Girolamo Riario (1443-14 April 1488) was Captain-General of the Papal States from 1471 to 1484 under his uncle Pope Sixtus IV, as well as Count of Imola (1473-1488) and Forli (1480-1488). During his reign, he fought against the House of Medici over ownership of Florence, aiding the Pazzi Conspiracy alongside his uncle.
Biography[]
Girolamo Riario was the nephew of Pope Sixtus IV and a member of the influential House of Riario, and he was made Captain-General of the Papal States in 1471 upon his uncle's accession to the throne. He was involved in the 1478 Pazzi Conspiracy, and would become the new Duke of Florence should Lorenzo de Medici and Giuliano de Medici be assassinated.
In 1480, the House of Ordelaffi was disposessed of their lands in Forli, and he became the new lord of the city. He was married to Caterina Sforza, the daughter of the Duke of Milan Galeazzo Maria Sforza, since 1473, when she was only 10 and Girolamo was 30. Riario was unpopular with his wife, who called him "a poor father, boring in bed, and a pain in the ass". In 1488, Catalina hired Ludovico Orsi and Checco Orsi to assassinate him. He was stabbed to death and his residence looted, and Catalina became the lone ruler of Forli.