Franzone (died 2 January 1477) was a servant of the Lampugnani family of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and a figure in the assassination of

Galeazzo Maria Sforza Galeazzo Maria Sforza (24 January 1444 – 26 December 1476) was the fifth Duke of Milan from 1466 until his assassination a decade later. He was notorious for being lustful, cruel, and tyrannical. He was born to Francesco Sforza, a popula ...

, the

Duke of Milan The following is a list of rulers of Milan from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. Before elevation to duchy Until 1259, Milan was a free commune that elect ...

. Franzone was a servant to

Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani (died 26 December 1476) was a member of the Milanese nobility and an assassin of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan. The Lampugnani family was a high-ranking family in Renaissance Milan, and Giovanni served in sever ...

, the head conspirator in a plot to assassinate the Milanese Duke. Little is known about his life up to the assassination, in which Franzone was on hand in the Church of

Santo Stefano Santo Stefano is the Italian name of Saint Stephen. Santo Stefano may also refer to: Places Islands *Santo Stefano (island), an island in Sardinia, Italy *Santo Stefano Island, an island in the Pontine Islands, Italy Cities, towns and villages i ...

, along with the three assassins and about thirty other supporters. When the Duke's procession arrived at Mass, Lampugnani and the two other assassins (

Gerolamo Olgiati Gerolamo Olgiati (1453 – 2 January 1477) was a government official in Milan and one of the assassins of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan, along with Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani and Carlo Visconti. Olgiati was the political radical ...

and

Carlo Visconti Carlo Visconti (died 2 January 1477) was an Italian, who was a member of the prominent Visconti family, and a government secretary in Milan's Council of Justice, he was executed for being the assassin of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan. ...

) stepped before the Duke, Lampugnani going down on one knee. After a brief exchange of words, Lampugnani rose suddenly, stabbing the Duke in the groin and chest. Soon he was joined by Franzone, Visconti and Olgiati. As the Duke bled to death in the church, one witness claims that Franzone plunged his hands directly into the flowing blood. In the pandemonium that immediately ensued, Franzone made his escape, as did all the other assassins except Lampugnani, who was killed. Franzone was found the next day, however, given away by his stockings which displayed the Lampugnani colours. Summarily tortured, he gave up the identities of Visconti and Olgiati, and the three were publicly executed on 2 January 1477. The bodies of the three men were torn from groin to neck and affixed to the gates of Milan as a warning to others; the heads were separated and displayed on lances on the city's belltower.

References

*Martines, Lauro. ''April Blood: Florence and the Plot Against the Medici''. Oxford UP: New York, 2003. Franzone Franzone People executed by the Duchy of Milan 15th-century executions Year of birth unknown 15th-century Italian people