Francesco Maria I della Rovere

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Francesco Maria I della Rovere (1490–1538) was an Italian military leader and Duke of Urbino. He was born in Senigallia, the son of Giovanni della Rovere and Giovanna da Montefeltro, and the nephew of Pope Julius II. His uncle Guidobaldo I of Urbino made him heir to the duchy in 1504, with help from Julius II.

In 1502 the city of Senigallia was taken by Cesare Borgia, but Francesco and his mother were spared the massacre by Andrea Doria. When Guidobaldo I died in 1508, Francesco became Duke of Urbino, and with Julius II’s support he recovered Senigallia after Borgia’s death. In 1508 he married Eleonora Gonzaga, daughter of the Marquess of Mantua.

In 1509 Francesco was named captain-general of the Papal States and fought in the Italian Wars against Ferrara and Venice. In 1511, after failing to capture Bologna, he had Cardinal Francesco Alidosi killed, an act that drew harsh comparisons to the Borgia era. In 1513 he became lord of Pesaro. After Julius II’s death, Pope Leo X favored Lorenzo II de’ Medici, and Pesaro was given to Lorenzo. In 1516 Francesco was excommunicated and ousted from Urbino; he failed to regain the duchy in 1517 and only returned in 1521 after Leo X’s death.

Francesco then fought for the Republic of Venice in Lombardy during the Italian Wars of the early 1520s. Under Pope Clement VII, the della Rovere family’s power declined. As a leader of the Holy League, his inaction is often cited as one of the causes of the Sack of Rome in 1527. He helped secure the capture of Pavia later in the decade and continued to support Venice. He arranged the marriage of his son Guidobaldo to Giulia da Varano to curb papal power in the Marche region.

Francesco died in 1538, reportedly poisoned, in Pesaro. Some scholars link his death to the theatrical piece The Murder of Gonzago, referenced in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, though this is speculative.

Francesco and Eleonora had many children, including Federico, Guidobaldo II, Ippolita, Giovanna, Giovanni, Caterina, Beatrice, Elisabetta, Giulia, Giulio, and Violante.