ghter had given birth to a child. This date
agrees perfectly with the age of the Infante Giovanni in September,
1501. Both documents regarding his legitimation, which are now preserved
in the Este archives, were originally in Lucretia's chancellery. She may
have taken them with her from Rome to Ferrara, or they may have been
brought to her later. Eventually we shall find the Infante at her court
in Ferrara, where he was spoken of as her "brother." These facts suggest
that the mysterious Giovanni Borgia was Lucretia's son--this, however,
is only a hypothesis. The city of Nepi and thirty-six other estates were
conferred upon the child as his dukedom.

The second domain, including the duchy of Sermoneta and twenty-eight
castles, was given to little Rodrigo, Lucretia's only son by Alfonso of
Aragon.

Under Lucretia's changed conditions, this child was an embarrassment to
her, for she either was not allowed or did not dare to bring a child by
her former husband to Ferrara. For the sake of her character let us
assume that she was compelled to leave her child among strangers. The
order to do so, however, does not appear to have emanated from Ferrara,
for, September 28th, the ambassador Gerardi gave his master an account
of a call which he made on Madonna Lucretia, in which he said, "As her
son was present, I asked her--in such a way that she could not mistake
my meaning--what was to be done with him; to which she replied, 'He will
remain in Rome, and will have an allowance of fifteen thousand
ducats.'"[115] The little Rodrigo was, in truth, provided for in a
princely manner. He was placed under the guardianship of two
cardinals--the Patriarch of Alexandria and Francesco Borgia, Archbishop
of Cosenza. He received the revenues of Sermoneta, and he also owned
Biselli, his unfortunate father's inheritance; for Ferdinand and
Isabella of Castile authorized their ambassador in Rome, Francesco de
Roxas, January 7, 1502, to confirm Rodrigo in the possession of the
duchy of Biselli and the city of Quadrata. According to this act his
title was Don Rodrigo Borgia of Aragon, Duke of Biselli and Sermoneta,
and lord of Quadrata.[116]

FOOTNOTES:

[99] Cavallieri to Ercole, Lyons, August 8, 1501. The Pope has written
his nuncio that he agreed to the duke's demands, for the purpose of
concluding the marriage, which would be extraordinarily advantageous to
himself and the Duke of Romagna.

[100] Despatches of the Ferrarese ambassador, B