Before Henry VIII, before Louis XVI, there was a dynasty in Italy so corrupt, so scandalous, gluttonous, hedonistic, that the others don’t even compare. But this was not a royal family. These were not kings, they were popes, cardinals, bishops. These were holy men, men of the church. Men whose unholy actions may very well have helped spark the dissatisfaction that led to the protestant reformation. These men were part of the house of Borgia, one of the most infamous families in Italy by the turn of the 16th century. They lied, they cheated, they murdered, they did whatever they had to do to get what they wanted - power. But they weren’t all men. One well known daughter of the House of Borgia, Lucrezia Borgia, has had her name drug through the mud right along with her disreputable male relatives. She’s been called a murderer, a whore, accused of incest and even witchcraft. History has cast Lucrezia as an evil seductress deserving of the Borgia reputation that her father and brother gained. But was she really? Or was she, like so many women of her time, simply a pawn in the hands of men behaving very badly? Let’s fix that.

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Sources:

• Brooklyn Museum "Lucrezia Borgia"
• Hektoen International "Lucrezia Borgia - victim of her times"
• Encyclopedia Britannica "Lucrezia Borgia"
• Encyclopedia Britannica "Borgia Family"
• ThoughtCo "The Rise and Fall of the Borgia Family"
• Daily Mail "An orgy loving Pope, his..."
• Marca "Pope Francis net worth 2023"
• The Week "The dress that ignited the slave trade"

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