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{{Short description|Italian condottiero and Sforza dynasty founder (1401–1466)}}
{{For|other people named Francesco Sforza|Francesco Sforza (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{infobox royalty
| name         = Francesco I Sforza
| title        = 
| image        = Francesco Sforza.jpg
| caption      = Portrait of Francesco Sforza ({{circa|1460}}) by [[Bonifacio Bembo]]. Sforza insisted on being shown in his worn dirty old campaigning hat. [[Pinacoteca di Brera]], Milan.
| succession   = [[List of dukes of Milan|Duke of Milan]]
| reign        = {{nowrap|25 March 1450&nbsp;– 8 March 1466}}
| predecessor  = [[Golden Ambrosian Republic]]
| successor    = [[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]]
| birth_date   = {{birth_date|1401|7|23|df=yes}}
| birth_place  = [[Cigoli, San Miniato]], [[Republic of Florence]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1466|3|8|1401|7|23|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Milan]], [[Duchy of Milan]]
| issue        = [[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]], Duke of Milan <br /> [[Ippolita Maria Sforza]], Duchess of Calabria <br /> Filippo Maria Sforza, Count of Corsica <br /> Sforza Maria Sforza, Duke of Bari <br /> Francesco Galeazzo Maria Sforza <br /> [[Ludovico Sforza]], Duke of Milan <br /> [[Ascanio Maria Sforza]] <br /> Elisabetta Maria Sforza, Marquise of Montferrato <br /> Ottaviano Maria Sforza, Count of Lugano
| issue-link   = #Issue
| issue-pipe   = among others
| house        = [[House of Sforza|Sforza]]
| father       = [[Muzio Sforza|Muzio Attendolo Sforza]]
| mother       = Lucia de Martini (Demartini)
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Polissena Ruffo]]|1418|1420|end=d}}<br/>{{marriage|Maria Caldora|1424|1430|end=ann.}}<br />{{marriage|[[Bianca Maria Visconti]]|1441}}
}}

'''Francesco I Sforza''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KG}} ({{IPA|it|franˈtʃesko ˈpriːmo ˈsfɔrtsa|lang}}; 23 July 1401 – 8 March 1466) was an Italian [[condottiero]] who founded the [[Sforza]] dynasty in the [[duchy of Milan]], ruling as its (fourth) [[Duke of Milan|duke]] from 1450 until his death. Renowned for his military skill and political acumen, he was among the few condottieri to successfully transform battlefield success into stable dynastic rule.

In the 1420s, he took part in the [[War of L'Aquila]], and during the 1430s he served both the [[Papal States]] and the Duchy of Milan in their conflicts against [[Republic of Venice|Venice]]. Following the [[Peace of Cremona (1441)]], which he helped broker, Sforza married [[Bianca Maria Visconti]], daughter of Duke [[Filippo Maria Visconti]], thus strengthening his claim to Milan. After a brief military campaign in southern Italy with [[René of Anjou]], he returned to Milan and seized control following the extinction of the Visconti line.

As duke, Sforza restored Milan's economic stability, improved the system of [[Naviglio Martesana|irrigation canals]], and restructured the bureaucracy. He played a leading role in the establishment of the [[Treaty of Lodi]] (1454), which created a lasting balance of power among the [[Italian city-states|Italian states]] and ushered in a period of relative peace.

He died in 1466 and was succeeded by his son, [[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]]. Although Francesco ruled with broad recognition, it was not until 1494 that his other son, [[Ludovico Sforza]], received formal investiture as Duke of Milan by Emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]].

