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45-639: 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

90-640: A Hungarian noblewoman and asked for his assistance in locating a suitable candidate. Vladislaus' trusted physician, bribed by the Polish delegation, suggested Barbara Zápolya and Vladislaus agreed. The ruse worked to secure Vladislaus' approval for the marriage. The marriage treaty was signed on 2 December 1511. Barbara, escorted by her family and Polish nobles (Bishop Jan Lubrański , Krzysztof Szydłowiecki , Andrzej Krzycki ), departed to Poland in January 1512. Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , attempted to interrupt

135-548: A circle of supporters. On 23 January 1519, Pope Leo X , whom Bona had friendly relationship with from her Italian days, granted her the privilege of awarding eight benefices in five Polish cathedrals ( Kraków , Gniezno , Poznań , Włocławek , and Frombork ). In May 1519, the privilege was expanded to fifteen benefices. This was a very important privilege that allowed her to secure support of various officials. Three of her most trusted supporters, Piotr Kmita Sobieński , Andrzej Krzycki , and Piotr Gamrat , were sometimes known as

180-485: A dress of light blue Venetian satin that reportedly cost 7,000 ducats . The journey to Poland took more than three months. Bona and Sigismund met for the first time on 15 April 1518 just outside Kraków . The wedding and coronation took place on 18 April 1518, but celebrations continued for a week. Almost from the beginning of her life in Poland, the energetic queen tried to gain a strong political position and began forming

225-425: A one-off payment of 50,000 ducats except Isabella Jagiellon , who was to receive 10,000 ducats annually. Her only son, King Sigismund II Augustus, was named as the main beneficiary, but in the end, he would inherit only cash, jewelry, and other personal property. The next day, however, Bona felt better and dictated a new last will to Scipio Catapani that left Bari and other property to Sigismund Augustus. Bona died in

270-525: A possible two-front war . Bona was instrumental in establishing an alliance between Poland and France with the objective of recovering Milan. The negotiations came to an end, and the alliance was disbanded after Francis' troops were defeated by Charles V at the Battle of Pavia in 1525. Despite their blood relation, Bona sometimes was a fierce opponent of the Habsburgs. She advocated attaching Silesia to

315-508: A romantic affair with Giovanni Lorenzo Pappacoda. Although she did not travel with her husband and spent three years alone in the Wawel castle , Bona was pregnant seven times during the first nine years of her marriage. Her children included: Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian union The Polish–Lithuanian union was a relationship created by a series of acts and alliances between the Crown of

360-526: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Barbara Z%C3%A1polya Barbara Zápolya ( Hungarian : Szapolyai Borbála , Lithuanian : Barbora Zapojajietė , 1495–1515) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the first wife of King-Grand Duke Sigismund I the Old from 1512 to 1515. Marriage to Barbara represented an alliance between Sigismund and the House of Zápolya against

405-504: The Duchy of Savoy if his brother Charles III abdicated. The initial and most likely plan to marry Maximilian Sforza failed after he was deposed after the French victory in the Battle of Marignano in 1515. Pope Leo X proposed his nephew Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino , as he hoped to install Lorenzo as Duke of Milan by using Bona's inheritance claims. However, the French hold on Milan

450-463: The Grand Duchy of Moscow – Sigismund did not feel confident enough to fight two strong enemies and sought an alliance with the Emperor. Their second daughter Anna was born on 1 July 1515. After the childbirth, Barbara became ill. It is unclear if it was childbed fever or some other disease. On 1 October 1515, Barbara suffered what was described as apoplexy , though it is impossible to determine

495-561: The Habsburgs in succession disputes over the throne to the Kingdom of Hungary . The alliance was short-lived as the renewed Muscovite–Lithuanian War forced Sigismund to look for Habsburg allies. The marriage was loving, but short. Barbara was the mother of Hedwig, Electress of Brandenburg , but died soon after the birth of her second daughter Anna. She was the daughter of Stephen Zápolya , Palatine of Hungary and Count of Szepes , and

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540-674: The Habsburgs . Her descendants became beneficiaries of the Neapolitan sums , a loan to Philip II of Spain that was never completely paid. Bona was born on 2 February 1494, in Vigevano, Milan, as the third of the four children of Gian Galeazzo Sforza , the legal heir to the Duchy of Milan, and Isabella of Naples , daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples from the House of Trastámara . Her paternal great-uncle Ludovico Sforza , known to history as "Il Moro", usurped her father's power and sent

