Italian Greens from Italian Queens: Difference between revisions

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Royal envoys had already reported to Sigismund from Naples that his new bride was distinguished not only by her beauty, charm and dancing skills but also by her education and eloquence, to the extent that “in conversation, learning and speech, she was not as one would expect of her sex, but truly astonishing,” and that “she spoke nothing that lacked a certain refinement, whether in metaphor or in the most ornate expression.”<ref>M. Bogucka, ''op. cit.'', p. 58</ref> In Cracow, to the considerable alarm of the Polish nobility – and likely the king himself – it turned out that the beautiful and deeply décolleté Bona also had a head for politics and a knack for business. A royal consort who didn’t stop at producing heirs, but also interfered in matters of state, caused far more astonishment in conservative Poland than in Italy, where she’d been actually taught that she was born to rule over men. Bona even managed to secure the unprecedented and unconstitutional coronation of her only son, Sigismund Augustus, as king at the age of nine – while his father was still alive and well – in what was, supposedly, an elective monarchy.

All this, in time, contributed to the emergence of Bona’s black legend, according to which the queen was “good” only in name, but in reality was pathologically ambitious, greedy, prone to Machiavellian machinations, financial malfeasance and – as befitted a Renaissance Italian – to the use of poison as a tool of statecraft. She was suspected of having poisoned her first two daughters-in-law (Elisabeth Habsburg and Barbara Radziwiłł), as well as the last two dukes of Masovia (Stanislav and John III). It was in Masovia – swiftly annexed by Poland – where Bona, estranged from her son, lived for eight years before eventually returning to Italy. There, the Polish queen dowager was herself poisoned – probably on the orders of King Philip II of Spain, who owed her too much money to leave her alive.

All this, in time, contributed to the emergence of Bona’s black legend, according to which the queen was “good” only in name, but in reality was pathologically ambitious, greedy, prone to Machiavellian machinations, financial malfeasance and – as befitted a Renaissance Italian – to the use of poison as a tool of statecraft. She was suspected of having poisoned her first two daughters-in-law (Elisabeth Habsburg and Barbara Radziwiłł{{czyt|Radziwiłł}}), as well as the last two dukes of Masovia (Stanislav and John III). It was in Masovia – swiftly annexed by Poland – where Bona, estranged from her son, lived for eight years before eventually returning to Italy. There, the Polish queen dowager was herself poisoned – probably on the orders of King Philip II of Spain, who owed her too much money to leave her alive.

Right then – but what about those vegetables? We’ll come to that in a moment. First, however, let’s take a closer look at another famous Italian-born queen whose life followed a path quite similar to Bona’s.

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 Royal envoys had already reported to Sigismund from Naples that his new bride was distinguished not only by her beauty, charm and dancing skills but also by her education and eloquence, to the extent that “in conversation, learning and speech, she was not as one would expect of her sex, but truly astonishing,” and that “she spoke nothing that lacked a&nbsp;certain refinement, whether in metaphor or in the most ornate expression.”<ref>M. Bogucka, ''op. cit.'', p. 58</ref> In Cracow, to the considerable alarm of the Polish nobility – and likely the king himself – it turned out that the beautiful and deeply décolleté Bona also had a&nbsp;head for politics and a&nbsp;knack for business. A&nbsp;royal consort who didn’t stop at producing heirs, but also interfered in matters of state, caused far more astonishment in conservative Poland than in Italy, where she’d been actually taught that she was born to rule over men. Bona even managed to secure the unprecedented and unconstitutional coronation of her only son, Sigismund Augustus, as king at the age of nine – while his father was still alive and well – in what was, supposedly, an elective monarchy.
-All this, in time, contributed to the emergence of Bona’s black legend, according to which the queen was “good” only in name, but in reality was pathologically ambitious, greedy, prone to Machiavellian machinations, financial malfeasance and – as befitted a&nbsp;Renaissance Italian – to the use of poison as a&nbsp;tool of statecraft. She was suspected of having poisoned her first two daughters-in-law (Elisabeth Habsburg and Barbara Radziwiłł), as well as the last two dukes of Masovia (Stanislav and John III). It was in Masovia – swiftly annexed by Poland – where Bona, estranged from her son, lived for eight years before eventually returning to Italy. There, the Polish queen dowager was herself poisoned – probably on the orders of King Philip II of Spain, who owed her too much money to leave her alive.
+All this, in time, contributed to the emergence of Bona’s black legend, according to which the queen was “good” only in name, but in reality was pathologically ambitious, greedy, prone to Machiavellian machinations, financial malfeasance and – as befitted a&nbsp;Renaissance Italian – to the use of poison as a&nbsp;tool of statecraft. She was suspected of having poisoned her first two daughters-in-law (Elisabeth Habsburg and Barbara Radziwiłł{{czyt|Radziwiłł}}), as well as the last two dukes of Masovia (Stanislav and John III). It was in Masovia – swiftly annexed by Poland – where Bona, estranged from her son, lived for eight years before eventually returning to Italy. There, the Polish queen dowager was herself poisoned – probably on the orders of King Philip II of Spain, who owed her too much money to leave her alive.
 Right then – but what about those vegetables? We’ll come to that in a&nbsp;moment. First, however, let’s take a&nbsp;closer look at another famous Italian-born queen whose life followed a&nbsp;path quite similar to Bona’s.