Caterina Sforza

Caterina Sforza was an influential woman of the Italian Renaissance.  She was born in 1463 in Milan, Italy to a noble family.  She was the illegitimate child of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, a man who was said to be cruel and tyrannical, and his mistress Lucrezia Landriani.  According to annicent-origins.net, she was taken in by her father and stepmother at the age of four to be raised alongside of his other children.  Her stepmother, Bona of Savoy, made her receive an education and to be brought up in the Milanese Court, ancient-origins.net.  At the age of ten she was to be engaged to Girolamo Riario.  They soon married in 1477 when she was fourteen, Caterina later became the countess of Forlì and Imola in 1481.

According to encyclopedia.com, Caterina was a woman of actions, not words from a young age.  Caterina participated in hobbies that were seen to be held only by men in her day.  She loved to go horseback riding and hunt for deer or boar with her dogs.  When her and her husband, Griolamo returned to Forli after living in Rome for a few years, she began to take a personal interest in military concerns. When a rumor came out that someone was to assassinate Caterina and Girolamo the two decided to move back to Rome.  In Rome, Girolamo’s uncle, Pope Sixtus IV, died causing a riot.  The two moved outside the city, and tried to enter back into Rome.  According to encyclopedia.com, the couple was ordered to remain outside the city by cardinals of the church.  Girolamo had obeyed the cardinals wishes, his wife, Caterina, had not.  She wanted to keep the power and reputation of her family.  Caterina rode a horse through Rome, chasing the occupants out of Castle Sant'Angelo, and ordering the soldiers to obey to her.  She was a woman who stood her ground and believed in keeping a high reputation for her family.  When her husband was not rewarded by the cardinals of the church, they had to give up their position on the castle.  Caterina was furious with this decision. 

In 1487 Girolamo had become ill, leaving Caterina to uphold his duties.  Whatever happened, Caterina had to keep control of the fortress of Ravaldino in Forlì, encyclopedia.com. Later, in April of 1488, Girolamo was stabbed to death.  After being dragged out of Castle Sant’Angelo, Caterina had called for 2,000 soldiers from Bolgona and about 6,000 soldiers from Milan.  She gained power and control of Forli once again.  She was a harsh and cruel ruler.  By hiring captains to help carry out her vengeance of her husbands assassination she had no mercy for others.  The captains helped her jail people, as well as hanging several people. 

Castle Sant'Angelo in Rome

In late 1499, Caterina dressed herself in armor to fight after the fall of Imola.  She gathered about 900 soldiers to fight against Cesare Borgia and his army of 15,000 men.  Cesare ordered an assault, and breached the walls of Ravaldino, the fortress Caterina had been trying to hold.  Caterina and her men had retreated to the main tower of the fortress.  She then ordered a counter attack and began fighting alongside her men.  Caterina and her men could not fight off Cesare and she eventually was captured.  She was taken to Rome where she refused to sign her legal rights to Forli and Imola.  Caterina was later imprisoned in the same castle she took over sixteen years ago, Sant’Angelo.  She would be freed if she signed over her rights to her territories, encyclopedia.com.  Caterina died in 1507 at age 46 from a liver ailment combined with peritonitis and pleurisy.

Caterina had also written a book, Gli Experimenti. The book contained about 454 recipes, roughly 66 of which are cosmetic related, 358 medicinal, and 38 alchemical.  According to Jacqueline Spicer, the original manuscript was lost, however it was transcribed by Lucantonio Cuppano in 1525. 

Caterina Sforza is a woman who fights for what she believes in.  For the time she was born, women were often thought to have few duties. They were only to have children and obey their husbands orders.  Caterina was a woman who did what she thought was best for her and her family.  I love her story and how she is a woman who fights gender norms. She stands out as a woman of power because she is a role model for many other women in the following years.  She represents independence and courage.  Her stubbornness could often be interpreted as being bullheaded, but in reality was standing her ground for what she valued most.  I loved researching about Caterina and learning that women had fought to have equality without it being said or fought for.  She expresses that men and women can have the same roles. 

McDermott, Alicia. "Caterina Sforza: A Renaissance Warrior Woman That Knew How to Get   
         What She Wanted." Ancient Origins, Ancient Origins, www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-

          people/caterina-sforza-renaissance-warrior-woman-knew-how-get-what-she-wanted-004659.

Spicer, Jacqueline . “Caterina Sforza's Experimenti.” Making Up the Renaissance, University of 

           Edinburgh, sites.eca.ed.ac.uk/renaissancecosmetics/cosmetics-recipes/caterina-sforzas- 

          experimenti/. 

“Sforza, Caterina (c. 1462–1509).” Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, 

         Encyclopedia.com, www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-

         maps/sforza-caterina-c-1462-1509.