Ordelaffi

The Ordelaffi, possibly originating near Treviso and first documented in 1170, became the leading Ghibelline family of Romagna and lords of Forli. Scarpetta Ordelaffi founded the family signoria: in 1302 he warred on Florence with the White Guelph exiles led by Dante Alighieri, and in 1303 he drove the Calboli out of Forli before seizing Bertinoro.

During Cardinal Albornoz's papal reconquest, Francesco II lost Faenza, Cesena and Bertinoro in 1357 and was expelled from Forli. Sinibaldo I recovered the city in 1376 but was poisoned by his nephew Pino I.

After Teobaldo II died in 1425 Forli reverted to the Church. Antonio Ordelaffi restored the signoria in 1433, but Pope Sixtus IV later granted the city to Girolamo Riario. Antonio Maria Ordelaffi briefly recovered Forli in 1503 after the Borgia fell, but died without male heirs in 1504, ending the line.