Caterina Sforza

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Lorenzo di Credi : Caterina Sforza , 1481/83, oil on canvas, Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì, Italy

Caterina Sforza (* 1463 in Milan , † May 28, 1509 in Florence ) was an Italian noblewoman, Countess of Forli and Mistress of Imola , famous for her beauty, boldness and fearlessness - even in the face of the attacks by Cesare Borgia - as well as for her significant Grandson of Cosimo I de 'Medici , who became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany . She wrote a book with recipes in chemistry (alchemy), medicine and pharmacy.

origin

Piero Pollaiuolo Portrait of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, father of Caterina Sforza

Caterina Sforza came from the Sforza dynasty , one of the great Italian families of the Renaissance , who ruled (intermittently) as dukes of Milan from 1450 to 1535 . Caterina was a granddaughter of Francesco I Sforza (* 1401, † 1466), the first Duke of Milan (1450–1466) from the Sforza family and an illegitimate daughter of his eldest son and successor, Galeazzo Maria Sforza (* 1444, † 1476), Duke of Milan (1466–1476) from his relationship with Lucretia Landriano.

Caterina had three further siblings, Carlo (1461), Alessandro (1465) and Chiara (1467), as well as several half-siblings both from her father's relationships and later marriage as well as from her mother's marriage.

Life

Caterina and her siblings grew up with their legitimate siblings in the ducal palace and were raised by their grandmother, Bianca Maria Visconti . After her death in 1468, Bona von Savoyen , the young wife of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, took over this task .

In 1472 she was betrothed to his nephew (possibly also son) Girolamo Riario at the instigation of Pope Sixtus IV . Sixtus IV then bought Imola in 1473 from the Duke of Milan, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, which he then gave to the Riario family as a fief . After her triumphal entry into Imola and her marriage to Girolamo in 1477, Caterina Sforza went to Rome with him. In 1480, the Pope transferred control of Forlì Girolamo Riario instead of Ordelaffi .

Riario managed to amass a large fortune through a series of crimes which his wife later accused him of. When Pope Sixtus IV. In August 1484 died, he sent Caterina to Rome to the Castle Sant'Angelo (the Castel Sant'Angelo to occupy) that they "gallantly" defended until it is on October 25 at his command the Sacred College handed over. She then returned to her possessions of Imola and Forlì, where she sought to win the affection of the people by building public buildings and churches and by abolishing taxes. However, the need for financial resources soon forced them to raise taxes again, creating dissatisfaction. Riario's enemies conspired against him, with the aim of making Franceschetto Cibo , nephew of Pope Innocent VIII, Lord of Forlì and Imola in his place . Riario then began systematic persecution, which also involved Caterina, whom he - contrary to the opinion of everyone else - suspected of treason. In 1488 he was murdered by three conspirators, his palace plundered, and his wife and children taken prisoner. When she managed to escape, she escaped to the loyal castle of Forlì. She is said to have fought in the defense of the castle herself and here, as on previous occasions, proved to be a good fencer. She also threatened to bomb the city and refused to negotiate, even when threatened that otherwise her children would be killed. Reports indicate that she was standing on the castle wall when they showed her the children and held a dagger to their throats. She is said to have lifted her skirts and explained to the besiegers that she could have more children at any time, to make it clear how little was achieved with such a threat. With the help of her uncle Ludovico Sforza , the regent of Milan , she was able to defeat her opponents and take back her possessions. She took revenge on her enemies and restored her power.

As a widow she had several lovers, including Giacomo Feo, from whom she had a son and whom she later married. Feo, who had made himself hated for his cruelty and insolence, was murdered before her eyes in August 1495 - whereupon Caterina had all the conspirators killed with their families, wives and children.

With the new Pope, Alexander VI. At first she was on good terms with the Florentines , whose ambassador Giovanni de 'Medici she secretly married in 1496. After Giovanni's death in 1498, Caterina managed again, now with the help of Ludovico and the Florentines , to repel all attacks, especially those of the Venetians , on their lands. Alexander VI. on the other hand, who was annoyed by the refusal to agree to a union with his daughter Lucrezia Borgia and her son Ottaviano, and who coveted lands for his son Cesare Borgia from Caterina , as did the rest of Romagna , gave a bull on March 9, 1499 out, in which it was declared that the Riario family had forfeited dominion over Imola and Forlì and that the dominions were given to Cesare Borgia as a fief. The latter then began a campaign to conquer Caterina Sforza's land and attacked her with his entire army, reinforced by 14,000 French .

Caterina brought her children to safety and took vigorous defensive measures. Imola Castle was defended by its follower Dionigi Naldi of Brisighella until the resistance became futile, and then handed over in December 1499. Caterina released the inhabitants of Forlì from their feudal oath and defended herself in the citadel. It repeatedly repulsed Borgia's attacks and refused his peace offers. When the situation finally became untenable and it was also not possible to blow up the powder magazine, she gave up after a loss-making defensive battle; For fear of Cesare Borgia, she submitted to the leader of the French troops on January 12, 1500. Although her life was spared, she was handed over to the Pope as a prisoner of the French king and held in the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome for a year. until she was freed by the French commander Yves d'Allègre, who insisted on her release.

