Lucrezia Borgia

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.

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

"Bradford’s zest for this era is contagious." —USA Today

"A lively view of Lucrezia, capturing the glamour and tragedy of her story." —The Wall Street Journal

"This is also a tender and intimate account of a misunderstood and passionate woman." —Elle

Sarah Bradford is a historian and biographer. Her previous books include Cesare Borgia, Disraeli, Princess Grace, George VI, Splendours and Miseries: A Life of SacheverellSitwell, Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty the Queen, America’s Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Lucrezia Borgia.