Pandolfo Malatesta (cardinal)
# Pandolfo Malatesta (cardinal)

Pandolfo Malatesta (1390 - 1441) was an Italian bishop of the 15th century, who most notably bishop of Brescia and Coutances. A member of an important family from Rimini, Pandolfo was the son of Carlo I Malatesta, plenipotentiary of Pope Gregory XII at the Council of Constance, and Elisabetta Gonzaga.

## Life

The earliest mention of Pandolfo is as a Canon and Archdeacon of Bologna and Apostolic Referendary. He attended the Council of Constance in 1416-1418. he was administrator of the Diocese of Brescia and in 1418 he was appointed bishop of Coutances. The new bishop took an oath to English King Henry V, who had conquered Normandy. His diocesan members regretted this oath and expressed their dissatisfaction with Pandolfo, who left Coutances and had the diocese governed by vicars-general. In 1424 Pandolfo was transferred to Patras in the Morea, where he was archbishop. He lost the city after a siege to the Byzantine despot Constantine Palaiologos in 1429. He unsuccessfully attempted to regain the city with a band of Catalan mercenaries, but ended up retiring to Rimini where he died.

