ABSTRACT
Pope Pius’s habit of calling Sigismondo Malatesta “the prince of all wickedness,” “the poison of all Italy” and other opprobrious epithets has also influenced posterity’s opinion. Italian ruling princes were expected to wage war, patronize artists and father bastards. In 1457 Borso d’Este, a peaceable man for the most part, arranged a truce between the warring princes and invited them to come to Ferrara to attend a meeting of peace and reconciliation. Borso was an old friend of Sigismondo’s. Sigismondo had compounded his offense against the Kingdom of Naples by fighting for the Angevin cause. Federigo da Montefeltro, of course, was always happy to merge his private war with Sigismondo with Pope Pius’s larger war against him. Defeated, impoverished and humiliated, Sigismondo Malatesta was a mighty warrior and lord of Rimini. Sigismondo spent the last two years of his life in a state of political impotence and spiritual frustration. He died on October 9, 1468.
