Castracani degli Antelminelli

The Castracani degli Antelminelli, better known as the Antelminelli, were a Ghibelline noble family of Lucca. Exiled by the Black Guelphs in 1300, Castruccio Castracani made his name as a condottiero, serving Uguccione della Faggiuola of Pisa from 1313. He helped take Lucca in 1314 and win at Montecatini in 1315, and was elected lifelong lord of Lucca in 1316 after being freed from Uguccione's prison.

Named imperial vicar in 1320, Castruccio crushed the Florentines at Altopascio in 1325 and became duke of Lucca, Pistoia, Volterra and Luni. He took Pisa in 1327 but died suddenly in 1328, and the family's dominance collapsed.

In 1596 most Antelminelli were imprisoned or executed on a charge of conspiring with Tuscany. Alessandro Antelminelli escaped to London and served Tuscany as Amerigo Salvetti. Machiavelli wrote a biography of Castruccio.