Information about Ludovico Sforza

Ludovico Sforza in a portrait by Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis.

Ludovico Sforza Duke of Milan (Ludovico il Moro, "The Moor") (July 27, 1452 – May 27, 1508), 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. It is said that he was called il Moro because of his dark skinned complexion, though it may also have been due to his crest, which contained a mulberry tree (also moro in Italian).

Biography

Ludovico Sforza was born at Vigevano, in what is now Lombardy.

Ludovico married Ercole I d'Este's youngest daughter Beatrice d'Este in January 1491 in a double Sforza-Este marriage. Ludovico Sforza married Beatrice d'Este, while Beatrice's brother, Alfonso d'Este, married Anna Sforza the sister of Gian Galeazzo Sforza. Leonardo daVinci orchestrated the wedding celebration.

Beatrice d'Este in a portrait by Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis and Leonardo da Vinci.

Beatrice and Alfonso’s sister, Isabella d'Este (1474–1539) was married to Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua.

Ludovico had many mistresses. Cecilia Gallerani was Ludovico’s favorite mistress. She gave birth to his child, a son, in the same year as he married Beatrice d'Este. She is thought to be the subject of Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine. The ermine was the heraldic animal of Ludovico il Moro.

On the assassination of Ludovico's elder brother Galeazzo in 1476, the crown passed to his seven-year-old nephew Gian Galeazzo Sforza. Ludovico seized control of the government of Milan during Gian Galeazzo's minority despite attempts to keep him out of power. When Gian Galeazzo died in 1494, Ludovico received the ducal crown from the Milanese nobles on October 22.

The same year, he simultaneously encouraged the French under Charles VIII of France, and the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I, to become involved in Italian politics, hoping to manipulate the two and reap the rewards himself—thus starting the Italian Wars. Things did not go as planned, and finding his own position endangered by the French, he joined the league against Charles VIII, giving his niece Bianca in marriage to Maximilian I and receiving in return imperial investiture of the duchy.

After first defeating the French at the Battle of Fornovo in 1495 (making weapons from 70 tons of bronze originally intended for a da Vinci statue), Ludovico was later driven from Milan by the new French king, Louis XII in 1499. In 1500, Louis XII laid siege to the city of Novara, where Ludovico was based. The armies of both sides included Swiss mercenaries. The Swiss did not want to fight each other and chose to leave Novara. Ludovico was handed over to the French in April 1500 and died a prisoner in the castle of Loches. The Swiss later executed a soldier from Uri called Hans Turmann who had, they claimed, betrayed Ludovico for money.

The Swiss later restored the duchy of Milan to Ludovico's son, Maximilian Sforza.

References

External links

Portrait and family tree

Preceded by Gian Galeazzo Sforza	Duke of Milan 1494–1499	Succeeded by Louis

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 Sardinia.

See also:

Governors of the Duchy of Milan
List of mayors of Milan

Name Reign Notes

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Events

1214 - Battle of Bouvines: In France, Philip II of France defeats John of England.

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Sforza was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan.

The dynasty was founded by Muzio Attendolo, called Sforza (from sforzare, to exert or force, 1369-1424) a condottiero from Romagna serving the Angevin kings of Naples.
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MILAN (French: Missile d´infanterie léger antichar = Anti-Tank Light Infantry Missile) is a European anti-tank guided missile. Design of the MILAN started in 1962. It was ready for trials in 1971, and was accepted for service in 1972.
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Anthem
Il Canto degli Italiani
(also known as Fratelli d'Italia)

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Francesco I Sforza (July 23, 1401 - March 8, 1466) was an Italian condottiero, the founder of the Sforza dynasty in Milan, Italy. He was the brother of Alessandro, with whom he often fought.
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Leonardo da Vinci

Self-portrait in red chalk, circa 1512 to 1515. ^[a]
Birth name Leonardo di Ser Piero
March 15 1452
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Complexion refers to the natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, especially that of the face. The word is derived from the Late Latin complexi, which initially referred in general terms to a combination of things, and later in physiological terms, to the
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Country Italy
Region Lombardy
Province Pavia (PV)
Mayor Ambrogio Cotta Ramusino (since April 5, 2005)

Area km
Population
- Total (as of december 31, 2004)
- Density /km

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Regione Lombardia

Map highlighting the location of Lombardy in Italy

Capital Milan
President Roberto Formigoni
(Forza Italia-House of Freedoms)
Provinces 12
Comuni 1546
Area 23,861 km
- Ranked 4th (7.
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Ercole I d'Este (October 26, 1431 – june 15, 1505) was Duke of Ferrara from 1471 until 1505. He was a member of the house of Este. He was nicknamed North Wind and the Diamond.
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Beatrice d'Este (June 29 1475 – January 2 1497), duchess of Milan, one of the most beautiful and accomplished princesses of the Italian Renaissance, was the daughter of Ercole I. d'Este and younger sister of Isabella d'Este and Alfonso d'Este.
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Alfonso d'Este (21 July, 1476 – 31 October, 1534) was Duke of Ferrara during the time of the War of the League of Cambrai.

Biography

He was the son of Ercole I d'Este and Leonora of Naples.
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Anna Sforza (Milan, July 21, 1476 – December 2, 1497) was the daughter of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan. She married Alfonso I d'Este, future Duke of Ferrara.
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Gian Galeazzo Sforza (also Giovan Galeazzo Sforza) (June 20, 1469 - October 21, 1494) 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 Duke of
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Leonardo da Vinci

Self-portrait in red chalk, circa 1512 to 1515. ^[a]
Birth name Leonardo di Ser Piero
March 15 1452
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Isabella d'Este (18 May 1474 - 13 February 1539, death at 65 years old) was marchesa of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance and a major cultural and political figure.
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Francesco II (or IV) Gonzaga (10 august, 1466 – march 29, 1519) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1484 until his death.

Biography

He was born in Mantua, the son of Marquess Federico I Gonzaga.
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Cecilia Gallerani (1473 – 1536) was one of the mistresses of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. She was the subject of Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Lady with an Ermine (c. 1489).
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Galeazzo Maria Sforza (January 24, 1444 – December 26, 1476) was Duke of Milan from 1466 until his death. He was a member of the Sforza family of Milanese rulers, famous as patrons of the arts and music. He was also famous for being lustful, cruel and tyrannical.
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14th century - 15th century - 16th century
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1473 1474 1475 - 1476 - 1477 1478 1479

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14th century - 15th century - 16th century
1460s 1470s 1480s - 1490s - 1500s 1510s 1520s
1491 1492 1493 - 1494 - 1495 1496 1497

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October 22 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

4004 BC - The universe is created.

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Charles VIII the Affable
King of France, Duke of Brittany, Count of Provence (more...)

Reign 30 August 1483 – 7 April 1498
Coronation 30 May 1484, Reims
Titles
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Holy Roman Emperor (German: Römischer Kaiser, Latin: Romanorum Imperator) was the elected monarch ruling over the Holy Roman Empire, a Central European state in existence during the Middle
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Maximilian I of Habsburg
Holy Roman Emperor

Portrait by Albrecht Dürer, 1519 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna). Maximilian holds his personal emblem, the pomegranate.
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