While Federico Gonzaga was still deciding who he wanted to marry, his previously betrothed, Maria Paleologina (whom he had discarded simply because her brother recovered from the illness that many thought would kill him), was likewise shopping around for other husbands. One gentleman was named Francesco Sforza, and he just happened to be the sometime duke of Milan. He seemed rather earnest in his suit, until Bonifacio IV of Monferrato died, and Federico broke off his engagement to Giulia of Naples to marry Maria. However, then said lady took to her bed with an illness, never to rise. Federico simply moved on down the queue and married her younger sister, Margherita; while Francesco married Christine of Denmark, and then died without producing any half-Danish babies.
What if Francesco had snapped Maria up while she was on the market? Admittedly, he didn’t have a whole lot of time to do so between Federico’s breaking of the engagement (1528) and Bonifacio’s death (17 October 1530), but even if Maria produces one son (say 1529/1530), then the boy is 4/5yo if Francesco dies on schedule. What might the future hold for the new generation of Sforzas? And how might they deal with the next round of Franco-Imperial aggression? As well as a feud between the Sforza and Gonzaga over the Monferratian inheritance if Federico still marries Margherita?