Caterina Sforza Part 6 - The Siege of Forli

Gina Mckee as Caterina Sforza at the Siege of Forli

My last entry on Caterina Sforza was a while ago, and for that I apologise. The Renaissance in general has just taken over my life recently, and in particular the goings on in Florence as well as general Borgia stuff. So today, I thought I would combine Caterina Sforza and my most favourite of Borgia men - Cesare Borgia. Today's post is a rather big jump in time from my last entry which covered the events of 1488, the death of her husband and her holding of the fortress of Ravaldino against the Orsi family. Today we jump forward to 1499, and in particular December of that year, when Cesare Borgia rode into Forli and began to besiege the town.

On 19th December 1499, Cesare Borgia rode into the main square of Forli sat upon a white horse, his men carrying the banner of the Borgia Bull. Borgia had previously been a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church but after the unfortunate and untimely death of his brother Juan in June 1497 he was released from his vows. In 1498 he had travelled to France where he married Charlotte D'Albret and was given the Dukedom of Valentinois, which earned him the nickname of "Valentino". By the time Cesare had reached Forli in December 1499, he had already begun his quest to take over the States of the Romagna. The taking of Imola and Forli was the first step in this, and Imola proved no obstacle to Cesare. He took it without a problem on 11th December before riding to Forli which would prove an obstacle to the Captain General of the Papal armies. Why? Because Caterina Sforza was not going to give up her town without a fight. 

Paz Vega as Caterina Sforza in "Los Borgia"

Yet when Cesare entered the town on 19th December, he was so assured of victory that he rode with his lance at rest, a symbol of the victory he had supposed. He knew that Caterina would hold the castle, but the town proved to be no issue at all. He allowed his soldiers to do as they wished - plundering and raping - he made no effort to stop them despite the pleas from the townspeople, using the excuse that the soldiers were under the control of the King of France so he had no right to try and stop them. Instead, he promised the citizens of Forli that if he survived the upcoming battle with Caterina and her soldiers, he would give them back anything that they had lost due to the looting soldiers. 

But what were the reasons behind Cesare taking these cities? Not only did Cesare want these lands for himself, as a building block for his own principality but the Pope wanted to stamp out the resistance to papal rule. These lands were part of the Papal states and as such their rulers were required to pay an annual tithe to the Papal coffers. Alexander VI began to make out that these rulers hadn't been paying their tithes, and needed sorting out. Add into this an incident which would have turned rather nasty, and it ended up as a recipe for disaster. When Caterina first learnt that Pope Alexander was planning to confiscate her lands, she is said to have sent a messenger to Rome by the name of Tomasino de Forli. Johannes Burchard reported:

"On that evening (that Cesare left Rome), a certain Tomasino of Forli, one of the Pope's musicians, was seized with a companion and taken to the Castel Sant' Angelo where they were both imprisoned. Tomasino had come to Rome with some poisoned letters which he had rolled up in a reed to present to the Pope, on the excuse that they were petitions from the citizens of Forli seeking some reconciliation with His Holiness. Had the pope accepted the letters, he would, after a few days or even hours, with no hope of remedy, have succumbed and died...But the details of the conspiracy came to the pope's ears. On his orders, the two men were arrested and questioned, and they plainly confessed the whole plan."

Probably not Caterina's greatest moment, but she still refused to give up. And she had managed to rebuff Cesare on at least two occasions from the battlements of Ravaldino. On December 27th, having become frustrated by Caterina's refusal to listen to his demands and the growing respect that his troops were gaining for her, he ordered a tunnel be dug under the moat to the castle walls. He then ordered cannon to be placed around the keep of Ravaldino. He had had enough, and he would blast her out if he had to. 

Being given the poisoned letters in "Los Borgia"

On 28th December, Cesare gave the orders to begin bombarding the fortress of Ravaldino. The first phase of bombardment destroyed one of the fortresses defencive towers but Caterina still stood firm. She moved into the main keep and began returning fire, which devastated Cesare's troops and killed his artillery expert Constantino de Bologna. The death of this man really shook the morale of the troops and the french soldiers cried out that their king would give 10,000 ducats to bring Bologna back to life again. In the end, Cesare grew so desperate that he began offering a thousand ducats to any man who could bring him the corpse of Caterina's own artillery expert, or two thousand if the man was brought to him alive.

In a very clever ruse one January morning, a group of men dressed in cloaks came chanting through Cesare's camp. They said they were pilgrims on their way to Rome to celebrate the Holy Year and promised that they would pray for any who let them pass through in safety. The men made their way towards Ravaldino, the drawbridge came down and they went inside, giving Caterina another 40 men to defend the fortress. By now, the situation was getting dire for Cesare - he was waiting for money from his father to pay his troops and had received word that Giovanni Sforza had almost intercepted the chests of money. In response he concentrated all his firepower on the weakest section of the walls, the southernmost edge facing the mountains and he spent two days building trenches and fortifications to make sure he breached the wall. And as soon as the troops who had been inside the city returned from celebrating the feast of the epiphany, the assault began again. He battered the walls of the castle day and night, and slowly the walls began to crumble. But Caterina still held her ground, sending her men to try and repair the breaches as best as they could and worked at destroying the morale of Cesare's troops - even going so far as to paint insults on their own canon balls. But pieces of the walls kept on falling, creating a pathway across the moat.

On January 12th, the pay for his men had arrived and morale had stepped up when he offered incentives to his men if they worked harder to take the fortress. They threw everything they had at the now super weak wall, tearing a massive breach. The debris that fell from the widening hole in the wall made it too difficult for the defenders to repair it, as did well timed and well placed shots from Cesare's own cannon. Following a lunch with his commanders in which he boasted he would soon have Caterina in his hands, he issued an order to take the fortress. And as his men poured into the fortress, no shots greeted them, and the defenders did not even dare to greet Cesare's men head on. They had begun to desert their countess, and one brave man climbed to the top of the fortress to replace Caterina's standard with that of the Borgia bull. Forli now belonged to Cesare Borgia.

But Caterina still would not be beaten. She strode out of her keep and fought side by side with her remaining men. As her commanders fell around her, she fought her way back to the keep and locked the doors behind her. And she began to prepare for a siege. Cesare however, now fully confident of his victory had his trumpet signalled, calling Caterina out to him for the third and final time. He acted concerned, begged her to stop this madness. She replied that if he was so concerned he should show mercy to her townspeople. But before she could say anything more, a hand fell on her shoulders and she was told that she was now a prisoner of the lord of Dijon. She had been betrayed by men who had been inside the walls of her own keep. 

Cesare now bided his time before entering the keep properly, waiting for the last remnants of his enemies to be subdued. But once he entered, the french captain demanded his reward from Cesare for capturing the countess. Cesare ordered that the man be paid 2000 ducats but the captain replied that Cesare had publicly promised 10,000 ducats. The captain then threatened to slice Caterina's throat if the full amount was not paid. Yves D' Allegre also pointed out that under French law no woman could be held as a prisoner of war which was what she would be if she was handed over to the Borgia. Cesare insisted however that she be handed over to him for safe-keeping and promised that she would be kept safe. Once she had been handed over however, Borgia bustled her out of the keep and through the carnage surrounding her castle.

She would then be taken to Rome where she would be held as prisoner but not before, it is said at any rate, Cesare held her in the castle of a local nobleman and raped her. This part of her history, along with her imprisonment in Rome, however is the next part of her story. But for now, the famous Tigress of Forli had been beaten by the Borgia Bull.

Further Reading

Elizabeth Lev - The Tigress of Forli

Johannes Burchard - At The Court of the Borgia

Sarah Bradford - Cesare Borgia: His Life & Times

Mary Hollingsworth - The Borgias

Christopher Hibbert - The Borgias & Their Enemies

Caterina Sforza Part 5 - Ten More Sons.

