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| Galeazzo II of Milan @Wikipedia |
(1324-1378)
Malgarola da Lucino.
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| Gian Galeazzo I Visconti Duke of Milan |
" Giangaleazzo was not unfortunate in his family relations. Blanche of Savoy commanded his dutiful respect and affection. . . ." (Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan: 39)
Husband of:
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| Isabelle of France @Wikipedia |
1. Isabelle de France, Comtesse de Vertus (1348-1372), mar 1360, daughter of Jean II de France & Bona of Bohemia
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| Caterina Visconti of Milan @Wikipedia |
2. Caterina Visconti di Milano (1361-1404), mar 1380, daughter of Bernabò Visconti di Milano & Beatrice Regina della Scala di Verona, daughter of Mastino II della Sacale di Verona & Taddea da Carrara.
Fortunate in his family relations.
". . . Caterina Visconti, the wife whom Bernabo imposed on him, always received the honours due to her position. As Bernabo's daughter, her task cannot have been an easy one; there is no reason to doubt that they lived in harmony, but she probably never filled the place at Giangaleazzo's side as Isabella of Valois might have done. A curios incident, in which Caterina exceeded her powers in the appointment of an officer of the Commune of Milan, and Giangaleazzo cancelled the appointment, suggests that she may have had something of the imperious character which had marked both her parents. She presided over the feminine side of the court, sometimes joined with her ladies in the hunting parties which were organized in the country residence of the Visconti, looked after the interest of her younger and unmarried sisters, and was consulted by her husband in matters which concerned them. . . ." (Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan (1351-1402): A Study in the Political Career of an Italian Despot: 36)
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| Gian Galeazzo I of Milan @Wikipedia |
"Little enough was known of the man who, at the age of thirty-three, became the master of the greatest state in Italy. He had hidden himself as far as possible from the eyes of the world for five years. But now he threw off this disguise, and stepped forward to assume the leading part in Italian politics which was rightly his." (Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan: 39)
His character.
"The part which he had played during these years at Pavia was not entirely false to his nature. The verdict of his contemporaries was inevitably tinged by the political controversies of which he was the centre; but the account of a chronicler who wrote a century later, and had no reason for bias, is borne out by what we know of Giangaleazzo's character. He portrays for us a man of great intellect, cultured, patient and flattering, slow to anger and never heedlessly cruel; one who never acted without deeply considering the consequences; a philosopher with a taste for solitude; physically well endowed, but moderate in his personal needs. 'Of deep intellect, gentle, mild, and without cruelty, rarely or never angered; of persuasive speech, flattering and honouring all; restraining himself when affronted, slow and prudent in action. . . . He greatly loved solitude, was a late riser, and spent much time in the contemplation of the affairs of this world. . . ." (Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan: 36)
Portrait from other chroniclers.
" . . . Corio records that he was 'timid in adversity, but most bold when fortune favoured him'. He was never rash, but he could not always hide his feelings when his plans were crossed or disappointed. His intellectual interest and his contemplative nature are recorded by Giovio. 'He was wont to give himself up to meditation during solitary walks, to hold discussions with those who were most experienced in every branch of affairs, to quote instances from the annals of the past, and to conform carefully to the institutions of his ancestors which had been established by the test of war. . . . He found relaxation for his mind in the conversation of scholars and in constant reading.' Giovio tells us, too, of his devotion to the business of the state, from which 'neither the delights of hunting and hawking, nor games of dice, nor the allurements of women, nor the tales of buffoons and jesters could draw him away.' He did not in fact renounce these pleasures entirely, but they played a far less conspicuous part at his court than at that of Bernabo. He had none of his uncle's crude vitality adn abounding physical energy. 'He exercised his body moderately, for the purpose of preserving his health.' When he hunted, he preferred the milder forms of sport with hawk or falcon. But stag-hunting was also among his pleasures. The Mantuan envoy Filippo della Molza reports that, arriving in Pavia one day in the height of summer, 'I found that mu Lord Count had gone to hunt deer, which he hunts with the bow and on horseback; and when he returned home, it was already the first hour of the night, and he sent messer Giacomo della Croce to tell me that he did not know how I felt for the heat, but that he had got very hot, and thought that I might be even hotter than he, so that for that day he wished to rest'. This was one occasion on which matters of state were postponed on account of the pleasures of the chase." (Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan: 37)
His lover was:
Agnese Mantegazza (d.1405).
