Violante Visconti

Who was Violante Visconti?

Violante Visconti was the second of three children of Galeazzo II Visconti, Lord of Milan and Pavia, and Bianca of Savoy. Her father gave to her the provinces of Alba, Mondovì, Kenites, Cherasco, and Demonte as an inheritance.

As a 13-year-old, with the promise of a large dowry from her father, in addition to her territories, she was married to the third son of King Edward III of England, Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, predecessor of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Nascente, Milan, on 28 May 1368. The wedding festivities were lavish and ostentatious. The banquet, held outside, included 30 courses of meat and fish presented fully gilded. Between the courses the guests were given gifts such as suits of armor, bolts of cloth, war horses, arms, and hunting dogs. Among the guests were Geoffrey Chaucer, Petrarch, Jean Froissart and John Hawkwood. The marriage was short-lived. Lionel died in Alba on 17 October that year, just five months after the wedding. His death may have been due to food poisoning. The Duchess of Clarence had no issue by the Duke.