Ermes Bentivoglio
Encyclopedia
Giovanni II Bentivoglio
Giovanni II Bentivoglio was an Italian nobleman who ruled as tyrant of Bologna from 1463 until 1506. He had no formal position, but held power as the city's "first citizen." The Bentivoglio family ruled over Bologna from 1443, and repeatedly attempted to consolidate their hold of the Signoria of...
, lord of Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, and Ginevra Sforza, daughter of Alessandro Sforza
Alessandro Sforza
Alessandro Sforza was an Italian condottiero and lord of Pesaro, the first of the Pesaro line of the Sforza family.-Biography:...
, lord of Pesaro
Pesaro
Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, on the Adriatic. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....
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Biography
Ermes was born in Bologna. In 1492 he was created knight by Ercole I d'Este and entered to the military service of the latter. Six years later, together with his father and brothers, he was made Imperial Knight by Emperor Maximilian IMaximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
. He frequently fought alongside his elder brother Annibale
Annibale II Bentivoglio
Annibale II Bentivoglio was an Italian condottiero, who was shortly lord of Bologna in 1511–1512. He was the last member of his family to hold power in the city. He was the son of Giovanni II Bentivoglio....
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In 1501, by order of his mother Ginevra, he had several members of the Marescotti family, rivals of the Bentivoglio, killed. In 1504 he married Iacopa Orsini, daughter of Giulio Orsini
Giulio Orsini
Giulio Orsini was an Italian condottiero. He was a member of the Orsini family.In the 1480s he fought alongside his brother Paolo against the rival Colonna in the Lazio...
. In 1506, when Pope Julius II ordered the Bentivoglio to leave Bologna, he took refuge first in Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
and then in Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
, together with Annibale. A reward was raised against them by the Pope; in spite of it, the two brother repeatedly attempted to reconquest their city, until they succeeded in 1511, thanks the help of the French. Annibale was declared new lord of Bologna; the following year, however, once the French left the population rose against them and the Bentivoglio had to leave the city forever.
Ermes Bentivoglio was killed in 1513 by Prospero Colonna
Prospero Colonna
Prospero Colonna , sometimes referred to as Prosper Colonna, was an Italian condottiero in the service of the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire during the Italian Wars.-Biography:...
in the battle of Olmo, near Vicenza. According to other sources, he drowned in the Bacchiglione
Bacchiglione
The Bacchiglione is a river that flows through northern Italy. It rises in the Alps and empties into the Gulf of Venice, on the Adriatic Sea, near Chioggia...
river during the retreat after the battle of Creazzo against the Spaniards.
He is portrayed, as a child, in Lorenzo Costa the Elder's Bentivoglio Altarpiece
Bentivoglio Altarpiece
The Bentivoglio Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Costa the Elder, dating to August 1488. It is displayed in the Bentivoglio Chapel of the church of San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna, Italy....
in San Giacomo Maggiore
San Giacomo Maggiore
San Giacomo Maggiore is a church in Bologna, central Italy. It was founded by the Augustinian Order in 1267 and houses, among the rest, the Bentivoglio Chapel, featuring numerous Renaissance artworks.-History:...
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