 vannozza dei cattanei (13 july 1442&ndash;24 november 1518) giovanna dei cattanei, nicknamed "vannozza" was an italian woman who was one of the many mistresses of cardinal rodrigo borgia, later to become pope alexander vi. among them, she was the one whose relationship with him lasted the longest. ==early life== born in 1442, most likely in mantua, vannozza moved to rome where she was landlady of several inns (osterie), at first in the borgo, then in campo de' fiori. before becoming borgia's mistress, she allegedly had a relationship with cardinal giuliano della rovere, the future pope julius ii. ==relationship with rodrigo borgia== vannozza's relationship with cardinal rodrigo borgia began sometime between 1466 and 1472. she is believed to have married domenico d'arignano, an officer of the church, perhaps in 1473, possibly at the arrangement of borgia. she bore borgia four children whom he openly acknowledged as his own: * cesare (1475&ndash;1507) * giovanni (1476&ndash;1497), 2nd duke of gandia * lucrezia (1480&ndash;1519) * gioffre (born 1481 or 1482; died 1518) domenico died before giovanni was born. in 1480 borgia arranged vannozza's marriage to giorgio di croce, for whom he had procured a position as apostolic secretary. with giorgio, vannozza had a legitimate son, ottavio, who did not live long. in 1486 giorgio died and vannozza married carlo canale. ==later life== before his elevation to the papacy, borgia's passion for vannozza somewhat diminished, and she subsequently led a very retired life. however, borgia's love for his children by vannozza remained as strong as ever; it proved, indeed, the determining factor of his whole career. he lavished vast sums on them and lauded them with every honour. vannozza died in 1518 and was buried in the basilica of santa maria del popolo in rome. arnold mathew wrote: "vannozza breathed her last at rome, november 26, 1518, at the age of se
1442_births 1518_deaths 15th-century_Italian_people 16th-century_Italian_nobility Papal_mistresses People_from_Mantua Pope_Alexander_VI Women_of_medieval_Italy