NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

FRANCESCO SFORZA.*

THE appearance of the volumes before us, so shortly after the publication of Mr. Dennistoun's "Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino," might seem to indicate that the history of Italy during the middle ages is an unexhausted field. It may not present the most popular form of literature to which a writer could devote himself; but it will always have attractions for the scholar and man of taste; and as there is still an abundance of unused materials-not to be picked up on the surface, but to be collected by patient and diligent research-we hope that the "Life and Times of Francesco Sforza" will not be the last work of medieval biography to which we shall be called upon to give our

attention.

In connecting the hero of these volumes with the time at which he flourished, Mr. Urquhart has entirely confined himself to its historical and political aspects. "The narration," he observes, "of the life of any eminent public man, the investigation of the circumstances which contributed to his rise, and the exhibiting the individual qualities which enabled him to turn them to account, ist generally supposed to afford a tolerably good exposition of the age in which he lived, and of the people among whom his lot was cast." But to show these relations between the individual and his times, we must not merely inquire how far he influenced the character of the age, but also how far the mind and habits of the age had their influence upon himself; and an examination like this, when referring to a period of transition, is generally surrounded with curious and valuable materials. The biographical history of Italy, from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, is indebted for its enduring interest to its connexion with literature, science, and the arts. Its petty sovereigns would long since have been forgotten if their names had not been associated with those of the scholars and men of genius whom they persecuted or protected. There is also something of romance in the domestic incidents of these periods; and there is a picturesqueness in their manners and customs, to which any work connected with them must owe one of its principal charms. It is true that the harvest has already been gathered; but a diligent reader in the public libraries of Italy may still find rich gleanings lying abundantly before him.

From investing his work with these incidental attractions, Mr.

*Life and Times of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, with a Preliminary Sketch of the History of Italy. By Wm. Pollard Urquhart, Esq. 2 vols. Blackwood, Edinburgh and London, 1852.

+ Sic in orig.

June-VOL. XCV. NO. CCCLXXVIII.

K

Urquhart has carefully abstained: the succession of battles and political changes, in which the Duke Francesco bore a conspicuous part, are related with the calm gravity of history; and if any one wishes to pass quietly through the labyrinth which they present, he cannot have a more careful and intelligent guide than Mr. Urquhart.

About a hundred and fifty pages of his first volume are devoted to an epitome of the general history of Italy, from the subversion of the Roman Empire to the approach of the fifteenth century, when the dynasty of the Sforzas commenced. Francesco was the son of the founder of his house, and was the father of that Duke of Milan whose assassination-powerfully narrated both by Machiavelli and Sismondi-had its motive in circumstances which have all the character of romance, and led to consequences more extensive and important than have ever followed any similar event. Mr. Urquhart informs us that the life of Francesco Sforza, written by his secretary Simoneta, and published in the twenty-first volume of the "Rerum Italicarum Scriptores," has afforded the principal materials for his work; and he occasionally illustrates its incidents by references to the standard historians. There were other authorities to which he might have advantageously referred.

Verri, whose "Storia di Milano" was republished in 1824, would have supplied him with interesting information on the laws, the morals, and the commerce of the Milanese at the time of Francesco's assumption of power, and with some additional facts as to the events which preceded it. On most occasions, his deep knowledge of his country's records gives the historian of Milan the weight and authority of a writer living at the period which he undertakes to describe.

There was also a work by the Abbate Ratti, who published, in 1794, two quarto volumes entirely devoted to the House of Sforza; and, if not very engagingly written, they may be considered an authentic record, as he had access to the archives of the family, and dedicated the result of his labours to his pupil, the Duke Francesco Sforza Cesarini. This descendant of so distinguished a house was then the Gonfalonier of Rome; and at a later period we recollect seeing another descendant of the Sforzas who was a cardinal. He was a person, by-the-by, of expensive tastes, and was the subject of some scandal at the pontifical court, in consequence of having resisted, with dangerous and unclerical weapons, the officers who had come to serve him with a process arising out of his pecuniary embarrassments.

Though the Abbate's volumes could not have furnished the materials for Mr. Urquhart's ample narrative, there is much in them which might have supplied him with collateral illustrations, or have referred him to other sources of information.

In speaking of the origin of the family, its biographer discredits the anecdote so often repeated, as to the augury of the axe thrown into the tree, which is said to have decided its great founder in his vocation to arms; but, notwithstanding the attempt to invest him with hereditary nobility, it is still something more than probable that the military adventurer who, through his immediate descendants, gave a line of dukes to Milan, of sovereign lords to Pesaro, queens to Poland and to Naples,* and * Ippolita Maria Sforza, Duchess of Calabria, died before her husband succeeded to the throne. She was the mother of King Ferdinand II.

an empress to Germany, was originally but a small proprietor of the soil, if not a labouring peasant.