Lover in 1384-1389.
Natural offspring:
a. Gabriele Maria Visconti (1385-1407), Signore di Pisa.
Agnese Mantegazza (d.1405).
Lover in 1384-1389.
Natural offspring:
a. Gabriele Maria Visconti (1385-1407), Signore di Pisa.
b. Valentina Visconti
". . . Giangaleazzo turned for softer consolation to Agnese Mantegazza, a Milanese lady on whom he bestowed many honours; a square in Pavia bore her name, and she owned the Castello of Sant' Angelo; when she travelled, she moved as a princes, 'with great company'. . . ." (Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan: 40)
" . . . [I]n 1397, Giangaleazzo Visconti conquered the city, and left it, on his death in 1402, to his mistress, Agnese Mantegazza, and to their son, Gabriello Maria Visconti. But Messer Gabriel Maria was not strong enough to keep Pisa single handed against his envious neighbours of Florence, Genoa, and Lucca; so on April 15, 1404, he agreed to hold the city as a fief of France." (The End of the Middle Ages: 340)
"They detested Agnese Mantegazza and her bastard with a Tuscan hatred for the Visconti, treacherous alike to God and man. One day in 1405, while Messer Gabriel Maria was absent in Genoa, some Florentine soldiers made a raid on Pisa. The citizens, not without reason, suspected their tyrant of selling them to the Florentines,---old neighbours and rivals yet more odious than the Milanese. They rose as one man fighting for death or liberty in the streets. No sooner had they driven back the Florentines than they rushed on the Fortress, surging through the narrow corridors, till, in the heart of the palace, they came on Madonna Agnese. A man raised his harquebuss and shot her through the heart. Her son was absent in Genoa. For the moment the Pisans were quit of the Visconti." (The End of the Middle Ages)
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| Filippo Maria I Visconti Duke of Milan |
(1392-1447)
Duca di Milano
1412-1447
Lord of Pavia
1402-1447
Son of: Gian Galeazzo Visconti & Caterina Visconti.
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| Beatrice di Tenda Countess of Biandrate @ Wikipedia |
" . . . He [Filippo Maria] married Beatrice di Tenda (widow of Facino Cane), who brought him nearly a half million of florins dowry, besides her husband's soldiers and cities, and thus enabled him gradually to win back the Lombard part of his father's duchy, which his brother had lost. . . ." (The Book of Courtier: 353)
" . . . Beatrice, who had brought as her dowry Vercelli, Alessandria, Novara and Tortona, was accused of adultery and killed by her husband Filippo Maria Visconti. . . ." (Machiavelli: 253)
"Beatrice di Tenda, who was the widow of Facino Cane, married the truculent duke Filippo Maria even though he was twenty years her junior in order to preserve her husband's possessions in Lombardy; but when Filippo grew tired of her, he accused Beatrice of having committed adultery with a youthful and harmonious page Michele Orobelli in spite of the fact that she was innocent of the charges and had her beheaded and the page executed. His second wife, Maria of Savoy, was condemned to a marriage of gilded incarceration because of the coldhearted Filippo wouldn't consummate the union due to superstitious reasons. And further more would not be cuckolded by any potential lovers of the duchess as an insult against his virility." (The Color Line: A History: 345)
Filippo Maria's physical appearance & personal qualities.
"Beatrice di Tenda, who was the widow of Facino Cane, married the truculent duke Filippo Maria even though he was twenty years her junior in order to preserve her husband's possessions in Lombardy; but when Filippo grew tired of her, he accused Beatrice of having committed adultery with a youthful and harmonious page Michele Orobelli in spite of the fact that she was innocent of the charges and had her beheaded and the page executed. His second wife, Maria of Savoy, was condemned to a marriage of gilded incarceration because of the coldhearted Filippo wouldn't consummate the union due to superstitious reasons. And further more would not be cuckolded by any potential lovers of the duchess as an insult against his virility." (The Color Line: A History: 345)
Filippo Maria's physical appearance & personal qualities.
