Beatrice Cenci

Who was Beatrice Cenci?

Beatrice Cenci was an Italian noblewoman. She is famous as the protagonist in events leading to a lurid murder trial in Rome that gave rise to an enduring legend about her.

Beatrice was the daughter of an aristocrat, Francesco Cenci, who, due to his violent temper and immoral behaviour, found himself in trouble with papal justice more than once. The family lived in Rome at the Palazzo Cenci in the rione Regola, which was built over the ruins of a medieval fortified palace at the edge of Rome's Jewish ghetto. The members of the extended family living together included Beatrice's elder brother, Giacomo, Francesco's second wife, Lucrezia Petroni, and Bernardo, Francesco's son from his second marriage. A castle also was among their possessions, La Rocca of Petrella Salto, a small village near Rieti, northeast of Rome.