Cleavers are sharp, square-shaped blades with blunt edges, ideal for dismembering meat and therefore a favourite tool in butcher shops and in the holsters of bandits and criminals. They have also entered pop culture as the weapon of many serial killers and horror characters. Precisely for this reason, the cleaver was central to a macabre event that occurred in Italy during the Middle Ages—more precisely, in 1488—so much so that it gave its name to this tragic episode: the Cleaver Massacre.

This Italian chronicle, filled with blood, death, love, and betrayal, begins with two people: Galeotto Manfredi, Lord of Faenza, and Francesca Bentivoglio, daughter of one of the richest and most influential men in Bologna. The two, married for political reasons and with a son, had long been at odds due to a passionate love affair between Galeotto and a certain Cassandra—the daughter of a wealthy apothecary—who saw her promise of marriage broken by Manfredi. This infuriated Francesca's father, Giovanni, who was only calmed by the intervention of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who denied his relationship with Cassandra in order to favour (also for his own political purposes) his relationship with Francesca. Galeotto, however, refused to give up Cassandra, so in 1487 he had her settled in a convent in Faenza so he could invite her to the palace whenever he pleased, pretending to be a nun, thus carrying on the affair in secret. However, her affair was discovered in 1488, and in revenge, Francesca had Galeotto killed by three assassins, sparking a climate of suspicion and violence that would culminate in the aforementioned "Axe Massacre."

Not content to be ruled by a woman who had killed her husband, the people of Faenza decided to rebel and seek the help of the "Magnificent," who coordinated the popular uprising from behind the scenes to take over the city. On June 4, 1488, while the nobles of Faenza were gathered for dinner in the castle, the castellan (an accomplice of De Medici) opened the gates to the rioters, shouting: "Death to all traitors!" In no time, an enraged mob armed with cleavers climbed the castle stairs and rushed to the door of the banquet hall. After breaking it down, they massacred those who, unfortunately, couldn't escape.

The Cleaver Massacre reflects the violence, passion, betrayal, and intrigue of the Italian Renaissance.