ABSTRACT
In 1475, a group of upper-class Bolognese travelled to the baths at Porretta with Andrea Bentivoglio, a cousin of the despot of Bologna, Giovanni II Bentivoglio. One day they settled by a stream, and determined to amuse themselves by telling stories. Seeing an old man walk by, muttering to the plants and flowers, one of the company, the nobleman and soldier Annibale da Caglia, declared that the old man reminded him of an amusing event. 1
