MALATESTA, FAMIGLIA. — The oldest document concerning the M. dates from 1136 and records a purchase of property made by a M. In 1197 GIANNI di M. and other relatives swore allegiance to the consuls of Rimini, and in 1216 they obtained citizenship there.
In 1239 M. DA VERUCCHIO, leader of the Guelph party, was podestà of Rimini, against whom the Ghibellines fought in vain. His son M. (the “old Mastiff” of Dante) was expelled from the city, but was able to return there in 1265.
In 1271 he defended the March of Ancona against Guido di Montefeltro, whom he defeated and took prisoner. His sons GIANCOTTO (the man who in 1283 or 1284 killed his wife Francesca da Polenta and his brother Paolo) and MALATESTINO DALL'OCCIO (the “new Mastiff”) gave him valuable assistance in the struggle against the Ghibellines. M., who died in 1312, was succeeded by MALATESTINO (d. 1317), who held Rimini and gave Cesena to his nephew UBERTO, and Pesaro, Pano, and Sinigaglia to his half-brother PANDOLFO. Malatestino was succeeded by Pandolfo (d. 1326), who, after being defeated and exiled by Cardinal Del Poggetto, returned to Rimini following the latter’s defeat. He was, however, subsequently dispossessed by his cousins M. II and GALEOTTO. They reformed the statutes in such a way as to consolidate the Signoria, but since they did so without consulting the Holy See, which claimed supreme sovereignty over their territories, a lengthy war ensued, until in 1343 the M. recognized themselves as vassals of the Church. M. II was succeeded by M. UNGARO and PANDOLFO, in 1364, together with their uncle GALEOTTO, who outlived them. PANDOLFO II (d. 1373) was the ancestor of the M. of Pesaro (to whom Parisina belonged); their domains passed in 1445 to Alessandro, the brother of Francesco Sforza. Galeotto was succeeded by PANDOLFO III (d. 1427), who served as a condottiero under Gian Galeazzo Visconti, and CARLO (d. 1429), who became governor of Milan upon the death of Visconti and rendered distinguished service to the unity of the Church during the schism, carrying Gregory XII’s renunciation to Constance. Upon Carlo’s death, the domains of the M. passed to the three sons of Pandolfo III: GALEOTTO ROBERTO, who died in 1432 with a reputation for holiness; DOMENICO, called M. NOVELLO, who encouraged men of letters and artists and founded the Malatesta Library of Cesena (at his death Cesena reverted to the Church); SIGISATONDO PANDOLFO (b. 1417, d. 1468), a typical figure of the Renaissance, an enthusiast for classical culture and the arts (he had the Tempio Malatestiano of Rimini built), a valiant warrior, but of dissolute morals and reputed to be treacherous and ferocious. He conquered many territories, but in the war against Pius II he was able to retain only Rimini. When he died, the dominion was to revert to the Church, but one of his illegitimate sons, ROBERTO, seized Rimini by means of a deception and, supported by the League of Milan, Florence, and Naples, defended it against Paul II. Later becoming a condottiero of the Church, in 1482 he defeated Alfonso d'Aragona at Campomorto. He died in the same year, and Sixtus IV invested his son PANDOLFO IV with Rimini, but the latter was unable to maintain the Signoria for long: it was first taken from him by Cesare Borgia and he was subsequently forced to cede it to Venice.
BIRL.: L. Tononi, Storia civile e sacra di Rimini, 5 vols., Rimini 1860–82; Ch. Yriarte, Un condottiere au XVᵉ siècle, Paris 1882; E. Hutton, Sigismondo Pandolfo M., London 1900; A. F. Massera, Note malatestiane, Florence 1911; G. Soranzo, Pio II e la politica italiana nella lotta contro i M., Padua 1911; C. Ricci, Il Tempio Malatestiano, Milan 1925; G. Soranzo, s. V. in Enc. Ital., XXI, p. 1002 ff.; L. Bignami, Splendori ed ombre alla corte dei M. di Rimini, Milan 1942; R. Weiss, Il primo secolo dell'Umaursimo, Rome 1949, pp. 67–102.