Giovanna "Vannozza" (dei) Cattanei (13 July 1442 – 24 November 1518)[2] was an Italian woman who was the chief mistress of Cardinal Rodrigo de Borgia, later to become Pope Alexander VI.

[3] Born in 1442, most likely in Mantua,[4] Vannozza moved to Rome where she was landlady of several inns (Osterie),[5] at first in the Borgo, then in Campo de' Fiori.

In 1480 Borgia arranged Vannozza's marriage to Giorgio di Croce, for whom he had procured a position as apostolic secretary.

[9] American author G. J. Meyer claims that the birth dates of the four in comparison with Alexander's known whereabouts actually preclude him having fathered any of them.

She was buried with conspicuous honours 'almost like a Cardinal' in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, near her son, the Duke of Gandia.