Tigress of Forli: The Life of Caterina Sforza

by Elizabeth Lev

In this insightful, fascinating portrayal, Elizabeth Lev brings Caterina Sforza and her times very much to life."--Kathleen Turner, actress and author of "Send Yourself Roses"
A strategist to match Machiavelli; a warrior who stood toe to toe with the Borgias; a wife whose three marriages would end in bloodshed and heartbreak; and a mother determined to maintain her family's honor, Caterina Riario Sforza de' Medici was a true Renaissance celebrity, beloved and vilified in equal measure. In this dazzling biography, Elizabeth Lev illuminates her extraordinary life and accomplishments.
Raised in the court of Milan and wed at age ten to the pope's corrupt nephew, Caterina was ensnared in Italy's political intrigues early in life. After turbulent years in Rome's papal court, she moved to the Romagnol province of Forli. Following her husband's assassination, she ruled Italy's crossroads with iron will, martial strength, political savvy, and an icon's fashion sense. In finally losing her lands to the Borgia family, she put up a resistance that inspired all of Europe and set the stage for her progeny--including Cosimo de' Medici--to follow her example to greatness.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Italy, Renaissance, Historical, European History

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Elizabeth Lev is an American-born art historian with the good fortune to live and work in Rome. Life in the “Eternal City” allows her the perfect environment to pursue her many passions. For on an average day, one can find Elizabeth working on her latest article or book, preparing for one of her worldwide speaking engagements, touring visitors through the treasures of Rome, or using her skills as a sommelier to find the perfect wine to pair with dinner.

Reviews

[Kate Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating biography of the woman who went toe to toe against Cesare Borgia, and nearly won. Caterina Sforza isn't as well known a figure of the Renaissance as Lucrezia Borgia or Isabella d'Este, but she should be: a blond beauty who mothered a brood of eight, wore out three husbands, killed countless enemies, defended her battlements by sword and word, and survived war and prison to fame and peace. Savage, intelligent, and loving by turns, her character can be summed up by the probably-apocryphal story of her response when enemies threatened to kill her children if she didn't open her gates: Caterina supposedly lifted her skirts and shouted down, "Behold the forge with which I can make more children." Game, set, and match. Elizabeth Lev's biography of a complicated and fascinating woman is non-fiction, but makes a splendidly entertaining read.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly researched biography of Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici. I wish I would have read this before I read Scarlet City by Haasse. Because I would have understood the Italian city state wars (lasting for literally centuries) coupled with France or Holy Roman Empire alliances in a more complete "location" and economic sense. This book also taught me many practical reality facts upon clothing, manners, choir music, art in fresco and much more for this Renaissance cauldron as lived in Milan and Florence. Primarily those two cities which were SO different from each other (work, education, roles, ideals- all different). And Rome a slovenly and backwater state with most living off of tourism for papal or shrine patronage- quite third.

Most literature and especially the fiction works in depths for associations of this period have always taken the "opposite" eyes to any Sforza. Either of de Medici, or Borgia of several generations, Cosimo, Lorenzo or any other magnificent power family or Papal slant toward authority of conquest, forever complaining of those "Sforza's".

Knowing most of her life's escapades and history before this, I am rather amazed that the period of extreme cruelty committed by Caterina and seated in great numbers upon her own population (Forli)after the murder of her second husband is never the central theme. That the tigress lost the support of her own populations within her last 10 years, is rarely mentioned. But her defense against Cesare Borgia and the refusal to surrender even if they killed her hostage children is forever repeated.

Her training fit her life's work. Elizabeth Lev has details and research that are both fully 5 star.

[Rio (Lynne) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caterina Sforza went down in European History as the women who defied The Borgias, but this book spans her whole remarkable life. Married at ten years old to Pope Sixtus IV's nephew, her life was constant battle and she constantly had to defy other ruthless families to fight for her and her children's legacy. Besides her war side, Caterina saw some of Renaissance Italy's most famous pieces of art come together. Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo and was even added herself to some of the famous artist's works. She even witnessed the art as it was commissioned at The Sistine Chapel. This is a non-fiction book and at times I was engrossed and other times my eyes were glazing over, because of this I never loved the book. The author wrote in a very text book style. I don't see why non-fiction needs to be written so dry. Caterina's story finally came down the famous Ravaldino Fortress showdown between her and Cesare Borgia. This was my favorite part of the book. She was a fierce fighter who never gave up and for that reason alone she is respected to this day.

Ravaldino Fortess today

[Snooty1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS
ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS.

This is probably the best non-fiction book I have ever read...I immediately went to look for other books that this author wrote, and was so dissappointed to see nothing else. :(

Caterina Sforza was an amazing woman. I was enthralled, enamoured and entranced by her. I was thinking about this book and her life for days after reading it.
The fact that she was so capable, intelligent, strong, and vibrant (not to mention so young when she did most of these things) was just awe inspiring. Everyone should know about her!!! Read this!

And Elizabeth Lev....write more books! Please!

