The Tigress of Forlì
In Renaissance Italy, a young widow must hold herself, her family, and her lands together to survive. The answers may lie in alchemy. In this episode, we explore the life and experiments of Caterina Sforza, the Tigress of Forlì.
Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.
Music
Purple Planet - An Angel Will Rise
Purple Planet - Expectancy
Purple Planet - Claiming the Throne
Purple Planet - Leave Without Me
Purple Planet - Deadlock
Purple Planet - Sense of Loss
Purple Planet - Shadowlands
Sources
Primary
Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Seven Books on the Art of War, translated by Henry Neville.
Sforza, Caterina. Experimenti. In Paolo Aldo Rossi, Caterina Sforza: Gli Experimenti de la Ex.ma S.ra Caterina de Furli, 107–291. Aicurzio: Castel Negrino, 2021.
Secondary
Breisach, Ernst. Caterina Sforza: A Renaissance Virago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967.
Fiumi, Fabrizia and Giovanna Tempesta. “Gli ‘experimenti’ di Caterina Sforza.” In Caterina Sforza: Una donna del Cinquecento, edited by Valeria Novielli and Chiostri di S. Domenico, 139–46. Bologna: La Mandragora, 2000.
Guccini, Anna Maria. “L’arte dei Semplici: Alchimie e medicina naturalistica tra conoscenza e credenza all’epoca di Caterina.” In Caterina Sforza: Una donna del Cinquecento, edited by Valeria Novielli and Chiostri di S. Domenico, 131–38. Bologna: La Mandragora, 2000.
Lev, Elizabeth. The Tigress of Forlì: Renaissance Italy’s Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de’ Medici. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.
Palmieri, Anna. ”Caterina Sforza and Experimenti: Translation into English and Historical-Linguistic Analysis of Some of Her Recipes.” Thesis. Università di Bologna. 2017.
Pasolini, Pier Desiderio. “Nuovi documenti su Caterina Sforza.” Atti e memorie: Deputazione di storia per la Romagna 15 (1897): 72–206.
Ray, Meredith K. Daughters of Alchemy: Women and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univeristy Press, 2015.
Ray, Meredith K. “Experiments with Alchemy: Caterina Sforza in Early Modern Scientific Culture” In Gender and Scientific Discourse in Early Modern Culture, edited by Kathleen P. Long, 139–163. London: Routledge, 2010.
Rossi, Paolo Aldo. Caterina Sforza: Gli Experimenti de la Ex.ma S.ra Caterina de Furli. Aicurzio: Castel Negrino, 2021.
Viroli, Maurizio. “Niccolò Machiavelli e Caterina Sforza.” In Caterina Sforza: Una donna del Cinquecento, edited by Valeria Novielli and Chiostri di S. Domenico, 85–91. Bologna: La Mandragora, 2000.
