Synopses & Reviews
The most notorious woman of the Renaissance as seen in a dazzling new light by a
New York Times bestselling biographer.
The very name Lucrezia Borgia conjures up everything that was sinister and corrupt about the Renaissance incest, political assassination, papal sexual abuse, poisonous intrigue, unscrupulous power grabs. Yet as bestselling biographer Sarah Bradford reveals in this breathtaking new portrait, the truth is far more fascinating than the myth. Neither a vicious monster nor a seductive pawn, Lucrezia Borgia was a shrewd, determined woman who used her beauty and intelligence to secure a key role in the political struggles of her day.
Born the illegitimate daughter of Rodrigo Cardinal Borgia and his scheming mistress, Vannozza Cattanei, Lucrezia was twelve when her father became Pope Alexander VI and thirteen when she was forced into her first marriage. She would marry twice more, gaining increasing power with each match, until she came into her own as duchess of the city-state of Ferrara. Bradford argues that in her maturity Lucrezia was an enlightened ruler, kind and decisive in time of war, generous to the poets and artists of her court, passionate in love, and utterly indifferent to sexual morality.
Drawing from a trove of contemporary documents and fascinating firsthand accounts, Bradford brings to life the art, the pageantry, and the dangerous politics of the Renaissance world Lucrezia Borgia helped to create. Bradford is an expert on the Borgia family and in Lucrezia she has found a subject ideally suited to her gift for narrative and psychological insight. Sex, gossip, murder, astonishing beauty, and ambition this is the Renaissance at its most irresistible.
Review
"A thoroughly researched, gracefully written revision of the most beguiling Borgia." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Bradford sees Lucrezia neither as a helpless victim nor a femme fatale but as a resourceful individual an able administrator, a genuinely religious woman, and the equal in political skill, if not in brutality, of her notorious male relatives." The New Yorker
Review
"Since no portrait of Lucrezia Borgia as a true Renaissance woman would be complete without a trace of scandal, this compelling biography is irresistibly interwoven with plenty of period gossip, sex, and intrigue." Booklist (Starred Review)
Synopsis
The astonishing life of a long-misunderstood Renaissance virago Wife, mother, leader, warrior. Caterina Riario Sforza was one of the most prominent women in Renaissance Italyand#8212;and one of the most vilified. In this glittering biography, Elizabeth Lev reexamines her extraordinary life and accomplishments. Raised in the court of Milan and wed at age ten to the popeand#8217;s corrupt nephew, Caterina was ensnared in Italyand#8217;s political intrigues early in life. After turbulent years in Romeand#8217;s papal court, she moved to the Romagnol province of Forland#236;. Following her husbandand#8217;s assassination, she ruled Italyand#8217;s crossroads with iron will, martial strength, political savvyand#8212;and an iconand#8217;s fashion sense. In finally losing her lands to the Borgia family, she put up a resistance that inspired all of Europe and set the stage for her progenyand#8212;including Cosimo de Mediciand#8212;to follow her example to greatness. A rich evocation the Renaissance,The Tigress of Forland#236;reveals Caterina Riario Sforza as a brilliant and fearless ruler, and a tragic but unbowed figure.
Synopsis
The very name Lucrezia Borgia conjures up everything that was sinister and corrupt about the Renaissance—incest, political assassination, papal sexual abuse, poisonous intrigue, unscrupulous power grabs. Yet, as bestselling biographer Sarah Bradford reveals in this breathtaking new portrait, the truth is far more fascinating than the myth. Neither a vicious monster nor a seductive pawn, Lucrezia Borgia was a shrewd, determined woman who used her beauty and intelligence to secure a key role in the political struggles of her day.
Drawing from a trove of contemporary documents and fascinating firsthand accounts, Bradford brings to life the art, the pageantry, and the dangerous politics of the Renaissance world Lucrezia Borgia helped to create.
About the Author
Sarah Bradford is the bestselling author of Americas Queen, Disraeli, George VI, Princess Grace, and Elizabeth. She has published two previous accounts of the Borgia family, including a biography of Cesare Borgia. Married to the Viscount Bangor, she lives in London.
Table of Contents
Author's Note
List of Illustrations
Maps
Genealogical Tables showing the Borgia, Este and Aragona Families
Acknowledgments
Foreword
The Scene
Cast of Principal Characters
Part One: The Pope's Daughter 1480-1501
1. The Pope's Daughter
2. Countess of Pesaro
3. The Borgia Renscent
4. The Tragic Duchess of Bisceglie
5. Turning Point
6. Farewell to Rome
Part Two: Duchess to Ferrara 1502-19
7. The Road to Ferrara
8. A New Life
9. The Heavens Conspire
10. The Dark Marquis
11. Duchess of Ferrara
12. The Congiura
13. Horrors and Tears
14. The Years of War, 1509-12
15. Lucrezia Triumphant
16. The Last year of Tranquillity
17. The End
Postscript
Archives
Source Notes
Bibliography
Index