11 Facts About Bianca Riario

Bianca Riario was the eldest child and only daughter of Caterina Sforza by the latter's first husband, Girolamo Riario, a nephew of Pope Sixtus IV.

Bianca Riario was the half-sister of the celebrated condottiero Giovanni delle Bande Nere, to whom she acted as a substitute mother while their own mother, Caterina was held prisoner by Cesare Borgia.

Bianca Riario had five younger brothers from her mother's marriage to her father, a half-brother, Bernardino from her mother's second marriage to Giacomo Feo, and another half-brother from her mother's third and final marriage to Giovanni de' Medici il Popolano.

Bianca Riario's assassination was part of a conspiracy organised by members of the Orsi family over a financial dispute.

Bianca Riario had accompanied her mother, two of her brothers, Ottaviano and Cesare, and Giacomo on a hunting expedition.

In 1500, Bianca Riario's mother was taken prisoner by the ferocious Cesare Borgia, the same man who, one year later, deposed Bianca Riario's first husband, Astorre III Manfredi, and arranged his murder in 1502.

Bianca Riario was initially promised to marry at Astorre III Manfredi, Lord of Faenza when Astorre was still a child, but the marriage was canceled after some years.