iovanni Borgia, the mystery attaching to him concerns
his parentage, and arises out of the singular circumstance that there
are two papal Bulls, both dated September 1, 1501, in each of which a
different father is assigned to him, the second appearing to supplement
and correct the first.

The first of these Bulls, addressed to "Dilecto Filio Nobili Joanni de
Borgia, Infanti Romano," declares him to be a child of three years of
age, the illegitimate son of Cesare Borgia, unmarried (as Cesare was at
the time of the child's birth) and of a woman (unnamed, as was usual in
such cases) also unmarried.

The second declares him, instead, to be the son of Alexander, and runs:
"Since you bear this deficiency not from the said duke, but from us and
the said woman, which we for good reasons did not desire to express in
the preceding writing."

That the second Bull undoubtedly contains the truth of the matter is the
only possible explanation of its existence, and the "good reasons"
that existed for the first one are, no doubt, as Gregorovius says, that
officially and by canon law the Pope was inhibited from recognizing
children. (His other children, be it remembered, were recognized by him
during his cardinalate and before his elevation to St. Peter's throne.)
Hence the attempt by these Bulls to circumvent the law to the end that
the child should not suffer in the matter of his inheritance.

Burchard, under date of November 3 of that year, freely mentions this
Giovanni Borgia as the son of the Pope and "a certain Roman woman"
("quadam Romana").

On the same date borne by those two Bulls a third one was issued
confirming the House of Este perpetually in the dominion of Ferrara and
its other Romagna possessions, and reducing by one-third the tribute of
4,000 ducats yearly imposed upon that family by Sixtus IV; and it was
explicitly added that these concessions were made for Lucrezia and her
descendants.

Three days later a courier from Duke Ercole brought the news that the
marriage contract had been signed in Ferrara, and it was in salvoes
of artillery that day and illuminations after dark that the Pope gave
expression to the satisfaction afforded him by the prospect of his
daughter's entering one of the most ancient families and ascending one
of the noblest thrones in Italy.

It would be idle to pretend that the marriage was other than one of
convenience. Love between the contracting parties played no part in this
transactio