L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 26 L'Italo-Americano N aming her brings to mind a time of con- s p i r a c i e s , c l o a k - a n d - dagger events, and lascivious, decadent orgies of sex and wealth. But was Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI and his favorite, Vannozza Cattanei, truly such a dissolute being? According to historians and researchers, including A n i t a S a n s e v e r i n o , a photographer with a focus on the Belpaese who devel- oped an interest in Lucrezia and her role in the Borgias' empire, it isn't really the case. Sanseverino, who will l e a d a c o n f e r e n c e o n t h e subject at Casa Belvedere, T h e I t a l i a n C u l t u r a l Foundation, Staten Island, on the 29th of this month, s t r o n g l y s u p p o r t s a v i e w that sees Lucrezia more of a p a w n u s e d a d h o c t o increase her famous family's power, rather than a soulless temptress without morals. L e t ' ' s s e e w h y , t h e n , beautiful Lucrezia may have not been as evil as collective i m a g i n a t i o n a n d p o p u l a r culture always wanted us to believe. She was born in Subiaco, near Rome, on the 18th of April 1480, daughter to, as we said, Pope Alexander VI B o r g i a a n d h i s f a v o r i t e Vannuzza Cattanei. At 11, s h e g o t e n g a g e d w i t h G i o v a n n i S f o r z a , L o r d o f Pesaro, whom she married at 13. Of course, it wasn't a union of love, rather she was u s e d b y h e r f a t h e r a n d brother as a pawn for their p o l i t i c a l e x p a n s i o n . H e r wedding to Sforza, however, d i d n ' t l a s t l o n g b e c a u s e R o d r i g o , h e r f a t h e r , a n d Cesare, her brother, weren't satisfied: the marriage got a n n u l l e d – G i o v a n n i w a s forced to sign a paper that declared he was impotent to make it happen - and she b e c a m e , o n c e a g a i n , t h e instrument to tie the Borgias t o a n o t h e r p o w e r f u l E u r o p e a n f a m i l y , t h e A r a g o n s . S h e m a r r i e d Alfonso of Aragon, Duke of Bisceglie, the illegitimate son of the king of Naples, A l f o n s o I I a n d i t s e e m s Lucrezia, this time, was in love. But his sister's happi- n e s s d i d n ' t s t o p C e s a r e , known for how cunning and calculating he was, to get Alfonso killed, making her a widow and the child she had had with Alfonso a young orphan. The years following the murder of her husband are t h o s e w h e n , p e r h a p s , Lucrezia's bad rap originates f r o m , p h i l o l o g i s t a n d R e n a i s s a n c e h i s t o r i a n Stella Fannelli explained to Viterbo Post some years ago. She also clarified how Lucrezia's behavior was, in fact, not so different from that of her contemporaries in general: "History made of her a wicked character in a very libertine Rome: seedy sex parties, murders, the poisoning of enemies… she was accused of all that and it is likely that Lucrezia did, in f a c t , t a k e p a r t t o a t l e a s t some of all this. Yet, actions m u s t b e c o n t e x t u a l i z e d within the historical period she lived in: in 14th century Rome, sin, corruption, lust, intrigue and shady practices w e r e t h e n o r m , n o t t h e exception." Not an incredi- bly wicked woman, then, but rather, the product of her own time and upbringing. T h i s i d e a s e e m s t o b e p r o v e n b y t h e p r o f o u n d change she undergoes when she marries her third hus- band, Alfonso d'Este, son of the Duke of Ferrara, Ercole, o f c o u r s e , c h o s e n b y h e r father and brother for her. The union wasn't simple, because Alfonso, consider- ing Lucrezia's reputation a n d , p e r h a p s e v e n m o r e w o r r i e d a b o u t w h a t h a p - pened to her two previous husbands, wasn't too kin on marrying her, but he eventu- ally relented. Once an Este, she moved t o b e a u t i f u l , e l e g a n t , European Ferrara. It was a turning point in her life. She started campaigning