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Description
The Nun of Monza (La Monaca di Monza) [link] is the story of the proud and beautiful countess Virginia de Leyva, placed in a convent at an early age, forced to take the solemn vow of chastity in the 1600s in Spanish-occupied Italy. She is is a tragic figure, a bitter, frustrated and ambiguous woman.
A child of the most important family of the area, her father decided to send her to the cloisters for no other reason than to simplify his affairs: he wished to keep his properties united for his first-born, heir to the family's title and riches. Torn between passion and restraint, fear and faith, Virginia became the new Mother Superior after the death of her convent's previous matriarch. She was thrust into an unwanted seat of religious and political power, victim to the unseen forces around her and her own conflicted nature. Accused of having broken her vows of chastity she was condemned to be walled up alive in a cell of the convent. Her lover, the noble Gian Paolo Osio, was sentenced to death by the Senate.
Her story inspired some chapters of The Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi) [link] , the Italian historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni, first published in 1827.

CREDITS
woman: twittey-stock photo [link]
friar: stock photo [link] by Marcus Ranum www.ranum.com
doves: by markopolio-stock [link]

Description
The Nun of Monza (La Monaca di Monza) [link] is the story of the proud and beautiful countess Virginia de Leyva, placed in a convent at an early age, forced to take the solemn vow of chastity in the 1600s in Spanish-occupied Italy. She is is a tragic figure, a bitter, frustrated and ambiguous woman.
A child of the most important family of the area, her father decided to send her to the cloisters for no other reason than to simplify his affairs: he wished to keep his properties united for his first-born, heir to the family's title and riches. Torn between passion and restraint, fear and faith, Virginia became the new Mother Superior after the death of her convent's previous matriarch. She was thrust into an unwanted seat of religious and political power, victim to the unseen forces around her and her own conflicted nature. Accused of having broken her vows of chastity she was condemned to be walled up alive in a cell of the convent. Her lover, the noble Gian Paolo Osio, was sentenced to death by the Senate.
Her story inspired some chapters of The Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi) [link] , the Italian historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni, first published in 1827.

CREDITS
woman: twittey-stock photo [link]
friar: stock photo [link] by Marcus Ranum www.ranum.com
doves: by markopolio-stock [link]