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Ludovico, the most significant member of the Sforza family

The Sforzas were an Italian family prominent in the 15th and 16th centuries. They stem from one Muzio Attendolo (1369 – 1424), a forceful condottiere of the period, indeed, he adopted the name from the Italian word for ‘force’.

An illegitimate son of his called Francesco (born 1401) was an equally successful condottiere (meaning landowner, soldier, leader, head of the local ‘mafia’ etc.) whose private armies got involved in a three-way war with the republics of Milan and Venice. Having won, he entered Milan in triumph, shortly becoming Duke of Milan (in 1450) and ruling ably from that moment.

Ludovico was born in Pavia in July, 1452, second son of Francesco. From childhood he had the nickname El Moro due to black hair and dark complexion. Francesco his father died in 1466, and the young Ludovico stayed in the service of the new ruler of Milan, Galeazzo Maria, who was murdered ten years later, leaving the dukedom to his 7-year-old son Gian Galeazzo II. Due to his young age, there had to be a regent – his mother Bona of Savoy.

Ludovico thought he might take the dukedom away and plotted against Bona, but failed and was exiled for his pains. Time passed, Ludovico grew older and wiser, and brought about a reconciliation with Bona, at the same time arranging for the arrest, trial and subsequent execution of her chief adviser and minister Simonetta, in 1480. Ludovico had started his dubious career as a ‘diplomat’.

Bona of Savoy was ‘persuaded’ to leave Milan for the sake of her health, and Ludovico kindly assumed the regency for her, becoming more or less Head of State. He then instituted a species of government he called ‘Equilibrium Politics’, by which a delicate balance was maintained between the principal Italian statesMilan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States and Naples. He took advantage of his position and made Milan supreme. He distrusted Venice, describing her as a ‘floating whore’, but stayed on good terms with the ruler of Florence under Lorenzo di Medici (q.v.). He made alliances with Ferdinand I, King of Naples, and married Gian Galeazzo to Ferdinand’s granddaughter (1489). He also stayed at talking distance with Pope Alexander VI (a Borgia) through the influence of his brother Ascanio, who happened to be a Cardinal.

In 1491 Ludovico married Beatrice d’Este, a daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, a union which proved to be surprisingly loving despite Ludovico’s multitude of mistresses. They had two sons, Massimiliano and Francesco.

Culturally speaking, Ludovico made the Court of Milan the most splendid and talked-about in Europe. He was patron of Leonardo da Vinci among others—painters, musicians, composers and poets all. He built canals and fortifications, and became hugely popular with the common people, who were delighted by his shows and celebrations, fairs and fiestas. The people of Milan were prosperous and happy, but the shadow of the cost was spreading over them. Taxation was high, and Gian Galeazzo was resentful of the ever-growing magnificence of the Sforza. He and his wife Isabella left Milan to take up residence in Pavia. It was Isabella who was made even more furious by Ludovico’s open usurpation of the dukedom than Gian Galeazzo, who always said he had no more than a passing interest in politics. Isabella appealed to her grandfather Ferdinand I, who responded in 1492, by ordering Ludovico to surrender control of the duchy to Isabella and her husband. Naturally, Ludovico was having nothing of it.

Instead, he formed an alliance with two foreign kings, the Emperor Maximilian I, and King Charles VIII of France. Vast sums passed hands, and Maximilian declared Ludovico the rightful Duke of Milan in 1494, which legitimized his usurpation. Maximilian also married Bianca Maria, Gian’s sister! Meanwhile, Charles VIII had an eye on the kingdom of Naples, and asked Ludovico if he could help – and received promises in return.

Charles’s campaign to conquer Naples horrified Italy and disturbed Ludovico himself. He changed colours, joined with Venice, and got Charles VIII expelled from Italy by force majeure. Both Gian Galeazzo and Ferdinand died in 1494, and Charles VIII became reconciled with Ludovico, whose pride and magnificence knew no bounds. He used to say that the Pope was his chaplain, the emperor Maximilian his general, the Governors of Venice his chamberlains, and Charles VIII his messenger. He was to be severely disillusioned.

Charles VIII died and was succeeded by Louis XII, a descendent of the 1st Duke of Milan. Hardly waiting to be crowned, Louis claimed Milan as his, and persuaded ‘the whore’ Venice and the population of Naples, more than fed up with the costly magnificence, to topple Ludovico. But the Milanese became bored with Louis, too, and turned back to Ludovico and Maximilian for help! Ludovico gathered German and Swiss mercenaries and rode into battle. The Swiss at the crucial moment decided to change sides, which tends to happen with mercenaries, and Ludovico was captured by the French. He was locked up in the prison castle of Loches, where he died, still claiming his rights to Milan, in 1508. The male ducal line died with him.