" . . . He was very ugly in person, and so sensitive that he rarely appeared in public. Wily but unstable, he was continually plotting schemes that seemed to have no object, and he mistrusted even his own genera;s, even Francesco Sforza, who turned against him, forced him to a ruinous peace, and after his death was soon able to seize his duchy. In him the cruel selfishness of the Renaissance tyrant did not degenerate into mad thirst for blood, as in the case of his terrible brother. He read Dante, Petrarch and French romances of chivalry, and even dallied with the Latin classics, but genuine learning was neglected and despised at his court." (The Book of Courtier: 353)
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| Agnese del Maino @Wikipedia |
His lover was:
Agnese del Maino (1401-1465).Daughter of: Ambrogio del Maino, Count Palatine & Unnamed wife.
Natural offspring:
a. Bianca Maria Visconti
b. Caterina Maria Visconti
"Visconti, Bianca Maria – (1425 – 1468), Italian heiress and duchess of Milan. Bianca Maria Visconti was born (March 31, 1425) the illegitimate daughter of Filippo Maria Visconti (1392 – 1447), Duke of Milan and his mistress Agnese del Maino, the daughter of Ambrosio de Maino. Her aunt Valentina Visconti was the wife of Louis, Duke d’Orleans and was the grandmother of Louis XII, King of France (1498 – 1515). She was her father’s heiress and Duke Filippo promised Bianca Maria to a variety of powerful lords and princes in marriage. She was finally betrothed when she was eight years old (1433) to the widower Francesco Sforza (1401 – 1466), then an important general in her father’s service. They were married in 1441."
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| Francesco I Sforza Duke of Milan |
(1401-1466)
Duca di Milano
1450-1466.
Husband of:
1. Polissena Ruffo (1400-1420)
Calabrian princess
Princess of Rossano
Countess of Corigliano
Countess of Montalto.
Daughter of: Carlo Ruffo di Montalto & Ceccarella Sanseverino, mar 1418.
"He [Francesco] was married to a wealthy heiress, Polissena Ruffo of Montalto. Had the marriage lasted, it would have bolstered Muzio's holdings in the Neapolitan kingdom; but tragically Polissena's aunt poisoned her and her newborn daughter by Francesco in order to lay claim to family fortune herself. Mother and child, and Sforza rejoined his father's battalions. . . ."(The Color Line: A History: 343)
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| Bianca Maria Visconti |
His lover was:
Giovanna d'Acquapendente.
Lover 1420-1441.
Natural offspring:
a. Tristano Sforza (1424-1477), mar Beatrice d'Este (1427-1497), daughter of Niccolo III di Ferrara
b. Isotta (1425-1485), mar b-1. Andrea Matteo II d'Acquaviva, Duca di Atri (d.1443), mar 1439; b-2. Giovanni Mauruzzi da Tolentino, Conte di Stacciola (d.1465), mar 1446.
a. Tristano Sforza (1424-1477), mar Beatrice d'Este (1427-1497), daughter of Niccolo III di Ferrara
b. Isotta (1425-1485), mar b-1. Andrea Matteo II d'Acquaviva, Duca di Atri (d.1443), mar 1439; b-2. Giovanni Mauruzzi da Tolentino, Conte di Stacciola (d.1465), mar 1446.
c. Polissena (1427-1449), mar 1441 Sigismondo Malatesta di Rimini
Francesco Sforza's physical appearance and personal qualities.
