Cesare Borgia and the Great Pox

Cesare Borgia by Altobello Melone

One of the most well known facts about Cesare Borgia, aside from the fact that he was a bit (a lot) of a sociopath who seemed to enjoy having people killed, is that he suffered from Syphilis and often tended to go about wearing a mask. It is said that he wore the mask to cover up the disfigurement on his face that came from the disease - he was considered to be the most handsome man of his day and so it must have been a bit of a shock when he started noticing the tell tale symptoms of the Great Pox making a show of itself on his face. Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent that should be happening later on in the post. How did Cesare Borgia contract syphilis? How did he cope with it? How did he have it treated? By the time he died in Navarre was he cured or did it send him mad enough to rush to his own death?

The disease itself was really first noticed after the French invasion of Naples in 1495 where it began to spread across Europe. In a way, it was as if Naples was the epicenter of the disease. But how was it spread by the invading French? It is thought that the disease was spread through Spanish mercenaries serving under Charles VIII, who caught it in the New World and then spread it amongst the citizens of Naples who then spread it back to the French. The French then spread it further and thus across Europe. Complicated. The disease back then was incredibly lethal and led to thousands and thousands of people developing it and it's deformities, even leading to widespread death. 

In 1497, Cesare Borgia was sent to Naples as Papal Legate. It had been just six weeks since the death of his brother Juan, Duke of Gandia and he left with a small army of retainers. When I say small, small involves retainers, camp followers and prelates as well as over 700 horse. Cesare Borgia certainly didn't do things by half. They headed to Capua, where the Coronation of Federigo as King of Naples was to take place on the 6th August but soon after they arrived he fell ill - Sancia and Jofre were dispatched from Rome to nurse him back to health and by 11th August he was well enough to crown Federigo. The ceremony itself was lavish but the barons of the Kingdom of Naples failed to show up - it was one of Cesare's jobs to reconcile them with their new King, but that went down the pan rather quickly. In the end, the only people of note at the ceremony were his brother Jofre and his wife Sancia - the Prince and Princess of Squillace. Following the coronation ceremony, Cesare was determined to enjoy the Kingdom of Naples. Before he left Naples on 22nd August, Cesare and his travelling court had almost impoverished the already poor King of Naples. He also brought something else back with him...

"Monsignor of Valencia has returned from the Kingdom after crowning King Federigo and he is too sick of the French disease"

After Cesare contracted the disease, his physician Gaspare Torella condemned the use of mercury in treating  it and prescribed Cesare a course of ointments, potions and sweating in hot baths. Obviously it wouldn't have made all that much difference but within a month or so of returning to Rome it would have seemed like the disease had gone, and no doubt Torella thought his ointments and potions had cured him. It really didn't. The first stage of Syphilis tends to disappear within ten to ninety days before reappearing later as the secondary stage. 

Sergio Peris-Mencheta as Cesare in the traditional black mask

By August of 1498, Cesare began working towards getting rid of his Cardinal's robes. By this point he was determined to step into his brothers shoes and become a soldier. He took part in bullfights on horseback and practiced leaping astride mules and horses in one leap without touching the harness. He was incredibly proud of both his athletic body and his appearance but by now the symptoms of secondary syphilis were starting to show. The rash began to show itself on his face, somewhat disastrously for the handsome young man who was planning on impressing his intended new wife and the French court with his good looks. 

Gian Ludicco Cattaneo wrote, "He is well enough in countenance at present, although he has his face blotched beneath the skin as is usual with the great pox"

At this point, Cesare was just twenty three. Can you imagine how such a young man would have felt when this started happening, when the disease he thought himself cured of suddenly slapped him in the face again? He wasn't to know that it would disappear on it's own (only to reappear later on again - it would haunt him until the end of his life, appearing and reappearing) and he must have been really worried about the blotches on his face spoiling his marriage prospects - it seems he was so worried he even kept signing his letters as "Cardinal Valentino" as if he couldn't quite bring himself to believe in his secular future and that the disease would mean he wouldn't marry and would end up back in the church. Even Cattaneo mentions this, "Nonetheless he signed himself up to the last moment as Cesar, Card. Valentino...and this perhaps as a precaution if things did not come out as he wished or that perhaps, because of that face of his, spoiled by the French disease, his wife might refuse him".