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caterina Riario Sforza de' Medici was a fascinating woman: beautiful and accomplished in the things people expected of a woman; a fertile and involved mother; a military tactician as capable of fighting as any of her men; an indomitable spirit who rightly captured the hearts and imaginations of many of her time. She had formidable enemies and allies who let her down all too often: she, perhaps, deserved the former, but not the latter.

"Feminism gone wild", one of the reviewers quoted on the cover of my edition says. I expected to bristle at this, to be annoyed that a) given the usual position of women in the time, any agency given to women would be shocking compared to that we have now and b) "feminism gone wild" manages to encapsulate condescension and that "I'm not a feminist" reasoning that seems to have overtaken many women. But Caterina would make a surprisingly good role model, for women long after her own age, and she promoted the interests of women personally -- through arranging marriages for women whose families could or would not -- and publicly -- through preventing the sack of towns and therefore the rape of the inhabitants.

This biography is pretty even-handed, though obviously very much sympathetic to Caterina. It includes criticisms of her behaviour as well as noting her heroism at other times. My main criticism is that I was often unsure of the sources for Lev's information: a balance does have to be struck between including dubious information and asking the reader to trust that the biographer's judgement is perfect.

I got interested in Caterina Sforza through playing the Assassin's Creed games, and I recommend this to anyone who played the games. It might be drier, but it reveals a character even more compelling than the glimpses we saw of Ezio's ally in the games.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Milan, Italy. 1463. ElizabethLev’s The Tigress of Forlì: Renaissance Italy’s Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de’ Medici covers the life of Caterina Sforza who was born the illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Mario Sforza, heir to the Duchy of Milan in Milan, 1463. In Italy during this time period, “bastard children were the norm.” Caterina resided in the Ducal household receiving the same classic education as all of her siblings, legitimate or illegitimate. Married at 10 to a ne’er do well nephew of the Pope Sixtus IV who commissioned the Sistine Chapel, Count Girolamo Riario, to whom she gave six children. The author’s narrative describes beautifully in great detail Caterina’s marriage processional to Imola where she was greeted enthusiastically while compliments were made to her beauty. Next the couple lived in Rome where Caterina’s husband began to abuse his connection to the Pope. Then having to leave Rome, the couple was on to Forlì, a wedding gift of a town, it’s population, and a castle. During this time and the time spent at Forlì, Caterina changes from a child to a happy bride to a military strategist. She becomes known throughout Italy for her beauty, her inner strength, and finally, her ability to fight hand to hand with her enemies, sword and all. The author illustrates the “grandeur” of “Renaissance Italy and its “violence”. “Caterina is unforgettable” - a beyond exceptional woman of the Middle Ages! Thoroughly researched. 5 stars.

[Jo Walton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucid, fascinating, and full of well-observed detail, this is an excellent biography of an outstanding woman. I mean that literally. Caterina Sforza was more than she needed to be, more than anyone expected her to be, and yet in the end she put in so much effort to achieve so little. I can't accept "oh and her grandson became Duke of Tuscany" as a happy ending, hard as Lev tries to make it one.

But if you want a biography as an introduction to the Renaissance, or if you know a lot about Florence and Rome but not so much about the rest of Italy, or if you've run across Caterina in the margins of other people's stories and you want to see her in focus, I recommend this highly. It's well written and makes good use of its sources.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

She was brave, strong and beautiful. Her life is dizzying. She did amazing things for a woman (or even a man) of her times. Her biography shows the paradox of the Italian Renaissance. The era's artistic achievements reflect its strong religious mores while a culture of war and terror destroys unnamed and uncounted people. This dual morality is not just among nobles like Caterina Riario Sforza de'Medici; it extends to the church and is fully embodied in her contemporary Pope Alexander VI Borgia.

What are we, of the modern world, to make of Caterina, or other Renaissance nobles and clergy? They wreak havoc on communities all the while extolling Jesus, building churches, monasteries and convents, commissioning religious art, acquiring libraries and worshiping purity and piety in women.

An example of this dichodemy is Caterina's grief (revenge?) over the assassination of her (secret) husband Giancomo Feo. "An entire neighborhood of Forli was sacked and destroyed as Caterina tried to eradicate all those hostile to Feo." (p.164). 34 people are put to death. Others are tortured, such as the priest who was stripped naked and tied to a horse and dragged through the streets. Homes of suspects were demolished and/or looted. This is only one episode of Caterina's life, where in her parallel life she appreciates literature and art, and founds convents and prays.

The atrocities of Pope Alexander VI Borgia outlined in this book are merely a small piece of the tragedies he created in the name of the church. (The Borgias and Their Enemies: 1431-1519) Similarly, Catherina's father, the Duke of Milan (Galeazzo Sforza) has more blood on his hands than she, as well as an arrogant lust that was acceptable (for men). Caterina's two oldest children are a notable disappointments, but given the culture and their family life, how else might they have turned out?

