| Bona Sforza | |
|---|---|
 Cameo with bust of Bona Sforza, c. 1540 | |
| Queen consort of Poland Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania | |
| Tenure | 18 April 1518 – 1 April 1548 |
| Coronation | 18 April 1518 Kraków, Poland |
| Duchess regnant ofBari | |
| Tenure | 11 February 1524 – 1557 |
| Predecessor | Isabella |
| Successor | None(annexed byNaples) |
| Born | 2 February 1494 Vigevano,Duchy of Milan |
| Died | 19 November 1557(1557-11-19) (aged 63) Bari,Kingdom of Naples |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue Detail | |
| House | Sforza |
| Father | Gian Galeazzo Sforza |
| Mother | Isabella of Aragon |
Bona Sforza (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) wasQueen ofPoland andGrand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife ofSigismund the Old, and Duchess ofBari andRossano by her own right. She was a surviving member of the powerfulHouse of Sforza, which had ruled theDuchy of Milan since 1450.
Smart, energetic and ambitious, Bona became heavily involved in the political and cultural life of thePolish–Lithuanian union. To increase staterevenue during theChicken War, she implemented various economic and agricultural reforms, including the far-reachingWallach Reform in theGrand Duchy of Lithuania. In foreign policy, she allied with theOttoman Empire and sometimes opposed theHabsburgs. Her descendants became beneficiaries of theNeapolitan sums, aloan toPhilip II of Spain that was never completely paid.
Bona was born on 2 February 1494, in Vigevano, Milan, as the third of the four children ofGian Galeazzo Sforza, the legal heir to the Duchy of Milan, andIsabella of Naples,[1] daughter of KingAlfonso II of Naples from theHouse of Trastámara. Her paternal great-uncleLudovico Sforza, known to history as "Il Moro", usurped her father's power and sent the small family to live at theCastello Visconteo inPavia, where her father died the same year she was born. Rumors spread that he was poisoned by Ludovico.
Bona's family moved to theSforza Castle in Milan, where they lived under the watchful eye of Ludovico, who was afraid that Milan residents would rebel and install her popular brotherFrancesco. To minimize the risk, Ludovico separated the boy from the family and grantedBari andRossano to her mother. The plans were interrupted by theItalian War of 1499–1504. KingLouis XII of France deposed Ludovico and took Francesco to Paris. With nothing left in Milan, her remaining family departed forNaples in February 1500. However, the war reached theKingdom of Naples and her maternal great-uncle, KingFrederick of Naples, was deposed. Together with other relatives, Bona was temporarily hidden at theAragonese Castle onIschia.
By April 1502, Bona was the only surviving of her siblings. She and her mother settled at theCastello Normanno-Svevo in Bari more permanently, where Bona started an excellent education. Her teachers included Italian humanists Crisostomo Colonna andAntonio de Ferraris, who taught her mathematics, natural science, geography, history, law,Latin, classical literature, theology, and how to play several musical instruments.
When theHouse of Sforza was restored to theDuchy of Milan in 1512, Isabella hoped to wed Bona and DukeMaximilian Sforza, thereby providing further legitimacy to Maximilian's reign. There were other proposals as well: Spanish KingFerdinand II of Aragon proposedGiuliano de' Medici, brother ofPope Leo X. Isabella counter-proposed Ferdinand's 10-years-old grandsonFerdinand of Austria; Pope Leo X proposedPhilippe, Duke of Nemours, who would succeed to theDuchy of Savoy if his brotherCharles III abdicated. The initial and most likely plan to marryMaximilian Sforza failed after he was deposed after the French victory in theBattle of Marignano in 1515. Pope Leo X proposed his nephewLorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, as he hoped to install Lorenzo as Duke of Milan by using Bona's inheritance claims. However, the French hold on Milan was too strong and the plan failed.
