MISFORTUNES OF CATARINA SFORZA
The jubilee year 1500 was a fortunate one for Cæsar, but an unhappy one
for Lucretia. She began it January 1st with a formal passage to the
Lateran, whither she went to make the prescribed pilgrimage to the Roman
churches. She rode upon a richly caparisoned jennet, her escort
consisting of two hundred mounted nobles, men and women. On her left was
her consort, Don Alfonso; on her right one of the ladies of her court;
and behind them came the captain of the papal guard, Rodrigo Borgia.
While she and her retinue were crossing over the Bridge of S. Angelo,
her father stood in a loggia of the castle, feasting his eyes upon his
beloved daughter.
The new year brought Alexander only good news--if we except that of the
death of the Cardinal-legate Giovanni Borgia, Bishop of Melfi and
Archbishop of Capua, who was known as the "younger," to distinguish him
from another cardinal of the same name. He died in Urbino, January 8,
1500, of a fever, according to a statement made by Elisabetta, consort
of Guidobaldo, to her brother Gonzaga, in a letter written from
Fossombrone on the same day.[74]
Cæsar was in Forli when he received the news of the cardinal's death,
the very morning--January 12th--on which the stronghold surrendered to
him. He at once conveyed the information to the Duke of Ferrara in a
letter, in which he said that Giovanni Borgia had been called to Rome
by the Pope, and having set out from Forli, had died suddenly in Urbino
of a flux. The fact that he had been in Cæsar's camp, and that,
according to Elisabetta's letter, he had been taken sick in Urbino, lent
some probability to the suspicion that he had been poisoned.
It is worthy of note that Cæsar, in his letter to the duke, speaks of
the deceased as his brother;[75] and Ercole, in offering him his
condolences, January 18th, on the death of the cardinal, also called him
Cæsar's brother. Are we thereby warranted in concluding that the younger
Giovanni Borgia was a son of Alexander VI? Further, the Ferrarese
chronicler Zambotto, speaking of the cardinal's death, uses the
expression, "son of Pope Alexander."[76] If this was the case, the
number of Alexander's children must be increased, for Ludovico Borgia
was also his son. This Borgia, who succeeded to Giovanni's benefices,
was Archbishop of Valencia and subsequently cardinal. He reported his
promotion to the Marchioness Gonzaga in a letter in which he everywhere
speaks of the deceased as "his brother," just as Cæsar had done.[77]
These statements, however, do not refute the hitherto generally accepted
opinion regarding the descent of Giovanni Borgia, "the younger," and
Zambotta certainly was in error--the word _fratre_, which he uses in his
letter means merely "dear cousin," _fratello cugino_.[78]
January 14th news reached the Vatican that Cæsar had taken the castle of
Forli. After a brave resistance Catarina Sforza Riario, together with
her two brothers, was compelled to surrender. The grandchild of the
great Francesco Sforza of Milan, the natural daughter of Galeazzo Maria
and the illegitimate sister of Blanca, wife of Emperor Maximilian, was
the ideal of the heroic women of Italy, who were found not only in
Bojardo's and Ariosto's poems, but also in real life. Her nature
exceeded the feminine and verged on caricature. To understand the
evolution of such personalities, in whom beauty and culture, courage and
reason, sensuality and cruelty combined to produce a strange organism,
we must be familiar with the conditions from which they sprang. Catarina
Sforza's experiences made her the amazon that she was.
At an early age she was married to the rude nephew of Sixtus IV,
Girolamo Riario, Count of Forli. Shortly afterwards her terrible father
met a tyrant's death in Milan. Then her husband fell beneath the daggers
of the conspirators, who flung his naked body from a window of the
stronghold of Forli. Catarina, however, with determined courage,
succeeded in keeping the castle for her children, and she avenged her
husband's death with ferocious cruelty. Subsequently she was known--to
quote Marino Sanuto's words--as "a courageous woman and cruel
virago."[79] Six years later she saw her brother Giangaleazzo die of
poison administered by Ludovico il Moro, while before her very eyes her
second, but not openly recognized, husband, Giacomo Feo of Savona, was
slain in Forli by conspirators. She immediately mounted her charger, and
at the head of her guard pursued the murderers to their quarter, where
she had every living being--men, women, and children--hacked to pieces.
She buried a third lover, Giovanni Medici, in 1497.
With cunning and force this amazon ruled her little domain until she
herself finally fell into Cæsar's hands. Few lamented her fate. When the
news reached Milan that she was in the duke's power, and consequently
also in that of Pope Alexander, the celebrated General Giangiacomo
Trivulzio made a jesting remark which clearly shows how little her fate
grieved the people. According to the stories of the day, Cæsar led her
to Rome in golden chains, like another Queen of Palmyra. He entered the
city in triumph, February 26th, and the Pope assigned the Belvedere to
the captive for her abode.
The city was filled at that time with the faithful, who had come to
receive absolution for their sins, this the jubilee year,--and from a
Borgia. Among the number was Elisabetta Gonzaga, consort of Guidobaldo
of Urbino. The pilgrimage of this famous woman was a dangerous
experiment, the Pope having secretly placed Urbino on the list of
proscribed cities included in the Church fiefs. Cæsar already looked
upon it as his property. The thought of meeting this Borgia in Rome must
have been exceedingly painful to her. How easily might he have found a
pretext for keeping her prisoner! Her brother, Francesco Gonzaga, warned
her against her decision, but on her way to Rome she wrote him a letter
so remarkable and so amiable that we quote it at length:
ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE AND LORD, HONORED BROTHER: I have left
Urbino and set out for Rome for the purpose of receiving
absolution, this the jubilee year. Several days ago I informed your
Excellency of my prospective journey. Only to-day, in Assisi, did I
receive your letter; I understand from what you write that you
wish me to abandon this journey--perhaps thinking that I have not
yet set out--which grieves me greatly, and causes me unspeakable
pain, because I wish in this as in all other things to do your
Majesty's will, having always looked upon you as my most honored
father, and never having had any thought or purpose but to follow
your wishes. However, as I have said, I am now on the way and am
out of the country. With the help of Fabritius (Colonna) and
Madonna Agnesina, my honored sister-in-law and sister, I have made
arrangements for a residence in Rome, and for whatever may be
necessary for my comfort. I have also informed them that I would be
in Marino four days hence, and consequently Fabritius has gone to
the trouble of securing an escort for me; further, my departure and
journey have been noised about; therefore, I see no way to abandon
this pilgrimage without affecting my honor and that of my
husband--since the thing has gone so far--the more so as the
journey was undertaken with the full knowledge and consent of my
lord, and all and everything carefully considered. Your Majesty
must not be distressed or annoyed by this, my journey, and in order
that you may know everything, I will tell you that I am first going
to Marino, and thence, accompanied by Madonna Agnesina, and
incognito, shall go to Rome for the purpose of receiving absolution
at this the holy jubilee of the Church. I need not see any one
there, for during my stay in Rome I shall live in the palace of the
deceased Cardinal Savelli. The house is a good one, and is exactly
what I want, and it is within reach of the Colonna. It is my
intention to return soon to Marino, there to spend the greater part
of the time. Your Majesty, therefore, need have no further anxiety
about my journey, and must not be displeased by it. Although these
reasons are sufficient to induce me not only to continue the
journey, but to begin it, if I had not already set out I would
relinquish it, not on account of any fear of anything unpleasant
that might attend my pilgrimage, but simply to comply with the wish
expressed in your Majesty's letter, as I desire to do always. But
as I am now here, and as your Excellency will soon receive this
letter, I am sure you will approve of my course. I earnestly beg
you to do so, and to assure me by letter, addressed to Rome, that
you are not displeased, so that I may receive absolution in
greater peace and tranquillity. If you do not I shall suffer great
anxiety and grief. I commend myself to your Excellency's merciful
benevolence as your Majesty's youngest sister,
ELISABETTA.
ASSISI, _March 21, 1500_.
Agnesina di Montefeltre mentioned in the letter, Guidobaldo's soulful
sister, was married to Fabritius Colonna, who subsequently became one of
Italy's greatest captains. She was then twenty-eight years of age. She
and her husband lived at the castle of Marino in the Alban mountains,
where, in 1490, she bore him Vittoria Colonna, the future ornament of
her house. Elisabetta found this beautiful child already betrothed to
Ferrante d'Avalos, son of Marquis Alfonso of Pescara; Ferdinand II of
Naples having brought about the betrothal of the two children as early
as 1495 for the purpose of winning over the Colonna, the retainers of
the house of Aragon.
The Duchess of Urbino actually went to Rome for the purpose of
protecting her noble kinswoman, whom she kept incognito. She remained
there until Easter. On her way to S. Peter's she directed anxious
glances toward the Belvedere, where the bravest woman of Italy, a
prisoner, was grieving her life away, Catarina Sforza having been
confined there since Cæsar's return, February 26th, as is attested by a
letter of that date written by the Venetian ambassador in Rome to his
Signory. Elisabetta's feelings must have been rendered still more
painful by the fact that her own husband, as well as her brother
Gonzaga, both of whom were in the service of France, had given the
princess up for lost.
She had scarcely left Rome when Catarina received news that her uncles
Ludovico and Ascanio had fallen into the hands of the King of France.
Having, with the aid of Swiss troops, again secured possession of Milan
in 1500, they were ignominiously betrayed by the mercenaries at Novara,
April 10th. Ludovico was carried away to France, where he died in
misery, having spent ten years a prisoner in the tower of Loches; the
once powerful cardinal was likewise taken a captive to France. A great
tragedy had occurred in the house of Sforza. What must have been
Catarina's distress when she, in her prison, learned that fate had
overthrown all her race! Could one transport himself to that environment
he would breathe the oppressive atmosphere with which Shakespeare
enveloped his characters.
Catarina's jailers were the two most dreaded men of the age--the Pope
and his son. The very thought of what surrounded her must have filled
her with terror. In the Belvedere she was in constant dread of Cæsar's
poison, and it is indeed a wonder that she did escape it. She made an
unsuccessful attempt at flight, whereupon Alexander had her removed to
the castle of S. Angelo. However, certain French gentlemen in the
service of the one who was bent on her destruction--especially Ivo
d'Allegre--interceded for her; and the Pope, after she had spent a year
and a half in captivity, allowed her to choose Florence for her asylum.
He himself commended her to the Signory in the following letter:
UNTO MY BELOVED SONS: Greeting and the Apostolic Blessing.
Our beloved daughter in Christ, the noble lady Catarina Sforza, is
on her way to you. She, as you are aware, having for good reasons
been held a prisoner by Us for a time, has again become the object
of Our mercy. We, according to Our custom and to Our pastoral
duties, have not only exercised mercy with regard to this Catarina,
but also, so far as We with God's help were able, have looked with
paternal solicitude after her welfare; therefore We deem it proper
to write you for the purpose of commending this Catarina to your
protection, so that she, having full confidence in Our good will
towards you, and returning, so to speak, into her own country, may
not be deluded in her expectations and by Our recommendation. We,
therefore, shall be glad to learn that she has been well received
and treated by you, in gratitude to her for having chosen your city
for her abode, and owing to your feelings toward Us. Given at Rome,
in S. Peter's, under the Apostolic seal, July 13, 1501. In the
ninth year of our pontificate.
HADRIANUS.
Catarina Sforza died in a convent in Florence in 1509. In her fatherland
she left a son of the same mettle as herself, Giovanni Medici, the last
of the great condottieri of the country, who became famous as leader of
the Black Bands. There is a seated figure in marble of this captain, of
herculean strength, with the neck of a centaur, near the church of S.
Lorenzo in Florence.
FOOTNOTES:
[74] In the Gonzaga archives.
[75] In questa mattina ho hauto lo adviso de la morte del Rmo Card.
Borgia _mio fratre_ passato de questa vita in Urbino. Forli, January 16,
1500. Archives of Modena.
[76] A. 1500, Jan. 22 (this is incorrect), mori il Carle Borgia fiolo de
Papa Alexo a Orbino. Silva Cronicarum Bernardini Zambotti. Ms. in the
library of Ferrara.
[77] La bona memoria del Cardinale Borgia mio fratre. Rome, July 30,
1500. Gonzaga archives.
[78] Cittadella's opinion that Giovanni Borgia, junior, was a son of
Pierluigi, Alexander's brother, is also incorrect.
[79] Femina quasi virago crudelissima et di gran animo. Venuta di Carlo
VIII, p. 811, Ms. Virago here means amazon.