texts: revealed that the company had been processing millions of pounds' worth of gold, but claimed it was gold they had purchased themselves. The company's books stated that they were selling the melted gold for virtually the same amount as they had purchased it for—which didn't make sense, unless the records were false. Confiscated documents also showed that the company had been evading tax, and were ordered to pay £80,000 in unpaid tax. <mask> evaded arrest at the time, after fleeing to Tenerife with his family only days prior to his company being raided and its directors arrested. His family returned to England, whilst he sold his remaining assets back home and set up a timeshare business at Island Village, near Playa de las Américas. He attempted to move to Brazil after Spain signed an extradition treaty with the UK, but he was arrested and his entry refused as he had travelled on an expired passport. Deported back to England, he was forced to face trial.Despite <mask> admitting to melting down gold bars from the robbery in his garden, he was acquitted during the trial in 1987 after claiming that he wasn't aware they were stolen. Chappell was sentenced to ten years in the earlier trial. He was reported by The Independent in 1993 as being subject to an asset-freezing Mareva Injunction gained by Brink's-Mat from the High Court of Justice, enabling investigators to track his substantial financial resources. He later paid out £360,000 to Lloyd's the insurers as a result of a civil action brought against him, but continued to plead his innocence in the 1987 robbery and in 1999 claimed the authorities were persecuting him. For his connection to the Brink's-Mat robbery, <mask> acquired the sobriquet of

masks: Palmer Palmer Palmer


type: original

texts:
 'Goldfinger'. Conviction for time-share fraud and later events
In 2001, he defended himself after sacking his legal team in one of the longest fraud trials in British legal history. He was found guilty "of masterminding the largest timeshare fraud on record" and jailed for eight years.It is reported that he swindled 20,000 people out of £30 million, but attempts by the Crown to confiscate this profit were later stopped in a court hearing. Sentenced to 8 years, he served just over half of this term. His fortune at the time of his conviction was estimated at about £300 million, but <mask> was declared bankrupt in 2005 with debts of £3.9m. In 2007, he was arrested on charges including fraud. Reportedly, he had been able to continue his criminal activities during his incarceration, following his 2001 conviction. In 2009, after two years without charge in a high security Spanish jail, he was released on bail, but was required to report to court authorities every two weeks. In 2015, it was alleged by The Times from leaked Operation Tiberius files, that <mask> was protected from arrest and investigation by a clique of high-ranking corrupt Metropolitan Police officers.<mask>'s companions were reportedly once detained in possession of a silenced Uzi submachine gun and 380 rounds of ammunition. Death
<mask> was murdered on 24 June 2015 at the age of 64 in his gated home of South Weald, near Brentwood, Essex by means of gunshot wounds to the chest. The fact he had been shot 6 times was only revealed during a post-mortem as he had undergone open-heart surgery for which the wounds were mistaken. It was later revealed that at the time of his death, <mask> faced charges in Spain for fraud, firearm possession and money

masks: Palmer Palmer Palmer Palmer Palmer


texts:
 laundering. It was only after his death that it was revealed that in addition to his activities in Spain, <mask> also opened the first Russian timeshare company in the 1990s. A special BBC documentary presented by broadcaster Roger Cook revealed that since 1999, police had run an intelligence operation on <mask> from the RAF Spadeadam base in Cumbria. <mask> was under electronic surveillance by a secret police intelligence unit for 16 years until his assassination by a hitman in 2015, according to the special BBC television investigation.The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca), now the National Crime Agency, had gathered intelligence on <mask> in an operation codenamed Alpine because of concerns of corruption in the Metropolitan police. Following his death, it was revealed <mask>'s partner Christina Ketley remained under police surveillance following reports from Spanish law enforcement agencies that she played a "predominant role" in his criminal empire. Ketley and fellow mistress Saskia Mundinger, who both had children with <mask>, demanded payouts from him in 2005 to "keep them in the lifestyle they became accustomed to". He also had two daughters with his wife Marnie. On 4 February 2017, a 50-year-old man was questioned on suspicion of <mask>'s murder. Police said they had questioned a man who was originally from Tyneside although currently living in southern Spain. The man was not arrested but volunteered to be interviewed at a police station in the UK.The force did not specify at which police station he was interviewed. See also
Operation Tiberius

References

1950 births
2015 deaths
English gangsters
English fraudsters
Deaths by firearm in England
People murdered in England
20th-century

masks: Palmer Palmer Palmer Palmer Palmer Palmer Palmer


texts:
Admiral of the Fleet <mask>, 1st Baron <mask>,  (27 September 1873 – 15 November 1967) was a Royal Navy officer. During the First World War he was present as Sir David Beatty's Flag-Captain at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914, at the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915 and at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. After the war he became Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet and then Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet before serving as First Sea Lord in the mid-1930s in which role he won arguments that the Royal Navy should have 70 cruisers rather than the 50 cruisers that had been agreed at the Naval Conference of 1930, that the battleship still had an important role to play despite the development of the bomber and that the Fleet Air Arm should be part of the Royal Navy rather than the Royal Air Force. He subsequently served as Minister for Coordination of Defence in the early years of the Second World War. Naval career

Early naval career
Born the only son of Admiral <mask> and <mask> (née Faulconer), <mask> was educated at St Andrew's School in Tenby before he entered the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship HMS Britannia in 1886. He went to sea as a midshipman in the corvette HMS Cleopatra in November 1888 before transferring to the cruiser HMS Warspite, flagship of the Pacific Station, in 1890. Promoted to sub-lieutenant on 27 September 1892 and to lieutenant on 27 March 1894, he joined the battleship HMS Royal Sovereign, flagship of the Channel Fleet in May 1894.He attended the gunnery school HMS Excellent in 1895 and then joined the staff at the gunnery school HMS Cambridge at Devonport in August 1897. Chatfield became gunnery officer in the battleship HMS Caesar in the Mediterranean Fleet in January 1899 and then joined the staff of the gunnery school HMS Wildfire at Sheerness in January 1900 before becoming

masks:
Alfred Ernle Montacute Chatfield
Chatfield
Alfred John Chatfield
Louisa Chatfield
Chatfield


texts:
 1st lieutenant and gunnery officer in the cruiser HMS Good Hope in the Atlantic Fleet in November 1902. Promoted to commander on 1 January 1904, he transferred to the battleship HMS Venerable in the Mediterranean Fleet in January 1904. He returned to HMS Excellent in March 1906 and, having been promoted to captain on 30 June 1909, he became Flag Captain of the battleship HMS Albemarle, flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Colin Keppel, second-in-command of the Atlantic Fleet, in September 1909 and then Flag Captain of the battleship HMS London, Keppel's new flagship in the same role, in February 1910. After attending the War course at the Royal Naval War College at Portsmouth, he served as Captain of the converted liner RMS Medina for the Royal Tour of India in 1911 and was appointed to the Royal Victorian Order as a Commander in February 1912. He was then given command first of HMS Aboukir in the Reserve Fleet in Summer 1912, then of the cruiser HMS Southampton in September 1912 and subsequently of the battle cruiser HMS Lion, flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty's Battlecruiser Squadron, in March 1913. First World War

During the First World War <mask> was present as Beatty's Flag-Captain in the Lion at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914, at the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915 and at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916.It was at Jutland, after two British battlecruisers had blown up, that Beatty made his famous remark, "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today, Chatfield". Appointed to the Order of St Michael and St George as a Companion on 31 May 1916 and to the Order of the Bath as a Companion in the 1916 Birthday Honours, <mask> went on to command the battleship HMS Iron Duke, Beatty's flagship as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, in November 1916 and then the battleship , Beatty's new flagship

masks: Chatfield Chatfield


texts:
 in the same role, in February 1917. He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George on 5 April 1919. Senior command
After the war <mask> served as Fourth Sea Lord from July 1919 and, having been appointed Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King on 26 January 1920 and promoted to rear-admiral on 31 July 1920, he became Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff in February 1920. Advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1922 Birthday Honours, he was appointed Commander of the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron in September 1922 and Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy in April 1925. Promoted to vice-admiral on 1 March 1926, he went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, with his flag in the battleship HMS Nelson, in March 1929 and, having been promoted to full admiral on 1 April 1930, he became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, with his flag in the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth, in May 1930. <mask> became First Sea Lord in January 1933 and was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1934 New Year Honours.As First Sea Lord he won arguments that the Royal Navy should have 70 cruisers rather than the 50 cruisers that had been agreed at the London Naval Conference 1930, that the battleship still had an important role to play despite the development of the bomber and that the Fleet Air Arm should be part of the Royal Navy rather than the Royal Air Force. He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 3 May 1935 and, having taken part in the funeral of King George V in January 1936 and the coronation of King George VI in May 1937, he was raised to the peerage as <mask>field of Ditchling in the County of Sussex on 11 June 1937. He retired from the Royal Navy in August 1938. In late 1938 <mask> chaired the Expert Committee on the Defence of India which, using the work of the 1938

masks:
Chatfield
Chatfield
Baron Chat
Chatfield


texts:
 Auchinleck Committee, recommended that the arena of India's defence should be re-focussed more on her sea communications and less or her North-Western Land Frontier as well as the modernisation of the British Indian Army, the re-equipment of the RAF squadrons and the re-stocking of war stores. Minister for Coordination of Defence

Having been appointed to the Order of Merit in the 1939 New Year Honours, in February <mask> succeeded Sir Thomas Inskip as Minister for Coordination of Defence in the government of Neville Chamberlain, despite having a non-political background. He was sworn of the Privy Council at the same time. In March 1939 Chatfield urged an increase in munition production: "Would it not be possible to put industry on a war production basis immediately, not necessarily at the expense of our export trade but by curtailing internal consumption?"However the President of the Board of Trade, Oliver Stanley, objected: "Such a step would be almost revolutionary, and must be proved absolutely essential before introduction". On 11 April 1939 the Foreign Policy Committee decided that the question of Russia's potential as an ally should be referred to the Chiefs of Staff. Chatfield said that it was clear the political arguments against a Russian alliance outweighed any possible military benefits and that the Chiefs of Staff should only report on Russia's military capability. On 24 April 1939 the Chiefs of Staff submitted their report and rated Russia's military effectiveness low. The next day <mask> gave the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Policy a summary of this report: "Russia, although a great Power for other purposes, was only a Power of medium rank for military purposes...Her assistance would be of considerable, though not of great, military value". On 16 May 1939 Lord Halifax said that the political reasons for not allying with


texts:
 Russia were stronger than the strategic reasons for such an alliance. Chatfield responded: "...if for fear of making an alliance with Russia we drove that country into the German camp we should have made a mistake of vital and far-reaching importance".<mask> resigned as Minister for Coordination of Defence in April 1940 and subsequently chaired a committee on the evacuation of London's hospitals. He retired to his home at Farnham Common in Buckinghamshire and became Deputy Lieutenant of that county on 15 June 1951. He died at his home there on 15 November 1967. Family
In July 1909 he married Lillian Emma Matthews (d.1977); they had two daughters and a son. Their son, <mask>, succeeded his father as Baron <mask>. He followed him into the Royal Navy, serving as Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General of Canada between 1940 and 1945. The 2nd Baron settled in Victoria, British Columbia.Their elder daughter, Angela (Lady Donner) married Sir Patrick Donner MP. Their younger daughter, Katharine, married Henry Duckworth, son of Sir George Duckworth. Arms