==Biography==

===Early life===
[[File:Coat of Arms of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, KG.png|thumb|left|180px|Francesco's coat of arms encircled with the [[Order of the Garter|garter]]]]
Francesco Sforza was born in [[Cigoli, San Miniato|Cigoli]], near [[San Miniato]], Tuscany, one of the seven illegitimate sons of the [[condottiero]] [[Muzio Sforza]]{{sfn|Williams|1998|p=201}} and Lucia de Martini.{{sfn|Walsh|2005|p=395}} He was the brother of [[Alessandro Sforza]]. He spent his childhood in [[Tricarico]] (in the modern [[Basilicata]]), the marquisate of which he was granted in 1412 by King [[Ladislaus of Naples]]. In 1418, he married [[Polissena Ruffo]], a Calabrese noblewoman.{{sfn|Fletcher|2013|p=79}}

From 1419, he fought alongside his father, soon gaining fame for being able to bend metal bars with his bare hands. He later proved himself to be an expert tactician and a very skilled field commander. After the death of his father during the [[War of L'Aquila]], he participated in [[Braccio da Montone]]'s final defeat in that campaign; he fought subsequently for the Neapolitan army and then for [[Pope Martin V]] and the [[Duke of Milan]], [[Filippo Maria Visconti]]. After some successes, he fell in disgrace and was sent to the castle of [[Mortara, Lombardy|Mortara]] as a prisoner. He regained his status after leading an expedition against [[Lucca]].

In 1431, after fighting again for the [[Papal States]], he led the Milanese army against [[Republic of Venice|Venice]]; the following year the duke's daughter, [[Bianca Maria Visconti|Bianca Maria]], was betrothed to him.{{sfn|Williams|1998|p=201}} Despite these moves, the wary Filippo Maria never ceased to be distrustful of Sforza. The allegiance of mercenary leaders was dependent, of course, on pay; in 1433–1435, Sforza led the Milanese attack on the Papal States, but when he conquered [[Ancona]], in [[Marche]], he changed sides, obtaining the title of vicar of the city directly from [[Pope Eugene IV]].{{sfn|Gregorovius|1967|p=42}} In 1436–39, he served variously both in [[Florence]] and Venice.
[[File:Francesco Sforza and Bianca Visconti.jpg|thumb|250px|Bianca Maria Visconti and Francesco Sforza in ''Famiglie celebri italiane'', by [[Pompeo Litta Biumi]] (1823)]]
In 1440, his fiefs in the [[Kingdom of Naples]] were occupied by King [[Alfonso V of Aragon|Alfonso I]], and, to recover the situation, Sforza reconciled himself with Filippo Visconti. On 25 October 1441, he could finally marry Bianca Maria in [[Cremona]] as part of the [[Peace of Cremona (1441)|agreements]] that ended the war between Milan and Venice. (Local legend apocryphally dates the origin of the city's famed {{lang|it|[[torrone]]}} [[nougat]] to the wedding festivities.)<ref name=secten>{{citation |last= |first= |contribution-url=http://www.secrettenerife.co.uk/2020/12/the-origin-of-spanish-christmas-turron.html |contribution=The Origin of Spanish Christmas Turrón |url=http://www.secrettenerife.co.uk |title=Secret Tenerife |publisher= |location= |date=17 December 2021 }}.</ref> The following year, he allied with [[René of Anjou]], pretender to the throne of Naples, and marched against southern Italy. After some initial setbacks, he defeated the Neapolitan commander Niccolò Piccinino, who had invaded his possessions in Romagna and Marche, through the help of [[Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta]] (who had married his daughter [[Polissena Sforza|Polissena]]) and the Venetians, and could return to Milan.

Sforza later found himself warring against [[Francesco Piccinino]] (whom he defeated at the Battle of Montolmo in 1444) and, later, the alliance of Visconti, Eugene IV, and Malatesta, who had allegedly murdered Polissena. With the help of Venice, Sforza was again victorious and, in exchange for abandoning the Venetians, received the title of ''capitano generale'' (commander-in-chief) of the Duchy of Milan's armies.

