SFORZA, JACOPO ATTENDOLO. 



SFORZA, JACOPO ATTENDOLO. 



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Here the soldiers, having come to blows with the citizens, were driven 

 away with the loss of six hundred of their number; but soon after, 

 having again got admission into the town, some say under a general 

 amnesty granted by the legate, they set about sacking it, killing all 

 the men, violating the women, and not sparing even the nuns. Four 

 thousand of the unfortunate inhabitants of Cesena were killed on that 

 day (1st of February 1377), and eight thousand escaped to beg their 

 subsistence in the neighbouring towns and villages. The report of 

 these enormities spread indignation all over Italy ; and Alberico, sup- 

 ported by Barnabo Visconti, lord of Milan, the Florentines, and by tho 

 people of Bologna, Forli, and other towns, marched to attack the 

 foreign troops, which he met at Marino in the Papal state. Jacopo 

 Attendolo, and Braccio da Montone, another distinguished pupil of 

 Alberico, fought under him. After a desperate combat, the foreign 

 mercenaries were utterly defeated and nearly annihilated. The Breton 

 Company was entirely disbanded, and Italy, at least for a time, was 

 freed from foreign mercenaries. Alberico was called the ' Liberator,' 

 and he assumed on his standard the motto ' Liber. Ital. ab Exter.' 

 Attendolo, who had greatly contributed to the victory, received from 

 Alberico the surname of ' Sforza,' by which name, and no other, he 

 and his descendants have become known in history. 



Sforza subsequently entered the service of Gian Qaleazzo Visconti, 

 lord of Milan. Afterwards he engaged himself to the republic of 

 Florence against the rival republic of Pisa, which had in its service 

 Agnolo della Pergola, another celebrated condottiere. Sforza defeated 

 his antagonist, and the Fisans were obliged to sue for peace. The 

 Florentines made Sforza their captain-general, with an annual salary 

 of twelve hundred golden ducats. He afterwards entered the service 

 of the Marquis of Ferrara against Ottobuono de Terzi, tyrant of 

 Parma, whom he defeated, and treacherously stabbed to death at an 

 interview at Rubiera. The Marquis of Ferrara obtained by this 

 means the dominion of Parma and of Reggio, and he rewarded Sforza 

 by giving him the estate of Montecchio. Sforza afterwards served the 

 Florentines against Ladislaus, king of Naples, whom he defeated near 

 Arezzo. Ladislaus made large offers to Sforza to enter his service, 

 which he accepted, and the king dying soon after, Sforza became 

 great constable or Commander-in-chief under his sister and successor 

 Joanna II. At her profligate court the brave but blunt condottiere 

 waff exposed to the intrigues and cabals of worthless favourites, and 

 he lost the good graces of his sovereign, and was imprisoned. But he 

 was necessary to her, and he finally triumphed over his rivals. In 

 1417 ho was sent by Joanna to Rome to recover possession of that 

 city for the Holy See. The people of Rome, taking advantage of the 

 .schism, had risen in arms aud asserted their independence, and the 

 new pope, Martin V., who had just been elected by the council of 

 Constance was far away. The popular party had called in the cele- 

 brated condottiere Braccio da Montone, who however left the town on 

 the approach of Sforza. After restoring the Papal authority, Sforza 

 returned to Naples, where he was again banished from the court by 

 the intrigues of Gianni Caracciolo, the then favourite of Joanna II. 

 Sforza, at the head of his trusty men, took possession of Naples, and 

 obliged the queen to banish Caracciolo. Shortly after he was sent 

 again to Rome to assist Pope Martin V. against his factious subjects, 

 who were supported by Braccio da Montone, whom he defeated and 

 obliged to ask for a truce. At this time the pope gave to Sforza his 

 native village of Cotignola in fief, with the title of count. Having 

 returned to Naples, he again incurred the displeasure of the fickle 

 Joanna, upon which he took the part of Louis of Anjou, count of 

 Provence, an hereditary claimant of the throne of Naples. The 

 queen called to her assistance Alfonso, king of Aragon and of Sicily, 

 whom she appointed her heir and successor. Alfonso came with a 

 fleet and an army, defeated Sforza and occupied the city of Naples. 

 But Alfonzo abused bis victory, and he treated the queen as his 

 prisoner. Sforza came to the assistance of his mistress, and drove 

 away Alfonso. In the meantime Braccio da Montone was ravaging 

 the northern provinces of the kingdom. Sforza marched into the 

 Abruzzi in the midst of winter, but in fording the river Pescara, which 

 was swelled by heavy rains, his horse was carried along by the rapid 

 current, and Sforza was drowned. Thus ended the restless career of 

 this brave but illiterate soldier, whose surname, acquired on the field 

 of battle, became that of a sovereign dynasty. 



FRANCESCO SFORZA, born in 1401, son of Jacopo, learnt the art of 

 war under his father. He received from Queen Joanna the title of 

 count, and several domains in the kingdom of Naples. He afterwards 

 entered the service of Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan. Being 

