Bagnacavallo

Description

Bagnacavallo is a village and castle situated between Lugo and Ravenna, whose lords were the Malvicini counts. In Dante's time this family had been reduced to three women, one of whom had married Guido Novello da Polenta, the lord who hosted the poet at Ravenna in his final years. In the Purgatorio, Dante observes that Bagnacavallo does well not to produce further heirs, given that the Malvicini line could not have a better reputation than the one already tarnished by its worst members. The commentary note clarifies that the verse continues the same concept in the following tercet, referring to the fate of the signorial families of Romagna.