Roberto Sanseverino d'Aragona

He was the son of Leonetto Sanseverino (d. 1420[1]) and of Elisa Sforza, sister of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan. He was granted the surname d'Aragona by the king of Naples, Ferdinand of Aragon. He acted as a general in the service of his uncle, the duke of Milan during the 1440s and 1450s. He went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1458. On his return, he went to the aid of the king of Naples against the Neapolitan barons during (the first congiura dei baroni or "Conspiracy of the Barons", 1459 to 1462) He then passed into the service of Florence against Venice, participating in the battle of Molinella in 1467 In 1471, he again entered the service of Milan, now under Galeazzo Maria Sforza. Together with the duke of Savoy he fought in the Burgundian Wars against Charles the Bold in 1476 but was forced to return to Milan upon the assassination of Galeazzo Maria Sforza. He made an enemy of Bona of Savoy's counsellor Cicco Simonetta and was forced into exile together with Ludovico Sforza, and was condemned to death by beheading in absentia and his goods were confiscated and given to Ercole d'Este. He then became captain-general of the Republic of Genoa, fighting against Milan in 1478, but in 1479 he was permitted to return to Milan following the reconciliation of Ludovico with Bona. His goods were returned to him along with his fiefs in Lugano, Balerna and Mendrisio. In 1482, he was hired by Venice and fought in the War of Ferrara. With the peace of Bagnolo of 7 August 1484, Sanseverino was elected captain-general of the Italian League for nine years, on an annual salary of 120,000 ducats. In October 1485, he was given leave by the Venetians to fight the Aragonese and their allies in the service of the Holy See. This military campaign proved to be a failure, and dismissed by the Pope, Roberto fled back to Venice, where he returned to command the Venetian troops against Sigismund of Habsburg. In the Battle of Calliano of 10 August 1487, Roberto Sanseverino was wounded, fell into the river and drowned. His body was recovered, brought to Trento and buried in a solemn funeral in the cathedral crypt. His remains were later transferred to the church of San Francesco in Milan.

By his first wife, Giovanna da Correggio (m. 1467):

• Gianfrancesco (circa 1450-1501), condottiero in the service of the duchy of Milan and of the king of France; m. Diana Della Ratta (?-1502) of Caserta; m. Barbara Gonzaga in 1499.
• Gaspare (1455-1519), condottiero, called Il Fracassa (or Fracasso) for his impetuous nature, lord of Piadena, Calvatone and Spineda
• Galeazzo (1458-1525), condottiero, m. Bianca Francesca Sforza; m. Elisabetta del Carretto
• Antonio Maria (circa 1460-1509), condottiero, m. Margherita Pio di Savoia

Ginevra, m. Lucio Malvezzi

By his second wife, Elisabetta da Montefeltro, daughter of Federico da Montefeltro duke of Urbino

• Giulio (circa 1475-1555) m. Ippolita Pallavicino
• Federico (1476 circa-1516), cardinal
• Eleonora, m. Giovanni Adorno
• Ugo, m. Flora Margherita Simonetta
• Giulia, m. Francesco Carafa
• Ippolita, m. Cristoforo II Torelli, count of Montechiarugolo
• Ludovica, m. Francesco Maria Torelli, count of Guastalla
• Giorgio

• Clifford M. Brown; Paola Tosetti Grandi (ed.), I Gonzaga di Bozzolo, Mantova, 2011. ISBN 978-88-95490-11-3.