Apologies to the late reply.

In short, as with many historical series, the story is inspired by real-life events, but what actually happened was much, much more complicated.

By the age of 12, Lucrezia Borgia was already engaged for the second time, to Don Gaspar de Procida. This engagement was quickly broken as Rodrigo realised the advantage of an Italian marriage and promised her to Giovanni Sforza, ruler of Pesaro. Giovanni was 26 at the time and had as little to say on this marriage as Lucrezia. She was mainly betrothed to the Sforza family out of gratitude; Giovanni’s uncle Ludovico Il Moro ruled Milan and was of great military power, and Ludovico’s brother Ascanio was a major factor in the election of Rodrigo as pope.

At first the engagement was kept secret, and Lucrezia and Giovanni were married by proxy before he arrived in Rome. Gossip came out though, and after Giovanni arrived in Rome to have an official wedding, Lucrezia’s second betrothed, Procida, showed up in the city as well. The Ferrarese ambassador noted that he caused a great scene and told anyone and everyone that his marriage to Lucrezia was validated by the king of Spain and that he was cheated out of his rights. He was paid off and left, but the damage was done and when Lucrezia eventually married Giovanni, just after her 13th birthday, Rome was full of gossip around the scandalous events surrounding this wedding.

Though the age of marital consent at the time was 12, Rodrigo did not allow the newlyweds to sleep together. This was not uncommon; many more concerned parents of young brides insisted that no marital relations were performed until their daughter was a few years older. In this case though, it has been theorized that Rodrigo did not act solely out of concern for his daughters health, but also out of political precaution. Lucrezia was a brilliant pawn to play in his schemes, and though the Sforza’s were a powerful family, Giovanni only ruled the relatively small city of Pesaro and was below Lucrezia’s standing. The marriage might have been advantageous to Rodrigo at the time, but in the future he might form a bond with another ally and it would be much easier to annul her marriage had it not been consummated.

Because of this, Lucrezia’s life did not change much in the first months of her marriage, and she mainly spent time with Rodrigo’s mistress, Giulia Farnese. Giovanni stayed in Rome for a few months after the wedding, but then returned to Pesaro. Shortly after, Rodrigo gave the permission to consummate the marriage. Giovanni returned to Rome and stayed a few months, but it is not clear whether he fulfilled his marital duties.

Less than a year had passed before cracks started to appear in the relationship between the Borgias and the Sforzas. It became clear that the French King was about to invade Italy, and Ludovico wanted to protect Milan by diverting the French to Naples. Rodrigo on the other hand, recognised the importance of Naples as his ally, and wanted to fight the French. Giovanni was stuck between them, but instead of exploiting this position, he played his hand very poorly and got on the bad side of both parties. Because of the impending invasion and a plague striking Rome, Rodrigo did send both Lucrezia and Giulia to Pesaro, where Lucrezia finally got to see her new home and spent some months with her husband.

When both the French and the plague were no longer a problem, Lucrezia did return to her father. Giovanni followed her, but returned to Pesaro soon after, and stayed away for months. Rodrigo kept summoning him back, but Giovanni had no inclination to do so, as the relation between his family and the pope had soured considerably. When he finally did return, this was much to Lucrezia’s delight. After only 15 days, he fled the city, afraid for his life. A contemporary chronicler reports that Lucrezia had a servant of her husband hidden in her room whilst she was talking to her brother, Cesare. This way, she could maintain the illusion that she was on Borgia’s side, but the conversation with Cesare made it clear that Giovanni was in mortal danger from the Borgia’s, and through this hiding servant Lucrezia warned him in time so he could flee. This action suggests that she felt at least concern, if not warmer feelings, for her husband.

Lucrezia on her part also fled Rome, to a convent. Her father even sent armed men after her to retrieve her, but she held out in the convent for a few months. During this time, rumours came about that she had an affair with a man in her fathers household, Perotto. There is no evidence of these rumours, but Perotto did end up dead in the Tiber, together with one of Lucrezia’s ladies-in-waiting.

Rodrigo made it clear that Giovanni would only see his wife again if he returned to Rome. He did send an envoy to Pesaro to discuss the annulment of the marriage - either on grounds of non-consummation or on the grounds of Lucrezia technically being the property of her second betrothed, Procida. Giovanni did seek help from his uncle in Milan, but il Moro, annoyed by his cousin, gave his aide by holding some utterly humiliating councils, held to discuss ways to prove that Giovanni was indeed not impotent and had consummated his marriage. One of the suggestions was that Giovanni prove his prowess publicly with prostitutes, but Giovanni refused to comply. Eventually, il Moro declared his nephew impotent. It was in these desperate times that Giovanni made a claim to the Ferrarese ambassador which would haunt Lucrezia’s name even five centuries later: that her father had carnal knowledge of her, and was determined to annul the marriage so he could have her for himself. Finally, when Rodrigo threatened to withdraw his protection from Pesaro, Giovanni caved and agreed to have the marriage annulled on grounds of non-consummation.

At this point all parties returned to Rome, and it is noted that during the divorce proceedings, Giovanni was seen entering his wife's room at all times of the days, suggesting they still continued an affectionate relationship. Three months after the divorce was finalized, Lucrezia gave birth to a boy, leaving all of Italy in roaring laughter. The Bogia’s maintained that the child was Perotto’s, and that dishonouring Lucrezia was the reason he disappeared. The math does not work out though, as Lucrezia would have been due much later if Perotto was the father. Counting back the months, she actually fell pregnant when she was in Pesaro with Giovanni, which makes him the likely father. This, of course, was vehemently denied by the Borgia’s, as even their brilliant scheming minds would have a difficult time arguing that the marriage produced an heir despite not being consummated.