Bona Maria Sforza – the Queen of Poland

Conflict with the son 

Towards the end of her reign in Poland, the Queen had to deal with all the conflicts and hatred that she had somehow provoked. Her constant fights with Polish and Lithuanian magnates over internal and international politics cost her the loss of authority in Lithuania. In 1544, the Lithuanian throne was given to her son, Sigmund August. 

Bona’s son was married three times. His second marriage had dramatic consequences for the country and for the Queen Mother. In 1547, the young King secretly married his only love, Barbara Radziwill. She was the daughter of the Vilnius magnate Jerzy Radziwill, formerly married to and widowed by the Voivode of Novogrod, Stanislavus Gasztold. Barbara, although very beautiful, had a rather bad reputation and serious health problems. Three years later when Barbara was crowned the Queen of Poland, the majority of influential Poles turned against the King. Similarly to Bona, they were very much against this marriage. Some did not like the fact that the wife of the King was not royalty. What seemed worse, however, was that this marriage significantly increased the importance of the Radziwill family. The magnates reminded the King that his own father, when in a similar situation, gave priority to reason. Despite all the protests, the monarch followed his heart. The victory was not sweet because the bride died in 1551. 

This was a great tragedy for Sigmund August. He became a loner and did not trust anybody. He also started a conflict with his own mother, whom he falsely accused of poisoning his wife. This gossip spread all over the country. Bona gained the reputation of an indignant, wicked woman, ready to conspire against inconvenient people. There were many people who believe Bona was involved in the poisoning of her daughter-in-law. 

Today, when we look at Bona Maria Sforza from the perspective of some five hundred years, a lot of arguments formerly used against her seem to be meaningless. Historical facts are that many things she was accused of were totally untrue. 

Leaving Poland 

The tragic fate of Barbara Radziwill turned Bona and her beloved son against each other. Furthermore, a major part of Polish society started to detest Bona and this prompted her to leave Poland forever. Before she was able to return to Italy, the Queen Mother had to renounce all her estates in the Crown and Lithuania. According to her pre-nuptial agreement she was able to take all her non-estate possessions. It took several hundred carriages to transport all her valuables. Her departure took place in spring of 1556. On May 13, stepping from the Venetian ship, she arrived in Bari. 

On Italian soil 

Contrary to her expectations, the return to Italy did not give Bona peace of mind. Although warmly welcomed in Italy and loved by her people, she was betrayed by her own court. 

One of her favorite advisors, Gian Baptista Pappacoda, was in fact a Spanish spy and a devoted friend of Phillip II. To prove his loyalty to Phillip Pappacoda tried to manipulate Bona to renounce her estate properties in Calabria and Apulia. 

Bona’s non-estate properties were also desired by her own court and by foreign monarchs. Shortly after arriving in Italy, Bona loaned 430,000 ducats to Phillip II, the son of Emperor Charles. This money was never returned, even though Sigmund August and his successors strongly pushed for it. 

When the Queen became aware that it was not safe for her to stay in the motherland, she seriously considered going back to Poland. Unfortunately, in November 1557 she turned very ill and it made her journey impossible. 

Taking advantage of her condition, Pappacoda tricked the Queen to change her will to the detriment of Sigmund August. Although in light of this testament, Sigmund was still the main beneficiary, his legacy was strongly diminished due to the high number of other people mentioned in the will. According to this document Phillip II could claim legacy to Bari, Rossano, Crottaglie, Ostuni and Monteserico. Pappacoda was granted a large piece of land, a significant part of the Queen’s valua-bles and 13,000 ducats. 

When her health improved, Bona realized how inadequate her last will was and decided to change it. According to its new version, Philip II was not to re-ceive anything. All of Bona’s estate and valuables were to be given to her son. 

Pappacoda saw this to be a great threat to his plans. He did whatever it took to prevent this will from becoming valid, and poisoned the Queen. She died on November 19, 1557. After her death, everything she had owned was stolen and no will could be imposed. Bona was buried in Basilica of Saint Nicolas in Bari, where, in 1593, her daughter Anna erected a marble memorial.