- Bona Sforza
Bona Sforza d'Aragona (
February 2 ,1494 -November 19 ,1557 ) was a member of theHouse of Sforza who in 1518 became the second wife ofSigismund I of Poland .When her mother
Isabella of Naples died in 1524, Bona succeeded to the titles Duchess ofBari and Princess ofRossano . She also became the holder of the Brienne claim to the title ofKing of Jerusalem .Biography
Bona was born in
Vigevano , daughter ofGian Galeazzo Sforza ofMilan andIsabella of Naples .She was also the niece ofBianca Maria Sforza , who in 1493 had marriedHoly Roman Emperor Maximilian I. She was named after her grandmother, Bona of Savoy.Bona, niece of the empress, was a patron of
Renaissance culture, which thanks to her, began to further flourish in thePolish-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 LithuanianCalvinist ,Barbara Radziwiłł , and was suspected, without evidence, of having poisoned the new queen, who died shortly after her coronation.In 1556, she returned to
Bari ,Italy . There she was poisoned by her private secretaryGian Lorenzo Pappacoda . Pappacoda was acting on behalf ofPhilip II of Spain , who wished to avoid repaying his sizable debts to the Polish queen.She was succeeded by her three children. Her only surviving son,
Sigismund August Jagellon became the king of Poland. After her brother's deathAnna the Jagiellonian , in the second election for the king of Poland she was elected 'king' of Poland, and ruled as a queen of Poland with her elected husband king Stephen Bathory. The title ofKing of Jerusalem passed to the youngest daughterCatherine Jagellonica , Queen ofSweden who passed it on to her son, also elected KingSigismund III Vasa of Poland.Children
Bona and
Sigismund I of Poland had sixchild ren:
* Isabella (18 January 1519 -15 September 1559 ), was a Queen of Hungary, wife ofJohn Zápolya ,
* Sigismund Augustus (1 August 1520 -7 July 1572 ), was aKing of Poland andGrand Duke of Lithuania ,
* Sophia (13 July 1522 -28 May 1575 ), was a Duchess ofBrunswick-Lüneburg , wife ofHenry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg ,
* Anna (18 October 1523 -9 September 1596 ), electedKing of Poland andGrand Duke of Lithuania , wife ofStefan Batory ,
* Catherine (1 November 1526 -16 September 1583 ), was a Queen ofSweden andGrand Duchess of Finland , wife ofJohn III of Sweden ,
* Wojciech Olbracht, born and died20 September 1527 .Ancestors
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1= Bona Sforza
2=Gian Galeazzo Sforza
3=Isabella of Naples
4=Galeazzo Maria Sforza
5=Bona of Savoy
6=Alfonso II of Naples
7=Ippolita Maria Sforza
8=Francesco I Sforza
9=Bianca Maria Visconti
10=Ludovico I of Savoy
11=Anne de Lusignan
12=Ferdinand I of Naples
13=Isabella of Taranto
14=Francesco I Sforza
15=Bianca Maria Visconti Gallery
ee also
*
List of Polish rulers
*Polish cuisine
*Wojna kokosza External links
* [http://www.kleio.org/en/history/famtree/sforza/index.html Mona Lisa and her Family]
* [http://www.worldroots.com/cgi-bin/gasteldb?@I15991@ Bona Sforza] at [http://www.worldroots.com/ worldroots.com]###@@@KEY@@@###
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