Caterina Sforza (1463 – 28 May 1509), was an Italian noblewoman and Countess of Forli and Lady of Imola firstly with her husband Girolamo Riario, and after his death as a regent of her son Ottaviano.
Caterina was the 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. 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.
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 could write everything, I would shock the world)
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