The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

Interpretation: In Caterina Sforza’s time, the roles that a woman
could play were severely restricted. Her primary role was to be the
good mother and wife, but if unmarried, she could devote her life to
religion, or in rare cases she could become a courtesan. It was as if a
circle had been drawn around each and every woman, and she dared
not explore beyond that circle. It was in a woman’s earliest years and
education that she internalized these restrictions. If she studied only a

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limited number of subjects and practiced only certain skills, she
couldn’t expand her role even if she wanted to. Knowledge was power.
Caterina stands out as a remarkable exception, and it was because
she benefited from a unique confluence of circumstances. The Sforzas
were new to power. They had discovered in their rise to the top that a
strong and capable wife could be of great assistance. They developed
the practice of training their daughters in hunting and sword fighting
as a way to toughen them up and make them fearless—important
qualities to have as marriage pawns. Caterina’s father, however, took
this further. Perhaps he saw in his daughter a female reflection of
himself. Giving her his own tutor signaled some sort of identification
he felt between them.
And so a unique experiment began in the castle at Porta Giovia.
Isolated from the outside world and allowed a tremendous degree of
freedom, Caterina could develop herself in any direction she desired.
Intellectually she could explore all forms of knowledge. She could
indulge herself in all of her natural interests—in her case, fashion and
the arts. In her physical training, she could give free rein to her own
bold and adventurous spirit. In this early education, she could bring
out the many different sides of her character.
And so when she entered public life at the age of ten, she naturally
drifted beyond that restricted circle imposed on women. She could play
many roles. As a dutiful Sforza, she could be the loyal wife. Naturally
empathetic and caring, she could be the devoted mother. She felt great
pleasure in being the most fashionable and beautiful young woman at
the papal court. But when the actions of her husband appeared to
doom her and her family, she felt herself called to play another role.
Trained to think for herself and inspired by her father, she could turn
into the daring soldier, bringing an entire city under her control. She
could become the keen strategist, plotting several moves ahead in a
crisis. She could lead her troops, sword in hand. As a young girl she
had fantasized about playing these various roles, and it felt natural and
deeply satisfying to do so in real life.
We could say of Caterina that she had a feminine spirit with a
pronounced masculine undertone, the reverse of her father. And these
feminine and masculine traits were blended together, giving her a
unique style of thinking and acting. When it came to ruling, she
displayed a high degree of empathy, something quite unusual for the

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time. When plague struck Forlì, she comforted the sick, at great risk to
her own life. She was willing to suffer the worst conditions in prison to
safeguard the inheritance for her children, a rare act of self-sacrifice
for a person of power. But at the same time she was a shrewd and
tough negotiator, and she had no tolerance for the incompetent or the
weak. She was ambitious and proud of it.
In conflicts, she always strategized to outwit her aggressive male
opponents and avoid bloodshed. With Cesare Borgia, she tried to lure
him onto the drawbridge using her feminine wiles; later, she tried to
lure him deeper and deeper into the castle, trapping him in a
protracted battle, giving her allies plenty of time to rescue her. She
nearly succeeded in both efforts.
This ability to play many different roles, to blend the masculine
with the feminine, was the source of her power. The only time she
relinquished this was in her marriage to Giacomo Feo. When she fell in
love with Feo, she was in a highly vulnerable position. The pressures
on her had been immense—dealing with a hopeless and abusive
husband, surviving the numerous pregnancies that had worn her
down, holding together the tenuous political alliances she had built up.
And so suddenly experiencing Feo’s adoring attention, it was natural
for her to seek a respite from her burdens, to relinquish power and
control for love. But in narrowing herself down to the role of the
devoted wife, she had to repress her naturally expansive character. She
had to expend her energy in placating her husband’s insecurities. In
the process she lost all initiative and paid the price, experiencing a
deep depression that nearly killed her. She learned her lesson and
afterward would remain true to herself for the rest of her life.
Perhaps what is most surprising about the story of Caterina Sforza
is the effect she had on the men and women of her time. We would
expect that people would have condemned her as a witch or virago and
shunned her for all her flouting of gender conventions. Instead, she
fascinated almost everyone who came in contact with her. Women
admired her strength. Isabella d’Este, the ruler of Mantua and her
contemporary, found her inspiring and wrote after her capture by
Borgia, “If the French criticize the cowardliness of our men, at least
they should praise the daring and valor of the Italian woman.” Men of
all types—artists, soldiers, priests, nobility, servants—obsessed over
her. Even those who wanted to destroy her, like Cesare Borgia, felt an
initial attraction and the desire to possess her.

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Men could talk battle and strategy with her and feel like they were
talking to an equal, not like the other women in their lives, with whom
they could barely converse. But more important, they sensed a freedom
in her that was exciting. They also had to play a gender role, one that
was not as constricting as a woman’s role but had its disadvantages.
They were expected to be always in control, tough and indomitable.
Secretly they were drawn to this dangerous woman with whom they
could lose control. She was not a feminine doll, all passive and existing
only to please men. She was unrepressed and authentic, which inspired
in them the desire to let go as well, to move past their own constricted
roles.