Ramberto I Malatesta

Ramberto I Malatesta (1302–1367), son of Uberto, count of Giaggiolo, belonged to the Giaggiolo branch of the Malatesta and spent his life in arms, always trying to harm his kinsmen in Rimini. Small of stature, he was called il contino di Ghiaggiolo.

Beaten under the walls of Ferrara in 1333, he escaped by swimming the Po. He helped the Ordelaffi retake Forlì, then raised Cesena in revolt and became its podestà, which set him against Francesco Ordelaffi for good. He later served Cardinal Albornoz against the Ordelaffi, until in 1356 Francesco's wife Cia caught him on the road toward Cesena and put him to flight.

In 1360 his own sons shut him in a dungeon. He died there in 1367, having given Giaggiolo to his son Niccolò.