"Caterina Sforza (1463 – 28 May 1509) was an Italian noblewoman along with 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.
Caterina was the illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan and Lucrezia, the wife of the courtier Gian Piero Landriani, a close friend of the Duke. She was raised in the refined Milanese court. The descendant of a dynasty of noted condottieri, from an early age, Caterina 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." - (en.wikipedia.org 17.11.2019)