The Scene (pp. 1 – 3)
1 Guicciardini, The History of Italy, Book I, p. 4.
Chapter 1: The Pope’s Daughter (pp. 11 – 24)
1 Gaspare da Verona, cited Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, p. 9.
2 Bonatto to Barbara of Brandenburg, 8 June 1460, in Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, p. 471.
3 Pastor, The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages, vol. V, p. 388.
4 Ibid., p. 400.
5 Ross, Lives of the Early Medici as told in their correspondence.
6 Cesare’s birth year is variously given as 1475 or 1476: I have adopted the date given by the most authoritative recent historian of the Borgias, Miquel Batllori, in La Familia Borja.
7 18 March 1493, cited Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, p. 477.
8 Batllori, La Familia Borja.
9 Cited in Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 23.
10 ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5023, ff 61v – 64r.
Chapter 2: Countess of Pesaro (pp. 25—49)
1 Guicciardini, The History of Italy, Book I, p. 10.
2 Ascanio to Ludovico, 3 February 1493, ASF, Potenze Estere, Roma, Reg. Cartella 107, ff 95 – 7.
3 Ibid.
4 Gianandrea Boccaccio, Bishop of Modena, 5 November 1492, in Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, p. 51.
5 Ercole to Alexander VI, 3 January 1493, in Gregorovius, P.55.
6 Ascanio Sforza to Ludovico Sforza, 3 February 1493, in ASF, Potenze Estere, Roma, Reg. Cartella 107, ff 95—7.
7 Sanchis y Sivera, Jose, Algunos Documentos, p. 52. Procida, or Proixita in Catalan spelling, married a Borgia connection, Caterina de Mila, in 1494.
8 Floramonte Brognolo, 10 June 1493, in Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, p. 478.
9 Luzio, p. 120n.
10 Piergentile da Varano of Camerino, 18 June 1493, Luzio, p. 120.
11 Giovanni Lucido Cattanei, 6 August 1493, Luzio, p. 415.
12 Sanchis y Sivera, pp. 132 – 47.
13 31 July 1493, see Batllori, La Familia Borja, p. 184.
14 Ibid.
15 ASV,A.A. ARM 5021, f 3rv, Viterbo, 31 [October 1493], this translation kindly provided by Milo Parmoor.
16 Sanchis y Sivera, pp. 54 – 5, this translation kindly provided by Milo Parmoor and Prof. Jaume Danti.
17 Cattaneo, 3 August 1493, Luzio, p. 415.
18 Ibid., 31 August 1493, Luzio, p. 416.
19 Ibid., 7 November 1493, Luzio, p. 418.
20 Gregorovius, p. 65.
21 Brognolo, 1 March 1494, Luzio, p. 482.
22 Ibid., 27 March 1494, Luzio, p. 483n.
23 G. Benedetto, 5 May 1494, Luzio, pp. 483—4.
24 Gregorovius, p. 72.
25 4 April 1494, ASF, Potenze Estere, Roma, Cartella 109.
26 Sanchis y Sivera, pp. 78 – 9.
27 18 May 1494, Sanchis y Sivera, p. 88.
28 Alexander VI to Gandia, 18 May 1494, Sanchis y Sivera, pp. 92 – 6.
29 Sanchis y Sivera, pp. 111 – 12.
30 Lucrezia to Alexander VI, Pesaro, 10 June 1494. ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027.
31 Giulia d’Aragona to Alexander VI, 10 June 1494. ASV,A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027.
32 Jacopo Dragoni to Cesare Borgia, 16 April 1494, ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027.
33 Lucrezia to Alexander VI, Pesaro, [?xxv] June 1494, ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027.
34 Caterina Gonzaga to Alexander VI, San Lorenzo, 8 July and 1 August 1494, ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027, ff rv and 14r.
35 Alexander VI to Giulia Farnese, n.d. [Rome, late June/early July 1494] ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027, f 32.
36 Alexander VI to Lucrezia, ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027, f 29.
37 Alexander VI to Lucrezia, 24 July 1494, from Florentine state archives, printed in Gregorovius, p. 74.
38 Lucrezia to Alexander VI, Pesaro, 27 July 1494, ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027.
39 Virginio Orsini (drafted by Alexander VI) to Orsino Orsini, Monterotondo, 21 September 1494, ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027 f 42r.
40 Fra Theseo to Giulia Farnese, Bassanello, ASV, A.A. ARM I—XVIII 5027, 28 October 1494.
41 Alexander VI draft minute to Giulia Farnese, 21 October 1494, ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027, f 28r.
42 Alexander VI draft minute to Adriana de Mila, ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027, 22 October 1494, f 28r.
