WEBVTT - The First Malatesta Murder

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm

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<v Speaker 1>and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised the feast

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<v Speaker 1>was going to be extravagant. The year was thirteen twenty four,

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<v Speaker 1>and cousins Ramberto and Ferrantino and their uncle Pandolfo Malitesta

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<v Speaker 1>were making the final preparations for the meal at Romberto's estate,

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<v Speaker 1>a castle nestled in the rolling hills of what is

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<v Speaker 1>now the region of Emilia Romagna in Italy, then simply

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<v Speaker 1>called Romagna. Their sole invitee to this party their other

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<v Speaker 1>cousin slash nephew, Uberto, and he was making his way

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<v Speaker 1>toward the castle, blissfully unaware that he was riding to

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<v Speaker 1>his death. The three hosts had planned the murder of

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<v Speaker 1>their kinsmen perfectly, a theatrical assassination disguised as a friendly

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<v Speaker 1>family dinner which would serve as revenge for Sin's spanning

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<v Speaker 1>a generation. Uberto Maltesta's death at the hands of his

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<v Speaker 1>family members is a dramatic episode in a particularly bloody

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<v Speaker 1>era of Italian history, but not actually the topic of

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<v Speaker 1>today's episode. A few decades prior to that fateful family banquet,

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<v Speaker 1>Ramberto's father, a man named Jianchoto, actually killed Uberto's father. Remember,

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<v Speaker 1>Ramberto and Uberto were cousins, their fathers were brothers, and

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<v Speaker 1>Gianchoto discovered his brother having an affair.

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<v Speaker 2>With his wife. After catching them red handed, he killed

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<v Speaker 2>them both. The adulterous affair and subsequent murder of Jianchoto's

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<v Speaker 2>brother Paulo and his wife Francesca would go on to

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<v Speaker 2>be immortalized by the Italian writer Dante Aligiari as two

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<v Speaker 2>of the damned characters he meets during his visit to Hell.

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<v Speaker 2>But what Dante failed to record in his Inferno were

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<v Speaker 2>the numerous intra familial murders, political assassinations, revenge killings, and

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<v Speaker 2>even an attempted mass family murder that plagued the Maltesta

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<v Speaker 2>family for nearly fifty years after Paolo and Francesca's stories end.

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<v Speaker 2>So let's start from the beginning. I'm Dana Schwartz, and

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<v Speaker 2>this is noble blood. Paulo and Jianchoto Maltesta were meant

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<v Speaker 2>to carry on a great legacy. Theirs was a family

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<v Speaker 2>new to nobility, but their father's explosive rise to power

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<v Speaker 2>had quickly carried the brothers to prominence. Maltesta de Verruchio

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<v Speaker 2>was a powerful condottieri, or commander of a mercy and company.

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<v Speaker 2>Many condottieri became the sort of military princes who served

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<v Speaker 2>a pope or other ruler, but often had sovereignty of

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<v Speaker 2>their own as dukes or counts. Malitesta da Verrucchio had

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<v Speaker 2>come into his power ruthlessly. Northern Italy during this period

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<v Speaker 2>was embroiled in the after effects of the Investiture Controversy,

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<v Speaker 2>which resulted in conflicts between Pope supporting Gwelths and Holy

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<v Speaker 2>Roman Emperor supporting Ghibelines. Maltesta was the leader of the

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<v Speaker 2>Guelphs in Romagna and became podesta, or chief magistrate of

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<v Speaker 2>Rmany in twelve thirty nine. In twelve ninety five, he

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<v Speaker 2>would go on to kill or expel the leading members

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<v Speaker 2>of the Gibeline faction in Rumany, making himself the city's

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<v Speaker 2>undisputed and unchecked ruler. Between two marriages, he had seven children,

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<v Speaker 2>each of whom he would use to expand his power,

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<v Speaker 2>either through warfare or marriage. For our purposes, we'll focus

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<v Speaker 2>on his four sons, Mala, Testino, Jianchoto, and Paolo from

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<v Speaker 2>his first wife and Pandulfo from his second wife, Mala.

