Francesco Maria Sforza (30 January 1491 – 1512), nicknamed ''il Duchetto'' ("The Little Duke"), was the only son of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, the sixth Duke of Milan, and his wife,

Isabella of Naples Isabella of Aragon (2 October 1470 – 11 February 1524), also known as Isabella of Naples, was by marriage Duchess of Milan and ''suo jure'' Duchess of Bari. A member of the Neapolitan branch of the House of Trastamara, her life was charact ...

. After the untimely death in 1494 of Francesco's father at the age of 25, his father's uncle, Ludovico Sforza, took over as Duke of Milan. Francesco was Count of

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...

from 1491 to 1499. In the latter year, as French troops conquered

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 ...

during the

Italian War of 1499–1504 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, he was carried to France by King

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the tim ...

. Francesco died falling from a horse at Angoulême in 1512.

See also