It’s been a great year for with publishing “Farmers and Nobles” and finally doing our “Rooting Trip to Italy” with Letizia Sinisi, meeting our cousins and our friend Francesco Curione 007. Happy New Year and Enjoy our retrospective! Check out out book buy clicking the photo Or purchase on Amazon Join Italian Roots and Genealogy on Facebook Catch the Full Episodes Click here to view the best of 2021

Saint Arnulf ( Patron Saint of Brewers ) Click St. Arnulf  PDF to see lineage.  St. Arnulf.   Arnulf was born to an important Frankish family near Nancy in Lorraine around 582.[3] The family owned vast domains between the Mosel and Meuse rivers.[4] As an adolescent, he was called to the Merovingian court of king Theudebert II (595–612) of Austrasia[5] where he was educated by Gondulf of Provence.[3] Arnulf was later sent to serve as dux at the Schelde. Arnulf gave distinguished service at the Austrasian court under Theudebert II. He distinguished himself both as a military commander and in the civil administration; at one time he had under his care six distinct provinces.[5] Arnulf was married ca 596 to a noblewoman whom later sources give the name of Dode or Doda, (born ca 584). Chlodulf of Metz was their oldest son, but more important is his second son Ansegisel, who married St Begga daughter of Pepin I, Pepin of Landen. Arnulf is thus the male-line grandfather of Pepin of Herstal, great-grandfather of Charles Martel and 3rd great-grandfather of Charlemagne. During his career he was attracted to religious life, and he retired to become a monk. He retired around 628 to a hermitage at a mountain site in his domains in the Vosges. His friend Romaric, whose parents had been killed by Brunhilda, had preceded him to the mountains around 613, and together with Amatus had already established Remiremont Abbey there. After the death of Chlothachar in 629, Arnulf settled near Habendum, where he died some time between 643 and 647. He was buried at Remiremont. Arnulf was canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. In iconography he is portrayed with a pastoral staff in his hand. The Legend of the Beer Mug It was July 642 and very hot when the parishioners of Metz went to Remiremont to recover the remains of their former bishop. They had little to drink and the terrain was inhospitable. At the point when the exhausted procession was about to leave Champigneulles, one of the parishioners, Duc Notto, prayed “By his powerful intercession the Blessed Arnold will bring us what we lack.” Immediately the small remnant of beer at the bottom of a pot multiplied in such amounts that the pilgrims’ thirst was quenched and they had enough to enjoy the next evening when they arrived in Metz. The Carolingian Cross

Ruffo Castle in Scilla( above ) My 26th RUFFO  Great Grandfather was Gervasio Ruffo.  He was the Gentleman of Mizzilicar and Cabucas to King Ruggero II of Sicily in 1141.  Find all the RUFFO LINES. The Ruffo di Calabria[1]are one of theoldest and most noblefamilies of Italiannobility, already numbered among the seven largest familiesof the Kingdom of Naples[2]. A descendant of the family is Paola, sixth queen of the Belgians, daughter of Fulco Ruffo of Calabriaand consort of the kingAlbert II of Belgium. The Ruffo Family history is long and storied. The first historical information regarding the Ruffo di Calabria family dates back to the year one thousand, in the Chronica Monasterii Casinensisof Leone Ostiense itis in fact read of the already mentioned alliance between the emperor of the Eastand the Ruffo and Giuliani families to recover Calabria and Apulia to the Byzantines [13].About a century later there is a Pietro Ruffo, whose birth dates back to 1118, created cardinal by Pope Gelasius II, and there is news of a Gervasio Ruffo, appointed in 1125 strategist of Messina[14]and raised by Roger II of Sicilyin 1146 to the rank of lord of Mizzillicar and Chabucas [15].A probable descendant of the latter, remembered as Ruggero de Gervasio, is named by Federico IIvallectus cameraein 1223 [16], in the same period a Serio Ruffo is remembered, great marshal of the kingdom, who took