More Malatesta Murders

eighty five. They all had a lovely meal together, and then they killed Uberto. Ramberto 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 Farentino and uncle Pandolpho. So it's no surprise really that two or so years later, when Pandolpho died and cut Romberto out of the line of succession of Reminy, the oh so successful banquet they had all thrown together was

on Ramberto's mind. What better revenge, he must have thought, than to stage a repeat performance. So Ramberto 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. Ramberto was going to kill them all. I'm Dana Schwartz and this is noble blood. Uberto Maltesta grew up in the shadow of his father's death. When Uberto was a teenager, his father, Paulo,

was killed alongside his lover Francesca de Polenta. The murder was perpetrated by Paolo's own brother, Jianchoto, who also happened to be Francesco's husband. Gianchoto had caught them in flagrante after what was apparently a year's long passionate affair. 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 Gianchoto's tutelage. This was

evidently and understandably an unbearable arrangement. By twelve ninety seven, Uberto fled Remini, and he took refuge with a family of Gibelines, enemies of his gwelp sympathizing family. Just as a reminder, the Ghibelines and Guelphs were rival groups here, with the Guelphs supporting the Pope and the Ghibelines supporting the Holy Roman Emperor. In Uberto's new surroundings, he developed a Ghibeline leaning that mixed well with his desire for

revenge against his family. He participated in numerous military campaigns with the Ghibelines, including one in thirteen hundred in which he defeated his own uncle Malatstino, conquering the city of Chesna. A few years later, Uberto became the Pudesta and captain of Chesna, although he was apparently run out of the city not long after for showing some tyrannical tendencies. Some sources say that in thirteen oh four Uberto got the

ultimate revo by killing his uncle John Choto. Supposedly, he was able to hide the murder by killing his uncle in battle under the guise of their Gwelph Gibbeline 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 Jannchoto's date of death, 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 Gibeline faction and of course himself. In thirteen twenty one, he allied with the Montrafelto family in an attack on Remani. By then, Uberto's uncle Pandolfo had become the city's Podesta, and he had appointed Uberto's cousin Ferantino to lead in the defense against the invasion. They defeated Umberto and his Gibelin 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 Remany. Finally, in thirteen twenty four, he decided to put his plan into action. He reached out to his cousin Ramberto Romberto was the son of Jianchoto by his second wife, Sambrasina

de Zambrasi. 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

Pandolfo and take remedy for themselves. But as we know if you remember the names in the introduction, Ramberto had other plans. He informed Pandolpho and Farentino 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 fathers. They invited Uberto to a banquet. Uberto came, thinking that he was the one in cahoot with Ramberto. It was a double cross. He was wrong. The assassination of Uberto

Malatesta complete the three murderers. Ramberto Farantino, and Pandulfo 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 kinsmen, 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, and Pandulfo don't seem to have ever faced any consequences for the cold blooded murder they committed. It's likely the murder scandalous, as it was simply faded into the background of ever present violence, much of it straddling the boundaries between personal and political. Was it murder or was it warfare? And who was going to prosecute the murder? The magistrates in charge were the very people who were murdering their

relatives to gain political power. In any case, With their crime unpunished, the murderers went about their business, fighting the Ghibelins and attempting to expand their power in various bloody ways. Ramberto was sure that he had cemented his good standing in the family by foiling his wayward cousin's treasonous plot. How could he not have He had had a chance to betray them when Umberto proposed his plan, and he

didn't take it. He double crossed Uberto. Surely he would be rewarded for his loyalty with the rest of the family. Two years after Uberto's death, in thirteen twenty six, Pandulfo Maltesta died. He was the last remaining son of Malitesta de Verrocchio, after Paolo and John Choto, the adulteress and murderous brothers. The only other son, Maltestino, had died about ten years earlier, and so Pandolfo had inherited the better

part of the Malitesta dominions. Before he died, he dictated his wishes for the successions of his vast holdings and most importantly, the lordships of Pesaro and Remy. He left the lordship of Pesaro to his own son, Maltesta. The second riminy he left to his nephew and co conspirator in the murder of Uberto Farantino, to Ramberto. He left nothing. 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 Pesaro. 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 which the regency, during this period 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 Pandolpho 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. In July thirteen twenty six, not long after Pandolpho's death, Ramberto planned another banquet, this time at his home right in Rimany. 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. Farantino showed up, but along with his family members, but Malatesta the Second was away fighting ghibelines along the eastern

shores of the Marque. 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 the Second, 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 Mali Testa to help him get what he felt he deserved. Ramberto began by releasing

the members of Maltesta's family. Maybe he thought he could get Malatesta to align with him willingly against Farentino to take reminy, and of course he could just deal with Malatesta himself later. It's possible Mali Testa considered his cousin's proposal. It would certainly not have been the first time he double crossed a relative, but will never know for sure, because, as it would turn out, Ramberto's half baked plan was foiled not by Malatesta or by Farentino, but by one

of the female relatives. He seems to have completely forgotten about, Polentissana de Polenta, the wife of Farentino's son Mela Testino Novella. Apologies really for all of these names, but just know that this woman took to the straits of Remeny. She rallied the people against her cousin in law. He was holding her family, his own family hostage. He planned to take remedy for himself with not a thought for its people.

