Battista Sforza
Battista Sforza (* around 1446 in Pesaro ; † July 6, 1472 ) was the Duchess of Urbino and the second wife of Federico da Montefeltro .
Life
She came from the Sforza family . Her parents were Costanza da Varano (* around 1428 in Camerino; † July 31, 1447 in Pesaro), daughter of Pietro Gentile da Varano, papal vicar of Camerino, and Elisabetta Malatesta, and Alessandro Sforza (* October 29, 1409 in Cotignola ; † April 3, 1473 in Pesaro ), lord of Pesaro and illegitimate son of Muzio Attendolo Sforza from his relationship with Lucia Terziani. She received an excellent education. She had her first Latin lessons at the age of three and was later able to translate ancient Greek texts. After she had given a speech before Pope Pius II , the latter remarked with admiration that none of his cardinals could match her in terms of her eloquence.
On February 10, 1460, she married Federico da Montefeltro , Duke of Urbino, and became his second wife. The marriage resulted in six daughters and one son. Her husband also included her in his political decisions. In the absence of her husband, she administered the duchy. She managed to survive an attack by Sigismondo Malatesta because she was prepared for his approach. This later compared their political intelligence with that of Louis XI. of France . She took care of the poor in the duchy and even initiated the establishment of a Franciscan bank to provide cheap loans to the poor.
She died on July 6, 1472, a few months after the birth of her son Guidobaldo .
Battista Sforza is the grandmother of Vittoria Colonna , a child of their youngest daughter Agnese and Fabrizio Colonnas († 1520).
literature
- Marinella Bonvini Mazzanti: Battista Sforza Montefeltro. Una "principessa" nel rinascimento italiano. Quattroventi, Urbino 1993, ISBN 88-392-0260-9
- Paola Tinagli: Women in Italian Renaissance Art. Gender, Representation, Identity. Manchester 1997 ISBN 0-7190-4053-1 .
- Klaus Schelle: The Sforza. Stuttgart 1980 ISBN 3512005772 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Family tree of the Sforza family (genmarenostrum.com, Italian), accessed May 17, 2013
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sforza, Battista |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Duchess of Urbino |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1446 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pesaro |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 6, 1472 |