Person Page - 2228

     Lucrezia Barbiano married Rinaldo II d'Este Signore di Ferrara, Modena, i Comacchio, son of Aldobrandino II d'Este Markgrave d'Este and Contessa Alda Rangoni.¹

     Giovanna di Roberti married Alberto I d'Este, son of Obizzo III d'Este Signore di Ferrara, Modena, Rovigo and Parma and Lippa Ariosta, in 1388
; his 1st wife.¹
Giovanna di Roberti died circa 1390.¹

     Gigliola di Carrara was born circa 1382.¹ She married Niccolo III d'Este Signore di Ferrara, Modena e Reggio, son of Alberto I d'Este and Isotta Albaresani, in June 1397
; his 1st wife.¹
Gigliola di Carrara died in 1416; died of the plague.¹

     Parasina Malatesta was born in 1404.¹ She married Niccolo III d'Este Signore di Ferrara, Modena e Reggio, son of Alberto I d'Este and Isotta Albaresani, in 1418
; his 2nd wife.¹
Parasina Malatesta died on 21 May 1425 at Ferrara, Italy (now); beheaded.¹

     Rodrigo Borgia was born on 1 January 1431 at Jativa, Spain.^1,2
Rodrigo Borgia died on 18 August 1503 at Rome, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio, Italy (now), at age 72.^1,2
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. The Borgias London, 1971 , Michael Mallett, Reference: + bio
2. Europäische Stammtafeln, J.A. Stargardt Verlag Marburg., Detlev Schwennicke, Editor
3. The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia Cambridge, 1994. , David Crystal, Reference: 19
4. The Papacy London, 1997 , Paul Johnson, Reference: bio page 127.¹

; per Leo van de Pas: "In 1455 Rodrigo Borgia was made a Cardinal by his uncle Pope Calixtus III, and, in 1492 on the death of Pope Innocent VIII, was elevated to the papal chair. Pope Alexander VI---almost certainly elected with bribes, and while not the moral monster of legend---was a man utterly worldly in outlook who became enormously rich at the expense of the church. Already the father of several children, he possibly begot two more while pope.

His children can be divided into three groups: those born before 1472, those born to Vanozza de' Cataneis between 1475 and 1481, and those after he had become Pope. The influence on him of his favourite son, Cesare Borgia, only made a bad situation worse, further embroiling him in Italian politics and wars. He endeavoured to break the power of the Italian princes, appropriating their possessions for the benefit of his own family employing the moxt execrable means to gain his ends. During his pontificate, he apportioned the New World between Spain and Portugal, and introduced the censorship of books.

His main rival, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, a nephew of Pope Sixtus IV and the future Pope Julius II, had passed most of Alexander's pontificate in exile, stripped of many of his benefices. It was Pope Julius II perhaps more than any other single person who set the tone of contemporary and later attitude towards the Borgias. Alexander VI died surrounded by an atmosphere of hatred and fear, a hatred so violent that Pope Julius II and all his successors refused to occupy the Borgia apartments in the Vatican, which were then left neglected until the nineteenth century."¹

; Pope Alexander VI - Rodrigo Borgia, born at Xativa, near Valencia, in Spain, 1 January, 1431; died in Rome, 18 August, 1503. His parents were Jofre Lançol and Isabella Borja, sister of Cardinal Alfonso Borja, later Pope Callixtus III.

The young Rodrigo had not yet definitely chosen his profession when the elevation of his uncle to the papacy (1455) opened up new prospects to his ambition. He was adopted into the immediate family of Callixtus and was known henceforward to the Italians as Rodrigo Borgia. Like so many other princely cadets, he was obtruded upon the Church, the question of a clerical vocation being left completely out of consideration. After conferring several rich benefices on him, his uncle sent him for a short year to study law at the University of Bologna. In 1456, at the age of twenty-five, he was made Cardinal Deacon of St. Nicolo in Carcere, and held that title until 1471, when he became Cardinal-Bishop of Albano; in 1476 he was made Cardinal-Bishop of Porto and Dean of the Sacred College (Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica, II, 12). His official position in the Curia after 1457 was that of Vice-Chancellor of the Roman Church, and though many envied him this lucrative office he seems in his long administration of the Papal Chancery to have given general satisfaction. Even Guicciardini admits that "in him were combined rare prudence and vigilance mature reflection, marvellous power of persuasion, skill and capacity for the conduct of the most difficult affairs". On the other hand, the list of archbishoprics, bishoprics, abbacies, and other dignities held by him, as enumerated by the Bishop of Modena in a letter to the Duchess of Ferrara (Pastor, History of the Popes, V, 533, English tr.) reads like the famous catalogue of Leparello; and since, notwithstanding the magnificence of his household and his passion for card-playing, he was strictly abstemious in eating and drinking, and a careful administrator, he became one of the wealthiest men of his time. In his twenty-ninth year he drew a scathing letter of reproof from Pope Pius II for misconduct in Sienna which had been so notorious as to shock the whole town and court (Raynaldus Ann. eccl. ad. an. 1460, n. 31). Even after his ordination to the priesthood, in 1468, he continued his evil ways. His contemporaries praise his handsome and imposing figure, his cheerful countenance, persuasive manner, brilliant conversation, and intimate mastery of the ways of polite society. The best portrait of him is said to be that painted by Pinturicchio in the Appartimento Borgia at the Vatican; Yriarte (Autour des Borgia, 79) praises its general air of grandeur incontestable. Towards 1470 began his relations with the Roman lady, Vanozza Catanei, the mother of his four children: Juan, Caesar, Lucrezia and Jofre, born, respectively according to Gregorovius (Lucrezia Borgia 13) in 1474, 1476, 1480, and 1482.

Borgia, by a bare two-thirds majority secured by his own vote, was proclaimed Pope on the morning of 11 Aug., 1492, and took the name of Alexander VI. [For details of the conclave see Pastor, "Hist. of the Popes", (German ed., Freiburg, 1895), III, 275-278; also Am. Cath. Quart. Review, April, 1900.] That he obtained the papacy through simony was the general belief (Pastor, loc. cit.) and is not improbable (Raynaldus, Ann. eccl. ad an. 1492, n. 26), though it would be difficult to prove it juridically, at any rate, as the law then stood the election was valid. There is no irresistible evidence that Borgia paid anyone a ducat for his vote; Infessura's tale of mule-loads of silver has long since been discredited. Pastor's indictment, on closer inspection, needs some revision, for he states (III, 277) that eight of the twenty-three electors, viz. della Rovere, Piccolomini, Medici, Caraffa, Costa, Basso, Zeno, and Cibò, held out to the end against Borgia. If that were true, Borgia could not have secured a two-thirds majority. All we can affirm with certainty is that the determining factor of this election was the accession to Borgia of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza's vote and influence, it is almost equally certain that Sforza's course was dictated not by silver, but by the desire to be the future Pontiff's chief adviser.

