ECCELINO DA ROMANO , Ghibelline leader, and supporter of the emperor Frederick II., was born on April 25, 1194, of a German family settled in Italy in the first half of the 11th century. They were lords of Romano, near Padua. In 1226, at the head of a band of Ghibellines, Eccelino seized Verona and became podesta of the city. He lost Verona, but re gained it in 1230; and in 1232 Frederick II. issued a charter con firming him in his possessions. In 1236-37 the emperor gave him the government of Vicenza, Padua and Treviso; and on Nov. 27, 1237, he shared in the victory over the Lombards at Cortenuova. In 1238 he married Frederick's natural daughter, Selvaggia; in 1239 was appointed imperial vicar of the march of Treviso; but in the same year was excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX. After Frederick's death in 125o he supported his son, the German king Conrad IV. His cruelties had, however, aroused general dis gust, and in 1254 he was again excommunicated. In 1256 Pope Alexander IV. proclaimed a crusade against him, which was led by Philip, archbishop of Ravenna. Eccelino lost Padua, but on Sept. 1, 1258, he defeated his enemies at Torricella. At Cassano on Sept. 27, 1259, Eccelino was wounded and taken prisoner. En raged at his capture, he tore the bandages from his wounds, re fused to take food and died at Soncino on Oct. 7, 1259. In the following year his brother Albert was put to death, and the Romano family became extinct. Eccelino, sometimes called the tyrant, acquired a reputation for cruelty that gained him a place in Dante's Inferno ; but his unswerving loyalty to Frederick II. contrasts favourably with many of his contemporaries. Eccelino is the subject of a novel by Cesare Cantu and of a drama by J. Eichendorff.
See J. M. Gittermann, Ezzelino da Romano (Freiburg, 1890) ; S. Mitis, Storia d'Ezzelino IV. da Romano (Maddaloni, 1896) ; and F. Stieve, Ezzelino von Romano (Leipzig, 1909). See also Hampe, Mittelalt. Geschichte (1922).