Caterina Pico della Mirandola (14545 December 1501) was an Italian noblewoman, by marriage member of the

House of Gonzaga The House of Gonzaga (, ) is an Italian princely family that ruled Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy from 1328 to 1708 (first as a captaincy-general, then Margraviate of Mantua, margraviate, and finally Duchy of Mantua, duchy). They also ruled M ...

Biography

She was born in

Mirandola Mirandola (Emilian language#Dialects, Mirandolese: ) is a city and ''comune'' of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, in the Province of Modena, northeast of the Modena, provincial capital by railway. History Mirandola originated as a Renaissance Defensiv ...

, into the

House of Pico A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, the eldest of the seven children of Gianfrancesco I Pico (1415-1467), lord of

and Concordia and of Giulia Boiardo, daughter of Feltrino count of Scandiano and cousin of the poet and writer

Matteo Maria Boiardo Matteo Maria Boiardo (, ; 144019/20 December 1494) was an Italian Renaissance poet, best known for his epic poem ''Orlando innamorato''. Early life Boiardo was born in 1440, at or near, Scandiano (today's province of Reggio Emilia); the son of G ...

. Her most notable sibling was the humanist and philosopher

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Giovanni Pico dei conti della Mirandola e della Concordia ( ; ; ; 24 February 146317 November 1494), known as Pico della Mirandola, was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at the age of 23, ...

Personal life

In 1473 she married , lord of Carpi, with whom she had three children: *Caterina, nun *Lionello (?-1535) *

Alberto Alberto is the Romance languages, Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic languages, Germanic ''Albert (given name), Albert''. It is used in Italian language, Italian, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language, ...

(1475-1531), successor The boys were later tutored by

Aldus Manutius Aldus Pius Manutius (; ; 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and Renaissance humanism, humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preser ...

. She was widowed in 1480 and remarried in 1484 to Rodolfo Gonzaga; he was killed at the battle of Fornovo in 1495. They had six children: *Giovan Francesco, Count of Luzzara, (1488-1525), married Laura Pallavicini *Luigi Alessandro, Lord of Castiglione e Solferino, (1494-1549); married Caterina Anguissola (d. 1550) *Paola (1486-1519), married Giovanni Nicola Trivulzio (1479-1512) *Lucrezia (b. 1490) *Barbara *Giulia (1493-1549)

Death

She inherited the fiefdom of Luzzara, which on her death passed to Gianfrancesco. She died in

Luzzara Luzzara ( Guastallese: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Reggio Emilia, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is located at the northern end of the province, on the right bank of the river Po. Luzzara is the birthplace of the composer Maurizio Cazza ...

, in 1501, allegedly after being poisoned by one of her servants.

References

1454 births 1501 deaths House of Gonzaga 15th-century Italian nobility People from Mirandola {{Italy-noble-stub