Alexander had entered early into such close relations with the Sforza that Cardinal Ascanio became all-powerful in Rome.

Giovanni, an illegitimate son of Costanzo of Pesaro, and only by the indulgence of Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII his hereditary heir, was a man of twenty-six, well formed and carefully educated, like most of the lesser Italian despots.

He had married Maddalena, the beautiful sister of Elisabetta Gonzaga, in 1489, on the very day upon which the latter was joined in wedlock to Duke Guidobaldo of Urbino.

He had, however, been a widower since August 8, 1490, on which date his wife died in childbirth.
Sforza hastened to accept the offered hand of the young Lucretia before any of her other numerous suitors could win it.

On leaving Pesaro he first went to the castle of Nepi, which Alexander VI had given to Cardinal Ascanio.