93 Facts About Ludovico Sforza

Ludovico Sforza first assumed the regency from his sister-in-law Bona, then took over from his deceased nephew Gian Galeazzo, whom some say he poisoned.

Somewhat contrarily, Ludovico Sforza was considered fearful and of a fickle nature.

Ludovico Sforza finally succumbed to King of France Louis XII, who imprisoned him in France where he died.

Under the tutelage of many teachers, including the humanist Francesco Filelfo and the poet Giorgio Valagussa, Ludovico Sforza received lessons in Greek, Latin, theology, painting, sculpture, as well as being instructed in matters of government and administration of the state.

Ludovico Sforza's tutelage included physical exercise in the form of fencing, hunting, wrestling, horseback riding, jumping, dancing, and the game of ropeball.

Ludovico Sforza spent his childhood with his brothers and sisters in the Broletto Vecchio palace in Milan and in the Visconti Castle in Pavia.

Ludovico Sforza was conferred the courtesy title of Count of Mortara.

Ludovico Sforza continued to deal with diplomatic missives, remaining in Cremona until the following year, when he went to Genoa to welcome his sister Ippolita, wife of Alfonso of Aragon.

Ludovico Sforza was later appointed as the ambassador to the King of France and then to Bologna.

Ludovico Sforza was able to improve diplomatic relations between the Duchy of Milan and the Republic of Venice by giving a speech which was well received by the doge.

Ludovico Sforza was succeeded by his son Gian Galeazzo Maria, then only seven years old.

Together with two other brothers, Ascanio and Ottaviano, as well as the condottieri Roberto Sanseverino, Donato del Conte, and Ibletto Fieschi, Ludovico Sforza tried to oppose the regency of Bona, believing the duchy was in fact in the hands of the ducal councilor Cicco Simonetta.

The attempt failed and Ludovico was exiled to Pisa, Sforza Maria to Bari, and Ascanio to Perugia.

Bona finally allowed herself to be persuaded by her lover, Antonio Tassino, who was probably in league with Ludovico Sforza, to forgive her brother-in-law.

Ludovico Sforza reportedly said to the Duchess Bona "I will lose my head and you, in time, will lose the state".

Ludovico Sforza, fearing a popular uprising, was forced to imprison Simonetta and his brother Giovanni, who were held in the prisons of the castle of Pavia.

Ludovico Sforza sent envoys to forge or re-establish alliances with Lorenzo de' Medici, King Ferrante, and Pope Sixtus IV, and to prevent an alliance against him between the Swiss and the Republic of Venice.

Ludovico Sforza, persuaded by Sanseverino, ordered the arrest of his brother and his exile in Ferrara.

Ludovico Sforza decided to secretly bring his nephews Gian Galeazzo and Ermes into the castle, under the pretext of protecting them from the ambition of Tassino.

Ludovico Sforza convened his council, and Bona was forced to sign the sentence of exile for Tassino and his family.

Ludovico Sforza tried to leave the duchy and threatened suicide if she was prevented, which persuaded Ludovico and Roberto Sanseverino to let her leave for France.

Bona went into such fury at his departure that, forgetting all her honour and dignity, she too decided to leave and pass over the mountains, and this bad resolution could never be revoked; but forgetting every filial love of her, in the hands of Lodovico Ludovico Sforza she renounced the protection of her children and of the state.

Ludovico Sforza initially planned to become Duke of Milan by marrying his sister-in-law Bona.

Ludovico Sforza was persuaded by Bona and was supportive of the marriage.

Ludovico Sforza saw this as an opportunity for an alliance with the king of Naples as well as with the Duke of Ferrara.

Ludovico Sforza met with Alfonso of Aragon and other representatives of the alliance in Cremona and decided to immediately counterattack the Venetians.

The Venetians, knowing that Ludovico Sforza had incurred massive debts in support of his father-in-law, offered him peace in exchange for money, provided that they retained control of the Polesine.

Ludovico Sforza was described as being very beautiful and was often at Ludovico's side.

