Land, Power, and Redemption in the Life of Melchiorre Ramazzotto
Melchiorre Ramazzotto (also known as Ramazzotto da Scarilacasino, Marchionne da Scaricalasino, Armaciotto dei Ramazzotti, Il Prete Ramazzotto, and Ramazzotto da Forlì) was from Monghidoro and held the title Count of Tossignano. He was the father of Pompeo Ramazzotto and of peasant origin.
Born: 1464
Death: 1539
| Year, Month | State, Comp. ventura | Opponent | Command | Area of Activity | Actions Undertaken and Other Salient Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ………… | Emilia and Tuscany | He becomes orphaned by the death of his father Alessandro, murdered for private interests by Giulio Panzacchi with the assistance of some mountaineers. The murderer later falls into his hands: Melchiorre Ramazzotto takes no revenge; he allows him to return without difficulty to Scarilacasino (Monghidoro). He is banished by the Bolognese for committing numerous murders; he takes refuge in the Florentine territory. | |||
| Florence | Tuscany | He serves at the pay of the Medici. | |||
| 1494 | |||||
| Sept. | Naples | France | Romagna | He reaches the camp of the King of Naples in Romagna with 600 infantry; offers his services to the Aragonese to fight the French; Bernardo Dovizi exerts pressure on Piero de’ Medici so that he may be hired by the Florentines. | |
| 1495 | |||||
| Dec. | Medici | Florence | Tuscany | A partisan of the Medici attacks merchant convoys in the Mugello near Cavriglia: the reaction of the podestà of Firenzuola is swift and captures several of his men. | |
| 1498 | |||||
| Nov. | Venice | Florence | Romagna | He is in the Rimini area with Giovanni da Feltre to recruit infantry. He fails to bring his company up to strength. | |
| Dec. | Romagna | He moves to Val di Bagno with Vincenzo Naldi and Giovanni da Feltre at the head of 800 infantry; moves to support Ramberto Malatesta of Sogliano. He follows the provveditore Giovanni Paolo Gradenigo at Caresto and contributes to defeating 1,000 Florentine infantry commanded by Chiriaco dal Borgo. | |||
| 1499 | |||||
| Jan. | Marche, Romagna, Tuscany | He is reported at Casteldelci with only 50 infantry because the rest have fled. He is given command of another 125 infantry; strikes toward Verghereto to cut enemy supply lines engaged on Monte della Verna, Montalone, and Bibbiena: some prisoners offer to serve the Venetians with several broken lances of Paolo Vitelli. He is tasked with escorting a mule convoy carrying supplies to troops in nearby mountains. He is sent ahead as vanguard; allowed passage while the main Venetian force is attacked by Paolo Vitelli and Gaspare da San Severino. The mules are seized, the official carrying money (Marco di Santi) is captured, and the mounted crossbowmen and escort infantry flee with Astorre Baglioni. Pursued by the latter, Ramazzotto counterattacks the Florentines and defeats Francesco da Montedoglio and Giannotto Francese: several captains with 25 broken lances are captured; he also seizes a banner of the Francese and recovers forty mules. He returns to Verghereto; is reported in serious distress with Giampaolo Manfrone. | |||
| Feb. | Romagna | He is in the Rimini area recruiting infantry. | |||
| May | His conduct is praised in Venice by provveditore Lorenzo Giustinian, followed by provveditore Giacomo Venier. | ||||
| July | 150 infantry | Emilia | He kills a local podestà in the Bolognese territory. | ||
| Aug. | Venice | Milan | 170 infantry | Lombardy | At Pontevico. He supervises the construction of a bridge over the Oglio River. |
| 1501 | |||||
| Bologna | Church | Romagna | In the service of Giovanni Bentivoglio. He is sent to defend Faenza threatened by the troops of Cesare Borgia. | ||
| May | Church | Florence | Tuscany | With the fall of Faenza he enters the service of Duke Valentino. At the head of 1,000 men he attempts to take Firenzuola from the Florentines. Repelled by Captain Ceccotto Tosinghi, he is recalled by Borgia, who apologizes for his men’s depredations. His opponents place a bounty on his head: 2,000 ducats for his death, 3,000 for his capture, with the promise of lifting any ban for the perpetrator and two others. | |
