Silvia Ruffini

Silvia Ruffini (1475 – Rome, 6 December 1561) 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. 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; she may already have been romantically involved with Cardinal Farnese by then. 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, was probably born already in 1500. Ruffini had three other children with the cardinal; some of them may have been born while Ruffini's husband was still alive. The children were Pier Luigi, Paolo and Ranuccio.