Name Anna Sforza | Siblings Gian Galeazzo Sforza | |
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Full name Anna Maria Sforza Tenure 12 January 1491– 30 November 1497 Born 21 July 1476Milan ( 1476-07-21 ) Died November 30, 1497, Ferrara, Italy Spouse Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (m. 1491) Parents Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Bona of Savoy Similar People Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Alfonso I d'Este - Duke of F, Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Bianca Maria Sforza, Bona of Savoy | ||
Anna Maria Sforza (21 July 1476 – 30 November 1497), was Hereditary Princess of Ferrara as the first wife of Alfonso I d'Este, future Duke of Ferrara. She was the second legitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, by his second wife, Bona of Savoy.
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Family and lineage
Born in Milan, she was the second daughter and last legitimate child of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, by his second wife, Bona of Savoy, whom he had married in 1468, a year after the death of his first wife, Dorotea Gonzaga, who did not bear him children. Anna's paternal grandparents were Francesco I Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti, for whom she was named. Her maternal grandparents were Louis, Duke of Savoy and Anne de Lusignan of Cyprus. She had two older brothers: Gian Galeazzo Sforza (who married their first cousin, Isabella of Naples, by whom he had issue) and Hermes Maria Sforza, Marquis of Tortona, and an older sister Bianca Maria Sforza, second wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. Anna's older illegitimate half-sister was Caterina Sforza from her father's relationship with Lucrezia Landriani. Her uncle was Ludovico Sforza Il Moro, Duke of Milan, who married Beatrice d'Este, and her aunt was Ippolita Maria Sforza, first wife of King Alfonso II of Naples.
When Anna was only five months old, her father was assassinated inside the Church of Santo Stefano in Milan on 26 December 1476, which was the Feast Day of St. Stephen. He was stabbed to death by three high-ranking officials of the Milanese court.
Life
In 1477, Anna was formally betrothed to the heir of Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. 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 unhappy: blonde and without femininity, Anna, all her time dressed like a man, refused to consummate her union, preferred the company of women and spent every night with a small black slave.
Only after six years of marriage, Anna finally 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.
Her death marked the end of the bond between the Sforza and Este families. Alfonso remarried, to Lucrezia Borgia, in 1502.