References

Sources

Further reading

External links

 Transcription of Official Service Records on www.admirals.org.uk

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1873 births
1967 deaths
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order
Deputy Lieutenants of Buckinghamshire
Ernle family
First Sea Lords and Chiefs of the Naval Staff
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Lords of the Admiralty
Members of the Order of Merit
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Ministers in the Chamberlain peacetime government, 1937–1939
Ministers in the Chamberlain wartime government, 1939–1940
Peers created by George VI
People from Southsea
Royal Navy admirals of the fleet
Royal Navy officers of World War I
Military personnel

masks: Chatfield Ernle Chatfield


texts: <mask> (born August 7, 1954) <mask> is a retired male long-distance runner from the United States, who competed in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the men's marathon. He won the 1981 edition of the Paris Marathon ex-æquo with England's Dave Cannon. He won the 1983 Beijing Marathon and competed at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics later that year, finishing in 18th place overall. He qualified for the 1980 Olympic team but never competed due to the  U.S. boycott on the Moscow Games that year. He once held the fifth fastest marathon time ever run by an American. <mask> is a four time United States Olympic trials qualifier. He is one of only four Americans to run more than 20 marathons under 2:20 and he is one of two Americans to a win major marathon on five different continents.From 1981 through 1983 he was married to and coached Mary Decker. While overseeing Decker's training Mary set several world records both indoors and outdoors. Among the many records she set were the 1 mile, 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000. Decker remains the only athlete to ever accomplish this feat male or female. Born and raised in Lexington, Mo. <mask> began running track in the spring of his junior year. He immediately found success running the two mile where he set the L.H.S.school record which still stands as of 2020. <mask>'s success earned him an athletic scholarship to Central Missouri State University. At Central Missouri, <mask> broke every school record from the mile to 10,000 meters and he was a four time NCAA All American. After college, in 1977 <mask> set his sights on qualifying for the 1980

masks:
Ron Tabb
Ron
Tabb
Tabb
Tabb
Tabb
Tabb


texts:
 United States Olympic marathon trials and in January 1978 he won his first major marathon in Houston (2:17:11) setting a Texas state record and qualifying for the United States Olympic trials. In January 1980, <mask> again won the Houston Marathon (2:13:35) re-setting the mark he established in 1978, then in February he won the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans (2:11:00) setting a Louisiana state marathon record which continues to stand in 2020. In April <mask> finished 3rd at the Boston Marathon (2:14:48), and in May <mask> went on to finish 4th at the Olympic Marathon (2:12:39) trails. In 1983 <mask> who had been self coached since 1977 began training under the legendary University of Oregon coach Bill Dellinger.Dellinger once coached the great Steve Prefontaine and he was coaching Alberto Salazar the current world record holder in the marathon. Under Dellinger's guidance <mask> became the fifth fastest marathon runner in United States history by finishing 2nd at the 1983 Boston Marathon (2:09:31). Entering 1984 <mask> was a favorite to win a medal in the Olympic Marathon but a series of injuries derailed his hopes. " Meb Keflezighi influenced  by <mask>bb
After former U.S. marathon star <mask> watched Meb training one afternoon in San Diego, <mask> told Meb that he would make a great marathoner some day. Meb thought <mask> was crazy. And the 26.2-mile distance too. Meb is "The only athlete in history to win the Boston Marathon, the New York City Marathon & an Olympic medal"

Fort Myers names former top marathoner <mask> new girls cross country coach
"A winner of 10 marathons in

masks:
Tabb
Tabb
Tabb
Tabb
Tabb
Tabb
Ron Ta
Ron Tabb
Tabb
Tabb
Ron Tabb


texts:
 a career that ended in 1992, <mask> posted top-10 finishes in the Boston and New York Marathons while winning the Paris and Beijing marathons.Upon retiring as a professional runner, <mask> took his running experience and began coaching at the college level. His first coaching job was at Cuyamaca Community College in El Cajon, CA. where in 1993 he coached his men's team to a California Cross Country State Championship and was named California Community Coach of the year. His men's team was the number one ranked Community College team in the nation. It was during this time when he began coaching a high school student/athlete named Meb Keflezighi. Under <mask>'s guidance Keflezighi led the nation in four events, 1600, 1 mile, 3200, and 2 mile. Keflezighi would follow <mask>'s footsteps becoming a marathon runner and become the first United States Olympic marathon medalist since Frank Shorter in 1976 winning the silver medal in 2004 in Athens, Greece.Keflezighi would represent the United States in four Olympic games and win both the Boston and New York City Marathons. <mask> also was also the head men's and women's Head Cross Country and Track Coach at NCAA D-III Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon where coached dozens of NCAA National qualifiers and several NCAA All-Americans. Achievements
 1983 Boston Marathon....2:09:31  2nd. 5th fastest marathon in U.S. history
 1983 N.Y. City Marathon.2:10:48  3rd. 1st American
 1983 Wang Australian Marathon..2:10:53 1st 2nd fastest marathon on Australian continent. 1980 Mardi Gras Marathon (New Orleans) 2:11:00 1st Louisiana state record.

masks: Tabb Tabb Tabb Tabb Tabb


texts:
 1981 Paris Marathon Paris, France..2:11:44..1st fastest marathon on French soil.1980 U.S. Olympic trials..2:12:39 4th..1st alternate United States Olympic Team
 1980 Houston Marathon..2:13:35..1st..Texas state record
 1983 World Championships..2:13:38..Helsinki, Finland 18th. Fastest time by an American at World Championships until 2007. 1980 Boston Marathon..2:14:48..3rd..2nd American
 1982 Nike OTC Marathon..2:15:30 15th. Eugene, Oregon. 1985 Rio Marathon..2:16:16..1st. Fastest marathon on South American continent. 1978 St. Louis Marathon..2:16:35..1st..Missouri state record.1979 N.Y. City Marathon..2:16:28 8th. 1981 Toronto Marathon..2:16:48..2nd. 1978 Houston Marathon..2:17:11..1st..Texas state record
 1979 Montreal Marathon..2:17:14..10th..1st American
 1985 Big "M" Marathon..2:17:45..4th..1st American
 1979 Honolulu Marathon..2:17:58..3rd
 1983 Beijing Marathon..2:18:51..1st..
 1985 New Jersey Waterfront Marathon..2:19:11..4th
 1988 Houston Marathon..2:19:38..17th
 1979 Boston Marathon..2:19:41..51st. References

External links
ARRS

1954 births
Living people
American male long-distance runners
American male marathon runners
University of Central Missouri alumni
Paris Marathon male


texts:
<mask> (born 15 February 1944) is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the English rock band the Kinks. He joined them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remained with them until 1984, when he left amid creative friction with guitarist Dave Davies. He is the longest-serving member of the band, apart from the Davies brothers. He is also the most prolific member, again apart from the Davies brothers, who has played on twenty studio albums or nearly all of the band's creative output. Before the band (1962–63)
Before he joined the Kinks, <mask> was a member of the band Bobby Angelo & The Tuxedos who had a No. 30 hit with "Baby Sittin'" in August 1961. After leaving that group, he was asked twice to rehearse on drums at the Bricklayers Arms pub in London during late May/early June 1962 for a group of musicians who were later to become the Rolling Stones.It has been said that he also went on to play at their first show at The Marquee Club on 12 July 1962, yet <mask> himself says "I think Tony Chapman did the gig at the Marquee. I didn't. I just rehearsed twice in the Bricklayers Arms in Soho." The Kinks (1964–1984)

Avory joined the Kinks in January 1964, after their previous drummer <mask> Willet left the band. <mask> was hired to replace him after their management saw an advertisement Avory had placed in the trade magazine Melody Maker. Despite his ability, early Kinks recordings (including hits such as "You Really Got Me") commonly did not feature Avory on drums; producer Shel Talmy hired more seasoned session drummers (most notably Clem Cattini and Bobby Graham) for studio work well

masks:
Michael Charles Avory
Avory
Avory
Micky
Avory


texts: into 1965, but with Avory often providing supporting percussion and he drummed on certain tracks on the first and third albums and all but one song on the second album Kinda Kinks. The first single A-side Avory played on was "Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy", and went on to play on all Kinks recordings from the 1966 album Face to Face until his departure in 1984.<mask> was always considered the quietest and most easy-going member of the Kinks lineup and was Ray Davies's best friend. However, his turbulent working relationship with guitarist Dave Davies resulted in many legendary onstage fights. In the most notorious (and widely mis-reported) incident, at the Capitol Theatre, Cardiff, South Wales, in 1965, <mask> hit Davies with his drum pedal (not the cymbal stand, which, according to later interviews with Avory "would have decapitated him"), in reprisal for Davies kicking over his drum kit as revenge for a drunken fight the previous night in a Taunton hotel, apparently won by <mask>. He then fled into hiding for days to avoid arrest for grievous bodily harm. On other occasions, fuming, he would hurl his drumsticks at Dave. According to Ray, their problems began during the time <mask> and Dave shared a flat in London for a short period in early 1965. Ultimately, the relationship between <mask> and the younger Davies brother deteriorated to the point where Avory left the band.By agreement with Ray Davies, he ceased performing and recording with the band in 1984, but accepted an invitation to manage Konk Studios, where the band and the Davies brothers record most of their records - a position he has held ever since. Ray explained the

masks: Avory Avory Mick Mick Avory


texts:
 situation:

<mask> was replaced by Bob Henrit, former drummer with The Roulettes, Unit 4 + 2 and Argent. Later on, it would seem that Dave Davies and Avory settled their differences, as Avory subsequently played the drums on "Rock 'n' Roll Cities", a track on the Think Visual album written by Dave Davies. <mask> was asked to rejoin by Ray Davies, but he declined as he wanted a rest from the non-stop touring, working and performing schedule of two decades. Current work (1985–present)
In 1996, he started playing with The Kast Off Kinks, along with John Dalton, Dave Clarke (no relation to the Dave Clark of "The Dave Clark Five"), John Gosling and Jim Rodford. He has performed with them ever since. In the 1990s, he also formed Shut Up Frank with Clarke, Noel Redding and Dave Rowberry of The Animals.They toured extensively and recorded several albums. <mask> was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005, with original bassist Pete Quaife and the Davies brothers. By April 2004 at the request of The Animals, who were about to do their 40th anniversary tour, Chip Hawkes (formerly of The Tremeloes) was asked to form a band to tour along with them. This he did and brought together a true beat-era supergroup. The band features former original members of British 1960s groups, including <mask>, Eric Haydock (The Hollies) and Hawkes, who have now combined to perform as The Class of 64 (referring to the actual year the British Invasion took America by storm), also featuring guitarists 'Telecaster Ted' Tomlin and Graham Pollock. The band have toured around the world, and have recorded an

masks: Avory Avory Avory Avory


texts:
 album of their former bands' hits. In 2007, <mask> left The Class of 64 and, with other former 64 members Haydock, Pollock, Tomlin, formed a new band called The Legends of the Sixties, adding Martin Lyon.<mask> made a special guest appearance onstage at Ray Davies' Royal Albert Hall performance on 10 May 2007. He played tambourine. Also guesting was Ian Gibbons, the former longtime Kinks keyboard player. Avory also plays in The '60s All Stars' band with British 1960s group members: John Dee (The Foundations), Alan Lovell (The Swinging Blue Jeans) and Derek Mandell (The George Harrison Band). The band can be seen playing regularly at the Cardinal Wolsey pub across the river from Avory's childhood suburb. <mask> was selected to pick up the sticks for From The Jam following Rick Buckler's departure, and toured with them in December 2009. Personal life
Avory lives in Kew, west London.<mask> also has a daughter, although he has claimed that she isn't "terribly musical." <mask> married Marliesa Mladek in January 2018. References

External links
 <mask>'s page at Drummerworld

1944 births
Living people
The Kinks members
English rock drummers
People from Molesey
People from Chipping Barnet
British rhythm and blues boom

masks:
Avory
Avory
Avory
Avory
Avory
Mick Avory


texts:
<mask> (1463 – 28 May 1509) was an Italian noblewoman, the Countess of Forlì and Lady of Imola, firstly with her husband Girolamo Riario, and after his death as a regent of her son Ottaviano. The descendant of a dynasty of noted condottieri, from an early age, <mask> distinguished herself through her bold and impetuous actions taken to safeguard her possessions from possible usurpers and to defend her dominions from attack, when they were involved in political intrigues. In her private life, <mask> was devoted to various activities, including experiments in alchemy and a love of hunting and dancing. She had many children, but only the youngest, Captain Giovanni delle Bande Nere, inherited his mother's forceful, militant personality. <mask>'s resistance to Cesare Borgia meant she had to face his fury and imprisonment. After she gained her freedom in Rome, she then went on to lead a quiet life in Florence. In the final years of her life, she confided to a monk: "Se io potessi scrivere tutto, farei stupire il mondo" (If I could write everything that happened, I would shock the world).Life

Childhood
<mask> <mask> was born in Milan in early 1463, the illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza by his mistress, Lucrezia Landriani. It's believed that she spent the first years of her life with her mother's relatives. The bond between mother and daughter was never interrupted: in fact, Lucrezia followed <mask>'s growth and was always close to her in the crucial moments of her life, even in the final years that she spent in Florence. Upon the succession

masks:
Caterina Sforza
Caterina
Caterina
Caterina
Caterina
Sforza
Caterina


texts: of Galeazzo <mask> as Duke of Milan in 1466, following the death of his father Francesco, Galeazzo arranged for his four children by Lucrezia Landriani to come to court: Carlo (born in 1461; later Count of Magenta), <mask>, Alessandro (born in 1465; later Lord of Francavilla), and Chiara (born in 1467; by her first marriage, she became Countess dal Verme di Sanguinetto and Lady of Vigevano; by her second marriage, she became Lady of Novi). The children were entrusted to their paternal grandmother, Bianca Maria Visconti. In 1466, Galeazzo had married Dorotea Gonzaga, but after her death he remarried to Bona of Savoy on 9 May 1468, who eventually adopted them all. At the Sforza court, frequented by writers and artists, <mask> and her siblings received a humanistic education.At that time, in the Italian courts, daughters of noble families received the same education as their brothers. In addition to Latin and the reading of the classics, as prescribed by her teachers, <mask> learned, especially from her paternal grandmother, to take pride in her warlike ancestors, to show boldness in the use of arms, and astuteness in the skill of government. From her adoptive mother, she received her share of the maternal warmth and affection that Bona of Savoy poured over all of the children of her husband; this continued – after <mask> had left the Milanese court – in the form of correspondence between the two women. The duke's family resided in Milan and in Pavia, and often stayed at Galliate or at Cusago, where Galeazzo Maria devoted himself to hunting. At one

masks:
Maria Sforza
Caterina
Caterina
Caterina
Caterina


texts:
 or the other of the two places <mask> also probably acquired her lifelong passion for hunting. First marriage

In 1473, <mask> became betrothed to Girolamo Riario, the son of Paolo Riario and Bianca della Rovere, sister of Pope Sixtus IV (in office: 1471–1484). <mask> replaced her cousin, the 11-year-old Costanza Fogliani, as Girolamo's bride because, according to some historians, Costanza's mother Gabriella Gonzaga (illegitimate daughter of Marquis Ludovico III of Mantua) refused to allow the consummation of the marriage until Costanza reached the legal age—then 14—while <mask>, although only ten years old at that time, agreed with the demands of the groom; other sources instead reported that the marriage of <mask> and Girolamo was celebrated on 17 January 1473, but consummated four years later (1477) when <mask> reached the age of fourteen, without giving further details about the broken betrothal with Costanza.Pope Sixtus IV gave Girolamo the Lordship of Imola, already a Sforza city, but at the time a fief of the Riario family. After a triumphal entrance into Imola in 1477, <mask> went to Rome with her husband, where he lived for many years in the service of his uncle, the Pope. The following year, in March 1478, <mask> gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Bianca after both Girolamo's mother, Bianca della Rovere, and <mask>'s paternal grandmother, Bianca Maria Visconti. <mask> subsequently gave birth to five more children in the next nine years. In the Vatican court
At the end of the 15th century, Rome was no longer a medieval city,

masks: Caterina Caterina Caterina Caterina Caterina Caterina Caterina Caterina Caterina Caterina


texts: but not yet the important centre of artistic endeavors it would become a few decades later as one of the most important cities of the Renaissance. Upon her arrival in May 1477, <mask> found a city full of cultural fervour, with a desire for renovation. The atmosphere was a mix of intrigue and power, which was pursued without scruples, with material interests far exceeding the spiritual.<mask> was banned by her husband from meddling in politics, but she quickly integrated—owing to her extroverted and sociable character—into aristocratic Roman society. As evidenced by correspondence from that period, <mask> immediately became admired as one of the most beautiful and elegant among noble Roman women. She was welcomed everywhere, treated with great respect and lavishly praised by all of society including the Pope, and she soon transformed from a simple adolescent into a refined and powerful intermediary between the Roman court and other Italian courts, especially Milan. Girolamo was given a leading position in the expansion policy of Pope Sixtus IV after the premature death of the Pope's favoured nephew, Cardinal Pietro Riario. His power grew daily, and he soon displayed increasing ruthlessness towards his enemies. In 1480, the Pope, with the objective of attaining a strong domain in the land of Romagna, assigned Girolamo the lordship of Forlì, which had remained vacant after it was sequestered from the Ordelaffi family. The new lord tried to earn the favour of the populace by erecting magnificent public buildings and churches, and by abolishing

masks: Caterina Caterina Caterina


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 taxes.The lives of <mask> and Girolamo changed abruptly with the death of Sixtus IV on 12 August 1484. Occupation of Castel Sant'Angelo
When Pope Sixtus IV died, rebellions and disorder immediately spread through Rome, including looting of his supporters' residences. Girolamo's residence, the Orsini palace in Campo de' Fiori, was stripped of its content and almost destroyed. In this time of anarchy, <mask>, who was in her seventh month of pregnancy, crossed the Tiber on horseback to occupy the rocca (fortress) of Castel Sant'Angelo on behalf of her husband. From this position and with the obedience of the soldiers, <mask> could monitor the Vatican and dictate the conditions for the new conclave. Meanwhile, the disorder in the city increased. A militia accompanied the arrival of the cardinals.The latter did not want to attend the funeral of Sixtus IV and refused to enter into conclave, for fear of coming under the fire of <mask>'s artillery. The situation was difficult because only the election of a new Pope would put an end to the violence in Rome. Unsuccessful attempts to persuade her to leave the fortress failed, as she was determined to give it only to the new Pope, saying that Pope Sixtus had bestowed its control to her family. Girolamo and his army occupied a strategic position at that point, yet could not implement an effective solution. The Sacred College asked Girolamo to leave Rome, offering in return the confirmation of his lordship over Imola and Forlì, the military post of captain-general of the Church, and 8,000 ducats in compensation

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 for the damages to his property. Girolamo accepted. When <mask> was informed of the decisions taken by her husband, she increased the quota of her soldiers and made preparations for resistance in order to force the cardinals to parley with her.The cardinals again approached Girolamo, who took up a position against his wife. On 25 October 1484, <mask> surrendered the fortress to the Sacred College and left Rome with her family. The Sacred College were then able to meet in conclave to elect the new Pope. Forlì
In Forlì, law and order had been maintained by <mask>'s uncle Ludovico il Moro Sforza, Duke of Milan. On their arrival, the Riarios learned of the election of Giovanni Battista Cybo, an old opponent, as Pope Innocent VIII. He confirmed Girolamo in his lordships of Imola and Forlì and his appointment as captain-general. That appointment, however, was only nominal; Girolamo had no real control over the papal army and Innocent VIII refused to pay Girolamo for leaving Rome.Despite the loss of income, Girolamo did not reinstate taxes on the people of Forlì. This situation lasted until the end of 1485, when the city government completely ran out of money. Girolamo, pressed by a member of the Council of Elders, Nicolò Pansecco, was forced to levy taxes. The taxes were deemed excessive by the population and led to Girolamo's increased unpopularity among all citizens of Forlì. The tax increase, which affected mainly the artisan class and landowners, added to the discontent that had previously been limited to the families who had suffered under