"To look at the painting of the duke made by Bonifacio Bembo, one can make out the unusual features of Francesco's: the dark hair, the near-hook-nose, thin lips, dark hazelnut eyes, and olive skin. He could pass for an Arab emir. Certainly the painting, which was done in the duke's lifetime (1460), gives posterity the suspicion of an ancestor who was not European. Unfortunately because of the Attendolo feudal insignificance, there is no clear way to trace the limbs of the family tree back to a progenitor who could have been a Moor, because of the myriad of legitimate and illegitimate births that most assuredly leave their mark on the Attendolo line. Francesco himself made a remark about the opaqueness of his origins when he was on an earlier campaign against Venice and a Venetian emissary berated Sforza with epithets singling out his out of wedlock birth, whereupon Francesco answered in an indifferent manner (when the Venetian was brought before him as a prisoner) the insult, saying, 'he really did not know how Sforza his father, and Madama Lucia his mother, had proceeded together, not having been there . . . so that he was not liable to blame or praise.' . . . ." (The Color Line: A History: 346)
"His son-in-law and successor, the fortunate Condottiere Francesco Sforza (1450-1466), was perhaps of all the Italians of the fifteenth century the man most after the heart of his age. Never was the triumph of genius and individual power more brilliantly displayed that in him; and those who would recognize his merit were at least forced to wonder at him as the spoilt child of fortune. The Milanese claimed it openly as an honour to be governed by so distinguished a master; when he entered the city the thronging populace bore him on horseback into the cathedral, without giving him the chance to dismount. et us list to the balance-sheet of his life, in the estimate of Pope Pius II, a judge in such matters: 'In the year 1459, when the Duke came to the congress at Mantua, he was 60 (really 58) years old; on horseback he looked like a young man; of a lofty and imposing figure, with serious features, calm and affable in conversation, princely in his whole bearing, with a combination of bodily and intellectual gifts unrivaled in our time, unconquered on the field of battle -- such was the man who raised himself from a humble position to the control of an empire. His wife was beautiful and virtuous, his children were like the angels of heaven; he was seldom ill, and all his chief wishes were fulfilled. And yet he was not without misfortune. His wife, out of jealousy, killed his mistress; his old comrades and friends, Troilo and Brunoro, abandoned him and went over to King Alfonso; another, Ciarpollone, he was forced to hang for treason; he had to suffer it that his brother Alejandro set the French upon him; one of his sons formed intrigues against him, and was imprisoned; the March of Ancona, which he had won in war, he lost again the same way. No man enjoys so unclouded a fortune that he has not somewhere to struggle with adversity. He is happy who has but few troubles.' . . . ." (The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy)
(1444-1476)
Duca di Milano
1466-1476
Son of: Francesco Sforza & Bianca Maria Visconti.
Husband of:
1) Dorotea Gonzaga (1450-1467)
2) Bonne de Savoie (1449-1503)
Also known as:
la Dame de Petit Sens: "Marguerite does not appear to have had much in common with her stepmother, for in the mass of correspondence . . . between her father and herself, we never find even a casual mention of the Empress. . . At this we can scarcely wonder, for the pupil of Anne de Beaujeau would have little sympathy with a frivolous lady who delighted in the extravagant fashions of Milan, and was brought up by a mother, 'dame de petit sens,' as Commines called her. He had occasion to know the Lady Bona well, for she was a sister of Charlotte of Savoy, Queen of Louis XI, and she lived for years at the French Court. (Maximilian the Dreamer: 75)
" . . . Sister to the queen of France, Bona was a renowned beauty. The Milanese ambassador who had negotiated the match with Galeazzo promised that the duke would be 'much pleased with so beautiful a lady,' and when the court painter Bonifacio Bembo returned from France bearing a portrait of Bona to be shown to her intended, a smitten Galeazzo kept the work, claiming he could not bear to part with it. Bona was a marvelous horsewoman and enthusiastically accompanied her husband on hunts. But beneath the beautiful and fun-loving demeanor of this fashionable lady there lay political savvy and a will of steel." (The Tigress of Forli: 6)
His lovers were:
1) Lucia Marliani, Contessa di Melzo (1452-1522)
Italian noblewoman and mistress
Lover in 1474.
Wife of: Ambrogio Raverti, Milanese merchant.
Natural offspring:
a. Galeazzo Sforza (1474-1515), Conte di Melzo 1493
b. Ottaviano Sforza (1475-1541)
Bishop of Lodi 1497, Bishop of Arezzo (1519
"From a very young age, Galeazzo became notorious for his exuberant sexual behavior and, worse still, was hardly embarrassed by it, reportedly remarking scandalously that he possessed lust in full perfection, having employed it in all the fashions and forms possible. His passion for the young noblewoman Lucia Marliani, and the eccentric behavior that accompanied it, became notorious at court and within diplomatic circles. Galeazzo himself actively encouraged rumors about this affair to circulate. Falling madly in love with the young woman, he bought her from her husband and made her his mistress, lavishly providing her with expensive jewelry and clothes, purchasing for her a beautiful palazzo (whose furnishings alone would cost him over a thousand ducats), bestowing upon her the title of 'Countess of Melzo,' and giving her and her future progeny the name of the Visconti---all of this while being married to Bona of Savoy." (The Duke and the Stars: Astrology and Politics in Renaissance Milan: 101)
Personal & family background.
