Caterina Visconti, Duchess of Milan ( Italian: Caterina Visconti , 1361-1404 [1] ) is a representative of the notable Italian Visconti family, who ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447. The wife of Jan Galeazzo Visconti , the first duke of Milan , the mother of his successors Jan Maria and Filippo Maria. She was a regent during the period of the infancy of Jan Maria, but her son was accused of slander by condottiere Fachino Canet and accused her of treason and imprisoned in Monza castle, where she was most likely poisoned in 1404 [1] .
Katerina Visconti | ||||
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Caterina visconti | ||||
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Birth | 1361 Milan | |||
Death | October 17, 1404 Monza | |||
Rod | Visconti | |||
Father | Bernabo Visconti | |||
Mother | Beatrice Regina della Scala | |||
Spouse | Gian Galeazzo Visconti | |||
Children | Gian Maria Visconti Filippo Maria Visconti |
Content
Family
Katerina was born in Milan, she was the eighth child of seventeen children Bernabo Visconti , the ruler of Milan, and his wife Beatrice Regina della Scala .
The daughter of her elder sister, Taddei , Isabella of Bavaria , became Queen of France, married Charles VI , and later, as a result of political intrigues at the French court, became one of the enemies of the family of Jan Galeazzo, Catherine's husband [2] .
Marriage
At the beginning of 1379, the possibility of Catherine’s marriage with King of England Richard II was discussed. Richard's teacher and adviser, Sir Simon Burley, went to Milan to negotiate their wedding, but he himself feared a similar alliance [3] . Bernabo eventually also abandoned this idea because he preferred to marry his daughter to another fiancé. October 2, 1380 in the church of San Giovanni in Conca in Milan nineteen-year-old Katerina married her cousin, Jan Galeazzo Visconti . His first wife, Isabella Valois, died in 1373, leaving him three sons, who all died early, and a daughter, Valentina .
In 1385, Bernabo Visconti was overthrown by Jan Galeazzo and imprisoned in the fortress of Trezzo sull'Adda , where he was probably later poisoned. [4]
On May 11, 1395, Jan Galeazzo received the title of Duke of Milan for 100,000 florins from King Wenceslas IV . So Katerina became the Duchess of Milan. To commemorate this event, a missal was written, on the title page of which the painter Visconti in front of the Virgin Mary was depicted by the artist Anovelo da Imbonate. Now the manuscript is in the Ambrosian Library .
Katerina and Jan Galeazzo had three children [1] :
- daughter (June — 7 July 1385)
- Jan Maria Visconti (September 7, 1388–16 May 1412)
- Filippo Maria Visconti (September 23, 1392– August 13, 1447)
Regency and Death
On September 3, 1402, Gan Galeazzo died of a fever. His possible heirs began to claim power (including illegal offspring). But Katerina became regent with juvenile Jan Marie, who was eventually declared the first heir [5] . However, the struggle continued. Francesco Barbavara, a major supporter of Catherine, was arrested on charges brought against Antonio Visconti, the illegitimate son of Can Galeazzo [5] .
Jan Maria eventually believed the accusations of his mother in treason by Fachino Cana. On August 18, 1404, Katerina was arrested by Francesco Visconti (another illegal son of her husband) and placed in the castle of Monza. She died on October 17th. It is believed that she was poisoned [5] .
Notes
- 2 1 2 3 Cawley, Charles Lords of Milan (Visconti), Medieval Lands . Medieval Lands Project . Hereford, England: Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (December 16, 2009). The appeal date is November 30, 2010. (eng.)
- ↑ Barbara Wertheim Tuchman. A distant mirror: the calamitous 14th century. - New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978 (Eng.) . - P. 439. - ISBN 978-0-349-12278-6 .
- ↑ Thomas B. Costain. The Last Plantagenets. - Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1962. - P. 102 (English) .
- ↑ Barbara Wertheim Tuchman. A distant mirror: the calamitous 14th century. - New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978 (Eng.) . - P. 437–438. - ISBN 978-0-349-12278-6 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 ::: Storia di Milano ::: Caterina Visconti (ital.)