How Fiore dei Liberi's Protege Helped Put the Bentivoglio Family in Power: Chapter 4
The Epic Tale of Giovanni Bentivoglio and Lancillotto Beccaria
The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.
—Revelations 9: 1-3
On the 28th of February, 1402, at midnight, the world stood in awe of a celestial event the likes of which no one had seen for hundreds of generations. A giant comet appeared in the western sky, and by dawn the next day, March 1st, the phenomenon continued to burn so bright that it was still clearly visible by daylight. Day after day, the radiance of the comet grew so that at its zenith it outshone the sun, and its mighty tails stretched up to two-hundred arm lengths across the night’s sky. Ghiradacci records the event like this, “On the 28th of February on Tuesday at the 24th {hour}, a star appeared between the middle of the horizon and the West, and was left to shine throughout Lent, becoming greater each day, because at the beginning it was seen with a tail of two arms , then three, and so it went on, growing up to twelve arm lengths, and on the first of the last three days, she showed herself in the manner of flames, and spread twenty-five arm lengths, the second fifty, & the third seemed two hundred, nor more than it appeared at night, but was only seen for the space of eight following days, the first being Holy Wednesday, and the Sun appeared opposite an arm's length, and was so bright, that it dimmed the Sun. There were made of this Comet various judgments, as of earthquakes, famine, mortality, wars, changes of states, discords, and seditions, as happened.”[1] The timing and magnificence of this event in the Christian west, could only be seen as a message from God—but what that message represented was left to the discernment of the individual.
The presence of the comet coincided with heavy rains that flooded the Emilia region and made the roads impassable, the quagmire was so grave that horses were getting stuck in the mud past their hocks and required winches to get them free.[2] Unable to manage the logistical nightmare that was unfolding in the Bolognese cantado and perhaps fearing the retribution of the divine, Alberigo da Barbiano withdrew his men to Modena.[3] In scope, the grizzled captain needed time to regroup and refit, he couldn’t afford another strategic blunder like the route at Massumatico, the more success that he afforded the Bolognese, the more likely it would be for prospective allies to commit their troops to the Bolognese cause, and the distant albeit-faint glimmer of defeating Gian Glaeazzo Visconti once and for all.
In Bologna, Giovanni Bentivoglio was trying to use Alberigo’s withdrawal as an opportunity to recruit new allies, organize his men, and prepare for the next phase of the war. He sent Bente Bentivoglio and Pasotto da Argile to Venice on a diplomatic mission with the aim of maximizing the momentum of Massumatico, he was hoping the significance of the victory would persuade the Serenissima to throw their characteristic caution to the wind and commit troops to the defense of Bologna.[4] Paduan and Florentine troops were already arriving by the hundreds, and it was starting to feel like victory was becoming a real possibility. They needed all of the men and resources they could get to end this terrible conflict—Giovanni didn’t want to leave the fate of his reign as Signoria to chance, or miracles.
Bente Bentivoglio used his ride through the Bolognese countryside as an opportunity to reflect. Leaning back in his saddle, looking up at the burning manifestation of God’s majesty above him, following its tails through the expanses of the heavens, he surely wondered if he was on the right side of the Almighty. Over the last year he had developed a deep-seated hatred for Giovanni Bentivoglio. His once beloved cousin and friend had transformed from a paragon of Scarchessi values and a champion of Bolognese republican ideals into a ruthless, brutal tyrant; but he was bound to this man—this monster, by oath, by blood, he owed him his knighthood, and his status in the highest rungs of the city’s nobility, his title of Orator. Yet, it was hard for Bente to reconcile the man he swore that oath to with the man he now served. The once resolute voice of the nobility had become a peasant sympathizer, speaking as a voice for the people instead of the people who mattered the most; the nobles, he had beheaded their beloved cousin Antonio; he had spilled Bentivoglio blood, perhaps he could return the favor—no! He had his family to think about, his legacy, the stain of familicide—the ardent shame of it couldn’t be washed away from one’s reputation, it would continue to mark generation upon generation, and he couldn’t do that to his family.
Perhaps it was this moment in Bente’s reasoning when his gaze returned to the heavens and it dawned on him that he had forged a miracle for his cousin, a miracle meant to manipulate the people of Bologna, only for God to deliver a real miracle unlike the world had seen since the birth of Christ. Giovanni Bentivoglio had been rejected by the pope, rejected by the anointed and rightful leaders of their homeland, by their people, and now he’d been rejected by God Almighty. At the border of Bologna and Ferrara, Bente scribbled a letter to Giovanni, and handed it over to Pasotto da Argile. He told Argile to go ahead to Venice without him and turned his horse toward Modena.[5]
Nanne Gozzadini on the other hand, wasn’t the kind of man who was going to sit idle-by in Modena while his rival still ruled Bologna. He knew how Giovanni thought; they’d persevered through the crucibles of power together, he knew how Giovanni was being advised; prior to their co-rule he’d been a key figure in the city’s government for a very long time, he’d been on the war councils, sat through the defense meetings, endured the tedium of the strategy committees, and he knew exactly where the nobles in the Sedici felt the city was most vulnerable, he’d designed most of the policies himself, and he planned to exploit them. As Nanne was scheming, infighting in the Visconti camp erupted between Ottobono Terzi and Ugolotto Biancardo, that saw the captains' companies clash, claiming the lives of up to 370 men and resulting in the invaluable Terzi getting wounded.
