Maria Enriquez de Luna


Maria Enriquez de Luna was the wife of Juan Borgia, second Duke of Gandia. She was a first cousin of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, and therefore of the House of Trastamara. She married Juan somewhere between 1493-1494, and together, they had three children: twins Juan de Borja y Enriquez, who became the 3rd Duke of Gandía, and Francisca de Jesus Borja, who became a nun at a convent in Valladolid. The younger Juan was the father of Saint Francis Borgia. Their third child, Isabel de Borja y Enriquez, was born after her father was killed. She grew up to be abbess of Santa Clara in Gandia. In personality, Maria was very intelligent, devout, financially shrewd, and devoted to her husband and children, in contrast to her husband, who was regarded by many as a womanizer, a gambler, a drunkard, and an incompetent general.
Sometime after the end of Pope Alexander VI's papacy, Maria, along with her aunt Isabella of Castille, tried to press murder charges against her brother-in-law, Cesare Borgia for the alleged murder of her husband Juan.