1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:04,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey listener discretion advised. Hi, 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: this is Danish Swartz, the host of Noble Blood. Thank 4 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: you so much for listening It just a quick bit 5 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: of housekeeping before the episode. I wrote a book called Anatomy, 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: a Love Story, which is about a young woman who 7 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: wants to be a surgeon in the eighteen hundreds in Scotland. 8 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: And if you like this podcast, I really think you'll 9 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: like the book, and I have a sequel coming out, 10 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: Immortality a Love Story, which comes out this February February, 11 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,520 Speaker 1: and in the book world might publishing people keep telling 12 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 1: me that pre orders are like the most helpful thing 13 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:43,239 Speaker 1: you could do to support the book, So if you 14 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: were at all interested in it, preorder information is in 15 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: the episode description and it would be incredibly useful. We 16 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: also have links to show merch. I know there's some 17 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: weird like unofficial show merch that I've seen around the internet, 18 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: but what's LinkedIn bio is the only actual official and 19 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: a Patreon where I post bonus episodes and episode scripts. 20 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:07,759 Speaker 1: But thank you so much for listening. That truly is 21 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: the best support that you could give a quick morning 22 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: before this episode begins. It contains graphic depictions of violence 23 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: and contains references to sexual violence, so if that makes 24 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: you uncomfortable or might be triggering, this might be an 25 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: episode to skip. It was fifine and in the early 26 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: morning hours of the eleventh of September, the city of 27 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: Rome was rioting. A massive, angry crowd gathered and grew 28 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: as Romans rich and poor like pressed on towards a 29 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: building known as Castel sant Angelo, a fortress and prison 30 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: whose imposing form had stood in the city since the 31 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: second century se Shoulder to shoulder, the rioters pushed their 32 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: way on this dangerously hot day toward the bridge that 33 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: led to the prison, where a platform had been erected 34 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: out front for a set of executions which were to 35 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: take place at dawn. Executions almost always drew crowds in 36 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: pre modern Europe, their publicity and visibility a central part 37 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:33,679 Speaker 1: of many justice systems all over the continent. They were 38 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,919 Speaker 1: a morbid spectacle shore, but they were also understood as 39 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: crime deterrence, and sometimes they even had a sort of 40 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: ritual component, aiming to restore the moral balance of a 41 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: community after a crime had been committed. An execution in 42 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: this period needed witnesses to fulfill its intended purpose. People 43 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: in this period were, of course, not nearly as uni 44 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,239 Speaker 1: formally pro execution as we might believe. Plenty of people 45 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: had serious reservations about the moral rectitude of this kind 46 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: of state violence. But it wasn't often that the crowds 47 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: at public executions tried so actively or so fervently as 48 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 1: the crowd did that morning in Rome to stop the 49 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: event from taking place at all. In fact, there was 50 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: one execution in particular that the crowd seemed to want 51 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: to prevent more than any of the others. They were there, 52 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: sweating and pushing and shouting for a woman named Beatrice 53 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:47,559 Speaker 1: chen Chi. Only twenty two years old. She had been convicted, 54 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: along with her stepmother and her brothers, of the murder 55 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: of her father, Francesco Cenchi. It had been an open 56 00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: and shut case, a brutal patricide, and a sloppy attempt 57 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: at making it look like an accident, but the people 58 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: of Rome were sympathetic. For years, whispers had abounded in 59 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 1: the city, but this day they became shouts. Beatrice's father 60 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: abused her. He was a tyrant, a danger to his 61 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 1: family and a terror to everyone. Whatever fate he got, 62 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: the crowd reasoned it was well deserved. In the year 63 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: between the murder and the day of her execution, Beatrice 64 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: had become a symbol of innocence pushed to the brink. 65 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 1: Her story resonated with the people of Rome, who felt, 66 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: despite her noble status, that her plight paralleled the triumph 67 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: of a people over an oppressive noble regime. She would 68 00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: eventually become known as the Roman Virgin, her in a sense, 69 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:04,799 Speaker 1: forever baked into her moniker and her short life forever 70 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: a symbol of popular resistance. But it wasn't just the 71 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:14,719 Speaker 1: rabble who wanted to see Beatrice spared. Cardinals and esteemed 72 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:18,359 Speaker 1: members of the nobility had begged Clement the Eighth, the 73 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: pope and head of the Papal states of which Rome 74 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,559 Speaker 1: was the capital, to have mercy on the young woman 75 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:29,160 Speaker 1: and her co conspirators. But on the heels of several 76 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 1: other scandals that involved nobles taking matters into their own hands, 77 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: Clement decided that he needed to make an example, a 78 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,279 Speaker 1: show of strength that would keep the nobility in line. 79 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 1: The Pope had made his choice, the Roman Virgin would 80 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:52,280 Speaker 1: have no reprieve. I'm Dani Schwartz, and this is noble blood. 81 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: Although BEATRICEA is remembered rather singularly, she was in fact 82 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: only one member of a rather large and rather troubled family. 