Sforza Maria Sforza

Sforza Maria Sforza (18 August 1451 — 29 July 1479), Duke of Bari from 1464 to 1479, was a son of the condottiero Francesco I Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti.

Early life

Sforza Maria was born on 18 August 1451 in Vigevano^[1] as the third son of Francesco I Sforza and of his wife Bianca Maria Visconti.

His mother was the only daughter of Filippo Maria Visconti and his mistress Agnese del Maino. His paternal grandparents were the condottotiere Muzio Attendolo Sforza (who was the founder of the Sforza family) and his mistress Lucia Tregani (or Troziano)^[2]

Both of his given names carried significance ; his first name "Sforza" meaning "the force" in Italian had been the nickname of his paternal grandfather and also the name his own father had chosen for his own house.

The reason for the female name Maria which was given to Sforza Maria and his sisters and brother was a family tradition from his mother's side of the family, on account of the vow of his maternal great-grandparents Gian Galeazzo Visconti and Caterina Visconti to add the epicene name "Maria" to their sons' names if the Virgin Mary would grant them children.^[3]

Sforza Maria's father and mother, the duke and duchess of Milan, had a good relationship despite their age gap, but his father was often unfaithful and it is thought that he fathered at least 15 children^[4] between his wife and his mistresses. Bianca Maria usually reacted to her husbands extramarital affairs by ignoring them.

Education

Bianca Maria aimed to give her children a humanist education^[5]^[6] such as she herself had enjoyed and therefore had them educated by the humanist scholars Baldo Martorello da Serra de´Conti^[7] and Giorgio Valagussa.^[8] Sforza Maria was taught Latin and other princely pursuits as well as such as a love of music and hunting something wich their mother Bianca Maria herself enjoyed and there encouraged Sforza Maria and his siblings in such pursuits.

Sforza Marias maternal grandmother Agnese delMainoo also resided at the ducal court, and was a prominent part of the Sforza siblings childhood and helped with overseeing the education of her grandchildren.

Betrothal

At the age of four, Sforza Maria was betrothed to Eleanor of Naples the daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples. Sforza Marias older sister Ippolita was also betrothed to Eleanors older brother Alfonso around the same time.

This double betrothal was to cement the allegiance between Milan and Naples as Sforza Marias father had supported Alfonso (grandfather of Eleonora) the king of Naples during the conspiracy of the barons who wanted the return of the Angevins to Naples. King Ferdinand I therefore rewarded the former with the reconfirmation in 1462 of all his possessions, including the fief of Modugno. This was all part of a scheme by the duke of Milan to firmly establish his dynasty and become part of the Italian league^[9] wich would enable his and his heir Galeazzo to be included in the treaty of Lodi wich guaranteed 40 years of peace for its members.

Ferdinand in turn to strengthen his alliance with the Duke of Milan, promised his future son-in-law Sforza Maria Sforza to grant him Rossano, the fiefdom of one of the leaders of the barons' conspiracy. However, in the course of the war, the Prince of Rossano made peace with the king of Naples Ferdinand I, who had to find an alternative to honor the promise. Thus Sforza Maria was granted the Duchy of Bari by Ferdinand.^[10]

Life under the reign of Galeazzo Maria

When his father Francesco Sforza died in 1466 after falling from his horse, he was succeeded by his eldest son and Sforza Marias oldest brother Galeazzo Maria Sforza. Their mother initially acted has an advisor to her son, but afrer barely a year end Galeazzo tired of her wanting to be involved in government and forced her to leave Milan.^[11] Bianca Maria then moved to Cremona, her dower city.

Sforza Maria and his brothers were not happy with this and claimed that it had been the wish of their father that all of Francesco sons should share power over Milan. Another cause for discord between Sforza Maria and his brother was the matter of his marriage to Eleanor of Naples. The marriage (by proxy) took place in 1465 but his brother Galeazzo refused to honor the marriage settlements ^[12] and thus Eleanor remained in Naples. Furthermore, Galeazzo also refused to annul the marriage unless Eleanors father sent his granddaughter Isabella (and Sforza Maria and Galeazzos niece) to the Milanese court to be brought up there and eventually marry Galeazzos son and heir Gian Galeazzo.^[12] The marriage of Sforza Maria and Eleanor was dissolved in 1672 and she was married to Ercole d´Este instead. In 1467 Sforza Maria was given his half-brother Sforza Secondo Sforza fiefdom of Borgonovo.

