Portal:Italian Wars/Selected biography/5

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Ludovico Sforza (Ludovico il Moro, "The Moor") was a member of the Sforza dynasty of Milan, Italy, and the second son of Francesco Sforza. 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. Lodovico was 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 and died a prisoner in the castle of Loches.