September 24, 2008 -Lucrezia Borgia-

Historical fiction. I think I'm going to do it. I have always been fascinated by Lucrezia Borgia and I want so badly to write about her. Historical fiction is such a challenging genre but I'm willing to put in the time. I only wish we had a better library here in the Dells, it would make things a lot easier.
Lucrezia Borgia was the daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia by his mistress Vanozza Cattanei. Yeah, Cardinals are supposed to be abstinent, I know, but it gets a lot worse. Even before her first marriage, rumors were flying that Lucrezia and her eldest brother, Cesare, were lovers. Today this is widely believed to be unjust slander spread by people opposed to the wealthy Borgia family. When Lucrezia was 12, in the year 1492, her father became Pope Alexander VI. As with all highborn ladies of the time, she was married for conveniance at a young age, but when her marriage no longer served a purpose to her father, Rodrigo had it anulled, an event unheard of in the 1500's. Lucrezia's husband, accused of impotence as a means to dissolve the marriage, was furious, and started the rumor that made Lucrezia and her father famous. He stated that Lucrezia was not only mistress to her two oldest brothers, but to her father as well. The public wasn't hard to convince.
Lucrezia fled to the convent of San Sisto in Rome to ride out the divorce, humiliated both by the proceedings, carried on against her will, and the scathing rumors. It was in this convent that Lucrezia became pregnant with her first child. To this day no one can say for sure who the father is, suspects include a messanger named Pedro Calderon, Lucrezia's brothers Cesare and Juan, or Pope Alexander VI. What makes this interesting is that although the maternity of the child was never on any sort of record, Pope Alexander did announce that the boy was his. Was this merely the support and protection of a grandfather, or something more? As an interesting side note, Juan Borgia was found dead in a river during Lucrezia's stay in the convent.
Lucrezia went on to marry again, a happy marriage that ended when Cesare killed her husband. When Lucrezia married a third time she became the Duchess of Ferrara. This is where she spent the rest of her life adored by her subjects.
So who is the real Lucrezia Borgia? Who was she behind all those closed doors, of all the slander what is truth and what is merely rumor? What if it is true, all these horrible things, but not in the way we think? Cesare, Juan, Rodrigo, what if they were her lovers but by no will of her own? I see this gentle, intelligent woman being taken advantage of by everyone around her. This is the Lucrezia that I want to put down on paper. "Stories compel themselves to be told."
Tomorrow is a sending day. I've got five short stories I'm shipping out. As always, I'm hoping for the best.
The main squeeze and I sat outside tonight on the porch swing, looking at the stars and just talking. It was terribly romantic. We're moving into our first place so soon now, I'm excited but I had no idea how expensive moving was. And the brand new laptop? Not working, at all. And the guy he bought it from won't give him his money back. So there goes four hundred dollars we could have used for furniture and groceries. Let's hope my freelance writing kicks off real soon.