| 1502 | |||||
| June | 500 infantry | Romagna | He passes through Cesena. He reaches Cesare Borgia and Piero de’ Medici in Urbino. | ||
| Nov. | Bologna | Church | Emilia and Tuscany | He returns to the pay of Giovanni Bentivoglio. He opposes Borgia at Castel San Pietro Terme: following an agreement, he returns to Bologna. He escorts Ermes Bentivoglio to Florence with 200 infantry; upon return, all his men are dismissed except 40 infantry with whom he garrisons the bastion of San Michele in Bosco. | |
| Dec. | Emilia | Dismissed, he finds himself without military command. | |||
| 1503 | |||||
| Oct. | Malatesta | Church | Romagna | Upon the death of Pope Alexander VI, he joins with the Malatesta to fight the Borgia militias. At the head of 150 cavalry and some infantry, he liberates twelve citizens of Rimini held hostage in Cesena alongside Carlo Malatesta; appropriates spoils valued at 5,000 ducats. He storms the suburbs of Rimini, forcing Giovanni da Sassatello to take refuge in the citadel; he disrupts negotiations between castellan Maldonato Valdonsello and the Venetians to cede the fortress for 6,000 ducats. | |
| Nov.–Dec. | Riario | Church | Romagna | He enters Imola on behalf of the Riario, barricades himself in the fortress, and negotiates with Manfrone to hand it to the Venetians. The inhabitants authorize him to sell the fortress to a party of his choosing: by this act, with Guido Vaina and Giovanni da Sassatello, he restores Imola to the authority of Julius II. | |
| 1504 | |||||
| Jan.–Feb. | Church | Lazio, Romagna, and Emilia | He is summoned to Rome. He is well received despite rumors of poisoning at Acquapendente by Cardinal Raffaello Riario. He obtains a monthly provision of 25 ducats and returns to Romagna. He visits Imola and Caprara with twenty cavalry, raising concerns about his intentions. | ||
| Mar. | Church | Forlì (Borgia) | Romagna | He returns to Imola with Giovanni da Sassatello; gathers infantry for the siege of Forlì. En route, he meets Niccolò Orsini and Giacomazzo da Venezia, alarming them by his presence. Several of his partisans are killed in the Bolognese; in reprisal, he orders three members of the opposing party killed at San Paolo di Ravone: one has a shoulder, arm, and heart removed, and all are covered in wounds rendering them almost unrecognizable. The Senate of Bologna dispatches cavalry and infantry to capture him and destroy the houses of his followers. The troops must retreat due to the large number of mountaineers supporting him. Together with Sassatello, 300 cavalry and 300 infantry, he besieges Ludovico Ordelaffi in the fortress of Forlì; upon Ordelaffi’s capitulation, he remains as guardian of the stronghold. | |
| Apr. | Romagna | Nanne Morattini, an Ordelaffi supporter, orders him and Sassatello to camp outside Forlì: Ramazzotto enters the city, bolstering papal partisans. He also besieges the Cesena fortress castellan; several infantry of his companies are killed in a skirmish. He returns to Forlì with Giovanni da Sassatello and the papal legate. Suspected by the latter of disloyalty to the Papal States, frequent skirmishes erupt between the two companies at Porta di San Pietro and Porta Cotogni. Expelled from the city, he takes refuge in Bertinoro. After ten days, both condottieri are summoned back to Forlì by the legate, Archbishop Giovanni Sacchi of Ragusa. | |||
| June | Sassatello | Vaina | Romagna | He supports Sassatello in Imola against the claim of the Vaina. He storms the city with 150 cavalry and many infantry, plundering their houses. He moves to Forlì and is involved in the conflicts between the Morattini and the Numai. The populace rebels. Melchiorre Ramazzotto is driven from the city with Giovanni da Sassatello. | |
| Aug. | Romagna | Some of his infantry are killed by the Morattini in Forlì. | |||
| 1505 | |||||
