The Tigress of Forli (28 page)

The Riario family took the opportunity of the cardinal's presence to enjoy a little reunion. Caterina, Ottaviano, and Cardinal Riario all traveled to Forlì, where they enjoyed the first wines of fall with fragrant roasted chestnuts. Led by the illustrious cardinal, Caterina and all her children, barefoot and dressed in the traditional garb of the penitent, even took a little pilgrimage to Piratello during the month of the dead. As the solemn procession of public repentance made its way along the Via Emilia, it seemed as though Caterina had made her peace with the world.

In early 1490, Caterina started to deal with the harsh realities of ruling Forlì. The first item on the agenda that year was how to return a cash flow to the town. Ever since the murder of Girolamo and the public looting that followed it, the Jewish moneylenders of Forlì had stayed away. Poor citizens without land or other holdings always had difficulty raising funds, and the particularly harsh winter of 1489 had resulted in a negligible harvest that summer. Caterina could certainly sympathize. To raise money for herself and her family, she had repeatedly pawned jewels in Genoa, Bologna, and other major centers where large sums could be obtained quickly. After the death of Girolamo, only the timely intervention of the duke of Milan kept her from losing almost twenty-five thousand ducats in jewels to pay back a loan of a few thousand in cash.

Raising money in the Renaissance was a difficult affair. The large banking concerns of Tuscany served businesses and land-rich nobles. The commercial industries of the age had little trouble finding backers as the competing banking families were always looking for new investments. But usury, or lending money at interest to individuals, had always been considered a mortal sin, and therefore, officially it was difficult for a private individual to take out a loan. Furthermore, peasants and artisans had little in the way of collateral—a few trinkets here, or some produce there—and thus were considered a poor risk. Jews, on the other hand, who by law could own no land, amassed wealth in movable goods and so filled this niche. Most cities had Jewish moneylenders whose capital was underwritten by the local government. But political instability always spelled trouble for the Jews. Everyone knew that they kept cash, jewels, and silver plate on hand, and often a random street riot furnished a sufficient excuse to raid their homes. Their departure, however, produced financial difficulties, for the Jewish community served a practical purpose in the economic fabric of society.

In February, representatives from the four quarters of Forlì came to Caterina, requesting that the countess ask some Jews to move to Forlì and reestablish a cash flow there. While Caterina saw the wisdom of the idea, she demurred. Musing aloud, she recalled the days when Girolamo had called these same men together to propose a Monte di Pietà, a group that would lend money against pawned objects with little or no interest. The count, she recollected, had personally offered to put up five hundred ducats of capital and had invited them to do the same, but she seemed to remember that they had scoffed at the very idea. The magistrates squirmed and blushed under her inquisitive gaze. They stammered promises to bring in some experts in establishing a Monte di Pietà, although Girolamo's vision would not be realized until 1527. Caterina, in return, invited Guglielmo d'Alia, a wealthy Bolognese Jew, to set up business in Forlì.

Within a few weeks, Caterina was wrestling with a different problem. An old Imolese rivalry, dating back centuries to the antagonism between the popes and the emperors, reared its head in the normally tranquil town. The Tartagni family, along with their friends the Codronchi and Viani clans (loyal Riario partisans), had sided with the imperial Ghibellines during the long wars of the thirteenth century. The Mercati family, supporters of the pope, belonged to the Guelph faction.

In February Caterina leased a large part of her land in Imola to be worked by Cristoforo Tartagni. The favor conferred on the family, with its accompanying profits, awakened the old family feud, and on February 26, Giulio Mercati attacked Cristoforo, wounding him in the head with a dagger. Within hours, family alliances had brought dozens of angry combatants to the streets. The governor of Imola, Guglielmo da Tedescho, alerted Caterina, who acted at once. Recognizing the type of bitter hatred that had torn apart Rome when the Orsinis and Colonnas clashed, she promptly dispatched eighty cavalry to restore peace. As soon as the city was settled, she exiled the Mercati family for their role as the instigators of the attack.