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<v Speaker 2>Testino and Pandulfo will be important in next week's episode,

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<v Speaker 2>but for now, all you really need to know about

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<v Speaker 2>them is that they would go on to inherit in

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<v Speaker 2>succession their father's lordship of Remedy. But for now we're

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<v Speaker 2>focused on the brothers, Paolo and Jianchoto. If anything in

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<v Speaker 2>their early lives pointed to the roots of Paolo and

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<v Speaker 2>Jianchoto's storied and eventually deadly rivalry, it would probably be

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<v Speaker 2>the fact that Paulo was known throughout his life as

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<v Speaker 2>Ilbello Paolo the Handsome. The name Jianchoto was actually a

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<v Speaker 2>diminutive of Giovanni, an emasculating nickname that Jianchoto still might

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<v Speaker 2>well have preferred to his other nickname, Los Gancato or

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<v Speaker 2>the Lame. Sources, many of which were written long after

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<v Speaker 2>the fact, describe Jianchoto variously as disabled, disfigured, or simply

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<v Speaker 2>visually unappealing, in any case, a stark contrast to his strapping,

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<v Speaker 2>handsome younger brother. The lives of the sons of Condotieri

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<v Speaker 2>were often defined by war and political intrigue, and Paolo

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<v Speaker 2>and Jianchoto were no exception. Apparently not content to rest

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<v Speaker 2>on his handsome laurels, Paolo showed himself to be an

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<v Speaker 2>astute politician, and he became an experienced military leader at

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<v Speaker 2>just nineteen years old. In twelve sixty five, he followed

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<v Speaker 2>his father in fighting the Gibelines, aiding in seven viveral

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<v Speaker 2>decisive battles. Johnchoto, too, proved to be an asset to

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<v Speaker 2>his father in war, becoming known as much for his

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<v Speaker 2>bravery as for his unsavory appearance. By around twelve seventy five,

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<v Speaker 2>John Choto also proved a useful political chess piece when

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<v Speaker 2>his father promised him in marriage to Francesca da Polenta.

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<v Speaker 2>Francesca was a young noblewoman from nearby Ravenna, the daughter

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<v Speaker 2>of one of its two lords, Guido the First da Polenta.

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<v Speaker 2>Wido shared power with his relative Wuido Riccio da Polenta

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<v Speaker 2>over Ravenna. Their balance of power was uneasy to begin with,

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<v Speaker 2>but they both also had to contend with the powerful

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<v Speaker 2>Traversari family opposing them within the city, as well as

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<v Speaker 2>various threats from without, most especially the Lord of Urbino.

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<v Speaker 2>Guido again, I'm sorry, another Guido the First da Montrefelto

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<v Speaker 2>Guido da Montefeltro had recently vested Maltesta de Verrucchio in battle.

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<v Speaker 2>Although Ravenna and Riminy had themselves been at war, Mala

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<v Speaker 2>Testa and Guido di Polenta were united by this common enemy,

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<v Speaker 2>and so Guido di Polenta's daughter Francesca became at once

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<v Speaker 2>a reward for Maltesta's support and a means of consolidating

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<v Speaker 2>power which would allow Guido de Polenta not only the

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<v Speaker 2>ability to fend off his enemies, but also to seize

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<v Speaker 2>sole control of Ravenna. Decades later, the humanist writer Giovanni

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<v Speaker 2>Boccaccio would write that Mala Testa de Verrocchio used Paulo

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<v Speaker 2>to trick Francesca into her marriage to Giancoto. By this time,

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<v Speaker 2>Paulo had actually already been married for some six years

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<v Speaker 2>and a political match of his own. It was not

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<v Speaker 2>uncommon in this period for noble marriages to be executed

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<v Speaker 2>by proxy, with someone else standing in for one or

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<v Speaker 2>both of the marrying parties during the ceremony. Paulo, as

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<v Speaker 2>the married brother of the groom, would have been a

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<v Speaker 2>perfect candidate to stand in and marry Francesca by proxy.

