In 1511, during a carnival in Udine, Italy, nobles were slaughtered, their castles looted and destroyed, and bodies were dismembered and fed to animals. Giving an account of the Udine carnival massacre, as well as the social structures and historical conflicts preceding it, this is an abridged version of the work for students and general readers. This edition shifts the focus from specialized scholarly analysis to the book's main theme - the role of vendetta in city and family politics. Uncovering many connections between the carnival motifs, hunting practice and vendetta rituals, the author finds that the massacre occurred because, at that point in Renaissance history, revenge and allegiance to factions provided the best alternative to failed political institutions. But the carnival massacre also marked a crossroads: the old mentality of vendetta was soon supplanted by the emerging sense that the direct expression of anger should be suppressed - to be replaced by duels.