The Lady with Jasmines (1485-1490) is the portrait of Catherine Sforza (1463-1509), Duchess of Milan, painted by Lorenzo di Credi. Musei San Domenico, Pinacoteca Civica, Forlí. • WIKIMEDIACOMMONS At the end of 1499, a woman perched on the walls of the fortress of Ravaldino in Forlì, 300 km north of Rome. Enemy troops hold her sons hostage and threaten to kill them if she does not surrender. But, fearsome, she shows her pubis while shouting:"Kill them if you want, I have here what to do others!" You will never get my surrender. If the anecdote borders on legend, it could be very real given the personality of the protagonist. Catherine Sforza – such is the name of this lady with a strong character – is one of the most singular female characters of the Italian Renaissance. In addition to rubbing shoulders with the greatest geniuses of art and culture of her time, she also defied all conventions, flirted with alchemy and did not hesitate to lead her troops to face enemies as powerful as the Borgias. Catherine was born in 1463 in Milan, from the love of Galéas Marie Sforza and Lucrèce Landriani, his mistress. She is therefore the niece of the powerful Ludovico Sforza called "the Moor", Duke of Milan, and, despite her condition as an illegitimate daughter, she was raised within the paternal family where she imbued herself with the particular humanist spirit. at the time. She was only 10 when she married a nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, Girolamo Riario, 20 years her senior. Although Riario was lord of Imola and Forlì, the couple moved to Rome with the aim of making a fortune at the pope's court. Catherine, while giving birth to five children, very quickly became an ambassador between the courts of Rome and that of Milan, thus acquiring immense prestige. In the Roman trap The death of Sixtus IV in August 1484 called into question everything that the spouses had acquired in the previous years. The election of the new pope triggers the traditional conflicts between the most powerful families of Italy at the time, who compete to place one of their own on the throne of Saint Peter. But Catherine is not willing to lose her privileged position. Thus, on behalf of her then absent husband, and seven months pregnant, she crosses the Tiber on horseback and takes the lead of the garrison defending Castel Sant'Angelo. This is how she forced enemy cardinals not to participate in the conclave for fear of falling under the fire of her powerful artillery. An agreement is finally reached, and Girolamo agrees to leave Rome on the condition that his domains of Imola and Forlì are ratified, that he is appointed captain general of the Vatican troops and that he is paid an indemnity of 8,000 ducats. Seven months pregnant, Catherine takes the lead of the garrison defending Castel Sant'Angelo. This new destiny provides Catherine with the opportunity to demonstrate her political talents. On the death of her husband, assassinated in 1488 by supporters of the new pope, she was led to exercise the regency in the name of her son Ottaviano, a minor. She immediately implements a series of measures that attract the goodwill of her fellow citizens, lowering taxes and sealing alliances with neighboring states through marriages contracted for her sons. In addition, driven by her natural inclination for the army, she takes charge of the military training of her troops. Catherine's ardor A single affair estranges him, not from his subjects, but from his family. Shortly after the death of her first husband, Catherine indeed secretly married a young man named Giacomo Feo, with whom she had a son, Bernardino Carlo, a year later. The passion she feels for the young man makes the invincible Catherine bend, to such an extent that she ends up dismissing her son Ottaviano from the government to entrust the reins of the state to her new husband and place his parents. here at the head of the fortresses which defend the city. But Ottaviano's supporters did not give up and Giacomo was assassinated by conspirators. The young widow then massacres the families and supporters of the assassins in retaliation. However, Catherine's ardor was far from dying down and, in 1497, she obtained permission from her uncle, Duke Ludovico Sforza, to marry John de' Medici, a member of the powerful Florentine family, for the third time. had known a year earlier when he had come to Forlì as Ambassador from Florence. The union also had an unfortunate end, for only a year after giving birth to a son, the famous Giovanni Dalle Bande nere (John of the Black Bands), and while she was immersed in the conflict between Florence and Venice, Jean, her husband, dies of pneumonia. Shortly after, the Borgia Pope, Alexander VI, decided to integrate the city-states of Romagna, including Imola and Forlì, into the Papal States. Which the indomitable Catherine is obviously not willing to accept. Hate of the Borgias Catherine