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<v Speaker 2>Boccaccio wrote that Mala Testa deliberately misled Francesca about this arrangement,

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<v Speaker 2>and that when she walked down the aisle and laid

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<v Speaker 2>her eyes on a handsome, charming man waiting at the

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<v Speaker 2>end of it, she thought it was Paolo that she

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<v Speaker 2>was going to marry. Of course, she was wrong. Boccaccio

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<v Speaker 2>reasoned that Malatesta worried that she or her father would

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<v Speaker 2>have refused the marriage had she known that her betrothed

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<v Speaker 2>was the uglier brother. As dramatic a tidbit, that is,

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<v Speaker 2>there is no hard evidence that this is how Paolo

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<v Speaker 2>and Francesca affair began. It's quite likely that Francesca already

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<v Speaker 2>knew who Paolo and Jianchoto were and knew that Paolo

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<v Speaker 2>was married as well, given her family's close and long

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<v Speaker 2>running dealings with the Malatesta family. But however, the marriage began,

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<v Speaker 2>and whatever Paolo's role in its beginnings were, before long,

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<v Speaker 2>Francesca and Paolo would find themselves entangled and an affair

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<v Speaker 2>that would rock the Malatesta family and define its legacy

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<v Speaker 2>for centuries. The poet Dante Aligari spent the final five

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<v Speaker 2>years of his life living in Revenna. Famously exiled from

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<v Speaker 2>his native Florence in thirteen oh two, he had spent

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<v Speaker 2>over a decade living in various parts of northern Italy,

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<v Speaker 2>hosted by sympathetic friends and supporters. In thirteen sixteen, he

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<v Speaker 2>was invited to stay in Revenna by its recently crowned lawy,

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<v Speaker 2>Guido the second da Polenta. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, so

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<v Speaker 2>many Guidos. This Guido was the nephew of the now

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<v Speaker 2>decades dead Francesco dot Polenta. We're fast forwarding here. Scholars

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<v Speaker 2>believe it was during this visit to Ravenna that Dante

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<v Speaker 2>learned of the tragic tale of Paolo and Francesca's love affair,

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<v Speaker 2>before he would cement it in one of the most

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<v Speaker 2>celebrated works of literature in Italian history, The Divine Comedy,

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<v Speaker 2>completed shortly before the author's death in thirteen twenty one.

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<v Speaker 2>It's only because of Dante that we know any of

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<v Speaker 2>the details of what happened next in Paolo and Francesca's story.

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<v Speaker 2>Knowing that he likely learned the story from a family

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<v Speaker 2>member of Francesca's offers his version some credibility. However, remember

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<v Speaker 2>this was written decades later, and there is no independent

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<v Speaker 2>history record confirming any of it, so we will never

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<v Speaker 2>know exactly whether or where Dante took liberties. We find

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<v Speaker 2>Paolo and Francesca in Dante's Inferno as a pair of souls,

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<v Speaker 2>damned to hell for their illicit romance. As Dante and

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<v Speaker 2>his imagined guide, the Roman poet Virgil, entered the second

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<v Speaker 2>circle of Hell, the one reserved for those who fell

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<v Speaker 2>prey to their lust, they find the two lovers spirits

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<v Speaker 2>flying aimlessly through the air, blown about in an infernal storm,

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<v Speaker 2>yet remaining inseparably entangled with one another as if they

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<v Speaker 2>were one single spirit. Dante calls to them as they

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<v Speaker 2>float by, and it's Francesca who regales the visitors with

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<v Speaker 2>their tail as her beloved Paolo weeps and wails alongside

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<v Speaker 2>her as she tells it. Francesca's life love story with

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<v Speaker 2>her husband's brother started out innocently enough. They spent time

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<v Speaker 2>together in a friendly way, a pleasant outcome to her

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<v Speaker 2>essentially political marriage. Things took a turn rather suddenly, however,

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<v Speaker 2>when one day the pair were reading the story of

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<v Speaker 2>Lancelot and his forbidden love with Gwenevere, the story of

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<v Speaker 2>Lancelot's brother in arms, King Arthur, describing a scene that

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<v Speaker 2>seems to predict the modern rom com. Francesca's spirit tells

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<v Speaker 2>Dante how as they read, their eyes kept meeting, sparks

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<v Speaker 2>flying between them, before they looked away, blushing. Finally, as

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<v Speaker 2>the story they were reading came to its own climax,

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<v Speaker 2>the tension between the readers was too much to bear.