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 Girolamo's persecution of those whom he suspected of treachery. His enemies began to conspire against him with a view to making Franceschetto Cybo, the illegitimate son of Pope Innocent, lord of Imola and Forlì in his stead. Girolamo's death
After more than a half dozen failed attempts, Girolamo was killed on 14 April 1488 by a conspiracy led by the Orsis, a noble family of Forlì.The lord's palace was sacked, while <mask> and her children were made prisoners. The fortress of Ravaldino, a central part of the defensive system of the city, refused to surrender to the Orsis. <mask> offered to attempt to persuade the castellan, Tommaso Feo, to submit. The Orsis believed <mask> because she left her children as hostages, but once inside she let loose a barrage of vulgar threats and promises of vengeance against her former captors. According to one rumour, when they threatened to kill her children, <mask>, standing in the walls of the fortress exposed her genitals and said: "" ('Do it, if you want to: hang them even in front of me ... here I have what's needed to make others!'). This story, however, is most likely an untrue embellishment. The historical record tells that <mask>, in fact, said she was pregnant.Although her statement that she was pregnant is, by most historians, considered to have been a ruse, it rendered worthless any power the conspirators had in holding her children, Girolamo's legitimate heirs. Shocked by this response, the Orsis did not dare touch the Riario children. With the assistance of her uncle Ludovico il Moro (very interested

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 in securing some influence in the Romagna, to counter the influence of Venice), <mask> defeated her enemies and regained possession of her dominions. Lady of Imola and Forlì
On 30 April 1488, <mask> became regent for her eldest son Ottaviano, formally recognised by all the members of the Comune and the head of the magistrates as the new Lord of Forlì that day, but too young to exercise power directly. <mask>'s first act as Regent of Forlì was to avenge the death of her husband, according to the custom of the time. She ordered that all those involved in the Orsi conspiracy were to be imprisoned, along with the Pope's governor, Monsignor Savelli, all the pontifical generals, and the castellan of the fortress of Forlimpopoli, and also all women of the Orsis and other families who had assisted in the conspiracy. Soldiers sought out all who had taken part in the conspiracy.Houses owned by those imprisoned were razed while their valuables were distributed to the poor. On 30 July news came that Pope Innocent VIII had given Ottaviano Riario the official investiture of his state "until his line ended". In the meantime, Forlì was visited by Cardinal Raffaele Riario, officially to protect the orphan children of his late cousin Girolamo but actually, to oversee the government of <mask>. The young Countess personally dealt with all issues concerning the government of her city-state, both public and private. To consolidate her power, she exchanged gifts with the lords of neighbouring states and involved herself in marriage negotiations for her children. She


texts: decreased taxes by reducing some and eliminating others, and sharply controlled her realm's spending. <mask> dealt directly with the training of her militia in the use of weapons and horses.It was her intention that her cities and towns be orderly and peaceful, and she expected her subjects to appreciate these efforts. The states of Forlì and Imola were smaller than the great Italian states but, due to their geographical position, had a considerable strategic importance on the political affairs. In those years there were significant events that changed the geopolitical situation of Italy. Lorenzo il Magnifico, whose shrewd policy had curbed claims and rivalries of the various Italian states,  died on 8 April 1492. Pope Innocent VIII also died on 25 July of that year, and was replaced by Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, who took the name of Pope Alexander VI. His election seemed to strengthen <mask>'s rule. While she and her husband had lived in Rome, the Cardinal had often been a guest at their home, and he was godfather to Ottaviano.These events directly threatened the stability and peace in Italy. With the death of Lorenzo there came about friction between the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples, leading up to the crisis of September 1494, when, incited by Ludovico il Moro, King Charles VIII of France entered into Italy to claim the Kingdom of Naples as the Anjou heir. At first Pope Alexander VI also gave his support to Charles's claim, leading to four years of war. During the conflict between Naples and Milan, <mask>, who knew that she was placed


texts: in a strategic position of passage for anyone who wanted to go to the south, tried to remain neutral. She knew Forlì was exposed to invasion, located in a strategic position on the way to Rome. On one side, her uncle Ludovico had allied with Charles VIII; on the other side, Pope Alexander VI now opposed France's ambitions in Italy, and her brother-in-law, Cardinal Raffaele Riario, argued in favour of the incumbent King of Naples. After a meeting on 23 September 1494, <mask> was persuaded by the Duke of Calabria Ferrandino d'Aragona to support King Alfonso II of Naples and prepared to defend Imola and Forlì.To cause the break between the two was then the so-called sack of Mordano, which took place between 20 and 21 October: around the city of Mordano they had gathered between fourteen thousand to sixteen thousand French to encircles it with siege and at the same time to trap Ferrandino, who having a smaller number of men would almost certainly have been defeated. He therefore, understanding the situation, on the advice of his generals decided not to respond to the countess's requests for help. <mask>, very angry, considered herself betrayed by the Neapolitan allies and passed on the side of the French, who had devastated her lands and torn her subjects, therefore Ferrandino, having learned the news, under a hijacked rain was forced to leave Faenza with his men and to get on the way to Cesena. Note in this regard the chronicler forlivese Leone Cobelli that, while Ferrandino always behaved honestly, <mask> sent men behind him to rob him, albeit


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 unsuccessfully:

Charles VIII, however, preferred to avoid the Romagna and cross the Apennines, following the road of the Cisa pass. The Kingdom of Naples was conquered by the French army in only 13 days. This frightened the Italian principalities, and they formed the League of Venice against Charles VIII. The League defeated the French King at the Fornovo and he was forced to retreat to France.This time, <mask> managed to remain neutral. By not participating in the expulsion of the French, she maintained the support of both her uncle Ludovico in Milan (now legitimate Duke of Milan) and also that of the Pope. Second marriage
Two months after the death of Girolamo, a rumour was spread that <mask> was close to marrying Antonio Maria Ordelaffi, who had started to court her. This marriage would end the claims of the Ordelaffi family on the city of Forlì. Antonio Maria, feeling confident, wrote to the Duke of Ferrara that the Countess promised to marry him. When <mask> saw how things stood, she imprisoned those who had spread the false news. These promises were addressed by the Senate in Venice, which summoned Antonio Maria to Friuli, where he remained confined for ten years.In point of fact, <mask> had fallen in love with Giacomo Feo, the brother of Tommaso Feo, the castellan who had remained faithful to her after the assassination of her husband. <mask> married him in 1488, but secretly, to avoid losing custody of her children and the regency of her dominions. All the contemporary chronicles reported that <mask> was madly in love with the young

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texts: Giacomo. It was feared that she could strip her son Ottaviano of his future lordship, in order to give it to her lover and secret husband. Giacomo was appointed castellan of the fortress of Ravaldino in place of his brother, and was awarded with an order of chivalry from Ludovico il Moro. In April 1489, <mask> gave birth to Giacomo's son, Bernardino, later called Carlo in honour of King Charles VIII, who had made Giacomo a baron of France. Also, she had replaced the castellans of the fortresses of her dominions with her closest relatives: the fortress of Imola was given to Gian Piero Landriani, her stepfather, and the fortress of Forlimpopoli to Piero Landriani, her half-brother, while Tommaso Feo was married to Bianca Landriani, <mask>'s half-sister.At Tossignano, a conspiracy was formed to seize the fortress in the name of Ottaviano, and murder both Giacomo and <mask>. The Countess discovered the plot and imprisoned or executed those who were involved. Immediately after this conspiracy was foiled, another plot was organised by Antonio Maria Ordelaffi, who had never become resigned to the loss of Forlí, but this also failed. Giacomo's power increased, and with his cruelty and insolence he incurred the hatred of all, including <mask>'s children. On one occasion, in full view of the public, he slapped Ottaviano (the rightful Lord of Forlì), but nobody had the courage to defend the boy. After this incident, adherents of Ottaviano decided to liberate the city from the domination of Giacomo Feo. Gian Antonio Ghetti and some of <mask>'s own children


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 formed a conspiracy.On the evening of 27 August 1495, <mask>, Giacomo Feo, and their entourage were returning from a hunt. <mask>, her daughter Bianca Riario and some of her ladies-in-waiting rode in a carriage, followed on horseback by Giacomo, Ottaviano, and his brother Cesare and many staffieri and soldiers. Agents of the conspiracy attacked and mortally wounded Giacomo. The same day, Ghetti went to <mask>, thinking that she had secretly given the order to kill Giacomo. <mask> was unaware of the plot, and her revenge was terrible. When her first husband was murdered, she avenged his death according to the justice of the time; now she reacted with vindictive fury. She was not satisfied with mere executions: their deaths had to be among the most cruel and painful.Catherine even slaughtered the children, infants and pregnant women of the conspirators. Thus Marin Sanudo, who says it is "cruelest":Thirty-eight people were executed for the crime - including Ghetti and his wife and children - and many others imprisoned or exiled. <mask>'s fury blinded her to the politics that had inspired the plot. It had involved almost all the supporters of Ottaviano Riario, who were convinced that <mask> had given her tacit consent to the killing of the man who was considered the "usurper" of the state's rightful ruler. They had wanted to uphold the power of the Riario family. As a result of the massacre which followed the assassination of Giacomo Feo, <mask> lost, forever, the good will of her people. Third marriage
In 1496, the ambassador of the Republic of

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texts: Florence, Giovanni de' Medici il Popolano, paid a visit to Caterina.The second son of Pierfrancesco il Vecchio, he belonged to a collateral branch of the Medici family. Along with his older brother Lorenzo, he had been sent into exile because of his open hostility toward their cousin Piero, who succeeded his father Lorenzo il Magnifico in the government of Florence. In 1494, when Charles VIII invaded Italy, Piero was forced to sign a treaty which allowed the French army to move freely into the Kingdom of Naples. The people of Florence were liberated, deposed Piero and proclaimed a Republic. Giovanni and his brother were able to return to their homeland. They renounced the Medici surname and took the name of "Popolano". The Florentine government appointed Giovanni as ambassador to Forlì.Shortly after coming to Forlì, Giovanni and his entourage were housed in the apartments adjacent to <mask>'s in the fortress of Ravaldino. The rumours of a possible marriage between Giovanni and <mask> and that Ottaviano Riario had accepted the post of Condottiero from Florence threatened the Venetians, and alarmed the lords of the League and the Duke of Milan. <mask> could not hide her wedding plans and her own feelings from her uncle Ludovico; she truly fell in love with the handsome, charming, and intelligent Giovanni. The situation differed from the previous one as this time <mask> had the approval of her children and she also obtained the consent of her uncle. The marriage of two people from such powerful families, however, was likely to arouse opposition, so