Elizabeth Lev does a good job of presenting Caterina. She does not get into the ambiguities I present; she sticks with the story. Due to the varied governance and power structures of Italy's many cities-states, the role of the church and the ties of the leading families, Italy's history is filled with characters and complexity. Elizabeth Lev's is able to show the rivalries, the nuances and the strategies of Caterina and her rivals for the general reader who is not versed in the history of this period. This is a first book for Ms. Lev. I hope to see another soon.

[Lolly's Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

How is it possible that most of the world has forgotten such a dynamic, complex, amazing woman? A woman who, at seventh months pregnant, took control of the papal fort of Castel Sant'Angelo and held it, with some skillfully smuggled-in soldiers, for eleven days in order to defend her family's rights. A woman who went toe to toe, figuratively speaking, with one of the most brilliant wits of the Renaissance, Niccolo Machiavelli, and not only won but made Machiavelli look like an incompetent fool. A woman who, when the walls of her beloved castle Ravaldino were finally breached by the artillery of Cesare Borgia's army, took up a sword and waded into that breach and for two hours was the equal of any man, wielding her sword against the enemy as she fought side by side with her men. And when one of those men betrayed her and sold her out to the enemy; when she's captured by Cesare, held prisoner by him for months as he brutally rapes, torments, and terrorizes her; when she's taken back to Rome and thrown into a deep, dank cell in the same Castel Sant'Angelo she'd so bravely commandeered sixteen years earlier, her spirit could not be broken and she still managed to be defiant, even down to planning a daring escape from the inescapable papal fort. The story of Caterina Riario Sforza Medici, larger-than-life, full of colorful characters and daring exploits, should be as well known to any schoolchild as that of Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth I of England and Catherine the Great of Russia and fully belongs in the pantheon of fabulous warrior women.

Elizabeth Lev does a wonderful job of taking some of the tarnish off Caterina's reputation, who during her lifetime and beyond has been vilified, judged as a witch, a whore, a virago (which, initially, was a good thing, meaning a woman of masculine spirit, from the Latin vir, man; eventually virago began to take on shadings of a negative nature, until it's become the word we know now, for an abusive and hostile woman, a woman with no shame). So much of the contemporary writings were lost, so it's hard to know exactly what took place when, but it's also easy to read between the lines of contemporary history-takers (all of them men and all of them at one time either infatuated with Caterina or repelled by her, thus coloring every word they wrote about her) and find a happy medium of truth to the most harsh of rumors and tales spread about concerning Caterina's actions. Like many other powerful, fierce and willful women in an era when women, even those in positions of power (especially those in positions of power) were supposed to be meek, mild and led by the nose by the nearest and most powerful male, Caterina's actions inspired a sort of horrified fascination in the populace and, when her actions finally exceeded the bounds of propriety, they inspired condemnation and fear. There's no way of clearing up every rumor concerning Caterina's actions, especially the more heinous ones ascribed to her (although Lev does a great job of presenting fair arguments as to why or why not Caterina couldn't/wouldn't have taken such an action), but Elizabeth Lev manages to open the curtain and shed quite a bit of light onto this extraordinary life.

As for the book itself, this is no dry dissertation concerning only names and dates, but neither is it history-lite. It strikes the right balance between information and information-overload. The narration moves along at a brisk clip and the situations are well-drawn, fully placing you, the reader, into the midst of the action on the page. There is a map provided at the beginning of the book, which helps you navigate the many Italian city-states, provinces and shifting allegiances which populate the book. Seeing as my copy is an ARC, I don't know what the publisher has in store for final publication, but I'd guess, or at least I'm hoping, they'll place some photo inserts of some of the places mentioned in the book, as well as perhaps a facsimile of some of the artwork the author describes. Such an insert would be a welcome visual aid; however, even without such an aid, the reader still gets a sense of time and place from the descriptions provided by the author. Photos would only be a bonus.

Caterina Sforza managed to straddle the quicksands which are Italian politics and not only survive but thrive, navigating political morasses with a sharp wit and a savvy mind. She endured a tedious first marriage to a corrupt and inept buffoon who only brought shame to the family name; entered into a secret, second marriage for love, which shocked the Renaissance world, and once again chose her own husband for her third, brief and sadly tragic, marriage. During her short, but ultimately brilliant life, Caterina showed herself to be a fearless ruler, a woman with an iron will and a fierce devotion to her children, an ingenious tactician and an inspiration to an entire continent. She truly was the Tigress of Forli.

[Sarah u · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

“Caterina was a firsthand witness to the corruption in the [Borgia] family; if she chose to recount her story, she warned that she would ‘shock the world’.” (Lev, p.247)

In recent months (time of writing: August 2013) I have been increasingly interested in the history of the Italian Renaissance. This was one of the reasons I decided to buy this biography of Caterina Sforza by art historian Elizabeth Lev. In short: I'm so glad I did, because this book was fascinating and, after finishing it, I cannot understand why Caterina isn't more well known. What a life!

