Ippolita Maria Sforza

Diana Robin; Lynn Lara Westwater (George Washington University)

Ed. by Jo Ann Cavallo, Columbia University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.1: Italian Writing and Culture, 453-present.
Vol. editors: Carla Bregman (Independent Scholar - North America), Jo Ann Cavallo (Columbia University)

Dates

Born 18 Apr 1445
Died 18 Aug 1488
Activity 1453-1488

Places

Born in Italy
Active in Italy

Activities

Primary

Diplomat
Letter-writer/ Diarist
Patron

Other

Rhetorician/ Orator

Resources

Ippolita Maria Sforza, the second child of Bianca Maria Visconti (1425-1468) and Francesco Sforza (1401-1466), was born April 18th, 1445, in Pesaro, the Sforza family stronghold on the Adriatic coast. In 1441, Bianca Maria, the only legitimate heir of Filippo Maria Visconti, the duke of Milan, married Sforza, commander-in-chief of Duke Filippo’s army and perhaps the greatest condottiere of his time. When Duke Filippo died without a male heir in 1447, the Milanese citizens met and declared the duchy a republic, naming Sforza its military head of state. But in 1448, the city fell into chaos. Sforza first defected to Venice, but soon made plans to take Milan for himself. After a twelve-month siege in which the city was reduced to …

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2173 words

Citation: Robin, Diana, Lynn Lara Westwater. "Ippolita Maria Sforza". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 September 2018 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14057, accessed 23 April 2024.]

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