1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:08,360 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaronminkie. Listener discretion is advised. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: While touring through Milan in eighteen sixteen, Lord Byron visited 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: the museum collection of the Bibliotheca Ambrosiana. Byron found himself 5 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: entranced by one particular exhibit, handwritten letters from over four 6 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: hundred years earlier between poet and his lover, Lucrezia Borgia. 7 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: The letters were displayed under glass, along with a luck 8 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,520 Speaker 1: of Lucrezia's famous blonde hair that she had cut off, 9 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: in this case to send her paramour, along with one 10 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: of the letters. Lord Byron being Lord Byron, he couldn't 11 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: resist the urge to look around, be sure no one 12 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: was watching, and then take some of the hair for himself. 13 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:06,479 Speaker 1: Byron could never resist a woman or the glamor of fame, 14 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 1: and Lucrezia Borgia was famous in her lifetime. She was 15 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: a central figure in the Italian social scene, the illegitimate 16 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: daughter of a man who would then go on to 17 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: become the Pope, she was a member of one of 18 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: the era's most powerful families, the Borges. Even while she 19 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: was alive, rumors about Lucrezia spread wildly, but after her 20 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: death especially, she became a larger than life figure, a 21 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: Lady Macbeth, villainous, a conniving poisoner, a usurper, a man eater. Famously, 22 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: Lucrezia Borgia was said to have owned a ring where 23 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: instead of a stone, there was a hollow chamber that 24 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: she could fill with powdered poison in order to surreptitiously 25 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: murder her enemies. For the record, there's no evidence that 26 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: that actually existed. Though political murders were happening all around her, 27 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: several at the behest of her family, there's no actual 28 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: evidence that Lucrezia was involved in any of them at all. 29 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: It's rare for me in an episode of Noble Blood 30 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: to come to an understanding that a figure or any 31 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: historical event is less interesting than most people understand it 32 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: to be. But in Lucrezia Borgia's case it might be true. 33 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,919 Speaker 1: The rumors and speculation around her in the centuries since 34 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: her death have loomed so large that in researching her life, 35 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: I felt not unlike a Renaissance artist chipping away at 36 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: a block of marble. You begin with a block of stone, 37 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: A story high and then carve away piece by piece 38 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: until what's left a woman just human sized? So was 39 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: she a fen fatale or maybe she was just a 40 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: blonde bimbo manipulated by the more powerful men in her life, 41 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: her father and her brother. What if the answer is neither, 42 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: what then what's left? There's a painting that I think 43 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: embodies the strange marriage between the perception and the reality 44 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,919 Speaker 1: of Lucrezia Borgia. It's called Lucrezia Borgia reigns in the 45 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,799 Speaker 1: Vatican in the absence of Pope Alexander the sixth It 46 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: was painted around by Frank Cadogan Cowper and it currently 47 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: hangs in the Tape in London. The painting is of 48 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: a Vatican throne room, painted almost entirely in reds. The 49 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: cardinals surrounding the papal throne look more like flames, and 50 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: in the center of the canvas, where the Pope should 51 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: be sitting, is instead his daughter. The at t a Borgia, 52 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: a vision in orange yellow, almost glowing golden. The artist's 53 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: rendition is actually based on a true event in which 54 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: Lucrezia scandalized the Vatican by taking her father's place in 55 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:22,279 Speaker 1: his seat, but the artist imagined something one step further. 