All Topics  
House of Sforza

 
House of Sforza

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

House of Sforza
 
 
  Topics House of Sforza Topic Home

Sforza was a ruling family of Renaissance
Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
 Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, based in Milan
Duchy of Milan

The Duchy of Milan was a state in northern Italy from 1394 to 1797. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire, by then a decentralised entity, and was ruled by several dynasties, most of them major powers from outside Italy....
.

The dynasty was founded by Muzio Attendolo
Muzio Sforza

Muzio Attendolo Sforza was an Italy condottiero. Founder of the Sforza dynasty, he led a Bolognese-Florentine army at the Battle of Casalecchio....
, called Sforza (from sforzare, to exert or force, 1369-1424) a condottiero from Romagna
Romagna

Romagna is an Italy historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennine Mountains to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers River Reno and Sillaro to the north and west....
 serving the Angevin
Angevin

Angevin is the name applied to the residents of Anjou, a former province of the Ancien R?gime in France, as well as to the residents of Angers....
 kings of Naples
Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
. He was the most successful dynast of the condottieri.

His son Francesco I Sforza
Francesco I Sforza

Francesco I Sforza was an Italian condottiero, the founder of the Sforza dynasty in Milan, Italy. He was the brother of Alessandro Sforza, with whom he often fought....
 ruled Milan for the first half of the Renaissance
Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
 era, acquiring the title of Duke of Milan from the extinct Visconti family in 1447.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'House of Sforza'
Start a new discussion about 'House of Sforza'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Italy 1494 Shepherd
Sforza was a ruling family of Renaissance
Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
 Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, based in Milan
Duchy of Milan

The Duchy of Milan was a state in northern Italy from 1394 to 1797. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire, by then a decentralised entity, and was ruled by several dynasties, most of them major powers from outside Italy....
.

The dynasty was founded by Muzio Attendolo
Muzio Sforza

Muzio Attendolo Sforza was an Italy condottiero. Founder of the Sforza dynasty, he led a Bolognese-Florentine army at the Battle of Casalecchio....
, called Sforza (from sforzare, to exert or force, 1369-1424) a condottiero from Romagna
Romagna

Romagna is an Italy historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennine Mountains to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers River Reno and Sillaro to the north and west....
 serving the Angevin
Angevin

Angevin is the name applied to the residents of Anjou, a former province of the Ancien R?gime in France, as well as to the residents of Angers....
 kings of Naples
Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
. He was the most successful dynast of the condottieri.

His son Francesco I Sforza
Francesco I Sforza

Francesco I Sforza was an Italian condottiero, the founder of the Sforza dynasty in Milan, Italy. He was the brother of Alessandro Sforza, with whom he often fought....
 ruled Milan for the first half of the Renaissance
Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
 era, acquiring the title of Duke of Milan from the extinct Visconti family in 1447. While there were many good rulers in the family, there were also a number of despots, many of whom were mentally unstable.

The family also held the seigniory of Pesaro
Pesaro

Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italy region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....
, starting from Muzio Attendolo's second son, Alessandro
Alessandro Sforza

Alessandro Sforza was an Italian condottiero and lord of Pesaro, the first of the Pesaro line of the Sforza family....
 (1409-1473). The Sforza held Pesaro until 1519, with the death of Galeazzo
Galeazzo Maria Sforza

Galeazzo Maria Sforza was Duke of Milan from 1466 until his death. He was famous for being lustful, cruel and tyrannical.He was born to Francesco Sforza, a popular condottiero and ally of Cosimo de' Medici who had gained the dukedom of Milan, and Bianca Maria Visconti....
. Muzio's third son, Bosio (1411-1476), founded the branch of Santa Fiora
Santa Fiora

Santa Fiora is a comune in the Province of Grosseto, in the Italy region of Tuscany, located about 110 km southeast of Florence and about 40 km east of Grosseto....
, who held the title of count of Cotignola
Cotignola

Cotignola is a comune in the Province of Ravenna in the Italy region Emilia-Romagna, located about 50 km southeast of Bologna and about 20 km west of Ravenna....
; the Sforza ruled the small county of Santa Fiora
County of Santa Fiora

The County of Santa Fiora was a small historical state of southern Tuscany, in central Italy. Together with the county of Sovana, it was one of the two subdivisions into which the possessions of the Aldobrandeschi, then lords of much of southern Tuscany, were split in 1274....
 in southern Tuscany
Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of and a population of about 3.6 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence.Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy....
 until 1624. Members of this family also held important ecclesiastical and political position in the Papal States, and moved to Rome in 1674.