43 Alexander VI draft minute to Cardinal Farnese, ASV, A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027, f 28r.
44 Giacomo Trotti to Ercole d’Este, 21 December 1494, in Gregorovius, p. 89.
Chapter 3: The Borgias Renascent (pp. 50—66)
1 Hollingsworth, Patronage in Renaissance Italy: From 1400 to the Early Sixteenth Century, pp. 273 – 4.
2 Giovanni Sforza to Francesco Gonzaga, Pesaro, 24 March 1495, in Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, p. 487n.
3 Giovanni Sforza to Ludovico Sforza, ASF, Potenze Estere, Marca, Reg. Cartella 153.
4 Francesco Gonzaga to Ludovico Sforza, 4 March 1496, ASF, Potenze Estere, Mantova, Reg. Cartella 400.
5 Dolfo, Lettere ai Gonzaga, Letter XXIX, lines 393 – 5, p. 95.
6 Cardinal Ascanio Sforza to Ludovico Sforza, 7 April 1496, ASF, Potenze Estere, Roma, Reg. Cartella 116.
7 Ascanio to Ludovico, 16 April 1496; Giovanni Sforza to Ludovico, 17 April 1496; Stefano Taberna to Ludovico, 28 April 1496, ASF, Potenze Estere, Roma, Reg. Cartella 116.
8 Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 55.
9 Deposition by Anthoni Gurrea, 17 June 1494, ASV, A.A. ARM I—XVIII, 5024, f 126.
10 Bradford, p. 59.
11 Mallett, The Borgias: The Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Dynasty, p. 150.
12 Giovanni Sforza to Ludovico Sforza, Pesaro, 7 January 1497, ASF, Potenze Estere, Marca, Reg. Cartella 153.
13 G. C. Scalona to Francesco Gonzaga, 27 January 1497, Luzio, p. 493.
14 10 April 1497, Ludovico Sforza draft letter to ‘il Barone’, ASF, Potenze Estere, Marca, Reg. Cartella 153.
15 Ludovico Sforza to Giovanni Sforza, 4 May 1497, ASF, Potenze Estere, Marca, Reg. Cartella 153.
16 Giovanni Sforza to Ludovico Sforza, 12 May 1497, ASF, Potenze Estere, Marca, Reg. Cartella 153.
17 Silvestro Calandra to Francesco Gonzaga, 6 June 1497, Luzio, p. 496.
18 Ferrarese envoy, in Pastor, The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages, vol. V, p. 505n.
19 12 June 1497, Luzio, p. 497.
20 Sanudo, I. Diarii, vol. 1, pt. 1, col. 649.
21 Pastor, vol. V, pp. 520 – 21n.
22 Antonio Costabili to Ercole d’Este, 23 June 1497, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri: Milano, Busta 13.
23 Cardinal Ascanio Sforza to Ludovico Sforza, August 1497, in Pastor, vol. V, p. 521n.
24 In Johannes Burchard, Diarium sive Rerum Urbanum Commentarii (1483 – 1506), vol. 2, Alessandro Bracci to Florentine Signoria, 27 September 1497.
25 Document drawn up for Giovanni Sforza and Cardinal Ascanio Sforza in form of letter from the former to the latter, 20 November 1497, ASF, Potenze Estere, Marca, Reg. Cartella 153.
26 Draft divorce sentence, ASF, Potenze Estere, Marca, Reg. Cartella 153, following letter of 20 December 1497.
27 Thomasino Tormelli to Ludovico Sforza, 3 December 1497, ASF, Potenze Estere, Marca, Reg. Cartella 153.
28 Thomasino Tormelli to Ludovico Sforza, 21 December 1947, ASF, Potenze Estere, Marca, Reg. Cartella 153.
29 Ascanio Sforza to Ludovico Sforza, 1497 December 1497, ASF, Potenze Estere, Roma, Reg. Cartella 153.
Chapter 4: The Tragic Duchess of Bisceglie (pp.
1 Cristoforo Poggio to Francesco Gonzaga, 2 March 1498, in Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, p. 503.
2 Saliceto to Ludovico Sforza, 29 July 1498, ASF, Potenze Estere, Roma, Reg. Cartella 126.
3 Cited in Burchard, Diarium, vol. 29 July 1498.
4 Ibid., 14 September 1497.
5 Cardinal Ascanio Sforza to Ludovico Sforza, 2 May 1498, ASF, Potenze Estere, Roma, Reg. Cartella 126.
6 Cardinal Ascanio Sforza to Ludovico Sforza, 13 May 1498, ASF, Potenze Estere, Roma, Reg. Cartella 126.
7 The document was dated 31 August 1498 – ASF, Casa e Stato, Busta 400.
8 It was only on io June 1498 that Alexander finally issued a Bull cancelling her marriage contract with D. Gaspare da Procida, now described as Count of Almenara. ASF, Casa e Stato, Busta 400.