| ………… | Church | Morattini | Romagna | He guards the fortress of Strada Maggiore in Forlì when the Morattini, leading 600 men, attempt to enter the city. The attempt fails. | |
| July | Numai | Morattini | Romagna | He returns to Forlì with ten lances, 50 light cavalry, and 500 infantry to support the Numai: now the Morattini abandon the city. As the latter continue to ravage the territory, Ramazzotto gathers 100 cavalry (men-at-arms and light cavalry) and, with Count Obizzo Alidosi, moves against them. The Morattini are soon forced to seek refuge in the Ravenna territory under Venetian protection. He must soon leave Forlì due to a popular uprising in which many of his partisans are again killed. | |
| 1506 | |||||
| Apr. | Church | Romagna | He guards Cesena with 200 infantry. | ||
| Aug.–Sept. | Church | Bologna | Romagna | In Forlì, Imola, and Cesena to recruit 400 infantry for the papal forces and to fight the Bentivoglio. | |
| Oct. | 750 infantry | Romagna | In Cesena for the review of the entire papal army. | ||
| Nov. | Emilia | He accompanies Pope Julius II on his solemn entry into Bologna. He remains on guard with 600 infantry. | |||
| 1507 | |||||
| May | Church | Bentivoglio | Emilia | With Giovanni da Sassatello, he defends Bologna when threatened by Annibale Bentivoglio and his brothers, who have gathered 10,000 men. | |
| July | Tuscany | He raises troops for the Venetians in the Mugello. | |||
| 1508 | |||||
| Jan. | Emilia | At Castel San Pietro Terme when a revolt breaks out in Bologna led by Gaspare Scappi, a Bentivoglio supporter. | |||
| June | Emilia | By the order of Cardinal of Pavia Francesco Aldosi, he arrests Alberto da Castello in Bologna, who is strangled and decapitated along with three other members of the Council of Forty. Their heads are displayed on mats beneath the railing of the Palazzo del Podestà. | |||
| Emilia | Julius II grants Melchiorre Ramazzotto exemption from all duties and taxes in the territories of Bologna and Imola. | ||||
| 1509 | |||||
| Feb. | Church | Venice | 900 infantry | Emilia | He musters 900 men provisioned in the Bolognese and conducts their review in the capital. |
| Apr. | Emilia and Romagna | He is reported at Castel Bolognese with Sassatello commanding 300 light cavalry and 6,000 infantry from Bologna, Spain, and other regions. With Brunoro da Forlì and Ludovico della Mirandola, he penetrates Val di Lamone and reaches near Brisighella, defended by Manfrone. He is summoned to Castel Bolognese by the Cardinal of Pavia. During his absence, his soldiers quarrel over the loot from the sack of Brisighella: the fight costs two Spanish soldiers their lives and requires the intervention of Captain General Francesco Maria della Rovere. | |||
| May | Romagna | He occupies the entire Val di Lamone; besieges Russi; with the fall of Faenza, attacks Ravenna. He billets at the monastery of San Marino and has numerous skirmishes with the Venetians attempting to dislodge him from this position. | |||
| Nov. | Emilia | He is sent to aid Duke of Ferrara Alfonso d’Este. Leading squads of Romagnoli and Bolognese mountaineers, he attacks the Venetians on the Po with Ippolito d’Este; remains wounded by an arrow during a river engagement. His troops clash with the Gascon infantry of Melitot d’Allègre over loot division, killing 40 French soldiers. He is in Bologna. | |||
| Dec. | Emilia | The papal forces skimp on pay; his company practically dissolves. | |||
| 1510 | |||||
| Romagna | He garrisons the citadel of Ravenna. He is praised for his valor by its inhabitants. | ||||
| Aug. | Church | France, Ferrara | 800 infantry | Emilia | He moves with his men through Borgo Panigale; for 15 miles all houses are plundered. |
| Sept. | Emilia | He supports rebels against the Estes in Frignano with seven infantry banners; withdraws upon news of approaching troops under Bersanino Montecuccoli. | |||
| Oct. | Emilia | He is driven from Carpi by Chaumont’s French. He joins Giampaolo Baglioni and Guido Vaina at the Pass of Sant’Ambrogio to oppose enemy advances. | |||
