Cappello, Bianca

Cappello, Bianca byäng´kä cäpĕl´lō [key], 1548–87, grand duchess of Tuscany (1579–87). Of a noble Venetian family, she eloped (1563) with a Florentine, Pietro Bonaventuri, who was later killed (1569). She was the mistress, then (1579) the wife of Francesco de'Medici. After a banquet the grand duke and his duchess died suddenly, but rumors that they had been poisoned were never substantiated.

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