As a popular place for executions during the Renaissance period, three members of the House of Auditore – Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio – were counted amongst its numbers in 1476, as they were silenced in part of the Templar plot to seize the city; betrayed by Uberto Alberti, a former friend of the noble family. Later, in 1498, the mob execution of Girolamo Savonarola also took place in the plaza.