Filius et Servitor. Evolution of Dynastic Consciousness in the Titles and Subscriptions of the Sforza Princes' Familiar Letters

Abstract

This article examines the changes in the subscriptions of letters sent by the children of Francesco Sforza, duke of Milan, using a broad sample collected from various archives and libraries in Italy and France. The epistolary practices revealed here demonstrate a growing dynastic self-awareness of the Sforza family during its fifty-year-long rule over the Duchy of Milan in the second half of the fifteenth century. We can also see that such subscriptions helped establish the legitimacy of the dynasty as well as the hierarchy within it.