1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:05,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. Hey, this 3 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: is Dana Schwartz, host of the show. Thank you so 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: much for listening. Just a tiny bit of housekeeping before 5 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,800 Speaker 1: we begin. There is Noble Blood merch. The link is 6 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: available in the episode description. You can also follow the 7 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 1: show on Patreon. Subscribe for access to a weekly bonus 8 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:32,480 Speaker 1: podcast series where we recap episodes of the television show 9 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 1: Rain about Mary, Queen of Scott's, and I also put 10 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: episode scripts there. And it's also just a great community, 11 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 1: So that's great. And if you're in Los Angeles, this 12 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: is very, very exciting. The paperback copies of two of 13 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: my books, Anatomy A Love Story and Immortality A Love Story, 14 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: a duology, are finally coming out. And the paperback release 15 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: is going to be Thursday, May twenty third, six pm 16 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: at the bookstore Show Volliers on Larchmont. So if you're 17 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: in Los Angeles and you're a listener, absolutely come by. 18 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: I would love to see you celebrate the books. It's 19 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: going to be a really fun time. The Convent of 20 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:22,919 Speaker 1: Santa Margharita was buzzing with excitement. It was July twenty ninth, 21 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: sixteen o six, and as the nuns woke up and 22 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:31,399 Speaker 1: began preparing for the day, not even the sweltering, oppressive 23 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: heat could dampen their enthusiasm for one of the most 24 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: important days in any convent's calendar. Election day. Elections were 25 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: incredibly significant moments for a convent. Eligible nuns had the 26 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: opportunity to vote for or run for a variety of 27 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: positions pertaining to the daily, spiritual, and even political and 28 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: economic life of the convent, all the way up to 29 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: the superior position, in this case a prioress and the 30 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 1: vicar her second in command. As the historian Kate Lowe 31 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: has pointed out, convent elections often held a particular significance 32 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: for the many women who had been put into the 33 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: convent against their will. Voting for new leadership was a 34 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: concrete moment in which they were given even a small 35 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: choice in the direction of their lives. And then, of course, 36 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:35,399 Speaker 1: there were the feasts, which, even for the most committed nun, 37 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: could be a welcome break from the monotony and austerity 38 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: of convent life. The excitement of Santa Margarita's election day, however, 39 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: would turn out to be short lived. The preparations came 40 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,919 Speaker 1: to a screeching halt that morning when it was discovered 41 00:02:55,040 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: that a young secular border had disappeared from the convent overnight. 42 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: The girl, Katerina dela Cassina, had recently been imprisoned in 43 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: the wood shed as punishment at the behest of the 44 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: powerful sister Virginia Maria birth name Marianna de Lvia Emrino, 45 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: following a string of Katerina's bad behavior. When the mother 46 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:26,679 Speaker 1: Superior and the visiting prelate Monseigneur Pietro Barca, had gone 47 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: to speak with Katerina before beginning the election proceedings. However, 48 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: the girl was nowhere to be found. A large hole 49 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: in the wall of the shed facing the road suggested 50 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: that Katerina had run away. Katerina had always been vocal 51 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: about her disdain for convent life, and she had even 52 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: threatened to run away in the past. Perhaps many of 53 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: the nuns thought she had finally had enough, and staring 54 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: down punishment for her recent actions, she finally decided to 55 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: make an escape. There were more than a few sisters 56 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: present in the convent who could sympathize, though they knew 57 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: better to admit it. Still, to run away from one's 58 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: convent was a serious offense, not to mention a dangerous undertaking. 59 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: The elections went on despite the confusion of the morning, 60 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 1: but they did little to lift anyone's spirit. The election 61 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: turned out to be heavily contested following months of tension 62 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: over Sister Virginia's almost unchecked power within the convent, and 63 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: some whispered her suspicious pattern of immoral behavior. She had 64 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:44,719 Speaker 1: been the vicar of the convent and was in the 65 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: running for prioress, but she and her supporters all ended 66 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:53,479 Speaker 1: up losing their elections. Many of the nuns noticed that 67 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 1: Sister Virginia seemed almost panicked throughout the day. Some reasoned 68 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,599 Speaker 1: that she must have been worried about Katerina, given that 69 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: she was the supervisor of the girls who were boarding 70 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: at the convent. Others sneered that Sister Virginia was just 71 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: upset at losing the right to boss everybody around while 72 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,840 Speaker 1: she did whatever she pleased. As the day finally drew 73 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: to a close, the nuns settled into their beds with 74 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:24,840 Speaker 1: the general sense that something wasn't quite right. They never 75 