Editing Francesco I Sforza (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===
Francesco Sforza was born in [[Cigoli, San Miniato|Cigoli]], near [[San Miniato]], Tuscany, one of the seven illegitimate sons of the [[condottiero]] [[Muzio Sforza]]{{sfn|Williams|1998|p=201}} and Lucia de Martini.{{sfn|Walsh|2005|p=395}} He was the brother of [[Alessandro Sforza]]. He spent his childhood in [[Tricarico]] (in the modern [[Basilicata]]), the marquisate of which he was granted in 1412 by [[Ladislaus of Naples|King Ladislaus of Naples]]. In 1418, he married [[Polissena Ruffo]], a Calabrese noblewoman.{{sfn|Fletcher|2013|p=79}}

From 1419, he fought alongside his father, soon gaining fame for being able to bend metal bars with his bare hands. He later proved himself to be an expert tactician and a very skilled field commander. After the death of his father during the [[War of L'Aquila]], he participated in [[Braccio da Montone]]'s final defeat in that campaign; he fought subsequently for the Neapolitan army and then for [[Pope Martin V]] and the [[Duke of Milan]], [[Filippo Maria Visconti]]. After some successes, he fell in disgrace and was sent to the castle of [[Mortara, Lombardy|Mortara]] as a prisoner. He regained his status after leading an expedition against [[Lucca]].

In 1431, after fighting again for the [[Papal States]], he led the Milanese army against [[Venice]]; the following year the duke's daughter, [[Bianca Maria Visconti|Bianca Maria]], was betrothed to him.{{sfn|Williams|1998|p=201}} Despite these moves, the wary Filippo Maria never ceased to be distrustful of Sforza. The allegiance of mercenary leaders was dependent, of course, on pay; in 1433–1435, Sforza led the Milanese attack on the Papal States, but when he conquered [[Ancona]], in [[Marche]], he changed sides, obtaining the title of vicar of the city directly from [[Pope Eugene IV]].{{sfn|Gregorovius|1967|p=42}} In 1436–39, he served variously both in [[Florence]] and Venice.

In 1440, his fiefs in the [[Kingdom of Naples]] were occupied by [[Alfonso V of Aragon|King Alfonso I]], and, to recover the situation, Sforza reconciled himself with Filippo Visconti. On 25 October 1441, in [[Cremona]], he could finally marry Bianca Maria as part of the [[Peace of Cremona (1441)|agreements]] that ended the war between Milan and Venice. The following year, he allied with [[René of Anjou]], pretender to the throne of Naples, and marched against southern Italy. After some initial setbacks, he defeated the Neapolitan commander Niccolò Piccinino, who had invaded his possessions in Romagna and Marche, through the help of [[Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta]] (who had married his daughter [[Polissena Sforza|Polissena]]) and the Venetians, and could return to Milan.

Sforza later found himself warring against [[Francesco Piccinino]] (whom he defeated at the Battle of Montolmo in 1444) and, later, the alliance of Visconti, Eugene IV, and Malatesta, who had allegedly murdered Polissena. With the help of Venice, Sforza was again victorious and, in exchange for abandoning the Venetians, received the title of ''capitano generale'' (commander-in-chief) of the Duchy of Milan's armies.

===Duke of Milan===
After Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, died without a male heir in 1447, fighting broke out to restore the so-called [[Ambrosian Republic]].{{sfn|Lucas|1960|p=268}} The name Ambrosian Republic takes its name from [[St. Ambrose]], the [[patron saint]] of Milan.{{sfn|Lucas|1960|p=268}} [[Agnese del Maino]], his wife's mother, convinced the condottiero who held [[Pavia]] to restore it to him.{{sfn|Echols|Williams|1992|p=21-22}}

He also received the seigniory of other cities of the duchy, including [[Lodi, Lombardy|Lodi]], and started to carefully plan the conquest of the ephemeral republic, allying with [[William VIII of Montferrat]] and (again) Venice. In 1450, after years of famine, riots raged in the streets of Milan and the city's senate decided to entrust him with the duchy. Sforza entered the city as duke on 26 February. It was the first time that such a title was handed over by a lay institution. While the other Italian states gradually recognized Sforza as the legitimate Duke of Milan, he was never able to obtain official investiture from the [[Holy Roman Emperor]]. That did not come to the Sforza Dukes until 1494, when [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Maximilian]] formally invested Francesco's son, [[Ludovico Sforza|Ludovico]], as duke of Milan.

Under his rule (which was moderate and skilful), Sforza modernised the city and duchy. He created an efficient system of taxation that generated enormous revenues for the government, his court became a centre of [[Renaissance]] learning and culture, and the people of Milan grew to love him. In Milan, he founded the [[Ospedale Maggiore]], restored the [[:it:Palazzo Reale (Milano)|Palazzo ducale]], and had the Naviglio d'Adda, a channel connecting with the [[River Adda]], built.

During Sforza's reign, Florence was under the command of [[Cosimo de' Medici]] and the two rulers became close friends. This friendship eventually manifested in first the [[Peace of Lodi]] and then the [[Italian League]], a multi-polar defensive alliance of Italian states that succeeded in stabilising almost all of Italy for its duration. After the peace, Sforza renounced part of the conquests in eastern Lombardy obtained by his condottieri [[Bartolomeo Colleoni]], [[Ludovico III Gonzaga|Ludovico Gonzaga]], and [[Roberto Sanseverino d'Aragona]] after 1451. As [[Alfonso V of Aragon|King Alfonso I of Naples]] was among the signatories of the treaty, Sforza also abandoned his long support of the [[House of Valois-Anjou|Angevin]] pretenders to Naples. He also aimed to conquer [[Genoa]], then an Angevin possession; when a revolt broke out there in 1461, he had Spinetta Campofregoso elected as [[doge of Genoa|Doge]], as his puppet. Sforza occupied Genoa and [[Savona]] in 1464.

Sforza was the first European ruler to follow a foreign policy based on the concept of the [[balance of power in international relations|balance of power]], and the first native Italian ruler to conduct extensive diplomacy outside the peninsula to counter the power of threatening states such as France. Sforza's policies succeeded in keeping foreign powers from dominating Italian politics for the rest of the century.

[[Edward IV of England]] sought to strengthen friendly relations with Sforza and accordingly offered him membership in the prestigious [[Order of the Garter]].{{sfn|Ross|1997|p=274}} He accepted and became a knight of the Garter in 1463.{{sfn|Vale|2022|p=9}}

Sforza suffered from [[hydropsy]] and [[gout]]. In 1462, rumours spread that he was dead and a riot exploded in Milan. He however survived for four more years, finally dying in March 1466. He was succeeded as duke by his son, [[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]].

Francesco's successor Ludovico commissioned [[Leonardo da Vinci]] to design an [[Leonardo's horse|equestrian statue]] as part of a monument to Francesco I Sforza. A clay model of a horse which was to be used as part of the design was completed by Leonardo in 1492—but the statue was never built. In 1999 the horse alone was cast from Leonardo's original designs in bronze and placed in Milan outside the racetrack of Ippodromo del Galoppo.