Ottaviano Belforti

Ottaviano Belforti (c. 1275–1348), son of Belforte Belforti, was a nobleman of Volterra, a commune long split between his family and the Allegretti faction. He backed his brother Bishop Ranieri against the Allegretti, and when Rainuccio Allegretti became bishop, the Belforti lost the fight and fled the city.

After years in exile he was podestà of Bologna in 1337–1338. Returning in 1340, he won a civil war against Rainuccio and besieged him in a castle; when it fell, Ottaviano and his family were excommunicated. He ruled Volterra as capitano generale until the city gave itself to Walter of Brienne in 1342.

When Walter fled Florence, Ottaviano regained power in August 1343 and reshaped the government so that a Belforti sat on its supreme council by right. In 1348 he secured the bishopric for one son and the signory for two others, dying that July.