a lady, a tigress

What is it about women in the Renaissance?

Raffaele: We usually think of feminism as a modern, 19th Century fenomenon, and maybe it is, yet strong women have always been a thing. History is full of examples of women bending societal rules in order to gain their own share of power, to protect their family, or to express themselves. Sometimes, for all of these reasons combined.

During the Renaissance, however, this constant feminine push for a bigger piece of the pie became more apparent. This may have something to do with the ethos of the time. The revival and rediscovery of the Classical world and the philosophy of Humanism, with a strong attention to Man as the focus of philosophical speculation, brought up a new interest in the human figure and, therefore, in women as well. Poets celebrated exemplary women not only as mothers, love interests or modest saintly examples, but also as rulers: just think of pagan goddesses, which start to appear again in the paintings and in the arts of this period.

Of course the world was still predominantly masculine, and led by men; but many women pushed through the glass ceiling of the time, sometimes by paying a heavy personal and political price.

The woman Giulia will present a portrait of today, is a woman she feels a peculiar connection with, so this is a pretty personal episode. Her name is Caterina Sforza, also known as the Tigress of Forlì. I’ll therefore leave you in Giulia’s capable hands, and see you next time!

Giulia

Caterina sforza, the tigress of forlì.

What connects me to her?

Well, first of all, I live in the very same town she once ruled, a mid-sized town located at the center of Romagna, the southern, relaxed, smiley portion of the bigger Emilia-Romagna region, famous for Ferraris, Parmigiano cheese, Balsamic Vinegar, sunny summers in Rimini, prosciutto di Parma, tortellini and lasagne.

Then, as a second element of connection, comes the name. If there’s a name I’d like to give my daughter, that name is Caterina. This is precisely because history is full of charismatic, legendary Caterinas, or Catherines: just think of Caterina di Alessandria, Santa Caterina da Siera, Caterina d’Aragona, or Catherine The Great.

Last, but not least, because I work in a field Caterina Sforza was very, very much interested in. And this is what got me interested in her character and led me to record this episode. Before moving to Forlì in 2021, I was living and working in Milan. Milan is not only the financial capital of Italy and a global fashion hub: it is also at the center of another vital industry to the Italian economy, an industry you seldom hear of but is actually worth a lot of money: cosmetics. Can you think of something more feminine than skincare, haircare and make-up? I worked in the cosmetics industry in Milan for two years, in a pretty big multinational, as a project manager, developing new make-up products for international brands. Then, in 2021, I took an opportunity to move here, to Forlì, a town I already knew quite well as it’s where I attended university and graduated, to work in a smaller and very female-oriented enterprise. But how do cosmetics relate to Caterina Sforza? It’s pretty simple. One day, I found an article in a local newspaper dedicated to the “female protector” of the city, examplaining she was not just a duchess and a military leader, but also an alchemist and a… cosmetologist. And a very passionate and expert one at that. So let’s delve right into the extraordinary life of an extraordinary woman, shall we?

Caterina’s motto, «Fame follows Victory», is quite a fit when you delve a bit into her biography, although victory, of course, was not always a constant in her life. She died in exile in Florence, after unsuccessfully trying to reconquer her power over her former dominions, the territories of Imola and Forlì, and after a life of courage, audacity, violence and cunning.

Born in 1463, Caterina was the illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan and renowned Condottiero, and noblewoman Lucrezia Landriani, his mistress. Bona of Savoy, Galeazzo’s wife, legitimized her and brought her under her tutelage in 1466, when Caterina moved to the ducal court, developing a strong bond with her adoptive mother. Caterina received an excellent humanistic education, as was customary for noblewomen at that time, and was also initiated to military practice. During this time, she was also probably initiated to the rudiments of alchemy, an art she would cultivate for her whole life, as we’ll see later on during this episode.

In 1477, during a relatively peaceful phase in Italian history, thanks to the equilibrium reached among the member states of the Lega Italica (we talked about this in the episode about Federico da Montefeltro, remember?), Caterina was betrothed to Girolamo Riario, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV and ruler of Imola, thereby becoming signora of Imola and Forlì. She fulfilled all customary social expectations as a noble woman, bearing her husband numerous children. Yet, from the very beginning, she also demonstrated political abilities coupled with decisiveness and courage in military matters. When Pope Sixtus (uncle of her husband) died, Girolamo Riario was busy in a siege of small importance and decided to wait for the election of a new Pope. Caterina wanted to have a say in the matter instead, much more so because there was turmoil in the Holy See and blood in the streets. She was 21 years old, 7-months pregnant, and decided to ride to Rome to strike an agreement with local militias and occupy the fortress of Castel Sant’Angelo, that Pope Sixtus had entrusted to her husband. “I’ll give it to the next elected Pope”, she told the Cardinals. With the formidable guns of the fortress pointed at the city, it was not easy for them to freely scheme and they had to negotiate with her: that’s how she obtained money, reparations and a confirmation of her husband’s position in Forlì.

