FRANCESCO MARIA della Rovere, duke of URBINO. — Born at Senigallia on 22 March 1490, to Giovanni, brother of Giulio II, and Giovanna di Montefeltro, daughter of Duke Federico; died at Pesaro on 20 Oct. 1538. When the Montefeltro line became extinct with Guidobaldo, he received the duchy of Urbino in 1508. Captain General of the Church in the League of Cambrai, he fought against the Venetians (1509) and, when the alliances changed, against the duke of Ferrara (1511).
Acquitted of the killing of Cardinal Legate Alidosi, with whom he had come into conflict over responsibility for the loss of Bologna, which had rebelled against Giulio II, he retook Ravenna and Bologna from the French, weakened by the death of Gastone di Foix (1512). The uncertain conduct he displayed during the Lombard campaign against Francesco I (1515) brought him, together with excommunication, the loss of the duchy, which passed to Lorenzo de' Medici. Only after the death of Leone X was he able to recover his lands, of which Adriano VI restored his investiture in 1523. Commander of the Venetians in the League of Cognac against Carlo V, because of his delaying tactics and the indecision of the allies, he had to witness from afar the sack of Rome (1527). Death overtook him while he was commander of the land forces of the league against the Turks.