Caterina's main worry, however, was the control of her fortresses. Her political survival depended on commanding the main defensive structures of her lands. The castellan of Imola had already revealed his untrustworthiness, and she soon began to doubt even the steadfast Tommaso Feo, the backbone of her defense at Ravaldino. Although he had proved himself unshakable, Caterina knew that he, like Girolamo, hailed from Savona and that his tie to the Riario clan was stronger than his bond to her. Tommaso had witnessed her weakest hours and therefore knew her too well. His friendship with Cardinal Riario also concerned Caterina. The cardinal had been a staunch ally up to this point, but she had no illusions about the Riario family.

Caterina put forward this list of practical reasons to justify her removal of Feo, but her real intention was to install a new man in the castle: her lover. Her designs began innocently enough. In June 1489, Caterina had offered Tommaso Feo her sister Bianca in marriage. Not only would the marriage forge a stronger link with Caterina, but it would probably cause Feo to give up his position, since a fortress keeper could never leave his castle. Most women would not want to live inside what was essentially a prison, so Caterina had presented them with land in the territory of Bosco, assuming that they would move there. But Tommaso stayed. Caterina had to find a less subtle means to dispatch him.

One year later, she renewed her efforts by appointing a permanent castellan to the smaller fortress of Forlimpopoli outside the city. Her choice fell on her stepfather, Gian Pietro Landriani, the husband of Lucrezia, Caterina's mother, who had been in Romagna as part of the Milanese contingent since 1488. When he swore loyalty to her on July 30, no one suspected a master plan was underway.

During the sultry days of August, Caterina purged the fortress of Ravaldino of its keeper using no weapon but womanly wiles. The countess came to the Ravaldino keep on August 30, accompanied by her son Ottaviano and Tommaso Feo's younger brother Giacomo. That warm summer morning, Caterina looked more like a young woman out to enjoy the last days of pleasant weather than a head of
state. Conversing amiably, the group enjoyed lunch together in the castle. Caterina, always more interested than her son in military matters, drew Tommaso aside to discuss tactical aspects of the fortress. Tommaso noted that Caterina had planted new gardens, and the countess invited him out to see the results of her handiwork. The castellan hesitated. The garden lay outside the walls of the defensive keep and Tommaso was required to remain within it at all times. Caterina gently assured him that Ottaviano, as well as his own brother, would remain in the keep. He could certainly slip away for a few moments of sunshine. Tommaso, bedazzled by the countess, forgot his wife and his duties as he followed Caterina out of Ravaldino. They strolled in the orchard for a time, laughing and chatting in perfect accord. Caterina was dressed in a sheer linen shift covered with a thin cotton smock; the light material revealed her form as she stood in the sunlight. The scorching midday heat obliged them to seek shade under a fig tree, and the pair savored an impromptu snack of the ripe fruit. After a while, Caterina stood, her golden hair glittering, and offered her arm to the castellan, asking if he would escort her to her rooms. Captivated, Tommaso started to walk toward the little palace on the grounds, where Caterina lived. But as he drew closer to this building, Tommaso stopped dead, the memory of his duty jerking him back to reality. He pulled away, trying to think of how to take his leave of the fascinating woman standing before him. Caterina, unperturbed, feigned not to notice his crisis of conscience and continued to walk toward her rooms, stopping, turning, or laughing as her hand rested lightly on his arm. Slowly, the castellan's last reserves crumbled and he stepped over the threshold into Caterina's residence. Through another door he glimpsed Caterina disappearing into the bedroom. Eager to claim his prize, he started forward, but heavy hands pulled him back as a voice said, "You are prisoner of the countess. You will not be harmed." Tommaso, duped, handed over his sword. A moment ago, he had been anticipating Caterina's warm embrace; now cold iron shackles encircled his arms. The terrified castellan bolted, pushing through the guards and running across the grounds to the moat. He swam across but found the gates locked. In a few moments, Tommaso was recaptured by Caterina's captain of the gate. Feo, the loyal defender and foolish brother-in-law, went to inhabit the prison cells he had so jealously guarded. Caterina was quick to alert her more troublesome neighbors that the castle was now back under her complete control. Writing to the duke of Ferrara, she explained that she could "no longer trust Tommaso Feo," and, in view of "his indecent behavior," she had no choice but to dismiss him. Her letter also served to establish her as a figure of moral rectitude after the scandalous rumors regarding Antonio Ordelaffi.
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The dismissal of Feo was more of a farce than a serious security issue. No one in Imola or Forlì had fallen for the accusation of indecency. In fact, contemporaries hinted that Caterina had taken the fortress from one Feo to give it to another. Giacomo, Tommaso's twenty-year-old brother, was strikingly handsome and athletic, although he had little education and fewer manners. He had lived in the Riario household as one of Girolamo's stable grooms, a mere boy of fifteen when he first laid eyes on Caterina. His blatant adoration for her likely exhilarated her after years of being chained to a husband who barely appreciated her. She had spent decades keeping her emotions in check; her first great passion had a strong effect.

