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List of dukes of Milan

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Duke of Milan

Arms of Francesco I Sforza.
Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Or an eagle stand Sable, wearing a crown; 2nd and 3rd, Argent a serpent ripple Azure, wearing a crown, eating a moor Gules.
Creation date5 September 1395
Created byWenceslaus, King of the Romans
First holderGian Galeazzo Visconti
Last holderFrancis II
Extinction date9 June 1815
Seat(s)Sforza Castle

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

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In 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti was titled Duke of Milan by King Wenceslaus,[1] who sold the title under the payment of circa 100,000 florins.[2] Since that moment, all the following rulers of Milan were styled as dukes.

Duke Arms Tenure Marriage(s)
Issue
Succession right(s)
Gian Galeazzo
1351–1402
(aged 50)
5 September 1395

3 September 1402
(1) Isabella of France
(m. 1360; d. 1372)
4 children
(2 survived to adulthood)

(2) Caterina Visconti
(m. 1380; w. 1402)
2 children
2 illegitimate children
Giovanni Maria
1388–1412
(aged 23)
3 September 1402

16 May 1412
Antonia Malatesta of Cesena
(m. 1408; w. 1412)
Childless
Son of Gian Galeazzo Visconti
(primogeniture)
Filippo Maria
1392–1447
(aged 54)
16 May 1412

13 August 1447
(1) Beatrice of Tenda
(m. 1412; ex. 1418)
Childless

(2) Mary of Savoy
(m. 1428; w. 1447)
Childless
1 illegitimate child
Son of Gian Galeazzo Visconti
(blood proximity)

House of Sforza (1st rule)

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After the death of Filippo Maria in 1447, the main line of Visconti went extinct. Benefited by political chaos, a cabal of wealthy citizens, academics and clerics declared the Duchy dissolved and proclaimed the oligarchical Golden Ambrosian Republic.[3] The republic was never recognized and the neighboring states of Venice and Savoy tried to expand their fiefdoms in Lombardy, as well as France. Taking advantage of the state's weakness and the resurgent Guelph-Ghibelline conflict, the commander-in-chief of the Milanese forces, Francesco I Sforza, defected from Milan to Venice in 1448,[4] and two years later, after several side switches and cunning strategies, Sforza entered the city during Annunciation. He was then declared the new Duke of Milan by the City Council,[5] using as a claim his marriage with Bianca Maria Visconti, illegitimate daughter of Filippo Maria.

Duke Arms Tenure Marriage(s)
Issue
Succession right(s)
Francesco I
1401–1466
(aged 64)
25 March 1450

8 March 1466
(1) Polissena Ruffo
(m. 1418; d. 1420)
1 daughter
(died in infancy)

(2) A Jacopo Caldora's daughter
(m. 1424; ann. 142?)
Childless

(3) Bianca Maria Visconti
(m. 1441; w. 1466)
8 children
Giovanna d'Acquapendente
7 illegitimate children
(5 survived to adulthood)
Galeazzo Maria
1444–1476
(aged 32)
8 March 1466

26 December 1476
Bona of Savoy
(m. 1468; w. 1503)
4 children
Lucrezia Landriani
4 illegitimate children

Lucia Marliani
2 illegitimate children
Son of Francesco I Sforza
(primogeniture)
Gian Galeazzo
1469–1494
(aged 25)
26 December 1476

21 October 1494
Isabella of Aragon
(m. 1489; w. 1494)
3 children
Son of Galeazzo Maria
(primogeniture)
Ludovico
1452–1508
(aged 55)
21 October 1494

17 September 1499
Beatrice d'Este
(m. 1491; d. 1499)
2 children
Bernardina de Corradis
2 legitimized children

Cecilia Gallerani
1 legitimized child

Lucrezia Crivelli
2 legitimized children
Son of Francesco I Sforza
(blood proximity)

House of Valois (1st rule)

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In 1494, Ludovico Sforza usurped the throne of Milan, after probably poisoning his nephew Gian Galeazzo. After the threats of the Venetians, Ludovico solicited French king Charles VIII to descend into Italy,[6] starting the First Italian War. After Ludovico's betrayal and alliance with the League of Venice in 1495, the French were defeated in the Battle of Fornovo and were unable to expand in Italy. Charles VIII's top general and cousin, Louis II, Duke of Orléans (future Louis XII), was humiliated and due to his personal hate toward Ludovico Sforza,[7] started to claim the Duchy of Milan for himself, quoting his paternal descendance from Valentina Visconti and Gian Galeazzo's last will. After Louis XII's ascension to the French Throne in 1499, he started the Second Italian War to conquer Milan and Naples. With French armies near Pavia, Ludovico and his loyalists left Milan on 17 September 1499 to flee toward Germany.[8] This left Louis XII as the only Duke of Milan, entering the city on 6 October 1499.[9]

