Pandolfo III Malatesta
Encyclopedia
Fano
Fano is a town and comune of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort 12 km southeast of Pesaro, located where the Via Flaminia reaches the Adriatic Sea...
, a member of the famous House of Malatesta
House of Malatesta
The House of Malatesta was an Italian family that ruled over Rimini from 1295 until 1500, as well as other lands and towns in Romagna.Malatesta da Verucchio The House of Malatesta was an Italian family that ruled over Rimini from 1295 until 1500, as well as (in different periods) other lands and...
.
Biography
He was the second son of Galeotto I MalatestaGaleotto I Malatesta
Galeotto I Malatesta was an Italian condottiero, who was lord of Rimini, Fano, Ascoli Piceno, Cesena and Fossombrone.-Biography:Born in Rimini, he the son of Pandolfo I Malatesta and the brother of Malatesta II Malatesta. In 1333 he was captured while besieging Ferrara, but was soon freed and...
. After the latter's death, the Malatesta lands were divided: he received Fano, while his brothers Carlo
Carlo I Malatesta
Carlo I Malatesta was an Italian condottiero during the Wars in Lombardy and lord of Rimini, Fano, Cesena and Pesaro...
, Andrea
Andrea Malatesta
Andrea Malatesta was an Italian condottiero, a member of the Malatesta family of Romagna. He is also known as Malatesta da Cesena, a city he had inherited in 1385 from his father, Galeotto, together with Cervia and Bertinoro...
and Galeotto Novello inherited Rimini
Rimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
, Cesena
Cesena
Cesena is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, south of Ravenna and west of Rimini, on the Savio River, co-chief of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. It is at the foot of the Apennines, and about 15 km from the Adriatic Sea.-History:Cesena was originally an Umbrian...
and Cervia
Cervia
Cervia is a town and comune in the province of Ravenna , central Italy.-History:Originally called Ficocle, it was probably of Greek origin and was located midway from current Cervia and Ravenna...
, respectively. Galeotto's sons were educated under humanists like Giacomo Allegretti and the famous Francesco Filelfo
Francesco Filelfo
Francesco Filelfo was an Italian Renaissance humanist.-Biography:Filelfo was born at Tolentino, in the March of Ancona. He is believed to be a third cousin of Leonardo Da Vinci. At the time of his birth, Petrarch and the students of Florence had already brought the first act in the recovery of...
.
Pandolfo began his career as condottiero at the age of 18, leading a band of masnadieri to ravage Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
. In 1388 he accepted a condotta from Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
against the Carraresi family of Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
. In 1393 he fought with Andrea against the Ordelaffi of Forlì
Forlì
Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...
, but his occupation of Todi
Todi
Todi is a town and comune of the province of Perugia in central Italy. It is perched on a tall two-crested hill overlooking the east bank of the river Tiber, commanding distant views in every direction.In the 1990s, Richard S...
and Narni
Narni
Narni is an ancient hilltown and comune of Umbria, in central Italy, with 20,100 inhabitants, according to the 2003 census. At an altitude of 240 m , it overhangs a narrow gorge of the Nera River in the province of Terni. It is very close to the Geographic center of Italy...
, then part of the neighbouring Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, attracted him the excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
of Pope Boniface IX
Pope Boniface IX
Pope Boniface IX , born Piero Tomacelli, was the second Roman Pope of the Western Schism from November 2, 1389, until October 1, 1404...
. Later pardoned, he fought against the Visconti
House of Visconti
Visconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families: The first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia where they became rulers of Gallura...
of Milan in a League supporting Francesco I Gonzaga
Francesco I Gonzaga
thumb|Portrait of Francesco I Gonzaga at [[Ambras Castle]], [[Innsbruck]].Francesco I Gonzaga was ruler of Mantua from 1382 to 1407. He was also a condottiero....
of 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...
.
Pandolfo then went on crusade in the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
, returning in 1402. Hired by Gian Galeazzo Visconti
Gian Galeazzo Visconti
Gian Galeazzo Visconti , son of Galeazzo II Visconti and Bianca of Savoy, was the first Duke of Milan and ruled the late-medieval city just before the dawn of the Renaissance...
together with his brother Andrea, he fought in the victorious battle of Casalecchio
Battle of Casalecchio
The Battle of Casalecchio took place on 26 June 1402 near the town of Casalecchio di Reno, near Bologna. At this battle, a Bolognese army under Giovanni I Bentivoglio opposed Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, and his allies, the Malatesta of Rimini and the Gonzaga of Mantua...
against 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 was subsequently named governor of that city. After Gian Galeazzo's death, he acted as advisor of his widow Caterina. He took advantage of that position, as well as of other condottas for Italian states, to enlarge his small seigniory and ravage the neighbouring states and cities (like Trezzo
Trezzo sull'Adda
Trezzo sull'Adda is a comune in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 30 km northeast of Milan on the Adda River.The Naviglio Martesana canal starts from the Adda in Trezzo's territory....
and Como
Como
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....
in 1403, followed by Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
in 1404, which he received from the Visconti as payment of his 200,000 ducati credit, and Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
in 1407).
In 1413 he was created capitano generale (commander-in-chief) of the Venetian armies, and fought against King Sigismund of Hungary. A victory at Udine
Udine
Udine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,439 in 2009, and that of its urban area was 175,000.- History :Udine is the historical...
and a skillful retreat granted him a palace in Venice, and the title of Duke of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, which he refused. However, his territories in Lombardy were soon attacked by Francesco Bussone, condottiero of the new Visconti Duke Filippo Maria
Filippo Maria Visconti
Filippo Maria Visconti was ruler of Milan from 1412 to 1447.-Biography:Filippo Maria Visconti, who had become nominal ruler of Pavia in 1402, succeeded his assassinated brother Gian Maria Visconti as Duke of Milan in 1412. They were the sons of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Gian Maria's predecessor, by...
and provided with a strong army. Pandolfo lost Bergamo and Brescia by 1421. In 1424, in the course of the First War in Lombardy
Wars in Lombardy
The wars in Lombardy were a series of conflicts fought in central-northern Italy between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan, and their different allies. They lasted from 1425 until the signing of the Treaty of Lodi in 1454...
, the Florentine army led by the Malatesta brothers (with 10,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry) was severely defeated at the battle of Zagonara
Battle of Zagonara
|title= Makers of modern strategy: from Machiavelli to the nuclear age|last= Paret, etc all|first=|authorlink=|coauthors= Peter Paret, Gordon Alexander Craig, Felix Gilbert|year= 1986|publisher= Oxford University Press|location=|isbn= 0198200978|page= 21...
. Carlo was captured and Pandolfo fled to Cesena with a few men-at-arms. He therefore lost Imola
Imola
thumb|250px|The Cathedral of Imola.Imola is a town and comune in the province of Bologna, located on the Santerno river, in the Emilia-Romagna region of north-central Italy...
and Faenza
Faenza
Faenza is an Italian city and comune, in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated 50 km southeast of Bologna.Faenza is noted for its manufacture of majolica ware glazed earthenware pottery, known from the name of the town as "faience"....
to the Visconti, but managed to keep Fano thank to the intercession of Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V , born Odo Colonna, was Pope from 1417 to 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism .-Biography:...
.
In the following years Malatesta devote to humanistic studies and to embellish his city.
Pandolfo Malatesta died in Fano in 1427. He is buried in the Church of St. Francesco in Fano. The grave was built by his illegitimate son, Sigismondo Malatesta, one of the most outstanding condottieri of the 15th century. His other son Domenico was lord of Cesena from 1429 to 1456.