ce was subsequently dissolved to enable her to
enter into a union as brilliant as her heart could possibly desire.

The consent of Julius II to the betrothal of his nephew with the bastard
daughter of Alexander VI is one of the most astonishing facts in the
life of this pope. It perhaps marks his reconciliation with the Borgia.
He had hated the men of this family while he was hostile to them, but
his hatred was not due to any moral feelings. Julius II felt no contempt
for Alexander and Caesar, but, on the other hand, it is more likely that
he marveled at their strength as did Macchiavelli. We do not know that
he had any personal relations with Lucretia Borgia after he ascended
the papal throne, although this certainly would have been probable owing
to the position of the house of Este. On one occasion he deeply offended
Lucretia when, in reinstating Guglielmo Gaetani in possession of
Sermoneta by a bull dated January 24, 1504, he applied the most
uncomplimentary epithets to Alexander VI, describing him as a "swindler"
who had enriched his own children by plundering others.[206] This
especially concerned Lucretia, for she had been mistress of Sermoneta,
which had subsequently been given to her son Rodrigo.

Later, after Alfonso ascended the ducal throne, the relations between
the Pope and Lucretia must have become more friendly. She kept up a
lively correspondence with Giulia Farnese, and doubtless received from
her the news of the betrothal of her daughter to a member of the Pope's
family.[207]

The betrothal took place in the Vatican, in the presence of Julius II,
Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, and the mother of the young bride. This was
one of the greatest triumphs of Giulia's romantic life--she had overcome
the opposition of another pope, and one who had been the enemy of
Alexander VI, and the man who had ruined Caesar. She, the adulteress, who
had been branded by the satirists of Rome and of all Italy as mistress
of Alexander VI, now appeared in the Vatican as one of the most
respectable women of the Roman aristocracy, "the illustrious Donna
Giulia de Farnesio," Orsini's widow, for the purpose of betrothing the
daughter of Alexander and herself to the Pope's nephew, thereby
receiving absolution for the sins of her youth. She was still a
beautiful and fascinating woman, and at most not more than thirty years
of age.

This good fortune and the rehabilitation of her character (if, in view
of the morals of the time, w