56 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:27,840 Speaker 1: The artist painted two cardinals pulling away at either side 57 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: of Lucrezia's dress to allow a friar to kiss her feet. 58 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: That almost certainly never happened, But in the painting it is, 59 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:45,039 Speaker 1: at least to my eyes, unambiguously sexual symbolism. Whatever was 60 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: true or false in terms of rumors about Lucrezia's life, 61 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: that symbolic implication at least was true. Here was a 62 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: woman more sexual than sixteenth century Italy wanted her to 63 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:02,479 Speaker 1: be more powerful, and they wanted her to be and 64 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: glowing or not, nobody could take their eyes off of her. 65 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: I'm Danis Schwartz, and this is noble blood. In the 66 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: fifteenth century, the notion of a pope having children was 67 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: considered far less outrageous than it might sound today. Though 68 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:34,280 Speaker 1: Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia had gone through the motions briefly pretending 69 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: that the four children that he had with his married 70 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: mistress were his nephews and niece. Eventually he lifted his 71 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:47,159 Speaker 1: hands and admitted that he had four children, Chessire, Giovanni, Lucrezia, 72 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 1: and Geoffrey. Their mother, Venoza, was a notoriously famous beauty 73 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 1: of Rome, and though she was, as previously mentioned, married, 74 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: she was also the favorite of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia. At 75 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: this point, the Borges had limited but significant power. The 76 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 1: borgia Is already had a pope in their family, trade 77 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: Pope Callixtus the Third, but they were still considered outsiders 78 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: in Italian society. For one, they weren't really Italian. The 79 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: Borges were actually Catalan, and they had lived in the 80 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 1: formerly Moorish currently Spanish kingdom of Valencia, as they did 81 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: with most other Catalans. Italians thought of the Borgia's as 82 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 1: tight fisted and ruthless. They referred to them as Morani 83 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: or secret Jews, and so even as the Borgias became 84 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: more powerful in Italy, they remained a tight knit family 85 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: above all else. They spoke Catalan amongst themselves, and they 86 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 1: had their own internal loyalties. They were all raised believing 87 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:03,359 Speaker 1: in in us versus them mentality. If you've watched or 88 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: read Game of Thrones, certain parallels will reveal themselves soon enough, 89 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: and I suspect that George R. Martin might have been 90 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: a little bit inspired by the Borgia family, especially when 91 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: building the personalities of the Landisters. When Lucrezia Borgia was twelve, 92 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: her father was elected Pope Alexander the sixth. There were 93 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: rumors even then that he had bought the seat with bribery, 94 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: or that it was nepotism because his uncle had been 95 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: pope already, and both of those things may have been factors, 96 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: but probably a more important factor is that Borgia was 97 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: seen as a centrist candidate. The other powerful families vying 98 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: for pope had their own rivalries and loyalties. Bourgea wasn't 99 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: to pro France or to Milanaise. The Borgia's just mostly 100 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: looked out for the Borgia's. And a brief note from 101 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 1: this point in the story, I'll be referring to Lucrezia's 102 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: father by his papal name Alexander for clarity. Even though 103 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: he was born Rodrigo, at this point in history, there 104 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: was very little stigma attached to the fact that Alexander's 105 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: four children were bastards, just as there was really no 106 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: stigma attached to the fact that Alexander was about to 107 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: use his new found powers as pope to advance his 108 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: family's position. It's what all the popes did in this case. 109 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: Advancing his family meant advantageous marriages. By the time she 110 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: was twelve, Lucrezia had already been engaged three times. It 111 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: wasn't hard to find her matches even from a young age. 112 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: She had golden hair and bright white teeth. She was 113 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:55,560 Speaker 1: charming and well educated. But then her father was elected 114 00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: pope and her prospects got a whole lot better. In 115 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: fourte three, when Lucrezia was just thirteen years old, she 116 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: was married to a man nearly fifteen years her senior, 117 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: a man named Giovanni Sparza of the powerful Sparza family. 