In Florence she found refuge from the pursuits of the Borgias until the power of this family with the death of Alexander VI. Collapsed in 1503 - whereupon they tried again to gain possession of their lands. However, this failed because of the hostility of their brothers-in-law Pierfrancesco and Lorenzo de 'Medici ; When they wanted to get their son Giovanni (later Giovanni dalle Bande Nere ) in their hands, she withdrew with him to the convent of Annalena, where she died on May 28, 1509 after pneumonia.

Caterina dealt with the preparation of medicines and alchemy and left a recipe book with the title "Gli Esperimenti". It was written in the years before 1500 and is only preserved in a posthumous transcription from 1525 by Lucantonio Cuppano (now in a private archive), a follower of her son Giovanni dalle Bande Nere. Several copies were in circulation and in 1893 Pier Desiderio Pasolini printed it in his Sforza biography (other abridged editions appeared for example in 2009). The book contains 454 recipes, 66 of which were cosmetic, 358 medical and 38 alchemical. Including recipes to increase the weight of coins, make objects look like gold or poisons. Caterina Sforza herself was imprisoned by the Pope in Castel Sant'Angelo under the pretext (which Macchiavelli also joined, for example ) that she wanted to kill him with poisoned letters.

Marriages and offspring

From her first marriage to Girolamo Riario , Caterina had six children:

  • Bianca Riario (* March 1478 in Rome, † after 1522), she married Astorre III Manfredi the lords of Faenza († 1502) in her first marriage in 1494 and Troilo Rossi († 1521) the first Marchese di San Secondo in her second marriage in 1503 whom she had nine children.
  • Ottaviano Riario (born August 31, 1479 in Rome, † October 6, 1523 in Bologna) Lord of Imola and Forli (1488 - 1499), later Bishop of Volterra and Viterbo .
  • Cesare Riario (born August 24, 1480 in Rome, † December 18, 1540 in Rome), Archbishop of Pisa and Latin Patriarch of Alexandria
  • Giovanni Livio Riario (born October 30, 1484 in Forli, † 1496)
  • Galeazzo Maria Riario (* December 4, 1485 in Forli, † 1557 in Bologna) ⚭ 1504 Maria Giovanna della Rovere (* 1486 in Senigallia, † 1538 in Bologna), the eldest sister of Francesco Maria I della Rovere , Duke of Urbino
  • Francesco Riario, called “Sforzino” (born August 17, 1487 in Imola, † after 1509), Bishop of Lucca

From her second marriage to Giacomo Feo, Caterina had a son:

  • Bernardino (later called Carlo) Feo (April 1489, † 1509)

From her third marriage to Giovanni il Popolano from the younger line of the Medici , Caterina had a son

Caterina Sforza as Mona Lisa

The historian Magdalena Soest put forward the thesis that Leonardo da Vinci's painting " Mona Lisa " was a portrait of Caterina Sforza, initially through international media in spring 2002, her book was published in 2011. According to Soest, Caterina Sforza fulfills all of the "Mona Lisa" -Model to set (art) historical conditions.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Genealogy of the Sforza
  2. ↑ a b Jette Anders: 33 Alchemists. The hidden side of an ancient science. Past Publishing, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86408-204-7 .
  3. ↑ Jacqueline Spicer: Caterina Sforza´s Experimenti
  4. ↑ Meredith K. Ray, “The Alchemist's Desire”: Recipes for Health And Beauty from Caterina Sforza , based on a chapter in her book Daughters of Alchemy: Women and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2015
  5. ↑ Pasolini, Caterina Sforza, 1893, Volume 3, pp. 599-807
  6. ↑ Caterina Sforza, Ricette d'amore e di bellezza di Caterina Sforza. Signora di Imola e Forlì, editor E. Caruso, Il Ponte Vecchio 2009
  7. ^ Genealogy of the Medici
  8. ↑ Magdalena Soest: Caterina Sforza is Mona Lisa. The story of a discovery . Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag (DWV), Baden-Baden 2011, ISBN 978-3-86888-040-3 .

literature

  • Ernst Breisach: Caterina Sforza: A Renaissance Virago. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1967.
  • Elizabeth Lev: The Tigress of Forli: Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous And Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza De 'Medici. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston 2011, ISBN 0151012997 .
  • Cecilia Brogi: Caterina Sforza. Alberti & C. Editori, Arezzo 1996.
  • Natale Graziani, Gabriella Venturelli: Caterina Sforza. Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Cles 2001.
  • Cinzia Demi: Caterina Sforza. Fara, 2010.
  • Abbiamo di Buriel: Vita di Caterina Sforza-Riario. 3 volumes, Bologna 1785.
  • F. Oliva: Vita di Caterina Sforza, signora di Forlì. Forlì 1821.
  • Pier Desiderio Pasolini: Caterina Sforza. Heinemann, London 1898. Archives

Web links

Commons : Caterina Sforza  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Sforza, Caterina
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Countess of Forlì
DATE OF BIRTH 1463
PLACE OF BIRTH Milan
DATE OF DEATH May 28, 1509
Place of death Florence