Editing Francesco I Sforza

{{Short description|Italian condottiero and Sforza dynasty founder (1401–1466)}}
{{For|other people named Francesco Sforza|Francesco Sforza (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{infobox royalty
| name         = Francesco I Sforza
| title        = 
| image        = Francesco Sforza.jpg
| caption      = Portrait of Francesco Sforza ({{circa|1460}}) by [[Bonifacio Bembo]]. Sforza insisted on being shown in his worn dirty old campaigning hat. [[Pinacoteca di Brera]], Milan.
| succession   = [[List of dukes of Milan|Duke of Milan]]
| reign        = {{nowrap|25 March 1450&nbsp;– 8 March 1466}}
| predecessor  = [[Golden Ambrosian Republic]]
| successor    = [[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]]
| birth_date   = {{birth_date|1401|7|23|df=yes}}
| birth_place  = [[Cigoli, San Miniato]], [[Republic of Florence]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1466|3|8|1401|7|23|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Milan]], [[Duchy of Milan]]
| issue        = [[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]], Duke of Milan <br /> [[Ippolita Maria Sforza]], Duchess of Calabria <br /> Filippo Maria Sforza, Count of Corsica <br /> Sforza Maria Sforza, Duke of Bari <br /> Francesco Galeazzo Maria Sforza <br /> [[Ludovico Sforza]], Duke of Milan <br /> [[Ascanio Maria Sforza]] <br /> Elisabetta Maria Sforza, Marquise of Montferrato <br /> Ottaviano Maria Sforza, Count of Lugano
| issue-link   = #Issue
| issue-pipe   = among others
| house        = [[House of Sforza|Sforza]]
| father       = [[Muzio Sforza|Muzio Attendolo Sforza]]
| mother       = Lucia de Martini (Demartini)
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Polissena Ruffo]]|1418|1420|end=d}}<br/>{{marriage|Maria Caldora|1424|1430|end=ann.}}<br />{{marriage|[[Bianca Maria Visconti]]|1441}}
}}

[[File:Bianca Maria Visconti.jpg|thumb|Bianca Maria Visconti in a portrait by [[Bonifacio Bembo]], [[Pinacoteca di Brera]], Milan]]
[[File:Coat of Arms of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, KG.png|thumb|Francesco's coat of arms encircled with the [[Order of the Garter|garter]]]]
'''Francesco I Sforza''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KG}} ({{IPA|it|franˈtʃesko ˈpriːmo ˈsfɔrtsa|lang}}; 23 July 1401 – 8 March 1466) was an Italian [[condottiero]] who founded the [[Sforza]] dynasty in the [[duchy of Milan]], ruling as its (fourth) [[Duke of Milan|duke]] from 1450 until his death.

In the 1420s, he participated in the [[War of L'Aquila]] and in the 1430s fought for the [[Papal States]] and Milan against [[Republic of Venice|Venice]]. Once the war between Milan and Venice ended in 1441 under [[Peace of Cremona (1441)|mediation]] by Sforza, he successfully invaded southern Italy alongside [[René of Anjou]], pretender to the throne of Naples, and after that returned to [[Milan]]. He was instrumental in the [[Treaty of Lodi]] (1454) which ensured peace in the Italian realms for a time by ensuring a strategic balance of power. He died in 1466 and was succeeded as duke by his son, [[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]]. While Sforza was recognized as duke of Milan, his son [[Ludovico Sforza|Ludovico]] would be the first to have formal investiture under the [[Holy Roman Empire]] by [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]] in 1494.

==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.

==Issue ==
Francesco Sforza with his first wife [[Polissena Ruffo]] (dead in 1420), married in 1418, had:

* Antonia Polissena (1420–1420). Her mother died in childbirth and she died shortly after.

By his second wife, Maria Caldora, daughter of [[Jacopo Caldora|Giacomo Caldora]], married on April 1424, he had no issue. The marriage was dissolved at 1430 end by [[Pope Martin V]].