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<v Speaker 2>As Francesca put it, when of that smile we read

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<v Speaker 2>the wish to smile rapturously kissed by one so deep

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<v Speaker 2>in love than he who ne'er for me shall separate

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<v Speaker 2>at once, my lips, all trembling, kissed the book and

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<v Speaker 2>writer both were love's purveyors in its leaves. That day

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<v Speaker 2>we read no more. It's certainly possible that this is

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<v Speaker 2>actually how the affair began, although it definitely seems a

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<v Speaker 2>little too perfectly literary to be entirely true. We don't

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<v Speaker 2>even really know quite when it began, although it seems

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<v Speaker 2>to have been not long after Francesca's marriage to Gianchoto.

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<v Speaker 2>We also don't know the circumstances that preceded the affair.

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<v Speaker 2>Much has been said about Jianchoto's unsavory appearance, but did

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<v Speaker 2>Francesca feel that way about him. Was their marriage pleasant

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<v Speaker 2>but passionless? Or was he a brute? And what of

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<v Speaker 2>Paolo and his wife? Both couples had children. Of course,

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<v Speaker 2>we could question the paternity of Francesca's children, but certainly

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<v Speaker 2>Paolo at least fulfilled his marital duties to his wife.

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<v Speaker 2>We may never know these things, but however it happened.

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<v Speaker 2>Once the affair began, It seems that Paulo and Francesca,

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<v Speaker 2>much like their spirits in Dante's story, could hardly be

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<v Speaker 2>separated from one another. The affair carried on seemingly unbeknownst

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<v Speaker 2>to everyone, or at least unbeknownst to Jianchoto, for years,

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<v Speaker 2>some scholars estimate over a decade, although it's impossible to

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<v Speaker 2>know for sure. We can imagine Janchoto carrying on in

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<v Speaker 2>his duties, perhaps leaving for long stretches to fight on

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<v Speaker 2>his father's behalf, leaving his wife at home and free

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<v Speaker 2>to rendezvous with his more handsome brother. For his part,

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<v Speaker 2>Paulo balanced his own duties, including keeping up appearances with

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<v Speaker 2>his own wife, with his and Francesca's passionate affair. However,

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<v Speaker 2>they managed it. It worked for them for a while,

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<v Speaker 2>but Francesca's and Paolo's days together were numbered. Eventually, Jianchoto

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<v Speaker 2>would discover the dual betrayal that had been going on

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<v Speaker 2>for years right under his nose. We don't really know

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<v Speaker 2>how Janchoto found out. Most retellings agree that he stumbled

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<v Speaker 2>upon his brothers and his wife's affair some time between

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<v Speaker 2>twelve eighty three and twelve eighty six. Some even say

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<v Speaker 2>he caught them in the act. Dante doesn't offer us

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<v Speaker 2>any details here. Again, the juiciest version of the story,

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<v Speaker 2>and the one we can't confirm, is offered by Boccaccio.

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<v Speaker 2>As he told it, Jianchoto suspected nothing until one day,

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<v Speaker 2>while he was away on business for his father, one

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<v Speaker 2>of his servants came to him with a confession. The servant,

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<v Speaker 2>apparently moved by pity for his cucoldooed employer and emboldened

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<v Speaker 2>by distance from the rest of the household, told Janchoto

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<v Speaker 2>that he knew his wife and brother were having an affair.

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<v Speaker 2>Determined to get at the truth of the matter, Jianchoto

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<v Speaker 2>insisted upon seeing for himself, and the servant promised he

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<v Speaker 2>would help catch them in the act. The pair returned

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<v Speaker 2>to rhyminy in secret. Perhaps Jianchoto hoped he would find nothing.

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<v Speaker 2>Perhaps he spent the ride home imagining how silly he

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<v Speaker 2>would feel when he arrived to find his faithful wife

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<v Speaker 2>waiting for him. But any hopes he may have harbored

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<v Speaker 2>about his wife's fidelity were dashed when he got home

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<v Speaker 2>and sneaking into his own palazzo, observed Paolo entering Francesca's bedchamber.

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<v Speaker 2>The affair was all but confirmed. Jianchoto was enraged. His

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<v Speaker 2>loyal servant led him to the door of the bedchamber,

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<v Speaker 2>only to find it suspiciously locked from the inside. Janchoto's

0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:04.520
<v Speaker 2>fever hit a fever pitch. He pounded on the door,

0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:08.120
<v Speaker 2>calling out to his wife, maybe calling to his brother too.

0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:12.160
<v Speaker 2>On the other side of the door. Chaos and panic erupted.

