More Malatesta Murders

The bloody murder of an adultrous brother and wife was just the beginning for the Malatesta family, whose family tree would be dotted with murders and betrayals for decades. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/noblebloodtales — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250840578/anatomyalovestory' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250861016/immortalityalovestory' See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• 0:00Dana Schwartz?

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

• 0:04Speaker 01

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• 0:44Dana Schwartz?

  Roberto Malatesta loved a good banquet. He had long thought nothing could top the magnificent banquet he had thrown with his cousin, Ferantino, and his uncle, Pendolfo, back in 1324. On that occasion, they had invited Roberto's other cousin, Uberto, who had not only become an obstacle for them politically, but had also represented the deep-cutting betrayal perpetrated by Uberto's father, Paolo, against Roberto's own father back around 1285.

• 1:24Dana Schwartz?

  They all had a lovely meal together, and then they killed Uberto. Roberto was very proud of that little bit of well-executed political intrigue, and he had thought it cemented a good relationship with his other cousin, Ferantino, and uncle, Pendolfo. So it's no surprise, really, that two or so years later, when Pendolfo died and cut Roberto out of the line of succession of Remini, the oh-so-successful banquet they had all thrown together was on Roberto's mind.

• 2:04Dana Schwartz?

  What better revenge, he must have thought, than to stage a repeat performance? So Roberto planned another banquet and invited his entire family to join in the revelry. This time, there would be no one left to sully his good name or challenge his power.

• 2:27Dana Schwartz?

  Ramberto was going to kill them all. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood.

• 2:43Dana Schwartz?

  Uberto Malatesta grew up in the shadow of his father's death. When Uberto was a teenager, his father, Paolo, was killed alongside his lover, Francesca de Polenta. The murder was perpetrated by Paolo's own brother, Giancchoto, who also happened to be Francesca's husband. Giancchoto had caught them in Flagrante after what was apparently a years-long, passionate affair.

• 3:13Dana Schwartz?

  After the murder of Uberto's father, Uberto was brought, along with his mother and younger sister, into the household of his father's murderer, where Uberto lived under Giancchoto's tutelage. This was, evidently and understandably, an unbearable arrangement. By 1297, Uberto fled Remini, and he took refuge with a family of Ghibellines, enemies of his Guelph-sympathizing family. Just as a reminder, the Ghibellines and Guelphs were rival groups here, with the Guelphs supporting the Pope and the Ghibellines supporting the Holy Roman Emperor.

• 3:56Dana Schwartz?

  In Uberto's new surroundings, he developed a Ghibelline leaning that mixed well with his desire for revenge against his family. He participated in numerous military campaigns with the Ghibellines, including one in 1300, in which he defeated his own uncle, Malatesta, conquering the city of Cesena.

• 4:19Dana Schwartz?

  A few years later, Uberto became the podestà and captain of Cesna, although he was apparently run out of the city not long after for showing some tyrannical tendencies. Some sources say that in 1304, Uberto got the ultimate revenge by killing his uncle Gianchotto. Supposedly, he was able to hide the murder by killing his uncle in battle, under the guise of their Guelf-Ghibellini animosities. In a bloody moment in Italian history, it would have been the perfect murder, really, hidden in plain sight. Unfortunately, though, we're pretty sure of Gianchotto's date of death,

• 5:03Dana Schwartz?

  and we have no sources verifying how he died, or the role Uberto may or may not have played in it. But the fact that the story has endured speaks to the dangerous ways political and familial tensions could and did intersect during this period. In any case, for the next couple of decades, Uberto seems to have committed himself to conquering more and more land on behalf of the Ghibellini faction, and of course, himself. In 1321, he allied with the Montrefalto family in an attack on Rimini.

• 5:44Dana Schwartz?

  By then, Uberto's uncle Pandolfo had become the city's podestà, and he had appointed Uberto's cousin Ferrantino to lead in the defense against the invasion. They defeated Uberto and his Ghibellini forces handily. This was the last straw. For Uberto, dealing with his family had felt like one betrayal after another. And so, a plan began to form in his head: the ultimate retribution. For a few years, he continued to operate as usual, but all the while, he was dreaming of taking over Rimini.

• 6:28Dana Schwartz?

  Finally, in 1324, he decided to put his plan into action. He reached out to his cousin, Ramberto.

• 6:38Dana Schwartz?

