This essay examines the creation of a notorious anecdote about a Machiavellian mother — Caterina Sforza. The adjective "Machiavellian "functions on two levels: first, Sforza often simply appears in her role as mother in Machiavelli's works; second, her behavior in this particular instance might well be characterized as "practising duplicity in state craft. " Yet if one considers the pertinent historical documents and Machiavelli's very first, although virtually forgotten, version of the events, it becomes apparent that Machiavelli "de-Machiavellizes" Caterina Sforza. The historical record offers a narrative in which Sforza provides a localized, targeted political response to undermine her children's would-be assassins. Machiavelli, however, rewrites the episode by altering Sforza's quip to her enemies and adding the audacious gesture of lifting her skirts; as a result, he creates a version in which she no longer responds to the political predicament in which she finds herself. This essay juxtaposes Machiavelli's long-ignored first version of the tale with his other two more well-known prose versions and contextualizes all three in relation to contemporary sources.
This article analyzes the overall structure of Tullia d'Aragona's Rime della Signora Tullia di Aragona et di diversi a lei, published by Giolito in 1547, and identifies four of her poetic interlocutors whom previous scholarship has largely ignored-Latino Giovenale Manetti, Tiberio Nari, Lucantonio Cuppano, and Francesco Crasso. The identities of these four men help paint a more geographically diversified and politically engaged portrait of d'Aragona than previously depicted.
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