83 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: Born in fifteen seventy seven to Count Francesco Cenchi and 84 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: Urcilia Santa Croce, Beatrice was the fifth of their twelve 85 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:27,600 Speaker 1: or thirteen children, seven of whom would survive infancy. Relatively 86 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: little is known about Urcilia, who would die before Beatrice 87 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:36,280 Speaker 1: turned eight in fifteen eighty four. Much more, and much worse, 88 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: is known about her father. Francesco. Francesco Cenci was the 89 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: so called natural, that is to say, illicit son of 90 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: Monseigneur Christophero Cenci, treasurer of the Apostolic Camera, which is 91 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: basically a papal treasury, which papal fun fact interlude was 92 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: just abolished by Pope Francis this year, shortly before his 93 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 1: father's death. Francesco was legitimized, meaning he stood too then 94 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: did at age twelve. Inherit a massive estate which included 95 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: two palaces in Rome, a set of properties and pieces 96 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: of land on the outskirts of the city, and various 97 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: others in Abruzzo, a region east of Rome belonging to 98 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Naples. Of course, much of the estate 99 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: was ill gotten, gained in no small part through embezzlement 100 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: from the papal coffers. The apple didn't fall far from 101 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: the tree, it seems. Even as a child, Francesco was 102 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: described as ill tempered and violent. The first of many 103 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: lawsuits was brought against him when he was only eleven 104 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: years old, after he attacked someone, drawing blood in the process. 105 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: He was also, to put it bluntly, apparently so sexually 106 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 1: precocious that his tutor advised his mother to marry him 107 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: off quickly to keep him from spending too much time 108 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: with courtesan's or ahem, taking matters into his own hands. 109 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: Maybe the tutor was simply trying to tie himself to 110 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 1: the Cenchi fortune, but either way, a solution was quickly offered. 111 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: Francesco Cenci would marry his tutor's niece, the aforementioned or Cilia, 112 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: in fifteen sixty three, when they were both fourteen years old. 113 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: It would be four years before the pair had their 114 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 1: first child, and by then it was clear that Francesco 115 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: was not just quote sexually precocious, He was a sexual predator. 116 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: He racked up criminal and civil penalties not only for 117 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: his violent outbursts, but for acts of sexual violence as well. 118 00:08:56,280 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: He often assaulted, both sexually and otherwise, men of his 119 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 1: staff as punishment for violations real and perceived. In fifteen 120 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,199 Speaker 1: sixty seven, around the time that his first child was born, 121 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: Francesco was convicted of hanging a vassal of his one 122 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: who had committed no crime, following a peasant uprising. Later, 123 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: he would beat a servant girl with a broom handle 124 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:26,959 Speaker 1: for misunderstanding his orders, injuring her so severely that you 125 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:32,199 Speaker 1: reported being unable to eat, drink, or speak for several 126 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: days following the attack. There does not seem to be 127 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: any documentation confirming whether Francesco's violence was directed at his 128 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,679 Speaker 1: wife or children during this earlier period, although even if 129 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,559 Speaker 1: he did not directly harm them, he certainly created an 130 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: environment of violence and rage in his household that must 131 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: have been unimaginably frightening. And we do know that after 132 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: our Cilia died two days after giving birth, their newborn daughter, 133 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: Francesca died only three days later. From that point, Francesco's 134 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: violence and wild lifestyle escalated rapidly, and his interest in 135 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: showing any kind of care or concerned for his family disappeared, 136 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: if it was ever there to begin with. In fact, 137 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:25,200 Speaker 1: he got rid of his family where he could. Following 138 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: their mother's death, Beatrice and her older sister Antonia were 139 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 1: sent to live with the Franciscan nuns at the monastery 140 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 1: of Santa Croce in Monticettorio. They would remain there for 141 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:42,679 Speaker 1: roughly seven years. While Beatrice and her sister were in 142 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: the convent. In fifteen eighty five, Feliche Pierre Gentile was 143 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: elected to the papacy, taking the pontifical name Sixtus the Fifth. 144 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:58,079 Speaker 1: Coming to the role in the midst of the counter Reformation, 145 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:02,440 Speaker 1: and after some years of stability, he was determined to 146 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: curb corruption in Rome, seeking first and foremost to hold 147 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: the nobility accountable by gasp punishing them when they committed 148 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: crimes in a totally normal response. Francesco Cenchi responded by 149 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: drawing up a will in a bid to protect his assets. 150 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 1: Upon his death on November twenty two, fifty six, he 151 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:29,320 Speaker 1: met with a notary and dictated his last wishes. Some 152 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,080 Speaker 1: have pointed to this will and some of the language 153 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,440 Speaker 1: that it uses, the phrase that death may come at 154 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: any hour, and death being the one thing that is 155 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:42,319 Speaker 1: certain end quote, along with his charitable bequests and many 156 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: invocations of saints, gods and other religious themes, as evidence 157 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 1: that he was not so evil as some might believe. 