merciful character is also given by her continued concern for Cesare himself. At the death of their father in 1503, when il Valentino was still at Faenza and Forli, Lucrezia supplied him with money and troops; later, when he was a prisoner at Medina del Campo in Castille, she did her utmost to bring about his liberation. But Borgia’s chief concern was to succeed as a reigning consort to Duke Alfonso.
After Ercole’s death in 1505, the new duke had established the bureau of the Exemine for the examination of private petitions and had placed his wife in charge of it. In 1506, as he left on a military campaign against Venice, he nominated her governor regent. From 1508 to 1512, Borgia was the de facto ruler of Ferrara, while her husband campaigned against Pope Julius II, who was advancing toward Ferrara at the head of an army with the intention of restoring the Este fiefs to the direct control of the church. As before, she carried out her office with intelligence and justice, giving proof of remarkable administrative abilities and of a sharp understanding of military matters. As late as 1518, when Alfonso was called to Paris by the French king, the duchess was again left in charge of the city. By this time Borgia and Alfonso were a partnership in all respects, in the political and military defense of the duchy, in the exercise of a strong religious piety, in their intimate relations, and in the parental care of their children.
While performing her administrative tasks, Borgia was almost continuously pregnant. After some miscarriages and the death of a newly born child, on 14 April 1509 she gave birth to the future duke of Ferrara. He was named Er-cole in honor of his grandfather. In the next ten years, five more children were born: Ip-polito, Alessandro, Eleonora, Francesco, and Isabella Maria. The difficult pregnancies, the miscarriages, and the premature births had greatly weakened her fiber. Shortly after Alfonso’s return from Paris in 1519, the duchess died giving birth to Isabella Maria. She was thirty-nine years of age.
Rinaldina Russell
See also Este, Isabella d’; the subheading Literary Patronage (under Literary Culture and Women); Power, Politics, and Women; on her patronage of the printer Aldus Manutius, see Printers, the Book Trade, and Women.
Bibliography
Primary Works
Contemporary letters bearing on Lucrezia’s life are found in manuscript form in the following archives:
Correspondence of Ercole I with Gain Luca Pozzi and Gherardo Saraceni, his ambassadors in Rome: Am-basciatori Esteri, Roma 1501—2, b Correspondance of Gian Luca Pozzi, Ferrarese ambassador in Rome, with Ercole I d’Este. Acton MSS. Add. MSS 4757. Cambridge University Library Archives. Usta 12, in Archivio di Stato di Modena, Archivio Segreto Estense.
Correspondence of Francesco Gonzaga to Lucrezia Borgia, Lucrezia to Ercole I, Ercole I to Lucrezia, Lucrezia to Alfonso I d’Este, Alfonso I to Lucrezia: Carteggio dei Principi Esteri, busta 1181; in busta 141; in Camera Ducale, Minutario, busta 5, Minute Ducali, busta 69; in Casa e Stato, busta 141; Carteggio dei Principi Estensi, busta 75, respectively. All documents are in Archivio di Stato di Modena, Archivio Segreto Estense.
Correspondence of Gian Luca Pozzi, Ferrarese ambassador in Rome, with Ercole I d’Este: Acton MSS. Add. MSS 4757. Cambridge University Library Archives.
Correspondence of Lucrezia Borgia to Francesco Gon-zaga: Autografi 84, busta 1—4, serie E. XXX 1.2; busta 1189, in Archivio di Stato di Man-tova. (Also in Archivio Gonzaga.)
Letters to Isabella d’Este from Bernardino di Prosperi, her informant in Ferrara, 1502—1519: Serie E XXX 1.3, buste 1238—47.Archivio di Stato di Mantova. Archivio Gonzaga. An extensive listing of documentary sources is found in Sarah Bradford, Lucrezia Borgia (in Secondary Works), pp. 368-371.
Alberi, Eugenio. Le Relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti al Senato. Firenze: Societa Editrice Fiorentina, 1839-1863.
Bembo, Pietro. La grande fiamma: lettere 1503—1517. Edited by Giulia Raboni. Milano: R. Archinto, 1989.
Bembo, Pietro. The Prettiest Love Letters in the World: Letters Between Lucrezia Borgia and Pietro Bembo, 1503—1519. Translation and preface by Hugh Shankland. Wood engravings by Richard Shirly Smith. Boston: D. R. Godine, 1987.
Burchard, Johannes. At the Court of the Borgia,
Being an Account of the Reign of Pope Alexander VI, Written by His Master of Ceremonies, Johann Burchard. Edited and translated by Geoffrey Parker. London: The Folio Society, 1963.
Sanuto, Marino (Marin Sanudo). I diarii di Marino Sanuto (MCCCCXCVI-MDXXXIII) dall’auto-grafo Marciano ital. cl. VII codd. CDXIX-CDLXXVII. Edited by Rinaldo Fulin, Federico Stefani, Nicolo Barozzi, Guglielmo Berchet, and Marco ATegri. Venezia: F. Visentini, 1879-1903.
Secondary Works
Bellonci, Maria. The Life and Times of Lucrezia Borgia. Translated by Bernard and Barbara Wall. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1939.
Bellonci, Maria. Lucrezia Borgia; la sua vita e i suoi tempi. Milano: A. Mondadori, 1939.
Bradford, Sarah. Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy. New York:Viking Penguin, 2004.
Catalano, Michele. Lucrezia Borgia, duchessa di Ferrara; con nuovi documenti, note critiche e un ritratto inedito. Ferrara: Taddei, 1920.
Farinelli Toselli, Alessandra, ed. Lucrezia Borgia a Ferrara. Ferrara: Liberty House, 2002.
Gregorovius, Ferdinand. Lucretia Borgia: According to Original Documents and Correspondence of Her Day Translated from the third German edition by John Leslie Garner. New York:Appleton, 1903.
Gundersheimer, Werner I. The Style of a Renaissance Despotism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1973.
World History