The elevation to the papacy of one who for thirty-five years had conducted the affairs of the Roman chancery with rare ability and industry met with general approbation; we find no evidence of the "alarm and horror" of which Guicciardini speaks. To the Romans especially, who had come to regard Borgia as one of themselves, and who predicted a pontificate at once splendid and energetic, the choice was most acceptable; and they manifested their joy in bonfires, torchlight processions, garlands of flowers, and the erection of triumphal arches with extravagant inscriptions. At his coronation in St. Peter's (26 Aug.), and during his progress to St. John Lateran, he was greeted with an ovation, "greater", says the diarist, "than any Pontiff had ever received". He proceeded at once to justify this good opinion of the Romans by putting an end to the lawlessness which reigned in the city, the extent of which we can infer from the statement of Infessura that within a few months over two hundred and twenty assassinations had taken place. Alexander ordered investigations to be made, every culprit discovered to be hanged on the spot and his house to be razed to the ground. He divided the city into four districts, placing over each a magistrate with plenary powers for the maintenance of order; in addition, he reserved the Tuesday of each week as a day on which any man or woman could lay his or her grievances before himself personally; "and", says the diarist, "he set about dispensing justice in an admirable manner." This vigorous method of administering justice soon changed the face of the city, and was ascribed by the grateful populace to "the interposition of God."

Alexander next turned his attention to the defence and embellishment of the Eternal City. He changed the Mausoleum of Adrian into a veritable fortress capable of sustaining a siege. By the fortification of Torre di Nona, he secured the city from naval attacks. He deserves to be called the founder of the Leonine City, which he transformed into the most fashionable quarter of Rome. His magnificent Via Alessandrina, now called Borgo Nuovo, remains to the present day the grand approach to St. Peter's. Under his direction, Pinturicchio adorned the Appartimento Borgia in the Vatican, pointing the way to his immortal disciple, Raphael. In addition to the structures erected by himself, his memory is associated with the many others built by monarchs and cardinals at his instigation. During his reign Bramante designed for Ferdinand and Isabella that exquisite architectural gem, the Tempietto, on the traditional site of St. Peter's martyrdom. If not Bramante, some other great architect, equally attracted to Rome by the report of the Pope's liberality, built for Cardinal Riario the magnificent palace of the Cancellaria. In 1500, the ambassador of Emperor Maximilian laid the cornerstone of the handsome national church of the Germans, Santa Maria dell' Anima. Not to be outdone, the French Cardinal Briconnet erected SS. Trinità dei Monti, and the Spaniards Santa Maria di Monserrato. To Alexander we owe the beautiful ceiling of Santa Maria Maggiore, in the decoration of which tradition says he employed the first gold brought from America by Columbus.

Although he laid no great claim to learning, he fostered literature and science. As cardinal he had written two treatises on canonical subjects and a defence of the Christian faith. He rebuilt the Roman University and made generous provision for the support of the professors. He surrounded himself with learned men and had a special predilection for jurists. His fondness for theatrical performances encouraged the development of the drama. He loved pontifical ceremonies, to which his majestic figure lent grace and dignity. He listened to good sermons with a critical ear, and admired fine music. In 1497, Alexander decreed that the "Praefectus Sacrarii Pontificii", commonly called "Sacristan of the Pope", but virtually parish-priest of the Vatican and keeper of the Pope's conscience, should be permanently and exclusively a prelate chosen from the Augustinian Order, an arrangement that still endures.

Alexander earned the enmity of Spain, the obloquy of many narrow minded contemporaries, and the gratitude of posterity, by his tolerant policy towards the Jews, whom he could not be coerced into banishing or molesting. The concourse of pilgrims to Rome in the Jubilee year, 1500, was a magnificent demonstration of the depth and universality of the popular faith. The capacity of the city to house and feed so many thousands of visitors from all parts of Europe was taxed to the utmost, but Alexander spared no expense or pains to provide for the security and comfort of his guests. To maintain peace among Christians and to form a coalition of the European Powers against the Turks was the policy he had inherited from his uncle. One of the first of his public acts was to prevent a collision between Spain and Portugal over their newly-discovered territories, by drawing his line of demarcation, an act of truly peaceful import, and not of usurpation and ambition [Civiltà Cattolica (1865), I, 665-680]. He did his best to dissuade Charles VIII of France from his projected invasion of Italy; if he was unsuccessful, the blame is in no slight degree due to the unpatriotic course of that same Giuliano della Rovere who later, as Julius II, made futile efforts to expel the "barbarians" whom he himself had invited. Alexander issued a wise decree concerning the censorship of books, and sent the first missionaries to the New World.

Notwithstanding these and similar actions, which might seem to entitle him to no mean place in the annals of the papacy, Alexander continued as Pope the manner of life that had disgraced his cardinalate (Pastor, op. cit., III, 449 152). A stern Nemesis pursued him till death in the shape of a strong parental affection for his children. The report of the Ferrarese ambassador, that the new Pope had resolved to keep them at a distance from Rome, is quite credible, for all his earlier measures for their advancement pointed towards Spain. While still a cardinal, he had married one daughter, Girolama, to a Spanish nobleman. He had bought for a son, Pedro Luis, from the Spanish monarch the Duchy of Gandia, and when Pedro died soon after he procured it for Juan, his oldest surviving son by Vanozza. This ill-starred young man was married to a cousin of the King of Spain, and became grandfather to St. Francis Borgia, whose virtues went a great way towards atoning for the vices of his kin. The fond father made a great mistake when he selected his boy Caesar as the ecclesiastical representative of the Borgias. In 1480, Pope Innocent VIII made the child eligible for Orders by absolving him from the ecclesiastical irregularity that followed his birth de episcopo cardinali et conjugatâ, and conferred several Spanish benefices on him, the last being the Bishopric of Pampeluna, in the neighbourhood of which, by a strange fatality, he eventually met his death. A week after Alexander's coronation he appointed Caesar, now eighteen years old, to the Archbishopric of Valencia; but Caesar neither went to Spain nor ever took Orders. The youngest son, Jofre, was also to be inflicted upon the Church of Spain. A further evidence that the Pope had determined to keep his children at a distance from court is that his daughter Lucrezia was betrothed to a Spanish gentleman, the marriage, however, never took place. It had already become the settled policy of the popes to have a personal representative in the Sacred College, and so Alexander chose for this confidential position Cardinal Giovanni Borgia, his sister's son. The subsequent abandonment of his good resolutions concerning his children may safely be ascribed to the evil counsels of Ascanio Sforza, whom Borgia had rewarded with the vice-chancellorship, and who was virtually his prime minister. The main purpose of Ascanio's residence at the papal court was to advance the interests of his brother, Lodovico il Moro, who had been regent of Milan for so many years, during the minority of their nephew Gian Galeazzo, that he now refused to surrender the reins of government, though the rightful duke had attained his majority. Gian Galeazzo was powerless to assert his rights; but his more energetic wife was granddaughter to King Ferrante of Naples, and her incessant appeals to her family for aid left Lodovico in constant dread of Neapolitan invasion. Alexander had many real grievances against Ferrante, the latest of which was the financial aid the King had given to the Pope's vassal, Virginio Orsini, in the purchase of Cervetri and Anguillara, without Alexander's consent. In addition to the contempt of the papal authority involved in the transaction, this accession of strength to a baronial family already too powerful could not but be highly displeasing. Alexander was, therefore, easily induced to enter a defensive alliance with Milan and Venice; the league was solemnly proclaimed, 25 April, 1493. It was cemented by the first of Lucrezia's marriages. Her first husband was a cousin of Ascanio, Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro. The wedding was celebrated in the Vatican in the presence of the Pope, ten cardinals, and the chief nobles of Rome with their ladies, the revelries of the occasion, even when exaggerations and rumours are dismissed, remain a blot upon the character of Alexander. Ferrante talked of war, but, through the mediation of Spain, he came to terms with the Pope and, as a pledge of reconciliation, gave his granddaughter, Sancia, in marriage to Alexander's youngest son Jofre, with the principality of Squillace as dower. Caesar Borgia was created Cardinal 20 September. Ferrante's reconciliation with the Pope came none too soon.

