MALATESTA FAMILY. — The earliest document concerning the Malatesta family dates to 1136, when a member of the family purchased property. In 1197, Gianni di Malatesta and other relatives swore loyalty to the consuls of Rimini, and in 1216 they obtained citizenship.
In 1239, Malatesta da Verucchio, leader of the Guelph faction, became podestà of Rimini, despite opposition from the Ghibellines. His son Malatesta (the "Old Mastiff" of Dante) was exiled from the city but was able to return in 1265. In 1271, he defended the March of Ancona against Guido da Montefeltro, whom he defeated and captured. His sons Gianciotto (who in 1283 or 1284 killed his wife Francesca da Polenta and his brother Paolo) and Malatestino dall'Occhio (the "New Mastiff") provided valuable assistance in the struggle against the Ghibellines. In 1312, Malatestino succeeded his father (d. 1317), who held Rimini and ceded Cesena to his nephew Uberto, and Pesaro, Fano, and Sinigaglia to his brother Stro Pandolfo. Following Malatestino was Pandolfo (d. 1326), who, after being defeated and exiled by Cardinal Del Poggetto, returned to Rimini after the latter's defeat. However, he was later ousted by his cousins Malatesta II and Galeotto. They reformed the statutes to consolidate their lordship, but since they did so without consulting the Holy See, which claimed supreme sovereignty over their territories, a long conflict ensued, ending in 1343 when the Malatesta recognized themselves as vassals of the Church.
After Malatesta II came Malatesta Ungaro and Pandolfo in 1364, along with their uncle Galeotto, who outlived them. Pandolfo II (d. 1373) was the progenitor of the Malatesta of Pesaro (to whom Parisina belonged); their domains passed in 1443 to Alessandro, brother of Francesco Sforza. Galeotto was succeeded by Pandolfo III (d. 1427), who served as a condottiere under Gian Galeazzo Visconti, and Carlo (d. 1429), who was governor of Milan after Visconti's death and rendered valuable service to the unity of the Church during the Council of Constance by securing the resignation of Gregory XII. Upon Carlo's death, the Malatesta domains passed to the three sons of Pandolfo III: Galeotto Roberto, who died in 1432 in a reputation for sanctity; Domenico, known as Malatesta Novello, who patronized scholars and artists and founded the Malatestiana Library in Cesena (at his death, Cesena reverted to the Church); and Sigismondo Pandolfo (b. 1417, d. 1468), a typical Renaissance figure, enthusiastic about classical culture and the arts (he commissioned the construction of the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini), a valiant warrior but of dissolute morals and notorious for treachery and cruelty. He conquered many lands but, in the war against Pius II, was able to retain only Rimini. When he died, the domain was to revert to the Church, but his illegitimate son Roberto seized Rimini by deception and, supported by the League of Milan, Florence, and Naples, defended it against Paul II. Later becoming a condottiere for the Church, in 1482 he defeated Alfonso of Aragon at Campomorto. He died the same year, and Sixtus IV invested his son Pandolfo IV with Rimini, but Pandolfo was unable to maintain his lordship for long, as it was first taken from him by Cesare Borgia and then ceded to Venice.
(from II. P. Strong, *Stitt's diagnosis, prevention and treatment of tropical diseases*, London 1866, p. 27) Malaria — Stages of development of the gasseri Anopheles, Culex, Aedes. Note the different positions assumed by the larvae of the three genera relative to the water's surface. On the right: various aspects of
MALATESTA — DISEASES