The Tigress of Forli (46 page)

2. Caterina to Bona of Savoy, September 1, 1479. Potenze Estere Roma, Milan State Archives.

3. Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 1, p. 100.

4. Ibid., vol. 3, doc. 137.

5. Ibid., doc. 140.

6. Edgmont Lee,
Sixtus, His Court, and Rome: Un Pontificato e una Citta,
p. 32.

7. Lisa Passaglia Bauman,
Power and Image: Della Rovere Patronage in Late Quattrocento Rome,
Ph.D. Dissertation, p. 2.

8. Private Archives of the Sforza-Riario families, private writing of the Riario household, fasc. 2, n. 56, Imola and Forlì. Naples State Archives.

9. Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 146.

10.
Diary of Pope Sixtus IV, 1479–1484,
p. 176. Vatican Archives.

7.
THE FAIREST IN THE REALM

1. Paola Mettica, "La Societa Forlivese del '400,'" p. 78.

2. Natale Graziani and Gabriella Venturelli,
Caterina Sforza,
p. 46.

3. Stefano Infessura,
Il Diario di Stefano Infessura,
p. 179.

4. Leone Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi delle Fondazione della citta fino al 1498,
p. 263.

5. The vivid description of Caterina and Girolamo's entry into Forlì was written by an anonymous eyewitness and is in the Florence National Library, manoscritto 2, f. 368.

6. Antonio Appiani to the duke of Milan, July 15, 1481. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

7. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 266.

8. Ibid.

9. Infessura,
Il Diario di Stefano Infessura,
p. 85.

10. Francesco Casati to the duke of Milan, July 18, 1481. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives, reprinted in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 165.

11. Antonio Appiani to the duke of Milan, September 7, 1481. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives, reprinted in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 182.

12. Med. A. Pr. filza 38. Florence State Archives.

13. Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 1, p. 122.

14. Communi Cotignola, September 22, 1481. Milan State Archives.

15. October 30, 1481, Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives, reprinted in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 195.

16. Fernand Braudel,
The Structure of Everyday Life,
vol. 1, p. 128, n. 91.

17. Infessura recounts the behavior of Girolamo in
Il Diario di Stefano Infessura,
pp. 40–42.

18. Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 202.

19. Caterina to the Republic of Siena, August 21, 1482, in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 205.

8.
THE BIRTH OF ATHENA

1. Infessura,
Il Diario di Stefano Infessura,
pp. 78–79.

2. Andrea Bernardi,
Cronache Forlivesi dal 1476 al 1517,
p. 294.

3. The statistics here come from Bauman,
Power and Image: Della Rovere Patronage in Late Quattrocento Rome
.

4. Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, docs. 174–76.

5. Ludwig van Pastor,
Lives of the Popes,
book 3, chapter 12b, gives an interesting analysis of the fresco cycle.

6. August Schmarsow,
Melozzo da Forlì,
p. 177.

7. Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 1, p. 134.

8.
Diary of Pope Sixtus IV: 1479–1484,
p. 29.

9. Sigismondo dei Conti, quoted in Pastor,
Lives of the Popes,
p. 550.

10. Infessura,
Il Diario di Stefano Infessura,
p. 177.

11. Gregorovius,
History of Rome in the Middle Ages,
vol. 7A, p. 281.

12. Infessura,
Il Diario di Stefano Infessura,
p. 129.

13. Vespucci to Lorenzo de' Medici, August 18, 1484. Florence State Archives, filza 39G.

14. The negotiations between Caterina, Girolamo, and the Curia are recorded in letters by both Pierfilippo Pandolfi and Guidantonio Vespucci to Lorenzo the Magnificent; both are in the Florence State Archives. The Sienese orator Lorenzo Lanti gives a similar version in his letter to the Signoria de Siena, August 26, 1484, available in the Siena Archives.

15. Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 1, p. 150.

9.
THE LEAN YEARS

1. Bernardi,
Cronache Forlivesi,
vol. 1, p. 125.

2. Ambassor Vespucci to Lorenzo the Magnificent, Med. A. Pr. filza 39. Florentine State Archives.

3. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
vol. 1, p. 28.