585-469: The House of Sforza was restored to the Duchy of Milan in 1512, Isabella hoped to wed Bona and Duke Maximilian Sforza , thereby providing further legitimacy to Maximilian's reign. There were other proposals as well: Spanish King Ferdinand II of Aragon proposed Giuliano de' Medici , brother of Pope Leo X . Isabella counter-proposed Ferdinand's 10-years-old grandson Ferdinand of Austria ; Pope Leo X proposed Philippe, Duke of Nemours , who would succeed to

630-637: The House of Zápolya . Sigismund mediated a dispute between his brother Vladislaus and the Zápolyas, who wanted to secure the throne of Hungary to John Zápolya by securing marriage between John and Vladislaus' first-born Anne of Hungary . Vladislaus refused, favoring the interests of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor . The Hungarian nobles strongly opposed the increasing reach of the Habsburg dynasty and threatened to take up arms. The conflict lost its urgency when Vladislaus' son and heir Louis II of Hungary

675-609: The Wieliczka Salt Mine . Despite the age difference, the marriage was happy. The couple traveled together, even when Barbara was late in her pregnancy. Their first daughter Hedwig was born on 15 March 1513 in Poznań . After two months, Sigismund and Barbara departed towards Vilnius to attend to the renewed war with the Grand Duchy of Moscow . The two-month-old Hedwig was sent to Kraków. The couple separated for

720-660: The 1 April 1548, Sigismund I the Old died and was succeeded by Sigismund Augustus. The mother and the son had entered into a conflict over his marriage to Barbara Radziwiłł , a former mistress who was vehemently opposed by the nobility, but she eventually accepted her son's decision. Still, their relationship turned difficult, and after her husband's death, Bona moved with her unmarried daughters to Masovia and stayed there for eight years before moving back to Bari. In February 1556, Bona left Poland for her native Italy with treasures that she had accumulated over 38 years. In May, she reached Bari and took possession of her mother's duchy. She

765-463: The Crown . Tomicki was promoted to the posts regardless and, after learning of Zápolyas' interference, became an even stronger supporter of the Habsburgs. Marriage to Barbara also did not stop Sigismund from supporting the wedding between Louis II of Hungary and Maria of Austria , granddaughter of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor . Sigismund's shift to pro-Habsburg policies was caused by the war with

810-649: The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that lasted for prolonged periods of time from 1385 and led to the creation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , or the "Republic of the Two Nations", in 1569 and eventually to the creation of a unitary state in 1791. Important historical events included: This Lithuanian history -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Polish history –related article

855-409: The Polish crown in return for her hereditary principalities of Bari and Rossano, but Sigismund the Old did not fully support this idea. Wanting to secure her eldest daughter in the Kingdom of Hungary, Bona successfully supported her son-in-law John Zápolya as successor against Ferdinand of Habsburg after Louis II of Hungary was killed at Mohács in 1526. Alongside her husband's profound interest in

900-575: The Polish princess Hedwig of Cieszyn of the Piast dynasty . Barbara was a younger sister of John Zápolya , the future King of Hungary . The family was well known for their wealth: Stephen had more than 70 castles in Hungary and Slovakia. Her father died in 1499, leaving the family in care of Hedwig's cousin, Casimir II, Duke of Cieszyn . Barbara probably spent her childhood in the Trenčín Castle and

945-610: The Triumvirate. She became openly involved in various state affairs, which did not agree with the traditional ideal of a royal wife to use discreet manipulation in government. Although the royal couple disagreed on many domestic and foreign issues, the marriage was a supportive and successful partnership. Believing that one of the most important things needed for strengthening royal authority was appropriate revenue , Bona sought to assemble as much dynastic wealth as possible, which would give her husband's financial independence to defend

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990-744: The Vatican, she sought to maintain good relations with the Ottoman Empire and had contacts with Hürrem Sultan , chief consort of Suleiman the Magnificent . It is believed that the good relationship between the Queens saved Poland from the attack of the Ottoman Army during the Italian Wars . Worried about the growing ties between the Habsburgs and Russia by 1524, Sigismund signed a Franco-Polish alliance with King Francis I of France to avoid

1035-569: The boy from the family and granted Bari and Rossano to her mother. The plans were interrupted by the Italian War of 1499–1504 . King Louis XII of France deposed Ludovico and took Francesco to Paris. With nothing left in Milan, her remaining family departed for Naples in February 1500. However, the war reached the Kingdom of Naples and her maternal great-uncle, King Frederick of Naples ,

1080-552: The consent of all the noble brothers. In 1539, Bona reluctantly presided over the burning of the 80-year-old Katarzyna Weiglowa for heresy, but that event ushered in an era of tolerance. The Queen's confessor, Francesco Lismanini , assisted in the establishment of a Calvinist Academy in Pińczów . Bona was instrumental in establishing alliances for Poland, but she was rumored to be a notorious conspirator because of her gender and Italian heritage. In addition of her good relationships with

