HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Giovanni Sforza d'Aragona (5 July 1466 – 27 July 1510) was an Italian
condottiero ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europe ...
, lord of
Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...
and
Gradara Gradara is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino ( PU), in the region of Marche in central Italy. It is 6 km from Gabicce Mare and Cattolica, 25 km from Rimini, 15 km from Pesaro and 33 km from Urbino. The an ...
from 1483 until his death. He is best known as the first husband of
Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...
. Their marriage was annulled on claims of his impotence in March 1497.


Life and marriage

The illegitimate son of
Costanzo I Sforza Costanzo I of Sforza (5 July 1447 – 19 July 1483) was an Italian condottiero, lord of Pesaro and Gradara. He was the son of Alessandro Sforza, under whom he fought in his early years and from whom he inherited the lordship of Pesaro. He a ...
, he was a member of the powerful
House of Sforza The House of Sforza () was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. They acquired the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti family in the mid-15th century, Sforza rule ending in Milan with the death of the last me ...
, in the line of Pesaro and
Gradara Gradara is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino ( PU), in the region of Marche in central Italy. It is 6 km from Gabicce Mare and Cattolica, 25 km from Rimini, 15 km from Pesaro and 33 km from Urbino. The an ...
(the Milanese line held the
Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...
at the time). At the death of his father in 1483 he inherited the lordship of Pesaro and Gradara, though he was only seventeen and so the lordship was initially ruled by his father's widow
Camilla d'Aragona Camilla Covella da Marzano or d'Aragona (fl. 1493), was an Italian regent. She served as regent of the Lordship of Gradara during the minority of her stepson Giovanni Sforza from 19 July 1483 to October 1483. Life She was the daughter of Giovanni ...
as regent. In 1489 Giovanni had married Maddalena Gonzaga, daughter of Federico I of
Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...
, but she died the following year. He was thus viewed as a valuable link to Milan by the
Borgia The House of Borgia ( , ; Spanish and an, Borja ; ca-valencia, Borja ) was an Italian-Aragonese Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town ...
family. With the help of Giovanni's cousin, Cardinal
Ascanio Sforza Ascanio Maria Sforza Visconti (3 March 1455 – 28 May 1505) was an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. Generally known as a skilled diplomat who played a major role in the election of Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI, Sforza served a ...
, the family finalized marriage negotiations in February 1492 between Giovanni, then in his mid-twenties, and Lucrezia Borgia, the twelve-year-old illegitimate daughter of
Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...
. A
proxy marriage A proxy wedding or proxy marriage is a wedding in which one or both of the individuals being united are not physically present, usually being represented instead by other persons. If both partners are absent a double proxy wedding occurs. Marriage ...
took place on 12 June that year, as the wedding contract stipulated that Lucrezia would stay in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
and not consummate the marriage for a year. Her dowry was 31,000 ducats. The official marriage was celebrated in the Vatican in 1493, and reputedly was a lavish and decadent affair. He and Lucrezia spent two years in Pesaro, during which his importance to the ambitious Borgia family dwindled. Sforza tried to wield his proximity to the Borgias to Milan's advantage by acting as a spy, and was found out by Alexander VI. Meanwhile, other political advantages (particularly with Naples) were formed, rendering the strategic marriage useless. Lucrezia, used to privileged life in the Papal court, did not adjust to the provincial atmosphere of Pesaro. By Christmas 1495, both Giovanni and Lucrezia were present again in the court at Rome. By then, Sforza was aware that his fortune was precarious. He left Rome to continue with a military campaign, and upon his return in February 1497 quickly fled the city in disguise. The accepted reason for this is that the Pope and his son
Cesare Cesare, the Italian language, Italian version of the given name Caesar (title), Caesar, may refer to: Given name * Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria (1738–1794), an Italian philosopher and politician * Cesare Airaghi (1840–1896), Italian colonel ...
had contrived a plot to murder Giovanni, but Lucrezia was informed by Cesare and warned her husband to leave. This has not been proven but remains a popular explanation.


