"Lucrezia Borgia is the most unfortunate woman in modern history. Is this because she was guilty of the most hideous crimes, or is it simply because she has been unjustly condemned by the world to bear its curse? The question has never been answered...We possess the history of Alexander VI and Cesare, but of Lucrezia Borgia we have little more than a legend, according to which she is a fury, the poison in one hand, the poignard in the other; and yet...