In 1468 Sforza Marias mother Bianca Maria traveling to attend Galeazzos wedding to Bona of Savoy, when she grew sick and after ailing for several months she passed away. The manner of her death raised suspicions; and her son Galeazzo Maria was accused of having poisoned her. These suspicions were not completely unfounded as her own grandmother Caterina Visconti had been poisoned by her own son.

All things adding up; the relationship between Sforza Maria and his brother Galeazzo was therefore for a number of reasons strained enough, that were rumors in 1476 that Sforza Maria and Ludovico were planning to assassinate him. These suspicions were so strong that in November that same year Galeazzo Maria sent his brothers to France with the explanation that "they wanted to see the world"^[13] It was however apparent that they did not leave of their own free will but rather had been exiled. There they would also be kept under close watch as king of France Louis XI was also the brother-in-law by marriage to Galeazzos wife Bona having married her sister Charlotte of Savoy.

Just a month later on December 26, 1476,Galeazzo was assassinated by three young noblemen on the porch of the cathedral church of San Stefano i and Gian Galeazzo, just eight years old, became the new duke of Milan, under the regency of his mother Bona of Savoy. Bona enlisted the help of chancellor Cicco Simonetta to strengthen her position as regent against her brother-in-laws. Some compromise was made when Ludovico Gonzaga and the Pope intervened and the Sforza Maria and his brothers were given annual pensions as well as a fortress and a palace for each of them.

But this compromise only lasted so long until Sforza Maria along with his brothers Ludovico, Ascanio and Ottaviano tried to oust Cicco Simoetta and take the regency, but the coup was unsuccessful and were driven out of Milan. During their escape Sforza Marias younger brother Ottaviano attempted to flee by crossing the Adda river and subsequently drowned.

Maria Sforza was exiled to Bari, his own duchy, where he devoted himself to the breeding of horses.

Death

On 29 July 1479, Sforza Maria died near Varese Ligure, allegedly poisoned on the order of Cicco Simonetta.^{[citation needed]}

As he died without an heir, the duchy reverted to the king of Naples. On August 14, King Ferdinand I of Naples granted the duchy to Sforza Maria's brother Ludovico il Moro in an order dated 14 August 1479.

Possible portrait by Antonio da Messina.

"Portrait of a man" knowns as "The Condottiere" is currently at the Louvre

^[15] In 1475 Sforza Maria returned from Venice with a portrait of himself that he showed to his brother Galeazzo.^[16]

... since our brother the most illustrious Duke of Bari has brought us a portrait drawn from life by a Sicilian painter established in the city [ Venice ]
— Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Letter of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza to Leonardo Botta, Patrons and Artists in the Italian Renaissance p. 152

Galeazzo Maria Sforza on the praise of his brother for the artist wrote to his agent in Venice and asked him to secure the services of Antonello da Messina because of this March 1476 da Messina received an invitation to enter the service of the Duke of Milan. da Messina initially accepted the offer; but by the following September he had returned to Messina, possibly to escape the plague.^[17]

Because of the dating on the painting (1475) coinciding with the date of the mention of the artist it has been theorized that it is a likeness of Sforza Maria Sforza but it has also been attempts to identify it with a young Lorenzo de Medici or with Giorgio Cornaro.