| Dec. | Emilia | He is engaged in the siege of Mirandola leading Spanish and Neapolitan infantry; numerous infantry, light cavalry, 60 men-at-arms, and several artillery pieces defend the site. He cooperates with Venetian and Gonzaga contingents against the French and Estes. Logistical difficulties due to winter rigs, transport issues, and lack of provisions initially slow operations. A throng of people accompanying the camp in winter conditions—foot soldiers, carts with goods, women, men, children, pack and draught animals, and vendors—moves with his troops. He positions infantry around the city alongside allies; occupies the territory of Borgo Furo toward Cavezzo, maintaining garrisons at Quarantoli and Gavello. The first artillery shots are reported on Christmas Day. | |||
| 1511 | |||||
| Jan. | Emilia | The defenders of Mirandola surrender on terms. His men nonetheless sack a monastery and seize spoils valued at 2,000 ducats. | |||
| May | 800 infantry | Emilia and Romagna | He commands 800 infantry. Captain General of the papal infantry is Ottaviano Fregoso. Melchiorre Ramazzotto is dispatched to Bologna with 2,000 Spanish infantry against forces of Gian Giacomo da Trivulzio; enters the city; must exit quickly by Porta Saragozza due to a revolt incited by Bentivoglio supporters. He camps at San Luca; informed late of della Rovere’s defeat at Casalecchio di Reno, he is soon attacked by opponents. He extricates his forces and, despite heavy losses, crosses the mountains to take refuge in Faenza. | ||
| June–July | Emilia | He gathers troops at Imola. He threatens Bologna with Giovanni da Sassatello. | |||
| Oct. | Emilia | He returns to the Rimini area with Marcantonio Colonna. His objective is to destroy local crops. He is repelled easily. | |||
| Nov. | Romagna and Emilia | He leaves Imola; conducts a raid on Castel San Pietro Terme capturing many prisoners and livestock. He accuses Sassatello of treachery for permitting supply lines to Bentivoglio troops. | |||
| Dec. | 500 infantry | Marche and Emilia | He is at Loreto for a company review; moves toward Fossombrone and the Bolognese to incite a mountain revolt against the Bentivoglio. | ||
| 1512 | |||||
| Jan.–Mar. | Emilia and Tuscany | He is tasked with seizing the church of San Michele in Bosco above Bologna with 4,000 mercenaries; he moves to the border toward Florence to prevent relief through the Apennines. | |||
| Apr. | 1,500 infantry | Romagna | He attends the review of 1,500 Italian infantry; participates in the Battle of Ravenna: Melchiorre Ramazzotto commands a large formation of papal infantry (4,000 pikemen, mostly Romagnoli). He confronts the Gascon infantry of Ivo d’Allègre, who rout him, killing nearly all his men; wounded by an ax blow, he falls but is saved by Spanish infantry under Samaneco fighting nearby. | ||
| Summer | Spain | Florence | 1,000 infantry | Tuscany | He follows Viceroy of Naples Ramón de Cardona against the Florentines to restore the Medici to power, assaulting Firenzuola. |
| Sept. | Tuscany | He enters Florence; seizes the Palazzo della Signoria gate with Rinieri della Sassetta; brings inside Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici, his brother Giuliano, and cousin Giulio (future Clement VII). He forces authorities to cede power to the prelate and remains on guard of the city with 500 infantry. | |||
| 1513 | |||||
| May | Spain | Venice | Emilia | He is tasked with recruiting infantry in the Bolognese for the next campaign against the Venetians. | |
| Oct. | Veneto | He takes part in the Battle of Creazzo. | |||
| 1514 | |||||
| Mar. | Church | Lazio | He is on the payroll of Pope Leo X. He travels to Rome. | ||
| 1515 | |||||
| Aug. | Church | Bentivoglio | Emilia | In Bologna, he commands 2,000 infantry with Orsino Orsini to prevent Bentivoglio incursions against the city. | |
