Girolamo Riario

Signore di Imola e Forlì (Savona 1443 - Forlì 1488), nipote di Sisto IV. Ambizioso e intrigante, ricevette (1473) la signoria di Imola, che la Chiesa aveva avuto per denaro da Galeazzo Maria Sforza, di cui più tardi sposò la figlia Caterina (1477). La sua influenza sul papa aumentò dopo la morte del fratello Pietro, nel 1474. Sostenne la politica espansionistica di Sisto IV e contro i Medici di Firenze organizzò nel 1478 la congiura de' Pazzi. Morto Pino Ordelaffi (1480), ebbe anche l'investitura di Forlì. Circondato da odî, implacabile tra tutti quello di Lorenzo il Magnifico, finì vittima di una congiura.

Girolamo Riario (1443 – 14 April 1488) was Lord of Imola (from 1473) and Forlì (from 1480). He served as Captain General of the Church under his uncle Pope Sixtus IV. Having taken part in the 1478 Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici, 10 years later he was assassinated by members of the Forlesian Orsi family.
Born in Savona, Riario was the son of Paolo Riario and Bianca della Rovere. He was a nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, who in 1473 granted him the seignory of Imola, as a dowry for his marriage with Caterina Sforza (daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan). In 1471 he had also been appointed Captain General of the Church.[1]

In 1478 he was one of the plotters behind the Pazzi conspiracy, a plot to assassinate two prominent members of the Medici family in Florence. In addition to conspiring, he was an intended beneficiary, once Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici had been killed.

In 1480 the pope made Girolamo Riario Count of Forlì, confiscating the lordship from the Ordelaffi. At Forlì, Riario erected the fortress of Rocca di Ravaldino, one of the strategically most important strongholds of the Romagna. He also rebuilt much of the town of Imola, tearing down old and decayed houses.

During his uncle's pontificate, Riario mostly resided with his wife in Rome. In 1484 he started a conflict with the Colonna family, whose landed property Sixtus IV wished to take over. In the course of this feud he had the papal protonotary, Lorenzo Colonna, arrested and tortured to death, a deed which provoked much enmity against his family in the city.

After the death of Pope Sixtus IV Riario, as commander of the papal forces, returned to Rome whith his wife Caterina. She entered the Castel Sant' Angelo with troops in order to put pressure on the cardinals to elect a candidate conformable to the Riarios' interests. After 10 days of chaos in Rome, Riario concluded with the terrified cardinals that he would withdraw his troops and his wife's occupation of the castello in return for 7,000 ducats in cash. Caterina first did not follow this scheme, but after two days had to give in to what her husband had negotiated; only then the conclave could start.

Riario promoted several further plots against the Medici, but they all failed. In 1488 he was the last of the main Pazzi conspirators left alive, and was himself assassinated in a conspiracy led by two members of the Orsi family from Forlì, supposedly over a financial dispute. On 14 April, Checco and Ludovico Orsi entered the government palace, and one of them attacked Riario with a sword. Despite the presence of the Count's guards, a total of nine assassins slashed Riario to death, eventually flinging his corpse into a local piazza, where a crowd gathered in support of the assassins. The assassins then proceeded to loot the palace.

Although assassinations were not altogether uncommon in Renaissance Florence, they still had repercussions. Despite writing to Lorenzo de' Medici, who no doubt approved of the result of the assassination, they received no written support by the Medici family. Support, both military and popular, eventually sided with Riario's widow, and the Orsi brothers fled, taking what they could with them. Their remaining assets and family were soon destroyed by angry mobs.

Riario's body had been recovered from the piazza by a local friar, and once Riario's widow proved vindicated, she had the body cleaned up and laid in state for three days in the church of San Francesco.

Girolamo had six sons, Ottaviano, who officially inherited the lordship of Imola, Cesare, Giovanni Livio, Galeazzo, Francesco, and a daughter, Bianca by his wife, Caterina, and lastly an illegitimate son by another woman, named Scipio.

Ritrovata la stanza dove fu assassinato Girolamo Riario, marito di Caterina Sforza

Nel 1488 Girolamo Riario primo marito di Caterina Sforza viene assassinato a Forlì in una stanza detta delle ninfe.
Dov'era quella stanza?
Dopo cinque secoli lo scrittore Ivo Ragazzini ritrova il luogo esatto.

„
"Riario fu assassinato in una stanza detta delle ninfe dentro il palazzo comunale di Forlì e questo è noto. Quello che non era noto era il luogo esatto dove si trovava questa stanza." spiega l'autore. "Esiste oggi una stanza detta delle ninfe e delle muse, ma fu rifatta 70 anni dopo quei fatti da tutt'altra parte dal pittore Menzocchi."
"La vera stanza delle ninfe fu costruita da Pino Ordelaffi ed era diventata la prima stanza degli appartamenti di Riario che allora era composto di almeno tre stanze e si trovava in un ala laterale del palazzo." "Si sapeva pure che quella stanza era la terza finestra contando da sinistra della facciata del palazzo comunale, ma mancava un piccolo particolare, ossia che era la terza finestra della facciata che allora guardava verso Ravenna, facciata che oggi non esiste più perché fu abbattuta da Caterina Sforza assieme a tutte le altre stanze, subito dopo l'assassinio di Riario, perché ritenute segnate dalla violenza di quegli episodi." conclude l'autore.
“

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