662 Sforza family
avoid it. It was a consequence of original sin placed on all
human beings after the fall of Adam and Eve. This
extreme doctrine lasted throughout the Middle Ages and
Renaissance but was probably not well observed by the
LAITYor the supposedly celibate CLERGY.
HOMOSEXUALITYand masturbation were prohibited as
unnatural and not conducive to the conception of chil-
dren. There was plenty of evidence that people had sex
and many were not much troubled by feelings of guilt.
There were numerous illegitimate births and many clerics
maintained relationships with women and men. Periodic
prosecutions were accompanied by unpleasant punish-
ments during the later Middle Ages, as the state showed
special concern about problems of succession caused by
childbirth outside marriages.
Contraceptive practices were banned. Noble families
were especially concerned that women of their kinship
networks were kept chaste. PROSTITUTIONwas tolerated,
and assaults by upper-class males on lower-class women
were frequently overlooked. The Orthodox Church had
essentially the same ideas about marriage and the exalta-
tion of sexual renunciation but did permit priests to be
married, though bishops were supposed to be celibate.
See alsoASCETISM;CELIBACY; CONCUPISCENCE; CON-
TRACEPTION AND ABORTION; COURTLY LOVE; FORNICATION;
GREGORIANREFORM; VIRGINITY; VIRTUES AND VICES; WID-
OWS AND WIDOWHOOD; WOMEN, STATUS OF.
Further reading:James A. Brundage, Law, Sex, and
Christian Society in Medieval Europe(Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1987); A. Lynn Martin, Alcohol, Sex,
and Gender in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe
(New York: Palgrave, 2001); Pierre J. Payer, The Bridling
of Desire: Views of Sex in the Later Middle Ages(Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1993); Jeffrey Richards, Sex,
Dissidence, and Damnation: Minority Groups in the Middle
Ages(London: Routledge, 1990); Guido Ruggiero, The
Boundaries of Eros: Sex Crime and Sexuality in Renaissance
Venice(New York: Oxford University Press, 1985); Joyce
E. Salisbury, ed., Sex in the Middle Ages: A Book of Essays
(New York: Garland, 1991).
Sforza family The Sforza family were originally from
ROMAGNAand TUSCANY. They gained the duchy of MILAN
in 1450, when the mercenary captain Francesco Sforza
(1400–60) entered Milan on February 25, 1450, ending a
chaotic republican interlude after the death of Filippo
Maria VISCONTIin 1447. They were to maintain control
of duchy until the end of the 15th century. Francesco
died in 1466 and was succeeded by his son, the vicious
and despotic Galeazzo Maria (r. 1466–76), who tried to
solidify his princely power by acting as a barely veiled
absolute ruler. This led to a rebellion of part of the
Milanese aristocracy on December 26, 1476, when
Galeazzo Maria was assassinated and succeeded by Gian
Galeazzo II Maria (r. 1476–94). At he was under the
tutelage first of his mother, Bona of Savoy then from 1480
his uncle, Lodovico, called il Moro (r. 1494–99, 1500). It
supposedly was Lodovico’s appeal to the king of France,
Charles VIII (r. 1483–98), that led to a French invasion
to secure control of NAPLES. This led to the end of
Milanese and Italian independence from outside forces.
The policy of the Sforza toward the church followed
that of the Visconti family, as both sought to control the
religious institutions in and around Milan. Francesco
obtained a privilege from the pope in 1450 to present
candidates for the benefices until then under the control
of the papacy. This privilege ended at his death, but the
Sforza dynasty maintained important influence over all
ecclesiastical appointments within their state. Members
of the family also built several important HOSPITALSand
funded other charitable institutions as concrete symbols
of their prestige and power. They were also ardent sup-
porters of monastic and mendicant foundations sympa-
thetic to their rule. Their patronage of artists, such as
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519), and the impressive
building projects were also intended to confirm the value
and worthiness of their rule in the eyes of God and to
their usually reluctant subjects. Lodovico was deposed,
reinstated, and deposed again in 1499 and 1500. He was
the last independent Sforza duke and died in a French
prison in 1508.
Further reading:Cecilia M. Ady, A History of Milan
under the Sforza, ed. Edward Armstrong (London:
Methuen, 1907); Gregory Lubkin, A Renaissance Court:
Milan under Galeazzo Maria Sforza(Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1994); Evelyn S. Welch, Art and
Authority in Renaissance Milan(New Haven, Conn.: Yale
University Press, 1995).Shana SeeHADITH; LAW, CANON AND ECCLESIASTICAL;
QURAN;SUNNA.sheep See AGRICULTURE; ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUS-
BANDRY; FOOD, DRINK, AND NUTRITION.Shia, Shiism, and Shiites (party, sect) From the
Arabic, Shia means “partisans,” of ALI IBNABUTALIBand
his descendants by his wife, Fatima (605–633) the
daughter of MUHAMMAD, who considered the true IMAMS,
guides, or leaders of ISLAMafter the death of the prophet.
The most distinctive heterodox trait of Shiism was its
concept of the personal and sacred function of the imam.
Ali was supposed to be the first CALIPH, since he was the
rightful imam, appointed by Muhammad himself. The
election of ABUBAKRby almost a general consensus at
first caliph was perceived by Shiism as a usurpation of the
rights of Ali, who had been designated by Muhammad as
his successor. The Shiites saw this as treason against the
will of the Messenger of GOD. Those who eventually were