Lucrezia Borgia - Issue

Issue

Lucrezia was mother to seven or eight known children:

  • Giovanni Borgia, "infans Romanus" ("Child of Rome", c. 1498–1548). The child's paternity was acknowledged by both Alexander and Cesare in two separate Papal bulls, but it was rumoured that he was the child of Lucrezia and Perotto. The child (identified in later life as Lucrezia's half-brother) was most likely the result of a liaison between Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI, Lucrezia's father) and an unknown mistress and was not Lucrezia's child.
  • Rodrigo of Aragon (1 November 1499 – August 1512). Son by Alfonso of Aragon.
  • Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (5 April 1508 – 3 October 1559).
  • Ippolito II d'Este (25 August 1509 – 1 December 1572). Archbishop of Milan and later Cardinal.
  • Alessandro d'Este (1514–1516).
  • Leonora d'Este (3 July 1515 – 15 July 1575). A nun.
  • Francesco d'Este, Marquess of Massalombarda (1 November 1516 – 2 February 1578).
  • Isabella Maria d'Este (born and died on 14 June 1519). Complications at birth caused the death of Lucrezia ten days later.

At least one biographer (Maria Bellonci) claims that Lucrezia gave birth to three more children, one by Alfonso of Aragon and two by Alfonso d'Este, who did not survive infancy. She is also thought to have had at least four miscarriages.

Lucrezia is claimed to be the ancestress of many notable people, including American Civil War general P.G.T. Beauregard. She is a collateral relative of most of the royal families of modern Europe including that of the United Kingdom. Through her granddaughter Anna d'Este, Duchess of Guise and later Duchess of Nemours, Lucrezia is the ancestress of Juan Carlos I of Spain, Albert II of Belgium, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, as well as the Count of Paris and the claimants to the Thrones of the Bavaria, Brazil, Parma, Saxony and the Two Sicilies.

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