Her qualities, and the shaky health of her husband, led her to get more and more power by placing trusted supporters in key positions, such as the stewardship of the Rocca di Ravaldino; even if, in order to do so, she had to have people assassinated.

Her life was completely disrupted in 1488. She and her husband had levied a few too many taxes to repay their own debts, on both artisans and noblemen: a recipe for trouble. One of many plots slipped from the ever guarding eyes of Caterina, and her husband Girolamo was assassinated in an ambush set up by the rival Orsi family, seeking to take control over Forlì. This part gets quite messy, because there are many different versions of it and you would need to follow the money, which of course at the time was flowing from Florence, ruled by the Medici family, and from the Papacy. Suffice it to say that the enemies of Caterina had these two powerful allies, but she was not defenseless; she could still count on her own family, the Sforza, based in Milan, and even if she was not loved, she was for sure feared and respected by her subjects.

Nevertheless, the coup largely succeeded. Caterina was taken prisoner by the Orsis, together with her sister and children, but she was prepared. She showed excellent strategic abilities and managed to send a message for help to her uncle in Milan, Ludovico il Moro. Also, she was able to concoct a believable story to keep her enemies in check. She secured an alliance with an entrusted subject, the castellan of the Rocca di Ravaldino, an imposing fortress located just outside the ancient town of Forlì and essential to rule over the surrounding territories.

She knew the plotters could note make up their minds about straight-up executing her and her family, as they feared retribution. So, she lied. She asked Tommaso Feo, keeper of the Rocca and ever loyal to the Riario family and to Caterina, to pretend that he was on the verge of switching sides. He told the Orsis that since she was very indebted to him, he wanted Caterina in his own hands before giving them access to the fortress. In another version of the story, she tricked them into believing she was the only one who could negotiate the surrender of the fortress. Be as it may, the plotters agreed to the proposal, keeping Caterina’s children as hostage. In their minds, that was enough: what woman, what mother would endanger her children for a military advantage? Well, not Caterina. As soon as she was inside the fortress, she unveiled her plot, setting up her resistance from the Rocca and refusing to surrender.

What followed is an anecdote narrated by none other than Nicolò Machiavelli in his Discourses, which caused quite a buzz at the time and is destined to be forever tied to the figure of Caterina. The Orsis were livid: they had been tricked, they did not get the fortress, and powerful Sforza troops were coming to help Caterina from Milan. They were running out of time, and were stuck between a literal rock and a hard place. They only had one choice: and so they started building gallows outside the Rocca to execute her children, so as to force her to surrender. Again, they miscalculated. From the top of the ramparts, Caterina mocked them and – so the story goes – provoked them by making a lewd gesture: she pointed at her genitalia (some recount she straight-out exposed them) and said that yes, of course they could execute her children, but she still had the means to have new ones!

Machiavelli says:

Madonna Caterina […] promised that if the conspirators would let her enter the fortress, she would have it surrendered to them; [and] they might keep her children as hostages. With that promise, they let her enter. As soon as she was inside, she reproached them from the wall with the death of her husband, threatening them with every kind of revenge. And to show them that she did not care about her children [being killed], she uncovered to them her genitals, saying that she still had the means to produce more children

This anecdote has become iconic in the region and many scholars have tried to analyze it, noting that its usual interpretation (I will have more children and they will avenge me) makes no real sense. Of course, she did not have 15-20 years to wait in that situation.

But that’s not the point, is it?

Madonna Caterina is the epitome of a strong, and strong-willed female figure, in stark contrast to the image of the weak, flighty and fragile creature disseminated in earlier eras. She challenged this stereotype by doing something no woman would do: showing her pussy and mocking her opponents, emphasizing her own biological strength. At the same time, she wanted to make sure they understood they were not merely fighting a woman, but a political opponent, just like any other. It looks like a careless act, not taking into account the lives of her children. However, this was a perfect strategy, because it actually secured them. The execution could only be a bluff, because without taking the fortress the Orsis could kill her family, but would never be able to defend themselves against the military might of her allies. Her show of power, seeing the bluff, gave them no choice but to retreat.

