Genevra Sforza in Her Own Words

Genevra helped create and maintain important relationships with courtly figures through an exchange of formal letters. As part of a de facto ruling family, she understood how crucial the development of these relationships were. Her correspondence reflects her gendered status within the nuances of the ruling class and that of her correspondents including rulers of Milan, Ferrara, Florence and Mantua. Her letters analysed here, predominantly exchanged with the Gonzaga, demonstrate that she acted as a loyal Bentivoglio consort who desired to serve her family and staff. Overall, she communicated as a traditional fifteenth-century female for the good of her family. In no way did she demonstrate hateful or inappropriate behaviour, psychologically manipulate others or arrange political coups—as legends proclaim.