Ludovico Sforza
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Ludovico Sforza (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.
[edit] Biography
Ludovico Sforza was born at Vigevano, in what is now Lombardy.
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 control the two and reap the rewards himself—so 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 set aside for a Leonardo da Vinci statue), Lodovico was later driven from Milan by the new French king, Louis XII in 1499.
In 1500 Louis XII lay siege to the city of Novara where Ludovico was based. The armies of both sides included Swiss mercenaries, fighters who had been virtually undefeated in battle for over two centuries. The Swiss did not cherish the idea of fighting each other, and therefore chose to leave Novara.
Ludovico was handed over to the French (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.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
| Preceded by Gian Galeazzo Sforza |
Duke of Milan 1494–1499 |
Succeeded by - |
