Pier Luigi, who had taken possession of…

Pier Luigi, who had taken possession of his new states on September 23, 1546, is infamous for his cruelty, ruthlessness and profligacy, and has been accused of violent homosexual acts against young men.

His firm rule and his taxes gain him the enmities of cities accustomed to the fair authority of the Popes.

Emperor Charles V, who aims to reunite Parma and Piacenza with the Duchy of Milan, supports the aristocracy, in particular, against him.

In 1547 a conspiracy against him by the counts Francesco Anguissola and Agostino Landi and the marquises Giovan Luigi Confalonieri and Girolamo and Alessandro Pallavicini.

After Anguissola and others stab him to death, the conspirators hang his body from a window of his palace in Piacenza.

Charles V's vicar Ferrante Gonzaga, who has served as served as Governor of the Duchy of Milan since 1546, captures the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza soon after.