4. Ibid.

5. Niccolò Machiavelli,
The Prince,
p. 45.

6. G. F. Oliva to duke of Milan, August 11, 1486, Milan State Archives, in Mario Tabanelli,
Il Biscione e La Rosa: Caterine Sforza, Girolamo Riario, e I loro primi Discendenti,
p. 56. Also, F. Visconti to duke of Milan, November 8, 1486, in ibid., p. 57.

7. F. Visconti to Duke Gian Galeazzo, November 8, 1486. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

8. F. Visconti to Duke Gian Galeazzo, November 26, 1486. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

9. Magdalena Soest's theory was announced first in the German paper
Bild Zeitung
and then recounted in English in "Mona Lisa Revealed as Adventurous Beauty,"
The Guardian,
March 14, 2002.

10.
TAKING CENTER STAGE

1. Machiavelli,
The Prince,
in
The Portable Machiavelli,
p. 99.

2. In his book
The Courtier,
Baldassare Castiglione describes Duchess Elisabetta Gonzaga of Urbino as the paradigm of feminine virtue. He emphasizes her personal virtue and modesty, which inspired all those in her court to behave with due respect and reverence. Elisabetta, wife of the chronically ill duke of Urbino, did not run her husband's state as Caterina did, but allowed herself to be guided by male counselors and presided over a salon of artists and literati. Personal objects of women, from portraits to their wedding chests, also emphasized the virtue of chastity. See David Alan Brown,
Virtue and Beauty,
and Syson and Thornton,
Objects of Virtue: Art in Renaissance Italy
.

3. Caterina to Duke of Ferrara, July 24, 1487, in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 249.

4. Andrea Bernardi recounts this story in
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 135.

11.
THE RETORT AT RAVALDINO

1. A. Burriel,
Vita di Caterina Sforza,
vol. 2, p. 260.

2. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 119, and Bernardi,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 234.

3. Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 1, p. 218.

4. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
pp. 320–21.

5. Ibid.

6. Bernardi,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 238.

7. The eyewitnesses Cobelli and Bernardi give diverging stories on the whole story of Caterina's behavior at Ravaldino. Bernardi covers it in his
Cronache Forlivesi,
vol. 1, p. 238, and Cobelli in his
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 322.

8. This, the most famous version of the retort of Ravaldino, was written by Giovanni Corbizi to Lorenzo de' Medici but was sent from Faenza. It is dated April 17, the same day of the event. Med. A. Pr. filza 40–285. Florence State Archives.

9. Lorenzo Giustiniani used the term "tigress" to a Venetian ambassador; it was reprinted in Marino Sanuto,
I Diarii,
vol. 2, p. 60.

10. Med. A. Pr. filza 40–285. Florence State Archives.

11. Niccolò Machiavelli,
Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius,
book 3, chapter 6.

12. Corbizi to Lorenzo de' Medici, April 17, 1488; Galeotto Manfredi to Lorenzo de' Medici, April 20, 1488; Giovanni Bentivoglio to Lorenzo de' Medici, April 18, 1488; Migliore Cresci to Lorenzo de' Medici, April 17, 1488; and the duke of Milan to the king of Hungary. Med. A. Pr. filza 40–285, Florence State Archives, reprinted in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 295.

13. Bernardi,
Cronache Forlivesi,
vol. 1, p. 240.

14. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 327.

15. B. Arlotti to the duke of Ferrara, April 30, 1488, reprinted in full in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 287.

16. Bernardi,
Cronache Forlivesi,
vol. 1, p. 241.

17. Orsi to Medici, April 19, 1488. Florence State Archives.

12.
THE SPOILS OF WAR

1. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 332.

2. Ibid., p. 336.

3. Milan State Archives, reprinted in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 294.

4. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 339.

5. Ibid., p. 340.

6. Besides the accounts of Cobelli and Bernardi, several letters list those executed by Caterina; the most precise listing is in Giovanni Corbizi to Nicolo Ridolfi, May 7, 1488, reprinted in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 297.

7. Lauro Martines,
April Blood: Florence and the Plot Against the
Medici,
p. 126.

8. The murder of Galeotto Manfredi was first recounted by the Forlivese diarist Andrea Bernardi and confirmed by a letter from Francesco Macchietta to Tomaso Ridolfi of Florence, June 3, 1488, reprinted in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 302.