  Ramberto was the son of Giancotto by his second wife, Sambrazina de Zambrosi. We don't know his exact birth year, but it's possible that he was born while Uberto was still under his uncle's care. They might have been living in the same house. By now, Ramberto would have been at least nineteen years old. Ramberto had evidently inherited the power-hungry tendencies of his male family members, and Uberto bet that he could get him to turn on the family. Together, the two cousins made a plan to depose their uncle Pendolfo and take remoney for themselves.

• 7:21Dana Schwartz?

  But, as we know, if you remember the names in the introduction, Ramberto had other plans. He informed Pendolfo and Farantino of Uberto's treacherous proposal, and together they planned to exact their revenge for Uberto's various betrayals of the family, and by proxy, his father's. They invited Uberto to a banquet. Uberto came, thinking that he was the one in cahoots with Ramberto. It was a double-cross: he was wrong.

• 8:03Dana Schwartz?

  The assassination of Uberto Malatesta complete, the three murderers, Ramberto, Farantino, and Pendolfo, quickly set about covering up their crime. Although they were, between the three of them, powerful enough to get away with murder, it was still important to be smart about it, especially given that the person that they had just murdered was not only their kinsman, but also an ally of their most powerful enemy, the Montefeltro family. The three of them cleaned up the banquet and placed Uberto's body in a sack before burying him in a nearby town. Ramberto, Farantino, e Pendolfo

• 8:48Dana Schwartz?

  non sembrano aver mai avuto alcune conseguenze per il "murder" che hanno commesso a sangue. È probabile che il murtio, scandaloso come fosse, semplicemente sia scintillato nel background della violenza sempre presente, molto di cui si sfruttavano i confini tra personale e politico. Era murtio o era guerra? E chi avrebbe procurato il murtio? I magistrati a causa erano i veri persone che uccisero i loro parenti per ottenere il potere politico. In ogni caso, con il loro crimine non puniti, i murtori andarono a fare il loro business, combattendo i ghibli, e tentando di espandere il loro potere in vari modi sangue.

• 9:33Dana Schwartz?

  Ramberto era sicuro che si sarebbe smentito il suo buon riconoscimento nella famiglia facendo "foilando" il suo amico invecchiato e ingenuo parrere. Come potrebbe non averlo fatto? Aveva la possibilità di ingannarli quando Umberto proponeva il suo piano, e non lo accettò. Si è "doppia-crossato" Umberto. Sicuramente sarebbe stato riconosciuto per la sua lontananza con il resto della famiglia.

• 9:58Dana Schwartz?

  Due anni dopo la morte di Umberto nel 1326, Malatesta di Verrocchio morì. Era il figlio rimasto ultimo di Malatesta de Verrocchio. Dopo Paolo e Giancotto, i fratelli adulterati e uccisi, l'unico altro figlio, Malatesta, era morto circa dieci anni prima. E quindi Pendolfo aveva inherited la migliore parte dei dominiums di Malatesta. Prima di morire, dictò i suoi desideri per i successori di suoi vasti possedimenti, e, più importante, le lordie di Pissaro e Rimini.

• 10:39Dana Schwartz?

  L'ha lasciata la lordia di Pissaro a suo figlio, Malatesta II. Rimini l'ha lasciato a suo nipote e co-conspiratore nel murtio di Umberto, Farantino. A Ramberto non l'ha lasciato nulla.

• 10:56Dana Schwartz?

  We don't know why Ramberto was excluded in this way. He does seem to have been something of a rogue element of the family. We have no clear evidence that he ever married. And while he clearly held several properties and engaged in all sorts of military campaigns and intrigue, he doesn't seem to have ever held any real power. His father had been the lord of Pessaro. Perhaps he might have inherited it himself had he been older at the time of his father's death. But he was just a child and, unlike the monarchies in Northern Europe, where a child could inherit a throne with a regency during this period,

• 11:40Dana Schwartz?

  in the Italian city-states, it was more common for another family member to, well, just take the power for themselves outright. And so, when Pendolfo died, Ramberto was left with nothing. In a cruel twist of fate, perhaps now he knew how Uberto must have felt: deeply betrayed by his own family and angry enough to retaliate. Where Uberto had gone off and joined his family's political enemies in warfare, however, Ramberto decided to make his revenge a little more personal.

• 12:24Dana Schwartz?