| Sept. | Empire | Venice, France | Emilia and Lombardy | At Rubiera with 200 infantry to monitor the movements of Guido Rangoni and Sigismondo Rangoni, who have seized the fortress. He meets with imperial vicarius Andrea Duro and Captain Antonio da Thiene; returns to Reggio Emilia with no result. He then goes to Modena with 300 infantry and by month’s end moves to defend Brescia, besieged by French and Venetians. | |
| Dec. | Lombardy | He skirmishes under the walls of Brescia with forces of Piero Navarro, Giovan Corrado Orsini, and Silvestro da Narni. | |||
| 1517 | |||||
| Apr. | Church | Mercenary Company | Marche | He opposes Francesco Maria della Rovere’s attempt to recover the Duchy of Urbino. Stationed at Fano, his infantry clash with those of Brunoro da Forlì, resulting in 30 fatalities. | |
| 1518 | |||||
| Apr. | Lazio | In Rome, he is knighted by the pope; discusses Venetian properties seized in Ravenna; cardinals and prelates compete to win his favor with gifts. | |||
| July | Church | Exiles | Emilia | Commissioned by Lord of Carpi Alberto Pio to lead a punitive expedition against the Moreni. He burns their houses in Vignola. In the following days, joined by his son Pompeo, he leads 2,000 infantry and 300 cavalry into Frignano: they destroy vineyards and burn houses and mills belonging to Cato da Castagneto, ally of Duke of Ferrara Alfonso d’Este. | |
| Oct. | Tuscany | In Florence with Duke of Urbino Lorenzo de’ Medici. | |||
| 1520 | |||||
| ………… | The pope grants Michele Ramazzotto the title of count, enfeoffing him with Sassiglione for an annual rent of one pound of silver; he is exempted from any duty or tax. | ||||
| Summer | Mirandola | France | Emilia | He operates in the territory of Mirandola defending Giovan Francesco della Mirandola from attacks by Andrea da Birago. | |
| Dec. | Church | Exiles | Emilia | He sends 36 cavalry and 46 infantry to aid Giovan Francesco della Mirandola. In mid-month, the papal governor of Bologna, Bishop Bernardo dei Rossi, dispatches him with Lazzaro Malaspina to oppose Ghibelline exiles led by Domenico d’Amorotto in the Reggio mountains. A favorable agreement is soon reached for the adversaries. | |
| 1521 | |||||
| June–July | Church | France, Ferrara | 500 infantry | Romagna | He recruits 2,000 men in Romagna and moves to Ravenna, then to Modena; with 500 infantry, he supports Prospero Colonna’s attempt to seize Parma. His men cause disturbances in the Reggio area; papal commissario Francesco Guicciardini requests Giovanni de’ Medici’s intervention. |
| Sept. | Emilia | He joins Guido Rangoni at Campagnola Emilia; occupies Frignano and forces the Estes to retreat. He reaches Vergato and stops at Fanano, joined by Florentine militias under Francesco Brunozzi. | |||
| Oct. | Emilia | He is at San Giorgio Polesine in Ferrara; supports Guido Rangoni and Vitello Vitelli at Bondeno; with 300 infantry, assaults the bastion of Doccia, killing Enea da Cavriana and many defenders. | |||
| Nov. | Emilia | At Reggio Emilia, he enters Piacenza with Guido Rangoni. The papal Captain General commands an army of 7,000 infantry, 200 lances, and 150 light cavalry. | |||
| 1522 | |||||
| Mar. | Church | Bentivoglio | Lombardy and Emilia | He leaves Marcaria; assists the Pepoli in defending Bologna from Bentivoglio and Rangoni partisans. Among defeated attackers is Cato da Castagneto, whom he pursues to San Michele in Bosco. The opponent escapes to the Frignano mountains. | |
| May | Romagna | Encouraged by Bernardo dei Rossi, he leads a second punitive expedition against Cato da Castagneto. He then moves to Imola; with Guido Vaina, he infiltrates the fortress by night and kills Gentile da Sassatello, a former Bentivoglio ally. | |||
| June | Guido Rangoni arrests a son of Ramazzotto in Bologna for aiding in the murder of Gentile da Sassatello. | ||||
| Aug. | Morotti | Panciatichi | Emilia | He dispatches 200 cavalry and 200 infantry to Rocca Corneta in Frignano to aid Domenico d’Amorotto (Domenico Bretti) besieged by the Panciatichi. | |
| 1523 | |||||
| Apr. | Pope Adrian VI opposes Girolamo Pepoli’s plan to abolish the counties established by Leo X to reduce Ramazzotto’s influence in the Bolognese. | ||||