She married again, this time by choice: first, in secret, to Giacomo Feo, brother of the ever-loyal Tommaso, who ended up stabbed to death in a plot. Third came Giovanni de’ Medici, called “il Popolano”, “the layman”. He came to Forlì as an ambassador from Florence, but with his qualities, culture, distinction and some say beauty, he was able to conquer the Tigress’s heart. From their love a famous Condottiero was born, Giovanni delle Bande Nere, a warrior destined to greatness. Giovanni De’ Medici was her last husband, and died of illness in 1498, just before the last phase of Caterina’s life. But before we delve into that, let’s diverge a little to focus on one of her lifelong passions: Alchemy.

the alchemist

A lesser known, yet deeply fascinating side of Caterina is, as I mentioned earlier in the episode, her knowledge of alchemy, chemistry and cosmetics. Scholars have focused much less on this aspect of her legacy, and yet it is strongly tied to her character and her nature of cunning and smart noblewoman.

In 1887, a mysterious manuscript was retrieved in Rome. Dating from the 16th Century, its title was Experimenti de la Ex.ma S.ra Caterina da Furlj Matre de lo Inlux.mo Sig. Giouanni De’ Medici, copiati dagli autografi di lei dal Conte Lucantonio Cuppano, colonnello ai servigi militari di esso Giovanni De’ Medici detto Dalle Bande Nere.

Short translation in English: Experiments. A code belonging to no other than Caterina herself, a collection of cosmetic, medical and chemical recipes.

Approximately twenty years earlier, in 1865, another manuscript had been retrieved, this time in Florence, titled A far bella (to make a woman beautiful), dealing with the same topics of the Experimenti and with Caterina’s name written on the very front page. Could it be her own original manuscript? Who knows. It got lost.

What matters is, the code was published a few years later in Imola. It includes a stunning total of 471 Experimenti, recipes Caterina herself studied and tested during her life, or simply transcribed from popular dictates. It is an extraordinary testimony of her abilities in the realm of chemistry, medicine and alchemy, and of feminine emancipation.

Our idea of alchemy, rooted in popular books, series and movies, may lead us to imagine some kind of magic made with metals, akin to Potion studies in the Harry Potter series, or some kind of unperfected, proto-science.
In both cases, what comes to mind is a white bearded magician, or a clueless wannabe scientist causing funny, sometimes dangerous explosions. That’s not the case at all.

In fact, alchemy was nothing less than ancient scientific research, different from what we call modern science only because it had not yet been able to effectively combine two principles that were already understood: the use of mathematics in modeling and understanding the physical world, and the importance of experimentation. But Alchemy was also much more: it was an ancient branch of philosophy that used proto-chemistry in order to symbolize changes in the human body and soul and its striving for perfection and enlightenment: the so-called Magnum Opus.

What was the aim of this “perfection”?

It was mainly about the integration of the masculine and feminine principle in one being. For example Hermes, the God of alchemy, from which comes the term HERMETIC, according to the myth was the father of Hermaphroditus, a being both male and female. As another example, one of the main aims of ancient alchemists was to be able to produce a child – a homunculus, as it was called – in vitro, thus harnessing the reproductive power of Women.

Being able to use both the feminine and the masculine spirit, the strength and the empathy, the destructive and the generative power, was of course something that could entice both men and women. Especially a peculiar, powerful woman like Caterina Sforza, who had to be both a woman, a mother, a warrior and a ruler.

But to her, this was not only a philosophical pursuit, meaning it had very practical implications, and we can see it clearly in her Experimenti: a collection of recipes, methods, ingredients and tools obtained through connections with wise women, witches, practitioners, astrologists, and most of all… through direct experience!

Many of these recipes were very useful for a ruler: for example, therecipes for producing invisible ink, good for diplomatic letters and espionage. Or, powerful opium-based anesthetics to use in battle; and as you would expect in the Renaissance, many different poisons and their respective antidotes.

Most of all, any political leader of the time was in constant need for money, that is, gold. Caterina knew that very well, because one of the reasons her first husband was killed was that he had raised taxes, thus alienating the support of their subjects. One of the most profitable pursuits at the time was war, and we’ve seen in our episode dedicated to Federico da Montefeltro that a ruler who was able to take on an additional job as a mercenary “Condottiero” was able to bring a steady flow of gold to his lands. But this pursuit was barred for Caterina: strong and skilled as she was, no prince would entrust his military fortunes to a woman.

And here comes the famous idea of using alchemy in order to transform lead into gold, but please, do not think Caterina was so gullible. In fact, the recipes she noted down to this scope worked only because they were about making a convincing fake, which means adding color to copper, or weight to real gold coins. Several of these are written in code, particularly those describing techniques rather than ingredients.