A few days after peace had been concluded, an envoy of King Charles VIII arrived in Rome to demand the investiture of Naples for his master. Alexander returned a positive refusal, and when Ferrante died, January, 1494, neglecting French protests and threats, he confirmed the succession of Ferrante's son, Alfonso II, and sent his nephew, Cardinal Giovanni Borgia, to Naples to crown him. The policy of Alexander was dictated not only by a laudable desire to maintain the peace of Italy, but also because he was aware that a strong faction of his cardinals, with the resolute della Rovere at their head, was promoting the invasion of Charles as a means towards deposing him on the twofold charge of simony and immorality. In September, 1494, the French crossed the Alps; on the last day of that year they made their entry into Rome, needing no other weapon in their march through the peninsula, as Alexander wittily remarked (Commines vii, 15), than the chalk with which they marked out the lodgings of the troops. The barons of the Pope deserted him one after the other. Colonna and Savelli were traitors from the beginning, but he felt most keenly the defection of Virginio Orsini, the commander of his army. Many a saintlier pope than Alexander VI would have made the fatal mistake of yielding to brute force and surrendering unconditionally to the conqueror of Italy; the most heroic of the popes could not have sustained the stability of the Holy See at this crucial moment with greater firmness. From the crumbling ramparts of St. Angelo, the defences of which were still incomplete, he looked calmly into the mouth of the French cannon; with equal intrepidity he faced the cabal of della Rovere's cardinals, clamorous for his deposition. At the end of a fortnight it was Charles who capitulated. He acknowledged Alexander as true Pope, greatly to the disgust of della Rovere, and "did his filial obedience", says Commines, "with all imaginable humility"; but he could not extort from the Pontiff an acknowledgment of his claims to Naples. Charles entered Naples, 22 February, 1495, without striking a blow. At his approach the unpopular Alfonso abdicated in favour of his son Ferrantino, the latter, failing to receive support, retired to seek the protection of Spain. Whilst Charles wasted over two months in fruitless attempts to induce the Pope by promises and threats to sanction his usurpation, a powerful league, consisting of Venice, Milan, the Empire, Spain, and the Holy See, was formed against him. Finally, on 12 May, he crowned himself, but in the following July he was cutting his way home through the ranks of the allied Italians. By the end of the year the French had re-crossed into France. No one wished for their return, except the restless della Rovere, and the adherents of Savonarola. The story of the Florentine friar will be related elsewhere, here it suffices to note that Alexander's treatment of him was marked by extreme patience and forbearance.

The French invasion was the turning point in the political career of Alexander VI. It had taught him that if he would be safe in Rome and be really master in the States of the Church, he must curb the insolent and disloyal barons who had betrayed him in his hour of danger. Unfortunately, this laudable purpose became more and more identified in his mind with schemes for the aggrandizement of his family. There was no place in his programme for a reform of abuses. Quite the contrary; in order to obtain money for his military operations he disposed of civil and spiritual privileges and offices in a scandalous manner. He resolved to begin with the Orsini, whose treason at the most critical moment had reduced him to desperate straits. The time seemed opportune; for Virginio, the head of the house, was a prisoner in the hands of Ferrantino. As commander of his troops he selected his youthful son Juan, Duke of Gandia. The struggle dragged on for months. The minor castles of the Orsini surrendered, but Bracciano, their main fortress, resisted all the efforts of the pontifical troops. They were finally obliged to raise the siege, and on 25 January, 1497, they were completely routed at Soriano. Both sides were now disposed to peace. On Payment of 50,000 golden florins the Orsini received back all their castles except Cervetri and Anguillara, which had been the original cause of their quarrel with the Pope. In order to reduce the strong fortress of Ostia, held by French troops for Cardinal della Rovere, Alexander wisely invoked the aid of Gonsalvo de Cordova and his Spanish veterans. It surrendered to the "Great Captain" within two weeks. Unsuccessful in obtaining for his family the possessions of the Orsini, the Pope now demanded the consent of his cardinals to the erection of Benevento, Terracina, and Pontecorvo into a duchy for the Duke of Gandia. Cardinal Piccolomini was the only member who dared protest against this improper alienation of the property of the Church. A more powerful protest than that of the Cardinal of Sienna reverberated through the world a week later when, on the sixteenth of June, the body of the young Duke was fished out of the Tiber, with the throat cut and many gaping wounds. Historians have laboured in vain to discover who perpetrated the foul deed, but that it was a warning from Heaven to repent, no one felt more keenly than the Pope himself. In the first wild paroxysm of grief he spoke of resigning the tiara. Then, after three days and nights passed without food or sleep, he appeared in consistory and proclaimed his determination to set about that reform of the Church "in head and members" for which the world had so long been clamouring. A commission of cardinals and canonists began industriously to frame ordinances which foreshadowed the disciplinary decrees of Trent. But they were never promulgated. Time gradually assuaged the sorrow and extinguished the contrition of Alexander. From now on Caesar's iron will was supreme law. That he aimed high from the start is evident from his resolve, opposed at first by the Pope, to resign his cardinalate and other ecclesiastical dignities, and to become a secular prince. The condition of Naples was alluring. The gallant Ferrantino had died childless and was succeeded by his uncle Federigo, whose coronation was one of Caesar's last, possibly also one of his first, ecclesiastical acts. By securing the hand of Federigo's daughter, Carlotta, Princess of Tarento, he would become one of the most powerful barons of the kingdom, with ulterior prospects of wearing the crown. Carlotta's repugnance, however, could not be overcome. But in the course of the suit, another marriage was concluded which gave much scandal. Lucrezia's marriage with Sforza was declared null on the ground of the latter's impotence, and she was given as wife to Alfonso of Biseglia, an illegitimate son of Alfonso II.