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 they were wed in secret in September 1497. In April 1498, <mask> bore Giovanni a son, the last of her children. The child was baptised as Ludovico after his mother's uncle, the Duke of Milan, but later he became known by the name Giovanni delle Bande Nere.Meanwhile, affairs between Florence and Venice were getting worse and <mask>, who occupied the main route between the two cities, prepared her defences. She sent a contingent of knights to the aid of Florence, led by Giovanni and her eldest son, Ottaviano Riario, accompanied by men she had trained herself. Giovanni became seriously ill and was compelled to leave the battlefield and return to Forlì. There, despite treatment, his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to Santa Maria in Bagno, where he hoped for a miraculous recovery. On 14 September 1498, Giovanni died in the presence of <mask>, who had been summoned urgently to attend him. Giovanni's death left <mask> alone to face the Borgias. Defence against Venice
After having returned to Forlì in order to make preparations for the defence of her states, <mask> was occupied by military concerns, especially logistics.Training the militia was executed by the Countess in person. To find additional money and troops, she wrote to her uncle Ludovico, the Republic of Florence and the neighbouring states who were her allies. Only the Marquis of Mantua and Ludovico il Moro sent a small contingent of soldiers. The latter sent two very valid leaders:  and , but <mask> was not able to manage the grumpy and angry character of the first: she


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 complained about it with her uncle, saying that Fracasso constantly quarreled with his brother and with the other captains, who did what he wanted and spoke badly of her; even one day he threatened to leave, offended by some of his words. Ludovico invited her to be patient, because, although he said "some bad words", they could not find a better leader than him. After an initial attack by the Venetians, which inflicted severe destruction, <mask>'s army managed to outmanoeuvre them. Afterwards, the war continued with minor skirmishes until the Venetians were able to circumvent Forlì to reach Florence by another route.Because of this staunch defence, <mask> Sforza gained the nickname of "" ('The Tiger'). Capture by Cesare Borgia
In the meantime, Louis XII had succeeded to the French throne. Louis claimed the rights both to the Duchy of Milan as a grandson of Valentina Visconti, and to the Kingdom of Naples as heir to the House of Anjou. Before starting his campaign in Italy, Louis XII secured an alliance with Savoy, the Republic of Venice, and Pope Alexander VI. In the summer of 1499, he came to Italy with a formidable army; without having to fight a single battle, he occupied Piedmont, as well as Genoa and Cremona. On 6 October, he settled in Milan, which had been abandoned the previous month by Duke Ludovico, who fled to the Tyrol under the protection of his nephew-by-marriage Emperor Maximilian I.

Alexander VI allied himself with Louis XII in return for the King's support in establishing Alexander's son Cesare Borgia, the Duke of Valentinois, as

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texts: ruler in Romagna. Alexander issued a Papal Bull on 9 March 1499 to invalidate the investiture of the feudal lords, including Caterina.When the French army left Milan with Cesare to begin the conquest of Romagna, Ludovico il Moro regained the Duchy with the help of the Austrians. <mask> sought relief from Florence against the approaching French army, but Florence was threatened by the Pope, so she was left alone to defend herself. She immediately began to recruit and train many soldiers and began to store weapons, ammunition and food. She reinforced the defences, especially that of Ravaldino where she resided and which was already considered impenetrable. She also sent her children to Florence. On 24 November, Cesare Borgia arrived in Imola. The city gates were opened by the inhabitants, and he was able to take possession, after having conquered the fortress where the castellan Dionigi Naldi of Brisighella had resisted for several days.After seeing what had happened there, <mask> asked the people of Forlì if they also wanted to capitulate to Borgia, or if they wanted to be defended and endure the resulting siege. Because the people hesitated in answering, <mask> absolved the citizens of Forlì of their oath of fealty, and sealed herself in Ravaldino. On 19 December, the Duke of Valentinois took possession of Forlì and began the siege of the fortress. <mask> repeatedly refused all offers of peace, from Cesare and from Cardinal Riario. In response, Cesare offered 10,000 ducats for her, dead or alive. <mask> tried to capture Cesare when he came near


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 the fortress to talk to her, but the attempt failed. For several days the artillery of both factions engaged in a mutual bombardment: <mask>'s cannon inflicted heavy losses on the French army, but the French artillery damaged the defences of the main fortress.What was destroyed during the day was rebuilt during the night. <mask>'s solitary resistance was admired throughout all Italy; Niccolò Machiavelli reports that many songs and epigrams were composed in her honour. All were lost except that of Marsilio Compagnon. As time passed without decisive results, Cesare changed his tactics. His troops bombarded the walls of the fortress continuously, even at night. After six days, they opened two breaches in the walls. On 12 January 1500, his forces stormed the fortress.The bloody battle was quick and decisive, and <mask> continued to resist, fighting with weapons in hand until she was taken prisoner. Among the gentlemen who were caught together with her, was her secretary, Marcantonio Baldraccani. Immediately she surrendered herself to Antoine Bissey (the bailli of Dijon) as a prisoner of the French, as she knew there was a law that prevented French forces from holding women as prisoners of war. According to Machiavelli, the defense operations were misdirected by Giovanni da Casale:  "The poorly built fortress and the scant prudence of the defender, therefore, brought disgrace to the magnanimous enterprise of the Countess ...". Rome
Cesare obtained custody of <mask> from the French general, Yves d'Allègre, promising that he would treat her not as a


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 prisoner but as a guest. <mask> and her entourage were therefore forced to go with the army that was preparing to conquer Pesaro. The conquest had to be postponed because on 5 February Ludovico il Moro returned to Milan, forcing French troops to turn back.Cesare departed alone with the Papal army for Rome, where he took <mask>. In Rome, she was held in the Belvedere Palace. Towards the end of March, <mask> tried to escape but she was discovered and immediately imprisoned at Castel Sant'Angelo. In the prison of Castel Sant'Angelo
To justify Caterina's imprisonment, Pope Alexander VI accused her of trying to kill him in November 1499 with letters impregnated with poison, as a response to the Papal bull which had deprived the countess of her fiefdoms. Even today it is not known if the accusation was founded or not. Machiavelli believed that <mask> had tried to poison the Pope, while other historians, such as Jacob Burckhardt and Ferdinand Gregorovius, are not certain. An inconclusive and unfinished trial took place, and <mask> remained imprisoned until 30 June 1501, when she was released by Yves d'Allègre, who had come to Rome with the army of Louis XII for the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples.Alexander VI alleged that <mask> signed documents renouncing all of her fiefs, because in the meantime his son Cesare, with the acquisition of Pesaro, Rimini, and Faenza, was appointed Duke of Romagna. After a brief stay in the residence of Cardinal Riario, <mask> embarked from Livorno to Florence, where her children were waiting for her. Florence
In Florence,


texts: <mask> lived in the villas which had belonged to her third husband Giovanni de' Medici, often staying at the Villa Medici di Castello. Soon, she complained of being mistreated and living in a strained financial situation. For many years she conducted a legal battle against her brother-in-law Lorenzo de' Medici for the custody of her son Giovanni, who was entrusted to him during her detention. In 1504, her son was finally returned to her, because the judge recognized that her confinement as a prisoner of war was not comparable to the detention of a criminal. With the death of Pope Alexander VI on 18 August 1503, Cesare Borgia lost all his power.This reopened the possibility of restoring to power all the old feudal lords of the Romagna who had been deposed. <mask> lost no time in sending letters to adherents, and pleaded her case to Pope Julius II in her own name and that of her son Ottaviano Riario. The new Pope was favourable to restoring the lordships of Imola and Forlì to the Riarios, but the populace of both cities declared that a majority of the people opposed the return of the Countess, so that the domain passed instead to Antonio Maria Ordelaffi on 22 October 1503. After having lost her last chance to return to her former power, <mask> spent the last years of her life dedicated to her children, in particular to her youngest son Giovanni (her favourite and the most like her in personality and character). She also conducted a series of experiments in alchemy, the results of which were recorded in a manuscript titled "Gli Experimenti de la


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 Ex.ma S.r Caterina da Furlj Matre de lo inllux.mo S.r Giouanni de Medici", or "Gli Experimenti". The book, dating back to 1500, contains a total of 454 recipes, roughly 66 of which are cosmetic related, 358 medicinal, and 38 alchemical. Her experimental activities situate her at the origins of a Medici interest that stretched well into the seventeenth century.Death and burial
In April 1509 <mask> was stricken by a severe case of pneumonia. She appeared to have recovered, but had a relapse of the disease, after which she made her will and arranged her burial. At the age of forty-six years, "The Tiger of Forlì", who had "frightened all of Romagna", died on 28 May 1509. Her body was placed in a small tomb in the chapel of Le Murate in Florence, a convent of nuns whom <mask> had befriended during her time in that city, and where she had kept a cell as a spiritual retreat. During the 1830s the nuns were forced to leave the property, and in 1845 it was redesigned as a prison. Sometime during this renovation, <mask>'s bones disappeared. Appearance and personality
This is how the Florentine historian Bartolomeo Cerretani describes her:

"She was wise, animose, great: complex, beautiful face, she spoke little; he wore a satin robe with two arms of trawl, a black velvet caper on the French, a man's girdle, and scarsella full of golden ducats; a sickle for the use of retort next to it, and among the soldiers at the foot, and on horseback was feared much, because that Woman with weapons in hand was proud and cruel.She was the non-legitimate daughter of Count


texts: Francesco Sforza, the first captain of his time and to whom he was very similar in soul and daring, and he did not lack, being adorned with singular virtue, of some vice not small nor vulgar". Marin Sanudo called her "female almost virago, cruelest", in relation to the massacre she made of the children and pregnant women of the conspirators, following the death of her second husband Giacomo Feo. The leader  says she is "cunning", ready to change parties on the occasion, but specifies that "to be a woman she is not without fear of her own things". The future cardinal Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena, in a letter in which he narrates to Piero de' Medici the "strange takeover" of Caterina with the Duke of Calabria Ferrandino d'Aragona (which took place on September 23, 1494), described her ugly in the face, bringing back in this the impressions of Ferrandino himself. In fact, although <mask> had a reputation among posterity as a woman of great beauty, the medals of the time depict a woman with masculine traits and somewhat corpulent. Around 1502, according to an informant of Isabella d'Este, <mask> was "so fat that I could not make the comparison". Corpulence was, moreover, very common within the Sforza family: <mask>'s father Galeazzo Maria himself, to whom <mask> was very similar, did not wear the cuirass that would perhaps have saved him from death - which he went to meet - "so as not to seem too fat".He had also inherited from the Sforza the typical important nose, slightly bead, and the protruding chin. Her hair had to be wavy and it seems that she


