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Mar 15, 2019 · This Renaissance warrior woman defied powerful popes to defend her lands. Bold, brave, and brilliant, Caterina Sforza seized castles, forged alliances, and took revenge on her enemies for the...
- Who Was Caterina Sforza?
- The Ascension of An Illegitimate Daughter
- A Renaissance Woman Ruling Alone
- The Final Years of Caterina Sforza
The Sforza family was well-known during the Italian Renaissance, but the family’s fate depended on military strength. Caterina Sforza’s grandfather, Francesco Sforza, was a condottiero, or a captain for hire. In the mid-15th century, Sforza took a gamble and seized power for himself in Milan. His move made the Sforzas the Dukes of Milan – for as lo...
Girolamo Riario and his young wife Caterina Sforza settled in Rome, where Riario had become the right-hand man for the pope. Over the next two decades, Sforza gave birth to nine children – seven to Riario and one each to her later lovers. Between the spring of 1479 and the summer of 1481, she had three babies. But pregnancy barely slowed down Cater...
In 1487, Girolamo Riario fell ill, leaving Caterina Sforza in charge of running Imola and Forli. Conspiracies against the weak Riario sprouted like mushrooms. Sforza dolled out harsh penalties to the plotters, calling for their public quartering. Heads lined the gates of Forli to warn others not to attack the ruling family. Nonetheless, assassins r...
In 1492, the Borgia family swept into power and once again threatened Caterina Sforza’s territories in central Italy. Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, seized Imola and Forli from Sforza. But she still had a few tricks up her sleeves. While the Medici family had historically been enemies to the Sforza, Caterina struck up a relationship with ...
Caterina Sforza, the infamous fifteenth-century Italian regent of Forlì and Imola, was also an early scientist who experimented with chemistry and medicine.
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Jan 26, 2023 · Meet Caterina Sforza and Other Warrior Queens History Forgot From Italy’s fortress-seizing countess to Angola’s battle-hardened Queen Njinga, these women didn’t back down from a fight.
- Sarah Durn
Nov 24, 2015 · Caterina Sforza was a powerful force to be contended with in Renaissance Italy. She has been called a Renaissance virago (woman who fights like a man), a lioness, tigress, and a warrior woman. One of her more flamboyant acts of defiance was even made famous by Machiavelli. Driven and powerful, Caterina Sforza sometimes took her actions too far ...
- Alicia Mcdermott
Caterina Sforza (b. 1462/63–d. 1509) was the daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza (b. 1444–d. 1476), duke of Milan (r. 1467–1476), and his mistress Lucrezia Landriani (b. 1440/45–d. 1507). In 1477, she married Girolamo Riario (b. 1443–d. 1488), nephew of Pope Sixtus IV and ruler of Imola since 1473.
Italian noblewoman Caterina Sforza ruled Forlí (in present-day Italy) during the 15th century. She was known for her cunning yet brutal actions to keep her power and possessions. Caterina was part of the powerful Sforza family that ruled Milan for almost a century. Sforza was born in Milan in either 1462 or 1463.
