Parisina Malatesta
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Laura Malatesta
Biography
Parisina was only a few days old when her mother was poisoned by her father, Cecco Ordelaffi.
In 1418 in Ravenna, at the age of 13, she married
In 1419 she gave birth to twin daughters, and in 1421 to a son, who lived only a few months.
According to some sources, during a trip in 1424[6] to visit her family, Parisina was accompanied, according to her husband's wishes, by Ugo d'Este, illegitimate son of Niccolò by his lover, Stella de' Tolomei. The two young people got to know each other in Ravenna and became lovers. The relationship continued secretly after they returned to Ferrara. They met in the delizie di Belfiore, Fossadalbero e Quartesana.[4]
Other sources report that to escape the plague of 1423 she took refuge in the castello di Fossadalbero accompanied by her stepson, and it was there that relationship started.[3]
Putting the couple under the surveillance of one of her maids,[3] Niccolò discovered the affair. He imprisoned his wife and son in the castle's dungeon, and both were beheaded.
In culture
Her tragic story has inspired writers, musicians, and painters. The Renaissance Italian author Matteo Bandello wrote the novel Ugo and Parisina.
Edward Gibbon briefly told the story in his Miscellaneous Works in 1796:
By the testimony of a maid, and his own observation, the Marquis of Este discovered the incestuous love of his wife Parisina, and Hugo his bastard son, a beautiful and valiant youth. They were beheaded in the castle, by the sentence of a father and a husband, who published his shame, and survived the execution. He was unfortunate, if they were guilty : if they were innocent, he was still more unfortunate : nor is there any possible situation in which I can sincerely approve the last act of the injustice of a parent.
A libretto by
There is also a lesser-known opera by Tomás Giribaldi (1878) and a tragedy by Antonio Somma.
The story has been the subject of paintings by Girolamo Domenichini, Thomas Jones Barker, Ford Madox Brown (a lost work), Giuseppe Bertini, Gaetano Previati, Bartolomeo Giuliano, Domenico Morelli, Maria Orsola Castelnuovo, and Achille Funi.
Descendants
Parisina had twin daughters and a son:[6]
- Lucia d'Este (1419–1437), who married Carlo Gonzaga and died young;
- Ginevra d'Este (1419–1440), who married Sigismund Malatesta and perhaps was killed by him;
- Alberto (1421), who died a few months after birth.
References
- ^ "Castello Estense — Italiano" (in Italian). Castelloestense.it. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- ^ a b "Tutto quel che accade". Archived from the original on 26 August 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Comune di Rimini - la storia - Donne di Rimini - Amore e morte alla corte dei Malatesti". Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
- ^ a b c "Fatti, miracoli e leggende di Ferrara antica". Parente.fe.it. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- ^ "Provincia di Ferrara - non Trovato". Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ a b autorbis (8 August 2010). "Parisina and the Playing Cards". Trionfi.com. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
External links
- Parisina, the full text of Byron's poem