Belforti

The Belforti were an old noble family of the Volterra region in Tuscany, perhaps named after the castle of Belforte. They rose as vassals and bankers of the bishops of Volterra, whose temporal rights Frederick Barbarossa confirmed in 1164; in 1214 Belforte di Buonafidanza lent the bishop large sums, and the family's support for the bishop against the communal podesta repeatedly earned it exile and restoration.

Turning Guelph, they gained the upper hand in the city's faction strife, helping expel the Ghibelline bishop in 1286 and fighting with Florence at Campaldino in 1289. Ranieri Belforti became bishop in 1301 and advanced his kin, above all his brother Ottaviano, who seized the signoria in 1340. Ottaviano's sons Roberto and Bocchino succeeded him, while another, Filippo, held the bishopric from 1348 to 1358, at the family's height.

In 1361 Bocchino Belforti tried to sell the city to Pisa: the Volterrans rose and beheaded him in the Piazza dei Priori, after which the family was banished and never recovered its standing.