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: could have guessed, though, that their missing sister Katerina had 76 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: never actually made it off convent grounds, and they couldn't 77 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: have known that at that very moment Katerina's murderer was 78 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: preparing to sneak back in to retrieve the poor girl's body. 79 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 1: But when they eventually found out what had happened, the 80 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: nuns of Santa Margarita knew one thing for sure, that 81 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:58,600 Speaker 1: Sister Virginia had given the murderer the key, I'm Dana Schwartz, 82 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. Perhaps, as Marianna de Lavia 83 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: Imorno threatened fellow nun's lives, she thought to herself that 84 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: this was not the direction she had imagined her own 85 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: life would take. In another universe, perhaps she would have 86 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,919 Speaker 1: turned out like her mother, the woman for whom she 87 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: Mariana took her religious name, Virginia Maria. Although Virginia Maria's 88 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: life had been tragically cut short by illness probably plague, 89 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: thirty years earlier, her life had perfectly fit the script 90 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 1: of a young woman of noble rank and significant wealth. 91 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 1: She grew up comfortably in her family home, married someone 92 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: of an equally illustrious lineage, and had a child for 93 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 1: whom she both had the means and the intention to 94 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 1: provide a life much like her own. That was the 95 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: life that Marianna should have had, comfortable, simple, and about 96 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: as free a life as any young woman could have 97 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. But instead, 98 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: here Marianna was a nun against her will, a secret 99 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: lover hiding an affair, an unwed mother, and now accomplice 100 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: to a murder. John Paulo Osio, her partner both in 101 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 1: affair and crime, had murdered Katerina dela Cassini, the unruly 102 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: secular at the convent who had threatened to expose their 103 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: forbidden romance. Marianna and John Paulo weren't the only ones 104 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: who had gotten their hands sturdy, though. There were also 105 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: the sisters Atavia Benedetta, Candida Columba, and Sylvia, Marianna's fellow nuns, 106 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: who had witnessed the murder and were now helping in 107 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: covering up the crime. As the group stood in the 108 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: woodshed over Katerina's body, John Powlo and the nuns came 109 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: up with a plan. First, they quickly moved the girl's 110 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: body to the nearby chicken coop, at least until they 111 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: had time to come up with a more permanent solution. 112 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 1: They stood the body upright and hid it behind planks 113 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: of wood, since there wasn't enough room to conceal the 114 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: body lying down next. As the group would later tell it, 115 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: John Powlo made the hole in the wood shed wall 116 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: to stimulate an escape. Historians have pointed out, however, that 117 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: the shed had in fact been made of stone, and 118 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:39,559 Speaker 1: that it would have been extraordinarily difficult to have quickly 119 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: and quietly made such a hole without proper tools, a 120 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: detail that raises the specter of premeditation. That maybe this 121 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: wasn't a murder. In a moment of confusion and anger, 122 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: the most important thing on the murder checklist, of course, 123 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: was to make sure nobody blabbed. John Paolo and Marianna 124 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: had a lot to lose. But the other nuns had 125 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: only been accomplices. It would have been easy for them 126 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: to claim they were manipulated, or tricked or coerced into 127 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: helping the illicit couple carry out their murderous plan. Marianna 128 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: knew that, and she had it covered. All she had 129 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: to do was point to poor Katerina's bloodied corpse and 130 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: tell her fellow nuns her friends who had aided her 131 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: for years, that that was their future if they dared 132 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:38,199 Speaker 1: to speak a word. That threat, coupled with the very 133 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:42,320 Speaker 1: recent memory of John Powlo's brutal violence, was enough to 134 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: shut them up. After the next morning's hectic convent elections 135 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: and visit from the Prelate, they had to move Katerina's 136 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: body to a more permanent location. That night, Jean Paulo 137 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:00,200 Speaker 1: and sister Benedetta snuck back into the chicken coop and 138 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:04,200 Speaker 1: brought the body back to the former's estate. John Paulo 139 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: dismembered the body before bringing the pieces to his family's 140 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: estate in nearby Vilatte. Most of the pieces he hid 141 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 1: in his niviera, a cellar made to store ice and snow. 142 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:24,199 Speaker 1: Katerina's head, however, he threw in a nearby well, presumably 143 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: so that if anyone found the rest of her body 144 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: it would be nearly impossible to identify her. The body 145 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 1: was safely hidden, but that didn't mean that nobody was 146 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: going to be suspicious about Katerina's so called escape. As 147 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: much as Katerina had threatened to run away, none of 148 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: the nuns quite believed that Katerina had actually done it. 149 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: It was too sudden, too clean, and too coincidentally timed 