The real history of the Borgias family and their cursed ‘black legend’

Juan, on the other hand, was adored by the pope. At the request of the Catholic Monarchs, Juan was sent to Spain to be invested as Duke of Gandía and to seal the marriage arranged for him with Ferdinand II’s cousin. Alexander prepared an even more splendid future for Juan on Italian soil. He showered him with titles, honors, territories, and wealth. And Juan, though he didn’t always follow his father’s advice, knew how to talk him round. But in 1497, when Juan returned to Rome, disaster struck. He was stabbed to death by unknown assassins and thrown into the Tiber River. Alexander’s desolation was absolute: “If we had seven papacies, we would give them all to restore him to life,” he declared, weeping before the consistory.

As cardinal, Cesare from the beginning offered the pope firm support in affairs of both Church and state. An ambassador Gianandrea Boccaccio wrote of Cesare, “He is a man of great talent and of an excellent nature; his manners are those of the son of a great prince…” Perhaps his father saw in him the potential for a third Borgia pope. In any case, Alexander did not immediately give in to Cesare’s repeated requests that he be allowed to abandon his own ecclesiastical career, for which Cesare claimed he felt no vocation. The pope only accepted Cesare’s resignation as cardinal a year after Juan’s death.

Cesare recognized his father as a great master in the art of politics and the changing alliances that characterized the time. They had several shared objectives, but Cesare was aware that given his father’s age and failing health, time was running out. As commander of the papal army, Cesare conquered cities in an attempt to carve out a Borgia state. Even his allies despised his growing power, and after his father’s passing, Cesare struggled to maintain control without papal support.

(He was a Founding Father. His son sided with the British.)

Lucrezia, the most favored

Among all his children, the pope most favored Lucrezia, the jewel of the family, for her beauty, sweet nature, and refinement. There was a strong bond of affection between father and daughter. Lucrezia’s first husband was Giovanni Sforza, a relative of the Duke of Milan. That marriage failed on not only a personal level but also a political one. The marriage ended in annulment, and for Lucrezia there was a bitter epilogue. Sforza insinuated that she had engaged in an incestuous relationship with her father. Rumors spread to implicate her brothers too. Although the claim was refuted time and again, it still lingered.

Despite their familial affection, Lucrezia soon discovered that her father had as much capacity to hurt her as he had to love her, and it would be impossible to find peace so long as he could interfere in her life. So, after the murder of her second husband, Alfonso of Aragon, she married for a third time, to Alfonso d’Este, heir to the duchies of Ferrara, Modena, and Reggio. This allowed her to move far from Rome. Aware of her reasons for leaving, and of the union’s convenience for the entire family, her father accepted the separation. Of the pope’s regard for his daughter, the Duke of Ferrara’s secretary remarked, “His Holiness loves her more than any other person of his blood.”

(While Napoleon conquered nations, his sister conquered hearts.)

Sibling rivalries

Wherever the Borgia-Cattanei met, laughter, gallantry, wit, and music abounded. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Some of the natural squabbles among siblings hardened into bitterness. Lucrezia was, in a way, the one who held them together. Goffredo was particularly close to Lucrezia: They went everywhere together, and she was protective of him. They grew even closer when Lucrezia married Alfonso of Aragon, the brother of Goffredo’s wife, Sancha. Lucrezia and Sancha were great friends and neither the failure of Sancha and Goffredo’s marriage nor the death of Alfonso broke the bond of friendship between the two sisters-in-law. It was Goffredo who protected Lucrezia and Alfonso’s two-year-old son, Rodrigo, during the violent acts unleashed in Rome after the death of the pope. Little Rodrigo’s father, Alfonso of Aragon, was already dead by this point.

But the brother for whom Lucrezia had the most affinity was Juan. Between Juan and Cesare, however, the relationship was strained. Alexander had maneuvered for Juan to receive all sorts of titles and territories, believing that this was in the best interest of the wider family. Meanwhile, Cesare, despite outshining his brother intellectually, had been forced to follow an ecclesiastical path that he hated. Perhaps Cesare considered himself more qualified than his brother to become a great prince. That perception was emphasized when Juan returned to Rome and demonstrated mediocre skills on the battlefield. Though Cesare lacked Juan’s titles, his influence in the political and ecclesiastical realms went beyond that of the duke’s power. In fact, as the pope’s cardinal legate, Cesare was preparing to crown the new king of Naples, Frederick II. It was a level of authority that was difficult to surpass.

Malicious rumors circulated that both Cesare and Juan were vying for their sister-in-law, Sancha of Aragon. It is impossible to know whether or not there was any truth to the gossip. Juan did have a reputation for being a womanizer, but the story could also have been an invention of the so-called black legend. The later accusations that Cesare murdered Juan because of sexual jealousy over Sancha are also hard to prove. Such gossip, however, worked to obscure an obvious political motive for the crime. Juan had achieved enormous power on Italian soil, and his death dealt a severe blow to the power of the House the Borgia in Italy and the kingdom of Valencia. Juan’s heir was not yet three years old, showing the vulnerability of the pontiff.