By | 2025-03-06T21:35:35+00:00 February 25th, 2013|French History, German History, Italian History, World History|1 Comment

Three de Medicis

Catherine de Medici, Queen of Henry II of France / heritage-history.com

Catherine de Medici, Queen of Henry II of France / heritage-history.com

Catherine de Medici was Queen of France despite her distinguished Italian name. She was born in 1519 and became the wife of Henry II of France in one of those dynastic marriages that litter the Middle Ages. Henry (or Henri) is supposed to have died of septicaemia following a jousting accident. (more…)

By | 2013-02-16T11:37:40+00:00 February 16th, 2013|Italian History, World History|0 Comments

A classic Anglo/American sports car, almost forgotten

 

The original Jensen Interceptor / joc.org.uk

The original Jensen Interceptor / joc.org.uk

The Jensen Interceptor came in two phases; Jensen made the original Interceptor between 1950 and 1957 at the Carter’s Green factory in West Bromwich in the north of England. The newly established Jensen Motors then built another high-powered sports car between 1966 and 1976 at the Kelvin Way factory.

The first model had used fibre-glass a great deal in the 1950s model, but the later model returned to a steel pressed body-shell, with a new design by the Italian firm Carrozzeria Touring. The 1950s model was also Italian designed and built (by Vignale) until Jensen began production themselves with some faint but subtle modifications. (more…)

Monks, Friars & Orders

The founder of the Franciscan Order / ginagenis.wordpress.com

The founder of the Franciscan Order / ginagenis.wordpress.com

Men who renounced a worldly life in order to enter a monastery were many in medieval times. They are few and far between now, but the three most celebrated orders these religiously inclined young men joined, or attempted to join were the Benedictines, the Dominicans and the Franciscans. Each of these ‘sects’ was founded by a man who was not necessarily a saint in his youth, but whose foundations have lasted under those names for centuries. (more…)

By | 2013-01-11T07:47:02+00:00 January 11th, 2013|History of the Cinema, Italian History, Today, World History|1 Comment

The Battle of Cannae

Cannae / forums.taleworlds.com

Cannae / forums.taleworlds.com

This was not just an armed, bloody struggle between fighting men. It was one of the classic victories in military history. Carthage’s general Hannibal (q.v.) faced a Roman army with larger infantry units, but Hannibal had more cavalry, well-trained and armed horsemen, kept out of sight. The armies were engaged at the village of Cannae, in southern Italy. (more…)

By | 2013-01-08T13:52:44+00:00 January 8th, 2013|History of Rome, Italian History, World History|2 Comments

Historians Polybius, Sallust, Seneca, Suetonius & Tacitus

POLYBIUS (204 – 122 BC) had the good luck (from the intellectual point of view) to be a historian during the rise of Rome after the 2nd Punic War. He was a Greek of noble blood not without political importance, but he was taken toRome with several other Greeks as hostages. This happened after the Roman intervention in Athens by Aemilius Paullus and others. Polybius formed a circle of clever fellows around his captor who became his mentor. (more…)

The League of Nations

This preamble to the United Nations has vanished without trace. It was one of the oddest disasters waiting to happen the world has ever seen. It appeared after the Treaty of Versailles (1918 – 25) had sealed the fate of this planet. Indeed its creation was the last and most important of President Woodrow Wilson of the United States’ famous ‘Fourteen Points’. Wilson insisted that it should appear in each one of the peace treaties, covering the Covenent or Constitution of the League. But then the United States itself refused to join. (more…)

Disasters waiting to happen: Publius Quintilius Varus & his Three Legions

Varus losing his legions / en.wikipedia.org

Varus losing his legions / en.wikipedia.org

Varus was a Roman general and consul commanding a Roman army in Germany in 13 AD, during the long reign of Augustus Caesar (q.v.). He and his three legions fell into a trap laid by the cleverest of the Teutonic commanders, Arminius, in the middle of an almost boundless wood called the Teutoburg (near what is now Bielefeld) (more…)

Disasters waiting to happen: Getúlio Vargas

   

Getulio Vargas / elreports.com.uy

Getulio Vargas / elreports.com.uy

Vargas was born in 1883. A small, chubby and discreet man, he grew to become a rich cattle man in Brazil, and in 1928 became the Governor of his state –Rio Grande do Sul. In 1930 he was propelled into the Presidency of his country by the army, which claimed that too much of the country’s wealth was being invested in the coffee trade, in effect propping it up, which it needed due to bad management. The second of many things the army disliked was that too much money was going in the direction of one state of Brazil –Sao Paulo.

Having Vargas in the presidency did not amuse the coffee barons, and they (and the rest of this enormous country) came to dislike even more Vargas’s methods of governing, which he did by decree. He replaced state governors at will, and constructed a patronage network in individual states. Historians agree that he appeared not to recommend any particular political stance, Right or the Left for instance. He was, however, a master of political opportunism, changing policies according to circumstances, and coinciding with the mood in general of the nation. (more…)

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