150 00:10:54,160 --> 00:11:01,680 Speaker 1: with increasing speculation about Marianna's illicit activities. Before long, just 151 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:06,320 Speaker 1: about everybody, both inside and outside the convent walls, were 152 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:10,320 Speaker 1: gossiping about what was going on at Santa Margarita, and 153 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: though nobody quite connected the dots, it was clear that 154 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: some sort of suspicion was falling on the well known 155 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 1: quote secret lovers John Paolo and Marianna. The latter did 156 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: her best to keep her composure as the rumors swirled 157 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: around her. John Paulo, on the other hand, began to 158 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: feel trapped, and by the fall of sixteen o six, 159 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:39,920 Speaker 1: decided that there was only one way out to kill 160 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: anyone he thought might talk. John Powlo attempted first to 161 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 1: murder a man named Raniero Rancino, a local apothecary who 162 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: had been telling everyone in town about the various, unusual, 163 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: perhaps compromising ointments and medicines that the convent had commissioned 164 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: from him over the years, and he had been known 165 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: to remark about the parentage of John Paolo's daughter, Alma 166 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: Francesca Margarita, who would visit the monastery multiple times a week. 167 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: Jean Paulo sought to stop the gossip, and so he 168 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 1: shot at Raniero with a long gun called in Arcubus. 169 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 1: He missed and Rancino got away. John Polo also planned 170 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: to murder Father Paolo Aregone, the very man whose letter 171 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:38,720 Speaker 1: ghostwriting had helped John Paolo wo Marianna in the first place. 172 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: But Marianna heard about Jean Paolo's plan and she begged 173 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:48,199 Speaker 1: him not to proceed with it, which spared Father Paolo's life. 174 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:52,440 Speaker 1: Cesare Ferrari, the blacksmith who had been forging copies of 175 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 1: the monastery keys for John Paolo and Marianna, was not 176 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:02,559 Speaker 1: so lucky. He was found dead aside his shop. Of course, 177 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: despite having murdered his blacksmith, John Paolo still needed keys 178 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: made to be able to come and go from the 179 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: monastery as he pleased. He sent a servant on his 180 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: behalf to engage the services of a man named Alessandro Mocho. 181 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,680 Speaker 1: All was well for a few months until one fateful 182 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: day when someone from the monastery of Santa Margarita came 183 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 1: to Alessandro's workshop to have some locks cleaned, some locks 184 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:35,599 Speaker 1: with very familiar looking keys. The blacksmith realized with a 185 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 1: start that for months he had been duplicating keys to 186 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: the monastery, and he knew exactly who he was doing 187 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: it for, Alessandro Moco. The blacksmith was apparently the only 188 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: honorable man in the city of Manta, so when he 189 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,960 Speaker 1: realized what he had been complicit in, he immediately told 190 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: his father, who told the confessor of the Monastery of 191 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:04,079 Speaker 1: Santa Margarita, who told, of course, the Governor of Milan, 192 00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: Pedro Enrico del Svedo, Count of Fuentes and Governor of Milan, 193 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 1: had heard nothing of the debauchery taking place at the 194 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: monastery of Santa Margharita when the nun's confessor wrote to 195 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: him in early sixteen oh seven describing what he had 196 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:25,320 Speaker 1: heard from the blacksmith's father. It is unclear from the 197 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: record whether at this point the blacksmith had connected the 198 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: dots about John Polo's illicit dealings at the monastery with 199 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: his killing slash attempted killingsbury, or whether the blacksmith had 200 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:42,320 Speaker 1: just discovered the affair he was having with Marianna. In 201 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: any case, a Governor Fuentes had John Powlo arrested during 202 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:50,560 Speaker 1: the celebrations for Carnival in sixteen oh seven and imprisoned 203 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: him in Pavilla, a town about thirty miles south of Milan. 204 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: News of John Powlo's imprisonment quickly reached the convent, where 205 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: soon everyone was talking about how it must have been 206 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:08,560 Speaker 1: related to his affair with Marianna. As the reality of 207 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: the situation they were in became apparent to the now 208 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 1: separated lovers, they each made a choice that would very 209 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 1: quickly come to haunt them. Marianna wrote in a panic 210 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: to Governor Fwentis, alleging that John Powlo's relationship with the 211 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: monastery was completely spiritual, even going so far as to 212 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: strong arm as many of her fellow nuns as she 213 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 1: could into signing the letter, a move that only served 214 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: to fuel the governor's suspicions. John Paulo, on the other hand, 215 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 1: fabricated a medical declaration stating that imprisonment posed a severe 216 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: threat to his health, and he sent that letter to 217 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: the Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Frederico Borromeo, who had previously 218 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: known nothing about the situation, but who, upon recas being 219 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: this letter, now became very very interested. In the summer 220 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 1: of sixteen oh seven, Cardinal Boromeo traveled to Mansa under 221 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: the guise of a normal pastoral visit to the monastery 222 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: of Santa Margharita. In reality, however, he had been informed 223 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: of the rumors swirling around the city with increasing intensity. 