". . . (H)er paternal family had a distinguished history among the Milanese nobility. As castellan of Porta Giovia Castle in 1412, Vincenzo Marliani had enabled Duke Filippo Maria Visconti to take his ducal seat in the face of rival claimants. At the time Giovanni's (sic) relationship with Lucia began, he had just visited his uncle, Giovanni Antonio, the archpriest at Santa Maria del Monte. Giovanni Antonio's brother was Michele Marliani, a bishop and nominal member of the Privy Council. Lucia also had relatives within the court; her uncle Giorgio was cameriere until Christmas 1473, when he was promoted to gentiluomo. . . . " (A Renaissance Court: 197)
Spouse & children.
Spouse & children.
". . . Lucia was third to be betrothed and the second to be married; her husband was Ambrogio Raverti, a Milanese merchant in his early twenties. He became procurator for the family even before he and Lucia were wed. They were still in their second year of marriage when she caught the duke's eye and left her conjugal household." (A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galeazzo Maria Sforza: 198)
Extraordinary coital contract considerations.
Extraordinary coital contract considerations.
". . . The first one gave her the income from the Martesana, and the second gave her the right to keep whatever he granted her, for herself and her children by him. Both contained a clause to the effect that Lucia 'not intermingle herself with her husband in a carnal bond [carnalem copulam] without our special permission in writing, nor to have it with any other man except our person, whenever it should chance that we wish to have coitus with her [cum ea coire].' The donations would be voided by any failure to comply with these extraordinary provisions." (A Renaissance Court: 198)
2) Lucrezia Landriano, Contesa di Melzo (1440-?)
Lover in 1460.
,+was+the+mistress+of+Galeazzo+Maria+Sforza+1465.jpg){kind=spacer} |
| Lucrezia Landriano Countess of Melzo |
Lover in 1460.
Wife of: Giampietro Landriani.
Natural offspring:
a. Alessandro Sforza (1460-1523), Conte di Galliate 1490
b. Carlo Sforza (1462-1483), Conte di Magenta 1476
c. Caterina Sforza (1463-1509)
d. Chiara Sforza (1464-1531), mar Galeazzo Maria Sforza.
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| Ludovico il Moro & son Massimiliano Sforza |
(1451-1508)
Duca di Milano
1494-1508
Regent of Milan
1481
Duca di Bari
1479
Son of: Francesco I Sforza & Bianca Maria Visconti. Husband of:
1. Beatrice d'Este (1475-1497), mar 1491.
2. Lucrezia Crivelli
His lovers were:
1) Bernardina Corradis.
Natural offspring:
a. Bianca Giovanna (1483-1496), mar Galeazzo Sanseverino, mar 1496
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| Cecilia Gallerani |
Daughter of: Fazio Gallerani & Margherita Busti.
Wife of: Ludovico Carminati de Brambilla, Conte di Bergamini.
It was common practice for male members of the elite to make honest women of their mistresses by marrying them off to high-ranking servants or those loyal to the family. Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, immortalized by Leonardo da Vinci as The Lady with an Ermine in 1491, was married a year later to a Sforza associate, Count Ludovico Carminati del Brambilla. . . ." (The Pope's Daughter: 14)
Natural offspring:
a. Cesare Sforza (1491-after 1525), Abbot of San Nazaro Maggiore 1498; Canon of Milan 1503.