Gina McKee as Caterina Sforza, shouting down from her ramparts that she had the "means to make ten more sons!"

There is one story about Caterina Sforza that will always stick in someones mind. Ask anyone who has watched Showtime's recent "The Borgias" what the one thing they remember Caterina for is. and then will say the words "ten more sons". These three words are some of the most famous attributed to Caterina Sforza, probably more now than before thanks to The Borgias. But did she really say them? When did she say them? Did she really lift her skirts and show her genitalia to soldiers before her walls and shout those words down? Were they really said as Juan Borgia laid siege to the city of Forli?

I can answer that last question straight of the bat. No, she did not utter those famous famous words at the siege of Forli. She actually uttered the words in 1488, as she held the fortress of Ravaldino against the Orsi family and murderers of her husband. The Borgias places Juan Borgia as commander of the besieging army - the problem with this though is that the siege of Forli did not take place until 1499. How on earth could Juan Borgia be at the siege of Forli when he died in 1497? In reality it was Cesare Borgia who besieged Forli in 1499 and who eventually took Caterina prisoner. But that's another subject for another post. Today, I will be talking about the events that lead up to the supposed "ten more sons", and the time she spent holed up in the fortress of Ravaldino after the murder of her husband.

Going back somewhat, I left the last entry at the point where Girolamo's assassins entered Caterina's chambers. Now, she cowed against the wall, protecting her children. None of her husbands assassins dared to even touch her, however her sister was with her and when one of the men tried to grope her she slapped him away. 

As the townspeople greeted Bishop Savelli, who rode into Forli on 15th April 1488, carrying the papal banner and intending to bring Forli under papal control; the fortress of Ravaldino was still in the hands of Riario supporters and it would be prudent for the supporters to get their countess inside the walls of Ravaldino. There she would be safe. Yet the Orsi family had the idea of taking her to the fortress and having her demand the castellans hand the fortress over to the Orsis. Ludovico Orsi therefore took her from her prison in the Orsi palace and dragged her away from her children. They took her before the walls of Ravaldio where she spoke to Tommaso Feo, begging that he give up the fortress for the sake of her children. Feo refused, saying his orders were to keep the castle safe for Ottaviano. And as the crowds listened to the exchange it became clear that this man was Caterina's friend and ally. He dropped the names of Sforza, Cardinal Riario and Bentivolglio to make it clear to her captors that she had her allies. The Orsi then dragged her away, realising that the whole exchange was likely staged, that there was no plan to hand the castle over to them. 

Her captors were of course angry that she had played them for fools, and they threatened to run her though with lances. And as they did so, her whole demeanour changed. No longer was she an upset widow, instead she became strong, "Certainly you can hurt me, but you don't scare me because I am the daughter of a man who knew no fear. Do what you want: you have killed my lord, you can certainly kill me. After all, I'm just a woman".

They took her back to her prison, determined to break her spirits. They knew she was a pious woman and thought that by using her religion against her, they would break her. They smuggled a priest into her rooms and confronted her about both her and her husbands sins. Saying that his husband had been killed for her sins, he demanded she give up Ravaldino and if she did not, she would face the same fate as her husband. He said also that if she did not hand over the fortress, she would be punished by starvation and eternal hellfire for both her and her children. She banged on the door and screamed that he be taken away and she later admitted that she found this experience more traumatic than losing her husband. However, bishop Savelli (who had previously rode to the town to bring it under papal control), had her family moved to the tower of Porta San Pietro for their safety, while she was removed across the town and placed in a small cell.

On April 16th, a message came to to a man who was loyal to the Riarios (but pretending to work for the Orsi) by the name of Ercolani. The message was from Feo who said he would give up the castle on one condition: Caterina would have to pay him his back wages and give him a good reference for any future employment. Caterina would have to come alone. Of course, the Orsi would not agree to this so Savelli agreed to a compromise. It would have to be done with Caterina outside the walls, in full view. Once again she made her way up to the walls of Ravaldino and called to Feo, promising he would have everything he had asked for. Feo then said that Caterina would have to come into the fortress to sign a contract and only one person was allowed to come inside with her. The Orsi put up a fight but Savelli sent her inside, wishing for everything to be over with. And she took with her a young groom named Luca. And as she crossed the drawbridge, she turned back to the crowd and raised her hand with the index and ring fingers folded back and her thumb tucked between her. She had just, for all intents and purposes, sworn violently as the crowd.

Savelli had given her three hours to conduct her business. But the three hour limit came and went and she did not set foot outside the front of the castle. After a while, Feo appeared on the battlements and shouted down that he had taken Caterina as his hostage! He then said he would exchange her for several members of the nobility, all of which were supporters of the Orsi family. The Orsi knew that Caterina and Feo had planned this and in anger they went and seized Ottaviano and his nurse before dragging them back to Ravaldino. The child begged for mercy, his cries mingling with the cries of his little brother Livio; and the soldiers shouted threats. The cries of her children summoned her to the ramparts of Ravaldino.

Tradition dictated that she should give in when faced with her endangered children. Yet she was not like other women, she was the daughter of a great family of warriors. She knew that Savelli knew her children were the nephews of the Duke of Milan, and that Milan would bring justice swiftly down on anyone who caused the children harm. She also knew that giving up the castle would give her no advantage whatsoever against the Orsi's, that if she did so then she and her family would be in danger of imprisonment and of being poisoned. 

And this is where the "ten more sons" myth comes from, the most well known and well publicised version of this story. It was said that she walked to the edge of the ramparts and as the Orsi threatened to kill her children on the spot, she shouted back, "Do it then you fools! I am already pregnant with another child by Count Riario and I have the means to make more!". Others wrote of the event, and Galeotto Manfredi wrote to Lorenzo De Medici that Caterina had raised her skirts, grabbed her genitals and shouted that unlike those men below, she had the means of making ten more sons. Niccolo Machiavelli also repeats this story in his discourses but no one else mentions such a salacious version of events. This however, is a complete myth. There are contemporary accounts written by Cobelli and Bernardi which mention nothing of any such words. Both men, both local authors and diarists, mention that her children were brought to the walls but that Caterina never stepped foot on the ramparts. Cobelli mentions that she stayed inside on purpose while Feo had several cannon shots fired. 

Savelli reclaimed the family immediately to take them away from the danger that the Orsi's were placing them in. He knew they were unstable and he had to protect the children by placing them under a heavier guard. 

Caterina held the castle until April 29th. The Milanese army had come, and they demanded that the Riario family be reinstated, and Savelli made it clear of the Papal position on the matter also. The people began to panic, thinking that the Roman army was on its way. Yet as they arrived, only fifty horseman rode through the gates and had been sent by Cardinal Riario to help his aunt. The Orsi ran to the Porta San Pietro where they believed the Riario children to be, and banged o the doors saying that Savelli had ordered them to take the children and keep them safe. The guards refused, knowing full well that Savelli had ordered no such thing. 

And as Caterina heard the shouts of her townspeople, and the cheers as the Orsi's were ousted from power she would have heard the shouts of "Duke!" and "Ottaviano"

Her son was now the rightful ruler of Forli, she had won. She had stepped into the shoes of the warrior noblewoman who has come down to us through the centuries. From that moment on she was known as a Tigress, a woman who really was her fathers daughter. And she would rule Forli until her son came of age. 