1125-509: The court of Anne of Foix-Candale , Queen of Bohemia and Hungary . Sigismund I the Old was the fifth of six sons of the Polish King and Lithuanian Grand Duke Casimir IV Jagiellon . Not having any inheritance in either Poland or Lithuania, he lived in Buda , at the court of his elder brother King Vladislaus II of Hungary , in 1498–1501 and 1502–1506. At that time he became closer with

1170-594: The early morning of 19 November 1557, at the age of 63. It is suspected she was poisoned by trusted household members. She was buried in the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, where her daughter, Anna , had a tomb erected for her in Renaissance style. Bona was considered from her youth a very ugly woman, so much so that the proposal (advanced by Naples) of a marriage between her and the fourteen-year-old Federico Gonzaga

1215-608: The first time in July–September 1514 when Sigismund organized the army against Moscow. Sigismund returned to his wife in Vilnius after the victory in the Battle of Orsha . In February 1515, the couple returned to Kraków where Barbara was reunited with her daughter after almost two years. Barbara, pregnant with her second child, remained in Kraków while Sigismund traveled to Bratislava and then Vienna from March to August 1515. This

1260-627: The hands of the Habsburgs. It seems the plan was developed around 1510 by Jan Łaski , Grand Chancellor of the Crown , and Krzysztof Szydłowiecki , Marshal of the Court . Before deciding on Barbara, Sigismund also considered Catherine of Mecklenburg , but that plan was interrupted by renewed hostilities between Poland and Bogdan III the One-Eyed , Voivode of Moldavia . In April 1511, Sigismund sent Piotr Tomicki as his envoy to Hungary. Tomicki informed King Vladislaus that his brother sought to wed

1305-592: The kingdom from external threats without the Parliament's slow support. The royal family gained numerous estates in Lithuania and finally took over the Grand Duchy by 1536–1546. She helped to reform agriculture taxation , including uniform duties on the peasants and area measurements . Those actions generated huge profits . Wanting to ensure the continuity of the Jagiellonian dynasty on the Polish throne,

1350-739: The revival of classical antiquity, Bona was instrumental in developing the Polish Renaissance . She brought renowned Italian artists, architects and sculptors from her native country. Her most known artistic involvement were the expansion of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius and the construction of Ujazdów Castle , which included a large park and a menagerie. The plans were prepared by Bartolomeo Berrecci da Pontassieve , who designed several other projects in Poland. On

1395-502: The royal couple decided to make the nobles and magnates to recognise their only son, the minor Sigismund Augustus, as heir to the throne. First, the Lithuanian nobles gave him the ducal throne (ca. 1527–1528). In 1529, he was then crowned Sigismund II Augustus . This led to huge opposition from Polish lords, which led to the adoption of the bill that the next coronation would take place after the death of Sigismund Augustus and only with

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1440-585: The small family to live at the Castello Visconteo in Pavia , where her father died the same year she was born. Rumors spread that he was poisoned by Ludovico. Bona's family moved to the Sforza Castle in Milan, where they lived under the watchful eye of Ludovico, who was afraid that Milan residents would rebel and install her popular brother Francesco . To minimize the risk, Ludovico separated

1485-434: The victory at Orsha to her Catholic piety and devotion, while Justus Ludwik Decjusz did not doubt that Barbara would join ranks of saints in the heaven. Despite her husband's affection and public support, Barbara did not have a strong political influence. For example, her mother and brother urged her to prevent Piotr Tomicki , a known sympathizer with the Habsburgs, from becoming Bishop of Przemyśl and Vice-Chancellor of

1530-401: The wedding with a last-minute proposal for Sigismund to marry one of the daughters of Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua . On 6 February 1512, Sigismund met Barbara in Łobzów, now a district of Kraków . That way 17-year-old Barbara and 45-year-old Sigismund entered Kraków together. The wedding and coronation ceremony took place on 8 February. Her dowry was 100,000 red złoty , which

1575-405: The young Ettore Pignatelli as her lover. He was the eldest son of Alessandro Pignatelli, who, in turn, was the lover of her mother Isabella d'Aragona, Duchess of Milan . However, Ettore died under mysterious circumstances. It is believed that he was poisoned by Bona after he refused to follow her to Poland, where she intended to marry Sigismund. Widowed by her husband in 1548, Bona became involved in