| Sept. | Church | Ferrara, France | Emilia | He defends Modena and Reggio Emilia from Estes threats; moves with Guido Vaina to defend Milan with 3,000 infantry. | |
| Oct. | Romagna | He assaults Giovanni da Sassatello at Tossignano. | |||
| 1524 | |||||
| Mar. | Venice | 1,000 infantry | Emilia | He is reported in Bologna. | |
| 1525 | |||||
| Feb. | Empire | France | Lombardy | He takes part in the Battle of Pavia. | |
| May | Church | Empire | Emilia | He monitors imperial movements in the Bolognese, forcing them to abandon the territory. He moves into the Modenese. | |
| July | Emilia | Near Carpi, he takes prisoners and seizes livestock sent to Modena. | |||
| Sept. | Emilia | He returns to the Bolognese; surprises with 40 Italian light cavalry and several Spanish cavalry and arquebusiers returning from a raid on Crevalcore. | |||
| Oct. | 300 infantry | Emilia and Lombardy | At Collegara with 300 infantry; heads into Lombardy. His departure is welcomed by peasants for the damage his men caused. | ||
| 1527 | |||||
| Mar. | Emilia | He guards Bologna. | |||
| June | Bentivoglio | Church | Emilia | He aids Annibale Bentivoglio and Lorenzo Malvezzi in an uprising in Bologna against papal forces; intervention by noble families and Ugo Pepoli with 1,000 Venetian-paid infantry averts rebellion. | |
| 1528 | |||||
| Apr. | Church | Lazio | Pope Clement VII summons him to guard Rome with 150 infantry. | ||
| 1529 | |||||
| Jan. | Mirandola | Ferrara | Emilia | He sends 400 infantry to aid Giovan Francesco della Mirandola against threats from Duke Alfonso d’Este. | |
| July–Aug. | Church | Florence | Romagna and Tuscany | He recruits troops for the papal forces; in August, the pope reconciles his son Pompeo with Girolamo Pepoli. He moves to Imola and, leading 150 cavalry and 2,000 mountaineers, raids the Mugello, cutting supply routes to the Florentines. | |
| Sept. | Tuscany | He attacks Firenzuola defended by Francesco di Mezzolla with 100 infantry; burns the city gate and sacks the center; captures vicar Jacopo del Biada and Giovanni Gondi, imposing a heavy ransom. He plunders Scarperia, Gagliano, Barberino di Mugello, and surrounding castles. | |||
| Oct. | Tuscany | He is defeated by Filippo Parenti and Francesco Tarugi; also opposed by Otto da Montauto with 1,000 infantry and 50 cavalry. He decides to reorganize and abandon Scarperia. According to Giorgio Vasari, during the sack he attempts to seize the “Pietà of Luco” by Andrea del Sarto for his funerary chapel. | |||
| Dec. | Tuscany | He reaches Firenzuola again. His march is slow due to transporting artillery on poor winter roads. | |||
| 1530 | |||||
| ………… | Romagna | He obtains from Clement VII the fiefs of Fontana Moneta and Tossignano (confiscated from Rizzardo Alidosi) for a payment of 10,000 ducats. | |||
| Oct. | Emilia | He escorts Vice-Legate Uberto Gambara from Bologna to Modena to meet Imperial Governor Pietro Zapata. | |||
| 1532 | Church | Bandits | Emilia | Sent by Governor Francesco Guicciardini, he punishes Camillo Sacchi, who terrorizes Vergato with bandits. He besieges Sacchi in a house and sets it aflame. Many die in the fire; captured bandits are hanged in Bologna public square. | |
| 1533 | |||||
| Feb. | Emilia | He defends Podetto against Castagnino da Castagna, supported by Galeotto della Mirandola and the Estes. He sends two companies of Spanish infantry in support; they are forced to retreat at Vignola. | |||
| 1534 | |||||
| Oct. | Romagna | At Tossignano, he monitors Bartolomeo della Massa recruiting militias in the Imola area for Florentine exiles. | |||
| ………… | Clement VII confirms privileges granted by predecessors; entrusts him with the guard of Bologna, the garrison of Ravenna, and other duties. | ||||
| 1536 | |||||
| June | Romagna and Lazio | With Paul III’s accession, growing hostility from his adversaries in Rome prevails. He is accused of holding Tossignano against reason and ordering killings. Summoned to Rome, he flees and takes refuge in Tossignano. His fief is confiscated and he is condemned to decapitation. | |||
