Ascanio Sforza (3 March 1455-28 May 1505) was an Italian cardinal who played a major role in the election of Rodrigo Borgia as Pope in 1492. From 1492 to 1505, he served as Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church under the Borgia pope, having secured the position as a reward for his loyalty to the Borgias. He lost much of the Pope's trust due to his status as a relative of Ludovico Sforza, Giovanni Sforza, and Caterina Sforza (among other members of the rival House of Sforza), but he retained his title until his death.
Biography[]
Sforza in 1498
Ascanio Sforza was born in Cremona, Italy on 3 March 1455, the son of Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti; he was the brother of Galeazzo Maria Sforza and Ludovico Sforza, and the uncle of Gian Galeazzo Sforza. At the age of 10, he became abbot of Chiaravalle, and he became Bishop of Pavia in 1479. In 1484, he was created Cardinal Deacon of Santi Vito e Modesto by Pope Sixtus IV. In 1492, he played a key role in electing Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church Rodrigo Borgia as the next Pope, and he assumed Borgia's old position in the Catholic Church's hierarchy. At the start of the Italian War of 1494-98, Sforza sided with Giuliano della Rovere during an intrigue to oust Borgia (now Pope Alexander VI) from power, as the House of Sforza sided with France against the Papal States. After the Papal triumph over the king, Milan sided with the Pope, and Sforza was welcomed back to the Vatican, although he no longer held the trust of the Pope. In 1505, he died of the plague after engaging in a hunt.