9.
Innocentii VIII, Vicariatus,
vol. 98.f.93.b, Vatican Archives.

13.
FANNING THE FLAMES

1. Cobelli makes note of the supposed relationship between Antonio Maria and Caterina; see Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, p. 319, n. 2. The Cronaca Marconi, an Imolese diarist, said the Forlivesi believed there was an affair, but the Imolesi didn't; see C. Vecchiazzani,
Historia di Forlimpopoli,
vol. 2, pp. 177–78. A letter from the duke of Milan to Branda da Castiglione, September 11, 1489, conveys the fears of her relatives; see Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

2. Duke of Milan to Branda da Castiglione, September 11, 1489. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

3. Duke of Milan to Branda da Castiglione, May 13, 1488. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

4. Bernardi,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 299.

5. G. F. Cortini,
La Madonna di Piratello presso Imola
, pamphlet.

6. Med. A. Pr. filza 41 n.467. Florence State Archives.

7. Caterina's prim account of Feo's behavior differs from that of the governor of Imola, who refers to how Caterina "got rid of her castellan" in the relative documents of the Imola Archives. Andrea Bernardi provides the most detailed account, with the tale of seduction.

8. Caterina Sforza,
Ricettario di Bellezza
, p. 158.

9. The last will and testament of Caterina specifically states that her son Bernardino, later known as Carlo, was the fruit of a legitimate marriage with Feo, although she does not give the date of the marriage. Med. A. Pr. carte private f. 99 n.12. Florence State Archives.

10. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 413.

11. Puccio Pucci to Piero de' Medici. May 21, 1493, carte private filza 54 c.144, Florence State Archives.

12. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 415.

14.
BLINDED BY LOVE

1. Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 1, p. 340.

2. Burriel,
Vita di Caterina Sforza,
vol. 2, p. 507.

3. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 358.

4. Med. A. Pr. filza 54 c.165. Florence State Archives.

5. Ibid.

6. Bernardi,
Cronache Forlivesi,
vol. 1, A2, p. 98, and Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 394.

15.
AVENGING FURY

1. Dante Alighieri,
Inferno,
p. 283.

2. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
pp. 383–84.

3. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives, reprinted in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 586.

4. Ibid.

5. Cobelli,
Cronache Forlivesi,
p. 384.

6. Cobelli's list is on pp. 390–91; Bernardi also mentions those killed throughout his diary.

7. Cardinal Ascanio Sforza to Duke Ludovico of Milan, Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives, reprinted in Pasolini,
Caterina Sforza,
vol. 3, doc. 634.

8. Tragically, the frescoes were destroyed in World War II; today they are known only through photographs.

9. March 21, 1496. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

10. Bernardi,
Cronache Forlivesi,
vol. 1, A2, p. 129.

11. Attilio Monti, "La Rocca di Ravaldino,"
Forum Livii,
pp. 7–21. After Caterina's time, Ravaldino became a prison and is today (much altered) a tourist attraction.

12. Caterina to the duke of Milan, April 14, 1496. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

13. Caterina to the duke of Milan, March 27, 1496. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

14. Caterina to the duke of Milan, September 24, 1496. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

15. Caterina to the duke of Milan, August 22, 1496. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

16. Corrado Ricci, "Il Ritratto di Caterina Sforza,"
Forum Livii,
pp. 5–12, and Tabanelli,
Il Biscione e La Rosa,
pp. 97–106. Both discuss Caterina's coins and portraits.

17. Caterina to the duke of Milan, April 11, 1496. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

18. Bologna, Francesco Tranchedini, October 10, 1496. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

19. Caterina to Tranchedini, November 29, 1496. Forlì. Milan State Archives.

20. Med. A. Pr. filza 71 c.27. Florence State Archives.

21. Tranchedini to the duke of Milan, January 28, 1498. Potenze Estere, Milan State Archives.

22. Jacopo Filippo Foresti,
De Plurimis Claris Selectisque Mulieribus.
This work was published in Ferrara in 1497, naming Caterina among the most famous women in history, living or dead. One of the extremely rare originals is kept at Bryn Mawr College.