Meanwhile, affairs in France took an unexpected turn which deeply modified the course of Italian history and the career of the Borgias. Charles VIII died in April, 1498, preceded to the tomb by his only son, and left the throne to his cousin, the Duke of Orleans, King Louis XII, who stood now in need of two papal favours. In his youth he had been coerced into marrying Jane of Valois, the saintly but deformed daughter of Louis XI. Moreover, in order to retain Brittany, it was essential that he should marry his deceased cousin's widow, Queen Anne. No blame attaches to Alexander for issuing the desired decree annulling the King's marriage or for granting him a dispensation from the impediment of affinity. The commission of investigation appointed by him established the two fundamental facts that the marriage with Jane was invalid, from lack of consent, and that it never had been consummated. It was the political use made by the Borgias of their opportunity, and the prospective alliance of France and the Holy See, which now drove several of the Powers of Europe to the verge of schism. Threats of a council and of deposition had no terrors for Alexander, whose control of the Sacred College was absolute. Della Rovere was now his agent in France. Ascanio Sforza was soon to retire permanently from Rome. Louis had inherited from his grandmother, Valentina Visconti, strong claims to the Duchy of Milan, usurped by the Sforzas, and he made no secret of his intention to enforce them. Alexander cannot be held responsible for the second "barbarian" invasion of Italy, but he was quick to take advantage of it for the consolidation of his temporal power and the aggrandizement of his family. On 1 October, 1498, Caesar, no longer a cardinal, but designated Duke of Valentinois and Peer of France set outs from Rome to bring the papal dispensation to King Louis, a cardinal's hat to his minister D'Amboise, and to find for himself a wife of high degree. He still longed for the hand of Carlotta, who resided in France, but since that princess persisted in her refusal, he received instead the hand of a niece of King Louis, the sister of the King of Navarre, Charlotte D'Albret. On 8 October, 1499, King Louis, accompanied by Duke Caesar and Cardinal della Rovere made his triumphal entry into Milan. It was the signal to begin operations against the petty tyrants who were devastating the States of the Church. Alexander would have merited great credit for this muchneeded work, had he not spoiled it by substituting his own family in their place. What his ultimate intentions were we cannot fathom. However, the tyrants who were expelled never returned, whilst the Borgian dynasty came to a speedy end in the pontificate of Julius II. In the meantime Caesar had carried on his campaign 80 successfully that by the year 1501 he was master of all the usurped papal territory and was made Duke of Romagna by the Pope, whose affection for the brilliant young general was manifested in still other ways. During the war, however, and in the midst of the Jubilee of 1500 there occurred another domestic murder. On 15 July of that year the Duke of Biseglia, Lucretia's husband was attacked by five masked assassins, who grievousiy wounded him. Convinced that Caesar was the instigator of the deed, he made an unsuccessful attempt, on his recovery, to kill his supposed enemy, and was instantly dispatched by Caesar's bodyguard. The latter, having completed, in April, 1501, the conquest of the Romagna, now aspired to the conquest of Tuscany; but he was soon recalled to Rome to take part in a different enterprise. On 27 June of that year the Pope deposed his chief vassal, Federigo of Naples, on the plea of an alleged alliance with the Turks to the detriment of Christendom, and approved the secret Treaty of Granada, by the terms of which the Kingdom of Naples was partitioned between Spain and France.

Alexander's motive in thus reversing his former policy with respect to foreign interference was patent. The Colonna, the Savelli, the Gaetani and other barons of the Patrimony had always been supported in their opposition to the popes by the favour of the Aragonese dynasty, deprived of which they felt themselves powerless. Excommunicated by the Pontiff as rebels, they offered to surrender the keys of their castles to the Sacred College, but Alexander demanded them for himself. The Orsini, who might have known that their turn would come next, were so shortsighted as to assist the Pope in the ruin of their hereditary foes. One after another, the castles were surrendered. On 27 July, Alexander left Rome to survey his conquest; at the same time he left the widowed Lucrezia in the Vatican with authority to open his correspondence and conduct the routine business of the Holy See. He also erected the confiscated Possessions of the aforesaid families into two duchies, bestowing one on Rodrigo, the infant son of Lucrezia, the other on Juan Borgia, born to him a short while after the murder of Gandia, and to whom was given the latter's baptismal name (Pastor, op. cit., III 449). Lucrezia, now in her twenty-third year, did not long remain a widow; her father destined her to be the bride of another Alfonso, son and heir of Duke Ercole of Ferrara. Although both father and son at first spurned the notion of a matrimonial alliance between the proud house of Este and the Pope's illegitimate daughter, they were favourably influenced by the King of France. The third marriage of Lucrezia, celebrated by proxy in the Vatican (30 December, 1501), far exceeded the first in splendour and extravagance. If her father meant her as an instrument in her new position for the advancement of his political combinations, he was mistaken. She is known henceforth, and till her death in 1519, as a model wife and princess, lauded by all for her amiability, her virtue, and her charity. Nothing could well be more different from the fiendish Lucrezia Borgia of the drama and the opera than the historical Duchess of Ferrara. Caesar, however, continued his infamous career of simony, extortion, and treachery, and by the end of 1502 had rounded out his possessions by the capture of Camerino and Sinigaglia. In October of that year the Orsini conspired with his generals to destroy him. With coolness and skill Caesar decoyed the conspirators into his power and put them to death. The Pope followed up the blow by proceeding against the Orsini with greater success than formerly. Cardinal Orsini, the soul of the conspiracy, was committed to Castle St. Angelo -- twelve days later he was a corpse. Whether he died a natural death or was privately executed, is uncertain Losing no time, Caesar returned towards Rome, and so great was the terror he inspired that the frightened barons fled before him, says Villari (I, 356), "as from the face of a hydra". By April nothing remained to the Orsini except the fortress of Bracciano and they begged for an armistice. The humiliation of the Roman aristocracy was complete; for the first time in the history of the papacy the Pope was, in the fullest sense, ruler of his States.

