page_title: The Nun of Monza
section_title: The scandal
hierarchical_section_title: The Nun of Monza / Life as a nun / The scandal
caption_attribution_description: La Signora di Monza, olio su tela, 130 x 98 cm, Galleria d'arte moderna di Milano
context_page_description: Sister Virginia Maria was an Italian nun.
  She gave birth to two children fathered by a local aristocrat, and had connived in the murder of another nun in order to cover up the affair. This took place in Monza, in northern Italy, at the beginning of the 17th century. Following this scandal she became widely known as The Nun of Monza. Her life inspired one of the characters in Alessandro Manzoni's novel The Betrothed, which has also been dramatized several times.
context_section_description: The scandal was caused by her love affair with the count Giovanni Paolo Osio, who had previously been accused of murder.
  In 1597 Marianna was a teacher at the convent's school for girls. During this period she met Osio, who lived in a house next to the monastery.
  Though a nun, Marianna was both rich and powerful: from a wealthy family, she also administered property revenues in Monza and was involved in administering justice. She started to exchange letters with Osio, delivered to his garden through a rope lowered from a window. The liaison was facilitated by the use of counterfeit keys provided by a blacksmith. The meetings between them were frequent and were organized with the complicity of other nuns and a priest named Paolo Arrigone, a close friend of Osio.
  In 1602 Marianna gave birth to an illegitimate stillborn baby. After this, the relationship with Osio temporarily ended. Despite this, after a while the affair restarted, although the lovers' meetings were less frequent. In autumn 1603 Sister Virginia got pregnant for the second time, and gave birth to a girl. The child was named Alma Francesca Margherita. Alma subsequently lived with the father, Count Osio, who legally acknowledged her as his illegitimate daughter two years later in 1605.  
  In the summer of 1606, one of the nuns at the convent threatened to expose the relationship. As a consequence of this threat, Osio killed her in order to avoid the spreading of the story. This murder apparently took place with the complicity of both Sister Virginia and other nuns. Sister Virginia threatened all the nuns complicit in the murder that they would suffer the same fate if they revealed the crime. The murder remained secret because outsiders were told that the murdered lay sister had run off. In the autumn of 1606, however, rumors about the activities at the convent became more frequent. The blacksmith who had counterfeited the keys was also killed by Osio.
  These facts came to the ears of the governor of Milan. On Carnival day of 1607 Osio was arrested and imprisoned in Pavia. He subsequently escaped and was later given a death sentence in absentia. He was eventually murdered by an alleged friend.
caption: The Nun of Monza, painting by Mosè Bianchi
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