Nanne tried to stay focused and scheduled a meeting with the leading council of San Giovanni in Persiceto to let them in on a clever little ruse he’d cooked up in camp.[6] After arriving in the city, he explained his scheme in detail to his Persicitani co-consipirators. He wanted them to send two ambassadors to Giovanni Bentivoglio to tell the Bolognese Signoria that they’d changed their minds, and they would be willing to discuss terms of surrender—but only, only if Giovanni would come to hear their demands in person.[7] Nanne was playing on the knowledge that the northwestern corridor along the via Persiceto was an area of extreme strategic importance to Bologna. He knew Giovanni would be willing to risk life and limb to put a castle in the way of any army daring to utilize that approach. The plan was simple: once the Persicitani leaders earned Giovanni’s confidence, they would lure him into the fortress, seize him, and turn him over to Alberigo da Barbiano.
Giovanni received the ambassadors from the Persicitani council at about the same time he received the letter from Bente Bentivoglio detailing his defection to the Visconti. Pasotto da Argile, had stopped in Ferrara and was waiting for word on how he should proceed, he wanted to know if Giovanni wished for him to pursue Bente or to continue towards Venice. Giovanni was livid, he felt like such a fool for making Bente his Orator, for giving him titles and authority, for not trusting his intuition when his cousin first tried to cross him. He wrote back to da Argile and kindly told him to continue to Venice with haste, they had no time to lose. With the grave realization that none of his remaining family could be trusted lingering over him, he turned to the Persicitani ambassadors. When they stated their peace, and informed Giovanni that they wished to surrender, he agreed without hesitation and sent them back with his answer. He would ride out to meet them the next morning—this was great and unexpected news. He tapped two captains, Scorpione da Lugo and Fuzzolino Tadesco, and asked them to gather a suitable complement of loyal men-at-arms and some supplies that the ambassadors had requested for their garrison.
They rode out of the Porta della Lame the next morning, and when they arrived on the plain outside the gates of San Giovanni in Persiceto—well out of crossbow range—they were met by five members of the Persicitani council.[8] The negotiations were quick, most of the prevailing details of the agreement had already been hashed out by the ambassadors in Bologna, but they had to go through the formalities before the agreement could be finalized and the fortress surrendered. At the conclusion of these formalities the council members invited Giovanni and his men to join them in the castle to—inspect the defenses, have a look around—and then gave a signal to the castle guards. At this, an escort of twelve riders exited the fortress. The twelve, who were supposed to restrain Giovanni and repel his captains, for some undocumented reason balked on the venture, perhaps they didn’t expect as many men-at-arms to ride-out with the Bolognese Signoria, or maybe they feared going toe-to-toe with likes of Scorpione and Todesco. Either way, they panicked and instead of coolly luring Giovanni into Gozzadini’s well planned snare, they informed the five council members present that before they could let the Signoria take possession of the fortress they had a few more formalities to complete with the remaining council members awaiting them in the castle, and quickly ushered everyone back into the Rocca without Giovanni or his men.[9] This was the signal for plan B.
Fuzzalino Todesco, recognizing something was wrong said, “let’s get out of here, sir, otherwise we’re dead.” (Ghirardacchi, pg. 529)[10] As the last of these words left Fuzzalino’s lips, they were met with the echo of two deafening bombard blasts. Boom——Boom. The first shot hit Scorpione da Lugo in the chest, eviscerating his body, spraying blood, body parts, pieces of bone and armor all over Fuzzolino Todesco and Giovanni Bentivoglio. Seconds later, before Giovanni could process the spray of blood and metal that hit his face, the second bombard ball barreled through his horse and sent the Signoria flying to the ground. Fuzzolino vaulted from his mount and checked on his Signoria. He was okay, just dazed, so he picked him up and carried him to Scorpione’s mount. He pulled the mangled corpse of the deceased captain from the saddle and laid Giovanni on his charger. He escorted his Signoria out of bombard range as a hail of crossbow bolts started to pelt the ground behind them, accompanied by the cry, “VIVA Malatesta”. Todesco wasn’t finished, he was a man of honor and couldn’t leave his fallen compatriot behind, so he risked another bombard blast, and sprinted back to the body of Scorpione to retrieve his remains, then saddled up and made a b-line for Bologna with Giovanni and their men. [11]
Scorpione da Lugo was the first person to be buried in the brand-new church of San Petronio.[12] As Giovanni watched his valiant captain’s body entombed in the patron saint’s cathedral, all he could think about was revenge. Fortuitously, a new Florentine captain had arrived in Bologna, Bernardone della Serra, the Gascon, with 240 lances and 200 infantry, the Gascons were known for their ferocity, their sinister nature—for toeing the line between good and evil, and Giovanni wanted nothing more than to unleash the devil on the Persicitani.[13]
At the end of May, he opened the gates of the hell on San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bernardone and his men, Lancillotto Beccaria and a complement of Bolognese companies, the Paduans under Giacomo III di Cararra, and Muzio Attendolo Sforza with his Florentine command, left their camp in Casalecchio and attacked the city with a furor that fit the mood of their patron. First, they cut the canal that fed water into the locality, then they started destroying all the houses of the surrounding villages, slowly, methodically making their way to the city center. When they had completed their encirclement, still unopposed by da Barbiano’s forces, they set fire to all that remained and left nothing for the once proud Persicitani to call home.[14] Then, their outriders started pouring in with news that Alberigo da Barbiano’s forces had crossed the Panaro River and were en route to connect with the main Visconti army arriving under the command of Francesco Gonzaga, which had departed Capri and was headed for Cento.[15] Things were heating up.
