Vannozza dei Cattanei (13 July 1442-24 November 1518) was the chief mistress of Rodrigo Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI in 1492. She was the mother of his children Cesare Borgia, Juan Borgia the Younger, Lucrezia Borgia, and Joffre Borgia, and she was always his favorite mistress, as she was the mother of his children. She remained the matriarch of the House of Borgia until her death in 1518.
Biography[]
Vannozza and the Pope
Vannozza dei Cattanei was born in Mantua in 1442, and she worked as the landlady of several inns in Rome. She had a relationship with Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere before entering into a relationship with Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia during the late 1460s, and she married a church officer in 1473 to keep her close to Borgia in Rome. She bore him four children: Cesare Borgia, Juan Borgia the Younger, Lucrezia Borgia, and Joffre Borgia, and she was forced to live a retired wife after Rodrigo became Pope in 1492. However, she remained influential in the family as its matriarch, and she died in 1518 at the age of 76.