This biography will reveal the true Lucrezia Borgia. It is an unfortunate reality that many descriptions of the life of the Pope's daughter and her family are based on malicious rumours by her opponents and sensationalist historians of the 16th century. Even the 19th century biographer Ferdinand Gregorovius would often accept these as gospel. Yet there are many contemporaries of the Borgias, whose notes and letters we should give more credence to than to those of their enemies or certain authors who only knew the Borgias from hearsay. Especially invaluable is the diary of Johann Burchard, the...