They then drew from his obscurity in Florence the bastard Santi Bentivoglio, who found himself suddenly lifted from a wool-factory to a throne.
Whether he was a genuine Bentivoglio or not, mattered little.

The house had become necessary to Bologna, and its popularity had been baptized in the bloodshed of four massacres.

What remains of its story can be briefly told.

When Cesare Borgia besieged Bologna, the Marescotti intrigued with him, and eight of their number were sacrificed by the Bentivogli in spite of their old services to the dynasty.

The survivors, by the help of Julius II., returned from exile in 1536, to witness the final banishment of the Bentivogli and to take part in the destruction of the palace, where their ancestors had nailed the hearts of the Canetoli upon the walls.
[1] The family of the Prefetti fed up the murderer in their castle and then gave him alive to be eaten by their hounds.
[2] Sforza Attendolo killed Terzi by a spear-thrust in the back.
Pandolfo Petrucci murdered Borghese, who was his father-in-law.
Raimondo Malatesta was stabbed by his two nephews disguised as hermits.