For five centuries, despite the numerous denials, the story of Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI, is surrounded by a black legend. Discover with us the bloody events of Lucrezia Borgia.

Who was Lucrezia Borgia

Lucrezia Borgia was born on 18 April 1480 in Subiaco. She was the daughter of the Spanish cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI) and Vannozza Cattanei, from which also Cesare (1475) and Juan (1476) were born, to whom also Jofré was added in 1481.

After the wedding celebration, Lucrezia Borgia left Rome for Ferrara to join her husband Alfonso I d’Este.

Ferrara welcomed Lucrezia Borgia on 2 February 1502 and the celebrations for the wedding, accentuated by the euphoria of the concomitant carnival period, were truly extraordinary.

At the Este court Lucrezia, which until then had been an instrument of power in the hands of her father and brother Cesare, made him forget his past as an illegitimate daughter of the pope and became very popular among the Ferrarese, who immediately loved her undoubted qualities: intelligence and humanity, combined with charm and sympathy.

Alfonso, who deeply loved his bride, entrusted her with many delicate tasks. In the role of Duchess of Ferrara proved to be always capable of balance and wisdom, both when it came to examining the petitions of the citizens, and to hold the state in the name of her husband during the many absences of these, engaged in the long wars in which he was involved the duchy of Este.

Lucrezia Borgia died in Ferrara on 24 June 1519 at the age of 39, after giving birth to her last daughter. She was buried in the monastery of Corpus Domini, where the tomb is still located.

The bloody vicissitudes of Lucrezia Borgia

Lucrezia, during her short life, was accused of numerous crimes including the use of a deadly poison, called cantarella, with which she and the Borgia family would have eliminated their enemies, pouring it into drinks or food.

Lucrezia was associated with the use of this poison, becoming one of the most famous poisoners.

Her reputation as a poisoner today seems to be the result of slander and popular imagination, but thanks to it she gain immortality in the common imaginary. In 1833 the same Victor Hugo staged a drama of gloomy colors profusely inspired by legends and rumors of five to seventeenth-century, including that of Lucrezia Borgia poisoning. Donizetti’s music, which at the Borgia dedicates a work in which she is a splendid noir heroine, has contributed to nurturing the collective imagination.

There are few figures from the past that have inspired novelists and artists as well as that of Lucrezia Borgia. The wife of Alfonso I d’Este thus became one of the most controversial and fascinating characters of the Renaissance.

On the other hand, all the great Renaissance families were complicit in intrigues, conspiracies and games of power. The beautiful Florence is no stranger to this type of events. How can we forget the famous Congiura dei Pazzi, a conspiracy designed by the Florentine family de’ Pazzi to crush the hegemony of the Medici?

If you want to experience and rediscover intriguing Renaissance stories, we are waiting for you in Mugello, the birthplace of the Medici family, at Villa Campestri Olive Oil Resort!