===Duke of Milan===
After Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, died without a male heir in 1447, fighting broke out to restore the so-called [[Ambrosian Republic]].{{sfn|Lucas|1960|p=268}} The name Ambrosian Republic takes its name from [[St. Ambrose]], the [[patron saint]] of Milan.{{sfn|Lucas|1960|p=268}} [[Agnese del Maino]], his wife's mother, convinced the condottiero who held [[Pavia]] to restore it to him.{{sfn|Echols|Williams|1992|p=21-22}}

He also received the seigniory of other cities of the duchy, including [[Lodi, Lombardy|Lodi]], and started to carefully plan the conquest of the ephemeral republic, allying with [[William VIII of Montferrat]] and (again) Venice. In 1450, after years of famine, riots raged in the streets of Milan and the city's [[Senate of Milan|senate]] decided to entrust him with the duchy. Sforza entered the city as duke on 26 February. It was the first time that such a title was handed over by a lay institution. While the other Italian states gradually recognized Sforza as the legitimate Duke of Milan, he was never able to obtain official investiture from the [[Holy Roman Emperor]]. That did not come to the Sforza Dukes until 1494, when [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Maximilian]] formally invested Francesco's son, [[Ludovico Sforza|Ludovico]], as duke of Milan.{{cn|date=October 2025}}

Under his rule (which was moderate and skilful), Sforza modernised the city and duchy. He created an efficient system of taxation that generated enormous revenues for the government, his court became a centre of [[Renaissance]] learning and culture, and the people of Milan grew to love him. In Milan, he founded the [[Ospedale Maggiore]], restored the [[:it:Palazzo Reale (Milano)|Palazzo ducale]], and had the Naviglio d'Adda, a channel connecting with the [[River Adda]], built.{{cn|date=October 2025}}

During Sforza's reign, Florence was under the command of [[Cosimo de' Medici]] and the two rulers became close friends. This friendship eventually manifested in first the [[Peace of Lodi]] and then the [[Italian League]], a multi-polar defensive alliance of Italian states that succeeded in stabilising almost all of Italy for its duration. After the peace, Sforza renounced part of the conquests in eastern Lombardy obtained by his condottieri [[Bartolomeo Colleoni]], [[Ludovico III Gonzaga|Ludovico Gonzaga]], and [[Roberto Sanseverino d'Aragona]] after 1451. As King Alfonso I of Naples was among the signatories of the treaty, Sforza also abandoned his long support of the [[House of Valois-Anjou|Angevin]] pretenders to Naples. He also aimed to conquer [[Genoa]], then an Angevin possession; when a revolt broke out there in 1461, he had Spinetta Campofregoso elected as [[doge of Genoa|Doge]], as his puppet. Sforza occupied Genoa and [[Savona]] in 1464.

Sforza was the first European ruler to follow a foreign policy based on the concept of the [[balance of power in international relations|balance of power]], and the first native Italian ruler to conduct extensive diplomacy outside the peninsula to counter the power of threatening states such as France. Sforza's policies succeeded in keeping foreign powers from dominating Italian politics for the rest of the century.

[[Edward IV of England]] sought to strengthen friendly relations with Sforza and accordingly offered him membership in the prestigious [[Order of the Garter]].{{sfn|Ross|1997|p=274}} He accepted and became a knight of the Garter in 1463.{{sfn|Vale|2022|p=9}}

Sforza suffered from [[hydropsy]] and [[gout]]. In 1462, rumours spread that he was dead and a riot exploded in Milan. He however survived for four more years, finally dying in March 1466. He was succeeded as duke by his son, [[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]].

Francesco's successor Ludovico commissioned [[Leonardo da Vinci]] to design an [[Leonardo's horse|equestrian statue]] as part of a monument to Francesco I Sforza. A clay model of a horse which was to be used as part of the design was completed by Leonardo in 1492—but the statue was never built. In 1999 the horse alone was cast from Leonardo's original designs in bronze and placed in Milan outside the racetrack of Ippodromo del Galoppo.

==Marriage and issue==
Francesco Sforza was married three times:

* His first wife, [[Polissena Ruffo]] (married in 1418, died 1420),{{sfn|Lubkin|1994|loc=Figure 2: The Sforza lineage}} gave birth to:
** Antonia Polissena (1420–1420), who died shortly after birth; her mother died in childbirth.

