The word “Borgia’’ has come to define a particular kind of Renaissance decadence. Associated with sexual and violent scandals at the heart of the papacy, the Borgia family was dominated by three infamous figures, Pope Alexander VI and his two most prominent children: Cesare and Lucrezia.
Celebrated in her time as a beautiful young woman with long, blonde hair and a fair complexion, Lucrezia is often regarded as the original femme fatale. She is largely known today as a notorious figure, surrounded by rumours of incest, murders and even poisonings. However, is her infamy justified or has Lucrezia Borgia been wrongly maligned by history?
THE POPE’S DAUGHTER
A Spanish noble family, the Borgias rose to prominence in Italy when Cardinal Alfonso de Borgia was elected as Pope Callixtus III in 1455. Although Callixtus only reigned for three years until his death in 1458, Borgia influence in Rome continued under