Alberigo’s men weren’t the only ones converging on the city, Tomassino Crivelli arrived in theater from Florence with the Rose Company, and skirted the formalities of meeting Giovanni Bentivoglio in Bologna to bolster his forces in San Giovanni in Persiceto with another 300 veteran lances.[16] The news of the arrival of Crivelli and his men piqued Alberigo da Barbiano’s interest, they were the ones who had pinned his brother Giovanni down in Spilamberto, captured him, and turned him over to the Bolognese before his brutal execution, the thought of returning the favor invigorated the salty condottiere.[17] He pushed his captains Ottobono Terzi, Facino Cane and Jacopo del Verme to make haste before the Bolognese army could escape. However, Alberigo misread the intentions of his enemies, the Bolognese and Florentine captains were confident in their numbers, and weren’t deterred by the converging Milanese armies, they were spoiling for a fight.
The Visconti forces coalesced in Cento, and upon arriving Alberigo da Barbiano was given a directive by the Duke of Milan, he was now to follow the orders of Francesco Gonzaga and Jacopo del Verme. No doubt the stain of Masumatico had cooled Gian Galeazzo’s enthusiasm for da Barbiano’s ability to command his forces in the region, even if Alberigo claimed the calamity and his absence on the field was due to his convalescence from illness. Regardless of the demotion, he still got his chance to seek revenge, a detachment of 6,000 cavalry led by Jacopo del Verme, and Pandolfo Malatesta, along with Alberigo, Facino Cane and Ottobono Terzi moved on the Bolognese forces in San Giovanni in Persiceto soon after their arrival in Cento.[18]
When the two armies contacted one another at mid-afternoon in late May, a brilliant passage of arms took place.[19] Alberigo da Barbiano barrelled headlong into the Rose Company with his men and had two horses killed beneath him as he tried to extract every ounce of bitter vengeance from the action.[20] On the other side of the field Muzio Attendolo Sforza and Pandolfo Malatesta unhorsed one another with lances, and once they’d gathered their bearings decided to continue their fight on the ground, with neither man coming out ahead.[21] Facino Cane, recognizing through the chaos that the Bolognese men-at-arms were targeting their men's horses, took charge of the situation and organized a brief withdrawal of the Visconti forces. Having regrouped they dismounted and continued the engagement on foot. Neither side could gain advantage over the other, and by nightfall they both retreated to their camps. It’s unclear who got the better of this engagement, at least 100 were killed on the day, along with a fair number of horses, and the Visconti forces did take a number of prisoners, yet none of the high value captains.[22] The Bolognese troops were forced to withdraw back to their camp in Casalecchio, due to the presence of that other 6000-man-strong Visconti army under Gonzaga positioned within striking distance of their position, however, in the end, they had accomplished what they had set out to do, and better yet, they had proved they could handle a full complement of Visconti knights in doing so.
Hope for Giovanni Bentivoglio prevailed, yet the specter of the comet still loomed large.
When the Bolognese Forces made it back to the city, word of another revolt in the mountain town of Loiano, to the south, along the Apennine passes between Bologna and Florence, reached Giovanni and he sent Bernardone to replicate his brutal feat in San Giovanni in Persiceto.[23] As fire and blood wrought by the Signoria plagued the peripheral villages of Bologna, the fire that once burned in the hearts of the Bolognese people for the benevolent Bentivoglio was snuffed out, and new plots to end his reign arose from every corner of the city. Battista Balduini, the beloved son of Bologna whose fame and bravado stayed the crossbow bolts of the Persicitani, took up the cause of the smoldering city. Together with Bolognino Buonatorta, Bartalomeo Gombrudi, Guglielmo da Sala, and Matteo Mantici, he weaved a plot to murder Giovanni. They waited for the tyrant to make his pilgrimage to the image of the Madonna del Baraccano, as he often did, and moved like shadows through the alleys to plunge their daggers into his kneeling back, but before they could wield their steel, they were apprehended by this-Caesars omniscient guards.[24] Upon hearing of Balduini’s internment, and yet still fearful of the sign of the heavenly comet that had blazed across the western sky, the whole of the city arose in an uproar. Francesco Minotti and Giacomo de Conti conspired with an unusual ally in a San Benedetto priest in the city, who no doubt had heard the trumpet of the fifth angel calling him to sedition. Together they started negotiating with Jacopo del Verme in an attempt to give him the Porta Galleria, but this too was discovered, and the conspirators fell by the sword of the Commissario of the gate and his men.[25]
