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Pier Maria
II Rossi (1413-1482)
Born in Berceto in 1413 to Pietro and Giovanna Cavalcabò,
at the age of fifteen he married Antonia Torelli, of the Counts
of Montechiarugolo, upon which he became one of the commanders
of the army of the Viscounts of Milan, and developed a solid
friendship with Francesco Sforza. On the death of Filippo
Maria Visconti (1447), he reaffirmed his rule over the feuds
which had belonged to his family, and he allied himself with
Francesco Sforza, to whom he was to award the signory of Parma
in 1449. Starting from 1450, for thirty years, Pier Maria
dedicated himself to the reorganisation of his property, which
extended from the Po to the Appennine, along the Parma and
Taro valleys. Pier Maria's long period of prosperity ended
in 1476 with the murder of Galeazzo Maria Sforza; in 1480
Ludovico "il Moro" seized power and immediately
entered into open conflict with Pier Maria who, following
strenuous resistance, was to die at Torrechiara, in 1482.
Between 1448 and1460, Pier Maria had the
castle of Torrechiara built: in this way, he established a
permanent military defence along a large section of the Parma
valley upstream of the city, whilst at the same time creating
a sumptous and refined stately home, in which are preserved
some of the most extraordinary frescoes of the fifteenth century
in Italy.
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