Ludovico Sforza postponed his marriage to Beatrice three times, frustrating his future in-laws, who believed that he no longer intended to marry their daughter.

Those close to Ludovico Sforza had been pressuring him for years to replace his nephew as the Duke of Milan, and wished for Beatrice to have a legitimate heir for him as soon as possible.

Ludovico Sforza was accompanied by her mother and other relatives.

Ludovico Sforza had wanted the wedding to be celebrated in Pavia and not in Milan so as not to give the impression of attempting to challenge Gian Galeazzo, who had married Isabella of Aragon in the Duomo a few months earlier.

The marriage was declared to have been immediately consummated and the next morning Ludovico Sforza left for Milan to finish the preparations for the wedding party.

Ludovico Sforza was often seen kissing and caressing his wife, and he would stand beside bed for most of the day when she was sick.

Ludovico Sforza's contemporaries noted, not without amazement, that Beatrice followed him everywhere, even in the course of her pregnancies.

Ludovico Sforza loved extravagance, and helped make a reputation for Sforza Castle as a place of sumptuous festivals and balls.

Ludovico Sforza would go on to give birth to Maximilian Sforza and Francesco II Sforza, future Dukes of Milan.

Ludovico Sforza is noted for his concern to ensure his wife was satisfied at every whim.

Ludovico Sforza's correspondences show a worry that she would discover times where he lied to her, for fear that she would no longer love him.

Ludovico Sforza attempted to shield her from tragedy, such as when Beatrice's mother passed in 1493.

Ludovico Sforza declared that he loved both granddaughters in the same way and asked them to settle matters while he was alive.

Historian Malaguzzi Valeri disagrees with this opinion, pointing to how Ludovico Sforza was interested in the approval of his nephew, how he often sent him gifts such as dogs, horses and falcons, and how he was kept constantly informed of the care given to him.

Ludovico Sforza immediately succeeded him with the support of the Milanese nobles, supplanting the legitimate heirs, thus reaching the apex of political power in the region.

Ludovico Sforza had counted on the fact that the lords of Italy, and especially Florence, would not let Charles pass.

Ludovico Sforza decided to abandon his alliance with France, siding instead with the Holy League.

Still feeling unsafe, Ludovico Sforza made plans with the Spanish ambassador to leave the duchy to take refuge in Spain.

Ludovico Sforza's hand had become paralyzed, and he never left the bedroom and was rarely seen.

Ludovico Sforza, fearing for his wife's safety, begged Francesco Gonzaga to keep Beatrice safe.

In 1496, while Beatrice was expecting her third child, Ludovico Sforza met Lucrezia Crivelli, lady-in-waiting to his wife, who became his mistress.

Beatrice, who previously had shown little jealously with her husbands infidelities, realized that Ludovico Sforza had this time fallen in love with Lucrezia.

Ludovico Sforza began to pull away from Ludovico, straining their marriage.

Ludovico Sforza's sorrow deepened with the death of her closest friend Bianca Giovanna Sforza.

Ludovico Sforza, feeling he had betrayed his wife, went mad with grief and never recovered from her death.

Ludovico Sforza had been convinced that he would die before her, and had expected her to rule Milan until their children came of age.

For two weeks Ludovico Sforza locked himself in his apartments, allowed his beard to grow, and wore from then on only black clothes with a cloak torn up by a beggar.

Ludovico Sforza told the ambassador from Ferrara to relay a message to his father-in-law, Duke Ercole, asking for his forgiveness.

Ludovico Sforza begged his brother-in-law Francis not to send anyone to console with him, "not to renew the pain".

Ludovico Sforza refused, with a few exceptions, to receive condolences from anyone.

Ludovico Sforza imposed a rule on the ambassadors that no one was to speak of Beatrice anymore, nor to grieve or show sadness, and to only speak of matters of state.

Somewhat contradictorily, Ludovico Sforza took every opportunity to commemorate his wife himself, of whom he created almost a cult.