part in the escort of the body of the emperor in Taranto. More Ruffo Family History — Ruffo di Calabria counts of Catanzaro The great fortune of the family certainly began with the count of CatanzaroPietro I [17][18](m. 1257), who was courtier of the emperor Frederick II and appointed by him giustiziere, grand marshal of the kingdom of Sicily and balio [19 ]of his son Corrado.Unsubstantiated, if not even false and apt only to diminish the figure, the news contained in the Historia de rebus gestis Frederici II imperatorisof the so –called Pseudo-Jamsillaappear, according to which Peter I was of poor and humble origins [20].Appointed vicar in Sicily and Calabria by Corrado IV, he was reconfirmed in these positions by Corradino, but openly lined up against Manfredi hewas deprived of all his possessions and forced into exile, dying murdered by the Hohenstaufenpartisans in Terracina. The same political parable followed Giordano[21], nephew of Peter I;also an official of the Kingdom of Sicily under Frederick II, first a castellan and then an imperial blacksmith[22], later abandoned the Swabians to take the side of Pope Alexander IV, but having fallen prisoner to the Ghibelline side he was first blinded and then executed. Peter II [23](1230-1310), after having found refuge in France with part of the family, sided with Charles I of Anjou andregained the investiture of the county of Catanzaro [24]as compensation for having taken Amanteafrom the followers of Corradino di Svevia(1268), later distinguished himself in the defense of Catanzaro (1280-1281) during the war of the Vespers. Joining the Angevin party gave the various branches of the Ruffo family a great economic power and considerable political weight.The interminable wars of succession that followed, first between Angevins and Durazzeschi and then between Durazzeschi and Aragonese, still saw the Ruffo as protagonists, but divided among the various contenders according to the convenience of the moment. Exemplary in this sense is the figure of the last count of Catanzaro, Niccolò [25]who, as a partisan of the Angiò-Durres, sided with Charles III of Naplesagainst Louis I of Anjou.Appointed in 1384 viceroy of the Calabrian [26]by Queen Margheritaand vicar administrator of ecclesiastical assets in Calabria by Pope Urban VI, he obtained in 1390 from Ladislaus I of Naplesalso the crown of Marquis of Crotonealong with many other benefits.In 1399, pardoning him a brief defection alongside Louis II of Anjou, Ladislaus confirmed Niccolò also as Viceroy of Calabria, nevertheless he will again take the parts of the Anjou-Valois byrebelling, but towards the end of 1404, after having barricaded himself in the city of Crotone, will be forced into exile in France and ousted of all his possessions [27].Niccolò will return to Calabria only in 1420 together with Luigi III d’Angiòregaining titles and property and being reconfirmed Marquis of Crotone.During the war between the Angevinsand the Aragonese, Niccolò consolidated and expanded his power now to the detriment of the opposing party, now to the detriment of the church, now to the detriment of the Anjou themselves.He died in 1435 without leaving any male heirs, two of his daughters are remembered: Giovannella, who married Antonio Colonna prince of Salerno and nephew of Pope Martin V[28], and Enrichetta, adventurously married to Antonio Centellescount of Calisano. Ruffo di Calabria, counts of Montalto and Corigliano Collateral branch begun with Giordano [29]count of Montalto, brother of the aforementioned Niccolò, and continued briefly until his nephew Antonio, count of Coriglianofor part of mother, who had only two daughters: Polissena, married in second marriage to Francesco Sforzaduke of Milan, and Covella[30], wife of Antonio Marzano duke of Sessa and mother of Marino. Ruffo di Calabria counts of Sinopoli and princes of Scilla The Ruffo of Calabria were perpetuated, however in the branch of the lords of Sinopoli[31]of which he was the progenitor Fulco[32], also a leading exponent of the Swabian court and reminder of the Sicilian school[33].His nephew Guglielmo was preferred by