Barbara Torelli

Barbara Torelli (c. 1475after 1533) was an Italian noblewoman known for her entanglement in the murder of her second husband, Ercole Strozzi. She is supposed to have written a sonnet about his death, which has been much anthologised but also suspected of being a forgery.

Life Family tree of Barbara Torelli, showing her connection to Francesco Gonzaga, her cousin once removed. Barbara was born about 1475 to Marsilio II, fourth count of Montechiarugolo.

In 1491, she married the warlord Ercole Bentivoglio.

In the morning of 6 June 1508, Strozzi was found dead in the streets near his house with twenty-two stab wounds. It was speculated that the murder was connected with Strozzi’s friend Lucrezia Borgia: either that Lucrezia was jealous of Strozzi’s new wife, or that her husband, Alfonso d'Este, was in love with Barbara. Another suspect was Giangaleazzo Sforza, Ercole Bentivoglio’s brother-in-law who was trying to get Barbara’s dowry back from her first marriage to Bentivoglio. Two days after the murder, Barbara and her two brothers-in-law went to Mantua to ask for Francesco Gonzaga’s help avenging it, but he did not intervene.

Several poets, including Aldo Manuzio and Pietro Bembo, wrote obituary verses for Strozzi which emphasised Barbara’s loyalty to him.

Barbara asked Francesco Gonzaga to be godfather to her daughter Giulia, The Strozzi brothers also contested her inheritance from her second husband.