Lucrezia Borgia lived with a reputation she did not create and could never fully escape. Born in 1480, she was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI, a man whose rise to the papacy left enemies across Italy. From the start, Lucrezia existed inside politics rather than apart from it. Her marriages were arranged for advantage, not affection. First came Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro. When that alliance lost its value, it was dissolved publicly and brutally. Then came Alfonso of Aragon, whose murder shocked