158 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: But here's the thing. If you were to walk into 159 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 1: the state archives of Rome, where most of the city's 160 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 1: pre modern wills are housed, and pick out a hundred 161 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: from this period at random, you would probably find almost 162 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: these exact phrases and bequests about a hundred times. They 163 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: were just a standard part of will writing in Rome, 164 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: and a variation on the same standards to be found 165 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: in other parts of Italy and beyond. Those words, simply put, 166 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: did not come out of Francesco Cenci's mouth or brain 167 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: the document itself aside. It's the choices Francesco made in 168 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 1: terms of his children that are of interest here. Most 169 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: of his bequests were pretty standard. He left money for 170 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: the care of his daughters, both legitimate and otherwise, and 171 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: named his primary beneficiaries his sons Christoforo, Rocco, Bernardo, and Paulo, 172 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:52,199 Speaker 1: noting also that should he have other sons in his future, 173 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 1: they would be added to the list, except he already 174 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: had another son who wasn't on the list. He had 175 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: long openly disliked his eldest living child, Jocomo, and took 176 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: this opportunity to give his least favorite son one last 177 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,560 Speaker 1: slight to be felt from beyond the grave. Francesco left 178 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:17,680 Speaker 1: him the minimum amount allowed by the law, a far 179 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: cry from the lavish inheritance presumably awaiting Jacomo's brothers. We 180 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: should not mistake his other bequests for care about his children. Again, 181 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:32,080 Speaker 1: there were a lot of standard practices in willmaking, and 182 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: other accounts of Francesco's behavior around this time point to 183 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: a neglectful approach to his children at best. But his 184 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: will tells us something important about his relationship with Jacomo 185 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: and his willingness to spite his children in general. Perhaps 186 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 1: spurred on by Francesco's increasingly erratic behavior, in Pope six 187 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 1: finally set his sights on the nobleman's embezzled in Brittants. 188 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:05,680 Speaker 1: He originally instructed Francesco to sell any properties purchased through 189 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 1: illegal negotiations by his father and returned the money to 190 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:13,679 Speaker 1: the papal treasury, which would have bankrupted him. But by 191 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:17,200 Speaker 1: April of that year the fine was whittled down to 192 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: twenty five thousand scootie, which records indicate was enough for 193 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: success To consider the many sins, and I mean many, 194 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: he listed them out in the papal decree of the 195 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 1: late Monseigneur to be absolved. Now thousand scootie was nothing 196 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: to scoff at, but by now Francesco was well used 197 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: to heavy fines. Over the course of his lifetime, Francesco 198 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: would slowly but surely run his inheritance into the ground, 199 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 1: simply by the sheer number of criminal and civil penalties 200 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: racked up as a result of his violent nature. Pope 201 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: Sixtus died only a few months later, in August five 202 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: teen ninety. Over the next several years, Rome stability faltered 203 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:08,080 Speaker 1: under a series of short lived popes, and the city 204 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 1: became practically lawless. In this environment, Francesco became more violent 205 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: and more brazen about it. The following year, things escalated 206 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: again when Giacomo, his least favorite son, remember, decided to 207 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: get married. Up until now, Beatrice and her sister Antonia 208 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: had been spared their father's wrath while living up at 209 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: the convent. Of course, convent life in the sixteenth century 210 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: was no vacation. This convent, in particular, was generally populated 211 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: by poorer women, and was in fact located in the 212 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: area of Rome in which most of the city's sex 213 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 1: workers resided. It was an odd place to board two 214 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: young noble girls. It's possible that their father placed them 215 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,200 Speaker 1: there out of a lack of care for their comfort, 216 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: simply wishing to be rid of them in the easiest 217 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:09,040 Speaker 1: way for him possible. But at the very least the 218 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:12,640 Speaker 1: two sisters would have been kept safe away from Francesco's 219 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: pattern of violent behavior, and so although we don't know 220 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 1: much for sure about this time in their lives, I 221 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: like to imagine it was happy, if austere. Unfortunately, that 222 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: peace would not last. Giaco mo Chenchi's marriage to Ludvika Velli, 223 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: a distant cousin, left Francesco seething with jealousy and rage. 224 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:42,040 Speaker 1: When the newly wet couple settled into their apartment in 225 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: the Cenchi palace, Francesco decided two things. First, he would 226 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: rather move out than witness his son's prosperity, and second, 227 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 1: it was time for his daughters to come home. One 228 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: can only imagine how jarring it must have in for 229 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:05,560 Speaker 1: Beatrice A to return to her father's residence in She 230 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:09,120 Speaker 1: had spent the prior seven years half of her life 231 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,879 Speaker 1: at this point with her sister in a convent, likely 232 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 1: not sealed off, but certainly shielded from the outside world. 233 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: Now nearly fifteen years old, she was returning to a 234 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: new palace following a great deal of upheaval, both in 235 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:28,120 Speaker 1: the city and in her family. It was at this 236 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:33,880 Speaker 1: point that Beatrice's life, already characterized by instability, would take 237 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: a turn toward the horrific. Enraged at his eldest son's 238 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,159 Speaker 1: decision to get married and bring his wife to the 239 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:46,360 Speaker 1: family palace, Francesco Chenchi moved his permanent residence to another 240 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: of his properties, a palace nestled along the Tiber River. 