Legends and Curiosities

Among historically documented facts and others enriched by imaginative news, there is an event that deserves our attention and which was taken up in a successful nineteenth-century novel by Luigi Marzolini.
The story tells how the relationships of mutual esteem and loyalty between the Landi family and that of the Visconti suddenly broke down. It all began in 1322, when the feudal lord of Rivalta was the aforementioned Obizzo Landi, known as Verzuso. The brave soldier of the Ghibelline faith, thanks also to the support of his friend Galeazzo Visconti, found himself having to take sides against the latter for reasons that were anything but political. In fact, it seems that Galeazzo's increasingly frequent visits to Rivalta were due to his interest, not so much in his friend Obizzo, but in Bianchina, the latter's beautiful wife.
One day while she was alone in Piacenza, she received a message from Galeazzo urgently inviting her to join him. The man's intentions immediately became clear.
Bianchina, supported by her loyalty to her husband, acted with cunning and went to the gallant appointment accompanied by some trusted ladies.
Galeazzo received Bianchina in his halls overflowing with symbols of power and wealth.
He had a gargantuan banquet prepared, which, in the dim light created by the flickering light of the candles, revealed containers full of food and jugs overflowing with wine of the best quality. All this certainly left no doubt about the man's real intentions towards his friend, but that evening his expectations were dashed due to the cumbersome presence of the ladies following Bianchina.
Returning to Rivalta, the woman told her husband what had happened, who, deeply saddened by the behavior of his one-time friend and protector, began massive fortification works on his castle, in the event of more ruinous conflicts.
Galeazzo, inflamed with anger at the shame he had suffered, gathered his soldiers and besieged the walls of the castle of Rivalta, well aware, however, that he had no chance of taking over the robust manor by force. He therefore tried to isolate the besieged from any possible supply to force them to surrender due to starvation.
After eleven weeks the besieged had to surrender: the losses were also huge for the winners, who left more than fifty men on the field. Galeazzo ordered the destruction of the castle. The offense suffered by Obizzo cried out for revenge. He fortunately managed to escape and headed towards Asti where, putting aside his Ghibelline pride, he offered himself as leader of the troops of Cardinal Bertrando del Poggetto who aimed to conquer Piacenza, governed by Galeazzo Visconti.
In October of the same 1322, Obizzo, commanding a contingent of two hundred knights and four hundred infantry, entered the city, overpowering Galeazzo. With this victory he managed to take away the dominion over Piacenza from the Viscontis and to be elected Governor of the city.
As a leader, Landi continued to serve the Pontiff, defending the rights of the Church, until he died in 1328 in Bologna. Purified of its fictional aspect, the story, in reality, demonstrates that what triggered the conflicts was not so much Galeazzo's overly gallant behavior, but Obizzo's precise desire to conquer Piacenza.
As for the Landi's wife, it seems that her real name was Ermellina Bagarotti, or Orsolina of the Tower, as others claim, the only certain fact is that the woman was nicknamed Bianchina, exactly as the legend says.