Roberto d’Angiòto his older brother and was awarded the title of count on Sinopoli in 1333-1334. Partisans of the house of Anjou, the Ruffo later took part in the conspiracy of the barons, without keeping a significant part of it, thus being dispossessed by the Aragonese of a good part of their possessions that they regained only with the reduction of the Kingdom of Naples to Spanish viceroyalty.In this period Paolo, the seventh count of Sinopoli, acquired the lordship of Scilla, but it was his successor Fabrizio who was the first to obtain the investiture as prince in 1578. The successors were also awarded the titles of marquises of Licodia, princes of Palazzolo, dukes of Guardia Lombarda, counts of Nicotera, marquises of Panaghia, as well as minor fiefs and lordships.During the seventeenth century, however, there was an arrest of the impetuous development of the family that had characterized the previous centuries;the interest of the Ruffo in this period seems in fact mainly focused on the management of the Calabrian and Sicilian landed possessions, rather than on the achievement of an effective political power at the court. In the eighteenth century with the introduction of the land registerand the first attempts to subvert feudalismby Charles of Bourbon, the heritage of the Ruffo will undergo a strong downsizing.At the end of the century, however, there will be the figure of Fulco Giordano Antonio [34](1773-1852), councilor of state and foreign affairs minister of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, who as ambassador to the court of Spain treated the marriage of Maria Cristina of Bourbon, daughter of Francis I, with King Ferdinand VII, who awarded him the Order of the Golden Fleeceand named him Duke of Santa Cristinaraising him to the hereditary rank of first-class Grande di Spagna;in 1832 he was also in charge of escorting the princess Maria Cristina of Savoyto Naples who was married to Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies,coming for this decorated collar of the Santissima Annunziata. Fulco Salvatore [35](1837-1875), had no male ancestry, his daughter Eleonora Margherita (1861-1959), already titular, refused [36]before marriage (1878 ) in favor of two paternal uncles of a part of the titles maintaining for himself that of the princes of Scilla [37]: to Fulco Francesco di Paola [38], to whom the firstborn line passed, the noble predicates of Prince of Palazzolo and Marquis of Licodia;to Fulco Beniamino [39]those of Duke of Guardia Lombarda and count of Sinopoli. Subsequently Umberto will marry his cousin Isabella of the Marchesi Torrigiani and of the Princes of Scilla acquiring, maritali nominations, the titles and regaining to the first-born line that of the princes of Scilla [40];the two had only one son, Francesco di Paola (1907-1975), who had no male ancestry, so at his death the firstborn line passed to Fabrizio Beniamino [41](1922-2005), under whom the family titles that were transmitted by him to his son Fulco [42]. Collateral branches Ruffo della Scaletta, branch originating from that of Bagnara in the seventeenth century by Antonio Ruffo (1610-1678), princes of the Scaletta, princes of Floresta, barons of Guidomandri, barons of Monaco, Luponaro, San Giorgio, Cucco, Randé and Castellana and of Fegotto, lords of Giampilieri, Molino and Altolia, noble patricians of Messina. Ruffo di Bagnara[43][44]today extinct branch originating from that of Sinopoli at the end of the 15th century by Esaù Ruffo, barons of San Lucido, dukes of Bagnara, dukes of Baranello, princes of Sant’Antimo, princes of Fiumara di Muro , princes of Motta San Giovanni, marquises of Guardia, Neapolitan patricians. Ruffo di Castelcicala[45], now extinct branch originated from that of Bagnara in the seventeenth century by Fabrizio (1648-1720), barons and then princes of Castelcicala, Neapolitan patricians. Ruffo de Laricor de La Ric (formerly Roux de Laric), a French branch now extinct originating from that of Sinopoli in the 14th century by Carlo Ruffo [46], counts of Laric, marquises of Courbons, barons of Oze, Neapolitan patricians. Roux de Lamanon, French