Lucrezia Borgia

:This article is about the historical person. Lucrezia Borgia is also the name Buffalo Bill gave to his gun.

Affair with Perotto

During the prolonged process of the annulment, Lucrezia did consummate a relationship with someone, probably Alexander's messenger Perotto. The result was that she was actually pregnant when her marriage was annulled for not having been consummated, and this is one of the facts her detractors have cited to support their derogatory view of her character. The child, named Giovanni Borgia but who is known to historians as the Roman Infante, was born in secret before Lucrezia's marriage to the 17-year-old Alfonso V of Aragon.

Related Topics:
Giovanni Borgia - Roman Infante - Alfonso V of Aragon

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Some believe the child was her brother Cesare's, but that Perotto, due to his fondness for Lucrezia, claimed that it was his. During her pregnancy she stayed away from Rome at a convent, so no one would know of her state, and Perotto would bring her messages from her father in Rome. According to this theory, Lucrezia was worried that if news of her pregnancy reached the citizens of Rome, they would surely know it was Cesare's child. Cesare at the time was a cardinal of the Holy Church; if he had been sharing an illicit sexual relationship with his sister during her marriage to Giovanni, it would have to be concealed from everyone, especially their father the Pope.

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