One of our E-bikes is called Lucretia.
Oh how many noblewomen with the same name we find in our history: the first was Lucretia in Roman times that is said to have caused the expulsion of the Tarquins from Rome. And then Lucrezia de' Medici, daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent. And what about Lucrezia Crivelli, lover of Ludovico il Moro to whom she also gave a son.
But perhaps, needless to say, the figure that most captures the attention for its beam and its history full of dark details, is that of Lucrezia Borgia.
The illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and his historical lover Vannozza Cattanei, Lucrezia was destined from birth to a life full of twists and turns. She was married twice, a pawn in various occasions of the aims of power of her father and brother, but she was able to assert her reasons during the negotiations for the third wedding, those with Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. Such were her charisma and her intelligence that convinced her husband, at first reluctant, to entrust her with important government tasks during the periods of his absence from the court.
Since 1512, Lucrezia changed her vision of life and the world, coming to wear the cilice and characterizing her days with charity and penance and promoting the foundation of the Monte di Pietà of Ferrara.
But very little is known today about how the personality of this woman was really rich in nuances and innovative ideas: the fame of the Borgia family often suffers from the extreme desire of its people to reach the heights of power, sometimes giving up the most basic rules of morality. Lucrezia herself was often depicted as an unscrupulous murderess, ready to poison at her table anyone who seemed to get between her and her goals of power.
Nevertheless, her figure, together with that of her father and brother, made her immortal in the collective imagination, assuring her a place in the history of Renaissance Italy.