The day after Beatrice shows Castruccio the secret passage into Ferrara through the palace of Madonna Marchesena, viscountess di Malvezzi—"a magnificent palace close to the eastern gate of Ferrara" (201)—Castruccio goes the Church of St. Anna (Chiesa di Sant'Anna), where he sees sees Beatrice's prophesy interrupted when she is arrested by Dominican inquisitors (213). The inquisitors bring her before the bishop at the episcopal palace in Ferrara, where Beatrice appeals to the "Judgement of God" (214). She is held overnight at the convent of St. Anna until the "Judgement of God" takes place the following day "in a large square of Ferrara, under the walls of the garden of the convent of St. Anna, and before the gates of the monastery to the care of whose monks the Judgement was entrusted" (217). After proving herself, "a procession of nuns came forth from the garden-gate of the convent; ... they surrounded Beatrice, and led her, attended by the other ladies in the company, to their cloisters, where her maternal friend the vicountess Marchesena waited to clasp her in her arms" (220). Beatrice is later received by her noble allies and sympathizers at the episcopal palace, where she reveals the day when the marquess Obizzo of Este should enter Ferrara (221). Beatrice resides at the viscountess's palace in Ferrara during her affair with Castruccio, and remains there for some time after Castruccio leaves Ferrara. Beatrice does not leave Ferrara until after bishop Marsilio "was promoted to another see, and he was obliged to go to Avignon to receive the investiture" (355). She departs under the pretence of making a pilgrimage to Rome.

Log in

Please use + and - icons to zoom | click, hold and drag to navigate the globe