Lev has researched the life of Caterina Sforza for many years, looking into the Italian archives at original documents and referring to older biographical works to create her new biography The Tigress of Forli: Renaissance Italy’s Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici. The writing is accessible and easy to digest, and it didn’t take long for me to settle into the book and start enjoying Lev’s research. There were a few things that got to me- being told what Caterina must have thought and felt, for example- but this was a minor hiccup in an otherwise excellent book.

The narrative is more than just a chronological account of Caterina’s life- the text often discusses events that were taking place in and around Italy, which was useful for context and putting events into perspective. For a newcomer to any period, looking at events in isolation can distort and give a false impression of the time being studied, so while some may find this sort of wandering an annoyance, I found it to be useful.

The text also takes an analytical look at the source material we have for Caterina’s life. To give an example, the siege of Caterina’s fortress of Ravaldino following the murder of her husband is a story with many conflicting accounts. The Orsi brothers were a huge threat to Caterina; they had killed her husband and now stood with daggers to the throats of her children, threatening to cut them down if she didn’t surrender her castle (p.133). Did she tell the Orsis to kill her heirs, because she could easily have more children? Did she raise her skirts whilst saying it, to demonstrate brazenly that she was capable of having more children? Was she even present on the castle ramparts, or is this the gossip of men after the events had taken place in an attempt to ruin her reputation? Lev discusses all of these sources and more in an attempt to uncover the truth of the situation. Whatever happened here Caterina learned from the threat to her children, as she sent them away when future potential for trouble showed itself.

The book looks at Caterina from all sides and angles and gives a very even portrayal of a complex woman. She was generous to her people; gathering food and salt to prevent famine at her own cost, nursing those that were struck down with plague and trying her best to prevent her town from being sacked during battles. On the other hand she was a harsh mistress to those that betrayed her- some of the stories of beatings given to those that gossiped and the brutal executions of her enemies made my eyes water. The remorse Caterina may have felt for these actions is discussed, as is her religion and interactions with the infamous churchman Girolamo Savanorola. The discussion of her face-off with Cesare Borgia and the siege of Forli show both her strength as a courageous woman of the renaissance, and her vulnerability as a woman in the late fifteenth century.

The step out of my comfort zone into serious renaissance Italy was a great experience. The violence, scheming, politics and scandal makes men like King John and Edward I look tame! Caterina Sforza suffered invasion of her lands, political strife, the death of three husbands, the birth of eight children, sieges, threats, imprisonment and even rape; she fought for her fortress at Ravaldino, sword in hand, with and alongside men; yet she survived it all with determination. She was imperfect, of course she was; her life was a struggle and she made her mistakes, but in this book comes across as a woman who always wanted to do the best for herself, her people and her family. She was ruthless, daring, hot tempered and passionate, but also capable of great love and generosity. She was powerful and courageous, only falling when she met her match in Cesare Borgia, and her story really does “shock the world”. Caterina is a fascinating woman, and this biography, I think, does her justice.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an accessible and readable biography of Caterina Sforza aimed at a popular general audience rather than an academic one. Lev is an art historian and her admiration for Sforza does make her sometimes a little insensitive to the more negative sources. Like Alison Weir, she is happy to quote from the positive, even hagiographical sources written by Caterina's own court followers, but dismisses those written outside of her own circle of influence as having been tampered with or edited to give a deliberately hostile picture of Caterina.

Some of her readings are somewhat optimistic and unconvincing: men who described Caterina as a `virago' are deemed by Lev to be expressing their admiration of her - when, in reality, the term indicating a `manly' woman was no more flattering at the time (or, indeed, now) than to be described as a `womanly' man.

That said, this is an engaging story of another one of those steely Renaissance women, this time from Italy in the late fifteenth century. I do get a little irritated that every one of these books tracing Renaissance women's lives (Elizabeth, Mary Tudor, Mary Queen of Scots, Catherine de Medici, Lucrezia Borgia, the d'Este women, the Boleyns etc.) always tries to make out that the subject of the particular book is completely unique in Renaissance culture, something which clearly, from the evidence, isn't the case.

Small niggles aside, though, this is informative and entertaining even if its self-consciously feminist standpoint gives it an overly positive bias.

[Manray9 · Rating 3 out of 5]

While no masterpiece of the historian's art, Elizabeth Lev's The Tigress of Forlì is stirring and well-paced. An accomplished mistress of Renaissance Italian concepts of leadership, Caterina excelled as a politician, strategist, military chieftain, propagandist, and administrator. Men were her weakness. They served her poorly for most of her life. When the loathsome Cesare Borgia stormed the city of Forlì, and his French-led artillery breached the curtain wall of her fortress of Ravaldino, Caterina and her band of loyalists fought hand-to-hand in the breach for two hours -- the Countess of Forlì clad in her customized cuirass. Finally she was seized by a French officer admitted to the castle by a traitor. Her defense of the city earned her the undying admiration of the French king and his officers and the relentless enmity of the Borgias. Her story deserves to live on. Lev's book earned a strong Three Stars from me.

