Murder and Bribery: Lucrezia Borgia

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Recommended: Marriage in the Italian Renaissance period

Lucrezia Borgia was considered to be a nefarious and scheming criminal. On April 18, 1480, in Rome, Italy (Lucrezia Borgia 1), she was born to Rodrigo Borgia, who later became Pope Alexander VI, and his mistress, Vanonozza de Cattanei (Aiuto 4), and became a member of the infamous Borgia family. Lucrezia Borgia’s evil reputation was unjustified because she was manipulated by her relatives to fuel their political ambition, was a recipient of her family’s record of crime, and was a victim of unfair propaganda.
Lucrezia was used to further her family’s political stature in Europe through arranged marriages. At the time of the Renaissance, the area of modern-day Italy was made up of various city-states (Lucrezia Borgia 8:44), two of the most prosperous being Milan and Naples (Meyers 1). Lucrezia’s father, Pope Alexander VI, wanted to conquer these city-states to gain power for the Church and his family (Lucrezia Borgia 8:57). He and her brother, Cesare Borgia, (Mallet 304-305) arranged marriages for Lucrezia with important families from several of these city-states to help achieve this goal (Lucrezia Borgia 8:57). Due to her status, wealth, beauty, and intelligence, many men wished to marry her. “…[The] choice either of ending one marriage or in arranging another was never hers [Lucrezia’s]” (Mallet 271). Lucrezia was not involved in any of these ambitious plans; hence, she should not have been held accountable for her father and brother’s actions.
Lucrezia was engaged five times in her life. Her first two engagements were called off by the time she was eleven years old (Aiuto 4). Lucrezia’s first marriage, in 1493 (Lucrezia Borgia 1) at the age of thirteen (Hibbert 44), was to Giovanni Sforza of the powerful Milanese family (Ai...

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Lucrezia died in childbirth (Mallet 312) at the age of thirty-nine (Hibbert 309-310) on June 24, 1519 in Ferarra, Italy (Lucrezia Borgia 1). Her death was devastating to Alfonso d’Este. He wrote a letter to his nephew saying, “I cannot write this without tears, knowing myself to be deprived of such a dear and sweet companion” (Duke of Ferrara 357). His words are in direct contrast to the widely held belief that Lucrezia was a ruthless, evil, and wicked member of the Borgia family. This reputation was not warranted by Lucrezia’s actions. She was used by her family, was assumed to be as corrupt as her notorious relatives and her name was negatively impacted by gossip. After she moved to Ferrara and was finally free from the shadow of her evil family, Lucrezia’s true sympathetic nature finally showed through where she lived her life as a kind, devout Christian.

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