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Ambrosian Republic

Golden Ambrosian Republic
Italian: Aurea Repubblica Ambrosiana
1447–1450


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Capital Milan
Languages Insubric, Italian
Religion Catholic Church
Government Directorial oligarchic republic
Captains and Defenders of the Freedom
 •  1447 – 1450 Mains of the 12 members:
Legislature Parish Assembly
Historical era Late Middle Ages
 •  Established 1447
 •  Disestablished 1450
Currency Soldo
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Duchy of Milan
Duchy of Milan


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The Golden Ambrosian Republic (Italian: Aurea Repubblica Ambrosiana; 1447–1450) was a short-lived government founded in Milan by members of the University of Pavia with popular support. With the aid of Francesco Sforza they held out against the forces of the Republic of Venice, but after a betrayal Sforza defected and captured Milan to become Duke himself, abolishing the Republic.

When Filippo Maria Visconti, Visconti Duke of Milan, died on 13 August 1447, the city was thrown into confusion by the unexpectedness of the Duke's expiration and the quick way in which the claimants to the title acted. Filippo Maria had no heir through male bloodlines, but the day before his death had written a will dedicating the Duchy to Alfonso V of Aragon. Among the other claimants were Charles, Duke of Orléans, nephew of Filippo Maria through his mother Valentina Visconti, Filippo's cousins Albert and Sigismund of the House of Habsburg, great-grandsons of Bernabò Visconti, and Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, who declared that the Duchy reverted to the Holy Roman Empire on the extinction of male heirs. But the two most prominent candidates supported by the Milanese population were Alfonso of Aragon and Francesco Sforza, the Duke's son-in-law by marriage to his illegitimate daughter, Bianca Maria Visconti. The Bracceschi, supporters of the King of Aragon, seized the Castello on the night of the 13th, almost before Filippo Maria died, forcing the captains to swear allegiance to Alfonso.


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