- Antonio I Ordelaffi
Antonio I Ordelaffi (c. 1390 - August 4, 1448) was lord of
Forlì from 1433 to 1436 and again from 1438 to 1448. He was a member of the noble family ofOrdelaffi .The son of
Francesco III Ordelaffi (best known as Cecco III or II), at the latter's death (1405) he was first imprisoned and the exiled toVenice by the Papal legateBaldassarre Cossa . In 1411 he returned to Forlì as co-lord with his cousin Giorgio, but he was again imprisoned inImola where he remained until 1424, when he was freed by theVisconti of Milan. Giorgio had died in 1422, but Forlì was returned to thePapal States .Eleven years later a popular revolt ousted the Papal governor, and Antonio could take possession of Forlì. Allied with the Visconti then in war against
Pope Eugene IV , he managed to gainForlimpopoli and other castles, but the peace between Rome and Milan stripped him off of all them. In 1436 he was also forced to cede Forlì to Francesco Sforza, and went to exile inFerrara . Two years later he regained the seigniory and maintained it despite the attacks of Papal-Visconti condottieri likeNiccolò Piccinino andSigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta . In 1447 he was recognized papal vicar ofForlì .He married
Caterina Rangoni ofSpilamberto . After his death during a plague, she held the lordship with her brother Ugo Rangoni (1449-1454).ources
*cite book|first=Claudio|last=Rendina|title=I capitani di ventura|publisher=Newton Compton|location=Rome|year=1985
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