> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://there-are-no-secrets.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Lessons from Sforza Castle - URL: https://there-are-no-secrets.ghost.io/lessons-from-sforza-castle/ - Published: 2026-10-15T07:49:58.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-15T07:49:58.000Z - Author: David Bass In [prior blog posts](https://there-are-no-secrets.ghost.io/ghost/#/editor/post/6aa835fc45448d0001518098), I've commented on my search for inner peace. For purposes of this blog post, let inner peace and happiness mean essentially the same thing... life is good! It is said that "money can't buy happiness, but broke can't buy anything." That's true. But the quip also obscures a larger meaning. Once you have enough money, more money rarely leads to more happiness. Many of the world's billionaires, and the trillionaire, are among the most miserable people on the planet. Over time, they went from having enough money to having too much money to having obscene and then monstrous amounts of wealth. When happiness didn't increase, they used their wealth to accumulate economic and/or political power. I guess their thinking was they needed more than money – call it influence – to find the elusive happiness or inner peace. Hold that thought – I'll circle back soon. A couple days ago in Milan, we wandered through Sforza Castle, a medieval fortification built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, the Duke of Milan. With renovations and additions, it became one of the largest citadels in Europe. The huge square exterior surrounds a large courtyard. Round towers guard each front corner and a drawbridge once protected the imposing main gate. We had started out on a app-based walking tour (using VoiceMap) of "Leonardo Da Vinci's Milan." Born in Tuscany and educated in Florence, Leonardo was the epitome of a Renaissance Man, with a stunning range of accomplishments as an painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. Ambidextrous, Leonardo sometimes wrote with one hand while simultaneously drawing with his other. He was fascinated with birds and studied their anatomy. His writings on the principles of flight served as a conceptual blueprint and inspiration centuries later for aviation pioneers. Leonardo also had a sharp wit and mischievous sense of humor. Using his left hand, he often wrote from right-to-left in a "mirror script" designed to be read by holding the page up to a mirror. When a painter was asked why his painted figures were so beautiful yet his real-life children were so ugly, Leonardo quipped: *"Because he makes his paintings by day and his children by night."* He also wrote many stories in the Aesop tradition, often mocking human vanity and an inflated sense of self-worth. Take that, you billionaires (and trillionaire)! I'll circle back to y'all again shortly. Leonardo spent many of his most productive years in Milan, where his works included *The Last Supper*, *The Virgin of the Rocks*, consultation for the Cathedral of Pavia, and engineering consultation on a canal and locks system. During that time, Ludovico Sforza controlled the family's castle and ruled the area as the Duke of Milan. An enlightened and peaceful man, Ludovico became a patron of many artists and writers, especially Leonardo. (As a side note for another rabbit hole to go down when I'm bored, the book and film *A Clockwork Orange* referred to its sadistic aversion therapy as the "Ludovico Technique." Other than whilst doing research to fill in a few gaps for this post, I don't recall seeing the name Lucovico anywhere else. Could there be some connection between *A Clockwork Orange* and the Sforza family?) Ludovico Sforza employed Leonardo Da Vinci on many projects, including preparation of floats and pageants for special occasions; a drawing and wooden model for the cupola for Milan Cathedral, and a model for a huge equestrian monument to Ludovico's predecessor Francesco. To entertain Ludovico and his court, Leonardo created riddles disguised as predictions, where the audience had to guess the punchline. Inside Sforza Castle, Leonardo painted one large room, the Sala delle Asse, with a trompe-l'œil decoration that made the great hall look like a pergola created by the interwoven limbs of sixteen mulberry trees, whose canopy included an intricate labyrinth of leaves and knots on the ceiling. Leonardo also organized the wedding celebrations in 1492 for then 40-year-old Ludovico and Beatrice d'Este, the enchanting youngest daughter of the Duke of Ferrara. She was 17 at the time. It was actually a double wedding, the other half being the marriage between Beatrice's brother and Ludovico's niece. Her family's noble status had already made Beatrice the target of multiple marriage proposals and Ludovico had previously negotiated unsuccessfully with her father for the hand of Beatrice's older sister. It's complicated. Beatrice served as Ludovico's ambassador to Venice in support of his ascension to Duke of Milan, developed a close bond with a daughter Ludovico had fathered with his mistress, strongly supported his patronage of Leonardo and other artists, gave Ludovico two sons, and led Milanese resistance to the French during the first of the Italian Wars. Despite her youth and in contrast to her outward beauty, Beatrice had an impressive political savvy, courage during conflict, and earned the respect of powerful men in traditionally male-exclusive roles. There was a lot of weird shit going on when Beatrice became pregnant for the third time, more than I can cover here. (okay... one juicy tidbit: Beatrice's personal assistant also was expecting a child via Ludovico!). Complications and the limitations of medieval medicine resulted in neither of Beatrice nor the third Sforza son surviving childbirth. The loss of his wife turned Ludovico's world upside down. He painted a room in Sforza Castle black, stayed there for many weeks, shaved his head and let his beard grow. Owing to Ludovico's despondence, the neglected state of Milan fell into disrepair and Ludovico's rival Louis d'Orléans (who Beatrice had helped repel in an earlier raid) quickly vanquished Ludovico. The former Duke of Milan ended his days as a prisoner in France. Back to the billionaires, and trillionaire. For all the wealth and power and prestige Ludovico held as the the king of his castle, Duke of Milan, titular head of the Sforza family, or patron of Leonardo and other artists, none of that could overcome the loss he suffered at his wife's and son's deaths. I've long admired the Stoic school of philosophy, which originated in Greece before gravitating to Rome. The Stoics promoted rational discourse, logic and naturalistic ethics, as the path to a goal of lifelong flourishing. Sometimes the Stoics get a bad rap for their emphasis on emotional control as a means to solving problems with a calm mind. The characterization of Stoicism as lacking in emotion is very misguided. The later Stoics, like Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus, viewed death not as a tragedy or an evil, but as a natural, neutral, and inevitable process. They taught that keeping death in mind and a willingness to talk openly and calmly about it clarifies how to live well. Death's going to happen, sometimes unexpectedly or tragically. If we never discuss death, neither our own nor others, we risk being as unprepared to handle the loss of loved ones as Ludovico was when his beloved Beatrice died. The whole of Milan suffered! We'll be in Rome next week and Athens soon after that. I'm hoping to find a guided tour or adventure that will take us deep into Stoic philosophy in one or both of those cities. (Also the Greek philosophers, but that's a story for another day.) Happiness... check. Inner peace... check. Lifelong flourishing... check. Taking care of the relationships with those you love... check. Learning to let go... check. Leaving the world a better place than your found it... check. Acknowledging that every lifetime is finite; preparing for its end to be a neutral and natural event... check. Incessant pursuit of money, wealth, status, influence, economic or political power... reject! By the numbers: 1 Roman emperor who also was a prominent Stoic philosopher... Marcus Aurelius 15 paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci that have survived to the present day 69 flights of stairs climbed in the Cinque Terre yesterday 72 years the Sforza family ruled Milan 430,336 square feet in the footprint of the Sforza Castle Commenting, sharing, subscribing to this blog... check!