* His second wife, Maria Caldora (married April 1424),{{efn|Lubkin indicates only a woman with the last name Caldora was Francesco's second wife.{{sfn|Lubkin|1994|loc=Figure 2: The Sforza lineage}}}} daughter of [[Jacopo Caldora]], had no issue. The marriage was dissolved in 1430 by [[Pope Martin V]].

* His third and most prominent wife, [[Bianca Maria Visconti]],{{sfn|Lubkin|1994|loc=Figure 2: The Sforza lineage}} daughter of [[Filippo Maria Visconti]], bore him the following children:
** [[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]] (1444–1476), Duke of Milan 1466–1476.{{sfn|Bartlett|2019|p=125}}
** [[Ippolita Maria Sforza]] (1446–1484), wife of [[Alfonso II of Naples]] and mother of [[Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan|Isabella of Aragon]].{{sfn|Fallows|2010|p=39}}
** One unnamed child who died at birth.
** Filippo Maria (1449–1492), Count of Corsica; married his cousin Costanza Sforza, with whom he had a daughter, Bona.{{sfn|Lubkin|1994|loc=Figure 2: The Sforza lineage}}
** [[Sforza Maria Sforza]] (1451–1479), Duke of Bari; betrothed or married to [[Eleanor of Naples, Duchess of Ferrara]].
** Francesco Galeazzo Maria (1453–?), died young.
** [[Ludovico Sforza|Ludovico Maria Sforza]] (1452–1508), Duke of Bari (1479–1494), and Duke of Milan (1494–1499).
** [[Ascanio Maria Sforza]] (1455–1505), Abbot of Chiaraville, Bishop of Pavia, Cremona, Pesaro, and Novara; Cardinal.
** Elisabetta Maria (1456–1473), wife of [[William VIII, Marquess of Montferrat]].{{sfn|Lubkin|1994|p=18}}
** Ottaviano Maria (1458–1477), Count of Lugano; drowned while escaping arrest.

Francesco Sforza had several illegitimate children, some of whom were formally acknowledged.

With Giovanna d'Acquapendente, his official mistress between the death of his first wife and his marriage to Bianca Maria Visconti, he had at least seven children:

* Polissena (b. 1422), died young.
* Isolea or Isotta (1427–1485/87), married [[Andrea Matteo Acquaviva]] and, after his death, Giovanni Mauruzi.{{sfn|Bartlett|2013|p=182}}
* [[Polissena Sforza]] (1428–1449), married [[Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta]].
* [[Sforza Secondo Sforza]] (1433–1492/93), Count of Borgonuovo; married Antonia dal Verme, daughter of [[Luigi dal Verme]].
* Drusiana Sforza (1437–1474), married [[Jacopo Piccinino]].{{sfn|Bartlett|2013|p=182}}
* Tristano, no further details.
* Leonetta, no further details.

With Brigida Caimi:

* [[Giovanni Maria Sforza]] (1461–1510/13), Archbishop of Genoa from 1498.

With Elisabetta de Prata:

* Giulio, married Margherita Grassi, daughter of Tommaso Grassi, *Patrizio di Milano*.

With Perpetua di Varese:

* Polidoro (1442–1475), married Antonia Malaspina, an illegitimate daughter of Spinetta of Verrucola.<ref>{{Cite book |last=II |first=Pope Pius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z4lvAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22polidoro+sforza%22+perpetua&pg=PA275 |title=Europe (c. 1400–1458) |date=November 2013 |publisher=CUA Press |isbn=978-0-8132-2182-3 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Bartlett|2013|p=182}}
With Elisabetta da Robecco (also known as Elisabetta delle Grazie):

* Leonardo, no further details.
* Julius, no further details.