branch originated in the XV from that of de Laric, cosignori of Lamanon and Aurons. Roux de Beauvezet, a French branch now extinct originated in the 15th by that of de Laric, lords of Beauvezet. Ruffo de Bonneval de La Fare(formerly Roux de Bonneval) [47], French branch, now Belgian, originated from that of Sinopoli by Ruggero Ruffo [48]in the 14th century, lords of Bonneval, marquises de La Fare, Neapolitan patricians. Gervasio Ruffo’s relation to you: Direct ancestor (28 generations) Here’s how: 1. Nicholas Victor Sorrentino is your father 2. Maria Luigia Piromallo is the mother of Nicholas Victor Sorrentino 3. Maria Emilia Caracciolo is the mother of Maria Luigia Piromallo 4. Filippo Caracciolo is the father of Maria Emilia Caracciolo 5. Prince Luigi Caracciolo is the father of Filippo Caracciolo 6. Prince Ambrogio II Caracciolo is the father of Prince Luigi Caracciolo 7. Prince Luigi Caracciolo is the father of Prince Ambrogio II Caracciolo 8. Ambrogio Caracciolo is the father of Prince Luigi Caracciolo 9. Prince Marino III Caracciolo is the father of Ambrogio Caracciolo 10. Prince Francesco Marino Caracciolo is the father of Prince Marino III Caracciolo 11. Marino II Caracciolo is the father of Prince Francesco Marino Caracciolo 12. Roberta Carafa is the mother of Marino II Caracciolo 13. Marzio I Carafa is the father of Roberta Carafa 14. Lelio Carafa is the father of Marzio I Carafa 15. Geromina Carafa is the mother of Lelio Carafa 16. Giovanni Tommaso Carafa is the father of Geromina Carafa 17. Gozzolina San Severino is the mother of Giovanni Tommaso Carafa 18. Girolamo San Severino is the father of Gozzolina San Severino 19. Gozzolina Ruffo is the mother of Girolamo San Severino 20. Niccolú Ruffo is the father of Gozzolina Ruffo 21. Antonello Ruffo is the father of Niccolú Ruffo 22. Carlo Ruffo is the father of Antonello Ruffo 23. Giordano Ruffo is the father of Carlo Ruffo 24. Giordano Ruffo is the father of Giordano Ruffo 25. Pietro Ii Ruffo is the father of Giordano Ruffo 26. Giordano Ruffo is the father of Pietro Ii Ruffo 27. Giovanni Ruffo is the father of Giordano Ruffo 28. Gervasio Ruffo is the father of Giovanni Ruffo Read more about the Ruffo’s and other noble families in my new book. Nicola 18th GG (ex-2nd) Nicola (* 1359/1362 in Calabria 1434), 4th Count of Catanzaro, 1st Marquis of Cotrone with 18-10-1390, Gentleman of Lubianco, Misuraca, Simari, Tower of Marina, Stronghold Bernarda, Briatico, Calvello, Altavilla, Strongoli, Martorano, Scillone, San I Polish, Moved Grimalda and Satriano, Vicerè of Calabria in 1383, Baron of Barbarian, Cropano and Zagarisso 1429, feuds bought at Pappacoda. a) = 1395 about. Joanna, Leonardo’s daughter of Tocco Duca of Leucade (1414) (vedi/see) b) = Saint-Vallier 1414 Margaret of Poitiers Signora of Amantea, daughter of Luigi Signore of Saint-Vallier and of Catherine de Giac (* 1398/1399 post-1453). His daughter marries into San Severino Pietro II 24th GG Peter II (* 1231 about murdered, Catanzaro 1302), 2nd Count of Catanzaro (lost in 9-1297 but re-obtained shutters 1300), Gentleman of Lubianco, Misuraca, Simari, Torre della Marina and Rocca Bernarda; Chamberlain of the King of Naples, General Captain, Chancellor of the Reign of Sicily (confirmed: 1289), Riding master Greater of King Carlo I of Angiò, Gentleman of Briatico and marital Calvello appointments. His headlines they were reconfirmed by the Angevin ones in 1270; it had Misiano and Montaldo da Carlo I of Angiò, to which it added Cotrone in 1283; in 1290 in an act it was asserting of possessing: Catanzaro, Misuraca, Rocca Bernarda, Polycastra, Castellammare, Castel Menardo, Badolato, San George, Holy Senator, Gamiore, Pantona, Buda, Cotrone, Catona; in 1292 it had Carbonara. = 1264/266 Joanna d’ Aquino, daughter of Tommaso II 3rd Conte di Acerra (8-1300) (vedi/see) Giovanni 25th GG Gentleman of Policastro, Lubianco, Misuraca, Simari, Tower of Marina and Stronghold Bernarda, General Captain of the Calabria, General Captain and Chancellor of the Reign of Sicily in 1239; it went to exile to Rome and returned in Sicily only after the fall of the Svevi (1266). .