9 Laurencin, Relaciónes de los Festines que se celebraron en el Vatican con motivo de las Bodas de Lucrecia Borgia con Don Alonso de Aragon.
10 Sanudo, I Diarii, vol. II, 23 October 1498.
11 December 1498, ASF, Potenze Estere, Roma, Reg. Cartella 127.
12 The Prince of Asturias died of plague in October 1497.
13 Rome, 18 August 1499, transcript from document in archives of Spoleto, Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, pp. 117 – 18.
14 18 August, 1499, Luzio, p. 431.
15 16 August 1499, ibid.
16 Ascanio was not released until 3 January 1502 through the good offices of the Cardinal d’Amboise; he returned to Rome with him for the conclave which elected Pius III and died there of plague in May 1505. 17
17 Seepce Malegonelle to Signoria of Florence, 4 April 1500, Burchard, vol. 3, p. 32n.
18 Sanudo, vol. III, col. 469, 3 July 1500.
19 Rome, 16 July 1500, Burchard.
20 Luzio, p. 519.
21 Sanudo, vol. III, col. 532, 19 July 1500.
22 Luzio, p. 521.
23 Cattaneo, 4 September 1500, in Luzio, p. 522.
24 Francesco Gonzaga to Giovanni Gonzaga, i October 1500, in Luzio, p. 524.
25 Copielettere d’Isabella d’Este, AG, Busta 2993, liber 14.
Chapter ,5: Turning Point (pp. 96 – 110)
1 Lucrezia to Vincenzo Giordano, 31 October 1500, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
2 Lucrezia to Vincenzo Giordano, 28 October 1500, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
3 n.d. [October 1500], fit 89 – 90, 91 ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
4 17 September, Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, p. 522.
5 Bartolommeo de’Cavalleri to Ercole d’Este, 15 December 1500, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
6 Ercole to Cavalleri, 14 February 1501, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
7 Ercole to Cavalleri, 25 February 1501, 15 December 1500, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
8 Cavalleri to Ercole, 18 March 1501, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
9 Cardinal Ferrari to Ercole, 18 February 1501 and n.d., CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4757.
10 Cavalleri to Ercole, 26 May 1501, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
11 Ercole to Cavalleri, 9 June 1501, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
12 Ercole to Cavalleri, 14 June 1501, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
13 Cavalleri to Ercole, Lyons, 22 June 1501, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
14 Ercole to Cavalleri, 8 July 1501, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
15 Cavalleri to Ercole, 10 July, Lyons, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
16 Ercole to Cavalleri, 11 August 1501, ASE, Cancelleria ducale, minutario cronologica, Busta 5.
17 Cattaneo, 20 July 1501, Luzio, p. 532.
18 Cattaneo, 11 August 1501, Luzio, p. 533.
19 Ercole to Cesare Borgia, 6 August 1501, ASE, Cancelleria ducale, minutario cronologica, Busta 5.
20 Cardinal Ferrari to Ercole, 27 August 1501, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4757.
21 Ercole to Cavalleri, 5 September 1501, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
22 Ercole to Cavalleri, 30 October 1501, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
23 Ercole to Lucrezia, 1 September 1501, ASE, Cancelleria ducale, minutario cronologica, Busta 5.
24 That summer he had also expropriated the lands of the other Roman baronial families, the Colonna, Savelli and Estouteville
25 Guicciardini, The History of Italy, Book I, p. 163.
Chapter 6: Farewell to Rome (pp. 111 – 32)
1 Burchard, Diarium, vol. 3, 17 September 1501.
2 25 September 1501, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4757, ff 64,
3 Ibid.
4 Berlinguer and Saraceni to Ercole, 27 September 1501, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4757.
5 Lucrezia to Ercole, 28 September and 8 October 1501, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
6 Ercole to Lucrezia, 14 October 1501, ASE, Cancelleria ducale, minutario cronologica, Busta 5.
7 Lucrezia to Ercole, 11 October 1501, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
8 See Saraceni and Berlinguer to Ercole, 11 October 1501, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4757.
9 Batllori, La Familia Borja, p. 4.
10 Letter of 4 March 1500, see Gardner, Dukes and Poets in Ferrara, p. 367n.
11 Cavalleri to Ercole, 26 August 1501, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Busta 3.
12 Letter of 31 October 1501 in Gardner, p. 402n.
13 Lucrezia to Ercole, 28 October 1501, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
14 Ercole to Lucrezia, 28 December 1501, ASE, Cancelleria ducale, Minute Ducali, Busta 69.
15 Rome, 8 October 1501, Saraceni and Berlinguer to Ercole, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4757.
16 Rome, n.d., CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4757.
17 Cited in Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, p. 213.
18 See Beltrami, La Guardaroba di Lucrezia Borgia.
19 Burchard, vol. 3, 23 December 1501.
20 Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, pp. 535 – 6.