224 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: A series of murderous attacks, a potential affair involving a nun, 225 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: a young child of dubious parentage all merited investigation. When 226 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 1: he arrived at the convent, he took on a curious, firm, 227 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: but calm demeanor, especially when he finally spoke to Mariana 228 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: he was sure. He told her that she had only 229 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: been acting with the most innocent of intentions. He reminded 230 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 1: her gently of her vows of her noble heritage and 231 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 1: asked her to reassure him that nothing untold had been 232 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:06,400 Speaker 1: going on. In the same breath that she denied any wrongdoing, 233 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: Marianna also decided to appeal passionately to Borimeo on her 234 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: lover's behalf, saying that his continued imprisonment was a threat 235 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 1: to his honor. Her appeal was a brazen move that 236 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: shocked the cardinal, As the writer Giuseppe Ripamonte would later 237 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: tell it, quote, the outcome of that conversation was the 238 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,640 Speaker 1: following that, on the one hand, the woman became more 239 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 1: suspicious than she had previously been. On the other hand, 240 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: the Cardinal left more restless and worried than he had 241 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:46,359 Speaker 1: been before arriving there. Cardinal Borromeo returned to Milan with 242 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:50,120 Speaker 1: the same sense of unease that many in Manza had 243 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: been feeling for some time. As the effects of John 244 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 1: Paolo and Marianna's relationship continued to ripple out, the Cardinal's 245 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: unease would have surely turned to fury. However, when in 246 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:10,399 Speaker 1: late September sixteen oh seven, John Poolo escaped from his 247 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: confinement in Pavia, John Poulo went into hiding. Desperate to 248 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:19,159 Speaker 1: avoid punishment for his crimes, he frantically came up with 249 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: a plan he thought would kill two birds with one stone, 250 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:27,719 Speaker 1: or rather kill two potential witnesses with one murderer. First, 251 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: he dispatched one of his various henchmen to kill Raniero Rancini, 252 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: the apothecary who had narrowly evaded John Polo's bullet almost 253 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: a year earlier. Then he planted the murder weapon in 254 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 1: the house of his friend Father Paolo. Aregone and remember 255 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,879 Speaker 1: Father Paulo was the very man who had ghost written 256 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:54,119 Speaker 1: the letters that had initially wooed Marianna to John Paulo 257 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: in the first place. At first, it seemed like Joan 258 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:03,160 Speaker 1: Polo's hasty violet scheme had actually worked out in his favor, 259 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:07,679 Speaker 1: but of course that wouldn't last long. Father Paulo was 260 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: arrested and transferred to the custody of the Archbishopric of Milan, 261 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:18,679 Speaker 1: while Cardinal Boromeo prepared the investigation. Within days, the trial began, 262 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,920 Speaker 1: and by the time it concluded, all of Mariana's and 263 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:27,960 Speaker 1: John Powlo's most sordid secrets would finally be brought to light, 264 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: but the bloodshed was far from over. The murder trial 265 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:40,399 Speaker 1: of Father Paolo Aragona began in October sixteen oh seven, 266 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,880 Speaker 1: but it quickly became obvious that the priest, although guilty 267 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: of plenty of sins, was not in fact guilty of murder. 268 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 1: He was exonerated within weeks by the porter of the monastery, 269 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 1: who testified that Jean Paolo had commissioned the murder and 270 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,520 Speaker 1: that one of his cronies had execut you did it. 271 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:05,439 Speaker 1: Upon hearing that he had finally been formally accused of 272 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,880 Speaker 1: some of the crimes he had definitely committed. Joan Paolo 273 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: made another of his boneheaded choices, and he went into 274 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:19,800 Speaker 1: hiding in the convent of Santa Margarita, taking refuge first 275 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:24,879 Speaker 1: in the quarters of Sister Otavia, then Sister Benedetta. We 276 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,679 Speaker 1: can applaud i suppose the good sense he had in 277 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: avoiding hiding in Marianna's room. It wasn't long, however, before 278 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 1: the nuns began to notice the sisters nervously sneaking extra 279 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:42,120 Speaker 1: food back to their rooms, and they reported their suspicions 280 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 1: to the cardinal. On November twenty fifth, sixteen oh seven, 281 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:52,280 Speaker 1: Marianna was finally arrested. Cardinal Borromeo sent guards to the 282 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:57,439 Speaker 1: monastery to capture her by force. According to Ripamonte, she 283 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: resisted with a boldness rather a becoming of a nun, 284 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: breaking her bonds and attempting to escape, stealing a sword 285 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 1: and threatening to slash her way out of custody, even 286 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:13,520 Speaker 1: hitting her head against a wall before they could restrain 287 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: her again. John Poolo somehow managed to avoid arrest again, 288 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:21,919 Speaker 1: and he would return to the convent once the coast 289 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 1: was clear. A few days later, as Marianna's trial began, 290 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: and as Joan Paolo's trial began in absentia, the authorities 291 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: began interrogating the nuns one by one. Sisters Otavia and 292 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: Benedetta began to panic. They had been complicit in so 293 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:46,679 Speaker 1: many of Marianna and Jean Paulo's transgressions. They were practically 294 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,040 Speaker 1: guilty themselves. What was going to happen to them when 295 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: the inquisitors learned of their involvement. Visions of torture and 296 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:59,919 Speaker 1: imprisonment and worse danced in their heads, and they turned 297 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:04,360 Speaker 1: to Jean Poolo, begging him to help them escape the convent. 