Background

Because of her important political connections, she was married in 1509 to Ferrante d'Avalos, Marquis of Pescara. There grew from this coldly arranged union the love for her husband that was to constitute the central fact of Vittoria's life and one of the principal themes of her poetry. Their life together was of short duration. In 1511 there began the wars between Spain and France which were to keep the Marquis in the field until his death in battle in 1525. After this event, Vittoria retired from worldly activities, living in convents, though under no vows, to devote herself to her husband's memory and the cause of religious reform. Upon these themes were written the lyrics that entitle her to a place among the few real poets of an age characterized by the facile production of much worthless verse. Too close an imitation of Petrarch tends to stifle Vittoria's real sentiment under conventionalized and sometimes repetitious form. She is at her best in her religious poems.

Vittoria maintained contact with many of the most prominent personages of her day; perhaps the best known of her friendships was with Michelangelo Buonarroti.