Guido de' Rossi (c. 1440 - 1490) 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 ...

Life

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

Pier Maria II de' Rossi 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 , whose properties included the castle of Rocca dei Rossi. He was known as "the Magni ...

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

'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 {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Bertrando , image = , caption = , sire = Skywalker , dam = Gentle Hands , damsire = Buffalo Lark , sex = Stallion , foaled = 1989 , country = United States , colour = Dark Bay , breeder = Ed Nahem , ...

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 and was thus declared a rebel by the duchy of Milan. He successfully held the

Rocca dei Rossi Rocca dei Rossi is a castle located at piazza Mazzini #12 in the town of San Secondo Parmense, province of Parma, in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna. A different ''Rocca dei Rossi'', also known as ''Castello di Roccabianca'', is located in the t ...

in San Secondo against a

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 mem ...

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 The War of Ferrara (also known as the Salt War, Italian: ''Guerra del Sale'') was fought in 1482–1484 between Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, and the Papal forces mustered by Ercole's personal nemesis, Pope Sixtus IV and his Venetian allies. ...

and could not reach him. Pier Maria II moved from San Secondo to Torrechiara, 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 ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

, 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 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 the secularised pr ...

, provoked by Sigismund of Austria over tax issues. At the decisive

battle of Calliano The Battle of Calliano on 6 and 7 November 1796 saw an Austrian corps commanded by Paul Davidovich rout a French division directed by Claude Belgrand de Vaubois. The engagement was part of the third Austrian attempt to relieve the French sie ...

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 and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

with heavy losses. In his "Historia vinitiana"

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

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, 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 1440 births 1490 deaths