It seems the support of the people, plus pressure from Polentisana's powerful family of origin, who were, as it happens, relatives of the long since murdered Francesca de Polenta convinced Mala Testa to bring an army into Rmany. Cornered, Ramberto freed his family members, slash hostages and fled to one of his estates in the country. But he wouldn't stay

away from remedy for long. Ramberto was reconciled with his family about a year after his attempted family mass murderer coup in thirteen twenty seven, with the help of Cardinal Bertrand de Pouget, a papal diplomat. We don't know exactly how this truth 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. A year or so after this papal Diplomat's masterful reconciliation, Ramberto made an another attempt on remeny. 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 Maltesta, about whom we know very little, but who clearly also

wished to topple his family's dynasty in Remeny. As you can probably guess, the attempted takeover of Remedy did not go well. Ramberto, Guido, and their supporters were soundly defeated and run out of the city. But before long the wayward Mala Testa brothers were once again inexplicably accepted back into the folds of their family, their trespasses apparently forgiven. Perhaps Romberto 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 Malatistino Novello, the son of Ramberto's cousin Farentino, both of whom let's remember he had imprisoned in his home just a few years prior, invited Ramberto to his hunting lodge at Pujano in thirteen

thirty for a few days of hunting and hawking. Perhaps Romberto 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. Malatustino wasn't there. It was January, and so Ramberto sat by the fire, staving off the chill,

waiting for his host to arrive. When Mali Testino finally strolled in, as dusk settled over the palazzo, Ramberto fell to his knees before him, he begged Mala Testino's forgiveness for the kidnapping, for the treachery, for all of it. Did he mean it? Was he truly sorry? To Mala Testino, 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. The banquet murderer had lost at his own game. While the rest of the family had sincerely or otherwise made amends with Ramberto, Malatestino 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, Malatistino plunged his dagger into Ramberto's neck,

killing him almost instantly. 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. Is 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 flare 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 cross lovers in history and had set the tone for half a century of parricide. 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.

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. Mali Testa, the second an uncle of Ramberto's, was known for much of his life by a nickname guas the Familia, as with John Chotto before him, whose nickname was Scunchot, though, which was a reference to his

supposed ugly appearance. Guilsta Familia's nickname was a nod to his most notable attribute, it means family ruiner. As it would turn out, Ramberto was not the only member of the family with designs on remeny, perhaps harboring some resentment that his cousin Farantino had inherited the powerful dominion upon his father's death in thirteen thirty, he this family ruiner concocted a series of intrigues to have the Papal legate ban Farentino from Rimini and allow him to take control

of the city. That worked well enough until April thirteen thirty three, when Maltesta and his brother Gallioto, who seems to have managed to stay out of the previous decades of family drama, were both captured in battle. When they were freed some time later, they had to reconquer Rumeny, and they fought alongside the papal troops to expand the family's dominion to Fossombrone and Fano. In the meantime, they

temporarily reinstated Farentino as Lord of Remedy. Farentino ruled Remedy again from thirteen thirty four until thirteen thirty five, when Malitesta made his move. He captured Farentino, his son Maltstino Novello, the one who, if you remember, had murdered Ramberto knife in the neck, and his grandson Guido. It's likely that

Malitesta murdered Mala Testino and Guido during their imprisonment. Farentino was eventually freed Bynulfo de Montrefelto the latest in a long line of Montefeltro enemies of the Malatesta family, and that sparked a war that ended in papal intervention. In thirteen forty two, Maltesta and Gallioto signed a piece with the Pope confirming Gallioto as Lord of Fano. Mala Testa lord of Remeny, and his sons were given dominion in Pesaro.

Farentino was left out in the cold. His last dominion Montiano would be taken not long after by Malatesta and Gallioto when they themselves betrayed the pope and allied with the Ghibelins. It's all very complicated, but what you need to know is Farentino died in thirteen fifty three, having lost pretty much all of his power, but also having

seemingly managed to avoid being murdered by his cousin. Mala Testa and Gallioto continued their bloody crusades, even having to pay a ransom in thirteen fifty to retain remedy after one of their enemies attacked it in vengeance. In something of a twist, in thirteen sixty three, mala Testa retired, leaving remedy to be shared between his sons and his

brother Gallioto. Gallioto, it turns out, would go on to outlive his nephews the normal way, not the classic Maltesta 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, fighting in all manner of wars, and hosting banquets where nobody got murdered. Noble Blood is a production of iHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey.

Noble Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Milaney. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producerrima Ill Kali 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.