Gian Galeazzo Sforza (also
Giovan Galeazzo Sforza) (20 June 1469 - 21 October 1494) was the sixth Duke of Milan.
Born in
AbbiategrassoAbbiategrasso is a comune and town in the province of Milan, Italian region of Lombardy, situated in the Po valley approximately 22 km from Milan and 38 km from Pavia.- History :The town dates from Roman times...
, he was only 7 years old when in 1476 his father,
Galeazzo Maria SforzaGaleazzo Maria Sforza was Duke of Milan from 1466 until his death. He was famous for being lustful, cruel and tyrannical....
, was assassinated and Gian Galeazzo became the
Duke of Milan. His uncle,
Ludovico SforzaLudovico Sforza Duke of Milan , a member of the Sforza dynasty of Milan, Italy, was the second son of Francesco Sforza, and was famed as patron of Leonardo da Vinci and other artists....
, acted as regent to the young duke but quickly wrestled all power from him and became the
de factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact". In law, it is meant to mean "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established"...
ruler of Milan for some time.
Gian Galeazzo Sforza (also
Giovan Galeazzo Sforza) (20 June 1469 - 21 October 1494) was the sixth Duke of Milan.
Born in
AbbiategrassoAbbiategrasso is a comune and town in the province of Milan, Italian region of Lombardy, situated in the Po valley approximately 22 km from Milan and 38 km from Pavia.- History :The town dates from Roman times...
, he was only 7 years old when in 1476 his father,
Galeazzo Maria SforzaGaleazzo Maria Sforza was Duke of Milan from 1466 until his death. He was famous for being lustful, cruel and tyrannical....
, was assassinated and Gian Galeazzo became the
Duke of Milan. His uncle,
Ludovico SforzaLudovico Sforza Duke of Milan , a member of the Sforza dynasty of Milan, Italy, was the second son of Francesco Sforza, and was famed as patron of Leonardo da Vinci and other artists....
, acted as regent to the young duke but quickly wrestled all power from him and became the
de factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact". In law, it is meant to mean "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established"...
ruler of Milan for some time. In 1488, Gian Galeazzo married his cousin princess
Isabella of NaplesIsabella di Aragona was born a princess of Naples, granddaughter of King Ferdinand I of Naples and daughter of King Alphonse II of Naples by his wife, Ippolita Maria Sforza. From 1489 to 1494 she was the Duchess Consort of Milan, and from 1499 to 1524 the Duchess of Bari and Princess of Rossano...
and they had three children together:
Ippolita Maria Sforza (1490-1501)Ippolita Maria Sforza - daughter of Gian Galeazzo Sforza of Milan and Isabella of Naples.She was also the niece of Bianca Maria Sforza, who in 1493 had married Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. She was named after her maternal grandmother, Ippolita Maria Sforza.She was engaged with Ferdinand of...
,
FrancescoFrancesco Sforza, nicknamed Il Duchetto was the eldest son of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, duke of Milan, and Isabella of Naples....
(1491-1512),
BonaBona Sforza d'Aragona was a member of the House of Sforza who in 1518 became the second wife of Sigismund I of Poland....
(1494-1557) (who married Sigismund I of Poland) and Bianca Maria (1495-1496).
Concerning Gian Galeazzo's death in 1494 (Pavia), Italian historian
Francesco GuicciardiniFrancesco Guicciardini was an Italian historian and statesman. A friend and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli, he is considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance...
had this to say in his
La Historia di Italia (The History of Italy):
The rumor was widespread that Giovan Galeazzo's death had been provoked by immoderate coitus; nevertheless, it was widely believed throughout Italy that he had died not through natural illness nor as a result of incontinence, but had been poisoned... one of the royal physicians...asserted that he had seen manifest signs of it. Nor was there anyone who doubted that if it had been poison, it had been administered through his uncle's Ludovico SforzaLudovico Sforza Duke of Milan , a member of the Sforza dynasty of Milan, Italy, was the second son of Francesco Sforza, and was famed as patron of Leonardo da Vinci and other artists....
machinations...