Vittoria Accoramboni, Duchess of Bracciano (15 February 1557{{snd22 December 1585) was an Italian noblewoman. Her life became the basis for

John Webster John Webster (c. 1578 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and car ...

's play '' The White Devil'', several novels, and a novella by

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...

Biography

She was born in

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History Prehistory The ol ...

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

, the tenth child in a family belonging to the minor nobility of Gubbio, who migrated to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

with a view to bettering their fortunes. After refusing several offers of marriage for Vittoria, her father betrothed her to Francesco Peretti, a man of no position, but a nephew of Cardinal Montalto, who was regarded as likely to become pope.Vittoria Accoramboni - Italian Noblewoman
Encyclopedia Britannica. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. March 14, 2018. Encyclopedia Britannica inc. Retrieved: 17/05/18 Vittoria was admired and worshipped by the cleverest and most brilliant men in Rome, and being luxurious and extravagant although poor, she and her husband were soon plunged in debt. Among her most fervent admirers was Paolo Giordano I Orsini, Duke of Bracciano, one of the most powerful men in Rome. Her brother Marcello, wishing to see her the duke's wife, had Peretti murdered (1581). The duke himself was suspected of complicity, inasmuch as he was believed to have murdered his first wife, Isabella de' Medici. Now that Vittoria was free he made her an offer of marriage, which she willingly accepted, and they were married shortly after. But her good fortune aroused much jealousy, and attempts were made to annul the marriage; she was imprisoned in the

Castel Sant'Angelo Castel Sant'Angelo ( ), also known as Mausoleum of Hadrian (), is a towering rotunda (cylindrical building) in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. ...

and only liberated through the intervention of Cardinal

Carlo Borromeo Charles Borromeo (; ; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was an Italian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was made a cardinal in 1560. Borromeo founded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and was ...

.{{citation needed, date=May 2018 On the death of

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII (, , born Ugo Boncompagni; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake ...

, Cardinal Montalto, her first husband's uncle, was elected in his place as

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V (; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where h ...

(1585); he vowed vengeance on the duke of Bracciano and Vittoria, who, warned in time, fled first to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and thence to

Salò Salò (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy (northern Italy) on the banks of Lake Garda, on which it has the longest promenade. The city was the Governance#Seat of government, seat of government of th ...

in Venetian territory. Here the duke died in November 1585, bequeathing to his widow all his personal property. The duchy of Bracciano passed to his son by his first wife. Vittoria, overwhelmed with grief, went to live in retirement at

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, where she was followed by Lodovico Orsini, a relation of her late husband and a servant of the Venetian republic, to arrange amicably for the division of the property. But a quarrel having arisen in this connection, Lodovico hired a band of bravi and had Vittoria assassinated at the end of 1585. He himself and nearly all his accomplices were afterwards put to death by order of the republic.

References in literature

Her story formed the basis of

's drama tragedy, '' The White Devil'', or ''The Tragedy of Paolo Giordano Ursini, Duke of Brachiano'' (1612), of

's novella ''Vittoria Accoramboni'' (1837–1839), of

Ludwig Tieck Johann Ludwig Tieck (; ; 31 May 177328 April 1853) was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the Romanticism, Romantic movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early life Tieck w ...

's novel, ''Vittoria Accoramboni'' (1840) and of Robert Merle's novel ''l'Idole'' (1987) published in English translation as ''Vittoria.''{{citation needed, date=May 2018 A tennis ball called the Beautiful White Devil is named after her in '' A Room with a View''.

References

{{reflist * {{EB1911, wstitle=Accoramboni, Vittoria, volume=1, page=122 , first=Luigi, last=Villari, authorlink=Luigi Villari Endnote: Her story formed the basis of Webster's drama, ''The Tragedy of Paolo Giordano Ursini'' (1612), and of Ludwig Tieck's novel, ''Vittoria Accoramboni'' (1840); it is told more accurately in D. Gnoli's volume, ''Vittoria Accoramboni'' (Florence, 1870), and an excellent sketch of her life is given in Countess E. Martinengo-Cesaresco's ''Lombard Studies'' (London, 1902).

Biography

References in literature

References

Further reading