Marianna was a victim of
forced monasticism. She was 13 years and 3 months old when her father forced her to become a nun in the
monastery of Saint Margaret. The monastery was located in
Spalto di Porta de’ Grandi, also known as
Via Azzone Visconti. This monastery could only be accessed through a small street, which today is called
Via della Signora. 15 March 1589 was the last time that don Martino de Leyva saw his daughter. Her father said he would leave her an inheritance of 6,000
lire, to be given to her by Giuseppe Limiato. The truth was that Limiato never received the money. Historical witnesses have confirmed she did receive income from the yearly revenues for being a nun. On 26 August 1591, the archbishop witnessed four newly arrived sisters consecrate themselves: Sister Virginia Maria, Sister Benedetta Felice, Sister Teodora da Seveso and Sister Ottavia Caterina Ricci. On 26 September 1591, Marianna became Sister Virginia Maria. Before the scandal that made her notorious, contemporary writer
Ripamonti described her as "modest", "respectful", and "obedient". He also records that she befriended everyone easily, and enjoyed reading as much as possible. She gained popularity in
Monza in this period. On 20 May 1594, for example, the writer Bartolomeo Zucchi sent her a letter in which he praised her for her choice of becoming a nun.
Scandal The scandal was caused by her love affair with the count
Giovanni Paolo Osio, who had previously been accused of murder. In 1597 Marianna was a teacher at the convent's school for girls. During this period she met Osio, who lived in a house next to the monastery. Although she was a nun, Marianna was both rich and powerful; from a wealthy family, she also administered property revenues in Monza and was involved in administering justice. She started to exchange letters with Osio, delivered to his garden through a rope lowered from a window. The liaison was facilitated by the use of duplicated keys provided by a blacksmith. The meetings between them were frequent and were organized with the complicity of other nuns and a priest named Paolo Arrigone, a close friend of Osio. In 1602, Marianna gave birth to an illegitimate stillborn baby. After this, the relationship with Osio temporarily ended. Despite this, after a while the affair restarted, although the lovers' meetings were less frequent. In autumn 1603, Sister Virginia got pregnant for the second time, and gave birth to a girl. The child was named Alma Francesca Margherita. Alma subsequently lived with her father, Count Osio, who legally acknowledged her as his illegitimate daughter two years later in 1605. In the summer of 1606, one of the nuns at the convent threatened to expose the relationship. As a consequence of this threat, Osio killed her in order to avoid the spreading of the story. This murder apparently took place with the complicity of both Sister Virginia and other nuns. Sister Virginia threatened all the nuns complicit in the murder that they would suffer the same fate if they revealed the crime. The murder remained secret because outsiders were told that the murdered lay sister had run off. In the autumn of 1606, however, rumors about the activities at the convent became more frequent. The
blacksmith who had counterfeited the keys was also killed by Osio. These facts came to the ears of the governor of Milan. On
Carnival day of 1607 Osio was arrested and imprisoned in
Pavia. He subsequently escaped and was later given a death sentence
in absentia. He was eventually murdered by an alleged friend.
Trial When the
Archbishop Federico Borromeo came to know about the scandal, he ordered a canonical trial of the nun. The trial started on 27 November 1607, and she was interrogated by Vicar Gerolamo Saracino. Marianna defended herself by claiming loss of free-will, asserting that diabolic forces had exercised on her an irresistible impulse. From 19 November until 27 March 1608, the interrogation of the priest Paolo Arrigone took place. On 22 May 1608, the interrogation restarted again and this time torture was used. On 14 June, Sister Virginia was interrogated. She confirmed, under physical torment, the accusations against Arrigone. Even his doorman and his wife were exposed to torture (in the sense of being shown the instruments of torture) to confirm the accusations against him. In the verdict, issued on 18 October 1608, Sister Virginia was sentenced to be walled-in for 13 years in the monastery of Santa Valeria. After surviving this period of incarceration, she was released in 1622. She lived at the monastery until her death in 1650. == In literature ==