Borgia, Lucrezia 1480-1519
Italian noblewoman

Born in Rome, the illegitimate daughter of Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI), she was married off three times by her father for political reasons: first, at the age of 12 to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro (1493), but this marriage was annulled by her father (1497); second, to Alfonso of Aragon, nephew of the King of Naples (1498), but this marriage was ended (1500) when Alfonso was murdered by her brother Cesare Borgia; and third (1501), to Alfonso d'Este (1486-1534). The son of the Duke of Este, Alfonso inherited the duchy of Ferrara, where Lucrezia established a brilliant court of artists and men of letters, including Ariosto and Titian. A patroness of art and education, in legend she has become notorious, quite unfairly, for wantonness, vice and crime (including incest with her brother and father).