Anna Maria Sforza (21 July 1476 – 30 November 1497) was Hereditary Princess of Ferrara as the first wife of

Alfonso I d'Este Alfonso d'Este (21 July 1476 – 31 October 1534) was Duke of Ferrara from 1504 to 1534, during the time of the War of the League of Cambrai. Biography He was the son of Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and Eleanor of Naples and became du ...

, future

Duke of Ferrara This is a list of rulers of the estates owned by the House of Este, Este family, which main line of Marquesses (''Marchesi d'Este'') rose in 1039 with Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan. The name "Este" is related to the city where the family came ...

. She was the second legitimate daughter of

Galeazzo Maria Sforza Galeazzo Maria Sforza (24 January 1444 – 26 December 1476) was the fifth Duke of Milan from 1466 until 1476. He was born to Francesco Sforza, a popular condottiero and ally of Cosimo de' Medici who would gain the Duchy of Milan in 1450 ...

Duke of Milan Milan was ruled by dukes from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. List of dukes of Milan House of Visconti In 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti was titled Duke ...

, and his second wife,

Bona of Savoy Bona of Savoy, Duchess of Milan (10 August 1449 – 23 November 1503) was Duchess of Milan as the second spouse of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan. She served as regent of Milan during the minority of her son 1476–1481. Life Early life ...

Life

Born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, she was the second daughter and last legitimate child of

, Duke of Milan, by his second wife, Bona of Savoy. Anna's paternal grandparents were

Francesco I Sforza Francesco I Sforza (; 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. In the 1420s, he participated in the ...

and

Bianca Maria Visconti Bianca Maria Visconti (31 March 1425 – 28 October 1468) also known as Bianca Maria Sforza or Blanca Maria was Duchess of Milan from 1450 to 1468 by marriage to Francesco I Sforza. She was regent of Marche during the absence of her spouse in 14 ...

, and her maternal were Louis, Duke of Savoy and

Anne de Lusignan Anne of Cyprus (or Anne de Lusignan) (24 September 1418 – 11 November 1462) was a Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Louis, Duke of Savoy. She was the daughter of King Janus of Cyprus and Charlotte of Bourbon; and a member of the ...

of Cyprus, for whom she was named. She had two older brothers:

Gian Galeazzo Sforza 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 ...

and Hermes Maria Sforza, Marquis of Tortona, and a sister,

Bianca Maria Sforza Bianca Maria Sforza (5 April 1472 – 31 December 1510) was Queen of Germany and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire as the third spouse of Maximilian I. She was the eldest legitimate daughter of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan by his secon ...

, second wife of

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519. He was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed hi ...

. When Anna was an infant, her father was assassinated inside the Church of Santo Stefano in Milan on 26 December 1476, which was the

Feast Day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of St. Stephen. He was stabbed to death by three high-ranking officials of the Milanese court. In 1477, Anna was formally betrothed to

, the heir of

Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara Ercole I d'Este (English: ''Hercules I''; 26 October 1431 – 25 January 1505) was Duke of Ferrara from 1471 until 1505. He was a member of the House of Este. He was nicknamed ''North Wind'' and ''The Diamond''. Biography Ercole was born in 143 ...

. Her wedding with Prince Alfonso d'Este took place fourteen years later, on 12 January 1491, amidst banquets, receptions, and theatrical representations. However, the marriage was said to be unhappy. Some sources made claims implying that Anna was attracted to women, suggesting that Anna was 'unfeminine' (perhaps even dressing in men's clothes), preferred the company of women, and refused to consummate her marriage with sex; additionally, mention was made of Anna's deep attachment to a Black girl who was part of her entourage. The supposed unhappiness of the marriage, however, may also have been due to Alfonso's well-known reputation for extramarital affairs. Only after six years of marriage, Anna became pregnant, but died in childbirth; while some sources reported that her child, a son, died immediately after being baptized; others, said that he survived and was named Alessandro, dying in 1514 aged 17. She was buried in the monastery of San Vito, of which Anna was a benefactor. Her husband was unable to take part of her funeral because at that time his face was disfigured as a consequence of

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

.Sarah Bradford, Lucrezia Borgia, Milano, Mondadori, 2005. Her death marked the end of the bond between the

Sforza The House of Sforza () was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. Sforza rule began with the family's acquisition of the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti of Milan, Visconti family in the mid-15th century and ...

and

Este Este may refer to: Geography * Este (woreda), a district in Ethiopia * Este, Veneto, a town in Italy * Este (Málaga), a district in Spain * Este (river), a river in Germany * Este (São Pedro), a parish in Portugal * Este (São Mamede), a p ...

families. Alfonso remarried, to

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged ...

, in 1502.

References

External links

A number of portraits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sforza, Anna 1476 births 1497 deaths 15th-century Italian nobility 15th-century Italian women Nobility from Milan

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

House of Este Deaths in childbirth Cross-dressers 15th-century LGBTQ people Medieval Italian LGBTQ people