Alexander, still hale and vigorous in his seventy-third year, and looking forward to many mere years of reign, proceeded to strengthen his position by repleting his treasury in ways that were more than dubious. The Sacred College now contained so many of his adherents and countrymen that he had nothing to fear from that quarter. He enjoyed and laughed at the scurrilous lampoons that were in circulation in which he was accused of incredible crimes, and took no steps to shield his reputation. War had broken out in Naples between France and Spain over the division of the spoils. Alexander was still in doubt which side he could most advantageously support, when his career came to an abrupt close. On 6 August, 1503, the Pope, with Caesar and others, dined with Cardinal Adriano da Corneto in a villa belonging to the Cardinal and very imprudently remained in the open air after nightfall. The entire company paid the penalty by contracting the pernicious Roman fever. On the twelfth the Pope took to his bed. On the eighteenth his life was despaired of; he made his confession, received the last sacraments, and expired towards evening. The rapid decomposition and swollen appearance of his corpse gave rise to the familiar suspicion of poison. Later the tale ran that he had drunk by mistake a poisoned cup of wine which he had prepared for his host. Nothing is more certain than that the poison which killed him was the deadly microbe of the Roman campagna [Pastor, op. cit., III, 469-472; Creighton, Hist. of the Papacy (London 1887), IV, 44]. His remains lie in the Spanish national church of Santa Maria di Monserrato.

An impartial appreciation of the career of this extraordinary person must at once distinguish between the man and the office. "An imperfect setting", says Dr. Pastor (op. cit., III, 475), "does not affect the intrinsic worth of the jewel, nor does the golden coin lose its value when it passes through impure hands. In so far as the priest is a public officer of a holy Church, a blameless life is expected from him, both because he is by his office the model of virtue to whom the laity look up, and because his life, when virtuous, inspires in onlookers respect for the society of which he is an ornament. But the treasures of the Church, her Divine character, her holiness, Divine revelation, the grace of God, spiritual authority, it is well known, are not dependent on the moral character of the agents and officers of the Church. The foremost of her priests cannot diminish by an iota the intrinsic value of the spiritual treasures confided to him." There have been at all times wicked men in the ecclesiastical ranks. Our Lord foretold, as one of its severest trials, the presence in His Church not only of false brethren, but of rulers who would offend, by various forms of selfishness, both the children of the household and "those who are without". Similarly, Ho compared His beloved spouse, the Church, to a threshing floor, on which fall both chaff and grain until the time of separation. The most severe arraignments of Alexander, because in a sense official, are those of his Catholic contemporaries, Pope Julius II (Gregorovius, VII, 494) and the Augustinian cardinal and reformer, Aegidius of Viterbo, in his manuscript "Historia XX Saeculorum", preserved at Rome in the Bibliotheca Angelica. The Oratorian Raynaldus (d. 1677), who continued the semi-official Annals of Baronius, gave to the world at Rome (ad an. 1460, no. 41) the above-mentioned paternal but severe reproof of the youthful Cardinal by Pius II, and stated elsewhere (ad an. 1495, no. 26) that it was in his time the opinion of historians that Alexander had obtained the papacy partly through money and partly through promises and the persuasion that ho would not interfere with the lives of his electors. Mansi, the scholarly Archbishop of Lucca editor and annotator of Raynaldus, says (XI, 4155) that it is easier to keep silence than to write write moderation about this Pope. The severe judgment of the late Cardinal Hergenroether, in his "Kirchengeschichte", or Manual of Church History (4th. ed., Freiburg, 1904, II, 982-983) is too well known to need more than mention.

So little have Catholic historians defended him that in the middle of the nineteenth century Cesare Cantu could write that Alexander VI was the only Pope who had never found an apologist. However, since that time some Catholic writers, both in books and periodicals, have attempted to defend him from the most grievous accusations of his contemporaries. Two in particular may be mentioned: the Dominican Ollivier, "Le Pape Alexandre VI et les Borgia" (Paris, 1870), of whose work only one volume appeared, dealing with the Pope's cardinalate; and Leonetti "Papa Alessandro VI secondo documenti e carteggi del tempo" (3 vols., Bologna, 1880). These and other works were occasioned, partly by a laudable desire to remove a stigma from the good repute of the Catholic Church, and partly by the gross exaggerations of Victor Hugo and others who permitted themselves all licence in dealing with a name so helpless and detested. It cannot be said, however, that these works have corresponded to their authors' zeal. Dr. Pastor ranks them all as failures. Such is the opinion of Henri de l'Epinois in the "Revue des questions historiques" (1881), XXIX, 147, a study that even Thuasne, the hostile editor of the Diary of Burchard, calls "the indispensable guide of all students of Borgia history". It is also the opinion of the Bollandist Matagne, in the same review for 1870 and 1872 (IX, 466-475; XI, 181-198), and of Von Reumont, the Catholic historian of medieval Rome, in Bonn. Theol. Lit. Blatt (1870), V. 686. Dr. Pastor considers that the publication of the documents in the supplement to the third volume of Thuasne's edition of the Diary of Burchard (Paris, 1883) renders "forever impossible" any attempts to save the reputation of Alexander VI. There is all the less reason, therefore, says Cardinal Hergenroether (op. cit., II, 583), for the false charges that have been added to his account, e. g. his attempt to poison Cardinal Adriano da Corneto and his incestuous relations with Lucrezia (Pastor, op. cit., III, 375, 450-451, 475). Other accusations, says the same writer, have been dealt with, not unsuccessfully, by Roscoe in his "Life of Leo the Tenth"; by Capefigue in his "Eglise pendant les quatre derniers siècles" (I, 41-46), and by Chantrel, "Le Pape Alexandre VI" (Paris, 1864). On the other hand, while immoral writers have made only too much capital out of the salacious paragraphs scattered through Burchard and Infessura, there is no more reason now than in the days of Raynaldus and Mansi for concealing or perverting the facts of history. "I am a Catholic", says M. de l'Epinois (loc. cit.), "and a disciple of the God who hath a horror of lies. I seek the truth, all the truth, and nothing but the truth Although our weak eyes do not see at once the uses of it, or rather see damage and peril, we must proclaim it fearlessly." The same good principle is set forth by Leo XIII in his Letter of 8 September, 1889, to Cardinals De Luca, Pitra, and Hergenroether on the study of Church History: "The historian of the Church has the duty to dissimulate none of the trials that the Church has had to suffer from the faults of her children, and even at times from those of her own ministers." Long ago Leo the Great (440-461) declared, in his third homily for Christmas Day, that "the dignity of Peter suffers no diminution even in an unworthy successor" (cujus dignitas etiam in indigno haerede non deficit). The very indignation that the evil life of a great ecclesiastic rouses at all times (nobly expressed by Pius II in the above-mentioned letter to Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia) is itself a tribute to the high spiritual ideal which for so long and on so broad a scale the Church has presented to the world in so many holy examples, and has therefore accustomed the latter to demand from priests. "The latter are forgiven nothing", says De Maistre in his great work, "Du Pape", "because everything is expected from them, wherefore the vices lightly passed over in a Louis XIV become most offensive and scandalous in an Alexander VI" (II, c. xiv).