298 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: He agreed. John Poolo helped the nuns escape from the 299 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 1: convent through a hole in the wall, a familiar move 300 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:17,359 Speaker 1: that perhaps should have given the nuns pause. They set 301 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:21,920 Speaker 1: off together toward his estate in Vilaate on November twenty ninth. 302 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:26,439 Speaker 1: Once safely in the countryside, they followed the River Lambre 303 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 1: for a while, but eventually had to head east toward 304 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: their destination. As they made their way across a bridge, however, 305 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 1: John Poolo made his true intentions clear. He pushed sister 306 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 1: Otavia into the river, and as she tried to climb 307 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 1: back to shore, he hit her repeatedly on the head 308 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: with the butt of his trusty gun. Sister Otavia finally 309 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: fell back into the river and John Poolo left her 310 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 1: for dead. She was, however, still alive, though just barely, 311 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: and would be found downstream by a farmer not long 312 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,399 Speaker 1: after the attack. She was brought back to Monsa, to 313 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: the monastery of Santa Orsola, and she would linger for 314 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:19,159 Speaker 1: a few more weeks, finally dying in late December, after 315 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: giving a full confession. In her final days. Sister Benedetta 316 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:30,120 Speaker 1: got luckier, but not by much. For some reason, perhaps 317 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 1: a belief that John Paula would spare her, perhaps knowing 318 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: she had no other options, Benedetta continued on after his 319 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: murder of Sister Otavia toward Vilaate the following night. However, 320 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:47,360 Speaker 1: as they reached Vilate, he decided that she too could 321 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: not be trusted not to talk, and he threw her 322 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:55,040 Speaker 1: into a nearby well and attempted to obscure her body 323 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 1: with stones and dirt before running off on his own. 324 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: The fall all broke two ribs and a femur, but 325 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 1: Benedetta survived for two days. Benedetta screamed for help from 326 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 1: the bottom of the well, hurt and bleeding and cold 327 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:16,840 Speaker 1: in the dark. Finally, she was rescued and brought to 328 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:22,119 Speaker 1: a monastery, where, shaken by her ordeal, she immediately confessed. 329 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:26,639 Speaker 1: When the authorities investigated the well Jean Paulo had thrown 330 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 1: her into, they were shocked, well maybe not that shocked, 331 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:36,920 Speaker 1: to find the long since severed head of the missing 332 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:43,560 Speaker 1: secular Katerina dela Cassina. Finally, the last of Marianna and 333 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 1: John Paolo's secrets had been uncovered. All that was left 334 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:55,680 Speaker 1: was to punish them for their crimes. Cardinal Federico Borromeo 335 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,760 Speaker 1: must have laughed his holy ass off when he received 336 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 1: a letter just before Christmas sixteen oh seven from none 337 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:10,600 Speaker 1: other than Jean Pauloosio himself. It was hilarious for its content. Sure, 338 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,160 Speaker 1: the man on the run with a trail of bodies 339 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: behind him was shamelessly proclaiming his innocence, but the letter 340 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 1: was also funny for its timing. The letter was dated 341 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:26,760 Speaker 1: December twentieth, but by the time the Cardinal received it 342 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: a few days later, Marianna de Lavia Imurno had already 343 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:37,720 Speaker 1: confessed to everything that she and John Poolo had done. 344 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:42,119 Speaker 1: Marianna pointed the finger firmly at John Powlo. In her confession, 345 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:46,159 Speaker 1: whether out of genuine belief or an attempt to minimize 346 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:50,960 Speaker 1: her guilt, Marianna claimed she had been struck by love sickness. 347 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: She couldn't help but carry on an affair with John 348 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: Poolo because she was cursed. To support her claim, she 349 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:02,879 Speaker 1: listed off examples of the times she had tried and 350 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,960 Speaker 1: failed to break off the relationship, even going so far 351 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:11,159 Speaker 1: as to resort to magical cures, including the one we 352 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: mentioned in Part one, where she consumed her lover's feces. 353 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:20,480 Speaker 1: Marianna argued that the alleged curse had been placed on 354 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:24,399 Speaker 1: her years ago, when Joan Paolo had first started giving 355 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:29,399 Speaker 1: her gifts thrown over the garden wall. One of those gifts, 356 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: she told the inquisitors, was a black magnet fastened in 357 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:36,879 Speaker 1: a gold setting. John Paulo had told her it was 358 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:41,160 Speaker 1: a relic blessed by none other than Father Paolo himself, 359 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: the man Jean Paulo would later try to frame for murder. 