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| biography |
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biography
pronunciation:
[day layva]
| sex:
| female
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| lived:
| (1575–1650)
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| biography:
| Aristocrat, born in Milan, Lombardy, N Italy. The daughter of Martino, ruler of Monza, in 1591she was forced to take her vows and become a nun in Monza with the name Virginia Maria. Her relationship with a man by whom she had two children led to her involvement in a number of murders. She was put on trial by Federico Borromeo in 1607, and spent the rest of her life in strict seclusion. On her is based the Gertrude character, the monaca di Monza (Monza's nun) in Alessandro Manzoni's The Betrothed. |
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