edict of Nantes, fled to England, where he died in 1722. See
Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_.

CAPPELLO, BIANCA (1548-1587), grand duchess of Tuscany, was the daughter
of Bartolommeo Cappello, a member of one of the richest and noblest
Venetian families, and was famed for her great beauty. At the age of
fifteen she fell in love with Pietro Bonaventuri, a young Florentine
clerk in the firm of Salviati, and on the 28th of November 1563 escaped
with him to Florence, where they were married and she had a daughter
named Pellegrina. The Venetian government made every effort to have
Bianca arrested and brought back, but the grand duke Cosimo de' Medici
intervened in her favour and she was left unmolested. However she did
not get on well with her husband's family, who were very poor and made
her do menial work, until at last her beauty attracted Francesco, the
grand duke's son, a vicious and unprincipled rake. Although already
married to the virtuous and charming Archduchess Giovanna of Austria, he
seduced the fair Venetian and loaded her with jewels, money and other
presents. Bianca's accommodating husband was given court employment, and
consoled himself with other ladies; in 1572 he was murdered in the
streets of Florence in consequence of some amorous intrigue, though
possibly Bianca and Francesco were privy to the deed. On the death of
Cosimo in 1574 Francesco succeeded to the grand duchy; he now installed
Bianca in a fine palace close to his own and outraged his wife by
flaunting his mistress before her. As Giovanna had borne Francesco no
sons, Bianca was very anxious to present him with an heir, for otherwise
her position would remain very insecure. But although she resorted to
all sorts of expedients, even to that of trying to pass off a changeling
as the grand duke's child, she was not successful. In 1578 Giovanna
died; a few days later Francesco secretly married Bianca, and on the
10th of June, 1579, the marriage was publicly announced. The Venetian
government now put aside its resentment and was officially represented
at the magnificent wedding festivities, for it saw in Bianca Cappello an
instrument for cementing good relations with Tuscany. But the long
expected heir failed to come, and Bianca realized that if her husband
were to die before her she was lost, for his family, especially his
brother Cardinal Ferdinand, hated her bitterly, as an adventuress and
interloper. In October 1587 both the grand duke a