Francesco Sforza with his third wife Bianca Maria Visconti had:

* [[Galeazzo Maria Sforza|Galeazzo Maria]] (24 January 1444 — 26 December 1476), Duke of Milan from 1466 to 1476.{{sfn|Bartlett|2019|p=125}}
* [[Ippolita Maria Sforza|Ippolita Maria]] (18 April 1446 — 20 August 1484), wife of [[Alfonso II of Naples]] and mother of [[Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan|Isabella of Aragon]],{{sfn|Fallows|2010|p=39}} who was to marry Galeazzo's heir. 
* Child died at birth; 
* Filippo Maria (12 December 1449 — 1492), Count of Corsica. Married to his cousin Costanza Sforza, they had a daughter, Bona.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lubkin |first=Gregory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HunQEAAAQBAJ&dq=bosio+sforza+%22filippo+maria%22&pg=PT481 |title=A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galleazzo Maria Sforza |date=2023-09-01 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91345-5 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Sforza Maria Sforza|Sforza Maria]] (18 August 1451 — 29 July 1479), Duke of Bari from 1464 to 1479. Betrothed (possibly married) to [[Eleanor of Naples, Duchess of Ferrara|Eleanor of Naples]]
* Francesco Galeazzo Maria (5 August 1453 — died young).
* [[Ludovico Sforza|Ludovico Maria]] (3 August 1452 — 27 May 1508), Duke of Bari from 1479 to 1494 and Duke of Milan from 1494 to 1499.
* [[Ascanio Maria Sforza|Ascanio Maria]] (3 March 1455 — 28 May 1505), Abbot of Chiaraville, Bishop of Pavia, Cremona, Pesaro, and Novara and Cardinal.
* Elisabetta Maria (10 June 1456 — 1473), wife of [[William VIII, Marquess of Montferrat|Guglielmo VIII Paleologo]], Margrave of Montferrat{{sfn|Lubkin|1994|p=18}}
* Ottaviano Maria (30 April 1458 — 1477), Count of Lugano, who drowned while escaping arrest.

Francesco Sforza also had an unspecified number (possibly 35) of illegitimate children.

[[Giovanna d'Acquapendente]], who was Francesco's official lover between the death of his first wife and his marriage to Bianca Maria Visconti, gave him 7 children including:

* Polissena (b. 1422) Died young
* Isolea or Isotta (b.1427 – d. 1485/87) married [[Andrea Matteo Acquaviva|Andreo Matteo Acquaviva]] and after his death Giovanni Mauruzi<ref name=":0" />
* [[Polissena Sforza|Polisena Sforza]] (1428 – June 1, 1449) married [[Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta]]
* [[Sforza Secondo Sforza]] (1433–1492 or 1493), [[count of Borgonuovo]]; married Antonia dal Verme daughter of [[Luigi dal Verme]].
* Drusiana Sforza (30 September 1437 – 29 June 1474), married [[Jacopo Piccinino]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Bartlett |first=Kenneth R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MORICgAAQBAJ&dq=polissena+sforza+tristano+drusiana&pg=PA182 |title=A Short History of the Italian Renaissance |date=2013-07-17 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-0877-1 |language=en}}</ref>

with Brigida Caimi (daughter of Franchino Caimi):

* [[Giovanni Maria Sforza|Giovanni Maria]] (Milan, 1461 – Pavia, 1510 or 1513), archbishop of Genoa from 1498

with Elisabetta de Prata:

* Giulio married Margherita Grassi, daughter of Tommaso Grassi, Patrizio di Milano
with Perpetua di Varese<ref>{{Cite book |last=II |first=Pope Pius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z4lvAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22polidoro+sforza%22+perpetua&pg=PA275 |title=Europe (c. 1400–1458) |date=November 2013 |publisher=CUA Press |isbn=978-0-8132-2182-3 |language=en}}</ref>
* Polidoro<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bartlett |first=Kenneth R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MORICgAAQBAJ&dq=polissena+sforza+tristano+drusiana&pg=PA182 |title=A Short History of the Italian Renaissance |date=2013-07-17 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-0877-1 |language=en}}</ref> (b.1442 – d. 1475) married Antonia Malaspina, illegitimate daughter of Spinetta of Verrucola,

with Elisabetta da Robecco( also known as Elisabetta delle Grazie):