Annulment and late life

The Pope petitioned for an annulment on Lucrezia's behalf in 1497 (divorce not being permitted in the Catholic Church). Ascanio Sforza was again called in to mediate between his cousin and the Borgias, and tried to persuade Giovanni into accepting the annulment. Giovanni refused to do so on at least two grounds: first, he would have to return Lucrezia's sizable dowry, and second, doing so would require signing a paper stating he was impotent. Some sources state that Giovanni had married and even fathered illegitimate children before his union with Lucrezia, which is reasonable given his age. If those sources are correct, he was not always impotent but may have later become so. Sforza accused Lucrezia of parental and fraternal incest in response. This claim, first made solely against the Pope and later extended to all of Lucrezia's brothers, still continues to shade the family's history. It became a popular example of the depravity later attributed to the family despite its lack of verifiability. The marriage was eventually annulled in 1497 on grounds of non-consummation. The Sforza family had by then threatened to withhold protection to Giovanni if he did not comply with the offer, which allowed him to keep the dowry but still required signing the confirmation of impotence. Sforza agreed to the terms in March or December. Six months later he provided sworn testimony that Lucrezia was a virgin. Lucrezia was by then allegedly pregnant with the Roman Infante, whose parentage was cited by some as proof of incest between her and Cesare. It is certain that Sforza did not parent the child but details beyond that are uncertain. Giovanni was excommunicated in 1500 and the citizens of one of his cities attempted to kill him. He was also attacked by Cesare Borgia, who aimed to gain Sforza's lands, and was forced to abandon Pesaro. He sued in vain for help to all the major powers of the time including France and Holy Roman Empire. Giovanni Sforza could return to Pesaro only after the death of Alexander VI and the illness of Cesare Borgia (1503). The following year the new Pope,
Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the ...
, confirmed him as vicariate in Pesaro. He remarried to Ginevra Tiepolo, who gave him an heir, Costanzo II (Giovanni Maria), who succeeded him in Pesaro and Gradara. Sforza died in Pesaro in 1510 at the age of 44.


Portrayals in media

* In the 1981 BBC mini-series, '' The Borgias'', Giovanni was played by British Actor Mark Buffery. In this adaptation, Giovanni is depicted as very timid and meek. * In the 2011
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
series '' The Borgias'', Giovanni was played by British actor
Ronan Vibert Ronan David Jackson Vibert (23 February 1964 – 22 December 2022) was an English actor who was known for his appearances in films and on British and American television. Early life He was born in Cambridge, on 23 February 1964, the son of Dil ...
. In this series, Giovanni is portrayed as being very brutish and cruel. In fact, he actually rapes Lucrezia on their wedding night and continues to sexually abuse her until she engineers an accident in which he breaks his leg. After his marriage is annulled, he is humiliated, and eventually is killed by Lucrezia's brother Cesare. * In the 2011 French-German series ''
Borgia The House of Borgia ( , ; Spanish and an, Borja ; ca-valencia, Borja ) was an Italian-Aragonese Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town ...
'', Giovanni was played by Austrian actor Manuel Rubey. This series' Giovanni is portrayed in a very similar manner to the Giovanni portrayed in the BBC miniseries, although he is not as meek and was for the most part very friendly towards Lucrezia. He even attempts to defy the Pope's orders against consummating his marriage to Lucrezia, but when he and Lucrezia finally have a chance to sleep together, he has difficulty performing, which leads to Lucrezia wanting an annulment from her father. Giovanni appears again briefly in the second season, where he and Lucrezia's future third husband Alfonso d'Este are shown marrying Ginevra Gonzaga (who is actually a composite character of Giovanni's first wife Maddalena Gonzaga and his third wife Ginevra Tiepolo) and Annamaria Sforza respectively in a double wedding ceremony. Afterwards, he unsuccessfully tries to woo Lucrezia for her love again, but she rebuffs him and orders him to go back to his wife.


References


External links


Page at condottieridiventura.it


Bibliography

* Francesco Ambrogiani. Vita di Giovanni Sforza: (1466–1510). // Società pesarese di studi storici, 2009 – Pesaro (Italy) – 437 pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sforza, Giovanni 1466 births 1510 deaths
Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...
House of Borgia Lords of Pesaro People excommunicated by the Catholic Church People from the Province of Pesaro and Urbino 15th-century condottieri 16th-century condottieri