Shortly after Cesare arrived in Marseilles in the October of 1498, he was struck down again with the malady; as was Cardinal Giuliano della Roverre. Both seemed to recover quickly enough, and Cesare's illness didn't stop him from marrying the wealthy heiress Charlotte D'Albret in May of 1499.

As can be seen in the screencap above, many still believe that Cesare spent much of his time hiding his blotched face behind a mask. It seems that most of these descriptions come from contemporaries hostile to the Borgias who always jumped at the chance of discrediting the family - and according to Bradford in her biography of Cesare, the image we have of Cesare hiding in the mask is completely fictitious based on a description written by Paolo Giovio in which he said Cesare looked swarthy and he was disfigured by the blotches of Syphilis. It seems that after the blotches disappeared the chances of disfigurement were really small and would only have appeared many many years later! At the point in which Giovio was describing Cesare as ravaged by the disease, others such as Capello in around 1500 (and it must be said, many others!!) were pointing out that Cesare at the age of "twenty five is physically most beautiful, he is tall and well made..." - although this same man later goes on to describe Cesare as a sadistic murderer who had his own brother killed.

Sergio Peris-Mencheta as Cesare in the traditional black mask

The next mention we have of Cesare's syphilis is in 1504, just after his fathers death and after his imprisonment in the Vatican by Pope Julius II. The year previously, just before his father's death, he had fallen ill with the same fever that killed Pope Alexander - It was most likely to be a malarial fever although many attribute it to either poison or some sort of food poisoning. In April 1504 Cesare had made his way to Naples where he was still quite unwell and Carvarjal reported that at Ostia Cesare had been in a lot of pain with the "French disease" and his face was hideously blotched with nasty looking pustules. It should be noted that we know now that fever, and in particularly malarial fever, was used as a treatment and cure for Syphilis up until the advent of penicillin - Cesare's nasty illness the previous year would very likely have cured him and the after effects of said fever. and his imprisonment was probably what caused him to look so rough.

By the time Cesare was killed in Viana in 1507, did he still have syphilis? Some say he did and it has been suggested that the disease had affected the senses in his brain so much that he had gone mad and so, in a fit of madness had ridden to his death. It is however an unlikely explanation - Cesare contracted syphilis in 1497 and tertiary syphilis can appear at any point from 5-20 years after the first stage manifests itself. He had syphilis for less than ten years and it's really quite dramatic and unlikely to say that in ten years it would have progressed so far as to make him go mad, and indeed in the lead up to the day of his death there is no evidence at all that he had gone mad at all. He certainly seemed to be in control of his senses and even in the bleakest moments he never lost hope and always kept his mind on the prize. He was a reckless man certainly, and the way he rode to his death on his own is very similar to a description made of him in 1503 when he rode at a group of Orsini's (again, completely on his own), saying he would rather die in the saddle than his bed. And as mentioned previously, it's really very likely that he didn't even have the disease thanks to the dangerous fever that he suffered from in 1503. 

We must remember though that after 506 years it is almost impossible to say whether he died as a result of syphilis affecting his brain or whether he did indeed still have it at the time of his death. All that we can say is that he did have it, and that it certainly affected his life in many ways although, like many things with Cesare's story most of what we think about his illness today comes from anti-Borgia propaganda  Did he hide his ravaged face behind a mask? Probably not. Did he wear a mask? Yes, but it was more likely to keep himself disguised so he wouldn't be noticed, not to hide a blotched face away - the blotches would have disappeared any way, and physical disfigurement in such a short space of time was highly, highly unlikely. But, like the incest stories, it's another of these stories that many seem determined to hold on to and why? Because it makes the man come across as more monstrous than he ever, truly was.

Further Reading

Sarah Bradford - Cesare Borgia: His Life & Times

Sarah Bradford - Lucrezia Borgia

Christopher Hibbert - The Borgias & Their Enemies

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