Essay: The Good Side Of Lucrezia Borgia?

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Recommended: Position of women during renaissance

Nicole Dommer
Mrs. Hutchinson
English 10B
1 April, 2014
The Good Side of Lucrezia Borgia
Have you ever been falsely accused of something you didn’t do? It wouldn’t be surprising if the answer was yes. Misinterpretation affects a numerous amount of people on a daily basis. Someone in history who had their fair share of misinterpretation was Lucrezia Borgia. She was the daughter of the sadistic, Pope Alexander VI and the sister of Cesare Borgia. Both, her father and brother, accidently created various rumors that made her look like an atrocious person. It is no surprise that she has been considered merciless and cruel for thousands of decades. In modern times, Lucrezia is labeled as scandalous, heartless and even inhuman. She grew up in a horrendous family, but she was nowhere near as dreadful as her relatives. Researchers have discovered the truth behind the infamous, Lucrezia Borgia, and it isn’t as terrible as commonly portrayed.
According to popular belief, Lucrezia Borgia murdered several of her lover’s, but, this is entirely mistaken. When Lucrezia was only a young girl, her father searched for someone for her to wed. After examining two beneficial candidates, he arranged for her to marry Giovanni Sforza. “Lucrezia was betrothed to a Spanish gentleman, the marriage, however, never took place” (James). Shortly after the marriage, Pope Alexander VI and Cesare Borgia decided they were unsatisfied with the couple and deemed Giovanni useless. They claimed, to the public, that Giovanni was not completing his duties in the relationship. Giovanni was forced to confess to this; therefore, he was exiled from Rome and forced to annul his marriage with Lucrezia. Her second lover, who lasted shorter than Giovanni, was Pedro Calderon. Th...

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...are and an anonymous woman. Another common belief about Giovanni was that he was the Pope’s child, but this was practically impossible seeing as the Pope was sixty-seven. Although Giovanni was mysterious to the public, his mother loved him. It is commonly mistaken that Lucrezia had nothing to do with him, but she tried to give him the best upbringing possible. When in public, she referred to him as “little brother” so no one would question if he was her child. She didn’t want to put him through that drama. Lucrezia’s care for her son represented her compassion and love for her family. No matter what happened, family was an important value to the all of the Borgia’s.
Ultimately, Lucrezia Borgia was not as evil as she has long been depicted. She was an honest and hardworking woman. From her enormous enterprise to her parenting, Lucrezia was a somewhat decent person.

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