Moved by the fervor that consumed his beloved city, Francesco Gallucci, who was one of the number of disaffected nobles in Modena with the Visconti armies, sued for peace between Giovanni Bentivoglio and Nanne Gozzadini, he tried to mediate between the two parties to bring them together under a common cause—the fate of Bolognese people. Gallucci spoke to Nanne in private, begging him to reason with Giovanni, but Gozzadini’s reply was blunt, “He wanted to repay Giovanni for what he had done to him.” He wanted vengeance. Not one to be deterred, Galluci sought the help of the Friar, Lodovico Arisosti de Predicatori, who wrote a letter to Nanne Gozzadini, begging him to forgive Giovanni, asking him, humbly, to pursue Christian peace. Nanne replied with the same terse response. He wanted vengeance. Dissuaded by Nanne’s unwillingness to reason, Gallucci sought his own peace with Giovanni Bentivoglio, he wrote to the Signoria and told him that he would like to return to Bologna and offered his son’s Giovan Galeazzo and Giovan Francesco as hostages. Giovanni Bentivoglio was willing to forgive. When the boys arrived in town they were embraced by the Signoria and their father’s estates were restored to them, and provisioned by the Bentivogleschi. Soon after Francesco Galluci arrived, and he was greeted with a hero's welcome[26]. The Friar Antonio da Bitonto, a Franciscan monk, whose mission was the conversion of the whores in Bologna, in honor of this momentous occasion, freed ten of the women from the debts that they owed to their pimps, and absolved them of all their sins, so that they would be suitable to marry once again, and could remain victorious in the hands of God. They were Saltina de Pietro d’Alemania, Anna de Pietro d’Alemania, Catarina de Andrea dalla Cordellla, Druda Gottfredi, Maddalena de Giacomo, Itichina de Pietro di Fiandra, Caterina de Vicenzo, Barbara di Lodovico, Elisabetta de Tome Flandresi, and Dorothea di Henrico Schiavi.[27]
On June 15th, Giacomo III da Cararra was recalled to Padua, for his wedding, and replaced by Francesco III and one their brothers, who arrived with 400 cavalry and a large number of infantry. Giovanni sent them immediately to the fortifications in Casalecchio del Reno, where Bernardino della Serra and the rest of the army was bivouacked.[28] Giovanni took heart in the reinforcements, two years of skirmishes, battles, and lost garrisons were starting to deplete the army that he’d stitched together, and with each passing engagement they gained invaluable experience, but they also took casualties. Meanwhile the Visconti army seemed to be growing day-by-day, now over 20,000 men, and he knew that Bologna desperately needed more soldiers if they wanted to contend in the battles ahead.
On the 20th Giovanni decided to have a call-to-arms in the city, to test the will of the people, and see if he could squeeze the last of the Bolognese fighting aged males into his dwindling cup. He assigned captains to various districts in the city; the people of Porta Ravegnana were to gather outside the city in San Gregorio under the banner of Guido da Manzolino (yes, this is probably the grandfather of Antonio Manciolino), while the people in Porta Stieri were to rally under the banner of Nannino Checco, the people of Porta San Procolo were to attend the insignia of Nicola Baldoini, and the tributes of Porta San Polo di Ravone were to seek the standard of Leonardo Ghisilieri. Hardly anyone showed up. Giovanni was heartbroken, he took this as a sign that he had completely lost the favor of the Bolognese people.[29] He told his captains to dismiss everyone who had mustered to their standards, stating, “Please God that I alone taste this bitter chalice, so that the people of Bologna do not drink the dregs.” (Ghirardacci, pg. 531)
Giovanni told the Florentine diplomats, Lambertino da Canedolo Cavaliere, and Dottore and Matteo Griffioni, to return to the Republic with the following message. The Republic must rescue Bologna, he had found himself abandoned by his own, and therefore had no choice but to ask for further assistance.[30] The Visconti army under the command of Jacopo del Verme, had Pandolfo and Carlo Malatesta the lords of Rimini, Galeazzo da Mantova, Francesco Gonzaga, Alberto Pio lord of Capri, the count of Urbino, the lord of Spoleti, the lord of Mirandola, the lord of Ravenna, the lord of Fariano, the lord of Sassatello, and great captains like Facino Cane, Ottobono Terzi, count Alberigo da Barbiano da Cunio, along with the Bolognese knights Bertolino Cremonese, Paolo Savelli Tomano, Nanne and Bonifacio Gozzadini, Francesco Gallucci, Bente Bentivoglio, Giacomo Isolani, Guido and Galeazzo Pepoli, and Nicolo Negrosanti–and another 400 Bolognese exiles. The situation was dire. Florence responded by sending what men they could, bolstering their commitment to 5,000 troops.[31] It wasn’t enough.
On top of all this, Bente Bentivoglio had begun to wield his influence in the Visconti war councils, he insisted that the way to attack Bologna was not down the via Persiceto, as Nanne Gozzadini had entailed, because they’d be forced to throw wave after wave against the strong Porta dell Lame and Galleria gates, rather the canal at Castelecchio del Reno, which was the main water source for the southern portion of the city—the urban portion, if they could cut that, and they would cut all hope of Bologna holding out.[32] The Visconti captains listened intently to Bente’s seditious confessions and positioned their forces accordingly. No doubt Giovanni saw the influence of his cousin in the bold thrust that followed. The Visconti forces took Piumazzo, Sant’Agata Bolognese, Manzolino, and Crevalcore, as they converged on Cassalecchio like a swarm of locusts.[33] Jacopo del Verme was leaving his northern supply lines exposed to deliver a death blow to Bologna, it was a bold move, the kind a Condottieri of his experience and renown would only make if they were certain of victory.