After Polish KingSigismund I the Old was widowed in October 1515,Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, did not want Sigismund to marry another Habsburg opponent like his late wife,Barbara Zápolya. Therefore, the Emperor acted quickly and selected three suitable candidates for Sigismund: his granddaughterEleanor of Austria, widowed QueenJoanna of Castile, and Bona Sforza. Although 36-year-old Joanna was eliminated because of her age, and Eleanor's older brother instead selected KingManuel I of Portugal for her husband, Polish nobles suggestedAnna Radziwiłł, the widow ofKonrad III of Masovia. Isabella sent Bona's old teacher, Crisostomo Colonna, and diplomatSigismund von Herberstein toVilnius to convince Sigismund to select Bona. They succeeded and the marriage treaty was signed in September 1517 inVienna.[1] Bona'sdowry was very large: 100,000 ducats, personal items worth 50,000 ducats and theDuchy of Bari. In exchange, Sigismund granted his future wife the towns ofNowy Korczyn,Wiślica,Żarnów,Radomsko,Jedlnia,Kozienice,Chęciny, andInowrocław.
Jan Konarski,Archbishop of Kraków, travelled toBari to bring Bona to Poland. The weddingper procura took place on 6 December 1517 in Naples. Bona wore a dress of light blue Venetian satin that reportedly cost 7,000ducats. The journey to Poland took more than three months. Bona and Sigismund met for the first time on 15 April 1518 just outsideKraków.
The wedding and coronation took place on 18 April 1518, but celebrations continued for a week. Almost from the beginning of her life in Poland, the energetic queen tried to gain a strong political position and began forming a circle of supporters. On 23 January 1519,Pope Leo X, whom Bona had friendly relationship with from her Italian days, granted her the privilege of awarding eightbenefices in five Polish cathedrals (Kraków,Gniezno,Poznań,Włocławek, andFrombork).
In May 1519, the privilege was expanded to fifteen benefices. This was a very important privilege that allowed her to secure support of various officials. Three of her most trusted supporters,Piotr Kmita Sobieński,Andrzej Krzycki, andPiotr Gamrat, were sometimes known as the Triumvirate. She became openly involved in various state affairs, which did not agree with the traditional ideal of a royal wife to use discreet manipulation in government. Although the royal couple disagreed on many domestic and foreign issues, the marriage was a supportive and successful partnership.
Believing that one of the most important things needed for strengthening royal authority was appropriaterevenue, Bona sought to assemble as much dynastic wealth as possible, which would give her husband's financial independence to defend the kingdom from external threats without the Parliament's slow support. The royal family gained numerous estates inLithuania and finally took over the Grand Duchy by 1536–1546. She helped to reform agriculturetaxation, includinguniform duties on the peasants and area measurements. Those actions generated hugeprofits.[2]
Wanting to ensure the continuity of the Jagiellonian dynasty on the Polish throne, the royal couple decided to make the nobles and magnates to recognise their only son, the minor Sigismund Augustus, as heir to the throne. First, the Lithuanian nobles gave him the ducal throne (ca. 1527–1528). In 1529, he was then crownedSigismund II Augustus. This led to huge opposition from Polish lords, which led to the adoption of the bill that the next coronation would take place after the death of Sigismund Augustus and only with the consent of all the noble brothers.
In 1539, Bona reluctantly presided over the burning of the 80-year-oldKatarzyna Weiglowa for heresy, but that event ushered in an era of tolerance. The Queen's confessor,Francesco Lismanini, assisted in the establishment of a Calvinist Academy inPińczów.
Bona was instrumental in establishing alliances for Poland, but she was rumored to be a notorious conspirator because of her gender and Italian heritage. In addition of her good relationships with the Vatican, she sought to maintain good relations with theOttoman Empire and had contacts withHürrem Sultan, chief consort ofSuleiman the Magnificent. It is believed that the good relationship between the Queens saved Poland from the attack of the Ottoman Army during theItalian Wars.
Worried about the growing ties between the Habsburgs and Russia by 1524, Sigismund signed a Franco-Polish alliance with KingFrancis I of France to avoid a possibletwo-front war. Bona was instrumental in establishing an alliance between Poland and France with the objective of recovering Milan. The negotiations came to an end, and the alliance was disbanded after Francis' troops were defeated byCharles V at theBattle of Pavia in 1525.
Despite their blood relation, Bona sometimes was a fierce opponent of the Habsburgs. She advocated attachingSilesia to the Polish crown in return for her hereditary principalities of Bari and Rossano, but Sigismund the Old did not fully support this idea. Wanting to secure her eldest daughter in the Kingdom of Hungary, Bona successfully supported her son-in-lawJohn Zápolya as successor against Ferdinand of Habsburg afterLouis II of Hungary was killed atMohács in 1526.