[Elentarri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars
Caterina Sforza (1463-1509) was a bold and impetuous figure of controversy.  Contemporaries either waxed lyrical about her adventures, while glossing over the less pleasant episodes in her life; or portrayed her as a cruel tyrant, compelled by greed for power and an insatiable sexual appetite.  Whatever the true story, Caterina Sforza did not fit in with the expected ideals of a Renaissance woman.

The illegitimate daughter of the eventual Duke of Milan, Caterina was married to Girolamo Riaro (nephew of Pope Sixtus IV & Count of Bosco) at the age of ten, spent time at the papal court in Renaissance Rome and in the company of Pope Sixtus IV, then transplanted to the countryside, where she ruled as countess of Imola and Forli for eleven years, all while maneuvering in the convoluted political intrigues running rampant through Italy at the time.  She also secretly married again twice on her own initiative; to a former stable boy and then to Giovanni de'Medici ill Popolano of Florence.  In that time, she had fend off her husbands' assassins, the French army and eventually, Cesare Borgia.

Lev takes into account various historical texts, biographies, letters, and other accounts, as well as recent scholarship of everyday life in Renaissance Italy.  This allowed Lev to firmly place Caterina Sforza in her own world and help analyze her motives and actions with greater clarity.  Lev's enarmourment of the subject is also fairly evident.  This is an adequate biography of a fascinating woman, providing details (when available) of Caterina's life and the world she had to live in, the political intrigues that affected her family, and the actions she took to secure her children's inheritance and domains.  The prose is straightforward and plain, with the events in Caterina's life presented in a chronological manner.  

[Jan]

March 2024. I haven't rated this book, as I decided to dnf after only reading about half way through. Sforza was certainly a feisty and incredible woman, with quite an extraordinary life. However the ins-and-outs of the politics of Renaissance Italy, the backstabbing (and literal stabbings!), violence, betrayals, the OTT extravagance of life amongst the noble class were all a little too much for me, and I decided I had read enough. I returned the book to the library unfinished.

[Elizabeth Sulzby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a most excellent history of Caterina Sforza, whom I first became acquainted with through Showtime's TV series The Borgias. She is a much more interesting and complex person than captured in that TV series. The title captures much of that complexity. It was interesting to me to find that she was a most beautiful young girl and continued to be captivatingly beautiful. She grew up with close ties to her father and with the belief that a PERSON, male or female, should stand up against enemies and tyranny. She was also a mother and made certain that her son's rulership was protected; she was regent in his stead far longer than was usual and that was due to how she wielded power.

I have also been reading a number of biographies and historical fictions about Lucrezia Borgia. In Sarah Bradford's excellent biography I learned about the strong females in the Ferrara area of Italy, along with Lucrezia herself. I had seen the opera, Francesca di Rimini, this spring and learned about the Malatesta and other families with whom both Caterina Sforza and Lucrezia Borgia had relationships.

In her later life, Caterina Sforza was also a direct supporter of the arts but she also encouraged other nobles to support the work of artists.

Elizabeth Lev's book is one of the best biographies/histories that I have read from this era in Italy and in the relationship between the city-states, the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy and Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici is the most interesting woman I have read about in that period.

I am updating on this review because National Geographic has just put out an article on Caterina Sforza. I have read and re-read this book.

[Hon Lady Selene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Machiavelli uses the metaphor of the Fox and the Lion to explain the combination of cunning and strength that a prince must possess in order to maintain control of his state. As a prince is forced to know how to act like a beast, he must learn from the fox and the lion; because the lion is defenceless against traps and a fox is defenceless against wolves. Therefore one must be a fox in order to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten off wolves.

To this end, he uses Caterina Sforza of Milan to exemplify. He recounts the events after Riario’s assassination in his The Prince :

“Some conspirators from Forli killed their lord Count Girolamo and took his…children hostage, … Madonna Caterina…promised the conspirators that if they were to allow her to entire the fortress, she would turn it over to them, and they could keep her children with them as hostages. With this promise they allowed her to enter the fortress, and once inside, she reproached them from the walls for the death of her husband and threatened them with all kinds of vendettas. To show she was not concerned for her children, she showed them her genitals, declaring that she still has the means to create more of them…"

In Machiavelli's world the distinction between masculinity and femininity resulting from the theoretical understanding of ‘machismo’ and ‘effeminato’ is quite immutable and inflexible.

Not only did Caterina Sforza demonstrate that woman can exhibit ‘machismo’ or ‘princely’ traits but she was also bestowed the high praise of Machiavellian Virtù (or Arete in ancient Greece)– thus clearly proving she embodied both a Fox and a Lion fully.

In short, Machiavelli's madonna preferita.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am left feeling underwhelmed by this book, despite its competence. I rarely venture into the world of non-fiction but I have been curious about Caterina Sforza ever since reading anecdotes about her in Magnifico, the biography of Lorenzo Medici. Unfortunately, I was far more entranced by Magnifico than The Tigress of Forli.

