Sante I Bentivoglio was an Italian nobleman who ruled as tyrant

Tyrant

A tyrant was originally one who illegally seized and controlled a governmental power in a polis. Tyrants were a group of individuals who took over many Greek poleis during the uprising of the middle classes in the sixth and seventh centuries BC, ousting the aristocratic governments.Plato and...

 of Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

 from 1445 to 1462.

Alleged to be a natural son of Ercole Bentivoglio, Sante was a cousin of Annibale I Bentivoglio

Annibale I Bentivoglio

Annibale I Bentivoglio was the ruler of Bologna from 1443 until his death. He was a member of the Bentivoglio family.The son of Antongaleazzo Bentivoglio, he was exiled from his city due to his father's anti-Papal stance. In 1438 he returned in Bologna, contributing to its liberation from the...

. He was aducated at Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

 in the court of Cosimo de' Medici the Elder. When Annibale was killed in an ambuscade by the rival family of the Canteoli, Sante succeeded him in the rule of Bologna with the title of gonfaloniere

Gonfaloniere

The Gonfaloniere was a highly prestigious communal post in medieval and Renaissance Italy, notably in Florence and the Papal States. The name derives from gonfalone, the term used for the banners of such communes....

 di giustizia. He was also named as tutor of Annibale's son Giovanni II

Giovanni II Bentivoglio

Giovanni II Bentivoglio was an Italian nobleman who ruled as tyrant of Bologna from 1463 until 1506. He had no formal position, but held power as the city's "first citizen." The Bentivoglio family ruled over Bologna from 1443, and repeatedly attempted to consolidate their hold of the Signoria of...

.

In 1454 he married Ginevra Sforza, then fourteen-years old, the daughter of Alessandro Sforza

Alessandro Sforza

Alessandro Sforza was an Italian condottiero and lord of Pesaro, the first of the Pesaro line of the Sforza family.-Biography:...

, lord of Pesaro

Pesaro

Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, on the Adriatic. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....

. The two had two daughters: Costanza (1458–1491), who married to Antonmaria Pico della Mirandola, and Ercole (1459–1505), a condottiero. In 1460 Sante started building a palace, which was destroyed in 1507 after the Bentivoglio were ousted from Bologna. He obtained from the popes autonomy of government over the city and established a communal senate including local nobles and Papal representants.

He allied with the Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

, the House of Sforza

House of Sforza

Sforza was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan.-History:The dynasty was founded by Muzio Attendolo , called Sforza , a condottiero from Romagna serving the Angevin kings of Naples...

 and the house of Medici. He died in Bologna in 1462 due to illness, being succeeded by Giovanni Bentivoglio, who later remarried Ginevra.