0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.560
<v Speaker 2>Francesca and Paolo knew they had been found out, but

0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.360
<v Speaker 2>they were scrambling to find some way to cover up

0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:22.680
<v Speaker 2>their affair. Suddenly, Paolo had an idea. There was a

0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:26.040
<v Speaker 2>narrow passage with a ladder leading from the bed chamber

0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:30.159
<v Speaker 2>down to another room below. If he squeezed down it,

0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:33.640
<v Speaker 2>he might be able to get away before anyone noticed.

0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:37.240
<v Speaker 2>He told Francesca to let her husband in. He would

0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:42.480
<v Speaker 2>escape through the passage and Jianchoto would be none the wiser. Unfortunately,

0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:46.000
<v Speaker 2>as Francesco went to open the door and Paolo went

0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.880
<v Speaker 2>to hide his clothes, got caught on an iron bar

0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:52.840
<v Speaker 2>sticking out of one of the wooden beams at the

0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:56.480
<v Speaker 2>top of the passage. He got stuck in plain sight

0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:01.800
<v Speaker 2>just as Janchoto burst into the room. Blinded by rage

0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:05.679
<v Speaker 2>at the sight of his brother, Johanchoto immediately went for

0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:10.520
<v Speaker 2>the kill. Francesca moved to stop her husband, unable to

0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.199
<v Speaker 2>bear the thought of losing her love, but it was

0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:17.439
<v Speaker 2>too late. Right as she stood between them, Johanchoto thrust

0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:21.440
<v Speaker 2>his sword forward, stabbing her in the chest instead of Paulo.

0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:26.040
<v Speaker 2>Francesca sank to the floor, dying for a moment. John

0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:30.160
<v Speaker 2>Choto stood frozen, disturbed at what he had done. Then

0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:34.520
<v Speaker 2>he saw Paulo, still caught on the iron bar, crying

0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:39.639
<v Speaker 2>out in grief for Francesca, for his wife. He saw

0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:43.720
<v Speaker 2>how deeply his own brother had loved Francesca, and it

0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:47.680
<v Speaker 2>quelled any thought he might have had of regret or

0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:52.080
<v Speaker 2>of mercy. Jianchoto pulled the sword from his dying wife's

0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:55.760
<v Speaker 2>body and struck out again, this time landing a blow

0:18:55.880 --> 0:19:00.399
<v Speaker 2>squarely on his brother's head. His vengeance complete, he fled,

0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:04.320
<v Speaker 2>sneaking out of the city quietly as he had arrived.

0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:09.080
<v Speaker 2>The lovers' bodies were discovered the next day, and Boccaccio

0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:14.560
<v Speaker 2>tells us buried in a shared tomb, united eternally in

0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:20.600
<v Speaker 2>both their love and their betrayal. Is that how it happened?

0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:25.000
<v Speaker 2>Boccaccio's version of the story certainly has a theatrical air

0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:28.800
<v Speaker 2>to it, though we can find many verified stories of

0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:32.359
<v Speaker 2>affairs gone wrong throughout history that have all of this

0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.840
<v Speaker 2>drama and then some. Dante gives us the basic contours

0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:42.320
<v Speaker 2>of the story and points to Jianchoto's guilt in the inferno.

0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:46.280
<v Speaker 2>Jianchoto was said to be condemned to the ninth Circle

0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:51.439
<v Speaker 2>of Hell, the lowest circle reserved for traders. Given his

0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:55.800
<v Speaker 2>access to the family, we can reasonably expect the basic

0:19:56.000 --> 0:20:01.840
<v Speaker 2>facts of Dante's version to be true. Discovered them, Jianchoto

0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:05.600
<v Speaker 2>killed them, but for the rest were left to fill

0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:10.159
<v Speaker 2>in the blanks. However it happened. The bloody murder of

0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:15.240
<v Speaker 2>Paolo and Francesca did little to soothe the growing rivalries

0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:20.199
<v Speaker 2>among the members of the Maltesta family. Maltesta de Verruchio

0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:25.760
<v Speaker 2>had many children, who themselves had many children, and when

0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:29.639
<v Speaker 2>he died in thirteen twelve, they were all left with

0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:33.960
<v Speaker 2>the fractured inheritance of the lands and titles that their

0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:38.159
<v Speaker 2>patriarch had once held as his own. And as the