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 kept it gathered behind her head, but it is not known for sure if she was blonde and clear in natural complexion or if she obtained these results through her own mixtures. This does not alter the fact that the blond was very frequent among members of the Sforza family. Issue
From her first marriage with Girolamo Riario, <mask> had six children:
 Bianca (b. Rome, March 1478 – d. after 1522), married firstly in 1494, Astorre III Manfredi, Lord of Faenza (d. 1502), and secondly in 1503, Troilo I de' Rossi (d. 1521), the first Marchese di San Secondo From her second marriage, she had nine children. Ottaviano (b. Rome, 31 August 1479 – d. Bologna, 6 October 1523), Lord of Imola and Forlì (1488–99), later Bishop of Volterra and Viterbo
 Cesare (b. Rome, 24 August 1480 – d. Rome, 18 December 1540), Archbishop of Pisa and Patriarch of Alexandria
 Giovanni Livio (b. Forlì, 30 October 1484 – d. 1496)
 Galeazzo Maria (b. Forlì, 4 December 1485 – d. Bologna, 1557), married in 1504, Maria Giovanna della Rovere (b. Senigallia, 1486 – d. Bologna 1538), Dowager Lady of Camerino, and eldest sister of Francesco Maria I della Rovere, Duke of Urbino. They had a daughter, Giulia, and a son, Giulio (d. 1565). Their descendants, who later received a ducal title, became extinct in the male line with Francesco Maria Riario della Rovere in 1676.Francesco, called "Sforzino" (b. Imola, 17 August 1487 – d. after 1509), Bishop of Lucca

From her second marriage with Giacomo Feo, <mask> had one son:
 Bernardino (later Carlo) (b. April 1489 – d. 1509)

From her third marriage to


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 Giovanni de' Medici, <mask> had one son:
 Ludovico (b. Forlì, 6 April 1498 – d. Mantua, 30 November 1526), renamed Giovanni after the death of his father, one of the greatest condottieri of his time and a national hero, known as "Giovanni delle Bande Nere". He married Maria Salviati (17 July 1499 – 29 December 1543), the daughter of Jacopo Salviati and Lucrezia di Lorenzo de' Medici. Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1519–1574) was their son. In June 1537, 28 years after <mask>'s death, her grandson Cosimo de' Medici, the only son of her own son Giovanni, became the Duke of Florence and in 1569, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Through him, <mask> was the direct ancestress of the later Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the Dukes of Modena and Reggio, and the Kings of Spain and France. Legacy
In her book The Warrior Queens: Boadicea's Chariot, British historian Antonia Fraser presents <mask> Sforza as a contrasting figure to her contemporary Isabella I of Castile. Fraser points out that whilst the murders ordered by <mask> were no worse than the massacres ordered by Isabella, historians have been much harsher in their judgment of the former.Fraser accounts for this by pointing out that Isabella's actions were sanctioned by the Church, as they were carried out in the name of Catholicism, whilst <mask>'s were motivated by the personal, secular desire to preserve her property and rights. In fiction
<mask> serves as the supposed inspiration for Catalina, a countryside criminal in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, who later rises to drug underworld ranks in the


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 events of Grand Theft Auto III, which released before San Andreas. <mask> is the subject of the 2010 historical novel Scarlet Contessa, by Jeanne Kalogridis. In the 2011 Showtime series The Borgias she is portrayed by Gina McKee; the show takes significant dramatic liberties with the details surrounding the siege undertaken in the name of Alexander VI. Her capture by Cesare Borgia is the final episode of Season 3, which was also the last-ever episode due to the show's cancellation. In the series Borgia, also known as Borgia: Faith and Fear, she is portrayed by Valentina Cervi. In the third season of Medici (TV Series), she appears as a young woman, married to her first husband, the major antagonist Girolamo Riario.She is portrayed by Rose Williams. <mask> <mask> appears as a minor character in the 2009 historically set video game Assassin's Creed II and its novelization, Assassin's Creed: Renaissance. She plays a larger role in "The Battle of Forlì" downloadable content pack, wherein she is aided in the titular battle by the game's protagonist Ezio Auditore. <mask> also appears in the 2010 sequel game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and its novelization, as a sometime love interest to Ezio Auditore. Three missions are dedicated to Ezio rescuing her from her imprisonment in the Castel Sant'Angelo. A fictionalised account of <mask> <mask>'s capture by Cesare Borgia features in Sarah Dunant's 2013 novel Blood & Beauty. In Machiavelli
<mask> is one of the few women discussed by Machiavelli at length.The incident of her having shown her genitalia in

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 regaining the fortress of Ravaldino was recounted at some length by him in his Discourses on Livy, and his Florentine Histories, while being only briefly mentioned in his Prince. Elizabeth Lev wrote on the matter in her biography of <mask> Sforza, The Tigress of Forli. Lev took the position that Machiavelli's account on the matter, being quite vulgar, may in fact have been more a reflection of his own dislike of <mask>. Indeed, Machiavelli had met the countess as a young diplomat and had not fared well. Various historical records tells us instead that <mask> claimed that even if they killed her children, she had everything that was needed to make another one and to prove that, she lifted up her skirts and showed her genitalia, thereby neutralising the conspirators' power in holding her children hostage. See also
 House of Sforza

Notes

References

Bibliography

 Machiavelli: The Discourses, English translation by Fr Leslie J. Walker, S.J. (1929).The countess is featured in Bk III, Ch 6 in relating examples of dangers that can arise subsequent to a successful conspiracy. Elizabeth Lev: The Tigress of Forli: Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous And Notorious Countess, <mask> Riario Sforza De' Medici. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. .
 Antonio Perria: I terribili Sforza. Trionfo e fine di una grande dinastia, Milano, Sugar Co Edizioni Srl, 1981. Cinzia Demi: <mask> Sforza, Fara, 2010. Frédérique Verrier: <mask> Sforza et Machiavel ou l'origine du monde, Vecchiarelli, 2010. Cesare Marchi: Giovanni delle Bande Nere, Milano,


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 1981.External links
 The Identification of Caterina Sforza in Renaissance Paintings through Symbolism. 1463 births
1509 deaths
Women in 15th-century warfare
16th-century Italian women
Nobility from Milan
Lords of Forlì
People of Tuscan descent
Caterina
15th-century women rulers
15th-century Italian nobility
16th-century Italian nobility
Italian countesses
Women in medieval European warfare
Renaissance women
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Deaths from pneumonia in


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<mask> (1903, in Guatemala City – 1977) was a Spanish politician and a legal philosopher. A professor at the universities of Santiago, Salamanca, Valladolid, and Madrid, he held major positions in the Spanish government in the 1930s. After the victory of Franco in the Spanish Civil War, he went into exile in Mexico, where he was a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and at El Colegio de México. Early life and education
<mask> was born in Guatemala City on June 19, 1903, the son of Pedro Recaséns Girol and Concepción Siches Gils, both originally from Spain. After two years he was taken to Spain, where from 1908 to 1912 he attended the Primary School of Barcelona. He then studied at the General and Technical Institute of Barcelona, from which he received a baccalaureate in July 1918, and at the University of Barcelona, which in 1924 awarded him both a law degree and a Bachelor of Arts and Philosophy degree. In 1924-25 he studied for a doctoral degree at the Faculty of Law at the Central University of Madrid, and wrote a dissertation about the influence of Catholic thought on legal philosophy, with special reference to the work of Francisco Suárez.From June to August 1925, on a scholarship from the Spanish government, he studied the philosophy of law at the University of Rome under the direction of Professor Giorgio del Vecchio. From November 1925 to November 1926, also on a Spanish government scholarship, he studied the philosophy of law and related subjects at the University of Berlin under Rudolf Stammler, Rudolf Smend, Heinrich Maier, and Romano Guardini. From November 1926 to April 1927 he continued his scholarship-funded studies in law, philosophy, and sociology at the University of Vienna, under the direction of professors Hans Kelsen, Fritz Schreier, Felix Kaufmann and R. Reininger. Philosophy of law
In his philosophy of law, he was a disciple of Jose Ortega y Gasset. He described the role of the judiciary as creative, in that it applies the abstractions of law, as formulated by the legislative

masks:
Luis Pedro Alejandro Recasens Siches
Luis Pedro Alejandro Recaséns Siches


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 branch, to specific situations involving “the living and authentic man, with his strengths and weaknesses, with his joys and his sufferings, with his good and his evil.” Recaséns Siches agreed with Francesco Carnelutti that for this reason “the judge is more important than the legislator.” In his view it was “fundamental to make an adequate integration between the theory of values and the sphere of human existence so that they do not have the character of abstract principles.” For him, the fundamental rights of the individual are founded in the idea of human dignity. For him, law, like tools and scientific theories and musical compositions, is a part of “objectified human life,” a product of culture in which the dimensions of value, norm, and fact are indissolubly linked. He argued that judges must always interpret laws in a reasonable way, so as to result in the “fairer individualization of the general norm.” He criticized the juridical theory and practice of the nineteenth century for its focus on traditional logic, which he considered invalid for the treatment of “practical problems of human behavior.” Traditional mathematical logic, he argued, did not constitute the totality of the logos, which aside from embracing logic also embraced the logos of human affairs, i.e.the logic of reasonableness. In this regard, his legal thinking was largely consistent with that of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Benjamin Cardozo, John Dewey, and others. He was also preoccupied with the issue of unjust law under totalitarian systems. He denied categorically that the law under such systems could be considered legitimate. Proper law, he wrote, treats human beings “as subjects intrinsically endowed with dignity” and “with autonomy or freedom.” Hence, laws that are not founded on such a view of humanity are not “legal norms but control techniques similar to those used for dressage or animal training. If they do not recognize the dignity of people, they are not legal norms and therefore they are unfair.“

Academic career in Spain
On December 20,


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 1927, he was named a tenured professor in the Philosophy of Law at the University of Santiago. In 1930, after the official acceptance of his dissertation, he was appointed a full Professor in the Philosophy of Law at the University of Salamanca, but he held this position only briefly before taking up a full professorship at the University of Valladolid, where he stayed from June 1930 to April 1931.From April to October 1931 he served as General Director of Local Administration of the Spanish Republic. He was First Vice-President of the Superior Council for the Protection of Children, appointed by the Ministry of the Interior on August 10, 1931. On October 15, 1931, he was appointed President of the Court of Appeal of the Juvenile Courts. In April 1932 he was appointed Professor of the Philosophy of Law at the Law School of the Central University of Madrid. He began working at the university on May 10, 1932, and remained there, directing a seminar on the Philosophy of Law, for several years. until February 4, 1939. In 1933 and 1934 he presented lectures at the International Summer University of Santander, and he also he gave a number of lectures at the Academy of Jurisprudence in Madrid, at the Ateneo de Madrid.In October 1935, he participated in the Second International Congress of Philosophy of Law and Legal Sociology, held in Paris and organized by the Institut International de Philosophie du Droit et de Sociologie Juridique. He left Spain during the Spanish Civil War but retained his title at the University of Madrid until 1939. Political activities in Spain
He was elected to serve as a deputy in the Spanish legislature from 1931 to 1933, representing the Lugo district and with the support of the Liberal Republican Right and the Republican Galician Federation. He was re-elected to serve in the legislature from 1933 to 1935. He was permitted to continue teaching at the university while serving as a deputy. He served as an attorney in Madrid, from April 1932 to July 1936. On February 21, 1936 he was appointed