for the rights and well being of the least fortunate, including p e o p l e i n p r i s o n s ; s h e sought and found a connec- t i o n w i t h h e r s u b j e c t s , through honesty: she never denied anything of her past and, perhaps, this endeared her to Ferraresi, who con- s i d e r e d h e r r e a l a n d n o t ashamed of her mistakes. Her people loved her, and she also became a leading figure for the Este family: a good administrator, a good m o t h e r – s h e h a d s e v e n c h i l d r e n w i t h A l f o n s o d'Este, and she died, in fact, of childbirth – and a dedi- cated woman of faith. I n d e e d , i n w h a t , i f w e were in a novel, could be seen as a strategic plot twist for the ultimate coming of age of the main character, Lucrezia, in Ferrara, also f i n d s G o d . F o l l o w i n g t h e teaching of Saint Catherine and Saint Bernardino, she takes up a path of charity a n d s u p p o r t f o r t h e p o o r a n d n e g l e c t e d , t h a t w i l l materialize with the creation of the Monte di Pietà, finan- cial institutions that would give poor people access to loans at reasonable interest rates, with borrowers giving valuable objects as collater- al, a bit like it would happen in a pawn store today. In Ferrara, Lucrezia also d i s c o v e r e d t h e a r t s a n d became a beloved patron to s o m e o f I t a l y ' s g r e a t e s t artists, including Ludovico Ariosto, Ercole Strozzi and G i a n G i o r g i o T r i s s i n o . However, her favorite, most loved – perhaps not only p l a t o n i c a l l y , s o m e s a y – poet was Pietro Bembo. She became, in Ferrara, a good mother, a good wife, and a beloved duchess. She was considered fair, just, and good-hearted. She died at 39, when giving birth to her last child, after years of paying penance – perhaps to h e r p a s t , p e r h a p s t o h e r family's seedy way of life – by wearing a cilice to punish her flesh. Who was, then, Lucrezia Borgia? A child of her own times, without a doubt. Her figure teaches us clearly that judg- ing and evaluating the past through the lenses of the present, without considering h i s t o r y , i s a m i s t a k e . Lucrezia wasn't perfect, and s h e p r o b a b l y d i d c o m m i t s o m e o f t h e n e f a r i o u s actions she has been blamed for, but it was in part ragion di stato, in part politics, in p a r t c u l t u r a l a n d s o c i a l mores of those decades to l e a d t h e w a y f o r h e r . B y accepting her past fully and uncompromisingly, but at the same time, by getting involved in acts of profound piety, Lucrezia showed she was a person of morals, in the end. Or that at least she became so, at some stage in her life. It is interesting, to con- clude our chat, to note that a l o t o f w h a t w e , t o d a y , b e l i e v e a b o u t L u c r e z i a B o r g i a , c o m e s f r o m l a t e r works of literature: she was d e s c r i b e d a s a h e a r t l e s s , s e d u c t i v e w o m a n b y Alexandre Dumas in Crime Célèbres (1865): he com- pared her to her murderous brother Cesare. Victor Hugo wasn't any nicer to her when he wrote a play about her life, Lucrèce Borgia in 1833, w h e r e s h e w a s a l s o described as an expert in the use of poison and a perfect example of female wicked- ness. Hugo's play became very popular and was used as an inspiration for movies, other theatre plays, and operas. So, perhaps, Lucrezia suf- f e r e d a n e x a m p l e o f late damnatio memoriae, which made her more evil and ruthless than she's even been. Time to look at her with new eyes, without pre- conceptions. Who was the real Lucrezia Borgia? CHIARA D'ALESSIO Lucrezia Borgia come Santa Caterina di Alessandria, in un affresco del Pinturicchio (Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons agreement. Author: www.paradoxplace.com. License: Public Domain) HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS PEOPLE

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