Alfonso of Aragon was an illegitimate son of the King of Naples, and tradition has it that Lucrezia's brother, Cesare Borgia, may have had him murdered, after his political value waned.

Notorious tales about her family cast Lucrezia as a femme fatale, a controversial role in which she has been latter portrayed in many artworks, novels, and films.

[2] Her mother was Vannozza dei Cattanei, one of the mistresses of Lucrezia's father, Cardinal Rodrigo de Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI).

[3] During her early life, Lucrezia Borgia's education was entrusted to Adriana Orsini de Milan, a close confidant of her father.

She was a thoroughly accomplished princess, fluent in Spanish, Catalan, Italian, and French, which prepared her for advantageous marriage to any European monarch or prince, and literate in both Latin and Greek.

[citation needed] On 26 February 1491, a matrimonial arrangement was drawn up between Lucrezia and the Lord of Val D'Ayora, in the Kingdom of Valencia, Don Cherubino Joan de Centelles (d. 1522).

[4] When Rodrigo became Pope Alexander VI, he sought to be allied with powerful, princely families and founding dynasties of Italy.

The Pope needed new, more advantageous political alliances, so he might have covertly ordered the execution of Giovanni: the generally accepted version is that Lucrezia was informed of this by her brother, Cesare, and she warned her husband, who fled Rome.

There has been speculation that during the prolonged process of the annulment, Lucrezia consummated a relationship with someone, perhaps Alexander's chamberlain Pedro Calderon (sometimes called Perotto).

She is known to have retired to the cloistered Convent of Saint Sixtus in Vecchio where she was given sanctuary by the Mother Superior in June 1497, to await the outcome of the annulment proceedings, which were finalized in December of the same year.

[11] It was widely rumoured[12] that Lucrezia's brother, Cesare, was responsible for Alfonso's death, as he had recently allied himself (through marriage) with France, against Naples.

She had eight children, during this marriage, and was considered a respectable and accomplished Renaissance duchess, effectively rising above her previous reputation and surviving the fall of the Borgias, following her father's death.

[13] Neither partner was faithful: beginning in 1503, Lucrezia enjoyed a long relationship with her brother-in-law, Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua.

[14][15] Francesco's wife was the cultured intellectual Isabella d'Este, the sister of Alfonso, to whom Lucrezia had made overtures of friendship, to no avail.

The child was sickly, and fearing she would die unbaptised, Alfonso ordered her to be baptized, immediately, with Eleonora Pico della Mirandola and Count Alexandro Serafino as godparents.

[26] She is described as having heavy blonde hair that fell past her knees, a beautiful complexion, hazel eyes that changed colour, a full, high bosom, and a natural grace that made her appear to "walk on air".

[37][38] A modern 20th-century British painting by Frank Cadogan Cowper that hangs in the Tate Britain art gallery in London portrays Lucrezia taking the place of her father, Pope Alexander VI, at an official Vatican meeting.