World history remembers a huge number of mysterious and interesting characters, whose life cannot be called unambiguous even after several centuries.
As you know, the XIV century is the beginning of "mystical times" in Europe, when almost every woman with red hair and green eyes was considered a witch. In addition, she could easily find herself at the stake if she simply rejected a man, and who, in revenge, would say that she used her spell. And the time of the cruel Inquisition is rich in such stories. It was during this period that the unusual Countess Valentina of Milan lived. Today, the sculpture of her image flaunts in Paris. This woman has always been loved by her people and had a special passion and patronage in relation to literary art.
The story tells about the rather sad fate of this woman, who was the daughter of the famous Duke of Visconti. Even when she was quite a baby, her life, as befits the upper class of that time, was planned out, and a brilliant party in the person of the Duke Louis of Orleans, the brother of the King of France, was chosen as her future husband.
Despite the people's love, not everyone had "warm" feelings for her. For example, Queen Isabella had an extremely negative attitude towards Valentina, believing that she possesses a certain mystical gift and belongs to the family of witches.
At that time, the power of the French state belonged to Charles VI, nicknamed the Mad. However, his wife, Queen Isabella, had a great interest in public affairs. There was no rumor among the common people that she was a very "cruel and insidious woman" who hated Valentina. Probably, it was simple jealousy, since her husband considered Milanese to be a close ally and friend, spending a considerable amount of time with her.
Queen Isabella claimed that Milan specially performed certain rituals in order to worsen the physical condition of his grace, thereby causing a coup in the country. And supposedly she was able to carry out all her evil deeds due to mystical abilities and witchcraft …
A few years later, the son of the evil queen and Charles VI fell ill. According to eyewitness accounts of that time, the child looked more like a "living corpse", which consisted exclusively of bones and skin. Indignant and almost completely unconscious of such grief, Isabella again accused Milan that she planned to get rid of the entire ruling royal family in order to take the throne herself. However, no one believed in the tales that Milan wanted to harm the king or his son. On the contrary, the version that the queen herself wanted to get rid of her insane husband and sick son became one of the most widespread assumptions.
The habitual punishment of that time for the witch was the expulsion of her black soul by burning her body at the stake. Fortunately, Milanese managed to avoid such a sad fate thanks to her noble birth. And so she had to leave Paris.
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However, the subsequent events of many history lovers are prompting a completely logical question, and maybe Milan really had some mystical power?
The fact is that after her exile, she went to a small estate, where she continued to keep her love of literature and even began to collect her own library. Years later, Milan's husband betrayed her, making an alliance with the very queen Isabella, who planned the expulsion of Valentina.
Heartbroken and betrayed by her husband, Milanskaya did not know what to do next. At that time, the struggle for further power was played out in earnest. Louis of Orleans became a laughingstock for the people and lost every authority that once had. In times of political strife, he had a strong rival named John of Burgundy. It was he who, in the early 1400s, ordered the assassination of his opponent.
Surprisingly, after the death of Orleans, Valentine began to fade rapidly, either from a feeling of great grief, or from other incomprehensible reasons. But, according to the convictions of the servants, she seemed to have aged beyond recognition in a few days. The duchess did not live long and died exactly one year after the death of her husband. Before her death, she made them promise their common son that he would be able to avenge the death of his father and punish those responsible.
It is worth noting that, despite the fact that a son named Karl was still unable to avenge his father's death, his opponent was soon found dead in the same way that Orleans himself was killed. He had one arm cut off so that he could not defend himself against the attack, and then with the help of a blade, the skull was cut open.
At the moment, many scientists believe that the soul of Valentina of Milan is still not at peace and wanders around the old estate of the Duke of Blois, where the Duchess was sent.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to check how true the fact that she was a witch is. Therefore, the legend that her soul wanders in search of the heirs of the count who killed her husband is still alive. We only have to trust the historical fact and compare them with the events that took place at the beginning of the XIV century.
It is worth noting the interesting fact that during the Inquisition, all captured witches, regardless of their position, were burned at the stake. Proceeding from this, the countess, even despite her high rank, had to go “to free her own soul from sins,” but for some unknown reason, this never happened. The love of the people, the condescension of Queen Isabella or other circumstances helped her to avoid the most terrible fate.
Despite the fact that the countess was loved by her people and was famous as a very kind and sympathetic woman, the question of her involvement in magic still torments some scientists, since there are a number of circumstances that still hypothetically prove the use of Valentine's black magic.