During their marriage, Polissena participated in the social and ceremonial aspects of Rimini's court.[8] She had two children with Sigismondo: Galeotto, born in January 1443 and Giovanna [it], born in 1444 or 1445.[8] Giovanna was married to Giulio Cesare da Varano [it], with a betrothal in 1451.[9][10][8] Galeotto died young, predeceasing Polissena.[11]
On June 1, 1449,[12][11] Polissena died in Rimini at the Abbey of Scolca. Her death was likely due to plague, although there were rumors she was suffocated on Sigismondo's orders.[13][14] The rumors are not generally credited by modern historians.[15]
During his marriage to Polissena, Sigismondo also had a mistress, Isotta degli Atti. His interest in Isotta began in 1445, when she was twelve.[16] Their relationship began in 1446,[17] and she gave birth to their first child in 1447.[18][8] He married Isotta in 1453 or 1454.[19]
Pope Pius IIexcommunicated and tried Sigismondo in 1460 and 1461, accusing him, along with many other charges, of having both Ginevra and Polissena killed.[20][17] When this failed to have the desired effect on Sigismondo's behavior, Pius conducted what he referred to as an "ironic canonization by a new and unusual mode of speech."[21] On April 27, 1462, he publicly proclaimed that Sigismondo, though still alive, was damned to Hell, the only time any pope has made such a declaration.[22][23]
^D'Elia, Anthony F. (2016). Pagan Virtue in a Christian World: Sigismondo Malatesta and the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 117, 186-187. ISBN978-0-674-08851-1.
^D'Epiro, Peter; Pinkowish, Mary Desmond (2001). "Twenty-two: Sigismondo Malatesta: The condottiere with a vision". Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World. New York: Anchor Books. p. 158. ISBN0-385-72019-X.
^D'Elia, Anthony F. (2016). Pagan Virtue in a Christian World: Sigismondo Malatesta and the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 186, 326. ISBN978-0-674-08851-1.
^Christiansen, Keith (2005). "Florence: Filippo Lippi and Fra Carnevale". From Filippo Lippi to Piero della Francesca: Fra Carnevale and the Making of a Renaissance Master. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 48. ISBN1-58839-142-6.
^D'Elia, Anthony F. (2016). Pagan Virtue in a Christian World: Sigismondo Malatesta and the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 20, 188. ISBN978-0-674-08851-1.
^D'Elia, Anthony F. (2016). Pagan Virtue in a Christian World: Sigismondo Malatesta and the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 20. ISBN978-0-674-08851-1.
^ abD'Epiro, Peter; Pinkowish, Mary Desmond (2001). "Twenty-two: Sigismondo Malatesta: The condottiere with a vision". Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World. New York: Anchor Books. p. 159. ISBN0-385-72019-X.
^D'Elia, Anthony F. (2016). Pagan Virtue in a Christian World: Sigismondo Malatesta and the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 189. ISBN978-0-674-08851-1.
^D'Elia, Anthony F. (2016). Pagan Virtue in a Christian World: Sigismondo Malatesta and the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 20, 189. ISBN978-0-674-08851-1.
^D'Elia, Anthony F. (2016). Pagan Virtue in a Christian World: Sigismondo Malatesta and the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 8, 188, 263. ISBN978-0-674-08851-1.
^D'Elia, Anthony F. (2016). Pagan Virtue in a Christian World: Sigismondo Malatesta and the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 11. ISBN978-0-674-08851-1.
^D'Elia, Anthony F. (2016). Pagan Virtue in a Christian World: Sigismondo Malatesta and the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 1. ISBN978-0-674-08851-1.
^D'Epiro, Peter; Pinkowish, Mary Desmond (2001). "Twenty-two: Sigismondo Malatesta: The condottiere with a vision". Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World. New York: Anchor Books. p. 161. ISBN0-385-72019-X.