As the Visconti forces started to arrive near the village of Lavoro, 2.6 km northwest of Casalecchio, the accounts differ on what happened next. The Florentine chronicles say that Giovanni, so emboldened by his many victories in the contado, pressed Bernardone della Serra, to attack, while others say that Giovanni was so distraught by the lack of support he’d received in Bologna that he saw no other choice but to seek a decisive victory, and yet more sources say that Bernardino della Serra was the one who urged the Bolognese captains to engage the Visconti at Casalecchio, despite the caution and protestations of Giovanni and the Florentine consuls. Regardless of how it came to be, when the Visconti armies moved to position themselves along the Reno River, a battle of epic proportion had appeared on the horizon of Bologna, a battle that would determine the fate of Giovanni Bentivoglio.
Works Cited
Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna. Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657
Gatari, Galeazzo, and Syme, David. The Fortunes of Francesco Novello Da Carrara, Lord of Padua, an Historical Tale of the Fourteenth Century, from the Chronicles of Gatari, with Notes. By D. Syme. United Kingdom, Constable, 1830.
Ady, Cecilia Mary. The Bentivoglio of Bologna: A Study in Despotism. United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1937.
Merchant Writers: Florentine Memoirs from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Memoirs: Giovanni di Paolo Morelli. United Kingdom, University of Toronto Press, 2015.
A Companion to Medieval and Renaissance Bologna. Netherlands, Brill, 2017.
Banti, Ottavio. Giovanni Bentivoglio. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 8 (1966). Treccani.it. accessed 11/4/2023.
Tamba, Giorgio. Nanne Gozzadini. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 58 (2002): Treccani.it. accessed 11/10/2023.
Gamberini, Andrea. GIAN GALEAZZO Visconti, duca di Milano, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 54 (2000). Treccani.it. https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/gian-galeazzo-visconti-duca-di-milano_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ . Accessed 11/5/2023.
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 8 (1966), Bente Bentivoglio. Trecanni.it. https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/bente-bentivoglio_(Dizionario-Biografico)/. Accessed 11/9/2023
Pirri, Pietro. Alberico da Barbiano. Dizinario Biografico degli Italiani – Volume 1 (1960). Treccani.it. https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/alberico-da-barbiano_(Dizionario-Biografico)/. Accessed 11/9/2023.
Damiani, Roberto. Alberico da Barbiano. https://condottieridiventura.it/alberico-da-barbiano-conte/. 27 November 2012. Accessed 11/15/2023.
Damiani, Roberto. Bernardo della Serra/Bernardone di Serres. Condottiereventura.it. https://condottieridiventura.it/bernardo-della-serra-bernardone-di-serres/. Accessed 11/26/2023.
Damiani, Roberto. Jacopo del Verme. https://condottieridiventura.it/jacopo-dal-verme-di-verona/. Accessed 11/26/2023.
Damiani, Roberto. Muzio Attendolo Sforza. Condottiereventura.it. https://condottieridiventura.it/muzio-attendolo-sforza-di-cotignola/. Accessed 11/26/2023.
Damiani, Roberto. Francesco Gonzaga. Condottiereventura.it.
[1]Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 527
Alli 28. di Febraro il Martedi a hore 24. apparve una Stella crinita tra il mezo giorno, e l'Occidente, e si lascio ve lere tutta la Quaresima, facendosi ogni giorno maggiore, perciche nel principio si vide con la coda di due braccia, poi tre, e cosi ando crescendo infino alle dodeci braccia, & il primo de gli ultimi tre giorni, ella si mostro a modo di Fiamme, e si allongo braccia venticinque, il secondo cinquanta, & il terzo pareva di dugento, ne piu oltre apparve di notte, ma solamente si vidde per lo spatio di otto giorni seguenti, il primo fu il Mercoledi Santo, & apparve di rincontro il Sole di longhezza di un braccio, & era cosi lucida, che ne offuscava il Sole. Furono fatti di questa Cometa vari giudicii, come di terremoti, carestia, mortalita, guerre, mutationi di stati, discordie, e seditioni, come avenne. Erano fra tanto sfondate le vie per li grandissimi fanghi, che con gradissima fatica li Cavalli ne potevano rihavere i piedi, e per tale cagione il Conte Alberigo non potendo scorrere pel territorio di Bologna, si ritiro con le sue Erano fra tanto sfondate le vie per li grandissimi fanghi, che con gradissima fatica li Cavalli ne potevano rihavere i piedi, e per tale cagione il Conte Alberigo non potendo scorrere pel territorio di Bologna, si ritiro con le sue genti sul Modenese.
