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Ginevra Sforza (also: Genevra Sforza de' Bentivoglio) | |
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| Born | ca. 1441 unknown, probably near Pesaro |
| Died | 17 May 1507 (aged 66–67) |
| Known for | Illegitimate daughter of Alessandro Sforza, lord of Pesaro; "fecundissima" wife of Giovanni II Bentivoglio; and "first lady" of Renaissance-era Bologna for over 50 years |
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| Website | https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789463726849/genevra-sforza-and-the-bentivoglio |
Ginevra Sforza (ca. 1441 – 17 May 1507) became the wife of Sante Bentivoglio and then of Giovanni II Bentivoglio, both de facto signori (or unofficial leaders, or 'lords') of Bologna. She had 18 children and served the Bentivoglio family by fulfilling the gendered role demanded of her by society.
For the past 500+ years in Bolognese historiography, Ginevra had been known as a terrible woman who destroyed her family and the city of Bologna--but after academic research was conducted about her life in 15th c. materials that had been dispersed among dozens of Italian archives and libraries, an entirely different and positive story results. Elizabeth Louise Bernhardt conducted this research into Genevra's life and published a book about her with Amsterdam University Press (released February 2023). https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789463726849/genevra-sforza-and-the-bentivoglio
Because Ginevra signed her name in her own hand as "Genevra," Bernhardt uses the "Genevra" form of the spelling of her name in the manuscript, and this divergent spelling helps distinguish the historical 'Genevra' from the fictitious 'Ginevra' character that had been created from legends told about her posthumously.
The chapters of Bernhardt's book are: Introduction; 1. Genevra Sforza de' Bentivoglio: Lost and Found in Renaissance Italy (ca. 1441-1507); 2. Twice Bentivoglio: Genevra Sforza on the Marriage Market (1446-1454 and 1463-1464); 3. Genevra Sforza and Bentivoglio Family Strategies: Creating and Extending Kinship on a Massive Scale; 4. Genevra Sforza in Her Own Words: Patron and Client Relationships from Her Correspondence; 5. The Wheel of Fortune: Genevra Sforza and the Fall of the Bentivoglio (1506-1507); 6. Making and Dispelling Fake History: Genevra Sforza and Her 'Black Legends' (1506-present).
The book also includes an enormous family tree for an enormous family: around the year 1500 a document shows that 175 people lived in Palazzo Bentivoglio, the family home on the old Strà San Donato (where the Teatro Comunale on Via Zamboni stands today) in Bologna. Many of the 175 listed were family members but many more made up the Bentivoglio domestic servant staff.