241 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:55,120 Speaker 1: He decided to bring Beatrice and Antonia home, ripping them 242 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: from their home of seven years in the process, ostensibly 243 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: because he wanted the company. His decision had essentially split 244 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: the family into His son, Rocco, had come to join 245 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: him in the new residence, but another of his sons, Christofero, 246 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,320 Speaker 1: had chosen to stay with Giacomo, the oldest son and 247 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: his new wife. Francesco had sent two of his other sons, 248 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: Paolo and Bernardo, off to school elsewhere in the city, 249 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: so perhaps bringing the girls home was an attempt to 250 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,439 Speaker 1: tip the family scales in his favor, or maybe he 251 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:32,919 Speaker 1: simply felt that they had been free from his direct 252 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: control for too long. Competition and bitterness toward his children, 253 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: particularly Giacomo, seems to have fueled not only Francesco's rage 254 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: but also his life choices. Not long after he moved 255 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,919 Speaker 1: to the new palace, he set his sights on procuring 256 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:57,800 Speaker 1: a marriage of his own. On November he married Lucrezia Petroni, 257 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: the widow of a distant cousin. By this time, Francesco's 258 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: violent nature and tendency towards infidelity was common knowledge, but 259 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 1: Lucretia had six children of her own, and she entered 260 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,280 Speaker 1: the marriage on the promise that Francesco would fund her 261 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 1: younger children's education, a promise he would of course fail 262 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: to fulfill, not only for her children but for many 263 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 1: of his own. The day after their wedding, an illegitimate 264 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:33,239 Speaker 1: daughter of Francesco's was baptized. The child's mother was a 265 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: long term mistress whom Francesco would try to move into 266 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 1: his palace with his family and new wife. On this, 267 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: at least, Lucretia was able to put her foot down, 268 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 1: but it did little to stem her husband's behavior. Not 269 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: even four months into his new marriage, Francisco's habits began 270 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:59,359 Speaker 1: slowly to catch up with him. In March, Matteo Bonavera, 271 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: a servant of Francesco's, was caught in the act of 272 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:07,040 Speaker 1: stealing a man's cape. As the police questioned him about 273 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:10,400 Speaker 1: his crime and asked him who he worked for, they 274 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: were baffled by the servants intimation that his master did 275 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: not want to be spoken of by his staff. Seemingly 276 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,600 Speaker 1: forgetting the matter at hand, The police pressed the issue, 277 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: wondering why on earth any man of noble status would 278 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:30,920 Speaker 1: wish for such secrecy. Finally, the truth spilled forth. Matteo 279 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:35,119 Speaker 1: admitted that he and other servants, and even some of 280 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: Francesco's own sons, had witnessed Francesco's many times committing the 281 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:47,879 Speaker 1: so called unspeakable act sodomy. Sodomy, which by legal definition, 282 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,679 Speaker 1: included any kind of non vaginal intercourse between persons of 283 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 1: any gender, was a crime during this period in Rome, 284 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 1: and one so severe it carried the death penalty. Witnesses 285 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:04,639 Speaker 1: aimed to have seen Francesco with women, girls and male youths. 286 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:10,680 Speaker 1: Mateo himself claimed to have refused his master's advances. Francesco, 287 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: as might be expected, had committed not just sodomy, but 288 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 1: had also committed seemingly countless instances of sodom ascidal rape. 289 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:26,919 Speaker 1: Further investigation brought forth more and more witnesses and victims, 290 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:31,119 Speaker 1: most of them his servants, who described his tactics of 291 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:35,160 Speaker 1: coercion and the pleasure he seemed to take in inflicting 292 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: pain on his victims during the act. There was little 293 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: physical evidence to corroborate these crimes, but the sheer number 294 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: of witnesses, coupled with the scandalousness of the crime, meant 295 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: that Francesco would be arrested and imprisoned awaiting trial. After 296 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,719 Speaker 1: all his years of violence, it finally seemed like he 297 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: might be stopped. Despite the scandal that it would have 298 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 1: brought on the Chenchi family, this moment must have brought 299 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:09,560 Speaker 1: with it also some real, if tentative relief. But abusive, 300 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 1: powerful men with wide networks of people willing to protect 301 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: them are a tale as old as time. The husband 302 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:21,119 Speaker 1: of one of Francesco's illegitimate daughters, happened to be a 303 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:24,679 Speaker 1: lawyer in the Papal Court of Justice. He took on 304 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:28,640 Speaker 1: the job of being Francesco's advocate and managed to get 305 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 1: him released from prison. There was, however, a fine. Francesco 306 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:38,160 Speaker 1: was ordered to pay one hundred thousand scootie, a significant 307 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:43,000 Speaker 1: portion of his already disappearing inheritance, and he could not 308 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:49,160 Speaker 1: leave the Papal States until his fine was paid. Whatever neglect, spite, 309 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:54,120 Speaker 1: or violence or combination Francesco had previously directed towards his family, 310 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,960 Speaker 1: it would pale in comparison to the all out war 311 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: he waged after his sodomy aisle. He openly accused Giacomo 312 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: of getting him imprisoned in order to steal his fortune, 313 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,960 Speaker 1: and even of plotting his murder, which, while it was 314 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: a prescient accusation, it was one that was directed at 315 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:18,919 Speaker 1: the wrong child. Francesco had also by this time turned 316 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,120 Speaker 1: on Christophero, the one who had chosen not to move 317 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:26,639 Speaker 1: with him following Jacomo's marriage, Having taken after his father. 318 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:31,440 Speaker 1: In terms of his reputation for brutality, it seems Christofero 319 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: was a more formidable foe than his father expected, and 320 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 1: a threat from him may have been the reason Francesco 321 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: was anxious to leave Rome at the earliest opportunity. You 322 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 1: might have noticed that for much of this episode, Beatrice 323 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: has been very much a background player, nearly forgotten in 324 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:55,639 Speaker 1: the chaos, drama, bloodshed and crimes of her father's life. 325 00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: This is for many reasons, chief among them that French 326 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,879 Speaker 1: ESCO's life has been heavily documented through court records in 327 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,640 Speaker 1: a way Beatrichse was not, which simply left us with 328 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 1: more information about him than about her. All of this 329 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 1: would change in when Francesco made his final payment to 330 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: the Papal exchequer and moved to a castle he borrowed 331 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 1: from a friend, because by this point most of his 332 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:29,160 Speaker 1: places were in disrepair. The castle was in Petrella, about 333 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:33,360 Speaker 1: a hundred miles east of Rome, somewhat menacingly called lau 334 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:37,240 Speaker 1: Roca or the Rock. He took Lucretia, his wife of 335 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,360 Speaker 1: not quite two years, and be a Treach with him. 336 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 1: It was this move, and the horrific events which followed, 337 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:51,119 Speaker 1: which would finally put Via Treach center stage. The next 338 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:56,119 Speaker 1: two years of Beatricese life were ones of unending torture 339 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:01,200 Speaker 1: and cruelty. She and her stepmother were in prisoned in Larocca. 