[2] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
Erano fra tanto sfondate le vie per li grandissimi fanghi, che con gradissima fatica li Cavalli ne potevano rihavere i piedi
[3] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
e per tale cagione il Conte Alberigo non potendo scorrere pel territorio di Bologna, si ritiro con le sue genti sul Modenese.
[4] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
Da che il Bentivoglio prese tempo di provedere a fatti suoi, e pero mando Oratori a Vinitiani Bente Bentivoglio, e Pasotto da Argile, per domandare loro aiuto contra il Duca di MIlano, che designava farsi soggetta tutta l' Italia
[5] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
Passarono li due Oratori a Ferrara, dove Bente piu oltre non volle andare, ma lasciato Pasotto, paso a Milano, dove erano di molti fuorusciti Bolognesi, con proponimento di non voler piu far ritorno a Bologa sin tanto, che non uedesse ricuperata la pristina liberta della Patria, e che Giovanni morisse. Erano molte le querele, che Bente dava a Giovanni, e per le quali egli cotanto l' odiava. Prima, che si fosse posto a favorire la Plebe, lasciando da parte l' amore de' Nobili. Che fatto Signore di Bologna havesse cosi spregiato il sangue suo proprio, e li suoi Parenti, non dando loro carichi di honore, e di riputatione. Che si fosse fatto Tiranno, & havesse oppresso l'amata liberta, e posto la propria Patria in pericolo di ruina, e di perpetua seruitu. Ma sopra tutte le altre querele, una era, ch' egli havesse fatto decapitare Antonio Bentivogli, che pure era del medisimo suo sangue. Si era Bente piu volte lamentato di questi diffetti d'ingratitudine, e di crudelta co' suoi amici, e ne havrebbe voluto poter far vendetta con le sue proprie mani, ma il pericolo di se medesimo, e della sua famiglia, e la infamia, che macchiare poteva il nobilissimo sangue de' Bentivoglio, sempre lo tenne a freno, di maniera, che alla fine per assai minor male elesse di abbandonare la propria patria, che vedere le sue molte calamita. Dispiacque oltre modo a Giovanni la fuga di Bente, e grandemente si penti d'haverlo eletto Oratore, pure facendo buon animo scrisse a Pasotto, che seguitasse egli solo il viaggio cominciato, sperando di havere soccorso dalla Republica Vinitiana, co'l quale forse le cose sue sarebbono riuscite a buon fine, ma ogni speranza riusci vana.
[6] ,Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
Ma dove lasciamo Nanne Gozzadini, il quale sendo stato chiamato a San Giovanni in Persiceto dalli Castellani istessi, accioche egli ordinasse le cose loro, & ordinate, tratto con essi loro di havere nelle mani Giovanni Bentivoglio, con questo stratagema.
[7] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
Ordino Nanne, che essi mandassero due Ambasciatori al Bentivoglio con fargli intendere, che il Consiglio del Castello desiderava di ragionare seco, e restare d'accordo entrare nel Castello, e lo facessero prigione. Si maraviglio Giovanni assai, che li Castellani gli havessero per questo solo inuito, mandato li due Ambasciatori, havendolo potuto fare con lettere, nondimeno pesando, che questo fosse stato piu per semplicita, che per malitia, promise loro, che la mattina leguente verrebbe a Castel San Giovanni.
[8] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
Ui passo adunque insieme con Scorpione, e Virgiolo detto Frizellino Capitani, dove havendo havuto longo ragionamento con li Consoli, e di gia tenendosi sicuro per le promesse loro di havere il Castello a suo dominio, l'inuitarono ad entrare in San Giovanni, ma non volle entrarvi, contentandosi aspettar quiui la conclusione di quanto si era tra loro ragionato.
[9] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
Uscirono adunque dodeci huomini fuori del Rastello animosi, e forti (era il diffegno loro di farlo uivo prigione) e fingendo di volere conchivdere l'accordo, parve a quei di dentro, che troppo tardassero, il perche dato loro un segno, che ritornassero nel Castello, non si tosto voltarono le spalle a Giovanni.
[10] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
Che il Frizellino, che per ogni parte girava gli occhi, vedendo muovere il Palancato grido, Leuiamoci di qui, signore, se non che siamo morti!
[11] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
Ne a pena voltarono li Cavalli a dietro, che li furono sparate due bombarde, una delle quali uccise Scorpione, e l'altra feri a morte il cavallo di Giovanni, saluandosi lui, & il Frizellino, & altri suoi compagni, li quali tolto il corpo del morto Capitano, e postolo sopra un cavallo su portato a Bologna, e corpo del morto Capitano, e postolo sopra un cavallo su portato a Bologna.
[12] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
E con solenne pompa funerale, sepelito nella nuova Chiesa di San Petronio, e questo fu il primo corpo morto, che in essa tosse posto.
[13] Damiani, Roberto. Bernardo della Serra/Bernardone di Serres. Condottiereventura.it. https://condottieridiventura.it/bernardo-della-serra-bernardone-di-serres/. Accessed 11/26/2023.
May 1402/ Capitano g.le 240 lance e 200 fanti/E’ inviato in soccorso del signore di Bologna Giovanni Bentivoglio, sempre peer fare fronte ai viscontei. Dopo uno scontro avvenuto a San Giovanni in Persiceto si reca nella località, vi fa spianare i borghi attorno al castello, devia le acque del torrente che vi è nei pressi e mette a fuoco la campagna.
