biography
pronunciation:
[chenchee]
| sex:
| female
|
| lived:
| (1577–99)
|
| biography:
| Noblewoman, born in Rome, Italy. Her story became the subject of many literary works, including a tragedy by Shelley (1819, The Cenci). She was the youngest daughter of a wealthy Roman nobleman, Count Francesco Cenci, who conceived an incestuous passion for her. With her stepmother and her brother, Giacomo, she plotted his murder in 1598. The Cenci family were arrested and tortured and, in spite of great efforts to obtain mercy for the accused, all three were beheaded, by order of Pope Clement VIII. |
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