Guido de' Rossi (c. 1440 - 1490) was an Italian

condottiero Condottieri (; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of mercenary companies, derived from the ...

Life

He was almost certainly born in the castle at San Secondo, the residence of his father

Pier Maria II de' Rossi file:BERCETO_-_Ruderi_del_castello_04.JPG, 250px, Remains of the Castle of Berceto Pier Maria Rossi or Pier Maria II de' Rossi (25 March 1413 – 1 September 1482) was an Italian condottiere and count of a region around present San Secondo Parmense ...

. His mother was Pier Maria II's wife Antonia Torelli. Little is known of his youth: he served in the

duke of Milan Milan was ruled by dukes from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. List of dukes of Milan House of Visconti In 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti was titled Duke ...

's army and in 1478 was made governor of Pontremoli and Lunigiana. He is known to have been a condottiero and man-at-arms in 1479. Pompeo (1781-1851) Litta
''Famiglie celebri di Italia. Rossi di Parma''
/ P. Litta In his will in 1464 Pier Maria II made Guido, his brother

Bertrando Bertrando (February 18, 1989 – March 27, 2014) was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. A tall colt that grew to 16 hands 2 inches, Bertrando was bred by Ed Nahem at River Edge Farm in Buellton, California. He was sired by Skywal ...

and one of his illegitimate sons his heirs. This disinherited Pier Maria II's eldest son

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 ...

Guido came to his father's aid during the Rossi War against

Ludovico il Moro Ludovico Maria Sforza (; 27 July 1452 – 27 May 1508), also known as Ludovico il Moro (; 'the Moor'), and called the "arbiter of Italy" by historian Francesco Guicciardini,

and was thus declared a rebel by the duchy of Milan. He successfully held the Rocca dei Rossi in San Secondo against a

Sforza The House of Sforza () was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. Sforza rule began with the family's acquisition of the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti of Milan, Visconti family in the mid-15th century and ...

siege under Antonio del Vasto (son of the marquess of Saluzzo), who was killed during the siege. Guido put a price on Sforza's head but the situation soon worsened. He was promised Venetian reinforcements but these were tied down in the War of Ferrara and could not reach him. Pier Maria II moved from San Secondo to

Torrechiara Torrechiara Castle () is a 15th-century castle near Langhirano, in the province of Parma, northern Italy. It sits atop a terraced hill south of the city of Parma, in a strategic position overlooking the Parma River in the valley below. The c ...

, dying in the latter location on 1 September 1482. Some castles were betrayed, such as those at Carona, Bosco di Corniglio and Roccaferrara. San Secondo was still under siege - Guido attempted a night sortie on 12 September, but this failed. The war against the Rossi was using up precious resources that were needed for the War of Ferrara and so il Moro could not afford to prolong the siege. Guido's father-in-law Filippo Borromeo pushed him to accept a very unfavourable peace settlement. Guido personally went into the enemy camp, where he was offered an end to the siege and to hostilities as a whole in return for swearing fealty to the Duchy of Milan, disarming and giving up several territories and his castles. He accepted and in the end even gave up several annexations and territories and his castles on the border with Parma as well as handing over his son Filippo Maria as a hostage. The Venetians stoked the brothers' feud, however, and the Sforza family soon found a pretext to renew it in the form of Torelli family's alliance and a Venetian provveditore's reception at the castle at Torrechiara. They declared Guido a public enemy on 18 January 1483 and Sforza Secondo Sforza count of Borgonovo attacked him, forcing him to retreat into Piacentine territory. After skirmishes in the

Nure The Nure (Latin ''Nura'') is a small river in northern Italy (province of Piacenza). It has its source on the northern slopes of Mt. Nero, elevation above sea level, and after a course of about —the second longest of the province—flow ...

valley, Guido moved into the territory of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

, losing the 33 castles remaining to him after the 1482 peace settlement - even the castle at San Secondo surrendered on 21 June that year. Rocca San Secondo gesta rossiane 2

The Peace of Bagnolo ended the War of Ferrara on 7 August 1484 but instead of returning the Rossi family lands to the Rossi the treaty handed them directly to il Moro to distribute among his favourites. Guido thus moved to Venice, where he was given an annual allowance as a condottiero and a company of 200 men-at-arms and 300 mounted archers. He led this force in the war between Venice and the

county of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an Imperial State, estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with th ...

, provoked by

Sigismund of Austria Sigismund (26 October 1427 – 4 March 1496), a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria from 1439 (elevated to Archduke in 1477) until his death. As a scion of the Habsburg Leopoldian line, he ruled over Further Austria and the ...

over tax issues. At the decisive battle of Calliano on 1 August 1487, when the Venetian commander-in-chief Roberto Sanseverino was killed and surrender seemed inevitable, Guido took over command and made a surprise attack on the German troops with 300 mounted archers, including his son Filippo Maria. This forced the Tyroleans to retreat to

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

with heavy losses. In his "Historia vinitiana"

Pietro Bembo Pietro Bembo, (; 20 May 1470 – 18 January 1547) was a Venetian scholar, poet, and literary theory, literary theorist who also was a member of the Knights Hospitaller and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. As an intellectual of the Italian Re ...

wrote: Guido died in Venice in 1490 and was buried there at Santa Maria della Carità.

Marriage and issue

He married Ambrosina Borromeo, with whom he had six children: *

Bernardo de' Rossi Bernardo de' Rossi (26 August 1468 – 28 June 1527) was an Italian bishop and patron of the arts. Biography Rossi was the son of a feudal family of the area of Parma, at a young age he received the archdeaconate of Padua and the Abbey of S ...

, bishop of Treviso * Giovanni Maria * Filippo Maria de' Rossi, his heir * Ettore * Betrando, died young in Venice * Giovanna, married Gianbattista Malaspina, marquess of Spinola

References

External links

* http://www.cortedeirossi.it/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Guido 15th-century condottieri

Guido Guido is a given name. It has been a male first name in Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Argentina, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal and Latin America, as well as other places with migration from those. Regarding origins, there ...

1440s births 1490 deaths