[14] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 529
Ma non passo molto, che quei di San Giovanni in Persiceto, gridarono, VIVA il Malatesta, e posero sopra la Rocca la Insegna di detto Signore, il che da Giovanni inteso, tosto spedi Bernardone con molte insegne di soldati, li quali tagliarono il Canale, accioche non potessero macinare, e gittarono a terra tutte le case de Borghi, e gli altri edifici d' ogn' intorno, ponendo quella contrada a sacco, & a fuoco. 530 Fecero quei di Loiano il medesimo rivolgimento, li quali assaliri dal medesimo Capitano non perdono a piccoli, ne a grandi, mma pose ogni cosa a filo di spada, ad esuinpio de gli altri, cose che molto dispiacquero a tutta la Citta
[15] Damiani, Roberto. Francesco Gonzaga. Condottiereventura.it. https://condottieridiventura.it/francesco-gonzaga-conte-e-marchese-di-mantova/. Accessed 11/28/2023
1402/APR/Si muove nel territorio di Carpi. 1402/MAY/Giunge a Cento. le sue schiere si scontrano con quelle di Muzio Attendolo Sforza e di Fuzzolino Tedesco.
[16] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 531
Fiorentini, a cui grandemente premeva la perdita di Bologna, e ch' ella cascane nelle mani del Visconte suo capitale nemico, gli mandarono la Compagnia della Rosa, che era di trecento Lanze, la quale ando ad unirsi con l' essercito di Bernardone a Casalecchio.
[18] Damiani, Roberto. Jacopo del Verme. https://condottieridiventura.it/jacopo-dal-verme-di-verona/. Accessed 11/26/2023.
Si trova a Cento; con il Barbiano (6000 cavalli) danneggia il territorio di San Giovanni in Persiceto dove fa molti prigionieri e razzia un grande numero di capi di bestiame.
[19] Gatari, Galeazzo, and Syme, David. The Fortunes of Francesco Novello Da Carrara, Lord of Padua, an Historical Tale of the Fourteenth Century, from the Chronicles of Gatari, with Notes. By D. Syme. United Kingdom, Constable, 1830. Pg. 165.
The gallant brothers of Carrara soon joined the Bolognese and Florentine troops at their camp at Cassalechia, and in a few days a part was sent to assail the castle San Giovanni, which was held by one of the Malatesti for the Duke. Alberico da Cunio, Facino Cane, and Pandolfo Malatesta, came to its relief, and a most brilliant passage of arms ensued.
[20] Damiani, Roberto. Alberico da Barbiano. Condottiereventura.it. https://condottieridiventura.it/alberico-da-barbiano-conte/. Accessed 11/26/2023.
Si getta contro la Compagnia della Rosa, i cui capitani hanno sconfitto e catturato il fratello Giovanni: costoro si difendono con vigore e gli uccidono due cavalcature. Di notte i contendenti si separano; il Barbiano rientra in San Giovanni in Persiceto.
[21] Damiani, Roberto. Muzio Attendolo Sforza. Condottiereventura.it. https://condottieridiventura.it/muzio-attendolo-sforza-di-cotignola/. Accessed 11/26/2023.
Muzio Attendolo Sforza si scontra con quest’ultimo, i dui condottieri si feriscono l’un l’altro; caduti a terra continuano il combattimento a piedi.
[22] Gatari, Galeazzo, and Syme, David. The Fortunes of Francesco Novello Da Carrara, Lord of Padua, an Historical Tale of the Fourteenth Century, from the Chronicles of Gatari, with Notes. By D. Syme. United Kingdom, Constable, 1830. Pg. 165.
In which it is certain that at least 100 men were killed outright, besides many horses.
[23] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 530
Fecero quei di Loiano il medesimo rivolgimento, li quali assaliri dal medesimo Capitano non perdono a piccoli, ne a grandi, mma pose ogni cosa a filo di spada, ad esuinpio de gli altri, cose che molto dispiacquero a tutta la Citta
[24] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 530
che Battista Balduini, Bolognino Buonatorta, Bartolomeo Gombrudi, Guglielmo da Sala, e Matteo Mantici, fecero congiura con altri assai di levare di vita Giovanni, quando ne andava per uisitare, secondo il suo consueto, la Madonna del Baraccano. Ma la congiura scoperta, Giovanni fece carcerare li sudetti congiurati, e con questo accrebbe l' odio maggiore di prima.
[25] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 530
Un' altro trattato anco venne a luce, e fu che Francesco minotti, Giacomo de Conti, & il Prete di San Benedetto, trattarono con Giacomo dal Verme, che con le sue genti si auvicinasse alla Porta di Galliera, che ne havrebbe havuto l'entrata libera la notte determinata, percioche havrebbono uccifo il Commisario della detta Porta, e perche il trattato si scoperse, come e detto, il Verine tutto sdegnoso, trascorse col ferro, e col fuoco gran parte del Bolognese.