Duke Arms Tenure Marriage(s)
Issue
Succession right(s)
Louis XII
(Luigi XII)

1462–1515
(aged 52)
6 October 1499

20 June 1512
(1) Joan of France
(m. 1476; ann. 1498)
Childless

(2) Anne of Brittany
(m. 1499; d. 1514)
2 Daughters

(3) Mary of England
(m. 1514; w. 1515)
Childless

House of Sforza (2nd rule)

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Ludovico Sforza was captured on February 1500,[10] dying in prison in 1508. His son Massimiliano became the Sforza claimant to the Milanese Throne, which he finally re-gained in January 1513, six months after the Swiss army's entrance in Milan.

Duke Arms Tenure Marriage(s)
Issue
Succession right(s)
Massimiliano
1493–1530
(aged 37)
16 June 1512

5 October 1515
Does not appear Never married Son of Ludovico Sforza
(primogeniture)

House of Valois (2nd rule)

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After their defeat in the Battle of Marignano in 1515, the Swiss retired from Milan and Massimiliano was imprisoned by the returning French troops. He waived his rights to Milan for the sum of 30,000 ducats and continued to live in France.[11]

Duke Arms Tenure Marriage(s)
Issue
Succession right(s)
Francis I
(Francesco I)

1494–1547
(aged 52)
11 October 1515

20 November 1521
(1) Claude of France
(m. 1514; d. 1524)
7 children

(2) Eleanor of Austria
(m. 1530; w. 1547)
Childless

House of Sforza (3rd rule)

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By November 1521, the French situation had deteriorated considerably. Emperor Charles V, Henry VIII of England, and Pope Leo X signed an alliance against Francis on 28 November.[12] Odet de Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, the French governor of Milan, was tasked with resisting the Imperial and Papal forces; he was outmatched by Prospero Colonna, however, and by late November had been forced out of Milan and had retreated to a ring of towns around the Adda River.[13] For the third time and last time, the Sforza were restored to power.

Duke Arms Tenure Marriage(s)
Issue
Succession right(s)
Francesco II
1495–1535
(aged 40)
4 April 1522

24 October 1535
Christina of Denmark
(m. 1534; w. 1535)
Childless
Son of Ludovico Sforza
(blood proximity)

In 1535, after the death of the heirless Francesco II Sforza, Emperor Charles V annexed the Duchy as a vacant imperial state in order to avoid other claims by the French or the collateral branches of Sforza.

In 1540, the Duchy was secretly given as a gift to Charles V's son Philip, Prince of Asturias. This was made official at the abdication of Charles V in 1555. In 1556, Philip became Philip II of Spain and Milan entered in personal union with the Spanish Crown.

Duke Arms Tenure Marriage(s)
Issue
Succession right(s)
Philip I
(Filippo I)

1527–1598
(aged 71)
11 October 1540

13 September 1598
(1) Maria Manuela of Portugal
(m. 1543; d. 1545)
1 child

(2) Queen Mary I of England
(m. 1554; d. 1558)
Childless

(3) Elisabeth of Valois
(m. 1559; d. 1568)
2 children

(4) Anna of Austria
(m. 1570; d. 1580)
5 children
(1 survived to adulthood)
Title given by Emperor Charles V
Philip II
(Filippo II)

1578–1621
(aged 42)
13 September 1598

31 March 1621
Margaret of Austria
(m. 1599; d. 1611)
8 children
(5 survived to adulthood)
Son of Philip I
(blood proximity)
Philip III
(Filippo III)

1605–1665
(aged 60)
31 March 1621

17 September 1665
(1) Elisabeth of France
(m. 1615; d. 1644)
8 children
(2 survived to adulthood)

(2) Mariana of Austria
(m. 1649; w. 1665)
5 children
(2 survived to adulthood)
María Calderón
1 legitimized child
Son of Philip II
(primogeniture)
Charles I
(Carlo I)

1661–1700
(aged 38)
17 September 1665

1 November 1700
(1) Marie Louise d’Orléans
(m. 1679; d. 1689)
Childless

(2) Maria Anna of Neuburg
(m. 1690; w. 1700)
Childless
Son of Philip III
(blood proximity)

