Alessandro Sforza

Alessandro Sforza (1534 – 16 May 1581) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal.

Biography

A member of the House of Sforza, Alessandro Sforza was born in Rome in 1534, the son of Bosio II Sforza, count of Santa Fiora e Cotignola, and his wife Costanza Farnese, who was the natural and legitimized daughter of Pope Paul III. His brother Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora also became a cardinal. He was the uncle of Cardinal Francesco Sforza.

In June 1542, he became a scriptor of apostolic letters. He completed his training at the Gymnasium of Perugia, studying letters and probably also civil and canon law, and gained the academic title of Magister. Early in his ecclesiastical career, he became a papal chaplain.Through his older brother's influence, Allessandro was able to purchase a post in the Apostolic Camera. He became a canon of St. Peter's Basilica on 18 April 1554.

In 1559, Sforza was named a praefectus annonae, charged with supervising the city's grain supply. In April 1560, he was bishop-elect of Parma, although his brother reserved several rights. He became an active participant in the Council of Trent. In 1564, he presided over the diocesan synod in Parma, and oversaw the publication of the Table of Christian Doctrine (in Parma, for Seth Viotti, 1564), a handbook which constitutes an early example of a post-Tridentine catechism.

Pope Pius IV made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of 12 March 1565. He received the red hat and the titular church of Santa Maria in Via Lata on 15 May 1565. He participated in the papal conclave of 1565-66 that elected Pope Pius V. Around 1576, Sforza had a villa built, called "Sforzesca", in Castell'Azzara. It served the cardinal both as a summer residence and as a basis for the repression of the Brigandage. Gregory XIII stayed there in September 1578.

He died suddenly in Macerata on 16 May 1581, aged 46 or 47. He was buried in the Sforza family chapel in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.