21 Burchard, vol. 3, 23 December 1501.
22 Pozzi and Saraceni to Ercole, 30 December 1501, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4757.
23 El Prete to Isabella ‘relazione dello sposalizio della Borgia la sera del 24 dicembre 1501’ [transcript], AG, Autografi 84, Busta 4.
24 Pozzi to Ercole, 1 January 1502, ASE Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, Busta 12.
25 Pozzi to Ercole, 6 January 1502, ASE Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, Busta 12.
26 Beltrando Costabili to Ercole, 6 January 1502, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4758.
Chapter 7: The Road to Ferrara (pp. 133 – 55)
1 Biblioteca Vaticana, manoscritto vaticano latino 3351, f 49, cited Sacerdote, Cesare Borgia, la sua vita, la sua famiglia, e i suoi tempi, p. 518.
2 Ercole to Ippolito, cited Gardner, Dukes and Poets in Ferrara, pp. 242 – 3.
3 Ercole to Ippolito, 19 August 1499, Gardner, p. 350.
4 Ercole to Ferrante, 8 April 1494, Gardner, p. 249.
5 Ercole to Ferrante, 27 February 1495, Gardner, p. 297.
6 Pozzi and Saraceni to Ercole, Foligno, 13 January 1502, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, Busta 12.
7 Ibid.
8 Ferrante d’Este to Isabella d’Este, Rimini, 22 January 1502, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 4.
9 Pozzi and Saraceni to Ippolito, Urbino, 18 January 1502, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, Busta 12.
10 Pozzi and Saraceni to Ercole, Urbino, 18 January 1502, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, Busta 12.
11 Pozzi and Saraceni to Ercole, Rimini, 22 January 1502, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, Busta 12.
12 Pozzi and Saraceni to Ercole, Cesena, 24 January 1502, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, Busta 12.
13 Pozzi and Saraceni to Ercole, Imola, 27 January 1502, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, Busta 12.
14 Marinello, Gli Ornamenti delle Donne, Venice, pp. 69 – 75
15 Pozzi to Ercole, Bologna, 30 January 1502, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, Busta 12.
16 El Prete to Isabella d’Este, 19 January 1502, Luzio, p. 539.
17 Pozzi and Saraceni to Ercole, Bologna, 29 January 1502, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, Busta 12.
18 Pozzi and Saraceni to Ercole, Bentivoglio, 31 January 1502, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, Busta 12.
19 Costabili to Ercole, Rome, 17 January 1502, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4758.
20 Costabili to Ercole, Rome, 20 January 1502, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4758.
21 Isabella d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, Ferrara, 1 February 1502, AG, Copielettere, Busta 2993, liber 12.
22 Tuohy, Herculean Ferrara: Ercole d’Este (1471 – 1505) and the Invention of a Ducal Capital, p. 14.
23 Ibid., p. 20.
Chapter 8: A New Life (pp. 156 – 83)
1 Zambotti, Diario Ferrarese dall’anno 1476 sino al 1504, p. 313.
2 Isabella d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, Ferrara, 2 February 1502, AG, Copielettere, Busta 2993, liber 14.
3 ‘Computo delle nozze della Ill.ma Madama Lucrezia 1501 – 1502’, ASE, Camera Ducale, Amministrazione dei Principi, n1128.
4 Cited Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, p. 541.
5 Costabili to Ercole, 1 April 1502, cited Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, p. 253n.
6 Isabella d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, [?2] February 1502, AG, Copielettere, Busta 2993, liber 14.
7 Luzio, pp. 543 – 4.
8 Isabella d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, 5 February 1502, AG, Copielettere, Busta 2993, liber 14.
9 Isabella d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, February 1502, AG, Copielettere, Busta 2993, liber 14.
10 ‘Computo delle nozze della Ill.ma Madama Lucrezia 1501 – 1502’, ASE, Camera Ducale, Amministrazione dei Principi, n1128.
11 Isabella d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, 9 February 1502, AG, Copielettere, Busta 2993, liber 14.
12 Benedetto Capilupo to Francesco Gonzaga, February 9 1502, cited in Gardner, p. 422.
13 Isabella d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, 11 February 1502, AG, Copielettere, Busta 2993, liber 14.
14 Bernardino di Prosperi to Isabella d’Este, Ferrara, 18 February 1502, AG, Serie E XXXI.3, Busta 1238.
15 Ercole to Alexander VI, 14 February 1502, see Gregorovius, doc. 38.
16 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 18 February 1502, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1238.
17 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 26 February 1502, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1238.
18 See Gundersheimer, Art and Life at the Court of Ercole I d’Este: The ’De triumphis religionis’ of Giovanni Sabadino degli Arienti.
