Leonora Dori Galigaï (19 May 1568 – 8 July 1617) was a French courtier of Italian origin, an influential

favourite A favourite (British English) or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated s ...

of the French regent

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

, mother of King

Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...

. Galigaï was married to Concino Concini, the later marquis and then marshal d'Ancre, during Marie's reign as Queen Mother and Regent of France.

Early life and France

Galigaï, the daughter of a carpenter named Dori, grew up in Florence in the

Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

as a young attendant of Marie de' Medici, who managed to buy her adoption from the '' Galigai'', a poor but noble Florentine family. In 1600, she followed her mistress to France who married King

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monar ...

, who named Galigaï

Dame d'atour ''Dame d'atour'' was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. The ''dame d'honneur'' was selected from the members of the highest French nobility. History At least from the Isa ...

(

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

) to the Queen Marie, immediately after her marriage to the Florentine nobleman Concini. Galigaï suffered from debilitating depressions and paralyzing spasms, which may have been symptoms of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...

, which the queen and her

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...

s believed to be due to

demonic possession Spirit possession is an unusual or altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors purportedly caused by the control of a human body by spirits, ghosts, demons, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and r ...

, but which were resistant to

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

. She was treated by the Portuguese-born, Italian-Jewish court physician of Marie and Louis XIII: Filotheo Eliau Montalto (died 1616). In an age when people believed in witchcraft, sorcery, magic and demonic possession, Galigaï was hired by the queen to perform exorcisms and white magic to counter

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 14 ...

and

curse A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particula ...

s. She earned huge sums of money by these tasks, as well as from bribes for giving people access to the queen. Galigaï amassed an enormous fortune, which she invested in banks and in real estate in France and Italy. In 1610 King Henri IV, the husband of Marie de' Medici, was assassinated, and his widow became the Queen Mother of Louis XIII and the Regent of France. After Concini was murdered by his political enemies in 1617, his wife Galigaï was arrested, imprisoned in

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

and charged with '' lèse majesté'' through practicing black magic, witchcraft and "

Judaizing Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the M ...

". Galigaï was judged guilty of having bewitched the regent. She was beheaded and her body subsequently burned at the stake at the Place de Grève in Paris. Concurrent with these times, in 1616 and 1617, various songs and tracts were published in Paris, Rouen, and London (English translations), concerning the couple, their activities and fate.Worldcat: Galigaï
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Legacy

Galigaï's life is the subject of

Alfred de Vigny Alfred Victor, Comte de Vigny (27 March 1797 – 17 September 1863) was a French poet and early French Romanticist. He also produced novels, plays, and translations of Shakespeare. Biography Vigny was born in Loches (a town to which he never r ...

's 1831 tragedy ''

La Maréchale d'Ancre LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' and the 1839 Italian opera La Marescialla d'Ancre, with a libretto by Giovanni Prati, based on the de Vigny work, and music by Alessandro Nini.

References

*
iscovrs svr la mort dee Eleonor Galligay Femme de Conchine Marquis d'Ancre : Executee en Greue le Samedy 8.de Iuillet. 1617
* Fernand Hayem, Le Maréchal d'Ancre et Léonora Galigaï, Plon, Paris, 1910 * François Poncetton, Galigaï biographical romance. On the life of Leonora Concini, Marchioness d'Ancre.Paris, Gallimard, 1937 * Giachetti Cipriano, La tragica avventura dei Concini 1600–1617, Milan, Mondadori, 1939. * Georges Mongrédien, Léonora Galigaï. Un procès de sorcellerie sous Louis XIII, Paris, Hachette, 1968. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dori, Leonora 1568 births 1617 deaths 17th-century executions by France 16th-century Italian women 17th-century Italian women French ladies-in-waiting Italian people executed abroad People executed by France by decapitation People executed for witchcraft Nobility from Florence People with epilepsy French royal favourites Prisoners of the Bastille Court of Louis XIII Court of Henry IV of France Household of Marie de' Medici Witch trials in France