360 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 1: John Paolo had kissed the magnet, touching it with his tongue, 361 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,040 Speaker 1: and gave it to Marianna, so she could do the same. 362 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: She hesitated, she told the court, but he pressured her 363 00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:02,160 Speaker 1: until she kissed the magnet two at she believed caused 364 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: her love sick condition. Magnets had long been associated with 365 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:11,919 Speaker 1: themes of divinity, but also the occult and you know, attraction. 366 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: In other words, Marianna's accusation was one that would have 367 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:21,440 Speaker 1: been taken at least somewhat seriously by the court. In fact, 368 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,639 Speaker 1: a special jurist from the Holy Office was brought in, 369 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:30,199 Speaker 1: likely to investigate whether Father Paolo had committed heresy, But 370 00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:35,919 Speaker 1: ultimately the love magic accusation did not exonerate Marianna in 371 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: the court's eyes. With Marianna's confession dodgy as it was, 372 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 1: both her and John Powlo's fates were all but sealed. 373 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 1: In February sixteen o eight, the inquisitors began the process 374 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:54,639 Speaker 1: of having all of the witnesses and defendants, including Marianna, 375 00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 1: repeat their statements under torture, a practice that was ironically 376 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: believed to ensure that what they were saying was really 377 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:08,840 Speaker 1: the truth. Father Paolo Aragone was subjected to the strepado, 378 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: where his hands were tied behind his back before he 379 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: was suspended with a rope by his wrists, resulting in 380 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 1: a painful dislocation of his shoulders. The porter of the convent, 381 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:26,719 Speaker 1: who had testified on father Paolo's behalf, along with his wife, 382 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 1: were actually spared of the torture, but were interrogated while 383 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 1: quote exposed to torture, which meant with the instruments of 384 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: torture in sight, seems better to me. Marianna and her 385 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:46,080 Speaker 1: fellow nuns were subjected to the torture of the sybils, 386 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: where their fingers were fastened into a series of metal 387 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:54,360 Speaker 1: rings that could be tightened and loosened by the inquisitors, 388 00:28:54,720 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 1: which caused great pain and potentially significant damage to the hand. 389 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 1: While Marianna submitted to torture and the court convened to 390 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: decide their case, John Polo continued to evade arrest, bouncing 391 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,560 Speaker 1: between estates and hiding in the homes of any remaining 392 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 1: friends who were willing to shelter him. It turns out 393 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:22,520 Speaker 1: he was bad at murder but great at hiding. He 394 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:27,640 Speaker 1: was never found by the authorities, who sentenced him in absentia, 395 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: the sentence which he would never hear read. John Paolo 396 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 1: Ossio is condemned to the gallows and to the confiscation 397 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: of his assets, and is banished forever from the territory 398 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: of Milan. So in such a way that if the 399 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:46,480 Speaker 1: said Osio were to fall into the hands of justice, 400 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 1: he shall be driven on a cart in front of 401 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,280 Speaker 1: the monastery of Santa Margharita in the city of Monza, 402 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: and there his right hand is to be cut off. 403 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 1: He is to be taken on the same cart to 404 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: the place of execution the sentence, and in the meantime 405 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: he is to be tortured with red hot pincers. Finally, 406 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 1: let him hang on the gallows, so that he dies, 407 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,600 Speaker 1: and his corpse is to be cut into pieces, and 408 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: these are to be hung in the places where his 409 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 1: crimes were committed. However, outside the said city, whoof John 410 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:26,680 Speaker 1: Paulo would never suffer those rather harrowing consequences. But that's 411 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 1: not to say he never got his come uppance. In 412 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:35,120 Speaker 1: sixteen oh nine, he was murdered by a friend, or 413 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:40,640 Speaker 1: rather a former friend, in the cellar of said Frenemie's palace. 414 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 1: This small morsel of poetic justice was perhaps what he deserved, 415 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 1: but it paled in comparison to Mariana's horrific fate. After 416 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 1: months of deliberation, Marianna's sentence was finally handed down on 417 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:04,719 Speaker 1: October eighteenth, sixteen o eight. Marianna was sentenced to immurement 418 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 1: for quote the most grievous and irregular and most atrocious offenses, 419 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:16,480 Speaker 1: often colloquially referred to as quote being walled in immurement 420 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:20,240 Speaker 1: is pretty much what it sounds like. Marianna was to 421 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:24,040 Speaker 1: be taken to the nearby monastery of Santa Valeria, a 422 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 1: shelter for converts and wayward women, and was to be 423 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 1: enclosed into a single small cell with no doors and 424 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: no windows, except for one just large enough to pass 425 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:40,080 Speaker 1: food and water through, and through which she could still 426 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: make regular confession. The nuns who were complicit in Marianna 427 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:49,960 Speaker 1: and Gianpaolo's crimes, the ones he hadn't murdered anyway, would 428 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:54,240 Speaker 1: share her fate, though they were sentenced later and immured 429 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:59,040 Speaker 1: in Santa Margarita. Meant to be a kind of living death. 