Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania from 1518 to 1548
Bona Sforza
Cameo with bust of Bona Sforza, c. 1540
Queen consort of Poland Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania
Tenure
18 April 1518 – 1 April 1548
Coronation
18 April 1518 Kraków, Poland
Duchess regnant of Bari
Tenure
11 February 1524 – 1557
Predecessor
Isabella
Successor
None (annexed by Naples)
Born
2 February 1494 Vigevano, Duchy of Milan
Died
19 November 1557(1557-11-19) (aged 63) Bari, Kingdom of Naples
Burial
Basilica di San Nicola
Spouse
Sigismund I of Poland
(m. 1517; died 1548)
Issue Detail
Isabella, Queen of Hungary
Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland
Sophia, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Anna, Queen of Poland
Catherine, Queen of Sweden
House
Sforza
Father
Gian Galeazzo Sforza
Mother
Isabella of Aragon
Bona Sforza d'Aragona (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund the Old, and Duchess of Bari and Rossano by her own right. She was a surviving member of the powerful House of Sforza, which had ruled the Duchy of Milan since 1447.
Smart, energetic and ambitious, Bona became heavily involved in the political and cultural life of the Polish–Lithuanian union. To increase state revenue during the Chicken War, she implemented various economic and agricultural reforms, including the far-reaching Wallach Reform in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In foreign policy, she allied with the Ottoman Empire and sometimes opposed the Habsburgs. Her descendants became beneficiaries of the Neapolitan sums, a loan to Philip II of Spain that was never completely paid.
BonaSforza d'Aragona (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund the Old...
daughter Bona (1494–1557), second wife of King Sigismund I of Poland daughter Ippolita Maria Sforza (1493–1501) illegitimate daughter Caterina Sforza married...
Bona of Savoy, Duchess of Milan (10 August 1449 – 23 November 1503) was Duchess of Milan as the second spouse of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan....
he married Bona of Savoy. Cruel and vengeful, he was "a man who did great follies and dishonest things not to write." Galeazzo Maria Sforza was born in...
Francesco Sforza (1491–1512) Ippolita Maria Sforza (1493–1501) BonaSforza (1494–1557); married Sigismund I of Poland Bianca Maria Sforza (posthumously...
the Jagiellonian dynasty. Sigismund was the only son of Italian-born BonaSforza and Sigismund the Old. From the beginning he was groomed and extensively...
noblewoman Barbara Zápolya from Hungary and then to BonaSforza, the daughter of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan. Their only son and the last Jagiellon...
oldest child of Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland, and his Italian wife BonaSforza. In 1539, she married John Zápolya, Voivode of Transylvania and King...
was the second legitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, and his second wife, Bona of Savoy. Born in Milan, she was the second daughter...
splendor under the Sforzas, first with the dukes Ludovico and Beatrice d'Este, then with the duchesses Isabella of Aragon and BonaSforza. Bari also underwent...
Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan by his second wife, Bona of Savoy. Bianca was born in Pavia as the eldest daughter of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan, by...
Sigismund I the Old of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and his wife, BonaSforza of Milan. Catherine was given a thorough Renaissance education by Italian...
Bona, believing the duchy was in fact in the hands of the ducal councilor Cicco Simonetta. The attempt failed and Ludovico was exiled to Pisa, Sforza...
(1893). Caterina Sforza. pp. 57–59. Maximilian I had married in 1494 to Bianca Maria Sforza, daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza and Bona of Savoy, thus she...
passed as a dowry to her daughter BonaSforza, wife-to-be of Sigismund I of Poland, King of Poland. During BonaSforza's government, Ostuni continued to...
Galeazzo Maria Sforza, as inside the Sforza Castle BonaSforza's seal, bearing similarities to the other Sforza symbols Coat of arms of the Sforza and Caravaggio...
1587. Daughter of Polish King Sigismund I the Old and Italian duchess BonaSforza, Anna received multiple proposals, but remained unmarried until the age...
sums (Polish: Sumy neapolitańskie) refers to a loan made in 1557 by BonaSforza, dowager Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania, to Philip II...
Boryszewski. In 1518 Sigismund I married BonaSforza d'Aragona, a young, strong-minded Italian princess. Bona's sway over the king and the magnates, her...
The Sforza Hours (British Library, London, Add. MS 34294), is a richly illuminated book of hours initiated by BonaSforza, widow of Galeazzo Sforza, Duke...
century was Filippo Buonaccorsi. Many Italian artists came to Poland with BonaSforza of Milan, when she married King Sigismund I in 1518. This was supported...
finance the army.[citation needed] Supported by his Italian consort, BonaSforza, he began buying up land and started several agricultural reforms to...
painters. In 1476, during the regency of Bona of Savoy, the tower bearing her name was built. In 1494 Ludovico Sforza became lord of Milan, and called on numerous...
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