
Don Gaspar de Procida was a Neapolitan nobleman who was betrothed to marry Lucrezia Borgia from 1491 to 1492. Procida was a cousin of King Ferrante I of Naples, and his betrothal to Lucrezia was sanctioned by King Ferdinand II of Aragon. The betrothal was annulled in 1492, as Lucrezia's father, Pope Alexander VI, no longer had designs on Spain.
Biography[]
Gaspar de Procida was the son of the Count of Almenara and Aversa, and he was cousin to King Ferrante I of Naples. On 30 April 1491, he was betrothed to marry Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia's daughter Lucrezia Borgia, and he was seen by her as a "preening child" and an arrogant man, despite his gifts of pearls and gold to her. Lucrezia forced to marry the "self-loving peacock", as she said that, as a Borgia, she deserved better than him. Borgia was angry that his daughter refused to marry him, as he was one of the "finest-looking men in Europe", and the marriage was sanctioned by King Ferdinand II of Aragon. He was later convinced to seduce her, and he gave her a rose after seeking her out during the initial stages of the Rome riots that followed Pope Innocent VIII's death. After the riots, Lucrezia Borgia was sent to Subiaco to remain safe, and Procida was angered that he could not join her there. He later snuck into the Abbey of Saint Petronilla and confronted a sickly Lucrezia in her bed, saying that he was her "one true love". On 8 November 1492, Borgia annulled the marriage contract, as he no longer had designs on Spain after his election as Pope.