The Sforza would later join with the Borgia Family
Borgia

The Borgias or Borjas were an Italy noble family of Kingdom of Valencia origin remembered today for their corrupt rule of the Papacy during the Renaissance....
, through the arranged marriage
Arranged marriage

Arranged marriage is a marriage arranged by someone other than the couple getting wedded, curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world, including Europe....
 of Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia

Lucrezia Borgia was the daughter of Rodrigo Borgia, the powerful Renaissance Valencian who later became Pope Alexander VI, and Vannozza dei Cattanei....
 to Giovanni
Giovanni Sforza

Giovanni Sforza d'Aragona was an Italian condottiero, lord of Pesaro and Gradara from 1483 until his death. He is best known as the first husband of Lucrezia Borgia....
 (the illegitimate son of Costanzo I of Pesaro
Costanzo I Sforza

Costanzo I of Sforza was an Italian condottiero, lord of Pesaro and Gradara.He was the son of Alessandro Sforza, under which he fought in his early years and by which he inherited the lordship of Pesaro....
).

Ludovico Sforza
Ludovico Sforza

Ludovico 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....
 (also known as Ludovico il Moro, famous also for taking Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italy polymath, being a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, Painting, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer....
 at his service) was defeated in 1500 by the French army of Louis XII of France
Louis XII of France

Louis XII , called "the Father of the People" was the thirty-fifth List of French monarchs of France and the sole monarch from the House of Valois Cadet branch of the House of Valois....
 - see also Italian Wars
Italian Wars

The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy in historical works, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the Italian city-states, the Papal States, all the major states of western Europe as well as the Ottoman Empire....
.

After the French were driven out by Imperial Swiss troops Maximilian Sforza
Maximilian Sforza

Maximilian Sforza was a Duke of Milan from the Sforza family, the son of Lodovico Sforza. He ruled between the occupations of Louis XII of France , and Francis I of France in 1515....
, son of Ludovico, became Duke of Milan, until the French returned under Francis I of France
Francis I of France

Francis I , was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547.Francis I is considered to be France's first Renaissance monarch....
 and imprisoned him.

Sforza rulers of Duchy of Milan
Duchy of Milan

The Duchy of Milan was a state in northern Italy from 1394 to 1797. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire, by then a decentralised entity, and was ruled by several dynasties, most of them major powers from outside Italy....

  • Francesco I 1450-1466
  • Galeazzo Maria
    Galeazzo Maria Sforza

    Galeazzo Maria Sforza was Duke of Milan from 1466 until his death. He was famous for being lustful, cruel and tyrannical.He was born to Francesco Sforza, a popular condottiero and ally of Cosimo de' Medici who had gained the dukedom of Milan, and Bianca Maria Visconti....
     1466-1476
  • Gian Galeazzo
    Gian Galeazzo Sforza

    Gian Galeazzo Sforza was the sixth Duke of Milan.Born in Abbiategrasso, he was only 7 years old when in 1476 his father, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, was assassinated and Gian Galeazzo became the List of rulers of Milan....
     1476-1494
  • Ludovico
    Ludovico Sforza

    Ludovico 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....
     1494-1499
  • Ludovico
    Ludovico Sforza

    Ludovico 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....
     (restored) 1500
  • Massimiliano 1512-1515
  • Caterina
    Caterina Sforza

    Caterina Sforza, Countess of Forl? , was the illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan and Lucrezia Landriani, the wife of the courtier Gian Piero Landriani, a close friend of the Duke....
     1515-1535
  • Francesco II
    Francesco II Sforza

    Francesco II Sforza , also known as Francesco Maria Sforza, was the last Duke of Milan from 1521 until his death.He was the son of Ludovico Sforza and Beatrice d'Este....
     1521-1535


Sforza rulers of Pesaro and Gradara

  • Alessandro
    Alessandro Sforza

    Alessandro Sforza was an Italian condottiero and lord of Pesaro, the first of the Pesaro line of the Sforza family....
  • Costanzo I
    Costanzo I Sforza

    Costanzo I of Sforza was an Italian condottiero, lord of Pesaro and Gradara.He was the son of Alessandro Sforza, under which he fought in his early years and by which he inherited the lordship of Pesaro....
  • Giovanni
    Giovanni Sforza