430 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: Imment was a cruel punishment often meted out to nuns 431 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:07,560 Speaker 1: and monks who had broken their vows of chastity. It 432 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: has a long, gruesome history, dating back at least to 433 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: the ancient Roman priestesses called vestal virgins, who would be 434 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,800 Speaker 1: entombed alive if they were found to have violated their 435 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:27,080 Speaker 1: vows of chastity. Immurement was generally a life sentence, although 436 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 1: people who were immured didn't tend to survive for very 437 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:35,320 Speaker 1: long unless they were given sufficient food and water, which 438 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:41,080 Speaker 1: could simultaneously be a mercy or an elongation of the punishment, 439 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:48,000 Speaker 1: or both. Marianna spent fourteen years in near total darkness 440 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: and solitude, walled into a cell roughly five by seven 441 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 1: feet in size. The small hole in the wall allowed 442 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: room enough to receive minimal rations and enough light to 443 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:06,320 Speaker 1: recite the breviary in the winters, her cell was damp 444 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:11,680 Speaker 1: and cold. In the summer's sweltering, she received no spare 445 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 1: clothes and no blankets or comforts other than a mattress 446 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: stuffed with straw that rotted every two months but was 447 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:24,840 Speaker 1: only changed every six. No one healed her illnesses or 448 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: comforted the inevitable attacks of claustrophobic terror. Memoirs from other 449 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,280 Speaker 1: prisoners of the time answer that question that you might 450 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,480 Speaker 1: be wondering. She was given a bucket for her waist, 451 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 1: but it was only changed every four or five days, 452 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:46,240 Speaker 1: leaving the stagnant air almost unbreathable. These were the conditions 453 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:51,640 Speaker 1: of extreme pennance, meant to encourage the inner spiritual transformation 454 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,000 Speaker 1: of the prisoner, but from where we stand in the 455 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:58,640 Speaker 1: modern era, it's hard to imagine it as anything other 456 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:03,360 Speaker 1: than torture. The court had intended to keep all of 457 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: the convicted nuns immured for the remainder of their lives, 458 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:12,439 Speaker 1: but after continual meetings with Cardinal Boromeo throughout her imprisonment, 459 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:17,360 Speaker 1: Marianna finally convinced him of her penitence, and he ordered 460 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:22,160 Speaker 1: her to be freed on September twenty fifth, sixteen twenty two. 461 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:25,799 Speaker 1: We do not know for sure, but it's likely that 462 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: the other nuns were also freed alongside her, although Marianna 463 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:36,239 Speaker 1: remained in Santa Valeria, away from her former convent. Marianna's 464 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:40,480 Speaker 1: writings and other records that survive from this period after 465 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,280 Speaker 1: she had her sentence commuted show just how much those 466 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:49,600 Speaker 1: fourteen years broke her spirit and most likely also her mind. 467 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:53,320 Speaker 1: If she had gone into her sentence with any remaining 468 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:57,480 Speaker 1: feelings of yearning for freedom, for a different kind of life, 469 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:01,320 Speaker 1: they were thoroughly squashed by the time she was released, 470 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 1: replaced with religious fervor, fear, and emptiness. She spoke of 471 00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:13,319 Speaker 1: visions of angels and demons and seeking celestial favor. She 472 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: wept at the feet of Cardinal Borromeo, convulsed in religious ecstasy, 473 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:23,240 Speaker 1: and insisted on sleeping in a dirty and dark corner 474 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 1: of the monastery until the cardinal ordered that she moved 475 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:30,879 Speaker 1: to a new cell suited to comforting the spirit through 476 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:36,560 Speaker 1: cheerfulness of attitude and air. Until his death in sixteen 477 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:41,279 Speaker 1: thirty one, Borromeo utilized Marianna as an example of the 478 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:45,960 Speaker 1: transformative powers of repentance and had her right to nuns 479 00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:50,640 Speaker 1: throughout the region who were struggling or otherwise facing consequences 480 00:35:50,719 --> 00:35:57,040 Speaker 1: for troublesome behavior, something of a Nun Scared Straight program. 481 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:01,720 Speaker 1: Although there are few exact records words about Marianna's life 482 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:06,000 Speaker 1: after Boromeo's death, it's believed that she remained at Santa 483 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:09,600 Speaker 1: Valeria and devoted the remainder of her life to the 484 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:14,200 Speaker 1: spiritual support of her fellow nuns, continuing to offer herself 485 00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:18,920 Speaker 1: as an example of dangers in straying from the righteous path. 486 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:23,360 Speaker 1: In November sixteen forty six, she wrote a letter to 487 00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:26,719 Speaker 1: the archdeacon of Santa Maria de la Scala in Siena, 488 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:31,920 Speaker 1: including a brief family tree of the Delvia family, evident 489 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:36,480 Speaker 1: that through her ordeal, she still remained somewhat invested in 490 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:42,359 Speaker 1: her family's continued legacy. Marianna's own legacy has been one 491 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:46,360 Speaker 1: of scandal and retellings of her story, which have tended 492 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:50,279 Speaker 1: to place a great deal of blame on her. According 493 00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:53,959 Speaker 1: to most of the historical sources we have of Marianna's 494 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,440 Speaker 1: life and story, she was a woman who should have 495 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,879 Speaker 1: honored her vows, and who instead broke all of them 496 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:05,400 Speaker 1: and venom, and who paid a horrifying price for failing 497 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:10,760 Speaker 1: to resist temptation. But there's also another version we might consider, 498 00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:15,040 Speaker 1: of a woman whose life could have been defined by freedom, 499 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:20,360 Speaker 1: but who was trapped again and again, first by her father, 500 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,680 Speaker 1: then by a convent, then by a violent man who 501 00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:29,480 Speaker 1: manipulated her, and finally by a brick wall, and whose 502 00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:33,840 Speaker 1: choices to reclaim what little freedom she could were unfortunate, 503 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:38,400 Speaker 1: even disastrous, but may be worthy of a little empathy. 