19 I am indebted to Dr Thomas Tuohy for this information.
20 Lucrezia’s accounts for 1507, BCAFe,Albo Estense Autografi, BCA, Classe I, 656.
21 Zambotti, p. 338. The ladies who remained were ‘Angela Borgia, Elisabetta senese [from Siena], Geronima Senese, Camilla Fiorentina [from Florence], Madona Juana Castigliana [from Castile], Black Catherina, two handmaids—Little Catherina and Eleonora, Madona Cecharella Puzeta from Naples with Cinzia and Margarita, her daughters’.
22 Zambotti, p. 337.
23 Di Prosperi to Isabella, Ferrara, 6 March 1502, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1238
24 Ibid.
25 Gundersheimer, p. 21.
26 Lucrezia to Sigismondo d’Este, Belfiore, 26 June 1502, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
27 Isabella d’Este to Lucrezia, Isabella to Geronima Borgia, Mantua, 18 February 1502, AG, Copielettere, Busta 2993, liber 12.
28 Gundersheimer, pp. 22—4.
29 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 27 June 1502, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1238.
30 Letter of 27 June 1502, in Luzio and Renier, Mantova e Urbino, p. 125.
31 Report of delegation 26 June 1502, in Bradford, p. 179.
32 Lucrezia to Ercole, 13 July 1502, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
33 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 16 July 1502, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1238.
34 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 24 July 1502, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1238.
35 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 28 July 1502, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1238.
36 Costabili to Ercole, 13 July 1502, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4758, f 169.
37 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 8 September 1502, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1238.
38 Costabili to Ercole, 8 September 1502, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4758, f 172.
39 Saraceni to Ercole, 8 September 1502, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4758, f 147.
40 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 6 October 1502, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1238.
41 Matarazzo, in Bradford, p. 182.
42 Isabella d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, 23 July 1502, in Bradford, p. 185.
43 Bradford, p. 197.
44 Gregorovius, pp. 284 – 5.
45 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 10 January 1503, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1239.
Chapter 9: The Heavens Conspire (pp. 184—207)
1 Cited in Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, p. 697.
2 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 16 January 1503, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1239.
3 Isabella d’Este to Lucrezia, 4 February 1502, AG, Copielettere, Busta 2993, liber 12.
4 Luzio, p. 699. There is no other evidence for this.
5 Lucrezia’s wardrobe inventory: Inventario di Guardaroba, ‘Inventario 1502 – 3’, ASE, Camera Ducale, Amministrazione dei Principi, Lucrezia Borgia B1137.
6 See Shankland, The Prettiest Love Letters in the World: Letters Between Lucrezia Borgia and Pietro Bembo 1503—1519, p. 21.
7 Pietro Bembo to Carlo Bembo, 15 January 1503, in Shankland.
8 Wirtz, Ercole Strozzi, Poeta Ferrarese (1473—1508), in Atti della Deputazione Ferrarese di Storia Patria, vol. 16, pt. II, p. 52.
9 3 June 1503, Shankland, Letter I.
10 Both letters of 8 June 1503, Shankland, Letters II and III.
11 19 June 1503, Shankland, Letter IV.
12 Shankland, op. cit., Letters V and VI.
13 Late June 1503, Shankland, Letter VII.
14 Cited in Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 213.
15 Costabili to Ercole, 5 July 1503, CUL,Acton MSS,Add. MSS 4759.
16 Clough, ‘Niccolò Machiavelli, Cesare Borgia and the Francesco Troche Episode’, in Medievalia et Humanistica, Fasc. 17.
17 14 July 1503, Shankland, Letter IX.
18 18 July 1503, Shankland, Letter X.
19 24 July 1503, Shankland, Letter XII.
20 12 August 1503, Shankland, Letter XIII.
21 Costabili to Ercole, 14 August 1503, CUL, Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4759.
22 22 August 1503, Shankland, Letter XIV.
23 Ercole to Seregni, Belriguardo, 24 August 1503, cited in Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, pp. 287 – 8.
24 Cavalleri to Ercole, 8 September 1503, ASE, Ambasciatori Esteri —Francia, Busta 3.
25 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 26 August 1503, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1239.
26 Francesco Gonzaga to Isabella, 22 September 1503, cited in Gregorovius, pp. 288 – 9.
27 Sanudo, I Diarii, vol. V, col. 111.
28 Lucrezia to Ercole, Medelana, 3 October [1503], misplaced by archivist under Lucrezia’s correspondence with Alfonso d’Este, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
29 Ercole to Lucrezia, Codigoro, 4 October 1503, mistranscribed by Gregorovius according to Gardner, Dukes and Poets in Ferrara, see pp. 436 – 7.
30 Document of 3 May 1503 in ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 400. Documenti riguardanti Lucrezia Borgia posteriormente al matrimonio con Alfonso I.