JAMES F. LOUGHLIN
Transcribed by Gerard Haffner
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I
Copyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton Company
Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight
Nihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight. All rights reserved. Updated 18 August 2004.² Rodrigo Borgia was also known as Pope Alexander VI.² Rodrigo Borgia was also known as Pope Alessandro VI.¹ He was Pope Alexander VI between 1492 and 1503.³

     Vanozza dei Catanei was born in 1442.¹
Vanozza dei Catanei died on 26 November 1518 at Rome, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio, Italy (now).¹
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. Chambers's Biographical Dictionary London, 1968.
2. Europäische Stammtafeln, J.A. Stargardt Verlag Marburg., Detlev Schwennicke, Editor, Reference: IX 11.¹

     Giovanni Sforza d'Aragona, Conte de Cotognola, Principe di Pesaro married Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Rodrigo Borgia and Vanozza dei Catanei, on 21 June 1493 at Vatican, Italy (now),
; her 1st husband.^1,2 Giovanni Sforza d'Aragona, Conte de Cotognola, Principe di Pesaro and Lucrezia Borgia were divorced in 1497.^1,2
Giovanni Sforza d'Aragona, Conte de Cotognola, Principe di Pesaro died on 27 July 1510 at Gradara.¹
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: Europäische Stammtafeln, J.A. Stargardt Verlag Marburg., Detlev Schwennicke, Editor, Reference: IX 11.¹

     Alfonso (?) bâtard d'Aragona, Principe di Salerno, Duca di Biseglia married Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Rodrigo Borgia and Vanozza dei Catanei, on 21 July 1498 at Vatican, Italy (now),
; her 2nd husband.^1,2
Alfonso (?) bâtard d'Aragona, Principe di Salerno, Duca di Biseglia died on 18 August 1500 at Vatican, Italy (now); murdered.¹
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: Europäische Stammtafeln, J.A. Stargardt Verlag Marburg., Detlev Schwennicke, Editor, Reference: IX 11.¹

     Alfonso d'Este Marchese di Montecchio was born on 10 March 1527.^1,2 He married Giulia della Rovere on 3 January 1549 at Ferrara, Italy (now),
; his 1st wife.^1,2,3 Alfonso d'Este Marchese di Montecchio married Violante Signa in 1584
; his 2nd wife.^1,2,4
Alfonso d'Este Marchese di Montecchio died on 1 November 1587 at age 60.^1,2
      ; [illegitimate by Laura Dianti] Alfonso, Marchese di Montecchio, *10.3.1527, +1.11.1587; 1m: 3.1.1549 Giulia della Rovere (*ca 1527 +4.4.1563); 2m: 1584 Violante Signa (*1546 +1609.)¹

; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: II 124
2. Europäische Stammtafeln, J.A. Stargardt Verlag Marburg., Detlev Schwennicke, Editor, Reference: 1-1 33,36.²

     Giulia della Rovere was born circa 1527.¹ She married Alfonso d'Este Marchese di Montecchio, son of Alfonso I d'Este Duca di Ferrara, Modena e Reggio and Laura Dianti, on 3 January 1549 at Ferrara, Italy (now),
; his 1st wife.^1,3,2
Giulia della Rovere died on 4 April 1563.^1,2
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: II 124.²

     Violante Signa was born on 11 December 1546.^1,2 She married Alfonso d'Este Marchese di Montecchio, son of Alfonso I d'Este Duca di Ferrara, Modena e Reggio and Laura Dianti, in 1584
; his 2nd wife.^1,3,2
Violante Signa died on 5 March 1609 at age 62.^1,2
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: II 124.²

     Cesare d'Este Duke of Modena was born on 8 October 1562; Welf 10 page says b. 8.10.1552; Leo van de pas says b. 8 Oct 1562.^1,2 He married Virginia de Medici, daughter of Cosimo I de Medici Duke of Florence, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Donna Camilla Martelli, on 6 February 1586.^5,1,2,6

Cesare d'Este Duke of Modena died on 11 December 1628 at age 66.^1,2
      ; Cesare d'Este, Duke of Modena (1597-1628), [at the death of Alfonso II, the papacy detached Ferrara and added it to the papal estates], *8.10.1552, +11.12.1628; m.6.2.1586 Virginia de Medici (*28.5.1568 +15.1.1615.)¹

; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: II 124
2. Europäische Stammtafeln, J.A. Stargardt Verlag Marburg., Detlev Schwennicke, Editor, Reference: 1-1 36.² He was Duke of Modena between 1597 and 1628.^1,2

     Virginia de Medici was born on 28 May 1568.^1,2 She married Cesare d'Este Duke of Modena, son of Alfonso d'Este Marchese di Montecchio and Giulia della Rovere, on 6 February 1586.^1,3,4,2

Virginia de Medici died on 15 January 1615 at age 46.^1,2
      ; [2m.] Virginia, *28.5.1568, +15.1.1615; m.6.2.1586 Cesare d'Este, Duke of Modena (*8.10.1552, +11.12.1628.)¹

; Leo van de Pas cites: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: II 120.²

     Francesco I d'Este Duke of Modena and Reggio was born on 6 September 1610 at Modena, Italy (now).^1,2 He married Maria Caterina Farnese, daughter of Ranuccio I Farnese Duke of Parma, Piacenza, Castro and Ronciglione and Margherita Aldobrandini, on 11 January 1631 at Parma, Italy (now),
; his 1st wife.^3,1,2,4 Francesco I d'Este Duke of Modena and Reggio married Maria Vittoria Farnese, daughter of Ranuccio I Farnese Duke of Parma, Piacenza, Castro and Ronciglione and Margherita Aldobrandini, on 12 February 1648 at Parma, Italy (now),
; his 2nd wife.^3,1,2,5 Francesco I d'Este Duke of Modena and Reggio married Donna Lucrezia Barberini dei Principi di Palestrina on 14 October 1654 at Loreto, Ancona, Italy (now),
; his 3rd wife.^1,2,6
Francesco I d'Este Duke of Modena and Reggio died on 14 October 1658 at Santhia, Vercelli, Italy (now), at age 48.^1,2
      ; Duke Francesco I of Modena and Reggio (1629-58), *Modena 6.9.1610, +Santhia, Vercelli 14.10.1658; 1m: 11.1.1631 Maria Catharina Farnese (*18.2.1615 +25.6.1646); 2m: 12.2.1648 Vittoria Farnese (*29.4.1618 +10.8.1649); 3m: Loreto 14.10.1654 Lucrezia Barberini (*24.10.1630 +24.8.1699.)¹

; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: vol II page 125.
2. Cahiers de Saint Louis Magazine. , Jacques Dupont, Jacques Saillot, Reference: page 1536.
3. Voorouderstafel van Het Belgisch Koningshuis, deel 1 Bruxelles, 1998, Leo Lindemans, Reference: 1112.² He was Duke of Modena and Reggio between 1629 and 1658.^1,2