118 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: Giovanni was the nephew of the Duke of Milan, and 119 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: even though Lucrezia and her new husband remained in Rome, 120 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: it was important for the Boorges to have allies in 121 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 1: northern Italy. But as it turned out, that alliance was 122 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: more temporarily important. Lucrezia and Giovanni had been married only 123 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: a year when the Sparzas began to seem like a liability. 124 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: A lot of complicated political maneuvering is happening behind the 125 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: scenes in Italy at this moment, But to make a 126 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: long story short, the Duke of Milan allied with the 127 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: King of France against the Pope still in Rome, Giovanni 128 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: was stranded metaphorically in the belly of the beast, not 129 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: quite sure if she was supposed to ally himself with 130 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: his uncle but of Milan or with his wife's powerful family. 131 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: But for the Borges, their choice of loyalty was entirely clear. 132 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: Lucrezia's older brother, Chessire, met with her one afternoon and 133 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 1: calmly explained to her that her husband would need to 134 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: be killed so that she could be remarried to someone 135 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: who could actually help them politically. Lucrezia panicked. She liked 136 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: her husband, they were genuinely fond of each other, and 137 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:33,840 Speaker 1: so she ran home that afternoon and warned him. Giovanni 138 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: fled to Milan disguised as a beggar. We can just 139 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: imagine Pope Alexander putting his head in his hand and sighing, 140 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: saying something like, darn, it's going to be so much 141 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: harder for you to get out of that marriage now, Lucrezia. Now, 142 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: the Borges only had one option to get Lucrezia out 143 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: of that marriage. That option was annulling it. With them 144 00:10:56,280 --> 00:11:00,200 Speaker 1: being Catholic and their father being the Pope meant the 145 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 1: only way to do that was to claim that the 146 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: marriage had never been consummated. Well, that was a bit 147 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: of a laugh. There was absolutely no reason to believe 148 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: that that was true, and all of Rome knew it. No, 149 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: it's true, Chess, he said, It's Giovanni's fault. He is impotent. 150 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:20,679 Speaker 1: Ignore the fact that he had already been married once 151 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 1: and his first wife died in childbirth. He never consummated 152 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,439 Speaker 1: the marriage with my sister because he's impotent. Trust me. 153 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: The Borges were going to force Giovanni Sparza to sign 154 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,200 Speaker 1: a statement to that effect, which he eventually did, but 155 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,280 Speaker 1: not without lashing out in his own way, saying that 156 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: maybe the Boorges only wanted Lucrezia single so that they 157 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:46,920 Speaker 1: could have her for themselves. Alexander, her father, and Ssary. 158 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:51,959 Speaker 1: The Borges were notoriously close, weren't they. This is about 159 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:55,319 Speaker 1: when the rumors of incest began, but those rumors would 160 00:11:55,320 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: continue on for the rest of Lucrezia's life. While the 161 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:08,560 Speaker 1: annulment was working itself out, Lucrezia needed to get out 162 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 1: of the picture, just to be put aside so that 163 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: no one in Rome would think about her for a 164 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: little while, and you know, maybe just in case she 165 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: had gotten pregnant from her first husband, to make sure 166 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 1: that no one could see it lest they believed that 167 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: the marriage had been consummated, and so Lucrezia was sent 168 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: to a nunnery outside the city. But two unfortunate incidents 169 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: occurred in the months after lucrezia separation from her first 170 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: husband that would begin the tarnish on her reputation. First, 171 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: on Valentine's Day fourteen ninety eight, a young Spaniard named 172 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 1: Pedro called her own, known colloquially as Perotto, who worked 173 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: in the Pope's chamber, was found dead in the Tiber 174 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: River along with one of Lucrezia's ladies. Speculation ran rampant 175 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:04,200 Speaker 1: that Lucrezia had been having an affair with Piroto and 176 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: that her brother Chessia had had him killed in order 177 