Antonia Visconti (born after 1350, probably about 1360,
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
– 16 March 1405,
Stuttgart) was Countess of
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
.
Family
![Bernabò e Beatrice Visconti](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Bernab%C3%B2_e_Beatrice_Visconti.jpg)
Antonia was the tenth of 17 children of
Bernabò Visconti
Bernabò or Barnabò Visconti (1323 – 19 December 1385) was an Italian soldier and statesman who was Lord of Milan. Along with his brothers Matteo and Galeazzo II, he inherited the lordship of Milan from his uncle Giovanni. Later in 1355, he a ...
, Lord of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. She was one of the 13 legitimately born children from his marriage to
Beatrice Regina della Scala
Beatrice ''Regina'' della Scala (1331 – 18 June 1384) was Lady of Milan by marriage to Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan, and politically active as the adviser of her spouse.Tuchman, p.333
Life
Beatrice Regina was born in Verona in 1331,Charle ...
from the
Scaliger
The Della Scala family, whose members were known as Scaligeri () or Scaligers (; from the Latinized ''de Scalis''), was the ruling family of Verona and mainland Veneto (except for Venice) from 1262 to 1387, for a total of 125 years.
History
Wh ...
family, the lords of
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...
.
Antonia's sister,
Taddea Visconti
Taddea Visconti, Duchess of Bavaria (1351 – 28 September 1381) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Visconti (Milan), Visconti family, the ruling house in Milan from 1277 to 1447. She was the first wife of Stephen III, Duke of Bavaria, and ...
married
Stephen III, Duke of Bavaria
Stephen III (1337 – 26 September 1413), called the Magnificent or the Fop (''Stephan der Kneißl''), was the Duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt from 1375. He was the eldest son of Stephen II and Elizabeth of Sicily.
Family
His maternal grandparents ...
and was mother of
Isabeau of Bavaria
Isabeau of Bavaria (or Isabelle; also Elisabeth of Bavaria-Ingolstadt; c. 1370 – September 1435) was Queen of France from 1385 to 1422. She was born into the House of Wittelsbach as the only daughter of Duke Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingols ...
, wife of
Charles VI of France
Charles VI (3 December 136821 October 1422), nicknamed the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé) and later the Mad (french: le Fol or ''le Fou''), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychotic ...
and ancestor to some notable people in history, including the
Tudor Dynasty
The House of Tudor was a royal house of largely Welsh and English origin that held the English throne from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd and Catherine of France. Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of England and it ...
. Another sister,
Agnes, married
Francesco I Gonzaga
Portrait of Francesco I Gonzaga
Francesco I Gonzaga (1366 – 7 March 1407) was ruler of Mantua from 1382 to 1407. He was also a condottiero.
Succeeding his father Ludovico II Gonzaga in 1382, he led a policy of balance between the nearby ...
and was executed for supposed adultery in 1391. Antonia's youngest sister
Elisabetta was married to
Ernest, Duke of Bavaria
Ernest of Bavaria-Munich (german: Ernst, Herzog von Bayern-München), (Munich, 1373 – 2 July 1438 in Munich), from 1397 Duke of Bavaria-Munich.
Biography
Ernest was a son of John II and ruled the duchy of Bavaria-Munich together with h ...
.
Antonia's maternal grandparents were
Mastino II della Scala and his wife Taddea
da Carrara. Her paternal grandparents were
Stefano Visconti and his wife Valentina
Doria
Doria or Dória may refer to:
People Surname
* Doria (family), a prominent Genoese family
** Andrea Doria (1466–1560), Genoese admiral
** Ansaldo Doria, 12th century Genoese statesman and commander
** Brancaleone Doria (died c. 1409?), husband ...
.
Her father, Bernabò was a cruel and ruthless despot, and an implacable enemy of the
Church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
. He seized the papal city of
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
, rejected the Pope and his authority, confiscated ecclesiastical property, and forbade any of his subjects to have any dealings with the
Curia
Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...
