Maria Enriquez de Luna
Widow of Giovanni Borgia and grandmother of SaintFrancisco de Borgia. Admirable woman, who assumes the regency of the Duchy of Gandia with courage and
María Enríquez, daughter of Enrique Enríquez de Quiñones, admiral of Castile, and María de Luna, illegitimate granddaughter of the famous constable Don Álvaro, was the person appointed by Ferdinand II of Aragon, cousin of the chosen one, and the then Cardinal Rodrigo Borja to settle their disputes.
María Enríquez, born in Medina de Rioseco (Valladolid), around 1474, would marry Pedro Luis, the cardinal's eldest son, who would become the 1st Duke of Gandia, after the purchase of the title by the Borgias in 1485.
But Pedro Luis died unexpectedly in Rome (1488), without having contracted the arranged marriage and without succession to the dukedom. His brother, Giovanni, would take care of the inheritance and the wedding commitments.
The capitulations are signed in 1488 and the wedding is celebrated in Barcelona in August 1493. The following year Juan, heir to the dukedom and future father of Saint Francisco de Borja, would be born.
The marriage did not have a happy journey. Giovanni's dissolute life, frequently reprimanded by his family, contributed to the estrangement between María and her husband. Giovanni is also very soon claimed by his father, elected pontiff, to help him in his government tasks.
The enigmatic death of the Duke of Gandia in Rome, in June 1487, leaves María Enríquez widow and regent of the Duke and his properties.
Alexander VI tries to put his son Cesare at the head of the duchy, but María Enríquez finds shelter in King Fernando, who wants to keep this territory in his sphere of influence, to break ties with his Italian family, who throw in the towel and give up their claims.
María Enríquez sold her Italian possessions and acquired other properties close to the dukedom: Miramar, Almoines, the baronies of Rugat and Albalat de la Ribera.
The widow of the duke not only increases his domains but you make it profitable and fruitful. A great patrimony that will soon be managed by her son Juan. He obtains the title of collegiate church for the parish church, granted by Alexander VI, enlarges its construction attracting great artists of the time such as Pere Compte, Damián Forment and the Italian painter Paolo de Sanleocadio, and transfers the bodies of the first two dukes from Rome of Gandia, Pedro Luis and Juan.
After the marriage of her son in 1511, the Duchess retired to the convent of Santa Clara in Gandia, where her daughter Isabel had already entered a year earlier. She was elected abbess in 1514, resigned the position in 1519 to take refuge in Baza and get away from the revolt of the Germanías, and returned to assume it in 1530 until her death, which some authors date in 1537 and others in 1539.
With Lucrezia Borgia, whom he did not meet in person, he had a cordial and continuous correspondence, accompanied by the exchange of gifts. María sent her sweets from Gandia, luxurious shoes and silk fabrics, and she reciprocated from Ferrara with rosaries and devotional objects.