References

^ Wood, Jeryldene M. (2020-06-26). Ippolita Maria Sforza: The Renaissance Princess Who Linked Milan and Naples. McFarland. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-4766-8047-7.
^ Santoro, Caterina (1999-01-01). Gli Sforza: La casata nobiliare che resse il Ducato di Milano dal 1450 al 1535 (in Italian). Lampi di stampa. ISBN 978-88-488-0056-3.
^ Fenlon, Iain (2009-03-19). Early Music History: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Music. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-10440-1.
^ Wood, Jeryldene M. (2020-06-26). Ippolita Maria Sforza: The Renaissance Princess Who Linked Milan and Naples. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-8047-7.
^ McIver, Katherine A. (2016-12-05). Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy: Making the Invisible Visible through Art and Patronage. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-87247-8.
^ Vries, Joyce de (2016-12-05). Caterina Sforza and the Art of Appearances: Gender, Art and Culture in Early Modern Italy. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-95320-7.
^ Stevenson, Jane (2021-10-14). The Light of Italy: The Life and Times of Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-80024-199-2.
^ Piseri, Federico (2024), Le Cam, Jean-Luc; Le Pipec, Erwan (eds.), "L'éducation épistolaire à la cour des Sforza : Modèles, langues et registres dans les lettres des princes pendant leurs années de formation", L’école et les langues dans les espaces en situation de partage linguistique : Approche historique, Histoire (in French), Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, pp. 45–58, ISBN 978-2-7535-9505-7, retrieved 2024-10-23
^ Abulafia, David (2016-12-05). The French Descent into Renaissance Italy, 1494–95: Antecedents and Effects. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-88933-9.
^ Giannone, Pietro (1731). The Civil History of the Kingdom of Naples: In Two Volumes. W. Innys ... G. Strahan ... R. Willock ... A. Millar ... [and 4 others] and sold.
^ Panizza, Letizia (2017-12-02). Women in Italian Renaissance Culture and Society. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-19905-6.
^ ^a ^b Shaw, Christine (2019-03-01). Isabella d'Este: A Renaissance Princess. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-68306-0.
^ Shaw, Christine (2000-03-23). The Politics of Exile in Renaissance Italy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-42675-6.
^ Berthoz, Alain; Petit, Jean-Luc (2006-09-28). Phénoménologie et Physiologie de l'action (in French). Odile Jacob. ISBN 978-2-7381-9043-7.
^ Antonello de Messine (Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio, dit Antonello da Messina); Italie (1475), Portrait d'homme (Giorgio Corner (1454-1527) ?), dit Le Condottiere, retrieved 2024-10-25
^ Chambers, David (1970-06-18). Patrons and Artists in the Italian Renaissance. Springer. ISBN 978-1-349-00623-6.
^ "b1561520 1". libmma.contentdm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2024-10-25.

[1] Wood, Jeryldene M. (2020-06-26). Ippolita Maria Sforza: The Renaissance Princess Who Linked Milan and Naples. McFarland. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-4766-8047-7.

[2] Santoro, Caterina (1999-01-01). Gli Sforza: La casata nobiliare che resse il Ducato di Milano dal 1450 al 1535 (in Italian). Lampi di stampa. ISBN 978-88-488-0056-3.

[3] Fenlon, Iain (2009-03-19). Early Music History: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Music. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-10440-1.

[4] Wood, Jeryldene M. (2020-06-26). Ippolita Maria Sforza: The Renaissance Princess Who Linked Milan and Naples. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-8047-7.

[5] McIver, Katherine A. (2016-12-05). Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Nuns in Early Modern Italy: Making the Invisible Visible through Art and Patronage. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-87247-8.

[6] Vries, Joyce de (2016-12-05). Caterina Sforza and the Art of Appearances: Gender, Art and Culture in Early Modern Italy. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-95320-7.

[7] Stevenson, Jane (2021-10-14). The Light of Italy: The Life and Times of Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-80024-199-2.

[8] Piseri, Federico (2024), Le Cam, Jean-Luc; Le Pipec, Erwan (eds.), "L'éducation épistolaire à la cour des Sforza : Modèles, langues et registres dans les lettres des princes pendant leurs années de formation", L’école et les langues dans les espaces en situation de partage linguistique : Approche historique, Histoire (in French), Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, pp. 45–58, ISBN 978-2-7535-9505-7, retrieved 2024-10-23

[9] Abulafia, David (2016-12-05). The French Descent into Renaissance Italy, 1494–95: Antecedents and Effects. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-88933-9.

[10] Giannone, Pietro (1731). The Civil History of the Kingdom of Naples: In Two Volumes. W. Innys ... G. Strahan ... R. Willock ... A. Millar ... [and 4 others] and sold.

[11] Panizza, Letizia (2017-12-02). Women in Italian Renaissance Culture and Society. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-19905-6.

[:0-12] Shaw, Christine (2019-03-01). Isabella d'Este: A Renaissance Princess. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-68306-0.

[13] Shaw, Christine (2000-03-23). The Politics of Exile in Renaissance Italy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-42675-6.

[14] Berthoz, Alain; Petit, Jean-Luc (2006-09-28). Phénoménologie et Physiologie de l'action (in French). Odile Jacob. ISBN 978-2-7381-9043-7.

[15] Antonello de Messine (Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio, dit Antonello da Messina); Italie (1475), Portrait d'homme (Giorgio Corner (1454-1527) ?), dit Le Condottiere, retrieved 2024-10-25

[16] Chambers, David (1970-06-18). Patrons and Artists in the Italian Renaissance. Springer. ISBN 978-1-349-00623-6.

[17] "b1561520 1". libmma.contentdm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2024-10-25.

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