Antonia Malatesta of Cesena

Antonia Malatesta of Cesena, also known as Antonia Malatesta of Rimini, was Duchess of Milan by marriage to Giovanni Maria Visconti. She was the Regent of Milan in the interim after the death of her spouse in 1412.

Life Antonia Malatesta was born in January 1394 in Cesena and was the daughter of the condottiero Andrea Malatesta and Ricciarda (or Rengarda) Alidosi and the niece of Carlo I Malatesta, Lord of Cesena, Fano, Pesaro, and Rimini. Her paternal grandparents were Gaelotto Malatesta and Elisabetta da Varano, while her maternal grandparents were Bertrando Alidosi and Elisa Tarlati.

Antonia's mother, Rengarda, died very young in 1401, allegedly repudiated by her husband Malatesta and then poisoned by her brothers on suspicion of adultery. in 1408. They had no children.

In 1410, Antonia sheltered Beatrice di Tenda after her husband Facino Cane had been driven from Milan due the persecutions of Antonia's husband.

Husband's assassination On May 16, 1412, while Giovanni Maria was on his way to the church of San Gottardo, a large group of conspirators, among whom belonged to the major Milanese noble families, stabbed him to death.

After Giovanni Maria's assassination in 1412, the succeeding Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, permitted Antonia to continue sharing the governance of the duchy for a few months. Although she soon retired to Cesena, she retained her title, Duchess of Milan.

In literature