340 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:06,880 Speaker 1: Francesco had fashioned their chambers into literal cells, making their 341 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: servants into jailers, and cutting off their access to the 342 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:14,919 Speaker 1: outside world. During this time, Beatrice also lost two of 343 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:19,320 Speaker 1: her brothers, Christofero in a dispute over a courtesan and 344 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 1: Paulo of an unknown cause. Following his and Bernardo's own 345 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: escape back to Rome after an ill fated visit to 346 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:32,679 Speaker 1: La Petrella, Bernardo, the youngest of Francesco's legitimate sons, found 347 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:37,080 Speaker 1: safe haven in the household of his elder brother Jacomo. 348 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: Over these two years, Beatrice and Lucretia had considered and 349 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:46,879 Speaker 1: attempted to plot and escape, and, according to reports from servants, 350 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: at least Beatrice was so distraught she was even considering suicide. 351 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,000 Speaker 1: With the help of the administrator of Larocca, the women 352 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 1: were eventually able to send letters to Giacomo and other 353 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,440 Speaker 1: relatives in Rome begging for help, and said that at 354 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: one point Beatrice even reached out to Pope Clement, begging 355 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:13,439 Speaker 1: him to free her from her father's torment. In December, however, 356 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: Francesco managed to intercept one of these letters while he 357 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: was in Rome conducting business and who knows what else. 358 00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:27,160 Speaker 1: Enraged by the entirely correct accusations his daughter had made, 359 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:32,320 Speaker 1: he returned to La Petrella determined to make her regret it. 360 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:38,439 Speaker 1: In depositions, witnesses would later offer a cryptic description of 361 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:42,680 Speaker 1: Beatrice's treatment at the hands of her father, depositions that 362 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: would fuel rumors and be a cause for great dispute 363 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: among scholars and people who have written about her. Although 364 00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:55,879 Speaker 1: Beatrice was about twenty and Francesco had made no attempts 365 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: to secure a marriage for her, even going so far, 366 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 1: according to some accounts, as to refuse a match suggested 367 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: by Pope Clement himself, there was the matter of a 368 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,720 Speaker 1: dowry he didn't want to pay, but the testimony of 369 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 1: the servants at Larocca would fuel other suspicions. In one deposition, 370 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:21,520 Speaker 1: a servant named Girolama described in graphic detail via triche's 371 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:27,280 Speaker 1: terrifying punishment following Francesco's discovery of her letters. According to 372 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: the notary who transcribed her testimony, the servant said, quote, 373 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 1: he took a bull pizzle which he kept there, and 374 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 1: he thrashed her horribly with it. Saying that she had 375 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:41,399 Speaker 1: written to Rome and had also sent a petition and 376 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:45,439 Speaker 1: Beatriche denied these allegations, and he kept her shut in 377 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:49,160 Speaker 1: her bedroom for two or three days, and he himself 378 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: brought her food, and he would open the door of 379 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: her bedroom and put it on the floor, and then 380 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: he would go away at his good will and quote 381 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: it is this last bit he would go away at 382 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: his good will in particular, which would fuel allegations in 383 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 1: his time as well as ours, that Francesco committed incest 384 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,639 Speaker 1: with his daughter. Belinda Jack, a scholar who has written 385 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 1: on bea Tree Cha, suggests that this phrasing may have 386 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 1: been a roundabout way of indicating this that Francesco was 387 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 1: entering his daughter's bedroom for a specific purpose and would 388 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,560 Speaker 1: only leave when his desires had been met. She also 389 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,720 Speaker 1: points out one of the trap scholars tend to fall 390 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: into in their debates about this allegation. Following hundreds of 391 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: years of speculation, many have insisted that even for someone 392 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:44,280 Speaker 1: like Francesco, incest was a quote natural boundary he simply 393 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 1: could not have crossed. It's an assertion one can only 394 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:51,200 Speaker 1: make because of the lack of physical evidence and even 395 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: of outright accusation and be a tree chase case, although 396 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 1: her lawyer would use it as a defense later on. 397 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 1: But just because something is terrible doesn't mean it didn't happen, 398 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:06,000 Speaker 1: And as we well know, just because no physical evidence 399 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 1: was found doesn't mean it wasn't there, especially when the 400 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: perpetrator in question was one of great means and influence 401 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: with a lot to lose. We may never know what 402 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,200 Speaker 1: exactly happened to be a treach a when her father 403 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:24,440 Speaker 1: would quote open the door of the bedroom. But Dr 404 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,200 Speaker 1: Jack I believe is correct that we need to consider 405 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: the possibility that incestuous rape or the threat of it, 406 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: was a significant factor in determining what would happen next. 407 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 1: That administrator of La Rocca, a man named Olympio Calvetti, 408 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,920 Speaker 1: would remain be a treach a and lucretious connection to 409 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:49,360 Speaker 1: their relatives in Rome. When Beatrice finally decided that she 410 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 1: had enough, it was Olympio whom she turned to first. 