Bona Sforza (1494 - 1557)

Born 2 Feb 1494 in Vigevano, Lombardia, Italia

Ancestors

Wife of Zygmunt (Jagiello) Polski — married about 18 Feb 1518 in Kraków, Polska

Descendants

Died 19 Nov 1557 at age 63 in Bari, Puglia, Italia

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Bona Sforza was a member of the aristocracy in Europe.

Biography

Bona Sforza was a member of the House of Sforza who in 1518 became the second wife of Sigismund I of Poland.

When her mother Isabella of Naples died in 1524, Bona succeeded to the titles Duchess of Bari and Princess of Rossano. She also became the holder of the Brienne claim to the title of King of Jerusalem.

Bona was born in Vigevano, daughter of Gian Galeazzo Sforza of Milan and Isabella of Naples. She was the niece of Bianca Maria Sforza, who in 1493 married Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. She was named after her grandmother, Bona of Savoy.

Bona married King Sigismund I of Poland. The marriage and coronation took place in Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, on 18 April 1518. As niece of the empress, was a patron of Renaissance culture, which thanks to her, began to further flourish in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. She is also considered to have influenced the Polish and Lithuanian cuisines, having introduced many new dishes to the Commonwealth.

Upon her husband's death, she sided with many in Catholic Poland in opposing her son King Sigismund II Augustus' marriage to the Lithuanian Calvinist, Barbara Radziwi??, and was suspected, without evidence, of having poisoned the new queen, who died shortly after her coronation.

In 1556, she returned to Bari, Italy where she was poisoned by her private secretary Gian Lorenzo Pappacoda. Pappacoda was acting on behalf of King Philip II of Spain, who wished to avoid repaying his sizable debts to the Polish queen. She dided on 19 November 1557.

She was succeeded by her three children. Her only surviving son, Sigismund August Jagellon, became the king of Poland. After her brother's death, Anna the Jagiellonian was elected King of Poland in the second election for the king, and ruled Poland with her elected husband king Stephen Bathory. The title of King of Jerusalem passed to the youngest daughter Catherine Jagellonica, Queen of Sweden, who passed it on to her son, also elected King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland.

Bona and Sigismund I of Poland had six children:

• Isabella (18 January 1519 - 15 September 1559), was a Queen of Hungary, wife of John Zápolya,
• Sigismund Augustus (1 August 1520 - 7 July 1572), was a King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania,
• Sophia (13 July 1522 - 28 May 1575), was a Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg, wife of Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg,
• Anna (18 October 1523 - 9 September 1596), elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, wife of Stefan Batory,
• Catherine (1 November 1526 - 16 September 1583), was a Queen of Sweden and Grand Duchess of Finland, wife of John III of Sweden,
• Olbracht, born and died 20 September 1527.

Sources

1. Bietenholz, Peter G. & Deutscher, Thomas Brian. Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the renaissance and reformation. p. 165.

Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bona_Sforza