     Ranuccio I Farnese Duke of Parma, Piacenza, Castro and Ronciglione was born on 28 March 1569 at Parma, Italy (now).¹ He married Margherita Aldobrandini on 7 May 1600 at Rome, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio, Italy (now).¹

Ranuccio I Farnese Duke of Parma, Piacenza, Castro and Ronciglione died on 5 March 1622 at Parma, Italy (now), at age 52.¹
      ; RANUCCIO I, Duke of Parma, Piacenza, Castro and Ronciglione (1592-1622), etc., *Parma 28.3.1569, +Parma 5.3.1622; m.Rome 7.5.1600 Margherita, dau.of Don Gianfrancesco Aldobrandini, Principe di Rossano, Marchese di Meldola e Conte di Sarsina by Olimpia Aldobrandini, Duchessa di Carpineto, nephew of Pope Clemens VIII (*Rome.5.1586, +Parma 9.8.1646.)¹

     Margherita Aldobrandini was born in May 1586 at Rome, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio, Italy (now).¹ She married Ranuccio I Farnese Duke of Parma, Piacenza, Castro and Ronciglione, son of Alessandro Farnese Duke of Parma, Piacenza, Castro and Ronciglione, Governor of the Netherlands and Maria (?) Infanta of Portugal, on 7 May 1600 at Rome, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio, Italy (now).¹

Margherita Aldobrandini died on 9 August 1646 at Parma, Italy (now), at age 60.¹
      ; Margherita, dau.of Don Gianfrancesco Aldobrandini, Principe di Rossano, Marchese di Meldola e Conte di Sarsina by Olimpia Aldobrandini, Duchessa di Carpineto, nephew of Pope Clemens VIII (*Rome.5.1586, +Parma 9.8.1646.)¹

     Maria Caterina Farnese was born on 18 February 1615 at Parma, Italy (now).^1,3,2 She married Francesco I d'Este Duke of Modena and Reggio, son of Alfonso III d'Este Duke of Modena and Isabella (?) Princesse de Savoie, on 11 January 1631 at Parma, Italy (now),
; his 1st wife.^1,3,4,2
Maria Caterina Farnese died on 25 July 1646 at Sassuolo, Modena, Italy (now), at age 31.^1,3,2
      ; Maria Caterina, *Parma 18.2.1615, +Sassuolo 25.7.1646; m.Parma 11.1.1631 Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio (*3.9.1610 +14.10.1658.)¹

; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: vol II page 127
2. Cahiers de Saint Louis Magazine. , Jacques Dupont, Jacques Saillot, Reference: page 1536.
3. Voorouderstafel van Het Belgisch Koningshuis, deel 1 Bruxelles, 1998, Leo Lindemans, Reference: 2251.²

     Maria Vittoria Farnese was born on 29 April 1618 at Parma, Italy (now).^1,3,2 She married Francesco I d'Este Duke of Modena and Reggio, son of Alfonso III d'Este Duke of Modena and Isabella (?) Princesse de Savoie, on 12 February 1648 at Parma, Italy (now),
; his 2nd wife.^1,3,4,2
Maria Vittoria Farnese died on 10 August 1649 at Modena, Italy (now), at age 31.^1,3,2
      ; Vittoria, *Parma 29.4.1618, +Modena 10.8.1649; m.Parma 12.2.1648 Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio (*3.9.1610 +14.10.1658.)¹

; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: vol II page 127.
2. Cahiers de Saint Louis Magazine. , Jacques Dupont, Jacques Saillot, Reference: page 1536.²

     Donna Lucrezia Barberini dei Principi di Palestrina was born on 24 October 1630; Welf 10 page says b. 24 Oct 1630; Leo van de pas says b. 24 Oct 1628.^1,2 She married Francesco I d'Este Duke of Modena and Reggio, son of Alfonso III d'Este Duke of Modena and Isabella (?) Princesse de Savoie, on 14 October 1654 at Loreto, Ancona, Italy (now),
; his 3rd wife.^1,3,2
Donna Lucrezia Barberini dei Principi di Palestrina died on 24 August 1699 at Modena, Italy (now), at age 68.^1,2
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. Legitime de France de la Maison de Bourbon de 1594 a 1820. Paris, 1965., Henri Vrignault, Reference: 41
2. Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: II 125
3. Voorouderstafel van Koning Boudewijn tot in de veertiende generatie Bruxelles, 1991., Leo Lindemans, Reference: 1113
4. Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte Paepste und Papsttum Stuttgart, 1999, 2001, Christoph Weber, Reference: 90 year of birth.²

     Laura Martinozzi was born in 1639 at Fano, Italy (now).^1,2 She married Alfonso II-IV d'Este Duke of Modena, son of Francesco I d'Este Duke of Modena and Reggio and Maria Caterina Farnese, on 13 February 1655 at Compiègne, Champagne, France,
; Welf 10 page says m. 13 Feb 1655; Leo van de pas says m. 27 Mar 1655.^1,3,2
Laura Martinozzi died on 9 July 1687 at Rome, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio, Italy (now).^1,2
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: Vol. II, page 125.²

     Rinaldo III d'Este Duke of Modena, Cardinal was born on 25 April 1655 at Modena, Italy (now).^1,2 He married Charlotte (?) Princess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, daughter of Johann Friedrich (?) Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg zu Hannover and Benedikta Henriette Philippine (?) Pfalzgräfin von Pfalz-Simmern, on 11 February 1696 at Modena, Italy (now).^5,2,1

Rinaldo III d'Este Duke of Modena, Cardinal died on 26 October 1737 at Modena, Italy (now), at age 82.^1,2
      ; [3m.] Duke Rinaldo III of Modena (1694-1737), Cardinal (1686-95), *25.4.1655, +Modena 26.10.1737; m.Modena 11.2.1696 Charlotte von Braunschweig-Lüneburg (*1671, +1710.)¹

; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: vol II page 125.
2. The Royal House of Stuart London, 1969,1971,1976. , A. C. Addington
3. Voorouderstafel van Koning Boudewijn tot in de veertiende generatie Bruxelles, 1991., Leo Lindemans, Reference: 556.² He was Cardinal between 1686 and 1695.¹ He was Duke of Modena between 1694 and 1737.¹

     Charlotte (?) Princess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg was born on 8 March 1671 at Hannover, Stadtkreis Braunschweig, Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany (now).¹ She married Rinaldo III d'Este Duke of Modena, Cardinal, son of Francesco I d'Este Duke of Modena and Reggio and Donna Lucrezia Barberini dei Principi di Palestrina, on 11 February 1696 at Modena, Italy (now).^1,3,4

Charlotte (?) Princess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg died on 29 September 1710 at Modena, Italy (now), at age 39.¹
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. The Royal House of Stuart London, 1969,1971,1976. , A. C. Addington
2. L'Allemagne dynastique , Huberty, Giraud, Magdelaine.¹

