Bianca Riario

Bianca Riario
Marchioness of San Secondo
Countess of San Secondo
Regent of San Secondo
Bronze medallion of Bianca Riario made by goldsmith Niccolò Fiorentino
BornMarch 1478
Rome, Italy
Died1524
Florence, Italy
Noble familyRiario
Sforza
Spouse(s)Troilo I de' Rossi, 1st Marquis of San Secondo, 6th Count of San Secondo
IssueCostanza de' Rossi
Pier Maria III de' Rossi, 2nd Marquis of San Secondo, 7th Count of San Secondo
Giovan Girolamo de' Rossi, Bishop of Pavia
Angela de' Rossi
Bertrando de' Rossi
Alessandro de' Rossi
Ettore de' Rossi, Provost of San Secondo
Camilla de' Rossi
Giulio Cesare de' Rossi, Count of Cajazzo
FatherGirolamo Riario
MotherCaterina Sforza, Lady of Imola, Countess of Forli

Bianca Riario (March 1478 – 1524) was an Italian noblewoman and regent, Marchioness of San Secondo by marriage to Troilo I de' Rossi, and regent of the marquisate and county of San Secondo for her son Pier Maria during his minority between 1521 and 1522. She was the eldest child and only daughter of Caterina Sforza by the latter's first husband, Girolamo Riario, a nephew of Pope Sixtus IV.[1][2]

Bianca married twice; her first husband was Astorre III Manfredi, Lord of Faenza, and her second husband, Troilo I de' Rossi, 1st Marquis of San Secondo, 6th Count of San Secondo, by whom she had eight recorded children.

At the time, the de' Rossi was one of the most prestigious noble families in Parma.

Bianca was the half-sister of the celebrated condottiero Giovanni delle Bande Nere, to whom she acted as a substitute mother while their own mother, Caterina was held prisoner by Cesare Borgia.[3]

  1. ^ Hare, Christopher. The Romance of a Medici Warrior. Riverside: The Library of the University of California.
  2. ^ "Bianca Riario". Geneanet. 1 November 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  3. ^ Hare, The Romance of a Medici Warrior