Malatesta da Verucchio

Malatesta da Verucchio, the Mastin Vecchio (1212–1312), was the condottiero who made his family lords of Rimini. Ghibelline podestà of the city in 1239, he switched to the Guelphs after Frederick II's defeat at Parma in 1248 and became Romagna's leading Guelph captain. Around 1263 he married Margherita Paltenieri, a papal legate's niece, strengthening his new alliances.

In 1295 he expelled Rimini's Ghibellines, executed their leader Montagna di Parcitadi and made himself lord. Dante names him with his son Malatestino in the Inferno, and he died in Rimini in 1312, almost a centenarian.