
Ermete Bentivoglio (1475-1513) was a noble of Bologna and a condottiero during the Italian Wars.
Biography[]
Ermete Bentivoglio was the son of Giovanni II Bentivoglio, and he was named a knight by Ercole I d'Este in 1492. He entered the service of the Duchy of Ferrara and became a Palatine Count by Emperor Maximilian I of Germany in 1498. Bentivoglio became a condottiero, and he became a general of Cesare Borgia in 1500 after his father sent him as a hostage of sorts; Bentivoglio had secretly known all along that he would serve Borgia, and he sought to enter his service rather than enter the priesthood. It was Bentivoglio who suggested subduing Faenza, ruled by Astorre III Manfredi, and the victory was a major success for the Borgia cause. In 1506, Pope Julius II ordered the Bentivoglio to leave Bologna, and Bentivoglio fled to Ferrara and Mantua. In 1511, France restored the Bentivoglio to power during the War of the League of Cambrai, but he was killed while retreating from a lost battle with Prospero Colonna's Spanish army at Creazzo.