0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:42.239
<v Speaker 2>children of Paolo Jianchoto and their brothers grew up and

0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:46.360
<v Speaker 2>realized that only one of them would eventually rule Remedy,

0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:50.760
<v Speaker 2>it wouldn't be long before the kinsmen turned on each

0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:55.440
<v Speaker 2>other again. That's the end of the story of the

0:20:55.440 --> 0:20:59.560
<v Speaker 2>first and most famous of the many murders plaguing the

0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:04.000
<v Speaker 2>Malato family. But keep listening after a brief sponsor break

0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:09.280
<v Speaker 2>to hear about the long legacy of Paolo and Francesca's story.

0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:18.639
<v Speaker 2>For Dante, the story of Paolo and Francesca was a

0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:22.439
<v Speaker 2>cautionary tale. He lived in a world where adultery was

0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:26.399
<v Speaker 2>a crime punishable by death, and where desire was seen

0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:30.359
<v Speaker 2>by many as the first step to damnation. As he

0:21:30.400 --> 0:21:35.119
<v Speaker 2>imagined his journey through hell, he found Francesca and Paolo's

0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:39.840
<v Speaker 2>story a powerful warning to his readers about the dangers

0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:43.920
<v Speaker 2>of giving in to one's passions, even as he sympathized

0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:48.720
<v Speaker 2>with their love. As with any story that endures over time, however,

0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:54.440
<v Speaker 2>Paolo and Francesca's story has continued to resonate, but not

0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:59.280
<v Speaker 2>necessarily for the reasons that Dante intended. Particularly in the

0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:03.960
<v Speaker 2>nineteenth century, Francesca and her lover became a focus for

0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:09.760
<v Speaker 2>the imaginations of Romantic writers and artists. As historian John

0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:13.639
<v Speaker 2>Paul Hyle puts it, where in Dante's era it was

0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:19.000
<v Speaker 2>important to control one's passions, the Romantics believed that quote

0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:22.919
<v Speaker 2>subsuming reason to the passions was the goal of a

0:22:22.960 --> 0:22:28.399
<v Speaker 2>life well lived. They began to reimagine Dante's encounter with

0:22:28.520 --> 0:22:32.600
<v Speaker 2>Paolo and Francesca in Hell no longer as symbols of

0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:36.400
<v Speaker 2>the danger of succumbing to one's passions, but rather the

0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:42.520
<v Speaker 2>tragedy of star crossed lovers. Some interpretations even changed the

0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:47.520
<v Speaker 2>endings of their story. In one opera, Ambrose Thomas's eighteen

0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:52.240
<v Speaker 2>eighty two Francois de Rimini, the lovers are pitied by

0:22:52.320 --> 0:22:57.400
<v Speaker 2>God and their spirits allowed to ascend to Heaven, triumphing

0:22:57.600 --> 0:23:01.040
<v Speaker 2>over the punishment needed out to them in Hell and

0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:06.120
<v Speaker 2>in our world by Dante. In the twentieth century, Francesca

0:23:06.119 --> 0:23:11.000
<v Speaker 2>in particular, became a symbol for yet something else female

0:23:11.080 --> 0:23:14.880
<v Speaker 2>agency as a character who not only made her own

0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:18.720
<v Speaker 2>choices in life, disastrous as the outcome may have been,

0:23:19.080 --> 0:23:22.520
<v Speaker 2>but also took control of her own story in death.

0:23:22.960 --> 0:23:27.600
<v Speaker 2>She presents a striking and complex lens through which authors

0:23:27.640 --> 0:23:33.800
<v Speaker 2>and artists have wrestled with memory, pain, betrayal, and yes love.

0:23:40.200 --> 0:23:44.040
<v Speaker 2>Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and

0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:47.680
<v Speaker 2>Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me

0:23:47.960 --> 0:23:53.160
<v Speaker 2>Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannaswick,

0:23:53.320 --> 0:23:57.479
<v Speaker 2>Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Melaney. The show is

0:23:57.640 --> 0:24:02.640
<v Speaker 2>edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima

0:24:02.760 --> 0:24:07.240
<v Speaker 2>Il Kayali and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and

0:24:07.320 --> 0:24:12.840
<v Speaker 2>Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:24:13.119 --> 0:24:18.360
<v Speaker 2>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.