Further Reading

Elizabeth Lev, The Tigress of Forli, 
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
Paul Strathern, The Artist, The Philosopher and the Warrior
Ernst Breisach, Caterina Sforza: A Renaissance Virago
Christopher Hibbert, The Borgias and Their Enemies
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilisation of the Renaissance In Italy
Christopher Hare, The Most Illustrious Ladies of the Italian Renaissance
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
Will Durant, The Renaissance: A History of Civilization in Italy from 1304-1576 AD

Caterina Sforza Part 4 - 1488: The Death of Girolamo Riario

San Mercuriale, Forli

In May 1487, Caterina Sforza began to take the reigns of power. Her husband had suddenly been taken ill with a mysterious illness and as he lay in his sick bed she had to govern Forli and Imola in his stead. Yet Caterina had to watch herself. Girolamo was seriously unwell and her eldest son was still only eight years old and there was those who had their eyes on Forli. Thankfully Girolamo recovered, but thanks to his illness as well as his weak character, Caterina knew that he was not a fit ruler. She had to take centre stage, and so she did. And in 1488, her life would change forever.

As Caterina began ruling Forli in mid 1487, she began to make plans should her husband die. She renewed her alliance with Milan and sent feelers to the Bentivoglio family in Bologna. However, the fortress of Ravaldino was under the protection of a man who she distrusted, Melhiorre Zaccheo. He had showed up in Forli as Girolamo was desperate for cash, and in return for a few loans was installed as commander of Ravaldino. Caterina made it one of her first jobs to get rid of the man and, at 8 months pregnant rode to Ravaldino. She then got off her horse and called to Zaccheo to relinquish the castle. He, of course, refused saying that he had heard Girolamo was already dead and he would only vacate the fortress on his terms and when he was damn well good and ready. Caterina rode back to Imola, a plan formulating in her mind. On August 10th, Innocenzo Codronchi turned up at Ravaldino. There was already bad blood between him and Caterina after she had ousted him from the Castel Sant Angelo. But Girolamo had rewarded Codronchi's loyalty and made him castellan of Ravaldino, which would have displeased Caterina greatly. And when Girolamo had made Zaccheo castellan of Ravaldino in his stead, he was made captain of Girolamo's personal guard. And Codronchi would have a massive part to play in helping Caterina take back her fortress. The two men knew each other well, and had played cards together often. And when Codronchi returned, it is no surprise that Zaccheo welcomed him, and the two men played at dice. The loser would have to provide lunch the next day. Of course Codronchi lost and the next morning he left Ravaldino, promising to return with lunch. His servant appeared the next morning with a fowl for lunch and Zaccheo admitted him so that he could prepare the meal. As lunch was served, the manservant waited behind Zaccheo's chair, and as Zaccheo rose from the table Codronchi grabbed him and the servant hit him on the head! Next, Zaccheo's own servant stabbed his master over and over again. It was Codronchi himself who dealt the final blow, by stabbing Zaccheo with his own sword. Zaccheo's body was then unceremoniously thrown down a well, and Codronchi threatened to do the same to Zaccheo's followers. They fled and Codronchi raised Ravadino's drawbridge. As Caterina was due to give birth on the 11th August, her brother in law brought news of Zaccheo's murder to her. Despite being so close to giving birth, she rode hard to Forli and rode up to the moat, calling to Codronchi to explain himself. He replied:

"Madam, you shouldn't entrust your fortress to drunkards and people with no brains"

And that he murdered Zaccheo because he "felt like it". What a brilliant excuse! Yet as he looked down at Caterina and saw her exhausted from her long ride and being "pregnant up to her throat", he advised Caterina to get some rest and invited her to lunch the very next day. Yet there was a condition, she was only allowed to bring one servant with her. And the next morning, she and a maidservant rode to Ravaldino. Her maidservant had prepared lunch, to make it look as though she were afraid of a poisoning attempt. Yet as she disappeared into Ravaldino, she and Codronchi disappeared alone where they discussed what was going to happen, and allowed their servants only a glimpse of various documents being signed. Not long after, Caterina got back on her horse and rode back to Imola. Three days later she returned to Ravaldino with a new castellan, Tommaso Feo. The two of them entered the fortress and not long after she emerged with Codronchi at her side. They rode together into Forli and stopped before the steps of the Riaro palace, claiming that Rivaldino was back in her hands and she had chosen a castellan who was suitable. Following dinner within the palace, Codronchi left the palace and was never heard from again.

The next day, Caterina gave birth to Francesco who was lovingly nicknamed "Sforzino". And at the same time she was busy dealing with international politics. Her main issue was with Erole D'Este, who owned the lands next to hers, and she had to keep an eye on him. Ercole and Caterina often clashed and Ercole never seemed to pass up an opportunity to goad Caterina. Two days after little Sforzino was born, Caterina had finally had enough and built a farmhouse on their borders where she stationed soldiers to constantly watch the Ferrara lands for signs of invasion. Ercole realised what was going on and on 19th August 1487 sent his peasants to tear down the little farmhouse on the basis that Caterina had built it on his territory. Caterina took the case before a tribunal but lost to Ercole. In September of the same year, the old Ordelaffi claimants made their move and stormed Forli's western gate. Thankfully this was stopped before it could really have begun, and despite only being a month out of her child bed insisted on interrogating the prisoners herself. Upon interrogation, she discovered that the man behind the plot was a farmer by the name of Passi. Yet as she brought Passi before her, Passi shouted that he hadn't spoken to these men in over eight months. The man who made the acusation was hanged, and Passi was set free.

Yet all the while, Girolamo remained in his sickbed with his mysterious illness. Yet even as he began to recover, he stared back with some of his old tricks. Despite telling his people he would get rid of the dazzi tax, he reinstated it. And the outcome was not a happy one.

Following the reinstatement of the dazzi in 1488, as wedding bells rang throughout the country as Lorenzo de Medici's daughter married the son of Pope Innocent VIII, two of Girolamo Riario's enemies united. Riario feared both Rome and Florence following his involvement in the assassination of Giuliano de Medici, and the fact that both states supported the Ordelaffi claimants to Forli. In his fear, Girolamo began to upset the nobles of his own town by trying to relieve the taxes paid by the poor. Riario tried to shift the tax to the rich town dwellers and the move was not a popular one. Ludovico Orsi, a one time friend of Riario, took it upon himself to rebuke Girolamo as acting up to the peasant class would only make things worse. Yet Riario would have none of it, and Orsi grew angry and told Riario that the people would tear him to shreds. And sadly for Girolamo Riaro, these words would become truth soon enough. Riario however accused Orsi of never having been his friend and demanded, "Perhaps you would rather that I die?". Orsi fled, and having met up with his brother agreed that the Count should die. Giralomo, already paranoid about assassination attempts, kept a constant watch on the piazza and often spotted as Orsi tried to make his way in disguise through the town. On one occasion Girolamo dragged Orsi to his quarters and demanded to know why he didn't visit any more. Orsi muttered something about needing money for the count but as soldiers stepped forward, he panicked and fled. And now that the Orsi had fully broken with the Riario's, they decided to act before Riario could. And plans to murder the Riario family began in earnest.

Girolamo Riario took his midday meal in his "hall of the mymphs", away from his family and in the afternoon, following a small siesta, held audiences. The Orsi assasins already knew how to get a couple of minutes with the count, and persuaded Riario's new page that his uncle Gasparino needed a few minutes alone with the count. Gasparino was, of course, one of those involved in the plot. Gasparino then agreed to signal from the open window when Girolamo was taking his siesta.

Girolamo Riario

Moday, April 14th was the day when it would all happen. The town was busy with the market, but by lunch time the main piazza had quietened down. Caterina was busy having lunch with her children, and as Riario went to lay down, Gasparino signalled. Six members of the Orsi family, all dressed in armour, climbed the stairs towards the hall of the nymphs and there, Cecco Orsi stabbed Riario over and over. And as they did so they cried "Liberty!". As the Orsi family ransacked the palace the servants fought amongst themselves, trying to work out if their lord had beenn killed or not, and the gathered townspeople did the same.

