Who were Lucrezia (Borgia) and (the Maquis) De Sade ?
Although Lucrezia (Borgia) and (the Marquis) De Sade lived two centuries apart they had in common their noble lineage as well as a penchant for sexual perversity. As the two most deviant characters in recorded history what better choice as patrons for a shop entirely dedicated to the diversity of sexual expression.
The Marquis De Sade (1740 – 1814) was a renowned author of licentious and obscene writing which have given his name to Sadism.
The events of the Marquis’ life that precipitated his incarceration in the infamous Bastile were characterised by sexual excess and criminal debauchery. The ruling French nobility were prepared to overlook the Marquis’ indiscretions while his abusive sexual practices were confined to prostitutes. When his attentions finally turned to the local children the Marquis De Sade was imprisoned charged with “insanity”.
The checkered life of Lucrezia Borgia (1480 – 1519) included a litany of dubious sexual unions, poisonings, incest and orgies.
Lucrezia was the illegitimate daughter of Italian Renaissance Pope Alexander VI. Arranged by her father, her three successive marriages into prominent families helped augment the political and territorial power of the Borgias.
Lucrezia was famed for her participation in celebrated night orgies at the Vatican. A reported incestuous relationship between Lucrezia and both her father and illegitimate brother only cemented her unsavoury reputation.
In 1994 the names Lucrezia Borgia and the Marquis De Sade again sprang to life from the pages of history with the opening of the Lucrezia & De Sade fetish boutique.