The story of Caterina Sforza is certainly worth telling. Whether you interpret her as admirable or cold-hearted, there is no denying she was a strong, driven woman who played for keeps. This book has all the historical facts and presents multiple views of events when scholarship finds conflicts it can't resolve. Events are related in mostly chronological order with a few relevant anecdotes explored when it's necessary to keep the narrative sensible. Although some of the more tangled Italian plots may need one or two rereads to clear up, Lev has done a good job of keeping the narrative clean and understandable.

However, despite containing all the dates and contradictory accounts, I feel that it lacks the soul of its subject. Little is said of the real woman behind the "Tigress." Although it does diminish the callous, vicious, sex-addled stereotype Caterina is often depicted as, there is little left to fill the void. Daily life, character, and motivation are left only cursorily explored. Three-quarters through a biography, I was surprised to discover that Caterina remained the avid reader she was in childhood - and left wondering what types of things she reads. Motherhood is one of the defining traits of Caterina, yet even her children, who she began having in her early teens, are left as ambiguous obligations until the book reaches the end of her life. Then their careers and personalities are summarized in a handful of paragraphs.

I found this to be an excellent account of history, but a mediocre biography of a person.

[Silvana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly a great (true) story about a strong woman who battled everything from thousands of invaders (once with her own sword), multiple assassinations, rape, years of imprisonment, marriages ended in tragedies, six children (at least two betrayed her due to their greed) - all during the Rennaissance era, where women's job mostly was to produce babies and stuff like that.

The early chapters are not as exciting as the rest. Maybe that is why I waited a long time before getting my appetite back in reading this excellent biography. But when I got to the part where she defended a fort with such a spirit and indomitable courage, basically taking over her husband's rule over Forli...it became a political and military thriller it was so exhilarating to read.

Side note: I used to dream living in Renaissance Italy because of its grandeur but now yeah no thanks. Too volatile of an environment. Constant fear of invaders either from neighboring city states or other countries. Bubonic and other plagues. Crappy rulers. Horrifying capital punishments. Bad treatment of women. Sorry but Michelangelo, Da Vinci and other artists are not sufficient incentives for me to live there in that era.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A biography like this is the reason I generally prefer non fiction to historical fiction. You just can’t make this up and I don’t need an author fabricating conversations or minor characters. Elizabeth Lev did an amazing job bringing Caterina Sforza to life with thorough research. The author’s admiration for this brace women is obvious but she also shares her flaws. I had never heard of Caterina but now I will never forget her!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

When she was ten years old, Caterina Sforza was married to the pope’s corrupt nephew, Girolamo Riario. The marriage wasn’t consummated until she was fourteen. Girolamo was given lordship of Imola, one of the richest precincts in Italy, and later also given Forli. Once the pope died, however, chaos set in all over Italy. Caterina, seven months pregnant, moved into a fortified tower while Girolamo prepared for the fighting elsewhere. The couple continued to be separated and Caterina earned her place in the Hall of Fame for infamously taunting her attackers by displaying her naked private parts and shouting obscenities. At least, when anyone mentions her name, this is what surfaces in my mind. A woman of many takents who did not cower in fear, but remembered for this. It’s an excellent story and a good introduction to Italy’s past.

[Elizabeth Raines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a lot about the life of a noble woman in Renaissance Italy but it got boring at times.

[Hesper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before picking this up, all I knew about Caterina Sforza was that she was Cosimo de' Medici's grandmother, she was obviously related to the Sforzas in some nebulous way, and she may or may not have flashed her privates at an invading army from the battlements of her fortress. Basically, I just had a dim notion she was some Medici ancestor with a potentially scandalous history.

The truth is far better. Yes, she was a Sforza, the illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, brought up alongside his legitimate children. As such, she received a fantastic Reniassance education that included, among the usual suspects, riding and swordplay. This detail matters—in a different world, Caterina Sforza would have likely had an illustrious military career.

As it was, she was married off at the age of ten, had eight children, held a fortress while seven months pregnant, survived three husbands (two of whom she chose herself), had a lifelong interest in herbal medicine and alchemy (her recipes were posthumously published as Gli Experimenti), bested Machiavelli (whose man pain caused him to concoct the flashing story because he was a dick), and almost got the better—in actual military engagement—of Cesare Borgia, and survived. Granted, not without repercussions, but surviving a Borgia at the height of the family's power—and doing it solely on the strength of personal merit—is hardcore.

Elizabeth Lev adroitly sketches Caterina's story and the chaotic reality of Italian Renaissance politics, although I wish she'd have excerpted more of Caterina's writing. That's my only issue with this otherwise fine and exhaustively researched biography: Lev often summarizes Caterina's voluminous correspondence, but only occasionally lets her subject speak for herself. And when she does, the force of Caterina's personality gives the impression she's fighting to exist beyond the constraints of her biography.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard the name 'Caterina Sforza' when I read Sarah Dunant's Blood & Beauty: The Borgias, although as it's Borgia-centric, Caterina doesn't come out in such a good light (though Dunant makes no excuses for Cesare Borgia either). It did leave me incredibly curious about her though, and soon asking the question as to why this brilliant woman is not better well-known.