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,559 Speaker 1: to protect his sister's reputation. Although before you think I'm 178 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: accusing Chessire of brotherly kindness, protecting Lucrezia's reputation really just 179 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: meant protecting her marriage prospects. And then the second incident, 180 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: a Borgia baby was born, and no one seemed to 181 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,720 Speaker 1: be sure whose it was. The baby was initially known 182 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 1: as the Infant Romanus or the Infant of Rome, but 183 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,360 Speaker 1: he would later be known as Giovanni. There are a 184 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:44,239 Speaker 1: lot of Giovanni's in this story. The most likely explanation 185 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: for the baby is that he was Pope Alexander's child, 186 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: and the Pope even admitted so much in a papal 187 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:54,160 Speaker 1: bull later in his life. But early on, right after 188 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 1: the baby appeared, they said it was chess Eire's child 189 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,320 Speaker 1: out of wedlock before he got married. But Lucrezia had 190 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: been sent away and her marriage being unconsummated was essential 191 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 1: to her family's political dealings. What if people thought the 192 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:16,839 Speaker 1: baby was hers and it was result of I don't know, 193 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: incest with her father, or and here you can cue 194 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: the Game of Thrones theme song, what if it was 195 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: a result of incest with her brother? Again, there was 196 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:33,080 Speaker 1: no evidence to support this, and most historians agree. Now 197 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: the child was almost certainly Pope Alexander's, possibly Chanceres, but 198 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:43,840 Speaker 1: really probably not Lucrezia's. Still, the Boers has had power, 199 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: and other families of Italy wanted that power. Rumors were 200 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: a weapon. When Lucrezia turned eighteen, it was time for 201 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: her to get married. Again and again, death, tragedy and 202 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 1: rumors would follow behind her. This time, Pope Alexander wanted 203 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 1: to secure the Borgia position with the royal family of 204 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Naples. Naples was in a precarious position 205 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 1: under the threat of King Charles the eighth of France, 206 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: who claimed the throne for himself through a certain inherited lineage. 207 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: Not to get too deep into the weeds of these politics, 208 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: but the Pope's youngest son, Geoffrey, had already married the 209 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,920 Speaker 1: daughter of the King of Naples, a girl named Sancha, 210 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: although seeing her name spelled out s A n c 211 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: I A, you might be forgiven for mispronouncing it Sansa. 212 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: Geoffrey and Santa is another fun little layer of Game 213 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:55,400 Speaker 1: of Thrones intrigue into the mix. But back to Lucrezia. 214 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 1: Lucrezia was going to get married to the King of 215 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: naples illegitimate son, Alfonso, Duke of Bichellier, the half brother 216 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 1: of Sancha, but that marriage wasn't the Pope's end game. 217 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 1: The thing was their dad, Alfonso and Sancha's dad wasn't 218 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: the king anymore. He had died and their uncle became 219 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: the king and the new king had a daughter, Carlotta, 220 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: that the Pope really wanted for his eldest son, chess Are, 221 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: so as sort of a consolation prize, he was marrying 222 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: Lucrezia to the illegitimate but still titled and important Duke 223 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: of Bichellier, hoping it would be a foothold for Carlotta 224 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: to get with chess Are. That marriage for chess Are 225 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 1: never worked out, although jess a A did end up 226 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: having an affair with Sancha, his younger brother's wife. In 227 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: her defense, relatively, she was sixteen when she was married 228 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: to a twelve year old Geoffrey, but what can I say? 229 00:16:54,600 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: The Borgias were very scandalous and very messy. As for 230 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,159 Speaker 1: Lucrezia and husband number two, it seemed like she had 231 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:07,800 Speaker 1: finally struck the jackpot, at least in terms of her 232 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 1: own personal happiness. Another quick aside, there is just an 233 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:16,440 Speaker 1: influx of Alphonso's in this story, and so for clarity, 234 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:20,080 Speaker 1: husband number two will be referred to by his title Bachelier. 