Ludovico Orsi (1455-July 7, 1488) was a Forlian noble and financier. He was the older brother of Checco Orsi, and the two of them worked as hitmen-for-hire. In 1488, they were killed during their Siege of Forli.
Biography[]
Orsi's death
Ludovico Orsi was born in Forli, Romagna, Papal States in 1455, the older brother of Checco Orsi. The two of them came from an aristocratic family, and they worked as financiers of the House of Ordelaffi. The Orsis had cordial relations with Girolamo Riario, and Girolamo Riario secured Orsi's election as Senator of Rome in 1482. The brothers were later hired by Caterina Sforza to assassinate Riario, who had not paid back some of their loans. They stabbed him dead in the dining room of his house and left his naked body in the center of town, making a public display of their works. After Rodrigo Borgia's escape from Venice in 1488, he hired the Orsi brothers to claim the head of Caterina Sforza, and they converged on Forli with a mercenary army. They succeeded in overrunning parts of the city and kidnapping Sforza's children, and Orsi held Ottaviano Riario at the top of a lighthouse outside of the city. Sforza's ally, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, managed to stealthily climb the tower, and he stabbed Orsi dead with his hidden blades.