Lev's biography completely does Caterina justice. Her work is extremely readable, and there never seems to be a dull moment - within in the text or in Caterina's life. Lev also doesn't shy away from some of the more darker moments of Caterina's life, either - the massacres during the hunt for the killers of her second husband, for example - and she doesn't excuse the countess' violent acts of retribution through the rose-tinted glasses of bias that some authors have with their subjects. The The Tigress of Forlì: Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici is a fairly balanced account, and also offers up handy explanations and background info as to the politics and situation of the rest of the Italian states at the time - which is useful if you have little or no prior knowledge.

My only real problem was that I would have liked a diagram or two in regards to family trees, just so I could visualise exactly how people were related, but it's only a minor qualm.

Basically, the Countess Caterina Riario Sforza was a total badass, a woman completely ahead of her time, and - thanks to Lev's text - now one of my favourite historical figures.

[Sonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinante personaje, Catalina Sforza es una fuerza renacentista de la naturaleza de la que se conoce muy poco por estos lares (salvo que juegues al Assassin’s creed).

Mediocre la narración, me parece un trabajo para clase mal pensado y ejecutado. Esta es una biografía que se disfraza de novela y así pierde en ambos estilos.
Se nota la pasión de la autora por su personaje, y que es especialista en historia del arte, no historiadora. Toma distintas fuentes, y da igual relevancia a las fiables que a las no fiables para generar un relato que se lee como una novela de aventuras pero que le hace flaco favor a su protagonista.
Incurre en algunos errores históricos monumentales (ejemplo: los musulmanes son expulsados de Granada por los Reyes Católicos tras...250 años de ocupación!?!?!? - no distingue entre ocupación musulmana del territorio Granadino y reino nazarí), y omisiones vitales para entender la política en la península italiana de la época, como que el rey de Nápoles era hijo de Alfonso V de Aragón y por tanto estaba emparentado tanto con ese reino como con el de Castilla por la rama Trastámara, lo que le proporcionó poderosos aliados cuando los Reyes Católicos y Alejandro VI Borgia accedieron al poder, pero también le colocó en medio de luchas externas que le arrastraron a la batalla.

Los grandes biógrafos analizan los personajeS desde la psicología y es una pena que con la cantidad de correspondencia disponible escrita por Catalina la autora se base más en los cronistas de la época (hombres embelesados o despechados) con sus propias sensibilidades a la hora de retratarla.

[Lisbeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Florence is one of the prominent city-states during the Italian Renaissance. I am currently reading various books about the de' Medici family and will return to the subject later on. While searching for books about this time, I happened to find a book about Caterina Riario Sforza (1463-1509). She was the illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan. The story of her life is more than life itself. She was an incredible woman; mother, wife, warrior, and icon. She met many of the important men of her time:

"Pope Sixtus IV, Caterina's benefactor and uncle by marriage, who commissioned the Sistine Chapel frescoes in which she is immortalized.
Count Girolamo Riario, Caterina's first husband and an originator of the Pazzi conspiracy, whose corrupt ways led to their flight from Rome to Forli.
Niccolò Machiavelli, the Florentine political theorist who as a young diplomat was humiliated by Caterina and later took revenge with his pen.
Giacomo Feo, Caterina's secret second husband, a jumped-up family retainer whose assassination led to a bloodbath on the streets of Forli.
Giovanni de' Medici il Popolano, Caterina's beloved third husband, who provided Caterina entrée into Florentine culture and society, and an heir worthy of her legacy.
Cesare Borgia, nephew to the ruthless Borgia pope Alexander VI, who would bring Caterina's rule to an end with unspeakable cruelty."

Raised in the court of Milan, she grew up in a world of intrigues. That might have been the reason for her surviving all the different ordeals she met with during her life. She was married to her first husband at the age of ten and bore him six children. She was intelligent and well-read and considered the most beautiful woman of her time. When her family was threatened she did not hesitate to take unusual measures to save them. Even if it meant to ride from Forli to Rome, eight months pregnant!

She was a true Renaissance person and a celebrity. During the renaissance, a man, or lord (they were mostly men) was expected to speak several languages, play instruments, write poetry, know their geography and be well-traveled. The era developed several polymaths, a person who excels in several areas of specialisation. They are marked by high intelligence, motivation, curiosity, and inspiration. I think for most of us Leonardo da Vinci comes into mind. These polymaths often combined didactic education and competence within different areas, and they continued their education all their life. Caterina was such a person. From an early age, her studies started, and she continued her whole life. When it comes to her practical life it was 'doing by learning'

I am full of admiration for this lady who managed to survive, sometimes on her own terms, in a male world. She mixed violent streaks, especially after her second husband was assassinated when she initiated a bloodbath, with humanitarian ones. Caring for her family and her people. Considering the situation we have today with the coronavirus, this particular paragraph caught my eyes.

