Excellent book on a very misunderstood wooman
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I throughly enjoyed this book On Lucrezia Borgia, it gave a very human side to a woman, who i feel has been unfairly condememed by the actions, real & imagined of others, ie the Borgia Family. Sarah Bradford is to be congratulated on the way she brings Lucrezia to life as an individual in her own right, although at times manipulated by others, including those who were so hostile to Pope Alexander VI & her brother Cesare Borgia, yet hardly innocents themselves.
What is very refreshing is Ms Bradford shows Lucrezia as an accomplished women, able to converse with & be equal to the leading nobilty & politicians of her day, not as the silly blonde who merely sought pleasure & depravity.
Indeed Lucrezia so impressed those around her, friend and foe alike. She acted as regent to her husband Duke Erocle II of Ferrara, who valued her not just as a wife, but as an an estute stateswoman. At the time of Lucrezia's death in 1519, she was highy respected by the people of Ferrara and was greatly mourned.
A wonderful book,, beautifully written, and has for me re-addressed the very negative but typical sterothyping of her family's faults. It has to be added the reason the Borgia's have attracted such poor, negative press in the main, is they were a very powerful family, of which 2 members attained the Papacy, Pope Callixtus III & Pope Aledander VI, who not only controlled the Papacy but those around them, in an age where you won at whatever cost. Whilst Lucrezia's father Alexander VI was certainly no saint, there were several worse, before & after him, it also showed a very human side to Alexander and of a very human strong emotional tie to the family.
I recommend this book very highly
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