504 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,359 Speaker 1: The reality for Marianna, as it is for most of us, 505 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:47,759 Speaker 1: must be somewhere in the gray area. Marianna died on 506 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:53,560 Speaker 1: January seventh, sixteen fifty, at seventy four years old. Although 507 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:56,960 Speaker 1: she had somewhat faded into obscurity by the time of 508 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:59,759 Speaker 1: her death, we know the date because of a single 509 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:03,239 Speaker 1: note in the ledger of the monastery of Santa Margarita, 510 00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:08,760 Speaker 1: which read, on November seventh, sixteen fifty, Sister Virginia's family 511 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:12,880 Speaker 1: owes the convent the sum of three thousand, eight hundred 512 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:17,240 Speaker 1: and one lira and thirty nine soldi for alimony because 513 00:38:17,239 --> 00:38:21,040 Speaker 1: today she has passed away to a better life. She 514 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:25,360 Speaker 1: never did, it seems, receive the dowry that she should 515 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:36,640 Speaker 1: have inherited. That's the end of the second part of 516 00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:40,680 Speaker 1: the salacious and tragic story of the Nun of Monsa. 517 00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:44,120 Speaker 1: But stick around after a brief sponsor break to hear 518 00:38:44,239 --> 00:38:48,160 Speaker 1: about another nune gone bad who was causing trouble in 519 00:38:48,239 --> 00:39:00,920 Speaker 1: her own convent at around the same time. The case 520 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:04,080 Speaker 1: of Mariana de la vier Marino and her disastrous love 521 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:07,480 Speaker 1: affair is certainly unique in many ways, but it was 522 00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:10,760 Speaker 1: far from the only example of how the early modern 523 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:16,120 Speaker 1: practice of forcing children into monasteries could have unfortunate, even 524 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:21,839 Speaker 1: scandalous consequences. Around the time that Mariana was released from 525 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:26,720 Speaker 1: her sentence of immurement. Another convent drama was playing out 526 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:29,759 Speaker 1: less than one hundred and fifty miles away in the 527 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:34,240 Speaker 1: small town of Pesha. In sixteen twenty two or twenty three, 528 00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:38,640 Speaker 1: papal authorities were called to the Congregation of the Mother 529 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:43,320 Speaker 1: of God, who investigate a nun, in fact a former abbess, 530 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:49,440 Speaker 1: for her suspicious claims of mysticism. The nun, Benedetta Carlini, 531 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:52,399 Speaker 1: had been placed in the convent by her parents as 532 00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:56,879 Speaker 1: a child, and even then had quickly garnered a reputation 533 00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:01,560 Speaker 1: for her apparent divine favor. She had been making claims 534 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:06,080 Speaker 1: for years that she had been experiencing powerful mystic visions. 535 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:10,800 Speaker 1: She even had the stigmata and wounds on her forehead 536 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:15,759 Speaker 1: that mimicked the wounds of Christ, though many nuns reported 537 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:19,160 Speaker 1: having seen her take a needle to her own hands 538 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:24,160 Speaker 1: and feet. These rumors, along with other suspicious incidents like 539 00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:29,200 Speaker 1: a faked resurrection, drew the attention of an inquisition which 540 00:40:29,239 --> 00:40:33,080 Speaker 1: had long been anxious about the fervent followings mystics had 541 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:36,359 Speaker 1: been able to amass, and which sought to stamp them 542 00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:42,479 Speaker 1: out whenever possible. The inquisitors never could have expected, though, 543 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:46,280 Speaker 1: this scandal they were about to uncover when they arrived 544 00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:52,160 Speaker 1: to investigate the so called mystic in Pesha. Upon interrogation, 545 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:58,480 Speaker 1: Venedetta's companion, a younger nun named Bartolomea Crevelli, admitted that 546 00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:04,440 Speaker 1: for years she and Benedetta had had a sexual relationship, 547 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:08,080 Speaker 1: although she claimed that the elder nun had fooled her 548 00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:12,320 Speaker 1: into participating by pretending to be possessed by an angel 549 00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:18,680 Speaker 1: named splendid Tello during their relations The accusation shocked the 550 00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:23,000 Speaker 1: inquisitors and shook the convent and town to its core. 551 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:29,600 Speaker 1: For her litany of crimes, including sexual impropriety, Benedetta was 552 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:33,799 Speaker 1: imprisoned in the convent, although not immured, and remained so 553 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:38,439 Speaker 1: until her death in sixteen sixty one at age seventy one. 554 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:43,800 Speaker 1: Unlike Marianna's story, which was revived in the nineteenth century, 555 00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:50,759 Speaker 1: Benedetta and Barcelomea's almost unbelievable tale remained largely unknown until 556 00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:55,240 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties, when historian Judith Brown published her book 557 00:41:55,640 --> 00:42:00,000 Speaker 1: Immodest Acts, The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance 558 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:04,560 Speaker 1: in Italy after discovering records from Benedetta's case, in an archive. 559 00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:09,400 Speaker 1: But lest we lament the lost opportunity for a nonsploitation 560 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:14,600 Speaker 1: adaptation of that book, not to worry, A movie called Benedetta, 561 00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:19,799 Speaker 1: directed by Paul Verhoeven of RoboCop fame, came out in 562 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:31,600 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one.