Maria Santi:
Much better than in the movies

“Ah, Cesare Borgia is such a darling.” What?! A man with syphilis scars on his face who has not loved a single woman in his entire life? Oh yes. You watched the series. Or a movie. Or porn. Father - Pope Alexander IV of Borgia and prowls, who would poison, the son of Cesare is a romantic bandit, and the daughter of Lucretius is a slut who sleeps with both.

Borgia were demonized because they were Spaniards. That is strangers. All-Italian power was also sought by Julius II. He also impersonated and promoted his illegitimate children. Moreover, during his life, black PR was watered by all popes without exception. But only stories about Borgia have survived to this day. Lucky.

In the Renaissance, people after the election robbed the house of an elected cardinal. Therefore, having bribed the majority of the electors of the conclave, Rodrigo Borgia took all the money out of the house in advance. And he could have opposed such a tradition. But, like most dads, he, wherever possible, pretended to play by the rules.

Let’s look at the fresco of Pinturicchio, the beloved artist of Alexander IV. In the image of Catherine of Alexandria, arguing with philosophers, the painter painted the daughter of a pontiff. In the emperor, everyone recognized her brother Cesare. Dad himself considered the relationship within his family idyllic. He chose the motto of the composition - Pacis cultori - "To the one who made peace."

When Cesare stabbed a servant - Lucrezia’s lover (right under the cloak of Alexander IV, where the poor fellow hid in the hope of escape), the child was born recorded as the son of the pope (and then Cesare) from a free woman. Hence the legend that Lucretia had an affair with both.

By the way, the famous scene when dad and daughter looked at mating horses occurred when Alexander IV was under 70. At that time, he did not even have an official favorite. And on the Internet they write that immediately after the spectacle they with Lucretia "secluded themselves and made love."

Allegedly, the Babylonian harlot Lucrezia Borgia once was governor of Spoleto (in particular, organized a corps of horse gendarmerie in the city) and replaced her father several times - she managed the Vatican and the current affairs of the church. When Cesare killed the second husband of Lucretia, she signed the letters for several months: "The most miserable of women."

Dad was proud of the secular successes of his daughter. And he was afraid of Cesare, who out of envy killed his brother.

The tyrant of Cesare believed that he was ridding the country of tyrants. French soldiers condemned Cesare Borgia for coercing cohabitation of Katharina Sforza captive. The chivalrous code provided for respect for a lady. Equal social status, of course. This did not apply to the rest.

The supposedly unflappable iron Cesare cried when he was first taken to prison. During interrogation, he humiliated himself, cursing his late father. Power theorists say this was a trick calculated by an attempt to deceive. But the main predator of the Renaissance for the first time in his life was deprived of the support of an influential parent. And, of course, confused.

Borgia were rulers and they cannot be judged by the rules of a different social rank. Dad is a politician, son is a murderer, daughter is a muse. Dad was worried about his last lover, Julia Farnese, who betrayed him. Surrounded by luxury, Cesare did not know a settled life. Lucretia was a loving mother, by virtue of the moral laws of her time, separated from two illegitimate children.

But who cares about living people when you need to surprise the viewer?