31 5 October 1503, Shankland, Letter XV.
32 18 October 1503, Shankland, Letter XVI.
33 25 October 1503 (Noniano) and 2 November 1503 (Ferrara), Shankland, Letters XVII and XVIII.
34 5 January 1504, Shankland, Letter XIX.
Chapter 10: The Dark Marquis (pp. 208—28)
1 See Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 252.
2 Sanudo, I Diarii, vol. V, col. 210.
3 23 September 1505, Shankland, The Prettiest Love Letters in the World: Letters Between Lucrezia Borgia and Pietro Bembo 1503—1519, Letter XXXI.
4 Zambotti, Diario Ferrarese dall’anno 1476 sino al 1504, 2 January 1504.
5 Copy letter in ASE, Cancelleria Ducale, Particolari, Busta 209, Fasc. 4 Borgia.
6 Mirafuentes had been in touch with Lucrezia as Cesare’s trusted representative via her chamberlain, Sancho, since late June. See Mirafuentes to Lucrezia, Forli, [?29] June 1504, ASE, Cancelleria Ducale, Particolari, Busta 209, Fasc. 4 Borgia.
7 Printed in Gardner, Dukes and Poets in Ferrara, pp. 444 – 5.
8 Costabili to Ercole, 4 August 1504, Gardner, p. 450n2.
9 Gardner, p. 449.
10 25 July 1504, Shankland, Letter XXVI.
11 10 February 1505, Shankland, Letter XXX.
12 Luzio, Isabella d’Este di Fronte a Giulio II, p. 14n3.
13 Dolfo, Lettere ai Gonzaga, Letter IX.
14 Ibid., Letter XXVII.
15 Ibid., Letter VII.
16 See undated letter [post 1509] by Isabella d’Este to Alfonso d’Este in ASE, Casa e Stato, Carteggio dei Principi Estensi, Busta 133.
17 Lucrezia to Francesco Gonzaga, 11 April (marked by archivist ‘1502’), mistakenly filed with Lucrezia’s correspondence with Isabella, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 1.
18 Loc. cit. supra.
19 Cited Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, p. 705.
20 Lucrezia to Ercole, 21 May 1502, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
21 Lucrezia to Francesco Gonzaga, 28 May 1504, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 1.
22 Francesco to Lucrezia, cited Luzio, p. 706n.
23 Lucrezia to Francesco, Ferrara, 13 May 1504, AG; Autografi 84, Busta 1.
24 Lucrezia to Francesco, Ferrara, 18 July 1504, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 1.
25 Alfonso d’Este to Isabella, Ferrara, 3 October 1504, AG, E XXXI.2, Busta 1189.
26 Amendola, The Mystery of the Duchess of Amalfi, pp. 174 – 6.
27 Sanudo, vol. VI, col. 30.
28 Zambotti, cited Gardner, p. 451.
29 Gardner, loc. cit. supra.
30 Luzio, pp. 705 – 6.
31 Giustinian, Dispacci, vol. 3.
Chapter 11: Duchess of Ferrara (pp. 229—49)
1 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 1 March 1505, AG, E XXXI. 3, Busta 1240.
2 Gardner, Dukes and Poets in Ferrara, p. 496.
3 Lockwood, Music in Renaissance Ferrara 1400—1500, p. 201.
4 Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, p. 710n.
5 Lucrezia to Alfonso d’Este, Modena, 1 July 1505, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
6 Jacques de Chabannes (1426 – 1525), seigneur de Lapalisse, ‘Grand Maitre’ (in Italian ‘Gran Maestro’) until 1515 when he was created Marshal of France.
7 Lucrezia to Francesco Gonzaga, Reggio, 18 August 1505, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 1.
8 Lucrezia to Ippolito d’Este, Reggio, 19 and 26 August 1505, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
9 Lucrezia to Alfonso, Reggio, 10 October 1505, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
10 30 September 1505, Shankland, The Prettiest Love Letters in the World: Letters Between Lucrezia Borgia and Pietro Bembo 1503—1519, Letter XXXII.
11 29 November 1505, Shankland, Letter XXXIII.
12 Lucrezia to Francesco, Reggio, 24 October 1505, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 1.
13 Luzio, p. 711.
14 Lucrezia to Alfonso, Borgoforte, 29 October 1505, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
15 Belriguardo, 3 November 1505, in a secretarial hand, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
16 Isabella d’Este to Alfonso d’Este, 23 September 1505, AG, Copielettere, Busta 2994, liber 18.
17 Ferrante d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, Reggio, 24 September 1505, AG, Busta 1189.
18 Alfonso d’Este to Isabella and Francesco Gonzaga, 5 and 6 November 1505, both in AG, Busta 1189.
19 Costabili to Ippolito d’Este, 14 November 1505, CUL,Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4759.
20 Bacchelli, La Congiura di Don Giulio d’Este, vol. 2, p. 85.
21 James, The Letters of Giovanni Sabadino degli Arienti (1481—1510), p. 231, n1.
22 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 24 December 1505, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1240.