In September 1700, Charles became ill; by 28 September he was no longer able to eat and Portocarrero persuaded him to alter his Will in favour of Louis XIV's grandson, Philip of Anjou.[14] When Charles died on 1 November 1700, the throne was offered to Philip, who was proclaimed King of Spain on 16 November 1700. This was accepted by Britain and the Dutch Republic, among others. Disputes over division of territories and commercial rights led to the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701.[15]

Duke Arms Tenure Marriage(s)
Issue
Succession right(s)
Philip IV
(Filippo IV)

1683–1746
(aged 62)
1 November 1700

7 March 1714
(1) Maria Luisa of Savoy
(m. 1701; d. 1714)
4 children
(2 survived to adulthood)

(2) Elisabeth Farnese
(m. 1714; w. 1746)
6 children

After the Treaty of Rastatt of 1714, Emperor Charles VI officially gained the Duchy of Milan, a possession considered vital to the security of Austria's southern border.[16] Since that moment, Milan was a permanent possession of the Austrian branch of the Habsburg dynasty.

Duke Arms Tenure Marriage(s)
Issue
Succession right(s)
Charles II
(Carlo II)

1685–1740
(aged 55)
7 March 1714

20 October 1740
Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick
(m. 1708; w. 1740)
4 children
(3 survived to adulthood)
Maria Theresa
(Maria Teresa)

1717–1780
(aged 63)
20 October 1740

29 November 1780
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor
(m. 1736; d. 1765)
15 children
(10 survived to adulthood)
Joseph I
(Giuseppe I)

1741–1790
(aged 48)
29 November 1780

20 February 1790
(1) Isabella of Parma
(m. 1760; d. 1763)
2 children
(Not survived to adulthood)

(2) Maria Josepha of Bavaria
(m. 1765; d. 1767)
Childless
Leopold I
(Leopoldo I)

1747–1792
(aged 44)
20 February 1790

1 March 1792
Maria Luisa of Spain
(m. 1765; w. 1792)
16 children
(14 survived to adulthood)
Francis II
(Francesco II)

1768–1835
(aged 67)
1 March 1792

15 May 1796
(1) Elisabeth of Württemberg
(m. 1788; d. 1790)
1 child
(Not survived to adulthood)

(2) Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily
(m. 1790; d. 1807)
11 children
(7 survived to adulthood)

(3) Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este
(m. 1808; d. 1816)
Childless

(4) Caroline Augusta of Bavaria
(m. 1816; w. 1835)
Childless
Does not appear Interregnum (1796–1814):
Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
11 April 1814

7 April 1815
Since the Congress of Vienna See Kings of Lombardy-Venetia

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bartoš, František M. (1937). Treccani (ed.). Venceslao IV re di Boemia e di Germania (in Italian). {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Symonds, John A. (1888). Henry Holt and Co. (ed.). Renaissance in Italy: the Age of the Despots (in Italian).
  3. ^ Lucas, Henry S. (1960). Harper Bros (ed.). The Renaissance and the Reformation. p. 268.
  4. ^ Ady & Armstrong 1907, p. 47
  5. ^ Ady & Armstrong 1907, p. 60
  6. ^ Baumgartner 1996, p. 40
  7. ^ Baumgartner 1996, p. 105
  8. ^ Baumgartner 1996, p. 114
  9. ^ Baumgartner 1996, p. 117
  10. ^ Durant, Will (1953). Simon and Schuster (ed.). The Renaissance. The Story of Civilization. Vol. 5. p. 191.
  11. ^ Frieda, Leonie (2012). Weidenfeld & Nicolson (ed.). The Deadly Sisterhood: A Story of Women, Power and Intrigue in the Italian Renaissance. p. 333.
  12. ^ Konstam, Angus (1996). Osprey Publishing (ed.). Pavia 1525: The Climax of the Italian Wars. p. 88.
  13. ^ Blocksman, Wim (2002). Oxford University Press (ed.). Emperor Charles V, 1500–1558. p. 52.
  14. ^ Hargreaves- Mawdsley, HN (1979). Eighteenth-Century Spain 1700-1788: A Political, Diplomatic and Institutional History. Macmillan. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0333146123.
  15. ^ Falkner, James (2015). The War of the Spanish Succession 1701-1714 (Kindle ed.). 96: Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781473872905.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  16. ^ Ward, William, Leathes, Stanley (1912). The Cambridge Modern History (2010 ed.). Nabu. p. 384. ISBN 1174382058.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Bibliography

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