Catherine Visconti (1360-1404)

Biography

It was the girl of Barnabé Visconti (1319-1355), Co-lord of Milan, and Béatrice Reine della Scala (1331-1384), itself girl of Mastino II della Scala, lord of Vérone and Vicence, and of Taddea his wife.

In 1378, whereas it is 18 years old, his/her father envisages, at the instigation of sound Condottiere English John Hawkwood, to make him marry the king d' Angleterre Richard II, itself eleven years old, but gives up the idea the following year.

The husband of Catherine will be his cousin Jean Galéas, the son of Galéas II, older brother of Barnabe, and Blanche of Savoy.
The marriage takes place the October 2nd 1380. Catherine is 20 years old. Jean Galéas, as for him, is 29 years old, is widowed since 1372 of Isabelle de Valois, it has two children, Azzone born in 1368, and Valentine born between 1368 and 1371, and is almost pledged with his uncle Barnabé who holds it under his cut since the death of his father Galéas II to which it is supposed to have succédé.
The day of the marriage, Azzone dies and, in spite of the recriminations of the court which asks for the carryforward of the festivities, Barnabé imposes his will to see the marriage celebrating itself, thus increasing the hatred and the rancour of Jean Galéas and unquestionable a number of noble in his connection.

Catherine remains with Pavia, in the castle, the castello Visconteo , which made build, between 1360 and 1362, Galéas II in its preferred stay, and took care of the education of his/her daughter-in-law Valentine who will remain dependant with it.

Narrow between its duties of girl and wife, it attends, rather impotent, with the sour exchanges between Barnabé and Jean Galéas who shows themselves increasingly restive with the tyranny of his uncle. When, in May 1385, sounds the hour for Jean Galéas to be released from its yoke, Catherine is kept away of the conspiracy that her husband prepares with his mother Blanche of Savoy, Jacopo dal Verme, Ottone di Mandello and Giovanni Malaspina. The Coup d'etat succeeds, Barnabé is imprisoned and when he dies six months later, the family of Jean Galeéas left to Plaisance and Catherine will not even attend the official funeral of her father.

After a fallen through pregnancy during which it misses losing the life, it engages near the Vierge with prénommer Marie the next children who will come to him. In September 1388, a first child, Jean Marie is born. In January 1390, a new difficult pregnancy, which will fail, leads it to make the wish will surface make build a chartreuse with the accesses of Pavia. In September 1392, the birth of Philippe Marie takes place.

In 1393, to honor the wish with his wife, Jean Galéas decides the construction of the aforesaid chartreuse, the Certosa di Pavia , whose first stone will be posed, with a few eight kilometers in the north of Pavia, in August 1396, in the presence of the two heirs.

The May 11th 1395, the emperor Venceslas I^er high Jean Galéas under Duke. But Catherine is absent from official ceremony as during the inauguration of the chartreuse one. She is made almost invisible.
It is necessary to say that his/her children worry it, especially Philippe Marie whose health is fragile. She also flees the sumptuous expenditure of her husband for her library and her large collection of crowned relics.

She will reappear only after the death of her husband survinu the September 3rd 1402. The elder one of its boys is hardly thirteen years old and requires the presence of his/her mother who becomes regent duchy. Jean Galéa bequeathed 1000&thinsp to him; 000 guilders, the supervision of the children and the only signature of the acts which will be decided by the Council of the city.

In little time the duchy disintegrates. In the middle of the confrontations between rival factions, carried out by captains of fortune and mercenaries, a man without scruples emerges, Facino Cane. This one succeeds, while being based on the sanguinary character of Jean Marie to instill in him a feeling of suspicion with regard to the regent. Catherine is imprisoned the August 18th 1404 with the castle of Monza, where she dies two months later, the October 17th, either EM Poison born or victim of the Peste which devastated the whole Europe.

She was entitled to official funeral but its body was abandoned with Monza.

Descent

From its union with Jean Galéas, were born two children:

Jean Marie (1388-1412) which will succeed his/her father in 1402
Philippe Marie (1392-1447) which will be count of Pavia in 1402 and will succeed his/her brother in 1412.

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