Gentile Budrioli

Portrait of a Young Girl by Charles Frederick Naegele (1857–1944), frequently used as a depiction of Budrioli. Gentile Budrioli (died 14 July 1498), also known as Gentile Cimieri, was an Italian astrologer and herbal healer active in Bologna in the late 15th century. She studied at the University of Bologna and also received lessons from Franciscan friars. Budrioli drew attention from her contemporaries for her great skill in healing and she became a close friend of Ginevra Sforza, the wife of Bologna's ruler Giovanni II Bentivoglio. As a result of this, Budrioli rapidly rose through the ranks in the city and briefly served as a councilor at the Bolognese court.

Budrioli's rise to prominence drew the envy of others and in 1498 she was accused of witchcraft after she failed to save one of Bentivoglio's sons from an unknown disease. Budrioli's case was handled by the Inquisition, who fabricated evidence and tortured her. At her trial, numerous people came out to support the claims of her being a witch, including her own husband Alessandro, who had staunchly opposed her scientific interests. Budrioli was simultaneously hanged and burnt alive in front of a crowd of onlookers at the in Bologna.

Early life Gentile Budrioli was a noblewoman born into a wealthy family in Bologna.

Budrioli married the rich notary Alessandro Cimieri, who owned a home in the Torresotto di Porta Nuova, opposite the Basilica of Saint Francis in Bologna.

Education and rise Emerging from the surviving sources as a rich, educated and beautiful woman, Budrioli received no burial after the burning, her ashes being scattered in the wind.