Quite smart, isn’t it?

The Experimenti also include over 350 medicinal recipes, detailing their preparation method, to cure a wide variety of ailments, such as the plague, leprosy, fractures, gout, sciatica, smallpox, deafness, cough, respiratory and urinary tract problems, animal bites and injuries, intestinal dysfunctions and parasites.

And then comes cosmetology: 84 recipes aimed at preserving youthful and beautiful skin, to tone, smoothen, wax, exfoliate, cleanse, perfume and make up the skin, as well as to make the hair grow faster, to dye the hair blond, to remove excess hair, and… to make sex a more enjoyable experience (lubricants, aphrodisiacs, natural viagra, and so on).

In general, all her work subscribed to the “law of similars”, according to which something is cured through things that share a characteristic with the ailment or desired effect: hangovers with alcohol, spleen ailments with goat’s spleen, or whitening the complexion with egg whites.

Apart from her grimoire, we also have many letters where we can appreciate how, in order to pursue this passion, Caterina would set up a network of wise women, both from the highest echelons of society and from marginalized communities such as the Jewish community, but also male assistants, capable of procuring her the necessary ingredients and raw materials. This passion of hers was so strong that, even as she was preparing for the attack of Cesare Borgia, a defining moment in her life, she was thinking about it, and asked her confessor to procure her precious glassware for her experiments.

The final years

Right after the death of her beloved third husband, Madonna Sforza was in a very dangerous position. Cesare Borgia, or Duke Valentino as he was called, son of the Borgia Pope and supported by the French military, had just aced a military campaign in Lombardy against the only protector Caterina had.

And it was no mystery that one of the objectives of the Borgias was to carve a personal state inside the loosely controlled Papal subjects in Romagna: such as Caterina’s domains of Imola and Forlì.

She frantically started to prepare, not even considering the idea of surrendering without a fight, and immediately started gathering supplies, training soldiers and reinforcing fortresses with additional artillery. But this time luck was not on her side, as the Bubonic Plague started to ravage her lands. As always, she acted decisively to stop the spreading of the sickness and to care for the population.

Her fears of an invasion were well placed: Cesare Borgia obtained 15 thousand soldiers from the French and started to descend from Lombardy to Romagna. Meanwhile his father, Pope Alexander (Alessandro Borgia), declared all rulers of the area void of authority, and threatened all nearby states to not meddle in the situation. Cesare placed a bounty of 10.000 ducats on Caterina’s head, counting on the betrayal of her subjects, and arrived in Imola with his army. The city capitulated without a fight, fearing the legendary cruelty of duke Valentino.

But not Forlì. The Tigress had sent her children to safety in Florence, and with 2000 soldiers against the 15 thousand of the Borgia, she dominated the scene at the siege. Protected only by a light cuirass, she carried her soldiers and fascinated the French mercenaries, attacking with furious sorties and fighting in melee heedless of her safety: until the night of 12 January 1500, when she was captured. The city surrendered and remained at the mercy of the violent looting of the Borgia troops. By French law, under which Caterina captured, she was to be put under the protection of the King of France. Yet Cesare Borgia was not willing to let go of her, and so she shared the fate of the common folk of Forlì : we only have hints at what happened when she was brought in the house where Duke Valentino was stationed. “The unfortunate Madonna suffered much injustice against her beautiful body”. “We must be silent about what the Duke Valentino dared to do to this noble Madonna”. “She suffered much violence, and cruel torments”. On the other hand, everyone praised her valor: even the Venetians, long time enemies of her state, admitted that her prowess was to be remembered and praised to no end, and that she deserved a place among famous Roman military leaders. Isabella Gonzaga, duchess of Mantua, said with a bit of female camaraderie that “even those French, who say that Italian soldiers have no courage” (how the table turns, in history!), “even they must admit the valor and audacity of Italian Dames”.

After eleven days of suffering, Caterina left Forlì forever, and was brought to the papacy jails in Rome. She was 37. A year later, the French King, coming to Italy in his quest to conquer the Kingdom of Naples, passed through Rome with a powerful army and insisted on obtaining her freedom: Pope Alessandro Borgia had to comply, but not before securing her signature on a formal renunciation of her former territories. Caterina was able to go live in Florence, in exile, where she had citizenship and family.

She died on the 28th May, 1509. On her tombstone, her nephew Cosimo De’ Medici wrote “Caterina Sforza Medici, mother to Giovanni delle Bande Nere”, and grandmother to the second “wave” of the renewed Medici dynasty.