Fantasy portrait of the nun of Monza, the Manzonian Gertrude
The nun of Monza , born Marianna de Leyva y Marino, later became Sister Virginia Maria in memory of her mother who died immediately after her birth, she is certainly one of the most famous religious in history, although certainly not for the monastic virtues and high spirituality shown in her life.
The existence of this largely unfortunate woman, victim of the petty laws of the time and of a father who never showed her the slightest tenderness, endowed with a haughty and often contemptuous character towards others, who did not fail to point out that position of superiority that the high births assured her, was studded with murky intrigues and obscure plots, which in a crescendo of unhealthy and reprehensible actions, resulted in the most vile of assassinations.
In reality, the Lady of Monza was neither the first nor the last clergyman who ended up on trial and then in prison, because over the centuries within the walls of the monasteries, too many events similar to hers were hidden, and at times they were discovered, if not worse, only that much of her undying fame, Sister Virginia Maria owes it to the pen of Alessandro Manzoni , who with the unparalleled expertise of the great writer that he is, retraced his unmemorable deeds in "The Betrothed" , where, change her name to Gertrude , it ends up further troubling poor Lucia.
There is so much to say and write about the nun of Monza that she will soon dedicate more than a few posts; meanwhile I found the video on the net (from youtube.com) that I report below, in which you can see and hear a brief but exhaustive description of the character, in an interesting historical-literary parallel Sister Virginia / Gertrude.
Enjoy.