"The arrival of the bubonic plague abruptly halted Caterina's pleasant summer. By the end of August, the illness was raging through Forli. The bane of the Renaissance era, this terrible disease came from a bacterium hosted by rats, traveling from the infected rodents to humans via fleas. Its onset was marked by a high fever and enlarged lymph nodes, known as buboes, which typically killed victims within three to four days. Europe's first experience of the Black Death had occurred in 1348 when it claimed a third of the population. One hundred and fifty years later, its cause remained a mystery but most well-informed rulers knew of efficacious ways to limit its spread. Caterina had seen the plague before and though she personally feared it little, she knew its capacity for devastation. This time the stakes were much higher. With Cesare Borgia and the French closing in, a plague would weaken the defenses of Romagna; the sickness would have to be defeated in Forli before it could contaminate other areas. Caterina sealed off her city. No market, no traveling shows, no large assemblies. She brought in special doctors to assist the ill and priests to console the dying. Food and necessities were distributed to the populace free of charge. The city was divided into sectors and subjected to strict rules of hygiene. Those infected were immediately isolated in the Church of San Giovanni while a confraternity of volunteers collected the dead for hasty burial outside the city walls. The clothes, belongings, and even the houses of the incurable were burned, which brought many protests. But these stringent measures saved the region; the casualty count was 179 people, much lower than expected, and the sickness did not reach any of the surrounding countryside."

Elizabeth Lev is an American-born scholar of Renaissance art and culture and a professor of art history in Rome. That she is a very competent historian is evident in the book. There are a lot of details, for some maybe a little bit too much, but it gives important and interesting background to life during the Italian Renaissance. It is a well written fascinating story of a fascinating woman. Ms. Lev warms to her subject and makes Caterina come to life. Caterina is a diverse woman, which you don't always like. One has to take into consideration the times she was living in, the necessities of harsh rules to survive. From a female perspective, this is a story of one of all the strong women in history. Women tend to be kept in the background, but here is one woman coming to the front page and deserving it.

With the marriage to her third husband Giovanni de' Medici, she became part of the cadet family of de' Medicis. Their son Giovanni married the granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and thus connected the two branches of the de' Medici. Their son, Cosimo, was only seven years old when his father died. His father's last words to him were; "You'll be a prince. It's your destiny."
"At the age of seventeen, young Cosimo would take his place. Caterina Sforza had left one last great legacy to the world in her grandson, the first Medici head to wear the crown of the grand duke of Tuscany and the beginning of a line that would become synonymous with the great city of Florence."

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Note: Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program)
I must confess, I was first attracted to this biography because I knew of Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici through the video game "Assassin's Creed II" and I wanted to learn her full story. Having read Mrs. Lev's first work, I am very glad that I did. In a little less than 300 pages, Mrs. Lev recounts the life of one of the most amazing women in Renaissance history, if not in all of history. Caterina was stubborn, brave, and passionate throughout all of her forty-six years of life and Mrs. Lev captures all of that in a worthy manner. Caterina could also be incredibly and Mrs. Lev doesn't shy away from her darker deeds. Through it all, Mrs. Lev ably dispels the vicious libels (particularly those advanced by Machiavelli) and gets the reader as close to the real Caterina as possible. Of course, introductory chapter on the politics and personalties of Italy at the time of Caterina's birth would have helped. And the first chapters prior to Caterina's seizing of Castel Sant'Angelo following the death of Pope Sixtus IV are a little slow, but that is no fault of Mrs. Lev's. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Renaissance Italian history or in fascinating women in history.

[K.R. Gastreich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caterina Sforza is best remembered for her show down with Cesare Borgia at Forli, a military confrontation that humiliated Cesare and converted Caterina into legend. Despite her eventual defeat and imprisonment at the hands of the notorious son of Pope Alexander VI, Caterina Sforza was one of the very few of her time who bested Cesare at his own game and lived to tell about it.

Elizabeth Lev paints Caterina Sforza's story with the expertise of a Renaissance master. We are given the rich tapestry of the world she grew up in: its passion, its cruelty, its pride. Set against this background, Caterina comes to vivid life as we follow her development from child bride to fearsome countess. This is a story that inspires at different times awe and horror, but most of all, deep admiration for a life intensely lived.

More than a Renaissance legend, Caterina Sforza is a heroine for all times. Whether or not your interests lie in Renaissance history and women's history, this is a book you are sure to enjoy.

[Jeane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is such a pity that her main home Ravaldino, the fortress, can't be visited as it is now a prison in the centre of Forlì. But as it kept being in use the walls are completely intact and probably the inside must be amazing to visit.

Having read this book have such an interesting view on Romagna as a region without fo using on it. And reading about this extraordinary woman in those times in Italy wasn't only amazing but gave also a very good idea of the other side you don't read about, when reading about certain important people of that period

[Lady Alexandrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

In "The Borgias" Caterina Sforza was a formidable force. She stood up to the Borgias and faced their fury. At that moment she was already a legend. If you want to know why she was called "the Tigress of Forli" this book is for you.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! This is a fantastic bio of a heroine I have longed to know more about. Lev writes her bio as if it is a novel, and it is supremely entertaining and accessible! Brava!