Blood Wedding” of Astorre Baglione & Lavinia Colonna

? “Blood Wedding” of Astorre Baglione & Lavinia Colonna ?

.
? It’s a rare wedding goes off without a single hitch, but when the time to cut the cake turns into time to cut the groom instead…thats a major hitch!

Few can rival the nuptials-turned-massacre of Astorre Baglioni and Lavinia Colonna, on 15th July 1500 in Peruglia, Italy.

? In Peruglia, civic unrest was constant struggle between the citizenry and the nobles.

The Baglionis created a council consisting of ten family members called the Ten Judges, through which they intended to handle the business of ruling Pergulia.

This might have been a smoother process, if the Baglioni Bunch wasn’t a hopeless dysfunctional mess of bitter infighting and violent outbursts.

? Power grabs were an ongoing affair within the family, and everything came to a very gory climax on 15th July 1500, during events centering on the wedding of Astorre Baglioni and Lavinia Colonna.

Minor members of the Baglioni family, led by Grifonetto Baglioni, decided to use the opportunity of a large family gathering, to make their power grab.

? They banded together at the wedding feast, and began viciously slaying the guests in attendance.
Reportedly over 200 people were killed.

They saved the best for the groom though, cutting open his chest, ripping out his heart and symbolically demonstrating their dominance over him by reportedly taking a bite out of the heart before tossing his body in the street.

His father and brother were also brutally murdered.
The reaction of the poor bride can only be imagined.

? It wasn’t all smooth sailing from there for Grifonetto and his accomplices, either.
They made the monumental mistake of not killing everyone, with a few prominent relatives managing to escape.

The escapees banded together with a small army of mercenaries, and retook the city, killing Grifonetto in the process…..