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 undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.His resignation was accepted on September 9 of that year. France
Moving to France in October 1936, he served as attorney and consultant to the Consulate General of the Spanish Republic in Paris. While in Paris, he worked with the Institut de Droit Comparé, the Faculty of Law of Paris, the Institut de Sociologie of the Faculty of Letters of Paris, and the Institut International of Philosophie du Droit et Sociologie Juridique. From Paris, on May 18, 1937, he wrote to Spain’s Ministry of Public Instruction to report that he had received an invitation to teach at the National University of Mexico. In the letter he declared his “absolute loyalty and devotion to the Republic” and his opposition to Franco. Two months later, the Ministry of Public Instruction replied with a letter permitting him to accept the offer. Recaséns had already traveled to Mexico arriving in Nuevo Laredo on June 28, 1937.Mexico
At the National University of Mexico, he taught at the National School of Jurisprudence, the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, and the National School of Economics. At the National School of Jurisprudence he served as professor of Philosophy of Law beginning on July 1, 1937, and taught General Theory of the State and Sociology. At the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, he taught Philosophy of Law and Sociology, and at the National School of Economics he taught Sociology. In 1939 he became a corresponding member of the Mexican Academy of Legislation and Jurisprudence. He also worked at the Hispano Mexicano Ruiz de Alarcón Institute, in which he taught an Introduction to Philosophy course in 1940. On December 10, 1945, he was appointed Career Professor at the highest level in the Faculty of Law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In 1946 he was appointed director of the Seminar on Philosophy of Law at the National School of Jurisprudence of the UNAM and technical director of the Journal of the National School of Jurisprudence.On December 8, 1954 he was appointed


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 Full Time Researcher, first category, at the Institute of Philosophical Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. United States
In 1948 he moved to the United States, where he served as High Official of the Secretariat of the United Nations in the divisions of Human Rights and Social Welfare from February 1949 to December 1954. He also served as an expert in legal philosophy and participating in the formulation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. During the years 1949 to 1954, he taught at the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research, New York; in 1953 and 1954 he taught in the Graduate Division of the New York City School of Law; in 1953, he was a visiting professor of Comparative Philosophy of Law at the Comparative Law Institute of the Tulane Law School at the University of New Orleans. Mexico and other international sojourns
Recaséns became a naturalized Mexican citizen on September 8, 1955. From October to November 1964 he made a study trip to the Federal Republic of Germany, invited by his government. Over the years he also taught courses and delivered lectures at a number of universities in Mexico, as well as in pre-Castro Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.He was an honorary professor of the National University of El Salvador (1947), at the University of Santiago de Chile (1956), and at the University of San Marcos of Lima (1957). He was also a visiting professor in Puerto Rico in 1953 and in Texas in 1962 and 1969, and a guest lecturer at universities in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, West Germany, France, and Italy. Beginning in 1964, he also held visiting professorships at various institutions in Spain: the University of Madrid, 1964; the Institute of Social and Cooperative Studies of Madrid, 1965–70; the University of Barcelona, 1965–67; the universities of Valencia and Seville, 1965; the universities of Santiago, Bilbao, and La Laguna, 1966; the University of Valladolid, 1967; the University of Navarra, 1969; and the


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 universities of Granada and Segovia, 1970. In 1960 he headed the Seminar on Sociological Readings at the National School of Political and Social Sciences; was named Academician of the American Society for Legal and Political Philosophy; and appointed to the Academy of Scientific Research of Mexico. In 1964 he was named co-editor of the Berlin-based journal Sociologia Internationalis. On December 11, 1970, he was appointed Professor Emeritus Immovable of the Faculty of Law of the National University of Mexico. He also attended conferences in Morelia (1955), Durango (1957), Zacatecas (1958), Ciudad Victoria (1959), Toluca (1960), Mexico, D.F.(1960, 1963, 1965, 1968). In other countries: New York (1949, 1960, 1962, 1965), Havana (1953), Santiago de Chile (1956), Washington, D.C. (1957, 1962), San José de Costa Rica (1961), Bonn, West Berlin and Heidelberg (1961), Münster (1961 and 1967), Barcelona (1966, 1967), Coimbra, Portugal (1967), and Buenos Aires (1968). He contributed to professional journals in Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Italy, France, and West Germany. Honors and awards
He was awarded the Mauricio Serrahima scholarship, founded by the Bar Association of Barcelona, during the academic years 1922-1923 and 1923-1924. The University of San Carlos, Guatemala, awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1943 and he was appointed Honorary Member of Guatemala’s El Derecho University Association in 1943. Memberships
Named a member of the Berlin Honor Society of Legal Philosophy in 1928, he resigned in 1933. In 1930-31 he was a member of the Magistrate of the Provincial Court of Administrative Litigation at the Audiencia of Valladolid, as a representative of the Faculty of Law.From 1931 to 1936, he was an executive member of the Francisco de Vitoria Association in Madrid. In 1940 he was named a corresponding member of the Argentine Institute of Legal and Social Philosophy. He belonged to the Eastern Sociological Society (1949); the American Sociological Association (1949); the American Philosophical Association (1956);


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 the Academy of the Philosophy of Law and Sociology of the Faculty of Law of the UNAM (1971); the Association of Full Time Professors and Researchers at the UNAM; the Board of Directors of the National Association of Lawyers (1940); the Mexican Section of the International Law Association (1970) and the Instituto Cultural Hispano-Mexicano (1965).In 1966 he was appointed corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Puerto Rico. From 1967 he was a member of the Steering Committee of the International Vereinigung für Rechtsphilosophie, in the Latin American section of the Federal Republic of Germany. He was also a member of the Argentine Institute of Legal and Social Philosophy and a member of the Governing Council of the Santander International Summer University (1934). He was president of the Philosophy section of the Ateneo de Madrid (1934-1936) and Vice President of the Institut International of Philosophie du Droit et Sociologie Juridique, based in Paris (1935-1940). Selected works
El sistema filosófico-jurídico expuesto por Platón en su “República.” Barcelona, 1920.La filosofía del derecho de Francisco Suárez. Madrid, 1927. El actual viraje del socialismo germánico, Madrid, 1928. El sentimiento y la idea de lo justo. Psicologismo y objetivismo en la Filosofía del Derecho, Conferencia, Madrid, 1929. Estudios de Filosofía el Derecho Internacional. La unidad de la construcción jurídica y el primado del Derecho Internacional, Barcelona, 1930.El poder constituyente. Su teoría aplicada al momento español, Madrid, 1931. Las teorías políticas de Francisco de Vitoria. Con un estudio sobre el desarrollo de la idea del contrato social, Madrid, 1931. Los temas de la filosofía del Derecho. En perspectiva histórica y visión de futuro, Barcelona, 1934. Estudios de Filosofía del Derecho, Barcelona, 1936.Axiología jurídica: Bases para la estimativa jurídica, Havana, 1939. Vida humana, sociedad y derecho. Fundamentación de la Filosofía del Derecho, México, 1939. La Filosofía del Derecho en el siglo XX, Mexico City, 1941.


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 Lecciones de sociología, Mexico City, 1948. Latin-American Legal Philosophy, with Carlos Cossio, Llambías de Azevedo, and Eduardo García Máynez, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1948. Nueva filosofía de la interpretación del derecho, Mexico City, 1956.Tratado general de sociología, Mexico City, 1956. Tratado general de filosofía del derecho, Mexico City, 1959. Panorama del pensamiento jurídico en el siglo XX, Mexico City, 1963. El pensamiento jurídico anglosajón y el europeo, Madrid, 1965. Introducción al Estudio del Derecho, Mexico City, 1970. La naturaleza del pensamiento jurídico, Madrid, 1971. Translations
Recaséns also translated books by Alois Fischer and Raul Richter, Hans Kelsen, Giorgio Vecchio, Paul Barth, Josef L. Kunz, Emil Brunner, and others.Death
<mask> Siches died in Mexico City on July 4, 1977, of a myocardial infarction complicated by non-traumatic respiratory failure. He is buried in the Pantheon Garden. After his death, the Spanish jurist Joaquín Ruiz Giménez said of him: "His humanism was radically personalist, liberal in the deepest sense, but his human sensibility led him to be repelled by socio-economic injustices and he longed for an authentic democracy that increasing combined freedom and equality.”

Personal life
He spoke French, English, German and Italian. He first married Juana María Casielles Pañeda, a Spaniard, from whom he was later divorced without issue. On March 27, 1943, he married Martha Díaz de León Hernández, a native of Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico, with whom he had two children: Sebastián, who died young, and <mask> Recaséns Díaz de León, who was born in Mexico City, on February 23, 1944. <mask>a married Dr. Pedro B. Crevenna Horney, with whom she had three children, Andrea, Claudia and Matías; after divorcing Crevenna, she wed Arnoldo Martínez Verdugo, a Mexican politician. References

1903 births
1977 deaths
People from Guatemala City
Liberal Republican Right politicians
Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Second Spanish Republic
Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in

masks:
Luis Recaséns
Martha Luisa
Martha Luis


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<mask> (; died 68 BC), courtesy name Zimeng (子孟), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Western Han dynasty who was a rare example in Chinese history of a powerful official who deposed an emperor for the good of the state rather than to usurp the throne. He was the half-brother of renowned Han dynasty general <mask>ng, and one of the most powerful consort kin in Chinese imperial history. Service under Emperor Wu

<mask> was born to <mask>ru and he had a half-brother named <mask>ubing, a renowned general. His step-aunt was Empress Wei Zifu, the second Empress of Emperor Wu of Han. <mask>'s early career in Han government was not well documented, but it is known that as of 88 BC—near the end of Emperor Wu's reign, he was already a high-ranked official with dual titles of Fengche Duwei (奉車都尉) and Guanglu Dafu (光祿大夫). When Emperor Wu, near the end of his life, chose his youngest son Liu Fuling (later Emperor Zhao) as heir, he commissioned <mask>, ethnically-Xiongnu official Jin Midi, and imperial guard commander Shangguan Jie (上官桀) as coregents, but with <mask> effectively in command of the government, with the titles of dasima (大司馬) and dajiangjun (大將軍). When Emperor Wu died in 87 BC, Emperor Zhao, then eight years old, was left in the tutelage of <mask>, Jin, and Shangguan.Emperor Wu's will created the three of them as marquesses, but all three declined. Service under Emperor Zhao and Control of power as regent