Three soldiers dragged the naked, battered corpse of Girolamo Riario and threw him over the balcony into the piazza. The people circled the mangled body, recognising the facial figures of their count. And they ran to the palace in horror. And as they ran, the palace was ransacked.

Girolamo's body was left laying in the piazza like meat. His body was dragged through the piazza, being spat upon and kicked and some fanatics tried to tear him to shreds. Yet the fraternity of the Battuti Neri stopped them, and they took the body to the cathedral.

Caterina was having lunch with her children at the time, and when she heard the cries of " Liberty". Gathering her children to her, she went to the window with little Ottaviano and called for help for the little heir of Forli. The palace was however now in the hands of the Orsis, and there was no help that would come for her, and Caterina knew what was at stake. The assassins would look to kill her children and so she barricaded herself  inside her rooms, and called to those loyal to her that there was no point in fighting as the Orsi family had control. And as she spoke those words, her attackers pounded on her doors. Yet Caterina would not allow her town to fall completely. She was the widow of Forli and mother of the heir. She ordered that those loyal to her meet in Ravaldino, and as she did so, the Orsi burst into her rooms.

It was at Ravaldino in 1488 that those mythical words were cried, "I have the means to make ten more sons!". Did Caterina Sforza really speak these words?

Alas, as it is late, I feel that the myth of Caterina and "ten more sons" should be saved for the next entry. So please do keep your eyes pealed.

Further Reading

Elizabeth Lev, The Tigress of Forli, 
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
Paul Strathern, The Artist, The Philosopher and the Warrior
Ernst Breisach, Caterina Sforza: A Renaissance Virago
Christopher Hibbert, The Borgias and Their Enemies
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilisation of the Renaissance In Italy
Christopher Hare, The Most Illustrious Ladies of the Italian Renaissance
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
Will Durant, The Renaissance: A History of Civilization in Italy from 1304-1576 AD

Caterina Sforza Part 3 - Countess of Forli

The fortress of Ravaldino, Forli

When Giralomo Riario and his wife Caterina Sforza were given the town of Forli, trouble was already brewing. The town itself had been politically unstable for over 500 years and was still subject to bitter rivalries, battles and destruction and thus the townspeople were suspicious of any new rulers. Forli itself was separated from the other town owned by the Riario's, Imola, by the little town of Faenza which was owned by the Manfredi family who were backed by the military powers of the Este's from Ferrara. To bring the two lands together, Count Giralomo Riario would have to take Faenza. For a long time Forli had been ruled by the Ordelaffi family, and in 1480 when Pino Ordelaffi was on his death bed he had no legitimate heir. He decided to recognise his bastard son Sinibaldo and make him heir to the town. The problem was that Pino was hated by the people of Forli and when he fell so ill they rose up against him. The people dragged him from his sick bed into the central piazza and beat him to death. Pino's wife Lucrezia immediately assumed the regency for her son Sinibaldo, literally just as Cecco Ordelaffi's (the ruler previous to Pino, who had been been stabbed to death by Pino) exiled sons rode into the town. Lucrezia holed herself up in the Castello Ravaldino, and waited. Whilst there, Sinibaldo mysteriously died. Giralomo, who had his eyes on the town for a while, and Pope Sixtus IV made their move and declared the Ordelaffi's claim to the city completely invalid, sending soldiers into the city to take possession of it. Lucrezia then thought it prudent to leave the city and left with over 130,000 ducats and over 32 baggage carts, while the exiled sons of Cecco went to Faenza where they waited.

Giralomo did not visit his new lands straight away. Instead he sent his trusted condottiere Gian Francesco Maruzzi as Governor to the city. People wondered why he was so reluctant to leave Rome, it was probably because he was busy cooking up more schemes to get himself more power in the city. Whilst still there, the notables of Forli sent a delegation to Rome to meet their new lord and they came away impressed. Giralomo had welcomed them warmly and promised them all good positions as well as a relief from certain unpopular taxes in the city. They returned to Forli with this good news. Meanwhile the Ordelaffi brothers who had escaped to Faenza were plotting again and on October 1480 sent 60 men to take the fortress of Ravaldino. Their orders were to kill the keeper of the castle and occupy it. Thankfully Maruzzi smelt a rat and discovered the plot, before exiling the soldiers and executing the two priests who were supposed to have assassinated the castle keeper.

Tranquillity had returned to the town, at least for now, and Caterina began to make ready to visit her new town. In the spring of 1481, Caterina and Giralomo departed Rome with an armed escort and accompanied by their children. At this point, Caterina was also pregnant again and so they travelled at a leisurely pace and stopped each evening on the way. Two weeks later they had arrived and saw their new town for the first ever time. At sunset they entered the city, and it was comprised of the grandest procession that the people of Forli had ever seen. Nobles carried banners and lances, trumpets announced their arrival, clergymen walked in a stately order holding reliquaries and golden crucifixes and acolytes waved palm leaves as had been done at Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. Caterina and her husband were dressed in beautiful silks while their soldiers wore silver cloaks and the knights in the escort wore gold brocade. As the procession entered the central piazza of Forli, they were greeted by a group of actors playing the parts of prominent citizens from the past including the founder of the town , Claudius Livy; famous Roman play write Titus Maccius Plautus and the towns first bishop Saint Mercuriale. Following this, the party then rode up to their new palace and despite being heavily pregnant Caterina dismounted her horse gracefully, and several of the townsmen came forward begging to carry her up to the palace. She then promised that if her horse was well looked after then she would give the gentleman who had taken her horse away her jewelled headdress. And she kept that promise most gracefully.

Caterina dazzled her new people. They jostled to get a glimpse of her and her astounding beauty, and she dazzled them with the latest fashions which the towns noblewomen did their best to copy. Caterina Sforza was certainly a trendsetter! Indeed the people of Forli noted that in her first four weeks in the town, she never wore the same outfit twice but it didn't matter to them. Their countess was beautiful, they loved her and were completely enchanted by her, her beauty and her incredible fashion.

During the weeks of celebration, Giralomo addressed his new subjects, promising that he would be a good ruler to them, and promised that he would get rid of the dazzi, a tax that was levied on entering the city and purchasing grain for personal use. Giralomo promised that he would never repeal this promise, and nor would his heirs. This new policy was met with huge rejoicing but in reality, as the Popes favourite nephew who could dip his hands into Papal moneys whenever he needed it, this would only last until his Uncle died. Yet at the time this didn't matter, the town was rejoicing at their new rulers and one diarist described it as the beginning of a golden age. The diarist in question, Leone Cobelli was immediately enamoured with Caterina from the moment he first laid eyes on her as he played his badosa (like a guitar) for one of the many dances that were given and saw her dancing. His very first lines about her were: "(she danced) the most beautiful dance I have ever seen or think I ever will". Over the years he would watch her from afar and studied every moment of her life in Forli. He only ever spoke to her once, and that proved to be rather unpleasant and changed his opinion of her greatly, although this comes much later in her story.

For the month that they stayed in Forli, Caterina made the effort to visit and socialise with her new subjects. Her husband however holed himself up in his apartments. Caterina was not afraid to walk amongst her subjects and they loved her for it, but Giralomo constantly avoided doing the same. It was a pattern that Giralomo would repeat throughout the years and it did not endear him to his people. Even when they moved onto Imola, after the banquets and festivties, he locked himself in his rooms too. But the Imolese people still loved their ruler thanks to the improvements he had made to their town. But after a while, the people started to mutter, why did he lock himself up? It seems the Count was afraid of Assassins, particularly in Forli and rightly so, as will be seen later. And so when he came to the area, he preferred to stay in Imola. It also seems as if he distrusted Caterina and refused to let her visit her family in Milan, brushing off her requests angrily. Even when the Milanese ambassador stepped in for her, Giralomo still refused and said if she went he "wouldn't know how to live without her" which proved to be a lie when he said he had every intention of leaving Caterina in Forli while he went back to Rome. When Caterina heard this she began to make plans of her own to visit Milan, despite being pregnant, the plans were scuppered and she had to remain in Forli and comply with her husband and his distrust.