| Nov. | Ramazzotto | Church | Romagna | Attacked in Tossignano by papal forces, he abandons the town; Cornelio di Michelino briefly defends it but is soon forced out. Melchiorre Ramazzotto flees to Florence under the protection of Duke Alessandro de’ Medici. | |
| 1539 | Tuscany | Stripped of his possessions, he dies in poverty at Pietramala on the border of Florence and Bologna. He is buried in a small church in Vaglie; later reinterred in San Michele in Bosco, Bologna, in a marble monument by Alfonso Lombardo, commissioned by Melchiorre Ramazzotto. He owns a palace in Scaricalasino later expanded into the Olivetan monastery of San Michele ad Alpes, of which the cloister remains today. |
Sources
-“Valente hoomo.” SANUDO
-“Tuto gurero dignissimo.” BERNARDI
-“Espertissimo condottiero, tale da esser detto il migliore di quei tempi.” LIVI
-“Già contadino vilissimo.” UGHI
-“Huomo molto prode nella militia, che lungamente maneggiò le armi..in tutte le fattioni sempre valorosamente, e honorevolmente con grande fede si portò, che da tutti fu lodato.” ALBERTI
-“Poi vene el forte e franco Ramazoto/ Con una magna e degna compagnia,/ Gagliardo assai costui più che Nembroto.” Da un poema coevo raccolto da V. ROSSI
-“Pauvre paysan que Leon X avait fait riche, chef de troupe, gouverneur de Boulogne.” PERRENS
-“Ramazzotto, da povero alpigiano, era divenuto un ricco proprietario col mestiere delle armi, e teneva il primato nel suo nativo Scaricalasino sulla cima dell’Appennino, ove innalzò un palazzo signorile, ed ove giunse a ottenere un feudo comitale.. Fin da giovinetto mostrò un maschio valore, e mista a fierezza una singolare generosità.” GOZZADINI
-“Così, né di portante né di trotto/ Morti noi e le bestie ne trovammo/ Giunti al Regno novel di Ramazzotto.” Da una poesia del Mauro riportata dal GOZZADINI
-“Il quale Ramazoto fu a gran altura in prima.” RAINIERI
-“Il quale essendo nato di basso lignaggio nelle montagne di Bologna, era poi salito a gradi di soldato e di capitano honorato sotto Giulio Secondo, Leon Decimo, Adriano Sesto, e Clemente Settimo sommi pontefici, il quale era stato fatto conte, cavalliero da papa Clemente, il quale anco gli haveva confidato la guardia della piazza di Bologna, del palazzo, e della rocca di strada maggiore; e era perciò rispettato assai più, che quel si voglia gentil’huomo della sua patria.” VIZANI
-“Vecchio soldato di bassa estrazione.” ROTH
-“Vecchio amico dei Medici.” VILLARI
-“Raggiunta una posizione sociale ed economica più salda, nel 1528 Armaciotto Ramazzotti diede il via a due opere destinate a testimoniare la sua devozione, dall’altra a celebrare la sua affermazione: nella chiesa bolognese di S. Michele in Bosco commissionò allo scultore Alfonso Lombardi un monumento funebre con il ritratto del committente a figura intera a Scaricalasino, dove aveva già fatto erigere una chiesa dedicata a S. Michele Arcangelo, istituì il monastero di S. Michele ad Alpes, da allora sede di una comunità di monaci olivetani.” BAJA GUARIENTI
-“Quel de la ganga che mena tempesta.” In “Il fatto d’arme di Romagna” in GUERRE IN OTTAVA RIMA
-“Diegho e ramazzoto quel possente/ fecen quel giorno cose inaudita/ con forte squadre e con fiorita gente/ dela bataglia mai non fa partita.” DANZA
-“De Ramazzotto che porrà mai dire/ le prove che lui fe con la sua gente.” DELLA ROTONDA
-“Ramazzotto il bon vecchio ardito e saggio.” ROSEO
-“Nato nelle montagne attorno alla città (Bologna) da umile gente, seppe lentamente ma con molto onore raggiungere gli alti gradi della milizia, divenendo poi capitano d’armi sotto i papi Giulio II, Leone X e Clemente VII.” ARGEGNI
-Alle battaglie di Ravenna e di Casalecchio “Il solo condottiero che avesse saputo condurre in salvo i suoi uomini.” PIERI
-Epitaffio sulla sua tomba “D.O.M./ Armaciotus de Ramaciotis eques/ Et comes Bonom. Sanctiss. Iulii II./ Leoni X. Adriani VI. Clementis VII./ Equitumet peditum capitaneus/ Vix. ann. XCV men. VIII et do. XII.”
Featured image: wikimedia
