Girolamo Riario

Sixtus IV appoints Platina Prefect of the Vatican Library (fresco by Melozzo da Forlì , c. 1477) - Girolamo Riario is identified as the second figure from the left (blue robe)

Girolamo Riario della Rovere (* 1443 in Savona ; † April 14, 1488 in Forlì ) was a nepote (possibly also the son) of Pope Sixtus IV and became lord of Imola and Forlì through this .

With the beginning of the pontificate in 1471 Girolamo Riario had already become a leader at the papal court as captain general of the church . In 1473, on the occasion of the marriage between Girolamo Riario and Caterina Sforza , the Pope wanted to call in the Imola ecclesiastical fief and pass it on to Riario; as a pretext he used the interest that Taddeo Manfredi allegedly owed. Manfredi had secretly ceded the city to the Sforza, who ruled Milan , in 1471 . Pietro Riario , who was sent to the Sforza as a cardinal legate in 1474 , managed to get the Milanese to sell their claims to Girolamo in return for 40,000 ducats; the Pazzi and Medici were to advance the money for this . Since Florence had also laid claim to Imola, Lorenzo de 'Medici refused to participate in the loan and asked the Pazzi to refuse the papal wishes as well. In fact, the loan came about with other donors, but with the participation of the Pazzi.

The fact that Lorenzo de 'Medici, as party tyrant of Florence , had developed ambitions for Imola, was an impetus for a conflict that intensified over the years: Sixtus IV strived for the consolidation of the papal state, Riario for its development in the shadow of the pontificate, Florence for preservation and clientelisation of the small potentates in the borderlands. The escalation in the so-called Pazzi conspiracy of 1478, when Lorenzo's brother Giuliano was murdered in Florence, led to war. However, Riario's hour had not come until 1480, when the house disputes of the Ordelaffi of Forlì allowed him to acquire this commune too. Faenza was denied him because Lorenzo arranged a marriage of Galeotto Manfredi and a daughter of Giovanni II Bentivoglio , who leaned the small gentleman, who was surrounded by his property from Riario, on the party tyrant of Bologna .

After Sixtus IV died in 1484, Riario believed that he could influence the conclave through a cardinal party in order to have a successor chosen for him in the chair of Peter. However, Innocent VIII was elected, whose right-hand man was Giuliano della Rovere , an old enemy of his direct cousin. An assassination attempt in Forlì in 1488 cost Riario his life: he was stabbed by a servant while he was standing at a window of his palazzo. The occasion was an uprising over massive tax increases, as Riario had lost his most important source of income after the death of his uncle. The corpse, thrown on the piazza, was dragged through the streets by the people. After Girolamo's death, however, Caterina Sforza - with her second husband Giacomo Feo - asserted herself as regent for their son Ottaviano Riario.

In comparative comparisons, Girolamo Riario can be regarded as the forerunner of Cesare Borgia , because the goal of establishing a "family state" in the jurisdiction of the Church with the help of the pontiff was established by Alexander VI. after 1492 or with effective help from 1499 was imitated.

literature

• Maurizio Gattoni: Sisto IV. Innocenzo VIII e la geopolitica dello Stato Pontificio. Rome 2010.