In September, the couple made their way to Venice and when they arrived on 8th September, the Doge of Venice came out to greet them. The trip was not just for fun however but rather Giralomo was making plans to ally with Venice against Ercole D'Este. It was his plan to carve the lands up and give them away, and would keep Faenza all for himself. Giralomo never got what he came for, despite the flamboyant banquets and parties thrown for him, and Venice did not wish to go to war against the Duke of Ferrara, King Ferdinand of Naples. On their way back, they took a round about route avoiding passing through Ferrara, and stopped in the little village of Cotignola. The villagers came out to greet them crying out the name of Sforza. But when the came back to Forli, their welcome was not as ostentatious as it had been before. The people were discontent, and having not forgotten the murder of his brother, Lorenzo De Medici was helping them along. The Artisan conspiracy was planned, with the goal of killing both Giralomo and Caterina on the road between Imola and Forli. Maruzzi again smelt a rat and discovered the plot. When Giralomo heard of the plot he flew into a massive rage yet ordered Maruzzi not to say a word of it to anyone. He needed to keep his authority.

Shortly after, Giralomo and Caterina set out for Rome once more, taking a number of Forli citizens with them as hostages. She rode to Rome on the back of a mule carrying two baskets due to the fact she was now 9 months pregnant and should ideally have been "lying in" and waiting to deliver her child. Yet despite this, she made the journey anyway and just a few days after arriving in Rome she gave birth to her first daughter, whom she named Bianca. In November 1481, Giralomo finally acted out justice for the Artisan Conspiracy and in Forli, Maruzzi had five men hanged in the central piazza and exiled many more.

In the spring of 1482, war began. Venice had decided to go to war against Ferrara, and all over the subject of salt. This may seem like a petty thing to go to war over these days, yet in the fifteenth century salt was incredibly precious and used to preserve food. Venice owned much of the salt marshes and when Ferrara began extracting salt and selling it from land it leased from Venice, the Venetians forbade the Ferrarese from doing so. When Ferrara ignored them, war began. Alfonso, Duke of Calabria was dispatched to relieve Ferrara by his father King Ferdinand of Naples and when he approached the borders of the Papal states with his army and asked to be let through, Pope Sixtus refused. Alfonso passed through anyway. Giralomo Riario was captain of the papal armies and so summoned to help defend Rome. He camped by the southern gate on the Via Appia and not far from the cathedral of Saint John Lateran, but stayed inside the walls claiming he was doing so to stop the people of Rome from revolting. In fact he was a coward. The subject of her husbands cowardice must have been disgraced at the behaviour of her husband. After all, she was a Sforza and had the blood of those who got their lands through battle, and the name had never before been associated with cowardice. Not only that but disturbing stories of her husbands conduct made their way to her - he had been seen playing dice on the high altar of the cathedral, he and his soldiers sat on boxes containing sacred relics and told scandalous stories as they did so. And so she spent her time praying for her husbands soul, and spent many hours on her knees in church, praying for him. On August 20th, the final battle of the war happened at Campo Morto, beginning at 4pm and finishing at 11pm. The Papal Armies had won the day, although cowardly Giralomo had not taken part. He had stayed at the camp to guard the tents, although he did try and claim credit for the victory. All knew of his cowardice however and Sixtus gave the honours of the day to Malatesta. Sadly, nine days after the battle, Malatesta died of dysentery. On December 13 1482, an an armistice had been reached, and a new church was built in celebration.

During her years in Rome, Caterina would have spent many hours within the Papal apartments in the Vatican.  During the years 1479-81 she would have been aware that Pope Sixtus was working on a very impressive project, the painting of the murals within the Sistine chapel which had just been completed. In 1481, Lorenzo De Medici offered to send his own painters to paint the chapel including the famous Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio (Domenico would soon receive Michelangelo as an apprentice, and this apprentice would paint some of the most beautiful paintings in the chapel) and Pietro Perugino. The panel "The Purification of the Leper" was one of the first panels to be started in 1481 by Boticelli. This is actually one of the only panels in the whole chapel in which Jesus is not depicted, instead the background is made up of lots of little paintings from the temptation of Christ and the foreground of the painting shows a high priest accepting a sacrifice offered by the Leper who Christ had healed. A certain building dominates the painting, Santo Spirito, a hospital recently completed and which still exists today. Within this portrait are the figures of Giralommo Riario (showing his famous scowl) and Giuliano Della Rovere and the two papal nephews face each other on either side of the priest. To the right of them is a single female figure, Caterina Sforza, shown in her sixth month of pregnancy and carrying wood on her shoulder.

The Purification of the Leper by Sandro Boticelli, both the full image and detail of Caterina

Despite the hustle and bustle going on the Sistine Chapel, Sixtus was becoming unwell and getting weaker. The people of Rome realised that the days of Sixtus' papacy were almost over and the people began to plan to get their revenge on Giralomo and his outrages. And so Giralomo made sure that the armed guard that surrounded him and his wife grew to massive proportions. Of course, Giralomo made sure he made the most of his uncles waning papacy to get as much money out of the Papal coffers as possible, and alongside his nephew Cardinal Raffaello ruled Rome from behind the dying Pope.

In 1483, with the Pope's health waning, Giralomo purchased a new house for his family and placed the deeds in the name of the four year old Ottaviano. In the first few months of 1483, Sixtus fell seriously ill, but recovered against the odds. He lasted until August 1484 and when news of his death reached Caterina, she immediately jumped on a horse and rode from the Orsini camp near Paliano (she was staying with her husband there as he fought with the Orsini's against the Colonna's) to Rome. She headed straight for the Castel Sant Angelo and on August 14th she took control of it. The college of Cardinal's were in an uproar as she dismissed the seniour keepers of the castle and trained her cannons on the Vatican, making it impossible for the Cardinal's to reach the Sistine Chapel for conclave. The cardinals demanded that she vacate the castle yet she refused, saying that the Pope had made her husband responsible for it and she would only hand it over to the next Pope, which of course given her cannon would be a rather difficult thing for them to do. Even Sixtus' funeral was affected by it, all of the cardinal's were too afraid of approaching the Vatican when she had her cannon trained on its walls. The day after Sixtus' funeral, Cardinal Raffaello approached the castello as he was in charge of organising the conclave, and as a relative he thought he could smooth things over. Yet Caterina stood her ground and declared:

"So he wants a battle of wits with me does he? What he doesn't understand is that I have the brains of Duke Galeazzo and I am as brilliant as he!"

The Castello Sant Angelo, held by Caterina in 1483

On August 23rd, the College of Cardinals came to a desperate agreement with Giralomo, offering 8000 ducats to pay his soldiers as long as he left Rome immediately. He got ready to leave. Caterina did not. She had no faith in the promises of the cardinals and decided to wait until the conclave was over and deal directly with the new pope. The cardinal's were furious and demanded the Giralomo sort it out, but he was too busy getting ready to leave Rome. She was heavily pregnant once more, and although her pregnancy and feeling unwell could not move her, abandonment by her husband could. On August 25th, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza came to the castle with eight other cardinals, and they agreed to treat her with the utmost respect, that they would look after her as she and her family left Rome. They also gave her a written agreement that the Riario family would still get to keep Forli and Imola. On the morning of 26th August, Caterina exited the Castello wearing a brown silk dress and a black feathered cap. She was exhausted and of course heavily pregnant, but she made her mark by wearing a mans belt adorned with a coin purse and sword.

It was a sign that she was not to be messed with. Caterina had made her mark, as she would do time and time again.