1620-650: Was a very large sum. Sigismund's youngest sister Elisabeth, who married three years later, brought only 20,000 złoty as her dowry. The celebrations, financed by a loan from Jan Boner , cost another 34,365 złoty. This showed not only the riches of the Zápolya family but also the importance of a royal wedding to their family. In exchange for the dowry, Barbara received the towns of Nowy Korczyn , Wiślica , Żarnowiec , Radom , Jedlnia , Kozienice , Chęciny , Stężyca , and others as well as income from custom taxes of several cities and an annual sum of 200 Hungarian florins from

1665-732: Was born in July 1506. In August 1506, Alexander Jagiellon died without leaving an heir. Sigismund was elected as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and faced growing ambitions of the Habsburgs not only in Hungary and Bohemia, but also in the State of the Teutonic Order in Prussia. That forced him to look for anti-Habsburg allies and Zápolyas in Hungary were the strongest. A royal marriage would strengthen Zápolya position in any future succession disputes and would help keep Hungary out of

1710-691: Was deposed. Together with other relatives, Bona was temporarily hidden at the Aragonese Castle on Ischia . By April 1502, Bona was the only surviving of her siblings. She and her mother settled at the Castello Normanno-Svevo in Bari more permanently, where Bona started an excellent education. Her teachers included Italian humanists Crisostomo Colonna and Antonio de Ferraris , who taught her mathematics, natural science, geography, history, law, Latin , classical literature, theology, and how to play several musical instruments. When

1755-554: Was eliminated because of her age, and Eleanor's older brother instead selected King Manuel I of Portugal for her husband, Polish nobles suggested Anna Radziwiłł , the widow of Konrad III of Masovia . Isabella sent Bona's old teacher, Crisostomo Colonna, and diplomat Sigismund von Herberstein to Vilnius to convince Sigismund to select Bona. They succeeded and the marriage treaty was signed in September 1517 in Vienna . Bona's dowry

1800-624: Was guaranteed by custom duties collected in Foggia and the agreements were signed on both 23 September and 5 December 1556. However, the Habsburgs were determined to obtain Bari and did not intend to repay the loan. On 8 November, Bona became ill with stomach ache. On 17 November, as she was losing consciousness, her trusted courtier Gian Lorenzo Pappacoda brought to her the notary Marco Vincenzo de Baldis, who wrote her last will. It left Bari, Rossano, Ostuni and Grottaglie to Philip II of Spain and large sums to Pappacoda's family. Her daughters would receive

1845-444: Was not even taken into consideration by his mother Isabella d'Este , nor by the archdeacon Alessandro di Gabbioneta, who considered it a sin to sacrifice the flourishing beauty of the young Federico to a "mature and ugly" woman like Bona. The latter, for her part, tried to make her face more graceful through jewelry and fabrics, but with little success, since "little or nothing has graced her." During her youth in Bari, Bona Sforza took

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1890-508: Was soon visited by envoys of King Philip II of Spain , who attempted to convince her to give up the duchies of Bari and Rossano in favour of Habsburg Spain. However, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba , the viceroy of Naples , feared a French attack and raised money for troops. Perhaps having ambitions of becoming a viceroy of Naples herself, Bona agreed to lend the Duke of Alba a huge sum of 430,000 ducats at 10% annual interest. The loan

1935-725: Was the second time that the couple separated. During that time, they exchanged frequent letters (20 letters by Sigismund and only two letters by Barbara survive) expressing their warm feelings for each other. Sigismund particularly expressed his affection for Barbara and concern for her well-being, reminding her to take good care of her health and encouraging her to keep up her spirits.< Contemporary sources almost universally praised Barbara for her virtues. Marcin Bielski wrote of her devotion to God, obedience to husband, kindheartedness and generosity to paupers. Marcin Kromer even attributed

1980-505: Was too strong and the plan failed. After Polish King Sigismund I the Old was widowed in October 1515, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , did not want Sigismund to marry another Habsburg opponent like his late wife, Barbara Zápolya . Therefore, the Emperor acted quickly and selected three suitable candidates for Sigismund: his granddaughter Eleanor of Austria , widowed Queen Joanna of Castile , and Bona Sforza. Although 36-year-old Joanna

2025-468: Was very large: 100,000 ducats, personal items worth 50,000 ducats and the Duchy of Bari . In exchange, Sigismund granted his future wife the towns of Nowy Korczyn , Wiślica , Żarnów , Radomsko , Jedlnia , Kozienice , Chęciny , and Inowrocław . Jan Konarski, Archbishop of Kraków , travelled to Bari to bring Bona to Poland. The wedding per procura took place on 6 December 1517 in Naples. Bona wore

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