411 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:58,960 Speaker 1: The original plan was to poison Francesco, and Olympio was 412 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,520 Speaker 1: set to meet with Giacomo and Paulo in Rome to 413 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 1: procure the means. When Olympia returned, however, via trich A 414 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:11,600 Speaker 1: lamented that her paranoid father had begun making her and 415 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 1: Lucretia taste his food before he ate. They would have 416 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: to think of something else. Finally, they had a lucky opportunity. 417 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 1: In September, Francesco took ill with gout and was convalescing 418 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:32,120 Speaker 1: in his chambers. Via Tricha knew now was the time 419 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: to strike. Olympio and another servant, Marzio Catalano, was sent 420 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:41,800 Speaker 1: into Francesco's chambers on the morning of September seven. They 421 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:45,720 Speaker 1: almost immediately ran back out, fearful of what might happen 422 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 1: if they got caught. But for beatri Cha, there was 423 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 1: too much at stake and there was no turning back. 424 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: She chastised the men, saying that if they were unwilling 425 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,920 Speaker 1: to carry out their long standing plan, she would mark 426 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 1: to write in there and murder her father with her 427 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 1: own bare hands. Renewed in their resolve, the two men 428 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: went back in and bludgeoned Francesco to death as he slept. 429 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:17,440 Speaker 1: Be a tree Cha was free. Before she could revel 430 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: in her freedom, be a tree Cha knew there was 431 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:24,520 Speaker 1: another matter at hand, that of covering up their crime. 432 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,600 Speaker 1: She had her hitman dressed her father's corpse and fling 433 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,920 Speaker 1: him off of his balcony into the brush below. They 434 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: made a hole in the balcony by removing some planks 435 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,280 Speaker 1: from the floor, hoping to make it seem as though 436 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:39,920 Speaker 1: the man had fallen through and be a tree. Cha 437 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 1: and Lucretia took on the task of hiding the bloody sheets. 438 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 1: Then they called for help, and Olympio came to the 439 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: castle to share the news of a horrible accident at 440 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: La Rocca. For his part, Marzio fled the castle, though 441 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,960 Speaker 1: he later would return to collect payment for his part 442 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 1: in the conspiracy. But whether it was through adrenaline or 443 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 1: sheer ineptitude, their cover up was sloppily carried out and 444 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:10,239 Speaker 1: in the end quite obvious. As the crowd gathered at 445 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 1: the castle, they wondered how could such a large man 446 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 1: fall through such a small hole in the balcony, and 447 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:20,960 Speaker 1: certainly a passing branch could not have made such a 448 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:24,760 Speaker 1: deep gash in his eye. As the days war on, 449 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:31,560 Speaker 1: gossip continued as Lucretia and Beatrice declined to attend Francesco's burial. 450 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: Before long it was determined that Francesco Chenchi's death, however 451 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 1: well deserved, it might have been was no accident. It 452 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:45,400 Speaker 1: would not take long for these rumors and the consensus 453 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 1: that followed to reach Rome, more specifically the papal authorities. 454 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:57,080 Speaker 1: An investigation began in Earnest in November, and initially, although 455 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: they were detained on house arrest in Rome, Jacomo, Lucretia 456 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,840 Speaker 1: and Beatrice were treated with a great deal of civility 457 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 1: due to their status. Back in La Patrella, Olympia was 458 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:13,760 Speaker 1: trying to retroactively make their case stronger. He widened the 459 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:17,120 Speaker 1: hole they had made in the balcony and employed his 460 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:22,120 Speaker 1: wife to dispose of the hidden bloody bedsheets. For some reason, 461 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:25,880 Speaker 1: perhaps some would later suggest she was jealous of her 462 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: husband's relationship to be a tree Cha she did not 463 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:33,600 Speaker 1: dispose of them, but rather simply hid them away elsewhere 464 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,840 Speaker 1: whereas Romans would express a great deal of compassion for 465 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:41,520 Speaker 1: be a tree Chase plate. The clumsiness of the cover up, 466 00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:45,720 Speaker 1: coupled with the conspirators apparent arrogance in sticking to their 467 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:50,600 Speaker 1: ridiculous story, rankled the people of La Petrella. Although they 468 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:54,800 Speaker 1: had little love for the late Francesco, the villagers bulked 469 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:58,280 Speaker 1: at the thought of powerful people literally getting away with 470 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 1: murder and they share their suspicions and observations with investigators 471 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:07,240 Speaker 1: from Rome. With all of this new evidence in hand, 472 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:11,640 Speaker 1: Papal authorities began to treat the chen Chi like the 473 00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:15,719 Speaker 1: criminals they supposed them to be. They were moved from 474 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:20,320 Speaker 1: house arrest to the prison at toward Nona Jiacomo Chenchi, 475 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:25,240 Speaker 1: from his imprisonment, was able to allegedly orchestrate the murder 476 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:30,279 Speaker 1: of their greatest threat, Olympio. His arrogance threatened them all, 477 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:34,399 Speaker 1: and so he was beheaded by a bounty hunter, allegedly 478 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:39,840 Speaker 1: after Jacomo put a price on his head. The other murderer, Marzio, 479 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:43,799 Speaker 1: would not survive either, dying while in the process of 480 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:49,880 Speaker 1: being tortured by authorities. But Olympio's death was in fact 481 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:54,839 Speaker 1: what sealed the chen Chi's fate. His wife, enraged by 482 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:58,239 Speaker 1: the murder of her husband, went to the authorities with 483 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:03,560 Speaker 1: everything she knew. She had seen the bloody bedsheets, in fact, 484 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: she had hidden them and knew exactly where they were 485 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 1: under torture. Both Jacomo and Lucretia admitted to their crime, 486 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:17,319 Speaker 1: but both pointed the finger firmly at Beatrice as the 487 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:22,400 Speaker 1: guiding force of the conspiracy. For her part, Beatrice is 488 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:27,560 Speaker 1: said to have withstood torture bravely and resolutely, admitting nothing 489 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:31,800 Speaker 1: except an affair with Olympio, which some scholars believe was 490 