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Remains of the Castle of Berceto.

Pier Maria Rossi or Pier Maria II de' Rossi (25 March 1413 - 1 September 1482) was an Italian condottiero and count of San Secondo [it], whose properties included the castle of Rocca dei Rossi. He was known as "the Magnificent".

Biography

He was born at Berceto, the son of Pier Maria I de' Rossi and Maria Giovanna Cavalcabò. Aged 15, he married Antonia, daughter of Guido Torelli. At the service of Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, he fought five times against the Republic of Venice. He succeeded as titular of the family's fiefs in 1438.

When Visconti died, in 1447, Pier Maria sided with Francesco Sforza, moving the lands of Parma and Piacenza under the Milanese suzerainty. In 1448 he defeated the Venetians in a fluvial battle on the Po at Casalmaggiore. In 1471 he was sent by Sforza as ambassador at the court of Pope Sixtus IV. After the duke's death, Pier Maria was part of the triumvirate actually governing the duchy in lieu of the then underage Gian Galeazzo Sforza. However, when the latter was ousted by his uncle, Ludovico Sforza, the fortunes of the Rossi family started to crumble. In 1482 an alliance of Milanese troops with those of the rival Sanvitale, Pallavicino and Da Correggio families, led by Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, besieged the Rocca dei Rossi at San Secondo. Pier Maria resisted gallantly but, after the Milanese started to storm all his other fortresses, surrendered and retired to the Castle of Torrechiara, where he died in 1482.

Sources

Pellegri, Marco (1996). Un feudatario sotto l'insegna del leone rampante. Pier Maria Rossi 1413-1482. Parma: Silva Editore..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}