Lucrezia Borgia was considered an infamous and scheming criminal. On April 18, 1480, in Rome, Italy (Lucrezia Borgia 1), she was born to Rodrigo Borgia, who would later become Pope Alexander VI, and his mistress, Vanonozza de Cattanei (Aiuto 4), and became a member of the infamous famous Borgia. family. Lucrezia Borgia's bad reputation was unjustified as she was manipulated by those close to her to fuel their political ambitions, received her family's criminal record, and was the victim of unfair propaganda. Lucrezia was used to strengthen her family's political stature in Europe through marriage arrangements. During the Renaissance era, the region of modern Italy was composed of several city-states (Lucrezia Borgia 8:44), two of the most prosperous being Milan and Naples (Meyers 1). Lucrezia's father, Pope Alexander VI, wanted to conquer these city-states to gain power for the Church and his family (Lucrezia Borgia 8:57). He and his brother, Cesare Borgia (Mallet 304-305) arranged marriages for Lucrezia with prominent families from several of these city-states to help her achieve this goal (Lucrezia Borgia 8:57). Because of her status, wealth, beauty and intelligence, many men wanted to marry her. “…[The] choice between ending a marriage or arranging another was never hers [Lucrezia’s]” (Mallet 271). Lucrezia was not involved in any of these ambitious projects; therefore, she should not have been held responsible for the actions of her father and brother. Lucrezia has been engaged five times in her life. Her first two engagements were canceled when she was eleven (Aiuto 4). Lucrezia's first marriage, in 1493 (Lucrezia Borgia 1) at the age of thirteen (Hibbert 44), was to Giovanni Sforza of the powerful Milanese family (Ai...... middle of paper ..... .Lucrezia died in childbirth (Mallet 312) at the age of thirty-nine (Hibbert 309-310) on June 24, 1519 in Ferarra, Italy (Lucrezia Borgia 1). a letter to her nephew saying: "I cannot write this without tears, knowing myself deprived of so dear and sweet a companion" (Duke of Ferrara 357) Her words directly contrast with the widely held belief that Lucrezia. was a ruthless, evil, evil member of the Borgia family. This reputation was not justified by Lucrezia's actions. She was used by her family, was considered as corrupt as her notorious parents and her name was. Negatively influenced by gossip after moving to Ferrara freed from the shadow of her evil family, Lucrezia's true sympathetic nature eventually manifested itself through where she lived her life as a kind and pious Christian...