Silvia Ruffini

Silvia Ruffini (1475 – 6 December 1561 in Rome) was an Italian noble woman and mistress of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese before he became pope (Pope Paul III from 1534); she was the mother of his four children.

Biography

Ruffini was the daughter of Rufino Ruffini and Giulia (last name unknown), who lived in a palace in the Colonna neighbourhood of Rome. She had four brothers, Giacomo, Girolamo, Ascanio and Mario, and two sisters, Camilla and Ippolita.^{[citation needed]}

Around 1496 Ruffini married a Roman merchant named Giovanni Battista Crispo, with whom she had three sons: Sallustio, Virgilio and Cardinal Tiberio Crispo. Her husband died in 1501;^[1] she may already have been romantically involved with Cardinal Farnese by then.^[2]

Ruffini was introduced to Alessandro Farnese by his sister Giulia (mistress to Pope Alexander VI), and the cardinal offered to be her escort through Rome. Their first daughter, Costanza Farnese,^[1] was probably born in 1500. Ruffini had three other children with the cardinal;^[3] some of them may have been born while Ruffini's husband was still alive.^[4] The children were Pier Luigi Farnese, Paolo Farnese and Ranuccio Farnese.^[5][6] Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X legitimised the sons,^[7] as they had been born after Ruffini became a widow.^[8]

When Alessandro became Bishop of Parma, the church's vicar-general, Bishop Bartolomeo Guidiccioni, required him to end his relationship with Ruffini.^[9] As pope, Paul III kept her identity a secret, fearing the negative publicity that had plagued his sister Giulia. Baldassarre Molosso, a poet and guardian of the couple's children,^[10] hints that Paul III kept her in the town of Bolsena, a village owned by her son and where Paul III had a villa. The location was also close to Silvia's sister Camilla.

Tiberio Crispo

Pier Luigi Farnese by Titian.

Ruffini died on Tuesday 5 December 1561 in Rome, at the age of about 86, and was buried in a family crypt.^{[citation needed]}

Issue

She had three children by Giovanni Battista Crispo:

• Tiberio Crispo, who later became a cardinal;
• Sallustio Crispo;

• Virgilio Crispo.

She had four children by Alessandro Farnese (later Pope Paul III):

• Costanza Farnese (1500-1545),^[5] who married Bosio II Sforza of Santa Fiora, 9th Count of Santa Fiora;
• Pier Luigi Farnese (1503-1547),^[5] who married Gerolama Orsini and later became the Duke of Parma;
• Paolo Farnese (1504-1512);^[5]
• Ranuccio Farnese (1509-1529).^[5]

Portrayals

Ruffini is portrayed by Laura Fedorowycz in the TV series Borgia.

Historian Patrizia Rosini believes Silvia was the model for two portraits: one in the Allegory of Baptism in the Rondanini Palace and the second in the Sala del Perseo in the castle of Sant'Angelo.