She gave birth to three children in two years and was pregnant for her third child when Girolamo and Caterina visited their landholdings in Forlì and Imola. One of the innumerable women used as pawns in the marriage politics of the time, Caterina was given in marriage, at the age of ten, to Girolamo Riario, a nephew of the pope, who turned out to be a coward, a dissolute and greedy husband whom she never loved.Īfter insisting on consummating the marriage with his child bride, Girolamo left Caterina in her father’s care for over three years, before inviting her to Rome, where she became a favorite of the papal court for her grace, education and beauty. Caterina grew up in Milan, at her father’s ducal court she received a humanistic education and the training of a warrior and hunter. What I did not know and happily surprised me were the fascinating details of Caterina’s life and the relevant role she played for about twenty years in the tumultuous and treacherous arena of Italian political life, at the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth.Ĭaterina was born in 1463 in the Sforza family, whose founder came from Romagna (the region where Forlì lies) and took his last name from his strength or forza. Isn’t this also an example of women’s superiority over men that nobody can dispute? Lev does not believe that this occurred, but Machiavelli and others chose to publicize this version, and this is what is proudly repeated in Forlì.
Most shocking and impressive to my young ears was the answer she allegedly gave the commander of the siege when he threatened to kill her children if she did not surrender: “I have the means to make more.” I was told that these words were accompanied by her raising her skirts and pointing to her genitals. I grew up hearing the story of Caterina Sforza (as we called her) valiantly defending the castle of Forlì, my hometown.
The Tigress of Forl ì: Renaissance Italy’s most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de’ Medici
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