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:35,200 Speaker 1: a forced confession. The point of getting her to admit 491 00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:39,319 Speaker 1: an affair would be to quell the already growing compassion 492 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:45,600 Speaker 1: for her among the Roman people. All of the conspirators, Jocomo, Lucretia, 493 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:50,200 Speaker 1: Young Bernardo and Beatrice would be subject to torture as 494 00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:56,320 Speaker 1: authorities questioned them. This was unusual. Nobility were usually spared 495 00:35:56,400 --> 00:36:01,120 Speaker 1: from such brutal treatment, but Pope Clement had given special 496 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,520 Speaker 1: permission for its use in this case. He was on 497 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:09,840 Speaker 1: a tirade against increasing violent crime among the wealthy and powerful, 498 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:13,120 Speaker 1: and of course, there was the matter of the funds 499 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,839 Speaker 1: he stood to gain through the seizure of assets and 500 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:21,040 Speaker 1: fines should the Chench's be executed. Francesco and his sins 501 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:25,680 Speaker 1: and the debts that came of them continued taunt the 502 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:31,520 Speaker 1: Chenchi family. Finally, almost exactly one year after the murder 503 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:39,400 Speaker 1: of Francesco Cenchi, Pope Clement's sentence was handed down. Accounts 504 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:42,200 Speaker 1: vary as to the exact order of the events. On 505 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:46,240 Speaker 1: the day the Cenchi were executed even early in the morning. 506 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:50,000 Speaker 1: It was so swelteringly hot, and the crowd was so 507 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:55,080 Speaker 1: riotous and chaotic that multiple onlookers died, either of heat 508 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:58,160 Speaker 1: stroke or by falling into the Tiber as people pushed 509 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:01,880 Speaker 1: and shoved their way onto the sant Angelo. Of course, 510 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:04,520 Speaker 1: it would be difficult to keep a clear sense of 511 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:08,359 Speaker 1: what was going on and in what order in these conditions. 512 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: Many retellings of the story put Via Trea Chase execution last, 513 00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:18,840 Speaker 1: likely because that's just good storytelling, but most sources and 514 00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:23,120 Speaker 1: scholars do seem to agree that the order was Lucretia, 515 00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:27,480 Speaker 1: then via Tricha, then Giacomo. The two women were brought 516 00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:31,439 Speaker 1: to the place of execution together and offered at least 517 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:34,400 Speaker 1: a modicum of dignity. They were made to walk on 518 00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:38,800 Speaker 1: foot through the straits of Rome, unbound and wearing mourning garments, 519 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:41,799 Speaker 1: before being allowed to say their last rites in a 520 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:47,680 Speaker 1: small chapel near their place of execution. Bernardo, the younger brother, 521 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:51,680 Speaker 1: who because of his young age and limited involvement, was 522 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:56,040 Speaker 1: spared execution, was still required to witness the deaths of 523 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:58,960 Speaker 1: his family as part of his punishment before he was 524 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:03,400 Speaker 1: sentenced to labor and he joined his sister and stepmother 525 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:08,840 Speaker 1: as they said massed together. Lucretia's execution was swift, and 526 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,239 Speaker 1: the crowd seemed to have relatively little sympathy for her, 527 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 1: although she had suffered many of the same injustices as 528 00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:20,560 Speaker 1: her stepdaughter. She was apparently so fearful as she approached 529 00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:23,880 Speaker 1: the platform that she fainted and had to be carried 530 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:29,240 Speaker 1: to the execution block. She was beheaded before she regained consciousness, 531 00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:35,440 Speaker 1: which to me seems a mercy. Jacomo was likely executed last, 532 00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:39,760 Speaker 1: and certainly most brutally. He was led by a cart 533 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:45,080 Speaker 1: through the streets to the execution platform. They're already injured 534 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:49,680 Speaker 1: from torture. He was further mutilated with red hot tongs 535 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,640 Speaker 1: before being bludgeoned to death with a mallet, dismembered and 536 00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:58,759 Speaker 1: having parts of his body displayed unhooked by the platform. 537 00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:02,560 Speaker 1: In between these two extremes was be a tree Chay. 538 00:39:02,719 --> 00:39:06,120 Speaker 1: The crowd had fallen silent the moment she came into view, 539 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:10,160 Speaker 1: but as she walked, showing not a bit of hesitation 540 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:14,440 Speaker 1: to replace on the platform, many in the crowd couldn't 541 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:18,240 Speaker 1: help but let out a cry at her plight. Without 542 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:21,959 Speaker 1: a word, she knelt at the block, the axe fell 543 00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:28,480 Speaker 1: and it was over. The Roman virgin was dead. The 544 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:32,080 Speaker 1: moment be a tree Cha chen she died, something changed 545 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:36,880 Speaker 1: in the crowd. What had been a riot immediately transformed 546 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:42,520 Speaker 1: into a somber funeral for their newfound popular heroine, taken 547 00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:45,600 Speaker 1: in her prime for the crime of standing up to 548 00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:51,080 Speaker 1: her oppressor. Even the bloody display of Jochma's execution couldn't 549 00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:55,560 Speaker 1: divert their intense focus on be A tree Chay. Following 550 00:39:55,600 --> 00:39:59,680 Speaker 1: the executions and Bernardo's returned to the prison at toward 551 00:39:59,719 --> 00:40:03,280 Speaker 1: an Era, it was required for the bodies to remain 552 00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:07,360 Speaker 1: on display for some time part of the witnessing process 553 00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:12,960 Speaker 1: of public executions. Many onlookers waited with beatrie Chase body 554 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:17,080 Speaker 1: as if to keep her company. Some accounts stated that 555 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:21,359 Speaker 1: young girls left wreaths of flowers around her severed head. 556 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:25,160 Speaker 1: When leave was finally given for the Chenchi to be 557 00:40:25,239 --> 00:40:29,080 Speaker 1: taken to their graves, be atrie Chase procession was by 558 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:34,640 Speaker 1: far the largest. Romans from all corners of society gathered 559 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:38,279 Speaker 1: again at pontisser Angelo and walked over a mile in 560 00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:42,880 Speaker 1: the heat, following her coffin through the streets of the city, 561 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:46,920 Speaker 1: bringing Batre Chi chen Chi to her final resting place 562 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:51,160 Speaker 1: at the Church of San Pietro in Montorio. They left 563 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:56,440 Speaker 1: heaps of flowers, blit candles, and stood vigil for hours. 