Visit our shop Gaspare De Riso If you are like me and have been doing research for many years, you may be able to translate some simple Italian Records from the Antenati.  During the course of my research a came across the last will of my 6th great uncle Gaspare De Riso.  This is a forty page document, that I could not read. So I called on my friend Elena Gissi, of E.G. Ancestry for help. I learned of Elena through someone that I met on the internet that was researching her family in the north of Italy.  And we did a great interview on the “Lady In Black.”  Elena also did the research for an episode of “Finding Your Roots” with Louis Gates Jr., for the actor Christopher Meloni. Elena produced an excellent report on the details of the will and this great interview.  If you need any Italian Records to be translated, I suggest to contact Elena at egancestryresearch@gmail.com and mention IG2021. Last Will Gaspare De Riso Podcast Video Click here to join our group on Facebook  

The traceable beginning of the Borgia family ( Borja in Spain )goes back to Rodrigo de Borja who was born in Borja, Zaragoza Spain around 1349.  A branch of the family would later move to Italy and two of them become Popes.  As I was tracing back one of my Carafa lines, I found that one of my Carafa great grandfathers was the son of Juana de Borgia, the sister of Rodrigo Borgia, who later became Pope Alexander VI.  The first Borgia pope was Rodrigo’s uncle Alfonso de Borgia or Pope Callixtus III. A rumor was started by Pope Alexander’s rivals that the family descended from Jewish roots, in an effort to discredit him and remove him as Pope, however their is no proof that this is true.  The Borgia family was pretty notorious for some pretty evil deeds and we have attached a few articles that highlight them. Lucrezia Borgia was pretty well known for being promiscuous  and had an affair with another one of my great grandfathers, Francesco Gonzaga the Duke of Mantua.  The Borgia family was recently chronicled in two TV series and while not 100% accurate, both were very entertaining Click here to join Italian Genealogy Group on Facebook To read more fascinating stories about the Italian Nobles check out my book available by clicking the photo or on Amazon. Borgia Family Four Borgias became especially noteworthy in a historical sense. Alfonso de Borgia (1378–1458) established the family’s influence in Italy and became Pope Calixtus IIIin 1455 (seeCalixtus III). Rodrigo Borgia became a cardinal of the Roman Catholic church and, later (1492), Pope Alexander VI(seeAlexander VI underAlexander [Papacy]). As cardinal and pope, Rodrigo fathered a number of children by his mistress Vannozza Catanei. Cesare Borgia (q.v.; c.1475/76–1507), son of Rodrigo, achieved political power while ruthlessly attempting to establish a secular kingdom in central Italy. Lucrezia Borgia (q.v.;1480–1519), a daughter of Rodrigo and a patron of the arts, became famous for her skill at political intrigue. The family produced many other persons of lesser importance. One, St. Francis Borgia (1510–1572), a great-grandson of Rodrigo, was canonized. The family began to decline in the late 1500s. By the middle of the 18th century it had disappeared. Primary Contributors The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors Parul Jain Marco Sampaolo Alexander VI From Britannica Written By: Francis Xavier Murphy Last Updated: Jun 19, 2019  Alexander VI, original Spanish name in full Rodrigo de Borja y Doms, Italian Rodrigo Borgia, (born 1431, Játiva, near Valencia[Spain]—died August18, 1503, Rome), corrupt, worldly, and ambitious pope(1492–1503), whose neglect of the spiritual inheritance of the church contributed to the development of the Protestant Reformation. Rodrigo was born into the Spanish branch of the prominent and powerful Borgia family. His uncle Alonso de Borgia, bishopof Valencia (later cardinal), supervised his education and endowed him with ecclesiastical benefices while still in his teens. Rodrigo studied law at Bologna, and on February 22, 1456, he was created a cardinal by his uncle, now Pope Calixtus