Ferrara, once one of the most glittering courts of Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, sank into apathy under papal governance, becoming a shadow of its former self. There is still a romance about Ferrara. Boswell viewed it as ‘the beautiful remains of a great city’, while in 1846 Dickens wrote of the appeal of ‘the long silent streets and the dismantled palaces where ivy waves in lieu of banners’. Gabriele d’Annunzio called it ‘a city of silence’. The glory of the Este, however, has gone.
Archives
Cambridge University Library Archives, Acton Papers (CUL)
Acton MSS, Add. MSS 4757: correspondence of Gian Luca Pozzi in Rome with Ercole I d’Este concerning Lucrezia’s marriage; correspondence of Gherardus Saraceni and Hector Berlinguer re the same and minutes by Ercole to the above
Add. MSS 4758: correspondence of Beltrando de’ostabili in Rome with Ercole
Add. MSS 4759: correspondence of Beltrando de‘Costabili in Rome concerning illness and death of Alexander VI and fate of Cesare, and Julius II’s reaction to attack on Giulio d’Este
Biblioteca Comunale Ariostea di Ferrara (BCAFe)
Lucrezia’s accounts for 1507, Albo Estense Autografi, BCA, Classe 1, 656
Papal brief to Lucrezia of 1516 concerning San Bernardino, MS coll. Antonelli, 272
Archivio di Stato di Mantova, Archivio Gonzaga (AG)
Correspondence Lucrezia Borgia to Francesco Gonzaga:Autografi 84, Busta 1, Busta 2, Busta 3, Busta 4, Serie E XXXi.2, Busta 1189
Correspondence Lucrezia Borgia to Isabella d’Este: Autografi 84, Busta 1, Busta 2, Busta 3, Busta 4, Serie E XXXi.2 Busta 1189
Isabella d’Este to Lucrezia Borgia, Copielettere, Busta 2993, 2994, liber 12, liber 15, liber 18
Isabella d’Este Family Correspondence: Copielettere to Francesco Gonzaga, Ercole d’Este, Ferrante and Servitors with correspondence from the Este family, Busta 2993, liber 12, 13, 14
Isabella d’Este to Cesare Borgia, Busta 2993, liber 14
Ippolito d’Este to Isabella, Busta 1189; Alfonso d’Este to Isabella d’Este, E XXXI.2., Busta 1189, Alfonso d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, E XXX 1.2., Busta 1189, Isabella d’Este to Alfonso d’Este, Busta 2994, liber 18; Ferrante d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, Busta 1189; Giulio d’Este to Francesco Gonzaga, and to Isabella d’Este, Busta 1189
Bernardino di Prosperi to Isabella d’Este, 1502-19. More than seven hundred letters written from Ferrara covering the period of Lucrezia’s life there: this is probably the most important and largely unexplored source providing not only an almost daily record of her life but a full chronicle of social and political events and people at court and in the city. Serie E XXX 1.3. Buste 1238 – 47
Archivio di Stato di Milano, Archivio Sforzesco (ASF)
Potenze Estere, Roma. Reg. Cartella 107; 109; 116; 123; 124; 126; 127;128
Potenze Estere, Marca. Reg. Cartella 153
Potenze Estere, Mantova. Reg. Cartella 400
Archivio di Stato di Modena, Archivio Segreto Estense (ASE)
Correspondence Francesco Gonzaga to Lucrezia Borgia: Carteggio dei Principi Esteri, Busta 1181
Lucrezia Borgia correspondence with members of the Este family: Casa e Stato:
Lucrezia to Ercole 1. Busta 141, Ercole I to Lucrezia, Camera Ducale, Minutario, Busta 5, Minute Ducali, Busta 69
Lucrezia to Alfonso I d’Este. Casa e Stato, Busta 141, Alfonso I d’Este to Lucrezia. Casa e Stato, Carteggio dei Principi Estensi, Busta 75
Lucrezia to Cardinal Ippolito d’Este. Casa e Stato, Busta 141
Lucrezia to Sigismondo d’Este, Casa e Stato, Busta 141
Lucrezia to Ferrante d’Este, Casa e Stato, Busta 141
Lucrezia to Giulio d’Este, Casa e Stato, Busta 141
Lucrezia Borgia General Correspondence, Casa e Stato, Busta 141, Carteggio tra Principi Estensi
Letters by members of the Borgia family and others: Cancelleria Ducale, Particolari, Busta 209, Fasc. 4 Borgia
Documents concerning Lucrezia Borgia anterior to her marriage to Alfonso I, Casa e Stato, Busta 400
Documents concerning Lucrezia Borgia posterior to her marriage to Alfonso I, Casa e Stato, Busta 400
Documents concerning the Borgia family: Casa e Stato, Busta 401, other documents relating to Rodrigo d’Aragona, Duke of Bisceglie. Casa e Stato, Busta 401, documents relating to the estate of Rodrigo d’Aragona, Duke of Bisceglie, Busta 400 ‘
Computo delle nozze della Ill. Madama Lucrezia 1501 – 1502’ [Lists of Jewels given by Ercole I to Lucrezia in 1502, and of her company on her wedding journey to Ferrara] Camera Ducale, Amministrazione dei Principi, n. 1128
Inventario di Guardaroba: ‘Inventario 1502 – 3’, Camera Ducale, Amministrazione dei Principi – Lucrezia Borgia B1137
Lucrezia Borgia Household Accounts, ibid.: B1138 1506 – 8; B1131 1507 – 9; B1133 1506; B1132 1517 – 20, B1134 1514 – 19; B1136 1518 – 19
Bulls and papal briefs concerning Camerino: the creation of the duchy and its Duke, Giovanni Borgia. Camera Ducale, Amministrazione dei Principi, Busta 1127
Isabella d’Este to Alfonso I d’Este, Casa e Stato, Carteggio dei Principi Estensi, Busta 133
Ercole I d’Este correspondence with his ambassador in France, Bartolommeo de’Cavalleri: Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, 1500 – 1501, Busta 3
Ercole I d’Este correspondence with his ambassadors in Rome, Gian Luca Pozzi and Gherardo Saraceni, Ambasciatori Esteri – Roma, 1501 – 2, Busta 12
Ferrarese Ambassadors Manfredi and Cavalleri to Ercole I and Alfonso I concerning the marriage negotiations and posterior events including the death of Alexander VI and the fortunes of Cesare Borgia, 1503 – 4, 1506 – 7,Ambasciatori Esteri – Francia, Buste 3 and 4
Ercole I d’Este, Letterbook [Minutario] drafts of letters to various correspondents including the various ambassadors, Lucrezia, Cesare Borgia, Isabella d’Este and others, 1501 – 2, Cancelleria Ducale, Busta 5
Archivio Segreto Vaticano (ASV)
Borgia Family Letters: A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5027; A.A. ARM I – XVIII, 5024
Source Notes
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], f
it 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.
Lucrezia Borgia Page 42