Lucrezia Borgia

Most Holy Father

With every possible reverence of spirit I kiss the holy feet of Your Beatitude, and humbly recommend myself to the grace of Your Holiness: Having suffered greatly for more than two months because of adifficult pregnancy; as it has pleased God on the 14th of this month at dawn I had a daughter: and I hoped that having given birth my illness also must be alleviated: but the contrary happened: so that Imust yield to nature: Our most clement Creator has given me so many gifts, that I recognize the end of my life and feel that within a few hours I shall be out of it, having however first received all the holysacraments of the Church: And at this point, as a Christian although a sinner, it came to me to beseechyour Beatitude that through your benignity you might deign to give from the spiritual Treasury somesuffrage with your holy benediction to my soul: and thus devotedly I pray you: And to your grace Icommend my lord Consort and my children, all servants of your Beatitude.
In Ferrara the 22nd day of June 1519 at the fourteenth hour.’The humble servant of your Beatitude, Lucretia da Este