Giacomo Feo (c. 1471 – 27 August 1495), was the second husband of

Caterina Sforza Caterina Sforza (1463 – 28 May 1509) was an Italian noblewoman, the Countess of Forlì and Lady of Imola, firstly with her husband Girolamo Riario, and after his death as a regent of her son Ottaviano. Caterina was a noblewoman who lived a li ...

, Countess of

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via E ...

. He was born and died in Forlì.

Biography

Giacomo Feo is the brother of Tommaso Feo, the castellan who had remained faithful to Caterina Sforza after the assassination of her husband. Following the assassination in 1488 of Caterina Sforza's first husband, Count Girolamo Riario, lord of

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...

and

, she appointed Giacomo Feo, a handsome stable groom in her household, to be the

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

of the fortress Ravaldino in Forlì. Feo and Sforza became lovers and they married in secret so she could avoid the possibility of losing custody of her children and the regency. The chronicles and diplomatic dispatches of the period reported that Sforza was very enamored with Feo, and it was feared that she would give political precedence and power to him, passing over her eldest son and Riario's heir,

Ottaviano Ottaviano ( nap, Uttajano) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about east of Naples and is located in the Vesuvian Area. Ottaviano was in Roman times a hamlet of houses within ...

. These fears led to two failed conspiracies to assassinate Feo and Sforza. The third conspiracy, organized by Giovanni Antonio Ghetti, finally succeeded in killing Feo on 27 August 1495 when he and Sforza and their entourage were returning to Forlì from a hunting trip. Sforza and her daughter, Bianca, led the group in a carriage, while Feo, along with Sforza's sons, Ottaviano and Cesare, followed on horseback. As they approached the Schiavonia gate into Forlì, Feo was cut off from the others by the conspirators, stabbed and beaten to death. Sforza escaped to the safety of Ravaldino. Giovanni Antonio Ghetti thought he would be regarded as a liberator of the city, but Caterina Sforza responded swiftly to avenge Feo's murder. Thirty-eight people were executed for the crime - including Ghetti and his wife and children - and many others imprisoned or exiled. Giacomo Feo was laid to rest in the Church of San Girolamo in Forlì. Cappella Feo - San Giacomo Maggiore e il miracolo degli uccelli selvatici

Cappella Feo - San Giacomo Maggiore e il miracolo degli uccelli selvatici

His portrait was prominently featured in a fresco painted by

Marco Palmezzano Marco Palmezzano (1460–1539) was an Italian painter and architect, belonging to the Forlì painting school, who painted in a style recalling earlier Northern Renaissance models. He was mostly active near Forlì. Biography Palmezzano was b ...

, ''The Miracle of Saint James the Elder'', in the Feo Chapel, the Church of San Biagio, Forlì. The fresco was destroyed during the Second World War.

Children

Giacomo Feo and Caterina Sforza had one child, Bernardino (April 1489 – 1509), later called Carlo, in honor of Charles VIII.

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Feo, Giacomo 1495 deaths People from Forlì 15th-century Italian people Year of birth uncertain

Biography

Children

References

Further reading

External links