Amongst his many sons, the one who resembled him most in valour and in military skill, was the future Duke of Milan. He was born in the camp; he passed his life in arms; and it would have been happy if he had also met death in battle, rather than in the manner in which it is said to have so suddenly overtaken him. The circumstances attending this unworthy close of his brilliant career are mentioned as admitted facts in the second volume of the work before us. But the story seems to rest on the single authority of an obscure chronicler. Neither of the writers to whom we have before referred makes any allusion to it. Verri, on the contrary, says distinctly, Malgrado la scostumatezza di quei tempi, egli fu sempre alieno dal disordine, nè si lasciò sedurre alla lascivia; and attributes his death to the injudicious use of a remedy he had adopted for removing some of the remaining appearances of the dropsy with which he had been for two years afflicted. A more careful reference to contemporary records might have freed his memory from the stain. The passage relied upon by Mr. Urquhart is from Cristoforo da Saldo ("Istoria Bresciana"), and we would rather refer to it than transcribe it.

As Ratti includes upwards of sixty memoirs in his two dry-looking quartos, his notices are, in some instances, as brief as the articles of a biographical dictionary; but they are accompanied by very copious notes, To the Duke of Milan he devotes about fifteen pages; and the events which Mr. Urquhart, with the amplifications of an agreeable style, spreads over a couple of volumes, are told very nearly as briefly as follows.

To

He was born at S. Miniato, in Tuscany, in 1401, and being deprived of the early superintendence of his father (owing to his frequent absence in the field), he was educated at the court of Ferrara, with the sons of the Marchese Nicolò d'Este. When twelve years old, he was invited to the court of Ladislaus, King of Naples, in whose service the elder Sforza was then engaged. Soon after his arrival at Naples he was made Conte di Tricarico; and the king, pleased with his intelligence and frankness, desired that he should at once devote himself to a military career. this suggestion he willingly acceded. He followed his father through his subsequent battles, and under the most difficult circumstances gave proofs of his activity, courage, presence of mind, and extraordinary talent. On Sforza's death, at the siege of Aquila, Francesco joined his forces to those of the other captains who were in the service of Naples and the Pope; and his great superiority as a general becoming unequivocally manifest, he was next invited to take employment under Filippo Visconti, Duke of Milan, who received him with marked favours, and for whom he did good service against the Venetians, the Florentines, and at Lucca. He also carried his arms into Umbria and the Marches; and having possessed himself of a considerable portion of these territories, the reigning pontiff thought it politic to arrest his further progress by giving him the investiture of them during his life, with the title of Marchese, and the office of Gonfalonier of the Church-in those days a distinguished honour, which had previously been conferred upon his father. Visconti, who was naturally timid, suspicious, and ungrateful, began to be jealous of his able general. He has been charged with having often exposed him to unnecessary danger, and even with having sought his life; but Francesco bore this treatment

most patiently, in consideration of his contemplated union with Bianca Maria, a natural daughter of Visconti, who had been promised to him by her father, and betrothed; though the fulfilment of the promise had, on various pretexts, been deferred. The condottieri of the middle ages, however, had a very easy mode of revenging themselves when offended by their employers, by going over to the enemy. Their service never seems to have implied an allegiance, and it is one of the puzzling aspects of the history of these times, that, upon every fresh mention of the name of a celebrated leader, we have to ask, "Under which king, Bezonian ?” We now find Francesco fighting for a league in which the Venetians, the Florentines, the Genoese, and the Pope, were combined against Visconti ; who, beginning to be tired of the war, made it a condition with the general who was opposed to him, that he should be married to Bianca upon his inducing the allies to make peace. This he appears to have accomplished, and he received Cremona and Ponte Moli as the dowry of his bride. Still Visconti could not overcome his antipathy. He had formerly regarded Francesco as his adopted son, but he now combined with the Pope to deprive him of his territory in the Marches; he instigated King Alfonzo to seize upon his wealth and possessions in Naples; and, had he not been prevented by the Venetians and Florentines, he would have taken from him the places which had been given to him on his marriage with Bianca. Continually entangled in his own snares, Visconti does not seem to have derived much advantage from his treachery. found himself involved in fresh difficulties; his best generals were dead, or had deserted him; he again turned for help to his son-in-law, whom entreaties and an ample stipend induced to re-enter into his service; and he shortly afterwards died, without leaving a male descendant to succeed him in the duchy.

He

In the midst of contending claims for the sovereignty, the Milanese determined to form themselves into a republic; but they were surrounded by enemies, and not agreed amongst themselves; and feeling their weakness, they had recourse to Francesco, whom they placed at their head, with the title of captain-general. As usual, when he had relieved them from their danger, they became jealous of his power. It was now too late to dispute it; and overcoming every difficulty, he made himself Duke of Milan. His accession was, with few exceptions, acknowledged by the other powers of Italy; and Cosmo de' Medici sent a splendid embassy, consisting of his son Pietro, Luca Pitti, and others of the principal Florentine families, to congratulate him. There remained two powerful enemies whom he had still to contend with—the Venetians and the Duke of Savoy. After an expensive war, which continued for four years, he concluded a peace in 1454; and ten years afterwards, the states of Genoa, which had rebelled against France, were added by Duke Francesco, at their own desire, to his dominions of Milan, Parma, Piacenza, and Corsica; but he only survived, for two years more, the establishment of his power, having died suddenly (as we have already mentioned) in 1466, at the age of sixty-five. Upon no larger a foundation than this, Mr. Urquhart's goodly superstructure has been raised.

His second book opens with a very interesting chapter on the causes which led to the employment of the stipendiary troops, by whom the wars of Italy had now for more than a century been conducted.