Claudia Colla (died 1611), was an alleged Italian witch and the ducal mistress of the sovereign

Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma Ranuccio I Farnese (28 March 1569 – 5 March 1622) reigned as Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1592. A firm believer in absolute monarchy, Ranuccio, in 1594, centralised the administration of Parma and Piacenza, thus rescinding the no ...

. Colla belonged to the

Parmesan Parmesan ( it, Parmigiano Reggiano; ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cows’ milk and aged at least 12 months. It is named after two of the areas which produce it, the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia (''Parmigiano'' ...

merchant class. In 1599, her ducal lover Farnese married

Margherita Aldobrandini Margherita Aldobrandini (29 March 1588 — 9 August 1646), was an Italian noblewoman member of the Aldobrandini family and by marriage Duchess consort of Parma and Piacenza during 1600–1622. She was also Regent of both Duchies during 1626–1628 ...

. After a decade of childless marriage, Farnese accused Claudia Colla and her mother Elena for having caused the lack of offspring by the use of sorcery. The accusation of sorcery was unusual for someone of her class. She was judged guilty and sentenced to be executed by burning.

References

Ce.unipr.it
* Dallasta, Federica,
Luca Ceriotti, Il Posto Di Caifa
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People executed for witchcraft Executed Italian people Mistresses of Italian royalty 1611 deaths 16th-century births 17th-century Italian women People executed by Italian states People from Parma Witch trials in Italy People executed by burning {{Italy-bio-stub