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Record Number:
9041
Author(s)/Creator(s):
Hairston , Julia L.
Contributor(s):
Title:
Skirting the Issue: Machiavelli's Caterina Sforza
Source URL:
Renaissance Quarterly
(Full Text via JSTOR) 53, 3 (Autumn 2000): 687-712.
Link Info
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Renaissance Quarterly
(Full Text via JSTOR) 53, 3 (Autumn 2000): 687-712.
Link Info
Description:
Article Type:
Journal Article
Subject
(See Also)
:
Genitals, Display of
Insulting Gestures
Machiavelli, Niccolo, Political Theorist- Discourses
Machiavelli, Niccolo, Political Theorist- Estratto di Lettere al Dieci di Balia- Post Mortem Cosimi
Machiavelli, Niccolo, Political Theorist- Florentine Histories
Award Note:
Geographic Area:
Italy
Century:
15- 16
Primary Evidence:
Illustrations:
Table:
Abstract:
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 paricular instance might well be characterized as "practising duplicity in statecraft." Yet if one considers the pertinent historical documents and Machiavelli's very first, although virutally forgotten, verion of the events, it becomes apparent that Machiavelli "de-Machiavellizes" Caterina Sforza.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 Machiavell'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. [Reproduced by permission of the Renaissance Society of America].
Related Resources:
Author's Affiliation:
University of Rome "La Sapienza"
Conference Info:
- , -
Year of Publication:
2000.
Language:
English
ISSN/ISBN:
00344338
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