"When Leonardo arrived in Milan, Ludovico Sforza was engaged to a little girl of seven, a member of the d'Este family. While Waiting for his future wife to grow up he had taken a sixteen-year-old girl, Cecilia, from the noble family of the Gallerani, who was not only beautiful but highly educated. She was in fact so erudite that years later Badello referred to her in his 'novelle' as the modern Sappho, revealing that the beautiful lady wrote excellent poetry not only in Italian but also in Latin. She was a lady the, because Il Moro, after having loved her and had by her a son named Cesare, recognized and legitimized just as Ser Piero had done with the little Leonardo, married her off to Count Ludovico Bergamini, just as shrewd Ser Antonio had done with Caterina. It is true that Caterina, although of 'good blood', was only a peasant woman from Vinci, and not an aristocratic Lombard girl. And Count Bergamini, both the vassal and the friend of the Duke of Milan, was certainly not an Accattabriga. But the fruit of Ludovico's noble love was an insignificant courtier named Cesare, while that of Ser Piero's peasant ardour was an artist named Leonard. Cecilia was beautiful and, moreover, sensitive, since culture is always an enrichment of the inner self. . . ." (Leonardo: 49)
" . . . It was well known in Ferrara. . . that Lodovico Sforza had a mistress to whom he was fondly attached, and whom he had for many years past treated with respect and honour due to a wife. This was Cecilia Gallerani, afterwards the wife of Count Lodovico Bergamini, a young Milanese lady of noble birth, as distinguished for her learning as for her beauty. She spoke and wrote Latin fluently, composed sonnets in Italian, and delivered Latin orations to the theologians and philosophers who met at her house. Contemporary writings abound in allusions to the rare virtues and learning of 'la bella Gallerani,' the Sappho of modern times. . . ." (Ady & Cartwright: 52)
Physical appearance & personal qualities.
Wife of: Ludovico Carminati de Brambilla, Conte di Bergamini.
It was common practice for male members of the elite to make honest women of their mistresses by marrying them off to high-ranking servants or those loyal to the family. Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, immortalized by Leonardo da Vinci as The Lady with an Ermine in 1491, was married a year later to a Sforza associate, Count Ludovico Carminati del Brambilla. . . ." (The Pope's Daughter: 14)
Natural offspring:
a. Cesare Sforza (1491-after 1525), Abbot of San Nazaro Maggiore 1498; Canon of Milan 1503.
"When Leonardo arrived in Milan, Ludovico Sforza was engaged to a little girl of seven, a member of the d'Este family. While Waiting for his future wife to grow up he had taken a sixteen-year-old girl, Cecilia, from the noble family of the Gallerani, who was not only beautiful but highly educated. She was in fact so erudite that years later Badello referred to her in his 'novelle' as the modern Sappho, revealing that the beautiful lady wrote excellent poetry not only in Italian but also in Latin. She was a lady the, because Il Moro, after having loved her and had by her a son named Cesare, recognized and legitimized just as Ser Piero had done with the little Leonardo, married her off to Count Ludovico Bergamini, just as shrewd Ser Antonio had done with Caterina. It is true that Caterina, although of 'good blood', was only a peasant woman from Vinci, and not an aristocratic Lombard girl. And Count Bergamini, both the vassal and the friend of the Duke of Milan, was certainly not an Accattabriga. But the fruit of Ludovico's noble love was an insignificant courtier named Cesare, while that of Ser Piero's peasant ardour was an artist named Leonard. Cecilia was beautiful and, moreover, sensitive, since culture is always an enrichment of the inner self. . . ." (Leonardo: 49)
" . . . It was well known in Ferrara. . . that Lodovico Sforza had a mistress to whom he was fondly attached, and whom he had for many years past treated with respect and honour due to a wife. This was Cecilia Gallerani, afterwards the wife of Count Lodovico Bergamini, a young Milanese lady of noble birth, as distinguished for her learning as for her beauty. She spoke and wrote Latin fluently, composed sonnets in Italian, and delivered Latin orations to the theologians and philosophers who met at her house. Contemporary writings abound in allusions to the rare virtues and learning of 'la bella Gallerani,' the Sappho of modern times. . . ." (Ady & Cartwright: 52)
Physical appearance & personal qualities.
"Cecilia Gallerani was born around 1473. Very beautiful and famously portrayed by Leonardo in Lady with an Ermine, Cecilia kept a literary salon and wrote Latin verse. She was a true daughter of the Renaissance and became prominent at the court of her lover Ludovico Sforza, called 'Il Moro'. In 1491 however, Ludovico married the very young Beatrice d'Este, the sister of Isabella Gonzaga. In the same year Cecilia gave birth to Ludovico's son. She died in 1536." (Servadio: 6).
