Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

CAPPELLO, BIANCA (1548-1587)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 289 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

CAPPELLO, BIANCA (1548-1587) , See also:grand duchess of See also:Tuscany, was the daughter of Barto]ommeo Cappello, a member of one of the richest and noblest Venetian families, and was famed for her See also:great beauty. At the See also:age of fifteen she See also:fell in love with Pietro Bonaventuri, a See also:young Florentine clerk in the See also:firm of Salviati, and on the 28th of See also:November 1563 escaped with him to See also:Florence, where they were married and she had a daughter named Pellegrina. The Venetian See also:government made every effort to have Bianca arrested and brought back; but the grand See also:duke Cosimo de' See also:Medici intervened in her favour and she was See also:left unmolested. However she did not get on well with her See also:husband's See also:family, who were very poor and made her do See also:menial See also:work, until at last her beauty attracted See also:Francesco, the grand duke's son, a vicious and unprincipled See also:rake. Although already married to the virtuous and charming Archduchess Giovanna of See also:Austria, he seduced the See also:fair Venetian and loaded her with jewels, See also:money and other presents. Bianca's accommodating husband was given See also:court employment, and consoled himself with other ladies; in 1572 he was murdered in the streets of Florence in consequence of some amorous intrigue, though possibly Bianca and Francesco were privy to the See also:deed. On the See also:death of Cosimo in 1574 Francesco succeeded to the grand duchy; he now installed Bianca in a See also:fine See also:palace See also:close to his own and outraged his wife by flaunting his See also:mistress before her. As Giovanna had See also:borne Francesco no sons, Bianca was very anxious to See also:present him with an See also:heir, for otherwise her position would remain very insecure. But although she resorted to all sorts of expedients, even to that of trying to pass off a See also:changeling as the grand duke's See also:child, she was not successful. In 1578 Giovanna died; a few days later Francesco secretly married Bianca, and on the loth of See also:June, 1579, the See also:marriage was publicly announced. The Venetian government now put aside its resentment and was officially represented at the magnificent See also:wedding festivities, for it saw in Bianca Cappello an See also:instrument for cementing See also:good relations with Tuscany. But the See also:long expected heir failed to come, and Bianca realized that if her husband were to See also:die before her the was lost, for his family, especially his See also:brother See also:Cardinal See also:Ferdinand, hated her bitterly, as an adventuress and interloper.

In See also:

October 1587 both the grand duke and his wife died of See also:colic within a couple of days of each other. At the See also:time See also:poison was suspected, but documentary See also:evidence has proved the suspicion to be unfounded. See S. See also:Romanin, Lezioni di storia Veneta, vol. ii. (Florence, 1875) ; G. E. Saltini, Tragedie Medicee domestiche (Florence, 1898). (L. V.

End of Article: CAPPELLO, BIANCA (1548-1587)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
CAPPEL, LOUIS (1585-1658) 		[next]
CAPPERONNIER, CLAUDE (1671-1744)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries