❛ i can feel this heart inside me and i conclude it exists. i can touch this world and i also conclude that it exists. all my knowledge ends at this point. the rest is hypothesis ❜

targaryenx:

Historical Femme Fatales [2/?] - “I am a freak of nature, Cardinal. An aberration. A free woman in a man’s world” Caterina Sforza.

Caterina Sforza (1463 – 28 May 1509), was an Italian noblewoman and Countess of Forlì and Lady of Imola firstly with her husband Girolamo Riario, and after his death as a regent of her son Ottaviano.

Illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan and Lucrezia, the wife of the courtier Gian Piero Landriani, a close friend of the Duke, she was raised in the refined Milanese court, who in the 15th century was admired by all of Europe. The descendant of a dynasty of noted condottieri, Caterina, from an early age, distinguished herself by her bold and impetuous actions taken to safeguard her possessions from possible usurpers, and to defend her dominions from attack, when they were involved in political intrigues that were a distinguishing in Italy.

In her private life Caterina was devoted to various activities, among which were experiments in alchemy and a love of hunting and dancing. She had a large number of children, of whom only the youngest, Captain Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, inherited the forceful, militant character of his mother. Following Caterina’s resistance to Cesare Borgia, she had to face his fury and he took her prisoner. Upon regaining her liberty following her imprisonment in Rome, she led a quiet life in Florence. In the final years of her life, she confided to a monk: “Se io potessi scrivere tutto, farei stupire il mondo” (If I were to write all, I would shock the world).