Portrait of Francesco Sforza, ca 1460, by Bonifazio Bembo: Sforza insisted on being shown in his worn dirty old campaigning hat. (Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan)

Francesco Sforza (1401 - 1466) was the founder of the Sforza dynasty in Milan, Italy. Download high resolution version (670x1057, 120 KB)Francesco Sforza, by Bonifazio Bembo c. ... Download high resolution version (670x1057, 120 KB)Francesco Sforza, by Bonifazio Bembo c. ... Events The Lollards, a religious sect taught by John Wycliffe, were persecuted for their beliefs. ... Events Chimú Empire conquered by troops of the Inca End of term for Regent of Sweden Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna. ... Sforza was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. ... Location within Italy Piazza della Scala Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese dialect: Milán) is the main city in northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed of Italian regions. ... The Italian Republic or Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. ...

The son of Muzio Sforza, Francesco was originally a mercenary leader, most famous for being able to bend metal bars with his bare hands. He later proved himself to be an expert tactician and very skilled field commander. He saved the Visconti rulers of Milan from ruin on a number of occasions. As a reward, the then duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, allowed Francesco to marry his daughter Bianca, but after the duke died without a male heir, fighting broke out. During this time, Franscesco turned against the Visconti, and seized control of Milan and its possessions. Sforza was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. ... Visconti was a noble family that ruled Milan during the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance period. ... Filippo Maria Visconti Filippo Maria Visconti, (1392–1447), who became nominal ruler of Pavia in 1402, succeeded his Father Gian Galeazzo Visconti as Duke of Milan. ...

Under his rule (which was moderate and skillful), Francesco modernized the city of Milan. He created an efficient tax system that generated enormous revenues for the government, his court became a center of Renaissance learning and culture, and the people of Milan loved him. By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance -French Renaissance -German Renaissance -English Renaissance The Renaissance was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ...

During Sforza's reign over Milan, Florence was under the command of Cosimo de' Medici and the two enlightened rulers became close friends. This friendship eventually manifested in the Peace of Lodi, an alliance between Florence and Milan that succeeded in stabilizing almost all of Italy for its duration. Florence (Italian, Firenze) is a city in the center of Tuscany, in central Italy, on the Arno River, with a population of around 400,000, plus a suburban population in excess of 200,000. ... Cosimo di Giovanni de Medici ( April 10, 1389 – August 1, 1464), was the first of the Medici political dynasty, rulers of Florence during most of the Italian Renaissance; also know as Cosimo the Elder and Cosimo Pater Patriae. ... Peace of Lodi - A peace agreement signed at Lodi, Italy between Milan and Venice on April 9, 1454. ... The Italian Republic or Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. ...

Francesco is mentioned several times in Niccolò Machiavelli's book The Prince, he is generally praised in that work for his ability to hold his country and as a warning to a prince not to use mercenary troops. Detail of the portrait of Machiavelli, ca 1500, in the robes of a Florentine public official Niccolò Machiavelli ( May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527) was a Florentine statesman and political philosopher. ... This article is about the book. ... A mercenary is a soldier who fights, or engages in warfare exclusively for money, without any regard for ideological, national or political considerations. ...

Regretably Francesco's successors were not nearly as competent, a number of them being dangerously unbalanced individuals.