Genevra Sforza and the Bentivoglio
Elizabeth Bernhardt
- Title
- Genevra Sforza and the Bentivoglio
- Subtitle
- Family, Politics, Gender and Reputation in (and beyond) Renaissance Bologna
- Author
- Elizabeth Bernhardt
- Price
- € 135,99
- ISBN
- 9789048552870
- Format
- eBook PDF (Adobe DRM)
- Number of pages
- 344
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 27 - 02 - 2023
- Dimensions
- 17 x 24 cm
- Discipline
- History, Art History, and Archaeology
- Also available as
- Hardback - € 136,00
Illustrations, Tables, Figures And Documents
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements & Dedication
Introduction
Chapter One - Genevra Sforza de’ Bentivoglio (ca. 1441–1507): Lost and Found in Renaissance Italy
Chapter Two - Twice Bentivoglio: Genevra Sforza On The Marriage Market (1446–1454 and 1463–1464)
Chapter Three - Genevra Sforza And Bentivoglio Family Strategies: Creating And Extending Kinship On A Massive Scale
Chapter Four - Genevra Sforza In Her Own Words: Patron And Client Relationships From Her Correspondence
Chapter Five - The Wheel Of Fortune: Genevra Sforza And The Fall Of The Bentivoglio (1506–1507)
Chapter Six - Making and Dispelling Fake History: Genevra Sforza And Her ‘Black Legends’ (1506–present)
Conclusions
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements & Dedication
Introduction
Chapter One - Genevra Sforza de’ Bentivoglio (ca. 1441–1507): Lost and Found in Renaissance Italy
Chapter Two - Twice Bentivoglio: Genevra Sforza On The Marriage Market (1446–1454 and 1463–1464)
Chapter Three - Genevra Sforza And Bentivoglio Family Strategies: Creating And Extending Kinship On A Massive Scale
Chapter Four - Genevra Sforza In Her Own Words: Patron And Client Relationships From Her Correspondence
Chapter Five - The Wheel Of Fortune: Genevra Sforza And The Fall Of The Bentivoglio (1506–1507)
Chapter Six - Making and Dispelling Fake History: Genevra Sforza And Her ‘Black Legends’ (1506–present)
Conclusions
Reviews and Features
"Bernhardt’s fascinating and deeply researched study of Genevra Sforza, ‘first lady’ of fifteenth-century Bologna, rescues its subject from a centuries-old tradition of vilification and makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the gendered role of courtly women and the vital political role of marriage alliance in Renaissance Italian society.”
- Sarah Rubin Blanshei
"No woman navigated power more adroitly than Ginevra Sforza Bentivoglio. Bernhardt’s deeply-researched and finely-nuanced portrait shows how she took some very weak cards and played a very strong game. While others had formal titles, fawning courtiers, or family ties, GSB had keen instincts about power and survival. Her skills in managing both nearly created a Renaissance dynasty, and generated a lasting 'black legend' of Machiavellian intrigue that is ripped away in this study."
- Nicholas Terpstra
- Sarah Rubin Blanshei
"No woman navigated power more adroitly than Ginevra Sforza Bentivoglio. Bernhardt’s deeply-researched and finely-nuanced portrait shows how she took some very weak cards and played a very strong game. While others had formal titles, fawning courtiers, or family ties, GSB had keen instincts about power and survival. Her skills in managing both nearly created a Renaissance dynasty, and generated a lasting 'black legend' of Machiavellian intrigue that is ripped away in this study."
- Nicholas Terpstra
Elizabeth Bernhardt
Genevra Sforza and the Bentivoglio
Family, Politics, Gender and Reputation in (and beyond) Renaissance Bologna
Genevra Sforza (ca. 1441–1507) lived her long life near the apex of Italian Renaissance society as wife of two successive de facto rulers of Bologna: Sante then Giovanni II Bentivoglio. Placed twice there without a dowry by Duke Francesco Sforza as part of a larger Milanese plan, Genevra served her family by fulfilling the gendered role demanded of her by society, most notably by contributing eighteen children, accepting many illegitimates born to Giovanni II, and helping arrange their future alliances for the success of the family at large. Based on contemporary archival research conducted across Italy, this biography presents Genevra as the object of academic study for the first time. The book explores how Genevra’s life-story, filled with a multitude of successes appropriate for an elite fifteenth-century female, was transformed into a concordant body of misogynistic legends about how she destroyed the Bentivoglio and the city of Bologna.
Author
Elizabeth Bernhardt
Elizabeth Louise Bernhardt (PhD, University of Toronto) has enjoyed living for many years between Bologna and Rome where the stories of this book unfold. In Italy she has taught courses about her main interests: the history and culture of the Italian family (for the University of California in Rome) and early modern Italian art and artisan history (for the Liceo Classico Giulio Cesare in Rome). There she also published two handbooks about Italian art with Ginevra Bentivoglio Editoria. In her hometown she has taught Italian at Saint Louis University and is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Washington University in St. Louis.