     Teresa Simonetta Contessa di Castelbarco married Francesco III Maria d'Este Duke of Modena, son of Rinaldo III d'Este Duke of Modena, Cardinal and Charlotte (?) Princess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, after 1761
; his 2nd wife.^1,3
Teresa Simonetta Contessa di Castelbarco died on 13 August 1768.²
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: The Royal House of Stuart London, 1969,1971,1976. , A. C. Addington, Reference: II 7.²

     Maria Renata (?) Gräfin von Harrach was born on 8 February 1721.^1,2 She married Francesco III Maria d'Este Duke of Modena, son of Rinaldo III d'Este Duke of Modena, Cardinal and Charlotte (?) Princess of Braunschweig-Lüneburg,
; his 3rd wife.^1,3,2
Maria Renata (?) Gräfin von Harrach died on 14 May 1788 at age 67.^1,2
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: The Royal House of Stuart London, 1969,1971,1976. , A. C. Addington, Reference: II 7.²

     Francoise Athenais de Rochechouart was born on 26 April 1641 at Château de Tonnay, France.¹
Francoise Athenais de Rochechouart died on 28 May 1707 at Bourbon L'Archambault, France, at age 66.¹
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. Europäische Stammtafeln Band IV Frank Baron Freytag von Loringhoven 1975, W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: Tafel 144
2. Encyclopedie Genealogique des Maisons Souveraines du Monde Paris, VIII 1963,IX 1964,XII 1966., Docteur Gaston Sirjean, Reference: page 357.¹

; per Leo van de Pas: " In 1666 when recovering from childbirth, Louise de La Vallière introduced the witty Athenaïs de Montespan to the king. Athenaïs was twenty-six, beautiful, married and the mother of two children. She was also a lady-in-waiting to the pious Queen, to whom she ingratiated herself by pretending to abhor the king's affair with Louise de La Vallière. While her husband was away she had a number of suitors. However, in the king's presense she would joke about them and then flirt with the king.

Sophisticated, witty, voluptuous and sure of herself, she was also patient. Early in 1667 Louis XIV created Louise de La Vallière a duchess. However, she was not impressed as she believed she was losing both her looks and the king's affection.

It took until the summer of 1668 before Louis XIV overcame his scruples and became the lover of a married woman, Athenaïs. Had his affaire with Louise been idyllic, his affaire with Athenaïs was very much sensual. The placid Louise tried to object but for a while Louis XIV had the two mistresses. However, one who did more than just object was Athenaïs's husband, Louis, Marquis de Montespan, who was arrested and banished to his estates. The official reason was: having disapproved His Majesty's choice of Monsieur de Montausier as governor of the Dauphin. When he arrived at his castle, he insisted upon passing through the great doorway 'because my horns are too high to pass through the small one'. When Athenaïs gave birth to the king's child in March 1669, he announced to his friends 'the death of his wife from coquetry and ambition' and invited them to a sham funeral.

Had Louise de La Vallière loved the king for himself, Athenaïs loved him also for the power and wealth that came to her with the king. She not only had her debts paid but also bought a house near the Louvre, saw her father named governor of Paris and her sister Abbess of Fontevrault. Yet to everyone's surprise Athenaïs retained the friendship of Louise de La Vallière.

When the king went to Flanders, he went in a coach accompanied by his 'three queens', a situation that was to last for six years. However, in 1670 Louise became seriously ill and, after recovering retired into a convent. Following the departure of Louise de La Vallière, Athenaïs became even more avaricious, declining small presents as, she said, she preferred large ones. The offer of a country house near Saint-Germain was dismissed with 'good enough for a chorus girl'. Instead, she received the Château of Clagny.

The queen had always liked Louise de La Vallière but, unable to cope with the vicious wit of Athenaïs, was often heard to complain 'that slut will kill me yet'. The seven children Athenaïs produced for Louis XIV were cared for by Madame Scarron. From 1675 this widow became known as Madame de Maintenon.

However, Louis XIV not only still kept sleeping with both the Queen and Athenaïs, but also had affaires with Mademoiselle des Oeillets, Anne de Rohan (Princesse de Soubise), Mademoiselle de Ludres and Marie Angelique de Fontanges. The latter drove Athenaïs into a frenzy and in her fury she accused Madame de Maintenon of planning her downfall.

Marie Angelique de Fontanges gave birth to a still-born child while she herself was seriously ill. Shortly afterwards the police arrested a number of people accused of poisoning. The inquiry that followed took a long time and suddenly ordered the arrest of six ladies from the Court. Two of them disappeared to the Netherlands which created an impression of guilt. The main suspect was known as Madame La Voisin, who told fortunes and provided love-potions. Madame La Voisin was found guilty and executed, after which her daughter gave evidence and implicated Athenaïs de Montespan.

Her accusations were very serious as apparently black masses, love potions and spells involved the king and were repeated several times. It also appeared that Athenaïs had supplied the king with aphrodisiacs without his knowledge and had tried to poison Mademoiselle de Fontanges.

While these investigations took place, the king received verbatim reports which, after reading, he burned. Even though La Voisin's daughter had never actually seen Athenaïs, she was believed. Louis XIV, as a God-fearing man, was shocked and their affaire was over. As he was not vindictive he did not want to have the mother of his legitimised children appear in court and allowed her to remain at court. The one thing that changed was the sexual habits of Louis XIV.

Francoise d'Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon, who was three years older than the king, had intrigued the king already for a long time, and after a while, he married her secretly. Athenaïs lived for many more years and in old age her hair became a beautiful snow-white. The thought of death frightened her so much that she paid several women to sit in her room at night with candles lit and the curtains drawn so that, if she woke up, she would be reassured by seeing them playing cards or eating."¹

     Donna Maria Theresa Cybo Duchessa di Massa e Carrara was born on 29 June 1725 at Novellara, Italy (now).^1,2 She married Ercole III Rinaldo d'Este Duke of Modena, son of Francesco III Maria d'Este Duke of Modena and Charlotte Aglaé (?) Princess d'Orleans, Mademoiselle de Valois, on 16 April 1741 at Massa, Italy (now),
; his 1st wife.^1,3,2
Donna Maria Theresa Cybo Duchessa di Massa e Carrara died on 25 December 1790 at Reggio, Italy (now), at age 65.^1,2
      ; Leo van de Pas cites: 1. Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, 4 volumes, Marburg, 1953, 1975., W. K. Prinz von Isenburg, Reference: II 134
2. The Royal House of Stuart London, 1969,1971,1976. , A. C. Addington, Reference: I 7.²

     Chiara Marini Marchesa di Scandiano married Ercole III Rinaldo d'Este Duke of Modena, son of Francesco III Maria d'Este Duke of Modena and Charlotte Aglaé (?) Princess d'Orleans, Mademoiselle de Valois, in 1795
; his 2nd wife.¹

      ; a monk at Rheims, France.¹