    Giovanni Sforza d'Aragona was an Italian condottiero, lord of Pesaro and Gradara from 1483 until his death. He is best known as the first husband of Lucrezia Borgia....
  • Costanzo II
  • Galeazzo


Sforza family tree


Giacomo (Muzio) Attendolo
Muzio Sforza

Muzio Attendolo Sforza was an Italy condottiero. Founder of the Sforza dynasty, he led a Bolognese-Florentine army at the Battle of Casalecchio....
, nicknamed Sforza | +-Francesco I (1401-1466), married Bianca Maria Visconti
Bianca Maria Visconti

Bianca Maria Visconti was Duchy of Milan from 1450 to 1468....
, daughter of Filippo Maria
Filippo Maria Visconti

Filippo Maria Visconti, was ruler of Milan from 1412 to 1447....
, 1450-66 | | | +-Galeazzo Maria
Galeazzo Maria Sforza

Galeazzo Maria Sforza was Duke of Milan from 1466 until his death. He was famous for being lustful, cruel and tyrannical.He was born to Francesco Sforza, a popular condottiero and ally of Cosimo de' Medici who had gained the dukedom of Milan, and Bianca Maria Visconti....
 (1443–1476), 1466-76 | | | | | +-Caterina Sforza
Caterina Sforza

Caterina Sforza, Countess of Forl? , was the illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan and Lucrezia Landriani, the wife of the courtier Gian Piero Landriani, a close friend of the Duke....
 (1463-1509) | | | | | +-Bianca Maria
Bianca Maria Sforza

Bianca Maria Sforza , Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, was the third wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. She was the eldest legitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Dukes of Milan, by his second wife, Bona of Savoy....
 (1472–1510), second wife of Holy Roman
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
 Emperor Maximilian I
Maximilian I

Maximilian I may refer to:*Maximilian of Mexico, reigned April 1864 to May 1867*Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, reigned 1508 to 1519*Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria, reigned 1597 to September 1651...
 | | | | | +-Gian Galeazzo
Gian Galeazzo Sforza

Gian Galeazzo Sforza was the sixth Duke of Milan.Born in Abbiategrasso, he was only 7 years old when in 1476 his father, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, was assassinated and Gian Galeazzo became the List of rulers of Milan....
(1469-1494), married Isabella of Naples
Isabella of Naples

Isabella di Aragona was born a princess of Kingdom of Naples, granddaughter of Ferdinand I of Naples and daughter of Alfonso II of Naples by his wife, Ippolita Maria Sforza....
, 1476-94 | | | | | +-Francesco (II)
Francesco Sforza (il Duchetto)

Francesco Sforza, nicknamed Il Duchetto was the eldest son of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, duke of Milan, and Isabella of Naples.He was count of Pavia from 1491 to 1499....
, nominally duke under the regency of Ludovico Maria | | | | | +-Bona
Bona Sforza

Bona Sforza d'Aragona was a member of the House of Sforza who in 1518 became the second wife of Sigismund I of Poland.When her mother Isabella of Naples died in 1524, Bona succeeded to the titles Duchess of Bari and Princess of Rossano....
 (1494-1557), second wife of king Sigismund I of Poland | | | +-Ascanio
Ascanio Sforza

Ascanio Maria Sforza Visconti was an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church, generally known as a skilled diplomat who played a major role in the election of Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI....
 (1444-1505), Cardinal | | | +-Ippolita Maria
Ippolita Maria Sforza

Ippolita Maria Sforza , Duchess of Calabria, was a member of the powerful Italian condottieri Sforza family which ruled the Duchy of Milan from 1450 until 1535....
 (1446-1484), married king of Alfonso II d'Aragon of Naples
Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
 | | | +-Ludovico il Moro
Ludovico Sforza

Ludovico 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....
 (the Moor) (1451–1508) 1494-1500 | | | +-Ercole Massimiliano
Maximilian Sforza

Maximilian Sforza was a Duke of Milan from the Sforza family, the son of Lodovico Sforza. He ruled between the occupations of Louis XII of France , and Francis I of France in 1515....
 (1493-1530), 1512–15 | | | +-Francesco II (III) Maria
Francesco II Sforza

