Pier Maria III de' Rossi

Pier Maria III de' Rossi (1504 – 15 August 1547) was an Italian general and nobleman, the second marquess and seventh count of San Secondo.

Born at San Secondo Parmense, he was a member of the local Rossi noble family, the son of Troilo I de' Rossi and Bianca Riario, the first daughter of Caterina Sforza and the half-sister of Giovanni delle Bande Nere.

After a first sojourn in France, Pier Maria returned to Italy and here he defended the family fiefs alongside his uncle.

Under the service of emperor Charles V, he was at Tunis in 1535, in Provence in 1536 and in Albania in 1537: in reward, he obtained an imperial privilege which granted his lands the independence from the nearby Parma.

In 1542 he entered the service of king Francis I of France, who named him general and knight of the Order of St. Michael.