Bentivoglio

Bentivoglio (in Latin, rendered as Bentivoius) was an Italian family of princely rank, long supreme in Bologna and responsible for giving the city its political autonomy during the Renaissance.

Related Topics:
Latin - Italian - Bologna - Renaissance

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The presence of the Bentivoglio family is first recorded in the city in 1323. Originally from the castle of that name in the neighborhood of Bologna, the family claimed descent from Enzio, King of Sardinia, an illegitimate son of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Related Topics:
1323 - Enzio - Sardinia - Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

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During the fourteenth century, the family belonged to one of the workingmen's guilds at Bologna, and the family had gained power as pro-papist Guelph leaders in the fourteenth century. Amid the faction-conflicts of the commune Giovanni I Bentivoglio, with the help of the Visconti, declared himself signore and Gonfalone di Giustizia on March 14,1401. When the Visconti turned hostile, Giovanni was defeated and killed on June 26, 1402 at the Battle of Casalecchio and was interred in the church of San Giacomo Maggiore.

Related Topics:
Guelph - Visconti - Gonfalone - March 14 - 1401 - June 26 - 1402 - Battle of Casalecchio

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During the next few decades, the city's political status -and the family's fortunes- remained unpredictable. The son of Giovanni I, Anton Galeazzo (or Antongaleazzo), was a lecturer in civil law who assumed power in Bologna in 1420, but was quickly overthrown. Anton Galeazzo became a condottiere, and was assassinated by papal officials in 1435 due to fears over his growing power.

Related Topics:
Civil law - 1420 - Condottiere - 1435

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Annibale I, a putative son of Anton Galeazzo (his mother was said to be uncertain of the boy's paternity and the matter was decided by dice)http://www.wga.hu/database/glossary/families/bentivol.html, led a city revolt against the Papacy in 1438. He tried to make peace with the Visconti family and to convince the Pope not to place Bologna under his dominion. In 1442, the Visconti condottiere Niccolò Piccinino imprisoned Annibale and his supporters at Varano; Annibale was freed by Galeazzo Marescotti in 1443. When Annibale returned to Bologna, the powers of government were confirmed upon him, a sign that the city recognized the family?s political importance. Annibale, however, was assassinated by his rival Battista Canneschi in June 1445.

Related Topics:
Papacy - 1438 - Visconti - 1442 - Condottiere - Niccolò Piccinino - 1443 - June - 1445

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He was succeeded by Sante I (1426-1463), also of uncertain paternity and origin, but alleged to be a son of Ercole Bentivoglio, a cousin of Annibale I. Originally an apprentice of the wool guild of Florence, Sante ruled as signore of Bologna from 1443. Sponsored by Cosimo de' Medici, Sante Bentivoglio ushered in a brief period of political tranquility. Always technically under papal control, the city obtained some actual autonomy and recreates a regime of the feudal type, creating a communal senate composed of the landowning nobility, the new rich, and the papal nobility. Bologna also strengthened its relations with Venice, Milan, and Florence.

Related Topics:
1426 - 1463 - Guild - Florence - Cosimo de' Medici - Feudal - Venice - Milan

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Sante was succeeded by Giovanni II Bentivoglio (1443-1508), who ruled as virtual tyrant of Bologna. He was expelled by Pope Julius II in 1506.

Related Topics:
Giovanni II Bentivoglio - 1443 - 1508 - Julius II

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