Chapter 12: The Congiura (pp. 250—67)
1 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 21 March 1506, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1241.
2 Bacchelli, La Congiura di Don Giulio d’Este, vol. II, p. 179.
3 Ibid., p. 227.
4 Ibid., p. 229.
5 Lucrezia to Francesco, 28 December 1506, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 2.
6 Bradford, Cesare Borgia, p. 283.
Chapter 13: ‘Horrors and Tears’ (pp. 268 – 89)
1 Sanudo, I Diarii, vol. VII, col. 56.
2 Gardner, Dukes and Poets in Ferrara, p. 512n.
3 Lucrezia to Ippolito, 1 May 1507, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
4 Luzio, Isabella d’Este e i Borgia, pp. 725—6.
5 Letter of 27 August 1507, Luzio, p. 716.
6 Lucrezia to Francesco, Ferrara, 9 September 1507, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 2.
7 Di Prosperi gives a description of the comedy in a letter to Isabella of 8 March 1508, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1242.
8 Luzio, p. 717.
9 Ibid., p. 719n.
10 Letter of 3 April 1508, Luzio, p. 720.
11 Capilupo to Gonzaga, 11 April 1508, Luzio, p. 722.
12 Letter of 25 April 1508, Luzio, p. 724.
13 Letter of 30 August 1508, Luzio p. 154.
14 Reggio, 21 August 1508, Luzio, p. 731.
15 Mantua, 25 August 1508, Luzio, p. 732.
16 Letter of 26 August 1508, Luzio, p. 732.
17 James, The Letters of Giovanni Sabadino degli Arienti (1481 – 1510), p. 65.
18 Ibid., p. 62.
19 Lucrezia to Francesco, 30 December 1508, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 2.
20 Letter of 1 January 1509, Luzio, p. 731.
Chapter 14: The Years of War, 1509 – 12 (pp. 290 – 315)
1. See Pastor, The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages, vol. VI, p. 314.
2. Lucrezia to Alfonso, 18 July 1509, plus undated drafts, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
3. Di Prosperi to Isabella, 17 December 1509, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1242.
4. Shaw, Julius II: The Warrior Pope, p. 259.
5. Lucrezia to Francesco, Ferrara, 26 July 1510, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 2.
6. Sanudo, I Diarii, vol. XI, col. 114.
7. Ibid., col. 129.
8. Lucrezia to Francesco, 22 August 1510, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 2.
9. Sanudo, vol. XI, col. 153.
10. Luzio, Isabella d’Este di Fronte a Giulio II, pp. 8 – 9.
11. Lucrezia to Francesco, 14 October 1505, AG,Autografi 84, Busta 1.
12. Abraham Thus to Lucrezia, n.d. [?August 1510], filed with Lucrezia’s letters to Alfonso, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
13. Sanudo, vol. XI, col. 466, 25 September 1510.
14. Luzio, p. 9 and n2.
15. Lucrezia to Isabella, 10 September 1510, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 2.
16. Sanudo, vol. XI, col. 279. y. Luzio, p. 47.
18. Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, p. 332 and n.
19. Luzio, p. 59n.
20. Ibid., p. 78n.
21. Di Prosperi to Isabella, 15 April 1512, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1244.
22. Lucrezia to Francesco, Ferrara, 27 January 1512, AG,Autografi 84, Busta 3.
23. Francesco to Vigo di Camposampiero, 17 June 1512, Luzio, p. 130n.
24. Lucrezia to Isabella, 12 August 1512, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 3.
25. Luzio, p. 172.
Chapter 15: Lucrezia Triumphant (pp. 316 – 35)
1 The plaques were executed by Giannantonio da Foligno, leading member of a family of goldsmiths and engravers, originally from Foligno but for many years settled in Ferrara, where Giannantonio carried out commissions for the nobility and particularly for Lucrezia. His work features in her Inventory of jewels of 1316 – 19.
2 ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 401.
3 Gregorovius, Lucretia Borgia, p. 335.
4 21 February 1511, ‛Ordini d’Isabella d’Aragona, Duchessa di Milano – , ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 401.
5 ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 401.
6 Luzio, Isabella d’Este di Fronte a Giulio II, p. 169.
7 Ibid., p. 173n.
8 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 15 October 1512, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1244.
9 Luzio, p. 184n.
10 Lucrezia to Francesco, 4 February 1513, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 3.
11 Shaw, Julius II: The Warrior Pope, pp. 314—15.
12 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 2 April 1513, enclosing information on the banquet of I April 1513, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1245.