[26] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 530
In tanto Francesco Gallucci huomo savio, e prudente che chiaramente s'auide, che la sua cara Patria Bologna era per ogni via ruinata, dolendosi di vederia cascare in dura seruitu, essendo egli nella Pieve, pose ogni suo sforzo per pacificare Nanne Gozzadini con Giovanni Bentivoglio, a cui Nanne ostinatamente rispose. Che volena rendere la pariglia di quanto Giovanni a lui haveva fatto. A questo officio anche vi s' interpose Frate Lodovico Arisosti de Predicatori, huomo di Santa vita, e Nanne gli diede la istessa risposta. Francesco lasciando il Gozzadino nel suo parere, egli a Giovanni christianamente domando la Pace, e la ottenne; e mandando a Bologna due suoi figiuoli Giovan Galeazzo, e Giovan Francesco benignamente dal Bentivoglio furo raccolti, & accarezzat, e loro fu restituita ogni sua facolta.
[27]Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 530
In questo ritrovandosi in Bologna un certo Frate Antonio da Bitonto dell Ordine della Osservanza di San Francesco, e predicando converti a Dio molte Meretrici, le quali ritrovandosi debitrici di buona somma di danari alli loro Ruffiani, che le tenevano al guadagno infame, ne potendo sodisfare, molte di dette convertite per questa cagione non potevano maritarsi, perche li Mariti non volevano questi debitisu le spalle. A che volendo provedere il Senato, accionche il Demonio non ostasse a cosi gran bene, libero le dette Donne da tutti quei debiti, e cosi restarono vittoriose nelle mani di Dio. Li nomi delle quali nelle Tavole puliche sono descritti, e sono questi, cioe, Saltina di Pietro d'Alemania, Anna di Pietro d'Alemania, Catarina di Andrea dalla Cordella,
Druda Gottifredi, Maddalena di Giacomo, Itichina di Pietro di Fiandra, Caterina di Vicenzo, Barbara di Lodovico, Elisabetta di Tome Flandresi, e Dorotea di Henrico Schiavi; queste due ultime rivscirono donne di austera Penitenza, e mostrarono al Mondo, quanta sia vana la bellezza humana, e quanto sia sicuro di seruire a Dio
[28] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 530
Adi primo di Giugno, Giacomo Terzo figlivolo del Signore di Padova gionse in Bologna con cento lanze in aiuto di Giovanni, ma alli 15. il Padre per dargli moglie una figlivola del Signore di Mantova, lo richiamo a Padova, & in suo luogo mando l'altro figlivolo Francesco Terzo, Capitano de' Vinitiani con 400 Cavalli, & altri tanti Pedoni, li quali tutti passarono al Casalecchio.
[29] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 531
Il di seguente, che fu a 20. Giugno, dovessero tutti armati radunarsi, e presentarsi a luoghi infrascritti, dove anco sarebbero li Capitani loro deputati. La Tribu di Porta Ravegnana, doveva ragunarsi fuori della Citta a San Gregorio sotto l'insegna del Capitan Guido da Manzolino. La Tribu di Porta Stieri, al Monasterio di San Francesco fuori della Citta, sotto l'Insegna di Nannino Checco. La Tribu della porta San Procolo, alli Frati de' Sacchi, sotto l' Insegna di Nicola Baldoini. La Tribu della Porta San Procolo, alla Frati de' Sacchi, sotto l'Insegna di Nicola Baldoini. La Tribu della Porta San Piero a San Polo di Ravone, sotto l'Insegna di Leonardo Ghisilieri. Gianto il detto giorno, delli dieci del Popolo, che havevano promesso, a pena uno ne comparve, il che fece restare Giovanni oltre modo confuso, & addolorato. E rivolto a quei pochi, che quiui erano venuti, li ringratio lodando il buono animo loro, e la fedelta dimostratagli, e li rimando alle case loro. Fatto Giovanni certo dell'odio del Popolo di Bologna, tutto addolorato di vedersi abbandonato, disse. Piacccia a Dio, che io solo gusti questo Calice amaro, accioche il popolo di Bologna non beva la feccia.
[30]Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 531
Pure non volendo mancare a se medesimo, & alla Patria, mando nuovi Ambasciatori a Fiorenza, Lambertino da Canedolo Cavaliere, e Dottore, e Matteo Griffioni, per dali ragguaglio, come da suoi propri si ritrovava abbandonato, e percio pregassero quella Republica al dargli potente soccorso; Fiorentini, a percio pregassero quell Republica al dargli pontente soccorso;
[31] Merchant Writers: Florentine Memoirs from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Memoirs: Giovanni di Paolo Morelli. United Kingdom, University of Toronto Press, 2015. (Pg. 228)
[32] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 531
Ora Bente Bentivoglio havendo con tutti quei modi illeciti, che pote, operato con grave detrimento di Giovanni, e macchia memorabile di se stesso presso il Duca di Milano, & havendo, come ribelle, scoperto al detto Duca le cose di Bologna come si ritrovavano, lo facilito all'impresa di Bologna.
[33] Ghirardacci, Cherubino. Della Historia Di Bologna, Volume 2. Italy, Giovanni Rossi, 1657. Pg. 531
Occupa Piumazzo, Sant’Agata Bolognese, Manzolino e Crevalcore. Decide con il dal Verme di attaccare gli avversari a Casalecchio di Reno