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

She 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.

At some time around 1496 she 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.

Ruffini was introduced to Alessandro Farnese by his sister

When Alessandro became

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,^[5] 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.

Ruffini died on Tuesday 5 December 1561 in Rome, at the age of about 86, and was buried in a family crypt.

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), who married Bosio II Sforza of Santa Fiora, 9th Count of Santa Fiora;
• Pier Luigi Farnese
  (1503-1547), Duke of Parma;
• Paolo Farnese (1504-1512);
• Ranuccio Farnese (1509-1529).

Portrayals

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

Historian

References