13 Luzio, p. 213.
14 Ibid., p. 214.
15 BCAFe, MS, coll. Antonelli, 272.
16 Lucrezia to Francesco, 7 April 1513, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 3.
17 Lucrezia to Francesco, 4 July 1515, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 3.
18 See letter by Ippolita Sforza Bentivoglio to Trissino mentioning Lucrezia’s esteem for him, I June 1512, in Morsolin, Giangiorgio Trissino. Monografia d’un gentiluomo letterato nel secolo XVI, p. 387.
19 Morsolin, Lucrezia to Trissino, Belriguardo, 18 September 1515, doc. XXX, p. 397.
20 Morsolin, Lucrezia to Trissino, Ferrara, 22 November 1515, pp. 397—8.
21 Morsolin, Lucrezia to Trissino, 26 March 1516, loc. cit. supra.
22 Morsolin, Lucrezia to Trissino, 1 June 1516, p. 404.
23 Laureati, Da Borgia a Este: due vite in quarant’anni, p. 55.
24 See Lowry, The World of Aldus Manutius: Business and Scholarship in Renaissance Venice, p. 203.
25 Canto 13.69.
26 Canto 42.83.
27 Lucrezia to Francesco, 2 January 1517, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 3.
28 Sanudo, I Diarii, vol. XXI, cols 18 – 19.
Chapter 16: The Last Year of Tranquillity (pp. 336—59)
1 Lucrezia Borgia Household Accounts, ASE, Camera Ducale, Amministrazione dei Principi, ‛Libro di entrate e uscite’, 1514 – 19, B1134.
2 BCAFe, Classe I, 656, Albo Estense Autografi.
3 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 18 February 1518, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1246.
4 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 30 August 1518, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1246.
5 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 26 December 1518, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1246.
6 Hope, ‛The “Camerini d’Alabastro” of Alfonso d’Este’, in The Burlington Magazine, vol. CXIII, no. 824, November 1971, p. 649.
7 Lucrezia to Isabella, 19 August 1518, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 4.
8 Lucrezia to Francesco, letters of 20, 21 and 23 August 1518, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 4.
9 Lucrezia to Isabella, Ferrara, 26 August 1518, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 4.
10 Lucrezia to Isabella, Ferrara, 17 October 1517, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 3.
11 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 4 March 1518, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1246.
12 Giovanni Borgia to Alfonso, 8 July [1519], ASE, Cancelleria Ducale, Particolari, Busta 209, Fasc. 4 Borgia.
13 Di Prosperi to Isabella, I May 1518, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1246.
14 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 16 June 1518.
15 ASE, Camera Ducale, Amministrazione dei Principi, Busta 1127.
16 Juan Las Cases to Lucrezia, 12 May 1518, ASE, Cancelleria Ducale, Particolari, Busta 209, Fasc. 4 Borgia.
17 Louise de Valentinois (Luisa Borgia) to Lucrezia, Lyon, 16 March [?1514] ASE, Principi Esteri.
18 ASE, Camera Ducale, Amministrazione dei Principi, B1134.
19 Di Prosperi, 26 November 1518, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1246.
20 Draft letter by Lucrezia to an unnamed cardinal, 24 November 1518, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
21 Lucrezia to Alfonso, n.d. [?1519], marked by archivist as 2 January, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
22 Vannozza to Lucrezia, February 1515, ASE, Cancelleria Ducale, Particolari, Busta 209, Fasc. 4 Borgia.
23 Vannozza to Ippolito, 14 September 1515, ASE, Cancelleria Ducale, Particolari, Busta 209, Fasc. 4 Borgia.
24 See Sacerdote, Cesare Borgia, la sua vita, la sua famiglia, e i suoi tempi, p. 843.
25 Ibid., p. 848.
26 Bonaventura Pistofilo to Lucrezia, 24 November 1518, ASE, Cancelleria Ducale, Particolari, Busta 6.
27 Pistofilo to Lucrezia, Lyons, 4 December 1518, ASE, Cancelleria Ducale, Particolari, Busta 6.
28 Lucrezia to Alfonso, Ferrara, 23 December 1518, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
Chapter 17: The End (pp. 360—66)
1 Di Prosperi to Isabella, 17 March 1519, AG, E XXXI.3, Busta 1247.
2 Lucrezia to Isabella, 31 March 1519, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 4.
3 Lucrezia to Federico Gonzaga, AG, 31 March 1519, Autografi 84, Busta 4.
4 Lucrezia to Alfonso, apparently unpublished, 26 April [1519], ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 141.
5 Lucrezia to Leo X, ASE, Carteggio tra Principi Estense, Busta 141, f 42.
6 Alfonso to Federico Gonzaga, AG, Autografi 84, Busta 4.
7 Alfonso to unnamed friend, ASE, Casa e Stato, Busta 400.