Renaissance capitalist: New research answers mystery about illegitimate daughter of pope

University of Southern California ^ | Jan. 7, 2008 | Unknown

[decimon]

How did the sister of Machiavelli's prince get so wealthy during an economic downturn?

In popular legend, Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara (1480- 1519), stands falsely accused of poisoning her second husband. Victor Hugo portrayed her in thinly veiled fiction as a tragic femme fatale. Buffalo Bill named his gun after her.

But new research by USC historian Diane Yvonne Ghirardo reveals that the only sister of Machiavelli's Prince was less interested in political intrigue than in running a business, undertaking massive land development projects that "stand alone in the panorama of early sixteenth-century projects, not only those initiated by women," Ghirardo says.

Forced by an economic downturn to cut expenses and become an entrepreneur, the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI would control between 30,000 and 50,000 acres in northern Italy within six years.

"This is a classic case of seeing only what you're looking for and not getting the whole picture," Ghirardo says of the centuries-old mystery surrounding how Lucrezia accumulated her vast personal wealth. Ghirardo notes that historians have long dismissed Lucrezia as stupida because no record exists of her collecting art or antiquities.

"The information was there in the archives, but because she was a woman, scholars only looked at transactions for clothes, for jewelry, or for works of art. Nobody looked at the other entries in the account registers," says Ghirardo of the research project that took her more than seven years.

In the current issue of Renaissance Quarterly, Ghirardo explains how Lucrezia turned seemingly worthless swampland into reclaimed land. The land was used to cultivate grains, barley, beans and olive trees; to grow flax for spinning into linen; to pasture livestock for milk, meat, wool and hides; and for vineyards.

"That's really a capitalist attitude: to leverage capital by getting the basic good — in this case, land — at the cheapest cost," Ghirardo says.

For example, Ghirardo details Lucrezia's first business venture with her husband's cousin Don Ercole d'Este. The Don gave Lucrezia title to half his land in Diamantia, a large marshy district west of Ferrara. In exchange, Lucrezia agreed to fund improvements to the land, including drainage, building embankments and digging canals.

As Ghirardo explains: "Lucrezia grasped the untapped potential of thousands of acres of marginal, waterlogged land, but she was too shrewd to employ her own resources to purchase it unless absolutely necessary."

Surviving documents also indicate Lucrezia's knowledge of contract terms, border disputes and even the skill of various hydraulic engineers, according to Ghirardo. Other records show her pawning an extremely valuable ruby-and-pearl piece of jewelry in order to buy more water buffaloes (especially to produce mozzarella).

"It's not just what Lucrezia did and how she did it, but the immensity of her enterprises, that stands out," Ghirardo says. "Nobody else was doing this on such a large scale, not even men. Nobody was prepared to put in that kind of money."

Notably, Lucrezia held titles to the land she acquired in her own name, not in her husband's. Profits from Lucrezia's entrepreneurial activities were also for her use alone, according to Ghirardo.

"She could have purchased property that was already arable, but instead she got land that wasn't useful and transformed it," Ghirardo says. "I really believe that she thought of this as her Christian duty, to transform the land and make it better, and then to use money to help fund her spiritual and religious interests."

In account registers that the Duke of Ferrara would not have seen, Ghirardo found indication of significant cash gifts to Lucrezia's confessors, preachers and other religious figures, as well as unexplained cash dispersals, possibly for a love child.

"It's a little like trying to reconstruct a life from a credit card statement. There's a lot you can tell, but a lot that remains obscure," Ghirardo says.

Lucrezia Borgia — widely described by her contemporaries as beautiful and blond, with a sunny disposition — died at 39 following complications from the birth of her eighth child. Three decades would pass before another comparable land reclamation project emerged in northern Italy.

As Ghirardo says: "Lucrezia defied the conventions of her class and her gender."

###

Diane Yvonne Ghirardo, "Lucrezia Borgia as Entrepreneur." Renaissance Quarterly 61: 53-91.

The research was supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Fulbright Program, and the Graham Foundation.

Diane Yvonne Ghirardo is professor of architecture and art history at the University of Southern California and the author of Architecture After Modernism (Thames & Hudson) and Building New Communities: New Deal American and Fascist Italy (Princeton University Press).

[decimon]

Buffalo Bill? What did he name his horse?

[decimon]

Way cooler than neanderthals ping.

[Cowboy Bob]

Buffalo Bill named his gun after her.

This is my rifle, and this is my gun. This ones for shooting...