III. As vice chancellor of the Roman Catholic Church, Rodrigo amassed enormous wealth and, despite a severe rebuke from Pope Pius II, lived as a Renaissance prince. He patronized the arts and fathered a number of children for whom he provided livings, mainly in Spain. By a Roman noblewoman, Vannozza Catanei, he had four subsequently legitimized offspring—Juan, Cesare, Jofré, and Lucrezia—whose complicated careers troubled his pontificate. Despite the shadow of simonythat surrounded the disposal of his benefices among the papal electors, Rodrigo emerged from a tumultuousconclave on the night of August 10–11, 1492, as Pope Alexander VI and received the acclaim of the Roman populace. He embarked upon a reform of papal finances and a vigorous pursuit of the war against the OttomanTurks. His position was menaced by the French king Charles VIII, who invaded Italyin 1494 to vindicatehis claim to the Kingdom of Naples. Charles, at the instigation of a rival cardinal of the influential della Roverefamily, threatened the pope with depositionand the convocationof a reform council. Politically isolated, Alexander sought assistance from the Turkish sovereign, Bayezid II. In the course of the pope’s meeting with King Charles in Rome in early 1495, however, he received the traditional obeisance from the French monarch. He still refused to support the king’s claim to Naples and, by an alliance with Milan, Venice, and the Holy Roman emperor, eventually forced the French to withdraw from Italy. In September 1493 Alexander created his teenaged son Cesarea cardinal, along with Alessandro Farnese (the brother of the papal favourite Giulia la Bella and the future pope Paul III). In the course of his pontificate Alexander appointed 47 cardinals to further his complicated dynastic, ecclesiastical, and political policies. His son Juan was made duke of Gandía (Spain) and was married to Maria Enriquez, the cousin of King Ferdinand IV of Castile; Jofré was married to Sancia, the granddaughter of the king of Naples; and Lucreziawas given first to Giovanni Sforza of Milan, and, when that marriage was annulled by papal decree on the grounds of impotence, she was married to Alfonso of Aragon. Upon his assassination Lucrezia received as a third husband Alfonso I d’Este, duke of Ferrara. Tragedy struck the papal household on June 14, 1497, when Alexander’s favourite son, Juan, was murdered. Gravely afflicted, Alexander announced a reform program and called for measures to restrain the luxury of the papal court, reorganize the Apostolic Chancery, and repress simony and concubinage. Alexander had shown great forbearance in dealing with the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola, who usurped political control in Florence in 1494, condemned the evils of the papal court, and called for the pope’s deposition, and, even before the friar’s downfall in May 1498, theologians and men of affairs had expressed support for the papacy. Meanwhile, however, Alexander had returned to a policy of political intrigue. Cesare resigned the cardinalate in 1498 and married Charlotte d’Albret in order to cement the Borgia alliance with the French king Louis XII, whose request for a marriage annulment was granted by the pope. By a ruthless policy of siege and assassination, Cesare brought the north of Italy under his control; he conquered the duchies of Romagna, Umbria, and Emilia and earned the admiration of Niccolò Machiavelli, who used Cesare as the model for his classic on politics, The Prince. In Rome, Alexander destroyed the power of the Orsiniand Colonna families and concluded an alliance with Spain, granting Isabella and Ferdinand the title of Catholic Monarchs. In 1493, in the wake of Christopher Columbus’s epochal discoveries, and at the request of Ferdinand and Isabella, Alexander issued a bull granting Spain the exclusive right to explore the seas and claim all New World lands lying west of a north-south line 100 leagues (about 320 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands. Portugal was granted similar rights of exploration east of the demarcation line. This