  In July 1326, not long after Pendolfo's death, Ramberto planned another banquet, this time at his home right in Rimini. He invited practically the whole family, or at least any member of the family who could either inherit anything or exact vengeance. That is, all of the men. Historians agree that his plan was most likely to execute a mass family murder, a brutal, bloody, and theatrical end to any branch of the Malatesta line but his own. But his plan quickly hit a snag.

• 13:07Dana Schwartz?

  Ferantino showed up along with his family members, but Malatesta II was away fighting gibellines along the eastern shores of the Marquee, although a few of his family members still attended. Ramberto knew he could not execute his plan while someone was still alive to avenge the murders, especially not someone as powerful as Malatesta II, not to mention as ruthless. He had to think on his feet. He couldn't kill them, but maybe there was another way this could all work out. He decided to try to leverage his captives, to get Malatesta to help him get what he

• 13:52Dana Schwartz?

  felt he deserved. Ramberto began by releasing the members of Malatesta's family. Maybe, he thought, he could get Malatesta to align with him willingly against Ferantino to take Rimini, and of course, he could just deal with Malatesta himself later. It's possible Malatesta considered his cousin's proposal. It would certainly not have been the first time he double-crossed a relative. But we'll never know for sure, because as it would turn out, Ramberto's half-baked plan was foiled not by Malatesta or by Ferantino, but by one of the female relatives he seems

• 14:36Dana Schwartz?

  to have completely forgotten about.

• 14:40Dana Schwartz?

  Polenta Sana de Polenta, the wife of Ferentino's son, Malatesta Novella, apologies, really, for all of these names, but just know that this woman took to the streets of Rimini. She rallied the people against her cousin-in-law. He was holding her family, his own family, hostage. He planned to take Rimini for himself with not a thought for its people. It seems the support of the people, plus pressure from Polenta Sana's powerful family of origin, who were, as it happens, relatives of the long-since-murdered Francesca de Polenta,

• 15:23Dana Schwartz?

  convinced Malatesta to bring an army into Rimini. Cornered, Ramberto freed his family members/hostages and fled to one of his estates in the country. But he wouldn't stay away from Rimini for long.

• 15:45Dana Schwartz?

  Ramberto was reconciled with his family about a year after his attempted "family mass murder coup" in 1327, with the help of Cardinal Bertrand de Pujet, a papal diplomat. We don't know exactly how this truce came to be, but we can nonetheless appreciate the diplomat's clear skill. If a TV show had a priest character bringing a man who had only a year before attempted a mass murder of his whole family back into the fold, I think we would call it unrealistic writing. And yet, here we are. And the craziest part is, this happened twice.

• 16:30Dana Schwartz?

  A year or so after this papal diplomat's masterful reconciliation, Ramberto made another attempt on Rimini. This time, he went more by the late Uberto's playbook and allied with a political enemy of the Malatestas. He was aided by his brother, the archpriest Guido Malatesta, about whom we know very little, but who clearly also wished to topple his family's dynasty in Remini. As you can probably guess, the attempted takeover of Remini did not go well. Ramberto, Guido, and their supporters were soundly defeated and run out of the city.

• 17:14Dana Schwartz?

  But before long, the wayward Malatesta brothers were, once again, inexplicably, accepted back into the fold of their family, their trespasses apparently forgiven. Perhaps Ramberto thought it was odd that he was given so many chances by his family. He had seen several of his relatives slaughtered for offenses much less grievous than his own. Maybe he thought that his failures to execute his various treacherous plans made them somehow less treacherous, or less likely to be punished. When Malatesta Novello, the son of Ramberto's cousin, Farentino,

• 17:56Dana Schwartz?

  both of whom, let's remember, he had imprisoned in his home just a few years prior, invited Ramberto to his hunting lodge at Puglione in 1330 for a few days of hunting and hawking. Perhaps Ramberto thought he might finally really have a chance to truly and fully be restored to his family's good graces. As sources would later tell it, Ramberto arrived at the lodge in the early evening. Malatesta wasn't there. It was January, and so Ramberto sat by the fire, staving off the chill, waiting for his host to arrive.

• 18:39Dana Schwartz?

  When Malatesta finally strolled in as dusk settled over the palazzo, Ramberto fell to his knees before him. He begged Malatesta's forgiveness for the kidnapping, for the treachery, for all of it. Did he mean it? Was he truly sorry? To Malatesta, it didn't matter. As he placed one hand on his cousin's shoulder, he used his other hand to reach for his dagger. At this point, Ramberto must have realized this invitation had been a trap.

