Ermes Bentivoglio
Born in 1475, Ermes
Bentivoglio was the son of Giovanni I and Ginevra Sforza. In 1492 he was at the
service of the Duke of Ferrara, Ercole d'Este. When Bologna felt menaced by Cesare
Borgia in 1501, Ermes organized the murder of Agamennone Marescotti and his family,
as they were suspected of working secretly with Borgia, Later his father Giovanni,
Pope Alexander VI and Cesare Borgia struck a deal for peace agreement. In
the agreement, among other things, it was established the matrimony of Ermes with
Iacopa, a daughter of Giulio Orsini. In October 1502 there was a new preoccupation
about Cesare Borgia's intentions. Thus Ermes participated, as a representative
of his father, in the Diet of La Magione with other lords of central Italy in
order to establish a common understanding about Borgia's perceived threat. But
a month later Giovanni backed out of La Magione's agreement and preferred to renew
his old peace agreement with the Borgias. In this occasion, the earlier understanding
about the matrimony of Ermes with Iacopa was reconfirmed by the Pope and by Giovanni.
The wedding took place two years later in December 1504. By this time Pope Alexander
VI had died. The new Pope, Julius II, in 1506, expelled Giovanni from Bologna
and Ermes went with his father and brother with the troops of Charles d'Amboise,
Attempts were made by them to return to Bologna, but with negative results. Finally
in May 1511 the Bolognese, having expelled the papal legate, recalled the Bentivoglios
to their city. Two year later, in 1513, Ermes was killed by the Spaniards of Prospero
Colonna in the battle of Olmo, near Vicenza.