Bona Sforza
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Bona Sforza (February 2, 1494 - November 19, 1557) was a member of the Milanese Sforza dynasty, Queen of Poland, Grand Duchess of Lithuania, and in 1518 became the second wife of Sigismund I of Poland.
When her mother 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 niece of Bianca Maria Sforza, who in 1493 had married Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. Bona, niece of the empress, was a patron of Renaissance culture, which began to flourish in Poland. She is also considered a mother of modern Polish cuisine, having introduced Italian vegetables to Polish tables.
Upon her husband's death, she sided with many in Catholic Poland in opposing her son King Sigismund II Augustus's marriage to the Lithuanian Calvinist, Barbara Radziwiłł, and was suspected, without evidence, of having poisoned the new queen, who died shortly after her coronation.
[edit] Family
Her parents were Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, and his cousin Isabella of Aragon (1470-1524), Princess of Naples and Duchess of Bari. Her maternal grandparents were Hippolyte Mary Sforza of Milan and Alfonso II of Naples, and her paternal grandparents Bona of Savoy and Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan. Her great-grandparents were:
- Bianca Maria Visconti of Milan (1425-1468), born Princess of Milan, heiress of the Visconti family
- Francesco Alessandro Sforza (1401-1466), Duke of Milan (These were her great-grandparents twice over.)
- Isabella di Chiaramonte (Isabella of Taranto) (1424-1465), an heiress of Kingdom of Jerusalem
- Anne de Lusignan, Princess of Cyprus, an heiress of Kingdom of Jerusalem
- Louis, 1st Duke of Savoy (1413-1465)
She was named after her grandmother, Bona of Savoy.
[edit] Children
In 1556, she returned to Bari, Italy. There she was poisoned by her private secretary Gian Lorenzo Pappacoda. Pappacoda was acting on behalf of Philip 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 king of Poland.
- After her brother's death Anna the Jagiellonian, in the second election for the king of Poland she was elected 'king' of Poland, and rules as a queen of Poland with her elected husband king Stephen Bathory.
- After her sister's death the title 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.
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