"The Regent of Milan had for years been devoted to his mistress, a certain Cecilia Gallerani, a very beautiful woman, noted for her learning and accomplishments. She had rooms in the Castello of Milan, a palace outside the city, a villa at Cremona, and was treated with honour and respect by the literary and artistic society of which she was the centre. Poets wrote sonnets in her praise as to another Sappho, and Leonardo da Vinci painted her portrait. Lodovico would have married the lady had he dared to risk the consequent jealousies, and also to give mortal offence to the Duke of Ferrara and the King of Naples; but prudence won the day, and he made final arrangements for the long-deferred wedding with Beatrice d'Este." (The Most Illustrious Ladies of the Italian Renaissance: 114)
"With all his love for Beatrice, Lodovico was no model husband. . . The long delay over Beatrice's wedding . . . had been caused by Il Moro's affections for Cecilia Gallerani. This beautiful and accomplished lady held for several years the position at the Court of Milan which would naturally belong to Lodovico's wife. Leonardo painted her portrait, the Court poets sang her praises, and Il Moro treated her with every mark of honour. Beatrice, however, was not of the temperament to allow the existence of a rival and she persuaded her husband to see no more of Cecilia. In July, 1491, the lady was married to Count Bargamini of Cremona, although not before she had given birth to a son, whom Il Moro openly recognised as his own. Cecilia had not been the first of Lodovico's mistresses, not did she prove the last. . . ." (Ady: 163)
" . . . The other two female poets we know of in the fifteenth century were based in the Sforza court in Milan, one of the most active centers for vernacular poetry in the last decades of the century. One is Cecilia Gallerani, famous as a mistress of Lodovico Sforza's and thought to be the sitter for Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine. No surviving works have been identified by Gallerani, although her poetic activity is reasonably well attested, particularly by Bandello, who praises her punningly as 'the sharpest of pens.'. . . " (Cox: 46)
Affair's benefits.
" . . . As a young girl, Cecilia's charms captured the heart of the Moro, who, as early as 1481, bestowed the estate of Saronno, which he had inherited from his brother Sforza, upon her by deed of gift, in which he extolled her learning and excellence, and at the same time recalled the merits and services of her ancestors. Soon after Leonardo da Vinci's arrival in Milan, Lodovico employed him to paint the portrait of his fair young mistress, and we have more than one proof of the admiration which the Florentine master's work excited among his contemporaries. . . ." (Ady & Cartwright: 52)
Affair's effects on fther people and society.
Affair's effects on fther people and society.
"Few spiritual or temporal leaders condemned noblemen for straying from the marriage bed, but wives were not always so complacent. Strong-willed Beatrice d'Este insisted that her new husband Ludovic Sforza remove his mistress, Cecilia Gallerani, from court in 1491. Ludovic acquiesced to Beatrice's demands, but repaid Cecilia by marrying her to a highly placed noble and by giving the couple a palace. Though Cecilia received excellent retirement benefits from Ludovic, her story indicates that life as a mistress could be a degrading and insecure career...." (Williams &Echols: 90)
Keeping appearances up.
Keeping appearances up.
" . . . Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, immortalized by Leonardo da Vinci as the Lady with an Ermine in 1491, was married a year later to a Sforza associate, Count Ludovico Carminati de Brambilla. . . ." (Murphy: 14)
"Cecilia Gallerani was a mistress of Lodovico Sforza, and married Count Pergamino; but history, or a chronicle, affirms that the duke did not cease to love her on that account. . . ." (Brown: 226)
" . . . Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, immortalized by Leonardo da Vinci as The Lady with an Ermine in 1491, was married a year later to a Sforza associate, Count Ludovico Carminati de Brambilla. . . ." (Murphy: 14)
3) Lucrezia Crivelli (1452-1508)
Maid of honour to the Duchesa Beatrice d'Este
"Cecilia Gallerani was a mistress of Lodovico Sforza, and married Count Pergamino; but history, or a chronicle, affirms that the duke did not cease to love her on that account. . . ." (Brown: 226)
" . . . Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, immortalized by Leonardo da Vinci as The Lady with an Ermine in 1491, was married a year later to a Sforza associate, Count Ludovico Carminati de Brambilla. . . ." (Murphy: 14)
3) Lucrezia Crivelli (1452-1508)
Maid of honour to the Duchesa Beatrice d'Este
Wife of: Count Gian Pero Landriano, Courtier in the court of Milan & close friend of Galeazzo Maria Sforza.
Natural offspring:
a. Giovanni Paolo (1497-?)
