Marie-Henri Beyle

The Duchess of Palliano Marie-Henri Beyle

Giovanni Carafa, Duke of Paliano, was a papal nephew and minor Italian prince. The son of Giovanni Alfonso Carafa, Count of Montorio, and Caterina Cantelma, Giovanni came to prominence along with his brothers Carlo and Antonio when their uncle, Cardinal Giovanni Pietro Carafa, was elected Pope Paul IV in May 1555. Carlo became the most powerful of the three as the Pope's Cardinal-nephew, while Giovanni was put in command of the papal armies as Captain General of the Church. He was made Duke of Paliano after papal forces drove the pro-Spanish Colonna from that town in 1556. After the Spanish recovered Paliano in 1558, Carlo unsuccessfully sued on Giovanni's behalf to King Philip II of Spain for the Duchy of Bari. The Duke was married to Violante di Cardona, an aristocrat of Spanish descent. He had her murdered on 28 August 1559 on suspicion of infidelity. The affair is retold in Stendhal's novella, The Duchess of Palliano. The murder of his wife was one of the charges brought against the Duke at his trial, as well as crimes against supporters of the Colonna.