Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan (b. 1475)
Beatrice d'Este (29 June 1475 – 3 January 1497), was duchess of Bari and Milan by marriage to Ludovico Sforza (known as "il Moro"). She was one of the most important personalities of his time and, despite her short life, she drew the ranks of Italian politics. She was a woman of culture, an important patron, a leader in fashion: alongside her illustrious husband she made Milan one of the greatest capitals of the European Renaissance. With her own determination and bellicose nature, she was the soul of the Milanese resistance against the enemy French during the first of the Italian Wars.