. He was excommunicated as a
heretic in 1363 by
Pope Urban V
Pope Urban V ( la, Urbanus V; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was the head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the ...
, who preached
crusade against him. When Bernabò was in one of his frequent rages, only Beatrice Regina (her mother) was able to approach him.
Marriage
Antonia was originally betrothed to
Frederick III the Simple
Frederick III (or IV) (1 September 1341 – Messina 27 July 1377Setton, Kenneth M. (1975) "iarchive:AHistoryOfTheCrusades14th15thC, Volume III: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries", Edited by Harry W. Hazzard, page 214.), called the Simple, ...
. This was different from other family marriages because most of Antonia's sisters married members of the
House of Wittelsbach. Ten years after the first suggestion of marriage, a marriage contract was drawn up, Antonia's family was to provide a dowry of ten thousand florins plus another twenty thousand in florins jewelry. However, Antonia never married Frederick because he died 27 January 1377 before the marriage could take place. Antonia could have become
Queen consort of Sicily
This is a list of consorts of the Kingdom of Sicily. Many Kings of Sicily had more than one wife; they may have divorced their wife or she might have died.
Countesses of Sicily Hauteville family, House of Hauteville, 1130–1198
Queens c ...
if she had married Frederick.
Antonia married in
Bad Urach
Bad Urach () is a town in the district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 14 km east of Reutlingen, at the foot of the Swabian ''Alb'' (or Swabian Alps in English), and is known for its spa and therapeutic bath.
N ...
three years later on 27 October 1380 to
Eberhard III, Count of Württemberg. Antonia laid out water gardens in their castle grounds, known as "der Frau von Mailand Garten".
Antonia and Eberhard had three sons, but only one lived to adulthood:
*
Eberhard IV, Count of Württemberg
Eberhard IV of Württemberg (23 August 1388, in Stuttgart – 2 July 1419, in Waiblingen) was the ruling Count of Württemberg from 1417 until his death.
Life
He was elder son of Count Eberhard III and Antonia Visconti. On 13 November 1397 he be ...
, (23 August 1388,
Stuttgart–2 July 1419,
Waiblingen
Waiblingen (; Swabian: ''Woeblinge'') is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart region, directly neighboring Stuttgart. It is the capital and largest city of the Rems-Murr district. , Waib ...
), successor to his father.
*Ulrich (died young)
*Ludwig (died young)
Some believe that the couple had another child.
Antonia and Eberhard were married for twenty-five years. On 26 March 1405 Antonia died at
Old Castle (Stuttgart)
, native_name_lang = de
, image = AltesSchlossStuttgart.JPG
, image_size =
, image_alt = From Schlossplatz
, image_caption = From Schlossplatz
, map_type = Baden-Württemberg#Germany
, map_alt = Location in Baden-Württemberg
, map_captio ...
, leaving her husband and surviving son. Eberhard remarried after Antonia's death to Elisabeth, daughter of
John III, Burgrave of Nuremberg and
Margaret of Bohemia. They had a daughter, also called Elisabeth.
Tests were done on the genetics of the
House of Württemberg
The House of Württemberg is a German dynasty and former royal family from Württemberg.
History County
The House probably originated in the vicinity of the Salian dynasty. Around 1080 the ancestors of modern Württemberg, which was then calle ...
by Gerhard O. Schwerdfeger. There were cases of mental illness in the family and according to Schwerdfeger the gene came from the
House of Visconti
Visconti is a surname which may refer to:
Italian noble families
* Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447
** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan
* Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...
.
[Raff, page 221] Otto of Bavaria and
Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...
both had a mental disorder, they are both descended from Antonia. Antonia's father, did have frequent rages.
Ancestry
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Visconti, Antonia
1360 births
1405 deaths
Antonia Visconti
Antonia Visconti
Burials at Stiftskirche, Stuttgart
15th-century German people
15th-century German women
14th-century Italian nobility
14th-century Italian women