• 19:16Dana Schwartz?

  The banquet murderer had lost at his own game. While the rest of the family had, sincerely or otherwise, made amends with Ramberto, Malatesta had long since decided that he had had enough of the endless plots, machinations, and betrayals. He had lured Ramberto here with promises of a good hunt, a good meal, and perhaps forgiveness, but this had been the plan all along. Without a word, Malatesta plunged his dagger into Ramberto's neck, killing him almost instantly.

• 19:55Dana Schwartz?

  It was a fitting end for a man who represented a gruesome and dramatic era of his family's history. He lived his life tangled in the personal and the political, his violence guided by a craving for power and a thirst for vengeance that he shared with nearly every member of his family, much as they might have denied it. He had a flair for the theatrical, perhaps inherited from his father, whose murder of his own wife and brother became one of the best-known stories of star-crossed lovers in history, and had set the tone for half a century of parricide.

• 20:43Dana Schwartz?

  That's the end of the story of the many murders and betrayals plaguing the Malatesta family, but keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear about a few more for good measure.

• 21:35Dana Schwartz?

  I would love to end this episode by saying that Ramberto's murder closed the chapter of bloody violence in this family's history, but it very much did not. It would only be a few years before the Malatestas turned on each other again. Malatesta II, an uncle of Ramberto's, was known for much of his life by a nickname, Guastafamilia. As with Gianchotto before him, whose nickname was Scanchatto, which was a reference to his supposed ugly appearance, Guastafamilia's nickname was a nod to his most notable attribute. It means "family ruiner."

• 22:18Dana Schwartz?

  As it would turn out, Ramberto was not the only member of the family with designs on Remini. Perhaps harboring some resentment that his cousin Ferantino had inherited the powerful dominion upon his father's death, in 1330, he, this family ruiner, concocted a series of intrigues to have the papal legate ban Ferantino from Remini and allow him to take control of the city. That worked well enough until April 1333, when Malatesta and his brother Galeotto, who seems to have managed to stay out of the previous decades of family drama, were both captured in battle.

• 23:01Dana Schwartz?

  When they were freed sometime later, they had to reconquer Remini, and they fought alongside the papal troops to expand the family's dominion to Fossumbrone and Fano. In the meantime, they temporarily reinstated Ferantino as Lord of Remini. Ferantino ruled Remini again from 1334 until 1335, when Malatesta made his move. He captured Ferantino, his son Malatesta Novello, the one who, if you remember, had murdered Ramberto, knife in the neck, and his grandson Guido. It's likely that Malatesta murdered Malatesta and Guido during their imprisonment.

• 23:47Dana Schwartz?

  Ferentino was eventually freed by Nolfo de Montrefalto, the latest in a long line of Monte feltro enemies of the Malatesta family, and that sparked a war that ended in papal intervention. In 1342, Malatesta and Galeotto signed a peace with the Pope, confirming Galeotto as Lord of Fano, Malatesta, Lord of Remini, and his sons were given dominion in Pissaro. Ferentino was left out in the cold. His last dominion, Montiano, would be taken not long after by Malatesta and Galeotto, when they themselves betrayed the Pope and allied with the Ghibellines.

• 24:31Dana Schwartz?

  It's all very complicated, but what you need to know is Ferentino died in 1353, having lost pretty much all of his power, but also having seemingly managed to avoid being murdered by his cousin. Malatesta and Galeotto continued their bloody crusades, even having to pay a ransom in 1350 to retain Remini after one of their enemies attacked it in vengeance. In something of a twist, in 1363, Malatesta retired, leaving Remini to be shared between his sons and his brother Galeotto. Galeotto, it turns out,

• 25:14Dana Schwartz?

  would go on to outlive his nephews, the normal way, not the classic Malatesta murder way, and he would inherit the entirety of the Malatesta dominions. With the line of succession now much simpler, contained in one set of sons, rather than spread between brothers and nephews and cousins, it seems that the infighting between Malatestas finally ceased. And so, instead, they began to turn their gaze outward to patronage of literature and the arts, a series of advantageous political marriages, legitimizing children they had out of wedlock,

• 25:58Dana Schwartz?

  fighting in all manner of wars, and hosting banquets where nobody got murdered.

• 26:13Dana Schwartz?

  Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manke. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Courtney Sender, Amy Height, and Julia Milani. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer Reema Ilkayali, and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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• 27:56Dana Schwartz?

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.