Gian Galeazzo Sforza
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Short description|Duke of Milan (1469–1494)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Gian Galeazzo Sforza
| title =
| image = Marco d'Oggiono - Portrait of a Youth as Saint Sebastian - 1986.9 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tiff
| caption = Gian Galeazzo Sforza, c.1483, by Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis
| succession = Duke of Milan
| reign = 26 December 1476 – 21 October 1494
| predecessor = Galeazzo Maria Sforza
| successor = Ludovico Sforza
| birth_date = {{birth_date|1469|6|20|df=y}}
| birth_place = Abbiategrasso
| death_date = {{death date and age|1494|10|21|1469|6|20|df=y}}
| death_place = Pavia
| house = Sforza
| spouse = {{marriage|Isabella of Naples|1489}}
| issue = Francesco Sforza
Ippolita Maria Sforza
Bona, Queen of Poland
Bianca Maria Sforza
| father = Galeazzo Maria Sforza
| mother = Bona of Savoy
}}
{{Lead too short|date=December 2024}}
Gian Galeazzo Sforza (20 June 1469 – 21 October 1494), also known as Giovan Galeazzo Sforza, was the sixth Duke of Milan. He was the father of Bona Maria Sforza, who later became Queen of Poland. He died in 1494 aged 25 and was succeeded by his uncle, Ludovico Sforza.
Early life
Born in Abbiategrasso, Gian Galeazzo was son of Galeazzo Maria Sforza and Bona of Savoy.{{sfn|Hand|2013|loc=Appendix 4}} He was only seven years old when in 1476 his father, Galeazzo Maria, was assassinated and he became the Duke of Milan. His uncle, Ludovico Sforza, acted as regent to the young duke, but quickly wrested all power from him and became the de facto ruler of Milan. Ludovico imprisoned Gian Galeazzo and later became the duke after Gian Galeazzo's death, which was widely viewed as suspicious.{{sfn|Burckhardt|1878|p=23}}
Marriage and issue
In February 1489, Gian Galeazzo married his cousin Isabella of Naples-Aragon.{{sfn|Palos|2016|p=181}}
They had:
- Francesco Maria Sforza (1491–1512), Count of Pavia;
- Ippolita Maria Sforza (1493–1501);
- Bona Maria Sforza (1494–1557). Only surviving child, she married Sigismund I the Old, with issue;
- Bianca Maria Sforza (1 March 1495 – 27 January 1497).
Death
File:Charles VIII visiting the deathbed of Gian Galazzo Sforza at Wellcome V0006946.jpg
In 1491 Ludovico Sforza had Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his wife Isabella of Aragon transferred to the Visconti Castle of Pavia where they created a brilliant court.{{cite web |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/gian-galeazzo-maria-sforza-duca-di-milano_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/| title=Gian Galeazzo Maria Sforza|work=Treccani Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani|access-date=3 September 2022}} Gian Galeazzo died in 1494 in the Visconti Castle, the summer home of the Visconti and Sforza families. During that time, he received a visit from Charles VIII of France. According to the Italian historian Francesco Guicciardini in his History of Italy ({{langx|it|La Historia di Italia}}), he was poisoned by his uncle, Ludovico il Moro.{{Cite web|url=https://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/9200579/yevc3pmt.html|title=Charles VIII visiting the deathbed of Gian Galazzo Sforza at|website=Europeana Collections|language=en|access-date=2019-04-27}}
The rumor was widespread that Giovan Galeazzo's death had been provoked by immoderate coitus; nevertheless, it was widely believed throughout Italy that he had died not through natural illness nor as a result of incontinence, but had been poisoned … one of the royal physicians … asserted that he had seen manifest signs of it. Nor was there anyone who doubted that if it had been poison, it had been administered through his uncle Ludovico Sforza's machinations …
Ancestry
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;
| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;
| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;
| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;
| boxstyle_5 = background-color: #9fe;
| 1 = 1. Gian Galeazzo Sforza
| 2 = 2. Galeazzo Maria Sforza
| 3 = 3. Bona of Savoy
| 4 = 4. Francesco I Sforza
| 5 = 5. Bianca Maria Visconti
| 6 = 6. Louis, Duke of Savoy
| 7 = 7. Anne of Cyprus
| 8 = 8. Muzio Attendolo Sforza
| 9 = 9. Lucia da Torsciano
| 10 = 10. Filippo Maria Visconti
| 11 = 11. Agnese del Maino
| 12 = 12. Antipope Felix V
| 13 = 13. Mary of Burgundy
| 14 = 14. Janus of Cyprus
| 15 = 15. Charlotte of Bourbon
| 16 = 16. Giovanni Attendolo
| 17 = 17. Elisa Petraccini
| 18 =
| 19 =
| 20 = 20. Gian Galeazzo Visconti
| 21 = 21. Caterina Visconti
| 22 = 22. Ambrogio del Maino
| 23 =
| 24 = 24. Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy
| 25 = 25. Bonne of Berry
| 26 = 26. Philip II, Duke of Burgundy
| 27 = 27. Margaret III, Countess of Flanders
| 28 = 28. James I of Cyprus
| 29 = 29. Helvis of Brunswick
| 30 = 30. John I, Count of La Marche
| 31 = 31. Catherine of Vendôme
}}
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book |last1=Burckhardt |first1=Jacob |title=The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy |year=1878 |publisher=Vienna Phaidon Press |location=University of Toronto – Robarts Library |page=[https://archive.org/details/civilizationofre00burc/page/23 23] |url=https://archive.org/details/civilizationofre00burc |access-date=28 February 2019}}
- {{cite book |title=Women, Manuscripts and Identity in Northern Europe, 1350-1550 |first=Joni M. |last=Hand |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 }}
- {{cite book |chapter=Eleonora Alvarez de Toledo (1522-62) |first=Joan-Lluis |last=Palos |pages=165–188 |title=Early Modern Dynastic Marriages and Cultural Transfer |editor-first1=Joan-Lluis |editor-last1=Palos |editor-first2=Magdalena S. |editor-last2=Sanchez |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 }}
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{{succession box| before=Galeazzo Maria Sforza | title=Duke of Milan| after= Ludovico Sforza| years=1476–1494}}
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{{Authority control}}
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Category:15th-century dukes of Milan
Category:15th-century murdered monarchs
Category:People from Abbiategrasso