By unknown mothers:

* Tristano Sforza (1424–1477), married Beatrice d'Este, an illegitimate daughter of [[Niccolò III d'Este|Niccolò III d'Este, Marquess of Ferrara]].
* Bona Francesca (d. 1513).
* Bianca Maria, no further details.
* Fiordelisa Maria, married Guidaccio Manfredi.
* Bartolomeo, no further details.
* Antonio, no further details.
* Paolo (b. 1454), no further details.
* Lucia, became a nun.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Santoro |first=Caterina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xMrUAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22taddea+sforza&pg=PA110 |title=Gli Sforza: La casata nobiliare che resse il Ducato di Milano dal 1450 al 1535 |date=1999-01-01 |publisher=Lampi di stampa |isbn=978-88-488-0056-3 |language=it}}</ref>
* Taddea, became a nun.<ref name=":1" />
* Clara, became a nun.<ref name=":1" />
* Elisa, no further details.
* Griselda (1452–1495), no further details.
* Beatrice (1455–1493), no further details.
* Ottaviana (1461–1513), no further details.

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book |last=Bartlett |first=Kenneth R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MORICgAAQBAJ&dq=polissena+sforza+tristano+drusiana&pg=PA182 |title=A Short History of the Italian Renaissance |year=2013 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-0877-1 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Renaissance in Italy: A History |first=Kenneth |last=Bartlett |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. |year=2019 }}
* {{cite book |first1=Anne |last1=Echols |first2=Marty |last2=Williams | title=An annotated index of medieval women| year=1992 | publisher=Markus Wiener Publishing, Inc }}
* {{cite book |title=Jousting in Medieval and Renaissance Iberia |first=Noel |last=Fallows |publisher=The Boydell Press |year=2010 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Longman Companion to Renaissance Europe, 1390-1530 |first=Stella |last=Fletcher |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 }}
* {{cite book |title=History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages |volume=7 |first=Ferdinand |last=Gregorovius |publisher=AMS Press |year=1967 |issue=1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ippolito |first=Antonio Menniti |title= Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani|chapter=Francesco I Sforza, duca di Milano|chapter-url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/francesco-i-sforza-duca-di-milano_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/ |year=1998|volume=50|publisher=Treccani}}
*{{cite book |title=A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galleazzo Maria Sforza |first=Gregory |last=Lubkin |publisher=University of California Press |year=1994 }}
* {{cite book |first=Henry S. |last=Lucas |url=https://archive.org/details/renaissancerefor0000luca_t5f0/page/268/mode/2up |title=The Renaissance and the Reformation |publisher=Harper Bros.: New York |year=1960 }}
* {{cite book|first=Claudio|last=Rendina|title=I capitani di ventura|publisher=Netwon Compton|location=Rome|year=1994}}
* {{cite book |title=Francesco Filelfo: Odes |editor-first=Diana |editor-last=Robin |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ross|first=Charles| title=Edward IV|year=1997| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m8Ojo6VI8KUC&dq=%22francesco+sforza%22+garter&pg=PA274|isbn=978-0-30007-371-3|publisher=Yale University Press}}
* {{cite book |title=Charles the Bold and Italy (1467-1477): Politics and Personnel |first=Richard J. |last=Walsh |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=2005 }}
* {{cite book|last=Vale |first=Malcolm |title= The Fifteenth Century XIX: Enmity and Amity|editor-last1=Clark |editor-first1=Linda |chapter=England and Europe: England and Europe c.1450 - 1520: Nostalagia or New Opportunities? |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OrB-EAAAQBAJ&dq=%22francesco+sforza%22+garter&pg=PA9|year= 2022|publisher=The Boydell Press|isbn=978-1-78327-742-1}}
* {{cite book |title=Papal Genealogy: The Families and Descendants of the Popes |first=George L. |last=Williams |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |year=1998 }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-vac|reason=[[Ambrosian Republic]]|last=[[Filippo Maria Visconti]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Duke of Milan]]|years=1450–1466}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sforza, Francesco 01}}
[[Category:1401 births]]
[[Category:1466 deaths]]
[[Category:15th-century dukes of Milan]]
[[Category:15th-century condottieri]]
[[Category:Burials at Milan Cathedral]]
[[Category:House of Sforza|Francesco 1]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Pisa]]
[[Category:Generals from the Republic of Venice]]