235 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: Lucrezia and Bichellier were only a year apart in age, 236 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: and he was known to be tall and graceful, athletic 237 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: and handsome. Their wedding was private, but we know details 238 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:37,399 Speaker 1: from Sanche's writing. We know that Lucrezia wore addressed with 239 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,719 Speaker 1: jewel studded sleeves and a French style robe with black 240 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:46,639 Speaker 1: thread and a red velvet trim. Pearls encircled her belt 241 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 1: and her neck, and her cap was embroidered with glittering gems. 242 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:57,880 Speaker 1: She wore a gold circlet crown in her golden blonde hair. 243 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,280 Speaker 1: The groom were a broach that his new bride had 244 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:06,680 Speaker 1: given him. The festivities were as magnificent as he might 245 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:11,159 Speaker 1: expect from a Borgia party. After the ceremony, there was 246 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,960 Speaker 1: another raucous after party, and marvelous tableaus were set up 247 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 1: to amuse the guests throughout the Borgia apartments. In one 248 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:24,240 Speaker 1: tableau there was an intricate fountain. Another was a room 249 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,640 Speaker 1: all made up to look like the woods, and members 250 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: of the Borgia family dressed up as wild animals. Chessire 251 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: dressed as a unicorn, his younger, cockolded little brother was 252 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:42,119 Speaker 1: given a sea goose costume. For a short while, the 253 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: Cretia and her husband were living a life together, she 254 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:51,359 Speaker 1: lost a pregnancy, but eventually she became pregnant again. The 255 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: two lived together in relative happiness in Rome, but politics 256 00:18:56,600 --> 00:19:04,640 Speaker 1: were still happening in the world all around them. This 257 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: is going to be a vast oversimplification, but I hope 258 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 1: it at least serves as a decent overview. Naples was 259 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,160 Speaker 1: in a precarious position. It was under threat by King 260 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 1: Charles the Eighth of France, who claimed the throne of 261 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 1: Naples for himself through a sort of convoluted lineage. But 262 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: then King Charles the Eighth died in France without a director, 263 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,199 Speaker 1: which meant that his second cousin, once removed, Louis the 264 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: twelfth inherited France, and he also inherited Charles's claim to 265 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 1: the throne of Naples. But there was something else. Louis 266 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: the Twelfth wanted Brittany. Brittany wasn't part of France at 267 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: the time, and the former king only had it because 268 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: he had been married to the Duchess of Brittany named Anne. Well, 269 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,880 Speaker 1: Great Louis the twelfth would marry Anne of Brittany too. 270 00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:02,200 Speaker 1: The only problem was Louis was already married. There's a 271 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:04,560 Speaker 1: quick answer to that. You just need the pope to 272 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 1: take care of it. An alliance was born. Pope Alexander 273 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,440 Speaker 1: annulled louis marriage so he could marry the Duchess of Brittany, 274 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:17,200 Speaker 1: and in exchange, Louis gave the Pope's son chits Or, 275 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: a duchy military assistant, and a bride, a Princess of Navarre. 276 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,119 Speaker 1: All of this is to say, through a convoluted series 277 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:31,920 Speaker 1: of events, the Boorges became allied with France, and they 278 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:35,960 Speaker 1: supported the French claim to Naples and not the claim 279 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,879 Speaker 1: of the Italian royal family of Naples. The family of 280 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:46,399 Speaker 1: Lucrezia's husband, Michelier, sensed that the winds were changing, and 281 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,639 Speaker 1: he fled Rome when his wife was six months pregnant. 282 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: The Pope was furious and sent out men to find him. 283 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: They couldn't, And yet, even though he was home free, 284 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:02,159 Speaker 1: Chellier returned to Rome for the birth of his child 285 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,919 Speaker 1: at his wife's behest. The way it looked later, it 286 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:16,920 Speaker 1: looked likely Crezzia alured him back into a trap. As 287 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:22,479 Speaker 1: the sun set on July dred Butchellier was strolling up 288 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,640 Speaker 1: the steps of St. Peter's Basilica when before he reached 289 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:31,320 Speaker 1: the threshold, he was accosted by a group of assassins. 