Ludovico Sforza had an effigy of her reproduced on a ring she wore on her finger, replacing a head of a Roman emperor.

Ludovico Sforza became convinced that God was punishing him for his sins and, while this did increase his religiosity, he began to take an interest in necromancy.

Ludovico Sforza chose to withdraw the troops he had stationed in Pisa, leaving control of the city to Venice.

Ludovico Sforza subsequently reversed his alliance with Venice and helped Florence re-conquer Pisa in an effort to strengthen his alliance with them.

Ludovico Sforza's hope was that Florence would help him at least diplomatically against the arrival of King Louis XII.

Ludovico Sforza was apprehended by the French along with the Sanseverino brothers.

Ludovico Sforza was still considered a special prisoner, and was allowed to go fishing and receive friends.

In 1501, news spread to Venice that Ludovico Sforza was becoming unstable, that "his brain was wavering a lot".

Ludovico Sforza was first detained at the castle of Pierre-Scize, then at Lys-Saint-Georges near Bourges.

In 1508, Ludovico Sforza attempted to escape, but after his failure he was further deprived of amenities including his books.

The memory of Ludovico Sforza was clouded for centuries by Machiavelli's accusation that he 'invited' Charles VIII to invade Italy, paving the way for subsequent foreign domination.

Ludovico Sforza is described as a man with a mild, conciliatory character, who detested all forms of violence and cruelty.

Ludovico Sforza made efforts to keep away from battlefields, and refrained from inflicting harsh punishments on the guilty.

Ludovico Sforza perhaps took this example as a warning, and was rarely roused to anger.

Ludovico Sforza was quite tall for the time, between 1.8 metres and 1.9 metres in height, however he was by no means physically fit.

Ludovico Sforza appreciated good food and above all he loved the mullets that his father-in-law Ercole sometimes sent him.

Ludovico Sforza had broad shoulders and highlighted them with solid gold chains, as can be seen in the so-called Sforza Altarpiece.

Ludovico Sforza was known to be prodigal with his friends, very liberal, condescending, and thoughtful.

Ludovico Sforza was not an energetic man unless spurred to action.

Ludovico Sforza was sometimes prideful, as in 1496 when he boasted that Pope Alexander was his chaplain, Emperor Maximilian his general, Venice his chamberlain, and the King of France his courier who had to come and go to Italy at his will.

Ludovico Sforza trusted Beatrice blindly, granted her great freedom, and entrusted her with important tasks, making her always a participant in the councils and negotiations of war.

Ludovico Sforza was never known to make such a gesture towards that woman who he "loved more than himself".

Ludovico Sforza showed great love above all towards his daughter, Bianca Giovanna, and found the pain of her untimely death unbearable.

Ludovico Sforza liked to remember that his grandfather, Muzio Attendolo, was born a farmer before becoming a leader.

Ludovico Sforza was an expert at growing vines and mulberries, as well as the famous moron, which fed the silkworms that made the Milanese industry famous.

Ludovico Sforza established his own farm near Vigevano, the so-called Sforzesca, with the adjacent field the Pecorara where various species of cattle, sheep and other animals were bred.

Ludovico Sforza loved his farm and he often visited with his wife Beatrice, who like him was a lover of nature.

Ludovico Sforza invested in horse and cattle breeding, as well as the metal industry.

Ludovico Sforza sponsored extensive work in civil and military engineering, such as canals and fortifications, continued work on the Cathedral of Milan and the Certosa of Pavia, and had the streets of Milan enlarged and adorned with gardens.

Ludovico Sforza knew Latin and French and would often listen to the daily reading and commentary of the Divine Comedy that the humanist Antonio Grifo kept at the behest of the Duchess Beatrice.

Ludovico Sforza read this continuously during his captivity, even going as far as to translate it into French on the walls of his cell.

Ludovico Sforza was close friends with Sanseverino, continuously bestowing him with honours and privileges, to the point of marrying him to his daughter and appointing him regent together with his wife Beatrice.

Ludovico Sforza earned the nickname "Moro", the Moor, as a child.