FRANCESCO MARIA della ROVERE, Duke of URBINO. — Born in Senigallia on 22 March 1490, son of Giovanni, brother of Julius II, and Giovanna de’ Montefeltro, daughter of Duke Federico; died at Pesaro on 20 October 1538. When the Feltreschi line became extinct with Guidobaldo, he received the Duchy of Urbino in 1508. He served as Captain General of the Church in the League of Cambrai, fighting against the Venetians in 1509, and later, after a shift in alliances, against the Duke of Ferrara in 1511.
Acquitted of the killing of Cardinal Legate Alidosi, with whom he had clashed over responsibility for the loss of Bologna, and having rebelled against Julius II, he then sided with the French, who, shaken by the death of Gaston of Foix, lost Ravenna and Bologna in 1512. His vacillating conduct during the Lombard campaign against Francis I in 1515, culminating in the wager and the loss of his duchy—which passed to Lorenzo de’ Medici—did not help. Only after the death of Leo X was he able to regain his lands, of which Adrian VI restored his investiture in 1523. As a condottiere for the Venetians in the League of Cognac against Charles V, his dilatory tactics and the indecision of his allies left him powerless to prevent the Sack of Rome in 1527. He died while commanding the land forces of the league against the Turks.