" . . . The duke, who for many years past had proved himself a devoted and affectionate husband . . . suddenly found a new object for his affections in Lucrezia Crivelli, a beautiful and accomplished maiden of a noble Milanese family, who was one of the duchess's ladies-in-waiting. Soon Lodovico's passion for this new mistress became publicly known, Leonardo was employed to paint her picture. . . ." (Ady & Cartwright: 362)
"Two months before Beatrice's death, another woman went into labor at the court of Milan. Her name was Lucrezia Crivelli, a lady-in-waiting to Beatrice, who in 1495 succeeded Cecilia Gallerani as the Duke's maitresse-en-titre ('official mistress'). In March of 1497, she too bore the Duke a son; he was named Giovanni Paolo, the later Marquess of Caravaggio." (Who is La belle Ferroniere @The Mona Lisa Myth)
" . . . The year before his wife's death Il Moro found a fresh object for his affections in the person of Lucrezia Crivelli, one of Beatrice's maids of honour. In the midst of his mourning for Beatrice, Lodovico remembered the claims of this mistress. A document of July, 1497, records a grant of lands to Lucrezia Crivelli as a provision for her new-born son, Gian Paolo. . . ." (Ady: 164)
"In the midst of these tokens of grief and love for his lost wife, we come upon a strange incident. That May, Lucrezia Crivelli, the mistress whose liaison with the duke had caused Beatrice the sorrow which he now remembered with so much remorse, bore Lodovico a son, who was named Gianpaolo, and who became a valiant soldier and loyal subject of his half-brother Duke Francesco Sforza in after days. The Moro, as far as we know, never renewed his connection with Lucrezia after his wife's death. The universal testimony of his contemporaries...seems to bear witness to the contrary; but in the following August he settled Cussago and Saronno, the lands which three years before he had given to Beatrice, upon his mistress as a provision for the son she had borne him, and in the act of donation speaks expressly of the delight which he had found in her gentle and excellent company." (Cartwright: 321)
Affair's effect on other people and society.
"In the midst of these tokens of grief and love for his lost wife, we come upon a strange incident. That May, Lucrezia Crivelli, the mistress whose liaison with the duke had caused Beatrice the sorrow which he now remembered with so much remorse, bore Lodovico a son, who was named Gianpaolo, and who became a valiant soldier and loyal subject of his half-brother Duke Francesco Sforza in after days. The Moro, as far as we know, never renewed his connection with Lucrezia after his wife's death. The universal testimony of his contemporaries...seems to bear witness to the contrary; but in the following August he settled Cussago and Saronno, the lands which three years before he had given to Beatrice, upon his mistress as a provision for the son she had borne him, and in the act of donation speaks expressly of the delight which he had found in her gentle and excellent company." (Cartwright: 321)
Affair's effect on other people and society.
"...The chronicler Muralto, in his brief and touching account of the young duchess, after recalling Beatrice's charms and joyous nature, tells us that, although Lodovico loved his wife intensely, he took Lucrezia Crivelli for his mistress, a thing which caused Beatrice the most bitter anguish of mind, but could not alter her love for him. And remorse for the pain which he had caused Beatrice gave the sharpest sting to Lodovico's own despair, on that sad day when he wept for his young wife's early death." (Ady and Cartwright: 302)
" . . . Lucrezia Landriano, the mother of Caterina Sforza, was the wife of Piero Landriano, a Milanese citizen of note. Yet Caterina grew up at the Milanese Court under the care of Bianca and later of Bona of Savoy, who treated her as if she were her own child. . . ." (A History of Milan Under the Sforza: 110) [Fam1:Kleio]
4) Unnamed mistress.
Natural offspring:
a. Sforza (1484-1487)
5) Unnamed mistress.
Natural offspring:
1. Leone Sforza (1482-after 1530), Abbot of San Vitore 1495.
" . . . Lucrezia Landriano, the mother of Caterina Sforza, was the wife of Piero Landriano, a Milanese citizen of note. Yet Caterina grew up at the Milanese Court under the care of Bianca and later of Bona of Savoy, who treated her as if she were her own child. . . ." (A History of Milan Under the Sforza: 110) [Fam1:Kleio]
4) Unnamed mistress.
Natural offspring:
a. Sforza (1484-1487)
5) Unnamed mistress.
Natural offspring:
1. Leone Sforza (1482-after 1530), Abbot of San Vitore 1495.
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