Note 109 — PART II (continued 2)

A rich heiress who, when fifteen years of age, eloped to Florence with a poor bookkeeper and married him. She there became the mistress, then the wife, of Francesco de’ Medici, Duke of Tuscany, who was implicated in the assassination of her first husband. Notwithstanding her scandalous past and condemnation by the laws of Venice, the Signory, on her second marriage, took her under their protection for political reasons, and proclaimed her the “true and particular daughter of the Republic.” She and the Grand Duke died within a day of each other in 1587, not without suspicion of poison. The Ca’ Trevisan was bought by Bianca in 1577, and given to her brother, Vittore Cappello. Francesco Sansovino dedicated his Venezia Città Nobilissima to her.