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Alongside her husband's profound interest in the revival of classical antiquity, Bona was instrumental in developing thePolish Renaissance. She brought renowned Italian artists, architects and sculptors from her native country. Her most known artistic involvement were the expansion of thePalace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania inVilnius[2] and the construction ofUjazdów Castle, which included a large park and a menagerie. The plans were prepared byBartolomeo Berrecci da Pontassieve, who designed several other projects in Poland.
On the 1 April 1548, Sigismund I the Old died and was succeeded by Sigismund Augustus. The mother and the son had entered into a conflict over his marriage toBarbara Radziwiłł, a former mistress who was vehemently opposed by the nobility, but she eventually accepted her son's decision. Still, their relationship turned difficult, and after her husband's death, Bona moved with her unmarried daughters toMasovia and stayed there for eight years before moving back to Bari.
In February 1556, Bona left Poland for her native Italy with treasures that she had accumulated over 38 years. In May, she reached Bari and took possession of her mother's duchy. She was soon visited by envoys of KingPhilip II of Spain, who attempted to convince her to give up the duchies of Bari and Rossano in favour of Habsburg Spain. However,Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, theviceroy of Naples, feared a French attack and raised money for troops. Perhaps having ambitions of becoming a viceroy of Naples herself, Bona agreed to lend the Duke of Alba a huge sum of 430,000 ducats at 10% annual interest. The loan was guaranteed by custom duties collected in Foggia and the agreements were signed on both 23 September and 5 December 1556.
However, the Habsburgs were determined to obtain Bari and did not intend to repay the loan. On 8 November, Bona became ill with stomach ache. On 17 November, as she was losing consciousness, her trusted courtier Gian Lorenzo Pappacoda brought to her the notary Marco Vincenzo de Baldis, who wrote her last will. It left Bari, Rossano, Ostuni and Grottaglie to Philip II of Spain and large sums to Pappacoda's family. Her daughters would receive a one-off payment of 50,000 ducats exceptIsabella Jagiellon, who was to receive 10,000 ducats annually. Her only son, King Sigismund II Augustus, was named as the main beneficiary, but in the end, he would inherit only cash, jewelry, and other personal property. The next day, however, Bona felt better and dictated a new last will to Scipio Catapani that left Bari and other property to Sigismund Augustus.
Bona died in the early morning of 19 November 1557, at the age of 63. It is suspected she was poisoned by trusted household members.[3] She was buried in theBasilica di San Nicola in Bari, where her daughter,Anna, had a tomb erected for her in Renaissance style.[4]
Bona was considered from her youth a very ugly woman, so much so that the proposal (advanced by Naples) of a marriage between her and the fourteen-year-oldFederico Gonzaga was not even taken into consideration by his motherIsabella d'Este, nor by the archdeacon Alessandro di Gabbioneta, who considered it a sin to sacrifice the flourishing beauty of the young Federico to a "mature and ugly" woman like Bona. The latter, for her part, tried to make her face more graceful through jewelry and fabrics, but with little success, since "little or nothing has graced her."[5][6]
During her youth in Bari, Bona Sforza took the young Ettore Pignatelli as her lover. He was the eldest son of Alessandro Pignatelli, who, in turn, was the lover of her motherIsabella d'Aragona, Duchess of Milan. However, Ettore died under mysterious circumstances. It is believed that he was poisoned by Bona after he refused to follow her to Poland, where she intended to marry Sigismund.[7] Widowed by her husband in 1548, Bona became involved in a romantic affair with Giovanni Lorenzo Pappacoda.[7]
Although she did not travel with her husband and spent three years alone in theWawel castle, Bona was pregnant six times during the first nine years of her marriage. Her children included:
Bona Sforza Born: 2 February 1494 Died: 19 November 1557 | ||
| Royal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Queen consort of Poland Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania 1518–1548 withElisabeth of Austria (1543–1545) | Succeeded by |
| Italian nobility | ||
| Preceded by | Duchess ofBari Princess ofRossano 1524–1557 | Annexed byNaples |
