Fabrizio Maramaldo

Who was Fabrizio Maramaldo?

Fabrizio Maramaldo was an Italian condottiere.

An illiterate native of Naples or Calabria, his exact origins are unknown, though he hailed from the Kingdom of Naples, and was perhaps of Spanish origin. He fled Naples after having murdered his wife and sought protection at the Gonzaga under Federico 11, Duke of Mantova and in the Republic of Venice. In 1526 he was absolved of the crime of uxoricide by Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. He fought the Turks in Hungary, and the French in Piedmont. He suffered a grievous setback in the siege he laid to the city of Asti in 1526 where, after having breached the walls by cannon fire for a final assault, legend narrates that victory was snatched from his grasp by the intervention of the town's patron saint, St.Secondus of Asti who is said to have appeared in the sky. Fighting on the imperial side, he took part in the Sack of Rome the following year, and three years later, in the siege of Florence. He gained a reputation as a ruthless mercenary and ravager.