Power intoxicated Caterina. She had regained two of her fortresses. Now she would recapture the third. Giovanni de' Gerardi, the castellan of Imola, wanted money. Caterina promised him four thousand ducats in cash and silver, almost the entire sum he had demanded, to be deposited with his brother in nearby Modena. On December 16, de' Gerardi left the castle, laden with the treasures he had accumulated from the Riario coffers. He rode at such a hard gallop that the Imolesi wondered what "had frightened him so much." Perhaps he was worried that he might suffer the fate of Caterina's other castellans and be imprisoned or murdered, or maybe he was concerned about getting to his promised payment as soon as possible. The castellan survived the trip out of Imola, but when he arrived in Modena he found only a useless letter of credit. In vain, de' Gerardi complained to the duke of Milan of his mistreatment. Caterina had outfoxed him as well. Her castles free, Caterina now installed castellans who were loyal only to her. Her stepfather, Gian Pietro Landriani, was transferred from Forlimpopoli to Imola while the vacated fortress was taken over by Caterina's stepbrother Pietro Landriani. Her most precious fortress—her own home of Ravaldino—was in the hands of her lover, Giacomo Feo.

In 1491 began the happiest period of Caterina's life thus far. She was in command of her dominions, her children were thriving, and she had discovered an outlet for her passion. As always, money was tight. Her letters to her uncle in Milan usually requested some kind of financial support to pay her soldiers or buy grain after a poor harvest. She even had to endure the humiliation of declining a request to lend her tapestries and silver to the duke of Ferrara for his son's wedding, because she had long since pawned them. But despite financial struggles, Caterina's infatuation kept her spirits high. On January 23, 1491, a delegation from Milan arrived at the fortress to pay their respects to the new castellan. In the high tower of the castle facing the city of Forlì, Giacomo and Caterina, the Milanese ambassador, the Forlivese nobleman Luffo Numai, and a few gentlemen gathered for a special ceremony. To Caterina's intense pride and joy, Giacomo Feo was knighted; the Milanese ambassador fastened a golden spur around his ankle and a sword at his waist. Luffo Numai in turn hung a gold chain of authority around his neck. That Sunday morning, Forlì witnessed the transmogrification of Giacomo Feo from the stable boy at everyone's beck and call to "Sir Giacomo."

Caterina's romance blossomed behind the high walls of Ravaldino. As castellan, Giacomo Feo could not leave the keep, so they spent their days within the fortress and in the expansive grounds Caterina had been cultivating. As a diversion from diplomatic letters and audiences, Caterina enjoyed horticulture. During her time at the courts of Milan and Rome, she had encountered not only kings and artists, but also doctors, botanists, and alchemists. She had loved learning about the properties of plants and how to mix different herbal compounds. Caterina dedicated many hours to her "experiments," as she called them, growing more adept at distilling, sun drying, and concocting every day.
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Her gardens included orchards full of sweet fruit that she sent as gifts to allies and friends, and her herb garden contained not only fragrant plants for cooking but also ingredients for medicinal potions and beauty emulsions. Although still young herself, Caterina took pains to keep the attention of her youthful lover. She prepared a special blend of saffron, cinnabar, and sulfur, with which she rinsed her hair and then brushed it dry for long hours in the sun, to keep her tresses shining.

The thrill of secrecy electrified Caterina's new romance. Despite his knighthood, Giacomo Feo was a nullity in the Italian political landscape. He brought no military allegiance and no wealth of land; all he had to offer Caterina was his heart. But as regent for her son Ottaviano, she had to be careful. If Caterina happened to die while her Riario children were still underage, it would be messy and costly to dislodge Feo from the lordship of Forlì. The furtive nature of Caterina's relationship culminated in a secret marriage, which would be revealed only on Caterina's deathbed.
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