Sforza immediately applied to expand her troops, improve the armament and store large quantities of provisions and ammunition in anticipation of a possible siege led by the troops commanded by César Borgia, Duke of Valentinois and son of the Pope. She also strengthens the defenses of her fortresses, especially that of Ravaldino, where she resides. But César Borgia is a dangerous adversary. Forlì and Imola having fallen, Borgia began the siege of the fortress of Ravaldino on December 19, 1499. Supported by more than a thousand soldiers, Catherine led the resistance herself. She repeatedly rebuffs her enemy's peace proposals, though it may cost the lives of her children, as the legend goes. On January 12, 1500, after a succession of terrible battles, Caesar Borgia's troops invaded Ravaldino and Catherine was taken prisoner. Although she placed herself under the protection of King Louis XII of France, an ally of the pope, it seems that Cesar Borgia refused to part with his prisoner. Partly out of pride, but also because Catherine had become his mistress shortly after Ravaldino's surrender. Pope Alexander VI placed him under house arrestat the Belvedere Palace, a beautiful villa nearRome. Despite this, Caesar wasted no time in sending him to Rome after subjecting him to all sorts of humiliations. Pope Alexander VI assigned him to residence at the Belvedere Palace, a beautiful villa near Rome. But the attentions of the pope do not manage to quell the rebellious spirit of Catherine Sforza. She tries to flee, but, discovered, she is accused of preparing an attack against the pope by means of poisoned letters, and the rebellious Duchess is locked up in Castel Sant'Angelo, this fortress which she had defended with so much zeal. ardor a few years ago. From war to alchemy She only remained in prison for a short time because she was released on June 30, 1501, Louis XII having interceded on her behalf. Catherine then retired to Florence and took refuge in the villa which belonged to her third husband, Jean de Médicis. After the death of Pope Alexander VI, she tries to recover her fiefs from the new pontiff Julius II. However, Imola and Forlì opposed his return and passed into the hands of a Vatican nobleman named Antonio Maria Ordelaffi. Her combative fervor subsided, Catherine spent the last years of her life alongside her sons and devoted herself to the study of alchemy. In May 1509, she died of pneumonia, aged only 46. She is buried anonymously in the convent of Santa Maria delle Murate, as she had stipulated in her will. But his nephew Cosme I er , Grand Duke of Tuscany, orders a white marble tombstone bearing his name to be placed on his grave. Even dead, Catherine could not admit the contradiction:in 1835, the tombstone was destroyed during the renovation of the floor of the convent intended to be transformed into a prison. Find out more • Machiavelli, Caterina Sforza or the origin of the world, F. Verrier, Vecchiarelli, 2010.• Catherine Sforza, the Lady of Forlì, G. Rachet, Denoel, 1987. Timeline 1463 Birth in Milan of Catherine Sforza, illegitimate daughter of Duke Galéas Maria Sforza and Lucrezia Landriani, his mistress.1484 Catherine defends in Rome the interests of her husband, Girolamo Riario, to whom the pope granted the domain of Imola and Forlì.1488 Girolamo is assassinated. Catherine remarried and put the interests of her new husband, Giacomo Feo, before those of her eldest son.1497-1499 Widden again, she married Jean de Médicis, who died shortly afterwards. In 1499, it was besieged by Caesar Borgia.1500-1509 After being imprisoned in Rome, she retired to the convent for some time. She died at 46. Catherine's beauty secrets Only one portrait of Catherine Sforza has been preserved:an oil painting by the artist Lorenzo di Credi, painted around 1485 and known as La Dame aux jasmines . Aged 20, Catherine shone there with a beauty that she undeniably knew how to preserve for a long time. This is suggested by the book attributed to him, entitled Experimenti della excellentissima signora Caterina di Forlì , featuring more than 400 recipes for skin, hair and general beauty care, as well as observations on botany, astrology and even alchemy. Like mother, like son Jean, son of Catherine and Jean de Medici, was a famous military leader. He was nicknamed "John of the Black Stripes" because he added black stripes to his banner as a sign of mourning, after the death of Pope Leo X, his kinsman and protector. Twin souls "If I must die, let it be as a man," declared Catherine Sforza as Caesar Borgia's troops besieged Ravaldino. The courageous Catherine took the lead of a thousand men and refused the offers of peace sent to her by the pope's son, who, furious, offered 10,000 ducats to capture her, dead or alive. It is said that Catherine and Caesar became lovers the very night she was captured, fascinated to recognize in each other the same temperament and ambition.
