Bona Maria Sforza was a member of the

powerful Milanese House of Sforza. In 1518, she became the second wife of

Sigismund I the Old, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of

Lithuania, and became the Queen of

Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania.

She was born in 2 February 1494 or 2 February 1493. She was the third child of Gian Galeazzo

Sforza and his wife Isabella of Naples. Her older brother

was Francesco Sforza and her

sisters were Ippolita Maria and Bianca

Maria. All of Bona's siblings died young.

Bona was born into the powerful and

wealthy Italian Sforza dynasty who had ruled Milan since

1447. Although her father belonged to the authority of the Duchy

of Milan, he was ousted by his uncle

Ludovico Sforza, known to history as "Il Moro". He exercised

power on behalf of the young prince, until his death in 1494 at the

castle in Pavia. Shortly afterwards, the

Princess Isabella, together with her

daughters, went to Bari.

Almost from the beginning of her life in Poland, Queen Bona tried to gain a strong political position. She began to form her own cabal and also benefited from the support of the king. She was also supported by Piotr Kmita Sobieński, Andrew Ladislaus and Piotr Gamrat, taking them to her offices and creating the so-called Triumvirate. She managed to also get Pope Leo X to decide on the appointment of fifteen ecclesiastical benefice of

very high importance (e.g. in Kraków, Gniezno, Poznań, Włoclawek and Frombork).

Bona came out of the belief that one of the most important things needed for the effective implementation of policies and plans for strengthening

royal authority is access to appropriate high finance. Therefore

she set herself the objective of magnification and the assembly

domain of dynastic wealth as much as possible, which would give the

Jagiello family financial independence. The family gained

numerous estates in Lithuania, and finally in 1536-1546 they took over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This

generated huge profits.

In 1527, as a result of a fall from a horse, the queen gave birth prematurely to her second son Albert, who died at birth.[4]

After this event, the Queen could not have any more children. Bona, wanting to ensure the continuity of the Jagiellonian dynasty on

the Polish throne, decided to make the nobles and magnates to recognise her only son, the minor Sigismund Augustus as heir to the throne. First, the Lithuanian nobles

gave him the ducal throne (ca. 1527-1528). Then, in 1529 he was 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 that it would do so with the consent of all the noble brothers.From the

outset, Bona was wary of the growing power of the Radziwiłł family and was later accused

of poisoning her daughter-in-law Barbara Radziwiłł. On the 1 April 1548, Sigismund I the Old died, leaving Bona a widow. Their

son succeeded him.After the death of the King, Bona moved to Masovia and stayed there for eight years. Then she moved back to her native Bari.

A year after returning to the Duchy of Bari Bona Sforza was poisoned by her

trusted officer, Gian Lorenzo Pappacoda. Pappacoda was acting on behalf of King Philip II of Spain, who wished to avoid repaying his sizable debts to the Polish queen. She was

buried in St. Nicholas' Basilica in Bari, where her daughter Anna had a tomb

made in the current Renaissance style for her remains.

Bona Sigismund I the Old

Isabella (18 January 1519

– 15 September

1559)Sigismund II Augustus (1 1520 August– 7 July 1572)

Sophia (13 July 1522 – 28 May 1575)

Anna (18 October 1523 – 9 September 1596)

Catherine (1 November 1526 – 16 September 1583)

Wojciech Olbracht, born and died 20 September 1527.

Isabella was Queen consort of the "Eastern Hungarian Kingdom" as

the wife of John Zápolya

Sigismund II Augustus was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania

Sophia was a Polish Lithuanian

Princess and Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Anna was queen of Poland from 1575 to

1586.

Catherine was Duchess of Finland (1562–83), Queen consort of Sweden (1569–

83), Grand Princess of Finland (1581–83).