{"id":766,"date":"2015-03-08T15:46:20","date_gmt":"2015-03-08T15:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/microsites.ifagiolini.com\/betrayal\/?p=766"},"modified":"2015-03-08T15:54:03","modified_gmt":"2015-03-08T15:54:03","slug":"the-second-mrs-gesualdo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.ifagiolini.com\/betrayal\/the-second-mrs-gesualdo\/","title":{"rendered":"The second Mrs Gesualdo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second Mrs Gesualdo (Princess of Venosa)<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to the women in Carlo Gesualdo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, the wife that he killed for commiting adultery understandably gets much of the attention. Reported to have been one of the most beautiful women in the land, Maria d\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Avalos was from an important Neapolitan family, and her lover, the influential Duke of Andria (himself considered a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmodel of beauty\u00e2\u20ac\u2122), even more so.<\/p>\n

\"Maria<\/a><\/p>\n

Their \u00e2\u20ac\u02dclegitimate homicides\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (contrary to common assumption, Gesualdo did not simply get off with murder<\/a> because he was a prince) proved scandalous, and in the years and centuries that followed, have almost attained mythical status. Often overlooked, however, is Gesualdo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s second wife, Eleanora, whom he married a few years after the killing the first.<\/p>\n

Eleanora d\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Este was the cousin on Alfonso II d\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Este, Duke of Ferrara. With no immediate heir, Alfonso II\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s celebrated court and duchy were destined to be forfeit to the Papal States. It was decided that marrying Eleanora to Gesualdo, who had two powerful cardinals for uncles and might influence the Pope, represented the family\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best chance of hanging on to their precious fiefdom.<\/p>\n

From Carlo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perspective, marrying into the illustrious d\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Este family would have been attractive, but of greater allure would probably have been the access such a marriage granted him to the famous musicians and poets at court<\/a>. Given the d\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Este\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ancestors from the Borgia family and that Alfonso was on his third wife, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perhaps unsurprising that the fate of Carlo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first wife was not considered an obstacle to marriage.<\/p>\n

The couple met and were married with much pomp and ceremony, and based themselves in Ferrara until after the birth of their son, Alfonsino. Despite enjoying being at the centre of artistic innovation, however, Carlo abused and was unfaithful to Eleanora. He returned, alone, to his mistress at Gesualdo. Eleanora stayed in Ferrara until the death of Alfonso II (when the family lost duchy anyway).<\/p>\n

Life in the Neapolitan (i.e. Spanish-ruled) south was very different from Eleanora\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tuscan home, and in the following years, Carlo subjected her increasingly to psychological and physical abuse. Alfonsino died at the age just four, and then Carlo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mistress bore him an illegitimate son. Eleanora was said to have lived in constant fear of being poisoned; Carlo would \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcgrab her violently and throw her to the ground\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and enjoyed his mistress \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcunder the eyes of the Princess [Eleanora] and all others in the castle, without regard and without temperance\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

When Eleanora returned north to stay with her brother, Cesare, the duke successfully obtained papal dispensation for a divorce from Carlo on grounds of maltreatment. Nonetheless, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dca willing martyr\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, she dutifully returned to care for her needy and abusive husband until he died, 19 years after their wedding.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not easy to say which wife had it worst.<\/p>\n

\"Share<\/a>