* Leonardo
* Julius

By unknown mothers:

* Tristano Sforza (1424–1477) married Beatrice d´Este, an illegitimate daughter of [[Niccolò III d'Este|Niccolò III d'Este,marquess of Ferrarra]]
* Bona Francesca (d. 1513)
* Bianca Maria
* Fiordelisa Maria married Guidaccio Manfredi.
* Bartolomeo
* Antonio
* Paolo (b.1454)
* Lucia<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Santoro |first=Caterina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xMrUAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22taddea+sforza&pg=PA110 |title=Gli Sforza: La casata nobiliare che resse il Ducato di Milano dal 1450 al 1535 |date=1999-01-01 |publisher=Lampi di stampa |isbn=978-88-488-0056-3 |language=it}}</ref> (b.? – d.?became a nun
* Taddea<ref name=":1" /> (b.? – d.?became a nun
* Clara<ref name=":1" /> (b.? – d.?) became a nun
* Elisa
* Griselda (b.1452–1495)
* Beatrice (b.1455–1493)
* Ottaviana (b.1461–1513)

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |title=The Renaissance in Italy: A History |first=Kenneth |last=Bartlett |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. |year=2019 }}
* {{cite book |first1=Anne |last1=Echols |first2=Marty |last2=Williams | title=An annotated index of medieval women| year=1992 | publisher=Markus Wiener Publishing, Inc }}
* {{cite book |title=Jousting in Medieval and Renaissance Iberia |first=Noel |last=Fallows |publisher=The Boydell Press |year=2010 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Longman Companion to Renaissance Europe, 1390-1530 |first=Stella |last=Fletcher |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 }}
* {{cite book |title=History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages |volume=7 |first=Ferdinand |last=Gregorovius |publisher=AMS Press |year=1967 |issue=1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ippolito |first=Antonio Menniti |title= Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani|chapter=Francesco I Sforza, duca di Milano|chapter-url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/francesco-i-sforza-duca-di-milano_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/ |year=1998|volume=50|publisher=Treccani}}
*{{cite book |title=A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galleazzo Maria Sforza |first=Gregory |last=Lubkin |publisher=University of California Press |year=1994 }}
* {{cite book |first=Henry S. |last=Lucas |title=The Renaissance and the Reformation |publisher=Harper Bros.: New York |year=1960 }}
* {{cite book|first=Claudio|last=Rendina|title=I capitani di ventura|publisher=Netwon Compton|location=Rome|year=1994}}
* {{cite book |title=Francesco Filelfo: Odes |editor-first=Diana |editor-last=Robin |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ross|first=Charles| title=Edward IV|year=1997| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m8Ojo6VI8KUC&dq=%22francesco+sforza%22+garter&pg=PA274|isbn=978-0-30007-371-3|publisher=Yale University Press}}
* {{cite book |title=Charles the Bold and Italy (1467-1477): Politics and Personnel |first=Richard J. |last=Walsh |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=2005 }}
* {{cite book|last=Vale |first=Malcolm |title= The Fifteenth Century XIX: Enmity and Amity|editor-last1=Clark |editor-first1=Linda |chapter=England and Europe: England and Europe c.1450 - 1520: Nostalagia or New Opportunities? |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OrB-EAAAQBAJ&dq=%22francesco+sforza%22+garter&pg=PA9|year= 2022|publisher=The Boydell Press|isbn=978-1-78327-742-1}}
* {{cite book |title=Papal Genealogy: The Families and Descendants of the Popes |first=George L. |last=Williams |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |year=1998 }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-vac|reason=[[Ambrosian Republic]]|last=[[Filippo Maria Visconti]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Duke of Milan]]|years=1450–1466}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sforza, Francesco 01}}
[[Category:1401 births]]
[[Category:1466 deaths]]
[[Category:15th-century dukes of Milan]]
[[Category:15th-century condottieri]]
[[Category:Burials at Milan Cathedral]]
[[Category:House of Sforza|Francesco 1]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Pisa]]
[[Category:Republic of Venice generals]]