Joanna of Gallura facts for kids
Joanna of Gallura (..., c. 1291 – Florence, 1339), also known as Giovanna Visconti, was the last titular Judge (giudicessa) of Gallura. Joanna claimed her rights in Sardinia to no avail and eventually sold them to her relatives, the Visconti of Milan, who later sold them to the Crown of Aragon. She is mentioned passingly by Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedy. Her father, a friend of Dante's, but consigned to Purgatory with the other negligent rulers, asks her to be reminded of him.
Biography
Early life
The Visconti of Pisa were present in Pisa since at least since the tenth century and since then had produced a lineage of influential Pisan politicians. In 1205, Lamberto Visconti married Elena of Gallura and became the first Visconti to be the Judge of Gallura. He was succeeded, in order, by Ubaldo, Ubaldo II, John, and Ugolino Visconti.
Joanna was the daughter of Ugolino (also known as Nino) and Beatrice, daughter of Obizzo II d'Este. Upon Nino's death in 1296, Joanna became the last Judge of Gallura. She succeeded her father when she was a baby, though her succession was purely nominal. Not long after her father's death, the Republic of Pisa, affiliated with the Ghibellines, took most of her inheritance. Nino had been a notable Guelph leader who had served as podestà in Pisa until his exile in 1288, during which he aligned with known Pisan enemies Florence and Lucca and led a campaign against Pisa.
In 1296, Pope Boniface VIII assigned Joanna as a ward to Volterra, where she and her mother would live for a few years. In that time, Beatrice became engaged to a son of Alberto Scotto, lord of Piacenza. Galeazzo I Visconti of Milan, desperate for an alliance with the Este family, had been able to circumvent the engagement and instead married Beatrice in 1300. This marriage outraged the Torriani family. With the help of Scotto, they drove the Visconti out of Milan. Galeazzo would then live in Tuscany until his death, but Beatrice was able to eventually return to Milan.
Marriage
Though Pisa had taken most of her inheritance, Joanna remained in possession of great political power because of her title as Judge of Gallura and her parents' noble lineages. In adolescence, her political position and her beauty drew many suitors whose families sought power in Sardinia.
Joanna's first suitor was the son of the Genoese noble Bernabò Doria; a marriage with him would have promoted the union of Genoa and Pisa against the Crown of Aragon. Then, a second option became the nephew of the Count of Donaratico, Tedice della Gherardesca; the possibility of his marriage to Joanna polarized the Pisans, causing civil conflict. Finally, the Tuscan Guelphs recommended that Joanna marry Corradino Malaspina, whose family already owned many valuable assets in Sardinia. Corradino's marriage with Joanna would only further expand their wealth and territory. James II of Aragon also had a stake in Joanna's hand for marriage, as he wanted her to marry an Aragonese nobleman because it would aid his plan of conquering Sardinia while minimizing military costs.
Despite their desperate clamor for Joanna, none of the above noblemen married her. In 1308, Joanna married Rizzardo IV da Camino, Count of Ceneda and Lord of Treviso. Only four years after their marriage, Rizzardo was assassinated. After Rizzardo's death, Guecello promptly took over the position of Lord of Treviso.
Later years
From 1323 until her death in 1339, Joanna lived in Florence, where the Guelphs provided her with a subsidy in honor of her father's contributions to the party.
In Dante's Divine Comedy
Joanna is mentioned in Canto VIII of Dante's Purgatorio, the second canticle of the Divine Comedy. In the beginning of the canto, two angels with flaming swords stand on opposite sides of the valley, setting up the ritual that will take place after Dante's conversations with Nino, Joanna's father, and Conrad Malaspina. Dante and Nino share a joyous reunion, since they had known each other in life. Nino implores that Dante asks Joanna to pray for him to help him along to salvation; Joanna is the only one left who can pray for him. Nino then scorns his wife Beatrice for not mourning his death long enough, accusing her of being a fickle woman because of her remarriage to Galeazzo.
when you are far from these wide waters,
ask my Giovanna to direct her prayers for me
to where the innocent are heard.
I think her mother has not loved me
since she stopped wearing her white wimple,
which, in her coming misery, she may long for.
There is an easy lesson in her conduct:
how short a time the fire of love endures in woman
if frequent sight and touch do not rekindle it.
The viper that leads the Milanese afield
will hardly ornament her tomb as handsomely
as the cock of Gallura would have done.—Dante Alighieri
Sordello, who had led Dante and Virgil to this valley, instructs them to look up. They watch the scene, which is so familiar to the souls on this terrace, as the snake slides sensually through the grass. Upon hearing the flapping of the angels' wings, the snake slithers away fearfully.
