Giovanni II Bentivoglio

From Freepedia

Giovanni II Bentivoglio (1443-1508) was a 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 reinstate the rule of the Signoria, the nobility. Giovanni was a child when his father Annibale I, then chief magistrate of the commune, was murdered by his rival Battista Canneschi in June 1445.

Annibale I had been succeeded by Sante I (1426-1463), 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. When Sante died in 1463, Giovanni II Bentivoglio successfully made himself lord of the commune, although it was nominally a fief of the church under a papal legate.

Sante had married Ginevra Sforza (1440-1507) on March 8, 1454. After his death, Giovanni married her on May 2, 1464. Ginevra bore Giovanni Bentivoglio 16 children, 11 of whom survived childhood.[1]

Of Giovanni's ascendency, Machiavelli writes that Annibale, "having been murdered by the Canneschi, who had conspired against him, not one of his family survived but Messer Giovanni, who was in childhood: immediately after his assassination the people rose and murdered all the Canneschi. This sprung from the popular goodwill which the house of Bentivoglio enjoyed in those days in Bologna; which was so great that, although none remained there after the death of Annibale who were able to rule the state, the Bolognese, having information that there was one of the Bentivoglio family in Florence, who up to that time had been considered the son of a blacksmith [Sante], sent to Florence for him and gave him the government of their city, and it was ruled by him until Messer Giovanni came in due course to the government." (The Prince, Chapter XIX) [2][3]

Giovanni II Bentivoglio ruled with a stern sway for nearly half a century, maintaining a splendid court and beautifying the city, in particular developing its waterways. The misery of the city's poor, however, stood in stark contrast to the splendor of the city and its festivities.

Among the projects he commissioned were the frescoes depicting the life of Saint Cecilia in the Oratorio di Santa Cecilia through the archway of San Giacomo. These fresoces were painted by artists living in the city at the time: Francesco Francia, Lorenzo Costa and Amico Aspertini.[4] Lorenzo Costa's Madonna Enthroned, Thanked by Giovanni II and his Wife Ginevra Sforza and their Children was commissioned by Giovanni Bentivoglio as a votive offering of thanks for the family’s escape from an attempted massacre by the Malvezzi family.[5] Bentivoglio also ordered the Palazzo (City Hall) to be built by the architect G. Nadi, starting in 1498. The Bolognese architect Aristotile Fioravanti, who later settled in Russia, created the plans for the reconstruction of the Palazzo del Podestà, but the reconstruction was not carried out by Bentivoglio until 1484–94.

Bentivoglio had managed to resist the designs of Cesare Borgia, but on October 7, 1506, the expansive Pope Julius II issued a Bull deposing and excommunicating Bentivoglio and placing the city under interdict. Bentivoglio and his family fled, and Julius II entered Bologna triumphantly on November 10. Bentivoglio died in exile.

Bentivoglio is said to have consulted the astrologer Luca Gaurico about his destiny. Unpleased with Gaurico's prophecy, Bentivoglio subjected Gaurico to the torture of mancuerda and exiled the astrologer from the city.

In exile, the Bentivoglio family established themselves in Ferrara and produced several important prelates.

A son of Giovanni, Annibale II (1469-1540), married Lucrezia d'Este, an illegitimate daughter of Duke Ercole I of Ferrara, in 1487. He served as a condottiere. In rebellion against Julius II, he reentered Bologna in 1511 with the help of the French and ruled for only a year. He was hated by other rival families, such as the Ghisilieri and the Canetoli, and was subsequently assassinated.

Further reading

• Georgia Clarke, "Magnificence and the City: Giovanni II Bentivoglio and Architecture in Fifteenth-Century Bologna," Renaissance Studies, Vol. 13 (1999), 397-411