Rodrigo Borgia’s enemy Fra Savonarola was excommunicated and executed as described, but in Florence rather than in Rome. Savonarola’s famous Bonfire of the Vanities was not attended by Giulia Farnese, nor to our knowledge was she painted by the great artist Botticelli, who is rumored to have tossed a number of his own works onto Savonarola’s bonfire. And while the poetic romances of Dante and his Beatrice and Petrarch and his Laura are well known, there are no sonnets written by an Avernus to his Aurora.

One final bit of fancy on my part is Bartolomeo Scappi’s experimentation with “tubers.” Potatoes were just beginning to make their way into Italian cuisine, but Scappi apparently had few dealings with them. He was in many ways the greatest cook of the Renaissance, but alas, he cannot be credited with the invention of the French fry.

The Borgias were certainly the high—or low—point when it came to scandal in the Vatican. There can be no doubt that the flow of papal power did its damage in corrupting this intelligent and energetic family. Unlimited power turned their virtues into vices: Rodrigo’s affection for his children became blind nepotism, Cesare’s ambition became hubris, Juan’s arrogance became violence, Lucrezia’s love for her brothers became an eagerness to excuse them every crime. Perhaps Giulia Farnese was glad to get away from the Borgia family, before they tainted either her future or her daughter’s.

But all the conflicting facts, contradictory rumors, and hidden secrets are gold for novelists, readers, and historians, who will forever continue trying to unravel the Borgia myth.

Characters

CHARACTERS

*denotes historical figures

THE BORGIA FAMILY

*RODRIGO BORGIA, Pope Alexander VI

*CESARE BORGIA, his eldest son, Cardinal Borgia

*JUAN BORGIA, his second son, Duke of Gandia

*LUCREZIA BORGIA, his daughter, Countess of Pesaro

*JOFFRE BORGIA, his youngest son, Prince of Squillace

*VANNOZZA DEI CATTANEI, Rodrigo’s former mistress, mother of his children

*GIOVANNI SFORZA, Count of Pesaro, husband to Lucrezia Borgia

*SANCHA OF ARAGON, Princess of Squillace, wife to Joffre Borgia

*MARIA ENRIQUES OF SPAIN, Duchess of Gandia, wife to Juan Borgia

*ADRIANA DA MILA, a cousin to Rodrigo Borgia, former duenna to Lucrezia Borgia

*ORSINO ORSINI, her son, husband to Giulia Farnese

THE FARNESE FAMILY

*GIULIA FARNESE, mistress to Pope Alexander, called Giulia La Bella, the Bride of Christ

*LAURA, her daughter

*CARDINAL ALESSANDRO FARNESE, called Sandro, Giulia’s older brother

*GEROLAMA FARNESE, Giulia’s sister

*PUCCIO PUCCI, Gerolama’s husband

IN ROME:

MARCO SANTINI, maestro di cucina for Adriana da Mila

CARMELINA MANGANO, his cousin from Venice

PIA, *PANTISILEA, TADDEA: household maidservants

LEONELLO, cardsharp and bodyguard

*MICHELOTTO CORELLA, Cesare Borgia’s private assassin

*BARTOLOMEO SCAPPI, kitchen apprentice

MATTEO, ALFONSO, OTTAVIANO, GIULIANO, UGO: other kitchen apprentices

*JOHANN BURCHARD, papal master of ceremonies

*MAESTRO PINTURICCHIO, an artist

*CATERINA GONZAGA, Countess of Montevegio

ANNA, a tavern maid, Leonello’s friend, killed by a masked murderer

*PEDRO CALDERON, called Perotto, papal envoy