Felice della Rovere, illegitimate daughter of Pope Julius II (b. 1483)
Felice della Rovere (c. 1483 – September 27, 1536), also known as Madonna Felice, was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Julius II. One of the most powerful women of the Italian Renaissance, she was born in Rome around 1483 to Lucrezia Normanni and Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, later Pope Julius II. Felice was well educated, became accepted into close courtly circles of aristocratic families, and formed friendships with scholars and poets through her education and genuine interest in humanism. Through the influence of her father, including an arranged marriage to Gian Giordano Orsini, she wielded extraordinary wealth and influence both within and beyond the Roman Curia. In particular, she negotiated a peace between Julius II and the Queen of France, and held the position of Orsini Signora for over a decade following the death of her husband in 1517. Felice further increased her power through a castle that she bought with money received from her father, the Castle at Palo, and through her involvement in the grain trade.
Felice gave birth to two sons, Francesco and Girolamo, choosing the second as the heir to the Orsini fortune (and thus ensuring a rivalry with her stepson, Napoleone), as well as two daughters, Julia and Clarice; another child died during infancy. Felice's children married into prominent families: the Colonna, Sforza, Borghese, Gonzaga, and Appiani. Her Orsini offspring became the dukes of Bracciano and their lines maintained this role until 1699, when the family line became extinct. Felice's legacy lasts to this day, as Prof. Caroline Murphy has identified her in two pieces of art: Raphael's The Mass at Bolsena, and Sebastiano del Piombo's portrait of an unknown woman. Felice had an influence on other renaissance icons as well, evident from her correspondences with figures such as Catherine de' Medici.