Francesco II Sforza , also known as Francesco Maria Sforza, was the last Duke of Milan from 1521 until his death.He was the son of Ludovico Sforza and Beatrice d'Este....
 , 1521–35 | | | +-Giovanni Paolo I
Giovanni Paolo I Sforza

Giovanni Paolo I Sforza was an Italy condottiero, the first in the Sforza family line of the Marquesses of Caravaggio .He was a legimitated son of Ludovico il Moro, duke of Milan, and Lucrezia Crivelli....
 (1497-1535), marquess of Caravaggio
Caravaggio (BG)

Caravaggio is a town in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Italy, 40 kilometres east of Milan.Caravaggio is known for having been the home town of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, from which the Italian people Baroque Painting took his name....
 | +-Alessandro
Alessandro Sforza

Alessandro Sforza was an Italian condottiero and lord of Pesaro, the first of the Pesaro line of the Sforza family....
, first lord of Pesaro
Pesaro

Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italy region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....
 | | | +-Costanzo I
Costanzo I Sforza

Costanzo I of Sforza was an Italian condottiero, lord of Pesaro and Gradara.He was the son of Alessandro Sforza, under which he fought in his early years and by which he inherited the lordship of Pesaro....
 | | | + Galeazzo, last Sforza ruler of Pesaro | | | +-Giovanni
Giovanni Sforza

Giovanni Sforza d'Aragona was an Italian condottiero, lord of Pesaro and Gradara from 1483 until his death. He is best known as the first husband of Lucrezia Borgia....
 (1466-1510), first husband of Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia

Lucrezia Borgia was the daughter of Rodrigo Borgia, the powerful Renaissance Valencian who later became Pope Alexander VI, and Vannozza dei Cattanei....
 | | | +-Costanzo II (Giovanni Maria) | +-Bosio (count of Cotignola, lord of Castell'Arquato
Castell'Arquato

Castell'Arquato is an Italy town located on the first hills of Val D?Arda in Emilia-Romagna of the province of Piacenza, approximately 30 km from Piacenza and 35 km from Parma....
)

Other members

  • Bianca Maria Sforza
    Bianca Maria Sforza

    Bianca Maria Sforza , Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, was the third wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. She was the eldest legitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Dukes of Milan, by his second wife, Bona of Savoy....
    , Empress
  • Bona Sforza
    Bona Sforza

    Bona Sforza d'Aragona was a member of the House of Sforza who in 1518 became the second wife of Sigismund I of Poland.When her mother Isabella of Naples died in 1524, Bona succeeded to the titles Duchess of Bari and Princess of Rossano....
    , Queen of Poland
    Poland

    Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
    , Duchess of Bari
    Bari

    Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic sea, in Italy. It is the second economic centre of mainland Southern Italy and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas....
     and Princess of Rossano
  • Sisto Riario Sforza
    Sisto Riario Sforza

    Sisto Riario Sforza was an Italy Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in the mid 19th century....
    , Cardinal


House of Sforza in popular culture


  • Thomas Harris
    Thomas Harris

    Thomas Harris is an United States author and screenwriter, best known for a series of novels about his most famous character, psychopathic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, who has since become a cultural icon....
    's character Hannibal Lecter
    Hannibal Lecter

    Hannibal Lecter, Doctor of Medicine is a fictional character in a series of novels by author Thomas Harris. Lecter is introduced in the Thriller Red Dragon as a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalism serial killer....
     is a descendant of the House of Sforza.
  • Dennis "The Carpenter" Maxwell (aka Maxwell Carpenter), a character from White Wolf Game Studio's original World of Darkness setting, was a man who had risen from his own grave to take revenge on a Mafia family named 'Sforza'.
  • In the anime Glass Fleet, the main antagonist, the self-styled "Holy Emperor", is named Vetti Lunard Sforza de Roselait.


See also

  • List of rulers of Milan
    List of rulers of Milan

    The following is a list of rulers of Milan from the 13th century to 1859 when Milan and the rest of Lombardy were incorporated into the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia....
  • Italian Wars
    Italian Wars

    The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy in historical works, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the Italian city-states, the Papal States, all the major states of western Europe as well as the Ottoman Empire....
  • Visconti
  • Pesaro
    Pesaro

    Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italy region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....
  • Gradara
    Gradara

    Gradara is a town and commune in the province of Pesaro and Urbino, in the region of Marche in central Italy. It is located 25 km from Rimini and 13 km from Pesaro....


External links