Further Reading

Elizabeth Lev, The Tigress of Forli, 
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
Paul Strathern, The Artist, The Philosopher and the Warrior
Ernst Breisach, Caterina Sforza: A Renaissance Virago
Christopher Hibbert, The Borgias and Their Enemies
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilisation of the Renaissance In Italy
Christopher Hare, The Most Illustrious Ladies of the Italian Renaissance
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
Will Durant, The Renaissance: A History of Civilization in Italy from 1304-1576 AD

Caterina Sforza Part 2 - The Rome Years

Gina McKee as Caterina Sforza in The Borgias

As Caterina left her childhood home of Milan, she was accompanied on her way to Rome by a lavish parade. Caterina had brought with her 40 relatives and servants, and her new husband Giralomo Riaro added a considerable number of his own retainers to the parade. The archbishop of Cesena also joined them, bringing with him 13 of his own servants, the Governor of Imola with 12 men along with other local nobles, various musicians and ladies in waiting. The cavalcade wound its way through the Italian countryside, waving the flags of the Sforza viper along with various other livery and colours. This brilliant parade would have proven to be such a spectacle as it wound its way through the small villages. Along the way, the party were joined by more and more members including Gian Luigi Bossi, who came carrying specific instructions from Caterina's step mother Bona of Savoy. It seems like Bossi was to accompany Caterina all the way to Rome and make sure that the young Countess conducted herself properly. It really seems as though Bona cared for her stepdaughter's welfare - not only did she send Bossi to watch over the young Countess, but she also wrote ahead to each town that the parade would pass through to make sure that Caterina was made welcome. Only one town did not to do this because the party arrived much earlier than expected and so Caterina stayed in an inn which described as "pleasant". Everywhere that Caterina went, she was greeted with massive enthusiasm and huge affection. Caterina was certainly making a fantastic impression.

On the 1st May 1477, Caterina arrived in Imola where upon her arrival she was presented with the keys to the City. She and her husband were now the rulers of Imola, although at this stage her husband was still in Rome, and during her stay in her new City she was treated to a constant celebration. However, underneath all of the celebrations, Imola was at the centre of attention politically - Bossi had orders from Bona of Savoy to inform the city elders of the Sforza position on Taddeo Manfredi. Manfredi had previously been Lord of Imola until 1471 when he started to lose his grip on his subjects. He was too busy fighting with the rest of his family in Faenza and the city was just waiting to be taken over. Galeazzo Maria was the man who took over, despite the fact that both Florence and Venice were showing an interest, and he tried to get Manfredi out gently at first. Galeazzo extended Manfredi an invitation to Milan and then (after filling the man's belly with good wine and good food) offered him rather a lot of money if he would just simply give up his Imolese territory. By the time Caterina entered the picture as new ruler of the city, Manfredi was holed away in Milan but was constantly in the minds of the Imolese. And he would often become the centrepiece of revolt. One such example was following the death of Galeazzo when whispers and rumours began to spread that Manfredi would soon be back in his seat of power. The rumours reached the sharp ears of Bona of Savoy who swiftly dispatched messengers to the leading families in Imola, informing them that Giralomo Riaro had the entire support of the Sforza clan, and that it wouldn't be a good idea to reinstate Manfredi. They didn't want the Sforza family as their enemies after all.

All the while she was in Imola, Caterina heard no word from her husband. He was still in Rome, and Caterina spent her days waiting for the summons to arrive. Even Bossi noted her impatience and remarked to the countess of Milan that she was "desirous to find herself in the presence of His Holiness and to her her count Giralomo". Yet the summons did not arrive, and she found herself being delayed over and over. But why was this? Why did the summons not arrive?

An attempt had been made to assassinate Giralomo, the Pope's favourite nephew. It should be noted that Giralomo Riaro was rather adept at making enemies for himself including men of his own family (Giuliano Della Rovere being just one example!). Two men were arrested and confessed that they had been approached by a man on behalf of Della Rovere who offered a huge payment if they would assassinate Giralomo. Yet they also admitted that they never received the orders directly from Cardinal Della Rovere. The Pope, worried for his favourite nephew's safety, would not allow Giralomo to travel and also deemed that Rome was also too dangerous for Caterina. It seems though that Caterina was never given the true reason for this delay and was instead fed excuse after excuse by the Pope. He wrote to her and tries to blame bad air and plague, he blamed the fact that people would say he brought her to Rome to kill her, He blamed the heat of Rome and He said that he would not be able to put on a ceremony lavish enough for her out of respect for her murdered father. He then made promises to her that he would send her husband to her in Imola at the start of June.

Caterina, however, never received the letter from the Pope and instead took it upon herself to set out from Imola to Rome. And on24th May she arrived at Castel Novo outside the City. When news reached the Vatican, the Pope rushed to make sure everything was ready for her arrival. Gifts were prepared and the beautiiful halls of the Vatican were decorated with the Riaro and Sforza colours, in homage to the union of these two houses. On 25th, Caterina left Castel Novo, and was met outside the city by a group of horsemen, one of whom being Caterina's husband Giralomo. It would be the first time the couple had seen each other in four years. Giralomo had last seen Caterina when she was just ten years old. Now, four years later, he himself was ageing quickly and had ill health. Yet the couple dismounted their horses and embraced each other. Following lunch, the party moved onto the villa of the Cardinal of Urbino which sat on top of a hill just north of Rome. There, Giralomo presented his wife with a pearl necklace. But he did not stay with her that night as he was under strict instruction from the Pope that he was to return to the Vatican that evening, and that he must wait until the marriage had been formalised before he took Caterina to the marriage bed. The next day, Caterina began to prepare herself to walk into the City of Rome and see it for the first time. She was dressed in gold brocade and dark silk and her sleeves were covered in jewels. At the gates of Rome, she was greeted by a party of six thousand horsemen who accompanied her to St Peter's Basilica, and once there was shown to a place of honour as the Pope entered with the College of Cardinals.There, following the Mass of Pentecost, Pope Sixtus had Caterina and Giralomi brought before him and repeated their marriage ceremony. This was a marriage ceremony that no one could break, for it was solemnised before the head of the Catholic church. Following the ceremony, Caterina was then presented with a gift of pure white pearls from the Pope's own treasury. Following the marriage, Caterina and Giralomo took their leave of the Pope and the Cardinals and made their way to their new home in the Campo dei Fiori.

The Campo Del Fiore in Rome

Caterina Sforza was in Rome, her new home. And.. there, in her first few days in the city she was treated to splendours she could never have imagined. The courtyard of her new home was filled with guests and well-wishers, and gifts were piled high. Her wedding feats held at her new home was so spectacular that before each course a child dressed as an angel rode in on a chariot. She was now officially Giralomo Riaro's Countess, and would spend the next few years flitting between Rome and her lands in Forli and Imola. And most of all, she would grow into a young woman to be reckoned with.

As Caterina began to get used to Rome, she became more and more aware of all the dangers that the city had to offer. Each and every time she left her house she would have noticed groups of armed men wandering around the city. These men were hired retainers in the pay of a wealthy family, and paid to protect the family as they went about Rome on their daily business. Indeed, Caterina would have experienced this first hand and been accompanied throughout the city with her own band of guards. Yet she did not let this stop her and spent her time wandering the city, seeing the improvements that the Pope had made and getting to know her new extended family. She was also constantly partying and feasting, and became one of the most admired women in Rome. During this time her stepmother, Bona of Savoy became not only her mentor but also her source of fashion, and Bona often sent her gifts of jewellery and hairnets. With these Caterina became a style icon. However, despite her busy schedule of feasts and parties, Caterina still thoroughly enjoyed her riding and hunting, and Bona sent her and her husband a gift of hunting dogs. And Caterina spent much of her free time hunting outside the city, which she accessed across the Ponte Sisto. Her hunting grounds were in the forests of the Janiculum Hill, a place where she could escape the crowded city streets of Rome.