[ravingnutter]

That is easy...I remember it because it is my hubby’s name...it was Charlie.

[decimon]

That is easy...I remember it because it is my hubby’s name...it was Charlie.

A bit prosaic after Lucrezia Borgia. But then, he probably never shot anything with his horse.

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks decimon! Hey, nothin's cooler than Neandertals. ;') the only sister of Machiavelli's Prince :') Quibble: "The Prince" was none other than Lorenzo "the Magnificent" de' Medici. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[decimon]

...Lorenzo "the Magnificent" de' Medici.

If it's true then it ain't braggin'. ;-)

[SunkenCiv]

	Fortune Is a River: Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine History by Roger D. Masters
	April Blood: Florence and the Plot Against the Medici by Lauro Martines
"One of the world's leading historians of Renaissance Italy brings to life here the vibrant--and violent--society of fifteenth-century Florence. His disturbing narrative opens up an entire culture, revealing the dark side of Renaissance man and politician Lorenzo de' Medici. On a Sunday in April 1478, assassins attacked Lorenzo and his brother as they attended Mass in the cathedral of Florence. Lorenzo scrambled to safety as Giuliano bled to death on the cathedral floor. April Blood moves outward in time and space from that murderous event, unfolding a story of tangled passions, ambition, treachery, and revenge. The conspiracy was led by one of the city's most noble clans, the Pazzi, financiers who feared and resented the Medici's swaggering new role as political bosses--but the web of intrigue spread through all of Italy. Bankers, mercenaries, the Duke of Urbino, the King of Naples, and Pope Sixtus IV entered secretly into the plot. Florence was plunged into a peninsular war, and Lorenzo was soon fighting for his own and his family's survival. The failed assassination doomed the Pazzi. Medici revenge was swift and brutal--plotters were hanged or beheaded, innocents were hacked to pieces, and bodies were put out to dangle from the windows of the government palace. All remaining members of the larger Pazzi clan were forced to change their surname, and every public sign or symbol of the family was expunged or destroyed. April Blood offers us a fresh portrait of Renaissance Florence, where dazzling artistic achievements went side by side with violence, craft, and bare-knuckle politics. At the center of the canvas is the figure of Lorenzo the Magnificent--poet, statesman, connoisseur, patron of the arts, and ruthless 'boss of bosses.' This extraordinarily vivid account of a turning point in the Italian Renaissance is bound to become a lasting work of history."

[SunkenCiv]

That’s true. :’) The Borgias were a different family — although there was also at least one Medici Pope.

[decimon]

Italian history is all of history. They just left more records than most.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Thanks for posting. This is really interesting.

[Ken H]

Buffalo Bill? What did he name his horse?

I was going to say "Victor", but that was the Lone Ranger's nephew's horse.

[afraidfortherepublic]

That’s true. :’) The Borgias were a different family — although there was also at least one Medici Pope.

And at least one Saint -- St. Francis Borgia. I'm not exactly sure where he falls in the family tree, but he is part of it. He gave a way his fortune and became a priest and scholar and managed one of the Orders -- Jesuit, I think. I'll have to look it up.

[neb52]

“I’m not exactly sure where he falls in the family tree, but he is part of it.”

He was Pope Alexander VI’s great grandson. He abdicated his duchy to his eldest son after his wife had passed away and he had fulfilled his duties as father and ruler. Then joined the Society of Jesus.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Thank you. I should know that history by heart — my parish church is named for him, one of only 2 in the world, I think. But, I plead the late hour...

Nevertheless, he was an extraordinary man.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Was St. Francis Borgia Lucretia’s grandson? Or, did Lucretia have other siblings?

[afraidfortherepublic]

I remember another tidbit of information about St. Francis Borgia: he became a priest late in life (as you outline) and the Jesuits forced him to start his religious life slaving in the scullery — not having much hope in his future. Within 2 or 3 years he rose to lead the Order. He was noted for his sermons and his teaching.

[neb52]

“Lucretia’s grandson”

No he descends from the third son Juan, who inherited the Duchy of Gandia in Spain via marriage. Francis’s father was also named Juan. Rodrigo->Juan->Juan->Franics.

[SunkenCiv]

The author is a descendant of one of the little-known figures in Renaissance Italian politics. Just finished reading this, and *highly* recommend it to anyone interested in nonfiction, history, the Renaissance, Italy, art, or Machiavelli. :')

---

The Montefeltro Conspiracy: A Renaissance Mystery Decoded by Marcello Simonetta Kindle Paperback Bantam hardcover search

---