papal disposition, which was never subsequently recognized by any other European power, was jointly amendedby Spain and Portugal in the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. As a patron of the arts, Alexander erected a centre for the University of Rome, restored the Castel Sant’Angelo, built the monumental mansion of the Apostolic Chancery, embellished the Vatican palaces, and persuaded Michelangelo to draw plans for the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica. He proclaimed the year 1500 a Holy Year of Jubilee and authorized its celebration with great pomp. He also promoted the evangelization of the New World. Attempts to whitewash Alexander’s private conduct have proved abortive. While his religious convictionscannot be challenged, scandal accompanied his activities throughout his career. Even from a Renaissance viewpoint, his relentless pursuit of political goals and unremitting efforts to aggrandizehis family were seen as excessive. Neither as corrupt as depicted by Machiavelli and by gossip nor as useful to the church’s expansion as apologists would make him, Alexander VI holds a high placeon the list of the so-called bad popes. Lucrezia Borgia (born April 18, 1480, Rome—died June 24, 1519, Ferrara, Papal States), Italian noblewoman and a central figure of the infamous Borgia familyof the Italian Renaissance. Daughter of the Spanish cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope Alexander VI, and his Roman mistress Vannozza Catanei, and sister of Cesare, Lucrezia is often accused of sharing in their many crimes and excesses. In historical perspective, however, she seems to have been more an instrument for the ambitious projects of her brother and father than an active participant in their crimes. Her three successive marriages into prominent families helped augment the political and territorial power of the Borgias. In 1491 the young Lucrezia was successively betrothed to two Spanish nobles. But after her father became pope in 1492, he sought an alliance with the Sforza family of  Milan a gainst the Aragonese dynasty of Naples. Accordingly, Lucrezia was in 1493 married to Giovanni Sforza, lord of Pesaro. When Alexander allied himself with Naples, and Milan with the French, Giovanni, fearing for his life, fled from Rome and became an enemy of the Borgias, later charging incestuous relations between Lucrezia and Alexander. Alexander annulled the marriage in 1497 on the dubious grounds of nonconsummation. Seeking to strengthen his ties with Naples, the Pope in 1498 arranged a marriage between Lucrezia and the 17-year-old Alfonso, duke of Bisceglie, an illegitimate son of Alfonso II of Naples. Upon Cesare’s alliance with the French king Louis XII(1499) and his subsequent campaign in the Romagna, which threatened Naples, Alfonso fled Rome in August but returned with Lucrezia in October. In July 1500 he was wounded by four would-be assassins on the steps of St. Peter’s. While recovering, he was strangled by one of Cesare’s servants. The murder provoked the desired rupture with Naples. Lucrezia retired to Nepi, and during this period the mysterious Infans Romanus (Roman Infant) was first seen, the three-year-old boy named Giovanni, with whom Lucrezia appeared in 1501. Two papal bulls recognized the child as the illegitimate son first of Cesare, then of Alexander, who was probably the true father. The mysterious origin of the child as well as Lucrezia’s presence at a celebrated night orgy at the Vatican have been used to support the rumours of incest in the Borgia family. Alfonso d’Este, son of Ercole I, duke of Ferrara, married Lucrezia on December 30, 1501, although he shunned the union for a time because of the Borgias’ unsavoury reputation. This marriage was arranged by Cesare to consolidate his position in the Romagna. When Alexander VI died in 1503, Lucrezia ceased to play a political role and led a more normal life at the brilliant court of Ferrara, which became a centre for the arts and letters of the Italian Renaissance. She turned to religion in her last years and died at the age of 39.   Lucrezia