The Ponte Sisto (image credit)

Caterina had arrived in Rome by the time that Lorenzo De Medici (Lorenzo the Magnificent) had earned the displeasure of the Pope. The Medici, a famous Florentine banking family had been bankers to the Papal Court yet had earned the displeasure of the Pope by refusing to underwrite a loan for His Holiness. Thus Sixtus turned to the other great banking family in Florence; the Pazzi who immediately provided three quarters of the money the Pope needed for the sale of Imola. The Pope and Giralomo Riaro also had a plan to make a brand new state in the Romagna, yet Lorenzo provided soldiers to the towns in the Romagna who were trying to defend against Giralomo. And during the years that Caterina spent in Rome, her husband became involved in one of the most famous plots to ever effect Renaissance Italy - the Pazzi Conspiracy. The plot as hatched in 1478 as the Pazzi realised that Lorenzo de Medici was trying to use his power to block their work, and that the only way they could sort out this problem would be to murder Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano. The Pazzio recruited a number of conspirators including Giralomo himself. The plan was thus: the Pazzi family would take care of the Medici brothers while Giralomo would muster an army to help stop any rising that would happen against them. The plan also needed the go ahead from the Pope himself. Sixtus said that he desired a change in the rulers of Florence, yet flew into a rage when Giralomo even suggested murder. He was quite clear in his stance: He did not wish anyone to be killed, just a change in government. But for some reason, this was taken as papal consent, and this so called consent convinced the ruler of the Pazzi family, Jacopo de Pazzi that it was the right thing to do. The next phase was then worked out. Giralomo's nephew, Cardinal Rafaello Riaro, was invited to Florence - and with such an important man visiting Florence, the Medici would deliberately take pains to look after their guest. It was agreed by Lorenzo that Cardinal Rafaello would arrive in Florence on April 26 1478 and there would attend Mass in the Duomo. This was when the assassination would take place.

The Santa Maria Del Fiore, aka The Duomo, Florence

On that Sunday morning, the Pazzi arrived to bring Lorenzo and Giuliano to the Duomo for Mass. Giuliano was feeling unwell and so tried to excuse himself, yet Francesco De Pazzi practically dragged the young man along, feigning friendship and laughter. Once in the Duomo, the conspirators waited for their signal: the elevation of the host. As the Host was elevated, and the gathered congregation bowed their heads in reverence, Giuliano De Medici was stabbed in the head by Francesco and then stabbed over and over again. Lorenzo however managed to escape. And Giralomo never got to put his army into action.

The plot failed, and the majority of the conspirators were hunted down and executed. Sandro Boticelli painted the executed men as they hung on public display. Leonardo Da Vinci also sketched a few of the corpses.

Bernardi di Bandido Baroncelli, one of the Pazzi Conspirators by Leonardo Da Vinci

Cardinal Raffaello managed to get away with it, the Medici family making out he was but a hapless pawn in the whole affair. The Medici still kept him as a hostage, which was rather a good way to stop Rome from exacting revenge on the Florentines. He was held for 6 weeks and upon release, Caterina wrote to her stepmother requesting that Riaro be given the income of the Abbey of Chiaravalle near Milan. But was Caterina at her husbands side during these torrid times? She was very close to Lorenzo having spent time in his company in her younger years and grieved deeply for him when he died. And would her husband have shared such plans with his fifteen year old bride. 

Following the confession of one of the conspirators, a man by the name of Montesecco, Giralomo's part in the conspiracy became publicly known.. Of course, Sixtus would have been furious with his nephew. And with the ridicule that now haunted the steps of Giralomo, Caterina found herself bound to a murderer and included in the jokes of the Roman's. It was from this moment on that something changed within Caterina, and in the years to come would prove time and again that she would no longer stand by as such important events passed her by. Indeed, she would become a part of them. 

During Christmas in 1478, Caterina became pregnant with her first child. At the time her husband was frequently away fighting for his uncle and striking back at the Florentines, yet upon hearing the news that his young wife was pregnant purchased a new family home for them. The new home was located in the Piazza Navona.

The Piazza Navona as it appears today (image credit)

The child was born on 31st August 1479, and christened Ottaviano. His christening was an incredibly lavish affair, and attended by only the most high ranking Roman citizens, including Rodrigo Borgia - a man who would prove to be a thorn in Caterina's side as the years went on. Caterina recovered from the birth of her son quickly and was desperate to show off her little boy to her family in Milan. Yet bad news came back from Milan; it was said that Bona of Savoy had taken a young lover, a man by the name of Antonio Tassino who was a footman in her household. Bona shared the secrets of the Milanese court with her new lover and due to this Bona found herself in the centre of a bitter rivalry in her court, and her brother in law Ludovico (The Moor - due to his dark colouring) thought it a good time to introduce himself into the court of Milan. Ludovico used Antonio as a path to Bona, making out he wished to make peace with his sister in law. And on September 7th, Bona agreed to meet with her brother in law. Almost a year later, Bona was ousted from her place in authority and power was taken over by Ludovico, where he acted as regent for the young Duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo. By the time that Ludovico had taken the reins of power, Caterina was pregnant again and just three months after she had given birth to her son!  During her pregnancy this time though, she had more responsibilities. The new palace in the Piazza Navona was almost complete and she had to oversee the sumptuous decorations that her husband was so instant on. 

On August 23, 1480, Pope Sixtus formally gave the city of Forli to Giralomo. Forli was a little town just south of Imola and thus doubled the Riario lands. And on August 24th, Caterina gave birth to her second son whom as christened Cesare.

Caterina Riario Sforza was now Countess of Forli, wife to the Pope's favourite nephew and mother to two sons. She was also becoming a woman to be reckoned with, and as she took her place as Countess of Forli she would prove to be an incredibly popular lady in her new town, and a woman who would prove to be one of the toughest women in Italy at the time. She was becoming a force to be reckoned with, and in the next few years would prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Further Reading

Elizabeth Lev, The Tigress of Forli, 
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
Paul Strathern, The Artist, The Philosopher and the Warrior
Ernst Breisach, Caterina Sforza: A Renaissance Virago
Christopher Hibbert, The Borgias and Their Enemies
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilisation of the Renaissance In Italy
Christopher Hare, The Most Illustrious Ladies of the Italian Renaissance
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
Will Durant, The Renaissance: A History of Civilization in Italy from 1304-1576 AD

Caterina Sforza Part 1- Family History, Birth and Marriage

Caterina Sforza by Lorenzo Di Credi

Ever since I have started reading about Renaissance Italy, there is one woman who has cropped up again and again. A woman who went against pretty much everything that was expected from a woman in Renaissance Italy. Her name was Caterina Riario Sforza De Medici, but more commonly known as Caterina Sforza. She has come down to us through history as the She-Wolf of Forli, a woman who held out against the Borgia Pope, a woman who apparently stood on the ramparts of her city during the siege of Forli and lifted her skirts crying that her enemies could kill her children as she had the means to make plenty more. But was she really the tyrannical leader that Machiavelli makes out in "The Prince" (he really went off her after an incident when he was sent to her court as an ambassador)? Or was she just a woman trying to find her place in a world that was controlled by men? Whatever the case, she certainly made her mark as a woman who stood her ground against everything that life threw at her. She suffered huge loss throughout her life yet always remained strong. They called her a tyrannical she-wolf. But was she really? Over the next few posts I will be concentrating on the life of this remarkable woman, starting as always with her birth and early life.