As Emperor Zhao was the youngest son of Emperor Wu, this created conflict and ill will with his older brothers, and in his reign there were multiple conspiracies. In 86 BC, a conspiracy involving Liu Dan (劉旦), Prince of Yan, and an elder son of Emperor Wu, was discovered, but the prince

masks:
Huo Guang
Huo Qubi
Huo Guang
Huo Zhong
Huo Q
Huo
Huo
Huo
Huo


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 was not punished, presumably under <mask>'s decision, even though the other conspirators were executed. In 85 BC, <mask> was created the Marquess of Bolu (博陆侯). In the same year, Jin, a moderating influence in the co-regency, died. After Jin's death, Shangguan became increasingly jealous of <mask>'s powers, even though the two had been great friends, and <mask> had given his daughter in marriage to Shangguan's son Shangguan An (上官安). In 84 BC, as a ploy to further strengthen his powers, Shangguan Jie gave his granddaughter (also <mask>'s granddaughter), then age five, in marriage to the emperor, then age 11, and she was made empress in 83 BC.In 80 BC, the growing conflict between <mask> and Shangguan came to a head. Shangguan formed a conspiracy with Liu Dan, the Prince of Yan, the Princess Eyi (鄂邑公主) (who, as the emperor's sister, had served as his guardian), and another important official Sang Hongyang (桑弘羊) to make false allegations of treason against <mask>. However, Emperor Zhao, who trusted <mask>, did not act on the allegations. The conspirators then planned a coup d'etat, but were discovered. Most of the conspirators, including Shangguan, were executed, and Liu Dan and the Princess Eyi were forced to commit suicide. The Prince He Incident and the installation of Emperor Xuan

In 74 BC, Emperor Zhao died at age 21 without issue. Even though Emperor Zhao had living older brothers, <mask> considered them incompetent and unfit for the throne.After some investigation, he settled on making Liu He, Emperor Zhao's nephew and the Prince of Changyi the new emperor. Once the Prince of Changyi was installed as the emperor, however, he began to spend incessantly and otherwise act inappropriately during the

masks: Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo


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 period of mourning for Emperor Zhao. In response, <mask> decided to depose the new emperor, an unprecedented action in Chinese history. Under an edict issued by Empress Dowager Shangguan (<mask>'s granddaughter), Prince He was deposed after just 28 days as emperor and exiled to his old principality of Changyi, but without a princely title. There was no imperial heir who met <mask>'s standard of a diligent and skilled emperor. At the suggestion of another senior official Bing Ji (丙吉), <mask> made a great-grandson of Emperor Wu, Liu Bingyi (later Liu Xun 劉詢) emperor, taking the name Emperor Xuan.. Liu Bingyi's grandfather Liu Ju had been Emperor Wu's crown prince by Empress Wei but subsequently had fallen out of favour and been killed, with his issue being removed from the imperial household. Service under Emperor Xuan

In 73 BC, <mask> offered to return all authority to Emperor Xuan, but the emperor declined and reaffirmed that all important matters were to be presented to <mask> before <mask> would present them to the emperor.The emperor also made <mask>'s son <mask> Yu (霍禹) and his grandnephews <mask> Yun (霍雲) and <mask> Shan (霍山) (<mask> Qubing's grandsons) key officials in his administration. <mask> <mask>'s sons-in-law Fan Mingyou (范明友) and Deng <mask> (鄧廣漢) were made high military commanders. During the next few years, <mask> and the emperor effectively shared imperial powers. In 71 BC, <mask> <mask>'s wife, Lady Xian (顯), in order to make her daughter <mask> Chengjun (霍成君) empress, poisoned Emperor Xuan's wife Empress Xu Pingjun by bribing her doctor. In 70 BC, <mask> Chengjun was created empress. Despite Emperor Xuan's outward respect towards <mask> <mask>, it was recorded that he feared <mask>, and

masks: Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo Guang Guanghan Huo Huo Guang Huo Huo Huo Guang Huo


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 regarded him as "a thorn in (his) back" (芒刺在背, "mang ci zai bei"). This, combined with <mask> <mask>'s unwillingness to rein in his clansmen, would prove disastrous to the Huo clan.Death and subsequent destruction of the Huo clan

In 68 BC, <mask> <mask> became ill and died. Emperor Xuan and Empress Dowager Shangguan made the nearly-unprecedented act of personally attending <mask>'s wake and built an impressive mausoleum for <mask>. After <mask>'s death, his sons, sons-in-law, and grandnephews remained in important posts and were made marquesses. His wife, after a period of mourning, formed a passionate relationship with <mask> <mask>'s slave master, Feng Zidu, himself a former lover of <mask> Guang. The Huo family lived luxurious lives similar to the imperial household. Emperor Xuan, unhappy about the Huos' perceived arrogance, began to gradually strip their actual powers while letting them keep their formal titles. In 67 BC, Emperor Xuan made his son Liu Shi (劉奭, later Emperor Yuan), by the deceased Empress Xu, crown prince, an act that greatly angered Lady Xian, who instructed her daughter to murder the crown prince.Allegedly, Empress <mask> did make multiple attempts to do so, but failed each time. Around this time, the emperor also heard rumours that the Huos had murdered Empress Xu, which led him to further strip the Huos of actual power. In 66 BC, Lady Xian revealed to her son and grandnephews that she had, indeed, murdered Empress Xu. In fear of what the emperor might do if he had actual proof, Lady Xian, her son, her grandnephews, and her sons-in-law formed a conspiracy to depose the emperor. The conspiracy was discovered, and the entire Huo clan was executed by Emperor Xuan. This act later drew

masks: Huo Guang Huo Guang Huo Huo Huo Huo Guang Huo Huo


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 heavy criticism from historians, such as Sima <mask> in his Zizhi Tongjian, for its ungratefulness to <mask> Guang. Empress <mask> was deposed.Twelve years later she was exiled and, in response, she committed suicide. Despite the destruction of the Huo clan, Emperor Xuan continued to honour <mask> <mask> posthumously. In 51 BC, when he painted the portrait of 11 great statesmen of his administration in the great hall of his palace, <mask>, alone among the 11, was referred to by title and family name only, which was considered an even greater honour than the honour given to the other ten. Impact on Chinese history

<mask> was treated somewhat paradoxically by posterity. On one hand, he was greatly admired for his skilful administration of the empire and his selflessness in putting himself in great danger in deposing an unfit emperor. On the other hand, he was also criticized for his dictatorial governing style, alleged nepotism and failure to rein in the behaviour of his clansmen, traits that some historians claim eventually led to his clan's destruction after his death. Many later conspirators in Chinese history would often claim that they were acting in the empire's best interest, like <mask>, even though few actually did.Conversely, when emperors wanted to accuse (and execute) officials of treason, they often euphemistically refer to them as "wanting to act like <mask> Guang." Effectively, <mask> set a standard of decisiveness and strength that was rarely matched and even more rarely used for the benefit of the state. Notes

68 BC deaths
Year of birth unknown
Han dynasty generals from Shanxi
Han dynasty politicians from Shanxi
Politicians from Linfen
Regents of China
LGBT people from China
Ancient LGBT

masks: Guang Huo Huo Huo Guang Huo Huo Huo Huo Huo


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<mask> (Brailovskii) (23 May 1867, Kharkiv, now Ukraine – July 7, 1937, Rome, Italy) was a Russian architect, artist, designer, decorator, teacher and a member of Russian apostolate in the Diaspora. Biography

Born in 1867 in Kharkiv in an Orthodox family. His father was mayor, his mother came from a noble family Sedlyarevskih. <mask> was educated in the classical school. He graduated from the department of architecture of the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1894 with the rank of class artist of architecture degree. During training, repeatedly awarded for academic success: in 1890 a small silver medal, in 1892 a large silver medal, in 1893 a small gold medal for the program "Hotel for visitors to the capital." After graduating from the Academy in 1895–1898 he served in the pensioner's trip to Paris and Rome.From 1898 he taught architecture at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1899, he joined a teacher at the Stroganov Moscow State University of Arts and Industry and Served as professor of the School, and in 1906 was a member of the Education Committee. <mask> worked as an architect, but was best known as the artist-akvalerist creating watercolors of ancient ruins, monuments, the interiors of temples and palaces. In the 1900s he studied and copied fresco paintings in the churches of Yaroslavl, Rostov and

masks:
Leonid Brailovsky
Brailovsky
Brailovsky


texts: Novgorod. He participated in the exhibitions of the Society of Russian watercolors, the Moscow Association of Artists, New Society of Artists, a member of the Society of Architects and Artists,  and the Moscow Architectural Society (MAO). He was a member of the Editorial Board of "Yearbook of Mao." He worked as a decorator: doing interior design, performed sketches of furniture and articles of bronze. From 1909, he worked primarily as a set designer.In this capacity ofrmlyal performances Lesser and Greater theaters. In 1916, <mask> was awarded the title of Academician. After the October Revolution in 1917, with his wife Rimma, emigrated first to Latvia, and later lived in Constantinople, Belgrade, and in 1925 he moved to Rome. In Belgrade, the designer worked the Theatre Royal, was a member of the Union of Employees of Russian art. In 1933 he founded the Vatican Museum of Russian religious architecture in the Congregation of Eastern Churches. In exile, created in the style of painting and graphics. In the 1920 – 1930 created a series of paintings "Visions of Old Russia."Exhibited in many cities, and his wife had two solo exhibitions in Paris (1930) and the Vatican (1932). He died in 1937 in Rome. His works are in museum collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, the Museum of the Sorbonne in Paris, the Vatican


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 Museums and others. Conversion to Catholicism

Contact with the world's center of Christianity, of course was reflected in the Brailovskys'life. <mask> and his wife Rima come to realize the unity of the church, they are reunited with the Catholic Church and it makes them even more to love their homeland, its holy places, historical and spiritual culture. In 1932, an exhibition of 40 paintings by Brailovsky depicting monuments of Russian religious art. This collection was donated by Pope Pius XI and the latter has decided to organize a special unit of Russian painting.Secretary Pacelli and other dignitaries, as well as four Brailovsky was opened section of monuments of church art in Russia, in quantity of 100 paintings and 20 plans depicting the monuments of Russian ecclesiastical art and architecture. One of those places where you could take a sip of his native air was Russicum with the Russian church, with family icons and expensive Slavic rites. Brailovsky were parishioners of the church. Years later, Archpriest Alexander Sipyagin who knew <mask> Mikhailovich wrote in his obituary: "Here, and especially in the Church of St. Anthony, the late felt like at home". In 1933, the artist <mask> and his wife Rimma <mask> staged creative exhibition in Rome. Information about this event was placed in the press. Namely: "Messadzhero"

masks: Leonid Leonid Leonid Brailovsky