Benefited by political chaos, a cabal of wealthy citizens, academics and clerics declared the Duchy dissolved and proclaimed the oligarchical Golden Ambrosian Republic.

After the threats of the Venetians, Ludovico solicited French king Charles VIII to descend into Italy,[6] starting the First Italian War.

After Ludovico's betrayal and alliance with the League of Venice in 1495, the French were defeated in the Battle of Fornovo and were unable to expand in Italy.

Charles VIII's top general and cousin, Louis II, Duke of Orléans (future Louis XII), was humiliated and due to his personal hate toward Ludovico Sforza,[7] started to claim the Duchy of Milan for himself, quoting his paternal descendance from Valentina Visconti and Gian Galeazzo's last will.

His son Massimiliano became the Sforza claimant to the Milanese Throne, which he finally re-gained in January 1513, six months after the Swiss army's entrance in Milan.

[15] After the Treaty of Rastatt of 1714, Emperor Charles VI officially gained the Duchy of Milan, a possession considered vital to the security of Austria's southern border.