Caterina Sforza was born in Milan in 1463, the illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza and Lucrezia Landriani. As a bastard, had she been born anywhere else other than Italy, she would have faced a life of stigma and been unable to form a respectable standing in society. But as we have seen in the life of Rodrigo Borgia, bastard children were the norm in Renaissance Italy and Caterina was raised in her fathers house alongside his legitimate children. And as many other bastard children did in Renaissance Italy, she carried her surname with pride. The Sforza family rose to be the ruling family of Milian, despite the fact that they started out as a peasant family. In 1390, Caterina's great great grandfather had become a condottiere, or mercenary, and fought in various wars and skirmishes that were commonplace in the Italian principalities.

Map of Italy showing the Italian Principalities as they would have been

Italy during the fourteenth century, and indeed beyond, was split up into different republics or principalities. And each state had it's own ruler. Machiavelli describes this in his work "The Prince":

"Principalities are hereditary, with their prince's family long established as rulers, or they are new. The new are completely new, as was Milan to Francesco Sforza, or they are like limbs joined to the hereditary state of the prince who acquires them, as is the kingdom of Naples in relation to the king of Spain. Dominions so acquired are accustomed to be under a prince, or used to freedom, a prince wins them either with the arms of others or with his own, either by fortune or by prowess".

Due to his prowess on the battlefield in the 1390's, as these principalities fought amongst themselves for alliances or border disputes, Caterina's great great grandfather was given the nickname of Sforza, which meant Strength. After moving between states and fighting for different states at different times, he settled and took service in Milan. His new lord was Fillipo Maria Visconti. Whilst he lived in Milan, he had an illegitimate son named Francesco who proudly took on the Sforza name. Francesco married the illegitimate daughter of Fillipo, Bianca Maria, and when Fillipo died without a single heir in 1447 it meant that Francesco Sforza was close to claiming the duchy of Milian. But, alas, on the day of Fillipo's death the Milanese declared the city a republic and destroyed the Visconti castle. Many of the Italian states didn't like this idea and Milan soon found itself facing some strong enemies. Venice ended up plucking away at the borders of Milan in retaliation and the republic had no choice but to hire the Sforza army of condottiere. Francesco quickly retook the captured towns and in 1448 signed a peace treaty with Venice. He then returned to the city of Milan and began a siege of the city that lasted for months. As the food began to run out, Milan opened its gates to Francesco and he was made ruler of the city.

Francesco Sforza, unknown artist

Francesco's son was Galeazzo Maria who continued the tradition of using the Sforza name as well as developing Milan as his father had done before him both with technical developments and military developments. He was also an incredibly lavish man. Upon the death of his father in 1466, the new ruler of Milan put on incredibly lavish displays. Yet he was an incredibly self indulgent man and managed to earn himself a lot of enemies during his reign.

Galeazzo Maria Sforza by Piero Pollaiuolo

Galeazzo's daughter, Caterina, was just three years old when her father became Duke of Milan. And along with the court, she took up residence in the newly renovated castle of Porta Giovia. Her childhood was surrounded by incredible opulence and would have wanted for nothing. Her education was the best that money could buy, and she took her lessons alongside her half brothers and sisters; the legitimate heirs of Galeazzo. Her tutor was a man by the name of Francesco Filefo and under his tuition she learnt Latin and read the works of Cicero and Virgil - it helped that the castle held a huge library full of classic works. The young Caterina also read the stories of the saints as well as devouring French romance books. She also spent long hours learning to bear arms which was a tradition in a family that had started out from a condottiere. She not only would have learnt how to use weapons but also how to ride and hunt. It was not normal at this time that women would have learnt such things. This education gave her an advantage that would become more and more obvious as she grew up. Very few women at this time learnt how to bear arms - Isabella of Castille (the mother of Katherine of Aragon) learnt to hunt and ride but spent more of her time praying than learning the arts. Isabella D'Este was incredibly literate and loved art but unlike Caterina was not given instruction in how to ride and hunt. Thus Caterina had the advantage over her peers. And this would become more and more obvious as the years went on.

What else helped shaped the She Wolf to be? During her childhood she was certainly surrounded by incredibly strong willed women including her grandmother, Bianca Maria Visconti, who raised her in her earliest years. Bianca co-ruled the City of Milan with her son Galeazzo during the first years of his reign until he decided it was time to rule on his own. He believed that she was treating him like a child. Caterina also had a close relationship with her stepmother Bona who was an incredibly beautiful woman. She was a fantastic horsewoman and always went with Galeazzo on the hunt.

In 1473, at the age of 10, Caterina was thrown into the marriage market. In the October, following a long trip away from his court, Galeazzo became exceptionally ill He had smallpox and believed, with a finality that shocked his family, that he was going to die. However Galeazzo recovered, much to everyones surprise, and set about transforming Milan so it would compete with the great courts of Italy. He transformed the city into a hive of art, architecture and music and of course, Caterina herself benefitted from this. Yet during the Christmas of 1472, Caterina's father and Giralomo Riaro were discussing marriage. And he was also the nephew of the Pope. His contemporaries described him as fat, with pale skin and with a sickly disposition, he was not well read nor the brightest tool in the box. And he owed everything to his position as the Pope's nephew. Giralomo's original bride however was not Caterina, it was Constanza Fogliano. However her mother refused to allow her daughter to have her daughter taken by a man of inferior rank and preferred to wait until she reached the age of 14, the legal age of  consummation. On 6th January 1473 the Marquis of Mantua wrote to Galeazzo offering a compromise - Constanza's mother should allow her daughter to be "put to bed" with Riaro, and with other women present. It would then be considered as a form of consummation although no sexual intercourse would take place. Giralomo refused and threatened to leave, and so Caterina's father needed to keep the man happy. He offered to substitute Caterina as his bride instead of Constanza. Riaro agreed and on January 17 1473, the marriage contract was agreed. Giralomo Riaro was then thirty three years of age, his bride to be was just 10; this was the norm in Renaissance Italy and the marriage agreement certainly was not full of romance like we see today. The two would have taken part in a betrothal ceremony, where a notary asked them if they wished to be married. The couple would then respond with "I do" (or rather volo in Italian). The certificicate would then be signed and the agreement finalised with a ring and a kiss. If the couple were over the age of 14, the marriage could then be consummated although this did not usually happen until the bride moved into her husbands house. And once the marriage was consummated, there was no going back. The bride had officially been possessed by her new husband, and if she left her husband then it would spark great scandal.

Giralomo Riaro, in a fresco by Melozzo of Forli

The couple consummated their marriage, despite the fact that Caterina was below the legal age, and Riario's uncle the Pope was not pleased with this. He was forced to issue a papal bull to absolve all parties in the illegal sexual act.

Just one week after the marriage was completed, Giralomo Riaro left Milan and travelled back to Rome. She then remained in her father's care and did not see her husband for the next three years. In her father's house, despite now being a married woman and Countess, she continued her studies and waited until she could join her husband as she turned fourteen. Riaro however spent the next three years with various mistresses, and did not write to his new wife at all. She stayed in her fathers house, and watched as her father passed away and her stepmother Bona became regent for the new Duke, until 1476. Then, as she turned 13, Bona wrote to Giralomo confirming the marriage agreement and stating that at the age of 13, Caterina was old enough to join her husband in Rome. The official wedding was then organised, although Giralomo claimed that he could not attend his own wedding due to biusness reasons. Instead, she was married by Proxy in an unremarkable ceremony (due to the fact that her father had recently been murdered) and just a few days later she said goodbye to her childhood home forever.

Further Reading
Elizabeth Lev, The Tigress of Forli, 
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
Paul Strathern, The Artist, The Philosopher and the Warrior
Ernst Breisach, Caterina Sforza: A Renaissance Virago
Christopher Hibbert, The Borgias and Their Enemies
Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilisation of the Renaissance In Italy
Christopher Hare, The Most Illustrious Ladies of the Italian Renaissance