564 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:02,000 Speaker 1: Although her grave was unmarked a consequence of her criminal status, 565 00:41:02,239 --> 00:41:05,880 Speaker 1: and would later be desecrated by French soldiers in seventeen, 566 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:10,759 Speaker 1: beatreeche Chenchi left an indelible imprint on the people of 567 00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:16,000 Speaker 1: Rome and beyond. She has been the subject of endless plays, books, 568 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:21,400 Speaker 1: movies and artwork, inspiring the likes of Percy Bysshelley, Alexander Dumat, 569 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:26,840 Speaker 1: Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Stendel. But her most visible and perhaps 570 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:30,520 Speaker 1: meaningful legacy is arguably still in the streets of Rome. 571 00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:34,840 Speaker 1: Among the many ways she has been memorialized throughout the city, 572 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:40,840 Speaker 1: there's a small plaque that was placed in on Via Montserrato, 573 00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:44,360 Speaker 1: from where she has said to have begun her final 574 00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:49,839 Speaker 1: walk to pontissen Anglo. A translation reads from here where 575 00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:53,640 Speaker 1: stood the Savella Court prison. On the eleventh of September 576 00:41:53,840 --> 00:42:01,200 Speaker 1: fift beatreeche Chenchi moved toward the executioner's block. An exemplary 577 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:17,680 Speaker 1: victim of an unjust justice. That's the story of Beatrice 578 00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:21,840 Speaker 1: Cenci's tragic life and end, but stick around after a 579 00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:25,160 Speaker 1: brief sponsor message to hear about one of the odd 580 00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:38,200 Speaker 1: places her legacy has endured. In the Palazzo Barberini, an 581 00:42:38,239 --> 00:42:41,640 Speaker 1: aristocratic estate turned art museum in the heart of Rome, 582 00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:45,960 Speaker 1: there are several rooms devoted to the famous painter Caravaggio 583 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:50,560 Speaker 1: and his many followers. Caravaggio happened to have been among 584 00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:55,440 Speaker 1: the witnesses at the Cenchia execution. The sunlit space in 585 00:42:55,480 --> 00:43:00,600 Speaker 1: the museum is contrasted by paintings of darkened rooms, their 586 00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:03,640 Speaker 1: subjects seeming to be the only source of light in 587 00:43:03,719 --> 00:43:08,360 Speaker 1: the frame. Among these paintings, some of them grand and busy, 588 00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:12,920 Speaker 1: is a simple portrait of a young woman. She wears 589 00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:16,960 Speaker 1: a white chemise and a white head covering, both standing 590 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:22,759 Speaker 1: out against and inscrutable blackened background. She faces away from 591 00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:25,640 Speaker 1: the viewer, but turns her head back with a soft, 592 00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:30,239 Speaker 1: innocent expression. For hundreds of years, this was believed to 593 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:33,399 Speaker 1: be a portrait of Beatrice Cenci in her final days, 594 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:36,719 Speaker 1: and it's easy to see why. It's a painting of 595 00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:40,960 Speaker 1: a beautiful girl looking a little sad, maybe resolute, and 596 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:45,840 Speaker 1: draped in white drapery. She's a picture of innocence, but 597 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:49,200 Speaker 1: she's also a blank canvas, someone we can paint a 598 00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:52,640 Speaker 1: story onto and make our own. Even though it has 599 00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:57,480 Speaker 1: been confirmed that this painting was not of Beatriccha, it 600 00:43:57,719 --> 00:44:01,800 Speaker 1: was more likely intended to represent a Ofpetus, it remains 601 00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:05,160 Speaker 1: the image most associated with her. It's at the top 602 00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:08,319 Speaker 1: of a Wikipedia page, on the cover of books about her, 603 00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:12,719 Speaker 1: and all over the Internet. It's the epitome of what 604 00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:15,759 Speaker 1: we've made be a treat A into not just in 605 00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:21,160 Speaker 1: public memory, but in an almost endless list of literary, dramatic, 606 00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:26,280 Speaker 1: and artistic renditions of her life, something that's compiling, dramatic, 607 00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:32,280 Speaker 1: and ultimately not really her at all. This painting, however, 608 00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:35,640 Speaker 1: is not the only one housed in the Barberini with 609 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:39,920 Speaker 1: something to say about Beatrice and her story. One of 610 00:44:40,040 --> 00:44:45,080 Speaker 1: Caravaggio's best known works sits just stepped away from this 611 00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:50,040 Speaker 1: famed portrait, painted around the time of the trial and execution, 612 00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:55,279 Speaker 1: or possibly a few years later. Judith beheading Holofernes is 613 00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:58,240 Speaker 1: said to have been inspired by the plight of beatri 614 00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:02,880 Speaker 1: Cha Chenchi. It depicts the climactic moment in the Biblical 615 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:07,000 Speaker 1: story of Judith, a beautiful and brave Jewish widow who 616 00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:10,399 Speaker 1: charmed away into the chamber of the Assyrian General Hall 617 00:45:10,440 --> 00:45:14,279 Speaker 1: of furnace before you know, beheading him and becoming a 618 00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:18,360 Speaker 1: hero to her people. The story of Judith was a 619 00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:21,920 Speaker 1: symbol of feminine revenge even in this period, so the 620 00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:25,920 Speaker 1: parallels with Beatrice are definitely there. But what I think 621 00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:31,759 Speaker 1: is most interesting is Caravaggio's depiction of Judith herself. Where 622 00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:35,520 Speaker 1: other Judiths have been depicted with a fierceness befitting a 623 00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:41,160 Speaker 1: woman bravely sneaking behind enemy lines, particularly one excellent painting 624 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:46,240 Speaker 1: by the female artist Artemacy of Gentileschi, in Caravaggio's painting, 625 00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:52,120 Speaker 1: his Judith seems almost doubtful. Her beautiful, innocent face is 626 00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:56,400 Speaker 1: contorted in disgust at her violent act, and she leans 627 00:45:56,480 --> 00:45:59,960 Speaker 1: her body away from the dying hall of furnace, almost 628 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:05,839 Speaker 1: separating herself from her crime. This is reluctant violence. Caravaggio 629 00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:08,960 Speaker 1: seems to be saying the violence of a woman who 630 00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:16,080 Speaker 1: remains innocent, and yet her hands never falter. She resolutely 631 00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:21,319 Speaker 1: wields her sword and destroys her enemy, bloody ing his bedsheets. 632 00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:25,840 Speaker 1: She saves her people. She did what she had to do. 633 00:46:43,560 --> 00:46:46,400 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is a production of I Heart Radio and 634 00:46:46,600 --> 00:46:50,120 Speaker 1: Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted 635 00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:54,080 Speaker 1: by me Danish Wartz. Additional writing and researching done by 636 00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:59,160 Speaker 1: Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sunder and Laurie Goodman. 637 00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:03,480 Speaker 1: The show is produced by rema Il Kali, with supervising 638 00:47:03,560 --> 00:47:08,640 Speaker 1: producer Josh Thaine and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, 639 00:47:08,719 --> 00:47:12,120 Speaker 1: and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 640 00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:16,040 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 641 00:47:16,120 --> 00:47:17,520 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.