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marrying into a papal family. But on a lesser level, he was ready to do the same thing. “Of course one must sometimes manure one’s estates,” sniffed one seventeenth-century noblewoman in reference to such marriages. 1 The manure for the Pamphili estate was to be Olimpia.
    Their first meeting was likely arranged by Olimpia’s uncle Paolo Gualtieri and his wife. Perhaps Pamphilio, in his slightly moth-eaten carriage, made the pleasant journey to Viterbo, not only to meet the young woman but to eye carefully her two palazzos on the Via Annio. Or maybe Olimpia, in a luxurious gilded and painted carriage with plump tasseled cushions and footmen standing on the back, made the exciting journey to Rome.
    It is likely, under the circumstances, that Pamphilio would have readily married an obese elderly woman disfigured by smallpox to obtain her money, and that Olimpia would have wed a decrepit dribbling idiot to obtain his nobility and his house in Rome. Love was not a prerequisite for marriage, but it was always a bonus when the bride and groom did not disgust each other.
    Such was the case of Pamphilio and Olimpia. Pamphilio must have
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    been pleased with Olimpia’s good looks and her Maidalchini charm. Olimpia was ingratiating. Olimpia was witty. Olimpia possessed a vigor that promised to rouse even a Pamphilio Pamphili from his noble torpor.
    For her part, the shrewd Olimpia must have sized up the prospective groom at a glance. This handsome gentleman hid his insipid personality under a thick varnish of Florentine elegance, to the great admiration of all. She must have been relieved to see that here was no domineering temperament to compete with hers. Here was an easygoing man who would probably do as she asked just to keep harmony in the household. According to an anonymous document in the Vatican, Pamphilio “was a person who at the smallest hint would have made himself obey and respect his consort.” 2
    Olimpia must have believed that such a man would be grateful for the clever advice of an energetic wife who could shoulder the burden of his governmental responsibilities. Pamphilio Pamphili could offer her everything she had been looking for in a husband, even political power. She jumped at the chance to marry him.
    The dowry documents, signed on November 1, 1612, show a shocking inequality in the financial contributions to the marriage. Olimpia “promises to give him all her properties and inheritance which came to her through the death of Nino Nini, her son.” In return for Olimpia’s wealth, Pamphilio merely promised “to take her as his legitimate wife.” 3
    Sforza Maidalchini must have watched with mixed emotions the meteoric rise of his perplexing daughter. He was proud of her, certainly, but also perhaps a bit afraid of her. He must have noticed her eyes narrow when she gazed at him, her lips almost imperceptibly tighten. Revenge is, after all, a dish best served cold. She had already served him one heaping helping of icy vengeance, and now that she had attained such an exalted position, she might be tempted to cram another one down his throat.
    Though Olimpia’s ample Nini inheritance served as her dowry, the nervous Sforza belatedly stepped up to the plate in an effort to redeem himself. He agreed to pay three thousand scudi the day of the wedding along with a valuable pearl necklace and matching earrings, other pieces of jewelry, and silver. He would pay an additional two thousand scudi
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    in installments. Altogether, the dowry was worth about six thousand scudi.
    “The marriage was celebrated in Rome with all the pomp possible,” Gregorio Leti reported, “and with the entire satisfaction of both parties.” 4 She was now Lady Olimpia—Donna Olimpia in Italian—which accounted for her entire satisfaction. She was a noblewoman, and no one would ever dare to try sticking her in a convent again.
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    Olimpia found herself the mistress of