PETRUCCI, PANDOLFO (d. 1512)

This article appears in Volume V21, Page 336 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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PETRUCCI, PANDOLFO (d. 1512) , tyrant of Siena, spent the greater part of his youth in

exile

EXILE (Lat. exsilium or exilium, from exsul or exul, which is derived from ex, out of, and the root sal, to go, seen in salire, to leap,
consul
- CONSUL
- CONSUL (in Gr. generally ihraros,ashortened form of errpavgybs 8hraeos, i.e. praetor maximus)
, &c.; the connexion with solum, soil, country is now generally considered wrong)

, on account of the civil strife by which his native town of Siena was torn; but on the

triumph

TRIUMPH (triumphus)

of the party of the Noveschi (those who supported the Council of Nine) in 1487 he was able to return

home

. On the death of his brother Giacopo, one of the most powerful men in the city, Pandolfo succeeded to all the latter's offices and emoluments (1497), thus becoming in fact if not in name master of Siena. By his

marriage

MARRIAGE

with Aurelia, daughter of Nicola Borghese, another very influential citizen, he still further strengthened his authority. But he soon began to abuse his power by selling public offices to
the highest bidders, or conferring them on his followers. A

plot

PLOT
PLOT, ROBERT (164o-1696)

was made to murder him, but he discovered the conspiracy in time, and his own father-in-law, who had been leader of the

movement

MOVEMENT

, was put to death. In 1498 he prevented the out-break of war with Florence over the possession of

Montepulciano

MONTEPULCIANO

, which had been a bone of contention between the two cities for over a hundred years. His attitude towards Cesare Borgia was exceedingly astute; at first he assisted him, and obtained from him with the favour of the French king the cession of Piombino; but having subsequently aroused the suspicions of Borgia, the latter attempted to suppress Petrucci by inviting him to the fatal

meeting

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

of Seniga.11ia. The Sienese tyrant, however, did not fall into the trap, and although Borgia in 1502 obliged him to quit Siena, he returned two months later, more powerful than before. Petrucci supported Pisa in the war against Florence, but eventually, through the intervention of the

pope

and of the king of Spain, he made peace with the latter city, to which he gave back

Montepulciano

MONTEPULCIANO

in 1512. As a reward for this action

Pope

Julius II. created his nephew cardinal. During his last days Petrucci abdicated his authority in favour of his son Borghese. He died at San Quirico di Osenna on the 21st of May 1512.
See Pecci, Memorie storico-critiche di Siena (Siena, 1755) ; U. G. 1Vlondolfo, P. Petrucci signore di Siena (Siena, 1899).

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