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40 Facts About the Borgias, One of History’s More Scandalous Dynasties

Tim Flight October 27, 2019 26 min

Jeremy Irons - The Borgias — Jeremy Irons as Pope Alexander VI in the TV series, The Borgias. The Hollywood Review

12. Her second husband was probably murdered by Cesare

Lucrezia (in a red gown, right) depicted in the late 15th-century Borgia Apartments at the Apostolic Palace. Flickr

At 18, Lucrezia married again. Her second husband was Alfonso of Aragon, son of Alexander VI’s close ally against the French, the King of Naples. But when the French bribe that made Cesare quit as Cardinal came, the Borgias were allied with King Louis against Naples. Alfonso had to go, and Lucrezia warned him that Cesare planned to murder him. After dining with the pope in 1500 a group of assassins near-fatally stabbed him. When he’d recovered, Cesare’s men arrested Alfonso, who ‘tragically’ fell and died of the old injuries en route to prison. Lucrezia was heartbroken.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk