Galeazzo Maria Sforza

Galeazzo Maria Sforza (24 January 1444 – 26 December 1476) was the fifth Duke of Milan from 1466 until 1476. He was notorious for being lustful, cruel, and tyrannical. He was born to Francesco Sforza, a popular condottiero and ally of Cosimo de' Medici who would gain the Duchy of Milan in 1450, and Bianca Maria Visconti. He married into the Gonzaga family; on the death of his first wife Dorotea Gonzaga, he married Bona of Savoy. Cruel and vengeful, he was "a man who did great follies and dishonest things not to write." Life Galeazzo Maria Sforza was born in Fermo, near the family's castle of Girifalco. He was the first son of Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti. At the death of his father on 8 March 1466, Sforza was in France heading a military expedition to help King Louis XI against Charles I of Burgundy. Called back home by his mother, Sforza returned to Italy under a false name. The false identity was necessary as he had to pass by the territories of the family's enemy, the Duke of Savoy, who made an unsuccessful attempt on Sforza's life. He entered Milan on 20 March 1466, and was acclaimed by the populace.