 ill-rewarded by the duke, he accepted the offers of the Venetians and 

 the Florentines, and led their allied forces against the Milanese, who 

 were commanded by Piccinino, a celebrated condottiere, whom he 

 defeated in several campaigns, A.D. 1438-41. The Duke of Milan, in 

 great alarm, offered Sforza his only daughter Bianca, with the city 

 and territory of Cremona for a dowry. Sforza assented, concluded a 

 peace between the belligerents, and the marriage was solemnised in 

 October 1441. But soon after the Duke Filippo Maria, again beroming 

 suspicious of his son-in-law, excited against him Pope Eugenius IV., 

 who sent Piccinino to deprive Sforza of his domains in the March of 

 Ancona. Sforza repaired thither, and for several years fought against 

 the troops both of the pope and of Alfonso, king of Naples, and con- 

 quered the greatest part of the March of Ancoua. But the death of 



the duke his father-in-law opened a new field to his ambition, and he 

 aspired to the sovereignty of the duchy of Milan. There were other 

 pretenders, who alleged that Bianca was an illegitimate child of the 

 late duke ; and the people of Milan, considering the Visconti dynasty 

 as extinct, proclaimed the republic. But Pavia and other towns which 

 had been subjected by Milan detached themselves from it, asserting 

 an equal right to their independence. Sforza turned these dissensions 

 to his own account ; he accepted the command of the Milanese troops, 

 with which he defeated the Venetians, who wished to dismember the 

 duchy ; but having refused to obey the directions of the commissioners 

 from Milan concerning his military movements, he suddenly concluded 

 peace with Venice, and the Venetians agreed to give him 6000 

 auxiliary troops to take possession of Milan. In February 1450, the 

 people of Milan, reduced by famine, and distracted by anarchy within 

 their walls, opened the gates to Sforza, who was solemnly proclaimed 

 duke of Milan in the following March. In his new dignity he acted 

 with prudence and mildness. He promised to raise no new taxes, to 

 employ none but Milanese for civil offices, and he enforced the laws 

 for the protection of persons and property; he made alliance with the 

 Florentines, conciliated the pope and Alfonso of Naples, aud was 

 acknowledged by Louis XL of France. The Venetians and the Duke 

 of Savoy declared war against Sforza ; but after a desultory warfare, 

 peace was made, by which Brescia, Bergamo, and Crema remained to 

 Venice, and the river Sesia was fixed as the boundary between the 

 duchy of Milan and the states of the house of Savoy. The duchy of 

 Milan under Duke Sforza embraced the following towns : Milan, 

 Pavia, Cremona, Lodi, Como, Novara, Alessandria, Tortona, Valenza, 

 Bobbio, Piacenza, Parma, Vigevano, Genoa, and Savoua. The last 

 two cities were conquered by Sforza. 



Duke Sforza restored and embellished the ducal palace, raised the 

 castle of Porta Giovia, terminated the magnificent structure of the 

 great hospital, one of the most interesting buildings of Milan, and con- 

 structed the navigable canal, or naviglio della Martesana, which com- 

 municates between Milan and the river Adda. The reign of Sforza 

 lasted sixteen years. He died of dropsy, in March, 1466, at the age 

 of sixty-five, generally regretted. In his private life he was frugal, 

 sober and continent, affable and humane. His Life has been written 

 by Simonetta, and Corio aud the other historians of Milan record his 

 virtues. 



GALEAZZO MARIA SFORZA, son of Francesco, who succeeded him on 

 the ducal throne, was very unlike his father : he was suspicious, 

 cowardly, licentious, and cruel. He quarrelled with his mother the 

 duchess Banca, a most meritorious woman, who retired to Marignano, 

 where she died after a short illness, not without some rumours of 

 poison. He put to a cruel death several innocent persons, and dis- 

 honoured many women of all classes. At last a conspiracy was formed 

 against him, and on the day after Christmas-day, 1476, he was stabbed 

 whilst on his way to church. The people took no part with the con- 

 spirators, who were put to death. His infant son Giovanni Galeazzo 

 was proclaimed duke, under the guardianship of his mother Bona of 

 Savoy. But Ludovico Sforza, styled ' il Moro,' on account of his dark 

 complexion, and brother of the deceased duke, took possession of the 

 regency, arrested the dowager duchess, put to death her faithful 

 minister Simonetta, and at length usurped the sovereign authority, 

 confining his nephew and his wife to their apartments. The young 

 duke had married a granddaughter of Ferdinand, king of Naples, who 

 remonstrated with Ludovico on his conduct, but to no effect. 

 Ferdinand armed against him, and Ludovico, to avoid the storm, in- 

 vited Charles VIII. of France to undertake the conquest of the 

 kingdom of Naples. This was the origin of all the wars and 

 calamities of Italy in the 16th century, and of the loss of its 

 political independence. Charles came into Italy assisted by Ludovico, 

 and took Naples, but was soon obliged to retire in consequence of the 

 general hatred of the people to the French for their insolence, rapacity, 

 and oppression. Meantime the duke of Orleans seized upon Novara, 

 and laid some hereditary claims to the duchy of Milan. Ludovico, 

 who now saw the danger of having introduced the foreigners into 

 Italy, formed a league with the Venetians aud the pope, and drove 

 away the French out of Italy. 



After the suspicious death of Duke Giovanni Galeazzo, which 

 happened in 1494, at the early ae;e of five-and-twenty years, Ludovico 

 was proclaimed the Duke of Milan, and confirmed by a diploma of 

 the emperor Maxmilian I. But the Duke of Orleans, having become 

 king of France by the name of Louis XII., sent an army to the 

 conquest of the duchy of Milan, under Trivulzio, a Milauesc noble, 

 and a personal enemy of Ludovico Sforza. The Venetians and pope 

 Alexander VI. having joined the French, Sforza was obliged to yield 

 to the storm, and he took refuge in Germany. 



The French entered Milan iu 1499, without opposition, and 

 Louis XII. was proclaimed Duke of Milan. The French however soon 

 became as odious in Lombardy as they had been at Naples, and insur- 

 rections took place in several towns. In January 1500 the people of 

 Milan revolted, and in the following February Ludovico Sforza re- 

 entered his capital. The French however kept their ground in the 

 fortresses, and new reinforcements coming from France, Ludowco 

 marched against them to Novara, but being forsaken by a body of 

 Swiss in his pay, who, through an intrigue of the French, had received 

 orders from their government not to fight against their countrymen 