290 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:37,199 Speaker 1: The assassins stabbed him in the head, in the right arm, 291 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: and in the leg. While the Chellier bled on the stairs, 292 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:45,320 Speaker 1: the assassins tried to snatch him up and carry him away, 293 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:50,360 Speaker 1: but then guards came out and the assassins fled. There 294 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,120 Speaker 1: wasn't much time to save his life, or any time 295 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,960 Speaker 1: at all. He needed to get to safety, and so 296 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,359 Speaker 1: he was brought inside the Borgia Tower, where his sister 297 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: Sancha and his wife Lucrezia wept over his body while 298 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:10,120 Speaker 1: he slept. Lucrezia knew that her brother was behind it, 299 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,920 Speaker 1: but there was nothing she could do about that. All 300 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,920 Speaker 1: she could do in the meantime was prepare her husband's 301 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: food just to be sure it wasn't poisoned, and send 302 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,880 Speaker 1: for her husband's own doctors from Naples to take care 303 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:26,919 Speaker 1: of him. And for a few weeks it looked like 304 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,400 Speaker 1: he was getting better. Baschellier was going to survive his wounds. 305 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:37,240 Speaker 1: To sorry ever, acting innocent, came one morning to visit 306 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,400 Speaker 1: his brother in law. He leaned in close to give 307 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:44,320 Speaker 1: Bachelier a kiss on the cheek. What didn't happen at 308 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:49,760 Speaker 1: lunch can still happen at dinner, he whispered. A month later, 309 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:55,439 Speaker 1: Bachellier was strangled in his bed. The assassins were never caught. 310 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: Lucrezia was heartbroken. She went into deep mourning, signing letters 311 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:08,440 Speaker 1: to her family as Latin filicima, the extremely unhappy one. 312 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,440 Speaker 1: She was only twenty years old and she had already 313 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:17,200 Speaker 1: had two husbands. Maybe she was cursed like everyone said, 314 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:22,199 Speaker 1: but her family wouldn't let her mourn for long. In 315 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:26,920 Speaker 1: fifteen o two, she was married yet again to another Alfonso, 316 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:32,680 Speaker 1: Alfonso d'Este, who had later become the Duke of Ferrara. Alfonso, 317 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: for his part, was, and I'll say maybe justifiably hesitant 318 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:43,760 Speaker 1: to marry into this incredibly conniving, bloodthirsty family. It objectively 319 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 1: had not worked out for either of his predecessors. The 320 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 1: Duke sent a group of ambassadors to Rome to scope 321 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:55,399 Speaker 1: Lucrezia out, and the report came back spotless. One of 322 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: his ambassadors wrote of Lucrezia quote, she is a wise lady, 323 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: and it is not only my opinion, but that of 324 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 1: the whole company. And so Alfonso agreed to the marriage. 325 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: It turns out he had a lot in common with Lucrezia. 326 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: He was only twenty four and a widower himself. The 327 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 1: pair were married and for the first time in Lucrezia's life, 328 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,400 Speaker 1: she lived away from Rome and away from the direct 329 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:27,160 Speaker 1: influence of her powerful father and brother. As the Duchess 330 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: of Ferrara, Lucrezia Sword, she was accomplished and widely praised 331 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 1: for her beauty and leadership. This would be the longest 332 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 1: marriage of her life, lasting seventeen years, though neither party 333 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 1: was faithful. Lucrezia, in classic Boorgia fashion, had an affair 334 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:51,360 Speaker 1: with her husband's brother in law, the husband of her 335 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,720 Speaker 1: husband's sister, and of course she also had an affair 336 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,680 Speaker 1: with the much older poet whose love letters to her 337 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,679 Speaker 1: Lord Byron would one day call the prettiest love letters 338 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: in the world. But there was one dark spot to 339 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,920 Speaker 1: her life in Ferrara. She was never allowed to see 340 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:20,200 Speaker 1: her son, Rodrigo again, her firstborn that she had with 341 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:25,320 Speaker 1: her second husband. The idea coming into her third marriage 342 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: was that she still had to sort of ostensibly present 343 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,959 Speaker 1: herself as if she was a virgin, even though by 344 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: that point everyone knew the jig was up. Throughout Rodrigo's 345 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:39,560 Speaker 1: entire young life, she begged to see him. She would 346 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,719 