I will tell you about a woman who has been the subject of paintings, novels, and movies, and whose life we often feel is filled with exaggerations. Our stage is Rome, one of the capitals of the Italian Renaissance. The year is 1480.
Lucrezia Borgia is the daughter of Spaniard Rodrigo de Borja, who became Pope Alexander VI in 1492, and his long-time mistress Vannozza del Cattanel. While it is theoretically impossible for Popes to have children, it is known that Pope Alexander VI had numerous lovers and had many children out of wedlock. He is especially fond of his four children from Vannozza, Cesare (b. 1475), Giovanni (1476), Lucrezia (1480), and Gioffre (1482).
Although he first said that these children were his nephews, it is known that Alexander accepted them after a while. Lucrezia is considered one of the most beautiful women of the time, with her blonde hair that reaches below her knees and her hazel eyes. Their swan appearance and pure white teeth attracted attention in an age when kings were hitting their heads against the wall due to toothache.
Lucrezia Borgia (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 reigned as the governor of Spoleto, a position usually held by cardinals, in her own right.
All of their children live next to their father's mansion and are well educated by the Pope's right-hand woman, Adriana Orsini of Milan. As an only daughter, Lucrezia is not deprived of education as was common in the Greco-Roman world. In short, she speaks Spanish, Catalan, Italian, and French perfectly, as well as Latin and Greek. We know how good a writing expert she was from the letters she later wrote on behalf of the Vatican. When we compare it with the letters of many contemporary Ottoman Harem residents, it is obvious that she received a very high level of education.
On the other hand, if we consider the simple spelling and spelling errors of some women in the Ottoman harem, we understand that there is a serious difference between them taking lessons from important social science scholars and getting involved in life.
Of course, the fact that Lucrezia received such a good education from rhetoric to music was not done in a proto-feminist vein. They are in competition with famous families of their time, rival families, and players of similar status; Families are making strategic marriage arrangements so they can consolidate their power and keep the reins.
As a matter of fact, when Lucrezia was only 11 years old, she was given to the Lord of Valencia, and when a more advantageous marriage offer came two months later, this engagement was canceled and she married the Count of Procida. After Borja manages to be elected Pope as a result of various games and money-making, all these decorations are shelved.
Knowing that his hand had become much stronger, Alexander married Lucrezia to Giovanni Sforza, Count of the famous Sforza family, in 1493. You will say that she is a 13-year-old child. I will say that being an aristocrat in ancient times was not easy at all! Although the marriage age of girls in Renaissance Europe was around 17-18, as in ancient Greece and Rome, the marriages of aristocrats were sometimes tied up in swaddle, after all, they wanted to keep the war at bay and develop commercial relations through strategic marriages.
As a result, problems such as recurrent genetic diseases and hemophilia occur in blue-blooded people in terms of roads, water, and electricity. Therefore, Lucrezia's first marriage lasted four years. Because when the Pope allies with the Aragonese dynasty in Naples and transfers Milan to the French, he plans to cancel the marriage and marry his daughter off to a more advantageous family because he no longer needs the Sforzas. Giovanni Sforza does not want to leave. This time, when the Pope threatens the Sforzas through Milan, Giovanni signs papers stating that he is impotent and runs away from Rome to save his head. Their marriage is thus deemed invalid by the Pope, and the search for a new husband begins for Lucrezia.
As Giovanni later begins to talk about an incestuous relationship between father and daughter, Lucrezia's legendary beauty is tarnished like Dorian Gray. Although most historians state that Lucrezia was just a pawn in this series of intrigues and evils called politics, but once the dirt gets dirty, you remain the most famous femme fatale in history...
Speaking of slander, rumors are spreading that Lucrezia was locked up in a monastery because she got pregnant from the Pope's chamberlain, Pedro Calderon, during the days when her marriage was terminated due to her "failure to fulfill the requirements of marriage", that is, her inability to have children. Soon Pedro and his servants were found drowned in the Tiber River. A year after Lucrezia's marriage was annulled, she married Alfonso of Aragon in 1498, and their son was born a year later. But this groom is not as lucky as the previous one, so he cannot escape with his life! After his first escape attempt, Lucrezia calls him to Rome, and he is killed in 1500. The whisper newspaper in Rome says the murderer is Cesare Borgia. Some declare that Lucrezia was used in the intrigues of her father and brother.
Lucrezia was married by her father to her last husband, Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrera, in 1501. Meanwhile, they have eight children, but neither Alfonso nor Lucrezia remain faithful to each other. Perhaps we can call the love of his life, the husband of Alfonso's sister, Isabella d'Este, Marquise of Mantua II. She is in a long-term relationship with Francesco Gonzaga. There are many rumors circulating that this relationship is very passionate. But another rumor is that Francesco was suffering from syphilis. Luckily, they leave with Lucrezia before her limbs start falling off. Meanwhile, Lucrezia embarks on another adventure with the poet Pietro Bembo. The letters, which are evidence of the love between the two, are described as "the most beautiful love letters in the world" by Lord Byron, who was known as the "bad boy" of his time. These storms end on Lucrezia's tenth birthday. This pearl, who passed away at the age of 39, 10 days after the birth of her sick child, leaves behind many rumors and rumors.
While some claim that Lucrezia was a puppet to keep the seat and wealth of her Pope father and her lover brother Cesare, others say that she became a Machiavellian femme fatale, killing whomever she wanted with the ring hidden in poison in her hand. If you are one of those who read historical TV series, the second option seems more attractive. But when it comes to history, I believe in approaching everything with suspicion. Just as we cannot try anyone like an inquisition, we do not need to make a Socratic defense. Snake stories remain with us centuries later, and we try to draw a holistic portrait from them.