Taddea Malaspina (1505 - 1559) was an Italian noblewoman of the 16th century. A scion of the

Massa Massa may refer to: Places Italy *Province of Massa and Carrara, province in the Tuscany region of Italy * Duchy of Massa and Carrara, controlled the towns of Massa di Carrara and Carrara * Roman Catholic Diocese of Massa Marittima-Piombi ...

branch of the ancient

Malaspina family The House of Malaspina was a noble Italian family of Longobard origin that descended from Boniface I, Margrave of Tuscany, Boniface I, through the Obertenghi line, that ruled Lunigiana from the 13th to the 14th centuries, and the Province of Mas ...

, she was the

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence Alessandro de' Medici (22 July 1510 – 6 January 1537), nicknamed "il Moro" due to his dark complexion, Duke of Penne and the first Duke of the Florentine Republic (from 1532), was ruler of Florence from 1530 to his death in 1537. The first Me ...

, from the early 1530s to about 1537 and was likely the mother of at least two of his children, Giulio and Giulia de' Medici. Giulio de' Medici was associated with the Malaspina family at different points throughout his life.Langdon (2006), p. 233

Biography

Taddea was born as the youngest daughter of , sovereign Marquis of Massa, and his wife, Lucrezia

d'Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

, who fathered no sons. She married Count Giambattista Boiardo di Scandiano. After his death and the death of her father, Malaspina lived with her mother in Florence and had a number of lovers, including young Duke Alessandro de' Medici himself. Her elder sister Ricciarda, who had shrewdly managed to retain their father's feudal titles in defiance of the

Salic law The Salic law ( or ; ), also called the was the ancient Frankish Civil law (legal system), civil law code compiled around AD 500 by Clovis I, Clovis, the first Frankish King. The name may refer to the Salii, or "Salian Franks", but this is deba ...

, lived for long periods with Taddea and their mother: the three enjoyed a dubious reputation as "the marquises of Massa" and were also joined by Ricciarda's siblings-in-law, Cardinal

Innocenzo Cybo Innocenzo Cibo (25 August 1491 – 13 April 1550) was an Italian cardinal and archbishop. Family and education From the Genoese family Cibo, in 1488 the Cybo family purchased Florentine citizenship for a considerable sum of money I ...

(also her lover en titre and father of several of her children, probably including her heir Alberico) and Caterina Cybo, former Duchess of

Camerino Camerino is a town in the province of Macerata, Marche, central-eastern Italy. It is located in the Apennines bordering Umbria, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti, about from Ancona. Camerino is home to the University of Ca ...

, in whose family's Florentine residences they used to dwell. Through Ricciarda's marriage to the Genoese nobleman

Lorenzo Cybo Lorenzo Cybo, also spelt Cibo, (20 July 1500 – 14 March 1549) was an Italian general, who was duke of Ferentillo, and co-owner marquis of Massa and lord of Carrara. Family Born at Sampierdarena (in what is modern Genoa), he was the son of F ...

, the family was related to erstwhile

Pope Innocent VIII Pope Innocent VIII (; ; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death, in July 1492. Son of the viceroy of Naples, Cybo spent his ea ...

and to the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

and

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

were respectively Ricciarda's uncle-in-law and cousin-in-law, and, moreover, she was probably one of Alessandro's lovers herself.

Legacy

In a portrait of Alessandro by

Pontormo Jacopo Carucci or Carrucci (; May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557), usually known as Jacopo (da) Pontormo or simply Pontormo (), was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a profound stylisti ...

, dated to about 1535, the Duke, dressed in black, draws the profile of a woman in

silverpoint Silverpoint (one of several types of metalpoint) is a traditional drawing technique and tool first used by medieval scribes on manuscripts. History A silverpoint drawing is made by dragging a silver rod or wire across a surface, often prepared ...

. The portrait may have been a gift for Malaspina for the birth of their daughter Giulia. The Chiesa della Madonna del Carmine and the adjoining Santa Chiara monastic complex in Massa were built at Taddea Malaspina's behest in 1554; they still stand.

Notes

References

*Langdon, Gabrielle (2006). ''Medici Women: Portraits of Power, Love, and Betrayal''. University of Toronto Press. *Levy, Allison (2006). ''Re-Membering Masculinity in Early Modern Florence''. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. {{DEFAULTSORT:Malaspina, Taddea 1505 births Year of death missing 16th-century Italian nobility Mistresses of Italian royalty Taddea People from the Duchy of Massa and Carrara

Biography

Legacy

See also

Notes

References