Speaker 1: send him gifts and letters. She sent him a tutor 347 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: from university in Ferrara. She didn't get to see him 348 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:51,160 Speaker 1: until he was twelve years old. After he already died, 349 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 1: Lucrezia was able to travel to where he had been living, 350 00:25:55,960 --> 00:26:01,360 Speaker 1: where she stayed for a month in mourning. Lucrezia's own 351 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 1: end would be far less dramatic than her life. She 352 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:09,680 Speaker 1: outlived her oldest son, her father, and her older brother Chesare, 353 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,680 Speaker 1: and over the course of her multiple marriages she would 354 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 1: have eight known children, at least one stillborn, and several miscarriages. 355 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 1: It would be during the birth of what might have 356 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 1: been her ninth child, Isabella, that Lucrezia, then thirty nine, 357 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: would finally fall. It was the burden of all women, 358 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:38,120 Speaker 1: the risk of childbirth, that looming specter. Her father, Pope Alexander, 359 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: died in fifteen o three, and with his death came 360 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:46,160 Speaker 1: the fall in power for the whole Bourgah clan. Lucrezia's 361 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 1: brother Cesare had been forced to flee Italy, and he 362 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: attempted to capture Navarre. In a military battle in fifteen 363 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,040 Speaker 1: o seven. He was chasing an enemy group of knights, 364 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: only to be ambushed an attacked, killed by a spear. 365 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 1: The enemy men stripped him of all of his fine 366 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:09,680 Speaker 1: clothing and valuables and left him alone with just a 367 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: single red tile covering his genitals and the leather mask 368 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:17,879 Speaker 1: that he wore later in life to cover the half 369 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:22,240 Speaker 1: of his face that had become grossly disfigured thanks to Syphilers. 370 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 1: With the deaths of Chesire and Pope Alexander came the 371 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: death of Borgia's central power and protection. The rumors and 372 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: stories about Lucrezia had always been there, but now more 373 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:42,360 Speaker 1: quickly came the slander and accusations. Some of the stories 374 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:47,440 Speaker 1: were probably warranted. The Borgia's as a whole were murderous 375 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: and promiscuous, but Lucrezia would always be cast as the 376 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: fun fatale, the murderous black widow. It's an archetype, so compelling, 377 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:04,480 Speaker 1: so romantic, but sometimes it's hard to find the woman underneath. 378 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: That's the story of Lucrezia Borgia. But stick around after 379 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: a brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more 380 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: about the overall legacy of the Borgias. Lucrezia has been 381 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:36,640 Speaker 1: immortalized in books and plays and operas hundreds of times, 382 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:42,120 Speaker 1: but her brother Tessare has an even more impressive literary legacy. 383 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,520 Speaker 1: Tessire had been ruthless in his pursuit of power, using 384 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: his father's papal armies and his own mercenaries to expand 385 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: his land and his family's influence. Chess Are was so 386 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 1: notable that he caught the interest of the political theorist 387 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:04,000 Speaker 1: Niccolo Macchiavelli. It was Chessire Borgia who inspired what would 388 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: become Machiavelli's most famous work. Some say that Machiavelli wrote 389 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 1: it ironically as a tongue in cheek critique of power. 390 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:21,280 Speaker 1: Plenty of people take it completely earnestly, but Machiavelli had 391 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:25,560 Speaker 1: watched Chessire Borgia operate, and he would use that as 392 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: his playbook, his template when he sat down to write 393 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 1: his treatise, The Prince. Noble Blood is a production of 394 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,920 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. 395 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: The show was written and hosted by Dani Schwartz and 396 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: produced by Aaron Manky, Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, and Trevor Young. 397 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:54,880 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is on social media at Noble Blood Tales, 398 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,040 Speaker 1: and you can learn more about the show over at 399 00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:00,080 Speaker 1: Noble Blood tails dot com. For more podcasts from I 400 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,720 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 401 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,640 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. M M